Why My Borders Need to Expand

Six months or more ago, I viewed my blog analytics and realized my "audience" included a smaller age range than I intended. Where were the younger people? I was neck-deep in caring for Sam and writing the Caregiver Chronicles, so I assumed my blog posts might not be pertinent to 30-something's, but the problem gnawed at me.

I looked at my website one day and realized it was terrific for a woman of a certain age, but it wasn't a modern website, nor one that might catch the eye of a younger reader. I talked to a mid-twenties colleague and asked for suggestions. 

"You need to update your site," he told me, so I did. The "new" design looked much better, to my way of thinking. I grabbed my laptop and hurried down the hall to show my young friend. 

"What do you think?" I asked him.

"Do you want me to be honest?" 

"Yeah. I really do."

"Okay. It looks great. For a 1990's site. Let me show you what websites can look like now." With a few clicks, he opened up a new world of technology and design. 

"Can you make something like this for me?" I asked him, dizzied by the possibilities.

"Yep."

I hired him on the spot. It's taken a while, but the new website is finally in the process of "migration." I'm not really sure what that entails, but it's somehow moving from the old site to the new one. The domain's the same, leannahollis.com, so I don't know why this takes so long, but it does.

The new website's been a lot of work and has required a lot of thought. There's been expense, too, for the new site, the new hosting service, new software to allow me to work more efficiently and with greater skill. The blogging course to help me "up my game" wasn't free, and it's taking quite a bit of time to work through.

Why all this effort? My objective in the blog is not to have a cool bit of technology or capture millions of views, although I'd like to have both. The goal of this blog is to demonstrate the life of a disciple by sharing the stories of my faith and God at work in my life. If I can expand my audience with sharper technology, if I can draw younger people to a life of faith lived out loud, my words can help expand the Kingdom of God, change lives, and make a difference in the world around me.

This morning, I read Mark 1 and the words confirmed the importance of what I'm trying to do. Jesus was in Capernaum. He'd taught in the synagogue that morning, then healed Peter's mother-in-law. The news spread like wildfire through the little town. After sundown, the "whole city" came to His door. 

They'd heard about the miracle of healing and wanted Jesus to do a miracle for them, and He did. He healed the sick, cast out demons, and loved the people who came. 

Just after dawn, Jesus slipped away to a quiet place to pray. Before long, His disciples found Him. (Leanna paraphrase coming up.) "Hey, Jesus, everyone's looking for you."

"I know. But we need to move on to a different town."

"What? You're an overnight sensation. Everybody wants to see you!"

"I didn't come here to be an overnight sensation. We need to move to another town so I can preach the good news. That's the reason I came."

There were sick people who wanted to be healed. Jesus cared about their illnesses, but He cared about their sin-sickness even more. Preaching, sharing the good news, was His priority. He chose to move along in order to accomplish that goal.

Therein is the reason for the new website. If sharing the Good News of Jesus is my priority, I need to continue to move in a direction that allows me to share with all who will listen (or read). If I can widen my technological borders, it's important to do so.

This is Great Commission work, and one to which we're all called. Share Jesus with all who will listen, as effectively as possible, wherever we are. For me, that includes time in the digital space. 

Today, let's spend a few moments considering our own witness. How effectively are we communicating the love of Jesus and His soul-saving power? Are we living out the Great Commission in our slice of the world? Do we need to "up our game" to widen our own personal audience? 

The Great Commission is not a suggestion. It's an assignment. Let's be sure we're doing our part.

"And He said to them, 'Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for.'" Mark 1:38 nasb

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In case you missed it, here's the most recent post: The Walk Down Memory Lane that Filled Me with Joy

The Untapped Power Grid Project: Reconnecting the Body of Christ

The body of Christ has become disconnected from its most powerful part, and we don't even realize it. Two organizations hope to help open our eyes to our need and reconnect us in creative, innovative ways.

Jeff Flinn has been in pastoral ministry most of  his adult life. He currently serves as Vice President of Life Connections for a group of nursing homes. When residents who are frail of body but sound in mind and spirit enter the nursing home, many of their life connections are disrupted. They leave behind family, friends, occupation, home, and church. It can be a shattering event.

Three years ago, Jeff founded the 719 Project. It's based on Psalm 71:9, in which King David wrote, "Do not cast me away when I am old and do not forsake me when my strength is gone." If King David feared being forsaken in his old age, we may, too. 

The 719 Project vision is to end isolation and loneliness among the elderly and infirmed in our communities. The three pillars of the project are respect, remember, and reconnect. They host Sit With Me Sunday, service projects for youth, and an annual 719 rally that connects people of all ages. 

When the Untapped Power Grid project was birthed, my first thought was of Jeff Flinn and the 719 Project. It's a perfect pairing. 

As a physician, I rounded in numerous nursing facilities to do wound care. Many of those people were weak in body but not in mind. They were lonely and eager to reconnect and give back. I realized that the wisest people in the body of Christ, the most powerful prayer warriors, had become disconnected from the rest of us because of the weakness of their bodies. They were a kind of "untapped power grid" of prayer.

It's clear to me that we desperately need the wisdom and sound judgment of our elders.

UPG (Untapped Power Grid) seeks to reconnect the body of Christ with our elders in a way that allows the elders to give back in substantive and world-changing ways.

I've recruited missionaries and leaders in the body of Christ from a variety of organizations. They've given me a few specific needs for which they've like prayer and agreed to give me an update once a month. UPG pairs those missionaries with elders who are willing to pray big prayers for them once or twice a day. Every day. Without fail.

When UPG and 719 partnered to accomplish an enormous task, a beautiful thing happened. There's no competition for the top position, no "my".

