Search Results for mission trip

my last post from Guatemala

June 2, 2011 in Family, Spiritual Formation 0

Today was our last day in Guatemala. Tomorrow we take a road-trip back to Guatemala City and then catch a flight home on Saturday morning.

To top off the week we decided to pack up the girls and take a trip over to check out Vina Studios. Vina began years ago as a part of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Today they are carrying on the legacy of Wycliffe translating the Gospel into the languages of indigenous people groups around the world. Not only were we hoping to reinforce a high view of Scripture in the lives of our children and instill a vision for the Bible being made accessible to all people, but also expose them to a unique project Vina has been working on. Vina is specifically targeting the next generation…children. And they are doing it through an incredible show called “Deditos,” which literally means “little fingers.” Vina is doing a series of children’s videos telling the major stories of the scriptures through finger puppets. We got to see the sets that are being designed and used as well as tour the sets on which these films are shot. Finally we got to preview the story of Noah’s Ark. Vina is doing an incredible job of telling the story of the Scriptures in an accurate, compelling, and culturally relevant manner to a generation of children that is primarily illiterate. We were excited to see such an incredible tool that is going to be used to reach many with the Gospel!

Then just for a little fun we hit the local market in Panajachel for a few souvenirs and of course the girls first tuk-tuk ride!

The bottom line goal of this trip was to both construct and to reinforce the culture of our family. These last few days have been about continuing to place guardrails in the lives of our children to nudge them not only to God, but joining Him on mission in this world. Here’s to hoping that these last few days have been seared into the minds and hearts of our little girls for the rest of their lives…and here’s to hoping that God uses the environment we’re creating in our family to do something incredibly special in our girls for the sake of His Kingdom!

See you stateside soon!

A Sneaky way to Change the Culture of your Church Staff Team

September 19, 2017 in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing 1

The church staff at Sun Valley Community Church (the church I have the pleasure of serving at) just did something really unique. It wasn’t complicated or particularly flashy and it didn’t make a big public impact on the church. In fact the church body doesn’t really even know about it. But I believe it will have a tremendous influence on the trajectory of the church.

Due to our unique location being in the southwest, we were able to pile up our church staff in a convoy of vans and drive across the border to Mexico to spend a day serving with one of our ministry partners.

Like I said…not particularly flashy…but how many churches do you know of who take the time and pay for all of their staff to do a 2-day mission trip to Mexico? It’s a simple thing that I believe can make a really big difference…and here’s a couple of reasons why:

#1 Speed of the Team, Speed of the Church

The church always, always, always takes on the culture of the church staff. If you want a church body that cares about reaching people with the Gospel but your church staff doesn’t model that you can forget about it. If you want a church that cares about the nations you need to have a staff that cares about the nations. I want to serve on a church staff team that cares about what Jesus cares about.

#2 Discipleship/Development doesn’t happen in a Classroom

The first time I went on an international mission trip my life changed. It changed the way I viewed people, the way I read God’s word, my friendship with Jesus and the way I viewed myself and call upon my life. I want to put the team I’m responsible for in environments where their life can be changed by Jesus!

#3 Time Together

Like your church staff, most of the time our church staff spends together is related to work. Rarely do we set aside a significant amount of time designed to move us towards one another relationally and spiritually. A shared experience like serving together can begin to change the relational dynamics on a team.

reparando

June 6, 2011 in Family, Spiritual Formation 2

For the past 17 years I’ve been traveling all over the world on short-term mission trips. I’ve had the privilege of leading literally hundreds of people on trips exposing them to what God is doing, and can do through them, around the globe. Last week was a dream come true for me. I was able to take my wife and two oldest girls (ages 6 & 7) on our first “family mission trip” to Guatemala. Serving with the Radford family, some friends of ours who are missionaries, at an orphanage that they work at was an incredible experience for my family. But surprisingly what captured my attention and has my heart still stirring was a movie that Lee and Angel showed Lisa and I one evening after the girls were in bed.

Guatemala Day 5

June 1, 2011 in Family, Spiritual Formation 2

Day 5 in Guatemala is pretty much in the books, and it was a fruitful day!

We headed back up the mountain from Panajachel to Eagle’s Nest to spend some more time at the orphanage and the feeding program with the kids. On our first day at the orphanage I met a little boy named Carlos Raul. Carlos is around 2 years old and has been at the orphanage for about 3 months now. He has been really slow to open up, interact with other people, and even receive affection and love from people. It really has just been since last week that he’s even letting people hold him and love on him with out pushing people away or crying. Each day I’ve gone back this week it’s been so cool to see him open up more and more. He loves playing with my sun glasses and cell phone. Today he stood right up when I came in and held his hands up. Without a sound, he was asking me to hold him…and I was happy to oblige. He sat in my lap and rolled a basketball back and forth to the girls…he was super content to just be held.

The girls spent time with the preschoolers again today. Leading a Bible story about Naaman, the military leader, and the little girl who should have been his enemy but instead pointed him to Elisha to be healed. They also spent some time doing crafts with the kids. After lunch we worked at the feeding program again, but before serving the kids lunch the girls shared that same Bible story again with the kids from the community. They had some help from their friends Parker and Anna Kate (the missionaries children that we are connected with down here). Parker and Anna Kate have been incredible for Kennedy and Mia this week. They’re just a couple of years older than our girls. So being a bit more mature, and understanding the lay of the land down here, it’s been great for my girls to have two friends to look up to who are providing a great example to them on their first mission trip. Leadership has no age limit!

After coming home and getting the girls down for a late afternoon nap Lee and I ran by the coffee shop he introduced me to yesterday to pick up some whole bean coffee for the trip home. Incredible coffee! Right from the growers here in Guatemala and then roasted this morning. You can check out the website here. Let’s just say there are going to be a few happy coffee lovers when I come home.

8 moments that shaped my 2011

January 3, 2012 in Family, Leadership 0

Socrates is credited with saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” So with that intent, in no particular order, here’s a quick list of the moments that had the greatest influence in shaping my 2011.