Our ACMC team has 4 conferences happening this month, one every weekend (MD/VA, NY/NJ, NE/CT & OH) . Attendance at two of them has been around 160 each, with the attendees coming from a whole host of churches in their areas. So, even though economy issues are being felt in our church communities (which has been reflected in a lower than usual attendance), we are excited to see that turn out was still good. Churches want to know “how” to do missions and do it better, so that they are effective and make a difference in a world that is hurting.

You may ask, “What do they do at these conferences?”

They usually open with a general session for a time of worship.

Then, an informative and inspiring message from the keynote speaker helps everyone to focus on the task at hand. Next, everyone chooses from a list of workshops to attend in the morning and afternoon.

There is a break for lunch which allows for some great fellowship.

And, there’s a breakout time for networking with other churches.

You may ask, “Why attend these conferences on missions?”

• To learn trends & issues in missions
• To gain new vision and perspective
• To be encouraged by movements of God throughout the world.
• To be re-invigorated for ministry
• To discover successful strategies used by other churches
• To learn practical, how-to ideas
• To meet people who can help you

And the list goes on…

At one of the conferences, Kelly will be leading a workshop on “Rapid Response Preparedness.”

He will be helping churches think through a variety of steps to put in place now, to be ready for the next tsunami or devastating earthquake. We all felt like we were caught “flat-footed” during the Indonesian Tsunami and Katrina. Here is where the old adage: “a stitch in time, saves nine” says it all.

Back in Orlando…

Twenty-eight new workers, plus their children, just finished the last of their missions training before heading to the field. Some are departing this next week, others within the next couple of months. Their excitement is high with anticipation. They have shared their stories with churches that will support their work. Their tickets are in their hands, and they have placed unnecessary possessions in long-term storage.

Now their thoughts have turned to: What will our home look like “over there”? Will I learn the language quickly? Will the people accept me, or like me. Will God really be able to use ME??? What will it all look like? Will our church back home remember to pray for us after we been gone for a while?

I will be your tour guide on this trip. Bring your name tag for the team meetings, an appetite for Uno’s Pizza, your best exhibitor’s smile for the conference and your suntan oil for a nature walk on the beach

30+ New Missionary Candidates

The week before our church festival, (mentioned in the previous post) we had a full week at work. It was our 5th and final Candidate Orientation Program (COP) for the year. This was The another large COP group, 30+ candidates. So once again, we needed 5 committees to cover all the personal interviews. I facilitated committee number 3 and was really excited about the caliber of young people going through the orientation. All 30+ received and accepted an appointment with Pioneers.

We had our full Church Partnership Team in for the week to meet with the new candidates. When we weren’t meeting with new candidates we were having team meetings, until Kelly was just about meeting-ed out. We were glad to see Friday come even though we knew we had a full weekend coming up.

Mission Conference On The West Coast

As soon as we finished our Saturday volunteer work at PCUMC’s “Pioneer Days Festival,” we headed home to pack for our next trip. One of our PIONEERS’ church partners in New Port Richey, Fl had invited Kelly and I to participate in their mission conference. All display tables had to be set up Sunday morning at 7 AM (ugh!) before the 1st of their 3 church services started. Since it was a couple of hours drive to the west coast, we decided to get there Saturday evening.

On the way over to the gulf coast, we stopped to have pizza with a pastor and his wife who were friends of ours from Bible school. It was great to see them and catch up on their news.

A Very Full Conference Schedule

The mission conference at CWCC lasted through Thursday so we were prepared for a full week of activities. The church also has a Bible School and the Missions Pastor, Dave, had asked Kelly to speak to the students during their Monday evening class. Wednesday evening we met at the Dave’s house. He wanted us to meet with a select group of church members who had a specific interest in missions. They were able to ask more in depth questions in this setting and we all had a great time.

A Break In The Action

On Tuesday we had a break in the schedule and Kelly treated me to a trip to the beach. Those of you who know Kelly well, know that relaxing at the beach is truly out of character for him. As a matter of fact, in the 4 years we have lived in Florida we have been to the beach probably 2 times and not for longer than a half hour each time. But Kelly surprised me, and maybe himself…we spent the whole morning at the beach.

