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Learn more about ministry in London

smurphy — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:49:21 +0000

Did you know that anecdotal figures show that 80% of students fall away from their faith between graduation and retirement? Did you know that 8 million live in Greater London, where 40% represent an ethnic minority, 320 languages are spoken, and 600,000 are Muslim?
Join us this Sunday August 1, 2010 at 4:30pm to learn more about Campus Crusade’s marketplace ministry in the heart of London where Jon and Kathy Horne are missionaries. You will learn more about how you can pray for them as they continue to share what God is doing in the lives of young adults in one of the most strategic, post-Christian cities in the world.
Kathy Horne is currently visiting the U.S. to raise financial support and help teach others about the needs of London. There’s no obligation to give. Just come and eat some free food, have a refreshing drink and listen as Kathy teaches us more about Campus Crusade’s marketplace ministry in the heart of London.
Please RSVP before Saturday 7/31 by calling Scott Murphy at 858-405-5065 or via this Evite.

Uganda Impact Team, Post 6

DRO703 — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:41:41 +0000

Hello Flood Family,
What a great week we have been having. Church services here in Uganda are a sight to see and hear. If you thought Flood services were loud you ain’t heard nothing yet! The last two full days were spent out at the COTN Children’s Village. At any time of the day there is a plethora of kids to play with. The boys love to play soccer. The girls skip rope and dance. Any child will pose for a picture and of course they love to see their photos on the screen.
When we arrive at the village in the morning, the kids that are around will run to meet us before the van comes to a stop. Even with the many, many trips to the village over the last ten days the kids are still so excited to see us. With huge smiles on their faces they greet us every time. These young Ugandans truly know a joy I pray all children, worldwide, could experience.
We have sent the last two mornings preparing crafts for the kids. The afternoons have spent completing annual updates on all 105 kids that are fully or partially sponsored by COTN. The team has really enjoyed this time doing evaluations. Through translators we are able to ask the kids all sorts of questions from favorite color, to dream job to, to questions about their family and parents. Some of the kids are so young that they don’t know many of the answers while others are fully aware of the reality they live in. It has been truly been an eye opening experience for all of us!
Our time is coming to an end here. We have two days left with the kids at the COTN village and I keep hearing “I can’t believe we are leaving so soon” or “The time is going s quickly!” We miss you all and can’t wait to share our hundreds of stories and thousands of photos with you!
Keep us in your prayers as we wrap up our time here and make our way back to San Diego. See you soon!
In Him,
Michelle Turley

Uganda Teams are Safe

adamk — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:46:53 +0000

Hello concerned friends and family members!

We were notified early this morning about the attacks in Kampala (7 hours south of us) during last night’s World Cup final match. We are completely unaffected by the the attacks and do not foresee our arrangements changing while in country as we do not plan on being in Kapmala for more than an hour while heading to the airport. If our

specific situation changes we will let you know via email. From what we are hearing from major news networks and our contacts here in country the attacks were directed toward Ethiopians as they are disliked by the Somali group al-Shabab. Unfortunately American missionaries from Pennsylvania were involved, but again, they were not the targets.

Please DO continue to pray for us, for Uganda as a whole, and the safety of both. We are encouraged to know that you and our Flood congregation are praying for us.

