I’m back….actually I arrived back about five days ago but have been fairly tired and so I haven’t written anything yet on my blog. For those who haven’t been following my blog or for those who don’t know me personally, I was in Bolivia for about ten days visiting and serving with my friend Ken Switzer. Ken ministers to Street Kids in Bolivia with International Teams.

Before I comment about my experience let me tell you about my good friend Ken… He is one of the most relational and caring guys I know and I was reminded again and again of those gifts in his life as I witnessed his ministry first hand in Bolivia. God is working powerfully through his life and it was sincerely my pleasure to hangout in his world for a while. Thanks again Ken and you rock!!!!

In terms of my experience…I think I was most profoundly impacted by the people I meet and interacted with. Although Bolivia is a third world country with poverty and injustice visible everywhere, it was the human faces of injustice that impacted me the most. A lot of the guys and girls I meet and visited had been sexually and/or physically abused, addicted to various substances and most profoundly and above all, just kids/teens/young adults. I was confronted with an evil I didn’t expect, not the stereotypical pitch fork and horn sort of evil, but an evil that is equally as sinister and demonic. It’s an evil that is more subtle and yet in its inconspicuous nature, is more damaging – evils of injustice and abuse in our world. Witnessing the effects of such evil has changed me in ways I am even still discovering.

Through my trip there were so many amazing experiences from teaching guitar, preaching (my first time preaching through a translator), visiting, encouraging and just seeing, hearing and witnessing the work of Jesus in our world.

I am not sure what the lasting effects of this trip will be in my life but there will be lasting effects for sure. These effects have already changed my perspective and outlook on the world in which we live in.

I know many of you are curious, so here are some pictures…

These are pictures of some of the guys I worked with, the crazy/scary spider in Ken’s Bathroom, Teaching some of the guys guitar, preaching with my translator (Marca), and my friends Ivan and John (El Presidenta) who taught me some spanish.

So, I am way behind in my reading but with the busyness of getting ready for my trip to Bolivia tomorrow, things have been fairly busy. Although I am behind, I have virtually four days of travel in my journey, so I should be able to catch up and even get ahead – that’s the plan but as you know, reality often seems to get in the way.

If you didn’t know or haven’t heard, I’m off for two-weeks on what I would describe as both a mission trip (I will be doing a number of different ministries including preaching, music, street ministry, etc.) in which I pray and trust God will use me in whatever way He desires and an adventure in which I am praying and expecting God to work in my heart and life. I want to see and experience what God is doing in South America. I want and desire to be shaken out of my North American slumber and into the reality of our world and what God is doing across His globe.

So if you remember, please pray for me (and my family as they stay at home). I will post about my experience when I return. If possible, I will even try and post during my journey.

I stumbled across and watched the movie preview for the documentary “Jesus Camp” (www.jesuscampthemovie.com) and I was shocked. I should probably reserve judgment until after I see the movie but if it is anything like the preview, I am not sure if it is a movie I want to see – I had a hard enough time trying not to scream at my computer when I watched the trailer -it made me angry and disturbed. I don’t know about you but I have a whole different view of our mission as followers of Jesus and of our response to the world than this camp does.

This is not a camp I’d send my kids to! What happened to canoeing, wide games, scary stories, camp fires and really bad camp food?

In a few weeks the next Small Group Pastor’s Deconference begins. This is something that God began sturring in my heart a year ago and it is amazing how it as grown and evolved since then. This time I am leading a discussion on Small Group Organizational Structures and I am looking forward to learning from the collective wisdom of everyone there. If you are interested in what the Deconference is I thought I would include a bit of a definition.

I think the easiest way to define what the DeConference is by defining what it is not. The Small Group Pastor’s DeConference is not:

• …endorsed by Bill Donahue, Henry Cloud, or John Townsend.
• …run with a hidden agenda but is completely relational.
• …a conference, but more of a conversation.
• …a conference where you will find experts, but a place you will find fellow journeyers.
• …a conference where there will be seminars, lectures or people selling their books or materials, but a place to meet other people with similar struggles and challenges.
• …a conference with a set agenda, but a place where you will have direct input in what is discussed and talked about.
• …endorsed by the WCA or any other organization, but is endorsed by individuals like you.

The Small Group Pastor’s “DeConference” VALUES…

• …mutual teaching and learning. Everyone has something to offer and something to learn.
• …equal participation and worth. No matter the size of your church or the length of time in ministry you are equally viewed, valued and listened to.
• …relationships. A main part of our gathering is based on fostering relationships that will last and grow beyond the “DeConference.

For mre information you can follow these links:

• www.deconference.incipiosermo.com
• www.deconference.incipiosermo.com/blog.html

So my reading journey begins today. Because I am taking a break from school for the semester (Bolivia trip and such), my plan is to catch up on some reading I have been meaning to do over the last several months. The plan is to read through the Bible and 30 books in 90 days. I have many books on my “too read shelf” ranging from theology, methodology, postmodern thought, history and leadership books as well as some other miscellaneous books I’ve been meaning to read. The plan is to read a book about every three days and post something about it on my blog keeping an ongoing online journal. If you know a great book I need to read over these 90 days, please let me know!

The first book I’m reading (finishing) is “The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture” by Shane Hipps.