Buy a shirt. Support Japan.

We at iGo have a deep love for the people of Japan - having sent teams there for many years. Our hearts are saddened by the recent disaster that struck this country we have served in many times. We wanted to somehow support those devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. So, we are currently selling our Japan t-shirts for $20. All proceeds from the sales of the Tokyo shirt will go toward helping those affected by the earthquake and tsunami last month in Japan.

Baptist Global Response is a Southern Baptist Relief and development organization whose purpose is to connect Southern Baptists with relief and development needs worldwide. Seeking to mobilize and involve the influence, prayer, human and financial resources of Southern Baptists for worldwide relief and development. BGR was created to meet human needs around the world due to problems such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes. BGR is a partner of the International Mission Board in helping to implement a more effective and efficient international relief and development effort.

The Baptist Global Response is working right now in areas devastated by the March 11th earthquake that are outside the tsunami impact zone. Until that area opens up to humanitarian organizations they are concentrating on the critical needs of earthquake survivors in other areas. This initial relief work will focus on life essential items: basic food items, water, blankets, hygiene supplies and kitchen utensils. There are weekly updates on the BGR’s website on the work that is going on in Japan and how they are moving forward to help the people of Japan. You can read more about this organization here: www.baptistglobalresponse.com

To buy a Tokyo shirt and support the outreach, click here: BUY A SHIRT. SUPPORT JAPAN.

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Owl Be There for you

In honor of Valentine’s Day and the 2011 mascot, we wanted to send a special message from our staff to you:

Pray for the People of Laos

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Capital: Vientiane

Population: 6,436,093

Peoples:

  • Lao-Tai – 59.2%
  • Mon-Khmer – 28.1%
  • Hmong-Mien – 4.0%
  • Tibetan-Himalayan – 2.7%
  • Other – 5.3%

Religion:
Persecution of Christians was extremely harsh between 1975-1978. Although restrictions eased afterward, churches and Christians are still watched and targeted. Buddhism has gained much of its old influence, but is heavily mixed with animism.

  • Buddhist – 57.29%
  • Ethnoreligious – 34.70%
  • Non-religious – 4.20%
  • Christian – 3.38%
  • Other – 0.43%

How can you pray?

1. Most people in Laos remained unreached, and the gospel has not easily crossed ethnic barriers. Buddhism and tribal religions are often blended together. There are an average of 5,000 temples and only 250 church buildings. Pray for the gospel to shine throughout Laos.

2. The suffering church has recognized that persecution is one factor in its growth saying that it keeps them praying and relying on God. Social pressure and the prevention of new church buildings are the opposition’s primary strategies of attack. Pray for perseverance and grace for those who must endure, and also for those who are singled out by persecutors. Pray for an increased openness to evangelism, church planting and building. Pray for believers and for a continued boldness in sharing the gospel. Pray for the discipleship; that believers would grow strong in their faith and not fall away.

3. Pray for leaders for the churches. Over 90% of all trained leaders left Laos in 1975, and most congregations do not have a trained pastor.

4. Pray for unreached people groups:

The Lao – This is the nation’s most prominent people and there has been major growth among the Lao (more than 40,000 Christians), and they are key in bringing the gospel to the rest of Laos. Anti-Christian bias in both government and society, and pressure to conform to the passive nature of the Laos culture are major obstacles to faith.

The Tai tribes – They are the most unevangelized and have almost no resources in their dialects (over 15 dialects).

The northern peoples – Many have responded to the gospel in China and Thailand but political conditions have never allowed missionary work; pray that this will change.

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The information provided is from the book Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation. You can go to the Operation World website to order your own copy here http://www.operationworld.org/

People Group of the Month

Each month we are going to start highlighting a different country, people groups within the country, and some things you can be praying for specifically for the people of that nation. This month we are going to share some information on the country of Morocco.

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MOROCCO

  • Capital: Rabat
  • Population: 32,777,808
  • Peoples:
  • Arabic – 55.7%
  • Berber – 41.4%
  • Other – 0.9%, French 0.3%

Religion:

Sunni Islam is the state religion. The existence of Christians and Jews is tolerated, but the government does not accept the existence of an indigenous Moroccan Church. Authorities carefully monitor all known Christian activity, even though it is legal both to talk about Christ and to invite friends home to discussion. Local believers are often harassed by police, while some have even been imprisoned.

  • Muslim – 99.88%
  • Christian – 0.09% (around 90% of the Christians are not Moroccan in
  • origin)
  • Jewish – 0.02%
  • Non-religious – 0.01%

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How can you pray?

1. Pray that this nation may become open for the good news. Pride in Morocco’s past as a centre of Islamic civilization and learning, and deeply rooted prejudice against Christianity remain barriers to the acceptance of the gospel. Only a small percentage of the population has been clearly presented with the gospel.

2. Pray for peace throughout the nation, for the countries leaders; that policies and planning might establish justice, fairness, and openness.

3. Pray for the church. There is a strong growing network of indigenous Christians throughout the country, pray that this network extends. Pray against divisions in the church, that there would be fellowship and unity among believers. For strength and perseverance for believers under pressure from family, police, or religious authorities. For the discipleship of believers which can be difficult in the context of persecution, isolation and fear. Pray that believers might increasingly engage with scripture, focus on Christ and understand their faith. Pray for the lack of scripture and teaching materials needed to develop and train leaders.

