Excited...

Past Sunday...

This past Sunday went great. To catch you up to what I am talking about, we had over 50% of the leadership team out for Spring Break. This left us we a few "stay-behinds" and a lot of volunteers to make Sunday happen. I just want to brag on everybody and say it was a "HOME RUN!" Volunteers brought their A-game and helped us get things set up, tore down, AND helped in ministry related areas such as preschool, children's min, and greeting. I can't express how awesome it is to see some many people connect just through serving. I had the opportunity to co-lead worship and then speak. This was a 1st. I am usually my worst critic but I had a lot of feedback on the message that God lead me to share. It was a great Sunday for us, the Commons, and for the leadership knowing that they can have a vacation free of worry.

Small Groups...

Just in a couple of weeks, new community groups will be starting. The exciting part is that our own family members will be starting/leading them up. In the past, we either had all the adults meet at the Corbin home or we created multiple groups with someone from the Commons leadership leading it. So to say we are excited is an understatement. It is awesome to see everybody excited and passionate to reach out to there community, friends, neighbors, and family.

Students...

In the student ministry, I am working on tweaking a few things. We are at a point in students where we need to possibly split up Middle School and High School. We have been averaging over 20+ students consistently, but the majority have been 6th-9th. I am processing the option of having middle school meet one night & high school meet on another night. Upfront, this will open up a lot of possibilities, draw more students, and ultimately meet the needs of each age group. So please keep me in your prayers as I look at the logistics of possibly doing this.

On April 7th, I will be showing the students the Passion of Christ movie. Last year, I showed this and it open the eyes of a lot of students. I am praying for a great impact this time around.

Update on Financial Support...

In the my last blog, I mentioned where my financial support currently was. My support is still very low for me to continue relying on it alone. Currently, I have sought after a part-time or full time job to help sustain the different. I have some opportunities that look very favorable, so I am praying for God's will. I am always looking for new supporters. If you would like to contribute, then you can find the info on the right side of this blog.

Thank you again for your prayers, encouragement, and love. It has been an incredible journey and I am expecting great things this year. Love and miss you all!

-cham

Reality...

Definition of a Church Planter (taken from Wikipedia):

"A church planter and family move into a new location to start a church from scratch. The planter has very little connection with or existing support within the new area. The planter and their family are “pioneering” new territory. Where there is great risk, there is great reward, but this approach is not for the faint of heart and requires a person particularly gifted in personal evangelism. Advantages of this approach include flexibility, and the ability to reach otherwise unreached areas. The disadvantages might be the effort required to integrate with a new community, and possible lack of financial and personal support."

The definition above pretty much sums up the basic core of what I do. All parts of it have become a reality that I have experienced while here serving at The Commons.

My present reality is that I am severely short of funds to continue to serve full time. Today marks the 2nd time that I have not received an entire paycheck to sustain my living here. As mentioned before, I have begun the process of looking for a full time job to "keep me afloat". I do not plan to quit or move on from The Commons, but I am forced at this point to take a job no matter what conflict it has with my schedule at church.., meaning I could quite possibly miss Sundays and/or Wednesday. I definitely am not fond nor pleased with this possible reality, but I do have to sustain living some how.

I tell you all this because I believe in transparency and firmly feel that this is apart of the "journey" that most people are always afraid to discuss openly. The reality is that with any missionary, church planter, or church planter it takes financial support to allow them freedom to fully focus on carrying out the mission/ministry that God has called them to.

Currently, as mentioned in a previous blog post, I am only supported by a few individuals and a couple of businesses. I have no "Home Church" or "Missions Organization" that backs me. So I do not get a guaranteed amount every week. This is one of many risk that a church planter takes.

So, I am communicating to you the reality of my ministry right now. I have been praying, fasting, and seeking God's wisdom on finding either the financial support of job that will continue to allow me to effectively serve at this church plant. I have no doubt that God will provide, no matter how uneasy it gets. He is doing amazing things at the Church and with the people who we impact.

Please keep me in prayer as I walk through this unknown situation.

-cham

Very Excited Times...

