back at it

our core leadership team, inclusive of spouses and kids, on our retreat weekend.

it's been a good sabbatical month. we've rested. we've remembered that He is God and we are not. we've let dreams incubate and excitement levels rise.  

because after a year of being so very quiet and still, of keeping only the most basic and "easy" aspects of the boiler room ministry going while we spent some time reevaluating and rearranging, we are about to embark on a very eventful new year. 

in just over a week The Vision Course launches. we have three amazing students coming to participate. Laura, Rosanne, and Michelle are the women God has sent to us to love and train and adopt into our hearts. i'm so very excited to witness the story God will write in their lives this year.  

the Coopers are back from their year in Kansas City where they did The Vision Course themselves, and are excited to pioneer it here in Grand Rapids this year. They've moved ino a house just a couple blocks from the Boiler Room. 

Emma and Casey are busy preparing a prayer room that will take place right in the heart of downtown during the famed Art Prize event in September.  

plans for Stockbridge Academy -- a public charter school for the west side -- are trucking along, slowly but surely, as Tony continues to put his expertise from his past life as an educator to work on behalf of this neighborhood and its children.  

Tim has a great team of volunteer mentors lined up for the Bike Shop ministry and is getting lots of administrative, behind-the-scenes pieces in place that will allow better workflow and therefore more time to be available to loving people. 

the boiler room house has been repainted downstairs and new tile will be laid later this week.  

Mission Church (Sunday Gathering) has been camping out on the Judges, inviting the Holy Spirit to help us see and then smash the idols and high places we've been wrongfully cherishing in our lives.  

the Colliers have moved into the house across the alley from the Boiler Room.

the entire Core Team had a retreat weekend this past weekend, making time to reconnect, enjoy one another's company, worship, and dream together.  

Love Feasts resume on Wednesday Sept 4th.  

we're ready.  may we feel Papa's smile and yield to the Good Shepherd's voice each step of the way!

see you around? 

::brooke:: 

the basics: god's love

teaching at a Love Feast

In recent months at the Love Feast we have made a point to dive back into some of the very basics of what it means to be a believer, to follow Jesus in our lives, and know Him as Lord. God's love for us is one of those basics that we could probably spend a lifetime diving into and only scratch the suface. So we spent three weeks reflecting on the parable of the prodigal son, or another title we like to use--the parable of the two sons who didn't know how much their daddy loved them. 

There are three main characters in the story. A younger son throws away his inheritance on a wild binge-season, trying to figure out life and find fulfillment on his own. He returns home after coming to his senses to surprisingly find his father running to embrace him, kiss him, and celebrate his return, when he expected to have to plea for a lowly place in the home. The older son pouts and sulks upon returning from the field to find his father lavishly celebrating his irresponsible brother's return. The father's response is a gentle and stern correction. I imagine him putting an arm around his son's shoulder as he begins, "Look, son..."

Though the story starts with the narrative of the younger son, it seems like the father might be the main character to understand through both of the coming-of-age issues these boys are going through. Through each of these boy's instances of wrongheadedness and missing the point, the father is trying to communicate to both of them that they haven't gotten it yet--that they are rich beyond they're imagination simply because they are with their father. And his love for them is much more than either of them realize.

How often do I live acting like the younger son, with the mindset of an orphan, ignorant of the fact that I have a Daddy, and that He loves me and wants to walk with me, listen to me, and celebrate beautiful moments of life like this with me. How often do I slip into an older-son mentality, living like a slave in my Father's house. I try to earn my keep, secure my own place under His roof, and just default to thinking about the things I can do and not do in order to gain His favor.  

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"  1 John 3:1

It is an incredible, multifaceted, and beautiful thing Jesus has done for us one the cross--one of those layers being that He has shared His sonship with us. His Daddy is now my Daddy! I've been adopted into the family because "God so loved the world..." I no longer need to live in the false orphan mindset of the younger son or the slave-mindset of the older son. I am simply a son  , and the inheritance I have in the Father is more than I can dream of. 

My exhortation at the Love Feast recently was that during this summer break, each one present would ask the Father to show His love them, however He wanted to communicate that. It's one of those sure-fire prayers, I think. How can He resist a request like that?! 

Please pray for folks in our neighborhood to be expectant of the Father showing His love to them this summer.  

