Last day at VOM

Today was fun at VOM.  We worked on the next newsletter, this coming month is on North Korea.  If you sign up for the free newsletter you'll receive what we were packaging all day.  Everybody will get the newsletter, plus a free booklet about North Korea, including a sample sheet of the gospel in Korean.  The sample is of what VOM's gospel message is sending in to North Korean borders via helium balloons! 

I talked to a couple that drove here from Atlanta to stay and volunteer for 4 months.  Another 14 year old boy was helping us who RV'd up from TX with his family.  There were also a bus-load of teen agers from a Cornerstone Church that drove down from Wichita.  Also, Chong the amazing lightning speed volunteer helped out with this VOM project.

I asked Chong about S. Korea's revival.  I was fascinated to learn that there is a mountain where people are there 24/7 praying.  From a distance there are so many people praying that it sounds like an ocean.  That blew my mind.  The Koreans love God so much!

I was talking to the couple from Atlanta, and they are Christians that are on fire, and I was blessed to talk to them today!  They were telling me about International House of Prayer.  I have heard about IHOP before, but had no idea how amazing it sounds.  They do the 24/7 worship to God too, but right in Kansas City, MO.  You can even go see them right now live via streaming internet.

I had heard of IHOP but only because I like a singer Misty Edwards (not to be confused with Misty in Atlanta :)  and I probably should mention too that IHOP is not to be confused with the pancake restaurant ;).  My favorite song of hers is I Will Waste My Life.  Her songs have had a large impact on my faith and worship.  Looking at the schedule tomorrow they have Misty Edwards tomorrow!  I anticipate tomorrow so heavily right now I feel like bursting!

Ending the day was with Jake, my boss at VOM.  His walk with God has been a blessing to me these four days.  A couple of years ago he stepped out in faith.  Quit his job.  Sold his house.  Became a volunteer at VOM for a year.  Only to find out that VOM offered him a position and hired him.  A God story like that gives me chills and so much hope!  Thanks Jake, for living out your faith, brother.

3rd Day at VOM

Today was monotonous work.  I worked on the parachutes again.  They only have one  grommet pressing machine.  It's probably their worse job, and the boss, Jake, lets people take turns.

The plastic zip-lock bag that protects the Bible and radio that goes inside has to attach to the parachute somehow.  That's where the grommet comes in to play.

Because there is only one grommet presser this is the bottleneck in the whole assembly line.  I focused as hard as I could to just churn out the grommets as steady and fast as I could!  I thought about the people that might come across the bag.  My neck and arm started getting sore after about the 5th and 6th hour.  But I thought about the people who get the tar beat out of them because they do not enjoy freedom of religion like I do.

During one of the break times, there are free snacks and beverages.  Everybody likes to go in there and chat over some coffee and bag of chips.  There this one dude (I don't even know his name) that I always see and I blew him off today, and I regret it.  Earlier in the week he had a few of his facts wrong about China but acted like he was very outspoken.  And instead of me gently correcting him, I secretly lost respect for him.  Today it came out.

He was saying something to me, he may have been asking a question, and I was paying no attention at all.  There was another couple at the table, and too much talking, I was trying to talk, and in the midst of all the craziness, the dude got up and left. After the fact, I realized I was not listening to him.  No idea what he was asking me or saying.  Anyhow, tomorrow I'll try and make some peace with him.

They have a large memorial wall with many martyr's name's etched in.  I put Martin Burnham's in the middle of this pic because I'm reading the book , In the Presence of My Enemies, by his wife, Gracia Burnham.  Gracia was kidnapped with Martin and survives to tell the story.

This huge mural is painted in the lobby of the VOM Operations Center.

2nd Day

Yeesh I'm exhausted after today.  I'm not used to being on my feet all day. 

This picture shows me in action putting labels on the mailers.  These packages were being sent to the "New Friends," or people who have signed up for the first time for the VOM newsletter.  The envelope also included a free copy of, "Torchured For Christ" by VOM founder Richard Wurmbrand.

I spent most of the day working with two Pastor's wives, both who are retired, Chong and Norma.  Chong is lightning quick reflexes, I noticed I was unable to keep up with her.  Both of them have been serving at VOM for 4 or 5 years now (they couldn't remember exactly).  Norma is across from me in the picture.

