Wednesday, February 23, 2011
outreaches around the region
God moved in some awesome ways at campuses around the region this week: 10 women indicating a decision to receive Christ at a Valentine's outreach at UW-Oshkosh, 14 students indicating a decision to receive Christ at an Executive & Entrepreneurship Forum at NDSU...so cool to think that on any given day, a student on a campus somewhere in the Upper Midwest is hearing the truth about Jesus, and is given a chance to respond to his invitation to eternal life.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Perpetual Change.
About this time 4 years ago I received a huge packet in the mail regarding my summer project to Sao Paulo Brazil. Inside was a mess of papers and information about raising my financial support, from brainstorming names to writing letters and making phone calls.
This year, when students were accepted to a summer project, they receive an e-mail with most of this information. Tomorrow, I am doing a live MPD Webinar for summer project students. Donors can even give online now using the same website as Campus Crusade staff.
If each of the 85 students send in an average of 25 donation checks... that's over 2,000 checks to process in our office! Eeesh. Maybe in a few years (or next year!) a majority of the gifts will be made online. Maybe all this fancy electronic automation will streamline me out of a job!
One of the potentially frustrating things about Campus Crusade is that things are constantly changing. Whether it's ministry strategies or job titles or processes, we live in a constant state of needing to adapt to the present reality. (Even our student leaders feel this on campus).
Regardless about the frustrations that perpetual change can bring, it's exciting to think we are becoming more efficient and effective at building spiritual movements around the world.
This year, when students were accepted to a summer project, they receive an e-mail with most of this information. Tomorrow, I am doing a live MPD Webinar for summer project students. Donors can even give online now using the same website as Campus Crusade staff.
If each of the 85 students send in an average of 25 donation checks... that's over 2,000 checks to process in our office! Eeesh. Maybe in a few years (or next year!) a majority of the gifts will be made online. Maybe all this fancy electronic automation will streamline me out of a job!
One of the potentially frustrating things about Campus Crusade is that things are constantly changing. Whether it's ministry strategies or job titles or processes, we live in a constant state of needing to adapt to the present reality. (Even our student leaders feel this on campus).
Regardless about the frustrations that perpetual change can bring, it's exciting to think we are becoming more efficient and effective at building spiritual movements around the world.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
3 months until Summer Project!
Despite long-lasting feelings that winter is never going to end, summer is just 3 months away. So far, there are 85 college students accepted to participate in our six international summer projects in the Upper Midwest!
It's been so exciting to watch the numbers increase each week, knowing that these aren't just numbers. These are 85 lives that have been changed by God. Lives that want to be used by God to change other lives.
Let me throw another number at you: 132. This is the number of students accepted for the six U.S. summer projects that our region leads each year.
Would you say a prayer right now for these 217 students? Now that they finished the application process, the next part of their journey is raising their financial support. Pray that they'd be bold in stepping out in faith to trust God to provide. For many students, this is their first time inviting others to partner with them in reaching college students with the Gospel. Pray that God would use this experience to stretch and grow their dependence on Him.
It's been so exciting to watch the numbers increase each week, knowing that these aren't just numbers. These are 85 lives that have been changed by God. Lives that want to be used by God to change other lives.
Let me throw another number at you: 132. This is the number of students accepted for the six U.S. summer projects that our region leads each year.
Would you say a prayer right now for these 217 students? Now that they finished the application process, the next part of their journey is raising their financial support. Pray that they'd be bold in stepping out in faith to trust God to provide. For many students, this is their first time inviting others to partner with them in reaching college students with the Gospel. Pray that God would use this experience to stretch and grow their dependence on Him.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
losing to gain
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:39
Until recently, I've always thought of this verse in terms of confessing a saving faith in Christ. It's important to grasp the concept that Christ gave up His perfect life for us. We are to give up our sinful lives in order to find true life in Christ.
But this is important for the rest of our lives after we make that decision to live for Christ. The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but for believers, too. God calls us to give up comfortable patterns of our our lives from the time before we believed. This is a process, and not one that we can finished on earth.
I hope I am making sense here. I don't think I can fully describe the new way that I understand this verse now, as a part of my life in Christ.
As Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
I think this quote has huge implications in the context of a way of life, being more than just a one-time decision.
