Servefest Starts – Whatever You Do For The Least Of These…

Servefest kicked off yesterday.  Our family worked with several other people serving an elderly woman in our community through Project HEARTH, an organization focused on helping the elderly to stay in their homes as long as possible.  From what I understand, Project HEARTH matches elderly people in need of assistance at their homes with people and groups willing to lend a hand.

Without going into too much detail, our team showed up at 2PM yesterday ready to work.  We didn’t know a lot of information, but we were told we needed gloves and dust masks to help clean out the home of a woman in our community.  What happened when we showed up is way too much to put into words.  The inside of the house was literally piled with “stuff” 2-3 feet in all floor spaces (and even higher in some places) – and no, I’m not exaggerating at all.

It was overwhelming.  It was shocking.  It was sad.

How could someone let this happen?  How is it that no one offered to help before – or maybe she didn’t accept the help?  Why doesn’t she have any family or friends?

At first, I was honestly disgusted.  Some of the stuff we discovered was pretty gross (again, I’m keeping the details limited).  But as the afternoon went along, the passage from Matthew 25 kept coming to my mind.  We had a chance to serve a woman who clearly had a need.  Hopefully, we are making a difference in our life.  But according to the Bible, we’re also serving Christ – we’re cleaning out His house.  Thinking this way brought a sense of peace to my mind as we spent the afternoon packaging up piles of trash.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-36

I’ve driven by this woman’s house many times, but I never knew what was inside.  We often live that way.  We are like horses with blinders on.  We focus on what lies ahead on OUR path.  It’s all about ME – it’s all about what I want to accomplish – it’s all about MY agenda.  We need to take off the blinders, so we can realize that there are people all around us who need help.  We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  When we serve others in need, we are serving Jesus.

Yesterday, our team made a dent in the project, but there is still so much to do.  Each day, we will have a team working on this home.  Monday through Friday, there will be a team there from 6PM – 9PM.  And Saturday (10/27), we’ll be there all day.  There’s plenty to do, and we’d love your help.  For more information, click here.  Also, feel free to leave me a comment expressing your interest, and I’ll see what I can do to help you.  Thanks!

How can you serve Christ in your community?  Do you have blinders on that need to be removed?  Seriously, what are you going to do about it in the next two weeks?  How will you make a difference in someone’s life today?

Wrecked Creative Expressions

When I was in Guatemala last month, we had evening worship every night up on the roof of the compound where we stayed.  Each night, the Adventures in Missions team would lead us in some form of creative expression.  Typically, this time revolved around prayer.  One night, we were each handed a piece of construction paper and some markers.  We were then instructed to be creative in writing down or drawing how we felt God was speaking to us at that particular moment.

I had just finished reading Wrecked by Jeff Goins along with the trip to Guatemala had me thinking a lot about getting out of my comfort zone.  Here is what came to mind as I wrote down my thoughts:

As you can see, part of it is cut off and some of it was blurred.  Here’s a recap of what I wrote on this paper.

WRECKED

• Getting out of my comfort zone was so worth it!
• I have one life.  I want to make it count.
• Never ever forget today.
• Don’t underestimate the power of one to make a difference.
• Let my heart break for the things that break the heart of God.
• Don’t strive to be comfortable.  Strive to be disturbed.
• Stop.  Listen.  Be still.  Fight distraction.
• Pursue wreckage and strive for a life of meaning.
• You are never too old or too young to make a difference.

7-29-2012  (This was the day that our team finished the house.)

These thoughts still apply today.

How is God speaking to you these days?  What’s making you uncomfortable?

Departing Thoughts and Prayers – Leaving for Guatemala Tomorrow

Last night, we had our last team meeting before we depart for Guatemala early (REALLY EARLY) Thursday morning.  (That’s tomorrow!!!)

Our leader and high school youth pastor, Adam, opened up the meeting by asking everyone what they were thinking and feeling as the trip is just about here.

It was interesting to hear responses from the kids and even some of the leaders as the trip is upon us.  Here are some of the things I heard:

• “I’m nervous about not being able to communicate in Spanish with the kids.”
• “I’m nervous about getting sick again.”
• “I still need to pack.”
• “I’m nervous about leaving my family.”
• “I’m so excited!”

