Another Chance To IMPACT Powhatan!

PCC IMPACT, led by Andy Heberle, is a group of people committed to investing in the people of Powhatan county in a very tangible way. IMPACT projects focus on necessary home improvements in an effort to share the love of Christ in a very real way. IMPACT projects offer opportunities to invest in hard work and real relationships.

IMPACT projects are ongoing, but a few times each year we gather for a community blitz, taking on several homes at once and sending a large team of folks out into the community to work.

On October 25th, PCC made a big IMPACT on Powhatan county - literally! Andy and his leadership team set up projects at seven different homes throughout the county. Folks signed up for specific tasks and locations and headed out after morning church services.

If you missed out on Sunday's work day - or you're just ready to go again - read on for more details!!!

Seven different Powhatan county families saw literal proof that God loves them and that we love them too! Because of your willingness to serve, we were able to make a tangible difference in the lives of these families. We'd like to say a big "thank you" to all who went out to work on Sunday!

People were stretched, people are sore, but attitudes are soaring- from our folks and the families we served.
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon - the rains of Saturday completely disappeared and we had excellent weather to work on each project!

We made incredible progress on Sunday; however, we still have some work to complete. If you were unable to participate last weekend, we're happy to let you know that there is another opportunity!

Maybe you missed out because of illness. Maybe a prior commitment made it impossible for you to attend. Maybe you want to go back. Maybe you just didn't realize what was happening, but now you're ready to join in!

Here's your opportunity - and WE NEED YOU! On Saturday November 7th, we will meet at the church office to receive our work assignments and go back into the community to put the final touches on these IMPACT projects. Bring your carpentry tools, saws, levels, tape measures, hammers, paint brushes and bucketS, electric screwdrivers, drills, extension ladders, step ladders - and come expecting a great return on your investment of time and energy!

Meet us at 9:00 AM on November 7th at 4480 Anderson Highway for our work assignments. Bring a bag lunch and a cooler with some drinks. It's going to be a GREAT day!

See you there!

2009 Women's Retreat

What a great time we had at the 2009 PCC Women's Retreat! A diverse group of women joined together to sing, dance, laugh, cry and learn from a brilliant Bible teacher and from one another.
We met this year at a new location - the Roslyn Retreat Center right here in Richmond. It was absolutely and utterly perfect in every way - from the sleeping accommodations to the food (delicious) to our meeting room! It was a perfect time of year for a walk around the campus, and many of us took advantage of an hour of free time on Saturday morning to enjoy the beauty of the fall foliage. It was difficult to walk around Roslyn and without a sense of gratitude.
Alyce Reeves returned to teach us again - accompanied this time by her daughter, Alysson. Alyce's ability to teach the Bible in a way that relates to women is brilliant - she is funny, engaging and unafraid to speak the truth in a powerful way. We are grateful, again, for her willingness to share her gift of teaching with us.
A very special part of the weekend was the opportunity to pray, together, for Rachel and Daleen and their unborn babies, due within a week of each other.
New friendships were formed, old acquaintances were renewed and a great time was had by all. If you've never been to a PCC Retreat, I encourage you to ask someone who went this year about the investment. I'm sure you'll hear that it was well worth the time and financial commitment!

Special thanks to the women's leadership team, who invested time and energy to put together a great event!

Baboons!

Jeff Boggess (from Atlee Community Church) and I were walking on Monday in the wilderness. That's a slight exaggeration, but not much. In fact, I was a little worried about being eaten by a lion or some other predator type creature. I figured that I could probably outrun Jeff. :-)

Anyway, we came around the corner and there was a family of baboons! It was so cool! They kept their distance, climbed a small rock ledge, climbed a tree and watched us from a safe distance.

We get to go on a safari at the end of the trip, and I'm looking forward to that.

Orphans

I've got about 5 minutes, so this won't be the normal mini-novel post. I know you are devastated.

We toured one of the most innovative orphanages I've ever seen yesterday and was able to have a meal with the founder and a member of the board. 150,000 children are in 'child led households' here in South Africa. 1/3 of the population of 44million people is HIV positive. We also looked at some other areas of great potential for care.

I'm leaving now to go to a remote church where we'll stay the night with their pastor. Susan will lead a group of ladies today and I will speak at that church tomorrow and have lunch with the congregation.

We are doing well, meeting with a lot of key people here in South Africa. It's all very exciting. But we're also quite homesick. I'll be very excited to be back in Powhatan.

Lanette Boggess is doing better and probably won't have to have surgery. Keep praying for her. She might get out of the hospital tomorrow or Monday!

Thanks to everyone who is stepping up with extra responsibilities while we are away.

My experience from last Sunday

The church we worshiped in last Sunday was so awesome. Very African, lively music. The drummer was a teenager who kept PERFECT time and was incredible. They had electricity, but it was their only amenity. We were in a room about the size of the living room at my home with about 40 people. Very crowded. The music lasted about an hour. It was all in Afrikans (one of the two prominent languages), so I couldn't understand it...but worship is universal, so it was cool to be with kindred hearts. One of our team preached, so that was cool. There were little kids up front singing, too. They were extremely poor, but, they had a dignity about them.

