Hello…? Is anyone still out there?
I know it’s been a while
since I’ve written anything here but life has a very funny way of pulling you in
a thousand directions at once. Doesn’t it? I’m not sure if most of you out
there know this but on top of my regular “9 to 5’er” job as an IT Analyst for a
bank, I also have been actively assuming the role of the IT & Media
Director at my church and I have been doing so for for nearly 5 years now. My
team and I at the church have recently taken on the task of producing our
weekly television show and I now wear the hat of Director, Producer &
Editor. So now that all my plates are in the air spinning, just right; what’s
next? Can I even handle anything else? I sure can’t but thank God I don’t have
to.
This morning as I rolled my office chair up to my desk I
realize that I’ve been here at this location and job for a while. When I broke
it down it’s actually been; eight years and five months and twenty-six days, give
or take a day or two here or there. At first, I was a like “Ugh…Seriously?” but
then I truly believe that God reminded of some very interesting things that He
has been doing and is still doing.
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| "The countdown is on!" |
In exactly one month, fifteen days, eight hours, 7 minutes
and counting I’ll be boarding a plane, along with other members of our
production crew, for a 35-hour flight to film headed for Africa!! We’re bound
for Lira a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. The Senior Pastor of my
church was invited to speak at an annual conference there and has asked that
the trip and the conference be captured on video and edited for our television show.
Talk about a once-in-a-life-time opportunity!
With the realization that in less than seven weeks I’ll be
embarking on this experience I was flooded with a flashback of when I first
came back to my Faith in the Lord. I say “came back” but I never really left per
se. I had just decided going into ministry work like so many others in my
family have just wasn’t for me. I’ve
seen the ugly side of church work and I was sure I didn’t want any part of that
for me, or my wife. Even though I wanted nothing to do with church I knew I
still believed and that’s what I’ve always called myself “a believer” and not a
“Christian”. Did you know that the word “Christian” was first used by the
Pagans in Antioch as a derogatory term to describe the ones who followed the
teachings of Jesus and that neither Jesus nor his disciples never referred to themselves
as “Christians”? Anyway, I digress, sorry. I always knew my path and talents
would somehow end up being used by God I just couldn’t see how.
So over seven years ago we started attending the church where
we currently attending and swore that we would never get involved. We’d come sit
in the service, in the back of course, and then duck out before the right
before service ended so we wouldn’t get cornered by all the greeters. Then
slowly but surely I started seeing all the needs at the church and I knew that
I could help and that’s how it all started. Believe it or not my very first “helping
out” task at the church was cleaning the restrooms and because of how my days
off at my “9-5’er” job, I was able to faithfully clean these restrooms for two
years.
My point is this, I’m by no means perfect or any better than
the next guy, if anything I am the least qualified person to be responsible for
producing television shows or being deemed a “Media Director” for such a
front line ministry. I’ve never had any formal training in the field and there
are surely others who can do a job better than I can, but you know what; I KNOW
that and that is what amazes me even more. If God can use someone like me I’m
sure He’ll be willing to use someone like you.
I say all that to say this, God is so faithful! I never
imagined that I’d be involved in ministry at this level nor did I ever imagine
that I’d be flying internationally to film for television and for such a great
cause; The Gospel! So hang in there, if God uses me, with all my flaws and
short-comings, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God can use you, but YOU
have to be willing. It’s not going to be easy, because I promise nothing about
the past 8 years of my life has been easy, but to see how God is changing lives
all around me and to know that He allows me to be a part of it and at the
caliber that we are reaching; it’s mind-boggling. I am truly in awe and humbled
to be able to be a part of it all. If you'd like more information about Fire & Water Int'l Church you can visit us online at www.fawic.org.
Also, if you could keep me in prayer, as you can see I definitely need it! :)
