Si preguntamos a nuestro alrededor qué sugiere el eslógan “Connecting People“, lo más probable es que surja enseguida el nombre de Nokia.

Y sólo el nombre de Nokia. Pero hay otras realidades. Más antiguas. Persistentes, no obstante el cambio tecnológico.

Captada ayer en Barcelona con mi iPhone. Quizá en el interior del local se dediquen a telefonearse con móviles finlandeses. Pero creo que no.

Thank you to everyone who attended the potluck this past Sunday!  We hope you were able to connect with someone new, learned about Connecting Groups, and got encouraged to connect with people outside of our church!  I saw a lot of conversations taking place, it was great to see!

There were two encouragers that I think served as great take home messages.  The first point was moving SSLC from a “one day Sunday” church to an “everyday Sunday” church.  Connecting Groups is a great avenue in moving the church towards that culture.  It starts with giving you another day of the week to worship God, to go deeper into His word that was covered in the sermon, to talk to someone from church.  You may also learn some lessons in group that you can carry out through the remainder of the week.  Hopefully over time you find yourself in an active relationship with God every minute of everyday. That is the purpose of Connecting Groups, to help you be connected to Jesus Christ and each other through worship, learning and service and keeping that connection going 7 days a week.

The other point, brought up by Mike Zimmer, was making sure to connect with people outside of SSLC.  Connecting with our fellow members is great.  But connecting with outsiders is what God commissions us to do.  Planting seeds will help build up God’s kingdom.  It will also hopefully help us build up our congregation.  We can connect with non-believers through our service projects and inviting people to group. Perhaps people are not ready to attend a large formal gathering on Sunday, smaller groups may help people feel more comfortable to learn more about God.  Challenge yourself to ask someone to group.  If you don’t know of anyone pray that God places a person in your life to invite.

If you are wanting to learn more about Connecting Groups over the next 6 weeks you can attend a series called “Connecting Alive.”  This will give you an opportunity to learn about the importance of connecting, and how the groups are conducted.  Come join us this Sunday for the first session after the early service!  Signs will be posted in the church that will direct you to our meeting place.  Hope to see you there!

Zwei österreichische Filme sind derzeit im Kino zu sehen, die die sogenannte “Ausländerproblematik” behandeln: “Little Alien” von Nina Kusturica und “Gurbet” (In der Fremde) von Kenan Kilic.

Bei allem, was diese beiden Filme unterscheidet, ist ihnen doch etwas gemeinsam, sie bieten einen erhellenden Einblick in eine Welt, die den meisten von uns verschlossen bleibt.

Einige subjektive Anmerkungen:

… erneut die Erkenntnis, dass man nichts von seinen NachbarInnen weiß, obwohl man Tür an Tür mit ihnen wohnt (wie wir z.B. hier in Ottrakring). Erschreckend, dass das (Nicht- bzw. Halb-) Wissen auch in aufgeklärt-liberalen Kreisen von Vorurteilen und Klischees genährt wird.  Wir reden hier nicht, wie üblich, von den sogenannten “bildungsfernen Schichten”.

Das Wort “Ausländerproblematik” besteht nicht aus Fleisch und Blut, Tränen und Zorn, sondern aus Buchstaben, und wird deshalb so gerne bei jeder sich bietenden Gelegenheit verwendet.

Die Menschen, die hier einfühlsam gezeigt werden, wurden als Arbeitskräfte verwendet oder benützt (Gurbet) bzw. werden als Spielball politischer Interessen hin und her geschoben, misshandelt, missachtet, ignoriert (Little Alien).

Gurbet hat in mir eine Hochachtung für jene Menschen erzeugt, die in großer Verantwortung für die eigene Familie eine hartes Leben gelebt haben und sich dennoch Weitblick, Humor und Sensibilität bewahrt haben, ohne jemals in Selbstmitleid bzw. Missgunst oder Hass auf andere zu verfallen. Und es hat sich mir ein Ausblick auf einen Islam geöffnet, der weit toleranter ist als manch seiner Mitbewerber.

Little Alien zeigt wie in Europa mit Kindern umgegangen wird, solange es nicht die eigenen sind. Erwachsene Männer und Frauen, selbst Mütter und Väter, im Vollbesitz ihrer geistigen Kapazitäten (sollte man annehmen!?) lassen unbegleitete minderjährige Flüchtlinge jahrelang in Ungewissheit über ihre Zukunft. Dieselben (Un-) Verantwortlichen schieben Kinder ab, beispielsweise nach Griechenland, wo sie ein trostloses Dasein auf der Straße erwartet, unterbrochen nur von unmotivierten Misshandlungen einer sadistischen Exekutive. Little Alien zeigt auch, dass manchen dieser Kinder und Jugendlichen ihre Hoffnung und ihren Mut bewahren trotz aller Widerstände. Viele zerbrechen daran.

