Ebag complete!

Just have to figure out how to bag things.  Good thing I have my digital scale to make sure I don't go over the 50 lb limits.

A big THANK YOU to my ebag sponsors!

• Mike and Judy Cramer
• The Sandovals--Sam, Dalila, Edgar & Maria
• Kids of Heaventrain
• Wendell & Vivian Kizzee
• Darlene Johnson (Both your wheeled duffled bag came in handy)

Yep,  the Central kids of CLE  took up an offering for my little ole ebag.

A true example of Mathew 25. . .

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
   ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

From the Dark. . .

In the early '90s, a war raged in Colombia between two competing drug cartels. Born of this violence, Felix Vargas knows no emotion, and is trained to be a killer. 

Vargas killed his first person at age 15.  His second victim was a girl who was attempting to assassinate him. After working for the Colombian military, trained by U.S. Green Berets and Navy Seals, Vargas found himself working against cocaine trafficker Pablo Escobar.  At one time,  Escobar was said to control 80 percent of the cocaine that traveled into the U.S. He was named by Fortune and Forbes magazines as one of the top 10 richest people in the world.  

When caught handling drugs, he is sentenced to seven years in a Miami prison, Felix's world begins to change as one person shows him Christ's love. When deported back to Columbia, he embarks on a journey from dark to light.

From the Dark from Global Communications on Vimeo.
Also available to download form nazarenemedia.org

Those times have changed, Felix and Lilliana  have 3 three children and are  global missionaries for the church of the Nazarene in Paraguay.  Extreme Paraguay is a partnership between Felix Vargas and Extreme Nazarene Ministries to jump-start an effort to plant 12 churches of 1000 in the capital city of Asuncion using short term volunteers and 5 pairs of 40/40 long term missionaries.

This film was shot on location at Felix's home church Casa De Oracion in Cali, Colombia with a cast of more than 40 people. The film won a 2007 Gold Davey Award, an international award honoring the creative media work of small firms worldwide. The team has received dozens of responses testifying to the story’s transformative potential.

World Mission Communications (WMC) distributed the short film free on DVD to more than 5,000 Nazarene churches in North America in the Fall of 2007.  The film was distributed throughout Latin America in the spring of 2008.
 

“We’ve had people write in and say it started a prayer movement in their church,” said Lee Rudeen, cinematographer. One church reported showing From the Dark in a drug rehab program to help addicted people see they have hope, Anderson added.

A missionary wrote, “We had a showing on Wednesday and nine accepted Christ. This is really an impactful testimony.” Also, a public school teacher requested a DVD to show troubled children in his classroom. 

From the Dark DVDs may still available. Write to info@fromthedarkfilm.com or call 816-333-7000, ext. 2285 for details. The DVD includes discussion questions and ideas for how to use the film in settings such as classes, small groups, fellowship times, and Wednesday evening services.

Length - 23 min.
Produced by Global Communications in 2008
webite 

Pics have arrived! Introducing . . .

 

Chuck Bunch is the Team leader and Vincent & Alyson Cork are the Coordinators for the Cali Team.  It's cool to see the Tibbs as part of the team.  The last time I saw them was when they visited our church for Extreme Argentina and that was two kids ago!  : )

Don't forget to keep everything in your prayers.  Check the last post for the most recent requests!

My First Webcast!

 I finally got to "meet" my team today!

On Sunday 12:45pm PST (CALIFORNIA), 2:45pm CST (COLOMBIA & PERU), 3:45pm EST (OHIO) will all gathered together.   Some around a big screen at church(CALIFORNIA) and some around our computer screens. Together Extreme Colombia 5 obtained the details on the project and had the chance to ask any questions we had via a webcast.

All we had to do was first get all the time zones figured which our fearless leader, Alyson Cork helped with. Once the time was set, we turned on our computers and went to the URL, http://www.ustream.tv/. We then searched for Extreme Colombia 5 using the search box found at the top of the computer.

We then muted our computer (Commercials--yuck) and called a phone number.

Took a while for everyone to logged into the conference call and then to tweak the Ustream software so we could see everyone but we did it.

