Integrating Faith in Learning, Leading and Serving
Charleston Southern University faculty, staff and students are in Nepal. The team, led by Dr. David Naylor and professor Ed Speyers, will share the word of God and serve Nepal for two weeks. The group brought tons of school supplies, food and toys for the young children. You can visit their blog, read their journal, check out their daily photo galleries at CSUBlogs.com/Nepal. We hope you will post an encouarging comment to our team.
Michael Joe Harvell (’90) published a blog today on “Living and Learning.”
He asks:
Do you ever have something the Spirit is teaching you and you get it, but you just can’t seem to communicate it? It’s in your heart and in your head, but you just can’t seem to find the words?
The Lord has been teaching me something pretty incredible lately. It’s one of those things that I have known what the Bible has to say for a long time. I could even quote the verse and I may have even gotten the gist of it, but now God is taking me deeper and I still don’t totally have it, but I am beginning to get it after a lot of lessons … the Spirit is giving me new insight almost everyday and this is a very cool thing, because I have found that physically my arms and hands have come down by my side and I am experiencing a peace that words cannot explain, because I am finally beginning to understand what Jesus was saying when He told His disciples in Matthew 10:14 “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.”
Mandy Santos (’01) wrote a post today about her dreams. She wrote:
My dream is to inspire and influence others through the written word. That’s it. Maybe it is through this blog, maybe something else printed or published in the future. But for me as a writer, if I’m not inspiring others to greatness, if I’m not influencing others for Jesus, then it would be meaningless. It would be empty.
CSUBlogs.com will continue to follow and keep you posted with excerpts from alumnus blogs. If you look to the navigation on the left we’ve added a list of past and present Charleston Southern student blogs. If you have a blog, and you’re not on our list, let us know. Email me at jstrubel@csuniv.edu.
While on their Spring Break 2012 mission trip in Orlando, some of the Charleston Southern University staff and students visited the big fella at Disney World (a.k.a. “The Happiest Place on Earth”).
Tam Odom, CSU’s Director of Women’s Ministries, tweeted the above image and this note:
Joined the #mickeymouseclub today! Now me and @therealxtina can be BFF! instagr.am/p/IIROr6gIcr/
— Tam Odom (@tamodom) March 13, 2012
It reminded me of this blog post from Soul Caffeine, after the blogger ”took in all the sights and sounds of Walt Disney’s creative masterpiece … (and) realized that Disney World is actually doing a better job of carrying out certain aspects of the Church’s G0d-given mission,” noting, we would do well to learn these lessons from Disney:
1. VALUE KIDS. Disney elevates the value of children to the highest levels, and while Jesus raised the value of children more than any person in history (including Walt Disney). The laughter of children should be the soundtrack.
2. VALUE CREATIVITY. God is the most creative force in the universe and His Body (the Church) should be the most creative force on earth.
3. VALUE EXCELLENCE. Every detail at Disney is executed with excellence. Excellence honors God and inspires people.
4. VALUE CHANGE. Disney is always looking to the future while building on their past. The Church should be the most innovative organization on earth.
5. VALUE DIVERSITY. God’s Kingdom is made up of people from all nations, races and backgrounds; so is Disney World. God calls us to unity, not uniformity.
6. SMILE. Happiness is based on outward circumstances, but we have the joy of the LORD which nobody can take away.
The Charleston Southern University team continues their mission project this week at Redeemer Church in Orlando. You can follow their journey on Twitter @tamodom or visit Dean of Students Clark Carter on his blog for more entries.
A team of 22 Charleston Southern University staff and students are in Orlando, Florida this week — yes, on Spring Break. This is the second year CSU has sent a team of students to Redeemer Church to serve.
Last year, Charleston Southern spent three days helping the church to renovate their Bible Study rooms. Charleston Southern’s Dean of Students Clark Carter said this year’s team is doing more outreach in the community. On his blog, Carter wrote:
We overcame the time change and made it to Redeemer Church on hour early this morning. Our students enjoyed worshipping with the church and hearing Pastor Andrew share about what it means to be a “transformed church.” He shared from 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 and mentioned that a transformed church is called to sacrifice, to share, and to serve. Needless to say, this message really resonated with our students. Really, that is what missions is all about! We sacrifice time, energy, and resources to serve others. We share kindness, possessions, and time with those who need it. We serve selflessly, intentionally, and passionately.
Tam Odom, Director of Women’s Ministries at CSU, has been tweeting pics and news from Orlando:
the team is working hard to move things back in the classrooms and sanctuary. #cleaning #sbmtorlando
— Tam Odom (@tamodom) March 12, 2012
This is a great example of the heart and spirit surrounding the University. You can follow CSU students Spring Break ’12 journey on Twitter @tamodom or visit Clark Carter’s blog here.
