We've moved!

please visit www.tntblr.wordpress.com! This is our new blog!

tnt pictures...

i'll be putting up the general elevate pics and others on this link...

http://theafricancall.blogspot.com/search/label/tNt%20pics%20n%20vids

TNT BOOT CAMP 2007 Pictures!!!!

Hey peoples... the pictures to the TNT Boot Camp are listed on my blog... please follow this link...

http://theafricancall.blogspot.com/search/label/tNt%20BOOT%20CAMP%202007%20pics%20and%20vids

just testing out some html stuff...

Pimp-My-Profile.com - Build a Slideshow

Helelllooo peoples.. i really think we should sit down and discuss about what happening with ths blog... doesn seem like anything is..im not blamin anyone i myself am clueless.. so was just wondering what we can do.. anyone can pitch in ideas.... firstly... savio, anup anyone who knows html and all.. if u can just sit down and redesign the whole blog with some tnt backdrop or somethin, thatd be really cool.. then we can put in some html stuff that will make sense... wat say ??

i'm on board TOOO!!!

:D

12 days of the indian christmas!

this is a must-watch, people!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owK5tHjL0aE
enjoy!

lukewarm

Sitting at my computer for the last 6 hours.......
sipping on a cup of coffee gone cold....
.......yuck.......now i know how God feels.

Another year!!...random reflections...and stuff i've learnt!

Wow! It's been another short one!! 2007 is around the corner!!
I spent most of today at the comp! Just browsing, chatting, reading people's blogs, blah blah. I'm enjoying my li'l break from core, but I'm missing it like crazy! I can't remember the last time I came for core! Was it one and a half(?) two (?) months ago???? Wow...I don't think I've ever been away from core this long. I've been thinking about it a lot though...We've hit SO many milestones this year, its INCREDIBLE!God's been super good to us, as a church, as a youth ministry, as leaders, in more ways than we can ever imagine.

If you're wondering where I've been, well, I initially got busy with choir stuff...I thin we had a our best season yet, as a choir...! [and yes, the best is still yet to come] I absolutely LOVED every minute of it. I got opportunities to do two things I really love doing, but I don't do much- singing and photoshop!!hehe. (I helped make some posters for our concert). I'm missing choir SO much now!! ...And now my extended family is here for Christmas! WOO HOO!! :-) My aunt and ungle are here from Bosnia. Arun is here!!! :-) woo hoo! With lotttttts chocolates and brownies and nice smelling shampoos n all hehehehe!!! Joey will be here in the first week of January! House full here, and I'm loving it!

I was reviewing my big hairy audacious goals for the year. (When I say reviewing, I don't mean with a pencil and paper in my hand goin "....done..done..done..."..I mean, I open my cupboard door and there it is...stuck in my cupboard...staring at me...and i'm staring at it..thinking...hmmm....hmmm...thats it! sorry for sounding like Savio!) By way of numbers, i'm nowhere. Somewhere in our BHAG i rememmber seeing something about Neethikutti starting her home group by June/July and having a ten memeber home group by December! I also remeber seeing something about Neethikutti raising 3 leaders by the end of the year; and i ALSO remember something about connecting with 25 peoople......this is where grace really kicks in.

I feel like we did our SWOT just yesterday!!! (Is that because we took 6 weeks to do it???!hehe) and you know what i'm most kicked about? That we managed to address our single largest threat by the end of the year! i LOVE the way things took a turn in those 2 weeks that we decided to focus on parents. God really did something! And i'm absolutley going to love this transition to being a more family friendly youth ministry! I think it's one of the best decissions we've made all year! Kudos, guys!!

I absolutely LOVED the two sermons on Grace. Wow! It's changed my thinking around 180 degrees! Incredible! [It also made me wonder why my parents named me filthy rags! Apparently 'Neethi' means 'righteousness' in telugu...hehe] When tanya summed this sermon up for me a few days before Ajit preached it, i rememeber her telling me about faith and works and healing! That nothing you ever do could make God want to heal you..not your fasting...not your praying...nothing! JUST BELIEVE! That was it...from that day on, i did nothing more! ... i Just believed. And there's been so much freedom in doing that!! SO much freedom! It's been amazing.

