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Hanavsky Pavilion Sunset
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Charles Bridge and Prague Castle
Hundreds of years later, the British Isles and the north of Europe are once again in the grip of the Vikings.
This time it's not my Norwegian ancestors, though. It's that proud Viking outpost far to the west: Iceland. The cloud of volcanic ash that Iceland continues to bounteously bestow on Europe has brought things to a halt here, far more than the Viking invasions of old.
This is especially true for those who work in or depend on European air travel. It turns out that this category is bigger than one first imagines. It includes anyone sending or receiving mail. It includes farmers in Kenya, whose crops are rotting because the air cargo system cannot get them to European markets. As the cloud settles in, it paradoxically brings to light a truly amazing number and variety of global interconnections… and has an increasingly dramatic impact on and ever-widening circle of people.
For more and more people, in more and more places, things have become "day to day." Each day, people check status reports and then do what they can.
Just at the moment, "day to day" has a very different meaning at International Ministries. Thanks to the generosity of a small group of people and churches, IM is providing a special opportunity for people to think about and act on the challenge of providing support to missionaries, day to day. The 360 Matching Fund encourages people to invest a dollar a day in the support of missionaries. The form of that encouragement is a pool of matching funds that will be used to add 50 cents to each of the first 30 dollars per month that people pledge to give through the 360 Matching Fund page during the next twelve months. Pledges will be received on this IM website from now until May 31, or until the capacity of the pool of matching funds is exhausted, whichever comes first.
Day to day. Doing what one can. Can you do a dollar a day (if you are reading this, I realize that almost certainly means another dollar a day!) for mission? Here is a great opportunity to make that dollar go further!
In the context of volcanic ash from Iceland, people are talking about limitation and damage as they talk about "doing what one can" in a situation that is "day to day." The limitations are serious--and for growing numbers of people--increasingly harmful.
In the context of International Ministries, providing day to day missionary support through the 360 Matching Fund is an opportunity. I hope you will be able to take advantage of it!
Day to day, I also give thanks to God for your support, in ALL the forms it takes!
Blessings,
Stan
p.s. I am writing this journal as one of the most fortunate, less-affected people under the cloud. I am in Prague, which is a wonderful place to be stranded. And, unlike many stranded travelers across Europe, I am not trying to live out of a backpack and sleep on an airport bench. I am staying with the wonderful people of the International Baptist Theological Seminary, and even managing to move ahead on a project or two. I am, of course, eager to get home. But in the meantime, these are great people and a great place.
This time it's not my Norwegian ancestors, though. It's that proud Viking outpost far to the west: Iceland. The cloud of volcanic ash that Iceland continues to bounteously bestow on Europe has brought things to a halt here, far more than the Viking invasions of old.
This is especially true for those who work in or depend on European air travel. It turns out that this category is bigger than one first imagines. It includes anyone sending or receiving mail. It includes farmers in Kenya, whose crops are rotting because the air cargo system cannot get them to European markets. As the cloud settles in, it paradoxically brings to light a truly amazing number and variety of global interconnections… and has an increasingly dramatic impact on and ever-widening circle of people.
For more and more people, in more and more places, things have become "day to day." Each day, people check status reports and then do what they can.
Just at the moment, "day to day" has a very different meaning at International Ministries. Thanks to the generosity of a small group of people and churches, IM is providing a special opportunity for people to think about and act on the challenge of providing support to missionaries, day to day. The 360 Matching Fund encourages people to invest a dollar a day in the support of missionaries. The form of that encouragement is a pool of matching funds that will be used to add 50 cents to each of the first 30 dollars per month that people pledge to give through the 360 Matching Fund page during the next twelve months. Pledges will be received on this IM website from now until May 31, or until the capacity of the pool of matching funds is exhausted, whichever comes first.
Day to day. Doing what one can. Can you do a dollar a day (if you are reading this, I realize that almost certainly means another dollar a day!) for mission? Here is a great opportunity to make that dollar go further!
In the context of volcanic ash from Iceland, people are talking about limitation and damage as they talk about "doing what one can" in a situation that is "day to day." The limitations are serious--and for growing numbers of people--increasingly harmful.
In the context of International Ministries, providing day to day missionary support through the 360 Matching Fund is an opportunity. I hope you will be able to take advantage of it!
Day to day, I also give thanks to God for your support, in ALL the forms it takes!
Blessings,
Stan
p.s. I am writing this journal as one of the most fortunate, less-affected people under the cloud. I am in Prague, which is a wonderful place to be stranded. And, unlike many stranded travelers across Europe, I am not trying to live out of a backpack and sleep on an airport bench. I am staying with the wonderful people of the International Baptist Theological Seminary, and even managing to move ahead on a project or two. I am, of course, eager to get home. But in the meantime, these are great people and a great place.