la bloga de gregorio

Four hours of service and sweat in the Lower Ninth Ward

2011-06-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

On Thursday afternoon, I spent four hours doing some basic clean-up, beautification and restoration work in the Lower Ninth Ward with the FTE group. (If you are confused about what FTE is or what I am doing in NOLA this week, read my previous post here.)

You are probably asking yourself, what difference could I possibly make doing four measly hours of community service in the city of NOLA. Don't worry, I asked the question myself! I am still not sure if I have an answer to that question, but I am going to try anyway.

We worked with a group called the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development. These guys are doing some great work in NOLA, addressing problems of poverty, racism and oppression at a grassroots and systemic level. They work with residents on their houses and do neighborhood clean-ups, but they are also working at a systemic level trying to break the cycle of poverty by getting the city involved, creating sustainable housing projects, and doing lots of other great things. You can read more about this organization by clicking here.

We met up with them in the sanctuary of a tiny Baptist church in the Lower Ninth Ward. They explained to our group of fifty volunteers that we would be helping to clean up the streets a bit, work that the city just doesn't have the resources or manpower to do. We were issued saws, hedge-trimmers, grass clippers, work gloves and lots of sturdy garbage bags. The team of 50 FTE volunteers was being led by some employees of the the organization as well as some residents of the Lower Ninth who just have a heart and passion for seeing their neighborhood transformed and rebuilt. Both groups had some pretty powerful stories to share.

We hit the streets and started cleaning, picking up trash, trimming trees and hedges, and cutting overgrown grass in the medians and around the sidewalks. We walked down a divided boulevard that had two lanes of traffic and a 30 foot wide median down the middle with trees and shrubs that needed some help. Keep in mind the temperature was 98 degrees and the humidity was over 80 percent, so the heat index was about 110 degrees!

As I was working, hacking some dead limbs off of a tree, a woman drove up next to me and started to talk to me. She told me that her name is Angela and she lives in the neighborhood and said that a block down there is a huge bush in the median that blocks the view of the oncoming traffic. Angela said she had called the city four times and asked them to trim it. She asked me if I could go down there and trim it for her so that she can see the traffic in the mornings as she is turning out on the street to drive to work. I wandered down there and took out a large portion of the bush to open up the view for traffic. Angela was so grateful for the help, she drove by an hour later and thanked me.

Here you encounter a form of systemic oppression. The City of New Orleans is continuing to suffer following Katrina and the flooding. Their tax base is way down and city services just aren't what they used to be. However if you drive through some of the nicer sections of the city, the streets are kept up very well, the trees are trimmed, and there are no bushes blocking the view of traffic. As the residents told us, “The city just doesn't come down here.” It is amazing to see very real examples of this happening.

Another group a few blocks down was asked to clear out a vacant lot. They worked hard for a few hours hacking away weeds that were over six feet tall. It was a lot where a house had been that was literally ripped off of its foundation during Katrina. After a few hours they discovered a sidewalk beneath them. There was something deeply theological about working hard and uncovering a “safe passage” for the residents that was hidden beneath the weeds and overgrowth.

The experience was not without its frustration. Many of our volunteers were walking down the street picking up trash in the medians, on the sidewalk and in the gutters, only to have a resident walk by and throw down more trash. It definitely caused the group to pause and ponder if the work that we were doing had any real impact. If the local residents don't seem to care enough about keeping their own neighborhood clean, what good are we doing by walking through and helping to clean up?

I look at some of the residents who are so despondent because of the conditions, so trapped in the cycle of poverty that they have lost nearly all of their hope. Does my presence there make a difference for those residents? Do they get any hope out of walking out of their houses and seeing a cleaner street with trimmed trees? Does this kind of work have any sort of a lasting impact? I don't know that I have answers to those questions. I do know that Angela will be able to get to work more safely in the morning because I trimmed back that bush. You have to start somewhere.

Hanging out in New Orleans with a bunch of aspiring pastors. . .

2011-06-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

I arrived in New Orleans (NOLA) on Wednesday afternoon for the Fund for Theological Education (FTE) Ministry Fellowship conference. I haven't been to NOLA since I was 12 years old, very “pre-Katrina,” and that was a visit with my family.

As we left the airport and boarded the bus to go from the airport to Dillard University where the conference is being hosted, I was assaulted with the heat and humidity of the Southern summer. Riding through the traffic on the freeway, I looked out the window wondering if I would catch glimpses of the damage and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. We exited the freeway and were stopped at a red light and I saw a person on the side of the road “panhandling.” He had written some illegible words on a sign he was holding that I couldn't read. But I caught a glimpse of the back of the sign which used to hang at an apartment complex and read “The American Dream, for rent now!” I was struck by the completely contradictory message, this guy was definitely not experiencing the American Dream standing on that corner in the oppressive heat and humidity.

We are staying at Dillard University in the Gentilly District, which was flooded out following Katrina. The area is not totally recovered and you can still see vestiges of the damage and destruction that happened six years ago.

I wasn't too sure what to expect with the conference or with my time in New Orleans. The FTE is designed to call young leaders to renew the church. I am one of 100 fellowship recipients who is here for a week to pause, reflect, learn some new skills and put together an action plan regarding what my role is in renewing the church.

Our first full day here we started with a meeting with three faith-based community leaders in NOLA who are working, each in their own way, to empower the residents and rebuild the city. We got to hear about each of their own experiences, each of their call stories that brought them to NOLA post-Katrina, and the work that they are doing with their respective organizations. After their talk, we all loaded into buses to tour the city.

I was initially concerned about the city tour, it felt a little bit like poverty and disaster tourism. Here we were, sitting comfortably in our padded seats on an air-conditioned bus, driving around a city that is still recovering from the hurricane and flooding that hit the city 70 months ago. In many of the neighborhood we visited houses are still abandoned and there are many slab foundations where the houses just floated away. There is still a great deal of poverty effecting the city, and the unemployment rate is still very high, so there are a lot of residents who are sitting outside on their porches or in the empty lots, watching the tour buses pass by. Some wave and smile, some ignore, and some are appropriately frustrated by these tour buses.

So I was a bit uncomfortable with what we were doing. But then we stopped at a Baptist church where four pastors from across the city were waiting for us. They shared with us each of their experiences, what state of recovery their churches were in, and what they continue to do to serve their city and the people of their city. Then we headed over to a Methodist church and heard their story, which was inspiring and amazing. You see, this church was two churches before Katrina, a historically black church a historically white church. Following the storm, both churches had been flooded and lost members and both were struggling and no longer viable. They were forced to come together and join forces, and from it has emerged one of the highest functioning, authentic, multi-cultural churches I have encountered, very powerful stuff. It is a living and vibrant church that is serving God is a profound way.

After that we drove to another neighborhood and saw a predominantly Korean Catholic church that has been instrumental in the rebuilding process. We heard about how quickly they were able to get organized following the storm, providing space and logistical support for FEMA and other non-profits that were assisting in disaster relief. Finally we ended our tour at a church in the Lower 9^th Ward that is in a converted Walgreens drugstore. Apparently after the store flooded following the storm, Walgreens decided it was not viable to rebuild their store and serve the residents. So the store sat empty but the parking lot became a hub of activity for the Episcopalian church, serving residents with a medical van, food pantry, distribution of cleaning supplies, and other very basic services. Finally the church inquired about the property and was able to clean it up and convert it into a church.

Powerful story after powerful story was washing over me and the other fellows, immersing us, flooding us with stories of hope emerging from the disaster. THIS is the work of the church in the world. THIS is being the hands and feet of Jesus. THIS is ministry. And this must be why we are here, developing our leadership skills and contemplating what our roles are in renewing the church.

We spent the afternoon working in the Lower 9^th Ward, but I will save that for the next blog post. Thanks for reading!

Prayer for strength in providing comfort and healing

2011-06-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

Just found a great prayer in a book of prayers at the hospital library. This is perfect for anyone working to provide comfort and healing and especially poignant for my job this summer as a hospital chaplain:

May I reach that purest heaven,

Be to other souls the cup of strength in some great agony,

Enkindle generous ardour, feed pure love,

Be the sweet presence of a good diffused,

And in diffusion ever more intense!

So shall I join the choir invisible

Whose music is the gladness of the world.

-George Eliot, English Novelist, 1880

What is CPE? Where are Greg, Jessica and Esther this summer?

2011-06-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

I just completed my first week of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education). What that means is that I am spending the summer serving as a hospital chaplain.

Jessica, Esther and I packed up our bags and moved to Olympia, WA for the summer where I am doing my CPE at St. Peter Hospital, which is the hospital where Jessica was born 30-something years ago. Life has a strange way of coming full circle.

We could have stayed in Austin, TX for the summer where I could have done my CPE at a local hospital, or taken Greek at the seminary, but when the opportunity presented itself to get out of the Texas heat and humidity for the summer, we couldn't get here fast enough. We are staying with Jessica's mom and Jessica and Esther are spending lots of quality time with her mom and dad.

CPE is a bizarre experience. After one year of seminary education, and 33 years of life experience, I am being thrust into some of the most painful, grief-filled, life-altering moments of the lives of patients and their families.

I am one of four students who are doing this chaplaincy internship this summer. One of the students is a first-year seminary student like me from an Episcopalian seminary, one student is a lay pastor in the Lutheran church, and the fourth student is an Air Force chaplain. There are two women and two men in our group and we range in age from mid 20s to mid 50s with each decade represented.

Our first week has consisted mostly of orientation. It is kind of like drinking from a fire hose, I am absorbing some of the information (getting my thirst quenched), but there is also a lot flying past me and I am getting drenched. The orientation to the hospital environment has been interesting. I have not spent a lot of time in hospitals in the past, so I am getting used to the sterile, clinical environment with the tile floors and bright lighting. St. Peters, like most hospitals, has been added on to over the years which makes it like a giant labyrinth. By Friday I pretty much had my bearings and could navigate around.

As Chaplain interns we have a strange, dual role. We are unpaid volunteers, but at the same time we are treated like staff. This hospital has been running the internship program for over 10 years, so the hospital staff is accustomed to the CPE students and generally treats them like the staff chaplains.

The hospital has a core of four full-time chaplains on staff, which is unusual and shows a strong commitment from the hospital administration for spiritual care of its patients, their families and the employees. Between the four staff chaplains, they have more than 100 years of combined experience as hospital chaplains, and they embrace the CPE students and take them under their wings. I feel so blessed to be working a hospital with such a seasoned chaplain core that is excited to share their wisdom and experience with us.

We have toured each of the units of the hospital with the staff chaplains and have tried to get a sense of what kinds of calls the chaplains get and what we might be able to expect. Starting next week, they turn us loose in the hospital and we start to field calls from the units. Monday night, I will be on call so if there are any requests for a chaplain from a patient, a family, or the nurses or staff of the hospital, I will be the one taking the call and responding. Am I ready for that? Can you ever be ready to meet a family who has lost or is losing a child, a mother, father, brother, sister or sit with a patient who is dying or be present when a trauma comes in to the emergency room? I think the answer to that question is no.

I am anxious, nervous, but also feeling a strong desire to do this. It is such a unique privilege to be with families and patients at these times, and I feel honored to share those moments, work to provide comfort, and acknowledge the presence of God in those situations.

Last night (Thursday), I attended a support group of parents who had lost children at birth. I sat around a table with couples who had experienced a loss that I could not even fathom. One couple had lost a child just a week and a half earlier, one had lost a child six months ago, and two couples were grieving the loss of children ten years ago. The grief in the room was palpable, tears were flowing, and people were actively mourning. This group is led by one of the grieving parents who serves as a facilitator. I probably learned more about grieving in this 2 hour session than I could have reading thousands of pages in a book or spending months in a classroom setting. The parents were so generous and kind by letting my observe and learn. They offered me advice as a chaplain, what had been said to them that was helpful, what had been said to them that was not helpful, and what had been said to them that was downright hurtful. They told me how much they appreciated my presence there and my desire to work as a pastor and chaplain, but I was the one who felt truly honored to be there and for them to let me participate and learn.

I have been riding my bike to and from the hospital, it is about 7 miles away from where I am staying. My bike ride home was a great opportunity for me to reflect and start to process my own reactions and feelings after spending time with these parents. I am told that much of the CPE experience involves a lot of introspection, digging deep and figuring out why I am responding the way that I am, what experiences in my own life I am drawing from to offer comfort, and doing a lot of self and soul searching. After last night, I am starting to understand why that is important.

Providing comfort to people at critical moments in their lives is something I am really looking forward to learning about. The strength of the parents who I met last night comes from sources that I cannot begin to comprehend. I pray that I will be able to do things to help people in their grieving process, whether that is providing comfort, an outlet for anger, or an acknowledgment of hope.

Praying for peace and unity in the Presbyterian church. . .

2011-05-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't heard by now, the Presbyterian Church PC(USA), has passed an ammendment to our constitution called 10-A. It opens the doors for Presbyteries (at their discretion) to ordain homosexual pastors as well as pastors who are single and in a relationship but not married. At the highest level, the change in language is: ‘Submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ’ which replaced ‘fidelity and chastity’. If you want to learn more about this, there are some links below:
Article from the PC(USA) Website: http://www.pcusa.org/news/2011/5/10/presbyterian-church-us-approves-change-ordination/
Article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11presbyterian.html
Article from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=136188521

This has created some difficult and sometimes divisive conversations within the PC(USA). As most of you know, I am attending a Presbyterian seminary, so these conversations are happening here too, in our classrooms, in our chapel, in our cafeterian and common areas, and on-line.

A few weeks before this passed, I co-wrote an article in our student newspaper with one of my classmates calling for unity, civility, and recognition of our shared humanity. Below is the article. I welcome your feedback:

Civility, dialogue and listening: Reflections on the first year experience

by: Greg Allen-Pickett and Barrett Abernethy

We were reflecting on our first year at APTS and one word came to mind: blessed. We are blessed to be at an institution that upholds civility and dialogue and teaches us how to be active listeners. We have experienced this both inside and outside the classroom.

We are also blessed to be part of a unique and diverse junior class that contributes to a unique and diverse dialogue both in and out of the classroom. Just last week in Systematic Theology 2, Dave Jensen implored us to break bread with someone we don't like. He said in principle and in practice it is important to break bread with those who irritate us. Through breaking bread, sharing a meal, we are able to see the underlying humanity of even our strongest ideological foe. We are able to recognize that we are connected through that humanity and through our faith and despite our differences, we can learn and grow together. We may never come to agreement on a particular issue, but we can hear each other out, engage in civil dialogue, and learn from one another.

We feel blessed to be learning at a seminary that started the Queer Alliance just a few short months ago and are excited to see the traction that the group has gained through argyle day, the shower of stoles, the Kairos last week, and the service we celebrated on Wednesday. As Amendment 10a is working its way through the Presbyteries, and our denomination along with many other denominations and churches are debating and struggling with these issues, we feel blessed to be at a place where we can share a civil dialogue about it and actively listen to all voices.

We feel blessed to be at an institution with students that don't agree with Amendment 10a or gay marriage, that our collective shoulders are broad enough to support people on both sides of this issue. It is through difference of opinion and belief and through open and honest dialogue that we can learn, grow and flourish. Even if our differences don't always end in agreement, the dialogue itself, and the people engaged in the dialogue have intrinsic value.

We feel blessed because we are learning how God works through the multi-faceted expressions of faith by people who have opinions or viewpoints that are different from our own. We are learning that someone reading the same Bible as us can come to a different conclusion, and while we may not agree with that conclusion, we are still brothers and sisters in Christ and ultimately we are doing our best to live out what that means individually and collectively. Though we may fundamentally disagree at times, a monologue of thought only leads to fideism, and we at APTS proudly stand and shout Fides Quaerens Intelectum!

Austin Seminary prides itself in preparing its students for parish ministry. What better reflection of parish ministry is there than an environment that has diverse viewpoints, and what better skills to learn while we are here than learning how to navigate those viewpoints with the civility, dialogue and active listening that we are learning right here and right now.

We issue a plea to the APTS community to acknowledge these blessings and to ground their agreements and disagreements in love and recognition of our shared humanity and faith.

Dispatch from Seminary

2011-04-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Photo of the families of the seminary visiting the Austin Zoo

Below is an update about our lives in Seminary. . . Enjoy!

Things continue to go great for the Allen-Pickett family here in Austin!

My classes and professors this semester are phenomenal on the whole. Systematic Theology 2 has been great as we have wrestled with theologians Schleiermacher, and Barth as well as Liberation Theology and Process Theology. My Intro to Worship professor, Jen Lord, has so much energy and excitement for worship that it is contagious. In New Testament, after spending a few weeks on the gospels and studying the Historical Jesus, we are making our way through the Pauline Letters. Our New Testament professor asks provocative questions and then sits back and smiles as we wrestle with them. Hebrew has been a little bit of a struggle, but I think I am starting to turn the corner. I have exam next week that I am hard at work studying for.

Outside of my classes, we are very active in the life of the seminary. I am participating in an immigration/prison ministry group where I go and visit detained immigrants who are awaitng their hearings for asylum or deportation. Jessica and I are playing on the Austin Seminary kickball team and we made the playoffs! Jessica has revived the Spouses group on campus and they are meeting regularly and planning to build a community garden. She is also a member of the Campus Care Committee. Esther is growing up so fast too! She is 16 months old and loves being on campus. She comes to lunch in the cafeteria and wanders around socializing with everyone. (I can't imagine where she got that from.) There are six other toddlers on campus under the age of 3, so she has some great playmates.

Outside of the seminary I am helping out at a small bi-lingual Presbyterian church called El Buen Pastor. I help lead worship there 1-2 times per month as the liturgist and prayer leader and I am preaching there quarterly when the Pastor takes his days off. I get to keep up with my Spanish skills as all of my prayers, scripture readings and sermons are done in English and Spanish. It is a small church with Sunday attendance around 50-60, but there are always at least 10-15 kids in each service and Esther fits right in as she wanders up and down the aisles greeting people with a hearty "hola."

We are really enjoying the city of Austin as well! We went to the Rodeo last month and had a great time. It is fun to wander down on 6th street and hear all of the live music. And if any of you come to visit us during the warmer months, we can't wait to take you to Barton Springs, a natural "cool springs" that is a great place to take a swim. Jessica and Esther also have a playgroup that they participate in twice a week outside of campus. It has been great for Esther to socialize with other babies and it is great for Jessica to build community with other like-minded moms. Once a quarter they have a family play-date where they invite all the dads too, so we are building some great community there.

We are really loving our lives here in Austin, but we continue to miss our family and friends in Denver. We will be back in Denver May 23-31 and hope to visit a lot of you then. Thank you again for your support of our family and all of your thoughts and prayers. We are loving our journey and the opportunity to prepare ourselves to serve God's church!

Much Love,

Greg, Jessica and Esther

Great quote about letting your light shine as a Christian, and the Newsboys song too!

2011-03-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

"We do not convince others by telling them loudly how wrong they are and how right we are. We convince them by showing them a light so lovely they will want with all their hearts to know the source of it."
– Madeleine L'Engle

One of my favorite Newsboys songs of all time is "Shine"

Below you can watch the video and read the lyrics, but it speaks to this great quote. Shine on my friends, show them a light so lovely that they will want with all of their hearts to know the source of it!!!!!

dull as dirt
you can´t assert the kind of light
that might persuade
a strict dictator to retire
fire the army
teach the poor origami
the truth is in
the proof is when
you hear your heart start asking,
"What´s my motivation?"

and try as you may, there isn´t a way
to explain the kind of change
that would make an Eskimo renounce fur
that would make a vegetarian barbecue hamster
unless you can trace this about-face
to a certain sign...

Chorus
shine
make ´em wonder what you´ve got
make ´em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let´em see good works, and then
let ´em glorify the Lord

out of the shaker and onto the plate
it isn´t Karma
it sure ain´t fate
that would make a Deadhead sell his van
that would make a schizophrenic turn in his crayons
Oprah freaks
and science seeks a rationale
that shall excuse
this strange behavior

when you let it shine
you will inspire
the kind of entire turnaround
that would make a bouncer take ballet
(even bouncers who aren´t happy)
but out of the glare
with nowhere to turn
you ain´t gonna learn it on "What´s My Line?"

Chorus
shine
make ´em wonder what you´ve got
make ´em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let´em see good works, and then
let ´em glorify the Lord

Great Prayer to bless your home and say with your family

2011-03-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Photo of a door in Antigua, Guatemala taen by Angela Duggan on the Wellshire Youth Mission Trip Summer 2010

O God, make the door of this house wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship; narrow enough to shut out all envy pride and strife, Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block to children nor straying feet, but rugged and strong enough to turn back the tempter's power. God make the door of this house the gateway to thine eternal kingdom.

AMEN.

Sermon I preached about being God's own fool!

2011-02-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

From: http://www.savagechickens.com/tag/fools

The New Testament Scriptures from the Lectionary for the sermon this week:
Matthew 5:38-48

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.

Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

SERMON:
What is Paul telling us when he writes his letter to the Corinthians? He writes, Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

Why does Paul say this? Why is our worldly wisdom foolishness to God and why does God's wisdom look foolish to the world? I think those questions are answered in the passage we read from Matthew and that Alex talked about.

Close your eyes and try to imagine yourself back during the time of Jesus. Imagine walking around the Sea of Galilee. Perhaps you were a fisherman, perhaps you were a tax collector, maybe you stayed at home and took care of the house and the children.

One day you start to hear a buzz. At first it is just your neighbor saying, “Did you hear about that guy who is healing people, performing miracles? I think he is a magician.” As the weeks go on you hear more and more people talking about that guy. He spends his time wandering around, healing the sick, raising people from the dead, and saying some of the strangest things. People have referred to him as “Emmanuel” or the “Messiah.” Average people, just like yourselves, think that he might be the savior, the one who fulfills the prophecies in the Old Testament. Other people think he is just a crazy man. Some think he is an outlaw or a con man. But there are a lot of people talking about him.

He is saying some of the craziest and most foolish things! He is turning the whole social order on its head. Everything that we have come to accept as normal when it comes to religion, purity, cleanliness and following the law, how we treat people, especially those who are different from us, it is all being called into question by this foolish man.

I call him foolish because he is really upsetting things around here. Our religious leaders, the priests, scribes and pharisees, are following him around, and writing down what he is saying just to be able to use it against him when they take him to religious court or throw him to the Roman authorities. And he is saying some pretty crazy things!

Just this past week he gave a sermon, they called it the “Sermon on the mount.” Thousands gathered from all around. He stood on a hill on the north end of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum. Everyone listened intently to what he was saying, some were believers and followers, some were curious, and like I said earlier, some of them were really angry about what he was saying and what it meant, they were there too.

I don't have time today to go over the whole sermon with you, but the last part was pretty profound. This man called Jesus would take a law or a saying from the Old Testament, which is the law that all of the religious people follow and the law that helps us keep order in our towns and cities. And he would repeat that law, and then completely flip it around! For example, he said, “You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' That is right from the book of Leviticus, our book of laws in our holy scriptures. That law was written and is followed to provide a sense of order and justice. And then this Jesus fellow said, “But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Whoa! This is some pretty revolutionary stuff. Rather than equal justice for wrongdoing, if someone in power over me does something wrong to me, I am supposed to look them in the eye, force them to acknowledge my humanity, and offer them my other cheek. If someone wants to take my coat, I am supposed to offer them my shirt as well? And if a Roman soldier forces me to carry his pack for 1 mile, I am supposed to carry it for 2?!?!? This throws all the power out of balance and doesn't seem to make any sense!

