Nice is very nice.

We have been on the road now for almost 2 full months! It has been crazy to be out of the country for this long! I am starting to get very use to traveling and the constant change on this journey. America seems so far away..

France was such a beautiful place like you would expect but France needs missionaries!!! I never would have thought about it before had we not gone there but i now see the need! It is such a dark place despite all the physical beauty. Most people have every luxury but no inner happiness (sound familiar?). I feel as though when you get out of the States life gets a little more chilled out. We are always moving in the US. Our ministry there consisted of working with an IBC or International Baptist church which was founded out of Denton. The pastor, James Arnold, also from Denton, he, his wife and 5 kids have been living there for 5 years. They plan on living there till God calls them somewhere else.

Here are some of the things we did during that week..

1) We helped a guy named Edwin by cleaning his apartment. Sounds simple but it was a little more dirty than the average slob (I have some gross pictures later). Upon arriving, they told us that a common problem with most people in France is depression. They told us how France has an abnormally high suicide rate and the citizens don’t understand why. Most people in France do not want to have anything to do with religion, especially christianity. After trying Catholicism for many years and it not bringing joy, they believe all religions are the same and are a waste of time. The pastor said it has been difficult to see very many people come to Christ there despite their outreach efforts. The devil has a hold on the hearts of the people in France due to materialism.
Back to our friend Edwin though.. He was one of the many who struggles with severe depression, obesity, and his faith. He was a church member who just needed to jump start his life again. Our friend Egor who took care of us while we were there (from Serbia) said we should just clean out the whole place. It was a disaster. Edwin had lived there for 13 years and had never thrown away anything or cleaned. He couldn’t part with his junk. He had a cat and there was a layer of cat hair on EVERYTHING in the apartment. Needless to say it looked like an episode of “Horders” (TV show about people like him). After 2 full days of cleaning us guys made the place look completely different. (only us guys went to his place because it was too disgusting for us to let the girls go haha if that gives you a picture. After it was all done he came to church for the first time in a couple months and worshiped. Praise the Lord.

2) Their church was having a bilingual camp for the community which brings in about 60 community kids who want to learn english. The theme was Pandalooza. Don’t ask me how they came up with this theme haha. Last year 6 kids came to accept Christ so they were extremely excited about it this year again! With a Panda theme comes Panda stuff like Bamboo and boy did they need a lot of bamboo. One day we cut all morning and afternoon which was so crazy to do in France! Haha I of course found the axe and all of us guys and girls played our parts cutting down, trimming, and bundling the bamboo to take to the church. We even got attacked by a heard of goats at one point!! That is a story however I will need to tell you in person to get the full effect. It was a full day. The next day consisted of cutting out different decorations for the walls and doors as well as placing the bamboo around the church. By the end of those 2 days, they had a full scale jungle in the church for the bilingual camp which is taking place this week! We are all praying that many new believers come to know the Lord through this camp.

3) While we were there, their basketball camp was also going on. During this time Blake was allowed shared the gospel and we were able to play with the kids. A guy named Mike who is a professional basketball coach from Germany came down with one of his players Maurice who was also a Christian. They have been doing this every year for a few years now and it has been a great way to share the gospel and get to know the neighborhood kids. Kids in France are not too tall so getting to see those guys dunk was all that was needed to grab their attention haha. What a great ministry..

The most memorable thing to me was getting to talk to a guy named Jérome Maillot one night. He was in his early 30s and a professional photographer. Paul and I had been walking around looking for people to talk to as well as a place to eat for dinner. After walking to 8 shops that were either too expensive or closed we frustratedly went to a sandwich shop and sat down at the park. I saw a guy that was by himself and went to go sit and talk. Surprisingly he spoke English and wanted to hang out! We could tell it had put him in a better mood. After hanging, goofing off, and playing Bachi ball (like horseshoes except with heavy metal balls) with each other we invited him to dinner the following night. He agreed and the next night after dinner we drove out to the beach with him to introduce him to the other church members. At dinner he shared how he had been feeling depressed and how he had gave up on religion 13 years ago. He had said religion was all a ploy to control people and that he didnt think he could ever be good enough. Through talking we were able to defend the faith and love on the guy. He even agreed after playing volleyball that night together to go to church on Sunday! We serve a big loving God. It was great see how the Lord did EVERYTHING. Now looking back we realize how much it was a divine appointment.

