A fantastic way to give

I read a post today over here that I think is a FABULOUS idea families can use to give on the go. They make "sock lunches" to keep in their car and hand out to the homeless when they are out together as a family. What a great opportunity to share with your kids the importance of beautifying others and living a sent life!

Go check it out!

Mexico Shoeboxes

Dear Mosaic Families-

Sunday we talked about giving with your kids! We have been learning about what it means to be the Church: The People of God. So far, we have discussed that God’s people BLESS, believe, meet, and obey. Today’s topic was: God’s people give, share and encourage. We also revisited this idea from last year.

I thought it would be helpful for our kids to have a practical way to participate in this aspect of being God’s people: Giving.

My good friend, Erin Blinn, is a Mission’s Pastor in Texas and has started a program which provides shoes for needy children in Reynosa, Mexico.

Mosaic Kids has signed up for two shoeboxes this year! We will be filling shoeboxes for a 7 year old boy and a 3 year old girl, who are siblings.

Your kids are encouraged to bring a little allowance money to help cover the cost of the shoes (which Mosaic will purchase), OR to go to the dollar store and pick out goodies for the child. We encourage you to pick out crayons, toothbrush and toothpaste, stickers, matchbox cars or anything else you can think of that would fit in a shoebox! Please bring these items back with you next Sunday, November 29th! We will ship them off to Mexico with Erin and her team to two children in Mexico.

After the trip, Erin and her team will have pictures and information for us about the children we were able to help!

We are very excited to partner in this program.

Here's a note from Erin:

Thank you for your willingness to help with our shoebox program! The little guy in the photo attached this note is Bryan. Last year when we met up with him to give him his shoes, the excited little guy marveled at the Spiderman shoes in his box. Whoever packed the box added some other 4-year-old appropriate goodies.

Bryan unpacked them with delight. Upon discovering a box of crayons in his shoebox, Bryan set the box down, took the crayons out and started dancing in the dusty dirt street shouting, "Colores, colores!" My team and I blinked back tears. Here's a little boy dancing over a box of crayons that you can buy at Wal-mart for $.20 during back-to-school.

This will be the fifth year Grace Vineyard, the church I work at, has participated in bringing shoes to the children of Vamos Tamaulipas, a low-income community in Reynosa, Mexico just south of McAllen, TX. Bryan's story perfectly captures why we take shoes: we believe God's love is practical and that sharing can be as simple as a box of shoes for a little one who might otherwise go without. The community's 520 kids will receive shoes this year, and Grace has committed to providing 300 pairs through our attendees and friends. Which is where you come in. :)

Here's how it works. In September, volunteers traced the feet of each child in the program and sent them to us. We then take the footprints and buy a pair of closed-toed shoes (athletic shoes are best) based on the tracing. The shoes are packed in a Rubbermaid shoebox, and the shoebox is stuffed with age-appropriate goodies (socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, matchbox cars, crayons, stickers, etc).

A team from Grace Vineyard then delivers the shoes door to door December 16-20.

It's pretty simple. It brings a lot of joy. I'd love for you to share in that joy.

And thanks for participating. After the trip I'll send you an update with photos so you can see how your gift affected a community. It's been incredible!!!

Thanks,

Erin

Our Kids!

Just having fun downstairs on a Sunday:

What can you do?

This is a fun video about helping others. It's from the Jelly Telly series called "Kids like you." "Kids like you" is a series of videos where kids talk about how they can serve others. So, gather the kids up again and you can have a great conversation with them about why we do BEAUTIFY projects at Mosaic and what we can do on a daily basis to help others. Check it out!



More at jellytelly.com

The Kingdom is for Everyone

The elementary kids read from the beatitudes on Sunday. I found N.T. Wright's translation so beautiful and helpful:

“Wonderful news for the poor in spirit! The kingdom of heaven is yours.
Wonderful news for the mourners! You’re going to be comforted.
Wonderful news for the meek! You’re going to inherit the earth.
Wonderful news for the people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice! You’re going to be satisfied.
Wonderful news for the merciful! You’ll receive mercy yourselves.
Wonderful news for the pure in heart! You will see God.
Wonderful news for the peacemakers! You’ll be called God’s children.”