Then he went on to say, Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. Well, if I do that I will go broke. Why should I do that? I have worked hard for my money, and now this guy is just telling me to give it away? This seems like utter foolishness. Apparently to follow this guy, we have to just throw caution to the wind. We have to give up ourselves, give up everything that we know and understand, give up all of our laws and social order to follow him. That is scary, only a fool would do that.

Then it starts to get really foolish! Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, once again quoting from the Old Testament. Then he revises it by saying, But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

This is just crazy talk! I don't know why he would be asking me to love my enemies and pray for people who are mean to me. Really, what does he expect here. This is just asking too much. He points out that God provides to all no matter how good or bad they are, but I am not God. Is he really calling me to try and act more like God? Ahhh.

You see, being a Christian means really rejecting the order of this world and embracing an order that advances the kingdom of God. It is utter foolishness to those who stand outside and watch our behavior, it looks crazy. But the more we begin to embrace this life, the more we realize that the ways of THIS world, the ways that break people down and don't build up the kingdom, are actually foolish.

The very way that Jesus came and the message that he was preaching was perceived as total foolishness at the time, and it can even seem foolish today. Let's think about this. If a king was coming today, would that king come as a poor wandering carpenter's son or as a mighty military ruler? It is utter foolishness to say that a king would be humble, kings have to be proud by their very nature. But Jesus showed us a new way, a new kind of leadership. We call that servant leadership.

Servant leadership sounds foolish. Don't those words contradict each other? How can you lead and serve at the same time, doesn't a leader need people to follow him, servants? But Jesus showed us it was not only possible, but it is the most effective form of leadership our world has ever known. Jesus took an authentic and keen interest in the lives of the people who were following him. He worked to make sure their needs were met, even before his own. In a cut-throat world of competition, this seems counter-intuitive, even foolish! But it worked and it even works today.

I went to a small college for my undergraduate education, Pacific Lutheran University. We had a football team that won the national championship during my senior year. The whole team was built around the idea of servant leadership. The coaches and the captains were the leaders and they were very well respected, but as part of their leadership, they cared about the people who were following them. And it wasn't a surface level care, they cared very deeply. They even cared about their opponents and after every play they would stop and help up the people they had just knocked down. Many of the people watching this thought it was just crazy, it was foolish to waste that extra effort to help out the opposing team, it was foolish to pray for them when they were hurt, it was foolish for the coaches, captains and seniors on the team to carry the bags of the first year guys on the team. Reporters from newspapers, TV stations, even Sports Illustrated, came to watch this team and how it functioned under this model of “servant leadership.” They call came away scratching their heads. This didn't make sense to them, it was foolish. But that foolishness of servant leadership led to a national championship. The coach of the team, Frosty Westering, is the 9th winningest football coach in the United States, and he won four national titles and has been inducted into the college football hall of fame with his model of “servant leadership.” Coach Westering understood the message of Paul and understood the teachings of Jesus. The world's wisdom tells us to be aggressive, cut-throat, and vicious. And they would say a model of servant-leadership is foolishness. But Coach Westering knew that the real foolishness is in aggressive leadership. God's wisdom, taught to us through the example of Jesus Christ, is to be a servant leader. It may seem foolish to the rest of the world, but it is truly wise.

So we learn what true leadership is, a carpenter's son humbly going around and taking care of people. And Jesus didn't stop there. Many leaders are ruthless tyrants, killing people to advance and to hold on to their power. Jesus flipped the whole thing on its head and humbled himself to the point of death, a humiliating death on a cross. This was true servant leadership, but it was the exact opposite of what the world thinks of as good leadership. Jesus pointed out that worldly leadership is foolish and his form of leadership was really wise, but the world would try to tell us differently.

There is a song written about this called “God's own fool.” I am not going to sing it for you today, that would be foolish and none of you want to hear that. But I would like to read you the lyrics as a poem, a prayer, something for us all to meditate on:

Seems I've imagined Him all of my life, As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to man, He must have seemed out of His mind
Even His family said He was mad, And the priest said a demon's to blame
But, God in the form of this angry young man, Could not have seemed perfectly sane

Chorus
We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son, For a madman who died for a dream
And You'll have the faith His first followers had, And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know, Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes, And blinds those who say they can see

So I put this challenge to each of you. The next time you have to make a decision, whether it is a big one or a small one, and you are trying to figure out how to make the best decision possible, think about using God's wisdom to make that decision, not the wisdom of the world. Become God's own fool just like Jesus and make your decision based upon the example that was set before us. Amen.

Servant Leadership - The PLU Football team and Frosty Westering

2011-02-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

I mentioned the PLU football team and Frosty Westering in a sermon I preached last week. I wanted to share these video clips about Frosty and the team that demonstrate what true Servant Leadership looks like. The first video is a 3 minute teaser for an upcoming movie. The second video is is about 5 minutes long and gets more in-depth with Frosty's legacy and his philosophy of servant leadership with some interviews of other coaches. Enjoy!

More Than Champions - Teaser from One_Space Films on Vimeo.

Frosty - Legacy from One_Space Films on Vimeo.

10 Years of Wedded Bliss!!!!!

2011-02-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

Jessica and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary on February 24! A few years ago I came up with this acrostic, the ABCs of a happy marriage. I was inspired to update it for our 10 year anniversary. Below you can read my advice as a married man of 10 years. . . enjoy!

Some wisdom/advice after 10 amazing years of marriage:

-APPRECIATE your partner; appreciate everything that s/he does for you and for the relationship from the daily mundane of unloading the dishwasher or picking up the dirty clothes to the big stuff like supporting you when you get laid off or your family is falling apart. ALWAYS express that appreciation.

-BE there to support your partner. Sometimes that means just listening at the end of the day. Jessica doesn't always want me to solve her problems, sometimes she just wants to get them off her chest.

-CUDDLE. Physical contact has amazing powers of healing and connection.

-DELIGHT in each other. Really take joy in your partner and look forward to the time you get to spend together.

-EAT meals together. You really have to be intentional about this. Sit at the table and turn off the TV, the cell phones, the facebook. Look into each other's eyes, hold each other's hands and connect over the breaking of bread together. There is something sacramental about sharing a meal together.

-FIGHT FAIR. Sounds strange, but be comfortable with having disagreements and arguing about it. That is healthy. But don't bring up past events and don't keep something bottled up inside until you blow up. Bring it up when it makes you mad, fight about it, but fight fair.

-GO on dates. Again, be intentional about this, but make the time and space to reconnect. It doesn't have to cost a lot, but it has to be an intentional time for the two of you to do nothing but focus on the two of you.

-HOLD HANDS. Back to that amazing power of physical contact.

-INVEST in the relationship. A good relationship is truly an investment of time and energy, but it is so worth it. Small, intentional investments in the relationship can pay long-term dividends.

-JOVIALITY Staying cheerful to each other in spite of what life may throw at you

-KINETIC. We are always in motion, but working at moving together. Synchronize your actions.

-LINE-ITEM VETO. Ok, this may take a little explanation, blame the political scientist in me. When your spouse is critiquing or criticizing part of an idea you have, don't immediately get defensive and take it as a criticism of you or of your whole idea. Give your partner the benefit of the doubt and allow them a "line-item veto" while not undermining or feeling criticized about your idea as a whole or you as a person.

-MIND YOUR Ps AND Qs. Just because you are comfortable with your spouse, that doesn't give you the right to stop being polite, saying please and thank you, and being respectful

-NOSTALGIC. Don't forget the good times. When the going gets tough, it becomes easy to focus on the negative, but be nostalgic for all the positive parts of your relationship and work to recreate those

-OPEN-MINDED to the possibilities God may have for you and your partner.

-PRAY together, and pray specifically for your relationship, even when it is going well, don't forget to thank God for that.

-QUEEN, treat her like one, not the band, the royalty

-ROAM together. Traveling together strengthens a relationship

-SIMPLICITY. The most important relationship in the world is the two of you. It is that simple.

-TAKE TIME for each other and your relationship. This is a recurring theme, but be intentional about building, supporting and protecting your relationship by making and taking time for it.

-UNDERSTANDING is so key. Really work to understand your partner and what s/he needs from you to be the best s/he can be. Then provide that.

-VENTURE to new places and try new things together. Keep it fresh by sharing new experiences together and build your life around what you learn about yourself and each other from those experiences

-WAIT for each other. Sometimes you and your partner will not arrive at the same place together, so be patient and wait for each other. (both metaphorically and physically) Also, WAIT ON each other, serve your partner with no expectation of anything except for the joy you should get from serving your partner.

-XOXOXOXO Lots of hugs and kisses, need I say more?

-YEARN for each other. Yearn for the success of your partner, the happiness of your partner and the love of your partner. Yearn together.

-ZANINESS. Described as foolishness or passion, be comfortable being a passionate fool for your partner.

In the "better half" equation, there is no doubt that Jessica is my "better half." She moderates me in a good way and loves me more than I could ever hope for. Thanks for 10 great years, and here is to 100 more!

Being a fool for God

2011-02-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

I have the privilege of preaching this week at El Buen Pastor Presbyterian Church here in Austin along with my seminary classmate Alex Cornell. El Buen Pastor is a bilingual church and so there is typically a 15 minute sermon in Spanish and a 15 minute sermon in English. During Advent, Alex and I preached together, I did the Spanish and Alex did the English. This time we are switching roles.

The lectionary texts for this week are rich and full of potential sermon topics. I am going to be preaching on 1 Corinthians 3:18-23:
3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.
3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness,"
3:20 and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."
3:21 So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours,
3:22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all belong to you,
3:23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

I will post my sermon text next week, but as I prepared for this sermon, I remembered one of my favorite Michael Card songs, "God's Own Fool." Below are the lyrics and I would encourage you to meditate on them like a prayer. You can listen to the song with the embedded video below too. Enjoy!

Gods Own Fool lyrics

Seems I've imagined Him all of my life, As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to man, He must have seemed out of His mind
Even His family said He was mad, And the priest said a demon's to blame
But, God in the form of this angry young man, Could not have seemed perfectly sane

Chorus
We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son, For a madman who died for a dream
And You'll have the faith His first followers had, And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know, Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes, And blinds those who say they can see

Coincidence, Luck or God's Divine Providence

2011-02-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

The work team on the short-term HWI/ADU Mission Trip to Guatemala

In August of 2010, I led a short-term mission trip for Healing Waters International to Guatemala. Leading these trips was one of the most favorite parts of my job when I worked for Healing Waters.

During one of the days on the trip I was having a great conversation with one of the participants. She talked about something that happened on the trip, or something that brought her to Guatemala that was a great coincidence. Immediately the words, "God doesn't do coincidence" slipped out of my mouth. I don't know why I said it and it wasn't a concious thought, I just kind of blurted it out.

Chatting with the work team about "coincidence vs. providence"

During the rest of the trip and in the months since then, I have reflected on this phrase a lot. "God doesn't do coincidence." This really speaks to the idea of God's providence, which is a fancy word for guardianship, power, control and care that is exercised by God. The Princeton Dictionary online defines it as, "a manifestation (demonstration) of God's foresightful care for his creatures"

By acknowledging an event as God's Providence instead of as a coincidence or luck, we are able to shift the focus from us to Him. We are acknowledging a God who cares for us deeply and personally enough to show us that care in our every day lives.

At a high level I am reminded of this through my "career path." To an outsider, it looks a lot less like a path and a lot more like a zig-zagging, switchback trail that is all over the place. But putting it into the God's providence perspective, it becomes a straight road, almost a super-highway. I spent 3 years working in private industry and developed some valuable business skill-sets. I spent 4 years working as an academic advisor and professor at at University which taught me project management, counseling and life-coaching as well as teaching and public speaking. I spent 3 years with Healing Waters, doing development projects in Latin America where I used my business skill sets and my project management skill sets. In my job at Healing Waters I also grew in my faith to prepare to come to seminary where I am using all of my skills and experiences in preparing to become a pastor. I was reminded of this throughout my application process and decision to come to seminary as well. Over and over again there were signs and affirmations pointing me and my family to come here.God's divine providence has been at work in my life.

When I was home in Denver last month, I was reminded again. This is going to sound like a silly example of God's providence, but hear me out. We were visiting with our tenants in our house that we are renting out. While we were there visiting our house, I heard the heater in the house mis-firing. I knew the sound well from the time we had lived in the house, and I knew how to fix it. The timing of the problem, and the fact that we were physically there in Denver, IN THE HOUSE, when the problem occured goes way beyond coincidence. I was able to fix the problem, the tenants in our house were able to stay warm during a very cold week, and we saved having to call a heater repair company and the $150 service call. My neighbors remarked about how fortuitous it was that we were there at that moment. But I really believe it was not luck or coincidence, it was God's providence. It is evidence of a God who demonstrates foresightful care for his creatures.

To close out this blog post, I tried to do a search for "Providence Prayers" on google. Most everything that came up was Catholic prayers. I will save a discussion of denominational differences for another day, but I do think we can learn something from our Catholic brothers and sisters when it comes to recognizing and acknowledging God's Providence in our lives. Below is a prayer I adapted from an older text written by Saint Jane Frances De Chantal. You can see the original text HERE or read my adaptation below. Pray this prayer and learn to SEE and SEEK God's power and presence in your life:

I pray to the powerful and unending goodness of you, oh God. I abandon myself forever to your arms. Whether your direction is easy or hard, lead me where you will. I will rely on your guidance, oh God. My soul is at peace only when I acknowledge that I am wrapped in your warm and protecting embrace.

I commit myself, with your help, oh God, to follow your desire and will for me and my life, seeking to follow you more truly and authentically, working to tune into your will and letting that drive my decisions and my life. More of you and less of me oh God.

I commit to giving you my all, oh God, my everything. I ask that you help direct my desires and my heart to long for you. . . your will, your wishes for my life. I offer you my desires and my heart, oh God, and ask that you bless them.

I choose to live my life with you, relying on your goodness and your mercy and I place my entire trust and confidence in you, oh God, acknowledging my own weakness and shortcomings.

Amen!

The end of the hiatus. . .

2011-02-10T06:50:00.000-08:00

My last blog post was on July 26, 2010. By my calculation, that was exactly 199 days ago. I'm back!

So much has happened in the last 199 days and I look forward to sharing it with you. I am recommiting to my blog as a form of journaling, sharing, discernment and witness. I was convicted to do this because of one of my classes last semester, but I am getting ahead of myself.

My last blog post was about visiting Central Presbyterian Church when they had their service celebrating their Mission Trip with Healing Waters to Guatemala. 20 days after that blog post, Jessica, Esther and I packed up our house in Denver and moved to Austin, Texas. I am no longer working for Healing Waters International and am now a full-time student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary studying to become a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church PC(USA). What an incredible ride it has been!

I need to start by acknowledging and thanking Jessica and Esther for being such amazing partners in this journey and allowing me to follow my calling of becoming a pastor. This has involved a lot of sacrifice for both of them and will continue to involve a lot of sacrifice from both of them, and Jessica has been incredibly supportive. I am so blessed to have such an amazing wife, coming up on 10 years! I love you Jessica, thank you for being you and thank you for loving me.

Photo taken in June 2001 during our first year of marriage when we were living in South America

Photo taken in December of 2010 around Christmas

I started my studies in September. My first four classes were:
-Intro. to Old Testament
-Systematic Theology 1
-History of Christianity from the early church to the Reformation
-Colloquy on Ministry and Vocation

I have a lot to share about each of these classes and will do so over the next few months. But it was my Colloquy on Ministry and Vocation class that has actually prompted me to get back into blogging. During that class we read the book The Way of Discernment: Spiritual Practices for Decision Making. I highly recommend this book to anyone and will probably be handing out copies for the rest of my life. This book helps you to guide your decision making processes through a variety of very practical exercises.

One of those exercises that occured over and over again was the process of journaling. I realize that by writing down my own journey, I can help see it more clearly and learn to see God working in it. By writing it as a blog in a public forum, I know that my community can help me with my discernment process to. So I have recommitted to the blog.

I plan on writing a lot more later, but for the time being, I encourage you to check out this book. Whether is is big life-changing decsions you are making, or you are just sort a few things out, this book will provide you a great guide and some very practical tools to help with your discernment process.

Great church vision and great prayer of confession

2010-07-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Photo of Central Presbyterian Church in Denver from:

http://www.ingramphotography.com/images/CentralPresbyterianDenver.jpg

I had the privilege of worshiping at Central Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning.

This was the church that took a Transformation Trip with Healing Waters in June. They were celebrating their trip at the service on Sunday morning. I wish I could have videotaped the whole service. Hearing people reflect on their experiences on transformation trips always reminds me of why I do the work that I do. In addition to the people who are served by our safe water projects, the people who are exposed to the work we are doing through these trips is a great opportunity for me to recharge my batteries and see the world through the eyes of others.

There were a few things in the service that were moving. Two people who went on the trip gave mini-sermons that both brought me to tears. I will try to get a copy of those sermons and post them to the blog.

A couple other parts of the service that were moving. . . the first was the Vision of Central Presbyterian Church right on the front of the bulletin. It reads:
Central is a pillar of a spiritually, physically and intellectually healthy community that manifests God's love and justice.

Wow! What a great way to describe a great church.

The other really moving aspect of the service for me was the Prayer of Confession written by one of the people who went on the Transformation Trip. She asked to remain anonymous when I asked her if I could repost it. So here it is:

God of our journeying, you send us out to travel in your name.
The spirit of our God is upon me; therefore, anointing me to bring Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to announce a year of our God's favor. (Luke 4:18-19)
Forgive us when we read what the Gospels say but fail to acot on the principles they describe. Help us to interpret our own faith out of the suffering, struggle and hope of the poor. Forgive us when the activity of the Church doesn't come from empathy with the poor. Forgive us for the exploitation of some peoples by others, and the exploitation of people by mechanisms of economic systems we have created. Forgive us when we do not see the growing gap between rich and poor as a scandal and a contradiction to Christian existence. Help us to discover that this poverty is not a passing phase. Inbreaking God, stir us to reflect your enternal relationship of love, in the way we treat our neighbors, those we know and love, those we find difficult, and those on the other side of the world. Help us to attend to the needs of all these people, and never walk by on the other side of the road. Amen.

This prayer of confession was so powerful. Thank you!

New York Times Editorial by Gorbachev: Why access to water is a basic human right

2010-07-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

Image from http://www.knowwiththeflow.org/waterart/contaminated_drinking_water.jpg

The editorial below was published in the NY Times on July 16. I have edited it down to the most relevant sections. To read the whole thing, CLICK HERE

July 16, 2010
The Right to Water

By MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

The right of every human being to safe drinking water and basic sanitation should be recognized and realized.

The United Nations estimates that nearly 900 million people live without clean water and 2.6 billion without proper sanitation. Water, the basic ingredient of life, is among the world’s most prolific killers. At least 4,000 children die every day from water-related diseases. In fact, more lives have been lost after World War II due to contaminated water than from all forms of violence and war.

This humanitarian catastrophe has been allowed to fester for generations. We must stop it.

Acknowledging that access to safe water and sanitation is a human right is crucial to the ongoing struggle to save these lives; it is an idea that has come of age.

This month, for the first time, the U.N. General Assembly is preparing to vote on a historic resolution declaring the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.” It is a pivotal opportunity.

So far, 190 states have acknowledged — directly or indirectly — the human right to safe water and sanitation. In 2007, leaders from the Asia-Pacific region recognized safe drinking water and basic sanitation as human rights and fundamental aspects of security. In March, the European Union affirmed that all states must adhere to their human rights commitments in regard to safe drinking water.

Not all nations are on board, however. The United States and Canada are among the very few that have not formally embraced the right to safe water. Their continued reluctance to officially recognize the right to water should be questioned, not least by their own citizens. President Barack Obama’s national security strategy calls for furthering human rights and sustainable development around the world; that goal should be translated into support for access to water as a human right.
Failures to provide water and sanitation are failures of governance. Recognizing that water is a human right is not merely a conceptual point; it is about getting the job done and actually making clean water widely available. We must clarify the obligation of governments to finance and carry out projects that bring these services to those who need them most.

A “water apartheid” has descended across the world — dividing rich from poor, included from excluded. Efforts to redress this disparity are failing.

Expanding access to water and sanitation will open many other development bottlenecks. Water and sanitation are vital to everything from education to health to population control. As population growth and climate change increase the pressure for adequate water and food, water will increasingly become a security issue. As global temperatures rise, “water refugees” will increase. Water touches everything, and strong collaboration among all sectors of society — governments, activists, farmers and the business and science communities — is needed to increase its availability.

Making access to water and sanitation a daily reality is good business, and good for the world economy. According to the U.N. Environment Program, a $20 million investment in low-cost water technologies could help 100 million farming families escape extreme poverty. Dedicating $15 billion a year to the water and sanitation millennium goals could bring $38 billion a year in global economic benefits. That’s a pretty good rate of return in today’s financial climate. It is within our grasp for the first time.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991. He is a founding member of Green Cross International and is on its board.

Some reflections on "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without hurting the poor"

2010-07-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Here at Healing Waters we do a book study, bible study or prayer time on Friday mornings. It is a chance for the staff to touch base and focus and reflect on our work from a spiritual perspective.

We have just started the book When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor. . . and yourself.

This is a great book and should be required reading for anyone that is doing any sort of missions work, local or global. Most of the examples in the book focus more on global missions, but the content is relevant in either case.

I wanted to share a few quotes and reflections with you as we study this book.

"We write this book with a great deal of excitement about the renewed interest in helping low-income people that is so apparent among North American Christians. While materialism, self-centeredness, and complacency continue to plague all of us, nobody can deny the upswing in social concern among North American evangelicals in the past two decades. There is perhaps no better illustration of this trend than the exploding shor-term mission movement, much of which has focused on ministering to the poor at home and abroad.

But our excitement about these developments is seriously tempered by two convictions. First, North American Christians are simply not doing enough. We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Period. Yet, most of us live as though there is nothing terribly wrong in the world. We attend our kids' soccer games, pursue our careers, and take beach vacations while 40 percent of the world's inhabitants struggle just to eat every day. And in our own backyards, the homeless, those residing in ghettos, and a wave of immigrants live in a world outside the economic and social mainstream of North America. We do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth. But we do need to get up every morning with a deep sense that something is terribly wrong with the world and yearn and strive to do something about it. There is simply not enough yearning and striving going on.

WOW! This is difficult to read and even more difficult to digest. I think my first reaction is to get defensive. I do a lot of social justice and poverty alleviation work, where do they get off talking to me like that? I pursue my career and take beach vacations, should I feel guilty? While the authors state that "we do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth," it is really hard not to after reading this. But I think the key lines in this passage are right after that (which is why I italicized them in the original passage.)

We DO NEED to get up EVERY MORNING with a DEEP SENSE that something is TERRIBLY WRONG with the WORLD and YEARN AND STRIVE to do SOMETHING about it. There is simply NOT ENOUGH YEARNING AND STRIVING going on!

Ok, let's take some time to reflect and pray on that. And let's ramp up our striving and yearning. . .

Why I work for Healing Waters

2010-07-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is getting her Masters degree in Non-Profit Management. As part of one of her courses, she had to interview someone that works for an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization, like Healing Waters.) She asked to interview me! I felt privileged to be asked.

