Give the Gift of Water... literally!

$100.00. One Benjamin.  A C-note.  One bill. What if I told you that by giving just $100.00, you could change a family’s life?  Would you do it? What if I told you that $100.00 could be the single most important ministry gift you make this year because it could save someones life?  Would you make that donation? And what if I told you that by giving one C-note, you might save a little boy or girl from dying of dehydration?  Would you empty your change jar and instead of turning it into Coinstar, give it to Adventures in Life Ministry? Here’s the newsflash... it’s all true! That’s right.  A single donation of $100.00 to Adventures in Life Ministry, in response to this appeal will literally save lives. Let me explain. More than 10% of all babies born to indigenous women in Mexico will die before they reach five years old.  I have personally heard from many parents that one of the reasons they have so many kids is that they assume at least one child will die young. One of the main reasons for these early deaths is lack of quality water.  Many rural parents lack an ability to buy clean water and often, they are living in an area with no potable water source or sewer system.  That means two things... one, outhouses and two, water from polluted wells near those outhouses. Taken together, this is a recipe for disaster, especially mixed with a lack of quality medical care when your baby does get sick. So, how can you help? With a Sawyer Water Filter. It really is as simple as that.   A $100.00 donation will help a family in our little corner of Oaxaca, Mexico have a water filter that will literally change their life.  Pastor Chable, with whom I’ve worked for many years told me in March that his family has not been sick since they got their filter in August.  It is the first time in all his life that his family has ever gone 6 months without being sick! Incredible isn’t it? In an age when almost everything we want is at our fingertips here in the United States, our neighbors just to the south are needlessly dying for need of quality water.  And we have within our grasp the ability to change that equation for less than the cost of a few Vente Mochas at Starbucks. Think about it.   Every $100.00 will give us one filter to put into the hands of a family in Oaxaca and help support the ongoing ministry of Adventures in Life and Pastor Chable in this challenging area. Are you able to help us save a life today so that we will have the opportunity tomorrow to share about an eternity with Jesus?   If so, follow this link to our support page and then drop me a line to let us know you are on board.

It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin...

I think I was 19 years old when it happened. I was up at a Christian Camp in the mountains, with my soon to be wife and hundreds of my closest friends.  The place was packed because that particular year, we had someone speaking to us who was unlike anyone else we had ever heard way back in 1978. His name was Tony Campolo and he was to become a larger than life figure for me. Throughout the weekend Tony weaved a call to serve the poor with Jesus call on our lives, admonishing us to do something great for God with our lives. I remember one person shared with him that she wanted to be a doctor in the nice suburban area where she had grown up.  Tony looked right at her and asked why she would want to do that when she could serve the poor and make a real difference.  "There will always be plenty of doctors to serve the haves" he said, "why not help those who can't get to a doctor?" She was devastated by his challenge. I was stunned. For the first time in my young life, the Gospel made practical sense and I made the decision that weekend to give my life to missions and serving the poor. Almost 15 years later, in 1992, along with a friend, I founded Adventures in Life Ministry to do mission work in Mexico.  Add another 20 years on that, and today, the majority of our work in Mexico is centered in the state of Oaxaca, the second poorest state in the country. There is no other way to say this... I am a missionary because God used Tony that weekend and over the years to touch and call me in ways I never expected. At the end of that conference where I first met Tony, he shared his now famous "It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin'" sermon. I think it's appropriate today on Good Friday to take a listen and reflect...

Dateline Oaxaca... news from the field...

Want to see what we are doing in Oaxaca? Click here and enjoy the pictures and notes from my friend Joe Ramirez, who helps document what we are doing by using his gifts as a photographer... Enjoy!

On the Road to Oaxaca...

I am heading to Oaxaca... to help people like this... Who typically live in homes like this... Get more of this... By using this... our water well drilling rig... Pray for safety, water, and God's blessing on what we are doing the next few weeks... I will post updates as I am able...

notes from dave...

