So, more fun stories. Were really not trying to freak people out or revel in our shocking capers, however the unbelievable stuff that just happens in the hood just has a need to be revealed. Who would believe ?
Travis, our CSM, came over for breakfast and was like " Did you guy's see the man with the shotgun on the front lawn." and we were like, "NO." So we all rushed to the door and sure enough there was a man walking abruptly with a ten gauge shotgun.


So Travis grabbed the camera and got the money shot while hiding in some bushes. You know you've been in the ghetto too long when you chase down an armed crazy man for the blog shots. Travis also holds the record for the most gunshots slept through 6.

50025000600 minutes

Wow, I have been married for over a year. I've been getting dogged for not being home on my anniversary, so I wanted to justify what a nice guy I really am, and to show off how beautifull my wife is. We spent a night in a 200 year old Moravian cottage for our anniversary and here are some pics of it all.


Can you find Heather in the Misteria ...




Thank-you Jesus for my wife who is a Lilly among thorns and for sure the most lovely among the maidens.



This room was the summer kitchen used by the first Moravian settlers more than 150 years ago ...
thanks for all the calls and cards we wish we were closer to celebrate, but rest assured we know all you all are with us in spirit.

How to Build a Community - or - Everyone Loves a List

I found this list @ http://www.fionahailes.blogspot.com/ It is a practical list of things that anyone can do (or avoid doing) in an effort to cultivate real community.

At first glance, the suggestions could seem ridiculously obvious and much to simple. The truth usually looks that way at the get-go, at least until you start digging into it...that's when you realize that there is abundantly more than meets the eye.

So how about this, after checking out the list, leave a comment, indicating what you are going to do, God helping you, in your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life, so that we can be encouraged by one another.

Okay, I'll kick it off - I'm definetely going to work on asking for help when I need it and baking extra...err..ok, I'll just try baking at all...and then sharing it. Betty Crocker cookie mix, here I come.

And you?

Dear God, I pray that I will always have a good work ethic and make biblically based decisions regarding my responsibilities and finances;

that I will be a good steward of the resources You have entrusted to me and a good caretaker of the people You have placed in my life.

I want to be faithful to You and Your principles. Please give me insight and wisdom to know Your will and to always do what is right.

Bless me, Lord, that I may bless others.

God, You know I have always worked hard and been a person of integrity.

Your Word tells me:

"He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough! A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 28:19-20).

I pray that I will never let You down in that regard, in whatever it is You would have me do. Thank You for Your blessings and Your Word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Well we told him, Travis Smith, that he couldn't get to heaven by doing good, but he just couldn't help himself. Lets blame Holy Spirit for making him " DO IT."
He noticed that the kids in our neighborhood didn't have much to do so he found an old basketball score, lying aimlessly in a Sally Army basement, and fixed it up.
It was the most righteous thing done this day, at least in our yard.
We'll try and stop him from doing any more good, but he is stubborn.


(fastforward 2 weeks) O.K. so every one of the kids you see in this picture are plugged into Christian community now, plus all their brothers, sisters, cousins and parents. All because of this basket ball score. This score added like 40-50 people to our buddy list, we will visit, advocate for, love, invite into community, protect, touch, share the knowledge of salvation with, take to the grocery store, wash their clothes, read the bible with, share our can opener, pray with/for, sing with, dance with and burn hot dogs on the grill with.
It kind of looks like a cross to me now ...



The love of God fell to the ground and died, but from that brokenness, new love has grown because that seed could not abide alone, and now so many in Christ's life abide that many more unreached can now decide if we go where the Gospel is unknown and show them how our love is not our own, but is our Savior's, for we are His Bride. Our love shall fall into the ground and die when we believe on Jesus, count the cost,and be to every ear and every eyea witness of the Gospel to the lost so when they see our love and ask us why,we can lead them to Jesus and the Cross.~ by Michael Rew

BEING THE MOST GOOD

I know that people are down on the "Doing the most good" theme, so I decided to try it out ! Hence "Being the most good." In our neighborhood there are many families, with kids, that are without stoves and refridgerators.
Kids literally go hungry cause their parents can't cook, and social workers demand action before intervening by removing children due to neglect. The difference in a families lifestyle after having the ability to prepare healthy meals is substantial. It is literally Good News. Up until these appliances were delivered families had no place to store their babies milk and formula. After the war in Iraq and the Tsunami last year the biggest need was cooking stoves, we couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have the ability to even prepare our children a meal; yet this is a reality for parents in your own community.

So we found several appliances, beds, cribs and strollers, borrowed a Salvation Army trailer and did the most good we could.
Our friend Travis Smith used his own truck to pull the trailer and we furnished two homes with all their essential appliances from donations.
Man there was like 500 sermons in all that heavy lifting, seriously it was a place where our actions met our words and our words told a story about a man named Jesus who loves you so much that he wants your kids to get fed and stop sleeping on the floor.

