Missionary Hopeful

Words Verse Actions

2010-11-09T01:28:00.000+01:00

Matthew 5:37 states "Simply let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no","no"; anything beyond this comes from the evil one"

For me this hits hard and it hits home... because for the last year and a half i have made a promise that i haven't kept....i had promised to keep this blog up and i just haven't done it... i don't come offering excuses or even reason for this.... cause nothing i could say could be a legitimate reason for not keeping my promise. but i come admitting one of my biggest flaws as a human and asking for your forgiveness... especially to anyone who helped me financially. I didn't hold up my part for our deal...and i had the easy part of the deal. provide information as to what i was doing each month... so that yall would know where your hard earned money was going. I also wanna thank yall for keeping your part of the bargain and continuing to support me, even when you had every reason to stop.

ive heard some people in my life say that a man is only as good as his words....but if that were true there would be lots of good people that got nothing done ever. Ive learned that a its the man's actions behind the words that proves what kinda person he is. My actions haven't matched up with my words lately. Jesus was a man of his word... anything he has ever said has come true, and he expects no less from us. not only our promises to each other but our promises to him... because anything beyond that comes from the evil one. there is no place in a Christians life for empty promises...

thoughts, comments i would love to hear them all

from a work in progress,
Evan Wayne Williams

Catch up

2010-08-01T19:36:00.003+02:00

Ciao tutti,

It has been way to long since i have written and shared my life with the people who deserve most to hear about it.

I love living in Italy and getting to experience the European culture, which is so different from the American mindset on things. As much as i love it though it has been difficult at times to wanna stay, with so many people and places that i miss and long for. I never really told anyone how badly i was homesick for awhile... mainly cause i viewed it as a weakness... i mean im 20 i shouldn't feel the need to see people that bad. Luckily my view on that changed and realized it was a good thing... meant i had something at home worth looking forward to when the time came.Yet im still here, because the reason I'm here is far greater than those things. No amount of homesickness was going to stop me from doing what i came to do. I just thought you as my family should know that i love this place... but it will never outway my love for my home land and the amazing people in it

Italy is a tough place to minister for two very simple reasons
1. Older people are too rooted in their Catholicism even though most don't practice, they just claim Catholicism cause that is what they were born into. Catholic is all they have ever been and most of them don't see the point in changing.
2. Younger people love having fun too much to believe in God, and most believe strongly that you can't do both.

NEW TEAM

I recently have had the pleasure of welcoming 6 new AIMers to the team... which means 8 people are now living in this house.... and i would trade it for anything i love having these guys. so i just ask that you pray for these guys. These are some wonderful People with amazing hearts.
1. Matt Tracy
2. Ryan Jarboe
3. Jackson Esco
4. Shae Baker
5. Osiris Hernandez
6. Josie Collins

KITTEN
no where near as cool as the new people, but the team got a Kitten and its name is Garbage. Its a definite handful.

ENGLISH STUDENTS

I have had call after call from our flyers for english lessons but only one person actually show up when something was scheduled... but he to i guess gave up... didn't show up to lessons and didn't answer my calls. Then i had another student named Milania who lived a few doors down. I would meet with her on Saturdays and help her with her English homework, she is now going into her senior year of highschool and she wants to be a linguist. So for her i was more of a tutor than i was a teacher. She was in the process of reading Macbeth by Shakespeare and she would read it to me and i would correct her pronunciation if necessary which wasn't often, she read it well and if she took her time and didn't try to speak to fast she also spoke it really well. i ask yall to pray for her that she can go on to university and accomplish whatever it is she wants to do with her degree.

BIBLE STUDY
I have only had one bible study the entire time i have been here (doesn't mean i haven't talked to people about God). There is a bar that i like to go to from time to time cause they make a really good sandwich that i like. One day when i was there the Barista whose name was David began to ask me why i was here, and after i told him he asked me how my church was different from the Catholic church. I imagine I light up like a christmas tree, and asked him if i could have a few days to prepare some thoughts and get it together in italian.... and he said of course. So i went back about three days later and had supper with him and we discussed the difference. and i haven't had any other studies with him but we still talk about God often when I go in there. There is a woman that works with him that i just found out that her and David are getting married. So if you would pray for them as they are fixing to start their lives together.

KIDS CLASS

Anto had recently decided that my Italian is sufficient to teach the Kids Class by myself. so about a month ago i taught from Exodus 33. I think i did pretty well considering my grammar isn't great. The kids really seemed to enjoy the class and i had alot of fun doing it.

NEW NAIF

New Naif has been the one continual thing that i have had since ive been here. New Naif is a Cooperativa. It is a school for the mentally retarded. I absolutely love being there with the kids, and even though most of them are twice my age i call them kids.. cause that is what they are like. I have poured lots of time into getting to know these kids and they other teachers. Its such a humbling experience to work with them. I will miss them so much, cause i love the absolutely genuine friendship i experienced with them. Please pray for them. they are some of the most amazing people i know.

MENSA

Mensa is a shelter/food kitchen for the homeless. Meals are prepared and served and those that need it are also provided with a place to stay.

COMING HOME

I am slightly sad but also pleased to announce that on Friday October 27th i will be coming home!!!!!!!

FUTURE PLANS

I will be attending Sunset School of Preaching in January which is a two year program

SUPPORTERS

WOW! yall are so amazing to me. your willingness to help me accomplish something that i couldn't do on my own. yall have been a great part of God's work here in Prato, Italy. I want to apologize again for being horrible about communication with yall. Yall deserved so much more than that, and im sorry that i didn't keep my end of things. I promise that it is something that i will work at for when i do mission work in the future because it is absolutely essential for supporters.

On the note of support

While Sunset is a tuition free school, i will still have living expenses. I will get a job while im in Lubbock, but i know i wont be able to work enough hours and have enough time for schoolwork so i will be needing some assistance... as far as what my income will look like i can't say for now. but when i find out i will make sure i let everyone know. I absolutely hate asking for help cause i don't like the idea of living off of support, although the fact that i will get a job makes me feel slightly better about it. If you will be able to help with that or know someone who will i would greatly appreciate it.

JUST A THOUGHT

I was reading in proverbs this morning and ran across a verb that i really really love

Proverbs 19:20 reads
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

I feel like this is something that we as people have a hard time doing. accepting advice from others is not always easy especially if it is hard to swallow. Its something that i personally have been working on, because in my mind i don't always allow others to be right. If they contradict what i think about a situation they must be wrong... why did i think this way?.... because i hate to be wrong. but guess what, ive been wrong more than once in my life... can you believe it? well its true. ;) point being realize that other people just may know more than you do and you can use they knowledge and wisdom they pass on to you to help others in the future

Thats all i have for you now i will write again at the end of August to tell you how that went

i love yall,
Evan

Lazarus Part 1 - Lazzaro Parte 1

2010-01-23T16:45:00.000+01:00

Remember the woman who poured perfume on Jesu's feet and dried them with her hair?( Her name was Mary)

Ricorda la donna che unse il Signore di olio profumato e gli asciugo i piedi con i suoi capelli? (Si chiama Maria)

Her brother Lazarus is sick, so Mary and her sister Martha send a messenger to Jesus saying "Lord the one you love is sick"

Lazzaro, suo fratello, era malato, dunque le sorelle mandarono a dire Gesu "Signore, ecco, colui che tu ami E malato."

I loved Jesus' response to this statement "This sickness will not end in death. No it is for Gods glory that God's son may be glorified through it." Some of you may be thinking 'wait, that first part can't be right... Lazarus died! I ask you to read it again "This sickness will not end in death..." and it didn't it lead to death. However Christ busted right through that death and gave Lazarus life again for the glorification of God. Thats the on reason Lazarus died was so that God would be glorified when he was raised from the dead.

A me piace come Gesu responde "Questa malattia noe e per la morte, ma e per la gloria di Dio, affinche per mezzo di essa il Figlio di Dio sia glorificato." E possibile alcuni di voi pensate "sperta Lazzaro e morte!" Leggi un altro volta "Questa malattia non e per morte..." Questo e vero perche la malattia non finisce nella morte, solo guida a morte poi Gesu rompera attraverso ed da vita a lui per la gloria di Dio. Questo e perche Lazzaro e morte solomente sia glorificato di Dio!

