RELAY FOR LIFE, FAITH AND HOPE CENTER TENT RETURNS
For the second year, the churches and ministries of Pierce County are welcomed back to the Relay for Life, which was born in Tacoma 22 years ago. The "Faith and Hope Center" tent for prayer will be on site at the Mt. Tahoma High School stadium. it will serve survivors of cancer, family members whose loved one has died, medical and research personnel, caregivers, fund-raising walkers and others. Hourly, starting at 6:00 p.m. June 1 through 6:00 p.m. June 2, a different church or ministry will provide its members to comfort, encourage and support those with needs. In addition to prayer in the tent, Faith and Hope Center folks will be prayer walking the track all 24 hours.
The fight against cancer has always had praying people, but now for those who desire it, there is a place to address the spiritual component of this cure. A reflection tent is also provided for those who wish to be alone and quiet. We are excited this year to welcome the members of the prayer committee for the Franklin Graham Festival (coming to the Tacoma Dome November 2-4, 2007) who will taker an hour.
A Tephilah for Transformation
Psalm RG 004
A Tephilah for the Transformation of Tacoma
Following the structure of Psalm 4
1 Visit the Pacific Northwest, O mighty God.
Cause your people to rise up;
let the Church fulfill its destiny.
2 How long, O secularists, will you worship
the creation rather than the Creator?
How long will you Pagans invite
false gods to inhabit our cities and parks?
(Not much longer!)
3 Know that the LORD weeps over cities;
the LORD will intervene in our region.
4 In your consternation, don’t give up hope;
intercede for your city and don’t be silent.
(It’s a strategic time!)
5 Prepare to make sacrifices;
to yield what is necessary.
6 We have prayed all our lives,
“Your kingdom come”;
Make your rule manifest
in our cities now, O LORD.
7 You have filled my heart with vision,
with strategies for advancing your cause.
8 I awake each day with anticipation,
for you, O LORD,
will make my city a habitation of joy.
"Giving Is What We Do"
The poor are being fed, the lives of young people at risk are being transformed, young adults are learning how to fund their own mission trips, worshippers are excited in the Holy Spirit, and the neighborhood is seeing the church give sacrificially. Where? At the
El Shaddai Empowerment Center, 4340 Pacific Avenue in Tacoma. I urge everyone to visit this small church with
a big vision! God is at work there. Services are at 3 p.m. on Sundays, under the leadership of Jimmie and Lawanna Lee, but don't expect to get away before 7, because dinner is on the house and you are invited! Please visit the
El Shaddai website for further information.
Pentecost Walk in Tacoma
The purpose of this blog is to inform the Christian community of Pierce County about where God is especially working, and about where the enemy is resisting that work. I'm happy to report that one sphere in which God is doing a great work in our county is that of intercession. The evidence of God-at-work among our interecessors is their
eagerness to come together from different churches to advance the Kingdom through prayer. At the Pentecost Walk and rally held in Tacoma on October 21, 2006, 120 people came together to worship and pray. I counted the following churches as represented that day:
- Crossroads (Frederickson)
- Destiny City Church (Tacoma)
- Grace Community (Auburn)
- Harvard Covenant (Tacoma)
- Life Center (Tacoma)
- New Hope Community (Bonney Lake)
- New Vine (Tacoma)
- Peace Assembly (Tacoma)
- Peninsula Christian Fellowship (Gig Harbor)
- Praise Covenant (Tacoma)
- Puget Sound Christian Center (Tacoma)
- Puyallup Foursquare
- Rainier Hills (Enumclaw-Buckley)
- Trinity Church of Pierce County (Tacoma)
God is blessing united prayer for our cities!
You may read more about the Pentecost Walk and see photos of the event at:
The Pentecost Walk in Tacoma.
Reaching Goths and Wiccans
Without any evangelistic outreach targeting them, Paul Majack, at
Rainier Hills Christian Fellowship, is seeing Goths, Wiccans and homosexuals come to his Wednesday night youth meetings. He must be watering down the gospel, right? WRONG! Rainier Hills’ youth meetings, of between 80 and 120 high school and junior high youth, are no-frills presentations of 20-30 minutes of worship and then straightforward preaching on the life of Christ (yes,
preaching). Lesbians are told forthrightly that there are only two ways, and those not going Christ’s way are going to hell. Young people who disrespect ministry leaders, and who distract their peers from listening to the preaching, are suspended from attending youth meetings for a month. So why do they keep coming back?
Goths and Wiccans tend to have a background of rejection. Some come from dysfunctional homes, and don’t have a sense of parents really caring about them. They tend to be in the “out” group at school. People have rejected them, so their lifestyle is an attempt to step outside the social system that has failed them. A sometimes motivation for their bizarre dress and piercings is to get the rejection out of the way first thing. If their appearance doesn’t immediately put you off, they may test you by blurting out the foulest thing about themselves that comes to mind.
