You Are Viewing Goin' to Town

I’ve always been enthralled by the ability of the iPhone to allow you to use location-based apps. I wrote an early entry about Loopt vs Whrll. Since then, there’ve been a series of great apps out using the phone’s capabilities from the start, among them:

• Loopt
• Whrll
• Brightkite
• Gowalla

I wrote reviews of the above apps while I was writing for AppAdvice.com. You can see those articles about Whrrl, Loopt and Brightkite here.

New to the location-based apps (and there are dozens out there now) are My Town and Foursquare. They both offer a twist beyond the mere “check-in” of others. Each app is a game or competition. I tried Foursquare for a while, but grew really tired of having to manually enter the locations – with complete street addresses required. I’ve been playing with My Town for a few days now, and I like how convenient it is in already having most locations entered for you. (Brightkite is also very strong in this area).

My Town is more of a Monopoly-style game – allowing you to buy properties and charge rent for them, while Foursquare allows you to become “mayor” of certain sites based on how often you frequent them.

Rather than giving you a detailed review of each, you can pick between the excellent reviews comparing these two apps below:

• App Showdown: Foursquare vs. My Town (via everythingicafe.com)
• Why My Town is bigger than Foursquare or Gowalla (via gigaom.com)
• Booyah’s mobile app MyTown turns the real world into Monopoly (via venturebeat.com)
• Foursquare + Monopoly Makes MyTown GPS Driven App (via crenk.com)

Should you decide to use one of the apps, let me know. If you’ve got another perspective on some of these, I’d love to hear that too. Here are some features that could sway users toward one or the other app if it was implemented:

For Foursquare

• Improve your check-in system. That one feature alone would gain you users.
• Make it impossible to “check-in” to a place if you’re not physically present there. In a game of competition, this makes cheating prevalent.

For My Town

• Add social connections. Like yesterday. The inability to have a friendship base on the app like Gowalla or Foursquare makes your app very lonely. (By the way, forcing folks to use the My Town app on Facebook is NOT social. It’s a pain.)
• Prevent multiple ownership of sites. This makes the whole game a little pointless.
• Add the ability to sell sites to specific people. Allow us to name our price – that would add heightened strategy and competition.
• In addition, you should only be able to collect rent once a day from each site you own.

As you start off this new year, if you’re looking for some fun apps for your iPhone, look no further. Both app creators have promised upgrades right around the corner, so many of these requested features may be present soon.

Invite your friends, and help us spread the word! You can buy tickets here.

A new local news site – The NRVHub – is sponsoring a great competition. The local church that registers 100 users for their site by October 31 will receive $500! I’d like to humbly ask you to consider registering to help Northstar Church (or another local church if you’re a member there). You don’t have to be a member of Northstar to register. They made this clear in the following instructions:

Just go to the Hub (http://www.nrvhub.com) and go to the upper right hand column, where it says sign in or create log in; from here the user will be sent to a new page to create their profile. This is where they can type in the church affiliation. So far not one Church has reached 100 names. Gotta get there to get the $500!
Remember the user does not have to be a member of your church. It can be anybody that you ask to help you earn the $500………..

So spread the word. The $500 will be a great boost, and we’ll present to you some ways that it can be used specifically for kingdom purposes if Northstar should win it. Remember to put “Northstar Church” in the affiliation spot.

Thanks!

Sometime ago, I read Mark Buchanan’s book Now, Discover Your Strengths and took the StrengthsFinder inventory. I have discovered that it really helps to communicate with others in leadership arenas when you speak the same inventory “language.”

I’m posting my results here straight from the material just as an FYI:

My Signature Themes

Activator

“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,” but this doesn’t seem to slow you. If the decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can’t. You must put yourself out there. You must take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. This does not frighten you. It pleases you.

Strategic

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path—your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

Intellection

You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.

Belief

If you possess a strong Belief theme, you have certain core values that are enduring. These values vary from one person to another, but ordinarily your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics—both in yourself and others. These core values affect your behavior in many ways. They give your life meaning and satisfaction; in your view, success is more than money and prestige. They provide you with direction, guiding you through the temptations and distractions of life toward a consistent set of priorities. This consistency is the foundation for all your relationships. Your friends call you dependable. “I know where you stand,” they say. Your Belief makes you easy to trust. It also demands that you find work that meshes with your values. Your work must be meaningful; it must matter to you. And guided by your Belief theme it will matter only if it gives you a chance to live out your values.

