TOGETHER WITH YOU, we're bringing people together in Rockwood to ensure that no one is invisible and that everyone has access to food, freedom, and forgiveness. TOGETHER WITH YOU, we envision Rockwood becoming a community of holistic prosperity where people are becoming followers of Jesus, and where everyone has the right to earn, learn, and belong.
A "Full Circle" Story?
In early 2014, I (Scott) sat in our car in an empty parking lot and asked the Lord to give our team the 75-room hotel I was looking at. I repeated that prayer a number of times that year and beyond, and then eventually the vision of our team died related to this specific aspect of the envisioned ministry. Fast forward about 7 years...our partner organization the Rockwood Community Development Corporation was granted 7 million dollars to purchase that very same hotel and use it for sheltering, serving, and transitioning homeless people. We wrote about it and included photos in our June/July 2021 Update. We also included this link if you wanted/want to read more about it. https://rockwoodcdc.org/oregon-community-foundation-awards-nearly-7-million-to-rockwood-cdc-to-bring-critical-help-to-one-of-the-most-underserved-areas-of-multnomah-county/
About a hundred houseless individuals and families have found long-term housing in the last year through this community blessing!
So why am I bringing this to your attention again? I (Scott) have been invited to begin holding "chapel meetings" at this shelter (now called The Rockwood Tower). We had our first meeting today after a few weeks of praying, preparing and advertising. Nobody came. We will continue for a while and seek God's guidance. My plan is to invite others to join me in loving on the residents there through listening well, personal prayers, sharing stories (personal and Gospel), interactive Bible discussions, leading music, doing kids ministry, and however else the Lord may lead. I want to invite people I have been discipling as well as sisters and brothers in Christ from various churches in Rockwood. I have also been in communication with the chaplain at a local Christian college about some of their students helping with this.
Thank you for your continued prayers about this potential opportunity.
Thank you for praying that those who need encouragement in Christ will fill these seats--and others--at our chapel meetings on Sunday mornings.
One Family at a Time Recently, we had our annual Rockwood 7 (7 nights of prayer at 7 different churches in Rockwood) and Rockwood United Worship (a collaborative worship experience amongst Rockwood churches). At the first evening of Rockwood 7, there was a houseless single mom of two boys who attended along with her sons. I encourage you to read the following story (written by Brad Ketch) to see what Rockwood 7, Brad Ketch (who, along with his wife Lynn, founded the Rockwood Community Development Corporation), and the Rockwood Tower all have in common...
Our Rockwood Tower is a place of refuge and hope for the houseless people of East Multnomah County. Each one of our 75 rooms contains a person or a family with a compelling story, and I do not usually get personally involved. But last week I did get involved, and I want to tell you about it. Every year the Shalom Rockwood church network gathers for seven nights of prayer for Rockwood. I attended on that drenching and cold Monday night. The room was cool because the host church can’t afford to turn on the heat until they really have to. As the 30 people from six or seven different churches were assembling, a mom, a dog, and her two sons, aged maybe 14 and 9, came in. They were soaked and cold. The oldest was in a toe-to-hip cast with a newly broken leg. Later in the service, Pastor Dave supported ‘Shauna’ while she told everyone her story. They had been on the streets for ten years, in part because she was undocumented. Years before they had stayed nearby at a horrible shelter. “Oh man, I remember waking up there when I was like three years old, and there were rat turds on my pillow”, son ‘Daniel’ told me. Daniel’s comment reminded me of when a nurse went over to that shelter. She had worked in a refugee camp in Rwanda. “I have never seen worse conditions for human beings than over there on Stark” she grimly told me one day. This period is when Shauna and the boys first made the connection to Freedom – a connection that they never forgot. So Shauna is telling us her story, and it comes out that she and the boys were sleeping out in the open. Underneath a tree. In the rain. No tent. It was 45 degrees. I asked the older one how he can possibly sleep in a cast on the ground out in the cold rain and he said, “well, my leg is actually the warmest and driest part of me.” The people gathered around this family and prayed that God would be merciful to them and provide them shelter. I did not say anything about our Tower because I did not know if we had any openings or not. My prayer was simply that we would. On Tuesday morning our staff determined that yes!, a room was available. I went back to the second night of prayer, this time at a different church. Unbelievably Shauna, the