I.D. Cards from 1940

She and Grandpa Wilkie served as missionaries in Latin America beginning in the early 40’s. I was moved while going through her things when I found these I.D. cards from some of their earliest travels.

These cards note they were traveling from Santa Ana, El Salvador, the city where their missions work began. They later served in Bolivia and Uruguay.

In 2008, I was riding through the mountains of El Salvador towards that same city, Santa Ana. I was with a Latin American Child Care (LACC) school director, and we were working with the Convoy of Hope Interns. After telling the director about Grandma, I thought I’d call her. In our conversation I learned more about their work in the country, and found out she had been sponsoring a “little” girl through LACC.

I learned her name and my friend made a few phone calls. Within a few moments, we had Silvia, who was then 16-years-old, on the phone.

April and I soon met Silvia and her family. It was fun seeing the photos of my grandmother that were in her bedroom.

Silvia holding pictures of my grandmother and cousins.

You can read about my first visit to Silvia here. We were devastated a few months later when he father was murdered. I believe Grandma’s prayers during that season were a big part of helping her family.

About a week before Grandma passed away, Silvia emailed me to let me know she would soon graduate from high school and start nursing school. She knows that she’ll be a key bread-winner for her mother and brother…and she wondered if the scholarship Grandma had been giving could go towards he collegiate work.

Normally, the scholarships end with graduation, but we’ve been given permission through LACC for donations to be made in memory of Grandma…and the funds can go towards helping Silvia through her 5-year nursing program.

To make a donation, you may mail a check with “In Memory of Ruby Wilkie” in the memo line to:

LACC

1445 N. Boonville Ave.

Springfield, MO 65802

The strongest emotion I feel as we celebrate her life isn’t sadness or despair or anything else negative, but instead it’s gratefulness. I’m thankful to have had her and her prayers in my life for these 39 years…and I know Silvia’s life is changed too. I’m hoping to work with you and others to help carry on her legacy…

Four generations...

Have you ever said, “Just text me, or Facebook me, or DM me or something…”  Or, “I got this email from a friend the other day–well, it was a Facebook–actually a Facebook chat–anyways, he said…”?

We all have. Bummer, isn’t it? It would be much easier to have one method to communicate the various forms of electronic communication. I know you’ve been thinking the same thing.

It’s time for a new way to communicate. Our Convoy of Hope interns, while on a wild road trip through the foothills of Nepal’s Himalayas, invented the solution to this world-wide dilemma.

These aren’t completely random words for which we’ve created a meaning (i.e. Conan inventing “crunk” so many years ago), but instead they’re words that can enter the world’s vocabulary quickly with little tutelage necessary.  I realize we’re not the first to emply “e” usage. However, I know of no one currently using the popular “e” in this fabulous way. Are you ready for the words?  Here they are with their meanings:

Main entry: e-tell

Pronunciation: \’e-tel\

Function: verb

Meaning: To communicate a message via an electronic medium. I will e-tell you when the meeting is over.

Alternatives: May be used in similar fashion with similar tenses as the word “tell.” She e-told me that she broke up with him.

Word dob: March 29, 1010

And the second word:

Main entry: e-talk

Pronunciation: \e-talk\

Function: verb

Meaning: To communicate via electronic means things often spoken. Let’s e-talk about a time to have coffee.

Alternatives: May be used in a similar fashion with similar tenses as the related word, “talk.” While e-talking with a friend, I learned that Johnny Cash’s new CD is beautiful.

Word dob: March 29, 2010

I encourage you to e-tell as many people as possible through your networks and relationships. I also encourage you to e-talk about this approaching phenomenon in communication.

Also, please use the words verbally in casual conversation. If people don’t know what you mean when you say “e-talk” or “e-tell,” please show respect as you inform them. I don’t want anyone to feel hurt in their hearts that they’re left out of the circle of knowledge, but do want them to feel excited when they realize they’re a part of this new day in verbal communication regarding social media.

Here you’ll see:
–The best burger in Nepal. It’s actually one of the best burgers I’ve had anywhere…and it was a nice surprise.
–A nepali “rest stop”. The team didn’t use those straw restrooms often…
–I think it’s the first sermon I’ve preached in just my socks. Great church…
–Fish on a stick
–A cow hoof in the trees. I think there’s a meaning behind that, but not sure what it is. Do you know?
–Beautiful kids
–I guess Leo and Hillary are paid spokespersons for this salon. I’m sure they know their image is being used to promote the place…
–Meat!
–Monkey! Our host has only seen 2 of this type in his almost decade in the country. It’s a langur, and they’re much harder to spot than the monkeys we’d see crossing the road and in many other places. Not a great quality picture, but at least I got one…
–I flew across the country. In a plane with no door on the cockpit. With a pilot who was reading the paper during most of the flight. Aargh.
–Shannon and Sam in a rickshaw.
–A nepali school bus. I loved these.

