WEB UPDATES:

Mar 2006

In my job I have been interacting with executives, city officials, and ministry leaders.  Working at the president level has opened up opportunities to share with influential people.  I am currently working with the Impact Movement board of directors as we work to appoint new board members.  I took a 1 day class on how to develop a non-profit board and it was very beneficial.  Please pray for the board as we identify and appoint new members.

Feb 2007

I have been tutoring at a local charter school as a part of our community ministry.  I go into the classroom and help individual students.  The class I have spent a majority of my time with is the 1st grade.  They are so cute and have so much potential.  Its fun to see their smiles.  A few kids now help me by teaching other kids who are struggling with a topic they understand.  Please pray for the kids.  Here is a photo I took in the class.

Jan 2007

I oversee an evangelistic website named www,MyDestino.com.  In 2006 we saw the Lord use small resources ($800) to impact many visitors.  The site had 4,957 exposures to the Gospel and 4006 indicate a decision to Christ.  We also had school specif sites like ucf.mydestino.com.  On this UCF site alone there were over 1,500 exposures and over 900 indicated decisions.  These exposure and decision numbers are close and may not reflect true decisions but more curiosity.  Only God knows the true hearts of the students who respond.  So, this site is exposing people to Christ and I trust Him with the results.  Pray that we can raise more funds to cover new designs and creating new articles.

Dec 2006

Impact Conference -  the day of outreach at our conference in Atlanta, we stepped out in faith to tell people about Christ.  Attendees were filled with the Holy Spirit as some even stepped over bullet casings to go into in rough areas to share the Gospel!  Many attendees shared their faith for the first time.  We also provided boxes of food as well to those in need.   In total: 354 shared the Gospel for the first time, 2594 were exposed to the Gospel, 333 prayed to receive Christ, and 136 rededicated their lives!  What a blessing to see the Lord move and to hear testimonies at the end of the day how God used people.

Nov 2006

Praise - I saw a neurosurgeon who looked at my brain tumor and said it has not changed at all.  He explained that it might have always been there and that we need to continue watching it with MRIs once per year.  He also said that even in the worst case scenario and it started growing, he could go in and remove it with surgery.  That was new information that other doctors said couldn't be done.  Well, hopefully it will never come to that.   I was relieved to hear that at least it could be done if necessary.  Thanks for your prayers. 

Oct 20, 2006

I was given the opportunity to visit some schools in Virginia to capture their stories on video.  We traveled to James Madison University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Virginia.  We met with student leaders, talked with leadership teams, and attended their weekly meetings to get a sense of what God was doing on the campus.  

At UVA it was parent weekend and we had the rare opportunity to hear what parents have experienced having their students involved with Impact.  One mother said that the ministry has been so for her daughter that parents should get their students involved.  She said if no ministry exists on a campus that the parents should find out how to get one started,  It was great to hear how Impact has helped her daughter.  

Sept 15, 2006

  
In a new position working with the President of the Impact Movement in Orlando I have been working on top-level projects for the overall ministry.  It has been a great opportunity to trust the Lord as we serve Him.  I have been asked to work closely with the Board of Directors on Impact to move the ministry forward,  It is a great honor to serve with these members,  The Board is pictured here:

Impact Board

I have also been given the task of locating a new location for the HQ of the Impact Movement ministry.  We currently have office space 

Aug 13, 2006

God has provided greatly for us as we have stepped out in faith.  We needed more space and God provided the whole 6th floor of this building in downtown Orlando, Florida.

We have been generously given over 9,000 square feet of space and it has been provided rent free.  This is a real blessing as you can imagine!  We may not have this blessing forever and we are so grateful that God has put it on the hearts of those who provided it.

Pray for us as we are in need of more space over the next 5 years.  We anticipate needed double the space.

 

July 10, 2006

I had a great opportunity to go to the Bahamas for 5 days and 4 nights for only $170 dollars!  We held an outreach once we arrived.  Before the event started we traveled around the island inviting people and sharing Christ when possible.  We had thousands attend and over 1000 people indicated that they wanted to know Christ personally.  I talked with a number of kids who were in the stadium.  It was fun to talk with them about Christ and plant spiritual seeds.  Some I talked to were already Christians and others were not.

 

Apr 10, 2006

I have been coaching students in Buffalo NY and in Orlando after the Destino conference.  Please pray for these students as they are studying and attempting to reach their campuses for Christ.  Especially pray for Claudio, as he is almost done with his last year in school.

Feb 10, 2006

God really moved at the Destino Conference.  Here is a photo that shows the attendees.

 

 

Jan 10, 2006

As staff with Destino have evaluated the needs of the students we have come to a conclusion that we need the conference to rally people together,.  We used to have a yearly conference but in recent years it hasn't been yearly.   We have planned through a team but Mark Vera has taken the lead to host the conference in San Antonio.  The last conference we had I led here in Orlando in 2004.

Oct 12, 2005

In October I had the opportunity to attend the Luis Palau conference held on the Washington DC mall.  I invited 4 leaders to attend with me so that we could share what the Lord is doing in each of their lives.  However, due to schedules only one of the leaders was able to join me.  Before the conference started I joined a church who committed to helping a local schools with service projects.  Pictured here are 10 locations where people cleaned, sanded, and painted elementary schools.   

It was great to serve the local community and help schools.  I met the principal at one school and she thanked us for all of our work.  She said that she was a Christian and that it was great to see the Body of Christ helping one another.  The trip was a great time to see God move in the lives of people.  See the Luis Palau website for more information on the event.  Click here  DC Festival.

