Fall Life On Mission Opportunities

Here are two opportunities for us to put our faith into action and live life on mission:

> Northeast Community Outreach

The Grace Falls family and friends are encouraged to support Pastor Alonzo Johnson and his wife Rhonda of Northeast Community Outreach as they host a Community Fall Party. This family-friendly event will be held Saturday, October 22, 11am–3pm, in Wissinoming Park in Philadelphia. Help them to connect with this community as you serve food, encourage game participation and celebrate the transitioning season!

Participants are encouraged to meet at the McNickle’s home at 9am on Saturday to caravan to the park. Please send Pastor Buff a text message or email Buff@gracefallsac.org to verify that you will attend.

> The NeighborHOOD Church

Following the Sunday Gathering, the Grace Falls family is encouraged to support new church plant Pastor Ken Richardson of The NeighborHOOD Church as they host their first Neighborhood Fall Party. This family-friendly event will be held Sunday, October 23, 2–5pm, 2516 Snyder Av. Philadelphia. Help them to connect with this community as you serve food, encourage game participation and bring the joy you have in your heart to this community!

Dress comfortably. We will leave after the Gathering and stop for lunch as we caravan together. Please send Pastor Buff a text message or email Buff@gracefallsac.org to indicate if you will attend and if you can provide transportation.

Welcome Our Mission Partners

welcome

Oct. 15–18: First Baptist, Albertville Mission Team

We are so excited to welcome the Student Mission Team from Albertville, Alabama! They will help to host our third annual Neighborhood Fall Party. By helping to manage the games and activities, our Grace Falls family will be free to interact with our guests. They will also travel to the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia to strengthen the partnership we have with Ziegler Neighborhood School. They will also serve at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission and help meet needs of the homeless.

Oct. 18–20: Heritage Mission Team, Cantonment, FL

This church has partnered with fellow Church Plant Pastor Alonzo Johnson of Northeast Community Outreach. Their team will provide helping hands to assist with the first Dad and Me Night at Ziegler Neighborhood School in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia. Heritage Pastor Jeff Howard has graciously agreed be a part of a panel discussion to pose ideas of how we can all take a step to help racial and cultural healing within our community and nation.

Oct. 20–25: Calvary Mission Team, Shreveport, LA

This team will be very busy as they provide assistance to three church plants during their visit. They will be helping to host Neighborhood Fall Parties for the Northeast Community Outreach in the Frankford neighborhood on Saturday, as well as for the Neighbor-HOOD Church event on Sunday afternoon, both in the Philadelphia area.

Check out the opportunities to work with these teams to help live "Life On Mission"

Life On Mission Opportunities

We talk a lot at Grace Falls about living out the gospel and living life on mission. Here are some opportunities to put what we believe into action.

THURSDAY October 20th Dad & Me Night 6–7:30pm, Ziegler School, Frankford, PA

The Grace Falls family and friends are invited to join with Northeast Community Outreach and the Ziegler Fatherhood Initiative to host the first Dad’s Club event of the new school year. Volunteers are needed to welcome kids and the significant man in their life, serve refreshments, and make sure everyone has a great time at the Dad & Me Night. To learn more, contact Alonzo Johnson at Alonzo@neoutreach.com or 215-385-2128.

SATURDAY October 22nd Community Fall Party 11am–3pm, Wissinoming Park | 5801 Frankford Av | Philadelphia

The Grace Falls family and friends are invited to join with Northeast Community Outreach as they host a Community Fall Party. Volunteers are needed to help to cook, manage the games, and make sure that those who attend will experience a positive connection to others within their community. To learn volunteer, contact Alonzo Johnson at Alonzo@neoutreach.com or 215-385-2128.

SUNDAY October 23rd Community Fall Party 2–5pm, Snyder Avenue | Philadelphia

The Grace Falls family and friends are invited to join with Neighbor-HOOD CHURCH as this new church plant to host a Community Fall Party. Volunteers are needed to help to cook, manage the games, and make sure that those who attend will experience a positive connection to others within their community. The Grace Falls family will caravan to this event immediately following our Sunday Gathering.

Sending Capacity

Several years ago I heard David Platt say that we need to measure our churches by our SENDING capacity and not our SEATING capacity. I remember thinking – AMEN, I love that! Yet, as a church planter who over the last few months has sent out 10 people from a core group of 25 – I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t confess that it doesn’t sound as good to me as it once did.

I remember meeting with one of our guys who was soon moving away. As he left the room for a moment, Brandon, who I am training to be a disciple maker, looked at me and said these words…

”Man, Buff, we are sending more than we are keeping. How are we going to plant a church if everyone is leaving?”

This was a sobering question, but I praise the Holy Spirit for granting me wisdom and words for just the answer to a young disciple and leader in our Grace Falls Church. I said that we better get used to it if we are going to be on mission with God and be the Church that God is calling us to be. His question led us to an incredible hour-long conversation and teaching that I am still seeing fruit from today.

I love the text message I received just the other day from Brandon as he says:

“We’ve had a great week on mission! Had Ian over for dinner, took Adam out to dinner and got to speak the Gospel into his life, had our 5th grade neighbor over to hang…love what God is doing!”

