Wow, this was an incredible week. Had a good time with the Forward Edge team. We got a lot done. We got a good chunk done on the church. Floor is level and ready to have concrete poured. Outside wall is up. Center supports for the roof are done. The church will be done next week. This Sunday, we’ll channel our inner Paul and have church in a tent. It’ll be fun.

Yesterday, I ended up working over at Pastor Rodrigue’s house, as having so many people working in the church would have just been utter chaos. I got all of the Angel Food stuff sorted so it’s easier to move around. In case you were wondering, 9,000 lbs (that’s 4.5 tons, people!) of rice takes up a LOT of room. So does 4,000 bottles of cooking oil. I was exhausted at the end of the day. I also got Rodrigue (at the hotel) the microwave we had sent down for him. He was pretty excited about that.

Today was beach day for Forward Edge. It’s a day early from when I normally go, but as Spock said, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Plus, well, it’s the beach. I have really been enjoying body surfing. For those unaware, you wait for a big wave, then jump into it and let it carry you towards the shore. Way fun. Ok, everyone, until next time!

Hey everyone. Haven’t written for a while and figured I ought to let you know what’s going on. Especially since the last blog wasn’t exactly talking about Haiti projects. Last week was almost a “lost” week. With no paint I kept asking what could be done, and was told they had no other projects for me at that time. But that didn’t keep me from doing nothing. Thursday, the cargo container Angel Food Ministries sent down was delivered. Everything got stuck into Pastor Rodrigue’s house. I started going through what I could. There was 900 lbs of rice! At least 60 containers of cooking oil! There’s enough stuff to keep Restoration Ministries going for quite a while. I will be organizing while I am painting. The plan is to paint a room, clean it, and put away stuff that belongs in that room. I have zero desire to move all those boxes, etc 5 or 6 times.

Friday, I went to Port Au Prince to pick up Little Nick. Nick was here when I got here with Forward Edge, another ministry that hooked up with Restoration Ministries. Their focus is almost exclusively construction-related. He and I clicked, and he wanted to come back down to help out. He is here kind of as a “free agent missionary;” not with any group, per se, but here to help out any way possible. He is sharing a room with me here, and will mostly assist me and the Conduit/Restore Haiti teams, but occasionally will be farmed out to other mission groups, such as helping out our friends over with Mentor Leaders (Caleb and Caleb).

On Saturday, I got a call from Fedony. He was on the roof at the Loving Light and told me to come up and say hi to the new Forward Edge team. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised there would be more “blancs” here. I came upstairs and introduced myself to the team. It’s a small team, and I made the decision that we would help them during their week. This is a diverse team from across the country, and includes a couple of Iowans! I don’t even hold it against them they are Cyclone fans, when everyone knows real Iowans root for the Hawkeyes. There’s also an architect from Springfield, MO, a dentist from Brooklyn, NY (yep, I talked to her about coming on a Conduit trip and doing a dental clinic), and an engineer for Intel from Redding, CA. Like I said, diverse. The real fun with this team came when they shared their itinerary with me. They were tasked with building the new church. Monday morning, demo started. The old church was torn down. For those that were here and saw the new walls started, that’s the dimensions of the new church. The new church will more than double the size of the current church. Needless to say, I am pretty stoked to be doing this. We’ve helped clear the rubble, prep the floor for new concrete, and will be doing a lot of other stuff. God is doing some awesome stuff down here. I joked with Pastor Rodrigue that God must love him, since he’s getting a new house and a new church building. Of course, the reason both are being built has nothing to do with him, even though he’s a blessing to the community. Both the house and church will be used to further God’s kingdom in Jacmel.

Well, that about catches us up. Excited to be here, though I am starting to get antsy about being home. It may not help my mom reminds me nearly every day how much longer before I get home. I am also excited that God is starting to clear up some things about when I do get home. Don’t know 100%, but it’s starting to clear up a bit. For those who suffered through my last blog, God is doing a lot in me in that area. I almost feel that I am getting ready for a reboot on life. That it’s me, version 2.0. A better version, if you will. Starting to get an understanding on God’s plan. It’s a good thing.

