November 16, 2009 (Mobile Upload) - during our picnic a few weeks ago Annelise began finding and collecting all the beatiful rocks she could find. By the end of our walk she was the furthest behind and was struggling to walk with her pants bulging. The rocka have long since been lost, probably somewhere inside our house but appreciate Annelise's ability to find beauty where others see on a desert. There are few flowers and no autumn leaves but there are plenty of beautiful rocks.

iPhone Upload - I tried updating this site today but the limited internet speeds caused temporary insanity. I'm still trembling from trying to upload my family's portraits through a 24kbps connection. I can't take iy any more so this photo is a test and if this works then i'll try uploading the rest of the photos via my phone. The problem is that the fule size will not be big enough to purchase prints. So do you want to just see them or would you rather wait to see them until you can purchase them as well?

A WORLD WITHOUT COLOR
October 10, 2009

The other day I found myself overwhelmed by colors. Its happened before, specifically while standing at Carrefour in France after our evacuation from Chad. The force and intensity of crisp clean colors caused an irritation as the colors seemed to mask the reality beneath.

As I thought about this I remembered the comment from a fellow photographer who suggested I consider making the picture below a Black & White. I haven't been taking many photos recently but the thought of doing a series of Black & White photos interests me. Sometimes color can distract us from seeing the reality beneath, either its beauty or its true reality.

REFLECTIONS
September 3, 2009

Well, I’ve been told that I should update this blog at least once a week. Since it was over a month ago since I last updated it looks like I have work ahead of me.

These past few weeks have been a time of reflection for me as we passed through some difficult valleys. Some valleys were circumstantial while others were emotional. It is often difficult to separate the two. As comforts are continually stripped away we find ourselves clinging to God with raw emotions that allow us to see him more clearly then when we hold his hand and our comforts. There is a peace in realizing the truth that Jesus is all I need but it is a difficult and costly lesson to learn.

Maiisar
July 21, 2009

Yesterday I went with my neighbor (pictured on the left) to the village of his mother. The small huts are settled just over 25 km east of Abéché where my neighbor owns a field for planting peanuts and millet. I wanted to help him plant although when I first suggested the idea he thought I was joking it turns out he took me up on my offer.

We took loaded up the seeds and supplies and drove out through the bush to the village. His wife and our other neighbors were laughing that I would go out with him as we pulled out and his wife became very worried the longer I was away. Unfortunately we didn't get to plant the peanuts as they are doing that today but we did get to spend the day with the village Imam (Islamic teacher).

It was a blast spending an entire day out in the village to experience life as lived in the bush.

Undignified Worship
July 18, 2009

God generously provided me with a reality check after a difficult start to my week. On Sunday I had the opportunity to preach, which I greatly enjoyed, before staring into another week of language learning. This would be week 156 of language learning (into our second of 3 languages). My mind and heart began to long for the time when I served as a pastor in America and it was hard to focus on my work here.

Thankfully, God provided an unexpected means that brought my eyes and heart back into focus. For the past 6 weeks a short-term team has served with us as part of an internship with Dallas Theological Seminary. Normally their people complete these in churches so most of the 116 questions I needed to complete as part of his course work were related to the church in America. By the end of the survey I was frustrated with the line of questions they deemed important, especially question 107. It asked, “Handles distractions and unexpected events during worship in ways that maintain the dignity of the service.”

I realize some may think I am taking this out of context but let me describe how I see this question in the context of the 106 that preceded it. The “service” is a planned program that should be dignified and maintain that dignity at all costs. The dictionary defines dignity is two ways, “having a composed or serious manner or style” and second, “having a state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect.” By this understanding the “service” (church program) is serious business and should have a quality of worthiness in and of itself.

Here is the foundation of my problem. Life is not dignified by this definition. Crying children, guests at our gate (since church happens in the home), attack helicopters flying overhead. Life can be seen or described as a distraction to worship and “church,” the official organization and program on Sunday morning, becomes what we fight to maintain as dignified.

True worship occurs when we lose sight of our own dignity in the chaos of life to glorify the one true God as the only thing worthy of honor and respect. With this in mind we can truly worship in the midst of life’s distractions. Some of the most profound times of worship for me have occurred outside a building surrounded by nature or while bombs were accompanying our singing. We should not fight for “dignity of the service” but go to press forward for the dignity of our God. But please do not try and say that one will equal the other, in fact, I believe it does people a disservice as we call them to a life of worship. Life is full of distractions and God is worthy of our worship. A true leader will help people see the glory of God in every aspect of life and not merely focus on the programs of our churches.

(I have now dismounted my soapbox)

SOLAR HUB
July 7, 2009

Here’s a picture to our solar powered house. This is the main hub with 3 solar panels resting on our roof. Given the reality that I didn’t understand any of this before arriving in Chad I am rather proud of myself for getting everything up and running. I won’t bore you with all the details but it is a fascinating process with many mathematical details along the way.

In the future, upon our return to Chad after home assignment, I hope to come back with deep cycle batteries but for the time being I had to stay within budget and availability so truck batteries had to do the job.

RETURN TO ABECHE
June 29, 2009

We've been incredibly busy recently and enjoying a vacation in the capital but unfortunately we did not have good access to the internet.

This picture was taken on the second day of our drive before we hit the more open parts of the desert. It turns out I tied down the things on the roof well enough but the rough roads shook the roof-rack loose so we stopped to tighten everything down.

There is much to update but I figure something small and short is better than nothing at all. Be looking for more pictures and entries as we once again have access to UNHCR's internet connection.

DARFUR REFUGEES
April 24, 2009

On Monday I left for Gueréda as a launching pad to two different refugee camps near the Sudan border. We went there to serve the handicapped people by giving them special wheelchairs. Some had lost their legs after their village was bombed by the Janjaweed and others were paralyzed from preventable sicknesses such as polio.

In a new featured album titled, "Unforgotten," I will be uploading our journey along with their stories. For their safety names will not be used but their stories are true and I pray that seeing their pictures and hearing their stories will move you beyond the mere numbers to see the joy we experience in touching their lives.

I want to thank you for lifting us up as we reach out to the ends of the earth to be the hands of blessings. We could not be here without a supporting body so I hope these photos and words will help you see the rewards that await you.

HOLY WEEK
April 10, 2009

On Sunday we decided to make use of our rather boring concrete walls that encircle our home. The neighbors were curious as I burnt pieces of wood in our burn barrel to draw the chart on the wall.

As the week has progressed it has given us several opportunities to share with people as they come to our house for water.

I'll post some more picture in our return to Abeche folder.