Thank you for reading this long blog. The Lord has been teaching me great things. Mainly about my pride and my need for his love. Life all really has to do with bringing Him glory. We do that most when we most delight ourselves with his goodness and mercy.

All for Him,
Luke

“Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up” -James 4:10

Lulwanda. The Rock.

The journey to Uganda began a little something like this..

Leaving India proved to be very difficult. Before we left all of the children gave us notes that they had written for us saying things like “Thanks for taking us to KFC and waterpark. We love you and miss you”. We were presented each with a mug with our picture on it with all of the precious kids. It is not easy leaving people that show so much love.

We flew to the Dubai airport which is a beautiful building as our first stop on the journey. I am pretty sure i pulled an all-nighter course with all the time changes it can be hard to tell. The Lord has definitely given each of us on the team strength when we need it throughout this journey. From there we flew to Addis Ababa, Etheopia and finally to Entebbe, Uganda. What a ride..

Getting off the plane I was imediately surprised. Mbale, Uganda which was our final stop on the journey where we stayed was beautiful! Funny things started happening almost as soon as we left the airport. As we were driving along and getting to know who we would be working with, the car slammed to a halt. I heard the driver start to laugh and expected to see a cow or something in the road like in India but it was a little different this time. Out in the middle of the busy street a madman (who apparently comes there frequently) was walking buttnaked down the road in all the traffic. Hilarious. The whole 5 hour drive after that was mainly uneventful on the really poor roads except for the few potholes that sent us flying. The view of the rolling green hills was breath taking. When i think of Africa, what comes to my mind is the huts, the mud brick houses, and the flat dirt savannahs. The first two were definitely there in parts but this could be the greenest place on the planet. God did good.

The orphanage we worked at there is called Lulwanda meaning “the rock”. It has 110 orphans from the community and it is amazing to see how blessed they have been by the Lord’s provision. Reading each of the kids stories was so sad to hear what inhumanities they had been through prior to being at the orphanage. All of the children had lost either 1 or both of their parents to HIV aids except for one who had a mental disability.

For the majority of the time, we were support missionaries doing behind the scenes stuff more than interacting with the kids there. This was a major change from India where we were with the kids 24/7. We stayed busy painting the buildings around the compound which desperately needed it. By the end we had painted the inside of 10 different buildings. Although at times the work felt mundane and repeptitive, we serve a God which works through the mundane parts of life to accomplish supernatural things. Praise Him for that.

During the weekend, we had the morning off and 4 of us guys decided to take a hike up Mt. Elgon which is the local mountain we drove by each day. We originally thought it would be a 6 hour roundtrip turned into a 9 hour 11 1/2 mile hike with 2500 feet ascension. Oh my goodness, so worth it. We hiked up with our guide named Enoch who happened to be a christian as well and worked as the night guard at the house where we stayed. He became a friend of mine on that journey and is one of the people i will definitely be keeping up with when this journey is over. God allowed us 4 guys who went to encourage him with his family and with his job. He explained to us that we must tell people back home in America about him and his poverty as well as so many others who are in great need. He told us he did not understand how people that have so much and do not help others more. I would be lieing to him if I didn’t tell you. I will for sure be posting a picture of him and his small brick home he invited us into soon.

God has been teaching me, through Enoch and others, how important it is to love those close to you. Especially those that are your enemies and how much of a witness that is for the God of love we serve. He has been showing me how to love others with more than words but with actions and with my time. I have learned that I must become less in order for him to become more in my life. Throughout history, God has always used the “lowest of the low”. Whether it is the young, the lame, the orphans, the poor, the broken, the prostitutes, the destitute, or the powerless; God loves using those those who can give him the most glory back for their success. God deserves all glory and all recognition for his workings on this earth. Why would he use someone who is going to claim it was on their own strength they succeeded? I must constantly be making myself less so that God will choose raise me up in His perfect time.