Achiever

Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by “every day” you mean every single day—workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.

I’d be curious what your results are if you’ve taken the SF inventory. And… if you think you know me… how do these results compare to what you know of me?

I saw this on a fellow Twitterer’s blog and thought it would make for an easy blog entry on Monday…

visited 20 states (40%)
Create your own visited map of The United States.

visited 8 countries (3.55%)
Create your own visited map of The World.

I’m updating my blog feed to be http://feeds.feedburner.com/journeyguy. If you are subscribed in a feed reader to http://feeds.feedburner.com/NotesFromTheTrail, you will need to update the feed to the new location. I think it should do it for you automagically, but check it out, just in case!

Who would have thought my attitude toward AT&T (which was admittedly declining rapidly) could change in a day? Yesterday, I blogged about our less-than-ideal experience with their service here in Blacksburg. It’s been pretty frustrating to be in a rapidly growing urban sector of southwest Virginia and realize we had better cell service in rural south Arkansas.

Since Apple signed the exclusivity agreement with AT&T back in June 2007, many have compared the phone company to the Empire in Star Wars. One of my favorite images has been the rendering someone did of the AT&T logo as the Death Star.

However, as I wrote yesterday, it takes great communication to alleviate the angst that customers feel when they are left out of the loop of issues that affect them. Carolyn and I received that yesterday. Let me tell you what happened.

We had an errand date. Among other things, I got a haircut (actually I got them all cut), returned some things to Lowe’s and then bought some stuff for Adelyn’s closet at Home Depot (cheaper there, or so I thought), and finally, we made a stop at the local AT&T Store in Christiansburg.

We pulled up out front, and I said, “OK, get your angry face on.”

We both scowled at each other and stepped out of the car, loaded for the angry-customer-routine at AT&T. Then we broke down into laughing at each other’s expressions and stepped into the store. We were met by Scott, and his humor, identification with our problem (his phone had also been down over the weekend), and warm, friendly attitude soothed our ruffled feathers in a microsecond. Not only was he helpful but he was likable. Kudos to AT&T Christiansburg for hiring him. The other employees in the store were also warm and sincere. We were impressed.

They assured us that the service was sketchy due to the soon-to-be announced network upgrade to 3G. They apologized profusely, which they didn’t have to since it really wasn’t their responsibility. Scott then helped us switch our cell numbers to local numbers. Imagine our delight and surprise to learn that JEFF (5333), CARO, SAMN, and ADDY were all available! Scott and the others were pretty entertained by our Arkansas enthusiasm. After learning I was a pastor, Scott suggested that I get 998.LORD so if people needed Jesus, they could call me.

While the Scripture does say, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” (Romans 10.13) I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Felt a little sacrilegious.

We left the store happy customers.

But wait, there’s more…

Upon returning home, I logged into the AT&T site to check my online account and make sure that all our upgrade dates had not been reset as well as ensure that our carryover minutes were still in place. They were both gone. New upgrade date was two years out. Grrrr.

So I called AT&T customer service… Here’s my second great experience in one day. Are you sitting down? The girl I spoke to was extremely friendly from the beginning. I related to her about our recent move and what we’d done in the store. She checked the records and then assured us that it would take up to 24 hours for the records to be updated in the system. She then scheduled a phone appointment with me for Wednesday to make sure it had been taken care of!

On top of that, she asked why we’d moved. I related that I had been called to be the pastor of Northstar Church here in town, and she happily congratulated me. When she asked if there was anything else she could do, I replied, “Fix our reception issues.” Upon learning that for our 3 weeks in Blacksburg we’d had very poor service, she said, “Hold on.” Upon returning, she said that it appears that they’re preparing to turn on 3G in Blacksburg, and the date is scheduled for… August 14! This Friday!

She laughed as I cheered. I related to her about my blog entry yesterday and said I wished AT&T would communicate better with us so we’d understand what was going on. She agreed and after I asked if there was any possibility of them reducing our fees for the month of July, she graciously gave us a $50 credit toward our bill. “You guys have been great customers for a long time now. With two iPhones on your account, we want to honor and keep you happy. Is this credit sufficient?” she said.

I enthusiastically agreed.

