I met Dave the Horn Guy briefly at Youth Specialties in Pittsburgh last weekend. Though you’d enjoy him.
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Below is a report I found from GIVING USA about trends in contributions from different sources. The article was also in this quarter’s ECFA Newsletter.
Americans donated $306 billion in 2007 according to the Giving USA report released in July 2008. This was a one percent increase after inflation.
Among other key findings from the Giving USA report:
- Individuals donated an estimated $229-billion, a drop of 0.1 percent from 2006. Individuals who died donated $23.2-bilion through their wills, or 4 percent more than in 2006.All told, donations by individuals, including contributions to family foundations, made up 88 percent of donations last year.
- Corporate gifts declined by 0.9 percent, to $15.7-billion. Those contributions accounted for 5.1 percent of all donations.
- Giving by foundations increased by 7.3 percent to $38.5-billion, accounting for 12.6 percent of all donations. The growth was fueled in part by a nearly 12 percent rise in the value of foundation assets last year, according to the Foundation Center. But new money is not flowing into foundations at those kinds of rates: Gifts to family and other foundations declined by 11.9 percent to $27.7-billion. That could be the effect of the stock market’s ups and downs, researchers say, since many people donate stock to their foundations and are deterred from giving by market volatility.
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I found this great research from The Barna Group about involvement in short term mission trips. Hope you find this beneficial.
Despite Benefits, Few Americans Have Experienced Short-Term Mission Trips
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Debo recently got back from Cape Town, South Africa where she and a group lead Vacation Bible School. Others did some construction and landscaping. They were also worked with The Living Hope Community Centre.
It takes some time to process the reality of living in this great and prosperous country after being on a mission trip to a country that has so much poverty. I call it re-entry into “The Empire.” Please don’t misunderstand me. We live in what I call the modern-day Roman Empire. I’m not saying that we are conquering and enlarging our territory like the Romans. I am saying that our country has as much, if not more, cultural influence than what Rome ever had.
I’ve loved hearing her stories of the kids she ministered to and developed relationships with. I’ve loved seeing all the pictures of people, animals, and phenomenal scenery. What I’ve loved more that anything is hearing her talk about her perspective. She didn’t have a bad perspective before. If there’s anyone that has a great perspective, it’s Debo. But what I’ve seen and heard is a perspective enhancement. Her perspective has been broadened.
Like anyone that goes on a life-changing mission trip, her perspective enhancement is now part of her reality. Everything she says and thinks will be influenced by her reality.
The challenge is not to eventually be clouded by the reality at home and always remember the perspective enhancement that was developed during the trip with the anticipation of going back.
These are exciting times right now.
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A friend of ours, Leigh Ann Swords, has a blog. If you click on her name you’ll be able to get to it. She has always had a political commentary. She always knows what’s going on in the world of politics. Who stands for what. Who voted which way on a certain issue. Leigh Ann put it all perspective the other day. I hope you’ll take time to read it.
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Debo (my wife) got back today from a 10 day mission trip to South Africa. The team she was with did VBS and some construction. She was on the VBS team but wanted to do construction as well. I so glad she got to go on this trip. When you go on a mission trip, you come back being blessed more than you expected but I can promise that she was a blessing to those kids she came to know.
She’s already said that we all need to go. Meaning all 4 of us. She also has said that I need to go next. It’s very possible. I don’t know the plan that God holds for my future but with all I’ve heard and seen, I’m very comfortable if He calls me to be involved in the ministry in Cape Town. Availability is all that’s needed.
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I’m 45 today. For some odd reason I remember when my dad turned 44. Don’t ask me why I can remember that. I just have a way of remembering the most random things. I wondered where I would be when I got older. Where would I live? What would I be doing? What goals would have been achieved? Even though I never had written anything down as to where I wanted to be when I was 45, I have to say, “I’ve done alright. But I’m not done yet.” I’m not loaded with money. I don’t look and feel as I did when I was 20. But all in all I can say it’s been a great 45 years and I look forward to the next 50 or 60. I want to be like John McCain’s mom and be strong and able in my 90’s.
Bottom line? I’m blessed!!! The greatest wife. The greatest boys. I love my job. I love where I am right now. God has truly given me what I do not deserve.
Debo and the boys had their pictures made a few weeks ago and she made this really cool book with all the pics in it. It was the best present ever and better that any card I’ve gotting. I wanted to share some with you to show you how blessed I am. I’m showing you to say, “look how beautiful my wife is and how good lookin’ my boys are.” Their beauty and looks on the outside is no comparison to their beauty on the inside.
