Have You Ever???

In order to travel to Bolivia, you have to get a pre-approved Visa from the Bolivian Consulate.  In an effort to save some money on the processing fees charged by our travel agent (about $1150), Neal Stancil and I drove to Washington, DC to hand deliver the Visa applications for our team.  What an awesome trip that was.  Upon return, Neal wrote a really funny "Have You Ever???" account of our trip.  Neal's account follows:

"Ok, bear with me….

Have you ever left North Carolina for Washington DC at 2:00 am in a car?...We have (Donnie & Neal). And we didn’t even stop one time.

Have you ever driven back in the same day?...We have. (but we stopped a few times, because our bladders where now awake)

Have you ever put money in a parking meter only to have it begin flashing “out of order” then you put in another quarter because you thought that should add up to the right amount of time?...I have.

Have you ever been to a bank that didn’t have a public restroom but had 8 inch thick bulletproof glass between you and the tellers (on the inside of the bank)?...You guessed it, we have.

Have you ever eaten one of those things that Donnie loves so much from Bolivia (a saltena), only you ate it at a strip mall restaurant in Alexandria, Va. because the nice lady at the Bolivian Consulate recommended the place?...We have (It was delicious by the way)

Have you ever tried to ask the waitress, who was a Honduran native for the recipe for above mentioned “Bolivian” food in “her” native language and she thought you were asking for your bill?...Donnie has. I came to the rescue with a google translation on the Blackberry only to find out that she didn’t know and the owner wouldn’t be in until 4 hrs. later...Yes - We Have.

All true but now for the rest of the story.  As we all know, Donnie is a great engineer, but did you know he is also a great banker?

Have you ever tried to withdraw $3000.00 dollars at an ATM?...Donnie has.

Have you ever filled out 23 deposit slips by hand for someone else’s account (Bolivian Consulate) at their bank (Bank of America)…..at one time?...Donnie has.

Have you ever been questioned by the lead consulate about the financial statements in your application after you just spent almost 2 hrs trying to deposit $3000.00 into his account?...Donnie Has.

Have you ever used the front seat of a '93 Lexus as an office to add 1 paid receipt for each visa application to each individual folder so they wouldn’t have to?...Right again. We have.

Ok, I’m almost through. All of the above mentioned “have you ever’s are true, and there are even some pictures to prove some of it (check out the "Washington Visa Trip" album on the Pictures page of this site).

Seriously, we went and we conquered. The visa applications were hand delivered with great care and relief. We had a great trip and our experiences today are a testament to the biblical writings, “that through God, all things are possible.” Yes it has been a long day, but what a wonderful day it was. I hope this brings a smile to your faces and Donnie, I hope when you read this on Tuesday (because I know you are asleep by now) that you are also smiling as much as I am while I am writing this."

Thanks to Neal for putting this trip on paper for us.
Donnie

Why Go?

This week is going to be a busy one for me. In addition to my regular, 40-hour-a-week job, I've got lots on my plate- leading our church's first Coffee & Worship night, Bible study, guitar lesson, grocery shopping, taxes, meetings... the list goes on and on, and I don't want to think about the pile ahead of me. But one of the things that is predominant on my mind this week is this upcoming Sunday. This Sunday, I'll be speaking at two different churches, delivering the sermon, in order to raise funds and awareness for our Bolivia trip.

I'm not nervous about speaking in front of the churches. I've been in front of crowds in one capacity or another as far back as I can remember, and feel just as comfortable there as anywhere else. My thoughts are, what am I going to say? I've been praying about this one for a few months now, and I still don't know what I'll say. But the topic that keeps circling my mind is, "Why go?"

There are lots of things in North Carolina that scream for attention. There are people in need here. There are orphans who need love just a few miles from my door. So why am I taking a group to another country to help the needy when the needy are all around me?

The most obvious answer is that God has called me to it. I don't think that foreign missions is any more or less important than anything that the church does. But God has given me a passion for the foreign field, and I must obey my Lord. As Jeremiah said, it is like a fire in my bones, and I cannot ignore or stifle it. But beyond that, why do we go on mission trips? One of the best answers I've heard to that question came from my friend, Kasey. Speaking at church after returning from a mission trip to Georgia, Kasey brought up that same question, and his answer was, "When you help out those you know, it's because you love them. If you go somewhere else and help people you've never met, it's because you love God."

There is also the impact that such a trip has on those who are going. While the work done on the field has an effect on those in the country being visited and meets the needs of the needy, the impact is far greater in the lives of the individuals who stepped out of their comfort zone on faith, witnessed the brotherhood of believers on a new, global scale, saw the greatness of God in ways never before experienced, and return to their homes touched by God. The people who go will never be the same. Though I've been on quite a few trips by now, even having lived in a foreign country as a missionary, I am still challenged and changed and shaped by these trips. Could God have used the apostles had he left them in their boats on the Sea of Gallilee? No doubt. But God chose to call those men out of their comfort zones, out of the areas in their life that they had always known, and used his grace and majesty through those 12 ordinary men to change the world.

That is why we go on these mission trips. Because when God changes you, he then uses you to change the world. And this world needs that kind of change.