So now to the purpose of this post:) After Nate and I returned home from our trip from Ghana in January, we asked a pretty common question that most people ask when seeing and experiencing a country like Africa. What now? There is so much need, so much heartache, so much everything that it felt overwhelming. One fear I had written in my journal on one of the first days there was this fear that this trip would just be an event for us. More like, 'Hey remember when we went to Africa in 2015?' type of thing rather than literally changing our lives and our actions because of what we had seen. So we spent a lot of time praying and asking God to show us what was next for our family and what he was asking us to do. A huge thing was obviously adopting 3 children. But in my heart I knew there was even more than that.
So shortly after our trip home, we were invited by our friends who were on the trip with us to be a part of a new vision that God had laid on their hearts. It's based out of the book of Acts chapter 2 where believers were coming together, seeing thousands of people giving their lives to Jesus, breaking bread with one another, fellowshipping, praying, devoting themselves to the gospel and holding all things in common. Like minded people spurring each other on for the sake of saving souls. So since March of 2015 we have been meeting once a month and it's been incredible what God is already doing. What God laid on Jake's heart was to start with these 4 nonprofits, which consist of AgriHope, Kingdom Cares, Jonathan's House and The Move Project, and work and operate like Acts 2. Actually live this out. All four organizations do work in different parts of Africa and all four do different things and are equipped in different ways, but they shared one common goal: Sharing the gospel and saving lives. The new nonprofit now operates as Acts 2 Collective.
Here is the overview of where the organization was before as Kingdom Cares International and where it's going in the future from the President, Jake Sullivan:
"Families & Supporters:
Today I am filled with great excitement as we begin to take our calling for international missions to the next level. We are excited to announce the formation of Acts 2 Collective and would like to direct you to our new website www.acts2collective.org where you can learn more about what we do and who we are. We are still working on building out a few pages and cleaning up some details but we felt the time was right to make this announcement prior to heading into a busy fall of fundraising for the projects God has laid on our heart.
For those of you not familiar with the current structure of our organization I will try to lay it out in as few of words as possible. In 2009 we developed the non-profit organization called Kingdom Cares International to help support our work in Ghana, Africa. In 2012 we also merged Kingdom Hoops/Iowa Gym Rats into the non-profit entity of Kingdom Cares International. At the time this was the right decision as it gave us the ability to get into our local Kingdom Courts facility. Over the past 3 years Kingdom Hoops/Iowa Gym Rats and International Missions operated out of two separate bank accounts with two separate budgets. However, as both organizations grew over these last three years and the importance of raising funds for both entities has developed we have come to the conclusion that it is in the best long term interest of both operations local and international to become two separate non-profit organizations. Organizationally nothing will change with Kingdom Hoops & Iowa Gym Rats, however moving forward all International work will operate under Acts 2 Collective. We understand that this transition of our international work may cause some initial confusion as we rebrand the name, but we believe in the long run the benefit of operating independently from Kingdom Hoops and Iowa Gym Rats far out weighs any immediate problems with rebranding.
The other reason I felt the need for change was that I felt God had laid it on my heart to begin to unite mission minded individuals and organizations who want to see the Word of the Gospel spread amongst the nations. About nine months ago a group of us began to meet month;y to encourage each other and to help meet each others needs whenever possible. The organizations involved in this group was myself and my wife who have led the charge into Ghana, Africa and Chad, Africa, as well as The Move Project (www.themoveproject.org), Agrihope (www.agrihope.org), and The Jonathan House (www.jonhouse.org). Outside of the organizations represented we were also accompanied with a group of other believers who have a calling to world mission. These meetings spurred us on to some amazing partnerships and to the ultimate formation of Acts 2 Collective.
As we began to meet we began to see the power that Christ has created in us when we work together. For example in early August 2015 Agrihope moved one of their locally trained Zambians from Zambia to Ghana to our KCI Mission Campus to develop Agriculture and to help us move towards our goal of being 100% self-sufficient by 2024. On another occasion one the group members invited a young girl named Azlyn to the group as they felt as though she had a calling to long term missions. She thought she was coming to the group to learn more about Ghana and instead got connected with the Jonathan House and as I write this email she has traveled to Central Africa Republic to begin a long term mission experience with this organization. I could write countless other stories about how God is working in bringing like minded individuals together. We believe that the Gospel was never intended for individuals to all be running alone doing their own things. Instead we believe the Gospel should unite us as it did in the early church that is written about in the book of Acts. We believe that together we have can have a greater impact for the spread of the Gospel and this will always remain the primary purpose of Acts 2 Collective.
We are very excited about about the future holds and what God is doing on the international mission field. I hope each of you can take some time to visit our new website at www.acts2collective.org. If any of you have an interest in getting more involved with missions or with Acts 2 Collective please feel free to reach out to me or to our international missions director Ashley Caycedo – ashley@acts2collective.org. For those of you that have been generously giving to our international programs in the past through Kingdom Cares International and the 1200 club we will be contacting each of you next week to transfer your monthly gifts to this new entity. You will be receiving an email from Ashley Caycedo early next week with all the necessary steps. If you would like to meet with us in a one on one setting to discuss this transition we will be more than happy to set up a time to meet. We will also be hosting an Acts 2 Collective night later this fall where everyone will have an opportunity to come and learn more about Acts 2 Collective and to also learn about all the organizations that are working together for the spread of the Gospel. Thank you for taking the time to read through this email and wrestling with what role God may have you play on the international mission field. "
In Christ,
Jake Sullivan
President of Acts 2 Collective
515-291-1542
So there you have it! God is pretty awesome. I also love that even though Nate and I didn't have our own nonprofit before this started, he laid our names on Jake's heart to be a part of this and be on the board for Acts 2 Collective. It was an answer to our prayers on what was next for us. He is inviting us to be a small part of His great big redemptive story because we have a willingness to obey. To be honest, I felt very unqualified to be a part of this when it first started. However, since it's started, I have such a deeper appreciation for the body of believers than I had before and how He equips some people so incredibly different but every role is so vital. Our equipping is different, our talents and resources are different, but we have one goal and one purpose. What it's also done for both of us is continue to deepen our relationship with Jesus and keeps our perspective of why we're on this earth in check. Everything is futile apart from Jesus. Our lives, our resources, our time, our energy, our conversations will only find satisfaction when they are being poured out for the sake of the gospel. We are incredibly humbled by this opportunity to spread the word about what God is doing. You, too, can be a part of this!! Please go check out our website and contribute to what God is doing. www.acts2collective.org. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using @Acts2Collective.
"Acts 2 Collective is a network of nonprofits, child advocates, and Christ followers united in purpose to care for the most vulnerable for the spread of the Gospel."
"Acts 2 Collective is a network of nonprofits, child advocates, and Christ followers united in purpose to care for the most vulnerable for the spread of the Gospel."
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