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join us in beginning a new chapter at eikon Posted by Ryan Byrd 09.01.2010 7:56 am

new building kickoff september

we recently shared about the big changes occurring here at eikon and we’ve really been glad to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many sharing in our excitement. if you haven’t heard about the changes, take a minute to read through the blog post that lays out the basic ideas. following those announcements, we gathered a few weeks ago at our new space for a bit of a preview of sorts. once again, we were excited to get great feedback and create an energy surrounding our upcoming move.

well, we have now reached the time for that move.

on sunday, september 12, we’ll make the permanent move to our new space at 101 n. woodrow st. (a block east of the markham/kavanaugh intersection near pizza d’action). as you’ve read in the aforementioned (linked) blog post, this gathering will include a shared meal, conversation and a teaching time.

one of the things we’re most excited about is that it will kickoff not only a new space and new format to our gatherings, but a 3-month look at all things jesus: his life, death, birth, ministry, values, ethics, trials, fears, relationships and everything you might imagine that jesus did that now informs our lives. to be frank, we’re really trying to cut away the crap and fluff and hone in on what it means to be people who follow in the way of jesus.

it’s a big time for our community and we’d love for you to be a part of it. what about those reading this that are already a part of our community? pass this blog post along. put it on twitter. invite a coworker. invite friends we’ve missed on our facebook event. spread the word.

so, if you’ve desired to come check out eikon, there absolutely couldn’t be a better time than now. see you on september 12 at 6!

if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me (ryan) at ryan [at] eikonthechurch [dot] com.

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Posted in announcements, core values, events, gatherings, information, worship | 1 Comment »



an epic backpack. an epic meal. Posted by John Hardin 08.09.2010 8:03 am

john hardin montana backpack meal

Last week three (now) friends and I did a backpacking trek in the Beartooth Mountains of south central Montana. The only person out of my three backpacking companions I knew before the trip was my friend Thad from Nashville. He and I have known each other for only a year or so. His friend Jon lives in Bozeman, MT and largely put the trip together. Jon’s friend Mark went along too and neither Thad nor I had ever met him. The point being that the four of us didn’t start this trip out with a deep, close friendship.

Every multi-day backpacking trip has that “hardest” day and last Friday was ours. We had spent the couple days before hiking many miles in tough (but gloriously beautiful) terrain with 40 lbs each on our backs, fighting off mosquitoes that were as omnipresent as god him/her/itself, and enjoying some of the best conversation I have had in a long time.

On Friday, after already covering many mountainous miles, I fell in a cold stream and my boots were soaked. Jon accidentally threw his boots in some water while crossing. We kept going. Climbing. Bouldering. Crossing. At some point the conversation stopped and the four of us just kept putting one foot in front of the other—each within our own minds contemplating things that matter and simply persevering. We got to our original destination, Crystal Lake, and a thunderstorm hit. We decided to keep going and climb up one more ascent—our steepest of the trip—to Maryott Lake. I’m severely acrophobic and had a bona fide panic attack on the way up. Thank god I brought my Xanax with me. (More on that in a future The Wes Gazette post.)

We got to the top, found the lake, and made camp. We were exhausted. Our feet and legs were sore. My boots were still wet. Jon had blisters. And we were hungry. What happened next is one of the best memories I have of the trip.

Mark and Thad filtered water from the lake while Jon and I got ready to cook. We all changed into clean(ish) dry clothes, gathered around the stove and sipped on some scotch as the water came to a boil. First we had some dried minestrone, then some Katmandu Curry, and then topped it off with some apple cobbler. We talked about Joan Baez and trout. Bruce Springsteen and politics. The challenges of the day and anxiety issues. Our families and the condition of the world. There were plenty of laughs to go around, but also solemnity when appropriate.

Dehydrated backpacker food is not usually the best in the world, but that meal was one of the most memorable I’ve ever had. There was such a sense of accomplishment; the notion of all being in it together—dependent on one another—was strong. We looked after each other and made sure that the weakest among us (generally me) was doing alright. It was a collective even in the middle of the rugged, individualistic West and an example of what experiencing things together can do.

I mentioned that Thad was already a friend of mine, but after this trip I now consider him a close friend who I know I will have many profound conversations with in the years to come. Jon’s graciousness and willingness to put others before himself were and are an inspiration. Mark’s steadiness and Socratic style during conversations were calming. My life is now better than it was just 10 days ago because of knowing these guys.

