Answering prayer

So, I don't ever want to forget this date. Thursday morning at 2AM, we have found the two new directors of Renovo Bloomington. Praise God for His provision...and answering prayer during prayer. Lord, I pray that in the next year, you will be glorified even more beyond what we know today. You've taken this ministry and you've exalted yourself in it. I pray that you will continue to do so...may we look to you always for truth. Thank you for opening our eyes.

Here's to what He has...:) YAY!

New Blog Site

Dear friends,

Just wanted to inform you that you can find our new blogs at www.connexiononline.org. We update them every week with news from the week before-you'll have a chance to hear from a variety of perspectives since we now was our volunteers to contribute to the blog.

Be encouraged. Jesus is working!

Love,
Amy, Associate Director, Renovo Ministries

501cWHAT?!

We found a name...Renovo Ministries...meaning to restore or renew God's creation back to Himself. We soon began making announcements in church about our Sunday lunches, inviting people to partake of the fellowship. Our volunteer base went from 6 to 90 in a matter of a month. We established an email account and began forming our leadership team.

Andrew and I kept looking for more opportunities to serve. We met with the director of the Shalom center, looking to see if we could help them in anyway. They needed $600,000 to purchase a building. I remember walking out of that meeting, determined to do something. I mentioned the idea of a black-tie event and we got excited. I called my mom, who gave me the phone number of one of her colleagues and I got to work. Not 6 hours later, after a conversation with my father, I found clarity. This organization was aimed at feeding people not only physically, but spiritually...so why was I about to pour my energy into an event that benefits something outside of that definition? I called Andrew, explained my reasoning, and he got even more excited than when we had had the conversation about planning the event. A huge weight had been lifted and a path began toward developing God's vision for this ministry.

Mike Hannigan, the colleague my mother connected me with, asked to meet with us one afternoon. We wanted to bring him at least a piece of paper explaining who we are and what our vision was. Andrew and I sat in the computer lab of Eigenmann one Sunday evening, hammering away at who we were. Once we had put together an extensive answer to that question, we printed it out and smiled at how amazing all of this was.

The next day, we took off for Martinsville and spent sometime at a bar table at Chili's with Mike as we explained everything that had been happening. He gave a bunch of contacts, advice on how to build an organization, and mentioned establishing ourselves as a non-profit by applying for a 501c3. I don't think I'll ever forget the rest of that afternoon. It was a beautiful day of 65 degrees in early October. As I was looking out my window, Andrew began talking about future plans to be made for the ministry. I looked at him and asked him if this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. His face literally lit up as he affirmed the fact. "Of course!" he said. Regardless of the name of the ministry, we both had been called to radical living. And it was an ardorous call. We went to Lake Lemon for a time...most of which was spent in rest. I had a beautiful time with the Lord as He reminded me to keep Him as my vision..."Be thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart." And for the first time in my life, I could honestly say that He was.

Just as I'll never lose that memory, I will ALSO never lose the memory of our leadership meeting that Thursday night. Gosh...haha. I don't think I've ever entered a meeting so excited, and left one so humbled. Andrew and I had planned A LOT for that meeting. We outlined our international vision, the way "Big Renovo" would operate in January of 2008 as well as specific job requirements for leadership. It was intense, but we had a confidence. At the meeting, we passed out the pieces of paper to those present and began to talk about what we wanted to do. And people began to question. In retrospect, this was an amazing example of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in which the Bible is used for teaching and correcting. But as I was sitting there, I felt the tension building up. It was mortifying to me. How did they not get this vision? Were we completely wrong? After prayer, I apologized to the group for my attitude and unwillingness to receive their comments. I felt defeated. That is...until I talked to Andrew and through him, God spoke truth. He reminded me that this ministry belonged to the Lord and therefore, He would provide the clarity as we labored on.

The very next day, I met with Ben. Originally, I went there to talk about some miscommunications he and I shared, but he had an idea for structure which set the stage for further development. He saw the ministry in 3 tiers. First, national/international Renovo. Second, Renovo within a college town and third, a ministry specific tier. For Bloomington, the third tier included the homeless ministry and jail ministry. From that vision, we found clarity.

