Fallen

Living the “Zoe” Life

This series teaches you how to approach life with a new sense of purpose and vision. Recharge your creative outlook with simple principles that will present new opportunities of adding value everywhere you go. Recognize the value of preparation and how the small details in life make a large difference and learn how to create the life you desire.

Escaping the “Rat Race”

This class will teach you how to design a sure-fire plan for paying off all debt, recognize dangerous money myths, and set yourself up for wealth and retirement. Lessons focus on how to use your mind and time to create personal wealth. Students are encouraged to free themselves from the proverbial “rat race” and the endless cycle of “keeping up with the Jones”. Learn to make money work for you, and not be its slave.

Eyes Wide Open

For many of us the suffering of others around the world can be overwhelming. Sometimes, it seems easier to turn our eyes away from disturbing stories of rape, incest, murder, starvation, slavery and genocide. The Eyes Wide Open series exposes these overwhelming issues in a real and raw format.

Ephesians 1:8 says this, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…” Many times we read that scripture and we think that it’s all about “us”.

Our life.

Our call.

We can tend to read the scriptures with a centric focus, and think that it’s all about “me”. But what about the person whose only hope is that you know your call? Think of the child, who’s sold into a life of prostitution and slavery and their only hope is that someone would come and rescue them. The child dying of starvation… your life may be their only hope.

Below is some feedback of what some of our interns have gotten out of this series.

So how do you feel about this series?

It sounds like such a cliche` answer, but I seriously can’t believe I didn’t know this was going on. Everything that we’ve gone over so far seems so barbaric, yet it is happening right now. – Anna Brown

Now learning about social injustice issues in the world, how has it motivated or inspired you?

Two things that came to mind as I was going through this series. The first is realizing that with the technology we have at our fingertips as Americans we have the ability to take down many of these issues with a video camera, a few clicks on our computer, and the power of one plus one.

The second is, as I was thinking about the absolutely stupid reasons behind why some of the most major social injustices are happening in our world today, it inspired me to want to be a part of making change happen from the top level down.

Obviously, we all have the responsibility to, at the very least, support the efforts of all who are making a difference in these situations, but realizing that it only takes one to spearhead such life-giving operations and make it all a reality is a humbling and empowering thought.

So simply understanding that no matter if you are only one person with a video camera, or a influential political figure, these issues can be changed. All it takes is us taking the initiative and deciding to get it done. – Anna Steininger

What issue would you say most impacted you?

ALL of them. It is sickening that these people are forced into these ways of living and that their normal life is horrific. It makes me want to start somewhere. I am praying for all these groups that God will send laborers. I am only one person, but I can ask God to show me what I can do to make a difference in these people’s lives. – Kelly Drury

Click here to view an excerpt from one of Christa Baca’s journal entries from the 2008 Mystery Trip. May it inspire you to open your eyes.

Dating+Relationships

Erotao

Erotao is a Greek word which means “to question”.  Back in Jesus’ day, when young Jewish students would study in synagogue; training was done through asking questions. The belief of the day was to let the person asking the initial question be able to come up with there own answer instead of just being told the answer, thus drawing their own conclusion and reaffirming their own belief.

Through this study, students will select various questions that they have about God, faith, and modern day Christianity.  They are challenged to refrain from giving pat, cliche answers; but instead find scripture to back up the points that they are wanting to make.  This course is an intense time of studying and discovery.  Here is what some of this years Interns are saying about how the series has impacted their life:

“I feel like this series has made me think more in depth about things in my life.  It’s helped me solidify what I believe; becuase now I know why I believe it. I feel stronger in my beliefs because we have gotten to talk things out.” - Lauren T

“It’s really cool to be able to discuss things with a group of people and to not be afraid to ask different questions.” - Gabby V

“I feel more confident in myself.  I feel good about asking questions as before I felt repressed. It really reaffirmed my beliefs.” - David S

“It really made me feel inspired to reach out and to make a difference now.” - Callie H

Thinking To Win

The Bible says in Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” The Thinking to Win series deals with many of the mental barriers that will keep you from achieving your best in life. The class covers four main areas of discussion:

CLASS #1: Winners Finish Strong
We live in a society that quits everything. Apathetically, many people won’t quit on the outside, but they will quit in their heart. You can be physically present somewhere but your mind can be a million miles away. As a leader, we must challenge ourselves to be finishers in life regardless of the circumstances, difficulties, or obstacles. 2 Tim 4: 7 says this, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

CLASS #2: Winners See the Possible
This lesson takes a look at modern leaders and shares the stories of their triumphs as well as their difficulties.

CLASS #3: Victim VS. Victor
Victorious living is all about how you respond during difficult circumstances. This lesson contrasts the differences between the Victim and Victor Mentality.

