Externally Focused at Watermark

http://www.vimeo.com/4046267The stories have already started to come in about all the ways God moved today - in the hearts of our body who served, the folks in the communities that we were serving, and even our bus drivers.  Thanks for participating and watch for new opportunities in coming days.  In the meantime, check out the Service Day 2009 video.  Thanks to Steve and his Team!

If you have stories to share about service day, please post them here in response or e-mail them to one of the External Focus Team.  Humbled to be serving with you…

The External Focus Team

Join us this Sunday, March 29, as the Watermark family gathers to serve people throughout our city on Service Day. Instead of meeting for regular times of worship, we’ll hop on buses at the Watermark campus and serve from 9 am to 12:30 pm at locations all across the city – including schools, transitional homes, homeless shelters, and many other places.  The goal of this day is simple: to share the love of Christ with others through service and move folks towards intentional, relational, and committed service as a way of life…loving God and loving and serving others.

How Can I Participate?

1. Please arrive no later than 9 am this Sunday dressed in comfortable clothes. Busses will depart at 9:15 am. Your bus captain will tell you more about where you’ll serve.
2. Drop off young children (birth – 4 years old) for Children’s Ministry in the Watermark Tower starting at 8:45. Older kids are invited to serve. Children’s Ministry volunteers are needed, so please email Jinger Lord to sign up!
3. Get back on the bus around noon. We’ll return to the Watermark Tower at 12:30 pm. Remember, there will be no 9 am, 11 am or 5:30 pm services on the 29th. 
4. Bring your family and community group. Also invite guests!

After Service Day…

Our desire is that this day would be far more than a single time of service for you this year, but rather as a platform to inspire and stir you towards service as a way of life. We have opportunities to be “on mission” in our daily lives – being salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) to people in our workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods.  The needs of our city are great and we believe that it’s our privilege to pray for those needs and be part of the answer to those prayers.

Small “Service Days” 

There are many opportunities to get involved in regular, intentional, and relational service around our city.  You can find these here on the page for current service opportunities.  Additionally, a great way to get connected with others and hear about upcoming service opportunities is to subscribe to this blog.  It’s here for you – to learn about opportunities and share your stories wherever you’re serving.  Also, you can learn about smaller monthly “service days” where you can visit some of our ministry partners, serve with them, and learn about how you and/or your community group can get plugged in. 

“Service Scholarships”

From time to time, we’ll also be giving away “service scholarships” to individuals and/or community groups that are creatively serving the community!  So, please share those stories here on this blog.

Hope Lives! Class beginning this Summer

Additionally, be sure to watch for more information about our upcoming class, beginning on June 9, called “Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration.”  Compassion changes everything: how you view your world…yourself…even Jesus.  This five-week exploration of compassion is aimed at both mind and heart, inspiring a new way to interact with the world.  You will learn what the Bible says about poverty, prayer, discovering the causes of poverty, and becoming part of the solution to local and global poverty.

Thanks again and happy to be ”on mission” with you!

The Watermark External Focus Team

I asked Brooke Mauritzen to share a bit about the ladies’ trip…

What an amazing trip!  We started by spending Sunday in the capital of Kampala.  The team from Watermark split up and went to two separate churches.  At the church I attended, our group was asked to give the main message in the service.  Our bags had been lost at the airport the night before, so we all spoke about different situations in our lives where we thought we needed something but were denied whatever that was (using the lost luggage as an example).  The underlying theme was in the midst of not having that “missing piece” to our lives, God really showed up and provided for us despite what we thought we were lacking,  In particular for me, I got to share with the church members my story of singleness, including how the Lord has really grown my heart over the last seven years from a thought pattern of making marriage a goal to a place where I am willing to be in whatever phase of life He thinks I can serve Him best in.  Since there is a negative stigma in the Ugandan culture with being single, I hope and pray it really resonated with some folks who may struggle with that issue!   Sunday evening we spent some time with some widows in Kampala at an IDP camp ALARM has been involved in.  Barbara Roberson taught the women to knit and crochet so they could learn a new skill to support themselves with.

We spent Monday traveling and visiting some areas that Watermark has invested in.  We flew from Southern Uganda to Pader, a district where our church has financed a water well and is currently building a trade school for former child soldiers.  I was incredibly proud to be a part of this body when I saw with my own eyes the practical ways we are loving the people of Uganda!

