"Mission Adelante"

A Major Milestone for Mission Adelante!

Dear Friends,

Mission Adelante is on the cusp of a major milestone that represents nothing less than the accomplishment of our dream and vision!  In the next year we intend to hire our first staff members from within our own community!  Can you imagine the impact this important step will make on our effectiveness in reaching people from other places?  We would like to invite you to be a part of this turning point in our ministry’s development.  In fact,

we need you to lock arms with us at this exciting moment to help make it happen!

When Jesus called his first disciples to follow Him, He promised that he would make them “fishers of men”.  The invitation to be with Jesus comes with a challenge to join Him in the work of making disciples.  From the time we started Mission Adelante we have been dreaming of the day when leaders from our own community would rise up to join us as workers in the Lord’s harvest field.  That dream is coming true!  As we look forward to 2014 we have as many as three leaders from our community who could be ready to join our staff in key ministry roles.  These “home-grown leaders” have been part of our ministry in various areas for several years, have been discipled intentionally, and are now leading with us.  They have become and are becoming “fishers of men.”

Amazing Matching Gift Opportunity for 50 Donors!

In order to make this next step possible, we are launching a new giving fund to create an avenue for donors to help us hire staff members from our own community.  We are calling this new fund the “Community Leaders Fund”.

To help get us started, a generous donor has offered to supplement EACH new recurring gift to the “Community Leaders Fund” (at least $25/month) with a $1000 one-time gift (up to a total of $50,000). In other words, your new recurring gift to the Community Leaders Fund gets a $1000 bonus added to it!

The heart of this “matching” opportunity is to encourage ongoing giving to the Community Leaders Fund to foster long-term sustainability.  We are praying that God would provide $2500/month in new recurring gifts and $30,000 in one-time contributions by year-end to help us launch our Community Leaders Fund.  

We would like to invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us this year-end by contributing to the Community Leaders Fund, either with recurring contributions, or with a one-time gift.  You may send contributions to Mission Adelante Inc.,  22 South 18th Street, Kansas City, KS  66102, or give online at

www.missionadelante.org/give

.  Be sure designate your contribution to “Community Leaders Fund”.  Thank you for your support and partnership all these years!

In His Grace,

Jarrett Meek

Pastor/Executive Director

"Adelante Business Coaching" Prepares to Launch

by Kristen Allen, Director of Community Development

Exciting things continue to unfold in Mission Adelante’s Community Development Initiatives as our new "Adelante Business Coaching" ramps up for launch. Twenty years ago many were convinced that our community was dying, and studies predicted that by the year 2000 our neighborhood would be a ghost town.  Driving around Mission Adelante, it is evident that this prediction was false: the community is being revitalized by immigrant families and small businesses.

According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, Latino owned businesses brought in $1.3 billion in receipts in the state of Kansas. Mission Adelante is excited to add fuel to this fire as we ask God to use business to transform individual lives as well as our entire community.

Bhutanese refugees opened a grocery in KCK.

One of the core values for Adelante Business Coaching is the belief that work is a redemptive activity that God designed for man to enjoy from the beginning of creation. Work promotes dignity, contributes to the broader needs of our community, and improves an individual’s or a family’s financial situation. Our immigrant and refugee friends come with a diverse array of business ideas, skills, experiences, and a strong desire to succeed. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles for newcomers who want to open businesses, and instead, they are often stuck working unskilled, entry-level, low-paying positions that are far away and don’t provide a sense of dignity or purpose.

What if we prayed with our immigrant and refugee neighbors, helped break down cultural barriers, and instead of looking at their lack of US business experience, we equipped them to become business owners making an impact in the community and for the Kingdom? We believe we would start to see individual and community transformation.

We are excited for where we feel God is leading us. As we launch Adelante Business Coaching, we want to partner with others who feel God’s calling to use their business or their business expertise as an avenue for ministry. Next month we are bringing Rudy Carrasco from

Partners Worldwide

 to lead a workshop to help us and our partners further explore business as mission.

Save the date for Saturday, July 20

th

  from 8:30 a.m. -11:00 a.m. so you can j

oin us for a workshop on how fostering entrepreneurship can transform lives and communities in under-resourced areas.  Rudy Carrasco will lead us on the exploration of a philosophy for job creation that includes business as mission, collaboration, business training, business mentorship, and advocacy.  He will share working models for ending poverty through job creation in the United States and the potential for community transformation right here in Kansas City, Kansas.  

