Dreams

"God has a way of ending some dreams in the process of fulfilling others."

- Jud Wilhite in Stripped

When I Give; I Get

Went to help build a wheelchair ramp today. My wife Chris and I helped along with Ryan, Dave, John, Andy and Rich from RiverTree Christian Church. This group built a ramp two weeks ago on the small main house and today we put one on the trailer.

The homeowner made us an awesome lunch. Cold cuts, hot ham and cheese, chips, watermelon, pickles, vegetables. I feel bad accepting something from someone with nothing, or very little. But I am learning that they have pride and self-worth in giving too. She encouraged us to eat more, and her smile beamed from ear to ear when we did. I am sure she gave more than any of us did today. Seems like when I serve someone I leave with more than I brought. People with less seem to do that to me. Seems counter-intuitive. Happens all the time though.

We also put a door on her daughter's bedroom. She went on and on about how her daughter will appreciate this. You would have thought we built a whole new room or something. Reminds me how I take things for granted. It was hot inside the house and John commented how it made him appreciate air conditioning in his house.

This house was in sorta bad shape but I could not stop thinking about my friends in Ecuador. They would think they were rich if they owned this house.

They are.

Jim & Casper Go To Church

No, not a new cartoon for all you folks about my age. It's a book by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. Jim is a Christian and Casper is an atheist. They spent time together visiting churches and writing about their experience. Oh and sorry about the label Jim. I think after reading the book you would not label yourself like this. I get the idea you would prefer Jesus follower.

Me too. Although mostly my life looks like a Rick follower. Cause it's not what we say - it's what we do.

This book was refreshing and scary. Refreshing because of the honesty these two guys trusted each other with as they wrote and discussed. Scary because an atheist kinda rocked my perception of what Jesus came to do. Thanks Casper, I needed that.

I think I knew that Jesus did not intend to start a religion, but a movement. But I've never heard that articulated before as well as in this book. Here are a few nuggets:

"Casper could not imagine Jesus telling his followers that the most important thing they should be doing is holding church services."


Casper on the wealth he saw at one church and Jesus' words about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven:

"How many of the neatly coiffed, SUV-driving attendees of ( get the book and find out which church goes here ) can say that they have given until their lifestyles were interrupted? If people who keep their wealth think they're going to heaven, I'd suggest they find a teeny, tiny camel to help make their case."

Jim suggests that church goers visit a different church once a month..........to feel what it's like to be an outsider.

Casper asks the question: "Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?"

So I have been encouraged to be more real and to stop selling Jesus. I want to talk about him as if I had just spoken with him on the phone. And I like how the church I go to is becoming missional. We started taking our entire Christmas offering and sending it outside our walls. Two years ago we replaced a boiler in an orphange in the Ukraine. Last year we gave enough to Compassion International to start three child survival programs.

And this fall we are closing the doors one weekend to serve in the community. That's right - no church service AT ALL. I wonder if that will get the local faith community in an uproar. I can only hope it does. And I hope it sparks honesty and real dialogue. The kind of authentic friendship shared by the authors. One a non-christian, the other a non-aetheist.

Being Fully Present

I recently read Under The Overpass by Mike Yankowski. Mike is a college student that took time off and spent 5 months living on the streets of America back in 2005. I highly recommend it. I'm not sure Mike meant it to be about missions but that is what is spoke to for me. I don't think it sold too well so you can probably pick it up pretty cheap. Sorry about that comment if you read this Mike. I think your book rocks - well it rocked me - so thanks for writing it.

Mike writes early on in the book about why he did this. He talks about sitting in church one Sunday listening to a sermon about living the Christian life. It was titled "Be the Christian you say you are." He said he realized that he had driven twenty minutes past a world that needed him to hear this sermon and he would soon drive twenty minutes past it on his way back to a world of privilege and comfort on a college campus.

