Trees of Paradise

Subido al Pico Loro

2010-12-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

Today, I went with some friends into some communities in the mountains...we came along some people who were fasting and playing worship and we joined them and one of the women made us lunch and we went to a mountain top...and prayed, and came down and went swimming in a river with waterfalls. My friend David shared the gospel with single mom and a guy in heroin addiction on the way back home in the bus. It was an amazing day! And as we arrived in Cali we saw many lights and people celebrating festivities of Christmas! It was a very special time!

May the fire burn in our hearts with a sacrific of love never dwindling.

2010-12-02T09:42:00.001-08:00

During my time here in Cali, I have had some incredible encounters with God. A few friends of mine from a church community have been starting some projects bringing out food and praying for the poor in the slums. We have been enjoying some incredible times of worship and intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Through an incredible worship experience that I had with a friend of mine, David Cruz, I felt the Holy Spirit revealing something to me about the power of sacrifice. We sang together, "May my life be a burning sacrifice of love consumed by your desires." I realized that something greater awaits us. If we can become the people who fully sacrifice all there is something greater, there is something that awaits us in our community. Imagine our community as a garden and Jesus as a seed. If we fertilize our garden with Love, what awaits us are fruits beyond our hearts wildest dreams. Trusting and having faith, a fully rendering love, a love which is a total sacrifice comes with pain for only a moment, for the Kingdom of lovers is before us. A family is awaiting to be revealed in the garden--a family of lovers which we were created for. Dissention, wounds, sins, and ills try to seperate us one from another. There is a choice for each of us. There is a choice to go our own way and take care of ourselves or to sacrifice all and trust in the Love pouring down on us. Sacrificing all is about a choice to overcome the sin of others with love, sacrificing all for love, until we are totally consumed by love. Trusting in Jesus is a lot of times about trusting in others. It's about trusting in those who are around us who are the body of Christ. It's about trusting in those who have become our brothers and sisters. It's about believing that love wins. It is trusting that if we sacrifice all we will be caught in a beanbag filled with love. The truth is. It hurts when others are not willing to sacrfice. It is like falling backwards on the ground and having no one to catch you. But when we learn...It is like falling backwards into the warm embrace of lovers. We must ask, "are we willing to be to the hands and feet of Jesus in whom others can trust with all their life?" When we get to live in this new transformed revelation of sacrificing love, a new world of love opens up before us. It is written that a gift brings a man before a king. So then imagine a burning sacrifice of total surrendering love--what can that open up for us! It's behind our wildest dreams! Love has a creative power that goes way beyond restoration...I had a vision of my friend Tony Brown, he's a guy who is always making sacrifices for all those around him--always buying food for others and driving people around in his beautiful antique van...I saw him sewing a seed of love which would be rewarded with a harvest of lovers. The point of this all is that...there is something awaits us...if we just surrender and trust. A glowing fire of love awaits us. If we follow in step and surrender all, what awaits us is an abudant life, the joy set before Christ before the sacrifice...there is something on the other side and it's worth it! :-) It's worth it for us all! It's way beyond worth it! If we can just open our eyes and see, we will be transformed and be unleashers of the consuming power of love! So may the fire burn in your heart and may you become the burning sacrifice of love consumed by the desires of something much greater than yourself. The desires of the one who gave everything for the greatest prize. The desires of the one which have the greatest reward. You were meant for something greater!

The Beloved

2010-09-14T19:20:00.001-07:00

I am just amazed on Henri Nouwen's teaching about the beloved.

If we could just know that we are God's beloved children and His loved in whom He is delighted. Imagine! The challenge is embodying that truth and living it out.

There is something beautiful that happens when we are called beautiful, love, desirable. It's amazing...

If we could live in the identity that Jesus lived in, knowing that we are truly God's beloved, our lives could become blossoms which are a fragrance to all creation.

There is something that stirs deeply in our soul when we know that there are great riches that are before us, one who loves us and desires us with His heart and speaks well of us, and one who gives us the food and substance that we need to live. True riches are not attains by our own hands, and true love is not earned, nor is what we need brought forth through our own efforts. It was in these was that Jesus was tempted. True love and sustenance is a gift for sons and daughters of the one true YHWH God.

