Hebrews 11Faith in What We Don't See

^1-2The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

 ³By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.

 ⁴By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain.

 ^5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him.

 ⁷By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn't see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. 

 ^8-10By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going.

By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. 

 ^11-12By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said.

 ^13-16Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.

 ^17-19By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, "Your descendants shall come from Isaac."

 ²⁰By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau.

 ²¹By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph's sons in turn, blessing them with God's blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.

 ²²By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial.

 ²³By an act of faith, Moses' parents hid him away for three months after his birth. They saw the child's beauty, and they braved the king's decree.

 ^24-28By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff.

By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king's blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. 

By an act of faith, he kept the Passover Feast and sprinkled Passover blood on each house so that the destroyer of the firstborn wouldn't touch them.

 ²⁹By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned.

 ³¹By an act of faith, Rahab, the Jericho harlot, welcomed the spies and escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God.

 ^32-38 I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. There are so many more— Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn't deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.

 ^39-40Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.

What have you done by faith lately?  I personally need to live by faith a bit more, god has the answer why don't I ask him more?  Why do I rely on myself? Lord Help me to seek you more....

Scandia

Few things make me happier then riding the go carts with one of my girls at Scandia.  I was so excited when Jaden was tall enough to go on the go carts at a little place in Oregon one of my youth group students knew the guy who worked there so that lead to many fun times on that track, this weekend I knew it was time to introduce Addison to the fun filled excitement of the Go-Carts, she "loved them so much" she held on to me with one arm and put the other arm in the air in a triumphant YELL WOOHOO!!!  

That made it worth the wait to have her ride with me.  We once tried to have Jaden ride by herself on little go carts at the fair......it didn't turn out so good for her, she is bigger now but still needs to ride with me.  


I know that their are faster karts just down the road but they don't have the history that Scandia karts have.  I remember so many grand adventures involving go carts.  I can't count how many times my friend Mattice and myself got into trouble for "Bumping" and how many times my Dad and I got it trouble for "Bumping"  o-yes the go carts are amazing!!


One youth training I attended in Fresno we had a free evening and I was with a group who didn't have a leader, we were deciding what to do and I spook up and said GO CARTS so we found a place and rode those for a fun filled evening.  Then in Reedsport for the project graduation they rented out a fun center that had two of my favorite things GO CARTS and LAZER TAG!!!!!  that was amazing, I had a headache from all the fumes.  It was cool because the kids working that night were having fun with it, they had lights and a siren and were fake pulling people over it was a HOOT!!  Well I will continue riding and probable getting the warning because for some reason I can't follow the rule of no bumping.....well maybe someday.


When do we lose that excitement for little things?  Why aren't their more dad's riding with their kids on the Go Carts?  Wouldn't the world be a better place if we rode the Go Carts more often?  I think so!!!  So if your ever in Rohnert Park call me up and we will ride the life preserving Go Carts!!

The World Is changing

So in the past you have seen me write about how me and Church facility people usually don’t get along and how we tend to have disagreements. For example on the subject of riding big wheels in the hallway or dropping pumpkins off the roof we just could not agree. I'm not sure why but the ideas just didn't flow on how to solve this issue...

 

Well I’m glad to say that I have officially been that my current Church of six months and no problems with facility person. I changed two different rooms hung up street signs on the walls and built bookshelves out of wood pallets. No problems…I even got a compliment for one maintenance volunteer about my craftsmanship…is this problem/feud solved? Is the world going to start turning around? Will Youth Pastors and facilities personnel start getting along, even going out for a beer after a good Sunday service? Who know?

Monday Dec 6th Lesson

John 8:3-11 (The Message)

^3-6The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
 ^6-8Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
 ^9-10Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
 ¹¹"No one, Master."
   "Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

A young woman was caught in the act of adultery.
Religious leaders brought her before Jesus to have her put to death.
Jesus says only those who haven’t sinned can throw the rocks.
Jesus allows the woman to go free.

Recognize that EVERYONE has SINNED.

