Let me just say that I have been impacted from my recent trip to Togo, Africa. The culture. The people. The needs. My life. For me, I want to help. No, I don’t feel a compelling to go back on a permanent basis. I’d be willing, though.

I wish that I could share all of my experiences from my trip to Africa, and maybe I’ll do that at some point.

My role in going to Africa was two-fold: Travel with Missionary Jim White (a good friend from college) to capture footage for his furlough report/video for this coming winter & also to document the travels and experiences of 14 teenagers as they worked with Missionaries JJ and Melissa Alderman (also dear friends) in starting a new set of churches through creative outreach opportunities.

Being with my missionary friends has been eye-opening. They are hard at work, and they are excited about it. For them, it could be a an all-day trip to a remote village to impact a small population or simply going to encourage a small group of believers in a stick building that merely provides shade.

It’s great to see people’s faces change when they receive Christ. I was actually able to document that at one point when with Jim White (see http://www.vimeo.com/9918816). The brother of the chief of a village accepted Christ and then stated what he had done amongst a large gathering of people. The chief had accepted the Gospel message years ago through the work of Randy Alderman.

Me, I know that God wants to use me to do something great - He has a task for all who are His. As His child, I am willing to move through the doors of opportunity. I am willing to take risks. I am learning to be willing to look foolish (Didn’t Moses look foolish approaching Pharoah’s chamber to declare, “Let my people go?“) in an effort to ultimately demonstrate the power of God through my weekness.

Maybe we have over-emphasized methods and means of church growth in America. Maybe we should return to simplicity. Maybe we should stop focusing on creating venues and merely allow people to worship, and from that worship people will go out and win their world. Maybe if I started seeing God for who He is I would be making more of an impact myself…

What’s the big thing that God wants me to do? Well, I can’t say quite yet, cause I don’t exactly know. Hey now, Abraham didn’t know; Moses didn’t know; Esther didn’t know; you get the point. I have some really great ideas, and I believe that they are all seed-thoughts. As God works, it will clearly be His blessing that will bring each phase to pass. Hopefully over the next few weeks and months I’ll be able to share what God is doing.