A "Typical" Week

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

In light of the last two blog posts, one of the most frequently asked questions about ministry here is "What does a typical week look like?"  The honest answer to that is every week is a little different, but this week I thought it might be interesting to document a typical work week in pictures, so I toted my camera along with me and tried to take pictures of "normal" activity.

Monday

Monday morning started with a little card writing.  We love our partners, so we send them all birthday and anniversary cards as one way to let them know. 

I then sat at my desk and wrote a blog post, which you probably read last Tuesday.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my companion for the week, "A History of Christianity".

Tuesday

Tuesday, Charlie and I did some catching up in the office at the Storehouse.  This is typically our opportunity to talk about the state and future of the ministry. 

 

The batteries in the truck needed replaced, so here I am taking out the old ones.  Charlie put in the new ones.

And Tuesday afternoon, I read some more church history.

Wednesday

Wednesday, some U-Turn guys helped us collect donations.

The truck was empty when we started, and this family blessed us with furniture, linens, and dishes! (All high need items)

That afternoon, a little more church history.

Thursday

Thursday, we spent most of the day cutting grass at the Storehouse.

Thursday afternoon I finished editing the new Christmas Store application and emailed it to Joey.

  Friday

I spent Friday morning catching up on email, including sending some info the radio station requested for Project Thanksgiving, and touching base with a pastor who has been following the blog and reached out to us this week about connecting with our ministry.

And finally, I finished the week up reading church history!

Thoughts on the week:
A couple things you may have noticed looking at these pictures.  First, I wear a lot of white t-shirts.  I seriously thought about redoing this just so I could wear different clothes.  Second, a lot of ministry isn't very exciting behind the scenes.  Everyone appreciates a professional because they're excellent at what they do.  We love pro athletes because they excel on the field, but most people don't want to watch them work hard in the weight room or on the practice field.  We just want to watch them on game day.  We love great preachers because they help us understand God's Word, but most of us don't want to watch them spend 20-25 hours a week in their study exegeting  the text so they can bring us the main idea in a well crafted, 40 minute sermon.  We just want the sermon.  I spent a chunk of time this week reading a church history textbook, sitting at my desk writing email, and mowing the grass at the Storehouse.  Most of that isn't exactly "newsletter worthy".  But when my church history class starts next month, people will want to hear how that class is going and see a picture of the class.  Teaching with excellence begins with the hard and non-glamorous work of knowing the content.  Continuing and growing the ministry means regularly communicating with people, and in the 21st century, that means lots of email.  Mowing the grass at the Storehouse enables us to do ministry, because if it was waist high our clients wouldn't come.

I started this email by saying that every week is a little different.  Some weeks I write a lot of email, but some weeks I spend lots of time meeting with people face to face working to expand this ministry.  Some weeks I read a lot while preparing to teach, and others I spend time developing lesson plans for a class.  Some weeks I spend several days picking up furniture and donations, and other weeks nothing is donated (though usually it's somewhere in the middle).  Some days the Storehouse is overrun with clients, and some days we listen to the crickets (though usually it's somewhere in the middle).  Every week might be little different, but God blesses them all.

To all of you who faithfully do the nitty-gritty, behind the scenes work that makes all of our lives easier, thank you!  To all of you who patiently and sacrificially support us as we labor faithfully through the mundane, praying for the moments when the Lord moves visibly (and hopefully from the last two posts you can see that he has!), thank you!  We are truly blessed to have you in our lives!

In closing, let me echo the Apostle Paul:
"Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more."  1 Thessalonians 4:1  (emphasis mine)

Things You Can Be Praying for This Week:
1.  Baby Hosea is due on Thursday, so please pray for his safe arrival this week.
2.  Meredith's birthday is also Thursday, so join us in praising the Lord for another year!
3.  Our first Thursday food distribution is also this week.  Please pray that the Lord would bless both our clients and the volunteers who serve with an outstanding day!

What's on the Horizon: Where We're Headed

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

Last week gave you a look at where we've been, so this week we thought it would be appropriate to give you a vision for where we're headed.

