This Sunday, I was making my way back from our bi-annual Global Ministries meeting and so took the opportunity to do a brief rewrite of the message I preached at Ingathering: This quadrennium, I have the honor of serving on our General Board of Global Ministries: Last fall, in our opening worship, we read the…
Imagine No Malaria
We're Afraid to Ask
We don’t like to talk about money. Pastors hate to preach on it. Finance committees only do it because they have to. We keep our records quiet and avoid tough conversations about budgets. And when the time comes for mission work or important projects, we pass around the white buckets and pray someone gets inspired…
Imagine 31 Birthdays…
Today is my thirty-first birthday. My work with Imagine No Malaria has introduced me to the faces and stories of children all across the continent of Africa who will never live to see their fifth birthday, much less thirty-one. In fact, of the 655,000 lives lost each year, 85% of those who die are children…
Good News and Good Works
I’ve had some conversations recently about the work of Imagine No Malaria from folks who are concerned that we are doing good, but we aren’t sharing the gospel. My first response to that question is to seek out and share more stories about how lives are being changed and, yes, saved, because of the work…
Longing for Crocus…
17 months ago, I planted nearly a thousand bulbs at our parsonage. While that sounds like a lot, let me tell you, a bag of 100 crocus bulbs are cheap and they plant easily when the soil has already been worked up and is ready. It was a lot of hard work, but the results…
Why you shouldn't share goals in fundraising
I made a rookie mistake during my first donor visit a few weeks ago. I announced, proudly and out loud, what our conference goal was. To me, it seemed like a no-brainer. People what to know what you are trying to accomplish. They want to see the finish line and know how far we have…
Vision, Mission, Money and Imagination
I love my new ministry as the coordinator for Imagine No Malaria in our conference… but I often have a hard time explaining why. While there are similarities with local church ministry (which I also love), so many aspects of this position are drawing upon gifts in new and different ways. But because I am…
Shine Like Stars
Imagine No Malaria Guest Sermon – Advent 2 When we lit our advent candles just a few minutes ago, we were reminded that not everything in our scriptures is full of sunshine and roses. Luke’s vision of the coming Messiah includes terrible signs and distress among the peoples. As the Message translation of these…