Foreign Lands like Twitter, Facebook, & Google

It is no secret that social media is not going away anytime soon.  I’ve heard the complaints and the praises and, personally, I was not interested. 

Yet, I have a husband that works insane hours, most days from 7am to 11pm without unlimited internet access.  My husband loves Facebook because it is a viable and vital way to keep up with family and friends when he can only talk in the middle of the night.

Then I met Jerry Fultz over coffee to talk about our ministries.  He said something that challenged me.  Long story short, the online community is God’s mission field, too.  An hour stretched into two as he expressed how social media is very much a tool of relational ministry.  I was sold, with a smile.  Which didn’t mean I don’t still have a lot to learn.

Recently, I read a book called “@stickyJesus” by Toni Birdsong & Tami Heim.  It’s all about how to live out your faith in a online mission field.  I highly recommend it.  So, are you someone like I was, reluctant and busy? Or are you more like my husband, eager to get online and stay in touch?  Maybe you’re somewhere in between.

God creates us all uniquely suited for the mission field He is calling us to join Him in reaching.  I’m discovering just how big this new field is, and how hungry people are to feel heard.  Just like any worldly place, there are the posers, liars, and crooks; the uninformed, misinformed, and   bullies.  It’s not unlike walking into a cocktail party and attempting to meet or know people.

Yet, when we really listen, even past the boring updates, the nervous chatter, and off color jokes.  There are voices asking to be heard, willing to let us in, if only we will be kind.

I began attempting to be a listener on Facebook.  My husband helped me set up a group for our past Prodigal’s to get in touch.  Wow! What a response, especially to pictures.  My account is now a gateway for teens and past teens to get in touch, keep in touch and strengthen bonds once more.  God has worked in wild and wonderful ways, yet not just online.  Online is where it starts, of course.  God isn’t afraid of technology, He just uses it as a tool, not a replacement for relationship.  Christ is still more    interested in us coming together to get personal and relate to each other, then in anything impersonal.

I’m amazed sometimes in what our Prodigal’s share online.  Recently, a teen I’ve mentored had a lot to say. First, her boyfriend was out of jail and they were together again.  Then, that she was homeless with him now because her family wouldn’t let him move into her bedroom. Soon after, that she had discovered she was pregnant. Lastly, to say they had become engaged, did anyone know where they could stay the night, off the street.

Finally, a question, and then more.  To these, I responded.  Not to be a know it all or judgmental, but to invite her offline so we could share and she could ask all the questions she wanted.  From there she invited me in deeper to talk with her and her boyfriend.  God is at work.

Now I know my story is not yours.  Yet, I don’t think it is any less relevant.  There is nothing in scripture to say God created the internet as a solution.  It is just another foreign land into which He calls us to be light in the darkness.  Not to preach or judge, but to offer an answer to those who are seeking. From that light of Christ’s truth and love for them, a spark can draw people into real relationship.  Is this as new a thought as it is for me?  I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.  =)

What Would You Do?

What if your child was given a ticket for using fireworks in the city and county of Denver?  What would you do knowing it to be a youthful mistake, serious, yet caused no damage?

Now imagine, what would happen to a kid that  didn’t have a loving family with structure and discipline at home?

This is a truth that is a part of this ministry.  Two teens, both with a warrant out for their arrest for this very reason.  One girl, one boy.  The warrant is due to ignoring the ticket for so long.  The consequence is now a $200 fine or 2 days in jail. 

One single parent refuses to appear in court for her child, she has her own issues with the law.  The other single parent has cut her child off and kicked her out of the home permanently, though the girl is underage.

As a mentor working with street kids, how would God desire us to come alongside these teens?  Is it just about money solving the issue of the fine?  What if there is no money to use?  We show love, but what does that look like?

I’m not asking because I know the answer.  I ask because I believe God teaches me a lot when I bring Him a problem bigger than myself or any  ability or resources I have.

Share your thoughts and ideas and teach this missionary a thing or two.  =)

Cell Phone Prayers

Sitting with a small group of elementary and  middle  school children, who had recently accepted Christ was a treat.  I was asked to help kick off our summer discipleship program.

The volunteer lead had a wonderful lesson on cell phones and prayer.  I watched eyes light and hands shoot up to questions like:  If you wanted to call me could you press any numbers you wanted?  What’s God’s number? And many more.

