To Celebrate, or Not To Celebrate?

Colossians 3:17 (the message) “Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”

It's that time of year again.  We will be going to parties, singing songs, eating a lot, and bringing good will to all.  Unfortunately, this season has also brought confusion and frustration in recent years.  In our pursuit of holiness, we have become divided in the body of Christ on what days are actually holy.  This post is in response to a FB conversation from earlier today.  I hope it will give some direction and bring about healthy conversation. 

First of all, this is going to be a huge download of information.  This is why I am writing it in my blog, rather than a very long Facebook post.  I understand that may deter others from reading it, that extra click takes a few more seconds of time ;-). That’s okay, those who need to read it, will. 

I’d like to start off my response with some encouragement.  We are all learning, growing, and being cultivated by the Holy Spirit.  It is my goal to gain my insight from Him alone, through the Word of God, through study, and through prayer.  I am so excited to know that so many other believers out there are striving to do the same.  I believe that God is making us like Him, and that means we will not be the same tomorrow, we are all being positioned to be more like Him in every way.

God created and has blessed every day, in history and to come, and I believe He blesses our celebration and reflection of Him. It is my prayer that anyone choosing to follow Christ will consult the Holy Spirit on these matters for final judgement.  The Holy Spirit knows what we need as influence in our lives and if He convicts our hearts to do or not do something, we should listen to Him.  Keeping in mind, the Holy Spirit will never direct us to do something that is not confirmed in the Word of God.

There were several holidays mentioned in the original FB post by other people, so I will try to give a response on the major ones we celebrate in America.  I would like to recommend reading Colossians 3, and try this article if you’d like to know the Assemblies of God stance http://ag.org/top/beliefs/topics/sptlissues_holidays.cfm I think it gives some good advice.

Halloween:

It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that this holiday is not at all related to anything Biblical.  As Christians we are to abstain from the practice of witchcraft.  Halloween is the main event of the year for Wiccans.  This is the time of year called Samhain, known to everyone else as Halloween, for many modern pagans it's considered a Sabbat to honor the ancestors who came before us, marking the dark time of the year. They believe it is a good time to contact the spirit world with a séance, because it's the time when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest.  Most celebrate by having a feast, they honor the god and goddess of Samhain, and they honor dead ancestors and animals with different rituals and séances.  Different groups of followers may choose to worship in different ways, and I will not go into detail about those practices.  Many choose to have a fall festival-like event where kids can have fun, dress up, and get candy, and where they can all celebrate the day with special meals and such.

To understand my position, I’d like to share a few things.  My perspective on this holiday is possibly different than the average American.  First of all, I have a brother-n-law who was a practicing Satanist before he chose to follow Jesus, I have several friends and acquaintances who are practicing Wiccans, I personally had an unhealthy obsession with witchcraft and the occult before I was a Christian, and last but not least I have been involved with mission work and with friends who are missionaries to countries where the practice of worshiping Satan and demons is a very real and common reality.  Since I am coming from this view point, I cannot in good conscience be a part of a holiday that celebrates everything I have been liberated from or that so blatantly worships other gods.  Now, I have attended churches that have fall festivals on Halloween night, and I have participated in these events.  It is important to me, to serve my church and my community.  I can see how Halloween and fall festivals can make many believers in Christ reluctant to get involved, especially now that I have kids, it is really awkward to tell them they cannot dress up when all their friends do.  We have helped them understand that it just isn’t a day we celebrate like others.  We have made a firm stand in our family that every day is made by the Lord; He made every day good, and the enemy will distort what God has made good.  We will not participate in the practices of the world, but we will be a light in the midst of it.  We have chosen to not celebrate by abstaining from trick-or-treating, we do not dress in costume, but we do take the opportunity to spread the Gospel.  If our church has an outreach, we are there serving.  If we live in a neighborhood that has kids coming to our door, we pass out candy and gospel tracks.  If we have an opportunity to love people, to be present, and share Jesus, we do it.  If there is a day people are coming to us and asking for something, we should give them the best we have.

Easter:

There are actually a lot of people out there totally against Easter; I am not one of them.  This next bit of information is pretty extensive, but I believe the enemy likes to twist the truth, and it is important to understand where our traditions come from.  Here is a little history on the holiday…

Easter (Old English usually Ēastrun, -on, or -an; also Ēastru, -o; and Ēostre),  also called Pasch (derived, through Latin: Pascha and Greek Πάσχα Paskha, from Aramaic: פסחא‎, cognate to Hebrew: פֶּסַח‎ Pesaḥ) or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial.  In traditional Christianity, it is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

The week before Easter is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.  In western Christianity, Eastertide, the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday.

Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars which follow only the cycle of the sun; rather, its date is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the council. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. It has come to be the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary in East and West. Details of this complicated computation are found below in the section Date.

Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are identical or very similar.  Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church,  and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection,  traditionally decorates the chancel area of churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.  Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades.  There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally.

In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was and is called Πάσχα, Pascha, a word derived from Aramaic פסחא, cognate to Hebrew פֶּסַח (Pesach). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival, known in English as Passover, commemorating the story of the Exodus.  Already in the 50s of the 1st century, Paul, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth, applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual.  In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek and Latin Pascha.  Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration.

Now here is the pagan legend we all keep hearing about…

The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre.  The most widely accepted theory of the origin of the term is that it is derived from the name of a goddess mentioned by the 7th to 8th-century English monk Bede, who wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month") was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month".

The only problem with this theory, there is no historical record of any of this before Bede’s claims. 

Bottom line, as Christians we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday, which is where the tradition of meeting for church on Sunday came from, because Christ rose on a Sunday.  I will not get into major explanation of the Sabbath, but it is different than Sunday worship. Simply put,  Sabbath is a day of rest, and is not required for salvation, but is just plain smart in my opinion.  If God needed to rest and reflect on His creation, we should probably do the same.  Many like to argue over when the right day to gather is, but really, every day is the Lord ’s Day.  

How does my family choose to worship during the Easter season.  Our family loves the wonderful weather and the celebration of Spring, it was all made by Him.  We take time to fellowship and feast together.  We hide eggs and a portion of them have symbols hidden inside that help us tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Our “resurrection eggs” actually were the tool that lead my niece to a relationship with Christ. We focus on “Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday, and Pentecost”  I’d like to start teaching them about traditional Passover as well.  The whole season is Easter, and it is my choice to point it all toward Christ.

Christmas:

Christmas is called Christmas, because churches in Europe would have a Mass (Christ-Mass) that centered on celebrating Christ’s birth by observing communion together.  December 25th was chosen to celebrate Christ's birth because the Romans chose to celebrate it then.  The shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice) was originally the day the Romans worshiped the sun and the life it gave the earth.  When many of them became converted to Christianity they chose to celebrate the birth of the Son of God instead while the pagan festivities were happening, in their hearts they were claiming that day for Christ, and turning their hearts from evil things. They had no clue when Jesus was born, so this is when they did it, the tradition held. It has only been in more recent times that we understood more about when Jesus was most likely born.

There are some traditions around Christmas that many choose not to celebrate.  My family does not do the Santa thing, but we do let our kids know what a great defender of the faith he was.  Santa or Saint Nicholas was a great Christian who would give to the poor.  He would leave money and food for families and give to children.  Nicholas was a Bishop as well, his actual name was Nikolaos of Myra, he was a key influence at the Council of Nicaea where he defended the deity of Christ and even came to blows with his biggest contender.  This action didn't sit well with everyone else, so he was asked to step down from his place as Bishop, but the people loved him. Stories spread quickly of his generosity and outrageous actions, they grew to mythological proportions and many over time, would leave their stockings out hoping he would visit them too.  The legend became a game and a celebration of giving for many people.  It came to America when the Dutch were here.  They would celebrate Saint Nicholas day on December 6th, and then Christ-Mass was on the 25th, the two became one eventually. The celebration of Jesus' birth, and the celebration of someone who loved Jesus by giving became a tradition and one in the same.

So what about Christmas trees? The tradition comes from Northern Germany, they decorated with tree branches in their homes, (I actually decorate my own house with rustic stuff) and many believed that trees were tied to false gods.  There was a giant oak tree; The Oak of Thor that they believed would cause Thor to strike down anyone who cut it down. When the gospel was brought to them, they told the missionary about the tree.  He chopped down the oak, nothing happened, so they believed in Jesus.  He pointed to the dead oak tree and there was a green fir tree next to it.  He encouraged them to let that be a symbol of what God did.  Its evergreen leaves where a representation that God's love and forgiveness were ever present, and he encouraged them to build their homes out of it and let their home décor be built centered around Christ.  Let Christ be your constant light.  Just like the tree points up and doesn’t die, it was a symbol to them of Christ; they began to put them in their homes as a constant reminder.  