Greater Love Has No Man...

2009-12-30T21:16:00.002+01:00

I have been thinking about the way people use the word love. A lot of people i have talked to about it lately have said that they think the word love has been devalued. I don't neccasarily agree with that fully or completly... but i do to a certain degree, and here is why. There are a lot of things that i love, for example I love my parents, but i also love my iPod. The iPod does nothing except provide me with entertainment, whereas my parents have provided me with everything that i could have needed or wanted. my iPod couldn't do that.... but i love them both. Now am i equating my parents to an iPod..... No! does it cheapen or devalue my love for my parents? Not in the least. because if I was given the choice of getting red of my iPod or never getting to see my family.... the iPod is going out the window rather quickly. Why? because my love for my parents is so much deeper and so much stronger.. and they are so much more important to me. I believe that there are varying degrees of love. I don't however believe that there is a universal scale. Not everyone will value all things the same way or manner as you do. But there is a love that according to God trumps all other loves. Iv'e been reading John alot lately and it has quickly become one of my favorite books and within it i have found one of my favorite verses.. John 15:13 says "Greater love has no man than this, that he lays down his life for his friends." Jesus continues to amaze me. He doesn't say.... has his life taken... he says.... lay it down. Making a conscious choice to put others as more important than you. I don't think that this only stops with our life... but aspects of our life as well. Take pride for instance, are we willing to lay our pride down and admit that maybe.... just maybe someone can do better it better than you, whatever It is. or what about time....are people worth your time are yhou willing to give up a little time doing something that you enjoy... to spend with someone else... if it means bettering a relationship. Jesus also fascinates me in another aspect of this. He again goes above and beyond what everyone else does. He doesn't stop at laying his life down for his friends... but the people who hate him and rejected him as well.. Take a minute... and think about that..... I know that in a heart beat i would be able to lay my life down for my family and friends, but someone that has hurt me or mistreated me..or someone i don't get along with or consider a freinds.... i struggle with that... yet Jesus was totally unbiased in his decision... he didn't say he was willing to lay it down just for the apostles or disciples, he didn't say for everyone but this group or this group of people. but for the sins of the world... not the sins of a few. like i said i struggle with with doing to same for my enemies.... but i take comfort in the fact that the verse says... greater love has no MAN.... which Jesus was so much more than mere man... that tells me that i will never be able to love the way he did... at least not to the degree he does..does that mean i shouldn't try... no not at all i should give it my absolute best... but that also means that i will never be hated and rejected to the degree that Jesus is by some. Just wanted to share some of my thoughts. i would love to hear your thoughts and comments.... or even disagreements... I love y'all (in your respective degrees of course)

I Love You This Much

2009-11-24T13:25:00.005+01:00

I'm not sure how many of you like country music or not. I've been listening to alot of country lately for two reasons... 1) i just really like country music 2) because it gives me this feeling of nastalgia, of when i worked with my dad, reminds me of home. One song in particular has made me do alot of thinking lately. Jimmy Wayne sings a song called "I Love You This Much" (Watch the video here).

The Song is about a boy who desires nothing more than his dad's (i think this is an inappropriate term for this man) love. The boy is constantly trying to get his fathers affection says with tears in his eyes and his arms stretched out as for as they go " I love you this much... and I'm waiting on you to make up your mind... do you love me too, however long it takes, I'm never giving up, no matter what, I love you this much."

Story goes on to the father's (i think this is more appropriate) funeral, where the boy now aged into a young man is staring at a statue of Jesus hanging on the cross. "He said "forgive me father", "when he realized, that he hadn't been unloved or alone all of his life, His arms were stretched out as far as they'd go, nailed to the cross, for the whole world to know... "I love you this much and im waiting on you to make up your mind, do you love me to, however long it takes, I'm never giving up no matter what, I love you this much."

Do you ever feel unloved and alone, like no one cares? John 3:16 says "for God so loved the world he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal........ Wow!! thats love... i don't understand this love, the willingness to give up a child to me is unfathomable..... but am so very thankful that God loved us enough to do it....

I cannot read that and not feel loved. Its so easy to forget that God is omnipresent therefore God is always with us... makiing it impossible to be alone... ever...

I hope that this post will remind you just how loved you are and that God is always there. God never turns down an opportunity to spend time with and talk to His children.....

Sealing Your Own Fate

2009-11-19T13:07:00.006+01:00

If you have seen the movie "Premonition" this post may make more sense to you than if you haven't. if you havent seen it.. im going to give you a quick run down of the story and i mean quick without much detail... so if you don't want me to ruin the end skip to the next paragraph..... right now! hurry! A woman is waiting for her husband to return from a business trip, she answers the door it was a cop with the news of her husbands death...after she tells her two daughters they all go to bed... she wakes up the next morning laying next to her husband so she figures it was a dream..... basically it goes back and forth between her husband being alive one day then the next day being dead. so she eventually makes a calender of that week and the events so that she can avoid all the events that lead to his death. so one day she chases her husband down the highway in her car to catch his car to have him turn around before he gets the mile marker she was told his death occured in. she calls him and has him pull over before that mile marker and she convinces him to turn around so he turns around and is starting to head back towards her when his car dies and he cant get is started.... and a semi truck is careening towards his car and jacknifes as he tries to slow down. he reaches for the seatbelt to get out of the car.. it wont come out.... the semi hits him and explodes cause it was carrying natural gas.... all that to say that in trying to help him avoid his death she actually caused it. she caused what she tried so hard to avoid...

Ok so onto the biblical application of this....
John. 11:49-53
49.Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! 50.You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the wohle nation perish." 51. He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52. and not only for thatnation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

To give some background on what was going on right before this that brought these statements about... Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead...(thats another blog for another time... i have some thoughts for that.) In verses 45 and 46 it says "therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. The Jews were still divided in what to think about Jesus, so many people were going to the Pharisees with questions so much so that they called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. the Sanhedrin was the supreme court of olden days for the Jews. If these guys got together on your account you were in some serious trouble. The Sanhedrin was scared that if they allowed Jesus to live that everyone will follow him, and that the Romans would come in and take thier "place" being there position in the Roman Government.. also that the Romans where going to come in and conquere them and become part of the Roman Empire... meaning no more nation of Isreal(note about this later in the blog).

after this Caiaphas (one of the High Priest) against his will (and according to God's) said " You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish" He just prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the entire nation of the Jews... so that they wouldn't have to perish, so that the scattered Christians would also be able to come together to be one...... and what was their response to that? "So from that day on they plotted to take his life"... What!?! Were they listening to Caiaphas? Did they not just hear that Jesus was to be a sacrifice? They were the chosen race...Why would they kill off the man that was going to die for them? They believed that if they killed Jesus that it would stop people from following him and then Rome would have no reason to take over the nation(Which takes place in 70 A.D.) So eventually when they do crucify and kill him..... They actually cause what they were wanting to avoid..... The Jews sealed their own fate....
All this goes to pointing out that you can't stop something that God has planned.... no matter what you do.. no matter what circumstances you change, as much as you would like to there is no way you can outsmart God.... it just doesn't work that way...

Just something for you guys to chew on......

Trying to Fulfill the Great Commision,
Evan

Catch Up

2009-10-07T13:25:00.010+02:00

I have decided that Blogging has become my new white whale, my Moby Dick. I will defeat it... im sure of this.

Before i start catching up i want you to say a prayer for the current AIMer's..... im sure they would appreciate any/all prayers you could send towards them. cause the time to pick fields is drawing near.

HHHHMMMMMM...... time to play Catch Up.

Questura-(Police station)- So i finally got my appointment with the Questura to get fingerprinted for my Permesso Di Soggiorno which will allow me to volunteer in alot more places. because some people wont let you do any work with out the Permesso because they need to know that your legal...... i was suppose to go in a 8:45 so mike said that i need to get there atleast an hour/ hour and a half early.. so i went at 7:30 and there was a long line already so im waiting and waiting and end up waiting for 3 hours and i finally get to ght front of the line... and that was just the line to get in the line on the inside... and i got sent to the back of the line... later i found out i was sent to the back because they thought i was albanian.... so i wait for another hour and get inside and move through the line decently quickly... so then i got sent to the back of the line again.. but this time it was cause i wasn't chinese so i waited another hour.. one of the officers came and asked for my passport.. and he said.." oh your american... come to the front of the line and i was done with the fingerprints in 3 minutes... and so i waited six hours for something i could have had done in ten minutes.... next time ill make sure that they know that i am american when i go to pick it up in December. So i am very excited to get my permesso.

