3rd World Revelations

Going to Haiti brings an all out assault on the sense. Reinforced by my multiple returns, it was the smells of 1979 that I remember even to this day. It is the utter poverty staring you in the face and you wonder, often aloud: "How do people live this way?"

That question changed over the week with The Park Church team. "Why does the government allow people to live this way?"

It became a real question, perhaps THE question, when the team saw the new Olympic training center on the way to build the house. It makes one wonder about priorities. (I did a little research and found the center is one of several being built in developing countries, a project of the IOC, not Haiti).

But the area in which we are buiding, Bon Repos, is where the government has moved a large number of earthquake refugees, out away from the city. They are now the poorest of the poor in the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

It begs the question about your own priorities when your senses are assaulted and your eyes are forced to view the imbalance day after day.

So often the team has asked: "Where do you start?" And that is the question.

In 2003 I started something called The Live Simply Project, a way to help more people in the 1st world make a difference in the 3rd world. It's a practical way to provide some detachment from our 1st world frustrations and impact the 3rd world in significant ways. The concept is simple: Live More Simply So Others Might Simply Live. In everyday terms, at Christmas, spend less on yourself than before and give that portion to the poor of our world. Cut it in half. Go even further if you dare, touching the core of God's blessing to the truly generous.

Something I said at the beginning of Live Simply applies to this Haiti trip. "We can't solve all the problems of the world, but we can make a difference in one piece of the world and in that way we'll be changing our world." Change a life and you change a family and a community and a region, then a nation and finally touching the world. It works. I've seen it first hand.

It's not unlike making changes in our personal lives, you know, getting rid of habits that aren't helpful - reducing debt - practicing spiritual disciplines - spending more time with family. The way those changes happen is one at a time. Most people don't make the changes because they focus on the big picture. What I've learned is that if I'll change just one thing in one area, focusing on a smaller area, then it impacts my whole life. Pick just one.

Let me say it another way: When you ask, "Where do I start?" The answer is: "Choose something and start there." For Haiti: "Choose to do something personally, in one area, in one place and you'll make a difference in your world."

The government is corrupt - maybe not every individual but as a whole. We can't change that. We can change the life of a child.

Haven't been immersed in the 3rd world for a week or more? Try this to get an idea of the application of 3rd world revelations. It works for all of us:

• track how many times you eat out and reduce is by 50% over the next month, give the rest to a mission in the 3rd world
• cut your Christmas spending on yourself in half and send the rest to Haiti or some other country of your choice
• send friends and family a note at Christmas and birthdays that reads something like: "This year I made a donation to ________ in your honor." Make the donation at least as much as you would have normally spent anyway.
• take a mission vacation - take the dollars you would spend on a family vacation and divide it - go on the vacation and spend half your time and dollars serving somewhere during that same timeframe
• eliminate your indebtedness so that you can have the flexibility to give and serve in greater ways

There are a hundred things you could do. The point is, do something. The assault of the 3rd world - even to someone who has been there 8 times as I have - can be overwhelming. The key is to choose something and concentrate there. Change a life and you change the world.

If you want my recommendation for a mission agency to donate through, take a look at One Mission Society. You can sponsor a child through Starfish Kids - or sponsor a Seminary Student @ Emmaus Biblical Seminary in Cap Haitien. Or choose some other project in the dozens of countries they serve around the world. Of course, here at home there is great need as well and I would never dissuade someone from doing what Jesus would do, whether here or around the world.

Want to go on a trip to Haiti or somewhere else God lays on your heart? Contact my friend Bill Evans @ OMS - 317-888-3333. You can hop on an already planned trip or create your own. The key is: DO SOMETHING.

If you're in the Maineville - Lebanon - Morrow area around Cincinnati and don't have a church home - come to The Park United Methodist Church this week to hear a few stories from some of the team. God has changed lives both there and here.

Random Haiti

Random is a great word for Haiti. There's rich and poor next to each other. There's dirt and mud underneath pristine white dresses on Sundays. There are working cars and motorcycles passing broken cars and motorcycles. Driving is definitely random.

The main market, which has been the main market for decades would compare to us going to a Walmart. It's where you would find everything from food to clothing. It's the same market I visited with a team in 1979 but much has changed. The market area was flattened by the earthquake and now it's replaced, as was so much of the Capital, especially the Petionville area.

1979

1979

2014

2014

Quite a difference. Of course, I can't be certain of the exact location of each but I'm assured by life-long residents it is the same market location.

