Guatemala MissionTrip Update....

1st off.... Thank you soooo much to everyone who has helped make this Kingdom Event a reality! Your financial and prayer support is amazing, and beautiful to witness God's love flowing through you all!

Financial support update! We are have way there! Woo hoo! I have got a total of $755!!!! Woo hoo! Thank you all so much and if you would like to still give please fell free to give via the PayPal button over there on the right for a non-tax deductible gift...or you can send me a check, and if you do want to make sure that your gift is tax deductible please send me (Florence UMC, 8585 Old Toll Road, Florence, KY 41042) or to Vineyard Central (Vineyard Central, 1757 Mills Avenue, Norwood, OH 45212) a check made out to Vineyard Central and make sure no matter how you give to put on the check in the memo line that it is a gift for D.G. Hollums' mission trip to Guatemala. Thank you all so much!

So want to know what we will be ding? Here is a few thoughts from those that are getting everything ready:

"We are so excited that you will be making the journey to Guatemala in just a few short weeks! Sarah and I have been working hard to make sure this will be an unforgettable experience. In this email you will find a tentative schedule of the week, some ideas for packing, and a couple of questions we will need your response on immediately in order for us to make reservations.

First let me give you an idea of what you will be doing while you're here. Guatemala is a country ravaged by violence, and just got out of a civil war only a little over a decade ago. There are so many broken families, resulting in a ton of gangs, specifically the 18th Street Gang and the MS-13. Part of our work will be to observe the work of the prison chaplaincy that Joel Van Dyke organizes and find ways to support them. We will also spend a good portion of time in La Limonada, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Guatemala. An amazing woman named Tita Evertsz started a school in La Limonada after spending several years doing gang ministry and seeing so many gang members being killed. Her work now is to try to prevent new gang members, and La Limonada is one of the biggest places gangs recruit in Guatemala. We firmly believe that some of the greatest kingdom work going on in Guatemala is with Tita and Joel. We will likely tackle a work project in La Limonada as a way to support Tita, either in the school itself or possibly by blessing one of her teachers with a bathroom in their home. I will be able to give you more information about our project shortly."

And here is the tentative schedule:

July 17- Arrive in Guatemala at 12:35pm, drop off luggage and head to Antigua for dinner.
July 18- Begin project in La Limonada
July 19- Finish project in La Limonada, visit Amor Del Nino in late afternoon/evening.
July 20- Visit gang prison in morning, climb Pacaya Volcano with gang Chaplains in afternoon, dinner with Chaplains
July 21- Free Day which could include Antigua markets, another visit to La Limonada, or Mayan ruins.

(The rest is still being planned.)"

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So, as yall can see we will have our hands full, but we are all getting very excited about the trip! please continue your prayers and support! Grace and peace to yall and don't forget: KUTPs!!!

I mentioned this in the past but...............

I just wanted to know if any more thought has gone into the question I posed on an earlier post:

What effect (if any) has Postmodernism/Emerging/Emergent/Missional mindsets affected other cultures other than white America/UK individuals and communities? Has there been any discussion around the effects of a Emerging church discussion with-in the Hispanic/Latino or Black communities in the U.S.? Send some links if you know of any discussions, or if you would like to be a part of the discussion here.... Thanks and KUTPs!!!

Flickr has been updated.....

Ok I just posted around 40 new pictures on My Flickr..... go check it out yall! and KUTPs!!!!

oh and here is a picture of Shane Claiborne when I went to go hear him quote his book, heh:


BTW: The Simple Way (the community that Shane is a part of), burned to the ground the other day... if you would like to know more about this amazing story or support them then follow this link.

Oh and this pic is for Alan Creech and all of those who love Thomas Merton who I know would appreciate it... I saw it during Annual conference while taking some street photography in downtown Louisville.



And yes... I felt the same way...I even took a few photos of the people I was falling in love with:



and (next too) lastly this one is for Sean who I know loves the fat that he works right next to the UMC cross and flames logo each day:



Oh and I went to my Travel clinic today for the last of the shots I need to go to Guatemala!!! but you have got to check this out... now this is the view when I turn around the corner looking for the place I am to receive my shots (5 total!):


Yes, that is right...The Poison Room is next door to my clinic, heh heh... that just cracked me up!

OK so go to My Flickr and read the funny commentary of the NASCAR race and Annual conference! (It might just brighten your day/night!) KUTPs!!!!

More Guatemala info coming soon!

Happy Father's Day!!!

No that is not my baby in the picture...but it sure is a cute picture of my Dad!

I love you Daddy! Your the best in the world!

Annual conference was great and now more work...

Well, annual conference went well, and we finally got all the elections of General and Jurisdictional Conferences taken care of. A friend of Th3 Waters Sean went to the conference and was amazed at how many people made up the UMC just in the KY conference, (there were probably around 1,000 people representing each church/charge in the KY UMC) It really is a great way to see the connection of the UMC in a very real way. And I must admit, that I loved getting to see and visiting with friends there. It is a great understanding of conferencing in it's real sense!

Well, I am back hard at work, and I am attending a NASCAR Busch series Race (first one ever) tomorrow, so I will be sure to take lots of pictures and put them on Flickr...so be looking for them.

one of the things I did this week was present a small discussion on what emergent/emerging/missional church and what is it's implications for the UMC and especially the UMC of KY.

