Worldview Wednesday | Lessons Learned

Wut up Yardigans?

This week I want to challenge anyone who went on our mission trip to post a lesson you learned from the wonderful believers in Chihuahua as a comment on here. I'll start us off:

1) I am way too attached to my stuff. I want to learn how to hold everything I own with open hands, always willing to lend or give away anything in my possession to someone in need.

I love you all very much! See you Sunday!

Worldview Wednesday | Greetings from London!

Hey Yardigans! I'm coming at you today from all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. After an overnight flight I got in at 8:30am yesterday (2:30am Dallas time).

After an amazing experience at camp last week, I hope that each of you are remembering and living into everything that you learned and decided about your relationship with God this week at home. I want to encourage you to represent the name of Christ well in everything that you do and say. Lift each other up in love and unity. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and He will teach you to love your neighbor as yourself. Hold on to what you know to be true.

I love you all very much and will see you when I get back!

Camp Eagle #2

Here are some more pictures and we are having a great time. So far it has been really great and the students are loving it. Tonight we completed the second part of our redemption story (make sure and ask your students about it) and we had a huge party. Can't wait for a good shower when we get home and some good rest. We only walk about 5-7 miles a day... Yikes!!!

Camp Eagle

We made it.

I am sorry it took so long to get the word out, but the internet has been down and is now obviously back up. So far... it as been amazing!!!! Our kids are loving it.

We have rock climbed, repelled, kayaked and swam our little hearts out. Oh ya, we have hiked 4-8 miles a day... the are such troopers!!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures and I will write you some more tomorrow!!!

Worldview Wednesday | The Importance of a Missional Mindset

Hey Yardigans!

This week I want to share a little bit about why I think it's important to have a missional mindset throughout your daily life.

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gives His followers their final instructions before He ascends into Heaven. He says "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Obviously, us living and thinking beyond our own limited experiences and environments is important to God. I would encourage you to put in the effort to be informed about what is going on around the world. Also, remember that as Christ-followers, we represent Him in every interaction we have with others. So go and make disciples!

James | 1:4-8

Yaawwwnnnnn.... Yikes I am tired.

Well we just straight back into James last night and walked through verses 4-8. It was quite an experience, wouldn't you say? We uncovered some truth about wisdom and realized that the condition of our hearts has a huge impact on the generosity of God's wisdom.

Sometimes that can be a little overwhelming considering the urgency in which we receive things here in America. The thought of my responsibility when receiving such things (as wisdom) can deter us from even asking. What a thought? I know that at our ripe ol' age of 14-18 you are not exactly on the forefront of gaining mass amounts of this so called Wisdom, considering it is for old people, but it can make a world of difference in our lives.

Take some time this week and read back over James 1:4-8 and listen to the podcast. Focus on what God has and is calling you to and move toward that goal. I love ya!!

Worldview Wednesday | Ethiopia

Hey Yardigans!

This week I want to talk a little bit about what Chase Oaks is doing in Ethiopia. Two Sundays ago was the yearly update on the project, and the service was beyond awesome. If you didn't get a chance to attend church that Sunday, you can watch the video here or listen to the podcast.

We are currently supporting 69 church planters in Northern Ethiopia. These are believers who local churches send out to plant new churches in different cities and villages. Many of them face intense persecution during their ministries. Through the planters we support, 941 new believers have come to know Christ so far.

Chase Oaks also helps to provide care for the poor. We support shelters that provide widows with medical care, food, and water, and we will be opening a school this fall. Many of the students in the school will be kids who would have no other way to be educated.

The Ethiopia project is one of the most exciting things going on in our church. I would encourage you to pray about how God may be calling you to get involved.

What can you do to help?

1) Pray for everything and everyone surrounding the Ethiopia project: our leaders at Chase Oaks, the leaders of the ministries we partner with, the church planters, pastors, teachers, and others who serve in Ethiopia, etc.
2) Consider giving to the Ethiopia fund. You can choose to give a one-time gift or commit to giving a certain amount every month for a year.

James | 1:1-4

Good Morning Yardigans!!!!

I hope you all had a great weekend and CONGRATULATIONS to all our new graduates! We are so proud of you and so honored to have been able to be a part of your lives and I know that I am so encouraged by who you have become and what God is doing in your hearts.

A quick update from last night; we will be spending the summer in the book of James. We jumped straight in last night and covered all of 4 verses. Haha J James 1:1-4; WATCH OUT!!!

The theme from last night was “Joy in Trials”. I know at first glance this seems to be ironic to modern American thinking and reactions, but the truth is, it is completely biblical. God is not a evil deity in the sky loving to watch up squirm around from test and trial and smiling at us thinking, “where’s your joy, where’s your joy, little human thing”. No not at all. He is loving and knows that the testing of our faith serves 2 purposes, to test the authenticity of our faith and to grow us up in perseverance so that we will be complete and lacking in nothing. That is joy in trials.

I hope you take some time this week to read over James 1:1-4 and memorize it. I am not going to ask you to recite it or come up to me and tell it to me. I will ask through that you etch it on your heart and memorize it so it become a part of your faith, not just a quote to console your emotion.

I love you and hope you have a great first week of summer.

Worldview Wednesday | Slavery

Good evening Yardigans. This week I want to raise your awareness about an issue that most of us think is in the past. We have all learned about the slavery in the history of the U.S. We know that it was terrible, and we are relieved that it ended. However, I come to you today with some sobering news: there are more slaves in the world right now than there have ever been in the history of the world.

Slavery takes many forms. The kind we tend to be most familiar with is chattel slavery, which was what the slavery in the U.S. was. Two other types of slavery are child slavery and debt bondage; these are the types that are big today.

Debt bondage occurs when workers are paid too little to meet their basic needs in life and are literally trapped into their jobs. Sadly, this happens even in the U.S. For example, many prostitutes here are women who were recruited from other countries based on the promise of a better life in the U.S. They had no idea what kind of work they would be doing, and they were told that once they paid off their traveling expenses they were free to go wherever they wanted. Then, once they got here, they realized that the "traveling expenses" could never be paid, trapping them into one of the worst lives imaginable.

What can you do to help?

1) Pray, pray, and pray some more for those who are currently living life in bondage.
2) Help to make your family and friends aware of the magnitude of slavery in the world today.

Worldview Wednesday | My Friend's House

What's up Yardigans? Sorry for not posting last week, but we're back in action! This week I want to take a look at a need that hits a little closer to home.

One of the non-profit organizations that Chase Oaks partners with is City House. They provide many services to children and youth in Collin County, including an emergency shelter for teens ages 10-17, family counseling, life skills education, a parenting skills group, and crisis intervention. They are currently working on building My Friend's House, which will be an emergency shelter for infants to nine year-olds.

400 children are removed from unsafe homes in Collin County every year, but there are only 100 foster families in the whole county. This means that in many cases, children who are already going through a rough time are further traumatized by having to move far away from what they know here. My Friend's House will provide a safe place for many of these children to live and still be able to attend their school, visit with family and friends, etc.

In order for My Friend's House to be completed in time, they need support of all kinds.

What can you do to help?

1) Pray for God's provision for City House as they strive to raise the support they need to complete My Friend's House in time.
2) Help to raise awareness by talking to your friends and family about what City House does for the community and the support they need.
3) Check out their registries at Target and Babies-R-Us, and consider purchasing one or more of the needed items yourself, as a family, as a group of friends, or as a D-Group.
4) Make an online donation here.