Year End Newsletter....and the the DUCKS!

What an amazing year! I hope you enjoy the year end letter highlighting some big moments of '09, but also looking forward to '10 and the adventures that lie ahead! I know some will enjoy the picture of Chris Herb, his son Brendan, Jack, and I just before the Civil War..much more than others....Ducks to the Rose Bowl!!

Peru, The Summary.

What an amazing trip. Hope you enjoy the pictures and video's. Here is a little note on some of the staff I met.

The first picture is Rogelio, he is the country director in Venezuela. Is doing great Young Life in a place that is growing more difficult to do so. He is full of life and engergy and is the perfect person for this post. The second picture is me next to Alejandro and Diego. Alejandro is our new staff person in Columbia. He and 3 business owners from Bogata came to our training. The 3rd picture is Carolina. She is our staff person in Argentina. The last picture is actually a video of the club we attended. They are singing a slow song and you gotta love the sheet of paper instead of a overhead, song sheets, or powerpoint.

Hope you enjoyed the updates....

The last post for the Peru Trip.....(also the email I sent to you all)

As I reflect on my 6 days in Peru I am once again humbled by the fact that I go as ‘the expert’ but in the end it is I who get my world expanded, it is I who get trained, and it is I who see Jesus move and am changed. The 6 countries represented, Argentina, Venezuela, Chili, Peru, Columbia, and Paraguay all went home from our time together equipped with the tools both in principle and practice to begin the process of being financially self sustaining. Thank you for your emails, texts, Facebook notes, calls, and prayers, they were encouraging and felt. A few highlights from the trip:

1. Meeting the staff and country directors was a huge highlight. The quality of leadership is off the charts.

2. Attending the Capernaum Club (handicapped and disabled club) was a moving and inspirational time. See below as I outline my experience. One boy that I had the chance to hang out with (Mowli) had lived in a cage for 15yrs and was just learning to be human. He attends Young Life club and we had a ball laughing and singing together. Christen Morrow the staff person and her volunteers were amazing and I was so humbled by what they do every day with these kids.

3. We went to a Young Life club in one of the worst parts of Lima. It was pure Young Life with fun skits, songs (no overhead they just rolled out a long piece of paper for the kids to read on, you can see it on the video), and at the end a leader got up and shared about his journey with Jesus.

4. I had a wonderful time with one of my great friends and mentor’s Bill Hautt. It was fun to see the Jedi Master at work. I believe we created a training model that could be translated into any language and any culture. I am excited to take what we did and do it in other countries. Having these countries own even a small part of their funding is a critical step as we grow around the world.

5. On the last day we went out and did some shopping. I rode in a 12 passenger van with 15 people. Carolina from Argentina was the only one who spoke a little English. I was a fish out of water and in the 5hrs we were together we came up with some pretty interesting ways to communicate, tell stories, and relate. I was convicted on how I need to improve my language skills dramatically.

6. Joe Walters (VP of Latin America), and Scott Miedema (training director for Latin America) are doing an amazing job and it was a joy to join with them. Ministry is exploding in Central and South America under their leadership and new contacts and countries are starting.

Thanks for your partnership in this ministry. I could not do it without you. Prayers were answered.

Jamie

The Capernaum Club Entry...finally. For those of you that don’t know what this is, it is a ministry specifically targeted at handicapped and disabled kids both physically and mentally. It is a wonderful ministry and it has been growing in the US for many years. However we only have a few of these clubs internationally and one of them is in Peru. They have 15 leaders who reach the untouchable and the fringes of society. In Lima many disabled kids live in institutions because their families are unable to care for them. So, this is where they do Young Life, there is where they do contact work, and club. And we had the opportunity to join them. When we pulled up to this place (high cement walls, bars on windows, and generally looking like a prison) I was a bit nervous. Anytime I am around a Capernaum leader I am always blown away at how they show love and dignity to people and particularly kids who are disabled. They are the complete opposite of my first reaction which is to put my head down and walk away not wanting to embarrass them, but secretly just not wanting to cause a scene or embarrass myself. I kind of knew what to expect as the large metal barred gate swung open, but my expectations were swept away as we were mobbed by 56 kids. Over 2/3rds were in some form of a wheelchair. When I say wheel chair most were converted bikes with plastic $5 outdoor patio furniture seats strapped to it. There was a lot of yelling and noise, drooling, spitting, and several kids with growths and open wounds. Several kids hugged me and I not so naturally hugged back. Christen, the staff person who leads the ministry and other YL leaders, were already on the ground hugging and kissing a few kids all of which they knew by name. Christen leaned over and said, don’t worry if they spit or get mad, many have the right to be. I fought the urge to start crying and really wanted to just bolt to the car and forget I was seeing this. After about 15mins of hugging and getting introduced to kids it was time for club to start. Music came on and the doors opened to a hall where two Young Life leaders all dressed up and dancing were yelling and encouraging the kids to come in to start club. At that point I was standing in the back and I started to push a wheelchair, and that’s when Christen turned to me and said, ‘you look strong I need you to help Mowli’. Ok…who is that? (see picture of me helping to feed Mowli) She pointed to a boy about 4’5, not heavy set but strong looking, more big boned. She told me to help him walk from behind as he was learning to walk. I helped him up from sitting and he immediately crawled into my arms like a monkey would. He weighed about 100lbs, and smelled. I helped him out of arms after a long hug and started helping him walk. Christen then leaned over and told me the brief story of Mowli. Apparently his parents did not know what to do with his mental illness and could not control him so they put him in a cage. He stayed there for between 10 and 15yrs, they were not sure as there were no records. When found he was living in the same cage as dogs, fighting for food, and acting like an animal. As I held Mowli and helped him walk into club I started to well up. I was rescued as club started. First came the dancing part, then coloring, then sticker time. A little skit was done which went over well. They sang songs and talked about Jesus. At this point I was on the floor surrounded by wheelchairs, sitting next to Mowli and a few other boys. One little girl in a wheelchair kept kissing my hand over and over and wanted me to cover her face in smiley face stickers. I fought every urge to reach in my pocket for my hand sanitizer, and then I saw the other leaders loving on these kids without inhibition and that is when it hit me. This was the face of Jesus. So I embraced it. I hugged and kissed, and played on the floor. I thought it was time to go after club but the staff of 10 (yes, that is all that is there for 56 kids) asked us to stay and help with lunch. You can see me in the picture with a girl named Milagros (means Miracle). Again this was a pretty moving experience as I sat at a table helping to feed about 5 kids at once. One little girl kept wanting me to eat some of her lunch, again I fought everything in me to just walk away, but did not and hugged her as she hugged back…but this time I felt as though Jesus was hugging me. And that was it. This time was not about me or us going there to help these kids. Apparently the Lord had much more in store for me than what I did for them which was not much. It was one of the best Young Life clubs I have ever seen. It was one of those Jesus was there moments, Jesus met me and I am thankful. What an incredible ministry, I was so humbled by the fact that these leaders do this day in and day out. I can raise money for that all day long!! I pray in some way Mowli and Milagros and the other 54 kids felt hugged by Jesus, in fact as I write this that is exactly what happened. Praise God.

