Institute for Cultural Influence

Christians unite to deter Olympics sex traffickers

“As Christians prepare to welcome the athletes and spectators who will be coming to Vancouver and Whistler from across the globe to attend the 2010 Winter Olympics next February, there is one group of potential visitors that they will be working just as hard to keep out: those who sell children and women for sex.”

http://www.canadianchristianity.com/nationalupdates/090319unite.html

Interview with Christian 2010 Olympian, Trevor Marsicano

“I asked Trevor how his faith influences him as an athletic competitor. He said, “It helps me remember that I am competing for more than just a result or a medal. I am competing for God. People will always come and go. In the world of athletics, you will find you are liked and rewarded from people based off of your results. But, whether you perform great or poorly, God will never treat you any different. He will always unconditionally love you and support you.”

http://christianity.about.com/od/christiancelebrities/qt/trevormarsicano.htm

“To date, no politician has been able to do with abortion what William Wilberforce did with slavery: namely, expose it for the evil it was and lead the charge to abolish it in England.

All that may be changing…”

http://www.boundlessline.org/2010/01/is-ultrasound-our-wilberforce.html?cid=6a00d83451c4ae69e20120a8129cc1970b

Religion Among the Millennials – A new Pew Research Center study reveals that millenials have less religious affiliation, but in many ways are traditional in their views of spiritual matters. Read the details here:

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1494/millennials-less-religious-in-practice-but-beliefs-quite-traditional

Fans of “Lost” see themes of redemption – do you agree?

http://www.boundlessline.org/2010/02/redemption-in-lost.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boundlessline%2Fblog+%28Boundless+Line%29

Inspiring trailer from the video found at deidox.com about Lindsay, a teacher in the Bronx.  How does Lindsay inspire you?

To watch the whole video go to:

www.deidox.com/films/lindsay

“According to Smith’s research into Millennials as teens, most people of this generation, regardless of their nominal faith, hold a strikingly similar religious conception: There is probably a god, he probably wants us to play nice, and he certainly wants us to be happy.”

http://www.statepress.com/node/10850

ICI got in touch with Kristin, a passionate teacher in northern California.  What to know more about Kristin?  Read below!

Name: Kristin S.
Hometown: Prescott, Arizona
Current Location: The Bay Area (aka San Francisco), California
Education: Northern Arizona University 2007
Major: Advertising- “…which is ironic because I am now pretty dang good at selling a love of education to my kids!”

How long have you been teaching?
“I taught pre-school in college for 3 years. I taught twice in Kenya, 5 months total. Then I was an au pair in Norway and nanny in New York. Now this is my 1st year teaching in a public school in America.”

I understand that you are teaching in a pretty unique situation now in California.  Could you tell us a little bit about that?
“Yes. I am in a program called ‘Teach for America’.” [According to TeachforAmerica.org, the program is basically a two-year program for recent college graduates, placing them in rural and public schools in hopes of closing the achievement gap.]

“The reason I chose TFA, says Kristin, is because of my passion for education for underprivileged children after I taught in Kenya.  My long-term goal is to learn how to be an awesome teacher in America and get the training, and then apply it, so that one day I can open my own school in Kenya.”

Open a school in Kenya?  Really?!
“I feel like that is what God has called me to do! When I was in Kenya, and I fell in love with my students and then saw what a poor education they were getting, I knew I had to do whatever was in my power to give them the education they deserve. And it is within my power to make great change! I am currently in the process of applying through Africa Inland Missions to return full-term in 2 years when I complete TFA. ”

What’s your favorite part of teaching?
“My favorite part about teaching is how excited they get when they learn something for the first time, like when the light bulb lights up (remember this is Kindergarten)!  And I also love that if I tell them something, they believe me… So I can convince them to be excited about ANYTHING—like homework, cleaning up, sharing. And really the coolest thing about being a teacher is that you have the power to change the world through each of those children who you get the privilege to influence. Being a Christian, I get to show them a little bit of light every day by loving them and believing in them, and they will change the world!”

That’s an interesting teaching philosophy.  Could you tell us more about that?
“I…think of myself as a shepherd… and I have been praying a lot and reading the verses about being a shepherd and Jesus saying he is the good shepherd. And when Nathaniel talks to David in 2 Sam 12, I use that when I think of how I want to teach to my kids…teaching to the heart.”

Comments to Kristin?  Send an e-mail to Justine@instituteforculturalinfluence.com and we’ll pass on the message!

“Perhaps the best way to learn to wash the feet of others is to take the injunction literally. Eliot Swartz is co-founder of Two Chefs on a Roll, a 180-employee private-label food manufacturer in Carson, California. Every Monday evening for 10 years, Swartz traveled from his company to Torrance Memorial Medical Center. He wasn’t organizing a fundraising campaign or serving on the board of directors. He was helping out in the emergency room. “I did whatever they asked me to do,” says Swartz. “Held the hand of a mom whose child had been in a car accident. Changed sheets. Took people down to X-ray. Took labs where they needed to be.”

“Servant leadership isn’t about being a great boss; it’s about accepting that bossing and leading aren’t synonymous. There’s nothing like changing a few bedpans to bring that lesson home.”

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070501/managing-leadership.html#at

Jeff Bridges- Crazy Heart

“Jeff Bridges portrays Bad Blake, a washed-up country-western singer whose meeting with a young journalist may help him to turn his life around.”

George Clooney- Up In The Air

“As Ryan Bingham, George Clooney plays a man who makes his living firing people and who prides himself on the absence of emotional connections in his life.”

Colin Firth- A Single Man

“Colin Firth plays George, a gay man in the early 1960s who must hide his grief over the death of his lover.”

Morgan Freeman- Invictus

“Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela, the South African president who seizes on the chances of the national rugby team in the World Cup as a means of uniting his troubled country.”

Jeremy Renner- The Hurt Locker

“Jeremy Renner portrays Staff Sergeant William James, a bomb defuser in Iraq who thrives on the risk and danger of his job.”