Update on India Trip

I just wanted to send a quick update on the progress of my India trip.  Several of the things I asked you to pray for have already happened.  We have both received our visas and our plane tickets have been purchased.  We’ve also found a dSLR camera to borrow. I just got an itinerary emailed to me a few days ago, and it’s starting to set in… I’m really going to India!

So far in only a few weeks, about 59% of the support I need for this trip has either come in or has been pledged!  Thank you all so much! That means only $1,220 more remains to be raised. My goal is to reach $3,000 before June 25. Thanks for considering partnering with me in this strategic way.

To give, visit www.perspectives.org/giveonline and select my name from the “Choose a Staff Member” menu.

Or if you would prefer to give by check, make it out to USCWM – MA-210 (for IRS purposes, do NOT write my name on the check) and send it to:

U.S. Center for World Mission
Ministry Accounts
PO Box 3586
Fayetteville, AR  72702

Include a separate note that has my name and says it’s for my India trip.

GOer Group Video update

In other news, back at the USCWM, I’m working with a summer intern named Jessica, and we’re just about to start filming for the GOer Group videos tomorrow afternoon.  So far we’ve built a small sound-proof studio (ok, more like sound resisitant… you can’t soundproof a room that starts with 1inch walls and no ceiling) in a back office (Dad, thanks for teaching me how to use power tools!), put together a set, started scheduling some incredible speakers to come in for interviews, and brainstormed how to get t his valueable information to college students.  Please pray with us as we take on this huge task!

I hope you all are enjoying the first few days of summer!  Let me know what you’re up to!

Trip Dates:
June 26 – July 9

Total Trip Cost:
$3,000

Amount left to raise:
$1,220

Ways to Pray

• GOer Group Project: Pray for guidance and creativity as we start filming this week.

• Support for India: Pray that my friend and I will both be able to raise the support we need for this trip.

• Long-term Workers: Pray that this trip will help raise long-term laborers to go to this region!

India trip

I have the opportunity to go along on a vision trip next month! My friend, in preparation for eventually going long-term to this region, is taking a 2-week trip, and I’m able to go with her! We are going to a people group in India that has a very small percentage (less than 2%) of believers. There are very few workers there sharing about the kingdom of God.There are several reasons that I am going on this trip:

• To get experience in this part of the world so that I can help students better understand what life overseas will be like.
• To get stories, photos, video footage, and other resources that will be useful as we expand our media influence through Every Ethne
• To help produce resources to recruit a team to go to this unreached people group

The total cost of this trip is about $3,000. God has already provided about half in advance for this trip (which is super awesome!), so I currently need to raise about $1,500. Would you consider giving a special gift to partner with me in bringing the good news to this people group of India?

To give, visit www.perspectives.org/giveonline and select my name from the “Choose a Staff Member” menu.

Or if you would prefer to give by check, make it out to:
USCWM – MA-210 (for IRS purposes, do NOT write my name on the check) and send it to:

U.S. Center for World Mission
Ministry Accounts
PO Box 3586
Fayetteville, AR  72702

Include a separate note that has my name and says it’s for my India trip.

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Trip Dates:
June 26 – July 9

Total Trip Cost:
$3,000

Amount left to raise:
$1,500

Ways to Pray

• Long-term workers: Pray for long-term workers to go to this people group

• Logistics and Safety: Pray for smooth travel and safety for us as two single girls traveling internationally.

• Creation of Materials: Pray for creativity and productivity for the recruiting materials we want to produce. Pray that we can find a dSLR camera to take with us so we can take high quality photos.

April updates

I get to enjoy these every day as I walk on the way to the office.

Support

First of all, I want to thank all of you who have allowed God to use you to bless me financially.  Some of you have been on my team for over a year, and I can’t begin to thank you enough for the encouragement that you are to me.  So THANK YOU for allowing God to use you through this ministry.

A few people have asked me recently where I am with support.  I currently need to raise about $500 a month more to reach my full monthly budget.  If you would like to be part of the exciting things God is doing through my ministry with Every Ethne, visit the Join My Team page for more information.

GOer Group

We are nearing the end of another semester and only have 2 GOer Group meetings left.  It’s been an incredible experience.  The 20 or so students that have been involved are amazing.  Many of them are attending summer projects or going on short-term mission trips this summer or next semester.  I’m so excited to see what God does through them this summer and the next few years as they prepare to go long-term.

