The Map

THE MAP

Part A: Scriptures

1 Corinthians 9:24-27: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 10:31: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6: There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

Philippians 2:12-13: Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work within you both to will and to do His good pleasure.

Part B: A Few Ground RulesSuggestions

While strict obedience to what I provide below is not necessary (or, even, recommend), I do recommend that you consider the following suggestions as you think of, feel, and pray through the many things that have arisen within you as a result of the 2013 trip to Haiti:

1. Take all of these things slowly; please give yourself time over the next few days, weeks, months, and (it is my hope!) years to work through these things.
2. Please know that God is a Perfect Gentleman and that He is not at all interested in destroying who you are as a person. In fact, He's so interested in you as you are right now that, even though He does wish to bring about change in your life, He will do so in what I like to call an aggressively unaggressive manner. Through the mighty working of His Spirit within you (within your desires and within your intentions), He will mold you into the person He intends for you to be without destroying who you are or overriding your will in any manner. The ability that He alone has to do these things is truly extraordinary. With this in mind, I urge you to adopt a posture of surrenderedness, and I urge you also to pursue God with all that's within you...just as He passionately pursues you.
3. Don’t make any significant life-changes (for example giving notice at work or selling your home) for at least 30 days (before 25 Feb), okay? Again, please just give yourself some time with all of these things. Relax. God's not in a hurry, so, chances are, it's probably not necessary for you to be either. :o) Caveat to this suggestion: If you're engaging in anything you know to be a significant area of flagrant sin or disobedience, go ahead and make a change today by confessing your sin to God, by confessing your sin to another person, by asking the one to whom you confessed to pray with you for your healing (see James 5:13-20), and then by beginning the process of laying that sin down and walking away from it completely and forever. Please know, though, that there are some chains of sin (addictions, destructive/abusive ways of relating, etc.) that can be extremely difficult to break. If you struggle with an addiction or an abusive pattern of relating to those around you (note that these two often go hand-in-hand), seek out the counsel of a godly person skilled in helping others to find freedom and healing from such things. If you don't think you know of someone, please contact the church as they maintain a list of godly, professional counselors that may be able to help you find what you need.

Part C: A Suggested Road Map for Responding to the Haiti 2013 Trip

Exercise One: "Telling Your Story"

To aid you in answering questions like "How was your trip?" and "What did you do?", I suggest writing out the following:

1. A one-sentence answer;
2. A two- to three-sentence answer;
3. A two-paragraph answer; and
4. A two-page answer.

By having these answers, you will, I have discovered, be able to more effectively move from one answer to a more detailed answer depending on the interest of the person asking you the above questions (or ones like it). By having such answers already written out, it will, I believe, help you to be sensitive to and to accommodate (within your own heart and mind) the varied degrees of interest/disinterest in those around you. And, through preparing such things in advance, it may also help you to adopt a posture of forgiving in advance those who will hurt you (through their interest [or lack thereof]) even before they do so. To aid me in such things, I adopted a personal slogan a few years ago, which reads "You are forgiven...even before you act."

I write all of this because I can guarantee that most of you will experience at least some degree of emotional pain from those who reject you over the next week or two. Jesus once said, "if the world hated me, it will hate you as well." He also urged His followers to rejoice in persecutions (see Matthew 5:11-12). So….with all this in mind, tell your story with great joy, and allow God to pour His love through you to everyone you encounter in the coming days, weeks, months, and years...irrespective of his or her response.

As you begin to write your story, think about what you saw.  More than likely, your eyes were opened a little bit more on the trip.  In the U.S., it's really easy to live with your eyes closed. Here are some questions, which Leah supplied us last year from a book she read, that you can ask yourself:

1. What did you see in the people?
2. Which of their needs seem most vivid to you?
3. What aspects of their lives impressed or has inspired you the most?
4. What did you see while you were in-country that was different from your expectations?
5. Is there a mental picture of Haiti that immediately comes to mind?
6. What keeps you from "seeing" properly in your world?

 "Seeing" is a discipline.  In fact, it really is the first step to making a lasting difference in our world.

Exercise Two: "Recalibrating, Part 1: Stream of Consciousness Exercise"

Allow yourself over the next few days to begin to think about the things on your mind and in your heart concerning changes you'd like to make in your life in response to the trip.