Jeder weiss das – Niemand tut etwas dagegen. Warum auch? “Ausländerproblematik” ist nur ein Wort! Die Banalität des Bösen? Sind die “Aliens” auch schuld an der Weltwirtschaftskrise? Wäre mit der Abschiebung aller Menschen mit sogenanntem” Migrations-Hintergrund” irgend etwas bewirkt?

Griechenland ist nicht aus der Welt, im Gegenteil, es ist ist wie Österreich ein EU-Staat, Teil eines gemeinsamen Wirtschaftsraumes. Welches wirtschaftliche Problem soll denn durch diese Binnen-Verschiebung  gelöst werden? Das sind doch alles faule Ausreden. Aus dem Auge aus dem Sinn, so lautet die Devise. Dann wird alles wieder gut, und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind… Ja was? Kommen sie dann wieder? Als Zombies in einer langen Nacht der lebenden Toten? “Seid auf der Hut, Xenophobe aller Couleur, Griechenland ist nicht so weit entfernt und wer nichts mehr zu verlieren hat… Alles kommt zweimal, einmal in seiner harmloseren Variante, einmal in der anderen Version”.

Ich hoffe, dass beide Filme nicht nur ein Publikum erreichen werden, das diesbezüglich “eh schon alles weiß”. Aber auch für mich als “diesbezüglich eh schon manches Wissender” boten beide Filme eine Menge an Neuem und Überraschendem. Und vor allem, ohne die übliche Betroffenheits-Keule.            Man bekommt einerseits eine Wut im Bauch und anderseits Lust, was zu tun.

Hier zwei Adressen:

Connecting People – Patenschaften für unbegleitete minderjährige und junge erwachsene Flüchtlinge
lobby.16 – Unterstützung für unbegleitete junge Flüchtlinge – Bildung Arbeit Alltag

Nina Kusturica wird ihren Film in Rahmen von “Schul on Tour” auch an Schulen zeigen und mit den SchülerInnen in einen Dialog treten.

Abschließend ein Zitat aus dem Leserforum einer österreichischen Qualitäts-Tageszeitung anlässlich der Besprechung von “Little Alien”, wo sogar das Bleiberecht der Filmemacherin in Frage gestellt wird:

Kommentare:
was macht die noch hier

es hat doch geheissen die werden nur bis Kriegsende aufgenommen

Re: was macht die noch hier

Es ist relativ offensichtlich was “die”, nennen wir sie mal beim Namen, Nina Kusturica hier macht: Aufbauarbeit!

Little Alien – Ein Film von Nina Kusturica
Gurbet (In der Fremde) – Ein Film von Kenan Kilic

Then He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.~ Matthew 9:37-38

One of the purposes of Connecting Groups is to invite people to attend our group. We invite people within the Saint Stephanus community so we can get to know one another on a deeper level while learning about Jesus Christ and deepening our faith.

Connecting Groups are also a great opportunity to invite people outside of SSLC to visit a group, especially those who don’t know Christ. As outsiders come into the group hopefully they will see God’s love shine through as they watch brothers and sisters in Christ care for one another and share fellowship. For many this is a less intimidating way to get to know the Good News. Perhaps seeds are planted as new friendships are formed. If the newcomer attends Connecting Group regularly they also become connected to SSLC, and what better way to grow in faith with the support of friends in a small group and a larger community of the church?

You may be asking how do I invite someone and what do I do if an unbeliever comes to the group? Two key elements here are to pray for an opportunity to ask someone and then plan an event that the new friend would want to attend. Take inventory of your neighbors, co-workers, and extended family members, you may be surprised of names you can think of. As for an event, it is best to have them come when you are not doing a typical bible study. Organize a social event such as a game night or have a meal and fellowship. Simply spend time together and converse. As the group plans the social challenge one another to invite at least one person to the event. It’s okay if you get turned down, at least you are getting practice inviting someone.