If you would be interested in joining the prayer or financial team of some of these students, let me know. It would be a huge encouragement to them to know people they haven’t even met want to be part of what God is doing through them.

XPLORE study

The XPLORE study has been reordered again (because we’ve sold or given away so many of our previous printings!), and it’s crazy how people are finding out about it.  We haven’t really even done much promotion yet, so most of it is word-of-mouth!  I have had the privilege of hearing about several students and young adults who have gone through the study and seen their lives have changed as they respond to the challenge to engage in completing the Great Commission.  It’s so exciting and humbling to know that God is allowing me to be a part of something that He is really using to impact the nations.

Every Ethne

We’re on the front end of a lot of big projects here with Every Ethne.  I’ve spent some significant time recently researching video and media equipment, and we’re hoping to kick off a video wing in the next few months.  This is super exciting, as well as a bit overwhelming, since I know how little I actually know about this.  :)  Please pray for us as we’re trying to strike out into this area with enormous potential.

I’ve also been working on ideas for a redesign of the Every Ethne website.  The potential for this is also huge.  We hope to be able to help guide and mobilize students across the country with resources offered through this site.  We’re also brainstorming how to create a version of the GOer Group that will be accessible to students all over the country so that they can find their most strategic role in the Great Commission.

So that’s a lot about me.  What’s going on with all of you?

I’m moving!

I’m moving to Arkansas!

That’s right!  I’m moving!  You may be wondering, “Well, how did that happen?”  The US Center has decided to allow those of us who are at partial support to work part-time at the US Center office, and then get a part-time job on the side to cover the rest of our living expenses. So, I will be heading down to Arkansas early in July and will start working with Every Ethne!

First of all, I want to thank all of you who are supporting me, both financially and prayerfully.  It has been a stretching year of support raising, and I greatly appreciate your encouragement!

Secondly, with the whirlwind of things that need to happen between now and when I move, there’s a few ways you can help out.

#1 —  I still need support!

While I am moving and beginning to work at the US Center, I will be in the office part-time. I am incredibly excited about this opportunity to start doing the ministry I feel God is calling me to! However, ideally, I would love to work at the US Center full-time and able to focus my full attention on mobilizing college students to invovlement the Great Commission. You can still join my monthly support team and bring me closer to being able to devote myself to this ministry full-time.

#2 — I need one-time gifts to help with moving expenses!

If you aren’t able to make a monthly commitment right now, or if you would like to give an extra gift this month, it would be incredibly helpful to help me cover some of the expenses associated with moving, getting a place to live, starting up a job, etc.  You can make a special gift using any of the methods on this page.

#3 — I need your prayers!

Although I’ve been gearing up for this ministry for almost a year, the transition from support raising to actually working in Arkansas is happening very quickly.  I am currently in Columbia, and will be packing up and saying my goodbyes by June 22.  I’ll be driving from South Carolina to Wisconsin to get all of my stuff in order and touch base with friends and supporters up there, and then I will be moving down to Arkansas in early July.  Shortly after I get there, we will be heading to Pasadena, CA, for our staff conference at the national office.

Please pray:

–>For safe travels and smooth transitions between all of these places.

–> That I will be able to quickly find the right part-time job and housing arrangement in Fayetteville

–> For God’s clear direction, driving passion, and sustaining grace for the ministry of Every Ethne.

Get on Board Team 15!

So here’s the deal.  I am currently about $1500 a month away from my support goal and moving to Fayetteville to start working with Every Ethne.  I need your help to get the rest of the way.

I am looking for 15 supporters who will commit to $100 a month! (hence “Team 15″)

Will YOU help by joining Team 15?  Here’s what it looks like:

• You can support me individually for $100 a month
• You can team up with friends to reach $100 a month (do it with your Bible study, small group, Sunday School, etc.)
• You can give less than $100 a month and together with others it will add up to one of the members

To give, visit this page:  How to join my team! If you’re thinking about being part of my support team or have any questions, please contact me!

I’m halfway there!

I just wanted to take a moment to announce some big news…

As of this week, I am at 50% of my monthly budget!  Yay!  That means I’m only $1590 a month away from being at full-support.  So, if 15 people would pledge $100 a month, or 30 people at $50, I could be there!  

