The year 2008 has been an exciting year at Power to Change and TruthMedia Internet Group. We are changing our messaging, Not the message, just how we present it. We are changing our measurements. We are changing how we do things.

We don’t do this for the sake of change. We are making these major adjustments to be more effective at fulfilling the vision of reaching the world with Jesus. The world has never been more open to Jesus, however, it has never been more closed to religion. We are unable to start from the understanding that the person we are talking to is aware of who Jesus is. If they have heard the name Jesus, it is usually in vain or skewed by a hostile media. In fact, to most people walking down the street, if you try to start a conversation with the topics of God or Jesus, you aren’t relevant.

There are certain domains of society that we have chosen to concentrate on. Government, sports, family, media, humanitarian, church and Business are all segments of cities around the world. By using these felt-needs as starting points, we can show that Jesus is relevant to where people are at. Jesus is the only way to a cure for the divorce rate but by giving the Biblical principles without actually putting the chapter and verse beside, we can show that we have relevant ideas regardless of whether the individual believes in Jesus yet.

We want to take people on faith adventures. Here’s a clip from our corporate site.

At Power to Change, we want to see everyone living out a Faith Adventure – a dynamic journey where people discover a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, experience the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit by helping someone else discover Jesus, and inspire others to do the same.

At TruthMedia, we have taken this concept onto the internet. Using TheLife.com as our starting point, we have developed content that is relevant, no matter where one is on their spiritual journey. By engaging the individual at the need they need met, we can be Jesus to them and then introduce Jesus as being the true need.

Here are a few emails that we have received from people who have written in.

Please pray for me as I am losing everything that’s dear to me. My family is far away , my boyfriend is not as close to me as before and most of all I have never felt so insecure in my life as right now !I need to be close to God as I used to !thanks for reading my mail (U.K.)

I am just in the beginning, i just said prayed to Jesus for the first time. My life is a mess. I have been in constant presence of drugs. Along w/ the presence of drugs, my financial situation is in a totally ridiculous predicament. I am in despair, on the verge of losing my wife and unborn son, and also my family members. I can’t find the courage to face reality and the predicament that will be dealt to me. So now i turn to Jesus Christ my Lord, and invite him into my life, and change me the way he see fit (Indonesia).

As you can see, people are coming to us with their felt-needs and finding out that we can be there for them.

Would you be interested in helping us by becoming a mentor for these people. We have a specific need for men that can answer emails coming from youth.

The following press release is the latest update to a very disturbing story….

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Power to Change Staff Member Survives Bomb Blast

Langley, British Columbia
November 9, 2008

Gary Stevenson, a staff member with the Campus for Christ ministry of Power to Change, has survived a bombing at his home in Langley, B.C. The attack occurred at approximately 11:30 AM Saturday morning as the Stevenson family was loading a van to move out of their townhouse. Mr. Stevenson picked up a package delivered anonymously to his door, thinking it was a gift, but it exploded when he attempted to open it.

Mr. Stevenson was taken immediately to hospital where he was treated for lacerations and burns. Surgeons removed shrapnel from his abdomen. No
other members of the Stevenson family were injured. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The townhouse complex was sealed off by police who swept the area to ensure there were no other explosive devices. Investigators gathered evidence until late Saturday evening at which time residents were allowed to return to their homes. Police investigators say that they have no suspects or information about motive and caution against premature speculations.

Mr. Stevenson serves with Campus for Christ on the campus of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia where he works with students. Mike Woodard, National Director of Campus for Christ, expressed shock at the attack. “Gary is a just a great guy,” Woodard said, “one our most innovative staff who really enjoys engaging with university students on life’s most significant issues.” The director of Campus for Christ at Simon Fraser, Derek Hill, added that “Gary really loves people. He spends time getting to know students, and is always ready to help someone with a problem.”

Stevenson is married with two children. In addition to his work at Simon Fraser, Mr. Stevenson has also served internationally. A brief assignment once took him to North Africa. He has worked most extensively in Nicaragua, where he served for two years.

