Just another WordPress.com site
I have been given an official Adventures in Missions blog that I must use so I will be switching. You will be able to subscribe to it. I will still keep a running total of fundraised money on this site. The first three posts on my other blog are the assignments, two of which have already been posted here.
The new address is:
elisadorman.myadventures.org
At this address I will be posting while away.
Thanks for reading!
This is the second blogging assignment:
I had only been at my Uncle’s cottage on Georgian Bay for a couple of days and it was already time to pile back into the van and head home with my family. In hope of extending our summer getaway by even an hour, I walked down to the beach with my brother. It was probably at least 9pm and the sun was low and distant. In anticipation of a colourful sunset we waited at the water’s edge; kicking up water playfully and letting the cold waves sink our feet into the sand. The sun slipped lower and lower and we sat down in the sand to enjoy the warm summer night. Colours started to follow cues and arranged themselves on the sky’s stage. I remember leaning into my brother and smiling up at him. The way he smiled back told me that he was feeling it too - God was, in every way, a part of this performance.
.jpg)
I can’t quite remember what happened next. All I’m sure of is that God told my feet to start running and they obeyed. The sky wrapped around me, in all of its brilliance, and I might as well have been the size of one of the clumps of sand that I kicked up. Cotton ball clouds; blues and purples shifted above with shocking depth. Closer to the water the clouds were soft and pink but laced with fiery yellow. A strip of clear sky was glowing vividly magenta and orange. The water, shot with a piercing column of light, and flecks of shattered suns on the crests of waves, still kept a calm pace. The water rolled and crashed onto the sand slowly but forcefully, beautifully, pink spilling onto the glistening shallow water. The sand, for the length of the endless beach, shimmered and in the pink glow of the hour and green grasses gracefully waved in the breeze. The depth of the scene proved my senses unworthy, but that day, more than merely my knowledge of the shapes and light filled my mind- I was filled with the spirit. Knowledge failed me at that moment, understanding collapsed, nothing remained but wonder and passion and love. The perils of a lifetime dwindled before the breadth of the sky. Time was arbitrary; space no less surreal. A breeze blew hard, soughing through the grass and rippling the water even more. My hair flew wildly; my t-shirt bounced about my body. There is nowhere I wanted to be but in that moment of sensational desire, that reckless, thoughtless, beautiful spot in space. I started to sing. Logically, as I was still running at top speed, I would have had to gasp for breath, but not this time. I sang out my heart, my soul.
I sang
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Holy is the Lamb of God!
Holy, Holy, Holy!
There was no melody; my voice was raw and real like my exposed heart. I looked around myself more and saw the most miraculous things! The water was rising in waves to praise the Creator. The grasses were flailing in worship. The sand sparkled for Jesus. EVEN THE ROCKS CRIED OUT. The evergreens swayed indignantly, powerfully in awe of the Father. The clouds were moving across the horizon in admiration. The wind lifted higher the God who created BREATH and in the middle of it all the sun blazed brilliantly yellow. The God of the UNIVERSE touched down his finger on that beach, on the world and in my soul in that moment and I, smaller than ever before, more vulnerable and more peaceful, was freed from the ways of the world and got to run in worship and sing with PASSION to
HIM alongside
ALL THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN
AND ALL OF CREATION!!!
What a glorious sound we made. OH…
Holy! Holy! Holy!
Is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
Praise the Lord!!! Rejoice!
Let all creation rejoice before the Lord. – Psalm 96:13a
(The pictures were from that actual evening as my mom had her camera out. The first one is of my brother (he got into some worship too). The second is of the sunset and the last one is me returning to the cottage area after mysteriously running off for twenty minutes 
)
As an assignment, each of the immersion 2011/2012 team members were required to write blog posts. The first is about our life and testimony. I now am required to post these on a blog that has recently been set up for use on the field through Adventures in Missions. In a couple months I will share the link and switch over, but for now, to keep you up to date, here is my first ‘official’ blog entry, titled, “God’s Ho-Hum Pile”
For someone my age, despite being a lifelong church-goer, I’d imagine I’ve heard the ‘Jesus uses tax-collectors and fishermen’ sermon a peculiarly large number of times. In a typical progression the speaker first elaborates on God’s biblical fascination with the underdog and then emphasises the potential of the outcast, the power of the broken and the extraordinary use of sub-ordinary men. It’s a pretty solid pick-me-up message for Christians with a turbulent past, but I’ve always felt a little lost in the midst of it. Lacking a defined calamity of my own, I’ve thought in the past that my life might be set aside in God’s ho-hum, the-healthy-don’t need-a-doctor pile. However, I am excited to report that the Lord’s hoo-hum pile turns out to be more amazing than anything I could have dreamed or expected.
