I Changed The World – part 1

I suppose I would call myself a “go-getter”. I’ve always thought I was going to change the world…make it a significantly better place. I never knew how, or when, but I knew that’s just how God wired me. Somewhere along the line I started to actually embrace this, and get glimpses of what it was like…but it looked a lot different than I used to picture it. My role in changing the world…and making it a significantly better place, isn’t on the gradiouso scales of people who re-wrote history, like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Dr. MLK Jr. Or atheletes who changed a sport, like Michael Jordan and Da ’85 Bears (yes, somehow, The Super Bowl Shuffle DID change the game of football).

Obviously, I’m not changing anything like those people. But I still have the potential to change SOMEONE’S world…and to make SOMEONE’S life significantly better. Somehow the HUGE “little” things that you and I are a part of changing w/ our actions, get overshadowed by “the stars” who get the attention for, most often, the dumbest & most insignificant things.

It was not a cocky attitude, but I knew God was going to use me in significant ways in the lives of orphan kids in Haiti. God got my attention a few years back, and I realize now, had been preparing me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to take this trip...for years. So I was dialed into God heading into this trip, and I just believed He would use me in significant ways. (Side note: if you have the ka-hoonas to respond w/ obedience to God’s nudge to going on a mission trip…He WILL ABSOLUTELY use you in significant ways. It is your responsibility to strain and stretch yourself to be in a position mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to be paying attention to WHERE and HOW He is using you…b/c you don’t want to miss that. You really don't want to miss it. If you're interested, I can share a couple specific things I did, books I read, etc. that helped me connect to intimately with God in the months/weeks leading up to this trip...just email me).

My friend Bryan DeLucca, who went on this Haiti trip 6 months before me, was a huge influencing factor in me going. He was the first (non-pastor) friend who I’ve personally known as a “normal guy” that has gone on a mission trip like this. Husband, dad to 3 kids, traveling business-guy...he's the typical guy in my neck of the woods.

I’ll never forget Bryan stopping me outside of church a week or 2 before our trip. Call it what you want, but God used Bryan in a world-altering way that morning (yes, I'll share exactly how, keep reading...its wild). We were just catching up for a few minutes, and he said something like, “Look, I don’t want to tell you what to do there, or what your experience should be like, but I just really hope you connect w/ some of the older boys that don’t typically get as much attention from missionaries as the younger kids.”

I didn’t really have many hopes or expectations yet for my trip, but whenever I did think about it, I felt strongly that my part would be in connecting w/ the older boys vs holding babies and younger kids. So Bryan, not holding back and sharing that, just sort of confirmed pretty clearly for me, what my role would be down there. For those who financially supported me, I told you in that video before my trip, that I knew I’d be a human jungle gym rough-housing buddy for these kids. So, having been paying attention to God in the months and weeks leading up to the trip, I was dialed-into specifically making an impact in the lives of older boys, while in Haiti.

God would, of course, use me in significant ways down in Haiti. But how He did that, and His timing, were far from what I expected…

(I’ll continue this story next time…)

Open Hands & Open Doors

I admit that before I went on this mission trip, I really didn't pay much attention to less fortunate people in my own city, let alone those in another country. Yes, sure, I give financially to some local organizations, serve my community here & there, and give time and money to my church. But I've never really checked-in emotionally to this demographic of people. Frankly, I get caught up in the "I have enough work taking care of my own (fill-in-blank)". It is crazy, how little my world had gotten...my friends knows how much I joke about living in "the bubble" of our own zip code.

My eyes flung open within a few minutes of hanging w/ the kids at the 1st orphanage...


It was nothing that was said, but just an overwhelming change of heart and perspective, seeing and experiencing life outside my cozy little world...seeing my own kids in the faces, and high-5s, and embraces of these orphan kids...


I realized while walking away from that 1st orphanage, that I wanted Payton (my 7 yr old) to start grasping, right now, that his life is much bigger than just his own cushy little world. Stacy made a little 20-page picture book to bring with me, filled with pics of her and the boys. I carried it in my backpack, which I ended up taking w/ me everywhere we went. At Jumecourt Orphanage, a couple of the boys asked if I was married or had kids. So I grabbed my book to show them...they loved looking at the pics, laughing at some of the silly pics of the boys. I caught the sarcasm in the 11 year old's tone (in the red shirt) when he asked "THIS is YOUR wife?!?!"...


