church
February 24, 2009 | 
Author one of our PCA students, guest blogger
Hello! This is Su-min Bang and I’m enjoying every moment of my last mission trip at high school in NYC. The third day of the trip started quite early for most of us. Our team was divided into two smaller groups – PCA 1 and PCA 2. PCA 1 group met at the lounge around 6:10 am and headed to St.Paul’s House. Kayla, Jen, Jee Eun, and I from PCA 2 group came down to kitchen to do kitchen duty around 6 am. Since our team was the only one staying at NYSUM and half of our team had already gone to ministry, we did not have much to do at the kitchen this morning. We prepared eight sandwiches for our lunch and set up breakfast on the table. After delicious breakfast, PCA 2 group had a 30-minute-class to learn little bit about the ministry at St.John’s Bread and Life. Elizabeth from NYSUM was our helper and guide throughout the St.John’s ministry. She reminded us the very purpose of the mission trip – to serve God and to bring the Good News to people who need to hear.
After the group prayer, PCA 2 group took off to St.John’s Bread and Life by a van which Mrs.Watson drove! St.John’s Bread and Life had very nice facility. Their food pantry system was automated and very convenient. People would come into building, order what they need on the touch screen computer, and the orders would be sent down to the food pantry where we worked the whole time while we were there. Seven of us – Mrs.Watson, Kayla, Rosa, Jee Eun, Sammy, Jen, and I – helped taking orders and packing the bags. After putting on aprons, gloves, and hair nets(haha, those looked great on us!) We took the orders, found the goods on the shelves, put them all in the bags, double-checked, and handed them to the staffs at the St.John’s. Then, they called out the names of people to pick the bags up. At first, all of us were taking orders and trying to find things at the same time but soon we took different roles and worked systematically for about two hours. When we had some free time, we spent time giving massage to each other and taking pictures. Even though we did not get to interact with people directly, we were so glad and thankful that we were able to help run the food pantry and to bless those bags that we packed for people. We enjoyed working with each other and with other volunteers at St.John’s.
The second ministry of the day was the hospital ministry. All of our team members went to the hospital together with John from NYSUM. We walked around the hospital as a pair and talked to many patients. We had some nice conversations, sang songs to some of them, and gave them the handmade cards that students at PCA had made with the Bible verses. I believe this ministry was a great experience for everyone on the team. God blessed the time we spent at the hospital and took care of all our worries that we had before. Also, I was so humbled by a couple of Christian patients and their strong faith in God. Their passion and faith made me think about my faith. I imagined myself being in their situations and asked myself, ‘Would I have loved and believed in God as much as they do if I were them?’ God really made me humble by showing those strong Christians in such tough situations and I am so thankful for that.
We spent about three hours at the hospital talking to many patients with different background and different stories. Then, we came back to NYSUM and rested – some of us ordered some Chinese food while chilling. Now, it’s 11:51 pm and I probably should go to bed and get some sleep for tomorrow! Thank you so much for supporting all of us and keeping us in your prayers. I’m sure this trip has been such a blessing to everyone on the team. Please continue to pray for us to show God’s love to people we will interact and to stay focused on the real purpose of this mission trip. Thanks!
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The morning started off with a great worship service at Central Baptist Church. Rev Harrison, a guest speaker from Baptist House of Prayer in Harlem. His powerful message on 1 Cor 1-17 left me thinking of how God’s church is in us, around us, and always with us. The church does not know any geographical location, it is all around the world. The church is not of this world, but of God’s kingdom. The church is not one man or one person but of all God’s children. The church is not a building, but all the bricks and mortar that make our hearts and mind focus on The Lord Our God. God calls us to be fishers of men and not keepers of the aquarium. Does the church live in you; how?
After service our group headed from some Star bucks while we planned our day. After we enjoyed our various concoctions we left for a stroll through Central Park. As we meandered through the park we stopped along the way for some great photo opportunities.
We made our way out of the park, stopped for some great lunch then off to Macy’s for some shopping. I’m always amazed at the number of people in the city. When I look around and see the waste, excessive spending I’m saddened to think of all those that have none, and it drives me to help more. Haggai 1:4Haggai 1:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste?
WP-Bible plugin says “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” We continue to spend, build, and living in this world while God’s kingdom is in ruin. Hag 1:9Hag 1:9
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9 “You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.
WP-Bible plugin “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” If we are not careful God will blow away. It’s my prayer that we take care not to aquire treasures on earth, but store treasures in heaven.
Now as I sit an write, I’m listening to the students practice their Chapel among themselves their love for the lord is an encouragement to me. I’m constantly amazed at how God continues to work in their lives.
Some photos
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Today 13 students and us three chaperones from PCA left NH to NY City for a mission trip to New York School of Urban Ministry. Our day began at South station in Boston where we enjoyed some breakfast while we waited for the train. The train ride was good, we got priority seating, well greased a few palms so we could get one 1st and get great seats by the dining car.
