Clay Pots ~ Christmas 2010

People... we say that they are priceless and valuable, we invest in them, we have profitable or unprofitable conversations with them, sometimes our relationships go bankrupt or we perceive that we received no return on our investment in them. I was reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. In one of the last chapters in the book, the author wrote about Christian love. His point was that we often use our love like a commodity... like money. I stopped to think about this and realized that unconsciously, at times, I did view people as a place where-in to invest my love. And if, perhaps, that investment did not produce a good return (of course, this is in my own estimation of what a good return means), then I would be tempted to remove my deposits of love and place them elsewhere where there would be a good return.

As I mulled on this for awhile, I came to the conclusion that that type of response is human reasoning and human love. It is also a lot of work with not much joy involved. Godly, gospel driven love, however, is not an investment, it is a gift. God loved me, a terrible wretched sinner, so much, that he gave his only Son to me for free. And he gave his only Son to the whole world, out of which there are some that would accept and others who would not. But I don't believe that God looked at His Son's death as an investment; it is a free gift because he loves and appreciates and yearns for all people (regardless of who they are or their backgrounds or what they have done) to be in joyful communion with him. The difference between Godly love and human love is that he does not withdraw his love from those who do not respond.

So as I prepare for Christmas just like all of you, I am struck anew this year with the incredibleness of God the Father's gift of unconditional love and grace upon me. Whether I would have responded or not responded to his loving gift of salvation through Jesus Christ made no difference to him... it is unconditional, and he would have given the gift of the baby born in a manger either way because he loved me. And this is true of all of us. Knowing this makes me feel special and privileged, but at the same time, humbled by the fact that he did this for each and every person on this planet. But what breaks my heart is that this planet is full of people who do not yet know that there is a gift of salvation waiting for them from a loving Heavenly Father. Thus his love motivates me to joyfully love my neighbor in word and deed, and not withdraw it if I don't get a good return on my investment.

May the remembrance of the Christmas story bring joy, peace, and hope to you.
Peace,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp

Clay Pots ~ news

The turned over ground

For our Monday night listener's club, Paco and I are attempting to structure some English lessons for beginners that will be productive, challenging, independent of other lessons, practical, entertaining, and interactive so as to open up the doors to a deeper relationship with the ones who we are working with. Not necessarily easy, but this is the niche we find ourselves in. "Why would you come up with your own lessons?", you ask. Well, because our structure on Monday nights is not a classroom setting; instead, it is built around conversation. So we are tailoring the lessons to lend to conversation and interaction. The attendees are loving it. They love to come every week and practice their English and learn more. The members of the basics group enjoy laughing with each other and learning new things each week. The more advanced groups are able to delve into some deeper conversations about life, culture, beliefs, and many other things. This has been a very encouraging time.

Another very exciting development: Pastor Mario Navarro is hosting a one hour a week Spanish radio program starting on December 13th. His program will air from 7:00-8:00 on Monday mornings on AM1460, if you would like to tune in. This will be a great time for the Word of God to go out, in Spanish, to our community. Please pray that many will tune in and that it will be successful in ministering to the spiritual needs of the Latino community. Praise God for Mario's heart and for those who have encouraged him and donated already to make this a possibility. If anyone would feel moved to donate to Mario in order to sustain this ministry long term, please contact me.

The ground for the garden plot was turned over a few weeks ago! Praise God! We are one step closer to seeing this ministry go forward. Paco and I are planning on getting together this next week and designing and printing flyers and promotional materials for the gardens so we are ready come the middle of this winter when we want to get the word out. Be in prayer that this will meet just as many spiritual needs as it does physical needs.

Christmas is right around the corner. We pray that all of us remember the meaning of the incarnation and how we can model God's love to those around us.

Peace,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp

A lot... for Free?

Sight of our home-to-be on West Ave. in Waukesha

Our family's request to God over the past months has been to own our own home. To us, that seemed like an outrageous request. Jason and I have lived either in mission apartments, rental homes, or bush houses ever since we have been married. For us, there was never a sense of permanence or stability, which inherently comes with the missionary status. It was unsettling to see a "for sale" sign go up in front of our rental home this past month and we knew that our kids just can't go through another move again. So, knowing that God can do miracles, we have been continuing to pray to him about this area of our lives.

We have been looking to locate somewhere in the heart of downtown Waukesha in order to live among those whom God has given us a heart to minister to. The city of Waukesha is full of Latinos and other immigrants so it seemed like a logical place to begin to pray about. Through the city of Waukesha and Jason's cousin, Keith Knapp, President of Paradise Builders God has miraculously provided to us a FREE vacant city lot only blocks from downtown Waukesha where we can build a low income home! A free lot is a wonderful blessing but we still didn't have the funds or approval for a loan to build a home... we had already been denied twice for a loan cuz it is hard to understand how we maintain an income... "You mean, people faithfully give you money every month? What happens if someone ceases to donate?" "Well," we said, "God has always made up the difference." (Living by faith doesn't always look good on the books.) But our God is always at work and he has graciously moved in the hearts of certain individuals at our bank, Waukesha State Bank, and they have decided to take us on as a very special case and offer us an in-house loan. I think that they are in favor of the idea of Clay Pots and want to show it by signing for the loan themselves. Seriously we are telling the truth!!! And if that wasn't the icing on the cake, we have found out that at least two of the other adjoining lots were given to immigrant families! So we believe that God is working to put us exactly where he wants us to serve.

