I had planned on typing out a blog on a single topic, but this week there've been couple things bouncing around in the romper room that is my brain, so instead you will get another conglomerate of ideas. Enjoy.
- Arthur had our 4th of July Fireworks on Saturday night and I kinda struggled with it. As I've said in a previous blog, due to this missions journey God has taken us on, I'm kinda ruined for the American way of thinking. And as I sat waiting for the show to begin I felt a little torn. On one hand I know that the Arthur fireworks does a lot of good for bringing revenue into Arthur and supporting our local economy. But I couldn't help and think of the good that could be done in the world with the absurd amount of money spent on 45 minutes of instant gratification entertainment. The economy can sink, but if there's one thing we as americans will shell out cash for it's entertainment. We might not do it as frequently as before, but we will still pay for our movies/cable/sporting events/gaming systems/etc. Now, I'm not pointing fingers or taking a "holier than thou" stance, cause I'm just as guilty as the next guy... it just got me thinking. And to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it all yet, but I'm certainly not as comfortable with it as I was before. Of course, as you well know, if I do sort it all out, you'll hear about it. :)
- And yes, that fireworks show is the one that apparently made national headlines. Yes, the 16 inch shell had a malfunction and didn't detonate until it hit the ground a couple hundred feet from the spectators. No, noone was seriously injured. Yes someone was taken away in the ambulance, but it was not a serious injury according to someone who would know. and Yes it was freakin awesome. I loved it. Kaylee loved it. No, I'm not talking about anyone who got burned in any way, but the effect of seeing a massive explosion and then seeing fire literally rain down upon me. I'm a bit of a pyro and adrenaline junkie, so that rush was just what I love. As for the people who are making all the "it was irresponsible" and "I'm never coming back" comments, when you go to a firework show and sit close, there is always a risk and you choose to take that risk. Was the malfunction intended? Of course not, but accidents happen, be glad noone got seriously hurt and move on. Thank you.
- My current favorite songs are "praise the father, praise the son" and "exalted" both by Chris Tomlin. Check em out.
- We are even deeper into "missions mode" since I will be in Mexico (along with 11 other guys) in less than a month. And Jennifer and I are working on sorting out a trip to Northern Ireland/Scotland in Sept. to attend a LWI/Adopt-A-Child conference. I've made the joke before that my life now has a category I call "APC" which means "After Paul's Call". I can still vividly remember the strange message on our answering machine from a guy I didn't know in an accent I couldn't understand. Since that call our lives have been full speed ahead and we're loving every minute of it. :D
- I saw the Transformers movie for the first time the other day (yeah I know I'm behind, but we're broke... I had to borrow it from a friend). I'll be honest I was disappointed at the language and the innuendo. I remember watching transformers as a kid (the cartoon) and loving it (side note... LOVED that they got the same guy to do Optimus Prime's voice.... SUCH a huge nostalgia thrill), but the innocence of that cartoon is lost in this movie. And I know a lot of young kids who wanted to see that movie because it's transformers, but I certainly wouldn't let Kaylee see it as a non-teenager. I've heard one argument from someone my age of "yeah I loved it as a kid, but I'm not a kid now, so I'd rather have a movie more my style". I've heard the same thing about "land of the lost" that recently came out, the Dukes of Hazzard movie and others. Basically, the original concepts have been pushed to the edge and lost it's innocence. The problem with this argument is it is totally and disgustingly selfish. Basically what the person is saying is that "I don't care about being able to share my nostalgia with kids today. That's not enjoyable for me. I'm past that, I want a movie for my enjoyment." And we wonder why american society is seen as self-serving and arrogant by the rest of the world. sigh.
- And finally on a fun note, you know how it's said some things are just lost in translation? One of my closest friends, Chuck, had a brilliant idea one day. He went to one of those translation sites on the web and entered John 3:16 from the King James Version "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life". Chuck then translated it into Japenese, copied it, and using the site translated it back into engligh. Here is the translated phrase:
"For God, his only son he was born, his love of life gave the world forever Please do not believe he killed anyone"
You gotta love it.
Hope you all have a great holiday weekend. God bless.
- Shrek
Yep, That is the World Series trophy.
I know... you're jealous. It's ok. Just repent of your sin and become a Cardinal fan.
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Showing posts with label Adopt-A-Child. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adopt-A-Child. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Because I know you've been dying to know...
I shall now give you a quick hit list of all things "us", that way you can get your fix and return fully focused to your lives. :D
- Tomorrow is Kaylee's 3rd birthday. I would say I can't believe she is that old, but on most days she acts much older than a 3 year old. For instance, one of her favorite shows at the moment is Hannah Montana, her favorite movie currently is High School Musical 3, she knows the Jonas brothers, and when I don't do what she wants she will sigh big, put her hand on her forehead and say "oh good grief" (or something similar). At this rate we will hit the "teenage years" by the time she is 6.
- For her birthday we are heading to St. Louis tonight and going to the zoo tomorrow. Here's for praying rain away tomorrow.
- We spent a week in Carrollton, GA (outside of Atlanta) for the CFN church conference. It's always a great time and this year was no exception. We got to spend time with old friends, meet new ones and even got to see the Schroeders, who had moved there from Arthur early last year. Unfortunately, as with every conference, we didn't have nearly enough time to spend with everyone, but I still wouldn't pass it up for anything.