Cheers and blessings

Kirstin and Derek

Uganda Venture Team, Part 5

DRO703 — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:30:23 +0000

Hello from Uganda Venture Team (Delta Team)!!
We about to begin our last week here in the north and we are definitely feeling the weight of many midway emotions. We are all feeling a little tired from the numerous activities they have us doing and are very glad today to be having an afternoon of rest; a real Sabbath. We just came to the realization today that we have only four more days here with COTN and just two more with the global interns, as they will be taking a two day half-way-point debrief midweek this week. Our relationships with the COTN children continue to grow, as we are spending most of our late afternoon/evenings in the children’s village. As we turn our sights to the end, it has been amazing to reflect on the growth and relationships that have developed over just this past week. Our team is quite honestly such an impressive group of individuals. It has been such a blessing to watch us all shine in our respective areas of strength and to be stretched in our areas of weakness.
Personally, this trip has been a whirlwind of emotions. In the beginning, I had been praying for God to open my eyes to the things of this country that broke His heart. Being in Barlonyo, seeing the orphans at the baby’s home, and hearing so many incredible testimonies both from the COTN kids and staff had all done just that. Having Empathy as a #1 strength, I was feeling almost drowned in the weight of all of those things. I reflected on Philippians 4:6&7 and came to the conclusion that all I could do for those people and those situations was to intercede on their behalf. So on Friday, knowing that we were to be going to do Prison ministry, I asked God to show me His hand in that place, no matter how bad the condition was, so that my hope could be renewed. When we got to the Prison, we were ushered into a long hall with about 200 inmates. None were bound in any way; they were all just sitting on the floor in front of us. Pastor Richard came up to the front and asked if we could have two worship songs before we began the program. I cannot describe to you the sound of joy that came out of those men. I was completely floored by how much they were just crying out to God with praise. It was like nothing I have ever seen or heard before. God was literally singing in my face “Here I am”. It was such a loud answer to prayer. I had the opportunity after worship to go up and share a small testimony. I told them of my feelings from above and of the verse in Philippians. I told them that when I was preparing to come to see them I was expecting to see another sad place. It was so nice to be able to thank them for having blessing me so much.
It is hard to put this trip in a nutshell and I hope I wasn’t too all over the place. I have fallen completely in love with this place and these people. Their relational way of life and absolute faith in the Lord is so challenging and inspiring at the same time.
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Prayers, Love and lots of Hugs from Uganda!!
Mariah DiCecco

Uganda Venture Team, Part 4

DRO703 — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:04:45 +0000

Hello Flood Family!
Wow, what an eye opening experience this trip has been for us all! Yesterday we were able to take a trip to Gulu to see the Invisible Children headquarters. It was very interesting to see all of the different branches and groups this non-profit has established. It was nice to hear that although this is not a Christ-centered organization, two of the head founders are Christian and as a hardworking group of men, have still been able to do amazing things for the children and people here in Uganda. The drive back from Gulu was peaceful and we were blessed with experiencing a downpour. It amazes me how much the Lord blesses His people here with such perfect agricultural conditions. It reassures me that although it may seem like these people have very little outwardly to us Americans, they still are provided with SO much. Spiritually many Ugandans worship the Lord in ways I have never seen. Just in worship (which always seems to touch me the most) they sing like no one is around and it is a simple reminder to surrender ALL to the Lord and to truly worship Him in all we do!
Today we are headed to the local hospital, which I am SO excited about (since I am a nursing student). I can’t wait to pray over the sick and injured and to hopefully have some time to help out the nurses and be hands on!
While in Uganda, the Lord has truly put on my heart the real meaning of the word “relationship”. I have been able to fully experience the Lord here and I feel we have, as a group, been able to relax on some of these long car rides and fully enjoy our friendship with Him. Revelation 17:14 states “those who are with Him and can fully trust in Him are called elect and faithful”. I can say that each and every one of us has experienced Christ in our own way here in Uganda and we are significantly growing in our relationship with Him. In John 15, Christ calls us His friend because he has revealed everything he has heard from His Father to us. I cannot wait to continue this growing, loving friendship for the rest of my life.
As much as I still don’t miss “California” and the fast paced life much, I can say and I miss my Flood family! Until next time, continue praying for us. Especially for the Lord to continue to keep us safe from harm and disease as well as the Lord to continually open our eyes and break us for what breaks him. We love you! See you in a week.
Lauren Cheney

Uganda Venture Team, Part 3 –

DRO703 — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:37:44 +0000

Hello Flood Family!!!

