whoa, oh, la la la

Posted on 07.13.2010 by

“i just love worshiping. worshiping’s my favorite.”
from the earliest days of my life with Christ, i have loved to worship through singing. from the days of hosanna, to vineyard and sonicflood, on through mercyme and the passion movement that continues to lead so many in, well, passionate worship gatherings, not to mention the folks at hillsong and hillsong united, i have over 2,000 songs in my worship library in itunes, and i know a great deal of them by memory. to repackage the wisdom of buddy the elf, “i just love worshiping. worshiping’s my favorite.” i realize in my more mature theology that worship is about much more than mere singing, yet scripture is replete with scenes of believers gathered to sing to God. there’s something about singing together (whether it’s in corporate worship or the rock anthems of hairstyles past) that brings everyone to a different level than they could have reached alone. when we “make a joyful noise to the Lord,” the distinctions between naturally (and spiritually) gifted musicians, and those for whom noise is truly the most we can expect, seems to even out a bit.

that’s not to say that we should all just bang on pots and scream out whatever we feel like. there is a definite purpose for worship leaders (0r “lead worshipers” as some call themselves) and writers of songs for corporate worship. there is certainly no shortage of debate, argument, even church schism, over styles and content of worship, so i will tread somewhat lightly. i realize even the mention of his name may polarize some, but brian mclaren has written an excellent and thoughtful challenge to songwriters, worship leaders, musicians, and followers of Jesus. i encourage you to follow that link forthwith, think about, pray about it, read it again, and then return to my post. ready, go.

here’s the link again. go.

now for my $0.02. i could not agree more with mclaren’s, and others’, cries for more depth of theology, genuine focus on God rather than shiny/happy trivialities, and especially more artistic excellence. i am intrigued by the notion that some worship songs ought to allow the body of believers to sit in the sadness and pain of lament. (we’ve dabbled in that in our student ministry, but not in actual songs. there really aren’t any.)

it’s the songs where words fail and all you can do is sing out a string of “la la la” or “whoa, oh oh” that bring me to a place where i don’t need to say rational words.
what i don’t see, but would love to, is a recognition that sometimes there are no words, but we sing because we can’t stay silent. our middle schoolers love to form a giant “o” with their arms whenever we sing celebratory songs with an “whoa, oh” type of refrain. in fact, sometimes that melody is all they remember later on. but for me, it’s the songs where words fail and all you can do is sing out a string of “la la la” (such as david crowder band’s you are my joy) or “whoa, oh oh” (i absolutely love the bridge of hillsong united’s with everything) that bring me to a place where i don’t need to say rational words. isn’t God bigger than our words anyway? of course, there are times to be silent as well, but in a corporate setting that may include nonbelievers, you have to be wise and discerning about how much you are silent without further instruction.

when was the last time words failed to capture what you wanted to say to God, but you had to sing anyway?

Posted in church and ministry, theology | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

diminishable me: an open letter to myself at 19

Posted on 07.12.2010 by

hello andrew. greetings from… yourself… in the summer of 2010. yes, i know that sounds weird. i thought about sending myself (you) back in time, but then i remembered that the terminator movies haven’t come true yet. no time travel for us. a letter will have to do. i’d tell you that it’s called a “blog” but you’d have no idea what i was talking about.

there is much that will change in the second half of your (my? our?) life so far. i won’t tell you a lot of specifics, for two reasons. one, you won’t believe me if i tell you about all the crazy stuff that will happen in the world in general, and a lot of it would probably freak you out anyway. (for example, you’ll change political parties at least once, and will vote for presidential winners and losers in each party.) two, i think the back to the future movies were probably right, and telling you too much of the future would likely mess up an awful lot. plus, the journey has made you into who i am today. (my head is spinning thinking of “you” as different from “me” already. we’re the same.)

you will clearly remember mr. clark’s words about how cool 11-12 year olds are
the reason i wanted to write you today is that i see you getting into that van, headed out for ice cream with the middle schoolers, your very first experience in church youth ministry. so sorry nobody told you that worship team practice was canceled tonight, but today marks the start of a very important pathway for you. from now on, your life will be wrapped around these amazing human beings called teens and preteens. you’ll find your niche eventually (and when you do, you will clearly remember mr. clark’s words about how cool 11-12 year olds are), but i want to give you a few heads up that shouldn’t wreck the course of history too much. the sooner you get these right, the better “our” life will be.