So he had me hooked when I read this because I notice the same thing in myself. Having just gotten back from Ecuador I find my thoughts reverting back to what I will do with my day and what I want for dinner and how I have this tunnel vision driving to where I'm going and noticing nothing on the way. While in Ecuador I notice that I noticed a lot about what other people were doing and what they might be thinking and going through.

And I want to be that way all the time.

I think that most people expect me to tell them what I built or what I accomplished in Ecuador. And I used to have a tendency to think the same way about missions: That I needed to be able to rattle off a list of tangible accomplishments that I did for someone.

But I am coming to understand that the ministry of "being with" is the real mission. In Ecuador I ate lunch with a girl named Carolina who wants to be a teacher and her sister, Carlita, who dreams of being a nurse. And soup with popcorn in it never tasted so good.

I sat on a chair way too small for me in a kitchen at a Compassion International project with my friend Jeremy and dished out lunch for 125+ kids along side of Spanish speaking cooks that I could communicate with very little. And I was lost in that moment.

I was served dinner in an Ecuadorian home along with my friends Heather and Bruce. We were given tomatoes, rice and a hot dog ( I think it was a hot dog ). We sat on the homeowners bed because all this family had was a hot plate in a small kitchen with no stove and refrigerator. And my friend Heather, who hates tomatoes, cleaned her plate.

I met teachers ( Rosita, Joanna, Nancy, Monica ) in a preschool and told them they were doing such important work. And their smiles lit up my day.

I played in a park with preschool kids. And heaven came to earth.......for me.

So the Gospel that I allow to become black and white with the daily grind of going to work and such was bursting with color. It came alive. It was a snow capped mountain and a rainbow and a sunset over the ocean.

From the book: "If we are the body of Christ-and Christ came not for the healthy but the sick-we need to be FULLY PRESENT IN THE PLACES WHERE PEOPLE ARE MOST BROKEN ( emphasis mine ). And it has to be more than just a financial presence. That helps, of course. But too often money is insulation-it conveniently keeps us from ever having to come face-to-face with a man or woman whose life is in tatters. When we're willing to get down to eating together, listening and telling the truth together, cleaning together, peeling potatoes together, the Gospel comes alive."

The project directors

Yesterday the group met their sponsored kids. As expected it was a beautiful day. I got to see kids, sponsors, family members, translators, project directors, and even this writer, cry when it was time to say good-bye.

I am thinking about my blog from last Saturdy titled 6 + 8 > 14. There were 8 kids visited by 6 sponsors but we had a total of 45 in our group when you add in translators, Compassion International employees and family members and project directors that came with the kids. So I think my formula above is correct in that 45 people had a day they will never ever forget. And we all have stories to tell others.

These project directors and their helpers are my heroes. They work in specific areas of Ecuador and are responsible to put the whole Compassion International mission and work on the ground and make it happen for the kids. Some traveled 10 minutes to get to yesterday's visit. Some traveled 9 hours, on a crowded bus, over less than smooth roads. One left at one o'clock in the morning to get to Quito by 9:00 AM for the visit.

Two of the directors were experiencing their first ever sponsor visit. And they told me it is one of their highlights so far in their work. Not because they are meeting someone from the United States for the first time, but because they see the excitement in the kids from their project. Kids they are sold out dedicated to. Kids they love like their own.

Samuel Clemens said "Find a job you love and you will never work another day in your life."

I think they have found it.

ANOTHER Chance meeting and more from Ecuador

The team here with me in Eduador went to the roof of our building this morning to pray for God's favor with the judge and whole system in Peru for Hannah's Home. It was an incredible spot. We could see no less than 3 snow capped volcanoes. B-E-A-U-tiful!

I met some kids at For His Children orphanage today. Patricia is 4 and has problems with her legs. She will need operations to walk. Edison has downs syndrome and a heart problem but will be getting an operation soon to hopefully fix that. Jessica wanted to be pushed on the swing some, some more, and more after that. It was hard to leave there.

