News from Malawi!!

B'More Aware of HIV...The Living Red Ribbon

Archives

Upcoming Journey Sessions
At Grace Fellowship Church, 9505 Deereco, Rd., Timonium, MD 21093. Women
in the Word study, Wednesday mornings, September 15th to December 8th 2010
(no class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving).
At Gallery Church, 1407 Fleet St., Baltimore, MD – September 16th to October
21st 2010 at 7:00-9:30 p.m.
Central Presbyterian Church, 7308 York Rd., Towson, MD – November 2nd –
December 7th 2010 at 7:00-9:30 p.m.
Contact: HopeSprings Lorraine Ferland, Education Coordinator
(H) 443-212-5354(M) 410-982-9903 lferland@hopesprings.org
"Love is a fire that will burn through every difficulty." Andrew Murray

 July, 2010

 City Uprising, July 19
Join Us as We Propel the Church to Prosper the City!!

Hello HopeSprings!!

This month we take on a huge challenge while taking time to remember that effective ministry, God’s ministry, isn’t about big numbers. It’s about people; individuals precious in God’s sight.

Through an event called City Uprising, we will work alongside of our friends at Gallery Church and the JACQUES Initiative to test 2,000 people in one day through the faith based community. The drive behind this testing initiative is the knowledge that at least 25% of those infected with HIV don’t know they have it. Those 25% aren’t receiving the life saving Anti-retro-viral therapy needed to control the spread of the virus in their bodies. The virus is multiplying day by day, destroying their immune systems as it progresses. In short, they are on the road to getting sick, to developing full blown AIDS. Those individuals unaware of their positive status are also responsible for 54% of all new infections. As the virus grows unchecked in their bloodstreams, they have higher volumes of virus to pass on to others. They pose a higher transmission risk to those they come in contact with. Routine, broad based testing is aimed at finding these individuals and linking them into care so that they never have to know what it is to have AIDS, and so that their friends and loved ones are protected from the HIV infection.

Some may be asking why the Church should be involved in such activities, after all isn’t that what our medical institutions are for. I believe that the Church has a unique role to fill in this testing arena. The Church is mandated to meet people where they are, to be a relevant entity in the community. We are called to make the gospel comprehensible through our actions and our words. Getting involved in our city’s largest epidemic is a way to demonstrate that we care about our neighbors as Jesus does.

As people walk in to have an HIV test they are frightened, they are anxious. Who better to meet them in their time of anxiety than the Church? Who better to offer loving, compassionate counseling that will help them retain their negative status than the Church? Who better to give them hope even in the face of a positive diagnosis than the Church? Why not the Church??

On July 21, 2009, nearly 300 volunteers from 9 states and 20 churches, worked together to test 900 people at 11 sites throughout Baltimore City. We had 32 positive results; 32 people whose lives were turned upside down by the words, “I’m sorry, your test results came back positive.” Please join me in praying for these individuals, each and every one. Pray that each person tested that day saw the face of Jesus through our efforts. Pray that they saw a Jesus who loves and cares for them even when they don’t care for themselves. Pray that on that day the gospel was made real and relevant throughout our city. Pray that not one of those tested felt like a number, but that all left knowing that they are precious individuals in God’s sight.

Pray that those we encounter on July 19 of this year will leave knowing these very same truths. Pray for the hundreds of volunteers who will serve that day. Pray that they will spend the coming weeks praying in preparation for the encounters they will have that day. Pray that they will have God’s strength and courage when they approach someone on the streets, inviting them to come get tested, or when they greet the anxious person who just wants to know that they are OK, or when they sit across the testing table praying with and providing a positive diagnosis to that very same person.

As you pray, if you are moved to serve alongside of us that day, join us. We will need every willing hand and foot of Jesus to accomplish this task. We invite you to join us in any capacity on July 19 (Contact Ashley Francis at afrancis@hopesprings.org to sign up). No special skills are needed; only a loving heart, willing to welcome and comfort someone in Jesus’ name. Join us—I assure you, you won’t regret it!!

Blessings,
Amy

HopeSprings has been going through a lot of change lately. We are revamping the Journey, deepening partnerships with organizations, growing rapidly, and having a great time watching where God is taking us. It is an exciting time in Baltimore for HopeSprings and things really are changing. It can be easy to get swept up in the excitement of it all but staying in line with what God is doing is the most important decision we could ever make and have to make, daily.

All of this to say that we have had some great conversations with peers, clients, volunteers, and each other only to confirm what we have known all along. None of this ministry stuff means anything without God. We may test clients for HIV and some will have, it some wont. Some clients will be really ill and others look, act, and feel like the healthiest people in the world. Some will be depressed, others happy. Some have battled addictions, others will not know that struggle.