Sept 17, 2005

In Sept I attended the 11th anniversary of a local Christian radio station called Radio Luz.  We setup a Destino table to help others know how we help students.  One of the attendees said: "My son is attending the University of Florida, but he's not walking with the Lord right now."  She shared that ever since her son started college he has been drifting away for the Lord and even doubting the existence of God due to the influence of his friends and teaching from his professors.  Please pray for this mother and son that the Lord breaks through the son's life.  Stories like this remind me of how important it is what I do.  Please pray that this young man would truly understand and embrace the Love of Jesus Christ.  Pray that other Christian students would befriend him and have an influence on his life.  Pray for the thousands of other students across the nation like him that are spiritually confused and searching.

Aug 8, 2005

School started here in Orlando and we started with a week of outreach and evangelism.  I had 12 students and three adults from the Washington DC area join me as we shared our faith in different places.  We went to universities, theme parks, homeless shelters, and a local park.  We talked to people about Jesus and invited them to know Him.  One lady at a theme park actually ran away from two students as they shared.  She said: "Someone is steeling my car!"  As you can imagine, they felt rejected.  However, the next day at a local university a lady said she wanted to accept Christ.  We saw that some are ready to respond to God and others are not.  The students really stepped out in faith to share about a relationship with Jesus.  They also developed in leadership as they led Bible studies at church and a homeless shelter.  It was great to see God use them.  This photo is the group with students from a local church.

July 20, 2005

This July I attended our Campus Crusade Staff conference in Ft Collins Colorado.  At the conference we celebrated a new Native American ministry started this year called Nations.  We heard from one couple from New Mexico that will be interns for this next year working with Nations.  Please pray for Donnie and Rene as they work to help Native American students know Christ.  There are 55 Million people and 1,200 Native Tribes in North, Central, and South America.

June 6, 2005

I shared before how Jacob came to Christ through Destino and this year he and his wife Christina are joining together on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ.  I hope that they come to Orlando so we can work together.  Jacob is like a brother and a huge blessing to work with in ministry.  How great it is to work in ministry with close friends.  Please pray for them as they begin their ministry together.  Pray for their finances and their ministry location.

May 10, 2005

This semester I was a volunteers student mentor for Fred.  Students need encouragement and an investment of time through email.  The Orlando Business Journal featured an article about the program which said: 

"The volunteer program, called CEP Friends, has given our employees the chance to mentor at-risk Orange County middle and high school students. The typical OCPS-CEP student is an eighth-grader who reads and performs in math below the fourth-grade level. Most have failed at least one grade, missed more school than they have attended and been suspended at least once.

The goal is to get these students back on track. They attend OCPS-CEP for 180 days to improve their reading and math skills and to learn the importance of showing up for school and behaving. Then they return to their regular schools."   Orlando Business Journal  June 3, 05

My hope is that I can help Fred gain a new perspective.  Here is a little of what he shared this semester:

"My girlfriend has not had the baby yet, she will be having it in Jan and i don't know if she having a boy or girl cause we haven't gone to the clinic yet but we are going to try to go this Saturday.  But anyways i got a bigger problem i got some people wanting to kill me now cause they think i got a friend put in jail.  My life is in danger these boys are going everywhere just to find me and kill me and right now i am really, really scared. 

My dad does not have a phone in the house so if they come to where i live i have no way of contacting nobody to come help me not even the police i can contact.  I am going to try to buy one and try to get it cut on so i can call my family when i need help or i have a problem, so tell me what should do?  Cause right now i do not know what to do.

WRITE BACK A.S.A.P please.  Thank you, talk to you soon bye."  FRED

Pray for Fred and his family.  He is now in a new school and has new opportunities.  His principal thanked me for being his mentor.   Kids like Fred have great pressures on their lives.  He is a young man, a student, and a father.  We should help and pray for young men and women in our communities. 

Apr 15, 2005

I heard from Claudio in NY who updated me on what God has done on his campus this semester.  He said:  

"God has taught Alex and I many things during this semester. I am very excited to tell you that God showed us what He wanted Destino to be this semester. Today we met for the last time of the spring semester, and we looked back at what God had done and rejoiced. We wanted big, God said "effective". We wanted fame, God said "seriousness". We said "let's be entertaining," God said, "bring conviction". There are many things that we need to learn about facilitating a Christ-center ministry. We did learn the first, though. The facilitators must be Christ-like."    Claudio

 Please pray for Alex and Claudio in NY.  Pray that the Lord would bless them and use them in other students lives.  Pray that this summer would be a great time serving with their home church.

Mar 15, 2005

I have the opportunity to use my photography to show what God is doing in the ministry.  A group is returning to South Africa with our Impact Movement.  

I was in South Africa with most of these friends and so I am a little jealous that they are returning.  They will be in Capetown for one year working with the University of Western Cape.  I may be able to join them in ministry for a couple of weeks during a debriefing. 

Feb 10, 2005

Due to some symptoms I was met with a couple doctors who suggested I get a CAT scan and an MRI.  So, I learned that I had a small tumor in my cerebellum.  My doctor put me in the hospital for more testing.  So, as you can imagine it was a stressful time.

The doctors currently believe that the tumor is most likely benign and so we are waiting for the next test which is in Sept 2005.  We must wait to see if it grows and after this next test we will know much more about the state of the tumor.  I appreciate you prayers during this time.