Archive - May, 2010

Do you know where your kids are?

May 30, 2010 in Ministry with 0 Comments

I have blogged before about my mom staying in the rehab center during her hip therapy sessions and how much she is able to minister to the therapy staff.

She called me recently with another story about the children of one staff member. This lady who works at the rehab center is from Haiti. We aren’t sure how long she has been living in the USA, but her children are still in Haiti to go to school.

Mom and dad asked her how things are and how her family is after the recent earthquake. She said her 10-year-old daughter came home from school and was about to open the door and go in her house when the entire house fell down because of the earthquake. Everyone inside the house was killed from the collapse.

The mom is trying to find out about her daughter and who is taking care of her and how she is living. She is trying to find out how to bring her daughter to the USA. She hasn’t been able to get in touch with her and doesn’t know how she is getting along.

Please pray for this mother that she will soon be reunited with her little girl and that she is safe. Pray for my mom and dad that they will be able to minister to this mother in her time of questions and uncertainty.

Family ministry full-time

May 26, 2010 in Ministry with 0 Comments

Children’s and family ministry is not going to church to participate in an activity or an event or a program. Family ministry is ministering to families you see everyday. It is ministering to families through your work, through your schools, through your neighborhoods.

Check out this article about families from a large church in Birmingham, Alabama. These families sold their houses and moved to Inner City Birmingham where they are living family ministry daily. Read about it by clicking here.

Ok, men, mop this floor

May 22, 2010 in Educational, Ministry with 0 Comments

Here is an interesting article on lower divorce rates tweeted by Larry Shallenberger. The research discussed in the article found that divorce rates are lower if men help out with household jobs and chores, regardless of the woman’s employment status.

Check out the article by clicking here.

non-profit cafe

May 18, 2010 in Ministry with 1 Comment

Here is a link to an article about Panera Bread starting non-profit cafes. Customers order a meal and pay whatever they can pay in a donation box. What a great idea! Why aren’t churches doing more of these kinds of cafes and services?

Some of the money placed in the donation box will be used to train at-risk youths or to feed folks lacking money to feed themselves.What a great ministry tool. Churches should take on a ministry like this.

Check out the article here.

hyper fruit

May 18, 2010 in Educational with 2 Comments

A study completed on the use of pesticides on fruits and vegetables revealed a link to ADHD in children. Read the article here. What to do now? We need healthy fruits and vegetables for our healthy eating habits. To avoid these harmful pesticides, we can wash our food thoroughly, eat fruits and vegetables that can be peeled, and buy locally grown foods that doesn’t have to be preserved for travel distances.

A refresher course

May 11, 2010 in Educational, Ministry with 0 Comments

I found this article recently. Many supervisors and people in upper-level positions should follow this supervisor’s example and go back into a classroom for a day or even for a week to be reminded of what it is like to work hands-on in a field, any field.

Many people work their way through the educational process and earn the highest degrees they can earn, then land a ‘desk job’ in a supervisory position. They often forget what it is like to work in the classrooms. Cultures and generational characteristics change so quickly, too, that these supervisors get out of touch with the current hands-on issues. They can read books all day long, but they will never know exactly what they need to know until they spend a day in the ‘real’ world.

The idea of supervisors spending a week or a day doing the jobs of the people with whom they supervise can be applied to people in any field or position: from classroom education teachers to denominational ministry leaders. Supervisors and denominational leaders will never know how to lead their employees or the local church leaders until they spend time working in their positions on a continuous basis. It doesn’t work if they are former classroom teachers or former church leaders. Cultures and generations change too quickly. They must be continuously involved in the hands-on daily routines of the field.

So, come on, principals, superintendents, denominational presidents, and whoever else is leading a group of people in any field. Get out there in the real world. Get out from behind the desks. Get your hands dirty.

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