Some shared good times on the train, while others slept, read, or just hung out and talked. We arrived at #nusym in the afternoon, check out our rooms, and then had an awesome pulled pork dinner… even got three helping.. the students seamed to enjoy the food too..
After dinner we had our first mission out to a homeless shelter. the student handed out sandwiched, clothing and some new testament bibles. It was such a blessing to see the students working with homeless, they laughed, talked, sang songs and many prayed with them. The Holy Spirit is realy working in the lives of these PCA students. I pray Lord that you continue your good work in them.
Philippians 1:6Philippians 1:6
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
WP-Bible plugin I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.
This is my prayer for the PCA Students, that God continue to work in their lives.
If you haven’t heard, I’ve been asked to be a part of www.ChurchTechMatters.com as a contributing writer. For me it’s a bit of a stretch to write for such a well known site. but God is helping me along the way. Today I posted my first article there on Casting Vision & Growing Teams. If you haven’t stopped by www.ChurchTechMatters.com recently please do, there are lots of great resources and information for Church Tech volunteers.
Please take some time to read my 1st post on Casting Vision & Growing Teams and leave a comment so I know you stopped by.. God Bless..
CTM was founded in October of 2004 as the weblog of Jim Walton. Over time, the site grew to become a valuable resource for both church staff and volunteers, looking at both technical and non-technical topics. Church Tech Matters has been the generous outflow of Jim’s experience, passion and observations as he has served as a volunteer technical leader in 2 churches, as well as a consultant to churches seeking to use technology effectively.
After four years of outreach and growth, Jim has opened the doors of Church Tech Matters, to broaden the site’s reach, and increase its effectiveness. Jim is now leading a core team of dedicated, talented and passionate tech volunteers from around the world as they write about their experiences and reach out to an even larger audience.
The site’s purpose remains unchanged: To equip the church to effectively use technology to reach people for Christ. What changes is how that purpose will be realized. Church Tech Matters is now a site dedicated to church tech volunteers, written by church tech volunteers, and the people who lead them.
Please join us as we begin this next chapter of the journey Church Tech Matters. New features and resources are on the way, as we seek to build a community for the volunteers who make technology in the church sing. The newest addition to the site is a forum, a place for you to ask questions, answer questions, interact with the Church Tech Matters authors and more.
Jim’s involvement with Church Tech Matters continues, but he has stepped back and let go of the reins, so to speak, to allow this site to become more than it ever has been.
You’re invited to join this experiment, by subscribing via RSS, or via Email. You should also join the site forum at http://forum.churchtechmatters.com/. You can also join the CTM Facebook group, our LinkedIn group (coming soon) or follow us on Twitter @church_tech.
Please join us as we kick off this site for church tech volunteers written by church tech volunteers.
According to https://www.dtv2009.gov/ the wireless spectrum could be “auctioned off” to commercial vendors and your microphones may not work properly and/or interfere.
Once the DTV transition is completed, some television channels will be turned over to fire and police departments for emergency communication and others are being auctioned to companies to provide new wireless services.
The guys over at Sweet Water have done an outstanding job putting together some great info and resources on the DTV/ Wireless transition.
2009 will bring big changes to the way some wireless systems operate.
If you need assistance or have questions check out Sweet Water’s site for more info…
Find local TV and radio stations wireless towers in your area ; check out the antenna locator
Over the last several weeks I’ve been reading books and learning about Christian Leadership, volunteers, and team building. Though many of these books cover some of the same topics they offered some great advice to newly appointed leaders, like myself; how I got into this leadership role is for another post… Some of the key points I took out of books were:
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| Although many of the topics in this book were relevant to my learning, these three were ones that stood out the most. When I started helping my church with tech stuff I realized that I cant do this alone. Technology is much bigger than just one person and well, I do have a family, full time job, hobbies, friends, and many other interests so there is NO WAY I could or would be able to handle this alone… Which brings me to the second chapter about creativity.. something that I’m not very good at. So I sought out some help from a few past volunteers who just happen to have lots of creativity skills which I’ll explain in more detail later in another post. God worked in my heart by moving me toward this ministry, I began to learn that there is more to worship than singing. I could use these gifts as a tool to worship God in a tangible way as defined in Rom 12:1Rom 12:1 English: World English Bible - WEB 12 1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. WP-Bible plugin.. use your bodies as a spiritual act of worship.. |
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The typical ROI for most companies is about how much bang for the buck and are we getting our monies worth. This chapter talks about the Relationships with others, the Outcome of situations and the Improvements we can make within ourselves. These areas are some that I can always have room for growth. I work hard at observing every situation as an opportunity to grow in my relationship with those involved; to build lasting bonds with people as the desired outcome. Taking an interest in the members of your team will help us in achieving common goals. By having an understanding of their desires and incorporating them into our ministry team efforts we can all succeed in growing God’s kingdom. There are still many areas of growth for me .. what areas in your life are you working on? Where can you be stretched? |
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Over the last couple of weeks our Small Group has been doing a manuscript study of Colossians; this week’s verses left us with the title “Don’t Stray for I AM with you”… the which struck me to think about the names of God/Jesus… and “I AM” continued to reveal itself to me…
When God commanded Moses to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt into the promised land , God had declared, “I AM the God who was worshiped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” Exod 3:1-6Exod 3:1-6
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1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb.
