TAKING IT BACK

The focus on our Global Ministry is not what we can do for other people, it is what we can learn from other people. The natural tendency is to have our relationship be focused on what we are donig to help. We have to make a concious effort to emphasize what we are getting from our partners to create an effective partnership.

NFL DRAFT

We take a break from poverty today and start to focus on football. But what I thought was going to be the highlight today, the draft, fails in comparison to how great the kids were at Our Lady of Mercy tonight. They interacted with the kids, had fun and did a good job of not thinking of themselves. I am so proud of them and how they have been able to share their faith. Nothing could be better. And sure, we still have football.

MATURE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY

Is it wrong to consider that International Ministry can include relational ministry, mission trips and still alleviate poverty. Should we settle for only a piece of the pie, or do we want to shoot for the whole deal? A case can be made that mature poverty alleviation involves just sending checks to an organization that can perform the Restore, but it seems like we would be cheating the CCC culture of a valuable asset, the opportunity to learn from the people of Haiti, the Philippines or whatever country we are dealing with.

JUDGEMENTAL

If a Church, or any person for that matter, doesn't agree with our philosophy of ministry, does that mean that they are wrong? Of course, everybody who goes into this line of ministry would seem to have a good heart. I have yet to meet a "mean" poverty person. These are wonderful people we are dealing with who may all have different ideas as to how best deal with the situation. I am very confident in our plan, but I have to be very weary about how others do it. We are all on the same team.

SABBATH

Maybe I ain't the right guy for this job. Everybody seems so into this World Poverty thing, and I just really get excited about football. I think because it is mindless and there is no expectation involved and it is probably the only thing I do that is nothing but fun. Maybe because there is no stress involved, maybe that is why it is what I look forward to doing. The great thing about this poverty thing is that we can pretty much incorporate anything into it and make football a part of what we do.

MEETING NUMBER TWO

The first meeting was good in that we got done in an hour. The second meeting was a little longer, seventeen minutes over, but we made some progress. We are getting there though. Until we figure out the other mission deal, we are going to be stuck. So next week is a big meeting.

POVERTY CHURCH

One of the reasons we have kept the online church going is the thought (other than because I made a commitment) that some day this could be an outlet for people who are like-minded concerning poverty to gather and discuss some spiritual issues. Of course, it seems like if this didn't work for our group of spiritual friends, would it be something that works for Haiti, the Philippines and other groups? I guess it is worth a try. It sure did seem like a good idea in the car on the way to camping. Maybe I should wait for God more often.

RESTORE

What does this mean? We have the 3R's, but if somebody were to ask, what does RESTORE mean, what would we say? Restore means to take something that has been somewhat decimated and return it to its original, God-intended form. When we restore a person, a community, a car and life...it does the reverse of the negative things that we do to each of these things. Whether it is culture, other people, age or sin; restoring involves taking care of the bad things that have happened and taking something back to its original state. That is why Jesus dying on the cross is so huge. With one act, Jesus restored us spiritually. We attempt to do the same for those living in poverty. We REACH them by restoring them spiritually and we RESTORE them by trying to undo the factors that have led to their living in poverty.

SERIOUSLESSNESS

It seems that everybody that deals with poverty is pretty serious, but what I am finding is that if there is a "fun" atmosphere, then good things can happen. Even the most serious of people like to laugh, or so it seems, and while dealing with poverty is a very serious issue, it doesn't seem as if we are any more productive if we make everything serious all of the time. I am really enjoying my time with all of the new people I have met and have found that no matter what impression you get from people, you never really know them until you get to know them.

POVERTY MEETING

After saving the life of a child and taking a pre-game nap, we had our first meeting to eliminate poverty all over the world. And for some reason, while it seemed like a far-fetched dream going in, after meeting with our team, it seems like a real possibility that this may be something special starting up here. It is really cool that we had pretty much the whole All-Star team together to plan this out and while it felt like I did too much talking (which was a pretty good strategy for our first go), there felt like a good vibe coming out of the meeting. It was just another in a list of constant reminders that God is in control of everything and if we let Him be then great things can happen.

PLANNING FOR POVERTY

Somebody came up to me and said today, "That poverty thing you are doing...I want in!" I should have a response ready for any person that says this and is not from CCC. Immediately my thought was, woops wrong Church. I am glad though that I thought about it and started to get excited that if we could get people from other Churches involved, we could really make a huger impact. That would be awesome. This just seems like another example of how God could be working to make this all happen. I have to always be mindful that this has nothing to do with me, but only God can make this work. Ego can't be involved. And it has been. As we head into our meeting on Sunday, as I struggle with how to explain where we are headed, and I struggle to get into too much sharing of thoughts and opinions, I have to trust God and let this ministry head where it will go. Home and School has turned out pretty well with everybody having some buy in. I can't control this, but I surely can help everybody, including God, get their wishes to come true. We have to, no matter what we do, make sure to keep our focus on God.

WHY?

Why are we even trying to fight poverty? 600 million children, 2.2 billion people are living in poverty. Can we realistically hope to change those numbers? Can we ever cure poverty?
So it probably won't happen in our lifetime. Heck, all the Churches in the world would have to get on board to make it happen. But, we can make a difference in one, who can make a difference in another and with God's help, it can be done. It seems impossible, which is what God wants, big asks for big problems. Why do we fight poverty, because God wants us to and because it keeps us reliant on God.

SIMPLICITY

What would it look like to live according to needs rather than wants? In the beginning, there didn't seem to be much of a choice. It would seem that you spent most of your time searching for what you needed to live; food, shelter. For some reason, we have totally complicated things. Restuarants, clothing stores, boats, vacations...it all seems so over the top. Living in poverty forces you to seek survival. It forces you to live according to your needs. While the people who live in poverty don't have their essential needs taken care of, they surely seem a lot closer to living simplistically than we in the United States ever could. If we can help them to get to "needs covered" and not "United States Lifestyle" we can help, but not hurt...God.

He's Back

Before I start writing about poverty, I better get my thoughts down about what I learned over the Lenten season. As with most of the stuff I do during Lent, it was just great to be done. In fact, that is how most of the stuff that I do in life usually turns out, but that is a digression. I hoped to connect in a different way with God, and while I probably grew to appreciate the Catholic faith even more during this time, and I did come closer in my relationship with God through constant prayer practice, those practices sure did become bothersome. As I look how my soul was changed though, there was less desire for bad food, less desire for tv or movie watching, especially stuff not good to see and less desire to spend time to do things that weren't about God. I didn't even miss sports, which may be another sign that I am losing it, but there I go digressing again. I guess, looking back, while it wasn't exactly an enjoyable 40 days, it did help me in my spiritual growth and that is all that matters. Maybe I needed a little more time with God, and I got that, but maybe now I need a little less time in prayer and a little more time hanging with him.