1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalted you”

Thank you everyone for all the prayer you have blessed me with.

I love you all very much and miss you.

In Him,

Luke

1 Peter 5:9 “Resist him standing firm in the faith knowing that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings”

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What a mighty God we serve.

I first would like to apologize for how long it has been since my last post on here. We had no internet access in India till the very end and have not had any in Uganda till this day.

The plus is after all this time i have some great stories to tell from India..

After being at the Emmanuel orphanage in India for only 2 days i fell in love with the kids. Since there is a cast system in most of India, orphans are considered the lowest of the low. The Hindu religion believe that since they are orphans they must have done some horrible sin in their previous life to deserve such a difficult and poor life; therefore, no one helps any of them. The children had so much joy and loved to be with and hang out each of us which was so encouraging. The kids were always touching your hair, hanging on your arm, or sleeping on you. Each of them had such a funny and playful personality that I got to know by the end very well. Total there were 80 orphans but only 40 were there for most of the time. The conditions were definitely not easy considering we had no A/C, no running water, and no showers (sticky salt water bucket baths were the way we had to go). We also had to wake up at 530 everyday while we were there for morning prayer. They had prayer 3 times a day which included songs and memory verse recital. Most of the rest of the day we played games, played sports, or helped build their new church building. The food was interesting to put it lightly but i never went hungry so praise God. It was difficult at times but it made it so much easier when I thought about how these kids experienced these conditions day after day without a word of complaining. Their joy was not tied to a circumstance or an emotion but to their love for their King. These kids had hardly any possessions to their name but never asked for ours or for anything more than what they had been given.

A story to go along with this astounding character was a little boy of 8 named Sergreive who had a big protruding cyst on his back filled with fluid about the size of a golf ball. We found this cyst on our 3rd day there only because another friend of his told us about it. He had developed it about 2 years ago and they said he hardly ever complained about it despite the look of pain. He had been in pain for so so long. After persisting to the caretakers, we took him to a local hospital (if you can even call it that with all the flies and rust garden trimmer which was used to cut the tape). If you can keep in mind, he has no pain medicine and no anesthetics up to this point and has not let out a single tear or complaint. I am still amazed when i think about what happened next. The doctor took off the bandages we had put on him the day before and proceeded to squeeze and pinch this boys wound to try and relieve some pressure and fluid. It looked so painful, i think most of the group was wincing when they saw it but he still never cried. I think he was closer to smiling than crying to be honest as i held his hand. I saw a grown man squeal in pain when this was done in the US. The Lord totally gave him the strength he needed. For the next week, we were all able to watch his joy and excitement after he had been healed. Never complaining. Never crying. Only thankful. I am amazed.

Another praise is that we were able to take all of the kids to the waterpark!! They had been looking forward to the chance of it happening for a year. Thank you all who sent in money to help us take the kids. I pray that you who gave are so blessed. Just to paint a picture from our perspective, I have never seen as much back hair/speedos as I did that day. We also got to witness an Indian dance competition which was needless to say ridiculously hilarious. The water was almost brown and there was a lot of creepy older men hanging around the park but wouldn’t you know it the kids loved every minute! They were so tired by the end of the day they all fell asleep on us on the ride home.

One day i was particularly amazed. KFC. Kentucky Fried Chicken. The kids were in heaven! I can think of many friends back in the states who normally can not STAND this place haha including myself. You would have thought we were at the Kings dinner table. They were all laughing it up. I just can’t help but think how ungrateful I am. One kid told us he had been praying for 2 weeks for a chance to get to go to KFC which we didn’t even find out till afterwards. How cool to be used to answer his prayer! Most everyone had never been before. Not even once. Us Americans are so blessed. P.S. I think at least 3 of the staff asked to take a picture with me considering i was a white person haha definitely a first for me #feelinglikeacelebrity

Another crazy experience was definitely riding a motorcycle around India for errands and driving one myself. One of the workers who was 23 named Vikram and I became friends so he let me drive it around some. Things i had to remember: cars don’t stop for you, people don’t stop, bugs are big and feel like rocks when you hit them, and finally drive on the left side of the road. Weird. I don’t think mother would be happy but what a blast.

