Christmas Eve '07

Another year down, and another wonderful Christmas Eve service(s) experienced by thousands of people at The Meeting House.

Every year, we seem to "outdo" ourselves in terms of production, complexity, and "wow" factor..... all the things that Jesus' birth WASN'T. So this year, we decided to take a simpler approach (in some ways it was simple, and in some, not so much - LOL!)

This year's Christmas Eve at The Meeting House was called "Down to Earth". We tried to convey a more organic, family feeling - as opposed to the highly technical "events" of the past 2 years.

In many ways, we succeeded. And still in some ways, it was quite technical and "wow" factor-ish. And through it all, (surprise surprise) God showed up!

The evening consisted of music (corporate singing and performance) storytelling, a meditation by Brux, and more singing. Pretty simple stuff. But still delivered Meeting House style.

In years past, we haven't done much traditional decoration. So this year, in keeping with the theme, we decided to do Christmas trees. And when you have a 50x75 ft stage with almost 24 ft of ceiling height, if you are gonna do trees, you gotta REALLY do trees. So I put a forest on stage. :)

Above you'll see an 18 ft tree, a 12 ft tree, and several 6 to 8 ft trees.... all with lights. They are all real trees. A guy from the church with a 20 ft tilt-n-load flatbad drove an hour north of Toronto with me to pick them up from a tree farm. Then we used a boom lift to hoist the big ones into the air and we suspended them with steel cable. The picture doesn't show, but there was another 18 ft tree out in the foyer.

Then came the lights - hundreds of feet of lights. Yikes.

As usual, Dave's lighting was wonderful and really created the mood.

Craig's band was killer, of course.

And the Great Wooden Trio (of which there are four guys, not three!) were the perfect guests for our program, singing and storytelling.

I trust that God was present to the thousands who came. I know that he was with me and my production team.... empowering us to serve Him with excellence.

Thanks be to God for his incarnation among us. And thanks to Him for the opportunity to worship him in our own style again this year.

A few more pictures to follow...

Bruxy and baby Maya



Great Wooden Trio





Craig & Band

He's 37, and still a kid!

My brother is such a big little kid... and I think it's so cool!

And it's not as if he just got the Jeep and has to try it out - he's had it for years. Oh wait - he did have to "test" out the new tires - hence the mud!

And the explanation for the snow bank... I LOVE this one...
getting the last laugh over the snow plow driver who thought it would be funny to leave a pile of snow right where he always parks.

Ah - the joys of being a boy with a toy. :)

The desire to make an immediate impact

I've recently had some very good dialogue over email with Joel Percy, regarding the natural desire we feel when presented with incredible heart-breaking scenarios, to "fix" the problem and offer immediate help.

When we met Shelton, Magret and Concillia in Zimbabwe (the three orphans living on their own) I felt that intense desire to do whatever I could to change their scenario. Then, when we introduced them to The Meeting House and talked about their situation on video, I received numerous emails and personal questions asking the same thing... "What can we do immediately for those three kids."

One such email that was very heartfelt and passionate asked the two following questions (note - NO DISRESPECT at all is meant towards the person who emailed this. I have a great respect for his passion, his generousity, and his desire to make a difference in this world!! I wish more people responded with immediacy to the problems in the world!):

How can we help those 3 children without any family to support them? I am sure there are thousands like them, but we have to start with one project. Our Home Church group trys not to get overwhelmed with the magnitude of needs around us, but just take action and begin to make a small difference. Action is our motto!
First thoughts:
1) Can we move these children into a home with support so they can spend their time being kids and going to school?
How much would this cost annually?
2) If option 1 is not possible, can we immediately support these 3 kids with food, shelter, beds, etc where they currently live? What would be the budget for this option.

It may not be this simple, and there are probably many issues, but I have to believe we can do something now.
So today, or tomorrow, can we immediately make a change for those 3 children?


I posed these questions to Joel, and here was his response. I thought it contained alot of insight and challenged some of our typical responses. I have his permission to share it here.

Comments are more than welcome.

First, I totally understand the desire to do something and see immediate results. I don’t question that in any way—I’ve felt it myself a hundred times.

