The "M" Word

All Summer we ATE!

  Kurtob is a dish that is made with bread covered with sour cream and then you pour boiling oil on it to cook it.  Top it off with tomatoes and onions.  The only way to eat Kurtob is with your hands!                            

                                                   

                                              

The Wedding Dancer

This is the second wedding that we have been to with a professional dancer.  We find it odd in such a conservative area to have someone so "provacative."

Going to a Wedding, Village Style

This wedding took place on Easter, 2008.  Three weeks ago this area was still covered with a foot of snow.

A Little Taste of the Road

Driving is fun no mater where you are.  It is extra fun in CA.  First of all, everything is a stick.  I love driving a stick.  Total control, just the man, the vehicle, and the road.  Just as God intended it to be.  Then there is the 4x4.  There is nothing that screams, "I AM MAN!" like a 4x4.  Next, you have the other drivers.  Those of you in the US cannot appreciate the reality of the other driver unless you have lived overseas some where (unless you drive in Atlanta of course).  The other driver is always there, honking his horn to let you know he is passing in that little spot in the middle of the road you thought was reserved as a buffer zone between you and the oncoming traffic.  The other drive is constantly pushing your personal space notions as he rides so close that in a 4x4 rear view mirror you can't even see the hood of his car.

Finally, there is the road.  The road.  It is an entity in itself.  It is a creature that is constantly looking for ways to bump you or swerve you.  The road is a living being fighting for its right to not have tiny creatures run up and down its spine.  The road in CA is a beast that needs tamed, but first needs to be respected.

You may wonder at how my first few times of driving in CA went, let me just say I loved it!

One quick little story told to me to teach me some of the key knowledge for driving in CA.  One day an ex-pat (foreigner living in another country) got into his truck and buckled himself in as was his habit.  While going down the road he passed the police officer standing on the side of the road (the do not have police cars, they point at you and you pull over).  A small group of police offers gathered around quickly because they knew there was going to be trouble.  The driver was asked to get out of the car and watched with great care.  He went through a stiff interrogation, never quite understanding why or where the questioning was leading.  Finally, the truth of his infraction came out...

"Why of course you are drunk!" the officer told the ex-pat.

"Why else would you have to strap yourself into your car?"  the officer exclaimed.

He went on to say, "You must be so drunk you had to strap yourself in so that didn't fall out!"

Think about that one.

language study

The US is such a great country.  During holidays like the 4th of July, we really miss being at home.  Yet, there is one thing we as Americans lack over the rest of the world.  We are monolingual.  One of the chief reservations we heard about coming to CA was the need to learn another language.  After all, we already know Spanish.  The thought of learning a second language to most Americans is daunting, let alone learning a third language. 

To put this in perspective let me tell you that the tutor for our daughters knows four languages well.  She can speak two CA languages, Russian, and English.  My tutor (our daughters tutor's father) can speak four languages that I know of and one of them is a different language than his daughter speaks.  You see, the reality is that in most of the world it is common for people to speak two to four other languages.  Maybe having such a monolingual society has helped make the US such a great nation or maybe this is an area we need to grow.

Here is what I do know, learning a third language is hard, just not as hard as learning the second.  It is exciting to begin to use the language learning skills I have already developed and learn this CA language.  I love trying out new words and new phrases.  I cannot wait until I am able to share from the heart with a people who are in desperate need to hear the Gospel of our Lord.  Pray for us as we learn another language.

Deployment makes you crazy!

If any of you readers has been in the military, worked overseas, or has spent significant time on the mission field, you can relate.  Deployment makes you crazy.  Packing, visiting, banking, and purchasing are all ingredients in one big juicy crazy pie.  Do I have the right clothes for four seasons?  Our my finances in order?  Can I bank on-line?  Will my suitcases be too heavy?  Have I said good buy to everyone?

Details, details, details!  If you are one of those big picture thinkers like myself you know that there was never a detail that you liked.  The good thing in all of this "locura" is that I LOVE IT!  I love chaos and I love deployment!  Pray for me!

Tickets

When there is a big decision looming over you, how do you feel?  Is it like a weight or a confusing whirlwind?  Can you stay focused or does your mind wander?  However you internalize the stress of a big decision the reality of the decision is present in everything you do.  At least, it is that way for me.  Last week, we had to make the decision of buying our plane tickets for Central Asia even though 100% of our financing is not completely there.  We agonized, we prayed, we weighed alternatives, we prayed, we sought counsel, and we prayed some more.  In the end, we purchased our tickets on Friday and it was if a weight was lifted off my shoulders. 

