51 Weeks

Song of the South

It is hard to believe that we are fixin’ to leave

Southern Mississippi

.

We wrapped up our projects yesterday trying to finish before a big thunderstorm hit. It was a relatively cool day because the thunderstorms were developing and providing wind and shade. This area is just about perfect, from a meteorological standpoint, for producing storms. It is amazing during the day to watch the very rapid vertical development of these storms.

Each of the teams invited their respective families to dinner (they call it supper here) in the evening.

A lot of good work got done but the work was not as important and the hope was. People here are tired and have struggled long to recover to whatever normal will be here. It is important to realize that all of the landmarks and icons and even the daily familiar ways of driving past familiar houses has all been changed. All along the coast and back over a quarter of a mile are lots empty except for cement slabs or signs indicating that such and such a church used to stand here.

The people here at First United Methodist Church of Long Beach were moved that they are not on their own and forgotten. They say we brought a renewed work ethic and joy and… hope. The families we worked for said much the same.

Well, we finished up our projects and got back to the church in front of the thunderstorm. Actually, my group went to see the Friendship Oak on the campus of

University

of

Southern Mississippi

’ s campus on the beach.

It is an amazing tree.

A sapling when

Columbus

sailed to

America

and it is a huge sprawling tree today. It lived through Katrina. Anything in the first story of the campus buildings did not.

We looked into gutted classrooms and lecture halls. The images in my mind reminded me of imaged of blown out buildings in war zones like

Iraq

, though much of the debris has been cleared out. Restaurants, shops, casinos, gas stations, most were erased from the beach area and the recovery, while steady, is not instantaneous.

After this visit we went to the beach where we knew we could get sno-cones and we watched the storm come in. There was a tremendous squall line out about 8 miles and out of it dropped a waterspout.

When we arrived at the church the rain started. There was water everywhere, in the streets, in the yards, rushing down the streets, in a very few minutes. There was a lot of bright and loud lightning striking close. Two hours later it was over.

We ate dinner with the families we worked for and had a wonderful time.

Evening worship was built around Joshua 4 where the people of

Israel

crossed the Jordan River on dry group (a kind of mini parting of the

Red Sea

. A man from of the twelve tribes of

Israel

were instructed to carry a stone out of the riverbed and make a memorial so that, when future generations asked, “what do these stones mean?” they would remember the that the Lord had done a great thing and let the Israelites cross over the Jordan on dry land. So there was a time before the crossing and a time after.

The students were invited to place sticky notes on a pile of stones in the sanctuary and write on those notes how things were going to be different when they returned home. Worship was very good…and very loud.

This morning we are thinking about going home. We plan to eat some authentic Southern cooking which will include gumbo, crawfish dishes, alligator and who knows what else. We will probably have a little beach or mall time and then we will fly out this afternoon to arrive at PDX at about

11:30 pm

and home sometime thereafter.

To God be the glory!

Mississippi Update from Ted

Hello from

Mississippi

. Yesterday (Monday) we began the work week.

We began with a good breakfast served with that wonderful Southern hospitality. We had a devotional time. All of our students and adults were put into teams. These teams were given a project or series of projects to do. There are fences being put up. There is plumbing, debris removal, painting, yard work, small construction projects being done. There are  windows to install, doors to hang, toilets to secure, fences to build. The mission is even setting up a pre-school for the Baptist church as they move into their new building.

Their old original church building was largely swept away by the surge from Hurricane Katrina and there is nothing left of the building today except for the cement foundation slab. As a matter of fact, from the beach to about ¼ mile inland there are very few buildings or businesses and a great many empty lots. The project I am working on is for Gary and Nell Palermo. They are aging and ailing. FEMA provided them with a new roof. The rest of the damage was left for them to deal with. They have been much abused by dishonest contractors, who have either done shoddy work or have failed to do the work they were being paid to do.

I hear that this is not unusual in post-Katrina

Mississippi

Gulf

areas. We are repairing and painting the ceiling under the FEMA roof as well as doing other interior painting and repair work. The whole yard was cleaned out and a great deal of “stuff” was thrown out.

Piles of it.

What I am finding is that many people have made the front of their homes presentable but they have not yet parted with all of their debris. We removed the better part of a tree from up against the house next door. The

Palermo

’s house was pressure washed to remove grime and algae from the siding.