Soccer Games, some Fundraising Training...and Keep your Heads down Gringo's!!

At the end of our training today (which had to end promptly at 5pm) I sat down to watch a soccer match with some of my new Columbian and Chilian friends. It was a World Cup qualifying match (Columbia vs. Chili). What normally I would pass right by flipping channels had now become very interesting to me. Even though I couldn’t understand the language it was fun watching the people in the room go crazy for every kick, header, corner kick, and foul. And I did get to stand up and yell GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL really loud which I have always wanted to do. I tried to get them to switch over to watch the Duck vs. UCLA football game but they just laughed at the fact that there is a team called the Ducks. GO Ducks by the way!!!

The training went very well today and I am very impressed with how each of the staff and committee are grasping the principles of relational fundraising. At this point each country has its own vision/case statement, a draft Donor List, and a good year long strategy. Tomorrow we are going to be role playing asking for support.

The pictures of the Capernaum Young Life club we went to yesterday are on another camera so that post will have to wait. Instead I will share with you the club we went too tonight on the North side of Lima (this is the not good part of town). Just before we left I became a little nervous when Christen, one of the staff here, shared with us about this part of town. Apparently we were to pull up to club (us gringo’s) and they would open the door and we were to jump out and go straight into the house where club is. No touristy camera shots, no mulling around in the street. (I snuck a picture in when we were jumping back in our van and posted here on the blog, think slum and you got it right). The club was classic Young Life. Vibrant leaders, rough kids sitting on the back wall, fun games, loud music, and a leader who knew all these kids got up and shared the his life, heart, and the gospel. It was not in a church, but rather in what seemed the living room of a house on a normal (I say that in context of the rest of the neighborhood not what I am used too) street. I took a little video that I posted here on them doing fast songs it turned out a little dark but you can kind of get the flavor. I met some street kids after, Jesus, Eddie, and a few others. After saying my name and talking, they started laughing and we had a connection. Contact work, works everywhere. Enter their world and ask their name, laugh, and ask some questions. I was sorry to leave.

Tomorrow we finish our training and at Midnight I have a plane to catch. I will post a few more times as a wrap up but also fill you in on some amazing kids I met yesterday at the Capernaum Club, and fill you in on the impact our training will have all over South America.

Blessings,

Jamie

Day 2 - Peru. Amazing New Friends!

This is my friend Fabian. He is the country Director in Paraguay. He is a man full of life, laughter, and depth. In 2002 he had a nice job at a bank and was even supervising many people at the young age of 25. He was volunteering with his church and had a passion for seeing the youth hear about the Lord. Through a series of events he and his wife decided to move to San Francisco to learn about youth ministry and start a youth group at a church. It quickly grew from 1 to 70. Overwhelmed Fabian contacted Young Life. Tony Gonzalez became his mentor. 2 years later they moved back to Paraguay to start Young Life for the first time in his country. He is doing an amazing job and hundreds of kids are being impacted by his ministry. He is also doing a great job of raising money from in country donors. Just last quarter is raised $1500 (which is HUGE here).

Other fun things about my trip:

- I was told when we got here to not flush the toilet paper. This didn't really dawn on me as funny until I had to go #2. Yup, fun thought heh.

- Beans and Carrots for breakfast this morning. Yummy.

- The instant coffee here is REALLY good. I have been a decaf guy for 4yrs now, I think I am quickly getting back on caffeine.

- Visited a Capernaum Club today that is still a little to raw to post tonight. Tears, pit in my stomach, just needs a night to settle in before I write about it.

Blessings,

Jamie

Am I in Prison? Nope just doing some fundraising training in a shady part of Lima, Peru!

