Eucalyptus Neighbor Cafecita Update

Last Thursday night 12 neighbors and friends from the community met to discuss the vision for the Eucalyptus neighborhood. We started off the meeting by introducing ourselves and a talent or gift that we each have. Lucky for us, most of the people attending said they had the gift for cooking! Many of the neighbors had just met one another for the first time that night. The questions was asked "If God did a miracle in this neighborhood... what would you want it to be?" The two main responses were less drugs/gangs and salvation for the neighbors. People also expressed a desire to see neighbors becoming friends and parents working together to plan activities for the kids. The next question asked was "What can we (the neighbors) do to make this dream a reality?" There were many great ideas shared. We decided to have another meeting in January. Some of the ladies suggested having a breakfast where they would cook tamales and chilaquiles... we quickly agreed. We tentatively set the date for the breakfast on Saturday, January 20th @ 9am. We agreed to go home and tell our neighbors about the next meeting. What a great night!

New Website!

Check out our new website: http://www.kingdomcauses.org/bellflower

We're still working on some of the details... but please take some time to browse around!

A Photo Tribute to KC Volunteers

We are so thankful for our awesome volunteers. Our office would still be obnoxiously yellow if it weren't for them. Nothing against the color yellow :)

Urban Art Contest Pictures

Here are some pics from our Urban Art Contest & Pizza Party in October. We will post the winning pieces in a few days. Enjoy!

Eucalyptus November Update

There's so much to be thankful for! October was an amazing month of progress for Kingdom Causes. The golf marathon was a success, we moved into the new office/community center, and Eric went full-time! I thought I'd share some of the "before" pictures so you can jump with joy when you see the "after" pictures in the upcoming entries.

This was taken in the beginning of October when we were getting ready to paint and carpet. Can you say "yellow"?!?!?

Successful Golf Marathon

Last week we raised over $15,000 for the work in Bellflower! There were 9 golfers and a duck representing Kingdom Causes Bellflower. Even with a few first-time-golfers we had a blast.

Thank you to all of those who participated by golfing or financially supporting the work!

Miracles Happen

“Jay is yours God. Take care of him.”

These were some of the closing words of a post I made to this blog back in December 05. I had just had an encounter with "Jay" and was feeling rather hopeless about the whole Homeless Ministry we are involved with here in Bellflower. Addictions and negative family history are such enormous barriers that keep people enslaved in homelessness and poverty.

Well, I am SO happy and thankful to God that I can report that Jay has made some serious improvement thanks to God's work in his life via meaningful relationships with Christians! 39 days ago he called Eric, our new Homeless Services Coordinator and wanted help getting into one of the rehabilitation programs. We were able to house him for a few days in one of the trailers we had available while we called around and finally got him connected with the Salvation Army Bell Shelter.

This past weekend was Jay's first weekend pass and he spent some time hanging out at Calvary Baptist and with the Bellflower House Church. God is really working in his life! He was the recipient of the New Comer of the Month Award at the Shelter for his perfect attendance at classes and good attitude. What a change in his life. All thanks be to God!

Bethel's Blue Bus Ministry

Last night I had the opportunity to ride on the Bethel's "Blue Bus" into the Eucalyptus neighborhood to pick up kids for their childrens'' service. I don't know how many kids I was expecting, but I was almost overwhelmed by the number of kids that came running out of the apartments towards the bus. We had over 75 kids on the bus last night. How amazing is that!? They were so excited to come to church.

The service starts off with some worship songs and games. My favorite song was one that said "I'm gonna throw up...uhh... I'm gonna throw up... uhh. I'm gonna throw up... uhh...My hands to the Lord!" So fun! Then the kids go off into their classes to learn life skills and Bible stories. This week the fourth and fifth (?) grade girls classes went to the Artesia Nursing Home to play games with the elderly. The teachers said it's so awesome to see kids interacting with grandma's and grandpa's. It gives the kids an opportunity to serve others and they flourish in it.

