Archive for October, 2010

Hanafees Moving to Detroit!

Posted: October 26, 2010 by mikehanafee in Detroit Info, Family, Friends
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Yep. The time has come! With a lot of joy & gratitude I am excited to share that on November 20 we are moving to Detroit! In case you can’t tell I am just a bit excited;)

A while back  the Bontragers very graciously asked us if we would consider moving in with them during the initial phase in Detroit. Through prayer, discussion, fasting, & counsel God has confirmed this is His will for us. The benefits will be numerous. It will keep us at one housing payment as we seek to sell or possibly rent our home in Oregon (there are some encouraging developments on this). It will enable me to meet in person with potential regional partners I have communicated with via email & phone for several months.  It will allow us to begin the process of incarnating in 48202/48206 and gathering those who have expressed interest in Restore in order to both learn & cast vision. And we will experience firsthand what at times will be part of discipleship at Restore, living together in community.

In God’s kindness I found a great deal on a 26 foot truck, $659 for a week with unlimited mileage. (If it ain’t getting on the truck it ain’t coming!)  I will attend Soma School 201 in Tacoma from November 15-18 & then load up on November 19. For any of our local peeps, we will be loading at 10am that day if you can help us. Please pray for good weather (as we are driving late in the season) and that God would burn deeper in our hearts a passion to see Jesus save & transform lives in central Detroit.

Moving day will no doubt be an emotional day as we reflect on over five years in Hillsboro and the many friends we have been so privileged to make. Our hearts our encouraged by the staggering reality that one day we will gather with our friends who know Christ for an eternal celebration (Revelation 7:9-12) and that the gospel is able to continue to work (1 Corinthians 1:22-24) in the not-yet Christians we love so much.

Looking forward to enjoying a Lion’s victory & a great meal in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day!

Eastern Market Shopping in Detroit

Posted: October 19, 2010 by cletebontrager in Detroit Info
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We ventured out on Saturday to Detroit’s Eastern Market.

Veggies and fruit were the main attraction, but they also had my favorite meat.  Sorry to all you vegans or vegetarians, but I like the taste of a good steak or prime rib.  I can also deal with smoked turkey legs, but I digress.

Eastern Market has a varied cast of characters that sell their products and frequent it to purchase.  We enjoyed picking up some broccoli and cauliflower for Ruth and of course for me there was the apples and smoked turkey legs.  Yes, the biggest drumsticks you can buy!

They even sell raccoons for $9.99 per coon.

We had a fun time enjoying the outdoors and just rubbing elbows (literally) with folks down there.

Times like these (shopping) make me see how we are all really in need of the same things.  We need things outside of ourselves to sustain us.  Food, oxygen, water, and relationships are just a few things that we “need” to live life.  God has given us all common grace in these areas.  It reminds me of my need for the Gospel of Jesus.  I need something outside of myself to set me right with God.  In myself I cannot make myself right with God, but Jesus did that for me.  Just like I need food to sustain me, I need Jesus to sustain me and keep me in right standing with God.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Thank you God for these things in life that give us pleasure and sustainability.

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~Clete

October Hanafee Update

Posted: October 14, 2010 by mikehanafee in Family
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So after a bit of a hiatus here is a brief report.

Timing of Move. Through prayer, fasting, & counsel we have been seeking God’s will on the timing of our move and should have some exciting news to share very soon.

Sale of house. No great surprise but the housing market continues to decline. While some have advised us to walk away from our house we feel constrained to do everything in our power to fully honor our financial obligation & sell our house in normal fashion. That means not only losing the money we have in it but also bringing money to the table at closing. To seek to accomplish this we are selling our Honda Odyssey (plus it might not be the best thing to drive a Honda in Motown!) and looking to buy an older vehicle to free up some cash. It’s been a painful but privileged process to fully open up our hands & trust God in ways we have never had to.  The (half) joke has been, “It’s easy to trust God when He sticks to our plans.”  But of course God’s ways & plans are always best! We love those words by David Sitton of TETM, “For as longs as God clothes the fields He will provide for His missionaries.” Verses of scripture we have long known have become precious in new ways!

