Dear friends,

For many of you, this is just one of several notes from me that you’ve been reading during the past few months. For some, this may be the first. For some, you may barely know me, or perhaps not have a clue who I am! Regardless of how you’ve ended up here, I hope you’ll spend a few minutes reading. However you may have arrived, I believe that you’ve ended up here for some reason. Please pass it on (links are good) if you feel there are other people who should read it as well.

In just 20 days, I will board a plane with 17 other college kids from Kensington church, headed to do mission work in eSikawini, South Africa. Many of you have been following along with me during the incredible journey I’ve been on leading up to this trip, through my letters, emails, and website. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Thank you to all of you who have given donations, as well as to all of you who desired to contribute but simply cannot with today’s grim financial conditions. I understand that times are very tough now and simply wish to express my deep, sincere gratitude for your willingness and desire to help me in all the ways that you have as I strive to follow where God is leading my life.

This past Wednesday, our New Community service featured the commissioning of many mission teams, including the one I will be working with. The pastor teaching during the service was Dr. Craig Mayes, very arguably my favorite, who himself is also embarking on an exciting journey with God this summer as he leads a church plant team to New York City. I would like to invite you to view the service online by visitng the following link: http://kensingtonchurch.org/message_video/index.asp?id=1771&zzwa=2008-06-04M . Craig’s sermon was absolutely remarkable this past Wednesday, and I would like to highly encourage you to set aside some time to listen to it using the above link. If you look closely, you can see me up on stage a few times!

The remainder of this note will serve as a status update for the different aspects of this very soon upcoming trip.

Spiritually, God has been thoroughly preparing me for the mission through my study of the scriptures as well as through sermons I have been hearing over the past several months. I have also been attending meetings with the mission team and leaders as well as a short retreat this past weekend in Port Sinclair. I feel that I have grown a tremendous amount in the time I have spent preparing for the trip, and look forward to much spiritual growth to take place through serving the Zulu people.

Financially, I am not nearly as prepared for the mission as I had hoped to be. I still need just under $2000 in order to be able to go, and will need to pay for whatever I am unable to raise by myself. If you would be willing to make a tax-deductible donation to this trip, please contact me as the deadline is extremely soon. I would very greatly appreciate your help! I will also be selling Africa t-shirts, available for $15. If you are interested in one or more of these shirts, please contact me.

I wish to thank you again for all the support you have shown me in any way, and ask for your continued prayers as I go through the final countdown before I leave on this mission. Thanks again, and God bless all of you!

Be part of an exciting journey in faith as “C” Branch author Chris DeMarco travels to Africa this Summer!

Among the many exciting developments that have unfolded in my life during this time is an opportunity to go on a short-term mission trip to Africa. Upon much thoughtful prayer and consideration, I have decided to take up this opportunity, and will be traveling to eSikhawini, South Africa for two weeks this July, along with a team of seventeen other college-age students from Kensington.

You can read more and will find many useful resources here.

Imagine there was someone you were madly in love with, who you owed your entire life and existence to. How would you express your deep love and affection? You probably wouldn’t go searching Google for a cheesy love poem to memorize and recite. Not only would it lack meaning, honesty, and genuineness on your part, but it would be meaningless to them. Even if the things you read to them are true or how you feel, they don’t mean much because they wouldn’t be coming from you. Christina is simply not going to appreciate you serenading her with “Roses are red, violets are blue…” for the third time this week while handing her a bouquet.

If you really wanted to show that special someone how much you loved and cared for him or her, you would do things that were special, that came from your heart, and that had meaning in your relationship. For example, you wouldn’t recite a “stolen” poem that had nothing to do with your relationship with the person or with him or her as an individual. You would write a poem yourself, in which you could express how you feel and how you see the relationship and that special person.

I feel that this same concept applies to our relationship with God. God is madly in love with creation and God’s people (that’s us!) and we return that love to God. We serve, we love and care for others, we share what God has given us. These are ways that we show that we actually really mean it when we say that we love God. We life this love in our daily lives.

One of the biggest ways is that we take time to communicate with God through prayer. Prayer takes many forms, and can be part of a community or personal. However, our communication with God must be meaningful, special, and come from our heart. It must have to do with our relationship with God, not just be words recited and repeated. Communication must be an ongoing thing, not just a rushed Rosary before bed or a Chaplet while driving to work.

Saying ten “Our Father’s” and six “Hail Mary’s” a day does not cut it.

Jesus himself said to not go around “babbling on like pagans” (Matthew 6:5-13).

Let’s face it - if you’re in love with someone, you think about them all day. You wonder constantly about how they’re doing. When you make decisions or do things, you think about what they would think about it. They are a constant part of your thoughts, actions, and life.

So, a relationship with God should be the same. Prayer is an ongoing thing that constantly takes place throughout the entire day. It’s thinking about what Jesus would say when in a difficult situation with someone. It’s asking God for help and assurance when taking on something you’re worried about. It’s thanking God after things go well, and even if they don’t. It’s making God a part of your life every moment you live. If this takes place, then there is no need for a soapbox announcement twenty minutes before you go to bed that you must not be disturbed since you are going to “pray.” Being in constant communication with God makes the relationship real and genuine, and elimenates the “Roses are red…violets are blue…” of prayer.

In a nutshell, I guess that if I was God, I would get a bit sick of people repeating the same thing over and over and not even thinking about it…but that’s just me.

When Jesus taught how to pray, He gave us the “Our Father.” People take this to mean that we should say this prayer, which is great. On a more deeper level, however, I see this as Jesus totally just coming up with a prayer right there to express what He wanted to say to God.

Our Father in heaven, Your name is holy. Let Your Kingdom and Reign come into existence, and let me and all Your people help build up that Kindgdom here on earth. Let Your will be done in the world and in my life, just like it is in Heaven, with You and all the angels in paradise. Give us what we need for today, and forgive us for what we’ve done wrong. Help us avoid screwing up again, and keep us safe from the evil one. The Kingdom is Yours; Glory be to You forever, almighty and all-powerful God! I believe this with my whole heart.

In addition to this awesome and powerful prayer, I believe we can learn something else. Jesus also taught us to just say to God what we really mean. The words don’t matter so much. Amen.