2010 Trip Colombia and Brazil

2010-07-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

In March, I was invited by my friends Steve Phillips and Michael Ellis to do the boot camp school for Nehemiah Ministry International at Rey de Reyes church in Cali, Colombia. I was privileged to stay with one of the inspiring youth leaders Jonathan Calderon. It was truly a life changing experience as we went through the counseling material as a community. It was exciting to be a part of a church community, with closely nit small groups, which is alive and growing. I was amazed by the love of the people for one another in the church. After the course, I had to take the offer of my friend David Cruz to go back and stay with them for a few more weeks. We celebrated birthdays together, went to small group meetings together, went to the streets of Cali to promote Jesus to the people, and enjoyed a weekend leadership retreat.

After the course at Rey de Reyes, I traveled to the three frontiers of Brazil, Peru, and Colombia in the Amazon. I soon connected with a mission called AmazonXpeditions through a friend. I met the son of the founder David Gonzalez, and I was amazed by his passion to use all the resources he could to bless people out on the river. I had the chance to join them in going out to small communities on the river bringing food supplies and water purification systems. There is something truly satisfying about being able to bring food to people who need it. Going out on the river with them to do missions was the nothing less than the experience of a lifetime.

During my time there, I had the privilege of staying with the Ticuna people in a little village close to Leticia, Colombia. They would smile as I would walk through their village of houses built on stilts paved by muddy paths. I spent a good amount of time with one boy named Fabricio. He was very nice, smart, and friendly, and he enjoyed showing me around his little village. But I soon noticed that he like many of the others would come to a feeding program, because there just wasn’t enough food in his home. It made me think about what James wrote about in the New Testament, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27 ESV).

After my trip in the Amazon, I was privileged to stay with pastors Jairo and Doris Niño in Armenia, Colombia. I met them through pastor Penn Clark a friend of mine. We spent time together and went through the inner-healing and deliverance material together again. They taught me many things through their experiences in the international field. I loved staying with them. I really enjoyed their loving family, warm hospitality, time of fellowship, and their church. I saw the needs for music ministry, and media ministry, and discipleship among the youth, and which all add to my desire to go back in the future.

The trip was life changing. The course on inner-healing and deliverance was really good. I made some great friends and I was able to participate in some great missions with the indigenous people in the Amazon.

Cali

2010-04-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

These last two weeks in Cali have been amazing. I was able to go to take a course at the Rey de Reyes church in Ciudad Jardin. I have been able to meet so many youth who are excited about God and desire to see His name glorified throughout the earth. Their hospitality was amazing as I was very welcomed and experienced the warmth of these Colombian people. The course on inner-healing and deliverance was very good as I learned so much about counseling and why we are the way we are. There were many times of rejoicing. But the best part was making new friends. I met new friends that were very excited about going to the streets and reaching out to the homeless and feeding them. One night, we went out and we found ourselves among crack-dealers on the streets of Cali. It was amazing, as we were able to talk with one guy who was totally captivated by us and even ignored his customers so that he could just talk with us. It was amazing to see the transforming power of Jesus on the streets of Cali and it was so special to have a bonding time with the guys.

Medellin

2010-03-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy day today in Medellin. We went to the comunas ( slums ) on the north side of the city. Then we went up the famous gondolas to the top of these beautiful Andes mountains. It was breath-taking. However, on the way down, we came across a homicide site. It was shocking to see a dead body in the middle of the street. People were gathered around. The pastor told me that it is common to have 8-10 homicides per day here in Medellin--though the statistics reported are much lower. After that, we went to a cell-group. It was really nice to have fellowship, worship, and get to know the people in the house churches here in Medellin. It was inspiring. My heart was taken away by the people who live in extreme poverty in the midst of drug-related violence that plagues the city.

Being with the poor

2010-03-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

After being a few days in Medellin, I've been attracted all the more to be with the poor. To be in the midst of those who have been brought to the bottom. It's when we meet with people like that something special happens.

Llegado en Medellin

2010-03-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

I have arrived in Medellin. It has been a blessing as I have arrived in the house of a pastor and her family. It has been very good. I have learned so much over the last two days about life in Medellin. It's a beautiful a city, but also it has been plagued by violence in the comunas (slums), prostitution, and drugs. I went today to a family who just recently lost their son to homicide in their community. It has left the whole family preoccupied. It left a woman as a widow and a little boy as an orphan. It made me think. Violence is something that needs to be combated and we must respond with love and compassion to those who are affected by it--especially the orphans and the widows. This family lost their brother just a few months ago, but you can see that God is doing miracles in their family--bringing joy and peace in the midst of distress.

Colombia, South America...

2010-03-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I am embarking on a journey which will start in Medellin, Colombia and eventually lead to the Amazon in Colombia and then Brazil. My heart is stirred and I am excited about the things God has in store for this trip.

