To Protect And To Serve

More than 50 years ago, the Los Angeles Police Department formally adopted the phrase "To Protect and To Serve" as the aim and purpose of its profession. The mission statement of the LAPD has since been adopted by thousands of police departments across the United States.

I emphasized this phrase to 25 members of the Colombian National Police's Special Forces Unit in Cali on Friday morning, in our second opportunity in as many years to share the Gospel with some of their newest recruits.

The Special Forces unit is a hybrid of the Secret Service and a Marshall in the United States. Their task is to protect key government officials (all the way up to the president) traveling in and around Cali, and to protect the city of Cali from the worst forces of evil in the country, from drug lords to even guerrillas or peasant armies in Colombia better known as FARC.

The lieutenant of the Special Forces Unit who invited us back commands the group of 80, and during the past year has traveled to Georgia and Florida for leadership training alongside the United States Army.

While the Special Forces Unit protects, the aim and purpose of our team of 35 missionaries in Cali is to serve the 16 churches that we were building during the past week. By showing the love of Jesus first, then sharing His story, we were servants to the churches and their communities. We abide in truth and the Special Forces Unit abides in the law.

"Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established." - Romans 13:1

My only returning teammate from last year in Cali, Bill, joined me back at the Police Academy (my wisest move in most any circumstance would be to have Bill at my side), along with three of our translators, Adrian and Samuel (both presented with us to the Special Forces Unit in 2010), and Andrea, or Andy.

Once we were introduced by the pastor responsible for our relationship with the Special Forces Unit (Pastor Ciro), the five of us took turns engaging the police. I talked about our purpose in Cali, and that sharing the Gospel with only one person while in Colombia this week (our team of 35 actually presented the gospel to 2,299 and 1,699 acccepted Christ) would still make the trip worthy of our sacrifice of time and money. I talked about the significance of Good Friday and I talked about the profession of Jesus (carpenter) and how one of his primary tools (nails) is a painful reminder of the cross.

Only 18, Andy talked about her relationship with God, and the struggles she has endured. Her Mother gave birth to her at 16 and several years ago abandoned Colombia with a man who is not Andy's father to escape the stress of raising a family on her own. Andy's birth father lives in Cali but has a family of his own and only reaches out to Andy when she says there is an emergency need, like no food in the home. Andy lives with her grandmother and younger sister, who was a product of another of her mother's boyfriends who physically abused Andy's mother and largely provoked her mother's escape from the area.

Andy talked to the police about the painful reminders she sees everyday about her background. She has marks from two bullets that struck her during a drive-by shooting when she was 2 and her father was holding her at a bus stop. She has scars on her face and arms when a taxi ran into her on her bicycle when she was 10. There's marks from surgeries and on two different occasions, motorcycles have run over her legs.

"God has to love me and have a purpose for me or I wouldn't be here" is what she told me on Thursday night when she first shared her story to me.

Before Adrian shared the Gospel and Samuel his testimony, Bill talked about his family; wife, children and grandchildren. He talked about his 47-year old son, John, who died four years ago after enduring a debilitating disease to his muscles. Bill stressed that he only wished years ago he could have changed places with his son, but he couldn't, foreshadowing the Gospel presentation from Adrian.

All but 4 of the police officers were bold to step out to accept the free gift of having God at their side, through Jesus, as their ultimate bodyguard. Before we prayed, Samuel talked to the 4 men about their boldness not to just step out and join the crowd. Before we began, the 4 men all reconsidered. Jesus paid it all, and Jesus won them all. All glory to God.

We then prayed for each of the men, broke down into prayer groups, and finally prayed for the lieutenant for strength. It is overwhelming to think of his responsibilities. After leaving the academy, we made a brief stop to pray in a home of one of the policeman who is going to use it to begin discipling these new believers.

Their first small group had already been established.

Good Friday. Great Friday.

Blessings,

Dave

P.S. If you click in this blog to our entries from 2010 and the title "Stepping Out" you can read more about Andy. She fulfilled her goal of becoming a translator for us this year and may be one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. And she's only 18, did I say that?

In The Name of Keith

Day 4 of 4 is complete in Cali. We planted two churches and at each site our team of 4 North Americans and 4 translators delivered each pastor and his staff more than 200 tracts; people who were either presented the Gospel or who accepted Jesus.

Staggering what God can do.

My 4-person team from the States included 2 from South Carolina (Bill and Gordon) and 1 from Delaware (Henry). While Bill is completing his 12th trip in Colombia with E3 Partners, Gordon and Henry are putting the wraps on their first-ever mission trips.

And with heavy hearts.

Before the calendar turned 2011, Henry made a commitment to the trip with his childhood friend, Keith, who is a member of the same church in Greenville, SC, as both Bill and Gordon. In late January, Keith fell in the shower. The following week, Keith was diagnosed with brain cancer. He underwent surgery and then began an intense treatment which he and his wife, Joyce, chose would give him the best chance to stay the course to be in Cali this week.

Weeks ago, Keith and Joyce reconsidered and agreed that Cali was out of the question. At the same time, Gordon paid a visit to the hospital and felt the Spirit stirring him to step in for Keith. An accountant and father of four sons, Gordon had made dozens of excuses in the past on why he couldn't go to Colombia ... he couldn't think of one this time and jumped in with both feet to show his love for Keith.

My pictures today highlight Gordon (blue shirt). He remarked in the van en route to the church this morning, "I'm really not an evangelist. I mention the Lord in conversation in the workplace, but I just don't think of myself as an evangelist."

More than 30 Colombians accepted Christ today thanks to the hands and feet of Gordon and his translator, Adrian. Throughout the day as I checked on the team in the barrio, I never saw Gordon without being surrounded by men and women and families hanging out of windows to hear God working through Gordon.

God had a plan of saving the best for Gordon's last day.

