CDavignon.com

Dear Sisters, Brothers, Friends, and Family;

Summer has ended and we are now full into September ; School has started up for most if not I know it will be soon and if you’re not in school then September has things for you too. If you’re like me and have been out a school for a few years now then you might be thinking its September just another month but, to you I give you this challenge try something new , been holding off on making changes in your life ? Now is a great time to start ; Maybe God has something big he is about to do in your life,  how about you ask him about it and see what he tells you.

If your new to my blog then welcome, don’t know who I am or how you ended up here? Its ok I’m glad you’re here – check out the about Chris button at the top of this page to learn more about me.  If your one of my regular readers then thank you for coming back and I’m sorry it’s been such a long time has passed from the last post but, there was not much going on so I had nothing to write about but, it’s my hope that I’ll be able to post more often now that things are starting to move.  As most of you know I have been going through the application process to become a missionary with the LAM if you don’t know what I’m talking about – go here to learn more. Last week I completed the last inventory of two that where part of the application process as far as I am aware my next step will be to go to FL in January for orientation but, I have a long way to go in terms of funding before I can get there. As of today 7^th September only 200.01 USD has come in supporting the trip as this is somewhat discouraging its more than understandable in short some don’t understand why I’m rising money at all or others don’t see it as a good investment because, they don’t have all the facts they need and to be honest I am doing my best to provide all the information I have as soon as I have it but, there are something that at this time I just don’t have answers to and questions like what dates will you be in FL and where do you plan on going / doing or who will you be working with and so on are question that will be answered in time and I’ll write a post with the answers as soon as I have them but, for now here is what you need to know .

Back in November of 2010 I applied to server as a fulltime missionary with the LAM and over the past year have been going through the application process. I feel called by God to work in Latin America this is nothing new and I have felt this way for a number of years. The LAM orientation in January is going to help me explore the call to missions at a deeper level and in addition it will also help me get to know the LAM staff. It’s no secret that I am not like most of the missionary candidates because I have already have completed language school and have been living and doing Ministry in Mexico for the past two years; Yes, the type of ministry that I came down to do has changed over the years and if you had told me back in 09 that I’d be living in this part of Mexico and teaching English out of my house I would have thought you were crazy but, here I am thanks be to God. However, over the past few months the number of people looking for help with their English has come down this is mostly due to that fact that there are not a lot of tourist this time a year and the cash flow for most people is very low. However, not all is lost for school is starting back up as it is in most parts of the world and I already have a few possible kids whose parents are looking for someone to help their kids with their school work so it is my hope that within the next few weeks I will be able to welcome them into my home for homework help.

As of today the 9/7/2011 only 200.91 has come in towards my trip to FL in January; although January is over four months away I’d like to be able to be ready to buy plain tickets and book the hotel as soon as I have dates form LAM for the orientation so if you have been praying about supporting me via founding now would be a great time to make that commitment and if you can’t support me in that way I’d ask that you pray about becoming a pray supporter. Some of you have already emailed me saying that you’re praying for me or that you’ll be more then will to help with financial support and I’m very grateful for all of you and will be sending out personalized thank you notes soon.  Again thank I want to thank each and every one of you for your support – I won’t be able to do the things I do without it.

If you have any question about the LAM orientation please fell free to ask me them if you see me online or send me an email and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Blessings

Chris

Dear Sisters, Brothers, Friends, and Family;
Thank you for coming back to my website if you don’t already know I have been posting pray request under the supporters tab if you need access to them and or my newsletters let me know via email. I am so blessed to have all of you in my life – a quick money update for ‘Orientation and Training with LAM (A personal found raiser) total 8% of the total 2,500 has come in : However this number is a little off due to PayPal processing fees but, as soon as I am able the number will be at its full 8% or 200.00 USD. As fare as PayPal fees go I’ll be adding them back to the founds as I have the money to do so but, it is possible that the amount of money that has come in at some point will be off by a good 2 or more % and If this happens I’ll let you know if it becomes a need but, it’s my hope that it will not become an issue as PayPal fees are so low it should be easy to add that money back into the founds. If you have any question about PayPal or the fees let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them. If you want to add the fee into your PayPal payment feel free to go over to http://www.gregledet.net/ppfcm.html and enter the amount you would like to send in the top and it will let you know what you need to send in order for me to get that amount ; Do not feel like you have to add to an amount to pay the fees they come out of the transaction I am just giving you the website so you can see what is left after the fees and so if you wish to add the fees in – I don’t want anyone to feel they need to use the tool it’s just there so that you can see what PayPal is getting when you use your credit or debit cards.
LAM update on 3rd of Aug I will be moving on to the next step of the app when I have the founds need to do so at this time I do not wish to take the money I need for the next step out of the funds that have come in because I don’t feel like that would be right for I need to invest my own money too. If you have any question about what money I am investing or have already invested send me an email and I’ll be more than happy to fill you in but I don’t feel like that info belongs here on my public blog but, if I get lots of email I might add a post to the supports area of my website.
Projects I’m working on ; Well I’m now working on a number of projects some which I’m not ready to say much about but, I can say this much. Yes, I am working on a book , Yes I am working on new content for my website , and Yes I am reworking my website. At this time I don’t have any dates for anything that i am working so sorry about that. However, it is my hope that by mid-October I’ll be able to post the concept for my manuscript and by the end of Feb 2012 it’s my goal to have the first 10 or so pages available for limited restricted preview but, like with most things these goals can change as events happen in life that I have yet to expect so keep an eye on this blog for more info. As far as the rest of the project they too are works in progress and when I am ready they will be add to the website.
English teaching at this time I do not have any students and therefore am now spending my time on other things but, this does not mean that I will not teach a class here or there at the request of anyone because, I am more than open to doing just that.

