Here we are in Haiti!

Hey Everyone! Our Live OneWorld adventure has begun! We arrived in Haiti one week ago today. Every time I begin something new then I create a list of things I want to get out of the experience. Normally, broadcasting my experiences and trying to allow others to gain insights from what I have learned is at the top of my list (like the Live for Haiti campaign where I slept in a tent on the streets of DC to raise awareness and funds for shelter in Haiti). That has been fun. But right now I am at a different place in my life. I don’t want to bring attention to what I’m doing. One reason is because I don’t want to feed any sense of self-glorification. But mainly, it is because I want to have an experience with my wife where I am fully present to the moment. I want to concentrate on following God because I don’t know exactly where He is leading me.

I have always found my value in the things I produce, in the work I have done, and in the things I have accomplished. Some might think this is a good characteristic, but it is not. Value comes from God, and God alone. Value comes from the type of person I am becoming, not through the results of my work.

I need to pray more. God leads with a lamp… not a flashlight. I can only see the next step right in front of me, and I cannot see what is up ahead. I must trust that if I step in the direction that my innermost self instructs, then I will be led into fulfillment and not off of a cliff.

God has led my wife and I to Haiti. What are we doing here? Sure we are trying to run a Live OneWorld Global Education Initiative and set up transformative travel experiences to the developing world… but what are we really doing here; at a deeper level, not at the level of action but at the level of our souls?

We are here to grow, to be transformed. To grow closer to God, closer to each other, closer to the person within that God created us to be.

“In the beginning I could see the end,.
In advance, I knew of the things not yet done.
I say, my plans for you will stand.
In you, my purpose will come to pass.”
-a mixture of a passage somewhere in the bible and somewhere in my mind

God you have called us to Haiti and now here we are…

Live OneWorld Haiti1

New and improved blog

Hey everyone,
Just switched over my blog to reflect a few new facts about my own shifting life.  Since my last post, I have gotten married!

I met Monique in D.C. at the Haitian Embassy where she was reporting on Haitian orphans and I was working with the Haitian Ambassador.  While living in a tent in D.C. during a blizzard for a month to be in solidarity and raise funds for earthquake relief efforts,  Monique made sure I didn't die of hypothermia and cooked me more than a few good meals!  Then I left to Ft. Leavenworth Kansas to work with the Department of Defense to better understand the social and cultural elements of Afghanistan.  But after a lot of prayer with my new wife, we decided that we should serve together rather than apart.  So we both decided to get our nonprofit, Live OneWorld, going in full force.  What better way to start our lives together and the next chapter of L1W than to delve deeper into the cause that initially brought us together... Haiti.  So we are heading down to Haiti at the beginning of the year to do our part in rebuilding the country and creating stronger links between Haiti and the U.S.

Monique loves kids and so she has begun developing the L1W Global Education Initiative.  Not only will this program bring a much needed Global Perspective into classrooms across the U.S., it will also assist schools in Haiti with the resources they need to exist.  If you are interested in getting involved then please let us know!

I've been working on assisting our L1W college chapters (SLU, WashU, UIC, SCU, and Gonzaga) around the country.  Look at the top of this blog to see the amazing publications that are being produced at each of these schools.  We are looking to expand and if you would like to get your schools involved then please contact me.

We have a few other tricks up our sleeve as well... new projects and programs in the development phase to help us further our mission of creating leaders who live for global justice.   The first step you can take towards being a good global citizen is to arm yourself with knowledge about the reality of the world around you.  So start to get involved now by reading the magazines across the top of this blog. 

UN Helicopter ride!!!!

We delivered essential medicines to 10,000 people for 3 months with the World Health Organization. These UN organizations are really doing incredible work.

Haiti Recap

Hey Everyone!  I am home!  Not just from Haiti, but from DC as well.  I slept in my own bed last night for the first time in two and a half months.  I was only supposed to be gone for a week in DC for interviews to go to Afghanistan, but it turned into the craziest adventure of my life!

Upon arriving at the airport in DC a couple days ago I spoke to the youth mayors group about Haiti and how they can get their schools involved in the campaign to Live for Haiti.  Then I flew out in the morning to St. Louis with the Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph and his wife.  We spoke to students at Saint Louis University (SLU).  It was a great event and inspiring to see how much our young people are energized to continue living their lives in service to the Haitian cause.  Now I am back at home exhausted and recuperating.

Here is a video recap of the crazy adventure that has been my life for the past 2 1/2 months.