- At the conference, one of the speakers was Daniel Juster. His intelligence level is astronomically high. Even though it left my head spinning, one of the best sessions I've ever been to, anywhere. :)
- I have been "reassigned" at work for the village. I now only work in the visitor center on Saturdays and the other days I work for the streets and alleys dept. I am the whatever guy and do whatever is needed when I'm there. Lots of scooping horse poop, weed-eating, watering and other various things. It's a nice change of pace and at least I won't be pasty-white from sitting behind a desk all summer. :D
- I'm still buzzin off the high that is the Guatemala trip. I'm missing all of my new friends from that time and long to see them again. I'm fairly certain I will be back next year, with Jenn this time. She needs to experience it and I need to get back. :D
- With Guatemala done and past, the next trip on the docket is Mexico. We leave July 25 from Chicago and fly to Morelia Mexico. We will spend a week there and return on Sunday Aug 2. We are taking a team of 12 guys down to play in a basketball tournament of sorts and do various odd job projects. Our goal is to help connect the local youth to our friends in ministry. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this trip. I'm excited to see what God has in store for the people there, I'm excited to see our guys grow and mature in God, and I get to see some dear friends in the process. PLUS you just can't beat authentic tortillas.
- On a side note with that trip, I've decided that while I'm not a proponent of "God our mother", I am certain that God is a feminist. My wife gets to say "I told you so" much too often for that not to be the case. I was freakin out about the plane tickets because we were having serious issues getting them booked. Every time we would raise the amount needed the cost would go up. So here we are about a month out and no tickets (not good for my state of mind) and the whole time I'm freakin, Jenn is saying "God knows and we believe this is His will to go, it will work out..." Well, this week we got the tickets and the price dropped to below the original price 2 months ago.... sigh. She is ALWAYS right. Grr. :)
- We thought Mexico would be our last trip for this year, but there is a chance we will take another trip in the fall. As we are becoming increasingly involved in Adopt-A-Child (more on that in the future after some of the dust has settled), we believe we might be going to a conference they have in September. The best part, it's in Northern Ireland. :D Nothing definite yet, but we REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to go.
- Don't ya just know that when God starts moving and things are happening the attacks come? After the amazing week we had last week at the CFN conference, this week I have pulled a muscle in my back, had a random allergic reaction that swelled my eyes almost shut, had Jenn's paycheck have an error, my paycheck have an error, both paychecks being small to begin with because of the time taken off for the conference, the gas on the stove left on for an entire afternoon (even though neither of us used the stove that day, which was strange), the air conditioning drain plug and leak into the utility room, the a/c vents in the back half of the house quit working after they fixed the drain, me spending a day under the house finding out that the previous drain issues had filled the a/c tube under the house with water and having to fix it, and have the shocks in Jenn's car sound like they are about to die. I REALLY hate when the minutiae of life gets in the way of doing Kingdom work, so as you can imagine I've been a little annoyed this week. The good thing, I'm not discouraged or complaining, just explaining. And rest assured, this just fires me up to do more. Like I've always said, the attacks come when you are doing something positive for the Kingdom. Enemies don't attack places that aren't strategic.
Ok, that's enough rambling for now. I'm sure I've forgotten a thousand things that are going on, but that's enough for now. I pray all is well with you. God bless.
- Tomorrow is Kaylee's 3rd birthday. I would say I can't believe she is that old, but on most days she acts much older than a 3 year old. For instance, one of her favorite shows at the moment is Hannah Montana, her favorite movie currently is High School Musical 3, she knows the Jonas brothers, and when I don't do what she wants she will sigh big, put her hand on her forehead and say "oh good grief" (or something similar). At this rate we will hit the "teenage years" by the time she is 6.
- For her birthday we are heading to St. Louis tonight and going to the zoo tomorrow. Here's for praying rain away tomorrow.
- We spent a week in Carrollton, GA (outside of Atlanta) for the CFN church conference. It's always a great time and this year was no exception. We got to spend time with old friends, meet new ones and even got to see the Schroeders, who had moved there from Arthur early last year. Unfortunately, as with every conference, we didn't have nearly enough time to spend with everyone, but I still wouldn't pass it up for anything.
- At the conference, one of the speakers was Daniel Juster. His intelligence level is astronomically high. Even though it left my head spinning, one of the best sessions I've ever been to, anywhere. :)
- I have been "reassigned" at work for the village. I now only work in the visitor center on Saturdays and the other days I work for the streets and alleys dept. I am the whatever guy and do whatever is needed when I'm there. Lots of scooping horse poop, weed-eating, watering and other various things. It's a nice change of pace and at least I won't be pasty-white from sitting behind a desk all summer. :D
- I'm still buzzin off the high that is the Guatemala trip. I'm missing all of my new friends from that time and long to see them again. I'm fairly certain I will be back next year, with Jenn this time. She needs to experience it and I need to get back. :D
- With Guatemala done and past, the next trip on the docket is Mexico. We leave July 25 from Chicago and fly to Morelia Mexico. We will spend a week there and return on Sunday Aug 2. We are taking a team of 12 guys down to play in a basketball tournament of sorts and do various odd job projects. Our goal is to help connect the local youth to our friends in ministry. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this trip. I'm excited to see what God has in store for the people there, I'm excited to see our guys grow and mature in God, and I get to see some dear friends in the process. PLUS you just can't beat authentic tortillas.
- On a side note with that trip, I've decided that while I'm not a proponent of "God our mother", I am certain that God is a feminist. My wife gets to say "I told you so" much too often for that not to be the case. I was freakin out about the plane tickets because we were having serious issues getting them booked. Every time we would raise the amount needed the cost would go up. So here we are about a month out and no tickets (not good for my state of mind) and the whole time I'm freakin, Jenn is saying "God knows and we believe this is His will to go, it will work out..." Well, this week we got the tickets and the price dropped to below the original price 2 months ago.... sigh. She is ALWAYS right. Grr. :)
- We thought Mexico would be our last trip for this year, but there is a chance we will take another trip in the fall. As we are becoming increasingly involved in Adopt-A-Child (more on that in the future after some of the dust has settled), we believe we might be going to a conference they have in September. The best part, it's in Northern Ireland. :D Nothing definite yet, but we REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to go.
