Making A Difference – How You Can Help

These are exciting times around here at LIFE180 church.  We have our first preview service this Sunday, and boy are we busy!  What is a preview service, you ask?  Well, we are not going to be officially launching public services until Christmas Eve, but we are having services every other week starting this weekend to do a number of things.  First these services kind of serve as “practice” services.  Here we can work on the glitches that come with setting up church each week in a gym, and start to get a feel for how things will go and how they should be set up.  Second these services work to finish building our core team.  We need to get to a team of 50 adults before we can launch.  We are at about 35, so hopefully doing these services will help get us the rest of the way there.

We are so thankful for all the ways that many of you who read here are supporting us and the work that God has called us to do through LIFE180.  We truly and honestly would not be able to be here without you.  Right now LIFE180 is in an interesting position.  We are going to start meeting, which you need to do in order to build the church.  However, we have less than a handful of tithing families right now.  Who are those families?  Why the staff of course.  That means we have limited funds, but need to start meeting and growing the congregation for this to change.

One of the things I have been working on is researching the items on the list for the Children’s Ministry so that we can find the best deals possible.  It struck me this afternoon as I worked on this budget, that maybe there are some who would like to help us outfit our Children’s Ministry.  We have been working hard collecting as many donated items as possible.  I donated bags full of toys that the kids don’t play with anymore, and our Children’s Director has been collecting baby/kids supplies from people all over the valley.  We are starting out with the basics, but it would be great if those basics could be in place when we get going.  Desert Ridge is full of young families, and many of them are going to choose the church they go to based on what their children like, and what they as adults feel comfortable with when they look into the children’s rooms.  We want to create a place for kids to be safe, feel nurtured, and learn about the love of Christ.

Do you want to help?  Below you will see a list of the things we need for children and an approximate cost of each item.  If you would like to make a donation to help provide part of all of one of those items there are a couple of ways that you can do that.

• Click HERE and donate online.
• Send a check to: LIFE180 Church, PO Box 72822, Phoenix, AZ 85050 and specify “Children’s Ministry” on subject line.
• Link to this post on your blog or on facebook to spread the word.

Every little item adds up and every dollar that we don’t have to spend on items like these is a dollar that we can spend on community outreach, supplies for the main services, and getting the word out about LIFE180.

Some of the needs are:

Baby gates (2) – $25 each

Bibles (10-15) – $10 each

First Aid Kit – $20

Cleaning Supplies – $10

Changing Pad – $25

Snack/Water Supplies – $30

Craft/Art Supplies – $50

Size 2 Diapers – $20

Wipes – $10

Trash Bags – $10

Ipod Docks (2) – $30 each

Rubbermaid storage containers with wheels (2) – $18 each

Foam Floor Mat for Infant Room – $20

Infant Activity Floor Mat – $50

Rugs from Ikea (2) – $15 each

So what do you guys think?  Any of those items doable in your budget?  I don’t want anyone to feel offended.  IN NO WAY do I want you to feel obligated to be a part of this, but I do want to present the opportunity.  If you decide to sponsor one of these items, please let me know either by email, on facebook, or in the comments on this post.  I would love to be able to come back next week and share the ways that God provided through you guys.

Life180 Update ~ August 2011

We have now been in Phoenix for a little over two months.  Unreal.  It feels much shorter than that and much longer than that at the same time.  Maybe it is like having kids.  On one hand I look at Micah and can’t believe that he is almost four.  How could I have an almost four year old!?  It seems like he was sleeping on my chest just yesterday.

Then I put him in his 37th time out of the day, and it feels like he has been in our family for-ever.

That is what it feels like living here.  Minneapolis feels a million years ago and just yesterday all at the same time.

If you are anything like me, you have really been enjoying Ben’s blog posts.  I found myself being slightly shocked by what a good writer he is.  Then I remembered how much I get out of and enjoy his sermons.  He writes those, so I shouldn’t really be surprised he knows how to put together a good devotional.