In september we went to Vicenza which is a town about 3 hours north of prato to visit a family that tracie met when she went to help the church with an event that they had... they are a family of four. James and Angie have two kids Caleb and Jared who go to school on the military base there in vicenza. Getting there was way harder than it should have been. our van isn't the most dependable vehicle so Mike was nice enough to lend us his car for the weekend. We fill up the car and get on the road well about two and a half hours later... the car just quits and dies on us.. so we get to the right side of the road and we are looking... we still had a quarter tank of gas.. so we checked the oil.. the oil was fine.. so next we checked the battery.. all the cables were attached properly and tightly. so we cal mike and he asked us what kind of fuel we put in the car... it was a small car so of course we put unleaded gas in it. Only to find out that it was a diesel car.. my initial reaction was aren't big manly trucks supposed to be diesel... and aren't you supposed to hear them coming down the street? but then i thought... oh yeah this is europe... things are completely different here. so we get towed to a garage so that they can drain our gas tank... the guy that towed us was really nice and gave us the $100 tow for free cause he felt bad for the Americans but we finally got everything straightened out... and back on the road... two hours and a hundred dollars later.... by the time you add all the gas from the first tank they drained and the second fill up.

But when we got there everything picked up and was good and great and wonderful. started off with it being a friday night going to an early OKTOBERFEST on the military base. Enjoyed some good German food, and watched some German competitions... like log sawing..didn't know that was German... but i guess it is. also got a chance to play some american football with some of the kids there... enjoyed that so much. when we got back to the house that night i got to play videogames with the kids which was a really good way to connect with the them. On that saturday morning the younger son Jared who is 11 had a soccer game... and they crushed the other team 8 to 0. it was my first soccer game to watch. i enjoyed it so much. The rest of the day we spent on base... i had Taco Bell!!!!!!!!!!!! it was so good... it was just a good day to be with the Hughes and get to know them a little better. Then on suday morning we went to church with the Hughes... and of course i only understood some of it. after that we went back to the Hughes homestead to prepare for a cookout for some of the church members there.. they were so much fun and James made some really good food. then a little later that night we had to go home. It was overall an amazing fun filled weekend.

My friends -we have a small group of friends that we hang out with on a regular basis... there are about 4 of them missing in this photo. While most of them speak english.. they are starting to speak more and more italian to us. which has been so helpful for me in learning... cause when i try to learn italian from a book... it just gives me a headache....not saying i dont learn from the books... but i learn better from actually speaking and listening to it. i enjoy hanging out with these guys so much. we don't talk a whole lot about the bible with them yet... but very slowly we are mentioning things. Hoping that they are going to ask more and more questions.

Church Unity- One of Mikes goals here is to try to establish better relationships between the churches in Italy. To do this you of course have to visit other churches. So mike took us down for a nights stay in Rome to be with the church. we got there on saturday night and had pizza and a meet and greet and a devotional. then we went to our host families houses... me and brandon stayed with a certain Giancarlo and Ana Balboni... we had some espresso with them and talked for a bit.... going to bed soon after. woke up the next morning to go to church which was interesting cause there were 4 speakers all from different churches.... so that was really neat.... each of them had about 10 min. it was really encouraging to see them working together to proclaim God's word. after church we had lunch with our host families.... which with italians lunch can last anywhere from 2 to 4 hours..... so around 5 pm we headed home on the three hour drive... its a good thing that mondays are my off days.

New Naif Cooperativa- This is a place that helps people with physical and mental handicaps learn skills they need to get jobs. I go twice a week... once on monday mornings and Friday mornings. I love the people their the workers and the students both. they such have such happy go lucky spirits. if you want to know the honest truth i think they help me out more than i help them... they really put things in perspective for me. They don't lead what everyone thinks of as a "normal life" that they are "special". but they have more pure and true joy... than anyone i have ever met in my life... despite being "special" or not "normal"... there are lots of lessons to be learned from these guys... and im lucky God has given me the opportunity to work with these guys... God always finds a way to keep me humble.

I recently went into a bar( here in Italy a bar is somewhere you eat) and got a glass of a drink called spuma.... which kinda taste like flavored sprite.. that was in the morning.. the guy behind the bar was really nice... so i went back later that night for another glass and the guy asked me what i am doing here in Italy.. cause i look American and sound American when i speak Italian well i told him i was here to work with the Church of Christ... and i told him where it was... and i finished my spuma and left. Me and brandon went back the next moring for coffee and a pastry and as we were getting ready to leave he asked me ... so what is the difference between your church and the catholic church... and i told him there are lots of difference and he said like what..
and i felt bad cause at that point i had to tell him that i needed a few days to get it all straight in italian in my head... and he gave an amazing response and said... ok just come back when your ready and we will talk about it. So im currently working on that to talk to him... I so much look forward to it as it will be my first study i will have had since ive been here... so please pray for that.... that i can say whats needed for him to hear the truth.. that i don't somehow offend him cause of my broken Italian.

I hope that everything is all good and well with you guys... i miss you guys so much and it will be such a long time till we are together fellowshipping together.... but it will be worth the wait.... cause i have work to do here.... i want to thank you guys again for just how simply amazing you guys are and how encouraging and loving of a congregation yall are. Continue to spread that love to others.

AIMing to Fulfill the Great Comission,

Evan Wayne Williams

My first earthquake.....

2009-09-17T19:08:00.002+02:00

no it didn't damage my house or me... cause all we got was the after shock of a 4.4 so it wasn't big..... it was about 1030 and i had just finished watching a movie...i was sick this night so i didn't go to florence with the rest of the team. and i was nodding off and i felt the house shake... and i woke up or so i thought and the house wasn't shaking anymore.... so i just went back to sleep. Woke up the next morning and was tellin brandon about my earthquake dream... and i told him... i was like brandon i swear it felt so real... then anna (one of our friends that was visiting) came down the stairs and said hey did you guys know there was an earthquake last night. so just a small experience i thought i would share with you

In Christ Alone

2009-09-11T11:05:00.003+02:00

“I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is.”

Albert Camus quotes

Wow....... thats a powerful statement made my a Existentialist. Camus would much rather follow what most people see as "strict" rules, and live a "good" life. because honestly if you live according to God.. you lose nothing, but on the other hand if you live a "bad" life and find that there is a God you lose everything.

Yay!!!

2009-09-04T14:03:00.003+02:00

We have a coordinator again.... for those of you that don't know our coordinator has been on furlow(spelling).. well we finally pick him up the other day.....thats all i have for you today....
Love you guys and miss you.....

Thank you so much

In Christ alone,

Evan Wayne Williams

Convegno

2009-08-30T17:02:00.001+02:00

Once a year in August the Italians have what is called Convegno... and its a meeting for any and all Churches of Christ in Italy, they all have an open invitation. Well Wednesday night the other three and I loaded up and headed to florence. Drove to the Huf villa outside of Scandicci, and started to meet people instantly. There were about 50 people that showed up ranging from nothern italy as Milano and as south as Taranto.

It was such a good spiritual uplift and opportunity to make connections with other churches.. one thing that excited me about the convegno was that there were other people closer to my age. most of my friends here are over 24 and some of them are my parents age....... weird i know. Despite the slight language barriers we managed to have some good laughs and conversations. Even thought all the lessons and classes were in Italian.... i got and understood a good third of what was going on which made me happy.

Overall the Convegno was an amazing experience i believe for all of those involved...

August Newsletter

2009-08-20T00:32:00.007+02:00

First off i want to apologize for not keeping in touch very well lately and i have no excuse for it and im sorry.... all my supporters and my congregation... you guys deserve this. alright... so for those of you who are not really familiar with the Italian culture August is the month that everyone takes off for vacation.. Its been like a ghost town around here lately.