- Don't ya just know that when God starts moving and things are happening the attacks come? After the amazing week we had last week at the CFN conference, this week I have pulled a muscle in my back, had a random allergic reaction that swelled my eyes almost shut, had Jenn's paycheck have an error, my paycheck have an error, both paychecks being small to begin with because of the time taken off for the conference, the gas on the stove left on for an entire afternoon (even though neither of us used the stove that day, which was strange), the air conditioning drain plug and leak into the utility room, the a/c vents in the back half of the house quit working after they fixed the drain, me spending a day under the house finding out that the previous drain issues had filled the a/c tube under the house with water and having to fix it, and have the shocks in Jenn's car sound like they are about to die. I REALLY hate when the minutiae of life gets in the way of doing Kingdom work, so as you can imagine I've been a little annoyed this week. The good thing, I'm not discouraged or complaining, just explaining. And rest assured, this just fires me up to do more. Like I've always said, the attacks come when you are doing something positive for the Kingdom. Enemies don't attack places that aren't strategic.
Ok, that's enough rambling for now. I'm sure I've forgotten a thousand things that are going on, but that's enough for now. I pray all is well with you. God bless.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
I'M RUINED! RUINED I SAY!!!
Ok, I've been back in country about a week now, so I guess I'm ready to try and put my thoughts into words (we'll see if that's true...) I will get to the reason for the blog title in a moment, but let me set the stage a bit...
Sunday, May 10 I flew out of Chicago heading for Guatemala City. I was taking part in a training trip with Adopt-A-Child (if you are unfamiliar with what AAC does, check out this blog from last summer
http://mattnjenn.blogspot.com/2008/09/im-not-dead-yet.html )
with a group from various points on the globe. To make it a little easier to organize, I will bullet point some aspects of the trip (also if you would like to see pics they can be found on my facebook page, if you don't have my facebook page go here, add me and put "blog referral" in the message line)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=643878564&ref=name
On to the trip info:
* The group consisted of 3 people from the US, 3 from Canada, 10 from various parts of the UK, a missionary from Albania and two missionaries from the US. Needless to say half the fun was trying to understand each others accents. :D Unfortunately, Jennifer was not able to go with me, but that allowed me to room with the 3 guys from Canada. While I missed Jenn terribly it was a huge blessing to get to know Dean, Jason and Richard in a way the others did not. No one else was privy to the conversations and genuine personalities that I got to experience, I am truly grateful.
* I was reminded again of how important the sponsor/child relationship is. We were at one home visit when we asked a boy (who had just tagged along) if he was sponsored, he ran back to his house and then came out with a half dozen pictures of his sponsor. He had a huge grin on his face. That connection is sooooooo important.
* There are 9 feeding programs in Guatemala. 3 are in the Antigua area and 6 in the Quiche region. 3 of the 6 in Quiche are deep in the mountains. It was gorgeous country but very treacherous terrain. Again I am humbled by the dedication these children (and the AAC workers) show in being a part of the program, and saddened by the lack of dedication to the things of God by the supposed "civilized world". (And yes, I put myself in that group)
* Both Antigua and Chixocol (in Quiche) have a medical and dental clinic. It certainly does not have all the frills and bells and whistles of a clinic in the US, but they are dedicated to serve as best they can with what they have. Much of their equipment is quite old and second hand, and they are in need of much. But they still see the needs of those who come. They don't descriminate, in fact they name patients who have aids, yet they treat them with no reservation. At the Chixocol clinic, they work 8-4 Monday through Friday and are on call 24/7. On a regular day they see 30-50 patients. Ask your local physician... that's a lot. But through this care and the nutritional menu of the programs, they are seeing a great increase in the health of the kids. The best part? They use the time at the clinic as another tool to share the gospel. AAC is about treating the body, but determined to treat the soul. That's why I'm proud to be a part of it.
* We mostly traveled using the bus (Patricia) or the vans... but my favorite way to travel was standing in the back of the pick-ups. I'd do it here if it were allowed. :D
* I got to meet the boy we sponsor, Isaias (pronouned ees-eye-eeh-ahs) which was a huge joy. He is a great kid with an infectious smile. Plus at various points of the meeting his hat was forwards, sideways and backwards.... I do that too... loved it.
* Isaias had a pretty good home situation. His father has passed away but his mom is able to provide for him with help from his older brothers. He is lucky, most kids are not in that situation. AAC did a study of the families involved with the program (about 3000) and found that 60-70% of the women are in abusive relationships. One such story we talked to a woman who's husband has many mistresses. He gave her an STD and now wants to divorce her because she is "unclean". He tells her she is worthless and damaged. This is quite common with the Quiche people. This cycle of abuse won't change without Jesus. One of the things the pastors of AAC have been doing is using Mother's Day to teach that God loves women and they do have value. It was such a blessing to see the body of Christ ministering right at the point of need. If you would, please continue to pray for these women and the people ministering to them.
* Our missionary hosts, Ana, Steve and Erminda were incredible. They were so gracious and patient with us. There are not enough words to sing their praises. I am so blessed to know them.
* There is no joy like the joy of returning to the states and being able to flush the toilet paper. If it were not for the assured looks of quizzical disgust, I would cheer in the restroom of the airport each time. But as to not seem completely bonkers I only cheer on the inside... but oh how I cheer.