Spent the evening working at a soup kitchen called Pan de Vida ( Bread of Life - http://www.pandevida.ec/ ). I was humbled by the many people from all over serving there tonight. Met a lady from England who is here for the summer. Met Nicole from Russia. She has lived here 6 years. Four different countries ( Ecuador, United States, Russia and England ) all serving together in one little soup kitchen in Quito, Ecuador. Each time I come here I experience a piece of heaven.

Oh and I met Kelly Mitchell there too. She is working there for the summer. Kelly is a student from Anderson University. She knows several of my daughters friends and members of my church. And not only do I meet her but it's on a mission trip to a country over 3,000 miles away and we just happen to be on the same continent, in the same country, and the same city, on the same street, serving in the same little ministry that could not be found unless you were specifically looking for it. Coincidence?

A chance meeting and more

This morning we went to the home of a child survival program. This is a program through Compassion International to help children from prenatal to 3 years old survive to make it into their sponsorship program. The home we went to was full of smiles and God. But I could not help noticing the walls of this two room home. We were in the bedroom ( the only other room is a kitchen ). One double bed and a crib for three people. The walls and ceiling were similar to 1/4" lauan plywood. They were patched with cardboard. Cracks were stuffed with newspaper. Intersection of the wall and ceiling was sealed..............with masking tape.

This evening we had dinner with Leadership Development Students. Jonathan, Fanny and Jose. They all have been in a Compassion program most of their lives. And they have dreams.

Big dreams.

Jonathan will have a dgree in mathematics and wants to build his own high school. Fanny is studying graphic design and wants to have her own business and provide good jobs. Jose is studying computer engineering and wants to go to Japan to study artificial intelligence. He wants to develop a computer controlled water distrubution program for the indigenous people of his village.

And another thing about Jose. His sponsor is my friends from RiverTree Christian Church, John and Lucia McLaughlin. Now that is incredible right there. My group came over 3,000 miles to Ecuador and we meet a sponsored student of a person we know!

Dream Weaver

Today was spent painting and playing with kids at San Pablo in Quito, Ecuador.

Our host missionary, Shirley Brinkley, was telling us about what God has them doing here in Ecuador. She said it makes no sense for a nurse ( her ) and an accountant ( her husband ) to be building and running a school. But that is exactly what they are doing.

She talked about the cycle of hopelessness that needs to be broken in these children. She says they don't dream because they don't know how.

She says "my dream is for them to dream".

Well maybe they are. I had lunch with Carolina and Carlita. They are sisters and are in the compassion program at San Pablo. They both have sponsors and both write and have been written to by their sponsor. Carolina (above) wants to be a teacher; Carlita a nurse.

6 + 8 > 14 ?

Yes!

This morning 6 Compassion International sponsors ( Bruce, Heather, Ray, Craig, Jonathan and Jeremy ) are heading to Ecuador to whisper hope to 8 sponsored children. I have the privilege of leading this team down for ChildReach Ministries.

And I am convinced that way more than 14 lives will be impacted with the math of God.

$44.3 Million

The Gross Domestic Product of the entire COUNTRY of Montserrat? Yes

The combined estimated export value for the COUNTRIES of Palau, Marshall Islands, Cayman Islands, Tuvalu, Montserrat, East Timor and Anguilla? Yes

But that's not what I'm referring to. It's the money raised to build the Akron Art Museum.

Museum director Mitchell Kahan is quoted in today's Akron Beacon Journal: "I think it shows Akron can be a leader in culture."

Now I'm all for the arts so if you are an artist, then continue creating. Be the artist you were made to be. And I'm all for urban renewal and such. And I have a confession to make: my company made a profit by selling material for this structure. But really, this much money for an art museum?

Here' what I bet $44.3 million dollars could do:

- wipe out diarrhea as one of the leading causes of death to children under the age of 5.

- provide a good part of the world with access to clean drinking water.

- sponsor 115,364 children through Compassion International for an entire year.

