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Deploying to Haiti

Friends...Many of you know that in the recent past Brenda and I began a journey to join a mission team in New Orleans. The physical shift to NOLA did not end up being part of our stories, but the community there is very close to my heart and is the reason I am forwarding the following email along. Below is a letter from Mike Brantley, who leads the team in New Orleans:

Dear Friends and Family,
If you're reading this, you support us here in New Orleans, or pray for us, for are friends, family and those in our lives here. Due to time constraints, we're sending a mass email to all of you. So here goes...

We're deploying four of our team/community here in New Orleans to Haiti in 24 hours.

Why: You've seen the news - 200K dead and climbing. There are 20K/day dying from injuries, infection, etc.
How: We got a call from a sister team/community in Miami. They were approached by people in Haiti and The Dominican Republic to help. Our team there has been able to get in a couple of convoys of fuel to two field hospitals on the verge of running out of fuel for their generators. But the needs are so immense they need more boots on the ground.

BUT it got the attention of the UN and the US Army's 82d Airborne Division. The Army is supplying security and the UN is looking for fuel trucks.

What: We're going to establish a marshaling point, hopefully a warehouse. From there, some people can purchase supplies (Medical, Rx, Food, Water and Fuel). We'll then convoy it and while they are gone, begin marshaling supplies for the next run. The convoy will make the 12 hour trip to Port au Prince, and drop it to a distribution point we're setting up. We expect a couple of us to be in Port-au-Prince running that site.

Expect Chad and Kyle to be in Santiago operating the logistics point and Adam and I in Haiti (for the French speaking and liaising with the US Army). BUT that can change when we hit the ground. We could all four end up in the Haiti distribution point. We'll see!

Tonight, we spent several hours getting poked with the tropic regimen for deployment to a disaster zone... Ouch! Sore! Now it's time to wash, pack and get ready to go.

When: We deploy Friday 22nd, and return a month to six weeks later. For many, this will be huge. For our own families, for our work here in New Orleans and for the kids we coach.

Some other details:
1. We expect to have communication with people back here.
2. We may be gone 4 weeks, but maybe 6 weeks.
3. This will impact our work with lacrosse, but our parents, coaches and guys are super.
4. This is fluid and we don't know what to expect yet. We may deploy two women in our community, but we need to assess the situation, discover what logistical situation we're in, etc.

What can you do?
1. Pray for us, regularly!
2. Help The people left back here (if you're local). They'll need help with keeping the grass cut, playing with the kids, meals, etc.
3. We need money! ! ! ! If we raised a $1M, it would not be enough... the needs are so huge. We'll use the funds to get us there, keep us there, and then for supplies! 100% of the funds will go to the deployment.

You can contribute in several ways and every donation will get a tax deductible receipt from our 501 (c) 3 organization. Here are the details on how to do that:
1. Checks made out to “Communitas New Orleans”. Mail to 2539 Octavia Street, New Orleans, LA 70115-6535
2. Wires can be sent (but they cost $15) Email: communitasnola@gmail.com. Our people staying back in New Orleans helping with the kids, working, managing donations, etc will get the routing process if you want to wire money.
3. Online at www.Paypal.com Can use debit or credit card, or paypal account. Email address is communitasnola@gmail.com In the instruction field leave mailing address for receipt – otherwise we won’t be able to know who it’s from that we can send a receipt for your taxes.

Look, we don't really "want" to go. We have lives here, families and responsibilities. Yet, the need is compelling and our Miami team is begging us for help. This is what we're about - Christ with flesh here and now. We don't feel like heroes or special. We don't know what to expect. We simply got a phone call. Your friendship and support is so appreciated. Your prayers are coveted.

Called out of Slavery

"The Church is the people of God. The Latin word for "church," ecclesia, comes from the Greek ek, which means "out," and kaleo, which means "to call." The Church is the people of God called out of slavery to freedom, sin to salvation, despair to hope, darkness to light, an existence centered on death to an existence focused on life.

When we think of Church we have to think of a body of people, travelling together. We have to envision women, men, and children of all ages, races, and societies supporting one another on their long and often tiresome journeys to their final home."   