This is my room! Homey right? I woke up this morning and felt like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic shaking the bars on my windows yelling "Let me out, I am not a third class passenger". I arrived last night at about 1a.m. and quickly rememberd that I am from the United States. Here is what triggerd that realization:
1. No seat belts in our van.
2. As we pulled up to the compound we are staying my first thoughts was 'are we staying in a jail'?
3. I asked if I could run in the morning. The response....not unless you want to run for your life...so nope no run this morning.
4. I then saw my room, which by the way is the best one here. Top floor, by meself with my own bathroom. Which brings me to my next American/Only Child moment.
5. Hey, how come they don't have little hotel soaps and shampoo's for me here?
6. Had a good sleep minus the occasional siren, horn, (ok alot of horns) and woke up to something that sounded like a cross between a injured dog and a chicken. Seriously I was half laughing, half bewildered.
7. More to come on this subject..and my interesting meals so far...

Came down to breakfast and met the Young Life staff from Parugay (Fabien), what a wonderful man...more on him later, new staff guy and committee from Columbia, Argentina, some committee from Chili, and the country director in Venezula. Again, I can't tell you the quality of these friends. Humble, funny, generous, and born leaders. You would want anyone of them to be Area Directors or business leaders in the States.

I was introduced to my interpreter, Rosana (see picture of me and her below:). Soon the staff and committee arrived from Lima. (25 total of them). We were ready to jump into our training. See the picture of me delivering the goods.

We ended early tonight and the Columbian brothers wanted to get 'ice cream'. I thought this meant a little trip down the road. Left at 7:45, and we just got home...11:30. Being a 'on my own schedule' kind of guy it will take me along time to get used to the 'slow relational speed' down here. Ice cream a :45min drive...no biggy, walk, stop, talk, look, take pictures, talk, sit, laugh, spontaneous dancing, talking....ice cream. Get lost, stand around for :20mins, one group goes on scouting trip for other, back in car home in 4hrs flat. Latin American trip to Ice Cream shop.

Seriously. This is an incredible place, with even more incredible people. The training is going very well as each country walked out of today with a fundraising case statement almost ready to present to donors.

We will get to see more of Lima tomorrow and also attend a Capernum Young Life Club.

Thanks for your Continued Prayers....please see yesterdays posts for prayer requests.

Jamie

Peru....The Journey Continues

Friends,

After my alarm went off this morning at 2:30am I quickly realized this would be a long day. I will arrive this evening in Lima, Peru at about 11pm. (currently in Atlanta). This will be a 6 day trip with the primary focus on how our South American Young Life staff and committees fundraise and how they can become self sustaining. A great friend and mentor of mine, Bill Hautt, will be joining me as we team teach a 3 ½ day session on fundraising with 6 different countries represented and a total of 40 people.

As Young Life grows and expands around the world much of the funding comes from Americans. As these ministries become established and grow as do their budgets. This puts a huge burden on the Regional Directors to raise these funds, and ultimately there is a ceiling to how much these ministries can grow because of resources. Thus, it is a HUGE priority to have these ministries be self sustaining not only because the US funding has its limits but also for the benefit of local Peruvians, Columbians, Africans, Vietnamese, etc. In some places this may never be possible, but even on a small level the dignity that comes with not relying entirely on US support is monumental. The blessing of indigenous donors giving and seeing these Young Life ministries reaching unchurched kids should not be taken from them because we fail to train and equip our staff and committees. And thus my trip!

I will also get to see some of the amazing ministry happening with Peruvian Young Life. Among other ministries they have a Capernaum ministry reaching out to handicapped and disabled kids. We will attend a Capernaum club on Friday night.

I sent out a questionnaire before hand, and here are two responses:

Paraguay

I would like to have a person who can help me share the vision of YL in Paraguay. I don’t want someone to raise the funds for me.

On collecting donations: In every case we always have to visit them. The postal system of Paraguay is very deficient, so sending checks by mail isn’t an option

Venezuela

In our country, the government doesn’t exonerate the funds donated to a beneficial institution, just a part. But in any case, despite making donations you will have to pay taxes to the state, which is different than how donations are done in the United States. Our biggest obstacle is that the average Venezuelan thinks that donations are the role of the State and their beneficial institutions. Teach me strategies and tolos to presen tour plan and how we’ll do follow up. We’ve received well written information but hearing from those with personal experience would be a bigger help.

As you can see there are some significant cultural, economic, and political issues at hand. This is no small task or goal, and is no slam dunk that it is even possible. Much prayer and work is needed, and what we do at this conference will have far reaching impact around the world as we try and create a template for other countries.

How you can Pray:

· Safety. Lots of planes, trains, buses, scooters.

· Prayer for my family. Seems every time I take a trip of spiritual significance someone at home gets sick or hurt. (with 4 kids it is kind of a roll of the dice everyday anyway). Pray Jenny feels energy and apart of what I am doing. I am missing soccer Saturday (see picture at top) this weekend, so I am pretty bummed about that:(

· Connection to staff and committee – that we would connect and the Lord would uncover some new paradigms, and practical ways to raise support locally.

· Staff and committee would leave equipped with real tools and be energized to start the road to self sustaining ministry.

· Pray for the language barrier and translations. When I train English speaking people on fundraising it seems to some I am speaking a different language…so adding an actual language barrier will be interesting.

· Pray that out of this time we could create something that could be duplicated around the world.

It is best if you subscribe to this blog, then you get notified when there is a new post. (Is that me trying to build my blog list…?)

