An update from Bryan Kelly, at Common Grounds Ministries, serving our inner city communities in Montgomery:

A teenager, from Washington Park, that I have been meeting in a discipleship group with for years, recently said that he hears his own voice talking in his head. His voice talks, to him, constantly. He was terrified the rest of us in the group would think he was crazy. He thought he was the only one.

The voice in his head brought up constant doubts: about him, about God, about who can be trusted in his life, about any real sense of hope, about fears, shame, powerlessness, confusion, etc. He said it feels like a constant
assault.

He hears:“You are going to fail.”
“Just Quit.”
“Nobody really cares about you.”

He, like you and me, doesn’t realize that so many voices make their way deep inside us and usually sound out as our own voice. Lies are deeply embedded and come from so many different directions. They end up
sounding like our own voice. Our small group spent some time, in honesty, listing the messages we
hear, feel, and the ones of which we live out. The vulnerability was palpable, to say the least.
We then asked a simple, but profound, question: If following Jesus (discipleship) is the call on our lives, how do we learn to clearly hear God’s voice above all the others? How do we move towards a place where the inner recognizable voice is His, and where the competing voices are recognized for what they really are?

After yet another theft from our property, an adult in our community told the kid who revealed who committed the crime, “I told you not to tell and to stay out of it!”

The adult said this because the young man who told was later engaged in a fight by a family member of the guilty party. The answer, the community answer, the cultural answer, is: “Don’t snitch!” That is the corporate voice.

According to the boys in my small group, many people in Gibbs Village know the identities of two murderers in unsolved crimes in our community. I asked them what has happened since the silence? They said four others
have been murdered in retaliation, each one building on the last. Because the inner and outer voices of our community hold to this way of life the young boys of our neighborhood grow up thinking they are standing
up for our neighborhood in their silence and violence, when in reality they are destroying it, their loved ones, and themselves.

It wasn’t until we listed the voices and messages they live by that the boys in my group could
vocalize that for themselves. We asked: What if God ‘s voice was the one you could discern, live by, and
love our neighborhood through…?

More and more young boys and girls are meeting the Lord, learning to hear his voice, and experiencing life change in our neighborhood. The temptations, destructive examples, and negative teachers are an overwhelming presence for these kids. It is sad and feels defeating many times.

Yet, light always overcomes darkness. God is using so many intentional Christians from inside and outside Washington Park to keep showing up and walking alongside kids and adults. The result is a spreading of the
Gospel, discipleship of many, and more and more pictures of radical love. God is at work.
Transformation is happening. May the radical love of God, long term discipleship of urban youth,
through the power of His Spirit raise up multiple generations of leaders who live by His voice! Thank you for praying for and partnering with our community.

God is surely moving through the volunteers at Inner City Evangelism. This year, they group has made a regular presence in four of our inner city communities, and will move into a fifth in June.

The group holds four weekly Bible studies for ages children through adults. And, they will hold vacation Bible School this summer.

If you would like to get involved in this ministry, email Sandra Passmore at SPassmore@gfse.com.

It’s Thai New Year, which means a huge water festival is celebrated all over the country. Families and friends get together and throw gallons of water at everything that moves! We played with them today, driving around with our kids and several others in the back of the truck shooting water guns.
It’s lots of fun, but sadly, the general idea behind it is that the Buddhists are washing away the sins of the past year to begin a new year purified.

We praise and worship the only God who has washed away our sins permanently, once for all time!
“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance.” Isaiah 45:22-23

It is amazing to see the transformation in GeeBeeYa, our new sister in Christ! She is encouraging us daily as she shares her faith with her neighbors and invites them to come to worship with us. One week GeeBeeYa had collected a big bag of glass bottles which was worth about $20, a huge sum of money in the dump. Instead of keeping this for herself, she gave it to a family whose father was unable to work! This family was amazed; no one else does this kind of thing in the dump community.

She recently moved her hut to a different part of the dump (because of verbal persecution from old neighbors). She did not put up the Buddhist shrine which was in her old hut. Her husband is back home for the New Year vacation and he may insist that she put it back up. So far he is accepting her new faith. Please continue to pray that he will not turn against her, but instead, be changed himself as she brings the light of Jesus into his life!

