The Mission

This Sunday evening I leave for Oaxaca, Mexico. Many of you know that I am a leader of a short term mission organization that serves in Mexico. Joining me down there will be a team of 10 other people. During our time we will be finishing the construction of a church in San Baltazar, about an hour outside of the city in the Valley of Tlacolula. Here is a picture of the church we are building. Okay, so maybe this isn’t the church we are working on. But it is beautiful and located in the heart of the city of Oaxaca. It is the cathedral of Santo Domingo. I posted this because a lot of people think that Mexico is totally undeveloped, dusty, poor, and run down. As Americans, those are the images we see in our media on a regular basis. Now all of those things are true, to some degree. But it is also a country that is rich in culture, incredibly green and lush, well developed, and incredibly amazing. This is the church we are working with. To me it is just as beautiful as the cathedral above. Because they are both places where someone can meet God. The one we are working on just happens to be a little bit smaller. When we return in two weeks, the congregation that has been meeting in this small little adobe building will have a new brick worship center, complete with windows, doors, and a watertight roof. It will be about 1500 square feet. Many people have helped build this church. People not just from the United States, but also Canada, El Salvador, and Mexico. Others from all over the world have contributed money to make this a reality for the people of San Baltazar. To me it is an amazing snapshot of the family of God coming together for the good of His body here on earth. Would you pray for us these next two weeks? For our safety, health, families back home, and above all, community, as we serve within the myriad of cultures that are represented in. Here are the names of our team members. Raul Arteaga, Shawn Cray, Doug Fogg, Gary Freitag, Gordon Mallon, Eric Ryan, Asher Sarjent, and Brigam Ziehm. AIL Staff serving with us are Becca Freitag and Paul Lathrop. I’ll make no promises, but I will try and post an update or two while I am away. Until then, blessings. technorati tags: Mexico Missions, Missions, Oaxaca, Mexico

An Interview With The Democratic Leadership

Last week I posted a little ditty titled “An Interview With George Bush.” I received a lot of responses from some of my conservative friends. In the interest of fairness, I also promised to put up a similar list of questions for the Democratic Leadership. I am seeing that as Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. So for Timmer, Highland History, James Manning, and anyone else on the more liberal side of the spectrum, it is now your turn to let us know how you think they might answer. Which one of you has the bigger office? Do you have servants, or porters? Fairly or not, the Democratic Party has a reputation of generally being supportive of higher taxes. Putting aside the political talk that will say you favor fair taxes, etc., why do you think your party is seen in that light? Has it helped that former presidential candidate Walter Mondale advocated higher taxes in his inauguration speech and now candidate Jonathan Edwards has done so also? Your party has been very critical of the war in Iraq, yet voted overwhelmingly in favor of going to war against Saddam. Did you believe then that we could win the war? If yes, do you still believe that to be true? If no, why did you vote yes? President Bush has said his goals in Iraq are a stable, democratically elected government that can protect the people, is non sectarian, and an ally of the US in the War on Terrorism. What do you think we should do now to achieve those goals? Mr. Reid, since you do not support the “surge” in Iraq, why did you and your party vote to approve the nomination of the man who developed the plan, Gen. David Petraeus, to lead our troops in Iraq? How can you have confidence in a man who devised a policy that your party has openly said will only result in more American lives lost? Do you think it is right or consistent that a 16 year old girl must get parental approval for a body piercing, yet can get an abortion without any parental oversight? Regarding federal budgeting, can you explain why a cut in the growth of a program, say from 6% growth to 4% growth, is then portrayed by your party as a cut in spending? Isn’t still an increase over what was previously being spent? Why is it that most politicians wear the same color when they are in Washington? Don’t you all get tired of looking alike? Does your party think it is a crime to enter the United States without proper approval from the government? If so, what steps should our government take to stop this crime from occurring? If not, would explain why not? Would each of you please give me two federal programs that you believe we could defund or eliminate on a federal level in order to balance the budget and show the Republican party that Democrats are serious in balancing the budget? Finally, if you were having a party at your home, what type of music would you choose to entertain your guests? That’s it. As you can imagine, in my humble opinion, most of our politicians, on both sides of the aisle, are a little weaselly when it comes to answering tough questions. I feel most interviewers are either too deferential when answers are not forthcoming, or have become shouters, as if their subject is hard of hearing. My hope, and I’ll admit I am not holding my breath, is that the folks running for President in 2008 would all get a dose of what it was that made the title character in Bullworth so appealing. Candor! technorati tags: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat