around the world with Jesus

I’m in Rapid City, SD, for the Calibrate Conference, a conference for leaders and volunteers across the state.  It’s my first time here.  Today I saw Mt. Rushmore for the first time. 

In the gift shop, Nick Clifford was signing his book, Mt. Rushmore Q & A. 

He “thinks” he’s the last remaining worker from the crew that carved the mountain.  On the back of the book, James Popovich says,

“…to the workers, carving the memorial was ‘just a job.’  (They) did not realize  at the time that their work would become an icon, recognized around the world.” 

I wonder what we’re doing that will make history?  I have a hunch my church planting, teaching, coaching, parenting, convoy of hope interning, etc. friends and family are making history and don’t even realize it.

Last month our interns served at an outreach in the DC area.  While there, they met up with author/pastor/leader/thinker/twitterer, Mark Batterson.  Mark lived here in Springfield for a few years while in college and from what he tells us, enjoys Andy’s Frozen Custard.  Why am I blogging about him?

Two reasons: 

1.  He took an hour out of his schedule to meet with our interns.  They drank coffee and talked about life.  He really poured into them.  Many have mentioned that it’s a highlight of their internship.  Thank you Mark. 

He also gave us copies of his books In A Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase.  We’ll keep a copy of each in our intern house for the future generations of interns to read around the world.  Thanks for these as well.

2.  He has a new book, Primal, coming out soon.  His publisher is giving away 500 copies to bloggers who agree to review it.  I submitted my name and this blog and would love to give my meticulously and beautifully worded review of the work.  Plus, I’d love a free copy of what I know will be some great reading.

Hence, this post. 

1.  Thanks Mark!
2.  I pray Primal impacts a lot of people.

PS:  Thanks Randy Whitlow for the heads up on this opportunity.

A year ago in  Moldova I met Dani and Lena. Here’s Dani.

I blogged about those days here.  Their father abandoned them  years ago, and at the time, their mother was in another country where she went to find work.  There were a couple of older brothers who didn’t know how to help them.  The kids were very cold and hungry when we went by their house.  The hearts of the team were moved and we went by there a couple of times.  Thankfully, the hearts of the people of the local church were moved as well.  The pastor’s son told us, “I didn’t know that poverty like this exists in my village.”  They commited to keeping in touch with them and helping in any way they could.

Since then, I’d heard nothing about the kids, but have prayed often for them.  We even put their photo in a prominent place in the intern area and it’s helped remind us to pray.  We’d hoped that the church was still helping them and that the family was reunited.

When I returned to Moldova, we wondered the latest.  We stopped by and connected with their mother.  The members of the church new them well and shared the latest:

• The mother returned shortly after we left last fall.  She’d been gone for many months, and came back home before winter.
• There are two older sisters we don’t know…nor does the church.  We learnd they’re in a desperate place and need help. 
• The mother has been working hard, but can’t make ends meet.  The day we connected with her, she was in the corn fields working hard…we heard that for about 12 hours work, she’d make about $10.  Dani was with her as she worked in the field. 
• The church had regular contact with the family…sharing food with them, asking if they needed help with things and more.  The mother accepted some help but not other help.

The team wanted to help.  We didn’t want to do anything that would cause the family to expect the church to do everything for them, but we wanted to share the love of Jesus.  We spent a day in their home cleaning, painting, cleaning, scrubbing, and more.  The church members pitched in as much as we did…maybe more.  The mother worked harder than anyone…and Lena pitched in too.

The family loved it.  You could tell it meant a lot.  We also had fun playing with the kids, getting to know the mother better and more…

The next day we returned to take a family photo.

They loved it.  We also shared a few things with the family and had some great prayer with them.  Since then, they’ve been to the church, connected more with people from the church and see a glimpse of hope in their lives.  The team is still in Moldova and keeping in touch with them.  I look forward to what’s ahead.

Poverty looks different in so many places…and it’s too widespread.  While we’re always trying to help “the masses” I love connecting with kids like Dani and Lena and their mother (w/local churches) and learning more about individual stories.  And helping.

My prayer is that in this hard time, their mother (and the family) will see hope, hear His voice, and turn to Him.  Hosea 2:14, “I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.”

So it wasn’t exactly a sit-down interview…but he was on Jay Leno’s show.  The fall ‘09 intern team served at an outreach in Hagerstown, MD, then spent a couple of days in DC prior to heading out to Moldova.  While there, D.L. Hughley did a Jaywalking-style man on the street interview with our very own Cody.  He’s a great guy who’s been focusing on helping people like those at the camp he helped run near Canada during the summer of ‘09.  He’s  now in Moldova helping people and still not learning anything about anyone’s healthcare plan.

He laughed about all of this.  We love Cody.

Here’s the link:

I loved my time with OneHope (was called Book of Hope International back then) leading interns and teams.  A few years ago on a trip to Ghana, a film crew from fearless films joined us to get about 100 hours of footage.  We wondered if it would ever be released…it’s been released and is now available on INO Records and is in stores. 

 “Nomad: The Great Reverse” is episode 2 of the Nomad series.  The first episode followed Sara Groves on her trip to Rwanda.  Anyways…Chip, Troy and co. did a great job editing the video and capturing the spirit of our time in Ghana.

It was fun reliving the trip.  It’s been great keeping in touch with the team since then…weddings, hard times, moves, new opportunities, babies and more.  Great team.  Great video.