an update
Published June 14, 2011 | 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
Mexico city , update ; updated !
Published May 5, 2010 | Days become weeks and weeks become months and months become years and time does not stop yet there are times where it would be nice to stop time, even for a moment. As a few of you might have notice it’s been over a month from the last time that I posted to this site and for that matter is has also been a moth from the last time I rely sat down and wrote anything that consisted more of a few brief words. However, after a very crazy month it’s the time has come for another update from Mexico City. About one year ago after I graduated from university I moved to Mexico city, Mexico to start a ministry or at the time that is what I thought I was going to do but, I quickly learned that most people did not want to talk to a 24 year old kid who just graduated university and I also learned that without a lot of money doing what I thought I was called to do was just not going to happen. After about 4 or so months it became clear that starting a new ministry for “street children” was just not going to be able to get off the ground. At this point I began the search for a missions organization which I found one that I thought I would be able to work with and that I thought would be able to work with me. However, at the end of many months of back and forth and a few issues that I had with the main office; It became clear that this was not the time to become a part of this organization but, I still support their work as they are doing wonderful things for the Kingdome. It’s also my pray if God wants to open a door for me with them I am more than open to re exploring the possibility of joining them in the work they do but, at this time I feel that that door is closed but, not locked so its possible that the door could be cracked open but, I don’t see that happing anytime soon and if your thinking why don’t I knock on that door ; well I will leave you with this I don’t feel that it would be right to knock on a door that God has closed for the time begging. About a month or so latter I was looking online and found the Latin America Mission website a site that I had visited in the past but, I never summited a request for more information as at time I was looking for organization I was still a student and had some time before graduation but, this time I requested that they send me more information about becoming a full time missionary with them; well that was a number of months back and the application is still on my desk. If you have been reading my blog for some time or if you just found me and have read through a number of my back post you will know that I have been working on this application for some time now and its just taking me a long time to get everything to gather that I need for it but, I am happy to say that the time is coming where I think I’m almost ready to send it back to LAM which is exciting. It was my hope that I would have been finished with it last week then my laptop died and I was unable to get the easy part of the application written but, now my computer is running again it’s my hope that within the next week or so that I will be able to get this application finished and put into the mail. In addition to applying to become a missionary with LAM; I am also applying for Seminary and if things do not work out with LAM or even if they do I might just start working on my master degree in the Fall or maybe in the Spring depending on money and if I can get any to pay for classes and materials. As most of you know that I have also been working on this application for some time as well but, unlike the LAM application this one requires parts that I have no idea how I am going to satisfy but, I know that everything will work itself out its just getting to that point. Please pray that I will be able to get these applications off my desk and into the mail also pray for a number of money issues that I am facing this month. If your interstate in know more about the money issues that I am dealing with or just feel that God is putting it on your heart to help me out a little then I would ask then you contact me via email or blog chat; or you could always use the “donate” button on this page to send me a financial gift. However, I know times are not easy for all of us so at the very least I ask that you pray with me as I ask God to pick me up and carry me through these crazy times. If you read my update on twitter or Facebook and you got two or three copies of it I’m very sorry I had an issue with FB/ Twitter earlier today and my post got reposted like two or three times then it did not go to my FB account so I posted there and then it showed up on FB from my twitter post so if you got a few copies of my update message I’m very sorry as there was and issue with the FB/ Twitter link between my two accounts. Thank you for reading my blog / visiting my website and I it’s my hope that these updates will come a bit more often than once every month or so but, if nothing is rely happing I don’t rely have much to say and don’t feel like posting.
pray request
1. That I will be able to sit down and get all the applications for missions organization off my desk with the next few weeks and that I will also be able to get my application for seminary in the mall and that all its parts will come together in the next few weeks.
2. That the issues that I am having with the federal and state governments will be taken care of in due time and that everything that needs to be done can happen with out issue.
3. That after a year of begging down here in Mexico city I will be able to start to see clear what God’s call is for my life as I continue to explore working here in Mexico city or in other parts of the world.
4. Pray for the local church and the youth the attend it from time to time.
My monthly expenses list Rent 5,500 MEX Clean fee for apt (ever other month) 250 MEX Food / transportation / Ministry 2200 MEX Compassion International Child in peru$38.00 USD Credit Card Payments $136.25 USD Student Loans (deferred for the time begging) =809.49 USD at a rate of exchange of 12.2 In normally = 852.00 USD – 809.49 USD from above est =42.50 USD but this month in was 631.5 USD – so thats what I have to work with for the month at the moment. Extras not included above as they are not monthly put are paid out from time to time ever 2 months or at other times. Land Phone 30.00 MEX 60 days Cell phone 100.00 MEX 60 days Website / Blog / Domain renewal 69.31 MEX per month paid in 3 or 6 months out , Domain 134.07 MEX per year good till 5.10.2012 – Website / Blog hosting good to 7.10.2010 then these fees will be due again.
