Mission Moments

2012-02-09T09:25:00.001-05:00

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. Plato

2012-02-07T14:57:00.001-05:00

Faith is not without worry or care, but faith is fear that has said a prayer. Author Unknown

2012-02-06T10:17:00.001-05:00

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright

2012-02-03T12:36:00.001-05:00

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Mohandas K. Gandhi

2012-02-01T17:47:00.001-05:00

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. Oscar Ameringer

2012-01-30T17:39:00.001-05:00

What a pity human beings can't exchange problems. Everyone knows exactly how to solve the other fellow's. Olin Miller

2012-01-30T13:30:00.001-05:00

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. Ivy Baker Priest

2012-01-27T09:49:00.001-05:00

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. John Quincy Adams

2012-01-26T09:24:00.001-05:00

A life without cause is a life without effect. Barbarella

2012-01-23T13:13:00.001-05:00

Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made. John Godfrey Saxe

2012-01-20T10:34:00.001-05:00

I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. Author Unknown

2012-01-19T12:07:00.001-05:00

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. Author Unknown

2012-01-18T15:19:00.001-05:00

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Hans Hofmann

2012-01-17T12:46:00.001-05:00

The time is always right to do what is right. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2012-01-16T17:10:00.001-05:00

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. Anna Quindlen

2012-01-13T12:16:00.001-05:00

In the end, who among us does not choose to be a little less right to be a little less lonely. Robert Brault

2012-01-12T10:22:00.001-05:00

Don't look where you fall, but where you slipped. African Proverb

2012-01-11T11:18:00.001-05:00

We may fall short but we're never a failure until we either give up or blame someone else.

2012-01-10T10:25:00.001-05:00

"I must do something" always solves more problems than "Something must be done." Anonymous

2012-01-09T10:30:00.001-05:00

Monday's more than any other day to me really feels like a fresh start & God knows we can't have enough of those.

2012-01-05T09:57:00.001-05:00

Give thanks for what you are now, and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow. Fernanda Miramontes-Landeros

2012-01-04T14:54:00.001-05:00

Want a Social Media Marketing Strategy? http://ping.fm/N2aWK

2012-01-02T12:37:00.001-05:00

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. John Burroughs

2011-12-30T10:41:00.001-05:00

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin

2011-12-29T11:21:00.001-05:00

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. Benjamin Franklin

2011-12-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor. Hubert H. Humphrey

2011-12-26T13:06:00.001-05:00

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. Jane Howard

2011-12-21T13:34:00.001-05:00

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. Burton Hillis

2011-12-20T10:01:00.001-05:00

Are the stories that you are entertaining moving you closer to or further away from your desired objectives? They're yours to choose.

2011-12-19T10:52:00.001-05:00

Anyone who ever did anything of significance had to take a risk. Why don't you take a risk today?

2011-12-18T09:17:00.001-05:00

So you want to be a healthier person - smile more. What it doesn't do for you it will for others.

2011-12-17T08:32:00.001-05:00

30 seconds to explain our organization: http://ping.fm/JKt9x - Does it make sense?

2011-12-17T08:30:00.001-05:00

Are you getting caught up in the chaos of Christmas or maximizing moments with friends & family?

2011-12-16T09:55:00.001-05:00

Who are your heroes and why? They might tell you something about yourself!

2011-12-15T14:46:00.001-05:00

Abundant living means expressing gratitude to the people you appreciate. By the way, I really appreciate you!

2011-12-14T12:38:00.001-05:00

The journey of 1,000 miles starts with the first step - buy a plane ticket.

2011-12-13T10:20:00.001-05:00

Have some fun today - don't take life or yourself too seriously. It will be over before you know it!

2011-12-12T10:10:00.001-05:00

The greatest gifts I've ever received are friendship, kindness, acts of love & moments of joy & laughter. Why not give more of these this holiday season?!

2011-12-10T12:20:00.001-05:00

If this were your last day on earth how would you want to be remembered? Your legacy starts today.

2011-12-08T10:36:00.001-05:00

I was reading this morning that,"Fear is excitement without the breath." Fritz Perls - Thoughts?

2011-12-07T12:47:00.001-05:00

I just created a personal 2011 year in review photo journal video. What a year! http://ping.fm/5LIQN

2011-12-06T14:20:00.001-05:00

Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it adds up. Barbara Kingsolver

2011-12-06T12:37:00.001-05:00

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours." Robert Byrne

2011-12-05T10:02:00.001-05:00

When you're down find someone you can encourage! It changes your whole outlook.

2011-12-04T09:20:00.001-05:00

I keep hearing a common theme about the holidays, "It's stressing me out!" How about putting the stress on the Christ & not the masses.

2011-12-02T12:01:00.001-05:00

What's love got to do with it?.... Well, just about everything!

2011-12-01T09:19:00.001-05:00

If you want great friends find people who say great things about others - They're saying the same about you! (The opposite is true as well)

2011-11-30T12:48:00.001-05:00

If you're happy and you know clap your hands. Even if you're not happy clap your hands. It helps.