Thank you for your friendship, support, and prayers,,

JH

Vietnam & Cambodia Trip Summary and Highlights

This was a wonderful trip of contrasts...holding our first training in a new country of ministry, Vietnam, and visiting an 11 year old remarkably mature work in Cambodia. Here are some quick sound bites on a trip with deep impact.

Vietnam

We did our first-ever training in Vietnam with 50 people and about 70% were from provinces, very rural and made their living from farming, and the rest from the 8 million person city of Saigon. We found a number of young men and women who deeply love kids and are gifted leaders..just needed training. The movement the people are a part of has grown from 15 to 400,000 in just over 20 years. This is clearly a place where the Spirit of Jesus is blowing in a fresh way.

Two of the standout people we met were:....Guy, top picture above, has spent 3 years in prison for his faith. He has 50 acres of land which he farms and plans to spend time doing contact work with kids he hires to work in his fields and also in the local village. He had one of the kindest hearts of anyone I have ever met...."he who has suffered in his body is done with sin" 1 Peter 4:1.

Lang (second picture with Rob and I) is 21, lost his father 2 years ago, supports a mom and 6 other siblings on $550/year made from rice and sugarcane that he grows on a farm, is a volunteer pastor, oversees 5 other older pastors, plus he knows over 100 kids in the local high school. He is a remarkable young leader and grabbed the idea of contact work quickly...he will go home and teach others how to spend time with kids.

The principle of joy and humor in reaching kids with the Gospel continues to be a breath of fresh air to our friends in Asia. The most basic skits would draw hilarious laughter. They laughed uproariously when their leader, Johnny, and his wife Pearl, finished with the YL kissing skit as a couple. He ate M&M's and then of course she had chocolate syrup in her mouth which oozed out after they kissed The depth of their laughter on very simple things gave us great joy.

When asked about what was most meaningful to them our last day in Vietnam, wonderful truths about incarnational ministry were shared by many: "we loved learning how to reach kids outside the church", "we appreciated learning how to give a club talk with a story and in a way kids could understand", "we are excited to do a camp designed just for kids who have never heard about Jesus", .....

Clif Davidson has asked me to help take leadership in both training the current leaders there as well as help establish a funding base here in the US to continue training but also bring on our first staff people. If you are interested in helping to start Vietnam Young Life send me a quick email and we can talk specifically about what that might look like.

Cambodia

1. Cambodia as a nation had 3 million people die in about 1000 days. Everyone with an education of any kind and their family, a gov't. official, etc., all were executed during the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge carnage between 1975-1979. Many others died of starvation or sickness working in the rice fields (came to be known as the 'Killing Fields"). We made a brief visit while we were there and I talk about it in detail in my blog. Cambodia was known as the "Jewel of Asia" with plenty of food for everyone until this devastation hit in April of 1975.

2. Today there is a noticeable lack of leadership in the country...no surprise given what the country has been through.... That is why Pyneath, our national leader, is so remarkable. Eleven years ago Bob Reeverts selected him out of three young men who had been presented to him by a group of pastors who wanted to see YL start in their country. He started doing contact work and leading kids to Christ. Today we have many spiritual generations that flow from Pyneath....ie., he led Sophe to Christ...who led Sokha to Christ....who led Rita to Christ....and there are many kids each of these "senior leaders" have led to Jesus.

Kids regularly meet Jesus in the midst of this amazing ministry.

3. We have three computer labs in the three largest schools in the city. YL provides the teacher from our YL staff and they teach 5 classes of 20 kids, 100 each day. 300 plus kids are on each waiting list. The curriculum has all been written by Sophe and includes many Proverbs, bible passages, maps to the YL center away from school, an explanation of how to be sure you are going to Heaven,.....you get the idea. And the schools love us.

4. There are three Community Centers where kids come after school for tutoring, use computers in our smaller lab, learn English at a number of different levels, play guitar, play games, have clubs, participate in bible studies, etc. Most kids would say the two most important skills they are learning are speaking English and knowing how to use a computer....both help them immensely in future vocations.
And in the midst of this, many are meeting Christ and being discipled.
We know over a 1000 kids by name...

5. All this ministry operates on a budget of $67,000 a year. 11 staff, centers, computer labs, camp, etc. We get tremendous leverage there. Currently Cambodia Young Life survives because a handful of very committed financial partners write checks every year. However we have a huge opportunity to expand this support base by allowing donors to partner with specific staff people (staff sponsorship), pay for the lease of a center, start a new computer lab, or send multiple kids to camp. A full time staff person typically costs between $250 and $350 a month. If you are interested in this type of involvement in Cambodia send me a quick email and we can talk further.

5. And we ate frog legs, chicken stomachs, goat liver....need I say more. But so many were grateful for a cup of rice to eat at the training.

Finally, I traveled with two wonderful brothers, Clif Davidson and Rob Crawford. We laughed, cried, smiled, were filled with joy, were challenged with the sheer courage of our friends, were asked to pray for the healing of the sick, found wonderful new friends for a lifetime, and tasted the Joy of the Lord. In all of this we were deeply humbled to be used in some small way to point our friends to Jesus and kids.

Vision for a Country, Horror, Beatles, and a Sweat Box.

Final Day in Cambodia.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. This documents my last day in Southeast Asia, and I am writing in the Tokyo airport with no sleep in the last 30hrs....so forgive my writing.