2 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
4 When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!”
He said, “Here I am.”
5 He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
WP-Bible plugin. When Moses asked what God’s name was, God replied, “tell them that the LORD, whose name is ‘I AM‘ has sent you Exod 3:13-15Exod 3:13-15
English: World English Bible - WEB
13 Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: “I AM has sent me to you.”
15 God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.
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The Hebrew name Yahweh is related to the Hebrew verb “to be” and so may mean “I AM the one who is” or “I AM the one who causes to be.” These possible meanings of the sacred name show that Yahweh is the God who is, will be, and causes to be.
When I left the status update on my facebook “There are 2 ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it..which are you…?” I didn’t expect any comments… though one was left… from David.. “I AM the candle.”… yet again Jesus reveling himself as who he is and what he’s called us to be..
There are many references to how God uses “I AM” as his name
Jesus identifies himself as the one who supplies all needs “I AM the bread that gives life,” John 6:35John 6:35
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35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
WP-Bible plugin and who brings the knowledge about God to people “I AM the light of the world,” John 8:12John 8:12
English: World English Bible - WEB
12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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Jesus also uses this I am language to identify himself as the way for people to find God and become God’s people “I AM the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14:6John 14:6
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
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I found this site that had offered the following slide show:
In my daily work @ RMC Research I have the privilege to work alongside some of the greatest minds in educational research, evaluation, training and technical consulting. My job exposes me to many aspects of education and it got me thinking today as I’ve been reviewing various Learning management systems…It’s amazing how much cross over between education and church there is….So the questions of:
- Does your church offer classes? (outside of Sunday school for kids)
- Are they held in a traditional manner, on a Sunday morning during one of your services, or maybe one night during the week?
- Are they well constructed and offer a deep teaching/understanding of the topic?
- Are the topics your traditional “Learn about our church, your gifts, etc..” or are they deeper…How about a class titles like:
- “What was Jesus thinking when he was destroying the temple?
- “What’s this ‘speaking in tongues’ all about?
- Jesus can forgive why can’t I
As Christians… we are always striving to “reach one more Christ” but once we’ve reached them are we striving to “teach one more about Christ”.. and growing them…
Please share what your church is doing to Teach one more about Christ…
we had a leaders meeting @ our church tonight to talk about how our body is doing… an I thought it was a great way to learn from the body.. but sometimes hiring an expert in the field may also prove beneficial…funny how God can keep putting things in our path that is relevant to what’s going on…. When I returned home from the leaders meeting there was a new post in my feed from Anthony Coppedge about the similar subject..
Although it’s great for churches to preform these self assessments; I agree that sometimes an outside prospective is very helpful…moreover; it’s just awesome how God continues to reveal to me his plan piece by piece;. God continues to put things like Anthony’s blog post today and Jim Walton’s post this past weekend in front of me showing me his plan for me a little at a time… he is in everything…What a great God we have…
Isn’t it amazing how God can use others to help us…
In a recent post over at Jim Walton’s site; Jim talked about having a heart for volunteers and an idea of how team can grow.
As the volunteer tech team leader for our newly created tech team ministry @ dec I continue to resist God’s plan for me in this ministry. I know that he has more in-store for me and the tech team ministry.. I’ve been praying/agonizing for God’s guidance over the last several weeks about where I fit into his plan and then Jim’s post comes along… Funny how God can do that 
The largest challenge we face is recruiting and retaining volunteers; we’ve had some response and even had a large turnout for our Tech Work day back in Nov. However, there is still something lacking from our ministry… more people… other than me…you really can’t have a team of 1… So, I’ve been reading blogs, purchasing books an seeking God’s guidance in prayer about how we can grow our team and serve God and our community, and he continues to answer by providing me with more reading, more searching, and more praying for his guidance. Jim’s idea of having a video chat room full of techy leaders discussing the topic of volunteers.. was yet another way God continues to reveal to me that he wants me in this teams plan… what that looks like exactly only he knows… but I can tell you is that I will continue to pray, read and seek his guidance… thanks Jim for fanning the flames a bit more..
Do buildings and location really matter to a church/Jesus/God? Or is the environment what’s important?… Something about the shiny package and big bold signage saying COME IN—We want you!! But once there.. do we really care for/invite/bless or better yet EXPECT them?
I quote from Scotts blog post…
What are you doing to create an environment that says to people, “We KNEW you were coming and we were EXPECTING you!”
http://scotthodge.typepad.com/scott/2008/03/environment-mat.html