Through it all, the presence of the Lord was certain.  One of the lessons the Lord has been working in my life is giving over control completely to him.  I am an optimist and at times my optimism is mistaken for faith.  And that can be dangerous.  I believe that either faith or optimism can be taken to the point of completely ignoring the facts.  I believe in my past that I have ignored facts because of my need to be positive causing me to have a false faith claiming that God will take care of it.  Hopefully, I am learning to honestly way the facts while interpreting them with a positive bent (my optimism) and then passing the facts through the prism of faith.

Only God can provide!  Right?  The Bible says that it is God who gives each of us the ability to earn.  This forces us to realize that my ability to work and earn a wage for my family is a God-given gift.  Does this apply to those of us in vocational ministry too?  I believe so.  Being a faith missionary is not just sitting back and trusting God to provide (optimism and faith, blind of the facts).  Being a faith missionary means that I will do all I can do to share the story of what God is doing with anyone who will listen and trust God to move on the hearts of His people.  Now, did you catch that?  Faith says that even though I trust God, I must do my part.

I believe with confidence that I can proclaim that I did my part.  Last week we had to exercise our faith trusting God to do His.  And of course, He did.  Praise God, our family is going back out to the mission field.

Vacation time!

Last week our family took a little R&R time in Cozumel, Mexico.  It was one of those moments that made memories for a life time.  We each had such a great time and were so pleased with every phase of our trip.  I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due.

1.  Carla has a knack of planning incredible events and making them happen.  She researched for weeks and made many of the arrangements for our trip before we ever left.  Without her detailed plans, the trip would not have been nearly as successful.

2.  Our travel agent Cheryl Reel at Cruise Connection here in Kansas City did a great job at verifying and booking our villa on the island.  Thanks Cheryl for all you did!

3.  Our villa was a house in a subdivision called Costa del Sol, 14km south of the center of the city, San Miguel.  It sat right on the beach with a beautiful view.  The pool was great, the swimming area was roped off, the house was clean and spacious, the grounds were immaculate, and the guards were always polite.  I have never stayed in a place like this and I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you have a large family or were traveling with a few families.  The environment in Costa del Sol is completely family friendly and avoids the party atmosphere of many of the hotels on Cozumel.  I give 5 stars!

4.  Then came the excursions. 

We went to the park, Chankanaab, to "swim" with the dolphins.  I was nervous that this was an overpriced show with limited contact with live dolphins.  All that doubt was dashed as I was being pulled along by two dolphins.  The staff at Chankanaab were courteous, helpful, and completely professional.  The experience is expensive (especially for a family of seven), however it was worth it.

We also took a charter fishing boat with a group called Wahoo Tours.  We selected them because it would be just our family in the boat and we could choose to fish and snorkel for what ever time frame we wanted.  This gave us the flexibility to respond to fish that were not biting.  We did catch two nice sized fish that our boys reeled in to the boat.  We also did some of our best snorkeling of the trip off the southern part of the island.  Again, I would recommend Wahoo to anyone going to Cozumel.

Another excursion we took was too the mainland to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum.  For me it was a fantastic time.  I have always wanted to see Mayan ruins and the experience was worth it.  The entrance is only $4.50 (US) per person, making this one of our inexpensive days.  I'm not sure if I would recommend this trip to families because the travel is long and wow factor is more adult oriented in the appreciation of the ancient buildings.  Our kids had a good time and traveling on the bus was like going back to Argentina for them.

The final "excursion" we took was a dinner cruise on a "pirate ship."  Fantastic!  Our family had so much fun laughing with the rest of the group on board at the constant jokes coming from the crew and Capitan, "Jack Sparrow."  They entertained us and fed us an incredible meal.  This was the best steak I have had since leaving Argentina!  Our family had a great time on the dinner cruise, however I am not sure if everyone who reads this blog would share that good time.  Some of the humor pushed Christian sensitivities, especially those of Christians families who seek to shield their children from the world.  If you are going to Cozumel and want to know more about this pirate show dinner cruise, just email me and we can talk.