Ok, so this will be another post that doesn’t have a lot to do with the work I’m doing down here, so feel free to skip today if you want.

While I have been down here, I have had a lot of time to be alone with my thoughts.  I know what you’re thinking; “Is this a good thing?”  But bear with me for a minute here.  One of the things that has been on my mind a lot lately, is what makes a man?  I’m not talking anatomy here.  That’s easy.  What I am referring to goes deeper.  As I get older, this is the kind of stuff that matters to me.  Being a man, I discover has nothing to do with how much money you have or what kind of car you drive, or anything like that.  I already knew that, too, but it’s good to get that out of the way.

So what does make a man?  That’s the $64,000 question.  i think there are a lot of things that make up a man.  For example, I think there are several things real men should know how to do. they should be able to do basic car maintenance.  Check the fluid levels.  Change your own oil/spark plugs. Change a tire.  They should know how to cook a meal, and do their own laundry.  They should know 4 basic knots that will save your butt 99% of the time you need to do something (the four are, by the way, the square knot, the clove hitch, the half hitch and the bowline.)  They should know how to tie a tie. The should know how fire a gun (and most importantly, to do it SAFELY).  They should be able to use basic tools properly (i.e.-a hammer, screwdriver, wrenches, a level.)

But being a man goes deeper than what you do.  A lot of it is, no surprise, about character.  Real men do what they say they will do.  They are respectful to women and are good examples to children (and by all means, if you HAVE a child, wether you are married to the mother or not, that child is YOUR responsibility.  Take care of it.)  Real men also understand that raising good children involves discipline, both to them, and yourself.  Real men understand hard work. Hard work doesn’t necessarily mean manual labor.  Even if you’re a desk jockey, hard work means doing the work you were paid to do in a timely manner.  Being a man means being a good steward.  We should all leave the world better than we found it.  Don’t litter.  Recycle.  Take care of what you do have, no matter how little or much.  Being a real man means being thankful for what you have.  It means striving to improve who you are as a person constantly.  It means having a respect and awe for your Creator.

Now, I will be the first to admit I am not perfect on this 100%.  But as I get older, I am starting to get this a lot more.  Who I am and how I treat people is more important than what I do and how much money I have.  The flip side is, of course, real women understand that.  I have met plenty (and was even married to one) who didn’t get that (I look for different things in women now.)  Thankfully, I have had several good teachers on how to be a man growing up.  My dad.  My grandpas.  The Boy Scouts.  The Bible.  And while psychologists will dictate that broken homes have made it so fewer boys learn what it means to be a good man, I think we all need to eventually grow up and figure things out on our own if we expect to make it in this world.  And like I said, if you father a child, you need to man up and be a dad to it.  Each person can end a negative cycle, if they so choose.  We are our own destinies.  I have a lot of my father in me, but I am my own man.  And though I am not married right now nor do I have children, I am practicing.  I will hold a door open for a woman 100% of the time, even though I have been berated for it in the past (how dare you?  I’m not helpless…).  If I see a child doing something potentially harmful, I will stop them.  My friends with kids know I am not above disciplining to a certain point (right Lenny and Molly?).  I especially try to be a good role model to my friends with kids where the father isn’t involved.  I also know part of being a good man involves giving of myself.  My friends know that if they need help, whenever possible, I will drop what I am doing and lend a hand.  I have fixed cars and houses and never asked for money (well, until I came to Haiti and needed money for the mission trip…but for my friends, I asked them to give what they felt led to give…I didn’t ask for a set amount.  Though some of them insisted I had to name a price.)  Ultimately I am reminded that relationships matter more than things, and how I act will either nurture or destroy those relationships.  I will continue to strive to be a better man.  That you can count on.