I wish i could tell some more stories but I don’t have time and I do not want to bore anyone reading. Please when i get back come ask because what God has been teaching me has been incredible. Just a few things God has been teaching me shortly.

Life is short. Serve diligently. Love passionately. Character matters. Sacrifice unconditionally.

“God uses most those who make themselves least”

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness”

Please continue praying for me. I love and miss you all.

P.S. I am actually in Mbale, Uganda now at the Children’s Home here but I don’t have enough time to tell what is going on at the moment but I hopefully will have time shortly.

Luke

Indian Waterpark?

Hong Kong was the adventure of a lifetime.  I think one day we ended up walking over 21 miles and carrying over 250 lbs on each journey.  I am confident it was the Lords strength that got us through each time to the others side.  In all we made 11 trips across and delivered over 6000 B’s to some of which have been asking for over 2 years! And we probably each have 3 at home and sometimes dont read it everyday.  It is such a need to bring them the word especially those who just don’t have access to them deep in the heart of southeast asia.  Overall, it was such an adrenaline rush and an adventure every journey that was made.  It was hard to say goodbye to the friends I have made but thanks to the internet it is not as bad. We played settlers of catan 2 nights. nbd. Nothing is as unifying as that game haha. I am looking forward to coming back in the future to see what the Lord has done in one years time.

Yesterday we flew from HK to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.  After spending the night on our wonderful inflatable sleep mats in the airport we flew to New Delhi where we were picked up by some of the people who run the orphanage.

We are at an internet cafe right now just outside of New Delhi not too far from the orphanage.  It has been already such an incredible time to see the joy and the hearts of all the orphans that live here.  Each year that this group comes we try and take them to pizza hut one day as well as the local waterpark! This is such a treat for those who never really get to leave for much more than just school down the road.  We have figured out we have enough money to take the ones who are here now (40 total) but we are in need for more money to take the ones who are coming tomorrow (another 40) to the waterpark.  It will cost about 600$ to take all of them to the waterpark.  As a team we are asking our supporters and those following the blogs to please consider donating some money to allow us to do this!  Every little bit helps and I hope that you will think of the joy it will bring them if you can do it.  I promise to post some pictures of each of them playing at the waterpark if we can make this happen.  But enough of that..

Thank you all so much for all the prayers. If you can lift up a few more prayers that would be nice (sleeping on the floor with no A/C without beds, western toilets, and running water with bugs everywhere and 85 degrees as the low hasn’t been easy).  Yesterday we jumped around in the mud and rain with all the kids playing soccer.  This has been a crazy journey around the world.  It is amazing to see how the God we serve back in the US is the same God as we have here.  I miss you guys.

Please consider giving at globaljourney.org and put in the purpose section “Waterpark” if God leads to you to do so

In Him,

Luke

1 trip across

The concrete jungle of HK

Pictures. Lots of Pictures.

I just thought I might share some pictures of the trip thus far. I will try and tell some stories as I go to explain some pictures.

Aerial pictures of HK from the plane flight

This weekend we had a break and were able to take some time and see HK island up close for the first time! This was a great get away for us to see the people we were ministering to during our time here. At night was so beautiful!

Haha oh and I almost forgot look who’s hand prints I found on the deck where I took the pictures above. Why not right?

Bruce Lee.

This picture is from a couple of days ago when we were in Beijing but I thought I might share it now. It’s the Olympic stadium for those that don’t know. Pretty sweet huh?

One day we stumbled upon a meat market. If you don’t like to know where your food comes from don’t look at these. I can’t tell you how cool this was. It’s not just a hamburger from a hamburger tree haha.

Saddest chicken I have ever seen..

Saturday during some time off we decided as a group to go hiking the tallest mountain in HK which was a blast and who would have know we found this thingy. Still don’t know what is but heck it makes for a great pic hah.

I’m going to preface these next pictures and say this was an incredibly fun way we spent our Saturday off. After getting all nasty from hiking in this humid rainforest of a mountain we went for a swim and it was incredible. Here are some of the pictures that followed..

