Rain or Shine or Snow...I stay busy.

As you can see....

in the picture to the left, we had a little snow. Now most people get happy about snow including me, but try moving equipment through it over 200ft while it is below freezing so that you can have a Sunday Morning Service. This will give you a new appreciation for heaters. On a side note, I do still wear flip-flops during this and yes people look at me weird..am I?

     Things are going great. I am still transitioning in to becoming a full fledge Washingtonian. Wednesday nights are going well. The average has been around 15-20 students which is an incredible base number for this area. The cool thing is all of the questions that were asked last week. We are beginning to walk through Philippians and looking at what Christ accomplish here on earth and on the cross. I love the students that God has placed around me. As mentioned before, they are a mix of different styles and personalities. Everyone of them have so much potential. 

     I am gearing up in planning for the spring and summer months for the student ministry. This new chapter in student ministry is challenging and great. Some of the vision that God has given excites me. I may or may have not shared this, but Arlington (the area that I am in) really has nothing for students to do. Uh...HELLO!?! Prime situation for the church and God to show up and meet the need and reach out. I am the impatient one, and so I am realizing that snapping my fingers and it appearing doesn't work. So it will be a journey, and a cool one at that.

     I went to my first Submission Match at AHS (Arlington High School). It is kind of like UFC but with out the punches and blood. It is like extreme wrestling where the fighters make their opponent lose by submitting out of the match. It was cool. The cool thing is all of the connections we made with different people there. My new friend Jason (local & commons attender) knew the guy who was over the Submission Tournament and mentioned to him that I did graphics...he was interested in some future work. This could really be a cool opportunity to build relationships and carry ministry into that arena. Im stoked about it.

     Last night, we had an incredible leadership meeting. We looked back on 2008 and what God did at and through The Commons and now are looking at the next step for 2009. The brainstorming session was incredible. I am pumped about what was mentioned and what is going to take place. 

     So all in all, this past week has been great! Please be keeping me in prayer. I am narrowing down a few places to rent. I have found one house that would be incredibly perfect! It is 3-4 bedrooms, big living room, a yard, & the community basketball court is right beside it..YAHTZEE!!!! I am checking in on it today, it would be ideal. I want to definitely make sure this is God's place for student ministry and for connecting the South by providing a place for mission groups and family groups to stay and serve. Also, I am in search for a part-time job as of right now. My plan is to do graphic design for churches part-time. I still have a long way to go as far as financial support and being able to live out here in Seattle. I have not reach my financial goal yet for this year, but I know God will provide. Right now I am staying with the Corbins until I find a place.

     Again, I want to thank you all for your encouragement, prayers, financial support, and laughter. I am playing catch up on text, phone calls, e-mails, and wall post...so please be patient. At the beginning of February, I will be sending out the first E-newsletter via E-mail with more info. Once I get situated, YOU need to come out and serve for a week. We (the Commons) will have a place for you. I leave you with this quote:

"Make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can." John Wesley

I love you all!

Cham

If you would like to get involved or serve through financial support, please e-mail @ cham.i.am@gmail.com or check out the right column. 

Game Night....

Well..., it has officially been...

over a week now since I have landed in Seattle. Things are going great. The first 5 days were nothing but fog. Now, I am not talking about the semi-dense fog that is in the south. I am talking about fog that you can use at a concert or to hide an elephant in a magic show. This stuff is thick. I told a friend on the phone the other day to go in to there bedroom and take 5 sets of white sheets, 3 white towels, and a white pillow, and cover there face with it. That would be about as comparable. Ok..little exaggeration, but believe me..this stuff is thick.

     Besides the crazy weather, the Commons is still rocking a long. I have two Sunday services under my belt. They have been great. When it comes to seeing lives changed, the setting up every week in the cold is far worth it.  We keep getting more and more new people checking out what is going down at Post-Middle (Current home of the Commons). We all as feel that God has some big plans in the near future. 

     As far as student ministry, we had our first Wednesday night last week. It was cool. I didn't know what to expect and I did not ask any questions ahead of time for the sake of my first experience to be raw and genuine. The students that God has entrusted me with are great. I see a lot of potential. Most are unchurched, which adds flavor to the group. The age range is 6th - 12th grade, but I mostly have 8th - 10th graders. They range from all walks of life. I have skaters, athletes, Naval kids (there is a base near Arlington), and even students with families that moved from Russia. So I definitely have a wide range of styles, but that just makes it more the interesting. 

     Last night (Sunday), we had a game night. I really didn't know what to expect. It was great. At first, it was the typical student response-"not sure who this guy is" scenario, but that seem to quickly change. It turned out to be a great night of hanging out and getting to know the students. More important, I felt that I made headway with a bunch of them. I think they saw that I am a "what you see, what you get" type person. So I am continuing with the relationship building full force. 

