Wow...2011

So, I realize that it has been way too long since I've posted a blog, that is really bad on my part.  Things have been kind of crazy here in the GNW!  We've had Christmas, Cru Conference, New Years and the start of the new term/semester!

All that being said, I still don't really have an excuse to not be blogging, except for the fact I've been a little more on the lazy side and focusing on other tasks at hand.  Cru Conference is a very busy time of the year for the staff in the Greater Northwest region, and I felt that full force this year.  I never realized how much all of the staff, all over the region, contribute to creating this large event.

Working at my computer during Cru Conference.  

This year, the Conference was in Spokane, Washington, which was nice, but also a bit of a headache learning a new place (as the last three years it's been in Portland).  While at conference, I never actually left the hotel where the conference was being held.  This is partly due to the 6 inches of snow on the ground and my lack of winter coat.  However, I really didn't mind as I spent most of my hours working on videos to be played during the conference itself. 

Here is a link to the videos from the conference!  Amplify Videos

I'm going to warn you now that the aspect ratio is a bit crazy on most of these videos because our screen was 40 feet long and 10 feet tall! It was the entire backdrop of the stage! It was really awesome to get to see my work that huge in front of that many people.  It was awesome.

The videos that I really worked the most on are:
GNW Ops Vision Spot (I wrote, directed and edited this on my own)
Light (I animated this in a program called Motion)
Amplify Final Video (I edited the last song in this video)

I'll get all the stats from the conference and probably post another blog about my personal experience when I have another free moment to think about things. 

I trust that the all is going well in all of your lives and I pray that God will bless you!

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?