Technorati Tags: Haiti-Trip, Life-Church, movie-night, donation-supplies
Haiti Trip Update Letter
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
It is hard to believe but summer has come to an end for the Best Family. School does not officially start until September 7th but we have already been busy with marching band and cheerleading for the girls. The highlight for our family this summer was time spent at Houghton Lake and a day in the Upper Peninsula. This year Emily will be in 10th grade, Samantha will be in 7th grade, and Josiah will be in 5th grade.
A lot has been happening as I and the rest of the team from Life Church have been making preparations for our departure in October. I am very happy to share that our local power company, Detroit Edison, made a donation of 36 solar panels that we plan to install at Ebenezer Glenn so that they will have a reliable source of electricity for the school and orphanage. Please pray with us that the solar panels will arrive in Haiti prior to when we arrive.
There are 8 people who will be part of this trip to Dessalines, Haiti in October. We each have an area of focus as we are there for the week. My focus will be on providing pastoral care for the team and providing muscle power for the solar panel installation. We have one lady that will be teaching a Christian abstinence class to Haitian teens, another lady will be working with some children at the orphanage that have emotional impairment, two other men will be the “brains” for the solar panel installation, and two teens on the trip will be doing sports and puppet ministry.
We have a couple special dates coming up for our team that I wanted to make you aware of so that you can join with us in prayer. September 19th, will be a special Haiti emphasis Sunday at Life Church. Our church family will be having special time of prayer for our trip and a special offering will be taken. The second date is October 2. We will be having a special family movie night at Life Church to help raise funds for the trip plus we are also collecting supplies to take with us in our luggage.
Here are some areas where we would appreciate your prayers for our team:
- Protection for the team and their family members. Everyone in our team meetings has expressed the fact that they feel increased tension from spiritual warfare.
- Safe arrival of solar panels in Dessalines before we arrive in October.
- Ability for team members to learn some rudimentary Creole for our time in Haiti.
- That there would be enough donated materials and supplies so that we will be able to fill 16 50LB suitcases.
- Physical protection for our time in Haiti.
- Financial provision for team members and the materials and supplies that need to be shipped.
- God would open the doors for a ongoing long term partnership with the orphanage, school and local church in Dessalines
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and support me and my team in prayer. I also want to thank again those who have made financial contributions as well. God is going to do amazing things on this trip and each have you are playing a vital and crucial role.
Seeking to serve Him,
If you would like to financially support our trip, please send your (tax-deductible) gift to: Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage. Their (U.S.A.) office address is: 3572 Quebec Trail, Wayland, MI 49348. Please write Jim Best on an attached note. Thank you so much! (www.EbenezerGlennOrphanage.org)
Technorati Tags: Haiti, Life-Church, Jim
First Fall Events for the girls
jim | 
August 29, 2010 | 
0 Comments
This weekend Emily and Sam each had their first events of the season. Emily had her first marching band performance for Wayne High on Thursday night as well as her first parade on Saturday. Sam had her first cheer leading outing for the Westland Meteors today. They both did an excellent job. Lots of time this Fall will be spent at football games cheering on the band and the cheer leaders. 
We also participated in a back pack handout at Highland Park Community Outreach.
Technorati Tags: family, Fall, marching-band, cheer-leading
Book Review of About You
jim | August 29, 2010 | 0 Comments
About You, is a well written and easy to read book but its simplicity should not be confused with shallowness. Dick Staub does a great job basing the content of this book on the grand meta-narratives of scripture and not pop-psychology that seems to be ever present on book shelves these days.
For me the message of the book was something that I felt and sensed was important because of passages like John 10:10, but I did not have a conceptual framework of what Jesus meant when he said he came to give us “life to the full”. About You, lays out that we were created to be God’s masterpieces, but we were forever marred by sin. Even though we are marred, God still desires for us to be our best, and to be people who love God, love others, and want to make the world a better place.
My favorite part of the book was the daily reading that was included in the afterword entitled, A Creed For The Fully Human. This creed is actually a prayer that can be read on a daily basis to let the truths of scripture soak into our hearts and minds so they will shape our daily choices and activities.
About You, is a must read for help in trying to be a faithful disciple of Jesus who is fully human in our post-modern culture. I personally plan to put this book on my annual reading list because the message of how God would have me live my life fully alive is worth hearing on a regular basis.
#vb-aboutyou
Technorati Tags: About-You, Dick-Staub, Viral-Blog-Ooze, Jossey-Bass, book-review
Happy Birthday Sam
jim | August 28, 2010 | 0 Comments
It hard to believe but my baby girl is going into 7th grade this year!
I hope this coming year is the BEST yet!
Happy Birthday Sweetie!
Love Daddy
Upcoming Book Review
jim | August 20, 2010 | 0 Comments
The good people at the Ooze just sent me in the mail for a Viral Blogging assignment the new book, About You, by Dick Staub. Looks like it will be a great read!