Today we had a relaxed breakfast with Pyneath (country director in Cambodia) and talked more about the future of Young Life in Cambodia. Please pray for this man. He has carried the weight of the ministry on his shoulders for 11 years and he is very tired. It is amazing to hear him talk about his vision for the country (Young Life centers in each province, a work that is completely sustainable without foreign resources, and changing the Christian culture in his country from one that only takes, to one that gives) and to know that it is absolutely possible with his leadership. Please pray that the Lord would give him rest over a sabbatical in 2010 and renew his heart and soul. Pray for Clif and is his leadership and decerment with Pyneath. Pray for the finances in Cambodia. It a has been funded by a few large donors and those resources are drying up. We need monthly donors that would own a center, a staff person, a computer lab. More on that on my final...maybe you would be one.

After breakfast Pyneath took us to the Genocide Museum. I had certainly heard what happened here in Cambodia between 1975-1979, but did not know the details. Basically, a radical ultra communist rebel group called teh Kehmer Rouge led by Pol Pot took over the country on April 17th, 1975. Within a few hours they began the systematic emptying of every city in the country. Litterally millions of people were displaced. The goal, a whole new society where everyone was equal and worked the land. Within a few days they began to execute and imprision anyone who was educated: doctors, teachers, lawyers, government officials, and more. Not long after that it became an extermination of a population where anyone was killed, babies, elderly, etc. In 1,000 days it is estimated that 3 million people were killed. We walked through room after room that was filled with pictures (mug shots, if you will) of the victims. It was overwhelming to see the pictures, see the prison where many were held, tortured, and killed. There was a stack of old clothes that was just a mountain. We also had the chance to walk the Killing Fields. After the regime was ousted farmers around this plot of land began to notice a stench. It was the decaying bodies of thousands of people. As we walked there were still pieces of bone and clothing on the ground from 30 years ago. It was heartbreaking. They call it here ‘The Murder of a Gentle Land’ which sent the country back into the stone age. Pyneath told us that in the 1960's Cambodia was called the "jewel of Asia." Different countries came to them to see how to build a prosperous society. After Pol Pot they had to basically start over, because all the people who were educated had be killed. (picture above is a up close of the bone monument, picture in full below. Picture below of clothes and a bone still on ground, as well as picture of mass graves. I was sick after this experience.

After checking out of our hotel we ventured to the Central Market for one final assault on our senses. I have been to a couple of third world countries, but never had a seen so many merchants, packed so closely together selling everything from purses and scarves to spices and really large beetles (if I am not mistaken people eat them, picture below). We shopped and bargained and basically did an hour of the tourist gig. One piece of advice if you are traveling to Cambodia - go to the restroom before you go to the Central Market.

We then decided to get haircuts. We drove to a part of the city that looks like the rest to outside eyes - lots of people and shops lining the street. We walked into a hot and humid "hair salon" to find 5 people waiting for us. We were pumped. Unfortunately, we found out after I took the lad and the guy had started to cut my hair, but we found out only this guy cut hair. So Pyneath, Clif and Rob decided to see if there was another barber close, leaving me alone...fun. Pyneath remembered that his second cousin was a hair stylist, so he called his mom and found out that she was just doors down. The other guys walked in to be greeted by a nice air-conditioned salons. So, while I was in the small Sauna hot box they were enjoying a spacious air-conditioned environment. I am not sure why there were extra people in my barber shop staring at me, but by the end I was soaking wet from sweat. I was so mad when I walked in the door dripping in sweat to see Rob getting his head massaged after a comfortable air-conditioned hair cut. Fortunately for me they gave me the shampoo treatment like Rob. Total cost for three haircuts and for shampoos - $10. I am ruined. Every time I walk into SuperCuts from now on I will say 'three dollar for hair cut and 5min head massage'?

Finally, on our way to the airport we stopped by the third and final Young Life Center. We should not have been surprised at what we found - three classrooms of kids being taught English, a packed computer lab and a couple of kids hanging out practicing the guitar. (notice what the student is practicing in English..Blind Bartemous). It truly is an incredible work that God is doing in Cambodia through faithful disciples living out the call of 2 Timothy 2:2, "And these things that you have heard me say in front of many witnesses entrust to reliable men (and women) who will also be qualified to teach others."

Frog Legs, incredible ministry, scooters and a goat!

Cambodia Day 2: (if you are still with me in reading this blog I am impressed, however I get the feeling I am just writing for me!! This will be a longer one as it was a big day)

Today started well and ended weird. We met for breakfast with Pyneath. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing of our lives. Pyneath, who has been on staff for 10 years here in Cambodia, is a remarkable man. Cambodia is the #1 country in the world for NGO’s. (non-government organizations). World Vision, for example, has 1000 staff people here, AIDS organizations, child labor, the list is endless. This country received so much money and support post Khmer Rouge regime that it became and still is almost overrun by these organizations. Pyneath and his staff of 11 operate off a budget of $68,000 a year. The largest pay check is $450 a month. They have 4 ‘centers’, which I will describe below and 3 computer labs at school which I will also describe below. They literally minister to the whole kid, spiritually, life skills, and physically, and they do this with 1000’s of kids. The sad thing here is that different organizations steal the great leaders from each other by simply offering more money. Pyneath has been offered more jobs than he can count and his staff are continually solicited. He has seen many pastors and friends crumble under the weight of money and the traps it brings to a poor population when there is no accountability. Yes, YL Cambodia is supported from the United States but the long term vision is for Cambodians to be self supporting. That was part of the purpose of my visit, to start thinking with the staff here about sustainability from Cambodian donors.

