End-of-the-Summer Party

This Saturday we will be closing out the summer with a party at Rolland Moore Park (Shelter #1). We'll start at 4pm with some ultimate and frisbee, then eat around 6pm. Come and bring friends!

Blogs

Note that on the right side of the screen there are links to the blogs of a couple of our Symbio bloggers - Trevor Sides and Chris Brown. They'd love to keep us up to date on current events and offer a few thoughts, so check them out if you get a chance

Pre-Ignite Dinner

This Tuesday, August 18th, is our monthly pre-Ignite Symbio dinner. We'll eat at 6pm and start our meeting at 7pm. Many of us take this opportunity to fast during the day before breaking our fast together over dinner. Feel free to join us in this and take the time you would normally eat to pray and seek God. But if you're not fasting, definitely still join us for the dinner.

Elitch's

We're heading to Elitch's this Saturday!

When: 8:30am at the church building
What: Just a time of relationship building and having fun
Cost: We can get the group rate of $20 per person plus tax if we buy ahead of time online. So the plan is to meet at the church building, see how many we have, then buy the tickets online at the building. So bring $22 cash (or check) for the person paying, along with a few extra dollars to give your driver for gas and parking.

Remember, be inviting friends and coworkers to this. It can be a great opportunity to spend a full day with someone. Trusting relationships can be formed that lead to changed eternities.

Water World Trip Cancelled!

We've decided to cancel this Saturday's trip to Water World. Sorry for the conflicting messages. After considering it, we just feel like it would be better to avoid the potential stumbling blocks that Water World provides. We will be looking to quickly pull together something else for this Saturday. We'll keep you posted.

Again, sorry for the inconvenince.

Pre-Ignite Dinner

This Tuesday, July 21st, we will be having our monthly meal together at 6pm before our Ignite meeting. Many of us will be fasting over breakfast and lunch before breaking our fast together at dinner. If you're not fasting, though, still feel free to join us for dinner.

Denver Outreach this Saturday, July 18th

This Saturday we will be heading to downtown Denver to serve the Firehouse church and reach out to the surrounding community. We will meet at 8:00am at Summitview. We should be back late afternoon before dinner. The day will include "Prayer on the Porch" in their neighborhood, along with potentially helping them clean a warehouse they just purchased. They will provide lunch, so all you need is yourself and some comfortable shoes. It should be a great time to stretch our faith while helping our brothers and sisters in Denver. See you on Saturday!

House Buying Discussion After Ignite

With prices and interest rates low, and government assistance available, a lot of people are thinking about buying houses. Because it's a topic of interest almost everywhere, and especially for our demographic, we thought it would be good to offer a venue to share some thoughts and discuss the pros and cons of buying a house. After all, such a big and potentially life altering decision should not be pursued without a lot of godly input. So this Tuesday, we are aiming to finish the Ignite teaching at about 8:30. Then afterwards, for whoever would like to stay, we're going to have a conversation about some of the big issues to consider when looking for housing. We'll share some thoughts and have a couple house-buying testimonies. So if you are thinking about buying a house (or may ever think about buying a house), join us after the teaching on Tuesday. We'll try to keep it from going much past 9:30.

Ignite Teachings

All the Tuesday night teachings are up on the Summitview messages page - near the bottom under "Other" teachings. Check them out if you missed any.
http://www.summitview.com/index.cfm/page/messages

Renaissance Festival

We'll be heading down to Larkspur this Saturday, July 4th, for the Renaissance Festival. Tickets are $18 at the door but cheaper if you get them at King Sooper's ahead of time. We'll be meeting in the church parking lot at 8:30am. Remember, the purpose is just to build relationships and have fun together, so invite any friends you can. If you have any questions, contact Mark Saunders at mark@cartopac.com.

Honduras Mission Trip: Answered Prayers

Here's a Honduras report from Faith Neidert:

Thanks to those of you that have been praying for the Honduras Missions Trip. We made it back safe and sound and here are how God answered each of the requests:

1. Safety in traveling and we would make all flights This was totally answered. We were originally scheduled to have our trip Sun-Sun, but changed for a better airfare price. Because we flew out on Sat. we missed the military coup that occurred Sun morning.

2. Every person would stay healthy We had one teammate get sick Wed, and I did end up getting sick starting Thurs and am still recovering, but God gave grace and it has felt really good to sleep in my own bed!

3. The gospel would go out, God would speak through us and the translators. God would be preparing hearts now. God totally answered this. It's amazing how open people are to the gospel. We went house to house in a neighborhood Limon. People immediately invited us into their one-three room houses, gave us the only chairs to sit on if they had them, and were very open to discussing spiritual things. Every person we personally talked with believed in God, knew they were sinners, but thought they had to do good works, be married, go to church, etc to get to heaven. Many people were so ready to accept Jesus as their Savior who paid for their sins as a free gift it was amazing! Our three translators were also amazing at weaving in the gospel to each person and helping people understand this message. Both Travis and I did get to practice our Spanish, but my sister Liz was often translating for us too!

