I love using “whilst” in a blog post…

I’m learning that I have a really bad habit of not blogging. I always intend to blog more…I’ve even opened up WordPress and started a new post, only to stop a paragraph in and not pick it up until a few more months has passed. The odd part about all this is how I was reminded that I haven’t blogged in a while. I was on Twitter and one of the people I was following “retweeted” a “tweet” from one of the people they are following. I clicked on this new user to see who they were and I saw they were a blogger, which reminded me that I haven’t blogged in a while. Yes, I know that was an insanely “round-about” way, and quite unnecessary to the purpose of the rest of this post, way to tell you that I need to blog more (which you probably already know anyways).

A lot has happened in my life since the last time I blogged (seems to be a trend for my last few blog posts). About a month ago I was hired in the Admissions office for a local, private university. I really enjoy it because it really allows me to help people that aren’t used to being helped very often in life. Bringing hope to people in tough situations, and just the environment overall, remind me a lot of ministry, which is a huge passion in my life. But I’ll be honest, the road to getting to this point was not fun, nor was it one that I enjoyed. But, it was one that definitely pushed me in my faith.

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to God and faith, I like to think (or hope rather) that everything will be alright in my life. I know that God may not make me a billionaire, but I like to think I’ll be well off. I’ll have a nice job, a nice house, a nice family, etc. etc. It’s times like the last few months that remind me, God never promised that. He promises us that He will provide for us and take care of us, but He also promises us that we will endure trials. If anything, as a Christian, we’re probably more inclined to endure trials than others. Now, this isn’t God being a mean father by any means. On the contrary, He’s being a good father, one that loves us. I’m not a father, but one thing I have learned is that a good parent doesn’t just give their child everything they want, especially not when they want it. Think about it, as much as a good parent wants to do this, their child won’t learn anything or grow or develop as a human being if this were the case.

It’s the same thing with God. It stinks, but the only way to really grow in our relationship with Him is to go through hardship, is to be challenged, is to be tested. No, I am not trying to say that one cannot grow in their walk with Christ if they are being blessed with a great family, car, house, job, etc. But, I do believe that most people would agree that they have grown and developed the most when they (in this case, their faith) has been challenged. By being challenged and going through hardships, it forces us, as His children, to learn to lean and depend on God. This is what I had to go through.

Whilst I was searching for a job, I continuously questioned why I couldn’t find a job. I was honestly starting to feel as though God didn’t care about me, that He just left me all alone, that maybe He didn’t care. But I was failing to see the bigger picture. Maybe, just maybe, there was a reason God wanted me to go through that time of unemployment. Maybe I needed to wait until the job I am currently in was available, maybe I wasn’t ready for this job straight out of college, the list goes on and on and on. I’m beginning to unpack why God may have wanted me to experience that time of confusion and loneliness, but I think that no matter what the answer I learn will be, the backbone to the answer will always be to bring Him glory. And that is exactly what happened. When I replay the story of how I came to the position I’m currently in, I can’t talk about it without saying that it was all God’s doing and it is only by His grace and mercy that I am where I’m at today. I’m not sure if I would have the same response if I had a job right out of college; I may have believed (stupidly) that it was all on my power, skills, or ability, which would have been a HUGE mistake.

So, in the end, I am thankful. I am thankful for the trials. I am thankful for the times of despair. I am thankful for the times of feeling empty and alone. Because, in reality, I am (and you are) NEVER alone, NEVER empty, and have NO REASON for hopelessness. Christ is ALWAYS with us and He will never leave us, no matter how tough times appear.

Let me leave you with a story. I am completely aware that my story of unemployment pales in comparison to many stories of Christians around the world that are constantly enduring persecution. One story that I read a couple years ago has stuck with me to this day. In the Middle East, a group of Christians from Korea were captured and held captive by a terrorist group. Throughout their capture, they endured many months of torture, both mental and physical. The amazing part of the story was that on the last day the Christians were all together (they were later split up into smaller groups and moved away from one another) they were so close to the Spirit that they actually began arguing over who would die first. They argued over who would die first. That is crazy! But this definitely puts it into perspective what it’s like to praise God during your trials. I hope that I can be that kind of man one day.

