Mutual Joy in Christ (PERU #5)

From the moment you hit your teen years to nearly the end of your life, we are faced with a particular topic almost every day. Regardless of your race, religion, age, or any other potential affiliation, you are confronted with the idea of dating and someday finding your “soul mate”. The latest trend in this endless discussion is the idea of compatibility or how important it is to have similarities between you and your partner. Have you ever noticed that we tend to skip over the most important compatibility aspect… mutual faith and passion for Jesus Christ.

As you already know, because of the title of this post, I intend on talking about my recent trip to Peru to spread God’s Word. With that in mind, I’m obviously not going to be discussion compatibility in terms of dating someone. Instead I want to share my complete and utter joy in the fact that over 200 Americans were able to share their passion for Jesus Christ with several hundred Peruvians that had a mutual appreciation of our Creator.

There’s no doubt that a Christian is capable of growing through persecution and the “flames” of this world, but for ten days two cultures were blessed and became one people under our Lord. Every Sunday at Grace Church, we experience remarkable worship led by Pastor Brian Vaughan. In Peru we experienced remarkable worship led by another man. But that wasn’t the true blessing. The true blessing was that Americans worshiped with Peruvians and Peruvians worshiped with Americans; it didn’t matter the language of the song, each person knew how to honor God through music regardless the language.

Beauty was found in a crowded sanctuary as two languages sang out to their creator, beauty was found in the magnificence of a God that allowed two cultures to become one unified people seeking their Lord and Savior.

Peruvians Unbeatable Love (PERU #4)

God has blessed me with opportunities to spread God’s Word here at home and abroad in numerous countries. I have seen Americans cry because of witnessing God’s glory in action. I have seen strangers cry upon realizing the saving grace of God’s power. This year I was able to witness a tender-hearted individual cry because she saw God’s love and glory being shown through the people of Grace Church. Make sure you grasp such words, that God was shown through the people of Grace, and it was nothing to do with our earthly nature but everything to do with God’s heavenly nature.

Although you can certainly see the love they have for our being in their country, it’s certainly not the only illustration of their immense passion and love in life. These people learn to treat you as a member of their family, they treat the searching souls of this world as family, and they honor God as the head of their family.

I guess I’m at a loss for words on how to illustrate their love through simple text on a screen. I’ll leave you with an example of the love that has been shared with me. The friends I made 12 years ago remain to this day. They treat me with love and respect despite my absence, and we pretend we never left each other’s side. They share tears with myself and other friends from Grace upon leaving… only a week together and our lives have changed together… Doesn’t matter whether a language gap exists or not, love can be shown and felt despite such a challenge…

A Childlike Love, A Child Like Faith (PERU #3)

Think about our cultures opinions on people and life. In the general sense, most opinions are rather negative. When you look at a high school aged individual, you often assume they are immature or a nuisance to have around. What we forget is how immensely capable they are of caring for others; or more specifically, for Christ.

Childlike Curiosity

In Peru we were required to maintain a very hasty schedule, each and every day was filled with blessings but required every ounce of energy a human could offer. The nights often resulted in each team member falling asleep as early as they could, between 10 and 11:30. I arrived at the hotel rather late, and certainly passed curfew. Despite the late hour, I found almost the entire youth group awake. They weren’t being obnoxious; they weren’t running around making noise, they weren’t even talking about current social topics. Each of them lifted up their Lord and Savior in worship, praising God for a week of blessing and awakening deep in their souls. I gazed in a room of children and teens, but tonight I saw a room of young adults honoring their creator.

Childlike Passion & Zeal

We can look down upon our youth, question their zeal for Christ during a trip to Peru, or even demand extensive rules be placed upon them to maintain order. In reality, it was the youth that led spontaneous worship sessions, it was the youth that has been impacted for life, it was the youth that made countless eternal friendships, it was the youth that sought God’s heart in an indescribable way.

The youth of our trip grasped the idea of worship; they took it upon themselves to thrive in their Lord’s presence.  We can be angry that curfew was broken, but then your missing the point.  God calls to the children of our world, and the youth of our trip answered such a call.  They grew in God’s Word, they grew in their worship of Him, and they grew in community because of Him.

Childlike Faith

I thank God for giving these kids a childlike love. I thank God for providing me an example of what my life has been missing and how simple it is to achieve the faith I desire to have.