Where is the Lord taking our pastor and church leader training ministry?
This Fall, Daniel will be teaching Church History in the Seminary Extension at the Holston Baptist Association (HBA) in Johnson City.  The HBA is a strategic partnership for us because it's the largest baptist association in Northeast Tennessee.  They've been a key relationship building ally over the last two years.  In the last seven years, the HBA has not been able to offer this class because they couldn't find someone willing to teach it.  And with good reason.  Teaching church history requires a working knowledge of all the church's key figures, movements, and dates for the past 2,000 years, as well as the ability to transfer that knowledge to the students in just about 100 years per hour.  It should be fun, but it's not a small undertaking! Our prayer is that continued faithfulness in serving as requested, as well as teaching with excellence, will lead to additional opportunities to expand our partnership in the future.

In January, we intend to resume our lay leader BTCL class that meets in our home.  Schedule conflicts for the students prevented a Fall class. These men have shown themselves faithful and continue to grow in the Lord.  We pray this group will expand in the future.

Last week, we met with Sheldon Livesay in Rogersville, which is about an hour west of us.  For those of you who prayed, thank you!  The Lord answered!  Sheldon is excited about starting a BTCL group this winter.  He recognizes his own need for training, as well as the need of the bi-vocational pastors in his area.  He has agreed to try to recruit a group of students to join him in starting new a class, potentially in January.  Please pray for the Lord's favor on Sheldon as he recruits, that men would recognize their need for equipping and be willing to participate and learn. 

By the end of our third year of ministry, it is possible that we could be training church leaders in Johnson City (through the HBA), in Greeneville (through BTCL in our home), and in Rogersville (with Sheldon's group).  It's pretty amazing to sit back and see what the Lord has done, and how He continues to work!

Where is the Lord taking our benevolence ministry? (Or as Charlie would say "What do we want to be when we grow up?)

The Storehouse...
For the last 6 years or so, our Storehouse ministry has been located in a building provided to us rent free by a gentleman who loves Jesus, loves our ministry, and has labored to help us in any way he can.  During that time, various short-term mission trips have completed projects to renovate the space and make it a functional ministry location.  Everyone involved has benefited.  Our ministry has had a place to serve the community, our landlord has had his property improved, and short-term mission teams have had opportunities to serve.  What a blessing all around!  Presently, our landlord is thinking about retiring.  He's told us we are welcome to stay as long as he owns the building, but if he retires and has to sell the building, we'll obviously need to find a new location for our Storehouse ministry.  Right now, that means there is some uncertainty about our future physical ministry site.  Relocating means identifying a new host location and potentially renovating the space if that's necessary.  We have a couple of options available to us, so we would ask that you pray for the Lord's clear direction as Charlie and Daniel seek Him in these decisions.

To this point, Mountain Vision has focused primarily on relieving the needs of those in crisis. For example, last week, a woman came to us in need of furniture because her husband put her out on the street.  A few weeks ago, it was a 71 year old lady whose sister had kicked her out and forced her to start over.  We helped her with furniture as well as some basic household items like dishes.  We hear stories like these almost every week. Our food distribution primarily provides for senior adults whose Social Security check just isn't enough to cover their expenses and leaves them hungry by the end of the month.  Our food boxes help with that.  Each week, we provide nice, gently used clothing to people of all ages who aren't necessarily in crisis, but who live in material poverty.  This last group is the one where we see the potential to do more in the way of development, as opposed to simply relief.