We began investigating 501c3s. I had emailed my Uncle, one of the best tax lawyers in the nation, regarding the process. He sent me some literature and asked me to email him when I was done reading. Enjoying legal stuff, I found it somewhat easy to understand, but there was so much more for me to learn. Andrew and I got together one afternoon to investigate how to start a non-profit organization. I was overwhelmed. SO much work was involved. We needed to come up with $750 for a registration fee, an advisory board, a budget and so many other accounting files. It was here that I learned what it meant when your head swims. Ironically (and I say that with a smile), my Uncle called me as I was researching. He encouraged me in my work, but urged me to consider coming under an organization already established before going out on our own. After a decent conversation and a better understanding of where to go next, Andrew and I talked about who to come under. Both of us thought of our church, but for some reason, I could not find peace.

Later that night, I realized what it was. Renovo was not just meant for Bloomington. And another peace of our vision was formed. Over the next few weeks, through counsel from leadership and much prayer, we established the fact that we wanted to work WITH and THROUGH the church rather than as a parachurch organization. I found that I had a deep heart for His body. Working in the tier mindset, we found that each college town Renovo would be supported and a part of the local church.

After four drafts, multiple meetings, a lost microsoft word document, a couple arguments, and November 17th, we had our mission statement and vision for the next couple months. We were going to invest in a website, marketing literature, and we were going to act as a resource for students around the nation wishing to start outreach teams within their college ministries at theologically sound churches. (www.eccbloomington.org) We also became part of our church...an arm of the Connexion ministry. We purchased the domain for our website-www.renovoministries.org-and met with our pastor numerous times to solidify Renovo's role.

Additionally, we established a leadership structure and role definitions. First, we would have the leadership team, consisting of a small number of students devoted to taking discipleship roles in the ministry. Second, within each specific ministry, we would have core teams of people dedicated to participating in that ministry on a consistent basis, discipled by the leader of that ministry. Third, within each ministry, a steady flow of volunteers coming sporadically throughout the year would be discipled by those in the core group. Andrew and I met and defined our roles as directors, clarifying any confusion of responsibilities and we handed the homeless ministry off to Ben and Leslie. The director (one male, one female) is responsible for leading weekly leadership meetings, representing the organization at meetings with the Pastor or other individuals, checking in with leadership regarding discipleship of core groups and ministry development, meeting with each leader to discuss their personal walk with the Lord, consistent attendance to ministry events, consistent Bible study and prayer, and the male and female director must meet once a week to discuss future planning.

And that is where we are as far as organizational information. Our official launch is January 2007. Praise be to God!

Behind Bars

During the lunch, Hal had mentioned his work within the Monroe County Jail. Andrew and I saw it as a sweet opportunity to get further involved with this culture. Earlier, Chuck, the man we took out to dinner, had been arrested for violating parole. Carl had told us about it, so we had gone down to the jail to see if we could visit him. We went on a Sunday afternoon, but were unable to get in due to scheduling. God had closed that door, but perhaps was opening another. You see, many of the men and women out on the street have been arrested at least once. We, along with Kelly, a girl Ben had met earlier in the week, decided to go see what it was all about.

I remember it as a cold, rainy Tuesday in late September. I picked up Andrew from class and we headed over to the jail. We ran inside, told the security our names and he let us in. I must admit, having clearance at local jail is kind of...well, cool. The average age of the "volunteers", if that is what you would call them, was about 75. We rode an elevator up to the 3rd floor and followed the guard to a room filled with men in orange suits and sea blue plastic sandals. The age range here seemed to be between 16 and 50. I sat down next to Hal and Andrew headed toward the back and a woman in a white lab coat began to speak. She gave a lecture on the importance of the brain and its functions in our everyday life. Honestly, I couldn't recite half of what she said to you because I found myself looking around, attempting to write the stories of these men in my mind. The woman, later identified to me as Hal's daughter, pulled out an actual human brain to display as entertainment. It was interesting, of course, but lacked something. All of this talk about the amazing brain and no mention of the Creator.