Oh, how I'm surprised at how very rich the simple basics are when I return to them. 

::tim:: 

slices of summer

During the winter months that snow blankets the outdoors, there comes with it a quietness in the neighborhood only experienced during that season. It is June now, and that winter quiet of the Stockbridge neighborhood has officially left us. The hustle and bustle of passers-by, kids and teenagers on bikes and skateboards, and neighbors spending time on front porches has returned--summer is in full swing!

These days are filled with many interactions with people out in the streets and going about activity. Love Feasts for the passed couple of months have been pushing capacity as we've become used to pulling out and setting up extra rows of tables just before dinner is served in order to accomodate all who've come in to join us for a family meal, conversation, and an exhortation from the Word. There are lots of familiar faces and many new ones as we have the privilege of eating, talking, listening, and praying with these folks.  Last night we had the pleasure of many hugs and giggles as many greeted their old friends Jordan and Charis Cooper, who are stopping through on there pilgrimage tour of the Boiler Room communities in North America right now, before they land back here in the neighborhood once again in late July. We concluded the evening with a rousing talent show of sorts, including story-telling, songs, family acrobatics, and an abbreviated sermon-ette by a neighborhood friend!

There is a lot going on in the bike shop these days as well. Two boys, Romeo and David have both worked long and hard over a number of weeks to each finally earn a brand new bike in the last month. I am incredibly proud of them both, and so are their mentors. They have stuck with their commitments and shown such personal growth during their time in the shop cranking wrenches and talking about life and everything with it. Jordan, Tyler, Paul,  Dan, and Caleb, our current volunteer mentors, have a knack for keeping a good balance of work and play with the boys, whether it's an impromptu soccer game in the yard after shop time, a bike ride to the Fish Ladder, or a run for ice cream cones. There are more and more boys in the neighborhood knocking on our door, wanting to work at the bike shop and we are constantly looking for more adult mentors to step up to the plate to spend time getting to know them and walking with them through life while turning wrenches together in the shop. 

Lastly, we are excited to be spending much time and effort prepping for this Fall as we are about to launch the ten-month Vision Course in September for young adults stepping into a season of foundation-laying in their hearts and lives, as well as launching a number of new mentoring after-school initiatives in October for kids and youth on the West Side. Music, outdoor adventure, basketball, photography, bike shop, fiber arts, and tutoring are the activities they will have a chance to rally around and grow in together. 

Here are a few ways you can be praying for us right now: 

• A restful and pace of life as we lean into the Father and find ourselves in and draw our energy from Him before anything else.
• Wisdom and discernment from the Lord as we plan and prepare for mentoring after-school and the Vision Course for the Fall.
• Men to step in as mentors for these boys who want to work in the Bike Shop. 

Thank you, and let us know if you are interested in mentoring at the Bike Shop or any other of the activities starting this Fall. 

 ::tim::

on love feasts

It's been 5 years now, I believe. 5 years of these weekly meals we call Love Feasts over at the Boiler Room. 5 years of gathering the mostly unlikely crowd of ragamuffins to share a meal. And over time, we've watched it become something of a miracle, and something quite other than a typical "free meal for the homeless/underprivileged."

Recently, our friend Sarah Jayne has been working on a short film about the Love Feasts (we can't wait to unveil the finished product to you soon!), in which she's interviewing lots of the regulars to get their thoughts about what Love Feast is and what it means to them. I've been really astounded and brought to tears by their answers. Because they say things like "these people are like my family to me." In fact, a LOT of the comments were about having found something that resembles family. Folks are beginning to feel like they belong with one another, and they come to Love Feast now not just because they need a free meal, but also because they want to be with each other and receive prayer. All glory to God for building something so healing and rich out of something as simple in form as sitting down to eat simple food together off of paper plates and hear the Word preached for 10 minutes!

A recent visitor commented that attending and witnessing a Love Feast was like a preview of the kingdom of heaven.

The Love Feasts have become a central activity and entry point for much of what the Boiler Room does on the westside. The Love Feast is like the entryway of the mansion of God's house. And once we strike up a conversation in that neutral space, we can invite people into the more interior rooms, where things like healing prayer and coffee dates and one-on-one bible studies and sunday gathering attendance happen. It's vital.