God is a Protector… (Peru #2)

Protection during arrival to Peru
The lights come on and the people in the plane begin to stretch, six hours of flying and we’ve finally made it to Peru. Although our team desires nothing more than a comfy bed to sleep in, we still have security… customs… and the drive to our hotel before bed is even an option. Regardless of our sleep deprivation, the team is filled with joy and anticipation of our arrival.

Gathering our bags went smoothly, progressing through security showed no challenges, and the caring people of Peru had nothing but our safety on their minds.

Leaving the airport we approach our buses, illuminated by the glow of the city. We circle up our team and mix together with our Peruvian brothers and sisters. Prayers break out; prayers for success in sharing our Lords message, prayers for peace and faithfulness, and certainly… prayer for protection while ministering in Peru.

The bus is filled with silence, nothing but the engines roar is heard in a bus filled with sleepy Americans. I lean my head against the window, hopeful of catching up on some sleep during this hour long drive. My mind is awakened by the sight of beaming lights circling over our bus. Bear with me and attempt to visualize the words. The street lights were extended into an arch encompassing our bus. Technically, this was due to the bending of light in the bus windows… but it was a vivid illustration of our Lord surrounding us with his protection. These lights encompassed our bus the entire way to our hotel, and God’s protection remained constant for the next ten days.

Janelle Elise Photography

Protection for the Americans and Peruvians during a God honoring trip
Whether it be my father witnessing to a gang leader, a remarkable man of God sharing God’s story in the house of a man who recently murdered several people, painting in one of the more dangerous blocks of Callao, or any of the other scenarios we allowed ourselves to be in, God remained a constant protector for over 200 Americans and several hundred Peruvians.

I thank my Lord for the memories created in Peru this year; I thank my Lord for the 12 years of memories created in Peru since 1999.
I thank my Lord for protecting the people close to my heart and for bringing new believers into His Kingdom.

Don’t Forget What Has Formed You (Peru #1)

Experiences Form Our Lives…

With the sun beaming through my bedroom window, my eyes slowly open to the beauty of this world and the blessing of sleeping in. There was no alarm going off at 6 A.M., no rush to get breakfast before the bus’s leave for Callao, no need to pack snacks for a day of endless movement and little opportunities to regain energy. I lay in a bed that is surrounded by peace and silence in Eden Prairie, though a longing for the ambient noise of car horns and loud engines from Lima Peru oddly exists in my mind. Perhaps this is hard to understand, but I believe the 203 missionaries that experienced God’s glory with me are capable of understanding exactly what I mean. For 10 days I lived with little sleep and food during the day, constantly moving from place to place and learning how to use a bathroom with no seat. Now I’m back in America, but I worry that I have learned nothing and take for granted everything.

In past trips to Peru, I have failed to maintain a journal or to truly reflect on the experiences that were evident in my time abroad. This time I was sure to not allow for such a mistake to occur again. I realize that in this world, we have a tendency to reach an immense spiritual high and drop back down to a lowly cultural standard once we return to our everyday life. In the coming days and weeks I will be posting specifically about Peru and the experience I (and others) had while sharing God’s word in this beautiful country. I hope you check back often to learn about the experiences of Grace Church, and as always, feel free to share these posts on Facebook and get the story out of how God used over 203 people to share the Word of God.

Many more Peru related posts to be coming very soon

Thrive as a unique individual

Last night when everyone I knew was sleeping, I decided to try and write a blog post on the value of our uniqueness and how we fail to realize how truly different we each are from one another. I went through the process of typing an introduction, feeling it was inadequate and starting other. I’ll admit, that process went on until the 6th or 7th intro. Sad thing is, I decided not to continue after that. You tend to be pretty drained when 4 a.m. hits. The post is back though, one night later I’m coming back to the same topic… just with a different spin.

Tonight I had the pleasure of seeing my very dear and gorgeous friend get married. She has a heart of gold and truly is a unique girl; so unique I never could figure out what her “type” of guy was. Despite my uncertainty, God found another man that was just as remarkable… and unique… as she was. Two people, both created by God, living in such remarkable ways managed to meet each other unexpectedly. It made me realize the beauty of God’s plan and our creation as unique human beings.

take my family as an example

anyone who has met my family knows that we share a great deal of similarities; similar mannerisms, habits, enjoyments, personalities, and whatever else you think we have in common. But we are each so very different. Jordan’s approach in relationships is different than mine. He makes me look like a fool when it comes to numbers or various book knowledge concepts; and lets not even touch on the knowledge he has about physical fitness. Justin knows more about magic than I knew existed, and he masters each trick he decides is necessary to learn; I may know how they’re done, but I couldn’t perform a single one. Janelle has an eye for photography and knows how to make a couples wedding day more memorable than they’d ever imagined through her gifts of photography. Each of my siblings strengths are different, but each of our gifts have grown to compliment each other over the years; and I believe that’s how it works in relationships.

