Online Journal

Church: The Tour #PrayALong

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Church: The Tour #PrayALong

5.02% (4)

PRAY-A-LONG Phoenix
July 29

The purpose of this tour is to: 1) Pray for the churches I visit to reach the different people groups in their area. 2) Connect people who have no church with the different churches in the Phoenix area through social media interaction and sharing of visuals. 3) Pray the church or its individuals choose to financially partner with me.

The ministry I work cannot be done by one person, but through partnership with WorldVenture. The internet is the new mission field. We’ve always known it, but we’ve been slacking on doing something about it. Help me help others realize the vision!

This is a private event, but I am excited to say about ten people will be praying for every church I visit on July 29. 

Refresh: A Women’s Ministry

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Refresh: A Women’s Ministry

When a friend started sharing with me an idea about a women’s ministry that is impulsive and creative, I jumped in. Of course, I volunteered to help with communications. We set up a Slack account because it is secure. When I sat down with other women in the group, I was encouraged by their response to having an online community.

Slack is different than texting. When you send a group text, and a person responds, every person on that text gets continual notification for hours or as long as the conversation endures. It takes more time to open a new text and rewrite a response or to share the activity you shared with others on a new text. Slack cuts out all the work.

You can have it on your phone and treat it like a text, or you can use it on your desktop and get notifications there. This kind of community is what every busy woman needs so they can experience good fellowship even if they can’t make every activity.

So if you live in the quad-city area, email me. If you have questions with how this works, I would be happy to explain it (if your intentions were to start a similar kind of group in your town). It’s ideal as a para-church ministry.

refresh (1)

Once Broken: Episode Two of the Wilderness Trekking Series

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Once Broken: Episode Two of the Wilderness Trekking Series

Raising support makes life crazy. My last post today posted without anything in the body of the post. This reminded me that I failed to get online today to update the latest in the Wilderness Trekking Series.

This was created using a tablet, a smart phone, and the woman’s own smart phone as mine ran out of room. For the next series, I have ordered a camcorder with a 32 Gigabyte memory card. It’s a cheap camcorder as I have not raised the support yet to run full time ministry. On a church secretary’s salary, I am barely supporting my websites as it is through God’s generosity.

So be praying me to 100% support by March, 2017.

Do You Really Know Your Area?

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Do You Really Know Your Area?

This video was created at my job a year or so ago. I asked a sincere question on a Facebook group that was created for the community in which I live. The hardest part was staying objective through the research process. The end result was a fantastic video that I sometimes still use today when helping a church design a personalized online ministry. The other result was seeing the responses from people. If I was not making a video, I would have participated in a discussion with them. Please enjoy the video.

Twitter and Homeless People

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on Twitter and Homeless People

“Blogging and tweeting might be among the last hobbies you’d list for a homeless person, but some down-and-out people have embraced social media in such a way that it’s actually garnered them needed assistance — everything from food and diapers for children to counseling and housing.

“I did not believe in social networking before I ended up on the streets,” says Rd Plasschaert, who became homeless last year. “It’s the way people are finding housing. It’s the way people are finding food banks.” – READ MORE

And if the homeless are online, what are you and I doing to connect with them via our own Twitter accounts? Share your stories in the comments. We need Social Media Mentors. Check out Cataclysm Missions Intl LLC. 

My “Office” Explained

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on My “Office” Explained

13528853_10207807561359246_3941296005652285963_n

I work here when I am not behind my desk at Solid Rock Christian Fellowship in Prescott, Arizona working 36-hours a week. Behind me is a coffee pot and to my right is a sliding glass door to my backyard. On Fridays, it’s quiet in the neighborhood. I love Fridays. I get to start my online work that I lightly do Monday through Thursday.

Why do I love this work online?

I get to minister to people within and outside of my community all over the globe at the tap of a few keys. It’s not light work. No way would I ever call it, “playing.” Social media is ministry and missions. It is investing in people’s lives and helping them through practical and spiritual means. That means, helping them find a church home, be that person to talk to when they feel isolated, and praying for them. It also takes on many different forms.

It’s using every form of communication, like pictures, to make long-term connections with someone online. A conversation you experience in face-to-face happens online, too. It’s a community. It’s not just mentoring, but managing three websites, many social media profiles, and the volunteers associated with each website. It’s heightened creativity. There is no end to the possibilities on how something you create can be used in God’s Kingdom.

Now back to work…

How Can We Tell Better Stories?

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on How Can We Tell Better Stories?

My biggest stumbling block are anger-based or accusation-driven blog posts pointing fingers or treating people like they are crazy or fearful for wanting to protect their own neighbors, jobs, etc from a large influx of refugees or immigrants. Instead, we should be finding some kind of solution between closing the borders (isolating ourselves) or laying out a welcome mat. The refugees are here and, according to some of the numbers I have seen since becoming a WorldVenture missionary appointee, they have been coming here for some years now. So my question is: How can we tell better stories to persuade rather than treat insensitively any invalid or valid concerns?

