About Harambee - News and Updates

Harambee Church is now an Expression of Soma Communities

2009-10-20T15:50:00-08:00

For the past two years, the Elders of Harambee have been working through how we can more strategically and effectively fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples of Jesus (who make disciples of Jesus) and plant new churches in our region. Soma is made of Missional Communities--small groups of people being the church in their neighborhoods. Several Missional Communities under the oversight of local elders are called an Expression of Soma. Recently, through the Spirit's leading, the Elders of Harambee Church decided to join with Soma as an Expression of Soma Communities, uniquely expressing what it means to be the church in and around Renton. We are continuing to bring the message and the ministry of reconciliation in the gospel to the cities in the Renton area.

The Harambee building will continue to be used as a Center for Community Development, and our Sunday morning Corporate Gathering will now include both the Renton Expression and the Southcenter Expression. Soma also has another Sunday morning Corporate Gathering in Tacoma where several other Expressions come together in one place to celebrate God's grace and be equipped for the mission.

To help us better understand all this, for the next several weeks, we'll be going through a teaching series at the Corporate Gathering(s) called Soma Basics, and then discussing in our Missional Communities. You can also learn more about who we are and how live because of the gospel on the Soma website

All Sermon Audio now on Soma website

2009-10-13T14:19:00-08:00

As Harambee is now part of Soma Communities, all Sermon Audio will now be located on the Soma website (including podcasts).Get MP3 & iTunes

Pakistani Brothers and Sisters Attacked

2009-08-09T16:47:00-08:00

We are told in scripture to �Weep with those that weep,� (Romans 12:15) and to �Bear one another�s burdens� (Galatians 6:1), which includes our brothers and sisters all over the globe. Being a Christian means being a family, and Romans is a book that reminds us that our family includes those from all nations, ethnicity, and race. Recently there have been three different attacks in Punjab, a state where many believers live by radical Muslims (Taliban).The attacks appear to be intensifying due to the fact that the government is too weak to oppose the Taliban influence. The most recent attack came close to our pastors in Faisalabad, and they are now trying to react to help their people recover from the destruction they have experienced. See Washington Post Article. Also go to Christ The King Church (One of our Acts 29 Churches) web sites to see pictures of the recent destruction. We will be taking a benevolence offering along with many of our Acts 29 churches in order to help alleviate the pain our brothers and sisters are currently experiencing. Let�s continue to pray for Pakistan and the Muslim conflict, and pray for peace for these people, and that God�s glory would begin to transform the region with the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray also that the believers would react in love and not hate (Ala Romans 12:14-21).

Comment here

Online Contributions

2009-06-12T17:16:00-08:00

Harambee and Soma Communities now offers a way to help fund the mission securely and electronically straight from your bank. It's called an eCheck.

* All you need is some info printed on your paper checks.
* You can give once or set up a recurring giving schedule.
* For each eCheck, Harambee/Soma is charged less than the price of a stamp.
* It's even better than your bank's online bill pay. Since it's all electronic, no one has to receive, process and deposit the paper check your bank mails for you.

To give to the Harambee Expression of Soma Communities, be sure to select Harambee in the Expression drop-down box.

Give Now via E-Check

If you must use a debit card, you also have that option but know that the church is charged much higher fees for these transactions, so less of what you give is available for the mission of making disciples. We don't believe accruing debt in order to give to the church is faithful to biblical principles of giving, so we are not providing the option of giving with a credit card. Give now with a debit card...

Sharing the Story

2009-05-24T17:59:00-08:00

As a body of believers we are all learning God�s story and how our lives intersect with it. My name is Sandy Smith and I�d like to share today about how God�s story has been intersecting mine. I�ve been a believer and follower of Jesus Christ for over 30 years and when I first believed, my life was changed forever. Since then there have been many milestone times of learning and healing and I�ve recently experienced another one.One of the things we�ve observed about our identity in Christ is that we are Worshipers. We are created by God to worship Him. To be human is to worship. The problem is that our worship is most often directed toward objects other than God. When I read through God�s story and see the idolatry and paganism the Israelites fell to, I can sometimes feel disgust and self-righteousness over their weakness after experiencing God�s provision, protection and miraculous intervention in their lives. But recently God has shown me a place of idolatry in my life.