Power to Change President, Leonard Buhler, expressed relief that Mr. Stevenson had survived the attack. “Our hearts are saddened by this terrible event,” Buhler said, “but our staff and others in the community have rallied strongly to support Gary and his family.” Buhler is asking people to pray for the family during the weeks of recovery ahead.

Power to Change is a Canadian Christian ministry with more than 500 staff serving across Canada and around the world. The ministry seeks to assist people in a spiritual journey where they discover the relevance of Jesus Christ to issues of life today.

For more information Contact Dr. Guy S. Saffold (guy.saffold@powertochange.org, 604-514-2000) at Power to Change, 20385 64th Avenue, Langley, B.C. For more information on Power to Change, visit www.powertochange.org.

Thursday at 14:45, we welcomed Jamie Dawn Kotyk outside. She was 6 lbs 8 oz, 20 inches long.

As you can see, she has her mommy’s good looks.

Thanks so much for your prayers. The girls are excited that Jamie is out of mommy but they did not anticipate the attention that would be lacking.

We ask for your prayers this month, specifically for the following.

Personal/Family Requests

• Sometime before July 1, a child will be born and we will call him/her _____. Pray for us as we add our third child to the family.
• Health for the baby
• Pray for Julie’s health as she goes through the labour and recovery.
• That the breast feeding would happen without a struggle.
• Kristin and Ava’s adjustment to having another sibling
• God’s rest for Julie, myself and Grandma Elaine
• Speed in Julie’s maternity EI payment approval and arrival

TruthMedia Ministry Requests

• The Mentor Center launch: specifically that we would find all the important issues that would give mentors grief.
• Super Site: we need God’s wisdom as we go beyond anything we’ve done before.

For more TruthMedia requests, check out our TM prayer blog.

The following quote is from Daniel Win, GAiN Australia’s CEO. GAiN is the humanitarian arm of Power to Change, Ministries.

Over 100,000 have died. Over 1.2 million homeless. Yet things are set to get even worse as the problems escalate. The already contaminated water supply is being further threatened as bodies are being dumped into the rivers. Thousands of children have suddenly become orphans. People are confused, afraid and hurting. Communication is down. Transportation is difficult. Disease is starting to spread in epidemic proportions. The real crisis has just begun. It is critical that help is provided immediately before the disaster spreads in exponential proportions.

Read the complete update at PowertoChange.org.

TruthMedia has been providing email mentoring for Dawson McAllister for a few months now and the amount of youth calling and emailing is growing. It’s an exciting time to be a mentor and we’re needing more people willing to come alongside hurting teens.

This is not a counseling service, so don’t fear the job.

Here are some of the emails we have received…

Where do I look to when I am trying to find my answers? I’ve talked to my select group of people that I truly consider friends, yet they don’t seem to hold the answers to any of my problems/questions. I’m in a rut, merely drifting down the stream of life with no direction. I pray for answers every night, and it seems the only thing God is trying to teach me is patience. I’m fairly intelligent, I have a good job, at least it does look good on a resume, and I guess I’m about average looking, but, I just don’t like myself. I don’t like my body. I don’t like not knowing what to do with my life, and I am truly lost. I don’t have any goals to try to achieve (which is me not know what I want to do with life) or I just can’t get motivated enough to walk down the path (which is more so the case of my body). I don’t know if you can help, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see what someone has to say about my problem..

I have anger problems. My anger leads me to have thoughts of killing myself. I dont want to tell my parents, they wouldnt care, I hate them. What should I do?

Again, our responsibility is not to be their counselor, we are simply there to pray with the individual and guide them to a place where they can get help.

Apply to be a mentor.

This is a devotional I wrote for the TruthMedia team for our monthly update meeting. It came on the heels of a number of tragic events in the Campus Crusade family.

Isaiah 55
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This past week has been quite difficult for Power to Change Ministries as well as Campus Crusade for Christ, International. As we gathered in prayer on Thursday, we mourned the sudden passing of a Canadian staff member and grieved with a number of other families that experienced loss.