I am so blessed by the faithfulness of Bethel's children ministry. They've been taking a bus over to the neighborhood for almost 20 years. I had a chance to chat with some of the leaders that have been helping for 18 years. They explained that it took years to build the trust with the people. As an outsider, I can see the trust and love the neighbors have for the "Blue Bus" workers. As a result of Bethel's faithfulness to the neighborhood and God's work, Kingdom Causes has been able to connect with the neighbors far better than we could have on our own. I praise God for their work and the opportunity to partner with them.

If you would like to help out Bethel by riding on the bus on a Wednesday night, call their office at 562-866-0791 and ask for Nichole. Keep their ministry in your prayers. Also, they're hosting a health fair this Sunday from 11am-3pm. Stop by!

Eucalyptus... Here We Come!!!

It’s official! After much prayer, planning, and talking with neighbors, Kingdom Causes has signed the lease for the Eucalyptus neighborhood resource center. What a blessing it is to be around to see this prayer answered. We are thankful for the effort and faith of members from the multiple congregations that have partnered with us to make this dream a reality. It gives us great joy to see followers of Jesus seeking God’s heart and coming together to love their community!

A store front that now houses a furniture store will soon be transformed into a community gathering place. The neighbors will be instrumental in establishing the programs for the center. Already ideas are coming forward for possible English as a Second Language classes, health screenings, and after school activities for kids. It is exciting to envision God’s people in Bellflower collectively investing in a community, so wholistic personal and neighborhood transformation will become a reality.

Financial support for this effort has already started and yet more needs to be raised to cover $1,750 in rent plus costs for operating activities. Volunteer opportunities will also be available for help with construction & once the center is opened to engage with families, kids and the events that occur. Please consider joining us in this journey as we build relationships with neighbors, and discover the resources God has already placed in the neighborhood to be uncovered and used for transformation.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. (Isaiah 58:12)

Eric Copeland joins the staff!

Eric Copeland joined the Kingdom Causes Bellflower staff this month as the Homeless Services Coordinator. His role will be to help the church of Bellflower be inspired, connected and mobilized to form healthy supportive relationships with our homeless neighbors. Please pray for Eric as he takes this exciting and challenging task.

Pentecost Prayer Gathering

Pentecost Sunday (June 4th, 2006)
Momentum is building! Our rhythm of prayer over the past few days will be culminating on Pentecost Sunday when a significant representation of the Church of the Long Beach/Lakewood/Bellflower area will "be together in one place" (Acts 2:1). The word on the streets is that Christians from all around this region are planning on coming to join in the prayerful celebration so get there early!
Once again, this gathering provides us a powerful opportuntiy to demonstrate the reality that we all know to be true: that there is only one bride of Christ and she belongs to Jesus!Help get the word out by forwarding on this email to people you regularly pray with, mentioning that you are going when you gather with your local church family and even encourage people to go from the pulpits on Sunday!!
COME EXPECTING!!
5:15 - 6:15 pm Service Opportunity Tables Open
6:15 - 7:45 pm Prayer Gathering
7:45 - 8:30 pm Service Opportunity Tables Open
Refreshments will be provided
Red Cross Certified Child Care will also be provided for those Kindergarden age or younger.

First Annual Advancement Dinner

Special thanks to all who joined us for The First Annual Advancement Dinner yesterday at Simms Park. We had a great time of fellowship, heard a challenging and inspiring message from Mike Yankoski http://www.undertheoverpass.com. It was such a blessing to share what God is doing through his people in Bellflower!

Please stay tuned to this blog and look for information regarding a Follow up Dialogue, a chance to share some of the thoughts you had last night and further explore how we the church can work together in our city.

Extreme Trailer Home Makeovers

We have been blessed with a couple of trailers that we are going to put to use in our affordable transitional housing program. We already have some folks ready to move in and we need your help rehabbing the trailers. We are going to be working on them on the next two Saturdays. Please email Ryan at rverwys@kingdomcauses.org if you can help out!