Project Panama 2010: Arrived in Panama

Today we arrived in Panama City and have already picked up where we have left off in Miami. Our training has continued at a vigorous pace, but our team members have risen to the challenge. The team’s positive outlook and enthusiasm is shown not only in the daily demeanor, but also in how they approach their training as a sacrifice of love for the Kuna people. The air is charged with hope and compassion and we haven’t even arrived to the islands yet! Along with each team there is an integral part to play. With everything from the water systems being installed to the medical clinics teaching the locals and even the Evangelism teams loving the people; it is apparent that every individual is taking on their role with a sense of duty and commitment. Only one more day until all the projects begin and only one more day until the Kunas experience the love of Christ in action!

Just as a heads up, we unfortunately will not be able to do web updates while we are on the islands. Although we love getting to share daily photos and stories with everyone back home, we are so excited to have this rare opportunity to reach such a primitive group of people. Since we will be without internet connection while we’re on the islands, we will be doing daily updates by phone to our Trip Update Line, which you can call at 1-866-992-2554 ext. 4. We will continue our regular web updates when we return to Panama City on the 27th of June.

Project Panama 2010: Training in Miami

Hello! Everyone has arrived safely in Miami and the energy is running high with each of the team members. We started off with orientation following dinner and we finished the night with a pool party and a lively game of water volleyball! All of us are very excited and have high expectations for what God is going to accomplish through each individual during this trip!

For updates while we are on the islands please call: 1-866-992-2554 ext. 4

Worship Night!

Go International is having its very first outdoor worship night this Monday, June 7th at 7:00PM at Haikey Creek Park in Shelter #3 (121st & Garnett).

There is no charge, so invite your friends, and let’s worship God together!

Open House – Monday + June 7, 2010

If you’ve ever considered joining the Go Internship or interested in finding out what we’re all about, join us at our next Open House Event. During Open House you can have a look around our Offices, meet the founders, Greg and Christa Baca, the Staff, and this year’s current Interns. This is the perfect time to have your questions about the program answered.

Open house begins at 4:00PM from 4:00-4:15pm tour the offices and take a look around. From 4:15-5:00PM Greg & Christa will be sharing about the program. Hear from current interns about the direct impact the program has made on their lives. Feel free to bring a friend or two, grab a starbucks on the way over, and come chill and hang out.

The offices are located: 
12814 S. Memorial 
Suite 120 & 122 
Bixby, OK 74008

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.

Go Weekend: The Love Rally

The Love Rally:

“All you need is love, love, love, love is all you need.” The Beatles wrote these lyrics for their generation back in the mid 60’s. The band members of the Beatles realized that love was an essential in life. That it was something everyone needed and longed for. Today more than ever, I believe people need to be reminded of the true message of God’s love. Instead of us defining who is worthy, or what kind of lifestyle deserves the love of God, let’s look at what God’s word has to say about it. It says in Romans 5:6-8, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God demonstrated his great love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ didn’t die for people who already loved him. He died for sinners…people whose lives were bound up and dictated by sinful desires that were contrary to God’s will. He came to cure the sick, not the healthy. It seems this true message of love has been forgotten and buried in the pile of political stigmas we’ve placed on different people, as we judge whether or not they are worthy of love.

We saw that there was a need for people to understand not just love, but the love of God. With the need now identified, the interns and staff of Go International filled a busy street corner in Kansas City and began the very first LOVE RALLY to protest for love. There were thirty-one individuals standing on one of the busiest street corners of the city, as we each held a variety signs to declare one message, the message of love! The signs read: “God loves Republicans,” “God loves Democrats,” “God loves Prostitutes,” “God loves Addicts,” “God loves Homosexuals,” “God loves Obama,” “God loves Bush,” and “God loves People”!! As we waved these signs in the air, the energy on the street corner was contagious. Cars rushed by honking their horns, rolling down their windows, and shouting, “LOVE” as they passed! Within a few minutes of standing on the street corner, Kansas City had begun to catch onto the movement of Love.

It wasn’t too long before a group of girls came up to some of our interns and asked what it was we were doing. Quickly, the interns expressed the vision of the Love Rally, explaining that we wanted to share the Love of God with Kansas City and show people that everyone, no matter who they are, what their “label” is, what they have done, or where they live, that they are loved by God and by us. The girls suddenly were no longer strangers to Go International, but our friends as they took on our vision, or rather God’s vision, as their own. So there we stood on the street corner that day united as one body, all-coming together to protest for love. We all came from different backgrounds, different races, with different life goals, but we had the common desire to share love. The smiles, the cheers, the volume, and the presence of love that day was something that cannot be captured by any photo. However, I do believe that particular day in Kansas City will resonate in the hearts of the individuals that we encountered. A songwriter once wrote, “Love conquers it all, crosses all boundaries and breaks down the walls.” I believe this was accomplished that day in Kansas City. Walls of bitterness, rejection, of the fear of being alone and not being loved were all torn down. For some, seeing Go International standing on the corner was the answer that they needed that day, for some it may have brought them hope which was once lost. This day was a mark in history for many people’s lives- for the interns, staff members, for the girls that came along side and protested for love with us, and even for the strangers that passed by us. Jesus challenges us to be love to those that we encounter, so I ask you to accept that challenge too. That doesn’t mean you need to hold signs that say, “God loves you”, and you don’t even need to be in a foreign city. All you need is a desire to share love and the will to act.

