Koncert 2 Kolkata

Lord, I will go anywhere you send me and do anything you ask. Just please don’t send me to ______________. Admit it, we have all had this thought. But from what I have learned, God has a funny way of sending us where He wants us anyway, and we have a funny way of being used by Him, and finding ourselves blessed when He sends us.

Last January, my wife and daughter went to Kolkata, India to work with victims of human trafficking, through a partnership of our church with the International Justice Mission. From what I have seen and heard, Kolkata is not a real clean place. In fact, it is very much the opposite. Mother Teresa gained worldwide popularity simply for her willingness to stay there and work with the poorest of the poor. The slums of Kolkata are a rough place, and very different from the suburban life most of us here are living.

Seriously. Very, very different.

But my daughter loves it and can’t wait to go back. It is a challenging ministry both physically and emotionally, but God has simply filled her heart with the people of Kolkata.

If you are not familiar with human trafficking, or the International Justice Mission, you need to be. This is a widespread problem throughout our world today, and it doesn’t just happen overseas. Shockingly, there are more slaves in the world today than at any time in history, with estimates ranging from 12 million to 27 million. The number is hard to pin down, as it is so widespread. My wife and daughter traveling to India isn’t going to change that number very much. But if the number decreases even by one, it is more than worth it. If one girl rescued from slavery knows that she is loved and that she is valuable, it is worth it.

Traveling to the other side of the world isn’t cheap, however, and we started brainstorming ways to get there. Here’s what we came up with: I was a professional touring musician once, and have put on an event or two. My daughter Rachael and I have sang together several times before, and so we decided to call up the some of the very best musicians I know, put together a great band and do it for a cause - a Koncert 2 Kolkata.

Our goal is to raise the funds for this trip, raise awareness for the people we are going to help, and honor God in doing it. If you are in the Katy/Houston area, I encourage you to come out! There is no charge, just give as you feel led to give. For more info, or to find out about VIP tickets, go to our page at koncert2kolkata.wordpress.com, and be sure to visit the event page on facebook. If you can’t make it, you can still go to the page and see how you can help! God is faithful, and He often accomplishes great things through His people. Thank you for your help in getting the message of hope to these girls in Kolkata!

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Kids Say the Darndest Things

Kids say the darndest things.

But more often than not, kids say things that sound an awful lot like what their parents say. Our kids look up to us, respect us, and learn from us. They get their social cues by mimicking ours, and in many respects, this can be a great blessing.

For example, I make it a point to always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, and there is nothing as great as hearing my children do the same. In fact, I no longer need to prompt them to do it, and I am blessed when others tell me how polite my children are.

But then again, there was that time we were at a traffic light, and the car in front of us was not exactly quick about going when the light turned green. From his booster seat, my youngest son yelled out, “Come on man! Green means go!”

I knew right away exactly where he had heard it, and it did not sound so great coming from him.

Our kids spend time with us, and so they sound like us. So how do we make sure that we speak the way we want them to speak?

Matthew 26:73 relates a story that is familiar to many of us. In this passage, Jesus has been arrested, and Peter is fearfully trying to keep his distance, and pretending he doesn’t even know Him. Peter was able to deny it to the first two accusers. But a third accuser said “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.”

Some scholars say that this could refer to Peter’s Galilean accent, which was different from the accents spoken in Jerusalem. But what is most striking is simply that Peter spoke like one who had been with Jesus. The way he talked made it clear that he was a disciple.

There was no hiding it.

Even in denial, his voice was clearly the voice of “one of them”. He had simply spent so much time with Jesus, that he could not hide it in his voice.

The lesson for us?

Spend time in the Word, spend time in prayer, and you too will begin to sound like Jesus. Because our kids say things that sound an awful lot like what we say.

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For Love of the Games

For most of this week, my family has been immersed in the quadrennial ritual known as the Olympics. I absolutely love it, and it is a firm rule in my house that if the TV is on, we are watching Olympic events of some kind. It is one of the few times of the year that the kids are expected to watch too much TV, and are not allowed to go to bed before 11:00. But what is it about the Olympics that draws us in?

For starters, the Olympics are educational. It is fun to learn about the nations that are competing. For example, this is the only time that I have any interest whatsoever in the nation of Djibouti (Yes, it is pronounced Ja-Booty). Apparently fellow St. Louis native Bob Costas has the same humor as I do. As the six-member team representing Djibouti entered the auditorium in the parade of nations, Costas said, "If there was an award for country name that makes you smile, Djibouti would win the gold.”

He didn’t need to say it; I was already smiling.

A few days later I decided I would check in and see how the athletes from Djibouti were doing. I found that Yasmin Harah Hasan represented Djibouti in women’s table tennis early on in the games. Unfortunately, she lost 0-4 to Brazil’s Caroline Kumahara (ouch!), and with that loss, Yasmin’s Olympic dreams are over.

I guess you could say Brazil whooped Djibouti.

Aside from table tennis competition, Djibouti was in the pool, Djibouti was on the Judo mat, and three athletes will be showing off the best of Djibouti in the track and field events in the coming days. You know you don’t want to miss that. Djibouti’s only previous Olympic medal came as a Men’s Marathon bronze in the 1988 Olympics, and anything is possible!

More importantly, the Olympics are a history that unites us. The whole world is watching, and what happens today won’t happen again. The athletes that are at the games now may or may not be back in four years.

If there is a Jesse Owens moment

a Mary Lou Retton moment

or a Kerri Strug moment

I want to be watching it happen. Those moments are still moving, and I want to share in that history as it unfolds, not just hear about it the next morning.

The Olympics invite us to invest emotionally in the history that is happening as it is happening.

I didn’t know much about gymnast Jordyn Wieber a month ago, but my heart broke for her when she failed to qualify for the gymnastics “all-around”. And when Michael Phelps swims his final lap as an Olympian this week, I’m sure I will experience the bittersweet moment right along with him. So will a few hundred million of my closest friends. These will become the great, “hey, do you remember when!” stories from Olympics past.

For these few short weeks, the world is watching athletes from homelands great and small who have earned the right to proudly represent their nation.

For these few short weeks, bitter rivals are gracious in victory and in defeat; they share a mutual respect because they know what it takes to be there. They know what it takes to be Olympians.

For these few short weeks we will hear words like Effort, Integrity, Determination, Sportsmanship, Character, and Perseverence more often than usual, and that is a good thing.

The way I see it, we can all learn something from that.

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