Christmas 2010 at School of Champions, Mexico

This year I was able to join some of the neediest families in Mexico for a Christmas party! Some sponsors have been very generous and made donations so that we could bring gifts of goodies for the kids and blankets for the mothers. I would never be able to experience this with out your help. Thank You so much and Merry Christmas!

Dar Cunningham Praying for the Next Generation of YWAMers at the 50th celebration

I took the below photo but the remaining 525 photos from the conference are by our staff photographer Kristen Anderson

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

YWAM Orlando 50th Celebration Nov 10th

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Worship continues at YWAM Orlando's new campus

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Our new Ywam Orlando worship hall

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

This week I discovered God is…

This week in the fall DTS Al McBryan taught about the nature and character of God. I asked our students: How would you complete the sentence "This week I discovered God is…" Sydney Carfi This week i discovered God is intimate. He wants to have an intimate relationship with me but not at an arms length. He wants all of me. And i can truly except that know, knowing the character of God. Jenny Elyse Netjes God is incomprehensible. He is such a mystery and His ways are so complex and intricate. But in the midst of that, He is in love with His creation and is passionate about the redemption of His people. Rachel Elizabeth Olson This week I discovered that God is a being I want to know very intimately. I desire to know His character better than I know myself. I get lost in the mystery of who He is, and how He works. God is better than Lost. That´s saying something. For more responses visit http://on.fb.me/AlMcBryan and click the "like" button at www.facebook.com/OrlandoYWAM to keep up with future posts!

Forgiveness is…?

As Michael Berg taught in our DTS this week about Biblical restoration I asked our students "How could you complete the sentence: Forgiveness is…?" Read all 40 comments at http://on.fb.me/Forgivenessis

Adam Snook Forgive is a lot of things... Forgiveness is freeing yourself from the bondage of holding onto the past. The bondage of self. Forgiveness is also very refreshing! God Forgives and so shall we!

Joy Engdahl Forgiveness is the way to healing. It´s removing spiritual infections so we can be healthy.

Benjamin Caswell Forgiveness is the choice I make to let go of the past, breathe easier, live healthier, and love more completely.

Hearing God´s Voice is…

John Bills taught in our fall DTS last week. I asked our students; How would you complete the sentence: "Hearing God´s Voice is…"

Javin Mitchell said: Hearing God´s voice is amazing I have heard his voice before but nothing like after this week it became more clear and took my relationship with God to a different level.

Meghan Elizabeth Durán said: Hearing God´s voice requires me to practice patience, which I´ve never been good at, but it´s completely rewarding!

Kacy-Lynn Sloat Hearing said: Gods voice is, surrendering completely to Him and praying in expectancy to hear the voice of God to be able to intercede for the unknown.

Jesse Matsen said: Hearing God´s voice is such an amazing and eye opening experience for me. It is like nothing else to know that the creator of this entire universe is speaking directly to me. It makes me want to have God be apart of everything in my life.

For to read over 60 more quotes from of fall schools visit our news feed at http://www.ywamorlando.com/facebook

New DTS working on our new Campus!

Wealth, poverty and compassion

The rich are different from you and me
They are more selfish

Jul 29th 2010

LIFE at the bottom is nasty, brutish and short. For this reason, heartless folk might assume that people in the lower social classes will be more self-interested and less inclined to consider the welfare of others than upper-class individuals, who can afford a certain noblesse oblige. A recent study, however, challenges this idea. Experiments by Paul Piff and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, reported this week in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggest precisely the opposite. It is the poor, not the rich, who are inclined to charity.

In their first experiment, Dr Piff and his team recruited 115 people. To start with, these volunteers were asked to engage in a series of bogus activities, in order to create a misleading impression of the purpose of the research. Eventually, each was told he had been paired with an anonymous partner seated in a different room. Participants were given ten credits and advised that their task was to decide how many of these credits they wanted to keep for themselves and how many (if any) they wished to transfer to their partner. They were also told that the credits they had at the end of the game would be worth real money and that their partners would have no ability to interfere with the outcome.

A week before the game was run, participants were asked their ethnic backgrounds, sex, age, frequency of attendance at religious services and socioeconomic status. During this part of the study, they were presented with a drawing of a ladder with ten rungs on it. Each rung represented people of different levels of education, income and occupational status. They were asked to place an “X” on the rung they felt corresponded to where they stood relative to others in their own community.