- double the salary of 44.3 million people because half the world live on less than $1 per day.

- or we could build an art museum.

Museum architect and designer Wolf Prix said that in his design for the museum "all hopes have been fulfilled."

I wonder what God hopes for. Perhaps the mere survival of the 30,000 children under the age of 5 that died today?

Hannah's Home

Buenos Dias,


Off to the airport to take Andrew and the Peru team to their flight to Peru. They will be helping to complete Hannah's Home. It's a place for pregnant street girls to go and have their baby and learn a life skill. I was going to say it was for unwanted kids but that's not really true. You can track this groups progress at http://www.childreachministries.org/ and click on "trip updates."

Want to help? You can donate resources online at the website. We need furnishings and a well. Better yet come and see. The next trip down is October 6. Post a comment on this blog to let me know if you're interested.


Gotta go.


Chow!

Freedom

For all her faults this United States of America is a great country. I realize I take this for granted. Today we celebrate our DECLARATION of Independence. But the reality was there was much work to be done.

There was a bloody fight for that independence.

There still is.

Thank you to the servicemen and women who died to give me freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to representation "by the people, of the people, for the people". Thank you to those in far away countries serving today.

And there was much work to be done to set up a government. For a great read on the story of the constitutional convention try Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen.

I love what Declaration signer and delegate to the convention Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote of the ratification of this document:

"Tis done; we have become a nation."

With all our faults, we have indeed.

What's so scandalous about a good samaritan?

Dear Ohio State Buckeye fans,

I want to tell you a story. And I must first make it clear that I am one.

Okay this Buckeye fan is driving to a football game. He has never been to a college football game and never dreamed of actually getting to go to one. Well he won this lottery that gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. Not only was he attending a game, he was going to THE game. Ohio State vs. Michigan.

He was thrilled and couldn't believe his luck. He doesn't make much money and never would have been able to pay his own way. In fact driving his car 70 miles to the big game was a risk in itself. And 20 miles outside of Columbus his luck ran out. He pulls over to the side of the road with a dead car. He gets out and tries every thing he knows about cars but can't get it going.

So he starts to a try to flag down the cars racing by him on the freeway. Most of these cars, in fact all of these cars, are obvious buckeye fans with their cars decorated in scarlet and gray and "go bucks" written across the back window. So he displays his buckeye gear thinking this will get him some help. It doesn't. 5 then 10 then 45 minutes pass and no one stops to help.

Then finally after nearly 90 minutes he sighs with relief as he sees a vehicle pulling over in the distance. "Finally a buckeye fan with some sympathy", he thinks. As he watches the car approach he can't believe his eyes. After hundreds of buckeye fans whizzing by he will be helped to THE game by......................a Michigan fan!

Okay that story was cheezy but it's my best analogy ( for a buckeye fan anyway ) of Jesus' parable about the good samaritan.

First a bit of history: When the kingdom of Israel split, one kingdom was called Judah ( in which the city of Jerusalem was situated ) and one remained named Israel. The temple was in Jerusalem and the this was the center of religious life for the Jewish people. Israel, on the other hand, settled in SAMARIA.

Well because of forsaking God, Israel ( in Samaria ) was attacked by Shalmaneser King of Assyria. He captured it and deported these Israelites to Assyria. Then Shalmaneser resettled Samaria with people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim. And each group made and worshiped their own gods.

So in Jesus' time a Samaritan was not someone to associate with. They were viewed as a worthless and ungodly people. Kind of like a buckeye fan views.......no just kidding.

So for Jesus to tell a story where a SAMARITAN was the hero really must have ticked some people off! Not only that but a priest and a Levite ( the religious leaders of Jesus' day ) in his story are used as examples of wrong actions ( or inaction ). Oh and this story Jesus tells is in response to a question from an "expert in the law". A Pharisee ( i.e. priest / levite ) ?

No wonder Jesus was crucified. He had to be silenced!