Here's my monthly prayer letter to supporters of the ministry...
A PICTURE’S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
I thought I would give you a letter mostly full of pictures this time so you can get into my world a little more easily. So.zo continues to be an awesome place in which to work and make connections with people and present spiritual ideas in a non-threatening way. I think it’s so important for the Christian to continue to make himself or herself available to non-Christians. I’ve heard that the trend for most people who become Christians is to lose connection with almost all their non-Christian friends within 2 to 3 years after their conversion. This shouldn’t be! Jesus was called a ‘friend of sinners,’ and what a beautiful title that is. After all, we were all dead in sin before He made us alive in Him. Pray that I and everyone who works at so.zo are known as friends to all.
Here, in my opinion, is a big part of the ‘cool factor’ of so.zo: the couch in the window. We have this old brown couch that’s been the consistent favorite of most who’ve been to so.zo or even the Waterhouse, ’cause we made use of it there as well. When we came to so.zo, it just so happened that it fit perfectly in the little raised window section that’s to your right just as you walk through the door. With plenty of electrical outlets and an inviting ambiance, it’s become the most popular place to study or hang out during the day. Though we plan to keep upgrading our furniture and appliances, I wonder if this couch will be with us for a long time to come. The big poster that is hanging on the left side of the window has our name and logo on it, and the smaller posters display our current weekly events: h2o, Open Mic, and International Student Tutoring.
This is the left wall as you come walking through the door. So.zo is a long narrow store-front space, so we have both walls lined with tables and comfy seating in the front part. It’s kind of a café/study lounge in the front and a performance/event space in the back. I’m actually sitting and typing right now on a couch opposite what you see in this picture.
We also keep various original, local artwork and photography on the walls, as you can see. So.zo was actually a stop for a Downtown Morgantown Artwalk in September, giving us some great exposure and allowing us to join the local art community. Karen Gergely, a member of the h2o leadership team and part of my canvas group Exsatio, is our art ‘curator’ and so handles the research and installation of the pieces. Please keep praying for all the events of so.zo and the people who run them.
The chalkboard is another aspect of so.zo that people really seem to enjoy. It’s on the right side after you’ve come through most of the café-type seating. It’s actually just a piece of drywall that was attached to a little office that was part of the previous business in the space and that we demolitioned when we moved in. We bought chalkboard paint, slapped it on there and put a frame around it and it looks like it’s been that way forever! As you can see, it provides a creative way to sign up for Open Mic and serves as a ‘suggested donation’ guide for refreshments, which are all in front of the chalkboard.
We don’t actually have a business license yet so we aren’t able to ‘sell’ anything, but the donation can has made it so we get to at least try to break even with some of the costs of running so.zo daily. At this point we’re typically open 4 hours a day, something we’d like to keep expanding with each semester. Pray for the future manager and employees/volunteers of so.zo, that they become known as the friendliest in town and are able to use their gifts to make people feel at ease.
This last shot is basically from the middle of the length of so.zo, looking down at the far end, which houses our stage. The chalkboard is to the right of this picture’s perspective, and to its left is our soundboard area. This was taken at an Open Mic when my friend Dirk Mercer was performing. It’s a small stage, set up more for acoustic acts, but we hope to bring in more of those and do concerts with some regularity in the spring. This is also where we do the h2o service. It’s been a neat thing musically this semester to refine the quality of our ‘acoustic’ worship leading since we don’t have room for a full drumset (nor would the room be able to handle the sound probably). So we have more percussion than drums, and we also have generally stopped using an electric guitar, going more for a rhythm acoustic and lead acoustic setup. People seem to have really enjoyed this. We still stay quite upbeat, and the h2o community sure loves to sing! But the whole environment provides for a more intimate atmosphere, which has been an advantage over the Waterhouse. Please pray this ‘good vibe’ continues to make people feel at home, whether it’s at h2o, Open Mic or any other event we hold at so.zo.
We’ve got one more h2o service on December 10th and then we’ll break with the students until they come back. I can’t believe the Christmas season is here once more! Merry Christmas to all of you. May I take a moment again and tell you how grateful Sarah and I truly are for you? Though I don’t get to see some of you as much as I would like, I think about you often and I want you to know that your cheerful giving to GCM blesses our lives abundantly.
I do want to ask all of you who give on a less regular basis, like quarterly, semi-annually or annually, to check and make sure you’re still on schedule from when you first started giving. It would be so beneficial for my GCM account if you were able to catch up this month, before the end of the year. One big thing is that I’m waiting for a large reimbursement from my training costs that will expire at the end of the month, meaning I won’t be able to receive it if all your pledged support isn’t given to GCM in the next few weeks. THANK YOU for allowing me to remind you!