It’s kind of interesting to hear some of these thoughts.  If I’m honest, I share many of these thoughts and anxieties.  I haven’t had Spanish in many, many years.  I’m not sure how I’ll be able to communicate with people who don’t speak English at all.  I certainly don’t want to get sick.  I’ll have medications necessary to combat stomach bugs and headaches, but I certainly don’t want to spend my time away sick in bed.  I still need to pack.  I guess that will happen after work tonight.  I’m a little anxious about leaving my wife and son.  I trust that everything will be okay while I’m gone.  But I’ll miss the ability to communicate and to be there to jump in on anything that would arise – even the small things.  I’m super excited as well.  I struggled with sleep last night which I’m sure is normal.  I’m a little nervous about hanging out with teenagers all week.  I don’t know many of these students now, but I’m sure that will change as the week goes on.

As Adam asked the question at our meeting last night.  He commented that it will be interesting to see how these thoughts look after we’ve been to Guatemala.

As I look at many of the thoughts including my own they have such a “ME” focus.  “I’m this…” and “I’m that….”  It’s my prayer that our team is WRECKED by this experience.  I pray that our focus would shift to others first.  I pray that we’d make a difference during our trip to Guatemala.  And I pray that we’d be open to ways that God will transform each of us through this trip which is sure to be adventure.

While I’m away, I have a number of guest bloggers lined up and some other scheduled posts to keep you going.  Please keep visiting here, and be sure to chime in on the conversations sparked by the guest bloggers.  You can also follow the blog of our team at riotmissions.com.  Someone from our team will be posting here daily – at least that’s the plan.

What are you anxious about today?  What are you excited about today?

Book Review: Wrecked by Jeff Goins

I find it incredible that I would be selected to be part of a launch team for this new book by Jeff Goins right before I head to Guatemala where I’ll be working with a team in conjunction with Adventures in Missions, the organization that Jeff works for when he’s not writing books and blog posts.

Wrecked will disturb you.

Wrecked will give you the splash of cold water on your face or the slug to the shoulder necessary to wake you up.

Wrecked will challenge you to consider how God might be calling you to a new, wrecked adventure.  It will challenge you to process experiences differently.  And the book will challenge you to bring others along with you to help them become wrecked along with you.

I really appreciated Jeff’s new book.  Throughout Wrecked, he weaves stories from his own wrecked past in with truths he has learned along the way.  He writes in a style that draws you in from the first page all the way to his personal story on the last pages of the book.

Jeff makes you think differently about your own experiences.  I have had several stories of wreckage from my past floating through my head as I’ve read through Wrecked.  I’ve also been praying that God will wake me up and wreck me – as I head to Guatemala later this week, as I return home from the trip, and as I go on with my life.  I’m also praying that God will use the Guatemala trip to wreck the lives of those going on the trip (32 including 25 teenagers).  And I’m praying that you’d consider picking up a copy of Wrecked and that it would be catalyst for wrecking your life as well.

Here’s the deal:  You can get the first part of the book for FREE.  Just hit this link.  At the bottom of the page, there are directions for getting the first part absolutely free.  Secondly, I want you to buy the book, BUT WAIT!  Don’t buy it until, you read some information on the book’s website.  If you wait until the first week it comes out (which is supposed to be next week), Jeff will send you over $150 worth of additional Wrecked related items at no charge.  Please go to the website for the book.  Plan to buy Wrecked.  And get ready to discover what happens when a broken world slams into your comfortable life.

Do you plan to read Wrecked?  What’s a good book that you’ve read recently?  How have you been challenged in your reading lately?

Ice Breaker – Wrecked

It’s Friday which means it’s time for an ice breaker question here on The Stretched Blog.  As you read below and recall my post from yesterday, you may see a common word used in both posts.  The word WRECKED is bringing new meeting into my life these days as I read through Jeff Goins‘ soon to be released book, WRECKED.  I’ll share a teaser video at the end of today’s post and a review post in the coming days.  In the meantime, it’s time for today’s ice breaker question.

(For those of you who are new around here, each week I ask a question – an ice breaker – designed to help us get to know a little bit about each other.  I answer the question in the post, and you get to answer the question by leaving a comment.)

Question:  Describe a time when you wrecked a car (or bicycle…or something else).

