Loving the Homeless

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

For several years now I have had a growing desire to see our church become involved with helping the needs of the homeless. I naively thought it would be a simple thing to find a homeless person and have our church, with its many resources, step in and turn someone’s life around. But the more I learned about the issue of homelessness, the more I learned that it was a complex subject with challenging solutions.

But I’m glad to say that we are now at a place where LBF is ready to put our “Love in Action” as it relates to homelessness. Let me explain.

Starting in September, LBF will adopt one or two families who are currently residing at the Foothill Family Shelter (FFS) in Upland. FFS has been doing a wonderful job for the last 25 years in taking people off the street and providing them a place to live, along with providing the kind of support they need to return to a healthy lifestyle. They provide a four-month program and after that, they continue to provide guidance. But they can use support from local churches at this point to help a person or family continue on the road to sustainability.

This is where LBF will step in. Step one will be to sponsor families at FFS while they are in the four-month program. This will involve getting to know the family, building a trust relationship with them, and letting them get to know us. Once the four-month program is completed, LBF will adopt this family for one year. During this year we will continue to help them get back on their feet in the specific areas of need they have.

We will do this by providing a team of 10-12 people who will walk with the family personally for a year. Each person on the team will have a specific area of responsibility. For example, someone can help them obtain their Social Security support, someone can help with finding them a job or using a computer, and someone can help with providing food when necessary. There are 12 different areas in which we will be able to help.

One of the keys to make our effort in helping the homeless succeed was finding a partner who could show us the way. I have found such an organization: Open Table. They will provide all the training we need to successfully walk with someone for a year and be part of transforming their life out of poverty and into health.

To help get this moving I’m looking for an Open Table Church Coordinator. This will require some training and about five hours of ministry per week. Once we have that Coordinator trained, then we can move forward in training our Table Teams.

It’s hard to express this on paper, but you need to know that I’m very excited that soon we will be putting our “Love into Action” and tangibly helping people break out of poverty. I anticipate that God will use our love for Him and for people to make a significant difference in our own lives, as well as many lives within our city.

Please join me in prayer for the start of this new ministry. If you are interested in becoming involved, feel free to send me an email at gary@lbfchurch.com.

Love in Action in Action

By Ron Weissmann, Love in Action Coordinator 

Most everyone is aware that in the last few years school budgets have been severely slashed. What I did not realize was that important programs were at risk of being eliminated altogether due to these budget cuts. Recently I was talking to Jason Craig, a member of LBF and a teacher of Industrial Arts at Upland Junior High School. During our conversation he told me of the concerns he had for his Project Lead the Way (wood shop). He was concerned about a lack of funding to purchase the needed materials for his students to continue to learn valuable skills in his class. After our conversation, I discussed the idea of taking on this challenge as part of our “Love in Action” initiative with Pastor Gary.

We started by identifying the current needs. Then we talked to local businesses to see what they could do to help. God quickly changed our direction when I received a phone call from a friend who had heard of the needs of Project Lead the Way and invited us to attend a local scroll saw club meeting for The Inland Empire Scrollers Association. We went and knew at once that we were in the right place. The scroll saw club immediately stepped up with kindness and generosity to Project Lead the Way. Each month donations are made on behalf of the club to the Upland Junior High School shop program, in the form of tools and materials. And because of these donations, the program will not be eliminated. Praise the Lord!

In addition to the wood donated by the local scroll saw club, our own “Love in Action” program was able to help with the donation of a nearly brand new band saw to Project Lead the Way. This $1,600 piece of equipment would never have been purchased with the current state of financial distress within the state and school district. We are also currently working to facilitate the donation of two wood lathes and additional materials, including hand tools, adhesives, hardware, and the wood needed for the projects.

Classroom budgets have been affected so drastically that both teachers and students are in jeopardy. It is vital that shop programs like Project Lead the Way continue for students to learn various skills in addition to the basic subjects. And we’re pleased that through “Love in Action,” the students at Upland Junior High can further their educational development.

But wait! It gets better. I recently learned that the students of Project Lead the Way used some of the donated materials to design and build more than 600 wooden toys, which they gave to programs that distribute them to underprivileged kids, such as Healthy Start-Upland, Spark of Love (ABC 7), Fontana Police Department, Mission Agua de Vida in Morelos, Mexico, as well as six additional missions throughout the Los Angeles area.

