go_inspiration

Earlier this week Go launched a new web based campaign called “go_inspiration”. The concept of this campaign is to inspire people through the use of art. At the beginning of each week we are going to have a featured artist who will create a lead inspirational piece (photography, design, typography, drawing/sketch, etc.) that will correspond with a theme. Throughout the rest of the week we invite others to join in the campaign and show us their creative interpretation of the topic.

People will load images to IG and hashtag them #go_inspiration. On Sunday at 5pm EST the week’s featured artist will choose their favorite design and that design will go live on our website with a corresponding article the following Monday. At the end of the year we will compile all the artists work into an inspirational book called #go_inspiration. It’s always been a passion of ours to give artists a platform by which to share their faith. We believe God’s beauty and nature can be displayed through artistic expression.

Take a look at some of the current entries and read below how you can submit your entry.  Sunday at 5pm EST this week’s featured artist will choose the winning design to be featured in an inspirational book.

The first featured artist helping us kick off the campaign is @justinkila with his interpretation of “One Life”.

Q & A
@go_international: Tell us about your design.
@justinkila: This design features @dodgepangburn. It’s a split image of dodge portraying life on one side, death on the other, something we all must face, and inch closer to every minute of the day.

@go_international: What does “one life” mean to you?
@justinkila: The fact that no one escapes death should put a perspective on your life. It should put a sense of urgency to do the most you can with what you have, wherever you are. The only thing that stays behind when you die is your legacy, and how you affected the people in your life.

@go_international: What programs were used to create this?
@justinkila: This was all done in photoshop.

@go_international: Where do you find your inspiration?
@justinkila: Inspiration comes in so many different forms. I think one of the biggest causes for a creative block is thinking that there are only certain places to find inspiration. It’s not just blogs or art exhibits or books. I usually get inspired by other people, whether they’re an artist or not. Everyone has something to contribute to the world in a unique and specific way that no one else can. The more you open your mind for more sources of inspiration, chances are you’ll end up inspiring others.

 

JOIN US: To enter follow @go_international on IG and load your image with the hashtag #go_inspiration. On Sunday, the featured artist will select their favorite design from the feed and that design will go live on our website with a corresponding article the following Monday. To be selected as a winner you must follow @go_international and use only original art and photos. We look forward to seeing your posts!

To follow @go_international on Instagram CLICK HERE, also be sure to follow @justinkila.

 

Want to be on the inside track of all things GO International? Click here to sign up for our weekly e-blasts and receive inspirational articles, current news and updates in your inbox. If you would like to donate to Go International or join our South American Operational Support Team click here. Help us spread the word and post this article to Facebook or Twitter.

Safe Arrival in Quito, Ecuador!

Go Friends,

Hello from Ecuador!  After many months of planning and preparation our family has arrived safely here in South America.  We couldn’t be any more excited about the season we find ourselves in.  We are so thankful to the many of you who have partnered with us in this new chapter of Go.

We arrived in Quito a week ago today and have been busy getting established since then.  You may or may not know that we opted not to do a “pre-trip” for this move, we decided instead to treat our first month in country as the “pre-trip” and just figure out where we’d be once we got here.  Originally we thought we may live in a smaller village closer to some of the indigenous people groups but in the course of our planning some of the people we knew in the area moved away and we feel it is important for us as a family to be near a community of people we trust for the sake of Zion.  So we have decided to base in Quito where we have taken Go Teams before and as a result have many friends.  Basing in Quito will allow us to minister not only to those in the city but to travel out to various villages on a regular basis.

Last week we spent much of our time searching for an apartment to live in which will also serve as our offices for the time being.  We looked at many different places and are pleased to announce that we have found our South American home!  It’s a great little 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment, in a safe neighborhood, and even has a little place for Z to play out back!

Our first goal in this initial phase of establishing our base is: Community Integration and Needs Assessment.  During this initial phase we will be establishing relationships in the local community, serving and volunteering, and assessing the needs that we feel we are to be involved in.  We felt strongly in our hearts prior to coming, not to presume to know the needs.  We are here to serve the people and see what doors God opens for us to make Him known.

We’ve been staying at a little cottage for international people immigrating to Ecuador, and in the midst of apartment hunting this week we have had the opportunity to make some great relationships that we feel were not by accident.  We had the pleasure of taking one young couple, Jeremy and Jennifer here on their first mission trip, on a tour of the city and we were able to share our mission stories and encourage them in the season they are in.  We also met a great couple who are now retired and living in Cuenca, Ecuador and in addition to being fellow ministers she is a respiratory therapist and has helped me tremendously in combating some asthma related issues I had upon arrival.  So thankful for the way God coordinates things!

