J17 Ministries
in collaboration with various
ministries in Tucson and beyond
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IN THIS ISSUE
New
News about J17 Ministries
Harmony Hub
Collaboration Corner
Connections for Everyone
LAST CHANCE:
Citywide Prayer Gathering
Connections for Pastors
John 17 Weekends
Church of the Week
Holy Land and Oberammergau
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Greetings!
If your bank only offered one ATM in a city of a million, you'd switch banks, right?
I'm more interested in an Alliance of Tucson Ministries than I am in an automated teller machine... Our ATM, more commonly known as TMA, Tucson Ministry Alliance, is now in its eighth year. We've been limited to one eastside location in all that time... until July.
If you're not from Tucson
- this is for you. We're better together. TMA was birthed as a collaboration of three different ministries. As J17's board president Glen Elliott often teaches - it's not truly collaboration unless the collaborating
precedes
the planning. Planning an invent and inviting others to support it often masquerades as collaboration, but collaboration involves equals at the table
from the outset
.
If you're in the Tucson area
- this is for
you
! TMA's most common critique for years has been our eastside location. It's not easy to find a room that can serve up to 120 people at tables with lots of room for ministry tables and displays every month, at virtually no cost! But now, starting in July, we're moving to GAP ministries' facility near Miracle Mile and I-10.
We don't yet (or maybe ever) have capacity to do TMA twice a month. So we still really only have one Christian ATM in a city of a million - but at least we're spreading out the travel in the hopes of inviting some new southwest, west, and northwest guests who've never experienced TMA in the past, and encouraging the eastsiders to sacrifice the drive to support the move. If this works, we'll split the year by going East for half, and West for the other half.
Watch our TMA block in coming months for the specifics! And spread the word. It's better than money in the bank, says Jesus.
Dave Drum, Founder
J17 Ministries
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New
News about
J17 MINISTRIES
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Social Media growth
Contrary to what you may have heard, it was
pure coincidence
that the Pac-12 Basketball tournament
happened
to be in Las Vegas at the exact same time as Dave Drum's business trip to work with his son Daniel, who lives in Vegas. During this highly effective J17 staff meeting (Vegas branch), eight videos were filmed, three of which have been edited, and two of which have been posted so far.
- The intro to J17 Ministries video just passed 800 views in its first four days - you might want to check it out and consider sharing it with someone either on your Facebook page or by sending them the link. Remember - J17 Ministries is based on Tucson, but not limited to Tucson.
- We now have a YouTube Channel.
- Our Facebook page will now be much more highly utilized as well.
Fundraising growth
We launched our 50 day fundraising campaign a week ago, and the first week saw five new donors join our 49 pre-existing investors.
- Click HERE for our new fundraising video.
- Click HERE to donate or to check out our progress.
- Please pray with us - we know God is faithful and always equips those He calls. He might want to use you or someone you know to be His instrument in that equipping!
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Barriers to the Gospel Exercise and Surprise Finding
I’ve lost count of how many times in the last 15 years I’ve facilitated a simple activity in South Asia with groups of 25-30 pastors, evangelists and church planters passionate for the Gospel.
- Think about spiritual barriers to the Gospel in the community where you work.
- List problem issues, needs and concerns which are experienced by many.
- Prioritize the list and think of how to break down these barriers
When this exercise was designed for South Asia we EXPECTED their barriers list to include:
- Misconceptions about creation.
- Lack of understanding of the sovereignty and characteristics of God.
- Belief that God is distant and unknowable because their own gods are impersonal.
- Fear of demons and evil spirits.
- Fear of not pleasing their gods.
- Always looking for a god that will listen.
- Idols made by man.
- Need for a true priest or mediator for man.
- Belief in ritual, offerings and sacrifices for the granting of petitions.
- Troubling dreams and lack of peace.
- Fear of persecution.
- Belief that the religious festivals are essential to preserve the social order.
- Reincarnation and endless rebirth.
- A belief that it is wrong to call a person a sinner.
- Lack of hope.
Sadly, one we didn’t expect is constantly on these leaders’ list of barriers. And maybe even more surprising, it usually ranks in the top three when prioritized.
Lack of unity among Christian leaders/pastors.
The next step after the local leaders prioritize their list of barriers is to have them think about Bible stories and passages they can use to address the barriers in their context and community.