The average number of credits people gave away was 4.1. However, an analysis of the results showed that generosity increased as participants’ assessment of their own social status fell. Those who rated themselves at the bottom of the ladder gave away 44% more of their credits than those who put their crosses at the top, even when the effects of age, sex, ethnicity and religiousness had been accounted for.

The prince and the pauper

In follow-up experiments, the researchers asked participants to imagine and write about a hypothetical interaction with someone who was extremely wealthy or extremely poor. This sort of storytelling is used routinely by psychologists when they wish to induce a temporary change in someone’s point of view.

In this case the change intended was to that of a higher or lower social class than the individual perceived he normally belonged to. The researchers then asked participants to indicate what percentage of a person’s income should be spent on charitable donations. They found that both real lower-class participants and those temporarily induced to rank themselves as lower class felt that a greater share of a person’s salary should be used to support charity.

Upper-class participants said 2.1% of incomes should be donated. Lower-class individuals felt that 5.6% was the appropriate slice. Upper-class participants who were induced to believe they were lower class suggested 3.1%. And lower-class individuals who had been “psychologically promoted” thought 3.3% was about right.

A final experiment attempted to test how helpful people of different classes are when actually exposed to a person in need. This time participants were “primed” with video clips, rather than by storytelling, into more or less compassionate states. The researchers then measured their reaction to another participant (actually a research associate) who turned up late and thus needed help with the experimental procedure.

In this case priming made no difference to the lower classes. They always showed compassion to the latecomer. The upper classes, though, could be influenced. Those shown a compassion-inducing video behaved in a more sympathetic way than those shown emotionally neutral footage. That suggests the rich are capable of compassion, if somebody reminds them, but do not show it spontaneously.

One interpretation of all this might be that selfish people find it easier to become rich. Some of the experiments Dr Piff conducted, however, sorted people by the income of the family in which the participant grew up. This revealed that whether high status was inherited or earned made no difference—so the idea that it is the self-made who are especially selfish does not work. Dr Piff himself suggests that the increased compassion which seems to exist among the poor increases generosity and helpfulness, and promotes a level of trust and co-operation that can prove essential for survival during hard times.

Science and Technology

via economist.com

I am continually humbled by amazing generosity from those who have relatively little yet disappointed by those who are very wealthy. Now it looks like science proves this to be a trend beyond my personal experience. How do you feel when "widows" give you their last

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Worship at YWAM Orlando's new campus!

Teaching about God's provision At. YWAM Kona

How has God provided for your need?

  
Download now or listen on posterous

Kona_Support_Teach_8_18_10_2_08_PM.m4a (25313 KB)

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Teaching in the School of Strategic Communication this week

Mon-Fri this week I will be teaching from 9-Noon (3-6pm EST) at YWAM's University of the Nations Kona Campus in Hawaii- All prayers welcome!

School of Strategic Communication
This school is designed to raise up Spirit-led activists whose words, like Peter’s, cut to the heart and provoke the question, “What shall we do then?" (Acts 2:37). Students will discover what their audience truly believes, and will develop the skills to reach them with relevant, transformational communication. Whether you want to promote a new business or turn the tide on AIDS infections, this school will equip you with the skills to be effective.

The school consists of eight lecture weeks with morning sessions taught by visiting experts in marketing, research, and creative communication. Workshops every afternoon provide immediate, practical application throughout the school. In the final four weeks, the students will work in groups to create comprehensive communication campaigns that will influence their selected audience’s views on a social justice issue.

Multiplication over 8 years!

I reconnected with one of the students that we took on a missions trip almost 8 years ago.
He sent this message and I hope his story of multiplication blesses you as much as it does me.

"Since my time at YWAM, I have graduated high school and have been studying at University of South Florida as a Computer Engineer. Life has been really good and God even better.

I've taken up the challenge of leading the congregation's youth. It's been a really big challenge, but I really love doing it. God is doing even greater things to reach His kingdom and I'm glad to be a part of it.

I would love to take our young people on a missions trip. I know when I went with YWAM, my life was forever changed. It was the first time I was bold enough to go out and spread the gospel. I was moved by the hunger the locals had to hear and receive of God's Word. I made strong friendships with people I still know today and who keep me accountable to Jesus. We still talk about all the memories and moments we shared.