An epic backpack. An epic meal.

I’m terribly excited about the new direction Eikon is going in. I look forward to sharing some food, memories, and some life with all of you.

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Posted in core values, food, leadership, theology | No Comments »



a new direction: announcing the new look of eikon Posted by Ryan Byrd 08.02.2010 1:29 pm

[ok, let's just go ahead and put it out there that we've got some serious blog FAIL going on here… yes friends, we're blog slackers here at eikon, but we promise guarantee swear will attempt with great fervor to update more regularly. ok, onto the news at hand…]

i love quotes. i have a running collection of them that i’ve compiled over quite some time. awhile back, i came across one that i’ve repeated several times in conversations as we’ve prepared for the next steps for eikon. novelist ellen glasgow once said,

all change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.

as we’ve prepared and planned the big changes here at eikon, we’ve steadily kept in mind that change should be forward-oriented, plotting steps to help us grow and progress as a community.

we think we’ve done that with this new direction.

last night at our weekly gathering, we laid it all out, but we wanted to share it with our online community as well. obviously, online discourse is a bit more limited than actually being a part of our gathering, but i’ll try to relay the news as close to how it occurred last night as possible.

VALUES

more than anything, change that is actually growth is steered by a set of guiding values. while you can read a more a more church-defining set of guiding theologies here, there were some specific values that led to the new direction:

• jesus as primary value
• first church values (taken from an ongoing series)
• flattened leadership
• social justice
• financial responsibility - 50/50 value
• jesus-centered community

MEETING SPACE

we’re moving! we’ve been deeply thankful for r street community church’s willingness to let us crash at their place for the past 6 months, but it’s time to move on.

the space—at 101 n. woodrow st. (near the corner of kavanaugh & markham)—will allow for a hybrid house/”traditional” church setting and atmosphere. on one hand, because of the fact that it’s a converted house, it has retained an intimate vibe that corresponds with the surrounding neighborhoods (stifft’s station, capitol view, hillcrest). on the other hand, because it’s been converted into a meeting space, it will allow for larger groups and teaching/conversation times.

additionally, it will provide upstairs round-the-clock office space, allowing for meetings, quiet space and storage). we’re also excited that the building comes equipped with a full kitchen, which will lend itself to other announcements (keep reading!).

here’s some pictures of the building (interior pics to come):

new building new building

CHILDREN

as we’ve searched for meeting spaces over the last year, one of our primary concerns was a space for children. quite frankly, some places met every single criterion we had, but was shot down due to lack of a children’s space. despite the small size of this space, we’re still excited to offer a dedicated space with structured learning and activity time for children 5 years and younger.

SHARED MEAL

as we’ve discussed in previous gatherings, there’s something transcendent, something sacred about a shared meal. now, we’ll make that a core feature of our weekly gatherings. every single week, we’ll begin our time together at 6 p.m. with a meal that’s prepared by us. whether it’s a single family, multiple families or potluck-style, each week will feature a family-style dinner.

we’re particularly interested in sustainability, recycling and waste reduction, so we’re committed to using real plates/utensils/glasses/etc and encouraging people to use locals meats/produce/etc when preparing the meals. we also think this will be a great way to involve people outside of our community. do you have a friend who loves to cook? or a friend who loves to eat? get them involved. sitting down to eat is a universally unifying experience and we hope to incorporate that into our gatherings.

TEACHING

quite frankly, it’s good to hear more than just ryan and the occasional john-led night. we want and need to hear from multiple voices with varying viewpoints and leadership styles. from “traditional” teaching to conversational times to interactive learning sessions, we hope to incorporate a wide array of gatherings that will connect with a wide array of people.

we’ll be asking a number of people to lead the teaching times. whether you think you’re a “teacher” or a “pastor” or even a leader, we’d love for varying voices to lead our discussion time together. in addition to standard teaching/discussion times, we also plan to have “open mic” nights that are open forum conversations as well as “traditional” worship nights.

GATHERINGS

we want to allow plenty of time for dinner which will include conversational time and getting-to-know-you time with others. we encourage families to eat together. whereas children are welcome to stay, we strongly encourage parents to take their children to the upstairs children’s room at 6:45. for the next hour-ish, we’ll engage in a teaching/conversation time.

