Mission: Brownwood July 2010 Report

Grace Pointe Enjoys Successful Summer Month

July saw Grace Pointe hold their first revival meeting (led by Bro. James Snyder of Central MBC in Jonesboro, LA), its third VBS (with a high attendance of 19 children), two professions of faith, one baptism and one addition by statement.

Ramping up Our Efforts

Grace Pointe has three major projects we are working on right now in an effort to reach the unchurched of Brownwood, TX, and eventually grow to be self-supporting. (1) We are currently going door-to-door sharing the Gospel and distributing tracts. When we finish giving out the current batch of tracts, we will have given out 3,000 Chick Tracts. That means that roughly 15% of Brownwood residents have received a Chick tract from us, not including the 15,000 people who received tracts from us at last year’s Brownwood Reunion. (2) We are also preparing to spread the Gospel at this year’s Brownwood Reunion. For this outreach, I plan to purchase 10,000 custom printed tracts for $920 shipping included. On average, this event is attended by 15,000 people. (3) We are looking to raise funds to acquire a worship facility. More on this to be posted in the near future.
By The Numbers:

Attendance:

Sunday Morning:

7/4 - 16 ($516)
7/11 - 16 ($145.50)
7/18 - 14 ($61)
7/25 - 14 ($500)

Sunday Evening:

7/4 - 12
7/11 - 13
7/18 - 16
7/25 - 10

Income:
Offerings: $1,222.50
Memorial MBC (Rusk, TX) $50
Marvin Acker (Jacksonville) $100
Roy & Cynthia McMullin $25
TM and Eloise Jones $25
Jim Slocumb ; $100
Northcrest MBC (Andrews, TX) $69.25
Arp First Baptist (Arp, TX) $120

Expenses:
Rent: $600
Sound System: $432.99
Leland Acker: $200
Brownwood Water: $84.51
James Snyder (Revivalist) $500
Lake Brownwood State Park (Baptismal Service) $27
VBS Budget (Details provided as soon as available) $500
Checks: $32.67
VBS Banner: $96
VBS Booklets: $192.50
Rich Cone A/C Repair: $298.50
TXU: $144.75

Mission Fund
Support:
MBA of Texas $3,058
Rocky Springs MBC (Jacksonville, TX) $515
Denson Springs MBC (Grapeland, TX) $100
White Rock MBC (Center, TX) $100
Heritage MBC (Missouri City, TX) $200

Expenses:
Leland Acker Salary + Housing: $3,622
Building Materials $279.93
Newspaper Ad for Revival $97.50
Revival $451.51
Outreach Luncheon $120
VBS supplies $373.67

Hello, old friend

It's been more than a month since I've blogged. While I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts and the exploits of the core believers at Grace Pointe, things have been ridiculously hectic over the past two and a half months.

We moved into the rented building at the end of May and held our first services there the first Sunday in June. We immediately went to work refurbishing the back rooms (now a kitchen and fellowship hall, both of which can double as classrooms.) We spent a lot of money at Home Depot and several late nights painting walls and installing floor base (also called baseboard.)

Brothers Mike and John Johnson installed new vinyl composition flooring in the back rooms, as well as carpet in the hallway and nursery.

At the beginning of July, Jessica, the kids and I had to go to Colorado to care for Jessica's mother. We were there for two weeks. While it wasn't really a vacation (we were doing home health), we did enjoy a slowed down pace of life for a while, and got to see the top of Pike's Peak. While I was in Colorado, the operations of KSTA basically fell apart, especially in regard to Sunday programming. One Sunday, the WireReady automation software failed to load the Sunday programs... which is not all that uncommon... but no one caught it until well into the day. Other problems later arose when the person responsible for recording the programs failed to record them in the proper file format.

This is one of the latest in a long series of frustrations that has hindered our mission work. The inability of the station to properly operate during automated hours causes me to have to spend my "off time" (which is when I do the mission work) repairing issues with the radio station.

Three Sundays were horribly botched, and that has had a negative effect on the well being of the station. So, when I returned to Brownwood, I had that mess to clean up... as well as preparations for the Southwest Mission Rally and VBS.

The Southwest Mission Rally went very well. Following a great weekend of fellowship, we hurriedly resumed VBS planning, and finding that a number of our volunteers were falling off due to various reasons, we had to reformat VBS to be more of a youth seminar/presentation than a VBS. Think of it as church camp where the kids go home every night. Attendance has fluctuated at VBS, ranging from six to 22 kids.