5.  The last item I would like to comment on is the rental car company, Smart Car.  We rented two VW bugs to use for the whole week.  The price was fair and freedom was priceless.  We found driving on the island to be easy and with out hassle.  We were so glad we did this because of the cost of time and money our family would have incurred if we just used taxis.  My only complaint came at the end when one of the tail lights came up cracked.  We did a complete review of the body of both cars before we rented them (if you rent a car, do this!) and we did not see the cracked tail light.  Nothing happened to the car making us believe that it was there the whole time.  In the end, that oversight cost us $30 (US).  I would recommend the company, just do a thorough review of every nick, ding and scratch on the car before you rent it.

We know that taking vacations is something that many families do every year.  The demands of our profession coupled with the reality that missions work is not a high paying field have limited the amount of vacations we have taken as a family.  This was only our second family vacation that was completely unrelated to work in any way.  We knew we needed to do it now because of the intensity of what we will be going through when we leave for Central Asia in June.  Also, our kids are getting older and we may not have another opportunity for another family vacation with everyone present.

What a trip!  I will be putting a photo album on my blog soon.  Be sure to check out the pics!

Back on the Road

Once again, I am back on the road.  Today, I am sitting in Denny's here in North East Georgia using their free Internet.  The purpose of the trip is to work on the number one need of the ministry right now, fund raising.  I'll admit it, I hate fund raising.  However, I know that to see reproducing churches started in Central Asia funding is needed.  Not for us, not for the team, but for the people of Central Asia. 

These last few weeks, the Lord has been focusing my attention on the true purposes of these next five years.  I have been seeking funding for "our family" to be missionaries.  This is normal for missionaries to do, "support us so we can go."  It is understandable, if the missionary is there, then work can be done.  What if the work isn't getting done?

Yesterday, I was talking with my good friend Mike, who is also a church planter, about what people are giving to today.  According to Mike, in the past, people gave to institutions because they trusted the institution to carry out God's will.  When trust in the institution failed, people gave to people.  People they trust.  This has been the present paradigm of giving for the last 20 years.  Most of the good literature about fund raising deals with this type of giving. 

We are living in a time of paradigm shift.  People are no longer giving to just an institution, they are not just giving to people they trust any more, instead, today people are giving to the "cause."  All over television and the Internet there are causes for people to support.  Pop culture is leading this movement to support causes with concerts and events.  It is an exciting time where secularists and religious people are taking up the causes of poverty, inequity, and HIV.  Even some of our Christian "Superstars" are promoting these causes.

How does this affect missions giving?  What is our cause?  You see, we have made missions about missionaries and their methodologies.  We have forgotten our cause.  Our cause is simple, win men and women to Christ from every corner of the world.  Leave no area untouched nor unreached.  Reach the lost and plant churches so those saved can grow in their new faith.  That is our cause.

In the country our team is going to there are only 2000-3000 Christians amongst the 7 million people.  They need Christ!  They need Churches!  They need you!  Would you give to the cause that is bigger than all other causes, the Great Commission.

Check out how to be a Point of Light!

A Two Week Tour

Fifteen nights, thirteen meals at restaurants, nine different cities or towns, six home cooked meals, five different beds, five different airline flights, five meals of bad cafeteria food, four different hosts, four churches, two different cars (over 2500 miles driven), one hotel, one banquet, and one good time!

That is what my last two weeks looked like.  Man, am I glad to be home. 

We praise the Lord that this trip was profitable for us.  Not only did we present at a number of different churches, we raised almost $5500 toward our team project (check out our project).  Now comes all the thank yous and follow-up letters. 

Support raising is strange ministry with many blessings.  Looking at that list of activities I see the words "churches and hosts and meals eaten".  Each one of those represents a person or a group that we interacted with.  People we ministered to and people who ministered to us.  Each on of those words represents a saint who was generous and shared their table or their home with us.  Each one of those days brought it's own blessing in the midst of it's own challenge.  The blessing of support raising is not in the dollars at the end of the day, it is in the relationship around the Cross that has been formed.

Even as I sit at my desk again, reflecting on the trip, I was reminded by my friend Brian (http://brianherzog.com) that the end result is not support raised but lives changed.  While I sit and reflect, I can't help but think of the family in Central Asia that was devastated by food poisoning and struggles to survive.  I am reminded that I take these trips to tell their story so that Christ can write a new ending to their  tragedy.  An ending of the hope found in Jesus Christ.