entwine

In the midst of grading exams and reading thesis papers for those graduating onto the mission field from our Bible Institute, yesterday we sorted through 1500 pairs of pants and skirts and gave out more than a 180 pairs. Today we will aim for 800 pairs to go out. We are trying to get it done before we head to south again and before the graduation services this weekend.

I bought 1500 pairs of jeans and 300 skirts for 400 USD. Pretty amazing, huh? Yeh, when we pulled into the black markets black market, the friend I have traveling with me said, “dude this looks like a drug deal gone bad!” Was I paranoid? Yes! Do you wonder if you will come back out of the rooms? Sometimes! But make no mistake in your mind who gives and takes life. That is God. I do know your not suppose to be ignorant about the days he gives you and this is why I know this circumstance wasn’t.

The money I saved will keep a pastor on the field for 1 year, and provide enough food for a kid for 1 year. I saved 800 USD by buying it that way. But in my mind all that was running was I will be saving a childs life and saving lost souls thru this investment.

May our minds dwell on good things!

360 dollars per year to keep a child alive! Is it worth it? Many would say yes but few will respond. We like hold on to the blessing we have instead of sharing them with others, and then allowing God to bless us even more, dew to the fact we have been a faithful steward. I can’t think of any better investment!!

In Delhi we were able to get things for more than 100 kids. Clothes, undergarments, shoes, paste, hygiene products and we was even able to fill there store room so they can eat for a month! Talk about a lot of rice! Man the van was squatted! Thought surely we would blow a tire, but God got us there safe. 1 ton of rice.

The best was this a stewardess from continental airlines came to the orphanage while we was there to give some sweets and things. I spoke on fears. I shared that our works can’t get us to heaven. She broke admitting in her life she had depended on her works.

I assure you that by grace are ye saved through faith!! Not by works, lest any man should boast!
4 others from the congregation that morning came to Lord as there personal savior. I am thankful that He is personal.

Let Him get personal with you and I promise your life will change to the better.

Following Jesus,
Todd and family

‘Our God is a great big God’
Sunday, February 22, 2009

Ok, so the orientation is wrong, but you have to watch this really cool video. Anna crawled up into my lap while no one was paying attention and I picked her up between beats and totally kept ripping the djembe! Now, that is COOL!

Right in the middle of the worship set!

HAHAHAHA!

pd

Original post by PD .

Original post by PD .

Dear friends and family,

I hope you are doing well and growing with God daily. It is hard to believe that it has only been 3 weeks since the start of our school here because so much has happened. I know it has only been a couple of weeks since my last update but so much has happened in the last week that I thought I would share it with you. This will be my update letter for the month of March as well.

My class has now gotten down the rhythm of our new schedule and new classes. Our classes range from a country study (I am studying Egypt), spiritual gifts equipping class, Q&A sessions, a Bible study through the book of Romans, and a practical life skills class. We have other classes and teachers in our morning sessions. This week Norm Fredrick has been teaching us about love and going into a deeper study of the love of God. And I have also been experiencing more responsibility in my service times (chores). Just yesterday I led the cooking team in making my infamous Parmesan Tilapia! It turned out great but my cooking team leader Xaundelle deserves a lot of the credit for that. It has been a lot of fun renewing friendships from last year and also making new ones with the first year students. And we are all preparing to leave for our 4 week trip to Israel on March 8th.

This past Sunday the 2nd year students, interns, and some single staff had the great opportunity of doing some street evangelism/outreach in the port city of Limassol, Cyprus. We spent a few hours praying for people, telling people about Jesus, and sharing testimonies. We saw healing in people’s bodies and we were able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims. We are praying for more opportunities for outreach in the island of Cyprus. Also on February 11th, Gateways Beyond held a conference in Limassol for the Body of Christ with guest speaker Asher Intrater. He spoke on the importance of Israel and the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile. I was put in charge of taping the conference which they are going to turn into a DVD to sell. I am just hoping that I did a good enough job!

And now for the big news. This morning after worship the leadership announced where we are going for outreach. And the winner is….(drumroll please)….. ETHIOPIA! My class, and some first year students, all have had a burning desire to go to Ethiopia this year. Some of my class had dreams about going to Ethiopia, I discovered Ethiopia pop up in text as I was researching Egypt, and we all had a unified sense that God was sending us there. So the first year, second year, and interns are all going to Ethiopia in May. We will have different teams doing different things while we are in the country so we are hoping to make a huge impact during our time there. We will be ministering at orphanages, feeding kitchens, churches, as well as doing street evangelism and healing ministry. The details of our trip have not been released yet but our leaders, Matt and Serah, are leaving on Friday to Ethiopia for 10 days where they will be teaching at the MJBI school there as well as setting up details for our trip.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to pray about supporting me in my outreach to Ethiopia. I know many of you have already supported me in getting me here to Cyprus which was such a blessing and a reason that I already have some money going towards outreach. But I ask you to pray and see if the Lord leads you in supporting me financially or in prayer. All donations made are tax deductible. If you want to support me financially there are two ways to do it:

You can go to http://www.gatewaysbeyond.org/donate to donate money to me via the internet. Once you click the “Make a Donation” box it will bring up a separate window where you enter all of your information. Under the “Donation Details” section there is a box that says “Apply this donation towards:” and you could simply put “Tony Dillon’s Outreach”.

If you would like to send a check you can make out it to “Gateways Beyond International” and mail it to:

Gateways Beyond International
PO Box 155101
Ft. Worth, TX 76155 USA

IMPORTANT: Make sure to write “Tony Dillon’s outreach” in the memo on the check. Undesignated checks will go towards the ministry, not towards my outreach.