“All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!”
(John 8:7 NLT).

For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23 NLT).

Realize that the JUDGING is up to JESUS.

“Teacher, they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Moses’ law says to kill her” (John 8:4-5).

Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. . . . each of us will give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:10, 12).

Receive Jesus’ Judgment: FORGIVENESS.

Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more”  (John 8:10-11 NLT).

Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Thought for the week:

JESUS never throws ROCKS!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO2xHNdTPVw

So it’s been a year….  One year since I was kicked to the curb. One year and it still hurts, we have gotten by and moved on. It still hurts….. Knowing that people had so little care for me and my family that we were just tossed out and before Christmas no less…so yes I may still have some issues but in review some great things have happened in the last year.  So here are some highlights from 2010. 

The greatest thing about this last year has been my family.  If I didn't already know my wife is amazing, she has been supportive thru five different jobs and our moving to a new state.  My daughters are also amazing and very flexible in all the different traveling and moving and new schools.  I'm am blessed to have such an amazing family.  My parents have also  been great in helping us settle and move.

For sure a great event was for sure my trip to Mexico with my Brother and Father, being able to serve others in such a huge way was an amazing turning point with me and a turning point on my road to recovery.  After that trip I felt a strong call not to give up on ministry.  Shanna and I had decided to move back to our home city to be close to family and have some support.  After the Mexico trip I sent out thirty different letters to Churches in the area we would be moving back home to not asking for a job just putting myself out there saying what I had done and I who I was.  Only God could bring an opportunity together that came our way, someone I had sent the letter to knew of a Church that was looking for a youth pastor.  So I ended up getting a part time job as a youth pastor in the same area we were moving to.  This is a great job for me right now; it’s a small church so I get to be very involved in the church in other areas not just youth ministry.

Church

Another great thing was moving back home close to my parents and Brother.  I have had more time to have lunch with my brother and my Dad.  I have also been blessed to help out my Brother in his new venture.  His starting a non-profit in the community was a big undertaking for him and I am glad I can help out in any way I can.

The last positive event that came this year is myself and Shanna being in college with a good path to graduation. 

So over the last year we moved to a new state from little apartment to a nice house with a garage.  I've had five different jobs and many different crazy ideas.  We went to Disneyland with our whole family we supported each other thru two grandma's deaths and gotten a cute little puppy.  I don’t know what the future holds and I don’t know what the next year holds but I continue to strive to be a good father and good husband, as far as my issue with being tossed out…well I don’t know how to overcome that…….

Jesus was traveling from Jerusalem to *Galilee. He went through Samaria.

Samaria

Samaria was between *Galilee in the north and *Judea and Jerusalem in the south. The shortest way to go north from Jerusalem was through Samaria. For hundreds of years the Jews and the people of Samaria had been enemies. They did not agree about where God’s people should *worship. All Jews *worshipped at Jerusalem. God had told them to build the Temple there. The Samaritans had made another place for *worship. It was in their land, on the top of a mountain. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. Most Jews would not travel through Samaria. They went by a longer route to avoid Samaria.

But at this time Jesus travelled through Samaria. He stopped at noon in a small town called Sychar. Jesus was tired. He sat by the well outside the town. The *disciples went to buy food.

SECOND PART

Jesus speaks to a woman

While Jesus was alone, a woman came to the well for water. It was not the usual time to go for water. She probably came then because she did not want to meet people. Later in the story we read that she had lived a bad life. She had been married to several men. Now she lived with a man  who was not her husband. Perhaps nobody would talk to her. Jesus spoke to her. He asked the woman for a drink. It surprises us that she did not refuse him. It surprised her that a Jew would ask this. She told Jesus that she did not expect his request. Then, Jesus replied:

John 4:10: Jesus answered her, ‘You do not know the gift of God. You do not know who asks you for water. If you did, you could ask me. I would give you living water’.

