Global Partnerships

Zambia risks extinction of adult population to AIDS

2010-08-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

Zambia risks extinction of adult population to AIDS

Brief update from the Summer 2010 Zambia Team

2010-05-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Muli shani, everyone!

Our team returned home safe and sound a couple of days ago, and the pictures are already popping up on Facebook. I'm still trying to shake off the jetlag, so this will be a very brief post.

Last year, during our 2 clinic days with the students of Hope Community School & Hope House Orphanage, I was heartbroken. It pained me to know that the children were only able to receive medical attention during the two times of the year that North Park teams were present. So one thing that I prayed for was that God would provide the resources needed to provide more consistent medical care. Imagine my surprise when I got to Zambia a couple of weeks ago and saw a foundation for a clinic at Hope Village! Bricks started to go up on the Monday after we arrived, and just a couple of weeks later, the exterior is almost complete!

In addition, the Shelby Goldstein schoolhouse has been completed, and classes are taking place there. We were also able to visit the site of the new poultry farm in Lusaka. Pastor Charles said that they plan to build a clinic for the Hope employees and their families as well as the people from the surrounding villages. The goal is to have the poultry farm up and running by the last quarter of the year.

So God is continuing to show Himself faithful to our friends in Zambia, and I am honored to be a part of this. Though I doubt I'll return to Zambia as a part of a Global Partnerships team, I know that I will most definitely return. I'm looking forward to the day.

Until later, shalenipo!

A Political Perspective of Thailand's struggle

2010-04-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

The weeks of popular protests by thousands of red-shirted demonstrators in the centre of Bangkok reached a critical stage on the late Saturday evening of 10 April 2010. At that point, Thailand's state-security forces began a crackdown against those who had gathered under the banner of the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). A longstanding political crisis that has divided Thais into bitterly opposed camps has now become a national tragedy.

The immediate crisis had been escalating since mid-March 2010, when tens of thousands of members of the increasingly heterogeneous UDD began their takeover of the streets of Bangkok. Read More at http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2877093.htm

10 Ways You Can Help Street Children Without Giving Money

2010-02-22T14:49:00.001-08:00

10 Ways You Can Help Street Children Without Giving Money

Posted using ShareThis

7 Tips For Learning A Foreign Language On The Road

2010-02-22T14:38:00.001-08:00

7 Tips For Learning A Foreign Language On The Road

Posted using ShareThis

Meet the Zambia '10 leaders

2010-02-14T21:09:00.001-08:00

Jaimie Rickards is our Official Logistics Coordinator (OLM, for short). She's responsible for booking flights, calling people, holding on to our passports (or throwing them in the air) and lovingly hounding us about getting paper work in. :) Jamie enjoys running marathons with or without dogs and becoming a nurse.

Chad is one of our three group leaders on this trip. He went to Zambia last year and absolutely fell in love with it's people, culture and the joy that he found there. After the rest of us come back home, Chad will go to South Africa and spend the rest of the summer there with Mark McCoy (link).

Other than having a sweet palindrome for a name, Nilwona is the third leader of this trip, the trip advisor. Were something to happen that results in someone having to stay behind (lost passport, injury, etc.) Nilwona stays behind and takes care of business. Raised on the south side of Chicago, she now serves as the Resident Director of one of the dorms on campus here at North Park University. This will be her second trip to Zambia.

A few words about Zambia...

2010-02-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

Mulishani!

My name is Nilwona Nowlin, & I'm the advisor for the Summer 2010 Zambia team. I had the privilege of serving as a trip participant last year and never would have imagined that I'd get to do it again so soon! I'm a full-time staff member at North Park (Resident Director), but many people don't realize that I'm also a writer. So blogging is right up my alley. Today, I wanted to share something that I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago. I hope it encourages you!:

---

While shopping with a friend today, I made a joke that he responded to with, "They don't need faith because they've got money."

I jokingly responded that this was the problem with the world today - that we don't feel like we have to trust God because we have money.

Even though it started out as a joke, it stuck in the back of my mind all day. Then, this evening, while reading the New Testament reading for the One Year Bible, I was reminded of the conversation. The passage from Matthew (Matt. 21:22) talks about how if we pray in faith, we will receive. And I couldn't help thinking that many Christians - especially in the Western world - don't really rely on faith like we should because we can always find someone with money...then I thought about my friends from Hope Ministries in Zambia. And I remembered how they told us during a church service last year about how they believed God to meet their needs - even when they had no reason to believe that it could happen because they didn't even know where the resources would come from.

That's true faith. Taking a step when you don't even see the staircase. How many of us can honestly say that we have that kind of faith? I know I want it!

