Tuesday, September 27, 2016

October 2016 Newsletter

Our Journey to the A-frame

 The A-Frame building on NM-14 has truly been an answer to prayer. As we have seemed to outgrow our space at the Vista Grande Community Center, the A-frame is well situated and feasible for our church to use in order to increase our ability to minister in and to our community. The following recaps God’s provision and our journey to our new facility.

Early in 2015, the church property planning team had prayed, studied, and discussed the possibilities of developing our property on La Madera Road. The team discovered that the potential costs to establish a church facility would likely require several years to increase the church building fund and, therefore, wasn’t a feasible option for us right away.

In November of 2015, the owners of the A-Frame building on NM-14 near the Crest called Pastor Charles asking if we were interested in renting their building for our church. After prayerful discussion, the elders decided that this was God’s leading for our church. 


The elders signed a lease after several weeks of waiting to receive information and approval from the county, and several of our men volunteered to guide and oversee the efforts to prepare and improve the building for our use. Renovations began in June and the old ice cream shop has slowly transformed into our new facility. Week after week, various members of our church have donated their time and energy to helping with various stages of the renovation, which will make moving into our new building that much more special.

We are hopeful that the renovations will be completed and approved by the beginning of November. We are excited about the new ministries that have already begun, and we plan to celebrate God’s provisions for our church when we worship together in our new facility. We are planning a special worship service and block party for the community to come and visit our new location.

We plan to stay at the A-frame for at least 3 years as we worship, minister, evangelize, fellowship, and serve in the East Mountains.


AmazonSmile & VGC

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases.

On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation.

You can change your charity any time. Your AmazonSmile purchases after the change count towards your newly selected charity. To change your charity, sign in to smile.amazon.com on your desktop or mobile phone browser and simply select “Change your Charity” in “Your Account.”

1. Go to https://smile.amazon. com
2. Hover over “Your Account” then click on “Your Account”
3. Under the “Settings” section, select “Change Your Charity”
4. Type “Vista Grande Church” into the search box and click “Search”
5. Locate the correct “Vista Grande Church” and click “Select”
6. Vista Grande Church is your new charity!

All donations will benefit VGC’s Feed the Kids ministry.


Smith’s Community Rewards & VGC

 Smith’s is committed to helping communities grow and prosper. Year after year, local schools, churches, and other non-profit organizations will earn millions of dollars through Smith’s Community Rewards. Smith’s Community Rewards makes fundraising easy…. simply by using your Smith’s reward card! There is no cost to enroll, and enrollment will not affect your fuel points or coupon discounts. Your purchases will begin earning for your designated nonprofit organization immediately after enrolling.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to enroll your Smith’s reward card in Smith’s Community Rewards Program in order to support the Vista Grande Church Youth Ministry!

1. Go to www.smithsfoodand drug.com
2. Sign in to your Smith’s account. If you don’t have a Smith’s account, you can create one by clicking “Register” in the top right corner
3. Access your account summary by clicking on your name
4. At the bottom of the Account Summary page is the Community Rewards setting, click “Enroll”
5. Type “Vista Grande Church” in the search box and click “Search”
6. Select “Vista Grande Church Youth Ministry” and click “Enroll”
7. You are enrolled!


Ministry Spotlight

The Forgotten Initiative: Jen Bartz

 The Forgotten Initiative desires to bring joy and purpose to the foster care community.  We work closely with the BAIR Foundation (an Albuquerque Christian Foster care agency) to reach children with the gospel.  We accomplish this through service projects like Journey Bags (giving each child going into foster care a bag full of necessary items including a Bible), birthday and discharge parties, cleaning the toy room monthly, and providing any other need that comes up.  We can also provide help for foster families who need yard work or interior modifications done (like painting and minor repairs).  We try to show our appreciation and brighten the agency workers’ days as much as we can, too, by providing thank you gifts throughout the year.

Foster Care can be a challenging area, but God is doing big things in the lives of those in this community!  A four-year-old boy shared with the director of the BAIR Foundation that the Journey bag he received "must have been put together by God" because of how perfectly it met his immediate needs and made him feel loved.