As I was filling out the questions, I had a chance to reflect a little bit on the work I do with Healing Waters. Below are the questions and answers I gave, a little peek into my mind and soul. Enjoy!

1. Can you please first tell me a little about yourself and the organization you’re with?
a. What is your current position?
Field Operations Manager for Healing Waters International

b. Have you held other positions?
Not with this organization.

c. How long have you been involved with this organization?
Since November 2007, 2 years and 8 months.

2. How did you first get into the service field/work/position that you are in?

a. Earlier in your life, did you have a stand-out experience or event that particularly inspired you to serve? (Inspiration from a family member, friend, teacher, other individual, book?)
 My family would take a road trip to Northern Mexico every other year from the time I was 5 years old. This early exposure to poverty and the stark contrast between life in the US and life in Mexico had a profound impact on me
 Both of my parents have always been very community-service focused. My mom was a public school teacher my whole life and my dad worked for a law firm that focused on public sector clients (municipalities, school districts, universities.)
 The motto of the university I attended (Pacific Lutheran University) is “Educating for lives of service.” This meant there was a strong social justice focus or service focus in nearly every course I took and the professors really supported the idea of public service.

b. Did you have other influences, i.e. spirituality, political convictions, etc.?
My faith is one of the primary factors that motivates me to do the work that I do. I draw a lot of inspiration from Matthew 25:31-40 where Christ calls us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, comfort to the sick, clothe the naked, and give rest to the stranger. I also believe that faith without action behind it is meaningless. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times, use words when necessary.”

3. What motivates you to continue to serve now?
a. What do you gain from what you are doing
The individuals, families and children I see when I visit our water systems who are getting access to safe drinking water motivates me to serve. Knowing that their lives will improve because of the work that Healing Waters is doing motivates me. I gain a sense of peace knowing that I am helping make the world a better place, even if it is just one water project, one family, one individual at a time. I feel called to do the work that I do, to invest my time, energy and talents to make life better for people who have not had the privileges that I have had in my life.

4. Can you describe the challenges you face in working for a NGO?
On a personal level, our society defines success as the accumulation of wealth: more cars, bigger houses, etc. Despite making a conscious effort to not live that way or be sucked into that definition of success, sometimes it can be hard. I have been offered jobs that pay double what I am making, but have turned them down. At the end of the day knowing that I am making a difference is better than getting a huge paycheck, but it can be a struggle, especially with a family to help support.

Also on a personal level, but more related to the work I do, I get energized by being in the field and seeing the people benefitted by our projects, so when I sit at my desk in Denver for months at a time without a field visit, I can lose sight of the greater goal.

On an organizational level, there is the chaos of working in a foreign country. The cultural differences, the major inefficiencies, the corruption and the distance and inability to be in the day-to-day operations are all challenges. I have spent a great deal of time in Latin America in the past ten years and am still amazed by how difficult it can be to get things done.

5. Can you describe the challenges of resource development?
In my position, I am insulated from the direct fundraising challenges. I do occasionally lead trips to the field with donors or prospective donors. The challenge on those trips is balancing a “good experience” for the donor with the realities we face on the ground.

There is also a challenge of how open and honest you want to be with a donor. Donors want to support an organization that is successful, so you want to present your success stories to donors. At the same time you want to be honest and transparent with donors and if you are struggling with something as an organization, you want to bring the donors into that struggle to help support you. It is a tough balance to strike.

6. How do you define “success” today - when do you feel like you are successful?
On a personal level, success is knowing that 130,000 people are being served with safe drinking water every day and that I had a very small role in that.

On an organizational level, success is staying true to our mission which means empowering local partners to transform their poor communities with a sustainable long-term safe water solution. When our systems are self-sustaining and people are being served, that feels like a success. When we add more projects and expand into new communities, that feels like a success.

7. What would you say to others to encourage them to serve?
Exposing people to the vast contrast in wealth and poverty will hopefully encourage them to serve. If I could get every CEO of a multi-national corporation to go live in the country where they manufacture on a local salary for a week, I think businesses and the decisions that are made by those businesses would be a lot more ethical and humanitarian.

a. What types of people do you think are attracted to serve in this type of organization and/or in civil society?
People who have seen a greater need and felt a call to respond to it. Usually it is people who have had some experience traveling internationally. They have been shocked by the poverty, the lack of access to basic resources, etc. And that has inspired them to want to do something about it. I think you need to have something in you that sees the humanity of all people and wants to work to make the world a better place in some way.

b. When recruiting and hiring new staff or volunteers, what types of people—with what types of skills and knowledge—does this organization look for?
I have not done a lot of recruiting or hiring. Our CEO talks about “head and heart.” He hires people that have the heart and the drive to do the work and knows that he can train their heads.

8. What other advice do you have for others who may be interested in exploring working in a NGO?

a. Where can one learn the knowledge/skills and gain the experience that is necessary for working in your type of organization?
Go spend some time in a developing country. Not just a week or two traveling, and not just to touristy areas, but really immerse yourself in the culture, the society, the politics, and the place. Be a Peace Corps volunteer, or find another program that suits your needs and interests. There are tons of long-term volunteer opportunities in countries like the Dominican Republic. Language skills are also useful in this kind of work. A month or two of intensive full-immersion language classes in a country where you are interested in serving would be invaluable to not only pick up the language, but also immerse yourself in the culture.

b. What are the best “points of entry” into the field of service
Finding a long-term volunteer opportunity abroad is a great way to start. Then when you return to the US you will have real field experience that you can apply to an organization like Healing Waters International.

9. Do you have any advice for young people in particular?
Travel! And not just to Europe or Australia. Travel to developing countries and spend enough time there to not just know the name of the local beer, but know the hangouts and activities of the local people.

When I was 23 and living in South America, I traveled with a retired stock broker. His sage advice to me was “There is always going to be time to earn money, but you will not always have the privilege and luxury of your health and time to travel. So do it now. Know that you can return back to the US at age 25 and still get started in a career. But you will never be able to replace the experiences you learn while traveling from 22-25.”

10. Could you speak to your particular interest in the cultural diversity and/or the international arena?
I have a strong passion for Latin America and development work in Latin America. Inevitably I end up looking at the root causes of poverty and what different people are doing to address them. This leads to an exploration of immigration and the large populations of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. So I have developed a “sub-passion” for issues related to immigrant populations in the US and the cultural diversity that comes from that immigration.

My love for Latin America has also helped me develop a profound respect and appreciation for other cultures. In my own life, career and family, I try to take the best parts of each culture I have been exposed to and incorporate that into my sphere of influence.

E coli poisoning case, sad story here in the U.S., devastating daily reality for people in developing countries

2010-07-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

This is the E Coli bacteria, up close and personal

(image from http://homepage.usask.ca/~vim458/virology/studpages2007/Chad_Jan_Amy/etiology.html)

I just read this article on CNN.com:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/06/e.coli.survivor.rivera/index.html?hpt=C2

It tells the story of a woman here in the United States that got E Coli from eating contaminated cookie dough. It is a sad story and her tragedy is very real. A quote from the article:

Each year about 76,000 people get Linda Rivera's strain of bacteria -- E. coli O157-- according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (IN THE UNITED STATES). About 2,500 are hospitalized and 50 to 100 people die from it each year. E. coli O157 lives in the colon and feces of animals and humans. In certain situations, it can taint food, particularly raw meat and vegetables. Although salmonella kills more people than E. coli, because more people get it, the effects of E. coli, according to health experts, are much more severe. Ingest a strong strain of it, doctors say, and it can shut down your entire body.

This story gets at the heart of why we do the work that we do at Healing Waters. E Coli come from contaminated human and animal feces and can be found in water and food supplies. It kills up to 5% of all children who get it. While there are no statistics for the worldwide death rate due to E Coli (the stat above is for the United States), it is a common form of contamination in the water sources we treat in Guatemala, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

While it is sad to see this happen in the US, it is fairly uncommon. In the countries where Healing Waters works, E Coli, Salmonella, Fecal Coliforms, Cholera and other waterborne diseases are a daily reality for the people living there.

It is a relatively simple fix to treat drinking water supplies and save families the illness and death from these diseases. For more information you can visit our website at: http://www.healingwaters.org/

World Cup Quarterfinalists. . . a lot of SOUTH AMERICANS!

2010-07-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

While the quarter finals didn't go too well for my brothers and sisters of South America, I was impressed by the representation there. 4 teams from South America in the quarter finals! For such an impoverished continent, they do know how to play some futbol (soccer).

I was especially impressed with Paraguay, one of the three poorest nations in South America (along with Ecuador and Bolivia.) They had an amazing showing at the World Cup and even held Spain off in the Quarterfinals until the 82nd minute! Adelante Paraguay!!!!

Esther's two favorite teams were eliminated in the round of 16. She was disappointed and pretty much lost interest in the world cup after that. :)

A "Shout Out" to my brothers and sisters at Central Presbyterian Church, Denver

2010-07-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I hosted a Healing Waters International "Transformation Trip" in Guatemala the week after I finished the Wellshire youth mission trip.

The group on this trip was from Central Presbyterian Church in Denver. They were an amazing group and we spent a week working with one of the churches that hosts a Healing Waters project. For most of the week we were split into three teams. One team was doing some painting work at a "Missions House" that is run by the local church. One team was doing cinder block construction on a second story of a building that will serve as a storage area for the school. And one team was helping to put a roof on a house owned by a member of the church. The church member has been commissioned to start a church plant in his house, and the home church is helping him fix up his house to do that.

I didn't do any blog posts for the week because the Central Pres. team was taking care of that themselves. If you want to read about their trip, you can visit the church blog at:
http://www.centraldenver.com/blog/category/mission/guatemala2010/

One of the participants on the trip also did some personal blogging and you can follow that here:
http://cpcguatemala.blogspot.com/

While it was tough to be in Guatemala for two weeks without Jessica and Esther, the youth on our mission trip and the Central Pres. crew on the Transformation Trip kept me energized and on my toes. I really enjoyed leading the trip with them and getting to know each of them. They are an incredible group of people with incredible hearts for service! Thanks to my brothers and sisters from Central Pres!

Wellshire Youth Group singing "Eres Todo Poderoso" on the roof of our hotel in Antigua

2010-07-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

On our last full day in Guatemala, the youth group had the opportunity to praise God on the roof of our hotel at 6:30am. It was a clear day in Antigua and God's presence was felt. This is the youth group singing "Eres Todo Poderoso," one of the praise songs we learned in Spanish for our mission trip. Enjoy!

Wellshire SHY Guatemala Mission Trip Post 6: Cloud Forest, Antigua, Safe Drinking Water and Hasta Luego!

2010-06-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the two week delay in getting this final post up. The same day we ended the Wellshire SHY Mission Trip in Guatemala, I began hosting a trip for Healing Waters. I was very busy hosting that trip and am just now getting settled back into my life in the USA.

Our last two full days in Guatemala were full of wonder, beauty, service and FUN! Because a picture speaks a thousand words, and because I finally have high speed internet access and it is much easier to post photos, this final post will be very photo heavy and text light. I hope you enjoyed sharing our journey with us and thank you for your thoughts, prayers and feedback!

I also need to give credit where credit is due. All of the photos you see on the blog were taken by Angela Duggan. She did an amazing job as our team photographer/historian. If you want full resolution versions of any of these images, or of more than 1500 other pictures she took, you can go to her Flickr site and download the photos. Here are instructions:

Here’s the link to Angela’s photos of the mission trip to Guatemala :
http://portal.mxlogic.com/redir/?5eVEVjjuKOYMrjKYYCehhjodw0DjVmaNVv5ytpRFzdXIeee9wE6npODPFwVd5YsUCMOODtCWoVz3t-hKeosud7bX8UTsTI2fDXO3p4zI0kwTTEdCPhOqehPVJ5cseoud7bOapJ5MS5pgaCy2tjh0JaQSU_gTfM-u0USyrhdFTuuj78TuKr-DsS

To download any of the photos: click on the thumbnail of the picture you want to download then click on “All Sizes” located right above the picture.
To order prints of any of the photos: click on the thumbnail of the picture you want to order and click on “Order Prints” located right above the picture.

Now, on to the final blog post. . .

We packed up on Friday morning from our new home in Salama and headed out to the "Biotopo del Quetzal," a nature preserve that was about 45 minutes from Salama which is in a cloud forest (a rain forest that is so damp there are actually plants whose roots aren't in the ground, they just hang out in the air and get enough moisture from the air.)

Packing up the buses on our final morning in Salama

The Quetzal is the national bird in Guatemala. It is a bright green bird with a long and colorful tail. Unfortunately the bird is also very shy and usually comes out only at dawn and dusk. So we didn't see any live Quetzales in the cloud forest, but we did meet some other friends.
Here is our group getting prepared to do a one mile hike through the cloud forest

You can see the lush and dense vegitation in the cloud forest. It was stunningly beautiful and we were blessed to spend time in such a beautiful part of God's creation.

This was one of the friends we met on the trail. He was a pretty big lizard and very excited to meet some gringos!

Part of our group standing in front of a waterfall in the Nature Reserve. Amazingly beautiful!

Another friend we met on the hike. We knew we weren't in Colorado when this guy scurried across the trail in front of us. With the telephoto lens, this guy looks huge!

Here you get some perspective, still a pretty big bug!

The kids had the opportunity to swim in a stream under a waterfall in the Guatemalan rainforest. What a fun experience. While this stream was not as cold as our snow-melt streams here in Colorado, it was pretty chilly!

This is a photos of one of the amazing plants and flowers we saw at the nature reserve.

Once we finished our time there we packed up the buses and started the marathon drive to Antigua. We were prepared for a five hour drive and that is about how long it took. Along the way, Angela was snapping photos and we were all keeping the youth entertained. Below are a few "road photos."

Beatiful and quaint churches are all over the place in Guatemala. Some day I will do a photo set of nothing but churches and chapels. Angela did a great job capturing the beauty of these churches.

This is the road that splits from Salama to Guatemala. The van with the blue tarp is one of our vans full of 20 excited H.S. youth and a few adults!

Finally we made it to where there were signs pointing us to Antigua. It was a welcome site and we were only about an hour away at this point.

We arrived in Antigua at about 6:30pm with just enough time to drop our bags at the hotel, get checked in and then head out to dinner for our 7:30 dinner reservation at Mono Loco (The Crazy Monkey.)

Mono Loco is a very popular restaurant in Antigua. It is a fun atmosphere and they are well known for their nachos. Their tagline is "Nachos as big as your head!" One plate of nachos can feed three regular adults, two high school boys (or hungry girls), or one Chris Sellers.

Here is the group enjoying our meal at Mono Loco

Jeffrey Olson and Stephen Hahn about to dig into their plate of nachos!

There were 8 guys sitting at this table and they polished off 5 plates of nachos, a new Wellshire and Mono Loco record!

Saturday morning came early for the group as we got up and prepared to spend half of the day with Healing Waters. Angela and a few other sponsors got out very early to get some coffee and take photos of Antigua. The city of Antigua is VERY picturesque and I wanted to share a few of Angela's photos with you taken on Saturday morning before our group left.

Antigua is full of lots of old ruins, buildings and churches. Various earthquakes through the years have brought down buildings, only to be rebuilt. Here are the ruins of an old church

This is a beautiful archway that stretches over the street in Antigua. The buildings on either side are all painted in beautiful colors and the archway stands out with its yellow clock tower.

This is the cathedral on the main plaza (called the Parque Central) in Antigua. It is a beautiful old building. Angela was up very early to take this picture, usually there are taxis, buses and swarms of tourists walking around.

Below is a photo of our hotel in Antigua. The hotel is built around a central courtyard and was three stories tall. We filled every room in the hotel, which was probably a good thing!

We had planned on getting an early start and had the kids up and ready to go at 6:15 when we discovered that the restaurant where we were going to eat breakfast didn't open until 7am. So we all went up on the roof of the hotel and worshipped together. The day was crystal clear and you could see the volcanoes that dominate the landscape in Guatemala. The feeling of raising our voices and hearts to God at 6:30 on the rooftop of our hotel is unforgettable.

Graham Johnson leading us in song on teh guitar. If he ever decided to cut an album, I think we have the cover for the album!

The youth praising and worshipping God with the volcano in the background.

Graham and Kevin Ruby leading us in song. We were so blessed to have many great musicians on the trip that helped to lead our worship experience.

Here you can see the youth singing and praising God! What a great way to start our last full day in Guatemala.

Once 7am rolled around we made our way to Pollo Campero, which is a local Guatemalan fastfood chain. We all got our breakfast and ate up to have energy for our day of working with Healing Waters!

Enjoying the food at Pollo Campero!

After breakfast we loaded into our buses and headed off to Comalapa, a city that is about 1 hour from Antigua. Healing Waters has a water system in Comalapa. It turns out that the day we were scheduled to visit the water system, the city was hosting a 10k race. Healing Waters (Or Aguas de Unidad as we are known in Guatemala) was one of the co-sponsors of the race, providing water to the community. This was a great opportunity to promote the water system and let the population of Comalapa know that they had a water system available to get their safe drinking water. The youth spent the morning handing out bottles and flyers to promote the water system.

On the way there we came across a truck that needed a little help. A couple people in our group jumped out and got the truck safely off the road.

As we neared Comalapa, we got to the site of the 10k race course. Our vans drove past the lead pack in the race. I had no idea that Guatemala had such a running culture, but there were sure a lot of hardcore runners in this race.

Our group descended on Comalapa, ready to help out Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad. If you can imagine 60 people all wearing matching shirts coming to town that almost never sees foreign visitors, you can get a picture of what it was like walking through the streets with our group.

We handed out water bottles to the runners at the finish line of the race and also walked all over the community handing out 20 oz bottles and flyers to make the community members aware of the water system.

Here is a beautiful indigenous woman holding on to a flyer that was just handed to her by one of our youth. She is wearing the traditional dress of the indigenous Mayan women in the region. Comalapa has a strong indigenous culture with over 80% of the population having Mayan roots and still dressing like their ancestors. The Mayan women weave beautiful textiles that they wear. You can tell what region of the country they are from by what pattern you see on their textiles.

Of course there is always time for a soccer match. The school where the Healing Waters project is located had a soccer game going on and our youth got involved. The water system is only about 250 square feet, so we brought the youth in to tour the water system in groups of 10 while the other youth waited outside and played soccer.

Here is a photo of the youth getting a tour of the water system. Daniela, one of the Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad employees based in Guatemala is explaining how the water system works.

What a great looking group standing outside the Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad system in Comalapa!

As we walked from the water system back to the place where we were going to eat lunch, Angela snapped this great photo. You can see four women in traditional inidigenous dress walking down the street. I love the blend of the modern and traditional and this photo really captures the heart of Comalapa and our experience there.

We arrived back at a different public school in Comalapa where they served our group a traditional lunch. They were so proud to have this big group of Americans visiting their town and they put together quite a feast for us!

Chris really enjoyed his soup and tamale that was prepared for him by the people of Comalapa!

We loaded up into our buses and headed back to Antigua at about 1:30pm. We have a tradition on Mission Trip called Baquet ("Banquet" without the "Q".) The seniors put together an activity or competition for all of the youth to participate in. This year they put together a photo scavenger hunt. They took photos that the Wellshire group had taken when they were down in Guatemala last year. The kids split up into teams and they had to go find the spots where the photos were taken and then snap an identical photo. Each team was also given 100 Quetzales (the local currency) and had to go into the market to buy some specific items.

Angela took the photo below outside the cemetary. The quote reads, "La Vida de los muertos consiste en la memoria de los vivos" which translates to "The life of the dead lives on in the memory of the living."

This is a photo of a "tuk-tuk" which is one of the 3-wheeled motorcycle taxis that run all over the city of Antigua

Here is one of the groups that was competing in Baquet. They found this old car on the streets of Antigua and decided to pose by it.

Once the Baquet activity was over, the team all went to a restaurant for their "Cena de Despedidia" or the "Good-bye Dinner." They enjoyed a delicious meal together and had some fun too!

The seniors handed out awards to all of the mission trip participants based upon their experiences for the week. Some of the awards are funny, some are touching and heartfelt, and some are a little weird. They also had prizes for the Baquet teams that found the most photos and got the best deal on their items in the market.

After dinner was over the group returned to the hotel. Everyone headed up to the roof of the hotel for another mission trip tradition, CIRCLE! This is an opportunity for each mission trip participant to go around the circle and thank everyone on the trip, reflect on their experiences, and share stories and anecdotes about their fellow travelers. They got started at 10pm and finally wrapped up around 2am on Sunday morning.

Wake up call was 3:30am Sunday morning and the buses left for the airport at 4am. I will save the trip home for another blog post. . .

All in all, the trip was incredibly blessed. Prayer is an incredibly powerful force and there was no question that we could feel the power of your prayers during our trip. Everyone made it home safe, and all of our lives have been forever changed by this experience. Thank you to each person who came on the trip, to each family member who supported us, to the Wellshire congregation for their incredible support, and to anyone else who came along side us for this journey through your thoughts and prayers.

Helping to lead this trip was an absolute joy for me. I thank God for the opportunity I was given to expose our youth to a bigger world. I will close with the Mission Statement for our Mission trip, which really represented our experience.

We are going on this mission trip to build relationships with our brothers and sisters and serve the poor. This is an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to some people whose needs are far greater than our own, perhaps greater than anything we've ever seen. This week is not about "us" or "our experience", but rather it is about the people we are serving. Our goal is not to simply have a “great week” in Guatemala. We will have the opportunity to meet the needs of each other and the poor, to hear the voice of Jesus, and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit. We will follow the words of Christ who told us to “Love one another as I have loved you” and remember the sacrifice He made to show that love.

Wellshire SHY Guatemala Mission Trip Post 5: Bonds and memories formed over cement and cinder blocks last a lifetime

2010-06-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

We have had two incredible days in Salama, Guatemala. I apologize for not updating the blog sooner, but we have been so busy and having so much fun! Despite a lack of OSHA standards on our worksites, our kids have been really good about watching out for themselves, and the Habitat folks have been taking great care of us. No major injuries, and apart from a little dehydration and a few travel bugs, our team continues to be happy, healthy and safe.

We spent the last two days working on our Habitat worksites. Below I will feature our four work teams that have not been in the blog yet. As I write this blog post on Friday morning, we are getting ready to eat breakfast, pack up, and leave our newly adopted home of Salama. It is a bittersweet departure for all of us. We will load up our buses and go to a nature reserve where we will see some flora and fauna that is indigenous to Guatemala. We will also have the opportunity to swim in some mountain streams under waterfalls. Then we have a marathon bus trip to Antigua, it will take us about 5 hours. When we get into Antigua this evening we will be having a fun dinner at a restaurant called Mono Loco (the crazy monkey.)

But enough about what we are GOING to do, let me share with you what we have been doing for the past two days. This blog post will be light on text and heavy on photos.

At the end of our work day on Wednesday, our van driver offered to take us up to an overlook to get a view of the whole valley. The road was one of the more interesting mountain road I have been on, enjoy the photos!

The driver and I joking and cheering as we make it down the road.

How could this view not bring to mind Isiah 40:31? But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

When we finally made it to the top of the hill there was a cross and a small overlook area. We stopped and enjoyed the view.

And what a view it was!

What a great view and a great looking group of kids!

This is the workgroup that was led by Terri and Brian. They had an incredible time building at their site and getting to know the family they were building with.

