My life Since 2003
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Hurry Up and Hurry Up Some More
Every day I get about 250 emails. It looks something like this: 125 of them I can delete straight away. Email marketing, social media notifications, stuff like that. 100 of them result in small tasks that I can deal with quickly. Purchases at our online store, questions in our Help Center, blog comments, stuff like that. …
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Let’s Lift Up Haitian Leaders
Megan and I just returned from a two-week trip to Haiti Tuesday night. In February, 2010 I left a country brought to it’s knees by a devastating earthquake with a simple promise: I’ll keep coming back until it’s clear I’m no longer needed. Since then I’ve seen the needs of Haitian churches adapt. Immediately after the quake…
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Investing in Long-Term Relationships
At the chewy center of Praying Pelican Missions is the local church pastor. Organizationally, they have a heartfelt desire to put the pastor’s vision for the church first and the needs of the visiting missionaries under that. So, whenever possible, short-term mission team stay with the pastor in his church or even at his house.…
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Genuine Partnerships Flow Through Local Leadership
Genuine partnerships. Long-term relationships. Sustainable ministry. Those are the three pillars of Praying Pelican Missions. Those aren’t marketing slogans. As I’ve seen over and over again those pillars are the secret sauce of what sets PPM apart from everyone else doing short-term missions. Hearing those values pour out of the mouth’s of staff and then seeing those…
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In Haiti… For a While
Hi. My name is Adam McLane and I’m addicted to going to Haiti. “How many times have you been to Haiti?” That’s a question I hear quite frequently when I meet people on trips. “A lot” is my new response. I suppose I could go back and count, but it’s easier to just say that…
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Stop Gawking
Rubbernecking, gawking, eyeball, peer, rivet, glare, ogle. These are synonyms for what the 24/7 news cycle wants out of you. The antonym? There’s only one: Ignore. Source When the News is More than The News About 18 months ago I had the epiphany. Huffington Post and CNN weren’t showing me news. They were showing me…
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Pictures from Vacation
Late Monday, we came back from our annual summer 2-part vacation. Part one was at the Wawona Campground in Yosemite. This was our first time at that particular campground… and we certainly liked aspects of it. (Good: It’s right on the river. Bad: No views of the valley, and it’s hot.) Due to some car…
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Writing Again
“Only write if you’ve got something to say.” That was advice that stuck. And that’s advice I’ve tried to keep. Whether it’s on the blog, in articles for magazines, contributions to books, curriculum projects, seminars, media stuff… I’ve always felt that if I expected someone to listen I had to have something interesting or new…
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Pokémon Go and Your Youth Ministry
There’s a new fad that’s completely wholesome, brings people to church, and is 100% free. In that sense Pokémon Go is pure youth ministry gold. But, like the 1849 Gold Rush, you’ll need to act fast because it won’t last long. I don’t see Pokémon Go lasting in the mainstream for very long… but it’ll be…
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Raising Up Generalists
In the summer of 1994 I shared a dorm room at Moody Bible Institute with a former Olympic Sprinter from Liberia. I believe his name was Samuel. I was barely 18 years old, living on my own for the first time, and he was in his 30s, a married man trying to save money to…