But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.—Matthew 6:33

There’s an order to life. There is an inherent priority to the way the world has been designed. Our problem is that we try to live by our own priorities and then wonder why things don’t work out the way we want. In many respects the complicated lives we live are the result of simply being out of line with God’s priorities. To get our lives back in order, we need to simplify… get back to the basics… rediscover God’s priorities.

In this message, we learn what our first priority should be.

Speaker: Jeff Mikels :: Passage: Various

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2012 is just beginning, but perhaps you are interested in making your summer plans include a mission trip. Mark and Carla Hanson, friends of LCC and missionaries to Spain, are hosting a missions trip to Alcoy Spain this summer. She sent me all the details, so I thought I’d post them here so you can know about it too.

You can Contact Carla Hanson directly at her email address: cjhmeh@gmail.com

Alcoy English Camp

WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT ISN’T

In collaboration with Alcoy City Hall, and World Partners will host a 9 day camp on July 2nd – 13th, 2012 designed to bless the children and families of Alcoy with a unique and singular English immersion experience. Actually love, not English is the language spoken most audibly during camp. English Camp will run Monday through Friday the first week and Monday through Thursday the second week from 9:30 – 1:30 for students ages 5 – 11. We will deliberately limit our number to around 60 kids in each camp to provide personal attention and offer quality and individual contact with the families of the campers. Activities will include music, sports, crafts, and lesson time with a focus on small group learning and interaction. We teach through interactive curriculum, repetition, and creative activities. There is a cost to the families to help defray camp costs.

In an additional effort to bless parents who don’t have to run off right away after dropping off their children, we want to provide a special English conversational and craft class which we hope will turn into a natural avenue of friendship and trust that involves people from the local church.

We also will run an Intensive English camp for those who are 12 years old – Adult every evening of every week in July, Monday through Thursdays. This will be in the evenings from 6 – 8 p.m. We are especially looking for experienced teachers or those certified to teach English as a second or foreign language. Last year, this was our most popular program and as a result, we have had 86 adults & children continue in our year long program with each person receiving a Bible as part of their learning experience.

Given Spanish history and some past religious abuse, we work and live in an environment that can among other things be highly suspicious of organized religion, which influences and shapes how we minister. This camp provides a way in which Spaniards do not look at us as missionaries or you as short-term workers rather as individuals taking time, at your own expense, to love their kids and help them learn English. More will be said about this during the training and future correspondence leading up to camp.

English Camp is not a Vacation Bible School Program; instead it is used to model and demonstrate our faith in action. Other areas already using this program have stories each year of parents who talk of how teachers befriend and love their children. As a way of building upon that love and positive influence, special follow up events will be scheduled through out the year. From this continued and regular contact, we hope relationships will blossom and result in children visiting and becoming regular attendees at the local church, not to mention the countless spiritual conversations throughout the year.

WHY IT WORKS:

The strength of English Camp as well as our ability to run such a ministry is dependent upon cooperative and willing workers. The key dynamic of English camp is the relationship between the monitors or camp counselors and the 4-6 Spanish children that form each group. The groups will be formed by age and gender and will serve as the camper’s main reference for camp. A typical day begins with a welcome, a 15-minute workbook time at the beginning and end of each day, engaging them in song time, snack time, craft time, sports time, and talking to them at all times in English. Other programs like this have seen bridges of trust built in the communities that have been strong enough to support the weight of Truth.

WHAT IT COSTS:

Given the fact that we place the workers with Spanish host families for free, we are able to keep costs down. By far the largest single cost will be airfare to and from Spain. A rough guess of total cost would be between $2500 – $2800 (We will have a more exact figure as we look at flights more closely). Other costs will include a house-warming gift to the host family (we suggest something that tells them a little about where you come from such as a coffee table book on something your state is famous for – an example would be a book on the Indy 500 if you are from Indiana), the entrance fees to museums, site seeing events, etc. that your host family may plan, personal spending money (ice cream, souvenirs & gifts, etc.). Please know that the euro is stronger than the dollar at the moment ($1.31 to buy 1 euro). There is no need to bring euros since ATMs are plentiful and trustworthy. It is very difficult to exchange dollars so the ATM is the best way to get money. We have been doing it for 5 years with no problem. In fact, DO NOT BRING AMERICAN DOLLARS!

WHERE WORKERS STAY:

We know that bad housing can correlate into a bad trip. We value our workers and want to do whatever is necessary to care for them before and during their stay in Spain. Therefore, the homes we place people in are set up through personal contacts, city hall officials, and families of students attending camp. We will carefully screen these homes and they will be scouted out in advance. A good home environment is vital to a successful stay and we will take every step possible to ensure that this happens. In fact, the workers’ housing is just as vital and important to the ministry as the actual camp itself. The impact of 15-20 Christian workers living in the homes of Spanish families for two weeks is impossible to calculate. Most of the families would not be considered religious or church going but the stories from places that are using this program tell that between the workers and hosts alike there develops trust, friendship, and deep conversations of faith.

Most host families have two expectations: first, they are interested in hosting an international person for the experience and cultural exchange; second, they will want to practice their conversational English and have help for their kids. Workers are encouraged to spend their spare time with their host families. Breakfast and dinner will be eaten with the host families while lunch will be eaten together with camp workers.

ALCOY FACTS:

Alcoy , city (1990 pop. 65,082), Alicante prov., SE Spain, on the Serpis River. An important industrial center with manufactures of textiles, paper (especially cigarette paper), metals, and furniture, it also has trade in grain, wine, and oil from the surrounding region. The metallic structure of the Viaduct of Canalejas, one of the emblems of Alcoy, was quite innovative at the time it was built: the beginning of the 20th century.

The Riquer and Molinar rivers meet in the capital of the region to form the Serpis river. This fact, along with the numerous bridges and industries located by the rivers, and the homogeneous historic quarter, has determined the tourist character of Alcoy. The expansion of the medieval centre forced the creation of bridges, so the new suburbs could grow; this is the reason why nowadays the city is known as “city of bridges”.

The square of Plaza de España is the nerve centre of the city. In the medieval quarter we can visit the old City Hall, the Archaeological Museum and the Museum of the Festivities of Moors and Christians. Going on the opposite direction, up San Nicolás street, we will discover the Modernist part of town.

The festivities of Moors and Christians, which honour the patron saint San Jorge, are celebrated in Alcoy during the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of April; this “fiesta” is rooted in tradition, and commemorates the historical events of 1276. Music, pomp, and a burst of imagination take us back to the 13th century, to remember the Battle of Alcoy.

In our Christmas Eve Service, we played this video of the Christmas story produced by the kids of LCC’s Kidopolis program.

We didn’t know we needed a son. You wouldn’t be able to figure that one out on your own, but we needed a son. One like us who stands in the place of God for us. More than prophet, a SON who comes representing the Father. More than a priest, a SON who is God in Flesh standing before us. When the time had fully come, God sent a SON, His Son!

Speaker: Jeff Mikels :: Passage: Various

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God wanted direct personal relationship with his people, but his holiness and their sinfulness made it so that a mediator was needed. Moses was the prophet. Aaron was the priest.

Moses died and the priesthood was corrupted. Moses prophesied that there would be another prophet, but what about the problems with the priests?

Nearly 1000 years before Jesus, people began to reflect on the possibility of another kind of priest coming. They began dreaming of a priest who would bypass the weak frailties of the human priesthood.

He came.

Speaker: Jeff Mikels :: Passage: Various

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