"We", the body of Christ, are working together, and it's a beautiful thing.

The joint project is only a month old, but it's already making a difference. Seniors from Mississippi to Maine have agreed to pray. Missionaries around the world are receiving the benefits of those prayers. God is doing exceeding, abundantly above all that those elders ask for their missionaries.

It's an amazing pairing of two visions that make a lovely whole. 

When Jesus walked this earth, He had one group of followers. One group of disciples. One church. After He returned to heaven, He left behind one Church, the body of Christ. Even though they lived in many places, it is clear from Scripture that they knew they were all part of the same Body of Christ.

It's past time for Christ's followers to reunite in that same way. This beautiful pairing has convinced those of us in 719 Project and the Untapped Power Grid Project that we're stronger together than we are apart. We can make a bigger difference for the Kingdom of God together than we can separately.

We're equal-opportunity servants. Equal opportunity prayer-recruiters. 

If you are (or know) a senior adult who would be willing to pray, we have missionaries who need prayer coverage.

If your church supports missionaries, we'd like to recruit them to let us pray for them. It doesn't matter which man-made organization they're under, as long as they work under the authority and in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

There's no fee or cost to join UPG. Missionaries, prayer warriors, and facilitators are all welcome. 

We can't do it alone. We need people who can help connect us with elders and with missionaries. We need facilitators who will be the hands of feet of this project. 

We need YOU.

Want to know more? I can help with that. 

I'm glad to speak to groups of any size about this project. My presentation on praying for your Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth might just change your own prayer life. You might help change the world. Message me, email, reply to this post, or call to arrange a time for me to speak.

When the body of Christ functions as Jesus intended, incredible things happen. More than 2000 years ago, a handful of men and women turned the world right-side up by their fervor and their unity. We can do it again. If we will. 

So, body of Christ, let's link hands and help bring the Good News of Jesus to a lost and perishing world.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..." Matthew 28:19
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The woman in the picture, above, is my Grandmother. Vera Benson Thaxton. She loved everyone, and she was a missionary from her home. Her prayers, and the money she saved and gave to missions, reached around the world. Without her influence, I wouldn't be a missionary today.

In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Dirty Laundry in the Background
Nothing operates without funding, and the Untapped Power Grid is no exception. You can help support this project financially, as well. Here's the link: Leanna Hollis/Global
#Christian

Thoughts on Training and the Digital World

As you may remember, I started MOT (Missionary Orientation and Training) at Global Outreach a few days ago. In case you wondered, Missionary Training is nothing like I expected. 

It's not endless hours sitting in lectures. Traditional lectures are few and far between. Instead, there are innovative teaching techniques that invite us to learn more about ourselves and the people in our group. 

One of the things I'd expected was that I would be trained to do whatever it is that missionaries do. Instead, I'm learning how I work with others, how to do that better, and how to work within the organizational structure of Global Outreach.

What I've learned as we've gone along is what Global already knew about me. I'm not becoming a missionary. I've been sharing the Good News of Jesus through digital means since the internet was an infant. I've been a missionary for years. My mission is to do more of what I already do, and do it in creative ways.

The table in the board room had paper tents with our names printed on them to mark our seats. All the other missionaries' tents had their name and the country in which they will be serving. 

My tent had my name and my "country", too. It read, "DIGITAL WORLD". I saw that and laughed, but it was exactly right. My mission field is, indeed, the digital world, and I have a lot of work ahead.

We've learned about the importance of building teams, and I've begun to have a vision for how much more could be accomplished if a team of people served alongside me. My vision of gospel-sharing will take more than my computer and me. It will take lots of people to accomplish all that God's put in my heart. 

When we talk about a "team" to support, most people think first of donors, and, of course, I'll need financial participation if I'm to continue in this work. For two decades, I've funded most of my ministry efforts from my own pocket. Maybe we could accomplish more if we worked as a team instead of my ongoing "lone ranger" efforts. Those who give will be just as much a part of my team as the ones who help "in person". 

What I think of first as I consider building a team, though, is of people willing to give their time and prayers. When I host Bible studies, I'll need people to help serve. When I reach out into the community, I'll need others to come along and serve with me. When I try something different, I'll need people to cheer me along and help spread the word. 

We've learned about the procedures for having short-term mission groups visit our sites. As I listened, I pondered innovative new ways to incorporate those things into this ministry. 

Would you like to be a "digital missionary" for a day? That will be possible before long. 

What about a six-week stint as a digital mission intern? I'm envisioning way to make that possible.

The wonderful thing about reaching out to the digital world is that it's always changing, always expanding, always offering new ways to touch hearts and lives. I've gotten a glimpse of the possibilities and I'm full to the brim with ideas. 

Those ideas, however, are not about trying new techniques and seeing big numbers. The dreams I'm dreaming, the plans I'm planning are about the hearts of people who need Jesus, people who will perish in eternity without Him. It's about touching those believers who've lost their way, and encouraging them to encounter Christ in a fresh way.

When Jesus commanded us to make disciples as we go along, He expected us to use the tools within our reach to accomplish that commission. Every one of us have a portion of the world to which God has called us. Every one of us have tools within our reach to touch the world for Jesus. We're all supposed to be missionaries.

My little portion of the world is digital, my "tools" a computer and the internet, but you have a part of the world to touch and tools to use, too. 

Today, let's look at the Great Commission with fresh eyes and ask God what tools He wants us to use to reach the world for Christ.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." Matthew 29:19 esv

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's Guest Blogger post: Courtenay Folk: The Balancing Act

Here's the list to the worldwide prayer guide: The Prayer List

#greatcommission #missions #globaloutreach