The heartbeat behind ROOV is getting people connected to things they are passionate about. Recently a ROOVer shared a story with us that she’d like to share with you.

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I was looking for the opportunity to serve the homeless, so I joined the “Loving the Least” ROOV. I have always had a desire to reach the underprivileged. However, since I had just moved to Dallas not that long ago, I didn’t know how to get connected with an organization. As I was browsing ROOV, I saw that Ajay had posted a gathering on serving the homeless. My fingers couldn’t click the mouse fast enough for the gathering information! I was so excited! I had never met Ajay before, so my first time meeting him was at the gathering. Since then he’s become a very dear friend of mine. While we were serving, I ended up meeting other people who had heard about the gathering through ROOV. One of the guys, Francisco, goes to my church, and I had no idea!! We even go to the same service, and I had never seen him before.

Then it got crazier… Another one of my passions is building homes for orphans. At the gathering Ajay and I talked and he ended up getting me connected with Wick, Streams of Mercy Ministries founder. They build orphanages throughout the world. A week later or so, we met with Wick and he shared his vision and stories of how the orphanages were impacting the children’s lives. Through that meeting, fellow ROOVers were a part of helping sponsor two orphanages in India.

It took one gathering to help put my passions into action.

We love to blog about how the ROOV community is creatively impacting the world around them. Last weekend a fellow ROOVer posted a gathering in the “Play Poker” ROOV. They called the event ROOV Royale. It was a time for experienced and inexperienced players from all over the Dallas area to come together and play. Proceeds for the evening went to benefit two charities.

Kiva is a non-profit with the mission to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. It is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entreprepenurs in the developing world. The event contributed to the dreams of one of these entrepreneurs, Sambath Haun.

Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults. The event helped to sponsor one of Compassion’s children.

The thing we love about Gatherings like this is that it serves multiple purposes. People have a reason to gather. It’s an opportunity to meet new people. It serves a good cause. And conversations continue around things of substance afterwards.

So… kudos to the Poker ROOV for a job well done.

Hey everyone. You can all breathe a sigh of relief…ROOV is open all over the United States! Yup, it’s exciting. The thing is, while ROOV is just as tasty as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it can’t “spread” on its own…We need your help! (corny pun intended)

Spread ROOV

• Upload your address book. Don’t worry: You’ll have the option to choose which people in your address book you send it to.
• Tell your friends. Text, call, email, whatever you prefer!
• Change your status. You know… say something nice about ROOV on Facebook, Twitter, etc… Not that we would mention those on our site… Ahem… moving along.
• Post a link on any profiles, blogs or sites you have.
• Do Something Crazy. Just what it says!

We are always looking for new ways to spread ROOV and want your help. So…come up with the Craziest…Most unique…Funny…Out of the box…Totally rad way to spread ROOV and let us know about it. (Send pictures/videos and a story to growroov@roov.com.) We’ll put you on the blog…so long as it fits the above criteria!

Pilot ROOV

We’d love for your church to pilot ROOV and are happy to help you do that.

• If you are a pastor and would like to pilot ROOV in your church, please send an email to growroov@roov.com.

• If you are not a pastor but think your church would be interested in piloting ROOV, please send an email to growroov@roov.com.

Please include the name of your church, website and any other information you feel would be important.

Thanks everyone. Take care and enjoy ROOVin all across the country!

The question of how to create real Community within a church and city can be tough to navigate… or maybe not! I’m guessing that when groups can find an activity that they all enjoy, real Community naturally develops.

There have been Ultimate Frisbee Gatherings popping up on ROOV this summer. Try one in your city and see what develops!! Get your friends and your friends’ friends and you may be surprised at how that can boost the connectivity you begin to feel with others!

Fireworks

Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend events! We’re heading out to the boondocks of Dallas/Ft. Worth for some good, old fashioned fireworks! Gatherings are being posted as well as ROOVers are deciding to do something fun for the Fourth together… Ah… I love community.

