Please Litter Here!

I once read a statistic which claimed it takes just $1 for a missionary to reach a person with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, for every dollar spent on missions, one person is won for the Kingdom of God. If that's true, I'm just five returnables away from winning another soul.

Since I tend to teach with simple pictures and stories rather than long drawn out exegesis, I thought it would be fun to prove a point to my congregation. I set out to show them how easy it is to give to missionaries. For two or three months, I collected every returnable pop or beer can I found on the side of the road. I didn't turn in any of my own pop cans... just those that I found somewhere else. By the time our missions convention came, I dragged a large garbage bag of cans out onto the stage, representing about $10, or ten real people who would hear about Jesus. What did it cost me? Nothing but my time and the chance to burn a calorie or two by simply bending over and picking up a can.

Trouble is, it was so much fun that I haven't stopped. Wintertime isn't really the best time to find cans and bottles, so I've only turned in $4.50 this year. But now that the snow is melting, it's a virtual gold mine out there! On my evening walk tonight, I picked up 5 cans. I feel like a kid in a candy shop every time I run across a can that someone has carelessly left behind.

You have to understand... missionaries are my heroes. Not some Hollywood star, singer or overpaid sports figure. Missionaries. I look up to them. I respect them for what they do, and I'll do whatever it takes to partner with them. But honestly, after we support our church missions program, our sponsored child through World Vision, a missionary couple dear to our hearts that we support on our own, and our friends at Mission of Hope in Haiti, we're tapped out. There's nothing left for my favorite pet project, Speed the Light - which provides vehicles for missionaries to get around. So... STL gets the cans. And let me tell you, it's SO much fun.

So to all the litterbugs out there, I don't much like the fact that you show disrespect for God's creation by throwing your trash around. But I do feel like I owe you some sort of thanks for all the returnables. Just do me this one little favor... when you see a balding middle aged guy parked along the side of the off-ramp, excitedly picking up a discarded can of Squirt from a muddy ditch, just slow down a bit and give him a break.

And if you have an extra can or two... toss them to him gently, okay?

5 Days That Changed My Life

This is not shameless self-promotion. On the contrary, today's post is about some friends of mine thousands of miles from home.

It has only been four months since I spent 5 days at Mission of Hope just outside of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, but it seems like a lifetime. I miss the people terribly. It's still hard to comprehend how a few short days left such a mark on my life. That's my personality, I suppose. I promised my wife long before I left for the missions trip that I wouldn't allow Haiti, and especially the children "get to me." Well, I've shattered that promise to bits through no intentional fault of my own. I can't get rid of the images of hungry kids, grieving mothers, lines of desperate folks clamoring for a bag of rice, and hard-working people who only want an opportunity... a chance at normalcy. I still feel the sting of tears when I recall the beautiful sounds of children praising Jesus at Church of Hope in a language I didn't understand, yet it sang to my heart like no song I've heard before.

And so I long to go back. I long to dirty my hands and build a home. I long to hug a kid, and pray for them. I want to see how my friend Argon is doing in his new house. I want to know if Monica's baby lived. I want to share another laugh with the man whose prized possession was the machete he used to keep his tent village free of nasty weeds. But it's all in God's good timing.

For now, there is something I can do. There is something you can do. I've made a commitment to support Mission of Hope through sales of my book, "God Could You Turn Up the Volume?" I don't keep a penny... every cent of profit after paying off the publisher goes directly to Mission of Hope. We used the book for a three-month study in our Christian Education classes. It makes for a good small group study book. You won't find deep theological truths... but you will find hope and gain a better understanding of what it means to slow down, take a breath, and listen to God speak into your life. I believe you'll be a stronger Christian for having read the book. I believe in it, because I believe God gave me the opportunity to put down the words.

So click on the picture on your right. Get a copy. Get several. Not for me, but for my friends.

They need us.