Hanukkah:

Hanukkah is a much older holiday or feast.  200 years before Jesus, the Jews were controlled by another empire, the Jewish religion and going to the temple was banned.  The emperor sacrificed a pig on the altar; this was enough to get some people angry, and so it should have.  A group of brothers rose up and sent an army against the empire and won, they spent 8 days cleansing and rededicated the temple to God. The 8 days of Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication was born.  Jesus didn't celebrate Christmas, Christmas celebrates Jesus, but He most likely grew up celebrating Hanukkah, as did all Jewish people of His time. John 10 mentions Jesus being in Jerusalem at that time, it does not go into detail however of whether he was celebrating it or not. The fact that He was there, in the temple, during this time makes it likely. 

In our family we make the season about giving, not getting.  We take time to give to others in need, and to focus on what Christ does for us.  We have a tree, and every ornament and decoration fills our house with light and beauty, giving us a clear image of the light of Christ filling our hearts.  My kids get 3 presents each, in remembrance of Jesus’ gifts from the three wise men.  We have food and feast as a family, and we love every second of the season.  It is all about Jesus!

Thanksgiving:

Last but not least, Thanksgiving.  This is most definitely a celebration of God’s provision, our freedom, and the importance of where our focus should be.  Early Americans came to this country in search of religious freedom, and were not quite prepared for the harsh place they came to.  God provided in a miraculous way.  We continue the tradition of thanking God for His constant provision.

Conclusion:

Giving the gospel and meeting needs is our Great Co-mission.  The world has influenced and capitalized on our traditions, it is up to us to claim what is Christ’s, and to change our culture for the cause of Christ.  If families choose to build their traditions of remembering Christ and giving to others around holidays like Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, I see nothing wrong with it.  There are many other holidays that we will begin to see more of.  We have a large amount other religions coming to America, we can choose to hide in our homes or we can choose to be the light of the world.

As God gives us instructions in His Word and by His Spirit, I believe we will all be called to change, to deny ourselves and our desires, and to live a separate life.  I also believe that God delights in our celebration of Him.  He is making us like Him, and we must listen to what the Holy Spirit is directing us to do, not man.  This is all in an effort to be reconciled to the Father, His true Kingdom come.  But, I also believe we are called to this while living right in the middle of the world.  They need to see that we are different, but they will know we are followers of Christ by our love. 

 

Greetings from the Forest!  We have several bits of news to share with you all.  When we first moved to the Ocala National Forest as missionaries it was a true step of faith for us.  And, God is calling us to take another step of faith.  As we trusted the Lord coming here, we quit our jobs, used our savings, and began to depend on the support of others to stay on the mission field.  We told the Lord that we were ready to go and trusted that as long as He wanted us here, He would provide for our financial needs.  In the past several months much or our support has ended and we feel God is telling us this season is over.

This is our final week working as the youth pastors for Salt Life Church, and we will be moving back to Palatka.  Although we will be sad to leave our students and the church here, we truly have peace that God is taking us back home for a new season of ministry.  We are not certain what is next, but in the following months we will keep pursuing God's will for our family. 

Jason and I both hope to continue getting our credentials.  Please pray that God provides a job for Jason and an apartment for our family.  We are excited to move on to the next leg of this journey.  Thank you all so much for your prayer and support the past 8 months.  We love you all and are trusting that God is working on your hearts to keep pursuing His will for your own lives.

To our Salt Life/Camp Sozo family...We love you! We will still visit when we can and are praying for the Lord's blessings on you all.

Greetings from the Ocala National Forest!  We have been on the mission field for a little over 6 months now, and it has been quite a wild ride so far.  God is challenging us and teaching us more about being aware of His presence every day.  It is an honor to pastor the youth of Salt Life Church and we are seeing fruit in the lives of our students.  His plans are perfect and He is guiding our steps.  The Lord is giving us vision and purpose for the future.

New Beginnings:  A new addition to the ministry has been a restaurant called “The Filling Station.”  Jason is currently helping manage the restaurant so he is gone a lot.  Everyone working is made up of our teenagers and other staff members.  It has been hard work, but the community is really responding positively.  In the fall the ministry will be hosting a culinary arts program, the ultimate goal of the restaurant is to provide job experience and to teach good worth ethic to the young people in the program and the community.  If you're in the area come and visit or if you'd like to volunteer give us a call.

