For even more fun at Catalyst West Coast, Share5 is proud to announce that thanks to the willingness and collaborative efforts of SEVERAL people, (Zak White, Scott Fillmer, Outreach Films, jLog by Unity Media, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee, and Catalyst) we will be hosting a Twitter Meetup, Blogger Meetup, and Pre-screening reception for Outreach Films new movie "How To Save a Life" on Thursday night, May 23rd at Catalyst West Coast in Irvine, CA! Details are below:
Food /Coffee by:
Location: Mariners Community Center Time: Immediately following final session Hashtag: #catwest RSVP link:RSVP For Catalyst West Tweetup
GREAT DOOR PRIZES including…
a FREE CATALYST ATLANTA TICKET TOMS Shoes Books from Jud Wilhite, Anne Jackson T-Shirts, Coffee, and more!
Immediately following our prize drawings, Outreach Films will be screening their new film, "How To Save a Life", which releases this fall! Please stay and provide your important feedback on this new film, then support them with your blog, twitter, or other online feeds!
That's right! On Monday, it is 132 days on the road since leaving Boise in October 2008. We did an update just before breaking the century mark at 94 days (read the 94 days update), but thought we should take off from there and pick up the last month or so, so here goes…
Since January 30th, we've…
crossed the 11,000 mile mark for total mileage
stopped counting the RV toilet paper rolls
made it back to Boise for a quick visit
shared at Life Church Boise
completed 2 or 3 more chapters on the book
replaced the starter on the Big Bouncin' Roo
helped register over 25 people for Catalyst West
Raised 6 carts full of groceries for the Orange County Rescue Mission during Chad's birthday food drive (see photo)
watched a semi burn to the ground so to speak on I-15
began a relationship with UthBuild, building homes with teens in Mexico to help the homeless
got in a debate with zealous street corner preachers at ASU (Tempe, AZ)
fed the hungry
Still never gone hungry
provided rain ponchos for homeless people
taught for adults, teens, young adults & college students at various venues
are acting as camp speakers in Mexico
seen both Emily and Dillon take their training wheels off their bikes (hey… thats what happens when you live in parking lots. They get to ride alot!)
All of these great things happen thanks to your prayers and your faithful monthly support. If you are not already a monthly supporter, would you partner with us on a monthly basis?
Today is the last day of "school" for the kids here in Tempe, AZ at Bethany Community Church as we prepare for departure for Rocky Point, Mexico on Sunday morning. Emily and Dillon have been graciously enrolled for free all week at Bethany Learning Center during their "Wild West Week". They have had a bicycle rodeo, ridden ponies, and had a great time. Thank you to all the teachers and staff at BLC for making this week so special for them.
Sunday we depart with Bethany High School Ministries for build week 1 of 2 in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) MX. We will be assisting with the build/completion of 3 homes over 2 weeks for a couple of homeless families. The home design (originally created by Amor Ministries) is a very simple 20' x10' wood framed structure covered in stucco. Our version has 3 windows and a locking door, offering these families a security they have never known before in their cardboard and pallet constructed home. The homes are constructed solely by hand, using no power tools or air tools. Just hammers, hand saws, hand trowels, and sweat of a team of roughly 15 teens and adults. (see photo courtesy of Amor of a prior group's build) The idea is that if the tools are left behind, you have given the family (who will work with us) the ability to replicate the home for others. Its the classic adage of teaching a man to fish…
We'll take lots of photos and videos this week, so watch for the uploads after we return. In the meantime, please be praying for these families and for our team that this experience will deepen not only our compassion for others that have needs we can scarcely imagine, but that it will strengthen our passion to make a difference with our lives. (see the "Passion" challenge!)
Many know that Amy was/is a professional stylist, so when we saw this article pass by on the web, it caught our attention. Amy has given a cut or two to some homeless, and we've helped some friends and family along the way with cut/color/etc., but this guy is a true example of the compassion that we speak about with Share5.
His name is Ron Kotkins, and he has been giving free haircuts to the homeless of downtown Portland for over 20 years! He was recently featured on Portland's channel 2 as an "Everyday Hero". Check out the video by clicking on the image or on this link.
Congratulations Ron, and thank you for being an example with what you have in your hands, using it for those who you see in front of you!
It's here! We finally have the last piece of the puzzle in place to allow you to shop for your TOMS shoes directly off the TOMSshoes website while still making sure that you are not only providing a pair of shoes for a child in need, but also that TOMS will contribute an additional $8 on your behalf to the Share5 Microfinance Fund!
