I've had many people asking me about my most recent trip to the far side of the world along with my team. I've been able to share a little bit through here as well as a little bit face-to-face with a few people. As much as I'd love to sit down one-on-one with every person I know and get into great detail about my experiences (and I'll do my best to actually do that with those who would genuinely be interested), it's just not always that feasible of an option.
This is why I'm inviting you to come to Wooddale Church this Sunday, July 29 at 1:30pm for a full-team report-back from our trip. There will be a whole lot more than just our report-back going on throughout the day, some of which will involve our team and a lot of which will involve other teams and individuals who will be sharing about what God is doing throughout the world right now.
It promises to be an awesome day - especially at the evening service, The Gathering, at 7pm. There will be good food, fun videos, amazing stories, and tons of cool cross-cultural artifacts on display. I hope everyone in town will make a point to put this on your calendar and come to hear about the opportunities God has blessed us with and share in our experiences together.
If you have any questions or anything, send me an email - JeffreyGrounds@gmail.com - and I'll happily fill you in on any additional details you may need.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Good Guys Win (by Jimmy Buffett)
I've been back a week as of today (Monday, July 23). I have to admit, it's weird to make such a fuss about having been gone for only two weeks. However, God has certainly done a whole lot more with a whole lot less time! It was an interesting dichotomy between how wonderful it was to be back to some of the places I love with some of the people I had grown so close to while at the same time being a bit frustrated and disappointed at having such a short amount of time back. What's especially surprising to me is how the jet lag has been hitting me. I sleep fine but I keep hitting a wall every afternoon/evening. Hopefully I'll be all caught up soon.
Traveling with a team was filled with surprises for me. It's been so long since I've traveled with so many people. Isn't it strange how after so many years of traveling alone and desiring to have travel companions that I would have struggles with traveling with a team? I've gotten so accustomed to traveling alone that I had to relearn how to travel with others once again. As is true with so many things in life, it was filled with so many pros and cons.
On the one hand, I had to deal with being responsible for a group of people who, for the most part, were inexperienced in traveling and were unfamiliar with the far side of the world and all that's involved in getting around, communicating, and dealing with cultural differences. Add to that the fact that the dynamics of traveling with a group provides so many more opportunities for Satan to use his favorite weapon against me: discouragement.
On the other hand, traveling with this team allowed me to see God at work in some truly awesome ways! I was blessed to be able to watch most of my team members, a few in particular, grow in their faith and experience God like never before in their life. One team member has a distinct new level of maturity and confidence in who he is in Christ; another team member is struggling with how to manage her newly recognized spiritual gift of compassion - a real blessing in disguise; still another team member emerged as a clear and distinct prayer warrior, instilled with a bold confidence in who God is and just how powerful and loving He is! And this is only a quarter of the team.
My trip was filled with blessings and discouragements and I can only hope and pray that I wasn't too much of a distraction for my team and the work God was doing in and through them. He is very clearly continuing to work in their lives now that we're back in MN - for some team members this is more of a struggle than would be expected. Please continue to pray for this team and all the goings on in their hearts, minds, souls, and lives. And, of course, continue to pray for the people who's lives we encountered while on the far side of the world. God is doing a mighty work in a global way!
Traveling with a team was filled with surprises for me. It's been so long since I've traveled with so many people. Isn't it strange how after so many years of traveling alone and desiring to have travel companions that I would have struggles with traveling with a team? I've gotten so accustomed to traveling alone that I had to relearn how to travel with others once again. As is true with so many things in life, it was filled with so many pros and cons.
On the one hand, I had to deal with being responsible for a group of people who, for the most part, were inexperienced in traveling and were unfamiliar with the far side of the world and all that's involved in getting around, communicating, and dealing with cultural differences. Add to that the fact that the dynamics of traveling with a group provides so many more opportunities for Satan to use his favorite weapon against me: discouragement.
