Guatemala Video #1

Here is the first Guatemala video. Enjoy!



I will be posting more stories here soon...This video had to be finished for Lakewood's Missions Sunday (today).  Between meeting that deadline, work and attempting to catch up with the rest of my life, I haven't had the time to write or finish working on my photos...but they are coming...soon!

So far...

So far (since my last entry) we have worked in the preschool doing VBS for the children, assembled stoves in the landfill and visited children at a malnutrition home. I have at least a dozen stories to tell, but want to wait until I can do them more justice.

So far I have captured over 60 GB of photos and video footage, have discovered the peanut butter, luna bars, trail mix and black beans are delicious any time of day and have spoken more Spanish in there days than in all my years in school combined.

And so far the best part of the trip is the way God keeps showing up in so many different ways. From providing the local drivers who insist on carrying my camera pack for me (an huge, unexpected blessing!) to bringing salvation in the landfill, to using my camera becoming a tool for hands on ministry (here and now, not just later) and showing up in a powerful way in the midst of the youth group, He is continually amazing me.

God is at work and I can't wait to see what else He has in store.

No Words

The truth is that I want to blog, but I'm not sure what to say. I've seen so much in the last day and a half...we've prayer walked through the landfill and school construction site, attended the church we're partnering with, visited an orphanage and an aids hospital.

So much to take in and so little time to process. I don't even have the words in my own head...I think they've all been spent maxing out my limited Spanish.

But, this much I know, God is good, connecting with believers in another country is amazing and love doesn't require words.

Here we go!

I was hanging nose down thirty feet in the air, my fingers wrapped around the cord that could send me plummeting toward the ground. For a brief moment I looked down and thought, "What am I doing??" But that thought was quickly replaced by, "This is going to be AWESOME!!" I called out, "Pulling!" Jerked my hand foreward and heard the click.

I soared downward as the ground rushed up to meet me in a brief moment of freefall before the belay cable of the giant swing caught and swung me upward like a massive pendulum. I was flying, quite literally, by the seat of my pants. What a rush!

Such is a leap of faith. And as I stand here in the security line, I feel as if my fingers are wrapped around another cord. Same thought process, but this time I'm expecting even better results because I'm on belay with the King of the Universe.

Guatemala, here we come! Journey on!

Packed and ready

Finally packed! Just four hours of work in the morning...or, later this morning, rather...and the Guatemalan adventure begins!

Ven Conmigo A Guatemala! (Come with me to Guatemala!)

Yes, I am going to Guatemala! If you know my history with mission trips (described here in "Redeeming My Limits"), you'll understand how thrilling this is to me.  I really didn't mean to go a whole month without blogging, especially with such exciting news...but my last post "Don't Panic" was quite descriptive of how I was forced to approach the last several weeks. In the midst of an unusually busy work schedule, I nailed down the details of a mission trip to Guatemala set for the first week of April and was launched into the throes of making the dream a reality. Support letters were written late at night and stuffed in the van on the way to Dallas for a marketing event, lunch breaks and evenings were consumed by phone calls and research....It was incredible to watch the way that God pulled all of the details together so quickly, but I was scrambling to keep up with Him! The next right thing was all I could manage, but it was enough.

I cannot wait to share the fully story of how this all came about and what God is doing here - it is all very exciting, but will have to wait for another time. I will also be posting updates here during the trip (March 31 - April 7) assuming the internet connection is good. However, for now, here is a brief overview of the trip.

In a land known as Guatemala, there is a story that needs to be told:

“They say in Guatemala that if you’re born poor, you die poor.  The Guatemala City basurero (dump) covers forty acres of land with the city’s trash. Yellow trucks line up every day to tip their loads onto the heap, and residents of the slums outside the dump crowd around the trucks before they even come to a stop. Scavengers with the most seniority rush to touch the trucks’ sides — a flat palm against the cargo hold marks their scavenging space for when the trucks pull away, unleashing crumbling waves of garbage.  Along with the tons of trash are recyclables, and the lucky hangers-on get dibs on glass, aluminum, old furniture, and any other hot commodities that come pouring out. Regulars at the dump know which trucks carry trash from supermarkets and restaurants, so every morning is a race to grab up anything edible, or that can be sold.” 
[from Endeavors Magazine, January 14, 2008]

My home church in Georgia is actively working to change the outcome of the lives of these people who are born into the dump. For several years now, they have partnered with a Guatemalan pastor to both help provide for the immediate needs of these people and to help them rise above their poverty. Teams visit Guatemala City several times a year and provide services such as concrete floors and energy efficient stoves for the homes in the dump, sewing lessons for the women and VBS for the children. They recently helped construct a Christian school near the dump and are providing quality education for the children who live there. Their intent is to not just provide “fish” for these people, but also to “teach them to fish” for themselves so they can break the cycle of poverty for the next generation.