TOMS Shoes are a comfortable, simple, and stylish way to show that you think about the decisions you make and how they affect others. Started in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, TOMS committed that for every pair of the Argentinian styled shoe that they sold, they would give away a pair to a child in need in a lesser developed country…ONE FOR ONE. Its that simple.
TOMS SHOES… check them out today. Your feet, and the feet of a child, will thank you.
If you want to create a link to this story or link to TOMS from your blog and help us with generating not only great shoes for needy children, but also funds for microfinance, please use the URL below to ID your link with Share5's affiliate ID (AID): http://www.tomsshoes.com/?aid=1264&LinkID=1264 and either grab one of the images below or just do a google image search for TOMS Shoes!
one miracle working mechanic that has blessed us beyond belief
2 oil changes, and one on the way
new airbag suspension in the rear of the RV
served food in a rescue mission
prepped and served food in an orphanage in Mexico
sheetrocked a church stage and bathroom
dug a footing through almost solid rock
textured a wall with Grandpa Dick in Mexico
encouraged a recovering drug addict in Costco's parking lot over lunch
encouraged a former missionary that God still wants
to use her
encouraged a single mother at a laundromat to pursue her faith
cut the hair of a homeless mother and her child
put shoes on the feet of poor children (Thanks TOMS)
attended a homelessness awareness rally
saw our bank account dip below $10 more than a few times
never went hungry
saw God prove his faithfullness throughout
boarded Air Force One
acted as bartenders for a alcohol-free singles party on New Years
have spoken to over 2500 people about Share5
have booked upcoming speaking engagements at 3 churches
have teamed up with a church to build a home in Mexico in March
will be completing a book on Share5 by March (rough draft!)
have 4 chapters completed and beginning editorial review!
Thank you for your support. As we head into next week and our 100th day on the road (February 6th, one day before Chad's birthday!) we thank those of you who have contributed through your prayers, finances, and much more.
We will be speaking in South Gate, CA on Feb 15th, then down to Irvine for an event on the
16th, after which we will head for Boise, ID for a wedding Feb 21st. We will be visiting our home church, so if you are in the area, we'd love to see you. We will be sharing at all three services the weekend of February 21st-22nd, so come see us at Life Church Boise!
If you would like for us to visit and share with your church, and you are either in Boise or between LA and Boise, or Boise and Phoenix, we are available on Wed. Feb 18th (traveling north from LA) and Wed Feb 25th (traveling S to Phoenix) We will be teaching in Phoenix Sunday, March 1st. Please contact us for more information. We'd love to join you.
I have an opportunity for you. It may shake you up a bit, and it may be completely inside your comfort zone. Regardless, it deserves the next five minutes of your day, and it deserves your response. Don't miss this. They are looking for 50 people to help them put $10 into a very worthwhile cause: giving children a vision and a chance.
The following request is from Lloyd Owens, a pastor from Atlanta, on his therstblog.com.
The fifth grade at John Hope Elementary is scheduled to go on a field trip next month, but
were not going to be able to because there are NO funds to rent the
buses for the kids. Yeah, times are that hard in GA education! SO, we
have stepped in and are wanting you to partner with us for both this
trip and an end of the year trip, but we want to get this one out of
the way first!
So, come give a helping hand
to a group of Fifth graders who need it. Exposure to life outside of
the finite circle, the four block radius of their neighborhood, is
important to a child. It is just as important as reading and writing,
and without it how will they ever know the full potential that they
have?
Help us to send these fifth graders on this one of two filed trips
planned for them this year. We have a small goal for this upcoming
field trip of 500.00 and need the monies by the end of the week. This
will cover the rental fee for the buses as well as a lunch option for
the kids, that is actually a surprise to both the kids and the
administration!! I just believe in BIG, not in just enough, my God is
an abundant God and I want these kids to know that we care!!!
__________________
YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES IN JERUSALEM, JUDEA, SAMARIA, AND TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH A quick reflection from Brenda Salter McNiel at Catalyst 2008
Jerusalem – Home; we get the culture, we eat the same, we talk the same.
Judea - Familiar with but a little different subculture. Close to home but not exactly home turf. Only a little foreign.
Samaria - A place we are reluctant to go. A place with a different culture and worldview. Power differentials and context make us uncomfortable. If we could, we'd take the freeway and avoid it. Those we aren't comfortable enough with to identify with. The place where the Gospel in us gets tested.
and beyond….
____________ To be witnesses will require us to face the complexity of differences around us; To realize that not everyone is within our comfort zone… This part of Atlanta may be your Jerusalem, it may be your Judea, or it may be your Samaria. That doesn't matter. We are all called to it regardless. I am honest enough to admit that I didn't even know what the Old Fourth Ward was before reading Pastor Lloyd's request, and I'd never heard of him. I learned about him on Twitter from one of my acquaintances. THAT DOESN'T MATTER!