Interested in seeing what we did? Check out the uploaded video by clicking here or watch it in the player below.

Soon I will be boarding a jet plan bound for California and finally stopping in Colombia.

A big Thank you to my ebag sponsors:

Mike and Judy Cramer!

Time is running out if you were thinking about supporting me by purchasing something from my ebag list.  I need all materials donated for my ebag by June 12.  This will provide me with enough time to collect the materials myself and to pack them.  Would love to have you join me in my adventure through your participation in my ebag!

Prayer is also appreciated!  Current prayer requests are:

• Vincent & Alyson are having Visa problems.  They are currently in Ecuador,  so please pray that the Lord will intervene so they can be in Colombia by the time we are there.
• Ebag materials to arrive and for the packing parties that will be occurring in a week and half.
• God's anointing on the meetings between Pastora and Vincent/Alyson as they discuss the technology issue for video conferencing of the Tuesday prayer times at the Cali Church each Tuesday from 4 to 6 am central time and for the details of the real time collaboration of the prayer time with Bedford Church of the Nazarene on June 28.
• Pray for  the many people coming together to supply the needs in the field through donations to our ebags as well as donations to the project itself.
• Pray that God will guide each of us as we cross geographical & cultural barriers and find hearts ready to receive the Word of God.
• Pray that God opens doors for ministry, partnership and friendship.
• Pray that we would be guided by the Holy Spirit and be able to recognize opportunities.

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now" Philippians 1:3-5 (NIV).

Thank you for praying!
Sharron

Cali is only a month away!

Just received an email update from Vincent and Alyson Cork, Extreme Colombia Directors, and it reminded me that the  Cali Church of the Nazarene is called the “Casa de Oración (House of prayer).

 

Cali Prayer : Available for download from Nazarene Media Library

“…I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: ‘LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.” Nehemiah 1:4-7

So  prayer warriors-- it's only a month away!  Provide me and my team  with the protection of God through your prayers. Stand in the gap for us!

Start by praying for each team member listed below.  Pray that each of us will be provided with God's  protection during this month as we get ready to leave.

My California team members from the Porterville Church of the Nazarene--

1. Pastor Mark Pitcher
2. John Armstrong
3. Chuck Bunch
4. Pastor Frank Olmedo
5. Debbie Ford
6. Vicente Ramirez, Jr.
7. Elizabeth Waterman
8. Shelbe Thompson
9. Cole Williams
10. Craig Brumley
11. Dan Winchester
12. Terry Carlos
13. RoseMary Maestas

(don't forget little ole Midwestern me--Sharron Sankovich)

Pray that everyone involved will be brought to a place of total honesty with God. Vincent enourages us to avoid tired Evangelical phrases when talking to God. For example, replace, "Help me to do my best" with "God, invade me with the feelings that the poor mother on the corner feels when she sees me interacting with her children.” Seth Barnes

"As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one."  2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

Pray for  the many people coming together to supply the needs in the field through donations to our ebags as well as donations to the project itself.

Pray that God will guide each of us as we cross geographical & cultural barriers and find hearts ready to receive the Word of God.

Pray that God opens doors for ministry, partnership and friendship.

Pray that we would be guided by the Holy Spirit and be able to recognize opportunities.

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should" Ephesians 6:19-20 .

Below are some specific requests for my project.

• The purchase of a minibus for use during the entire project 

• Pray for Pastor Frankie and Vicente, as they need to raise a few more $ for the trip

• God’s provision in obtaining the location the Cork's found for our housing while we are here. 

• Successful meeting with the architect on the jobs we can help with. 

• For Vince Cork's mother who was hospitalized recently with a severe infection.  She is being released home, but please pray for her continued recovery.

• Successful meetings with the pastor and leaders as the impact events are planned.

• 
  The Cork family, they recently traveled to Bogota to start their residency and have paid $500 for the wrong Visa.  Please pray that they will be able to get their money back and have time to get their residency before they travel back to Cali.   

