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Haiti

Dec 06
Love0

Day 1

By Envision, Involve

Writing from the plane now. The trip started off for me in a whole new way. This veteran trip leader left his passport, wallet and cash for ministry projects on his desk at home. Never done that before. Had to run home before we even left for the airport. I had to remind myself that I was so busy taking care of everyone else, I needed to take care of me too.

Once we’d gathered and prayed we packed all twenty of us into our transport (thx Erik & Grant) and got up to LAX without any issues.

A few more moments for prayer when we learned that American Airlines was enforcing a new embargo against traveling with oversize bags, crates, tubs and boxes. Jourdan initiated a moment of prayer for an exception – to no avail; but we now could rest knowing God had a different plan for us. Our crew quickly got to work repacking into alternate luggage (abandoned suitcases provided for free by AA desk staff), even breaking down the basketball goal into our new bags. (We had to leave the plexiglass backboard behind.)

It’s been uneventful since then, getting through the TSA bodyscan, some dinner in the terminal and boarding our flight to Miami. All too soon we will arrive in the middle of the night – 5am ET but 2am to our bodies.

So it’s time to get a few short hours of rest before we get on our way…

More to come, more to pray… (Please get all our bags there, Lord!)

P.S. In Miami now.

Dec 04
Love0

Launch D -1

By Envision, Involve

Tomorrow we’ll be taking a team of 20 back to Haiti – the 6th mission to Hispaniola in 2010. This brief and personal video greeting inaugurates our mission overseas. We are at launch D minus 1 day.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBN4qiYAPC0

Oct 10
Love0

Pictures of Change

By Envision, Equip, Involve

We had a few minutes to put together this video clip from the Transformational Leadership trainings in Haiti and the Dominican Republic the past two weeks.  It’s chronological, and it should be pretty obvious when we leave Haiti and get to the DR.  I’ve chosen to include the good and the bad, because it helps to laugh (like when our friend “KK” got locked in the bathroom).  Some of the pictures we took show empty chairs – trust me, they were all full: it wasn’t always possible to get pictures during teaching times.  Especially in Santo Domingo during the Spirit-led times of surrender and reconciliation.  Over 100 Haitian pastors and over 100 Dominican pastors & leaders took part in the institutes and we all experienced the presence and power of God…

Enjoy!  (And turn up the resolution to 720p if your internet connection supports it.)

kOKAEpgpYC8kOKAEpgpYC8
Jun 07
Love0

Headfirst in Haiti

By Headfirst

Rick shares how Jesus changed his life

The classic headfirst apostle is Peter – with little regard for how things could be done or should be done, he went for it.  Long before Texas Hold ’em, Peter went “All In.”  On one of our final nights in Haiti, I had the privilege of preaching to a crowd from the community who had come to join us for a free meal at the Center for Hope.  About 200 adults and youth ate, listened to my friend Rick’s story of salvation, and learned about Peter’s courageous decision to step out of the boat (while ~80 children learned about Jesus and played a short distance away.)

All preconceptions are wiped clean when you Read More

May 20
Love0

Suppressive Fire

By Envision, Headfirst, Involve
24's Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer

Kiefer Sutherland as 24's Jack Bauer (courtesy of Kelsey McNeal/FOX)

Tracing back over several hundred years, the battlefield technique of suppressive fire was enhanced in World War II by the introduction of hand-held automatic weapons.  The thrust of the tactic is to respond to a threat with a barrage so powerful that the enemy is forced to temporarily stand down or withdraw from a battle, allowing safer maneuver of troops.  In modern media, a protagonist such as 24‘s Jack Bauer will request suppressive fire with a phrase as simple as “cover me.”

In Afghanistan, Master Gunnery Sergeant Peter Proietto of the U.S. Marine Corps was on a patrol ambushed by Taliban fighters.  His story and more

May 06
Love0

Vulnerable

By Headfirst, Personal
John Eldredge

John Eldredge, courtesy of Ransomed Heart

John Eldredge posted an article last month in which he unpacked the connection between the pace of life and our weakened resistance to spiritual attack.  “The world is utterly draining,” he wrote, “and when we are drained, we are vulnerable.”  He also offered eight suggestions for drawing close to the Lord and building our defenses against the adversary.