The other day someone asked when I became a Johnny Cash fan. I guess it was in ‘94, around the time his first American Recordings  project was released. It was given a 5-star rating in Rolling Stone, and my friend Jorin played it for me. Wow.

A few months later, I took Dad (who’d been a fan since forever) to see the Man in Black. It was a very cool show. Here’s one of my favorite photos, and some reasons why I’m a die hard Johnny Cash fan…

Sinners make the best saints  

In the God’s Gonna Cut You Down Video, Bono paints a phrase on the wall, “Sinners make the best saints.” That’s Johnny Cash. He loved being the rebel, but singing the hymn.  He loved pointing the underdog to the light, but abused alcohol and pain medication while getting in trouble with the law. He’d sing at Billy Graham crusades and (in other places) flip off “the man” for the cameras. He loved Jesus through it all.

In Charles Conn’s book, The New Johnny Cash, the author says, “…even in the worst days of his wanderings, he was more of a miserable prodigal than a crusader for the evil life.”

The Wanderer finds Jesus

I love Johnny’s journey of faith. Dave Urbanski wrote The Man Comes Around: the Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash. There, he recounts a story from Cash’s words (from his autobiography, Cash) and other interviews…the story of Nickajack Cave.  In ‘67 an enormously famous but broken Johnny crawled to the back of a Tennessee cave, figuring he’d get lost and die where no one could find him. While deep in the dark, he said, “I became conscious of a very clear, simple idea; I was not in charge of my destiny. I was not in charge of my own death. I was going to die at God’s time, not mine.” More on that later…

A few years ago, I interviewed his sister Joan, for On Course Magazine.  Joanne Cash invited her famous brother Johnny to church where her “messed up” life had just changed for the better.   Looking out from the choir loft a few weeks later, she joined the stares of the congregation, “It was John and June.”  That Sunday morning in 1971, Joanne Cash watched her brother and sister-in-law walk to the altar where they were then joined by the family.  Johnny said, “I think it’s about time I led my family back to Jesus.” 

He life was now not his own, he even said, “I don’t have a career anymore. What I have now is a ministry. everything I have and everything I do is given completely to Jesus. ” (Conn’s book)

Death

Just before emerging from Nickaback Cave to find his wife and mother (who’d flown in knowing something was wrong), Johnny realized, “I was going to die at God’s time, not mine.” Johnny made music until God took him. I know of no other musician and very few artists who’ve stared down death in the midst of doing some of their life’s best work.

Within earshot of a respectful Rick Rubin, Johnny sat in a cabin at his Hendersonville, TN, property and recorded music. For years he and his guitar (in the end, others had to play for him as autonomic neuropathy kept his hands from being steady), made absolutely beautiful music. He recorded songs while leafing through his mother’s hymn book, he also recorded songs released this week on his project, Ain’t No Grave. 

He was tough, thoughtful, determined, and lived in reality until the end. I’ll share my thoughts on the project at another time, but the short version is…I love it.

I could write a book, but alas…

I could write about the various Cash eras, the great story of his career launch in Memphis, extended thoughts on his faith, and many other topics. I wrote here once about his boyhood home of Dyess, AR. I could write much more, but this is getting long…

So I’m a Johnny Cash fan. I’m not into country music at all, but Johnny was so much bigger than country…or gospel…or rock and roll.  I’m a fan of his music, his faith, his journey, and the fact that he’s one of the coolest guys to ever live.

About his friend, Bob Dylan says, “Johnny didn’t have a piercing yell, but ten thousand years of culture fell from him. He could have been a cave dweller. He sounds like he’s at the edge of the fire, or in the deep snow, or in a ghostly forest, the coolness of conscious obvious strength, full tilt and vibrant with danger.”

Happy birthday Johnny Cash. Thanks for making great music and living a life worthy of respect from people from all walks. Tell Jesus hello today and know your music lives on…

On Tuesday, like every other “normal” day in Haiti, people in the poorest areas of the country were eating these for lunch. Some ate them for breakfast that morning and dinner the night before as well. They’re made of dried yellow dirt, vegetable oil and salt.

I’m going to type that again…they’re made of dried yellow dirt, vegetable oil and salt. They’re real mudpies. People eat them.