Tomorrow we plan to move in to our apartment and our offices will then be up and running!

We encourage those of you who find yourself in a similar season of charting new courses, to have faith, trust Him, and…enjoy the journey. J

Journeying Together,

 

Greg, Christa and Zion Baca

 

 

 

 

 

Ecuador: Home Stretch

We are almost there!  Help us launch the Go International.tv South American Base by joining the Operational Support Team.  Be one of 21 people to join the team in the next 21 days and the team will be complete!

Since we first announced our plan to move to Ecuador and launch a mission base last April so much has been accomplished.  We liquidated the majority of Go International’s office equipment, leased our home, sold a large portion of our possessions, and have had many people step up and join the Operational Support Team to help us launch the base.  We are now right at 3 weeks away from our arrival in Ecuador!

We are very excited about this new season we are about to step into!  Of course it is full of many questions (as can be expected when moving overseas) but we are confident that this is the right step for us and Go International.tv.  Over the years we have had much success experimenting with various outreaches to engage people in conversations about faith and we look forward to experimenting with how best to engage with a foreign culture on a daily basis and point people to Jesus.

When we first launched Go Internship and Go Missions, we  also faced many questions and unknowns, but as we took daily steps of obedience we charted our way and we are confident we will do the same in launching this base.

Since the beginning of Go International.tv, it has always been bigger than Greg & Christa Baca.  We have always seen ourselves as fellow journeyers with partners, staff, interns, and friends seeking to proclaim the name of Jesus and shine His light in the dark.  The same is true today, this move is not about the Baca’s and can only happen with a team of people joined together to see the Gospel shared throughout South America.  Will you consider joining with us to launch the South American Base by committing to partner with us on a monthly basis for a term of one year?  There are 21 spots that remain on the Operational Support Team before funding is complete.  Many of the spots are available at just over $1 a day.  Thank you for your help in charting out this new season for Go International.tv.

Journeying Together,

Greg & Christa Baca

Below is a chart that represents our total funding to date.  Choose which spot you would like on the team by clicking the banner below:

Photo of the Day

These beautiful faces impacted the lives of our team this summer during our stay in Kampong Thom, Cambodia. Every day these orphans would greet our team with beaming smiles that took your breath away. If you would like to be a part of bringing change to the lives of these orphans- Join us in the 120 Campaign.

 

Photo Credit: Lindsey Eryn Clark

One God.

One God.

Four simple words ignited the beginning of a beautiful story that would forever change human existence. “Let there be light”. God spoke these words in the beginning of time. Have you ever taken time to just think about the fact that our God spoke these words and voila’ it happened! Our God continued on creating everything that we see around us merely by SPEAKING it into existence. Our God’s power is eternal (Romans 1.20) and his power is beyond our comprehension. His power and love not only created the heavens and the earth, but also saved us from the penalty of the law. Romans 5.6-7 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, through for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him”.

God’s might and power is also demonstrated in the life of Abraham. With all odds against Abraham, God told Abraham that we would be the father of many nations by bearing a son. The odds of this actually happening were so outrageous that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, actually laughed when she heard the angels tell Abraham this news. However, our God is faithful and powerful to follow through with his promises even against all hope. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening his faith- he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead… Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Romans 4.18-21). Through Abraham’s life we learn that we ought to never let the circumstances around us determine what God can do. God has the power to come up against all hope and fulfill the promises that He has made.

Since we have been saved by grace and been adopted into the family of God as his sons and daughters we have access to what is the Father’s, including his power. In Colossians 1.12-13, we discover that because we have been “rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of the Son” we have been therefore qualified “to share in the inheritance”. We have access to the same power that brought the earth into existence and to the same power that conquered the natural and allowed Abraham to bare a son and become the Father of the nations.

