Latest News...

Jan 26, 2024: Code-a-Thon 2024: We had the privilege of recruiting at LeTourneau University's GO Week this week.
We've got 12+ coders coming from LeTourneau for our Spring Break Code-a-thon for Missions in March. Sign up to join them at [link]
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Apr 16, 2023: Operation Mobilization founder George Verwer passed into eternity this past Friday.
[link] We should celebrate his passion, servant's heart, and impact. At the same time, know that you don't need to be the founder of a large international mission agency to hear those words, 'Well done, good and faithful servant'. Focus humbly on seeking God's kingdom first and on faithful obedience. Love the things God loves. Let Him in His sovereignty do the rest, as He weaves your life into the beautiful fabric of His Kingdom. LightSys is one of dozens of missions agencies today that have roots in Operation Mobilization - we were based out of the OM USA office for our first eight years of ministry.
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Oct 5, 2022: Come use your skills for the Kingdom!
Mobilization season is here again. We're preparing the LightSys booth for college visits where we share the need for Geeks in Missions. Our first stop is LeTourneau University's Career Fair on Thursday, October 6th. Pray for God to bring us the right students!
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Mar 17, 2022: A huge thank you to Dan Williams - our amazing volunteer Scrum master who flies out to Colorado each year for our Spring Break Code-a-Thon for Missions events.
His goal: to help the young coders understand basic project management and keep them on task as they work on programming projects for missions. Dan - you make a huge impact on the students and the projects and in our hearts. Thank you.
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Feb 19, 2019: Story One: Becoming a Nonprofit: If Jesus can provide a tax payment in a fish's mouth,
then surely... Today's anecdote is a testament to God's faithfulness from long long ago in the ancient history of LightSys. That is, back in the ancient days of May 2000. You probably know that LightSys is a "tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit". But, what does all of that gobbledygook mean? To you it means that your gifts are tax-deductible and provides you the assurance that we're not essentially a for-profit corporation in disguise... but to us it meant a lot of work and a real faith-building endeavor! God Provides Finances Just for some context, LightSys has always sought to be a financially efficient organization, and our early days were no exception (in fact, those days were almost too much of a non-exception!). We had a total of $1,400 in donations during our first year (1999), setting the stage for being in a position to need a miracle. May 31st of 2000 was for all practical purposes our deadline for filing for 501(c)(3) status. Unfortunately, by May of 2000 we only had $433.50 in our bank account -- not enough for the $500 filing fee. Not only so, but we lacked the knowledge to fill out the form (and we definitely lacked the finances to pay someone else to do it!). The form was a real bear, too, at 10 pages long, not to mention requiring dozens of pages of exhibits and attachments. We were praying for the finances and expertise, as well as for a fair and understanding person at the IRS to review our case (we had heard horror stories of poorly handled cases). Then, in mid-May, we received a $100 check from a generous donor - we finally had the funds (with a whole $33.50 to spare)! Excitedly we continued to research the IRS form and continued to pray for the knowledge and confidence to fill it out. God Provides Knowledge About five days prior to the May 31st deadline, we received a surprise email from a guy from Texas who had just visited our website, saw a note that we were in the process of obtaining 501(c)(3) status, and wanted to send us a copy of his (computer related) ministry's 501(c)(3) application, if it would help us file ours (i.e., so we could use his successful application as a model for ours)! He even mailed it overnight to us and wouldn't let us pay him for the shipping! Encouraged, we got our application package (all 50 pages of it) in the mail to the IRS, on time. More Divine Provision But this was not to be the only set of miracles related to becoming a nonprofit. In mid-August of 2000, the IRS had a concern about one aspect of our application, and our case reviewer brought up the issue with us. After kindly explaining the issue and the recent IRS ruling applying to it, she gave us several options we could pursue in order to resolve the issue and obtain our exempt status. The IRS needed our answer within a few days, and our "answer" legally required that LightSys co-founders Greg Beeley and Tim Young hold an official business meeting. Unfortunately, while Greg was discussing this with the IRS, Tim was meandering around among random mission groups between San Francisco and Seattle, and he did not plan to "surface" for another week. A week would be too long! Not knowing where else to turn to locate this exceedingly itinerant Tim Young, Greg called Tim's parents. In order to appreciate how much of a long shot this was, you need to understand that members of the Young family rarely kept each other up-to-date regarding such detailed goings-on. Predictably, Tim's father did not know where Tim was. However, he did happen to know someone who did! While meandering through Oregon, Tim had providentially come across an old friend of his father; that friend had then promptly called Tim's father in Arizona to catch up. Greg then called Tim's dad's friend, who also did not know where Tim was, but he knew someone who did. After yet a third phone call, Tim and Greg were finally in touch, had completed their required business meeting, and Greg faxed the appropriate documents to the IRS. Less than a week later, in late August of 2000, we received our official "tax exempt" recognition from the IRS, allowing us to confidently issue "tax deductible" gift receipts! Not only so, but the IRS issued us a firmer decision than we had expected, meaning we did not have to do as much work to justify our 501(c)(3) status in the years to come.
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Feb 19, 2019: Stories of God's Faithfulness: A collection of short stories of God's faithfulness to His children serving in missions. This blog is dedicated to God's glory and to your encouragement.
We deeply desire that you would be set free to place your full trust in God, not primarily because of our stories, but because you choose to trust Him. But, our hope is that these stories will help you envision walking in a place where your faith can't be shaken by circumstances. Many years ago, pastor Jimmy Seibert of Antioch Community Church said, "Many of us want to see God do a miracle in our lives, but we don't want to be in a position to need one." So, God has to force us into those situations, for His glory and for our joy. Count it all joy, my friends!
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Dec 3, 2018: A Mission Infobank major update!
Visit [link] to browse tens of thousands of Great Commission maps, charts, photos, research documents, and useful internet links (create an account to download high-res images). #missions
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2024 Thirteenth Annual

