I have to admit that I was a little nervous on my way to
the first team meeting, but those feelings were quickly replaced by total
excitement as soon as I arrived! I was so happy to meet the others from the
Illinois area and can't wait to get to know the others on the team. My mind is
whirling and and I'm eager to get
working on the plans. Today I shared with my Sunday School class of first and
second graders that I was going and asked them if they would be prayer partners
for us. I was thrilled when I started the sentence that "We'd really like
for each of those kids to know..." and they finished my sentence with
..."that God loves them!" Their excitement just fueled mine. I'm looking forward to our next meeting : )
posted by Karen Goy- 2012 VBS Camp mission trip participant
Another Child Foundation Blog... reaching, teaching, and transforming the lives of Romanian children
Monday, April 16, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Jesus and Religion (Part 1)
Blogging my thoughts and feelings on different subjects is different for me. But, I feel it will really enhance my faith as I learn to put into words what God has revealed to me through scripture, friends, acquaintances, and news articles.
Today's subject is what I introduced yesterday. The video of a young man describing what a Millennial Generation person thinks about the larger church in today's culture. The link for that video is at the bottom of this post. To be honest when I first viewed the video I thought most of the things he stated in his poetic way were right on and accurate. After thinking on this for awhile I realize that he does not give the church credit for what it does do well. Being part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) I see many good things the church does. In the ELCA there is a campaign to eliminate malaria. This is a highly preventable disease that needs to be eradicated from the planet. Without the assistance of the ELCA and the larger church, malaria might continue to take the lives of many children throughout the world. The Youth of the ELCA are also doing their part! During the summer of 2012 thirty-five thousand youth will be joining hands in the city of New Orleans to lend a hand to the city and get the "Big Easy" back onto its feet. During that time the Youth will be collecting $250,000 to help drill 100 wells in sub-Saharan Africa. Without the vision of the larger church projects like this might not ever get done and even more importantly the Gospel might not reach the people members of the ELCA will come into contact with during these campaigns. These are just 2 examples of what one denomination is doing to help reach the world the the grace of God.
But, what I think the young man was mostly frustrated about was the emptiness of many so-called Christians. Those who are quick to judge, quick to act harshly, and intolerant of behaviors of people different than them. So, today as I continue to read through the book of Romans, I found myself starting chapter 10 which is titled "Israel reduced to Religion" in The Message translation. It talked a lot about how the Jews during Jesus' time thought of themselves above the rest because of the correct type of Religion they had in their lives compared to those of lesser intellect. The Bible says that the Jews pious attitudes were keeping them from living a life of grace. Their religion kept them from being the hands and feet of our Lord because all they could think about was protecting their own religious philosophy's. So, are today's Christian's doing the same? Are we being blinded by our religion? I encourage anyone reading this to give me some feedback on this. Feel free to comment below.
My next posting will dig deeper into the accusations of this young man and the perceptions of the Millennial Generation has for the larger church our religion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY&feature=share
Today's subject is what I introduced yesterday. The video of a young man describing what a Millennial Generation person thinks about the larger church in today's culture. The link for that video is at the bottom of this post. To be honest when I first viewed the video I thought most of the things he stated in his poetic way were right on and accurate. After thinking on this for awhile I realize that he does not give the church credit for what it does do well. Being part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) I see many good things the church does. In the ELCA there is a campaign to eliminate malaria. This is a highly preventable disease that needs to be eradicated from the planet. Without the assistance of the ELCA and the larger church, malaria might continue to take the lives of many children throughout the world. The Youth of the ELCA are also doing their part! During the summer of 2012 thirty-five thousand youth will be joining hands in the city of New Orleans to lend a hand to the city and get the "Big Easy" back onto its feet. During that time the Youth will be collecting $250,000 to help drill 100 wells in sub-Saharan Africa. Without the vision of the larger church projects like this might not ever get done and even more importantly the Gospel might not reach the people members of the ELCA will come into contact with during these campaigns. These are just 2 examples of what one denomination is doing to help reach the world the the grace of God.
But, what I think the young man was mostly frustrated about was the emptiness of many so-called Christians. Those who are quick to judge, quick to act harshly, and intolerant of behaviors of people different than them. So, today as I continue to read through the book of Romans, I found myself starting chapter 10 which is titled "Israel reduced to Religion" in The Message translation. It talked a lot about how the Jews during Jesus' time thought of themselves above the rest because of the correct type of Religion they had in their lives compared to those of lesser intellect. The Bible says that the Jews pious attitudes were keeping them from living a life of grace. Their religion kept them from being the hands and feet of our Lord because all they could think about was protecting their own religious philosophy's. So, are today's Christian's doing the same? Are we being blinded by our religion? I encourage anyone reading this to give me some feedback on this. Feel free to comment below.
My next posting will dig deeper into the accusations of this young man and the perceptions of the Millennial Generation has for the larger church our religion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY&feature=share
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Jesus and Religion
I saw a very interesting video on YouTube and Facebook that talked about the difference of religion and what Jesus had in mind when he came to Earth for 30+ years. Over the next week I will be posting some comments on this intriguing video and the thoughts of the Millennial generation.
Why I Love Jesus and Hate Religion
Why I Love Jesus and Hate Religion
Monday, April 9, 2012
Team members thoughts!
Over the next couple of month's I will be posting some thoughts and feelings of different team members going to Romania for the first time this summer.Below is the first of those posts. This one was from Jennifer Adams from Jacksonville, Illinois.
The first team meeting heightened my excitment and really got my head spinning, I cannot wait to collaborate with everyone on different ideas! It was great to meet the Illinois team and I look forward to meeting everyone else and I am already dreading July 1st! ~Happy Easter~
The first team meeting heightened my excitment and really got my head spinning, I cannot wait to collaborate with everyone on different ideas! It was great to meet the Illinois team and I look forward to meeting everyone else and I am already dreading July 1st! ~Happy Easter~
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Mission Team meetings
Today the mission team headed for Romania (the team members from Illinois) on June 21 had their first team meeting. At the meeting we had Karen Goy, Deb Dalton, and Jenn Adams. We covered some of the history of ACF and the connection to Romania as well as what the team will be doing during the 11 days. The team will consist of 5 people from Illinois, 4 from Texas, and 1 from Louisiana. The team will also be joined by ACF's 2-summer interns.
The theme for this year's VBS will be "IMAGINE". Using the popular song by Mercy Me, "I Can Only Imagine" the team will show the children how God wants us to imagine the depth of His love, the magnitude of His grace, and that His arms are always open to us no matter who we are and/or what we have done.
It is going to be an awesome experience for the team as we start getting into the details of how the trip will unfold. But, it will also be a pleasure to see God work outside of the plans we have made as the Holy Spirit will work through and in is as we serve the orphans in Romania. Please keep this team in your prayers as they continue to prepare to be His hands and feet.
The theme for this year's VBS will be "IMAGINE". Using the popular song by Mercy Me, "I Can Only Imagine" the team will show the children how God wants us to imagine the depth of His love, the magnitude of His grace, and that His arms are always open to us no matter who we are and/or what we have done.
It is going to be an awesome experience for the team as we start getting into the details of how the trip will unfold. But, it will also be a pleasure to see God work outside of the plans we have made as the Holy Spirit will work through and in is as we serve the orphans in Romania. Please keep this team in your prayers as they continue to prepare to be His hands and feet.
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