Until recently, I've always thought of this verse in terms of confessing a saving faith in Christ. It's important to grasp the concept that Christ gave up His perfect life for us. We are to give up our sinful lives in order to find true life in Christ.
But this is important for the rest of our lives after we make that decision to live for Christ. The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but for believers, too. God calls us to give up comfortable patterns of our our lives from the time before we believed. This is a process, and not one that we can finished on earth.
I hope I am making sense here. I don't think I can fully describe the new way that I understand this verse now, as a part of my life in Christ.
As Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
I think this quote has huge implications in the context of a way of life, being more than just a one-time decision.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Francis Chan's plans
A couple weeks ago I had the chance to hear from Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love and Forgotten God, in person. He was in the Cities speaking at a Desiring God conference, and dropped by a church in south Minneapolis, where about 200 people from various ministries and churches had gathered. I've been a fan of his since reading Crazy Love with my Bible study the Fall of 2009, and have since listened to many of his podcasts. It was really fun to see Chan in person while hearing his voice.
The thing that I was most surprised about was his humility and authenticity. He had notes ready for his talk, but he didn't use them. He spoke off the cuff about many different things, and while it was a little randomly put together, it was refreshing that it wasn't polished. He truly just shared his heart. It was like you were just sitting down with him in a coffee shop.
Even though he said he's been busy speaking at some conferences and helping some pastors with their urban ministries, Chan also stated several times he isn't totally sure what he and his family are doing. This was a bit shocking to me. Shouldn't he have a plan? He needs to know what's next!! He sold his house, left Simi Valley with his wife and kids to travel internationally for awhile. They are back in California for right now in a big urban area (I can't remember what city, I think he said LA). Even though it doesn't seem like he has a plan, he does: glorify God today. He's trusting God to reveal what's next in due time. In the mean time, he's actively helping others follow Jesus: serving the poor in his neighborhood, challenging and motivating believers at conferences, and coming alongside urban pastors and churches to encourage and equip them. Sounds good to me.
But what about his church he left? I mean, he just up and left!
I'd say Chan has followers of tens of thousands, at least. His book Crazy Love sold more than a million copies just 15 months after being released in May of 2008. At one time in his pastoral career, Chan told his church staff of 60 people, you could all quit tomorrow and we'd be fine. We'd miss you, and we'd need to figure out what to do next, but we'd be fine. His heart is that people would use what they've learned in the world. He didn't want people to continue to leave other churches to join his church.
Jesus was a realist. He did what He could to help the multitudes, but He had to devote Himself primarily to a few men, rather than to the masses, in order that the masses could be saved. He needed men who could lead the multitudes after he was gone.
Sounds like what Chan is doing right now. I think he realized that people were starting to become followers of Chan and not followers of Jesus.
The thing that I was most surprised about was his humility and authenticity. He had notes ready for his talk, but he didn't use them. He spoke off the cuff about many different things, and while it was a little randomly put together, it was refreshing that it wasn't polished. He truly just shared his heart. It was like you were just sitting down with him in a coffee shop.
Even though he said he's been busy speaking at some conferences and helping some pastors with their urban ministries, Chan also stated several times he isn't totally sure what he and his family are doing. This was a bit shocking to me. Shouldn't he have a plan? He needs to know what's next!! He sold his house, left Simi Valley with his wife and kids to travel internationally for awhile. They are back in California for right now in a big urban area (I can't remember what city, I think he said LA). Even though it doesn't seem like he has a plan, he does: glorify God today. He's trusting God to reveal what's next in due time. In the mean time, he's actively helping others follow Jesus: serving the poor in his neighborhood, challenging and motivating believers at conferences, and coming alongside urban pastors and churches to encourage and equip them. Sounds good to me.
But what about his church he left? I mean, he just up and left!
In the book Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman explains the strategy of Jesus' earthy ministry. He writes, "why did Jesus deliberately concentrate His life upon comparatively so few people? (the disciples, specifically the inner 3)...he easily could have had an immediate following of thousands if He wanted them."
Jesus was a realist. He did what He could to help the multitudes, but He had to devote Himself primarily to a few men, rather than to the masses, in order that the masses could be saved. He needed men who could lead the multitudes after he was gone.
