giving party!!

Man...I am still in shock with what God is doing. Last night we had a giving party with YWAM. The speaker this week for the DTS, Ben, led us out in this thing where we either prayed beforehand what to bring to give and who to give it to or to respond to god if He ptompted us to give something. My heart was a little hardened to it just because I feel awkward with giving and I was also having a little doubt that God would speak to me. I really wanted God to speak to me and use me to bless someone, but I didn't know what or who. So I prayed about every little specific thing that I own, which isn't much, but didn't feel peace about anything. so the night went on, people gave things and cried and it was amazing. God knows our heart so well that He knows exactly what we need and also how to touch our hearts. He did that last night. Andrea got like 3 cameras, one normal digital camera and two nice professional cameras. God just wanted to bless her that night even outside her need. People's outreach fees got paid, words of encouragement were given, it was beautiful. I actually had previously that day asked God for two things, a computer and an IPOD. Well I got the computer, Sami gave me her laptop..strait up...I have never owned a computer. Man I can't even express and coundn't then either, I said if I could cry I would have then. Then throughout the night, Bethany B gave me 2 blank canvases, Joshua gave me a glass chess set, Kenny gave me a Juggernaut he siad that he said represented that nothing could hold me back, through God I can go through anything. God then laid it on my heart to bless Kenny with my green racket ball that I bought a few weeks ago that I play with allot. When I was in my room looking for the ball, I remembered that previously that day I had knocked off my reflector off my bike, so I grabbed it along with the ball and went back even though I wasn't quite sure why I was giving him either of them. As I presented him with the two itemss I told him the ball was God telling him that He wanted him to be totally obsessed with him as I have an unhealthy obsession with balls...i play with them allot, I always have one around, become attatched to them so much that I am destraut and mad when I loose them. And the reflector meant that God wants to reflect that closeness to him to all the world. The whole night was the most I have felt God in a long time, I was beautiful, I can't even discribe it. So the night ended and people went to bed and such. I got up this morning early, went to Starbucks with Sam and Beth to meet about next week, I busted out the new laptop to take notes on. I got home an was playing on my computer and Trisha walks in with a big smile on her face and says I need to give you something that I was supposed to give you last night but didn't She opens up her hand and inside is an Ipod! I couln't even believe it. I have been wanting an Ipod as my MP3 player broke like 3 months ago and haven't been able to listen to music while I bike or anything. So yeah, basically God is good, God loves me, God loves you, we are his children and He just wants to bless us.

J.....,

so, I met this dude named J...., the other night in the bathroom at a local piano bar that me and my friends go to occasionaly. I was using the urinal and he almost peed on my because he didnt see me as he was drunk. He then struck up a 20 minute convrsation about how he was gay and he doesn't want to be, he has tried everything to not be gay...but he has given up' he just is not attracted to girls. He said he grew up mormon, he still claimed to be mormon even though he was gay. I asked him if I could share my view on homosexuality after I told him that I was a christian and he said yes. I told him that I see it as anything we are faced with: depression, anxiety, lack of self worth as obsticles that we have the option of over coming or not. We all have issues and problems and we either have the choice to accept them as a part of ourselves or not. I wanted to share more and help him understand that Jesus loves him no matter what; but he asked me whether I thought being gay was right or wrong and I had to tell him it was wrong. And he said that was his main reason for not liking the christian church...It is hard for me to tell people that I think they are wrong, I love people and would hate to sound at all judgemental. His friend texted him to go back because she was alone so he left and went to sit down and me and my friends left. We went to another bar next door but felt compelled to ask him if he wanted to come to church with me so I walked back over to that bar. I assured him that our church would accept him and love him but he passed. Then his friend basically kicked me out of their table..." I'm not going to have any of that bible talk"..is what she said..It sucked because I feel like he thinks I judged him, but I just wanted to show him love, true love, Christ's love. I pray that God will work on his heart and that He will come to know true love.

Faith in His faithfulness

Yesterday I was handed in cash $100 from a close friend and then another $40 from a friend from church. I was beginning to get a little worried about where I would get money for some things coming up including a road trip with some friends to Denver. I just had to laugh at the amount of $40 because that is the amount that I payed YWAM a few days ago for gas money that I owed. I was skeptical about paying it because I still needed some money for rent and such. So yeah, God is good. He takes care of flowers and birds, it just doesn't make sense that He wouldn't take care of us. But first before He provides we have to humble ourselves and be true to our word even if we don't know where provision will come from.

Art In Motion

So yesterday we made art with some neighborhood kids for a couple hours. It was my second time holding the Art In Motion program in our neighborhood. Right now because of my scheduling I am only doing it every six weeks or so. Yesterday I think went well. There were around 11 volunteers and 14 kids that were involved in making art. We did most of the same projects like last time including, mask making, marble/ tennis ball art, random art making and we all collaborated together to make a big mural like last time. This time the picture was a birg riding a bycycle. I was super pleased with how the mural turned out, pastels donated to us from a local art store were used this time for the mural, which is one of the variables for the good turnout. The kids and volunteers really got creative, I was impresed. We also had some really cool masks turn up. The kids were really hyperactive this time, for whatever reason and it was really hard to control them and keep them involved. Most of the boys resorted to playing catch half way through, which was alright because they included William, a neighbor kid that I sometimes play catch with. It was a little frustrating for me that they kept playing football, I wanted them to make more art, but at least they had fun. Hopefully, through this art happening, we will build strong relations with the kids and give them something to look forward to, grow from and have fun with.

