Walnut Creek Church Blog

#m2tc | Teams Play "Buddy" Baseball at the Kiwanis Miracle League

Teams "buddied" up with kids at the Kiwanis Miracle League for a day of baseball. Photo by: Faith Crane

Multiple Walnut Creek Church teams spent day two of Mission to the City serving the Kiwanis Miracle League, an organization devoted to giving children with special needs a place to enjoy America’s greatest pastime.

Each member was “buddied” with a child and assisted in a friendly game of baseball. Unlike your average little league, competition is minimal. Every participant gets the opportunity to bat, run, and score; and each game ends in a tie. Participants had varying degrees of functionality, so members served by helping with coordination, running or standing alongside children, helping participants to hold their bat or glove, and pushing children bound to wheelchairs around each base.

Downtown Community Group leader Zachariah Saari enjoyed seeing all of the encouragement just one game could bring to so many children.

“You could actually see kids light up and get super excited about it,” he said. “The whole experience was really good because people cheered for each other. Everyone won; everyone got a hit, everyone got to run through all the bases. It was really coordinated well to where everyone got the best feeling of playing baseball.

“Some kids couldn’t communicate, so you had to try to point at things, laugh, and smile, but everyone had a good idea how it worked," Zachariah said. “Some of the kids had been doing it for a long time.”

Travis Grandgeorge of Walnut Creek Downtown said the time spent with the children was a great way of living out the Gospel and investing in people that don’t know Christ by showing them that there are people out there who will love them.

“My favorite part was just seeing how the kids reacted to the game, to us being there,” Travis said. "And just all the encouragement they showed each other, and even the encouragement we were able to show them, and to see them absorb that.”

Follow what's happening during Mission to the City at m2tc.com.

By Noelle Thompson

Walnut Creek Downtown

#m2tc | 5,400 Meals Packaged for Families In Central Iowa

A Walnut Creek Windsor Heights team packages 5,400 meals for Meals From the Heartland during M2TC.

In a little under two hours, a team from Walnut Creek Windsor Heights packaged 5,400 macaroni and cheese meals with the organization Meals From the Heartland. Teams from Mission to the City have served here in previous years packing meals as well.

Meals From the Heartland is a nonprofit based in Des Moines that empowers people to help the starving around the world, in the United States, and in central Iowa. In 2014 the organization packaged 10,658,144 meals. Their 2015 goal is 15 million meals. They rely largely on the help of volunteers from churches, businesses, and organizations.

The meals packaged by the M2TC team will be sent to families in central Iowa through local food banks and school programs. In addition to packaging meals, the team helped landscape the property and clean and sanitize the packaging facility.

By Jackie Wallentin

Walnut Creek Windsor Heights

#m2tc | It's Fun to Stay at the YMCA

Chris Meyer of Walnut Creek Windsor Heights paints the YMCA gym during M2TC Friday afternoon.

To begin the Mission to the City weekend, two groups from Walnut Creek Windsor Heights spent Friday morning and afternoon serving their local Walnut Creek YMCA with some much needed renewal and repair.

More than 25 M2TC volunteers donned their painting clothes and touched up the walls in several rooms, as well as the curbs, lines, and crosswalks in the entire parking lot.

“I want this to be a family-friendly environment where people feel comfortable, that it’s kind of a home-away-from-home for them,” said Britt German, YMCA executive director.

The maintenance manager, Kevin Morrill, put the volunteers to hard work. Kevin is one of eight people who solve maintenance issues for 14 YMCAs in the greater Des Moines area. Since Kevin and the others are spread so thin, they do not usually have time to remove scuffs, organize closets, or paint the gymnasium.

“I’m impressed by everyone’s motivation to go the extra mile. They work quickly without having to be told what to do more than once,” said Kevin. “Members of the YMCA are going to notice the changes and love it, I guarantee it.”