I know there are a thousand things I'm forgetting to post, so they may pop up in subsequent blogs. But that's enough for now and it brings me back to the title of this blog. I'm ruined. I really am. I'm utterly and completely destroyed for this world. Everytime I travel on a missions trip I come back a a little more disconnected from the "american way of life". American society is based upon working in order to increase your things, to have nicer things and then be financially secure. But you know what? I don't care. I don't need a big house. I don't even need to own my own house. I don't need nice furniture, gimme second hand stuff. I don't need a "nice" car, just one that will get from point A to B. I don't need to go see movies, eat at nice restaurants, etc. Not only do I not need it, I don't want it. What I want is to see God move, to be involved in His plan worldwide. I want to be so in the middle of His plan for my life (and my family's) that I am trusting Him to provide. Now that doesn't mean I'm going to sit on my butt and do nothing. Right now His plan involves me working various part time jobs in order to pay the those things that are necessary (i.e. rent, utilities, clothes, food, etc.) But my clothes are hand-me downs from my youngest brother? Awesome. :D My furniture mostly came from wal-mart and/or garage sales? Sweet. I simply don't care. Like I said I'm ruined for this world. And am loving every minute of it. God bless and would love to hear from you. If you have any questions on my trip, just let me know.
- The unexpected world traveler
Sunday, May 10 I flew out of Chicago heading for Guatemala City. I was taking part in a training trip with Adopt-A-Child (if you are unfamiliar with what AAC does, check out this blog from last summer
http://mattnjenn.blogspot.com/2008/09/im-not-dead-yet.html )
with a group from various points on the globe. To make it a little easier to organize, I will bullet point some aspects of the trip (also if you would like to see pics they can be found on my facebook page, if you don't have my facebook page go here, add me and put "blog referral" in the message line)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=643878564&ref=name
On to the trip info:
* The group consisted of 3 people from the US, 3 from Canada, 10 from various parts of the UK, a missionary from Albania and two missionaries from the US. Needless to say half the fun was trying to understand each others accents. :D Unfortunately, Jennifer was not able to go with me, but that allowed me to room with the 3 guys from Canada. While I missed Jenn terribly it was a huge blessing to get to know Dean, Jason and Richard in a way the others did not. No one else was privy to the conversations and genuine personalities that I got to experience, I am truly grateful.
* I was reminded again of how important the sponsor/child relationship is. We were at one home visit when we asked a boy (who had just tagged along) if he was sponsored, he ran back to his house and then came out with a half dozen pictures of his sponsor. He had a huge grin on his face. That connection is sooooooo important.
* There are 9 feeding programs in Guatemala. 3 are in the Antigua area and 6 in the Quiche region. 3 of the 6 in Quiche are deep in the mountains. It was gorgeous country but very treacherous terrain. Again I am humbled by the dedication these children (and the AAC workers) show in being a part of the program, and saddened by the lack of dedication to the things of God by the supposed "civilized world". (And yes, I put myself in that group)
* Both Antigua and Chixocol (in Quiche) have a medical and dental clinic. It certainly does not have all the frills and bells and whistles of a clinic in the US, but they are dedicated to serve as best they can with what they have. Much of their equipment is quite old and second hand, and they are in need of much. But they still see the needs of those who come. They don't descriminate, in fact they name patients who have aids, yet they treat them with no reservation. At the Chixocol clinic, they work 8-4 Monday through Friday and are on call 24/7. On a regular day they see 30-50 patients. Ask your local physician... that's a lot. But through this care and the nutritional menu of the programs, they are seeing a great increase in the health of the kids. The best part? They use the time at the clinic as another tool to share the gospel. AAC is about treating the body, but determined to treat the soul. That's why I'm proud to be a part of it.
* We mostly traveled using the bus (Patricia) or the vans... but my favorite way to travel was standing in the back of the pick-ups. I'd do it here if it were allowed. :D
* I got to meet the boy we sponsor, Isaias (pronouned ees-eye-eeh-ahs) which was a huge joy. He is a great kid with an infectious smile. Plus at various points of the meeting his hat was forwards, sideways and backwards.... I do that too... loved it.
* Isaias had a pretty good home situation. His father has passed away but his mom is able to provide for him with help from his older brothers. He is lucky, most kids are not in that situation. AAC did a study of the families involved with the program (about 3000) and found that 60-70% of the women are in abusive relationships. One such story we talked to a woman who's husband has many mistresses. He gave her an STD and now wants to divorce her because she is "unclean". He tells her she is worthless and damaged. This is quite common with the Quiche people. This cycle of abuse won't change without Jesus. One of the things the pastors of AAC have been doing is using Mother's Day to teach that God loves women and they do have value. It was such a blessing to see the body of Christ ministering right at the point of need. If you would, please continue to pray for these women and the people ministering to them.
* Our missionary hosts, Ana, Steve and Erminda were incredible. They were so gracious and patient with us. There are not enough words to sing their praises. I am so blessed to know them.
* There is no joy like the joy of returning to the states and being able to flush the toilet paper. If it were not for the assured looks of quizzical disgust, I would cheer in the restroom of the airport each time. But as to not seem completely bonkers I only cheer on the inside... but oh how I cheer.
