Jimmy!!!

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at iGo? Are you interested in getting to know our staff on a deeper level and experiencing missions mobilization first hand? If so, then you should be a Jimmy! Every summer we have 6-8 interns that serve alongside our staff who are collectively known as “Jimmy.”

Jimmy plays a huge role in recruiting students for the coming year, assisting with the logistics of mobilization, talking with students on the phone, organizing and running base camp, and much more! Imagine yourself at Base Camp with food AND your suitcase!

A lot of time will be spent in the office preparing for Base Camp and completing various administrative tasks. Jimmy is not, however, just an office job. It is an internship – both in the office and outside the office. One of the most important aspects of Jimmy is the spiritual growth and development you will experience through intentional discipleship and Biblical community.

Are you teachable, loyal, servant-hearted and a hard-worker? Do you like to laugh and have fun? Then come Jimmy with us this summer! Click HERE to visit our website for more info and the application. Hurry! The deadline is approaching fast!

New for 2010!!! James “Rowdy” Rodgers is joining the iGo Global staff this year. Rowdy has been working with media for years running the media presentations at Super Summers and Hot Hearts conferences. We are looking for 1-2 students this summer who have media and techy type skills. Rowdy is a great teacher and you will have a great opportunity to enhance your skills in video editing, medial production, etc. as you help mobilize students.

2 Comments

Emily Martin, February 5th 2010 | Posted in Base Camp, Emily, Uncategorized

Who Said What??

Life in the iGo office can sometimes be a little crazy…to give you a taste, here are a few quotes from our staff. See if you can guess who said what (Post your answers for us in the comments)! We’ll post the correct answers on Friday.

Note - Staff members include: Shu, Brad, Kent, Ky, AC, J, Elizabeth, Crystal, Jami, Chassidy, Allison, Emily, Sarah & Rowdy

1. “You put power in their hands and they’re going to want more.” (Brad)

2. “85% of your body heat escapes right out the top of your head. Mine is 95%.” (Shu)

3. “You still have time, you’re still a young buck.” (Crystal)

4. “When I woke up this morning I had no idea it would be this exciting!” (Kent)

5. “Maybe you’re allergic to your vitamins.” (Chassidy)

6a. “Hey dude, you’re the most creative person I know.” (AC) 6b. “You don’t know very many people do you?” (Ky)

7. “Ky, do you feel more Asian some days than others?” (Crystal)


5 Comments

Allison Aycock, January 25th 2010 | Posted in Allison, Funny

Missional??

What does it mean to be missional? Is there a difference between mission-minded, missional, and missiological. I’ve heard varied definitions of all three, but have no more clarity on what it means to be on mission. When we talk to iGosians about being on mission at home, how does that relate to doing missions overseas? Is one greater or more necessary than the other? These are all questions people are asking, and unfortunately as the word “missional” has become a buzz word, it has been attached to things that are actually not missional or missions.

Ed Stetzer has some good insight into this issue of what it means to really live on mission and do missions. Check out his blog by clicking the link below and comment here with your thoughts about being missional and doing missions.

Click here to read Ed Stetzer’s Blog

1 Comment

Aaron Clayton, January 20th 2010 | Posted in AC, Insightful

Leslie’s Story

n1440990408_30408993_7165Leslie is an iGo Alum who has led teams for us and volunteered at Base Camp. She is currently attending Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. Through her interaction with international students there, she befriended Ami, an exchange student from Japan. Through conversation and friendship, Leslie got the chance to share the Gospel with Ami, give her an English and Japanese Bible, and start a weekly Bible study with her. Below is an email Leslie sent about her Bible Study with Ami:

Thursday Ami and I had coffee-mochas, but we didn’t drink them until we left the coffee shop because we were drinking in the living water - and that water was so refreshing, satisfying, quenching, delicious, and life-giving. The first question Ami asked me was the difference between the Father and the Son. After answering her question we started reading in John. Before we could do that though, she needed to know who John was. Then, as we started reading she needed to know that the John we were reading about in the first chapter was not the same John writing. We went verse by verse from the first chapter through the middle of chapter 3. Sometimes there were questions of English, other times questions of the Book, and many times both. It was one of the best hours of my life. You should’ve seen the look on her face when we read that Jesus turned the water to wine! I thought to myself, “WE’RE ONLY ON CHAPTER 2! WAIT’LL SHE READS THE REST!!!” Oh and when we read how much He loves us in 3:16, I wish you could’ve seen the tears fill her eyes! When we read it she pointed to the word, “whoever.” She didn’t know what it meant. She knows now. Anyone. Any person. Everyone. Every person who believes…

