Minutes by Minute

Today was dubbed "Service Sunday" by my church in Brooklyn Park, MN. For the past few weeks they've been promoting today, May 24th, as a day to get out into the community and be the hands and feet of Jesus. As a congregation, we've been challenged by our pastor to sign up for one of a good dozen service projects to help. This morning during the morning service, pastor Ivan spoke on what it means to be a servant and to bear the name of Christ. He challenged us to pick up our crosses daily to follow God's calling to be the body of Christ on earth. Emily and I hadn't signed up for any specific project, but were fully planning on being involved in things. We lulled a bit after service, talking to friends and hanging out, trying to find out where we were needed most. We threw ideas around for doing our own outreach and service: go spend time at a soup kitchen,s how up at a random home and offer to do chores and yard work, or do "the puzzle" (a ski...

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." - Proverbs 29:18, KJV I remember in college having a professor for a communication class repeatedly talking about have a 'crystal clear focus'. The concept was proposed and highly stressed in my college class, but it also holds a very high level of importance in ministry and in life. My experience leading mission trips and spending time doing youth ministry over the past few years has been trying and rewarding. One of the things i've learned is the truth of this verse found in Proverbs. If ministry is being done without a crystal clear focus, the "people will perish." This is true in a number of ways. I work for Praying Pelican Missions, leading mission trips in Belize and Jamaica. I've gained a lot of perspective in the area of setting goals and having a vision for a short term mission trip. The overall vision of Praying Pelican Missions can be easily summed up... "To connect churches in North ...

I usually attend church in Brooklyn Park, MN at Edinbrook Church. The senior pastor, Ivan Veldhuizen, delivered a message last week that spoke straight to my soul. It was entitled "No Burkas Allowed." A Brukha, as defined by (what would we do without) Wikipedia, is "an enveloping outer garment worn by women in Islamic cultutures for the purpose of cloaking the entire body. It is worn over the usual daily clothing and removed when the woman returns to the sanctuary of the household." The defining fact about Burkhas is that they cover the entire face except for the eyes, hiding the beauty of most women. Pastor Ivan explained that in Afghanistan recently, a sect of Islam delcared that Burkhas were too revealing, although they covered the entirety of the women except their eyes. It was being found that some women were winking at men, and the Islamic leadership demanded that new Burkhas would need to additionally cover one eye, making an attempted wink look simply like...

I recently copied and pasted an old blog that I kept during the summer of 2007. '07 was my second summer being on staff with Praying Pelican missions. I believe I was a part of six or seven mission trips in Belize. I wanted to import the post but could not remember the login information for my old account- no surprise. I hope to post frequently throughout the summer of 2009, updating friends and family on my work in Jamaica. During the first weekend in May Praying Pelican Missions held their spring staff conference in Shakopee, MN. There were probably about forty PPM staff at the conference, while we have nearly fifty five on staff as a whole. I had the chance to meet quite a few new staff members, including those who will be a part of my leadership teams this summer in Jamaica. It was great to be able to meet new leaders and see some old faces. We spent plenty of time singing worship songs and fellowshipping, going through training sessions led by our full time PPM staff, hearin...