In the past we’ve sent two teams a year, one in the spring, and one in the fall. This year, we are sending five teams. Two have already been, one team is there now and two more have yet to go. Almost thirty people who have never been to Uganda will take part in a trip this year, building relationships with believers in Uganda and shining light into dark places.
The current team in Uganda is made up of (left to right):

RJ Harris, Dan Harris, Jonathan Savage, Amy Coxwell, April Brown, Jennifer Robinson, Davis Robinson, Casey Huff and Josh Cumberland.

Please continue to pray for our teams that will be serving in Buloba and for the church in Buloba, that God would continue to use BCC for His glory.

As an immediate response to the crisis, we must turn our hearts to God and intercede for those that have lost something through these storms, whether their home or a family member. We ask God to speak peace to troubled spirits.

Another immediate response for us is to provide short term relief as we seek direction in long term plans. This Sunday 05/01/2011, at all three services, we are asking our Cornerstone family to provide relief items that we will deliver immediately at the beginning of the week. Below is a list of items that we have received from the relief teams:

• Cleaning bucket (~$55): 5 Gallon bucket with resealable lid, the place the following items inside the bucket–bleach (two 1 quart or 1 82 oz bottle). 5 scouring pads. 7 sponges. 1 scrub brush. 18 cleaning towels (reusable wipes). Liquid laundry detergent. 1 household cleaner (12 oz). Disinfectant dish soap. 50 clothes pins. 5 dust masks. 2 pairs latex gloves. 1 pair of work gloves. 25 bag roll of heavy duty trash bags (33-45 gallon, and remove from box). 1 insect repellent spray.*
• Health Kit (~$12): 1 Hand Towel, 15” x 25” up to 17” x 27”. 1 washcloth. 1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized). 1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up). 1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, no child-size brushes). 6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages.*
• Diapers, formula, wipes, baby food

Let this be a tangible expression of Christ’s love.

*All items must be new.

In the same way, I’ve heard some stories over the last couple of years about how those two nights have really helped change the course of some lives as we stop, keep watch and pray in a garden environment. This year, we will have some of the same elements for Maundy Thursday, but as always, we’re changing things up a little, and the garden will be a much more focused environment to pray in and meditate on where we’ve been as a body of believers over these past few weeks of focusing on the “I Am” sayings of Christ.

If you’re interested in serving with us on Maundy Thursday at any point between 8pm and 8am, e-mail me at brian@cornerstonebuzz.org and we’ll get you plugged in somehow.

Hope you’ll join us for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and at one of four services on Easter Sunday (6:30am, 8am, 9:30am, 11:00am).

In 2006, the Mwangaza Children’s Choir came to Cornerstone Church on a last minute adjustment to their schedule. And we’re so thankful that they did, as a beautiful partnership with Buloba Community Church has formed because of their performance that night.

On March 27, 2011, the Children’s Choir is coming back, and it even has a few performers from the little community of Buloba. They are touring the east coast and will make a stop in Auburn, performing at 6:30 pm that Sunday night at Cornerstone.

The choir will actually arrive in Auburn on March 24 and will be in town until the 28th. We are currently looking for families who have some extra room and could house children and chaperones while they are in town the nights of the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th. We specifically need 12 families for a two night rotation or 18 families for a three night rotation.

So if you’ve had a connection with Buloba or would be interested in opening up your home to our friends from Uganda, please e-mail brian@cornerstonebuzz.org for more information.

On October 4th, eight members of Cornerstone took off from Auburn, AL headed for Buloba, Uganda. They arrived safely and quickly joined in the work of leading people to know and serve Jesus in Buloba.

Our partnership in Buloba is now four years old, and we are excited about all that God has done in these past several years. As a church, we have handed out Bibles in the native Ugandan language as well as reading glasses. We have helped put on vacation Bible schools and helped construct a more permanent building for worship on the church property. Cornerstone has helped put in a bore hole well to provide clean water for the community, and we’ve also sponsored over 250 children through the Africa Renewal Ministries sponsorship program.

On this trip, our team will continue to encourage the believers in Uganda and spend the next seven days working, playing, praying and serving with the church there. They will spend time discipling one another and visioning for the trips we will take to Uganda in 2011 and onward.