After a full de-brief on the staff, budget, and Pyneath’s life over breakfast we headed to our most adventurous lunch. We ordered frog legs and a few dishes that Pyneath ordered that we didn’t understand. All was great, but when we were about done, while I was chewing on a piece of meat that seemed a little ‘chewy’, Rob asked what it was…Chicken Stomach. I didn’t eat anymore for lunch. (frog leg above)

We then headed to one of the computer labs that Young Life has set up in a local school. This is a tremendous strategy for reaching kids here. Most schools can not afford nor have the educated teachers to get computer training for kids. Young Life offered to outfit, set up, and staff a 20 to 30 station computer labs and many schools here in Phom Phen (largest city in Cambodia). It cost us about 12K to buy all the computers and get the room set up. Then the YL leaders and staff are the teachers. All this usually happens before and after school (6am to 9am), and then 3pm to 6pm. They have room for 30, but had 300 on the waiting list. The amazing thing is the curriculum. They are having kids do all English. So they do word, graphic design, formatting etc. The lessons however are bible versus. The graphic design is directions to the Young Life Centers they have here. The formatting is an organizational chart of the YL leaders and their phone numbers. It was amazing. Pictures below.

We then went to a Young Life Center. These are buildings that YL leases (3000 sq ft for $500 a month), and the others are cheaper. They are not the houses that we think of though. Think very clean, lots of plants, lots of joy, but a slum. (see alley where the house is below). Here they have Young Life club, one of the staff lives, they have an office and about 3 to 6 class rooms. Daily they teach multiple levels of English to 100’s of kids. It was fun to jump in and start teaching. They laughed a lot at me, but loved repeating everything I said.

We decided to take the whole staff out to an authentic Cambodian meal (ya, I thought the same thing you just thought…oh boy). We walked outside and all the leaders jumped on their scooters. Sope, one of the senior staff told me to get on the back of his. (below is a picture of us both). We drove through the streets of Phom Pen avoiding cars and scaring the life out of me. There were a about 10 scooters all going to the restaurant when all of a sudden Sope pulled over on the side of the road. I asked what he was doing when just then some guy started filling up the tires with air. Sope turned and said that I was too big to ride on his scooter. Nice. That was a good start to an interesting dinner.

Dinner consisted of fresh shrimp, more frog legs and for the main course..Goat Soup. Goat livers and lots of goat. I was done with adventurous Thai food.

What a day…tired and more tomorrow.

We are on the stretch home…

Jamie

Cambodia – Day 1

What a day and what a difference 130 miles can make. We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Phom Penh, Cambodia on a puddle jumper. It is hard to imagine how different these countries are from one another in dialect and culture. We were also blown away by going from a country that had no history of incarnational ministry to one that has had Young Life for 10 years.

We were greeted by Sohka and Rita. Rita was led to Christ by Sohka who was led to Christ by Sope who was lead to Christ by Penhyet, the man who started Young Life in Cambodia and is now the National Director. I wish I could express the joy of seeing just a small piece of God’s legacy here in Cambodia.

Tomorrow we will spend the day with Penhyet and see more of the ministry. We will also go to the Genocide Museum, and get a first hand account of what happened to this country when 3 million people were killed from 1975 and 1979. I will admit that I am not looking forward to this, but to understand this culture we have to understand this horror….. if that is possible.

I had a few moments today that were a little funny…hope you enjoy..

On our way into our hotel I hit a step, broke my favorite pair of sandals while falling into the lobby. Every time we walk into the hotel the reception desk staff look at me and start chuckling.

When we arrived in our room we found out we could have internet service. The Hotel said they would send someone up with a chord. The guy arrived empty handed. I started to move the night stand to look for the connection point. While I was looking for it the guy proceeded to crawl out the window, reach under the air conditioner and yank out an internet chord. All I saw was his legs dangling out of a 5th story window. With my mouth open, he jumped back in, handed the cord to me and said, “Internet.” It was awesome. I thought, I could have done that. Then I thought again, no it is worth it to have him come up here to dangle out the window for the $6 instead of me.

We went to meet the Young Life leaders to go out to dinner. We were standing in the courtyard of one of the Young Life centers introducing ourselves. When I introduced myself “Hi, my name is Jamie” everyone started laughing. Apparently, they just got a new puppy and they named him…Jamie. Below a photo of the boys together.

We went to BB World for dinner with Penhyet and his staff. BB World is the Cambodian McDonalds. I have gotten a bit picky about my eating and don’t eat hamburgers, fries, ice cream or drink coke or any caffeine (I know weird). To top it off the BBQ sandwich I did order never came. Finally, Penhyet told me to eat the hamburger that was placed in front of me. Reluctantly, I ate it, only to find out that I had just eaten one of the leader’s hamburger. At that point I tried to buy the young man everything on the menu, but he was fine with the extra fried chicken that was on the table. I asked Penhyet a few minutes later how often he took the leaders out like this and he said he does it as often as he could…every six months…gotta love stealing an every 6 month hamburger.

This country is amazing, mainly because of the people and especially the Young Life leaders we have spent time with. Great community and amazing amount of ministry happening. I can’t wait to see it all first hand tomorrow.

