One Person Can Change The World...

Hello again!  Hope you all had an amazing weekend!  The sun is still shining in Denver, and it still feels like summer rather than fall!  I want you to thank you all again for your continued prayers and support.  I'm so, so encouraged by the messages I've been receiving from some of you and your willingness to give, and want to thank you and let you know how much that means to me.  God's really showing me how to trust Him on this one, and for that I am so, so grateful!

The missions preparation is continuing to go well... this week I have to do a few immunizations (EEK!), but hopefully all will go well on that.  Today we had a speaker come in and teach about the history of missions and some great missionaries who were way back when, classified as so uneducated that they did not qualify to be missionaries-- and yet, they changed the world.  I love the quote, "Never doubt that a small group of caring individuals can change the world-- indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  Even if you are just ONE person, know that you CAN make a difference, you CAN change things, and I encourage each and every one of you to reach out and change the world with the gifts you've been blessed with.

I will continue to blog about preparation for the missions trip, etc., but God's been putting other missions and organizations on my heart lately, too, and so I also want to use this blog to make sure I continue to highlight other missions that are in desperate need of help and love and prayer.  I hope you were able to watch the video on my last post about human sex trafficking.  It is such a HUGE issue, and so many don't realize the implications of it or how existent it is, even in the United States!  According to Love 146, "although slavery is legal in some places, it is more existent now than it has ever been!" Please pray with me about those who are facing this horrible injustice, that God would intervene in their lives, and that He would use those of us who are able to reach out to these many people who are being enslaved and traffic.  I pray that you would join me in raising awareness and doing something about this issue! 

Another great organization I learned about this weekend at the Women of Faith Conference is called World Vision.  It's similar to Compassion, and asks you to sponsor a child monthly so that that child can have an education, food, clothing, shelter, etc.  It also allows you to write letters to the child regularly and CHANGE this child's life!  It's an awesome organization.  The World Vision President, Richard Stearns, spoke at the conference this weekend, and it was SO encouraging.  He encouraged us to not just give what is comfortable.  We can all give what is comfortable.  It's taking that extra step, giving whatever you possibly can.  He had an amazing story, and has a book called "A Hole In The Gospel".  The focus of it is the question "What does God expect of us?" and "have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it"?  I look forward to reading this book and what he has to say and will keep you posted on how it goes.

 Please continue to pray for our team.  I've also had a few of you ask me how to give, and want to thank you for your generosity.  Please know that I only want you to give what you are financially able to, as I trust the Lord will provide.  So, with that being said, here the instructions of how to donate:

One way is to give online— You can go to www.denverchurch.org and then to click on giving, or here is the direct link:
https://denverchurch.ccbchurch.com/app/trx_submit_bp.php?type=public_gift

If you’d like to send in a check, you can send it to:
1101 S. Washington St.
Denver Colorado 80210

You can make the check out to Denver Community Church and put my name in the memo section. I can also send/email you a response form in order to get a tax receipt back from the church. 

Moral of this blog post... YOU can make a difference :)

Join Us In The Fight Against Child Sex Trafficking

Hi Everyone-- hope you have had a blessed weekend.  I want to take a minute to post about another major issue this world is facing-- child sex trafficking.  This is unrelated to my missions trip, however, it's a huge issue that we need to raise awareness and take action on.  Take a minute to watch this video and visit Love 146 to see how you can help.  God Bless!

Imagine from LOVE146 on Vimeo.

Out of Control

Hi All!

I hope you are all having great weeks!  I want to thank you for your prayers and let you know that I continue to be encouraged by all of you and the way I see God moving.  

One of the things I've been struggling with in preparing for this trip is knowing that I'm not in control of everything-- I don't know what this community is like, I've never been to a third world country, I can't speak Spanish, I don't know where I'm staying or what kind of service work I'll be doing, I don't know how the fundraising will go, how the flight will be, how I will get from here to there, etc.  I've been thinking about this the last week and suddenly God was saying, "Erin, you're not trusting me enough! I can take care of this!"  I think we all have moments where we struggle with this, where we want to have COMPLETE control over the situation, to know exactly what is going on at ALL times (I know I have many moments like this), but the truth is, we don't have control over everything, and that's where He comes in.  Do you ever have those times where you read something or see something and you feel like it's this "Ah Ha" moment, or sign, where God just all of a sudden makes it clear?  I've been reading and studying the book of Genesis over the past few weeks, and tonight I read through Genesis 16.  It's the story where Sarah, Abraham's wife, doesn't think she'll ever get pregnant because she's around 90 (yeah, pretty old to have a baby), so she has Abraham sleep with his servant so that she will have a child for them.  And yet, at 90 years old, she ends up having a son!  She didn't trust God, so she tried to take control of the situation herself, but He followed through, as He always does!!  So, just a short message tonight, but as I prepare my heart for this trip, a part of it is knowing that I don't have control over everything, that I need to put my trust in Him, and everything else will take care of itself :)  Pray that I will do my part, and that I will trust in Him to do the rest.

Now comes the part I'm not so good at...

Hi everyone!  Hope you all had a fantastic Labor Day weekend!  Thanks for your continued prayers and support—we are now 7 weeks out from our Missions Trip, and I am so excited to see how God is moving and preparing us for this trip.  I know God is doing some big things in our hearts, and in the community of Agua Negras.   I am so encouraged by your prayers and love, and hope that I will be able to serve in this community in the way that God has laid it on my heart.

As the journey comes closer, I pray that the Lord will financially and spiritually provide for this trip.   We are on our way by receiving generous donations and contributions, and I’m so, so grateful to those of you who have played a part in this!   I am half way there in my fundraising and trusting that the Lord will provide for the funding in this trip. 

