CATALOG 2014-2015
LOCAL Getting out into our world is what Christ Journey Church does 365 days a year; with Global mission teams in six partner countries, Church Online in hundreds of countries, City Serves, Feed Miami and church multi-sites in our city. We are on the move with a purpose! City Serve at South Miami Middle Community School
For the last six years you have served this vibrant City of Miami through our local City Serves. Since 2010 over 1,800 volunteers have set an alarm early on Saturday and served IN our community WITH the community. Take a look at some of this year’s projects‌
UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY
At United Cerebral Palsy we headed out to put together swings and gliders for children in wheelchairs. New outdoor spaces were created with palms and planters and our Christ Journey team of special needs teachers, moms and kids did art projects for all the children.
VILLA LYAN SCHOOL
At the Villa Lyan School in Kendall 50 strong turned up to create an outdoor exercise patio at this wonderful place for children with multiple disabilities. We installed the brand new patio, painted it, did carpentry and rebuilt gardens. Our inside team packed art boxes for the whole school and two elementary school girls tirelessly decorated each one.
TOUCHING MIAMI WITH LOVE
Our DRIVE headed strong to Overtown and Touching Miami with Love. The group drilled, measured, cut wood and hammered to create internal offices at our Journey Partner TML to be used for counseling.
OPEN HOUSE MINISTRIES
At Christ Journey Partner Open House Ministries in Florida City, our team laid rubber mulch in the playground area and cleaned windows throughout the facility.
JACK D. GORDON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
At Jack D. Gordon Elementary School we loved on the neighborhood as we served at the annual festival for the whole school. We ran the rides, popped the popcorn, made cotton candy, and served hot dogs and hamburgers.
THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE SCHOOL
At the Learning Experience School the team finished an entire garden structure, spread the soil, built the seed stands and planted the whole thing in one day.
CRANDON BEACH CLEAN UP
The day was spent with the Miami-Dade County Parks Department to clean up the Crandon Preserve. Arriving to years of trash - on what is supposed to be a pristine beach at Bear Cut - two groups headed out to pick up. Families with 4 year olds, youth, and single adults took this job seriously with gloves, hats, rakes and wheelbarrows. 169 contractor bags later, park employees were surprised by the diligence of volunteers who stayed until the job was done.
TOUCHING MIAMI WITH LOVE
Some of you got to serve right here at Christ Journey in our kitchen preparing and cooking hundreds of meals for kids in the Touching Miami with Love afterschool program in Overtown. You chopped and stirred and prepared healthy foods for the program that had no other means to cook.
OPEN HOUSE MINISTRIES
Youth Mission Trip to Quito, Ecuador
Long time Journey Partner Open House Ministries in Florida City - hosted another 50 of you. Volunteers mulched, sanded, painted and built basketball hoops for a court no one has been able to play on in years!
SOUTH MIAMI MIDDLE COMMUNITY SCHOOL At South Miami Middle Community School volunteer numbers fluctuated between 360 and 400. This was the biggest project we have ever done. 750 trees and plants to get in the ground, dozens of pallets of grass to lay, a truck load of soil to get moved in wheelbarrows, a room to paint, shelves to build. The masses arrived early and the fear of not getting it done subsided. With 22 wheelbarrows, 35 shovels, more than 30 gallons of paint, 4 carpenters and literally hundreds of volunteers digging holes - it was our very own makeover show!
YOUR GIFTS MATTER Scan to give or go to ChristJourney.org/Missions
FEED MIAMI
We launched Feed Miami five years ago to fight back against hunger in our city. Hundreds have joined the effort by taking Feed Miami bags to their work place, neighborhoods or schools to fill and bring back. Others volunteer for shifts in our food pantry that feeds over 40 families weekly. Still more have become a Feed Miami Friend pledging to give once a month or quarter to keep the pantry full all year.