On the other hand, traveling with this team allowed me to see God at work in some truly awesome ways! I was blessed to be able to watch most of my team members, a few in particular, grow in their faith and experience God like never before in their life. One team member has a distinct new level of maturity and confidence in who he is in Christ; another team member is struggling with how to manage her newly recognized spiritual gift of compassion - a real blessing in disguise; still another team member emerged as a clear and distinct prayer warrior, instilled with a bold confidence in who God is and just how powerful and loving He is! And this is only a quarter of the team.
My trip was filled with blessings and discouragements and I can only hope and pray that I wasn't too much of a distraction for my team and the work God was doing in and through them. He is very clearly continuing to work in their lives now that we're back in MN - for some team members this is more of a struggle than would be expected. Please continue to pray for this team and all the goings on in their hearts, minds, souls, and lives. And, of course, continue to pray for the people who's lives we encountered while on the far side of the world. God is doing a mighty work in a global way!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been (lyrics by Jim Morrison)
We have all made it safely to the point of beginning our journey back to MN from the far side of the world. Yesterday was a good day of fun, rest, and relaxation - for me it was a good time of revisiting old hangout places that have been much missed. Unfortunately, there is no time to get into any detail about the ways in which God has worked so immensely in each of our lives over the past 16 days. Each individual has their own story to tell and their own ways of expressing their experiences - frankly, it's not my place to rob them of that opportunity to share those things with you. What I can tell you is that there have been revelations, struggles, tears of joy, tears of heartache, old friendships revisited and new friendships formed; most of all, God has been realized by many and shared with even more. Keep us in your prayers as we begin our long journey back from the far side of the world. There will be stories to tell, pictures to share, and transformed hearts to witness upon our return. Thank you for all you have done in contributing to what God has been at work doing in and through each of us. We look forward to sharing these things with you one-on-one as well as at our report-back at Wooddale on July 29.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
At the End of the Day (by The Samples)
We're there! Well, pretty much. We've made it to the far side of the world (and if you don't mind my saying so, it's good to be back!) and are about to take a five-hour nap before hopping on the train to the ferry terminal and over to our final destination. Our first flight was long, but manageable. There were a couple of near-bouts with air-sickness, but we've all made it safe and sound and everyone is feeling healthy and glad to be here. It is yet to determine if we have a good night's sleep ahead of us, but we have a nice, quite area that is pretty much all to ourselves where we're able to spread out our sleeping pads and leave the cramped-up fetal-position style of sleeping on the plane behind us.
We've had no glitches so far and from here on out is the easy and familiar part for me. Frankly, I'm excited to be "home" again (which is exactly what it feels like)! In the morning we'll get up early, gather our belongings, and leave the comfort of air conditioning behind us for the hot and humid equatorial weather. Needless to say, it'll take a little getting used to, but I think the team is ready for it. They're gonna LOVE Base Camp =)
This will likely be the last blog posting for two weeks. We will be internet free once we step onto the ferry in the morning. Remember the travel policy in force here: No news is good news. In the case of any emergency we will be able to get word out to those necessary in a very short period of time - but I truly don't see that being a concern.
Please remember us in your prayers. This has been a good, yet uneventful trip thus far and we're anticipating a lot more of the good and a whole lot of "eventful" in the two weeks to come. We're excited, so I hope you're excited for us too. We are in good hands here - the best hands - God's hands! Find the same peace in that as we do.
We've had no glitches so far and from here on out is the easy and familiar part for me. Frankly, I'm excited to be "home" again (which is exactly what it feels like)! In the morning we'll get up early, gather our belongings, and leave the comfort of air conditioning behind us for the hot and humid equatorial weather. Needless to say, it'll take a little getting used to, but I think the team is ready for it. They're gonna LOVE Base Camp =)
This will likely be the last blog posting for two weeks. We will be internet free once we step onto the ferry in the morning. Remember the travel policy in force here: No news is good news. In the case of any emergency we will be able to get word out to those necessary in a very short period of time - but I truly don't see that being a concern.
Please remember us in your prayers. This has been a good, yet uneventful trip thus far and we're anticipating a lot more of the good and a whole lot of "eventful" in the two weeks to come. We're excited, so I hope you're excited for us too. We are in good hands here - the best hands - God's hands! Find the same peace in that as we do.
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