A background of rejection, of course, provides a key to their hearts: authentic love and acceptance. Refusing to be put off by Goths’ appearance and self-confessed sins is the first step in showing them the acceptance they inwardly long for. Rainier Hills’ youth workers have a high Mercy quotient, and so loving and accepting these kids comes easy to them. However, under Paul Majack’s leadership, the workers have learned that authentic caring can’t be expressed without boundaries. Young people chafe at rules sometimes, but know instinctively that an authority figure who really cares about them will protect them with boundaries. “Kids actually crave boundaries,” Paul says.
Apparently the youth of Buckley and Enumclaw are also craving Truth. It’s no mystery why whole families are exiting churches that have emasculated the gospel (as Dave Shiflett has so well documented in his book
Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity): people don’t attend church just to be told that “whatever you believe is okay.”
Segments of America’s youth are looking for institutions and leaders that stand for something, even if that something is a costly truth. One of those segments is in east Pierce County and it's finding Truth at Rainier Hills Christian Fellowship and in the person of Jesus Christ. Praise God!
Relay For Life, Faith & Hope Center Tent Report
Dear Friends: The closest thing I've come to feeling like Anna in the Temple, night and day with the Lord and His people, happened at the Faith and Hope Center this weekend. What a rare privilege I had to witness you and your groups as you prayed on the grounds of the Relay for Life...each in your own style with your own God-given focus.
As I made a report to our church Sunday morning, these words were highlighted:
UNITY: When the Body of Christ came together in one place, honoring each other, there was great power released in prayer. One brother who is very sensative in the Spirit, but did not know this relay was for cancer, felt there was a strong annointing to pray for cancer. I love it!
FOCUS: The Holy Spirit gave each group specific things to focus on. Often our prayers were, "Lord, let everything You want prayed be accomplished by the end of this weekend." One team prayed that the big "C" (as we often call cancer) would be replaced by the bigger "C" in Christ.
TRUST: I trusted each team that came, and together we built trust with the American Cancer Society and the local Relay leadership. They definitely want us back again next year! Sometimes one of the leadership team would let me know what they needed prayer for as the event went along.
STATS: We figured there were about 175 people of all ages from 25 churches/ministries who prayed in the tent. There wasn't a lot of other traffic through the tent, but it became obvious numbers were not the issue. I believe we were priming the pump and drilling for oil...in other words, going down deep into the fight against cancer.
RESULTS: Of course we won't know until heaven all that went on as a result of our prayers. But I believe we will be getting some feedback, and I will pass that on to you. Financially, we asked for $600,000 and $641,000 was raised. We had our beautiful weather, but we are going to have to clarify what a slight breeze means. :) We had 40 mile an hour gusts by the last two shifts and had to vacate the tent. The final group prayed in a circle on the 5 yard line in front of God and everybody. My guess is that about 90 percent of us had never been to a Relay before.
THANKS: This word does not cover the gratefulness in my heart for all of you. May the Lord reward you greatly for your time and prayers. Please extend my thanks to each person on your team.
I trust we will see more of each other through the coming year. Carry the Light!
Sherry Varkonyi
Familiarize Yourself With New Song
Pastor Wayne Smith of Harvard Covenant Church writes, "I have had some fairly regular contact with New Song and believe that God is greatly at work through that ministry."
New Song is impacting Tacoma's 20-somethings, so we encourage you to familiarize yourself with their ministry and listen to some of their sermons at:
Successful Ministry to Goths
Pastor Tom Goetz of
Rainier Hills Christian Fellowship and Kit Hackett report that their youth pastor, Paul Majack, has been granted entree with the local Goth community. We are endeavoring to meet with Paul, and look forward to reporting more specifics about how God is at work among Goth young people.
A Stronghold of Insignificance?
Pastor Wayne Smith of Harvard Covenant Church, suggests that a stronghold in Tacoma is an assumption of insignificance. Are believers in our city asking, "Can any good thing come out of Tacoma?" If so, we need take a stand against this defeatist attitude.
Please comment on this issue by clicking on the word
comments just below this posting, or by e-mailing
me.
Relay For Life, Faith & Hope Center Tent
Fellow ministers in Tacoma and Pierce County, here is a great opportunity that God has opened for us.
We know that God is at work when He allows us to have a presence and opportunity to bless
in a secular program!American Cancer Society's Relay for Life was born in Tacoma 21 years ago. For the first time here,
a Faith and Hope Center tent for prayer will be on site at the Mt. Tahoma High School stadium. It will serve survivors of cancer, family members whose loved one has died, medical and research personnel, caregivers, fund-raising walkers and others. Hourly, starting at 6:00 p.m. June 23 through 6:00 p.m. June 24, a different church or ministry in Pierce County will provide its members to comfort, encourage and support those with needs. The fight against cancer has always had praying people, but now for those who desire it, there is a place to address the spiritual component of this cure. A reflection tent is also provided for those who wish to be quiet alone. For information on the Faith and Hope Center's schedule, go to tacomarelay.org/faithandhopecenter.html.