The last few days in Uganda have been absolutely amazing! Busy but amazing. Wednesday morning our team had the unique opportunity to go to a baby orphanage just outside of town. The orphanage is managed by only a handful of extraordinary women who have committed their lives to taking care of these babies after they have been found abandoned by their mothers or orphaned with no relatives to care for them. At any one time, there can be up to 32 babies in the home of ages ranging from newborns to 3 years old. When we arrived, we were given a brief introduction and tour of the home by Sister Francis, who manages the orphanage, and then our team immediately went to work bathing, feeding, and holding all the babies. I think the moment that affected me the most was seeing two newborn twins named Apio and Achen who were only 4 days old. They were so small that they each couldn’t have weighed more than 4 lbs. Sadly, their mother died during childbirth and their father has to leave them at the home while he goes to work during the day. It made me so sad to think that these children have been born into such a dire situation, but at the same time knowing that God has blessed them by bringing them to this home where they will be loved and cared for by these amazing women. It was extremely hard to swallow, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in Uganda it’s that you have to put you’re hope in God. Hope that he is going to watch out for these newborns. Hope that his plan for their lives is far greater than we could ever imagine.
Another highlight of the past few days was on Thursday afternoon when our team visited a local men’s prison. Now this might seem like an extremely intimidating and scary ministry to be involved in, but it is the exact opposite. It is actually one of the places that I see God the most alive and active in Uganda. When our team first arrived, we were immediately greeted by several of the guards and inmates. We then walked through the prison courtyard to a very small building packed with over 200 inmates waiting inside for us. They started to sing and play worship songs and that’s when God’s peace and joy just flooded over me. Even in a dark place such as a prison, God’s name is being praised and that overwhelmed me. Several people on my team, including me, were given the opportunity to briefly share anything that God was putting on our hearts. It was a bit intimating to stand up and speak in front of several hundred people, especially since I hate public speaking, but as soon as I spoke my first word, God took over and he started speaking through me. I don’t even know exactly what I said, but its okay because God can be given all the glory. At the end of the service, after several of us had spoken, we invited anyone who wanted to received Christ into their hearts for the first time to come up and be prayed for. Two men came forwarded to receive Christ and are now saved! Praise God! I am still at this very moment just so stoked to see what God is doing in the hearts and minds of the people of Uganda. Even in a prison, God’s name is being praised.
Thank you to all of you who are praying for our team while we are in Uganda. Your prayers are being heard as we are all safe and as God is using our team to carry out his will here. Continue to pray for our team as we are being stretched by God on a daily basis and as we learn to become his hands and his feet.
Amari metek,
Luiken

