Do I Foster or Shepherd Children? What if I Do Nothing at All? - Carla Thompson

My journey with God to foster children started in 2006, in a gas station bathroom. A flyer on the grungy wall begged for people to become foster parents. This flyer caught my attention and broke my heart. In that very moment, I felt God’s nudge to open my home to children in crisis as soon as my two youngest children graduated high school. The heartbreak and desire to help these children never left me, but God’s timing was certainly different from mine.   

Due to complicated family circumstances, my two high schoolers and I moved to Memphis in May 2015. We were so broken that I thought there was no way I could ever foster. But in 2018, I started the training to become a foster parent and had to stop. In 2019, I started over and again had to stop. I quickly became discouraged. I began to question if I had heard my heavenly Father correctly so I gave my desire back to God. However, I never stopped going before the Lord and seeking Him vigorously. 

In the spring of 2021, God began to speak to my heart in various ways that it was time.   I felt His gentle leading to join Him in His work. In July, for the third time, I began the foster training process. After many months, my training is complete, my home study approved, and all the paper work turned in just waiting on DCS. I pray that no child will have to leave their home and parents, but if they do, I have prepared a bedroom to receive them.  

I have been asked, “Why are you doing this?”  I believe the better question would be, “Why not?” As Gib says, “We are to take responsibility for the brokenness and lost around us.”  Many children in our city, our nation, and this world are in a crisis. Our Heavenly Father hears their prayers and cries for help.  Do you hear them too?  

I recently saw a documentary by the Kendrick brothers that made an impact on my foster journey. It was called “Show me the Father.” The documentary showed how God orchestrates people’s lives so they could see the Heavenly Father. Jim Daly of Focus on the Family was interviewed and he shared his childhood story. When his mom died, he had to go to a foster home. He shared how chaotic and horrible it was. It was so terrible that Jim went back to live with his bad dad when he was in high school. Eventually, Jim had a football coach who taught him about Jesus.  Jim believed and Jim’s life was changed forever.  Jesus, “Showed Jim the Father!“  Read 2 Corinthians 4:6  

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” I was impressed to “shepherd” children coming into my home, not foster them. By God’s grace, children in need will come live in my home which I have named “Home of Hope.” The Christ in me, will show them God’s amazing unconditional love in their brokenness. I will tell them about Jesus’s love for them and share how Jesus has a plan for their family.  I will watch as the Good Shepherd Jesus does what he does best, “Show them the Father!” 

My first foster informational meeting in 2017 was quite eye opening.  I glanced across the room at the attendees. Couples of all ages and cultures attended. I sat alone as a single, Christian lady, up in age.  To say the least, we were a “motley crew” of potential foster parents. I started silently praying, “Lord, I hope there are many Christians in this room. If not, would you call your people and break their heart for these little children as you broke mine?”  - Carla Thompson

November is Adoption Awareness Month. Check out some of the videos of TN children who are awaiting a forever family to adopt them. Adoption is a beautiful picture of what God has done for us.

“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!” - Ephesians 1:5 TLB

Please consider joining Tennessee Kids Belong in an Exploring Foster Care informational meeting including a panel discussion and Q&A session hosted by Fatih Baptist Church on Wednesday, December 1st at 6:00 p.m. Register for the event at Exploring Foster Care. - Alan May, Director of Missions and Connections

College Ministry at Living Hope

5 Ways to Be Missional on Halloween

Give out the best candy, not just regular candy. Don’t give out tracts. Kids are looking for the motherload of candy - be a blessing and give out the best candy you can get.

Think of the parents, they have their hands full. Having some coffee or hot apple cider with some pumpkin bread for that mom wrangling four kids around could be a massive way to give rest.

Be present. Don’t hide out all night. Consider taking the evening to sit out front. Take a few minutes to learn people’s names and where they live.

Be encouraging. Kids want to hear how awesome their costume is. We all know the power of words. Take some time to talk about their costumes. Utilize the few minutes you have to speak words of encouragement. 

Be attentive. Ask the Spirit to help you see. It really is not every day your neighbors come to your door. During the few minutes the Spirit gives you, be attentive to them. Take 1-2 minutes to hear their stories, learn their needs, etc. Ask the Spirit for help with every door ring!

The Table Church Update - Fall 2021

GAME TABLES: Family Game Night

It is my sincere hearts desire to see folks at Living Hope get better connected, and to that end we are starting a series of table events whereby Living Hope will facilitate the connection of fellow church attenders for opportunities to establish new relationships and to deepen others. The launch of these table events will be a Game Tables event at the church building, simply put, a Family Game Night on Friday, September 24th, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Please plan to participate! In preparation for the event, we need to borrow some card tables from any of you who have one. We will certainly have some games that can utilize the larger round tables that we already have at the church facility, but many games are better played around an old fashioned folding card table. So, write your name on the underside of your table, and drop it off at church this Sunday or on the 19th, please.

I am also putting out an urgent call for those of you who are fun-loving and willing to lead a table game. If you would volunteer to be such a leader, please reach out to me ASAP…Alan May, 901.652.8526…and let me know if you have a particular board game or family game you would organize. Scrabble, Rummikub, Twister, Catch Phrase, Trivia Pursuit, Rook, UNO, Dominoes, Shoots and Ladders, etc. We need games for all ages!

Following our Game Tables: Family Fun Night, we will start facilitating the organization of other Tables Events in homes, parks, and restaurants. Look out for upcoming Picnic Tables, Dinner Tables, Coffee Tables, Sewing Tables, etc. These will be great opportunities to invite guests to join us.

“And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.” Matthew 9:10

-Alan May

Why I Serve - Jenna Dargie

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians 3:16

Growing up, I watched many people “serve” in the church; and I was taught that this is part of what it means to be a Christian. As my walk with the Lord has matured, the word “serve" has taken on a much deeper meaning. The Lord has opened my eyes to see that serving is an expression of gratitude for the finished work He’s done for me and because of that, my desire is to serve and lead others to experience the same.

In serving, my relationships have become enriched and community is more valuable to me. God has also taught me to step out of my comfort zone and trust Him to lead me in the area of service He’s called me to. As I obey, God reveals certain gifts He wants me to use, and that has brought me great joy. Leading a girl’s Bible study, greeting families as they enter church each week, discipling young women, training and encouraging our LH Kids teachers are just a few ways He has blessed my life and used me for His service.

I remember singing a song in Sunday school that has stuck with me and it goes, “This is My commandment that you love one another that your joy may be full”. “Full” joy comes when we choose to love and serve others.

- Jenna Dargie, Associate Children’s Director

Why I Serve - Coleton Segars

In 2017 I was ready to step away from ministry and do something else….anything else. I was tired. Weary of churches more interested in systems and growth and lulled to sleep by the status quo of southern, cultural Christianity; claiming staunch fidelity to the scriptures but denying the very scriptures that tell us there's power available in prayer, the Spirit, and the gospel.

That death and resurrection thing Jesus did broke the world and then healed it at the same time. Death's reign ended, sin's shackles fell off, and darkness cried for mercy as Jesus walked out of that grave. That's wonder. I wanted that. I wanted to be around people who believed in impossible things: that God hadn't run out of miracles; that people can be transformed by the gospel, the power of salvation and not by trendy church strategies. I wanted people who believed that, maybe, if we asked, He'd do those famous acts of old, in our time.

So God sent me to Living Hope and I've had the privilege to serve with people like Shawn and Kyle and Hannah and Emma and Banker and Terri and Diane and Troy and Ben and the list goes on. An expectant people. A people willing to pray til the promises come true.

I serve because I get to serve with them.

I serve because Jesus continues to outdo our prayers.

I serve because I'm filled with awe of wonder of what He might do next.

- Coleton Segars, Student Pastor

Why I Serve - Alan May

Unlike many men, I have never found my identity in my work. My identity is in Christ Jesus. I have done a lot of different things to make a living throughout my life…cut lawns, delivered newspapers, sold cleaning products door-to-door, bussed tables, washed dishes, cleaned and repaired swimming pools, worked for a Fortune 100 company as an operations manager and an international business advisor, established a children’s home in East Africa as a missionary, delivered pizzas (as a middle-aged man), tutored students in math and Spanish, taught English to refugees, and directed non-profit organizations. Now, for two and a half years, I have served as a part-time staff member at Living Hope.

Prior to becoming a staff member, I had always done a lot of things in churches as a member of the body…taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, chaired committees, preached, taught discipleship classes, led small groups, cleaned church buildings, directed ESL ministries, cut church lawns, shoveled snow from church parking lots, served as an elder, baptized folks, officiated a wedding, prepared church bulletins, served in the nursery, and led mission teams. In fact, for 56 years I never aspired to serve on a church staff. I was even sure I did not want to do that. Then, one day Gib called to ask me to consider serving as Living Hope’s part-time Missions Administrator. I was happy to do that because Living Hope was different, in a good way, than any other church of which I had been a member, and Missions was my heart’s passion. I absolutely love to lead others on mission trips and to keep in touch with our ministry partners and missionaries here and abroad to encourage them, pray for them, and endeavor to see their needs met.

My life was turned upside down when my precious wife Pam succumbed to Covid-19 near the end of 2020 and went to be with Jesus, and I, too, battled a bad case of the virus from which I am still not fully recovered. After all the years of serving the Lord and others, I became the beneficiary of outreach and an overwhelming outpouring of love and care by the body of Living Hope. The Lord has always met my needs, and most often uses others to do so. Thank you, Living Hope!

Shortly, after Pam’s death, the Living Hope elders asked me to take on an additional role leading our Connections efforts. This in itself was a precious act of caring because my medical insurance abruptly terminated when Pam died, and the elders saw an opportunity to increase my responsibilities and make me eligible for employment benefits at the same time. A win-win for me and Living Hope. Like Missions, Connections is a natural fit for me. Pam used to tell me, “you talk to everybody!” She was right, I not only talk to everybody, but it has always been my practice to make sure that folks in my presence are introduced to each other. I have naturally and organically been a connector of people for much of my life. So, when asked, “Why do you do what you do?,” I can simply say I do what I do because of what Jesus has done for me.  “We love because He first loved us.” I John 4:19

- Alan May, Missions & Connections Director

Young Life's Capernaum Ministry

Living Hope financially supports Susan Rice and the ministry she leads at Young Life. The YL ministry to intellectually disabled young people is called Capernaum. Several folks at Living Hope have helped with Capernaum events in the past, and now there is opportunity for others to get involved. Perhaps the following will be of interest to individuals, families, and hopefully LH Gospel Community Groups. Please let Alan May, amay@lhchurch.com, know if you and/or your GC Group would like to participate.

“We are so excited for MCYL Day Camp!!! The dates are July 29-Aug. 1 (thats a Thursday-Sunday). Thursday, Friday and Sunday will be at our YL Center in Memphis (1177 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN 38105) and Saturday will be at Bolin Grove Farms in Hernando, MS (our staff associate Olivia, it's her family's farm).

I would love to pass along these needs/places we are needing folks to serve alongside us. We would love to have folks come hang out and help for as much as they would like!

PRAYER NEEDS:

For our friends to sign up!!!

For MALE LEADERS ... currently we have 2 male leaders who will be with us all day Saturday and Sunday, but only part of the time Thursday and Friday

Meals/Snacks:

Thursday night dinner is covered with Chick-Fil-A

Friday - Lunch

Saturday - Lunch

Breakfast/Coffee - we would love to provide a little something for our leaders Friday and Saturday morning - Leaders will arrive between 8:15-8:30.

Snacks - Saturday we are hoping to have a snack bar like we do at camp (chips, candy, popsicles, drinks, maybe even slushes)

I am double checking on COVID guidelines around this to determine what we can serve.

Work Crew (service opportunities):

Each day there are events that will need to be set up while campers are busy with something else. Having a work crew helps free up leaders from having to leave their friends to set up the next thing ... instead they get to lead them to the next surprise!

Friday - outdoor/yard games - think ladder golf, corn hole, foursquare, etc.