Church attendance at the mission is struggling as well. A lot of the regulars have become lax in their attendance, which means that I have to do more follow up, which further strains evangelism efforts.

Notwithstanding all of this, the work at Grace Pointe continues, and will continue and God will see His church established in Brownwood. As we see more challenges, we are getting together (Jessica, myself and several of the "members") and praying and adjusting to overcome the adversities. I have heard that battles never go according to the battle plan... the same holds true in mission work. A mission project never goes according to plan. There are adversities, hurdles, attacks by Satan, heartbreaks and dissappointments. However, there are also sweet victories that come when you see lives changed and souls saved. AMEN!

So, be in prayer for us. We are transitioning now to empower and enable Grace Pointe to undertake the Great Commission given to the Lord's Churches, and we are looking at ways to transform the work in Brownwood so that the mission work here becomes even more robust, and more abundant than it already has become. I feel that if we work the fields, God will give an abundant harvest... so in the traditions of our agricultural ancestors, we'll work the fields from sun up to sundown, possibly later.

Thank you for your prayers, and to our financial partners, thanks for your financial support. We'll see you in Jacksonville in October, and Denison in November. Until then, here's hoping I can keep up the Mission: Brownwood blog better.

El Fin de VBS

We wrapped up VBS at the Brownwood Housing Authority today with 35 children and 8 volunteers in attendance. The kids were more hyper today after spending a week in school and our volunteer staff was out of sync due to a stomach bug which has taken over. All-in-all, it was a good day.

VBS Stats:

Attendance:

8/2/08- 20

8/9/08- 22

8/16/08- 42

8/23/08- 28

8/30/08- 35

Average Attendance: 30.

Professions of Faith: 2

Additions:2 (pending Baptism)

Financial Expense: $2,265.46

Financial expenses were mostly food cost to serve lunch at VBS... with some being spent for publicity. Curriculum costs were close to $1,300.

Final VBS Tomorrow

Tomorrow (8-30-08) will mark our final one-day VBS at the Brownwood Housing Authority. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. On one hand, all the preparation and working all day every Saturday has been taxing on my family and I. However, on the other hand, I'm going to miss working with these kids every single Saturday.

I do think we have made some friends here and have doors open for further ministry, but we'll have to conduct that ministry without the luxury of the community center. Not only will they not rent it to us every Sunday, but it is set to undergo remodeling as soon as we finish up tomorrow.

We had two professions of faith at VBS this summer. One was my son, the other was an apartment resident. She has decided to join our work in Brownwood, and I feel we will have the opportunity to minister to hers and other families we have been in contact with. This was the goal of the VBS... so at least that goal was accomplished.

We've had a lot of help with this VBS. Special thanks go out to the Shaw's from Midland, who helped us our first week. They went so far as to use video and powerpoint presentations. Then there was Bro. Roy Ramon from San Angelo, who led music the second week. Last week, we had Bro. Jaime and Sis. Regina Hogan, et. al. from Grapeland, John and Teresa Kight from Coleman, and tomorrow we are expecting Bro. Chuck Johnston, Sis. Sharon and Sis. Judy from Elkhart. Numerous churches have contributed supplies to our VBS, which has been a real big blessing. Cost of food for lunches, snacks and cost of arts and crafts supplies has been astronomical. Not having to pay for literature, as all of our literature was donated, has been a real blessing. A complete list of VBS donors will be released in my upcoming report.

Mission: Brownwood VBS continues to gain traction

We had 28 kids and 10 volunteers for a total of 38 people at VBS today at the Brownwood Housing Authority. We have two who are close to making decisions for the Lord, in my assessment.

Pictured above is Bro. Jamie Hogan, member of Muse MBC of Grapeland, TX, teaching the juniors class. We will hold our final one-day VBS at the housing authority next Saturday from 10-2.

Special thanks go out to Bro. Hogan, family and guests for traveling all the way to Brownwood to make this VBS a success!

Grace Pointe has 10!

We had 10 in attendance at our morning worship services in our home Sunday. We were expecting 11, but one fell ill. I am excited as those who are visiting with us are returning.

We also had a singing with 24 people at the retirement apartments where my wife works Sunday afternoon. Things there are also looking promising.

We are still hoping to be able to position ourselves to continue the momentum we are enjoying with the VBS at the Brownwood Housing Authority. I'll report the news as it happens.

Another successful VBS day!

By the end of the day, we had 42 kids, 7 volunteers for a total of 49 in attendance today. We're really beginning to build momentum at the Brownwood Housing Authority, with VBS volunteers and children getting to know each other on a first-name basis without the need for name tags.