Michael became the stone mason's helper, laying block and filling in the grout. Ususally the stone masons do not let us help with this skilled, detailed labor. But this mason was really impressed with our team's work ethic and attention to detail!

There was also time to build relationships with the locals as you can see here.

Jennifer hauling a bucketful of cement. What a hard worker!

Big smiles, big hearts, and lifelong memories.

Andrew Mixing concrete. We all did a lot of this throughout the week. A LOT!

One of the many beautiful churches around Salama. This one has 120 steps you have to go up to reach it.

Another one of our great work teams, this one led by Brian and Rachel. Here you see the manly men, showing off their muscles.

The lovely ladies of the group

A group photo with the the group, the stone masons and the Habitat affiliate staff.

This was the stone mason for the group. He did and incredible job of keeping the group busy!

Rachel and Keri taking a water break. Because of the heat and humidity we took a lot of water breaks!

Cinder blocks in Guatemala have to be chiseled to fit over the rebar. Notice the safety goggles, SAFETY FIRST!

We had some helpers on our work site too. One look at this kiddo's smile, and we knew why we were here and what we were doing.

This is the team from the worksite led by Sue and me. Our sand pile (for mixing cement) was a little distance from where we actually mixed the cement, so we spent a lot of time shoveling sand into wheelbarrows and moving it across the worksite.

This is the work team, our stone mason and the Habitat staff. You can probably tell that our worksite was a little bit wet and swampy. I think the lot where we were building used to be wetlands. On Monday morning when the team arrived it had rained the night before. The trenches that had been dug for the foundation were filled with a foot of water. Our team built a drainage channel and dug a 4 foot deep hole. We drained off over 50 gallons of water with our little engineering project so that we could start pouring the foundation.

Despite our best attempts to drain some of the water off the worksite, it was a muddy, sloppy mess. All of our work pants looked like this at the end of the day and our work shoes were caked in mud.

We had a great shade tree on our worksite that made for a good place to take our breaks.

We also had a mascot on our site. The family we were building for had a 6 pound dog named "Osito" (Little bear.) He was very friendly. Any time any of us took a break, Osito was there to get some attention.

We usually had an audience wherever we went as a group. Here is an indigenous girl who really got a kick out of watching all the crazy gringos build a house in her country. She is standing outside her house made of mud and thatch.

I had to leave my wife and 6 month old daughter in the United States to lead this trip, so any time I saw a young child, I had to get my "baby fix." Most kids ended up crying when I talked with them or held them, but this little girl let me hold her for 10 minutes and it melted my heart. She is actually going to be living in one of the houses that our work teams were building. Her mother is a recipient of a Habitat house.

This is the group led by Graham and Laurie. Here you have the "manly men."

And here are the lovely ladies of the group. They were all hard workers and the locals commented on how tough and hard working our girls were!

This is the whole group with their stone mason and the Habitat staff. You can see the mountain behind them with lush vegitation. There was a road cut into the mountainside that looked like the fabled road to "El Dorado" so this group gave themselves the nickname of "El Dorado."

Their worksite had some visitors and playmates as well. This little guy loved climbing up and down the dirt piles.

Each one of our worksites was in a different location with a different feel. This team's worksite was almost a half mile from any paved road in a very rural, agricultural area. So each morning the team would have to hike into their worksite across a bridge and up a pretty steep trail.

Sam making rebar columns to help reinforce the structure of the house we were building. He is working side-by-side with one of the Guatemalan Habitat employees.

One of our fearless leaders, Graham. Graham also led our worship team each night. He provided a great example of Christian love and leadership on this trip.

All in all we had an incredible four days on our Habitat build sites. We built houses, but we also built relationships, which is just as important. Our youth are truly shining the love and light of Christ through their time here in Guatemala. They are all taking in the experiences, learning, laughing and loving.

We did a closing ceremony with each Habitat family on Thursday afternoon. The families thanked our group for being there and helping, and our kids all thanked the families for the opportunity to be there. A lot of us cried, tears of both happiness and saddness. I am amazed at the bonds that can be formed over cement and cinder blocks in four short days.

Thank you all for continuing to read the blog and for your continued prayers. As we prepare to load the buses to head out to Antigua, we can feel the power of those prayers surrounding us.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Prayers of thanksgiving for an incredible 4 days in Salama, for us staying safe on our worksites

-Please pray for health from stomach bugs

-Pray for safe travels as we cross the country today

-Pray for a continued spirit of service and Christ's love in each particpants heart

Wellshire SHY Guatemala Mission Trip Post 4: Work Hard, Play Hard!

2010-06-15T20:41:00.001-07:00

We awoke to another beautiful morning. We continue to be having a great experience. A few youth and adults have gotten a little dehydrated or caught a little travelers' bug, but nothing major. Most of them just took it easy today, drank lots of water, and were feeling better by dinnertime.

We continue to approach each day with a servant's heart, ready to work side by side with our Guatemalan brothers and sisters. Our team was up and at breakfast by 5:45am, ready to start another work day. They served us "el desayuno tipico" (A typical Guatemalan breakfast) of eggs, black beans, bread and orange juice. The food is really good and helps sustain us through our long work days on the Habitat build sites.
Above you can see a photo of our breakfast. Below is the group eating breakfast with the morning sun breaking through.

We loaded into our vans and were all at the worksites by 7am, helping to move cinder blocks, mix cement, wire together rebar and clamps, and build relationships within our group and with the Guatemalan people we have the privilege of working with.

One team arrived at their site and were greeted by a new companion, you can see the photo below. Most of our teams have had some "close encounters" with livestock including the horse that grazes in our hotel parking lot, chickens and roosters, cows, and our newest friend who we named "tocino." (Which is Spanish for bacon.)

Below are photos from the worksite for the team that is being led by Jenni and Ashley. They are having an amazing building experience. Their homesite is in a more rural area and a river runs right by it. They are working hard and the house is going up quickly!

They paused from their work day for a moment to take a group picture. What a great work team!

Holly and Allie bending rebar for the next layer of cinder block

During their lunch break the team got to sit down by the river. God has blessed us with some beautiful places in this world, and even as we are serving Him, He is taking care of us too!

The team hard at work on their work site. They were able to get 3 new layers of block laid in one day!

Lauren hard at work. Sorry that the photo is not rotated, but you can turn your head to see her!

There are sweeping views of the pastoral valley and the mountains surrounding us. The views never get old and our youth are amazed by how lush and green everything is, especially compared to our mission trip three years ago, building houses in Juarez that was very dry and dusty.

There are some beautiful plants all around us. We are trying to make time to stop and smell the flowers in between our busy work days!

Once our work days were over, the youth all changed into their soccer clothes for a "Guatemalan cultural experience." We played soccer for two hours with the local Habitat staff, some of the stone masons' families, our van drivers, and our youth. It was a blast!

Notice the day-glow t-shirts! Since all the youth were wearing the same t-shirts, it was hard to figure out who was on each team. The people you see not in bright yellow shirts are local Guatemalans who came and played soccer with us.

Miles is a great soccer player and taught most of the youth a few tricks. Although he had some stiff competition with our Guatemalan friends who joined us.

Megan blew away the Guatemalans. It is not typical for women to play soccer down here, so the Guatemalans were not expecting to get schooled by a female soccer player. She sure showed them! It was great fun and we ended the day laughing. Despite the language barrier, the international language of sport and competition facilitated communication.

It was especially fun for us to be playing soccer this week because the World Cup soccer tournament is going on while we are here. At many of our worksites the neighbors have their televisions or radios tuned into the World Cup games and you hear cheers go up each time one of their favorite teams scores a goal. Today it was Brazil.

One of our Guatemalan friends that joined us for the soccer game. He is the son of one of the stone masons who is building the house with us.

Below is our group photo. We had a phenomenal time and the youth are really making the most of their experience here in Guatemala.

Thank you for reading the blog and keeping up with our trip. Thank you also for your continued prayers and support.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Continued prayers of thanksgiving for our safety

-Prayers for the health of our group

-Prayers that we can continue to communicate God's love while we are here

Wellshire SHY Guatemala Mission Trip Post 3: Cinder Blocks and Smiles!

2010-06-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Monday was our first full work day at the Habitat sites. We woke up to God's blessing of a beautiful sunrise. The sunrise from our hotel

Our wake up call came a little bit early at 5:30am, with breakfast at 5:45. But we are here to work, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and the kids were surprisingly pleasant and energetic, even at the early hour. After breakfast, right before loading our buses, we took a group picture in front of the hotel. What a great looking group of God's servants!

We fanned out across the state of Baja Verapaz to work on six different Habitat homes. Each night I will post pictures of different work teams and different work sites.

This Monday set of pictures is of the group led by Brian and Angela Duggan. They are having an amazing building experience. Their team arrived at the worksite and discovered that the forms for the foundation had been set, but it had not been poured yet. That means a LOT of concrete mixing, all with a smiling face.
The brackets that hold the rebar together in the foundation are all cut and bent by hand. Here you see Caitlin and Laura making rebar clamps.

Here you can see an enormous stack of cinder blocks, over 1200 of them to build the house. And our youth will touch and lift almost every one of them!

Miles and Connor are amazing cement mixers! They probably mixed a few thousand pounds of cement today.

Natalie plays with one of the children who will be living in the house they are building.

What a great team! They took a short break and decided to take a quick group photo in front of this brightly painted teal wall.

There is nothing more refreshing than a Coke on a hot and humid day after some cinder block house building!

This is the "stone mason" who has been hired by Habitat for Humanity to build the house. Our team provides the "manual labor" and he provides the "skilled labor." The team has built a great working relationship with him.

This is a panoramic view of the front of our hotel and the parking area. The wandering horse that was grazing in the parking area had temoporarily left for the photo. Perhaps he was camera shy?

This is the large covered gazebo space at the hotel where we are eating all of our meals, doing all of our worship and having all of our meetings. The hotel staff has been great and very accomodating.

This is the swimming pool area with our very own water slide. After a long, humid, hot day of building a cinder block house, the pool is quite refreshing!

This is the vespers band leading our group in worship. They have been doing an amazing job bringing their musical talents and energies to lead our group of 61 in worship.

We had a few members of our group who had to arrive late. They all arrived safely this afternoon and now are group is complete.

It has been an incredible trip so far. Our first day on the worksites was eye-opening and fulfilling for our youth and adults. Thank you for your continued prayers, below are a few prayer requests:

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Prayers of thanksgiving that the rest of our group arrived safely

-Prayers of thanksgiving for an incredible first day of work on the Habitat homes

-Prayers for continued open minds and hearts for our youth, that they feel God's love in this experience and embody that love in their interactions with the Guatemalans and the rest of our group

-Prayers for health and safety for the rest of the week

Wellshire SHY Guatemala Mission Trip Post 2: Settling in to Salama

2010-06-14T18:28:00.001-07:00

I am sitting in the hotel lobby on Monday night, listening to the sounds of our 49 youth here in Guatemala being led in worship by the Vespers band, and I am feeling very close to God right now.

The last two days have been a whirlwind and flurry of activity. I will try to update you with a few details and a lot of photos.

On Sunday morning we got up early at our nice hotel in Guatemala city, had a delicious breakfast in the lobby and then video-conferenced into the early morning worship service at Wellshire at 8:35am

This picture shows our "set up" to video conference into the worship service. We hooked up a backpack that had built-in speakers and all the youth had a chance to greet the congregation.

Once we signed off with the congregation back in Denver, our buses were in front of the hotel waiting to be loaded up. We had 3 "micro-buses" that accomodated 20 passengers each, and all of our luggage had to go on top, wrapped in tarps because we are here in Guatemala during the rainy season.

Senior Kevin Ruby hanging out the window of his bus as we loaded up.

Loading the luggage on the roof of the buses. Look at the mass of kids on the left and the mass of luggage on the roof of the bus!

Kids loaded on the bus and ready to go!

One of our "micro-buses" cruising down the windy mountain road with a heavy load of luggage on top.

As we drove up and down the windy mountain going north and east out of Guatemala city, one bus got a flat tire. Someone asked the question, "How many misison trip team members does it take to fix a flat?" The answer was. . . a few. Graham Johnson, one of our adult leaders, worked in a mechanic shop for many years. He jumped right out of the bus and helped the drivers get the tire changed. In the picture below you can see Graham jumping up and down on the tire iron to get the lug nuts loose. He was a hero!

Graham getting those lug nuts loose!

All the kids off-loaded the bus and juggled rocks while they were waiting for the tire to get changed. This is one of those mission trip memories that will last a lifetime!

We finally made it to the turn-off for Salama after about 4 hours (would have been 3.5 if not for the flat tire.

A picture of some of our road companions. This truck really impressed a lot of our youth, loaded down with two big bulls!

We arrived in Salama, which is the the Guatemalan state of Baja Verapaz. The city (and the state) is in a beautiful mountain valley. Apart from the flat tire, the ride was pretty uneventful. We arrived at our hotel and were surrounded by beautiful mountains.

The view from the back of the hotel, we have a horse that wanders around and grazes in the parking lot of our hotel.

Once we got checked in to the hotel we had lunch and then got to meet the families we were going to be building with for the week with Habitat for Humanity. The families that are getting homes build side-by-side with the work teams, so we are not just building houses, but building relationships with the people who will be living in those houses.

We had an orientation and opening celebration with the Habitat staff and the families. All of our youth got to meet these amazing folks.

The families who will be getting homes are getting to know our youth.

Habitat has three staff members from Guatemala's "Global Village"department who will be assisting us for the week. Each of them is full of energy and has a unique story that brought them to work for Habitat in Guatemala. They are great role models for our kids, showing what a life of service is all about.

From left to right at the top of the photo are Ed, Kristin and Collin, the Habitat Global Village staff that are working with us this week.

Two of the families receiving houses, a single mom with young children and a young family. Since I had to leave my 6 month old baby at home on this trip, I am missing her a lot, so I am getting my baby fix with these families.

This photo shows the seniors introducing themselves to the Habitat families and staff. In the foreground is a 3 year old whose family will be getting a Habitat house.

Translating and chatting with a Habitat family. This little boy is 8 months old and about the same size as my daughter, Esther. This is the family that my group is building a house with

After the formal ceremony, we had the opportunity to interact with the families and children. Here you can see Marta Olson playing with one of the girls.

After the families left our youth had a chance to enjoy the swimming pool at the hotel and have a little bit of down time after our long bus ride.

We met for dinner, worship and bible study and had lights out at 9:30pm in order to be ready for our 5:45 breakfast and 7am start time.

Our youth are all in great spirits and ready to work!

Wellshire SHY Guatemala Mission Trip Post 1: Cushy Digs in Guatemala City

2010-06-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today I met 49 smiling high school youth (and 10 adults) at the Denver airport at 5:00am. We boarded planes for Guatemala to start a 8 day-long mission trip. We will be building houses with Habitat for Humanity and working with Healing Waters International.

Some bleary-eyed parents seeing us off at the airport

Waiting in DIA for our flight with our day-glow yellow shirts, easy to spot in the airport!
Sometimes a 5am start can make us a little bit loopy!

Our fearless co-leader, Brian Daoust and his lovely bride. Look behind them on the airplane and you will see that half of all of the seats on the aircraft are occupied by our youth!

We flew Denver-Houston and had a really tight connection in Houston. We boarded our plane in Houston for Guatemala and once I did a head count on the Houston-Guatemala City flight, I let out a huge sigh of relief and settled in for the three hour flight.

Our group landed in the Guatemala City airport at about 1:30pm. After clearing immigration and customs (which is pretty complicated with 60 people), we met up with our Habitat for Humanity contacts here in Guatemala.

The youth group walking through the Guatemala City Airport

Our Habitat contacts got us loaded on to buses and took us to our hotel. Now when I think of mission trips, I tend to think of "roughing it" in rustic accomodations (like in tents when we went to do hurricane relief work after Katrina, or on the cement floor of a giant warehouse when we built houses in Juarez with Casas por Cristo a few years ago.)

We are spending just one night in Guatemala City before we head out to Salama, which is a rural area about 4 hours outside of the city. Habitat Guatemala has a contract with the "Biltmore Express" hotel where they get a screaming deal on rooms in a pretty nice hotel.

So our first night here in Guatemala was pretty comfortable. Not that I am complaining! After a long day of travel it was nice to be able to settle in and sleep comfortably.

The room in the Biltmore Express. Brian is even watching his Phillies on ESPN, a little taste of home in Guatemala City!

I am doing an orientation of our group in the lobby of the hotel. You can see the pretty nice accomodations.

Once we got settled into the hotel and checked in, they let us use one of their "Salon de Fiestas" to worship together. The space was beautiful and it was a unique privilege to worship in Guatemala city with 49 H.S. youth and 11 adults.

Worshiping in the "Party Salon" at the hotel

Vespers Band leading us in worship
A beautiful space, a joyful noise made to the Lord, what more can you ask for!

After our worship service we broke out into our small groups and did our first bible study. It was a time to get to know our small groups (who are also going to be our work teams for the week.) The theme of the week is LOVE, how God loves us and how we, in turn, are supposed to love one another. Our time down here with the Guatemalan people and with our group is a manifestation of Christian love and our response to the love that Christ showed to us by making the ultimate sacrifice.

After we finished small groups we were ready for dinner! We split up into two groups for dinner, one group went to a taco restaurant and the other group went to "Pollo Campero" which is the Guatemalan version of Chick-fil-a.

The kids were surprised by how modern Guatemala City is, and how many "american" businesses they saw here on our ride from the airport to the hotel. It will be a different story tomorrow when we depart for Salama!

Pollo Campero, a successful Guatemalan fast-food chain. Started by a family here, there are hundreds all over the country and they have even opened some franchises in the United States in communiteis with large Guatemalan populations like Los Angeles and Chicago.

Our youth enjoying their meal at Pollo Campero!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and turned in early after a long day of travel. Only God knows what the week holds in store for us, but the youth and adults are excited and ready to work here in Guatemala.

One of the other adult leaders on the trip is also blogging about it. You can read Jenni's Blog here: http://travelerforgood.blogspot.com/

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-That our team has open minds and hearts

-That we have safe travels from Guatemala City to Salama

-Prayers of thanksgiving for getting the group here safely yesterday

Defending the study of humanities (English, Philosophy, Languages) at colleges and universities

2010-06-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

Props go out to my dear friend Laura for turning me on to this NYTimes Op-Ed piece. I would recommend clicking on her name and reading her analysis of the piece, it is insightful!

This column defends the study of the humanities disciplines, and really resonates with me. The ability to read a paragraph and understand it, the ability to write, the ability to think in analogies. These are all necessary skills that make people better and more critical thinkers and frankly make the world a more interesting place to live.

I confess that my wife is an English teacher, so I may be a bit biased. And I also studied and have taught in the humanities disciplines. But my liberal arts education with a dual BA in Social Sciences and Humanities has served me well, and some of the greatest thinkers and problem solvers were not business majors, they studied things like philosophy or history. Without further ado, enjoy:

June 7, 2010
History for Dollars
By DAVID BROOKS
When the going gets tough, the tough take accounting. When the job market worsens, many students figure they can’t indulge in an English or a history major. They have to study something that will lead directly to a job.

So it is almost inevitable that over the next few years, as labor markets struggle, the humanities will continue their long slide. There already has been a nearly 50 percent drop in the portion of liberal arts majors over the past generation, and that trend is bound to accelerate. Once the stars of university life, humanities now play bit roles when prospective students take their college tours. The labs are more glamorous than the libraries.

But allow me to pause for a moment and throw another sandbag on the levee of those trying to resist this tide. Let me stand up for the history, English and art classes, even in the face of today’s economic realities.

Studying the humanities improves your ability to read and write. No matter what you do in life, you will have a huge advantage if you can read a paragraph and discern its meaning (a rarer talent than you might suppose). You will have enormous power if you are the person in the office who can write a clear and concise memo.

Studying the humanities will give you a familiarity with the language of emotion. In an information economy, many people have the ability to produce a technical innovation: a new MP3 player. Very few people have the ability to create a great brand: the iPod. Branding involves the location and arousal of affection, and you can’t do it unless you are conversant in the language of romance.

Studying the humanities will give you a wealth of analogies. People think by comparison — Iraq is either like Vietnam or Bosnia; your boss is like Narcissus or Solon. People who have a wealth of analogies in their minds can think more precisely than those with few analogies. If you go through college without reading Thucydides, Herodotus and Gibbon, you’ll have been cheated out of a great repertoire of comparisons.

Finally, and most importantly, studying the humanities helps you befriend The Big Shaggy.

Let me try to explain. Over the past century or so, people have built various systems to help them understand human behavior: economics, political science, game theory and evolutionary psychology. These systems are useful in many circumstances. But none completely explain behavior because deep down people have passions and drives that don’t lend themselves to systemic modeling. They have yearnings and fears that reside in an inner beast you could call The Big Shaggy.

You can see The Big Shaggy at work when a governor of South Carolina suddenly chucks it all for a love voyage south of the equator, or when a smart, philosophical congressman from Indiana risks everything for an in-office affair.

You can see The Big Shaggy at work when self-destructive overconfidence overtakes oil engineers in the gulf, when go-go enthusiasm intoxicates investment bankers or when bone-chilling distrust grips politics.

Those are the destructive sides of The Big Shaggy. But this tender beast is also responsible for the mysterious but fierce determination that drives Kobe Bryant, the graceful bemusement the Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga showed when his perfect game slipped away, the selfless courage soldiers in Afghanistan show when they risk death for buddies or a family they may never see again.

The observant person goes through life asking: Where did that come from? Why did he or she act that way? The answers are hard to come by because the behavior emanates from somewhere deep inside The Big Shaggy.

Technical knowledge stops at the outer edge. If you spend your life riding the links of the Internet, you probably won’t get too far into The Big Shaggy either, because the fast, effortless prose of blogging (and journalism) lacks the heft to get you deep below.

But over the centuries, there have been rare and strange people who possessed the skill of taking the upheavals of thought that emanate from The Big Shaggy and representing them in the form of story, music, myth, painting, liturgy, architecture, sculpture, landscape and speech. These men and women developed languages that help us understand these yearnings and also educate and mold them. They left rich veins of emotional knowledge that are the subjects of the humanities.

It’s probably dangerous to enter exclusively into this realm and risk being caught in a cloister, removed from the market and its accountability. But doesn’t it make sense to spend some time in the company of these languages — learning to feel different emotions, rehearsing different passions, experiencing different sacred rituals and learning to see in different ways?

Few of us are hewers of wood. We navigate social environments. If you’re dumb about The Big Shaggy, you’ll probably get eaten by it.

Giving credit where credit is due

2010-06-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share this devotional with everyone, thought it was meaningful. . .

My Success is not about me, it is About Him
May 20th, 2010
by Max Lucado

With success comes a problem. Just ask Nadab, Elah, and Omri. Or interview Ahab, Ahaziah, or Jehoram. Ask these men to describe the problem of success. I would, you might be thinking, if I knew who they were. My point, exactly. These are men we should know. They were kings of Israel. They ascended to the throne…but something about the throne brought them down. Their legacies are stained with blood spilling and idol worship. They failed at success. They forgot both the source and purpose of their success.

You won’t be offered a throne, but you might be offered a corner office, a scholarship, an award, a new contract, a pay raise. You won’t be given a kingdom to oversee, but you might be given a home or employees or students or money or resources. You will, to one degree or another, succeed.

