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Tag Archives: Carlisle Church

//Helping Haiti @ Engage

January 20, 2010 – 12:16 pm

On Sunday Jan. 17th we took a collection for Haiti. Our friends Doug and Randie Thomas who attend Engage are connected with an orphanage in Port-au-Prince called Good Samaritan Orphanage.  Really it’s not what you think of when you think orphanage.  Haiti has a huge population of children under the age of 18 due to shortened life-spans for adults, disease, death, and now earthquakes.  These orphans run the streets unless people take them in, care for them, school them, and give them the love they deserve as creations of God.  There are thousands of these little orphanages all over Haiti.  Good Samaritan houses 30 kids whom are supported by people like Doug and Randie and others from our sister church Carlisle BIC.  The bad news is that the orphans of Good Samaritan are not living indoors since the quake. They sleep in an open courtyard near their shattered home. They are running out of food and need help asap.  On Sunday we took a collection for these orphans. We can’t save everybody but we can be used of God to help and rescue 30 orphaned children out of the throngs of need.  That’s what we can do.

I am excited to share that Engage raised $1,190 in cash with an additional $970 pledged. WOW. That’s over $2,200 from the Engage. We are people who want God to use us as a part of his ongoing plan to bring his people and his creation back into harmonious relationship with Him.  God use us! Stretch us. May the grinding routines of life not suffocate the clarity of how good you are.  May our petty complaints be replaced by clear visions of what you could do…what you want to do..when we stand willing with ears to hear and eyes to see. Challenge our small notions of who you are! Challenge our small notions of ourselves and what we are capable of by your grace and power!

Stephen Santos wrote this song for Haiti last Sunday:

“Shatter our Hearts”

This old world shatters and shakes
This old world bends and breaks
God tell me what’s the place
For a big loss in the human race

And if God can’t break our hearts from across an ocean
He may come here to draw a tear
And if we stay afraid to show emotion
While one’s like us are dying there
Then I’m afraid we’ve become the saddest generation
That traded hearts for stone
God’s not satisfied with a part of your heart
He wants the throne

Tv man counts the numbers out loud
We’ll follow the story till a new one comes around
But there’s too much emotion in the end
We may realize those were fathers, mothers, friends

Stay tuned for more of how you can show mercy and love to Haiti….

By jon hand | Posted in blog | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

//6 months in…here’s how it’s playing out

August 5, 2009 – 11:07 am

Wow, It’s been six months since we started meeting on Sundays following January 11, 2009.  Since that time God has been writing the story of Engage. God has done some very exciting things as the story of Engage continues to be lived out. So let’s start with the numbers:

-163 people have visited Engage at least once  since Feb. 22nd.
-98 Average attendance on a Sunday from May to July.
-43% of those attending Engage do not have any prior meaningful church experience.
-57% of those attending Engage would call themselves growing Christians.
-25 the number of backpacks we just provided for Project FunFest
(in partnership with Project Share and other local churches to provide school supplies for every student   with a need).
-31 the average age of those attending Engage on a regular basis.
-1185, the number of dollars Engage needs each week to make ends meet (not counting the generous support of $1050 we receive each week from our family of churches called the Brethren in Christ Church www.bic-church.org).
-$2791, the accumulated amount of money we have received  from May - July exceeding our weekly budged projection.
-$1000, the amount of money we have raised outside of the Engage Community to go towards the hiring our an Engage Kids coordinator. (we need a total of $5000)
-30, the average number of kids in the Engage Kids Environments on Sundays this Summer.
-4, the number of community groups we are starting this summer. Community Groups are groups that meet outside of Sunday Morning for the purpose of support, serving the community, spiritual friendship, and spiritual growth.

But numbers aren’t everything…though they are important. Numbers represent people, and movement, and energy, and relationships, and real lives finding greater life in the context of faith in Jesus.  So here’s what some people are saying these days:

From a second time guest at Engage:
“I have never felt so comfortable and welcomed at church before. The non-judgmental attitude (I have never had in the past) is refreshing. Keep up the great job.”

From a person who has been at Engage for 5 or more months:
“I have never been a part of a group of people who made me feel so loved and accepted for who I am, no strings attached.”

Engage is a safe place for people to explore faith, ask questions, and begin to experience what the message of Jesus looks like lived out in everyday life.

I think back over the past six months and can name person after person who is experiencing transformation in the way they see themselves, others, God, and the world we live in.  I think of the new connections that are being made this summer in our community groups. I think of the ways people at Engage have supported those within our community who have had financial needs or needed a last minute babysitter or needed a car to borrow.  One of my friends at Engage told  me that one of  the big  reasons why they are drawn to invest their lives through Engage is because of the unique ways they have experienced people at Engage supporting each other.

Engaging our Community:

As you read earlier in this email, Engage provided over 20 backpacks and 2 large boxes full of school supplies for students whose parents struggle to resource them with what they need to return to school later this month.  Engage is committed to Engaging our Community.  Part of resourcing needs in our community is to experience those needs firsthand.  It’s easy to buy a backpack and put it in a box on a Sunday morning. Maybe you need to start there, that’s ok. But the next step beyond that is actually seeing the needs firsthand, learning the stories and struggles of what leads to those needs, and being reminded of the importance of real people right here in our backyard.  So please pray for Engage and pray the community    Engage finds itself a part of.  Prayer reminds us that we are often the answer to the prayers we pray on behalf of others.  JOIN us this Saturday from 10:30 - 1:30 p.m. and volunteer as we join with others at Project Share Fun Fest and help us  distribute  school supplies.  5 North Orange Street in Carlisle. When you arrive to volunteer  please ask for Diane Baltaef. She will find you a place to serve.

I am excited to see God’s story play out that  in your life, my life, and the life of Engage.

By jon hand | Posted in blog | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

//Norma’s Story

December 12, 2008 – 11:58 am

Last Saturday we braved the 14 degree numbing cold to gather at Project Share for our 2nd annual Car Winterization for single parents.  I want to thank so many of you for your prayers, participation, and help for this important project.  Last year we helped 30 families to have safe vehicles for the treachery of winter driving in PA. This year through the efforts of New Life Community (our parent Church) we doubled the impact over last year! We winterized over 60 vehicles! In addition, we were able to raise $1,100 so we could give single parents gift certificates to local garages for tires, further maintenence, and other pressing mechanical needs.  I had a conversation with Norma.  Norma is a single mom with 5 kids. She works two jobs and her family lives with her father in the area.  With pride in her heart and tears in her eyes Norma told me about her daughter.  Norma’s daughter is a senior this year at a local high school.  At one point in the conversation Norma paused, looked me square in the eyes and with a mother’s pride told me how her daughter has just received a scholarship to college.  Norma’s daughter will be the first person in her family to attend college. All I could do is smile and feel the great transfer of pride from her heart to mine.

Norma’s car needed more repairs than we could provide on Sat.  But we were able to give her a gift certificate so she could repair her windshield washer fluid pump. She has been driving around without the ability to clear her windshield on the snowy days she has to drive to work.

As the day drew to a close I thought to myself, “This isn’t much, we could do more, but this is what Christmas is about.”  Christmas is about God coming to be one of us.  God putting on coveralls, grabbing a wrench, braving the cold so he can meet us right in the middle of our greatest needs.  Obviously, the coming of Christ is so much more, but Christ’s entrance into humanity means that nothing is insigificant.  Every part of normal life matters when our Creator joins us in the ordinaries of everyday life under the hood.

By jon hand | Posted in blog | Also tagged , | Comments (1)