Just as Job trusted God as his life was turned upside down, we must remember that God’s love for us does not mean that He will do what we feel is best. He has said that everything will work out for good but He does not say when. He doesn’t even say that He will tell us the answer to our prayer, only that He will hear them.

What does it mean when it says that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours? I’m pretty sure that what He is saying is that He has a plan and that we need to trust that He knows what He is doing and that even as the sparrow is under His care, so are we. He can see the big picture in light of eternity. We can’t even accurately predict what is going to happen in 15 seconds with any certainty.

In the meantime, pray for our staff team. Even though we know our team member is celebrating with Jesus and the Father in Heaven, we’ll still miss her and so will the family she left behind here.

Yet this passage isn’t just about the difficult things in life. It is to give us hope that God can take our dreams and visions and expand them to points that we couldn’t even dream of. It is the project that starts out small and seems to blow up on you only to take you to a place that you never would have thought possible. Again, His ways are above ours and His thoughts are too.

I am a saved lady. I have been brought up into a Christian family and I personally have taken piece of my land and gave it to my Villagers to build a Church, Pastor’s House and a 3 stares building for Conferences, classes and Offices. I am from Kilimajaro but I am working far away from my own home. I sometimes loss faith due to problems I face at my work place. I am ok on the other sides of life but also at home I have a brother of mine who have lost his faith and always quarrel with his wife, Pastor and neighbors.
Real we don’t have Peace at home. We real need your prayers. Love you all
COUNTRY: Tanzania

When people have trouble at work, they often go online to find answers to their problems. TruthMedia’s relevant resources are often the hook that bring people to our websites so that we can be there to answer their emails when they come in. We want to help people take the next step in their spiritual journey. Whether it is sharing Jesus’ love with them, or even praying for a Christian that is struggling, our team is waiting for you to join us in reaching a hurting world.

TruthMedia Internet Group is about taking people to the next step in their Faith Adventure. Here are some of the emails we receive.

Confused, One minute I feel I know Jesus is real and with me, and other times I am not sure if I believe. I need help!! I “think” I feel that I have done so much wrong in my life and I know I will never be able to be the way He wants me to be, so I am not sure if I will be welcomed. I pray often that He would just come talk to me and tell me He loves me and that He knows I am trying. I also pray for more faith.
COUNTRY: USA

I invited Jesus into my heart as a child and many times since then as an adult. I have suffered from depression for years and am on medication. I also drink mass quantities of wine at any opportunity, hiding it from my husband. I’m 60 with a wonderful job as director of a non-profit volunteer center. Please pray for my ability to walk away from this love affair I am having with wine and to KNOW THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS ALIVE WITHIN ME! I want a KNOWLEDGE SO DEEP THAT I CANNOT IGNORE IT. Please pray for me.
COUNTRY: USA

My spiritual life is not fully growing please advice me or help me to grow more and to know more about our Savior.
COUNTRY: United Arab Emirates

I am 23 years old I have 2 kids and a husband. I am so glad God directed me to this site. I feel so much better because I know God heard my prayer and I just want you to keep me in your prayers so that I can continue to have a relationship with God. I have asked for forgiveness in the past but I have always failed and went back to that sinful life I live. pleasssssssssssssse pray for me and my family.
COUNTRY: United States

Find out how you can be a part of the ministry as one of our online mentors.

Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada has gone through a massive transition. It is now called Power to Change Ministries!

TruthMedia Internet Group played a major part in the transition as we were involved in the development of the new corporate website which can be found at PowertoChange.org. TruthMedia also manages PowertoChange.com which is used for media campaigns around the world.

There were many technical challenges with this change in branding. For instance, what site should show up first in Google when someone types Power to Change? I’ll answer some of those questions in a future post but for now here are some images of the new site(s).

Note: The name change is applicable for Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada only. It does not apply to the international body. Power to Change Ministries is still a part of Campus Crusade for Christ, International.