Christmas Time is Near...

Wow, things have been CRAZY busy around here lately.  The office is going crazy trying to get everything together for Cru Conference.  Things are really picking up as the deadlines are quickly approaching.  The good thing is that I was able to get a new work computer, which means that I get to start working on videos for the conference and helping in that area.  I'm really enjoying learning the new programs for the video editing.  It's a lot different than my old video editing software so there is a bit of a learning curve, but I think I'm picking up on things pretty quickly.

As Conference approaches, I'm starting to get really excited to work at the conference instead of just attending.  Don't get me wrong, Conference is AWESOME!  It was always a highlight of my Christmas Break...even though I never actually registered for the conference before just showing up, but was always glad that I was there.  But, I'm super excited to help in serving this year.  I like being behind the scenes...that's why I like doing the operations work so much.  For example, some of the videos that I'm working on, they may seem silly, but they help bring unity and knowledge across the region, connecting people to each other with the Kingdom Vision that we all have.  It's a way to see what others have been up to and where our ministry is headed.

So many exciting things have been happening, including meeting with some AMAZING women who are just wanting to know more about what it looks like to follow Jesus, and how to apply their Christian faith in their every day lives.  It will help me grow as well as, I pray, help them strengthen their walk with the Lord.  Please be in prayer as most of our schools around the region are either at finals week or dead week.

Also, prayer for Cru Conference would also be much appreciated!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I sure do have a lot to be thankful for.  I've got a wonderful husband who loves me very much, an awesome family who is behind me, and some of the most amazing friends you could ever ask for.  I think we often think about these types of things around Thanksgiving time, but do we take the time to be thankful for more than just those things?  What about the fact that I have a roof over my head, the fact that Lucas and I can afford to eat dinner every night, that we can have a dog, or even that we have jobs.  Sometimes, I think that we're thankful for the things that we feel we don't have control over in out lives, like family, friends, etc., those things that seem to have "just happened," but things like food and shelter...well, don't WE work to get that, so why be thankful? 

I was thinking about that this year.  This is my first Thanksgiving being on my ownish...that is not under my parents roof/support.  I haven't really had to think about where my next meal is going to come from or how much I spend on those mini marshmallows for the candied yams.  I realized that I'm constantly thinking how I wish I had more money to do this, or to do that, or get this or get that...and on Thanksgiving I really wasn't that thankful. I need to remind myself that I didn't do anything to have the funds I have, I wouldn't have the house I have, or the food I have without the Lord providing it for me.  That is why I need to be reminded to be Thankful everyday for the funds the LORD has provided for me to live where I do, eat the food that I want, and even have my dog. 

Overall, this Thanksgiving was pretty good.  I'm Super Thankful for all of my supporters who have helped me in my mission to reach the Greater Northwest. 

This week is going to be a VERY busy one, this and the next three.  We've got a lot of work to do to get ready for Cru Conference, but I'm thankful that I got a new computer to help in that, now if I can just get to work on making some movies! :-)

Poetry Slam Video

If you want to see a video from the Poetry Slam that happened at PSU this past month, check out this video! It's pretty awesome! 

GNW Opterns version of "Home Alone"

I'm sorry I didn't post last week.  It was a very interesting time in the office because the vast majority of the staff was at a conference in Seattle.  The "Opterns," however, remained in Portland to hold down the fort.  While this doesn't really give me an excuse for missing last week, it's the main reason.  Last week the office seemed really slow and not nearly as much fun without all of the staff in the office. 

This is Justin and I talking with the two girls at PSU

So, here is a little bit about the past couple weeks.  If you receive my ministry update letter/email you read about my exciting week at the PSU Campus...that's still something that I've been thinking about.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here is a quick recap.  I was sharing with another staff member with a couple girls on campus, when a guy interrupted us by yelling at us that we were lying because we didn't say we were Christians when we introduced ourselves.  One of the girls we were talking with, however, said after this guys rant, that she enjoyed talking with us and that if we had said that we were Christians she probably wouldn't have talked to us in the first place. 

So this is what I've been thinking about...Why is it expected that if you're a Christian, when you introduce yourself that you need to mention that?  I don't know of many people who say, "Hi, my name is John and I'm a (you fill in the religion of your choice).  Can I talk to you?" It has made the reality of going back on campus tomorrow a little bit less exciting.  It's not fun be yelled at.  I really don't like it. But I'm still going to go to campus and talk with people about Jesus, that's for sure!

Something really exciting that is starting is that I'm going to be involved with Disciplining some girls from the University of Portland!  I've never discipled in this way before, but I've had lot of experience living live with students, with Youth Group and OSU Cru.  I'm really excited to see how God works, not only in the lives of the women, but also in my own life. 