I know there are a thousand things I'm forgetting to post, so they may pop up in subsequent blogs. But that's enough for now and it brings me back to the title of this blog. I'm ruined. I really am. I'm utterly and completely destroyed for this world. Everytime I travel on a missions trip I come back a a little more disconnected from the "american way of life". American society is based upon working in order to increase your things, to have nicer things and then be financially secure. But you know what? I don't care. I don't need a big house. I don't even need to own my own house. I don't need nice furniture, gimme second hand stuff. I don't need a "nice" car, just one that will get from point A to B. I don't need to go see movies, eat at nice restaurants, etc. Not only do I not need it, I don't want it. What I want is to see God move, to be involved in His plan worldwide. I want to be so in the middle of His plan for my life (and my family's) that I am trusting Him to provide. Now that doesn't mean I'm going to sit on my butt and do nothing. Right now His plan involves me working various part time jobs in order to pay the those things that are necessary (i.e. rent, utilities, clothes, food, etc.) But my clothes are hand-me downs from my youngest brother? Awesome. :D My furniture mostly came from wal-mart and/or garage sales? Sweet. I simply don't care. Like I said I'm ruined for this world. And am loving every minute of it. God bless and would love to hear from you. If you have any questions on my trip, just let me know.
- The unexpected world traveler
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Ok, so here goes...
Yes, so I've been putting off writing on here because it's still such a massive undertaking to try and talk about/describe the trip. But I don't want to wait too long so I'm going to try and dive in. Part of the problem is I've been trying to figure out what type of format to write in. Should I try and break it up by days? By topic? Just go with a stream of consciousness ramble? None have really "clicked" and that's been a large struggle. So without any overall "plan" on how to write about it all, I'm just going to dive in on the first one and see where it goes. Today's method will be a collection of seemingly random ideas. Enjoy.
*Jennifer and I are now officially representatives of Adopt-A-Child, WOO HOO!!! There is no way to convey the level of excitement I feel over that. We now have packets that we are responsible for and are authorized to seek out opportunities to share about the ministry of AAC. Last Sunday we shared about the trip at church and had 3 kids sponsored, which was amazing. :D Now we are in the process of figuring out the paperwork that needs to be filed when and where, our plan for promotion, and our plan for follow-up. It's exciting.
* I am trying to figure out this whole Skype thing. Apparently this is THE way to contact people in the world of international ministry, so I'm working on it. If you happen to know me and have skype, contact me and we'll get connected.
Now for the trip...
* We flew out of the international terminal at JFK airport in NYC. It was odd to be on American soil and TOTALLY feel like a foreigner. Not bad, just odd. It wasn't a bad experience at all aside from the fact that a seven hour layover is NOT FUN.
* Germany is gorgeous. The architecture, the landscape, everything. We got to ride the autobahn. (No I didn't drive it, but by that point I had been up for about 30 hours and me behind the wheel was not a good idea.) One of the coolest things was just seeing the architecture that was old. I mean, we stood next to a statue that was constructed in 1424... That's 50 years before "Columbus sailed the ocean blue". C'mon, we just don't have that kind of history in our nation. I know the USA hasn't been around that long in terms of the world, and we at times give it lip service. But more often than not we have a view that it's all about us and always has been... that everyone should live how we live, think how we think, etc. But standing next to an almost 600 year old statue is pretty humbling. (Now it was a statue of a wiener dog, and apparently the dog saved it's owner, a royal of some sort. I'm not sure how a wiener dog saves it's owner, perhaps the man ate the dog to survive... but either way he made a statue of it.)
* I need to mention that at the moment I don't have my pictures at my disposal, so you won't get any visual aids on this one. Hopefully next time.
* We didn't do a whole lot of ministry in Germany mostly due to our jet lag. We got in on Sunday, and were up for about 40 hours by the time we went to bed, and then left early on Tuesday. So most of our time was spent trying to recover and sight-see. But it really was one of the best things we could have done, for without that time to recover, we would have been a mess in Albania.
* During our time in Germany, many of the people we met thought we must be from a very large church since they could afford to help pay for our trip. We told them that our church wasn't large, but that they were just a very giving church. This was a great commendation upon our church, but a rather sad commentary on the american church as a whole. There are churches out there with huge congregations and seemingly endless funds... but how are they used? Do we just build bigger and more extravagant buildings filled with more "stuff"? Are we ignoring a better use of our funds in the world around us? Consumerism is the focus of american society, but should it be the church's? Do we need flatscreen tvs in the halls of the church? Do we really need all the lights and flash for worship services? Do people come to our meetings because we have the Love of Christ, or because we have the "stuff"? This train of thought only got stronger as we were in Albania. It was very hard for me to come back and go on with life as before. (See previous post and the Lord of the Rigns quote) I could go off on a huge rant, but I'll stop there for now. I'm sure I'll pick it up later.
* One day in Germany we got to eat a snack at an outdoor cafe. We had waffles and hot chocolate. OH MAN was it good. :D
Ok, that's it for now. Next time I'll pick it up with thoughts on Albania. It may be random or more flowing, I don't know. Hope all is well with you. God bless.
-me
*Jennifer and I are now officially representatives of Adopt-A-Child, WOO HOO!!! There is no way to convey the level of excitement I feel over that. We now have packets that we are responsible for and are authorized to seek out opportunities to share about the ministry of AAC. Last Sunday we shared about the trip at church and had 3 kids sponsored, which was amazing. :D Now we are in the process of figuring out the paperwork that needs to be filed when and where, our plan for promotion, and our plan for follow-up. It's exciting.
* I am trying to figure out this whole Skype thing. Apparently this is THE way to contact people in the world of international ministry, so I'm working on it. If you happen to know me and have skype, contact me and we'll get connected.
Now for the trip...