And when you do, you might be tempted to forget who helped you do so. Success sabotages the memories of the successful. Kings of the mountain forget who carried them up the trail.

The man who begged for help in medical school ten years ago is too busy to worship today. Back when the family struggled to make ends meet, they leaned on God for daily bread. Now that there is an extra car in the garage and a jingle in the pocket, they haven’t spoken to him in a while. In the early days of the church, the founding members spent hours in prayer. Today the church is large, well attended, well funded. Who needs to pray?

Success begets amnesia. Doesn’t have to, however. God offers spiritual ginseng to help your memory. His prescription is simply, “Know the purpose of success.” Why did God help you succeed? So you can make him known.

Why are you good at what you do? For your comfort? For your retirement? For your self-esteem? No. Deem these as bonuses, not as the reason. Why are you good at what you do? For God’s sake. Your success is not about what you do. It’s all about him—his present and future glory.

From It’s Not About Me
© (Thomas Nelson, 2007),Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: How can you use your success in praise and worship of the Lord?

Healing Waters to the RESCUE!

2010-05-28T14:30:00.001-07:00

Two quick things about Healing Waters to start the holiday weekend:

For those of you that read international news, you know that a volcano erupted in Guatemala last night. The volcano, Pacaya, is about 20 miles from Guatemala City. Most of the 22 Healing Waters systems in Guatemala are in Guatemala City, so there has been a pretty direct impact. While no lava flows are reaching the city, it has been completely covered in a blanket of volcanic cinders and ash. So many cinders have dropped out of the sky that some people who live in houses with laminate tin roofs have had their roofs collapse. Below are some photos from one of our pastors who has a Healing Waters system in his church:

You can see the damage to the laminated tin/zinc roof and the pile of ashes and cinders that collapsed the roof.

Healing Waters is helping out in this crisis in two ways:
1. The churches that have a Healing Waters system are using their funds generated from the system to help their neighbors and communities rebuild from the collapsed roofs, etc.

2. Many of the people that live in the villages around the base of the volcano have been evacuated and are living in temporary shelters until the eruption subsides. Our Healing Waters staff is delivering five gallon jugs of water to these shelter to provide the evacuees a source of safe drinking water while they wait to see if they will be able to go back home.

For more information about the volcanic eruption visit: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/05/28/guatemala.volcano/index.html?hpt=Sbin

In other safe drinking water news, last night here in Denver there was a water main break. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15182424

There is a "boil water" order in effect for a large part of the city. Residents have been very frustrated and making a lot of noise about the need to boil their water for the next 24 hours. There is such a lack of understanding that this is a daily reality in developing countries like Guatemala, Mexico and the Dominican Republic where Healing Waters works.

As Americans, we are so used to getting safe drinking water out of the tap. When we are required to boil it, we get upset. But at least most of us have electric or gas stoves in our homes to be able to boil water. We don't have to go out and gather wood, build a campfire, and boil water over the open flames.

One of our founders, Dana Larson, used to talk about "First World" problems. Whenever I get really frustrated or fired up because I am stuck in traffic, or because the line at the grocery store is taking too long, or because I have to boil water for 24 hours because of a water main break, I need to step back and put things into perspective.
-When I am stuck in traffic, at least I have a car and the money to put fuel in the gas tank.
-When I am in a long line in the grocery store at least I live in a country that has grocery stores that have fully stocked shelves of food and I have the resources to buy that food.
-And when the city asks me to boil my water for 24 hours before drinking it, I need to be thankful for the 364 days per year I can just go to the tap and get a glass of safe drinking water. I need to be thankful I have a stove to boil water on when it is not safe. I need to be grateful that I have any source of water piped into my house.

Oh the privilege of having first world problems.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Austin Bound!

2010-05-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

Jessica, Esther, Sol and I are moving to Austin, Texas!

I am going to be starting seminary this September at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I have been offered the Jean Brown Fellowship which includes a full-ride scholarship and also pays for our housing. I will be studying my Masters of Divinity (MDiv). It is a three year program. At the end of my studies, I hope to become a pastor in the Presbyterian Church PC(USA).

I don't think anyone reading this is totally surprised by this news, although this represents a huge change for me and Jessica. We have lived in Denver for 7 years and have put down some deep roots here. We are surrounded by communities that love us and take care of us and it is going to be so hard to leave those communities. But this is the right decision for us, for our family, and for our future.

I have considered a calling into formal church ministry on and off for many years. Finally, in March of 2009, Jessica encouraged me to figure out what it would take to become a pastor. This started a year-long process of discernment for me and Jessica.

One month later, we found our we were pregnant. This obviously dramatically changed our lives, for the better, and changed our perspective. When we considered this in the context of thinking about seminary and eventually becoming a pastor, it seemed to affirm our decision.

Last summer I was approached by the senior pastor of my church and asked to become the part-time youth director. I had been volunteering as a youth group leader for six years at the church. The pastor's petition to serve in a more formal leadership role and actually be on church staff for a year seemed to affirm our decision.

As I started the application process and requested my letters of recommendation, I had a lot of people tell me I was making the right decision, which was very affirming.

Then Esther was born! In the weeks following Esther's birth, Jessica and I talked a lot more about seminary and what it would be like. We decided it was "now or never" and felt a total sense of peace about the decision.

I applied to four seminaries and was admitted to all four. I was offered a 3/4 tution scholarship to Iliff, a seminary here in Denver. I was offered a full-ride scholarship to Princeton Seminary. And I was offered a "fellowship" to Columbia seminary and Austin seminary. This was an enormous blessing and I felt so humbled by these incredible offers. But it made the decision a little bit harder.

After more prayer and discernment, Jessica and I picked Austin! We will be packing up and moving sometime in late August.

This has also been a hard decision for Jessica, but she has been so supportive! She is having a great deal of success in her career. She has been teaching H.S. English at the same school for the past seven years. She started her Masters degree in Educational Leadership two years ago. This fall she wrapped up the degree and has been working as the assistant principal at her high school. She is truly a "rising star" in the field of education and I am so very proud of her.
She is making a huge sacrifice to follow me to seminary. However she is very excited about the prospect of being a stay-at-home mom for the next three years. She will probably try to work part-time after our first year there, there might be some opportunities at the University of Texas in the College of Education.

Sol (the black dog) will be giving up his famous backyard in Denver. But he is pretty adaptable and home is where his mommy, daddy and baby sister are. Austin seminary is VERY dog friendly and the city of Austin seems to be pretty dog friendly too. There is even an off-leash dog park on an island in the middle of a lake. So he will be chasing lots of tennis balls and doing a lot of swimming in Austin.

Esther does not know what she is getting into yet. She is going to be a "PK" (Pastor's Kid). But whenever we mention Austin or Texas, she coos and giggles, so I guess that is a good sign.

That is the big news in the Allen-Pickett house this month! For those of you who have been praying for us as we have made this decision, THANK YOU! We hope you can all come and visit us in Austin!

Reflections on "Atheists" and "Religious People" and the need for civility in our debates

2010-05-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

I just read a great blogpost by Kate Fridkis about Atheists and Religious People and the supposed divide that exists between them. You can read the whole post here, or the excerpts are below. The overwhelming theme in the post is civility and the need for any "competing" groups to be willing to engage in civil dialogue. We could apply this to a lot of different groups, but applying it to Atheists and Religious People is some good food for thought. Enjoy:

Atheists don't all have clipped British accents and a staggering command of some seriously graceful logic. Some atheists are unremittingly normal. Some people don't bother to call themselves atheists, they just don't particularly care about the idea of God. The term "atheist" can't possibly live up to the hype (both smugly confident and malicious) surrounding it. Just as the term "religious" can't live up to its own hype. Maybe it's time to stop pretending there's really a vicious battle raging between these two supposedly cohesive groups.

It's foolish to imagine that atheists own concepts like pragmatism, intellectualism, and thoughtfulness. Or that religious people own concepts like spirituality, awe, inner peace, and even prayer. The debate about God, belief, and religion shouldn't be divided into believers and atheists. It should be divided into people who are willing to listen, and people who aren't.

It's often assumed by many that all the reasonable people are either in the atheist camp or the religious camp.

Like this: "If you're reasonable enough, then you don't need to rely on the idea of God to explain everything about the world to you."

Or: "If you're reasonable enough, then you realize that the mysteries of the universe are much too large to justify the categorical denial of the existence of God."

These arguments take us around and around and around (I could say it a few more times for emphasis) in circles. And ultimately, the only people who "win" are the ones who happen to be better at debating. Being good at debating is a particular skill that doesn't necessarily have much to do with objective facts or the truth (however we're defining that these days). My fiancé was the captain of his debate team in college. Getting in an argument with him is brutal for my self-esteem, even when I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.

As Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard, will tell you, there are a lot of other positions between devout religious believer and atheist. As many people who don't define themselves as atheists but don't consider themselves religious will tell you, "I just don't talk about it." The right language hasn't been developed to accommodate these people's ontological orientations.

I'm tired of people being surprised when some atheists turn out to be jerks. Or turn out to be obviously unintelligent in some way. As though only smart people can choose not to believe in God. Because religion is perceived as inseparable from dogmatism, and dogmatism is obviously equated with thoughtlessness. So then, belief is easy, whereas doubt is much more complex and difficult. Simplifications of religiousness and atheism like this just don't cut it, though. There are too many ways to be religious and too many ways to be non-religious to allow for this sort of uneducated, underdeveloped assessment of either. Even belief and doubt aren't really opposites. . .

Maybe we need some new terms for the camps. How about this: "people who are willing to have a conversation," and "people who just want to hear themselves talk."

Vocation. . .

2010-05-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Fund for Theological Education posted this amazing video about "What is Vocation." I typed up the text for the last part of the video, this really resonated with me. . .

Vocation 101: What Do You Mean by Vocation? from FTE on Vimeo.

Vocation happens when you take what you love to the world’s needs
And when you listen to what the world needs of you

Your life has a purpose, but your life doesn’t just belong to you,

it also belongs to. . . everyone you know.
You belong to them, they belong to you, and we all belong to God’s story.

It’s just like Jesus said. . . “Come Follow Me.”
Come Follow Me with your talents, struggles, riches, burdens, excitements, past, present, future. . . with your VOCATION!

Funny Picture (actually it is the caption that is funny.)

2010-05-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture and thought the caption was funny, so I decided to share. Enjoy!

Re-Post of an awesome sermon

2010-05-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

Pastor John Bell, the senior pastor at Wellshire Presbyterian church, preached a great sermon last Sunday. Below is the "rough text" of his sermon. Enjoy!

This is a VERY crude manuscript from last Sunday, May 2, based on Acts 11:1-18.

“By Our Love” by John H. Bell, Jr.

Within most religions, there is a desire to be: perfect – to get it right, to be perfectly clean, to follow the rules, to obey every single law, to become perfectly sinless, holy. The Hebrew canon insists that we are to be holy, as God is holy. Jesus says that you should be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven,” he says. And yet that very desire to be perfect, to be sinless, can also lead you in the wrong direction. If you are not careful, the desire to be holy, perfect, sinless, can ironically separate you from God and others, which is universally acknowledged to be the essence of the laws of God. Left unchecked, striving for personal perfection can lead you to build up walls around you – walls of hostility that lead you to despise or even hate those people who do not follow your rules, who are not as good as you are – and believe me: the feeling is mutual!

Thus, we find ourselves – quite wrongly! – fearing or even hating those who are not like us. There is something within human nature that causes us to fear or hate what we do not know, what is different from us — the alien, the stranger, the one who does not look like us or act like us or share our values. Who frightens you? Who do you hate? Who do you think might ruin your life, corrupt your world or threaten your values? Who do you wish was dead? Would his death improve your life?

The first Christians were mostly Jews, and they were afraid of Gentiles – pagans, secular, worldly people, who did not obey Jewish laws, who ate unclean food, were not circumcised, did not worship God in the synagogue and did wicked things – like watch Desperate Housewives on the Sabbath. They were not terrified of them, so much, as they were afraid that they would be corrupted by their influence. They were not allowed by rule of law to eat with them, speak to them or been seen in public with them. Gentiles were simply “different,” which meant somehow they were bad, a threat to their little chosen community of faithful Christians. The disciples were kosher; they were clean, holy, pure, chosen by God; the Gentiles were considered to be an unclean, dirty, vile, disgusting people.

But that all changed when Peter had a dream. He was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance he saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to him. As he looked at it closely he saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. He also heard a voice saying to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But he replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. … At that very moment three men arrived at Peter’s house. These men had been sent to Peter from Caesarea by a man named Cornelius, who was a centurion and a member of the elite Italian cohort. He was a devout, God-fearing man, who prayed and gave alms to the poor, but … a still a Gentile. The Spirit told Peter to go with them and not to make a distinction between the unclean Gentiles and the kosher Christians. Six Christians accompanied him, and they entered Cornelius’ house. He told them how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.”

And, as Peter began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon the Jews at the beginning … So … Peter baptized Cornelius in the name of Jesus Christ, and the early church had to come to realize that they could not make any distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, for we are all somehow one in Christ Jesus, our risen Lord, whose plan it is to gather up all things together – things in heaven and things on earth! The dividing wall of hostility, of hate, of fear, between Jews and Gentiles has come down in Jesus Christ. “Truly,” as Peter claims, “God shows no partiality.” None.

[Notice that it was Peter and the church that had to change to accommodate Cornelius.]

This is true because the way of Jesus Christ is – not a religion of a thousand rules, but it is the way of love – radical love, extravagant love. The essence of Jesus’ expectation of you is love: he says that all you have to do is love God with your whole heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, a simple commandment, a very clear commandment: he says that we should love one another. We should love one another as he has loved us … and there is no greater love than one who voluntarily lays down his life for another … in the same way, you must deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow him … in the way of love. You are not only expected to love your family members and your friends or your fellow church members and your book club, but this is a love for people who are very different from you, a love for the neighbors whose dog barks all night, a love of neighbors all the way around the world living in huts in Zimbabwe, a love of those who sleep on the streets or rot in our jails, a love for your enemies. The love of God does not recognize borders or skin color or socio-economic class … truly, God shows no partiality. “Red or yellow, black or white, they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves all the children of the world.” Yes, Christians are supposed to be perfect: we are supposed to be perfect in our love; we are to love purely, perfectly – in this way we are holy, in this way we are like our Heavenly Father, God, who is LOVE. People are supposed to know us, to recognize us as Christians – not by our piety or moral rectitude, but, as they old hymn declares: “They will (or should!) know that we are Christians by our love, by our love.”

Religion that is based on a thousand rule builds walls and fosters hate. You are in or out, you are with us or you are against us, you are clean or dirty, you obey or you dis-obey, you are good or bad, you are holy or not, you are on your way to heaven or destined to hell. Religion that is focused on following rules inflates the importance of the self, because everything seems to rise or fall based on your discipline and ability to obey. Religion which is based upon rules is cold and heartless, resulting in deadly legalism. If you are primarily focused on your ability to obey, you are not focused on God or others – you only care about how YOU are doing. It is this kind of religion which gives religion a bad name, breeds terrorists and hate-mongers and wages war in the name of God.

But true Christianity is not based on rules; it is infused with love; it offers an abundance of grace and mercy and forgiveness; and it creates peace – peace for those who are near and peace for those who are far off. In the name of Jesus Christ, there is no room to hate aliens or strangers – even if they are here against the rules; in the church of Jesus Christ, there is no justification to hate homosexuals just because they are different from you; in the name of the God of love, you cannot despise or disrespect or dismiss the Muslim or the Jew, the scientist of the artist, the conservative or the liberal, the President or the Pope or the common man of the people.

Just as Peter realized in a dream and subsequent encounter with the Gentiles, truly, God shows no partiality — and, in God’s name, we may not harbor hate or withhold love. Who are you to hinder to flow of God’s love for all people everywhere? You, who have been called, saved and granted new life in Jesus Christ, have been commanded to love – even the stranger and alien in your midst and your enemy in the far country. Indeed, you were not called by Jesus Christ to follow a strict set of rules and regulations, nor to force others follow the rules; you were called by God to perfectly love others. You were not called to build up dividing walls of hostility; you were called to be ambassadors of reconciliation.

Back to safe drinking water. . .

2010-05-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

After two weeks of posting about SB1070, I am returning to another one of my favorite themes, safe drinking water.

My former co-worker and "hermano" Aaron Walling is now working for an amazing water org called "A Child's Right." He is in Nepal this week installing some water projects and scouting new locations for some additional projects. If you want to hear about Aaron's adventures in Nepal you can read his blog by clicking here. Below is a video that shows just how important this work is:

a child's right and the Gonodaya school from a child's right on Vimeo.

I am really proud of Aaron and the work he is going to be doing with A Child's Right. Best of luck and Godspeed to you hermano!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

2010-05-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you for those who have been reading and following my blog in the past two weeks and sharing your feedback about SB 1070. I still feel very strongly that this legislation is wrong and needs to be overturned and will continue to post about it from time to time as well as work to get it changed.

There are two more articles I want to share that help to understand and define my perspective on SB1070. The first comes from my hometown newspaper in Flagstaff, Arizona. Last night the city council took a vote to sue the state of Arizona for SB1070. You can read about that decision here:

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_5a88048c-6b18-5b87-99ac-c481b37b42e7.html

The final article I want to link to is from the Phoenix Suns, the NBA basketball team, or "Los Suns" as they are being called today. Check out this article that talks about how the team, from the owner, to the GM, to all the coaches are standing in solidarity with Latinos and Hispanics in the state of Arizona today:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Suns-will-wear-Los-Suns-unis-to-honor-Phoenix-?urn=nba,238682

The text of the article is below:
In general, people in the sports world keep their political leanings to themselves. Sure, there are a few guys who regularly speak out on political issues, but for the most part that's considered bad business. As Michael Jordan put it, "Republicans buy shoes too." That's why what the Phoenix Suns are doing is so amazing.

The team will be wearing its "Los Suns" jerseys for Wednesday night's Game 2 against the San Antonio Spurs "to honor [the] Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation." Awesome.

The decision to wear the jerseys came from way up the corporate ladder, as team owner Robert Sarver suggested the team wear their Noche Latina alternates.

Sarver, who was born and raised in Tucson, said frustration with the federal government's failure to deal with the illegal immigration issue led to the passage of what he called "a flawed state law."

"However intended, the result of passing the law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question," he said, "and Arizona's already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them."

The Suns voted on the jerseys and unanimously decided to wear them for Cinco De Mayo. As if he weren't likeable enough, Phoenix guard Steve Nash(notes) succinctly summed up the Suns' feelings on the issue.

"I think it's fantastic," Nash said after Tuesday's practice. "I think the law is very misguided. I think it's, unfortunately, to the detriment of our society and our civil liberties. I think it's very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. As a team and as an organization, we have a lot of love and support for all of our fans. The league is very multicultural. We have players from all over the world, and our Latino community here is very strong and important to us."

And it's not just the Suns who are speaking out on this issue.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is on board, and the team even tried to get their "Los Spurs" jerseys, though it was too late to do so. When asked for approval to wear the jerseys, the NBA "was all for it," said Suns general manager Steve Kerr. Furthermore, NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter issued a press release, denouncing the law.

The recent passage of the new immigration law in Arizona is disappointing and disturbing. The National Basketball Players Association strongly supports the repeal or immediate modification of this legislation. Any attempt to encourage, tolerate or legalize racial profiling is offensive and incompatible with basic notions of fairness and equal protection. A law that unfairly targets one group is ultimately a threat to all.

We applaud the actions of Phoenix Suns players and management and join them in taking a stand against the misguided efforts of Arizona lawmakers. We are consulting with our members and our player leadership to determine the most effective way for our union to continue to voice our opposition to this legislation.

It's not much, just an extra three letters on the front of a tanktop, but it means a lot more. As Kerr said, the Suns want to "make sure that people understand that we know what's going on and we don't agree with the law itself." For a sports team, that's huge.

___________________________________________

And in other news, it is Cinco de Mayo. My friend, who is a history professor, posted a little something about the history of the day that I wanted to share with you. Check out Laura Gifford's blog at:
http://unclesamsattic.blogspot.com/

She is a really sharp cookie and has some fascinating insights into various aspects of history. If you want to feel smart and have interesting things to tell your friends, I would follow her blog!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

A Christian Perspective on Immigration Reform

2010-04-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Please re-read the title of my post before anyone starts to write angry responses. I specifically wrote the title as "A" Christian perspective on Immigration Reform, not "the" Christian Perspective. I understand and respect that other Christians might feel differently about this issue. I am just sharing how my faith influences my thinking on this issue.

A friend of mine who posted a comment on my last blog post pointed me to this site. I would encourage anyone interested in a Christian perspective on immigration reform to visit it:

http://faithandimmigration.org/

Below is some text from it that I thought was especially meaningful:

Our current immigration system does not reflect our nation’s best values. It is
time to enact humane and practical laws that move beyond the legislative
stalemate of the past few years.

As a Christian, I believe my faith calls me to view all people, regardless of citizenship status, as made in the "image of God" and deserving of respect; to show compassion for the stranger and love and mercy for my neighbor; and to balance the rule of law with the call to oppose unjust laws and systems when they violate human dignity.

These biblical principles compel me to support immigration reform legislation that is
consistent with humanitarian values, supports families, provides a pathway to
citizenship for immigrant workers already in the U.S., expands legal avenues for
workers to enter the U.S. with their rights and due process fully protected, and
examines solutions to address the root causes of migration.

I believe the current U.S. immigration system is broken and reform is necessary.

A few final thoughts from scripture that inspire my perspective on these issues of immigration in general and SB1070 in particular:

God was giving instructions to Moses on how to live:
Leviticus 19:33-34 (New International Version)
When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Jesus talking to his disciplies in parable:
Matthew 25:34-40 (New International Version)
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Ephesians 2:8-10,19-22 (New International Version)
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. . . 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

James 2:1-5 (New International Version)
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

NY Times Editorial on SB1070 and a few additional comments

2010-04-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

The editorial below is a repost of a NY Times Editorial that can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/opinion/30fri1.html

My comments are below in italics.

April 30, 2010
Editorial

Stopping Arizona

A fight is brewing over Arizona’s new law that turns all of the state’s Latinos, even legal immigrants and citizens, into criminal suspects. And this is not a local fight. The poison is spreading; there is talk in Texas of passing a version of the Arizona statute.

President Obama has called the law “misguided” and promised to keep an eye on it. But when racial separation finds a foothold in any of the 50 states, the president needs to do more than mildly criticize. He should act. Here’s a partial but urgent to-do list:

DEFEND CIVIL RIGHTS The Justice Department needs to challenge this law forcefully in court. The statute requires police officers to stop and question anyone who looks like an illegal immigrant. Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law but says she doesn’t know what an illegal immigrant looks like, leaving that to others who think they do.

The Justice Department knows what kinds of abuse that invites. It is already investigating the sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio, who raids Hispanic neighborhoods in and around Phoenix. His deputies demand people’s papers based on the shirts and boots they wear.

Federal law requires noncitizens to carry documents but does not empower police officers to stop anyone they choose and demand to see papers. Arizona’s attempt to get around that by defining the act of standing on its soil without papers as a criminal act is repellent.

STOP ARIZONA COLD Arizona’s scheme will rely on federal databases to determine immigration status. It will also need the cooperation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, in accepting detainees. ICE says its priorities are dangerous criminals and fugitives, not the peaceful workers and families who are overwhelmingly the targets of the new law. In that case, ICE will deny Arizona authorities data, cooperation and scarce resources.