 

It’s been a long time comin’…

It has been long overdue that I update my blog, so I apologize to anyone that has been looking for an update. Well, as TobyMac once said, I’m serving up the sequel!

A lot has happened in my life in just the last few months. To start off, I graduated from college. Yes, the latest and greatest phase of my life has officially come to an end as I have completed my four-year tenure at NKU. This is hitting me rather strangely on the emotional side as I enter into the real world. I had a lot of amazing times during my time in college (ignoring the cheesy-ness, I would venture to say the best times of my life, thus far that is). I met a lot of great people, whom I will miss dearly. Part of me wishes I could just stay a college student forever and continue being enrolled at NKU. That being said, I’m also ready to move on into the next phase of my life. It may sound a bit strange, being that I enjoyed my time in college so much, but I think it’s the internal tension every new graduate must face. While I will greatly miss most everything about NKU (just not the homework, tests, and papers), I am ready, excited, and extremely nervous to move into the next “level” of life. But, I embrace my fears and anxiety, saying to the world with the confidence that only my God and Lord could possibly give me, bring it on; I’m ready.

As I stated above, a lot has happened in my life over the last few months. While graduating from college was certainly huge, pretty much everything else relates to my spiritual walk with Christ. If you’ve read this blog before (or at least the “About” section), then you know that my relationship with Christ is the most important thing in my life and that I’m pretty open about what He’s doing in my life on this blog. Well, the past few months have quite possibly been the toughest, spiritually, that I have faced (if not ever then definitely over the last year). There is a long story that accompanies the reasoning, but in a nutshell, here it is:

About a year ago I realized that the career path I had been setting myself up for after college wasn’t something I really wanted to do. I was just doing it because others said I would be good at it and I’d rather have a bad plan than no plan. So, I began praying about it and giving it to God. Over time, God gave me peace and the confidence to not pursue that career path with one year left in college. Fast-forward six months and I had finally verbally said that I feel God is calling me into ministry. Now, what you have to understand about this decision is that ministry is one of the five careers that I really did not want to do, it actually scared me more than any other career field. But, after praying about it constantly, conversations with some great people in my life, and the yearning on my own heart, I really felt like God was calling me into ministry. The crazy awesome thing about that decision was that once I finally committed to it and what I felt God’s plan was, He began growing a huge passion and desire to do ministry in my heart! The guy who was once completely against doing ministry and would do almost anything else but, was now super excited to go into ministry (only possible because of Christ).

Now, fast-forward a few more months, mid-March, and enters in the bad news. I received a call that the internship I really wanted, the internship I felt called to, the internship I was super stoked to do, the internship I thought God wanted me in, and the internship that I was 99% sure I would get, I didn’t get. This news sent my entire world crashing. Everything I had been preparing myself for over the last few months was now irrelevant. I had a huge flurry of emotions hit me like a tidal wave. I was disappointed in myself for not getting it, I was confused and angry at God because I thought He wanted me there and I wanted to be there, but now I wasn’t there. I was completely overwhelmed. I had been setting myself up to do this internship, I had not been searching and applying for jobs or internships, and I didn’t have an updated resume, know how to write a cover letter; everything in my world came crashing down in one instance…in one 15 minute phone conversation. To top it all off, I didn’t have any kind of Christian community around me. Right when I received this news, I entered into a drought of about five weeks where I didn’t have anyone pouring into my heart, holding me accountable, and having fellowship with me. Basically, when I was entering into one of the toughest stretches of my final year in college, I felt alone.

Thankfully, I have a God that loves me beyond human comprehension and knows what it’s like to feel completely alone. This alone is the reason that I am where I am today. While I felt like God wasn’t there, in reality, He was. There’s an old poem that talks about a man who is walking with God along a beach. Together, they are watching the man’s life and next to every event they see are footprints. As they continue along, the man asks God, “Lord, what are those sets of footprints.” The Lord answers, “One set is yours and one is mine. This shows you that I was always with you.” As they continue, the man notices a strange occurrence and asks the Lord about it. “Lord, if the footprints represent that you are always with me, then why is there only one set of footprints during every single one of my most difficult parts of life.” The Lord answered, “That is when I carried you.” I love that poem and that is what I feel happened to me over the last few months. The downside is that it took me so long to realize it. Now, I’m so thankful for having a God that loves me so much that He doesn’t want to see me fall by the wayside, He picks me up and carries me through the tough stuff.

