I just got this email from Seth Curtis saying that their support level is now at 95%. All they have left to raise is $350 in monthly support! Here’s the email:

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Hey Jeff,

Just wanted to touch base with you so you can update your people on how things are going with our departure plans.

Our current support level is at 95% — We are still in need of roughly $350 in monthly support that needs to come in between now and when we leave. Because of the closeness, we have prayerfully set our departure date for Monday, November 21st, 2011.

Our people in Congo have been notified of our arrival plans and are very excited, as are we!

…

If there might be others at LCC who would commit to sacrificially partner with the ministry in Congo personally, I have attached a Statement of Support Intent form from FGM.

Along with this, if there would be those who would like to pray for us & track our travels back to Congo and getting set back up, I will be posting regular updates on Facebook & Twitter. More frequent and pertinent updates will be released to those who are members of our FB group, “ujm LIVE!”

• Talking Drum Mailing list sign-up — http://conta.cc/talkingdrum
• Twitter — http://twitter.com/Curtises4africa
• Facebook — http://www.facebook.com/Curtises4africa
• Facebook Group — http://on.fb.me/ujmLIVE

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To join their financial support team, download this form: Statement of Support Intent.

Read Pastor Reggie’s Letter to the Congregation here.

I am always sad to see great people leave our fellowship, but every now and then, I face a situation that has me simultaneously selfishly saddened and altruistically thrilled. In my selfishness, I regret to inform you all that Pastor Reggie will be taking on a new ministry position at another church and leaving us as soon. However, I have been in on the planning and strategy of this transition for over a month now, and I must say that I am thrilled for Reggie and his family.

Many of you know Reggie’s skills and qualifications put him in a category of experience that far exceeds what we were able to pay him. I still mark it a miracle that God has provided for his family well enough over these past two years that he has been able to stay with LCC, working for slightly more than peanuts.

Nevertheless, his great gifts have now been recognized by a church with the financial resources to compensate him fully, and I rejoice that Calvary Baptist in West Lafayette has hired Reggie, effective on October 24.

We will miss him greatly, but you should know that the church is in a much stronger place now than we were when he first joined us, and I personally am already working on finding people to fill his shoes. I believe God is going to bless us as we joyfully send Reggie out to this new ministry opportunity.

Next week (October 23) will be Reggie’s final Sunday at LCC, and we want to send him out with a blessing, so let me encourage you to share a word of thanks and encouragement with Reggie by replying to this post or posting something to our church Facebook page.

From Reggie Alderman:

To the congregation of Lafayette Community Church,

It’s been my privilege to work with Pastor Jeff and the LCC church family. It’s been a little over two years that I first came to LCC when we met at the Long Center. What was a volunteer opportunity to be a part of what God was doing became a part-time staff position that has been a refreshing and exciting experience.

Recently, a full-time opportunity has opened for me to serve at Calvary Baptist Church in West Lafayette, IN as the Pastor of Operations & Counseling. My official start date is October 24, 2011. My last Sunday at LCC will be Sunday, October 23. Though all of this seems quick to some, it’s been something that has been developing over several months. I would have never thought that being the Pastor of Operations & Counseling at LCC would be the foundational experience that God would use to prepare me for the opportunity at Calvary, but in God’s plan He has brought everything to fruition in its season.

Though I’ll be serving in another church family, West Lafayette is not considered a continental relocation, so in many ways the friendships that have been forged here will continue. After all, we’re under the same assignment that Christ gave to us all.

Warmest Regards and God’s best in all things,

Reggie Alderman
October 14, 2011

Our new mugs have arrived and we are selling them this time in a special way. They cost us about $5 each, but we are charging you the special discounted rate of only $10!

Actually, we give mugs away for free to every visitor, so we are asking you to help out by buying a mug of your own and sponsoring a mug that will make a first-time guest’s day that much more special!

So, if you get one, you are also giving one… and vice versa!

Hearing Jesus say, “Well Done.”

Every week, I am encouraged to think of how God is blessing us. We have some incredible musicians who lead us in worship each week, we have some wonderful volunteers working with the Kidopolis program, and our welcome team is simply incredible. We even got new LCC travel mugs to give away! To top it all off for me, I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity each week to share with all of you what God has laid on my heart from the Bible.

In fact, that’s the reason I’m taking this extra time to write a news post. See, we concluded our momentum series with the consideration of where all this momentum is taking us. Back in week 5, I shared that the main lessons of weeks 1-4 were really leading us toward the destination of spiritual maturity, but we’ve covered a lot more since then. What is the destination we are reaching with all this good momentum? Well, that destination is the moment we meet Jesus.

Some people live for the present moment as if this moment is all they have. They maximize their pleasure and “live for the moment.” Some people live in the present for some future goal. They imagine all they want to accomplish before they die or the kind of world they want to make and they work hard in their daily life for that envisioned moment. However, there is a moment far more important to live for. It’s the moment that comes after death, or for those lucky enough to be alive in that day, the moment when Jesus returns—the moment when I meet Jesus.

Be absolutely certain that when you meet Jesus, he will see your fruitfulness and your faithfulness and say, “Well done.”

After all, that’s my motivation and the whole reason I moved to Lafayette, the whole reason LCC got started. That’s the whole reason you are enjoying what happens at LCC. It’s all because there are people who are passionate to be fruitful with their lives and hear Jesus tell them “Well done,” someday!

Seth and Darla

It’s in light of that message, that I brought Seth and Darla Curtis before the church on Sunday:

Seth and Darla are church planters in Lubumbashi, Congo, and they are in the process of raising prayer and financial support.

Here’s the deal for you. One of the ways you can be fruitful in your Christian life is to join with them. You can bear fruit in Africa by joining with Seth and Darla. As of this week, they are 85% funded and need to be 90% funded before they can buy their plane tickets to go home. That 5% amounts to only $350.

Do you think our church can come up with $350 per month to help them get back to Congo? It’s not in our church budget, so I’m asking you as individuals. Could we get 10 people to step up with a $35 per month commitment to the Curtis family? What do you think?

If you want in, comment on this post to let the world know you’re in, and then contact Seth and Darla directly to sign up. Their website is: http://ujm.me and their email address is seth@ujm.me.

Let’s do our first church planting project by sending some church planters to Africa!