Well, we're now at T minus 27 days and counting before lift off for Uganda. Over the past month I have played the role of "pin cushion", having some demented little guy jabbing me with needle after needle after needle. Hepatitis A & B, Tetanus, Meningitis, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, and at least one other that escapes me right now. And the Hepatitis involved two additional visits to get poked again. I was starting to feel like a dart board. This morning I get to go visit a doc to get a prescription for Malarone - anti-malarial meds. I think that's the end of THAT part of this adventure.
Psychologically, I'll be honest - it's been a battle. The description I gave a few months ago about the argument between my heart and my head? Well, it wasn't like that was the end of it - the heart won and everyone lived happily ever after. My head has kept up a relentless drumbeat, and I still find that battle raging on occasion. The head at least realizes now, however, that it is losing. It's just not happy about it!
I have been informed that I will be the the official "blog writer" while we're over there. As soon as I get the site address I'll post it in here. Any grammatical mistakes in there, however, will be my responsibility and my responsibility only!
But I am getting excited. I am looking forward to this adventure. And I really, truly appreciate the support - financial and prayer - that I have received from people to date. I thank you very, very much.
May 20, 2009
May 6, 2009
On Romance
It would seem that my son recently initiated a debate on Facebook stemming from a discussion from a class at SPU. The topic was Romanticism vs. Post-romanticism. You can view his thoughts on his blog at:
http://seraphmessenger.blogspot.com/
I wanted to add a couple of thoughts to it. His post shows him to be a hopeless romantic. While I won't claim to have instilled this in him, I have to say that I find it very enlightening and encouraging that he feels this way. You see, I have to come out of the closet as well - his Dad is a hopeless romantic, too.
I told him today that the day that he lets go of his romantic tendencies is the day that he should apply for his credentials as a zombie. I know that romance is an integral part of who I am. The joy I feel in the romantic moments with my wife are ephemeral. Maybe I'm confusing it with the overarching concept of love, but I also have "romantic" feelings towards my children. There are times when I just enjoy doing things for all of them, moments when I find it completely gratifying to let them know how much they mean to me.
Romance to me is a need, a compulsion, to let my loved ones know how much they mean to me. It is a never ending need because I'm never able to fully express it - I never have the perfectly right words, the perfectly right deeds. And yet I am compelled to continue in the effort. In ways I liken it to worship - the compulsion to communicate to God how much his love, his grace means to me. I don't have the ability to fully express that either, but it doesn't stop me from trying. Romance makes me alive!
Without romance there is no hope. Life devolves into blatant cynicism. It becomes a dark, empty existence. With romance there is joy, there is love, there is a reason for living. No, the object of our romance does not always respond to the overtures, but we should never let go of the desire to express it. To do so would be an abject surrender to a darker existence.
So at the expense of blatant plagiarism, here is the familiar poem from Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
http://seraphmessenger.blogspot.com/
I wanted to add a couple of thoughts to it. His post shows him to be a hopeless romantic. While I won't claim to have instilled this in him, I have to say that I find it very enlightening and encouraging that he feels this way. You see, I have to come out of the closet as well - his Dad is a hopeless romantic, too.
I told him today that the day that he lets go of his romantic tendencies is the day that he should apply for his credentials as a zombie. I know that romance is an integral part of who I am. The joy I feel in the romantic moments with my wife are ephemeral. Maybe I'm confusing it with the overarching concept of love, but I also have "romantic" feelings towards my children. There are times when I just enjoy doing things for all of them, moments when I find it completely gratifying to let them know how much they mean to me.
Romance to me is a need, a compulsion, to let my loved ones know how much they mean to me. It is a never ending need because I'm never able to fully express it - I never have the perfectly right words, the perfectly right deeds. And yet I am compelled to continue in the effort. In ways I liken it to worship - the compulsion to communicate to God how much his love, his grace means to me. I don't have the ability to fully express that either, but it doesn't stop me from trying. Romance makes me alive!