The gift of God

This is what Jesus meant. The ‘gift of God’ is the *Holy Spirit. The woman could not have understood that. But Jesus came to change us by his *Holy Spirit. If we want a drink, water helps us. If we want God, Jesus can help us. We know this from the *prophecy of Jeremiah 31:31-34. We have mentioned this earlier in this course. But the woman did not think about her *spiritual life. Then Jesus explained the purpose of the ‘gift of God’.

John 4:13, 14: Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks water, from this well, will need more water later. Whoever drinks my water will never need more. My water will be like a stream that gives *eternal life’.

Our real needs are *spiritual. Jesus alone can satisfy them. Here is what God promises to do for us. All that we must do is to ask him. Again the woman thought about what she needed in her own life now. But Jesus stopped her. He said to her, ‘Go, get your husband’. This immediately made the woman think about the wrong things that she had done. She said that she did not have a husband.

The woman's *sin

Jesus now said that she had married five men. And the man that she lived with now was not her husband. The woman immediately knew that Jesus was not an ordinary man. An ordinary man could not know these things about her. So, the woman thought that Jesus was a *prophet. She tried to change the subject. She did not want to talk about her *sin. She talked about the argument between the Jews and the Samaritans. She talked about the right place for *worship. Jesus replied. He said that a new time was coming. Then men would not *worship at either place. They would *worship God in *spirit and truth.

The *Messiah is coming

The woman said that she knew this. She knew that the *Messiah was coming. He would explain everything. Jesus now told the woman, ‘I who speak to you am he’. [That is, 'I am the *Messiah. You are speaking to the *Messiah now.'] This was a wonderful thing to say. Jesus had been very careful when he spoke about himself to the priests in Jerusalem. They thought that they were very good men. But it was to this woman that Jesus said this. He told her clearly who he was.

After this, the woman went to her town and told everybody. Jesus stayed there for two days. Many people believed in him. This shows us much about what Jesus did. People often said that he should not spend time with bad people. He should not be with *sinners, because good people would not talk to them. His reply was this:

Luke 5:31, 32: Healthy people do not need a doctor. Sick people do. I have not come to help ‘good’ people. I came to tell *sinners to *repent.

THIRD PART

Each person matters to Jesus

The story of the woman of Samaria teaches us that each person matters to Jesus. Why did he choose to go through Samaria on this journey? Usually he would have gone the longer way. It seems that he went just to meet this woman. He wanted to bring new life to her. As a result, the town of Sychar heard about Jesus. A number of times Jesus went out of his way to meet just one person. See Mark 5.

The story also teaches us this. Jesus offers to forgive everyone. He offers new life to all, even if they have been very wicked. Jesus also came for people from every nation. His *kingdom is for everybody, from every country and every culture. Perhaps his visit prepared the way for this command to the *disciples. Before he returned to *heaven, he told them:

Acts 1:8: But the *Holy Spirit will come on you with power. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all *Judea and Samaria, and in all the world. [That is, in every country].

Jesus had told the woman:

John 4:10: Jesus answered her, ‘You do not know the gift of God. You do not know who asks you for water. If you did, you could ask me. I would give you living water’.

FINAL PART

Living waterHe came to give this ‘living water’. It is to be like a stream that is in us. From us it will go out to help other people. The world is full of people who need *spiritual help. But Jesus could do nothing for people who did not know this. Some people think that they are good enough. They will not confess their evil deeds to God. They will not confess their wrong attitudes. They will not let Jesus save them from their *sins. They do not know that he can give them hope. We cannot have new life from Jesus until we ask for it. Before we ask, we must want it. We must realise that we need it. So, we must know about our *sin.

I thought this was a really cool blog, so here it is

Jonathan

At long last: Brian Wilson reveals the meaning behind his crossed arms gesture after he saves a game

POSTED BY ANDREW BAGGARLY ON JULY 14TH, 2008 AT 8:48 PM | CATEGORIZED ASUNCATEGORIZED

One of the features I hoped to make semi-regular on this blog is an offer to take your questions for Giants players. If it’s an intriguing one, I’ll go and ask it for you. (See the Ask a Giant! tab at the top of this page.)