Another thing that had greatly impacted my thinking was our Youth Cell Leaders Training session. Short and sweet, but powerful! Bert said something that really hit me hard when we talked about keeping ourselves motivated as leaders. He said "act yourself into feeling"!!! There have been SO SO SO many times when i just haven't "FELT LIKE" doing stuff. I wake up in the morning, i don't "FEEL LIKE" having God time, i don't "FEEL LKE" praying in tongues, i don't "FEEL LIKE" spending time in worship, i dont "FEEL LIKE" going to college, i don't "FEEL LIKE" attending class, i don't "FEEL LIKE" finishing my assignments, i don't "FEEL LIKE" taking this call, i don't "FEEL LIKE" sorting out an issue i have with someone, i don't "FEEL LIKE" having cell, i just don't "FEEL LIKE"!!!!!! I've learned to ACT myself into feeling now. I don't feel like attending class, so i'll attend it! I don't feel like having GOd time, so i have it. I don't feel like praying in tongues, so i start praying in tongues! I don't feel like spending time in personal worship, so i do!..I don't feel like standing or raising my hands during corporate worship, so i do!...and there's a release, right there- in making the choice to do something your body is holding you back from doing. Thats it! Freedom! SOmewhere along the way, you'll feel like doing it. And you'll never want to stop.
What's amazing is this goes against a theory in Psychology that says you can never do anything to make you feel a certain way. It says, if you just smile, you won't feel happy. And if you just frown, you won't feel angry. Your actions can't determine the way you feel. The way you feel has to detemine your actions. Rubbish. Psychologists think they have human beings all sorted out. They aren't even close.

I began my degree with a passion for Psychology. I topped my Pre University with a mind blowing 95% in Psychology, which God was gracious enough to give me. My love for psychology began to grow when i started helping one of my cousins study psychology in PU. Her college had horrible teachers who taught the students trash. SO! 2 weeks before our board exams, we started from scratch..and she did really well in her boards! ......Somewhere between then and my 2nd year of degree, my passion for psych slowly died down. Mum and dad were quite surprised, because they both knew i loved the subject! The day before my exam, i went to mum, weary as ever and said "mama, i just don't feel like studying this subject anymore"...and i remember what mum told me....she said "...how can you say that????? this is like studying a dimension of God and his creation"
...silence...
she didn't say anything more...neither did i.
She managed to rekindle my passion for Psychology in 5 seconds...or less!
I just about managed a distinction in my psychology practicals, again! God's been awe-some. :-)
[I feel like the word 'awesome' takes a whole new meaning when you break it in two. it's used so casually, nowadays...even i tend to use it very very casually...there's incredible depth in it. it's a God word]

I love my mentor. She's INCREDIBLE! I've learnt SO SO much from her over the year. She's been so patient, so kind, so good to me. She treats me like a daughter and i absolutely love her for that. I miss meeting Sheila every tuesday, at Javagreen, our adda! :-) I owe her, big time! She's been so so so supportive, with everything i've done. Allowing myself to be mentored is probably on of the best things i've done my whole life. It's shaped my thinking and impacted my life to such a great extent!c [If any of you on core are still on hold int his area, i'd say get off your backsides ASAP, because this is something that will change your life. I'm NOT kidding]

ALLLLLLL this stuff apart, our core team turned a year old this year. On the 28th of July. If i'm not wrong, i rememebr meeting Akshay sometime early July, and then things kicked off a little later. SO it's been almost one and a half years for us as a core team, and we've grown and shrunk and grown and shrunk and grown and shrunk in SIZE. But as human beings we've grown incredibly!! And we've each personally grown in our walk with God. Which is fantastic.