If you would like to be a part of or learn more about this ministry, please contact Jen Bartz at jenni.bartz@gmail.com or 405-385-6341.  If you would like to make a donation to our local branch of TFI, please write checks to The Forgotten Initiative and put "Albuquerque" in the Memo line so the Albuquerque area gets the funds.  You may mail checks directly to Lifesong for Orphans PO Box 40, Grindley, IL 61744. All donations are tax-deductible.


Fall 2016 LIFE Groups

Our LIFE groups are small groups for fellowship and discipleship. We help each other follow Christ together. In small groups, each member enjoys Christian fellowship as we serve one another in love. Please contact Pastor Charles if you would like to start a LIFE Group.

There are currently 8 LIFE Groups being offered this Fall:

Hayden LIFE Group: led by Pastor Charles @ Hayden home, Mondays @ 6pm-8pm
Women’s morning LIFE Group: led by Sheryl Stewart @ EMC*, Tuesdays @ 10am-12pm
Prayer LIFE Group: led by Martha Woodfin at her home, Wednesdays @ 3:30pm-5pm
Women’s evening LIFE Group: led by Karla Davis @ EMC*, Wednesdays @ 6pm-7:30pm
Hope Ahead LIFE Group: led by Sara Ghormley @ Vineyard Church, Wednesdays @ 6:30pm-8pm
College & Young Careers LIFE Group: led by Mike Harding @ Lord home*, Wednesdays @ 6:30pm-8pm
Teen Girls LIFE Group: led by Emily Harding @ EMC*, Thursdays @ 7pm-8pm
Teen Guys LIFE Group: led by Mike Harding @ EMC*, Thursdays @ 7pm-8pm
*Location subject to change


Youth Ministry Update

 After a very busy summer, things at the VGC Youth Ministry are settling into a rhythm again for the fall semester. There are lots of sports and school activities going on.

In the months of  August and September, we’ve gone over a 3-part series based off of Psalm 67 entitled “What God’s Heart for the Nations Really Looks Like.” We have gone over the importance of not taking our freedom to worship for granted, and “How Much Value We Are to God.” We have also talked about several heroes of the faith like Stephen and many from the book “The Voice of the Martyrs,” such as John Wycliffe, and how heroes like John laid down their lives for the sake of spreading the Gospel. We have even had a guest from Jordan come and share on our true value and what it is like to live in a country where Christianity is restricted.

Our average Sunday Youth night looks a little like this: we spend some time playing a game or several games, then we spend time in praise and worship typically led by Hunter Harlan, Mason Norris, and Rachel Ghormley (they do a great job and we are always looking for more youth to volunteer), then it is time for the message, and finally we split up for the remainder of our time into two small groups divided by High School and Middle School to break down the message or do inductive studies on different passages of Scripture.

If you are interested in listening to any of the messages that have been taught at youth, they are posted on the church website under the Youth Ministry tab.


Prayer Requests

    -Work on the A-frame

    -Tito Manzanares going through chemo

    -Garland Leatherman recovering

    -Tina Farber going through cancer treatments

    -Mike and Emily Harding for guidance after job loss and for baby

    -Carolyn King

    -James Bartz Jr. and family

    -Kathy Fowler recovering from concussion

    -Doc Castillo recovering from   knee injury

    -Jimmie Norris

    -Gayle DeRose having shoulder surgery

    -Safe return from deployment for Austin Leavitt

    -Pastor Charles, elders, and their families



October Calendar Event Details

Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30—Sunday Worship, 9am-11am @ VGCC

Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30—Youth Service, 5pm-7pm @ EMC

Oct 2—East Mountain Concert, sponsored by Young at Heart Gospel Choir Ministry, 3pm-5pm @ VGCC

Oct 5, 19—Feed the Kids, 10am-12pm @ First Baptist Tijeras Fellowship Hall

Oct 8—Women’s Breakfast,  8:30am-10:30am @ EMC

Oct 14—Mr. Mark’s Parenting Conference, 6:30pm-9:00pm @ Sandia Baptist Church, FREE event, childcare available, register online at www.bcnm.com, please let Mrs. Terry Nunneley or Jen Bartz know if you are attending

Oct 15—Mr. Mark’s One Day Classroom, 8:30am-3:30pm @ Sandia Baptist Church, for children’s teachers/leaders, talk to Mrs. Terry Nunneley or Jen Bartz about registration