Written by Go Intern: Lindsey Clark

Go Weekend: Perspective

Perspective:

On Friday, September 11, 2009, I arrived outside the “Go” offices ready for a road trip squeezed in with a bunch of strangers for a four and a half hour drive. Not knowing what to expect, I was a little nervous. The road trip wasn’t bad. I normally sleep on road trips, but not this one. We actually played fun, “getting-to-know-you” games, which made the time go by pretty fast. Four and half hours later, we arrived in Kansas City at our hotel. I’m thinking we’ll go in and unwind, but that wasn’t the case. We walked into our assigned rooms and had a “challenge” card waiting for us, letting us know we have 15 minutes to get our swim wear on and go to the pool. Here was the catch; we also had to wear goggles that had been painted over so we could just barely see out of them! First thoughts: I was being “hazed” for a sorority. It almost felt like a mean joke for the pure entertainment of second years, staff, and other on-lookers. Fortunately there was a method to the madness and it turned out to be a very unique and, in the end, fun, team building challenge leading to the revealing of the first core value.

We had 10 minutes to find the one key of 150 keys that were scattered at the bottom of the pool, which unlocked the chest that revealed the whole of this exercise. In the first 10 minutes, we failed to find the one key and the keys we found were thrown back into the pool to be searched through again! As one could imagine I was pretty discouraged at this point, but we really came together as a team. Great ideas were thrown out there, implemented and then the impossible came to pass… we found the key in 6 minutes that unlocked the chest revealing the first core value… perspective. It was a victorious moment that we shared as a team. Turns out we were the first group to ever perform this exercise which was pretty exciting because what seemed impossible, we deemed possible!

Written by Go Intern: Kelly Drury

Go Weekend: Self-Discipline

Self- Discipline:

The warm wind blew softly past my face. I heard the sound of grass crunching beneath my feet. It had only been a few minutes since they had let us out of the car; the hand gripped tighter pulling me further into the unknown… I was blindfolded. No one spoke, I only heard soft breathing from the others around me. Where were they leading us? We came to a stop; no one talked, but I heard the thousands of questions racing through everyone’s mind because they were the same as my own. A voice spoke, he told us remove our blindfolds and remain silent out of respect for the dead. My hands began to untie the orange bandana that was blinding my eyes. I blinked once or twice and found myself surrounded by tombstones. They had brought us to a cemetery. They directed us to a very large grave in the middle. I saw the city lights from a distance and the half covered moon as I took my seat on the soft, wet grass. We sat there, waiting, wondering and even with our sight returned we still had no idea why we were brought to this place of forgotten dreams. Our leaders began to speak telling us about how short life is and how any second it can end. They spoke of the people now marked with a tombstone; about how their story was over and how they had already had their chance to live, to make an impact… or not.

Still listening, my eyes gazed over the many graves surrounding me. Questions still raced through my mind, but questions of a different sort, questions about these people buried so deep in the ground- were their dreams buried with them? Who were these people, what were their joys, what made them smile, who made them smile? How did they shape their world and how did they make it better. How many never got the chance? What stopped them? Fear, discouragement, doubt; what stopped them from doing what their heart desired? Are there doctors lying here, musicians, storytellers or perhaps housewives, fathers or good husbands? How many became that doctor, storyteller or husband and how many ran with full speed ahead? What dreams lay in the darkness because fear crept in and stole what they held so dear? I stared once again toward the city lights and now wondered about those people… Are they going to live out their dreams or shall they be buried with all that they could have been beneath the ground? I wept inside for those whose story had been written and wept for those who were afraid to start writing it. The night came to a close as we rose back up and made our way to the cars. I took one last look at the tombstones sitting there, unmoving, unfeeling, just there. I didn’t just want to be there, just something to take up space, I wanted more, more than a half-written story, more than a tombstone, more than just hoping my dreams and desires would someday come to pass. I wanted more than a field of forgotten dreams.

Written by Go Intern: Caleb Hutton

Go Weekend: Overview

Overview:
Each year the Go Internship kicks off with the Go Weekend. This is a 3-day event where the 1st year interns take an adventurous trip to experience unique challenges and overcome obstacles that represent the core values of the Go Internship. As each core value is revealed, the interns learn how to work together effectively while their personal leadership abilities are being stretched. Through various opportunities they learn how to tap into their creativity, to push their limits, and seek fresh ideas and new perspectives. A common statement made throughout the weekend is, “Never say I can’t, but ask yourself how can I?” During this time they quickly learn how to put 100% into everything they do as they pursue excellence. With that being said, this trip is also a great opportunity for the second year interns to put the creativity they’ve discovered from their past year into practice, as they custom make and create new ideas and challenges each year. Because of this, we are able to constantly better the experience, as we never settle to become comfortable with the previous year’s layout. All in all, this exciting weekend is meant to show the vision of Go International and encourage the interns to actively pursue the direction that God has for them, 1st year and 2nd year interns alike.

Check back for more posts from the weekend.

The Open House. March 29, 2010

If you’ve ever considered joining the Go Internship or interested in finding out what we’re all about, join us at our next Open House Event. During Open House you can have a look around our Offices, meet the founders, Greg and Christa Baca, the Staff, and this year’s current Interns. This is the perfect time to have your questions about the program answered.

Open house begins at 4:00PM from 4:00-4:15pm tour the offices and take a look around. From 4:15-5:00PM Greg & Christa will be sharing about the program. Hear from current interns about the direct impact the program has made on their lives. Feel free to bring a friend or two, grab a starbucks on the way over, and come chill and hang out.

The offices are located:
12814 S. Memorial
Suite 121 & 122
Bixby, OK 74008

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