I'm writing today not just to tell you about how incredible the story God is writing with Love Feasts is (though it is), but also as an invitation and request for you to join in the fray. We're not looking for a weekly/indefinite commitment, but just some individuals or small groups or family groups who might be interested in hosting a Feast one or two weeks this year.

What that involves is:

• gather a group that will serve together (young and old, 6-10 people)
• plan a meal
• get all the ingredients and cook it up
• come to a Love Feast and serve it to everyone, family style, then sit down and join the feast

It's kind of a big project, but it's a real blessing to every group that's ever done it. I'd love for you to come and see.

If you know that you aren't personally in a position to do this right now, pass it on. And pray with us for provision of partners to host in the coming months.

Here are the available dates remaining, after the SBR personally covers one each month:

• In February, we have the 13th, the 20th and the 27th open.
• In March, we have the 13th and the 20th open.
• In April, we have the 10th, the 17th and the 24th open.
• (Inquire about dates further out than April)

Thank you for prayerfully considering it. Let us know if this is something you'd like to pursue by emailing stockbridgeboilerroom@gmail.com. 

::brooke::

(about) a year ago

when the Lion comes around, with his claw and his crown follow, follow His every move -Josh Garrels

It all started in a prayer room in the basement of Houghton College’s chapel.

In that space I encountered expressions of prayer and worship that were anything but dry or boring, staged, or insincere. 

In that space I encountered a group of people who loved each other like family and who believed that prayer was real, effective and powerful.

Best of all, I encountered a God who heard and responded to his people’s prayers.

And I was hooked.

Finishing college, if I’m honest, I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. But after that encounter with God and his family in that prayer space, I knew who I wanted to be.

I wanted to be someone who believed in the power of prayer, who let this unending, deep, good conversation with the living God define my identity. And deeply impact how I responded to the world around me.

So I chased it, this passion for prayer. I let it grow in my heart. And of course, Jesus was glad to help me do so.

Fast forward a few years, one missions internship later and into my first year of grad school, I read a book called Red Moon Rising. This crazy story of a group people who were radical in their obedience to God and who were bold in their prayers. And as I read this book, I felt in my heart that this combination of prayer, community and mission, this is what I wanted. I had dreamed about being part of such a movement.

Being the research geek that I am, I read all I could about the 24-7 movement. I discovered that various missional communities called “boiler rooms” had been planted around the world as a part of this movement. I decided if I was indeed going to chase this dream of growing in prayer, I needed to visit a boiler room. 

Eventually, I contacted a guy named Tony at a boiler room in Michigan called the Stockbridge Boiler Room. The community there invited me to visit their boiler room. It wasn’t until I was on the plane, flying from NY to MI did I realize that I was doing a crazy thing. I was flying to a place I had never been, to place where I knew no one. I suppose you could call what I did a “wild goose chase,” a step of obedience in following the good dreams the Holy Spirit had been speaking to my heart.

I arrived at the Stockbridge Boiler Room and spent ten days in the community. Really, it was so much like being in that first prayer community I had encountered in college. I was surrounded by Christians who believed in the power of prayer, who acted like family and who actively welcomed others around them to be a part of God’s family. It was awesome. It was what my heart had been craving.

I came back to NY and finished grad school, all the while pondering what I had seen at the boiler room. Finally, I determined that I wanted to go back. After a few conversations with the boiler room family, I was invited to intern at the boiler room.

So, about a year ago, I moved to the boiler room and started this internship. And here in this community, the Lord has been faithful to do a good and deep work in my heart. He continues to help me grow in prayer, learn how to listen to him and then actually do what he says. He has shown me that he sees me. He has shown me who I am. He has surrounded me with a family that is bold in prayer and obedience to him. He has given me a heart for this neighborhood and faith to see him build his family here. I have been broken and healed. Stretched and assured of a deeper calling. I’ve been reassured of my place in my Father’s heart, chosen and adopted into His family.  

I tell this story as a testimony of God’s faithfulness to me, his faithfulness in leading his children in the path of life. Following him is not always easy, it often involves some measure of risk. But it is always good. And he is faithful as we follow him to put us in the places where we can do some good heart work, along with growing in understanding how he has wired us in terms of vocation and ministry. 

He is worthy to be trusted and followed. He sees you, knows your hearts and your dreams. Follow him. It’s worth it. 

::Casey::