GO2 Church Planting Ministries

Hopefully this finds you winding down a long week.  Please join us in praying for:

• The victims and families from this morning's shooting at NYC's Empire State Building.
• Those in the path of Hurricane Isaac, especially Haiti.
• Our GO2 Ministries board members, who will be travelling for our Fall Meeting happening this Monday, August 27. Pray for traveling mercies and focus as we meet.

What are you praying for today?  Tell us. Become a Circles of Grace prayer partner and literally increase your circle of prayer.

The results are in and we're thrilled to share that the first GO2-sponsored Hope Sunday was a huge success. 

Hope for Haiti Sunday, held January 29, 2012 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, courtesy of www.HaitiCure.com, benefitted Haitian children, their parents and pastors.

78 Haitian children will be sponsored through World Vision. These sponsorships will not only better the lives of these children and their parents, but it's expected to extend to over 400 over their neighbors via community development.

10 Parent Sponsorships were gained through Partners Worldwide.  These sponsorships provide business training for job creation. The hope is that this will result in 50-100 new jobs over time.

7 pastors received scholarships for accredited degrees through The Antioch School. This alone will result in another 700 pastors and leaders receiving subsequent training.

GO2 Ministries is humbled and full of praise to God for providing for Haiti and its people in this way! 

The following is a post from Tuesday, January 24, 2012 by our Director of Integrated Ministries, Dru Dodson.

TWELVE BASKETS

I'm anticipating preaching in Haiti next Sunday. I almost always get asked to preach. You know, the white guy shows up so let's ask him to bring the message. I'd usually rather listen and participate and try to learn something from Christians in a different culture. But this time I've got a passage on my mind I can't shake - Jesus feeding the 5000. You know the story. There are 5 moves in the story that are speaking to me, I think will speak to Haitians, and I hope will speak to us here in the U.S. Here's the sermon "outline" I'll have in my head:

1. The first move in the story is that Jesus sees the crowd and has Compassion. In spite of the fact that He was trying to get away for some rest and they chased Him down. When we see a mob of sinners, especially folks who are interrupting our plans - is our first move Compassion?

2. When the disciples report that the crowd is hungry, He looks at them and says "You feed them." This seems to be the normal way needs get met. By us. Not by turning rocks into bread. Or by manna appearing like dew in the morning. Jesus disciples get the assignment - the Responsibility -  to feed the hungry.

3. Jesus doesn't focus on the need! They're hungry. But there's no calculation of "how much food would it take?" No listing of "how many people are here?" Instead He asks "What do you HAVE?" It's pitifully inadequate. 5 loaves and 2 fishes. But that's what's in their hands. How would it change our lives if we quit reciting needs and starting listing our Assets - no matter how small. And then . . .

4. He asks them to hand over what little they do have.  "Bring it to me." I mean, at least by stealing the little boy's lunch the 12 disciples could have a little supper to hold them over for the walk back to a village. And now, though having little, they're being asked to have nothing. By entrusting it all to Jesus' use - Submitting to His leadership and lordship. Feel the point coming?

5. He blesses it, gives it back to them (hooray!) and instructs them to give it away (uh-oh). Radical Generosity. Radical trust required.  And in their Generosity, the 5000 are fed. And twelve baskets are left over. Enough for a basket full for each one of them . . . Jesus economics.

Seems to me that Compassion, Responsibility, Asset-focus, Submission and Generosity might change me. Us. And Them. What do you think?

Posted by Dru at 3:59 PM

via www.kingdomroundtable.blogspot.com

Also visit http://www.haiticure.com/Home.html for more on Dru's work in Haiti.

Prayers for Haiti.  That was the phrase that echoed following the devastating earthquake one year ago today. The earthquake caused the death of nearly a quarter of a million people, injured over 300,000 and left over a million more homeless.*  In a culture where we're too often distracted by the next news cycle, it's a phrase we need to keep in the forefront.

Since the earthquake Haiti its people have endured continued infrastructure issues, rainy seasons, hurricanes, and a cholera outbreak. And yet, Haiti's people are resilient, as evidenced in this photo essay from The Boston Globe.

GO2 teamed with World Vision in April of 2010 to send a relief team, and a second team followed in August.  GO2 is commited to continuing this work in 2011.  The nation and its people are still in dire need.  To learn how you can partner with GO2 to continue providing relief to Haiti and her people, visit the Justice+Mercy section of our website.  And most of all, please pray.

*  Figures from Haiti:  One Year Later White House Blog entry by Patrick Gaspard, Director of White House Office of Political Affairs, 1/12/2011