The Potential For Short-Term Missions

2010-02-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

I had a great conversation with Eric Iverson at Urbana09. He is a youth leader and Youthworks! employee who has some great things to say about the potential of short-term mission trips. Please read the article: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2010/02/short-term-missions-and-missional-youth-ministry/. The article focuses on the importance of post-trip follow-through, which is often the most difficult. The question he asks is: What will you do to address the issues and systems of injustice that cause poverty and brokenness in your own community?

I am interested to hear what students who have participated in Global Partnerships want to do in Chicago or their home community after being inspired by our Global Partners. Feel free to comment.

Art Institute-Free in February, go and learn abour Sub-Saharan art

2010-01-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

African Art and the Modernist Eye at the Art Institute in Chicago

2/18, 6-7 p.m.

Price Auditorium

Free

500 Ways of Looking at Modern

Did you know that the art institute is free in February? Take the opportunity to learn more about Sub-Sahara Africa (Zambia is located there) and interaction with modern artists.

Inspired by a modernist fascination with the "primitive," the first half of the 20th century saw a developing aesthetic appreciation for objects from sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, which formerly were dismissed as mere curiosities or classified as ethnographica. In this lecture Christa Clarke of Newark Museum considers the influence of modernism in shaping Western perceptions of African art, as reflected in exhibition display as well as the formation of institutional and private collections in the United States.

Fang; Gabon. Reliquary Figure (Nlo Bieri), Late 19th/early 20th century. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wielgus.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/calendar/event?EventID=6725&Month=02_2010&Day=18

We Arrived Safely in Thailand! -by Nathan Albert

2009-12-14T00:16:00.000-08:00

Our team has made it safely here to Thailand. The weather is about 80 degrees warmer than Chicago! We're currently learning Thai music and dancing. We head up north to Chiang Mai tomorrow to start work on a Covenant fish farm. We will be living with families in a small village called Hang Dong. We're having a great time here!

Important Dates for Second Semester

2009-12-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

Important Dates for Global Partnerships Spring Semester 2010

• December 11th-10% due
• During winter break fill out paperwork, write support letters, talk to your church, apply for your driving record
• After January 10th take tests to get NPU drivers license if you are on a domestic trip.
• January 16th -All-day Global Partnerships Retreat for Spring and Summer Participants
• January 16th-All paperwork due, another 10% due
• January 18th-Scholarship applications due
• January 24th –GP collegelife
• February 1st – Spring teams pay > 50%
• March 1st—Pay total trip costs (SPRING) Pay > 50% (Summer)
• March 3rd – Commissioning of Spring GP Teams at chapel
• March 5th-14th-Spring Break Global Partnership Trips to Gulf Coast, Mexico, Appalachia and India
• May 1st payments due for summer trips
• May 10th Summer trips leave
• May 25-Alaska team leaves
Other dates to remember: weekly meetings, Debriefing meetings after the trip (usually one 2 weeks later, and a month after the trip). Also, if you are interested in leading a trip next year, we start recruiting for leaders in March/April. Please talk to Julia Styles if you are interest.

Lavishing Love in Thailand By Nathan Albert

2009-12-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

Our bags our packed, we're finished with finals, we're ready. Correction: our bags aren't packed, most of us aren't finished with finals, and we're almost ready.

We do leave for Thailand in less than a day, but last minute details are keeping us busy. Finals are being completed, and once they are stress levels will decrease. We will pack sometime tonight, or in the wee hours of the morning. But we are excited and are looking forward to what God will do while in Thailand.

As a look back over the last couple years, I am so humbled that this will be my third visit to Thailand in less than two years. I advised a trip in May of '08, went with North Park Seminary in Jan '09, and am now helping lead another trip. Who would have thought that God would want me to experience Thailand three times?

On my first trip, as I was leaving the slums of Bangkok, through tears I prayed for God to bring me back to those streets. Nine months later I had that opportunity. Again in January, I prayed that God would bring me back and perhaps bring people to share in what I find so incredible about Thai people. And again, here I go.

So tomorrow we venture off to the Land of Smiles. We venture to a country that is 95% Buddhist, roughly 1% Christian. We venture as strangers into a land where we will be welcomed as family. We will venture into the slums of Bangkok and a small village in Northern Thailand to live with families who will take us in as their own.

Our team goal has been to Lavish Love. Because God has lavished love on us, we as a team are lavishing love on each other so that we can lavish love on the Thai people.

Pray that God allows us to do that.