None of this matters if they don’t know the love of Christ.

It is so easy to test someone for HIV, tell them to stop their risky behavior and send them on their way. The problem is, anyone can do that. Anyone can go through Maryland’s tester-training class and sit in an office and stick a mouth swab around someone’s lips and think they have done a good deed. (You know what? The have!) But we are not these people. We are committed, lovers of Christ, who have an obligation in that twenty minutes while we are waiting for test results, sitting in a café, dropping off food, etc. to ask someone if we could pray for them. To ask if everything is going okay and if they need someone to listen to them. We may be the only chance that some of these people have to hear about the love of God and He has not just put anyone in that room. He has put you in that room and for a reason.

Please be encouraged as we near City Uprising to share the love that God has asked us to. It’s a risk, all good things are but we aren’t talking about just anything… we’re talking about people living lives apart from God. He want’s them back and He may just be using us and our interactions with the clients we touch to do this.

 Be blessed!

~Ashley Francis

We Love to Learn Together, Join us!

 Our quarterly Learning Community Book Group members are so excited about the fall title, Let Justice Roll Down, by John M. Perkins. It’s a powerful book that has profoundly impacted me personally and has reaffirmed my commitment to urban ministry. You are invited to meet and discuss this classic book on Monday, September 20th 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Grace Community Church in Fulton, MD. You are also invited during the summer to join an online book discussion through HopeSprings Facebook page where we will explore the book, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Please, feel free to join in and share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to your input . . .

We are on a New Journey, Come Along for the Ride!

Greetings Friends,
Would you still recognize the Journey? The HopeSprings’ Journey evolves continually, and we are so pleased with the outcome. We listened to our volunteer’s suggestions and reassessed our curriculum and some of our teaching techniques. As a result, we’ve added Ministry through Relationships I & II, which integrates many of the previous aspects of our cross cultural training and relational outreach. We clearly focus on building authentic relationships with those we serve, incorporating our personal relationship with God, and include God’s story of relationship with mankind. We also added the personal stories of many volunteers who live well with HIV, additional role plays touching on true scenarios from Malawi and the Baltimore region, and continually update the evolving HIV/AIDS research and statistics. A new photo essay, picturing our many volunteer sites and opportunities has been added. A video of JACQUES clients sharing their personal journey to wellness of body, mind, and spirit has been added to our Journey training. Overall, we are immensely grateful for the gifted Educational Team and the outstanding volunteers God draws to HopeSprings ministry.

Recently, I attended an outstanding Baltimore conference of Faith Communities Working Together, which focused on eradicating stigma, encouraging testing, and embracing with compassion. You all will be encouraged to attend such conferences in the future. Just to name a few speakers: our friend and partner Derek Spencer from JACQUES Initiative spoke eloquently, an amazing film maker, Paul Grant, showed the beginnings of his documentary film “The Gospel of Healing” (we must add that to The Journey as soon as it is available), and Rev. Debra Hickman from STAR, Sisters Together and Reaching, inspired the whole group with her encouraging and challenging message. We have an amazing faith based community of workers who believe, as we do, that the Church is the answer to the pandemic. What a privilege it was to attend!

We hope you have a blessed summer break, but keep us in your prayers that the Lord would bring many workers to join the Church as seek to bring hope and healing to those affected by HIV/AIDS.

Blessings & love,
Lorraine

Sign Up for the Journey and Tell Your Friends!

Fall Journey training begins at Gallery Church, 1407 Fleet Street, Baltimore, MD on Thursday, September 16th – October 21st.
A second session begins at Central Presbyterian 7308 York Rd, Towson, MD on Tuesday, November 2 – December 7th. This is such a dynamic setting in Fells Point!

Another wonderful opportunity for HopeSprings opened through Grace Fellowship Church’s Wednesday morning Women in the Word ministry. We will offer a 12-week Bible study, “Becoming the Hands and Feet of Christ,” which starts Wednesday mornings from September 15th – December 8th (no class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving). We hope to meet the needs of this women’s ministry and other interested women by offering this daytime session.
To register for any of the above 2010 Journey Training, e-mail: lferland@hopesprings.org or call 443-212-5354.

June, 2010

Letter from the Director-Amy Lang

Volunteer Opportunities and Updates

Hello HopeSprings,

      In the last month I’ve had several people respond in amazement as they’ve learned all that HopeSprings is doing. As I reflect on these occurrences it makes me realize that I too am amazed.