Jobs for Life...
This past summer, a mission team from Grace Church in Greenville, NC trekked all over Greene County to interview our clients.  One of the things we learned is that Greene County is 622 square miles and has only one straight road.  Another thing we learned is that a number of our clients are interested in a program that would help them find a job, because a job could move them beyond the level of needing material assistance on an ongoing basis.  From my research thus far, there are no non-government programs in our area that provide job training or assistance in finding a job.  We believe this is an area of opportunity for expansion of our benevolence ministry, particularly in partnership with local churches.  From consulting with others who have attempted such programs, it is clear that before the program is launched, there must be employers lined up who have agreed to hire the program graduates.  People who won't participate just for a reference, might very well participate if there is a guaranteed job upon completion.  Inside our local church partners there are a number of men and women who represent local employers.  Over the course of this Fall, Daniel will be lining up meetings with some of these people to attempt to build a base of employers who would be willing to offer entry level positions to program graduates.  At the same time, attempts will be made to enlist mentors from the local churches who will coach program participants through the process.  Anytime you think about launching a new program, it's best to bathe the decision in prayer.  Please pray for wisdom in the coming months in knowing exactly how to minister to those who are in need of development, and not simply relief.

Project Thanksgiving...
This Thanksgiving season, Mountain Vision will again be partnering with Second Harvest and WCQR for Project Thanksgiving, which provides holiday meals with gospel literature to thousands of households in Northeast Tennessee.  This year, the radio station will be tagging along with us as we deliver meals. This is a great opportunity not only to serve families in our community, but also for the Lord to shine a spotlight on our benevolence work here in Greene County and increase our credibility with other local ministries.  Please pray the Lord would be glorified through this collaborative ministry effort.

The Christmas Store...
At Christmas, Mountain Vision will once again be partnering with First Baptist Church of Greeneville to bring the Christmas Store to our community.  Daniel will be serving alongside Joey Tillery to help provide some new insight and direction for this ministry, which provides opportunities for parents to hear the gospel while receiving new toys for their children during the Christmas season.  Please pray that this ministry would be an effective means of sharing the good news with people we might otherwise not have any contact with.

How Can You Pray?
1. Pray that the Lord continues to show favor upon our ministry here in East Tennessee.
2. Pray for the continued development of relationships and the expansion of our pastor and church leader training ministry.
3. Pray for direction regarding the future location of the Storehouse.
4. Pray for wisdom and favor in launching the Jobs for Life program next year.
5  Pray for Project Thanksgiving, that  the Lord would be glorified through this collaborative ministry effort.
6. Pray for the Christmas Store, that this ministry would be an effective means of sharing the good news with people we might otherwise not have any contact with.

Two Years in the Rearview: Where We've Been

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

As we face the start of our third year of ministry here in East Tennessee, we thought it would be helpful to first, remind you, our dedicated friends and supporters, of why we came to East Tennessee to serve.  And second, to hopefully show you how God has been faithful to open doors for the tasks that He has laid before us. 

Why are we here?

 We live in the Tri-Cities area of East Tennessee working with Mountain Vision Ministries. We serve those living in poverty in East Tennessee, seeking to meet their physical and spiritual needs. We desire to equip and mobilize local churches toward effective benevolence ministry, and to equip and encourage rural pastors and church leaders as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ using the Bible Training Center for Pastors (BTCP) and Leaders (BTCL) curriculum.

What has God done in our first two years? What has been accomplished?

To answer this it is critical to remember that this is the Lord’s ministry first and foremost.  To Him be all the glory, honor, and praise for what He has done through us, His servants. 

Over the past 2 years, though slow at times, God has opened, and continues to open the necessary relational doors for expansion of our pastor and church leader training (BTCP/BTCL) ministry here in East Tennessee.   

How has God done this?  First, God opened the door for a relationship with Ben Proffitt, Director of Missions for the Holston Baptist Association (HBA) in Johnson City, TN.  Then, through that relationship, Daniel was introduced to Pastor Willie Lunsford who directs the Seminary Extension program for the HBA, which is the current program used for training local bi-vocational pastors and church leaders.  Pastor Willie was hesitant to immediately embrace BTCP/BTCL, but opened a door for Daniel to teach the Christian Growth and Discipleship class through the Seminary Extension Program in the Fall of 2012.  Through teaching this class, Daniel met two students who, along with two other students, formed his first BTCL Preaching class which met from March 2013-August 2013.  This October-December 2013 Daniel will again teach a class through the Seminary Extension Program, Church History.  In 7 years they have not been able to find someone to teach Church History.  As Pastor Willie’s (and others through the HBA) confidence in Daniel’s ability to teach grows through these seminary extension classes, Daniel can see how God is laying the ground work for possible transition to BTCP curriculum and away from traditional seminary extension in the future.  Teaching at the Seminary Extension has also given Daniel some credibility with other leaders in the community who respect that organization.  

