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Good morning from Fivemiletown, Northern Ireland.

Sorry I couldn’t update yesterday as the internet cafe` here is closed on Sunday . OK, EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday’s in NI. The only thing I saw open yesterday was the gas [petrol] station and a chinese resteraunt.

From this point forward my updates will only be about my team and what is going on here in 5mile. I will send an e-mail to all the others and ask them to send updates to me so I can post them here, but I don’t know who has access and I won’t see any of them for 8 days unless there is an emergency.

First off, let me say that the events in Egypt and London are terrible. It is both a reminder of the very dangerous world we live in now as well as the urgent need for evangelism. Though I don’t know much since I don’t have great access to news, my heart breaks for the families who have lost loved ones as well as the general sense of terror folks must be feeling as they commute this morning.

This morning I took Richie and Dave with me for my morning devotions. I got them up very early, practically the middle of the night for NI folks. At 6:15 we met in the church kitchen for a quick read of Scripture and then we were off for a walk. Actually, we all chose a word from what we were reading and wrote it on our bodies. Since I am currently stuck in the first part of Luke 3 I wrote “prepare” on my forearm. Why? Well, I wrote it on my arm as a reminder… I’ll see it all day and it will keep me thinking about John the Baptist. It really has hit me hard as I’ve studies Jesus’ story. John entire existence was for that one word… prepare. He was not conceived by a silent father and old mother for greatness… but to merely prepare people for Jesus. His ministry was always secondary to God’s story. In fact, he was once asked “are you the Messiah?” In that moment he had the chance to say… I am a very important person and you should lift me up. Instead he simply said “I am not him.” This hits me hard as I work here in 5Mile. Here’s what I mean.

Why this ministry works here is not that complex. We crazy Americans are a novelty to the Irish. They think we are worth talking to because we come from where they want to go sometime and we talk like people they see on TV. So if we say “wanna come over tonight and talk to us at our coffee bar?” they’ll think to themselves… “Hey, why not? How often can I talk to someone from America?” In a small town, this is exciting… more exciting than hanging out at the park and smoking on the swings. This simple little thing is all the opportunity we need to start building relationships with the kids and talking to them about Jesus. That word “prepare” is a perfect reminder to me as I serve here…. my job isn’t to do anything else but prepare them to meet Jesus. Coming to know the Savior is a God-sized thing. I may play a role in it, but it is only because God wants to involve me. He doesn’t need me to reveal Himself to these lost kids… He just allows me the priveledge of doing so. I am here to prepare. [I can’t help thinking of seasoning meat when I think of this… maybe I should call myself the tenderizer?]

So, on our read.walk.think.pray excursion today we ventured off to the edge of town. We hopped a couple of fences into a farmers field and explored the ruins of an old house. We spent about 30 minutes trying to imagine what the building was used for… then when we got back to the main road we laughed at ourselves for not reading the massive sign that read “Calvery Family House.” Yep, same old Adam!

In other news. The church we are staying at is pretty cool. The Wesley Hall, where we stay, is only 7 years old. It has a large gym and a nice coffe bar o nthe 2nd floor. There are a few classrooms and a really nice kitchen. What is really sad is that the church really only has a small handful of Christian kids. It’s funny because even though the building is 7 years old you can tell that there is no youth ministry. I brand new and dusty pool table. A foosball table that’s never been used. The gym has no scuff marks on the wall from hockey or mysterious stains from youth events. There simply is no youth ministry. What difference does that make? Well, it is seen in the churches on Sunday mornings. The churches aren’t alive. There is fellowship there and I’m sure good things happen. But the parking lot clears instantly. There is little or no Sunday school hour. There are few Bible studies. The church is dying. What does that have to to do with youth ministry? Just ask the kids of 5mile.

Last night about 9:30 we headed over to the local park. There were about 15 kids there hanging out as the sun went down. Bored… their eyes filled with something I experienced a lot in Germany… boredom leading to depression and loneliness. This is a loneliness only Christ can fill but they try to backfill with alcohol, cigarettes, and relationships. [What they call their fun!] As we talk to them, it is clear that they are looking for something more in their lives. They can’t articulate it, but they just look bound by something and they are looking for the chains to come off. They wan to be free but just don’t know how.