  1. the path of least resistance is boring. you’ll see that saying on a t-shirt someday, and it is absolutely true. the times in your life when you’ll most depend on God, and be thrilled to be alive, are the times when things are the toughest. the times you’ll go stir crazy and be bored to insult are the times when things are externally great. comfort zones are for wimps. live an adventurous life for the glory of God.
  2. life is ministry and worship, but no single ministry or experience of worship should define your life. our God is so much bigger than any church, parachurch, ministry, or job you’ll ever be involved with. keep the long view in mind. think about it now – what do want to be remembered for? it’s a marathon, not a sprint. don’t burn out, but don’t hold back either.
  3. sooner or later, everyone realizes you don’t belch sunshine and fart roses. get over it. sorry to be crude, but you just have to realize that not everyone will like you all the time. it will be the fall of many in youth ministry all around you – paid and volunteer – so don’t fall into a messiah complex. rely on the Holy Spirit, not the emotional high you get from feeling needed.
  4. don’t come untethered from the bedrock of scripture. ever. you will sojourn in some very diverse churches, ministries, and schools of thought as to how the Christian life should be lived out. please do not mistake experience for truth. if it doesn’t line up with the written Word of God, run as fast as you can.
  5. a guy you’ll listen to regularly will say it best: live like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else.
    stay out of debt. if i remember right, all you should have so far is like $80 on a gas card. pay it off quickly, and never go into debt for anything again, except a house. don’t get a credit card just to “build credit.” pay cash. save. give. a guy you’ll listen to regularly will say it best: live like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else.
  6. be who you are. God has created you so amazingly special! the gifts and creativity He’s given you will bless and enrich the lives of countless kids, families, and others. it’s when you try to live up to the expectations of others that don’t mesh with who He created you to be that you’ll feel the most frustrated and alone.
  7. that said, this is not about you. it isn’t in 1992, and it won’t be in 2010. your life will be the most fulfilling when you focus on loving God and serving students. that will take on a lot of different faces over the years, so just buckle up and enjoy the ride.
  • here’s a freebie: it is no accident that your mother, her mother, and her mother before that are all flaming irish redheads. you will want to remember someday that you can’t go wrong with an irish girl.

blessings, my friend/self. live well. i’ll see you near the close of the next 19 years. i just got a letter from 57-year-old “us” that blows my mind. too much for you right now, though.

Posted in career and business, church and ministry, ministry longevity, personal journey | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

12 free power tips for video footage that doesn’t suck

Posted on 07.09.2010 by

as the video editor for the youth group, summer is my second busiest time in terms of footage piling up on my desk. the busiest time is early march to late april, when i inherit 10 to 20 hours of interview footage from about 20 high school seniors and their families. in the summer, we often have multiple trips and events in quick succession, so it’s important to stay on top of things. in fact, our poor little camera went on 3 trips in 3 consecutive weeks, and its power cord was left behind that final week!

whether i get tons of footage from an event or precious little, it’s my job to transform whatever i’m given into a masterpiece. the trick is how good quality the footage is. i’d rather have 15 minutes of good quality shots than 75 minutes of stuff that looks like you didn’t realize the camera was turned on. sometimes i’m involved in the event, so if the quality is lousy i have nobody to blame but myself. when i’m not there, it may be someone who knows what they’re doing, or not. whether you’re fortunate enough to have a staff position devoted to editing, or you’re doing everything yourself, here are tips that will crank up the quality of your footage before you can say “dramamine.” you’ll note that not one of them costs a dime, just some patience and forethought.