Relationships

Often times we witness our friends find someone spectacular and it seems like they appeared out of thin air. The best part, when we see them on their wedding day… about to begin their lives together… we realize that we couldn’t imagine them with anyone else but the one standing at the altar next to them. I know without a doubt in my mind that God has some woman out there that is considered just as unique as I am. Perhaps she loves to write, or perhaps she loves to read. Maybe my wife will have a similar passion for communication, or she’ll consider her friends to be like family just as I do. There are a great many maybes, but I know a great certainty. God planned out my creation before my mother existed, he planned out my stunning wife before her mother existed. Someday, people will realize that I couldn’t ever be with anyone else but the girl standing next to me at the altar.

You’ve been blessed with a personality that matches no other person in this world…

You’ve been blessed with a God that has created a spouse that surpasses your wildest dreams, one that will fit into your unique life and you into their unique life.
Celebrate that gift. 

 

Part 3 of 3: Failure to Follow a Command

Confession is good for the soul

The majority of this blog has been relatively straightforward and honest. There have been moments of self-affirmation, moments of confession, and moments of critique on the world outside of myself. Lets make a few more confessions; there are a great many mistakes we could address in my life.

Recently I turned 23 years old, which is roughly 8,395 days of existence in this world of ours. I can say with absolute certainty, a mistake has occurred due to my actions each and every one of those days. Perhaps it was relatively minor, fighting with my siblings or judging someone unfairly. Though, they were occasionally more severe; breaking the law, manipulating a friendship/relationship, or maybe even failure to stand up for my Christian faith.

Failure to follow a command

During my trip I had the blessing of gaining wisdom from 2 men in Wisconsin, and I talked with a great deal of strangers in Illinois about wisdom. While in Illinois, I stayed at a strangers house through the use of the couchsurfing.org website. The man and woman I stayed with were remarkably friendly, treating me like a room-mate the moment they met me. Despite their friendly attitude, it was clear (to me) that there was a religious difference and moral variation between the three of us. It doesn’t matter what their beliefs were or what they condoned, what does matter is how I approached the situation.

God calls each of us to be a light in our world of darkness. To be cliché, don’t hide your candle under a bushel. Despite my understanding of Christ’s word and his command for us to be disciples, I failed to step up to the occasion. Now bear with me for a moment. I didn’t conform or embrace their earthly/cultural standards, but I didn’t make any evident effort to stand out from the world’s standards either. For me, failure to be a shining light is just as bad as embracing the worldly culture and standards.

Photo Credit: Kenny Silva

What’s my point?

Each and every day we make mistakes, for me it’s been over 8,395 mistakes so far. But I’m sure you’ve heard this before, it’s not the mistakes that matter but what we do after the mistake that matters. There is little to nothing I could do about the encounter I had with my host’s in Illinois, but there is a great deal I can do within myself and the knowledge I’ve gained. I can use this circumstance as a lesson for later interactions with friends and strangers, realizing that I cannot stand by in life stagnant or “lukewarm.” Instead, I must embrace the wisdom my Father has given me and profess to the world what I know and love.

A life without mistakes would be a life without knowledge, wisdom, and growth. My failures are tragic, but what is capable of emerging through a mistake is magnificent.
I embrace the failures of my life, I embrace the opportunity to learn.

You’re my brother… and I’d die for you…

An uneasy silence overtakes my body as I walk towards the boat in the dead of night, my path only illuminated by the full moon.  The silhouette of the horizon is perfectly mirrored in the motionless water.  I sit next to a dear friend on the silent and still boat.  The topics varied and discussion was slowly paced.  Eventually we fell onto the subject of friendship; more specifically, the friendships that surrounded the fire in the distance.

Telling someone you love them to death seems like such a cliché, or at least a possible stretch of the truth.  This is a different scenario.  It began by explaining how special these friends were and how remarkably accepting they were of new people.  The truth is, it’s much more than that.

