A Video Update from the Schoffs

Mission Adelante! - Jason Schoff from Perception Funding on Vimeo.

Friends, please enjoy our new video below. A friend, Jonathan Klee, graciously gave his time to do it free for us!

Teaching English through Abraham

Learning English is so much fun when you can mix it up. I've been utilizing this curriculum that uses drama (TPR) and phrases to help students cement English words in their minds. The students really catch on quick and we have a good time seeing who is the best actor. We do all this while using a bible story! This last week we worked on English that frames the story of Abraham and Isaac. It is the scene where Abraham is taking his son to the mountain to sacrifice him. If you don't know the story, you really need to read it in Genesis 22.

At the end of class, I reflected with the students upon what the story means to us. Abraham showed an amazing obedience to God. He was willing to sacrifice the same gift God had given him, a son. The story means even more to me today with Declan. He is my only son and I love him tremendously. Now, think about this with God giving his only son, Jesus, to die for us. Abraham's story gave our class a lot to be amazed by. How wonderful is the Father's love which he has lavished upon us!

When school is not in session

Three times a year our outreach activities take a break. At the end of these trimesters, our staff takes a break to refocus, recruit new volunteers, and visit students and members of our church community. However, our students are not always ready for a break. They simply want more English. I believe they also want more of what they have tasted throughout the trimester of study. They love the new friendships, the concern for them, and the encouragement that comes from growing closer to learning English. What a great connection! Thanks to the over 12 volunteers from our level one class, over 80% of our students want to take another trimester. Wow! This is the highest percentage yet.

Just as much as the students express sadness in not having class, I have to confess similar feelings. I really enjoy seeing so many faces on a weekly basis. It is a great way to love on so many people in such a short period of time. Since part of the break will be spent visiting more often, I will be visiting as many students as possible. This is where ministry and relationship can go deeper. Lord, give me open doors and smooth connections!

Feed, Clothe, Offer a Hand

Last fall, I absorbed an additional ministry responsibility, our resource center. We originally opened with clothing, a variety of food items, and some appliances. The resource center grew and we quite frankly were learning to meet people’s basic needs. So we asked a key question, “What do people need most or use most?” This led us to seek the help of local churches to partner with us on a winter coat drive including hats and gloves. Through this partnership, we gave every child the winter supplies needed to stay warm, and almost every adult walked away with their needs met as well.

Next, we asked ourselves why Hispanics were not taking the canned goods on our shelves. Simple, their custom is to cook with fresh items. Recognizing this, we began offering basic food baskets with rice, beans, pasta, sugar or flour, and cooking oil. Being able to share these items with families has had an amazing impact on the new faces we see every Saturday morning.

Suddenly, I found myself needing help greeting, assisting, and praying for all the families who come. I asked our faith community if anyone would be interested. Leticia began volunteering and I knew immediately she loved it. She took great care of people and gained confidence in praying for the families as they left. As a matter of fact, she recruited her sister-in-law Rosy to begin coming. Before long Rosy, too, was praying with people. Wow! Leticia multiplied what I showed her and now Rosy may one day teach another Hispanic.

Our mission statement is: Serving Hispanics to Christ and Mobilizing Them to Serve. It’s so encouraging to watch God make theory into reality!

First to take the plunge

Two years ago, Leticia and Hugo were the first to finish a discipleship course through our ministry. One of the lessons dealt with adult baptism. When asked if they wanted to be baptized, they answered with a clear “no”. Who could have blamed them? They were the first to answer this question in our ministry and had never seen this type of baptism modeled. Additionally, they faced a conflict between their culture and their new faith. They, like most Hispanics, grew up culturally Catholic. This meant they were baptized or sprinkled as babies. This carries a powerful symbolism to their parents with regard to faith though most were never regular attendees of the church. Perhaps Leticia and Hugo felt the heavy conflict between culture, family and the lessons of our discipleship when they answered no.