Andrew and I both left with a feeling of dissatisfaction. We set up a meal that Wednesday with Hal to talk about starting a Bible study with some of the men in the jail. "Something's a little off with him, Amy," Andrew mentioned when we saw him at the Shalom center later that week. He was wearing the same blue suit we saw him in both times before.

Tuesday before our meeting with Hal (we scheduled it for that Thursday, I believe), I was walking to class, praying. Austin, a guy very dear to my heart came to mind and I gave him a call. He had left a note on my car on Monday telling me how God has broken him. He called me back later, leaving a message asking if I could come talk and pray with him at the church. After class, I walked back and met him there. We talked a little about how God had humbled him, leaving him in a place he had never known before...emptiness without Christ. But he soon asked me about Renovo. As I began to talk to him, I saw his face light up with joy! I told him about our jail ministry opportunity and it was almost as if he jumped out of the chair (which would not suprise most people who know him). He told me he would come to the lunch with Hal that week as well as the leadership meeting that Thursday night. My heart was dancing!

Thursday rolled around. I met Austin and Andrew at the Sample Gates. We headed over to the Shalom center to meet Hal. We sat down and began talking with him about how to get further involved with the jail ministry. This normally would be a good conversation, phone numbers would be exchanged and dates would be set. It was like prying open a cedar chest which had been cemented shut. Andrew saw my frustration, kindly reminding me to be patient. I finally got a number out of him and the conversation somehow shifted to religion. A man at the table spoke of a recent visit of Ann Coulter to our campus. He mentioned how Hal had stood up and proclaimed "Who would Jesus bomb?" I asked him about his faith and he went on some schpiel about ego-centric yada yada. I tried to clarify, but again, prying open a cemented shut door. He did, however, say some strange things about Jesus. I expected Hal to confront him, being a priest and everything, but he said nothing. The man excused himself, which left the opportunity for me to probe Hal's beliefs. I asked him a simple question, "Hal, who is Jesus?" And THAT is when we discovered what was "off". Hal did not believe that Jesus was the only way.

God sealed the deal for us on that one. We'd have to find another way into the jail. There was no way in the world we were going to pursue something under someone who had a skewed idea of who our Savior is. Austin engaged in some debate and we found out that after nearly 40 years of theological study, this man had no idea. We left the meal praising God for His clarity in the situation. I was humbled by the fact that our faith, which is so complex and deep, contemplated by some of the greatest thinkers of all time, is sung also by a young child, understanding that "Jesus loves me, this I know". I wondered what it would be like if we tried to make songs out of some of the philosophies of this culture. "Ego-centric energy, this is what I think of me." Doesn't really have the same beauty, does it?

Later on that week, I found the number of the Chaplain of the jail. I called him and to my delight I discovered he was on staff as a counselor at Sherwood Oaks Christian church-one that is theologically grounded in the Gospel. And after weeks and weeks of calling him (I am pretty sure I called about 28 times), we set up a meeting and in it took strides forward in planning the development of this ministry. Before we went, I stopped at Starbucks to pick up some coffee/cider for the boys (Andrew and Paul). I put the cups on the top of my car as I loaded them in one by one. I was about to reach for the last one when the entire thing dumped all over me! A woman passed me by and said sarcastically, "What a great start to the day, huh?" Haha! And believe it or not, I emphatically agreed. It really didn't matter that I had a peppermint mocha on my pants. With His grace, I walked back into Starbucks, calmly explaining my situation. I walked out with a large version of the drink and a coupon for a free one. (smile)

We arrived at Sherwood Oaks and walked into Pastor Edwards' office. As we began talking I noticed that he seemed tired and worn down. He had seen so much and experienced so many unfaithful volunteers. Some of them would traffic drugs to the inmates, others would run special errands for them. And he knew Hal all too well. He explained that Hal had started this program, advertised as a life-building program, but really entailed old men talking about their war experience with the inmates. It was not a counseling, but a chance "for old guys to talk", he said. He tried to dissuade us with horror stories, but Paul along with Andrew and I were set in God's hope. We resolved to pursue this, if it was God's wil. And through HIS faithfulness, bring a new life to this man who was dedicated to a ministry, but had lost sight of Christ's joy.

