Global Outreach Website

Apr 10

We’ve arrived safely in Guatemala and most of the team is bedded down for the night, excited about waking early tomorrow for an Easter service in Guatemala.

Our day began very early as we met at Perimeter Church at 6:15 to caravan to the airport together. The support raising was finished, with the team overall having raised about three fourths of the funds needed and trusting that the final fourth will follow soon. The bags were packed and anything left at home was destined to stay there. Upon arriving at the airport it became clear that this was not only Spring Break for many, it was missions week.

Everywhere there seemed to be smiling groups of tired-eyed folk wearing identical t-shirts announcing the name of their church or their mission destination. Our large plane seemed to be entirely filled with missions groups, except for the 6 year old boy sitting behind Nate who kicked the back of Nate’s seat for 3 consecutive hours in anticipation of arrival. Most of the trip he kept shouting in what was originally a cute voice, “Are we there yet?” But it became increasingly irritating once the movie ended and the television screen showed the remaining miles of the journey, which prompted him to scream in delight, “33 minutes left,” and then proceeded to count each minute we got closer. But I digress..

One of the men on the plane had a shirt on with a classic Jim Elliot quote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot attain.” It reminded me that God called each of us on this trip with the same clarity that He called each of us into a relationship with Him. And that relationship, like any good relationship, has a cost. I must decrease that He might increase. Oh yeah, it is Easter and we are reminded as followers of Jesus that we have the privilege of taking up the cross daily. My former identity has been crucified with Christ and the old me no longer lives, but Christ lives in me. The verses flooded my mind and made me vitally aware of God’s presence. But that awareness made me feel more like I was being given a privilege than I was counting any cost. The anticipation of what our team would gain was far more valuable than what might have been- more sleep, a suntan at the beach, or other entertainment.

A few hours earlier we’d been debating around the early morning breakfast table. What’s the difference between Chunky, Crunchy, and Clumpy Peanut Butter according to the labels? Which direction will the toilets flush that far South? Would I get any more ideas on this trip for my coffee table book about Amazing Stories from the Bathroom?
But now things were real. God had shown up in some neat ways for our team already. But it became increasingly clear that he might blow the door off our paradigms at any point. Getting out of our comfort zone seemed like very little cost compared to the possibility that God was poised for something great. In so many ways God has allowed me to witness and experience a lifetime of miracles, what more could I want? I realized that I wanted to know more of Him and to have others, including my kids, experience that same sense of awe at Who God is and how amazing His grace really is.

Even walking through the airport, I was reminded of the Brandon Heath song, “Give Me Your Eyes.” I’d been praying parts of the chorus for my kids for weeks. In the video for the song, he’s walking through the airport and really seeing the messy lives of people for the first time, as if a cloud has been lifted from his head and forcing him to care deeply for the first time . He sings, “Give me Your eyes for just one second, Give me Your eyes so I can see, Everything that I’ve been missing, Give me Your love for humanity. Give me your arms for the broken-hearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten. Give me Your eyes so I can see.”

To some degree it ‘s hard to imagine a person being here amidst the poor and not being moved in compassion. But I’m periodically moved to tears by the refrain of this song when I think about the weightiness of truly seeing the world as our infinitely loving God sees it , even if for only one second. If I had more love and I saw humanity for an instant, I’d be crushed because I lack the sovereignty and power of God to make it right. So readers can pray that all of us on the team would have not only God’s eyes, but His heart as well, as we try to be His hand and feet for a few days as poor substitutes.

..And eventually the plane landed safely.

Going through customs, everyone was escorted through briskly except for my family. We were directed to another line where our bags were again x-rayed and then opened. My 47 pound suitcase probably had 25 pounds of cough syrup and a few huge bottles of pills. It’s amazing how much more motivated I am to pray when fear enters in. Amy and I were totally busted carrying medicines that the government would want to heavily tax or confiscate. Plus I had 5 bags of my frozen energy soup (blended raw veggies for my intestines) that probably was a prohibited item. We’d described it to her as seaweed for my health (which is true). But she said she didn’t understand the English word so she’d let it go this time. Amy explained that the medicines were for a doctor friend of ours (another truth). So the customs lady unknotted the garbage bag in my suitcase holding the cough syrup and asked me how many bottles I had. “At least 10,” I replied, which was another truth. Then she looked at me and asked the value so that the government could asses a (30-50tax on it. “I don’t know. They were given to me,” I honestly replied. Bob Barker I am not.

So she shrugged her shoulders, probably thinking what a stupid American I was (another truth) and warned Amy and I that we needed to declare this next time. Then she let us go. God is so cool. A cost of discipleship? Heck, I’d pay to recreate that scene again and watch it on DVD. Our family could have been the cast of Seinfeld going through customs. Where God guides, God provides.

The Guatemalan team picked us up (more on them another update) and drove us through Guatemala City (more on the area in another update) to the secure compound. The neighborhood makes it easy to understand why this is a whole different kind of gated community and why they call it a compound.

But the inside was great and everyone settled in while a late lunch was brought in from a local Irish restaurant called McDonalds. A few of the ladies went shopping with Dr Alb to pick up most of our food for the week. Plus we had a casual briefing in the house’s open family room with Dr Herman Alb.

The whole discussion started out with toilet etiquette inside the house versus etiquette in the villages. Details of that are probably not blog-worthy. We discussed the focus of our morning devotions which will center around building Intimacy with God, being Available & Attentive to His leading, and growing in our Effectiveness at sharing the good news of Jesus. We considered the sending of the 12 apostles in Matthew 10 and the ministry of reconciliation that Paul writes of in 2 Cor 5. Dr Alb contrasted spontaneous evangelism with the preferred relational evangelism. We all want God to teach us this week. So we’ll focus on Him and the people, while letting the miracles occur if and when God deems them appropriate to communicate something about Himself.

So now we rest. As I finish this, I think everyone else is long asleep, since we are two hours behind Atlanta. They don’t do daylight savings time here. Our team is tired, but full of a budding expectation for the week in the villages. Celebrating Easter tomorrow only seems to heighten the anticipation. The cost we pay is counter-intuitive like much of the kingdom, for we get far more than we give. So again my experience with God seems to reveal that, although there is a cost to following Him, it feels much more like a gift. And unwrapping the gift of each new day brings back the reality that the true cost was born by His son, Jesus Christ, on a rugged cross long ago.

PS It flushes opposite the US- counter-clockwise.