Your weekend was boring. I don’t care what you did, compared to mine, your weekend wasn’t interesting at all. Not even a little bit.
I went to Laurel, Maryland. Wait for it, there’s more.
I went to Laurel, Maryland to speak about poverty in three church services (one through a Spanish translator), play a concert and mobilize folks to sponsor kids and…
I met a real live rocket scientist/mom named Melissa who has applied to be an astronaut and is currently on the team designing the spacecraft(s) that will replace NASA’s shuttle and, aside from my wife and Boo Mama, she’s the most authentically perpetually contagiously joyful person I’ve known. Oh, and she spent two years as a missionary/relief worker in Iraq after 9/11…like ya do and…
I met Clement, an endocrinologist from Nigeria who quit medicine to research prayer’s effects on health and healing and educate doctors and the rest of us about God’s now-proven power. He’s returning to medicine soon, much humbler, he says, than before his break from it and…
I met Johnny, an immigrant from Haiti who’s building a website to evangelize, disciple and encourage Haitians (and lots of other people) in the U.S. He’s uploading music, sermons, videos and articles now and…
I met an entire family from the Dominican Republic – doctors, lawyers, housewives, teenagers – all working together to meet the physical and spiritual needs of folks back in their native country. They’re just getting started, but their ideas are inspiring: medical care, legal help, job training and child care for working single parents and…
I met a twenty-two year-old (working on his second masters degree) who “accidentally” wrote an encryption or code language in college while playing Dungeons & Dragons. He sold the language to the NSA and now interns for nothin’ at his church, where he took great care of us. His dream is to be a minister to ministers and…
I met a pastor who fled Cuba with his family when his son faced imprisonment for opposing the communist government. Now the pastor pastors the Spanish service at FBC Laurel and his son is his music guy. His son had great stories about how he and his father managed to avoid arrest while taking more worshipers into their church services than the 150 allowed by Cuban law…and he sounded like Antonio Banderas and…
46 kids were sponsored!
All that in one weekend. The Church is packed with fascinating, generous, fully-alive, highly motivated and skilled people bringing enough life, hope, love and inspiration (aka Jesus) to their corner of the world to silence the fiercest most cynical critics. You just have to shake hands, introduce yourself and listen. They’re everywhere.
I love my “job.”
Told you your weekend was boring.
Chris Kinsley says:
You’re definitely right. My weekend can’t compare. I don’t know how to term my envy but it far outshines your Catalust.
Chris Sullivan says:
I was working with the kids in the Dominican that family wants to help. I wouldn’t trade but it sounds like a great weekend. I’m not very good at getting people stories out of them. I’m too shy or scared or something. Its sad.
Princess Leia says:
I dunno…my weekend was pretty great too! We had this clothing swap and canned food drive which met needs in our church and community, then this guy named Shaun came with his buddy Ben and talked to our church about an organization called Compassion….and 47 kids were sponsored (Milly Ainomugisha was waiting for me online when I got home last night – born March 15, 2004 – the exact day my friends gave it all for the Gospel)!
It was awesome! Now to figure out what the next project will be…
Thanks again for coming! Glad y’all made it home ok!
Scottie says:
Ya gotta love it! A real live rocket scientist and all.— What a weekend it was indeed. Congrats on the kids getting sponsored.
To God be the glory.
JessicaB says:
Le sigh.
Random, not sleeping, internet perusing led me to this.
And I was reminded why the deep south has been such a strain on me these last rapidly-closing-in-on-two-years.
We lived like 10 minutes from Laurel in Maryland. Different church with different rocket scientists, but still.
Sad, nostalgic face.
And in those nearly two years, your visit has been my only rocket scientist moment.
Yeah.
I just hope in this spiritual desert I don’t pull a Moses, and hit a rock when I should speak to it.
Cause that just never works out like you’d think.