dog and boys were there again, even though it was miles from the church on the first night and they had no car. They were soaked and cold. A pastor and I met with her privately. “Shauna, I have some good news”, I said. “We have a room for you.” The relief on her face made me realize that Shauna was actually younger than I thought she was. We then shared the good news with everyone and there was gladness and tears all around. I said to Shauna in front of everyone, “you’re going to have a hot shower and sleep in a real bed tonight. Three meals tomorrow. You’re safe through the winter. There’s a clothes closet. You’ll meet your Navigator tomorrow.” I was overcome by the whole thing and had to leave the room to get the grief out of my system. A bit later the pastor said, “Shauna, let’s talk logistics. I have an SUV and can take you guys directly to the Tower. Brad can go get your stuff. Where is it stashed?” She pointed to her backpack and to the little bag of dog food that Ariel was holding. “This is our stuff” she said. “Nu-uh”, I protested. “That can’t be. Where is . . . “ “Stolen” she said. Her phone, the boys’ birth certificates, their clothes, tarps, all of it. I know that frequently people who are on the street tell the stories that they want me to hear, but in this case there was no denying that we delivered this family to the Tower with nothing but the wet clothes on their backs. When we got to the Tower, our staff was waiting for us with smiles. Shauna was told that her key was ready and that they could simply go on up. And so they did. The pastor and I said goodbye and walked out into the cold rainy night. In a few minutes both of us would be home – warm and dry – but forever changed by our experience. At the Rockwood CDC, one of our four core values is, “It’s Personal”. This little story is an example of what this means. When I am personally engaged with families like Shauna it breaks my heart and it reminds me of the urgency and importance of the work that we are all doing. And we are doing it together. Just think of all of the personal touch points, the systems, the money, and the long-term commitments that had to happen seamlessly for Shauna to get out of the storm on Tuesday night. None of it was accidental and all of it was because you on our team and among our partners made conscious decisions to save lives...
Prayer Requests
* Michelle continues to face challenges in recuperating from her surgery. This week she is fighting off an infection and continues to face serious difficulties sleeping. Thank you for continuing to pray for her and her husband Jereby, who has taken a leave-of-absence from his job to care for her.
* TWO very significant things will be happening in January:
#1--Our local church (asischurch.com) will be launching its first intentional and strategic one-on-one discipleship effort. I (Scott) will be doing an INTENSIVE training of a CORE Discipleship Team who are committing to A) Being discipled by me, using the SmallCircle tool (see smallcircle.com), B) Discipling others, using the same tool, C) Continuing to meet together after the initial training process in order to help foster and develop a CULTURE of discipleship in our faith family. Thank you for praying that we will be faithful in helping each other follow Jesus, as a healthy family, in every area of life.
#2--Our local church will be making another strategic move within the community. We are currently renovating a school gym to run as a community center. We will meet there. Other churches may meet there. Partner organizations may set up office space or hold special events or regular ministry outreaches there. Thank you for praying that we will be faithful in serving our neighbors in Jesus' Name in holistic ways that reflect the love of God for the whole person.
* Thank you for continuing to pray for our Rockwood Tower Chapel Meetings, that they would see Jesus in us and we would see Jesus in them, and that we would all experience the ACTIVE presence of God in our meetings together.
PLEASE NOTE: In the past, some of our supporters have sent "personal" financial gifts (at Christmas time) to us through our organization One Collective. This is no longer a possibility. We are NOT asking for any personal financial gifts, but just in case you were thinking about sending them, please do not send them through One Collective. Any gifts to our MINISTRY account can still be sent to One Collective, following the directions at the bottom of this update (and for which you will still receive a tax-deductible receipt). Thank you!
Lastly, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and God's best for you in
2023!!
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THANKS AGAIN FOR PARTNERING WITH US IN THE GOSPEL THROUGH YOUR PRAYERS AND/OR FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS! WE APPRECIATE YOU!
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Copyright (C) 2022 Scott and Vicki McCracken. All rights reserved.
Scott and Vicki McCracken
2225 SE 157th Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97233
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