After visiting Pader, we settled in Kitgum, the northernmost region of Uganda.  Our conference started late Monday afternoon, and I really feel that we got the opportunity to minister to the women who came.  I can say with assurance that they most definitely ministered to our team from Watermark!  It was so revolutionary for them to hear the curriculum we taught on, which was primarily Marriage, Trauma Healing, Forgiveness, Conflict Resolution, Teaching Children, Health/Hygiene, HIV/AIDS, and Sharing Your Story.  Lucina Thompson did a great job of leading out with all that we taught, and her experience teaching these subjects really blessed everyone in attendance.  We could tell that our words (God’s words, really) were not falling on deaf ears, and we even heard stories that the women who stayed at the conference center overnight stayed up late to discuss what they were learning with each other.  On the last day, we spent about an hour and a half listening to their own testimonies and the impact the conference had on them.  It was truly overwhelming!  I still can’t fathom some of the difficult situations these women have been through, from war to being widowed, losing children to adopting a house full of orphans.  One woman in particular shared how she has struggled to forgive someone in her life, and as a result of what she heard last week knows she needs to find the strength and courage to offer forgiveness to the person to killed her brother-in-law.

Our short time in Kitgum was full of making new friends who live an ocean away, laughter, tears, dancing (we even taught them the chicken dance, to the beautiful sound of Beth Rudy’s violin), sweet conversation, and a new deep and abiding love in all of our hearts for the people of northern Uganda.  One more quick story of how the Lord taught me on the trip.  On Tuesday night, Tracy Alexander got a stomach bug and spent all of Wednesday sick in bed.  When we shared this with the women on Wednesday morning, they were all so intentional to stop and pray for Tracy.  She persevered and was a real trooper!  On Thursday, Tracy was back in action and really did a great job of teaching that day.  I was so encouraged by her faithfulness to do what she had came over there to do no matter how she felt!  She accomplished much through what she taught as well, and the women mentioned how grateful they were to hear from her.

Thank you to all who lifted us in prayer and encouraged us during our time over there.  Your prayers were most definitely felt and it is a privilege to have you play a crucial role in our ministry time in Uganda!

by Brooke Mauritzen

I asked Aaron Graft to share a bit about his team’s recent return from Africa…

…we started the trip by spending Sunday in the capital of Kampala (minus our luggage, but we weren’t really surprised by that…).  We spent Monday morning visiting some areas where Watermark has invested with ALARM.  That afternoon, we flew from Kampala to Pader, where Watermark has financed the construction of a water well and is currently funding the construction of a trade school to train child soldiers that are being rehabilitated into society.  It was moving to see how God is using us to do something tangible half a world away from Dallas.

After visiting Pader, we traveled by car to our ultimate destination of Kitgum.  This is in far northern Uganda and has been a global “hot spot” for many years due to the fighting between the rebels and the government.  Our conference began Monday evening and went through Thursday afternoon.  Approximately 80 men attended – mainly church and civic leaders from Kitgum and the surrounding villages.  Almost all of these men had lost close family members to the fighting that has gone over the past 20 years.

We covered topics of biblical leadership, forgiveness, suffering and the sovereignty of God and conflict resolution.  By the last day of the conference, many of the men told stories about how they had asked for forgiveness at home and from their neighbors and practical steps they will take to apply what they had learned.  It was encouraging to see so many of them genuinely respond to the teaching.  We were also amazed and encouraged by the great faith and joy of these people despite the poverty and hardship that dominates their day-to-day lives.  As I told them the last day of the conference, I am convinced that eternity will show that Christians in Africa have exhibited a faith far beyond that of their western brothers and sisters.  I can honestly say that the Watermark team got as much or more out of the experience than the Africans who attended the conference.  I was personally convicted about how selfish I am and how often I run to God to remove little discomforts in my life while these people struggle to meet the basic needs of food, water and shelter on a daily basis.

In summary, I am honored to have had this opportunity.  God is alive and working all over the world!  It is encouraging to see Watermark expand its focus to participate in His kingdom work all across the world.

by Aaron Graft

I recently camped out in Matthew 20 – specifically the passage where James and John try to edge out the other disciples and request that, in His kingdom, one sit at Jesus’ right hand and the other on his left.  Funny – the Matthew account has this request coming from their mother!  (If you want to be great, it probably is not the best approach to get your mom to make the request.)

