Life on the border in Texas

I don't blog too much about my job. This blog has usually been much more about the random thoughts I find stimulating or funny. Hopefully both.

But today I wanted to share this with you. Buckner International, where I work as the Chief Relationships Officer (wish you had a title like that, don't ya?) is an incredible ministry. Born 130 years ago in East Dallas as the Buckner Children's Home, we now work all over Texas, in 6 other states, and 12 countries.

Many Americans and Texans are unaware of the poverty that exists on the US side of the border with Mexico. But up and down the border are colonias, where a landowner has leased land to families to build on, but often without water or power access (in spite of then-Governor Bush's efforts to change that, although certainly it has improved since then) and without any sense of ownership. And usually without any resources for building. No kidding, these people live in places that are worse conditions than the animal barns I grew up with.

But Buckner and our border staff--led by Dexton Shores--work unbelievably hard at changing all that. In partnership with churches, we provide all kinds of holistic ministry in Jesus' name to these struggling families. In fact, thousands of folks from scores of churches will descend on the border regions in a partnership with CBF called KidsHeart for this kind of work.

Recently Valley Ranch Baptist Church went to the border and built a few houses, conducted some VBS gatherings, and really made a difference working with us. I thought I would post a link to their video montage of their work. It's about 9 1/2 minutes but it's worth it.

http://gallery.me.com/therountrees#100037/Rio%20Grande%20Valley%20Mission%20Trip%2C%202009%20Slideshow%202-Large&bgcolor=black

Those of us who grew up in the "low church" traditions are not usually too aware of Advent. Christmas I've heard of, but Advent--what is that?

One of the great things I've discovered about the community of saints historically is the whole idea of life rhythms. The so-called Christian calendar is one way of expressing those rhythms. Advent started on Dec 1 and counts down to our celebration of Emmanuel, the God who broke through and is now with us.

Buckner has created an Advent guide with daily devotionals. You can read it online, get a daily email, or listen to an audio download (I do voiceovers on a few of them--got that face for radio thing working). All of that is available here.

Combining for better impact

The organization I work for, Buckner International, announced today our alignment with Dillon International, another adoption and humanitarian aid ministry. This is an incredible partnership working to improve the lives of orphans and at-risk kids around the world. Mission Network News has the article here.

Heading Home

I am very ready to be back with my family, but what an eye-opening trip to Guatemala! On Wednesday we started off the morning by meeting a pastor in a poor part of Guatemala city, the pastor of Iglesia Bautista Jerusalen. It's a neat church and building. The city reminds me a lot of some of the places I've been in Argentina. Across the street the church helps support a small junior high school, where indigenous kids ride buses for 2 hours and then walk for 20 minutes to come in the afternoons. The building is falling apart, but they have school every day. It would be great to figure out how to help build them a new building. We had lunch at a hotel with the president of the Baptist Convention here. Then we drove to Antigua, a beautiful old town. It's become a tourist hotspot for Europeans and Americans. We checked into the hotel and changed clothes, then drove up to Ajotenanga. It was about 30 minutes up the mountain, past a dormant volcano. There is a live volcano not far from here that hopefully I can see the next time I come to the country. In Ajotenanga we met at a church--really just an open air structure with sheets of tin for the roof. It was raining softly when we arrived, and about 60 kids and adults were already waiting there for us. We had a bag full of cookies and crackers and candy, which we distributed first, then we have away a bunch of rice, beans and sugar, plus toothbrushes and toothpaste--appropriate I guess after the candy and cookies. We sang and played and everyone hugged. It was now pouring rain, but probably more than 100 kids were there. It was very inspiring. We had to run about a block in the driving rain to get back to the vans, and everyone was soaked, but laughing and having fun.

I should probably tell you who "everyone" is--Chiqui is the in-country director, and a neat lady. Her husband is a doctor in Guatemala City. Amed is also on staff with Buckner. Tina is Chiqui's daughter and was a translator, Aida is another Buckner staffer. Then in addition to me, Josh and Albert Reyes there were 3 women from Texas. Karen Perry is a member at Park Cities in Dallas, and this was her 28th trip to Guatemala in the last 4 years. She's a great lady. In fact, you should go to Albert's blog at http://www.pandulce.typepad.com/ and read about Karen as the model for 21st century mission specialists. This time she brought two of her friends, Joyce and Patty. The three of them were fun to watch, especially Karen. As Patty said at dinner tonight, the kids in the orphanages and churches here treat her like a rock star. And 2 of Joyce's daughters are here, Monroe and Quincy.

On Thursday we visited Manchen, the girls orphanage run by the government but where Buckner does some humanitarian aid. We met several members of Christ Church in Tyler, who were building a new pergola in the yard of the orphanage. There are about 100 girls here, many with special needs. A bunch of them asked me to play futbol americano with them--I need to bring them a ball when I come back. Virtually all of these girls were there either because they were orphans or because their family abused them. Tragic stories.

