Simply Following Together - Your Ekklesia Story part 3

We are continuing to share your Ekklesia Stories as we move towards this Sunday's Service at Hawkins Elementary school to celebrate our 5th year as a community.  We will meet at 5:30 Sunday night in the cafeteria at Hawkins Elementary, and we hope to see you there!

Here is the Ekklesia Story that our sister and friend Meredith Breckenridge English  (on the left) wrote:

"I remember joining in on some of the very first meetings when Ekklesia was just getting started. Since then, it has been exciting to see a group of people dedicated to seeking Christ and loving others rather than trying to fit into the "church" mold. Faith has always been a very important part of my life; however, I had given up on church until I started going to Ekklesia. It was refreshing and encouraging to find a group of people who could live in community, reach out to our larger community, and seek to follow Christ without agreeing on every social issue or fine theological point. The community groups and book studies that I participated in challenged and encouraged me. Neighbors at Hawkins showed me that a small group of dedicated people really can transform lives. When several Ekklesia friends stepped up to help with my wedding, I felt the true blessing of community. I no longer live in Hattiesburg, but I do follow the podcasts and certainly still "share life" with many of my Ekklesia friends, even from a distance. Ekklesia Hattiesburg has helped me understand "the body of Christ" in a whole new way and I am thankful!"

                       - Meredith Breckenridge English

Simply Following Together :Your Ekklesia Story - pt. 2

We are continuing to share your Ekklesia Stories as we move towards this Sunday's Service at Hawkins Elementary school to celebrate our 5th year as a community.  We will meet at 5:30 Sunday night in the cafeteria at Hawkins Elementary, and we hope to see you there!

Here is the Ekklesia Story that our brother and friend John Bishop (on the right below) wrote:

"I'm not sure what I was looking for or even how I ended up at Ekklesia, although it may have been Sharon Miles who invited me. Regardless, it was immediately compelling for reasons similar to my three word description above [Christ-centered, Service-oriented, Welcoming].  Their is a devotion to what being a "follower of Christ" means, a constant focus on how we might better serve the community beyond Ekklesia. In addition, I wasn't in the best space emotionally or spiritually and was intimidated by attending alone, but what I was met with, beginning my very first visit, was warmth. I just don't think people knew how much I needed that. I felt I could come broken and lonely and still be accepted."
          -John Bishop

Simply Following Together :Your Ekklesia Story

As we approach our 5 year anniversary we have asked you to tell us your Ekklesia story.  We are thankful for all the responses and wanted to share a couple of them this week as we prepare for next Sunday night when we will celebrate all that God has done for us in the past 5 years.

To start us off here is how our brother and friend Steve Willis explained what God has done in his time Simply Following Together with Ekklesia

"An amazing journey of learning that loving and accepting others exactly the way God made them is more than just words. It takes practice! Spending the past 5 years with a goal of investing in a community and people that had minimal resources and countless needs. (Hawkins, wells in Haiti, orphanage in India,etc). Only to realize that the actual return on the investment has been so much greater than could have ever been imagined. Moreover, the journey proved that I had more needs than them and they had more resources than me. Lesson learned- everyone has needs and resources. The missing piece is Christlike (ekklesia) love and kindness. And to top it off, spending the last 5 years with a community of committed, selfless and encouraging people has made life worth living!"

               - Steve Willis

Here is part one of four on our brothers who live without a home in our community.

Schedule for Holy Week

Sunday 4/1 @5:30pm (at Ekklesia)- Palm Sunday service and Baptism

Mon 4/2 @noon (University Baptist) - Holy Week Service & Lunch -

Ashley Gill teaching

Tues 4/3 @noon (University Baptist) - Holy Week Service & Lunch -

Michael Dixon teaching

Wed 4/4 @noon (University Baptist) - Holy Week Service & Lunch -

Rusty Edwards teaching

Thur 4/5 @noon (University Baptist) - Holy Week Service & Lunch -

Colbey Sparkman teaching

Thursday 4/5 @7:30pm - (University Baptist) Cooperative Maundy Thursday Service

Sunday 4/8 @5:30 (at Ekklesia) - Easter Sunday Service and Baptism

Sunday 4/8 @6:45 (at Ekklesia) - End of Lent Easter Potluck (immediately following Easter service)

Hope that you will join us for any and all of these events in the next couple of weeks!

Click Here for Directions to Ekklesia (mets at Court Street UMC)

Click Here for Directions to University Baptist Church

Our Christmas Giving for 2011

We want to introduce you to Narges K. Ashtari, The Prishan Foundation, and the

Assist Orphanage for Girls

Each year we at Ekklesia adopt a special project overseas that we ask for

everyone to donate towards. This Christmas season we want to take the time

to think about how we might be able to most closely represent who and what

this Christmas season is really all about. We attempt as a community to

give sacrifically so that others might know the love of a God that would

come to earth for us. This year we have chosen to give toward building the

Assist Orphanage for Girls in Rayagada, India. Currentlly Narges K. Ashtari

(pictured above) and The Prishan Foundation are about halfway to their

$41,000 goal to build a home for 40 beautiful little girls who would not

otherwise have a place to live. You can read more about the project in an

interview done by Mark Langham and Conspiracy of Hope -Here.

We are asking you to consider giving sacrificially above and beyond your

typical gifts to this building project for Christmas. We have a chance to

make a huge difference in the lives of these girls. If you would like to

give you can bring a donation to our Sunday Night meeting or you can mail a

check to:

PO BOX 641

Hattiesburg, MS 39403

Make out checks to Ekklesia Hattiesburg and be sure to indicate in the memo

line what the gift is for.

Thanks for being a part of making this dream a reality -

The girls from The Assist Orphanage thank you as well!

Hawkins Day of Service

Our Hawkins students recently collected toiletries and then created self care kits to be distributed to local shelters.
Great Job Guys!

Hawkins Day of Service