A few months ago, when I would pray, Leticia, Colombia was on my heart. I had met a friend from there, Samuel, when I was at the YWAM base in Recife back in 2007 and he invited me to come there to the base in the Amazon. It just took a little while for that seed to grow.

While I was at the house of prayer a few weeks ago, I found out that a friend Steve from the International House of Prayer here in Georgia was going to do an inner-healing and deliverance school in Rey de Reyes ( King of Kings ) church in Cali, Colombia and he invited me to come with him.

I then reconnected with my friend, who is a pastor, Penn Clark and he connected me with some of his friends in Colombia. I made a contact with some of his friends in Medellin who welcomed me to stay with them. I became excited about this, I prayed, and then I decided to buy my ticket to go.

Brazil -- I remember

2010-03-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

Brazil

I remember the sunsets of a tropical sun setting over top coconut trees, mango trees, and the warm breeze off the atlantic. My heart resonates with the rememberance of driving over the highway that connects Recife with Boa-Viagem beach in Pernambuco. The skylines filled with appartment buildings, and shacks scattered on the banks of the rivers leading to some of the largest slums in Latin America. The apperant dichotomy of the extreme wealth and poverty in the same neighborhood. I remember the festival of Sao Joao (Saint John), beautiful brazilian kids in the streets playing with firecrackers and smoke filling the streets in Camaragibe until it made it hard to breathe; Canjeica and Pamonia being sold in the streets celebrating the harvest of corn; people gathering together dancing forro and singing songs. I remember walking down the street hearing the cry of a man which sounding like a goat when it is slaughtered. I looked and saw a young man getting beating on the corner of a street by multiple men next to a small bar that sold only strong liquor which sat beneath a tree filled with vodoo dolls and other strange objects. I remember young pregnant women sitting in maternity classes sewing and stiching various objects-- without a father for their children and without an ability to read or write. I remember a kid from the street with broken beer glass bottle trying to murder another kid over a plastic bottle of sniffing glue that was supposedly stolen from him. I remember seeing all this on the street just next to men selling pipoca (popcorn) and churrasco (barbequed chicken and pork) who just continued to sell their as two street kids run by their carts. I remember grown girls sucking their thumbs aroung young boys smoking marijuana wearing bermuda shorts walking through their favelas as the days passed under the tropical sun. I remember a teenage boy walking down the street in front of me, filled with anger, cocking his revolver as he makes large strides. I remember the moment, when I realized the music in the street that people were dancing to was about prostituition. I remember handing out soup with friends to the poor seeing more than 50 kids come with their plastic containers with warm soup and running back to their one-room houses on dirt paths as fast as they could so that they could come back and refill their containers again. I remember the sun brighting brigher in those days and a feeling of bliss and joy. I remember seeing kids not just with plastic containers in their hands, but with huge smiles, laughing, as they would wait to get soup to bring to their families with great happiness. I remember watching just one pot of soup serve a whole community--as if God had multiplied the food. I remember the tropical forest, the sloths, the monkeys, and kids climbing tamarind trees to pick tamarind fruits to suck as they came back from playing football tournaments. I remember a woman asking for prayer for her daughter to get healed from various mental and physical disabilities. I remember watching a whole family come to believe and recieve the salvation of Jesus for the first time...

I remember visiting the streets one evening, bringing first-aid to some of those who were stuck living on the streets of old-Recife. I remember asking someone, "Onde foi o homem com quem eu estava falando na semana passada? (where was the guy I was talking to last week?)" Only to hear, "Ele morreu (He died)." I said, "Porque? (why?)" They said, "Trafico das drugas. (Drug trafficking)." I remember the statistics about the city of Recife being known as one of the most violent in the world. It's a hard statistic when you have to swallow the fact that your friend just died. I think, "What if that was my son?" That was somebody's son. Thousands of sons and daughters dying each year to murder. I remember going on the bus from Recife to Camaragibe, trying to be careful about putting my wallet in my front pocket--having had it stolen previously. I remember listening to a pastor preaching a sermon and then stopping to share that how he had been assaulted just the night before on the street and held gunpoint.

I remember hills covered in poorly constructed slums and the feelings of great poverty. I remember people going to the grocery store to buy basic household items, but showing up at the counter without enough money to buy what they need.

to be continued...

Amazon Basin

2010-03-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

I am now in the process of planning to go stay to the Amazon Basin near the Brazilian and Colombian border. There in the midst of the jungle, there are tribes with little or no contact with western civilization. There are tribes that have ancient practices and traditions. It's a place of beauty yet there is a people possessed by fear.
Some of the indigenous practices are beyond what can be comprehended. HAKANI tells the story of one who cries out from the opression.