Surplus Gizmos. That’s the name of the computer/technology parts resale shop I been able to get some part-time work at for the last few months. Five really smart guys work there (OK, computer geeks) so I greatly reduce the average IQ every time I walk in the store. My job is to tear apart machines & sort out the flux capacitors for resale;) It’s been fun to hang with the guys at Surplus Gizmos & learn some new things from them.

Story of God. A month ago we started moving through the story formed way Wednesday nights at our house. It has been a joy to get to know neighbors & friends from my softball team better as together we engage the greatest story of all & what it means for our stories. You can find out more about the story formed way here,  here, & here.

Coaching Football. It’s been a blast to coach the defense on Ian’s 3rd & 4th grade Jackson Elementary School football team. So far we are 4-0-1, but who’s keeping track? The video below captures our intensity;)

We are very grateful for the ways God has been growing, stretching, & teaching us in these months. Acts 20:24

Oh yeah ~ of the many many powerful messages by various preachers I have been privileged to listen to in the last months, Francis Chan’s scripture packed sermon “Is suffering optional?” has been particularly challenging.  You can find the message here under 02/22/09 & an abbreviated transcript here.

Two Week Update on Bontragers’ in Detroit

Posted: October 8, 2010 by cletebontrager in Family, Uncategorized
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Well, we have now been in Detroit for two weeks.  How time does fly!

After unloading four 28′  trailers full of business product and household goods we began the task of setting up both the business and house.

Both are still in stages.

We have had some fall illness hit the family and put a cramp in our style, but we are starting to feel better.

After leaving Hillsboro early Sunday morning Sept. 26th we drove and drove.  We hit Detroit on Wednesday early afternoon.  We were met by Eric Russ (pastor of Mack Ave. Community Church) bringing dinner by and welcoming us to Detroit.  I do want to thank the Mack Ave. families for making us feel welcome here in Detroit.

So in a nut shell we are doing well and plugging right along.

We have been able to meet a couple of neighbors while on walks and then just other events in our neighborhood.

Larry is a gentleman we met while taking a walk on Tuesday of this week.  He was an interesting fellow who has done quite a lot in his life.  We planned on getting home before darkness fell, but in hearing Larry’s story that was not going to happen.  Larry believes God has every day of his life in control and he will not die before it is his time.  Larry has done a lot of crazy things in his life, so it will be neat to cultivate this relationship.  Larry was a nuclear accident specialist.

I met Mr. Robinson who lives 5 houses down on the other side of the street yesterday.  Mr. Robinson called the police because the house right across from us (vacant house) was being stripped of its bathroom fixtures in broad daylight.  I noticed a van out front of the house and noticed another window broken, but did not think too much about it as I was getting home till the police roll up to our house and ask if we were being robbed.  Well, just getting home I was certainly not in the frame of mind for that question..  I then looked across the street and the van was gone and a sink was now sitting beside the house.  So the police roll across the street and look at the mess at the side of the house.  Mr. Robinson came over because he was the guy who had called the police.  He is a 66 year old gentleman with a great sense of humor, but none too happy with the house in his neighborhood being stripped.   So today I should get a chance to hang with him as he wants my help to board up the broken window.  He did tell me I live on the wrong side of Chicago Blvd, but then I told him his side was the one being stripped, so we will see where we stand today!  He told me you “need a good sense of humor to live here in Detroit”.

Many people have asked if we have had any issues so far and I’m pleased go say none bad!!!  The closest thing to anything happening bad was at 2:00 am Sunday morning Ruth got up to shut Kellie’s light off in her room (she fell asleep reading) and noticed a car on our front curb.  At the exact time she noticed the car our house alarm started beeping.  She woke me up and I went down stairs and checked everything and all was fine.  About 10 minutes later the police came and had the car was towed away.  Don’t know whose it was or why they abandoned it where they did, but we think they may have been drinking as a broken liquor bottle was broken in our driveway.  So I guess it best if they could not drive they abandon the vehicle right where they did.

We thank you for your prayers and concern for our family during this time of transition.

If you remember please pray for health to return, business to increase (been down for several months) and time to enjoy our journey.

 

I will post some pics I took on the way to the shop this morning.

Clete