Last Night…

Well the trip has come to a close. I can honestly say we have done all that we could to help the people of Cambodia on this short trip. We have laid a good foundation for future work and have further developed relationships with teams. I love my life, getting to share Jesus with people who so desperately need Him, and get to help people who have need.

Ended the night tonight with a debrief meeting with the team. We do this because I want to talk to them about returning to the states and re acclimating to the culture at home and not allowing reverse culture shock to set in.

We allowed everyone to share important moments to them, and to talk about how the trip made them feel and how they felt about the help we provided. As always it was a great meeting and good for perspective. This team was remarkable. They are resilient, flexible, positive, team players, great attitudes, a real joy to lead.

I am sorry that I haven’t been able to get up as many blogs as I would have liked due to poor internet connection and in some cases none at all, there will be more video and written blogs to come when I get home. Here are some things that the team said.

Some said they sensed the real responsibility to carry the vision of bringing justice to the world because of what they have seen. They vowed I will not forget.

Some said they were impressed by the leaders here and that there is hope because of the all out commitment to Christ that they have. They said that one leader told them that all the things we have done are such an encouragement because it makes them know that they are not forgotten and they don’t feel like the are in this all alone.

One said she was just so thankful for being able to come on the trip and sees it as a destiny move for her. God has opened her eyes to the need around her.

Others said, the have a revelation how simple it is to meet need if you just have a mind to do it.

One said it is so powerful how much compassion God has and how he provides for the orphans through Christians and the church. She said I have seen God use teams here and our team to provide the needs of widows and orphans, she sees how God works and what the church is really all about.

One said “I have never seen anything like the things we have encountered on this trip and it opens your eyes to our responsibility to use our blessings wisely and to be grateful for what we have been given.

Others comment were things like, “I have more compassion,” also “I see Hope.”

There was much more and these are just a few paraphrased comments. Truth is the experience is life changing, for us and the people we are helping. I’m glad God lets us be a part of helping others. Its awesome.

David

leadership is universal…

This year again I am so blessed by the pastors and leaders here in Rwanda, they truly want change, and are hungry to know better how to lead and develop leaders.

We had a great conference today, we have with us a friend from Uganda Pastor Samuel who brought a team of guys that sing and dance. They are amazing! High Energy. Just the way we like it at harvest.

Owen spoke for a few minutes on radical change, we are being flexible as our itinerary seems to be the most fluid thing here. Its really funny they are trying to get us into as many things as they can.

I spoke a message this morning on the heart of God. This afternoon on a spirit of Excellence. We had a Q and A which never fails to amaze me. Their questions are intense and they are hungry for true training and answers.

The leaders here are like leaders everywhere else. They need validation, they need encouragement, they need inspiration, and direction.

So what’s next? Tomorrow more leaders conference, then we go to an orphanage and fit them all who need it with glasses and take them food. Then tomorrow night starting at 9 pm our Next generation meeting. Which we found out today is an all nighter. Fortunately we get to go back after a few hours to sleep for the next day of conference. We will be in different churches on Sunday. Monday starts the medical clinic and Owen and I get to meet with the rector of the nations leading Law School, more to come. Please continue to pray for the teams strength. We are having a great time.

Please respond when you read these and be blessed.

Listening….

I’ve noticed that if you listen you will here things that are remarkable. I am setting here at “the hotel Rwanda” and listening to my friend Pastor Jackson Tell my team his testimony about how he started his church, how he went from being an accountant to being a pastor. He just started helping people, he started putting together proposals to govt and to governments in other countries to build programs to help kids and families. I noticed as we came over on the plane listening to lots of people who were coming over to africa to help the African people. There are so many people helping others in the world. We will visit the museum and an orphanage tomorrow, testing kids for HIV. We will be starting the leadership conference tomorrow. Pray for us, there are so many leaders and pastors over here who are hungry for teaching and training. They want help, they want to grow, they want to make a difference, especially the young generation.

take a minute and listen to those around you and see what you hear. You may hear what God is doing in the lives of others. Take a minute and let me know what God is doing in your life.

April Fools…

This is always a fun day. Friends playing tricks on one another, and everyone having a lot of fun.

