From Guest Blogger Wes Fikes:

God tells us He is our Father. As I grew up, that was great to hear, but I have a dad and he's a good one. So, honestly, that designation God was using to tell me about Himself really had no value for me. Until December 13, 2005. On that day, I became a father myself. I had never before understood, never before experienced having my own son. In my mind I imagined how much fun it would be to be a dad, but I had no idea what was in store.

I had no idea that when I looked at my son, I would want him to love me as much as I love him. I had no idea that when I looked at my son, I would want him to WANT to be around me. I had no idea that when I looked at my son, I would realize I have no real control over that. That is when I understood what God means by calling himself my Father.

My son's name is Samuel Austin. I love him. I understand so many things I only smiled at before - being so proud of Sam that I want to hold him up everywhere I go so everyone can see him; wanting to spend all day with him so I don't miss anything he does whether it is new or something he's done fifty times already; listening to his breathing while he's asleep at 3 in the morning. I didn't get that before. I do now.

I know how God feels when He looks at me. He wants to hold me up for everyone to see and say, "Look at my son! His name is Wes! I love him!" That's it, isn't it? That makes me feel so good: to imagine myself in Sam's place, little and squirmy, and getting embarrassed and tucking my head onto my Daddy's shoulder.

And I'd hold Sam all day, if he'd let me. But, he won't, so I put him down so he can play and explore the world I brought him into. Again, I see my Father God. He wants me close, but also loves to see me out enjoying who it is He made me to be. In my case, Sam and I are quite alike - we both like to explore and see what's out there. If I'm not careful, Sam will crawl out of the living room and go check out some other room - without telling me! I call his name, he turns and looks at me and comes crawling back with a big smile on his face. I'm smitten! When he hits my arms and laughs or makes his own special faces that only he makes, I'm lost, gone. I'm all over him with kisses and tickles and hugs and wrestling.

I want to feel him close to me, using me for his protection and security. I want to feel him relying on my strength to protect him, even from himself when he doesn't realize what he's about to get into. I want to be his daddy. And I get it, now. That's what God means when He says He's my Father. He is all those things and everything else that it means to be a Dad. I love you, Father, and I am excited to be Your son!

Showing the Father's Love

At some churches, good fathers are abundant. At Impact, many young men and women have voids in their souls where that father figure should have been. Some children grow up not knowing who their father was. Others only get to see them occasionally. Some fathers have other families, others are always at work, some are locked away, and still others who fall to their vices are only around to make appearances. They may be there physically, but the man that needs to be there is absent.

Alfredo Mendez was one of those tragic examples. After living his own life, rising and crashing repeatedly due to addictions and poor choices, Alfredo encountered Christ and woke up. At that point, he had reached the bottom. As reality came into focus, he found himself estranged to adult children with families of their own. They would have nothing to do with him. But then, what did he have to offer? Nothing.

So what is different now? Alfredo still lives in a shack and works hard for a very little. But there is something that has changed in Alfredo. Jesus. The shack he lives in is on Impact property so that he can be readily available for any need of the church. The work he does is for a Christian family that led him to Christ. They don’t pay a whole lot, but Alfredo wants to be around them as well. His hours are flexible so that he can be able to work for Impact as well. His greatest passion is what he has found in his service to Christ

The niche that Alfredo has found is in rediscovering a new kind of fatherhood. In a way he has adopted the young people of the church. Throughout the Fall and Spring semesters of the Bible Institute, Alfredo did everything he could to pick up three to six young people every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and take them to evening Bible classes. All of these kids are in great need of a father figure and hero in their lives. Someone who really cares for them today, and cares for their future. These young people know that Alfredo loves them. He loves them unconditionally. He loves them as he is loved, by his heavenly Father. His greatest desire is not that the young men and women that he is helping see him as anything special. His only desire is that they know his Father’s love.

The Father's love is emitted through the heart of Alfredo. The kids he encourages can see it, and others can see it. Even his own family can now finally see it and God has been at work in the mending of those broken relationships. To Alfredo, reconciliation with his family is miraculous. But that is what Our Father wants to do: the impossible. Our Father is present. Our Father is good. Our Father fills any void that might have been, and is in our lives. All we can do is humbly accept His love and do our best to reflect it into the lives of those around us. Alfredo is not perfect, but he has the perfect love of Christ in him and it shows. We are not perfect, but we have the perfect love of Christ when we are in Christ. What a joy to release what He has put inside of us, as we show to others our Father's love.