At the end of May, reader Bruce Chiang wanted to know why Brian Wilson crosses his arms after he records the save. One hand makes a fist (inside his glove) and he points his index finger with the other hand.

Wilson was evasive. He wasn’t ready to let it be publicly known what it meant. He pledged to tell me, but only on his terms and only when he was a little more confident that his season was going the right way.

Well, now he’s an All-Star and is likely to pitch an inning today at Yankee Stadium. So he promised to sit down with me on this last road trip and divulge the whole story.

One problem: He works out like a madman. Every time I tried to track him down at Shea Stadium or Wrigley Field, he was running stairs, lifting weights, running the warning track or perspiring on the exercise bike.

I got to the park massively early to track him down Sunday…and walked in the press box to see one player running on the track. Wilson, of course.

He took the loss in Saturday afternoon’s game and was doing his penance.

“I’m punishing myself,” he said.

When he switched to a stationary bike in a dank little storage space off the clubhouse, he finally agreed to talk to me.

(Some of you figured out it’s a mixed-martial arts reference and there’s aclothing company called One More Round that uses the slogan. Others thought it was a symbol of his devout Christian faith.)

Short answer: You’re both right. It goes a little deeper than that, though.

I promised Wilson that I would allow him to describe the personal significance of the gesture in his own words. That’s what follows, straight out of my tape recorder:

“One More Round is a clothing line. It has to do with the drive and determination that certain fighters have when their backs are against the wall. It’s, `No matter how deep I am in this fight, no matter how badly burned I am, I’ve got one more round in me.’ That’s basically the motto, the creed, of One More Round. No matter what it takes, I’ve got one more in me.

“And to me, that relates to what I do on the mound. In the ninth inning, your back is against the wall and you’re probably facing the meat of the order. Whether it’s bases loaded, no outs, you’re only up by one, whatever, you’ve got one more round left in you. You can’t back down, you can’t give in, and that’s exactly how I portray my inning — as a war, as a battle. So when I go out there, I’m fighting for my team. I don’t care about any personal statistics, giving up runs or whatever. As long as I preserve the win, everything’s OK.

“Now, one of the main things I do after a game is the crossing of the arms. That’s on a T-shirt I wear underneath my jersey when I pitch. (He wore that T-shirt in an ESPN interview last month.) That’s just respecting the fighters and their commitment and determination and the hard work they put in.

“And also it’s taking into consideration my own walks in life. For instance, when I cross my arms, I have my left hand in the fist and my right hand goes underneath pointing with my (index) finger. What I’ve taken into my own belief is that this finger represents one man. I’m that one person. And I can only go so far in life leaning on my own understandings and my own strength. The fist represents the power of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The fist is symbolic of a circle. It’s never-ending. This strength will only continue to grow. So here’s the strength of God and the strength of man. And without him, I am nothing. I can only go so far in this life. But when I cross, I now have this one person with the strength of Christ, and I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me. I can get over any battles in life.

“So I basically give respect to the ultimate fighting world and I also give respect to Christ, the audience of one that I play for. I don’t play for anything else. I play to impress Him and only Him and I must honor Him through defeat and also successes because I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the strength that He gives me. Talent only goes so far. But faith gets you a little farther. So that’s what it is. It just represents my faith and trust in him, and letting him know and the world know that any believer that walks with Christ, or any walk of life you have, no matter where you are, I’m showing respect to you for your hard work, too. Because it’s not easy living in this world.”

I asked him why he decided to make the gesture at the end of a game.

“I just thought it would be a good time. It shows no disrespect toward anybody. It’s all positive praise. It’s not for showboating. It’s not to start an epidemic. It’s just me getting a quick message out to the world and to Christ and that’s it. I just thought, `What more perfect time to display my faith than at the end of a game?’”

I knew that Wilson came to Christianity later in life. His father died of kidney cancer when he was 17, and for a long time, he was disillusioned.