Sounds like what Chan is doing right now. I think he realized that people were starting to become followers of Chan and not followers of Jesus.
It reminds me of Saul. He wanted to be king, but he couldn't follow God in the midst of his role. It seems like Chan has his head on straight; he wants to follow God, and God called him to give up his role as pastor of his church, so why wouldn't he? If he stayed against God's plans, it's likely that His walk with God would really suffer.
I don't remember where I first heard it, but it's true: the best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away. It seems like that's Chan's plan right now. Not a bad idea.
I don't remember where I first heard it, but it's true: the best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away. It seems like that's Chan's plan right now. Not a bad idea.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Talking about Jesus
This week I'm at a New Staff Development Conference in Minneapolis. It's been a huge blessing so far to pull back for a bit from my responsibilities (yes, even though I've been here just 2 months!) and focus on personal and spiritual growth and development. What a privilege to work for an organization that values my walk with God and helps me deepen it in significant ways.
I'll blog a bit later to share some of my thoughts on what I'm learning. Right now I just returned from a short afternoon of outreach on a local campus. I went out with a couple women to learn more about Asian culture and beliefs, specifically with Hmong students. I had lunch with these women at a great Vietnamese Restaurant, where we met a woman who works there, Nune ("Noon"). She came to America from Vietnam 30 years ago on a boat, knowing no English. She worked in the Healthcare system for decades, up until 2009, when her sister died of breast cancer. She immediately got checked, only to discover she had stage 4 breast cancer that had spread all over her body. Two years later she's still doing chemo, but she's beating it so far.
Talk about a second chance. She was incredibly outgoing, energetic and amazingly positive about her life. I asked her why she's still here, and she wasn't quite sure what to say. She is a Buddhist, but prays to Jesus along with Buddha, while believing in reincarnation. Pray that she'd realize the huge gift she has been given- a second chance at life, and that she would see Jesus different than just any other religious figure.
Talk about a second chance. She was incredibly outgoing, energetic and amazingly positive about her life. I asked her why she's still here, and she wasn't quite sure what to say. She is a Buddhist, but prays to Jesus along with Buddha, while believing in reincarnation. Pray that she'd realize the huge gift she has been given- a second chance at life, and that she would see Jesus different than just any other religious figure.
We also talked with two different female Hmong students at a community college in Brooklyn Park. Both were raised in Shaman homes, one actually is a Shaman, though she practices it very liberally. They both knew a little about Jesus. Pray that they would understand what they themselves believe, as it was apparent talking to them that they don't really know what they even believe.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Stories
Students from my alma mater have been posting all over Facebook lately about a website:
http://www.stories.siouxempirecru.com/
Here are a few stories that are not linked on the front page, but worth a read:
http://www.stories.siouxempirecru.com/karis-story/
http://www.stories.siouxempirecru.com/
Here are a few stories that are not linked on the front page, but worth a read:
http://www.stories.siouxempirecru.com/karis-story/
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
I am from...
A friend had a poem on her blog about her life, so I thought I'd re-post it about myself:
I am from dusty farm caps and homemade chocolate chip cookies and Sunday football on TV.
I am from the two-story white house with peach trim.
I am from the tall cottonwoods by the river and the rhubarb in the garden.
I am from making lefsa on holidays and really big heads (literally); from Olga and Virgil, Muetzel's and Wellner's.
I am from the "mind your p's and q's" and "pull yourself up by your boot straps."
From "let your brother play with you" and "don't be so sensitive."
I am from stoic Lutherans and singing hymns in three-part harmony.
I am from Germany and Norway; meat and potatoes.
From the brother who calls me for advice; the brother who stuck up for me and got in a fist fight; the brother who yells "sister!" when I walk in the room.
I am from the old cardboard photo albums with yellowing plastic, the family pictures on the piano from decades gone by.
Here's how to write your own poem based on your childhood memories, family history and life experiences:
(Adapted from Fred First, Fragments from Floyd (County). Retrieved August 23, 2008, from: http://www.fragmentsfromfloyd.com/archives/2005_02.html#003144)
I am from _______ (specific ordinary item you had around your home growing up), and from _______ (another item from your childhood) and _______ (a specific memory).