God wants to use me, and he wants to use you, to reach those we've never met and may never meet. Will you join me? They are halfway there, and I'm going to let God move through me today. We're in for $10. Will you let him use you today? The clock is ticking.
Sometimes it's amazing how one story seamlessly melds into the next. It seems that The Flying Chicken Adventure was not only a fun way to entertain the kids, but it was an ice breaker for some people in the laundromat as well. Immediately following our video filming, Amy had this interaction that she later blogged on facebook. We are reprinting it here for everyone to enjoy! Be blessed!
Originally written by Amy Houck on Facebook I was talking with woman today when we were at a laundry mat for a
little while, who then offered her warm dryer to me instead of the cold
one next to it. The funny thing is she used to live in a RV and now
lives in a park model (stays put, no wheels). We got to talking about
our lives and I got to share what we are doing traveling around in our
RV. She was inspired and really wanted to know more about Share5.
As
she was leaving I gave her our card and asked her where she lived, and
then I asked how far that was from a location of a church we spoke at
about a month ago in Moreno Valley. I found out she lives only
20minutes away. I got through telling her about the church and I helped
her take her laundry to the car with the help of the kids . She
proceeded to hug me and said thank you, this sounds like the change I
am needing right now in my life.
I didn't know that at the
start of our simple conversation in a laundry mat, that it would turn
into a new hope and direction for one and a much needed hug by
another(me)! There are moments like today that make me smile.
Interacting and helping someone else leads to so much more than hearing
a simply thank you, it leads to building compassion, that "5 minute
challenge" that really could be called "timeless". It almost seems like
time stops or is irrelevant when you take the time to recognize the
needs someone else and be wiling to give your time to them.
Thank
you to my new laundry mat friend for giving me a chance to share
something that inspired you and gave me a joyful heart at the same time!
What do you get when you mix 6 loads of laundry, a flying stuffed chicken, two energetic kids, a masked monkey with stretchy arms, and a rainy day? A GREAT TIME! (or a really bad joke…) Well, that was today. We just got done loading the washers at the Coin-op in Temecula and I returned to the RV to drop off the soap when I saw my camera and an idea struck… I would sneak back into the Laundromat and fly these two little projectile stuffed animals at the kids while filming it all for posterity! (Cue mission impossible music)
The video shows that my imagination may have created the scene more dramatic than reality, but none-the-less, it was funny. So that covers the laundry and the chicken, but what does this have to do with Costco you ask???
Well, that’s where we came to adopt our new flying mascots; the masked monkey and the rubber necked chicken. But first, the video!
We had just finished a stop at Costco for water and a pizza, and we
were hanging out in the far corner of the parking lot where we were
parked playing with the kids. A car pulled up in front of us, and the
woman in the car asked us how long we were away from home. I explained
that we were actually full timers on the road, and that it all started
back with a trip to Africa when she began to tear up. Her name was
Nel, and she explained that she had been driving down the freeway
praying and pulled over to be able to listen. She was looking for
direction on a mission trip to… you guessed it… Africa.
We continued to talk and eventually prayed with Nel for clarity on her
decision. She was so grateful for our divine appointment that she
wanted to share something with our kids. She reached over to her
passenger seat, opened a shopping bag, and pulled out two stuffed
slingshot toys that “fly” when you shoot them. We were proud to have
two new members to add to our traveling family. The Masked Monkey and
the Rubber Necked Chicken.
God is good. He knows our needs and meets them before we even ask.
When we stop to pray, we are simply acknowledging that we will look to
him to provide the answers, and we open ourselves to receive his
provision. We may even get a cool flying barn animal in the process!
Remember our Christmas card shot in front of the Reagan Presidential Library? (Well, if you didn’t get it, you need to sign up for our newsletter!) That card was shot shortly after the video below. The purpose of the event was a breakfast to hear from Catalyst speaker and Simi Valley pastor Francis Chan, but as a side show, we also set a new record for passengers in the Catalyst Vanagon! Check out passengers 25 through 28! NEW VANAGON PASSENGER RECORD!!! from Catalyst on Vimeo.
If you have not yet registered for Catalyst West Coast, the premier Christian Leadership conference in the west, contact Chad or Amy. We have a special Share5 Discount that we will share with our friends so you can join us in Irvine on April 22nd-24th! Be there with Share5, and get the opportunity to network with other like-minded, outreach oriented servants and leaders!
Share Well Podcast at iTunes
