New Beginnings

Someone this past week asked why I haven't been blogging. It's been a long time and now I see how important it is that I start again. So, I am!! New Beginnings is a vital part of Woodlake Church. We developed New Beginnings to assist New Believers in their decision to follow Christ. So now I find myself with a tool that I've ignored and it's time to get started. Hope you enjoy the new direction.

Got Balls?

So I've got to tell you a story about what happened before Haiti that helped Haiti. So is it a big deal? if you've Got Balls it is. One of our team is a changed man. I've watched his life unfold right before my very eyes. For Him, it's a BIG DEAL! I'm talkin 14 months ago this guy is an alcoholic and drug addict. His life was spiraling out of control. One night he is home after spending the evening in a bar celebrating his daughter's birthday and gets into a fight with her boyfriend. When he wakes up the next morning he gets up and finds blood just about everywhere. He doesn't even remember the pipe to the head, goes out to the garage and gets out his bottle and starts drinking again. Well, that was his bottom and the rest is history. I'm talkin sober since January 2010. No more drug addiction and this guy is on fire for God. Now he's goin on a his first Mission Trip! Can you believe it? I can, because He is My Guy and I love him like you can't believe.
So he works for a company that makes high-end furniture. So he's doin his best to be a witness to the people he works with. I've been through the shop and I can tell you the fav word for the group is the F-word. So he's havin lunch one day and these guys are talking about My Guy goin on his Mission Trip. One thing leads to another and they start brainstormin on what they (the guys that aren't Christian) can do to help the kids in Haiti. So they come up with a ministry - "Got Balls Ministry" Their goal is to raise funds, purchase and ship Balls to kids all over the world. Think it's possible? I do. I'm laughing because they even come up with a Message to go along with the Balls. To ship, it's best to deflate the balls and take pumps. So these guys go out and buy balls for My Guy to take to Haiti. And here's what they came up with as a witness....the ball represents you life; empty and without purpose. Many go through life this way and never reach their potential or their purpose for God. The Pump represents God. The Needle represents Jesus - the connection between God and Us. The air pumped in represents the Spirit. Now how cool is that. A group of guys who really aren't Christ Followers, except One, come up with a great way to spread the Gospel - to KIDS. So, I used the illustration and it was good. We took 4 soccer balls and 4 pumps. We left one in a village and now there are kids playing with a Ball that they didn't have before. The other 3 we gave to the Mission to give out as needed. Got Balls? We did and it was awesome.

mike

Deny Yourself

We live in one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Yet we are spiraling out of control. Our national debt continues like a rapid countdown clock on a bomb ready to explode. Time is running out. What troubles me the most is the way we think we can buy our way out. Our finances are stretched to the max. Our time is all often misused. This continues to spiral so fast that we think this is the norm.
The people of Haiti do not have a postal service (as we know). It is a luxury just to own a vehicle let alone afford to put gas in it. Owning a home is, well, I wouldn't call it a house - but they do and it's their castle. At best probably the finest homes were four room cinder block with no windows. Slats were built into the concrete to provide ventilation. A Haitian house could almost easily fit into my living room. Six foot privacy fences consist of hedges of cactus. I know few burglar's who would attempt to scale a wall of cactus. I saw no parks and few fast food restaurants. There was nothing luxury about anything in Haiti. Even the resort that we spent the last day relaxing was at best a 2 star according to our standards.
But Haitian's possess something that I almost envy: no agenda other than survival. Purpose and intention in just about everything they do. Life is simple or so it seems. I saw no one who appeared starved. I saw poverty and filth but I saw smiles and giggles from children in the villages. Picture this; dust and rock, dust and more rock, a village center with a hand water pump. Picture a central location where people are gathered to do their laundry and yes - take a bath. Then look across the way into the cesspool of dirty water and picture a pig lying in pure heaven. That was one pig you could never get me to eat - no matter how long it was cooked. I go, go, go and at times become very tired. Tired to the point of exhaustion. It's what I've done for so long that it is normal and I am happy. I'm doing what I like to do and have many things. That's the luxury of living in America. I'm to the point though that I am ready to start denying myself what I really don't need. I'm happy with my house, happy with my car, happy with my jobs. I'm no longer drivin to have the latest and best. OK (unless someone wants to buy me an IPad). I'm more focused on putting my time into something more beneficial - taking up my cross and following Him (Jesus). So what exactly does that mean. To me it means letting the whole world see that I am guilty of following the One who died for all. America I am sold out and my light is shining bright. My life is all because of Jesus Christ and He alone.

