Honduras Hope Mission Trip - Days 1-4

Thank you for joining our adventures!  I'm going to try to give a brief summary of days one through four (July 7th -10th), but its going to be hard with so much to say about the great things God is doing with these 31 people.

To see all of my photos from July 7th to 10th, click the link to the Facebook album, even if you don't have a FB account.  Honduras Hope Days 1-4

As always, you can also be kept up to date on Allen Burris's blog: http://www.allenburris.blogspot.com/

Day 1
Our first day was filled with great travel, great landings, great reunions, and great singing.  We enjoyed singing and devotional at the statue of Christ on the mountain overlooking Tegucigalpa, followed with a late night Lord's supper back at the new Honduras Hope mission house.  I also got to visit Camilla's family that Tyler, Casey, Jaylana, and I made balloon animals with last year.

Day 2
God blessed us with a build on our first full day in Honduras for a family (represented by Rosa Marie & little Angie) in Guajire, our primary place of focus.  Many of our group went to a local school where elementary classes were still in session.  This large, one room, one teacher, school was a wonderful way for us to get acclimated as we played with kids and even taught them lessons about a favorite subject of mine.  You guessed it, math! We also visited the local "Maxi Dispensia" (grocery store) to get our food supplies for the week.
We were able to finish up Rosa and Angie's home just as a serious mountain rain shower came pouring down.  God blessed us with a lot of safety on that day.
Our evening devotional was about meditating on what is "true" from Philippians 4:9 led by Allen Burris.

Day 3
Day three was a split day for us.  We joined a group from Kansas and split between shopping in the marketplace for mattresses, serving at the medical clinic, and building the first level of a dormitory in Guajire. I went with the medical team to the city of Matteo.  I have hardly any photos from the clinic because we were nonstop busy serving people with de-worming medicine, vitamins, hygene needs, and taking care of wounds and a few more major illnesses.  I can assure you that Emma and Merritt from our team did a great job working at the various stations for at least 3 hours straight.  We then went to Cafe el Gringo for a short snack, following that up with play visit with the kids at the Casa de Esperanza orphanage.

Our evening devotional was about meditating on what is "noble" from Philippians 4:9 led by Steven Walden.

This was also a disconcerting evening because we learned for a theft and injury of Marc Tindall, the American missionary leader of the Honduras Hope effort, and a good friend of ours.  He's doing much better now and much of the money has been returned.  Read more about it here: http://treymorgan.net/sorry-you-dont-get-a-house-now/ and have this page translated into English to read what the Honduras news media posted about it.  http://m.elheraldo.hn/content/view/full/162190

She is 96 years old!

Day 4
We spent the bulk of Wednesday at Guajire coming close to finishing up the 2nd floor of the dormitory and playing with kids.  One group went hiking about two miles through the mountains of Guajire to visit two houses we built in summer of 2012.  We were able to locate one of the families, share God's love with them, give them photographs of their family last year, and share tears together as we prayed.  Beneranda Letizia, Nora and Yahaira were so wonderfully surprised by our visit.  Beneranda (the mom) cried during the prayer because she thought she would never see her Christian friends from America again.  We finished the day by unloading lumber in the rain.

Our evening devotional was about meditating on what is "right" from Philippians 4:9 led by Jason Petty.

He was an actual ice cream vehicle!  He must have heard the gringos were in town.

Day 5
This will see our team split into a team bagging 3 tons of food that we will give out (lotsof rice and beans), and a team finishing a stairway and bunk beds in Guajire.


To see all of my photos from July 7th to 10th, click the link to the Facebook album, even if you don't have a FB account.  Honduras Hope Days 1-4

As always, you can also be kept up to date on Allen Burris's blog: http://www.allenburris.blogspot.com/

Honduras 2013 - It's almost here!

We've got just 18 short days till we'll be soarin above the clouds through the gulf with an exciting touchdown in Tegucigalpa, Honduras!  Our team is preparing their bodies, hearts, minds, and souls for the work to be done there.  Here is an archive of our e-mail devotionals which are going out daily to our team members.  Three have been sent out so far.   Please spend time in prayer for us!

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/home/?u=5949b7cf8961ca03e14005b02&id=b39211bc8c

I love this picture of one of the villagers in Guajire, about an hour outside Tegucigalpa, so I shared!  

FROM THE HEART - Blood Drive

From The Heart - Blood Drive

• February 10th - 12pm to 4pm 
• At Washington Church of Christ

Jesus lovingly gave His blood from his Heart to save our eternal lives.  We have an opportunity to give blood from our heart to save lives as well.  Many around Valentine’s Day will give gifts of love to others.  What will our gifts of love be?