We are working to find a way to keep this momentum going after VBS at the apartment complex. Hopefully, a solution can be found soon so we can continue to minister to these families.

VBS Day 2 Update

Today was another good VBS for Mission: Brownwood. We started out with just a handful of kids, but one of the local residents rounded up a bunch of kids to give us a total of 22 kids for the day, six adults, 28 people in all. No professions of faith were made today, but my class now knows the greatest two commandments. The above video is of Bro. Roy Ramon, pastor of Beacon Baptist Church of San Angelo, leading singing with his guitar. This was before the sudden influx of kiddos.

Mission: Brownwood July 2008 Report

Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding.

July was a busy month in preparation for our first major outreach event in Brownwood. We spent many hours preparing for Vacation Bible School to be held at the Brownwood Housing Authority’s Wendell Dodds Community Center. We were blessed with several people from churches all over the state of Texas volunteering to help us with VBS, and several churches sending us VBS supplies. God blessed our efforts the first weekend of VBS (Aug. 2) with 20 kids present, one adult from the apartment complex and nine volunteers for a total of 30 people. One teenage girl repented of her sins and trusted Jesus Christ as her Savior. She has since decided to follow her Lord in Baptism and will join our mission in Brownwood. We are also seeing doors opening to minister to other families in the Brownwood Housing Authority.

We have a couple attending services in our home with us, as well as the girl who was saved at VBS. Our plans are to continue VBS at the apartment complex every Saturday in August, hopefully seeing more souls saved and the Lord adding more to His church. Most of the people we come into contact with at the apartment complex have no basic understanding of the Gospel. There are religiously lost people in Brownwood, but not at the apartments. I feel that this will be a good fishing hole for us.

Finances

Support Received:
Rocky Springs MBC (Jacksonville, TX) $150
Hickory Grove MBC (Newport, AR) $298.01
Nevill’s Chapel MBC (Mt. Pleasant, TX) $154.92
East Side BC (Jacksonville, TX) 100
Memorial MBC (Rusk, TX) $700
John Nickle (Rusk, TX) $25
White Rock MBC (Center, TX) $100
58th Ave MBC (Amarillo, TX) $104.91
Bethel MBC (Tatum, TX) $50
Quaker Ave. BC (Lubbock, TX) $100
Wyndrock MBC (Abilene, TX) $240
M.T. Blackmon (Palestine, TX) $200.

Expenditures:
Salary $1,000
VBS fund $500
VBS supplies $415.60
Mission related gasoline usage $39.51
Housing $720.

Don't try this at home, unless you have a good vacuum cleaner

Jessica demonstrates how to color a picture of Miriam looking after the baby Moses as he floated down the river during crafts time at the VBS we held at the Brownwood Housing Authority Aug. 2.

The series of one-day vacation Bible schools continues every Saturday in the month of August. All VBS's will be held from 10-2 Saturdays at the Wendell Dodds Community Center of the Brownwood Housing Authority. Volunteers are still welcome.

PRAISE GOD! 20 KIDS! ONE SOUL SAVED!

Day one of our VBS at the Brownwood Housing Authority was a huge success!!! We had 20 kids and one adult from the apartment complex, and nine volunteers (ourselves included) for a total of 30 people. One girl, a teenager, accepted Jesus as her personal Savior within the first :30 minutes. She wants to be baptized and join our mission. We talked with her mom and everything is go... now we just have to find a place to do the baptizing.

We are expecting her to attend our home services, as well as our neighbors. If all goes well, we could have as many as 10 in our home tomorrow morning. Thank you for your prayers.

A special thanks go out to our partners, Ron and Betty Shaw of Midland, John and Teresa Kight of Coleman, Harold and Sylvia Acker of Jacksonville, and Victoria Williams of Brownwood. A very special thanks goes out to my wife Jessica, whose logistical planning and gathering of material and craft supplies, as well as food made this day possible.

We also received special live offerings from Wyndrock MBC of Abilene and Memorial MBC of Rusk that went toward this VBS. Donations of Good News Games materials are arriving daily, and we thank the churches who are supporting our VBS through these donations. A complete list of donors will be announced at a later time.

Thank you so much for your support.

It's in the Lord's hands

We have canvassed every door at the Sunset/Terrace complex of the Brownwood Housing Authority, put up a giant banner outside the community center, and had lots of one-on-one interaction with the local children.