Jon Burgerman

http://www.jonburgerman.com/Work/category/2d_work/

Kenny

So there is this homeless guy named Kenny that I met at a Mcdonalds last Thursday,9 days ago, counting that time I have now seen him four different times now. The first time he told me that he was stuck in town cause his girlfriend robbed him and I told him that I wanted to help him so I bought him some food and the YWAMers with me prayed for him. The second time was Tuesday when we were doing free prayer and free hot chocolate downtown with a team that was in town for a mission trip from Florida. I have him some hot chocolate and felt like I was supposed to tell him that he needed to check out the program at the rescue mission. It is an 11 month program; at the end of it, the Rescue Mission helps them get a job, appartment and helps them get on their feet. He said he would check it out. The third time I saw him at that same Mcdonalds. I was on my way to get my bible that I left at the hotel that my church is meeting at and he walked by and asked me for food, I thought it was not a cooincidence that I saw him again so I went in to get him food and my friends from XXX and from Current from Flordia who did the hot chocolate were there and they bought Kenny some food. Then today I was riding back from a bock party that a church in Henderson was having. I passed that same Mcdonalds and wondered if I would see Kenny. I got to the corner and there he was. He asked me for food again and felt like I really needed to lay down that he needed to get help and I was just encouraging him to stay on the streets if I keep buying him food. I encouraged him again to go to the program, I hope he does. He is still hooked on this girl though, evedently she came back into the picture and wants to see him. I tried to make him see that he doesn't need her that she is just holding him back, but we'll see what he decides. It is strange that I feel so connected and want to help Kenny like this, I usually don't let myself get so involved in homeless people's lives because I have tried to helped them in the past and am always dissapointed, but I think Kenny is different, I think I am in his life to help him.

A beginning to a beginning beginning

Yesterday was really encouraging to me. I had quite a few good conversations about future stuff ministry related things. One of the conversations was with this guy named Jason who works for a ministry out of Florida that does allot of mercy ministry such as Laundry Love; which is were they take a group of people to a Laundry mat and pay for people’s laundry and through that, they develop relationships. Jason is bringing a mission team to Vegas next week to work with XXX church. They will be remodeling a brothel in a town a few hours away. He called me to see if we could do a few outreaches with his group. We will most likely take them downtown and give out free prayer and hot chocolate and hopefully have amazing conversations about Jesus! We also hope to join them with their laundry love project as they intend on doing one here in Vegas.

The other good conversation I had yesterday was with a guy named John Howard who is the housing manager of a government housing project that I really want to do outreaches in so that we can develop relationships with the low income families there. John really likes this idea just as long as the residents know that it is a YWAM thing and not at all associated with the housing development, which I assured him should not be a problem. It has come to my attention within the last few weeks that the source of physical poverty is spiritual poverty, a lack of Jesus in their lives. The reason why trying to solve physical needs only and never finding a way to bridge that to Jesus is that only when Jesus is in their lives, will they have the chance to get out of the physical poverty they are in. Our building, the Pier, is a community resource center, meaning we provide physical needs for people such as food, classes to teach them how to get a job, tutoring classes for kids, vaccines for kids. All of this is done without mentioning the name of Jesus. This is so that we can attract the community by serving them and not scare them away with the Christian-y stuff. However, we need to be strategizing ways we can be more intentional of bridging meeting people’s physical needs with curing people’s spiritual needs.

As it says in my newsletter, I have joined a church plant called the Verve. We are meeting in the Greek Isles at two different times, Sunday at 9:30 and Mondays at 6:45. This Monday was really convicting for me. Vince, the head pastor, had taken a poll a few weeks ago asking us how we were doing and how we though Verve was doing. Pretty much everybody said they were passionate about what Verve is doing and about Jesus, but almost everybody also put that they were weary about how the Verve Launch team is doing. The majority of people also said that they were struggling with daily spiritual discipline as well. Vince went on to talk about how as a church, we need to be abounding, meaning doing great thing in the name of Jesus and doing things that even amaze us because it is not us doing it, but Jesus. Just passion alone is not enough to abound, its just not! If you are super passionate about running a marathon, but don’t prepare, you won’t get very far. In order to abound, we need to abide in Jesus as it says in John 15. This means we needs to “live inside of Jesus” we need to be Jesus! The only way to do this is through discipline as well as passion, but we need both not one and the other. This was super convicting to me because I know that discipline is something that I struggle with. I am super passionate, but not so good about making sure I am in the word daily and taking intentional time to plug into Jesus. I do get several chances during the week to take time out to talk to Jesus and grow in him, but it is generally while I am running or riding my bike. I realized that I really need to be more intentional about reading my bible…Even if it means getting up early and reading for a half hour before work….aaah! Also I need to work on informing those that want to be involved with my ministry here about what is going on and how they can be involved, either through prayer of finances. So these are some things to be praying about.