ROP is Co-Sponsoring an Orality /Story-telling Workshop on Sat., 9/9

Leave a reply
Do you desire to improve your ability to reach people with the truth found in the Bible?  What if they do not read books unless they have to?  Do you find that a lot of the people you encounter in your ministry or elsewhere don’t yet know anything about the Bible?  Orality is a fast growing movement in evangelism today, and it is changing the face of missions around the world. Research has shown that 70% of people in the world are oral preference learners. Therefore, telling the stories of God is an amazingly effective way of communicating the Gospel and making disciples. And it is proving to be very effective at ROP as well. The photo is Rick Randall telling Bible stories to kids at ROP’s neighborhood park.
If this information stirs something in your heart or simply sounds interesting and worth learning more about, I hope you will seriously consider attending the Bible Storying Workshop coming up soon on September 9that Agape Missionary Church. The workshop will be led by Jerry Wiles of Living Water International.
To learn more about Jerry and his Orality ministry click on this link to read an article by Jerry in Christianity Today.
To register for the workshop, click on this link.
Details for the Bible Storying Workshop are as follows:
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday September 9th 2017
Location: Agape Missionary Church,1590 Chester St., Aurora, CO 80010 (just two short blocks from ROP).
Cost:
  – $35/individual and includes lunch and materials
  – $20/individual groups of 5 or more and includes lunch and materials
Contact: Matt Smith 303.570.7501 – matt@restorationoutreachprograms.org
_________________________________________________________
P.S. Pedal 4A Purpose 2017 is just around the corner on Saturday, September 23rd. Register by August 31 and save a few dollars. Click here to go to the Pedal 4A Purpose website.

Check Out the Latest Happenings at ROP

Leave a reply
The latest bi-monthly edition of ROP’s eNewsletter – Urban Voices – is now available on ROP’s website.
This 2-page edition of Urban Voices includes the following articles:
  • God’s Perfect Path Has Many Twists and Turns – ROP’s new Associate Executive Director, Tom Adams, shares about the journey that brought him to ROP and some first impressions after one month on the job.
  • “TUMI” Stands for Answered Prayer – Refugee Resources and Outreach Director, Lucy Bruser, explains how “The Urban Ministry Institute” (TUMI) is providing much needed Biblical training for refugee and other urban leaders. And guess who is facilitating that training at ROP?
  • ROP Summer Sports Camp Teaches Many Life Skills – Children’s Ministries Director, Walter Thompson, shares how ROP’s Summer Sports Camp provides the opportunity to teach skills that will help kids succeed in life.
Click on this link – Urban Voices – August 1, 2017 Edition. (If you cannot see the embedded version, just click on the link below it to access the current and older editions of Urban Voices.)
Hope you enjoy this edition of Urban Voices.
By the way, Pedal 4A Purpose 2017 is just around the corner on Saturday, September 23rd. Register by August 31 and save a few dollars. Click here to go to the Pedal 4A Purpose website.

Community Taking Shape Even in ROP’s Alley

Leave a reply
Alleys generally aren’t the most attractive part of a neighborhood, but ROP’s alley is a lot more attractive than used to be.  Until very recently, the back of ROP’s brick building was covered with a variety of gang signs, aka grafitti.  We made a couple of attempts to wash and scrub it off, but with no significant effect. A couple months ago, this “artwork” caught the attention of Aurora’s Code Enforcement officers who “encouraged” us to do something about it (or else).
That was all the motivation we needed.  A friend of mine was kind to donate 5 gallons of exterior paint and a team of interns was kind to apply it to our back wall. The stage was ready for our sanctioned street artist to apply his talents to our wall. That process got started earlier today. The attached photo shows the fruit of his labor.
In due time, the white space around “Community” will get filled in, but we hope you will agree that our artist is off to a good start, and that we have taken another small step toward “transforming” our community. Of course, our primary transformation emphasis is focused on people, but we think small steps lilke this one help to reinforce the larger message.

Most Recent GED Graduate Already on the Way to Her Next Academic Goal – A College Degree

Leave a reply

Earlier this afternoon, our Work Readiness Team, a couple students and several ROP staff had the privilege of celebrating the achievement of the GED with our most recent GED graduate, Nadia Saidi. The following is a little bit of Nadia’s story provided by Marla Vlieger, ROP’s Education Director:

Nadia started attending Work Readiness in December 2015. She had recently immigrated to the US from Kampala, Uganda. Only one year after completing high school in Uganda, Nadia needed both a GED and a job as soon as possible. Nadia is very smart and had studied English for years. Within 2 weeks, our tutoring team helped her write a resume and fill out a job application and she was hired at the Hyatt downtown. She’s been working full time at this job for the last year and a half while studying for her GED. This past March, she started taking her GED tests. Math was the hardest. She took that test first, but didn’t pass. So she went on to take and pass the Language Arts, Science and Social Studies tests before going back to Math. On June 16th, she passed the Math test. Yay! Nadia has already begun 2 college level courses, so she’s already on her way to her next academic goal – a college degree! She bought a car and is now learning to drive. She’s excited to learn about business and open up many opportunities in her life.