I am from the _______ (home description, including adjective, adjective, sensory detail).
I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail).
I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).
I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).
From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another saying or value shared with you as you were growing up).
I am from ___________ (faith/religious/spiritual beliefs you were raised with) and __________ (further description of a detail of this).
I am from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).
From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).
I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).
I am from dusty farm caps and homemade chocolate chip cookies and Sunday football on TV.
I am from the two-story white house with peach trim.
I am from the tall cottonwoods by the river and the rhubarb in the garden.
I am from making lefsa on holidays and really big heads (literally); from Olga and Virgil, Muetzel's and Wellner's.
I am from the "mind your p's and q's" and "pull yourself up by your boot straps."
From "let your brother play with you" and "don't be so sensitive."
I am from stoic Lutherans and singing hymns in three-part harmony.
I am from Germany and Norway; meat and potatoes.
From the brother who calls me for advice; the brother who stuck up for me and got in a fist fight; the brother who yells "sister!" when I walk in the room.
I am from the old cardboard photo albums with yellowing plastic, the family pictures on the piano from decades gone by.
Here's how to write your own poem based on your childhood memories, family history and life experiences:
(Adapted from Fred First, Fragments from Floyd (County). Retrieved August 23, 2008, from: http://www.fragmentsfromfloyd.com/archives/2005_02.html#003144)
I am from _______ (specific ordinary item you had around your home growing up), and from _______ (another item from your childhood) and _______ (a specific memory).
I am from the _______ (home description, including adjective, adjective, sensory detail).
I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail).
I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).
I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).
From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another saying or value shared with you as you were growing up).
I am from ___________ (faith/religious/spiritual beliefs you were raised with) and __________ (further description of a detail of this).
I am from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).
From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).
I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Cubicle Confessions: Prayer
Three days a week, the CCC regional office gets together to pray for a half hour. We take turns leading and most often pray for our staff and movements on campuses around the region and the world. It's really interesting to hear about what God's doing all around our five states.
Last week I found myself typing out an e-mail at 1129am, thinking I wish we didn't have prayer today, I have so much to do!
As soon as I thought it, I realized my pride. I don't have time to pray? Seriously! Needless to say, I had a moment of prayer to get my head on straight before I went to the office prayer time.
Why don't I pray more than I do? I talk about my problems a lot more than I pray about them. I surely pray when faced with a something too tough for me to deal with on my own. But even then, I find myself pleading with God to just take away the situation and make things easier. I noticed during MPD that I give up easily when faced with challenge; as soon as I heard I "no," I would give up for the day.
Too often, I accept life for what it is. If I don't believe things can really change, why would I pray?
I could just become more disciplined in my personal prayer life. I could set times throughout the day, like office prayer, when I stop what I'm doing and spend some time before the Lord. I could probably call someone and ask them to keep me accountable in this area. I could read more books about prayer, different methods of praying, etc.
All those things are great, but I think I should just learn more about prayer by praying. I think the issue is that I'd pray more if I truly believed that praying did any good. Prayer changes things, including us. Maybe praying more is a good place to start.
Last week I found myself typing out an e-mail at 1129am, thinking I wish we didn't have prayer today, I have so much to do!
As soon as I thought it, I realized my pride. I don't have time to pray? Seriously! Needless to say, I had a moment of prayer to get my head on straight before I went to the office prayer time.
Why don't I pray more than I do? I talk about my problems a lot more than I pray about them. I surely pray when faced with a something too tough for me to deal with on my own. But even then, I find myself pleading with God to just take away the situation and make things easier. I noticed during MPD that I give up easily when faced with challenge; as soon as I heard I "no," I would give up for the day.
Too often, I accept life for what it is. If I don't believe things can really change, why would I pray?
I could just become more disciplined in my personal prayer life. I could set times throughout the day, like office prayer, when I stop what I'm doing and spend some time before the Lord. I could probably call someone and ask them to keep me accountable in this area. I could read more books about prayer, different methods of praying, etc.
All those things are great, but I think I should just learn more about prayer by praying. I think the issue is that I'd pray more if I truly believed that praying did any good. Prayer changes things, including us. Maybe praying more is a good place to start.