In August, Daniel was introduced to Sheldon Livesay at a Second Harvest annual meeting.  He's been doing something similar to what Mountain Vision does in benevolence, but he's been doing it for 25 years and in the last 5 it's really taken off and become a large and influential ministry that partners with many of the rural baptist churches in the two counties just west of us.  He doesn't have any formal education, but he teaches on a radio program every week in addition to teaching his staff and volunteers regularly.  He's expressed an interest in becoming a student in our church leader training program to learn how to more effectively handle the Word, so we're driving over to talk about the possibility of launching a BTCL class with him and some of the other key leaders there.  If it comes together, that could be a huge momentum boost to our pastor and church leader training ministry.  Meeting Sheldon happened through being faithful in our benevolence ministry, but Sheldon viewed Daniel as credible because of his faithfulness to serve through the Seminary Extension at the HBA. 

Though this process has felt painfully slow at times, building relationships is always slow, and trust is huge.  People will not embrace you or your ideas without you first being proven.  We believe these past two years have been a proving time for Daniel but one in which God is laying the ground work for BTCP/BTCL to grow exponentially in the future.  We will share more in the next blog post about where we believe the Lord is taking us next.

What has God accomplished on the benevolence side of this ministry?

First, in our hearts, he has given us a greater passion and heart for impoverished people here in East Tennessee. Working with the materially poor is often painful and difficult, and learning to love people who look, talk, and smell different than we do has not been easy.  But that's what the Lord calls us all to do!  

Over the past two years, we've provided clothing, blankets, household items, or furniture to over 450 unique individuals or households!  On average, we provide food for 50 families per month through our first Thursday food distribution.  We've hosted 6 different mission teams from 5 different churches and one high school. We've become a ministry that local churches feel confident sending people to, because they know we'll try to help them, share the gospel with them, and send them back to the church that referred them!

For those interested in a little more detail, here's a timeline.

June 11, 2011

The Shraders arrive and join the Mountain Vision Ministries team in Greeneville, TN.

June 18, 2011

 The Havens announce their pending departure from our team.

July 2011

Mike Scheer and Tim Ford fly in from Denton to meet with our team and talk about transitions.

Daniel begins serving alongside Charlie at the Storehouse.

Daniel and Meredith begin attending First Baptist Church of Greeneville.

August 2011

 Mountain Vision hosts a mission team from Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC.

September 2011

Daniel meets with Director of Missions (DoM) from 2 of the local Baptist associations to talk about BTCP/L, pastor and church leader training.  They both agreed on the need for it, but wouldn't commit to partnering with a total stranger, an outsider.

October 2011

Daniel meets with Ben Profit, the DoM for the Holston Baptist Association to discuss pastor and church leader training.  Ben was kind, interested, and not too wary of an outsider.  He set up a meeting for Daniel with Pastor Willie Lunsford, who directs the Seminary Extension for the HBA.

November 2011

Daniel meets with Pastor Willie to discuss pastor and church leader training.  Willie explains the HBA's history with Seminary Extension, and invites Daniel to teach a class in the Fall 2012.  (Yes, almost a year later).

 Mountain Vision Partners with Second Harvest and WCQR for Project Thanksgiving, providing Thanksgiving meals to families in need in the community.

December 2011

Daniel and Meredith formally become a part of the faith family of First Baptist Church of Greeneville.

Mountain Vision partners with First Baptist Greeneville in their Christmas Store event, bringing in resources from Central Baptist Church in Wendell, NC and Calvary Bible Church in Williamston, NC.

January 2012

Daniel submits a proposal to leaders at the HBA for improving outreach to bi-vocational pastors in our association.

 A sudden unexpected drop in our financial support sends us reeling and forces us to ask, "Did God really call us here?  Are we where God wants us to be?"

