Cracker Jacks and Fresca

When making friends on the streets of Baltimore it is crucial that you take Cracker Jacks, and maybe some Fresca, but never cheesy fries.

Reading the book Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski recently left me staring at my ceiling from my comfortable bed craving homeless fellowship.

Against my own better judgement (only because some people have yet to fully recover from the picking-up-hitchhikers incident of months ago), I opted not to traipse through the city alone at night, thus prolonging my withdrawals. But finally, last night Josh, the Mosaic intern, and I made it out to get our fill of the streets of The Salty Balti. After sharing some Outback leftovers, some stories that nearly made me cry, some laughs that nearly made me cry, and some prayer we had made new friends, and I had gotten my fix. But I'm sure the addiction won't let me rest long, I'll need another shot soon, wanna come?

Here are some words from Mike's book that may leave you staring at your ceiling tonight:

"We hear a Christian assure someone that he will 'pray over' his problem, knowing full well that he intends to use prayer as a substitute for service. It is much easier to pray that a poor friend's needs may be supplied than to supply them." -A. W. Tozer

"What's worse? To not do dope or to not love your brother?...Why do we reject the loving, self-sacrificing, giving, encouraging, Jesus-pursuing drug addict, but recruit the clean, self-interested, gossiping, loveless churchgoer? Which one do you suppose Jesus would rather share a burrito with under a bridge?" -Mike Yankoski

"Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it." -C.S. Lewis

Baltimore Update

To answer the most common question asked of me lately, 'Yes, I am getting settled.' Thanks to the help of my genetic family and my Mosaic family I am moved into the new apartment and mostly unpacked. In the 2 weeks I've lived here I've had 11 different guests stay with me, including Mom above and Uncle Byron below. All the support has really helped smooth out the transition. God has been so good to take care of me through such generous friends and family.

We had our first mission team up last weekend. Southeast Christian Church's Connection Point class joined us to serve at The Samaritan Women's House below. We had a great day demolishing, landscaping, and painting. Mosaic hopes to continue this partnership as TSW prepares to open in the spring of 2009 to serve recovering troubled teen girls.

With the team from Connection Point we also did some outreach for the church launch. Some ideas were more successful than others, but overall we managed 1,514 touches to the community through passing out gum, Gatorade, snowcones, etc. The team was fabulously flexible as they were our guinea pigs for the many other groups that will be serving with us throughout the summer.
Here is the future site of Mosaic Christian Church. The most well attended movie theater in the US last year will soon house our new church family. Keep us in your prayers, there's so much left to be done!

What God might be calling me to in Bolivia

I may not have run into that spider from the last post, but I did meet this little fella in my shower.

If I move to the countryside in Bolivia to help people with their livestock, this may be the view from my backyard in San Javier.

This could be the view from my front yard, a roaming "chancho."

This could be my kitchen, or at least my oven.

But I'd still be able to use energy-saving lightbulbs.

A potential community...

My traffic...

A ministry opportunity to the flood victims who refuse to resettle, so instead spend ~6 months of the year in a refugee camp like this.

Another opportunity to serve at an orphanage called Talita Cumi,

in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Answered Prayers

Gracias a Dios, I made it into Bolivia!

Thank you so much for your prayers. They have been so welcomed as I received the news that my grandfather passed away in Kentucky a couple nights ago.

The Lord has given me a peace I couldn't have hoped for. I am able to foucs on gathering as much information about the present situation in Bolivia and offer whatever I can through prayer, Bible studies and veterinary knowledge.

Here is a sampling of pictures to tell you some of the stories of my adventures so far.

Visiting the sand dunes of Santa Cruz with Doctora Mary McDonald, my guide here.

Posing in front of a Rubber Tree at the Botanical Garden with my new friend Lizzette from Peru, and a very rambunctious lab.

I was only centimeters away from running right into this web. At least she wasn't in my bed!

A growing group of veterinary students attend the weekly Bible study at the university.

Unfortunately, to qualify as an expert for second opinions here you only have to be from the United States. Doing the Lord's work sometimes requires you to examine testicular tumors on pitbulls.

Answering questions after my first dermatology lecture at a vet school in Santa Cruz.

I just thought this one would gross some of you out. Sorry, couldn't resist.