timecode is everything

one of my biggest frustrations is when the timecode gets messed up. if you have no idea what i’m talking about, that’s ok. trust me on this one and do these two things:

  • let the camera run for at least 10 seconds at the start of a new tape, and again at the end of your batch of footage. when the computer “captures” your footage, it needs time to think. if you jump right in with important stuff, there’s a good chance it will get cut off. it also doesn’t hurt to pause a few seconds each time you hit “record,” but you don’t need quite as long.
  • don’t rewind and watch footage, no matter how they beg. this one causes me even bigger headaches. it’s also critical that the timecode be continuous. i have better things to do than to restart the capture process every three minutes because somebody just couldn’t wait to see that one thing that one person did.

cut the caffeine

what i mean by this is much of the footage i get looks like you’re on a slow roller coaster. i can fix some of it, but here’s how to give an editor footage that has at least some usable shots instead of giving the viewer whiplash.

  • walk around or record. don’t do both at the same time. i almost never use footage where the horizon jumps up and down with every step, unless i’m going for an in-the-panicked-crowd tone. i haven’t needed it yet, so just hold yourself still to record.
  • pan and zoom sloooooooowly. panning is moving the camera left and right. you’re not a dog in some pixar SQUIRREL! just take your time. take in the shot before moving the focal point. do the same when you zoom. the rapid in and out effect was left behind in the 90s, as it should have been.
  • ghetto-rig a tripod if you must. i admit, lugging a tripod around is a pain. that doesn’t mean you’re at the mercy of your tired, shaky arms. rest the camera on or against a stable object, or use your body itself as a brace.

keep your mouth shut

i don’t mean to offend anyone here. it’s just that when you are constantly talking from off camera, you force me to include your voice. i may choose to, but don’t make that decision for me.

  • allow a pause between your voice and theirs. be honest, don’t you mainly want to hear from the people on camera? don’t add your own nonstop narration. of course, i may just turn your volume down and set it all to music.
  • consider having an on-camera interviewer or host. this saves the awkwardness of talking to a disembodied off-camera presence. but still have them pause and don’t let them talk on top of the subject, either.
  • never, ever turn the camera on yourself. unless you’re going for a “blair witch project” tone. wait, have never done that either, and don’t intend to. if you want to be on screen, give the camera to someone else.

let there be light! (and sound)

here is where it’s hardest for me to clean up amateurish video. again, this is about free, so don’t rush out and buy a bunch of mics and three-point lighting rigs. some common sense:

  • don’t keep them in the dark. use natural light to your advantage. don’t put the sun or a window behind your subject, but use these free sources of light to your advantage. here are some good tips – just apply them to video footage instead of still photography.
  • up close and personal. this is the number one way to improve sound quality in most cases. not “what’s that cologne?” close, but close enough that the camera’s built-in mic can pick up most of what your subject says.
  • avoid ambient noise and wind. that said, you’ll find yourself unable to control the forces of nature, and background music or crowd sounds, at least in most cases. if you really want a shot but it’s too loud, consider providing an “establishing shot” but waiting for a more quiet space to record voices.
  • if you must, get a plug-in mic. yes, i said these were all free, but if you’re going to invest any money, this is where to do it. we don’t use this very often, so i’m not the right person to ask for shopping tips, but i think you can get something pretty reasonably priced.

i hope these are helpful. pass them along to whomever you entrust with your youth group (or family) video camera. did i miss anything you’ve found helpful?

if it’s time to take your final video product to the next level, i’d be honored to hear from you. look me up at www.innovideocreative.com.