A month later, in August, Elevate celebrated it's first birthday. August 27th. :-)
I think we have SOOOOOOO much to be grateful to God for. His grace is just overwhelming. When i look back on this year, and everything we as a team have done and achieved, it's not by our strength, or wisdom or any of that!!!!!! We're just KIDS!!! It's HIS GRACE!! It's been God ALLLLLL the way!!!!!!! :-) We have soooooomuch to celebrate!

I'm really looking forward to next year. This year has been AMAZING! and i can't wait to see where God is going to take us...and what He's gonna do with in us and through us. I just can't wait!!!!!! As always, THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
[Quoting Phil Dooley "....the best songs haven't been written yet, the greatest youth ministries haven'e been built...."]
Here's to an amazing year ahead!!!!!!

Cheers!!!!!!And see you machas in Jan! :-) GROUP HUG!!!! Love you alllll!

WatsHappenin To The Bloggg... ??

hello people..wats happening to our blog ? all dead and all... come on..

Was good to have everyone at core team on thursday. Really makes a big difference. =)

1. We talked about finding our purpose & seeing what makes us tick & operate... I honestly believe that above everything else God should be our motivation… its like seeing everything in life with God in the picture.. like when you wear a pair of dark glasses, everything you see is dim… the challenge is to start looking at the daily things of life with a Kingdom perspective… why we exist, why we build relationships, how we spend our time, the people we connect with etc etc. Life takes on a much greater meaning! Wasting time is no more an option… yes there are times to rest & rejuvenate… & get refreshed & all that! But the rest of the time – lets really try & make an impact for God… =) let God be our main motivation.

2. God & people – lets keep that as our focus for these next few months… along with our work/college, try & fill the rest of your time with these two things… God & people!!! Try your best to give God as much time in a day as possible… & when you plan your week out – give time for people… whether it is messaging them or calling or meeting up with them… make people priority… =)

3. Strike system! – no more strikes from now on… instead we will focus on being accountable to our partners… This is something we really need to take ownership of… this is key to who we are & as leaders we need to really put a lot of effort into making this work… more than only sending an sms – lets take it to a new level – lets pray for those we are accountable to & for… God is placing your co-workers relationship with Him partly in your hands. It is our responsibility to help them be the best they can be…so c’mon lets get off our backside & get this going! =) lives depend on it,…

4. Pl finish off the Finding Your place questions and email it to me by Friday… Thanks a lot! =)

Areas of responsibility –

The Creative Team - Thinkers & Doers
Kavitha, Neethi, Tanya, Vinay
This team will handle
- Theme for events
- Games + Activities
- Music
- Special Guests
- Stage + interior décor
- Videos

The Follow Up Team
Brian
The team will
- Call up people
- Email new comers
- Maintain TNT database
- Greet people@ events – making them feel welcome
- TNT sms phone
- Visit people (if necessary)

The Admin/Systems Team
Akash & Brian
An ability to develop and maintain systems
A love for MS Excel!
An eye for detail!!

Cell Groups –
Ajit/Tanya
Training & equipping cell group leaders


5. Elevate is this weekend – so please start inviting friends that you know would be able to make it.. =) & also get moving one whatever part of elevate you are responsible for… thanks a lot! =)

A Murder or a Suicide...???

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS
President Dr Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal
complications of a bizarre death.

Here is the Case: On March 23, 1994 the medic al examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus
and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head.

Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to
commit suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency
.As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun
blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly.

Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had
been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some
building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to
complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "A person, who sets out to commit
suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be
what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide." That Mr. Opus
was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been
successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to
feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

In the room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was
occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously
and he was threatening her with a shotgun.

The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely
missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr.
Opus. When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the
attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B".

When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were
both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was u nloaded.
The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with
the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her.

Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is,
if the gun had been accidentally loaded. The co ntinuing investigation
turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son load ing the shotgun
about six weeks prior to the fatal accident.