Thank-you Jesus

My new house

I got to see my future house and it smells like The Empress back in Vancouver. Great! I finally found something that is familiar to me.
I spent a few hours cleaning the cabinets and walls, and cleaning the walls again and again, because I would think I had it clean (it doesn’t really look very dirty) and then I would see a spot that I missed and I would clean that spot and then I would need to clean the rest of the wall all over again because that one spot made the rest of the wall look dirty and I would see another spot that I missed and the cycle began again (another vicious cycle that I’ve noticed). But the walls will be painted so I can just wipe off the surface stuff and call it good. I am usually never happy with just doing surface work because it’s but going deeper is so hard that it just seems like it’s not worth it sometimes, but I think that going deeper in a community on a spiritual level is a little more important than cutting through the deep stuff on the walls.
My bathroom has been fixed up though and that it the important part. We worked for a couple of hours and decide that would be good for the day…we don’t want to over exert ourselves while we’re…cleaning walls.
The house will one day be ready and I will be living there, but for now I am content living with Rob and Heather.
Earlier in the day Rob and I took a walk through the neighbor hood and we saw all the houses that are possible spots for TWC students to live. We also saw other communities that we want 614 to branch out into. We then walked through an area of houses that were all boarded up and basically condemned. No one owned them and they weren’t fit for anyone to live in. Rob and I decide to enter one of them (we didn’t break in, the press wood over the door was already broken off) as I walked into this area it was like stepping into a Vancouver alley.
In the alleys of Vancouver there was drug paraphernalia and condoms and nasty clothes that no one would really want to wear and just dirt everywhere. This was all in that one house. So we have the alleys of Vancouver inside the house’s here in Charlotte. I think that might be the norm for Ghetto’s I know that this house is a house that is rundown and condemned but as for the houses who have the drug dealers in them as the father to the kids I wonder if they are essentially living in the Vancouver alley’s?

posted by:
Travis Roberts

Good day friends!

Today Rob and I are celebrating the arrival of our brother in Christ and new partner in ministry, Travis Roberts. It was quite an event. We've been pumping Travis' arrival with our neighbourhood kids for the past several days, and so tonight they all piled in the van for the ride to the airport. It was great to watch because none of these kids had even been to such a 'fascinating' place as the airport before. The parked planes blew them away, as well as the conveyor belt that pumps out the luggage.

So there we were, the majority of our 'youth group'oozing with excitement at their soon-to-be friend and basketball teammate's approach. They weren't at all disappointed, Travis is a hit!

All the way home in the van, the children were peppering Travis with questions, alldesigned to get to know him better and figure out what he's going to be doing here.
Most of the kids wanted to know how old Travis was (22), if he liked basketball and video games (an emphatic yes) and if he used to live with his mom (not recently). However, SanQuan hit the mark with "Are you going to be visitin' people?" "Yes." Travis said. "Good," said Quan, "because there's this old guy in our neighbourhood named Joon and he's real lonely and he really needs a friend."
Wow. He's 8 and he gets it.

"With praises from children and from tiny infants,
you have built a fortress. It makes your enemies silent, and all who turn against you are left speechless." Psalm 8:2

I know I was left speechless...God bless the children!

posted by:
Heather

a word from our newest team member...

A day in the life in Charlotte

My first 24 hours in Charlotte was exciting. I got the royal treatment I was greeted at the airport by eight kids that I will be chillin like a villan from the floor to the cellin with and Rob and Heather. I was taken to my home for a few days (The Dolby residence) and I didn’t g to sleep until midnight because we just wanted to stay up and talk and have fun and just be with each other.

The next day I woke up at around ten am and we talked to friends for a while then we went to find me a bed at the TSA Thrift store. Rob makes that interesting. Then we went to the Prayer Room here in Charlotte (it’s not 24-7 yet) and we just soaked it up for a half hour. We ate lunch at CiCi’s pizza (praise the lord for Ci-Ci’s. Good pizza for real cheap).

We drove by some places low income housing places that have been closed up - boards put over the windows and doors and they’re set for demolition. With a bunch of other places and town houses will be put in there place. The families that were there were given a chunk of cash and were told to relocate which couldn’t have been an easy thing to do. Then we headed out to Wal-Mart and bought a bunch of balls and balloons and other random toys that are going to be used by the thirty different kids that are here in the neighborhood. And then we sat in the house and talked with some more friends for a while longer and it was good. I am so ready to have some fun.

posted by:
Travis Roberts
www.madeforwar.blogspot.com

World View Skewed

I have noticed there has been a shift in the Church throughout the last several years highlighting that "real" poverty exists only in the third world setting, and that North American poverty is simply chosen lifestyle.
Im not suggesting that we stop sending resources overseas, in fact I think we need to send more, I just think that this world view on poverty can dim our eyes to see the poverty that exists right in our own locale.
Therefore in the fullness of mercy and justice we need to use both arms to touch the poor; one reaching to the worlds poor while the other reaches into our own communities.