The UN Refugee Agency posted this story about a Syrian Refugee:

Miraculously, the disabled boat washed up on the Greek island of Lesvos. Everyone survived, thanks to the swimmers. But now they had even lost the shoes on their feet. The sisters set off on the Western Balkan route for Germany where they hoped to be able to rebuild their lives. Yusra could not have guessed then that she would soon be preparing for another journey, under very different circumstances. The dream she has nurtured for more than a decade may soon come true. This summer, she hopes to travel to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, as part of a team representing millions of refugees fleeing war and persecution throughout the world. (FROM HERE)

What struck me about the post was its non-political nature. It told a story. It didn’t point out who was doing it wrong or right. When I watched a video about the Syrian refugees from David Platt, the boy planted face down on the beach with the waters rushing around him made me want to cry. While, as writers, we need to be careful not to use story as manipulation, we also need to point out the reality of our situation to encourage those being called to GO and serve those needs.

So, as writers, let’s write better stories. Maybe God is calling you to Sports ministry?

So What Does ‘Financially Partnering’ With You Mean?

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on So What Does ‘Financially Partnering’ With You Mean?

office-820390_1280

A friend had a question about how to give and what each button means. I’ve been making some assumptions that people understand how and why missionaries raise monthly support. This is the accidental assumption one makes after 10 years of being a church secretary and dealing directly with a Missions Commission. If you have other questions, feel free to email me. All questions will be kept confidential.

Q: Do I give now or when you quit SRCF and go into full time ministry? 
A: To go into full time ministry, I need to raise 100% support now. This means all giving must go through the “start/modify” button after you press “give.” For Direct Debit or Credit Card/Debit Card, it only allows monthly giving. “Mail a Check” allows for annual giving.

Q: Does a Special Donation go towards your monthly need? 
A: No. Special (tax deductible) Donations go towards my ministry account. This does not get counted towards what I need to raise per month. It does help keep down expenses in the Ministry Account as an appointee. To give towards my monthly support, please use start/modify a commitment.

Q: What is a Personal Gift?
A: A Personal Gift is non-tax deductible and gets deposited right into my checking account. I would prefer no personal gifts until I am at 100% support.

Q: I don’t want to do an automatic debit (i.e. Direct Debit or Credit Card/Debit Card), but I do Want to have my yearly donation go towards your support. How can I do this?
A: Go to “Start/Modify” and choose “Mail a Check” instead. Choose how often to give and how much, and mail a check out.

Q:I want to give annually using credit, debit, or direct debit. How can I do this? 
A: You cannot give annually using credit, debit cards, or direct debit. To get around this, you can set up online banking to issue a check. Just make sure the memo states my name and account number. The bank will mail a check for you. It can even be scheduled to send at a much later time. Meanwhile, you’ll need to set up an online commitment so, when the check arrives, it is credited towards my support account, not my ministry account.

Q: What do the numbers reflect each month on the first of the month? 
A: I am so thankful for the number of verbal commitments I have received, but the numbers only reflect those who have registered those commitments online (even if the check is sent annually at the end of the year). I encourage you to register your verbal commitment so we can together pray to 100% support.

Q: How do I set up an online commitment? 
A: Let’s talk. I am happy to walk you through the process. Send me an email to set up an appointment to either call you or come over to your house and walk you through it. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are always open. We can meet and walk you through the process provided no other appointments exist that day.

 

Q: Why do you need to live on support?
A: The Bible contains numerous examples of both Jesus, His disciples and the Apostles depending on the financial support of others during their ministry. Luke 8:1-3 says,“Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.” These women, among others, were paying the expenses for Jesus to travel through the cities “bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.” Jesus depended on others for support. READ MORE

July Wilderness Trekking Video (Episode 2)

Posted on by Nikole HahnLeave a comment on July Wilderness Trekking Video (Episode 2)

Episode two of the Wilderness Trekking Video Series will be available on my Youtube channel about mid-July. Our focus is a married couple this time who will share an amazing story.

I wish I could tell you the question given to them to answer on our video. I can tell you that we will be hiking the Mingus Mountains.

The Wilderness Trekking Video series, if you are new here, is a series of videos about 2-6 minutes in length that features the trail and the story of the individual we take hiking.

Again, we don’t care if you wish to share the video with your friends privately or share the video in front of a church or a group. We create so we can give freely and generously.

Of course, we wouldn’t be able to create without the generosity of a community of artists who create the music we add to it. Check out Free Music Archive!

Secret Link