Walk4Change-Coraopolis

This Saturday NOH@Coraopolis held their 1st annual Walk4Change (W4C) at the Frank Letteri Stadium. There was a festive atmosphere as we partnered together to bring more help to the people in Coraopolis.

Here's a QUIK TAKE on the day:

• Breezy & 70 degrees
• 50 Walkers
• Fresh grilled dogs
• Bro Marlon from WAMO Sunday Gospel
• Door prizes
• $1300 RAISED for the CORY site!

Walk4Change 2008 Coraopolis

Click on the PICTURE to see more!

Special thanks to LEAD SPONSOR ESB BANK , Jackie & her team for making it a special day!

What a privilege to be a part of something positive for the community. Save the Date: On September 6th, the NOH in Penn Hills will hold its 2nd annual W4C in Boyce Park. Details will be posted.

Leaders Summit

This is the weekend of "summits." Today, I attended the Leaders Summit at Allison Park Church with about 150 other leaders from around the Pittsburgh area.

A lot of quality teaching compacted into 4 hours topped off with a delicious, catered lunch.

First session co-led by Eric Ferguson, missionary in Nicaragua and Christine Gatabazi who pastors Global Mission Church in Kigali, Rwanda

Impacting facts:

• $100/month will pay for a pastor of a new church in Nicaragua.
• At the Bible College in Kigali, Rwanda, there is one full-time teache for over 150 students.
• $50 buys a student's books for a year at the college
• The global PEACE Plan is doing great things in Rwanda
• Joybean Coffee Co. was created to produce income for many projects to help the Nicaraguan people…and it tastes great!

Second session: Jeff Leake shared 10 steps to being an effective spiritual breakthrough retreat prayer partner. Best unspoken principle: remember to be relational when helping someone. Working through life issues should be a normal and compassionate process; done best when we remember that we all need support to live the best life God intends

Finished up with Ron Johnson, who through colorful and transparent anectdotes, demonstrated what it is like to step out and follow God. The goal isn't perfection, but obedience. God is aware of our human-ness and is pleased when we step out to follow Him to the best of our ability, with honest effort.

I left grateful for the opportunity and the excellence with which the event was conducted and looking forward to our next gathering. Thanks to the many organizers, including Nick Poole Andy Lehmann and Debbie Lynch.

Today during the Non-Profit Summit in Pittsburgh, I and Site Director, Lucinda Wade (Coraopolis) had the opportunity to hear keynote speaker, Robert Putnam, professor at Harvard University.

He shared about social capital and its positive impact on our organizations as well as in areas such as school test scores, infant mortality rates, career success, teen pregnancy rates, and premature death rates. For example, joining even ONE social group decreases your risk of premature death by 50%, which is as much as quitting smoking!

How does ethnic diversity affect social capital? Increase in ethnic diversity correlates to LESS trust in community, neighbors, government, each other. Diversity can threaten the benefits of social capital…EXCEPT in places where something else takes precedence, or “trumps” race. What is this “something else?”

Two examples were presented: the US Army and evangelical mega-church, Lakewood Church (TX). Both are ethnically diverse AND display a disproportionate number and strength of social relationships across race. Within both, discrimination was infrequent/disallowed and new identities that cut across race were created. These are keys to overcoming the difficulty diversity represents.

In light of NOH’s context of operation being local, evangelical churches:

Those in Christ have a new identity; old is gone, new has come
(1 Cor 5:17). This, not ethnicity, unifies us. “There is neither
Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

The Church experiences multiple layers of commonality: one’s relationship with God; relationships with others who believe the same; the congregation’s shared mission of spreading the gospel. This is an exponential dynamic for social capital within the church, rather than just shared mission.

“Spiritual capital,” created from the belief in the eternal value of the shared mission, is foundational to the social capital. God, the most diverse, the creator of the universe, has established the importance of social capital because His concern from the beginning of time has been relationship.

If all other relationships flow out that with God, the results must be positive, life-giving, trust-filled, etc.

May we, through the local church, promote lasting change in our communities by providing help to anyone, in settings of trust and relationship that flows only from the love of God.

Spring Newsletter

The NOH Spring newsletter is out! Check it out on our HOME PAGE. In it you'll find stories about lasting change happening through the women's home, AngelFood ministry, care managment and more.

