Staff UPDATE from Justin: 8.29.07

This week. This week. Man, this week. This week is going to be a great one. I'm excited to be preaching on "The Foreigner"... the culmination of the series we've been in for the past three weeks. You don't want to miss it. We went and met a charming young man, Abdo, yesterday at LSI's Refugee Cooperative Services. You'll get to meet him tomorrow night - can't wait...

I've been wondering what Immersion needs to hear about... Do you have any ideas? I want to be the type of ministry that is not afraid to speak to the things that the 20s and 30s of DSM are encountering... What do you think? Any ideas? Post them in the comments below.

We're getting new leaders popping up all over the place! Welcome to Phillip Kreis and Kari Swenson, the new Men's and Women's Community Coordinators of Immersion. They're going to be around as contacts for all of you Immersionites who want to get connected in significant ways. Also, welcome to Dawn Elliott, as she just came on board as the Immersion Operations Director! Basically, anything that happens on a regular week-to-week basis, Dawn will be making sure those leaders in charge of those areas are feeling supported and cared for, and also to make sure those things get done! She's a great addition to the team and will serve Immersion and Immersionites well...

join us on Facebook! We have a group of about 90 people on Facebook! I know there's been a few people who haven't been able to join (my wife included!), so we're still trying to figure that out. But just run a search for "Immersion" and you'll find us... The familiar black and blue....

The Blitz starts in a few weeks. If you're wanting to get connected at Immersion, this is the place to go... Connections galore... Like Tinkertoys. Look for info at the Info Table and during the announcements...

Alright crew, wrapping it up in the office - hope to see you all tomorrow night. Peace to you...

Justin

Invisible Children: UPDATE

Alright - so many of you have been contacting us on how you can get involved with "Invisible Children" - especially after the movie we watched last night. I would encourage you to go here:

Invisible Children FAQ's

Keep the faith, church! Remember - you are the church, not a building or a set of ideals or a political belief system. The Church will change the world, nothing else.

Staff UPDATE from Justin: 8.21.07

I had a thought today, can you believe that we're coming down to the last few months of 2007? Wow, time goes fast.

Well, it's that time at Immersion - the college kids are heading back to school. This is always a bittersweet time for Immersion: the college students who call Des Moines "home" are going back to their "school home," while the students who call someplace else "home" are heading back to their "school home" of Des Moines. The flux is always interesting to watch - new faces coming, old faces going...

We're in the middle of a series right now entitled "The Widow, The Orphan, The Foreigner." It's been a challenging series to plan and prepare for. God, it seems, takes this stuff pretty seriously - taking care of the underprivileged and forgotten of society. It seems that he wants us to take this stuff pretty seriously as well. It's been a challenge to see the areas where I fall dreadfully short in not only "talking the talk" but "walking the walk." Gracefully, slowly, redemptfluly; I'm getting there.

Sorry for such a long lapse in these postings. We've been working like mad around here to try and get our leadership structure in place and running. Exodus 18 - the dialog between Jethro and Moses absolutely blows my mind - and it's what we're basing leadership on here at Immersion!

I think you'll really be pleased at what we have ready for you all tomorrow night. We'll be watching an abridged version of "Invisible Children" with a little bit of teaching as well. It's a powerful film made by a bunch of goofballs - the reality of the film will stare you in the face afterwards, though. Be prepared.

That's it, gang. On a sidenote, my whole day has been made as I've introduced the word "crunk" to the office ladies up front. Pure hilarity. Anyways - see you tomorrow night.

Justin