CIY and VBS

Just a couple videos for your enjoyment. Sorry about the poor quality.

Justin and Megan Sing "Angel" at CIY


If you get a chance check out what that song is about. It's a sad story that really happened. It is just a reminder of how important it is to be there for your friends and families.

On a lighter note:

Fun+Dry Ice= VBS


Jared Hudson and I lucked out helping with that. Man that was sweet!

Graduate Recognition

This is the video we showed on Sunday to recognize our graduates and their accomplishments. Way to Go class of 2008!

Counterfeit Money

Can you tell a fake when you see it? Here is a website that the Secret Service offers to help people spot fake money. Here is another link about a guy who actually created a counterfeit bank that fooled a lot of people and stole around 650,000 cash money. That is a pretty serious fake. I think most of us though would like to think we are pretty good at spotting a fake.

At Rēl Community on Sunday Night we will be having conversations about Authentic Faith. Not the counterfeit stuff. Haven't we all met people who know how to put a good church face on, but when the cards are down they don't resemble a Christian at all? Or people who are good at pretending that everything is alright, but we all know that things are really a mess.

It is safe to say that all of us are fake in one way or another. Who really doesn't spend part of their day 'acting' like someone they are not. I'll admit that I do it. What is important though is to realize that and be honest about it. Do we have a faith that is real? Or is our faith just another one of our masks that we wear every now and again to fool people?

The Untippable Chair

So check this out. A teacher in London by the name of Tom Wates quit his job to design a chair. He said he was sick and tired of students leaning back in their chairs. He decided he wanted to design a chair that made it impossible to tip back any further than 5cm. I don't think it looks that scary to me. In fact it looks like a chair. Still the idea of a teacher quitting his job to keep you from tipping back in your chair is VERY scary.

CIY Believe Day 1

Alright the first day has been great. We had a safe trip and got front row seats for our first few sessions. We met up the Ben Orcutt at one of the local parks before Believe today too. It was a lot of fun. Some of us even walked to the IHOP by our hotel tonight mmmmmm pancakes at 12am. Thanks for all of your prayers for us here. Keep it up! Here are some pictures enjoy!

Update from Brittany Orcutt in the Dominican Republic

Brittany emailed us an update on how things are going and how we can be praying for her. She is doing some pretty exciting stuff. Whenever you can take a second to pray for her, and the people that she is serving.

Well today I stuck my finger in a hernia! It was great! There is a medical team here from Louisville that is doing 27 surgeries over the next couple of days. They came Sunday and it is been busy ever since. I was able to scrub in to one of the surgeries, which means that I was completely sterile so I could touch the patient and everything. I was able to see the hernia and put my finger in it. I also got to hold things and cut things. It was so exciting and has made me more confident about choosing nursing. Tomorrow I think I will scrub in for a hernia of a 5 month old, and a gull bladder removal! We are working at the medical clinic next to the church, where I started working. The staff is letting us use some of the recovery rooms and the surgical room. Some of the patients have been from the church and the surrounding community and a few from Santo Domingo. But for those who live close we have been able to give them information about the church and start planting seeds. So it feels wonderful to be fulfilling physical along with spiritual needs.

Before the American team came I was working at a rehabilitation clinic and a hospital. I loved working at the rehab center, all the employees are so great and really love their jobs. They do physical therapy for children and adults. Some come in with birth defects and some have had accidents. There are a wide range of people so it is really fun to work with them. I have learned a lot of stretches and ways to work the muscles. In the hospital I have been observing some of the same things as in the clinic. But after my experience with the American team I will hopefully be able to do more. I am learning more about IVs and may put one in tomorrow. It is a lot easier to learn how to do things in English then it is in Spanish. So this group came just in time! It has been great working along side of them.

I have also continued helping with the English lessons and have stayed busy with different church activities. Next week is holy week so I am not sure how much work I will be doing. And on Thursday the teens of the church are going to camp for the Easter weekend. I am looking forward to that a lot. It will be a great time to get to know the church youth better, and a good spiritual growth time for everyone.

If you could pray for the patients that we have worked on, that they will all recover quickly. And that the seeds we have planted will grow and flourish, and that God will begin to work in their lives. Also if you could begin praying for the camp. That it will challenge the youth and that God will grow in them. That they will have complete faith and trust in Him and that God will restore their lives.

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement and enjoy the snow!!!

Brittany

Vintage Jesus

I was thinking this morning while I sipped my coffee and munched on my Honey Bunches of Oats (Mmm those Honey Bunches). Don't be surprised, I do try to think every now and then. Here is what I was thinking about: Jesus is, without question is THE defining person in the history of the world, and he accomplished that feat before electricity was even discovered.

I know, you are probably saying to yourself, " Matt, you are a genius! How long did it take you to realize that Jesus didn't have an outlet to plug his blender into?" Give me a second though because that is not exactly what I am saying.

Imagine a man who never went to far from his home (Give or take a hundred miles), never wrote a book (Others wrote about him though), never held public office, and his only actual paying job was as a handyman. If you had to guess from my description, you would think that I was describing the guy who works in appliances at Home Depot. That, however is not the guy I am talking about.

Jesus changed the world with nothing else besides His actions, and His dedication to His Father God. Jesus did not need a video podcast to get his message out, he didn't even need a microphone so he could be heard. Jesus did big things in little everyday ways. Without electricity, internet, cell phones, satellite TV, Jesus changed the world. He didn't even have a campaign manager or a speech writer either.