Can I pray for you? This was the call to action, in October at our local church. After being locked down for what seemed an eternity, we hit the streets of various neighborhoods in the city of Encarnacion to ask the following question; Can I pray for you? We were all wearing yellow shirts with one mandate. Go from house to house and ask people this simple question. In most homes, people were receptive to a word of prayer. We gave a new testament, and a magnet with a phone number they can call anytime to ask for prayer and help. I was reminded of Jesus when he sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. We get cozy and enjoy being with people we know. But going and reaching new people who have not heard Gods voice and experienced the abundant life is transformative. This one connection might n
Just out of college, and recently married, Julie (now in heaven) and I did our first adventure race. We drove from Anderson Indiana, to a small town in WI. We raced for 10 hours, using kayaks, bikes and run in the wilderness. After that day, we were hooked. That was the beginning of almost a decade of various forms or racing. I vividly remember "The flying pig marathon" in Cincinnati OH. We finished in a respectable 4:10 min. We felt we had achieved an incredible mile stone as a young married couple. That feeling was part of many other races. Once you run a marathon, many non-sense things in life start to pale. After the birth of our first son Timothy, and with an increase in our responsibilities in ministry, racing was put on the back burner - eventually we dropped the sport. Then the tragic accident in 2012, which took the wind out of my my sails out, even though I did continue running during those dark years as a way to express pain, and frustration, and to keep some f