      I stayed outside of the church for many years because of a few encounters with some judgmental, hypocritical Christians. I spent many years angry about some of those encounters. But I realize now that those experiences were blessings that have led me to where I am today. Today, I am convicted to do two things as a result of those experiences and my faith;

1. Serve the least of these as Jesus would-demonstrating who this God of mine is through my actions (not just my words), and
2.  Provide avenues for others to do the same—allowing for their personal growth as they share the gospel with those we touch.

      Maybe these two things really boil down to one—living an authentic Christian life dedicated to honoring the God I love so much so that those I encounter might get a glimpse of who he is through my actions, my words, my life. I want people to see and experience the real Jesus, real Christianity; not the version that has become so entangled in theoretical debates and judgment. I want people to truly understand why Jesus and His gospel truly are The Good News.

      This is the amazing thing, that HopeSprings is doing that day in and day out. Thank you for being authentic Christians committed to bringing hope and healing to those impacted by HIV/AIDS. I love you guys.

Blessings,
Amy

Volunteer Opportunities and Updates

• JACQUES CAFÉ: Come to JACQUES Initiative anytime from 7am-5pm M-F and 7am-10am Saturday. Set up our free café with coffee, tea, and snacks for the clients at JI. Be there to encourage, talk, and pray with clients throughout the week as they come to get their meds. at the on-site pharmacy. If you decide you want to volunteer here, please commit to the same chunk of time every week so that you begin to build relationships with the clients. Thanks to one of our committed Volunteers, Deanna Cettomai, who wrote a grant for us...we have received $500 to go toward Cafe expenses!  
• AIRS: The sky is the limit! mentoring, tutoring, becoming a "buddy", teaching crafts or computer classes and anything else you can think of! We will also be doing quarterly events with the clients and residents of AIRS socome with us to Woodberry Crossing on June 28th.
• Moveable Feast: Commit to delivering food weekly to a few of the clients of Moveable Feast or help with food preparation on Thursday evenings 5-8pm.
• Communications Team! We need you to be on our Communications Team. If you are good at writing, taking pictures or video, speaking, graphic design, Microsoft Publisher or anything else having to do with communications, please let us know! We want to get the word out about HopeSprings and we want you to help!

*Be a camp Counselor July 26-30!

Rainbow Camp provides a Christian experience for children ages 7-11 years of age, who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. The camp provides a secure “re-creational” environment for children and respite care for families compromised by HIV/AIDS. The week is a time for renewal in the beautiful farmland surrounding the Bishop Claggett Center just south of Frederick Md. Sign up here!

*Your Hand in Mine HIV/AIDS Ministry presents "Yes We Can" a full day training session addressing; Spirituality, HIV Update, Mental Health, Prevention Strategies, Testing, Access to Care and Resources and much more on June 16, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at NEBO Christian Ministries, 240 North Franklintown Road, Baltimore, MD 21223. Please see attached flier and registration form for details.

Education Team Update

Friends,

        We are pretty busy finishing concurrent Journey classes this spring and preparing for the fall Journey trainings. Honestly, I continue to be amazed and humbled by the well educated, spiritually mature, servant-hearted, vibrant people God brings to this ministry. This truly affirms to us just how faithfully He guides this ministry. We celebrate His abundant blessing!!

        First news, Grace Fellowship Church’s commissioning takes place May 24th with our new liaison, Frank Mentzer officiating. A special thank you goes to Nicole Kreisman who hosted the class. Ten new volunteers prepared for exciting volunteer opportunities. Many have taken the testing/counseling training to prepare for City Uprising. Others will serve at Jacques Initiative Café or conduct craft therapy at AIRS. The opportunities continue to grow as we partner with more churches in Baltimore.

         Also, our Gallery Church Journey concludes June 10th with 27 people completing the training. Many from the Gallery group also have taken the testing/counseling training.

        Fall Journey training begins at Gallery Church, 1407 Fleet Street, Baltimore, MD on Thursday, September 16th – October 21st. A second session begins at Central Presbyterian 7308 York Rd, Towson, MD on Tuesday, November 2 – December 7th. This is such a dynamic setting in Fells Point!

       Another wonderful opportunity for HopeSprings opened through Grace Fellowship Church’s Wednesday morning Women in the Word ministry. We will offer a 12-week Bible study, “Becoming the Hands and Feet of Christ,” which starts September 15th – December 8th (no class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving). We hope to meet the needs of this women’s ministry by offering this daytime session.        

      One last item to bring you up-to-date, our quarterly Learning Community Book Group enjoyed coffee and a stimulating discussion of the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind on May 18th. We truly desire to engage more bibliophiles in the future. We are so excited about the fall selection, Let Justice Roll Down, by John M. Perkins. It’s a powerful book that has profoundly impacted me personally and has reaffirmed my commitment to urban ministry. We will meet to discuss this classic book on September 20th at Grace Community Church in Fulton, MD (see flyer for address).

