a blog for those who need agape

Find Your Calcutta

chadse00 — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:49:00 +0000

$4.10 – This is the cost of my daily Starbucks run lately. I can’t help it. There’s just something about that Caramel Macchiato that makes my day ten times better. It is during these wonderful times at Starbucks lately that I have been thinking a lot about how I, as a college student with no income, can impact the world around me for the Lord. How can I be a catalyst of change in other’s lives when I can’t afford to build them a house or pay off their debt? Often times, I feel so restricted because of my lack of wealth. I get stuck in the mindset that if I am not financially well off, then I do not have much to offer those in need.

A few weeks ago, as one of our outreaches for Agape Meal, some friends and I took a dear old friend of ours out to lunch. Ms. Effy Lemons is an elderly lady in our community who I love dearly. She is sick and spends her days sitting in front of the TV watching the Price is Right. She can barely walk and she is on oxygen at all times. The tragic part of her situation is not her heath, as bad as it is, the true tragedy is that Effy’s family lives right next door to her, yet they never take care of her. Her house is filthy because she cannot clean it herself, and sometimes she goes without meals because she cannot feed herself, yet her family never lifts a finger. So my friends and I decided that we were going to adopt Ms. Effy and be the family that she needs. We took her out to eat a couple of times and got her the medications that she needs.

While we met her monetary needs, it was during those times that I realized we were also meeting a much deeper need of hers. Total cost of one meal with Effy?…$3.67. So while I may not have much to give, I have come to realize that by making just one small sacrifice in my daily routine, I can impact someone else’s life greatly. The best part is, there are Effy’s all around us. There is nothing specifically different about her situation verses hundreds of others around us. Often times, we just may never know the need because we are not out there getting our hands dirty. So I encourage you today, go out and find your Effy, and see what small things you can do to make a big difference.

~ Jennifer M.

We are meeting again

chadse00 — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:36:24 +0000

this sunday at 2 PM in the Lee University Mayfield annex.

more details to come…

Spring Break

chadse00 — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:27:31 +0000

We will not be having Agape Meal for the next two weeks. Some BIG things are coming out way after the break… looking forward to reconnecting with everyone when we get back.

take this break as a sabbath.

Play, rest, relax… enjoy God’s gift of Sabbath to you.

Experiments: March 1

chadse00 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:55:48 +0000

This week we distributed envelopes with Experiments in Following Jesus inside of them. We offered three different practices, it was a luck of the draw sort of deal… here are the experiments.

Agape Meal: March 1

chadse00 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:46:23 +0000

Starting with yesterday’s Agape Meal we are going to post the “liturgy” (haha) of our meals. This will serve several purposes; It will keep our community connected to the process, it will help others see an example of our community and hopefully it will inspire others to hear God in their context. so here goes…

Location: Mayfield Annex Building at Lee University

After everyone got settled in, Taylor Jones read from the book of Acts 4:32ff. and then prayed over our meal. We did much better this week with our food selections! It was much more carb-diet friendly. After everyone had eaten and talked about the week, Chris Hadsell shared a few thoughts about the creative process and taking ideas and words from God captive.

We then had a few minutes of silent reflection, where each tried to hear one word from God. Examples of some words… unforgiveness, worry… etc.

Following this, Jennifer Mitchell led us in a bread breaking moment and reflected about God’s promises to us. We then broke up and talked with each other, shared burdens, offered encouragement and accountability.

Following this time, Chris Garmon played and sang a song of worship.
We ended by offering two things: 1- A service project to assist an elderly shut-in. and 2- Everyone was given an experiment of Spiritual Disciplines to try out.

Courtney Henry ended us in prayer.

Thanks to everyone who is a part of our community. I hope this “liturgy” helps.

love to you.

time to connect

chadse00 — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:40:34 +0000

I have no idea where this thing is going…

or how long it will last…

but for now, for this moment I want to allow a place to connect.

So add the RSS feed or check back often.