While there I listened over and over again to older black men and women taking about how bad the need is for young black men for preachers...and how it is vitally important to have stong male role models as preachers in the black churches so they can become a role model for younger black men to grow up and be preachers....well, granted I have no ideas about the black culture in the US here, but I wonder how much postmodernity and emerging ideals are affecting the black young culture? (and for that matter, Hispanic, Latino, and Mexican cultures as well)

anyone know of anyone's work of the Emerging church with-in other cultures?

Now you can give donations to the Guatemala trip via Pay-Pal right on my blog.....

Hey everyone:

My friend Eric taught me how to offer pay-pal donations for anyone over the internet for the trip. I have added the button over there on the right side of the page (just under the "cool stuff" area----->...but please note.....

If you choose to donate this way, it will not be Tax exempt (it will be the equivalent of just writing me a check ) And there will be a small % that pay-pal will take out of the total amount for offering this service.... but the amount is small something like $2 out of a total giving of $100. So just keep that in mind if you give.....

And again thank you all so much for your support in giving financially, and your prayers! None of this could happen with out you all! And I hope to take lots of pictures and bring back lots of stories of the Kingdom showers for everyone to see where their support went towards. God bless you and KUTPs!!!

I am going to Guatemala July 17th - 27th...& I need your help!

Dear Friends, Family, and Lovers of Christ...and everyone else (heh),

I greet you and invite you to join me in bringing The Kingdom of God into the lives of others.

For some time now, I have been feeling a call to be the hands and feet of Christ in some form of foreign missions. One of the places that God has been teasing me with is Guatemala. I have never been to this country, but it just kept on coming up in conversations and in my thoughts for the past few months. Then, I went to a worship service with some friends and the topic arose that they were sending a group of guys and maybe a few gals to Guatemala to bring the Kingdom into fruition in the hearts and lives and communities in Guatemala! I knew that God wanted me to go!

I will be following the lead of God traveling to Guatemala July 17th through the 27th. While there, I will be serving alongside friends that serve Vineyard Central (a network of house churches in Cincinnati. And a cousin church to Th3 Waters) Currently, it looks like we will be serving Christ by helping gang prisoners, orphans, schools, and any other ministry that might need our assistance. The amount of money I am trying to raise to go on this mission that includes airfare/shots/food/lodging is $1,200, and any extra money raised will go towards any other missional needs in Guatemala!

But, please above all else, shower us and those God desires for us to minister to in prayer!


Two ways you can financially support this Kingdom event:

1. Directly to me: D.G. Hollums, 8585 Old Toll Road, Florence, KY 41042 (by mail/check)

OR

2. for a tax deduction: Vineyard Central, 1757 Mills Avenue, Norwood, OH 45212

Here are stories from Vineyard Central from previous mission trips

We will be staying with a friend Jeremiah and his family who live in Guatemala as missionaries.

Please go to his website to learn more about how he and his family are making a difference and a sample of what we may be doing.

Thank you again for all your help, prayers, thoughts, and financial support.

Thank you for your support! God bless yall...and now more than ever KUTPs!!

Wow I have been busy..and there is no end in sight.....

OK, so thank you for everyone that has contacted me giving me a hard time about not blogging as of late. Well, I went to Sheila and Steven's wedding (for those who do know know her, she is my brother's widow) (is that still true now that you got married Sheila?...not sure oh well anyway) If yall would like to see what I have been up to, then just go to my Flickr page, there are pictures of the wedding, Jay's headstone, Jay's old church, and even one picture from the butterfly exhibit that I went to yesterday during lunch with Scott! Here is a photo re-cap:













OK... so there is a little bit and much more can be found on my Flickr page:

My Flickr

Oh, and I will be gone all next week @ the always fun, famous, sometimes boring, never duplicated, Annual Conference of the KY Conference of the UMC!!!!! Oh and BIG news and I need you help! What is it you ask? read the next post.......coming soon.

a comment....

Here is a recent comment I left on the deep church blog:

It is interesting that i just heard a pod/net cast from Wired parish of an interview with Peter Rollins (his blog is here)(northern Ireland) author of the new book, “How (not) To Speak Of God”. And in the podcast he talks about being in Geneva last year at some square in the city. At one end of the square there is this great church…the church of St. Peter: a symbol of the institution, creeds, doctrine, and tradition of Christianity. But on the other side of the square was a statue of Jeremiah who was turning away from the church in shame and disgust……and when one stands in the center of the square, one must ask yourself, “whom do I run too?”

It is in this center that we find ourselves in as pilgrims in this current age.

This is why I find myself drawn to deep church. It is wiling to not just stand in the center, but passionate about living there, growing there, and encouraging the universal church to struggle in that place.

Any thoughts?

I love Halo 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow this game is fun...not the best graphics I have seen on the Xbox 360 (better than Halo 2, but not as good as Gears of War), but I promise you that the fun factor makes up for it... here are a few shots:







Click on the images to enlarge them. (if the link does not work then just go to Bungie.net for movies and pics.)

Oh and here is a wonderful case to support:

Shane Bernier has a wish! Please help him make it true!