Our plan is simply to take these bored kids and invite them to our two outreaches each day. At 2-4 PM we have a meeting for 11-15 year olds and play games with them, etc. From 8-10 we have a coffebar at the church. In both instances the gospel is there… not an altercall or anything like that… but as we build relationships we share our story, they tell us theirs, and we try to weave in God’s story.

Team news I kind of like my team. There aren’t a lot of experienced people here but they have tons of enthusiasm. Right now, we are rocking this tiny village with our noise level. My personal goal is to invest what I can into Richie, Val, and Becca while I am here. They are a part of YFCs internship program called Y1. They are in way, way over their heads… exactly where God likes us to be! So far I’ve been very disappointed with their ability to lead the team. In fact, the team feels like they are leading the leaders right now. They are in a common stage of leadership development where they think being seen as cool will earn them respect. It isn’t working. They are going to learn soon that in order to lead you have to get out front and show us the way. Pushing from behind isn’t a very good way to lead.

Like I said before, if I hear anything from the rest of our Romeo team, I’ll post it here. If nothing else, I will see them next Tuesday when I get to tour around.

Thank you for praying for us. Please continue to pray for the many kids we will invite in tonight.

Last night some friends of ours took us out on their boat. We put-in in downtown St. Clair and moved north to Port Huron and even a little out into Lake Huron. [Picture above is the Blue Water bridge, one of the busiest connecting points in the country between Canada and the U.S.]

This was my first trip on the river or on Lake Huron, so obviously it was new to the kids as well. We had a blast as it was a perfect evening. The weather was gorgeous, the waves on the river weren’t bad, and the company was the best. Dick and Cathie are fantastic hosts, I had never seen them in this role before!

A good break

With all that is swirling around us for the next 24 hours, this was a welcome break. Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day with golf in the morning, looking at houses from 9:00-1:00 PM, making an offer on a house, and then this. Today I have normal church responsibilities. But, I also have to go out to lunch with a visiting missionary family and entertain, head down to my in-laws house to pick something up, [A 2 hour drive round trip!] and set up for tonight’s bonfire. Holy cow it is going to be a long day.

No news is _____ news

We don’t know yet whether or not our offer on the house has been reviewed. So at this point, we’re just waiting. We have until 10:00 PM to hear anything from the seller. Tick tick tick tick.

Another look
Well, we haven’t given up on “this old house” but we are looking at other places in our price range. [At the same time, we’re also doing the loan so that when we find our dream house we’re good to go.]

This house may be a sleeper. Another good neighborhood, another nice lot. It’s got most of the major stuff taken care of so any money we put into upgrades would be much more beneficial to the family. New roof, new bathrooms, etc.

The waiting game
With the Northern Ireland mission trip on the horizon and our family vacation scheduled for next week… I can see this house hunting going into the fall. This is a already a crazy summer… but the fall looks worse!

I’ve been joking with Kristen that I’d like to get the house bought and everything signed so she can move us in while we’re in Ireland. That usually gets me an evil stare!

In other news
Today is our 8th wedding anniversary. 8 years, we’re still alive and kicking! It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long at all. It seems like only yesterday that we were cutting cake and escaping to Kelley’s Island for our honeymoon. How are we celebrating? Well… We get to take 30 7-12th graders to Cedar Point this Friday. How’s that?

In the past 3 months we’ve been running Media Shout 2.5 for worship, we’ve had limited problems. That streak ended today as it crashed in the middle of our worship service.

Since it was the first time this has happened, we didn’t really know what to do. The operator just kept clicking on things until the program just bombed out. (If it was an older PC it would have shown the blue screen of death!)

I’m sure I’ll take hell for that from PB in the morning.

In other news
Tonight is our first Bonfire of the year. This is a little postmodern thing I put together. We meet at a families house, eat some goodies, hang out a little, do some community prayer time, and do a spiritual discipline. Tonight we’ll be experimenting with the Centering Prayer. Should be interesting.