2011-11-29T18:10:00.001-05:00

I've been challenged to consider what contribution I want to make in the world; easy; creating value, promoting true freedom. What's yours?

2011-11-28T15:41:00.001-05:00

Just met with some great minds interested in engaging corporate America in service learning & the global, "give back". Where do we start?!

2011-11-23T10:59:00.001-05:00

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. W.T. Purkiser

2011-11-18T11:22:00.001-05:00

I am officially Community Emergency Response Team Certified (CERT)! Hopefully the world is a little safer-

2011-11-17T12:15:00.001-05:00

Why is it so hard for us to ask for help? Pride can kill us where humility brings peace.

2011-11-16T11:27:00.001-05:00

The thought that I am what I am committed to intrigues me, but is it true?

2011-11-15T11:18:00.001-05:00

Don't let being comfortable keep you from being who you were created to be!

2011-11-14T16:37:00.001-05:00

Monday can be a fresh start or the beginning of a long week. Which will you choose?

2011-11-13T21:05:00.001-05:00

Church was great; food and friends were great; football not so great; full day - great-full

2011-11-11T14:52:00.001-05:00

I've come to realize that helping people overcome obstacles is what brings me the most joy in life. What obstacles are you facing?

2011-11-05T09:25:00.001-04:00

Who ever said, "Good things come to those who wait"? Waiting never got anyone anywhere except when it depended on God.

2011-11-04T13:46:00.001-04:00

It's Friday and I'm wondering where the week went? Of course the weekend is not a bad thing...

2011-11-03T15:00:00.001-04:00

Your true-self wants enlightenment; your safe-self wants to survive. Which gets the most energy?

2011-11-02T13:34:00.001-04:00

Any knucklehead can point out the problems. What we need are some good solutions.

2011-11-01T15:40:00.001-04:00

Life's great stress reliever is realizing that there is very little over which I have control.

2011-10-30T15:34:00.001-04:00

The best thing about Halloween is the chocolate and generally that isn't all that good.

2011-10-28T21:34:00.001-04:00

Do not focus on appearances and external achievements while letting your inner life languish. G. Hendricks

2011-10-26T17:26:00.001-04:00

When written in Chinese the word "crisis" is composed of two characters; one represents danger and the other represents opportunity. J.F.K.

2011-10-24T09:37:00.001-04:00

Make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it naturally happens. Epictetus

2011-10-21T13:59:00.001-04:00

Who you are becoming is much more important than who you are or where you've been. It's the only thing you can start changing today.

2011-10-19T10:59:00.001-04:00

If the things that get done are the things that get rewarded then that explains why I'm not getting anything done!

2011-10-18T08:47:00.001-04:00

Consider all that is good in the world and do your part to enhance it!

2011-10-15T16:33:00.001-04:00

If we know that the power of appreciation yields huge returns, why is it so difficult to extend it to others?

2011-10-10T11:42:00.001-04:00

The opposite of pro-gress is clearly con-gress. Let's be praying for our leaders!

2011-10-04T10:18:00.001-04:00

If you want to be a leader, be a reader, a learner & a servant of all.

2011-10-03T13:10:00.001-04:00

It's the manure that helps us grow, but the process really stinks.

2011-09-30T11:52:00.001-04:00

Living more fully in the present takes practice; invest in what and who is before you now & it will pay big dividends.

2011-09-29T15:02:00.001-04:00

Remember, whatever you do, wherever you go, you are there. Healthy choices will make you feel better about that fact.

2011-09-27T09:36:00.001-04:00

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. ~World Health Organization, 1948

2011-09-21T13:43:00.001-04:00

Today you can be a victim, a villain or a hero that saves everyone else. Why not simply commit to being the best you, you can be.

2011-09-21T13:34:00.001-04:00

Today you can be a victim, a villain or a hero that rescues everybody else. Why not just commitment to be the best you, you can be?

2011-09-20T14:53:00.001-04:00

Remember, there is no shortage of time. It's all a matter of how we choose to use it. Are you using your time for what matters most to you?

Loulou

2009-10-28T13:16:00.002-04:00

Excerpt from a conversation I had with a (then) sixteen-year-old Haitian boy named Loulou:

Loulou: Are you sorry you come to Haiti?

Me: Sorry?! Of course I'm not sorry. Why would I be?

Loulou: Because now you have come here and we are so poor. There is nothing nice to see in Haiti and I think it will make you feel bad.

Me: Yes, but I got to meet you, and Jacques, Junior, Gogo, Jude, and Pastor Renesse... everybody. I'm not sorry about that.

*long pause*

Me: Are you sorry that YOU live in Haiti?

*long pause*

Loulou: I think not really.

Me: Why not?

Loulou: Because here when I wake up and I have no food, or I have no money to get a taptap to go to school, I pray. I ask God to give me what I need. I talk to God a lot and he helps me. I think if I am living in America and I have everything, I will not talk to God so much.

