10/22 – we welcomed her for the first time – she just wanted food
10/23 – she returned, expressed interest in knowing more about Jesus
10/28 – she returned, asking prayer for her boyfriend and kids
11/4 – she returned, asking for prayer “just to make it today”
11/5 – she returned, asking for shirts, socks, and food
11/7 – she returned, and decided to become a follower of Jesus Christ!
That’s 6 interactions with us!
Because she was here on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, she interacted at least once with most of our volunteers (who are from 8 Christian organizations).
Her 17-day journey is summed up so powerfully from the notes on her prayer cards . . . from “just food” on 10/22 to “accepted Jesus” on 11/7.
She is why.
She is why God sent His Son Jesus Christ.
She is why Community Life exists.
She is why we are partnering together to love our unsheltered neighbors.
She is why we go out on the streets and invite people to 2390 Military Tr..
She is why we pray and wait expectantly for God to bring people to 2390 Military Tr..
Last Sunday morning I saw missional unity, and I want you to hear about it and celebrate with me!
I walked into a Lake Worth building that years ago was the gathering place for Romanian Christians to worship God.
In recent years, the building has been the home of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches, led by Senior Pastor Darryl Nelson (pictured above). Some of you may know that Pastor Darryl’s earthly journey ended in February.
When I first moved to South Florida in 2012 to start a church in Delray, I met another Pastor, Daniel Williams, who was also starting a church in Delray: Redemption Church. For the past 12 years, I have known Daniel as a friend, as a humble man who loves God and His Word – a pastor who connects with and serves and encourages and blesses other pastors. His life embodies the missional unity I am always talking about.
One of those pastors Daniel connected with and served and encouraged and blessed (of course the blessing was mutual!) was Darryl Nelson. The two leaders are pictured below ministering together a decade ago.
As the leaders of Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches prayed about how God was calling them to move forward after losing their beloved leader, they reached out to Pastor Darryl’s friend, Pastor Daniel Williams.
Then, something extraordinary happened. You might call it an answer to Jesus’ prayer for unity. Over the next few months, God led Redemption Church and Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches to become 1 congregation.
Last Sunday I was honored to experience Pastor Daniel being installed as the Lead Pastor of that one new congregation.
So many beautiful stories to tell from that service . . . but I will mention just two.
Duane Roberts, the Pastor of Calvary Chapel Boynton Beach, told the story of how he attended Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches two decades ago. He wasn’t even devoting his life to following the Lord, and he had hoped to sneak out before anyone talked with him. But Pastor Darryl didn’t let that happen, and that conversation turned into a mentorship that led to Duane eventually becoming Pastor Duane. So it was so beautiful to see Pastor Duane standing at the pulpit where his mentor used to preach, and offering words from his heart as a charge to Pastor Daniel.
Pastor Daniel invited me to stand with a handful of other pastors as Pastor Daniel’s father prayed a prayer of blessing over Pastor Daniel’s leadership of the new united congregation.
At the end of the service, those same pastors stood at the front of the room to pray for anyone who wanted prayer for the Holy Spirit to work through them as God continues to work through Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches. What a beautiful celebration of Pentecost Sunday, a day when we remember how God’s Spirit was poured out on everyone – not just on the leaders!.
As Pastor Darryl’s wife Aimee said, what happened on Sunday happened on the foundation that God led the Romanian Christians to lay years ago.
On that foundation God led Pastor Darryl and the congregation he led to build a household of God.
Meanwhile, God had been leading Pastor Daniel and Redemption Church to build a household of God a few miles down the road.
God was present and working every moment, accomplishing each part of the physical and spiritual structure he had designed. No one but God saw the master plan, but it was so beautiful for me to see part of the master plan unfold on Sunday.
Just imagine the part of the plan that isn’t yet visible. Imagine what God can do when brothers dwell together in unity. I hear God commands his blessing on that, so I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do next.
This is Missional Unity on Monday, 1/15/24 . . . honored to reconnect with the FAMU Palm Beach County Alumni crew and feed more than 100 people God created and loves! Ric Bradshaw and the Palm Beach County Sheriffs donated over $1000 in gift cards for us to hand out! Powerful conversations with two men who live on the streets of West Palm Beach, Joshua and James. Celebrating MLK Day of Service!
How about joining us to serve a FREE DINNER to anyone who needs it? Monday, January 15th ~ 3pm-6pm 19th Street & Hogans (Pleasant City) in West Palm Beach
Text 833-450-4333 to let us know you want to serve!
Perhaps you are one of the many church-goers who would rather eat a plate full of your least favorite vegetable than attend a prayer meeting.
But what if a situation was so dire, if people were in such crisis, if the stakes were life and death . . . if you believed prayer could save a life, would you pray?
The opioid crisis is literally a life or death crisis.
Why not come and spend an hour praying for those who are struggling with addiction Why not join us as we pray for people who know how to rescue addicts from death?
Those leaders will be with us.
Our City Manager from Greenacres will be with us.
Will you be with us as we gain spiritual momentum in a race for the lives of people God created, loves, and wants to set free?
Saturday, September 15 ~ 7pm
3812 Jog Rd. Greenacres, FL 33467
In 1881, a new movement began waving the banner of salvation in Jesus Christ and proclaiming the unity of every follower of Jesus Christ.
Churches were started all over the world, and in 1935, the First Church of God in West Palm Beach began.
Twenty years ago, that church made some difficult decisions and sacrifices to further God’s mission. They sold their building, renamed themselves Church in the Palms, and developed a vision to build a mission outpost that would be used every day of the week to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people in its community. By the time the church moved to their new campus ten years later, the vision included sharing that mission outpost with other churches. They called the 16,000 square foot building the Community Life Center.
