

I am not talking about Martin Luther King Jr.. Psalm 97:1 says "The Lord is King! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!" The CollECtive Choir was able to represent Jesus at the city MLK commemoration recently. I am increasingly surprised (and then surprised that I am surprised) at how impacting the simple posture of our missional music community is, "CollECtively proclaiming Jesus through exuberant praise." We stand on display in public spaces as ones both set free - and being set free by Jesus as we are conformed more and more into his image. With all of the testimonies recently from the choir of personal deliverance and freedom from some of the weights and shackles they have been under, it is no wonder that the choir seems to pack an increasingly large punch wherever we go. In a conversation with a good friend and worship leader, the question was asked, "What happens when a bunch of liberated people show up to a place?"
At the MLK event, we saw a bit of what happens. One of the secretaries of the Church that was hosting the commemoration seemed to linger in conversation. She kept asking about who we were and what we did, and where we go- on the verge of tears. I could tell that she was directly effected by Jesus and the bona fide joy she experienced.
In other observation, our retention rate for the last run was 100%, as opposed to the normal 50-60% of new people committing further to the choir. There is a stickiness to the culture of praise that is cultivating here! All praise to our Lord Jesus Christ.
A quick update on our fundraising: we have reached $77% of our one-time donation goal of $15,000 for 2019, and 30% of our monthly partner goal of $4,800/month, with the goal of being 100% by year end. God is providing!
Prayer requests:
-That the Lord continues to free the choir from residual weights and chains, and helps us operate in the mind of Christ, and increase the knowledge of His love in and through us
-Pray for the formation of an events team in the Choir to help with all of the planning and preparation details to increase our capacity and effectiveness. This includes an event coordinator, prayer coordinator, publicity coordinator, and hospitality coordinator.
-Pray for this upcoming week of prep for us leading worship at Valleybrook that the Lord would open our eyes to people in our path to pull into the fray of praise.
-Pray for favor on the Valleybrook community, that the Lord would bless them, encourage them and transform them further into His image through our ministry.
Much Love,
miker