* We flew out of the international terminal at JFK airport in NYC. It was odd to be on American soil and TOTALLY feel like a foreigner. Not bad, just odd. It wasn't a bad experience at all aside from the fact that a seven hour layover is NOT FUN.
* Germany is gorgeous. The architecture, the landscape, everything. We got to ride the autobahn. (No I didn't drive it, but by that point I had been up for about 30 hours and me behind the wheel was not a good idea.) One of the coolest things was just seeing the architecture that was old. I mean, we stood next to a statue that was constructed in 1424... That's 50 years before "Columbus sailed the ocean blue". C'mon, we just don't have that kind of history in our nation. I know the USA hasn't been around that long in terms of the world, and we at times give it lip service. But more often than not we have a view that it's all about us and always has been... that everyone should live how we live, think how we think, etc. But standing next to an almost 600 year old statue is pretty humbling. (Now it was a statue of a wiener dog, and apparently the dog saved it's owner, a royal of some sort. I'm not sure how a wiener dog saves it's owner, perhaps the man ate the dog to survive... but either way he made a statue of it.)
* I need to mention that at the moment I don't have my pictures at my disposal, so you won't get any visual aids on this one. Hopefully next time.
* We didn't do a whole lot of ministry in Germany mostly due to our jet lag. We got in on Sunday, and were up for about 40 hours by the time we went to bed, and then left early on Tuesday. So most of our time was spent trying to recover and sight-see. But it really was one of the best things we could have done, for without that time to recover, we would have been a mess in Albania.
* During our time in Germany, many of the people we met thought we must be from a very large church since they could afford to help pay for our trip. We told them that our church wasn't large, but that they were just a very giving church. This was a great commendation upon our church, but a rather sad commentary on the american church as a whole. There are churches out there with huge congregations and seemingly endless funds... but how are they used? Do we just build bigger and more extravagant buildings filled with more "stuff"? Are we ignoring a better use of our funds in the world around us? Consumerism is the focus of american society, but should it be the church's? Do we need flatscreen tvs in the halls of the church? Do we really need all the lights and flash for worship services? Do people come to our meetings because we have the Love of Christ, or because we have the "stuff"? This train of thought only got stronger as we were in Albania. It was very hard for me to come back and go on with life as before. (See previous post and the Lord of the Rigns quote) I could go off on a huge rant, but I'll stop there for now. I'm sure I'll pick it up later.
* One day in Germany we got to eat a snack at an outdoor cafe. We had waffles and hot chocolate. OH MAN was it good. :D
Ok, that's it for now. Next time I'll pick it up with thoughts on Albania. It may be random or more flowing, I don't know. Hope all is well with you. God bless.
-me
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I'm not dead yet
And you must read that title using the vocal inflection from Monty Python.
That's right, I'm back. Actually, I've been back in country for almost a week, but haven't written anything for the need to process everything from our trip. It was a great trip in so many ways, and even now I don't feel like I've been able to wrap my head around what took place. One of the things weighing on me has been "How do I convey what happened (both in writing and in person)?" It was too much. I've seen and heard too many things. I've been impacted by so much. I've been encouraged and humbled, broken down and rebuilt. It was more than I could have possibly hoped for. But now what? As we flew back a quote from the Lord of the Rings popped into my head (imagine that... me using a movie quote to quantify a milestone in my life haha) It's from the end of the Return of the King and Frodo is reflecting on the journey:
"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back?"
Seeing all I've seen, how do I reconcile my drive to help the ministry and the need to uphold my daily responsibilities? How can I live in the midst of this society that champions consumerism when all I want to do is give it all away? But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start over.
I realized as I came back that pretty much anyone who's read my blog knew I was going to Germany and Albania... but pretty much didn't know why. (Which in my defense I could not have explained before due to my lack of really knowing WHY I was going in the first place.) Jennifer and I had put our names on a waiting list to take a group to Albania to visit the ministry of Adopt-A-Child. (I'll explain what that is in a minute) But due to some change-over in personnel the ministry had to cancel all group trips for 08, including ours. No big deal, we started working on another option (which became the trip taken to India in July). But shortly after that, Jennifer and I were contacted about an opportunity for the two of us to join with another group and go at the end of August. We immediately jumped on it. The tricky part was we didn't really know why we were going. We hadn't filled out an application, or designated what type of trip we desired. All we knew was there was an opportunity to go, and we went. As we started to learn more about the trip and who was going, we realized we would be with various staff of the international Adopt-A-Child (AAC from here on out) offices. Now that sounds like it should clarify why we were going... but in reality we didn't even really know there WERE international offices. So it didn't help much. We didn't work for AAC, weren't looking to and now we're on this trip with other staff. We didn't know if we were just tagging along, just getting an in depth look or coming back as staff, ha. I mean, we just wanted to visit the kid we sponsor, lol. Anyway, time to leave came and we just left in faith that God would show us why on earth He'd asked us to travel across the world.
Now I need to stop for a second. SOOOOOO much happened on this trip that it's pretty much impossible to put it all in one post without writing a novel. For the sake of space (and my sanity) I won't go into what happened exactly in this post. I will put more in subsequent installments, but for now I'll just talk about WHAT Adopt-A-Child is for anyone who doesn't know.