       Finally, join an online book discussion through HopeSprings Facebook page where we will explore the book, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to your input . . .

       God Bless every Journey grad for all that you do to bring hope and healing to those impacted by HIV/AIDS. May the Lord truly be glorified by the response of His Church to this pandemic!

Peace and love,
Lorraine Ferland
HopeSprings Education Coordinator
lferland@hopesprings.org

July, 2010
City Uprising, July 19 Join Us as We Propel the Church to Prosper the City!!
We Love to Learn Together, Join us!
We are on a New Journey, Come Along for the Ride!
Sign Up for the Journey and Tell Your Friends!
Congrats to the Favreau's!

Archives
Calendar

City Uprising, July 19
Join Us as We Propel the Church to Prosper the City!!
Hello HopeSprings!!
This month we take on a huge challenge while taking time to remember that effective ministry, God’s ministry, isn’t about big numbers. It’s about people; individuals precious in God’s sight.
Through an event called City Uprising, we will work alongside of our friends at Gallery Church and the JACQUES Initiative to test 2,000 people in one day through the faith based community. The drive behind this testing initiative is the knowledge that at least 25% of those infected with HIV don’t know they have it. Those 25% aren’t receiving the life saving Anti-retro-viral therapy needed to control the spread of the virus in their bodies. The virus is multiplying day by day, destroying their immune systems as it progresses. In short, they are on the road to getting sick, to developing full blown AIDS. Those individuals unaware of their positive status are also responsible for 54% of all new infections. As the virus grows unchecked in their bloodstreams, they have higher volumes of virus to pass on to others. They pose a higher transmission risk to those they come in contact with. Routine, broad based testing is aimed at finding these individuals and linking them into care so that they never have to know what it is to have AIDS, and so that their friends and loved ones are protected from the HIV infection.
Some may be asking why the Church should be involved in such activities, after all isn’t that what our medical institutions are for. I believe that the Church has a unique role to fill in this testing arena. The Church is mandated to meet people where they are, to be a relevant entity in the community. We are called to make the gospel comprehensible through our actions and our words. Getting involved in our city’s largest epidemic is a way to demonstrate that we care about our neighbors as Jesus does.
As people walk in to have an HIV test they are frightened, they are anxious. Who better to meet them in their time of anxiety than the Church? Who better to offer loving, compassionate counseling that will help them retain their negative status than the Church? Who better to give them hope even in the face of a positive diagnosis than the Church? Why not the Church??
On July 21, 2009, nearly 300 volunteers from 9 states and 20 churches, worked together to test 900 people at 11 sites throughout Baltimore City. We had 32 positive results; 32 people whose lives were turned upside down by the words, “I’m sorry, your test results came back positive.” Please join me in praying for these individuals, each and every one. Pray that each person tested that day saw the face of Jesus through our efforts. Pray that they saw a Jesus who loves and cares for them even when they don’t care for themselves. Pray that on that day the gospel was made real and relevant throughout our city. Pray that not one of those tested felt like a number, but that all left knowing that they are precious individuals in God’s sight.
Pray that those we encounter on July 19 of this year will leave knowing these very same truths. Pray for the hundreds of volunteers who will serve that day. Pray that they will spend the coming weeks praying in preparation for the encounters they will have that day. Pray that they will have God’s strength and courage when they approach someone on the streets, inviting them to come get tested, or when they greet the anxious person who just wants to know that they are OK, or when they sit across the testing table praying with and providing a positive diagnosis to that very same person.
As you pray, if you are moved to serve alongside of us that day, join us. We will need every willing hand and foot of Jesus to accomplish this task. We invite you to join us in any capacity on July 19 (Contact Ashley Francis at afrancis@hopesprings.org to sign up). No special skills are needed; only a loving heart, willing to welcome and comfort someone in Jesus’ name. Join us—I assure you, you won’t regret it!!
Blessings,
Amy