All that is not to say that my life has been perfect. When I was in kindergarten I developed severe anxiety disorder and an extreme phobia of rain and wind. A lot of my childhood memories involve numb-handed, heart racing panic. I remember pleading to God to let me die when I was six, so that I wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore. Luckily for me, I am blessed to have parents that never gave up and loved me with grace. They have taught me to persevere. Even in the ten (or so) years that I struggled with anxiety and sometimes depression, I knew that God was with me. In fact, the only time I’ve ever audibly heard God’s voice was as an eight year old. I was walking in the rain one cloudy afternoon. The ever familiar feeling of fear had snuck up on me with the darkening clouds. I can remember the sidewalk square I stood on when I heard a voice from nowhere tell me, “don’t be afraid.”
HE wasn’t in the fire, he wasn’t in the quake, but in the whisper…
When I was ten, my recently ordained dad was called to plant a church. We moved, we prayed and my brother and I spent too many late nights playing makeshift games in the church basement. It’s been a long journey, but God is working slowly and steadily in our little church, although I can’t claim to have always embraced the appropriate enthusiasm. I started going to youth retreats and quickly became a key leader in our inter-church youth group. I’ve always been inclined to go beyond expectations; in school, in sports and even in planning youth events but for some reason until the last couple of years I decided just to fit a little bit of God into a balanced lifestyle. Since the beginning of high school I knew I wasn’t going back, I knew my faith was worth more than anything; but knowing where to go for satisfaction is quite different from taking the time to grow. As my mind grew, however, my musings on purpose grew also, and I began to catch a glimpse of how BIG God is – bigger than Sunday mornings, bigger than youth retreats, bigger than religion, than rules, than purpose.
HE can do ANYTHING!
In about the last year God has rocked my world, wrecked my life and taken over. Words used in services and verses from the Word have become feelings – joy, peace, compassion, love. I’ve taken opportunities to get involved in many ways at church and in my community but specifically, one of the most integral parts of my relationship with God has become my interest in global issues and passion for developing sustainably. Since I was a kid I’ve wanted to make a difference. At eight, I made and sold eight hundred dollars worth of jewellery to raise money for a local hospital. I heard about a need, and I couldn’t stand by. As I’ve gotten old enough to learn about some challenging, devastating realities in our world my compassion has shifted. At any given time I have some library books stacked in my room about slavery or biodiversity or international development. I co-lead a social justice club at my school and have started bringing ideas into my church community as well. I am inspired by God! How lucky am I to have something I care so much about and be given opportunity to make a difference? He has given me compassion that is not my own and a desire to understand which is fulfilling and wonderful.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? -1 John 3:17
.jpg)
I’m sure that I have leaps and bounds of progress to make. My perspectives will change; I’ll realize mistakes I didn’t know I was making. God will probably confront my vanity, my dreams, things that make sense to me now. But I know that God has a plan to use me and change me; maybe in big things, certainly in everyday, and always, always by His love.
IF you would like to get an email when I post next, subscribe by typing your email in the box in the top of the left-hand column!
First off, thanks so much to everyone who has made a donation thus far! You can check how far along I am by clicking on ‘fundraising tally’ in the lower part of the banner on the home page (underneath the title). I have a long ways to go, but already it has taken off…
As well, thanks again to everyone who came out to the Real Life Cafe! Although we didn’t fill all the seats it was a great night displaying some excellent musical performances and a great atmosphere!
Here is the standing status of some fundraisers I’m currently working on.
An ongoing fundraiser is the sale of Threads of Hope (fair trade thread bracelets). I have now sold well over a hundred at $2.00 each. I hope to sell them at some larger events, such as at Canada Day fireworks, as well as personally on a small scale.
We are also waiting to find out if Zehr’s will allow us to hold a BBQ outside of Stanley Park Mall on a Saturday. The mall has already approved and it’s looking good.
Many of my team member are selling t-shirts that were made by a Christian fundraising company. I am considering doing this also if I knew that some people would be interested in buying. I can submit any design related to my trip or perhaps a bible verse and would likely sell them for $20. Any ideas for designs?
Finally, I have started to plan a garage sale on a date to be determined soon (end of Julyish). It will tentatively be held at the Gathering Place. If you have any garage sale items sitting around consider donating them to the fundraiser garage sale!
I’m open to other ideas as well. So if you have any, email me at elisa_952@hotmail.com!
On Sunday May 29th from 7:00 – 9:30 in the lodge at Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort we’re having a fundraising coffee house!
Featuring Canadian recording artist ‘Kelita’, Daniel Dorman and ‘Finding Forever’
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased through The Gathering Place (164 Eighth Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario) or the Gospel Lighthouse in downtown Waterloo. After the show your ticket acts as a $5 gift card at The Gospel Lighthouse Christian Bookstore.
Come out for a relaxing night of good music!