What’s in store for the future:  We are looking forward to starting a student leadership program with our youth to prepare them for campus missions.  We hope to have at least one campus missionary in every school represented by our youth group in the next year.  We will be working closely with “Youth Alive” to make this happen!  We couldn't be more proud of our students.  We are excited to see what God has in store for this school year.

Prayer Request:  Please pray for Alex as she will be homeschooling the kids this year.  Pray for Jason as he invests so much time into different aspects of the ministry.  Pray we will have God inspired focus and vision for our student ministry.  Also pray that we will reach our financial support goal. 

 

The Need:  We have still not met our financial support goal.  We need around $1000 per month to handle gas, living expenses, and ministry training.  We have several monthly sponsors at this time but we need more. 

 

You Can Help!

 

For those of you who have already helped financially or through prayer, thank you so much.  Any amount of money you can give is a HUGE help, and allows us to stay in this ministry. If you would like to send financial support you can:

1.       Make a check out to us personally or to “The Help Agency.”  If you make a check payable to The Help Agency please do not write our names on the check memo.  Send a separate note with it instructing that the funds are for our family.  Mail to the address in our contact information above.

2.       Make a donation or monthly automatic payment through Pay Pal by clicking the button above.  Please send us an email (212slym@gmail.com) letting us know you did so we can let the administrator know.

 

 

 

 

212

Our big name reveal was a success! The new name of our student ministry is "212"  For those of you thinking, "why 212?" I will tell you. This was a name that the youth group had already considered and liked so we decided to go with it.  212 is the boiling point of water, the point at which water changes from it's liquid state to a gas. 

Teenagers are at a point in their life where they are in a constant state of decision and change.  We encouraged our group to let Jesus be at the center of that change and every decision they have to make. We want our students to be an example to everyone they come in contact with of the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

We have to remember that when Jesus calls us to change and live a life for Him, it will cost us everything.  In many parts of the world peopel are litterally losing their lives for Him.  We are so blessed to live in a country where it is still legal to worship, and with the times as they are, we have to realize we may not always have that liberty.  We have to decide now how far we are willing to go for Jesus.

Jesus never asked us to give more than He has, in fact it's just the truth, that when you love God their will be those who hate you.  We cannot worry about things that are temporary though, we have to fix our hearts on the things that are eternal.  I want to encourage you that just like our students we all have daily decisions to "be like Jesus."  For some it may mean helping out a family member, for others it may mean going the extra mile for a neighbor, others may need to raise the standard of integrity in their life, and for some it may mean selling everything you have and stepping out in faith to go where He leads.  The one thing I do know is that no matter what the cost, it is worth it. 

Our week is filled with so many things that are not easy, but the result of the work is lasting.  Camp Sozo, Sozo Kids, Turning Point Mentor Centers, The Help Agency, and Salt Life Church are some of the many areas we help with...it is a blessing to be a part of a ministry that is truly a light in a dark place.  Jason picks up food every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday that helps feed over 6,000 people a month.  The students we are reaching come from homes with generations of drug abuse, alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse, extreme poverty, and homes where they are not valued or loved.  Not every home is terrible, but it is definitely a huge issue.  It is our goal to raise up leaders among this community who will stop these generational curses, and continue to reach thier neighbors with hope.  For some of them we are the only people showing them the love of God.  There is a video posted in the blog below this one that explains our ministry more.

Please remember to pray for us. Our family needs strength and wisdom.  We will soon be expanding our bus ministry and we know that will take our numbers in the youth group to a whole new level.  Many of the students we are reaching out to have a difficult home life, and the idea of living a life for Jesus isn't even on their radar.  They are all searching though and we want to encourage them to keep searching and knocking.  We want the love of God to change their hearts, and for them to have an encounter with Jesus that will change them forever. 

Also, our family is still in need of financial support.  I don't like to ask for money, it has never been something I have liked, but the fact is when you're on the mission field it is what it is.  Every penny that is given to us is a blessing and allows us to continue the work that we do. I would like to break things down just a little bit.  God has blessed us with a home but we still have bills and expenses to cover.  We have a monthly budget of about $1000 for us to handle all our monthly bills plus childcare and living expenses comfortably, we absolutly need at least $500 a month to survive.  We are receiving $125 a month in support as of right now.  Our goal may seem like a lot, but some people may be able to give as little as $10 a month...every little bit helps.  It has been our goal to get 20 poeple or groups to commit to $25 a month to help cover the urgent financial needs. Please pray about how you could help and please pass on our information to others.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support.  We couldn't do what we do without you!