Justice gifts have been popular as of late and I thought we could offer you a local front to bless.

If you would like to purchase a home missions gift in kind for someone we will send a card of gratitude to the party it is gifted to.

(Here are some entry level options)

A used refrigerator and stove for a family - $ 57.00 USD

A bed and frame for a child to sleep on (who now sleeps on the floor) - $ 199.00 USD

An employment kit ( resume, postage, two weeks transit fare and League of Mercy follow up and assistance ) $ 55.00 USD

Child hygiene kit ( 8 pr socks, 8 pr underwear, deodorant, body wash, tooth paste and brush ) - $ 30.00

Please enclose the persons name and address if applicable
Make cheques payable to The Salvation Army

Send to :
614 Firecrest Charlotte
2209-2 Alma CT
Charlotte, NC, 28206

World View Skewed

I have noticed there has been a shift in the Church throughout the last several years highlighting that "real" poverty exists only in the third world setting, and that North American poverty is simply chosen lifestyle.
Im not suggesting that we stop sending resources overseas, in fact I think we need to send more, I just think that this world view on poverty can dim our eyes to see the poverty that exists right in our own locale.
Therefore in the fullness of mercy and justice we need to use both arms to touch the poor; one reaching to the worlds poor while the other reaches into our own communities.

Justice gifts have been popular as of late and I thought we could offer you a local front to bless.

If you would like to purchase a home missions gift in kind for someone we will send a card of gratitude to the party it is gifted to.

(Here are some entry level options)

A used refrigerator and stove for a family - $ 57.00 USD

A bed and frame for a child to sleep on (who now sleeps on the floor) - $ 199.00 USD

An employment kit ( resume, postage, two weeks transit fare and League of Mercy follow up and assistance ) $ 55.00 USD

Child hygiene kit ( 8 pr socks, 8 pr underwear, deodorant, body wash, tooth paste and brush ) - $ 30.00

Please enclose the persons name and address if applicable
Make cheques payable to The Salvation Army

Send to :
614 Firecrest Charlotte
2209-2 Alma CT
Charlotte, NC, 28206

In Harms WAY

What a weekend, there isn't enough space to share it all so I'll just do the play by play. Last night one of our neighbor's was being chased by her boyfriend who had been beating her for some time. Her 8 year old son ran to my door screaming "please help my Mom." I ran outside and called her over to my house and she ran into my living room, her boyfriend in persuit pushed past me and threw her onto our living room sofa and began to strangle her.
It took me about 5 minutes to loose his grip by twisting his arm around his back and then another 10 minutes to get him out of our house. We called 911 and the ambulance came to tend to our neighbor and her boyfriend was arrested and taken away.
I went back to washing the dishes and the 8 year old boy went to play basketball. The entire situation so normal here that it was more of an inconvenience than a crisis to the neighbor's, so I have been in a semi state of shock for the last 18 hours the only one here able to understand that this is evil and wrong.
I watched an attempted murder on my chesterfield and that is not alright, it is not alright for an 8 year old boy to watch his Mother get beaten on a regular basis, and it is not alright that if I hadn't have been home that no one would have done anything at all.
I took 7 kids to Sunday school this morning, one of them the little boy, and they learned about the cross. The cross will prevail in their lives, not because I wan't it to, but because I demand it. Because without it they will live out a cruel shadow of the life God has planed for them.
God will not let them be forsaken, he will answer them as he loves the cries of the oppressed ... But someone must be there to tell them ... Will you !

In Harms WAY

Rob

Tuesday in the 'hood -- Part 3

Folks around here come to our door for different reasons. Sometimes, when we answer we're The Salvation Army. Sometimes we're the food bank. Sometimes we're the telephone people or the chaffeur service. Most often I am the snack lady and Rob is the activity director and usually we're just the people that help you get the stuff you need.

I expected all of that. What I didn't expect was that we would be the people who call 911 and harbour you if your dad got out of control and beat you with his belt, the people who would take you to church if your mom says you could go, who will be the referee if someone is cheating at ball, the people who will come to the door, even at 2am if your water just broke, or your friend is having convulsions, or another neighbour is outside threatening her boyfriend with a knife, or if you just want some juice and a bathroom with toilet paper.