Instead of a tounge-lashing, Jesus takes the time to walk them through the definition of “true greatness.”  In short, He teaches them (and us) that greatness is not measured by power, popularity, looks, athletic prowess, or star power.  He turns that whole paradigm on its head and says “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave.” (Matthew 20:25-27)

So, “true greatness” is all about service…and not just in the “big things” but everyday, as people with needs cross your path.  So, as we serve, let’s not forget our greatest “model” – who “came not to be served, but to serve.” (Matthew 20:28).

This is a great video and well worth the time.  It’s well done, edgy, and all of that, but more importantly is a great reminder that we, the Church, are God’s hands and feet in the world…we are His “Plan A” and there is no “Plan B”!

Here’s an excerpt from a recent e-mail from Scott –

During the summer months here, I have enjoyed some good times with some friends, especially those who have been faithful in coming to our Cafe Ekklesia….  Our heart is to see men like them grow in discipleship and eventually be strong in ministry here in Cordoba, or beyond.   I took the opportunity of the summer months, when the students are on vacation, to spend quality time with guys like these by taking them exploring throughout some of the beautiful spots in the Cordoba Sierras.  Besides, with the heat of the summer in the city, it is almost mandatory to go venture out and find a river to cool off in!  On one occasion, I did come across something that disturbed me some.  Just 40 minutes outside of Cordoba, driving through some small towns, I came across a sign for a church.  I slowed down, stopped the car, and to my amazement, found an abandoned property, of what once was a church.  The building does not even have a roof now.  I saw with my own eyes the evidence that without sufficient leaders to run such churches, and without sufficient resources, these small churches that once existed, become only abandoned churches with time. Pray for 2 things: 1) the students are now heading back to school/work, pray that they will remain strong in discipleship as they start a new year and 2) pray that God would raise up leaders who would be faithful to carry out ministry in the many towns without a biblical church, and that they would have the resources to do so.

This week, please pray for Scott, his ministry, and the development of strong, biblically-based, churches in Cordoba.

In December, Watermark hosted the Christmas lunch at Voice of Hope, a West Dallas ministry that provides children and families with strong character models, education support, life skills and family support services needed to become productive citizens and break the poverty cycle.  This is always an amazing time and if there’s ever a doubt about whether spending a couple of hours to love folks intentionally is worth it, here’s a great reminder…

 Approximately one year ago, I attended a Christmas Drive give away at Voice of Hope Ministries in West Dallas where a number of volunteers from the Watermark Church in Dallas attended.  At the time I was a 24 year old mother of three struggling to finish college and gather enough strength to leave my mentally, sexually, and physically abusive husband….  I had the great pleasure of having a newly married couple be my hosts for the event. They showed me respect and love without even knowing me or my situation. They spoke kind words of encouragement and made me remember God’s unconditional love for everyone, including me. The wife noticed I didn’t have on a coat while I was loading up my babies’ toys and she gave me the coat off her back. I have never forgotten them, the Watermark Church, or Voice Of Hope since that day. Now, by God’s grace, I have finished college and obtained my undergraduate degree in health education and I am currently working on my Masters in counseling. I now attend church and have a church family … that I have grown to love as my own family. I have been appointed as a ministry president and instructed to put together an activity for our youth department and I immediately thought of Voice of Hope. I would like for our kids to see the effort and love others give just to follow the example of Christ and expect nothing in return, as did the couple who I had the pleasure of meeting. In addition, Voice of Hope serves the population that makes up our church and immediate community…. 

Thanks again.

 What a great reminder that one selfless act of love can have ripple effects that last a lifetime! 

If you’re working on scripture memory in The Summit, you’re memorizing Ephesians 2:8-9 this week.  These verses should rightly be near the top of those we commit to memory and remind us that we are saved by God’s GRACE through FAITH…and not through WORKS.  However, what are we saved to do?  The next verse (v. 10) explains that “We are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus FOR good works, that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.” (NET). 

So, today, let’s look for opportunities to serve others, remembering that God prepared good works for us to do…and we were made to do them as our joyful response to what He did for us!