This is a precious picture from our time in Sierra Leone. I recently returned from teaching pastors in the country and I’m forever changed. You can read a post about the children HERE.

The children wanted to touch us, hold our hands, crawl in our laps, and share love with us. This picture helps share that story.

What caption would you give this picture? Comment on this post with your caption and I’ll pick one of them and send the book The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family by Patrick Lencioni. (This is a great book to help frantic families restore sanity to the most important organization in their life!)

Again, all you have to do is comment a caption for this picture.  I’ll pick the one I think best captures this image. You have until Tuesday, July 27, 2010 to answer.

(Please understand this winner will simply be based on opinion.)

Also, will you say a prayer for the children of Sierra Leone?

Throughout our time in Sierra Leone children swarmed us everywhere we went, especially Daniel and Jesse, the youngest two on the trip. Their energy and enthusiasm with the children was highly contagious. They became almost like celebrities in every village.

At one point Jessie admitted she felt guilty for attracting such a crowd. She didn’t want people to think she was seeking personal attention or fame. Daniel agreed with the sentiment.

That’s when the thought occurred to me. Popularity, wealth and power are not all bad. Being “famous” is not necessarily something to be avoided. It may depend on how and for what purpose it is being used.

What occurred to me is that Daniel and Jessie were attracting crowds of children, entertaining them with games and songs, and then leaving them to go to the next village. What they left behind, however, was their influence. Those children in remote villages in West Africa will never forget the love and attention they were shown by these two young adults. They will be running through the streets of their village singing “Jesus Loves Me” because of the experience they had with Daniel and Jessie. They will do push ups, because Daniel taught them how and they will recite cheers Jessie recited and they will laugh and dance…all because two people used their influence in positive ways.

Don’t shy away from the influence God has given you. If it is being used for His glory, rather than for your own, it can be very positive. If your motive and heart is pure, and the glory is pointed towards God, be thankful for the opportunities he gives you.

How are you allowing God to use the influence He has given you?

This woman told our team that she prayed 40 years for a church to come to Compound Village where she lives in Sierra Leone. Africa for Jesus recently opened Believers Church and it is the first ever Christian Church in a village with over 3,000 people. I was amazed by her faith and consistent prayer.

For what or whom have you been continually praying?

I’m so grateful for the opportunity this week in Sierra Leone. God has blessed us greatly, but there are a few things I know I won’t as easily take for granted.

Here are 10 things (and people) I won’t easily take for granted, thanks to my time in Sierra Leone:

1. Cheryl, Jeremy, Nate & Mary
2 My church and extended family
3. Air conditioning
4. Hot (or even warm) showers
5. Flushable toilets
6. High speed wireless Internet
7. Not having to sleep under a mosquito tent
8. Ice/Refrigeration
9. Paved roads
10. Knowledge of what I’m eating

Realizing even more how blessed we are as Americans!

What are you taking for granted these days?

(There will be more reflective posts and pictures to come. Internet is limited to a few minutes per day at this point.)

In case you missed my earlier posts, I’m in Sierra Leone for a couple weeks. I will share more later, but wanted to give a quick update. We are here to teach and train pastors for Africa for Jesus and it has been an incredible experience so far.

Here are 10 things I’ve observed/learned the first few days here:

1. I take for granted warm shower and air conditioning

2. The African people love to worship…and they know how. When they pray, God’s Spirit is present.

3. Grilled goat meat is not bad.

4. Women (and a few men) who can balance enormous weight on their heads and walk miles…amaze me!

5. African people have huge hearts.

6. Temperature is relative. In the upper 80′s here some have on coats and jackets…while I sweated.

7. The hearts and desires of people don’t change much because of cultural differences.

8. The power of Christ to change a life is not limited by demographics or geography.

9. Children are precious at showing unconditional love. I understand more why Jesus encouraged the children to come to Him.

10. People are even more loving when they are shown love.

Can you identify with any of these from your observations of life?

I’m a senior citizen….at least for now, Seriously. It’s not a joke. I’m not trying to be funny. I’m only 46 years old, but for the next couple weeks, I’ll be considered “old as dirt”. And, it won’t be because the 20 something year olds traveling with me will be making fun of me either…even though they might. In fact, they may go through a mid-life crisis, because they’ll be considered middle-aged.