I don't know what's to come of us, but I believe that it will be more of the above. More violence, more drama, more abuse, more tears, more police officers and more juice boxes. But I'm ok with that, because one day, when Jesus comes to knock on the door of my neighbour's hearts, perhaps they will let Him in because someone bearing His Name, in Charlotte, NC opened the door to them.

Luke 11:9-11 (New Living Translation)
"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for.Keep on looking, and you will find.Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.For everyone who asks,receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks."

Revelation 3:20
"Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends."

posted by:
Heather Dolby

another Tuesday in the 'hood -- Part 2

Caught up in this tornado, there are always the children. They are multiplying...when we first moved here, we had 1 sweet kid who lived two doors over who made us feel loved and welcome. Then he brought his friend over. Then his friend brought his brothers and sisters. Then their cousins came. Then the kids from down the street showed up. It's perfect.
Tonight on my front porch, I had 10 kids all roundabout me and three more in the house. They all know my name, and I am struggling to keep up with remembering theirs.

This past Sunday after church, we took a vanload of our kids to an all you can eat pizza buffet. As I was paying, the guy behind the counter watched me herd 5 boys towards the steaming food. I called each one by name, and recited to him all their ages (Cuz you better believe that I was going to get my 'under 10 yrs old' discount!). The man looked at me with a strange expression and said - more as a statement then a question - "These are all your kids." I blanked on that one, torn between denying it (yikes, me? 5 kids?) and blowing it off. I toyed with saying "No, no, I'm just their youth pastor", but the truth is, neither seemed to fit. So I did what felt right in my heart. I looked that pizza man square in his eye and resolutely declared "Yes. These are my kids. Jesus gave them to me."
Sounds funny, I know. I bet it looked even funnier. I mean really,where else would a white lady get a handful of African-American and Puerto Rican kids but from the Lord?

posted by:
Heather Dolby

just another Tuesday in the 'hood

So...it's been a while since Rob and I (ok, to be fair, Rob has been the faithful blogger thus far) have recounted the adventures of our neighbourhood. I can't even begin to bring you up to speed - so much has been happening.
My eyes are being opened to the horror of abuse. The cycle of it. Generations caught up in it.
These past weeks, my heart has been heavy, but today I have reached my limit. Episode after episode of family violence, children being harmed, mothers being violated and then receiving their attackers back in their homes before the day is done. In one instance, the boyfriend was back within 45 minutes of the police leaving.
The truth?
This is certainly not in my scope of experience. I cannot grasp this lifestyle or culture. This is hard stuff.
The bottom line?
I'm not quitting, I just need a bigger heart.

posted by:
Heather Dolby

BLOOD & FIRE

We are not a Corps or even an outpost, we do not meet the required standards, but we have a flag and aren't afraid to fly it. We called together our YP section today and installed the Blood and Fire on our Corps; Now THQ did tell us we can't really be a Corps but we decided to be one anyway.
One requirement to be a Corps is that you must have a chapel that can seat at least 50,
I hope our front yard counts!


Here's how it all goes, as per " Salvation Army Ceremonies Chap VI Sect 4:"
The presentation of a new Army flag should always be made an impressive and meaningfully as possible. ... The officer should take hold of the opportunity to emphasize the symbolism of the flag with regard to doctrine and personal commitment.


Imagine if every soldier put a flag on their house,
lets do it !

Here are some pics from Jenn's wedding.

Recently our War Room in Vancouver has celebrated it's second anniversary; This meant that someone has been praying there non-stop for over 730 days. Currently in Canada this is the only 24/7 prayer room and operates as the hub of a Salvation Army Christian community in Vancouver. My favorite part is that it was stumbled upon as an accident, as we embarked on a one week prayer room experience we just couldn't stop, it became contagious.

God let it infect the whole wide world with your presence. Amen.

Looking at Jesus

Recently there have been some strong opinions and thoughts, specific to TSA, our mission and our destiny. Sitting at a computer can cause us to loose our heart connection with each other. Above all else Christ desires to return to a body that loves and cares for each other. A body that ministers to each other and a body that pours out grace and gentleness to each other. Iron does sharpen iron, and even Jesus reasoned the scriptures and Gods character. He was Theos (GOD) and a theologian ...

One who studies the nature of God and religious truth; rational inquiry into religious questions.


It is good to reason, encourage, rebuke and inquire together the nature and character of God, I just would like to remind us all in this body that our first function is to build each other up.

So lets continue to reason out Gods will and word together, remembering that we all have unique gifts and vision wich gives us all different applications of our mandate. Is this a paradox? See the scriptures tell us that we all have ONE spirit, to be of ONE mind.
Let us embrace each other even in our differences.


Unity is not uniformity; Love is not an option.