We have been blessed with committments from volunteers, have plenty of material to get us through the first few weeks of VBS. Response in the community has been good, but that does not always result in good turnout. Never the less, we are doing VBS for God's glory, not our own. Whether we have 10 or 100 children, we will have VBS every Saturday, ministering to whatever children we have.

I'm hoping things go well. After talking with my pastor, Bro. Charles Swilling, we have decided to forego renting the building. Even though the rent is a good rate, we feel it would be best to take more time to build a core group before we make such a move. We have also decided to see how things go in the apartments this month to see if apartment ministries wouldn't be a better way to get started in Brownwood.

Speaking of apartments... my wife has landed a job as the recreation director of two apartment complexes in Brownwood. Look for more developments on this in the near future.

Things are going well at KSTA. I officially took over as station manager today and have already sold $2,250 worth of advertising.

I'm a little nervous right now. I have moved out here to Brownwood, accepted a ministry and a position and have not left myself a safety net. Basically, I have a slight fear of failure. This fear of failure motivates me to keep moving and trying.

Hey, if you myspace, check out my myspace page and send me a friends request. This is another tool I am using to network with people in the Brownwood area.

God bless,

Leland

Pushing Forward

We have canvassed the main complex of the Brownwood Housing Authority and will canvass two of their satellite complexes today, plus the surrounding neighborhood until our door hangers and tracts run out.

Signage advertising the VBS is also going up today (various issues have delayed this until today), and I have placed a notice in the local paper. Hopefully, we'll get a good turnout for VBS.

Getting the word out!

Cooper the dog (Jessica), pictured above, spent Sunday afternoon greeting children in the 100+ degree weather at the Brownwood Housing Authority. We canvassed the complex with door hangers and meet-and-greet times with Cooper. VBS begins Saturday at the Wendell Dodds Community Center at the Brownwood Housing Authority, and will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday in August.

Things are good

It's been almost a week since my last post. Things are staying busy. Here's an update.

• Betty Yarbrough, daughter of TMD Director Jim Slocumb, purchased a building that was formerly a Church of Christ in Andrews, TX, to convert into a shelter for expecting mothers. She graciously donated the pews, communion table, pulpit, carpet and baptistry from that facility to Mission: Brownwood. Northcrest MBC of Andrews picked up the church pews and pulpit, and communion table and are now storing them for me until we get a facility in Brownwood. Rocky Springs MBC, my sponsor, graciously made a donation to her shelter.
• South Union MBC of Dangerfield, TX and Veal Switch MBC of Hughes Springs, TX, both sent us generous portions of VBS Good News Games curriculum for our VBS at the Brownwood Housing Authority in August.
• We have a number of volunteers who are signing up. We will have an average of 6 volunteers each saturday for VBS if no more sign up... we still need help. Contact me if you want to volunteer at 325-200-8531.
• I have located a church building that Mission: Brownwood would be able to rent for $550/month. The owner is holding back on renting it due to road construction. I am praying about going ahead and renting it, rennovating it (there are some things that NEED to be fixed), and getting it ready for launch. I would prefer to have my core group a little more solid before we move in, but we'll go through this door when God opens it.
• Core group building is tough. It's hard getting people to go to church in the pastor's living room, especially when you're new in town. We're keeping at it, though.
• I am amazed at how my sponsoring church, Rocky Springs MBC, is coming on board and really getting behind this work. They are a real blessing to me.

My sincerest desire is to have a mission that is functioning like a church by the time we get to the state meeting in November. However, due to the start-from-scratch nature of this mission work, I can't promise a full slate of weekly services and Sunday schools by November. We'll get there, though. My personal deadline for having a solid core group established is next June.

See you at the Southwest Association Mission Rally at Beacon Baptist Church in Odessa Saturday.

Mission: Brownwood report for June 2008

“Go ye therefore and teach all nations”

The month of June has been one of challenges and excitement and for Mission: Brownwood. We have been able to get settled in to our new home, meet our neighbors and have even begun to minister to some.

We have been meeting with prospective core group members who may be interested in helping us launch a new church and have been doing outreach in our local neighborhood and at the local mall. Our biggest challenge in Brownwood is reaching religious lost people.

We are in the process of organizing a series of one-day vacation Bible schools on every Saturday in the month of August which will be held at the community center of the Brownwood Housing Authority. We have had four volunteers agree to help us so far… two from our sponsoring church, one from an ABA church in San Angelo and one from Brownwood. We still need volunteers. You may volunteer by calling me at (325) 200-8531.