“I had to go through my struggles in life. My alienation towards Christianity was very prominent through my adolescence. One day it hit me. I felt I needed to start correcting my life. This happened when I was 23 years old. I was in Augusta, Ga. (playing for the Giants’ low-A club), and I was just playing cards, going about my business, and every Sunday a group of guys would go with the team chaplain. I didn’t even know what `chaplain’ meant.

“Well, my father passed away when I was 17 and you know, I was praying he wouldn’t die. And he was taken away from me. I didn’t understand. It had nothing to do with your prayers not being answered. It was just his time to go. But me being 17 years old, not a very mature kid, I just took that as Him turning his back on me, so I turned my back on Him. When I put my cards down and went in the dugout to speak to the team chaplain, I soon learned that wasn’t the way it worked. No matter how many times I turn my back on God, He’ll always be in front of me. I could stray away from Him for 90 years but as long as I know Him for one day, He’ll honor me in heaven. So I thought that would be one heck of a life-altering change that I should make.”

I asked him about teammates dropping the X, including Omar Vizquel who does it every time. (Omar doesn’t know what it means. “I just like him because he’s crazy,” Vizquel said.)

“Yeah, we’ve got the first baseman doing it, too. Usually you cross your arms when you’re playing behind the runner, every once in awhile they’ll throw it up for me just to ease my mind. (Rich) Aurilia does it jokingly, but I take it as a reminder of why I’m out here. It’s, `Remember what kind of gift you have, and most of all, don’t let your team down.’”

New Things Coming

               

Some exciting things have been happening since we moved to Sonoma County. I’m still looking for a second part-time job so please pray for that to find it’s way to me. I have been able to help my brother with some great Serve a little projects. If you don’t know he is starting a Non-Profit that helps link people who need things done to people who can do things…..short version, check out his website http://servealittle.org/

anywaz I helped him with a project putting up some plexiglass for a single Mom on her balcony (on third floor) so her kids could play out there, it was a small project but she really appreciated it.

I got things going at Church with youth group, changed up the youth room to more of a youth lounge getting ready for our kick off at end of month. I have the amazing opportunity to start a program from scratch….I know…..It’s hard….but I’ve done it before and enjoy a challenge, so the room is coming along great all the smelly couches are out and I found some great stools and of course my pirate chairs. I built some bookcases and a counter top we will serve some cold refreshments once we get the place hoping with students. 

I got some nice new tires on my big wheel, it’s going to get crazy, I’ll update on that as it comes to be!!

I took a group to San Francisco to pass out sandwiches to homeless people or people who were hungry was hard to tell the difference sometimes. It was a great day and I look forward to many many more. 

Last Sunday was amazing we had an all city worship service on Sunday morning, great to see so many Churches come together and actually do something to promote the united body of Christ, some churches say they want to work together but never actually get the Balls to do anything together…RRRRRR…moving on this was an amazing day!

Well that’s all for now I’ll update more later. Also this is my recent contact info if you wanna e-mail me or send me brownies…yum…..brownies

Jonathan Nalywaiko

Youth Director extraordinaire

Petaluma Christian Church

1160 Schuman lane

Petaluma, CA 94952

Cell-707-238-2203

Office-707-762-4463

Email-4youthguy@gmail.com

Blog-www.nalywaiko.blogspot.com

So Shanna found this picture in a magazine with a bed bed made from pallets. I looked and most of the people are building their own pallets and it looks all new. Not ours we used fresh off the truck pallets for Jaden's bed. It was pretty fun to build. I also was able to score some sweet wheels, with greese and everything!! Wahoo My Wife is the best!!