TAKE BACK IMMIGRATION POLICY The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that states cannot make their own immigration laws. The Arizona debacle gives the Obama administration another chance to make it clear that the nation’s immigration policy cannot be left to a ragged patchwork of state and local laws.

As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama praised a federal court’s decision striking down a law in Hazleton, Pa., that made it illegal to hire or rent housing to undocumented immigrants. To start forcefully asserting the central federal role in immigration, the administration should rescind a once-secret 2002 memo from President George W. Bush’s attorney general, John Ashcroft, that declared that state and local police had “inherent authority” to make immigration arrests. It should have done that long ago. It should also weigh in against another reckless Arizona law, now before the Supreme Court, that revokes the business licenses of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

The administration’s actions elsewhere have sent the wrong message. Janet Napolitano once vetoed extremist immigration-enforcement bills as Arizona’s governor, but as the homeland security secretary she defends the use of state and local police as “force multipliers.” Ms. Napolitano needs to end dangerous experiments like the 287(g) program and Secure Communities, which hand over vital federal duties to untrained, unsupervised local deputies, openly enabling racial-profiling and undermining community policing and public safety.

These steps are no substitute for immigration reform, the future of which seems pretty murky after Mr. Obama started gingerly backing away this week. But the federal government must react forcefully to the Arizona statute. Is our core belief still the welcome and assimilation of newcomers? Arizona has given one answer. It’s time for Mr. Obama to give the other.

There are two key points that I want to talk about in this editorial. The first is, the fact that SB1070 "turns all of the state’s Latinos, even legal immigrants and citizens, into criminal suspects." No person should be considered a criminal suspect and subject to additional scrutiny just because of their skin color and they fact that they "look" like members of a certain ethnic group. This goes against the very principles that our country was founded on that "All men are created equal." This law creates two statuses of people, those who are automatically criminal suspects and those who are not.

One potential solution to this part of the bill was proposed by the vice-mayor of Phoenix when he wrote on his blog,

My first recommendation is to have our Phoenix Police Department require
proof of citizenship from every individual that is stopped. It does not
matter if they are Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic,
European or of any other race or ethnicity.

You can read the rest of his blog by clicking here. Obviously this is one way to avoid racial profiling and still fulfill this law, but I just don't believe it is a reasonable solution, which is why the law must be repealed or challenged in court.

The second thing I like about this editorial is that it is a strong call to action to the federal government. The federal government has been flirting with immigration reform for nearly a decade, yet no one has had the guts and political will to do anything about it. No individual wants to move on this issue because it is so divisive, but that lack of action has led to a state law that is more broken than the problems it is attempting to fix.

My final point on this whole issue I stated in response to some previous comments, but want to restate here on the blog. Being in the country without proper documentation is a crime. I don't disagree with that point. And we need to deal with the issue, I don't disagree with that point either.

However, simply being in the country without proper documentation does not constitute a threat to public safety. I really want law enforcement to be focusing their limited attention and resources on crimes that are an actual threat to public safety like rape, murder, kidnapping and assault.

If anyone, documented or undocumented, is committing a crime that is a legitimate threat to public safety, that is where I want the police to be focused. But a person living in the United States without proper documentation does not directly undermine public safety, so while it is illegal and I wish the federal government would deal with it, passing a state law that makes anyone with brown skin a criminal suspect is not the right way to do it.

More reflections on SB 1070, public safety, and what is wrong with this bill

2010-04-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

I wrote a post a few days ago about SB1070 and what is wrong with it. You can read that post by clicking here. My post generated a few responses here on the blog as well as on Facebook and in some actual face-to-face conversations.

You can read the full text of the responses written to my blog by clicking here. I want to take some time to respond to those, to keep this civil dialogue going about SB 1070 and more generally about immigration in the United States.

I want to repeat what I started my last blog post with, I agree that illegal immigration is a major problem in the United States. I agree that it needs to be dealt with, however SB 1070 is not the right way to deal with it.

Many of the points made in the responses to my first blog post deal with illegal immigration itself and don't do anything to actually address what I said about SB1070. Again, I am not debating whether or not illegal immigration is a problem. While many of the points made about illegal immigration have some validity, unfortunately SB1070 does nothing to address those points, but it does have many negative consequences.

Anonymous stated, "Arizona is a portal for illegal immigrant trafficking in drugs and humans. Illegals are also coming across our border and murdering Arizona Citizens, they even killed our envoys in Mexico several weeks ago and you think this is OK? Mexicans steal over 50,000 trucks and cars a year, Phoenix is the kidnapping capitol of the country. The border patrol picks up thousands of illegal every year, and you think this is OK? Mexican coyotes bring hundreds of illegals into Phoenix and put them in drop houses and extort money from their families in mexico for additional money for their release,that is OK?" **I would like to see the sources for the statement about "Mexicans stealing 50,000 trucks and cars a year, Phoenix is the kidnapping capitol of the country."

And Don Brown stated, A state has every right to protect its citizens when the Federal government fails or refuses to do so. It is a crime to be in the US illegally and enforcing the Law is not racism. It is the duty of the police and the state officials to enforce the laws and protect their law abiding citizens."

Arizona is one of many states that sees illegal immigrant trafficking in drugs and humans, and it is true that immigrants have come across the border and killed Arizona Citizens and killed the envoys in Mexico (although that was in Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, so it doesn't have much to do with Arizona or SB1070.)

Again, I think these are all tragic issues that need to be dealt with, and I don't think that they are OK to answer the question posted in the response. The point I was making is that SB 1070 is not the way to deal with any of this.

The primary argument being made in both of these responses is an argument for PUBLIC SAFETY. In the case of SB1070, it is not going to help resolve any of these issues or make the state any safer. In fact, SB1070 is probably going to make the state less safe.

First, refer to the point I made in my last blog post about reporting of crime.

Second, forcing local police to demand people’s papers and arrest those who can’t immediately prove their status will do nothing to make Arizona safer. What it will do is divert scarce police resources to address false threats and force officers to prioritize immigration enforcement over other public safety responsibilities. This is not going to help the murder rates in Arizona, the kidnappings, the theft of vehicles. SB1070 will actually make things worse relative to public safety.

Third, arresting more illegal immigrants simply because of their immigration status and putting them in city and county jails will overcrowd the jails so there will be no room for the criminals committing more heinous crimes.

Fourth, this will also overwhelm the criminal justice system and cost state taxpayers more money. SB1070 does not make the state safer and does not address any of the ills that were listed that come from illegal immigration.

That is why it is not supported by local law enforcement officials such as the Flagstaff police department and the Coconino County Sheriff's office as you can see in my previous post. Many other law enforcement agencies in the state have also come down against SB1070. Below are some quotes from law enforcement agencies, many in Southern Arizona, closest to and perhaps most profoundly impacted by undocumented immigrants:

Richard Muñoz, South Tucson police chief: Opposes the bill, citing concerns about racial profiling and saying it could hinder catching criminals. "With the majority of our population in South Tucson being Hispanic, I think they'll fear reporting crimes to us," Muñoz said. "That will hurt our ability to bring a lot of those criminals to justice."

Clarence Dupnik, Pima County sheriff: He called the bill nothing more than a meaningless exercise that leaves him and others scratching their heads about what the Legislature thinks. The requirements in the bill go too far and leave the possibility of racial profiling open to law enforcement leaders, depending on how they interpret the law, he said. Deputies already turn over suspected illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol on a regular basis.

Tony Estrada, Santa Cruz County sheriff: The bill is unreasonable, Estrada said, adding that his office can't afford to take on the job of federal immigration agents. "I have told people: 'Don't let this happen, because you will just be doing the federal government's job," Estrada said. "It's not our job. . . . I'm disappointed because they are painting all illegal immigrants with a broad brush," Estrada said. "Everybody is bad; everybody is harmful; everybody is hurting the economy. That is not necessarily true."

The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police Opposes SB1070. The chiefs' organization said that it could erode trust with immigrants who may be witnesses. The group also warned that it would be too costly and would distract police from dealing with more serious problems.

At the end of the day, when it comes to arguments about public safety and SB1070, the arguments just don't stand up to scrutiny.

For local law enforcement to be forced to deal with a person's immigration status diverts attention, focus and resources from more dangerous crimes like murder, kidnapping, burglary, home invasions, and car thefts.

I would rather law enforcement resources be focused on these problems whether the people committing the crimes are documented or undocumented. If a police officer has to make a choice between arresting someone whose only crime is not having proper documentation and arresting someone who is driving drunk and potentially putting at risk anyone on the road, I want the police focusing on the drunk driver.

Undocumented immigrants who commit other crimes need to be punished just like anyone else. However simply committing the crime of being in this country without documentation and mandating local law enforcement to deal with that does not improve public safety in the state of Arizona because it diverts scarce resources away from dealing with more heinous crimes that have a devastating impact on their victims.

Once again, I would encourage feedback and a civil dialogue about these issues. Please try to keep the comments on point and don't engage in personal attacks.

Arizona's SB 1070 and why it is so wrong

2010-04-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

SB 1070 passed in Arizona on Monday. On Friday, the governor signed it into law. For information about it, you can read here: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14949266

I am deeply concerned about this bill and the impacts that it may have. Let me begin by saying I am not in support of illegal immigration. It is a problem in the United States and I don't disagree that it needs to be dealt with. But this is not the right way to deal with it.

There are two primary reasons I don't support this bill. The first has to do with the role of federal and state governments. States rights advocates are the first to stand up and scream "FEDERALISM" whenever the federal government passes a law that might limit the rights of individual states. So why, then, should states be able to pass laws regarding an issue that is uniquely federal in nature? States can't issue passports or visas, grant citizenship or deport undocumented individuals, that is the Federal government's job. SB1070 seeks to implement Arizona's own scheme of immigration regulation – separate and in conflict with federal government policy – when our Constitution envisions a unified nation under one federal set of immigration regulations.

The second reason that I cannot support this bill and will be actively working to get it repealed is the potential for racial profiling and abuse. States cannot go around making their own immigration rules, it is too easy to abuse, racially profile and undermine the basic human dignity of anyone who doesn't "look American." This is not the right way to address illegal immigration. Whether we are documented or not documented, at the end of the day we are all still human beings who deserve basic human rights and dignity.

Along the same line, people are appropriately concerned that this bill will lead to less reporting of crime. Think about it, if you are a U.S. citizen who has brown skin and you aren't carrying proof of citizenship, and you witness a crime, are you going to trust the police enough to call them and report the crime? The police are now OBLIGATED under this law to demand proof of citizenship from anyone who might not be a citizen, even in the case of someone reporting a crime.

Most people who are undocumented live with their families, and those families usually have a mix of documented and undocumented residents. Now even citizens or green card holders are going to live in fear of law enforcement.

I am privileged in a number of ways. My white skin and blond hair will make it very unlikely that I would be stopped on suspicion of being undocumented. But just because I won't get stopped or harassed doesn't mean I can sit idly by while others might. As I said earlier, we are all human beings who deserve basic human rights and dignity, regardless of our immigration status or skin color. This bill strips away those rights for anyone who might look "different."

I am not the only one that feels this way. People from all walks of life and even various political backgrounds do not support this bill for one reason or another. To read other people's opinions of the bill, check out these links below. Each one of these organizations and people has their own reason for believing that this legislation is ill-conceived and wrong-headed. I would encourage you to read through each of these articles below to see why such a wide mix of people and organizations, both liberal and conservative, representing law enforcement, education, and religious groups all feel as strongly as I do about this bill. I encourage feedback and dialogue on this and would be interested to hear your (civil) comments and feedback about this posting.

Arizona: Religious leaders urge Arizona governor to veto anti-immigrant bill

Los Angeles: Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles questions SB 1070
Below is an excerpt of his blog post about the issue:
The law is wrongly assuming that Arizona residents, including local law enforcement personnel, will now shift their total attention to guessing which Latino-looking or foreign-looking person may or may not have proper documents. That's also nonsense. American people are fair-minded and respectful. I can't imagine Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation. Are children supposed to call 911 because one parent does not have proper papers? Are family members and neighbors now supposed to spy on one another, create total distrust across neighborhoods and communities, and report people because of suspicions based upon appearance?

Various cities and states have tried such abhorrent tactics over the decades with absolutely no positive effect. Such laws have all been struck down by courts or repealed by wise citizens. Sadly, such laws lead to a new round of immigrant-bashing--usually in times of economic downturn.

President Obama: He spoke about this bill and the issue of illegal immigration during a White House Press Conference on Friday. You can read about his remarks in a Wall Street Journal Article by Clicking here.

The Flagstaff, Arizona Police Department, The Coconino County (Northern Arizona) Sheriff Bill Pribil, the Chairwoman of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors and Arizona State Representative Tom Chabin: You can read their statements on SB 1070 by clicking here.

The Arizona School Board Association: You can read their statement on SB 1070 by clicking here. An excerpt is below:
We fear that SB1070 will create a chilling effect that will make some parents hesitant to send their children to school, even if those children are eligible to attend Arizona public schools, thus inhibiting such opportunities for success.

A few quotes about prayer. . .

2010-04-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

I saw a quote about prayer on the blog of my friend Peter Mahoney and really liked it. So I grabbed it and decided to post it and then dug up a few more quotes on prayer. Enjoy!

No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying.

-Leonard Ravenhill

Don't pray for lighter burdens, pray for stronger backs.

-African Proverb

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

-Gandhi

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Pray, and let God worry

-Attributed to Martin Luther (Protestant Reformation)

Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, 'Go jump in the lake'—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it's as good as done. That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."

-Mark 11: 22-25 (from The Message)

Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

-Ephesians 6:13-18 (from The Message)

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

-Phillipians 4: 6-7 (from The Message)

13-15Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

-James 5:13-16 (from The Message)

Thoughts about politics and the church, repost from a friend of mine

2010-04-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

I am just getting caught up on reading my friends' blogs and stumbled across this post from a friend of mine. Paul Sundberg posts on his blog "JUST KEEP ASKING" He is a friend of mine, the father/father-in-law of two of my dear friends from college. His is the pastor of an ELCA Lutheran Church in the Pacific Northwest. I really appreciate his perspective and this is not the first time I have reposted one of his posts. Without further ado, enjoy:

Last night’s vote on health care reform in the U.S., was hardly the end of it. Our divided nation will be more divided. Wrangling and rancor will continue, and indeed, increase. That is the way of the world. It is most certainly nothing new. But what a sad display: it remains disheartening and disturbing.

Still a Christian, I am most disturbed by those who identify themselves as Christians and who see our government as an enemy and not as an instrument of compassion. I continue to be dumbfounded by those who care about the first three trimesters of life and are totally callous about the fourth trimester. I continue to be appalled by those who call this a Christian nation, demanding legislated moral constraints, without demanding care for the least among us. I continue to be saddened by the Christians that label such care as socialism, and sees solutions only in capitalism (as though it was a social mechanism baptized by Jesus himself). Have they never read about the communities of Jesus in the New Testament?

No wonder why fewer and fewer Americans are finding hope and solace in the church.

We have so much work to do to show we still matter.

Sushi in the Guatemalan Highlands?

2010-04-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

This is a month-old blog post that I have just got around to posting with photos. I was in Guatemala the last week of February/first week of March. Below is my travel blog from the trip. Enjoy!

I arrived in Guatemala on Thursday night and went straight to my hotel in Antigua. I got up bright and early on Friday morning to leave at 6am. I joined Daniela, one of our project managers and Ben, the director of tech and maintenance for Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad, on a visit to a community we are prospecting for a water system.

The community was a 2 hour drive from Antigua. We arrived and were greeted by the pastor of the church where we are thinking about putting a water system. The pastor is also a doctor and runs a small medical clinic out of the church. In addition to being a pastor and doctor, he also received some dental training when he served in the military, so he also does tooth extractions at his clinic. This is not uncommon at all in Latin America, and especially in Guatemala for a pastor to have two or more jobs. I remember visiting one of our water systems in the Dominican Republic when I was there a year and a half ago and the water system was housed in a church that also hosted a dental and orthodontics office. The pastor had both a degree in theology and a degree in orthodontics.

The pastor had prepared a big breakfast for us. Typical of many churches in Guatemala, the pastor’s residence is connected to the church. So we ate breakfast as the pastor described his community and the work that his church is doing in the community. It was very clear to me from this conversation that the pastor has a very holistic vision of development for his community and sees the church’s call to provide tools and services for that development.

As we were finishing breakfast, some kids in their late teens and early twenties started showing up. These were all members of the church, active in the youth group, who were asked by the pastor to volunteer and help us with our community survey. Dani did a quick training session and then turned the five youth loose in the community with copies of our interview/survey.

Ben, me and the pastor in the church sanctuary talking logistics.

The outside of the church in Tiquisate

While the kids were out doing the survey, we walked around the community with the pastor to get a sense of the population density and culture that exists around drinking water. As we walked through the sprawling central market in the city, the pastor was greeting every third or fourth person by name. It was very clear that the pastor has a large congregation and is deeply invested in his community.

We returned to the church to collect the surveys from the youth group members and we sat around with them and talked. Once they heard that I am the youth director at my church, they got really excited. It turns out on Saturday night, they were planning on having a lock-in/prayer vigil all night. They invited me to come and preach and pray with them. Unfortunately there was not time in the schedule for that during the visit, but if we end of installing a water system in this community, I sincerely hope that I can go back to the church and spend more time there.

We packed up and left. Dani and I headed for Panajachel, the largest town on Lake Atitlan. The Guatemalan ex-pat missionary community has an organization called “Intermissions” and they were having a conference there last weekend. We decided to attend the conference to raise awareness about Healing Waters, look for new potential partners and to recruit for the National Director (ND) position.

It is always our preference to hire locals for positions in our field offices, however because the ND position has been vacant since July, we are trying to leave no stone unturned in our search for the ideal candidate. The difficulty is finding an ideal candidate. The position requires someone who has substantial experience (10-15 years) in business and can understand and help us grow our “water store franchise” model. But the person also needs to have a profound faith, an understanding of the ministry side of what we do, and be able to interact with authenticity with our church partners where we have the water systems. Add to that the need for a bi-lingual candidate and someone who ideally has a college degree, and you can see why this search is difficult and why the position has been vacant for nearly 9 months!

We arrived in Panajachel in the mid-afternoon, got checked into our hotel. Nearly every place here now has wireless internet access, which is an enormous blessing. I can use SKYPE to video chat with Jessica and Esther every day. Even though this trip is only a week long, it is so hard to be away and I don’t want to miss anything in Esther’s growth and development. So I called up Jessica and had a chance to see my wife and my baby girl. It was nice.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Intermissions conference. We set up a table and distributed literature and also had the chance to worship with all of the Guatemalan missionaries.

Set up with out "booth" at the Intermissions Conference

After the conference ended for the night, Dani took me to one of her favorite places in Panajachel, the “Pana Rock Café,” which totally ripped off the “Hard Rock Café” theme. There was a live band playing there and the food was delicious!

Me at the "infamous" Pana-Rock Cafe!

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel in Panajachel. They served us the Guatemalan version of "Pancakes" which they call "Pankekes." You can see how thick they are, almost as big as biscuits. But they were light and fluffy and Dani and I enjoyed them.

Dani enjoying her "Pankekes"

After breakfast we returned to the conference and continued interacting with the Intermissions folks. I attended two great break-out sessions. One was based on the book “When Helping Hurts” which I have written about in my blog before. The book deals with the negative impacts that development work has had in developing countries. I strongly recommend it for anyone who is or is thinking about doing development work. The person leading the session talked about the book and its relationship to missions work in Guatemala. It was great stuff.

The conference was winding down by the afternoon, so we packed up our display and left. Just outside of Panajachel is a nature reserve that has a series of high jungle canopy ziplines. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to go flying through the jungle like a monkey, so Daniela and I stopped off and spent about an hour on a series of 9 different ziplines. The views were incredible and it was a fun break from the conference.

Greg ziplining over the Guatemalan Jungle!

After the fun on the zipline, we left to drive back to Antigua. We got back around 7pm and decided to go to dinner. That is when I was introduced to Sushi Akai! Yes, Antigua in the Guatemalan highlands has a Sushi restaurant! And believe it or not, it was great. I could not bring myself to order any of the actual sashimi or sushi, but we ordered some rolls that were outstanding.

That's right, Sushi in the Guatemalan Highlands. And I didn't even get sick!

On Sunday morning I interviewed a candidate for the ND position. He drove up from Guatemala City to meet me at a nice café in Antigua. The interview lasted over two hours and was very productive. I think we have a pretty solid candidate who we will be continuing to interview. I have to get back to Denver and debrief with our senior team.

I spent most of Sunday afternoon back in the hotel working and catching up on emails. I did go out to grab dinner at The Bagel Barn, and very gringo bagel shop in Antigua that is just off the plaza. I felt guilty afterwards for frequenting such a gringo place, but such is life. As I was wandering back to my hotel, there were Lenten processions marching through the city. Imagine hundreds of people dressed in purple and white robes lining the streets. Down the middle of the street people have laid down “carpets” of flowers in intricate designs. Then they have a parade with huge statues on platforms that are carried down the streets and over the carpets. You can see a photo here:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all spent working out of our field office. I led a staff meeting on Monday morning with all of our Guatemala staff. I invited the ND candidate to stop by the office and meet the staff as well on Monday. For lunch we all drove into the city and had ceviche at a delicious restaurant. Tuesday and Wednesday I met one on one with each of the staff members to get a sense of how things were going in the office, clarify certain policies and procedures, provide some inspection and accountability to our staff there in absence of an ND, and to hear from the staff how they are doing.

Thursday morning I drove to the Guatemala City airport and flew it. It was a whirlwind trip, but very productive. This was my 5th trip to Guatemala in the past 15 months. I really love being there, but with Jessica and Esther at home, I really love coming home too!

Blog Post 100!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

Me and the family, our Easter photo

I did it! I actually managed to write 100 blog posts in the past 15 months! It has been a fun adventure, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.

Blogging has been a fascinating experience for me. I have never been much of a diary writer or journaler. In fact, I really hated all of the forced journaling that I was required to do in college. So I wasn't too sure how blogging was going to go for me.

Well, it turns out it has been pretty good. This gives me an outlet to share what is on my mind, repost things that are interesting to me, and reflect on what is going on in my life and the world. I am a little curious why blogging has gone better than my attempts at writing in a journal or diary in the past. If I am going to be totally honest with myself, it probably has a little something to do with narcissism. I am posting in a public forum, a few people read what I write and they sometimes even comment on it.

I think I lead a pretty interesting life with my work and Healing Waters, my work at Wellshire Presbyterian Church and my amazing family. I enjoy sharing parts of my life with the world, back to the narcissism, perhaps it is a little bit of bragging?

Anyhow, I just thought it would be fun to share this milestone with everyone out there. I hope to keep on blogging for a long time. I have some interesting and exciting news to be sharing in the next couple of weeks that will probably have a long-term impact on the nature of my blog posts. So I guess you will all just have to stay tuned!

Finally, thank you to my loyal readers. Like I mentioned above, knowing that you are reading is at least part of what has motivated me to keep blogging. I especially appreciate comments and feedback, so keep that coming too. A shout out to all my brothers and sisters in the blogosphere. Keep writing my friends, I love to read about your lives too!