4. People would get saved and become disciples. Anyone who accepts Christ or is seeking Him, would get plugged into the church right away This happened! Travis and my highlight was being at a small group where people who had just accepted Christ came and got to meet other believers. Three people came Ariel, Maritza, and Sumara who we had prayed with in the past two days, and they even brought friends! Travis and Liz even led one of the discussion groups!

5. We could serve and bless the church there; we could be an encouragement to them. This was hard to do because the church served us so much! That church does an amazing job meeting physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. God is really working there! We were able to play with the kids at the malnutrition clinic and at the daycare (which was another highlight). We helped with the expansion of the church building by pouring concrete. We also worked on a woman's house from the church which was built on ground level so whenever it rained (everyday at this time of year) her house filled with water. She had been praying for it to be fixed, but hadn't been asking for help; the church just knew about this need. So, we cleared a plot, put in rocks, poured concrete, tore apart her house, and put it on the new foundation that would keep out the rain. We also sampled bread, tortillas and coffee at the areas the church is making these and employing people at good wages.

The church is also working to build a community called Casa Hogar, which is the building of nice houses (very nice compared to most of what we saw) for people who can't afford them. They will be rented for 10 years and if people pay their rent on time (it is very good price) they will own the house after 10 years. In this community people who have HIV will live with others which is huge too because their is a huge stigma for people with HIV. They also are creating Family HOmes where a Tia will take care of 5-8 children who have been infected or affected by HIV and are orphans. If you want to read more about this, I attached a link. It is amazing. We moved 508 cinderblocks at Casa Hogar in an assembly line to get them from the brick making to the road because they will resume building next week. http://gclafoundation.wordpress.com/

6. Our team would be united. God totally answered this. It was a great team to go down with. We have some closer friendships now, and we prayed a lot, served a lot, laughed a lot, and had fun at ocean where we went with the church to celebrate their pastor Geonvany's birthday.

7. Our gifts we are bringing down could really bless people We had so many extra clothes, we were able to leave a lot with the church at the end of our trip after we gave away a lot. And it brings tears to the eyes to give tennis shoes to people who have probably never worn them before. 8. Right now, God would be preparing our hearts, and draw us closer to Him as we're in HondurasGod really showed me His heart for each person and how He loves each person in each village and has each person's hair on their head numbered. 9. We wouldn't complain (especially about the heat)God gave grace and we were very thankful for our very nice hotel room with air conditioning (and a freezer that Travis and I stuck our heads in from time to time. :)

Thank you again so much for praying! God totally working and moved in response!

Discipleship

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3John 4)

This has always been an extraordinary verse to me. On the surface it seems borderline blasphemous. Shouldn't any reference to great joy be associated with the eternal hope of seeing Jesus Christ face to face? For John to say that his greatest joy comes as a result of others' obedience seems misguided. But maybe the problem comes from a lack of understanding of the fullness of life with Christ. True relationship with him demands our lives be directed outward. It seems that much of our sanctification is not complete until our lives are being spent in such a way that others are influenced towards Him. John, then, is expressing the great joy that comes from mimicking Christ's example of discipling others. Perhaps our joy is incomplete until we experience the great delight of being used to shape somebody else's life.

This week at Ignite, Rich Thatcher will be speaking primarily on 2Timothy 2:2, which is one of the classic verses on discipleship:

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

Rich will be sharing many principles and practicals on shaping lives (and being shaped) through a discipleship relationship. If my conclusion from 3John 4 is correct, then this is something that we need to understand. In order to experience great joy and the fullness of life with Christ, we need to be better equipped in this area.

So we hope you can make it. It could help to open up a whole new aspect of your relationship with Jesus.

Ultimate Frisbee

We'll be playing Ultimate this Saturday at 3:30pm at City Park. We'll be on the south field right next to Mulberry. If that field's being used, we'll head to one of the northern fields. Invite any friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We may try to grab a bite to eat afterwards.

Honduras Mission Trip

As most of you know, Symbio is sending a group of 11 people to Choluteca Honduras on a mission trip June 20-27th. We wanted to ask you to join in praying for us as we travel to work with a church associated with Summitview. We will be working to build Casa Hogar Vida which is a self-sustaining community for people who have HIV/AIDS. We will also be going house to house talking with families about the love of Christ and how they are only saved by grace. Please pray however the Spirit leads you, but here are a few specifics:

1. Safety in traveling and we would make all of our connecting flights there and back
2. Every person would stay healthy
3. The gospel would go out, God would speak through us and the translators. God would be preparing hearts now.
4. People would get saved and become disciples. Anyone who accepts Christ or is seeking Him, would get plugged into the church right away
5. We could serve and bless the church there; we could be an encouragement to them.
6. Our team would be united: Kristian and Vanessa Fitzgerald (leading the trip) Travis and Faith Neidert, Matt and Desiree Peters, Ryan Martine, Stephanie Jordan, Laura Buck, Shaye Fitzgerald (Kristian’s sister) and Liz Grove (Faith’s sister)
7. Our gifts we are bringing down could really bless people
8. Right now, God would be preparing our hearts, and draw us closer to Him as we're in Honduras
9. We wouldn't complain (especially about the heat)

Inaugural Symbio Chili Cook Off

Tonight we are having dinner in the Fellowship Room before our Ignite meeting, starting at 6pm. Chili is on the menu. Many of us will be fasting through breakfast and lunch today before breaking our fast together at dinner. Feel free to join us. Then at 7pm we'll worship together before Mitch takes us through 2Timothy 1:2-7. Hope to see you there!

Taste of Fort Collins Pics

Here are a few pictures from this weekend. Thank you all for your help!

"Wherever there's trash, that's where you'll find us." - Travis Neidert

"I just wanna fly. Put your arms around me baby." - Sugar Ray

Looks like that trash can's goin' nowhere.

At least somebody's doing some work.

A little stretching always helps.

Russ keeping watch.

These guys were the bouncers. Nobody's sneakin' by them.

7816, 7817, 7818...

Sign us up for another 6 hours!!

TOFC Time

Just to be clear, the check-in time for us today is 3:00pm. See you then.

TOFC Dinner

Good news! Those that are volunteering a full shift at the Taste of Fort Collins will be provided 1 meal, so dinner is covered. There will also be water available for refilling water bottles.

Taste of Fort Collins Details

If you're volunteering for the TOFC this Saturday, here's what you need to know:


First I want to thank you for your support. The Taste of Fort Collins is the largest fundraiser for the Northeast Area and your support is greatly appreciated.

Location:
Civic Center Park (behind the court house off of Mason and LaPorte)

Volunteer check-in will be located inside of the gate at Mason and Laporte.

• There is free parking straight ahead of this intersection behind the large brick building on the left.
• There is a parking lot on the right of Mason and Laporte but I don't know what the daily fee is.
• There is also free parking up one block behind the police station.
• When entering the gate tell the staff you are volunteering and they will let you in.

Jobs:

• Trash - 20 + rolling trash cans around, taking out full bags and putting in new ones, taking trash to dumpster
• Ice runners - lifting 20lbs bags of ice and taking to vendors - 4
• Booth sitters - 2 going around giving vendors a restroom or dinner break
• Corporate Cabana helpers - 2 working corporate cabana area waiting on people
  Entrances - 2
• Breakers - 4 to go around and give volunteers breaks

The second shift on Saturday will be very busy. We will be floating people around to where help is needed.

Saturday and Sunday volunteers will receive a Taste T-shirt. We ask that you wear these shirts with your volunteer name badge. This is how we recognize our volunteers. There will be port-a-pots available to change into your shirts.

Things you might want to bring with you:

• Water bottle, we will have some bottles availabe and water in coolers to refill with.
• Sunscreen - might be a bright sunny day
• Lawnchair - many of the positions allow you to sit. Chairs are not always available.
• Appropriate footwear for the job that you are doing. Many positions have a lot of walking.
• Id - incase we need your help with selling alcohol or if you want to buy an alcoholic beverage. You jmust be 21.
• Please do not bring your purses or large bags. We do not have a storage area for these.
  Jacket - the weather has been been a little raining.

We will not cancel this event unless it is ruled unsafe. In 13 years we have had rain but the show has always gone on. Please be prepared for the weather.

In case you are unable to work your shift please call my cell 970.397.7236. Please let me know if you have questions. Thank you again.

Forrest Phillips

Northeast Area Manager

Elijah Was a Man

Since our first summer Symbio event will be a four hour prayer meeting I would like to take some blog space between now and then to talk about prayer. The book of James lifts up Elijah as a man of prayer, so lets look at the life of Elijah to learn about prayer.

I Kings 17:1 says: Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."

From the verse we learn that Elijah identified himself as a man who stood before God. After this declaration to King Ahab, Elijah went to the wilderness for three and a half years where he was fed by ravens. Why do you think God had Elijah in the wilderness? What did he do? The book of James says he prayed.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

God sent Elijah to the wilderness to pray! That was his ministry for three and a half years! I am beginning to see why the New Testament lifts up Elijah's prayer life. Are there any prayers you have been praying for three years? I would love to hear some of them. Are there prayers in your life you will pray until they are answered? I would love to hear some of them. I am sure they will inspire us to faith. Please comment.

Welcome!!!

Welcome to the summer Symbio blog! This will be a working blog where we can post summer event details, what happened at those events including pictures, spiritual insights, teachings from the summer, and notes from those teachings!