* * * *

At the time, Loulou couldn't decide if he wanted to be a pastor or a doctor. Although he's since decided on medical school, something tells me that he's going to turn out to be a little bit of a pastor no matter what.

Transformational Short-Term Missions

2009-10-20T12:39:00.006-04:00

by Daniel Rickett
The mission of the church is practical, but as Simon Chan, professor of systematic theology at Trinity Theological College in Singapore, reminds us, “communion is the
ultimate end, not mission.”

“Acts of charity can be dangerous,” writes John Perkins, founder of the Christian Community Development Association, “because givers can feel good about actions that actually accomplish very little. The result is that their sense of satisfaction takes away any motivation to seek more creative long-range development strategies. Overcoming an attitude of charity is a difficult task because it requires givers to demand more of themselves than good will.”

While driving in downtown Nairobi with my teenage daughters, street children approached our car, tapping on the window with one hand and holding up an open palm with the other. Ignoring my warnings, the girls opened the window and
began handing out coins. Within seconds, children begging for a little kindness enveloped the car. My daughters realized they had created a dilemma. With teary
eyes they asked, “Daddy, what are we supposed to do?” By now, people on the streets were shooing the children away. I drove a few blocks and found a parking spot where a boy stood guard. I paid the boy to watch my car, and turning to
my daughters I said, “That’s what we’re supposed to do.” The way to avoid the dangers of charity is to practice development instead. Charity is what people do for others. Development is what people do for themselves. If charity is to have any lasting value, it must be the kind that fosters development.
This is an excerpt from an article written for Mission Makers Magazine 2009 issue
www.missionmakersmagazine.org

The Boy Who Came In From the Cold…and Didn’t Like It…

2009-10-06T11:33:00.003-04:00

We had finished our day of working in the orphanages and because of the brutally cold weather, wanted to try to connect with some street kids. Frankly, we weren’t sure what we could do; we just knew that we wanted to do something. In Kiev, Ukraine, there are estimated to be thousands of homeless kids living on the streets: below ground, near the heated water pipes that run throughout the city, in abandoned buildings.

There was a fairly busy, modern mall nearby our apartment. It had a big grocery and money exchange kiosks and restaurants. This was one of the signposts of the new wave of capitalism and prosperity that had occurred in Kiev after the fall of the Soviet Union. Homeless kids, mostly boys, would loiter nearby hoping to get a handout from a generous passerby. They stood huddled, lining the outside perimeter of the building, sock caps pulled down over their ears, wearing uniformly filthy coats, with thin plastic bags clutched surreptitiously in their hands. The bags were used for inhaling glue: a temporary remedy for the numbing cold and unrelenting hunger which plagues them. We went inside and saw a boy near the money exchange kiosk. We had seen him earlier and hoped he had stuck around. We thought it would be great to buy him a sandwich: offer him a smile and some warmth.

We asked him if he would like to join us for dinner at McDonald’s. He was so wary, but agreed to come along. I’m not sure what he was thinking, but I assumed he would be really happy to get in out of the cold and sit down and eat something warm. We went to the nearby McDonald’s and each of us ordered a coffee and we bought him a Big Mac, complete with fries and a coke. While we waited for our order, our friend (who runs a street kids home in a nearby village) sat with the boy and tried to engage him. He was so uncomfortable…so ill at ease. The dining room hostess came up to him and asked him to leave. I let her know that he was with us and that she should leave him alone. Throughout, he cowered and looked at the floor. We received the food and gave the boy his meal. He couldn’t eat! So out of place and unwelcome, he just wanted to escape to his world where he had identity and where he belonged. In that McDonald’s on that cold January night, in his heart, he was a non-person and had no right to be there…

I’ve thought about that night many times over the years. I think about how uncomfortable he was and how much I presumed viewing his world through my own Western/American lens. I’ve thought about my own hubris in insisting that he had a right to be there, I didn’t consider his feelings. The shame was so much greater than the hunger; the need to belong far outweighed his physical discomfort. These kids have such need…and yet so much strength. I hope I learned that night to respect context and culture. I hope I learned to try to see a view other than my own. I hope I remember how dehumanizing it must be to be a boy without an identity living on the streets of Kiev.
Cindy Todd

You Thoughts on Short-term Missions

2009-09-28T22:12:00.002-04:00

I've been doing a little internet research and here are a few things that I've read with regards to short-term missions.

A Princeton University study found that 1.6 million people took short-term mission trips — an average of eight days — in 2005. Estimates of the money spent on these trips is upward of $2.4 billion a year. Vacation destinations are especially popular: Recent research has found that the Bahamas receives one short-term missionary for every 15 residents.
http://4simpsons.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/pros-and-cons-of-short-term-mission-trips/

Who takes short term mission trips? According to the Barna Group:

◦9% of American adults
◦11% of churchgoers
◦23% evangelical Christians
◦12% of Mosaics (ages 18-24)
◦9% of Busters (ages 25-43)
◦7% of Boomers (ages 44-62)
◦9% of Elders (ages 63+)

So what are your thoughts on short-term missions?