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1 – One hundred ten thousand is the number of donors the Indiana Blood Center had last year.  We hope to add at least thirty more donors to the list.

2 – Two thousand is the approximate number of organizations that donate blood each year to the Indiana Blood Center.  Washington Church of Christ has become one more. 

3 – Three is the number of Hoosiers potentially saved by a volunteer donor’s unit of blood.  With a unit of your blood, three more might be saved.  With at least 30 donors, our collection could potentially save 90 Hoosiers lives!

Revelation 1:5b-6  “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father – to Him be glory and power forever and ever!  Amen.”

Whether you can give blood to help save physical life or not, you can encourage others toward the freeing blood of Jesus in the hopes that their eternal life might be saved.  Now that’s a loving gift from the heart! 

For more information visit: http://www.indianablood.org

To schedule your time to donate visit: https://www.donorpoint.org

May you be blessed on 12-12-12!

So far I haven't seen the end of the world today, but the number twelve is still pretty significant.  From several sources across the net, here's a little bit about 12 in our Bible.

Twelve

12. It indicates a kind of totality.

The most obvious example of 12 are the 12 tribes of Israel, mentioned many times throughout the Bible. Revelation incorporates multiple uses of 12. After the Tribulation begins, Christians will have already been Raptured to Heaven to spare them the horrors. 144,000 people, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel, will be sealed for God. The New Jerusalem, the city of Heaven, is described as having walls 144 cubits thick, symbolic of the 12 tribes and the 12 Apostles.

The foundations of the walls are made of 12 precious stones. The city is foursquare, with walls 12,000 stadia, or furlongs, long, wide, and high.  There are 3 gates in each side, for 12 total. These are made of single pearls, giving us the phrase “pearly gates.” Inside, the Tree of Life yields 12 different kinds of fruits.

Daniel is also concerned with the time of the end, and Daniel has 12 chapters. Daniel 12:12 states, “Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.” 1 plus 3 plus 3 plus 5 equals 12.

May you be totally (12) committed and blessed in your waiting for God, whether He comes today or in 144,000 days!

Jubilee Christmas follow up

What a blast we had with Jubilee Christmas tonight!  Ten families came to share laughs, hugs, and tears with us as we got to know them.  With some we talked of what they could share about God with us and some asked several questions about our beliefs in God.

Here are all of the comments that were written on the evaluation sheets at the end of the night:

• What does Jubilee Christmas mean to you and your family?  
• " I love it very much.  Everyone here is so kind and helpful.  These people are truly angels of God!!!!" 
• "This is the only Christmas our family will receive this year.  We have no income because of losing my job do to injury.  Thank you!"
• "It means so much to me!  This is my first year attended.  I am very grateful I was given this opportunity."
• "It's a blessing and a joy to experience the fellowship with other people who believe in Christ.  It's a great thing!"
• "A lot less stress at a very stressful time."
• "This was an awesome experience for us to be a part of!!  This took a lot of stress off of us as parents wondering how we were going to be able to buy for our children this year.This has truly been a blessing for us!!  Thank you so much!"
• "A Lot"
• "God and being together"
• "My family is everything to me.  This was very special. Thank you for the  Christmas gifts for my daughter. Merry Christmas." (Translated from Spanish)
• "We are thankful much for all the gifts and attention given to our family." (Translated from Spanish)
• Please list any suggests for improvement in Jubilee Christmas.  
• "Nothing for myself, it was all perfect."
• "The people who were a part of this were very friendly and made us feel very welcome and not less than for our needing assistance.  They went above and beyond making this a great Christmas for us all!!!"
• "You are a great help in our time of need."
• "Very Good"
• "None"
• "Perfect"
• "All is well. Thanks for all are very happy. God bless you." (Translated from Spanish)
• "It was all good" (Translated from Spanish)

Living Lesson: The Puppy Dog Position

Living Lessons:  November 11th, 2012

Jesus the Christ had a marvelous way of conveying deep spiritual truths by using stories and object lessons from the living world around Him. 

The Puppy Dog Position:  There's not much cuter than a puppy dog, except your three year old imitating one!

Kalyn Bush

Monday was a great day for our family as we took our kids ice skating with the area homeschool group.  Our instructor for the first half hour was Kalyn Bush, daughter of Alan Bush, associate minister at Washington Ave Church of Christ in Evansville.  She was such a nice and respectful Christian young lady, and gave us several good tips to improve our ice skating skills. 