Do you remember "stream of consciousness" writing from your high school lit classes? Briefly, to engage in stream of consciousness is to sit with a pen and note pad in-hand, focus on a specific theme or idea in your mind or heart, and then write down (almost explosively) whatever comes to you about the subject.  When engaging in such an activity, it's very important to do your best (1) to not stop writing and (2) to turn off your judging and editing functions so that what's inside you can come out freely. This, of course, takes a bit of discipline, but, writing from personal experience, you will get better at it with practice. The key here is to let your mind think whatever it wants to think (and not just what you think you're supposed to think or what you think God wants you to think), and to let your heart feel and want whatever it feels and wants (and not just what you think you're supposed to feel or want). Let your hand write whatever crosses your mind and heart, and, as you're writing, don't critique, edit, or try to organize it in any fashion. This, I think (and, yes, this is just me), may be one small aspect of what Jesus meant when He said, "Don't let the left hand know what the right hand's doing." For such a thing can lead to either paralysis or vanity or both.

With all that's within me, I want to encourage you to engage in this exercise for I can almost guarantee that the experience will be exceedingly illuminating and liberating. I write of this from my own personal experience. I've engaged in this kind of thing many times in my life, and each time, I was surprised (even shocked sometimes) at what emerged. When you let come out what's genuinely living inside you it's hard to argue over its validity. And that's the point entirely:  To let out what's inside you; to let out that which you really want where developing a surrendered, missional life is concerned. That way, if you know what you want, even if what you want changes a little along the way (and it most likely will, at least to a degree or two), you'll know that you're at least heading in a direction that's congruent with who you are and with the person you wish to be someday, and I am all about life congruence.  Your destiny is written in to your onlyness.  You are the only person that possess your unique composition of skills, talents, weaknesses, experiences, passions, spiritual giftedness, sensitivities, motivations, and character traits.  When you are in touch with who you really are and that which you really want in life, you are touching God's ultimate as well as day-to-day will for you.  Do not be deceived, the full expression of who you are uniquely in Jesus is His plan for your life.

The Exercise – Part One (20 minutes)

Grab a pen, a tablet of paper, a small handful of 3x5 cards, turn off your cell phone, put on some relaxing music, and sit comfortably at a table or desk where you have room to do some free-hand writing.

Before doing any writing, allow me to urge you to say the following prayer (or something like it): Lord, I wish to live the way you desire me to. I know, Lord, that it's really You Who's the One working within me to give me the desire and ability to please You. As I begin to get in touch with what I truly want in life (basically, what You've already put inside me in terms of how I wish to live and to conduct myself), I ask, O God, that You help me to get at what I’m really feeling inside. I ask You, too, to give me a vision for what living a surrendered, missional life might look like for me. I invite You, dear God, to come and join me as I explore such things. Again, please just help me to get at what’s inside me. I give us (You and me!) this time, Lord. In the Name of Jesus I pray...amen.

For the next ten to fifteen minutes or so, write down anything and everything that comes to mind with respect to changes you'd like to make in your life as a result of the Haiti 2013 trip.

Do your best to lay aside any filters or judgments of what comes forth. In fact, welcome whatever arises with a kind of unconditional friendliness—much the way you might welcome a dear friend that you haven't seen for some time.

Read over all that you've written.

Read over it again, please.

Put everything aside for a few days or so before engaging in Part Two below. Transformation takes time, so do just that: Take your time, okay? Please consider that living a surrendered life is a lot more like running a marathon (in fact, one marathon right after another) than sprinting the 50-yard dash.

The Exercise – Part Two (60 minutes)

Read through what you wrote in Part One.

Now read through it one more time, but this time, rank each thing you wrote down in terms of its value or importance to you. As you do this, use only three rank distinctions: Somewhat Important (S), important (I), and extremely important (E).

Go through everything again, and make sure that the way you ranked things is representative of how you really feel inside. Make any changes you feel are needful.

Identify all your Es, and rewrite them again on another sheet of paper. This time, edit what you wrote, combine similar items, and expand or expound upon those that you feel need additional substance.

Put everything aside for a day or so before engaging in Part Three below.

The Exercise – Part Three (30 minutes)

Read through your rewritten Es, and identify those that you believe to be the top three in terms of their importance to you.

Using your stack of index cards, rewrite your top two or three Es as prayers to God. Let's call these your Visioning Prayer Cards.

The Practice

Over the next three months, pray through your Visioning Prayer Cards at least once a day. Praying in this way will put your desires center stage before you and God. This, my friends, is a little of what beginning with the end in mind is all about.