I’m not telling you this story in hopes of getting any kind of reaction from you. I don’t want you to pity me or feel bad for me. I know that people go through tough stuff all the time, many experience times much tougher than my story. But, what I do want you to realize is two things. The first is that life is not easy. Whether you are Christian or not, we live in a sin-laden world, it is inevitable that we will all go through tough times. The good news is the second realization, the God that created the Heavens, the Earth, and everything else in-between in the entire universe is a God that cares about you and loves you more than anything. He’s there for you, even when it doesn’t seem like He is or feel like He is. Just have faith and trust in Him. I can’t guarantee the pain or the stress will go away anytime soon, but I can guarantee that you are loved and cared for.

Forget About What God Wants You To Do…

I’m the type of person that you could describe as having a “type-A personality.” Generally, I like to have a plan with my life. I have a “To-Do” list application on my phone that I check everyday and I am constantly adding and removing items from it. I enjoy knowing what I am going to do that day, that evening, that week, that month, that semester and, especially, that year. I had a plan for my life. I knew what I was going to when I graduated college; what career I was going in to; what I was doing with my life. Emphasis on “had” in that last sentence. God has a funny way of messing up our plans. The interesting part? I love it. God messed up my plans for my life, in a huge way, and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. It definitely wasn’t, and will not, be easy, but I don’t think He ever said following Him was going to be an easy path.

Many people fall in to the habit that I fell in to. We constantly ask God for a sign. Who should I marry? What career path should I choose? Should I go on this mission trip? STOP ASKING!!! Part of me wonders if God ever just gets tired of us asking Him all these questions and then never doing anything about them. I learned that as I constantly ask God to show me His will, I wasn’t doing anything to allow Him to show it to me. I was just sitting there, stagnant.

I completely and wholeheartedly believe in putting God at the head of all of my decisions. But, I’ve learned that He doesn’t want me (or any of us for that matter) to be passive and sit there. He wants action! I fully believe that if God doesn’t want me to do something or go somewhere, He will make it known to me. This might come in the form of a brand new passion/desire, a loss of an old one; God will close doors, but He will always open another one. God wants us to put Him at the head of our life, but He wants us to take action. Don’t know what career to choose? Pray about it and start interviewing. Don’t just sit there and expect God to give you a job out of nowhere. Yes, He can easily do that, but I’ve learned that He oftentimes does not. He expects us to step out in faith, which is all about going where we can’t always see what’s ahead of us.

I recently read a short story about the life of an amazing woman, Michele Perry. She defied all odds by living and was on the fast track to being a success, but God had other plans for her. She is know changing the lives of thousands of Kenyans because of God’s love and how it is at work in her life. All this was possible because she stepped out in faith and let God take control. She was once asked what her “strategic plan” for her life was. Being a “type-A personality,” Michele knew all to well what this meant and, at one point, she probably would’ve rattled of a bullet point list of the next 20 years of her life. Instead though, this is how she answered:

Step One: Every morning, wake up.

Step Two: Ask Jesus what He is doing that day, not what He wants you to do but what He is already doing.

Step Three: Join Him.

Michele gets it. She understands that God is already at work in this world and He just wants us to come join Him, it just takes action on our part. She knew that it doesn’t matter how many times she prayed about His will if she never took action to make His will known. This is how I try to live. I’m not the best at it, but I pray that I get better at it everyday. I want nothing more than to do His will for my life, but I pray that my feet are always moving because God can’t use me if they’re standing still.

So stop just asking God to show you His will. Move. Take action. He can’t show you His will if you’re not moving, no matter the direction.