Soooooo….. although my griping about AT&T over the past weeks has been pervertedly fun, I’m ending it now. Thanks to Scott and girl-whose-name-I-can’t-remember. It only takes one or two folks like that to put a whole new spin on the AT&T world.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter or have seen my updates on Facebook, you have probably felt my pain in recent weeks as I’ve discovered AT&T’s poor Edge service in Blacksburg. When we moved to a larger city (with more than 25,000 college students), we presumed that our iPhones would not miss a beat. How wrong we were.

For the past three weeks, we’ve had intermittent Edge service – all while continuing to pay the same fees. Yesterday it wasn’t just Edge (data/internet) that was down, but our phones all had “No Service” on them for most of the day. We finally got bars back sometime after 11:30 p.m. Eastern.

One thing that has occurred to me during all this time is the simple importance of communication. AT&T is a company that sells communication, but it does an extremely poor job of it. Rumor has it that they are upgrading their service here in preparation for a fall 3G service. However, I think they would earn customer appreciation and loyalty if they would learn to do what they sell: communicate.

I would suggest a simple text message to customers in the Blacksburg area. Their Twitter account, ATTNews, would also be a good place to share updates and outages. As it is, we’ve heard nothing, and in searches on the internet could not find a single place where they post news and information about location issues.

Sigh.

This is a great lesson for all of us in positions to impact our organizations. The importance of proactive communication cannot be overstated. Telling folks ahead of time – or in an unexpected situation – what is going on will reduce overall frustration. If we had known that work was being done, or that they were aware of the issues, we would have felt a lot better.

As it stands, it’s easy to understand why AT&T is earning the ire of millions of customers. I regret that for them, because they were visionary enough to see that the Apple iPhone could be a HUGE revolution in the communication industry. Yet, they seem to have embraced it more for what it brings them financially than allowing its technology and others to reshape the future of the industry. The companies that make things possible for their customers (in addition to making money) will earn the loyalty and blessing of tech geeks like myself.

More bars in more places? That’s true in Blacksburg, but only because it’s not a dry county.

I just moved from a town in which the college campus there didn’t play as huge a roll in the town as it could or should have. It wasn’t the fault of the campus at all. Many times, it felt like the campus was ignored by local residents. The town itself didn’t offer the college students much in the way of entertainment or hang out spots, enabling a few enterprising businesses to work around the dry country status by securing a liquor license for their restaurant. Other businesses that served the student population seemed to be the cell phone stores, movie theater and fast food joints.

We’ve moved to Blacksburg, Virginia, which according to the 2000 census, had 39,573 people in it. More than 20,000 of those were students attending Virginia Tech. Both Blacksburg and VT have grown since then. You cannot ignore the campus here. We have yet to experience football season, but locals assure me that on those home game weekends, you better know the back roads if you want to get to the store. VT is a massive presence here, rich in heritage and tradition.

I love the presence of the campus, but what I love even more is that there are vibrant campus ministries here, just as there were back home. I had the privilege of visiting with a student Monday who is a leader in Cru (Campus Crusade). He shared with me the leadership training process and how every student involved is equipped and expected to share their faith in an authentic, relational way.

In addition, there is the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. It’s near and dear to my heart – not just because I’m great friends with its director, but because I’m also a former BCM director. Its students too are enthusiastic and deeply devoted to making the hope of life in Christ known to students, faculty and staff at Tech.

I wanted to encourage you to drop by their websites and check ‘em out. I expect to meet the other leaders of the dozens of campus ministries at VT in the weeks to come, but I wanted to highlight these two and ask you to begin praying for them as they prepare for a vitally busy few weeks of relationship-building, service and ministry.

Let me just say it unabashedly. I think I was the first Twitterer in Monticello, Arkansas. Yup. If you can disprove me, then I will sadly relinquish the self-claimed title. However, I join a host of tweeples here in Blacksburg, VA. Yet there are many who have not jumped on the microblogging trend. I’ve written about my experience with it before, but I saw an interesting thread on Facebook the other day I wanted to respond to.

One of my pastor friends was considering taking the plunge and becoming a twit (officially). He posted that on his Facebook status… Since Twitter and Facebook are probably the two main competitors in the microblogging world, I found that interesting to begin with. He asked for input on whether he should Twitter. What developed from there was even more interesting. The vast majority of respondants (including family members) urged him not to waste his time Twittering.