June

Wow June got here really fast, I thought I’d give a quick update on what’s going on in our life. As you probable know we are moving to Santa Rosa California in two weeks. WOW has it been a ride since the end of April. Shanna and I were able to get away for a nice weekend. Thank you bad economy for allowing us to have super cheap airline tickets and even cheaper hotel stays in Las Vegas. It was the first time since our honeymoon ten years ago that we were on vacation by ourselves. It was wonderful. Since that we have finished our classes at TMCC and will be transferring to University of Phoenix on campus program in California. We have packed up our place and Shanna left with the girls to start her new job in California. I’m still here in Sparks finishing up some things subbing at the schools and anxiously awaiting news from any of the jobs I applied for. The best news so far is from a small church I am looking at working for. It’s a small church and only a part time position, but it’s a great start and they have a great senior pastor. Here is the website if you want to take a look http://www.petalumachristian.org/ not much info but typical for church websites. I’m excited to move but sad to leave. We had such high hopes coming to Sparks, but we are moving on and seeking what God has next for us. Hope all of you are great shoot me an email anytime if you want to have coffee I’ll be in Sparks till June 9^th I’d love to say hi. 4middleschool@gmail.com as always I’m pray fully seeking God, he is faithful even when man fails us.

Who Was Helped?

When this project was first assigned I was overjoyed. I have been a Pastor for five years now and helping people is my main mission in life. I worked in four different churches all over the west coast (Best Coast) and in a variety of positions from youth to associate. When I started reading over the assignment I knew instantly what I wanted to do and what I was going to be able to share with the class when I had done it. The assignment was simply titled help society project, finally a project I could get an A+ on. I was laid off from my job in December and since then I have been struggling to find what I want to do and who I am. Was I only a pastor or could I do something else? This project helped me in so many ways I know years from now I will still remember the help society project and how it helped focus my life and my relationship with God. I choose to go to Mexico to build houses during spring break.

The group I was going to be working with was AMOR ministries out of San Diego. My brother Matthew had been going down during the month of March for a couple years now and every time he came back he was recharged and excited about life and his passion for helping people was restored. My Dad had also decided to go with us. My Dad and I were going for one week and my brother was going for two weeks. As my brother started to explain the mission we would be doing it was even more exciting to me. We were there to help the team of students that had also given up their spring break to build houses. We were not there to build the house or tell them what to do we were there to encourage and motivate them along the way. We would be staying in tents and during the build we would use no power tools. This was going to be a great trip. It was coming at a great time when I needed to step out of my area and really focus on serving others and serving God. I was really looking forward to this and I knew God had some amazing things to show me but I was blown away with how amazing the trip really was.

I was excited as I drove from Reno to Sacramento to meet my Dad and then as we drove south to San Diego. We got to the base in San Diego on Saturday and had all day training on what our role was and what we would be doing. Saturday afternoon we went into Mexico to set up camp and get ready for the week. As we drove into Mexico the thing I noticed right away was the roads and sidewalks, we are spoiled to have roads that we don’t have to avoid small potholes that could swallow up animals. I also noticed the buildings some in a good order some just looked like they sprung up out of nothing with one wall taller then another. When we got to camp I saw that it wasn’t much one building which was the gift shop and two huge rows of portal potties. We set our tents near big containers full of all the tools and supplies we would be using that week. Saturday night was a calm relaxing time before we got up on Sunday morning and headed back to San Diego to meet our group.

We went into San Diego not super early; we stopped at star bucks and waited at the office for a while till our group got there. When the group got in I introduced myself and away we went. We got settled in and I had dinner with my group and we talked about what was going to go on that week and the things that they were worried about and closed our time with prayer for the group and for the family we would be building a house for.

Monday morning, we had trouble finding our build site but finally did and relieved that the father hadn’t taken down some of the old house yet. So quickly we figured out that this was going to be a very customhouse build using some of the existing foundation and walls. Our team got right to work on what we needed to get done for the first day and it was great to see them all working together to accomplish a common goal.

The family we would be building a house for had five kids all girls. They had a three-year-old eight-year-old triplets and a twelve year old. They lived in a small shack with no water inside no bathroom and no kitchen. We were building them a house ten feet by twenty feet that would keep them warm and provide shelter during hard weather. They would have separate rooms and a small kitchen to prepare meals. When I saw the family my heart was over joyed with the amazing way we were going to change their lives.