Without romance there is no hope. Life devolves into blatant cynicism. It becomes a dark, empty existence. With romance there is joy, there is love, there is a reason for living. No, the object of our romance does not always respond to the overtures, but we should never let go of the desire to express it. To do so would be an abject surrender to a darker existence.
So at the expense of blatant plagiarism, here is the familiar poem from Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
February 8, 2009
The Bottom Line
And so, my dear friends & family, I come before you to humbly ask for your support. As I said in the Uganda Bound post, this IS the Great Adventure. Ostensibly, the purpose for the trip is to help others who are far less fortunate than I. I honestly believe, however, that God has some profound lessons for me to learn on this, and I sincerely hope it brings some convinctions about possibilities for me to live more simply.
I wouldn't have even been approached, however, if my lovely daughter Samantha wasn't going on the trip as well. First and foremost, I ask you to pray for us. Please pray for the safety of our team and those we will be working with. Pray for open hearts - both on the part of the Ugandans we'll encounter and for us. Pray that the entire trip brings glory to our Lord.
If you haven't spent much time talking to God for a while, this might be an opportunity to re-engage.
The costs for the trip are somewhat daunting at $5,000. It requires a massive gulp & swallow when that cost is doubled for both of us, however. If you feel led to help us financially, I would certainly like to encourage that. There are two ways of accomplishing that.
1. You can send a check to:
Eternal Impact Ministries, PO BOX 250 Oregon City, Oregon 97045
If you choose this method, please do NOT write anyone's name (mine or Samantha's) on the check, but rather enclose a short note to indicate that it is for whichever one of us you choose on the Rolling Hills Impact Team.
2. Go to eternalimpact.org - You will see a selection in the middle of the home page for "On Line Giving". Click that, then select Rolling Hills Impact Team Members. You can then select either of our names, and any credit card/ debit card payments will be credited towards our costs.
Whichever method you might choose, please send me an email - dale@apollo-7.com - to let me know so that I can properly thank you.
The gifts - at least for my US friends - is tax deductible. I'm not sure about the laws in Canada.
I would also like to encourage you to peruse the Eternal Impact site to find out more about them, and tune back into it during our visit - June 18 through July 5, 2009 - to read blog updates of our adventures.
Thank you for considering this and taking the time to read my posts!
Dale
I wouldn't have even been approached, however, if my lovely daughter Samantha wasn't going on the trip as well. First and foremost, I ask you to pray for us. Please pray for the safety of our team and those we will be working with. Pray for open hearts - both on the part of the Ugandans we'll encounter and for us. Pray that the entire trip brings glory to our Lord.
If you haven't spent much time talking to God for a while, this might be an opportunity to re-engage.
The costs for the trip are somewhat daunting at $5,000. It requires a massive gulp & swallow when that cost is doubled for both of us, however. If you feel led to help us financially, I would certainly like to encourage that. There are two ways of accomplishing that.
1. You can send a check to:
Eternal Impact Ministries, PO BOX 250 Oregon City, Oregon 97045
If you choose this method, please do NOT write anyone's name (mine or Samantha's) on the check, but rather enclose a short note to indicate that it is for whichever one of us you choose on the Rolling Hills Impact Team.
2. Go to eternalimpact.org - You will see a selection in the middle of the home page for "On Line Giving". Click that, then select Rolling Hills Impact Team Members. You can then select either of our names, and any credit card/ debit card payments will be credited towards our costs.
Whichever method you might choose, please send me an email - dale@apollo-7.com - to let me know so that I can properly thank you.
The gifts - at least for my US friends - is tax deductible. I'm not sure about the laws in Canada.
I would also like to encourage you to peruse the Eternal Impact site to find out more about them, and tune back into it during our visit - June 18 through July 5, 2009 - to read blog updates of our adventures.
Thank you for considering this and taking the time to read my posts!
