Pray for Haiti

Our neighbor Haiti is in terrible trouble. The country only just "made it through" severe food shortages and four hurricanes in 2008. Now after this earthquake, aid efforts are being sorted out. Local donation drop offs have been designated. Accounts for donations have been set up. At this point, the men and women of Haiti are digging themselves out. They will hold on until more aid arrives. They are a strong people.

In many ways, Miami is more a part of the Caribbean than we are a part of the United States. Most of the US thinks Miami is only related to Cuba but this is wrong. Besides the many folks from other areas of our southern region, our large population of Haitian Americans is proud, productive and an essential part of our community.  Miami is often called the Capital of the Caribbean and South America. But at the very least, each of these countries relate like family members, similar to cousins.

The agencies that are best at rescue and relief are even now arriving on the scene. There will be much to do and the rebuilding will take years. We, as brothers and sisters in Christ, must pray on their behalf. We must listen to our friends as they grieve. We must give of ourselves to hold up our suffering family.

Epiphany! The Celebration of Giving our Gifts to the Christ

Christmas so be so obstructed in our society. The obvious complaint is the commercialism as Christmas items appear on stores shelves the day after Halloween. But This time of year, in Miami anyway, the culprit is entertainment. On the 7th day of Christmas we instead get to watch a giant orange being lowered at Bayfront park downtown. On the 10th day of Christmas, there is a NFL game with play off implications. On the 12th day of Christmas, it's the Orange Bowl College game.

The one thing we have to bring us back to celebrating Christ is Epiphany. Epiphany is the celebration of the day the three kings of the East found and honored the child with their gifts. And for added measure, they went away changed. Many Latin countries celebrate Dia de Los Reyes as a day when children receive small gifts in their shoes left at the bottom of their beds. In Miami, Little Havana will host its annual Three Kings Parade. This year the parade will be held Jan. 8 and of course feature live music.

Whether football or parade or falling oranges, we must remember, we are in this world but not of this world. We look for the presence of God and find it, in the least likely places, in the least likely towns, in remote corners of the world. We bring our gifts to honor the Christ. Emmanuel. God with us.
Amen.

Dwell Fall Retreat to the Keys

This week we took our fall retreat to the fabulous Florida Keys. The Keys are a gift from God to us in South Florida, and the thousands of visitors they receive each year. A string of hundreds of islands and several bridges are our little get away. We spent 3 days and 2 nights discussing 2 books (Immigrant Power in Miami and Ministering Cross-Culturally, some self assessment and the Enneagram, sharing meals, 18 hours in silence and prayer, running, drawing, reading and snorkeling. We all returned rested and renewed. Thank you to the Groh family for the use of the peaceful little house. Thank you to Strike Zone Charters for the snorkeling and history lesson. Thanks be to God for the time in expectant prayer. What a way to be in Advent.

New Places, Familiar Faces

Today we are so excited to be hosting the eighth graders and the adult leaders from Sarasota Christian School. We've been hosting the eighth graders on the annual trip for several years. We're proud to be a part of their excellent tradition of service and learning. We're always glad to see them.
While we received some familiar faces, we did so in a new place. Another exciting development is our relationship with Christ the King Lutheran Church. This church has a new vision and heart for the city of Miami. We're expectant to see how God will use each of us together. It is always a beautiful thing when God's people come together for a common purpose to glorify Christ. Perfect for this advent season!

This is a Big Weekend for Us in Miami

Not only are we hosting our first family-friendly fundraising extravaganza but we're also hosting a group of volunteers. Coral Gables Congregational will be engaged in service this weekend in places they've not explored on their own before. This is our third service weekend with them. We love their desire to seek God's face in the issues and in the new neighbors they meet along the way. What a joy to serve with our neighbors.

Don't forget to come out this Friday night. The Fall Family Formal will be held at Riviera Presbyterian Church at 6:30pm til 9pm. Dress up the family and come out for the dinner, bluegrass music and activities. It will certainly be fun. Your ticket is a raffle to win a handmade patchwork quilt! And it's the debut performance of ChikaChaka! Where else are you going to get that!

Fall Heating up with Volunteer Actvity

The weather may finally be starting toward cooler, but activities are certainly heating up in Miami. This past weekend some of our local volunteers ran in the Race for the Cure. Our Dwell participants are out and about meeting their neighbors and may have a block party in the works. In two weeks we'll have a team participating in Habitat for Humanities' Faith Day. November we'll be hosting two weekends church groups coming to serve alongside the local church and learn about the local gifts as well as needs. Also in November is our first Fall Family Formal and our annual local board of directors planning retreat! Please keep our local staff in your prayers. Vanessa has been doing great in her classes but midterms are upon her.

Urban Ministry Meet Up at Books & Books

Our friends at P4CT- Partnership for Community Transformation our hosting a Meet Up this Thursday at 6pm at Books & Books, our super local independent book store in the heart of Coral Gables. They're even serving snacks! If you can make it, let's all meet there and make new friends and share what God is doing all over the county.