Blessings and peace
Chris

Oh! Hey you, it’s been such a longtime but, who keeps track of time? What’s that, Oh YOU do then here’s an apology; I’m sorry, sorry for un-replayed to emails, un-answered questions, lack of updates, lack of begging able to get a hold of me , and so on …….
I’m going to risk it and whatever happens well happens; I have spent the past four weeks to write this post and therefore have started more times on this one post then any paper I have ever written while I was a university student. I want to be honest, I want to answer every question that comes into my inbox, I want to send each of my friends a hand written note, I want to feed every child who has not eaten, and I would love to insure that the young infant who lives next door will grow up to become anything he wants to be: in a world where he does not have to be a begger , a world where food is available to all , and children don’t have to sell their bodies to survive.
I sit here on my computer that is connected to the internet, in a one room house that has not one char but three as well as a bed, a place for preparing food, I even have a table and there are people who live near me who do not have access to such things and who are making less money than most of us could ever think of making never mind living off of. I have been living here in Mexico for the past two years and there is little I can show for that time yet, I have meet some awesome people and have learned a number of things. I have learned that God’s voice can sound like my own and I need to use caution when discerning his call, Gods time is slow and God does not keep time like we do, If you try to fight with God you will not win, God can tell you NO, and its ok for adults to fall down and try again. Going into my third year living in Mexico it is my pray that God is going to move in the community in which I live in ways that I can only imagine. I have been blessed time and time again and I am thankful to everyone who has supported me these past two year through pray or in other ways. This past month I got my work visa from the Mexico government it took me about two months to get and took a good amount of work but, now I have it. I do not have words to explain how blessed I am. If you have every lived in Mexico then you might have an idea on the process of getting a visa if not let me say this it is not an easy one. However, I have learned a lot from going through the process things that can only be learned from doing and not from studying.
An overdue update !
LAM , grad school , your trying to raise money ? Why ?, And other awesome question like ‘Where do you work ?’ ‘How can I get a job doing that?” and on the top of my list “When are you going to get a real job you know in an office?”
First off there are lots of what you would refer to as ‘real’ jobs that our not in any office or at least not using the conventional definition of the word. What we used to know as the ‘office’ has now become something to refer to as the place we do ‘work’ rather then the place where we work. The office can be now on the train, on the bus, in the middle of nowhere, or even in the air if we like – the office can be almost anywhere we can take it. Next, when ‘I get a real job’ well I have one or two maybe even three if you count each job one gets as a freelance English teacher / translator / blogger / and the list of things I do in a week comes on and on. Where is my office? Well most of the time it’s my small one room apartment here in town yet, other times it’s down on the docks, and other times it’s on the beach. Sometimes I travel 3,000 miles via Skype to fix an issue with someone’s computer up in Chicago or maybe I travel across the world over to English to fix a printer via remote desktop connection; so I’m sort of everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. You want a job as a freelancer? Well cool first you will need to move to a faraway land where you don’t know anyone or the language and then you’ll have to work your ass off to get your working papers then and only then can you enjoy the life as a freelancer. Um not for you; yea most people can’t do it and to be honest you don’t even have to level your house to do freelance work. Nope all you have to do is let people know you’re available to do task based work and setup some kind of pricing and then get to work. As a freelancer money is not always coming in nor are job request yes they come in from time to time but, usually I’m speeding more than what comes in. Wondering how that works well in short it doesn’t but, somehow at the end of the day things get taken care of somehow. Wondering what happen to going to grad school? Good question to be honest I’ve put that dream on the back burner on very low heat. Will I ever get to grad school? Yes, just don’t know when. Raising money; yep I’ve done this before for a number of things and every time asking friends and family to support me for the next thing just gets harder and harder; I know money is tight and I know most of us would not just give anyone money just because but, although I’m trying to raise money for another missions related event this time is a different.
First off it’s the first time I’m trying to raise funds for a personal tip, next I’m in charge of all the founding, and the goal is higher than any other I’ve ever attempted. I have set my goal to raise $2,500 USD which I’d like in hand by 18th September 2011.
And more about what this is all for
The LAM Orientation and Training conference is part of a long application process and begging invited to the event is simply part of that process. Therefore I have not been given an appointment nor have I been asked to join the LAM at this time. Rather the LAM Orientation and Training conference will give me an opportunity to solidify a calling to missions and to clarify what might be the next step in my spiritual and life journey. During the event I will receive training in ministry essentials which I can use later in life, whether I deploy with the LAM or not, such as
• What a call to missions is and means
• Cross-cultural adaptation and ministry
• Spiritual resilience
• Coping skills for dealing with stress
• Basics of Latin American culture

No matter what happens after the conference in January I along with others can benefit from what I learn at the Orientation. LAM’s Orientation is required for all missionary candidates so that the LAM as well as the candidate can learn more about each other including but not limited to allowing the candidate learn more about the LAM, and for the LAM staff to evaluate each candidate , and for appropriate training to begin.