Some other thoughts…

I have been really humbled through conversations I’ve had over the last few weeks. After talking with people across the country that are passionate about Jesus, I leave each one stirred up… From pastors to passionate 20-somethings one phrase keeps running through my mind at the end of each conversation, “The Church is vibrant.” Sometimes I think it’s easy to think of all the things that we wish we could change or wish weren’t like they are. But when I stop and take a look into the hearts of so many people… the church is vibrant and it’s moving forward. That’s exciting and I’m motivated.

Ladies & Gentlemen… It is time for a ROOV story! Every day people on ROOV are making important connections and we’d like to take some time here and there to let you know about things that are happening on ROOV.

Here’s Gari-Anne’s story:

When I created a ROOV on adoption, a woman named Donna found me. She too has a passion for adoption because she had placed a child herself as a young woman. She is now married and has always had a passion for girls who have struggled in the same way that she did. She can fully understand the pain of giving up a child and the difficulties that arise afterwards as you attempt to put the pieces of your life back together.

She recently began a home for young woman who are giving their child up for adoption, or have in the recent months. Her home is called “To Prepare A Place.” She allows these young girls to live her in her beautiful home while she gives them continuing education, room & board, and most importantly introduces them to Christ.

Two weeks ago I got a call from a young woman who had lived with me at Gladney, placed her baby for adoption, and then moved out to start life over again. Due to some intense rejection and pain from losing her baby, she attempted suicide. By the grace of God she is still alive! She really doesn’t have anyone to turn to, so I began (along with her caseworker) to find her somewhere to live after discharging from the hospital.

I instantly thought of “To prepare A Place.” I called Donna and we began her evaluation process. Three days later she moved into her home and is on the road to recovery. I am really praying for her salvation and I am thrilled to have met Donna through ROOV. I really believe that she will be the Lord’s tool to introduce my sweet friend to Jesus.

If you have a story to share, feel free to submit it to info@roov.com.

I had dinner a few nights ago with a guy named Dave that I just recently met. I met him at an art show of a mutual friend. He made me see my friends in a completely different light. He started with asking a few questions that together were very, very telling.

First, he asked me, “How many friends do you have on online on your ROOV thing and Facebook and whatever you have?” I told him I have over a thousand and he scoffed. He asked, “How many friends do you have?” I started to think of how many of the 1000+ people I would call a friend. In the middle of my thinking and making that “uhhhhhhhh…” sound we all make, as we enter into that pensive state of pondering, he stopped me. He asked me the exact same thing, but with a tone that let me know he was asking a deeper question than I was answering.

He added how in certain cultures a friend is someone who “reflects truth to you.” In other words, someone that is deeply honest with you for your complete wellness. Someone who knows you…really knows you and has your best interests at heart. He asked me again, “How many friends do you have?” I stopped and thought again. This time he let me think. I abstained from the “uhhhhhhhh…” sound. “Probably 10 to 15″ I said.

Then Dave asked me, “How many people are in the world?”

“6 Billion.” I said.

“So what are the odds of having a friend?”

I paused. I didn’t quite follow him.

“You have 10 friends. There are 6 billion people in the world. What are the odds of having a friend?” he asked again.

I understood. “10 out of 6 billion” I answered.

“Value your friends.” Dave said. Dave is a wise man.

The odds of having a friend–a real friend, a reflector of truth–are less than the likelihood of getting struck by lightning or attacked by a shark. Remember your friends and invest in them. Pick them wisely and value them. I’m going to be doing this a lot more than I have been.

Thanks Dave.

Trey

The sun is out, the temperature in Dallas has topped 100 degrees and vacation plans are underway. I’m curious about your favorite summer memories. Discuss.