The bad news is that there are storm warnings all over the place. It could either storm or be fine. We’ll have to wait and see.

Church news
Today a new part time worship leader started. I think it could be either really good or really bad. Along those lines we’ve offered another part time position to a young couple looking to learn how to be in ministry. If it all goes through, they will be leading our children’s ministry.

This is about how I feel
OK, so we don’t have a rickshaw… but we did get “one of those” bike carriers that I hook up to my bike and we pull the kids all over town.

It’s so much fun to hear them squeal with glee as we fly down Tillson Street or to hear Megan say “You can do it daddy!” as I struggle to pull them up a hill. Of course the biggest thing they like while on the bike is for daddy to go faster than mommy. Megan gives minute by minute updates on whether or not we are winning or not.

In other news

• I got my new glasses yesterday. I was a bit early for my appointment but managed to squeeze in early. (The guy working at Lenscrafters was a “recovering youth pastor” between gigs.) I like the new look. These frames are a little bit more square than the others. I was half tempted to go with the “Rob Bell” look but didn’t want to try to look to hip. It just wasn’t me!
• Played a very good 18 holes at Romeo G&CC this morning. If I had been able to putt at all I would have torched the front nine. At one point I had hit 7 greens in a row. I almost drove the 300 yard 6th hole too. But I managed to double bogey the nasty 8th hole and squeek out a par on 9. I finished my round where I began… 3 putting a par 5. But I did strike the ball very well and can’t complain about a 79. (Of course, some of it was due to the course being set up pretty easy with all their outings the past two days.)
• Had a great time going to a kids birthday party. Little Deiter (one of Megan’s friends) turned 4 this weekend. As the weather was in the mid-70s… it was a perfect day to be outside enjoying friends.

This is where I spent most of my day today. At Comerica Park, home of the 2005 All Star game. It was a good reminder that our new pastor is coming out of a world unlike the church in any way… he scored his law firms 6 tickets at the 2nd row behind the dugout.

The bad news was that the Tigers got beat by the red hot white sox 4-3.

Man, those were some nice seats. Too cool. I’m for certain never going to score like that again.

The youth group continues to roll on in a positive and loving environment. One of the things I am really proud of is that we continue to be content driven and not hype driven.

The vibe of the group has really been amplified in the last 6-8 weeks. Since we’ve been concentrating on making everyone feel like they are part of the family… Put that together with the church feeling better about yourself, and it would make sense that we are ready to grow.

In Other News

Tigers Game
Today me and the SP are taking a few guys to see a Tigers game. This is half schmoozing new people and half schmoozing old church members. As we put those two type together on purpose… We can only hope for a connection.

Grad school
I took an incomplete on my last class. The main problem is that I was too busy to care about a class that was such a waste of my time.

In my present class, I’m on fire about it. It is hitting areas that I can completely see as valuable to my current ministry. I’m passionate about equipping people for ministry so Equipping Strategies is right up my alley. It’s funny that the class uses tons of Sonlife lingo and support information without actually using Sonlife as the reference. OK, maybe I just think that is funny. Poor Sonlife, they give all the good stuff and get none of the credit.

The Story

A few years ago there was a star running back coming out of college. He had done the right thing, avoiding an early entry into the NFL draft after his junior year, he finished his senior year and graduated from a well known University.

As the draft day neared there was lots and lots of buzz. He had all the right moves and the right size and excellent speed. Since was a star in college it looked as though he would be a superstar in the NFL. The fact is… Career-wise he may have put himself in a bad position because he was so good. His talents had elevated him beyond the “good teams looking for the final piece” and into the part of the upper part of the draft that was reserved for the truly desperate teams looking for any talent…Even if it was just a spectacle that sold a few tickets.

As usual for those in the NFL Draft, he went to the combines, he impressed the scouts, and he did a lot of talking to GM’s. On draft day 2002 he was picked 2nd overall. He was excited, his new team was excited, and the fans were besides themselves. As the new season dawned everyone thought this was the beginning of a dynasty career.