Current plans are to continue meeting in our home until we build a core group of two or three more families to commit to the new work. Once that happens, we will publicly launch the new church. This will be a challenge as the core group will likely come out of Brownwood’s unchurched population.

Financial Report

Wyndrock MBC (Abilene, TX) $500
Muse MBC (Grapeland, TX) $200
Hickory Grove MBC (Newport, AR) $227.41
White Rock MBC (Center, TX) $100
John Nickle (Rusk, TX) $25
Memorial MBC (Rusk, TX) $50
Beacon BC (San Angelo, TX) $136
Bethel MBC (Tatum, TX) $50
Denson Springs MBC (Grapeland, TX) $100
58th Ave MBC (Amarillo, TX) $292.87
East Side MBC (Jacksonville, TX) $100
Nevill’s Chapel MBC (Mt. Pleasant, TX) $151.23
Rocky Springs MBC (Jacksonville, TX) $150

These contributions funded the purchase of VBS materials, the renting of the Brownwood Housing Authority Community Room for VBS, the purchase of evangelism materials, postage for report and request mailings, and missionary support.

VBS Update

We secured one volunteer and have a few maybe's who are interested in helping with VBS at the Brownwood Housing Authority in August. VBS will take place every Saturday in August from 10-2. Those interested in reaching out to these kids should contact Leland Acker at 325-200-8531.

Weekly update

I have been able to keep up with my committment to talk to at least three people about God every day. Friday night, I felt a lot of unrest in my soul, so I went to Wal Mart. While there, I not only found my grandfather's favorite movies (which he has been needing to find on DVD- Patton & The Longest Day) but I noticed a man wandering around. I asked him if he needed help, and he said he was looking for a DVD adapter. I helped him find it, then shared my faith with him.

He told me he just got out of state jail for DUI convictions, and had received Christ while in jail (he was taking a correspondence course). I know his name and where he lives... I'll follow up if the Lord permits.

I was also able to minister to some people I have met in town... but none are coming to my Bible studies. I preached the Gospel from Acts 2:36-38 to my kids today, and they enjoyed it. Really!

I am also continuing to meet with prospective core-group/launch team/charter members. I hope to have a small group of three families assembled by July... if God so blesses. I feel like once we have three families (myself included), we can begin taking steps to organize the church.

I still need VBS volunteers. I have had two people say they might be interested... but no one has responded to my blog announcements, ABA News announcements, state-wide mass mail-out (btw, when you turn in your letter to the state association this year, make sure your mailing address is updated. Outdated mailing info is eating my lunch), and some have even turned down my direct invitations. Look, if you come out, I'll put you up in my home if I have to. We'll eat BBQ after VBS is over, you can stay over for Sunday morning or go home, it's up to you. I'll do whatever, just help me out here! So far my only volunteers are my wife, me, my grandparents, and that's about it.

VBS will take place 10-2 on every Saturday in August at the Brownwood Housing Authority community center, a nice sized, well-equipped and cold air conditioned facility.

Thank you for your prayers, support and interest in Mission: Brownwood. Aside from my anxiety over VBS, I feel like my work here is well-supported and prayed for, and I do thank you for that.

Mission: Brownwood VBS... HELP NEEDED!

Please committ to helping Mission: Brownwood with VBS for at least one Saturday in the month of August. Your help could benefit a young child eternally. Call Leland Acker at 325-200-8531 to find out how.

God's Big Backyard & The Good News Games

Mission: Brownwood will hold five Saturday VBS's in the month of August at the community room of the Brownwood Housing Authority on U.S. Highway 67/84 West in Brownwood. The VBS's will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30.

Theme for Aug. 2, 9 and 16 will be "God's Big Backyard," a curriculum designed to teach kids service and sacrificial love using Jesus Christ as the ultimate example, with others added in (such as Miriam looking after Moses when he was put in the river).

Theme for Aug. 23 and 30 will be "Good News Games," teaching kids to carry the Gospel to people wherever they go.

We are budgeting for 120 kids in this VBS. The Brownwood Housing Authority has more than 200 apartments, plus we will attempt to bring in kids from outside the apartment complex, so 120 is not an unreachable number.

We need VBS teachers, crew leaders, van drivers, vans, kitchen workers, supervisors, registrars, a publicity team to go door-to-door and general set-up labor.

If you would like to be a part of one of the biggest missions happenings in West Central Texas, please contact me directly at 325-200-8531.

Our objectives in these VBS's are two-fold. (1) To lead children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and (2) to identify potential core-group members.