Two Stories

I got two stories. One you might not care about. If so....then forget you! Just kidding. The other one should definitely interest girly Jordan, if she has not heard already.


First, the one relating to Jordan with the long hair. Jaime Lathan is a history teacher at NCSSM who also happens to be a member at King's Park (my church). He helps with Imago Dei (the christian club at NCSSM), among other things at the church. The biggest thing he does is working at the Youth Life Center--a place created by King's Park in the neighborhood which is considered the 'projects' of Durham. This neighborhood is something like 75-95% single parent homes and the average ANNUAL income is around $5000 (makes that rockfish salary sound a whole lot nicer huh?). Anywho, the Life Center works with the youth in the neighborhood by tutoring them but also sharing Jesus with them. One cool thing is that its been so successful that the city has asked KPIC to make more of them in the future and they dont even care if they talk about Jesus. Well the part that has to do with Mr. Lathan is that he was nominated for and won the Presidential Service Award for his work with the Youth Life Center!!! President Bush was in town Thursday and presented him with the award while he was here. I loooove me some Jay-Lay and its definitely cool to have somebody you know to win something like that. And i thought you'd want to know, Jordan, since you had him at science and math and he would always ask me how you were doing freshman and sophomore year when i saw him at KPIC.

ALSO, our children's pastor, Eric Syfrett (who is the most incredible children's pastor i've been around....he's an amazing guy), got on Wheel of Fortune and won $60000!!! One of the cool things is that once he got past the qualifying round they told him he wasnt guaranteed a spot on the show or for it to be taped. But when he finally got the call to fly out to record, it conflicted with his daughter's first birthday party. So he actually turned it down to be with his daughter (and didnt even seem to hardly hesitate to do so)!!! Thats a REAL daddy.... He still got another call and got on the show and dominated to win 60 grand. That's the favor of God right there!


Hope you're all well,
Lucius

coaching

first off I thought I forgot the password :-p

But anywho, I am going to be the assistant coach (Jeremy Menzel who is working this summer is the head coach), at a middle school for soccer here in Pitt County! It is going to be so much fun, and I am so stoked to be able to work with kids without it being a must because of Teaching Fellows. I am going to be the keeper coach for the most part. Just wanted to let you peeps know what was going on. Other than that just school work and an unlimited number of essays and reading assignments, with some Gears of War shoved in their sometimes :-D.
Hope every1 is well!
lata playas

-stephen

Christianity?

Many of you may know that over the past couple of years I've struggled with my faith. While at no point did I really walk entirely away from it, I always believed in Christ and continued to attend church. But I felt artificial and so did the religion of christianity. The people I encountered seemed so hollow. I feel more uncomfortable around church people then any other group and I realized that, I it was no good. I'm beginning to realize that I'm embarassed about being a christian I'm embarassed by the things people do and have done in the name of Christ. I have problems with the hatred that some people propogate and it hurt me. I questioned why my grandfather died and why my parents got divorce and why i was haywood county a place that was so foreign. I had to start dealing with my prejiduces and fears, and my superficiality. but while I'm not sure i'll call myself a christian again, I do believe in Jesus and things are getting better for me and i'm more comfortable with the concept of loving people than i ever was before. so I know that some of you have been worried about me, and if you'd like to continue to you can, but things are better for me.

Cool Story

So i've got this book called "Jesus Freaks: Volume II" put together by the fellas from DC Talk. I've had it for a while, but have recently rediscovered it since my brother's had it for a long time. Its a great book--basically a collection of stories of revolutionaries who've been persecuted for there faith. It includes stories from bible times all the up to 2001, a year before it was published. I want to start typing some of them up to share--i LOVE all kinds of testimonies, and especially these types of radical stories. I just cant get enough of hearing testimonies from anyone, so i want to share some of these. I actually might start putting them on facebook so others can see them too.

