Missions

Leaving home for the States...

2008-07-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

We made it back from Colinas to San Pedro Sula last night (I drove one of the three vehicles... fun!). Today is a rest day prior to our 7am flight tomorrow.

I ended up taking over 2,500 photos so far (300 yesterday), and will be posting some of those along with what God has done through us and to us. It has been a great experience, and reaffirms a lot of things for me.

For those local to Fresno, I am planning on doing a "Honduran Coffee Night" on Tuesday the 29th at my apartment (let my roommate know). There will be a slideshow :-)

Go Be Jesus!

Leaving!!!

2008-07-12T02:01:00.000-07:00

Our flight leaves Fresno in just a couple of hours!

My Father in Heaven, whose name is Holy:
I want to see your Kingdom here, I want Your Will to be done.
Father, provide for my needs today as You did yesterday.
I beg You to forgive my debts, as I have forgiven those owed me.

That last line bothers me--I tend to hold on to debts for the day that I might owe them. The other day, my roommate didn't wash his dishes. It bothered me, but I didn't say anything because I had left stuff out in the living room. Instead of just talking about it, or forgiving something so trivial and moving on, I started tallying. I tallied because I owed him a debt, and I wanted to be owed a larger debt. I suck like that.

That last line bothers me because it's a conditional statement. It bothers me because I have been forgiven, yet I hold on to IOU's for longer than I want mine held onto.

Father, continue to make me more like You. Give me the courage and strength to let go of my imagined power, and to forgive recklessly.

2008-06-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

I'm completely funded at this point (THANK YOU!!!).

Honduras is approaching about as fast as 90-degree nights in Fresno (maybe because it's the same time period?). We are beginning our biweekly meetings, and have already packed the bulk of the medical supplies we are taking (and completed the customs forms).

I started working at an outpatient surgical center downtown in addition to the ER I've been working at. I really think the variety of experiences I'm having will be beneficial.

That's about it. Please continue praying for the team's safety, and open hearts for those we come into contact with (as well as our own).

It's been a while...

2008-05-01T14:28:00.001-07:00

It's been some time since I last posted on here. So here's what's new: I am about 70% funded for the trip, with our drop-dead deadline being May 12th.
I've been pretty busy with school, and am currently sitting at Starbucks working on my final Care Plan--all good writing is done in public I've heard. On April 24th, I attended one of the best conferences I've been to: Men in Nursing. Fresno City paid for us, met the director of the Board of Registered Nursing, and stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn. Yep, it was nice. The talks were excellent and on point each time. Pretty funny most times too.
Tomorrow I will be working in the ER again, Saturday the different missions teams will be prepping food for our Sunday Tri-Tip Dinner fundraiser that we sold tickets for (there should be extras if you swing by the Well on Maple and Nees). That's about it.

Oh, my flickr stream: MotoJourneys

Hope.

2008-03-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

It's almost the end of Easter Sunday.

A friend bought me the Golden Compass trilogy (His Dark Materials) for my birthday. I finished them a few weeks ago--wow. It is a collection of some of the darkest fantasy I've ever read. I walked away feeling desperately hopeless. My mood remained despondent for about three days; I felt like I had wasted more of my life than just the time reading the books. I don't know about you, but no matter what I read, I usually can pull a picture from it that helps something, somehow. I could not with these books. They hurt.

To battle that, I started re-reading one of my favorite authors: C.S. Lewis. I'm almost done with Out of the Silent Planet, and it has been so refreshing! Sheesh. How important is our perspective in life?

As I'm finishing Lewis' book, I realized there was some stuff in His Dark Materials that I can keep with me: understanding others' perspective on the institution of the church, realizing that my idealism is fine, but I need to be able to accept that not everyone has the same perspective, and finally, a metaphor that ticked me off at first.

{Spoiler Warning!--not that I would recommend the books unless you were mature enough to handle it--definitely not children's books!}

In the end, death (and "God") is overcome--everyone who has finished life is released from limbo land, and becomes Dust (fairly equivalent to the Force). No more uniqueness, no more suffering, just becoming a part of everything else.

I didn't like this perspective at first (along with some other bits about the end that are unimportant here), until I realized something last night.

I am nameless. What I do, is less about who I am, and more about who Yahweh is. I've been raised in a Capitalistic, Individualistic Society that values what I, Ron Napier, can accomplish. It's only when I die to self that I can truly live, right? As long as I am trying to build up my resume, promote my name (blog?), seek affirmation in what I do--I will not be truly free to serve Him.

He became less to save me. The only value I have is based on His view--and He was willing to die for me; otherwise I would be worthless.

Less of me Lord, to the point of being nameless.

It's My Birthday!

2008-02-18T15:52:00.000-08:00

I turned an age older than I was yesterday; not sure if I'm excited or not. Just thought I would share.

World Vision...

2008-02-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Wow. Honestly, although the experience was unique, I definitely got more out of volunteering and spending time with the staff. World Vision made a good choice of ambassadors.

Last night (Monday 2/11) was the last chance for Fresnans to go through the exhibit after which tear down started (around 8 p.m.). It was going pretty well until 9:30 or so, when the majority of the volunteers took off. After a couple of phone calls, Target Neighborhood from The Well and members from Northwest showed up. It ended up being one of their quickest tear-downs :-)

Jennifer, Chris, Dan and Jonathan from World Vision did a great job helping people (including myself) become more aware of the ongoing problem in Africa; and I wish them safe travels as the tour continues ...and stay in touch!

World Vision Aids Experience...(ends 2/12)

2008-02-08T10:05:00.000-08:00

This Sunday morning, members of the Honduras team will be volunteering at World Vision Aids Experience. The tours started on the 7th, and the last one will be 2/12 at 6:00 pm. Watch the video:

The website is: worldvisionexperience.org; free tickets are available here.

For good measure, here is the map to Northwest Church/Campus Bible Church where it is being held at.

Additional Information...

2008-02-05T12:39:00.001-08:00

...for those of you that received a support letter:

The envelope:
I wanted to make it easy if you wanted to help support the cost of the trip (and I went a little overboard at Kinko's--I think I need to have more creative outlets)--thus the envelope. Don't feel compelled to put money in it--even just a letter back would be awesome.

The photo:
See the caption. Since I will be taking photos in Honduras, I wanted to have a photo now :-)

First Post!

2008-02-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

You may already know this, but I will be going on my first international medical missions trip! I will be going with a small team from The Well Community Church (through MMI) to Colinas, in the Santa Barbara district of Honduras from July 12th-July 26th.
While there, we will provide medical care including dental work, assessments, medications, education, and the like. I will be taking pictures throughout the trip to post here when we return. Until then, I hope you will continue to check back here for updates.