Under the leadership of Pam Chavira, their new principal at UJH, these students are studying the Seven Essential Virtues of Moral Intelligence (which are empathy, conscience, self control, respect, kindness, tolerance, and fairness) by Michele Borba. This project was one way for them to implement what they learned.

Thank you to The Inland Empire Scrollers Association for their generosity and contributions to Project Lead the Way. This journey of putting “Love in Action” is exciting and ongoing. Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Homelessness Conference Draws 200

By Russ Parker, Pastor of Administration 

Over the past year God has brought together a group of people burdened with the issues of homelessness in our local community. This group is called “OUR Homeless” (OUR standing for Ontario, Upland, and Rancho Cucamonga). Ron Weissmann and Gary Keith from our church have been connected to this group from its beginning stages.

Months of planning and praying led OUR Homeless to commission a conference on homelessness. It was our privilege at LBF to host this conference last month. The main purpose of the conference was to build awareness – awareness of the issue in our community and awareness of the works and initiatives that are currently ongoing. Over 200 people from dozens of local churches and non-profits in the area attended on February 2.

Pastor Jeff Taylor and our worship team led us in worship through music, preparing our hearts to deeply consider God’s love for all of His people. Keynote speaker, Philip Mangano (former appointee Director of U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness under President Bush) captivated, educated, and inspired everyone. Mr. Mangano told real-life stories of communities just like ours who had successfully come together to reduce homelessness.

The conference was a fantastic kick-off and now work continues. Next steps are already in motion as we rally together to put love in action and serve those who are struggling with homelessness.

Thanksgiving: Coming Together to Put “Love in Action”

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor, and Russ Parker, Pastor of Administration 

Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull. Instantly they darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot pursuit, and it was soon evident they wouldn’t make it. Terrified, one guy shouted to the other, “Hey, send up a prayer, John. We’re in for it!” John answered, “I can’t. I’ve never prayed in public in my life.” “But you must!” begged his friend. “The bull is catching up to us.” “All right,” said John as he was breathing hard, “I’ll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: ‘O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.’”

Are you laughing? I hope so.

If the month of November is remembered for anything, it would be Thanksgiving. You know it’s that time of the year where we eat way too much turkey and sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.

In the past, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we traditionally held a Thanksgiving Love Feast. This is a time when our church family and others come and enjoy a Thanksgiving-type meal together. In light of our new mission statement, we will be changing the focus of this event. Instead of our church coming together and enjoying a meal, this year we will go out into the community and serve the poor or those less fortunate. We will enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday by putting “Love into Action.”

And we are going big! Each week GAP Food Bank feeds 400 families who are struggling to keep up, pay the rent, and provide for the their families. This year we are taking up the challenge to feed 400 GAP families a Thanksgiving meal – turkey and all the fixin’s. We are challenging our church to provide these 400 Thanksgiving meals, but we’re not going to stop at giving and providing these meals. We are going to take over GAP Food Bank (literally we are getting the keys to the facility) and run the entire operation where we organize, pack, and give out these 400 meals, blessing these needy families. We desire to show our thankfulness to God for his provision and goodness by giving back and blessing others – that they might also be thankful. It’s going to be quite the undertaking, but we know you, LBF, will rally to help people in our community. The Saturday before Thanksgiving, Collecting Food + Distributing Food = Loving Our Neighbors.

 Our hope is to bring into some people’s lives in our community the words of Jeremiah who said: “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends!” Lamentations 3:19-25 (NLT)

As we approach another Thanksgiving, I pray that we will be able to bring some hope into the lives of people who need it the most.

Building Bridges Through Friendship

By Russ Parker, Pastor of Administration 

A cooperative effort between Life Bible Fellowship Church and Assure Pregnancy Clinic (APC) has arisen where church members engage in intentional friendships with expectant mothers who have made the important life-giving choice to carry and parent their child. LBF desires to come alongside these mothers and support and encourage them. We can speak into their lives while at the same time, allowing God to stretch us as we serve our neighbors -putting love in action.