A Tarpan Is A Coastal Fish

To reach the beach we drove south of Tarpon Springs; a city of just under 25,000 that is known for having more Greek-Americans than any other city in the U.S. These Greek immigrants came to dive for the prolific sponges offshore. The Sponge Boats line the marina and traditional Greek restaurants can be found everywhere.

Our destination was Honeymoon Island State Park which is part of Caladesi Island. The weather was ideal, the four miles of gorgeous sandy beach was sparsely populated by sunbathers. There were more shells along the shore than we had ever seen in one place. It was perfect. One can stroll along nature trails, kayak through the mangroves, hop a ferry boat on over to Caladesi Island (named America’s #1 beach in 2008) or scout out the exhibits at the Nature Center.

A Taste of New York

Kelly actually went 36 hours without checking his email even once. Now that is a record! On the way back to the church we found a great restaurant called, Lucky Dill Deli. It is a New York style Deli and we had the best corned beef Rueben sandwiches ever!

We wrapped everything up on Thursday and took a leisurely drive back to Orlando using the back roads. This week we are back at it in the office, but with a spring in our step…that one Tuesday morning at the beach was a real rejuvenator.

A parade was about to start to kick off the 35^th annual 2 day event put on by our church Pine Castle United Methodist Church (PCUMC)… and it is called - ”Pioneer Days Family Festival”. The mission’s department at our church organizes this event every year as a community service and outreach.

Last weekend, Kelly and I were a small part of our church’s large volunteer group who help with making it all come together.On Saturday, he and I worked the main entrance gate handling money and placing admission wrist bands on everyone wanting to take part in the festivities. I made change and handed out free gift bags while Kelly gave out the wrist bands.

Even our ministry organization (PIONEERS), had a float and booth at the event to advertise our upcoming missions conference called “Story 08” that will be held at PCUMC. Click on the link to learn more about “Story 08” being held Dec 28-30, 2008.

What’s Pioneer Days Family Festival About?

“The festival offers an education about our American heritage through arts and traditions with exhibitions of traditional pioneer crafts and skills such as: Basketry - Blacksmithing - Cane Cooking - Civil War Encampments - Indian Village - Pottery - Quilting - Spinning - Storytelling - Weaving - Wood Carving - and more… like live music, and local vendors providing food and souvenirs.”

History:

The Pioneer Days Family Festival was created by the Pine Castle Center of the Arts in 1973 to bring the community together in a celebration of the rich heritage of our forefathers. When the Pine Castle Center of the Arts disbanded in 1993, Pine Castle United Methodist Church carried on the mission that our heritage must be remembered and shared with today’s generation. Therefore, the annual festival has continued.

Bridger Generation (born between 1984-2002)

Here’s a great excerpt from the book (pp178) that takes a look at the Bridgers, “a generation that is technically skilled, community-minded, and open to change to a greater extent than any previous generation. In 2002 the oldest of the Bridger generation was just entering college.” This may make you feel old… or older…quote:

• Bridgers have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era and probably do not know he was ever shot.
• Bridgers were less than 12 yrs old when the Soviet Union broke apart, and they do not remember the Cold War.
• Bridgers think bottle caps have always been screw-ff and plastic.
• Bridgers are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
• Bridgers have never feared a nuclear war.
• Bridgers do not understand the expression, “You sound like a broken record.”
• Bridgers have never owned a record player.
• Bridgers have never seen a black-and-white television or one with only 13 channels.
• Bridgers have never known anything but in-line roller skates.
• Bridgers have seen only Jay Leno as the host of the Tonight Show.
• Bridgers never saw Larry Bird or Magic Johnson play basketball.
• Bridgers think of the Vietnam War as history similar to the Civil War, WWI & WWII.
• Bridgers have never heard “Where’s the beef?” or “I’d walk a mile for a Camel” or “De plane, de plane.”
• Bridgers do not have a clue how to use a typewriter.
• Bridgers think MTV has always existed.
• Bridgers do not care who J.R. is or who shot him.
• Bridgers have no idea who Mork was or where he came from.
• Bridgers do not know that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
• Bridgers have always cooked popcorn in a microwave.
• Bridgers do not remember Atari, Pong, or Pac Man.
• Bridgers have always had VCRs, cable, answering machines, and CDs.

