It’s Monday morning. As I stare at the calendar, it seems crazy that 2011 is almost gone. Needless to say, November and December have been crazy busy with travel, events, and  the holidays.

• H.E.L.P. launched our Christmas campaign last week. So excited to see this project come alive.
• We’ve also launched our new bloggers initiative. It’s still in beta, but I LOVE the potential. Here’s an example from Seth Haines. Bloggers can help get kids sponsored. So much potential.
• Had a great time in NYC last week.  Always enjoy hanging out with Matthew and Sarah Hansen. Of course, we love NYC, especially in December. Strolling through Central Park, eating Italian in Greenwich Village, walking the Brooklyn Bridge… I could go on and on.  Some pics here. 
• We spent a day with Rob Morris and Jo Coles from Love 146. We discussed issues of human trafficking, fundraising, organization leadership, etc. Loved being able to learn from them, eat good food and enjoy each others company.
• Rob gave us a quick tour of Yale University and it was spectacular. Also got to walk around Columbia in NYC. These moments make me happy. So much history and amazing architecture. I feel smarter now…
• Necole and I were also able to connect with Becky Straw. Becky was on staff at charity: water and now she’s starting The Adventure Project. Loved chatting about aid, development, start-up culture, etc… Especially while sipping some yummy Stumptown Coffee!
• It was also fun to connect with Anthony and talk fundraising strategies, non-profit work and social entrepreneurism. Check out his work.
• Next week, we head to Austin to work and hang with family for the holidays. Always fun to see old friends and hang in such a great city!
• I hope to spend the next fews weeks in reset mode. Praying, planning, thinking, and refilling my soul for 2012.

• Jesus, the cross and the redeemed life He allows me to live.
• For my family… their amazing!
• For my friends… their amazing!
• For my staff. They do amazing work, they sacrifice deeply for the sake of serving others. I’m grateful for them!
• For  the H.E.L.P. tribe. Those who go, give, love, pray, serve and advocate to help rescue orphans, restore their hope and renew their communities. We’re making an impact on so many lives!!!
• Our global partners and friends. They are my heroes who do amazing work each and everyday.
• Missional minded friends: Those who live their lives for the sake of others, those who make the world better by their actions, gifts, passions and choices.
• Living in Raleigh, NC: I love the city, state and region. So excited to do life in this region.

Pic Credit: Jerry Espinosa

Back from another trip to Haiti. Looking forward to getting this week started and making things happen. But first, let me take a moment to reflect on my 7th pilgrimage to Haiti last week.

• Every-time I go to Haiti, it helps me to re-center my life and ensure my priorities are straight.
• Haiti is beautiful. The people, the art, the food. We need to tell these stories more and more.
• Worshipping God in the midst of the largest tent-city in Haiti never gets old. We can learn so much from the resolve of Haitians and the local church that continues to move forward in spite of so many obstacles.
• We blogged daily while in Haiti. Go here for the links.
• The team from Austin New Church was amazing. As always!
• We will be launching our anti-trafficking initiative soon. Can’t wait to share the details. We’re going to need your help.
• We were able to start a new water project for 30 orphans to have clean water. We’ve committed to 25 clean water projects. This well was funded by a church that raised the funds through a Garage Sale for Orphans event last month. I love this!
• We also built two homes for two families. One home was also for a widow. Helping a family move back into a home NEVER gets old. This is why we’re doing the 100 homes project.
• We don’t call our trips “mission trips,” instead we call them “pilgrimages.” It’s truly a time to listen, learn, feel tension, be present and also get some work is done. (building two houses) Each team member raised an extra $500 to help build the two homes. Which also helped to created 10-12 jobs for Haitians before we arrived.
• It looks like we will be sending a family to live in Haiti full-time in the next few months. That’s crazy, scary and beautiful.
• We’ve also committed to giving a micro-loan to three pastors so they can expand their businesses. If only you could see how happy they were to learn that we will help them move their businesses forward.

1.  Arrival

2. Partnership 

3. A letter home. 

4. Grateful 

5. Connecting w/ an orphan! 

• Had a great time speaking at Together for Adoption on orphan care and movements last week. Good to see so many folks advocating for orphans at T4A. While in Phoenix, I was able to connect with Mike Devries and talk about some potential writing projects. Excited about that!
• Last Sunday I spoke at Austin New Church. They sponsored over 25 kids in Drouin, Haiti. So excited! When I launched H.E.L.P., ANC was our first partner who committed monthly to suport us! We are so thankful.
• Austin New Church and Church at Lake Travis both threw church wide Garage Sale for Orphans parties yesterday in Austin. Our excess can help change the world. Updates to come…
• I’m VERY excited to be able to share a new project in Haiti. Maybe tomorrow. In partnership w/ Austin New Church, Restore Communities and many other amazing organizations!
• Speaking of Haiti, I leave Wednesday for 8 days. Please pray for us!
• One thing you will never regret in life is spending too much time with your family. This past weekend I spent as much time as possible with my family. I was was traveling last week, I will be traveling this week – so I have to make up for my absence this halloween weekend Train rides, family movies, s’mores, community block parities, pancakes and trick-or-treating tonight.