Here are some of the ministry’s objectives:

To help encourage expectant mothers in their decision to continue their pregnancy. 
Church members are creating intentional friendships with APC’s clients; they are not counselors, teachers, or coaches. As a result, church members are not responsible for providing any pre-determined training or instruction to clients.

To help connect others to a local church community that will provide spiritual and emotional support during and after they complete the Bridges Parenting Support Program, offered by Assure Pregnancy Clinic. 
Church members will make an intentional effort to connect clients to their local church by inviting them to attend services and church-related events, and keeping them updated on up-coming programs.

Church members will meet their new Bridges friend at an “event” located in the Bridges suite at Assure Pregnancy Clinic (9675 Monte Vista Ave in Montclair). This event will help to “break the ice” on our new friendships.

Church members are committed to staying active in the client’s life for a minimum of six months, and agree to host their new friend at one meeting/ gathering per month.

Church members will receive one-time orientation training by Assure Pregnancy Clinic, so they can embrace the values of Assure Pregnancy Clinic and understand the mission and philosophy that drives the Bridges Parenting Support Program.

Based on the recommendations of Bridges Mentors, this program will be offered to expectant mothers who have expressed an interest in extended care and support, and have regular attendance within the Bridges Parenting Support Program.

While participating in the Building Bridges through Friendship Program, clients will receive Baby Bucks that can be spent in the Bridges Baby Boutique.

If you’re interested in serving in this new ministry, or interested in learning more, please contact Russ Parker, Pastor of Administration at russ@lbfchurch.com.

You Blessed 71 of Pacific Lifeline’s Kids

By Kirsten Grubb 

A huge thank you to everyone at LBF who helped send Pacific Lifeline’s children back to school with...

Confidence: “Thank you so much. You have helped my child start the school year with confidence and pride. Our family is so grateful.”

A smile: “The boys are thrilled with the things they got, and they can’t wait to take them to school. Thank you so much.”

New clothes: “Thank you for giving me and my sister a gift card to get clothes. We appreciate it all. Thank you very much and God bless you.” 

School supplies: “Thank you so much for Jacob’s items. Every day he adds more things to his Spongebob backpack and says he’s ready for school. He has been so excited every day.”

And backpacks: “Thank you for buying and having time to do this for me so I can have what I need to go back to school. I appreciate it. Thank you and God bless you.” 

Once again, I have been inspired and touched by the generosity and compassion of this church family. We helped 93 children this year – that is 18 more than last year! And of the 93 children participating in our back to school program, people from LBF sponsored 71 of them! When you are called to reach out, you reach out in generous, loving, and amazing ways!

While the quotes above convey just how deeply you have touched the lives of 71 children, I think this quote from one of our families does a great job of summing up the significance of LBF’s ministry to Pacific Lifeline’s kids:

“Thank you so much. Please tell the donor how much of a blessing they are. Alexa just went through everything and we had the perfect opportunity to talk about God’s love and how she can bless others.” 

Thank you for the many ways that LBF reaches out with God’s love to Pacific Lifeline’s families. If you are interested in getting more involved, please visit www.pacific-lifeline.org.

Neighbor Clean Up Day - Love in Action

Thanks to all who came out to serve last Sunday as we practiced Love in Action. We had a fantastic turn out of at least 50 adults and 25 kids from LBF and residents of  San Antonio Heights.

The lot looks a hundred times improved as we trimmed, chopped, cut, swept, etc. Thanks to all and specifically:

• the team of guys that dedicated their time to compacting the waste inside the Burtecc waste container. I cant believe how much stuff we got into that container!  
• to the families that involved your kids
• to those who ferried trimmings from one side of the parking lot to the other - via old Albertsons Shopping carts!
• to the team of guys who fed us hot dogs and chips
• to the people who ran to the store to get more hotdogs due to an amazing turn out of people!
• to LBF's Kids Ministry who brought over 20+ kids to help trim and sweep!
• to Rob Vance and Noel Norton - our go-to foreman guys.
• Thanks to Safety-Dan, where-ever he may be.
• to SAH community - for helping to spread the word within the community and for participating with us! 

 photos by Tira Young

Operation Christmas Child SUCCESS!