Well being vacation month the team and I took a trip to Rome and Pompeii. There was so much to do and see..... it was a good couple days. In Rome we of course we went to the Coloseo... pictured above. It is so big and so fascinating walking through and around it... so much history... but Pompeii is what really got me...... i said before i walked in there that "Its just a bunch of Rocks"...... man was i wrong.... this was such a fascinating place.. so historical, a place frozen in time. the thing that got me the most was the bodies....a family buried together.
You could even see their facial expressions and some of thier bones........ there is one picture that i took that is a body of a man praying......this picture amazes me but it also brings out a few questions
1. Who were they praying to?
2. Would they normally pray or is it just in an emergency situation

I also got to hang out with my italian friends on some nights....

Since our congregation isn't having church during August, we went to the Florence congregation. its a church full of sweet people.
Over all i had such a good August and i want to thank all my supporters for making this possible

New Friends

2009-08-03T16:55:00.003+02:00

Alright!!!!!! i would just like to say that we are starting to make friends.... and it is so nice as much as i love my team and love to be around them it is nice to have someone else to talk to. In my opinion my Italian is still not very good... but i am starting to understand most of what people are saying i just really struggle with putting sentences together so that i can say what i want to say... so getting to talk with them is so good and refreshing for me someone that will correct me.

So when we went to language in June we met one a guy there by the name of Sandro, towards the end of june we went to Italia Wave you can read more about that in the previous post. But with his work schedule its hard for him to plan anything but we are still keeping contact and doing what we can. Then thanks to JaMarcus we were given a contact to a man named Patrizio. We met Patrizio in one of the squares in Prato, then met up with some of his friends and went to this hostile that on weekends is used as a place to hang out with friends we chilled there for a bit then went to a park and played soccer on a makeshift field using flip flops and the reflectors for car windshields . We had so much fun with these people.

Then the next day we went to a Birthday party with some of the friends that we played soccer with.... where we met some more friends...(its like a friends snowball). At this birthday party we had some good food prepared by an austrailian woman that is cousins with the birthday girl... and a chef on a yacht.. so needless to say the food was amazin and after chowin down water balloons start flying its pitch dark can barely see outlines... so much fun.... water flyin everywhere then we went to hang out at a pizzeria. went home rather late it was like 3 in the morning. Then Yesterday we met them at about five o clock the next afternoon and went to I Gigli which is what americans call a mall... hung out there for a while... it is more expensive here than in America and after that we went to florence or outside of florence really to this look out where you could see the whole city of florence and looked out and took pictures it was so beautiful up there .....

point of all this being is that i am super excited that we are making friends and things are starting to pick up here.....

AIMing to fulfill the Great Commission,

Evan Williams

ItaliaWave 2009

2009-07-17T19:40:00.005+02:00

Italia Wave Love Festival is an homage to Woodstock which for the past few years has been held in Livorno, Italy.... which is close to Pisa. We started off by meeting up with our Italian friend Sandro who speaks really good english and we were driving to Livorno and he started asking questions about the church and what the differences were between our church and catholics and so the whole hour ride thats what we discussed with sandro.... you see this is amazing because sandro was raise atheist. We got the to concert and there were lots of cool bands and we got to meet a bunch of Sandro's friends who all spoke decent english and it was so much fun to get to hang out and chill with cool people and listening to good music.... the concert lasted till 1 in the morning and we were so tired by the time we got home.... thats all i really have to say about that... thanks for listening

Praise God for Young People

2009-06-23T21:01:00.002+02:00

Yes i know im young too but you have to hear this story......
So back in March the rest of the team and I went to Houston for our challenge week and we did alot of activities with the youth group. One night i had a conversation with a particular kid named Corey Leighton, whose house we were staying at for a few nights. Well Corey is in Junior High, and we were talking and asked me a question that i didn't have the answer too nor have i ever thought about it... He inquired " Why don't Christians stand up for there faith and proclaim it.... why can't we be as willing to evangelize as people of other religions" and i couldn't give him an answer so i wonder why don't we have that tendency.... and even as a missionary apprentice i fail at this epicly sometimes by missing simple opportunities.

i have another lesson from this kid for another time but thats all i have for you right now. so remember to pray with me about having the eyes of Jesus when it comes to seeing opportunities to introduce them to the truth.

AIMing to fullfil the Great Commission,

Evan Williams

5 things you should know about Italy

2009-06-19T13:43:00.003+02:00

So iv'e in Italy for about a week now and there are some things that i have learned that i would like to share with you.

1. Bars and Pubs are places to eat...they serve alcohol too but the main purpose is eating
2. Italians unless driving are almost never in a hurry.... and almost never on time
3. breakfast can be anywhere from 7:30 to 10:30, lunch is from 1 to 3 and supper is from 8-? whenever everyone gets tired of sitting at the table.
4. Italy is the wrong place to be if you want to see trucks.... they don't really exist here
5. Guys be careful about smiling at girls... they will think you are hitting 0n them....

well thats all i got for now so there is more to come

AIMing to Fulfill the Great Commission,

Evan W. Williams

February Newsletter

2009-03-02T18:42:00.003+01:00

Mexico City

How does a thirty hour bus ride sound to everyone? Well that’s what we did to get to Mexico City. You may be asking yourself how you not get bored on a bus ride that is that long. I have a few answers.

1. Sleep
2. Read
3. Sleep
4. Homework
5. Sleep
6. Act like I know how to play the guitar
7. Say some random phrase like “Fat penguin” just to see who looks and what kind of conversation it will start.
8. Watch nacho libre (which is way better the second time)
9. Throw starburst at people while they are sleeping
10. Play would you rather
11. Play ISPY

But anyway enough about that there was a lot of things to see and do in Mexico City. When we first got to the pink house we were introduced to the missionaries that were living there. After we met them and they laid down some rules we headed to the hotel… well the guys anyway the girls stayed in the pink house.

On the first day we went out to a local park and handed out some fliers for a movie that they are going to show in tlalpan. It’s called the La Vida de Jesus (The Life of Christ) using the book of Luke to make a movie. They wanted us to invite everyone, and let them know it was free. Brandon and I thought we would try to evangelize a few Mexican kids that we saw at a playground, and all it took was taking out a hacky sack 1. and asking them quiere jugar? (Wanna play). I knew just enough Spanish to be able to talk to them… although I knew I that they had to be laughing at my awful accent and grammar. But we played hacky sack with them and just talked to them about why we were in Mexico, and they said they wanted to go to the movie so I gave them a flier and they said they will be there. Now that I think about it I wish I would have told them that I wouldn’t be…. We did the same thing the next day but for a different event, again I got to practice my Spanish. Hopefully I will pick up Italian pretty easy, which I want to thank Beth Hughes and Brian Conner for giving us private lessons….. back to Mexico.

There were some really cool things I got to see in Mexico.

This is one of the many Cathedrals or Catholic churches in Mexico City. This picture was taken on level ground the Basilica is actually leaning at that angle. Mexico City was built in a bowl of mountains and was once a giant lake so parts of the city is leaning and sinking because there is water under the foundations
Here is a pendulum that is hung in the middle of this Cathedral you can see how much the cathedral is leaning it started at the very right of the white tile and look where it is now. It is weird on the tile it shows the line that the pendulum has followed. It is something that we don’t see much in the states but in Mexico this is a very common sight…. To see a cathedral leaning.
This flag here is big enough to cover Row 10 in the apartment complex I live in. It was amazing…. I just wish that I could have got a picture of it while the wind was blowing it. This is in the courtyard of a palace that I will show you pictures of next.

This is the fountain in the one of the palaces we went to. This particular palace had murals all over the walls and I want you to be able to see them so check out my blog where I will have them posted. (evanwwilliams@hotmail.com)

To wrap things up I would like to say that I would love to go back to Mexico someday, maybe even for a couple of months. I love the people they were so open to talking to people, they are a very receptive people and very loving people. I miss being there sometimes, and I was only there for a few days, so I couldn’t imagine leaving if I was there for years.

Thanks again so much to all my supporters, can you believe its only two months before its time to go to the field….. its fixing to get busy around here with the trips we are going on in a few weeks. I love the fact that yall are still standing behind me. I pray for yall all the time and I hope yall do the same for me. I look forward to writing to yall again and I just want to say one more time I thank yall and love yall.