A couple days later…

“Happy Resurrection Day! I am praying this morning. We recognized an area of unbelief in my mom and spoke the Gospel into her life this morning. The Spirit is moving!”

God encouraged me in these words and the lives of those we have here on this journey.

As a church, we have been excited to send out Ashley, Joseph, Jim, Donna, Chris, Gen, Robyn, Raafat, Hoda, and Shelby out to be His missionaries. They are going to places like St. Pete, Tampa, Holiday, Riverview, and Africa. They are going with an understanding that they are sent by God to be His missionary servants to the people God puts them with.

There hasn’t been a week that goes by that someone of our Grace Falls family doesn’t hear from one of them and the ways that God is using them in the lives of others. This is what the CHURCH is all about and why I am excited to be on this journey. Brandon and Andrea living on mission are an example for the rest of the church who are trying to BE GOOD NEWS here in New Jersey.

We had an Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday and we encouraged all of our people to pray and asked who they saw God working in through their relationships and invite those people to come and be apart. We had 47 adults, with more than 20 kids, attend because one of our people had been investing in them.

I also challenged our folks to host and connect them with others in our family and to watch what God does. You see, we believe that HOSPITALITY and FRIENDSHIP are often the quickest paths to where believers and non-believers can experience God together.

We are going through a key study that will help lay a foundation of who we are as a church over the next several weeks. Please pray for us as we do this. Pray that God will speak clearly, our people will obey instantly, and God will be glorified in all we do.

Bartlett's Commissioning Service

I am so excited about this weekend and the opportunity to meet some new people and also cultivate the relationships we already have with people that God has put in our lives. I want to encourage you to really pray for this weekend and plan on being here to be a part of what I hope is a great day with family. You don't want to miss this opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with Chris, Gen, Isaiah, Maria, Shiloh and Eden, starting at 8:45 am. There is no agenda for that time other than giving you an opportunity to drop-in and see how they are doing, pray with them and wish them well. The Bartlett's are excited to see us again:

We are really looking forward to spending some time together on Sunday Morning. We are excited to see all of you and catch up.

We just finished our training last Wednesday, and we will be visiting with family and travelling for the rest of this week.

We want to thank you for your prayers during training the last 9 weeks. We praise God to report to you that the kids did great during the training and Gen and I learned a whole lot about our new role as missionaries to Niger.

This will be our time to say goodbye as we send them out to spread the gospel to the Dendi people of West Africa. Join in with the Bartlett's ministry by praying for them daily and through your financial support.

Calvary Baptist Church in Egg Harbor has agreed to receive tax deductible donations on their behalf. Calvary has agreed to give 100% of the donations to their ministry. To receive a tax receipt, all charitable donations must be sent to Calvary Baptist Church. Please mail your check made payable to:

Calvary Baptist Church 850 Railroad Dr. Little Egg Harbor, NJ 08087

On the memo line, please write: Chris Bartlett – Africa.

Missional Community in Motion

Blog post by Ashley

What is a missionary? If you had asked me that question 2 years ago I would have said, “someone sent by God on a mission of HIS choice.” I also would have told you that I am a missionary. Two years before moving to Atlantic County I was happily and proudly working for an international mission, Pura Vida Missions, out of San Ramón, Costa Rica.

What started as a week long mission trip to Costa Rica with my church turned into summer intern opportunities for a few years and then to a full time position heading up a sponsorship program there. I was living on the mission property, running the program, discipling families and being the liaison between sponsors and sponsees. I loved my job.

I loved my time there. I grew tremendously as a believer, follower and servant of our Lord so much that when asked to pray about church planting with my brother, Buff and sister, Cissy I kind of shrugged it off with a, “sure…I’ll PRAY about it”. Little did I know that the Lord had different plans for me that didn’t include the plush rain forests of Costa Rica, no, snow was in my future. I believed that I was a missionary, an international missionary and not a church planter. Boy, was I blind or let’s just say my perspective needed to be widened.

A year after praying about joining a church plant the Lord, much to my surprise, moved this international missionary to Atlantic County to become part of the church planting team. And yet again I have found myself continually being transformed here.

One of the major things that the Lord has shown me is that as a believer and follower in the Lord, Jesus Christ, we are ALL missionaries sent by God to serve the community in which we live in. That means it is in the everyday life. I am to be an image bearer and witness of His good news when I go to the store, when I serve tables, when I go to the gym, when I drop off my nephews at school…all day every day. He doesn’t call us to only be it thousands of miles away, we are to do now and right where we are.

This was a mind blowing and humbling revelation. I’m not elevated because of this great calling that God has on my life. This same calling is on all believers and follower’s lives. We are only elevated because He has been lifted up. That’s it.

So what does that mean for Joseph and I as we embark on this new adventure together to Florida? God has sent us and we are to be His missionary servants that bear His image and be good news for people in Florida, God will give us opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people in our community.

Joseph and I are being sent and planted into a community and we will live out life with this community. We will grow with them, share with them and be transparent with them. We know that God is leading us and sending us, Grace Falls members, to this location.

It’s scary and it’s new. We don’t know how it will all play out. But, we will be available. We will continue to turn to Him for guidance and support and we trust that He will provide each step as we move forward. We are missionaries, just like you are, sent to a location to serve a community of people and be His good news and we do it willingly and in faith!