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Friday is our traditional 'off-day' before our 6 PM victory service, when attendees from each of the 16 barrios where we planted churches this week in Cali will gather together to celebrate their new-found faith in Christ. Never a dry eye in the arena when we say goodbye to bonds we formed this week with so many warm-hearted Colombians.

For the second straight year, Bill and I and a few of our translators have been invited to share the Gospel to members of the Colombian National Police at their training academy south of the city. An honor I cannot express and looking back on the experience in April of 2010 still gives me chill bumps. Matt ... you will be so missed at our side.

My Profile picture on Facebook shows a photo with the men we presented to at the academy last year ... those who were bold enough to come forward and choose a life with Big Brother at their side aare at our side in the photo.

We would appreciate your prayers for the 9 AM meeting, which will be sandwiched between our daily 7 AM breakfast meeting and a Noon conquest for the baddest plantains in Cali. I'd like to think it will be a celebration!

God still hasn't let us down ... if we're willing to do His work.

Blessings,

Dave

The Importance Of A Father

Day 3 of 4 in the mission field meant starting a second church plant today. We arrived in our barrio, stepped foot into a large church (by Cali standards; traditional service of 150) and immediately were whisked upstairs where our excited pastor, Andres (pictured with his wife), showed us the church's children's ministry.

Nearly 30 children were gathered upstairs, and as well-mannered as a private school in Connecticut. Labeling these kiddos at-risk may be an understatement. Most of the children walk one hour each way, by themselves, to the church where they are fed (provided by the church) and educated (teachers are church volunteers). Don't think daycare here as a building with a drop-off lane out front .. the kids are on their own and most reside in a communal property where a Coleman tent may be an upgrade to what they call home.

How did we ever leave that area of the church this morning?

I spent lunch across from Pastor Andres at the church and asked his story, knowing that somewhere in his 37 years was an experience which had sown a deep passion to care for these lost children. You could see the love in his eyes from the morning with "his" kids.

Pastor Andres talked briefly about his childhood, then touched on choosing the nasty trifecta of becoming a hitman and a pimp and a thief. As a sidenote, the value of humanity in Colombia according to Pastor Andres is staggering ... the pricetag for a hit might be 80,000 pesos. Sound like a lot? That's $40. Break it down further and that equates to three days of work in Colombia ... at minimum wage.

His life turned when he broke into a home and his crime partner was shot in the mid-section and paralyzed. He then witnessed the power of prayer ... friends of his partner who were Christians crying out to God, and seeing his friend receive healing from the paralysis.

Pastor Andres accepted Christ, changed his ways, found a good church (where he met his wife) then started his church three years ago (children's ministry two years ago). Still looking for a connection to the children's ministry. I went deeper with Pastor Andres: was it power, money or anger which pushed him into such a nasty lifestyle? (Or maybe a movie, from the Blog entry earlier in the week.)

"Anger," Pastor Andres said without hesitating. "Anger at my father."

Early childhood memories of his father were centered around witnessing physical beatings ... either his mother or himself being the victim. His father then left home before Pastor Andres was 10, and for the next 16 years he admitted to waking up every day trying to figure out a way he could find his father, and kill him, for the abuse and the abandonment.

"I don't want these kids to experience what I experienced" Pastor Andres said.

Hence the connection. The kids are in great hands.

Before his father died last year, Pastor Andres witnessed his father return to the neighborhood, walk into his church and tell his son how proud he was of what he had become. It's one of the greatest memories Pastor Andres has in his life ... evidence we'll treasure approval from our fathers any way we can get it and no matter what evil have fathers have done to us in the past.

One more day in the mission field introducing Colombians to a relationship with their Heavenly Father. His love never ceases, and He never abandons. Pray for our strength, and pray for our peace to leave so many emotional situations in God's capable hands once we depart our barrios.

Blessings,

Dave

Scarred by 'Scarface'

Why do I ever question my wife (Lisa) and her judgment? I am so silly.

I recall years ago ... but not too long, when Lisa and I both accepted Jesus and became Christ followers. Lisa made the complete overhaul in lifestyle, including a personal decision to not support or watch R-rated movies.

As much as I tried to bend her rule when a really good movie came out but was rated 'R,' Lisa held firm ... it was 'R' for a reason, she said, thus included some kind of content that was inappropriate, i.e. violence, sex, language. Yes, we're adults ... but she drew a line in the sand and I've come to realize she's the brains of the household ... and so much more.

A brief change of focus brings us to Day 2 in the mission field in Cali. Our team was greeted before we left our hotel with a new translator, Manuel, who is a 4o-ish native of Cali who moved to Brooklyn as a teen-ager and stayed in the United States until five years ago. His English is terrific and we became fast friends on the streets of our barrio.

Manuel dreamed of entering the U.S Navy after high school to sail on big ships, but fell just shy in an English qualifying test. He was left empty to mull over his future -- in an area of the States where for generations foreigners landed to chase the American dream.

Manuel found a dream to chase that summer thanks to a trip to the movies ... 'Scarface.' The 1983 film with Al Pacino tells the story of a Cuban refugee who arrived in Miami and became a kingpin in the cocaine drug empire in the city. In no time, Manuel drove down to Miami and began moving kilos of cocaine throughout the United States where he was paid $1,000 per kilo and often trasnsported 20 kilos from city-to-city. You do the math for 4 days of work for a young man with no idea how to earn a living.

Several years later, a sting operation outside the Miami airport landed Manuel in prison, where he served his full sentence of 14 years. He never ran into trouble behind bars, and like a handful of locals serving our cause in Colombia ... he accepted Christ while in prison.

I had to ask Manuel. "A movie changed the course of your life, really?"

"That was it. It showed me what I thought was the American dream. That was one of the biggest thing I heard in prison at the time ... all of us wanted to be the guy in 'Scarface,' " he said.

Manuel was expedited back to Colombia in 2006 after his release and makes a good living with a taxi he owns in Cali. Old friends tried luring him back into the drug trade, but his heart is on serving the Lord and living a renewed life that glorifies Him.