Daniel begins leading Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at FBC.

February 2012

The Lord replaced our lost support, not from our efforts (which were great), but by his grace from people we hadn't even asked. It affirmed in our minds that this is where the Lord wants us to be.

Daniel met with Pastor Willie to discuss his proposal to launch sermon-prep groups for bi-vocational pastors.  Willie thinks this needs broader support.  We plan a meeting for next month with other leaders.

March 2012

John and Ngoc Brown fly in from Texas to spend some time encouraging us and offer insight for the future.

Daniel meets with leaders of the HBA to discuss his proposal to launch sermon-prep groups for bi-vocational pastors.  They need to pray about it. No decision is made.

Mountain Vision hosts a mission team from Boca Raton, FL.

April 2012 

Daniel again meets with the leaders of the HBA.  There's some good verbage in this meeting, and they give their blessing.  If Daniel can recruit the pastors and get them to show up to these sermon-prep groups, then the HBA will endorse and support it.

Daniel begins reaching out to individual bi-vocational pastors through cards and phone calls.

May 2012

Daniel wraps up Financial Peace University at FBC.

Daniel continues reaching out to individual bi-vocational pastors through cards and phone calls, but so far has receive no response, not even a single returned phone call.

Daniel and Charlie fill-in teaching at U-Turn for Christ, an addictions recovery ministry we partner with.

June 2012

Mountain Vision hosts a mission team of 33 people from Denton Bible Church in Denton, TX.

July 2012

Mountain Vision hosts the high school ministry from First Baptist as a part of their summer missions program.

August 2012

With no response from the local bi-vocational pastors, Daniel begins to prepare to teach in the Seminary Extension at the HBA.

September 2012

Daniel begins to teach in the Seminary Extension at the HBA and to build relationships with key local ministry leaders.

October 2012

 Daniel continues to teach at the HBA.

November 2012

 Mountain Vision Partners with Second Harvest and WCQR for Project Thanksgiving, providing Thanksgiving meals to families in need in the community.

Daniel and Meredith move into their new home, becoming community insiders rather than outsiders.

December 2012

Mountain Vision partners with First Baptist Greeneville in their Christmas Store event, this year bringing in a mission team from Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC, who brought material items as well as manpower!

January 2013

Daniel and Meredith travel to Denton, TX for Denton Bible Church's Mission's Conference! It was 2 weeks of encouragement and strategic planning.

February 2013

Daniel begins recruiting for an independent BTCL (church leader training) class.

March 2013

BTCL begins with four students from 4 different churches.

April 2013

Our BTCL class continues.

Daniel attends a seminar called "When Helping Hurts" to get ideas to enhance our benevolence ministry.

May 2013

Our BTCL class continues, and the guys are really growing.

June 2013

Mountain Vision hosts a mission team from Grace Church in Greenville, NC.  The team spends the week doing community surveys with our benevolence clients, providing information to help us better serve their needs.

The BTCL guys taught the mission team during the evening sessions, practicing what they'd been learning.

July 2013

Our first BTCL class concludes.

Mountain Vision hosts the high school students from FBC in their summer missions' program.

August 2013

Daniel begins teaching the high school senior's Sunday school class at FBC.

Daniel begins meeting with FBC about the Christmas Store 2013 outreach.

Daniel begins preparing to teach Church History in the Seminary Extension at the HBA this Fall.

Daniel meets Sheldon Livesay at the Second Harvest annual meeting.

 September 2013

This Thursday Daniel and Charlie go to meet with Sheldon Livesay in Rogersville to discuss a possible launch of BTCL this winter.

A few lessons I've learned along the way.

Launching a new ministry in a new place requires time.  Lots of time.  Nothing makes a person credible like faithfulness over time.  People here are wary of outsiders, particularly outsiders with think they have something to teach them.  There is no substitute for time when it comes to building trust. As much as I would like for things to move faster sometimes, the Lord's timing is perfect.  The Lord measures success in lifetimes, not in months or years.  

Everyone here agrees there's a huge need to train rural pastors, but no one has yet found an effective way to reach out to this group and persuade them to give their most precious asset, time, to further their theological training. We continue to make this our focus.

Working with the materially poor is challenging day in and day out.  Trying to discern between needs and wants, the needy and the greedy, is a daunting task.  Trying to keep the gospel message central while meeting physical needs requires constant attention.

The Lord is always faithful.  He provides daily for our needs, for the Storehouse's needs, and for the needs of those we serve.  We are blessed to serve him in full-time ministry.

Next post, I'll give you an update on where we the Lord is leading us next, in both pastor and church leader training and in our benevolence ministry.  Please lift up our meeting with Sheldon Livesay this Thursday, the 19th.

They Found Our Trailer!!!

Charlie just left the Greene County Sherriff's office, and they have found our trailer that was stolen from the Storehouse over Labor Day weekend.  Praise the Lord!  And thank you to everyone who prayed that it would be found!  The Lord has answered that prayer!

Lily is 3!!!

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I love cupcakes with NO icing!

 Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

What a blessed month August was in the Shrader house!

We had a visit from Granny and Papa (Daniel's parents).

While here, they took Lily to pick blueberries!

Lily started homeschool.  Meredith is using the ABC Jesus Loves Me 3 year old curriculum.  They're both having a great time so far!  Lily is learning letters, numbers, and of course, Bible stories.

We had another baby shower for Hosea.  We like to say a special thanks to everyone who helped out!  We were exceedingly blessed.

Holly Mulhollen is one of Meredith's closest friends, and she did a fantastic job putting together the shower!

Ted and Carol are some of the sweetest folks we know.  She made this blanket especially for Hosea!

We love Mrs. Gina!  She's been a momma to our whole family quite a bit over the past year!

Lily helped Daddy make the cupcakes for her birthday!

Photo op before blowing out the candles!

Home made water park!

What kind of present is this?

We love Bill and Dianne!  They've been a blessing in Lily's life for as long as she can remember!

35 weeks and looking great!  (She'll be 36 weeks Thursday).

Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Josh came to visit Labor Day weekend.  Lily made us all smile!

The Storehouse ministry continues at a steady pace.  One of our clients last week was a 71 year old lady who had been living with her sister.  The lady's son lost his job 4 months ago and moved in with them as well.  A few weeks ago, the sisters had a falling out and the lady and her son ended up living in her car with nothing but the clothes on their back.  They found a little place to rent, but lacked any of the furnishings.  We were able to provide them with the basic things needed to help them get started again.  Thank you for you prayers, and for enabling us to be a blessing to others!

Last week, Charlie, Earlene, and I went to the annual meeting of our partner, Second Harvest.  The meeting highlighted the needs and changes for the upcoming year.  More significantly, Charlie introduced me to a gentleman who operates a ministry similar to Mountain Vision in the two counties just west of us.  He seemed very interested in learning more about our pastor and church leader training ministry.  At some point in the next month, Charlie and I are going to drive over and pay him a visit and talk about potential partnership in the upcoming year.  Please continue to pray that the Lord would open the right doors for the expansion of our pastor and church leader training ministry.

Things you can praying for this week:

1. Pray that Meredith will be able to rest well over the next month as we prepare for Hosea's arrival.  Though she's feeling pretty good, it's getting a little more difficult to sleep at night, and chasing a very active 3 year old is tiring by the end of the day!

2. Pray that the Lord would open the right doors for the expansion of our pastor and church leader training ministry.

3.  Over the weekend, someone stole Charlie's trailer from the Storehouse. We use it for hauling furniture, lawnmowers, and the like.  That's painful $1700 loss.  Please pray that those who stole it would be brought to justice, and that the trailer would be recovered!


PS.  August is also the start of the harvest season in our garden.  Here are a few pics for those of you who've asked.

Pantano Romaneso Tomato

Riesentraube (grape) Tomato.

Best summer squash ever.  Trombetta (aka Trombocino)

Summer squash harvest from 2 vines in one week.  A couple of traditional yellows thrown in for scale.