Here’s a few clips from the Innovate09 Opener
(For some reason this didn’t upload in HD but you get the picture)
Innovate09 Opening Video Clips
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Category Archives: GCC
I hope they feel this way about GSM
I was reading this over on Kem’s blog regarding our church tackling tough issues and it made me hope that even though some of them may not know how to express this elequently, I pray that they will feel this way about our Elephant in the Room Series we’re in right now.
Our Elephant in the Room Week-to-Week Breakdown:
Middle School:
- Life Hurts and Pain has your address.
- There’s a devil and he hates you.
- You need to honor & obey your parents.
- Word’s hurt you! Even if you won’t act like they do.
High School:
- Temptations knocking on your door.
- God stays with you but not like you think.
- What you’re getting drunk on matters.
- Gossip is really a sign of your own insecurity.
Here’s Kem’s words that I hope are echo’d in the hearts of our students:
“…I’m glad my church is not afraid to tackle “un-touchable” topics head-on. If they didn’t, I’d have the luxury of living in destructive denial with my head in the sand. Instead, they bring up what’s buried and agitate me. And, as a result, I’m forced to wrestle with some tough topics to find out what I’m truly made of.
It’s not about money. It’s about my heart. And, sometimes, God uses my money to show me areas of my heart that could be healed. Am I self-aware or am I defensive? Am I curious or am I mad?”
GSM post-baptism interview with Eden Wittendorf
(Eden in Mexico on our High School mission trip this past summer)
I love to hear the ‘process‘ that goes into how students make their big decisions for Christ so I pulled Eden Wittendorf aside last night after GSM for an impromptu interview about the process that led to her being baptized.
This is raw footage a few minutes after GSM was over so the audio isn’t ‘produced’, the lighting isn’t ‘produced’, I didn’t give her a couple days, hours, or even minutes to think about what her response would be…this is just real raw uncut footage that will let you inside the heart and mind of one of our students who got baptized this weekend at GCC. I hope you enjoy!
I’m so proud of all the students who got baptized this weekend!!!
GSM Worship Rocks! "Kingdom"
Here’s a video from our first GSM worship song of the year! This is our ‘battle cry’ as a ministry!
I love watching our group worship God together!
GSM launch thoughts
Quick hit thoughts:
THE GOOD:
- 1. I can’t believe i get to do this
- 2. our students love each other
- 3. they love worshipping their king
- 4. everything we did felt right on the money!
- 5. it’s obvious our students took big steps over the summer, their energy was electric.
- 6. we have the most encouraging students ever.
THE BAD:
- 1. went by too fast.
- 2. we started a hair late for high school
GSM is kicking back up this weekend!!!
Just wanted you to know GSM Weekend Program starts this Sunday August 30th at the GCC-Granger Campus!
Middle School 3:30-5:30 p.m.
High School 6:30-8:30 p.m.
If you forgot how we role! Check out these clips from last year:
Message:
GSM Cafeteria Christianity Message – DC from DC Curry on Vimeo.
Worship:
GSM Band “Your Name High” from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo.
Message illustration:
Friendabandonitis from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo.
Drama video clip:
“The Dip” Drama from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo.
Song Specials:
Gravity
GSM “Gravity” from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo.
I’m so happy
GSM Band “I’m So Happy” from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo.
The dirty underbelly of America – my rant!
(John in Mexico with Nacho! John loves like God intended.)
“You can tell the quality of a person by how they treat the people they don’t need.”- Malcolm Gladwell
I believe the DNA of this quote is the dirty underbelly of every oganization and what I would consider one of the main problems with America today!
We’re all striving to be the best (which is a good thing), we’re all looking to get the ‘top spot’ (which is a good thing), we all want to meet people who can help us get there (which is a good thing)…but the problem with that is that on the other side of that motivation (here in the States) is the perception that you must stomp on anyone to get there, that you have to have a cut throat mentality of a dog-eat-dog world to “make it”, and that you must have the willingness to neglect anyone who won’t help or contribute to getting you there because “they will only slow you down or get in your way”. Because of that double-edged sword, if we’re completely honest we, as a country, have lost sight of the God-ordained truth that…EVERY PERSON MATTERS!
