This morning I was the scheduled 10:30 AM chapel speaker. At 5 AM I crawled out of bed in order to prepare my animated talk that included props. Just after 8 AM I left the house allotting ample time to run a few errands enroute. Wrong! Quickly I entered a monstrous stop and go traffic [...]
An old pal of mine has a great blog called crux probat omnia. His latest entry, “8 inches or less”, begins by discussing the cosmetic enforcement in his suburban Minnesota neighborhood. The municipal code allows homeowners to have grass no taller than 8 inches. Strict? I don’t know. A bit ridiculous that the local law [...]
Over the past year our church and adjoined elementary school in Tijuana have received a tremendous amount of volunteer labor and financial help from the outside (specifically from churches and individuals from the U.S. and Canada). Those who have come have given wholeheartedly. Hence the dramatic improvement of our grounds and facilities.
The last group that [...]
My last article centered on the negative effects of outside cash. Today we talk briefly about the positives.
The good things that come from help from outside are obvious. Someone gets fed, gets a home, goes to school, gets medical treatment, or gets a loan. NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and countries are the two sources of [...]
A few articles back I wrote about an ex-fundraiser. In the article I wrote:
We were discussing the balance of positive and negative effects of ‘outside’ money. Essentially, how do the receivers of outside money react to whatever they’ve been given after a given period of time?
A keyword in the above sentences is “balance.” I [...]
In my mind Mike is incredibly missions-minded. His number one concern is for the lost. When an opportunity presents itself, he drops whatever else he has going on to attend to a person’s needs. This is his mode of operation.
He lives and works in a third world country as both a pastor and a volunteer [...]
A friend of mine recently returned from Mozambique after a two year stint with the Peace Corps. He brought back amazing stories of life in the African nation, some intriguing views on Christian missions in the area, and a three page document that is the focus of this article. 25 Tips for Peace [...]
Four articles ago I wrote about commentaries, and I think I’ve successfully offended my audience. Please let me rewrite my thoughts.
The last article went something like, “don’t tell me what to do, I know what I’m doing, etc”. Wrong direction. This article will take us down the hopeful and intended path: The error of attempting [...]
I had tacos with the ex-fundraiser of a very large Christian relief organization. By “very large”, I mean in excess of $800 million a year. Guy made a decent cut by finding sponsors and raising funds for international projects. He had finished working with the organization a few years back and was now doing the [...]
This may not hit many of you, but as a missionary one sure receives a bunch of commentaries. Wow!, it seems as if everyone has the solution to the problem I didn’t know I had.
Case in point (well, a bit roundabout, but I’ll get to it!): Today I closed the doors to a little [...]