Carrot Omelets & the Start of Young Life in Vietnam

Day 4 Saigon (but sending from Cambodia because of security of pictures and names)

Friends

What a day. We started the day as usually going to the 11th floor for our steady diet of fruit and carrot omelet. The first day we arrived in Vietnam we were surprised when the waiter asked if we would like omelets. "Omelets? Of course we want omelets!" Each of us ordered a different kind, only to be served an omelet with pieces of shredded carrot in it. It has been the same everyday, we order an elaborate omelet with our young waiter saying, "yes, avocado...yes, bacon...yes, tomato" and for him to return with a carrot omelet...until today. Today something clicked, and we actually received a real omelet with bacon, peppers, cheese and tomatoes. It was wonderful We should have known that it was going to be a good day!

We rolled into the church at 8:30am for training. We began the day by talking about the "world of kids" in Vietnam. We put them in groups and had them discuss the issues that kids deal with in Vietnam, where we can find kids hanging out and how we might enter their world. The light bulbs started to come on. The leaders in the room began to realize that there are implications to befriending kids outside the church. How do we meet them? How do we start conversations with kids that we don't know? What do we do when the use bad language or try to leave a meeting? They started to understand that these are the very teens we want.  They were really starting to think that this is something they could do with kids in their country. Now, you have to remember that this is a communist country that persecutes people who share the love of Jesus with others. Yet, here we were with 50 of our new friends dreaming of a day when we would be in heaven with our young friends. A few ideas were: Rice fields, factories, coffee shops, soccer fields, long bus rides, and street corners.

We closed our training session by asking them what they were going to take away from this time together:
"I learned what it means to really enter the world of non-believers and love them for who they are"
"I was reminded to be joyful"
"I understand how to organize a Christian camp for non-Christians"
"I was going to quit youth ministry, but after this conference I decided I must stay in it" (this from a 21-year old non-paid pastor, who is also over 5 other pastors and must provide for his 6 younger brothers and sisters, because his father passed away 2 years ago. By the way, he makes $300/yr selling rice and $250/yr selling sugarcane...humbling)
"I learned how Jesus steps into the boat of people's lives"
"I learned about how I have a relationship with Jesus that I can share with others"
"I learned how to prepare and share a message with great passion, joy and depth"

Please pray for this people. They will actually be risking their lives when the begin to do Incarnational Ministry in this country. Pray for protection. Pray for courage and creativity. Pray that God would give them the teenagers.

Sidenote: We took the team (pictured below) out for dinner tonight. Johnny and Pearl (far left) our the leaders and the other five Vietnamese young people are their team. They are amazing We practically ordered the entire menu. The meal for all ten of us cost a whooping $150 which is very expensive in Vietnam and a bargain in the US. At one point Alex (far right) leaned over and said, "this is the best meal any of us five have ever had." It was an honor for one evening to treat them like royalty. They are, after all, sons and daughters of the King.

Pictures:
Whole training group
Leadership team of conference
Playing lap sit game
Me, LanG, and rob (21 yr old pastor I talked about above)
The two fish I picked for dinner

In Cambodia now, amazing things already...more tomorrow.

Funerals & Factories

Day 3 – Saigon

Woke at 5:55am to a nice AC room. 30 minutes later I was outside with 90 degree temperature and it was humid. Did I mention it is REALLY hot here? Today I noticed it, mainly because I had pants on. I was teaching after all, had to look the part. Rob and Clif took the morning to talk about the Incarnation of Jesus. How the mystery of the gospel is that Jesus lives in us. Most had not heard it articulated like that. They understood Jesus, but that Jesus now lives in them? Nope.

We then had lunch. Oh boy. This time it was white rice and on top your choice of beef or fish. I was late so all there was left was the fish. It was a whole little fish. Head, tail, just a fish. I picked with my chop sticks but just could not do it. I put it down and went for my power bars (love my wife she packed like 30 for me, clearly anticipating this very moment for Mr. high maintenance). My Vietnamese friends clearly noticed because about 5mins later they brought me a whole new lunch they had gone out and bought. What servants, I was overwhelmed. Whatever it was they brought me I just ate it, and just swallowed and just said thank you, thank you. I still ate the power bar later.

I then took the afternoon to talk about Contact Work. This is what makes Young Life so different. We go where kids are. Leave the comforts of the church and enter the world of kids. This was a new concept for most. But we took time to talk about how these leaders could enter the worlds of Vietnamese kids. I was expecting to hear about soccer fields and tutoring. Which we did. What I heard next shocked me. They talked about doing contact work in factories. There are literally thousands of factories within a few hrs of the city of Saigon (8mil in city limits). One young believer (LanG) idea was to go and start befriending the teenagers working in these factories. Hundreds and thousands of teenagers work 15hr, 7 day a week jobs in manufacturing factories. I was speechless. Another young man stood up with his idea. He would take teens with him to funerals. What? In his world many friends and family die and these funerals are celebrations. Apparently enough that he could take kids with him and do Contact Work with kids both with this family and friends and the kids. Again, I did not know what to do with that idea. The point, this was taking a life of its own. Young Life was starting in Vietnam.

A few other highlights of the day:

We did a full blown entertainment night. 5 skits all done by the Vietnamese. It took Rob and I about 2 hrs to teach these, in very hot and sweaty little rooms. The night was amazing though. So much laughter and I think it was one of the best entertainment nights we have ever done.

I polished off an entire bottle of hand sanitizer in the last 3 days.

