Reporting on Religion

LINKE

D IN

KEN CHITWOOD’SNEWSLETTER

TO PARTNERSIN MINISTRY

Dancing for, Proclaiming and Preaching Jesus!

In addition to my responsibilities at LINC Houston and with Memorial Lutheran Church in Katy, TX I also enjoy writing on religion for the Houston Chronicle. I post a blog or two a week and also have one article a month in our print section. Each month tens of thousands of people read my blogs and articles and learn more about the religious scene in Houston. It is a truly humbling opportunity. As I write I get the opportunity to learn about other religions, share that knowledge with others and also witness in thought, word and deed with people of other faiths. Visit my blog at http://blog.chron.com/sacredduty

Sunday worship at Pastor Tshibangu’s Congolese Congregation

When is the last time you danced in church? Never had the chance? Come visit Augustine Tshibangu and the Evangelical Church of Jesus Christ (ECJC) a new mission church in partnerhsip with LINC Houston reaching out to people of Central Africa, specifically refugees and immigrants from the Congo Basin. For them, dancing is an essential part of their worship life. 

For several years Tshibangu and his church have bounced from home-to-home and building-to-building looking for a permanent place to settle and reach the city of Houston. Now, in partnership with L IN C , and be cau se o f t h e generosity of Pilgrim Lutheran, the ECJC is settled in the southwest part of town and seeking to connect with refugees, immigrants and permanent residents from Central Africa living in Houston. 

I was able to visit ECJC one Sunday and was met with jubilant worship and energetic praise.  The service is characterized by upbeat songs and dance all lead by call-and-response, drums, bongos and dance leaders. Silvan, a young e n e r g e t i c w o r s h i p l e a d e r , f r e q u e n t l y p u n c t u a t e s t h e c e l e b ra t i o n w i t h s h o u t s o f "Ha l l e l u j ah ! " t o wh i c h t h e congregation responds "Amen!" or "God is great!"

The congregation is made up of people from all over Central Africa and the Congo Basin. Worship is lead in Swahili, French, Kinanga and English.

The church is about 70 people strong and growing, but their vision to reach out with the hope and peace of the message of Jesus and seek reconciliation among the

people of Central Africa living in Houston. Procuring a van is part of that, but for now the church is happy to have a home at Pilgrim and a new par tner in LINC Houston. 

"We are overjoyed to have a partner like LINC Houston. They have generously provided new connections, training and even a pulpit for our worship service!" 

For its part, LINC is excited to see Tshibangu and the ECJC do its ministry and pleased to see a pulpit go to good use, proclaiming the redemptive message of the cross!

Other News:1. 35 students enrolled with LBI Classes this Fall There are problems and then there are “good problems.” The LINC Bible Institute has a “good problem” on its hands this fall semester. Last Spring we only had 8 students enrolled in LBI’s classes. This fall we have 35 students signed up for classes in Spanish, New Testament and Christian Doctrine. What a blessing, wha t an oppor t un i t y, wha t a challenge! Keep us in your prayers!

2. Multi-Cultural Ministry Workshop One of the challenges of ministering in Houston is equipping yourself to do ministry with people of different cultural backgrounds. With 6.2 million people, 350 languages, 215 different ethno-linguistic groups and 142 nations in this city it is difficult to do it alone. With that in mind LBI offered a workshop in multi-cultural ministry on October 22, 2011. It was attended by representatives from a few local churches and gave participants the opportunity learn more about cultural differences and how to connect with other cultures in their community.

Our Funding ScenarioFirst of all, I want to thank everyone who helped support me in my initial funding

year from October 2010-September 2011. My fundraising goal was to raise $12,000 and with your help I was almost able to reach that goal, fundraising a grand total of $11,353!

As a new year of fundraising begins I look forward to seeing how the LORD will provide and am already humbled by how God is at work inspiring individuals and churches to support me in my mission initiatives with LINC Houston. Already I have fundraised $1,920 which is about 15% of my goal for the year. Thank you for your continued financial and prayer support!

Prayer needs:

+Guidance for Elizabeth as she considers new volunteer opportunities+Guidance for Ken as he considers new writing opportunities+Patience and peace as we figure out how best to take the LINC Bible Institute

into the future. +Connections in the community for our mission churches and leaders!

PLEASE SEND YOUR SUPPORT TO LINC HOUSTON, MEMO: Ken Chitwood (161 West Rd., Houston, TX 77037) or

Visit http://www.razoo.com/story/Ken-Chitwood-Missional-Training www.razoo.com/story/Ken-Chitwood-Missional-Training

New Position at LINC Houston

Happy Halloween/Reformation Day from the Chitwoods. We’ve been busy connecting with our community -

we even took Pepper, our dog, out trick-or-

treating!

In September of this year Rev. Mark Junkans, LINC’s Executive Director, approached me about fulfilling a new role at LINC Houston. Since October I’ve been serving in a new capacity as LINC’s media liaison. In this position I write stories for the L INC Houston webs i te and assemble and send the LINC Houston monthly newsletter on the first Monday of each month. Since I started we have published 16 news stories and sent out two newsletters to our supporters and community partners. I also have been updated our mission church webpages. This new work allows LINC Houston to extend its reach and better communicate our mission and activities. If you’d like to see some of my news stories p l e a s e c h e c k o u t www.linchouston.org/news and to receive a newsletter let me know at ken@linchouston.org.

Rice Harvest Presents Opportunities for Prayer & ServiceEach year in Old Town Katy where Memorial Lutheran Church is located

the community of Katy descends on the area for food and fun at the annual Rice Harvest Celebration. Over 100,000 people flood the streets in search of boutique deals, giveaways, rides and fair food like turkey legs, funnel cakes and BBQ sandwiches!

When the community arrives Memorial and its disciples are prepared. Surrounded by the event we open our bathrooms, put on a kids’ fair complete with dunk tank and face paint, have our band perform, give away free Bibles and don shirts that read “May I pray for you?” as we walk around the festival. This year I prayed for several people on Saturday and on Sunday when the event was rained out I stayed to serve vendors as they loaded up their goods into trucks in the downpour. People were impressed with our willingness to serve and it provided a great opportunity for the community to get to know us better as we sought to serve them in prayer and deed.