Thoughts on Making the Guest Bed… Again.

That far corner, tho…

I was kind of grumbling to myself while I made up the guest bed. Our loft serves as a makeshift guest room, and the twin bed is stuffed in the corner next to an Ikea dresser. I could barely get my hand between the bed and the wall, and was having difficulty wrapping the elastic around the mattress. So I was grumbling, but I caught myself. I realized it wasn't the minor irritation of getting the sheet to fit, it was the fact that our dear friend who had just stayed in our guest room was gone. Her visit was far too short for someone we consider like an extra daughter, (see below). Of course, our time together was sweet, and as I wrestled with the pillowcase and fluffed the comforter, my attitude began to change. I realized that I've made this bed a hundred times over the years. And each time I've done so, it's been because we've had a guest. Many of them are missionaries and have gone to exotic places after their brief stay with us. Many came as strangers and left as friends. Others came as friends and left as if they were family. In that moment, I understood again what a privilege it is to have all these people in our lives. I thanked God again for our home and for our little guest room.

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So let me tell you about Beth. She's a YWAMer who is on staff in Harpenden, England. She leads Discipleship Training Schools, YWAM's 6-month university-level course. We met Beth seven years ago when she served at the YWAM center in Las Vegas. There she led a Mission Adventures ministry. And we all just love her. The kids think she's hilarious, and fun, and smart. Kay Charlotte and I admire her and believe in her ministry. Every time we've worked with her, we've come away impressed with this young woman. But what's so sweet about this is that she's willfully come to us and treated us like extra parents. She's leaned into us for advice. And she's always been so thoughtful and kind. And this time when she visited she shared stories about her recent outreach to a place we can't name, but we can tell you that she worked with refugees. What she does is strategic and meaningful, and we are proud to call her one of our own. It's safe to say that our house is filled with Beth fans. We all had mixed emotions as we sent her on her way. Yes, I'm grateful for our guest bed, even if it's challenge to make!

Kay Charlotte Is in Asia

Kay Charlotte is in the middle of a two week trip to Asia. Last week she was in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While there she attended a YWAM conference to promote our Mission Adventures WAVES Gathering that will be held there in 2017. She and a couple of other coworkers also scouted locations for where we'll hold that Gathering.

Update: Looks like the venue will likely be the Horizon Village. It looks amazing. You totally should plan on crashing this event!

This week she's in Vizag, India meeting and training up some YWAMers there who want to launch both Mission Adventures and Homes of Hope. As always, Kay Charlotte has lots of fun travel adventure stories including ill-placed fragile stickers, power outages, and more on her FaceBook page.

Kay Charlotte and long-time Mission Adventures legends at the temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Working on Love, Sex, & Dating

I wonder if the word, "Sex" in the title of my post will mean that I get more traffic…

A week from now, I'll be speaking to the students in our Discipleship Training School on Love, Sex, and Dating. There are thirteen of them, ten ladies, and three gentlemen. And of course a half dozen staff members too. I'm nervous as always. Public speaking isn't my biggest fear, but it's way up there on my List of Things to Avoid™. 

Even though I am nervous, this is my favorite topic. I've already got a week's worth of material… See that document in the lower right of the picture? That's about eight hours worth of teaching. But I just can't help myself. See all those other documents scattered across the table? Those are a bunch of articles I've either written or saved since the last time I updated my teaching notes. So I'm planning on being up late reading, rereading, writing, re-writing, and building new lessons on love. 

“I want to inspire the students to live lives of great love.”

Of course, this is a lot of information… and part of the reason I'm teaching is to give this info to the students. But I want more than that. I'm not interested in them copying down some lame theories, I want to somehow inspire them to live lives of great love. That's not enough either, I want to give an impartation of God's Spirit, so that they're empowered to move beyond whatever past they have, and into the amazing future He has for them. 

Pray for me!

Super Breakfast

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal, but this one was something super…

Last week I went on a road trip with seven other guys from YWAM San Diego/Baja to Phoenix where we attended the NFL Experience and the Athletes in Action Super Bowl Breakfast. I KNOW! The tickets were a gift to us—and it’s things like this that always make me smile and shake my head. I mean, I have been able to travel the world and tell people about Jesus, but I never expected to get into exclusive events like this. 