God has brought me halfway, and I am trusting Him to provide for the rest.  Please continue to pray that God will provide.  

For ways you can help me out, check out this page. 

 

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Also, a short update on my whereabouts and future locations.  The plan is to leave  Michigan on Monday and drive to South Carolina.  If you live there and haven’t read about the HUGE ways you can help me out yet, please check out this post: South Carolina friends, please help!

South Carolina friends, please help!

Hello my southern friends (a purely geographical label, as I know many of you will never be “southern”)!

There is a HUGE way you can help me.  I know that many of you who will be reading this wish you could support me financially, but are just not in a position to do that, as you’re still in school, still looking for jobs, or raising your own support.  However, there is something that you can do to help me in this support raising process.

I am hoping to take a  support trip to South Carolina next month (driving down the 2nd week of April, and probably sticking around for 2-3 weeks), and am looking for individuals and couples to meet with to share a little about my story of how God brought me to this point, what I’ll be doing with the US Center, and how people can be involved as part of my support team.  

So, here’s where you come in.  To make this trip possible, I need you guys to find at least 20 people who would be willing to meet with me while I’m there.  Here are some groups of people to think through about asking:

-Friends
-Family
-People in your small group/Bible study
-People from your church
-People you work with

If you’re like me and require demonstration, a sample conversation could go something like this:

“Hi there.  I wanted to ask you something.  I have a friend who went to school with me at CIU and graduated last May.  She is raising support to work with the US Center for World Mission and mobilize college students to get involved in missions.  She’s planning to come to Columbia in the next month, and I’m trying to help her find people that would be interested in learning more about this ministry.  Would you be willing to sit down with her while she’s here for about 30-45 minutes to hear more about what she’ll be doing and what some of her support needs are?  Meeting with her doesn’t at all obligate you to be part of her support team.  But I think you would be blessed to meet her and at least hear her heart.”  

*This is just a sample, and your words are better than mine.*

If they’re interested, get their name, phone number, email, and any other important contact info so I can get in touch with them to work out a time to get together when I’m in Columbia.

You have no idea how much it would mean to me if you guys could help me with this.  You could help me get to Arkansas, AND I could come visit you!  We all win here.  :)

Please let me know if you’re willing to help me out with this. Also, feel free to contact me (via email, facebook, phone, whatever) with any questions, suggestions, or if you just want to say hi!

Love and miss you guys, and hope to see you soon!

-Christina

Upcoming

Hey guys, I have a few prayer requests, and ways that you can help me out.

The dates aren’t totally set yet, but I’m planning to take a couple support raising trips in the near future.  I plan to head to Michigan at the end of March (mostly the east side of the state around Grand Rapids), and then on to South Carolina in April (mainly focused in Columbia, but I’m willing to drive if people are willing to meet, so Greenville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Asheville, etc are totally do-able).

1.  If you or any of your friends live in either of these areas (or anywhere in between I might be driving through) I’d love to visit with you and share about my ministry with the US Center.  So let me know, and we’ll plan a time to get together!

2.  Especially for my South Carolina friends @ CIU: Even if you’re not able to be part of my financial support team right now, there’s another HUGE way you can help.  Please talk to people you know from your churches, Bible studies and small groups, work, family, etc, and ask them if they would meet with me while I’m in town to hear my story of how I got to this point, what I’ll be doing with the US Center for World Mission, and how they can be involved through my support team.  If they are open to meeting with me, get their contact information and pass it along to me.

3.  For all of you: please pray that God will open doors for me to talk to the people He has prepared to be on my support team.

Thanks guys!  Hopefully I’ll be seeing some of you soon!

A Quarter of the Way!

I just wanted to take a moment and celebrate that God has brought me to 25% of my monthly support!

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From the rising of the sun to its setting my Name shall be great among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to my Name, and a pure offering; for my Name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

–Malachi 1:11

still going

A lot of people have been asking me about what I’m doing, now that December 15 has passed. The 15th was not really a be-all, end-all deadline, but rather just a goal. I’m in this for the long haul, and unless God very clearly redirects (which I’m fairly certain He does not seem to be doing), I’m going to keep working towards full-support. I do believe that God will bring it, in His timing. So please pray with me as I journey forward.