50 Pounds Lighter!

Well, it is officially 2011 (pronounced twenty-eleven) and this year definitely did not stop to wait on me one bit. First, a little update. I hope your New Year’s party, bash or couch lounging was as spectacular as mine was. I was blessed enough to be able to spend it in downtown Indianapolis with about 2,500 other college students and staff from Cru in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. I went to a conference known as the Indy Christmas Conference (or Indy CC for short) to ring in the new year. Now, I won’t go into too much detail about what we did, but I will tell you that is was nothing short of amazing!

In my past experiences with big Cru events, I haven’t been too well pleased. In fact, I would say that they tended to lean more on the “almost crappy” side of the scale. So, I was honestly not expecting much going in to this Cru event. Praise the Lord for proving me wrong and exceeding my expectations! I experienced the Lord speak to my heart so much throughout the four day conference. It was glorious! I thank the Lord so much for reconnecting me to Him and His heart and continuing to astound me with His love and grace. In fact, it’s usually difficult for me to blog or write about it because I can hardly put it into words because they never seem to do Him enough justice. It was amazing to ring in the New Year with two hours of prayer, praise and worship for our God. I’m going to be honest, I did not think I would enjoy it very much, but thankfully I was completely wrong!

But as the conference was ending, I headed home to get ready to head back up to school, the two “R’s” that always accompany the new year began to settle in to my mind: resolution and reflection. I’m sure these come as no shock to you. New Year’s resolutions have become something of a norm for our society. Everyone always seems to ask: “What are your resolutions for the new year?” I really hate that question. It’s almost as if they’re saying: “What about you isn’t good enough that you want to change?” The worst part is that most people don’t ever stick to their resolutions. I believe the term “resolution” actually implies that change will occur almost immediately, as if overnight, and we don’t have to work for the change.

I say we start a new trend. Stop asking people for their “New Year’s Resolution” and start asking them for their “New Year’s Vision.” I know that when you read the above paragraph you might have been saying to yourself: “Wow, this guy must really hate change.” Actually, that is far from the truth. I just prefer growth. To me, “change” and “resolution” imply there is something negative that needs to disappear and while that may work for the United States Senate, I don’t believe that people need to have that mindset about themselves. People should want to grow by having a vision of who they want to be and where they want to go. Having a vision is about seeing the untapped potential in something or someone and creating the steps to achieve that potential. A vision is all about growth.

A vital part of this growth is the second “R” I wrote about before: reflection. This one hit me hard at the beginning of the year. God really had me sit down and look at my life and we came to one major conclusion: I am not who I was. This seems like such a simple concept, but it so highly profound!

This didn’t really hit me until I was reading some of Romans. In the letter, Paul talks a lot about how we, as new believers in Christ, are completely dead to our old self. Whoa, wait a second. Completely dead? Completely DEAD?! That statement just shook me to my core. I’ve heard this concept and these verses I don’t know how many times before, but for some reason, God decided to smack me in the face with them now. It was crazy but wonderful all in the same breath!

I began to think about how different I really am now. I thought back to my days in high school or at the beginning of my college career. I had some conversations with some of my friends that knew me back then and some of the stories they told me about things I said or did that I couldn’t remember really bothered me inside my heart and my soul. I couldn’t believe the person I was. Instantly, I was thankful for how God has changed me and my heart. I felt like one of those people on a make-over TV show that lost 50 pounds, except all of my weight came off on the inside.

Brandon Heath (one of my favorite Christian artists) writes a great song that speaks on this topic. It is affectionately titled “I’m Not Who I Was.” While the song actually has many different messages in it, it does a really good job of summing up how God really does change us. And that’s my biggest hope for everyone that has known me. I just want them to see how God has changed me in so many ways, and it’s all been for the better.

Gangland

I recently was involved in a conversation with a friend of mine here in college. This friend is a believer, has a relationship with Christ, but has (as I know all too well) had trouble finding a good church in the Cincinnati area. They were telling me about this church they have been going to and they really love it. When they told me what church they had been attending, I knew what church it was and why they loved it so much. You see, I had been to that church quite a few times myself and they are one of the best at welcoming in new visitors and making everyone feel welcome.

This got me to think about my fraternity. That might seem like quite a drastic jump, but let me explain. You see, after thinking for a little bit about this church, I really began to think about what they are good at: making the lost feel welcome. Then this got me to think about the following question: Why do gangs and fraternities seem to promote more of a loving atmosphere than the church?

