From Tim Keller’s talk and using the art of Gustave Doré (1832-1883):

HT:JT

Sorry this is our first update after being a week in, but internet access is unreliable and we haven't had much time to slow down.  We are so excited to be partnered with Pastor Aniefiok Udo, his wife Judy and Fellowship Bible Church Nigeria for their Vacation Bible School 2010!

This year our theme is "Fruit of the Spirit".  The kids have been learning what it means to bear real fruit (Galatians 5:22) from a heart which is transformed by the Gospel.  It has been fantastic!

The first day of VBS we had 1400 kids and today (Thursday) after our third day we had over 1700 children from Pre K through High school hearing about how Jesus can transform their lives and enable them to bear fruit for a lifetime.  Of course, the greatest joy for us is to make personal connections with kids and that is happening with the entire team.  Today, when I jumped off the stage after some of us led singing and dancing with all of the kids, a little boy (Immanuel), who I met last year ran over and gave me a big hug.  That was the best moment of my trip so far, getting to reconnect with a boy from last year.

It is so cool to be serving alongside Fellowship Bible Church Nigeria as they seek to encourage the entire city of Ikot Ekpene by pouring into this next generation.  Please pray for continued strength and health for our team as we put in many sweaty hours here in Nigeria.  Also, pray for the VBS as we finish on Sunday with the closing ceremony.  We also get to be a part of a Youth Rally tonight and a matriculation ceremony for Africa Theological Seminary on Saturday.  Finally, we were able to post a short video greeting on Vimeo.com where you see our whole team. Go to vimeo and search for Inversion Media and you should be able to locate it.

We are excited that we can be a part of God's work in this part of the world and in the process be transformed ourselves.  Talk to you soon!

In Christ,
Jonathan Phipps
Equipping Pastor, Inversion 

They ask that you keep the team in your prayers that they will be able to get enough rest and pray for strength in the upcoming days as they prepare for each day and minister to the children of Nigeria.

Amazing Race 2010 from Inversion Media on Vimeo.

Our team has returned safely returned (still waiting on a few bags) after a life changing trip for our team and 40 Slovene students.  Below is an update from one of the Slovene missionaries, Nina Lovse, from Maribor, Slovenia.  We partner with her and her husband plus 2 other couples to put on the English camp.  I thought her words summarized the end of our trip best....

Where to begin such an update? You know… one of those where you just witnessed God’s miraculous hand at work and can’t get over it? One of those where you witnessed lives changed, people touched and transformed, and all the way long giving glory to the Lord? Yes, we just returned from English camp, and yes, the Lord was working powerfully all throughout the week.

First incredible news, for all of you who have so faithfully been praying with us for Karmen – she accepted the LORD in her life… she confessed that Jesus is now her Lord… and she is a changed girl. She is only 15 years old and her life just began. Do you remember all my e mails about her, all our stories that we shared and asked for prayers? Well, the Lord has answered our prayers. You should see her now… she is kind and open, she is happy for the first time in her life (her facebook status keeps saying something about being happy and something about GOD. Incredible!!!) She is on the path of forgiving her father for all that he has done to them. She even spoke to him today after 6 months of hate and resentment. She gave in… the Lord taught her to forgive. Oh… my dear friends, I could go on and on and on how the Lord has spoken to her, changed her heart and her entire life. Please continue to pray for her that she may grow in the Lord, and please pray for us, so that we may disciple her with love and compassion.
 
Anze (the 18 year old boy who was at camp last year) first said he is not ready to accept Christ yet, but in a few days, he asked us to study the Bible with him, saying that he wanted to accept Christ into his life.  

There were 16 kids altogether from Maribor and the area (plus 21 from Celje)…. and I am not exaggerating when I say this … but ALL of them were touched in one way or another. Even those that openly said they don’t believe in God, confessed that there is something greater here, something that they have never seen or experienced before. It just takes my breath away how strong God was working in these kids lives. To be honest I have never seen or experienced anything like this before. I am amazed, but at the same time, I am honored to be apart of a movement of God among the young people of Slovenia. Obviously, God has great plans with these kids.

There was another girl, Spela, who accepted Christ. She goes to Catholic school and has confessed that she didn’t believe until coming to the camp, but now she has given her life over to the Lord. Please pray for her, that she would grow in the Lord and first of all, even get to know him personally, daily.

There was  group of 4 girls, Kaja, Anja, Urska and another Kaja, all from the best high school in Maribor… who were so touched by all that was happening that they requested we meet on weekly basis.

So… I guess we have a youth group here in Maribor. We meet for the first time this Friday, we will have sort of a game night… and several have already confirmed they are coming. Oh.. and there are several that are reading their Bibles every day SO… I guess we are staring a Bible study too…. How awesome is that? My mind is racing right now like crazy…. But this is just great… please please do give thanks to our Lord for all that I have written to you… and when things cool down… I will send some pictures and share some stories in more detail.

The day has finally come, after months and days of planning and preparing, today we landed at English Camp in Milstat Austria.