"If we act out of fear, the only possible outcome is sin..." Bill Johnson --the pastor of Bethel church in Redding, Ca.

Communion

2010-02-27T10:51:00.001-08:00

I feel deeply that the issue of communion in the church has great potential to be much more than just a religious activity of a small cup of grape juice and a wafer. I believe God has called us to feast with one another. There is an interestingly beautiful truth that intimacy with God comes through fasting, yet intimacy with others comes from a feasting with others. There is something for us to tap into by just eating with one another. We can tap into the Intimacy with others that God has created us for. Sin, in a sense, is no more than something that creates a separation from us and God. Love brings unity among people. We eat together, because God has healed us. When we eat together as a celebration of what He has done for us and provided for us and how He has enlarged our family, we start to enjoy the beauty of His creation in a new fresh way.

Northeast Brazil 2009

2010-01-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

Mission trip in India and Nepal

2009-06-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a slideshow of the pictures from my trip to the Netherlands, Italy, India, and Nepal.

2009-06-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

Being in Nepal and India was quite an experience. Here are some pictures from the Himalayas. These places are majestic in their beauty! :-) I hope to go back in the future with others who have a passion for these mountain places!

Atlanta...

2009-05-21T21:21:00.001-07:00

Now, I am back in Atlanta. It was an incredible experience to go to India and Nepal this last year, but now is a great time for me to just process and reflect on all the experiences I had. I'm now enjoying going to the local IHOP--International House of Prayer and enjoying spending time with my parents!

Kathmandu

2009-02-04T00:59:00.001-08:00

I've now been in Kathmandu for two weeks...

It's beautiful... The people... Their smiles...

It's a hard life for the people here in Nepal... I watch many each day outside my window carrying bags of dirt on their backs. They barely make 1 dollar a day. But they're surviving...
It's hard though...Literacy rate for women is less than 50 percent. Life expectancy is about 60 years...and political instability and corruption worry the minds of the people...

How could a land so beautiful endure such hardship...

I just look and am mesmorized. I enjoy the hospitality of the people...for them...a guest is like a god...It gives me a chance to share my faith and learn the faith of others...

Bhudda teaches..."life is suffering" and so it rings true for many of the people here... But isn't there a hope of something more?

Pune

2009-01-05T00:52:00.000-08:00

So now i've been in Pune for two weeks. It's been nice... It's been a mix of bliss and other things all in one experience... I've been pooped on by birds, had sleepless nights vomitting, yet have enjoyed good fellowship, made many new friends, and have had many different experiences--non of which could be preconcieved or expected... The mix of modernity and poverty is shocking...one family rich with flat screen tv's, laptops, nice cars and motorcycles, and another family scrapping their 20-40 dollar a month salery to make ends meat--or rather vegetables because meat would be too expensive...A place which streets are home to over 40 thousand street children living under unbarable heat, dust, and pollution...I was just talking with a friend the other day who lives off 20 dollars a month of support to do missions... Coming from a family that lives in utter poverty. It's hard to believe in the west...we spend 20 dollars on haircuts and ten dollars on movie tickets...without even thinking twice about it... Yet someone else, is trying to figure out how they'll live on that for one month... If we were to make relationships with the poor...to step out...into the broken places...maybe we would have compassion...maybe our vision would change...maybe we could start to see things from a different perspective...Today I was at Coffee Jar, a nice coffee shop here in Pune, and I met this guy Josh from the US...and he was asking me, "how do you support yourself...do you have what you need?" I stopped and thought to myself..."I have more than I need...I have shelter and I have food...but what about those around me..." There are people that suffer...There are people who struggle to have their needs met... Something in me says we need to say no to vanity and yes to relationship with the poor, the needy, and with those who are struggling to have their needs met... They are people too...They are people with dreams and visions...They are people with desires... They are people who have been hurt by the opression of unjust governments, corruption, lies, and deception... They are people with a name and with a heart...just like you and me...struggling to survive... So...Really, I've come to Pune just to visit friends. I came to visit my friend Christian before he went back to the States...but now i find myself here...looking around...meeting people along the way...realizing... there's something more going on here...I believe it is even more key than teaching. Not that teaching is bad, no...Teaching is good. It's that the teaching without fellowship is dead. Just like faith without works is dead... Fellowship with God and with others is center...and should be the center of our faith--our love for one another...If we go to church, or any religious activity for that matter, and we hear the sermon, watch the people, pray, and leave...yet have ignored those in need...should we even call it a church? Does our physical body forsake one member or another it's nourishment? Maybe we should venture out...maybe we should take a step...lend our hand...to the one who's caught in dispair by the troubles and heaviness of this world...to raise those up who have been trampled down...And give what little joy and fruit we have...give our heart...our love...our compassion...to turn the wastelands into habitable dwellings...and dry lands into fruitful vinyards To help others achieve their dreams and visions...to help others live and prosper ...to help restore this broken world to the way God intended it to be...