Blessings and Peace,
Chris
Note the exchange rate from USD TO MEXICO PESOS is about 12.2 at time of post.
God’s Time
Published February 23, 2010 | God’s time is the Alpha and the Omega; it was, it is, and is to come. God’s time is also full of Love, peace, joy, compassion, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, unlike our time which has a begging and a end , our time is short , our time is limited , our time is not always filled with love, peace , joy , compassion , patience , kindness , goodness , faithfulness , gentleness , and self-control ; our time is not equal to God’s time and it never can be. However, we are each given the gift of time from the LORD who gives each of us the same amount of it. However, although we are each given the same gift of time from the LORD we all don’t use our time the same way and there has been many how have had this gift taken away from them early due to the hate in the world in which we call our “temporary home” (earth). As we thank the LORD for the gifts he has given us we need to also thank him for the things we do not have for if we had everything then there would be no need to be thankful at all as we would have everything and it would be imposable for us to know any different. However, if we don’t have everything and we can’t get everything then we have no idea what it is like to have everything and therefore when we do get something we can be thankful for it. In a resent conversation with a very good friend of mine and a sister in Christ we talked about God’s time and how each of us had been learning a lot about God’s time the past few months or so it’s interesting that although we are living / serving in two different worlds we are still learning together, as we chatted about time it got me thinking about how we use time / misuse time and as the thought ran through my head it became apparent that as people we misuse are time more often then we use it for what it was given to us for and that is to give glory to the LORD. A few years ago back during the summer of 2007 or somewhere around then don’t fully record the date yet, the date rely douse not mater as the words themselves have more value. “Many good Christians spend lees then 5 minutes with God a day and some pastors spend less than a minute with God a day” no idea where this information came from or how much truth is behind it but, if it does have some truth to it and even a little it is very shocking. How can we say that we have a relationship with the LORD if we don’t spend any of our time with him? How can we say that we know the LORD if we spend so little time with him? How can we say we understand his love if we never give him the time to love us?God’s time is funny as it interacts with our time as too often we think that we can read God’s time when the truth is we can’t ; often people say “the time is right , I know because God said so” well in some cases this may be true but, more often then not the time may be right for us but, in God’s time it is not time and therefore it is not “the time is right” as it is not time in the eyes of the LORD. Sometimes it is time for us to find rest and peace in the LORD as he picks us up and holds us in his arms, and other times it is time for us to walk in the hot dry sun as we learn the things the LORD whishes to teach us. It is not always easy to let the LORD carry us but, we most remember that we most let him do so for he is our father and we are his children and as children we most let our farther take care of us when the time is right.
Little things = Big things for the Kingdome of God
It does not matter if you’re a teacher, if you’re a student, a doctor, a hurting teen, or a newborn seeing the world for the first time. Each of us plays a role in one of the biggest shows on of the biggest stages in our universe; the show is called “Life” and the stage is “Earth”. We each play a role no matter how big or small we are and as we grow older our role in the show of “Life” changes and even though we play some roles for longer times then we do others each still is very important as if we where to skip a role and not play are part the show of “Life” would not be what it was meet to be. As young children we are meet to explore and learn , as we get older and as we learn more we can play parts that require more of us and the roles in the show of “Life” get harder and harder as we grow old and as we learn. Over the years it may seem that our interaction and the things that we have learned have little or no value yet, everything in this world has a value it may be big or it may be little but, everything is worth something. Although we may think the things we do and say have little meaning and or value they do in fact have value and therefore no matter how little or big we may thing something we do is it has an impact on those around us it may be big or small but never the less an impact is made. It may be hard to see that our little actions have had any impact at all but, if we can plant a seed then that seed has a changes to change the world but, if we just put the seed on the ground and do nothing with it then we have done more harm than if we had done nothing at all.
Blessings and Peace
Chris
Let us remember that Jesus came to server us and not to be served, let us give thanks for the things we do not have and let us give parse to the LORD for today is a new day and everything in it is a gift from the LORD.
Ps. An update from Mexico City along with some bible reflections coming later this week; so get ready it’s going to be a busy week on this site.