Now here comes the part I’m not so good at—I must say, I am not a huge fan of asking people for financial support, and have been praying a lot about it.  However, as I have prayed about it, I’ve realized that this is something I must do in order to serve on the trip and as I have continued to pray about it, I have been so grateful to see how faithful God has been! 

If you feel led to support this mission, please contact me (e-mail, facebook, phone, whichever works!), and I will be so very thankful for your generosity.  However, I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to support me, as I know we all have financial constraints, and I just trust the Lord will provide with what He knows that I need. If you’d like to find out more details about the mission, please read my previous posts, which will give you more details on where we’re serving and what we’ll be doing.

The donation is tax deductible and can be made out to Denver Community Church Missions.  Please put in the memo: Erin Gehlsen, and I’ll also be happy to get a receipt to you.

If you are not able to contribute financially, please know that even your prayers for our team will go such a long way! 

Please pray:

-That God will prepare our hearts (Laura, Howie, Katie, Stu, Jacalyn, Nik, Mandy, Pam, Tim, Erin)  for the work He has for us there.

-That we would work together as a team to serve in the way that He has called us.

-That we would serve selflessly, be open to what the community has to teach us and what God has to teach us while we are there.

-That God would protect us spiritually, bless us with good health and safety, and bless us with grace and peace.

-For the community of Agua Negras, that God would watch over them, protect them, and bless them.  That the Lord would strengthen them to endure difficult situations and that they would persevere through their trust in the Lord.

 -For those in the community there that do not know Christ, that God would open their eyes, soften their hearts, and give them the wisdom and revelation to know God better.  That our team would act as servants of Christ and that we might be able to show Him through our own actions and words, and that God would speak through us.

-For the ministry down there whom we partner with (A Light In the Road), that they would be faithful servants to God ,that he would bless their ministry.  That he would bless Sondra, the leader of the church, with spiritual protection, guidance, compassion, and health and safety.

Thank you again for your prayers and your support—it means so much to me!  I will continue to update you on the preparation of this journey, and the journey itself.  I am so blessed to have you all in my life!

 

So, What Are You Doing There Anyways??

Hi everyone!  I hope you are all have a great week—happy hump day! J So I first want to say how much it means to me to have your support—I’ve been seeing God move in some big ways lately, and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for this journey to the DR.  I am so grateful for your prayers and just for your love—I’m blessed with so many incredible people in my life! 

We had our first missions meeting on Sunday, and everything went really well.  There are 12 of us going from DCC, and I am so excited to get to know all of them as a team.  We discussed a lot of the basics—where we are going, when, how, what we’ll be doing, etc.

I’m sure many of you are wondering what in the heck I’m actually doing while I’m there, and the short answer is, I don’t know exactly.  I could be doing anything from construction, to Vacation Bible study, to working with youth students, to helping with local businesses.  We’ll be serving wherever God is moving and needs us to be.  Our church has a partnership with the ministry down there, and here is some more info on where exactly we’ll be going, the partnership we have, and some of the things we have done in the past:

Our Service Journey Practices in the Dominican Republic

We journey together to the city of Puerto Plata, DR and partner with a church called A Light on the Road Church, in the neighborhood of Aguas Negras (“Black water” – which is a slang term that basically means “sewage”).  Such a nickname does not reflect the beautiful simplicity and love that we have experienced in this community.  We seek to serve alongside and learn from this sister church community as they also seek holistic redemption and restoration in their community.

Through this partnership we have been able to serve the various entities of the churches ministry within the community.  Including:

-       -A boys and girls club that focus on creating positive outlets for youth to dream about living life abundantly inside and out of the slum community.  While higher education is an unrealistic dream for many kids in the community, the boys and girls clubs promote, mentoring, positive role models, creativity, and community action for kids of a wide variety of ages.

-       -We support a sewing shop and co-op that generates income for the community organization and elementary school.   We have also been able to purchase many of their products for sale in the U.S. in support of their ministry.

-       -Effective education is a big problem for the children in the community because many students because of their poverty and/or undocumented status (Haitians) do not have appropriate credentials for school.  The church has started an elementary school for the community.  We have supported the school through teacher training, curriculum, and teacher compensation.

-       -There is a small health clinic in the community that we have helped to develop through consultation, medication supply, and facility development.

-       -By partnering with other local NGO’s we have been able to participate in the construction of several homes and buildings for the organization.  We use these projects as a platform for building relationships within the community. 

-       -There are other various projects that have given us the opportunity to build relationships, and support the ongoing work of A Light in the Road Foundation.   These include:

o    Promoting the financial sponsorship and implementation of bio-sand water filters in the homes of families and schools .

o   Supporting VBS programs in the community (Vacation Bible School)

o   Various art and sports projects that help facilitate the churches outreach and engagement in the community.

If you have questions about this-- let me know!  I'm happy to share with you!  I've continued reading the book I told you about in my previous post (Serving With Eyes Wide Open).  It's continuing to teach me more about gaining a wide perspective on the world-- to go into this trip with an open heart and open mind, willing to serve, but also finding humility-- knowing that we are going there to make a difference and to serve selflessly, but that there are things we can learn from them, too.  I also learned at our Missions meeting that the community predominantly speaks Spanish, and so I'm hoping to forcefully teach myself Spanish over the next 7 weeks so that I can at least communicate with them, rather than just smile and wave.  Thankfully, a few gifted Spanish speakers have agreed to help me with this endeavor (thank you Annie, Nathan, and Rachel-- and Kelly for the book!)!  Hopefully I'll be able to learn a little something :) Si??

Thanks for your prayers and for following along!  I'll keep you updated!

e