He started revealing areas of idolatry when we went through the �How People Change� series of teaching. I saw that anytime I turned to someone or something other than God for security, comfort or provision, I was turning to an idol. I began to see many idols in my life. Then God began to reveal an idol to me that was an ongoing part of my life. That idol was my own stomach. Paul addresses it pretty severely in Philippians 3:18-20 �For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

My mind was on earthly things. Whenever I felt restless or bored or sad or stressed out my natural inclination was to find something to eat or better yet- turn the TV on and eat while I was watching it. In my heart, I believed that would make me feel better and so that was what I most often turned to. I knew I should be more excited about God then a bag of chips or a pizza and a movie but that wasn�t the reality of my life.

Last summer, through a sister in Christ, I became acquainted with an online Bible Course that helped me address this idol. It was a daily Bible Study of 60 lessons. I was assigned an online mentor and also enlisted Linda Phillips as an accountability partner to read my answers to the questions in the lessons as well as the daily reports on how I was doing in the areas of seeking the Lord, eating in moderation and exercising. Right from the start God began to reveal the evil of my own heart. The first lesson pointed out that if I wanted to lose weight for my own glory than I had the wrong motives. Rather I should allow God to adjust my sinful eating habits so that He would be glorified regardless of what I looked like. It�s so easy to just exchange one idol for another like exchanging the idol of over-eating for the idol of the approval of others or self-righteousness or pride over being thin.

I learned how desperately I need to seek the Lord daily to keep from sinning. I had little self-control if I didn�t spend time praying and reading the Word. I began to see that food was just a cheap substitute for what I really needed which was to �taste and see that the Lord is good� like we saw in 1 Peter 2 a few weeks back. There were practical lifestyle changes incorporated like exercising vigorously several times a week and making a conscious effort to cut down on quantities of food at some meals as well as fasting one day a week.

At the end of the 60 days, I�d lost 12 pounds and I began a new course to become a mentor for the online program. As part of the course I read a book on fasting by John Piper called �A Hunger for God�. I learned about the value of regular fasting in the life of a believer - how the physical hunger of fasting can lead us to a spiritual hunger for God and His righteousness and how God calls groups of people to times of prayer and fasting for a global demonstration of His Glory in the world.

In February Harambee was approached by a representative of 40 Days for Life. It�s an organization whose purpose is to end abortion in our country and around the world through prayer. When I heard about it, I was interested in being Harambee�s liaison with this ministry as they began an organized 40 days of Prayer to end abortion during Lent. I did a Prayer of Hope here to let people know about it and then volunteered to participate in praying weekly at a scheduled time near a local abortion clinic. The night before the 40 days was to begin, I decided to pray about how God would have me to fast during the 40 days. I thought maybe give up sugar or TV or something like that. As I began to read through the materials on an extended juice fast I realized that through the courses I�d been taking and the adjustments I�d made in eating, God had been preparing me to do just that � to fast for 40 days on a diet of only juice and vegetable broth. I was a little shocked and scared to embark on it and told myself that if I couldn�t make it I wouldn�t foolishly try to force myself to stick with it.

So from February 25 to April 5 I survived on liquids and the Lord. I won�t tell you that it was easy or that I was victoriously in rapture by the whole thing. I can tell you that I enjoyed the times of prayer at the clinic a great deal. I did find that God really is all that I need. But I also found out how deeply rooted my love of food was. By drinking all the juice and broth I wanted, I was seldom really hungry but I still wanted to eat. I fantasized about eating my favorite foods � it was like lust and it was disgusting. I went through times of sadness where I believed if I could just have a pizza I�d be happy again. I agonized that even though I wasn�t eating food, I obviously still loved it more than I loved God. My body was submitting to the fasting but my heart was desiring my lover - food. I began to plead with God to take my heart and make it wholly His so that I wouldn�t want anything more than Him. During this time I read this story from 1 Samuel 6. The Ark of the Covenant had been stolen by the Philistines and when they�d tried to add it to their collection of gods they had suffered the wrath of The One True God. They decided to try a test and see if the God of Israel really was in charge of the Ark. Here�s what they did from 1 Samuel 6:7-12 �Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance. So they did this. They took two cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. The cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left.� I resigned myself to finishing the 40 days but I was like the nursing cows in this passage, they went exactly where God wanted them to go but they cried for their calves the whole way.

The places where I had great joy and satisfaction and didn�t miss food at all were the places of prayer and fellowship with God through His word and in gatherings with other believers. One of the rhythms of the Christian life is eating regularly with others. I loved having people over for dinner because I really do like to cook and it filled my spiritual body up to be with other believers and talk about the Lord. I found that those were the most satisfying times for me where I didn�t miss being able to eat physical food so much. About 5 days before the end of my fast, I finally stopped fantasizing about eating food. God set me free from the hook it had in me that kept pulling me back in and I am so grateful for His work in me. I also got to rejoice over God being glorified during this time of prayer and fasting as 433 baby�s lives were spared from abortion and 3 abortion clinics in the US closed down because of people praying.