A quick update
Published January 15, 2010 | Sisters, Brothers, Friends, and Family;
It’s my prey that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year. This post is fourteen days late but, who counting LOL. The past two weeks have been crazy and as much as I would love to explain all the craziness here it does not fell right to do so and therefore I won’t be but, I can tell you this the time has come to search for a different organization to work for and as much as I would have liked to work for Covenant World Mission it’s become clear over the past few months that at this time things between myself and them our just not going to work out. After much pray it has become clear that it’s time to start the sear for another organization to work with a process that began about a week or so back and at this time seems to be a process that is going nowhere fast. So this is where each of you comes in please pray for me as I search and talk to people.
In other updates if you like my blog / photos / other parts of my website then you should be aware of the flowing as of March 28th 2010 this blog may no longer be available here at cdavignon.com as the site might need to be taken down due to the cost of keeping it online. At this time I don’t know what will happen to this site as of the 28th of March as I’m not sure where the founds will come from to pay for the months / years flowing March but, if I were to move to a free blog serves I’ll let each of you know in advance before doing so. If you would like to know more about what kind of money is needed to keep all of cdavignon.com online then please fell free to call or email me and I’ll be happy to tell you more about the needs for this site.
I pray that each of you have a wonderful two weeks;
Blessings and Peace
Chris
Feliz Navidad / Merry Christmas
Published December 24, 2009 | Feliz Navidad y Merry Christmas ; Sisters , Brothers , Family , and Friends ;
I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas may you find joy and peace as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessings and Peace
What is the Language of your heart?
Published November 17, 2009 | What is the Language of your heart?
Some say that there heart speaks a number of different love languages and others when asked replay with the language they use to communicate which is also often referred to as ones “native” or “mother tong” and then there are many who rely have no idea how to replay. However, I have also heard a number of people say that there second language is the language of their hearts. When I first heard the question I thought the answer was of an obvious nature yet, after thing about the question for some time it become apparent that an answer to it was not as obvious. The question is deep and I think if we look at it with a biblical eye we might be able start to see that the question rely has nothing to do with our hearts at all but, rather has a lot to do with are relationship with God. How douse a question about the language of our heart have anything to do with God ? Yes, It has everything to do with are relationship with God. The bible says that our hearts are the center of all life and that we need to guard our hearts from the world. If we let our guard down sin and hate can enter our hearts and if we let sin enter our heart then we give the devil permission to do what he wants with us. Take some time and think about the question ; and ask yourself dose God has full access to my heart or is it a playground for the devil ?
Google Ads / Website Changes / New Logon System :
Over the past few days I have been making lots of changes to my website. The first major change that I hope you have notice are the new “Ads by Google” : I am now a Google AdSense partner in short I allow Google to put ads on my site and in return I get paid by Google for allowing the ads to be on my site. If you have more question about how it works you can ask me or check out the Google AdSense site. In addition to the new Ads by Google there is a new logon system that has been implemented site wide the old system you would need an different user id and password for my blog and for my photo & art site now you can use on id to logon to both. If you just use my blog and would like to post a comment you can now logon using a third-part account that you already has setup all you have to do is logon using your id from one of the sites listed and if its your first time logon to my blog with that account a user id will be made for you on this site which will be linked to your id of your third-party account so now you can logon with an AOL, Google , Yahoo , Blogger , WordPress , or an OpenID if you also need to access my photo and art site you should get an OpenID as OpenID is the only authorization provider on my photo & art site and at this time you can not logon using many of the third-parts listed above. If you need an OpenID you can one at https://www.myopenid.com/ as well as a number of other websites : Just do a google search for “OpenID” or “how do i get an “OpenID”
Privacy Policy:
As of December 2009 all websites who offer a member area / logon / or other types of forms that require use input must provide a Privacy Policy. Because, cdavignon.com , photography.cdavignin.com and my blog as well other parts of my site and sites that are co-hosted off my site collects information from its visitors to give them access to parts of the site and or to allow posting of comments on the blog.In addition there is also “donation” buttons that require a Privacy Policy which can be read here : If you have questions about the new Privacy Policy for cdavignon.com please contact me using the connect information on the Privacy Policy page.
Email Subscription
It excites me to announce that you can now get my blog post via email. If I post something that day you get an email if I don’t post then you won’t get anything from the site. So if you would like to get blog updates via email you can do so by go to thissite : Enter your email and that’s it. You can also still read my post online at my blog site you do not have to Subscribe.
For the small handful of you who are thinking wow that was a lot of legal talk in this post I’m sorry it had to be said. However, don’t worry more of an update with pray request will be post latter today.
Blessings and Peace
Chris