The people who spent time with me on my birthday (and some who couldn’t make it) are all additions to my family.  The men sitting around the fire, sharing in laughter while dwelling in the past memories for a moment, have grown to have my utmost respect.  They’ve been there while I’ve foolishly made mistakes… they’ve been there while I began some of the most challenging parts of life… they’ve been there to make memories, good and bad.  Each of these men have never asked for respect, but each of them have earned it.  Each of these men have never asked me to take a bullet if it meant saving their life… but I would.

The women share a similar story… My dear friend on the boat has seen me laugh, yell, and one of the few to see me cry more than once.  She has seen me succeed in life, and certainly witnessed a great many failures.  Despite my “talent” at failing often, she still finds a way to give me a level of respect I’ve rarely experienced from another.  My “sisters” surround the fire, having been in my life from all 23 years to only several years through high school.  It didn’t matter the relationship or the experiences we’d had, we still considered each other family.  I could tell you so much about every person, but no one came to this blog in hopes of reading a book…

Perhaps this post has managed to become a little confusing or poorly worded, but that’s not really a worry to me right now.  The point of this particular post is not to teach a lesson or explain a mistake.  The point of this post is to thank each and every person who has helped make me who I am today.  My Bethel room mates were there on the 26th of October at 1:00 pm… the exact time I found out about my grandma.  Ryan was there when I broke down in tears several weeks ago, delaying his own plans that night.  Arielle was there when I desperately needed prayer and the Lord’s guidance.  Grace was there when I longed for affirmation and encouragement in the midst of being lost in my life.

Many people wait a lifetime to achieve wealth and success, God only made me a wait a brief moment.  People like Carla, my “sisters” in the Buesgens family, Matt, Karl, Drew, the Bethel crew…. and lets just say any of the people I have told are special to me (which is everyone?)… have made me the wealthiest man I could ever desire to be.

This post felt confusing and rather poorly worded, but the emotions that emerge while thinking about my family and friends are unmistakable.  Each of you have done remarkable things in my life, each of you are the perfect birthday present.

Part 2 of 3: Embrace the “Wisdom” of Those Around Us

A recent trip:

Imagine… you’re walking down the street with uncertainty, nearing the address you’ve been given. Five houses away… 4 houses away… 3, 2, and 1… Sure enough, now is your last chance to turn around and run! Despite the unique nature of this encounter, you begin up the steps and knock on the door. From the moment the door opens you’re no longer a stranger to this “host,” from now on you’ll be treated as a room-mate; a “surfer.”

Recently I went on a trip and while in Illinois I stayed at a home I found through the couchsurfing.org website. Basically Facebook for those who desire a place to stay while traveling without having to pay for a hotel. Anyone who knows my parents can safely assume they were a little cautious and confused by the overall concept of such a website and organization. Despite their fear and unease, they allowed me to leave.

The entire trip was focused around meeting strangers and hopefully gaining a brief understanding of what wisdom they have gained in life, and what wisdom they may have to offer me. I wish I could say the strangers I talked to had a great deal to offer; sadly that isn’t always the case. Lets take a moment… and embrace the “wisdom” of the strangers in our world.

A Strangers Wisdom

Think for a moment about a question that may sound simple, but actually results in most people becoming speechless or uncertain of what to say.
What is the best wisdom you’ve gained over the years… what is the best wisdom you could over me…

I should mention... Don't talk to strangers if your young, let's try to have some common sense here...

I talked to a fair amount of people while in the state of Illinois, and you’d be surprised the answers. The majority of individuals was rather generic and had a minimal level of thought into the concept of wisdom.
–don’t drink and drive
–don’t do drugs and tobacco
–travel before you have kids
–learn from mistakes
Answers such as these were standard, and only provoked a minute long conversation until they decided to move on in their life.

But there were a few people who gave me a shred of hope for this study I was conducting, and for our world.
–A man explained how he wished he had made a greater effort to find a wife when he was younger. The desire to have a family and provide the love and support as a father is remarkably immense in his life, and he regrets not making that dream a reality. He was clear in stating that I should not make that same mistake.
–There was a homeless man who explained how happiness is achievable in every aspect of life and there is always something beneficial to be found, even in the midst of sorrow. For a homeless man to find joy and happiness, despite his circumstance, is something to be looked highly upon.

