Everyday Thankfulness
During my most recent trip to Colorado, my 8-year old niece gave me one of her “treasures” — a small wooden trinket stamped with 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” The rest of the verse, of course, is “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I often wonder (tongue-in-cheek) if when Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,” it was actually a warning about how busy
the work could be! I find that serving in this day of harvest is often energizing and wearisome, engaging and overwhelming. Yet I realize that this is the everyday circumstance where I need to be thankful — above all to give God glory, but also for my own sake.
My natural tendency is to focus on problems — which I think I can do something about — more so than blessings, which are manifestations of God’s grace. But “blessing” is the only way I can describe the dual privilege of being on a leading edge of the Great Commission and serving with an incredible team of co-workers and ministry partners.
It’s funny how easily “the amazing” can turn into “the routine.” This occurred to me a while back as I strolled through the GMO office in Orlando. Large LCD monitors show real-time statistics of how God is touching lives around the world through our ministry — numbers so large that I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around them.
Our team is often abuzz with global activity — I can simultaneously observe one co-worker developing a web site in Arabic, overhear someone on the phone in Spanish, and see that yet another is on a Skype video call to a different hemisphere. A couple of our staff might be processing applications from volunteer online missionaries, while another works to program a new feature for our email response system. Even opening my own email inbox can be an adventure in global partnership.
Recently at GMO’s new Silicon Valley studio (which I helped build-out this summer), I recorded our basic evangelism and discipleship videos in Korean. I’m currently working on plans to do this same set, and perhaps even more content, in five or six other languages. It’s truly exciting to be creating content that God can use to change lives. I also receive the joyful blessing of partnering with mission-minded Believers from other cultures and language groups.
When I joined Campus Crusade for Christ nine years ago (as of this summer), part of my call was to engage others in the Great Commission. As I’ve recorded interviews with our online missionaries, I get to see first-hand how our ministry is fostering a passion for global evangelism and discipleship in other Believers.
Finally, I’m thankful for the partners that God uses to financially support my ministry. Ever week or so, I will download a list of recent gifts — tangible reminders of the vision and mission I share with committed individuals and churches. It is truly an honor to be involved, and to involve others, in a movement that I see God using in a significant way to complete the Great Commission.
Sarah’s Story
I recently had the privilege of spending time with Sarah Coiner, one of GMO’s online missionaries. The passion and commitment I have seen in many other of our volunteers is in Sarah too — but in her case, it’s amplified by the fact that she has severe physical disabilities caused by cerebral palsy.
Most people might look at Sarah and think she has every excuse to be focused on the challenges of getting through everyday life. But in reality, she is a person who is sharing her heart and love for Jesus with people around the world. To quote one of my co-workers, “She can’t even feed herself… but she is giving people around the world the Bread of Life.” In addition, Sarah also serves as a “community leader” and helps other volunteers in responding to emails from spiritual seekers and new Christians.
I produced a short video about Sarah. I hope that you will be encouraged and challenged by her story. If you have not yet considered becoming an online missionary for GMO, I would encourage you to consider applying at www.gmojoinus.com — you can touch people for eternity by spending a few minutes each day answering emails from seekers and new believers.
Summer Project 2.0
Have you ever had something you were not sure you wanted to do, and then ended up being glad you did it? Well, that’s how I felt about again leading GMO’s Silicon Valley Summer Project. This is our second year, and a couple of months ago taking on this responsibility on top of all my other tasks seemed to be more than I could handle.
The 2009 project was good but had a lot of those challenges that you hope — with faith — can be lessons for the future. As the time got closer, I found myself wishing this would just go away. While I hoped someone or some factor would make the decision for me, that didn’t happen. And I couldn’t find peace in letting it go — so, here I am, back in California for the summer!
We have three students working as interns for six weeks in GMO’s Silicon Valley office. Alex C. goes to Marshall University and majors in radio and television; he’ll be working on several video projects and helping us setup a new studio for GMO. Phillip studies software engineering at the Rochester Institute for Technology. Alex H. and majors in computer engineering at Purdue. He and Phillip will be working on several strategic technology projects this summer.
A key difference this summer is that my close friend and co-worker, Jeff, is helping me lead the project, handling several details and spiritual development. Also joining us from Orlando are Justin (one of our programmers) and his wife Kristina (who works with me on video projects). Shortly before we arrived, our Silicon Valley team moved into an awesome new office space that made it easier to accommodate this influx of staff and interns.
Our goal is to help them these guys grow spiritually, professionally, and personally. We want them to see how God can use their specific skills and talents in building His Kingdom. Each of them has trusted God to provide their financial support for the summer. As I write this, we’re a week and a half into the project and I’m truly grateful by the good relationships we’ve developed. I’m also encouraged to see how they have dove into the mission of GMO.
Please take a moment and pray that God will continue to work in and through each of these young men this summer. GMO recorded over 1.5 million indicated decisions in May, and answered 218,949 email contacts — and yet we’re only a fraction of what God is doing worldwide every day. Jesus told us to pray for more laborers to join the harvest, and that’s what this summer is all about.
Angie’s Story
Despite her battle with Lupus and other illnesses, Angie Dugi is telling others around the world about Jesus Christ. As an online missionary for Global Media Outreach, Angie is sharing her life and faith to help others grow in a relationship with God.
I shot this video in late March and just completed the final editing. I wish I could have included all that Angie had to share… she has such a wonderful heart for the Lord. Involving people like her in the work of building God’s Kingdom is such a joyful part of working with GMO.