My big “God Moment” came when I was walking out of the back room and walked through the living room where Mrs. Palermo was talking to a friend on her cordless phone. Loud and unashamed she said, “Here he is! That man from Washington who brought kids from

Washington

State

and

Oregon

. He’s the man who told me that God wanted him to come here to help us.”

The students worked hard and had some fun, especially with the power washer.

It is 90 degrees and almost 90% humidity here- the power washer was a popular tool. Then it was back to church for showers and free time.

We ate another fine meal served up with that remarkable Southern hospitality. We had a fine time of worship and received great teaching from our speaker William Rambo. He spoke from Luke 6: who do you say that I am?

When (not if) the storms comes will our house survive built on the rock? When life is not everything you thought or hoped it would be what then?

After this worship time each of our groups got together to debrief and talk and pray among themselves.

It became clear that many of our students had little idea of the magnitude of the Katrina disaster and some had little idea even of what a hurricane is like. So they were told about the debris field left by the huge storm surge- a swath of debris 12 feet deep over 100 yards wide and 100 miles long along this coastline.

In the debris field were TVs, furniture, cars, pets, houses, the entire contents of stores and restaurants, boats refrigerators, trees and even some people.

Dead people.

Many people had to swim for their lives and emerged from the woods after the storm carrying everything they now owned.

It was then that we decided to invite a 22 year old youth pastor from Bay St. Louis, MS, and his youth to tell us first hand what it was like and what our being here means. I’ve come to understand that at least one of the reasons we are here is hope and to let people here who are struggling to recover from a massive disaster that they are not forgotten, by us, by God.

As we considered what it meant not to be

Mexico

we began to ask the question: Is it harder to have nothing and get something great or to have had everything, lose it and try to recover it.  It is good that we are here.

I’ll tell you David Dorn’s story and more of ours tomorrow…

Mexico NEXT YEAR???

Hi There Meximaniacs

We are just finishing the preparation for going to Mississippi on a mission trip in Katrina ravaged turf. We are excited about this trip and are very glad to be able to do it. But much of my heart is still in Mexico

The violence we are avoiding this year is concentrated in Mexico City and especially at the border towns (especially Tijuana). We are going to have to make some decisions soon about what way we are going to take next summer and we have begun doing some research.

If the violence recedes significantly we could return to the east and south of

She found one that, at first blush, I really like. It is four hours south of the border in Baja. Close to pristine beaches that are relatively unused (I am liking this part a lot). It is in an area called the San Quentin valley (that’s “Sahn Kenteen” and not “San Kwenton”, easier to sell to parents I would think). Anyway, I will shut up and not bias you but I would like for each of you to go to THIS WEBSITE and look it over very carefully.

I would like your feedback about possibly using this agency, if we wish to return to Mexico next summer. God bless you each and all.

Soli Deo Gloria

Grace and Peace

Ted

Update on Mexi-ssippi Mission

Hey to all you checkin' in...

We obviously haven't done much with this blog for awhile.  Sorry about that! 

I've decided to call this years trip the "Mexi-ssippi Mission" since I can't seem to stop calling it the Mexico Mission.  Some things just stick, I guess.

Anyway... the team left for Mississippi's Katrina Relief last Friday.  For a more in-depth update and reason for the change of location, CLICK HERE.

So far, the team is doing great.  They are working hard in the heat and humidity... but having a BLAST!  I'm hoping for a more detailed update soon.  I'll let you know :)

Mexico Update - 04.30.08

I've got some sad news about our mission trip this year.  The leadership of this mission has decided to cancel this trip as it stands at this time.

There is a Travel Alert from the U.S. State Department dated April 14, 2008, regarding travel in Mexico citing increased violence along the U.S./Mexican border. You can read about it HERE

We believe that ignoring such an alert in view of taking youth into the country is foolish. One of our highest concerns is for the safety of our youth participants.

Heavily armed drug cartels in Mexico have been in conflict with the police and military forces. Mexican President Felipe Calderón has been moving thousands of federal troops into northern Baja California to challenge drug cartel activity. A great deal of this violence and the violence between cartels is taking place in Tijuana.  Last Saturday there was a shootout in Tijuana between drug cartel members, which included the use of automatic weapons. The final toll, after deaths in a Tijuana hospital, was seventeen. HERE is a link to the story.

There has been some drug cartel activity in the Tijuana area for many years as well as non-drug related crime against American citizens. But we are seeing an escalation of this violence especially in the past year with the influx of Mexican military forces. We are also sensing a heightened civil unrest in the Tijuana area due to weak dollar causing factory layoffs along the border and exacerbating immigration issues as people feel the need to work in the U.S., legally or not. So, whereas we have felt relatively safe in Tijuana in past years we do not this year.