Two years later at our recent worship service, Mission Adelante held its first baptism celebration with six individuals sharing their testimony of faith in baptism. These were not decisions taken lightly by the individuals. We made it clear to each of them that baptism is only a symbol and had absolutely no bearing on their salvation by faith. Under no compulsion, Alberto, Graciela, Alden, Martha, Luz, and Nayelli boldly gave a great model of testimony to our community of faith. As a result, Elena, Alejandro, and Fernando declared their desire to be baptized soon.

It's Amazing!

Funny how a song can get into your head and guide your thoughts! Recently, I found myself replaying a song from Kid’s Adelante over and over. “It’s Amazing how you love me…it’s amazing how you care…it’s amazing how you’re always thinking of me all the time and everywhere.” This speaks volumes not only to kids, but to adults like you and I. God spoke to me about the many blessings and positive growth marks we’ve experienced with Mission Adelante this year. Let me share a few of them.
It’s Amazing…
…to be finishing a second year on staff with God’s provision.
…to have 30 weekly volunteers with our ESL program in 2008
…to lead Alberto and Graciela through discipleship in only 16 weeks
…to see a legitimate church formed
…to have over 80% of our summer ESL students finish level one
…to work with a united staff
…to receive a phenomenal summer ESL intern
…to watch my family grow in number and affection
...how He loves us, how he cares, how He’s always thinking of us all the time and everywhere.

Ministering to Hispanic immigrants brings all sorts of challenges and frustrations. One could easily give up believing there is little hope. However, we do see God move and I sense God calling us to be amazed by Him and His goodness at all times. His hope springs forth from these moments and has sprung forth to encourage us in 2009.

Reloading for 2009
Mission Adelante would not exist without you and the part you play in supporting us. Many of you anchor our ministry with prayer, others serve alongside us and multiply our relational resources, and some give generously to the Schoff ministry support budget. Whether you do one or all of these things, I want to thank you. Your partnership keeps our ministry moving forward.

This year I want to ask you to recommit or commit for the first time. Would you please pray about giving, serving, and praying? With Declan’s arrival and Megan working less, we will be raising an additional $750/mo due to increased health care costs. If you would like to contribute, follow this link http://www.missionadelante.org/contribute.html for more information.

Not even one -- Romans 3:10

Friends,

Thanks for being present for Megan and I in our moments of triumph and struggle in ministering to Hispanics of Kansas City. You have been on our side and words cannot express enough how this feels. Thank you!

Even Paul and Barnabas conflicted…
As I wrote last time, our group has known conflict and discouragement. Some may have believed that the Christian life comes without these bumps in the road. Our study of Acts 15 illustrated the reality of our lives. Here Paul and Bernabas disagree over taking John Mark with them on the next leg of their missionary journey. The conflict leads them to separate and go different directions. Acts doesn’t say who was right or wrong, but it does raise a point. We will have conflicts. How are we going to handle them?

Our group looked at what the effects of individual sin could have on the entire group. Romans 3:10-18 was a great reminder that sin is ever present and battling within us. This study gave us some really great dialogs and made everyone think. It also exposed the need to forgive and be forgiven. Ruth expressed how she still has not been able to forgive someone in her past. I could sense she was not alone. Please pray for the group to give their hurts to our Lord who is able to heal the brokenhearted.

Our attendance was strong for this discussion with Mario, Veronica, Alberto, Graciela, Ruth and Jose present. Praise God for giving us renewed momentum.

Summertime sends Sophie
Several weeks ago, Sophie Strohmeier began working with Mission Adelante as an ESL summer intern. She has been a great addition for the summer. Her role is to help outreach to ESL students, share some teaching responsibilities, and help me make our ESL program better through curriculum improvements. Please pray for her success as well as my ability to lead her and give her opportunities to learn. I praise God for my summer missionary experiences and the leaders who taught me so many new things.

Update on Declan
Little Declan is now 5 months old. He continues to grow like a weed and is still delightful. Thank you to many of you who continue to ask about him. We are overjoyed by God’s generosity to us in Declan.

Confident in your prayers,

Jason