Pastor John Bell's Easter Sermon

2010-04-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

Below is a repost of Wellshire Presbyterian Church Pastor John Bell's Easter sermon. I usually use baseball analogies to describe sermons (you struck out, or you hit it out of the park.) I even keep "batting averages" for pastors and their sermons, which will no doubt haunt me some day. My baseball analogies are especially fitting as you read below. This sermon was a home run!

Easter Sermon 2010: Back to the Garden

Read: John 20_1-18

The late comedian George Carlin, who has probably never been quoted in an Easter sermon, rightly recognized that baseball has spiritual value. This becomes clear when baseball is compared to football. He observed that:

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life; Football begins in the fall, when everything’s dying. Football has clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness; Baseball has the sacrifice. In football, the clock is often considered to be: the enemy; Baseball has no clock and no time limit! The game theoretically could go on for … eternity!

And finally, the objectives of the two games are very different:

In football, you want the field general to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz — even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing the air assault with a sustained ground attack until they arrive at the … end zone. In baseball the main objective is to go home, and, when you arrive at home, you want to be safe! You want to be home and be safe.

Now, it is not a stretch to say that the main concern of God-fearing, faith-seeking people, our chief objective, is – like baseball – to return home and be safe. The Psalmist writes, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.”

Bishop and former Dean of the Duke Chapel, Will Willimon, suggests that human beings “sigh for Eden” and want to go back to that peaceful and prosperous place where it all began — before sin and evil entered the world. We all have a deep desire for things to be placid and perfect, free and fruitful — the way we believe things should be — with no bullies, homework or over-draft fees — the way we imagine it was in the Garden of Eden when it was said by God to be “all good.” Some say that deep within every human heart there is some faint memory of Eden and a deep and abiding desire to re-wind the clock and return there.

As an oft recorded, popular song (Joni Mitchell, Woodstock) declares:

We are stardust.
We are golden.
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden.

We wonder: How are we going to get back to the Garden?

*****

News flash: the resurrection of Jesus Christ takes place in a garden!

If you go to Jerusalem today, you may go visit the so-called “Garden Tomb.” It is probably not the actual tomb of Jesus, but many believe that it probably looks most like what scholars believe the tomb of Jesus looked like. It is located just outside the city wall of Jerusalem. The Bible says that Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, and very nearby the Garden Tomb there is a high rock formation which does look like a skull. The tomb is nice and large, and we know from Scripture that Jesus was placed in the tomb of a wealthy man. There is a large stone, which has been rolled away. However, the Garden Tomb is best known for – guess what? – its Garden! The tomb is located in the middle of a lovely, mature, fragrant, green Garden. The tomb is surrounded by trees and shrubs and flowers, chirping birds and buzzing bees. The courtyard is dotted with benches and well-raked, pebble paths and pools of living water. When Jesus came out of the tomb, he set foot in a lush garden …which probably looked something a bit like the garden, which now surrounds the Garden Tomb – minus the gift shop. Mary actually mistook Jesus for the gardener.

[By the way, this mistaken identity was actually reversed in Peter Seller’s hysterical movie, Being There, in which a would-be savior actually turned out to be only a simple gardener who only knew about plants and weather.]

The symbolism is clear: in the resurrection, which took place in “a garden,” Jesus is on his way back to “The Garden.” Easter morning represents the dawn of a new creation!

*****

It is a spiritual necessity to have a clear vision of Paradise, to use your imagination to envision with the eyes of your heart what life in the Garden will be like. Imagination is extremely powerful: Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard and best-selling author, claims that human beings are the only animals that possess the ability to think about the future. He writes, “To see is to experience the world as it is, to remember is to experience the world as it was, but to imagine – ah, to imagine is to experience the world as it isn’t and has never been, but as it might be. … As one philosopher noted, the human brain is ‘an anticipation machine’ and ‘making future’ is the most important thing it does.” [Stumbling on Happiness, p. 5]

The Hebrew prophets were an imaginative lot: the prophets of Yahweh speak of a place where there will be no more death, tears or pain, where each person can sit out in the open under his own fig tree trees and not worry about violence or vandalism, a place where justice will roll down like waters and righteousness shall flow like a swift-moving stream, a place where we will all know the Lord and God’s law will be written on our hearts, a place of perfect peace where we will not teach our children war anymore for implements of war – spears and swords – will be turned into plows and pruning hooks. In that place:

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them. [Isaiah 11:6]

And, in the New Testament, the last couple of chapters of the Book of Revelation offer John’s imaginative vision of a new heaven and a new earth, centered in a New Jerusalem, in which is found the Tree of Life, sitting of the banks of the River of Life, which flows from underneath the throne of God. There will be no night, because God’s glory will shine around the clock and angels will surround the throne, singing beautiful songs of God’s glory. What a glorious vision?

*****

It is natural to imagine what Heaven looks like or wonder where Heaven is located or who will be there to greet us when we arrive. BUT it is even MORE beneficial – to use your imagination to ponder: what spiritual condition exists in Heaven? What does Heaven feel like? What quality of life do people in Heaven experience?

You may come to a different conclusion, but, as I read and understand the Bible, Heaven is primarily a place of peace. I imagine that people in Heaven are perfectly at peace. In the Bible, “peace” [shalom] is descriptive of what people experience when things are the way God wants them to be. Peace means – not just the absence of unpleasant things like war, terrorists, talk radio and dishonest politicians, but the presence of all good things, such as healthy food, people to love, justice, equal rights, quality health care, affordable housing and baseball. I imagine that people in Heaven are perfectly at peace. Another way to say the say same thing is that people in Heaven will feel blessed – richly blessed, which is can also be translated in English: HAPPY!

“Happy” may be a seemingly trivial or small word. “Happy” is a word and an experience which is actually very hard to define. The Greek word “makaros” can be translated blessed or happy, suggesting those two words are virtually synonymous in Christian thought. “To be happy” is to feel richly loved and blessed by God. It may be helpful to think of peace as the condition that creates the feeling of happiness. People in Heaven are at peace, blessed, serene, content, HAPPY. People in Heaven will sport a grin.

It is spiritually beneficial to think of Heaven – not so much as a physical place to which you are transported after you die, but as a spiritual condition, because – listen up: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOU DIE TO EXPERIENCE HAPPINESS! The resurrection took place in a garden on the same globe that your feet are resting on now. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! It is near. It is right here, right now. The Good News of Easter is that you are invited to taste the Kingdom of Heaven now, you are welcome to experience it today! When you are at peace, perfectly happy, doing exactly what God created you to be, what Jesus taught you to do, it is not too strong to say: you are experiencing a little slice of Paradise, a little foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven. You are the first fruits of a renewed, very happy humanity.

*****

… That’s good, because there are a whole lot of unhappy people on earth – and a high percentage of those people live in America. In fact, the happiness industry is big business. You can go to any bookstore and pick up hundreds of books with pictures on the cover of beautiful, rich people, with expensive smiles and fabulous hair, telling you how you can be happy – like they are. Don’t do it! Some of the books might be a helpful if you have a specific problem, but after you read most of those books you will probably be less happy because you are not as rich and beautiful as the author.

Actual research on happiness is fairly interesting. The most interesting thing to me is that human beings are remarkably poor at predicting what will make us happy. Derek Bok, the former president of Harvard, writes in a new book, “People are surprisingly bad judges of what will make them happy. In particular, they seem unable to predict the duration of the happiness or unhappiness brought on by many common events or changes in their lives. Instead, they attach too much importance to the immediate effects of a happy or unhappy experience without realizing how quickly they will adapt and grow to what has occurred.” [Politics of Happiness, pp. 5-6]

Daniel Gilbert, the psychologist that I quoted early in the sermon, says that most happy people simply stumble on happiness; they get lucky. He opens his book with a quotation from a play written in 1902, which summarizes his research: “One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance, in a lucky hour …” [Stumbling on Happiness, p. 1]

David Brooks wrote a piece for the New York Times which was picked up by the Denver Post on Thursday. If you were Sandra Bullock would you choose between an Academy Award, which brings riches and fame and celebrity, or a happy marriage? David Brooks wrote, “If you had to take more than three seconds to think about this question, you are absolutely crazy,” because marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining happiness – and everybody knows it, but we seem to ignore the truth.

Human beings are surprisingly bad judges of what will make us happy. Left alone in this world, it is all too easy to become lost and make bad choices … which is precisely why Jesus came to save us from ourselves and lead us back to the Garden! He came to tell us of God’s love and teach us how to find true, lasting peace and happiness.

*****

The problem is – and this is a very serious problem – that the advice that Jesus gives seems to do and be in contrast with that the world tells you to do and be.

The great author and Bible translator, J.B. Philips, wrote [I am not sure where this can be found. It has floated in my files for eons. I believe that it was published in his great little book, Your God Is Too Small.] the world is clear about how to be happy:

Happy are the “pushers”: for they get on in the world.

Happy are the hard-boiled: for they never let life hurt them.

Happy are they who complain:

for they get their own way in the end.

Happy are the blasé: for they never worry over their sins.

Happy are the slave-drivers: for they get results.

Happy are the knowledgeable men of the world:

for they know their way around.

Happy are the troublemakers:

for they make people take notice of them.

In contrast, Jesus says that there is a different way to be happy in Matthew 5:

3 ‘Happy are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ‘Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 ‘Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 ‘Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7 ‘Happy are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 ‘Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 ‘Happy are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

10 ‘Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’

sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The difference from what the world tells you will make you happy and what Jesus tells you is almost as great as the difference … between football and baseball. It would be harder, I imagine, to convince you of the truth in Jesus’ teaching on happiness than to try to convince you that he rose from the dead, setting foot in a garden.

Institutional Education and the Value of Information

2010-04-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Below is a video editorial made by a kid who just dropped out of undergrad. I don't agree with everything he says, but it is certainly thought provoking.

The video style is as little too edgy for me, and it is long, but if you are in any way involved in education at the k-12, undergrad or graduate level, it is certainly worthy watching. Enjoy!

Reasons why people don't go to church

2010-03-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

Below is a really cool video put together by a church. I saw this on Brian Daoust's blog and wanted to repost to share with my community. It really makes you think about church, whether or not the church I attend is like this, and what I can do to make my church more like this. Enjoy!

Re-Post of Sunday Sermon

2010-03-15T12:14:00.001-07:00

Pastor John Bell at Wellshire Presbyterian Church preached a great sermon this Sunday. Below is the text:

Read: II Corinthians 5:16-21

If asked to give one Bible passage to summarize the Gospel, many folks would point to John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” However, the sermon text is thought by many students of the Bible – including this student of the Bible – to state the basic spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ more clearly and powerfully than anywhere else in the New Testament: The Apostle Paul declares, “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself.” – that is the essence of what God was doing through Christ and continues to do through the church and in the world.

The process with which God goes about reconciliation is very different from the way Congress reconciles bill between the House and the Senate! God is reconciling the world to himself by choosing not to count our trespasses against us. When you forgive another, when you turn the other cheek, when you make a decision not to retaliate against your enemies or escalate hostility against your foes, there is at least an opportunity for reconciliation. Desiring a fresh, new start with his fallen and sinful Creation, God decided not to count our trespasses against us, to forgive us, to blot from his memory sinful things which we have done and good things which we should have done but failed to do. In plain English, God decided to “let it go,” to let bygones be bygones, to put the past behind him and start anew.

Reconciliation may best be seen in the story of the Prodigal Son. The Son comes to his senses in the pig pen, in the far country, hungry, dirty and tired, and decides to return home. The father chooses not to count the son’s trespasses against him: he chooses to forgive and the son is granted immediate amnesty. The father asked no questions of the son, he didn’t mention his own pain, he did not seem to care about the past … rather, the father ran out and hugged the son and welcomed him home; he gave him the best robe, the finest ring, killed the fattest calf; he threw a party for the son. What was lost now is found; what was dead to the father now has come alive again. It was an act of amazing grace. This is an act of reconciliation.

In the sermon text, Paul does not take the time to explain how or when God decided not to count our trespasses against us; rather, Paul simply declares that our forgiveness is somehow “in Christ,” who, for our sake, was made to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.

So, Paul concludes, everything has become new: “If there is anyone in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away.” Another Paul – the late Paul Tillich, a 20th century theologian, once said memorably in a sermon: “If I were asked to sum up the Christian message … in two words, I would with Paul: It is the message of a ‘New Creation.” [The New Being, p. 15]

*****

The sermon text from Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians also clearly states the heavy burden of your Christian responsibility: in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting our trespasses against us, and in Christ, God has entrusted the message of reconciliation to you. So “you are ambassadors for Christ, because God is making his appeal through you.” Stunning! God is making his appeal to the world through YOU. God is making his continued appeal for reconciliation with the world through YOU!

I encourage you to think of your self as an ambassador for Christ. Ambassadors are extremely important people, and they have an important role in the world. They live in foreign lands and represent their home their king, parliament or president. Their job is to generate good will between countries, broker peace, engender commerce and maintain healthy boundaries and good relations. They try to act responsibility and behave in an exemplary fashion; they often entertain strangers, opening their home, the embassy, to foreigners; they excel in the gift of hospitality; they shower gifts upon visitors and engage in meaningful dialogue. They study their context, learn a foreign language and study foreign cultures – as a sign of respect for people from nations other than their own.

As an ambassador for Christ, your job, your calling, your responsibility, is daunting: you have been charged with the task of reconciling the whole world to God! You have an awesome task in front of you, if you choose to accept it. Christianity is not for small thinkers; the pews of the church should be packed with people who want to go out and change the world – not only change your family, or city or nation, but change the whole world!

The Gospel compels us to go out and seek reconciliation with gang members and Guatemalans, with people from Zimbabwe and Russia, with Israelis and Palestinians, with Hindus and Buddhists and Muslims and Jews and atheists – with the whole world … including the planet on which we live!

*****

It is not only humanity that is in need of redemption and reconciliation with God, but in some way the whole world, all of creation, is in need of reconciliation with God. In the story of the Fall in Genesis 3, God says to Adam, who had sinned, “cursed is the ground [the earth!] because of you.”

And the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 8:

19 … the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now …

Apparently, all of creation needed a savior and was waiting on a messiah!

A leading Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, wrote a section in one of his dozens of books about God’s partners. In this section, he wrote that Israel is a special partner of God, in some way all of humanity – corporately – is in partnership with God, you and I as individuals are in a special partnership with our Creator, but there is a very interesting section about creation as the partner of God. He cites numerous passages which speak about how nature plays a role in the praise of God. Psalm 148 is typical, in that it calls upon the earth to participate in the praise of God:

3Praise [the Lord], sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens! …
7Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
8fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds! …

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

His glory is above earth and heaven.

And Psalm 19 suggests that creation even speaks for God:

1The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament* proclaims his handiwork.
2Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4yet their voice* goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

Many have called creation “the theater of God’s glory.”

Creation is a full partner of God – and, no less than we, creation is in need of reconciliation with God, for creation too seems to be broken and times, it too is abused and it too seems to have experienced a fall and is harmed by others. I read somewhere that Christians should think of creation as “the new poor.” I am not sure what the author meant, but I like the phrase, because Christians are aware that we are to show special care for the poor. [I cannot recall where I read this, but I believe it was written by Sally McFague.]

*****

Of course, when we think about the state of creation today, the hot topic is global warming. And I am often asked what I think about climate change for some reason, … so … here’s “my take” on global warming – and this will not take long. I can even say it one sentence: it’s debatable. From what I read by the scientific communities that I am inclined to trust, humans are at the very least partially responsible for global warming, but the cause of climate change is still debatable, because global temperatures have fluctuated.

What is absolutely NOT debatable is this: regardless of whether or not humans are responsible for climate changes, you and I – as Christians – have a God-given responsibility to care for the planet. You see, I really, truly, honestly, do not think it matters much what I believe about global warming or climate change – I am not a scientist or an ecologist, but, as a life-long student of the Christian faith, what I can say with great confidence is: you and I, as Christians, are expected to be thoughtful and just stewards of the earth, practice conservation, reduce our carbon foot-print, clean up our waters and the air that we breathe, and protect and preserve this planet entrusted to our care by our Creator – not only because the globe is warming or the climate is changing, but because we love God, the creator of the heavens and the earth! We have not been placed here to abuse, ravage, spoil, kill and otherwise destroy our home for our own selfish or greedy purposes. We are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation with God. This applies equally to sinful people and to this broken, abused, poor planet.

In recent years, it seems as if everybody is “going Green,” but a deep reverence for all of God’s creation, care for this planet and good stewardship of the earth is clearly a very significant topic in the Bible and a teaching which has been present in the church in every age – a teaching which has been regularly ignored by the large majority of Christians – until recently.

[(This paragraph was dropped from the sermon due to time concerns.) I do not need to tell you how to care for the good ship earth this morning. You have all heard the simple slogan: reduce, recycle and reuse. I read a section in a book by theologian Sally McFague that encourages us to apply the rules we learned at home as children to the world: take no more than you need – don’t greedy; clean up after yourself – this is a basic life-lesson if you want to get along with others; and keep things in good order for your children and grandchildren – don’t spoil the world so that they cannot enjoy it. She says if we apply these lessons to creation, they the world will be a better place and we will all be happier. I think that is helpful advice! But you have to go further than replacing your light bulbs or recycling your newspaper; you must go out into the world and be an ambassador for the reconciliation between abusive people AND the world, between God and God’s creation.]

But you have to go further than replacing your light bulbs or recycling your newspaper; you must go out into the world and be an ambassador for the reconciliation between abusive people AND the world, between God and God’s creation. An ecologist, Lawrence Hamilton, wrote, “It is not ecologists, engineers, economists or earth scientists who will save spaceship earth, but the poets, priests, artists and philosophers.” [The Earth Under Threat, Prance, p. 27] – to which I would add “all Christians” can help save planet earth – and you should, because you are ambassadors for reconcilation!

At the end of his sermon of II Corinthians 5, Tillich challenged those to whom he was speaking, “The message of Christianity is not Christianity, but a New Reality. A New state of things has appeared, it still appears.; it is hidden and visible, it is there and it is here. Accept it, enter into it, let it grasp you.”

I charge you with the five “r’s”: reduce, reuse, recycle … repent and be reconciled to God, your creator, who is making his appeal through you.

Re-Post of NY Times Op-Ed Piece about International Relief work and Global Missions

2010-02-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

This op-ed piece was just too good to not repost. I will be honest with you, I think it is going to make some people uncomfortable. It made me a little bit uncomfortable, but as Christians, I think we are called to live with a little discomfort. Enjoy!

Learning From the Sin of Sodom
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published in the New York Times: February 27, 2010

For most of the last century, save-the-worlders were primarily Democrats and liberals. In contrast, many Republicans and religious conservatives denounced government aid programs, with Senator Jesse Helms calling them “money down a rat hole.”

Over the last decade, however, that divide has dissolved, in ways that many Americans haven’t noticed or appreciated. Evangelicals have become the new internationalists, pushing successfully for new American programs against AIDS and malaria, and doing superb work on issues from human trafficking in India to mass rape in Congo.

A pop quiz: What’s the largest U.S.-based international relief and development organization?

It’s not Save the Children, and it’s not CARE — both terrific secular organizations. Rather, it’s World Vision, a Seattle-based Christian organization (with strong evangelical roots) whose budget has roughly tripled over the last decade.

World Vision now has 40,000 staff members in nearly 100 countries. That’s more staff members than CARE, Save the Children and the worldwide operations of the United States Agency for International Development — combined.

A growing number of conservative Christians are explicitly and self-critically acknowledging that to be “pro-life” must mean more than opposing abortion. The head of World Vision in the United States, Richard Stearns, begins his fascinating book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” with an account of a visit a decade ago to Uganda, where he met a 13-year-old AIDS orphan who was raising his younger brothers by himself.

“What sickened me most was this question: where was the Church?” he writes. “Where were the followers of Jesus Christ in the midst of perhaps the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time? Surely the Church should have been caring for these ‘orphans and widows in their distress.’ (James 1:27). Shouldn’t the pulpits across America have flamed with exhortations to rush to the front lines of compassion?

“How have we missed it so tragically, when even rock stars and Hollywood actors seem to understand?”

Mr. Stearns argues that evangelicals were often so focused on sexual morality and a personal relationship with God that they ignored the needy. He writes laceratingly about “a Church that had the wealth to build great sanctuaries but lacked the will to build schools, hospitals, and clinics.”

In one striking passage, Mr. Stearns quotes the prophet Ezekiel as saying that the great sin of the people of Sodom wasn’t so much that they were promiscuous or gay as that they were “arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49.)

Hmm. Imagine if sodomy laws could be used to punish the stingy, unconcerned rich!

The American view of evangelicals is still shaped by preening television blowhards and hypocrites who seem obsessed with gays and fetuses. One study cited in the book found that even among churchgoers ages 16 to 29, the descriptions most associated with Christianity were “antihomosexual,” “judgmental,” “too involved in politics,” and “hypocritical.”

Some conservative Christians reinforced the worst view of themselves by inspiring Ugandan homophobes who backed a bill that would punish gays with life imprisonment or execution. Ditto for the Vatican, whose hostility to condoms contributes to the AIDS epidemic. But there’s more to the picture: I’ve also seen many Catholic nuns and priests heroically caring for AIDS patients — even quietly handing out condoms.

One of the most inspiring figures I’ve met while covering Congo’s brutal civil war is a determined Polish nun in the terrifying hinterland, feeding orphans, standing up to drunken soldiers and comforting survivors — all in a war zone. I came back and decided: I want to grow up and become a Polish nun.

Some Americans assume that religious groups offer aid to entice converts. That’s incorrect. Today, groups like World Vision ban the use of aid to lure anyone into a religious conversation.

Some liberals are pushing to end the longtime practice (it’s a myth that this started with President George W. Bush) of channeling American aid through faith-based organizations. That change would be a catastrophe. In Haiti, more than half of food distributions go through religious groups like World Vision that have indispensable networks on the ground. We mustn’t make Haitians the casualties in our cultural wars.

A root problem is a liberal snobbishness toward faith-based organizations. Those doing the sneering typically give away far less money than evangelicals. They’re also less likely to spend vacations volunteering at, say, a school or a clinic in Rwanda.

If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking and maternal mortality.

The prayer of the children

2010-02-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

My senior year of high school back in 1995-1996, I made the all-state choir. I had to go through a series of multiple auditions to make the choir. Then they sent me the music and I practiced, practiced, practiced. We all met together on a Thursday and rehearsed for two days before performing a concert on Saturday. This was a great experience.

One of the songs that the men from the group sang at the concert was a song called "The Prayer of the Children." It literally brought the entire auditorium to tears.

I hadn't thought about this song in some time. As I was reflecting and praying about Haiti and the devastation there, this song popped back into my head. I did a YouTube search to see if it had been sung by any other groups, and sure enough it was all over the place.

I picked this group's arrangement because it was closest to what I sang in high school. Listen to the song and read through the lyrics as a prayer of and for the children in Haiti and around the world.

Can you hear the prayer of the children on bended knee,
In the shadow of an unknown room?
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry,
Turning heavenward toward the light.
Crying, Who will help me to see the morning light of one more day?
But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take?

Can you feel the hearts of the children
Aching for home, for something of their very own?
Reaching hands with nothing to hold on to,
But hope for a better day.
Crying, Who will help me to feel the love again in my own land?
But if unknown roads lead away from home,
Give me loving arms, away from harm.

