Skip to main content

The First Word

I have always wondered what it would be like to join the world of blogging. My good friend, former teammate, and roommate CJ Oates has had one for the past few years (visit his Tumblr here: http://iamnumero2.tumblr.com/) but I never felt that I had anything worth saying to start one. Jump to today, and if you are friends with me on Facebook, you know that I am going on a mission trip to South Africa... in two days!
So with that momentous occasion coming up, I thought this blog would be a good way to let people know what goes on while our team is over in Cape Town, and maybe give me a good enough excuse to continue this thing beyond our return from the other side of the world!

So let this serve as the first word for what I hope is not a temporary thing. Come back as I divulge my pre-trip thoughts, emotions, and anxieties, as well as day-to-day updates of the team from Campbell University's activities in South Africa.

Be Blessed!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

FBC Monroe Students Head North, eh! (Day 1)

Today our team of 8 high school students and 3 adult chaperones from First Baptist, Monroe departed for a week of serving alongside residents of Chateauguay, Quebec Canada. We have been looking forward to this experience for quite awhile. For all of the students, it is their first experience with an international missonal encounter, heck for three quarters of our team, it was their first time flying.             Our trip began with multiple headaches at the Charlotte airport, as there was difficulty with obtaining boarding passes through the airline, and misdirection from security about which “check-in” line we were authorized to enter. Then when we got to Philadelphia for our connecting flight, it ended up being delayed by 2.5 hours. All of the irritations aside, it provided time for our team to gel in light of the unique experiences, and give us a good “first day’ story.          ...

Mount of Beatitudes & Golan Heights: Day 1 in Israel

Today begin our official visiting of sites and locations around Israel. We started the day with a delicious breakfast before boarding our bus at 8 AM to head to our first stop, the Mount of Beatitudes. This is the site traditionally believed to be the location where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). The site currently has a Catholic church on it surrounded by beautiful gardens and places of reflection, that are run by a group of nuns. When we arrived, the group gathered and was led in a time of devotion by Nathan Morton, a CUDS student and pastor of Burgaw Baptist Church in Burgaw, NC. It was a wonderful reminder of what it means to be the salt and light of the earth, as Nathan read this memorable passage on the very site it is traditionally believed to have been delivered by Jesus.  Nathan sharing from Matt 5 on Mount of Beatitudes Church at Beatitudes Me with the Mount of Beatitudes and the Sea of Galilee in the back...

Boy Scouts of America & the SBC: My Adolescent Pillars

The annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) finished up last night in Houston, TX and one of the major news stories coming out of the convention is the resolution passed regarding the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) [read full resolution and press release by Baptist Press here ]. Essentially, the resolution expresses the disappointment by the denomination in both the leadership and decision made by the national Scouting board in regards to allowing all boys to participate in the organization despite their sexual orientation. What it does not do is tell churches to dissolve their relationships with BSA troops/packs (because then they would cease to be Baptist, you know the whole local church autonomy thing is KIND of a big part of the Baptist denomination), but instead encourages them to funnel support into the Royal Ambassadors (the SBC equivalent of an organization to the BSA). For those of you who may not know, I am an Eagle Scout, and a proud one at that. My family and I were a part ...