Only the Father knows the condition of her heart and He is the only one causing the seed in her heart to grow. Whether or not she believes yet, I do not know…but I do know it won’t be long! Pray for Ami, we will read again this next week. Pray that He would draw her to His Book before then, that waiting until the start of the semester would be too long - that she would be thirsty now. Pray against the lies the enemy will try to throw her way to choke that seed. And pray for her to know Him. And thank Him for His deep love for us - that He will bring a girl all the way from Japan to podunk Stillwater, OK for this purpose!!! Oh He Is So MIGHTY To Save!

I can’t wait to read with Ami again. It is all so new to her and it is all miraculous and awesome and exciting and wonderful and mind-blowing and earth-shattering! Reading with her convicts me as I see the excitement in her eyes! How often I just read over those miracles without thinking about them! Father, forgive me! I am so thrilled to read with her again because I see it coming alive for her, which causes it to come alive for me once again as well. I will say that it is exhausting reading with Ami, but it is joyful exhaustion. It’s like football, (I’ve never really played football but I imagine it’s like football, haha.) During the game the players are having a blast pouring out all of their energy to win. But afterwards those boys need a shower, nap, and carbs. Reading with her propelled me into the Book myself. I had to be filled again. Are you allowing Him to fill you? If not I challenge you to let Him fill you. And if you are, are you turning that cup upside down, pouring yourself out? If so, I challenge you also to let Him fill you more, that your life may be a constant overflow - that as quickly as He is filling your cup it is overflowing into those around you.

And pray for all the Amis living in Japan. There are millions. Just as Ami had no knowledge before we met, they too have NO KNOWLEDGE! There are millions of people dying daily around this world - not people that rejected this hope, but people that never knew that this hope exists!

Isaiah 44:19 “No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, ‘I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!’”

I pray that just as Isaiah had a revelation of God (ch.6), and his natural response to the Father’s love was to say, “Send Me!” that this would be our response as well. Ask Him what this means for you and your family and your life. John tells us to “Go and make disciples of all nations…” Maybe giving towards those that are going and lifting up those who are going is what He has for you (I believe He has this for all of us). Maybe He wants you to GO. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to raise up many workers for His field. For the fields are ripe for harvest, it is the workers that are few.

3 Comments

Emily Martin, January 15th 2010 | Posted in Insightful

Chassidy Smith (soon to be Rogers)

Chassidy Smith, who many of you know, joined our staff May 13, 2009 and is coordinating the TX Super Summer Global Xtreme trip. This Saturday she will become Mrs. John Rogers! (Check back for highlights from the wedding.) Below is an article she has written on engagement:

chassidy-john1I have always tried to imagine what being engaged would feel like: the ring, the butterflies, the expectation, the excitement of it all. Since August 1, 2009, I have not been disappointed. Engagement has been all of those things. Sometimes it all feels so surreal I have to sit down, look at my left hand, and think “Wow. This is actually happening.” It is beautiful. It is everything that I hoped and prayed for as a young girl. And it is more, much, much more. I see traces of Ephesians 4:20-21 when I think about the beauty of engagement and marriage; God is “able to do far more abundantly than we can imagine, according to his power at work within us.” It has been far more than I could ever imagine or pray for. I am constantly grateful at the provision of Father.

Throughout the last five months, however, there has consistently been something that I have not expected. The more I prepare for marriage individually, the more John and I prepare together, and the more God gives me his eyes for the purpose of marriage, the less and less I can run away from this thing. It’s not excitement, or anxiety, or stress. It’s refining. The closer I get to January 9, the hotter the heat gets, “for he is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap.” (Mal 3:3).

In his newest book, This Momentary Marriage, John Piper says “the highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display….it is about showing in real life the glory of the Gospel.” Through scripture, Father is revealing to me the gravity and weight of marriage….and it is huge. In a short time when John and I come together in the covenant of marriage, we are given the incredible responsibility and blessing of showing the world a tangible picture of the Gospel. We are to show to one another, and those around us, grace, mercy, love, sacrifice, selflessness….we are to portray Jesus and his bride, the church.