Money:
The cost of the LAM Orientation and Training conference is about $500.00 USD yet this could go up.
Air travel: estimated at around 500.00 USD
Hotel: 59 per night for 3 – 7 nights estimated at 177 to 413 USD
Other unseen cost: estimated at 400 – 800 USD
=an estimated cost of about $2,213
+ 287.00 USD to help cover a cost outside the above such as the possibility of something costing a little more such as hotel or air travel cost.

I will not be using any founds from this personal found raiser for anything other than to help me cover the cost of attending the conference. However, if I have any founds remaining after attending the event in January or if I am unable to attended due to sickness and or other events that our outside my control and I would have the opportunity to attend in the summer of the same year then the funds will be held onto to pay for the later date event. Yet, if ant anytime between now and the January event it becomes clear that I will not be attending due to a personal decision and or otherwise then any founds that I have raised up to that point I will donate to a project to help fight poverty in the developing world and as will be so with any leftover founds from this personal found raiser if there are any such founds after I attend the event.
Pray about supporting me with pray for pray is more important than any money.

If you have any questions and or would like to take me on as a “project” send me a email or feel free to give me a call.

To learn more about LAM (Latin America Mission) go over to http://www.lam.org/

You can learn more and donate online at http://chrisdavignon.chipin.com/orientation-and-training-with-lam

Blessings and peace
Chris

It’s been quite a bit of time from my last post and to all who have been coming back here looking for something new to read; today is your day. Yes, the first post for the new year just four months and six days late – sorry about that.  Back in December of 2010 I posted a blog called “Stories” but, as many of you have notice there has not been a new blog post in almost four months. No! I have not drop off the face of the earth, No! I have not stopped posting, and No! Nothing bad has happened to me or at least nothing that I could not deal with. Yes, I could have posted small updates from time to time here on my blog but, there has been little to write about and there has been some updates of random though that have been posted to my twitter and Facebook accounts respectfully: However, I know there are question and to all my friends, family, and to all the wonderful people supporting me with pray and or financial backing; I would not be able to do the work I do without you. So much has happened over the past few months that it’s hard to pick an event to start with so I think I’ll go from crazy to cool , to awesome then share a few pray request.

It was a cool overcast evening sometime in mid-November. I was walking back to my apartment from the big bus station located at the end of one of the two main roads that splits the city in half dividing the delegation into its respected parts. However, the division of the city is not significant or relevant to anyone who has never visited the old side of the city and yet, even a visit to the old side of the city would not help you understand the complex social systems that the division helps keep in there respected locations. Never the less even without a basic understanding of how things are and where they are located the events that happened to me on that November evening could have happened anywhere but, rather they happened here which makes them just that more fun.  As I got close to my street I noticed to young men who seemed a bit out of place yet, not thinking much about them then with in a moment my ears heard the question asking what time it was then by the time that a replay came from my moth I found myself on the side of the street with a knife in my face and the young man that I had seen from down the road was not robing me. Yea, stuff happens and I’m thankful that nothing really bad came from it other than a big helping of inconvenience flowed by waiting to get my debit cards in the mail which took over a month for them to find their way to my PO box here in México.

There are three sides to Cancun – yes that’s right I said three ; How can that be well the first side of the Cancun is why it’s the city that so many collage age youth want to come to for their spring brakes : the clubs , the drinking , and the beach. The second side of the city is a bit harder to find but, it’s here some awesome beach front propriety that will cost you your life savings and perhaps a bit more – you get the point beach front propriety here in Cancun is not cheap and getting the right to “own” such propriety is a task that is not meet for everyone never mind how much of a pain in the um well it’s not easy to “own” anything south of the border and never mind the fact as non-Mexicans we are not legally able to own anything.  have meet a few people who in spite of all the crazy laws and immigration policy have gained the rights to live here as others who I have spoken with have given up after years of trying. Then there is the third side to Cancun which most visitors to the city never see if they ever leave the hotel zone other than to go back to the airport: the city itself is made up of a number of different neighborhoods some poor other a bit better off each offering different foods and customs a place where many different people live of which many have come from many different places around the world and within México. Back in January of the year I made the decision to start offering low cost English classes – classes started with a few students and for the time begging is on hold due to the fact that I am trying to get my visa to work here and I prefer not to risk getting in trouble for working – I know lots of people who are like it’s not a big deal but, I’m not going to try my luck.

I’ll be blogging almost every day in April – the first 5 days as well as well some other unplanned dates so keep an eye out for new blogs.

Blessings and peace

Chris