Speaking of poverty, there are both extremes here. The family we stayed with on Saturday night was quite comfortable. The

Boggess' stayed with a family that was downright wealthy! But then there are people begging everywhere. They stand in the street - NOT THE MEDIAN, BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD and you either have to stop or run them over. There are parents with their kids - the whole family begging. Very sad.

I think about the Bible speaking about Paul going around the world. It says that 'He went around strengthening the churches'. I feel like I'm doing that here.

I'm so grateful for PCC and for our country and that God is the God of the whole world, not just the United States. Tomorrow I'll share about a cool wildlife experience we had.

News from South Africa

I honestly cannot believe it’s Thursday already. This is the first time we’ve had internet access since Saturday.

For the past 3 days (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday), we have been meeting with about a dozen pastors and leaders from some of the most influential churches in South Africa. They were intrigued about our Innovative Church Network. So, we led and trained them on our experience, what we’ve learned, and also had a chance to dialogue about leadership and the future of the church.

It was truly a remarkable experience. They flew in from as far as 800 miles away to be here with Hank, Jeff, Mike, Mark and me. Most were senior pastors of churches. All of them are passionate about reaching unchurched, non-christian people. Their churches are that way because these guys have that heart and passion. Most were educated, well read, and relatively well resourced (for South Africa). They were the sharpest minds and most passionate about The Church.

We talked about ICN a lot, but it only took a few minutes for the S.A. pastors to see the value of coming together, and why it would make them more effective. So, after half a day of introductions, I told the story of ICN, Jeff shared about a typical monthly meeting format, etc. And then, on Tuesday morning, I led a case study I had developed that was pretty effective, and received a good bit of affirmation at the end of our 3 days when each person shared about their take-aways.

Some of these pastors are people with whom I could be good friends. They told stories that broke my heart. ‘Apartheid’ is basically South Africa’s version of ‘separate but equal’. Of course, both are simply racism with a thin veil over them. But Apartheid only ended in the 90’s here. So, they are still trying to figure out what it means to have racial and cultural equality.

And cultural is a key word. There are 11 different languages spoken here, and it is much more culturally diverse than where we live (at least in Virginia, but I think in the States altogether). So, figuring out what it means to be culturally equal is as important as working through issues of color. Some of the pastors said things like, “White people (they call them ‘whities’ and it’s not a derogatory term) are used to being in charge. We don’t know how to be a minority.” There were black and white men at the table, and there was a genuine spirit of love and mutual respect. There was a huge chasm in terms of economics, too. But there was also a great passion for unity. God is working here in South Africa.

At the end, one of the pastors said, “I feel the freedom for the first time in my life to take my church and just go for it! You have inspired me to do that.”

Another said, “These three days have been a blessing for me – not because of what I take away, but because of what I’ve been able to leave: my struggle and my pain.” Wow.

Another one sends you a message: “You can go back to your churches and say that you’ve been a great blessing to us!”

I’m missing PCC and my family. Susan and I are so grateful to Mary Ashleigh and our parents and some of you, our friends, who have cared for our family while we’ve been gone. It’s been the trip of a lifetime!

Looking forward to coming home. Thanks for continuing to pray for us. I’ll blog again when I can.
Love to all of you.

How you can pray for us while we're in South Africa

There are 6 people here from Virginia, in addition to me and Susan:

• Jeff and Lanette Boggess. Jeff is the Senior Pastor from Atlee Community Church in Mechanicsville.
• Hank and Donna Brooks. Hank is the Senior Pastor of Coastal Community Church in Virginia Beach.
• Mark Jenkins, Senior Pastor from Mountain View Community Church in Culpeper.
• Mike Gray, Senior Pastor of Newington Baptist Church in Gloucester.

Jeff, Hank, Mark and I dreamed and began the ICN. Mike has been extremely in our network and has repeatedly talked about how the ICN was a pivotal and timely part of his own ministry.

Here are some specific prayer requests from our team:

• Riaan Niemand’s mother died the day we arrived (Friday). The death was relatively sudden and unexpected. We learned about it Saturday. Please pray for him as he prepares to lead the funeral later in the week and for him, his wife, Debbie, and for their family as they grieve a major loss.

• That God would revive our spirits. I know I’m not the only one on our PCC staff who is tired. I’m really hopeful that I can find ‘rest for my soul’ and a spiritual revival. Some of the other pastors have agreed that there is a heaviness and a weariness that is pervasive. I hope we can all reclaim a sense of passion.

• Renewed discipline. In the daily grind, it has been very difficult for me (Brian) to maintain a sense of discipline in prayer, devotional time and Bible study. I’m hopeful that this change of routine will be just what I need to refocus on what is most important.

• Open mind. There are many opportunities and doors God could open. We pray that we are open to them.

• Pray that we would be quick to listen and slow to speak as we try to be servants to the pastors here in South Africa.

• That we could help. These folks asked us to come to them. We pray that we are an inspiration rather than a disappointment and that we have something valuable to add to the conversation.

• That we would see the big picture. One of the great values of a mission trip is that we are reminded in a profound way that God is working all over the world, not just in our community and church. We pray that God would let us see the fullness of His work that is happening 10,000 miles from Virginia.

• Our families. Susan and I left our 3 kids behind. It’s a little scary. Mark also left behind his wife, Tara, and their school aged children. And Mike’s wife remained at home, too, and is painting their house while he's gone! (Wow...that's an inspiration!) Please pray that God would keep them all safe while we're gone.