Contact has been made with other ministries in Baja or groups that do ministry there. Most are saying that it is a bad time to be in Mexico. When asked why the answer is usually “civil unrest” and “safety.” We have had quite a bit of experience in Mexico and we concur.

Students and parents are very disappointed about this decision (especially since more than 75% of the funds have been raised).  Many are disappointed because their lives have been changed on this trip in past years. So please pray for them AND for the Mexican people who are now living in fear on a daily basis. Also pray for the 5 homes that will not be built now because we are not going… which leads to prayer for Amor Ministries, who hosts us on this mission. I’m sure many mission teams are canceling their planned trips because of this.

Thank you for your prayers.

From 02.10.08 Meeting

We're so excited about this year's Mexico Mission Team.  We're glad for those who are going to join us and for those who have already been investing in prayer & with their pocket books.

Thank you!!

Here's a follow-up from yesterday's meeting:

1. We're still looking for willing cook staff for the trip.
2. For Portland - here our the future due dates and amounts for the trip:
   1. March 9 - $225
   2. April 6 - $350
   3. May 4 - $350
3. Write your support letters NOW.
4. Apply for Passports NOW.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Change of Dates

We've moved the Mexico Mission dates from June 23rd through the 30th to:

JUNE 16th through the 23rd

Remember... we'll most likely be flying out the day before (the 15th).

Start sending out your support letters and selling those Shareholders Certificates.

More info to come :)

First Portland Meeting ** UPDATED!!!

SAVE THE DATE:  Our first 2008

Mexico

Mission

Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 10th at 12:30pm in the Fireside Room.  Lunch will be provided.  Please make sure you bring your parents.  We’ll prep you on all information (i.e. cost of trip, fundraising options, dates, deadlines, etc.

 

Please RSVP with Jenni at jenniclayville(at)sunsetpres(dot)org and let me know if you will be attending.

MEXICO 2008 DATES

Hey My Mexico Hotties…

Hot off the press. They’ve decided on this year’s date for the Mexico Mission Trip. It will be on:

JUNE 23^rd -30^th

Mark your calendars and start inviting your friends. However, know this… we’ll only be taking 30 TOTAL from Portland again this year… so first come first serve. The sooner you let me know you’re in, the better.

Portland's first group meeting will be in January sometime (I’ll throw out some dates after Thanksgiving weekend), but it’s never too early to start fundraising.

Let me know if you have any questions.

And the countdown begins!!!

Re-Entry

Hey guys...

It's been a month now.  It's probably been crazy trying to re-enter back into our busy lives.

How is everyone?  What are you guys up to?

Drop a comment so we all know what's going on in your neck of the woods.

Portland Pics Available

Pictures are up on my personal blogsite.

For some reason, I couldn't post them on this site... but we'll figure it out soon.

You can CLICK HERE to get to the album.

Enjoy.

MISS YOU GUYS!!!

Skilly and A Dedication

Here are two unedited videos, just to give you a little flavor of what we did.

We Are Back!

Wow.

That one word is the best that I can come up with to summarize the trip. Wow.  What a time.  I can hardly believe that we are back.  I'm already starting to count down the next 51 weeks so we can do it again!

This was one of the best (if not the very best) trip that I have been on in the 18 years that I have been doing this.  We built homes for five families that needed them.  We shared Christ through our actions.  Many of the students that went on the trip committed their lives to Christ for the first time, and many more recommitted.  It was simply an amazing trip.

I am tired.  Moving 100 people around internationally is taxing, especially when the border closes when you are trying to get home! Heheh...that was interesting.

Over the next week I will be posting up pictures, videos and stories.  None of them can truly represent what we experience...how can you capture the work of The Lord with a digital camera?  But I will do my best.

Thank you to all of you that supported us financially and prayerfully.  We really could not have done it without you.

Mexico Day 5

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

You did it!  You made it all the way through the week.  What a week it was…living in the desert, building homes by hand, getting to know people in a way you never thought you could in just one week.  Take a moment to yourself.  Forget about the others that are sitting around you.  I want you to think about the last five days.  Write down a few thoughts in the space below.

What did you feel for the family that you were building the home for?

Think about your parents.  How is your relationship with them?  Has this week changed anything regarding that relationship?

What about you?  How are you different after this week?  Did you find what you are looking for?