One of the things unique to the Caribbean (probably tropics) are falling fruit that can knock you out! On the Villa compound are both mango and bread fruit trees. They are around the pool area so you have to be careful where you put a chair or choose to stand for a conversation. On Tuesday morning while Robyn and I were waiting for our departure, I set up two chairs, carefully looking up to make sure the bread fruit wasn't going to transport me to the twilight zone. I went to get water from one of the coolers set up and hear the large leaves rustling with a fruit falling. BOOM! It lands on my chair! I moved again (smart guy that I am) and a few moment later while sitting down, another came crashing through the leaves, bouncing to a stop within arms reach.

The final piece of randomness came through this young man, Gregory Joseph. He met us at the Cap Haitien compound in 2007, spending a great deal of time with his friends, talking with the teens on the trip that year. One was my daughter, Kathryn. Long story short, Tuesday morning required a search for my passport as we couldn't locate it in the safe. It was found, having slipped inside one of the newer, thicker passports - mine being 8 years old. Gregory works in the office a few days each month. He recognized the name during the search. He has completed his high school education and is into business school. Gregory credited the conversation with that group of teens (long conversations each evening) as the catalyst to pursue his education. You just never know what random encounters God will use to grow people.

I'm excited to hear news from today's work. The team is back at the compound, no doubt enjoying a dip in the pool before dinner @ 6.

Always Only Good - #Haiti2014

Life is always full of potential possibilities for detours, delays and getting drafted to things you didn't expect (or sometimes sign up for). I've experienced my share of these on mission trips:

• electricity that doesn't work
• plumbing that plugs up
• injuries that happen (I think every time I've been involved in a construction trip, I've hurt myself somehow, whether just some scratches or a nail through a boot into my foot)
• sickness that occurs
• projects planned that detour to a more pressing need
• delayed planes
• cancelled flight with a team of 26 headed home from Mexico
• forgotten passports or birth certificates (in the old days)

Most of the complaints are related to 1st world conveniences - some expose a hidden selfishness or self-centeredness, or perhaps a need for control when things don't go as planned creating uncertainty in a heart that isn't settled on Who is in control.

Some are totally out of our control like cancelled or delayed flights or the sickness that comes along.

I once heard a speaker refer to the fact that some of the best and most pleasurable things in life happen when we're out of control. He listed a few and I had to agree. It was helpful in opening my eyes to the possibilities of the unknown when things don't go as I planned. I'm reminded of a quote: "If you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans."

I'm writing on the plane from Port-au-Prince (PAP) to Miami and then onto Columbus. Robyn is not well and we're getting her home. She didn't like that I came along but OMS protocol says no one leaves unaccompanied and I couldn't agree more. "God will do something great with this," I said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Many times I've mentioned my highly scientifict, deeply theological method for understanding God's will for my life. Are you sitting down? Pay Attention! That's it. We're just travelers on a journey through this life with someone else at the helm. Pay attention to the people you come in touch with and the circumstances that surround you, to the gifts and talents you're given and to the experiences of your life.

Jumla was our driver to the airport, also picking us up on our arrival. He is a believer and so we had a chance to talk as he wove in between cars, and drove like any other Haitian, basically without regard to road markings. He was laughing and praising God when I asked if his home was crushed in the earthquake. "No," he said. "But every other home around me was." He gave thanks to God for the circumstances (while in no way saying God was with Him more than his neighbors). I was encouraged by his faith.

In the PAP airport we sat at a table with 4 men from New Brunswick, Canada. One has been 14 times to Haiti, to one of two orphanages supported by his church. He's 79 years old and when I thanked him for what he's doing with what he's given he teared up, visibly moved, a humble man who obviously loves The Lord.

Two of the men were from that church and two from two others. As we shared our connections and experiences to Haiti and beyond, I mentioned Estonia. Terry has a connection with a man who runs a mission in Estonia. We exchanged that information. Then Athletes in Action came up and Terry knows a guy in New Brunswick who connects with AIA through his own ministry. I got that information, saying, "I don't believe in chance meetings. This is a God thing." I was paying attention.

On the plane we were surrounded by people from the states - a young lady heading home to Minneapolis after 5 weeks in a place I'd never heard of. She chose it and the organization because there are only 2 agencies serving the village. She is on her way to medical school in the Fall and wanted to take this summer to serve, planning to return.

5 college age students from Mt. Carmel in Cincinnati and a team from Mansfield, OH. All of them with that bug for missions, for serving outside the comfort zone. One young man obviously enthralled with a young lady (and she with him) was on his first trip - she on her 5th. Whatever it takes, The Lord will use!!!

God never wastes an experience. God always redeems what He allows. Part of the fun in life is watching for just how He will do those things. I don't do that perfectly well by any means. I can get easily frustrated by unwanted and unexpected situations.