CLASS #4: Winners Do It Afraid
Mark Twain said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but acting in spite of it.” This lesson challenges you to step out; even in the midst of fear and pursue the dreams that God has placed in your heart.

Kick Your Own But

Excuses, excuses.

Everybody has them.

This series deals with some of the most common obstacles to success and challenges excuses that can leave people in the merry-go-round of broken resolutions and failure. We all want to be successful in life, but many times it’s our own laziness and lack of self-discipline that keeps us from having the results that we truly desire. Benjamin Franklin said it like this, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

Successful living is a daily journey; not a destination. When good habits are practiced on a daily basis we can see the results of success in our life. Aristotle said this, “We are, what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” The bottom line is that you yourself are your greatest obstacle to success.

Eyes Wide Open

For many of us the suffering of others around the world can be overwhelming. Sometimes, it seems easier to turn our eyes away from disturbing stories of rape, incest, murder, starvation, slavery and genocide. The Eyes Wide Open series exposes these overwhelming issues in a real and raw format.

Ephesians 1:8 says this, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…” Many times we read that scripture and we think that it’s all about “us”.

Our life.

Our call.

We can tend to read the scriptures with a centric focus, and think that it’s all about “me”. But what about the person whose only hope is that you know your call? Think of the child, who’s sold into a life of prostitution and slavery and their only hope is that someone would come and rescue them. The child dying of starvation… your life may be their only hope.

Below is an excerpt from one of Christa Baca’s journal entries from the 2008 Mystery Trip. May it inspire you to open your eyes.

Sweat trickled down my neck as the hot Phillipino sun slipped over the horizon. Sunlight streamed through the slats of the jailhouse bars we were ministering in. The prison guards leaned against the cement walls, their eyes glued to the person who was sharing the gospel message. Behind me, two dozen or so inmates were locked in a cell, their heads careening around the bars, solely transfixed on listening to this message of hope. An invitation for prayer was given and a dozen or so inmates hands reached through the metal bars, beckoning our team for prayer.

I stood and quickly glanced at the inmates faces. Their heads were bowed in prayer, eyes tightly closed and tears streamed down some of their faces. It seemed as though God was there in the midst of this dark place- moving in the hearts of these people. My eyes caught two ladies sitting on a table with their children. I walked over to say hello. We talked for a moment about simple things, how old there children were, and who they were visiting at the jail. Then I felt a gentle tugging in my heart that one of the women, Apo was her name, needed a message of hope and so I leaned over and said, “God has not forgotten you.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she began to weep, deep uncontrollable sobs. I hugged her and after a few minutes she began to share her story with me. “I am a good person. My husband is in jail here. We are poor. He stole a car battery so that he could sell it to buy us food.” She said, “Now, I have no way to care for my child. My baby and I have been sleeping in the back of a bus. We have no food. Yesterday, a man asked me if I would sell my daughter to him. I said no.” She began to weep uncontrollably as she rocked back and forth protectively holding her newborn child to her chest, “I cannot sell my daughter! What would happen to her? Whose would she be?”

I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. My eyes brimmed with tears and my heart filled with empathy, for I knew what she was implying in selling her daughter. I had seen first hand, little children sold into a life of unthinkable heartache. Many of these children are traded like cattle as sex slaves or servants, beaten and abused. One cannot imagine the perversion that is part of these children’s daily existence. As a teen, on a mission trip in South East Asia, I had watched little children some as young as five or six years old, proposition men for sex in dark corners of the night. I had seen the look of terror flash through their eyes as their pimps looked on. I watched in horror as they were spit on, cursed at, and swatted with newspapers by their disapproving countrymen. I knew what Apo was facing that day, and yet I could not imagine what it would be like to be in her shoes. And then she looked up at me and whispered something I will never forget. She said, ” If I sold my daughter… at least she would have food.”

To be in such a dire situation! To know that if left in your care, your child will certainly die of starvation and to think that it might be a better option for your child to be sold as a slave. We were able to help Apo and her daughter that day. We put her in contact with a church who was able to get her a place to stay and we gave her money for food. That evening, as I walked with our team, I saw the streets lined with people covering themselves with tarps and cardboard boxes to sleep in. Children looking up at me, curled on a ripped piece of cardboard for the night, the side of the road their only home. Tiny hands etched with dirt, arms extended, fingers curled. “Please ma’am, we are hungry.” Down the road we walked, as dozens of hands reached out, their hands and faces blurred by my tears. This mass of humanity steeped in poverty. I wondered what their stories were.

The enormity of it all sets in: one street, in one city, in one country, on one continent. And yet, around the world there are millions of others who are facing the same situation. How did they end up here? Living like this? And how have I become so blind to seeing how much I have been blessed with?

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…” Eph. 1:8

May you open your eyes today and see the world around you, and know that your life can make a difference. Don’t close your eyes to the pain and suffering of those around you. Reach out… and change the world… one life at a time.