Saturday -

Field Games - a series of events that the program team will lead us through, so the work crew will make sure the props are in the right places.

Water fun - field games will end with some water fun! We have 4 giant inflatable animals that spray water, there will be sponge bombs and maybe more!

Please let me know if any of these areas feel like a place the Living Hope family would like to help make happen. We are so grateful for your partnership and prayers! I am touching base with a few churches and groups to get areas covered - we are excited to provide a place for our friends to have a fabulous time while we point them to Jesus!” - Susan Rice

Bowie Family

LH Kids Baptism Class

Class of 2021

This last year for students has been one of the most difficult years of their lives. School online, quarantine, cancelled proms, cancelled sports, nothing normal. It’s been a year of pressure and very little relief. In the midst of all of the uncertainty it’s normal for people to question God’s plan or even His existence.

This is one of the reasons we’ve been so blown away by our seniors. They have grown more deeply in their faith this past year than any other class we’ve ever seen. Questions and doubts have been a part of that, but where there were questions, they brought them to God. Where there were doubts, they took them to Jesus together. It’s truly been a gift to watch and has stirred the collective faith in our ministry.

This past week we had the opportunity to share a meal together and hear from small group leaders and parents and pastors, about how each senior has made an impact in the student ministry. It was a beautiful night. We laughed. We cried. And we shared how God had been faithful in and through the lives of our seniors.

As they head off to college and begin a new season of life, we’re expectant for how the Lord will use their influence among their peers. They all come from different backgrounds, have different gifts, and are in different places along their journey with Jesus. But one thing they all seem to have is a desire to choose Jesus even in the midst of dark valleys. This year has proven that fact for sure. To any constant student of Jesus, faith will always be challenging. It will come with beauty, but it will definitely come at a cost. What I love about our seniors is not that they deny the difficulty and say it’s all great and easy. I love their honesty about how following Jesus is costly and difficult and often times against where they’d rather go, but they’ve learned to bring that to Him rather than try to work it out apart from Him. This is what the psalmists do. This is what the disciples did. And I’m grateful to see it in them.

Join us in thanking God for our senior class. Pray that they may continue to hunger for the presence of God in their midst and that many will say of them, as they did of the early disciples, “they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

- Coleton Segars, Student Pastor

Girls' Night Out...FINALLY!

So Good to be back Together Again!

That was the sentiment of 90 Living Hope women last weekend. We gathered at Living Hope on Friday evening for a delicious dinner, chatting and reconnecting and lots of laughter!

The highlight of the evening was our speaker, Linda Price. She is a local Memphis counselor who practices at Central Church. She shared that while many of us struggled this past year with the challenges of Covid and perhaps even referred to it as the worst year ever, her worst year was 2010 when her family had to relocate. She was not prepared emotionally or spiritually for the changes that she would encounter.

She shared with us some useful tools to help us negotiate changes that we have no control over. She encouraged us to start now in preparing our hearts and minds for hard times; “waiting” to get closer to the Lord, during a crisis will not work. She challenged each of us to begin to encourage other women in our lives. The world is tearing us apart and it is communicating a hopeless message. We have a message of hope and we need to speak it and practice it daily.

If you weren’t able to join us, you can listen to each of Linda’s sessions here.

- Helen Carlson, Director of Women & Children

Mother's Day

Pablo & Michelle Di Gilio

The following is an update from Pablo with some prayer requests. Please consider sending him and Michelle a note of encouragement at pablo.digilio@gmail.com.

Preaching training. The first week of March we attended another Simeon Trust preaching course with our pastoral team, and the Lord gave us a wonderful time learning more on how to stay faithful to the text and always preach what God had intended for each passage of Scripture. Please pray for our pastoral residents and our pastoral team as we approach the scriptures each week preparing to receive from God what He has for His people.

Lumina Institute. I asked you to pray previously that the attendants of our Institute would remain faithful to their commitment, and God has shown himself to be so gracious with us with a growing number of students in the past months. We just finished our first trimester and people are very excited about the next term. Some of our students have given testimony that they had never studied the scriptures in such depth and in the light of the Gospel now they understand better the redemptive narrative of the Bible.