Send correspondance and financial support to:

19186 NE 13th St

Silver Springs, FL 34488

or click on the PayPal button on this page

*if you need tax credit for your giving please follow these instructions

If you send a check, make the check payable to The Help Agency, Do Not put our name on the check, include a note that says the money is for our family.

If you chose to send a donation through PayPal please send us an email 212slym@gmail.com or Pastor Dave an email david.saltlife@gmail.com letting us know you have sent it electronically for our family.

Sozo Video

For those of you who are interested in seeing a little more about what we do, here is a great video that describes the ministry we work for.

Summer is almost here!

I can't believe it, summer is almost here!  The kids will be out of school soon, and summer camps are just around the corner. We have been so busy lately.  It has been hard to sit down and get any blogging done, but I am resolved to sit here tonight until I have shared a little. 

Every day has had it's teachable moments, and every week God is proving His faithfulness to us.  We have had the privilege of family and friends visiting. Jason is finding out that every strange or seemingly meaningless job he has ever worked at, has given him unique skills that he uses every day.  For me personally God has me on a journey through His word that offers fresh revelation every time I turn the page.

This week we will be revealing the new name of our youth group, I will have to share that next week so I don't ruin the surprise. We actually have a car wash coming up this Saturday in Salt Springs if anyone is in the area.  We will be located at Bass Champions on Hwy 314.

Jason and I are enjoying being youth pastors, we have some great students.  We are constantly looking for new ways to teach them and reach them.  It is our hope to soon begin a bus ministry to several neighborhoods. We have so many students in our area that need love and acceptance.  It is also our goal to begin to raise up leaders among the students we have now.  Please keep us in prayer as we try to impart wisdom to them and encourage them to grow in their faith in Christ.

I can't tell you how much your prayers and encouragement mean.  Since we are only an hour away from Palatka it is hard sometimes for people to consider us as missionaries, but let me assure you we are.  We go through some of the same things missionaries on foreign soil go through. We work hard and minister to people that are hard to reach.  The enemy uses things like loneliness, depression, anger, discomfort, impatience, fatigue, frustration, bullies, and confusion to wear us down.  It is amazing though, when you call on the name of Jesus how quickly He will answer.

We are still in need of financial support.  I can't express to you how grateful we are to those of you who have been sending money.  Every donation has been right on time to meet a need.  We had paid our phone bill and insurance in advance to help as we moved, but we will soon need to start a regular payment plan again.  We are looking for 20 people, this includes (individuals, Sunday school classes, businesses, church groups, etc.) who can support us at $25 dollars a month.  This will cover our bills and other monthly expenses such as clothing, gas, etc.  However, any amount no matter how big or small is appreciated and blesses us very much.

 If you are interested in sponsoring us please call us at 386-538-4119 if you have any questions.  You may send checks directly to us at the address below. If you need tax credit for your donation please make the check payable to "The Help Agency"  do not print our names in the memo space on your check, send a separate note with the check letting us know who it is for.  If you chose to make a donation on this blog site please send us an email letting us know, david.saltlife@gmail.com

We'd love to hear from you. Our address is 19186 NE 13th St  Silver Springs, FL 34488

Slowing Down and Speeding Up

In the past few months since coming to Camp Sozo we have removed a lot of things from our daily lives, but that doesn't mean our pace has slowed down.  We no longer have television, so we just watch movies together as a family when we have the time.  We no longer have internet in our home so we are not on Facebook and other sites as much.  Luckily we have internet in the office so we can keep in touch more often.  We are also no longer just a few minutes from shopping and school and, so we rarely go anywhere.  At first I think this was a shock to the system, and it took a few weeks to figure out what to do with any spare time we may have.  Now we get a chance to enjoy each other's company and the peace and quiet that surrounds us. The kids spend a good chunk of their time outside and we spend a good chunk of our time with them. 

It was hard to understand that we were missing out on anything since we were so busy filling our time with other things.  My time with the Lord is becoming my most precious part of the day, and our time with the kids is better spent.  I would encourage any one to take some time to get away from the things that are time stealers in your life. 

Even though we are learning the value of our time together, we are very busy as well.  With camps and missions teams coming in and our church being envolved in so much outreach we are at full speed ahead here.  We usually have early mornings and long days.  Summer is only 8 weeks away which will add a whole new dynamic as well, the kids will be at home all day and the ministrie'
s mentor center kids will be here most of the time for day camp.  It should be a ton of fun for everyone. 

