Will you be the whirlwind to my Phillip?

As you may have seen on social media, today is #GivingTuesday. As you are thinking about your finances and what you can contribute to the greater good, would you consider joining my whirlwind?

You may be wondering - what's a whirlwind and how do I join?

In the story about Phillip meeting the Ethiopian Official, verse 39 says that the Spirit of the Lord carried Phillip away, and then in vs 40 that Phillip appeared in another location. I remember a youth pastor once teaching about this passage and asking us what that would have looked like - to be "carried away" by the Spirit of the Lord. The Trekkies of the youth group suggesting it was probably teleportation (which would have been cool!). I don't remember how the Youth Pastor settled on the idea, but he had us think about it like a whirlwind (or for those of you in the midwest- a tornado - just a lil F2 or F3!) and that image has stuck in my mind all these years later.

So, now we know 'what' the whirlwind is, but why do you need to join? Well, the Spirit of the Lord often uses people to fulfill his purposes and his plan. A whirlwind is made up of many gusts of wind, all working towards gathering momentum for a specific trajectory. In the story, the Spirit of the Lord needed to get Phillip from one place of ministry to another, and he [may have] used a whirlwind to get him there.

Right now, Hands of Fire (the Deaf ministry of Cru on RIT/NTID's campus) is Phillip.
-- We have 4 staff members on campus working with Deaf students - the first time ever that we've had that many individuals dedicated to the needs of the Deaf community.
-- just this semester, TWO students (like the Ethiopian) have decided to follow Jesus and staff members (like Phillip) are in the process of guiding them into understanding of what that means.

What we need right now is a whirlwind to help equip those in ministry to continue to spread the news of the gospel with-in the Deaf community. We need a whirlwind to help take Hands of Fire resources to other Deaf individuals on other college campuses. We need your help to continue to serve in this way.

The easiest way to be part of the whirlwind is to give financially towards the mission and ministry. Volunteering your time to do any of these things is also greatly appreciated!

In honor of #GivingTuesday, would you join my whirlwind??

THANKS so much

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

Did you hear/see it?

   You know the saying, "If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Scientifically speaking, yes - the noise will happen regardless of a persons presence but theoretically the thought remains. Lately, I've been wondering a parallel question, "If a missionary is overwhelmed with ministry work, but there is no one there to document it as it happens (Instagram picture, Facebook feed, YouTube video, Blog post, etc), did it count as part of the harvest?"
   This wonderment comes not from contempt at seeing missions work overshared on social media, or annoyance of 'do-gooder's only seeking recognition for their "help" but rather out of a place of "plentiful harvest and too-few workers".. I've been quiet here on the blog/newsletter recently, as I've just been overwhelmed with ministry related work, and underwhelmed at the amount I can do as a 'one-man band'. I have regularly felt the tinge of 'you should post to let people know what you/the ministry is up to' as I shuffle to the next thing, but I've not yet been able to sit down and collect my thoughts in an intelligible way. To those of you who have recently joined my support team, I really am truly grateful for your partnership. I hope to update soon - see below. For those of you who have walked this journey with me for a while, I appreciate your patience. Updates and encouragement are coming - stay tuned! ;)

** Honestly, I feel pregnant with words as of late.. re-read that >>WITH WORDS<<.. and similar to how due dates and baby's delivery dates often don't coincide, I can feel that the messages are coming, they just aren't quite ready yet.. so I am trying to let them simmer a lil' longer and giving the Holy Spirit time to refine them before I birth them onto the page. Soon..

Until then - thanks for keeping-on-keeping-on in whatever place the Lord has you at the moment, and may we continue to go higher up and further in as we walk with Jesus on this journey called "life"!

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

Tuesday's Tidbits: "Lord Jesus, come lead us"

* The Golden Gates of Heaven were having a party the other night, as a Chinese International student joined the Father's Kingdom :D

* Last night, 4 students on Project learned that one of the Deaf students favorite color is RED.. without the interpreter present, this fun fact would most likely have been lost in the sea of gestures that tends to span the communication gap..

* Yesterday, I mentioned an article on Cru Press GREEN - as a follow up/fyi - all their information on line is free (and easy to DL).. if you are looking for some good reading material then check out: http://crupress.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/green/

* When coming up with a name sign for one of his roommates, a students' BLUE eyes were part of the collaborative discussion to decide the nick name.. *yay* for interpreters allowing the hearing students access to the Deaf community, while the 3 Deaf individuals conversed - Interpreters are here for the Hearing students as much as they are for the Deaf students :)

* my BLACK cat has been adjusting to her time here.. I may or maynot look 1/2 crazy when I walk her on a leash in the area surrounding my apt.. It's actually more like "I am attached to her as she goes on an adventure around the neighborhood".. but overall, she's doing well :)

Can you guess the theme?

Do you like theses Tibits?

Tuesday's Tidbits: "sometimes I think.. "

Welp - Summer Project WILDWOOD 2012 is in full swing.. 

and (ready for my list of excuses) since

- I don't have consistent wi-fi/internet access at my apt

- I am still trying to figure out a consistent schedule here on Project

- My computer decided it was FULL and started groaning (locking up/freezing) if I tried to do anything (I was able to dump videos here and there - but if you have an extra external-hard-drive floating around, let me know.. I can put it to good use!) ;)

I was not sure what to update about after putting it off for so long, thus I just kept putting it off longer.. 

BUT .. without further ado.. I'll introduce my *hopefully* weekly entry of 

"Tuesday's Tidbits".. I think if I have a consistent idea that I'm shooting for I'll be more likely to blog.. These "tidbit's" will most likely have a common theme.. I think.. we'll see :)

So, here's some "tidbits" for today :)

* Lauren (my wonderful youngest sister) and I road tripped out to New Jersey over 4 days (and 1,800 miles) during the 3rd week of May. She was studly-awesome and drove 22 hours total (from Oklahoma to Washington D.C) *THANKS Sista!* :D

*Thus far on project, we've had 5 Interpreters come out to help cover the needs of the 3 Deaf students.  *shout.out.to CORY, RICH, CRAIG, CARA* :)

* Funds for the Interpreting account are currently sitting at $10,000 .. I'm blown away by the Lords provision.. and looking forward to seeing who He'll bring to partner with me for the last $7,000 :)

*Those 5 interpreters have done about 111 hours of work (that's recorded time, folks, not all the side conversations here and there) over the past 2.5 weeks :)

Can you guess the theme?

Do you like theses Tibits?

Tune in soon for my next "consistent weekly entry".. I've yet to name it yet.. but, no worries, it'll be something as fun and quirky as "Tuesday's Tidbits" ;)

Soli Deo Gloria

:D