Rather than defending some of the relational and influential benefits to becoming a microblogger, I think I’ll link to another preacher’s defense of why he chose to capitalize on the Twitter trend. I love how John Piper framed part of his response:

I find Twitter to be a kind of taunt: “Okay, truth-lover, see what you can do with 140 characters! You say your mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things! Well, this is one of those ‘all things.’ Can you magnify Christ with this thimble-full of letters?”

To which I respond:

The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky
Puts camels through a needle’s eye.
And if his wisdom see it mete,
He will put worlds inside a tweet.

On tire sounds

Yesterday was T-Day: a day I’d scheduled to get our tires rotated and balanced and Wal-Mart. I felt so Arkansan heading back to Wallyworld to take advantage of their lifetime rotation and balance deal (if you buy your tires from there). I’d hoped that this would solve the developing wah wah wah sound emanating from one of the rear tires.

After 2.5 hours and a hike to Target and then to Chik-Fil-A with Adelyn, we drove away.

The wah wah wah sound was now in the front instead of the back.

Darn.

So the car was back at Wallyworld this a.m. trying to determine if one of the tires is bad. I hiked over to Starbucks from where this beautifully crafted blog entry was written and posted. By the way… Feeling sweet? Copy this number: 6038201464013622, and then reload my Starbucks card here! Since there are three locations in the Blacksburg/Christiansburg area, I anticipate many meetups and office days inside of coffee shops.

I’ll tweet about the results of my tire trials. And if you’re still with me and want eye candy, here is a nice Wordle of my July tweets ala Tweetstats.com.

We arrived back in Monticello at 2 a.m. on Wednesday from our trip to Poland. Fortunately, I drooled on the plane from Charlotte to Little Rock, so I was semi well-rested. Our car was packed with my family, Tracy, Becca Sustaire and Lindsey Randall. Needless to say, it was cozy.

Wednesday a.m. played a cruel trick on us. We were up waaay too early. Carolyn had a head full of steam, and we immediately began boxing and packing. The movers arrive next Wednesday to take our belongings to Blacksburg.

Our last day in Poland was so fast, surreal, serious and joyful. We saw the awful horrors of Auschwitz and Berkenauer. The evil that was unleased upon the world in the malevolent intentions of the Third Reich is beyond comprehension. One part of you wants to stop, sit, and dwell painfully on man’s ability to ignore His Creator. The surreal part is that after several hours of immersion in mind-numbing history, well, we were hungry.

That’s where the surreal part came in. We drove across the street and ate kabobs at a tourist trap. On one side is genocide; on the other side is hamburgers.

When we returned to Krakow, we made a quick stop by the Jewish Quarter of town to see the Krakow Ghetto Memorial and Schindler’s Factory. And from there, the mall. Again, a sharp contrast.

Monday evening, we enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Massengales, our hosts for the week. We started in their living room with our first meal, and we ended there as well. As Shae shared with us about the impact we’d had over the week, we were so honored and humbled. We were there because we love Christ and because His love for all peoples compels all Christians to serve Him in all places.

It was awesome to hear the softball team share all that the Poland experience had meant to them. We cried, prayed, and rejoiced in the goodness of God. To a person, we all were hesitant in our hearts to leave Poland the new friends we’d made.

As I’ve packed boxes and worked this morning in our oven/attic, my thoughts keep drifting back to Krakow. Carolyn and I were so privileged to have gone on the the trip. Thank you all who gave, prayed, and helped in other ways to make our trip possible.

Sunday night in many ways was a fulfilling completion to our trip to Krakow, Poland. As we were preparing to worship at Compass International Christian Fellowship with our hosts and their families, it delighted us to see several members of the girls basketball and guys baseball teams in attendance. This was their first time in a non-Catholic worship service as far as we know.

As the service began, it was in English, and so we were able to sing with full and grateful hearts contemporary songs of worship to our King. Kayla was asked to share her faith story, and though she did so with an interpreter for those present who needed Polish, it was a dynamic and powerful account of how Christ has worked in her life.

I had the opportunity to preach. It was my second time to do so – my first being last October in Poland. I preached from Luke 18 about Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus. 

• It doesn’t matter what you’ve done.
• It doesn’t matter where you are.
• It doesn’t matter what you have.
• It doesn’t matter who you are.
• What matters is seeing Christ clearly.