Celebrating Christmas in India

2008-12-16T03:15:00.000-08:00

It has been great to be here with Christian these last two weeks. It has been rewarding to be here and just enjoy the goal for these two weeks is to visit my friend and spend time with him.
Tonight we are going to celebrate and have a Christmas dinner here at the base. Being here at the base has been great and it has been a great time to meet people from so many nations, traditions, and backgrounds and to make friends and relationships. It's a nice place and the community life is great. It's nice to see so many people excited about God in one place...united in heart and spirit. It has been a good time here for me just to experience goodness. Now...I'm starting to enjoy being in India. I am starting to appreciate the community, the food, the beauty, the nice tropical climate during the winter months.

Maharashtra

2008-12-02T23:23:00.000-08:00

A few days ago...I traveled to Maharashtra. Now i'll be here taking visiting my friend Christian and taking a course for at least the next few weeks...

Dharamsala

2008-11-30T00:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a view from the top of our house in Dharamsala! It is quite a beautiful place! I have enjoyed my time here and to be able to stay here. I did miss thanksgiving in the states though... As they don't celebrate it here...It was hard... But the times have been good. I have enjoyed the daily home fellowships and to be able to share faith. Now, however, I'll be leaving Dharamsala. I'll be going to visit a friend of mine in the south of India. Now I am really starting to realize I am in India. It is a beautiful country with many different tribes and tongues. Yet, at the same time it is a country that is in great political and religious termoil.

Thanksgiving in India

2008-11-27T01:45:00.000-08:00

Today is a different thanksgiving. Today Mumbai hit by one of the sadest days in India's history. Over a hundred were killed in Maharashtra. Today we can be thankful for the freedom and blessing that God has given to our nation and people. But let us pray for those who suffer from the ills of impoverished and unsafe lands.

The tibetan government in exile

2008-11-23T00:56:00.000-08:00

So now...I've been in Dharamsala for over 3 weeks. It has been an incredible experience. I am in a different world...a world so far and removed from hyper-modern civilization. To see the see those who express a similar faith are few and far between...Little houses, with no electricity or running water scatter the mountains and hills and valleys. Temples of idols, worship of animals, and Bhuddism prominate the land enchanting the people. This is a place of great beauty...yet with beauty comes a harder life...Now...I'm learning the nepali language...and a little hindi...It's a strange place here in the Kangra district... There are people speaking Tibetan, Pahari, Punjabi, Hindi, Nepali, and other languages... There are so many people groups and tribes...and so many untouched by western civilization or religion...

I hope that others would join me in exploring these mountains and the people who have lived here for thousands of years...THe culture is so rich with food and clothes that are so different in tradition, beauty and taste...

I am in Dharmsala

2008-11-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

Now, I have been in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India for two days. I have a cold. The place is amazing. It is a different world here. I am just a walk away from the house of the Dalai Lama.

Do not Fear...

2008-10-31T23:51:00.000-07:00

As many have heard, the current relgious and political situation here in India now is quite tense. There have been countless amounts of attacks, bombings, and terrorism in these last two months. When confronted by these things, it is important that we do not fear; that we go out and live and love... I was talking to Kristin P. and she encouraged me saying, "Do not fear..." This morning I was reading and I came across this: "The sluggard says, 'There is a lion outside!' or, 'I will be murdered in the streets!'" (proverbs 22:13). Another friend of mine, Laubia, wrote me a scripture out of Psalms 23: "Though i walk through the valley of death...I shall fear no Evil..." When things get tough...sometimes need not fear, but know that God is with us...and walk couragously trusting in Him for our strength and protection.

दिवाली

2008-10-29T14:06:00.001-07:00

Here I am in India in the midst दिवाली (Diwali:the festival of lights) an ancient religious holiday which is celebrated by the exchanging of presents and Chrismas-like lights and fourth of July like fire displays in the midle of the streets। Here I am in the midst of another world, another tradition so foreign...Last night professional display fireworks were shot off by kids just a few feet away from the front door of my family's house... It was amazing.