Posted in tech toys, video projects | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

disqus amongst yourselves

Posted on 07.07.2010 by

as the eternal wordpress tinkerer, i’ve come across a pretty robust engine for facilitating blog comments and conversations from users across the web. it’s called disqus (pronounced “discuss”) and i’ve given it control of the comment process. (i hope it’s not a cousin of skynet.)

here’s how it works: you can login using one of numerous services, including disqus itself, facebook, twitter, openid, or yahoo. or you can also identify yourself with name and email, website optional. by the way, if you don’t have a gravatar, go get one. it will put your picture/icon wherever you use that email.

after somebody comments, you can reply directly and even “like” within the comment thread. it also lists when twitter or other social sharing sites refer back to the entry. you’ll also see links to follow a discussion through rss or emails when someone replies.

give it a try. you know you want to!

Posted in feedback please!, tech toys | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

i have a dream

Posted on 07.03.2010 by

i am happy to join with you today with the utmost respect for the day we celebrate our independence as a nation. inspired by the great civil rights leader whose impact i could never hope to duplicate, nevertheless I believe it is for this moment that the Almighty has stirred in me these words.

one hundred score years ago, our Savior called the little children to “come unto Me,” laid His hands on them and blessed them. this incarnational decree came as a beacon light of hope to billions of young persons throughout the centuries. it came  as a confirmation that the Father held a special place in His heart for those not having attained the age of majority.

for centuries, families carried out their ordained task of raising children to be godly. but eighteen or nineteen hundred years later, some began to abdicate their mantle as primary pastors to their children and gave that responsibility to the church… or the state. in the 1950s, recognizing a “youth culture” defined by young people’s cries for autonomy and freedom, churches began to offer separate meetings and programs for young people. thus youth ministry was born.

it would be fatal to overlook the tremendous good that youth ministries, in churches and parachurch organizations, have done over the decades. hundreds of thousands of lives are better for what we have done. many have come to know the love of Christ through the work of youth pastors and volunteers around the world. however, we cannot naïvely assume that all has been done is God’s best for children, families, and His beloved church.

i say to you today, my friends, that i see a better way than to constantly isolate our young people in a separate building, a separate meeting place, a separate walk of life. our children and students are not the church of the future, they are the church today.

i have a dream that every church will be a place where young people are valued, cherished, loved, and built up. i have a dream today.

i have a dream that every church member will see herself as a youth pastor, called to care for all the children of the local body. i have a dream.

i have a dream that we break through the one-eared mickey mouse mentality that isolates middle school and high school students from what we erroneously call “big church,” then dumps them into that big church as high school graduates expecting them to know how to relate. i have a dream today.

my dream is that from the youth room to the foyer, from the fellowship hall to the cabin at summer camp, no student will be anonymous. nobody’s name is “that kid.” instead of five students for every adult, every student will have at least five adults who know his name and his story. every child is known. every family is a vital part of the “family of families” called the local church. students whose families do not believe will find hope and comfort in being the family of God.

i have a dream today.

i have a dream that every family will live intentionally into scripture’s call to “teach (the commands of God) diligently to your children, and… talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” as members of one another, every adult will care for every child as we would for our own. older men will teach younger men, and older women will walk with younger women, according to God’s design.

i have a dream today.

i have a dream that we will not be something we gather in order to worship, but rather we gather because we have already been worshiping. our worship will not consist of songs sung in a certain style or for any but our Audience of One. worship is who we are as a response to His initiation of love. families worship together on sundays because they worship Him every day.

i have a dream today.

i have a dream that every mainline, every urban, every suburban, every rural, every large, every small, every pentecostal, every baptist, every evangelical, every orthodox, every catholic, every nondenominational church body will so care for her families that neighborhoods cannot help but be drawn to the Savior from seeing the love of the church on the corner.

this dream cannot come at the expense of existing ministry, nor by ceasing good, proper, and helpful work by dedicated vocational youth pastors and staff. rather, it is by joining all our efforts and intention toward allowing the church to be the church as she has always been.

and when this happens, when we allow families to care for one another in true agape love, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, old men and young boys, old women and young girls, from every walk of life, united in love for Christ, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the beloved worship chorus, “one thing I ask and I would seek, to see Your beauty, to find You in the place Your glory dwells. better is one day in Your courts, better is one day in Your house, better is one day in Your courts than thousands elsewhere.”

