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!