IGN in Africa 2009

2009-09-15T17:57:00.002-04:00

Fear for Your Life!

2009-09-09T18:19:00.005-04:00

We arrived in Gonaives, Haiti after Hurricane Jeanne all but destroyed it. Thousands of people had been affected and desperation led some people to take desperate measure to survive. We transported thousands of pounds of food staples and supplies into the city and distributed them to our partners very discretely because people were killing each other over food.
We had finished and were just about ready to return back to Cap Hatien when one of the pastors we were working with drove up alongside our car on a motor bike and asked if we could follow him to his house. He wanted us to join him in distributing food to a select group of people in his neighborhood. We followed him not knowing exactly what to expect. As we pulled up there wasn't a soul in sight. We scratched our heads and wondered when the distribution was going to start. He led us to the front door of his modest cinder-block home and when he opened the door we were amazed to see hundreds of people very quietly waiting for very modest bags of rice, beans and corn. I learned upon entering the home that many of them had been there all day. The temperature inside must have been well over a hundred degrees and the reason they were so quiet was because if other community members were to find out they were distributing food there more than likely would have been a riot and very possibly a violent scene. As soon as the families received their staples they scurried out of the house as quickly as they could. So without incident, it took about 15 minutes and each of the people had food for quite a few days, depending on the size of their family.

Dominican Republic

2009-09-05T11:45:00.005-04:00

Over 380 people were killed and more than a billion dollars worth of damage was sustained as George, a category 5 hurricane ravaged the island of Hispañola, home of the Dominican Republic. One of the most affected communities was Hato Mayor where families living in make-shift homes scrambled to find shelter. The aftermath left thousands of people homeless as winds and rains washed away all of their worldly possessions. In response, Sofia Garcia de Acevedo rallied her neighbors and started a school for children who had lost their official documents and were not allowed into the public school. Over the past 10 years she has helped restore those children in more ways than just getting their birth certificates. She has given hope to them and their families despite desperate circumstances and tragedy.

A Glorious Gift

2009-09-02T12:07:00.004-04:00

Some 3,000 people died and another 1,000 were unaccounted for after Hurricane Jeanne hit the coastal city of Gonaives, Haiti. I was commissioned to go on a relief mission to help some 8,000 people left devastated by the storm. We loaded up a truck full of supplies and made our way across the northern mountain range, Massif du Nord, from Cap Hatien to Gonaives. After distributing the supplies we were encouraged to get back to Cap before the sun set because the road had been plagued by bandits since all of the relief efforts began.
We heeded our colleague’s advice and started making our way back over the mountain range, through rivers and valleys, on washed out roads. The sun sank lower and lower in the sky and eventually began to peek through the low lying clouds, ricocheting off of the tops of the mountain peaks. It was glorious. Over the course of the next thirty minutes I must have asked my colleague to stop the car a half a dozen times to take pictures of the majestic scene. Fully aware that night fall was soon approaching, he graciously allowed me a few short minutes to capture the moment. As it grew dark we could see the lights of the city approaching and we knew that once again God had not only protected us from danger but He had also blessed us with a gift that has been immortalized in these photos.

Children Caring for Children

2009-09-01T13:18:00.006-04:00

This was one of the poorest villages that we went to. We walked quite some distance to get there. Once we arrive the kids didn’t quite know what to think of us but once I showed them pictures of themselves on the display of my digital camera I gathered quite a crowd. We didn’t stay long. We didn’t even see any adults to speak of. It was mid-day the entire village was out in the fields gathering rice. The children we contently caring for one another, doing daily chores and entertaining themselves. As we were leaving we saw a little girl, washing clothes with a small baby strapped to her back. It was a powerful picture for me as I thought about how we tend to overprotect our children, instilling in them an attitude of entitlement and ingratitude. We have so much that we can learn from the developing world; family, community and a commitment to the greater good of those around you.

South Africa Statistics

2009-08-31T11:55:00.004-04:00

South Africa is slightly less than twice the size of Texas - It's big. Population: almost 50,000,000 Languages: IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% According to Interpol South Africa leads the world in rape victims (one every 17 seconds) UNICEF Statistics state: Average household income is $5,760 Average life expectancy is 50 years old Clean water and health care is readily available to almost everyone Almost 1 in 5 adults are infected with HIV/AIDS - AIDS has decimated a whole generation of Africans leaving 11,000,000 children orphaned. These children are either being raised by grandparents or are raising themselves. Households in rural Africa spend more than a quarter of their time (up to four hours a day) acquiring water. 300 million Africans do not have access to clean water and millions will die due to water-born illnesses. According to UNESCO, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 47% of out of school children worldwide.

More thoughts from China

2009-08-26T17:47:00.003-04:00

On Saturday night in Orlando, Lucy and I stayed up late into the night talking, not so much about now as about then. With three years of maturity and growth behind us, that year seems to make a bit more sense.

