Haiti Orphan Trip

When I was 17 I was part of a mission's trip to Venezuela. It was the first time that I came face to face with third world poverty. My world (and worldview) would forever be altered. Stacey and I desire that all of our children experience a mission to make a difference in the lives the poor, the orphans, the least of these that Jesus speaks of. So when Raegan heard about a trip tow work with orphanages in Hait and said to us "Mom, dad, I feel that I have to do this," we knew in our hearts that she was right.

So last week Stacey and Raegan went with 7 others to the poorest nation in the west, Haiti, to work with orphans. Haiti was the first country to become independent by a successful slave uprising. But corrupt leadership has led to economic and social ruin. In the city of Port Au Prince, where the team ministered at several orphanages, every home is seperated by walls for security reasons. There is chaos in the streets and fear in the hearts of the citizens. And so many of the families cannot take care of the children they bring into the world because of extreme poverty. It is a desparate situation, but not hopeless.

There are those who feel called to drop their lives and move to this oppressed country and try to make a difference. The ministry that the team worked with was founded by just such a couple. Their names are Corrigan and Shelley Clay and they moved to Haiti a year ago and started a minstry called the ApParent Project. The ministry works with the poor of Haiti (specifically with orphans) and seeks to make their needs known through media and the arts.

I am so proud of Stacey and Raegan for thriving in the blazing heat and loving on these little ones. They are still processing the trip and how transformational it was. It reinforces to me that we MUST continue to be the voice for the orphans and do what we can to find them a loving home.

6 degrees of missions

So it appears that 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon was off by ".6". The small world theory has been around for a while. It is the idea that you can connect any two people on the planet by 6 people. This gave rise to the game 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon which took this idea and applied it to movie stars.

And now Microsoft has it's own calculations to conclude that the 6 degrees theories was pretty close to dead on. Microsoft researchers Eric Horvitz and Jure Leskovec looked at over 30 billion conversations over Microsoft Messenger in June 2006. These messages represented about 180 million people in the world. Horvitz told the Washington Post, "What we're seeing suggests there may be a social connectivity constant for humanity."

I like this theory because it makes global issues much "closer to home". The smaller the world, even if it is simply psychological, makes missions much more personal. The tribe in Africa or the village in Cambodia or the people group in Peru that we have been praying for is just under 7 people from your very doorstep.

Adoption Day Garage Sale

Part of what we call LifeWorks at Life Church is about caring for children, with an emphasis on orphans and others who are at-risk. Nate and Lisa Jarot have decided to adopt a baby from Vietnam. And we know first-hand, it is an expensive undertaking. So what started as a small idea of selling some items for the adoption, became...the Garage Sale to beat all other Garage Sales (Nate's phrase).

Nate did a nice job of directing people to the toy department, the sporting goods department, the clothing department etc. It was a fun three days and many people from the church either donated clothes or money. Kara Sims brought her "missions stand" that she made with her grandpa to raise money for the church's trip to Armenia. My daughter Raegan worked the goodie booth with Kara.

I love helping people to adopt. I feel it is a command (see James 1:27) that the church in general is beginning to wake up to. It's sad that many people are discouraged by finances. The church needs to get behind these couples who want to adopt.

Out of Africa

just got back from uganda last week on a mission's trip. highlights- the beautiful country, the beautiful people, the trip to a small village church (man, can they pray!), a conversation on slavery, an opportunity to speak to 120 college students about reaching their "Jerusalem" and a safari (of course). it was a trip i will never forget. the testimonies (and everyone in africa loves to give a testimony) were unforgettable. many set free from their witchcraft backgrounds in their villages. others who came out of a muslim background. most of these young people feel a calling to go to the 10/40 window and spread the good news.

i hope to go back again. but i now know that God and His purposes are alive and well in uganda.