One part of this trip that we are really excited about is putting up rain catch systems on the homes of people in the community. These rain catch systems are designed to provide instant water for families who would otherwise have to walk many miles to have only a few gallons of water a day. Our desire is to continually work with the local church to provide these simple opportunities for community transformation.

Please pray for this team as they are working over the next seven days, that God would provide them strength in the work, and that they would be swift in their obedience as He leads.

You can follow the thoughts of the team by clicking here.

Who knew Mimi was allergic to gladiolas? Not Michael! They looked beautiful on the dining room table, and when Michael had to “get rid of them,” there had to be another alternative than the garbage. Then the idea struck like lightning. Why not give them to Debra, the Jewish woman who recently moved in next door…So Michael and Mimi, flowers in hand, went to their neighbors. Debra and her husband, Richard, answered the door and were presented with an unexpected gift, to which they said, “Please, come in.” For two missionaries, these are welcome words!…For the next one and a half hours, some of the conversation was about “where are you from,” “do you have any children,” etc. Then it turned spiritual, where Michael shared with Richard about how the Jewish Scriptures, from beginning to end, flow toward the coming of one Jewish Messiah who will both suffer then return and judge the living and the dead, and will bring God’s glory to the ends of the earth.

Michael and Mimi Finesilver are missionaries that Cornerstone supports. They are Messianic Jews reaching out to the Jewish community in southern Florida. I read this story in their newsletter last week, and I was highly encouraged and excited about this simple story they shared. The Finesilvers continue and share about how Richard and Debra are not yet believers, but that they invited the Finesilvers to return and continue their conversation.

I wanted to share this story because it’s this kind of swift, other people focused, servant-hearted attitude that I hope I learn and continue to have with my own neighbors. Flowers, that the Scriptures say will wither and pass away, turned into a conversation that has eternal implications.

Please continue to pray for Michael and Mimi Finesilver as they seek to lead people to know and serve Jesus in their community.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Second Saturday and you’re not really sure what it is. Second Saturday is what we refer to as on-ramp for joining Cornerstone in its mission to “Lead people to know and serve Jesus.” This is an opportunity for anyone really, not just members, to take four hours on the second Saturday of each month and engage in serving our community.

The Big House in Opelika, AL

In March, we began a partnership with a local organization called “The Big House.” The Big House’s mission is, “Connecting the needs of foster families with the generosity of our local community through the love of Jesus Christ.” I love that. They exists to be a bridge. It reminds of what Rusty often says, “We as Cornerstone exist to be a bridge, connecting lost people to the love of Jesus Christ.” Some of the focused needs that the Big House meets are providing a clothes closet for foster care families, providing mentoring/tutoring for foster children and some future goals will be hosting day camps in the summer and holding classes like dance and piano.

In March we were able to focus on cleaning up around the interior and exterior of their new facilities and begin construction on built in shelving for their clothes closet. It was very encouraging to see so many people dive into working, even on a rainy Saturday morning. We already have plans to continue working on the Big House in April and I’m looking forward to the opportunities this will offer beyond just four hours on a Saturday as we partner in serving foster families in our area.

Community Buzz

Want to see more photos from Second Saturday?  Cornerstone has it’s own social networking site created just for you.  Just create an account over at http://www.communitybuzz.org to see more and be a part of the fun.

First, if you’re tracking with the conversation on the ‘missional church’ or ‘missional living’ then some/much of what you read below might be familiar to you. I’m just pulling together the conversations I’ve been having and the teachings that have been shaping me. Second, you might suggest, ‘missional’ is just a hip term for living obediently as Christ has called us to live. You’re right. The problem is, so many aren’t living like that. So let’s dive in. Here’s what I’m learning and thinking about missional living.

To me, the best way to start this conversation is to look at a picture. I’m kind of a visual person. I’m not sure where I picked this up, but I know I’ve seen it at Entermission once or twice.

On the left side we see what we might call the nominal Christian. Here, Jesus is just a compartment in the box we call our life. It seems that this is the American way. We’ve got so much going on and Jesus hasn’t really impacted our life in a massive way and so we compartmentalize our faith. I put Jesus in parenthesis here because really, this compartment is about our religion and church an hour or two a week. It’s not even primary in the box. Its just worked in there a little ways down. Sometimes, these people will go on a mission trip or invite someone to join them when they go to this box once a week. But, in truth, Jesus is not allowed to affect the other boxes.

