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.
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
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!”
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:
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.
At iGo there are a lot of things we’re thankful for….here are just a few highlights:
Shu:
friends and family that support our ministry
Zoom Bait Company (Bass love ‘em)
camouflage
Apple
Madeley Ranch (where I hunt deers)
The Republic of Texas
Elizabeth:
An office that laughs together
Masking tape—it holds the thermostat on the wall
A son who just learned about butterfly and eskimo kisses
Friends who sit on the floor of my office to do their work
Chassidy:
sweet tea.
garden salsa sunchips.
grace.
the minute maid freezer pops AC has in the freezer here. i owe him about 3.
Aaron:
Chassidy owing me like 18 frozen pops plus interest.
frisbees because they curve…into offices.
iGosians who are cool with kissing the fish.
SO many t-shirts.
a brand new son..
Jami:
I’m thankful for…working in a community of people who are passionately pursuing sanctification and are not perfect, but are willing to share with each other their struggles, weaknesses, and shortcomings.
I’m thankful for…the random phrases that are yelled out down the hall, which are ultimately meaningless to the point that no one even recalls where they originated.
Crystal:
Kitchen Aid Mixer
Centerpoint church
Getting to see JSIs grow
High Fives
Ky:
Working with a staff who are great friends
The chance to help students get the bottom line
Dr Pepper…Dr Pepper
Emily:
The Word
A desk to work from at iGo
Being a part of something way bigger than me
Leftover snacks from base camp
What are you thankful for?
Has it happened yet? Now that you have been back in school for a couple weeks it is bound to happen. Maybe even when you least expect it. It might take place when you are in chemistry lab wondering why your teacher assigned you these yahoos as lab partners. Or it could kick in during trigonometry as you daydream about the good old days when letters never found their way into math problems. It could even sneak up on you during English as you ponder why Shakespeare didn’t know how to write in English very well. What language did he speak anyway?
And then it hits you. A longing for all things iGosia rushes over you like people trying to get into a Tokyo train at rush hour. You find yourself wishing that as you exit class into the hallway, 25 screaming iGosians would be waiting to convince you that you need a purple bus ticket. At breakfast you wish your brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts could have a side of cucumbers. And actually solving a calculus problem reminds you constantly of the Bottom Line. Face it. You miss iGosia. You miss the market, customs, food, and the teaching. We know. We’ve just been waiting for you to admit it.
So this blog is for you…the true iGosians. It is a place for you to connect with the mysterious and wonderful land of iGosia. It is a place for you to be remember the teachings, the core values, the ridiculousness, and to hear from our staff. Check it out. Check it often. Tell your iGosian friends. The place to be on the world wide web is here. Cucumbers and Tomatoes.