Last Friday night's Movies in the Park (see www.MoviesInTheParkHarrisburg.com) was incredible. We simply created a perfect night for families in Harrisburg (1500-2000 people) to enjoy some great time together. Family after family thanked me for putting on an incredible event. The most impressive part to everyone by far was simply the friendliness of the volunteers. I also spoke with a couple of families on Sunday morning who came to UCF for the first time because they were at the movie on Friday. People simply want to be a part of a place that loves like you guys love. You all are awesome and I love being a part of leading such a loving group of people. The next movie is May 30th so make you plans.
I know many of you are receiving your "tax rebates" soon. Last week I proposed a plan for all of us who call UCF "my church" to give a portion of those rebates to Mike and Amy Rodgers support. My proposal was for each family to give $210, the amount that the Rodgers family needs for one day in Ethiopia. If we do this it will be the US governments way of sharing the love of God with kids in Ethiopia, kind of a cool way to think about it... but you are the key link. This plan grew even more urgent with an email I received this week from Amy Rodgers. Here is the email...
We are so grateful to be able to serve the Lord here in Ethiopia with Sports Friends and SIM and appreciate the sacrifices that so many of our friends have made to make this ministry possible. This has been a truly amazing year. In the next few weeks we will graduate from Amharic language school, pack up our family, and move to Camp Langano. We will be there ready to run six weeks of camping sessions that will be held between July 7 and August 15. In order to ease the transition for us when we arrived in Addis Ababa, SIM provided a furnished home to us during language school. Now that we are going out to do the ministry God called us to we are responsible for raising funds for some one-time ministry expenses to help get us established at Camp Langano. We will need to purchase the following items:
-Electric refrigerator $ 800
-Butane Freezer $ 500
-Butane Stove $ 800
-Generator, inverter and batteries $4,200
-Ceramic Water Filters $ 900
-Furniture $3,000
TOTAL $10,200
Mike and Amy Rodgers
If just 50 families at UCF decided to give $210 of their tax rebate we could meet this entire need. In praying through this, God may lead some of you to pay for some of these item entirely. I look forward to seeing how God uses us to make sure His work continues 365 days a year in Ethiopia. Let's make it happen. Write a check and put "Rodgers Tax Rebate" in the memo line so we know what it is for. Mike and Amy also need some more long term financial partners who will support them annually by paying for one or more days a year. At this point I believe that we need to cover about 15 more days to meet our support goal.
I will see you Sunday and out at the Lowe's Motor Speedway Workshop next week!
Love Loud... Risk Often,
David
Showing posts with label Movies in the Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies in the Park. Show all posts
5.03.2008
Movies in the Park... Amazing!
Amazing!!! What an incredible night tonight was. Our first Movies in the Park event could not have been better. After 1900 hits on our MoviesInTheParkHarrisburg.com website yesterday, I was a little concerned that we would be completely overwhelmed with 12,000 people. However, this time we were ready. At 8:15 the Cabarrus County Sheriffs Dept. called the park “full” and a few thousand people enjoyed a great night featuring “The Bee Movie” and tons of smiles. Every detail seemed to be covered right down to having bug spray for people! Unfortunately, we had to turn some people away due to space but that was the plan to eliminate overcrowding and make the experience enjoyable for the 2000-3000 people that were there.
I love being able to express the love that I have for people and even more I love seeing you guys at UCF express that love to your friends and neighbors. Tonight our love was LOUD! It speaks loudly to serve people with something that they obviously want and enjoy. It gives us the opportunity to show love in ways that they easily receive and gives God the opportunity to change some people’s minds about what people who follow Christ look and act like. I have so much confidence in the people who serve at UCF. I can only imagine that we are going to be needing more on Sunday mornings because of the new people that will be giving church another try because of tonight’s event. But even if people don’t show up at UCF because of this movie, tonight they know we care.
I have to get some sleep… AIDS walk is tomorrow and I am expecting to see another 100 UCF servants bight and early in uptown Charlotte at 9:00. Meet at the stage to get your newly designed UCF t-shirts to walk in. And thanks for caring for the forgotten and the suffering. See you in 7 hours!!!
Thanks for loving loud!
I love being able to express the love that I have for people and even more I love seeing you guys at UCF express that love to your friends and neighbors. Tonight our love was LOUD! It speaks loudly to serve people with something that they obviously want and enjoy. It gives us the opportunity to show love in ways that they easily receive and gives God the opportunity to change some people’s minds about what people who follow Christ look and act like. I have so much confidence in the people who serve at UCF. I can only imagine that we are going to be needing more on Sunday mornings because of the new people that will be giving church another try because of tonight’s event. But even if people don’t show up at UCF because of this movie, tonight they know we care.
I have to get some sleep… AIDS walk is tomorrow and I am expecting to see another 100 UCF servants bight and early in uptown Charlotte at 9:00. Meet at the stage to get your newly designed UCF t-shirts to walk in. And thanks for caring for the forgotten and the suffering. See you in 7 hours!!!
Thanks for loving loud!
5.02.2008
This week at the UC!
This weekend is UCF all out!
-Friday - Movies in the Park @ Harrisburg Park @ 8
-Saturday - AIDS Walk @ Uptown Charlotte @ 9
-Sunday - Baptism Celebration right after the Neighborhood Gathering.