Sure there are groups of people who get it (like John pictured above), there are people who have devoted their lives to changing it like this guy, this guy, and this guy to list a few. But if we zoom our lense out, people like them are the minority. (If you disagree, please comment and explain, I think it will be fun to discuss.)
When I was in Japan my eyes were opened to what truly IS possible. The way the Japanese people treated each other astounded me. It was one of my main highlights of the trip. Being in Japan representing Notre Dame Football, we were supposed to be the celebrites so I anticipated being treated like royalty (and my expectations were met and exceeded) but the thing that just blew me away day after day was how they treated each other.
There was a sense that each and every person had worth. They bowed with respect for one another, they looked each other in the eyes, they were polite, they smiled often, they didn’t appear consumed (meaning they didn’t seem so preoccupied with something that they couldn’t acknowledge the things around them), they were sincere, they tried hard to prepare for those who they expected to show up, and they taught me so much about how I want to do life and ministry.
I want my family and my ministry to be a place where everyone feels loved, REGARDLESS of their capacity to help me.
Far too often, people only show love, support, and respect for those they can get something out of….
To rant for a second, this is what bothers me about social networking at times…it seems that so many people are out to make a name for themselves. To BRAND something, to try to develop an original thought they can base their kingdom on, to be known by who they know (or act as if they know), to gain for themselves on the achievements of others.
To be completely blunt, it’s almost as if people have decided to search for significance in this gooey/fuzzy world known as social networking and the more “followers” they have, the more “friends” they have, the more significant they feel. (sounds stupid when you say it out loud doesn’t it.)
I often thought about dropping off of the face of social networking because of those very reasons but for some reason I just haven’t done it. Not actually sure that I ever will, but I try to let my thoughts and convictions drive my content, not “who will read it” OR “who can i get to read it”. I don’t think I always succeed in doing that but it’s what I try to do.
I’m not even stating this as the “right way” to do social networking, I’m just stating that that approach doesn’t sit well with me. I believe it’s your username, use it how you want. I don’t believe there are any rules either. In my opinion, do what you want or what works for you…I just hurt for the people who legitmately find their source of satisfaction and fulfillment in it. (that’s my only reason for posting this. Maybe there is one person out there that this will help/touch.)
So to come full circle…what if we treated everyone like they have worth regardless of what they can do for us, what if we didn’t try to find fulfillment and significance in the machine of social networking or the blogosphere, what if we thought about how we treat the people who we don’t need…do they feel as valued and important as the people you’re trying to “network/connect” with?
Could American begin to function as God intended and may this be a small step in the right direction of helping the seemingly unlovable feel loved? I don’t know, but I’m willing to give it a shot.
6 things I hold our GSM Leaders to
(Photo I took of our students (& leader) in Mexico this summer while they were playing in the rain.)
Here are 6 of the basic things I hold our volunteer leaders to:
- Love God – …enough said.
- Find a way to add value – Everyone’s can be a contributor.
- Be consistent – Students have enough people moving in and out of their life. We can be the rock they can count on to “be there”.
- Have a role – That you would leverage your gifts for the mission of the ministry
- Be a minister – 1 peter 5:2-3
- Protect the unity of the church. (Don’t break up the church or the ministry over non-essentials)
It took us some time but we got it!
(the full 4 power tower: Top-Down: Abi Sroda, Jeff Myers, Jonathon Hampton, Me)
(3 going on 4)
After many attempts, and switching the people involved, and switching the method to get everyone up in the air, we finally got it! We went through maybe 6 or 7 different combinations of people attempting to get just the right mix (weight, balance, strength, etc.) to pull this off.
We failed many times but we all kept saying, “no we’re gonna get this”…and we did! The coolest thing was that even the people who weren’t, in the end, picked to be in the tower kept saying, “you guys almost got it, you can get it, you’re so close”!
It’s great to be encouraged by people on the team AND others who just want to see your team succeed!
I love this about our church. We have scores of students, pastors, families, staff who want to see our ministry succeed and that’s exactly why we do!