Way to go, Nadia! And way to go, Work Readiness Team! You may not know this, but the GED tests were made much more difficult a few years ago and it is now much easier to graduate from high school than to earn a GED. So every GED graduate we see represents a lot of very hard work on the part of the student and ROP’s tutors. Congratulations all around!

Friday, 6/30: P4AP Early Registration Ends – Saturday, 7/1: Prayer Walk on East Colfax

Leave a reply
The banner above says most of what needs to be said. So, hopefully, I can keep this short.
 
This Friday, June 30th, is the last day you can register for Pedal 4A Purpose 2017 at the “Early Registration” rates of $30/individual and $70/family (3+). On July 1st, rates go to $35/individual and $80/family. Note – The date of this year’s event is Saturday, September 23rd. Note also that by popular demand, we have added a Run/Walk this year. For more information or to register, go to www.Pedal4APurpose.com.
 
On Saturday, July 1st, ROP is joining with our 5 other Flourish East Colfax collaborators in sponsoring a Prayer Walk on East Colfax. All the churches in our northwest Aurora area have been invited and you are invited too. We will meet for just a few minutes at 9:30 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Library (98998 E. Colfax Ave.) to give some very basic instructions and then two groups will leave the library, one going west the other going east. The groups will circle back to the library where we will have a quick debrief and closing prayer. A flier for our prayer walk is below.
 
Whether it is for a bike ride, a run/walk or a prayer walk, I hope you will consider joining us for one or more od these upcoming events.

His Heart for People and Relational Skills Make Tom a Great Fit for His New Role

Leave a reply

Restoration Outreach Programs is pleased to announce that Tom Adams will be joining ROP’s staff as our Associate Executive Director, effective July 1st. In this position, Tom will be partnering with Kent Scroggs in all aspects of leading ROP’s ministry with a primary emphasis on fundraising and development. By way of introduction, here is a little of Tom’s story.

Tom grew up near Portland, OR. After graduating from the University of Portland with a business degree, Tom joined the military. There he connected with a small group of soldiers who looked forward to a weekly chapel service where God started speaking to him. After leaving the military, Tom heard a local evangelist speak the words that changed his life, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” A relationship with Jesus was the answer to Tom’s search for greater purpose and meaning.

After surrendering his life to Christ, Tom had the opportunity to preach for a year through a Christain ministry at Zion National Park where he met his soon to be wife, Stephanie. After the year at Zion, Tom eventually moved to Denver where he got engaged to Stephanie. Together, they ministered overseas with YWAM prior to getting married in 2005.

Tom and Stephanie have now been married for 12 years. They have 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls, ages 11 years to 6 mos. They have been members of Bridgeway Church in Denver since 2003.

Tom has been coordinating a lunch outreach ministry for 5 years on the 16th street mall while working in the oil and gas industry. Notwithstanding limited direct fund-raising experience, Tom has successfully raised funds for his church and for several mission trips. More importantly, we believe Tom’s strong relational skills and his heart to see people’s lives transformed and used in service of God’s Kingdom will make him a great fit for his new role at ROP.

Please join with all of us in praying for Tom and his family as he transitions into ministry at ROP.

One Week Done – One or (with your help) Two Weeks to Go

Leave a reply
Today (Thursday) was the last day of ROP’s first week of Summer Day Camp.  The theme of this year’s Day Camp is “More than Conquerors”, taken from Romans 8:37.  Each day of camp focuses on one sport and one aspect of being a “conqueror” as follows:
  • Monday – Soccer – We are more than conquerors when we Practice with Purpose
  • Tuesday – Basketball – We are more than conquerors when we Listen to my Leaders
  • Wednesday – Volleyball – We are more than conquerors when we are Courageous
  • Thursday – Badminton – We are more than conquerors when we Restore our Minds and Bodies
Walter Thompson, ROP’s Director of Children’s Ministries, taught on each of these themes using stories from the life of King David. We thank God for great weather and a great opportunity to make a difference in the lives of some disadvantaged but very cute and wonderful kids. We got off to a slow start but by the end of the week we had about 30 kids with a couple more coming every day as word of mouth spread.
We are looking forward to even more kids participating at next week’s Day Camp as the word continues to spread, and we are hoping to be able to provide a third week of Day Camp if we can mobilize just a few more volunteers.  So, if you are available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, 6/26 through Thursday, 6/29, and have a heart to bless some pretty awesome kids with the gift of your time and attention, I would encourage you to contact Walter at walter@restorationoutreachprograms.org or 720-577-7111.  He will be glad to answer your questions and fill you in on all you need to know. And, if you choose to participate, I can assure you of one thing – you will be the one most blessed.

One quick reminder:  Pedal 4A Purpose 2017 is scheduled for Saturday, September 23rd. Registration fees go about on July 1st. Click here for more information or to register.