According to Examiner.com

The most popular theory of when April Fools Day started is that it began in 1582 in France when King Charles IX reformed the Julian calendar and made it Gregorian. This made the new year begin on January 1, instead of April 1, as it always had been prior to the switch. Because cell phones, texts, and e-mails weren’t around then, the news of the calendar switch took some time to get across to everyone. As a result, some countryfolk (and a few stubborn ones who resisted the change) were labeled “April fools.” They were subsequently used as punchlines in jokes, sent on “fools errands,” and subjected to practical jokes. Scottish and French settlers brought to the colonies of the US in the 1600s. Thus, a holiday was born.

No one wants to be the butt of a joke. Most everyone likes to pull a good prank though. One thing of noticed about peoples attitudes towards God, even many religous people is they think, buy having faith God will somehow make a fool out of them, as if He is some kind of cosmic trickster.

Many believe He is all about the old bait and switch. He will draw us in with all this talk of blessings and eternal and abundant life, and then when we have faith in Him and “seal the deal” he switches on us and gives us negative things in our lives.

God is truly not a trickster and He is not trying to Make an April fool out of you. God loves you and I, He views Himself as our father, and desires that we view Him that way too. God is a benevolent father who loves to give good gifts to his children. God is good.

I love what Matthew 7:7-11 in the Message bible says…
“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?

I would encourage you, you can trust God, he will not make a fool of you, your faith can be fulfilled in Him. If we being imperfect can treat people with respect and love, how much more can our perfect father and creator love us and bless us.

Don’t be an April fool. Trust God. He loves you!

Fishing…

This week is spring break where we live so I have decided to take a few days off to relax and be with the family. I truly enjoy being with my girls. They are so sweet and funny, and our family dynamic is a great.

I have some friends that have invited me to fish tomorrow, I am so excited. I feel like a kid, i won’t be able to sleep tonight. Is that crazy? I’m almost giddy. As I go through my fishing equipment I realize why.

I just remembered I need to go get a license, but then I thought, I have one in my tackle box it hasn’t been that long, maybe its still good. I opened the box, and looked at the license to find that it expired December of 2005.

I haven’t been fishing, sense 2005. Life is precious, and I love every minute of it. I have the fortunate circumstance to love what I get to do for a living, but even when you love what you do for a living, every once in a while you need to be refreshed, you need to relax you need to recharge. That’s not to say that I haven’t been on vacation in that length of time because I have, but I love to fish, it is something that truly refreshes, I should and am going to do it more often, it will benefit me and those around me. A wise man once said to me, “the best gift you can give to those around you, is a healthy you.” Even God rested, and set as a precedent that we should rest too. Find something you love, and every once in a while, take some good friends and have at it.

“fish on”

What refreshes you? Let me know, others may benefit from hearing it.

Thanks
David

President Barak Obama

This is a great day. A day that we will not soon forget. As President Obama is making his speech, my thoughts go to Martin Luther King Jr. his fight, his dream, his sacrifice, his and many other African American and Caucasian American efforts have come to fruition in the embodiment of our 44th president. Its time now for the country to come behind him, to support, to pray, to honor his role in our nations History. I haven’t and don’t agree with every policy or plan he has laid forth, but He is my president and I honor him. What a remarkable day in our history. Let’s cross lines and find places of agreement, and lets thank God for His grace on us. Grab the hand of the people around and lets partner to help each other, and people around the world

David

Leadership Lesson 4 while training for a marathon

Failure, beyond your control.

I haven’t blogged in a while, its been a busy time. I believe we can learn leadership lessons in just about everything we do in life, especially challenges we face while working towards a goal. Failure is hard for a leader to contend with. We would like to believe that every goal we set will result in success. Yes we will face challenges, yes there will be obstacles but ultimately we will succeed. When failure comes at times we act as if we are shocked that we could fail. The question is not will we fail, its when will we fail? Our failures should not devastate us but teach and train us.

When I begin to train for a marathon, I had some definite thoughts about how I would succeed, and when. I did have some natural concerns. I realized I’ve never run this far, at that point I’d never run 10 miles, but definitely not 26.2. I had thoughts that maybe it would be to much for me, just not have the resolve to finish,not be disciplined to push back the pain, and had I been stumped by those things I would have said I failed because I couldn’t do it and gave up, but what do you do when you have no control of the reason for failure.