The opposite of those first four is also true. (It doesn’t matter what you haven’t done.) The Lord enabled me to preach as simply as I could about the love of God in Christ, and I urged those present to get above the crowd in their life and get a clear view of Jesus. The wonderful thing about Zacchaeus’ attempt to see Jesus is that Jesus saw Him. Just like He does all of us when we turn our eyes upon Him.

That morning we were blessed to attend the First Baptist Church here in Krakow. Though it was a Polish service, two young girls in the church came to sit next to us to interpret and give us the gist of what was being said. As the preacher taught about the family of God, it was appropriate and encouraging for us to realize that these people – thousands of miles away from our Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana homes – were also our family in Christ.

After a great meal at Pizza Hut, we went back to Wawel Castle where the team had the opportunity on this occasion to take the self-guided tour inside the ancient cathedral there. 

Sunday night after church, we headed to Rynek to eat – and eating is much more of a relaxed event than simply a feeding. You’re expected to lounge and visit for extended times during meals here. Sebastian and Erin Vazquez joined us for the first time, and it was refreshing to catch up with them. They had been in Greece this past week and only returned to Krakow on Saturday night.

The gals hung out with members of the basketball and baseball teams, and then beat Tracy, Lou and me back to the hostel. Carolyn had gone back to the castle with the Massengales to take their family photos. She also was at the hostel.

When we got there, the girls immaturely decided to dump water on us from the top floor balcony. It was only my amazing reflexes that prevented me from getting a dousing since I went first. I don’t know what I heard first – water hitting the sidewalk all around me or cackling from on high.

We spent the rest of the evening as we have almost every night since our arrival – visiting, laughing and enjoying our God-given and blessed time here in Poland. Again, thank you sincerely to all those who made this trip possible with your generosity. Our Lord really is doing big things through the talents and witness of our team.

Friday

“If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” So goes the saying. The reality is that God often throws in cake as well. We awoke Friday to a steady rain. Our plans had been to go to the park for our last day with outreach and softball with kids. His plans were better.

During our week, our presence in the park drew the attention of the director of the YMCA here in Krakow. He brought dozens of their kids over to participate in our program. As a result, he urged the missionaries here to please contact them if we needed to because of inclement weather.

That’s exactly what Shae did on Friday a.m. 

The team was able to spend the entire morning with 50+ kids, working on softball basics and playing games with them. The real fruit however, is a valuable and blessed connection with the YMCA that the missionaries now have. The personnel there invited them back once or twice a month to do more work with the kids.

Also on Friday, we toured (quickly) Wawel Castle. You may recall my visit to it back in October. It’s no less majestic on the second go-round.

After a looong walk, we met the guys baseball team for a scrimmage that evening. It was a great way to allow them to see what a game would feel like. It was their first opportunity to put into place what they’d been learning and practicing over the past weeks.

In a matchup of girls vs. guys, the UAM Cotton Blossoms won 6-5. They had a little help from McKenna Massengale, who belted several beyond reach of the guys, and yours truly… who was asked to play catcher.

From there, we went to Friday night coffee house. It’s a weekly event that the missionaries host. This Friday was line dancing. We weren’t quite sure how it would go over, but we discovered quickly when the place packed out just how excited the Polish people are about opportunities to fellowship and build relationships.

We had a great time… watching the team line dance. 

Saturday

We were thrilled to have the morning off on Saturday. After three consecutive days of nonstop action, walking, relationship-building and softball, it felt good to sleep in. Unfortunately for me and Tracy, we’ve had problems sleeping since the sun comes up at 4:30 a.m. So we find ourselves cruising the streets of Krakow on trams, waiting for coffee shops to open. (They do not open until 7 a.m.!) If you follow me on Facebook, you can catch some of our daily video updates that we’ve been making. Saturday’s was our favorite so far.

After lunch, we went to Jordana Park for a cookout with all the new friends and contacts that we’ve met this week. The park itself is incredible. The equipment for kids, basketball and tennis courts, rock climbing wall, skateboard park, and pond and trails are really very impressive. I haven’t seen anything like it in the States. And it’s well-used by the folks here in Krakow. It’s always full.

At the cookout, we played wiffle ball and treated everyone who came to grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It was a big hit. The main thrust, however, was to allow the team to share a little about the “why’s” of their visit to Poland. In interview style, one of the missionaries facilitated a Q&A time. The girls were able to share about their love and with relationship with Jesus Christ clearly and passionately in front of the group as they reclined on blankets in the grass. It was a beautiful scene.

