Church @ The Ballpark

So today was church @ the ballpark for The Summit Church.  All campuses met together this morning and the official attendance was 7200 and the pastors performed over 300 baptisms!  It was awesome worshipping with all those people this morning and feeling the presence of God in the ballpark.  The gospel was proclaimed and people were brought from death to life. 

In other news, I'm leaving for Africa on Thursday and I'm stoked!  I get to lead missionaries and church planters in worship of the King.  What an opportunity, to worship with heros of the faith who have given up everything to heed the call of literally "reaching the nations."  I can't wait.  Please be in prayer for our team that we would serve with hearts eager to love and serve like Jesus.  Also pray for our safe travel to and from Africa.  

As for support raising:  I have got a few more commitments that have trickled in over the past couple weeks.  I am still a long way from home.  I'm close to about 40% right now.  I still need a lot more people so please be praying for me that these people would come out of the woodwork and that God would provide.  Stay tuned for another update soon.  I am having my first college small group on Tuesday night @ NC State with some state guys.  Please be in prayer for me and for them that we will build lasting friendships and that God would be glorified in our time together.

For His Glory,

Donovan  

Crunch Time

Hey everyone.  Just wanted to let you know that I am in urgent need of monthly supporters.  I have a deadline that I need to meet or else I might not be able to intern full-time.  Right now I am at 30% and I need to be at 60% at least in two weeks.  I need your help!  Please pray for me.

Donovan

Update

Just a quick update..sorry for the absence.  So currently I am at 30% of my monthly support goal.  I still have a long way to go but I truly believe that God is faithful and will provide.  Please continue to pray for my support and for me.  Also pray that potential supporters and those I come in contact with will desire to give generously to the advancement of the Gospel and not to me.  Pray that it would be a joy for them and not an obligation.  Thats all I have time for now but look for another update soon.

By the way officially a member of the Durham, NC community...holla Bull City.

Dono

Where is this kid at?

Hey everyone!  So sorry that it has been forever since I last posted on here.  I have definitely dropped the ball a little bit.  Anyway, this internship is getting closer and closer and I'm getting super excited.  A quick update; I am currently at about 35% of my monthly goal.  So I still have a long way to go, but I can start in August with at least 80%.  I have had so much going on the past few months with trying to finish up school and working part time so it has been really hard to give support raising the time it requires.  Please continue to pray for me and my support, that I will grow in faith and that God will do something awesome with my support.

On a lighter note, I have gotten a chance to get to know some of the other interns over the past few weeks.  They are super awesome and we have started to build great relationships.  We are all so different, but yet we get along so well.  The next two years are gonna be awesome getting to know and grow alongside them.

A funny story:
So the other day another intern and myself went over to Dave's(the Summit college pastor) house to hang out for an hour or so.  When we showed up, Dave was hanging out with his little boy Graham and Graham seemed a little upset.  So we tried our best to calm him down.  I always like to try and make little kids laugh, so I started making stuff up and looking like crazy person to make him laugh.  Turns out I discovered something that made him die laughing. I would look at the ceiling and then slowly bring my head down till I was staring him right in the face(it doesn't take much to amuse a little boy).  He died laughing every time I did it.  But that isn't the hilarious part.  After I did that a few times, he started doing it as sort of a request for me to do it again.  So we would both do it then he would bust out laughing again.  After I left that night, I found out that Graham continued to do it even when I wasn't there, which made me wish I could have been a fly on the wall watching that.  Anyway thats pretty much it (Sorry Lauren if he develops some kind of habit because of this, but I will still laugh if I see him do it..lol).  I look forward to hanging out with Graham much more over the next 2 years.

If you are reading this and you don't really know me personally, but would like to support me and believe that college students are vital to reach with the gospel, than you can click the razoo picture at the top to go to my personal support site.  Or you can visit the summit support site at http://www.summitrdu.com/staffsupport and click online giving.  Then you can create a log in(or log in if you already have a summit account for any online giving) to become a monthly supporter or click "Pay as a guest" for a one-time donation.  Then just check the box next to my name "Donovan Beadle."