Please keep us in your prayers.  I am personally endeavoring to get our ministry "on the map" so to speak with new marketing and promotional ideas.  Jason and I are both getting ready to launch some new things with our youth group, and we have many fundraising events coming for all the summer missions trips. Also continue to pray for our finances.  We are looking for monthly sponsors.  As little as $10 a month would be a blessing.  Our monthly expenses are not huge, but there is still a need.  Please follow the instructions below if you are interested.

We love being a part of such an active and loving ministry.  We are learning more and more every day what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. 




For those who are interested in making donations or partnering with us please send all checks to 19186 NE13th St   Silver Springs, FL 34488  If you would like the ministry to keep a record of your giving please make checks payable to Help Agency and include a separate letter stating that the money is for the Grennan Family.  If you make a donation by selecting the PayPal link on this blog send us an email letting us know so we can keep it for our records  (jasonandalexgrennan@gmail.com)

Our first month

Our new billboard

Hello everyone! Our first month at Camp Sozo has been an adventure.  The kids are starting to get accustomed to our new schedule, and Violet is even being featured on a few billboards and advertisements for www.sozokids.org.  Salt Life Church is great.  Even though we miss our family at First Assembly, we feel right at home.  I think the biggest adjustment for us may be the role of youth pastor.  We have a much higher appreciation for what it takes to make a church service happen, and with that I must add, remember to love on your pastors.  They have a tremendous job, but it comes with great blessings as well.  It is a privilege to be a part of our youth group in it’s infancy.  We have a great bunch of students.

Camp Sozo is an interesting place
live at times

This month is going to be a whirlwind for the ministry and the church.  We have camps coming in every weekend and the Easter season is upon us, which means tons of outreach opportunities.  Our church will be involved in several large outreaches.  The first is a community-wide rib cook off, in which our church will compete.  That morning the host of the event is going to turn over things to our pastor, he will be bringing our Palm Sunday message right there in the middle of the event.  It is a great chance to bring church to the people where they are, which is the heart of Salt Life church.  We are praying for the Holy Spirit to be working on the hearts of the people attending, and believing for a great harvest. The second event is our Community Easter Egg Hunt.  We will have over 10,000 eggs, food, fun, and prizes.  We are estimating around 1,200 to attend.  It is our prayer that Christ’s annointing will be on everything and that lives will be changed with the message of God’s love. 

 We are calling Easter Sunday, “Fill the House.”  Our church’s vision for 2013 is to Win the One.  Our pastor has challenged us to view church as our training ground and see our time at work, school, even Wal-Mart shopping trips as our church time.  It is our goal for everyone to bring at least one visitor, and hopefully fill the house with double or triple our normal attendance.  We are anticipating God to move in a powerful way.

With that I would like to present you with the same challenge.  Use your time at work, school, going to the grocery store, sitting at a table in a restaurant, etc…sharing your story and your faith with those around you.  Church should be the place we get fueled up and prepared.  Take what you get and do church out in the rest of your daily life.  Let people see Jesus, even when it is hard to respond like He would, make it your mission for others to know Him through you.  You shouldn’t have to tell someone you’re a Christian for them to know that you’re different, just show them you’re different by letting them see God’s love displayed through you.

But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? Romans 10:14-15

We need your prayers desperately.  Even though we are adjusting there is still a lot that has changed for our family being in a new place.  We are also still in need of financial support.  We need $1,400.00 monthly to cover our living expenses and childcare.  We originally thought that childcare would be covered by a scholarship, but that is no longer going to be available to us.  Please pray about partnering with us and please pray that God continues to provide.  We love you all and thank you for your continued prayer and encouragement.

The best way to send funds to us is by mailing a check.  Our mailing address is 19186 NE 13^th St, Silver Springs, FL 32177.  If you need tax credit, please make the check payable to Help Agency, but do not write our name on the check. Place a separate note in the envelope with information on who the funds are for.  If you would like to sponsor us monthly through direct deposit or make a one-time donation click on the (PayPal) button at the top of the page, again we will need an email sent with specific instructions on who the funds are for since the ministry will be receiving the funds for us through PayPal.  You can send an email directly to us at jasonandalexgrennan@gmail.com.  Thank you again and God Bless!

