A Word from the President

It’s Homecoming Week in iGosia, but without the ridiculous mums, awkward school dance, and almost entertaining local parade. What’s left? Some of the sweetest homecoming moments you will ever see…at DFW International Airport. Already this week, over 200 students have returned from their journey overseas. In the next few days, our JSI’s (overseas interns) will be arriving as well. Yesterday, when our Texas Super Summer teams arrived, one of our interns (aka Jimmy) updated her twitter account with the following words, “Airport family reunions are so sweet.” She ought to know. She has walked through the doors marked International Arrivals and greeted her parents after spending six of her summers making Him famous.

Her tweet reminded me of those days when I was the one that greeted all our teams at the airport. Other schedule demands and responsibilities keep me away from that scene most of the time. We usually send Jimmy, and I confess I am a little jealous. I know that anytime someone has been away from home, especially far away, there is something great about the airport greeting. But the scene at Terminal D that develops when iGo Global students arrive home after giving part or all of their summer to make Him famous is truly special on another level. Watching the parents as they walk through so many emotions is worth the trip. They know their child just did something unbelievably significant. They sense that things will never be the same now. Most of them are fully aware that their children just did something they would never have done. And the tears and the hugs and the stories and the shouts and the full on celebrations are all so intense.

Thanks to all of you out there who keep up with iGo Global for one reason or another. You support us, you pray for us, you volunteer, and some of you have been with us before. I hope you will continue this journey with us as we continue to teach, train, and send students to make Him famous. In fact, there are some very specific ways that we invite you to do that:

10th Anniversary Celebration Banquet

Come to South Fork Ranch on Saturday, October 23 to celebrate our 10th year of sending students. This year’s banquet will be a celebration of God’s faithfulness to iGo Global in these 10 years. You wont want to miss it. Save the date on your calendar now.

iSend Project

There is no better time than right now to join our team of supporters helping us send more students to make Him famous next summer. Becoming an iSend partner for as little as $28 per month helps us send one student overseas next summer. Students are already applying to go. Will you help us send them? Click here for more info.

iGo Conference

The first ever iGo Global Conference is scheduled for November 12-13 in Cedar Hill, Texas. You don’t want to miss this time of digging deep into God’s Word as we discover more of what it means to live on mission. iGo Conference information can be found right here.

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Lance Shumake, July 29th 2010 | Posted in Shu

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:

group3

shu-face

brad-face

ky

allisoncrystal

allison-muddy

shu-diving

kent-fire

brad-muddy2

shubradky-muddy1

finished

6 Comments

Emily Martin, May 4th 2010 | Posted in Allison, Brad, Crystal, Funny, Kent, Ky, Shu, Uncategorized

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.

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Ky Martin, February 19th 2010 | Posted in AC, Allison, Brad, Chassidy, Crazy iGosian Videos, Crystal, Emily, Funny, Jami, Kent, Ky, Shu, Uncategorized

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!”

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

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

Thanksgiving

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?

3 Comments

Emily Martin, November 25th 2009 | Posted in AC, Chassidy, Crystal, Emily, Jami, Ky, Shu

Welcome to Cucumbers & Tomatoes!

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.

6 Comments

Lance Shumake, September 10th 2009 | Posted in Insightful, Shu