City Serve at Crandon Park Beach
GLOBAL
God has been doing great things through Christ Journey Church around the world. We are supporting more missions and sending out more missionaries than ever before. We believe that He is taking us to a new level of commitment and growth; mentoring, ministering and motivating our fellow brothers and sisters abroad. As he calls, he also equips, all we put forth is a willing, humble and contrite spirit. Our global trips this year saw amazing things! Family Mission Trip to Freeport, Bahamas
FAMILY BAHAMAS
The Family trip to the Bahamas hosted 60 of the island children who attended and participated in the 4-day long mini-Bounce Camp, intended to teach the children some skills for how to handle past, present or future trauma in their lives. Ten gallons of oil-based white paint stretched beyond their wildest imagination as they painted every bit of trim on a 2-story building and a shipping container used for Karazim storage. 15 yearold team member, Abigail Raffalski, said, “You don’t need to go very far for a global family Mission Trip. Each time we have gone, it’s been an eye-opening experience. There is a great opportunity to minister to our island neighbors just a 100 miles away.”
NICARAGUA MEDICAL/DENTAL
ECUADOR TEACHING MISSION
Certified teachers traveled to Quito, Ecuador to help partner Fundación Amor Y Esperanza with the training of teachers. New strategies for the new school year were accomplished through workshops. The team also helped design a summer Bible camp where the children learned that we are created to believe in God, have faith and trust in God, and to spend time with God our Creator. Luana Oquendo, the innovative teacher and mission leader said, “The result was a solid foundation of discipline, creativity and new ideas in the classroom. Students and teachers are now motivated to learn and make the difference in their school and community.”
The Medical/Dental Team is a professional one that has been serving in the Nicaragua villages for the past eight years. The dental team worked through over 180 patients each day in rain, wind and dust to serve those in need. The medical team saw hundreds of moms, babies, young children and adults in three villages. “The team just gave a pair of glasses to a woman who had not been able to read in ten years. She carried her Bible with her everywhere and because we were able to give her a pair of used glasses…she could finally read it. I will never forget that moment of joy.” said Mission Leader Chris Lane.
NICARAGUA AGRICULTURAL The Nicaragua Ag Mission premiered in July, 2014. Over a period of 5 days, a small crew of 3 specialists and numerous younger “trainees” installed a 5,000 gallon water tank, ran over 1,800 feet of 3’ PVC from a deep-water well, up the side of a small mountain to the tank, and back down the mountain to the garden. The roughly 40’ x 100’ garden was cleared and tilled by Henry’s trusted oxen. Subsequently, over 1,600 feet of half-inch flexible irrigation tubing and some 700+ micro irrigation heads were laid within the framework of the garden. Finally, approximately 600 transplants were started in the recently constructed shade house – these seedlings were planted within the garden over the next month or so. Prior to the transplants being set out, the entire garden was hand tilled with the new Honda 8HP roto-tiller that Christ Journey Church gave to the farm. Mission leader David Lane stated that, “The implementation of this garden would mean that scores of families that ordinarily would not have access to costly nutritious produce, would have their daily supply of vitamins and minerals met – something that is typically not the case in most Central and South American countries.”
CUBA, PINAR DEL RIO
God sent was the only way to describe the Mission Trip to Cuba. From the very beginning God provided a way and all the materials needed for the trip. This team was able to be a part of the life and struggles of the youth in Pinar Del Rio and as they worked with them more than half of the camp gave their life or renewed their commitment to Christ. The next part of the journey was similar as the team went to the countryside and was able to witness to about 70 children in an after school and share with them how much Jesus loves and
Team on Mission in Cuba
ECUADOR YOUTH
Christ Journey youth ran a week long VBS for our mission partners at Amor Y Esparanza school. They also organized and ran a soccer tournament and completed some construction on the new school site. “It was an honor to complete the digging of ditches and to actually pour the first level of concrete on this site. God’s will took us to Ecuador, and His strength allowed us to dig, scrape, carry, lift, and pour His foundation for the new Christian school on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador.” said Youth Mission Leader and Dad David Gray.
values them. In addition to that, the team was able to evangelize around the area to the students’ while they were at school. In another area, Pastor Jesse Carbo was able to teach pastors and leaders. Our very own Robert Greco used his talents to see to a final budget for the church being built in Pinar Del Rio, and MariCarmen gave a spectacular sermon made for women. One of our team members reflecting on the trip said, “Sometimes you go on a mission trip expecting to help others, yet you find others helping you by opening your eyes to what’s more important; faith, joy, and Christ.