4. Pray for specific unreached minority people groups: The Maghreb Jews – today only a few thousand of these people remain in Morocco, and there is no known outreach among them. The nomadic desert tribes – have little contact with the gospel. Rural Moroccan Arabs – although they are part of a majority people group they are particularly unreached and isolated from the gospel.

5. Moroccans have started to migrate in large numbers due to unemployment, many illegally and dangerously. There are significant numbers of Moroccans in Europe: in France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Britain. Pray specifically for missionaries who are seeking to reach Moroccans in these countries.

The information provided is from the book Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation. You can go to the Operation World website to order your own copy here http://www.operationworld.org/

Thanksgiving…

During this season of thankfulness, we wanted to highlight staff members and their families and let them share a few of the things they’re most thankful for. Let us know what you’re thankful for in the comments section!

Sarah Arnett

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- God’s unfailing provision
- Thoughtful family, friends, & supporters
- The opportunity to have some pretty amazing life-adventures

Allison Aycock

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- The Lord’s provision in all things
- The people He has placed in my life, that I get to walk alongside each day
- Juice Boxes

Aaron Clayton

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- For the opportunity to get to serve the Lord and work doing things I love, through the church and through iGo
- For two really amazing kids who teach me so much
- My gracious and faithful, smoking hot wife

Danielle Cody

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- The grace I’m shown daily that gives me a clearer picture of the Gospel
- A staff to work with that is encouraging, sharpening and like-minded
- Shoes. Cute shoes can make anybody look good.

Jami Lee Gainey

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- The first ever iGo conference, and how it reminded me of how blessed I am to work with people who love and encourage others to love the church
- The undeserved opportunity to be a part of a church plant alongside my husband and other great friends
- The blessing of experiencing the TSSG trip this past summer in Japan with my husband, mother, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law

Kent Jones

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- For a little girl in Ethiopia who will soon become my daughter
- Thankful I was blessed to have 12 great years with my lab, Mo (he passed away in August).
- For Napoli’s Lunch Special. 2 slices of round Italian food for only 4 bucks.

Elizabeth Junell

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- Chiloso
- A son that’s potty trained
- Friends who faithfully petition the Lord on my family’s behalf

Emily Martin

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- Grace and hope that come through Jesus
- Getting to spend time with family
- Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin candles - basically anything pumpkin flavored

Ky Martin

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- My wife
- The people around me who have pointed us to adoption
- Getting to work with good friends and leaders

Crystal Meeker

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- Parents that live out the Gospel
- iGo Partners that give financially and walk alongside me
- Cute Aprons

Chassidy Rogers

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- The Word of God
- Coffee
- My husband

Warrior Dash Pics

An estimated 18,000 people proved their warrior status at the two day event this weekend in Forney, TX. Among these were six of our staff and several friends.

“It was the craziest freaking day of my life,” said Shu. “We all looked like new born giraffes out in that mud. You could NOT stand up. The coolest part was how every part of my body was hurting until I stopped running and then I felt fine.”

Ky said, “The coolest part was the mud slide - you get cooking on that thing. It was just like going down a water slide. Another fun part was when you swam over the logs and got out of the water and felt refreshed - ready to go again.”

“Hopefully we’ll make this an annual tradition and more friends and staff can join us next yaer,” said Allison.

Below are some of the pics Allison took during the event:

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Warrior Dash

Wikipedia cites the Random House Dictionary to define the term warrior, saying a warrior is “a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics.”

Tomorrow, May 1, many of the iGo staff will go where no iGosian has gone before; we will become WARRIORS! We will face a 3.51-mile course with 14 obstacles standing in the way of VICTORY. Some of these obstacles include running through gale force winds, running down a river, climbing up a muddy incline, climbing over a giant mountain of hay bales, climbing up and over cargo nets, crawling through the mud under barbed wire, and jumping over fire. That’s right - I said FIRE.

Why, you might ask? Well that response would be different for everyone competing. My reasons:

Letter 1 – Have you ever met the people I work with? I decided to participate mostly for the opportunity to see some of them participate (sadly I am signed up in a different wave and will not get to do the challenge with them). There are some positives to not being in the same heat as everyone else - I can get some really good/embarrassing pictures of the rest of them competing.

Number e – I like a good challenge and it is going to be crazy, ridiculous, fun, and if the Lord wills it we might just make it through the craziness.

So I decided to ask everyone participating to give me their reasons on why they want to become a warrior.

Ky – “I have a (what’s the word I’m looking for) a great need for affirmation, what could be more affirming than achieving the status of warrior, and having a fuzzy helmet with horns to prove it.”

Crystal – “I want to be a Warrior because I shouldn’t be able to do this. 2 years ago I would have never even attempted anything that involved running or obstacles. But with God’s grace I plan to enjoy every minute of the challenge.”

Lance – “I am a warrior and I have been looking for an opportunity to make that information public. I’m also looking forward to using all of my knowledge from The Unit and putting that into action.”

Brad – “I’m a warrior because I’m not going to be a part of your system.  I will throw the Warrior Dash on the ground.”

Kent – “I already am a warrior, I just have to prove it to a few of you.”

Elizabeth – “Why not?”

Look for a future post with pictures of us all becoming WARRIORS!

Staff Meeting Video

We decided to record one of our staff meetings for the three people that read our blog and who might wonder what a day in the iGo office is like. None of this is planned, staged, scripted or any other synonym you can think of. We tried to filter through the boring stuff. Hope you enjoy the ridiculousness that is our staff:

The day Allison edited this video was the SAME day we found our new office! Praise the Lord! Be praying for us as we transition to the new location in Wylie.

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)


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!”