But after having those same kind of reactions myself, and taking the time to talk to people who are a lot more experienced than me in this stuff, I realize I need to slow down my own tendency to try to fix things right away. There are a ton of areas in life where doing something fast and dramatic is actually not the best and healthiest solution. People who try to lose weight REALLY fast, or get rich REALLY fast, or solve their relationship problems REALLY fast, or even grow spiritually REALLY fast, tend to get themselves into trouble and make bad choices. I’ve come to believe that this is one of those areas. The best thing we can do for those kids is to work through existing local channels (i.e. the BIC AIDS Project), draw on the experience of people who know a lot more about the solutions than we do (Mennonite Central Committee) and take a broad approach to helping as many kids as possible while still seeing a measurable difference.

I know it seems kind of counter-intuitive, but the problem with the “make a dramatic difference for 3 kids” approach is that it actually feeds our desire to feel good rather than push us to do what is objectively best in the situation. If we help three kids, there is something in us that emotionally feels a sense of completion. The problem is there is no sense of completion for the hundreds of thousands of other kids in southern Africa who are living without parents, without food, without hope. If we could put all 500,000 (I’m guessing at that number, but it’s not crazy) of the kids in child-headed families in front of us at once, we wouldn’t emotionally feel good about helping three of them on a grand scale and ignoring the other 499,997. But since we can only see three at once, our emotions lead us down a path that is, ultimately, less helpful.

There is a balance to find here. You can focus too much, or you can spread yourself too thin. It’s a tricky balance. On that point, I come back once again for the need for a great partner organization. MCC is better and more experienced at finding that balance than we are. That’s why we’ve given decision-making control over to them.

Bottom line is this…What can we do? Give to Mission 2. Then encourage friends and folks in your Home Church to give to Mission 2. For us at The Meeting House right now, that really is where it all needs to start.

Moving to Africa?

For those who follow this blog and DON'T already know it, or know very little... it's time I share about our potential plans to relocate to Southern Africa.

You probably already know about my (our) growing passion for the people of Africa. Our desire to serve overseas goes back many years prior to our marriage, and has been a common thread throughout our life together. At the time we married, we anticipated being deployed overseas, serving with Brethren in Christ World Missions, within a few years of being married. God redirected us... and for how long, we didn't know. We ended up at The Meeting House 4.5 years ago, and it's been a wonderful place for us to serve, grow and engage in community.

And yet, that desire to serve overseas never died.

As a church, we desired to take a very active role in compassionate ministry to the people of Africa. We sent Joel and Julianne for 10 months to research how we could do that. The decision was made that we needed to partner with an organization that is already there, already doing great work. The last thing we wanted to do was to be a big church with big money, going in and doing things our own way. There's already lots of very intelligent, skilled people on the ground doing great work in Africa. God has gifted us with financial resources... we need to use that to support the great work that's already in place. The organization we feel we are best suited to partner with, and with whom we have the opportunity to make the biggest impact, is Mennonite Central Committee. (Learn more about them at www.mcc.org.)

So our goal as a church is to double MCC's budget for Southern Africa over the next 5 years. We want to raise millions of dollars for them to use to strengthen existing programs in Africa, and to create new ones.

Part of our committment was also to provide personnel... in several ways. Our leadership wants to send a couple (or family) from the church to live in Africa, to fulfill a couple of objectives:

- Communication

If we are asking people in our community to give millions of dollars, we have a responsibility to communicate with them how those finances are being used. We place a high value on communication within our community.

- Logistics

We want to not just send money, but also people. People to serve in various short-term capacities. People to just go and "do life" together with our African family. People who can come back to Canada and share with passion about what's going on there... keeping the vision alive for partnering with MCC and our African brothers and sisters. Others who desire to use specific skills and educational experience to work alongside the Africans for a short period of time.

So we are hopeful that by the middle of 2008, our family will be on the ground, in Africa, fulfilling this role. In so many ways, this is a very good fit for Arja and I. It fits our passions and our skills. It fits with our desire to serve others, and it fits with our desire to serve together as a family. It's the ideal time for our children, and we know that they will gain incredible life experience from it.

Our trip to Zimbabwe in November served to affirm our desire. We came back with a love for the people, for the land, and a passion to use our gifts to serve. We gained a huge appreciation for wonderful things that are happening there, and a burden for the very saddening state of affairs in some regards.

There are many things we will give up when we leave Canada. We will sell our home, our cars, and 99% of our possessions. We will give up our salaries. We will give up much. But we will gain SO MUCH MORE. We will learn to live simply. We will learn to value community over commercialism. We will live, travel, learn and work together as a family. I will learn to slow down (I know many people are waiting to see that happen!)

We trust that through our work, we will help a community of nearly 5000 people in Canada engage in meaningful ways with millions of people in Africa, carrying out the practical teaching of Jesus to love our neighbours. We will be a part of helping people's physical needs be met. We will witness people die of HIV/AIDS, and we will witness others live because they received ARV treatment that they couldn't afford themselves. We will meet people who are starving, and we will work alongside people as they plant gardens with seeds they bought because of micro-loans. We will use video and blogging to tell people's stories... people like Rebecca, whom you can meet through our November Zimbabwe video... (see it here)

I can't wait to meet more of these people, and to introduce you to them.

This posting isn't formalized yet. We have been in discussion with MCC and The Meeting House leadership team. In January, we will formalize our application and interview with MCC. From there, we need to work out a few logistical details, and then, if all goes smoothly, by July, we'll be packing our stuff and boarding a plane.
Where, exactly, we will live, is yet to be determined. It will likely be either Choma, Zambia, or Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. But our role will take us throughout all of Southern Africa.

Stay tuned in the new year as things progress.

Wow - this is intense.

I LOVE church production! I love lighting, video, creative elements. I love creating relevant experiences for the churched and unchurched alike. I love taking "the world's" music and using it for our purposes - tying it into themes that serve the purpose of sharing Jesus.

That's my job.

The Meeting House does a pretty good job of it.

So what is it about this video from Buckhead Church (a campus of Northpoint - whom I have alot of respect for) that strikes me as "too much?"

We always tread the fine line between relevant, and over-produced. Maybe it's my evergrowing passion for Africa that makes this seem over-the-top. It's not a secret around here that I'm feeling less passionate about this stuff personally. I know that what I do is very important for The Meeting House to function... but I'm personally less and less excited about "production" in the church context. I'm just becoming more passionate about using my skills to serve people in Africa and helping our community engage with that part of the world, as opposed to pushing the sensory envelope in church here in Canada.

What Buckhead has done here is not at all philosophically different from what we do at TMH. It's just that they have bigger budgets and can do more. Don't misread me - I mean no judgement or disrepect to Buckhead. They, and the whole Northpoint family, are incredible, and passionate about Jesus, and do a great job of moving people into community, doing life together following Jesus.

What do you think?

A fun experiment

Not sure I believe this... but I'm certainly going to try it. I will post my results after I've given it a whirl!

Weekend in Orillia with The Birch Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Reflections on Zimbabwe

A video piece I put together while Arja and I visited Zimbabwe with Joel and Julianne.

Images of Zimbabwe

An African mud hut!



I had to go around the world to milk a cow!



Playing volleyball with some students from Ekuphelini Bible Institute.



Beauty speaks for itself.



Arja and a new friend!



Rebecca - probably one of the most beautiful people I have met. Not long ago, she was on death's door because of HIV/AIDS. Now, thanks to ARV drugs, she is regaining her strength!



I had the privilege of praying for this woman. Unfortunately, she will probably die of AIDS.



At the peak of Lupate - a local mountain.



Arja saying goodbye to the Grade Zero class at Mshtabezi Primary School. There were 83 children in this class with one teacher.



More school kids.



Cynthia - an 11 year old who stole our hearts.



Vuio - the son of our Zimbabwean hosts.



What's in the backyard? Oh, just some clean laundry drying on the line...and cows.



The Danhoundo Family - MCC Country Reps in Zimbabwe, originally from Benin, West Africa.



The pictures that follow are of Shelton, Magret and Concilia - 3 young children (the oldest is 12, I believe) who live on their own. These are 3 kids - kids who have been orphaned by AIDS - that I will never forget.

Halloween 2007

Two princesses and their police escort.
 

The Good Ol' Days

My absolute all-time favourite Sesame Street Clip! I love these guys!

Did you know...

... over 6000 people die every day in Africa due to HIV/AIDS
... estimates suggest that by 2025, the death toll in Africa could reach 100 million
... nearly 2/3 of the world's cases of HIV infection are in Sub-Saharan Africa
... life expectancies in Southern Africa are 30 to 40 years
... one of the most sustainable trades in southern Africa is building coffins
... HIV infection is spread in such high numbers in large part due to ignorance
... Anti-retroviral drugs are available that significantly improve the quality and length of life for those living with AIDS. (Too bad they can't afford them)
... child-headed families are becoming a significant issue in Africa as children lose both of their parents to AIDS

And my typical response as a North American?

"Man - that sucks. Now where is the nearest Starbucks? I gotta get some gas first. Damn the oil companies - they are ripping me off. Shall I make steak for dinner tonight or go to Swiss Chalet? Bless me Lord. Pass the beer nuts."

Yes - I'm pointing the finger at ME - not at you. But I'm also pointing it at our friggin selfish culture.

Rant complete (for now)

Kanah on Grandpa's Restored Cockshutt

 
 
 

Taly's 4th Birthday

 
 
 
 

just because...

 
... i love this picture. no other reason needed!

Mute Math was amazing!

If you have the chance to see Mute Math live in concert - DO IT! I went with a few guy friends from church last Friday to London (Ontario - not UK) to see them in a small club. Wow - unbelievable show! Worth every bit of the $22 the ticket cost me (compare that to most arena show prices!).

And speaking of concerts - I continue to get asked by the girls (for instance - tonight at dinner) when we'll see U2 in concert. I hope to take them to see the film "U23D" this fall when it is released!

Back to reality

Just in case there's someone out there still reading this poor excuse for a blog... :)

I am still alive. My blog continues to collect dust, as I have just gone on enjoying a very pleasant summer.

But now the summer is over and it's back into real life! Well - I can't complain - it's been great... and it's good to get back into the swing.

August was really great. We started it off by spending a week at the cottage with Benj and Shel and their kids. Cottage life is so great! Lots of beach time, lots of paddling, and no agenda - just chill time. It was really nice seeing the kids enjoy themselves so much. It was also nice to put them to bed and sit outside with B & S - hangin' out as friends.

A couple fun pictures of the kids playing. We went to the beachfront park one evening (the Georgian Bay side of the Peninsula) so they could play. Of course, they ended up in the water in their clothes...and Georgian Bay water is COLD! You can see they didn't mind.






Another highlight was taking the kids to Canada's Wonderland for the first time ever! I know I talk about my kids alot... but that's because I get few greater joys than to see them having fun, learning, caring for others - they are just so great. My girls proved that they have no fear! They were all about the roller coasters! Ahh - just like their daddy! Kanah wanted to go on an "upside down" roller coaster. So we went! She was stoked. OK - it scared her once it started, but she was so brave for trying it and she didn't cry. She said she'd "do it again next year, and she would try to keep her eyes open"!

But now it's back to the grind.

Kanah started Grade 1 last week. She is LOVING it. Her teacher says very positive things about her, and she's obviously doing well. The full days have been a pretty smooth adjustment for her. It's neat to see her French developing quickly.



Taly had her JK "interview" with her teacher on Monday. They "test" each child individually to see how advanced they are. Apparently her teacher was very impressed. I know - my kids are so smart... and I know... I'm bragging! :)

Today was Taly's first day of JK. She was very excited, and seemed to have no separation anxiety.




This afternoon, Taly started dance class. Those that know her well know that she LOVES to dance, twirl, spin, dress up, and dance some more. She's very excited to be starting lessons (and soon getting her own dance outfit).

Kanah will be starting an art class very soon. She shows a very strong creative side and loves to draw, colour, and make crafts.

We have had a very good summer. It's time get back to reality!