fellowship north speaks

a place to talk about what's going on at FN

March 7, 2012 • 3:45 pm 0

WORD on the street

WORD.

Why are we learning the story?

What happens after we know it?

We get to be a part of it! We have the chance to become part of the big story God is telling, part of the redemptive WORD of God in our community.

Sunday, May 6, we’re becoming the WORD on the street.

Many of you were here a few years ago when we first did a Sunday like this. Instead of coming to church, we wanted to BE the church. We closed the doors of the Fellowship North building and went out into our community, serving in multiple ways.

We’re doing that again on May 6. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate the WORD than to be the WORD on the street.

So what’s happening right now?

We are in the planning stages and need your help.

We need MANY projects, of all types, shapes, sizes, locations, and skills.

YOU are our best resource. You live, work, and play in this community.

So here’s the question for YOU: Where can a group of people from Fellowship North make a difference in a day?

The best projects are the DIY’s [Design It Yourself] – ones where you have a connection and you know what needs to happen.

It might be a yard cleaning project for a neighbor; it might be an organization you work with that could use some help cleaning; it might be a school project we can lend a hand to.

We are looking for projects that are large and small.

If you have an idea, please let us know. You can email Meghan Griffith mgriffith@fellowshipnorth.net or pick up a project card at the connecting point and return it there.

We are doing our planning in March and then everyone will be signing up for projects in April. Mark your calendar now for Sunday, May 6: WORD on the street!

________________________________

Need an idea of what it might look like? Here’s a video from a few years ago…

Filed under: faith in action

November 3, 2011 • 8:44 pm 1

more of the story: bruce

A couple of weeks ago, we showed this video at FN. Bruce Patterson has an amazing story of survival as a parajumper (or PJ) for the Air Force.

Now, Bruce has been a part of our staff for the past few years, and one thing we’ve learned about him is that he is definitely understated. For example – I don’t know if you were paying attention at about the 2:20 mark in the video above, but Bruce mentions live ammunition and the fact that his fellow PJ’s had to take cover. He also talks about ‘fireworks’ going off. What you might miss from his description is that the live ammunition that was exploding (making the ‘fireworks’) was in his own backpack.

So, because Bruce might not be the one to tell you himself, we thought we’d fill in a little more of his story. While he was in recovery from his accident, he got a visit from Joni, a friend and fellow Air Force employee. They continued to get to know each other and eventually married. Bruce also came to faith in Christ during this same time period. These days, Bruce’s main passion is prison ministry. Like I said earlier, Bruce has been on staff for the last few years as our facilities manager. In fact, he’s the one who implemented our KIC (Keep It Clean) teams – the volunteer groups who clean our building each Saturday, so that we don’t have to pay someone to do it. The money we save goes directly to missions that FN supports.

But, lately Bruce has been wanting to have more time to spend at the Pulaski County Jail and Cummins Prison, where he works with hardened criminals. So, he’s leaving his staff position. But don’t worry; he’s trained his replacement, David Holsted, very well. We’ll feature David in an upcoming blog post to help you get to know him better. He’ll be working alongside Jonathan Elder.

We’d like to thank Bruce, both for sharing his amazing story, and for all he has done for our church family as our facilities director. We can’t wait to see what adventures God has for him next!

Filed under: faith in action, Bruce Patterson, courage to die

July 14, 2011 • 3:19 pm 0

Meet: Andrew Whitley

Who’s Andrew Whitley, you ask? It just so happens that I can tell you. This is Andrew.

Andrew is running Good Eats this summer, and it has been quite the adventure. It’s been great to see how his personality and background have come together with the church’s need for a feeding program director at just the right time.

Andrew grew up in Tulsa, OK, where he was the middle of 5 kids. While he was in college, his brother invited him to come work with him for the summer at a ministry called Doulos. Doulos is a residential care center for troubled teens, and Andrew went on to work there for a couple of years after graduation. As a part of his job there, he had to earn certification as a kitchen manager – and his experience at Doulos has equipped him well to take on a brand new feeding program (with lots of unknowns!) here at FN.

He and his wife, Emily, have been at Fellowship North since they moved to this area for about a year ago. Emily grew up here at FN, but Andrew says he was drawn to it quickly as well. “I love that this church serves,” he says. We are glad to have him here, and grateful that he is helping us to serve in a new way.

Andrew has joined our staff for the summer, and will begin teaching freshman English full-time this fall at Little Rock Christian.