Well, that's all I have for now.  Perhaps I'll make up for my missing a week with another post this week.  Thanks! :)

New Staff Training, New House, New Month!

This last week-plus, has been a very busy one for Lucas and I both!  To start off on a personal note, Lucas and I moved into our new place and have started the process of settling in and figuring out where to put things.  We were so blessed to have awesome friends to spend time on their Sunday to help us load/unload the biggest U-Haul you can get.  The best thing was my friends from my office not only helped unload our truck, but they also helped us set up the bed, the kitchen and the living room!  Thank you Ops Team!

Now, for more of the work side of things.  This last week all of the new staff and interns in the region came together for the New Staff Training Field Trip in Portland.  It was really nice that we were able to stay in Portland for the trip, because that meant we were able to save a bit of money in the long run.  The training was pretty draining.  After having worked in the office for the past month and a half or so, I have gotten used to the 9-5, sitting at my desk at the computer, so spending hours on campus was very different.

We spent some time on Tuesday visiting different campuses in the Portland-Metro area.  I, personally, went to PCC, while two other teams went to Vancouver, one to Clark College and the other to WSU-Vancouver.  It was really encouraging to see the excitement and interest in starting Campus Crusade for Christ movements on these other campuses.  It seems like there is a real desire to have this kind of ministry here in the Portland area.  We also spent most of the day on Wednesday at PSU.  It was a little more intense than our usual Wednesday sharing times.  I was able to have several really good conversations with students about things.  One in particular was with a woman who was a pagan.  It was very interesting talking with her about her views on Christianity and the Bible.  It made me realize that there are a lot of very different views on what people think the Bible says and that I need to learn a lot more about the Bible in general. 

The highlight of the week was the first ever PDX Cru Poetry Slam.  The theme was, "Spit your best Jesus Poem...anything goes."  We had eleven poets come and share their hearts through poetry, some positive and several very negative, but a lot of, "Where are you God?" type of poems.  The winner got $300 cash, 2nd place $100 and 3rd, $50.  Then we had a featured poet come and share the gospel through his poetry.  It really got the students talking and we're really hoping to have a follow-up time where we can talk about some of the things that were brought up.  We had about an average of 80 people there!

The Cru New Staff Training field trip with Phil Long (the Sacrificial Poet) after the PDX CRU Poetry Slam!

 

Check back every week, I'm hoping to post new posts the first part of the week.  Thanks for all of your prayers for my family during my Grandpa's service.  It was really beautiful and the Lord was glorified in the service!

Street Preachers and "Sandwich board" guys???

Lucas and I found a place!  We are going to be living in Tigard...so from our new place to my office is only going to be about 4.5 miles!  We get to move in the last weekend in October!  Thank you for your prayers for us to find a place.  We're looking forward to having a place to ourselves and Jack can rejoin our "family!" :-)

This week has been going alright.  Things in the office are settling down and everyone is really starting to hit their groove in what they are doing.  This week I've been doing a lot of work with the conferences that we are planning for the next couple months.  I have been working a lot with the GNW "Wiki" page to help increase the communication around the region.  It has really been awesome to see how little things like updating a wiki page can bring ease to our staff members.  I have also been stretched this week in making phone calls and reservations for meals for almost 50 people.  I know that with time things like that will become easier, even for someone as introverted as I am. 

I was able to go back out on campus these past two weeks (I took off one week because that was the day my grandpa passed away and I didn't think it could really handle being on campus).  In the past two weeks I have seen a lot of really awesome things happen.  I have been blessed to have really amazing conversations with students at the PSU campus. I'm hoping that I will be able to reconnect with some of those people and hopefully be able to share more with them about the wonderful gift of Grace!  Today, in fact, I was able to be a part of a conversation with a girl who was very interested in Jewish culture and wants to move to Israel to become a Jew.  It was very interesting to have a conversation about who she thought Jesus was and her views on salvation.  I wish that we were able to speak with her longer but we couldn't, however, we were able to share the Gospel with her, even though she didn't decide to accept it.

One thing that PSU has is it's fair share of are street preachers and "sandwich board" guys.  Today both were on campus.  The "sandwich board" guy came first.  His sign read "God is Angry at the Sinner" and he walked around among the people sitting in the Park Blocks yelling at them.  This became a distraction as we were trying to share with people in the same area.  Then after a little while, two street preachers came and ended up standing right behind us yelling to the people.  I would have to say, some of their illustrations were quite clever (although they were the same ones from the last time they were there) but I'm not really sure about their presentation. 