There once was a time in my life that this simple concept did not seem so simple. I understood that I served a powerful God, but because I did not fully understand His grace and love I was incapable of understanding what was really mine as a child of the Most High God. I saw Jesus was making an impact in people’s lives through conversations, miracles, and just by His mere presence. I began to evaluate my life, and I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t creating an impact around me through any of those three areas. I set out on a journey of some sorts to become more like Jesus and to live a life like Him, one of influence and impact. Along my journey I realized the depths of God’s love and grace for me, and I came to an understanding that as His child, I have access to the same power that Jesus walked in. I realized that I was limiting God in so many ways, I was putting a limit on His love, grace, and the inheritance that He wanted me to have. I remember being in Thailand when all this came into perspective for me, I was talking to a group of girls involved in the sex trade, and all of a sudden it was like “whoooosh” and everything began to make sense to me. God’s love, grace, and the inheritance all became something that I took ownership of from that day on. I started living differently, I started living with an understanding of everything that the Lord had for me. I made the descion to walk in the power of God. I came back the states, and started breathing life everywhere I went. I was finally understanding that the power of God resided in me, in my presence, and in my conversations. Upon my arrival to the states and my new found understanding of God’s power in me, I had a conversation with a girl I went to college with, we were talking about life and the future. She was telling me she wasn’t at where she wanted to be in life, and out of no where my mouth started moving and I just started speaking life into her. The words that came out of my mouth that day were not my own, I knew in that moment that the power of God was pouring out of me. I had stopped limiting what God could do through me, an ordinary person, and was allowing myself to be a vessel that the Lord could use to work through. I allowed myself to see myself as He did, as His child, and took hold of the inheritance He has for me. I took the limit off what He could do through me and began asking the Lord to work through me whatever that looked like, whether through laying hand on people, through conversations, or my presence. Jesus walked the earth as an ordinary man, He was no different than you and I. He was simple. He was nothing great in the eyes of his peers. Yet, everywhere Jesus walked He impacted someone’s life. He understood the power of God lived in Him.

We too must make the decision to walk in the power of God. We, as sons and daughters of the Almighty God, must truly realize that we have access to the power that separated the red sea, calms the storms, moves mountains, and heals the sick. When a son or daughter is adopted into a family, they have access to all the things that the father provides; food, security, the family name, wealth, and the inheritance. This simple concept is the same for us with God. God has adopted us into his family, which means we have access to everything that is His, even his power. In 2 Samuel 5.10, it says that David ‘became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him”. The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so if He was with David, then He is and will be with us, causing us to become more powerful as long as we allow Him to work in and through us. The Word says, that we are His hand’s and feet, the vessels which He is wanting to use in order to accomplish things on the earth. The Lord is beckoning us to begin speaking with the power He has given us, and stop being intimidated by the natural circumstances. He is waiting for us to begin speaking life into dead and empty places. Just as Jesus walked in the presence and power of God, so can we. Our mere presence can bring healing to the people that we encounter, we must just understand this and believe.

What would happen if we, the sons and daughters of the King, began to function as Jesus did and walk in the boldness, power, and presence of our God? If we actually started living and believing in the power that lives in us? I believe, that the presence of God would be too strong for people to deny. I believe that we would see drug addicts being freed from their addictions, sons and daughters returning to their fathers, the deaf ears opened, the blind eyes would see, the cancer would be cast out, and so on. The power of God is already in us, so I challenge you in this moment to start functioning in the power. Stop hoping and wishing that you could see miracles happen, and start believing that what you speak into existence will be, because our God who spoke life, resides in us.

 

Written By: Lindsey Eryn Clark

 

Photo of the Day

While in South Africa on Mystery Trip 2011, our team roamed the streets of the Cape Town with a mission: to bring love from above to the people of the city. Walking along the coast, our team ran into this sweet man who had traveled the world and had a story to tell. All he wanted was a listening ear. Our team sat down on the beach with him, listened to his stories, and introduced him to our Lord and Savior. It was on this day, that the love of Christ touched this man.

Photo Credit: Lindsey Eryn Clark

Photo of the Day

After a series of clues and challenges our interns found themselves on Cambodian soil on Mystery Trip 2010. For many of them, it was their first time to be in Asia. It didn’t take long for the team to fall in love with the beautiful people. Everyday our team would go to the orphanage and this little girl would great our team with her playful spirit ready to play.

Photo Credit: Lindsey Eryn Clark

 

Photo of the Day

Februray 2011, our team traveled to South Africa on the Mystery Trip. We had the opportunity to throw an event that gathered hundreds of village children to one central field. During the event we played games, had a talent show, and passed out soccer balls. After a full day of playing with our team, these little boys headed back to their home.

Photo of the Day

Our team saw this sweet women walking down a little dirt Cambodian road to meet our team.

Photo Credit: Dodge & Bel Pangburn

Photo of the Day

In June 2011 our team headed across the world to Cambodia, it was in this nation that our hearts were tugged. The people of Cambodia are hungry for a truth to cling to. In a little village outside of Kampong Thom, Matt Arbo, found a little girl who captured his heart. This little girl stuck by Arbo’s side the whole time we were in her village. As the carnivals were going on, you could see Matt and this precious little girl dancing together.

 

Photo Credit: Lindsey Eryn Clark

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