GATHERINGS

we’ll continue to gather at 6 p.m. each sunday night (for those bringing food, please arrive in time so that people can begin eating at 6 p.m. sharp). we want to allow plenty of time for dinner which will include conversational time and getting-to-know-you time with others. we encourage families to eat together. whereas children are welcome to stay, we strongly encourage parents to take their children to the upstairs children’s room no later than 6:45. for the next hour-ish, we’ll engage in a teaching/conversation time.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

we’ll officially make the permanent move to our new space on sunday, september 12. in the meantime, here’s the schedule of what/where we’re doing:

august 8: regular gathering :: r street building
august 15: preview night :: new building (101 n. woodrow st.)
august 22: regular gathering :: r street building
august 29: worship night :: TBA
september 5: off for labor day (possible casual gathering somewhere)
september 12: kickoff event :: new building (101 n. woodrow st.)

so, there you have it. we’re really excited about the new direction and we think it will be an opportunity to spark growth and help us to engage much more in the way of jesus. like i said, a lot of information is just not best communicated in this format, as compared to our gathering last night. so, if you have any questions, feel free to leave comments or email me (ryan) at ryan [at] eikonthechurch [dot] com.

in the meantime, spread the word: tweet it, update it, text it, email it, blog it. maybe even tell a real life human being! :)

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Posted in announcements, childcare, core values, food, gatherings, information, leadership, little rock, social justice, worship | 5 Comments »



cityView: rich wiebe Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.26.2010 8:47 am

cityView blog series

When the opportunity to write this piece arrived in my inbox I jumped at the chance; easy enough, I thought. Then I realized it would, indeed, bring me a difficult task: editing the terribly confounding mass; expressing the seemingly inexpressible in 500 words or less. Forgive me if I go astray of your connotations of faith, or religion.

As spiritual seekers we seem to come to a point in our lives where we ask of the expanse before us: “why?” In my mind a religion provides a framework for finding an answer to this question and prescribe a method one can employ to bring meaning to their life. Zen buddhism provides the framework I can comprehend and put into use with every action I take and decision I have to make.

I think that Buddha or Jesus probably walked this earth. I think that I am just a person. I do not know what exists beyond my perception, it very well may be God as expressed in Christianity. But, I do know what my existence thus far has shown me. What I make of the understanding I infer from my past experience is up to me.

If I take a moment, while not caught up in my mind’s negative perceptions, to understand the mind’s object I know it is beneficial to address it with love and compassion. The object of mind can also be seen with fear and loathing. How do I choose to see? It seems apparent, from experience with this world, that resentment and anger do not have much positive benefit. While fear may bring about an occasional burst of necessary adrenaline to help remove me from a dangerous situation, there are no wolves or bears at my door. The existence, then, of fear is a matter of perception. I find it quite possible, if not guaranteed, that we all have the same emotions brought about by our perceptions.

What, then, could it be that brings about the capacity to have sympathetic responses to the sufferings or joys of others? Looking into the eyes of the people I speak with I can see that they are human. Knowing they have the same capacity for love and fear I can have compassion for their situation. When our similar nature is viewed on a grander scale, it seem possible that we are of the same mind. This capacity to empathize is what I see as the spiritual component of our existence.

Having a deeply abiding love and compassion for others, their creations, and the manifestations of our world seem to me to be the very good way to travel through this life. Sadness and fear may come and go, but with compassion they can be overcome.

May your travels in this life be safe and happy.

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Posted in blog stuff, cityview, core values, culture, little rock, theology | 9 Comments »



cityView: darren huckey Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.21.2010 9:18 am

cityView blog series

The Men of the Great Assembly said three things: Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence around the Torah (m.Avot 1:1)

The above quote from the Mishnah (the Oral Law of Judaism) is, in essence, a recapitulation of the words of our Master in Matthew 28:18-20. There are three components: 1) Authority, 2) Discipleship, 3) Observance. Unfortunately, I have to leave this unattended. However, we could write volumes on the parallels of these two passages.

In recent years there has been a resurgence of discovering the Jewishness of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, placing him back into his Jewish (and Biblical) context. It has allowed us to take Jewish passages, such as the one above and help us contextualize the message of our Master. But only recently has this discovery moved from the hypothetical to the tangible. And, as people come to these realizations, there are Messianic groups popping up all over the world.