I thought I would give you a letter mostly full of pictures this time so you can get into my world a little more easily. So.zo continues to be an awesome place in which to work and make connections with people and present spiritual ideas in a non-threatening way. I think it’s so important for the Christian to continue to make himself or herself available to non-Christians. I’ve heard that the trend for most people who become Christians is to lose connection with almost all their non-Christian friends within 2 to 3 years after their conversion. This shouldn’t be! Jesus was called a ‘friend of sinners,’ and what a beautiful title that is. After all, we were all dead in sin before He made us alive in Him. Pray that I and everyone who works at so.zo are known as friends to all.
Here, in my opinion, is a big part of the ‘cool factor’ of so.zo: the couch in the window. We have this old brown couch that’s been the consistent favorite of most who’ve been to so.zo or even the Waterhouse, ’cause we made use of it there as well. When we came to so.zo, it just so happened that it fit perfectly in the little raised window section that’s to your right just as you walk through the door. With plenty of electrical outlets and an inviting ambiance, it’s become the most popular place to study or hang out during the day. Though we plan to keep upgrading our furniture and appliances, I wonder if this couch will be with us for a long time to come. The big poster that is hanging on the left side of the window has our name and logo on it, and the smaller posters display our current weekly events: h2o, Open Mic, and International Student Tutoring.This is the left wall as you come walking through the door. So.zo is a long narrow store-front space, so we have both walls lined with tables and comfy seating in the front part. It’s kind of a café/study lounge in the front and a performance/event space in the back. I’m actually sitting and typing right now on a couch opposite what you see in this picture.We also keep various original, local artwork and photography on the walls, as you can see. So.zo was actually a stop for a Downtown Morgantown Artwalk in September, giving us some great exposure and allowing us to join the local art community. Karen Gergely, a member of the h2o leadership team and part of my canvas group Exsatio, is our art ‘curator’ and so handles the research and installation of the pieces. Please keep praying for all the events of so.zo and the people who run them.
The chalkboard is another aspect of so.zo that people really seem to enjoy. It’s on the right side after you’ve come through most of the café-type seating. It’s actually just a piece of drywall that was attached to a little office that was part of the previous business in the space and that we demolitioned when we moved in. We bought chalkboard paint, slapped it on there and put a frame around it and it looks like it’s been that way forever! As you can see, it provides a creative way to sign up for Open Mic and serves as a ‘suggested donation’ guide for refreshments, which are all in front of the chalkboard.We don’t actually have a business license yet so we aren’t able to ‘sell’ anything, but the donation can has made it so we get to at least try to break even with some of the costs of running so.zo daily. At this point we’re typically open 4 hours a day, something we’d like to keep expanding with each semester. Pray for the future manager and employees/volunteers of so.zo, that they become known as the friendliest in town and are able to use their gifts to make people feel at ease.
This last shot is basically from the middle of the length of so.zo, looking down at the far end, which houses our stage. The chalkboard is to the right of this picture’s perspective, and to its left is our soundboard area. This was taken at an Open Mic when my friend Dirk Mercer was performing. It’s a small stage, set up more for acoustic acts, but we hope to bring in more of those and do concerts with some regularity in the spring. This is also where we do the h2o service. It’s been a neat thing musically this semester to refine the quality of our ‘acoustic’ worship leading since we don’t have room for a full drumset (nor would the room be able to handle the sound probably). So we have more percussion than drums, and we also have generally stopped using an electric guitar, going more for a rhythm acoustic and lead acoustic setup. People seem to have really enjoyed this. We still stay quite upbeat, and the h2o community sure loves to sing! But the whole environment provides for a more intimate atmosphere, which has been an advantage over the Waterhouse. Please pray this ‘good vibe’ continues to make people feel at home, whether it’s at h2o, Open Mic or any other event we hold at so.zo.
We’ve got one more h2o service on December 10th and then we’ll break with the students until they come back. I can’t believe the Christmas season is here once more! Merry Christmas to all of you. May I take a moment again and tell you how grateful Sarah and I truly are for you? Though I don’t get to see some of you as much as I would like, I think about you often and I want you to know that your cheerful giving to GCM blesses our lives abundantly.I do want to ask all of you who give on a less regular basis, like quarterly, semi-annually or annually, to check and make sure you’re still on schedule from when you first started giving. It would be so beneficial for my GCM account if you were able to catch up this month, before the end of the year. One big thing is that I’m waiting for a large reimbursement from my training costs that will expire at the end of the month, meaning I won’t be able to receive it if all your pledged support isn’t given to GCM in the next few weeks. THANK YOU for allowing me to remind you!
Love in Christ,
Cameron
1 comment:
Did a google on the word "Exsatio" and hit on your website. I am Rebecca Ward's mother, Lori. I've heard all about Sozo's, and have been praying for its success. Sounds like a great place - next time I'm in Morgantown for a visit, I'll have Rebecca take me there for a "Kingdom Special". Continuing to pray for success for Sozo! (Which of course is success for the King!). Blessings to you and your wife as you serve Him.
Lori Ward
teachrmowmard@comcast.net
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