REGISTER HERE FOR THE IGNITE WORKSHOP!

"Ignite 2013" will be held at Mission Adelante, Inc.

22 South 18th Street

Kansas City, KS 66012

Please contact Kristen Allen for more information:

kristena@missionadelante.org

Other News

  • Our Mommy & Me English class has been a success so far! There are six refugee mothers and their tots singing, clapping, reading, and playing games together--all while practicing English skills. We have one more class next week.
  • We had the privilege to hear from some of the New Roots for Refugees farmers on Tuesday during our study of vegetables and the farmer’s market in the Bhutanese ESL classes.  It was a great listening exercise for our students and both students and conversation partners learned a lot!
  • The Kansas City Bhutanese Ekata Sports Team is traveling to Texas for a nationwide Bhutanese Soccer tournament this weekend.
  • Frank, a leader with Raices in Cuba, was given a visa to come visit Mission Adelante for two weeks in July.  He will learn more about business coaching strategies and will also share his own experiences with our staff.

Prayer Requests

  • Please pray for the formation of the Adelante Business Coaching leadership team. We meet next week for the first time and are excited where God is leading us.  
  • Pray for immigration reform that upholds our values of human dignity, family unity and respect for the rule of law and for our senators who will vote on this issue.

Current Needs

  • The resource center is in need of kitchen items, dishes, and summer kids clothes. If you are able to help, please give Molly Merrick a call to set up a drop of time at mollym@missionadelante.org.

Important Dates

Observation nights: July 16, 18, 23, & 25.

Have you wondered what all goes on around here on a typical evening of programming?  Here's your opportunity to come and see for yourself!  Come to 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102 at 6:30 p.m.

Come Serve in a Mission Field in Your Own Backyard!

Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, God's heart for the lost and broken is evident. His love for all people is beyond imagination, but His heart of mercy for "the least of these" is displayed time and time again in unique and special ways.

In Matthew 25 Jesus says these words;
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

At Mission Adelante, we have found ourselves in the middle of a mission field right here in our own backyard. And in this mission field we are surrounded by the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the sick, and families of people in prison. Who would have thought that the cross-cultural mission field would come to us, and that we would have the opportunity to demonstrate the kind of compassion that Jesus exhorted us toward right here in our own city!?

We invite you to join us in this mission by serving in practical ways and connecting relationally with people from another culture. Instead of viewing missions as something only a few "super-Christians" can do, why not make it a normal part of your life?

Whether your heart is for adult immigrants or kids, Latinos or refugees from Bhutan, there is a place for you to make an impact with Mission Adelante.
  • English Classes for adults (Latino or Bhutanese)
  • Kids Outreach Bible Study (Latino or Bhutanese)
  • Teen Bible Study (Latino)
Come to our Volunteer Training Seminar on Saturday, May 22 from 9:00 a.m to 12:15 p.m. to get started! For more information email Morgan Ham at morganh@missionadelante.org. And now, if you have a few minutes, watch a quick video to get a better feel for what it looks like to be involved in our ministries!


Mission Adelante's Volunteer Opportunities from Mission Adelante on Vimeo.


In other news:
  • We at Mission Adelante are extremely grateful for the 50 or so volunteers from three local churches that spent last Saturday here as part of the "What If the Church Served Together?" event. They assembled cubicles and moved staff offices to the second floor, built a stage in our chapel, insulated our attic, tuck-pointed our chimney, started building a storage room, repaired gutters, put up trim, cut our grass, and landscaped a nearby park! Whew! Thanks to each and every one that labored for our benefit!
Prayer needs:
  • Please pray for the 12-member short-term missions team that will fly to Costa Rica this Friday and return Saturday, May 15. Pray for logistical ease, for the team to learn a lot about the culture and improve their Spanish skills, to have a sense of team unity, and to make a lasting impression on those they meet.
  • Help us pray for separate teen girls and teen guys Bible Studies this summer that will focus on the topic of purity as Megan M. works on choosing curriculum.
  • We're looking forward to having five interns spend the summer here at Mission Adelante! Please help us ask God to provide the necessary funds that they're in the process of raising.
Current needs:
  • A blender, a crock-pot, and cooking pans have been requested by families that have visited our resource center recently. If you have extras of these items, or would consider purchasing one, it will be given to a family that needs it.
Important dates:
  • Monday, May 24 @ 6:30 p.m.: Volunteer Team Meeting Summer Volunteers in all outreach programs should plan to attend.