Clan Member Interview: SplashFalcon | - Gaming by Grace

This is the first in hopefully a series of interviews we will have of GBG members. I will tell you right up front that I chose Splash because he has a need, a deep need, one that YOU can possibly help him. I will let you see what that need is as you read through the interview. Please be sure to read all the way though it, you will be blessed to learn about this amazing man of God!

Dear Fellow GBG?ers,

Did you know that we are bless to have a true missionary in our midst? No he is not off in Kenya or the jungles of the Amazon, but resides here in the U.S. It is our very own SplashFalcon. A man whom I have met personally and have a tremendously deep respect for.

Who are you?

Brent Jordan
47 years old
I?m married to Carol and I have 3 children.

Where are you located?

Knoxville TN at the University of Tennessee and other local smaller colleges in town.

Why did you choose SplashFalcon, I mean come on was BrightOrange taken?

I did look for Tennessee Vol type gamer tag but I couldn?t think of one that worked for me. I was a Scout Life guard at Boy Scout camp and taught Lifesaving merit badge for 5 summers. One year a comic book movie entitled Flash Gordon hit the theaters and Queen did a song on the sound track. Each staff member was given a made up Super Hero name. I received a parody name from Flash Gordon to Splash Jordan. The Queen lyrics were rewritten and the refrain sung in same tune ? Splash! ah ah ? Savior of the waterfront! Splash! ah ah He?ll save everyone of us!

Anyway, my Boy Scout nick name was Splash. So on xbox live Splash of course was already taken and I didn?t want to add a number to it so with the help of xbox live suggestions I added falcon because I always thought falcons were pretty cool.

Who among the gaming community have you met in real life?

I have a full gamertag list and about 75% I?ve met at some point in real life. About 1/3 of my list I know in around town and on the college campus. The around town guys were old guys like me that I used to game with at a bi-weekly LAN party at my neighbors house during H2 H3 days. The rest are students that I know through my ministry at UT. I?ve have attended 3 LAN parties from several gaming communities and met a bunch of gamers there. Thanks to summer mission travels I?ve met several GBG related gamers and guests to the GBG site (and I hope I don?t forget someone):

Adullam SBG
cookinwidbutter
CWoodRedeemed
DJ Official
Go Vols Go
GridironGrace
IRON Hojimoto
La Pistola
TOBYWON
Toasty Cracka
TruthPastor GBG
wyoming001
zgamemaster

Who among those you have NOT met would you really like to meet?

Of course everyone! Hopefully, I?ll get closer to my goal at the East Coast LAN! I hope to meet Red Baron at a national Cru event. I was really close to meeting No False Gods when he was in Mississippi and Kingko when I was out in Oregon. The west Tennessee guys have invited me over too. Someday.

When did you start playing video games?

As a kid, I started with a Mattel Electronics football hand held game with LED lights simulating football players. In high school, along with a crude home consol version of Pong, I plugged a lot of quarters in machines at the local arcades and played Space Invaders and Galaga. There was a long period of time of not really playing any video games until I bought my second PC in the mid-nineties when I played Total Annihilation at a LAN party with a bunch of college students from my Bible Study. That?s when I first realized the video gaming is more fun with friends and could also be used as a ministry tool.

What is your favorite video game EVER!

Halo 2 is what started it all. It was the first consol game I played. My brother, cookinwidbutter, talked me into hanging out with him one night playing H2 co-op. I was hooked. That week I took my Christmas money and I bought an original xbox, Halo 2, and signed up my GT SplashFalcon on xbox live. I connected with mulitple LAN parties in my hometown with a bunch of church friends. I joined several Gaming communities online, which is how I met TruthPastor and many other friends. Through those connections, I traveled to LAN parties in St Louis, Memphis, and Ohio. And? as a 40 year dad, It gave me a chance to connect to and reach out to students in the dorms that may not initially come to a Bible study.

Do you prefer to have vibration ON or OFF on your controller?

One of our gaming friends advised me to turn off vibration because my ?aiming would be better? and I would ?instantly have a better k/d.? So I did but my k/d is still the same. lol Sometimes I?ll turn it on for driving games or playing a campaign.

If you had a choice to Drive the Warthog or be the Gunner, which would you choose?

Driver.
(One of my funniest nights of Halo is TruthPastor teaching me how to drive a Warthog. I was like a sixteen year old getting his drivers license.)

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I always told my parents that I wanted to be a writer.

At what age did you recognize the need for Jesus as your Savior?

At nine years old, I prayed a prayer every night, ?Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray thee Lord, my soul do take.? It was the scariest prayer because after I prayed I was convinced I would die that night and wondered if God would really take my soul. It was also at that time my grandparent took me to church and I went to Vacation Bible School. I remember hearing for the first time that it wasn?t a prayer that saved me but my trust in the Savior. That night I prayed a different prayer of asking for forgiveness and trusting in Jesus and inviting him into my life. I remember opening my eyes and whispering, ?He did it! I?m His.? I had the best night?s sleep ever.

