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...

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!

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!

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

The Real Mission

For those of you who have served with us the last couple of years, let this be a great reminder of the journey we have walked together in Mexico. For those of you who only know me as a fellow blogger, politically minded, and a lover of sports, this is really who I am, what I try to be about, and what I love. Enjoy!

What It Really Is About

It is not about politics. It is not about sports. It is not about the newest fad, hot item, coolest gadget, or your big new 65 foot platinum big screen television that is flat as a pancake. This is what it is about. Pastors Alejandro Corrales, from Ensenada, and David Curtis, from Burns, Oregon, baptized 12 new believers Sunday, March 25th at the start of our week of ministry together. ...hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, love for the broken heart...grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing...Jesus.