The thing is, there aren't many people with whom we can discuss that year. I mean, really pick it apart. Much of what happened has remained for all intents and purposes undiscussed for all of this time. Oh yes, on the surface, I came back and told stories -- blogged them, even! -- about eating bizarre foods, falling down (and up) the subway steps, getting lost downtown, mangling my Mandarin, and participating in the national holidays.

But underneath all of that seethed a boiling vat of unexpressed turmoils:
*The deep interpersonal struggles between two particular members of our four-person team.
*The severe mood swings associated with extreme culture shock.
*The ache of homesickness that set in around Christmas and lasted until late spring.
*The constant and suffocating feeling of spiritual oppression.
*The constant struggle to understand and be understood by those of a different language and culture.
*Feeling the inability to make sense of human behavior.
*Realizing that our team's senior member (also our team leader) needed to be confronted about some serious issues in his life that were having an impact both on our team and on our testimony as Christian teachers.

All of this, Lucy knows. After all, we lived it. We survived it.

It forged us, strengthened us, melted us down and reshaped us.

It's what formed that little jigsaw piece inside that won't fit anywhere else.

Dear Diary: China was....

2009-08-26T17:35:00.003-04:00

Not much has been written on the subject of re-adjustment after a trip. This was written three years after I came back from a year-long post in China. I got together with Lucy, a teammate from that year, and these are some resulting thoughts:

Seeing Lucy last weekend made me realize that there's a still a little jigsaw piece inside of me that hasn't been able to fit anywhere in my life since returning from China.

Only when I'm around Lucy do I remember -- I mean REALLY remember -- that year: the swirl of emotions, the constant stressors, the seemingly perpetual confusion, the bursts nearly manic laughter that saved our sanity, the unbelievable highs and the abysmal lows.

From time to time I run into a college friend or someone else whom I haven't seen since coming back, and the invariable "So... tell me about China" is often met with a long blank in my mind.

At times like those, I feel like that year belongs to another person, another lifetime. Like something that I read in a book rather than something that actually happened.

But then there are times when my sister and I are just sitting around in the evening, and some vivid memory will pop into my head out of nowhere. I'll find myself chuckling and asking things like: "Did I ever tell you about the time that Lucy and I dropped tangerines down on Cliff from our sixth-story window?" (Don't worry, we peeled them first.)

I guess that year in China is still slowly unspooling in my brain.

There are certain memories that are as crisp and clear in my mind as the day that occurred:
*Looking down a trash-riddled alley and seeing a man peeing against a painted wall, darkening the faded and chipping paint of a red and white propaganda slogan.
*Realizing that I had a hole in the bottom of one of my knock-off Pumas by the simple expedient of stepping into an icy cold puddle.
*Watching helplessly as my sunglasses fell (in seeming slow motion) into the pit toilet at a Guilin train station.
*Steering my bicycle one-handed into the wind while attempting to balance groceries on the back and keep the umbrella over my head.
*Eating chicken out of a bag with chopsticks in Nanjing on Thanksgiving eve.
*Being so bitterly cold and depressed in the dead of winter that I actually cried.
*Getting an unexpected package from the States in the mail and nearly dying of pleasure when I saw that it was full of English-language books.
*The particular click the locks of the classroom doors made when we locked up to start a prayer meeting or a Bible study.

Then there are the details that are fading:
*My students' English names. All names, in fact: people, bus routes, streets, favorite shops.
*My already-tenious grasp of Chinese.
*The chronology of what happened when, even which students we prayed for when they expressed an interest in spiritual things. If I hadn't kept a journal, I would be lost completely.
*Which travel nightmare stories I actually experienced first-hand and which ones were experienced by others that I met on the trains and in hostels.

Bad Bedmate

2009-08-26T17:27:00.004-04:00

During my first trip to Haiti, we slept in a long, hall-way type room off the side of a back room of Nazon church.

On the second or third night, I woke up in the wee hours to a flashlight shining directly into my face and a voice hissing, "Where did it go? Is it still in her hair?"

Now, this is not a question that most people enjoy waking up to, and I was no exception. I knew that I must discover the details of the situation as soon as possible.

"Ummuph?" I asked intelligently.

"Ruth, I need you to get up," said the voice behind the flashlight, "There's a cockroach on your bed somewhere."

I immediately tried to wake up, but couldn't.

"Ruth, GET UP."

I remember standing up completely WHILE STILL ON THE BED and then stepping across to my friend Nancy's bed (so I wouldn't step onto the floor in my bare feet), then sitting down with my knees up under my chin.

Nancy and Amanda attacked my bed, fluffing up the sheet, smacking the mattress, and peering around with their flashlights.

"Ooooo, THERE IT IS!"

Over in the corner, near the door to the bathroom, hulked a roach the size of a small mouse.

"STEP ON IT STEP ON IT STEP ON IT!"