It wasn’t to be. While the Running Back had been a man among boys on the grid iron of Division I football, he met his match in the NFL. He played hard and did well. But he wasn’t what everyone was expecting. Not himself, his coach, the GM, his teammates, or the fans. The biggest problem was not even himself… It was the Quarterback. The old cagey veteran QB saw himself as a passer and refused to hand off the ball to the Running Back more than a few times a game. The Running Back was disappointed, but he accepted his new role on the team. Afterall, this was a team sport and he knew it couldn’t be about him. After the 2002 season he reflected on his successes and failures. He had some solid numbers (lots of yards, some TD’s, but also some notable fumbles and miscues.) He was hungry for more. He wanted to see his team win. He knew it wasn’t 100% up to him, but he wanted to contribute to taking his team to the playoffs… Maybe even the big game.

It wasn’t to be. At the end of the first season the quarterback made a big deal about “this punky kid who always wants the ball” and demanded that the Running Back be traded. So, in less than a year, the Running Back was traded and sent to another team.

Now this next team was on the rise. In the 2001 draft they took a QB high in the draft and in his first 2 seasons his arm had carried them deep into the playoffs. Sure, he made mistakes, but he was a winner. The team loved him and he loved the team. Together, the Running back and the young QB were a powerful duo. Everyone was besides themselves as they entered the 2003 season. Immediately, the QB’s arm combined with the Running Back’s skills elevated this team to the stratosphere. They blitzkreiged the football world with their abilities and they dominated the games. The fans were happy, the owner was happy, the GM was happy, the coach was happy, the QB was happy, and the Running Back was happy. Halfway into the season the newspapers were alive with talk about “a new dynasty” and that it wasn’t a matter of “if” these two would lead their team to the Super Bowl Championship, it was a matter of how many Championships they would win together.

It wasn’t to be. About halfway through the 2003 season the QB was hurt badly. His leg was broken so back and his neck was hurt that the young QB was left with no other choice but to retire. The team was devastated. The fans were besides themselves. While they still came to the games, they hardly cheered. The Running Back was hurt by the loss of the young QB. He kept saying to himself “Why me? Why can’t I just be on a winning team?” The coach and the GM managed to keep the Running Back’s head in the game. While the team lost a lot of games that year… The Running Back had a phenomenal year. They put the ball in his hands and he didn’t disappoint. For the rest of the 2003 season they didn’t win a game.

As the 2004 season neared, the team was still left without a QB. They had hoped to bring in a QB just like the last guy… One who could inspire the team to victory and impress the fans with his playmaking ability. The GM and the coach looked to free-agency to replace the young QB. In fact, at one point they thought they had superstar. They offered him a contract, the Running Back was excited about it. It looked as though the team would soon be back to it’s winning ways.

It wasn’t to be. The free agent superstar walked away from the deal and went back to his old team.

The 2004 season was terrible. While the Running Back had a solid season, he had a hard time hiding his disappointment. He knew that his skills and talent could only take his team so far… afterall… He knew his place as a running back. He couldn’t be a QB and he wasn’t the coach or the GM. Things got so bad that he considered retirement. Retirement after only 3 years? That wouldn’t be retiring… It would be quitting! He even thought about changing positions.

After a disastrous 2004 season, despite a less productive but solid season in the NFL, lots of injuries and lots of infighting, the team couldn’t wait to leave camp at the end of the year. The only good thing about the tumultuous season was that the 2005 NFL draft was looking good for the Running Back. He knew that the #1 pick would assure them a talented QB.

Draft day came and just as expected… A fresh new QB was selected. This one had plenty of talent too. The Running Back was excited as the 2005 season neared. He thought to himself, “Finally, all of the nonsense is behind me, now I can get back to running the ball and helping my team win. The pressure is off of me… We can share the pressure.”

It wasn’t to be. Early in the season, despite some great wins, the Running Back wasn’t happy that he wasn’t getting the ball like he was used to over the last 2 seasons. He was still productive, but it wasn’t the same. He kept thinking to himself, “Use me to open up the passing game.” But the QB and the GM and the coach had decided to pass the ball first and only run when needed. Instead of the “featured back” the Running Back could see that the mood had changed… “They want me to be a utility back!”