God works in miraculous ways when it comes to inviting people. Here is a little anecdote from a small group ministry at another church who has a similar small group ministry as ours…

“One of our Small Group leaders invited some new people to group. The night came for their gathering. The new couple found their way to the neighborhood but forgot the address and unknowingly went to a house that was actually three doors down from the host’s house. They knocked a couple of times and then walked right in and went into the kitchen to find this couple sitting down eating dinner. The owners of the house were friendly and introduced themselves and they were all chatting. After about 2 minutes, the new couple, asked where the people were who invited them to group. The couple who owned the house had no idea what they were talking about!They were in the wrong house! The couple who invited them to group lived three doors down!”

Here are three things that happened:

1. The people who came to this wrong house actually were reconnected with the owners of this house. They went to high school together!

2. The couple who went to the wrong house eventually found the right house and had a great story to tell!

3. The people who lived three doors down, who entertained these “strange visitors,” received an invitation and will be coming to dinner with their neighbors who live three doors down.”

What was meant to be an invitation to 2 people ended up getting extended to 4 people! New friendships were formed, old relationships were re-connected. All because of inviting.

Let’s keep the idea of inviting someone new to Connecting Group at the fore front of our minds and in our hearts. Pray about it and watch how God’s wonderful work comes to life!

I remember once when I was fed up to the back teeth with networking; sick to death of talking about myself and what I did, when a very wise owl explained something to me.

One of the biggest difficulties faced by people running their own businesses is they forget to differentiate between themselves as a person and the company as a business. They are two separate entities. If you don’t sell your company or concept, who will?

The next time this happens, simply think of yourself working for a large corporation where promoting the company is your key role. You will immediately feel the difference and you will never look back.

Happy networking!

Todleho - where friends unite

Todleho Review:

Todleho’s website design is attractive, streamlined and straightforward. It has a uniform intuitive interface that most users adore across different age groups. You can even customize skins or change your profile or color scheme, you can rearrange the position of some of your information boxes on your profile by simply dragging and dropping them to other spots on the screen.

Profiles allow users to post pictures, comments, blogs, quizzes, polls, bulletins, songs, videos and apps. Additionally, it has some of the best privacy options on the Internet. We felt that Todleho encourage using the site to foster relationships with people you already know, or friends of friends. Within hours, you will already be in touch with scores of old friends, relatives and acquaintances. It provides a friendly atmosphere for browsing through the member list once you’ve found someone you want to connect with, send them a message, see a list of their friends and invite them into your network of friends or have them join your community, this way user pertaining to group shares ideas and collaborate with each other. Share photos, notes and news feeds. Your friends can also post comments on your profile page.

Todleho Apps are probably the most appealing aspect of the site. One of the first social networking sites to incorporate third-party applications into the system; you have a variety of options to choose from. You can add quizzes, support tags, feeds, profile music, send and receive gifts, chat and more.

Some other interesting aspects to Todleho profiles are the automatic linking and News Feed. The automatic linking happens when you place a specific noun in your interest or education section. The link will get added to Hot Tags, which direct you to others that also have the same interests written down or school selected. It’s kind of fun to see which other members share your music, movie or topic selections.

Todleho has really ramped up its networking features. Now, they are constantly innovating new ideas and filling it up with additional options like apps, and instant messaging, forums, photo tagging and more.

Todleho includes a comprehensive help section complete with ‘getting started.’ The FAQs are broken down according to the various sections of the site like account settings, privacy and security, applications, advertising, social ads, mobile and more. There is also a section for you to submit suggestions and an entire section dedicated to safety for parents and users.

Talking about safety, this is one site we felt the safest on. Spams, fake profiles are kept to minimum so it reigns as the go-to site for staying in touch with friends and family, reuniting with old friends, and meeting new friends.

The only real griping we had with Todleho is its lack of some features that we were used to while using other networks, but hey as Todleho is growing by leaps and bounds we are sure to find these features soon enough. But, if you’re new to the whole social networking thing, Todleho is the place to be.

If you’re still not on the Todleho bandwagon, we just have one question: what are you waiting for?

Signup for a Free Account at www.todleho.com, Todleho – The one stop free social networking community for you and your friends, games, chat, forums, blogs, polls, music, videos

At The Vine there are many serve opportunities and we want to make sure you know about them and how to take your NEXT step. Take a look here at the current opportunities with in Guest Services and fill out the online form to take your NEXT step.

GREETING TEAM MEMBER

Greeting Team members have never met a stranger! They are energetic, talkative, and
friendly. The Greeting Team actively demonstrates God’s love with every smile and hello
they give on Sundays. These volunteers pass out bulletins and pens, hold doors open for
guests, and ensure that all feel welcome at The Vine.
Time Commitment: 30 minutes before and 10 minutes after a service, every week or every
other week.
Age Requirement: 12 years old.