If your plans have been derailed by sickness, keep an eye out. God will do something with it.

Ever been betrayed? God has for some reason allowed it. It could be the most fun of your life to be part of His redemptive process.

Found yourself in unfamiliar surroundings? Look for signs that He is working, because He is.

Keep an eye out, God is working.

When circumstances put us on a detour, an unplanned delay of some sort, we're presented with a choice of obsessing on the event, frustrated by the change - or focused on God who "works in all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

The detour could be a whole new path in life. It could bring about new relationships with new endings. The unexpected could come about by the selfish acts of sinful man or through personal mistakes and unwise choices. It doesn't matter how - it does matter Who is in control.

I don't know why God allows everything. I don't know why God causes some things. I don't know why God doesn't stop some things. And I guess that's the foundation of how to follows Romans 8:28 - I don't know it all, I can't see the big picture but I can trust the heart of God.

So whether sinful man or stupid choices on my part or stuff just happens because I live in an imperfect world populated by imperfect humans, I can believe in good things coming from it because of His heart and character. He is always good.

It's Another Day.....in Haiti

The workday has begun again for the team - most of the team. One member is still sick so two are flying out today with the prayers of The Park Church, OMS and the team remaining here.

The first day on the job site is summed up with these words: adorable kids, wonderful breeze, sunburn even with sunscreen, new nickname for Joe Dooley (Lobster Boy). Seems that most everyone missed the right nail at least once while

assembling trusses. But something makes you forget the pain - cute kids with big smiles loving the attention and enjoying the enveloping arms of visitors, who are taken aback by the little surrounding them that leads to happiness.

Coming to Haiti isn't about going home full of guilt about what you have. It's different for everyone but at some level it's about...

- realizing stuff doesn't make you happy

- understanding most of your complaints in life are about 1st world problems (like standing in line at a grocery store full of good)

- deciding that it's not about what you have but what you'll do with what you have that brings meaning and a smile to life

Last night we read in Colossians 3 about what to put off and what to put on, what to put to death (crucified life) and what to make sure lives in our lives. I asked the team a question: "what is the one thing that you could get rid of - stop doing - that would make a difference in your life?" There was a loud thinking silence. God is speaking. We are listening.

Short-term missions can be a not so good thing sometimes but mostly when we think the mission experience ends when we leave. For me the mission is complete only when we do back home

what we did here - sacrificial service that is inconvenient, perhaps unconventional, and isn't necessarily comfortable. I'm not suggesting flagulation mind you. I'm suggesting that discipleship isn't always comfortable or convenient or conventional.

We talked for a bit about what we could do back home. A few ideas were tossed around. We'll see when we meet for a wrap up time after returning. It's a chance for team to change a church (not that it's not already a really good church but spiritual growth and impact is God's goal). And in changing a church we will transform families and therefore neighborhoods and places of business, eventually touching a community and then our world.

I can't tell you how proud I am to be called Pastor @ The Park Church. A team of 16 from a church that saw more than half it's attendance go off to start a different church on their own. It says something when people are learning, attendance is growing, per capita giving has increased and total giving is creeping toward record highs; when gaps are filled by willing servants and people want to know "Where are we going to serve next?"

There is a video of the team's departure this morning posted on the church website "theparkchurch.com" - lots of photos can be seen in Joseph Dooley's Facebook page.

Thank you to each of you who helped us get here, have prayed for us along the way and are anticipating our arrival home. The stories will transform you as they are shared from a transformed heart.

The Divide

There's a divide here in Haiti and it can easily be missed. Well, in some places in can be. Today I'm sitting at the Villa while the team is out working. I'm not feeling great (first experience in 35+ mission trips) and hope after a restful day to regain some energy, I'll join in the work for the next days - although it will be less work than normal with lots of breaks.

This is my view for the day and it's deceptive. I've sat here in previous days but for moments. It could be mistaken for a caribbean paradise if you don't look closely. That big tree to the right of the umbrella is full of delicious mangos. The water in the pool is refreshing. The tropical flowers and especially, just on the left edge of the photo, is a beautiful bougainvellia (I think). Under the blue canopy is a drink cooler with refreshing coke, sprite and a local flavor. Water coolers surround us with refreshing, cold water. Palm trees speak of a tropical paradise.

But look closely, just above the blue canopy, and you'll see the divide. We're surrounded by it on all sides. It's there to keep what's out out. This morning we were treated to a plume of smoke from burning trash, just over that blue canopy - on the outside. It's a brutal world outside these walls.

I'd like to be here, sitting beside this pool, with a rum & coke. I'd prefer a little umbrella in my drink and a clear view of the Caribbean blue waters.

