 |
 |
|
At HeadUpward, we seek to actively know Christ and to enable others to do so as well. We intend on offering a wide range of resources to help educate and encourage one another. Our desire is to put these resources to work in the lives of individuals throughout the world with a range of service & worship opportunities. The first of which is ChangeMyCity. Learn about ChangeMyCity below and visit ChangeMyCity.com to join us in unifying the Church body towards increased, passionate service of the Lord by meeting the physical and spiritual needs of those in our cities. (Also, add us as a friend on Myspace: Myspace.com/ChangeMyCity) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ChangeMyCity.com is about Christians in action and cities in change. We believe that action starts with communication, and we seek to unite servant-minded people to take ownership of their cities and share their experiences and understanding in helping others, that we all may inspire and spur one another on to fulfill the Great Commission and meet the needs of others throughout the world. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ChangeMyCity.com went live in mid-September 2007. It is one of the first initiatives of HeadUpward, a Christian merchandise & resource site that's in development. HeadUpward will have a variety of proprietary merchandise, books & dvd/videos in addition to Christian FAQs, link resources, educational resources, blogs/articles from various Christian pastors/seminary graduates, and downloadable tracts amidst other resources. HeadUpward will also develop service and worship opportunities (of which ChangeMyCity is the flagship).
ChangeMyCity is intended to be a global initiative, with efforts to change cities everywhere. Our sincerest hope is that people will take this to heart and bring a revolutionary movement of change to our cities. It's important that individuals each personally say, "change my city," because we must take ownership of where we live and beyond, as able.
Initially, ChangeMyCity serves as a social cause network, uniting servant-minded people that can spur each other on to fulfill the Great Commission and meet the needs of others throughout the world.
Initial efforts are geared toward growing global membership to where users start sharing about the needs that they see, ways to meet those needs, and sharing their experiences, pictures, video, prayers & encouragements. As ChangeMyCity is financially able, the vision is for ChangeMyCity to hold serving & worship events all over, with targeted volunteer work, speakers, live music and more, so that the volunteers and those being served all are filled by God's Word & worship of Him in addition to meeting the physical & emotional needs. Until that time, as best as we can, we're here to support and enable individuals who want to share this vision with us and turn it into a greater reality!
We've been looking at starting off with some smaller, more manageable service projects for the core team (Scott Monaco, Jacob Miles, Blake Porter (www.blakespeaks.com, www.myspace.com/blakespeaks), and Tae Lee, a Dallas Theological Seminary student) and others. In addition to serving others, the goal is to document the work being done, then to bring it back to post on ChangeMyCity.com with pictures, blogs & such. Then to do it again with another missions event. And to keep doing so, for others to equally be inspired to do similar. We believe that if we were to better share the work God has given us with others, then perhaps we may mutually encourage & educate each other for more passionate & effective ministry. I (Scott) know that my church has sent/supported missionaries, and while that was exciting in itself, the contact with the missionary wasn't often, thus their work was soon faded into the background of our daily life, BUT when they sent emails, newsletters, or even came back to visit and brought pictures and stories of what's been going on in their ministry oversees... WOW.... that really had impact. Finally their work became tangible and inspiring. We all have opportunities to serve people, but it will only truly become tangible and inspiring to others if we share about it. Sharing our insecurities, expectations, hopes, successes, unexpected blessings, perceptions of those being served, lessons learned on what to do and not to do next time, etc.... I think: Wouldn't it be amazing if I heard and saw how someone else was involved in ministry?! And wouldn't it be motivational if I were to better understand about the people being served?! I remember seeing a video from Buckner Orphanage International about their work in orphanages oversees. That video hit me hard, and before I knew it, I was on a plane to China to help orphans in various cities. I probably wouldn't have known about that need, or that opportunity, or have ventured to do anything like that, had I not been shown that video. I hope to provide people with the same types of opportunities. With ChangeMyCity.com, I say it like this: Action starts with communication.
I kind of tire of social network sites that are just about growing a list of friends or chatting about irrelevant stuff. I'd like to be able to have people meet each other with causes in mind, sharing their experiences, knowledge, known opportunities, prayers, encouragements, etc etc. A resource network, because it's good to hear about people's mission trips or their service projects in the local city. Sometimes it can be encouraging to give it a try yourself or to see where needs aren't being met. For instance, I bet there are some ministries that one city has that another should consider using. Or perhaps someone wants to know of opportunities there are for them to have their young children become safely involved in to learn the responsibilities and joys of volunteering. Or hear about people's challenges in mission work to learn how they overcame and be able to apply that to our lives/missions. Regardless, the point is to provide a network platform with a focus on building God's kingdom, rather than building our friend lists. Similarly, I look forward to HeadUpward/ChangeMyCity sponsored/initiated ministry events. It's not enough to just talk about everything, there's a need to actually get involved. My hope is to have these events for Christians to serve the homeless, elderly, orphaned, poor, etc and for the volunteers and those being served to all be fed by speakers & bands in worship, and more. Then to come back to ChangeMyCity.com to share what went on to remember and encourage others, thus setting up a memorial just like what was done in the Old Testament:
Genesis 35:9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him. 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name.” So God named him Israel. 35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! 35:12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants I will also give this land.” 35:13 Then God went up from the place where he spoke with him. 35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. 35:15 Jacob named the place where God spoke with him Bethel.
ChangeMyCity.com is specifically a Social Cause Network: Christians In Action. Cities In Change. Communication is key within the church body that we may have unified efforts to bring genuine, God-honoring change to our cities. With the ChangeMyCity.com social network, HeadUpward.com seeks to bring Christians together to directly and intentionally blog about issues, discuss solutions, bring awareness to events, lift up prayers and share in meeting the needs of our local and international communities. We encourage members to seek out opportunities to share the Gospel and participate in missions & humanitarian efforts together. Find out about various events, organizations, and others with similar visions here on ChangeMyCity.com. Come together in strength, all parts of the body working in unison, and share your experiences with blogs, forums, photos, videos, audio files and more. We believe that networking with a cause will bring encouragement, edification, change to our cities, and most importantly, glory to God through sharing the love of Christ. In Him, HeadUpward.com -- HeadUpward.com is a Christian Merchandise & Resource website, and a property of QuietYell LLC (QuietYell.com).
In Him,
Scott |
|
|
|
|
|