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I went on a walk the other day and during that time I prayed about a few things. I didn’t ask for specific answers. I only asked for wisdom and discernment. Since that time, I’ve been attacked emotionally. During the time of prayer, alot of the questions I had were answered just by bringing them before God. Taking the time to pray was the easy part. The spiritual and emotional attacks afterward was the hard part. Spiritual attacks take place only during a spiritual battle. If it’s a battle on a field, someone has to make the first move. Someone has to fire first. The soldiers can’t just stand there and look at each other. Whether you make the first move or not, what are you prepared to do after that?
For a knight this was called “to tilt” of “to withdraw.” Again, in any battle, the enemy would rather you withdraw. If you tilt, meaning that you lean into the attacks and ready to strike back, they will either withdraw or strike again.
There will always be a battle against satan as long as we’re on this earth. That’s why some people refer to him as the “enemy.” As long as I’m growing in my relationship with God, he will try to bring separate us.
The question is. “Will I tilt?” Or “Will I withdraw?” What does withdrawing look like? It’s sitting back and doing nothing. It’s neutral. It’s not even attempting to grow in a closer relationship with God.
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Don’t worry. I didn’t get mixed up on the “rocket science” and “heart surgery.” I stole that quote from a friend of mine. He got it from a quote that a baseball player made a few years ago.
He made that comment because we were talking about my fifth Sunday duty at Church. Parking lot duty. I really love working the parking lot every fifth Sunday. First of all, it’s something Matt (our 14 year old) and I serve together on and secondly, you really learn alot about people and their behavior.
It’s funny to watch how cars will follow each other out of the lot. It’s almost like herding sheep. Our parking lots are presently under construction which means the flow of traffic changes every week. People also resist change.
But this is not what I want to address. There’s this “myth” going around about how badly the parking lot workers are treated by church members. I’ve workng parking 6 or 7 times and haven’t experienced it yet. Granted. It’s a little stessful trying to park and get to church on time when there’s 4000 people coming to church. But here’s what I’ve noticed and practiced that has resulted in a great experience.
1. Wave to them. They wave back. WOW
2. When you ask them to park somewhere specific, if you start out by saying, “could you do me a favor,” they’ll do it.
3. Smile and say, “Thank You” when they get out of their car. WOW
4. Act like you’re enjoying what you’re doing. WOW
5. All these boil done to one thing. BE NICE. WOW
None of this is “ROCKET SURGERY.”
By the way. This doesn’t apply to being a parking lot worker. It applies to everything we do. I see this everyday in one person especially. My wife, Debo. She’s nice to everyone. I do mean everyone. When we go through a line at the store, the cashier is smiling by the time we leave. She’s the nicest person I know. And guess what. I’m married to her. COOL!!!
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This past week I served as a chaperone for the Franklin Hi
gh School Band camp at Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN. Both boys (David and Matt) are now in band and I wanted to be a part of what they are experiencing outside of a church camp. I can’t tell you what my expectations were because I really didn’t know what to expect.
I’ve been on some type of youth trip for most of my life. Even in the 4th grade I was going to youth camp since my Dad was usually the camp pastor. This was the first “student” camp I’ve been to that was not church related. I’ll go ahead and say it now so I can get to my point. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!
Now keep in mind there are some differences between a church youth camp or mission trip and a band camp besides the music aspect and the bible study, worship, and service aspect. One difference is the down time. There’s not any at band camp. They’re on the field at 7 stretching and drilling. Breakfast at 8. On the field from 9-12. Lunch. Either in sectional practice or on the field from 1-5. Dinner. On the field from 6 to usually 9 pm. One hour of free time and then in their rooms by no later than 10:30. For 5 days, they do this. There’s no shade and frequent water breaks better know as “gush and go.” They are constantly moving back and forth across the field. There was no idleness.
Another difference I noticed is the high expectation placed on the students. This is a school function so that means the mind set of the students is different. You’re graded on your level of hard work, commitment, and ability to learn what you’ve been taught.
I came right out of one of the greatest summers I’ve had with ReConstruct to being a chaperone at band camp. The students at band camp were no different from most of the students that come to ReConstruct. They have the same life experieces just like any other high school student. In alot of cases I experienced better behavior from students at band camp than I did at ReConstruct. I really have wondered why. It’s become clear. No idleness and high expectations.
Most times we had some type of negative incident at ReConstruct it was during free when the participants had nothing structured to do. We also did not communicate the level of expectation required by this organization. Why? Because we haven’t defined the expectation.
Now. What do I do with what I now know? Do we evaluate the ReConstruct schedule and create more activities in order to have less idle time? Not sure. I do know that we need to evalutate our level of expectation of our groups to the group leaders. It’s a challenge for student ministers to create a high level of expectation and disciple at the same time. As Christians, however, we should first realize and then always be reminded that even though we are saved through God’s grace, we are called to a higher expectation. It’s not a requirement like a school activity but it should be a privaledge as a Christ follower.
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