Filed under: faith in action, Uncategorized, Andrew Whitley, Good Eats, summer feeding program

July 7, 2011 • 9:17 pm 0

Good Eats

{written by Sarabeth Jones}

A big change has happened this summer at FN; we’ve started a summer feeding program. If you’ve been around much lately, you’ve probably heard of it – but maybe you (like me) don’t really know what is going on. I visited Good Eats a couple of times this week just to see what it’s all about.

Volunteers come at 8:45 am and meet with Andrew Whitley. Andrew is running the program this summer, and like Good Eats, he’s also pretty new to Fellowship North. We’ll get to know him a little better in our next blog post. The group goes over the day briefly and then gets ready to greet the kids at 9. Breakfast is served from 9-10, and kids come in during that hour. Anyone 18 or younger is welcome to participate. There are about 30-40 kids everyday.

At 10, everyone gathers for a very short ‘talk’ – a message about something as simple as the power of our words, for example. Then the rest of the morning is spent in various ways: some might play sports outside, while others could work on crafts inside. Earlier this week, a fierce round of Monopoly was in session. Today the kids were in teams playing a large group game: huddled in circles, they yelled out suggestions, trying to come up with the most original and longest list of answers to each question. At noon, lunch is served, the kids leave and the volunteers meet again with Andrew, this time to talk through what is working and what isn’t. This is very much a “learn as you go” program – what doesn’t work today will be different tomorrow.

So, that’s what’s going on at Good Eats. But you know what else is going on? Kids of all ages are eating, smiling, talking, playing. They are hugged and listened to. Whether they come to our buildings on Sundays or not, they seem at home in the rooms and hallways. This new thing at Fellowship North – it’s a good thing.

We’d love for you to be a part of Good Eats. You can volunteer to help any day of the week from 8:45 am – 1:00 pm (just email Andrew), or you can donate games, sports equipment, or art supplies by dropping them at the church office. See more pictures from Good Eats on Facebook.

Filed under: faith in action, Andrew Whitley, Fellowship North, Good Eats, summer feeding program

March 9, 2011 • 6:54 pm 2

¡Hola!

Did you see this sign on Sunday and wonder what was going on?

Just this last Sunday a local Spanish congregation, Iglesia Betel, began using part of our building for their services. The building that they have used for the last several years has recently become unavailable, and we were excited to be able to welcome them into our space. We even have a very personal connection: Inés McBryde’s father is the pastor of Iglesia Betel. She was there Sunday and had this to share afterward:

I was at Iglesia Betel’s church service today and it all went very well! You would’ve thought they’ve been meeting here for a while. Things went smoothly. People were able to find the place VERY well. They used powerpoint slides for worship and teaching, which they hadn’t been allowed to before in the previous facility, and they were so excited about this small detail. Their small group/Sunday school classrooms time went smooth as well. They celebrated the Lord’s supper & that was special for them in their first meeting.

Just wanted to also let you know I was allowed a few minutes to welcome everyone on behalf of Fellowship North & simply encouraged this church in this new season of life. I stayed the whole service just to be sure things went well and to answer questions that people had about how to take care of the place post-service. I wanted to communicate to you how thankful everyone was who came up to me after I spoke. It was so special to hear them all pray for the leadership of FN during the Lord’s supper and that God would guide our Kingdom efforts.

God is doing great things among them. There’s about 6 guys who are not believers who come every Sunday from Lonoke because they’re seeking Christ. They are being discipled by a man who was redeemed last year from drugs/alcohol & who loves the Lord and the lost. Today they also took up a love offering to help a brother whose mom died and they have to send her body to be buried in Guatemala.

I pray this partnership continues as we serve each other. Just wanted to say thanks again for all you’ve done this week. I think my dad is going to sleep well for the first time in 2wks. It’s been stressful for them to part from their previous facility where they’ve been for 14yrs & not knowing where they would end up. Of all the churches my dad knocked on their door these past 2wks asking for help, FN was the only who answered the call for help. I have no words to say thanks.

grateful,

solely for His glory, Ines

Filed under: faith in action, Iglesia Betel, spanish

October 1, 2010 • 10:00 am 1

Faith In Action: a do-it-yourself story

This October we’ll focus as a church on loving the people around us through service. Instead of having one Faith In Action Sunday, we’ll have projects to jump into all month long. You’ll hear all the specifics in church this Sunday morning, and it’s our hope that everyone will find a place to help out. Many groups will choose to come up with their own “do-it-yourself” projects; here’s a story from last October of a group that did just that.