New Delhi

2008-10-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

I am now in New Delhi, India. I am just taking it all in.

Stazione Di Lode

2008-10-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight was amazing at Stazione di Lode. I really love these people. I made some really good friends there...And they are such beautiful and friendly people. They prayed for me and for my trip to India and blessed me. The leaders Maximus and Dorkus have a vision to do 24/7 worship and prayer here in Milan...They reminded me so much of IHOP, but they have so much of their own Italian flavor...I encourage others to come and be involved in their ministry bringing 24/7 prayer to Italy.

Sant' Eustorgio Alpha Course

2008-10-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

So Last night I had an awesome time at the Alpha Course here Sant'Eustorgio church in Milan. At our table, the "English speaking table" we had discussions answering the question, "Why did Jesus die on the Cross?" There were two artists, a vetranarian, a medical doctor, an actor, a dancer...and myself...There were perspectives from every area of thought. It was good. One answered, "I don't know why..." Another, "I don't know if I believe in Jesus...I have my own idea of spirituality..." And another, "To bring us back together and in relationship." Eric lead the group and we were really able to dive deep into the question. I am glad about what God is doing here in the Catholic church...And I pray that God would continue to open doors and give opportunity for the truth of Jesus' message to be shared...

On another note...just two more days until I leave Milan for India...

Missions in Milan

2008-10-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I filmed of my friend Maurizzio here in Milan. He is pioneering house church planting here in Milan and he invites others to see Milan as a mission field.

Sleepy time

2008-10-13T15:19:00.001-07:00

Hey...It's late...But i thought i'd just say...7 more days until my plane leaves for India. It's been good here though...And today...Finally, I was able to get some youtube videos up for ywam Milan. Check them out.

Diving into the heart of God

2008-10-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today...I played guitar at Stazione di Lode and Remar Italia. It was good. They asked me to stay and be a missionary here.

It's hard to leave...I know something awaits me in India...and I know i'm going...but it's hard...especially after making some meaningful relationships. It's hard to leave...knowing there's something behind...a family in Christ...a mission to share God...and most of all Love...that's what is important.]

I feel like lately i've just been diving into heart of God...Experiencing His Love in new ways...amoung different people of different languages, places, history and ways of thinking. I'm priveleged to be here in the midst of this place...

So...I thought it might just be interesting for me to write here...my impressions in words of this place: fashion, arts, music, materialism, cars, cigarette buts, a lost generation, a barely alive almost dead church, catholocism, ghothic, renaissance art, prostituition, Albanians, Moroccans, Egyptions, other North Africans in abundance, Phillipinos, Indians, Arabic, Italian, people of all nations--especially the ones we don't see so many of in the US, metros, converse shoes, dark, dreary, sexual dysfunction, machuism, an ill thought of communism, pizza, gelato.

2008-10-07T15:03:00.001-07:00

I'm going to Bed...I'm so tired...Tommorow we have a full schedule with the School of Evangelism from Norway! It should be fun! :-)

Relaxing Saturday

2008-10-04T05:59:00.001-07:00

Today, Is a nice relaxing day to end the week. I am glad just to have time to relax and spend time slowing down after a busy week. It's nice to have some time to write emails, veg-out, and just take it easy. We have been doing a lot with communications and building the new website and visiting churches, and working with the Alpha course. This last week we had the chance to go to the opening dinner in the famous Sant'Eustorgio church for the Alpha course which was really special. People from many nations gathered for this dinner--over 170 guests came. There was an Italian actor and film producer, Eric Alexander, that spoke with his wife about how the Alpha course answers the basic questions of faith in a powerful way. We had a wonderful conversation; He was very friendly, and down to earth. In this picture, Luigi the amazing chef, myself and Eric are in Sant' Eustorgio.

I really see this as being a cultivating place for art, film, and media for missions.

Chiesa Cristiana Evangelica Battista

2008-09-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Today, I went to a cell-church out in a village outside of Milan. It was really nice and there were some Brazilians there too. And one guy, Thomas, from there was going to do his DTS in Brasil. I was very exciting. We had a chance to share our personal testimonies to everyone there. It was a really warm experience and I was excited to see that there were people alive for God and desiring to see this nation touched by Jesus.

I also bought my ticket today to go to Delhi, India! I will be traveling there on the 20th of October. :-) It's coming close.