There’s a leadership lesson in there, but I’m to brain dead to work it out right now…if you want to offer the one you see free to share it!
Mexic09 Guest Blogger: Kara Weaver
(Kara at Kidzania with a few of the kids)
As I mentioned earlier I love to get different views of the stuff we do at GSM. Here’s vantage point #2 about this trip. This post is from Kara Weaver, our GSM intern.
She wrote:
“Today we took children from some of the homes to what was essentially a mini village. As they entered the little town there were given a set amount of money from the bank. There were various different ways that they could use their money to buy items, food or play games. There were also different opportunities for them to find mock-work around the village in order to earn more money.
Today, I was partnered with a young girl name Lupita. Originally, the two of us were in company with a young woman from Back2Back who is fluent in both English and Spanish and ended up being my translator in many occasions. However, there came a point during the day when Lupita and I were left together, her having no English and me no Spanish.
We were waiting in line for Lupita to enter a little boutique and it came time for her to pay. The woman at the station asked Lupita for the money and she looked to me for help. She obviously had no idea what she needed to pay and was asking me for the answer. I tried to tell her that I didn’t know and as I was attempting to talk to her when a mother of another child standing in line pushed me aside. She took the fake money from Lupita and sorted out what she we need and handed it to her.
I was surprised at how incompetent I felt. I felt utterly dumb and helpless. Here was this young girl that I cared so much about. I wanted nothing more to love her, but I couldn’t provide her with what she needed. I felt stupid. However, I’m obviously not stupid, but was just never equipped with the skills I needed to provide for her in that moment.
In this moment my eyes were opened to a little bit of what the mothers of some of these children must be feeling. They are not dumb. They are not lacking in love for their children. However, as they were growing up they were never equipped with the skills needed to provide for their children. They often have to rely on others to help provide their children with what they need. Today I felt just a little bit of the pain and discouragement that they must feel.”
Kara shared this last night in our debrief and it really made an impact on the group. Great words from our intern.
I’m proud of Kara and all she’s done with GSM over this internship and I’m thankful to have had some time to get to know her and have her on the team. She’s an amazing young lady and will continue to shake the gates of hell with her witness.
Mexic09 Guest Blogger: Megan Wotring
(Megan and Joel at Kidzania)
I love hearing different people’s views on the stuff we do around GSM, so tonight I pulled aside Megan Wotring to shed some light on this trip from her vantage point.
Megan’s a rockstar, she just graduated high school and is headed to Bethel in the fall. She was a student in GSM, and next year she’ll be one of our fearsome leaders!
She wrote:
“Throughout our time in Mexico this week, God has been ever present. God has changed my heart here, and what really hit home for me this week was the fact that peace is a state of mind. Every day we have the choice to choose our own attitudes. We have the choice to live each day with a purpose and thank God for what we’re given. The reality is this: your life has the potential to be everything you want it to be and more. Not because of your circumstances, but only because you choose to make it great.
Today we had the privilege to take a group of kids on a field trip to Kidzania, which is basically an indoor amusement park. I had a chance to live out what I learned this week. Joel and one of his buddies were about to go down a big slide and enter an underground play world. In the meantime, Heather and I had about twenty minutes to spare while we waited for our friends to come back. At this point, we were worn out from a week a hard work, hard play, and we were STARVING!! We wanted SO badly to sneak out for a short time and go grab some food while our kids were underground, but we knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. We knew our responsibility to our friends was to wait for them, so that’s exactly what we did.
In the end, I’m glad I did the right thing. When I saw Joel’s smiling face as he came back upstairs, my heart melted. His smile puts a smile on my face and makes me grateful for the relationship we made and gives me the strength and courage to keep moving and do the next right thing.”
From her above post, you can see why I asked her to write. She’s got wisdom beyond her years and I’m so glad she’ll be a leader in GSM next year!
Do you have a problem?
“If we look better to those we share a pew with than those we share our street with, there’s a problem.” – Beth Guckenberger
Brooke and I live by a similar quote we heard years ago in a church service at GCC that challenged us much like the above quote: