PRAYER CARDS!

Want one of these sweet prayer cards... e-mail me your address to hmupdate@gmail.com 

and I'll get one to you.

Business/Prayer Card (Front)

Business/Prayer Card (Back)

Prayer Card (Postcard)

 Quantities not really limited. Collect them all.
Designed by Daryl.
This is pretty much a tast of some of the design work I'll be doing for Victory.

The HM Update Newsletter

The newly revived The HM Update (The Howard Ministry Update) newsletter is about to hit the presses and the e-mail boxes. Got an interest in what I'll be doing in Alaska, send a message to hmupdate@gmail.com with address or e-mail address and I'll send you my newsletter sharing the work I'll be doing in Alaska.

"But Daryl, how does is differ from this?"
Glad you asked. The HMUpdate newsletter is not just an "old school" way of keeping in touch. It helps those that don't have computer access or want a physical/digital copy in their mail box. It is a long form letter that will give a rundown of what has been going on in the work that I will be doing at Victory Bible Camps of Alaska. Yes, frequent updates are posted here. But this long form is my formal way of keeping people up to date with what is going on. And yes, the newsletter will be posted here. But if you want a prayer card to post somewhere to remember the work that I'm doing and to remember to pray for me, you can message me at hmupdate@gmail.com for one, or get the physical copy of the newsletter.

Over the last seven summers of working at Victory, I’ve experienced working in many areas of camp. Everywhere from counseling and ministry team, to audio visual and summer leadership. In the summer before I started the internship, a friend on the AV team and I started working on doing some projects on the side. Most of them were figurative Victory theme designs. We also brainstormed over video concepts for advertising as well. During the internship I started doodling designs for camp shirts and working on putting together brochures. As time has progressed, I started doing more and more work on the promotional side of Victory. Three t-shirt design concepts, a few promotional videos, various brochures, a fair booth, and many miscellaneous projects later, God decided to point me further into this area of ministry.

It is interesting to see how many ministries are a step behind companies when it comes using new innovative means of promotion. Many do not have updated promotional material or the social networking tools to connect with it's supporters and potential guests. With technology and social networking getting more advanced every year, it is hard for ministries to keep updating and adapting to the changing of times. The cost to outsource is becoming too great of a cost to continually produce brochures, multimedia presentations, promotional material and website updates. This is where I come in. With all these mounting costs, I could see ways that the camp could produce much of this material in house. God has gifted me with the creative thinking and skills to produce much of this work. What started off as me assisting the camp in producing projects here and there to help with costs, has become a burden to work at the ministry full time in the area of promotions.

Before I left Victory this fall, I was approached by Victory Ministries CEO (Brian Headdings) and Victory Bible Camps Director (Joel Ruisch) about joining the ministry in the area of public relations. There was a lot of time spent in prayer over what the job entailed, who I would report to, and what other areas of camp I would assist with. In the end, everything fell into place. I was unsure on if this was the area God wanted me to be in. Through prayer and reading the Bible, God reassured me that this is where He wanted me.

Working in the public relations team means I will be assisting Victory in creating promotional material that will go out to supporters and churches. This entails making videos, update social networking sites, designing brochures, assisting the summer AV team, and more. All of this is to help keep everyone in the loop as to what we are doing at Victory and how they can be a part of it. 

Like many of the individuals working at Victory, I will be raising support before I can officially start at Victory. I am to raise $30,000 toward my yearly mission salary. That is a break down on $2,500 a month in dedicated monthly supporters, or gifts. I’m not looking for people to give just for the sake of giving or seeing me work in Alaska. When someone is giving to support anyone working at Victory, they are just as much a part of the ministry as anyone else there. You are helping in Victory’s vision of connecting people of all ages with God through the ministry of Christian camping and conference retreats. If there is any interest at all (or even none at all), I ask that you prayfully consider how God can use you in this ministry. If you are to give, God will lead you to that.

I know this has been a long update. But I thank you for sticking it through and reading this. Take some time today and pray that God lead individuals that will help support me as I seek to work at Victory, as well as praying for the ministry and other families and individuals raising support as well. Thanks again.

Grace and Peace,

Daryl J. Howard

What has been going on...

   Well, life has been not so busy. So I have no excuse as to why I haven't really posted on here lately. I have been trying to gather my thoughts. But with no real deadlines to meet, my procrastination can sometimes get the best of me. But here is a little rundown of what is going on.