We spent a great deal of time around a corner market in our barrio today. Time and again after we visited with locals, Manuel was reaching into his pocket buying poor men and women he knew needed quenching a cold drink, or even lunch, from the market. It was never an attempt to win someone into choosing Jesus, just a real show of love for the downtrodden.

It's one of the best representations I saw of Jesus the entire day.

Manuel is pictured feeding a man with special needs, and playing with Camila, who followed us each day ... and I would love to take back to the States! Her parents are involved in the church we are working in because of her as Camila began dragging them through the doors -- at the age of 5.

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From Mayberry to Sanford & Son

The rugged neighborhood we expected to work in on Monday and Tuesday turned into Mayberry (The Andy Griffith Show) when our church pastor opted for us to work closer to his church than to cross into areas he thought might present an outside risk to our mission team. We definitely move into a poor section of Cali for Wednesday and Thursday, where offering hope in Jesus ... any hope ... should open doors all day.

Blessings,

Dave

Engaged and On Their Way

Day One in the mission field ... so blessed to have a ton of prayers that we can feel down every calle, or street. In my group, there wasn't a home where someone who answered the door wasn't receptive to us, and no one wavered when we were still talking 30 minutes later, which is a 180-degree turn from life in the States. Teenage girls and boys walk the streets talking and overly-friendly instead of walking together and holding two separate conversations (texting) on their own phones. Another staple in the States, which tragically we see couples do too much even on date night.

Engaged and focused. Colombians do it so well.

Each of the 8 groups within Team Cali reports on a daily basis how many people we present the Gospel to and how many people prayed to accept Christ (77 and 60 for our 4-member group today for those keeping score), but I try and stress to our team (a) it's not about a religion at all, but a relationship, so meeting people where they are is critical over generating numbers," and (b) if someone places their faith in Christ but we fail to arm them with the tools to grow in their new-found faith and to interact with others in their community, they will quickly become a fruitless branch on the vine.

Dallas-based E3 Partners, our awesome mission trip escorts, have made a massive step forward in 2011 to engage those to whom we present the Gospel. In the past, we would invite everyone we met back to a slimmed-down church service at 5 PM every night to engage them in the church, they get to see where the church is located, and they are introduced to the pastor and his key church members.

E3 realized people didn't need more of the standard "church service" but sorely needed to begin getting fed .... hence the formation of 2-8 person discipleship small groups held at our church plants every night at 5 PM. A brief Bible story is shared within each group and the participants share ... what they like about the story ... what they don't like or is confusing ... what does the story tell you about God ... about people ... what can someone do differently about their life from the story they read ... who can each person tell about what they have learned?

Our church plant was packed (praise God) inside for the small groups tonight, and when the 4 of us and our translators departed at 6 PM, no one noticed when the North Amercans slipped out to grab the van back to the hotel. Our church members took ownership of the groups and facilitated (instead of teaching) to maximize participation.

There wasn't a dry mouth in the room. That's engagement.

In the bottom right corner of the photo is a man (gray sweater) and wife who teammate Bill visited in the afternoon. They have been married for less than 4 months, neither seemed to be ecstatic about the situation so wise Bill (married for 37 years) asked the husband where he was seeking counsel to live a Godly life as husband and leader of the household. The husband quickly asked where he could get THAT book .... From marriage development to money management, God's word has it all covered. The newlyweds were active in the small group, and any couple committed to growing closer to God side-by-side can't help but grow closer together. Bill's smile next to me, while watching the couple interact, made for a great memory to close the day.

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Brain Freeze of the Week #1. Jackson from New Jersey is a member of Team Cali who sat next to me on the flight from Miami to Cali on Saturday afternoon. I remarked to him that the weather looked clear for our arrival (it had rained much of the past week in Cali) which was a great sign. Jackson pointed out we were still at 33,000 feet, which is quite clear anywhere in the world. I think Jackson quickly looked into our Cali schedule to make sure he wasn't on my team.

Brain Freeze of the Week 2: After finishing my shower this morning, I looked at my roommate Andres and remarked I missed the morning slot for any warm/hot water in the hotel before our breakfast meeting started at 7 AM. Andres asked what knobs I was turning in the shower and I remarked, "Just the H, because the C is just going to be cold and I don't need that." Andres, a native of Cali now living in New Jersey, reminded me that we were no longer in the States where C means COLD but in South America where CALIENTE means hot. And the H ... if I could see clearly ... is really an F, for FRIO, or cold. Andres is on Jackson's team. Can only imagine the exchange they have each day of "guess what Dave said today?"

Uno loco hombre, Dave

Pastor Dirty Harry More Evidence of the Grace of God

Time and time again on a mission trip in a country like Colombia, where you hear jaw-dropping testimony after testimony, I'm reminded of God's unconditional love and willingness to rescue us wherever we are with arms open wide and forgiveness guaranteed.

Jesus paid for that.

Our first church plant this week (Monday and Tuesday) will be in a northern suburb of Cali rugged enough to prompt the government to send two military bodyguards with our 8-person team tomorrow when we depart the hotel. (No coffee necessary in this case to start the day.)

The church is led by Pastor Jorge, who joined us at our hotel this morning for the 25-minute trip to his barrio for their 10 AM church service. Pastor Jorge can best be described as 'Dirty Harry;' a 44-year old pastor who like every other native had to serve a one-year mandatory term in the police, or a branch of the national military, before moving on to college or another vocation. Pastor Jorge began taking his term on the police force into his own hands ... accepting bribes and foregoing the tangled legal process in favor of just choosing to execute the bad guys. A 26-year prison term was shortened to 10 years, he was released in 2004 and is now in full-time ministry; he also leads a Prison Fellowship in Cali and returns on occasion to where he was imprisoned to Medellin to share his story with former inmates.