                                                                    - Henri Nouwen

Skateboard, Nut Cruncher, & a Flying Goose

God is Love

I am not reading 1 John Chapter 3 this week like my Tall Monastic friend Ryan Taylor but I agree with the message this song/video brings and thought it was worth posting. It is catching little tune that may offend some peoples sense of who they've created their image of God to be.

The Holy Spirt Working

In my reading this week I came across an excerpt out of No Little People (a collection of sermons by Francis Schaeffer). Here is what Schaeffer wrote:

"Both the Scriptures and the history of the church teach that if the Holy Spirit is working, the whole man will be involved and there will be much cost to the Christian. The more the Holy Spirit works, the more Christians will be used in battle, and the more they are used, the more there will be personal cost and tiredness. It is quite the opposite of what we might first think. People often cry out for the work of the Holy Spirit and forget that when the Holy Spirit works, there is always tremendous cost to the people of God, weariness and tears and battles."

This seems to ring true in my life and in the lives of those I know who are actively praying to live and move and have our being in Him, to be directed by the Holy Spirit. When this is your bent in life it will come at a personal cost.

You will be tired....do you have the discipline to make time to rest and rejuvenate?

Spiritual warfare will come at an intense pace....do you have the eyes to see it and the companions to battle it?

Weariness and tears and battles will ensue daily....do you have the perseverance and support of community to endure?

Schaeffer is right, this seems very counter intuitive for our simulated fabrications of how the Holy Spirit moves. We often see the Holy Spirit like the ice-cream man who only brings good things for us to experience and eat and ride the sugar high.

And most people will limit the moving of the holy spirit to an event, an hour of produced emotional manipulation that the programmers have conjured up, so we can willingly offer ourselves to the experience. And if we feel the tinge of emotional up-rise internally, like a good story will naturally cause, we say wow, the holy spirit was really moving this hour, I could feel him.

But maybe, just maybe the scriptures are right and we are wrong about how the Holy Spirit moves. Schaeffer's insight to the scriptures and the history of the church are sobering. When the Holy Spirit works, there is always tremendous cost to the people of God....weariness....and tears....and battles. So let's not mistake the emotional high of a weekend experience that was crafted to give us the high we seek, with the true working of the Holy Spirit.

If you are crying out for the Holy Spirit to move in your life and in the lives of those around you and it seems that things are not going smooth, you are getting weary and life is difficult, don't be surprised. When you pray for the Holy Spirit to move, life is not lived beyond the fray but rather it is lived right in the middle. Offer your praise to God and get real with your faith community and go to battle, because whenever the Holy Spirit moves the enemy will be there.

A more accurate definition of success

Fellow blogger, Bob Hyatt, Pastor at Evergreen Church in Portland Oregon, has posted his thoughts of the success they are seeing in their faith community through declining numbers and lower giving. Of all the pastors I have talked to, and read, about "how" they define success, I think Bob has the most accurate perspective that I have read or heard so far on what really makes a local church successful!

Read Article HERE

Bob blogs HERE

I pray in the words of St. Augustine...

"Lord Jesus, don't let me lie when I say that I love you....and protect me, for today I could betray you."

What agreements have you made?

Have you ever stopped to think about what (or who) shaped your belief in who you are or who you want to be?

For some, you were raised in an environment where parents, teachers, coaches, grandparents, friends, peers, boyfriends/girlfriends, pastors, cub scout leaders, and even the lunchroom lady constantly protected your heart from the attacks of the enemy's voice so you could only hear the sweet sound of your heavenly father speaking his truth into your heart unconditionally, "I love you", "I created you", "You are good", "You are lovely", "You have what it takes", "You are mine", "You are fearfully and wonderfully made", "You are worth it"!

For the rest of us we didn't have such privilege. We grew up where the enemy used all the above mentioned people and created personal situations to attack our hearts with false agreements about who we are and who we will become, all cultivated from his bag of lies.

I'm not suggesting that everything we grew up believing about ourselves is a lie. Far from it. We are who we are because our individual experiences along our journey have shaped us into who we are. God will use all people and all experiences in our life for good - if we allow him to own it. What I am suggesting is that there are those subtle agreements that we have made with ourselves (and the enemy), while on the surface seem like good, well intentioned moments, are actually quite damaging to who we are and who we want to become.

2009 Malibu Men's Retreat

Critical Swine Flue Prevention Tip

TIP: Do NOT do this!