When Passion and Vision Connect

Today we visited some ministry partners of the Stotlers (our missionary family) who serve in Bizana. It is a good-sized city in East Cape province. Tembe and Lucky are their names and they have a ministry and church called Arise and Shine. These are the sorts of people that just exude passion for God and for ministry. As I listened to them share their vision, it was as if they had just been reviewing the latest writing on ministry approaches, good church planting ideas, missiology, medical missions, etc. They have a church that is made up of tin sheeting with tent material on the inside. It can fit about 700 or so chairs and they said it is full every Sunday. They also operate a school. They are developing a microcredit system (something Elliott Stotler is helping with). And they want to open a medical clinic. When they see needs, they think of creative ways to address them.

Lucky talked about how each time they start something, they start small. "If you are trustworthy in the small things, the Lord will bless. So we start small." They seem to be completely outwardly focused as a church - a refreshing thing to see since churches in so much of the world tend to be inwardly focused. They involve the whole church in the ministry rather than having a pastor-focused ministry, again running counter to what is common especially in the African church. They really have a heart to see transformation in their community and beyond - even using English in their service in addition to Xhosa as a way to be open to the many foreigners who live in Bizana (Nigerians, Chinese, Pakistanis, etc). 

This is probably my favorite part of my job. It isn't the sights, the food, or even the cultures as much as it is seeing how God has placed key people all over the world. People who have true vision and passion, who have anointing, who aren't waiting for someone else, and with whom it is truly a privilege to work.

Thursday/Friday - Jetlag is a Wonderful Thing

Yesterday was pretty well a bust - I don't do jetlag gracefully. I was met by our workers here, Elliott and Katherine Stotler and son Cason. Pretty much talked incoherently, napped, and talked more incoherently. But slept 10 hours last night. It is midnight now and I'm still up - been working on work stuff (yeah, the office tasks aren't so kind as to just go away because I'm out of the country). Hopefully we'll sleep tonight, although my experience of jetlag is usually something like this:
First day: Sleep like a baby all night, albeit with crazy dreams. Get excited and think maybe I'm already adjusted.
Second day: Feel pretty good. Stay up too late hoping it'll make me sleep all night. Go to sleep, wake up around 2-3am. No chance of going back to sleep. 
Third day: Yeah, 2-3 hours of sleep means I'm toast. Do fine in the morning, start looking glazed by afternoon. Hosts make fun of me as my head droops while we are having serious discussions about ministry. I take a nap. Again stay up later than I should doing work.
Fourth day: Up around 4am. better, but still tired during the day. Jetlag hits in waves - you are sitting there feeling quite normal and all of a sudden a fog just drops.
Fifth day: Up again around 4-5am, but now feeling that I have gained a level of spiritual breakthrough that puts me in league with people like John Wesley and St. Francis. (Well, I don't know about St. Francis, but I'm sure all spiritual giants wake up early. That's bound to be in the Bible somewhere).

Etc. 

Well, blogs should be short and focused, so this one ended up being about jetlag. I promise to write about South Africa tomorrow. Stay tuned - for now I'll just say it is awesome and, like everywhere else, the kids are really cute.

Day 2 - Paris

I don't think I'll really type daily, but this is another airport entry. About the same time Paris time as it was Atlanta time on the last one - just after 10pm and about 15 minutes from time to board my flight for Johannesburg. Poor me had a 10-hour layover in Paris, so I stored my carry-on and headed on the train to town. Enjoyed a look around Notre Dame. They are celebrating 850 years since its construction began. 850 years! I can't really get my mind around that! As I look up at the incredible architecture, I cannot imagine the technology and infrastructure to build it. Not to mention the labor force (or should I say forced labor?). Anyhow, the result is breathtaking. Anytime I get in a setting with such a long, rich history, it makes me all reflective. I guess for those who live here year round, perhaps this becomes commonplace. I'm sure there is a point I could make regarding that phenomenon, but time to go board, so I'll let the reader draw his/her own point. :) 

Day 1 - And we're off!

This will be a short initial entry. I'm at the Atlanta airport about 10:15pm awaiting my flight. Actually I'm supposed to board in about 15 minutes, so this needs to be very short! Amazingly, I did most my packing yesterday, so today ended up being a fairly relaxed day. Usually I put off packing until the day of departure and usually departure is by mid-afternoon at the latest. So I had a whole day. Shawn and I had a lovely time since both had blocked it out for the trip and had nothing scheduled. We enjoyed a new restaurant, took our dog Lizzy on a 4-mile walk, and had time to just chat. Maybe we should schedule unscheduled time more often. Next stop Paris, then Johannesburg, then Durban. If all goes well I'll get there sometime, but to be honest, I really haven't done the math to figure out exactly when that will be!