So when I get nervous about how we may not always have the support we need to pay our mortgage, I have to stop and laugh. We can't deny that God is making this happen in pretty miraculous ways and so I just better hold on for the ride realizing that he is answering the prayer we have been praying for so long. I feel safe and secure knowing that God is in charge of cities, banks, governments, and people...I tend to easily forget that. I am confident that some day next year you will be receiving an invitation to our house warming party and what a joyous party that will be! Our heart's two-fold desire has been met by God through His people in ways no one (at least I) could have imagined. We consider this opportunity a demonstration of the miraculous grace of God... who knew that he would have this in store for us when we left PNG a year ago? Could you pray for wisdom for us as we move forward with this? That we would continue to trust in God's provision. That we could find good deals on building supplies. That we could cut costs as we and volunteers do certain aspects of the project. That our hope of breaking ground before the snow flies could be a reality... I guess that could be any day now in Wisconsin:-)

Thankful for God's purposeful movement in our lives,
Kellie for the family

To support this ministry,
Send a check to:
Clay Pots
S53W24079 Glendale Rd.
Waukesha, WI. 53189

Clay Pots ~ Gardens and Help needed

"You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev. 19:34) "If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.” (Lev. 23:35). I find this second passage very interesting because even though God is talking about how the Israelites were to treat their own ‘brothers’ (people from their own country); it assumes that the Israelites were supporting and caring for the stranger and sojourner (or immigrant)… and allowing them to live with them. “You shall… as though…” Wow, no segregation here, the Israelites were actually supposed to be hospitable by housing those of other cultures in their own homes, according to God’s design. I know that this does not apply to us across the board, but it is a glimpse into the all inclusive and loving heart of God for all peoples everywhere, and it gives me encouragement to think outside the box in how we as the children of God can care for the immigrant among us.

I told you in my last letter, that I would inform you of ways in which I believe God is directing his servants to trust him, live the gospel, and care for the poor and needy. Here are two ideas which we are in the process of planning and organizing for next year with the Biblical hope (confident expectation) that God will work mightily.

Community Garden Plots: (We gotta come up with a better name than that:)) As humans, we all innately have a desire to create something or tend nature. Next summer we are going to try to use this innate desire by offering free garden plots to low income families in order to meet a physical need and in order to build relationships. The concept is simple: we allow immigrants from low income housing and apartment complexes to plant a garden free of charge on our church(s) property. We provide seed and water and tools, and they commit to tending their own gardens through the summer and then they take home all the produce. I have seen this type of project hosted by a local church in Ohio (the pic of it is above)… they had at least an acre of land divided into 20 or 30 small plots which ministered to the physical needs of those who were displaced or less fortunate. What a blessing we can be by simply using our unused property! As to date we have approx 40 interested families!

English Classes: As a follow up to this, Paco and I are in the process of planning a way to spring-board off this project with winter English Classes. We would like to offer these free classes to anyone from any country (Latino or otherwise) who would need/desire it. The course would run through the winter and be followed by another summer of gardening if the idea catches on.
Of course, both of these projects require many of God’s servants to labor together for the sake of the gospel. I am praying that God will provide immensely in this way. Pray that God would open the necessary doors and that he would make this project successful. Pray for the planning. Pray for community desire. Pray for open hearts to the gospel. Pray for laborers.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?: Do you have garden tools that you would be willing to donate? Would you be willing to donate/plant seeds and/or donate seedlings? Could you give a financial gift to help pay for rain barrels, sheds, tools, seeds, hoses, etc? (see below on how to do that) Some of the people are going to need transportation..have any ideas? Would you be willing to help prepare the ground? Volunteer to help with English classes? Donate $ for materials needed for those English classes? MOVERS. There is a volunteer call list of people through James Place willing to help immigrants and low income residents move from one apartment building to another or one house to another. There were 37 families that needed help moving this past year; 11 of those had to be turned down due to the lack of volunteers. Would you be wiling to add your name to the list? E-mail us. Call us. We can't wait to hear from you!

Thank you for your prayers. His Clay Pots, Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp
FINANCIAL DONATIONS:
Send a check to:
Clay Pots,
S53 W24079 Glendale Rd.
Waukesha, WI 53189
(if you are specifically wanting to donate to the Garden Plots, attach a note specifying Community Gardens)