All the Way Back Around

It was twelve years ago that God snatched me out of the business world from a company who didn’t like me and thrust me into ministry from the ground floor. Heck there wasn’t even a ground floor, God used me to design the ground floor. Kristine and I were in the small college town of Winona, MN at a small church of 250 people with five college students. God put us into the position of starting a college ministry we would soon come to know as H2O. Those first few years were quite amazing! God had quite an amazing group of young Christians on the campus and we got to minister with them often and see the ministry grow from five to hundreds.

Ben and Kristy Carlson at Kerry Park

I got the privilege of spending quite a bit of time with one young man named Benjamin Carlson. He, along with several others were very influential in the beginnings of H2O and I got the privilege of mentoring him and ministering with him as he spent four years at WSU. He became a wonderful leader on the campus and much of what God began then, through him and many others, is still happening and thriving now under new leadership.

Now, twelve years later, Kristine and I got to host Ben and Kristy and one of their small children in our home in Seattle while they were on home assignment from South Africa where they work with the Navigators.  This time he was an incredible encouragement to me and we got to speak as peers in ministry as we are once again at the beginning of a new work here in Seattle.

What a blessing it is to see God bring us all the way back around and I am sure there will be more opportunities to see others of those students from Winona and hear their stories. I am confident that even though Ben and Kristy went back to South Africa now, we will be serving together in the near future.

Images that Speak #1

This is the start of an Images that Speak series I am going to work on. I hope all of you enjoy this and return to see with your eyes, mind, heart, emotion and spirit. I won’t waist your time on dumb shots. That may be another series.

I look at both of these pictures and think of the wonder a little kid has when talking about anything; the imaginations, dreams and creativity that a child possesses is something that is so fleeting as adults help them “grow up.”  It is so often in this “growing up” that we lose so much of our flare for life; our desire to experience new wonders, or our capability to truly experience anything outside of a marketed front. Yes we must grow up and take responsibility, but there has to be a sweetly beautiful balance that allows us to be mature but continue dreaming.

Beth, the young lady in these photos, is an alumni of Winona State University and H2O (the college ministry at Pleasant Valley Church in Winona, MN). She recently got back from a year and a half stint in Mongolia and told me that this little girl along with two others have had a documentary made of them into a seven episode TV series called “Childrens Heart.” You can view the trailer here- –http://www.childrensheart.tv/

Beth, working through Samaritan’s Purse is now in North Carolina working with The Children’s Heart Project. They bring children from developing countries that have congenital heart defects to the North America for surgery.  They work with local churches to provide a Christian family for child/mom/interpreter to live with for the duration of stay in the USA and partner with hospitals and physicians who agree to donate their services free of charge, making it possible for a little girl who has a very short life expectancy to grow and continue experiencing her dreams. And we get to share the love of Christ with their entire family and village.

Pretty cool stuff. I do hope that Epic Life Church can be a part of this wonderful ministry here in Seattle. We will be praying that God gives us open doors in the hospitals and surgical clinics with doctors and nurses who would give their skills to heal a child.

If you work in the medical field or have contacts that you think may be interested let me know and I will get you or them in contact with the proper people. Maybe it’s time to create a network here in Seattle that can save the lives of hundreds of children.