For the first selection, here is a story about Kim in North Korea in 2001 (so quite recent):

Kim had come home, unable to speak. His mother could tell he was in shock and sat with him, soothing him and trying find out what happened. Finally he began to open up to her.
"I was with one of my best friends today when two police officers approached us. They grabbed my friend and accused him of being a Christian. One of the officers knocked him to the ground while the other took out his gun. My friend didnt get angry or curse anyone. He.....he didnt even try to defend himself."
"Even as the gun was pointed directly at him his face remained peaceful. He looked straight into my eyes, and without speaking a word, I knew exactly what he was saying. He wanted me to believe the same thing he did. And then he just said, 'Bless them.'"
"He was executed right in front of me--because he was a Christian. I do not even know what a Christian is. I dont understand any of this!"
Kim's mother held his head in her hands. There were tears in her eyes. Now it was she was in shock. She then told him simply, "I understand."
"How could you possibly understand why they would kill my friend?"
She slowly began to hell her son about her Lord Jesus Christ, how he had miraculously been born of a virgin and crucified on a cross to save all those who would believe in Him. As she continued sharing with her eldest son, she began to sob. Now it was she who couldnt go on. She felt the pain of never daring to tell her son about Jesus Christ, lest his fate would be like that of his friend. She also felt the overwhelming joy of knowing that God had not forgotten her son, but allowed someone else to bring him the Gospel.
Finally she told him, "God allowed you to witness the martyrdom of one of His brave children. As those bullets hit his heart, a seed of hope was planted in yours."
The son prayed that night and received Jesus Christ into his heart. He was filled with joy as he embraced his mother and thanked her for telling him the truth. But suddenly he began to weep again and appeared distraught. Confused, the mother asked, "Now whats wrong?"
"My brothers," Kim cried, "they do not know Jesus. We must tell them!"
His three brothers soon came home and discovered their older brother and mother crying together. Their first thought was that something terrible had happened to their father, and they quickly knelt down beside their mother, asking what was wrong.
With unnatural boldness the eldest son stood up and responded, "You should also receive Jesus Christ." Before the evening had passed, all three had done exactly that.
The mother was filled with joy. Although she had never dared to speak to her children about her Christian faith, she had diligently prayed for them every day. Now that her children had accepted Jesus, she began cautiously looking for a Bible so they could learn more of God's Word. But she could not find any.
Eventually her oldest son secretly crossed the Yalu River into China in search of Bibles. You can imagine the look on his face when he finally came across a miniature Bible in the Korean language. He pleaded with the Christians in China, asking how he could obtain some of these Bibles. Regrettably no more were available. Refusing to admit defeat, he told the Christians the drmataic story of how he had witnessed his friend's death and how he and his brothers had learned of Jesus Christ. Before departing for North Korea, he said, "I am in need of five thousand of these Bibles to share with my family and others in North Korea. I will be back in one month pick them up.
Hearing of the request, some Christian workers hurriedly printed five thousand copies of the mini Korean Bibles. Over the next year or so, Kim returned on several occasions to smuggle the Bibles back ocross the border. All four of these brothers are nowactively sharing their faith, knowing firsthand the consequences if they are discovered. Since their last pickup of these Bibles some months ago, no one has heard further news of them.

If there are typos I apologize, i chose not to proof read right now. Hope thats encouraging!

--L-Diggy

This is awesome
Jordan C

Its a great weekend

Mostly I'm sick of seeing Luke's post about a book that no normal person would ever need advertised for Jordan McCoy.
But also its MLK weekend and I believe its possibly the best national holiday because i wouldn't have half my best friends if it weren't for the illustrious Rev. King
So happy MLK day
jordan c

A GREAT BUY!!!!

Anybody wanna buy a 5th edition Thermodynamics book, written by North Carolina State's very own Dr. Boyle??? Huh??? Pretty exciting! Its got great stories and i'll give it to you for a steal at $80! Eh??? Good reading material for all that free time in Singapore JoJo.
Gimme a call if yall want it, but dont wait around too much, it'll probably go fast now that its posted on the internet. It can also make a great christmas present.

Luke
Make reservation at: 919-656-7238 or ldoltman@ncsu.edu

Long Time No See

Hey Kids,
I can't say I have anything particularly exciting to share, but I didn't want Jordan to Crush my head like a tomato can. So I reply, as you know I'm going to ECU in Janurary, and I think I've decided on Sociology for a potential graduate choice. I've started writing both stand up comedy as well as what is sure to be a movie script that will have some people in an uproar. I've been working as a A/V consultant at a local church and I'll be done with that on the 31st. I suppose if anyone has any questions that I haven't answered you can get a hold of me.