JOURNEY PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
CHRIST JOURNEY CHURCH
POINTS OF
INFLUENCE
(Local/Global) Agape Family Ministries Miami, FL Cooperative Baptist Florida Florida Cooperative Baptist National US
We describe our world outreach as any point globally where a Christ Journey member or partner is actively helping people find and follow Christ. These Points of Influence are places where people are receiving ministry from Christ Journey Church through collaborative communication, leadership support, team support, resourcing and accountability.
Feed Miami South Florida Florida Baptist Children’s Home South Florida Living Hope Haiti St. Michele, Haiti
We carry the message of Christ all over the globe with deep reach through four different types of partners:
Open House Ministries Florida City, FL
Network Partners (Local/Global) Christ Journey works with network partners domestically and globally on projects through teams and special projects. This year Christ Journey worked with; Food for the Poor, Alfalit, Perdue Medical Center, Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, Missionary Flights Int’l, MAP International, Miami Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity, Jack D. Gordon Elementary School, United Cerebral Palsy, South Miami Middle Community School, Villa Lyan School, The Learning Experience School, Crandon Beach Park and Baptist Hospital. Online Partners (Global) These partners are key in our church online expansion and trained to work with us on capturing images and hosting church worldwide in over 175 countries including Guam, Brazil, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Germany, and Switzerland.
Paul J. Sumanth Ministries Hyderabad, India
JOURNEY PARTNERS
are both organizations and individuals that receive teams, work in special projects and are funded through the Christ Journey missions budget.
(Local/Global)
Location
Southern Baptist Convention Southern US South Florida Jail Ministry South Florida
JOURNEY PARTNER INDIVIDUALS Missionary
Share Your Heart South Florida
Ministry
Chris & Krista Farrington
Managua, Nicaragua
Open Hearts Ministry
Jodi & Pete Brennan
Sao Paolo, Brazil
Feed My Sheep
Francisco (Pancho) Sola & Clemensia (Pity) Rosero
Quito, Ecuador
Love and Hope Foundation
Raul & Karen Armbrister
Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
Karazim Ministries
Elly Admiral
Uganda, Africa
Africa Inland Ministries
Steve & Arlene DeBardelaben
South Florida
CRU
Betty & Larry Barr
Atlanta, Georgia
CRU
Brittany Gonzalez
South Florida
CRU
Jason & Jenise Burris
South Florida
CRU
Betty Lara
South Florida
The Glory House
Touching Miami with Love Miami (Overtown), FL
Teaching Mission Trip to Quito, Ecuador
WAYS YOU CAN GIVE...
Medical/Dental Mission Trip to Managua, Nicaragua
This catalog is full of real things, helping real people in real places. Your God-given time, talent and treasure are so important to forward the Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven”. Remarkable things happen through the blessings of the Lord and the giving of the faithful. When you and I give our tithe (firstfruits), we are supporting our ongoing ministries through the operating budget, our mission efforts, and designated projects. When we give to the ongoing Christ Journey budget, lives are changed, ministries are provided for and the gospel is shared. What a privilege to be a part! This catalog represents gifts given above and beyond the church’s tithe and can help accomplish even greater things.
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Place your gift in an envelope during a Worship Experience and designate it “Missions”
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Give online at ChristJourney. org/Give and make sure to check “Missions”
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Use your smart phone to scan and be directed to online giving.
City Serve for Touching Miami with Love at Christ Journey Church
JOIN THE MISSION... At Christ Journey Church, we have strived to answer the call of Matthew 25. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me”. Our partner missions and missionaries are those that provide food for the hungry,
City Serve at United Cerebral Palsy
clothes for the naked, medical care for the sick, education for the illiterate, shelter for the discarded and the love and hope of Christ for all. You are a vital part of this. A strong percentage of Christ Journey Church’s operating budget is allocated to support our global and local missions partners. Christ Journey is steadfastly committed to joining the Lord in his work with the least of these.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. - Proverbs 3:9-10
WHATEVER YOUR GOD-GIVEN TALENTS ARE, GOD CAN USE YOU!
SEE YOU SOON ON MISSION
CHRISTJOURNEY.ORG/MISSIONS