It's Official - Life Church Has Hit Facebook

Last week I had an epic failure and succumbed to peer pressure by signing up to facebook. Today is my tenth day on facebook and I must admit, it's really been an awesome tool to open lines of communication with new friends and old friends. So, because of my failure, I've decided to try to bring others with me and created a "Life Church - Iowa City" facebook group. It really is a great communication tool and is simple to maintain. As we continue to experiment with living life together, we need to keep trying new things to create community and facebook is just another one of those ways.

40 Days of Prayer

Last week we kicked off in a very subtle way a 40 days of prayer challenge. Today, Heather Weber, in her message encouraged us that as followers of Jesus Christ God has given us authority to realize the Kingdom of God here on earth. What an awesome challenge to pray and believe that we can have a part in ushering in peace, righteousness and joy into our lives and the communities that we live in.

Heather also challenged us to pray for the country of Ethiopia and the current famine and drought that is killing so many innocents...

"Father, these are your children, your creation and our brothers and sisters. We feel the pain of dying children, mothers and fathers. Father, will you bring rain into that dry land. Father will you miraculously touch the malnourished. Father, will you supply adequate food to those on the brink of starvation. Father, will you reveal your love and concern for these precious people. Hear our prayer."

33 days to go.
rgg

Life Church BBQ/Potluck (July 19th)

Come join us for a time of fun and fellowship at the Greenes. All are welcome. Brats, burgers and drinks will be provided. Bring a side dish, a dessert or a salad. Be sure to invite a friend and we look forward to seeing you this Saturday at 4:30pm.

Here are some ideas of stuff to bring:
Vegetable trays
Pasta salads
chips and dip
casseroles
fruit salads
pies, brownies, cookies
cheese and crackers
etc.

Here are the directions to the Greenes:

View Larger Map

See you there.

Cleanup help July 7th and 8th

Here is another opportunity for us to help out our community. If you are available, the information below will get you started.
Thanks Life Church
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Help at New Life
July 7, 2008 - 10:45 AM

New Life still needs some volunteers for Monday and Tuesday, July 7 & 8. We are still in a clean phase, so wear appropriate clothing. I think we have masks here. Water and Red Cross meals are available for free.

Contact Josh at 563.505.0808

Details for Tomorrow's Flood Clean-Up

For those of you who can volunteer to do clean-up for local residents affected by the flood, please report tomorrow at 8 a.m. to the New Life Church Parking Lot on the Coraville Strip (New Life is located beind Lone Star restaurant). We will form teams and disperse from there to go into local neighborhoods.

Please bring tools if you have them, such as crowbars, hammers, shovels, wheelbarrows, or wagons. Also, please bring your own mask and gloves if you are able so that we can leave the masks and gloves in the flood buckets to residents who will be cleaning after we leave.

Saturday Flood Clean-Up Teams

The needs in our community for flood clean-up are urgent. Many homeowners have recently or are just getting access to their homes. They are racing against the clock to get water-damaged items out of their homes, such as furniture, carpets, appliances, and cabinetry, and then stripping drywall off the walls in order to prevent mold growth in the studs.

We would like to form teams of volunteers to target our selected neighborhood and offer help to homeowners on Saturday morning. At this point, the exact time and location is still to be determined but we'd like to recruit your help in advance. Please contact me (information below) if you are available.

In the meantime, you are looking for ways to be of service during the work-week, the best route to go is to find a homeowner in a flood-affected neighborhood and offer your assistance. There are many, many people in need right now and one could literally walk through a neighborhood and join with many teams doing clean-up. When you help, it's ideal to go prepared with some basics, such as: Rubber and cotton gloves; masks; old tennis shoes; crowbar (for knocking down drywall); wheelbarrow or wagon (for pulling drywall, carpet, misc. items to the curb); and water.

Also, the flood relief kits and garbage bags that were donated by Convoy of Hope are stored in the United Methodist Church's west parking lot. Please help yourselves to these as needed, or take them with you when you go to volunteer. Our only request is that you contact me with the number of supplies you've taken (for grant/accounting purposes).

Contact Info: 541-5338 or weber.heather@gmail.com

Flood Clean-Up--Help Needed at New Life Church

Today I received a call from John White, the pastor of New Life Church on the Coralville Strip. New Life's building sustained significant damage during the flood and the church is trying to start clean-up as quickly as possible. The needs for clean up are urgent and immediate, and New Life is requesting volunteers from Life Church who can come any time from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow (6/25), Thursday (6/26), and Friday (6/27). There will be a clean-up supervisor on site to direct volunteers. We're asking our Life Church community to help out New Life in whatever ways it can. (Evening hours are also a possibility if there are enough volunteers, so please email weber.heather@gmail.com with with your availability if you desire to come in the evening).

New Life is located behind Lone Star on the Coralville Strip. Report there any time between 9 and 5. The site is quite filthy, so you'll want to wear old clothes, work shoes,and possibly bring your own gloves/mask along. We have given 10 flood relief cleaning kits to New Life, but bringing extra supplies is not a bad idea.

In addition to the New Life needs, Life Church met with other evangelical church leaders and Iowa City's city manager Mike Lombardo today. A consensus was reached that each church would "adopt" a neighborhood affected by the floods and serve there. Details on how we can help assist civic leaders in organizing relief efforts for neighborhoods are forthcoming and possibly a team will need to be assembled as soon as this Saturday. Stay tuned for details.

Flood Relief Meeting this Wednesday

For those in the Life Church community interested in strategizing about flood clean-up efforts, please attend an organizational meeting at the Coralville United Methodist Church (806 13th Avenue, one block east of the Coralville Recreation Center). We'll be meeting this Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. and will be discussing how assist in flood clean-up, as well as how to distribute the 500 flood-relief kits and clean-up supplies donated to Life Church by Convoy of Hope, a non profit disaster relief organization.

Elijah Project 08--Flood Relief

As the Iowa River slowly receds from the floodplains in Coralville and Iowa City, Life Church has been in contact with other area churches and Iowa City officials to assess the needs of area residents and businesses who have been displaced by the flood.

At a meeting this coming Tuesday, we anticipate some solid decisions will be made as to how exactly area churches and individuals can harness our efforts to help the city provide shelter, clothing, food, monetary and clean-up assistance to those in need. We will post information on what you can do to get involved on the blog and communicate via email and Sunday service announcements.

In addition, Life Church is in possession of 500 flood-relief kits that were donated by the Assemblies of God organization Convoy of Hope. These kits were packaged with clean-up efforts in mind, and we will be able to distribute them to area residents and businesses as soon as clean-up efforts begin in full swing.

Every year, Life Church targets a particular community need for the Elijah Project. This year, the floods have made the community need obvious. Over the coming days and weeks we'll be posting more information on how you and your family and friends can volunteer to help. Please take the time to consider now what you may be able to donate (food, clothing, materials, money) or whether you are willing to provide shelter for an invidual or family. The opportunities will present themselves quickly.

Informal Sunday Morning Gathering, June 15

Those who can gather on the west side of the river will be meeting this morning for an informal time of worship and prayer at 9:45 at the Coralville Rec Center. If you are able to volunteer with sandbagging/other flood work efforts after the meeting, please come prepared in work clothes, with shovels and gloves.

We pray that all among you are safe. If you have any flood-related needs or concerns please don't hesitate to call the church number at 594-0837.