AIMing to Fulfill the Great Commission,

Evan Williams

January Newsletter

2009-01-30T21:44:00.001+01:00

Move-In:
I was very happy to be moved in to my new apartment!!!! There was so much clutter in the house from having all the stuff of three people ready to move out. The move actually went really smooth and took me only four trips to move all my stuff and then 3 hours to put everything in its place and arrange the room the way I wanted it. I have a really neat set up my desk/ study area in my room takes up almost an entire wall. Then my bed and dresser takes up a wall, leaving the rest of the room open. I got used to sharing my room with someone and now I have a room to myself so my room seems so big.
Mission Term Orientation:
Now we have been asked to not tell future AIMers about Mission Term Orientation so if you plan on coming to AIM in the future jump ahead to the next section titled Camp Adventure Weekend/ Sunset Workshop. Ok I will start off by listing the rules that we will have for a couple of months.
1. No Driving - we have to walk or ride the bus or a bike to school (They let us drive half way because of construction…. But I’ve been riding my bike the whole way…)
2. No Texting or IM Conversations (Except on Friday evenings and Saturday)
3. No Internet (unless its email, or a site assigned by the school)
4. No Eating Out- (Drinks and Desserts only)
5. No T.V., Movies, or any form of electronic entertainment
The Sunday before our first day back at school we were given a sheet with all these rules. It told us to be at the school at 8:00… so me and the rest of my team walked to school. They had the doors locked and a white board with a time on it….. it said 8:30 so we waited and thankfully they came on time…. They took us in and had us gathered in this room. Then they introduced us to the President of Mbalal Land this strange made up country. Oh by the way they did all of this in languages other than English.
Right after they introduced the President there was a hostile takeover by a military coup. They came in with guns and took away the president. When we came back into the room they was only one or two lights that were on and we had to apply for these fake passports. I was done and in line and I was reading the application making sure I had gotten everything done….. and in tiny print and the bottom it said black ink only valid color I had filled out the form in blue ink so I had to start all over…. I was halfway through filling it out for the second time when one of the assistants started griping at me in French and ripped up my application… so I finally got it filled out and got to move on to the next part…. They stole my wallet so I got lucky that I had one of the assistants on my side and he got it back from me. So I finally got a passport and was able to just relax and wait.
Finally everyone got a passport and we met in the diner and Kris Smith (AIM Director) gave us a big long speech in Slovak… then they gave us this unflavored oatmeal… which wasn’t too bad… I really enjoyed the toast they gave us which had Vegemite on it. It was really good If you got a piece of toast that had it spread thinly, but the ones that had it thick were so salty. It was definitely an experience.
Next when we were done eating we met on the basketball court and in Slovak explain our next activity which will be something very similar to the Amazing Race… it was called the AIMazing Race. We were to work in our teams to obtain three envelopes that were spread out through Lubbock each of them had a different address and we had a time limit. The first envelope was at Kris Smith’s house, and it led to a house on Cornell Street... there are three Cornell streets. Luckily we got it right the first time, because the teams that didn’t, ended up in East Cornell which not the greatest part of town to be in. We got all three envelops but we got in eleven minutes late. We did a really good job though we were the second team in and the first team walked around for hours and found nothing.
Camp Adventure Weekend:
I got to hang out with Dustin and Adam for a couple of days which was really awesome. I miss getting to see them. It was a great weekend, we got to go to a place called carpenters church which is a place for homeless people to come get off the street and have some fun playing pool, or watching movies or just sitting around talking with buddies. On one of the mornings we got to hear Trey speak to us which was awesome… I love listening to Trey preach or teach. It was just an over all fun week end and im looking forward to the week long camp. So I can see Dustin again.
Thanks:
I want to thank my supports both monetary and prayer wise, Ive told yall this before but I consider yall to be partners with me in my Adventures In Missions and I mean it. I look forward to getting to tell yall about Mexico city next month It will be great.

AIMing to Fulfill the Great Commission,

Evan W. Williams

Family Pics

2009-01-06T18:58:00.008+01:00

i just wanted to put up some pics of the people i love the most on here.

December Newsletter

2008-12-25T23:01:00.005+01:00

A lot of people have been asking me from the beginning people who have heard that I’m going to do mission work “So…. Where are you going?” Until now I have had to say “I don’t know…. I’ll know at Christmas.” So here it goes after waiting and much anticipation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… I’m going to PRATO, ITALY!!!!!!!!!! For those of who are not sure where Prato exactly is, it is in between Rome and Florence. So I hope you will take the time to Google this city. What I can tell you about it is that it is the third largest city in central Italy, only behind Rome and Florence.

But seeing as how I’m not going by myself I should take the time now and introduce you to my team.

Starting with the girl second from the right. This is Rachel Brown; she graduated at the age of sixteen and was a foreign exchange student to China. She is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, but she is one of the sweetest girls you will ever meet. So I will forgive her for the fact of her being from Oklahoma. She is so kind hearted; she hurts when other people hurt. But she can always….no let me say that with better emphasis… She can ALWAYS make people smile. It is so hard to be in a bad mood around Rachel. Rachel is like a bad mood cop and I thank her for writing me a few mood tickets. But I am so glad that Kris and Pat decided that she was needed in Italy.

Next is the girl sitting next to me. I’m sure a lot of you people remember Jessi Pope from the Australian group of AIM girls we had for four months. Well this is Kristen Pope Jessi’s cousin. Kristen is 19, and she is from Idaho…….. Of course she says it funny it sounds like (ohw-deoooo). But then again everything she says sounds funny….. she is from Idaho. One thing that I can definitely vouch about for Kristen is that she is a hard worker. She is the first to start and the last one to leave kind of person. She is constantly looking for something to do that will help people. I told her that was the way my dad raised me, and she looked at me funny and said mine too…. Bottom line is Kristen will work her fingers to the bone, thus making her an awesome addition to the team.

Next is the girl on the far right. Tracie Hunter just turned 20 on the 31st of December and she grew up in Hawaii for most of her life but for the last couple of years has lived in San Antonio, Texas. Now contrary to popular belief vegetables really are not that bad…. That is a lesson that Tracie has taught me. Most people would fault her for this but Tracie is a vegetarian. I like that fact because every time she cooks it means a healthy meal. She and her sister make a mean vegetarian lasagna… and yall are going to laugh at me when I say this but here it goes…. I like the vegetarian version of lasagna better. Tracie is very precise and logical when it comes to things…. This is something I need to work on. She likes to think things through when it comes to making decisions. Proving herself more than needed on Team Italy.

Ok those are the girls on my team….. Ya’ll were beginning to think it was me and a bunch of girls huh….. I have one more teammate.

Now the only other guy at the table. His name is Brandon Tribbett; he is the one of the two oldest in our class at the age of 24. Since Jedda the other 24 year old came after Brandon we have rightly named Brandon…. Grandpa. Now Grandpa is what you would call an easy goer. I don’t think there is anything Grandpa likes more than an empty house, a cup of hot tea, and some music playing low while he sits on his favorite couch and just chills. He doesn’t realize it or he won’t admit to it but he is one to think on a deeper level than everyone else. For him it seems that the simple answer isn’t enough there has to be some more to it. I don’t always look for the deeper meaning in things…. Sometimes my thinking is shallow but Grandpa is helping me understand that there is usually more to things than what you see the first time. He also has a way of calming me down putting me in a very relaxing mood. Grandpa will be a good roommate and teammate he will definitely stretch my mind and attitude.

Ok Christmas Break was a good break. Santa brought me this really nice 21 speed mongoose bike.... except mine is silver and black and grey and bright orange. So i guess im set for transportation during mission term. Which i will explain mission term in a later post on my blog. my parents bought me some very much needed warm clothes.

Im very excited about my team, and my field and I want to thank!!!!! all my supporters once again.

AIMing to fulfilling the great commission,

Evan Williams

November Newsletter

2008-12-01T07:53:00.003+01:00

Wow it seems like November went by really fast. We have been really busy studying for mid-terms. I am really enjoying my classes, iv'e learned so much in just the new term. Not a whole lot happened in november.