So, what’s all the fuss? In a nutshell, people are rediscovering the rich Jewish heritage of Jesus and his disciples (including Paul), which point to a more Hebraic context and understanding of the New Testament. And this “new perspective” is freeing people from the paralyzing fear of “legalism” within the body of Messiah. Dallas Willard spoke well when he said:

“Currently we are not only saved by grace; we are paralyzed by it. We find it hard to see that grace is not opposed to effort, but is opposed to earning. Earning and effort are not the same thing. Earning is an attitude, and grace is definitely opposed to that. But it is not opposed to effort.”

In this new paradigm on Jesus and his Apostles there is freedom, and it is transforming lives and I believe it will transform our world. Here are a few things this new understanding is changing. We are realizing:

That Jesus & his Apostles (including Paul) were observant Jews their entire lives, and highly esteemed and lived by the Law of Moses, understanding it in its proper context of guidance for the spiritually resurrected, rather than salvation of the lost.

That Christ’s message of the Kingdom affects not just our theological perspective, but our lifestyle.

There is more to our faith than salvation (spiritual conception).

That the commandments of God (the Law of Moses) are not in opposition to the Gospel or the work of Christ.

That Paul’s gospel is not in opposition to the Law.

That εργων νομου is not equivalent to מיצות.

That the Gospel is more than a creed, or belief system, but a life of repentance and a call to holiness which affects the world around us.

That, as one philosopher said, “We can only possess what we experience.” Hence, living out the biblical expressions of faith actually endear us to a deeper understanding and relationship with the Almighty.

That “living like Jesus” is more than wearing a bracelet. It’s discipleship that makes us want to live like our Master, not an attempt at earning our salvation.

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Posted in cityview, core values, culture, little rock, theology | 3 Comments »



cityView: sarah orsborn Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.19.2010 8:07 am

cityView blog series

About three years ago, my husband and I set out on a course that completely revolutionized our faith. We were sitting in our car when we heard No Impact Man being interviewed on NPR. Now the author of a book and star of a documentary, he was just a guy trying to live in NYC with his family with little to no net environmental impact, and blogging all the way. As we began to examine the ways our lives impact our environment, we discovered Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis. We started listening to Bell’s sermons via iTunes. We discovered Brian McLaren’s book The Secret Message of Jesus. And through these authors we discovered the thing which completely changed our way of believing: Jesus didn’t come just so we could go away to some heavenly kingdom when we die, but so we can help make that heavenly kingdom a reality here on earth, right now. When Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” He literally meant right here and right now. The kingdom where God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven, the New Jerusalem, is exploding into our reality starting with the resurrection and Jesus’ defeat of death. And we have the honor of being asked to participate in God’s project of renewing all things.

In Genesis 2, when God puts Adam in the Garden of Eden and tells him to work and take care of this creation, the Hebrew verbs “to work” and “to take care of” are words used almost exclusively elsewhere to describe the worship of God. When we take care of creation, we are worshipping its Creator.

Rather than treat this planet as someplace disposable we’re leaving when we go to heaven, we believe we have a divine assignment to care for our environment and everything in it. One area of our lives in which this is most visible is the way we eat. And we believe food is literally a spiritual issue! Many of Jesus’ teachings took place in the context of a meal, whether it was the feeding of the 5,000, Mary anointing His feet with perfume and tears, the Last Supper, or the seaside breakfast He prepared for His disciples following His resurrection, when some of them didn’t recognize Him until they broke bread together. I think a case could be made that some of the times we can best see Jesus are when we are sharing a meal with others.

In our lives, this means eating food that is grown with respect to the planet, the workers who grow and harvest it, and the food itself. One interesting thing I have learned about Jews like Jesus is that when they pray before a meal, they do so in order to bless God for His provision, not to ask Him to bless their food. To have food to eat at all is to already be blessed. To choose food that is produced in a way that respects all of creation is to turn eating itself into an act of thankfulness and worship, even as we anticipate a joyous feast in God’s coming kingdom.

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Posted in blog stuff, cityview, core values, culture, little rock, theology | 4 Comments »



cityView: tom hudson Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.18.2010 9:09 am

cityView blog series

If you want to believe the world was created 6,000 years ago, and some guy crammed two each of five million species onto a boat less than 500 feet long for forty days, and another guy was revived after being dead for three days, after his blood pooled and separated, after rigor mortis came and went, after his brain was deprived of oxygen for 72 hours … go for it. I don’t have the energy to refute premodern cosmologies and annoyingly persistent tribal mythologies.

