See you there.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Go To Our NEW Web Site!
We now have a more comprehensive web site. It includes a map to our church, a schedule of upcoming events, and Rick's sermons.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Tomato Soup Recipe Feeds 150!!
October has been a busy month for us. We have been "practicing what we preach" about being servants in Corvallis. Our schedule had us doing everything from serving soup to international students to handing out Tootsie Roll Pops at OSU games. But our favorite ministry opportunity this month was for a group of kids on the south side of town.
Once a month we are scheduled to prepare dinner for 125 kids and 30 adult leaders at a small church with a BIG ministry. Southside Community Church began 10 years ago when health issues kept Steve (below right) and Tina from going overseas as missionaries. They identified a need to minister to the kids on the south side of
town, kids whose families were struggling financially. They began a Tuesday evening club that feeds dinner to the kids and gives them a place to have fun and learn about Jesus. It is also a training ground for High School and College students to serve others in ministry.
Our group arrived at 4:00 to make grilled-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for everyone there. We are learning to make food quickly, and in
quantity. The piles of buttered bread began to stack up around Becky (at left), while Trudi and JoAnn took turns stirring the soup. Meanwhile, Gordon and Merle decorated the rice-krispy bars with candy pumpkins. All this as Rick kept barking orders to get things done on time and we all tried to keep from tripping over each other in the cramped quarters.
At 5:00 we began to serve the staff, and by 5:30 the kids started to arrive by the bus load. The kids came in,
washed their hands, and loaded up with grilled-cheese and tomato soup. As you can see at the right, some of the kids needed a little help keeping track of all that food, and kool-aid too -- being a "grandpa" does come in handy when serving Jesus at Southside. (Good job, Merle!).
Everything went well that evening, and we were hailed as heroes for making the kids' favorite dinner. There was much joy and celebration! Oh, the rice-krispy bars with candy pumpkins on top helped to raise our status a little. Later in the evening we were all given a big "Thank You!" cheer by the kids.
It was gratifying to see our small band of "servants" take so much joy in giving up a Tuesday evening to bring joy to the kids on the south side. "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matt 25:40).
Pictured from left to right: Trudi, Teresa, Becky, Gordon, Caroline, Rick, and Merle.
JoAnn was doing dishes when this picture was taken -- "Thanks, JoAnn!"
Once a month we are scheduled to prepare dinner for 125 kids and 30 adult leaders at a small church with a BIG ministry. Southside Community Church began 10 years ago when health issues kept Steve (below right) and Tina from going overseas as missionaries. They identified a need to minister to the kids on the south side of
town, kids whose families were struggling financially. They began a Tuesday evening club that feeds dinner to the kids and gives them a place to have fun and learn about Jesus. It is also a training ground for High School and College students to serve others in ministry.Our group arrived at 4:00 to make grilled-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for everyone there. We are learning to make food quickly, and in
quantity. The piles of buttered bread began to stack up around Becky (at left), while Trudi and JoAnn took turns stirring the soup. Meanwhile, Gordon and Merle decorated the rice-krispy bars with candy pumpkins. All this as Rick kept barking orders to get things done on time and we all tried to keep from tripping over each other in the cramped quarters.At 5:00 we began to serve the staff, and by 5:30 the kids started to arrive by the bus load. The kids came in,
washed their hands, and loaded up with grilled-cheese and tomato soup. As you can see at the right, some of the kids needed a little help keeping track of all that food, and kool-aid too -- being a "grandpa" does come in handy when serving Jesus at Southside. (Good job, Merle!).
Everything went well that evening, and we were hailed as heroes for making the kids' favorite dinner. There was much joy and celebration! Oh, the rice-krispy bars with candy pumpkins on top helped to raise our status a little. Later in the evening we were all given a big "Thank You!" cheer by the kids.It was gratifying to see our small band of "servants" take so much joy in giving up a Tuesday evening to bring joy to the kids on the south side. "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matt 25:40).
Thank you for praying for us at Servants' Fellowship.
Pictured from left to right: Trudi, Teresa, Becky, Gordon, Caroline, Rick, and Merle.JoAnn was doing dishes when this picture was taken -- "Thanks, JoAnn!"
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Servants In a Chicken Coop
I find that when God is doing a life changing work in me He does so by placing an idea in my head that I cannot refute. Let me tell you how He has been leading in the last nine months.
First we needed a home. I drove around Corvallis to find an appropriate meeting place. I wanted to find something close to the OSU campus and not far from downtown. So I parked my car and started walking around the area. And there it was, a restored Victorian building with a "FOR RENT" sign in the window! The "voice" in my head said, "this is it!" It is an historical building, the first site for poultry research at OSU -- a chicken coop! We began meeting in the Coop in May.
Here is our dedicated group worshiping together. Notice how "funky" the space is! And it has great acoustics, and lots of light. We can have up to 49 people, so when we grow to that point we will have to find another space for Sunday worship, but I will keep this space for my office and for evening Bible Studies.
Last December I was approached by the leadership of an Evangelical Free Church in the Corvallis, Oregon area to be their Interim Pastor after their Senior Pastor had retired. This seemed to work well with the fact that I needed employment, and I wanted to do ministry after two years of being back in school. When I arrived I found the congregation in a difficult situation, it had dwindled down to the point that it could no longer survive financially. The Lord put it in my mind to begin a new ministry in Corvallis. On April 1 the congregation voted to disband and sell their building using the money from the sale for future church planting work. Suddenly I was faced with being the pastor for a group of 15 people who needed a new place to worship and a new purpose for being a congregation.
I believe that we Evangelicals have for too long ignored our responsibility to serve the communities in which God has placed us. It was time to try a new approach to building a church community -- focus on the needs of the community rather than our own individual and corporate needs. It was time to GET TO WORK AS SERVANTS. With the help of the group God had given me, we chose the name Servants' Fellowship. We want to be Christ's servants working in the community to help Corvallis know that we care about this city.
First we needed a home. I drove around Corvallis to find an appropriate meeting place. I wanted to find something close to the OSU campus and not far from downtown. So I parked my car and started walking around the area. And there it was, a restored Victorian building with a "FOR RENT" sign in the window! The "voice" in my head said, "this is it!" It is an historical building, the first site for poultry research at OSU -- a chicken coop! We began meeting in the Coop in May. 
Here is our dedicated group worshiping together. Notice how "funky" the space is! And it has great acoustics, and lots of light. We can have up to 49 people, so when we grow to that point we will have to find another space for Sunday worship, but I will keep this space for my office and for evening Bible Studies. Now that the Lord had given us a new home, we needed to get busy with ministry in Corvallis. Our first opportunity came by hosting a Chamber of Commerce breakfast with another Christian service organization in town, Love In the Name of Christ. Love INC has a very small office space without any large rooms for meeting, so we teamed up together and had a great time with the Chamber folks. Many of the people from the Chamber were very curious to see what the inside of our building looked like -- they had seen it moved to its present location and renovated, but had not seen the inside.
This is a few of our group and the spread that we put out for the Chamber meeting. Since that time we have taken on the responsibility for feeding 125 kids once a month for another church, South Side Christian Fellowship, as they do ministry for the poorest kids of the area. We are also providing lunch for international students once a month, and handing out free water and snacks to people coming for the OSU football games.
Pray for us that God will give us more ideas and opportunity for service ministry to our community. And pray that He will also bring us people who become curious by our service to know more about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rick and Trudi
Colossians 3:1-4
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