This really boggles my mind. As God’s church and Christ’s body, we should be the most welcoming and loving individuals in the world, but oftentimes we are not. Oftentimes we are the ones that are more judgmental than anyone. We are masters at giving the cold shoulder, gurus and ignoring someone and perfecters of living in our own little bubble only to notice someone else when they disrupt our bubble.

Could this be the root of why more people don’t turn to God? I believe it is at least one major reason. If I can find more love, welcoming and community from a group of individuals here at college than I can within the body of Christ, don’t you think there’s a problem? And I’m not even remotely talking about those people that call themselves “Christian” and stand on the street corner, claim the world is ending, then yell at you about how you’re going to Hell today. I’m talking about the everyday, average, church-going person. That’s why I believe so many people, especially when reaching college-age, turn away from the church. They don’t feel the love. Quite frankly, I don’t blame them.

I was there not too long ago. In fact, I couldn’t stand the church. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with church or God and I found my acceptance and what I thought to be true community at college, with a ton of people that had nothing to do with the church. In fact, they were (and still are) some of the most accepting and loving individuals that I have known in my life. Thankfully, God has since changed my heart and showed me how wrong I am, but that doesn’t change for the thousands of other individuals in similar positions that I was in.

It annoys, frustrates and infuriates me when I have discussions with my friends about why they left the church or turned their back on God, because I consistently receive the same rational from them. It was always the people within the church, the body of Christ, that turned them off of God. If that infuriates me, how mad do you think it makes God, the one whom these people are directly transgressing against? Basically, it is just like having one of your own children (if you don’t have kids, just try to use your imagination) run another one of your children away from the family. Now, you love both of them unconditionally, but how upset would you be seeing the one child turn away from you and your family? I can’t imagine how much God’s heart pains each and every time this happens.

Now, I’m not writing this post to try to make you feel guilty, or go to your church to start yelling at the 67 year old couple that doesn’t greet someone as they enter the door. But, I also don’t want you to read this post and forget what I’ve said, I want there to be action. My prayer is two-fold. First, if you go to church, please realize that you are part of Christ’s body and we are ALL called to be fishers of men. Does this mean you need to become Mr./Mrs. Smiles and learn every single person’s life story at church? No, unless you really want to do that. But, it does mean that you should be building relationships with those around you. Don’t just pass by them with a simple “Hello.” or “head nod.” Honestly try to get to know them. Start by picking out one person, just one. Maybe it’s a co-worker, maybe that guy that sits by himself at church every Sunday, or maybe it’s the person who serves you coffee every morning. Pray about it and I guarantee God will put someone on your heart.

Now, second, if you do not go to church, whether that be because someone scared you away from God or for another reason, just remember that God loves you more than anything in the world. He wants to have a relationship with you, a real relationship, not any of that fake stuff most of us have with our accountants. My prayer for you is that you hear God calling to you and you take the leap and seek Him out. It won’t be easy and I can’t guarantee that you’ll never face any jerks in the church again, unfortunately. But, I can guarantee you that if you keep searching for Him, you will find Him and you’ll only be able to wonder how you were able to even survive in the past.

Trust me, I know from personal experience.

Growing Pains

Have you ever seen the show Growing Pains? I remember watching this show when I was growing up. It was, in a nutshell, the story of the Seaver family: a mom, dad, two sons and a daughter. Just like Boy Meets World (another all time favorite TV show of mine), this show mainly seemed to focus on everyday life for the family. You experienced many great times as well as many hardships with the Seaver family. In fact, I watched it so much that I felt like a member of the family, or at least like the neighborhood kid that was always over their house. While the main premise of the show was to portray the notion that a family that sticks together and loves will be able to conquer all.

This show came to mind lately as I have been dealing with a lot of “growing pains” of my own in my walk with Christ. Unfortunately though, my growing pains were not as comical as those experienced in the TV sitcom. Mine were filled with confusion, disarray and what has been described to me as the “perfect storm.”