Uganda Intern Update

Andrew Ruiz — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:14:38 +0000

ah family and friends!
where do i even begin? i apologize in advance for how scattered this post is going to be. there is a lot to say. i am currently sitting in an internet cafe, just checked my facebook for the first time in a while. posts from friends from home brought tears to my eyes. i feel so loved and so showered in prayer. God is so good. He is moving in mighty ways here.
i guess i should just start from the top. we arrived in uganda around 9 on tuesday the 15th. we stayed in a hotel in entebbe our first night, and we were all anxious to start the drive up to lira, which happened the next day. on the way, our team met up with john, who is a consultant for cotn and he is doing trauma counseling with the kids. it’s really cool cause it is doubling as hours for an internship or something like that for his masters that he is pursuing in counseling. so, on wednesday morning we took the long drive from kampala to the north. we got to the guest house just before dinner and we were greeted with shouts and hugs from the kids who attend the school just down the street from the home. i immediately burst into tears of joy. so good to be back. they sang a few songs then we went to the village! aaah the village! when i left, there was one house that was almost complete and we were moving bricks for the second house. now there are seven homes and they are currently building a gazebo that will be in the middle that will serve as a common area. it is pretty phenomenal. so we went there and it got really dark really fast, cause there is no electricity there. the kids sang us songs, and i saw her. my rose. i embraced her and told her that she is my sponsor kid. it was a beautiful moment.
the next day, as we were waiting for the taussig family to arrive, which is mama sylv (our other intern leader, aside from elena) papa t (whose name is andrew, but people call him andy and i just call him papa) and alex who is their oldest daughter and another member of our intern team, we went and walked around town, saw the market and we went to a baby home. this is a place where catholic nuns take in babies who have been abandoned or something of the like and care for them until someone adopts them. i fell in love with a beautiful baby boy named paul. ah, that child has my heart. we were there today and he peed on me. i am a true mother.
this is where it is going to get really scattered, cause i didn’t bring my journal to the internet cafe. i am now just going to tell you about what comes to mind. these events occur in no particular order.
we were living in the guest house for a while, and we thought that we would be staying there, but it turns out that there are not enough beds for all of the interns and the short term teams that come through, so they had prepared a house for us in the village. we were all really reluctant at first, cause living in the village means no electricity or plumbing. that’s right. we’re peeing and pooping in a whole in the same room that we bucket bathe in. it is very interesting, but it is not as bad as i thought it would be. as we were sitting by lantern light after dinner last night, i think it was tyler who said it feels like we are camping every day. i love it. and we are so close to the kids. the guest house is about a 20 min drive from the village, so this way, we can create better bonds with the kids. we have divided ourselves among the houses and next week we will start a bible study that will happen a couple of nights a week. ashley and i are paired to lead a bible study in the house where rose lives. there are also a lot of girls that i really connect with in that house, so i am really excited to be able to invest in their lives that much more. it is also awesome to live there because we help the mamas with chores when we can, and we are all together as a team. mama sylv moved over there with us, which papa t isn’t very happy about. he needs to stay at the guest house because he is in charge of the short term teams. so right now it’s only papa and john in the guest house. john jokes about how they are like the odd couple, which is apparently a sitcom from way before our time.
we have also been blessed enough to travel to different schools. the first one we went to was mantel, which was a school that i went to last year with my short term team. it was cool to be back and to see those kids again. i think we plan to go back again. when we went, we did physical education with them on what seemed like the hottest day of our trip thus far. we were all sweating bullets, but it was awesome. it is so fun to sing songs with the girls. <3 another school we went to was alpha. that school was very different than mantel. it was more of a production. they sang for us and then allowed us to break into groups and talk to the kids. maci, ashley and i along with a translator by the name of hadrine, got to talk to the little girls. i told them the story of the wise builder and foolish builder which was a parable that Jesus told after the sermon on the mount. i told them how important it is to build their lives on the foundation of Christ. i hope it translated well. hadrine is an amazing translator, and she is becoming a good friend, so i am sure that it was fine. a highlight from that night was the fact that we were served chicken and chipate along with sodas as a thank you for coming. it is tradition in uganda to cook the entire chicken and serve it. and when i say entire, i mean entire. feet and head included. chris and tyler both took two big bites out of the chicken heads. more power to them. ugh. haha lucio, which is the venture team coordinator said that no one will ever forget that. i know i won’t. we also got to go to an elementary school that is just getting started. the little kids were so cute in their little orange uniforms. i fell in love with a spunky little girl in purple rain boots. we all thought she was hilarious, and we called her boots, but her real name is mercy. last night we went to a high school and we divided into boys and girls. the spirit was definitely moving through our talk to the girls. we were talking about staying focused and staying in school and putting our trust in God to fulfill the desires of our hearts. the spirit definitely spoke through us and ten girls gave their lives to Christ. we were so excited. we are going to go back and i can’t wait to see those girls again.
we are trying to learn the language as much as we can. chris and i are kind of in a battle over how much luo we can learn. so far he is winning, but that won’t be for long. we know phrases like how are you which is kopango. and praise God which is apaka rot. it’s really funny cause we say things but then they continue to speak in luo and we have no idea how to respond. ber (which means good) is always a good go to word to say when you don’t know what is being said to you. ber is the equivalent to the nod and smile. i am sitting by maci and elena as i write this and they both agree with me on the whole ber equating to the nod and smile idea. we have all been given ugandan names. elena was given hers last year and hers is akello (ah-kel-oh) which means to bring something. chris was given the male form of ‘to bring something’ which is okello (oh-kel-oh). maci’s name is aber (ah-bear) which means good. and ashley is akullo (ah-cool-oh) which means well or fountain. mine and tyler’s go together. tyler’s is opio (oh-pee-oh) which is the first born in a set of twins. and mine is acen (ah-chen) which is the last of a set of twins, or the last in the family. so tyler and i are twins. jimmey mao is our chief driver and has a family with three kids. his middle daughter, annette is named acen, so i am jimmey’s american daughter, and he has been calling me annette. the funny thing about my name meaning the last or second of a set is that i am the baby of the team. my name really suits me. and it is rose’s name as well. she is acen rose. we have the same name. needless to say, we have been having a lot of fun with the language, but i don’t expect to be fluent by any means by the time i get back. it is rather difficult sometimes, especially with the different sounds that are not in our language.
ah, what else is there to say? we are all really immersing ourselves int he culture. we help do daily chores like hand washing clothes (not an easy task) and washing casava (which is a kind of root that they boil and eat…also not the easiest task) and we are spending time with the cotn staff and learning their stories. it is such a blessing to be here, and i am so glad that i am here for more than just two weeks. i can’t wait to see what else God has in store!
i think that i have rambled enough for one post. i think that we are going to make the internet cafe a weekly visit cause we dont have access to the internet at the home. i like that. i only need to be on once a week anyway. it’s enough time to experience wild stories and update all of you with them. i hope you’ve enjoyed reading what i’ve got so far.
until next time,
acen hanna