It was a great weekend but now it’s back to the hard stuff. I hope to be able to show y’all pictures about what we are REALLY doing here soon but for now i need to protect those we are working with. Today He did some incredible things and stories I can’t wait to tell each of you in person. Until then please keep our group and me in your prayers and let me know if I can be praying for you about anything. I might have more time/less distractions here than some might..

I miss you guys. Feels free to text me. I have unlimited incoming. I still love you even if I don’t quickly respond.

YOLO,
Luke

Mavs 2011 NBA Champs! Whoop! (watched it on skype halfway around the world)

Hong Kong!

God was just showing off when he made hong kong no doubt about it. This place is an absolutely incredible! I am at our flat right now on the 16th floor in downtown HK watching some older women doing yoga/ti chi/something really weird on the roof a few floors down haha it’s cracking me up.

We rode out here after the flight on a double decker bus which definitely reminded me of something out of Harry Potter! It is amazing to see the beauty of this city. I woke up this morning to see the rising skyscraper flats, the the rolling hills, the cloud covered mountains in the distance, and the blue water bay filled with ships from all around the world. I can see the huge bridges connecting the broken islands, the soccer stadiums, the old Chinese restaurants, and the swimming pools. Most imortantly i see the Chinese cities we travel to filled with people searching for a peace that comes from our savior.

Yesterday and today we have been traveling and making deliveries of books to china. The most amazing stuff has been taking place! Dad has been making us invisible when necessary and blinding the eyes of those watching us. On any given day we can take hundreds of pounds with us to be delivered to those in need despite the scanners and inspections. Today I was stopped for the first time but for some reason the man only took a small amount and was so incredible! The team has ben working so hard and will hopefully continue. This trip isfar from over.. Through a lot of sweat, persistence, and prayer we made our deliveries. Hallelujah!

Yesterday evening we had some time when all was finished to go into china and get some food. Our guide took us to this Japanese Italian food place to get some food. Check out what was available for under 2$! McDonalds has nothing on this..

Please continue praying for us!

Luke

I thought today would never come!

It could not be more exciting! I have been training in new branfels for the past 3 days and been waiting since November to finally leave. The lord has been revealing so much to us about other cultures, how to behave and surprisingly a lot about myself.

Since early last week we have been getting information on how to serve and share the gospel in other countries. We have been growing close to one another and I have realized how blessed I am to have the team I have. Where I fall short they excel; we are starting to become a team that is the body of Christ. Gods planning is flawless. While here we have floated the Comal river in tubes, played random farkle dare games (which I have lost: check out Traviscrawfordjourney.wordpress.com), and laughed until it hurt.

Please be praying for me. Thank you so much you who diligently are, it is making the difference. The Lord has already been revealing how much he is going to work this summer.. Even through a sinner such as me.

Excited and hopeful,
Luke

The adventure of a lifetime.

I first off just want to say thank you to all the many supporters who have supported me and what our group, Global Journey, is doing this summer!  The Lord is so powerful and mighty and to be praised.  I have seen such amazing things happen in not only support raising but in just the fashion the Lord has chosen to provide, which is just a testament to his majesty!  I have been asked by a number of people to send a list of where we will be traveling this summer so here is the itenary..

• June 6^th: Fly to Asian country via Vancouver (distributing books)
• June 16^th: Fly to New Delhi, India via Kuala Lumpur (orphanage)
• June 26^th:  Fly to Entebbe, Uganda via Dubai & Addis Ababa (children’s home)
• July 7^th:  Fly to Nice, France via Nairobe & Doha (painting and construction)
• July 17^th:  Fly to San Jose, Costa Rica via Rome, Frankfurt, and Santo Domingo (counselors at a sports camp)
• July 30^th:  Fly to San Antonio

Its going to be such an adventure learning how the Lord is moving through the church in different countries and how to do share as Paul did in 1st Chorinthians. He said, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”  I think one of the things I can be most excited about is that I know that I do not have what it takes on my own to be effective for the gospel in these MANY extremely different environments.  To be what these people need,  I need to become so much more than just myself.  I need to be what i am in Christ.