I spend about half my year serving as a Christian missionary in Mexico. As part of that work over the years I have helped build a number of protestant churches, met untold numbers of people from all over the country, and have tried, sometimes with more success than others, to do good stuff and leave Mexico better than when I arrived. I have also had hundreds of those short-term mission teams from churches all over the United States come and serve with me. When I am back in the states, I visit churches and speak to groups trying to raise awareness of my ministry, Adventures in Life, and funds for what we are trying to do. I also write, and occasionally, something gets published. Friday, DELTA Ministries, with whom I have worked for a number of years, published one of my articles, titled "God Hates Short-Term Mission Trips... and these things too!" Please check it out here at notes from dave..., my other blog, where I write about the issues affecting short-term missions.

Ay Caray! Stories From the Field...

As he backed up the truck, he never saw the tree. At least this time. Americo [pictured above with his family] and I had just purchased a load of lumber to help a senior citizen of Mitla get her own house. He was excited because he loved being able to make a practical difference in someone’s life. When you live in Oaxaca, the second poorest state in Mexico, sometimes the only practical help you can offer your friends is some of your food. Because frequently you are in just as dire straits as they are. But today was going to be different. Through the donations of the church he pastors, Americo and the church members were able to buy enough lumber to help this woman get a roof over her head and have a dry place to call home. Few things make the human heart sing like it does when you are able to really help someone. And Americo and his family needed to sing that song. The last few months have not been kind to them. Being a pastor is no way to get rich. Being a pastor to some of the poorest people in Mexico during a global economic crisis is also not going to get you on Forbe’s List of Richest People. But in spite of declining tithes and donations, shrinking support from his home church, and a rapidly rising cost of living, Americo and his wife Norma struggled on. Trying to make a difference in the lives of the people they see each day in their ministry. I marvel at how they keep a positive outlook no matter what comes at them, confident that God will care for and provide for them. As Americo backed his truck up and hit that tree, the wood in the bed came forward and shattered his rear window, sending broken glass everywhere. However, more than a window was broken at that moment as I watched the spirit of joy, trust, and faith drain from Americo’s face and body. As we unloaded the lumber and began to clean up the broken glass, Americo started to cry. I put my arm around him he looked at me, tears running down his face, and said “Esta lloviendo sobre los mojados.” Literally, it’s raining on people who are already soaked. It’s a saying here in Mexico when you are wondering if you can take it any more, because the bad news just seems to keep coming. For a family that has literally been living on beans and tortillas, giving their lives to others, this was too much to bear. I have served along side Americo and Norma for years in Oaxaca. If you have served with me here, they have helped provide you meals, have served you, and have more than likely, helped get you to your ministry site in the white truck that hit that tree. Americo needs some encouragement, in a very practical way. If you would like to give a 100% tax-deductable donation to Americo and his family, you can do so through Adventures in Life Ministry. Just click here, and you will be directed to our Paypal Donation Page. Choose a donation amount, make sure to put Americo in the notation line and I will make sure !00% of your donation goes to Americo and Norma here in Oaxaca. Thank you and as we say here in Mexico, Dios le bendiga!

Water, Water Everywhere... We Hope!

While people in the United States have been busy looking for ways to portray those with whom they disagree as loony, I've been busy with some friends looking for water in Southern Mexico. Two weeks ago I arrived in Oaxaca again to put a drill rig we recently purchased to the test. Our task was to drill a well at the demonstration farm we have been working on in Tlacolula, Oaxaca for about two years. Here's a good picture of our team next to the rig. [dave miller along with his team, tom, mark, and jay] We started drilling on a Saturday, and at noon the following Wednesday, we had reached 20 meters. [that's about 66 feet for you metrically challenged folks] Now if you are like me, you are probably thinking that 20 meters doesn't sound like much. Especially for almost five days work. But on Tuesday afternoon another local well driller came by to what we were doing. He was drilling a well 60 meters deep and he said he was getting about a meter a day. He had been at his well for 50 days and had reached a depth of 50 meters! Once I heard that I was pretty happy. The ground where we are drilling is incredibly rocky. At one point Monday, we were measuring progress in inches, not meters. But we just kept at it. At about 16 meters, we hit a small vein of water. It is not enough to sustain our farm, but all signs point to us finding that kind of water at about 30 meters. [no, they are not resting... they are adding some weight to the drill stem...] The work is not glamourous. It is dirty, time consuming, and tedious. You start early, and you end late. Or you just keep going. But there is a payoff. Eventually. For us and my ministry with Adventures in Life, that payoff will be local farmers learning some new ways to increase their crop yields and better manage their water resources. This will lead to more food on the table, a better standard of living, and healthier lives. In an area where the infant mortality rate is over 10% for all children under five, how can we not look at this as a good investment in God's Kingdom. And a much better use of our time than bickering over politics, the NFL lockout, and why on earth Scotty is our new American Idol.