“…because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
-Rom 8:14

Sunday, August 6, 2006
Highlights: Marina Hernandez was baptized today! She has so much desire to serve Christ here at Impact. Pray that God channels her enthusiasm in a ministry that uses her gifts well.

A portion of the Hispanic worshippers attended an area-wide gathering of Spanish speaking Christians for a "Confraternidad" at Lawndale.

The Oklahoma mission team returned yesterday afternoon, as well as the Camp-of-the-Hills group. We can't wait to hear more and post some pictures.

67 of our Hispanic children were taken in by the First Colony Church of Christ to receive school supplies. A large portion of those were taken there yesterday to go shopping for school clothes as well. Several families sign up every year to go out with these kids and cover a large portion of their back-to-school expenses. Plus, its a LOT of fun for the kids and the "adoptive" families!

"It Seems Like Katrina Only Happened Last Week"
The following was taken from another blogspot of one of Impact's youth ministers, Wes Fikes.
“I just spent 5 days with 14 middle school kids. That is 120 hours of non-stop, around-the-clock, in-your-face attention from 14 kids who have more energy than 50 adults combined. For the first 3 days, we gutted houses in New Orleans. That means, we walked into a house that had been flooded with at least 8 feet of water, and some houses had 12 or 15 feet. The water had subsided months ago, but the damage was still as real as if it had happened yesterday. My kids carried out ruined furniture, shoveled mud and dirt, broken down walls and ceilings and carefully moved salvageable memories for 3 days. At the end of those 3 days, we rested. Destruction is hard work. On the fourth day, Sunday, we worshipped with a local church, then went sight-seeing in New Orleans - Cafe du Monde, the Aquarium, etc. On the fifth day, we came home tired, worn out, but somehow wanting to go back. God is good. I'd like to comment a little on what I saw. The amount of destruction from Katrina is overwhelming. Block after neighborhood block have houses that are still waiting for something to be done to them. As we were gutting a house on our first day, I began to realize the enormity of what happened. And I don't mean on a national, state, or even community scale. I mean the enormity of personal loss and upheaval......I believe this disaster has been monumental for the body of Christ. Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Evangelical, Protestant, whatever. Differences aside, the body of Christ has taken a huge step in reclaiming its heritage - helping those who cannot help themselves, loving the hopeless and feeding the hungry. I believe the true nature of the church is shining in New Orleans. The church is who is gutting houses. The church is who is sitting with owners and listening to their stories. The church is loving people. The government isn't in there gutting houses. And it's not their job. It is ours, it is the church's. And we are doing it. Not out of obligation, but love.”

Impact Sundays:
Some may still not understand much about what goes on at Impact, and really, no amount of blogging can replace spending time involved with the various minitries. However, we hope that some of our posts will help. Maybe a "day in the life" will give some insight from my perspective. Being the bilingual minister, there is still so much on the English-speaking side that I miss out on, but I tend to get to touch on a variety of the Impact body life just by walking through the building sometimes. Here's what I know that goes on every Sunday.

Sunday morning: I drive in from Kingwood (35 minutes away) and try to do some prep-work for the upcoming activities. Sometimes I get to meet up with the worship team men at McDonalds to eat breakfast, but at least we unite in the prayer room to lift up some songs and put the days plans in God's hands, before getting busy. While some of the "hermanos" set up sound and computer equipment, making last minute changes to songs or PowerPoint items, the rest take off on our routes, picking up members in different parts of the city who don't have means of transportation. Already the building has been cleaned by the custodial staff, the chairs have been arranged by Alfredo and Xavier (who rent a small house on campus), Darrell Washington and Winston Bridges have started doing some things to prep the kitchen, Charlie Lott is setting up the tables in the main hallway to welcome everyone with coffee and a friendly word or two, and the technical team on the English side makes last minute adjustments. Greeters take their posts, ministers and helpers arrive in vans with members. The English worship team meets to go over plans as various bible classes begin. Kids classes for each age are available up through high school. Adults on the English side have a few options for Bible classes, while the Hispanic congregation begins with a time of praise before studying together in their auditorium. (Plans for more options are in the works at this writing. A "New Christians" class is to begin in the next week or two.)

Between class and main assembly is a 15 minute recess where parents gather up children and everyone has a chance to mingle. Assembly time begins at 10:30 or so as members are ushered into their respective auditoriums. Traditional worship services commence with a time of praise, prayer, participation in the Lord's Supper, a message from the Word, and body life announcements. (Once every 6 weeks, the entire congregation meets in the larger auditorium for a bi-lingual assembly.) At the closing of this time, those with special prayer needs are invited to meet in the prayer room where elders and ministers are on hand.