This is from Amazon.
Product Description
In About You, Dick Staub addresses irreligious, religious, spiritual seekers and all kinds of Christians and shows us that Jesus came to satisfy our universal longing for a fully human life, not to establish a narrow us versus them religion. In short, Jesus didn’t come to make us Christian; Jesus came to make us fully human. In a fresh exploration of the ancient Biblical stories of creation, fall and redemption, Staub explains that salvation is not about going to heaven when we die; it is about a full and abundant life now. In practical, down-to-earth, language, About You deals with this concept on three levels: anthropologically (our common story and universal human needs), theologically (God’s awareness and response to our needs), and practically (how we can attain and maintain a more complete and satisfying life).Staub’s previous book (The Culturally Savvy Christian) was selected by Kirkus Reviews for their 2007 Religion and Spirituality edition. This new book is designed to help those who are seeking a way to integrate both a fully alive spirituality and a fully alive humanity—a way that is embodied in the often-misunderstood life and teaching of Jesus Christ. This groundbreaking book illuminates the path towards becoming the best version of yourself.From the Inside Flap
“We yearn to be fully alive and fully human, but the very fact that we yearn for this means it is not an actuality. We want to be more than we are, but are somehow less than we should be. We feel less than fully human, which is another way of saying we have somehow been dehumanized.” —from the Preface
In About You, Dick Staub addresses irreligious, religious, spiritual seekers, and all kinds of Christians, and shows us that Jesus came to satisfy our universal longing for a fully human life, not to establish a narrow us-versus-them religion. In short, Jesus didn’t come to make us Christian; Jesus came to make us fully human. In a fresh exploration of the ancient Biblical stories of creation, fall, and redemption, Staub explains that salvation is not about going to heaven when we die; it is about a full and abundant life now. In practical, down-to-earth language, About You deals with this concept on three levels: anthropologically (our common story and universal human needs), theologically (God’s awareness and response to our needs), and practically (how we can attain and maintain a more complete and satisfying life).
From the author of Christian Wisdom of the JediMasters and The Culturally Savvy Christian, this new book is designed to help those who are seeking a way to integrate both a fully alive spirituality and a fully alive humanity—a way that is embodied in the often-misunderstood life and teaching of Jesus Christ. This groundbreaking book illuminates the path toward becoming the best version of yourself.
Technorati Tags: About-You, Dick-Staub, book-review, Ooze-Viral-Blogger
Almost Ready
jim | August 20, 2010 | 0 Comments
Today I picked up my prescription for my Malaria prevention medicine and all I have left is a Hepatitis A shot and I will be all set to go on my trip to Haiti in October. This Sunday my team is taking a road trip to Lansing to visit a Haitian Church that meets their. On September 19th we will be doing a presentation in all three services at Life Church and on October 2 we are doing a movie fundraiser. Things are really getting exciting!!
Technorati Tags: Haiti, October-2010, Life-Church
Beautiful Baptism’s
jim | August 9, 2010 | 0 Comments
We had a wonderful time with friends and family as we gathered to witness and participate in the baptism of Emily and Samantha. It was a very moving and emotional time for all of us. Very Special time for all!!
Below are some pictures of the baptism and our after party at the Garvey’s
Technorati Tags: Emily, Samantha, Life-Church, baptism, family
Exciting Weekend
jim | August 7, 2010 | 0 Comments
Tomorrow both of my girls Emily and Samantha are making public their relationship to Christ by being baptized in front of friends and family at Life Church.
We have family coming into town from both Canada and Illinois as well friends from Dundee.
It will be an exciting day and a special moment in their lives. It is Syndie and I prayer that this public profession of Faith in Christ will be a significant day in their lives and be their commissioning to live a life of Kingdom service.
From the time they were babies we have prayed that they would love God, love other people, and use their gifts and abilities to make the work a better place.
Technorati Tags: Emily, Samantha, baptism, Life-Church
Local Back Pack Drive
jim | August 5, 2010 | 0 Comments
Life Church in Canton is collecting backpacks for Highland Park Community Outreach Center
HPCO Backpack Drive- Highland Park Community Outreach would like to invite you to participate in our annual backpack drive. It is our desire to put backpacks in the hands of children in need in the Highland Park Community. Last year HPCO was truly blessed to see over 75 backpacks donated from Life Church and would love to meet or exceed that number this year. Backpacks containing school supplies can be dropped of at Life Church on Sunday, August 8, 15 and 22.
Here is what to pack into each backpack that is donated.
- six #2 pencils
- six medium ballpoint pens
- one wide ruled subject notebook
- one package of filler paper
- one manual pensil sharpner
- one 24 pack of crayons
- one 12″ ruler
- two glue sticks
- one pair of blunt scissors
- one 1 1/2 ” three ring binder
- one pencil pouch
- two … 2 pocket folders
Technorati Tags: backpack-drive, Life-Church, HPCO
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