Can you hear the voice of the children
Softly pleading for silence in their shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands.
Crying, Jesus, help me to feel the sun again upon my face.
For when darkness clears I know youre near,
Bringing peace again.

Dali cuje te sve djecje molitve?
Can you hear the prayer of the children?

Haiti and Psalm 23

2010-02-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

As I was preparing a bible study during the week the earthquake hit Haiti, I began to think about verses that were relevant to the situation there. Psalm 23 kept coming to mind, and I kept dismissing it. Everyone knows Psalm 23 and in many circles it has become so commonplace or people have become so accustomed to it that it is almost trite. People can recite it from memory, but it has lost much of its significance because of it overuse. However going back and exploring the verse in light of the desolation in Haiti brought new meaning to it for me and my bible study.

Contrasting the images of devastation on the television and internet with the prayers and singing you heard in the background was truly a living manifestation of Psalm 23. As the Haitian people watched their already difficult world crumble around them and the death toll rose, I saw the valley of the shadow of death there. And yet the Haitian people sought consolation in God, despite losing their homes, their family members and their sense of safety, they knew that God’s rod and staff would bring them comfort and that they would eventually return to green pastures and still waters.

Their sense of hope in the midst of chaos demonstrated through their songs, prayers and interviews truly embodies Psalm 23 and brought it back to life for me.

More Haiti Reflections, and the Dominican Republic too. . .

2010-01-22T12:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-401557

This is video from the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (DR) from CNN. It is from the town of Jimani on the border betwee the DR and Haiti. Healing Waters has a water system in Jimani.

I spent 5 weeks in the DR last summer and was blown away by the poverty there. In all of my experiences and travel in Latin America in the past decade, including visiting and/or doing development projects in half a dozen countries, I had never seen poverty as severe as what I saw in the Dominican Republic.

Now Haitians are fleeing Haiti because they see more opportunity in the DR. This is a remarkable comparison to me. The poverty in the DR is stark and overwhelming, but compared to Haiti it is almost a paradise.

This really makes me stop and pause and pray for our brothers and sisters in Haiti and our brothers and sisters in the DR who are trying to help the people of Haiti. Amazing.

Haiti Reflections

2010-01-22T06:53:00.001-08:00

This will be the first in a series of reflections and thoughts on Haiti:

A Friday Morning
January 22nd, 2010
by Gail Rodgers

Have you, or a friend or family member, been personally affected by the tragedy in Haiti? If you’d like to speak with someone privately about it, contact us today.

This morning I turned on the coffee pot and headed for the shower. The warm water was instantly there. Clean hair, fresh towels, clean clothes … and coffee. Then I flipped on CNN.

The mass commotion on a main street in Port-au-Prince drew my attention. The camera zoomed in on a young man threateningly holding up a broken piece of concrete as a weapon.

As the images flash by it’s hard to imagine that this chaos is happening right this moment as I sip my coffee. It troubles my heart to see fellow human beings in such a depth of despair with little hope.

That devastating earthquake in Haiti is overwhelming. The pain is unbelievable, and the anguished faces etch their outline on our memories. They are hungry. They are thirsty. They are frantically looking for loved ones. They have not so much as a blanket or a change of clothes much less a meal to eat. The help is coming, yet the need is so very great.

It’s easy to turn the TV off and continue on into my day. Can I shake off the uneasiness? Can I push the images of the wailing faces to the back of my mind and hurry on? I am so far removed from the chaos. I am so helpless to aid the breaking hearts …

The sun is shining. It’s a good day to wash the car perhaps … and on we go with our own lives. On we MUST go with our own lives. Thankful for today. Praying a prayer for Haiti that is hard to even find words for. What can I do?

I stop at my laptop. A quick search brings me to a donation page and before I leave I hit the button and send what seems like such an insignificant gift is the face of such need.

Yet my donation will join with many others and together they WILL make a difference. Together we, who have the privilege of going about our daily routine, will stop to share what we can with those who so desperately need it.

Sip your coffee with a grateful heart, yes. But take a moment to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Haiti today. It’s what Jesus calls us to do.

Lord God, Thank you that we can represent You in Haiti today by giving what we can to be Your hands and feet to the hurting. Flood our hearts with generosity and care. Be very present in the midst of that chaos and make a way for help to flourish. In Your name we pray, amen.

Question: How does our faith compel us to help others? (Consider for example Romans 10:23-24: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”) Could you spare some funds to help in Haiti?

Doing development work without doing more harm

2010-01-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

Photo of a boy in Chiapas outside his home. His family receives water from the Aguas de Unidad / Healing Waters Project in his community. Before the project this boy was sick a lot and his growth was stunted. Since the project opened he has been much healthier and is growing normally.

I was forwarded the article below by the CEO of Healing Waters, Ed Anderson. It really cuts to the core of issues around development and how important it is that we are aware of what we are doing, sustainability, appropriate technology, and community involvement. Below the article I have posted some of my own thoughts and commentary.

Help That Makes a Difference: Change our Worldview

The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem.
Brian Fikkert, co-author of When Helping Hurts posted 12/15/2009 09:50AM

What's the biggest change needed in how charities and federal agencies deliver aid to developing nations? Brian Fikkert, co-author of When Helping Hurts, David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Dale Hanson Bourke, author of The Skeptic's Guide to Global Poverty, suggest the best way to help.

"We were happy in our village before you folks told us we were poor. We didn't have many things, but happiness doesn't come just from having more material things. What makes you think we want to become just like you?"

The audience, a group of American donors and development leaders, looked bewildered as Emily, a community development worker from Liberia, took her seat. Finally, one of the U.S. donors spoke up. "Yes, of course we share your goals, Emily. That's why we keep on bringing you more capital and technology." Emily listened helplessly, realizing that her message had fallen on deaf ears—again.

Americans are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, and we coexist with 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. The situation is simply immoral.
We must do more, but we must do it differently.

For the past 60 years, the majority of American assistance has flowed out of a materialistic worldview, which assumes that wealth is produced by material things, namely capital and technology. In this view, America is "developed." We have arrived, and they have not. The assumption is that if we provide them with more capital and technology, they will be able to be just like the U.S.—a country where families and communities are disintegrating, where addictions are on the rise, where mental and emotional illnesses are exploding, and where rampant consumerism is
bankrupting all of us.

The need for more capital and better technology persists. People really do need improved access to clean water, better health care, decent education, and a living wage. But they, and we, need something far more profound. Whether we realize it or not, we all are longing for an intimate relationship with God, for a sense of dignity, for community and belonging, and for the ability to use our gifts and abilities to develop creation. The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem.

The practical implications for providing aid are enormous: Spend more resources on supporting people-empowering processes and less on bricks and mortar; help people to steward the gifts and resources they already have; include the materially poor as full participants in selecting, designing, implementing, and evaluating any intervention; build the capacity of indigenous churches and Christian organizations to work in highly relational, gospel-focused ways; promote the use of spiritual tools—prayer, meditation, fellowship, and Bible study—in addition to material tools in all
poverty-alleviation efforts; and embrace that both they and we are fundamentally
broken and in need of the healing that only Jesus Christ can bring. We are all developing nations.

There are a couple of quotes in this article that really speak to me. The first is the quote from the Liberian aid worker. We have a tendency to try to "fix" problems from a very "westernized" and "first world" perspective. If we could just get a laptop and cell phone in the hands of everyone, wouldn't life be better? The reality is that those of us engaged in development work need to go into communities and ask the locals what they want instead of telling them what they need. This simple, basic rule of good development work is so often overlooked. We have an overwhelming desire to fix problems, we forget to stop and ask what problems the community feels are most in neeed of fixing.

The next quote from this short article that really resonated with me was, "Americans are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, and we coexist with 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. The situation is simply immoral."

This quote is spot-on. There are so many severe problems associated with poverty that could be fixed so easily like irradication of basic diseases, providing safe drinking water, etc. Very basic investment in the community, and community involvement are key to resolving these problems.

The next quote was so good they used it as the byline for the article, "The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem." WOW! These guys got it right. It is not that every country and city needs to look like a first-world destination, but the basic needs and human rights of every person must be realized, which would look an awful lot like the New Jerusalem.

Some thoughts for reflection. Enjoy!

New year, new perspectives. . .

2010-01-04T10:46:00.001-08:00

After a month and a half long hiatus from blogging, I am back. For those of you who have been encouraging me to write and post, thank you for your encouragement.

A lot has happened in the last month and a half. Most importantly, my wife and I had our first child. Esther Margaret Allen-Pickett was born on December 17th, 2009 at 1:50pm. She weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 8ozs and is doing great! She is quickly approaching three weeks of age and she changes and grows every day.

This year I am going to be doing a lot of posting about being a new parent and the daily miracles I am experiencing. I will also continue to post about global poverty issues, the global safe drinking water crisis and my work with Healing Waters International. I will not be traveling to the field for a few months as Jessica and I settle into our new lives and roles and parents, but will be back in Latin America before too long.

The first thing I want to share with you about our miraculous bundle of joy is the history of her name, Esther Margaret. The post below was written from Esther's perspective with a little help from her mom and dad. Enjoy!

The Story of My Name: Written by Esther with help from mommy and daddy

Monday, December 21, 2009

The big day has come and no longer am I just “Lil’ AP,” but I am now officially Esther Margaret Allen-Pickett. Outdated, old-fashioned, and maybe some might even say obscure, but my parents thought long and hard about this name. There are many special people who are a part of me; however, my parents figured that a name with an infinite amount of letters might not be the nicest “Welcome to the World Baby Girl” present they could give me.

My first name, Esther, comes from my dad’s paternal grandma. She was a great lady who lived to be 99 (less than two weeks shy of her 100 birthday). She had a kind and gentle spirit, an unassuming manner, and was the eternal optimist. If you could only use one word to describe her, it would be "kindness." My dad’s favorite memories of her involve, Chinese Checkers, pecan pie, love for dogs (I think this is where my dad gets his), weekday afternoons, and New Mexico style enchiladas. My daddy wrote a blog post about her last year that you can read by clicking here.

This is a picture of Daddy and Esther, Daddy's Grandma

My middle name, Margaret, comes from my mom’s maternal grandma. She was also an extraordinary woman. Whose strength carried her through many trials and tribulations. If you could only use one word to describe her, it would be “spunky.” She never took no for an answer, was hard as nails, but had the patience of a saint when it came to her granddaughters. Some of my mom’s favorite memories of her involve bicycle riding, cards, swimming in the river, the library, and chocolate chip cookies. This is a picture of Mommy, Grandma Char and Margaret, Mommy's Grandma with my big brother Sol

It feels like a lot to live up to (these two remarkable ladies), but I know that they, along with all of my past and present relatives and friends are with me. With the help of this great village, I know that I too will be an exceptional woman.

The church's role in healing, meeting people's basic needs and reconciliation

2009-11-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

A reflection from Henri Nouwen… good for the church and for organizations like Healing Waters.

"A Ministry of Healing and Reconciliation"

How does the Church witness to Christ in the world?

First and foremost by giving visibility to Jesus' love for the poor and the weak.

In a world so hungry for healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and most of all unconditional love, the Church must alleviate that hunger through its ministry.

Wherever we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, listen to those who are rejected, and bring unity and peace to those who are divided, we proclaim the living Christ, whether we speak about him or not.

I think this is a representation of what the church's role is, and what we are all called to do as Christians. Just my two cents.

In Christ alone, my hope is found. . .

2009-11-16T06:16:00.000-08:00

A few years ago Eric Moe was leading contemporary worship at Wellshire, as well as leading the youth praise band that lead worship with the youth group every Sunday night. He started rotating "In Christ Alone" through the song list. I loved this song as we sang it each week. Then this Sunday, the handbell choir at Wellshire played an amazing arrangement of the hymn "In Christ Alone." The music was glorious, and it got me thinking about the lyrics too.

I did some research, thinking that this was an old hymn set to a more modern score. As it turns out it was written in 2002 by a guy named Stuart Townend: "Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" (2002, cowritten with Keith Getty [1]), "

A common and sometimes accurate criticism of contemporary worship songs is that they are very repetitive and not very profound. That is true many times, but not in this case. These guys really knocked it out of the park with this song, rivaling any old hymn in depth of message.

The lyrics for this hymn are below and below that is a video of the Newsboys version of the song. I encourage you to read through the lyrics as a prayer of hope and thanksgiving. Stop and pause as you read, really reflect on them. Then if you want, listen to the song and continue to meditate on the lyrics. This is some powerful stuff!

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

My Birthday Wish. . . Access to safe drinking water for 10 more people!

2009-11-12T16:18:00.001-08:00

The last time you had a glass of water, where did you get that water from? Did you get it from the faucet in your home? Did you have a glass of water at a restaurant?

When you drank that water, did you stop and ask yourself if it was safe to drink? Did you think about whether or not that water was going to make you sick?

Most of us don’t ask those questions; in fact those questions do not even cross our minds. We have the privilege of living in a country that distributes safe drinking water through our taps 99% of the time. We don’t have to wonder if the water is going to make us or our families sick; we don’t even think about it.

In much of the world, that is not the case. Over one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and billions more have “access” to buy safe drinking water at the store, but they don’t have the resources to pay for it. It is hard to buy bottled water when you live on less than $2 a day. As a result, they drink dirty contaminated water. And they give that same contaminated water to their children, not because they want to, but because they have no other options. And they live most of their lives in a constant state of sickness.

One organization working to change that is Healing Waters International. Their mission is to empower local ministry partners to bring physical, social and spiritual transformation to poor communities by providing sustainable, safe water solutions. Their vision is to see safe water provided in the name of Jesus in every poor community of the world. And the way they pursue that mission and vision is unique and exciting. I really believe in this organization. (Conflict of interest disclosure statement, I work for them too!)

So my birthday is on Sunday. The Big 3-2 !!!! I have enough "stuff" so I would rather support this cause for my birthday. Every $50 donated to Healing Waters provides another person access to safe drinking water FOR LIFE! I hope to provide 10 more people access to safe water for my birthday, so I am trying to raise $500. Every little bit helps, so please donate! (The link to donate is below)

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/213213

I believe that access to safe drinking water should be a basic human right for every person on this planet. Healing Waters is working towards that while also empowering local partners to bring physical, social and spiritual transformation to their communities. And their model incorporates long-term sustainability, so their projects continue to keep on distributing safe water, years after they are installed. It doesn't get much better than that!

Back from Guatemala, Snow Boots and Flip-Flops and other contrasts

2009-11-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

I arrived safely back from Guatemala on Thursday night. It was great to be back with Jessica, Lil' A-P and Sol. We are mid-way through Week 34 of the pregnancy and cannot wait to meet our little girl.

Today I took a "travel comp" day to get caught up on things around the house and run some errands that I had neglected during my trip to Guatemala. I raked the leaves in the yard, cleaned the house, did some small home improvement projects and got caught up on work at Wellshire Presbyterian Church where I am the Youth Director.

The temperature today in Denver was in the high 70s. Just last week I was shoveling 20 inches of snow off my driveway and sidewalk. I love living here in Denver, a city of contrasts. We have almost two feet of snow one week and I am tromping around in my Sorel snow boots and the next week we have temperatures in the high 70s and I can walk around in my flip-flops. A few winters ago, I even went skiing on a Saturday and golfing on a Sunday.

These contrasts in temperature and weather are not so common in Guatemala. The weather tends to be pretty even keel there. However Guatemala is a land of contrasts, just not contrasts of temperature.

The contrast in Guatemala is the incredible wealth and the oppressive poverty. Last time I was in Guatemala I was visiting a coffee plantation. I saw workers in the field that were making an average of $300 per month, just a little more than minimum wage in Guatemala. While I was talking with one of the plantation workers a loud noise caught our attention. It was the owner of the coffee plantation, arriving to work in his own private helicopter.

The wealth in Latin America is impressive, even by our own standards here in the United States. One of the richest men in the whole world, Carlos Slim, is a Mexican. The upper classes in Latin America live well. Which is why it contrasts so much with the impoverished masses, the folks we have the privilege of working with in Healing Waters International.

I never cease to be amazed by the spirit of the people we work with. Despite extreme poverty contrasted with such wealth, the people we work with have profound faith and an incredibly positive outlook.

The class system in Latin America is not as rigid as the caste system of India, but the chance of moving from the lower classes to the upper classes is pretty slim. Despite this, and despite having this class contrast front and center every day with helicopters landing in coffee fields and Land Rovers and Mercedes driving by urban slums, the people we work with find joy in their lives, their families and their faith.

That is one of the things that drew me to Latin America originally and keeps me coming back. That spirit, the sense of faith and community, and the general sense of joy.

So as I settle back into my life here in Denver, trying to decide whether to wear my flip flops or my snow boots, that contrast will make me grateful for my time in Latin America and the people I am privileged to work with there.

Corriendo por todos lados en Guatemala! (Running all over the place in Guatemala!)

2009-11-04T05:25:00.000-08:00

The past few days in Guatemala have been incredible! Whenever I am working in the field, I try to make the most of my time which usually means working 12-15 hour days. Fortunately most of my trips to the field are two weeks or less, so I am able to keep up a schedule like that. Being in the field always recharges my batteries and gives me a chance to see the work we are doing in Healing Waters International up close and personal. It is incredibly energizing and so the long days don’t tire me out.

Monday was a great day. After meeting with the staff in the morning, I jumped into a meeting with my two employees responsible for prospecting new partners and communities for water systems as well as managing the relationships with the partners after the water systems have been installed. We spent three hours talking about the process of finding and qualifying new partners and communities for systems. It was a great dialogue and I really enjoyed hearing their perspective and spending the time with them.

After a quick lunch of delicious tacos at a taco stand, we headed back to the office and met with a representative from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We spent about an hour in the office talking with them and then left to visit our newest water system.

On the trip there, we stopped at a gas station for a few things and I got out of the car and left the keys in the car. Well, as it turns out the alarm system in our cars here in Guatemala automatically lock the doors about a minute after you leave the cars. So the gringo made a rookie mistake and got the keys locked in the car (although I can’t say I “locked the keys in the car” because it was the car that locked itself automatically.)

This provided some amusement for everyone and also provided us a little more time to chat with the great folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We sat at some tables and chairs in the gas station while we waited for the other set of keys to be delivered from the office.

After that we visited the newest system in Comalapa. The system is really an impressive one and the folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino had lots of great questions.

Finally we drove back from the system to Antigua for the night. The system is about an hour from Antigua on a very windy road, and it was raining pretty hard. So it was one of those “white knuckle” drives and all of these news articles kept flashing through my head about missionary team members and NGO employees who died in fiery crashes on twisty mountain roads in Latin American countries. Fortunately none of that came true, and my year of experience driving in Ecuador along with all of the driving I have done in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and here paid off. I got us all safely back to Antigua!

Tuesday I spent the day meeting one-on-one with my staff members. The meetings were very productive and I was able to get a real sense of the day to day operations here in Guatemala. We have been without a National Director here for almost six months and I have been filling in for that time. Unfortunately some things are hard to do as the acting National Director from my desk in Denver, so these trips to the field are extremely helpful for a variety of reasons. I was here for a week last July-August as well. I wish I could spend more time in the field and with my great team here.

We drove into Guatemala City for lunch and had Ceviche which is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It is also a little bit of a risk to eat ceviche in a city that is not right on the coast, but so far I seem to be doing fine!

Last night I had the opportunity to spend some time with a missionary family down here. Jackie and Levi run the Sharing His Plan ministry here in Guatemala. They have been living here for four years and have quite a ministry going. They had helped us advertise our National Director position through a Intermission listserv that Jackie moderates and through that process I had come to know them digitally and was blessed to finally meet them in person. They have three beautiful, spirited and well-behaved kids who I got to eat dinner with.

After dinner with them, I headed to the airport in Guatemala City to pick up Jake, the Director of Field Operations for Healing Waters. He and I are going to spend Wednesday working with the staff on strategic planning, our 2010 plan and budget and a few other things.

So far the trip has been nothing but blessed. Thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers. This is my last full day here and I head back to Denver tomorrow (Thursday.) This is the shortest trip I have taken to the field, but with Jessica being 33 weeks pregnant, I am grateful for that. I would love to spend more time here with my staff and at our water projects, but I am also anxious to get home to be with my beautiful wife.

Thanks for reading and LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!

Back in Guatemala, the kindness of strangers and a soggy suitcase. . .

2009-11-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

I am back in Guatemala again. This is my fourth visit this year! (and my last with Lil A-P coming in December.)

I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers. On my flight yesterday from Denver to Dallas I started talking with the guy across the aisle from me, his name is Eric. I told him about the work of Healing Waters and why I was headed to Guatemala. He was on his way home from a business trip and a trip to visit his family in Colorado.

He gave me a code to use the wireless on the flight for free. So I was sitting on an airplane, 35,000 feet above the ground, and was able to chat with Jessica, do e-mail, and watch the Broncos game from the comfort of my exit row seat. Pretty cool stuff!

But it gets better. Once the flight landed in Dallas and we were walking off the plane, Eric says, “Can I get you into the American Airlines Admiral’s Club for your layover?” That is the private first-class lounge in the airport. Eric explained to me that his job didn’t always generate a lot of good karma, but he thinks that my job does, so he wanted to help me out and “pay it forward.”

So we went into the Admiral’s Club and watched some football. We talked a bit more and discovered we are both Labrador aficionados, he has a yellow lab and we have our black lab. He also has a 19 month old daughter, is first child, and Jessica and I are expecting our first child in December. Eric is an incredibly nice guy. He had a rather short connection so he left after about 30 minutes but I had a 3 hour layover, so I was able to sit in the lounge, catch up on e-mail with free wireless, have a few free glasses of iced tea and some snacks, and escape the fray of the airport.

It was like I got a little mini-vacation in the DFW airport before heading to Guatemala for work! I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers.

My flight arrived in Guatemala City at about 8:15 last night to pouring down rain. When my bag came out on the carousel it was kind of soggy. The drive from Guatemala City to Antigua was uneventful, although I was fortunate to have a driver and not be driving myself in the pouring down rain along the windy road to Antigua.

I got to the hotel Hostal las Marias (my home away from home here in Guatemala, I have stayed here almost a month over the past year if you add up all my trips) at about 9:45pm, touched base with my wife and my staff down here and went to bed.

Today is an exciting day. I have a staff meeting in the morning with all of the Guatemala Aguas de Unidad staff. Following that I am working with two of our team members down here on the process of finding new communities and new partners for water systems. We call this our “Pipeline Process.”

In the afternoon we have a meeting with a representative from Willow Creek church. This is a big church out in Chicago that focused on water issues for their global missions conference this year and raised funds to sponsor 5 Healing Waters systems in the Dominican Republic and 3 Healing Waters systems in Guatemala.

We are going to meet with one of the Global Missions guys from Willow Creek and the National Director for Red del Camino Guatemala. Red del Camino is an organization that networks churches with a shared vision for serving their communities. We are hoping that Red del Camino can find some good church partners for us to partner with for new water systems in 2010.

We are also going to visit our newest water system in Guatemala, one that was sponsored by Willow Creek. The system is in Comalapa. You can see some photos of the community by clicking here. It is a charming town of 15,000 that is about an hour outside of Guatemala City.

I am really excited for these meetings with the Willow Creek people and the Red del Camino people. I cannot wait to see what might come of the synergy between all of our organizations!

Thanks for reading the blog. LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!