Byron McMillan, Director of Local Hope

As most of you know, we’re all about reaching the Triangle and ultimately changing the world here at Hope. Byron McMillan, Director of Local Hope, wrote an incredible blog post summing up what Local Hope is and more importantly, what God has called us as his Church to be.

Local Hope is so much more than just a PROGRAM to reach our communities. It is supposed to be a way of life where the people of God at Hope simply serve all the people around us in the power of the Spirit and prove that God is exactly who he says he is. This is discipleship, evangelism, mission and social action all rolled up in amongst itself in the life of every believer of Christ who calls Hope home on this planet.

Yes, we will provide programs that offer opportunities to serve on a regular basis. Yes, we will partner with organizations that are organized and out there doing the hard work with the “least of these” among us; like Ship of Zion, Raleigh Rescue, Newbern House, and the Green Chair Project.  Yes, we will create in house ministries like Bumper Crop and Hope on the Homefront to meet needs that are cropping up all around us. We will do all those things and more.

But the heart of what we are doing occurs as each individual listens to the Spirit of God, who lives in those who have been reconciled to Him through acceptance of Jesus and the work of the cross, and then does what He says.

This is why I am so inspired to hear about individuals and small groups doing the work of God, serving those in the communities; not just as part of the official Local Hope program, but on their own. This is where the greatest impact is going to felt. This is how we are going to reach the Triangle and Change the world.

Thanks, Chase Gardner for sharing this note from a small group leader at Hope who gets it and explains why his group will not be participating in a Hope organized event … [read the rest of Byron's post here]

You remember Mr. Derek, correct? No? Here’s a little refresher for you, then:

We’ve posted content from the wise Derek Sisterhen, Hope’s Stewardship Ministry Director, over here before and will begin posting more from him on a regular basis. God has used our Stewardship Ministry to change numerous lives at Hope and we’re always encouraged to hear your stories. Have any of you been directly impacted by one of our financial classes?

The Stewardship classes aren’t meant to be comfortable. As a matter of fact, they can be downright painful at times (you’re probably thinking, “This isn’t a very good way of promoting those classes…”).

This fall, 45 Hope families are becoming more fully-devoted followers of Christ by way of their bank accounts and wallets. Between Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU) and Hope’s Financial Coaching program, these families have committed to being open and honest about their financial situation in order to engage what scripture has to say about money.

Part of openness and honesty requires these families to list how much debt they currently owe, excluding their mortgages. Like I said, it isn’t comfortable. But we have to understand where we are to plan where we’re going.

As a whole, these 45 families owe $1,596,576 in non-mortgage consumer debt. Everything from credit cards to car loans, medical bills to student loans is represented in that figure. This works out to an average of $35,479 per household.

Now, I can guess what you’re thinking: “Oh my goodness!” Most of us don’t realize the kind of financial stress the people sitting around us each weekend are under. And we also don’t typically recognize the incredible potential for these families as they apply God’s Word to their lives and begin overcoming the debt.

For example, if the average interest rate between all the car loans, student loans, credit cards, retail loans, personal loans and other consumer debts was around 10%, these families would pay about $159,658 in interest each year.

Now imagine when, with the debt elimination plans they’re developing in these classes, they pay off all their debt. On the average, each family would have nearly $3,600 each year to invest in God’s kingdom, just in the freed up interest!

Over 2,300 verses in scripture deal with money. When applied to our lives they yield peace, stability and flexibility to respond to God’s leading without the burden of too many financial obligations. In this way, we can “take hold of the life that is truly life” that Paul describes in 1 Timothy 6:19.

In the end, these families have 1,596,576 reasons to change so they can be significant players in Hope’s mission of reaching the Triangle and changing the world.

How many reasons do you need?

Check out what previous Financial Peace and Financial Coaching participants have accomplished!

Hope member and Local Hope volunteer, Sophie Honeycutt, recently wrote a guest post on Director of Local Hope Byron McMillan’s blog, Ordinary Radical. We want to highlight it over here because it’s such a strong testimony about the heart of who our church is. We love people where they are and encourage them to grow in their relationship with Jesus. Here’s an except. We encourage you to click over to the original post on Byron’s blog for the full story.

“The tornado had missed our neighborhood by a mile. We knew it could have just as easily been us in that situation and we wanted to help,” said Hope attendees Alex and Erin Montesario.

As neighbors watched bulldozers level what was left of their homes, Alex helped translate Spanish for community members while Erin developed a special relationship with teenager, Elide, the daughter of one of the homeowners … Local Hope helped Elide and her family move into another home, furnished by the Green Chair Project. Since then, her grandmother became ill, leading her mother to leave the US to care for her. Elide decided to stay and finish school. “God has pressed upon my heart to keep in touch with Elide and hopefully offer support in whatever ways my family can,” Erin said …

Have you always wanted to be a part of a ground breaking team that is making a difference in the community? Join Hope’s Neighborhood Development Ministry to share your passion for building relationships and strong community ties around the Raleigh Campus.

Visit our Neighborhood Development page to learn more and who to contact to get started.

Do you want to serve in the community but are unsure how to start? Attend Local Hope Orientation at Hope Community Church in Raleigh on Saturday, September 17 at 4:15pm or Sunday, September 18 at 9:30am.