You know what I find amazing? Every time I start to get a little down while I am here, God gives me something to re-energize me. Yesterday’s came in a story on cnn.com, about a girl named Shay. Shay grew up in Illinois, and had a great job in Denver, CO working for a marketing company. Shay had a house, a car, and a dog. Then, in 2008, her world started falling apart. She lost her job. Then she lost her house and car. After spending some time angry at God (hey, we’ve all been there…) she felt led to do something to help the homeless. So she’s traveling across the country (all 50 states in 2010) to collect canned goods for homeless people. I was, quite simply, blown away. She could have ignored it, looked out for number one, and kept looking for work. Instead, she chose something greater. I kept thinking of Conduit’s “slogan” of living simply, so that others might simply live. She’s definitely someone who gets that. I went to her website, and donated $50. It’s funny. That’s the amount I felt led to give, and then immediately thought, “well, $25 is good, too…I’m unemployed!” But I quickly went beyond that. Even in my current state of being a full-time missionary (which still feels weird to me), I should be giving. I gave, and gladly. It’s always inspiring to see people who step up to help out people who need it. It’s why I am so proud of Nashville, and particularly Conduit and Journey churches. They’ve had cleaning crews out every day after this flood. I know other churches, have, too. These are just the ones I know about. It’s the amazing thing about the body of Christ. When the chips are down, we band together to get things done. Imagine what we could accomplish if we did the same thing and worked proactively instead of reactively? Could we really end poverty? The general consensus is that if every Christian in the world tithed, we could end poverty WITHOUT government intervention. I don’t know if that’s true or not (Bono says it is…and we all know to listen to rock stars, right?). I also know that I haven’t always done my part. My giving was always spotty, at best. But God has been working in me. I have given multiple times since being here. I gave to other mission trips. I continue to make sure I put $30 aside each month for Jemica. I gave to Shay. Just because I am doing what God called me to do doesn’t give me a pass. I haven’t always gotten that. At my church in Iowa, I played in the worship band. They collected the offering while we played. I rarely gave, and figured I had a built-in excuse. “I don’t make a lot of money, so I am using my talent to serve God, which is my way of giving.” Same thing with teaching Sunday School. Or Children’s Church. Or running a sound board. Or any other excuse I could muster. Oh, sure, i gave on occasion. But a lot of times it was from an abundance. I am learning the meaning of sacrificial giving. I fully expected God would change me while I was in Haiti. The change is different than i expected. i don’t know exactly what I expected, but this wasn’t it. As always, His ways are better than mine.

Ok, work notes! The white on the interior of the house is done! I can start on mixing the color next week. Things are progressing nicely. After I paint the color, and clean up, I will install the plumbing. I need to check to make sure I have everything I need. I have a feeling I will be asking a team to bring down some plumbing supplies.

Oh, for those who want to see what Shay is doing, visit http://www.shaykelly.com. I put a link to the right for you, too. God bless!

Well first of all, you might notice this post didn’t start with “*This blog was written…” That’s because this blog is occurring in real time. I am very excited about this. The internet is working well again. I ended up having to do some resets on the wireless routers, but all is good now.

There isn’t much new and exciting to report. This is the mundane part of the job. I wake up around 6:30, eat breakfast, arrive at the church around 8, and start painting. I usually end about 3:30-4, with a 20 minute or so break for lunch. Then back to the hotel for dinner (sometimes ate here, sometimes I go out. Lewis’ barbecue sees me a couple times each week.) Then I watch a movie on my laptop and check things out online. See how bad my Royals lost, check the news, facebook, etc. Thank God for internet. it allows me to stay connected and not go crazy.

Ok, so I suppose there is ONE piece of semi-interesting news. I now have a motor scooter to drive around. When Big Nick from Forward Edge left, I asked what the plan was for his bike. A deal was struck, and now I no longer have to pay for taxis! This is especially cool because I have thought about getting a motorcycle when I can afford one, so I am getting to learn to drive on some of the worst roads imaginable. Driving on nice concrete in the States should be a cinch after this!

Ok, time for a movie. Since it’s Unofficial Star Wars Day (may the fourth…) I am gonna watch Episode IV. Yep, I’m a geek. And I’m ok with it.