Filming in Milan

2008-09-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

Today, Tina from Finland, Stacey and Angie from the US, and I went to Milan to film different people and ask them about what they thought about Jesus and God. It was a good experience for us. We were able to see the various perspectives of the people here in this town and their need for God. There were various responses, as we talked with various people from around the world. But there was a common theme or thread amoung the people. I asked one man, "Is it alright if I film you?" And he said, "It's ok, but if it's about Politics or Religion I don't want anything to do about it." There is a thread of coldness towards religion in this city. Yet, at the same time, it is like there are gods just in disguise. Fashion and football run through the vains of these people in this city. Their world is somehow surrounded by fashion and sport and thats what is so important here. Signs about fashion are displayed throughout the city, in the metro, in every concession stand. It is all around, there is no way to escape it; and it influences culture. I saw a sign with a picture of a model on a clothe store today, and it said, "Love me!" She was decorated in all the finest clothes from this store...And it made me think, "What is life when someone thinks that love is something that you can buy?"

After filming, we came back to the house, and we had a great meal with the Tommasi family! It was wonderful. They made some sort of bread with tomato on it. I took one bite of it and thought, "wow this stuff is delicious." Stacey then asked, "Hey, so what's on this?" And Luigi said, "Tomatos and Anchovies!" When he said that I said, "WHAT?" I couldn't help but laugh at Stacey's bulging eye expression!

At the YWAM Milan base

2008-09-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

It's been good being here for the last three days. I have had so many good experiences and just getting a chance to be with Luigi and Paola, and Tiina a girl from Finland who has come to help, who are pioneering the base here in Milan has been a very special. We have been visiting churches and ministires and meeting young people. I am excited for what God has here and I am excited about God doing a transformation in this nation to love and to find fulfilment in God sending young people to the ends of the earth to do missions through this place! :-)

Here is a picture of me with a group of people from a church we went to last night--which was doing intercession and worship! They were very receptive and prayed for us and the vision of YWAM Milan and for the country of India. It was awesome.

Goodbye Holland...YWAM Milan here we come...

2008-09-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

It has been an awesome time in Holland. Living here at the stable has been awesome and a great experience. I have enjoyed the time to spend with friends and see Amsterdam and Rotterdam and make friends with the Dutch people. I hope in the future that I can revisit the streets of Amsterdam and work along side them in their missions projects in the RedLight District. It is an amazing place of diversity and culture. There are people here from all over the world. The foreigner, the prostitute, the orphan, and the lost street kid cry out for a God of mercy, compassion and Love.

Today was pretty cool too. I was able to go to Elisabeth and Jaap's church. The sermon was really good. It was about how God has set us free, though we were enemies, and gave the peace offering! The pastor spoke up against religious laws and extra rules and emphasized that we were set free by Christ and His love and that through His love we can really realize how to love those around us--even our enemies.

Now, I'm getting ready for a 14 hour bus ride to the YWAM Milan base. I leave here now and then I'll arrive in Milan in the morning. Oh...I hope I will be able to get some sleep on that train! I am excited with this opportunity to help the Tommasi family with communications, while they pioneer this new base bringing and extending God's love to the city of Milan!

The Old Dutch Barn

2008-09-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. I was able to help work here at the house and chisel away at old bricks from an old barn made in the 15th century. It was really a blessing and I had a chance to spend time with Luke and his son Peter. Luke calls his 75 year old barn house he calls "young." It was quite fun and he shared about the 25 years and 2 days of marriage him and his wife have been celebrating. It was a good time!

In Krimpen !

2008-09-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

The town Krimpen is a nice little cozy town here in Holland. It's quite nice. Today I had a chance to go to Elisabeth's church here. It was good. It was a little more reformed than Mt. Zion or the Potler's house church or any church i'm used to. But it was great to be amoung believers here in Holland and enjoy the fellowship. The message was great too. It was about praising God in the midst of all things whether suffering or not. It's a difficult thing sometimes, because when things get hard...It is hard to see anything good in the circumstance if we don't keep our eyes on Jesus.

I'm excited for what God has here each day..and I am just taking it one day at a time here watching out for what God might have in store each day. But I'm very excited now, because i've been welcomed to help with communications at the YWAM base in Milan that is being pioneered right now and after that with YWAM in India.

At the van Doornes' house in Krimpen aan de Lek.

