A key message of this year's Retreat will be how NCS can have a positive impact on our communities when brudders are a "faithful presence" in all area of their lives--part of being a faithful presence is being "present"--showing up. Brudders from NCS New Canaan, NCS Fairfield and NCS New Haven came together around one of our brudders, Doran Wright, who was launching a church in the inner city of Bridgeport, CT.
Doran's launch plan was to welcome the community to a pancake breakfast, and his NCS brudders "showed up" to help out. That's what we do--"show up" in each other's lives. NCS New Canaan recently heard from Paul Young, author of "The Shack"--he told us about he seven men who "showed up" to stand by him at the foreclosure auction of his house. Do you have three or five or seven men in your life who would "show up" for you when you needed them? If not, think about getting involved in an Energy Group.
Here is Doran's thank you:
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I could not be more proud of and thankful for my NCS Brudders who turned out yesterday from NCS New Canaan, Fairfield (The Journey) and New Haven-- and I hope I'm not leaving any other chapters out inadvertently-- for their support of yesterday's launch of Church at the Seaside. They were indeed a faithful presence. While I tried to thank and encourage everyone personally, as you can imagine it was an incredibly full and busy morning on every front and I was pulled in every direction so I could not spend time with the pancake crew. But what a job they did, working right alongside their "Men of the Rock" brudders from Black Rock Church to put on what everyone hailed as an incredible breakfast. I heard comment after comment about the excellence of the breakfast.
So, if you think a blanket thank-you to the brudders on my behalf and that of Church at the Seaside, I'd be all for it.
They contributed to a successful launch orchestrated by Jesus to impact this community for Jesus. Although I do not have a precise count, we probably had a crowd of 150, of which approximately 1/3 were volunteers. Not bad for launching on a January morning in a tough spot where no church has existed before. Praise God!"
Go Doran--Go God!