It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support
and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun
threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would
shoot his mother.Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was
guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger.
The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death
of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist. Further investigation revealed hat the
son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent
over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This
led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be
killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window. The
s on had actually Murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the
case as a suicide

One Moment In Time

On Wednesday, April 5, 2006, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 AM in the morning, the time and date will be

01:02:03 04/05/06

This will never happen again in our life time.

What Pastor Shared

Getting Relational
APC Cell Leaders Meeting
Saturday April 01, 2006

Keeping the vision
APC - Transitioning into a cell church
Acts 2:46 Acts 20:18-20

1. Establishing a "family" culture. People get lost in a large church gathering. People want to belong.
2. Establishing the "ministry" culture. People who want to serve don't know where to begin. The church's most valuable asset remains unused.
3. Discipleship happens in the CG setting.

Reminder : The importance of the Cell Leader
- Making the initial contact. "Go Connect"
- Followup
- Establish people in the Word & in the Spirit.
- Life Application of Sunday teaching : In your cell group meetings, please review/reiterate the Sunday message. Encourage people to share how they applied it in their lives.

Today: Getting Relational
(Understanding the importance of nurturing Kingdom relationships)
Mark 3:14-15 "be with Him"
Acts 4:19 "had been with Him"
Jesus developed His disciples by allow them to “be with Him” (life-to-life contact).

- Don't become "process" or “systems” oriented. Be "life" oriented.
- Although “process” has its importance, understand that allowing people to “be with you” is more important than making them follow a system or process.

2 Timothy 3:10 Philippians 4:9-10

People learn through observation.
People receive through life-to-life contact.
People are open in teachable moments.

Action Items:
- Encourage informal times of interaction outside of the CG meeting. Visit people.
- Balance structure and informal moments in the CG Meeting.
- Become passionate about people. Become people centric.
- Take time for the ordinary. Meet with those who may not seem people of “importance”.
- Maintain gender boundaries.
- Experience church at home.

Learning Moments

Mmmm well I was chatting with my dad about cell groups and the topic of handling difficult situations came up, that was when he introduced the concept of ‘learning moments’ to me.

What is a learning moment?
Learning moments allows a cell leader not to avoid or some how try to change the subject when someone shares a problem that might not have an obvious solution. So instead of hoping these moments don’t occur we look for them and allow everyone in the group to participate in finding a solution or at least presenting various alternatives to the person in that particular situation.

How do I spot a “learning moment’?
So here’s what happens, as soon as some one shares something they’re going through, such as ‘I keep fighting with my mum’ ‘I cant study’ ‘I cant get along with this one particular classmate’ etc.. the leader identifies it as a learning moment. The group then as a whole lists down various options the person has. This does not mean the group forces the person to follow a particular route, but just allows the person to make a more educated decision so as to make their situation better.

Plus points of learning moments –
- The Hand thing - all the fingers (people) learn from all other fingers - not just from the leader!
- Community discipleship - Other group members opinion as well as the leaders will help the person get a nice large view of the situation allowing them to share their struggles better and allowing the whole group to get involved =)
- Gets people to open up more

A practical example
- For example taking the last example of not getting along with a classmate, ideas could be:
o Ignore him or her
o Think of positive qualities about the person when talking to them
o Rather than sharing about your life and opinions, find out more about the person, make them the star of the conversation by continuously asking questions and allowing them to talk.
o Change your school ( jk ;) ya so basically if the person wants to they can discuss the alternatives and choose the best one!

Things to watch out for…
- What if someone gives a dodgy solution?
o All solutions are valued – good or bad. The person needs to choose one of the solutions suggested. The leader can highlight a few of the good solutions to sum it up.
- How not to make it preachy?
o The leader must realize that it is the person’s choice and not theirs. They cannot make the decision for them & should not take responsibility for it.

copyright 2006 Tanya Paul