Last week, I posted my picks for this year’s 2012 Blog Madness Tournament.  I’m happy to say that three of my four picks advanced to this week’s Final Four with only Karl Bastian not making the cut (sorry Karl, I understand Gus was actually campaigning against you).  The final four is set, and it’s some hefty competition:

• Jason Martin
• Jim Wideman
• Jenny Funderburke
• West Coast CM (Anthony Prince)

So, today marks the official beginning of my “Vote For Jenny 2012” campaign.  I said last week that I hoped she wins this whole thing, and this week I am trying to do something about it.  I’ve been a fan of Jenny’s blog since it was called something like “Thoughts my Husband is Sick of Hearing” (I’m paraphrasing, but I’m pretty sure it was something like that).  Now rebranded “Kidmin Thoughts” and hosted at JennyFunderburke.com, I sincerely believe it to be one of, if not the, best children’s ministry blogs out there.  Jenny writes with a knowledgeable, and very approachable, style.  I am consistently edified and inspired by her thoughts and stories.

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This video has nothing to do with children’s ministry, but I came across it this week and thought it was kind of cool. How often do you find someone good with numbers who also has a sense of humor. As someone who works with numbers in their spare time, I found this fascinating.

Give it a shot and let me know if you can do it as quickly!

I have spent the whole week doing shameless self-promotion trying to get people to vote for Dad in the Middle and Kimdin1124 in the Kidmin March Madness competition.  Today, I wanted to take a step back and encourage you to help someone out who really needs it!  Michael Chanley, the founder of CMConnect.org, announced a plan sometime last week for the children’s ministry community to come together as one to support a worthy cause.  This opportunity will raise funds for a very worthy missionary effort in the country of Belize.  David and Karen Rhodes are founders of Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus and they are working diligently to reach the children of Belize with the Gospel of Christ.  They need a van to take their ministry to the next level.  The goals of this effort is to raise enough money to purchase a van for the ministry and provide other support.  You can help out by clicking the picture to the left and purchasing a square (or squares) on the van.  All proceeds are going to the ministry.  Here is more about the effort from Michael:

Our goal is to raise $65,000 (less than $10 per CMConnect member). This money will do a lot of work to support this mission:

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