I had been training, and we reached the 15 mile mark, it was hard my body wanted to stop but I kept going, I pressed through, my friend Andrew pulled me through. At the end of the run however I got extremely sick. Not just normal, felt like I had a bad flue, I won’t go into the details too graphic, but it was bad. I marked it off as a single event and kept training. I made some adjustments to help the sensitivity of my stomach and kept going. When the next long run came I think we ran 13 and I felt pretty good till the end and then it happened again. If I ran up to 10 or 11 I would be fine but every time I would get in that 12-15 range it would happen again. The marathon date we were shooting for was getting closer and closer and we were not able to get more long runs in so we had to wait and we missed the mark.

I was very upset, I thought I could deal better with just not being able to cut it rather than being stopped by something I couldn’t control. So what do you do when you fail, because of something that’s not your fault, or out of your control.

Here are some lessons I’ve learned.

1. You are only a failure if you give up entirely.
I am going to a sports doctor after first of the year see why my body is reacting this way and what I can do about it.

2. Reset the goal, missing one goal is not the end of the world.
I said I was going to be in the best shape of my life before I turned 40, well 40 has come and gone, and I didn’t make the marathon, however, I’ve never been able to run 15 miles before in my life.

3. Celebrate the accomplishments on the way to the goal.
Even though I didn’t reach the marathon yet I have overcome weight barriers, fear barriers, and I can run over 10 miles consistently.

4. Be a learner.
Serious goals require you to learn about what it takes to reach them, and knowledge goes a long way towards success. Avoiding the hard questions only paralyzes you from future success.

5. Taking more time is not a crime.
Its funny the tricks that time plays on our minds. Sometimes we just need more time. Its ok to take it. How many people have not hit a goal in the time they thought they should and just quit all together, think of how ridiculous that is. What shame is there in pushing the time back in order to succeed.

6. If there is something you can do, do it, if there’s not move on and don’t obsess.
Failure can put your entire life on hold if you obsess over it. I read an article on Michael Jordan once and he said one reason players aren’t well rounded is because they obsess over failures. If they make a mistake on the offensive end then they are thinking about it on defensive end and make another. He said, “if I make a mistake, I say to myself, I won’t do that again, and then I forget about it.”. Do what you can, then move on.

So I am continuing to run and train, I am gaining knowledge about my situation, and I am taking the time and setting a new goal.

Hope this helps, failure is only final if you give up, its just the beginning if it becomes your teacher.

David

Care enough to share

Isn’t it interesting, Jesus began his ministry by relationship building? He developed relationship with twelve men from all different walks of life and for three and a half years shared His life with them.

When something great happens in our lives, we want to tell everyone about it. When we graduate, get married, or have a baby we send out announcements, so everyone will know. What could be more wonderful than having a relationship with Jesus? He has freed us from our sins, He heals our bodies, He restores our souls, and although He is the God of the universe He takes great pleasure in being personally involved in our lives.

We want to share these great things with others. Some of the most rewarding relationships Janae and I have ever had have been when we decided to make a conscious effort to help lead another family to a higher level of living in Christ. It’s awesome to see people grow; it’s incredible to help them overcome problems and watch God work in their lives. This is what a relationship with Christ and His church does in people’s lives it turns them around. Yes, it takes work, and is sometimes inconvenient, but it’s the way Jesus has seen fit to perpetuate the Gospel. He designed it to reproduce through relationship.

It’s a biblical pattern. I don’t really want to use the word mentor, because it sounds so formal, it’s really just purposed friendship. Look at many of the great people of the Bible and you’ll see it. Abraham befriended Lot his nephew. Moses Befriended Joshua and led him to leadership. Jonathan, King Saul’s son befriended David and made way for his destiny to be fulfilled, while sacrificing himself. David had a host of misfit “mighty men” that he befriended and changed their lives forever. Elijah Befriended Elisha. Eli raised Samuel. Jesus had a close friendship with the twelve disciples. Barnabus befriended Paul, and John Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark. Paul befriended Timothy, Silas, Titus, Philemon, Aquila and Priscilla, and many others. It all comes down to one question. Do we care enough, to get out of our comfort Zone, to think beyond our immediate family, to be inconvenienced, or to realize there are people who need us?