Five of my 6 grandkids are Bridgers (or, some other names used for this age group are Generation Y, Millennials, or Mosaics). I’m from the Boomer generation, my parents are the Builders generation, and my kids are the Busters generation.

Yesterday we returned from a business trip to find our phone’s ‘little red light’ flashing on and off, signaling a missed call. A couple from church, who are new friends of ours, were concerned about us since they hadn’t seen us at church on Sunday. When they didn’t get an answer they checked our blog and didn’t see an up date there either. Today we returned their call and learned of their concern.

How special it is to have friends who care and want to keep in touch. Kelly and I have lived in several different states and traveled the world. In each place we have made friends who have impacted our lives. We have tried to keep in touch but It’s not always easy in the busy world of today. That’s why we LOVE IT, when our friends call us instead.

This phone call made me stop and ponder about the sweetness of friendships and prompted me to surf the web for some “friends quotes”. I thought I would share a couple of the ones I really liked. (I hope I have noted them correctly.)

QUOTES:

• “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” Walter Winchell
• “The only way to have a friend is be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “A friend is someone who is there for you when he’d rather be somewhere else.” Anonymous.
• “Life is nothing without friendship.” Marcus T. Cicero
• “Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light.” Jennie Jerome Churchill

BUSINESS TRIP

Our business trip was to our office in Denver. We left on Sunday and returned Wednesday. Monday was a bit of a shock to my (Florida) system because the temperature dropped down to 43 degrees. Not to worry though, it’s Denver; the next day it was back in the 80’s and climbing.

When we left we were concerned that Hurricane “Ike” might interrupt our return flight, but he decided to pass our state on by. (So our prayers are with those in Texas who get to deal with him this time around; especially our friends Darrell and Ellen who are in Houston.)

In our Denver office we are in the midst of doing some restructuring, which is not always easy but sometimes very necessary. We are grateful that our Denver team is a dedicated group who want to see the church mobilized for missions and are flexing with the changes. One change is that we will not be moving the office for another year. Moving is “a lot of work” and in this sense, I think they are glad to not have to deal with that right now.

We are glad to be back home and not dealing with Ike. Tomorrow our temperature will be around 92 degrees. WOW! I love Florida.

This week we had 2 of our teams, ACMC Team & Church Partnership Team (CP Team), fly into Orlando to go through a 3 day workshop on “Church Missions Coach Training”. There were 22 of us all together. They arrived Sunday night and we started the sessions first thing Monday morning. Our 2 instructors flew in from New Mexico.

Kelly in the back, running the sound system

The Fly In The Ointment = Snow Day

On Monday, the city shut down our water to test the underground water tank on our property. How can you have 90+ staff people come to work with no bathroom facilities…you can’t. Our Executive Vice President, being from Minnesota, declared Monday a “Snow Day” and closed the office. J (Really! A snow day in Florida, that’s what he said.)

HEY, What About Us?

That was great for them, but we still had 20+ people coming for a 3 day event. Now we had no water, no bathrooms and no support staff to cook meals. OK, not a problem, we had it covered. We had bottled water, ordered “Port-a-Potties” and catered in food for one day. I was in charge of food pick-up. It was a little inconvenient but we were all missionaries and used to these kinds of things (and worse).

Our 2 Instructors, Barry on the left & Matt on the right

Lee with the ACMC Team & Tom with the CP Team getting better acquainted

A Second Fly In The Ointment = FAY

OK, the “Snow Day” on Monday was now followed on Tuesday by a “Hurricane Day.” (Is that possible?) Again, the office was closed pending this oncoming storm. WAIT! This means no support staff for a 2^nd day, and we hadn’t counted on that…. “no cooks” and all restaurants would be closed.