 
OCC Shoe Boxes get shipped around the world to kids who would otherwise receive nothing! Each box contains toys, candies, clothes... but most importantly, A kid-appropriate devotional that shares the Gospel Message.

This year, we had 40 volunteers that served the LBF OCC Center and greeted our community with a smile when they were dropping off boxes. 

In total, we collected and shipped 14,000 shoe boxes.

2011 Totals-

LBF Donated Total:                                      717
Upland Collection Center Total:                2,077
Relay Center Total:                                  11,206
Grand Total for Collection Network:        14,000  

Last Year *2010 Totals-

LBF Total:                                                    559
Upland Collection Center Total:               3,822
Relay Center Total:                                 16,038
Grand Total for Collection Network:        20,419

LBF donated boxes was up this year by 158. That's a 28% increase!

Note that our numbers were 6,419 shoeboxes less than in 2010.  There was a reorganization of Relay Centers and many of our local churches went to Relay Centers closer to them.i.e. Glendora.

As a side note, since 2006 when we first operated a Collection Center from the Overholt garage and up to and including this year, the LBF church property has facilitated the collection of 80,090 shoeboxes which is equivalent to 8 trailers full of packed cartons of shoeboxes. 

WOW! I am grateful to be part of our church where we have the logistics, the space and many willing servants to help facilitate a worldwide missions project that fulfils God's command of Matthew 28.  

Thanks from both Erik Jacobsen and I for allowing this project to proceed year after year.

Jeff and Robin Crawford 

This Weekend's Message: Bragging Rights

One of my college friends used to joke, “I may be small, but I’m also slow.” It would make us laugh because those are things that no one brags about. We brag about being strong and talented and rich and smart. We brag (whether aloud or just in our own heads) about things that will make us look impressive to other people and will make them pay attention to us.

In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul decides to brag, but his bragging feels much different than ours. He leads us down a surprising path, a path that leads to the ultimate bragging rights.

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: Stinks to Be You!

A stowaway on the Titanic. A groundskeeper at Woodstock. A dog wandering through Jurassic Park. What do all of these have in common? You wouldn’t want to be any of them. And let’s face it, there are certain people that you would rather not be. Maybe it is because of a financial difficulty, or a health problem, or a personality quirk. We all imagine that certain people would be better off if they were more like us. The question is, how does the gospel of Jesus drive our response to people who we would rather not be?

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: Downward Mobility

When I wake up, I think about one person: Me! I think about my tired body. I think ahead to the events of my day. I think about what I will eat for my breakfast. And if I do think about other people, it is usually only in relationship to how they might effect me. Then, throughout the day, my instinct is to make every decision, small or big, on the basis of whether or not it will benefit me. I tend to place myself securely on the throne of the little Kingdom of Dan Franklin.

Humility is a major threat to this little set-up of mine. It brings up all kinds of questions: Humility?! God wants me to think that I am not all that important or impressive, and to look out for the needs of other people? Why does God so treasure a quality that is such a threat to my way of life? And, most importantly, if I really am going to walk humbly, what needs to change about my perspective?

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: Seeing With God Eyes

Seeing with God Eyes
Mark 2:13-17

How should we see the people around us? If you’re like me, many times as I’m out and about and I see people around me, I make quick judgments. Maybe it’s their body piercings, maybe it’s the way they are dressed, or maybe it’s a wild hair style or exotic hair color. Whatever it is that I see, I’m quick to make a judgment about them and my judgment usually is known by only me. I would never share it with anyone (except maybe my wife)!

But then there’s that time when one of those people comes along my path and I actually have a chance to talk with them, hear their voice, get a sense in a different way about the kind of person they are, and quickly my first impression changes. I see them differently. How about you? How do you see people?

This week as we continue with our Love in Action series, we are learning about what it means to love mercy. And part of loving mercy is learning to see people the way God sees people. This Sunday we will look at an example from the life of Jesus as we learn to see people with "God eyes." It’s great timing as the next day we’ll be hosting our annual Harvest Party, inviting our community to come and get to know us as we get to know them.

By the way, if you haven’t volunteered yet, it’s not too late. Be sure to sign up on Sunday – you’ll have a blast and who knows, you may even have the chance to put love into action. I know I’m planning to look for ways to put love in action that night.
Gary Keith