Needless to say, the last 5 months of preparation, and the rest of my life, have been and will be a deep time of refining. God is bringing to light things about myself that don’t bring glory to Him (and probably make me really hard to be joined together with J). The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4:12), and God is using His word to challenge, convict, refine, and restore me. I continue to learn Bottom Line as I realize how much marriage is not about myself, or John, or our family. Marriage is solely about the glory of God. It is to glorify him by being an accurate depiction of the Gospel. “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Eph 5:32)

Though I will continue to learn and be challenged and floored by this truth for the rest of my life, it has already greatly impacted me. Thinking of engagement in Bottom Line terms means I’m not so controlling or nit-picky, it means I don’t hold something over my future spouse’s head, it means that we actively seek the guidance and will of the Father, because He is what it is about. Bottom Line, His glory and the truth and freedom of the Gospel. It is not about my comfort, preference, or feelings; it is about something and someone much greater than myself. Something much greater than us. Though engagement and marriage is beautiful and wonderful, I am learning the depth of its beauty. Not because of a ring, or a ceremony, or even getting to spend the rest of your life with your best friend.

“Marriage is a magnificent thing because it is modeled on something magnificent and points to something magnificent. And the love that binds this man and woman in marriage is a magnificent love because it portrays something magnificent- “as Christ loved the church” and “as the church submits to Christ.” The greatness of marriage is not in itself. The greatness of marriage is that it displays something unspeakably great, namely, Christ and the church.” John Piper, This Momentary Marriage.

2 Comments

Chassidy Smith, January 7th 2010 | Posted in Chassidy, Insightful

Happy iGosian New Year!

As you enter into Twenty Ten, let me give you a quick and simple challenge as you continue on your journey to missional living.

Reflect. Find a quiet place today and remember what He has done in your life in 2009. Get out your journal and allow His faithfulness and His work to encourage you.

Get a plan. Call them resolutions, goals, or commitments. I think it was John Maxwell who said if you fail to plan then you can plan to fail. As you enter the new year, what are your goals? What do you want your life to look like a year from now? How will you get there? Here are some essential elements for your plan:

Read the Word. Do you have a plan for reading the Bible this year? There are all kinds of resources readily available to us. Do some research and pick a plan that works for you. Here are some sites and posts related to planning your devotional life this year:

*The plan Pastor John Piper recommends - http://ow.ly/RbAk
*A post from iGo co-founder JR Vassar (now leading a church in NYC) - http://post.ly/GS3u
*LifeChurch.tv has some great resources - http://youversion.com
*The Life Journal is another good plan - http://lifejournal.cc

Pray, Give, or Go. You need a plan to do your part this year in God’s Global Mission. Some of you are going this year. Some of you have gone in the past. Not everyone can go every year, unless of course you are Rachel B, Allen D, or Leslie C. For the rest of us, we need to plan to stay engaged. Here are two links to help you stay engaged and do your part:

The Joshua Project - The Joshua Project will help you pray for unreached peoples every day. You can even follow them on Twitter.
iSend Project – Maybe you haven’t heard of the iSend Project. What a great way for an iGosian alum to join us in 2010. Join this month and receive a free book.

Eat lots of Cucumbers and Tomatoes (especially for breakfast). Not only is this healthier than your pop tarts, it will remind you of the teaching and training and just plain fun times you had at Base Camp. Seriously, consider this. Eat some cucumbers and tomatoes for breakfast one day a week. Yes, you can have something else with them. On that day, set aside some time to pray for the nations. Pray for the people you met overseas. Pray for the M’s that live and serve there. Pray for the teams going out this summer. Pray for us at iGo Global. And let us know how we can pray for you. Happy New Year!

–The Republic of iGosia

2 Comments

Lance Shumake, January 4th 2010 | Posted in Insightful, Shu

12 Days of iGosian Christmas!

At iGosia we celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. Check out this sweet video!

In case you can’t understand us due to all the laughter, here’s the list:
1. Suitcase full of T-shirts and Jeans
2. Fake Bus Passes
3. iGo Dollars
4. Flying Footballs
5. Cucumbers
6. Payment Deadlines
7. Different Accents
8. Busy Jimmys
9. iGosian apples
10. Awesome T-shirts
11. Mustard Bottles
12. Octopuses

From iGosia to you - “We hope you have top of sweet celebration with families this season of holiday!”

