blog one another

Help Burma

Aid to Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar) is only just beginning a week after the fact, but the junta is not allowing foreign aid workers to enter.

But! I went to the World Vision site and learned that they have have over 500 staff workers there. I'm betting that many of them are Burmese, because they've been working there for decades and have a relationship with the government.

So let's not let the junta stop us -- let's donate money to World Vision. Your employee will likely match your gift, doubling your contribution. Who is with me?

evangelism: ur doin it wrong

We are blowing off church this morning, exhausted from our short trip to SoCal for the memorial service for Kay's dad. On the drive south, had time to talk about lots of things. She reminded me of the awkward time when I dragged her through the Student Union of Indiana University to do "contact evangelism" -- that is, walk up to people cold. My, my. The awkwardness of that experience was one of the first turning points that changed my understanding of evangelism.

The example of Kay's dad was another turning point. But Mr. Fiske (another missionary from Japan) summarized his example best at the memorial service:

As a young missionary, I went to Ivan because he had more experience, and asked, "What does a missionary do?" He replied, "Live in such a way that they will ask you, 'Why do you do what you do?' Then you can give an explanation at the time when they are most likely to actually listen."

Living Sacrifice

Last Sunday, Kay took her first crack at preaching. Or I should say, her first crack at preaching in the United States, and in English. This was also the first time she's had a predetermined topic assigned to her: "Living Sacrifice" in a series on paradox. I'm going to blog most of her notes. (Make sure you get to the punch line towards the bottom of what is our job, what is not our job, and what is God's job!)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -- the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Not so scared

Tomorrow I leave for an overnight campout in gold country with Erin's 4th grade class. I did this trip five years ago with Trevor, and it rained so hard that few people survived the night in their tents. This time, the weather report is promising, and I have more experience and better gear. But check out my blog entries five years ago, both before and after.

Ivan Dornon 1928-2008

Kay's dad died this past Wednesday morning. He single-handedly baptized more Japanese people than the rest of the missionaries I know put together. Here are the biggest mission principles I learned from him:

Kay lives in her car

Kay's dad died yesterday morning. That's a topic that deserves a separate posting. But it means Kay headed south, leaving me as Mr. Mom and sole driver.

Today I left work today at 2:00, walking out of a meeting. "You're coming back, right?" the director asked me. "Oh, no, I'll be driving for hours," I replied.

From there, I

• picked up Trevor from high school and dropped him at home
• picked up Erin from school and dropped her at home
• returned to school for the second half of Shelly's soccer game, then took her home
• did the lazy dad dinner of picking up pizza
• took Erin back to school for a musical event, then brought her home

So not counting this morning (when I had to recruit help to get them to two schools at roughly the same time), I did three hours of driving this afternoon alone.