Two years after that campus opened, God began to nudge a pastor in Virginia out of a fruitful ministry. Compelled by its spiritual need and intrigued by its cultural diversity, the pastor’s family made a challenging transition to South Florida in 2012. After a few years of ministry in this unique culture, God gave that pastor, Shawn Allen, a strategic vision for Missional Unity: inspiring Christians to see God’s vision of unity, connect together, and join God’s mission together.
What happened next was . . . a beautiful fulfillment of the dreams of a new movement in the 1880s,
the continued fruit of a new South Florida church plant in the 1930s, and a realization of that church’s renewed missional vision at the turn of the century.
In 2017, as the new Senior Pastor of Church in the Palms, Shawn invited the 7 Christian organizations who were meeting in the Community Life Center to partner together on mission. All 7 organizations agreed to join God’s mission together!
Since then, Community Life has grown to 18 non-profit organizations who are partnering together to give our community life
through ministries such as feeding the hungry,
raising the reading level of elementary school students,
and advocating for foster children.
Some of the partners are based out of the Community Life Center, like the 10 churches who offer worship services in Spanish, Creole, and English to our diverse community. Other partners are located around our county, and we are all on God’s mission together!
To learn more about Missional Unity and the strategic vision for Community Life, visit missionalunity.com.
If you want to learn how you or your organization
can partner together with Community Life, contact us or join us for at the Community Life Center
for our Community Life Partners Connection on Wednesday, October 3, 2018.
Imagine 32 people from 10 different churches telling the story of Jesus’ last week on earth with the rhythms and harmonies of jazz, blues, funk, and more!
“Spectacular job of honoring Jesus. The music was awesome and the singers were great.”
“What a service! What a performance! I think Jesus was right there in the room cheering you all on! Even if you are a committed Christian, I am thinking we were (I was) sooooo moved and gave a whole new meaning to that story.”
“Incredible service. Made me very emotional!”
“It was awesome – I’m glad I was part of the service”
Palm Sunday Jazz was truly a picture of what I call missional unity. People who don’t usually worship together . . . working together to share Jesus with their community.
All it takes is a few texts, emails, or social media posts . . . and you can encourage your friends to share their resources with these kids!
I am looking for 15 team members who will try to raise $500 each. Even if you don’t make it to $500, every ounce of effort will be worth it! Click the link below to join our team . . .
[Missional Unity Teammate Jessica Skirkanich Casillas raised $700 last year, and Missional Unity Teammate Suzi Harmon Eby raised $575 last year – so yes, you can do it!]
November 13: Enjoyed lunch with a friend, Rod Rivera, whose combination of superior age and athleticism inspired me to come out of my running retirement.
November 23: With my brand new running shoes laced up, ran .2 of a mile (yes, that’s two-tenths of a mile . . . I invite you to keep reading while you laugh).
December – January: Gradually increased my distance and limited my speed to prevent myself from destroying my knees like the time I tried to train for a marathon.
February 6: Now running 2 miles, I began to dream about running a 5K (3 mile race). Because I love turning normal events into opportunities for people to share their resources (Jazz Nativity, anyone?), I signed up for the Children’s Home Society’s 5K Race, committing to raise money for foster kids.
March 29: I individually texted almost every single person I had texted in the last year, asking each of them to share $5 for foster kids. It worked!
Over the next few days, the Children’s Home Society received $835 from my friends, making me the 2nd highest individual fundraiser for the event! I also convinced four other runners to join my team, which brought my MissionalUnity team total to $925.
Can you believe that? $925. Thank you to each person who shared $5! Here’s some of the ways you supported foster kids with your generosity:
Transition home (for homeless teen moms – only 3 such programs in PBC and all the beds are always full)
Safe Harbor (for troubled and runaway teens – they receive therapy and time to figure things out before the teen returns home)
Bridges (a preventative program in the community to help with parenting skills)
Street outreach (helps runaway teens)
Gifts (to help create normalcy for the lives of foster children)
April 2: Ran the 5K. Had to stop three times in the first mile to stretch a calf injury, and actually made a wrong turn at one point (only I could get lost in a race!), but by God’s grace was able to finish 17th overall. My daughter finished 2nd in her age group (go Nellie!).
Most impressive, my MissionalUnity teammate and fellow elder at Church in the Palms, Jerry Barrantes, finished 5th overall!
Hurting my calf during the last few weeks of training prevented me from being in optimal shape for the race. On that 3rd mile, I REALLY wanted to stop and take a break. But you know what kept me going? The 800 bucks my friends had given to foster kids in honor of me finishing that race.
If you are inspired by this story to do something to help foster kids, but don’t want to run 3 miles, join us for Take Heart on May 22nd, 6pm, at Grace Fellowship and learn how you can get involved in the lives of modern-day orphans here in Palm Beach County.
I don’t know about you, but I want to help the 1200 foster kids in Palm Beach County who are looking for a forever home. So I came up with a way to motivate my friends to share their resources with these precious children.
I have spent the last few months training to run a 5K. The race is on Saturday, April 2nd, and I am asking my friends to donate ONE DOLLAR for every kilometer I am running to the Children’s Home Society. The Children’s Home Society helped 76,000 kids and family members last year . . . when you share 5 dollars, you will help provide emergency shelter, counseling and outreach, and help kids find their forever family through foster care or adoption. If you are ready to bless these kids, click on the link to sponsor me . . .
By the way, if you love the idea of walking or running to raise money for foster kids, join our team! Register for the event and then inspire your friends to support you a dollar per kilometer that you walk or run. Here’s the link, and our team is called Missoinal Unity.