This trip is their annual youth mission trip to Guatemala and the team is mainly comprised of teenagers who will be spending their Spring Break serving the people of Guatemala City. My objective is to come along side the team and use video and photos to capture the story that is in the making – not just the story of this team, but the heritage of love and the prospect of hope in which so many people have invested both time and resources.  This is a story that needs to be told so that God may be glorified through the work that He is doing here. He is changing lives and saving hearts. The Lord is breaking through the chains of poverty in Guatemala City to give His richness of love, truth and tangible help to those who desperately need Him. My desire is that others who may never make the trip would be able see and experience this love of Christ in action.   My hope is the power of this story will inspire many to support and work with us so that God may continue to be glorified for generations to come.

Please be partnering with me in prayer as I prepare for this trip! Pray for the team that is going, the people we will work with and that God will give me eyes and ears for the stories that need to be shared. And please stay tuned...

Don't Panic

The view from the top of the zipline.

Something about spending a lot of time in a harness 40+ feet in the air changes your perspective. I began to see panic differently during the time that I worked in adventure recreation. One of my favorite places to work was the top of the zipline - a small platform perched on the side of a small mountain where I was paid to convince people that they wanted to step off into thin air (after being clipped into a heavy-duty cable, of course). As you can imagine, I had a lot of opportunities to observe panic.

Given the situation, it was entirely natural for people to have some sort of fear response. What they were about to do did appear crazy. However, I began to notice that they had an option of how to deal with the initial fear of the situation. They could put it in mental override, notice the safety precautions in place, listen to my safety briefing, ask any questions they had and then proceed to have a thrilling ride down the zipline. Or, they could panic.

Panic would occur when a person allowed fear to take control of their actions. It would root their feet in place, cause them to grab hold of the nearest object, close their eyes and shut down. When a person reached the state of full-on panic, it was very difficult to get through to them. Unless they decided to override their panic with reason, there was nothing that I could do to help them move forward. They were stuck and their only option was to go back. It was always very sad for me to watch someone climb back down the ladder because they would not overcome their panic. There was a sense of loss because I knew what they were missing.

On the flip side, there were the people who would instead choose to fight back. I could see the battle in their eyes. Something inside was screaming very loudly, "You're crazy! Don't do it!" But, something else was saying, "This is going to be awesome!" Sometimes there were tears. Sometimes it took a group of people chanting their name. Once, I even had a lady ask if I would pray her down the zipline. I said, "Sure! 3, 2, 1, go! Dear Jesus, I ask that you will be with this lady as she goes down the zipline..." I don't remember the rest, but it worked. She had the ride of her life. And I never once had someone come back and tell me they were sorry they went. More often than not, they came marching back up to the top, enthused and ready to go again.

Those experiences changed the way I handle panic in my own life. First, I learned that panic is a choice and it can be overcome. Secondly, I learned that panic does not lead to good results. Yes, there are times that fear keeps us from harm. But, panic shuts down the logical thought process that allows us to analyze a situation and determine whether or not a fear is valid. Third, I learned that the best way to combat panic is to do the next right thing.

For the people on the zipline, the next right thing was following whatever instruction I gave next. For me, it is walking through whatever next step the Father puts in front of me. Sometimes the big picture of life gets overwhelming and I feel tempted to panic. However, I am working on developing the discipline of praying through situations instead of panicking. Instead of shutting down in misery, I invite Jesus into the situation (very much like praying that lady down the zipline) and then do the next right thing, whatever it may be. Sometimes it's a small step ("Put your hand here on the tether") and sometimes it's a leap of faith ("When I say go, step off the platform"). And slowly but surely, the screams of "You're crazy!" are being drowned out by the voice that says, "This is going to be awesome!"


"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." 
Hebrews 11:1 ESV

P.S. For more on praying through things, I highly recommend The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. It's a great read!