Short-Term Mission With Long-Term Vision...

Many of you know that I spend a significant amount of time serving in short-term mission in Mexico with Adventures in Life. One of the biggest problems facing short-term ministry today is the tendency to not only serve short-term, but think short-term as well. I have addressed that issue and included some thoughts on how the US church, by far the largest participant in short-term mission work, can reframe its thinking to a more long-term approach on my ministry blog. Read about it here and leave your thoughts!

The Mission... Oaxaca 2011

Many of my friends have been asking to see some pictures of our work in Mexico. You can view some great shots not only of our ministry, but the people and area of Oaxaca here. Brother Joe Ramirez and his team of photographers from The Rock Church in San Diego came and tirelessly shot picture after picture of what we were doing to document the work and help publicize our mission. I have written about how his specific ministry can make an impact on people at my Adventures in Life Ministry blog, "notes from dave..." Check it out. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from my time in Oaxaca. here I am waiting for a glass of the aztec drink, tejate, with pastor chable hermanas julia, her daughter norma, and maria elena... they cooked all week for our group... our team of men, pastor jesus, and pastor americo and his family hermana julia heating up a batch of zapotec tlayudas on her comal see more of brother joe's photos and those of his team at MISSION Focused

Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Here's where I am headed... Oaxaca, Mexico for three weeks and then to the Yucatan for some time with family and friends. Our ministry time will be spent drilling one or two water wells, planting corn for a late spring harvest, setting up a couple of small green houses and finishing up construction of a training center for Zapotecan church pastors and leaders. I will post as I can to keep folks up to date. Blessings all and remember to pray for us!

Oaxaca, Ministry, and a Chance to Make a Difference

Yes I love politics, and sports, hanging out, reading, and lots of other stuff. But what I really live for is this, seeing lives changed through a radical living out of the Gospel of Christ. Every February I lead a group of men on mission in Oaxaca, Mexico. This year we are building a house for a director of a Zapotec Training Center partially dedicated to our work helping indiginous farmers in what is the second poorest state in the country. Get in touch with me if you want to be part of this trip because I can use your help. It's only a week out of your life to make a real difference in Oaxaca. Click here to register and get more info from Adventures in Life Ministry. February 5 - 12, 2011 One week to make a real difference, are you in?

Happy Anniversary AIL Ministry

Fifteen years ago this weekend, Grady Martine, Paul Lathrop, my wife Chelle, and I led a Short Term Mission trip to the village of La Mision, Baja California, about 60 miles south of the US/Mexico border crossing in San Ysidro. It was the first mission trip by a new mission organization, Adventures in Life Ministry. Grady and I founded Adventures in Life because we believed that if people got out of their comfort zones and served people, God could and would do incredible things in their lives. And we were right. We have seen the evidence of that time and time again over the years as Adventures in Life has grown. As the years have passed, Grady and Paul are now working together in central Los Angeles ministry, called Central City Community Outreach, and remain connected to AIL. Paul still serves on our board and without him we could not have grown to where we are today. And yet even as there is change, some things remain the same. Tomorrow, I will leave for Mexico again. As I have countless times over the last fifteen years to help a group of people connect with and serve their brothers and sisters in Christ in Mexico. We will be in a town south of Ensenada called Camalu. Most of the people in this area are from Oaxaca, one of the poorest states in Mexico. Here is a link to some of the churches that are prevalent in the home state of the people of Camalu. Please pray for us and the group that will serving with us. They are from a small church in Las Vegas, called Grace Valley. technorati tags: Oaxaca Mission, Adventures in Life, Mexico Ministry