Last night we talked about discipleship - if we're truly crucified with Christ and it is Christ living in us and no longer we for ourselves, then what are the practical implications? It ultimately comes down to choices - will I serve me and what I want or will I serve Him and follow His call? And I've heard it all over this quarter century of church leadership.

"It used to be this way and that's what we need to do again."

"I want to pick and choose what I do here and I don't like doing that thing."

"I just didn't feel like getting up today."

"Another church had something better today so I went there."

Discipleship is about serving others and not ourselves. What we find, I said last night, is that when we give up that which we don't want to for the thing we know God is calling us to, we discover that what we gain is far better than what we feared giving up.

We're called to cross the divide rather than stay where we want, feeding our own desires in exchange for His call. Leadership, for instance, is all about the ones we serve, not about us. My life is hidden in Christ (Colossians 3) - my past is hidden away - my present is about serving Him - my future has an already promised destination. My position is as if I'm already seated with Him. In my present condition, God asks me to trust Him to grow my heart and life, bringing my position and condition closer together. That requires discipleship. Saying yes to Him which means saying no to some other things. In discipleship we can't have it both ways. But, I'll say it again, that which we gain is far greater than that which we feared giving up.

Are you a ship enjoying the harbor rather than the open seas you were designed for? What is the name of the tropical pool you would like to lounge by rather than crossing the divide into discipleship? What step will you take to begin today?

Here's to another day tomorrow, an opportunity to grow the condition of my heart to match the position of my eternity.

Sunday June 8

Another day in Haiti means another day of learning - seeing - listening - experiencing - connecting - serving. From church this morning which was long and hot with marvelous singing, cute kids, and a difficult to hear translation that, well, made for a long morning BUT (by the way "but" is the most powerful word in Scripture when followed by "God") GOD showed up. The Pastor was engaging to the congregation so I know they were learning. God showed up in that we got to appreciate worshipping the same God who transcends culture. God showed up in the conversations it created. And of course I was pleased to hear that people would never again complain about the length of my prayers!

A wonderful lunch buffet where we met a medical team from NY followed our worship. The country is full of missionaries. There is so much need.

Most of the team traveled up some of the hill behind the Villa to an orphanage. That's where hearts are stolen and you leave a piece of yourself in Haiti. There are photos being posted on FB pages and certainly many to see when we return. Children are so free with their love. They are unashamed - not worrying about how they look or present themselves. They simply love you and enjoy life.

Tonight we begin to look at the opening verses of Colossians 3. Following our discussion of grace last night it's appropriate to talk about our lives being "hidden with Christ." So much of our lives are spent trying to impress others - to present ourselves as someone we are not (like when we say we're "good" when we're really not). We are not in need of masks because our lives are hidden with Christ. He presents us blameless - righteous - clean. We have no need to present ourselves otherwise.

Continue praying for the team. One of the adults is feeling 100% better, having not gone to church with us today. And now I am not 100% and probably will not join the team tomorrow. Better to rest and be ready for the next days. Bon Repos is only 7 miles away which translates to 90 minutes or more in the truck. Not a place to get sick. Everyone else is physically well and coming together as a team. The sharing goes deeper and deeper as we move through our days together. These coming days are when teams really learn and grow. This is the life change stuff. Keep the prayers coming.

A Learning Day

Today was a learning day, a day spend putting a context to the circumstances surrounding us. From the pictures it could look similar to some vacations but let me assure you that it's anything but.

Today was about understanding the people we at here to serve. "Where do you begin," was one question asked. Those in the conversation soon realized that because the basic needs for everyday have to be met each and every day that there's no room for thinking or acting beyond.

It's one big reason I love partnering with OMS. They are working on meeting those needs through their network of churches. Through Starfish Kids they're trying to change a generation that can lead later and lead from a spiritual foundation. They're building homes and meeting some basic needs in order to provide the margin to hear the Gospel. That's what we're doing here and it became very clear today.

The Park Church can be proud of the teens you helped send here. The questions have been deep and thoughtful already. They are thinking and considering "What does this mean for my life?"

Tonight we consider this scripture: "If righteousness could be gained through the law then Christ died for nothing." Galatians 2:21. Jesus died for nothing if we can earn our way to a right relationship with God by being good and doing good things. But if we can't earn it and we need Jesus, what are the implications for our everyday lives? What about our work here? What about our relationship with the Haitians we meet and the family whose home we will build?

Grace is a wonderful and terribly troubling thing all at once. For people who have nothing to give back we get to pour on some grace this week.

Sunday we head to church (probably 2 hours long), enjoy a wonderful lunch and then prepare for a difficult, exhausting and awesome week of work.

Thanks for your prayers.