2008-09-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I heard some people playing praise music downstairs here at the barn--where i've been abundantly blessed with a wonderful place to stay for two weeks here in Rotterdam--and i went down for a listen. There was a family jamming away at the Piano, Clarinette, and singing away. It was glorious. They were singing Dutch songs along with some American songs with Dutch lyrics. And I had a chance to sing along. Then the van Doorne family, Jepta, Micha, Roel, Jessica, and Ada welcomed me for dinner. I ate with them and we discussed everything from Politics, Geography, and Missions, to Religion, and Philosophies and styles of life. We had some American Hamburgers with some "American Sauce" which wasn't remotely American at all which made it pretty funny. It's funny here in Holland they call some of their foods "American" and yet they look nothing like anything i've ever seen in America before.

In the Netherlands for Jaap and Elisabeth's Wedding!

2008-09-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

I have been having a great time here in the Netherlands! Today, I went to my friends Jaap and Elisabeth's wedding. It was incredible! It was a really special occasion! And a reunion for Elisabeth, Jaap, Annette, and I who did our DTS in Recife, Brazil this last year. The wedding was awesome! We had wedding pictures in the morning, followed by a court wedding, then we had a suprise! The parents didn't even know about it, but Elisabeth and Japp suprised us with a few hour long boat ride on the Rhine River between Rotterdam and Den Haag! Then after that we went to the church for the ceremonial service! Then after that we had a great big party and all the guests were invited to sing songs and dance and fellowship together until the wee hours of the morning. It was a really special time of blessing for me and my friends from YWAM Brazil!

2007-01-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

This last Friday, I was supposed to leave to go to Recife, Brazil for a YWAM(Youth With A Mission) DTS(Discipleship Training School) this last Friday. However, i wasn't able to because of visa problems. I talked to the consulate on Friday and they said, "you need to wait for three weeks to one month for us to get permission from Brazil to authorize your visa...there are no other options...and you cannot apply for a tourist visa because you are not a tourist "

So for the last few days i had been sitting at home thinking, wondering, praying. I was reflecting on how everything has seemed so right. I felt the pull and call to go to Brazil. I asked the base over 20 questions all of which they answered as i had desired. I even found out, after contacting the base through the Internet, that someone named Nish from the base knew my friends Joy and Liliana Dongardive from Pune who i spent three weeks working with earlier this spring. In addition, all the money i needed to go for the DTS has been given to me--i was even invited to a budget meeting for Missions at the church I attend (Mt. Zion United Methodist in Bel Air, Md). All my planning for fundraising was haphazardly planned last minute; yet all the funds i needed were accounted for. I was given $6,200 plus a free ticket from here to Rio de Janeiro. Devon and Kristin Potler, Mt. Zion, and many friends supported me in my vision and my desire to go. I even overcame hurdles in getting an FBI report that was supposed to take 8-10 weeks in two weeks and to top it off i received it on Christmas Eve. Yet, even through all this my heart was sunken.

And while i was sunken, i found myself caught up in the idea that--well, if i would have done this or if i would have done that then this wouldn't of happened and then i would be alright or better off. In essence, i was actually letting the circumstance entangle me. It reminded me of Peter and his incident with Jesus out on the water. Here he is. Here's this guy and he's out on the boat and things are ok and Jesus is telling him, "Come!" and he is all ready to go and then story reads that "he [Peter] saw the wind and he started to sink." And Jesus catches him and says, "You of little faith... why did you doubt?" Don't we all do this though. Here God is desiring us to have such a faith as to be able to walk on water when the waves get high. We so easily regress to that familiar way of thinking and rationalizing rather than responding, following and communing with God.

This last Wednesday the idea of communing with God hit me in a real tangible way. I was at the burning heart fellowship, my friend Tony shared about how we can meditate on scripture. Often we are trying to learn the scriptures we think about reading, writing, and talking about scriptures. I mean, we go to countless bible studies, churches and we get into this pattern of reading, writing and listening to a pastor speak the scriptures and to be honest--sometimes it gets dull and we get bored--we may even say that its never boring--but we sit in church, bible study and yawn away; it can be so bad sometimes that everyone leaves right after the pastor is done talking and you feel like you have just left the church or place empty handed. Well, Tony mentioned something that we can do to make the scriptures come alive and take on flesh and power in a exhilarating way through Praying and Singing the scriptures. Through singing scriptures together or individually, we can have this sort of Holy communion with God. In fact, the scriptures even encourage us to Sing the scriptures to one another: "Speak one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord...(Eph. 5:19)" And why not do it differently with new shapes and sounds and textures--with freedom for God to move? So this weekend, i had been online and checking out the web stream at the IHOP(International House of Prayer) website and they do this and I have just had visions of having more of these throughout the world--in India, Indonesia, Brazil, Africa--where there is freedom to worship the scriptures in song all the time 24-7.