-Matthew 5:1-12, translation by N.T. Wright

We talked about how God's Kingdom is any place where God is King. He wants to be King in our hearts and in our lives. And he wants that, not just for us, but for everyone: the broken-hearted, the lonely, the hurting, the homeless. Your kids shared some amazing stories of how they have blessed and shared the Kingdom with others - serving food on Thanksgiving, delivering gifts to single moms, helping the elderly with chores and yard work, delivering lunches with Salt on the Street. They are being hugely impacted by the ways we are living out the Gospel as a community and as individual families. It blesses me big time. God's Kingdom is here, now, and we are helping others to see who He is and how He works, and that He is good.

Our Beautiful Kids!

You guys do some beautiful work! I love seeing our kids and families out serving our community together. It's just so cool. I was blessed to peruse these photos this morning and I hope you are too!

Make a Difference Day!

This Saturday is Make a Difference Day here in Bellingham. Make A Difference Day is a national day of service created to unite volunteers to improve communities across the country. Here in Bellingham, nonprofits in Whatcom County team up with Whatcom Volunteer Center and a thousand volunteers to complete up to 30 projects...in a single day!

Where: Meet at Bellingham High School
When: 9 am

Breakfast and Coffee provided
Projects will all be done by 1 pm
Come ready to work (work clothes)

See you there!

Beautiful Idea!

Since we're learning about Loving our neighbors...

I thought I'd share this idea I just found for a beautify project that you can easily do with young children. Read all about it here. This mom decided to make "happy fortunes" with her children and then place them around town where they would be found by people, perhaps needing a smile. They wrote things like:

God Loves You
You are Beautiful
God thinks you are great
Smile!
etc

You could call them "Beautiful thoughts," "Beauty notes," "Tiny blessings," or whatever you think would help communicate to your kids what you are doing and why. Try it! And then tell us all about it!

image from here

This Sunday - August 17th - Beautify Projects

This Sunday we are gathering at Whatcom Middle School at 9:30am.

We are partnering up with Roosevelt Community Church to serve our community!

If you'd like to drop off your little ones, you may do so! Drop them off between 9:00 & 9:15 at the Neufeld's house! Check your Mosaic E-mail Newsletter for a map (or just e-mail me.) Many Blessings. Enjoy Sunday as Johnny and I continue to enjoy Maui!!!

Helping Hawa

We received the letter below last week. It comes from the orphanage in Mozambique where Amy McMurtrey served last summer. Those of you who were a part of Mosaic then might remember that the children took part in "SENDING" her by collecting toiletries, clothes and toys for the children who are under Pieter and Rika's care. Our kids were really touched and pleased to know that they were making a difference in the life of another child. So, when we got this e-mail, I thought, let's do it again! Plus, Sunday night we were learning about the rhythm of "SEND." This rhythm describes how God sent Jesus to us, Jesus has sent US to be a blessing to all, and we at Mosaic send others to do the same, through friendship, discipleship and mentoring. I thought that helping Hawa with her medical expenses would be a great representation of how we are "sent" and also how even kids can reach out to someone younger than they are! So, feel free to read about Hawa below, and then help your children to decide in their hearts what they should give.

Dear friends,

Hawa is two years old; she is malnourished, and living with AIDS. She has 10% of her immune system. She moves slowly, hardly walking and is very ill. Today she had her Doctor’s appointment, the Doctor thinks she has problems with her liver and her heartbeat was very weak. The doctor is extremely worried about her health and wants Hawa to see a heart specialist here in Mozambique. We have grown to love her so much, she is so fragile when you hold her and it is such a miracle to see her smile. It is going to be expensive for Hawa to visit the heart specialist; on Thursday we will try and make an appointment. We do not know what it will cost, but we do want to help her and she deserves a better life. Please prayerfully consider sowing into her life, she is so precious and has suffered so much in the short time she has lived. Please let us know if you want to give towards her Doctor appointments and medical bills. Please pray for her.

Blessings,
Pieter and Rika Boersma
http://allnationsmozambique.com/

***Mosaic Kids is collecting donations for Hawa during our Gathering on August 10th. If your children would like to help, please make sure they bring their gift with them that morning. Thanks!