Greeting Team Volunteer Position Descriptions

Door Greeters
Door greeters hold doors to the auditorium open and hand out pens and bulletins as
guests are walking in. Most importantly, they always minister with a smile!

Lobby Greeters
Lobby greeters are positioned anywhere from the center of the lobby area to the
outside doors. They cover all areas of the lobby with smiles and are friendly and
helpful as they welcome and assist guests. From directing guests to restrooms to
carrying on friendly conversations, these volunteers are vital to creating a welcoming
experience that continues to attract others to The Vine.

Good-bye Greeters
Good-bye greeters exit the auditorium at the beginning of the very last song in the
service in order to hold the doors open and collect pens as people are leaving. They
hand out various items when needed. These greeters are vital to concluding the
welcoming experience that will keep guests coming back for more. They ensure that
all exiting guests understand that we are sincerely glad they came to The Vine.
Any Greeter available to support Good-byes is asked to do so.

Guest Services Information Team
The members of the Information Team are known for their well organized, outgoing, quick thinking personalities. The purpose of the Information Team is to provide details about
The Vine to the guests at each service. From overseeing sign-ups to answering questions
about Cluster Groups and volunteer teams, the Information Team is a multifaceted area of service.
Time Commitment: 30 minutes before and 10 minutes after a service, every week or every
other week.
Age Requirement: 18 years old.

Important information for you to know:
· Make every effort not to mingle with other volunteers while the crowd is in the
atrium. We want to make sure that all guests know they are welcome!
· Each Greeting Team volunteer should remain in position until relieved by a leader.
· In every service position, the most important thing to remember is to love people!
· People are our priority, so eye contact and attention should remain on guests the
entire time.

Usher Team

The Usher Team exists to ensure that everyone present experiences a distraction-free
service. Ushers guide people to the nearest available seat in a quick and orderly fashion.
It is their goal to express the love of Christ through their willingness to help our guests find
the perfect seat. The ushers also take up the offering at the end of the service.
Time Commitment: 30 minutes before a service and the last 5 minutes of the service, every
week or every other week.
Age Requirement: 18 years old.

Important information for you to know:
· Stay alert and keep your attention on the traffic coming into the auditorium at all
times. Facing the doors at all times will ensure that no guest is overlooked. Be
especially alert during any music, video, or prayer. During this time, guests will
continue to enter and your presence is crucial in making their entrance comfortable.
· As you guide guests to a seat, try to send each person as far to the front of the
auditorium as possible. Also, ask if they wouldn’t mind moving to the center of each
row to make seating easier.
· Always keep an eye on the number of seats you have available in your assigned
section and keep up communication with other ushers. Doing so will help minimize
distraction as the auditorium fills up and will also allow us to maximize the capacity
of seating in the auditorium.
· Some guests have to sit near the back for various reasons (they’re on call, worried
about their child, the music is too loud, they have to leave early, volunteering, etc.).
In any of these cases, accommodate these individuals as requested.
· Seating of guests ends when the message intro video begins; all ushers should be
seated before David comes on stage.

Parking Team

At The Vine, before anyone even sets foot out of their car, they have already received a
warm welcome from the people of this team. The parkers add a new level of service to
The Vine. These volunteers are truly on the frontline. Without this team, entry and exit
into the campus would not only be slower, but also less fun!
Time Commitment: 30 minutes before and 10 minutes after a service, every week or every
other week.
Age Requirement: 18 years old.

Important information for you to know:
· Make every effort not to mingle with other volunteers while directing traffic. We
want to make sure that all guests know they are welcome and are able to find parking
spaces quickly! Not to mention…we want you to be safe!
· In case of bad weather, there are raincoats provided for the Parking Team.
· Parking Team members continue serving until about 15 minutes after the service has
begun due to the fact that the crowd does not stop entering until somewhere around
that time. We want to ensure that every guest is parked…even those who come in
late. Always keep in mind who we are trying to reach.

Coffee Bar

Whether brewing coffee or cutting muffins, these volunteers have smiles on their faces and love making our facilities a little more inviting.
Time Commitment: 30 minutes on Sunday, every week or every other week.
Age Requirement: 16 years old.

To express interest in taking your NEXT step with Guest Services Serve Team please Fill out this form! Once this form is submitted someone will contact you with in a week to discuss your NEXT step.