As much as I enjoy those devotionals, I know that I would want to know what is happening with Life180.  Ben has got a lot on his plate and it is never ending, so I have taken it upon myself to update you all.  I am going to try to link to Ben’s blog in my sidebar too, so if you haven’t been reading it, you should check it out.

Here is my bullet point version of what is happening with Life180.

• We have a new website!!!!  Go to www.life180church.com to check it out.  Ben even has a video on it, so search around and see if you can find it.
• I think I had mentioned it before.  We now have three pastors/families on staff.  We were fortunate enough to meet the Errett family from NY State a few months ago.  Corey has signed on to be our Life Pastor.  His role will be to train parents and oversee adult discipleship.  Since we are in a community with lots of young families, this is a vital role in our strategy to reach local families.  We are so excited for them to get here.  Please pray for them right now.  They are in the process of selling their house, raising support, finishing up at the church they are currently at, planning the move, and raising three boys all under the age of four.  Whew!  I am exhausted just typing that.  I remember what the months leading up to our move were like and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.  I know they would appreciate all the prayers they can get.
• Ben and Dwayne have been busy interviewing people for the Worship Pastor, Youth Pastor, and Children’s Pastor positions.  It is going well.  We are all having dinner tonight with a guy and his wife who are very close to accepting the position as the Worship Pastor.  You know what that means??  Triple date with no kids!!  A candidate for that Youth Pastor position is flying in in a couple of weeks to check us out.  We are competing for him with a very large church in Texas that wants to offer him an internship.
• Planning for the launch is in full swing.  Ben is busy making spreadsheet upon spreadsheet organizing all the information needed to get this thing off the ground.  Like any church plant, the schedule is fluid and is constantly changing.  Therefore, I won’t share it with you now, but you can bet that I will let you know as the dates get closer and things firm up.
• Ben and Dwayne are meeting with churches to ask them to partner with us.  That could look like financial support, giving us people for our launch team, loaning or giving us supplies needed to start, etc.  In fact tomorrow we are all going down to a Vision Arizona church (the organization that is planting Life180 too) where Dwayne will be preaching.  We have to be in both services and the kids “get” to be on stage with us.  Dwayne and Michelle, who have a 15 and 12 year old, probably aren’t worried about how their kids will act on stage.
• Ben and Dwayne are busy planning a 5k run that will benefit a local charity and help raise awareness in the community about Life180.  For now they are shooting for January 2012.
• We will be starting informational meetings here at the end of August to start being able to build the launch team.

That’s all I can think of for now, but I am sure there is even more.  I wanted to let all of you know how much we appreciate those of you who support us financially and through prayer.  God has truly been faithful during this entire process and we trust that it will continue.  If you are interested in supporting the work we are doing at Life180, you can click on the donate link on their website.  (For those of you scratching your heads saying, “What?  Support?”  Very briefly, the church does not pay us for the first three years as we focus all resources on making the church successful and creating ministries that can impact lives.  If you have more questions about this, please let me know.)

Now for some specific prayer requests:

• Praise God for friends!  He has blessed us with some great friends early on here and we truly appreciate it.  Especially me.  I know friends are important to Ben too, but he is not home all day with just the kids to talk to.  I am very thankful for other mom friends.
• Pray for continued faithfulness in financial support.
• Prayer for wisdom for Ben and Dwayne as they make important hiring decisions.
• Prayer that our launch team will start to come together.  Per Vision Arizona’s rules, we need to have 50 adults on our launch team before they will release any funds to us.  Right now we have six.
• Pray for wisdom for Ben and I as I consider going back to work.  It will be a process to find a job without being licensed, and I probably won’t be able to find one that allows me to work as part time as I did in MN.  We are trying to decide what is best for our family.  I will be attending the AZ Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Fall Conference in October down in Tucson.  This will allow me to keep my MN license active.  I am excited to learn more about couples counseling and meet some other therapists here in Arizona.