Taking a break between sessions

Chief Cook & Bottle Washer

Now, Kelly and I would also have to be chief cook (if there’s electricity) and bottle washers and prepare 20+ guests for a possible Hurricane. This meant calming down our guests while we batten down the hatches, and compete with 1000’s of other Floridians flocking to nearby stores to stock up on candles, more bottled water and edible food (if we’re unable to cook without electricity) for 20+ people.

Greg, Larry & Curtis discussing missions between sessions

Kelly discussing details with instructor Barry

Near Miss

Thanks to prayers, the hurricane did not materialize but remained a tropical storm. We’re a little soggy (no, a LOT soggy), but we retained our electricity and the guys pitched in and helped in the kitchen. (See photo below.) We ate well – too well! Wednesday the office re-opened, the staff came back, including the chef, and we finished our sessions. No flights were canceled so everyone made it home as scheduled. The whole event was a great success…God is good!

Connie and her newly recruited kitchen help

(Photo above) It’s 7 AM Tuesday, and Mike & Greg (to my left) are fixing scrambled eggs for breakfast. Joe, (front right) is slicing baked chicken breast to top our salads later for lunch. I’m overseeing the guys (and watching the bacon in the oven). Joe was enjoying the “kitchenaid knife” a little too much, so the rest of us were staying well away from him.

4 Central Florida Ringneck Snakes

We love these little guys, and they ARE little. Actually they are about the size of a #2 pencil, which is a ringneck’s typical size. The average adult size is 6-10 inches. They have a skinny black body with a bright orange or yellow neck ring. The belly is a captivating bright orange, yellow or red as seen above.

Here You See The Rings Around the Necks, As The 4 Snakes Disband

HABITAT:

Typically, they live in mulch and leaves under shrubs and feed on small lizards, earthworms, and slugs. They are as harmless as an earthworm with a mouth and teeth so small they couldn’t hurt anyone if they did bite them.

4 Ringneck Snakes Retreat Into Their Habitat

Kelly and I are constantly reminded of God’s handy work in creation by the beauty we see daily living here in Florida. It’s great to have this type of forum to share it with you. Come and visit us in Orlando and you can enjoy it all first hand.

Is the age “67” too old? Actually, we like to leave that one up to God. I mean, who are we to question God’s calling? All we have to do is discern:

• if they really heard from God
• are they missionary material
• if their values and vision fit those of PIONEERS
• can we help them fulfill their call

Last week, Aug 2-8, we had 25 new missionary candidates go through a week of orientation on our Orlando campus. This is our fourth group for the year. And yes, we had a young lady who was 67 yrs young. I have to say she has more energy than Kelly and I put together, and her passion for God was outstanding. In reality, the real record setting age was a young fellow who was just 18. His vision is to serve one year on the field before he returns to the US to start his college studies.

You’ve heard the age range: here are a few more statistics: 25 candidates - 11 singles (5 females & 6 males) and 7 couples. They came from the following states: CA, CO, DE, FL, IA, LA, MD, OH, TX, SC, TN, and WA. And, where do they want to serve? There were 7 who aren’t clear yet as to where God will have them serve, and the rest indicated: Vietnam, Thailand, India & and at least 5 other security sensitive countries that are best left unmentioned.

Is there a chance you are hearing similar comments from your congregation, from those who are older, 50’s and up, whose life is closely tied into church? Are they struggling with relinquishing control and influence to: “change” and the “younger generation”?

Who Stole My Church is authored by a talented writer and pastor of 47+ yrs, Gordon MacDonald. It’s a captivating narrative that places the reader right in the middle of these church people’s lives. Even though they are fictional characters, you could very well find each one of them sitting in your church, only their name would be different. I thought this comment from MacDonald was very revealing about what he was about to share: “The specific reason for this meeting came out of an organizational meltdown that our membership had experienced in a congregational business meeting the week before…”

Tipping Point

Did he say “organizational meltdown”? He was describing what one would call a “tipping point” for this fictional church. They were on the brink of change or no change. (If you are from the two older generations you have probably heard similar comments, or maybe uttered them yourself, under your breath of course.) What are some of the comments this pastor was hearing? “The music is too loud and I miss singing the old hymns.” “Can’t we sing those songs without having to stand all the time?” “Why don’t more young people join the choir?” And for some churches, “I miss the choir, now all we have is a ‘praise band’ with 5 people standing up front. We can’t sing harmony to these new songs, and I wish we would go back to using the organ.”