My answer:  If memory serves me correctly, I’ve had two car accidents in my life.  Neither of them were fun, but the first one was an especially memorable crash.  Two weeks before my wedding day, I was traveling into Philadelphia to meet up with my soon-to-be bride (Leanne).  I had just spent the night with my college roommate (and best man) at my new apartment, and I was traveling down a busy stretch of highway known in our area as The Roosevelt Boulevard.  I was driving my mint green Ford Taurus which I had recently purchased in an effort to get out of a lease situation on my previous vehicle.  Even though I purchased the car used, I think it only had 5 or 6 thousand miles on it at the time of the accident.

I noticed that traffic coming the other way was stopped as I approached a hill.  You think I would have slowed down, but I didn’t.  As I came up over the crest of the hill, there was a car parked in the left lane.  I tried to stop, but there wasn’t enough time to slow my car.  I was probably doing 50-60 miles an hour when I plowed into the back of this parked car.  My airbags went off, my hood flew open, my car immediately stopped, and I went into shock.  Through the smell of the airbags and the floating smoke that lingered in my car, I emerged from my smashed up Taurus only to discover that the car I had hit was gone.  Yes, it someone drove away and left the scene of the accident.

The police, ambulance, and tow truck showed up.  There weren’t many cell phones at the time, so I had no way of contacting my fiance to explain why I was late.  Eventually, I showed up at our rendezvous location in the front seat of the tow truck.  It was an interesting ride home and an interesting introduction into the two-week period that led up to our wedding.  My car ended up being fixed despite over $11,000 worth of damage.  I’m still not sure why they didn’t total the car.  It was never the same again.  It was WRECKED!

Now, it’s your turn to answer today’s question.  But before you leave your answer in the comments, check out this video about a new book that I’m very excited to share with The Stretched Community:

Guatemala Update: 1 Week To Go!

One week from today, I will be leaving bright and early in the morning (2AM to be exact) from our church’s parking lot to catch a plane in Newark, NJ as I head down to Guatemala with my daughter and the rest of our team.  How did this happen so fast?

My daughter is mostly packed.  But I still have a lot to do to get ready.  I still need to pack.  I need to finalize plans for the Stretched blog while I’m away (thanks to those who have offered to guest post in my absence).  I need to get a haircut, and I need to pick up a few essentials required for the trip.  It is sure to be a busy week!

From a fundraising standpoint, we are still trying to see if we can raise enough money through The Stretched Community to pay for one of the houses we’ll be building while we’re there.  We still need $2,550 which may seem like a STRETCH, but I think we can still hit the mark.  Please consider how you might be able to help to close this gap.  If you’re interested in giving, you can contact me or you can go to my fundraising page to learn more.  Thanks!

As an update on our itinerary (so you’ll know how to pray each day), here’s our rough schedule:

• Thursday (7/26) – Travel
• Friday (7/27) – Home build with Casas Por Cristo
• Saturday (7/28) – Home build with Casas Por Cristo
• Sunday (7/29) – Church, Home build with Casas Por Cristo, and possible visit to Mayan ruins
• Monday (7/30) – Bible School/Kids Camp in the AM (we’ll be using the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego throughout the week), Football Camp in the PM
• Tuesday (7/31) – Bible School/Kids Camp in the AM, Football Camp in the PM
• Wednesday (8/1) – Bible School/Kids Camp in the AM, Football Camp in the PM
• Thursday (8/2) – Bible School/Kids Camp in the AM, Football Camp in the PM
• Friday (8/3) – Travel Home

You can continue to pray for the following as we head on our trip:

• Pray for safety for our team as we travel.
• Pray for effectiveness as we minister to families and kids in Guatemala.  We especially want to share God’s love with the families who will get the homes and with the children who will attend our camps.
• Pray for the impact on our team – may we be WRECKED!  (I’ll share more about WRECKED in the coming days.)
• Pray for Leanne and Isaac at home that they would have a safe and fun time together, and that I would have peace of mind while we’re apart.

I think that does it for this Guatemala Update!  Thanks so much for being part of the journey.  I can’t wait to share with you all about the trip when we return.

Have you been on any mission trips?  Where and when?  What did you do to prepare for these trips?