I agree with John in his assessment of my vulnerability.  Whether it’s a direct spiritual attack or just the barrage of the world system, my defenses become worn down by the distractions and pressures of life.  Like all believers, I need to refresh and refocus on Christ through prayer, study of the Scriptures, solitude and the practice of other spiritual disciplines.  The power of God in answer to prayer cannot be overstated. Click for my prayer needs

Mar 02
Love0

Shell shock

By Headfirst

As the church leadership team gathered for a meal, planning and prayer, someone asked about my recent return from Haiti.  I’d been having a bit of trouble knowing how to answer some of the questions this past week.  Joe turned to me and asked, “Do you have PTSD?  I fought in Vietnam and I know what you’re going through.”  I thought a little bit and nodded my head.  Joe continued, “Seeing death, seeing the casualties – we can talk, okay?”  The confirmation was helpful – why I’ve resisted looking at my photos and have felt awkward summarizing the mission.  Joe fought in a real war – with bombs and shelling and shrapnel.  It didn’t seem like my experience with the devastation in Haiti was on the same level.

I was on a different battlefield – no question about that.  But we were also at war.  The spiritual battle and oppression, the Haitian practices of voodoo and the occult, the political corruption, and yes, the death and destruction.  Port-au-Prince is a war zone, with every other structure reduced to rubble, and refugees clamoring for aid – seeking shelter under tarps in every open space in the city.

I am grateful that Joe had the insight and the openness to connect with me, and help me step out of the mental fog of war.  When we run headfirst, we must be cognizant of the cost of battle.  It’s not an excuse to escape from doing what God calls us to do.  But it’s the recognition that fatigue, heartbreak and trauma come from being at war.  I am taking time to mourn, to process, and to re-gear.  Because we know the battle is won, but the fighting isn’t over.

Feb 23
Love0

Heartbreaking

By Headfirst, Personal

It’s hard to express how grieved I am right now, upon returning from Haiti for the 2nd time this month.  While we worked to bring focus to a desperate situation, we encountered spiritual oppression, arrogance, spiritual immaturity, narcissism, division and distrust.  We had to pray constantly and be on guard against forces of confusion and critical spirits.

Praying and striving to stay focused on Christ’s provision for the people of Port-au-Prince and greater Haiti was far more difficult this time around.  In hindsight, I feel foolish to have been caught so off-guard.  Why am I surprised, after writing just last week about God’s light in the darkness being His power shining forth through us as earthen vessels, that the rest of the passage would be just as real? Read More

Feb 16
Love0

In the streets of Port-au-Prince

By Envision
Collapse of the Haitian Presidential Palace

Before and after the earthquake

The sun was still overhead, but the sensation of spiritual oppression was all around us.  We walked from the presidential palace, whole floors collapsed, past the piles of rubble which had been the Haitian treasury building.  A caravan of military vehicles made its way through the recently plowed streets. More than three weeks after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, very little had changed.  Broken cinder blocks and twisted rebar still covered city blocks, and a look upward revealed rooflines at every angle to the sky – but none of them as they should be.  These buildings, businesses and homes were now unintended mausoleums, housing the bodies of thousands of children and adults.  The living were still wandering in the streets, Read More

Feb 12
Love0

Defined by Faith

By Headfirst

Learning to live headfirst is harder for some than others.  I’d assess myself in the bottom 20th percentile of “naturally living headfirst.”  I frequently remind myself, as greatly needed, that a thousand lies of the accuser come rushing at me every day.  I purposefully read Scripture and recall it throughout the day, because (as my friend JP says) the truest thing about me is what God says is true.

If it comes down to living as a strategist or living out my faith, I want to live by faith.  Planning, strategy, sequencing – these are all beneficial to the Christian life, and I’m grateful, because they are part of my strong suit.  But none of them help me live by faith; sometimes they offer excuses for me to not rely on Christ.

Let me illustrate how this played out over the last two weeks… Read More

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