Creative ways to partner - September 2014

Please email me (tammy_bixler@ivstaff.org) if you'd like to help out in any of these ways!

(Note:  What is Expedition?)

1. Expedition snacks:  individual packs of Swedish fish and Goldfish to give out for student participation as we study the book of Jonah.  Get it??  Jonah + big fish?
2. Expedition decor:  send me favorite pictures from a road trip (sunsets, friends, sightseeing, etc.)?  Send them via email (tammy_bixler@ivstaff.org) or mail copies to me (ask me for address).  I'll post them around the room we use at the conference site.
3. Sponsor a Small Group care package:
   
   We now have 11 small group leaders leading 11 small groups this fall.  They could use a lot of encouragement and prayers as they continue to reach their communities on campus and grow as a mini-witnessing community. 
   
   Would you consider sponsoring a care package to send them this fall?  I can definitely give you suggestions and ideas of what to include if you would like help.  You can send it anytime this semester.
   
   Here are the small group leaders and their respective communities:
   
   
   1. Aidin - International students
   2. Amanda - Artists
   3. Doug - Freshmen
   4. Eric - Grad students
   5. Jeremy - Co-op
   6. Jessie - Artists
   7. Lydia - Health Sciences
   8. Mark - Commuter & Faculty
   9. Rachel - Mandarin Speaking
   10. Tim - Outdoors & Adventure
   11. Tin - Fitness

Creative Ways to Partner - July 2014

Please comment or email me (tammy_bixler@ivstaff.org) if you'd like to partner with me in any of these ways:

1.  Sponsor a Small Group care package:

We have 9 small group leaders preparing to lead 9 small groups this fall semester.  I think it would be so cool if they could receive a fun and encouraging care package from someone who's thinking and praying for them!  I can give you suggestions and ideas for a package if you'd like, and you can send it to me anytime this semester.

Below are the small group leaders and their respective small group focuses:

Eric - Grad students
Jessie - Artists
Tin - Fitness
Doug - Freshmen
Lydia - Health Sciences & Commuter 
Tim - (n/a yet)
Amanda - (n/a yet)
Michael - (n/a yet)

2.  Help me decorate an office wall space:

I have a large empty wall space in my InterVarsity office on campus.  I had shelves taken down and I didn't want to paint the wall, so I left the tracking on there and hung a navy blue tablecloth over the wall, thinking I'd come up with some brilliant idea to decorate.

However, I have not come up with a brilliant idea, and it has not been the highest of my priorities, so I'd love some help.  If you have ideas or would like to send/give me some decor (e.g. banners, post-its, picture frames) that would help create a welcoming space for meeting with students and remind us of what our ministry is all about, please let me know!

It would just be a big cherry on top if that decorative space could be interactive/engaging (e.g. having students write an encouraging note to post).

Faithfulness, abundance, and generosity.

If there's one thing ministry partner development (MPD) through InterVarsity has taught me, it's that fund raising is not simply a money transaction, it's the opportunity to develop a relationship.

Raising funds was never really a big, scary thing for me.  I think that's probably really strange to most people, particularly as an Asian American woman.  But when I think about the kind of environment I grew up in and how I responded to my circumstances, it makes sense. 

My dad was a pastor of a small English congregation in a Chinese Alliance church for the first 10 or so years of my life, and then went full time into directing a non-profit para-church organization, continuing to this day.  My mom was a stay at home mom (which I loved and am so grateful for), and so my family didn't exactly have a stable income or the nicest of things.

But in the midst of how different my family's lifestyle seemed to be in comparison to others, we never had to worry - we always had just what we needed and then some.  We swam in a vast ocean deep with grace, generosity, and provisions every single day.

God often expressed His faithfulness, abundance, and generosity in our family through the love of my parents and my community. Whether it was through tangible materials, opened homes, or the occasional unique life experience, it was all rooted in relationships our family had with others.

Now that I think about it, I don't think it's a big surprise that ministry partnership is not just about transacting funds.  The primary ways I've experienced and witnessed God's faithfulness, abundance, and generosity has been through the context of relationships with others.  In fact, I would even say that the very foundations of my childhood are based on them.

I guess as a child I was more often at the receiving end of what these beautiful relationships between my family and others developed.  Now as a staff with InterVarsity, I'm learning how to develop, cultivate, and deepen my own relationships so that I may learn how to extend that same faithfulness, abundance, and generosity from the Lord to others.