Lumina Torreon. Sergio and the core team started gathering physically at a hotel’s conference room in March and people are feeling more comfortable attending there than at a house because of social distancing in the current pandemic. Please pray God will continue to move the hearts of the attendants to commit to this body of believers and to continue growing.

Lumina Puebla. God has shown himself so gracious with the rapid growth of Lumina in Puebla. We have over 90 people attending the Sunday gatherings. We have run out of chairs and people don’t mind standing on their feet because they are so eager to belong to a Gospel-Centered, Bible-Preaching congregation. Please pray for wisdom for Hector and his team there, that they continue to love and serve their congregation and raise more disciples of Christ.

Personal Studies. On March 15th I restarted my Masters in Theological Studies as part of my personal challenge to continue growing in the knowledge of Scripture and wisdom. Please pray for good stewardship of my time as I continue to serve our congregations and my family. It’s been a challenge to manage everything I do, but I pray He will give us the strength for this season.

I think this would summarize everything going on right now.

We miss you!

Pablo

Southside Wildcats

Life Choices of Memphis

God's Faithfulness

The faithfulness of God is no small matter…it is to be celebrated! All of our hope hinges on His faithfulness…to show us grace and mercy, to provide for us, to redeem us, to watch over us, to prepare a place for us, to keep His promises, to comfort us, and to give us peace that passes all understanding. God showed His faithfulness to me as my dear Pam’s earthly life recently came to an end. Her passing was “precious in the sight of the LORD.” (Psalm 116:15), and an experience I described at the time as both awful and, likewise, ‘precious.’ By His grace, the LORD allowed me to be present with Pam during her transition from this life to the next. In my flesh I grieve her absence in my life, yet in my spirit I rejoice in her presence with the LORD. 

Throughout Pam’s illness, death, memorial service, burial, and the days following, the LORD has been faithful to me, as He  will continue to be. He has surrounded me with a church family who have showered me with love, demonstrating the hands and feet of Jesus in so many practical ways…prayers, cards, letters, financial support, phone calls, text messages, FB posts, visits to my home, delivery of food galore, invitations to dine out, as well as invitations to dine in with many of you in your respective homes.  

In my grief, the LORD has been faithful to comfort me, for “we do not grieve as others do who have no hope.” I can sing, “Great is Thy Faithfulness. O God my Father…All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy Faithfulness, LORD unto me.” My own faith has been tested, and thankfully it not only remains intact, but also has increased. This is nothing I accomplished, but rather it is another display of God’s incredible faithfulness…to give me the faith, hope, and wherewithal to carry on when my flesh would otherwise fail. It is my strong desire that you, too, know His great faithfulness. 

With great love and appreciation!

Alan May

Trauma Healing Seminar

Many people around us have, at some point in their life suffered trauma. For some the trauma was triggered by natural disasters and accidents, for others it was caused by abuse, conflicts, violence, death of a loved one, war, etc.  Most people who have suffered trauma, carry the scars inside them for many years. In contrast with physical wounds, these deep injuries are often overlooked and left untreated because they are often hidden from the outside world.   

At a recent five-day Trauma Healing equipping seminar offered by the Trauma Healing Institute, and presented by Steve Moses, Diana Spann and Cindy Jackson, I had the opportunity to learn more about trauma care and how the Body of Christ can come alongside those who have heart wounds. We were taught to identify people in need of healing; how to help them through the grieving process and to minister to them using biblical and mental health principles.  The main purpose of the training was to equip the participants with the ability to facilitate healing groups that can provide basic care for those wounded by some form of trauma. 

To share this with people from our congregation, a few healing group sessions will be held early in 2021. These sessions will teach participants more about trauma, the effects it has on the individual, and it will explore what the Bible teaches us about suffering.  The purpose of these groups will be to confront and release some of the emotional pain that people have who are carrying these heart wounds around inside of them.  If you have been experienced trauma in your life, please prayerfully consider joining one of these groups.  Please be on the lookout for more information that will follow in January 2021. 

- Rhe Janse

Baptism - August 16, 2020