The Mission Link

Just 9 days until Internet Evangelism Day on April 27, 2008.

We cannot not do a better job describing IED than the people at If Jesus Had A Website, so we encourage you to read this post.

Online social networks are “communities” of people who share interests and activities… Many of you know what they are, many of us use them, daily - MySpace, Facebook, to mention a few. Check out the full explanation at wikipedia…

Studies have shown some amazing trends in the growth of social online networking - the number of hours spent online is phenomenal. 

Mashable Social Networking News has many articles, but a few of key interest:

• Global Growth ( July 2007 )
• Global Popularity ( Feb 2008 )

Leaves the question - what does this mean for missions? Leave us a comment!

At the Internet Ministry Conference I attended back in Sep 2007 I took several workshops about open source CMSs.  The best way to share those notes with you is to direct you to the original session notes.

A summary to walk away with…

Why Open Source?

• Cost - Hey - you can’t beat free (sometimes)
• A wide variety of pre-built themes and plugins at no cost or very little cost.
• Runs on Apache/PHP/MySQL
• A CMS helps force you to do good planning ahead of time
• Support comes from thousands of users, not just a company (that can be good or bad…)

The Big Four

• WordPress
• Joomla
• Drupal
• MODx

Looking for some open dialog on the topic?  Want someone to bounce ideas off of?  Contact me!

Our annual poster contest is on now!  Some things to note:

• The contest is open to children of basically all ages
• The deadline is mid April
• Some winning entries will become bulletin covers
• Winning entries will receive a prize
• All entries will receive a participation gift

Get your pencils sharpened today! For more info visit our website.

After September 11th, 2001, many people began to talk about “the new normal.” The idea was that things were never going to be the same as they had been, and “normal” was certainly not going to mean what it once had.

 In the past two and a half months, we at 2850 have been trying to adjust to a “new normal” as we lived together in a makeshift “camp” that was once the building’s cafeteria. Now, though, we are heading back to our “new” old location. The boxes are coming off the truck, the dust is settling (and being vacuumed up!) and we are back in our “new normal”–the cubicles (with only a few offices) that will now be our home for a while.

I realized how difficult it had been to adjust to the “new normal” when I felt an unnatural level of affection for this cubicle I now call home . . . and more so when I realized that that the things on my “to-do” list were actually getting accomplished.

 We have faced many challenges in the past few months, and yet we were so blessed in that time . . . with the grace we offered to each other, with the minimum amount of sickness that went around, despite our “cozy” arrangements, and with the wonderful “nearly new” accommodations that we are now enjoying.

[View the slideshow! When viewing, click on the letter "I" for captions.]

 We give thanks for the hard work of Duc and his team of faithful employees who put up with our “um, this still needs to go on the truck” and the “have you seen this box?!” We are so grateful for the many ways that God carried us through this time, and we look forward to the prospect of being able to continue on in the work God has called us to of supporting those who serve God “to the ends of the earth.”

Our Director of Donor Relations, Lois Craven, received a very strange phone call this morning. Apparently, someone has sent out a new (and rather creative, we think!) variation on the typical Nigerian scam e-mail . . . apparently, people have received an e-mail stating that Chris Roos, a CRWM missionary, has a dog that is extremely ill and needs financial help to get the dog out of Nigeria to get medical care.

 We don’t have all of the details yet, but PLEASE do NOT send money to anybody without checking with CRWM first. We offer a secure online donation method, but this e-mail did NOT originate from our offices. In fact, Chris doesn’t even HAVE a dog!

If you receive this e-mail, please forward it to us so that we can look into this further.

This is a dog in distress. She is NOT in Nigeria and does NOT belong to Chris Roos.

So it’s been a few weeks since Jessica and I attended the GospelCom Internet Ministry Conference, but we wanted to share a few scenes with you. The conference created a Flickr photostream, which made finding and sharing pictures easier!

This guy runs a website called “Hollywood Jesus” and joined us for lunch one evening. In case you can’t tell from the picture, he’s quite a character!(Photo of David Bruce originally uploaded by nathanyoungman)

We got these SWEET backpacks as part of our “swag” (”Stuff We All Get”–catchy, huh?) bag. There’s even a cell phone pocket! (backpack photo and dinner photo originally uploaded by thekorffs)

Here you see Jessica (behind the #15!) and myself (hiding behind the woman in the white shirt) at dinner the first night. We got to meet a number of interesting folks doing all kinds of online ministry!

Barbarita Lee found this list online, and we thought it was good enough to share . . .

who, ME?! a missionary?

A tongue-in-cheek look at some sure-fire ways
to avoid becoming a missionary

1. Ignore Jesus’ request in John 4:35 that we take a long hard look at the fields. Seeing the needs of people can be depressing and very unsettling. It could lead to genuine missionary concern.
   (John 4:35 “Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” For other Bible passages on missions, click here)
2. Focus your energies on socially legitimate targets. Go after a bigger salary. Focus on getting a job promotion, a bigger home, a more luxurious car, or future financial security. Along the way, run up some big credit card debts. [ ready feet . . . ]
3. Get married to somebody who thinks the “Great Commission” is what your employer gives you after you make a big sale. After marriage, embrace the socially accepted norms of settling down, establishing a respectable career trajectory and raising a picture-perfect family.
4. Stay away from missionaries. Their testimonies can be disturbing. The situations they describe will distract you from embracing whole-heartedly the materialistic lifestyle of your home country.
5. If you happen to think about missions, restrict your attention to countries where it’s impossible to openly do missionary work. Think only about North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and other closed countries. Forget the vast areas of our globe open to missionaries. Never, never listen to talk about creative access countries.
6. Think how bad a missionary you would be based on your own past failures. It is unreasonable to expect you will ever be any better. Don’t even think about Moses , David, Jonah, Peter or Mark, all of whom overcame failures. [ more on Jonah ]
7. Always imagine missionaries as talented, super-spiritual people who stand on lofty pedestals. Maintaining this image of missionaries will heighten your own sense of inadequacy. Convincing yourself that God does not use ordinary people as missionaries will smother any guilt you may feel about refusing to even listen for a call from God. [ type of missionaries needed ]
8. Agree with the people who tell you that you are indispensable where you are. Listen when they tell you that your local church or home country can’t do without you. [ Apple pickers parable ]
9. Worry incessantly about money. [ simple lifestyle ]
10. If you still feel you must go, go out right away without any preparation or training. You’ll soon be home again and no one can ever blame you for not trying!

Inspired by Stewart Dinnen’s list in How are you doing? (Bromley: STL Books, 1984)

So what’s holding YOU back? How can we help?

James and Barbarita Lee are new Christian Reformed World Missions missionaries who will be heading out to Tijuana in January of 2008. They have had quite a year, with James graduating from Calvin Seminary, their journey in adopting Joshua Jae-Min, and now the preparations for their departure in a few months.

In the midst of all of this, they seem to not have time to get their adorable child a haircut . . . oops, wait. It’s not a time issue–it’s mommy not wanting to cut her little sweetie’s hair!

BUT she is taking a vote at Joshua’s new blog, and we need your help to “get the vote out”.

Seriously . . . it’s time . . .

  But do we have the cutest missionaries, or what?!

So we added a new “I heart Johanna” page to our website. Check it out!

Who is your favorite missionary?