Sweet Update from John Compere in Haiti

adamk — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:07:58 +0000

The Sunday after the earthquake hit in Haiti, our church was introduced to John Compere. John is from Haiti and has attended Flood for the past several years. As a church, we were able to financially support John as he returned to Haiti to care for his family and nation. Below is an email update I just received. Thank you for your generosity!

Pastor Adam

Hi the Flood family,

Thank you so much for your prayer and support, your generosity truly helps me to reach out to so many Haitians in a time of their greatness need. As some of you may already knew that I left San Diego since after the earthquake to come down to Port-au-prince, Ht with a medical team to help. So since we got here, we have been extremely busy and didn’t have access to internet for so long, and I sincerely present my apology for waiting so long to hear from me. but thanks God we have been a great help to the community here where we have been serving. In fact, our first prayer meeting here we had eleven people come to know Christ for the first time and make their decision to follow Him. I’m still here in Haiti, I’m doing well, my team already went back to State, but I’m staying here for another month to continue helping my family because my dad and one of my sisters have been sick for the past few weeks. So please, continue to pray for a spiritual awakening in Haiti and for my family.

May the Lord greatly bless you all,

John

The first TJO prayer night of 2010!

Chariane — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:22:35 +0000

Well it was a fun FIESTA night at Rob Bautista’s house last night (2/27) for TJO team’s first quarterly prayer night of 2010. After learning a little about the orphanage and the kids, we read over some of their prayer requests for January and February. It was great to see so many new faces at Fiesta Night and to pray together as a group for a good hour. Afterward, Robert’s roommate Cesar cooked up some delicious food! Chicken & steak tacos, pinto beans, yummy rice, chips & salsa, and Maiko & Lily’s homemade brownies and cheesecake. To top it off, we ended the night with Dave Gladson dressed in an authentic Mexican sombrero playing a mini-accordion bought at the TJ/USA border. Rob attempted to accompany him as a singer. Let’s just say it was the BEST and the WORST mariachi band ever!

Here are a couple prayer requests from the night. To see more prayer requests or learn more about TJO, email orphanage@diveintoflood.com or find us under Flood Church Mexico Impact Teams on Facebook. You can read prayer requests and submit your own under the Discussion tab on FB.

Luis: Please repair the road and for my friends.
Byboh: We don’t want any theft here.
Rodrigo: For all my family and the whole world.
Moises: I’d like to ask to take care for my dad and mom.
Salvador: Pray for my family and friends. That I could find good friends in school.
Antonio: That Casa Hogar is taken care of and pray for it and all of us.

We also want to pray for Bertha, a staff member at the orphanage, who is no longer in touch with three of her children due to a past of drug abuse. Although she is now recovered from her addictions, she is still suffering the painful consequences of losing contact with 3 children. She requested prayer for their health and safety, as well as for the safety of El Faro orphanage. We as a team also want to lift up Bertha’s life so that she can experience God’s grace, goodness, peace, and redemption in her life.

Learn More About Prayer!

Linsey Wildey — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:25:23 +0000

FLOOD PRAYER GROUP

Want to learn more about prayer or have a an interest in prayer that you want to explore? If so, come to this month’s prayer group which will be focused around praying for our all-church SOMA Conference. Meeting Time: Sunday, February 28th from 6:00 – 7:30pm Location: Kearny Library Contact: LinseyWildey@DIVEintoFLOOD.com