I will continue to have to remind myself to delight myself in the Lord and to trust that He will give me the desires of my heart because even though I know that true happiness and contentment can only be found in Him I still fall for the lie that it can be found in food or TV from time to time or even other things. I do know this � that for my spiritual health, I cannot go one day without spending time with God but my body can do just fine without physical food for one day or even 40.

Missional living � The basics

2009-05-19T16:45:00-08:00

As mentioned in several excellent previous posts on the Pastor Rant site, Harambee has joined with Soma Communities and adopted the Missional model of living out church every day. For many of us, this is a dramatic shift from traditional church structure, where we as consumers go on Sunday to get charged up, and continue to think of church as a place where we gather to worship, study, learn, receive, etc. We (the Elders) keep hitting on this topic because we know that some people are really struggling to make this change.Missional living is about living constantly for Jesus, doing everything we do (work, school, eating, swimming, whatever) with God in mind and along side of us. Sounds simple, and it really is, but it�s hard to understand in the context of everyday life for many people (me included). We naturally compartmentalize our lives and often think or act differently depending on what situation we are in at the time. The truth is that we are believers or non-believers at all times in our lives so why should we change gears depending on our circumstances?

The leadership of Soma Communities has come up with some very useful tools to try and bridge this gap from traditional thinking to missional thinking. These tools are not some new �5 steps to salvation� or anything like that, they are simply a way of communicating this idea � which by the way is not anything new necessarily, just different from the �western modern� structure we�ve become used to.

The first of these tools is the Identities. If we trust and believe in God, then we are in the process of becoming new through increasing faith and discovery of God and His will, and the circumstances he brings us through in our lives. Reading through and meditating on the Identities and associated scriptures is a great reminder of who we are in Christ. It relieves much of the pressure and fear of change by helping us realize that God is in charge of making ministry happen, not us. We just need to be willing to be used. Whew!

The extension of the Identities is the Rhythms (same page, further down). These are examples and reminders of how our identity in Christ is lived out. We were created to serve God and others, and it comes natural to us. The Rhythms then are ways to express this life for which we were created, and to be examples to others of the new life we have in Jesus.

We don�t need to wait until we�re perfect to live the Christian life. Growth comes from making mistakes, learning from them, and getting stronger from them. It�s time for the body of Christ to begin to live like we believe and love one another, not to depend on the Church to do everything for us because the leadership has more training or seems more gifted than we are. We need to shine His light all the time, not just with our church friends. We need to serve each other as Jesus was a servant. And we need to look to the Lord to teach us about himself and his will every day, not just on Sunday or at a bible study or conference, etc. Once Jesus comes into our lives and begins to heal us, we need to �Get up, take up our beds and walk�.

Having said all of that, please remember that our job as Elders of Harambee is to gently lead you, the body, and each other through this transition. We need to help you bridge the gap, and discover for yourselves what this means to you in your individual life. Please do not hesitate to ask questions or express your frustration (or anything else) with us. It�s all about growing together as a family!

Also, we believe that the Sunday gathering has great value for fellowship and corporate worship, as well as biblical preaching and teaching. What we�re learning is that the Sunday gathering is only a small part of the overall life of a Christian, and both we as God�s people and the world we live in benefit greatly if we take it beyond Sunday into daily life. Please post comments here.

In Christ�s Love,

Doug

The Line Video Update

2009-04-13T14:37:00-08:00

In January, Harambee sent Pastor Aaron Youngren and his family to plant The Line in Chicago. Here's a video update from them. To learn more about Harambee's church planting endeavors, check out the Church Plants section of our website.

What is a Missional Community?

2009-03-18T18:59:00-08:00

Over the past several months, Harambee has been making a transition to the Missional Community model/structure and joining forces with Soma Communities. I will post a section soon that outlines why the Elders believe God is leading us in this direction, but we�ll begin with trying to answer the question of �what is a missional community?� firstThe mission of God is to restore all things to himself in and through the work and person of Jesus Christ. His chosen vehicle through which he is accomplishing that mission is the church. The church is the family of God called to together to himself and sent out on his mission. Missional Communities are the primary means through which Harambee/Soma mobilizes people together on mission and connects people to a caring community.

WHAT IS A MISSIONAL COMMUNITY?
A Missional Community consists of a committed core of believers (FAMILY) who live out the mission of God together (MISSIONARIES) in a specific area or to a particular people group by demonstrating the gospel in tangible forms (SERVANTS) and declaring the gospel to others�both those who believe it and those who are being exposed to it (LEARNERS). To clarify, a Missional Community is NOT primarily a small group, Bible study, support group, social activist group, or weekly meeting.