A fellow prisoner shared the Gospel with Jorge on his first day in prison, which also happened to be his birthday, and his life has never been the same. His faith commitment aided in his early release, and also led to his wife of 27 years accepting Jesus after years of visiting him in prison and running out with her hands in the air pleading for 'no more talking about Jesus.'

The four of us from the States on one of the 8 teams here in Cali (picture of Team Cali from our 7 AM breakfast meeting) each shared our story this morning during church service, before Pastor Jorge reinforced his background, and then introducd my translator, Samuel, who used to be a bodyguard for Pablo Escobar and was deported from the States in the 1990s. The testimony I have from Samuel last spring would be a viral stealth if there wasn't a legitimate concern over the extensive list of names he mentions in his unbelievable background.

Life transformation is all around us; we only have to be transparent to share, then gain the trust of others to surrender and admit they are broken, too, and tired of doing it alone.

That's what happened after all our testimonies near the close of the church service, when 3 men in their early 20s stood up, joined their passionate and loving pastor, Jorge (picture), and said it was time for a life change. What an honor and privilege it is for God to allow me in prayer to lead them from the lost to the saved, from dead to alive, from hopeless to now directed and cared for by the best Father the world has ever seen.

Before we closed in prayer with the three amigos, another attendee in the room of 30 joined us up front; at 19 she was seeing that her lifestyle, too, needed a Jesus makeover and our nudge (again, all the Spirit, as Jesus promises, doing all the work) was just enough. Our 2 van drivers as we awaited lunch made the same profession and at 56 and 44, respectively, are starting new lives knowing God's grace now covers any and all their imperfections.

The mission field is all around us in HD if we only choose to open our eyes.

A late-afternoon rally involving each of the 16 churches we will plant in Cali this week and all our translators was highlighted by great friends from last year's Cali visit showing up to offer their support: a pastor's wife (Pilar) and her gifted daughter (Adriana/Adrienne). Another leader in their church (Andy), who volunterred her time last spring to work the streets with us is back as one of our official translators as she readies to graduate from nursing school. Andy committed the last 3-4 months to sharpen her English for our campaign and will do just fine this week.

News then came tonight that the invitation is back for us to return to the Colombian Natonal Police Academy on Friday (our designated off day) to share the gospel with a new group, similar to what we experienced last year with more than 50 police bolding getting up from their chairs at the academy to profess their their faith in Christ.

Better the face guerillas and the like with the baddest of the bad bodyguard leading the way, huh? Why do it alone?

We'll have time to focus on Friday on Thursday night. For now, our hearts turn back to giving Pastor Jorge's community our very best. My team can feel so many prayers from so many loved ones that have opened the hearts of so many to our cause for Christ ... I can point you to 4 young men and women and our van drivers before we settled in for lunch as evidence.

Their lives have truly just begun, and so has our time in Cali.

Blessings,

Dave

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ... Cali Style

Team Cali arrived in Colombia tonight (well, hours ago when it was still Saturday), albeit a couple hours late due to a weather delay in Miami.

One of life's great blessings is having a roommate (Andres), who lives in New Jersey but called Cali home for his first 24 years. Andres is bilingual thus invaluable beyond words outside the hotel room.

After unpacking at 11 PM ... and the remainder of Team Cali tied to the hotel property for the night (most all lacking in translators not to mention exhausted), Andres suggested a quick taxi over to one of the top hamburger places in the city. Don't have to ask me twice, and hey, how many times can a foody get a fix on a mission trip?

We picked up fellow team member Bill who was down in the lobby texting messages back home, and gained another surprise when Samuel, one of our team's translators, pulled up in a taxi at the hotel after an 8-hour bus drive into Cali from his home in Medellin.

Don't have to ask Samuel twice if he wants to go wrestle with the largest hamburger in South America.

The star attraction on the menu can be seen in front of Samuel ... "Hamburgesa Todo Terreno (All Terrain)," a 2-pounder comprised of pork, chicken, beef and ham -- and dressed with an egg on top. He left some of the bread at the end, saying "Kinda fattening, I'm watching my weight."

Another member of Team Cali on the trip is Jackson, who was born in Taipai, Taiwan, moved to the Eastern US when he was 8 and now lives in New Jersey. Jackson sat next to me on the flight from Miami and is making his second trip to Colombia after two E3 trips to Kenya where he served on a medical team.

"People think this is a one-week mission trip. In my mind, this is a week to recharge our Spirit to go back and do the Lord's work in the 51-week mission field we call home," Jackson explained.

Surrounded by wisdom this week in Cali.

Blessings,

Dave

Colombia Trip Schedule/Prayer Calendar

So many who commit to participating in a mission trip send out letters in advance for financial support tied to asking for prayer support. I can't emphasize the power of prayer -- knowing without question that the roads we travel in Colombia have been paved by prayer cover from so many loved ones ... prayers for safety, strength, courage, comfort and yielding to the Spirit in all circumstances. We exist to serve Him and to bring Him glory, knowing there will be struggles. I can't find any stories in the Bible of disciples not entering major hurdles whiel doing the Lord's work.

Below is a snapshot of our Cali schedule, notes about each day and scripture tied to each day during the week in Colombia. Much of the country has the entire Easter week off as a national holiday, so it will be a great opportunity for us to find men at home (who are usually absent and working) and to challenge these men to be the spiritual leaders in their household that God calls us all to be.