What to take away

There is a great deal I learned, and many people I talked to. Obviously it won’t all be listed in this blog post, but I wanted to make a point. Each and every interaction we have, allows for wisdom to be gained. Embrace the moments we’ve been given by God and allow yourself to grow through them. You may be asking yourself, what is there to learn from the people who barely had an answer? Think about it! We can learn that our world is missing out on a great deal of wisdom, and that is a gap that you (the wise) would be capable of filling. You could take their advice in the basic sense of things, though I hope you each know not to drink and drive or do drugs.

The other individuals, the ones I would actually call wise, offer a great deal to learn. For starters, they were willing to have a conversation with an absolute stranger (me) to offer them wisdom and better their life. Something we each could do a better job at. I learned that it doesn’t matter how bad things look, I could be homeless and there will still be positives in my life. Don’t take life for granted; share the love and passion you have with a family and children.

Perhaps our world dropped the ball on wisdom and knowledge…
Perhaps you should succeed where our world failed…
Learn from the world’s mistakes and the mistakes you’ve made, become truly wise.

Part 1 of 3: Learning From The Wise

Wisdom Comes From Experience…
And The Ones Who Came Before Us…

One of the best parts about wisdom is that its not gained easily, and it often comes from experiencing mistakes. I find joy in the nature of wisdom because true, genuine, and immense wisdom is a honor/privilege and not a right. Not to mention, perhaps I’ll have a significant chance of developing a great deal of wisdom considering the amount of mistakes I’ve made over the years in my life. Even this particular introduction took me 6 tries until I felt I was typing what I was actually feeling… issues right?

Because wisdom is partially a gift that is gathered over time and through many mistakes, it only makes sense that the ones who precede us would have more wisdom than us (at least that would typically be true). With that in mind, there are several people that have invested in my life without the realization they’ve even done so, men that only spent a brief moment in time with me.

Before I go on, I want to suggest a piece of wisdom for each and every reader out there.
Cherish the moments you have with your loved ones… had I realized the amount of wisdom my Grandma had, I would have taken first semester of school off that year to spend with her. The time together is limited, and will certainly fade away if not held close to your heart.

Recently a family unexpectedly blessed me, I had the opportunity to meet one of their uncles and their grandpa. An experience that could have been taken for granted resulted in the highlight of my short-lived trip recently.

I was rather lost in the midst of constant conversation, uncertain of what the topic even was. I figured I’d skip out of the confusion and move to an entirely different scenario. It was much darker downstairs, certainly more comfortable than the humidity and sun upstairs. This man was content in his solitude, learning back in thought while alone in this dimly lit room. We sparked up conversation that had no relevance to out lives; topics that were scattered across the board. Agreements about the “deadbeats” in our country was briefly addressed while complaining about our political system. Joy was found in the challenges of life; the tasks so many people give up on and our mutual passion to solve these problems. He explained the concept so while, it’s like a puzzle that needs solving; pride is found in the solving of these “puzzles.” My favorite topic was simple; vintage cars. I didn’t have to explain why I love them or how they bring such joy to my life, he just knew. He explained… when you step into a car with such a long hood, turn on the lights, and cruise the streets… it’s not a chore or even driving, its something more and it brings such happiness.

The second man could make even the most depressed individual a joy to be around and truly thrilled to be living life. It didn’t matter the topic or the opinion, he showed genuine interest in each word that would exit your mouth. There wasn’t that absent minded feeling we often get from people, there was 100% concentration on the conversation at hand. We talked about school, our passion for the communication discipline, and the passion I had for developing a second book; a book on “a strangers wisdom.” Ideas were exchanged and insight was gained by the two of us. I left that house feeling truly lifted up, lifted onto the shoulders of giants. My attitude seemed to be sky high, it only improved upon my learning that he also appreciated the conversation and had high hopes for my future.

I know that some of the experiences and emotions I write about will only be partially understood, but I’m sure each of us have experienced the joy gained when someone “fills our cup.” The first man showed me how to have a passion for life even after experiencing most of what the world has to offer. There is a great deal of satisfaction to find in the little things, and life’s outcome is not determined by the world but by our own choices. The second man showed me how to invest in the people I interact with, even if only through simple communication. Because of our brief conversation I gained a greater understanding of how much we can learn from each and every interaction; which is ironically what my second book will be about.

These men didn’t know me, they may not even realize the positive influence they had on my life… but that doesn’t change the fact that they did.
Whether we’re with a close intimate friend, or a complete stranger from the streets… every interaction is a chance to bring happiness to another and positively influence their life.