we had the pleasure of meeting travis and david from global support mission a couple of weeks ago and we love these guys! its not often you get to meet people this passionate and committed to CHANGING THE WORLD (not to mention cool, clever and business savvy :) they saw a need, felt god's call to do something about it and decided to step into action. the purpose of global support mission is "to see a movement of compassion wipe out hunger, disease and extreme poverty." this is part one of a two segment interview with them...and you'll be seeing and hearing a lot more from them in 2009!

How and when was global support mission started? TRAVIS: Everything started from a trip I took to Uganda my senior year of college in 2004. I had always wanted to go to Africa and was having problems finding someone to host me... so I got on Google and typed in orphanages in africa. I did some research and sent out a mass email to a bunch of different local organizations. A woman named Faith, who had started an organization called Bringing Hope to the Family, stood out from all the other responses I received. We emailed back and forth a few times, I called guy in CA who knew her... to make sure she was legit and then flew out to Uganda for Christmas break. My life was never the same after that trip. I had experienced extreme poverty before, but I had never seen local people doing so much for their own community with so little. It was so inspiring! I continued to stayed in touch with Faith and began working as her “US Coordinator” I started dreaming about starting a non-profit, but thought it was something I'd do later in life. January 2006, I made one of the most life changing decisions of my life... I decided to step out and start something sooner than later. I remember praying, “Lord, if you grow this thing... I'll give my life to it.” And grow it he did. March 2006, I got the name Global Support Mission. I also started putting together a team to go back with me in December. September 2006, I quit my job and started focusing on GSM full time (just living off savings). People were really starting to catch the vision and we now had a team. October 2006, David Cahill (my other half) came in to the picture. We had met a few times before, but we still weren't friends. A mutual friend of ours brought him to my birthday party. He started asking me tons of questions about GSM and what we were working towards. We started working together the next week... and pretty much every day since. David and I made GSM an official non-profit and we incorporated the next month. We went back to Uganda that December and wrote our purpose, mission and values. We just spent all day up on this huge hill... it was pretty incredible! We got our 501.c.3 in May 2007 and the rest is history! What was the experience like of starting g.s.m.? TRAVIS: Incredible! There's nothing like having a dream and then seeing it become a reality. It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but also the most fulfilling. DAVID: Yeah, I second that. When you have a burning desire inside and put everything else aside to pursue it, it's pretty scary. But when those dreams begin to take shape and become reality, you can't help but know this is what you were made for. Have things changed since then? TRAVIS: Definitely! Our purpose and mission are more clearly defined, we've gained a lot of experience in a short amount of time and most importantly more people are now involved. People make an organization! I also feel like we've reached a place of sustainability... and are starting to build a great reputation around the US. What can we as individuals do to get involved? DAVID: There are several ways to act. The first is becoming a storyteller. Storytellers tell their friends and family our story and stories of the people we work with. Become our friend on Facebook and MySpace, join our Cause, and spread the word to your friends. Awareness is always the first step. Another way to get involved is to log on to KNOW.THINK.ACT and start an Action Group. Action Groups are groups of people who work together to raise money for specific items that benefit the organizations and communities that we work with. 100% of the money you raise goes directly to the need—we don't take any of it for administration. You can also become a monthly partner. Monthly partners are people who understand what we do, how we do it, and that we need money to run this organization. For every dollar that we received in partner giving last year, we turned it into $8.50.

here at Christian City Church we are blessed with some of the coolest people on the planet! every few weeks on this blog we'll be highlighting some awesomely amazing people that rock our world!!! in this first installment, meet ERIN JORDAN: super mom, super Christian, super AWESOME!!!