Saturday, April 16: Thirty-five of us will fly into Cali, from all parts of the States (18 from Texas, 8 from South Carolina, 7 from New Jersey and 1 each from California and Delaware). I will be joined from Dallas by a pastor from Garland and a handful of staff from E3 Partners (where its headquarters are located) as we trek to Miami, then into Cali -- also on Central time -- by 7 PM (at least that's the American Airlines expectation). Passing through immigration in Cali is always an adventure, until the military and airport officers understand our purpose ... then God always seems to open their eyes and big smiles come across their faces. I'll be reunited in Cali with Andres, who was on my team in Cali in 2010 and will be my roommate. Andres was born and raised in Cali and came last year with his wife, Claudia, and newborn daughter. It was their first mission trip with E3 (their parents in Cali were eager babysitters each day) but things started with a bump ... a hold-up in Miami due to a passport issue with their child. They didn't arrive until late Sunday, so taking travel for granted is never wise. I'll miss seeing Claudia, so Andres has much catching up to do. My roommate in Colombia my past two trips, Matt (creator of this blog), moved his annual Colombian trip this year to the fall ... Matt's compassion, and humor, will be missed on so many levels. The same man I prayed with every morning before we left the hotel room and would close the night in darkness in the hotel room with an incredible prayer (sorry for those few nights I fell asleep while he was praising our creator) ... really did sneak a cocaine leaf into my Bible last spring (someone pointed out the tree when he was working in one of the communities). I love working in the mission field with Matt, but no question we have fun at every corner.

Saturday Prayer: Matthew 11: 25-30.

Sunday, April 17: "Team Cali" is divided into 8 groups (4-5 Americans per group) which will each head out in the morning in vans to 8 different churches in Cali. My team will be Bill, Gordon and Henry. Bill is incredible; met him in Cali last spring when he was on my team. He's been to Colombia with E3 many, many times and I was blessed to be the team leader, which allowed him to finally 'work' in the shadows. Naturally, I was always looking over my shoulder at every turn looking for Bill's approval and wondering, "Am I crazy?" One of Bill's dear friends, Keith, was signed up to join us and recruited a childhood friend, Henry. Tragically, Keith was diagnosed with brain cancer several weeks ago, still wanted to push through therapy and treatments and attend, but is unable to make the trip (doctors are encouraged at his recovery from surgery, but his prayer team is massive). One of Keith's dear friends, Gordon, decided during a hospital visit to step in for Keith. We'll worship in a church in the morning and traditionally meet the pastor and his family for lunch. Each team will return to that general area in Cali to plant a new church (Monday and Tuesday) and then another (Wednesday and Thursday). By 'planting' we are going door-to-door to build local support of a new church; usually starting with a couple dozen core members who support us and then leaving two days later with 30-50-70 new families of that church who have started a relationship with Jesus and now need a home to foster their spiritual development. In the evening on Sunday, we will meet with all the translators who will assist each of our 8 teams, as well as the pastors from each of the 16 churches our 8 teams will work with throughout the week. Two of our team's 4 translators are Adrian and Samuel. During an E3 trip several years ago, Bill knocked on Adrian's family's door and changed his family's life as only Christ can do, and now Adrian is serving alongside Bill. Samuel was my translator last year. I encourage you to click through this blog from our 2010 trip to read about Samuel (story titled 'Leave Nothing'). I can't imagine how long the hug will be seeing Samuel on Sunday Night (or Bill, Andres or Adrian for that matter.) Samuel and his wife, Nancy (picture posted to this blog is with Samuel and Nancy in Cali last April), are expecting their first child next month. Thanks to some gracious, dear friends, I have a 50-pound suitcase bound for Cali that will stay with Samuel after I return and is filled with tons of clothes and diapers and marked "Samuel David."

Sunday Prayer: Ephesians 4: 1-6

Monday, April 18: One of the gifted missionaries from E3 is Vicki, who leads a time of prayer for Team Cali every morning at 6 AM. Her husband, Sam, who has worked in Colombia and with E3 for more than 15 years, is managing our trip campaign alongside another E3er, Margo, who was born in Cali but also lives in the Dallas area. We'll eat breakfast at 7 AM as Sam lays the groundwork for our week and the day ahead. Our translators will arrive at the hotel by 8:30 AM and we'll depart around 8:45 AM into 8 different vans headed to different areas in Cali. We'll serve that church in the morning and afternoon, with the church hosting us for lunch, which is always phenomenal. We'll invite members of the community we meet to come to the church for a late afternoon meeting (where we will form small study groups), then return to the hotel before 6 PM. Our team and translators take taxis out to dinner and share stories well into the night. Most taxis are powered by natural gas in Colombia ... sweet!

Monday Prayer: Colossians 4: 2-6

Tuesday, April 19: Repeat of Monday, but our afternoon will close our time in that community. We will be reunited with that pastor and his church leaders and members at the victory service on Friday night, but goodbyes and leaving the community are always difficult. The community I was in last year on Monday and Tuesday ... great friends on Facebook to this day with the pastor (Ciro), his wife (Pilar) their daughter (Adrianne) as well as several key leaders and members of that church. Lisa keeps wondering when I'm going to pack things up and move to their area in Cali. A very, very special family of Christians.

Tuesday Prayer: Ephesians 6: 19-20

Wednesday, April 20: Like Monday, each of our 8 teams will head out to a new community to plant 8 new churches. We met these church staffs on Sunday Night, so they have been anticipating our arrivals. Fresh attitude a must!

Wednesday Prayer: Ephesians 1: 17-20

Thursday, April 21: Repeat of Tuesday, with the afternoon our final scheduled time in the mission field in Cali.

Thursday Prayer: Habakkuk 1: 5.

Friday, April 22: Following a morning time of prayer with Vicki (I can only imagine the power with it being Good Friday), then with Sam at breakfast, we will have the rest of the morning and early afternoon to ourselves. My first mission trip was spent hanging out in the community I was in on Monday and Tuesday, and last spring in Cali, I was in the home of one of Pastor Ciro's church members pleading with her husband of 35 years to get involved in the church (alongside his wife) and to start a relationship with Christ. Clemente had a hardened heart. I've never been so passionate about anything in 40-plus years, which went against any other conversation where I focused on offering a free gift and a free choice in choosing Jesus. I wouldn't be surprised to be back in Clemente's home to check on him ... his wife is also a Facebook friend and I still pray for their marriage and Clemente's heart to soften. I returned to the hotel that Friday with my translator last spring, grabbed a slice of pizza, and then headed out and presented the Gospel to nearly 60 members of the Colombian National Police, then prayed with them, before heading to the victory service. Off day? Not so much. We close Friday Night back to the hotel saying our good-byes to our translators. No dry eyes left in the hotel.