Then an earthquake hit.

I’m still processing things…but I for now, I wanted to mention the mudpies.

Human slavery.

Slumdog Millionaire helped bring the issue to the attention of millions of people.  The movie won the Oscar for Best Picture last year.  In the film, beautiful children were enslaved by evil men.  In portions of the movie, their enslavement meant they begged on the streets for money they couldn’t keep. At other times, it meant allowing others to gain pleasure at the expense of the innocent. 

Kids should be free and safe and nutured…they should fly kites and enjoy life. And of course, no adult should be subjected to slavery of any form.

But slavery exists today all over the world…sexual slavery, slave labor and more.  It exists in my country and on every continent.

Today, our President proclaimed January 2010 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Thank you Mr. President. Seriously. Great job on this proclamation.

I used to think that slavery and human trafficking were confined to the largest cities in lands far away. Unfortunately, it’s everywhere. A few months ago, I was in the midwest sharing about various things including human trafficking.  A woman spoke up about the trafficking she was beginning to witness in a town down the road from her…here in the United States. As she got to know the poverty stricken area better and better, she saw it more and more clearly.

I’m thankful for organizations like Project Rescue. Their Homes of Hope around the world provide a place of hope for women and their children who’ve been victims of sexual slavery.  They also have other places that reach out to those who’ve escaped slavery. 

I’m thankful for f.r.e.e. international where Michael and the gang are helping victims here in the USA. 

I’m thankful for Elizabeth.  Her compassionate heart, combined with various connections combined with a visit to Project Rescue as part of our Convoy of Hope Internship program.  She now helps with the Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition. She’s passionate about the cause and has done a ton to raise awareness where she lives in Columbia, Mo.  I love that.

What a great awareness raising proclamation. May we realize a bit of what’s happening. May we do something about it!

My sister is doing something about it.  She wrote and produced a kid’s worship CD/DVD.  It’s called “One Life.”  The kids at her church, Hammond (IN) First Assembly sing with her.  What’s cool is that 25% of the proceeds will go to help Project Rescue.  She and these kids (and those who purchase the project) are a part of helping victims of human trafficking. I think that’s pretty cool.

May God help the victims of human trafficking and slavery tonight…

Most nights as the day ends, I say to my wife, “Life is good.”  It is.  I’m a blessed man.  Here are some reasons why…

A God who sent His Son

A Son who gave His life and loves

A fabulous family…wife, little girl, parents, sibling, niece, nephews, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, in-laws, and even my sister’s in-laws.  Wonderful people.

Some really, really good and faithful friends I get to see regularly, and fabulous friends I’ve made around the world.   I miss them!

An army of prayer and financial supporters who partner with this opportunity with Convoy of Hope.

A church I love with a pastor who leads well.

Opportunities to serve at Mt. Sinai, Park Crest, OneHope, and now Convoy of Hope. 

Coffee…my wife just gave me some from Alterra Coffee Roasters, my favorite.

Music.  Johnny Cash & more.

Health.

Nachos and other great food.

Slippers on a cool day.

The opportunity to mobilize people through the Convoy of Hope Internship.

Technology.  The internet is fun.

Freedom.

Billy Graham.

A sabbath day every now and then.

My life.

It’s not a complete list, but these are some things for which I’m thankful. 
Happy Thanksgiving!

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.

I did the math the other night, and figured that I’d been to about 500 youth services over the years at Park Crest A/G.  About 1/2 of them as a teenager and the other 1/2 as a youth leader then youth pastor.  It was fun to be back sharing on Wednesday…my first time in 7 years.

They meet in the gym.  As I told the students, it’s the same gym where I…

• broke my foot
• got my first job (scorekeeper at basketball)
• preached my first sermon (March, 1991)
• have my first memory of April
• Set up/tore down, set up/tore down, (repeat a few thousand times)
• watched the Rams win the Superbowl
• about 1000 more memories

Now, my best friend from growing up, Jason, is youth pastor there.  He’s leading the group now…”Altered Reality”.  I shared there last Wednesday.  It was a special night.  He’s got a good thing going on.  The group is growing, they were passionate during worship, and committed a lot to Him at the end of it all.  I’m excited for their future.  They’ve also decorated the gym in ways I wish I would’ve imagined and tried to pull off…it looks great.

It was good to be in a place that seems like home as much as anywhere I’ve ever been  but a real home…

It’s important to have those places that mark times of growth in our lives.  Sometimes they’re physical places, and sometimes they’re just mental/emotional places.  Being able to go back can put the present and life’s direction in a good context.