Gateways Training School has a blog that you can view to see more of what we are doing in our school. It is a good way to keep up with my life here in Cyprus as I can’t always respond to emails right away. This is not my personal blog but one that GTS operates. You can view it at http://www.gatewaysbeyond.org/gts2009

Thank you for taking the time to read this and showing interest in what God is doing in my life during this season. And thank you for all your prayers. Please feel free to email me and I will try my best to respond as quickly as possible. Continue to run after God in everything that you do. God bless.

Sincerely,

Tony Dillon

Hey Guys,

I just got this email from Nelson Searcy about some GREAT AND EXCITING church planter training opportunities in the DC Metro and Baltimore area!!!! Anyone that knows Nelson knows him for his AMAZING work in New York and the exciting fast growing churches he has planted there in Manhatten. And his amazing church leadership training website.

http://www.journeymetro.com/
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/

I came into contact with Nelson back in North Carolina years ago and have followed his work ever since. So, with that said, you guys have GOT TO CHECK OUT this conference.

His email is below and I will be sending it out to everyone I know.

Enjoy!
pd

_________________________________

Hey Dustin,

Could I ask a favor?

I just scheduled two days of events in Baltimore and I could really use your
help in getting the word out.

First, on Tuesday, March 17 I’m doing my One Day Launch Conference for church
planters or pastors who want to lead their church to launch large. This is the
only Launch Conference I’m doing in 2009.

And then there’s a Bonus Day on the following Wednesday. On Wed, March 18 I’ll
be teaching The Evangelism Seminar in the morning and then the Stewardship Seminar
that afternoon.

It’s two days of packed training! Could you help me get the word out?

I know you have a lot going on, but I would appreciate any help you could offer.

As you know, the Launch Conference has helped hundreds of new churches launch
large, launch quickly and launch by reaching the unchurched. The other two systems
seminars are a great compliment as well.

Any word of mouth promotion you could do would be appreciated (or you could post
it on your blog, call your pastor friends, tell your denomination, etc.).

Here’s a link to all the details - you can register for one of the three events
or receive a great combo deal if you register for all 3:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=1&i=27
(It’s the first four events on the page)

Right now early bird rate is still in effect. Group rates are also available;
just call Cristina at my office at 212.730.8300 x212.

Or if you have any questions, just reply to this email or give me a buzz.

Oh, and I hope you can make it too and bring a team from your church.

Thank you in advance! I so appreciate your help.

Your friend,
Nelson

It is time for another cold one, I said this morning, but trust me, it doesn’t have the same meaning here as it does at home. I am talking about the term “cold one”, in the US it means brew and here it means my next bath. I want you to say thank you Jesus I have hot water on cold nights, in my house. There are many that don’t. Just because we are not aware of the things going on in surrounding nations, doesn’t mean they are not going on!

Next thing I want to let you in on is, this past week, I actually got to see god in a box!!!!! I hope you noticed the casing of my “g” in that 1st sentence. They where all gathered around looking for there god to come out of the box, awaiting for him to come out and bless them by looking at them. As I watched from some distance, I saw him come out, he was green and crawled on his belly! It was a snake!

You know friend, I am glad I don’t have to wait for my God to come of a box, cause I know you can’t fit him in one to begin with. Plus I don’t have to stand around aimlessly waiting for him to look at me, cause his eyes are always on me, and his blessings are always with me. I am his forever, can you say the same?

In the past 5 days while being in the east, we have visited 8 childrens homes and passed out more than 400 sets of clothes, shoes, pastes, soaps, shampoos,etc….
We praise God for using you to give the help, both prayerfully and financially for that. We will travel to 2 more today.

Yesterday we had 6 accept Christ as personal Saviour, at first I was a little discouraged, of course from hoping for more, then God revealed, if in all my trips to India, if only one had become a true born again believer, even if I came a million times, and they were the only one, He said “Todd it is worth it, because I am worth it.”

I love you all

Pray for us as we travel to Kolkata and Delhi Orphanages
Todd and family

Hey Guys,

I just thought this was a great word for the weekend. I mean, it is Valentine’s Day Weekend right? So, check out what Dr. Blackaby says about love. I LOVE THIS!

Isn’t it amazing that such a simple word could revolutionize your thinking?!

Have a great weekend!

_____________________________________

Love Assumes the Best

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7)
Love has no limits. Love never says, “You’ve gone too far. I can’t love you now.” “All things” means everything is included. Christlike love leaves no doubt in the mind of another that you will continue to love steadfastly. Do those close to you know that they can fail and do foolish things, yet you will not falter in your love for them? Are others assured that, even when they hurt you, you still love them, holding nothing against them?
Love assumes the best about others. If someone inadvertently offends you, you choose to believe the offense was unintentional. If someone seeks to harm you, you “bear all things,” forgiving unconditionally. If a positive light can be shed on a difficult encounter, you grasp it. If someone continually provokes you, you “endure all things.” You never lose hope in the ones you love. You practice the same unconditional love toward others that Christ gives to you.
Paul said that he was nothing if he had the faith to move mountains, the tongue of an angel, and the gift of prophecy to understand all mysteries, yet did not have God’s love. It is unacceptable to say, “Well, I just can’t love people that way!” When God loves people through you, this is the only kind of love He has! Read 1 Corinthians 13 with gratitude that God has already expressed this complete and selfless love to you. Pray and ask Him to express it through you now, to others.

Dustin Hedrick

Head Pastor

The Tapestry Vineyard Church

PO Box 2394

Kensington, MD 20891

Phone 301-251-4082 x13

Fax     240-206-3244

Email   dustinhedrick@tapestrychurch.com

Web   www.tapestrychurch.com

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x11 Youth Ministry 

x12 Events And Info 

x13 Pastor Dustin 

x14 Prayer Line 

Original post by PD .

Original post by PD .

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Tapestry Core Practices Sermon Series | "Missional" by Peter Kim.