Friday Prayer: Psalms 95: 1-7

Saturday: April 23: Early-morning departure from Cali, through Miami, has us back in Dallas by 4 PM. During my first mission trip to Colombia back in 2008, we stayed the night in Miami due to a flight delay getting out of Colombia. Miami will mark the first time my Blackberry has seen power since I left Miami last Saturday ... peace and joy!

Saturday Prayer: Romans 12: 1-2

Sunday, April 24: Happy Easter/He Is Risen. The greatest day of the year and the greatest story ever told. He did what He said He would do: suffered, died, was buried and rose from the dead. He commanded us (Book of Matthew at the top of this Blog) to share His love and His story, before He ascended to heaven. That's why I'm called to serve in Cali, and to follow Him the rest of my life.

Sunday Prayer: 1 Thessalonians 6:16.

Monday, April 25: We'll return to our 'normal' lives back in the States, but the prayers must continue. Every home we visited in Cali where a husband or wife, son or daughter, grandfather or grandmother, chose to accept Christ, we stress that they are now in a new relationship with their creator. -- born again according to scripture. We challenge them to study the Bible (God's word), share His love with others (just as we are doing), pray to their loving Father who created him or her and has been waiting for him or her to surrender ... and to get involved with a local church to grow in each of those areas. It's the same task that every pastor around the world will have in getting the hundreds of new faces that flood into their church on Easter Sunday to return again.

Monday Prayer: Ephesians 4: 11-16

Tuesday Prayer: Ephesians 4: 17-32

Wednesday Prayer: Ephesians 5: 8-10

Thank You for your prayers and encouragement! While sharing stories back at the hotel with Andres every night, I'll strive to update this blog and to share stories and pictures of what God can do when we commit to being His hands and His feet. Please pray for my wife, Lisa, who will have a much quieter home back in Texas and will be taking the week to grow closer to God while readying for her own mission trip to Belize, in June.

Blessings,

Dave

He Is Risen ! Well, According To The Bible Calendar

11 Days and counting ... until I'll be headed back in Cali, Colombia to follow the last earthly command of Jesus alongside some very, very special friends, during the week leading up to Easter Sunday (April 24).

On a sidenote, is Easter really today, April 5? That's what Bible scholars believe (E. Michael and Sharon Rusten's "The One-Year Christian History, a daily glimpse into God's powerful work").

While our traditional celebration day for Easter started in AD 325 and is tied to the Gregorian calendar, full moons and such, the Bible tells us through a series of scriptures (Daniel 9:25, Nehemiah 2:1, Revelation 11:2-3, 12: 6, 13:5) that Jesus entered Jesusalem as the Messiah on March 30, which puts his day of resurrection on the 5th.

Worth mentioning, but I don't think the boss will give you a holiday today and the kids will get early release from school.

The resurrection of Jesus, His unlikely (and 'ghostly' as the scriptures call it) appearance on that glorious day to Peter and then his closest friends is the greatest story ever told. It's what separates Christianity from all other religions and is an event we should celebrate every day, whether it's today or in a few weeks. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled more than 350 prophecies in the Bible. He showed himself to hundreds after he rose and escaped from the heavily-guarded tomb, and before ascending to heaven he made one final earthly directive to his buddies: Go and make disciples of all nations; teach them (Matthew 28: 19-20). He empowers us through His spirit (like we could ever do His work on our own?) and promises to never leave us. He doesn't make this suggestion to us ... He commands us.

If you had the knowledge (like Jesus) to understand what your today held, and that today would be your last day among friends and family ... wouldn't your final words be the most powerful ... the most important ... the most crucial?

What legacy would you want to leave with loved ones?

His directive was to share His story, to share the good news. He died for me, it's the very least I can do: to show His love to others, and to share how my life has changed with Him directing my life (as stubborn as I am most days). I'm the only one who can tell my unique story (Luke 8:39), and every time I knock on the door of a Colombian who wonders how a loving God could possibly care about someone who turned his/her back on his/her creator for 30 years ... I'll smile, knowing this crazy redhead and new-found friend in Colombia have something HUGE in common.

For those divine appointments (which can very well happen next door here in Texas if I was bolder), I'm there to plant a seed of hope and to nudge someone closer to God's waiting arms. In following the command of Jesus, I have to stress to others that I'm not selling anything and I'm not there to convince anyone to make a decision or just ramble some prayer for acceptance into the holy fraternity. It's a free gift, a free choice, and nothing any one of us truly deserves.

So what are you doing or can you do to effect the life of a stranger today? Perhaps it's offering a smile, opening a door or buying him/her behind you in Starbucks a cup of coffee or lunch. That's a good enough nudge, isn't it? Maybe you'll pass on reading that book on the bus or train or on the airplane to open a dialogue with your fellow passenger.

Maybe, just maybe, you'll be BOLD ENOUGH to actually call that friend you miss instead of sending a vanilla text message or posting you miss him/her on a Facebook wall to truly convey you're ready to make time in your day to effect that person's life. It's a cordless phone that travels where you go, why not use the talk feature sometimes to exercise reality communication?

Just imagine how special a day today would and could be if you changed that person's life on the other end of the line. Not just for today, forever. Eternity starts now. Just a nudge.

That's what makes Easter Sunday so special. He paid it all, He defeated the cross, He did what He said He would do. And He commands us to tell others our Story and His story, to offer hope and a future.

Share your story. Be His witness. Change a life today for forever.

Happy Resurrection Day!