New Direction (second edition)

 

Our trip to see Jason's family in Illinois this December

We are so excited to share what God is doing in our family this year. The New Year has brought much expectation and revelation of God’s faithfulness in our lives. In 2011 we were offered the opportunity to move to Mexico into full time missions. Not long after that our plans changed due to unstable social conditions in Mexico. Little did we know that while we were wondering what God had in mind after our door to Mexico was closed that He was opening another door here at home.

 




The Houck Family

 

We have been assisting Pastor David Houck, a missionary in the Ocala national forest, with designing websites for Camp SoZo and various other ministries he and his family oversee. They provide food, financial help, mentoring for teens and children, assistance and preventive services for pre-teen and teen pregnancy, as well as pastoring a church. As our relationship with the Houck family and their ministry has grown our hearts have connected with their vision. They truly are the hands and feet of Jesus to people living in rural poverty.  

 

An Amazing Opportunity!

Annual Back to School Outreach

An opportunity has been given to us to assist their ministry full time. We could not be more humbled and blessed to join them in their endeavor to rescue the abandoned, heal the broken hearted, and bring hope to the forgotten. Our responsibilities include…

 

· Youth Pastor

 

· Web design and site publishing

 

· Marketing for child sponsorship program

 

· Assist all ministries of Help Agency

 

 

How Can You Help?

 

· Pray for wisdom and increased compassion as we begin to pastor the youth of Salt Life Church.

· Pray for our children as they transition to a new home and new school.

· Pray for our faith to not falter as we believe for God’s provision.

· Pray about becoming a financial supporter of our ministry.

 



Deer Lake at Camp SoZo, our house is just beyond the dock

 

At Camp SoZo we will be fortunate to have a home and utilities provided to us, but things like gas for our car, insurance, and other living expenses will not be included. Our average monthly expenses should come to around $900. Please pray about God using you in this way. We understand that not everyone can give big, but remember that even as little as $10 a month will help.

 

You can easily process your donation online by selecting the "Donate" button or select "Subscribe" to be a monthly sponsor, if you choose this option please send us an emial with your contact information and the details of how much you are sending so we can forward it to the ministry. (jasonandalexgrennan@gmail.com)
 Funds can be sent to us directly at the street address below.  Checks can be made payable to Help Agency Inc. for tax credit (memo: Grennan) 

 

Phone: 386-312-1193 

19186 NE 13th St

Silver Springs, FL  34488

 

 

 

Getting Ready For Missions!

Many of you already know that we have been approved as Missionary Associates (MAs) with the Assemblies of God. We have felt a call to world missions for a long time and are excited to be able to take this first step in that direction. We will have the amazing opportunity to serve a missionary who is currently established in the field and gain some much needed expereince.

Our official title will be as Resident Deans for the Engage program. You can visit their site to learn more about their vision www.engagemylife.com, but in the nut shell they use college students in their first two years of school to assist missionaries. They get the chance to be in the field while completing college courses. Our duties as MAs would be to oversee the daily schedule of the students and assisting in mentoring the students. We are so excited about this since we love college students. Our heart is to see them grow in their love of God and in the confidence that He has called them to be set apart for a great work.

We have not been assigned to a particular country as of yet, but will hopefully get that information soon. The first step of our journey though, is Pre-Field Orientation (PFO). It will be held June 9-21, 2012 in Springfield, MO. While there we will be involved in 2 weeks of missions training. During that time not only will we receive valuable information about missionary work and be poured into by our teachers, but our children will also be involved in learning about missions and moving to a different culture. At the end of this time we will be commissioned by the Assemblies of God to begin our missionary journey.

Going to PFO now will enable us to leave for the field as soon as funds are raised. The first funds we need to raise though is our expenses for PFO. The cost is $2500 for the entire family, this includes our room and board, tuition, and child care; and the travel cost is estimated at $2250. We will need to have all travel expenses raised by at least June 1st and all other money will need to be in by June 21st.

Please pray about supporting us... and please pray for us! It is a huge step of faith for the entire family, but we know God has called us.

For more information on giving you may contact us by email jasonandalexgrennan@gmail.com or call 386-538-4119 We hope to have a link set up soon for auto-pay.

Life has been a roller coaster! I have been trying to make time to go to work, spend time with the kids and Jason, and to spend time with the Lord every day. Going back to work is not easy, but we are adjusting. I feel like so many things are constantly changing in our lives, but that's okay. Our love for the Lord is growing and we are learning to depend on him more.

