About the whole "Donate" button

Trust me, I am not poor mouthing here. I understand that I have been blessed and continue to live a blessed life.

That said, the cost of serving of this mission trip is in the ballpark of $2,300 dollars per person.

The team has been talking about fund raising ideas to help defer the cost. In the absence of any tangible skill that I can offer, I thought why not appeal to the generosity of my friends and loved ones while regaling them with my musings on the mission process.

Everything sent to me using the Donation button I put on here will go directly toward the cost of the mission trip.

For those who would like to give to the cause, but would prefer not to use paypal, there is the option to send in a check. Check out the directions to the right.

If this works, cool. If not, add it to the long list of "seemed like a good idea at the time"...like those acid washed jeans.

A long way gone

I just finished this book written by Ishmael Beah about his life as a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. See my links for a jump to his site.

It is not what you would call a "light-hearted romp".

It is so hard for me to imagine what the young people of Sierra Leone have lived through.

I was surprised to find out that there has been some controversy regarding the veracity of Beah's account.

http://www.slate.com/id/2185928/

Regardless, even given the possibility of some artistic license, it is a gripping, thought provoking book.

Wait...you said Polio with an "I"?

No wonder they looked at me funny when I showed up for my polio vaccine with a mallet and pony. [rimshot]

Anyway, I got the polio and typhoid taken care of a lunch today. It also turns out that I can get my hepatitis follow ups there for 55 bucks as opposed to 85 at the passport health place.

So, getting into the mindset of a math teacher, getting my hep shots at the other place is a 54.5% increase from the health department price.

Hmmm, you don't really have to be a math major to figure that one out, do you?

If the nurse at passport health is hurting for a gig, she should look into selling used cars.

I've been shot.

For yellow fever, anyway. I had to get immunized for yellow fever today and I went ahead and threw in Hep A and Hep B for good measure.

After the nice lady at Passport Health ran down all the potential risks involved with traveling there, I started wondering: Would a space suit be THAT hard to get?

Hmmm, the missionary in the plastic bubble...

Blood Diamonds

I am watching a documentary that the History Channel did about the civil war in Sierra Leone. It is hard to wrap my head around the horrors that were happening there only 10 years ago.

I am not feeling very good about the engagement ring that I bought my wife right now...

About me and my decision to participate in a mission trip

I am a husband and a father of 3. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering but I work as a structural designer in the aircraft industry. For a couple of years after I met my wife, I took a sabbatical away from engineering to teach high school mathematics. She had a well established career in Tennessee and I had always wanted to work with children. I always felt that my background in engineering lent itself well to teach math. I enjoyed my time in education, but my wife’s job situation grew unsteady, so I returned to engineering to better support my family.

In my free time, I am generally taking my children to one of their many activities. Gymnastics, swim, dance and soccer keep us fairly busy. My main hobby lately is Karate. I just earned my brown belt in American Kenpo. I also enjoy water sports, particularly canoeing. As my children get older, I hope that is something we can enjoy together.

My family and I are very active in our church. My wife sings in the choir and my two oldest children are in the children’s choir. I am a member of the lay leadership committee and my wife and I co-chair the Witness and Hospitality committee at our church. I would like to serve in a more tangible way through missions.

I have never had the pleasure of serving in missions. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church. I was active in youth choir and other youth activities, but I never really had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip. Our small church really did not stress mission activities. I regret that it was not a part of my early Christian experience.

Throughout college and my early adult life, I found myself straying from being active in a church. The freedom of being out on my own was the beginning of it, but I then I unexpectedly lost my mother to meningitis my last year of college. I did not handle her death well. Instead of relying on God to comfort me during that hard time, I blamed Him for her sudden death and let that distance me from Him.

As I aged and matured, I came to realize that blaming God for tragedies such as that was misguided. I longed to renew and strengthen my relationship with God. My wife grew up in the Presbyterian Church and we decided to look at some of the different denominations in the area. We lived in Knoxville, TN at the time and after some looking around, decided that the Methodist Church had a doctrine and environment that appealed to us.

When my family and I moved to Texas, we were blessed to find First United Methodist Church, Colleyville. It is there that we learned about the Child Rescue Center. I was particularly touched how the children in Sierra Leone were able to maintain their faith in the face of all the tragedies they had dealt with. I have always admired the work that is done at the CRC.

When I learned of the upcoming mission trip and that someone with an education background in math might be useful, I really felt moved to respond to the call. I have prayed about it and discussed it with my wife and I feel that it is a situation where I can use the education and the talents that God has given me to help the children in Sierra Leone. I have no doubt that they can teach me about faith and dealing with adversity.

The Child Rescue Centre

This is a website describing the Child Rescue Centre (It was a British Colony, hence the "re")

http://www.childrescuecentre.org/index.html

My first foray into Missions

In what would probably be a shocking development to those who have known me in the past, I have decided to go on my first mission trip this summer. It is still striking to me how much my life has changed over the last few years.

I will be spending 2 weeks in Bo, Sierra Leone helping to teach summer school to middle school and high school aged children. These kids have witnessed atrocities in their young lives that I can only imagine.

Anyway, one of the missions coordinators suggest keeping a journal of our experiences during the trip and I felt this was a natural extension.

More to come...