They weren't bothering much about whispering anymore, since just about everyone in the room was awake by that time.

Nancy, barefoot, was encouraging Amanda to stomp on the roach. Amanda was afraid that if she made a move, it would either run away or go straight up her legs (every woman's worst nightmare when it comes to insects).

Then followed a few moments of frenzied dickering before Nancy finally snagged Amanda's flip-flop and made good use of it.

We heard a swiffing noise, a swat, and a goodly CRUNCH.

We were saved!

As I crawled back under my sheet, I tried not to wonder if the roach had any kin... where they were hiding... and if they skulked somewhere out in the dark, plotting their little roach revenge...

Haitian Baggage Claim

2009-08-26T17:06:00.002-04:00

Our plane landed on time in Haiti, and we only spent about five minutes breezing through customs and passport checkpoints. (Unheard of!) Unfortunately, our ride hadn't anticipated us coming through so quickly, and therefore was not waiting to pick us up when we arrived.

We exited the quiet airport into a blast of oven-hot air and blaring noise. Crowds of Haitian porters and taxi drivers circled us like vultures, waiting to take our bags first and negotiate a price later. We rallied around our stuff and kept them at pay whilst our team leader John, who has been to Haiti over twenty times and is well acquainted with its ways, jogged up and down the terminal parking lot looking for our ride.

He finally came jogging back.

"We have to move to the end of the parking lot," he called above the noise, "so we can throw the bags into the truck and get out of here as soon as Maxim shows up. I hired these two guys to help us with the bags," he indicated two burly black men with wheely carts, "so that the other ones will at least back off."

As soon as we got the carts loaded, though, the two Haitian porters took off at a trot, leaving most of the team behind in the hubbub.

Well.

Those guys were not disappearing into the crowd with our bags -- not if we could help it.

"Nancy, Ruth -- stay with them!" John called from where he was herding up the rest of the team.

But we had anticipated him. Nancy and I had already taken off at a jog, keeping pace with the luggage guys and trying to keep at least one hand on the carts at all times. (I don't know how the rest of the team fell so far behind, but I wasn't paying much attention to them at that point.)

At the edge of the parking lot, I saw two big black hands suddenly reach out for the top suitcase on my stack. Someone was actually attempting to TAKE the luggage right off of the carts while I was standing right there! Wasting no time, I threw myself across the top of the luggage and held on as best I could.

The black guy who tried to take the top bag started shouting things that meant nothing to me. "Nazon! Nazon! Nazon!" he shouted again and again. I ignored him and held on to the suitcases.

Finally, something that he was saying pierced my subconscious. "Shenning! Shenning! Maxim!" He was yelling the names of our team leader and our driver, pointing to his own chest.

He turned out to be Jacques, a Hatian brother in Christ from the church in Nazon where we were to be staying. He'd come with our driver, Maxim, to help with the luggage, and was only getting ready to lift it into the truck where it would be safe when I decided to throw myself across it like a martyr.

It's okay, though, because later we got a good laugh out of it. Plus, it gives everybody else something new to tease me about. ("Does anybody want the last pancake? Get it quick before Ruth decides to throw herself on it!")

Get one pair, get the 2nd pair free

2009-08-26T14:45:00.001-04:00

People from the community were lining up to get their eyes checked to see if they needed a strong, medium or weak strength pair of bifocals. The clientele ranged from small children to middle-aged adults. I kind of stumbled upon the scene and watch in wonder as teenagers jockied for position to get a free pair of sunglasses as well. Of course the word got out, the line grew and in no time the glasses had all been handed out and those who weren't quick enough lost out and went home disgruntled.

I didn't think much about the incident until after the team had packed up and headed home and I remained in the community helping our local partner prepare for the coming school year. Each day following the bifocal/sunglass, "clinic" community members would ask, "When do I get my glasses?" or "Do you have any more sunglasses, I really need them?!" or "Are you the one who's giving away glasses?" Aside from being annoyed by all of the questions, it occurred to me that in all my years living in that country I had rarely seen a person wearing sunglasses and now they, "needed" them. I concluded that it's probably better that instead of giving things away that we think people need, we ask people what they need and help them figure out how to meet that need using the resources available to them.

China Express - Part 2

2009-08-23T20:26:00.003-04:00

Gloria and I squatted in the dim and rattling train car, trying not to look at our watches or think about how few hours we had behind us and how many more we had to come. Our friend with the hard sleeper had told us that we could come back one at a time to trade off with her throughout the night so that we'd be able to get at least SOME rest, but the guards refused to let those of us with standing tickets leave the hard seat cars.

As the dark evening wore on, Gloria and I bought a bag of tangerines from the vending card when it rattled past.

Every time the cart went by, which seemed to be astoundingly often, those of us in the aisles would have to get ourselves and our luggage out of the way by crawling into the narrow spaces between the seats, over/on top of seated passengers while holding our bags over our heads. It was lovely. At least it kept us from getting cramps from squatting too long.