Exercise Three: "Seeking the Fruit of the Spirit"

Complete a study on the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), the love passage (1 Corinthians 13:4-8), and the beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). Completing a comprehensive study of the ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) is recommended as well.

Galatians 5:22, 23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Matthew 5:1-12: Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Exodus 20:1-17: And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Exercise Four: "Reacquainting Yourself with Yourself"

Ask yourself (and answer) the following questions:

1. What were your dreams as a child?
2. Who were your heroes as a child?
3. What are your dreams now?
4. Who are your heroes now?

Take a spiritual gift inventory. If I recall, newhope church still offers one on the newhope website. There are, though, several offered on-line that I think could be very beneficial to you. One such inventory can be found at http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/.

Exercise Five: "Recalibrating, Part 2"

Ask yourself (and answer) the following questions:

1. Where are you now?
2. Where do you want to be a month from now? And what will you do to migrate toward that place?
3. Where do you want to be in three months? And what will you do to migrate toward that place?
4. Where do you want to be in twelve months? And what will you do to migrate toward that place?

Exercise Six: "Beginning with the End in Mind"

Ask yourself (and answer) the following questions:

1. Where do you want to be in five years?
2. How do you want to feel about things in five years?

Allow the revisioning of this part to draw you like a huge magnet toward the fulfillment of what you envision.

Part D: A Few Things I'd Like to Learn from the Samurai

Provided below is something I wrote a couple of years ago…

A Few Things I’d Like to Learn from the Samurai

For most of my life, I’ve been fascinated by the warrior classes—especially, by the ancient Samurai of feudal Japan. To say they were a paradoxical people is an understatement.

The Samurai trained in the arts of life and death: they studied and practiced haiku and swordsmanship, the tea ceremony and field applications of archery, and gardening and submission grappling. They prepared for the future, but didn't wait for it to happen; they lived in and for the moment as though tomorrow didn't exist—because, to them, it didn't. They had children, and yet raised them to live as though Mom and Dad might not be around an hour hence.

Theirs was a way of life so utterly simple, and yet incomprehensibly complex. They cultivated an almost unnatural naturalness in nearly every aspect of life, and they lived by an ancient, internal code that simply reminded them...be present and devoted completely to your current experience...for there really is nothing else.

I recall a story I heard many years ago about a martial arts instructor, who posed the following question to his adult students: "If you discovered that you had only twenty-four hours left to live, what would you do with the time you had left?" The answers he received were varied, as one might expect. Some spoke of how they would spend their time with their families; others of how they would visit places they’d always wanted to see but never did; and still others of how they would devote themselves to some form of service to humanity.

After listening intently for a few minutes, the teacher spoke of his disappointment with the answers they’d all given. "No one answered with what I would consider the best answer possible," he began. "And that's this: I wouldn't live any differently than the way I'm living right here, right now."

In the United States alone, more than two million people died last year—many from things unexpected. Just like some of us will, too, someday. Perhaps, even, today or tomorrow.

I’d like to ask you the very same question the instructor I mentioned above asked his students so very long ago...

If you had only twenty-four hours left to live, and knew it, how differently would you live that last day than the way you'd lived, say, the previous 365 days?

Take some time, and really give it some thought. Perhaps, even, write your answers down, and then go and live mindful of the possibility that tomorrow may never come.

Part E: Some Final Thoughts

The purpose of the above exercise conglomerate is to provide you with a road map for responding to the Haiti trip in a way that's generative, life-affirming, and life-giving. I believe with all my heart that if you really do work at it…prayerfully…you and the kingdom of God will benefit greatly. I speak of this from my own personal experience.

Part G: One Last Thing

As I wrote above, aside from making a decision to pursue Jesus with all your heart (and to lay down your participation in grievous, know sin), don’t make any significant life-changes for at least 30 days (specifically, before 24 Feb). If, though, there are significant life-changes that you think you'd like to make, add them to your list of recalibrations, and let them marinate with all the others. :o)

Have fun with all of this (for having fun is, I believe, at least half the point of doing anything!  Even laying your life down for another.).

Also...please, please, please let me know if I can be of any help or service to any of you in any of the above (or anything else, for that matter). Again, I love you all so much that it hurts inside.

Your friend, fellow traveler, and apprentice of Jesus,

Dave, Team Father

Haiti 2013/Travel Team A