The cool night air sweeps in through the open door as a small group of believers gather in the upper room. They have grown accustomed to drawing attention to themselves as some of the only Gringos living in that small coastal town; here, however, their presence is inconspicuous. For the first time in two months, they find themselves lost in crowds of people who look like them, some who even talk like them, in an oasis of a city known as "El Jerusalen de Guatemala". They weave in and out of cafes and gift shops, their comings and goings completely unaccounted for. Somewhere in...

I’ve been homesick. I’ve been lonely. I’ve asked God why I’m here. I’ve been joyful. I’ve been completely numb. But nothing compares to saying goodbye. In two short months I have grown a love for Guatemalan people that I did not know was possible.  A love I know only Christ could have blessed me with. I ache when they ache, I laugh when they laugh, I smile at one glimpse of their face. And yesterday I had to say goodbye to that. I had to give them one last hug. One last smile.  And as I sat on the bus on the way to Antigua, I drove away from...

We have a crisis in our country. (The US, not Guatemala, though I’m sure it’s a problem here too). I am not referring to the budget crisis or the economic crisis or the crisis of Demi and Ashton no longer being together. It’s not the war on drugs or the war on poverty or the war for better education. No, it’s something deeper, arguably at the root of all of these. It’s a crisis of honor. I recently read Culture of Honor by Danny Silk. It revolutionized the way I look at leadership, particularly in the Christian setting. Every person is made in the image of...

My team has been plagued with “Only-One-Month-Left” syndrome. Home has been a huge topic of discussion as well as the countdown until we’re home again. I try to not take part in these conversations because I’m trying to stay present while I’m here, but it is incredibly tough when I miss home so much.                       This brings me to the dream that I had the other night. I dreamt that I was on an airplane on my way from Guatemala to home and my mom is...

Constantly I find there are more layers. More layers of me to unravel, more parts of God to discover. Every time I think I have this God thing figured out, this walking with the Lord, I find that it’s just another call to go deeper. There are no plateaus in the Christian walk.If there are, it is us who put them there. When I can’t comfortably put God in a box anymore, when I refuse the call to go deeper, I am creating a plateau that isn’t even there. I build the wall, the flat place, the spot where I draw a line in the sand and say Here God, but no further. This goes...

For me, ministry this past week was pretty much nonexistent…another little parasite decided to make it's home in my tummy, and so I've spent a good chunk of this past week in my room and in the bathroom. As a result, I've had quite a bit of free time on my hands.  With the halfway point behind us now, I've been thinking more about what the furue holds.  It's still a little frightening, knowing that I'm not in control, and the posture of being in full surrender is still new and uncomfortable.  But I rest in the comfort of knowing that He knows me...