November Update
November 9, 2004
Intercessors, leaders, and money – in that order. When people ask how they can help us in our work, these are the three things we need.
We need intercessors! We have never lived in such a dark environment. Short of spending extended time in this community, there is no way that we can capture in words the amount of darkness that is here. On a daily basis, children and young people are prostituted, neglected, or abandoned. On a daily basis, grief and anger consume many of the residents of our neighborhood. The Apostle Paul was correct when he said, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (II Corinthians 10:3-5) Our effectiveness is tied in large measure to the work that is done in prayer.
If you are willing to intercede for our work on a regular basis, please email Jim Herrington at jhmh@swbell.net. He will provide you a regular update of specific prayer concerns.
We need leaders! One challenge that every inner-city ministry faces is the leadership vacuum. The traditional model is to find suburban congregations to give money for a handful of leaders to do all the work. We are fighting that model. Though we need your financial support (see below), what we need more than that is leaders who will share the daily load of the work of ministry. Our strategy is to raise those leaders up from the harvest. We believe that we must become an indigenous church plant – one that is led by those who are a product of the culture of this community. A secondary strategy is to pray for God to call missionaries who will move to this community and become a part of the salt and light that God brings through this church. School teachers, business entrepreneurs, and those with counseling or social work backgrounds are among our greatest needs.
Stephanie Phillips is one of our core team who is an answer to this prayer. A school teacher in the Spring/Klein area for a number of years, Stephanie moved to Montrose at the beginning of this year. She was unable to find a job in one of the local schools, but is continuing to press into that. In the meantime she is providing significant leadership and important encouragement to this work. Is God calling you to a life of significant service in this community?
In Joshua 1:6-7 we find these words that we take to heart on a daily basis. “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” We believe the victory is the Lord’s and that he achieves that victory through men and women, like Joshua, who obey his call.
We need financial support! It takes more than we have from those in the Harbor Church body. But, it doesn’t take more than God has. He has been faithful to provide for us as we pursue the mission He gave us. If you would become a financial partner with us, go to our web site (http://www.harborchurch.com) and click on the giving tab.
Intercessors, leaders, and money – in that order. God is faithfully providing all of these. Is he calling you to join the team of people who are seeking to transform the Montrose community?