Posted in church and ministry, family life, hot topics, theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

He must capitalize, i must lowercase

Posted on 07.01.2010 by

you may have noticed that in many places on the site, i do not capitalize much, except for the content of the posts. i would say i do that on purpose as far as titles and such go. i’d have to tinker pretty deep in the style sheets to remove all capitalization, but i’ve tried to do what i can.

i’m not sure i’m ready to completely abandon all capitalization, as does marko. i am not comfortable with a zero-capitals policy. there is One Who shouldn’t be represented in lowercase letters if one also capitalizes the personal singular pronoun. even if you don’t, there’s a big difference between “god” and “God,” you know?

for now, perhaps i will toy with a protocol of only references to Deity getting capitals. then again, it may just be too hard to adjust. i think much faster than i can type, and that’s over 50 wpm. pausing to remember not to capitalize first letters and even “i” may simply slow me down too much.

oh well. it’s the intent that matters, right? what do you think?

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what do volunteers need?

Posted on 06.29.2010 by

this week youth specialties premiered a new video called “the volunteer,” promoting participation by volunteers in their national youth workers conventions in san diego and nashville. i love their desire to pour into the unpaid ministry workers who pour into teens, but at what cost?

depending on how early one registers, most will pay $300-400 for a ticket, plus the cost of travel, lodging, meals, etc. it seems like very few churches will have a budget large enough to send any volunteers at all? perhaps one or two, but not the entire team?

even if your entire volunteer team could go, should they?

i honestly can’t speak for this convention, as i’ve never been. i almost got a spare ticket once, but i wasn’t able to arrange being off work. which brings to light another huge piece of the puzzle for volunteers – we are paid for things other than youth ministry. is there another forum in which to encourage, equip, and minister to volunteers?

meanwhile, tim schmoyer at life in student ministry has posed the question today, “do we really need more youth ministry resources?” he brings an excellent point. it seems like there’s always a new youth ministry resource popping up somewhere. some are excellent, some are paltry, most get lost in the noise. (i’m in the process of writing for a couple, so i won’t name any names…) tim also asks if/what needs there truly are for additional resources. soul care, emotional support, vision casting?

photo by oberazzi (flickr)

of course i am biased, but i think there is a huge need for resources designed specifically for volunteers. large national conferences are good for what they are, but drinking from the fire hose once a year doesn’t always help in the week-to-week. do volunteers need predigested articles fed to them by their paid staff? or could there be a way to allow volunteers to share wisdom directly with each other?

whatever i may come up with, it’s unlikely to get much face time with other volunteers without going through the gatekeeper youth pastors. kind of a catch-22. full timers are already overwhelmed with resources and often are just trying to get something, anything, for the next meeting. but here are these legions of capable volunteers who chug along, under-resourced and under-recognized.

here’s where i need help in connecting a potentially huge resource with a clearly huge need.

  • what specific needs to volunteers in your ministry context have?
  • how are these needs distinct from the needs of paid ministry workers?
  • what format would be most effective to resource volunteers? what would they (you) be most likely to engage with?

thanks for your thoughts!

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the summer of their lives

Posted on 06.28.2010 by

A little over three years ago, my wife and I sat in a booth at Red Robin with our middle school pastor. After treating us to dessert, he asked us if we would consider becoming “6th grade specialists” after that year. A typical volunteer in our context would journey with a class from 6th grade until they finished 8th grade and transitioned to high school ministry, then loop down to the next group of 6th graders. In fact, we were then winding down a 3-year cycle. But he had noticed our perennial interest in each new group of students. We would always show up on welcome night, even when they weren’t “our” group. He wanted us to give that same over-the-top first-year experience to all new kids.