Afterwards, we trammed it to the mall where we ate and did some shopping. We retired back to the hostel for a devotional time and an exhausted lights out, or so we thought. After devotionals, it just seemed that it renews our strength and perspective. The laughter and general goofiness lasted well into the wee hours of the a.m. 

We were quite sobered by the fact that we only have two more days in Krakow. Time has flown. God has been good.

Thursday was another amazingly full day. The members of the UAM Cotton Blossoms who are on the trip with us – Becca Tipton, Kayla Temple, Savannah Morin, Lindsay Randall, Amy Mardis and Becca Sustaire – have been simply incredible. We all knew their team was fantastic, but what we were unprepared for was just how good these girls really are – not just at their sport, but in their love and work ethic.

They have burned the candle at both ends and served long, hard hours in kids camps and practicing with a newly-formed baseball team here in Krakow. All at their own expense and from the donations and love of others. The end goal is to honor and bring praise to Jesus Christ here in this beautiful city.

They’ve built relationships and opened several doors for the missionaries to continue their work and ministry. I’m also grateful for the parents and families of these girls who have trusted us and Journey Church. They helped contribute and encouraged us as we pressed forward with this trip – even with scant details.

Carolyn and I have been grateful and so blessed to see how the Lord has used every member of our mission team so far on the trip. Lou has been simply incredible with the kids that she has taken under her wing. She’s been a constant strength and source of help at every phase. Tracy has continued to battle with me for title of funny man of the week. Too bad he’s losing so far. Seriously, I am so grateful for his presence and his witness and leadership. As a campus minister, trips like these not only help him connect with the students with us but capture a vision for ministry on the campuses of the world.

After another jam-packed day of ministry and softball, we cleaned up and ate at a Chili’s-style restaurant called Yummies on the Rynek, and it was delicious. Two of the baseball players joined us and then took the gals around after dinner while us old folks searched for an ice cream stand before heading back to the hostel for a rousing game of Phase 10.

Truly, there is nothing more surreal than walking around the Rynek at night with the gorgeous lights on the St. Mary’s Cathedral and seeing the carriage rides lined up along the cobble stone roads. Thanks to those of you who gave so generously to make this trip possible. We are supremely grateful at every moment for the sacrifice and generosity that you displayed.

We had a blast.

We were amazed.

God is good.

When you bring a mission team overseas, you always emphasize the “F” word. That’s flexibility. You just never know what will happen or how your plans will actually turn out. 

Our hope all along for this trip was for the UAM softball gals to be able to conduct a sports camp for kids here in Krakow, to teach and demonstrate the sport of softball to a European town that cherishes soccer above all else and doesn’t even have a baseball field. That was our hope, and it was high.

We actually didn’t know if anyone would show up. The missionary team who are in Krakow had worked hard the last few days, passing out fliers and creating a buzz, but they too, had no idea if anyone would show up. That was until 11:00 a.m. yesterday. It was then that more than 50 kids showed up, full of excitement and enthusiasm.

We were so proud of the girls. They were more than champs. Not only did they conduct this impromptu, unstructured camp in a setting that was challenging, but they did so with joy and deep character. They showed the kids softball. But larger than that, they showed them their hearts.

And while they were swinging bats and throwing balls, the Lord was behind the scenes hitting homeruns. One of the leaders of the Krakow YMCA “just happened” to be in the park, and he offered the use of their building this week should it rain. He also wanted to coordinate future things with the missionaries here. A great contact!

After a wonderful afternoon in the Rynek Square, we went to another location, and the girls worked with a newly formed guys baseball team. Baseball was new to them. So were girls who could outplay, outhit and outthrow them. I think it was a little difficult on them in this culture getting trained (and schooled) by girls. 

One of my favorite moments of the day was when Becca and Amy suited up and threw pitches. The loud pop of Becca’s glove hitting her leg after her pitch, followed instantly by the louder pop of the ball in Amy’s glove was pretty awe-inspiring. The kids and later the guys watched in awe. So did we. 

All the girls found key roles to play, and when we had our devotional time last night in the hostel (the Techno Twins weren’t around), we celebrated and unpacked a full day of ministry after Tracy shared about Elijah from 1 Kings 18. 

We are all grateful for your prayers and your generosity that got us here. God is at work. Will you please continue to join us in this great work with intercession? More later!