     All in all, the game night was incredible. I do want to mention that it wouldn't have been as great if Kathy & Becky hadn't of helped with the food and everything else. Thanks ladies! or "You guys!" as the NW's say. Below are a few pics of the game night:

I have some incredible students and all of them have incredible potential in there journey with Jesus. 

      To close this post out, I am excited about this week. I feel that God has a ton in store. I believe that God is wanting me to walk through the book of Philippians on Wednesday nights with the students. So I am pumped about it. I think God is also going to connect me with some more people (not really sure about the details). So, I am definitely psyched! I am still looking for an apartment or a house to rent. I really believe that I will find a house to rent eventually (if not now), so I can accomplish the dreams and visions that God has placed before me. It would be used 110% for ministry. Please keep me in prayer on the living situation and also finding a part-time job. I love you all and I am so thankful for your prayers, e-mails, support, financial support, laughs, encouragement, and friendship. 

                Much Love,

Cham

And on the 6th day, the Lord let us get to Seattle,

     The move was a success! On January 5^th, Tim (the pastor) and I set out on the great trek across the nation to the Northwest. I drove the 26ft Penski truck while he drove my vehicle. Before we could totally get going, we had to make a stop in Little Rock, AR to pick up Kathy Lechuga’s (another future leadership team member) belongings. As you may or may not know, everything that I do seems to have some type of twist or hurdle or weirdness. Well, things never change. About two hours out from Little Rock, AR, the windshield wipers of the Penski truck stopped. Now this is not a problem when the weather is great, but for my situation dealt with freezing rain and ice. Soooo, Tim and I tried to do the macho man thing and drive slow in the pouring rain. That didn’t last long, and I caved in, admitted defeat, and pulled over at a truck stop. For the next 8 hours, we were out of commission. Tim went on to speak at Kathy’s church while I stayed back with “ol yeller” and yes I gave the big yellow truck that name. After an onsite mechanic, a tow truck, a mechanic shop, and endless hours of waiting, I was back on the road to pick-up Kathy’s stuff. As I showed up at her apartment, the wipers went out once again. GO FIGURE! So, we decided to get the truck packed and deal with the situation in the morning. Let me testify to all the parents out there. If it weren’t for my days of playing Tetris on my Nintendo, we would have never gotten all of our stuff on to that truck. It was packed to the brim.

            Morning came, and we drove back to Penski to get the wipers fixed. After a few more hours, we were on our way to Seattle. Tim and I drove the truck while Kathy and Marcy (her mom) trailed behind us in another vehicle.

            During our trip, we endured 50 mph gust, rain, freezing rain, snow, forest fires (no joke), and closed roads. It wouldn’t be a trip if there weren’t any adventure to it. I have to say, if you ever get a chance to travel across the US, TAKE IT! It was incredible. We saw mountains, prairie land, sunsets, sunrises, big skies, and beautiful lakes and streams. I kept telling myself, “if someone has any doubts about God existing, then they need to come see this.” I felt substantially small because it took us 6 days to travel something God made so quickly with detail. In fact, there was one point where I looked at the Mountains of Idaho and was consumed with the fact that my God is so much bigger than everything I was seeing. It was truly breath taking. On a side note, I will warn you that Kansas and South Wyoming are long and very flat. You can pass the time away by playing a game of “How many tumble weeds can you hit in a mile”. Just make sure you yell out “BOOM!” when you hit one to give it a more personal effect. Trust me, you get that bored after awhile. J

            After 6 days of travel, cheap motels, and fast food, we pulled into the city of Seattle. I will never forget the feeling I had when we arrived in the city. It felt like I was home. It was an incredible feeling that is still odd to me because I have never lived at this new home. Nevertheless, I was glad to be home.

            I currently am living with the Tim and his family until I find an apartment or house to rent in the Arlington/Marysville area. I still have a lot to do as far as establishing my residency here in Washington. I want to thank all of you who are supporting me through giving, prayers, encouragement, and interest. I hope to have a video blog up soon as well as keeping this blog updated weekly. I am excited to see what God going to do with The Commons here in Seattle. Please keep me in your prayers while I begin Student ministry here. I love you all and very grateful to call you friend! ~ Cham

PRAYER REQUEST

1. Continually growth in Christ (prayer, Word, etc)
2. The Commons (God's vision, impacting the community, vision, salvations)
3. Tim Corbin (Pastor) - Vision, leadership, continually spiritual growth, 
4. Commons Leadership Team

1. Continually spiritual growth, God's vision, God's anointing, leadership
2. Student Ministry - Fulfilling God's purpose
3. Continually building relationships with students and the parents and people of the Commons
4. Transitions in becoming a resident in Washington
5. Apartments/or House to rent - place of ministry to the community
6. part-time job

I will have a more extensive list soon.

Check out this link to see some of the pics from the trip.

Click here --->Photos