But at least consider that four hundred years ago, the earth was flat and located at the center of the universe, and the delusional jerk who touted something different, something threatening, was convicted of heresy.

If you want to believe God is all good and simultaneously all-powerful, yet also that bad things happen…enjoy. I’m not sure how to illuminate your and your holy book’s self-contradictions.

But if you want to think a little brown guy named Yeshua, as reported in your book, was onto something valuable – maybe even seriously earth-shaping truths…and you want to follow his teachings…that intrigues me.

For in a world where there are no epistemologically sound indicators of the nature of God, all I care about are results: things I can see. And Jesus produced results. But he was a bit of a delusional jerk too, and certainly threatening and heretical, and he got what was coming to him, as did Galileo after him, for similar reasons.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to be Jewish back then, perpetually waiting for the Messiah to come fix everything.

I also cannot imagine being contemporary Christian, believing that the Messiah has finished at least most of his work, and that everything that matters is taken care of. When I look at the world, I see that most everything I care about is not taken care of.

“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.” Clearly, Jesus cared about results. But I’m not sure he believed everything was tidy when he checked out either. Indeed, he commanded his followers to pick up where he left off. And some say that the (passivity-breeding, remarkably pre-messianic) notion that he will return to fix everything again is up for interpretation.

Like Jesus, I expect his followers to be concerned with results. Yet among Christians, and in areas of the country strongly influenced by Christians, we see the highest rates of divorce, infidelity, murder, STDs, teen pregnancy, single parent homes, infant mortality, and obesity. We see the poorest health care systems, least high school graduation, strongest socioeconomic stratification, and legislated bigotry, much of which Christians legitimize with scripture.

I don’t blame social maladies on Christianity, but suggest that contemporary Christians are not concerned with the results Jesus prioritized. And I don’t need to champion my personal socialist Jesus for that to be apparent.

I am also not set against believing in some God. If I choose to, it will not be because I think God exists, but because such belief yields results that matter.

But until Christians bear fruit, I feel compelled to cast my lot with the jerks. I take up arms with heretical jackasses who think everything is not alright. I fight for the powerless, even at the expense of those in power. I want to make comfortable people squirm, and comfort those who want to change the world.

And behold. Sometimes the world really does change shape.

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Posted in blog stuff, cityview, core values, culture, little rock, theology | 5 Comments »



cityView: amy bradley-hole Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.17.2010 2:48 pm

cityView blog series

I was recently on a floating trip on a river. It was a pretty pleasant river, but it had its fair share of rapids and rocky patches. And unbeknownst to me, there was a huge waterfall just around one of its bends. I saw it and started panicking, scared I was going to plunge over the edge and crash and burn. But at the last minute, someone on the bank saw me, and stuck a huge branch out towards me. I could save myself from the waterfall by just jumping off my raft and grabbing hold. But I didn’t. I froze, because I didn’t want to risk missing the branch completely and falling into cold, roiling water. How stupid was that? I was going to risk certain harm for uncertain safety, simply because I was afraid of what was in between.

Alright, alright, enough with the terrible allegory already. No, I haven’t been on a float trip lately. But yes, I have been about to crash and burn. And yes, in the midst of all the chaos, someone handed me a lifeline. And YES, I freaked out about it. I kept calling this awesome opportunity my “leap of faith.” Whenever I discussed my situation with anyone, I focused on the “leap” part. It was all about my fear, and the fall, and how much it would hurt if I screwed it up. My language and thought process was quite negative. This leap of faith was a scary thing, indeed.

And then one day, that little voice I hear (which, for me, yes, is Jesus, and who, by the way, is a little West Indian guy in tight pants who sits on my shoulder, but that’s a whole other story) said to me “But you’re forgetting the FAITH part.”

Wow. And so I was. I was all terror, no trust.

There I was, the girl who’s always smugly thinking about how strong her faith is, how solid her relationship with Christ is, forgetting to have any faith at all. I was forgetting to shut up already about the negatives. I was only thinking about the bad that could happen, and forgetting the wonderful ways in which my life could change. They just seemed, like that branch, too far away to be real. So when I took a minute to pause and hand it over to my higher power, I was able to see the beautiful glimpses of faith and grace that surrounded me. I have a family who has my back. I’ve got a community full of the most amazing friends right here in Little Rock who are my support system. I’ve got a church home where I can go to get recharged. And yes, I have a relationship with Jesus. What more could I need? And why, for Heaven’s sake, was I afraid of a little ol’ leap?