Looking up passages in the bible, the children learned how They can call God anytime by using His number J-E-S-U-S.  That we can call Him any time and anywhere about anything.

I was asked to share my story of last week & how I had lost my smart  phone for a week.  How I prayed to God about it and how He answered my prayer.  We closed by asking the children to share their prayers so we could pray together.

I was in awe as I watched the Spirit move and these new little believers step out in faith.  I feel so blessed God invited you and I into sharing these simple truths with those who need His love!

Mission Field?

It amazes me how many changes  technology has brought us over my lifetime.  For my grandmother, it was the invention & commercialization of airplanes.  She always looked to the skies with awe and wonder.

For me, it is computers, from the ticker cards they used when I was a child, to green monitors, then amber, and finally an inescapable part of our everyday life.

Who knows what the future may hold.  For the present, we live in a reality of websites and social media.  What an amazing new mission field.

Yes, mission field.  In learning how to join or keep up in this brave new era of Facebook and Twitter, I found     myself asking what it looked like to be a Christian in an online world.  Is there such a thing as living out my faith online?

Each training and class was quick to teach the mechanics of building a page, etc.  Yet, where is God’s hand in this?  Our children will never know a world without it all.

I’m learning a lot, yet I feel like we as Christians, have a lot of catching up to do.  What do you think about it all?

Foreign Missions is Here

Missions:  a person undertaking a mission and especially a religious mission

Ministry:  a person or thing through which something is accomplished

I’m wondering if our culture has begun to believe what they see on TV.  That missions is only about starving children, villages stricken with disease, poverty, and a lack of education somewhere overseas.  As you see above, it’s not that complicated.

Transforming the world by living out our salvation in our daily lives, loving God, and loving our neighbor, does not take a passport.  It does, however mean joining a team.  Partnering with someone overseas or right in the urban neighborhoods of our city.

Transformation is a powerful word.  Just hearing it, we almost automatically think of radical conversions and incredible change.  But is it possible to transform an apartment building, a neighborhood, or a workplace into something Christ-like?  Jesus thinks so. 

“In your heart, set Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone that asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect.” 

1 Peter 3:15 

I live and work along the East Colfax corridor.  It is filled with motels and apartments teeming with old people, families, children, and teens.  Some of them may be immigrants, refugees, addicts, prostitutes, hustlers, dealers, or even none of those things.  Yet they are all my neighbors living along side me from day to day.

I’m looking for team members and partners in this calling God has placed on my life.  Individuals looking to learn more about faith, urban missions & ministry.  Will you consider joining my team as we lift God up?  Will members, already part of my team, reach out to others to join and share this experience with us?  God is up to something and I want to be part of it.  Please join me through prayer as we seek to lift Christ up along East Colfax!   =)

Relational Ministry means...

I had someone meet with me regarding a missionary position we have available at ROP.  I share this because he asked me some insightful questions about Relational Ministry.

How would you answer a question like: “How does this look different than from what other organizations or churches, for that matter, are doing?”

I admit, I stopped and thought about the differences more than I have in the past.  It’s easy to point out the differences between us and secular programs.  Yet, I was talking to a man of deep faith that has a record of service to God and church leadership.  I wanted perfect honesty and God’s mission in my response.  So I took a moment      inside my heart to ask God to speak into this answer, I took a deep breath and I responded.

What came out surprised both of us and poured my heart full to overflowing with hope and excitement, once more, for this mission field God has called me to, surrendering my life.  I’d love to share God’s encouragement with you, too!  =)

Contact me and I'll treat you to coffee and a chat  =)

Spring Rainbows

There’s a special feeling when you find a rainbow; like you’re lucky and blessed all at the same time. It’s real, right there and you’re a witness to it.

Rainbows are a perfect storm of elements, dust for the rain to form around, rain, storm clouds, and sunlight. To see them you have to be between the storm and the light. The sun at your back, the rain off ahead.

And in that perfect moment there are no explosions of color to blind you, just the miracle of splintered sunlight revealing it’s inner beauty. It doesn’t block your view, it blesses and adds to it in a lovely and loving way.

Rainbows have always held a special place in my heart and imagination, ever since I was a little girl. God’s promise and hope to a broken world reaching from heaven. The melding of color and the magic that takes a “mess” of elements to create delicate beauty. Hope.