I don't know, what is your opinion? Do you think that people who yell at people (even if it is the gospel) are reaching people?

Campus Crusade reached out to the Miners in Chile!

If you watched any of the Chilean Miners being pulled from the cave, you may have noticed that many were wearing tan shirts.  Those shirts were from Campus Crusade for Christ!

For more information, check out this link: The story behind the ChileanMiners Jesus t-shirts.

It's really awesome to see how big the ministry of Campus Crusade is!
Lets continue to keep the miners and their families in prayer as they now rejoin each other after being apart so long.

My Hero

This week has been a very sad one for me and my family.  Early Wednesday morning (around 2:30am), my mom called me to tell me that my Grandpa was in the hospital and then a half hour later she called me to tell me that he was gone.  My grandpa and I had a very special relationship.  We were each others Heroes.  We called each other this because we went to Silver Falls State Park many many years ago.  I was holding his and when I slipped, and he caught me.  I looked up at him and said, "Grandpa, you're my Hero!"  A little while later on our walk, he "slipped" as well and I caught him and he in return said, "Katie, you're my Hero!"  Ever since then he's has truly been my hero.

Not only was my grandpa my hero, but he was an amazing and wonderful man of God.  His dream and desire was that everyone would come to know Jesus as their personal savior.  He was an amazing husband of 62 years, father of 4 children, grandfather and great-grandfather.  I know that he is now farming his orchard in Heaven with Jesus, and I can't wait until we get to pick tangerines and go for walks again, only this time with the Lord as well.

Please be praying for my family as we miss my grandpa's presence here on earth.  We will be traveling to San Diego for a Celebration of Life on the 23rd.

The Lord has really blessed me through this, with an amazing group of people around me to help me through this time.  One of my co-workers reminded me of this with me on Wednesday, Hebrews 12:1-3:

  ¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 I know my Grandpa is in that great cloud of witnesses!

Homeless...Well, Kind of....

As of early this morning, Lucas and I moved out of our place in Philomath, but still don't really have a place to call home here in Portland.  This has made for a very interesting day today.  We spent all weekend moving our belongings from our duplex to a storage unit not far from our place in Philomath.  It took several weekends of moving things to get our place cleared out, but at about 5am we put the last load into storage and then when we left for work (with in 2 hours of finishing) we took the last remaining things with us; neither of us really slept at all last night.  It is very strange to not really have a place to call home.  Lucas and I are trusting that the Lord will provide a place that fits our lifestyle (ie, will let us have a dog) and works for both of our commutes.

However, last week, things went really well in the office.  I was able to help out in several areas around the office including working on things for the CruConference this December!  Last Wednesday, the interns went to PSU with the PDX Cru team and got to share with some students for a while.  I was able to have a conversation with a guy named Alex.  We spoke for about 45 minutes about what he believes and I was even able to talk about the Gospel with him!  After we went sharing we spent some time as a group and connected as a team about reaching the people of Portland.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day in Portland, which helped with everything.

A View of part of the PSU campus from the 5th floor.

Later that evening, we went to University of Portland for a weekly meeting called Fish.  It was fun to watch so many students come together to Worship and have great fellowship.  We are hoping to be able to help out with that ministry as well.  We're just waiting to see how that Lord wants to use us in the PDX Cru ministry. 

As for now, please pray that Lucas and I will be able to find a place soon. 

New Town, New Blog!

I decided it might be easier to keep everyone updated on how things are going in my Ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ through a blog as well as through my other newsletters. I can update this pretty often and keep you all informed on how things are going in Portland with the ministry of the Regional Office as well as the PDX Cru team.

To start things off, here is a little recap of what has happened the first week and a half here in Portland!

I was able to start working full time in the office on Monday, September 20th. Things have been going GREAT here. I love the people that I work with and we all get along well. I have been able to help with getting things together for the GNW CruConference this winter, including some video editing, and I also got to help get some planning done for another conference. I'm still learning exactly where I am going to be the most useful in the office, but it's still great to be a part of this huge ministry reaching all over the world!

Last week, the interns in the office, were able to go to the Portland State University Campus and start conversations with students there on campus. I had the honor of speaking with a guy named Charlie and had a long conversation about what he believed and why he believed what he did. It was a very interesting conversation and it opened my eyes to the need of the Gospel in the Portland area.

We're heading out to the PSU Campus again today with the PDX Cru team. I'm excited to get out and start more conversations. It's a big stretch for me to start this type of conversation with people, but I guess we're not called to be comfortable!

Well, I'll try to keep this updated as much as I can. Please let me know what you think about this and share with me how things are going for you as well!