* were you born so totally awesome or did you develop your awesomeness over the years? "Wonderfully and perfectly made", that's what God says about me and everyone else I know, so I won't argue with that! Awesome comes somewhere close to wonderfully - but not quite as good as perfectly, what do you think? At least I know I'll be perfect one day, way better than awesome! Ask Benny, he'll say I'm like a good red wine - maybe with some MORE aging I could be classified as 'mature' and maybe even palatable!! * judging by your accent, you sound australian, how/why/when did you end up here? It just depends who you talk to on what they think I sound like. I have a New Zealand/Australian/bit of American accent thrown in for good measure. Born and raised in NZ then moved to Sydney Australia in my mid twenties. God plucked us out of Oxford Falls Christian City Church to come here to San Diego to continue His work here 3 yrs ago (Pastor Jurgen would have asked us had he known us!!! LOL). Oh, yeah, Ben got a job transfer here at the perfect timing when the church was brand new too! We love being here in San Diego - we love God's plantings even if uprooting comes first!!! * every quarter you're always one of the top CCC members bringing along people to church. you're a full time mom, how do you find the time to meet and impact so many people's lives by bringing them to church? I guess it helps to have a husband and 2 kids coming along every week!. Others that I may have some influence in co-ercing along are anyone and everyone I meet on any given day, from my hairdresser, to other mom's I meet at the park, trainer at the gym, neighbours - absolutely anyone! I'd say focusing on wanting others to know Christ, and remembering how imperitive it is to be saved - is a big element. So I pray to meet others and to have an opportunity to share with them about Him. We have the greatest free gift to tell about, so I believe I have God to sell - even if only in a 'soft sell' manner most of the time. I do my best at encouraging people verbally and making them feel valued. When possible, I'll follow up as best I can, maybe setting up time for a coffe, playdate, maybe dinner etc. Giving them a call every now and then to see how they are and stay relevant in their lives helps.. When 'situations' come up is an ideal time to ask if they'd like to pray together, and come along to church. I can also invite people along to any events our church is having. Being part of our empowering and amazing church is always a topic of discussion that's pretty easy for me to 'bring up' in conversation anytime! I also keep a stash of invite cards in my bag, car, so I can always pass one on. * you've opened up your home to new and old christians alike and are now leading the ALPHA christians course, what made you decide to lead a course focussing on "back to the basics"? W e were very excited when we were asked to lead the New Christians Course - Alpha. It just seemed to be the right fit for us. We have a heart for sharing our love for God with our love for people, and being involved in Alpha means a commitment to helping others in their walk with Jesus, whether that is a brand new Christian, or someone further along in their walk. Ben and I know ourselves, having been christians virtually all our lives, that we are all 'in progress' with what God is doing in our lives. It's a wonderful journey with difficulties and joys along the way. We feel honored to have new christians, or at least ones who know they don't have all the answers coming along to Alpha and be open to learning. Living out the 'fundamental' issues of Christianity is the essence of our faith. We are truly excited about leading people through the Alpha course. The basics of our faith are so important. Processing these in a smaller group setting where trust and respect is built within the group over the 8 weeks is a powerful dynamic where growth and discovery can thrive. There is also a great privilege in 'doing life' with fellow believers. Getting to know others in our group is also a wonderful benefit in building relationship and support for each other. * you have two insanely beautiful children, how has having kids affected your faith and your view of God the father? A couple of days after our eldest Delta was born I had an incredible revelation about what it really meant - that God the Father sent His ONLY SON Jesus to suffer and die for each and every one of us. I knew it all well in my head, but now that I was a mother of my own child, I remember feeling the immensity of our Father's love for each of us. Having children also inspires me to be more. I'm inspired to stay focused on what is important, for the benefit of our whole family. * what is your revelation on prioritizing ministry in your life? My priorities are just: 1. God 2. My family - Husband first then my kids 3. Everyone else (this includes church). This is always something to work towards!! Practically this is achieved in a few ways, but the main thing is keeping things as simple as possible. I'm careful about commiting to activities or 'extra curricular activities' mainly because I get too tired and grumpy - then I can be scary! I try not to be a superwoman! I just do what I can. Making TIME for what it takes to be prioritising God, Family and Everyone else is my constant focus! You can see I strive for peace and harmony...........and SLEEP, blissful SLEEP.

this week the amazing yvette bellamy and erica schroeder got a bunch of friends and fellow CCC-ers together for a movie night to build awareness about the global tragedy of sex trafficking and raise money to support our friends at the A21 campaign. we all saw call and response which is a mindblowing, world rocking documentary that left everyone in the theater stunned in silence long after the credits rolled. over thirty people attended and raised over $1000 for the the A21 campaign!!! high fives to yvette and erica for reminding us we can all make a difference!

Call & Response Trailer from Mike Paschal on Vimeo

check out the trailer above for call and response...if you want to help or get involved, hop on over to the call and response action page and fight for the voiceless.

cherish events are always fun and STAND cherish conference took it to another level! we had our very own ps leanne as well as john and helen burns from vancouver. the ministry was AMAZING...the food was great...the music was rocking...and how can you not have fun when there are 150 girls in a room???

the infamous leonard skynard cameo...ACHY BREAKY HEART!

john and the boys rocked 'simply irresistible'

thanks to all the volunteers who made cherish happen and a special thanks to julie cannon for the photo love!

we had the pleasure of having a lovely lady named candy at our 10.30 service and new friends lunch on sunday. she was nice enough to drop us a note... First time at my daughter Elle's church, CCC, and it was just as warm and wonderfulllll and full of personality beyond being of course a rock of scripture-based messages sprinkled with humor and really good voice impersonations btw: Lion King at the Pantages has nothin on this pastor lol. Seriously, when you see staff that eminate from the inside out that quality of spirit, holy spirit, in great numbers, you know they have something to offer big time at this church!!!...add to that the worship and the service and the Friends Luncheon and of course, the people, C3 really has something to offer, something this world most definitely needs and will be drawn to:))) It was a pleasure meeting all of you and I hope to see you sooooon :) thanks candy! we liked you too!!!