I had some good discussions with Norma about how God leads people in their life.  She gave some good testimony's about how her husband and her got the calling to pastor their church for 30 some years, than got the calling to retire, and than even got the calling how to spend their retirement time.  Amazing!

I was asking some of the guys/gals my age if anything was going on tonight: church gatherings, bible studies, movies... anything??  Nothing. 

So anyhow, I asked Norma if she knows of anything going on.  Norma and Chong go to the same church and had service tonight.  Works for me!!  Chong picked me up outside of my hotel after work and drove me.  At the church service there were only about a dozen people.  All of them 70's and older!  I found out that Norma has been married for 58 years.  Another couple was married for 67 years.  Is that even possible?

Another guy approached me and started telling me about how the Lord saved him.  Praise God!  He said that he had recently died for 4 minutes and came back to life.  I responded that, God must need you down on earth still.

The service started, and Norma got up from next to me, and sat in front of the piano.  She played, and we sang 3 hymns.  The pastor preached on the Prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:9.  I was the only person that followed along on an iTouch Bible app.  I hope nobody thought I was sending a text message during church.

Last night before bed I was reading about my great-great-great aunt, and her mom and dad. It's an autobiography about how they lived during the late 1800's homesteading in Kansas.  I've taken a break from it, but started reading it again last night.  I prayed God would give me a landmark so that maybe I can drive through KS on my way back home to IL/WI.  So I started reading and came across a few towns they lived in.  Praise God!  My Great^3 aunt lived 7 miles west of Cheney, KS.  Her dad/mom moved to Kingman, KS.  Aunt's sister got married and moved to Murdock, KS.  The amazing thing is I'm currently on the top of OK, and those towns are on the bottom of KS!  

1st Day at VOM

Before starting my work day at Voice of the Martyrs (VOM).  The address seems to be shrouded in secrecy.  I emailed and called to get the address so I could google map or GPS it.  But they kept turning me away to call in the day of to get directions the morning of my first work day.  So I did, and finally got directions. I literally had to be on the cell phone, on the road driving, before they would tell me where to turn. I later inquired, and they have buffed up their security recently due to the work that they do and they have a "target" on their back.

So today I was helping box up parachute kits and stacking them on a pallet to be shipped out.  Click here to see.   These parachutes will be shipped to Columbia, and a pilot will drop them over the jungles for FARC guerrillas.  These packages contain Bibles, other Christian literature, and radios pretuned to Christian radio station.  The goal is to drop the gospel out of the sky for the guerrilla FARC soldiers.  Notoriously known for terrorist acts and drug trade.  They are Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries that hope to overthrow the current government.

The other work I helped out with is VOM's monthly newsletter they send out for free.

Route 66 Travels

Route 66 is known as the "Mother Road" or "America's Main Street."  Rte 66 was built during late 20s.  It starts in Chicago at Lake Shore Drive, and ends in Santa Monica, CA.  The states it crosses are: IL, MO, KS, OK, TX, AZ, NM, and CA.  People were migrating west to find better prosperous life, the "American Dream" if you will.  And Rte 66 was this road to their new jobs and life.

I'm on a road trip to go volunteer at Voice of the Martyrs in Bartlesville, OK.  I did not realize this road would be the main route of my travels, and even passed Bartlesville within about 50 miles or so.  I figured it would be something fun and new, instead of just a boring 12 hour drive on highways.

I spent several hours trying to plan out a route to travel on Route 66.  This is a nearly impossible task with just a normal GPS or Atlas because Rte 66 does not exist anymore! There's a vast amount of information just doing a Google search.  So many websites with turn by turn directions.  I even downloaded some waypoints for my GPS.  I ended up just giving up on the planning, jumped in my car and followed the brown road signs that say "Historic Route 66."  (see above pic), and when I got lost I used my GPS to send me to the next closest way point.  I never bought an atlas or any special tour guide.

If you are thinking about driving Route 66, probably be best to get a paper version of a guide or atlas (considering I would get lost).  There's a few on Amazon.com.  Or just stop in historical museums and gift shops.  Also, I highly highly recommend just asking the locals what their favorite Rte 66 landmark is!  You'll find information that will probably be lost with this generation.

Odell, IL, stairs leading down underground tunnel to cross the street to the Catholic church and school.  The sign explains that Route 66 use to be so busy and dangerous that this tunnel was built.  Looks like it is either filled in with concrete now, or snow.  