Eat My Dust

There are distinct odors in Haiti. Fires seem to be prevalent throughout the countryside. It took me a while to figure out the reason. Simply - trash. Those are the easy odors to identify. The others are still a mystery to me. I found out day two after arriving back in the states and unloading our soiled clothing from the suitcases. Dust. I can tell you that dust is something to get over - because you will get dusty; clothes, hair, nose, and of course shoes. I think I brought home my weight in dust. I look back to a video that I've seen that talks about the disciples following Jesus so close that they would be covered with His dust. When you consider that we tend to be clean freaks and despise dust I actually welcomed it. There is just something about not wanting to leave Haiti. It permeates your senses and caused me to forget about the comforts of home and engage the opportunity in front of me.
Maybe it's the work never seems to be complete. To be honest with you I don't ever want the work to seem complete. The Kingdom of God is alive and active. The Kingdom of God is moving and growing, as it should be. The people of Haiti are hard working people. They labor for everything they get. All too often I see many people (in the Kingdom of God) standing on the sidelines or better yet - sitting idle watching others complete the task. The Church of America is lazy and far too many have no desire to lift a finger to further the Kingdom. i refer to them as punching their spiritual time clock. And by observation that just means they come - they sit - they leave. Rarely, if at all, do they participate in the service. They have become spectators in the greatest game that will ever be. The game of Life. ....Jesus came that we might have Life and have it to the FULL...
So when I step off the property of 7100 E. 31st and engage the world, whether near or far, I love following the Lord and I love getting dusty. My goal is to "leave it all on the field." A quote I hope they say that I was guilty of: "My life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather I will skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming..."Wow...What a Ride!" I want to be covered in Dust.

mike

Not Too Close

I've got to tell you I've never been near a Mosque. I've never been near a Hindu or Buddist Temple. I've never been in a position that I felt uncomfortable. Yet I never imagined in my wildest dreams I'd be so close to the enemy. I remember some dialogue I've heard about a prerequisite for ordination with a minister in Cuba requires one to have served prison time. No, not for something illegal unless you consider preaching the gospel illegal. Of course this is just what I've heard. Day Three in Haiti we had the privilege of going to a nearby village and painting a house. No big deal? Well, consider the house was built ten years ago and imagine yourself living in your current house and having gray concrete walls and floors. It was such a joy to be hosted by the families Son. He was very gracious and at times even joined in on the fun. Our contractor had given us instruction to keep the floors free of paint. Well, that lasted only for the first few minutes. To make matters worse one of our interpreters was very wild with the brush and roller. Soon the floor was covered paint. Near the end we started working on trying to get up this paint. No water and no rags didn't help. Strangely enough on one of my trips around the exterior of the house I discovered a razor blade on the ground. Ouch. And it wasn't the only one I found. However our efforts only removed so much. That afternoon we came back to this village and spent time with the children in the area.
During dinner our contractor came over and said we needed to go back and clean up the mess. No problem. But we couldn't all go so a few guys went with the contractor and intern. By now the Sun is going down rapidly and it gets dark out in the country. You see this village and this house had no lights. So by flashlight a small team of men got down on their hands and knees with water and towels and cleaned as best they could. Things were going well until the contractor said, "we need to leave and we need to leave NOW!" Really, uh, there's more to do. The family was grateful that we had come back to clean but unknown to anyone in the team during the day or the team that went back to clean that the whole time we were next door to a Voodoo Temple. Is that why there are candles lit all over the place? Well being the only white people in an unlit village on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince didn't really need a second call to retreat. Think about that for awhile.

mike

Haiti 2011 Delayed!