Okay so there is something that i did that i have been wanting to do for a really long time. I got to go home finally i had been wanting to before thanksgiving. I didn't get enough time before that to go home. I was way to busy to come home. It was so good to go home though. I got to sleep on my own bed! and getting to see my family all at once again was amazing. The thanksgiving turkey was amazingly good .

Getting to go back to my home congregation was such an awesome time. I guess i didn't realize how much i missed you guys until i actually saw yall. The hugs and handshakes were better than ever... i feel deprived of this on Sunday, the ones i get at clovis are good but they are nothing like what i got at home.

Okay im totally excited about finding out about fields and who we are going with very soon. Im not sure where im going but wherever i go i think that it will be totally awesome. So please pray for all the AIMers this is totally a stressful time for us.

Again i love you guys so much.

AIMing to fulfill the Great Commission,

Evan Williams

Technological Tiedown

2008-11-10T18:09:00.004+01:00

Have you seen any of the nooma video's.... and im not talking about the guy dancing to the japanese song... im talking about the videos that Rob Bell is talking about things in life that he thinks affects his spiritual life and tries to apply them to other people.... this particular video struck me cause it is so true and apply to my generation and most of the generation before me. This video is called noise, Rob is talking about how we are so tied up with technology that we don't have quiet time with God anymore. I have a question for you guys. At this very moment can you tell me where your bible is? How about your cell phone or Ipod? My youth minister about a month before i left asked everyone to take out their cell phones and ipods and pile them up in the front of the room.... it was a big pile. Then he asked everyone to hold up their bibles, and only about half of the kids had their bibles.... me included. It made me think " why don't i know where the important things in my life are. Since AIM i have not seen that problem, atleast not from AIMers. Iv'e done way better about almost constantly having my bible on me or close in the house or vehicle. Back to the video... Silence is important if you want quiet time with God. I took a vow of silence for two days... and if you know me at all you know that is so difficult for me, because i love to talk. Probably way to much, especially if it's something im knowledgable about, like skateboarding, and, now im happy to say im getting that way with my bible.

I want to challenge you to take some time to pray to God. My Life of Christ teacher Pat Schaeffer made this what he called a Life Assignment. Go off by yourself and pray for an hour and then go home again be by yourself, and write down your feelings and thoughts about your time..... i promise you will feel so good afterward... or at least i did....

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

2008-11-03T05:30:00.004+01:00

Well i was having trouble with emailing my newsletters to people so im going to try this and hope it works better.

The month of October felt so much like one big trip for me. Before i start on the Paducah trip i want to say i got my report card back and i got two a's and two b's, i was really excited about it and hope that yall will share in my excitement.

Paducah, KY where to start, where to start? Well i guess i can start with the number of 10 days through 9 states and over 40 hours on a bus.... then add no sleep night the night before.... me and a group of friends decided to stay up all night.... we left at 5:30 in the morning. I had a lot of time to sleep on the bus.... beleive it or not the floor of a bus is one of the most comfortable places i have ever slept. We made our first stop in St. Louis, Missiouri, the arch was so cool.

and i went to a museum it was so awesome. i would really love to go again sometime.

Then after that we went to Lone Oak Church of Christ for a few days. LOCoC is such a loving congregation, they made me feel like i was home again. which made me miss you guys more than i already did. I got to do my first flag presentation as an AIMer..... my first one was with the 07 class in childress. Holding the flag of a nation that is not your own, to me is a powerful thing. Just knowing that each flag represents over a million lost people.

Mike Tenero was there to teach a class about loving the lost like Christ would. He again as expected did an amazing job, he is such an eloquent speaker.

Ok so we got into a little bit of trouble while in Paducah, apparently they were under a burn ban in KY........ We did not know this, and the church asked us to burn a bunch of old broken/ unfixable furniture. Fire Department wasn't too happy but we told them we were from Texas and they left and told us to be careful.

On the way back home we got to stop in Montgomery, AL for the World Missions Workshop at Faulkner University, which had some awesome classes that we sat through. there was a lot of people on this little bitty campus.

Yea!!!!!! for buses breaking down in Dallas. Our bus broke down and by the time we left from the church parking lot and got home it was 2:00 in the morning, but the good side of that is that they cancelled school the next day so it gave me a day to regroup .

My new classes are Acts taught by Ray Young, Romans taught by Charles Speer, New Testament Church taught by Victor Ellison, and Spiritual Nurturing taught by Jay Jarboe and Our own James Henderson. Im really excited about our new classes.

Okay the most stressful time for me will start next week and end right before Christmas break..... The Directors will start the team/ field selection. I know that God will put me in a place im needed and people that are best for me to work with. So i ask please pray for me because i will definitly need the prayers.

Thats all for this newsletter but please feel free to contact me 940 \585/ 8147

AIMing to fulfill the great commission

Evan Wayne Williams

Differences in Worship

2008-09-05T23:06:00.004+02:00

Before you turn away from this post i would like to say it has nothing to do with peoples affiliation with any churches. When i talk about difference in worship i mean that everyone has thier own ministry. No matter how little bible knowledge you have God has given you a talent that you can use to bring people to Christ. Even dancing... as James (one of the AIMers) will demonstrate in this video.

first AIM class

2008-08-14T00:24:00.003+02:00

wow classes were pretty good and i learned so much in just the first day.... infact my brain hurts...and i am already loaded up with reading assignments..... so i can definitly use some prayers ya'll

im back

2008-08-10T07:15:00.002+02:00

so i have totally been busy with work and other stuff. But i haved moved into my apartment and i now have a laptop so i will be able to post again. Im so pumped for AIM.

Round Two

2008-05-16T16:10:00.004+02:00

I Got a new Vehicle Mitsubishi Montero Sport.....dont worry ill try not to wreck this one.

New Phone

2008-05-13T15:23:00.002+02:00

I am very excited that i got a new phone yesterday....because i didnt even know i was getting one until after school.....funny story that involves Trey. i sent a mass text yesterday to 10 people including what i thought was trey's phone. My phone said that i was getting a call from Trey and i pick it up and my grandma answers turns out i had a dislexic momemt and accidentally put my grandma's number for trey's

Have you had any weird phone experiences.

2008-04-22T18:05:00.003+02:00

I have i guess you could call it a guest blogger today....it is actually a comment left on my blog by Kai...whose story is in my post Simple invitation. But i just absolutely think that you should hear what she has to say. you might want to read the post simple invitation first.

This, is Kai.:) **for the record, there was no "husband" issue, my :husband: had been out of the picture a while back, but it is true... I had been deeply depressed and had planned on killing myself that night after eating dinner, but Derrin was so persistant that it made me feel bad to even think of saying no to him. It means alot to me now that on that day, over a month ago- he was brave enough to talk to me. I dove into the LOVE of CHRIST and I haven't looked back since. IT was GOD's timing... and I AM THANKFUL to GOD that he puts people in this world that have LOVE enough to LISTEN to his WORDS and DO as he INSTRUCTS. NOW, I am DAILY involved heavily with the LORD, and planning on going to AIM with you this August! YOU are a great person Evan, and I thank God for you daily! Please remember, for anyone who reads this, sometimes you may have the slightest "interaction" with someone and it may end up being a "life" changing event, in this case, it was not only LIFE changing, it was LIFE SAVING... Hear what GOD says, DO as he ASKS you, and please know that though you may feel a bit out of place doing so, just "showing" that you "care" may be the *ANSWER* to some much needed prayers...:)

Why Should I ?

2008-04-18T17:15:00.005+02:00

Before i start my actual post i have a Question.......Could the World handle two of me.

Alot of times when we are asked to do something we question why. some questions we usually ask are..........
1What is in it for me?
2Is It hard?
3Does it require alot of time?
4Does it require alot of energy.

Why Should We Pray?
- Its our only Communication w/ the Big Guy...well for us to talk to Him.
-The only thing hard about it is finding the words you want to say.
- For some people it does take alot of time.
-Not anymore energy is spent than having a normal conversation.

Why Should We Read Our Bibles?
-It's God's way of speaking to us and the only way we can know what he wants.
-98% of Americans are literate.....so it can't be too hard.
-It only takes as long as you want it to.
-Well I don't know about you but it gets pretty tough sometimes to turn pages.