They were asking me about Payton (how old he was, and if he liked to play soccer). I told them how I was going to one day bring Payton down there with me. And I asked them to say hi to my boy on video, to start Payton's journey of getting outside of just his world of 1st grade, and video games, and "stuff"...



It was pretty easy to get jarred out of my world down there (no cell phone does that pretty swiftly). But it's not like a mission trip to Haiti, or anywhere else, is the only path to discovering how life is way bigger than our own limited perspectives. I've wasted years being lazy & selfish at the crossroads of a situation where I could have helped someone in a big way...b/c I wasn't paying attention enough to even know I was wearing blinders that kept me from seeing how much more to life there is than just my own (fill-in-blank-here).

Check out this quick video...



This cozy little world we create for ourselves can be a pretty exciting adventure when we pay attention, and ask for open hands and open doors.

Coming Back

On Sunday a.m. we packed into the van and drove about 10 minutes to Pastor Kisnel's All-In-One Village where they do church every Sunday from 8-11 a.m. Yes, 3 hours of church...in an open-air tent...no a/c or cool gentle breeze...dressed in their Sunday best (a lot of guys did wear a tie & sport coat).

The night prior, our Global Orphan leader, John Carr, prepped us for what the church service would be like. I sensed God's whisper, "pay attention tomorrow & notice how big I am".

I'll share the details another time, but check out this short video I shot during the service...



(Here is link if video above doesn't open)

We learned afterwards that there was a worshiper of satan at church that day checking this Jesus thing out. He was one of the young men in the white shirts in the front right, about 4 rows back. He was still talking with Pastor Kesnel about Christ with 3 other young men when we left a couple hours after church ended. I think God was pulling him close.

So big is our God...that He even shows up at a make-shift church structure made of 2x4's, USAid tarps, and a floor made of tons of golfball-to-baseball-sized rocks. There, Jesus Christ is alive and present, because He hears His people calling to Him (click that link). He even hears His children who have gone astray and are chasing after someone or something else...even following the devil. He hears, and this is exactly how He responds...




(Here is link if video above doesn't open)

American lifestyle breeds these deceivers of lust, money, self-image and self-worth (the pursuit of "stuff") that dilute our once-childlike faith & love of Jesus...we become watered-down in our faith...or indifferent altogether.

In my community, probably like yours, it's more common that someone "that's gone astray from God" looks like this "indifference" instead of actively & knowingly worshiping satan. Maybe we even "go to church" but never truly follow Jesus. And maybe there's a legit reason...I was there before, too. That's actually exactly WHY he still shows up (click that link).

If you are in Tampa, check this out.

If you're somewhere else, check out this or this online.

No matter how far we have gone away from God
(yes, even with all your baggage),
He is eager to have us back...

highway driving

Obviously, driving in Haiti was an adventure. Their rules of the road are so drastically different than ours. What they drive and how they drive it is boarder-line crazy. If/when children are in vehicle, I do not think they discuss what at age to turn the baby-seat forward, if its a 3-point harness system, or how old to use the booster seat for Lil Johnny. I'm pretty sure they don't even have or use lap belts for the adults.

Its just better to show you...notice a few things while watching:

1. This is a highway from Port Au Prince to the orphan villages we visited.
2. Notice right away our van is slowing down w/ the rest of the cars, in both directions. This section of the highway had been washed out and was to pot-hole/crater-ridden to pass w/o going really slow. If you look at the road, really there are pot-holes even in the parts we're going fast.
   
3. The U-Haul truck packed w/ bags of what looks like bags of rice...and packed w/ people. See what I mean by no seat belts!
4. that crazy colorful pick-up truck is a "tap tap" which is their version of public transportation.
5. No, bikers don't wear helmets there.

Our driver is not "playing chicken", this is just how they pass each other...