*****************

This Sunday our church “Left the Building.” We had no church and everyone was to go out and be the church. Our community group, the Smiths, the Emmerlings, and the Stuffs, served a family of 3 adults and 9 children with one on the way in Rose City. Sam Emmerling came to know the oldest child, Reggie, through his son, Evan. The boys go to school together. When our group met to discuss what we wanted to do, Sam told us about this family. He had dropped Reggie off at the house once and saw that they had very little in the home. Our group decided we would like to help them. We asked Sam to find out what they needed, and we decided we would deliver everything on Sunday the 18th and have a party.

Sam Emmerling talking with the group

Sam went by and asked them if they could use our help, and the woman was shocked. She said they needed beds, clothes for the kids, dressers for the clothes, and a couch. The house is a 2 bedroom house, with no furniture or beds. everyone slept on the floor on pillows. the adults all work, but at low wages.

With our $500 budget we were able to get:
2 twin beds
1 full bed
new sheets and pillows
2 dressers
clothes and coats for all 9 children
items for the baby on the way
a couch
a recliner
a tv
4 bikes
toys and balls

Leslie Smith gets a biker going!

Our 3 families with children, loaded everything up and took it to them today at 11am. When we arrived everyone gathered outside before we unloaded. Sam explained who we where, how God directed us to them through Reggie, and that we were there to show them the love of Christ as part of CityFest and Fellowship North. The men then unloaded and assembled the beds while the women set up card tables and started our “party.” We had 50 hot dogs, chips, drinks, and a giant cake!

Sharon Stuff - a hug and a snack

Our children played with their children. The women all talked. All the food was eaten. Children and adults up and down the street came over to “see what was going on,” and we fed them too while explaining why we were there. We even taught one of their kids and one of our kids how to ride a bike. The day was a smashing success! Our families and children experienced the joy of serving in Christ, and they all received the love of Christ.

One more hug...

Throughout this process our group prayed that God was leading us to the right family, that they would receive it well, that the weather would be nice, and that everyone would have a good time. God answered all of our prayers!!!

Jeff Smith

Filed under: faith in action

September 30, 2010 • 10:33 am 0

Faith In Action: a look back

This October we’ll focus as a church on loving the people around us through service. Instead of having one Faith In Action Sunday, we’ll have projects to jump into all month long. You’ll hear all the specifics in church this Sunday morning, and it’s our hope that everyone will find a place to help out. Here’s a story from last fall’s Faith In Action (originally posted in October 2009) – an email from one woman who was deeply impacted by her experience. Here’s what she had to say:

Thank you so very much for your hard work on this weekend’s Summertree outreach. I was so lucky to get to be a part of it. My husband, who has never done an outreach….and nervous about doing something like that….came and ended up seeing “outreach” isn’t scary like he was envisioning. He ended up playing cards with [E., a Summertree resident] and made a connection with someone who works at his job from Fellowship. He didn’t go last night [to the celebration service], but said he wished he did and asked if E. was there. E. was there and enjoyed the spaghetti…[my daughter] came with a friend and they helped with the art and jump rope…..and they felt so so good about seeing themselves as “givers” and “lovers”. [My daughter] has done many things lately that give her that “I want to do more of that” response in helping others. What more of a blessing could I get… but it just kept coming and coming….. I also got to play cards with E. and got to hold a little 13 month old eating sausage and more sausage while her Daddy ate and her two brothers played….I got to meet S. who is the mother of 7…..and had to quit her job to take care of all of them….with a hard to handle boy who is causing her heartache, but the girls loved on her so much it was sweet to see. I met a 10 year old girl who was there taking care of her 3 or maybe 4 siblings…..a 6 year old girl, 3 year old twins….They were so cold and their teeth chattering toward the end and I so wanted to give them all coats.They have all been on my mind and heart since meeting them……and my problems today are put in perspective by remembering them.

I wish I had dug out a few more of my old coats for those babies.

Again……..what a wonderful job you did….thank you for blessing my family with all you did.

Filed under: faith in action

February 16, 2010 • 8:03 pm 0

the domino effect

This post was written by Barbara Scorza, who is part of our staff here at FN, and is also the PTA president at Pike View Elementary. Rod Loy is the senior pastor of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock. Both of them had a lot to do with an incredible event that took place recently in our very own Lookout – and we thought you’d like to hear about it!