3 men afflicted with physical aliments came and asked that we pray that they be healed. I have certainly prayed for people to be healed before but this was different. One man had been in a scooter accident and broken his leg which had never healed properly. He showed us how his knee didn’t function right. He needed his leg to work and asked it be healed. There were two others with similar stories. We prayed hard for the Lord to heal. I have never been so overcome. I prayed like I have never prayed before. Who knows what the Lord will do, but there are many people here that have been healed by prayer from disease and physical aliments. They really NEED Jesus here...can't say the same for us in the US.

Please for for the protection of my family (Jenny, emma, jack, lanni, and jmmy). Please pray for a great finish to our conference, pray that leaders would go home and implement these principles. PS - any idea which shoes are mine??

Day 2 – Saigon.

Today was a work day. We spent most of the morning with our two main contacts who organized this training preparing for the start of the conference. It is amazing, what should take 15mins to plan takes 90mins. Between the translation, the explanation, and then the examples it just takes a long time to get a point across and to plan. At noon we drove through town which is a pretty incredible experience in itself. There are so many scooters you would not believe it. No stop lights or signs, people just flying around everywhere. I posted a picture below, but it does not do the real thing justice.

We drove to the outside of town (the suburbs) where there is a church. I had a picture in my mind of what these suburbs looked like. I also had a picture of what this church would be like. And like so many other pictures I had of these people, of this place, I was wrong. I can’t find another word for it other than a slum. Other than the cross on top of the patchwork building you would not know what it is. We had an hour meeting with some of the key leaders and volunteers. We learned their names and got to know their stories a little. Phom, My, Alex, and Uen. Some of them take English names so we can understand them. But most Vietnamese names are really hard to say. They use pronunciation and inflections in their voice that we don’t use. They laughed a lot at us, but we got their names down. These are wonderful, simple, and joyful people. One young man I met, Nyguen came from 700 miles away to be here. He travelled 2 days by bus. He works in the rice fields, but wants to learn to reach the teenagers for Jesus in his village. He makes $100 a month working 15hr days. It is hard to put this in perspective for me, even now as I type sitting in my air conditioned room knowing that Nyguen and 70 others are sleeping at the church in one room on the floor. Hard to come to grips with this (as you can see I am struggling)

Couple of highlights on the day:

Rob and I basically ran a Young Life club tonight. Modeled the principles of great incarnational ministry in a whole new way for these friends. During trivia we flashed pictures of famous people on the powerpoint, we started with a picture of Yoda. Whoever stood up and said who it was got some candy. Bad Idea. Ok, being an avid Star Wars fan I thought everyone knows who Yoda is. They all just sat there and looked at it. Rob and I looked at each other and then someone stood up. They asked if it was Satan. Yoda, Satan? Ouch. That was funny. By the way they also had no idea who Tiger Woods or Bart Simpson were. They all knew Obama was. Interesting.

The food was not as eclectic and good today. We had noodles for lunch and for dinner they catered in a meal for everyone. I thought, heh catered meal this is going to be great. Ya, it was a box of rice. I ate 2 power bars when I got in the car.

Big day tomorrow. Would love your prayers as we share the principles of Young Life and of relational ministry. A big hurdle will be how to interpret the practical application into their world.

Blessings,

Jamie

Meeting a Saint...and $8 of pain.

Day 1 in Saigon:

Just wrapping up a full day here in Saigon, Vietnam. What a full and rich day it has been. We spent the majority of the day with Johnny (our main contact here in Vietnam and younger guy 2nd from the right in the photo) who is the organizer for the conference that starts tomorrow. Johnny is a 34 yr old with 2 kids who is full of joy, laughter, and the love of God. He took us to the ‘American War’ (that is what they call it here) museum today. It was eye opening seeing the war from the perspective of the North Vietnamese. So many died, so many casualties, and no winner. It is truly incredible what man can do to each other.

The highlight of the day was eating dinner with Elisha. Elisha is the one next to me in the picture. For the last 30 yrs since the start of communism in Vietnam in 1975 he has been one of the main leaders of the under-ground church. The house churches and mini-congregations have grown to more than 400,000 people. In the early 90’s he was imprisoned for 3yrs in a communist prison. Sleeping sideways because there was no room, horrible sanitation, and other horrible things I am not going to mention in a public blog were some of his story. After much political pressure he was released and the church grew so large that the government finally made it a state recognized church 2 yrs ago. He is an amazing man who had a free ticket to leave the country when Saigon fell in ’75 but chose to stay because God was calling him to tend to his flock. He talked tonight much about Paul and how he was sustained in prison because of what Paul had experienced. You get the picture. Powerful stuff.

A few other highlights from the day:

1. At dinner tonight we ate at a restaurant where we got to pick the fish we wanted to eat as it was alive in a tank. They brought it to the table flopping around and then steamed it. Both the before and after picture are below.

2. Other fun treats at dinner was Jelly Fish salad and large shrimp cooked on the table by a candle.

3. As we were walking back to our hotel Clif talked us into getting a foot massage. $5 for an hour. You heard right $5. We all sat together and talked about our day. Then all of a sudden they had us lie flat and these foot massage ladies started walking on our backs. I then got a full nelson from one of them until I almost cried. Gave them a $3 tip and called it good. $8 for the pain I am in right now…..worth it..not sure. Funny though.

I am Super tired, Rob is already snoring next to me…jerk. We are up early tomorrow to start the conference. Learned today that many of the volunteers who are coming from 16+ hr bus rides will stay at a local church for our 3 day training. They will sleep on the floor and eat on $1 a day.

Again, humbled.

Jamie

Before & After shot of the hand picked main course...

You can see the melted candle under the shrimp...