Highlights included:

• Seeing a large crowd moving slowly through the NFL Experience with Katy Perry right in the middle of it. (I KNOW!)
• Having dinner with Larry and Lynn Eisenhauer at our friends' house. He played DE for the Boston Patriots from ’61 to ’69. (I KNOW!)
• Hearing Benjamin Watson clearly share the good news about Jesus Christ at the Super Bowl Breakfast honoring Peyton Manning. (I KNOW!)

Closest I've ever been to a star!!! Hahaha!

Tony Dungy and Bart Starr Jr. Presented Peyton Manning with the Bart Starr Award

Homes of Hope in Costa Rica

Fernando always had a huge smile on his face as he worked tirelessly with the team on his new Homes of Hope house. 

Recently, I was the staff photographer for a Homes of Hope build in San Jose, Costa Rica. Over the course of two days, fourteen families from Texas flew down and built two homes for two wonderful families. I loved it when the teams handed over the keys to the new homes. A highlight of this trip was that so many of the families' neighbors helped out. Some of the helpers had already received a house through the Homes of Hope ministry, but most of them had not. It was cool to see that we were a catalyst for neighbors to take care of each other. But my favorite part had to be when Fernando, (one of the new homeowners), said with tears in his eyes, "I am inspired by your generosity. I make a commitment to God to be generous like you have been to me." 

Maria, Fernando, and their kids receive the keys to their new home.

“I am inspired by your generosity. I make a commitment to God to be generous like you have been to me.”

— Fernando

Hazell, a new homeowner, receives a Bible from a member of the team, with an exhortation to make the Word of God the foundation of her new home. 

The Catch the Wave Book

Over the last 20+ years in YWAM I’ve done a lot of cool projects. And one of my latest ones was interesting. It’s a book that encompasses a whole lot of the mission’s history. I’ve only designed a few books, (like the Mission Adventures Journal), and I was surprised how many little details there are in creating this kind of document.

This is a book that was used at the western North America YWAM leaders’ gathering. It is 132 pages of historical documents, several ofwhat we call signpost messages, and several letters from YWAM’s founding generation. 

I attended the gathering a few weeks ago, and I was surprised at the number of compliments I received. It turns out that a lot of leaders really appreciated having access to all these documents in one place. 

This project had to be done fast, but even though there wasn’t a lot of time, I’m pleased with how it turned out. 

Record Flooding in the Amazon

More Homes of Hope Needed!

I just got off the phone with Kay Charlotte. Normally, that’s not much of a headline, but today it was totally unexpected to get a call from her—see she’s in the middle of the Amazon rainforest in Brasil—not the place you usually make a phone call from. She’s visiting our partners at Youth With A Mission Porto Velho. She’s there for a week to teach in their Discipleship Training School and to meet with our Mission Adventures leaders there. (Shout out to Genim and Helaine!)

Kay Charlotte is in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. 

Kay Charlotte called to give me an update of the situation in Porto Velho. The 2014 rainy season has been devastating for the people who live along the Madeira river. Seasonal rains regularly cause the river to overflow its banks, so people build their homes on stilts. But this year’s flooding set records and has left many poor families homeless and destitute. The local government estimates that as many as 5,000 families have been affected. The Youth With A Mission property adjacent to the river has also received damage from flooding. The river side portion of the property is covered in slick mud. At least one building was completely flooded and has several feet of mud inside. In response to the crisis, the local YWAMers closed their primary school in order to take in 7 families who have lost everything. Please join with Kay Charlotte and I in praying for those that have lost their homes. 

YWAM Porto Velho has built several houses as part of our Homes of Hope initiative. Back in 2011, Kay Charlotte and I were able to visit a family who received one of these homes. But, as you can imagine, now more than ever, there is a desperate need for more Homes of Hope. Again, join us in prayer for strategies, resources, and teams to be able to provide housing for those who’ve been devastated by this disaster. 

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