At the last Amen of the Hispanic side's prayer, those members exit as soon as possible to visit and wait in the hallway as their meeting place is rearranged into a dining hall. Several of the "outdoors men" help with the set up along with members and visiting congregations. The visiting group for that week, having come from an area congregation, has come to provide and serve food for the weekly Impact Sunday lunch. (From the beginning, Impact has made a point of having a fellowship meal following Sunday worship assembly. This not only allows those who really need a hot meal a chance to fill their bellies, but it also gives the Impact family a greater opportunity to get to know each other more.) This meal is an example of how Impact is more than just a campus specific entity. Several area churches of Christ are VERY involved in the ministries to the downtown community through Impact. After lunch is over, those with van routes take people home, as others help clean up and put things away. Amazingy enough, the building in fairly quiet by 2:30pm.

Once or twice a month, the Hispanic side invites the church to play soccer in a nearby park. Otherwise, the afternoon is pretty calm. Not much else happens on Sunday in large groups, but several small groups meet on Suday evenings. Where most of those meetings occur in houses where members pray, sing, and discuss scripture and its application before eating together, the Hispanic group meets in the Youth Development Center. The setting is still more informal and is generally followed by refreshments and fellowship or extra prayer. Like I said, this is from my perspective. So much more goes in to the preparation of classes for young and old alike, coordinating meeting areas, directing parking, special meetings, etc. God, however, knows all that goes on, and His hand is guiding it, thankfully.

"Up On the Mountain"
To kick off the Summer, High School minister, Dennis Yaeger took a group on their annual “trek” up a mountain in Colorado. The trip was made possible through funds given to the youth program to allow these young people a chance of a lifetime to see a side of God’s raw majesty like never before. When asked what the coolest part of the trip was, Dennis beamed with pride as he said, “They all made it up.”

All had some problem during the trip, and all saw the climb as impossible. Experiencing the summit helped them realize that they can do more than they can imagine. And now Philippians 4:13 has a powerful, new meaning.

ANOTHER ARTICLE ABOUT TREK by Luke Boyd

Youth from the Impact Houston Church of Christ traveled to Salida, Colorado earlier this summer to take part in Wilderness Trek, a Christian youth camp that uses mountain climbing as a spiritual motivator for teens and college groups all across America.
The Impact group, made up of 15 teenagers and three sponsors, rappelled a 150 foot cliff and were able to summit a 14,000 foot peak.
The summit consisted of a 26 mile trek up the side of Mt Hope, a mountain in western Colorado, in just over 3 days.
At times the hike became so strenuous that many members of the group were compelled to sit down in the middle of the trail and refused to go any further. Forced to lean on God and each other, the young inner-city group valiantly pressed on, hiking as many as 10 miles per day.
On their second day of hiking as they approached their destination for the night, Kenneth (Ray Ray) O'Neil reached the campsite first. When he realized that some of the others were having difficulty moving up the trail, he immediately began to help the exhausted, by carrying their packs to the campsite. O’Neil said he recognized the situation and just wanted to help out.
“I saw some of the others struggling and just wanted to do what I could to help,” said O’Neil. “It was no big deal, I know they would’ve done the same for me if I’d have been in that situation.”
So much was made of his heroism that the High Camp area for Mt. Hope, was named Camp Ray Ray, in honor of his actions.
After a day of rest, the unified group hiked the remaining six miles to the summit of Mt. Hope. The wind, at times, was almost unbearable, reaching nearly 70 miles per hour. Although the conditions were less than ideal, the view from the top was worth it all, according to senior Sheena Jones.
“About halfway up I was ready to quit,” said Jones. “But once I got to the summit and saw the incredible view, it was totally worth it.”
The question of whether or not those that participated in this year’s trek will return again next year is still in doubt, however the experience gained from the incredible struggle is one that sophomore Jerald Varner says everyone should take part in.
“I think everyone should go on trek at least once,” said Varner. “I mean, it was tough on you both physically and mentally, but you come out it closer to God and closer to your group. It definitely made me a stronger person.”
Despite the incredible hardships faced by the Impact group on their journey, with God’s help they were able to overcome their adversity and accomplish their goals. Trek proved that according to Jeremy Varner.
“You can do anything with God’s help,” said Varner. “You just got to have faith in His power and He will be there when you need Him.”