Do you think that Barnabus knew what Paul would become to the church and the Christian movement? I don’t think he did. I think he just genuinely cared about this outcast individual. Do you think that Paul had some kind of Guarantee that Timothy would turn out to be such a force in the New Testament church. I think he hoped he would, but there are no guarantees. I believe that Paul genuinely cared about Timothy. Jesus knew that Judas would betray him; He knew that peter would deny him; He knew that all the disciples would run, in His greatest moment of trial, but he genuinely cared for them anyway.

Caring moves us to action. It causes us to go outside the norm. Do we care? Do we care for the child who has no defender, who is being treated unjustly? Yes, We do. That’s why we are doing the Royal family Kids camp, for Foster Kids and abused kids. Do we care for Young women who are at a disadvantage in life because of whatever set of circumstances? Yes we do that’s why we have “Rescue the girls” ministry. Do we care for men who have gone to prison, and because of outreach been saved there, and need help assimilating back into society, and need discipleship. Yes we do, that’s why men in our church are partnering with a local organization to mentor ex-prisoners. Do we care for underprivileged kids around the globe, yes that is why we have major initiatives in Fortaleza Brazil through compassion international and involved with the Hope RWANDA, and 08 missions includes partnering with Watoto in Uganda, and Hagar House in Cambodia. We have Youth America summer camps every year because we care for the teenagers of this nation.

The question is do we care for our neighbor across the street? Do we care for our coworkers? Do we care for that family member that’s lost? Do we care enough that we’ll contend with awkwardness in order to reach them? Do we care about that person at church that may set down the row from us, who are on the fringe and need help growing spiritually? I believe we do.

Let this blog today become an action plan for our lives, to consciously care for other people. Let’s go beyond the extra mile. If we care enough we’ll do it. So, this week begin a relationship and show someone how much you care.

-David Gadberry

Getting older and excited about it….

I have a great life!  I hear people my age so often say, “I wish I could be young again.”  I’m not very old, i’m actually only 39, but that is almost 40 and to many that seems old.  My wife Janae and I have decided we don’t want to be that young again.  Not that we didn’t love every minute of it, but truthfully I love being married 20 years.  I think its great to have the passion of new ideas and also some experience to go with it.  I love Knowing the excitement of risk, and what it truly means to take one.  I like having fun with my friends and have serious conversations but at the same time, knowing not to take myself to seriously.  I wouldn’t go back, but I am doing my best to keep the best elements of being young in my life.

I do that by dreaming, keeping the dreams passionately stirred up inside me and my family.  I told my wife two years ago, because I’ve had several friends go through some devastating mid life crisis.  I said I will not allow myself to be kicked off course.  So two years ago I set some goals.  Spiritually, mentally, and physically, and relationally.  I have kept myself aiming for those goals, and have seen my life improve in every area, and not allowed myself to become disallusioned by insecurity.  I’ve had my moments and mental battles, and Im sure will still have but this has truly helped me.

I told myself I would run a marathon before 40  which is quite a challenge because at the time i was way over weight.  5′9  250 way to heavy.  In this time i have lost over 50 lbs and and last monday i ran 9 miles without stopping at a decent pace.  My marathon on November 16th, so I will be meeting a personal goal and a spiritual goal at once.  I am using my race to raise money for our global reach efforts to stop human trafficking.

I love my life, I don’t want out, I don’t want to go back, I don’t regret.  I am doing my best to become what God created me to be, and loving every minute of it.

what are you doing to work this time in your life…i’d love to hear about it.

David

Guest Blogger…Jenna Boggs…”Shine Your Light”

The Best part about today was worshiping with the youth at new life Fellowship.  We began to sing “mighty to save.”  and you could feel the presence of God flowing in the room.  We kept singing this line, and I felt like we were living it.  “Shine your light, and the WHOLE WORLD see we are singing for the glory of the risen King.”  It was so cool to hear the people praising God beside me in the Khmer language.  I can see God is big enough to take care of me, Cambodia, and to help everyone overcome anything they may encounter.

God is so Good.  Hi mom and Dad.

Jenna B.