Monday, July 14, 2008

Mongolia!

Hey all!!

So, most of you don't know, I'm going to Mongolia this summer! Originally, I was going to India, but the trip was cancelled because the team members couldn't raise enough funds in time. At first, I didn't understand. It seemed like something God would want done. Why did we run into a brick wall? But a few days after I heard the news, the missions pastor emailed me and told me there was one more opening on the team to Mongolia in August. I had raised a little more than half of the needed funds, and he told me I could transfer the funds to the Mongolia trip. I took it.

Basically, I'm letting ya'll know about this because prayer is much needed right now. There are seven of us going, and about half of us don't yet have the funds we need to be able to go. Pray that God will open this door for us, if it is in His will! Below is a copy of the letter I sent out via snail-mail about a week ago. It explains the circumstances, and the basics of what we'll be doing in Mongolia, and our primary purpose:

Dear Family and Friends,

Some of you received my previous letter, which asked for prayer and financial support for a planned mission trip to India this year. I write again to you in order to explain that, in what seemed an unfortunate event, some of my fellow team members were unable to raise enough funds for us to buy the plane tickets needed for the trip. As a consequence, we had to cancel the trip. At first I was quite disappointed. If this trip had been in God’s will, why hadn’t He provided the funds? But then God reminded me that He works all things for the good of those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Shortly after, the missions pastor told me that there is a planned missions trip to Mongolia a bit later this year, in the first part of August. He told me I could transfer all raised funds from the cancelled India trip to the Mongolia one. I guess this is how God worked it for good. J So now I write to you again, and some of you for the first time, to ask for support both in prayer and financially for this mission to Mongolia!

The missions team will be teaching English in a small town in Mongolia. The missionaries we will be working with have been there for about 15 years, making them some of the longest-term missionaries in Mongolia. Fifteen years ago, there were zero known believers in Mongolia. Now, in the town we will be teaching, there is a small church of about 15 people, and there are, of course, other believers in other parts of Mongolia. The team will be teaching two classes: one consisting of doctors and nurses from the local hospital, and one consisting of high school aged students. The English curriculum we’ll be using is designed to raise spiritual questions, without being overtly evangelistic. Our four major goals in Mongolia will be to enhance the reputation of the church and the missionaries in the community, to build friendships with our students, to identify those who seem most interested in spiritual issues (so that we, or the local missionaries can follow up), and of course, if the opportunity presents itself, to share the Gospel message.

Thank you all so much for your financial and prayer support! Through God’s grace, I’ve received over half the needed funds, and trust that God will provide the rest. Thank you for joining with me in this trip, whether it be with finances, prayer, or both. If you haven’t contributed financially and would like to, use the same form and address that was provided in my first letter. Just in case that has been misplaced, the address is below as well. Include my name and “Mongolia Missions Trip” in the envelope, so that they know where it is to go. Again, if you have any questions, concerns, or advice, please call or email me. I’d be happy to hear from you. Finally, please pray that God’s will be done on this trip; it is, after all, His trip, not ours. We are merely His servants and tools; here to serve Him as best as possible until we are called home.

-----------

Last week the team had their first meeting; we went over the basics of the English material we'll be using, some of the culture tips, etc. I'm really excited about this!! Personally, I'll be teaching the high school class alongside one of the dads that is coming. We'll be teaching from a curriculum called "Common Ground". It's designed to teach English in a fun, conversational way.

Please be praying for these few things:

1) For the team's preparation. (Funds, curriculum, etc)
2) For the hearts of the people we will be reaching.
3) For the mission itself! We're leaving the 1st of August and returning the 17th.

Also, we've put together a blog for the trip! It doesn't have much on it yet, but hopefully we'll be posting before, during, and after the trip. www.mongolia7.blogspot.com

Thank you so much!
Go with God,

Brooklin

p.s. Friday was an amazing night down at 3rd Street promenade in Santa Monica. I'll be posting what happened then soon!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

"Adventures in Christianity"

Hey all!
So, this is something that I've been meaning to do for awhile now. Now I'm finally getting to it. =P Anyway, there's this great Christian website called adventuresinchristianity.com. It's basically a community of believers all around the U.S. They post their "adventures", or witnessing experiences, on a bulletin board to share with the rest. There are also prayer requests and discussion forums. This site was started around a year ago by a buddy of mine, Joey, and a few others. It's now grown incredibly, and such an encouragement to so many people.

If you want to check it out, click on AdventuresinChristianity.