The tip we appreciated most was the "Puppy Dog Position" which aids in the falling down and getting back up process. My  family and I know how to fall one ice, we've perfected that move, so we were especially interested in this getting back up notion.  Here's how she taught us to get back up.  First she sat down on the ice next to us.  Then she demonstrated rolling over to her front side.  Next she lifted to her hands and knees in the "Puppy Dog Position."  Finally, she placed her right foot up between her two hands and slowly lifted up. 

Kalyn helping Gabriel

Ethan was especially good at getting up from the Puppy Dog Position and enjoyed ice skating so much more when he could get up on his own.  We enjoyed watching him crawl on the ice barking like a puppy too!  Everyone was skating on their own with no wall help by the end of the session and we have Kalyn and the puppy dog position to thank. 

Kalyn Bush

As I consider the Kingdom, I wonder if we spend enough time and effort teaching young Christians the "Puppy Dog Position" after falling down.  So often the Christian army has been guilty of standing at a distance and yelling "get up" at those who fall down in their faith.  Yet I think Kalyn helped remind me that people need someone to get close down beside them where they have fallen down and model the proper getting up position with them. 

What's the first position we should model?  I'd say on our hands and knees before our God is a good place to start. 

Psalm 95:6 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker."

Now, who wants to go ice skating?

Skating on our own!

Monday Monitoring

Good Monday morning to you!  God is good, is He not?

Mondays are usually my "Blah" days.  My energy is usually sapped the day after Sunday.  I thought it might be helpful to just jot down my thoughts and feelings on Monday mornings so I can just move on with my week.  There won't be a lot of editing or beautifying of my Monday blogs, just getting it out there.

Monday So Far
 This Monday was off like a shot.  At 8am I headed over to the hospital to do a little visiting and pick up the pager since I'm the chaplain on call.  I think more of my visit work comes in visiting the hospital staff and encouraging them.  The more involved I am in chaplain work, the more I see the fruits of building relationships with staff.   Visits to the patients are beneficial too, but the most fruitful of those seem to come when I am called by a patient desiring to see a chaplain.  I wish chaplains had the ability to just visit every in their room, but instead we check in at the nurses station and they ask if anyone wants to see a chaplain.  The process is respectful of the patient's desire, but I think most in our community would still welcome a smiling face, a warm good morning, and an offer of prayer.

Made a quick jaunt over to the courthouse to drop of a key for the elections tomorrow.  Our building is used as a voting site for the city.  I am always blessed to see my contact there, but I can never remember her name!  I've probably asked it at least 5 times now.  I feel horrible for that one.  I need to write it down next time.

Had a phone call from an area minister struggling with church politics.  I think Christians need now more than ever to learn to "Play Nice" with each other.  This man is trying so hard to do the right things.  My heart goes out to him.

Fixed the network for the office computer!  I couldn't figure out why the wifi wouldn't connect, but had a cat45 cable laying around.  That did the trick.  Glad to have it usable for church members now.

We've got pew fixers coming today, so the auditorium is going to be a buzz of activity for the next couple of days.  I'm looking forward to meeting them.

Sunday

Yesterday morning before service I could tell I was filled with a little different spirit than usual.  I was very passionate about my recent motto, "We Play Nice".  Basically I've decided, If we share the "One things" listed in Ephesians 4, I'm going to endeavor to play nice with you no matter if you act like a divisive jerk or not.  And if we're not sharing those Christian standards, well I'm gonna play nice anyway, because the Lord made you.  None of this means I have to give up my distinctiveness, my Biblical views, or my ability to share them.   It just means I'm not going to do what I've seen so many Christians do in the midst of political uncertainty lately.  I'm not going to deride, slander, or set my self in opposition to anyone, even a presidential candidate and especially not another Christian.  I may oppose a view or idea, but I'm certainly going to give respect. "For our battle is not against flesh and blood...." Paul said in Ephesians.

And what do I do if you don't share those one things with me and you live in such a way that opposes God? I still play nice but I let you know we have a break in our relationship that can only be mended by us seeking and searching God.  Playing yatzee together doesn't fix it, but deliberately seeking God together does, even if we still don't agree.    Fair enough?  Boy, I'm still inspired Monday morning about this stuff, I could just keep writing thoughts.

Sunday afternoon - busy!  One of the best things accomplished was budget requests for 2013.  I was pleased to be able to request more in the missions area.  I was also encouraged by seeing good people from our congregation working together to ensure God's money is used wisely.

Sunday night - Grandparents.  I'm a firm believer that families can have a great holiday season together, but it takes everyone fulfilling their roles.  Grandparents in the Bible were so much more than "Spoil em and send em home" type of people.  They shared faith and Godly influence.  It wasn't just something that came about by happenstance, it was their job!  I think we forget that today.  If grandparents will limit the spoiling of kids and put effort into sharing that precious faith, oh, the holidays will be even better.  More on parents roles next week.

