God's Tapestry of Two

Moved with compassion for others, Elyssa Strand and Mandi Moore were on two separate paths to make a difference in the lives of those in need. God interlaced their separate motivations, weaving them together to create the perfect fabric of community needed to fulfill an even bigger purpose than they’d imagined.

Elyssa Strand was given the vision of raising funds to help dig wells in Africa. Mandi Moore was given the vision of raising funds for those in need.

Mandi started a blog to raise awareness and generate momentum to involve as many people as possible, (http://www.dolivingwater.blogspot.com/). Elyssa contacted EFCA Student Ministries in Minneapolis to find out how to get more churches involved. She was pointed to Dave Bostrom who helps lead the North Central District Blitz (conference). The offering project this year’s conference just happened to be digging wells. Elyssa and Mandi were given the opportunity to share their vision with over 3,000 students at the conference in April. A record $8,500 was raised which will be given to EFCA TouchGlobal to dig wells in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. And a car wash is planned in August to continue the effort!

Planting with World Impact

Richard Schumacher, EFCA Central District Regional Associate Superintendent and World Impact’s St. Louis Director Kelly Schjenken are in discussions about partnering with World Impact's internship program to plant a church in urban St. Louis.

For more information:
http://reachmoar.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/world-impact-urban-church-planting-internships/

Church: A Black Hole

"The church is the black hole that sucks Christians out of society." That provocative statement was how Dan Moose, Director of Church Planting for the EFCA’s North Central District, recently led the "Cultivating a Culture of Outreach" seminar held at Calvary EFC in Rochester, MN. Moose challenged the participants to consider both the culture of the church and how they as individuals related to the community of the lost. The challenge focused on key questions:

• Is your church an attracting (i.e., trying to get people to come to you) or a sending (i.e., meet people where they are at) kind of church?
• Do you have “pagan” friends who would call you in a crisis?
• Do you see your neighbors “eternally, not externally”?
  

Moose walked through the perceived cost to cultivating a culture of outreach and shared a framework for churches to move forward with community outreach.