One of the big things that I was struggling with was that I continued to feel as though I was not growing in my walk with Christ. I felt like I had been stagnant and was not fully pursuing God. It took the Holy Spirit really talking to me through some really good friends of mine to open my eyes back up to God.

I realized that I always focused on the sin in my life. What I mean is that I kept putting my focus on the fact that I sinned here or there and I kept beating myself up over this. I kept being ashamed that I was not perfect and I felt as though I was “failing” God. I kept comparing myself to other Christians and having the “grass is greener on the other side syndrome.” I kept looking at them and thinking, “Why can’t I be as wise as them? Why can’t I have the relationship with God they have?” This is a horrible way to think and it is definitely not what God wants, and I know this now.

I was focusing way too much on myself and how I was failing and sinning and not good enough, and it was taking all my focus off of God. The reality is, I am a sinner, you are a sinner. We will always have sin in our lives, no matter what we do (the type of sin and consequences of that sin is a topic for another day though). The beauty of it is how deep and wonderful God’s grace is though. We will never be perfect, that’s what Jesus was and that is what I kept beating myself up about that I wasn’t. God knows that I’m not perfect and He knows that I will never be close to perfect, but He loves me despite it all. This just amazes and astounds me beyond comprehension but I am so grateful and thankful for it.

While focusing on my sin, I also missed one of the biggest things about my life: what God has done in my life and how His Spirit has moved in me. I fall into the trap of wanting to be done with this “level” and move on to the next one, kinda like a video game (props to Jonny Mac for this example). I was ignoring how He has actually changed me and how He is moving in my life. How could I be so selfish?! It was as though I was a toddler, always asking for more but not realizing what my Father has already done for me.

So, what did I do about it? I praised and thanked God for everything He’s done in my life. I looked back on where He has taken me from two years ago, a year ago and even four months ago. I’m so thankful that He loves me in the completely incomprehensible, insane, and irrational way that He does. Without it, I don’t even want to think of where I would be.

So, that’s what I want to ask you. Have you thanked God lately? No, really think about it. When is the last time that you thanked Him for everything that He has done in your life? I know it’s really easy to get sucked in to all the hub-bub of this life and forget about God (one of Satan’s ploys more than likely), so maybe we should all stop and just think about how He has changed our life. I’m sure He would appreciate the thanks.

The Ayiti Story…

As you should know by now (and if you don’t you definitely live under a rock) there was a massive earthquake that hit Haiti back in January 12, 2010. This earthquake completely devastated one of the already poorest countries in the world and left them without a government or any kind of economic system. Well, this past June I went to Haiti on a mission trip with Campus Crusade for Christ. As many of you have asked, here is my story of what my team and I did and little bit about my experience…

Like all good stories, mine starts off well before the actual trip to Haiti. After the tragic event of January 12, 2010, I actually had no mind to go to Haiti and help out. Yes, I did feel bad for the Haitian people, but if I am going to be honest, I did not have compassion for them nor want to instantly go and help them. My heart had been hardened so much from this world that I pretty much blew it off about 5 minutes after I saw the news report. But God had other plans.

A couple weeks later, I was in my Small Group Communication class and I was talking to a classmate/buddy of mine. We had to come up with some kind of service project to do for class and he mentioned doing something to raise money to send to Haiti. That idea quickly turned into a spring break trip for him and I to take to visit Haiti and serve. For some odd reason, I was super passionate about helping out Haiti now and I could not get it off my mind our out of my heart. I really felt like God was calling me to Haiti for some reason but I didn’t know what. So, I began talking to people and ministries to figure out a way for me to go to Haiti for spring break. God kept closing doors and He eventually lead me to attend Big Break ’10 in Panama City for spring break with Campus Crusade for Christ.

At this point I had no idea what to do. I was really wanting to do some kind of summer project in another country with Campus Crusade for Christ as well as make it to Haiti somehow but I had no idea what I was going to do. I really felt God tugging at my heart to go to Haiti but everything just kept closing on me and I was, needless to say, lost and confused on what to do. But I kept praying about it and the door swung open. On the second day of Big Break ’10, Campus Crusade for Christ unveiled a brand new summer project trip to Haiti! It was only going to last three weeks (there were three teams of three weeks each) so it would not take up my whole summer (at this point I had prior commitments to my summer). My mind was completely blown away. I couldn’t believe it! God just put it right on my plate and opened the door for me. The only thing I had to do was walk through it.