Mar 4-8 | Mar 11-15 | Mar 18-22 | Mar 25-29

Code :: Design :: Worship Jesus :: Pray :: Have Fun :: Meet Missionaries :: Learn

Our Thirteenth Annual Spring Break Code-a-Thon for Missions is coming up in March of 2024! Code-a-Thon is a time where Christian software developers, designers, project managers, and tech writers can gather for coding, fellowship, prayer, worship, learning about missions, and fun. We'll look forward to seeing you at LightSys in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado this coming March!

Registration for Code-a-Thon 2024 is closed. Please contact us if you have questions.

Code-a-Thon Q&A:

I'm interested in coming! Get a team (or teams) together! We recommend coming as a group of at least three people, but individuals and those in smaller groups are welcome and we'll likely join such groups with other groups when forming teams.
Is this open to non-programmers? Yes! We need graphics designers, project managers, and tech writers, to be a part of the event, too, but we specifically do need programmers on all of the project teams.
What programming languages will be used? The most common have been Android Java, PHP+MySQL, HTML+CSS and Javascript, iOS/ObjectiveC/Swift, and C/C++, but there have been a smattering of other languages/environments, too.
Will I have time to go hiking? Yes (weather permitting)! We give one day off during the week for you to go have fun outdoors.
Will LightSys have Code-a-Thon during my Spring Break week? We'll host Code-a-Thon during weeks in March where we have sufficient interest. Let us know if you'd like to attend!
I'm not sure I'm experienced enough in programming (or a related field) yet. We'll have professional software developers who help us review our project proposals, and many of them are willing to help you better understand the design, scope, and nuances, of your project.
Is this a Hackathon? Yes! We just use the term Code-a-Thon so that your non-tech friends and family can better understand the name of the event (i.e., we're not unlawfully breaking into computers!), though just between us, yes you can call it a Hackathon. :) It does, however, differ from a traditional hackathon by having a different schedule and timbre, with a spiritually immersive environment and a longer schedule that provides about 35 hours of actual programming time.
What's the Cost? Code-a-Thon is free, except that we do request that you raise some support so that you can be a part. For our March 2024 events, you will need to raise funds (tentatively, $200 per person, for 2024) for LightSys so you can be a part. Donors can send support to LightSys, for the Code-a-Thon fund, and donations are tax-deductible. You also may want to have some of your own spending money to do fun things on your day off.
Is this just for students? Anyone can come who wants to use their skills to further Jesus' kingdom around the world! We are specifically holding this event during Spring Break so that university students can come, but the event is not limited to students. Come join us!

More Opportunities at LightSys...

Interested in information about Code-a-Thon as well as about internships, our gap year program, full-time work with LightSys, volunteering, helping to review project proposals and mentor participants, or other ways of helping in missions with LightSys? Help us start to get to know you at: http://LightSys.org/start.

Or, check out more ways you can get involved!