Can These Old Bones Live?

Well, as I expressed in my initial post (see the left side of the blog page), my ability to be consistent with journaling back in the pre-blogging era has transferred to blogging. It's been over two years since I've posted anything here. So I doubt anyone will be reading this entry since, if they are following me, they either have no life or they have long since wondered what happened to me. But I wanted a buffer in here so it wouldn't look SO lame that the last entry was 2+ years ago since I plan to blog during an upcoming trip to Africa and will invite people to follow along. Maybe they won't notice the gap?

So I've updated my profile; yeah, my profile pic was 8 years old and I have "ripened" since then, and my title has changed as has our family. But otherwise, it's still little ol' me a couple years later ready to try again at this blogging thing. And I do still love ice cream - appropriately the most recent post...

In my defense, I do blog regularly for The Mission Society's blog so that took some of the air out of my creativity. Yeah, right.  

Magnum Bars and Wal-Mart

You don’t have to be around me long to discover that I love ice cream. It is genetic. One of my favorite quotes from my grandfather was “I think I want to have some ice cream.” He would open an entire box and cut it in slabs with a knife. Oh, the memories, but I digress. (BTW, my grandfather had a much deeper influence on my life outside of ice cream, but the subject of this blog triggered the memory!)

While living in Kazakhstan, our family occasionally enjoyed a type of ice cream bar called “Magnum bars.” They were very yummy. Then as I’ve traveled the world over the past few years in my role of missionary oversight, I have found that many countries have Magnum bars. Yet I never have seen them in the USA. I began to tell our missionary kids to find where Magnum bars were sold in their country so when I visit, I could treat the kids to one. Those who keep up with me on Facebook will attest to the many photos I have of enjoying a Magnum bar in different parts of the world. And I always joked how backward the USA was in that we were one of the few countries where you could not find a Magnum bar.

Well, recently a Facebook friend, well aware of my quest for Magnums, informed me that she saw them at a Wal-Mart in Nicholasville, Kentucky. At first I was very happy – Magnums accessible any time. But then I began to feel a bit sad. One of the things that have made Magnums so much fun to seek is that they were not readily accessible. They were different.

I remember when a very tasty treat we sometimes got in Kazakhstan appeared in Wal-Mart in the USA. We had the same sort of feeling – it just didn’t seem so special anymore. Wal-Mart represents the commonplace. If you can buy it at Wal-Mart, then is it really a special treat? The whole idea of quest is gone. Yeah, just pick up a box of Magnum bars on the way home from the office. In fact, I’ll be less likely to enjoy them while traveling if they become commonplace here.

Well, a blog on a mission page usually is not just about something like ice cream. What happens when the Gospel seems commonplace; when it is, so to speak, available at your local Wal-Mart; when it isn’t new, it doesn’t seem to require a quest, it isn’t surprising? The Gospel is by no means commonplace – it is incredible and life-transforming. Yet we risk losing that since we have the illusion that it is just part of the landscape. Often seeing the reaction of people for whom it really is new news or where it must be sought at great risk can help us in the USA get a reminder that it far from commonplace. Those of us in places like the USA need constantly to refresh our understanding of the Gospel and never relegate it to the shelves of Wal-Mart!

No, I’ve not been to my local Wal-Mart yet to see if they have Magnum bars nor have I decided whether or not I will allow myself to enjoy one on US soil. I’ll keep you posted.

January 12 - First Anniversary

January 12 may not be a day to stick out in most of our minds. But given that I am now in Haiti, it is a day that is very much at the front of the minds of the people here. One year ago, an earthquake caused devastation, especially in the densely populated capital city of Port-au-Prince. Estimates of 230,000 people lost their lives. Many bodies never have been recovered.

As we drove through Port-au-Prince upon arrival, I was floored by the countless buildings in varying degrees of collapse. Some are only known to have existed by the rubble in the lot. Some look OK at first glance, but then you see the cracks and realize it is not usable. A full year later, the evidence of the devastation is still clear. I cannot imagine what it was like shortly after the disaster.

Most of our time in Haiti so far we have been in the interior. In an area that felt the quake, but did not experience damage. Yet it seems nearly every family could tell of a relative or a loved one that they lost who was in the capital for work or study. The ministry we are visiting lost several graduates of their grade school, who were in university.

So I hope any readers will take some time to pause on January 12 in remembrance of the people of Haiti who lost their lives and to pray for the Lord to raise up a people to Himself from the rubble of the disaster. In the four days we have been here, we have seen so many indications that the Lord is doing just that - may we, their American neighbors, be prepared to stand with them in prayer, support, and service.