Zambia09-Itinerary

2009-12-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

UNITED AIRLINES - UA 938
SUN 27DEC CHICAGO IL LONDON GB 2107 1105
NON STOP O'HARE INTL HEATHROW 28DEC
EQUIPMENT: BOEING 767-300/300ER
RESERVATION CONFIRMED - W ECONOMY

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 101
MON 28DEC LONDON GB NAIROBI KE 1900 0630
NON STOP HEATHROW JOMO KENYATTA 29DEC
EQUIPMENT: BOEING 777-200/200ER
SEATS
22G/18H/18J/19G/19H/19J/20G/20H/20J/21G/21H/21J/22H/22J
CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED - T ECONOMY

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 724
TUE 29DEC NAIROBI KE LUSAKA ZM 0825 1005
NON STOP JOMO KENYATTA
EQUIPMENT: BOEING 777-200/200ER
SEATS
19G/15H/15J/16G/16H/16J/17G/17H/17J/18G/18H/18J/19H/19J
CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED - T ECONOMY

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 702
SAT 09JAN LUSAKA ZM NAIROBI KE 1245 1625
NON STOP JOMO KENYATTA
EQUIPMENT: BOEING 777-200/200ER
SEATS
18G/14H/14J/15G/15H/15J/16G/16H/16J/17G/17H/17J/18H/18J
CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED - H ECONOMY

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 102
SAT 09JAN NAIROBI KE LONDON GB 2359 0625
NON STOP JOMO KENYATTA HEATHROW 10JAN
EQUIPMENT: BOEING 777-200/200ER
SEATS
22A/18A/18B/19A/19B/19C/20A/20B/20C/21A/21B/21C/22B/22C
CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED - H ECONOMY

UNITED AIRLINES - UA 929
SUN 10JAN LONDON GB CHICAGO IL 1005 1321
NON STOP HEATHROW O'HARE INTL
EQUIPMENT: BOEING 767-300/300ER
RESERVATION CONFIRMED - S ECONOMY

Thai09-Itinerary

2009-12-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

depart - Dec 11 - 08:10am
Chicago (ORD)
arrive - Dec 11 - 10:33am
Detroit, MI (DTW)
Northwest Airlines 7340
Class: V
Seats:not assigned
Aircraft: D9S
fbc: VLWSL84
... connection time: 2 hours 7 minutes ...
depart - Dec 11 - 12:40pm
Detroit, MI (DTW)
arrive - Dec 12 - 11:45pm
Bangkok (BKK)
Northwest Airlines 341
Class: V
Stops: 1
Seats:not assigned
Aircraft: 744
fbc: VLWSL84

_________________________________
depart - Dec 23 - 05:50am
Bangkok (BKK)
arrive - Dec 23 - 12:15pm
Detroit, MI (DTW)
Northwest Airlines 340
Class: V
Stops: 1
Seats:not assigned
Aircraft: 332
fbc: VLXSL84

Mexico09-Itinerary

2009-12-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

12 DEC 09 - SATURDAY
DELTA 8039 COACH CLASS EQUIP-BOEING 737 JET
DEPART TERMINAL- 5
LV: CHICAGO/OHARE 835A NONSTOP MILES- 1686 CONFIRMED
AR: MEXICO CITY 100P ELAPSED TIME- 4:25
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-2
BREAKFAST
OPERATED BY-AEROMEXICO

DELTA 8106 COACH CLASS EQUIP-ERJ
DEPART TERMINAL- 2
LV: MEXICO CITY 305P NONSTOP MILES- 228 CONFIRMED
AR: OAXACA 405P ELAPSED TIME- 1:00
OPERATED BY-AEROMEXICO CONNECT
_____________________________________
22 DEC 09 - TUESDAY
AEROMEXICO 2047 COACH CLASS EQUIP-ERJ
LV: OAXACA 1225P NONSTOP MILES- 228 CONFIRMED
AR: MEXICO CITY 130P ELAPSED TIME- 1:05
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-2
REFRESHMENTS
OPERATED BY-AEROLITORAL SA CV

DELTA 368 COACH CLASS EQUIP-738
DEPART TERMINAL- 2
LV: MEXICO CITY 346P NONSTOP MILES- 1331 CONFIRMED
AR: ATLANTA 806P ELAPSED TIME- 3:20
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-SOUTH
REFRESH AT COST-MOVIE

22 DEC 09 - TUESDAY
DELTA 380 COACH CLASS EQUIP-M88
DEPART TERMINAL- SOUTH
LV: ATLANTA 930P NONSTOP MILES- 606 CONFIRMED
AR: CHICAGO/OHARE 1042P ELAPSED TIME- 2:12
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-3
REFRESH AT COST

North Park University - Christian, Urban, Multicultural - Participate in Online Auction for Global Partnerships

2009-12-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

North Park University - Christian, Urban, Multicultural - Participate in Online Auction for Global Partnerships

GP Winter Trips

2009-12-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

We are currently in the midst of finals, the final days of fundraising, and holiday parties. Needless to say it is a busy week for Global Partnership Participants. Many of them will be leaving next Friday or Saturday for Thailand or Mexico, and the Zambia team leaves right after Christmas. All of the students have been invited to post stories about their trip experiences, so please come back often.

