Partners at The Austin Stone have been a part of an effort in the Texas Capitol complex to bring about a movement of God’s church there for city transformation purposes as opposed to any political motivations. The Texas Capitol Fellowship is a “non-denominational, non-partisan effort to build a vibrant community of faith among those who work in the Capitol complex.” Their goal is not unity for the sake of unity, but rather that the Church would truly be what God intended in every place – a source of life and testimony to Jesus.
While there have been small gatherings of believers in the complex for some time, this was formalized in 2006 with monthly meetings focused on evangelization of the complex and spurring united encouragement and prayer. This effort was not spearheaded by any organization or individual church, but rather God at work in the lives of individual disciples of Jesus Christ.
Most recently on Wednesday, June 30, 2008, 81 participants made up of workers from at least 6 state buildings downtown including many from the State Capitol met for an hour of prayer at lunch. They came with the purpose of praying for God’s Kingdom to come to the complex and to the city of Austin. God’s Kingdom, meaning His rule over the lives and interactions of people in these integral workplaces for the lives of most Texans.
Participants gathered by association of their building to pray over their building, for the lives of their fellow employees and for the ministry of believers present to be led by the Holy Spirit. A great focus of the time was prayers of faith – that God can and is bringing His rule.
Immediate fruit has been seen in the intimacy and motivation of the believers at this Austin workplace and decision center. One goal and hope is to foster the planting of small groups throughout the complex. The living Church at work in work.
Check out more info on the gatherings and this effort at www.aroundtherotunda.com
Here is an update from one of our partners on a short term trip in North Africa . . .
Hey! It's my first full day in North Africa! Our directors sent us out on a scavenger hunt of sorts to get acclimated with the city and one of the things we're supposed to do is find an internet cafe, so here we are! So far it has been really fun and scary haha. The language thing is really difficult, but every time we go somewhere we ask someone how to pronounce a phrase (like "can i exchange money here?") and every we do the person's face lights up and they laugh at (with) us, so that makes things easier. People definitely stare because we stand out but we're getting used to it. It's the only city with a metro, so we have been using it and I am thankful for my experience using them in Europe last summer.
Anyway, I'm not entirely sure what to do with this opportunity to share because we didn't realize we'd be able to do this so soon! Our orientation was really good, I feel like it prepared me as well as it possibly could have. The teaching workshop with the Sudanese teachers was cancelled this morning but hopefully we can go to the rest of them this week. I can't wait to meet the teachers! We're staying at a church this week (there are 19 of us crammed into two apartments, but we get to sleep on mattresses and we love each other, so it's cool. The funny part is that the 3 guys get one room and 16 girls get the other!!!) We'll move in with our families next week. I think everyone is really excited about that.
It's hard to believe we're actually here. Walking around in the city definitely makes it more real though!!! It's really different. We feel out of place when we laugh, which is weird. The level of conservative-ness of women's dress varies a lot. Some only show their eyes while some (very few) wear short sleeves. We all wear long sleeves and long pants and while it's pretty hot, I'm thankful to be covered for cultural reasons.
We have a sister team in “M”, which is the garbage town. The people there are very poor and collect the city’s trash at night, sort it, and ultimately recycle 80% of it. That is how they make their living. We flew out here with them and it was sad to part ways last night. We will be visiting “M” sometime this month though. There are two national guys on their team, which is very handy. Also, they're really great people. Meeting all the students going on trips on this side of the world (there are 5 teams, two in Central and South America, and the two in our area, and the another four or five in Asia) is really neat. It's like walking into a room of friends and strangers simultaneously. we all click really well because we have so much innately in common, but we're from all over the country. I've met several Texans, but I'm the only one from UT.
This morning we spent time in contemplative prayer, and our directors asked us to find a word that God was putting on our heart to focus on. Mine was peace. I have recently realized that when I'm not busy and have extra free time I have dangerous amounts of time to think, which throws me off inside. I realized two things from this: first that I do not spend enough time quietly with God during the regular school year, allowing me to really process what is going on in my life, possibly missing what God is trying to tell me. Second, when I do have quiet time, I freak out about a lot of stuff. For example, here I worry about how my body is reacting to the new food and atmosphere is around me, about what it will be like, about what my peers think of me, if I'm really listening to God, and being afraid that I'm not going to want to listen to God's call for my life. But He reminded me this morning that Jesus brings peace, if I'll let Him in. So when I get crazy I take a deep breath and think of the psalm that says "be still, and know that I am God."
My thirty minutes is almost up. I love and miss you all! As the Arabs say, ma salema! (good bye)
In His love,
“K”