At length, Gloria and I were able to talk the guards into letting us sit down at a booth in the dining car. They said they would allow us to spend the night there, on the condition that I allowed them to practice their English with me. Despite the fact that Gloria's English was better than her Chinese, they saw her only as Chinese, and used her as an interpreter to ask me all about America. Oh, and in addition to the English practice, we paid them 100 RMB each. They kept us up a few more hours, blowing cigarette smoke into our faces while they asked my age, my weight, my salary, why I wasn't married, and why I had such dark skin if I was really an American. You know, the typical gamut of questions.

Finally, they returned to their duties. We snugged our bags on our laps and against our chests, where no little hands could get into them, put our heads down, and went to sleep.

I awoke some hours later to a dreary dawn. The vertebrae in my neck seemed to have fused together. I lifted my face from the sticky tabletop to find two countryside Chinese men with astounding bed head sitting across from us in our booth, sipping their congee noisily and staring at the drooling foreigners.

They seemed determined to ask us questions, but since they only spoke a hill dialect, and no Mandarin, we couldn't catch a word. This did not deter one of the men, who held forth at length, even going so far as to draw characters on the greasy table top in an effort to make himself understood.

The guards came through the dining car shortly after breakfast and shooed us out. We returned to the hard seat car to find that eight hours had done nothing to improve either the smell of the car or the state of the floors. We alternately squatted, stood, and milled around as best we could throughout the rest of the day.

The bright spot in the trip was that Gloria and I did not know one another well. We told each other story apon story, bonding in a way that I would not have expected. We talked about our childhood, spiritual things, and the struggles we'd been enduring during our time in China.

At 8:00pm, our train at last arrived in Guangzhou. In a near zombie state, we took a commuter train, walked across the boarder (feeling like refugees at that point) and found ourselves in the vast city of Hong Kong with another HOUR'S worth of subway and ferry rides ahead of us before we would reach our hostel on Chung Chou island.

We couldn't do it. Fortunately, Gloria knew that she had extended family in Hong Kong, a cousin whom she'd not seen since she was a baby. We made a few phone calls and soon found ourselves taken in with open arms by her cousin, who was horrified by our story. She let us share her tiny HK apartment for the night with her family, giving us a spot on her floor and a clean sheet apiece.

Sleeping flat on my back on a clean marble floor never felt so wonderful.

China Express - Part 1

2009-08-23T20:21:00.003-04:00

While in China, I needed to get from where I was living in Shanghai to where our missions agency would be holding its annual conference in Hong Kong. Needing a break from my teaching partners, I decided to travel with two American female teachers from another city (one of whom planned to bring along her five-year-old daughter).

We'd purchased our tickets well in advance: four soft-sleeper tickets on a Z train that would only take a little over 20 hours (magically fast for the Chinese railway system) and would allow us to rest in the lap of luxury, arriving in HK well-rested and refreshed.

Of course, we missed that train.

We arrived at the Shanghai Railway Station panting and out of breath, having made a dash for it from the subway station. We dropped our luggage on the sidewalk and watched with despair as our beautiful Z train chugged away without us.

There we were, stuck with non-redeemable tickets and no way to get to Hong Kong. My friend Gloria, who had the best Chinese, stood in the scrum of people that counted as the ticket line, but due to the early Spring Festival crowds, wasn't able to get us anything for Hong Kong that would get us there on time.

We were left with no other option: we purchased standing tickets on a clanky old train that would take thirty hours and still only put us as close as Guangzhou. From there we would have to take a commuter train to Shenzhen and walk across the border from the mainland into HK.

But it was better than nothing.

I tried for a few minutes to console myself that at least this was way cheaper than any other mode of travel, but then I remembered the non-refundable 900 RMB I'd lost when I missed my first train, and I could have cried.

Standing tickets are exactly what they sound like: tickets that allow the passenger to stand in the aisle of an already packed hard seat car for the duration of the trip. Our friend with the child was able to pay someone a considerable amount to switch their hard-sleeper ticket for her standing one, and she spent the next thirty hours sharing a narrow bunk with her daughter.

Gloria and I decided to stick it out standing in the aisle, a narrow space which we shared with our luggage, other standers with THEIR luggage, railway workers pushing vending carts through, boxes, bags, and (occasionally) chickens.

What followed seemed to be a black hole in the space-time continuum. Gloria and I spent the first few hours standing sideways in the aisle, trying to ride the train as we would a subway. Gloria, what's called an American-born Chinese, managed to blend in tolerably well, but I - the foreigner - had no prayer of being inconspicuous.

It's not often that the poorer Chinese folk, many of them traveling from the countryside for Spring Festival, get a chance to see a foreigner up close. They made the most of the opportunity, sidling past me and leering, saying "hellooooo!", and taking the chance to get a good whiff of my hair.

