Last week I traveled with a group from Northstar Vineyard to Monterrey, Mexico for a week-long mission trip with Back2Back. It was my first time there and it was nothing short of incredible. On Sunday, our first day in Monterrey, we served at Casa Hogar Douglas (CHD), a local orphanage. Some of us started working… Read more
Ahhh, those familiar words…..Have you even thought about “Back to School” yet? The children in India returned to school in mid-June. Their “summer holiday” is during May when the temperatures reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit. You can imagine how hot a classroom is that doesn’t even have a ceiling fan, let alone A/C, because the school… Read more
It was the first day serving in Monterrey. It was our second trip as a family to Back2Back Mexico, but it was our first time there since we adopted our five-year old daughter, Yanni, from China three years ago. We worked on building projects at a children’s home. The orphanage basically consisted of three large… Read more
This week I have been thinking about shelter in unexpected forms. Take one of my boys, Homero, for example. When Homero was twelve years old, he came to live at Manantial de Amor, one of the children’s homes in Monterrey. He had gotten into a lot of trouble at various schools and even with the… Read more
At the beginning of this year I decided that I wanted to take my running to a new level. I’m still what most would call novice, but I decided that I wanted to run some local 10K races, that I wanted to run a half marathon, and that ultimately I wanted to run a full… Read more
How many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror? Catch a glimpse in the rear view mirror? Check that your tie is straight? Stand sideways to see if you look thinner? For five months, we lived in an apartment that did not have a mirror. Other basic living needs always seemed… Read more
This summer the Back2Back staff is reading Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. Chan urges readers to resist the temptation to be satisfied with the status quo and instead respond to God’s invitation into a passionate love relationship. He challenges readers with a call to forsake complacency and apathy and follow God wholeheartedly. Here is an… Read more
There’s a field on the other side of the street in Rio I. For the most part, it’s been vacant. The only sign of life has been the layer of weeds sprouting up. After the rainy season the ground covering becomes so thick that sexual predators have been known to hide there to prey on… Read more
My first week interning with Back2Back India has opened my eyes. There is no way I could have been fully prepared for my initial visit to this hostel (children’s home) in rural India. I was a little nervous when we pulled up, but was instantly comforted by familiar verses painted on the walls in English… Read more
School is out for summer! As summer vacation begins, some of the orphans we serve leave their children’s home to temporarily stay with any living relative who may be willing to take them in for a few weeks during the break. I hardly know how to wrap my mind around this reality. It’s difficult to… Read more