We have just added another new worship meeting with a family that is Hindu and Buddhist. The husband told us this week as we studied the Bible together that he had studied Buddhism for 9 years. We praise God for this opportunity to share with a new community of people that is so steeped in eastern religions. Please pray that their eyes and ears would be opened to the truth.

The Bible study at the factory has dwindled down to only one family, as the unemployed workers have moved back to Burma or found work elsewhere. We praise God that we had the chance to share the gospel with so many people! We have planted seeds, and pray that God will continue to water and bring fruit even though the folks have moved in all different directions. Please pray for the family of AyeSan, who has been our host and continues to desire to learn about Jesus. They too need jobs, but even more than that they need Jesus.

There is no greater joy than seeing the gospel in action, changing lives as they are transformed by the Word of God. We are overwhelmed by the power and grace of God. Thank you for making it possible for us to be here and have this huge blessing in our lives!

The Turman Family
Site URL: http://turmansinthailand.shutterfly.com/

The volunteers at Inner City Evangelism have made themselves part of the neighborhood in a few of Montgomery’s public housing areas. This group of young people are consistent in their mentoring and teaching of the lost in our inner city. Read on for more updates from this ministry:

Adults in the Smiley Court Bible Study
Each week more than 50 adults gather to learn from God’s Word in four Montgomery public housing communities. Although social programs may temporarily help a current need, they do little to permanently change this situation.  Only through a saving faith in Jesus Christ can these adults change themselves, their families and their neighborhoods. To this end we simply teach the Bible to these adults and let the power of God’s Word work in their lives. The adults are taught from Lifeway’s Explore the Bible curriculum, quarterly Sunday school lesson plan that alternates between the Old and New Testaments. Bibles are also provided and the adults are encouraged to read the lesson Scriptures out loud within the class, and answer questions and join in the discussion. The class opens with a praise gospel song, followed by announcements and an opening prayer before the lesson. We are working now on the adults opening the class in prayer, although praying out loud is very new to them.  The lesson takes the majority of the class (40 minutes) then we take prayer requests and join hands and stand to close in prayer. This is the first time many of these adults have every had intentional time in the Bible and we have seen growth in many of them.

Superstars
Superstars are a group of 10-15-year-olds who are learning to live like Jesus. God opened our eyes to the greater need of this age group; a critical age for decisions and actions. The Superstars formed after VBS last summer. Each week opens up with Bible drills: learning how to use the Bible and look up Scriptures including monthly memory verses with continuous review. The lessons are based on the Lifeway “Known” curriculum which takes current topical concerns and surrounds them with Scriptural accuracy. Studies have included faith, missions, priorities and for April, responsibility.  The Stars are engaged in reading, sharing and expanding on the Bible truths for the day. A time of sharing with snacks rounds out the evening. Some of the challenges with this group include excessive talking and lack of respect. We purpose to make this a time of learning within defined boundaries, which sometimes results in the temporary removal from the study. But we offer grace and keep ministering as God allows.
On average, there are five to eight stars in Cleveland, eight in Paterson and 17 – 22 in Smiley Court, most of which are boys.

Cleveland Court Children’s Class
The children’s group is for those age 9 and under. Each week we gather together with the children to show them love in the name of Jesus through the truth of His Word and our actions. A lead teacher for the night structures the time to incorporate the Scripture lesson and memory verse through crafts, songs, games and table-time review, and is supported through a teaching rotation and volunteers.

It is so exciting to be able to watch the kids grow and learn, and we are excited about the new study at Paterson Court! The kids are surrounded by so many negative things every day of their lives so we know that we have a lot to compete with, but we know that God has called us to this ministry and we trust that He is using us to further His Kingdom!

Frazer is now partnering in ministry with Charlotte Robertson of  Mescal’s Children’s Center of Hope. MCCH cares for orphans whose parents have died from AIDS, and provides a home for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse. Learn more about how you can join them in ministry at http://www.mescalskids.org/home.