Mission Statement

Mission Statement
Christian students under the local church, serving the community in the power of the Gospel of Christ.

Renovo is an outreach ministry within the Church, working in the power of the Gospel. It is aimed at Biblically equipping young adults, encouraging them to pursue their relationship in Christ through Christian fellowship and Christ-centered service within their local, national and global community.

We adhere to the local church’s statement of faith.

We come under and submit to a Pastor within the church who, in turn, is accountable to a board of elders, just as outlined in Scripture. Everything we do must be authorized by this Pastor including announcements, mission trips, outreach events and discipleship efforts. We will do nothing outside of the authority of the church. Our ultimate goal is to glorify God and preach the gospel through word and action.

All those on the leadership team recognize the mission statement and submit to the authority of God's word. They believe the affirmed theology and demonstrate a Christ-like lifestyle in thought, word and deed.

We are called to unity in Christ. Romans 15:5-6 says, “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

His Continual Provision

I want to apologize for not keeping up on the stories here. Thanksgiving break is coming up and I plan to spend some significant time writing about the weeks prior. Hold me accountable to this!

Stories to come:

Behind Bars
Jail encounter-learning about the brain
Austin-seeing a man ignite for Christ
Meeting with Hal-so who is Jesus?
Steve Edwards-phone calls and a coffee spill

501cwhat??
Learning who we are as a ministry
Talking with Uncle Fred
Buying a domain
Meetings with the Board of Elders
Mission statement formation
Meeting with Dan

Renovo Sunday-Jesus Changing lives
$100 donation from student
Vicki-a Connecticut woman meets a Connecticut Girl
Abe
Gary
Carl
Organizations getting involved
Moving inside
Ben and Leslie

New Opportunities
Mexico Mission trip-God changing hearts
Women's Conference- Come away with Me
Jail/Men Ministry

Be blessed and I look forward to sharing the amazing works of God with you.

Luke 12:38-Clothe yourselves in service, awaiting His coming in glory!

Change of Plans

So we decided on two weeks from Sunday, the 3rd. I knew that People's Park was not going to be an option, so my next endeavor was to find a place. I kept praying and knew that God would provide. That Monday, on my way to class, Paula from parks and rec gave me a call. She told me that there would be no way that they could grant us permission to use the park. She emphasized the fact that they had made an effort to "clean it up", hoping to bring more families to that area as opposed to the usual bums. She gave me two options: the Library and Trinity Episcopal Church. Immediately, I started making phone calls.

I first called Trinity to see if they would be able to provide a place. They had this beautiful courtyard which would be perfect for the "picnic" atmosphere we were trying to create. Father Don was unavailable at the time, but I left a message. Between classes and the next few days, we kept missing each other. By the time Thursday rolled around, Father Don had left for St. Louis, and wouldn't be back until that Monday. So in my mind, I closed the door, knowing God had ordained this vision and went for the Library.

That weekend, following a small group leadership training meeting, I went and got a membership to the library. I filled out the forms, requesting an area outside of the library and prayed that God would provide. That Sunday at Connexion, we made the announcement, with sign ups in the back. We left that day with 20 more people on our list for volunteers. We didn't have a place to serve the lunch, but we had the hearts. Sunday, we had a C-group lunch. Andrew came up to me in the middle of it all telling me about this man, Hal, which one of the guys had told him about. Apparently 4 years ago, Hal had talked to this guy and given him his number. Rob had been carrying it in his wallet for that length of time and now he knew why. Hal was extremely involved with the homeless culture downtown. I smiled as another door seemed to be opening.

Tuesday morning welcomed a call from Father Don. He initially expressed concern of conflicting with a church that served breakfast on Sunday mornings. I told him our main aim was lunch, looking to add to, not detract from the mission. Once understood, he not only welcomed us to use the facility, but offered to provide me with a key to the iron gates, so that we could not only do it this coming week, but as often as we so desired. My heart lept for joy! I made quick call to Andrew on my way to class and prepared myself for a blessing of the day.