Most of the Assets Needed to Transform Our Neighborhood are Already Here

Leave a reply
Research by the Asset Based Community Development Institue shows that 85% of the assets needed to bring a neighborhood out of poverty already exist within that neighborhood.  The challenge is to identify and then mobilize those assets. Identyfying assets within our neighborhood was the primary objective for last Thursday’s Neighborhood Meeting hosted by ROP in partnership with our friends at Agape Missionary Church.
About 25 people gathered at Thursday’s meeting.  We started by identifying our gifts of the head (knowledge), hands (skills) and heart (passions) and stuck them on the wall (see attached photo). Next, we assigned all the gifts on the wall to one of the five issues identified at our first meeting, two weeks previously. The issues were and are Unity, Crime, Youth, Pride (trash) and Housing. The final step for the evening was for each of our participants to choose one of the 5 issues we would like to work on. We will pick it up from there at our next meeting on 6/28.
It was both a fun and exciting evening, to see so many gifts identified and begin to be mobilized. Our community may never be the same. Stay tuned.
A quick reminder: Pedal 4A Purpose 2017 is scheduled for Saturday, September 23rd. Registration fees go about on July 1st. Click here for more information or to register.

Check Out the Latest Happenings at ROP

Leave a reply
The latest bi-monthly edition of ROP’s eNewsletter – Urban Voices – is now available on ROP’s website.
This 2-page edition of Urban Voices includes the following articles:
    • If You Had a Magic Wand and Could Change One Thing, What Would It be? – That was one of three questions that we asked participants in our first Neighborhood Meeting on May 25th. Kent Scroggs (that’s me) shares about this important step as ROP moves forward in implementing Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) in our community.
    • Story Telling – Great for Engaging Kids – Great for Sharing God’s Word – ROP Youth Director, Matt Smith, shares how story-telling has become a key tool for ROP in reaching out to the kids of our community. He is so excited about it that ROP is co-sponsoring a September 9th training on this very effective method for sharing God’s Word.
    • “I Always Wanted to be a Missionary” – ROP thanks God for Sharalyn Warren and the more than seven years she served the people of our community as a Work Readiness Tutor and an English as a Second Language Teacher. In this article, Sharalyn shares some of her experiences and lessons learned as a “missionary” at ROP.
Click on this link – Urban Voices – June 1, 2017 Edition. (If you cannot see the embedded version, just click on the link below it to access the current and older editions of Urban Voices.)
Hope you enjoy this edition of Urban Voices.

P4AP Early Registration Deadline Extended to June 30th

Leave a reply
September may still be a few months off, but our early registration deadline is coming up in just one month on Friday, June 30th.  If that date looks odd, it is…due to an email database error, a number of prior participants in Pedal 4A Purpose did not receive notice of the deadline, so in all fairness to them, the early registration deadline has been moved to June 30th. So if you would like to get a date on your calendar to help motivate some training and save a few bucks in the process, I encourage you to think about registering now before the registration fee goes up on July 1st (from $30 to $35 per individual and from $70 to $80 per family of 3 or more).
Details regarding this year’s Pedal 4A Purpose are provided below and on the event website – www.pedal4apurpose.com
In addition to being an important part of ROP’s annual fundraising efforts, Pedal 4A Purpose…
  • Provides a great opportunity for bike riders of all abilities to enjoy a supported ride with family and friends. It offers rides from as short as you like (5.5 miles to first aid station) to as long as 63 miles (with 4,522 feet of total elevation gain).
  • Provides a great venue at Bear Creek Church and food provided by Chick-fil-A.
  • Offers supporting churches and other nonprofits an opportunity to partner with ROP and share the funds raised by their teams up to 80/20 with ROP. (Youth groups and short-term mission teams please take note.)
  • Offers a lot of great prizes for top fund-raisers and all participants. Our grand prize again this year is a $1,000 gift certificate from Schwab Cycles. Last year, all of our riders received a prize!
Please also note there are three significant new things about Pedal 4A Purpose 2017
  • New Time – Pedal 4A Purpose 2017 has been moved from early June to Saturday, September 23rd. This timing works better for us and we hope it will work better for our riders as well with less competition from other events and the likelihood (no guarantees) of better weather.
  • New Start/Stop Location – Our base of operations has moved from Denver Seminary to Bear Creek Church (3101 S. Kipling St., Lakewood). While the start-stop has changed, the Main Loop and Deer Creek Challenge Loop remain the same, sort of. The Main Loop will run the opposite direction (clockwise) and an additional restop has been added.
  • New Run/Walk Course – The move to Bear Creek Church allows us to add a run-walk option for those that prefer “pedding” (staying on their feet) to pedaling. Click here to checkout the run/walk course. (Nothwithstanding this addition, we are not changing the name of our event :-).
To register, donate or simply learn more about this fun event, click on this link.
Hope you can join us on September 23rd, have some fun and partner with us in meeting the real needs of a lot of under-privileged people.