Please pray for me and for the hearts of the people we will come in contact with as we embark on this amazing journey.  I can not do it without your support. (I really do not think i can)

5 countries, 4 continents, 60 days, 1 purpose!

Luke

Still learning.

Nicaragua.

I was blessed to be able to join the Philadelphia Sisters with some of my fellow brothers in the Brotherhood of Christian Aggies as we traveled to Managua, Nicaragua this last week.  I was able to see those guys and girls selflessly serve. It amazed me to see how smoothly a trip can progress when everyone has a eternal mindset. Weird huh?

We were able to be there for 8 days starting on the 1st of January.  The ministry we were a part of is called Chosen Children Ministries which focuses on evangelism and discipleship of the people in the barrios outside of Masaya.  Each morning we would ride a bus out to the barrio where we would do either VBS, Youth Evangelism, or Construction.

It was always interesting to see how what we thought we might do during the day always seemed to change.  The Lord never wanted us to be comfortable.  It would have been too easy to start thinking selfishly.

Going into this trip i thought i had a lot figured out about the character and power of God.  It is so humorous to me about how ignorant I can be when I have the Word of God at my fingertips.  I have always been a sceptic when it comes to the Holy Spirit’s movement in normal people.  During this trip, I was able to encounter a new side of God through the spirit of God moving.  I have always skeptically believed the Holy Spirit could do supernatural things but never until this trip believed it would actually happen to someone like me.

The topic that was talked about on the Sunday we arrived had been the Holy Spirit and how real it can be in our lives if we ask to be filled with it.  The message had emphasized the importance of prayer in a Christians life and how crucial it is that we pray to be filled by the Holy Spirit every day.  It had been 4 days since that message and since then it had been a goal of mine to make sure to ask the Lord that I as well as the rest of the team would be filled by the Holy Spirit.  It was January 5th and we were concluding our evening in a similar fashion as we had the previous nights.  The evening consisted of eating another portion of beans and rice as well as the special for the evening.  We sat outside under the roof and told of how we had seen the Lord work or what we personally had been learning.  There then would be a time of worship followed up by prayer.

This time was different.

As we were finishing our stories of the day, we realized that there were many people who we each had talked to who either needed prayer or we had told we pray for them.  Instead of lifting up prayer for these people one by one as a group or on our own time, we decided that we would try something a little different for prayer.  We decided that everyone should out loud, at the same time lift there requests to God.  It is one thing to gather in worship but it is a thing unlike anything i have ever experienced to gather in prayer before the King.

This is where it gets crazy.  As i finished up praying, I looked up in just shear wonder and excitement as i heard the voices of everyone in prayer. I have never felt the Holy Spirit was more in a single place.  I looked up at the lights and saw them start to move side to side ever so slightly.  My first thoughts were, “Oh, I am crying again”, and that is why they are moving.  It has to be my blurred eyes. But i wasn’t.  It was so strange for me to see those lights move ever so slightly back and forth.  I continued to watch these lights confused by what i was seeing.  As the final person in the group said, “Amen”, you could hear a hush go over the place.  It was unmistakably the Lord.  After a minute of silence, I looked up at the lights to now again to see not only lights moving back and forth ever so slightly but to see an unmistakable swaying movement of the lights.  The whole building looked as if it were being shaken.  It was the strangest thing.  I didn’t understand what was happening but then I was told about this verse.

Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

I get chills just thinking about that moment.  The Holy Spirit was undeniably filling that place and place was shaken.  I have doubted and skeptically believed the stories of others before even when I have his Word right in front of me. This is why I now realize how much I still have to learn about the Holy Spirit and who God is.  I am still learning.

And hopefully will not ever stop..

Luke

 

How about some pictures?

Coolest kid ever. All he ever wanted was a toy. Stinker made me cry.. Twice.

My favorite translator who was an absolute punk the whole time we were there! I think he just pulled out my leg hair here.

Playing tag with the kids which always turned into a big wrestle match.

 

This is a picture of me walking into the barrio called Marvin.  I had a spanish-english bible for a friend there i had to give him.  It would allow him to learn English better and learn about the Lord more.  His name was Franklin and he had been a Christian for a year.