January 2010
Dear Friends-
You must all be praying blessings and peace upon us, cause we sure do feel it. This December has been one of the most enjoyable and stress-free for us Thompsons. We truly took time to savor God's gift of children and family. We even managed a quick weekend visit to mom and dad's place in San Jose so they could shower some grandparent love on all of us.
Looking back, 2009 has been a year of blending and apprehending. The initiatives we got involved in were more like heartfelt partnerships in which we everyone co-labored harmoniously. We "participated in" much more than we "led" - which highlights a notable, yet easy to miss reality: there are many in this city and region with the same heart and vision of transformation coming through a unified, healthy, powerful Church that actively engages and influences local culture under the sovereign hand of a God who is opening doors as we, by faith, step out in peace. South County launched and Compass Home Care came under our umbrella. What an honor to bridge God's grace to the local Women's Refuge, Probation, health and human services, the Lot team, the Champions initiative, and to be among the population as salt and light in significant city events with our band, etc.
Apprehending and occupying territory is easier said than done though. Having "ideas" about mentoring and "talking about" preferred scenarios with Women's Refuge leadership and MyWatch neighborhoods is all fun initially, but responsible follow-through is key if these bridges are going to last. God has supplied us this year with time and resource, health and strangth to do the work, so we have SafetyNet up and running smoothly and much more. We thank Him for calling us and gracing us with all we need. THANKS for prayers and support!
PROJECT 18 MENTORING
As the month opened, we hosted our 3rd event for Project 18, our Mentoring program. It was a Christmas-themed party with hilarious games and a rousing gift exchange. Kids and adults both loved it. I was cracking up when one of the BINGO players blurted out, "All I need is JESUS!" They were referring to the fact that their row was complete with the exception of the square labeled "Jesus." FUNNY, and more TRUE than they realized in the moment!
Ten of our mentors are matched with at-risk youth and another dozen rotate visitation inside Juvenile Hall on Mondays and Thursdays. The kids and staff love the fact that we are their "un-program," and that we just show up to build relational bridges. After visiting 8 times this month, I can attest that the youths do grow on you. We have won the favor and admiration of the supervisory staff there who want us to come on Fridays and Saturdays if we can recruit more help. We NEED MORE MEN to sign on as mentors with us due to males awaiting mentors. Do you have a few hours a week in 2010? Our community needs fathering! Pray for laborers and for funding to run this right.
NIGHT OF WORSHIP
We had a strong desire to connect prior to year's end with people who share our vision and heart for bringing God’s grace to the community, so December 12 th we led in a Night of Worship at Hub City Bible Church. It was a great time of connecting with others who are aflame for the city and region. One major highlight of the evening was watching the youth get blessed. After a great time of singing, we invited those 20 and under to stand up front and let the adults present "single them out for a word of blessing." When I got home, my kids said, "Dad, I wish it could have gone on longer..." They ate it up! Much fellowship, prayer ministry and laughter followed. The next Night of Worship will be February 6th so mark your calendars.
CHRISTIAN NON-PROFITS
We hosted the 2nd lunch for the Christian Non-Profit connection mid-month and God directed the sharing in a sweet way. We want to come up with a name for this group, but for now, the relational ties are forming up strong and that's the key. Everyone was overflowing with passion and excitement about their area of focus, and was eager to hear what the others were up to. As each shared what they were doing, others nearly interrupted, they were so excited to offer resources they knew of. Such joy -- almost like a long awaited family reunion. Maybe it has to do with the fact that all these folks are on the front lines out in the community and engaging people in proactive ways. We prayed for each other and considered ways to link our expertise and assets to one another's ministry. Originally, we planned to hold these lunches only quarterly, but now we’re seeing that monthly times will increase the benefit everyone is experiencing.
COMPASS CARES
Our Senior Care arm, Compass, ran an amazing night of bringing God’s grace to seniors this month as well. Not only did they throw a wonderful party for the seniors in their program, they reached out to area shut-ins with a caroling and blanket giveaways. Fabric was donated and fleece blankets were assembled by youth and adults with care. Joanne and her team asked area churches for lists of shut-ins who might otherwise be overlooked at this season. She then created a map and we all set out to bless these elderly who live in our community.
They did all this in the process of moving their offices to Churn Creek. We’ve stored some of our equipment at this location for years, but Joanne made us an offer we couldn’t refuse: to modify the garage space so we can have a workroom there also. Although we’ve gotten to appreciate our “office without walls” existence, having this space will really help us work better with volunteers.
COMING UP
January 19: Monthly Christian Non-Profit lunch, Redding Library.
Late January : Winter edition of The Track Record with more stories of how God is touching this region. Watch for it!
January 30 th: Grace in Motion team gets back in action. This year we want to expand how we come along side those who are speaking peace to their neighbors, by working more closely with seniors, women’s refuge, and neighborhoods that are a part of SafetyNet, as well as continuing to come along side YOU when you hear of a need that is beyond the ability of the person you’re reaching out to.
February 6 th : Bimonthly Night Of Worship to connect with others and pray for our cities!
ON THE THRESHOLD
We do sense that we are in God's timing and at the threshold of many new explosive directions for the King and His Kingdom expansion right here in the Redding region. Everyday we connect with more people dreaming God's dream and looking to implement alongside us. We hear this statement a lot, "You guys seem to know everyone and have good relationships all over town, so let's work together." Pray for strength to rise and for our protection as we seek to influence and minister peace and goodwill to all men in dry, dusty and sometimes sticky situations.
With hope,
Jon and Natalia Thompson
Click here for previous newsletters
