HMCC Highlights - July 2008

HMCC Highlights

July 8, 2008

Harvest Mission Community Church

Volume 1, Issue 8

Inside This Issue Destiny Campaign Update Missions Projects Chicago Alumni Spotlight: Eugene Chang Past Issues April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007	Destiny Campaign Update We recently celebrated a huge milestone as we finally closed on the purchase of our new building! The white building on E. Huron Street, formerly known as "URC," is the new home to HMCC. We will spend the summer renovating and preparing the building, starting with a couple work days this July. Church members will roll up their sleeves and get to work on various projects such as cleaning, painting, and yardwork. We are excited to prepare this new facility so that it will be a place where many lives will experience the presence and power of God and experience transformation. It's Not Too Late to Get Involved! You can listen to the April 13th sermon for the Destiny Campaign here: http://annarbor.hmcc.net/view/page/sunday_sermon The title of the message was, "The Foundation for Our Destiny" and covers the importance of investing and impacting future generations. We have also set up an online pledging system for people who are outside of Ann Arbor and you can do it here at this site: http://transformtheworld.com/destiny/pledge_online.php Or if you want to just give a one-time donation you can do it here: http://transformtheworld.com/give.php
	HMCC Chicago Update The month of June at HMCC of Chicago marked the transitional point in our calendar. Students were finishing off their final quarter and busy sitting for finals, the weather was finally beginning to warm up and the church was moving into a summer schedule. Needless to say, it was a particularly exciting month as we were able to attend our very first graduation at Northwestern University. Since a couple of our members were graduating this year, we were able to join the festivities at the Ryan Stadium. We watched as the sea of purple on the field made up of an incredibly bright and talented students, were recognized for their academic achievements and receive their charge for whatever future endeavors they would engage in. Our prayer is that our students be movers and shakers in whatever career path or calling they enter into. Another highlight of the month was officially launching our adult's ministry - FOCUS. We gathered all the adults in our church together and were able to share the vision for FOCUS and spend some quality time together. It will be exciting to see how God will use this ministry here in the Chicagoland area where there is a large number of working professionals. A final highlight for our church was our hosting of the India Missions Team for their intensive training. Smallgroups were able to host the team by preparing meals for them and getting a chance to partner with them as they prepared to for their trip to India. All in all, it was a transitional but fruitful month here at HMCC of Chicago.
	2008 Summer Missions Our summer missions teams spent the month of June preparing for their projects. The India team, comprised of members from HMCC of Ann Arbor and Chicago, recently arrived at New Theological College (NTC) in Dehra Duhn. They will join with the seminary students in reaching the villages in the Northern region of India. Our community missions team is helping with Excel Academy, our summer program for international children. They are also helping with Excel Enrich, a program that we are piloting this year, aimed at reaching children from lower-income neighborhoods. Finally, we will be sending a small team to the cities of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Indonesia. This team will meet with alumni and other contacts in these cities to reconnect, learn how God is working in these cities, and pray about the possibilities of future international church plants. Please join us in praying for the work that God is doing around the world!
	Alumni Spotlight: Eugene Chang Location: Bloomington, IN Area of Profession:Technology Job Title:Masters Student in Human Computer Interaction Design Employer/School: Indiana University, Bloomington Email: change02@gmail.com What do you do in your job? My job is to understand how people use and integrate technology in their lives. This understanding is requisite to making new generations of tech both easier and more delightful to use. I also get to live out the geek’s dream of playing with lots of computers and gadgets. What significant changes have happened for you since you left HMCC? One of the biggest shifts was going from working life to student life and back to working life, only to return to being a student again in 2 months. (Ah, the joys of a summer internship.) As a student, I am reminded what it was like losing my nights and weekends to studying, papers, and projects. Returning to work in Seattle for the summer, it was a shock to find out how tired I could be at the end of a workday. All in all, it’s been awesome to be reminded how wonderfully different life can be in different stages. Please share one (or briefly two) of you favorite memories from HMCC. Summers were my favorite time of year at HMCC. Picnics, sports, road trips, and the like filled the days. One of my favorite reoccurring events were the “small gathering” Lake Village cookouts that inevitably turned into a multi-dozen person affair. Goggled grilling followed by gorging of food & relationship talk capped off with tennis court Ultimate Frisbee. What did you take away from HMCC that you are thankful for, or that has positively impacted where you are today? I’m so thankful of being in an environment where God was worshipped holistically. In my 9 years in Ann Arbor, I was constantly challenged both by the church and friends to think about how to put God in the center of everything. My life, from friendships to church service to my calling, was put in this context. I miss the support I had while I was in Ann Arbor, but I’m thankful those years that shaped me to understand the supremacy of God in all that I do. What are some professional and personal goals you hope to attain in the future? I hope to graduate in the spring, after which I hope to find a job in user experience. Personally, I hope to continue to be the salt and light to the people around me, whether it’s in Seattle for 2 more months, Bloomington for 2 more semesters, or wherever God might take me.