Blessings,

Dave

- If you're a Facebook friend, please bookmark this Blog site. I will post a prayer schedule next week for our week in Cali and the days leading to the trip. During my week in Cali, I hope to share unbelievable stories and pictures that only can be traced to God and His awesome power when we are willing to do His work and be His hands and His feet.

- Need that same hope in Christ but don't know where to go and what to do? Drop me an email or message me. None of us can do it alone, and why should we?

- Interested in following the command of Jesus somewhere else in the world besides Colombia? Fear a week of evangelism (I sure do)? Check out the E3 Partners website and scour the pages to choose a site around the world, dates for trips and request information. E3 provides great fundraising tools and terrific organization throughout the entire process. If not E3, so many wonderful options are only a click away; Lisa and I just attended a meeting last night with Amazon Outreach ... if you're interested in traveling on a large boat down the Amazon in Brazil for 10 days.

You Say Mission Trip. I Call It A ‘Dream Vacation’

The calendar tells me that my departure to Cali, Colombia, for our next excursion managed by Dallas-based E3 Partners just passed the two-month mark (April 16-23). Exciting news.

I remember this time last year referring to E3's upcoming campaign in Cali and calling my week-long trip a "vacation" brought strange looks from my corporate HR Department and from peers -- who each seemed to turn their head in confusion like a dog and ask, 'Vacation ... aren't you going on a mission trip?'

One of the definitions of 'vacation' is "an extended break from work." During my flight home from my first E3 trip to Barranquilla, Colombia, back in 2008, I remember thinking my past week had been a dream vacation. My second E3 journey to Cali was no different when I returned to Colombia last year.

The "ambassadors" from E3 coordinate every facet of travel for trip participants and the trip into Colombia has to be one of the simplest among E3's worldwide trips: short flight into Miami, another from Miami to Colombia, then a quick bus trip to the hotel. All your expenses in Colombia are included in your financial commitment (less than $2,700) to E3 and may generate through fundraising. And then my wonderful wife, Lisa, thinks of everything I need inside my suitcase and backpack for each day, right down to this rejuvenating body spray that cools your face and last April at lunchtime was a highlight for my team in Cali.

So what happens on a typical E3 trip? For starters, E3 is equipping God's people to evangelize the lost and establish churches worldwide. Using two trips to Colombia as my only gauge, you fly in on Saturday and are introduced to your small team which is comprised of 3-5 fellow Americans. Friends for life after that. On Sunday, your team worships at its designated host church, you lunch with the pastor and his family then spend the evening at a rally alongside all the other pastors, their church members and area translators getting prepared for God's harvest that lies ahead. The translators are priceless and volunteer their week to bridge the communication gap in the mission field for slugs like me who always fail to improve their Spanish between trips. Mondays and Tuesdays are spent building membership in one church plant in proximity to your host church and the same for Wednesday and Thursday in another community.

My experience has shown me that these church plants already have buildings and a dedicated church staff and membership of 20-40 when we arrive; sometimes close to 100 when we leave! We have prayer, breakfast and "lab work" every morning at the hotel led by E3 before being transported by bus into our communities. Lunch is provided by the church where we are working and we conclude every afternoon back at the church with a short service to get the new Brothers and Sisters in Christ in the area quickly engaged into their local church and into a safe place and meeting their local pastor. Friday is our designated "off day" until late in the afternoon buses provided by E3 transport members from each of the church plants to a central victory celebration service -- which is nothing short of surreal.

E3 also includes a medical team with some of its trips to provide basic assistance to locals. In Cali last April, we also delivered hundreds of eyeglasses into our communities and saw first-hand how equipping someone with poor eyesight with free eyewear could transform their life.

On Saturday morning on the back end of an E3 trip, filled with memories and tons of new Colombian friends added to your Facebook who help keep part of your heart back in their community, you return to the States exhausted, but recharged and rejuvenated. Isn't a vacation supposed to do that?

You'll return home with these thoughts: God changed lives through you and your team. You witnessed miracles and healings and changed family trees forever. You've never felt closer to God and recognizing his voice and his touch. You are capable of anything, absolutely anything, with Christ's strength leading you. You can't imagine the rest of your life without some of the friends you just found in Colombia; both Colombians and fellow trip participants who walked side-by-side with you on your team.

(For one friend, it was truly life-changing. He returned to Dallas from Barranquilla in 2008 after his first mission trip and is slowly exiting his career as a mortgage broker to become a full-time missionary for E3 Partners, focusing on its 'I Am Second' ministry.)

E3's short-term mission trips have long-term effects. Our work alongside pastors and church members equips those individuals to continue building their membership and changing lives for Christ after we are gone. E3 has a staff of dedicated missionaries working in the countries where they work throughout the year, and curriculums that nurture believers long after people like us return home. Door-to-door evangelism on each team is further broken down into one American, a translator for him/her and 1-2 local church members. Most translators I've discovered are either taking or teaching English classes at local universities or are local pastors with strong English. Most are like us; they sacrifice a week of paid work to pay their way to volunteer building churches. No hammer and nails, but hands and feet.

Among the materials in our "mission kit" E3 provides every team member with Evangecube puzzles to help bring the Gospel to life. Great, great tool. Don't leave home without one.

When I recall Lisa's only E3 trip to Uganda in Africa back in 2007, I am comforted in choosing trips to Colombia knowing that I can wake up in the States and be at a hotel in Colombia that same afternoon and in the same time zone. There is AC at the hotel and restaurants or malls nearby and no need for mosquito nets around the hotel bed. There is a bathroom in our room and not a hole in the ground behind a wall. There is wi-fi at the hotel and tremendous food at every stop whether it's coming from a church family or area restaurant. And then I get to have Matt as my roommate. All great blessings.

Lisa told our small group church earlier this week (when one of our new members said she was from Barranquilla!) that according to her math, four trips to Colombia equals one trip to Africa as far as the toll on one's body. She has a passion for Africa like I do Colombia, but it's difficult enough to take one week away from work let alone 10-14 consecutive vacation days (and more money) to go around the world to Africa.