Adopt-A-Child is a ministry based in Guatemala and Albania. It sets up feeding centers in villages for the children of the area. There are 3 (soon to be 4) in Albania and 9 in Guatemala. The children come and get nutritional meals, limited dental and medical treatment, and spiritual care. These are not necessarily starving or abandoned children. But many are malnourished and in need of basic medical care. AAC allows any child who wants to come to eat and then have the opportunity to attend bible classes afterward. The classes are not mandatory, it's totally the choice of the child. At the bible classes, the children are presented with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are given opportunity to receive salvation, taught how to pray and sing LOTS of songs. As the children grow older they are given the opportunity to attend discipleship classes which teach more than the basic intro to salvation, but how to live a godly life and in turn live out their witness. Each child that comes is registered and tracked with a namecard. Then AAC gives people in other countries (such as the US, UK and Germany to name a few) an opportunity to partner with them and sponsor a child. The sponsor gives roughly $30 (or however little or big they can afford) to help offset the costs for feeding. The sponsor is also given the opportunity to interact with the child through letters and pictures.
That's a basic overview of what AAC does. What I didn't realize is exactly how it does it. There are multiple offices internationally, there are multiple internation directors and then support staff of various regional influence ranging from overseeing whole countries down to the church contact who is the local face of AAC. The only face I'd ever known for AAC was Ron and Pat Kelly, the top dogs. We've known them for a number of years and they are good friend with Dad. But due to the vast amount of responsibility/traveling that they do, we don't see them in person much. And because they were the only face of AAC we'd known, we were in the dark about the rest of the structure.
Now you might be thinking "that's great, but there are A LOT of feeding programs out there, what makes Adopt-A-Child so special?" I'm glad you asked:
1.) AAC is not a feeding program. It is a ministry that uses food as a way to open doors. The main focus is NOT the food. The food is simply a tool. The focus of the ministry is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Where there is free food, there will be kids (duh). Then the team has an opportunity to share the love of Christ with those kids. BUT because they want to make sure the kids are doing well in all aspects, the team will also do home visits to check on the child (and see if there are siblings who might want to come as well) which gives the team an opportunity to share the love of Christ with the parents. It's all about sharing the gospel. That is what is of the utmost importance in this life. You can feed starving children, which is absolutely a good thing to do. But whether a child is starving or full to the brim... if he or she does not have a personal relationship with Jesus, they are going to Hell when they die. And we're all going to die. You can rid the world of hunger, but it's still just a giant band-aid. It's just delaying the critical point. We all die and without Christ we go to Hell. Period.
2.) I can vouch for the fact that AAC is not going to steal your money. 90% of what is given goes directly into supporting your child. Only 10% is taken out for other costs. You can either believe me or not, and that's all I'm sayin on that.
3.) If the host countries would suddenly decide that all foreigners had to leave, the ministry of AAC would continue. Why? Because the ministry is staffed and run by nationals. All of the feeding/serving/teaching done in the feeding centers is done by local people. They have been mentored and trained and are now turning around and mentoring/training others. I've seen too many foreign missions works fall apart because it all relied on one or two people usually the visiting missionaries. And if those people had to leave the whole thing would fall apart. This is not that type of ministry. That was so exciting for me.
4.) The financial support of the sponsor is great, but it's really the corespondence that is vital. I saw kids who had every letter/picture/gift from their sponsor in places of honor. It's really about that relationship that makes AAC special. Some people are put off by the name "Adopt-A-Child". No this is not an adoption agency. In fact, it's near impossible to do that from Albania. Many of these kids have their families intact. That's not what it's about. What it's about is spiritually adopting a child/family. It's about becoming invested in a life and being a spiritual father or mother. And while I am NOT saying that adopting children in the natural is not important, is adopting someone in the spiritual any less vital?
Ok, that's my spiel for now. good grief this is long. I'll leave you with a few pictures from our trip. (And yes I mean just a few, I don't think you want me to post all 480 pictures Jennifer and I took... nevermind the 3 gig of pics we got from everyone else. :D) But before I do, if you would like more information on AAC you can either contact me or check out this website www.adopt-a-child.com (This is the UK site, the ministry is working on kicking off a new site, but it's still in the construction phase.) If this has tweaked your heart I STRONGLY encourage you to find out more and get involved. When I mentioned the Lord of the Rings quote I really meant that's how I feel. Just FYI you'll be hearing a lot more about AAC from me... Jennifer and I are in the process of becoming representatives with authority to speak/promote the ministry whereever our shoes may tread. :D Now the pics...
p.s. The boy in the picture with us is the child we sponsor.
That's right, I'm back. Actually, I've been back in country for almost a week, but haven't written anything for the need to process everything from our trip. It was a great trip in so many ways, and even now I don't feel like I've been able to wrap my head around what took place. One of the things weighing on me has been "How do I convey what happened (both in writing and in person)?" It was too much. I've seen and heard too many things. I've been impacted by so much. I've been encouraged and humbled, broken down and rebuilt. It was more than I could have possibly hoped for. But now what? As we flew back a quote from the Lord of the Rings popped into my head (imagine that... me using a movie quote to quantify a milestone in my life haha) It's from the end of the Return of the King and Frodo is reflecting on the journey:
"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back?"
Seeing all I've seen, how do I reconcile my drive to help the ministry and the need to uphold my daily responsibilities? How can I live in the midst of this society that champions consumerism when all I want to do is give it all away? But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start over.