We worked hard all week to finish this house by Thursday and we did, on Thursday we finished the stucco and had a dedication ceremony. During the ceremony the lead builder prayed a blessing over the family and house and thru a translator the family thanked us for coming, everyone was crying because it was an amazing feeling to have provided a house for this family that had nothing and were living in a small shack. I gave all the family members a hug and thanked them for allowing me to build them a home. My brother and Dad were on different builds but that had an equally amazing experience as mine. My Dad had a hard time not working on the house but he was good at starting things then letting the students finish that part up. I am blessed to have such an amazing Dad for him to even want to serve is great but my dad has such a servants heart it’s always great to spend time with him and see how unique he is and how different he sees the world around him. I hope to be able to spend more time with him serving and sharing Gods love. Last year he was able to go on a mission trip to San Francisco with me and my middle school group and they loved him and he loved serving along side me. I wish their were more people out there like him helping and living life glorifing God. During his time in Mexico my Dad learned how to not be in charge but to help assist others in building. My brother who has been going for three years now in March had a great group as well. His group was newer to the building process so he was able to get in more and build. It was so encouraging to see him serve and to just be down in Mexico with us. I am very glad I went down to experience that.

Thru out the week I was able to pray and really look at what we were doing for this family and the message of hope we were giving them and showing them that we Americans do care about them and do want to make a difference. They have so little but they appreciate what they do have. The girls were sharing their stickers with our group and whatever they had they wanted to show us. It was great to also see all these students that had given up their spring breaks to come down to Mexico and help others. When some of their friends were going to Cobo or on vacation they set that time aside to serve.

My week down in Mexico was amazing; I learned so much about building, about Mexico, and about myself. I relieved that even though I am not working at a church right now as a pastor I was still a pastor. I have a calling on my life to help people all around me, whether it’s at the grocery store or it’s in Mexico I can show others that God loves them and he uses people to help his people. In the Bible there is a great verse that I always look to for focus it says this Matthew 25:40 the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.' So whenever I see someone in need or someone that is hurting I think about how that is the face of Jesus and it motivates me to help them in anyway that I can. The big decision weighing on heart of whether to move my family back to California closer to my parents was a little clearer now. In seeing how much love the Mexican family we built a house for had for each other it made me want to show my parents and my daughters that family was important and that made the decision easier for me. God open my eyes to many things in Mexico and I know it will impact my life for many years to come.

Big Wheel

Best Easter Afternoon ever!! My Dad and I ventured out to the streets of San Francisco! We had been waiting for this day for along time, I was really excited I got us some sweet suits and cool socks. I was excited, it was raining so my brother didn't want to go but my Dad and I were ready!! We had so much fun, their were about 900 people all doing the same thing, BIG WHEEL, We all lined up waited for the guy with the megaphone to let us go down the hill. He released us to go down and off we went, it was so much fun! I can't wait till next year. It rained on us and it was muddy but it was AMAZING!!

So some good things happening this week so I’m excited. I have the next week off of work because the school is on spring break, so I hope to finish out the season with some more snowboarding, Squaw is offering free lift tickets to military personnel so that’s pretty exciting. I’m looking forward to some down time maybe see some people have some down time. Jaden is also on spring break so I will hang with her some. I recently sent out my resume and cover letter to forty private schools in Sonoma County where we are moving. I thought I’d just throw it out there and if someone liked what I had to say they may call me and talk. Well I’ve received four different e-mails from people not having any spots and some with low enrollment so they are cutting back (I know that one) but this week I received a call from a Doctor Lynn from a small school in Santa Rosa. I called her and we talked awhile. She was very excited to talk about her school and all the things she has going on. I’m going to be meeting with her next week so I’m pretty excited about that. I think it would be great to be in a school while I finish out and learn more about how all the inner things work. I also found a church in Santa Rosa that’s hiring a part time youth pastor so I’m keeping that in mind also. It’s hard to think about going back into ministry but I know how God created me and I know that he is bigger then my fears or my anger with doing that. So over all good things happening and we are really excited to have the opportunity to send our girls to my parents house at the end of the month and Shanna and I have some time just us after schools over. Thanks to all our supporters we really appreciate you and thanks for all the prayers, they are always a positive thing.