In the afternoon we did a little shopping, then drove back to Guatemala City. We had an impromptu staff training session with the in-country staff and interns, with Albert and I sharing various aspects of leadership, teamwork, and the vision of Buckner. That was both fun and challenging, as the group was split into thirds--1/3 speaking only Spanish, 1/3 only English, and 1/3 bilingual. But we laughed and talked and strategized about what might could be in Guatemala.

All in all it was a great trip. I can't wait to go back.

Today in Guatemala

What a day! First of all, it's my birthday--42 years old. Yikes!

But what an incredible and challenging and heart-wrenching day. And none of that due to being 42.

We left the hotel about 9 this morning and visited the Buckner offices here in Cuidad Guatemala. From there we toured the warehouse, where shoes, clothes, food, furniture, and a bunch of other things were held for later distribution. But then we went to the baby house. I met several babies and toddlers today whose stories break your heart. Alejandra was born with spina bifida and has already been through 3 surgeries at her young age. The doctors say she probably will never walk, but the staff believes that she will one day with the help of God. But even that wasn't the real heart-wrenching part. This little girl was left by her parents in the hospital once they found out about her health issues. To even give them the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps they knew they couldn't care for such a special needs child is still to say that her parents left her, and I have a hard time imagining that. I pray for them wherever they are tonight, that God's love may touch them.

I could tell you more--in fact I started typing about Cristal and Celeste and Daniel and Juan Pablo then deleted it--but in a way it's saddening to burden the 3.5 of you who read my blog with this burden. And yet...

And yet there is the face of Jesus in the least of these. There is nothing like the hug of a child, the unabandoned, almost reckless love of a little one who has decided that even though my parents aren't here, these people have become my mother and father and family, and I'm going to love them for all I'm worth.

For all they're worth. That's a pregnant phrase. What are these kids worth, these children who have been cast aside by those who should love them most?

A fortune. And more.

Later we visted both the boys' and girls' transitional homes, where young men and women too old for the orphanage but too young to be on their own live. Then on to the single moms home, where several teenage mothers--kids with kids--live and study and grown in an environment set up to help them succeed.

Buckner and those who support the ministry with their time, talent and treasure are partnering to do a good thing here in Guatemala.

It was a great birthday.

Trip to Guatemala

It's just after midnight here in Guatemala City, where I arrived about 2 hours ago. I'm here with my friend and former/current boss, Albert Reyes, and his son Josh, to tour various Buckner facilities in country and see firsthand the kinds of ministries that our church partners in the US are supporting.

So far I haven't seen much but the hotel, and it's beautiful. It's the Hotel Vista Real, and the former general manager here is now on Buckner staff. I look forward to seeing everything in the light of tomorrow's day.

And now, from our reporter in the field

Yikes, I haven't blogged lately. And the only entries I've written in my journals are where I complain about not journaling. The San Antonio library keeps sending me reminders that the books I have are coming due, and I haven't even started them.

Transitions--even ones that you're enjoying--are difficult.

But, having said all that, I have to tell you that I'm really liking what I'm getting to do at Buckner. As a partner with and extension of local churches, Buckner is making a difference in the lives of orphans and children at risk around the world. And it's not like we're going to run out of those opportunities anytime soon (although that would be nice).

One of the best things Buckner has done lately is Shoes for Orphan Souls (SOS). This is an amazing project that started with a shoe drive for Russian orphans several years ago. Now Buckner has sent 4 million pairs of shoes to orphans around the world and here in the US. Shoe drives are being done by churches, civic clubs, businesses, and all kinds of organizations. Some are small, collecting 10 or 20 or 50 pairs of shoes. Others are going after 2,000 or more! Great stuff. Check it out at http://www.shoesfororphansouls.org/.

In the meantime, be patient with my blogging, as I figure this whole commuting thing to Dallas. And pray our house sells!

Welcome to Buckner

Here's a link to a posting that Albert Reyes asked me to write for his Pan Dulce blog about coming to Buckner. For the 3.5 of you who read this blog consistently you'll notice the recurring relationship theme...

Moving to the Metroplex

I'm about to get a huge taste of John the Baptist, camel hair wearing, locust eating prophet style ostracism. As I said in the last post, I pretty much can't stand the Cowboys and the Mavericks.

And I'm moving to Dallas.

Recently I accepted the position of Director of Church Relations for Buckner Children and Family services, the largest Baptist social ministry in the world. I'm excited about the job--in many ways it will be strategically creating a whole new process for Buckner to relate to the more than 9,000 churches in their database. But moving always has its challenges, and this is moving to Dallas. I would love for you to pray for my family and me. I hope in the next couple of days to write a few things about my time at Baptist University of the Americas and where I believe God is taking them in the coming months and years.

I can't wait to wear my Manu Ginobili jersey to work...