Our hope is that every person who is committed to the Harambee/Soma family and mission will be fully involved in a missional community and eventually the missional communities in a region will multiply and together form a new expression of Soma Communities.

Consider this� The life of the church as recorded in Acts 2:42-47 came as a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the lives of a people collectively committed to the mission of God. The description we read about in Acts was not the means of becoming a great church, but the results of God working through a people committed to him and his mission.

We believe God is still more committed to his mission being accomplished then us having our preferred church experience. Missional Communities exist to partner with God to further his mission in every part of our region.

EACH MISSIONAL COMMUNITY WILL:
1. Be led by a team committed to leading, shepherding, equipping and organizing a community on mission
2. Grow together in understanding and application of the Gospel to who we are (Identities) because of God�s work in and through Jesus
3. Live out the weekly Rhythms of a family on mission together (Story-formed, Listen, Celebrate, Eat, Bless and
ReCreate) � BE the church together throughout the week
4. Identify, equip and release new leadership to begin new Missional Communities

PATHWAYS INTO A MISSIONAL COMMUNITY:
1. Check out the list of MC�s on the Harambee website to find one near you or you want to support the mission of
2. Talk to the MC leader about checking it out
3. Consider starting one in your area and start attending MC leader training sessions when available.

Harambee Body Meeting

2009-02-13T16:11:00-08:00

On Monday, February 9th, Harambee gathered as a family to share a meal and discuss where Jesus is leading us in this next season. You can listen to the audio recording (MP3) of our time in case you weren't able to attend. Please contact Pastor Bryan Nelson (bryan@harambeechurch.com) if you have any comments/questions.

5th Quarter Party

2009-01-16T17:18:00-08:00

Harambee hosted a party for Renton High students because that's what Jesus would do.

Answering the New Village Atheists:

2008-12-23T20:49:00-08:00

Whether or not you support Barack Obama as a politician,
it is hard not to be impressed by his forthrightness with
respect to religious convictions. Indeed, according to
Obama, �to say that men and women should not inject their
personal morality into public policy debates is a practical
absurdity.� What Obama gives with one hand, however,
he takes with the other. On one hand, he voices respect for
religious convictions and personal morality. On the other,
he substantially undermines the foundation on which they
are grounded. In his �Call to Renewal� keynote address
to religious leaders, Obama asks, �Which passages of
Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go
with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is okay and that
eating shellfi sh is an abomination? Or we could go with
Deuteronomy which suggests stoning your child if he strays
from the faith.�1On one hand, he voices respect for
religious convictions and personal morality. On the other,
he substantially undermines the foundation on which they
are grounded. In his �Call to Renewal� keynote address
to religious leaders, Obama asks, �Which passages of
Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go
with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is okay and that
eating shellfi sh is an abomination? Or we could go with
Deuteronomy which suggests stoning your child if he strays
from the faith.�1 Read More (PDF)

Missional Communities - Winter 09

2008-10-22T15:52:00-08:00

Together, we're loving Jesus, each other, and our neighborhoods. Find a Missional Community near you.

Project Update - Fall 08

2008-10-13T19:57:00-08:00

We've made tremendous progress on the Harambee building over the past few years and many of the major visible renovations are done (check out the photos by clicking on the photo above), but there's still work to be done.Below is a list of our current needs. If God is calling you to join us in the transformation of our new home by donating money, equipment, or time, please contact Bryan Nelson at the church office: 425.271.6700, or bryan@harambeechurch.com.

Current Needs:

Heating/Air Conditioning Repairs: $3,000

Auditorium Makeover:
Acoustic Panels: $2000
Rear Wall Reconfiguration: $1500
New Paint Ceilings, Walls: $1500
Flooring: $5,000
Auditorium Total: $10,000

Interior Directional Signage & Roof Sign: $2000

A Community Place

2008-05-07T11:20:00-08:00

Harambee was featured on the cover of the May 7th issue of the Renton Reporter:

About Harambee:

2008-04-02T10:58:00-08:00

Harambee exists to know and worship God by enjoying Him and joining Him in His mission to take His whole story, to the whole person, in the whole world, equipping those that respond to do God's will and enjoy Him forever. Read More

About Harambee

2005-11-13T14:21:00-08:00

What We Believe, Mission and Values, Leadership, Membership, Media Coverage, News, Our New Home, Church Plants, Harambee Community Development Association (HCDA), Service Times and Location, Contact Us