If you cannot see the video…click here…

No matter where you are at with respect to your relationship with God, you and I – all of us struggle to see God in the midst of life’s circumstances. It is a struggle we all have. Can you see God in your struggles and trials?

Well, even though we can’t always see Him…he is there. Many things are unexplainable yet there are equally as many things that are undeniable about His existence. I welcome you to watch my message below and I certainly would appreciate your feedback.

If you cannot see the video, the direct link to it is here…

I also showed two videos in the message one that opened and one that closed. You can watch those here…

It was a day exactly like today.  The weather forecasters were scheduling a a huge snowstorm to strike our region starting around noon.  It was Thursday, January 21, 1993.  I was out of town on the tail-end of a business trip and I decided to drive home early that morning so I could get home before the snow started to fly.  I was 3-hours away so I left at 7AM and arrived home around 10AM.

Life Unravelled

I won’t go into the long story here, but in the next hour, I uncovered some things that caused my life to come crashing down around me.  I discovered my wife was having an affair and I entered into the deepest valley of my life.  A valley that consumed me for the next two years.  My life was changed forever and that two year excursion formed a spiritual foundation with God that has been the anchor of my life to this day and it was that journey that molded me into the man I am spiritually.

My marriage was not restored, but the experiences along that road have opened up doors for me to counsel and encourage many other broken souls who have fallen into a similar dark crevice.

Storytelling

I know this blog is primarily about marketing and communication in the context of ministry.  I am discovering however, that being real and sharing my personal story is part of the process whereby people learn.  Each of us has a story.  It is vital that we leverage that story to represent God to a world in need of hope.  We must communicate - the good and the bad events of life so that we might display the hope that God grants each of us when we search for and lean on Him.  I was in a place completely void of hope during the worst period of my life to date.  However, God met me there and when I gave him what I thought was my last tear he picked me up and carried me out of the darkness. It was not immediate reclamation but I began to see light infuse the darkness of my world.

Hope

If you want to hear a real story about the breakdown and rebuilding of a marriage, I invite you to watch this video below.  It will move you deeply I am certain of that! It is 27-minutes but it is worth every minute. If you are married, please watch this and take stock of your own marriage and put guards in place to protect, maintain, and build into what you have – it is worth it!

L-R: Messiel(11), Me, Jennifer(6), Conzcelo, Missiel(11), Dennis(12)

Thursday was the day for me to finally meet my sponsored child Jennifer and her family.  As most of you are aware, this was the third attempt at making this happen over the past 2 1/2 years.  The meeting was finally a reality! We arrived at the Compassion Project facility on a bus.  The moment I stepped off there was this beautiful little girl dressed in a pretty light blue dress running towards me with her hand outstretched.  This is Jennifer!  I really had no idea what to expect from the initial moments of the meeting.  I was totally blown away!  I was expecting her to be more shy but she embraced me with with joyous passion.  The translator explained that she recognized me immediately from the pictures I had sent in letters over the last three years.  Immediately she asked “Where is Shelly“?  She understood that she could not be here because of her teaching responsibilities but it broke my heart that Shelly was missing out on this incredible moment. Her mother and three brothers were there at the project as well so I was greeted warmly with smiling faces.  The language barrier was erased by appreciation and love. We spent about 45 minutes at the project playing tether ball and she wanted to play Patty Cake with me.  That fun exchange is too awesome to describe.  She was a little shy in talking if I was not asking questions but she loved to interact in “play” and she kept holding my hand and would not let go.

Jennifer and I (Translator - Oscar)

We then walked to her house.  This community on the outskirts of the city dump is remote and very poor.  It is one of Tegucigalpa’s poorest neighbourhoods.  Her house is down a narrow lane-way and very small. There are two rooms, one a kitchen and the other the family room that includes the beds – there are two – one for her parents and baby brother and the other double bed is shared by Jennifer and her two older brothers. We spent about 45 minutes there learning about each other and I shared the gifts I had brought for her and her family.  Again she sat close to me and held my hand tightly the whole time.  Her Dad was supposed to have been there but for some reason had another commitment and was not at the home and I did not get to meet him.  Before we left, I prayed for her and her family and then we headed to visit the family of Ed’s sponsored child. One of the things Compassion had arranged was that they took all of us (the whole family) on a bus to a mall about 20 minutes away and we had lunch in the food court and then spent about an hour in the arcade.  From the moment we left the project, Jennifer was giddy and wide-eyed with excitement.  Her Mom explained that Jennifer has seldom left her home neighbourhood – it was clear she was exploding with the adventure.  She sat cuddled in to me on the bus for the whole ride pointing at all the exiting things she saw along the drive. This precious little girl – mi princesa was having the day of her life!  This is was one of the best days of my life too!  It was an added bonus that the entire adventure included her Mom and brothers.  They were a great family and they lovingly adopted me as the day unfolded.  Needless to say, without Shelly to restrain me,  I often went into “big-child” mode myself and had the whole bunch of them laughing and playing along.  If it annoyed her mother she certaimly didn’t show it I will save the details of the goodbye for another post…

I have a great deal to be thankful for as I celebrate forty three.

I know, I don’t look 43 – thank you .

I am probably the healthiest I have been physically, mentally, and spiritually…ever.  I have a great wife, a peaceful home and a renewed passion to connect with God and represent Jesus with a greater impact now than ever before in my life.  I want to continue to do this through serving in leadership in my local Halifax, Nova Scotia church, but I am excited by the opportunities that are unfolding for me to help churches around the world.

I truly believe that local Christian churches have the best message and story on the planet to tell.  I am now called to help churches communicate with greater effectiveness.  I am definitely at the beginning of a new adventure – a new mission.  The best part is, I am in the prime of my career.  I have enough experience, knowledge, and training to help churches make wise and effective choices and decisions.  I also have the time to continue to learn, experiment, and grow with technology as it evolves in our culture.

These are exciting days and I thank Jesus for His provision, blessing, encouragement, and direction.  This is going to be a great year!

This is brilliant comedy…enjoy!

Advent Conspiracy….

A friend sent me this video last week.  When researching for this post, I discovered that sadly, Ben died from cancer in January of this year at the age of 16.  He made the most of his situation.  He loved life.  Most importantly, he had a relationship with Jesus – which made all the difference in his life on this earth.  I look forward to meeting Ben in heaven.  Thanks for encouraging us Ben…you are an inspiration!