What truly makes an E3 trip a dream vacation for me, more than anything else, is how God gives you the privilege to share His word and His love with a total stranger that may change his or her life for eternity. Much like a doctor delivering a child, you're not responsible for the miracle, but you're front and center and in the middle of the divine appointment. You see the light go on, the skin removed from someone's eyes -- you see the peace and joy and the immediate transformation from one who is God's creation before you arrived to one who becomes God's child by choosing His son as His savior.

We don't have to be scholars (I'm evidence of that), we only have to be willing to be His hands and His feet. As E3 reminds us every trip, we're not forcing doctrine on anyone, rather offering a free invitation; a free gift. We're not asking for money when we knock on a door or pushing someone to do something for someone else to earn a reward -- we're only revealing truth that can all be found in the Bible. That's what separates Christianity from any other religion: it's nothing we can do or earn, but only by God's grace.

Sure, we could do God's work by walking our streets at home, and God calls us to do just that, but Colombians (and the rest of the world) are different, which attracts me. Colombians are beautiful and welcoming at every threshold, they value family like I've never seen and live a much simpler life than what we call "normal" in the States. You're invited into most any home, people aren't in a hurry to get from A-to-B every minute and you're not battling a multi-media circus (i.e. TVs, phones, iPods, iPads) when communicating face-to-face.

So many distractions, so much busyness and so much noise here in the States that has numbed us beyond recognition. Colombians can't comprehend anyone spending lunch at their office desk so they can get more work done, or entirely skipping lunch, which in Colombia is a 90-minute break every day.

The importance of family: I still remember the amazement from my first day in the mission field in Barranquilla. Early in the afternoon, I found myself sitting in front of a family representing four generations. A mother opening the door. Her daughter coming downstairs holding a child in her arms. Another daughter coming outside with her child and then another daughter soon appearing and later a siater to the mother. After following the lead of her daughters and granddaughters in accepting Christ, the near-blind grandmother who had sauntered out from the back of the house during my visit tugged at my shirt and pulled me close and patted me on the shoulder, nodding in approval and joining us in prayer with tears in her eyes.

That single experience where God used me, and that entire house chose to trust in Him for their salvation no matter what happens or whatever background they came from, beats reading a book at a beach or exploring a museum. One of my desires to return to Barranquilla this fall with E3 is to return to that same barrio, that same casa, and to see how God changed that household after three years. Like everything else, I have to be comforted knowing God is in control. His plan is perfect. That family welcomed me for a reason and recognized they had a huge hole in their hearts that only Christ can fill.

One of the cards that Lisa sent with me to Cali last April closed with "Be in Awe." On the way to our local church after I pulled the card from my backpack, I challenged God (of all the nerve, right?) that day in prayer with my team to show us a miracle, something that defined "awe." Late in the afternoon, as I began to doubt God was hearing our prayers (of all the nerve, right?) I watched on as my translator, Samuel, prayed for the healing of a very sick and elderly woman wailing in a bed, and moments later we watched as she stood up, slid into her slippers and told Samuel and her family she felt no pain anymore for the first time in months.

Click into our trip to Cali at this Blog and read the title "Acts 4:20" for the story and to see the photos.

That's "awe" my friends. (The life story of Samuel my translator is a miracle in itself; a former bodyguard for Pablo Escobar who dedicated part of his life to bringing cocaine from Colombia into the States and is now a pastor committed to changing hearts for a God who pulled him from inside prison walls here in the States. Listening to the transformation of his life during a lunch break in Cali showed me that our God can rescue anyone -- and use anyone for His glory -- willing to surrender.)

Dream vacation for me.

Sadly, my trip to Cali in several weeks will be without Matt, who has committed to an E3 trip to Barranquilla in the fall and has already recruited two of his close friends. I never imagined until rooming with Matt back in 2008 in Barranquilla that I would vacation with a guy and the last thing we would do in our hotel room every night was pray together. We laugh together until vessels burst in our eyes (truly) and we've cried together. Our time in prayer in the mornings and late, late, late every night. Wow.

Looking back to our trip to Barranquilla in 2008, I remember spending more time anticipating what Matt and I would do on our off day on Friday and where we would explore more than anything else. I was scared to focus on four days of evangelism, where I felt totally uncomfortable and out of my element before landing in Colombia. That I quickly found is my sweet spot, but it's all the Holy Spirit. Only my hands and my feet willing to do the work.

One day into the mission field in Barranquilla, I remember Matt and I (on separate teams) met back in the hotel room that Monday night. We had each already made the decision that our off day on Friday would be spent buying taxi rides back into our respective communities loving on some of our new Colombian brothers and sisters and making sure they boarded the bus that afternooon for the victory service.


The trip to Cali, and our Friday was no different -- beyond anything I could ever, every imagine in my lifetime. Read the link on this Blog from 2010 titled "Leave Nothing."

We only have to be willing to be His hands and His feet.

Lord willing, I'm hopeful of returning to visit the National Police of Colombia on our Friday in Cali, which just happens to be Good Friday. Thanks to Facebook, I'm plugged in with many brothers and sisters in Christ from Cali, many of whom are police we met last spring. Matt reminded me last weekend I need to wear the personalized hat the police presented me last spring to speed through airport security this year in Cali. Wise man he is.

Want to join me? It may be too late to climb aboard "Team Cali" for 2011 in April, but I welcome your prayers, which are the most important component of one's journey. You can follow me on this page through April, or get bold and start planning your first or next E3 trip by visiting their website. at http://www.e3partners.org/.


You can also donate financially to my cause and/or support E3. Your donation is tax-deductible and if you include my name in the "Designation" it will go toward the balance of my trip to Cali or start my funding toward Barranquilla in the fall.
www.e3partners.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=2371

Less than two months. Can't wait.

Blessings,

Dave