ROCC
   Reaching Our Community for Christ is a youth outreach run by individuals that have a burden for the youth in our local communities. Recently we went to an all-nighter with over 200 youth. It was a great time of fun, and planting seeds in many youth that would never set a foot in a local church.
   ROCC provides an after-school discipleship meeting once a month. We watched as our group has grown, and the youth involved have a desire to learn and grow.
   We have our own event coming up the same night as the Super Bowl. Last year had a fair turnout (seeing a PA team was playing). We plan on having breakout sessions that discuss real-life issues these teens face each day and how faith plays a part in it, along with tons of games and food to accompany the football game on TV.

FAMILY LIFE
   Family life has been interesting. Both of my parents are retired, so the house is almost never empty. True quiet time is spent late at night (long after they have gone to bed), when they attend a relatives sporting events, or I escape to a local cafe for a break from my normal routine.
   My sister moved back down to Philadelphia. So a quick move was planned, and we had her back there in a day. On the way down her car had a little malfunction. It wasn't a wek later, and I was making a day trip in and out of the city to do a car swap. Repairs were much cheaper here than in the city. During Thanksgiving, cars were swapped back.
   Thanksgiving was spent making a little trip down the Turnpike to my mom's parents. Grandma and Grandpa Murray hosted a nice time of relaxing and spending time with family. It was a great time catching up and planning some upcoming events.
   Sunday should be fun. (That's later today!) I get to spend it with family I haven't seen in years. I'll fill you in later.

AWANA
    With Pastor Larry (Pastor of Warren Center Baptist Church... the church I am currently attending) having to miss a AWANA night, I stepped in to teach the 3rd-6th & 6th-12th classes. It was a handfull, but it got me back into teaching youth. It is something I hadn't done in a while, and need some brushing up in.

SUPPORT RAISING
   Support raising is going slow. I am confirming some dates in which I will be speaking in some local churches. Hopefully this will get the ball rolling and get word out about the burden I have for working in Alaska.

ME PERSONALLY
   Then there is me. How am I doing? Honestly it is hard being home. Ever since my internship at Victory, I have felt like Alaska is my home. There was a little time that I thought that I wouldn't return, but God has had plans for me. Sitting here in Pennsylvania is hard. It is a little depressing. But I can't say that it hasn't had it's rewards. I have had time to rest from a very busy summer. God has refreshed my mind and given me tons of ideas for things that I can do at Victory, and giving me time to evaluate my own life and make improvements.
   As said before, it is hard to be here. But I can see why I am here. God has a lot of work to do in me before I return to Alaska. Each day has been a battle to keep focused on my goal of returning. I can't say that I have been successful in that battle. For one example, I tried work... but God had other plans. My devotions have been a challenge each step of the way. It seems each day God wants to point out another area of my life that I need to step back and re-evaluate. They aren't quick fixes, and will take time to fix these habits that have been ingrained.
   Hopefully as I continue on this journey in ministry, I will continue to open up and share with you what is going on and how I am growing. I want to be real with you.



That seems to wrap it up for this little update. I plan on posting what will be a detailed rundown of what I will be doing at Victory, and how you can help. Stay tuned...

Gathering My Thoughts

It has been too long since the last time I posted. I have to gather my thoughts.

Less thinking... more praying. That has been my theme lately.

A Lil' Taste Of The Future...

Alright, so now that I have part of a little taste of the past out of the way, what about the future. I won't be doing this often since a lot of what I do I like to keep secret until it goes public. But I thought I would give you a little sample of what I have been doing for Victory.

Since my latest seasonal employment came to an abrupt end (I'll explain later), Victory asked if I could do some work for them. I mean, since this is what I'll be doing in the future, why not.
Here is a bulletin insert that will be sent out to various Churches in the areas which Victory reaches out to.   Since most church would just photocopy the master, I created a black & white insert. But seeing that I am posting this, I thought it would be fun to colorize it as well. It hasn't officially gotten the ok to print, so this is just a prototype. Enjoy!

A Lil' Taste Of The Past...

To give you an idea of what I have been doing at Victory (and a little taste of the future), I'll be posting some work that I've been doing. This would include concept art, unfinished projects, completed projects, and more.

For my first offering to you, here is some work I did for the Alaska State Fair.

VICTORY BIBLE CAMP BROCHURE

 VICTORY CONFERENCE CENTER BROCHURE

So there is just a little taste of what I've been working on. More to be posted later.