Ready Set Go

ANNOUNCEMENT Life is crazy most of the time but for the J Nalywaiko family it seems to get crazier and crazier each year. About two years ago this week I was at a church in Washington that was pushing me in a direction I was not comfortable going so I left that church and didn’t think I’d be working in ministry again. I grew frustrated with the church’s putting the students and ministry on the back burner. My views and ways I do ministry are not what most churches are comfortable with. I was fortunate that I had friends around me to help me through that situation and I ended up finding an amazing job where I stretched myself to learn new things and do ministry in a new way. I was enjoying my new career learning about transportation and was being groomed to take over as operations director as well as the owners #2 guy in charge. Then, the big phone call came from this youth guy that was moving to a new department in the church- he had wonderful things to say about this opportunity in a very open program, stable church, support and it was closer to my family. At first, I didn’t tell Shanna about it. I actually waited until the second phone call because I knew what she would say… Well, fast forward a couple months. We went thru the interview process and really felt like this was a great place for us to move our family and continue ministry. So, there we were on stage in front of the church being welcomed and accepted into a great new church family. The time I spent as the youth director was probably my best time in ministry thus far. I planned events that I really poured myself into. Students were coming and I was able to reach out to the community schools. The students I worked with were amazing! They loved God and wanted to live their lives for Him. I had great support, worked with great people- some of whom became really good friends. I felt like my voice was heard and I was able to express myself in new and great ways. WHAT HAPPENED? Well, someone, somewhere in some meeting thought….”Hey, someone else here could do this job so let’s fire Jonathan after he moved his family here and poured his life into this ministry for over a year.” So, here we are, a family of four- moved away from our home, away from a job, away from our fear of going back into ministry and now without these things. We invested more into this church then we ever had before, and then we got tossed out. Not only did I lose my job but I lost my support, my creative outlet, and my friends. Stuck here alone, our family was stranded. Yes, I found a job that pays very little and yes, we are getting by; but no, we aren’t going to church right now. We tried for a couple Sunday’s but it was too painful; every time we went into a church here or anywhere we felt the pain all over again. I am thankful for those few people that believe in me enough to help financially support us while we finish school. Thank you for those of you who are doing that. But for the most part we are on our own. Where is the support and love that we felt on that stage welcoming us to the church when we moved here? While I was thinking about it, (going over it in my head it still doesn’t make sense but I continue to read my Bible and write lessons that hopefully someday I will have the chance to teach) this verse stood out and helps me- Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message) 28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep Company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. Yes, I am tired. I am tired of churches not having faith, and I’m tired of churches breaking promises. Jesus spoke about faith frequently and he also spoke about those who didn’t live by faith. It seems we stand on faith often but not enough. We live on faith but not enough. We want to be comfortable, we want to have enough money in our accounts, but where is the faith? God will provide right? My family jumped out on faith moving away from all we knew and now what? I was blessed to be able to go down to Mexico and serve the people there and rekindle my desire to serve those less fortunate then we are. I really heard God speak to me and for ten days before Easter, Shanna and I chose to do the Daniel fast to seek God’s guidance. We have felt a great calm about where we are in life right now. While I know it will take awhile to heal, I know God is faithful if walk with Him. Well, we are taking a chance and living on faith. We are moving our family forward. In June we will be moving to California. This is a huge step of faith, but so far God has been faithful to us in this decision. A family friend came forward when she heard we were moving and is going to rent us an amazing house at below market price. Shanna has an amazing opportunity to start a Preschool program working with my Mom’s established daycare and we both will continue to go to school. The only missing part right now is where I will work. But I have faith God will provide a job that is right for me and my family. My parents are excited about this move and have been supportive. I’m not putting the idea of going back into ministry out of my head but the pain is still too new for me to think about that right now. I will be doing some volunteer work and start regular trips to San Francisco to feed the homeless. God has created me a very specific way and I know he will use my family and me for His work where ever we are. We will still be here unitl June but it is unclear if we will be able to walk into the church again to say good-bye.