In case you missed yesterday’s post, I’m headed to Sierra Leone. The life expectancy there is only 43 years old. I couldn’t believe that when I first read it. I will literally be an old man there. It reminds me that life is relative to the context in which you live it sometimes. It also makes me sad for that country and more passionate about ministering to the people of Sierra Leone.

I know this also. Not only will I be even more intentional there; knowing that life is so short, perhaps it will shape how I view life here, because life is short in the United States too, isn’t it? Regardless of how long a person lives…

I would appreciate your prayers. It would be great to get home and see comments that you were praying for our group. I suspect that I will feel those prayers, so let me thank you for them now.

Have you ever been to Africa? Have you been on a mission trip? Did it change your life? Tell me about it…at least where you went.

Tomorrow a group of five, including me, will leave for 10 days in Sierra Leone. We are going to support a church planting ministry called Africa for Jesus. We will meet people in remote villages, encourage them in their efforts, teach pastors and families, and share God’s love to the people of Africa. I’m excited.

I have traveled extensively doing mission work, but this will be my first trip to the continent of Africa. From the research I have done, this will be the most primitive setting in which I have ever ministered…and I’ve been to some rough places. I’m praying God uses this time to strengthened my faith. (I realize that is a scary prayer.)

Here is how you can help. I have some posts sporadically planned and hope to add some while I am away, but I will have limited Internet time. You can help by tweeting my posts as you are encouraged to do so. I hate to put work into a post and not be able to promote it properly.

Obviously you can pray for us and our families who are still here. We believe we are prepared and going to relatively safe areas, but as with any trip like this, there are always unexpected adventures. It would be great to know that we are being covered in prayer.

Will you commit to pray for our trip? I promise to update you as I can and share pictures from Africa, or if not, when we get home. Thanks and God bless.

Last week I got an email from a woman in our church. She has moved into a new neighborhood and instantly began to make new friends.  She found out one particular family didn’t have a church, so she invited them to Easter services.  The invitation seemed to fall on deaf ears.  She was persistent though and invited the family several more times, but each time got no response.  The Saturday before Easter the family sent her a text asking what time the services were for Easter.  Long story short, they came, they loved it, and they will continue to attend.

Grace Community Church has grown because people got excited about what we are doing and brought their friends. That’s the short and the long answer. We continually think through ways to improve upon what we are doing, but the bottom line remains that it is the people attending our church that have grown the church. (Obviously, God grows the church…I get that…but He uses people!) As people get excited about what God is doing, they bring people with them.

With that in mind, here’s a great question to ask if you want your church to grow:

Who are the catalyst type people in your church that if they ever get excited about your vision will bring others along with them to help implement it?

That’s how we planted a church. We looked for people who were influencers within a circle of people; whether in business, in their social life, or in the community, to find a core of people to start our church and we invested in them and released them to lead in the church. Four years later, we continue to invest in influencer type people that come to our church to lead our ministries. I have personally looked for influencer type people to add to our staff.

Look for and invest in people who others follow and the natural system of multiplication will work for your benefit and the benefit of your church.

Aren’t you amazed…and grateful…that God chooses to use you in His work?

I’m so proud of the Grace Community Church volunteers. The Clarksville, Nashville, and Middle Tennessee areas experienced a devastating flood last weekend. Since the water took longer to recede here, recovery in Clarksville is really just beginning. Grace people have been actively involved in the relief efforts. Grace is a church that truly loves our community. Here are a few pictures from the week. If you’ll notice, Jason Roy, our worship leader is in one of them. He’s a hard worker. (I interviewed him HERE.)

Our sister ministries (Grace people help run them), Africa for Jesus and Manna Cafe Ministries, have also been involved in the flood relief. Soles4Souls, who we support and collect shoes for, is participating in the relief efforts also. In addition, we have worked with the Red Cross, the mayor’s office, and other churches and non-profits. There has been total cooperation in our community to respond to this emergency.

There’s more work to be done. Register HERE and we will keep you posted on the greatest needs.

What will be your memory of the flood of 2010?

Please keep praying for the people impacted by this devastation in Clarksville, Nashville, and around our state.

This was honestly a challenging message for me to deliver to our church, but I’m afraid many times as believers we are tempted to look for the comfortable over the things that God would call us to do.  Listen to last weeks message as I share some “encouragement” not to get too comfortable.