No one likes delays and I'm no exception. Monday morning March 14th the whole team was looking with great anticipation of stepping foot on Haiti soil. The last thing we wanted to deal with was delay. I'm still not sure why but I do know there was a lesson to be learned for me and that was patience. Everyone arrived in a timely manner and we all got checked in and through security. The plane was ready and boarding went like clockwork. When the pilots arrived and were going through their checklist they discovered a warning system was not working correctly. No problem. After all Tulsa maintains the top knowledgeable people in aircraft maintenance. So a call was made and soon maintenance people arrived. Systematically electronics were checked and the culprit was found. Here is where it got interesting. Everyone had to de-board the planed while it as being worked on. I suppose I can see the need to maintain safety for everyone. From this point everything went downhill. Quickly a line formed to reroute. Unfortunately we certainly didn't think this would effect us. After all our next flight from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale wasn't until 8:45 and the Tulsa flight was 6:10, I think. But minutes started to accumulate and accumulate fast. By the time we neared the counter to reroute the plane was fixed and in an effort by utilizing too many people to help us we canceled 8 team members. Now the plane had plenty of room and that was real frustrating for me because we haven't left and 8 of our team are not on the plane. So by now I'm a little over the edge and ready to well, not be so nice. But I kept my mouth shut and went with it. Here is where it got crazy. We had already missed our Ft. Lauderdale connection and we knew we would get stranded in Dallas. So why not the whole team. The other 8 had to rent a car and drive to Bentonville, Arkansas to catch a flight to New York LaGuardia to then transfer to JFK and find a hotel to sleep in so they could catch a flight the next day for Haiti. It looked like the Dallas team was going to get stranded until Wednesday. That is until I happened to wonder over to another counter in Dallas and met, unknown to me, the terminal area manager. This man was amazing. He held the key to opening 14 of 15 seats that were available to fly on Tuesday or we would have been stuck until Wednesday. ON top of that he set us up with a hotel and meal voucher's and a shuttle to take us to our overnight stay. PLUS, we received all boarding passes to get us through to Haiti. Wow!!! When we arrived in Haiti we discovered the other team had arrived and been taken to Mission of Hope earlier and all of our baggage was waiting in baggage claim.
But I've got to tell you if we would have all traveled to Dallas we all would not have made it to Haiti until Wednesday. So all in all the Lord knew what He was doing. In addition one of our team members Holly would not have had a real God moment. As we were boarding the plane in Ft. Lauderdale for Haiti a lady (obviously filled with a Spirit of Discernment) stopped Holly and asked her if this was her first time out of the country. Well Holly broke down because not only was she leaving the country but she was leaving her daughter for the first time. For a mom this was huge. So right there in the middle of boarding, a Christ follower reaches out and prays for another Christ follower. It was a real God moment and if for no other reason to being Delayed - it was worth it. God knows best and I learned a valuable lesson in patience and divine appointment.

mike

Haiti 2011 Day Four

Like a breath of fresh air Haiti is gradually changing and the evidence is very clear. You wonder how in the world something good could come as a result of an earthquake or tsunami or any other natural disaster that might strike the earth at any moment. Mission of Hope is literally exploding on the scene of a hopeless situation. Since last year the progress and completion of building projects is mind-boggling. I sit in the cool of the afternoon overlooking what will soon be a new guest house that will house 150 guests (short term missions groups). The buzz of conversation fills the air as some bask in the cool breeze after having showered and cleaned off the dust of the day. Others are arriving from the field having completed their assigned task for the day.

Dust is a constant. We are north of Port-au-Prince just in the foothills of dirt, rock and brush. The dust infiltrates your sinuses, hair, skin, clothing and well just about everywhere. But it’s good to know that the water pressure here is far above any youth camp I’ve ever attended. A Haitian shower is really simple; get wet turn off the water, soap up, turn on the water and you’re done. There is no hot water and there is no reason to waste what is so precious to these people – fresh water. I’m sure that it is a matter of life in the villages that we’ve visited – but most people are just covered in dust and it doesn’t even seem to bother them.

We went to a village and picked up trash along the road side and hauled it back to the Mission for disposal. You’re probably asking – why don’t they just pick up their own trash? Good question. But let’s stop and think about that for a moment. There are no trash trucks in Haiti. Trash bags are a premium and most struggle just to eat one meal daily and maintain what they call a home. So the luxury of trash disposal is not high on their list of maintenance issues. I’m amazed that more people do not cut themselves on razor blades, broken bottles and metal pop lids scattered seemingly everywhere. This is not Kansas Dorothy and the Mission of Hope does what they can to help clean up and demonstrate this with the help of teams dispersed to serve the community. Really it’s not much different than what Woodlake has done to go out and clean up our community. So before you think Haitians or even your neighbors are slobs stop for a moment and put yourself in their place and offer to help and serve as God leads you.