Here's a quick update on each day

Wedensday - left Fellowship Bible Church at 10am, flew from Nashville to Washington. DC, then to Frankfurt, Germany.

Thursday - still flying.. we spent most of the day at Gate B12 in Frankfurt, Germany waiting for our connecting flight, a planned delayed, and we landed in Slovenia late Thursday night., with our luggage in hand :)  Slovenia is 7 hours ahead of Nashville, TN.

Friday & Saturday - we spent 2 days in traning with staff from Josiah Venture in Kranj.  2 other US teams joins us in training, a team from Oregon & Washington.  We learned how important English camps are to the ministry and work of Josiah Venture.  We heard testomies of a few Slovenias who attended past English camps being exposed to Jesus and are now  living transformed lives!  We pray for more stories like this to come from our work this week! .  2 million people live in Slovenia and 1% are of the Christian faith.  A shocking number everytime.  We learned that Christian programs for the next genereation of Slovenia are rare.  We are leading 1 of the 5 English camps to be held in this country.  It's an honor and joy to serve alongside our missionary partners in Slovenia with their English camp.

Sunday - We joined Calvary Chapel Church for worship in Cejie, Slovenia, then travel to Milstat, Austria.  We are thankful that God has entrusted us with 37 Slovenia High school students to attend this years camp.  This is 3 times larger than last year's camp with several returning students.  Today one of the students shared with me that "Last year's English camp was the best thing that's happend in his life"  Praise God!

Each day will be full of activity, from English classes, to sports and Bible teaching.  The theme of the camp is "Redeem".  We will be sharing "redeem" stories from the Bible.  Only God knows the heart of the each person, but we understand that the majoriy of the camp are non-believers!  Please join us in prayer that God will work in us all this week and we will see all lives changed for eternity.

We thank you for your support of this work and your prayers each day this week on our behalf.

God bless America

God bless Slovenia

Clint

on behalf of the 2010 Slovenia Fellowship Bible Team

The team arrived safely in Lima Saturday night. After a quick overnight near the airport, we caught a 5am flight to Iquitos. That only gave us about 3.5 hours of sleep, but we arrived in time for the last two services at the CMA church in Iquitos. We also met up with the young adult pastor from the Comas church and his wife and it has been a joy to get to know them.  Sunday, we enjoyed a great day of worship with our Peruvian brothers and sisters in Christ and spending time in the children's sunday school class doing music, bible stories, games, etc. In the evening, we visited several youth and young adult small groups in various houses sharing testimonies and worship music. Today we rented a boat and went a short distance down the Amazon river to visit with two seperate tribes. The first was a small tribe of about 11 families, the Yaguas, who have embraced the gospel and have a small church in their village. We spent time talking with them and sharing a skit and a short devotional by Pastor Marco from Comas. Next we visted the Bora tribe. They have not been as open to the gospel, but we had a great time meeting them, watching their native dances and hearing about their culture. We finished the day by visiting a small family owned zoo on the bank of the Amazon where we all had the chance to hold a huge anaconda...except Amanda, she thought we were all a little crazy!

Tonight we head back to the church to host a service for the young people. Brett and Kelly will be leading worship in Spanish, we will be sharing several skits and Ashleigh and Bubba will be sharing their testimonies. Please pray for our team as we continue with our week. God has blessed us with cooler weather...only about 85-90 degrees with really high humidity, but still pretty hot. We will also have several late nights as we host services at the local church during the week, so pray that the team will continue to have energy.

We love you all and I'll send another update soon!

Here is what is needed...This is a long-standing family friend of mine who has a lighting business downtown right on the river that was completely flooded.  We are working hard to try to keep them in business.

We could use an extra 5-10 people for the following...
-sanding down drywall
-hanging drywall
-painting
-cleaning mud off tools, lighting equipment and floors

They are planning on meeting at 9am at the warehouse located at 620A Davidson Street (close to the Titans Stadium).  The warehouse has a small parking lot and there is also parking on the street right in front. 

If anyone can come for any time at all that would be a HUGE blessing! 

Thanks for passing the word!

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

HT:JT

TONIGHT! Friday, May 7th

• Food Delivery - Fellowship will deliver 700 pizzas to neighborhoods affected by the floods. If you know of a neighborhood that needs food or if you would like to help with food deliveries tonight, contact me by 2:00pm today (jleddy@FellowshipNashville.org or 277-9504).

Saturday, May 8th

• Assist Steve & Ernie Simms- Steve and Ernie Simms (directors at Berry Street Worship Center in East Nashville) need help hauling wet carpet out of their house. Afterwards a team can go door to door on Blackmond Street in Nippers Corner to assist others with clean up. Volunteers arrive at 9:00am. Contact Steve Simms if you can volunteer (615-405-4013)
• Franklin Area Cleanup - Anyone interested can meet at The People's Church off Highway 96 in Franklin at 9:00am on Saturday morning. Teams will be sent into area neighborhoods to help with cleanup.

Front Porch Ministry Financial Need - Front Porch Ministry lost their hot water heater when their basement flooded. They have been without hot water since Friday. Contact me if you would like to make a financial contribution towards a replacement unit for them.

