November, 2009 - A New Direction
What do you do when God says, “Jump"?
Panic?? Sit down?? Close your eyes and leap?? Swing your arms wildly and shout “Cowabunga!” as you get a running start before hurtling yourself as high as you can?
We’ve done all of these and more since the beginning of September, because God has asked us to jump.
For about a year we’ve been sensing that God had some changes in store for us, but after we got the good news that Tom won’t need brain surgery, it was as if “God threw all the doors wide open,” as Tom put it, and cleared away every obstacle for us to walk into a new phase of the journey we are on with Him in ministry.
In our prayer letters you have read about Tom’s involvement with local bands and musicians as he lives out his faith in front of them while playing his drums. You’ve heard us explain the vision and ministry God is giving us with local artists through CreateArt days. You know we’ve been trying to fit in recording Cathy’s music around our regular work hours for a couple of years.
We have been involved in these ministry activities, and (quite honestly) many other opportunities God has been divinely setting up, in addition to our Keynote duties. We are at critical mass as far as the hours in a day go, and God has asked us to JUMP!
So we have begun working with Halcyon Arts, a new department in Artists in Christian Testimony, International, and will be on staff with A.C.T. Int. full time beginning in November 7, 2009.
And now we are asking you to JUMP with us! ACT staff members raise their support just like Campus Crusade staff do with one difference—we will also be able to have a part time job with ACT. Since ACT doesn’t offer health insurance, Tom is looking for a job that will have benefits with a 20-30 hour weekly commitment. BUT WE STILL NEED YOU TO PARTNER WITH US!! If each of you would continue your partnership with us at your current level, and Tom can get a job with health insurance, we will be fully funded at our 1997 pay rate. (You probably remember us mentioning a few times over the last couple of years we’d like to be able to have a raise!) We will also have to continue to look for others to partner with us in order to bring us into a 21st Century pay scale.
We will give you a call in December to share more of what God has done in our lives over the past few months and what we will be doing with Halcyon Arts…
…and to ask you to jump with us.
Some details about you might want to know about our transition…
Halcyon Arts is the newest department of Artists in Christian Testimony, International.
Prayer with our new ACT colleagues.
A.C.T. has been sending artists out into the world to use their gifts as salt and light to bring people to Jesus and influence the culture for 40 years. Byron Spradlin, the founder of A.C.T. International, invited us to join with them, and so Halcyon Arts was born. Our ministry will be here in Indianapolis and allow us to continue, and further develop, the relationships and activities God has placed in our lives the last several years.
What will be the same?
Both of us will work just as hard (in fact, we’ve already been putting in more hours than when we were in the Keynote office) to further the Gospel – the only message of hope and lifechange – in a place that desperately needs it. The art and music worlds are dark places, filled with people who need to hear about Jesus!
We can’t do this without you, our faithful ministry partners!! Prayer is what changes people, and people change culture. You are on the front lines with us. We also need your continued financial support. A.C.T. Int. is 501 (c) (3) organization and a member of the The Mission Exchange (formerly called the Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Agencies –EFMA). All gifts are tax-deductible and will be acknowledged with a receipt.
What will be different??
The most exciting difference for us is that we will be back out in the world, among people who need Jesus!!
Our prayer letters from Keynote have been full of lifechange stories. We trust that God will continue to show us what He’s doing through our ministry, so we can share those with you. Just like going to a very dark country, however, we may not have dramatic stories to share for a while as we build relationships. For one thing, we were sharing about the ministry of 100 staff members while with Keynote. Halcyon Arts has two staff members! For another, Keynote’s ministry was focused on REAPING. We view our primary role as one of SOWING. As our culture moves away from a Christian under-girding, sowing is becoming more and more necessary. As Keynote bands talked about God from stage in 2000 when we first came to Keynote, the audience understood who God is. We have watched that change at a very rapid pace!! Halcyon Arts exists to help change that trend.
Lots to tell
Like we said on the front page, we’ll be calling each one of you to share our vision more fully. And of course, we’ll continue to update you with our monthly prayer letters, adding more information about our new ministry in each edition.
At the end of our last staff meeting with Keynote, everyone gathered around us and prayed, thanking God for calling us into a new season of ministry, and asking Him to continue to lead and provide.
Contact Info
Please change our email addresses since the Keynote ones will be disabled soon.
cathy@howies.org
tomas@howies.org
Our other contact info is still the same:
Tomas and Cathy Howie
310 S. Sunblest Blvd
Fishers, IN 46038
317-578-7053
www.howies.org
Here’s the A.C.T. website url so you can get the bigger picture for who we’ll be working with. www.actinternational.org Halcyon Arts isn’t on the “Departments” page yet, but we will be by January 1st.
Financial Support Info
Campus Crusade for Christ provides us with a severance package (provided there are funds in our account), however, we have already transitioned to A.C.T. and would prefer you switch your giving over to A.C.T. as soon as possible.
We hope you will JUMP with us and join us in ministry with Halcyon Arts. A.C.T. is set-up to handle donations much the same as Campus Crusade. You can contribute by check, electronic fund transfer (EFT), or by credit card. Our letter in November will have all the details, and we can answer any questions you have when we call you.
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posted by Tomás @ 2:29 PM
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