Letter Hits Several Thousand Chicagoland Church Mailboxes...

From Phil Miglioratti (One Great City & Loving Our Communities to Christ)

I hope and pray you will give a serious read to the accompanying flyer regarding the launch of the Children's Hunger Fund Food Pak Campaign in our metro region.

CHF has a proven track record (highly rated by Forbes, no less!) of delivering 99% of donor's contributions into the hands of those who need it most; hungry, helpless children. Wonderful, but why am I telling you this?

It goes back to a meeting with CHF President Dave Phillips in a Baker's Square not too long ago. From the moment he shared their vision to "serve children in need across America and around the world," I knew his heart for compassion was authentic. After hearing the amazing success of their Food Pak program to not only feed starving kids but to mobilize sit-in-the-pew Christians into active caring for others, I was hooked ~ And this is my attempt to spread the word.

As you may know, my work locally with One Great City and nationally with Loving Our Communities to Christ, involves three strategic components: Prayer, Care, and Share. Both OGC & LC2C cast a vision for the whole Church to collaborate in taking the whole Gospel to the City, community-by-community; neighborhood-by-neighborhood. The Food Pak program of Children's Hunger Fund is a big step into that vision.

This simple campaign engages your congregation in the powerful act of feeding a needy child. Here’s how it works. Your members take a box home, fill it with the needed food items and return it to the church. CHF then collects the boxes and distributes them to the poor through their network of trained church volunteers.

As pastors lead their members to participate in the simple Food Pak program, I believe they'll find those same members increasing their awareness of the lost and the least right next door. They will better respond to the Holy Spirit's prompts to pray for their neighbors and to demonstrate the Gospel in practical ways. In other words, caring for those in need is eye-opening and contagious.

Please Care for the needs of the fatherless in our city. Conduct a Food Pak Campaign at your church. To do so, contact Bill Wigboldy at CHF Chicago: 708.769.3019 or bill@childrenshungerfund.org.

May we see an increase of collaborative in-Jesus'-name efforts throughout Chicagoland. And, as we do, I know CHF's simple and compelling Food Pak strategy will be a catalyst for many congregations seeking to better obey our Lord's command to bless the poor and love our enemies.

For His unifying work across our region,

Phil Miglioratti

One Great City ~ Chicagoland

Loving Our Communities to Christ



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Elgin's House of Prayer offers Harp & Bowl Training

Harp & Bowl Training Seminar, Saturday September 30, 11:00 am – 1:00pm

The Harp & Bowl Seminar is an easy way to understand the structure that most of our prayer meetings use. We look into three of the values behind the structure of the Harp & Bowl model and then try it out ourselves. It is great fun, and opens up doors to be an active participant or team member. There is no registration fee but an offering will be taken.

Harp & Bowl Seminar will be held from 11:00am - 1:00 pm at Elgin’s House of Prayer 270 East Chicago Street, Elgin.

Elgin’s House of Prayer is a ministry of Light & Life Ministries, 847-695-5133 or info@light-life-ministries.org

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Uniting the Body of Christ ~ Saturday, Octboer 7th

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Cynthia Milsap, best known by our group for her involvement SCUPE (Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education www.scupe.com), had everyone’s attention as she shared the story of how the Lord called her to himself at a young age. She was born in Mississippi, the oldest of 4 children. Her family moved to Chicago when she was just 4 months old. Cynthia describes her family as “non-church” going Baptists. She attended St. James Catholic School at 29^th and Wabash until her family moved to the Roseland neighborhood at 102^nd street when she was 9. It was there that her family was able to buy their first home. When they arrived Roseland was in transition with 50/50 ratio of blacks and whites. Within one year she said 99% of the population was black. Not long after moving Cynthia’s mother was shot and killed while she was walking home from work. Cynthia remembers asking what she must have done wrong for this to happen. Did she not say enough prayers? Did she not say the right prayers?

Not long after her mother’s death, Cynthia was invited to a neighborhood bible class by a woman on her block named Gloria Redis. She recalled that ‘Sister Gloria’ was trusted and well respected by the people in her neighborhood. Cynthia remembers cookies and punch, games, the discipline of learning bible verses verbatim address included! Most of all she remembers that Sister Gloria taught her that God loved her no matter what, a relationship of love, not fear. She was invited to respond to Gods love for her. By age 12 her father had remarried and her stepmother began taking her to Baptist Church. She was so taken by the Sunday school program that she soon became a volunteer leader and now has devoted her life to serving the Lord through her work at SCUPE and many other causes.