The St. Luke Youth Encouragement Services Center is partnering with St. Luke's Community Center in efforts to provide relief to the many families that are suffering from the flood damage in West Nashville. Plans are being made on an ongoing basis to respond to the many needs.

Meals Served: Beginning tonight, Tuesday May 4th through Sunday, May 5th the Y.E.S Center will be the host site for meals for an estimated 300-800 people.  I am asking each Board member and staff to contact their churches, work places and other contacts in an appeal to enlist volunteers to serve and clean-up during these meal times.  Contact David Estes at (615) 587-6282 mobile with your volunteer information in order for him to coordinate with the St. Luke's Community Staff.  

    - Serving slots needed: Volunteers are needed at the Center from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm for lunch and 5:00 to 8pm for dinner. The most needed time will be the supper meal times.  Tues 4th - Dinner; Wed 5th - Lunch & Dinner; Thur 6th - Lunch & Dinner; Fri 7th - Lunch & Dinner; Sat 8th - Lunch & Dinner; Sun 9th - Lunch & Dinner.

   - Food & Snacks: Along with food (pre-cooked, ready to serve) snack bars, etc. are needed.  Also, they will provide breakfast items during the supper serving (bananas, cereal bars, etc.)

Community involvement: If you have contacts with local resturants or other food suppliers who can "sponsor" a meal or provide food items for the families please enlist their help now.

Shower Times:  Y.E.S. will also make the showers at the Center available before and after the feeding times for families.  Towels, toliety items (toilet paper, soap, shampoo, tooth brushes/paste, etc.) are needed.

Other items needed: Cleaning supplies, bottled water, Walmart/Target, resturant or other gift cards.

• El Shaddai Church - 10am on Tuesday - there is still very great need for help as there was today.  I realize many of you will be going back to your day job tomorrow, but for those who can help during the day this would be huge.  Map to El Shaddai Church.
• Thom and Michelle's house - they still have need primarily with the moving of furniture back in to the house.  Contact Shana Hartman about helping with this.
• Further Flood Assistance - Fellowship is coordinating a broad flood relief effort beyond this initial response.  To get plugged in with this over the next few weeks click here.

I will be pushing out further communication about Inversion specific flood relief efforts through the Inversion Facebook page / Twitter and through the weekly Inversion Email Update.  Again, thanks for helping out today and being willing to serve in the coming weeks... you guys rock!

I have gotten responses from many of you who are willing to help... thanks so much!  After consulting with Tony Roberts, the Local Outreach Pastor at Fellowship, our initial response will be to go to El Shaddai Church in Nolensville.  El Shaddai church is badly damaged and could use a lot of people helping with cleanup.  There is no need to respond to this email... just go there and we will organize on the ground.  Bring the following supplies (if you have them)...

• work boots
• gloves
• mops
• brooms
• hand trucks
• disinfectants
• trash bags - large
• sledge hammers
• claw hammers
• pressure washers
• power washers

You can head over to El Shaddai now... they are ready to put you to work.  Below is a link to the address of El Shaddai Church...

Map to El Shaddai

I will be there shortly.  We can also use that as a staging area to deploy volunteers (if we have plenty) to other areas of town that have needs.

HT:JT

• Yes, people watch too much TV and play too many video games and spend too much time on the Internet and what-have-you. But the proper response to our media over-saturation is not a rigorous attention to the explicitly "spiritual" in every margin of life. Be a Christian, not an ascetic. Don't be lazy, but realize that Jesus Christ did not die and rise for you so that you would stress out about whether you're being spiritual enough. So take a nap. Watch some television. The gospel frees you to chill the heck out.

I haven't observed too many young adults around here that struggle with asceticism, though I have been around a handful that are perhaps wound a little too tight.  This is where I found Kevin DeYoung's thoughts on this topic to be extremely helpful.  Here is an excerpt...

• The fact is some Christians do need to chill the heck out. There is such a thing as pathological seriousness. It is possible to be too intense. Young Christians, especially when they are getting meaty theology and God-centeredness for the first time, can be prone to manic bouts of self-flagellation, spurts of judgmentalism, and unhealthy hyper-watchfulness. I know because there have been times in my life when I’ve been prone to all three. Of course,young Christians are prone to laziness too. And I suppose they might go off the deep end after reading Jared’s post. But if that paragraph ruins their spiritual lives, they were probably eager to be ruined anyway. Likewise, any teenagers in the crowd listening to Luke 14:26 who took Jesus to mean “Be a jerk to you mom” were no doubt jerks all on their own already. I’m not arguing for careless exhortations, nor do I espouse moral relativism of any kind. But discernment is not the same as selling out. If you don’t need to chill the heck out, don’t. But some people do. And if you don’t think any Christians are wound too tight or introspective in unhealthy ways, then I’m concerned for you. Just like I’d be concerned if you thought the gospel was essentially about taking it easy.

Read the whole thing.

HT: JT

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

If you are interested in more about why theology matters, come with Inversion to the Next conference!

HT: JT