August 17th - Beautify Sunday

Sunday, August 17th we are joining Roosevelt Community Church for a service project Sunday. We are looking to provide some childcare for the little ones again, so that you parents can go out and serve freely!!

If you would like to offer up your home as a place for kids to hang out, please e-mail me and let me know. Also, if you are interested in helping with kids, you may e-mail me, or sign up this Sunday, August 10th. We will pass around a sheet for you to sign up your children and/or yourselves... so look for it at our Gathering this week!

Beautify Projects - This Sunday - July 27th

This Sunday we are doing service projects. This is one of those Sundays where we break out of our usual, hard to break habit, of "going to church" in order to "be the church."

There will be several different opportunities to choose from. If you didn't sign up for one, that's ok! Just show up on Sunday morning to Broadway Park at 9am and we'll hear our options together.

If you have little ones, birth through age 5(ish), you have the option to drop them off around the corner at the Hoppis's house between 8:30 and 8:45 am. We'll take care of them so that you can serve! e-mail me for directions.

Let's bring some beauty to that which has been destroyed in our community.

Missional Kids

I just read a great list here on ways that kids can live out their mission and beautify those around them. Go check it out!

Listen & Beautify

We had a GREAT night last night at Mosaic Kids. We're using John to teach the kids our Mosaic rhythms right now. (read more about the rhythms here.)

We started out learning hand motions to the 5 rhythms a few weeks ago. Ask your kids if they know them, because it's pretty neat to watch them say the rhythms and be excited by them!

So, last night, we read the story of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9. Then, I talked to the kids about how by doing this, Jesus brought beauty to this man's life! He allowed him to see the beautiful world, and grass, and his parent's faces for the first time. By healing his blindness, Jesus made this man's life so much more beautiful.

The Bible is a great way for us all to learn what God is like. In it, we see Jesus, who lives these five rhythms we have adopted at Mosaic. To quote my husband:

From the window of the rhythm of study we learn of the God who beautifies the outcast, listens to the lowly, eats with the sinner and sends the unexpected. The outcome would be that as we become better ‘studiers’ of God and his mission we become better ‘doers’ of that mission.

We did this last night with the children. We read about Jesus beautifying the life of the begging blind man, an outcast in his community. And as a response, we spent a few moments listening to God and asking him to show us a lonely, sad, or hurting person in our life, whose life we could make more beautiful. After listening, we made cards, flowers, notes, and other creations to give away. We talked about how we are to be like Jesus, and with His help we can light up the world (John 9:5), and bring beauty to those around us.

It was so precious to see the children listening to God, loving others and thoughtfully creating something to B.L.E.S.S. another.

If you weren't able to join us last night, this is something you could easily do together as a family. So, those of you who were there, make sure to chat with your kids and to help them deliver their beautiful creations. Those of you who missed us still have a chance to lead your children to love and follow Jesus in this way. A great way to verbalize what it means to "beautify" someone's life is: to do something good or nice that makes someone smile. What a great way to beautify someone's life together!

This Sunday - June 29th

This upcoming Sunday, we will be living out our Rhythms together. At Mosaic, we believe that we're not just to go to church, but to be the church together as a community.

Several opportunities on Sunday will be family friendly.

We will be joining up with RCC at their campus (2500 Alabama St) at 9:30 am to help them with a church service at Evergreen Rehab Center, and a neighborhood cleanup project in the Roosevelt neighborhood (families welcome!).

There are also several needs with the CHORE program. Several elderly or disabled people need yard work and house cleaning done. e-mail if you'd like to help!

We will be sending a group to the home of Layne and Kris Hutchins (Dale & Lori McMurtrey's brother & sister-in-law) from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Yard work, maintenance, etc. We need a couple of pick-up trucks for this project. E-mail Dale if you can help: dale59mc@msn.com.

Sean Humphrey House 9:00-11:00 am - Prepping a garden area for planting.

And, at 4:00 pm, even if you've participated in one of these events, you can join us at the Atkins' house for a BBQ. This is an opportunity to get to know Matt & Laura, as well as other families in the Mosaic Community. ....because we also believe in eating together. yum. (families welcome!)

image from www.kcb.org