We gladly agreed and have just welcomed our fourth group of students in as many summers. (This past year all three grades in the ministry were “our” kids when they first arrived.) Here are 9 keys to giving your new group of students the summer of their lives. Field tested by seasoned volunteers, middle schooler approved. (Much of it would also apply to transitioning freshmen into high school ministry.)

  1. Hype it up. The first several activities are critical to helping new students feel connected. Our staff team plans two or three low-key, cheap or free events within the first month of the summer. We promote these highly relational events with a trifecta of phone calls, in-person invitations, and personally written postcards. I also try to write a “glad you’re part of our group” note sometime during the summer.
  2. Show up. Consistency is key. Starting with orientation night before the new class officially joins us and throughout that first summer, kids need the security of familiar faces. Do everything in your power to be at those first events, no matter how silly or pointless you – as an adult – think they sound.
  3. Divide and conquer. My ego would love for me to be the point man for every student, but it’s better to get to know a few kids well than to have only a passing acquaintance with everybody. While I will know every 6th grade boy by name and face by September 1, there are a certain few that I will have reached out to in an intentional way. The other volunteers on the team are invaluable in connecting with kids that I won’t – not because I don’t like them, but because I am but one leader out of many.
  4. Make sure to verify an unlimited texting plan before you carry on long conversations consisting of “LOL” and “K.”
    Communicate, communicate, communicate. Whatever level of technology fits each kid, use it well. Technically a 6th grader will have made up a false age to be on Facebook, but if they are using it (and if their parent is also a friend), I will be their friend. Look for who has a cell phone. Don’t fawn over those who already do to the point of making those who don’t feel inferior, but make sure you get each other programmed in. Free tip: make sure to verify an unlimited texting plan before you carry on long conversations consisting of “LOL” and “K.”
  5. Make it a party, not a date. Jonathan McKee’s newest book Connect: Real Relationships in a World of Isolation (Amazon Associate link) is a great read, but the reality of 6th grade ministry is that I rarely get together with new students one-on-one. As I build trust with them and their parents, those moments come in time. An 11-year-old new to student ministry is usually freaked out at the prospect of solo time with someone that’s essentially a stranger. Grab a group of two or three. You’ll get to know them better than at programmed gatherings, but with the buffer of a friend if the conversation starts to fizzle.
  6. Keep it cheap. Proximity to entertainment choices will vary, but keep the cost of any get-together very low. Find whatever local pool the kids hang out at and take a few kids. Ask a family with a subdivision or backyard pool if they will host a pool party. Major- and minor-league baseball games each have their unique flair. Find out when Buck Night is! If you have a theme park nearby, check the cost of a season pass for yourself. I found that I only needed to go about three times before it paid for itself.
  7. My time at camp each year is priceless in terms of banking relational capital. Sleep and healthy food can wait for a week!
    Camp is where it’s at. Go with the group if you possibly can. My time at camp each year is priceless in terms of banking relational capital. Sleep and healthy food can wait for a week! If you can’t go, go visit the kids if camp is close enough to drive down for an evening or two. If you can’t do that, send them some mail or even a care package.
  8. Parents are your friends. If mom or dad answers the phone when you call for their child, take a minute to chat with them first. Introduce yourself at church when you see them. Some of my most fruitful parental conversations take place when I am watching a ball game their kid is in. Wave to the kid so they know you showed up, but don’t underestimate the power of that bleacher time.
  9. Summer is not fall. Like a “game reset” in a tied white-knuckler gone into overtime, you can’t fully predict what fall will be like based on summer. Some kids that have been at everything in the summer will suddenly have sports or school commitments. Others who have barely showed up will become your most faithful attendees in the fall. Build on the foundation of the summer, but look for ways to keep kids engaged year-round.

Our youth pastor can’t learn 50-60 new names overnight, or spend loads of time with every kid, especially during the busy summer months. My wife and I, however, will know each kid by name (as long as they’ve actually come to something) and will have had a personal conversation with each one by the time school begins.