So what did I end up doing, you ask? I jumped, of course. And it felt fabulous. And how did it turn out, you wonder? I don’t know. I’m still in mid-air. But at least I know that, as I’m flying, I’m being lifted by faith.

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Posted in blog stuff, cityview, core values, culture, little rock, theology | 1 Comment »



cityView: 10 faith perspectives beyond the walls of eikon Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.12.2010 8:03 am

cityView blog series

faith is everywhere. or lack of faith. or a little faith. regardless of which it is, there’s a bigger conversation occurring in our city than just a single church or a single faith perspective. instead of becoming an insular community, we hope that eikon can be a place that listens to & engages in the broader faith conversation in our city.

with that said, we’re excited to announce a new blog series, cityView, in which we’ll take a shot at doing just that. over the next several weeks, we’ll be hearing from 10 people from around the greater little rock area who will be sharing their faith perspective. views will range from traditional and progressive christian to buddhist to jewish to atheist and all places in between.

no one has been prompted or been asked to push any kind of agenda, but rather open-endedly asked to share their unfiltered view of faith. our goal isn’t to present viewpoints that we necessarily agree with or that assume a particular worldview. ultimately, we want to offer a platform for the larger faith conversation that’s occurring in our city. simply put, we want to be a part of that conversation.

beginning this  friday, we’ll begin to hear these perspectives. we hope that it gives us all a foot in the door, so to speak, to an engaging and worthwhile faith conversation that happens in offices and front porches and online and other churches and bars in and around little rock.

so, look out for these posts and take an opportunity to engage. check back friday for our first post.

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Posted in announcements, blog stuff, cityview, core values, culture, little rock | No Comments »



help support lauren and cure international Posted by John Hardin 05.07.2010 7:58 am

cure international

EDITORIAL NOTE: One of the values we have here at Eikon is putting our money where our mouth is. No doubt, we have limited financial resources and aren’t able to give to every person or organization, but we certainly want to help out when we have the opportunity and ability. One of the people in our community, Lauren Stephens, has the opportunity to travel with Cure International to Uganda this summer. It’s an incredible organization and opportunity for Lauren, but it comes at a steep cost. So, I asked Lauren to write a little about the trip and what it will take to get here there. Eikon is going to make a significant gift (well, for our little church anyway), but we want to invite you to contribute as well. If you want to give through Eikon, simply write a check to Eikon Church and in the memo line put Lauren Stephens – Uganda. *100%* of those funds will go to this specific cause. Mail the check to:

Eikon Church
2501 Kavanaugh Blvd, Unit B
Little Rock, AR 72205

Thanks!

—————————————————————————

I will be going to Uganda, Africa with CURE International July 26 – August 10. CURE International is a non-profit organization that has established hospitals in five different countries in Africa, two in the Middle East also in Honduras, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. CURE has seen 1 million patients and performed 70,000 life-transforming surgeries. The hospital in Uganda specializes in the treatment of children with cleft palate, hydrocephalus, club foot, spinal deformities, and other crippling orthopedic conditions. Along with the treatment of these beautiful children they also educate the parents and families on living healthier lives with the resources they have.

I have chosen to go into the nursing field because I have found that my passion is to help others and to try to make a difference in the world. I want to go on this mission trip so that I can be a very small part of what will be a turning point in these children’s lives of living without fear of them and their families being ridiculed for what their culture calls a curse but is a medical condition that can be remedied. While there, I will have the opportunity to be in the operating room observing, but mainly working with the children who are recovering from the surgeries, spending time with the families serving them food and offering support, and also with the children before their operations and their brothers and sisters. We will also take five days to travel with a mobile clinic to reach out to surrounding villages and communities to offer basic healthcare needs.

In order to go and be given this opportunity I need to raise a total of $3800. I am coming up on a few deadlines. The first being $2000 by May 15th, next one is on May 26th to have $900 and the final payment of $900 will be due on June 26th. The funds raised will cover the majority of the costs for me but it also covers a portion of what it takes to get supplies there and helps keep the hospital functioning such as food, medicine, beds, etc…

-Lauren Stephens

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Posted in core values, information, missions, social justice, theology | 1 Comment »



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