Eventually, once the skies grew dark, Gloria and I gave up standing and squatted in the aisle. (Sitting on the floor is taboo in China. It's more than just a cultural no-no: what with all of the spitting, snot rockets, and other bodily fluids left behind by babies clad in nothing more on the bottom than a pair of split-pants, the floor in most public areas is literally disgusting. Trains are no exception, and the longer the ride, the more true this statement becomes.)

Dinner Invitation - Haiti

2009-08-22T09:59:00.006-04:00

Disappointing - The last time I went to Haiti, I arranged to see a child that I sponsoring through elementary school. She came with her mother, all excited to see me (we had met before the previous year) and we had a wonderful time sitting and chatting through a young man who had volunteered to interpret for us. At one point, I invited the two of them to stay and have dinner with our missions team. The interpreter gave me a weird look, said something to my child and her mother, to which they did not respond.

"Did you ask them to stay to dinner?" I pressed him. He gave off a weird laugh and changed the subject. This situation repeated itself two more times. Eventually I realized that no matter what I said, he was not going to interpret the invitation.

I attempted to wave over someone else to interpret, but was not able to get someone else to come over. Eventually, my sponsored child and her mother left.

Later in the night, we found out that the young man refused to interpret the invitation because he was afraid that if we invited them to dinner, we would not have enough to invite him as well.

This saddened my heart, not because poverty and hunger drive many Haitians to make poor choices, but because the old nature still works so strongly even among believers.

I was also disappointed in myself, that I had not realized the dynamics at work until it was too late to do anything about it.

It's Better to Recieve Than to Give

2009-08-22T09:55:00.005-04:00

While in South Africa a missionary friend shared a story of team that had come to help them in one of the townships in the Cape Flats. They had been briefed and oriented and one thing they were explicitly told not to do was give money or items to the townspeople. The team did great and the trip was a success. There was a couple on the team that had a slightly different agenda however. When the team returned home the couple immediately made plans to return to South Africa and they did just that, but this time bearing gifts - lots of them. Even though the missionary family that had been living there, working in this community told them that under no circumstances were they to hand out gifts, they felt compelled in Christian charity to indiscriminately distribute thousands of dollars worth of items to community members. They had planned another day of gift giving so after the first day of mayhem the couple went to the pastor's home to strategize for the following day. As they stood there outside the pastor's home a gang approached the couple, the pastor and his wife were held at gunpoint and the gang demanded that the couple give them all of their valuables and the keys to their car. Christmas was over. The couple felt bad about the altercation, gave the pastor and his wife a couple thousand dollars to send the pastor's daughter to school and made arrangements to return to the States. The following day, when the pastor went to pay for school the gang was waiting for him, took the money and his car and now he and his wife have become prime targets for ongoing assaults and theft. The pastor and his wife were forced to leave their beloved township where they had spent so many years caring for the people. Consequently the service and care provided for the people suffered greatly all as the result of good intentions going so wrong.

Missions at Home

2009-08-20T19:25:00.003-04:00

I've always thought a mission trip HAD to be somewhere overseas. This summer, I learned that to be not so true.

I wanted to go to Kenya with our Church. I could tell that God wants me to get out of my comfort zone and serve even more. In the pre-planning for going to Kenya, my heart was filled with bringing my Mother-in-love from Sumter, SC to St. Pete so she would have round the clock care and not be so alone. My house is no place for a woman nearing 80 who is frail. So, my husband and I went on a quest for the best nursing home in the area. While we looked at places all around, our favorite was the one closest to our home so, it was decided.

Once we brought Elaine down, she went through a down period with the realization that she is in a nursing home. Her entire world has been turned upside down, the Alzheimers is not helping either. Over the course of the last 6 months, we have been able to get Elaine physically, emotionally and spiritually healthier. Aside from all that, we have been able to touch the lives of other residents and nurses in this home-showing them Christ's love through our actions.

The culture is vastly different than what most of us are used to. People in all different stages of declining health. Most are dropped off and rarely seen my family members-the nursing staff has seen many families promise to be around their loved ones only to watch them gradually slip out the door, only to return on holidays.

We spend mornings, afternoons and evenings with Elaine. Any time that we can find, we are at the nursing home with her and others whether they are nurses or residents. We pray every evening, inviting anyone that would like to join us. Even if it's just us, we pray for everyone in the home and around.

This mission is not overseas. It is not with people of a different nationality but, it is with people that really need to see love. It isn't for just a few days or weeks but, it is a long term commitment. We are building relationships that need to be cultivated over a long period. These people are still waiting for us to gradually step out of their lives. Our mission is to prove to them that God's love endures.

We had a young man from the Poynter Institute do a story on us and how we have decided to take this on. The focus for him was to show the impact of Alzheimers on caregivers. Our focus was to bring to light the importance of family staying close to their loved ones as they decline. The Alzheimers Association wants us to speak at nursing homes to loved ones on this importance. We are still praying on this decision so we can hear what God wants us to do.

Our mission is right here, in our own backyard. We know that it is what God wants us to do and we are so blessed to be trusted with this mission.

Thanks for letting me share,
Di Williams