Why Should We Sing?
- To praise God.
-no one says you have to be good.
-I guess it could
-Not unless you really get into it.

AIM Support

2008-03-31T17:37:00.002+02:00

If there is anyone out there that wants to support someone going into the aim program or if you know any one that does i would greatly appreciate an email address, phone number or mailing address....something to get ahold of you i will send my Resume, How and Where to Send Support Money Sheet, and my Why I Want To Go To AIM Letter. I would greatly appreciate any help i could get.

Im Going to D.C.

2008-03-25T14:55:00.002+01:00

a few months ago i went for an interview to see if i could go on an all expenses paid trip to washington D.C. for a week and visit the nations capital and stuff. Well the valedictorian of my class beat me out of the spot....but i got alternate. Luckily one of the districts couldn't find someone or something of that sort so they pooled the alternates together and i was drawn out so im going to D.C. with Rachel H.

My Why I Want To Go To AIM Letter

2008-03-24T16:48:00.003+01:00

I’m one of a whole lot of words…. as long as they’re coming out of my mouth but me trying to put them on paper doesn’t always work out just real well. I will however in the best interest of the person who gets to read this try to make it interesting and not like the other 80 or so they may also be having to read.

In a world of AIMers one man… Oh wait, the story can’t start like that. AIM is a teamwork thing. One group stands together in a struggle that has been around for a long, long time…. Non-believers. It’s not our place to condemn, them not in the least, but to help them see Jesus and understand that he is always there for him. So we as AIMers have to go in with our guns drawn and firing....(director) “Wait that’s not how it goes.” (me) “Well do you want the story to be interesting or do you want it to be true?
(director) “Well…so far it’s neither. We don’t have to take any shots at non-believers, and in fact it would be the totally wrong thing to do.”

I first knew about AIM through Teenage Crusade for Christ (TCC); AIM always had a booth there, and I would always take the really neat key chains and not think a thing about it. If I had known at that time in my life that I would want to do AIM it would have made things so much easier for me. I like the fact that AIM is giving me an opportunity to do what I think I have a knack for which is meeting new people and sharing my beliefs and letting them know where I come from and where Im headed in life. If your around me for more than five minuets you will learn quickly that I am a very social butterfly and maybe a little to much some times because ive been the token annoying kid before.

AIMers came to Childress last year to do service projects and I was in awe of how sure they were in what they were doing. How they showed you Jesus just by the way they acted and talked and treated one another. How everyone just got along so well. Christian means little Christ or Christ like and the AIMers were just that.

One of the main reasons I want to go to AIM and probably the biggest one is that I can help others begin there walk with Christ while I grow closer to God and learn more about his awesomeness. Everyone needs to grow closer to God. In my opinion no one is done spiritually growing until they are walking close enough to hold God’s hand. Which I’m not sure if anyone can achieve that. That’s were I hope to come in help people reach out to Him.

simple invitation update

2008-03-24T15:06:00.002+01:00

I talked to Kai (the simple invitation girl) and told her about my blog and you need to read the comment she put on Simple Invitation her comment is more powerful than the post is.

Do Not Fear

2008-03-10T13:59:00.004+01:00

rI've gotten to the point where not a whole lot scares me anymore. Things on tv that would have given me nightmares for weeks when I was a little kid I could now probably laugh at. Roller-Coasters were the worst though, my dad made me ride one on a vacation once when I was about 13 and I remember bawling as if I was going to die, and my little brother Jakob maybe at age 7 at the time was in my mom’s arms crying. and i was wondering why is he crying . Then i look back at him and i hear him say "mom why can't I ride" The bible says to fear the Lord in Deuteronomy 6:13
You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.

I don’t think that it is a terror kind of fear but an acknowledgment of his might control and power. It is also one of the seven gifts of the holy spirit in Isaiah 11: 2-3 A respect thing but more often the Bible tells us, Do not Fear, infact it says do not fear 365 times. Now ive also heard that it takes 21 days to make something a habit or to break a habit. That’s one do not fear for every day of the year yet we are still afraid.

1 Peter 3:14
But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."

Isaiah 54:4
"Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

A Simple Invitation

2008-02-11T16:35:00.000+01:00

well ive mentioned Derrin a few times in the last month and kept putting his story off.....here it is. It was friday morning in Lubbock, Texas and we were rushing around to get onto the bus. We made it. there was a lady sitting next to Derrin, and as she said herself "im not one that looks approachable". She really didn't with several pearcings and orangish hair. she was kinda scary looking. That didn't stop Derrin, he turned around and said " Hi im Derrin" and she replied halfway teared up and sobbing " My names Kay" and at that point i lost all concentration and spaced out...when i finally came back to Earth it was just in time to here Derrin say "hey why don't you come to church with me" and she agreed to come with us and she stayed all weekend and turns out that Kay was 24 years old and had four kids .....im not sure but i think there was a husband issue of kind. She talked with derrin that day and on saturday night Kay decided to be baptized. So Derrin took her confession and baptized her. Afterward she said to us that she was feeling lost and cofused and Derrin totally changed her life just by saying "hey why don't you come to church with me."

thats why Derrin amazes me he has an urge to talk to people to see if they are a Christian or not so that maybe if there not he can tell them about Jesus. This world needs more Derrins so that we can help the Kays of this world. Cause you and people around you know that even though you may be a Derrin now you were once a Kay sometime in your life. Im sure you remember how good it felt when you first had Jesus working through you and when you were baptized ohhhhh such a feeling..........so im challenging you to be a Derrin and look for the Kays of this world......i can garantee they are out there.
Parents who dont know about AIM Click the link in parentheses (AIM) it would be a good thing for you kids if thats something they are into mission work.

Sweet Action

2008-02-04T15:37:00.000+01:00

PATRIOTS LOST!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO GLAD THEY DID NOT GET A PERFECT SEASON, WITH THE WAY MY PARENTS WERE YELLING YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE COWBOYS WERE PLAYING. WHO ELSE IS GLAD THE PATS LOST.

10 People That Amaze Me

2008-01-31T15:58:00.000+01:00

There are some people that i know that simply Amaze me. No Particular Order

Trey Morgan- I'm always put in a good mood around him.
Teresa Whitaker- She is such a sweet lady.
Matraca Moore- She has this need to help people and i love it.
Miranda Dean- Always always makes me laugh.
Sue Henderson- I don't think I've ever heard her say anything negative.
Darrin.......ummmm- well i can't tell you why just yet but you will know soon next post maybe.
Kayla.........ummmm- Just as Miranda she makes me laugh, the way she sings its hilarious.
Mr. Hickenbottom from Henrietta- looks like Jesus as Trey said inside and out.
John Henderson- He always has amazing lessons for us in bible class ..when he substitutes for Nate.
Cooper Morgan- he always seems happy to see me

I want to thank all you people for blessing my life. I hope that I have in return been able to bless your life

Most Amazing Weekend Ever

2008-01-28T15:04:00.000+01:00

My weekend actually started on Thursday when Nate and Kristen Bundy loaded up Miranda, Matraca, and I .....The trip started off w/ watching movies until Jaxon begged for !Pablo!Pablo!
(sounded like palo).....Kristen finally gave in and we watched backyardigans which is such a weird show by the way.....but i guess its good for little kids. We got to Sunset Youth House and JJ Blevin was speaking (who btw left right after he got done speaking to be the new leadsinger of Acapella) we ate some good spaghetti.The theme was BE Holy. Humble. Heard. Then went were everyone else was and found out who we were rooming with. Miranda and Matraca roomed with the Albanian girls (Aimee, Kayla, and Jessica) and i roomed with the Albanian guys (Derrin, Dan, Tyler). Derrin took me to Skate Ranch to skate. I have never used those 4-wheeled skates before.....it was kinda difficult. Next morning i wake up at 7:30 eat and get ready to get on the bus. Derrin meets an girl named Kay on this bus (but im going to save that story for a lesson....dont want to wear the story out). We arrive at Sunset and have an amazing devo (speaker was Thomas a missionary from Thailand.)......After that it was lunch time.Then It was time for service projects. Each team did a certain. The team i was with team Albania....We helped the Smiths which are Aimee's grandparents move a bunch of stuff so they could move in with there son Chris who is awesome by the way....has to be he is related to kristen. We moved a lot of stuff but had so much fun doing it. Chris bought all of us starbucks afterwards...ummmm frappacinos. Saturday was the same way....until the end and we all got together real close and sang Chris had us sing low so that we could say things that we were thankful for while we were singing. Every one had tears in there eyes including me i wasn't ready to leave. went back to the apartments and acted goofy until nate showed up to get us.....and on the way home i played with matraca's hair which is really soft and had a nice two and a half hour conversation. got home at 1:30 probably. woke up went to church listened to Trey give an amazing lesson like always. Ate lunch with my mamaw and papaw and left for Henrietta at 12:30 for SNL. Had a good time and got back at 10:30 last night........wow im getting tired just reading about my weekend........I need to find time to catch up on sleep.