After services was great, lotsof people talking.  Did hear of two heartbreaking stories that I can't do anything about.  The good news?  I have a big God who can.   I carried Ethan home asleep in my arms.  I still love those moments.  Gabriel and I made paper airplanes.

Saturday
This day was just a blurr!  Ashley was glorifying God speaking in TN at a ladies retreat, I was Mr. Mom and Minister at the same time.  We showed up at 8:15am at the Derek Arvin 5k "A race for the Son."  God blessed me to meet and pray with volunteers at 8:30am, Gabriel ran a 1 miler at 9am, then we prayed with all the race participants at 10am.  It was such a blessing and I was so proud of my little man for learning to persevere on his run.  There's going to be a lot of spiritual teachable moments coming from this one.

Then a family birthday party near Danville, Illinois at 11am.  Made balloon animals, caught up with cousins, met some nice people.  Then back here for a meeting with a lot of men and their spouses in our area to encourage them on their spiritual walk.  So thankful for the Page family for their time watching the boys.  Then home at 9:30pm, bed for the boys, and decompress time with my wife.

A really blessed but encouraging day.

By the way, Monster Energy drinks really do a number on me!

Just had someone stop in the church building.  Gotta go.  That was my Saturday to Monday morning.  With that outta my system, I'm ready to get on with this day!  Thanks God for a blessed Monday!

Confessions of a Chaplain

Brussels Sprouts.  You know that feeling you get when I mention Brussels sprouts?  Yeah, that's about the same way I feel when I get a call from the hospital, but multiply it times 1,000.

Ministers, Preachers, Pastors, or whatever you call that person at your church, they are supposed to be super human in their empathy and comforting abilities right?  I have a confession to make.  When I get that call from the hospital that a family has requested a chaplain, I feel anything but super.  I feel downright human.  Even though I know I am helping the family, even though I know I'm helping the community, even though I know I'm spreading God's love, even though I know it builds me to be a more caring Christian, I dread it like Brussels sprouts.  They are good for me and everyone else, but I dread it.

I really only get called when there is a recent or an impending death.  Today was a hard one for me.  I got the call at 8:05 am.  I tried to pump the nurse for information, like it was really going to prep me for what I was about to do.  I hit my knees asking God for wisdom and words.  I read scripture of comfort.  I arrived at the hospital and probably looked funny praying aloud one more time in confines of my parked vehicle.  Sorry to those of you who were watching and thought, "That wacko is talking to himself again."  I spent most of my day with a large family (that I had never met before) until the "final" time came shortly after 2pm.  Readings from Psalm 23 and 27, prayers, hugs, and even my own wetted eyes filled the next twenty or so  minutes.    After making sure the family had a good grasp on and support for the tasks that came next, I made my way back to the office.

For a lot of chaplains, the nature of these calls just seems to roll off them like water off a duck's back.  Maybe they are in a more mature position of faith than I am.  Maybe they are more seasoned veterans than I am.  Whatever the reason, I feel discouraged that most of my volunteer chaplain work depresses me.  Why does it depress me?  I do everything to the best of my ability following all the literature that I have on pastoral care, so why do I still feel depressed?  I don't have a firm answer.  Maybe I still internalize too much of my environment and events.  Maybe I spend too much time talking with family members and building a relationship.  Maybe I'm simply doing it wrong.  Maybe I'm just weak in my maturity.  I'm not sure the reason, but after days like these, my mood is sullen and depressed.  It's a real hard mood to climb out of.  "They" say that writing your thoughts and feelings helps, so here I am.

As depressed as my mood gets, I did notice something strange today just as the finality of things was approaching.  My faith was increasing.  Gone are the wonderings of God's existence.  Gone are the  pleas for God to let me feel His presence.  Gone are the agnostic moments.  They are replaced in that time with a full surety that the God Almighty, Maker of the heavens and the earth, is right there in our midst.  I knew God was there today, I could feel Him in the room.

Have you ever noticed what happens to families and even strangers when someone's life is coming to an end?  How much does your family fight, argue, and disagree?  Yet in moments like today, there is no division between family members, only unity.  There is no jockying for position, but only support in lifting others up.  There is no malicious accusations, but only forgiveness, goodness, mercy, and kindness.  It's not just present among family members, but among ministers too.  When another minister, preacher, or pastor walks up to support the family, there is no sense of competitiveness.  There is no worry over what church they preach at or what their position is on worship styles.  You are simply grateful that another believer in Christ is there.  You are happy to have them support the family, support you, and for them to receive your own support.   Mercy, Goodness, Gentleness, and Kindness abound among all who are present in those times.  Unity is achieved, if only for a little while, and my faith increases.