To wrap-up:
Please continue to pray for me as I continue to raise support.  It can be very stressful at times to know that my involvement depends on my support.  I really want to start on time by mid-august so please pray that God would provide.  Also pray that peace would comfort me as I reflect on the sovereignty of God and his plan for my life.  If you have any questions, comments, concerns or just want to contact me, my email is ddbeadle@ncsu.edu and you can email me anytime and I will be sure to get back to you within a day.  Thanks again for your continued prayers and hope that you all are being moved by the grace of God in your lives everyday.

Slave to Righteousness

Donovan

Why Are Stamps so Expensive?

Okay so I sent out my first wave of support letters yesterday(19 of them to be exact).  Every time I enter in to the process of support raising, I always get nervous when I send out those first letters.  I get nervous because I know that in a weeks time, I will be calling the folks who hopefully received my letter(and read it!).  From here on out it's nothing but faith and patience in God and his promises.  I am reading a book called Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin and in it he says that "God can use us, but he doesn't need us"(page 46).  This rang out to me like a fire alarm in the middle of a night that is so quiet you can barely hear the crickets.  I came to realize that it is a distinct privilege and honor to be used by God to further his Kingdom.  He is going to accomplish his purposes one way or another(Isaiah 55:10-12), with or without us.  If God chooses to call me to be a part of his plan, this is an eternal privilege.

How does this relate to support raising?


Since it is a privilege to be used by God, it is a privilege to walk the path towards what it is God wants to use you for(ultimately to glorify him).  In my case, raising support should be a privilege for me!  I should be ecstatic about calling the next person on my list and overjoyed that I get to invite others to join in my mission, God's mission.  It is an honor because I get to see how even in the midst of my circumstances, God is working for my  good(Romans 8:28).  Raising support begs the question: Do I believe God is really good?

Now all that said, the concept is easier to grasp than the reality of it.  Just because I understand intellectually, doesn't mean I am experiencing spiritually and emotionally.  If I miss out on the joy that should come hand in hand with this process, I am missing the truth of God's promises and ultimately the Gospel.  If I don't believe that God is good to me in this, how can I truly believe that God is good to me through the cross?  The point of support raising is not to raise a bunch of money, the point is to be able to enjoy the faithfulness of God.

Before I get too lengthy to the point that no one wants to read my post, and so I'm not late for work,  i'll close with this:  This type of joy and delight in God and use of you in his Kingdom, can only be experienced by asking for it!  If we do not seek God, through his word and through prayer, consistently asking for this joy, we will never experience it fully.  Especially when things get a little rough.  I am not naive enough to think that this truth does not apply to me.  I would ask that you join me in asking God that I would be able to experience this joy that should fill my heart throughout this process.  Pray that you would experience it yourself!

Also please pray that my letters fall on hearts that are softened by the grace of God and on hearts that have a deep desire to be a part of the mission of God.  Thanks.


Slave to Righteousness

Donovan

Prayer Request

I just wanted to let everyone know of a specific prayer request that I have.  This weekend is our winter retreat for Campus Outreach in Asheville, NC.  We are really excited about the opportunity we have this weekend to engage with nonbelievers over the word and to hopefully see them come to an understanding of the Gospel.  I want to ask that you would pray with me on behalf of these students.  That they would respond to the Gospel favorably and accept it as their saving grace.  Pray that the word would pierce their hearts and their view of God would be totally blown up.  We want them to see and experience God this weekend like they never have before.    Thanks for your prayers.  I hope everyone is doing well.

Slave to righteousness

Donovan

P.S.  I started reading "Desiring God" by John Piper about 2 weeks ago and it seems like there is a nugget of truth on every page.  I am sure that I will be posting about different concepts and chapters in the book and how they have radically been changing my thoughts on how I relate and fully glorify God.

Fine Tuning

Hey everyone!  I'm trying to fine tune this blog before I really start taking off with posting and updating.  This is basically a test post to see if everything is working properly.

Slave to Righteousness

Dono