What does your team do to welcome and engage new students during the summer?

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engaging hope in a thousand ways (we fall down, but we get up)

Posted on 06.26.2010 by

flag ceremonyZzzzzzzzzzzzzz, snort, hack, yawn… I’m up, I’m up. It was a shorter mission trip week than we’ve had in many years, yet I am also physically more tired than I’ve been in a long time. We returned only moderately late last night from our middle school ministry’s first mission trip with Christ In Youth‘s (CIY) Know Sweat in Omaha. We had previously done our “own thing” one year and went to several sites with another mission organization that tends to focus on relational ministry for junior high groups, so in a sense everything about this trip was new to us.

I can’t think of a compelling way to organize my reflections on the week, so I will go in chronological order and mention things that caused me to think deeply or well up with praise. Some may stand out to you more than others, but I’ll leave that to the Holy Spirit.

  • A prequel to my trip was getting the chance to visit a group of our high school students the week before as they ministered at Mission Adelante and other ministry partners in both Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO. Ostensibly, I was there to videotape and get a feel for the culture of the trip. What I found was that I couldn’t help but be drawn into the sense of community that had already developed within this very diverse group. After their trip ended I have seen continuous Facebook announcements of “friending” between kids in our group that otherwise might never have connected. I think a big part of it, more so for high schoolers than middle schoolers, is that the students agreed to refrain from bringing their cell phones and other personal electronic devices. That caused them to literally look up (when you’re texting or flipping through songs, you’re looking down) and see those around them. I hoped for that as well in our trip, even though somewhat fewer of the younger kids have these distractions.
  • On the way to Omaha, we stopped at an area with several restaurants in close proximity (some kids actually DON’T prefer McD’s?!). I found myself at Pizza Hut with a handful of boys, from both 7th and 8th grade and both my church and our urban sister church, Christian Fellowship Baptist. As I paid my bill, our server let me know that for a group of young teens as big as ours, he had never encountered a group so well mannered. Wow! I could tell that this was going to be a good week.
  • As we walked back to the bus, a situation arose with one of the boys (through no one’s fault). I acted quickly in what I thought was the best interest of the student, but in the end I forgot that I was not the one in charge of the entire group. Lesson learned, and in the end everything worked out fine.
  • Through Jesus we are born into hope, built into family, so we can bring hope to the world.
    The theme for our week, carried through daily devotional materials, a mid-morning “refresh” discussion, and the evening session with full band and a speaker from a large middle school ministry, was “Engage Hope.” The kids looked at various snippets of 1 Peter and explored the assertion that “through Jesus we are born into hope, built into family, so we can bring hope to the world.” At first it seemed too abstract for kids that age to grasp – many adults can’t articulate the difference between biblical hope and hope as the world understands it – but I felt like by the end of the week the kids really embodied it in a way we couldn’t have foreseen.
  • CIY has an ongoing partnership with Active:Water, a nonprofit that provides wells and water filters in developing countries. Specifically, we learned about their work in Zambia. Kids learned facts about the water crisis (I hate to call it “trivia”), watched a film called Zambia’s Song, and gave an offering to help provide new village wells. The coolest thing to me was that every group got one or more 5-gallon plastic jugs of water that they carried with them to each meeting and activity throughout the week. No single student came anywhere near the 4-6 miles a woman or child in Africa might walk to retrieve that water, but it was a tremendous tangible lesson in what someone in a different circumstance goes through to obtain something we literally take for granted.