As I read the last verse of Psalm 23, I was struck by it's presence in the room.  "Surely goodness and lovingkindness (mercy) will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Goodness and mercy sure were present in the room in the last day of this loved one's life.  What a wonderful way to be ushered into the house of the Lord forever.

Be sure to be kind to someone today.  Be merciful to someone you might be at odds with.  Spend a moment blessing someone else with unity in Spirit.  May you dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I feel better already.  Thank the Lord for Brussels sprouts and all those other tough moments in life.

Living Lessons: The Energizer Bunny

Living Lessons:  September 30^th, 2011

Jesus the Christ had a marvelous way of conveying deep spiritual truths by using stories and object lessons from the living world around Him. 

The Energizer Bunny:  My mind has been focused on rabbits today.  Someone recently compared my lifestyle to that of the Energizer Bunny.  You know, that cute pink rabbit with a drum and sunglasses?  While I'm not very pink, very fluffy, and rarely where sunglasses, I do enjoy what others seem to think is a heightened energy level for sustained periods of time.  It just keeps going, and going, and going ..... 

Bill Wininger stopped in today and mentioned much of the same about his life.  He's a guy who doesn't seem to slow down.  Some people even call him "hyper".  So why is it that people are frequently telling us "Energizer Bunny" types to slow down, take a break, and rest for a while?  Could it be that they just haven't been given the same energy levels to keep up?  Could it be they have different priorities in life?  Could it be that they are lazy?  Or could we be mistaken and they know something important about rabbits that we don't know?

We have lots of rabbits in our neighborhood.  They frequent our yard daily and one named "Bugs" even lives in a little burrow behind one of our planters.  I watched that Bugs today and I noticed something.  He spent 15 minutes sitting completely still, out in the middle of the yard, doing absolutely nothing.  I've witnessed the madness of my boys chasing him before, so I know "Bugs" is super quick, with plenty of pace, agility, and energy to elude my boys and live his life however he wants.  Yet with all that ability, he spends most of his day sitting out in the open and watching.  Does Bugs, the energizer bunny in are yard, know something that I don't?  Maybe God is trying to tell us something through our little furry friend. 

“Be still, and know that I am God." - Psalm 46:10a  

Living Lessons: The Lure of the Golden Arches

Living Lessons:  September 23^rd 2012

Jesus the Christ had a marvelous way of conveying deep spiritual truths by using stories and object lessons from the living world around Him.  We can too.

The Lure of the Golden Arches:  Excitement was crackling in the air from 11:45pm to 12:15am on Wednesday morning as McDonald’s opened its doors to about 170 customers.  Some had endured the “harsh” elements of the day by getting their spot staked in line at 12:30pm in the afternoon.  One lost her claim due to health related complications and was taken away by ambulance at 11:55pm, just shy of the door opening mark.  Some even paid $10 to park their cars at neighboring establishments.  Oh, the sacrifice!  Some of you reading this were there as witnesses to the excitement surrounding the resurrection of Washington’s golden arches. 

     The Times Herald reporter, Nate, my neighbor, Bill, and I all cited the same reason for not joining in the line ourselves.    No matter how they redecorate, how many spotlights they have, how high tech they are, Big Macs are simply bad for our health.  Our McDonald's gave away 52 of those bad boys for the first 100 people who showed up at midnight.  Just to burn away the calories of 52 Big Macs I would have to run an extra 250 miles this year!  We just watched as we tried to be a positive encouragement and healthy-minded witness to the participants. 

     Doesn’t sin work that way in our lives?  How many times have we vowed to quit a specific sin, only to find it repackaged and marketed in a different way, and suddenly we’re sold to soulfully unhealthy actions once again.  How many of us promised God we wouldn’t speak negatively of others or promised we wouldn’t spread gossip about others in our lives, and then along came Facebook.  Spreading gossip and negativity has never been so easy and trendy.  How many of us promised God we’d be responsible with the money He has let us borrow only to find the next great redesigned cell phone that is going to revolutionize our lives?  How many of us have found ourselves waiting in Christmas lines for something we don’t even want just because so many others around us are doing it.

     No matter how you decorate it, repackage it, market it, or how many other people are participating, things that are sin are not from God.  Like the Big Mac, these things slowly add layers of plaque to our spiritual arteries clogging the flow of life giving blood to our hearts.   Brothers and sisters, don’t fall for the gimmicks or peer pressure of sin in our spiritual lives.  Don’t wait in the long lines for something you know isn’t from God.

James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death.”

Now if McDonald’s gave away 52 free salads. . .