Dale
February 7, 2009
Heaven to Earth. Heaven to Earth. Over.
I have to tell you that you're likely to read the word "Uganda" in this blog extensively over the next few months. I'm not going to apologize for that, however.
The concept of being "spoken to by God" is a difficult one for many to deal with. Quite frankly, that includes many Christians. If it puts anyone's heart at ease, let me tell you unequivocally that I have never heard a voice in my head saying "God to Dale. God to Dale. Come in Dale." I have never witnessed a ball of fire with words emanating from it, nor have I been struck to the ground and blinded a la Paul.
I must also tell you, however, that I know - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that I am being called by Him to go on this trip. If you could see or experience my thoughts, you would know that I have always been very resistant to the idea of "mission trips", particularly ones outside of the US. Call it rebellion, call it whatever you like, but I've always fought the notion fiercely. Justifications like "Why should we be going to Africa to bring people to the Lord when there are so many people in this country who need Him?" ran roughshod through my head. The mere fact that I entertained the notion at all confirms to me that He is sending me.
The previous post in here gives you a "stream of consciousness" of when the decision was actually made for me, but there was one other little epiphany that happened as well. Prior to me telling Branden that I was "in", we were watching a video of a previous trip made by Eternal Impact. The high school kids and adults were interacting with the Ugandan kids. One shot was of an American adult male, from behind, crouched down talking to a small Ugandan child. The man's hair had been buzzed off very short. Another excerpt of the "stream" went something like this:
Dale's Heart: Hey, it's going to be hot over there. I'm going to get my hair buzzed like that before I go as well.
Dale's Head: What in the world are you talking about? What's this "before I go" crap? You're not going, so why are you thinking about what you're going to do with your hair, for crying out loud? You don't DO mission trips, remember?
See, if I've learned anything over the 25+ years of my Christian life, it's that He helps to show me my own hypocrisies and prejudices, and that often forces decisions on me. Has He showed me all of them? Yeah, right. I expect to keep learning right up until the day I leave this earth to join Him. Nevertheless, I am compelled to take action on them when He does bring them out.
The concept of being "spoken to by God" is a difficult one for many to deal with. Quite frankly, that includes many Christians. If it puts anyone's heart at ease, let me tell you unequivocally that I have never heard a voice in my head saying "God to Dale. God to Dale. Come in Dale." I have never witnessed a ball of fire with words emanating from it, nor have I been struck to the ground and blinded a la Paul.
I must also tell you, however, that I know - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that I am being called by Him to go on this trip. If you could see or experience my thoughts, you would know that I have always been very resistant to the idea of "mission trips", particularly ones outside of the US. Call it rebellion, call it whatever you like, but I've always fought the notion fiercely. Justifications like "Why should we be going to Africa to bring people to the Lord when there are so many people in this country who need Him?" ran roughshod through my head. The mere fact that I entertained the notion at all confirms to me that He is sending me.
The previous post in here gives you a "stream of consciousness" of when the decision was actually made for me, but there was one other little epiphany that happened as well. Prior to me telling Branden that I was "in", we were watching a video of a previous trip made by Eternal Impact. The high school kids and adults were interacting with the Ugandan kids. One shot was of an American adult male, from behind, crouched down talking to a small Ugandan child. The man's hair had been buzzed off very short. Another excerpt of the "stream" went something like this:
Dale's Heart: Hey, it's going to be hot over there. I'm going to get my hair buzzed like that before I go as well.
Dale's Head: What in the world are you talking about? What's this "before I go" crap? You're not going, so why are you thinking about what you're going to do with your hair, for crying out loud? You don't DO mission trips, remember?
See, if I've learned anything over the 25+ years of my Christian life, it's that He helps to show me my own hypocrisies and prejudices, and that often forces decisions on me. Has He showed me all of them? Yeah, right. I expect to keep learning right up until the day I leave this earth to join Him. Nevertheless, I am compelled to take action on them when He does bring them out.
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