This Sunday is going to be incredible. I am anticipating an amazing day as we celebrate those who have trusted Christ over the last few months and are following him in baptism. I love the journeys that lead us to this point and I love being a part of the life-change that God brings when people trust him. I received this email this week from someone who will be baptized this Sunday and I wanted to share with you a glimpse of what God is doing in the lives of those around us at UCF.
The part about how those two guys were re-baptized by Paul is so personal to me because when I was first baptized I knew it was a public declaration of my faith in God, but that was its only significance to me- "Yes, I believe in God"- But, like I told you on the phone, Christ has become so personal to me over the past few years that I feel like I need to be baptized again. Its because though I always believed in God, Jesus was never my personal savior, I didn't relate Him to my life and he wasn't the center of my focus. Let me tell you, the reason why I wept and gave my heart and everything that I am to God on Decmber 24, 2004 was because two things kept running through my mind. One: "He went through that for me" (meaning crucifixion & even more painful; seperation from God) and two: "I don't deserve this" (meaning that kind of mercy). I don't remember who it was but someone told me once when I was growing up that even if I had been the only person on Earth, Jesus still would've come and given up His life for me, I didn't realize the magnitude of that statement until I was able to see what He went through.
But even more than the fact that I want to "publicly declare" my belief and faith in God, the bigger reason for why I want to be baptized is that I want to affirm to myself and to God "Hey, I'm with You, I believe in You and love You." I want to discard my old self and way of life and be re-born, this time with a Greater purpose. I am not the way I used to be and I know that that truth remains the same whether I get baptized or not, but I still have this desire to physically do something that says I AM NOT THE SAME.
You are not going to want to miss this baptism!
ALSO, I have had a huge thought over the last few weeks as I have anticipated receiving my tax rebate in the mail. I would really like for everyone to consider giving $210 of your tax rebate to support Mike and Amy Rodgers. For those of you who don't know, Mike and Amy are UCF's first missionaries in Ethiopia. They have been there for 9 months and UCF supplies about 25% of their daily support. $210 is what it takes to provide for the Rodgers family for one day. So whether you are already a regular supporter, or this is the first time you have heard about it, please consider making it happen. If everyone kicks in, we will be able to fully fund and go above and beyond. I know they will have several extra costs coming up as the transition from Addis Ababa down to Lake Langano. This would make a huge impact and be an incredible encouragement to them as they serve. The second thought I had was to give that amount to Starfish Ministries which is led by Dave and Robin Laney. You can give this to UCF and put the place in the memo line! Just think of it as the US Government's way of getting the gospel to Ethiopia... kind of cool!
Love Loud... Risk Often,
David
-Friday - Movies in the Park @ Harrisburg Park @ 8
-Saturday - AIDS Walk @ Uptown Charlotte @ 9
-Sunday - Baptism Celebration right after the Neighborhood Gathering.
This Sunday is going to be incredible. I am anticipating an amazing day as we celebrate those who have trusted Christ over the last few months and are following him in baptism. I love the journeys that lead us to this point and I love being a part of the life-change that God brings when people trust him. I received this email this week from someone who will be baptized this Sunday and I wanted to share with you a glimpse of what God is doing in the lives of those around us at UCF.
The part about how those two guys were re-baptized by Paul is so personal to me because when I was first baptized I knew it was a public declaration of my faith in God, but that was its only significance to me- "Yes, I believe in God"- But, like I told you on the phone, Christ has become so personal to me over the past few years that I feel like I need to be baptized again. Its because though I always believed in God, Jesus was never my personal savior, I didn't relate Him to my life and he wasn't the center of my focus. Let me tell you, the reason why I wept and gave my heart and everything that I am to God on Decmber 24, 2004 was because two things kept running through my mind. One: "He went through that for me" (meaning crucifixion & even more painful; seperation from God) and two: "I don't deserve this" (meaning that kind of mercy). I don't remember who it was but someone told me once when I was growing up that even if I had been the only person on Earth, Jesus still would've come and given up His life for me, I didn't realize the magnitude of that statement until I was able to see what He went through.
But even more than the fact that I want to "publicly declare" my belief and faith in God, the bigger reason for why I want to be baptized is that I want to affirm to myself and to God "Hey, I'm with You, I believe in You and love You." I want to discard my old self and way of life and be re-born, this time with a Greater purpose. I am not the way I used to be and I know that that truth remains the same whether I get baptized or not, but I still have this desire to physically do something that says I AM NOT THE SAME.
You are not going to want to miss this baptism!
ALSO, I have had a huge thought over the last few weeks as I have anticipated receiving my tax rebate in the mail. I would really like for everyone to consider giving $210 of your tax rebate to support Mike and Amy Rodgers. For those of you who don't know, Mike and Amy are UCF's first missionaries in Ethiopia. They have been there for 9 months and UCF supplies about 25% of their daily support. $210 is what it takes to provide for the Rodgers family for one day. So whether you are already a regular supporter, or this is the first time you have heard about it, please consider making it happen. If everyone kicks in, we will be able to fully fund and go above and beyond. I know they will have several extra costs coming up as the transition from Addis Ababa down to Lake Langano. This would make a huge impact and be an incredible encouragement to them as they serve. The second thought I had was to give that amount to Starfish Ministries which is led by Dave and Robin Laney. You can give this to UCF and put the place in the memo line! Just think of it as the US Government's way of getting the gospel to Ethiopia... kind of cool!
Love Loud... Risk Often,
David
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