Wonder what the results of this exercise would be with pastors and church planters in Tucson or other North American cities?
What passages do you turn to when the question of unity among Christian leaders comes up?
Harmony Hub Contributor:
Tim Brown, Director, South Asia Region, visionSynergy
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Such a small thing, such a big impact
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When I first started working at 4Tucson eight years ago, I told 4Tucson's founder, Mark Harris, that I subscribed to the Henry Blackaby principal - find where God is already working, and join him there. I further elaborated that I didn't think it would be productive to cold call pastors and invite them to invest in the City Church. Rather, I was going to look for pastors who were already convinced that the Kingdom of God was larger than their own congregation or network, and see how we might partner together. Mark agreed, and that remained my philosophy my entire time as the Church Domain Director.
With one exception. The one place where I felt convicted that I needed to be proactive regardless of the response was in building bridges culturally. It's clear that God is working in that arena, too, so it turns out it wasn't an exception at all. It's just that I had been so culturally isolated, for the most part, that I wasn't aware of how God was already at work. I knew that needed to change, and that without intentionality, our primary ethnic groups might remain isolated from one another.
We started a citywide evangelical Easter sunrise service, and as I began to build friendships with some African-American pastors, I invited them to attend. All were very polite and appreciative of the invitation, but none attended. Afterwards, I asked a couple I knew the best why they hadn't participated. They told me that they'd been doing citywide Easter Sunrise Services as African-American Churches for nearly 30 years! I was so embarrassed by my ignorance! Long story short, I asked if we could join theirs, we canceled ours, and the rest is history. If you live in Tucson, and your own church isn't having an Easter Sunrise Service, or simply if you want to celebrate both John 17 and John 20 (the Resurrection) at the same time, see below, and I'll see you bright and early April 21.
The simple thing that bears great fruit? Rather than starting something, see if someone else is already doing something similar, and pursue the possibility of joining what they already started. You will be a tremendous source of encouragement simply by honoring this other person/group in that way. You won't get earthly credit for "starting something", but you'll be answering Jesus' prayer in powerful ways, and pursuing the unity movement that Jesus started 2000 years ago.
Collaboration Corner Contributor:
Dave Drum, Founder, J17 Ministries
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Here are the latest opportunities to strengthen
your faith and connect with the community.
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If you are part of an area event promoting unity and collaboration among the citywide
Body of Christ and beyond and would like it included in an upcoming newsletter,
please click
HERE
to submit your request.
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CITYWIDE PRAYER GATHERING
Saturday,
Mar
ch 23 | 6 pm
The Amphitheater at Reid Park (Bandshell)
S. Country Club Rd. & E. 22nd Ave.
4Tucson is teaming up with the National Day of Prayer to bring you a quarterly CITYWIDE PRAYER GATHERING! Our first one being at the Reid Park Bands Shell! Don't miss this excellent opportunity to join together with believers all across this city to pray for our city as the unified body of Christ!
Our hearts desire is to ignite a PRAYER REVOLUTION within our city!
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14
We hope to motivate, touched and inspired people to make prayer a part of their everyday lives! To be activated and connect with other believers and see God's kingdom advance in this city! Join with people of all demographics in a time of prayer, worship, unity and ACTIVATION! Everyone is welcome! It's a free event, tell your friends, family, churches, bible studies, youth groups, campus ministries, co-workers and anyone else you meet or know!
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"LET IT OUT" BENEFIT CONCERT
Saturday,
March 30 | 6 pm
Grace to the Nations
A collaborative praise and worship concert featuring worship teams from Vida Nueva, City of Refuge, and Grace to the Nations, and featuring a halftime performance by Creative Awakening! FREE ADMISSION! Food and drink will be available for purchase, proceeds will fund extreme poverty relief in La Comarca/Chiriqui Panama during our July missions trip. No childcare available, but all ages are welcome!
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REAL COMEDIANS TOUR
Sunday,
March 31 | 7 - 9 pm
Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church
The Real Comedians tour comes to Tucson! Hosted by Tahir Moore, with performances by Tony Baker and headlined by KevOnStage.
VIP ticket holders get early access to the venue for priority seating at 5:45 pm. General ticket holders get access to the venue at 6:15 pm, 30 minutes after VIP ticket holders.