This goes to all our family and friends...please keep us in prayer. Jason and I are both starting a new job, and God is already showing us people we can pray for and love on. I miss being home with the kids though and they are having a little bit of a hard time as well. We are still waiting to hear from AG World Missions on whether we are accepted or not. We are also continuing to pray about where we should go. Our prayer is that we will be in just the right place for our talents to be used and our hearts to be stirred. We have gone through so much in the last couple of years it seemed like the foreign mission field was only a distant idea, we are thankful that God is calling us to serve him full time.

In the mean time though, God is connecting us with other missionaries that we are able to pray for. Even my sister Cherie and her husband are getting ready to leave for Haiti this week which will be a planning trip. They will get to see the school they will be administrating and get to see where their house and the orphanage will be built. They are so excited! This will be the first trip to Haiti for their girls. I know they will fall in love with it just like their Mom and Dad. They are already excited about getting to meet the kids and helping them out.

I hope that over the next several months, as I try to keep up with blogging more often, that everyone who reads this will begin to get a picture of how faithful God really is. We see it every day in our own lives and I feel like I get just a little picture of how much God loves us when I see his hand of mercy and grace active in our family.

New Direction!

For the past year Jason and I have gone through a lot, and now we feel like God has put us in a place to step out. We both feel our family is called to serve on the foreign mission field. That calling has been on the horizon of our relationship and goals for the past 7 years.

Lately our life has been a literal roller coaster. From getting accustomed to having 3 children, to Jason losing his job. We have finally been able to get involved in RUSH (our youth group) more actively by teaching Sunday School. For months Jason's schedule has made it difficult to be involved, but God has heard the desires of our heart and has given us an opportunity. We have lost our second vehicle, but God has given us a home closer to things which makes it easier to get around. Although frustrating at times we can see that God is concerned about our needs. I have been so overwhelmed it has been difficult to find time to write, but I am confident that I will be able to share more often in the days to come.

To give an update on our status...we are in the application process with Assemblies of God World Missions and would appreciate everyone's prayers. Pretty much all our information is in and we are coming to the end of the process. We hope to hear soon how the next several years of our lives will be spent. Either we will be accepted and begin to prepare for the mission field or we will be doing what we must to be in a better place to be accepted. We do know that we have some debt that must be payed off before going on assignment and could use prayer that God will preform a miracle in that area. We have been steadily working on it and God has given us resources and wisdom to see it happen. In the past few years we have managed to wipe out a lot of past debt and are on our way to being debt-free.

When we are accepted we will be going with a program called "Engage" www.engagemylife.com We would be going as leaders/house parents and can't wait for the opportunity to do what we feel God has designed us to do.

The mission of Engage is to provide opportunities for students to pursue ministry experience while acquiring higher education. It seeks to fulfill that mission by:

• Providing regionally accredited education through partner schools.
• Creating cross-cultural ministry experiences on the mission field.
• Teaching students to be Christ-followers.
• Collaborating with national churches.

An even greater asset to this opportunity is being able to continue our education. Jason has been trying to complete his Pastor's Credentials and I am re-enrolling in school to finish my degree. This will open a door for us to be more available for ministry in the future. We will also be able to get a better job upon returning which should enable us to return to missions sooner. If accepted to AG World Missions we will be leaving the states for 2 years to work with the Missionaries of Engage. Please keep us in your prayers, and keep all our Foreign and Home Missionaries in your prayers as well.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about what God is doing in our hearts. Love you all!

(Some text borrowed from www.engagemylife.com)

Moving Forward?

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are sitting still but something next to you is moving so you think that you are moving instead? You have this split second of confusion and you're not sure what's happening. I'm kinda having a reverse of that. In my split second of questioning I can say for sure I am the one moving.

Jason and I have been on this roller coaster ride this past year with finances, kids, jobs, and everything in between. We have lost jobs, cars, money, houses, and all sorts of stuff. My flesh keeps asking, "God, what is happening?" I went through times of anger, depression, and confusion. On the other side of it all though, God always had a plan. For such a long time things were moving around us and we were just sitting still. We stayed encouraged though that God was going to make a way.

Now, I find myself feeling like I'm moving and I'm sure that I am. God is showing me so many things that I need to see. It's like I'm finally starting to step into the places He has been preparing me for in the last year or so. I am learning how to seek after him even when everything is working against it, how to catch His vision for me now rather than my vision for myself in the future, and most of all that Jesus has got to be in the boat before I set sail.

We spent our day at Epcot seeing many different things and enjoying the World Showcase.

We had a wonderful dinner in France. The show in the evening was amazing.