By Brigitte Haugen

Walnut Creek Windsor Heights

Iowa Christian Academy Groundbreaking Ceremony

Iowa Christian Academy break ground on their new facility at Jordan Park Camp.

Walnut Creek is partnering with ICA on the project, leasing 5 acres to ICA to construct the facility.

Iowa Christian Academy To Break Ground at Jordan Park Camp

Iowa Christian Academy will begin construction on their new facility at Jordan Park Camp.

Iowa Christian Academy will break ground on their new facility at Jordan Park Camp in West Des Moines next Thursday. Walnut Creek partnered with ICA on the project, leasing five acres of the camp for the construction of the gym.

“ICA has been deeply blessed throughout its short history, and we are grateful to the leadership of Walnut Creek Church for helping this long-held dream come true,” said Scott Kolb, ICA Board Chair. “This is yet another blessing that will help the mission of the school in developing leaders committed to Christ.”

Phase One of the project includes the construction of the gym. Phase Two will include the construction of high school classrooms, with Phase Three involving the remodeling of the current ICA facility on Vine Street to accommodate more elementary students.

“When people from different Christian communities work together for a common good, it is a powerful testimony of Christ's love. Walnut Creek Church is delighted to work with Iowa Christian Academy, such an outstanding Christian school, in seeing this beautiful facility built,” said Pastor Tim Rude.

Founded in 1999, Iowa Christian Academy is a private, nondenominational Christian school for preschool students through 12th grade.

ICA will hold a groundbreaking ceremony and prayer on Thursday, May 14 at 6 p.m. at Jordan Park Camp. The event is open to the public.

By Jackie Wallentin

Walnut Creek Windsor Heights

Second Issue of Stories Journal Released

The second issue of Stories Journal, a free magazine produced by Walnut Creek, is now available. Grab a copy at any of our weekend services!

Jesus rising changes everything. As the Apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” God refused to abandon us, sending Jesus to be the remedy for our sin. As He was crucified, Jesus inhabited suffering. If His story ended on the cross, we would have no reason to hope. Death would have won.

But in the three days Jesus lay in the tomb, the entire future of the world changed. Jesus rose, and as He did, so do we. Jesus is alive. The power of His resurrection is enough to remake us, redeem us from sin, and deliver us from ourselves. The resurrection gives us eternal hope.

God is in the business of resurrection in all of our lives. That’s why He entrusted the Gospel to us (2 Corinthians 5). To messed up, selfish people like us. People who get confused and afraid and intimidated. God promises to redeem our mistakes. Promises to use us to help redeem others’ lives. Promises to be with us. Promises to change us until all the threads of our lives are surrendered for Him.

That’s our hope. The beauty in His resurrection is that we can stop living for ourselves and instead give up our lives. We need to learn who the story is about. Our stories are ultimately about God. Each thread is a glimpse of how our stories fit within His story. He wrote each of us in, and all of our threads are working together for His glory.

"Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story" (Psalm 107:2). This is why we made Stories Journal–to tell the stories of lives made new. Stories Journal is a free magazine produced by Walnut Creek Church. Grab your copy this weekend at any of our services. Check out medium.com/spring-2015 to start reading today!

By Jackie Wallentin

Walnut Creek Windsor Heights

"Crazy Things Jesus Said" Series Launch

Walnut Creek launches a new message series – "Crazy Things Jesus Said" – church-wide this weekend. The series through the Book of Mark is the third installment of the "Crazy Things Jesus Said" series which was first launched in the summer of 2013.

Over the course of the summer, we will study Mark 11-16, taking a close look at Jesus' final days on earth–emphasizing His actions, deeds, and commands. Join us as we look at who Jesus is and how we are to respond to Him.

Free "Crazy Things Jesus Said" study guides are available at each location. You can also follow the message series through our mobile app and online. Share your thoughts and what you're learning during the series on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram with the #CrazyThings hashtag.

And each week during the series, we'll be posting wallpapers to correspond with the current passage we're studying. ‪Grab this week's wallpaper for your device!