These two video clips (both under 10 minutes) are so inspiring! You won’t be disappointed you gave the next few minutes to taking in these messages:
WILL YOU BE A TRADER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiAh3lYo6k4
DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE:
Over the last couple of weeks I have had the privilege to begin to get to know some of my team members through a team blog and a Facebook group. We have all been required to write blog entries on the team blog about our life, our testimony and our faith. Learning about each other has been so interesting! There are twenty-four of us. Seventeen girls, seven guys. I am one of the youngest and the only one (as far as I know) who doesn’t live in the US. People are coming on this trip from many walks of life, each with different struggles, realizations and aspirations. The cool part is that everyone of us has been called by God to go on this trip, called to serve, called to lead, called to combat poverty or love on children or pray. We are so different that together I believe we will be so strong. We have also been sharing our fears, triumphs, fundraising woes, favourite verses and even songs and it is SO encouraging to be able to pray for each other and lift each other up. I couldn’t count the number of ‘amazing’s or ‘incredible’s on our discussion pages. My group is crazily pumped and so am I!
This is a valid question, but to be honest, I don’t know. Adventures in Missions sets up each team with multiple ministry contacts and plans out some tentative service opportunities ahead of time. However, they also allow the group to decide where to spend the majority of their time. I love this policy because it allows the group I’ll be travelling with to serve where God calls us to and in His time. How could some one sitting behind a desk in Atlanta know which tasks a missions group can do in Nicaragua, for instance, that will be most effective? I do, however, read the blogs of the groups currently on the field and have, for your interests sake, listed some possible ministries based on current trips and trip descriptions.
Possible places: slums, garbage dumps, inner city areas, internally displaced persons camps (similar to a refugee camp), hospitals, remote villages, primary schools, preschools, orphanages, jails, mental institutions, old age homes, homes for disabled people, churches, abused/enslaved women’s shelters, brothels, youth centers
Things we might do: PRAY with people, listen to their stories, clean, renovate, build, distribute supplies, initiate bible studies/worship services, go on crusades (basically preaching), play with kids, help with housework, teach school subjects, care for children, read bible stories, host VBS/preschool programs, build relationships with youth, care for sick individuals, be a hand to hold, an open ear, a testimony, LOVE on people
Who might we partner with: local pastors and local organizations, long-term AIM missionaries, international aid organizations, other missionary groups (ex. YWAM), world race participants
Adventures in Missions has three primary focuses to their longer term ministries that are established around the world: orphans, slavery and poverty. To the most of my understanding each of these demographics will be encountered in each place noting that slavery is most prevalent in Malaysia
I’m so excited that God has a plan for our trip and that by following Him we will be difference-makers…
Thanks for reading and remember to subscribe (put your email in the space in the column on the left).
Hello all!
I will shortly be giving out a letter that I wrote about my trip. The letter is for anyone who might be even vaguely interested in my trip and/or would be willing to support me in prayer but also has information for making a donation. I thought I would copy and paste the letter here. You are welcome to pass it along if you think some one else may be interested in supporting me.
——-
Dear Family and Friends,
Hello! I hope this letter finds you well. I am thankful for an opportunity to share what has been going on in my life lately. God has been teaching me many amazing things about Himself and His will for my life. He has led me to the decision to spend a year before attending University on a missions trip. I’ve been accepted to join Adventures in Missions on an eight month missions trip and plan to leave on September 2nd 2011.The trip is broken up into three eleven week segments in Nicaragua, Malaysia and Kenya respectively. I will be travelling with a group of 20-25 other college-aged students and will be serving primarily in ministries of compassion established by local pastors. I have been accepted to, and plan to study international development at an Ontario university beginning in the fall of 2012 and, thus, the trip will also provide me with relevant and valuable experience and perspective for my studies.
My heart has been burdened with compassion for people trapped in hopeless situations and I have longed to share the gospel in a place where people are hungry for hope. During this trip, I will be trained in various areas of ministry and missions. I will have the opportunity to minister to and love people who are in desperate situations. I know that I am young and probably more idealistic than practical; I certainly have more passion than insight. Yet, I think that God can use me to be his hands on this trip, armed with the love of Jesus and a desire to learn. This trip is an investment in who I am and I believe that it will be the beginning of lifelong purpose and passion.
I am thankful for this opportunity and I trust that God will meet my needs. I would be very appreciative if you could consider partnering with me through prayer or financial means. In order to cover the cost of the expenses on the field for the year, I need to raise and earn $10,700. If you are able and feel called to support me financially please read the following instructions.
Write a check made out to ‘The Gathering Place’ with the note ‘Elisa Missions’ and mail it to;
164 Eighth Avenue,
Kitchener, ON
N2C 1S4
OR give it to me personally
Please include the information card attached so that a charitable receipt can be sent to you.
If you would like to receive email updates, please fill out the information card attached!
I am so excited about how God can use me, challenge me and teach me through this trip and throughout my life! I can’t imagine what I can learn from the cultures I will encounter and the people I will meet. I’ve started an informative blog to share more with you as I get ready and while I am on the field (www.elisaaim.wordpress.com). I would also be happy to share more about my trip and what God is doing in my life with you. Please feel free to ask questions. Call me (519 894 5455), email me (elisa_952@hotmail.com) or contact me to arrange a meet up. Thank you so much for your time!
Elisa Dorman
——–
How lucky am I that I get to make a difference and be the hands of Jesus!!! Not a lot of people get such an incredible opportunity to share God’s love and be changed! What a blessing these challenges will be…