• God's anointing on the Tuesday prayer times at the Cali Church each Tuesday from 4 to 6 am central time and for the details of the real time collaboration of the prayer time with Bedford Church of the Nazarene on June 28. 

• Judy Grumm, US short term volunteer coordinator has a lump in her neck and is going to the doctor to check it out.  They do not think it’s serious, but let’s commit it to prayer.

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now" Philippians 1:3-5 (NIV).

Thank you for praying!
Sharron

Extreme Colombia

Coming  at the end of  June and beginning part of July, God has given me the opportunity to participate with Extreme Nazarene  in Colombia. The team I will traveling with is from the Porterville Church of the Nazarene in CA and where we either are working on the constructions of the Cali Church coliseum or on the various impact teams reaching out to the 3+ million people living in Cali, Colombia.

Please take a minute to watch the video clip below describing the project.



One of the reasons why the church in Cali is growing so rapidly is because of its cell-based strategy. Hundreds of cell groups meet weekly throughout the week. These cell groups serve as evangelism and discipleship vehicles constantly bringing new people into the church. This was one of the best experiences I had when visited Cali in 2008 with the Jesus Film Harvest partners.

Cell group members praying for the Jesus Film Showing in Colombia, 2008

Since Extreme Colombia is partnering with the church, the leaders of these cell groups will be mobilized.  I have requested to part of the impact team with  such  activities  as compassionate aid and medical clinics in poor communities, workshops and conferences for youth, men and women, festivals for children, and evangelism campaigns in all sorts of forms are included in the events.  

How you can participate and/or help:

• Partner with me in praying for the people we will be serving, for my health and effectiveness as a team member, and for the many details of this trip.  Keep up to date about my team with this blog or with the Extreme Colombia project in general via the Colombia project directors, Vincent & Alyson Corks, blog.

• Second, please consider supporting me by helping fill my E-Bag for the trip. E-bags provide critical supplies to the Kingdom expansion in Cali, Colombia. Each Short-Term volunteer is asked to reserve one of their two checked bags for Mission Critical E-bag supplies. Some of the items contained in the E-bags will be used during your project and others will be used for long term. Click here for my e-bag on Amazon.com.

• The Cali Church currently has 6 weekend services (soon to be 8) which are held Saturday and Sunday every week all with standing room only. Based on the current rapid growth of the church, a new church home with a much higher capacity must be built as soon as possible. Failure to build now may hinder further growth of the church. Therefore, the pastor and his leadership team have designed and begun raising money to build a coliseum with a capacity of 7,000 people.  

The church has already raised an astonishing $5,000,000 of the $11,000,000 budget, but needs help with the rest.  If you would like to help by contributing a tax-deductible donation to help build the coliseum, write a check to Extreme Nazarene Ministries and send to the address below.  To ensure the funds go to the right extreme project and where the initial contact is from, please write in the Memo line   Colombia project/Sankovich.

Extreme Nazarene Ministries

4800 W Fairview Ste. C

Boise, ID 83706

         You may donate via phone by calling Crowne One (Donor and Volunteer Services) at 1-800-326-9235.  Again clearly identify the Colombia Project / Sankovich for accurate records.

Thanks for your support!

Hello Blogger World!

As many of you know I love taking pictures and traveling.  I am not much of  author though as you can tell by the non-creative title and blog address.  Yet,  it is time to bring all my travel blogs together and start adding memories together. I am thinking kind of like an electronic scrapbook of memories.

Check out past blogs on blogger --

• Victory Summer Camp (2009)
• Restoring Hope (2006)

Last year's fun times at Atwood lake  and my 2008 Journey to Columbia is found via pic on Facebook: Journey to Columbia, Iglesia Nazarene Casa de Oracione',  Jesus film I, II and III.

My 2007  Journey to Ecuador was posted on an apple mobile me account which I have now disabled.

Only 5 weeks left of this school year and then this June watch this blog for my Extreme adventure with  Extreme Nazarene Ministries.  I am heading back to Cali, Columbia.  July and August will be spent just doing life in Ohio.

So here I go on another adventure in my various seasons of life--blogging 101! Wish me well.