Tonight starts an exciting 3 weeks for The Commons. We begin a 3 week training for our family members on how to start their own community group. The group will consist of 2-3 families from The Commons. From there, they will begin inviting family and friends to join in. Through this, the Commons' family members will build authentic Christian community, work through a weekly bible study, have a mission project, and impact those that they are reaching out to within the community group. Exciting & scary at the same time. We have never done this full throttle, and so leadership feels that it's time. Please keep us in prayer as we begin to work through this. We are excited as well as the family members.

On a side note, the students are serving in childcare for 3 weeks as every possible adult goes through the training. I have incredible kids who are willing to sacrifice and serve for the Kingdom. God is awesome!

-cham

A lady's response to the Student "Couple's Night Out"

Below is an e-mail that I received from one of our ladies that goes to The Commons concerning the "Couple's Night Out" that the student ministry provided.

"Thank you so much for hosting the Common's Parents Night Out. We used to be better about scheduling time for us as a couple, but in the past two years so much has changed. While we were out enjoying our dinner out, we were reflecting on how little time we have been able to get some alone time without the kids. Since Grant was born (he is 20 months) Mark and I have only been able to get a sitter and get out 2 times. That is crazy!

For almost a year and a half Grant has been struggling health wise. The first symptom came when he was about 4 months old when he would scream bloody murder every 30 -60 minutes thru the night. We went from doctor to doctor, enduring trial medications, exams and tests never to find an answer as to why he was seemingly in so much pain. During this time he was also being seen for a tumor that had grown to attach to his spine. No specialist thought that these two problems were related.

During this time our relationships had to take on different roles. We went into survival mode. We realized it was bad when everyone in the family other than myself and Grant had moved downstairs so they could escape the screams in order to get some sleep. Realizing that Mark needed to work to sustain the family, I would hold, pat and rock Grant all night upstairs trying to find something that would alleviate his pain and not ask for help. While we know this is not the best model of a marriage, our medical bills were racking up and we had to do what we had to do to get by.

As you know, this month Grant had surgery to remove his tumor and miraculously has slept thru the night ever since. It turns out the tumor had infiltrated to the nerves of his spine and that likely was the reason he would scream all night. We still have a long road ahead, medical bills to pay, and a years worth of chores and projects put on the back burner, but we are excited that with Grant's renewed health we will be better able to conquer those.

I think our marriage had turned into more of a partnership than a relationship. While in our heads we know we are married forever, but we had gotten to a place where we were not expressing our love to each other. If we could make time to get away, then we were faced with finding a sitter to watch all 4 children, and then the expense of a sitter, it often seemed like an overwhelming task to coordinate.

I may not be able to fully express my gratitude to you, the teens and all involved in coordinating Saturday night. We were able to go out, enjoy a dinner that did not include french fries, nor did anyone spill their drink. We were able to take our time, to talk to each other, to take our time talking to each other, all while knowing that our kids were safe, having fun, and not stressing about having to pay the sitter. We spent more time talking to each other Saturday night than probably the last year combined. We were able to just be, to escape with each other, and we were able to forget about the bills, the garage that needs to be cleaned, the yard that needs to be weeded. You gave us the best gift we could have asked for, you gave us time.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank you all,"

Immediate Prayer

Please keep me in your prayers. As with most church planters, I have come to a place financially where I need to take immediate action. As you may or may not know, I am currently serving full time at The Commons through financial giving from a couple of small businesses and individuals. I have no home churches or organization such as North American Mission Board financially supporting me.

Due to economy, high cost of living in the PNW, and lack of funding, I am having to pursue a full time job (which i am not opposed to). The potential downside of this is that I will have to take what is offered no matter what the time schedules are. This action could possibly remove my full time availability to serve and minister at The Commons. This could/would drastically affect the mission that God has called me to carry out here.

I ask that you would pray with me on God's guidance and provision. It is a very interesting time for me. For me to continue serving full time on financial support I need to raise $3,000 a month. That covers the basics of life: Living, Auto, & insurance.

At this point, I am continually in prayer and pursing the first available full time job. I asked that you continue to pray with me and ask God how to help. Thank you for all your support.

-cham

March E-letter

I finally figured out how to get the E-Letter color & photos included on an "off-line files". So if you do not get my Monthly E-Letter, then you can download it---->> here

Please note that the links on that file do not work.

If you would like to receive this e-letter monthly in your inbox, then please e-mail your name & e-mail address to cham.i.am@gmail.com

Thank you for all your support!!!

--cham