So, I went to a meeting about the project, applied and was accepted. Long story short, I was finally on my way to Haiti.

The schedule for Haiti went as follows: one day of preparation (Monday, May 31), 20 days in Haiti (June 1-20) and then two days of debrief/departure (June 21-22).

When we arrived in Haiti, the first thing I noticed right as I stepped off of the plane was how hot it was. I knew I was in the Caribbean and that it was the summer, but I’ve been to Mexico before and lived in a very humid part of the United States so I did not expect it to be that hot. After a crazy time at the airport of getting our luggage (we were literally in what looked like an empty warehouse for customs and they shoved our luggage through a hole in the wall to us) and trekking 100 yards to our bus through packed and incredibly uneven streets, we began our 3 hour trip to the compound we would be staying at.

We stayed in a compound 1 or 2 miles from the town of Chambrun, which is 12 miles from the city of Port-au-Prince (where the airport is). The compound was the place where the people of Chambrun would attend church, get water (now clean water because we were able to bring a water purifier with us) and the children would attend school during the week. Once we arrived, we spent the next hour and a half meeting some Haitian college students that would be working with us throughout our project, being debriefed on people, places and important things, as well as getting to eat the ever popular (or what became popular) combo of Pop-tarts and Capri-sun for lunch. We then spent the rest of the day unloading trucks, clearing out and cleaning facilities and just doing typical arrival/move-in stuff. At about 6 we had worship and a lesson lead by our male team leader Jay Lorenzen. We then had Dominos pizza for dinner as our cooks were not able to get us food for the entire day.

The first night was the best and first night all rolled into one. We were jam-packed into tiny rooms. We slept on a mattress that was placed on top of a cot. We had a fan in our room but at 10:30 the generator that powered the whole complex shut off and we, essentially, slept in a pool of our own sweat. We hadn’t gotten the showers up yet so the “shower” we took before and after bed was via baby wipes.

We were woken up at 4:30, 5 and 5:30 by a lovely rooster each morning. After the first day, our weekdays consisted of the same basic schedule. I would be up at about 6 or 6:30 each morning and have about an hour and a half or 2 hours of quiet time which I spent in His Word and reading other books such as Blue Like Jazz and Forgotten God. I loved this time and really miss it. After my quiet time ended (at about 8:15) 20-25 Haitian college students would arrive. They were going to be working with us throughout the day. We ate breakfast together and had morning worship, lessons, bible readings and testimony sharing with the Haitian students each morning from 8:30-10. We would then begin the work for the day.

I spent the vast majority of my time working in carpentry. I helped build bathrooms (minus the plumbing aspect) and roofing for the bathroom throughout my three weeks there. This actually deemed relatively difficult because we didn’t have many tools and had to share them between 20-30 people working on 3 or 4 projects at once. at about 12:30 everyday we would have lunch and go inside until 2 or 3. The time after lunch was filled with Creole (the national language of Haiti, it is like a combination of Spanish and French) lessons, rest and hangout time. At 3 we would go back to work until about 5:30 or 6 (often times it depended on the person and the project as to what time you finished). After work we ate dinner until about 7 then we had evening activities which included any of the following: small group time, worship, hangout time, large group meeting, lesson led by a team leader. The small group time was definitely my favorite time. We maintained this schedule almost every week day of our project.

The weekends were filled with different trips. Usually on Saturday we would travel to the city of Port-au-Prince and visit the Haitian students at their Campus Crusade for Christ meeting, which was really cool to see and participate in. Sundays were usually reserved for rest and we would go to church together and just hangout with each other. Throughout our project we would also have random times where some people would be able to visit local IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps around Port-au-Prince or make visits to Chambrun.

All-in-all the trip was simply amazing. I understand that this post was very logistical and, in a way, boring in comparison to my other posts. I just wanted to give you an idea of what I did day-to-day while in Haiti. If you want to know more, please ask me! I love talking about Haiti, how wonderful the people are and how the trip effected my life.