This story is a great example of how we are called to obedience in mentoring the young people God puts in our lives, you never know when one of them might be a Cynthia Milsap!

Cynthia closed her time with us by encouraging the leaders in attendance to seek balance in their lives. She accurately referred to the School of the Prophets as a safe place where ministers and lay leaders could come and be refreshed. She invited all of us to sit quietly while a CD played calming worship music, an invitation to reflect on ways that our lives are out of balance. We were blessed by her leadership and encouragement.

Please consider joining us for our next gathering on Saturday October 7. We all benefit from being with one another!

In Jesus name,
Bob Marsh
323 West Chicago Ave., Hinsdale, IL 60521
630-290-2388
bob@marshdesign.biz

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PRAY the VOTE

Real Hope in Chicago ~ Transformation in Lawndale

Real Hope in Chicago is Wayne Gordon's inspiring account of how people, white and black, rich and poor, old and young, worked together to transform a decaying neighborhood into a place where love is lived out in practical and miraculous ways. It offers an exciting model for interracial cooperation, urban-suburban church partnering--and real hope for the inner cities of our nation.

When Wayne Gordon and his wife started a Bible study for high school kids in North Lawndale, Chicago, people warned them that a white couple moving into a black neighborhood as a recipe for disaster. That was twenty-five years ago. Today, what began as the Gordons' seedling Bible study has become the Lawndale Community Church. It has a staff of 150, has renovated more than 100 local apartments, has helped more than 50 young people graduate from college, runs a medical clinic that treated 50,000 patients in 1994, and has become a vital part of rebuilding an inner-city neighborhood into a community of faith and hope. Real Hope in Chicago is Wayne Gordon's inspiring account of how people, white and black, rich and poor, old and young, worked together to transform a decaying neighborhood into a place where love is lived out in practical and miraculous ways. It offers an exciting model for interracial cooperation, urban-suburban church partnering--and real hope for the inner cities of our nation===>Click headline to access more information . . .


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Memo to Chicagoland Pastors and Marketplace Leaders

From Phil Miglioratti (One Great City & Loving Our Communities to Christ)

I hope and pray you will give a serious read to the accompanying flyer regarding the launch of the Children's Hunger Fund Food Pak Campaign in our metro region.

CHF has a proven track record (highly rated by Forbes, no less!) of delivering 99% of donor's contributions into the hands of those who need it most; hungry, helpless children. Wonderful, but why am I telling you this?

It goes back to a meeting with CHF President Dave Phillips in a Baker's Square not too long ago. From the moment he shared their vision to "serve children in need across America and around the world," I knew his heart for compassion was authentic. After hearing the amazing success of their Food Pak program to not only feed starving kids but to mobilize sit-in-the-pew Christians into active caring for others, I was hooked ~ And this is my attempt to spread the word.

As you may know, my work locally with One Great City and nationally with Loving Our Communities to Christ, involves three strategic components: Prayer, Care, and Share. Both OGC & LC2C cast a vision for the whole Church to collaborate in taking the whole Gospel to the City, community-by-community; neighborhood-
by-neighborhood. The Food Pak program of Children's Hunger Fund is a big step into that vision.

This simple campaign engages your congregation in the powerful act of feeding a needy child. Here’s how it works. Your members take a box home, fill it with the needed food items and return it to the church. CHF then collects the boxes and distributes them to the poor through their network of trained church volunteers.

As pastors lead their members to participate in the simple Food Pak program, I believe they'll find those same members increasing their awareness of the lost and the least right next door. They will better respond to the Holy Spirit's prompts to pray for their neighbors and to demonstrate the Gospel in practical ways. In other words, caring for those in need is eye-opening and contagious.

Please Care for the needs of the fatherless in our city. Conduct a Food Pak Campaign at your church. To do so, contact Bill Wigboldy at CHF Chicago: 708.769.3019 or bill@childrenshungerfund.org.

May we see an increase of collaborative in-Jesus'-name efforts throughout Chicagoland. And, as we do, I know CHF's simple and compelling Food Pak strategy will be a catalyst for many congregations seeking to better obey our Lord's command to bless the poor and love our enemies.

For His unifying work across our region,

Phil Miglioratti

One Great City ~ Chicagoland

Loving Our Communities to Christ



• Try these keywords in the Search This Blog box above: Resource, Unity, Conference, City Impact

•Receive periodic updates on new One Great City postings: subscribe@nppn.org / Subject: OGC Updates