This will be a fun time, full of lots of laughs, and you won't want to miss it!
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FRANCESCA BATTISTELLI'S "THE OWN IT" TOUR
Sunday,
April 14 | 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Calvary Chapel Tucson
8711 E. Speedway Blvd
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Map
Come out for an evening of worship with Christian radio artist Francesca Battistelli. Special guests include Stars Go Dim and Elle Limebear. Tickets start at just $20 with the "friends and family pack". Doors open an hour before the show.
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EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE
Sunday,
April 21 | 6 am
Living Water Ministries
The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) invites everyone to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ together. This year's guest speaker is Pastor Otis Brown. Let us worship together and celebrate the good news of Easter Sunday!
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INTERNATIONAL WHOLISTIC MISSIONS CONFERENCE
Tuesday-Thursday,
April 30 - May 2
Westside Family Church
8500 Woodsonia Dr, Lenexa, KS
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Map
This will be an amazing conference with leaders from all over the world. Who do you know that you should invite?
The vision of the IWMC is "that those who attend the 2019 International Wholistic Missions Conference will be called into
action
, will have opportunities for
collaboration
with other people and organizations, and will learn tools for
transformation
in their own lives and in communities throughout the world."
J17 Ministries founder Dave Drum will be co-leading a workshop series with Rwandan Pastor Celestin Musekura, director of ALARM, at this year's conference,
John 17 Strategy for Mission.
John 17 is Jesus' strategy in Africa as well as Arizona and everywhere in between, and
it's working!
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VERITAS ACADEMY OF TUCSON
Veritas Academy is a private, classical, Christian, University-Model® school, that seeks to train hearts and minds for the glory of God through rigorous curricula, character education, competitive athletics, fine & performing arts, and a limited array of extra- and co-curricular activities. Our faculty partners with parents to support them as the primary influence in their child’s life.
Veritas is actively looking for Kindergarten and Elementary teachers, teachers for Western Civ and History classes and Language Arts for 5th-8th grades, Elementary Science, Spanish and Latin, upper level Rhetoric, Drama and Yearbook. As part of the Veritas faculty and staff, you will enter into a community of believers who love the Lord, love learning, and love children. A career at Veritas will not only challenge you to grow professionally but also in your walk with the Lord.
If you are interested in joining our team, please submit your resume and cover letter by clicking the button below. We are excited to hear from you!
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PASTORS' EDGE
Thursday,
April 4 | 11 am - 1 pm
The Journey Church
Topic: Using Sunday Services to Reach the Lost
Join us next month as we explore this topic, with speakers Glen Elliott and Jeff Love.
Sunday services can serve both the believer and reach lost people. But the pastor must intentionally understand and employ certain practices and skills that help create an environment that draws and reaches those not yet walking in faith.
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3-DAY PASTOR PRAYER SUMMIT
Monday-Wednesday,
April 8-10
Mt. Lemmon Community Center
12949 N. Sabino Canyon Parkway |
Map
All pastors are invited to this three-day retreat, Tucson's 11th annual three-day pastor prayer summit. No ministry fair booths. No sermons. No advertisements. The main attraction is God Himself. Join us for three days in seeking God in unity, praying for revival and spiritual awakening in our city, and having our tanks filled as we worship and pray.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!
Upfront costs are significant, and some cabins we've used for free are no longer available.
- If you know someone with a cabin, please let us know.
- Please either RSVP or register TODAY so we can more accurately guess how many cabins to secure.
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Click
HERE
for more upcoming events.
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Team and Participant applications are currently being accepted!
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Men's weekend: July 18-21
Women's weekend: July 25-28
Submit your application now and be a part this year's Tucson area Christian discipleship weekend that emphasizes the essentials of the Christian life and walk.
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Holy Land & Oberammergau
June 1 - 13, 2020
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Informational Newsletter
Enjoy 13 days in the Holy Land, Germany, and Austria with others from Tucson
and around the country
, including J17 Ministries' founder, Dave Drum.
You'll walk in the footsteps of Jesus as you retrace his steps in the Galilee, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem. Then you'll fly to Germany for the Passion Play portion of your tour. Tickets to the Oberammergau Passion Play are included with time to explore the sites in southern Germany, such as Ettal. Contact
Becki Kern
for more information or questions.
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