If you would still like to donate to a team go to www.npumin.com/donate or visit our auction before Sunday, December 6th at 10pm at www.missionsauction.com.

Global Partnerships Build Lasting Connections

2009-08-03T14:29:00.001-07:00

North Park students who participate in Global Partnerships nurture ministry relationships all over the world

CHICAGO (July 22, 2009) – North Park senior Chelsea Redding still isn’t quite sure how the deep relationship developed between her and Am, the woman she stayed with in Thailand during two mission trips.

“Am speaks no English, and I speak a little Thai, so there was a lot of smiling, a lot of hand gestures, and a lot of ‘I don’t knows,’” recalls Redding, who says every day Am would wake her up in the morning, feed her breakfast, and drive her to the fish farm where she and a team of her North Park classmates were working.

At night after dinner, some days Redding would stay up and watch Thai TV with Am and her husband, Dan. Most evenings, however, she would fall asleep early, exhausted from the day’s labor.....

North Park University - Christian, Urban, Multicultural - Global Partnerships Build Lasting Connections

Shared via AddThis

CHIC raises over $100 Grand for Thailand!

2009-07-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

KNOXVILLE, TN (July 17, 2009) – Students at CHIC2009 gave $109,327 to sustainable mission projects in Thailand during the event’s closing worship service Thursday evening.

Read more here.

North Park raises $15000 for Fuentes Libres

2009-07-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

Campus Pastor Judy Peterson presents Fuentes Libre with funds donated by students in chapel service

CHICAGO, IL (May 1, 2009) – The leader of a ministry that provides poor women in Oaxaca, Mexico, with microenterprise loans expressed his gratitude for $15,000 given by North Park University Ministries. Students raised $10,000 during a special chapel offering on March 25, and an anonymous donor matched $5,000.

Read More here.

See video of Fuente Libres receiving the donation!

Global Partnership Survey

2009-06-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Global Partnership Participants, leaders and advisors,

I hope you had a great time on your Global Partnership trip. As you return, suffer through jet-lag, and get busy with summer plans, it can be easy to postpone processing and reflection on your experience abroad. Don’t put off this important process. I encourage you to full out the GP survey and then spend time reflecting on the following two questions:

1. What did this trip teach me about God and the world? Where did I see God working through the partner, the culture, and our group?
2. How did God transform me through the GP trip? How does God want me to respond to what I have seen, heard, experienced and learned?

Filling out the following survey may be a good way to start the thinking, reflecting process. After that you may want to write a short essay responding to one or both of the questions above. If you would like to share your reflections with others, email me and I will post them to the blog.

If you are a Participant fill out this Survey
If you are a Leader fill out this Survey
If you are an Advisor fill out this Survey

If you would like to post a story about your trip, please email it to jstyleshastie@northpark.edu and I will post it.

Bolivia, India, and Thailand Teams Home

2009-05-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Bolivia, India, and Thailand teams all returned this afternoon between 2:00 and 3:30 pm. They have had some good experiences and some challenges on their journeys. Welcome them home and ask lots of questions to hear their stories, they're important!

Peace be with you.

Bolivia Flying to Chicago

2009-05-26T10:24:00.001-07:00

Here is the flight information for the Bolivia team's return. They are all on the plane.

AMERICAN AIRLINES

1763

MIA
Miami

05/26/2009
12:50 PM

ORD
Chicago

05/26/2009
03:05 PM

Zambia on their way home

2009-05-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

A message from Pastor Charles in Zambia.

Greetings

l have just come from the airport to see the students off.

We had a great time in Ndola & also in Livingstone.

On our way to Livingstone just before the bad road nearer to Livingstone on a curve we

almost hit into cows but Ba Rodgers our drive managed to

avoid but hit a small cow causing minor damage to our bus.

The cows should not have been crossing on that road.

Other than that everything went well & we communicated all the time

with the leaders.

Pastor Charles

Bolivia Return Trip

2009-05-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Brett from the Bolivia team called this morning at 8:45 am. Their flight into Miami arrived 2 hours late, causing them to miss their 8:30 am flight to Chicago. I spoke with American Airlines and the team is on the waiting list for flight 1763, departs at 12:50 and arrives at 3:05 in Chicago O'Hare. She says there is a good chance they will make this flight, but you never know. If it is too full, they will have a very good chance of making flight 467, which arrives at 4:20.

Call the NPU GP Emergency number if you have questions about their arrival plans. I will try to post whether or not they made flight 1763 around 1:00 this afternoon.

Blessings,

Jeremy