  • Our project for the week was really a large collection of projects, some bigger, some smaller. Our homeowners were Tom and Barb. They had been married 47 years, and lived in this lake community (about 30 minutes from our dorms at Nebraska Christian College) for 16 years. Shortly after they moved in, however, Tom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and eventually lost the ability to care for his home as he used to. Barb also was fighting lung cancer and has had two surgeries to remove growths. Neighbors had helped when they could, but when we came to paint the house (our primary commitment as a second, smaller group is coming to do the remaining projects we couldn’t) as well as do significant clearing of brush, landscaping, and disposal of 1 1/2 huge dumpsters of debris, people took notice. The next door neighbor hosted us for lunch one day, and a lady out jogging with her daughter and granddaughter on our first day on the job offered to let us come use her dock for a swim party one day. We gladly accepted both offers! The state council on aging sent representatives who loved what we had done, and even the guy who delivered the dumpster noticed the impact we were having not only on Tom and Barb’s lives, but the entire community.
  • Tom was out in the yard throughout the week, admiring the amazing progress the kids had made. Once I was walking behind him into his garage when he started to fall backwards. I was right there to help him stand back up. The next day he fell all the way to the ground. He said it happens often, but I’m sure it hurt. I helped him get up into a chair, and our team nurse cleaned and bandaged his scrapes. At our swim party, the nurse’s son was playfully pushed into the water, but he is not a strong swimmer. Quick reaction by our youth pastor kept a scary moment from turning into something much worse. Earlier that day, some of the CFBC students had been singing Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down.” I think maybe God wanted me to really understand the value of Christian community?
  • The next several minutes were among the most tender moments in my 19 years of ministry.
    On Thursday, our final day of work, we celebrated birthdays for one of our girls as well as Tom himself, whose birthday was the next day. Before cake was passed around, though, we presented Tom with a brand new American flag for his pole. One of the girls had noticed the tattered flag when we first arrived. Four of our boys who are Boy Scouts, led by Ben, retired the old flag and raised the new one. Although I was attempting to record the moving ceremony on video, I was struggling to keep myself together as I watched Tom and especially Barb in tears as they were so proud of their new flag. (Barb had even provided us with patriotic marching music all day, and I don’t think she knew ahead of time that we had gotten Tom the flag.) After the group began to return to work, I felt it was right to tell Ben how proud his dad would be of what he had just done. He must have been thinking of it as well, because the next several minutes were among the most tender moments in my 19 years of ministry. Barb came to share a tear, telling Ben about her own lung cancer (the same as what took Ben’s father). I can barely express how much it meant to me to act as the arms of Jesus in that near-wordless space.
  • From Thursday night until we got home late Friday, life was one big party. From the “praise pit” that eventually climbed to the front of the stage for the last few songs, to the afterparty at Culver’s (we even convinced the CIY staff to join us), to the day at the Omaha Zoo and early dinner at Spaghetti Works, the kids incarnated a joy for life and a family mentality I have rarely seen. We’ve joined with CFBC before, but this was the first time that kids from our Olathe Campus joined us as well. By the end of the week, I could hardly remember which kids were from which congregation, or even which were 7th or 8th grade. May that spirit catch on like wildfire and consume even the kids who didn’t get to go on the trip.

This was a trip to top them all, and I’ve been on all but one our ministry has done. I’m exhausted yet fulfilled, and look forward to a fantastic year as the kids strive to integrate the lessons of this amazing week into their entire lives. Thanks for praying!

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into the wild blue (mission trip) yonder

Posted on 06.19.2010 by

I’ll be going somewhat off grid next week, but not completely. We head to Omaha for our Know Sweat trip early on Monday. I will endeavor to post as I’m able via Twitter and/or Facebook. You can also follow my communiques in one integrated timeline at andrewburden.com/lifestream. If it can fit into 140 characters, I’ll probably tweet. If I take pictures on my phone, I’ll post to Facebook. I doubt I’ll be able to blog until I return, but one never knows.

Pray for our team! We’ll be gone from June 21-25. You can follow the “official” team blog (term used loosely to this purist). Also, the same page features a link to send any team member a “Happy Fun Note.” Write someone an encouraging note (say, for example, me) and our leaders will print it out and place it in our “Happy Fun Bag.” Just a little love from back home!

See you soon.

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