It was such a big impact on my life and I would love for others to have a similar or even greater experience than I did with YWAM.

Thanks for everything!
Daniel Ajo"

How can a student ask for the support they need for thier mission trip?

  
Download now or listen on posterous

DTS_Summer_2010_Support_Teach_Part_2.m4a (29325 KB)

 DTS Summer 2010 Support Teach Part 2:

I Spent an afternoon teaching the current DTS how to connect with those who might be wiling to give.

I hope the poor audio quality is not too distracting.

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Sold into Slavery

I love to hear the stories of students as they graduate from their training here at YWAM Orlando and outreach to the world. I have recently tried to get their story on video camera so i can share it with you. Here is one of my favorites.

Sold into Slavery
Joanna had never spoken to a prostitute before and the chaos of women being bought and sold overwhelmed her senses on the streets of Thailand. But Joanna had one focus: to offer a heart of friendship and hope to a prostitute named "Ying".

As a young teen, Ying was sold into slavery. Taken from her Thai home, her joy was numbed by the depraved acts and abuse she was submitted to daily. Any chance of finishing school or working an honorable job simply became long-lost dreams. Finally escaping from her owner meant she was now alone on the streets destined to become a prostitute, the only lifestyle she had ever known.

As their friendship progressed Joanna was able to offer an opportunity of hope; a chance to restore her forgotten dreams for an education and a new job through a local rescue center.

Joanna told me that she wants to continue to reach out to the people who need it most. Your sponsorship allows me to help find, mobilize and train this generation of world changers. Thank You!

Part 2

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Creagon hangin out with the Anderson boys

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

How Can God Provide for Your Mission Trip?

Below is an audio link to the teaching gave to our summer DTS at YWAM Orlando.

Here is a link to a text example of the letter we made for the Summer DTS at YWAM Orlando.

Download now or listen on posterous

DTS_Summer_2010_Support_Teach_Part_1.m4a (33228 KB)

Property Update Video from Director, Michael Berg

Flying to Norway today! (June 5th)

Andrei grew up on the streets of the former Soviet Union. A YWAM team first introduced him to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and then continued to pour hope into his life. I met Andrei twelve years ago in the remote forests of Sweden. I was co-leading a survival leadership course called NIKO for students across northern Europe. For three days, I watched the Lord reveal something amazing in Andrei's teen-age life---God was challenging him to become a leader, and he was embracing this calling!
Four years ago I met Andrei again. His gifting of leadership had been developed through years of experience in YWAM. I was teaching the staff of North Europe at one of YWAM's training centers in Norway. He was attending my week-long teaching, learning to find a sponsorship team and God's provision for his young family and ministry. The teen from the streets of the Soviet Union (that I had met in the Swedish forest) was now a husband, father of two daughters, and leader of a dynamic ministry changing the lives of hundreds of teens for the sake of the Cross!
It is because of leaders like Andrei that I am flying back to Norway today (Sat., June 5th). Once again, Michael Berg (my director at YWAM Orlando) and I have been invited to teach about our Father's will to provide for every minister who dares to fulfill His calling on their life. Our host, Terje, tells us that, "[Since you taught in the] Full Support Seminar in 2006, the financial support for YWAMers in Norway increased by 67%. Many have a whole new [financial] support situation and a new freedom to serve God in YWAM!"
Because people like you have been so generous, I have had the resources to confidently share about God's provision and goodness to the next generation of world changers. Together we can train and release this upcoming wave of Andreis and many others like him!

Would you make a special gift of $500, $200 or some other amount to help me train many more like Andrei?

P.S. You can now securely and conveniently donate to Creagon's missions work with YWAM Orlando via credit through Causes.com Click here to start.

Maple syrup on noodles

What happens when u let "uncle Creagon" cook!

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

One of my favorite teachers at YWAM Orlando, Glenn Shepard

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Audio: Creagon Teaching "THUMB" for Youth Group's Spring Mission Trip

  
Download now or listen on posterous

THUMB Youth Group Teach 3_1_10 7_30 PM.m4a (14884 KB)

      One of my passions is to help youth in America realize that God can use them to reach the ends of the earth. A school's baseball team came to Orlando in march for some outreach and missions training. I was asked to speak about World Missions and our Vision at YWAM Orlando. Enjoy!

