4/25/11

Back in full swing. After several weeks out of the office jet-setting for my trip to the DR and then to Silverdale, WA for our COTN conference and prayer retreat, I have plunged myself back into work here in San Diego. The clock is ticking as we approach our Dinner and Silent Auction event. A feeling of anxious hustle is in the air as we are still seeking to establish partnerships with churches and businesses, lock-in table hosts and guests, acquire auction items, and just get organized. (Sometimes I wish we could still run on “Dominican time”.)

COTN's Million Meal Marathon is coming up at the Real Life Church in Valencia, CA. We are planning on driving up as well as some Seattle staff driving down to help out. This week I spent a few hours putting together a follow-up brochure for the event, got back into my Flood leadership role, caught up in my core group reading, sacrificed some Easter time to clean a client’s home, and managed to spend some much needed time with friends.

Lately I feel like I am becoming a grateful basket case. I have never cried so much in all my life since joining COTN. Every time I find myself standing in complete hopelessness with no other option at my disposal but to sob with my face in my hands, God offers some unexpected, overwhelming joy that humbles me to tears once more. Even those that don’t necessarily help my personal situation, but are a huge joy for COTN.

I am blown away by what my church community, Flood Church, has accomplished with their Hope for Haiti initiative. I have been excited since the start of this campaign to find out the results. While in the DR I kept receiving facebook invites to all kinds of creative events to help raise the money. Flood’s plan was to raise $100,000 to help pay for the land for the COTN compound in Haiti, pay for the construction of the compound, as well as supporting each of the families.

They announced the amount they were able to raise in this video:

Hope For Haiti - Celebration from FloodSanDiego on Vimeo.

MY CURRENT PROJECTS:

• Currently I am focusing on my personal support raising. (Which seems to be the biggest, most difficult challenge I am facing.) I am supposed to be focused on trying to find monthly supporters who will commit to donating to support me as a missionary. Talk about hard work. I trust that there are people out there who believe in what I am doing as much as I do and I trust in God’s ability to stir their hearts and his plan for my life. Struggle is unavoidable, but I believe that accomplishing this feat is inevitable.
• Decorations for Dinner & Auction event – Just in this past week we changed the theme to our dinner/auction. That means that the plans I had prepared for the part of the event that was my responsibility pretty much had to be scrapped and I had to start back at square one. Thankfully it’s coming together fairly easily. It was just some additional unexpected work.

for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness. – Psalm 26:3

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. – Psalm 13:5

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and never sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines. – Satchel Paige