For me I think it was the summer that I was 17. I had wanted to go on a mission trip for years. Finally that summer everything started working together, and I went to Hong Kong for 2 months. It was when I was in Hong Kong that I discovered my heart for missions and God’s heart for true relationship with me. It was on the mission trip that I finally began to taste what a relationship with God can be. I guess before that point being a Christian was what I did. I was just sort of good at being good, you know? But that summer… I began to see the heart of God and began to understand that I really could have a real relationship with Jesus. Yeah, that was a good summer.

Missions. I definitley always want to be a part of what God is doing in the world. It’s easy for me to get distracted by “things” and forget that God’s heart is for all of His people. His heart is that all would know Him and I want my heart to be as much like His as possible. For me, I can’t go on missions this summer, but I can still be a part of it. I can give and I can pray… I can pray like it was my real-life brother over in Burma with no clean drinking water. I can pray and ask God to deposit His heart into mine and show me what to do. Yeah, there is something I can do.

If any of you are looking to go on missions, there are several groups that organize these types of trips. One of the groups is called Adventures in Missions. They do college-aged trips and have been around for a while. There is an AIM ROOV as well. You can also check out the Overseas Missions ROOV and get some more dialogue going.

Okay… now I’m going to get back to work. Have a great weekend!

To our new ROOV blog viewers, welcome! Up to this point, the blog has been mainly for updates on the site… but blogs are so much more useful than that. So, from here on out, the blog is for both updates AND our candid thoughts on life, God, culture, community, the church, funny stories about Chris or just cool things we found on the Internet. So keep checking in.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of blogs. However, I have never actually written one (don’t judge) so I’m very excited right now.

The other day I read something that got me thinking…

It was an article talking about the importance of excellence in everything a church does… The author mentioned music, videos, communication style, etc. He said that, “each thing, if botched up, could be the thing that turned someone off to your church.” I know everyone probably has an opinion of how church should be done. Some will say that all of that is trivial and the service is simply a tool. Others are devoted proponents of the high end production style church service. I’m not taking sides. However, I want to reference this idea—that a random person just checking out this whole God and church idea might be turned off by a poorly orchestrated and disorganized presentation. Whether it’s a very simple or elaborate production, if it is done poorly it can really have a negative effect.

The idea got me thinking a little deeper on the subject. Personally, I don’t work for a church, so, the way I show the Gospel message is my life. Hence, some questions: What if I understood that every part of my life was representing the transforming message of the Gospel? What if it was more than a nice thought I considered once in a while? What if it was actually a conviction I held? Would I live certain parts differently? My bet would be yes. Right now I’d probably be graded with a D if I’m lucky.

A very simple example—imagine if I’m sitting in a restaurant and am a complete tool to the waiter, and they then overhear me talking about God or the church. That’s some bad publicity right there. What if I lived constantly understanding that I may be the only Jesus many people I meet ever come in contact with. I would hate to botch that up. I know we have tremendous freedom from legalism and from doing things to justify ourselves before God. I’m not talking about that. I’m saying what if my typical MO was driven constantly by this understanding that I represent Christ on earth to some people. I’d probably be doing things differently. Ok that’s all for now. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Hello ROOVers!

Some of you may have noticed and many of you have already tried this out, but there is a Gathering function on the site that is a must for all ROOVers!

Since ROOV has been open, there have been several Gatherings that have taken place: Game nights, discussions around business topics, camping trips, concerts… and the list goes on!

Gatherings can be either small or large… whatever you prefer. You can make them open to anyone or only to a select group. Basically… they are what you want them to be.

Recently there was a Gathering in Dallas that was not only a ton of fun, but it also helped meet a need.

The ROOV? Impact Africa.

The night consisted of African themed food, African jewelry, an authentic African drum line and an auction for some amazing art pieces. Then you add in a bunch of incredible people, and it made for a pretty sweet evening. All the proceeds went to benefit Caring Hands.

So, check for Gatherings that other ROOVers create or create your own. They show up on the right hand column of each ROOV page.

Now, let’s keep creating community and rallying around the things we enjoy and the things God has called us to do!