If you'd like to get on our mailing list and receive a personal copy, just send your name and address to us at info@networkofhope.org .

Great Day!

Kate & I went to the PCO Women's Home today for a brunch gathering with the PCO staff and other local inner-city pastors.

1st--great spread! omelettes made to order, half the size of our plates with breakfast sides galore. thanks guys and gals for your hospitality and your servant's hearts!

2nd--great group of pastors. each with a heart for seeing the Church (that's capital "C") in the city coming together to fulfill its mission. there's a kindred spirit & encouragement to break bread, or in this case, eggs, with others working toward the same goal.

3rd--great tidbit--there are 88 separate communities in Pittsburgh. charm and challenge all in that little fact. much to be experienced, much to do!

4th--great laughs--there's nothing like recounting stories of shared experiences-and being able to look back on all of them with laughter.

5th--great hope--being given to the residents of the men's & women's homes. you can see a sense of relief, belonging and purpose in each of them. Pastor Brian & Angie & their staff do amazing work by giving literally their day-to-day lives to affect others with hope, truth, compassion and meaning--self-less-ly

thanks for letting Network of Hope be a part of it all and thanks for a GREAT DAY!

Passing the Basket

One of the largest outreach programs that I coordinate at the Allison Park Church site is the Give-A-Gift program. In 2006, we served 75 shoppers and provided 3-4 gifts to 191 children. In 2007, our goal is to increase those numbers.

Every year it gets a little tense in the weeks before the event as the Give-A-Gift team scrambles to gather gift donations and schedule shoppers. We always want to serve as many shoppers as possible, but then “What if we don’t receive enough gifts?” The tension level rises because the “shopper/donation factor” is not easily managed and ultimately out of our control. We do our best to promote the event to potential shoppers and contributors, then we try to manage what comes in.

As I worked with our Give-A-Gift team this year, attempting to balance the shopper/donation factor, I was struck by a God-thought. In the scriptures, there is a well known story of a crowd of people being fed with a boy’s lunch - a couple of fishes & loaves of bread. Evidently this lunch was not enough to feed the large crowd of 5,000, but Jesus instructs his disciples to pass the basket of food. What I realized is that in coordinating and volunteering for the Give-A-Gift outreach, we have the opportunity to experience what the disciples experienced that day.

Imagine with me how the disciples felt as they stood before the large crowd, holding a small basket, containing a small amount of food. I can imagine how incredulous they must have looked, as they turned to look back at Jesus in order to make sure they understood him correctly. I can only imagine how it felt to pass the basket to the first person (with a brave smile) and see that first puzzled face look up from the basket with questioning eyes. Can‘t you see the disciple shrugging his shoulders and saying “Go ahead, take some for yourself and pass the basket”. I‘m sure the scene was repeated many times as the disciple watched the basket being passed. The biblical account states that everyone in the crowd ate their fill and when the disciple received the basket back - there were leftovers!

The amazing coordinators and volunteers with the Network of Hope do the best that they can to gather gifts and schedule shoppers. Once they’ve done the best they know to do, they have the opportunity to pass the basket and watch a miracle happen. What a privilege!!

Weekend of "Two's"

What a great weekend for NOH!

2 Give A Gift Events happened in Valencia and Allison Park. Over 300 children will receive many gifts this Christmas. Five more events to go between now and Dec 18th!

2 Benefit Concerts happened as well--in Gibsonia and the North Hills. The combined effort brought in more than 40 garbage bag-fuls of gifts and over $1200 in cash and gift cards!

I was personally at the Johnny Angel & Friends concert and it was fantastic! What a great show filled with energy, entertainment and true talent. Words fail about how enjoyable it was!

THANK YOU to the PERFORMERS who shared their time and talent. Show your thanks by supporting them in the future. Just visit their websites for upcoming performances.
Greater Harmony Chorus
Jana Snavely
Johnny Angel & the Halos
Mike Profozich
Pete Hewlett
William Dell & Wee Jams

THANK YOU also to the MANY VOLUNTEERS who have done so much before and during the events to make them successful. You are the hands and feet that turn a good idea into a reality.