Tongues of Fire and YAVs and Stuff!

Pentacost. Celebrated 50 days after Easter it recognizes the end of the Easter season on the Christian liturgical calendar. (For folks unfamiliar with but interested in the occasion, here's what Wikipedia has to say.) And, in case you don't need Wikipedia's help but want a refresher on the biblical part of it all, check out Acts 2:1-6:

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.

The thought occurred to me, rereading that just now, that that whole experience was probably a little bit terrifying for people there. I mean seriously...violent wind and then there's fire on people's heads? But, whether it was scary or not, people ended up (after some words from Peter recorded later in Acts) attributing the events as the work of the Holy Spirit, and thus begun the Church we have today. 

Anyway. The PC(USA) has an annual Pentacost offering that supports different mission programs of the denomination, including the YAV program. (It's one of a handful of "special offerings" throughout the year.)  I was inspired to write this particular post because a Nashville friend and YAVA put a link to this blog on Facebook. Given that you listen to me ramble about the YAV program plenty, I felt like I should share this other guy's thoughts too. So take a look, he's got a lot of good things to say.

Also there's this nifty video from PC(USA)'s website...fun fact: Robert in the video is from Davidson! Whooo Davidson! You can read about his experiences as a Hollywood YAV here.

So, I guess really the point of all this is just to encourage you, if you're a PC(USA) church-goer (or if you're not), to support the Pentacost offering this Sunday. You can also support the YAV program directly, or support a YAV individually...like...say...me going to New Orleans next year (info to the right if you want more on that). But seriously. Even if you just put a dollar in the offering plate, help the PC(USA) do good things in the world!

Also, in other news: brushing your teeth and then eating yogurt is a bad idea. Blech...
Love,
Allison