What do you do for a living?

I?m a full time staff member/missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ. Basically, I?m a campus minister to college students.

Full Time? What does it mean to be a ?full time staff member/missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ??

I guess I should say it?s my full time vocational job, my career. I?m employed by Campus Crusade for Christ.

What is it you do for Campus Crusade?

I?m a full time campus minister working with college students at The University of Tennessee and local campuses. I trust the Lord to lead me to students that He is working in their hearts and lives.
I have the privilege of sharing the gospel, leading Bible studies, and training students to do the same. We call it win, build, and send. Win students to Christ, Build them up in their faith, and train them and Send them out to Win, Build, and Send.

Who is in your family?

I have a family of five. Carol and I went on our first date on a summer mission trip in Thailand over 23 years ago. Later we developed a deep friendship on a year long mission trip in the former Yugoslavia. Carol has been my loving wife and ministry partner for 18 years. I have a daughter (17) and two sons (15,12).

I know you primarily work with students on the campuses in the United States but we also learned about you meeting your wife in Thailand and Developing a friendship in Belgrade. Where else has your ministry with students taken you outside the US?

My heart is for the world and I feel the Lord has me here in the US to cast vision to our US for needs of the students of the world. I?ve been to Thailand and Belgrade, Serbia for sure. Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, Hungary, Bulgaria, Middle East, India, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia. I?ve not made it to Africa yet? maybe someday.

What is the greatest miracle you have seen God do in your life?

I guess the greatest personal miracle was that God pursued me. I was reached out to as a college student. Though I knew Christ I wasn?t walking with Him. I started attending a Bible Student on my floor that I later found out was a Campus Crusade for Christ Bible study. As a result, I prayed a repentant/rededication type prayer and started the journey to turn every area of my life over to the Lord. Knowing Him is a miracle and is still a journey even today but everything about my life changed that day as a college student.

Why reach college students? How would you describe your effect on the students at UT?

I hope my greatest contribution is to help students know and love Jesus better. I believe that college students are the future leaders of our communities and world. Students make three foundational decisions at their age. Master, Mate, Mission. Who or what will their master will be ? the world, materialism, themselves, etc. or God? What type of person do they want to spend the rest of their life with? And what is God?s plan, purpose, or mission for their lives? I enjoy walking through this significant live stage with students. My dream is that God would use these students greatly as leaders in our communities, schools, churches, businesses, government, and the world.

So how have you used video games as a means of outreach with your ministry?

Years ago, the very first night of a fall semester kick-off Bible study the guys invited me up to play Halo 2 with them. I told them I played a little and I would love to join them. We had about 10-12 guys with 2 boxes linked together and just passing around controllers. Remember, this was the first time I had really met any of them. The first game I played, I was sitting across the dorm room trying seeing and play on a 13inch TV. I was like 4 and 15 K/D. They were gracious and thought, ?Yeah, the old guy can?t play, but it?s nice that he?s hanging out with us.? A few games later they gave me the controller again and I moved closer to the TV. In that sniper game and I went 25/2. Instantly, I was in.

For years, at least once a semester, I?ll host a LAN party at my house. All the guys involved in my discipleship group can bring their Bible study guys and friends as an outreach and play games from 9pm-4am. It gives them a chance to hang and connect with people that may not normally come to an outreach event. Some days, I?ve even carried a controller in my book bag on campus so I can play a few games with contacts that I meet in the dorms.

What can we do to pray for you and your ministry through Campus Crusade?

Pray that I would of course keep Christ at the center and not rely on my own human efforts. I?ve been working with students for 25 years now and 3 more as a student volunteer. I want to see each day as a fresh leading of His work through me.

What can GBG members do to support you?

First, pray. As I mentioned this above I need people to join with me to lift our ministry in prayer.

Second is financial support. The way Campus Crusade for Christ is set up is that we (or my individual family) trusts the Lord to provide all of our support needs: all Income, taxes, Health benefits, etc through individuals. There are no central funds that CCC provides. Included in this support are reimbursable ministry needs like something as small as taking a student out to lunch or buying someone a Bible and up to as big a personal ministry expenses when I take a group of students on a mission project. I view these gifts not as gifts to me but gifts to the Lord.

I?ve been with this ministry now for 25 years and the Lord has always provided. The level of giving has been variable at times but God has always blessed us and given us our daily bread. Recently, we did have a life long donor have to cut back on their support due issues with the economy and I?m in a mode of trusting the Lord for new support.

Comments please post in the forums CLICK HERE!

{end interview}

There you have it GBG! ?Our very own SplashFalcon!

Here is where you can help, if you have a heart to give monetarily ? be it a one time gift or a monthly on-going gift, ?then please click here and contact SplashFalcon directly via Private Message on the forums.?

If you are wondering if this is biblically appropriate, please feel free to contact me directly through the forums.

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Source: http://www.gamingbygrace.com/?p=142

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