Just in case you are new to Impact, like me, or are just “out of the loop” in regards to what happens in the summer at Impact, let me give you a run-down as I understand it. Through the generosity of many contributors, and MUCH prayer, Impact is able to have working with them an amazing amount of interns. These high-school and college-age young men and women decide that the best way to spend their summer is to devote all their time and energy to loving and presenting Jesus to the hundreds of local children that come to Impact for VBS. They are trained and led by the youth and childrens ministry staff to sing, play, drive vans and be ready to serve with glad hearts in the millions of different ways they may be called upon to help.
Each week they lend their hearts and talents to the different groups that come in to direct that week’s activities. (Those groups of up to 50 or more youth and sponsors, drive in from various congregations from several different states, often to camp-out for the week at Impact sleeping in the different buildings and classrooms.) Every Sunday a new group goes through orientation and redecorates the campus according to their plans, but all follow the same theme: “Who’s Your Hero? -JESUS!”
Though VBS includes skits, activity stations, songs, games, crafts, entertainment, field trips to cool places all over Houston, a reading program, and lasts for 4 weeks, the greatest part about the whole summer is that they get to spend so much time with people that show them lots of love and attention. The kids at the Impact VBS get to know a bunch of real heroes who don’t accept the credit for being heroes. All credit goes to THEIR hero, their inspiration, their guiding light, and their LIFE.: JESUS CHRIST!

Please pray not only for the remainder of this summer’s VBS, but pray also for the fruit that God will bring from the faithful efforts of so many that made this summer special. Thank you interns, ministers, all the various groups that came to put-on a VBS for us, and thank you all who support this work financially, prayerfully, and administratively.

I want to share with you an article about a special person at Impact. I asked one of our minsters, Les Rose, to write a member profile for the newsletter and was excited about his choice.

" 'Sanctuary: An Impact Memeber Profile'
His name is Lewis Bird. He’s at Sunday morning worship and has only missed maybe three Monday nights of his weekly Bible studies because of illness. Sunday after Sunday he makes his way to the Spanish worship services. Monday after Monday he sings three songs to our class: “Macaroni,” “Peanut Butter,” and he closes with “Sanctuary.”

Even though Lewis is not bilingual, and even though Lewis sings a couple of secular songs, and even though Lewis has the mind of a 6 or 7 year-old….there is something VERY special about him!!! He loves Jesus and he knows how to close our Bible study: “O Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary – pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.” Isn’t that the desire of us all? Shouldn’t that be one of our favorite songs, too? How I wish that we who hold down jobs, finance homes, raise children, vote and assemble every Sunday to worship had a simple, loving faith like Lewis Bird.

O Lord prepare US to be a sanctuary."

I know it must be frustrating to visit a blogspot only to find nothing to read there. I'm still learning how to do this, and trying to find time, but I think its worth it.

It is great to be able to learn about a ministry, a church, and a place where God is being glorified. Impact, as I am discovering almost daily, is an amazing place that serves a myriad of different needs (homeless, the poverty-stricken, immigrants, and people in desparate situations), it is a body of Christians learning more and more about living and growing in diversity, and in all that is done here, the purpose of putting God first is what sets Impact apart from other institutes that serve the community in downtown Houston.

To learn some more about what goes on at Impact, check out its website and look for updates of the newsletter: www.impacthouston.org

I am in the process of updating this blog. Here is a brief report of happenings in May, sans photos.

Recent blessings at Impact within the last month (May).

* 3 more baptisms
* 1 more family to place membership on the Hispanic side
* Reeling from successes of Garage Sale and Celebration dinner
* The pleasure of a large, well organized group from Kingwood to serve one of the best Sunday lunches of the year: great food, great smiles, and kids with matching t-shirts!
* The beginnings of plans to implement small groups. (One group of ministers already in training to begin a “prototype cell.”)
* New children’s ministers selected (to be officially announced in two weeks.)
* New Distribution Center administrator selected: Barbara Mantooth
* 7 high school graduates honored
* Summer interns arriving as summer activities begin
* Recent visits from former Impact ministers, Calvin Henry and Steve Austin

These are highlights from a general perspective. God, however, is moving in the hearts and lives of families and individuals whose rollercoaster lives are filled with incredible struggles. The simplest blessings, in contrast, shine brighter when life seems bleakest. Faith grows stronger when the test is harder. Messages are sinking in, relationships are being mended, problems are being faced, hope comes alive, patient, persistent faith is being built even when God’s answer is, “Wait, and trust me.”

Keep praying for the people at Impact who need someone to reach out to them, and for those who are there ready to extend a hand.