JoAnn Stevens, church treasurer, will be setting up two funds for donations:
1. One will be the fund for the actual building. Please designate donations to this fund as "Mexico Mission Trip 2009 Building Fund".
2. The second is going to be a general fund*. Please designate donations to this fund as "Mexico Mission Trip 2009 Participation Fund".
Donations (including participation fee and airfare) are tax deductible.
*General Fund includes: accident insurance, food and water, housing, local travel and ground transportation, outreach, photography and other documentation fees, site visit by Project Coordinator and Construction Superintendent (required by Maranatha 3 months prior to actual trip), preliminary costs (cost of information materials, etc), participation fee, and a contingency fee.
Once our application is approved and we have been given a specific site we will begin the process of creating a detailed budget.
Please pray for God to guide you as you consider your donation to this mission trip.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Father of Lights
I read a quote recently that struck a chord within my heart: “A wise man soon learns that silence cannot be misquoted”. However, today I cannot be silent.
It is so easy to focus too closely on earthly matters and forget about the spiritual meaning in all that we have and all that we do. Please allow me to share some thoughts that God has placed on my heart about our mission trip.
When we chose the name ‘The Northern Lights’ as our team name, I instantly liked it. It reminded me of a song about the Father of lights that we sang during praise time at Cornerstone Church. James 1:17 says “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning”. What an awesome God we serve!
Genesis chapter one tells how God, the Father of lights, created light simply by commanding it to be. And it was, and it was good. He spoke again and again to bring things into existence. And it was. And it was good.
Then He did something different. He knelt down and with His hands used the dust of the ground to create man. The same Hands that would later stretch out on the cross to die for us were used to personally and intimately form us into human beings. With great care He formed us in His image, in His likeness. God cared so much for us that He focused on every single detail in giving us form.
The Father of lights didn’t stop with our external design--there was more to come. Genesis 2:7 says “and [God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being”. I believe that was the beginning of our spiritual life and in Philippians 1:6 God tells us that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on until the day of Christ Jesus”. What a blessing!
Arthur J. Ferch, author of the Bible study Genesis: In The Beginning by Review and Herald Publishing, noted that:
*God spoke: “God said”,
*God commanded: “let there be”,
*God fulfilled: “it was so”,
*God evaluated: He “saw that it was good”.
The author observed that our God is a God of action in that He separated, He made, He set, He created, He named, and He blessed. His actions gave purpose and meaning to our world and to us personally as human beings. His act, creation itself, was originated in the will of God.
Mr. Ferch continued on to say that “there is an inalienable dignity upon every human being” arising from our very creation. This is something we should bear in mind when serving others on our upcoming mission trip. Let us look beyond outward circumstances and see the God-given purpose and meaning of every person we encounter.
It is important to remember that our hands can be used by His hands--the Hands that created us--to do His will. An excerpt from God’s Best for Your Success by Word Publishing states: “Planning without seeking the will of God is presumptuous and foolish”. The accompanying scripture was James 4:13, 15: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;….Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”.
In conclusion, please pray for God’s will to be done concerning our planned mission trip. And that Hillside-O’Malley will truly be the northern lights that He uses to shine His truth and love on our southern neighbors.
It is so easy to focus too closely on earthly matters and forget about the spiritual meaning in all that we have and all that we do. Please allow me to share some thoughts that God has placed on my heart about our mission trip.
When we chose the name ‘The Northern Lights’ as our team name, I instantly liked it. It reminded me of a song about the Father of lights that we sang during praise time at Cornerstone Church. James 1:17 says “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning”. What an awesome God we serve!
Genesis chapter one tells how God, the Father of lights, created light simply by commanding it to be. And it was, and it was good. He spoke again and again to bring things into existence. And it was. And it was good.
Then He did something different. He knelt down and with His hands used the dust of the ground to create man. The same Hands that would later stretch out on the cross to die for us were used to personally and intimately form us into human beings. With great care He formed us in His image, in His likeness. God cared so much for us that He focused on every single detail in giving us form.
The Father of lights didn’t stop with our external design--there was more to come. Genesis 2:7 says “and [God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being”. I believe that was the beginning of our spiritual life and in Philippians 1:6 God tells us that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on until the day of Christ Jesus”. What a blessing!
Arthur J. Ferch, author of the Bible study Genesis: In The Beginning by Review and Herald Publishing, noted that:
*God spoke: “God said”,
*God commanded: “let there be”,
*God fulfilled: “it was so”,
*God evaluated: He “saw that it was good”.
The author observed that our God is a God of action in that He separated, He made, He set, He created, He named, and He blessed. His actions gave purpose and meaning to our world and to us personally as human beings. His act, creation itself, was originated in the will of God.
Mr. Ferch continued on to say that “there is an inalienable dignity upon every human being” arising from our very creation. This is something we should bear in mind when serving others on our upcoming mission trip. Let us look beyond outward circumstances and see the God-given purpose and meaning of every person we encounter.
It is important to remember that our hands can be used by His hands--the Hands that created us--to do His will. An excerpt from God’s Best for Your Success by Word Publishing states: “Planning without seeking the will of God is presumptuous and foolish”. The accompanying scripture was James 4:13, 15: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;….Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”.
In conclusion, please pray for God’s will to be done concerning our planned mission trip. And that Hillside-O’Malley will truly be the northern lights that He uses to shine His truth and love on our southern neighbors.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Preparations Underway
James submitted the application to Maranatha yesterday via snail mail. Now we eagerly wait for the acceptance of our proposed dates and location. Patience will be a necessary attribute for this part of the planning phase!
