Jake and Amy McVay

” Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  James 1:27

This is the verse that Christian Relief Fund has built their entire ministry around and it has been exciting to hear about the work that is currently being done in Kenya.

Here is a brief overview of what CRF has done in Kenya in 2009:

CRF provided assistance to 420 children to attend the Rig Road Orphan Day School in Kisumu, where they receive lunch in addition to daily classes.  58 children are cared for in nearby Lakeside orphanage and 9 children in Kimilili. Child Sponsorship helps 167 children in Eldoret, 64 children in Mombassa, 185 children in Malindi, 10 children in Alara.  The Kitale Childrens’ Home gives full-time care to 41 children and an additional 89 are sponsored in their own homes in Kitale. CRF sent $16,000 for food relief.  $15,070 sent for mosquito nets, fireextinguishers, scholarships, scouting projects and farming. An AIDS Testing and Counseling Center opened in May 2009 and CRF sent $45,600 to cover costs of supplies and staff.

This all began 13 years ago when 3 native Kenyan boys who were attending a local seminary decided to step out in faith and do something to help the  rising number of orphans in their area.

How did we find out about this opportunity?  Renovo’s sponsor church Northwest Church in Seattle has been a part of CRF’s ministry in Kenya since it began.  They invited us to come and see what God is doing in Kenya and to pray about what Renovo’s future involvement as a Church body may be.  This will be Renovo’s first team mission trip out of country.

At this time there is a team of  7 of us from Renovo going to Kenya.  We will be led by Larry Wu and possibly Julie Rawlins from Northwest Church.  They have both been before and are very involved in the work that is going on there. 

What will we be doing there?  We will be going to visit as many of the Orphanages/Schools that we can, loving on the children, and prayerfully providing encouragement and refreshment for the teachers and staff.  We will also be doing some visiting in the community to bring food and provide prayer and encouragement to the very ill.  Overall we are praying to be attentive to what God is doing and join Him in being His hands and feet wherever He may lead us.

Thank you for partnering with me in this journey.

In Christ,

Amy

Wow! God is so good. We have seen so much even since January!  As we have been going through the book of Acts (which we will be studying for the whole year on Sunday mornings) we have had the honor of being apart of 9 Baptisms! Peoples lives are being changed by the Gospel.

We have been able to partner with other churches in advocacy for the homeless. In our school district alone there are 318 registered homeless students. Some of those have some form of temporary arrangements, family friends, etc… but the strain on the kids hugely affects there abilities to develop. We have recently been able to help get a single mom of 6 into a duplex. They had been living out of her car for several months with the two oldest kids living with friends. Times are hard.

But Jesus has overcome and so we continue to live out His Kingdom!

We are averaging between 135 and 140 in Our Sunday services and have over 100 people involved in weekly small group discipleship.

Please pray that as we grow we will keep the Kingdom first. We are still trying to get to a level of finances that will allow for full time staffing. I am operating at a 1/4 time level right now.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

In Christ Jesus

Jake

Just a brief overview of what 2009 looked like for Renovo!

: Renovo is heavily involved in the Puyallup Homeless Coalition advocating for the rights of the homeless and working with the City Counsel and several local churches to provide some shelter solutions for the increasing number of involuntary homeless individuals and families.  There are over 300 homeless in greater Puyallup area, many of them families. The loss of jobs and foreclosures  has left many without shelter.

We are involved with Freezing nights – very similar to Room at the Inn which FBCH has done – 9 different churches in our area opening up their doors on nights when the temp drops below 40.  Being a plant without facilities, we have offered our volunteers to help. Also with the local food bank, etc…

We are also involved in feeding over 30 homeless on a weekly basis. Our congregation raising $6,000.00 to go towards local missions for this next year.

: Through the month of October we experienced our largest average of Sunday Gathering attendance 143, which is our largest average to date.  We have had 18 baptisms (5 this month) and 75 people place partnering membership.   Marriages are being restored, the hungry are being feed, and the City Counsel, and various leaders have acknowledged our presence in the city as a new driving force.  We give the glory to God and know that Jesus is leading us in mission and purpose.

: The City Main Street Association asked Renovo to be a part of the Downtown Trick-or-Treat event. We asked to use their parking lot which sits on a major intersection in the City. We coordinated a Carnival complete with bounce houses, games, treats, free popcorn and cotton candy as well as live music. The City estimated as many as 3,000 people came through! We look forward to see how the Lord will reap what has been sown as we shared the Love of Christ with a population that is typically very closed of here in the most un-reached state in the United States.

Welcome to Amy’s Africa prayer team. If you would like to commit to praying for this mission and receive updates please fill out the form below and we will be sure to keep you in the loop!

Please send any questions you have and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Brady Cooper and Philip Robinson

We are so proud to be supported be New Vision Baptist Church, Murfreesboro TN!

We love the leadership and congregation at New Vision and they are an answered prayer in supporting us!

I first served with Brady at FBC Hendersonville as an intern and worship leader. It was such a great experience and really a learning ground in ministry. Brady is one of the best teachers I have sat under and helped shape a lot of who I am today. Later after our time with Cross Point I had the opportunity to serve part time at New Vision in a worship leader role for youth, college and some sunday services.

We built many strong relationships in our time at New Vision and served there until we were called to Washington. We got to meet with Brady and Philip (Philip serves as the coordinator for counseling and missions) and shared with them the vision and ministry of Renovo. Philip was familiar with the Northwest and especially the Puyallup area from previous mission work. They were encouraged to here of our commitment to revive the communities view of Christianity and repeating the mission God has called us to.