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Evergreen:
One church, many locations
We can do more together than we could apart. InTouch is a quarterly newsletter of Evergreen Community Church and its locations: Lakeville, Bloomington, New Hope, The Rock, The Urban Refuge.
Dusting Off the Office of Deacons
By brent knox
Evergreen-Bloomington recently brushed off the dust of an underused biblical office—the role of deacon. Deacon is a biblical office (1 Timothy 3:8-13) that has not been recognized or practiced at Evergreen for a long time. It's about time.
There are two basic reasons why the Bloomington location has recently recognized deacons. 1) It is biblical. The early church functioned better with deacons. 2) There is a promise for deacons. "Those who serve well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus(1 Timothy 3:13)." There is a spiritual impact on men and women who serve well as deacons!
The word "deacon" in the Bible literally means, "servant." The main purpose of the deacon is to serve the pastoral staff by accomplishing important tasks that free the pastors to concentrate on the spiritual matters of the ministry of the Word and prayer. Acts 6:1-6 records the incident that led to the formal office of deacon in the early church. The office is open to both men and women. The phrase "their wives" (1 Tim. 3:11) is better translated, "deaconesses." Also, Phoebe is indicated as a deaconess in Romans 16:1-2.
During the weekend services of February 11 & 13, the Bloomington location recognized the following deacons and their roles:
• Tony Asher: Deacon of Kid's Against Hunger
• Nathan and Tara Odegard: Deacons of Fit-to-be-Tied
• Mary Flaten: Deacon of Heart Ministry
These important roles are ministry (or task) oriented. Each deacon will serve a term of two years. At the end of the two years, their role will be re-evaluated. There will be more deacons recognized in the months and years to come at Bloomington.
Welcoming a New Pastor
By brent knox 
We are excited to announce the addition of Kevin Barnd as our newest pastor here at Evergreen-Bloomington. He officially became a pastor on May 16, 2010. Kevin represents an important "first" at Evergreen. He is the first son of a pastor to become a pastor. He becomes an important link to our church vision of aiming young. If our church is to have a future, then young leaders need to be recognized.
Kevin is Bill Barnd's son. The Barnd family have been active members of Evergreen for over fifteen years. Kevin began attending when he was in fifth grade. Kevin followed the ministry footsteps of his dad. He has been fruitfully involved in the high school group since a teenager.
Kevin is now 28 years old, married to Ashley, with two young children (Nevaeh and Makai).
Kevin will be a "tent-making" lay-pastor. He will be unpaid from the church and continue with his full time job. Kevin will continue to work with the teen ministry with a growing emphasis on mentoring young men and teaching.
The 'Million Meal' Journey of Faith and God's Faithfulness
By Tim Weber
In September of 2010 (before the earthquake), I went on a mission trip to Haiti with 16 other Evergreen and Urban Refuge members. It was an amazing trip that deeply challenged me. Particularly in the area of my definition of "love" and "compassion". My eyes were opened to a new stratosphere of what Christ-like love and compassion really looks and feels like. After returning, I was very moved by God to do something to really help "the least of these brothers" that I saw.
I can't explain how or why we came to the goal of packing a million Kids Against Hunger (KAH) meals in 2010. It just happened. In fact Chad Oltman, a pastor at the Urban Refuge and a more grizzled KAH veteran asked me one afternoon...."Tim, do you even realize what it takes to purchase and pack 1 million meals?" I told him "not really!" He proceeded to laugh at me. But I felt compelled to do something radical and more importantly, something that would require faith. Something that would engage the entire church and grow our compassion. Something that would give people at Evergreen a bigger picture of God and draw many outside the church to Jesus Christ (Matt. 5:16). I of course had no idea at the time that Haiti would very soon be devastated by one of the worst earthquakes ever to occur in our history and that the food we were already packing would be so desperately needed.
FAITH HURDLES
Our first faith hurdle was money. To purchase enough raw material for a million meals, we estimated that we would need to raise approximately $110,000. Given that we were in the middle of a capital campaign and in the heart of a U.S. recession, this was an ominous task. Yet God provided a way. He was just waiting for us to take a step of faith. Our approach was to ask a lot of people in the church to do a little bit. We went before the church and asked 600 people to commit to raising $200 each, without any money coming from their own pockets. Although some people did give of their own resources, a very large percentage of the needed money came from outside donors. By the end of 2010, we had raised over $108,000.
Our second faith hurdle was volunteers. Our original estimation was that it would take over 6000 volunteers to pack a million meals. God brought hundreds simply by word of mouth and by people being moved to help because of the earthquake. Our story was highlighted on KARE 11 and promoted on KTIS. In addition, we asked everyone in the church to invite at least one unchurched friend or family member to come and pack with them at one of our pack-a-thon's. In the end, we had over 7000 packers that participated. And of those 7000, it is estimated that over 750 stepped through the doors of Evergreen for the first time. Many of which did not know Christ. I have since met several of these people at our weekend services. Our year culminated with a pack-a-thon bringing both our Evergreen Bloomington and Urban Refuge locations together with the millionth meal packed by our students about one week before the end of the year.
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF HAITI
Every meal that we pack and ship is being sent directly to the 13,000 children attending one of over 50 Lifeline Haiti Schools in southern Haiti. The children are fed once/day and in most cases, this is the only meal they will eat for the entire day. In addition to feeding their stomachs, Lifeline Haiti is feeding their minds by providing a quality education. Each Lifeline Haiti location is also a church so all of the children are being fed the Word of God on a daily basis as well.
So far we have shipped around 400,000 of the packed meals to Haiti and are in the process of getting the remaining 600,000 shipped very soon. Having just returned from Haiti less than a week ago, I can tell you that we are truly making a difference! The food we are providing is desperately needed and is literally helping save lives (physically and spiritually).
I am proud of our church for how they responded in faith. And I am trusting that our Lord will respond to that faith and bring a blessing and refreshment to this church. May God continue to grow our faith and His church as we continue to press forward in faith and pack another 500,000 meals in 2011. "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed". (Proverbs 11:25).
The Next Step: Randy Schmidt Steps Out in Faith at The Urban Refuge
By Andy gray
 After 13 years of serving in the ministry, Randy Schmidt was led by the Lord to step out of his current role not knowing where that next step might take him. The Urban Refuge was facing some financial challenges in the coming year at its, then, current staffing levels. While seeking the Lord, Randy was touched by this passage:
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
- 1 John 3:16-18 (NIV)
Randy believed that God was leading him to "lay down" his staff position at the Urban Refuge, which would alleviate the tension in the budget and enable the church to handle the increased expenses of owning a building. "Interestingly, this was the same verse God used to lead me into ministry over 13 years ago," says Randy. "It was difficult to take this step, not knowing where I will be working, but God has set my heart at rest and I am confident he will lead us."
Randy began his journey in ministry by raising support to work with the singles. His service included a short stint in Lakeville when the church was planted, several years at Bloomington, and the last five at the Urban Refuge. We are profoundly grateful for Randy and the many years of hard work that he gave for the sake of building God's Kingdom as a staff member and we are so thankful that Randy, his wife Penny, and their son Josiah will remain a part of the Urban Refuge family. Our entire congregation has been inspired by his continual love for the church body and his confident faith in God. Please pray for the Schmidt's as they seek to follow the Lord in this journey of faith.
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InTouch News