When you fully commit your life to God, when you tell Him that you cannot do things on your own, that you have done things you know He doesn’t want you to do and that you want Him to forgive you, things start to happen.  When you tell Him that you want to know what it means to be a follower of Jesus and that he is the only way you can really achieve eternal life, then you have arrived.  It’s been a long journey, and it’s been painful at times.  But you have arrived.  You are still crooked, but you are crooked for God, not for yourself.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (New International Version)

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Romans 10:9-10 (New International Version)

9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Questions for Group Discussion

1. Share some of your thoughts that you wrote down today.

2. What is one of your favorite moments of the week?

3. What do you want life to look like when you get back to the United States?  What can help you achieve that?

Mexico Day 4

Waiting On The World To Change

Imagine for a minute that you were in charge…in charge of “things”.  Whatever.  Your household.  Your classroom.  Your entire school.  The United States of America!  Seriously, imagine that you are in charge.  What’s one of your first thoughts?  If I start thinking about things in this way I usually start off by thinking how I would change things, how I would make things better.  It usually starts off in my head with a thought like, “…if only I was in charge, things would be different.  Instead of how it is now, it would be…” and then I could trail off into how life would look. 

It isn’t uncommon to think this way.  No matter your age you are no doubt aware of the upcoming Presidential election.  We’re already seeing the candidates all over the place, telling us that if they were in charge, this is how things would look.  Each and every one of them assures us that if we just have the courage to elect them, life will be good.  No, not just good…great!  Life will be great if they are in charge.  Things are going to change.  And so you wait.  You sit and wait for things to change, for things to get better.  You also wait until the day that you are in charge, because from that day forward, things are going to get look different…

Problem:  that isn’t the approach that God tells us to take.  Well, not entirely.   It’s missing a step.  You see, God does want each and every one of us to change the world, but with one important thing that must happen first.  You have to give up being in charge.

Yikes.

That really sucks, doesn’t it?  I mean, you’ve been waiting your whole life to be in charge!  Everybody you know is telling you how you can become a better person so that you can take control of situations, so that you can be the boss of the company, so that you can be class president.  You are constantly being told how to get ahead, whether it is through the best possible grades or by getting a summer job.  It all comes down to you…or so we are told.

God takes a different approach.  Why?  Well, he’s the one that is in charge.  He’s the boss.  He calls the shots.  But he’s about the best boss you’ll ever have, because instead of Him cramming stuff down your throat, he lets you decide whether or not you want to let Him be the boss.  We know already that we want to be in charge of ourselves and do whatever we want (see that Romans verse back in day 2), so now we have to decide that we aren’t doing a very good job with ourselves.  We have to let God know that he is in charge, and we’re okay with that.

Yikes again.

Here is the cool part: when you do get around to letting God call the shots, he will tweak the way you see things just a little, and he will actually help you to make changes, the changes that you have always wanted to make.  Not because you are in charge, but because He is!  This tweaking (or change or transformation or whatever you want to call it) is pretty cool.  Read this story:

Genesis 32:22-28 (New International Version)

Jacob Wrestles With God

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
      But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

27 The man asked him, "What is your name?"
      "Jacob," he answered.

28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, ^[a] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

Jacob wrestled with God, and God tweaked him forever.  He changed his name, and he changed the way he walks.  Change isn’t a bad thing, especially when you have been waiting for it for so long.  Here is the good part though, so pay attention: even though God changed several things about Jacob, he still used the person that Jacob was (stubborn, among other things…who in the heck challenges God to a wrestling match?) to change the world.  He used Jacob and all of his crookedness to make the world a better place.

This is what God wants from you.  He wants you confused and geeked out and introverted and goofy and obnoxious and shy…he wants all of those things, every crooked inch of you…but he wants you to let Him be in charge.  Why?  He loves us, and he wants our lives to be full of joy.   When you wrestle with this concept, letting God be in charge, and you let Him win the wrestling match, things change.  Tomorrow we’ll talk about what God will give us when all of this happens.

Questions for Group Discussion

1. If you were the President of The United States, what things would you change right away?

2. What is happening in your life right now that you wish you could change?  Do you feel powerless to make the change yourself?  What can you do to start fixing it?

3. What are some of your best character traits?  Some of your worst?

4. Have you ever wanted to change your name?  Change schools?  Change families?  Move to another country? 

5. Read 2 Corinthians 3:18.  What do you think it means to be “transformed into his likeness”?  What are some things that you can do to work toward this?