Reinventing Church

We’ve all witnessed these changes to some degree over the past 10-20 years and made adjustments (we thought). Some we’ve liked, others were more difficult. Changes like; not wearing a suit and tie, replacement of pews with individual chairs, abandoning the midweek prayer service, placing coffee kiosks in the church lobby, or bulletins replaced with overhead power-points. Here’s a big one, changing the name of the church. But honestly, are these the things that make a church, …a church?

4 Generations:

The book is not just for the builders and boomers. All generations can grasp a better understanding of each other as we; ‘find a way to move gracefully into the 21^st century.’ If not, as MacDonald says: “Any church that has not turned its face toward the younger generation will simply cease to exist. We’re not talking decades—we’re talking just a few years.”

Anyway, I couldn’t put the book down. And last Sunday, we gave a copy of the book to our pastor and are recommending it to other pastors. We’ve seen give and take among the generations within our church, and that is very encouraging. Not that we’ve got it all figured out, but walking in love and submission is a major part of seeing God’s hand at work in His body.

If you’re wondering, here are the categories for the 4 generations: Builders (born before 1946), Boomers (1946-1964), Busters (1965-1983), & Bridgers (1984-2002) sometimes called Mosaics. Give the book a try, and happy reading. (Oh yeah, next time you see one of those bridgers at church with a tattoo and a couple of piercings in their eyebrow…give ‘em a hug! They could be your somebody’s grandchild, yours maybe?)

A great follow up to this book is “One Church Four Generations” Understanding and reaching all ages in your church, by Gary L. McIntosh.

>>Definition? The Edge, a short-term ministry of PIONEERS. Focus: mobilizing and mentoring this generation to passionately follow Jesus and discover their role in the Great Commission.

>>Who Goes? College age >>How Long? 4 to 6 weeks

>>What Happens? They get a close-up view of what career church-planting is all about.

>>How? They work and learn alongside our career church-planters and live among people whose culture is dominated by spiritual darkness.

What’s the Program?

1) >> They go on teams of other Edgers: can be 3 or 20+ young people on an Edge team

2) >>Orientation: 4 days before departure, they have cross-cultural ministry training & team building

3) >>Debrief: Return to America via Orlando to process their summer experiences…

I debriefed 2 young ladies this week. Chelsea was on a team who served in Greece working with kids camps. She worked as a life-guard. One of her high spots? A group of Afghanistan Refugees came through the camp for 2 weeks, and Chelsea got to teach the women how to swim. No, they don’t wear bathing suits; they swam in their regular clothing, headdress and all.

I also debriefed with Catlin on how her summer went. She was on a team of 4 serving in Croatia; building relationships through English classes and children’s clubs.

Candid shot of Croatia team sitting on front row.

(Photo Below) Our Orlando Team welcomed this Edge Group of several teams back to the US by providing a party atmosphere to help celebrate a successful summer.

Welcome Home Party & Debrief

(2 Photos Below) Part of the debriefing process is giving a team report about their trip. This African team is sharing what they experienced on their trip through their native dress, song and overhead power-point photos.

Sharing African Song and Dance

African Team Report with Overhead Photos

(Photo Below) This team of 4 went to a sensitive area that will be left un-named. Their focus: Ethnographic Research: the study of a culture; their social structure & behavior. Their task was to research and producing video footage and materials to enhance missions awareness for this remote forgotten area of East Asia.

DO THEY GET ANY YOUNGER THAN THAT?

Yes! The week, before the Edgers came through (college age), Gettysburg Bible Church sent their ‘Senior High School’ Youth Group down from Pennsylvania for a week stay on our campus to learn about missions. Here are 2 photos of Kelly sharing about our work.

Kelly Shares with Senior High School Youth Group

Kelly Uses Humor With the Youth Group

Look close at the photo above and you will see Kelly is using “humor” to explain his point. His co-workers joked that the comic strip he choose, “Blondie,” really dated him with these young people. Hey, Blondie and Dagwood are timeless!