The right side is where we see missional living played out. Jesus is at the center of a circle or a wheel. He is the hub. Here he has affected the believer. This person sees Jesus as the only thing that satisfies. Because of this he bleeds over and affects all parts of the persons life. He is not a compartment. He is the central piece and the other parts of this person’s life are not only affected by Jesus but they require him to be in the center making them move (clearly this wheel would not move very well due to its funky shape, but I’m no Picasso). Every part of this person’s life is about sharing what is happening at the hub. Not in a weird way. But a genuine way.

The missional life understands what is happening in 2 Corinthians 5. We have been reconciled to God. This truth humbles us and rocks us to the core. Then we are further humbled when we hear, “we have been given the ministry of reconciliation.” This does not mean, once a week for an hour and the rest of your life is not affected by what Jesus has done in your life. It does not mean that it is just up to the ‘pastor’ or the ‘professional Christian’. Because the passage goes on and it says, “we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.” All of us have been given this message and title. Ambassadors take the message and go. They are sent. They engage the culture they are sent to. They no longer see people as “you are here to serve me,” rather, “I am here to serve you and show you the hope of Christ in me and the freedom I have found in him.”

Suddenly, knowing my barista’s name is important, and knowing what’s happening in his life is more important. The other parents at the soccer field suddenly matter more than they did before. The people in the cubicles next to me are not only my co-workers but friends who are put in my life for me to serve and demonstrate the attitude of Christ Jesus. Everywhere I go, it is my responsibility to engage the culture, to leave the four walls and make Christ more than just an hour on Sunday or a Bible study on Thursday nights. You name the area. Christ is affecting it.

Missional living. That’s the start of the conversation for me…

“Three years ago, Cornerstone received an invitation. It was an invitation to join a movement in Buloba, Uganda…We’re extending that invitation to you.”

Over the past few days, I’ve been editing some video that we were able to capture on our most recent trip to Uganda. The words above came from Josh Agerton, our pastor of connections, as we talked through how to tell people about what we are doing in Buloba. Genuinely, this is our heart. We joined a movement, a movement to partner with other believers in a completely different part of the world, for the sake of the Kingdom, for the sake of hope, for the sake of the gospel.

Cornerstone has been given the opportunity to help with a permanent structure for the local church, carry bibles to local families, give clean water through a bore hole well, sponsor over 200 children (on the way to 300, let me know if you’re interested) and so much more. We’ve also been given the opportunity to see Believers worshiping in new ways, lose our inhibitions in finding new ways to grow and serve, and what love looks like by watching our friends in Buloba. We are in a partnership of advancing the gospel with the followers of Christ in that community.

This Sunday, after the 11:30 service, we will be having an informational meeting about two of the three trips we currently have planned for this year. The first trip, May 25th-June 3rd, will be geared for university students. The second trip June 8th-June 18th, will be for families. If you’ve ever been interested at all in what we are doing in Buloba, then come join us this Sunday to find out more about what we will be doing on each of these trips. Attendance at this meeting doesn’t lock you in to going or anything, but it will help you be more informed about how you can join us this year.

We could continue doing what we are doing in Buloba, or we could take some next steps together as a community of believers. We can’t do this alone. It must be an united effort. And we’re inviting you to join us in that work.

This weekend, we have four projects available. One team of people will be working with ARM and a local family to do some minor repair work on a home. One team of people will continue working with the Lee County Humane Society that we have partnered with for the past few First Saturday events. And two teams will partner with a couple of our local elementary schools, Dean Road and Carey Woods, to do some light landscape work.

I can’t tell you what a great response we’ve had and how thankful our local schools were as we partnered with them through One Prayer Auburn. We want to continue to serve our schools as a thank you for their commitment to this community through education.

If you’re able to come, we’d love to have you as a part of this weekend. We’ll gather at the church at 8:00 am and leave no later than 8:30 am to head to each project and finish up around 12 noon. We do not provide childcare for this event, but there is usually something for everyone to do. In fact this is a great opportunity to demonstrate service to and with our children. If you are coming and know you’d like to help us out with one of the local schools, we would ask that you bring any lawn tools that you might be able to such as rakes, clippers, shovels or wheelbarrows (gloves).

If you want more information on this weekend, I’d love to talk to you about it. You can e-mail me at brian@cornerstonebuzz.org or call the church.