8 Comments

Crystal Meeker, December 16th 2009 | Posted in Allison, Chassidy, Crazy iGosian Videos, Crystal, Emily, Funny, Jami, Jonathan, Kent, Ky, Shu

iGosian Christmas

This past Friday our staff and their families gathered at the Shumake house for our annual Christmas party. It was a great time of food and celebration! Thanks Penny Rogers for taking these great pics!

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1 Comment

Emily Martin, December 14th 2009 | Posted in Uncategorized

What are you reading?

“You will be the same person next year except for the books you read and the people you meet.” I’m not sure who said that, and I’m not sure I completely agree with the statement, but I have to admit the quote does have some truth to it. I like what Shu has said, “Readers are leaders and leaders are readers.” It’s hard to argue with the truth of that statement.

I’m not a guy who really loves reading. For the most part, I have to intentionally make myself read. Over the last several years, the practice and discipline of reading has become much easier and something I enjoy more and more. I want to be a guy who is constantly learning, and one great way to learn is to read. So, I do my best to read at least one book a month.

front-coverI recently read “Wild Goose Chase,” by Mark Batterson, and it has made a big impact on my life. In fact, it was one of several books God used as my wife and I prayed about and ultimately made the decision that God was leading us to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. Many things stuck out to me as I read the book, but one specific thing continued to come to mind as I read: “What do you feel God calling you to do now that if you don’t do, you will regret later in life?”

When I look back at my life thus far, I have had my fair share of regrets, especially regarding risks I didn’t take, times when I played it too safe. Yet, I was challenged as I read this book, that as a believer, God hasn’t called me to live a safe, comfortable, risk-free life. His desire is that I be a risk taker for Him, to not always look for the comfortable and easy way, but to trust Him and step out in faith and obedience when He calls.

The decision for us to adopt was one I wrestled with for a long time. But as I continued to go to the Word, realizing that it is God’s primary way of speaking to us, I asked for wisdom. As I prayed and sought what God desired for us, I could not get away from the prompting and voice of the Spirit nudging us to step out in faith, to trust Him. So, although we are uncertain of what God has in store for our family, we move forward with confidence and assurance that He has called us to adopt, specifically from an “unreached” people. No matter what may come our way, whether it be joy, pain, or some combination of the two, we are excited about what God has in store. We are determined as a family to walk in obedience to Father, living our lives with no regrets.

As I mentioned, God’s primary way of speaking to us is His word, and that should always be the first and last place we go when we need wisdom. But, I’m so thankful for authors and books God also uses to challenge, stir, and inspire me. He used “Wild Goose Chase” in my life, and I expect He will use others as I take the time to read and learn from other authors. So….what are you currently reading? How has God used what you have read to impact your life?

Kent’s currently reading: “Killing Cockroaches: And Other Scattered Musings on Leadership” by Tony Morgan

Next on Kent’s reading list: “Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters” by Tim Keller

1 Comment

Kent Jones, December 9th 2009 | Posted in Great Books!, Insightful, Kent

iSend Project & iGosian Update

Video update from Shu and Ky about the happenings in iGosia! Check it out:

All of our 2009 Alumni should be receiving the packet Shu mentioned in the video. For those of you who didn’t receive a packet, here’s a little more about the iSend Project:

As you may know, iGo Global is a 100% support-based ministry. Outside of the cost to travel overseas (which is raised by each student), it costs iGo Global $336 per year to send one student. This cost includes recruiting, promotion, website, office expenses, and interns. All of this money comes from supporters who believe in the ministry of iGo and who want to see more students trained to live missionally.

This means that you could help us send one student overseas by agreeing to invest $28 per month in our ministry. You could even send multiple students or an entire team! Here’s the breakdown:

2009 iSend Card

Think about it. We had over 500 students serve with us last year. If more alumni and families decided to stay involved by becoming a sending partner with us, we would be free to pursue more partnerships and continue growing the scope and vision of iGo. The impact would be amazing and it starts with a simple, but very significant commitment.

Plus, if you join by December 31, 2009 you will receive a free copy of Mark Batterson’s book Wild Goose Chase.

If you’re interested in joining the iSend Project and did not receive a packet, please email us at info@igoglobal.org. Be a part of the impact.

2 Comments

Lance Shumake, December 3rd 2009 | Posted in Crazy iGosian Videos, Ky, Shu
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