On Thursday, February 4, the students at Pike View Elementary stepped outside of themselves and looked to the needs of others. When we play our part, it is like a domino effect. Have you ever seen the elaborate domino setup? You know where bells ring and balls roll and in the end there is a fantastic picture of something? At first glance it may seem like just a way to waste some time, but when the first domino is touched and it gently, but rather quickly, falls and touches the next and this goes on and in the end, some real amazing things have happened and in some cases, there is a beautiful picture to be seen. This is amazing that to get to the beautiful end, each domino only had to be put in place and then fall when touched by the domino next to it. Amazed that it started with one gentle touch and ended with a magnificent piece of beauty. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: faith in action, missions, Africa, Barbara Scorza, PIke View Elementary

February 16, 2010 • 11:38 am 0

looking forward to Lent

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Lent lately, and posted some assorted thoughts on my blog recently…

This idea, this tradition, this ritual of a season set aside for preparing oneself – for taking an honest look, being quiet, practicing confession and reverence – seems especially appealing to my heart right now. Joining with the greater church around the world because this observance is needed by more than just me; it is part of the rhythm of our life of faith. Taking away something, not just to take it away, but to open up space and time for the getting ready.

You can read the whole post here. Modern Sacred Family also has some great practical ways to observe Lent with your family (each picture links to a different family activity) I’d love to know – what are your plans for Lent? What have you been thinking about it all?

Filed under: faith in action, faith, Sarabeth Jones, spiritual disciplines

February 12, 2010 • 1:11 pm 0

Are you a compass?

The following was written by Barbara Scorza, our Director of Operations here at Fellowship North. She shares about the impact a mentor can have on a student.

Do You Have a Compass? Are You A Compass?

January is National Mentoring Month and the North Little Rock Mayor’s Youth Council (NLRMYC) honored eleven mentors at their Third Annual Compass Awards Ceremony.

What a fitting name for an award that recognizes mentors! A compass is an instrument that we rely on to determine direction and a mentor, sometimes unbeknownst to them, is a person that determines direction, through their words, actions and in some cases, just by listening and allowing the person to know they are worthy. I have heard time and time again from young people how having a mentor in their lives helped them in their decision-making, paving the way for them to live a life of purpose.

I had an opportunity to attend this event and listen to the words of eleven Council members as they read a personal tribute to their mentors and presented them with an award. I must admit, I went because Kenderick, my son, had nominated Mark Palmer, but hearing the words of each student was such a blessing.

This is the third year Jan Scholl, Director NLRMYC, has held this event. Council members were asked to choose adults who had set them on or kept them on the right path, and had played a large role in helping them to become who they are today.

It was a very moving event; we got to hear these students speak words of encouragement into the lives of their mentors, for all the encouraging words and lessons they had been speaking to them.

Mentor honorees were Mark Palmer, Eugene Turner, Sherry Ratliff, John David Pittman, Ed Scott, Jerry Butler, Amanda Ware, Shirley Lindsey, Christen Pitts, Betsy Jones, and Nancy Moore. Council members are Kenderick Scorza, Micah Turner, Shannon Holman, Connor Ratliff, Justin Klucher, Brisa Bartczak, Grant DePoyster, Winston Meyer, Justin Lindsey, Kaley Scott, and Daley Johnston.

These are the words Kenderick spoke about his mentor, Mark Palmer.

I’d like to introduce you to my friend and mentor, Mark Palmer. He started a small study group that consisted of several teenagers. Since the time was so early, the rest of the group stopped coming. I still wanted to meet, so at 8:00 in the morning, every Sunday, he comes and picks me up at my house. We go to a nearby restaurant and we discuss different topics about God in our time together before church.

Mark has had a very strong influence in my life. In our meetings, he has showed me that you must be humble in all that you do, and that has offered me help when I am in need.

He has also shown me that you must help others when you are able. One time, my mother and I and my church’s pastor were on our way to see a friend of ours who was in the hospital at the time. Out of the blue, my mother’s car broke down. We called him up, and he drove all the way to Texas from Arkansas to take us to see our friend, and even got his family to allow us to sleep in their home that night. That situation helps me continue the service I do for others.

I admire his love of helping others and that he’s willing to share his wisdom with those who ask. I would like to thank him for all that he does. He is a great man and is a walking example of the word “humble.”

Mark, you are a very, immensely important part of my life and I thank you once again for showing me what it is like to be an incredible individual.

Filed under: faith in action, peak ministries, senior high, student, unity

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