Here is some additional information about working with Maranatha (taken off their website). Their services include:
*Help in choosing a project that fits our needs
*Consultation and training for the team leaders
*Ensuring the project is completely finished after we leave
Maranatha prepares the project site:
*Completing underground plumbing and electrical
*Pouring foundation and sometimes floor
*Erecting steel
*Purchasing materials and equipment and having them at the project site
Other items provided by Maranatha for our team:
*Construction blueprints
*Direction with the actual building process
*Coordination of a pre-project site visit
*Facilitating arrangements for food, housing, transportation, etc
At this time our goal as a church is twofold: recruit project participants and start raising money for both the participant’s fees* and the building fund. We hope to raise $30,000 for the building of the facility (the type of facility will be determined after the project location is determined and the needs of the community are assessed).
At this time our goal for the project is twofold: During the day build a permanent structure for the community and in the evening give a Power of the Cross seminar.
Guidelines for Project Participants:*We have chosen a team size of 30-35. We feel that this will provide enough people working on the job site while allowing other participants to be available for supportive roles (cooking, laundry, spiritual leadership, project documentation, etc).
*One adult per four youth (14-17 years of age)
*One adult per child under 14 years of age
*Please assess whether any medical conditions would prevent you from traveling and working long hours or doing manual labor
*Please assess whether your youth/child is spiritually and emotionally mature enough to go on a short-term mission project. Will they add to or detract from the physical work and spiritual experience of our team and the community we will serve?
James and I will work with a travel agent to secure group travel for all phases of the trip (U.S. and Mexico). I am currently researching possible sight-seeing excursions that might be available to us and will present these options to the team at a later date.
Please check your passport to make sure it is up to date. It must be valid for 3 months after the mission trip.
*Participants Fees includes: Accident insurance, food and water, housing, local travel and transportation, outreach expenses, excursions, photography, preliminary costs (education materials, postage, etc), site visit, and a contingency fund. Airfare (if traveling as a group) may possibly be included and entrance and exit fees if applicable.
Here is some additional information about working with Maranatha (taken off their website). Their services include:
*Help in choosing a project that fits our needs
*Consultation and training for the team leaders
*Ensuring the project is completely finished after we leave
Maranatha prepares the project site:
*Completing underground plumbing and electrical
*Pouring foundation and sometimes floor
*Erecting steel
*Purchasing materials and equipment and having them at the project site
Other items provided by Maranatha for our team:
*Construction blueprints
*Direction with the actual building process
*Coordination of a pre-project site visit
*Facilitating arrangements for food, housing, transportation, etc
At this time our goal as a church is twofold: recruit project participants and start raising money for both the participant’s fees* and the building fund. We hope to raise $30,000 for the building of the facility (the type of facility will be determined after the project location is determined and the needs of the community are assessed).
At this time our goal for the project is twofold: During the day build a permanent structure for the community and in the evening give a Power of the Cross seminar.
Guidelines for Project Participants:*We have chosen a team size of 30-35. We feel that this will provide enough people working on the job site while allowing other participants to be available for supportive roles (cooking, laundry, spiritual leadership, project documentation, etc).
*One adult per four youth (14-17 years of age)
*One adult per child under 14 years of age
*Please assess whether any medical conditions would prevent you from traveling and working long hours or doing manual labor
*Please assess whether your youth/child is spiritually and emotionally mature enough to go on a short-term mission project. Will they add to or detract from the physical work and spiritual experience of our team and the community we will serve?
James and I will work with a travel agent to secure group travel for all phases of the trip (U.S. and Mexico). I am currently researching possible sight-seeing excursions that might be available to us and will present these options to the team at a later date.
Please check your passport to make sure it is up to date. It must be valid for 3 months after the mission trip.
*Participants Fees includes: Accident insurance, food and water, housing, local travel and transportation, outreach expenses, excursions, photography, preliminary costs (education materials, postage, etc), site visit, and a contingency fund. Airfare (if traveling as a group) may possibly be included and entrance and exit fees if applicable.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Our First Meeting
We met for our first planning meeting today--stepping out into unknown territory for James and I. Instead of naming our team after our church we chose The Northern Lights. I immediately loved the name since it reflects where we live (Alaska) and because it reminds us that we will be carrying God's light to those in need.
At this point in the planning phase there are many unanswered questions--how will we afford it, can we get time off work, just exactly how do you prepare 3 meals a day for 35 people, and so on. I thrive on being organized and fully prepared however I realize that with this type of venture the only thing you can plan on is the unexpected!
People are stepping out in faith and it is exciting to see them willing to step outside their comfort zone. I anticipate hearing many stories of how God is working in each participants life to challenge them spiritually and to develop them as missionaries who are ready to give Hope to the hopeless.
I think it is beneficial to have a team scripture and a team motto. Until we discover our own, I think I'll borrow a motto from our last mission trip: "Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility" and "where God leads He will provide".
Please add us to your prayer list as we prepare for our trip. We seek God's guidance in all we do and pray that above all His will be done.
At this point in the planning phase there are many unanswered questions--how will we afford it, can we get time off work, just exactly how do you prepare 3 meals a day for 35 people, and so on. I thrive on being organized and fully prepared however I realize that with this type of venture the only thing you can plan on is the unexpected!
People are stepping out in faith and it is exciting to see them willing to step outside their comfort zone. I anticipate hearing many stories of how God is working in each participants life to challenge them spiritually and to develop them as missionaries who are ready to give Hope to the hopeless.
I think it is beneficial to have a team scripture and a team motto. Until we discover our own, I think I'll borrow a motto from our last mission trip: "Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility" and "where God leads He will provide".
Please add us to your prayer list as we prepare for our trip. We seek God's guidance in all we do and pray that above all His will be done.
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