Hi.

Imagine a little girl in a crowded marketplace. At first glance, she is a regular looking girl. She is the kind of girl that you casually see and then turn away, but something about her calls out to you. You turn back to gaze at her, but she is gone. She is lost in the crowd. As the people move at different speeds around you, you catch a glimpse of her again. You get up and follow her, eyes fixed upon her. She is not normal. She is not regular. She lacks the glow that little kids should have. She is just a toddler. She is dirty. You follow her closely. Sometimes the crowd creates a distance between you and her. When you are close, you learn more about her. She is very dirty. Something else stands out. She is alone. She is not alone in the way a child should be alone. In this setting a child like that should be in a frantic scramble to find her mother. But this child is calm. She is alone. She is lonely. She seems to be moving with a calm purpose amid the hustling crowd. She rarely looks up. Her eyes are pinned to the ground, sometimes soaring up to knee-level. She suddenly darts away from you. Not because she notices you following her, but because she has found something. When you see her again she is sitting on the curb, eating a small piece of bread. You look around but fail to see where the bread could have come from. (Read on …)

Good morning!

There is a movie out in theaters called “End of the Spear.” If you have not seen it, I recommend you do. It is about the Waodani, an Indian tribe in the rainforests of Ecuador. This violent tribe murdered five missionary men in 1956.

Imagine being the sister of one of these missionaries. What feelings would you have towards the men, towards the tribe that murdered your brother? Imagine instead dwelling on the fact that this people group was lost and needed to know about God. So, you move to the jungle. You live with the tribe. You learn the language. You eat monkey meat and wild boar. You take the previously unwritten language and begin to write it. You teach the tribe how to read and write their own language. You translate the New Testament into their language. You teach them about God. About Jesus. About love. And slowly you become part of the tribe. You live with the tribe for the rest of your life. You endure through forty years of pain, suffering, and persecution. But God uses you to save the tribe. The tribe is saved from extinction - they would have killed themselves off in a matter of years. And many are saved from eternal death because of their belief in Jesus. (Read on …)

Hello everyone. Greetings from the Rockies!

I know it has been a balmy 75 or 80 degrees for those of you in LA the past few days. It has been “warm” here, too. We’ve had high 50’s. But tomorrow we should have some snow! And it should look a little more like winter.

It will be much colder in Northern Italy tomorrow. Especially over by the French border, in a little town called Torino. The 2006 Winter Olympics begin tomorrow in that part of the world. Gathered there will be the most highly trained athletes in the world and most of them will be wearing Spandex. (Read on …)

Hello everyone!

We are in Colorado and in the midst of unpacking. God has certainly blessed us with lots of material possessions! We are also in the midst of getting plugged into our new church.

This has been a rough road. There is a huge amount of stress and plenty of things that have gone “wrong” in our minds. Thankfully, we are remembering why we are here, and we are looking to God who has consistently provided for us. Maybe you have been dealing with undue pain, problems, or suffering in your life. Check this out: (Read on …)