Riddle

2008-01-22T15:08:00.000+01:00

im hard to get but easy to lose. Everyone wants it but not many give it. I can get you places you never thought you'd be. I can help you make friends.

If you get the answer let me know. or if you want to know i will comment it on your site.

David was a boy who found favor in the kings eyes and eventually everyone else's to the point that in fact more people liked David than Saul. One day David was playing his harp to calm Saul down because he was in a bad mood. When suddenly the spear that was in Saul's hand was hurled through the air towards David. He ducked in time to make the spear crash into the wall. David knew that Saul has made up his mind to kill him. So David ran into the woods and lived a very hard life sleeping in caves. One day Saul decided to take a nap in a cave and it just happened to be the cave that David was hiding in. His men said kill him but he said no. He walked over and cut off a corner of his coat. When Saul woke up and was leaving the cave David shouted "the lord my king." " David is that you my son" replied Saul. David said " you must believe that I do not wish to harm you." and holds up the the piece of Saul's coat. " May God bless you in everything you do for the Lord delivered me into your hands and you didn't kill me ." Even through all the tears David knew that Saul's mind had not changed.

Basketball

2008-01-18T17:03:00.000+01:00

I assume that since you are reading this blog that you have Internet access.... well if you have nothing to do tonight you can go to the school website using this link. Where i will be filming and streaming the game live. so if you are stuck at home and can't go i encourage you to use this link....or if your a homebody and you cant stomach to be around all those people. this a great way to watch the basketball games.

LTC

2008-01-14T15:43:00.003+01:00

well believe it or not it is already time for LTC which is very fun but very time consuming.

As angles rejoice

2008-01-08T16:42:00.000+01:00

my pap'a yesterday decided to give his life to Christ and my Uncle was rebaptized. Before we left Trey said something i like and i have heard it before but its a good verse. (paraphrased) the angels in heaven rejoice more over one person that is baptized and saved than 99 righteous who don't need saving. i am very proud of them in there decision. I love them now and always will. Thanks to Trey for taking time out of his day for two very special people. Thanks for baptizing my uncle and the fatman.

Christmas

2007-12-28T18:25:00.000+01:00

well........ive been quite for a while and to be perfectly honest for a while i forgot about my blog.......with that being said i hope everyone had a wondeful Christmas and i wish you a happy new year... I got that Sony Cyber-shot camera i wanted and have been playing with it alot.

One-Act Play

2007-12-18T16:55:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Bo Helm deciding not to do one-act...im not sure why...but i get the part he had. The play is The Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward. for those of you who don't know here is a summary of the story.(we get British accents......too cool)
the book is set in Kent, London at the condomine's mansion. Mr. Charles Condomine who is an avid writer ....and drinker wants to write a book about a psychic/medium that is a fake. Dr. Bradman (thats me) and my wife violet have arranged for a patient of mine to meet at the Condomine's to perform a Sceonce (spelling) so that charles could get a feel for the atmosphere and the way that the medium would react. Using a song that Charles did not want to use.... but wouldn't tell why. Madam Arcoti(the medium) accidentlly call Elvira who is Charles' first wife. through out the play Elvira tries to kill charles off but accidentally killed Ruth Charles' second wife....so instead of having one dead wife haunting him he has two......poor guy.

We have festival in feb. which will be just like a dress rehearsal but w/ an audience.
so im looking forward to it.

Things Im Wanting for Christmas

2007-12-17T15:18:00.000+01:00

Santa: Sony Cybershot Digital Camera or a PS2

DVD's
CD's
um.........well i think thats it honestly thats all i want

He Who Believes

2007-12-07T16:20:00.000+01:00

“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;”- John 11:25

Jesus was talking to Martha when he said this. Martha is the sister of Lazarus, who in this passage has recently died and later in the text is raised from the dead because of the faith of Martha. "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20). I'm not sure if you know it (i only know because of Trey) Is very very very small and if we have the faith as small as that me can move mountains. That is an amazing thought to me.

Kids Are Americans Too

2007-12-05T16:00:00.000+01:00

well i started reading that book and it was okay but the further i got the more he repeated himself so i could not handle it.....sorry but i will start posting short devos.

Kids Are Americans Too- Chapter 1

2007-11-29T15:10:00.000+01:00

Chapter 1 is about how as kids we need to be good Americans and respect the Rights of others. And to learn where our rights end....and thats where others begin.

and i thought it was worth mentioning that tonight is the night that the cowboys will have a 10-2 record ...thanks to my boys......the pack, favre is going to kill tonight....he's unstoppable.

2007-11-28T17:11:00.000+01:00

I have as of yesterday started reading a book called Kids Are Americans Too by Bill O'Reilly and Charles Flowers. here is what the back of the book says: "Attention Young Bloviators.... Kids Are Americans Too! And that means you have rights just like everybody else. But it's not enough to just say you have them. You have to know what those rights are...and are not!
Lucky for you, Bill O'Reilly is back, opining for kids on that very subject-your legal rights.
Delving into some of the most constroversial court cases of our time, O'Reilly and his coauthor Chorles Flowers show you how the best of you are advocating for your own rights and respecting the rights of others while the worst o you (and many adults too) are just mouthing off.
While this book was written specifically for you kids, smart parents and educators should read it too!
Things have changed a lot since they were your age, and knowng where one person's rights end and another's begin is the key to success in class, at home, at work, online, and just about everywhere else in this free country of ours. So read on and let people know what you think."

so i will keep you updated and let you know what iv'e learned.

My To-Do List

2007-11-27T17:17:00.001+01:00

Fill out all AIM Forms
Make sure that all my AIM recommendations from Preacher (Trey), and Elder, and a Church Member are all filled out and sent.
Start Finding Support for AIM.
College Algebra Homework. (ahhhhhhhhhh) I love it (sarcasm sarcasm)
Study for Government Test. It will be easy though.
Call Ariel and tell her Happy 18th Birthday. I didn't forget ... I messaged her on myspace but i need to call her.
Convince my parents i need a new car/truck.
Try to quit blogging during school hours.
Conquer(spelling?) my blogging addiction.
Go to work
Do laundry and probably clean my room

Things Im Thankful For

2007-11-26T15:56:00.000+01:00

well its after thanksgiving but i am going to make the list anyway

my family in Childress.
my family in East Texas.
My Grandmother's ability to cook.
Who ever came up w/ the idea of deep frying turkeys.
being able to blog at school.
time off from school.
a good football season.
Good fellowship at trey's last night

Puzzling question ....at least to me

2007-11-21T18:10:00.000+01:00

most of the time I am going to try to write more in my post but today I just have a question....When did we (America) become "One nation under (don't you dare say) God?
can someone answer that, it would help alot.

New friends

2007-11-20T20:18:00.000+01:00

I just started my blog this morning and i already have someone i dont know commenting my blog and that is just what i wanted people to discover my blog leave comments so that we can get to know each other. That is amazing, thank you stacie I look forward to getting to know you and maybe encouraging you with my lessons that will eventually get posted and also at the same time learn stuff from your point of view if it is different from mine.

Birth of a Blog

2007-11-20T16:25:00.000+01:00

I have lately started reading blogs of people that i know and respect, people such as Trey Morgan , Jacob and Amanda Henderson , and Eben Emerson, and Jeff Foster. All people who i have heard preach and enjoy being around. So I thought that i would try the whole blog thing and see if i can meet more inspirational people to befriend and maybe help me come closer to God.