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

Audio: Creagon promoting Haiti relief trip @ Evangel Church 4/4/10 Easter Sunday

  
Download now or listen on posterous

Evangel 2nd Service Haiti Promo 4_4_10 11_06 AM.m4a (2568 KB)

Pastor Garry Rice asked me to help promote a YWAM trip to his church. They plan to go to Haiti this summer to bring relief to the +1million still with out a home. Your giving makes it possible for me to help inspire local churches to be all God calls us to be. Thank You!

Posted via email from creagon's posterous

You make all this possible.

Each year, God uses me to coach the newest staff of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) Orlando through a process of finding their financial sponsorship team. My goal is to: 1) refine their attitude of humility---acknowledging that their profession requires the generosity of others, and 2) develop their skills of communication---learning to present their compelling and achievable vision. This process is their first step into their new career. My reward is knowing that when they succeed, they will be able to fully focus on missions work. When they are fully funded, they have the ability to respond to the Lord as He directs their lives. This freedom has allowed three new staff (see photo) to react quickly to the desperate need in Haiti. Within a week of the earthquake, they had their travel plans set, arriving to bring relief to the Haitian people. Here is one of the true stories from our team in Haiti:

Ernso was assumed dead when a rescue team found him in the rubble of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Like so many other bodies, he was taken to a makeshift morgue. Hours later, a relief worker walked by and heard a faint knocking sound at the door of the morgue. The young boy, left among the dead, was alive--barely! Today, our YWAM Orlando team is helping him, and thousands like him, recover at YWAM's property in Haiti. (See Photo) Our YWAM location in Orlando has become a staging ground for the teams and supplies that will aid the physical and spiritual needs of this devastated region.

I want to thank you for making this possible. Your financial gifts and devoted prayers allow me to find and train the next generation of world changers. This multiplication has lasting effect in many parts of our world. The story of Ernso's physical, emotional, and even spiritual recovery is being achieved through your dedication. Thank You!

Haiti, The Need is Great! and YWAM Orlando Campus Update

The recent earthquake in Haiti is affecting three million impoverished Haitians! The news reports coming out of Haiti, even after several weeks, continues to show just how desperate the situation is. YWAM Orlando received a call from our International Chairman's office asking if we, would help organize the shipping of food, water, and supplies to St. Marc where our national director for YWAM Haiti has set up feeding centers. As a result, we have sent $5000 and two of our leaders down for a week to assess the situation and bring relief through their expertise. A second team of 3 will be working in Haiti for two months. Since this need in Haiti will exist for many months, we hope that we will be able to send many short-term teams to help in the spring quarter.

Thousands of people are fleeing Haiti and crossing the border into the Dominican Republic in hopes of getting medical treatment. Our Discipleship Training School Outreach Team is currently helping minister to some of these refugees in the exact community I lead a team to last spring. The team currently there is handing out beans, rice and praying with patients at clinics and hospitals, but the needs of these Haitians are still overwhelming. Go to www.ywamorlando.org for further updates.

Property Update
The desperate need in Haiti, like many other places around the world, just confirms our need for a larger training campus, which will allow us to train literally thousands these missionaries formed into dynamic world-changing teams. For years, YWAM Orlando was in prayer for the land and resources needed to obey God's calling. Then suddenly, He provided. In a big way. He led us to 198 acres of land within the greater Orlando area, just 35 minutes from the international airport. To reach our target closing date of May 31st, we need to see donations of $1.25 million. Right now, we have $128,000 committed and are very grateful!

My entire schedule has been reshaped to focus completely on doing the possible to achieve this goal... acknowledging that God will be doing the impossible! Daily I must refocus on Him, and His desires to see such a great thing happen.

As a part of the YWAM Orlando family I have joined our season of 24/7 prayer, every hour, each day, the next staff stops what we are doing and takes our own turn of focused prayer for the campus.

Would you please join me, in your own way, by praying? Praying for continued provision as He does this "impossible" miracle so that this God-given opportunity will not slip away. So that no missions opportunities will go unfulfilled. And not a single soul will be lost.
I couldn't do this with out you!
-Creagon