a new blog

Since my life is resetting, I figured it's time to reset my blogging life too. Thus, you can find my new blog at:

www.plantandrun.com

thanks.

NYWC 2006

So Kevin and I got back from the National Youth Workers Convention on Monday. We drove up to Austin late into the night on Thursday (Oct. 5) and the convention was Friday through Monday. Anyway, if you are a youth worker, I highly recommend it. This is my second time going...and the second time I have brought a volunteer with me (I miss you Joel). Very good stuff. I great mix of spiritual refrestment and training. Some of the highlights of the main sessions were David Crowder Band and Shane & Shane leading worship and talks from Donald Miller and Sharon Cohn. My breakout session highlights included learning about the latest research on adolescent development from Tony Jones and learning about experiential worship from Dan Kimball. All good stuff.

Oh, and by the way, if you ever get a chance to see Dan Kimball live...DO IT! Why? Well just because he has really...interesting...hair.

I only attended one session that ticked me off. Yeah. And I don't really get ticked off all that easily. The title of the session was, "Sacred Journeys: Re-Crafting the Youth Mission Trip as Pilgrimage."

Here is my summary of the session:
If we are honest, we'll admit that we take our youth on mission trips so that they will be changed. Changing the lives of the people we minister to is secondary. And, while we are at it, let's go ahead and admit that we really don't make much long-term change on their lives anyway. ("They" being the people our students minister to on the trips.) So, instead of taking mission trips, let's all go on "spiritual pilgrimages" where the focus is squarely on changing the lives of our students.

Now, I'll admit that this line of thinking has some worth. I have taken our students on mission trips where, if I am honest, I must admit that (1) we were there more for ourselves than for the people we ministered to and (2) we didn't make much of a real, lasting impact.

In fact, this whole concept has really shaken me over the past year as we been on the receiving end rather than the sending end of mission trips. Actually, you could make a case that the reason we have had so many churches do hurricane relief through us (instead of a big parachurch organization) is because they want to make a real and meaningful impact on the lives of those they help.

Berean is here for the long haul. Berean is committed to following up with the families that have been helped by hurricane relief teams. Berean is committed to changing and adapting to meet the new needs that are presented to us by being involved in hurricane relief.

AND, at the same time, we feel confident that the "missionaries" are being changed by the experience as well. My experience as a youth pastor who takes mission trips is always in the back of my mind as I lead in our hurricane relief efforts. Our goal is to reignite churches to reach their own community when the get back home.

So I think we have stumbled upon a model that is both/and instead of either/or. We have been able to create a model where both the "missionaries" and the "mission field" are impacted in a meaningful, long-term way by the experience. And I would argue that the key ingredient in this model is local churches working with local churches.

So what is the plan for our youth mission trip next summer? Well, we found a church that stayed here last summer that we felt a kinship to. It's a church that in many ways is a step ahead of us in their involvement in the community. We want to be able to go up and work with them in their community in much the same way that they worked in ours. It looks like it just might work out...

how 'bout dem Saints?

So a couple of us gathered at my house yesterday afternoon to watch the Saints game. Man, they looked alright! You just don't know how bad we need something to cheer about here in New Orleans. I don't think this team is going to light the world on fire or anything...but I think they will do well enough to give us something to cheer about this year.

Check out this quote from John Carney, the Saint's kicker:
"I'm happy for two reasons, we're 1-0, and there's no hurricane in the Gulf."

So true...so true.

helping out in the schools

Call me crazy, but I just absolutely love the fact that we have been able to help out in public schools since the storm. The above picture is from the Times-Picayune and it is of Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Algiers.

On Tuesday morning I walked into Tubman with a small team from Akron Bible Church. Before we walked through the gates, I briefly explained to the team the story of the Algiers Charter School Association and how we have been able to partner with them and send help their way. We held hands and prayed together and they walked into the courtyard on the side of the building.

The courtyard was filled with students. Teachers were doing their best to corral their
class together so that they could enter the building in a somewhat orderly fashion. The principal, Patsy Gearing is walking amongst the students, greeting some and pulling others back in line. Needless to say, they were a bit distracted with the beginning of the school day and we found ourselves sitting and waiting for the next half hour.

While we waited in a hallway of the school, Freddie, one of the team members, decided that we should pray. So we began to pray for the school, the students, the parents and the teachers. As we are praying, I can hear the voices of students and teachers walking back and forth between us as their day begins.

It was an amazing experience. I couldn't believe that we were able to do this in the halls of a public school.

That is such a great picture of what hurricane relief ministry has been. Doors that we never thought would open have been opened. We have been able to walk through those doors, with the help of work teams, and shine our light clearly and unashamedly. This is what the church is all about...being salt and light...bringing a dose of heaven into our broken world.

That has kept me going.

getting back

So I guess August 29 is as good as any day to start blogging again. This is it. I'm starting back up. I promise.

I know, I know, you want to know why I haven't blogged for three months. Well, I don't have a good explanation, except to say that I just haven't felt up to it. Being part of ministry in New Orleans for the past year has been both extremely exciting and extremely depressing. I think I hit my lowest point sometime in June. I was ready to pack it in and go start over somewhere else.

It has been a long road to put our youth ministry back together, but it seems like the beginning of the school year is bringing us a fresh start. A lot of students have moved away...and a lot have come back home. Things surely look a lot different than they did last August before the storm, but God is working. I am genuinely excited to see where God will take us in the next year.

As for the work teams, this summer has truely been amazing. There have been times that hurricane relief has been the only thing that has kept me going. We are in the midst of thinking and dreaming about what Hurricane relief will look like for the next two to three years. That's right, I did type two to three years. We plan to equip ourselves to house mission teams from now until doomsday. God is using this whole experience to wake up our church and get us involved in our community. And if you know me, you know that I am excited about that.

I guess I don't need to make this long. I'm just here to say, "I'm back." Thank you all for all of your prayers and support over the past year. May God continue to heal New Orleans!

the lost experience

Did you watch Lost last night? (PLEASE don't tell me you watched that OTHER show with the judges and the singers and the phone numbers!!) Anyway, it was really good and really disturbing. I don't know how they are doing it, but every time they reveal a "secret" they get you curious about three new ones.

In case you haven't seen it yet, check out this blog to learn about what is called "the Lost Experience." Apparently there is a whole online reality that has been created by the producers (which they deny, by the way). Lots of hidden clues and information, even a book that you can buy that is supposedly written by a man who was on the plane that crashed into the island (Sawyer is reading the manuscript in one of the recent episodes).

the newest iPod accessory

My birthday is coming up. Maybe someone should buy me this.

The "iPod integration" into every aspect of life amazes me. Talk about a cultural revolution.