I was scheduled on Tuesday to meet with Leslie for lunch. For some reason, God had put her on my heart to talk to about becoming involved in the ministry leadership. Andrew and I knew we needed to form some sort of core group to do the "behind the scenes" work. So far, we had the two of us, Paul, Jonathan, Ali, and most recently Ben. I met with her and I just knew that God wanted her on that team. I had a class at 2:30, we were done with lunch at 1, so I asked her to come with me to find Carl. We hadn't seen him much, so I figured I would try the usual places.

As expected, he was nowhere to be found, but along the way, we told people about the upcoming lunch. On our way back towards campus, we saw a man tucked away in the doorway of Trinity. I asked if she wanted to speak with him. We went together to talk to this man, hiding in the door from the wet weather. Everything he had on him was soaked. He was upset, but began talking with us. Clearly intoxicated, his speech was slurred. He told us stories of being the best dancer in high school, how his wife had left him with nothing, and how his $2000 social security check was coming that night and he would soon make his way to Florida to chase a love. We asked him if he could come to the lunch to help. "I'm not going to make it that long," he replied. He told us of how for the past 20 years, he tried to drink himself to death. "I just want to die. There's not point in this any more," he would say. Brent knew a lot of trivial facts, he told us about music and Elvis-especially a dinner he had had with him in Las Vegas. He recited the helping verbs without flaw, and above all of this expressed a lack of desire to know or even talk about God. Leslie and I explained the hope found at the cross, but he was blinded by the Jack Daniels, Beer, and years of apathy which plagued his life.

The rest of the week, Andrew and I posted flyers, letting everyone know about our meal. I was excited to see what He would do in the midst of everything. He had provided the people to serve, the place, now all that was needed were those who needed a warm meal on Sunday, and a taste of His mercy. We stopped by the church on Wednesday to pick up the key and talked with Father Don. I asked Don about Hal. Hal had been an Episcopal priest and I figured Don would at least know about him. Not only did he know about him, he was friends with him. Hal was still alive and kickin at age 88.

We had a meeting set for Thursday night following the Campus Crusade meeting. Nathanael happened to be there that week and I invited him over to hang out. I had no idea why I felt the need, but God made it clear as time went on. Paul presented us with a menu of Chicken soup, caesar salad, fruit salad and iced tea. Leslie, Jon, Ali, Andrew, Ben, Paul, and soon Nathanael showed up at the meeting. I looked around as we prayed, marvelling at the beauty of what God was doing. God had placed certain areas of the ministry on our hearts-for Leslie it was prayer, for Andrew it was leadership, for Ben it was volunteers, and for Paul it was food.

Friday night, we went grocery shopping. Saturday, we all got together to make the food for 25 people. It was a blessed time of fellowship. Andrew and I got together later and prayed for the coming day-for weather and everything. We were ready for what He had for us.

Sunday came and Paul was prepping the food in the church kitchen. We thought to purchase coolers instead of always borrowing the church's. So we filled up the soup cooler, filled up the iced tea, packed up the car, and made our way downtown. As we were setting up, an old man hobbled over to the courtyard. He was dressed in a blue suit and tie, equipped with a cane. It was Hal. I was elated! I went to Andrew, pulling him away from a conversation and he began talking with Hal. We prayed, opened the gates and began our lunch. We served about 50 people that day with the food we had made. People had the chance to sit, eat and talk with one another. God had blessed it.

Its funny to look back nearly three months later to see how far God has brought us. And I will continue to write the stories, because I do know it is important to remember the intricacies of God's hand. As of now, we have had four events, about to have our fifth lunch. Our volunteer base has grown from 9 to 85. Our leadership team has grown from 5 to 11 and at least 3 of the 11 feel a call to take this to a global level.

God's showing us His plan, providing clarity. Renovo is more than just us getting together to make food, but rather this amazing opportunity for our generation to rise up and proclaim His gospel. To know Him and make Him known by loving His people. Not to us, but to His name be all glory, honor and praise. Jehovah Jireh, God our Provider, has begun to pave a way of radical ministry...something to which a handful of us feel called for the remainder of our time on this Earth.

And all God's people sing out "Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! He reigns!" He reigns!

~Amy