This spent the Running Back spinning emotionally. He knew he could be a superstar. He knew it was merely a matter of getting the ball in his hands and making things happen. It was humiliating to think of himself as a just a utility back. While he was still the starting running back for an NFL team, he had to deal with lost dreams and aspirations of greatness. While this new QB might lead them to the Super Bowl, the Running Back would never be the MVP as a utility back. The Hall of Fame… Forget about it. His dreams are over.

It just wasn’t to be. To make matters worse, after a few games the coach, QB, and GM pulled the Running Back aside. He knew it wasn’t going to be a good time. He just felt it. The young QB talked. (Who lets a rookie QB talk?) He said, “Now that this is my team [who gives a rookie the team?] I think we don’t need a running back anymore. Heck, I think you were a wasted trade, if I were here we wouldn’t have taken you.” Then the GM went on to explain that the team had decided that since the rookie QB didn’t need a running back anymore, maybe the Running Back should think about becoming a wide receiver, or a clipboard carrying back-up QB.

This is where our story ends. With the Running Back, in his jersey, on the sidelines holding a clipboard and wearing a headset. The Running Back thinks to himself, “Do I need to be traded, do I need to quit, or do I just swallow my dreams and take the stupid clipboard and be happy that the owner still writes me a check?” He calls the signals and a tear runs down his face.

Football is life.

A Difficult Battle
This whole thing with Terri Schiavo is very strange to me. To say that it is a difficult thing to comment on would be an understatement. Of the blogs that I regularly visit, Pastor Ray has touched on it while all the rest seem to be ignoring it.

As I look on the whole thing I have to admit that I am pretty ignorant of the major issues. The whole “I believe this” and “I believe that” all seems to be awash because Mrs. Schiavo didn’t tell anyone and didn’t have a document detailing her wishes. For over a decade people have been trying to put words in her mouth so that they could get their way. Then here in the last 12 months or so it has become a national news story. All of a sudden the same names and faces that pop up over right to life issues nationally start to speak out about a case where they know what you and I know… the media stories. From where we sit we look at this case as a “Roe vs. Wade” type of thing when in fact it is not. It should be a private family matter.

A Personal Battle
The reality is that since Mrs. Schiavo didn’t have her wishes in writing (we wouldn’t have even heard of this case if she had) no one knows what she really wanted. Her husband says that she wouldn’t have wanted to live like this. Her parents say they should keep her alive for as long as it takes. The courts are taking what the husband says and what the court appointed doctors think and are trying to make a difficult decision. If I had to put my two cents in about it I would say that it is a personal decision that should be left to the husband alone. If I had to make the choice I think I would try to error on the side of life but it is not up to me. When the Schivo’s got married they became eachothers help mates. He should know her better than anyone and it seems fair that he should be able to speak for her.

Fair Warning
I have resolved inside myself to not be Terri Schiavo. Perhaps this will be a good “teachable moment” for the church to step up and say “we all should have a plan for these types of things” and point to someone who can help people get living will or some document like that.

A Stark Reality
I work with “the invinceable” adolescents of the church. It seems far fetfched that they “get this case” or it’s importance since most of them have no cognative ability to see that someday they too will die. That they too may end up in similar circumstances as Mrs. Schiavo. So maybe this whole this is just a personal reminder for Kristen and I? That’s more like it.

With another fresh coat of snow yesterday, the golf nazi’s are in full effect. My personal goal of starting my golf year in March is now officially dead. While I could go to one of the many golf domes in the area… It is hardly the same.

In other news:
Last night’s Napoleon Dynamite nite was a lot of fun, but a failure. It turns out one of the classes at the school put their movie night at the same time. That’s a real bummer for me since it wasn’t on the school calendar at all. I generally never ever do that… But I just didn’t know.

In still other news:
I’ve had a good week with the two problems that I had to address earlier in the week. In both instances it wasn’t pleasant, but it was dealt with swiftly, appropriately, and in love. Nothing in working with students is harder than issues of personal sin or sexuality. Eeks.