I realized as I came back that pretty much anyone who's read my blog knew I was going to Germany and Albania... but pretty much didn't know why. (Which in my defense I could not have explained before due to my lack of really knowing WHY I was going in the first place.) Jennifer and I had put our names on a waiting list to take a group to Albania to visit the ministry of Adopt-A-Child. (I'll explain what that is in a minute) But due to some change-over in personnel the ministry had to cancel all group trips for 08, including ours. No big deal, we started working on another option (which became the trip taken to India in July). But shortly after that, Jennifer and I were contacted about an opportunity for the two of us to join with another group and go at the end of August. We immediately jumped on it. The tricky part was we didn't really know why we were going. We hadn't filled out an application, or designated what type of trip we desired. All we knew was there was an opportunity to go, and we went. As we started to learn more about the trip and who was going, we realized we would be with various staff of the international Adopt-A-Child (AAC from here on out) offices. Now that sounds like it should clarify why we were going... but in reality we didn't even really know there WERE international offices. So it didn't help much. We didn't work for AAC, weren't looking to and now we're on this trip with other staff. We didn't know if we were just tagging along, just getting an in depth look or coming back as staff, ha. I mean, we just wanted to visit the kid we sponsor, lol. Anyway, time to leave came and we just left in faith that God would show us why on earth He'd asked us to travel across the world.
Now I need to stop for a second. SOOOOOO much happened on this trip that it's pretty much impossible to put it all in one post without writing a novel. For the sake of space (and my sanity) I won't go into what happened exactly in this post. I will put more in subsequent installments, but for now I'll just talk about WHAT Adopt-A-Child is for anyone who doesn't know.
Adopt-A-Child is a ministry based in Guatemala and Albania. It sets up feeding centers in villages for the children of the area. There are 3 (soon to be 4) in Albania and 9 in Guatemala. The children come and get nutritional meals, limited dental and medical treatment, and spiritual care. These are not necessarily starving or abandoned children. But many are malnourished and in need of basic medical care. AAC allows any child who wants to come to eat and then have the opportunity to attend bible classes afterward. The classes are not mandatory, it's totally the choice of the child. At the bible classes, the children are presented with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are given opportunity to receive salvation, taught how to pray and sing LOTS of songs. As the children grow older they are given the opportunity to attend discipleship classes which teach more than the basic intro to salvation, but how to live a godly life and in turn live out their witness. Each child that comes is registered and tracked with a namecard. Then AAC gives people in other countries (such as the US, UK and Germany to name a few) an opportunity to partner with them and sponsor a child. The sponsor gives roughly $30 (or however little or big they can afford) to help offset the costs for feeding. The sponsor is also given the opportunity to interact with the child through letters and pictures.
That's a basic overview of what AAC does. What I didn't realize is exactly how it does it. There are multiple offices internationally, there are multiple internation directors and then support staff of various regional influence ranging from overseeing whole countries down to the church contact who is the local face of AAC. The only face I'd ever known for AAC was Ron and Pat Kelly, the top dogs. We've known them for a number of years and they are good friend with Dad. But due to the vast amount of responsibility/traveling that they do, we don't see them in person much. And because they were the only face of AAC we'd known, we were in the dark about the rest of the structure.
Now you might be thinking "that's great, but there are A LOT of feeding programs out there, what makes Adopt-A-Child so special?" I'm glad you asked:
1.) AAC is not a feeding program. It is a ministry that uses food as a way to open doors. The main focus is NOT the food. The food is simply a tool. The focus of the ministry is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Where there is free food, there will be kids (duh). Then the team has an opportunity to share the love of Christ with those kids. BUT because they want to make sure the kids are doing well in all aspects, the team will also do home visits to check on the child (and see if there are siblings who might want to come as well) which gives the team an opportunity to share the love of Christ with the parents. It's all about sharing the gospel. That is what is of the utmost importance in this life. You can feed starving children, which is absolutely a good thing to do. But whether a child is starving or full to the brim... if he or she does not have a personal relationship with Jesus, they are going to Hell when they die. And we're all going to die. You can rid the world of hunger, but it's still just a giant band-aid. It's just delaying the critical point. We all die and without Christ we go to Hell. Period.
2.) I can vouch for the fact that AAC is not going to steal your money. 90% of what is given goes directly into supporting your child. Only 10% is taken out for other costs. You can either believe me or not, and that's all I'm sayin on that.
3.) If the host countries would suddenly decide that all foreigners had to leave, the ministry of AAC would continue. Why? Because the ministry is staffed and run by nationals. All of the feeding/serving/teaching done in the feeding centers is done by local people. They have been mentored and trained and are now turning around and mentoring/training others. I've seen too many foreign missions works fall apart because it all relied on one or two people usually the visiting missionaries. And if those people had to leave the whole thing would fall apart. This is not that type of ministry. That was so exciting for me.
4.) The financial support of the sponsor is great, but it's really the corespondence that is vital. I saw kids who had every letter/picture/gift from their sponsor in places of honor. It's really about that relationship that makes AAC special. Some people are put off by the name "Adopt-A-Child". No this is not an adoption agency. In fact, it's near impossible to do that from Albania. Many of these kids have their families intact. That's not what it's about. What it's about is spiritually adopting a child/family. It's about becoming invested in a life and being a spiritual father or mother. And while I am NOT saying that adopting children in the natural is not important, is adopting someone in the spiritual any less vital?
Ok, that's my spiel for now. good grief this is long. I'll leave you with a few pictures from our trip. (And yes I mean just a few, I don't think you want me to post all 480 pictures Jennifer and I took... nevermind the 3 gig of pics we got from everyone else. :D) But before I do, if you would like more information on AAC you can either contact me or check out this website www.adopt-a-child.com (This is the UK site, the ministry is working on kicking off a new site, but it's still in the construction phase.) If this has tweaked your heart I STRONGLY encourage you to find out more and get involved. When I mentioned the Lord of the Rings quote I really meant that's how I feel. Just FYI you'll be hearing a lot more about AAC from me... Jennifer and I are in the process of becoming representatives with authority to speak/promote the ministry whereever our shoes may tread. :D Now the pics...
p.s. The boy in the picture with us is the child we sponsor.
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