augusts' “extra mile” volunteer award goes to the super duper sean! he serves on the logistic team week in, week out! they are the spartans of the sunday volunteers, starting before the sun rises and working well after everyone has gone. so if you have a seat to sit in, a speaker to hear from, and a stage to look at, thank sean and the amazing logistics team! if I came to your home and looked in the fridge, what would I find? cold pizza, apple sauce, ceasar salad, whole milk, filtered water, extra sharp cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, orange juice, squirt soda, sour cream, extra large eggs, and the normal condiments. what was the last book you read? "keys to financial excellence" by phil pringle (pick one at the resource table) - read it if you want to know about financial stewardship, especially tithing and giving. what is your craziest high school memory? i lived too far from school to walk, but too close to ride the bus, so I would ride my 15-speed bicycle to school. every morning i'd swing by my friend's house for us to ride to school together. he'd rarely be ready, and instead still be asleep. the only way to wake him required me to climb through one of the windows in his house and physically wake him up. we ended up almost always being late to school, but that year I was the electronics teacher's assistant for first period, so I wouldn't get in trouble. what is one thing about you that not a lot of people know? i grew up in Silicon Valley in the early 80s, and in 1983 I got my first home computer when I was 12. my computer setup was an atari 600XL (1.79Mhz with 16KB of ram), with a tape drive, a star micronics dot matrix 120cps printer, and a small B&W TV for the monitor. in junior high i became a SYSOP (system operator) of my own BBS (bulletin board system,) which were the pre-Internet days.

remember last year when half of san diego was burning? long after all of the news crews left, the devastating effects of the fires were still felt by thousands of families who lost their homes and businesses. one of our amazing connect groups hooked up with architecture for humanity to help an affected family in need. they were led to lynda sparks, who along with her three children and five foster children lost their home in the fires. the oceanside connect group put together a whole bunch of goodies for this amazing family! they brought art sets, a new nintendo Wii, a surfboard, toys, and even a huge dinner from panera bread! needless to say, the family was SO stoked! the sparks family still has a long road ahead of them but the generosity of others put a huge smile on their faces and gave them new hope for the journey!

ART-TASTIC!!! WiiMAZING!!!

What is your favorite thing about Kidz Church? DANCING! Kaden can be seen stomping his feet and waving his hands and arms to the Kids Church Worship every Sunday morning. A future So You Think You Can Dance competitor in the making! What is your favorite color? YELLOW. Do you have a favorite toy? MY RED TRACTOR! Word has it he's also a big fan of Fire trucks. What is your favorite TV show? VEGGIE TALES. Even during the interview he was distracted by the songs sung by those funny little vegetables. What is your favorite thing to eat? PIZZA! No word on what toppings are preferred, but I'm sure cheese is a hit.

well, we are totally over the moon, stoked, deliriously happy, thrilled beyond words (is there another way to say we're excited?!?) to introduce you to our new blogmaster...NATE KAISER, who just so happens to be THE blogmaster from the image is found. nate and jaclyn are in demand all over the world due to their mad photo skills, they have two beautiful kiddies, and an army of followers on twitter, so we are honored that nate is giving us some of his time and a slice of the genius that is nate kaiser! nate will be running the show for this blog as well as house red music so if you want to send him some love mail, ask him why he doesn't type with punctuation, find out how he makes up radtastical new words, or drop an idea for something cool you'd like to see on our blog, shoot him an email!

a bit of nate-ness to start things off: if you were a type of fruit, what would it be and why? a watermelon...although then i would be tempted to eat myself...i LOVE watermelon!!! if I came to your home and looked in your fridge what would I find? right now, not much, we've been out of town a lot lately!!! probably some moldy cheese, yogurt, cilantro, and two gallons of milk for cereal. how many hats do you own? i actually just rekindled my love of hats, so i have three (and counting) if you could speak to any kind of animal what would it be and why? a humpback whale...they just sound so amazing! when you were twelve what did you want to be? sixteen, so i could drive. what is your indulgence? ice cream!!! what kind of food would you be and why? sushi...because it always looks sexy!!! what would be the first thing you would do if you won the lottery? i wish i had a more noble answer, but i am pretty sure i would finally satisfy my craving for a lamborghini gallardo (gunmetal grey with orange interior) if you were a superhero what would be your power? x-ray vision (PG version) what was the craziest thing you did in high school? CENSORED ! CENSORED ! CENSORED i didn't know the Lord yet in high school ;) do you prefer N64 or sony PS? XBOX 360 please :)

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