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Last week I interviewed blogger Dan King. He just released a new ebook: The Unlikely Missionary.  I hope you enjoy it.

Dan, before we jump into the content of the book, let me ask you a question. “How did you overcome the natural fears that most aspiring authors have and actually write this ebook?”

That’s a great question! Even though I’ve finished writing this one, I’m still kinda freaked out! I’ve been a blogger for about five years. I’ve rarely (if ever) referred to myself as a writer, because bloggers really aren’t writers, are they? But I’ve had some people express their confidence in me as a writer, and that’s helped a lot. One author asked me how many words I have published on my blog, and realizing that I’ve written over a quarter of a million words, he told me that I’ve already been published more than many other authors he knows. I guess sometimes I’m too hard on myself, but that’s only because I don’t have any professional training or a big degree in writing. But sticking to it, consistently, has helped me earn the respect of others who have helped to encourage me. I just know that I have a story to tell, one that’s important to God, and the power of people who believe in me. That’ll get you though any obstacles!

In your book, you state that you believe in the “power of laity of the church.” This struck a huge chord with me, as I believe every Christian must be engaged in seeking justice. Can you expand on this belief?

Yeah… this is a big one for me. And as you read in the book you see that I’m just an average dude. I’m not the seminary-trained pastor, or anything fancy like that. I’m just an average guy who sits in the church like 99% of the rest of Christianity. But as I study the word, I learn that the work of the ministry is for everyone. We are ALL called to go impact the world for the sake of the Gospel. All of the other clergy of the church… they’re really just our support structure. But too often we look at them to lead us somewhere, when (I believe) we are the ones that should be looking at the world and calling out, “Hey! Look at this need over here! They need help, and I want to do what I can to help them… in Jesus name!” I love my pastors a great deal, but if I wait on them to deal with the poverty epidemic or orphan crisis (things that are important to me), then I may never see anything get done. But they have taught me, equipped me, and sent me out to go make a difference on my own. And that’s the way it should be for all of us!

In the ebook, you stated that you knew your life was going to change when you took your first mission trip. Why?

Doing something like going to Africa carries a certain expectation with it. We all see the commercials on TV with the kids with bloated stomachs who are dying of starvation. I knew that I’d probably see some of that, but I wasn’t sure how much. All I knew ahead of time was that diving head-first into an experience like that was going to provide a certain level of culture shock that I knew would be difficult to overcome. But being on that trip made me see lots of things differently. It made me think about how I could experience a similar culture shock by traveling just a couple of miles to another part of town that I usually try to avoid. But taking the time to get into these people’s worlds, understanding them on a personal level, and connecting with them as friends, it all made me see them as human beings who suffer extreme circumstances. And when a friend goes through something extreme, it impacts you. There’s just no way to go back to ‘normal’.

In chapter five, you talk about that it means to invest your talents. You wanted to make a tangible impact. Looking back, how did you do that and what fruit have you seen?

It’s hard to say, because I have little contact with the actual students who’s lives I had the chance to invest in. But I’m definitely seeing impact on this side of the equation too. The experience has impacted my family a great deal, especially my son. He’s learning at an early age that helping others less fortunate than us is one BIG way that we show the love of Jesus to the world. It’s funny, but even at eight-years old he is already sensing the presence of God in the times when we serve through global missions or local outreach ministry. I’m also seeing the fruit in others through the stories that I’ve been able to share. I’m seeing people who are becoming motivated to stand up and find little things that they can do to make a big difference… and THAT’s what it’s all about. Even if I haven’t left much tangible change in Africa, their lives have sent ripples throughout my life and the lives of those around me.

What advice would you give someone who’s never been on a short-term mission trip, and wants to go?

Start small. Don’t get overwhelmed with the idea of having to go on some big trip and do something huge. For me getting to Africa (my first short-term mission trip) started with writing a blog post about an organization who I thought was doing good work. In fact, it probably wasn’t even 300 words. But that little thing led to another little thing, and before you know it, I’m getting an email asking if I’d be interested in going to Africa. And that brings me to the other thing… pray constantly. I’m not talking about asking God, “Should I go to Africa?”. But I talked to him enough about this issue that when the opportunity came up it was kind of a no-brainer. I already knew that He was in it, and it was quickly evident that doing this trip was right where I needed to be. But it’s all about following God’s leading and just doing what you can with the things that He’s putting on your heart.

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Great job Dan – To read this book in it’s entirety, go here for the Kindle Version, here for the Nook version and here for the PDF version. And, feel free to share this link on Twitter, FB and other social media outlets.

• Don’t let your ministry, workplace, and life go faster than your resources.
• When you’re growing faster than you’ve got money, you’re about to have problems

The simple ramifications are massive. Broke churches, non-profits and business cannot lead well or fulfill their vision. Yet, few people want to deal with this reality. It takes money to live and stay on mission.