Read through some of the adventures, and make an account if you want! It's a great way for believers all around the country to connect and share their experiences and encouragement with one another.
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Go with God,

Brooklin

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Serving God

Hey all,

In the previous post, I raised the question of how much we ought to serve God. The answer seems pretty obvious: We need to serve Him all the time, give Him our all. The key here is that we can serve Him in different ways. We don't need to be out on the streets talking to unbelievers about Him in order to be serving Him. Rather the opposite, we can serve Him in all that we do. School, work, friendships, relationships. They should all fall under one category: Glorifying to God.

The Sunday after the 4th, I visited a church I hadn't ever been to before. The speaker, or pastor, pointed out that too often nowadays, people cut their lives up into "little pieces of pie." We have the work piece, we have the entertainment piece, we have our relationship piece, and then we'll have our God piece which, most times, is much smaller than any of the others. This is not how our lives should be modeled! Don't separate your life into different "pieces of pie". When we surrender to God, we are surrendering our all; our whole life. C.S. Lewis said "A man may have to die for our country, but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself."
When we surrender ourselves to God, we aren't just accepting Eternal salvation with Him. We are offering our services, however small, in this life. If you keep that in mind, it puts everything in perspective.

So, the answer to my question of how often we ought to serve God is all the time. In the area of evangelism, the thinking is often "off duty" and "on duty". When I got out to 3rd Street or the theatre or the mall, I am "on duty". I'm serving God by talking to people about Him. When I'm at home, or out with my friends, or whatever, I'm "off duty". I don't have to worry about doing God's will.
That's not how it should be at all! We are "on duty" for God all of the time, not just when we think we are. He may have something for us to do when we least expect it. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be ready for it.

Sorry if this all doesn't flow together exactly.. I'm just trying to put my thoughts out. Usually when one tries that, they don't come out quite how one wants them to. =P
Have a great week...even if you're having a bad week. Serve God. =)

Go with God,

Brooklin


Friday, July 04, 2008

Happy 4th!

Hey everyone! Happy Indepedence day! (As of 1 hour ago.. yes I am up to late. =P)

Tonight I experienced another little encouragement from God. I went to the fireworks in Moorpark with my family and a group of friends. Had a good time, watched the fireworks, swing danced a bit. When the show was over, the park started to empty, and the sidewalks filled. On my way out, I saw a lady carrying a Giant Money tract (click on the link to see the tract's text). I asked her where she had gotten it, and she said there were people handing them out at the entrance. She told me she hadn't read it yet, but was bringing it home for her son. I encouraged her to read it, telling her there was an important message on it.
Somewhere in that park, there were other believers working for God! Reaching out to all the people that had come. On one hand, it was greatly encouraging. On the other hand, it was extremely convicting. I had a great time tonight, but I didn't do much of anything for God's glory. I could be doing so much more!
Hmm.. that raises a question that I've fought long and hard with myself about. Basically, how *much* do we serve God? Since really the only reason we're on this earth is to reach out to people, it seems we should do that without ceasing. I think I've finally found the answer. I'll get more into this in a later post, but for now, I gotta get to bed. =P

Have a great Independence Day, all! Serve God. =)

Go with God,

Brooklin

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Encouragement

Hey all! Again, it's been awhile since I've posted. The craziness of life, no? =P

A few weeks back, a buddy of mine (Peter) was back from Cleveland to visit. He stayed at my family's house for a few days until his family got down from S.F. One night we decided to walk over to the theatre/Borders area to talk to people. It had been too long since I had been out, so I was all for it. We wanted to come from the approach of "How can we pray for you", so we did. The first lady we talked to was a believer! Had been for twenty-odd years. She asked us to pray for her son, who was soon going into the Navy. We talked for a bit about church background, where we were from, etc. She encouraged us to keep up the work we were doing. Is that from God or what??
We tried talking to a couple outside of the theatre, but they were closed to anything "religious", so we moved on to Borders. Again, we started talking to an elderly lady sitting outside of Macaroni Grill, and she said she is a believer! She was raised a Christian and had kept the faith all thru her life. She, too, encouraged us to keep doing what we were doing, and to stay in the faith. We asked her if there was anything we could pray for, and she said something I won't forget. "Well, mostly just pray. There are people praying for things, for people, for health. But just pray to God, and thank Him for this world, for this life." This lady was such an encouragement to us that night.

So, don't forget to thank God for the big and little things! Without Him, we have nothing. Don't take it for granted.