A Different Kind of Volunteering

HopeSprings has been going through a lot of change lately. We are revamping the Journey, deepening partnerships with organizations, growing rapidly, and having a great time watching where God is taking us. It is an exciting time in Baltimore for HopeSprings and things really are changing. It can be easy to get swept up in the excitement of it all but staying in line with what God is doing is the most important decision we could ever make and have to make, daily.
All of this to say that we have had some great conversations with peers, clients, volunteers, and each other only to confirm what we have known all along. None of this ministry stuff means anything without God. We may test clients for HIV and some will have, it some wont. Some clients will be really ill and others look, act, and feel like the healthiest people in the world. Some will be depressed, others happy. Some have battled addictions, others will not know that struggle.
None of this matters if they don’t know the love of Christ.
It is so easy to test someone for HIV, tell them to stop their risky behavior and send them on their way. The problem is, anyone can do that. Anyone can go through Maryland’s tester-training class and sit in an office and stick a mouth swab around someone’s lips and think they have done a good deed. (You know what? The have!) But we are not these people. We are committed, lovers of Christ, who have an obligation in that twenty minutes while we are waiting for test results, sitting in a café, dropping off food, etc. to ask someone if we could pray for them. To ask if everything is going okay and if they need someone to listen to them. We may be the only chance that some of these people have to hear about the love of God and He has not just put anyone in that room. He has put you in that room and for a reason.
Please be encouraged as we near City Uprising to share the love that God has asked us to. It’s a risk, all good things are but we aren’t talking about just anything… we’re talking about people living lives apart from God. He want’s them back and He may just be using us and our interactions with the clients we touch to do this.
Be blessed!
~Ashley Francis

We Love to Learn Together, Join us!
Our quarterly Learning Community Book Group members are so excited about the fall title, Let Justice Roll Down, by John M. Perkins. It’s a powerful book that has profoundly impacted me personally and has reaffirmed my commitment to urban ministry. You are invited to meet and discuss this classic book on Monday, September 20th 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Grace Community Church in Fulton, MD. You are also invited during the summer to join an online book discussion through HopeSprings Facebook page where we will explore the book, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Please, feel free to join in and share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to your input . . .

We are on a New Journey, Come Along for the Ride!
Greetings Friends,
Would you still recognize the Journey? The HopeSprings’ Journey evolves continually, and we are so pleased with the outcome. We listened to our volunteer’s suggestions and reassessed our curriculum and some of our teaching techniques. As a result, we’ve added Ministry through Relationships I & II, which integrates many of the previous aspects of our cross cultural training and relational outreach. We clearly focus on building authentic relationships with those we serve, incorporating our personal relationship with God, and include God’s story of relationship with mankind. We also added the personal stories of many volunteers who live well with HIV, additional role plays touching on true scenarios from Malawi and the Baltimore region, and continually update the evolving HIV/AIDS research and statistics. A new photo essay, picturing our many volunteer sites and opportunities has been added. A video of JACQUES clients sharing their personal journey to wellness of body, mind, and spirit has been added to our Journey training. Overall, we are immensely grateful for the gifted Educational Team and the outstanding volunteers God draws to HopeSprings ministry.
Recently, I attended an outstanding Baltimore conference of Faith Communities Working Together, which focused on eradicating stigma, encouraging testing, and embracing with compassion. You all will be encouraged to attend such conferences in the future. Just to name a few speakers: our friend and partner Derek Spencer from JACQUES Initiative spoke eloquently, an amazing film maker, Paul Grant, showed the beginnings of his documentary film “The Gospel of Healing” (we must add that to The Journey as soon as it is available), and Rev. Debra Hickman from STAR, Sisters Together and Reaching, inspired the whole group with her encouraging and challenging message. We have an amazing faith based community of workers who believe, as we do, that the Church is the answer to the pandemic. What a privilege it was to attend!
We hope you have a blessed summer break, but keep us in your prayers that the Lord would bring many workers to join the Church as seek to bring hope and healing to those affected by HIV/AIDS.
Blessings & love,
Lorraine

Sign Up for the Journey and Tell Your Friends!
Fall Journey training begins at Gallery Church, 1407 Fleet Street, Baltimore, MD on Thursday, September 16th – October 21st.
A second session begins at Central Presbyterian 7308 York Rd, Towson, MD on Tuesday, November 2 – December 7th. This is such a dynamic setting in Fells Point!
Another wonderful opportunity for HopeSprings opened through Grace Fellowship Church’s Wednesday morning Women in the Word ministry. We will offer a 12-week Bible study, “Becoming the Hands and Feet of Christ,” which starts Wednesday mornings from September 15th – December 8th (no class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving). We hope to meet the needs of this women’s ministry and other interested women by offering this daytime session.
To register for any of the above 2010 Journey Training, e-mail: lferland@hopesprings.org or call 443-212-5354.

Congratulations to the Favreau's!

Grace Veronica Favreau arrived on Saturday May 29th at 12:35pm at Mercy Hospital. Weighing 7lbs, 1oz, 20.5 inches. Everyone is perfect! Congratulations to Derek and Amanda, the new proud parents! You are all in our prayers :)