St. Louis, MO's The Gateway Arch.  Of course this is a Route 66 landmark.  It is a monument and the gateway to the westward movement.

I wasn't going to stop at first in the inner St. Louis City, but I needed to gas up. I went in to the city thinking that would be the closest gas station (and yes it was more expensive).  I nearly almost ran out of gas in a really bad part of town.  GPS kept leading me to a closed or non-existant gas station.  Finally found a BP that was open, few!

Thank I parked at a church near the Arch (illegally?  The cop didn't ticket anybody).  I was trying to get some good shots, and I was walking all around the river front, and then from the side, and than went in to the sky scrapers to try and find some good pictures.   (I was trying to take a picture where it looks like the goose is sitting on top of the arch.  I'll explain the goose in another blog :P)  

So anyhow, I was trying to find the perfect Kodak moment with the goose all the while I'm avoiding this one dude that his car is broken down.  He has his hood open, and he has a flashlight with his head down under the hood.  He is right on the city street, and traffic is whizzing by him. I'm feeling bad for him, and when I gave up on the goose, I walked past him to see if he would notice me.  I'm feeling shy, maybe he'll ask me for help?  I walk by and his attention is full in to the car.

I think to my self, man, my mom is going to kill me if she finds out about this.  And so I decided to approach him.  He was on one side of the car, and I approached on the opposite side of the car.

"Hey, you okay?" I called out to him.

And he proceeds to explain to me some mechanical information about his car, that went over my head.  I reply back, "I don't know anything about cars, but I have a cell phone if you need to make a call."  He already had a cell phone,  (like most everybody does these days).

We were chit chatting a little when he mentions that I look hansom.  Huh??  That sent red flags up that I should get out of there. 

 I mention that I was on the road to go volunteer some time at a church, that is expecting me.  Maybe he'll stop flirting with me if he knows I'm church-folk.

He asks me if I can help him push his car out of the main street and in to a nearby parking spot.  Which I do, and the car is out of the busy part of the street.

He thanks me and shakes my hand for helping him push his car.  He says, "ooh, you're strong and you're cute."

Time to escape!  I thought to myself.

I told him, "I'm going to take off.  It was nice to meet you."  I turned around and started walking away.

He started following me and asked if I was just going to go for a walk and he would come with me.  I said, "no sorry, I'm going to hit the road now."  

Yikes!

This is Ribbon Road in Miami, OK (pronounced MIAM--UH.  Named after a Native American tribe).  According to the travel brochure from the travel office, this road was here before Rte 66 was named.  I went down it anyhow, and got lost.  It took several hours of driving very slowly to find my way out to smooth pavement again. There is mud all over my car now.  The only thing back there was some farmers and cows.

If I didn't gas up in Quapaw, and also, if they did not have pay-at-the-pump (because they were old school), than I would not have been tipped off by the cashier lady where Micky Mantle's home was.  Again I recommend asking all the locals what their favorite landmark is.

Here's a picture of Mickey Mantle's humble beginngs.  Mickey, of course, is the legendary, hall-of-famer, baseball player.  This is his child hood home.  According to the plaque on the side of the house, Mickey's dad would pitch the baseball at Mickey to hit in the yard.  The small shed on the right side is where Micky would stand ready to hit the ball toward the house.  His dad made up rules that, if the ball flew below the window it was a single; if it flew above the window it was a double; if it flew on to the roof, a triple; and over the roof was a homerun.  Behind me was a baseball field where he played at too, and is now called Mickey Mantle Field.

One of the few rainbow bridges left in America, and it's in Baxter Springs, KS, according to the curator lady at the museum.

Tomorrow I start my first day of work at Voice of the Martyrs.

After Thoughts of My Emotional Last Day at Work

Last week was so emotional, especially yesterday!  Yesterday was the last day of my work.  And now I'm on a Personal Leave of Absence.  The absence will last four months as I travel to China.

At work we have a daily "huddle" (aka Daily Service Promise) where our team meets for a few minutes to talk about anything and everything that pertains to running the business.     Everybody on the team takes a turn once a month to lead the huddle. I lead my last huddle on Friday 2/11/11.   

The rough draft is below, but here is a quick preface.  The thoughts I wanted to say in the huddle came to me about a week in advance.  I was terrified by what my words that I would say.  Was very emotional for my last week at work, and especially the last day.  There were three subjects I split my thoughts in to in the rough draft into.  1. Trophy, 2. my emotions, 3. The why I'm going to China.  

1. The Trophy is a traveling trophy which means it gets passed around from team mate to team mate.  Simply put somebody gives you the trophy if you delivered WOW service in some way.  Then, likewise, you pass it on to somebody who you believe delivered WOW service.  And the trophy is suppose to move all around.  Except, the trophy has only moved around to two people over the course of 8 months. Most people do not even know it exists.  The trophy, in my opinion, has a huge amount of honor attached to it.  I received it for doing tons of work on the greatest national oil spill ever.

2. I thought it would be good to be vulnerable and share my story.  I've always felt insecure and lack of confidence.  It was hard for me to share deeply, but I did it anyway.  My team mates shared with me later how my words had impacted them.  I'm grateful for their kind words and all my team means so much to me.  

3. Some more of me just trying to be real.

Some of the below draft I shared, other times I just winged what was on my mind.  I present to you the rough draft of my huddle

Trophy--

1. trophy
   1. most highly coveted ultimate trophy
   2. only 2 othe people had it
   3. 8 – 10 months ago Chris Kempa passed it out
   4. Tarj had it and then Jason Campion
   5. I got it for staying late and doing BP credits/debits
   6. I hate having it because I have to decide who to give it to
   7. I'd like to give it to everybody
   8. I give it to mom
   9. She does the most forms, and takes the most calls, she given me so much that I'll never be able to pay her back. She's volunteered her time at the Y teaching challenged kids to swim for over 30 years. She's opened her home to me, and that's just amazing to me.
2. Hardest thing.
   1. This week has been really tough on me. So many mixed emotions I feel stirring around in my heart. I feel the pressure on my chest. I'm going to miss you guys so much is the hardest feeling, is feeling the loss of a team. We got so much chemistry here it's not even funny. Other emotions are fears of not having a pay check, not having a job, fear of the unknown with what's going to happen in China.
   2. Another hard thing is I've never been on a better team in my past. I'm used to get fired for misconduct and being a punk. I once was volunteering at the Waukegan Public Library for free and they fired me for putting books in the wrong locations. But sourcing is where I've grown so much, and I hope my China trip doesn't throw my chances at coming back, and that fear makes it hard.
   3. Our cell is the most amazing cell. Here's some highlights that I've noticed:
      • We have the highest GP.
      • We helped BP clean up the largest oil spill in history.
      • We're the only team that survived the recession. All the other cells were rearranged, split apart, hacked up and spit out, managers were fired, or merged. We were the only cell that made it through alive and kicking.
      • The only time we lose somebody is because they get promoted away. Or stolen by Dawn Batteau. But she gave us Jesse so I forgive Dawn.
   4. In my opinion, simply put, the Y1Y4Y7 cell is blessed by God himself!
3. The last thing I wanted to talk about was the question I get sometimes of why are you going? Or what led you to go to China? That's a hard question to answer because it's a long story, plus it's really personal and hard to explain, so I'll take a stab at it now. Simply put this is a door that I think God opened up for me. This China trip is divine providence in my life that I can't ignore. This will be more of a religious retreat than school or career advancement. About 7 years ago I hit rock bottom with alcohol and some other bad stuff. I was a momma's boy. I played xbox like crazy. I tried to date all the girls at work and at church. I was pretty sad. I hit my rock bottom and called up to God, surrendered in life, stopped doing life in my own strength. And start relying on all the crazy promises in the bible that God gives. My life totally turned around. I got a good small group, a good mentor, and my roommate was my battle partner God rest his soul. I started regularly seeing my dad again. I've lived at his house for the past month or two now. I've grown a ton. And I plan to just keep on growing and maturing and praying and reading the bible. The main thing is to have a relationship with God. That gives me all the meaning and purpose in life. And anyhow I believe God gave me a passion for China. Two years ago China was just another country on the map. God gave me the passion and opened the doors for me to go. It's been an amazing adventure to get to today. And tomorrow the adventure keeps going. Next week I am volunteering my time at Voice of the Martyrs. This is a ministry that tries to support the persecuted church. I'm not sure what to expect, but it will be more adventure. Than my China trip will be part of the adventure with God. And after China? I can't see that far in to the future. The doors are opened here in IL to live and work and church and family and friends are and my neice Audrina. And so those are God's open doors for me. That's why I'm going to China, is out of obedience to what I think God is calling me to.

I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you, plans to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11