I always had intentions to, but never wrote much about my trip to Africa this past November. I wanted to post this story even though I’ve told it to most of my friends and family and was even invited to share it at the weekend services at church a few weeks ago. This story captures what God did in my heart while I was in the desert so I just wanted to get in on here for my sake more than anything else. The rest of this post is taken from a trip report I sent to some friends and family.

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One of the most significant moments of the trip for me happened while spending an afternoon at the English school Christ The Rock sponsors. My friend, Jess, has been going to the camps for 3-4 months at a time for the past few years to teach english at the school. She had been there since October and assigned some of the more advanced students to prepare presentations in english about Saharawi culture for us. Three or four students in their 20’s and 30’s gave presentations about Saharawi marriage, traditional clothing and other topics. A girl named Ghalia gave her presentation and then as she ended she looked right at Jess and with tears in her eyes said “I just want to thank Jessica for coming here to teach us english. She comes and lives with us, she wears the mulfa and she suffers with us.”

She suffers with us. That phrase has stuck with me ever since I got home. I think it embodies who we are called to be as followers of Christ. It makes me think of the beginning of the story of Job. This man who has lost everything is in the middle of great suffering and his friends hear about this. And what do they do? In Job 2:13 it says “Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was.” They suffered with him.

My tendency is to want to fix things or figure out the quickest way out of the situation. But the Saharawi find themselves in a situation where there aren’t easy answers. So what do we do? We go and we suffer with them. I think the world longs not for more people with all the answers- but for people who are willing to suffer through hard things along with those who are most oppressed. Jesus came not just to tell the world how to live but to suffer with the world even to the point of death. This is what Calvary-style, Kingdom of God love looks like.

Yesterday Megan and I went to the International House of Prayer (IHOP). I went into it with my usual critical attitude (even though I suggested we go there) and expected it to feel a bit contrived. In my mind I couldn’t understand how you could have a prayer service going 24/7 and keep it authentic.

My expectations were pretty quickly broken down. Within a minute of being in the prayer room I could tell this was the real deal. People were praying and worshiping in all sorts of different ways and it certainly didn’t feel contrived. It felt like I was in a CTR worship service about 30 minutes into it when the heart of the congregation has been moved to that place of being open to hearing from God. In some ways it was like I kept waiting for the song to end, someone to pray and the message to begin. I suppose this just exposes my own presuppositions about what worship looks like. But it didn’t end. The music just kept playing and this deep spirit of worship just continued on and on.

Overall it was a good experience and quite different from the environment I’m used to. Being there did raise some questions/thoughts in my mind though. Some of these will sound like criticism of IHOP but I don’t intend for them to be. I only spent a few hours there and didn’t talk to anyone so I’m hardly in a place to pass judgment. But these are just the questions/thoughts that came to mind

• On a practical note, what would it take to get our musicians at CTR to a place where they’re as flexible as the IHOP bands are? The IHOP teams aren’t locked into playing songs a certain way and seem very good at creating space in the music. It’s something I would like our teams to explore.
• Is there ever a calling to go out of the IHOP base and influence change for some of the issues that are prayed about? I didn’t hear that in the short time that I was there. I just wondered if it’s tempting for people to stay in that room instead of going into the world and being a blessing.
• There was a heavy focus on abortion as is typical in conservative Christian circles. A lot of people lined up to pray 5-10 second prayers about ending abortion. This intense focus on that issue is becoming more and more confusing to me. Is the same attention given to poverty, fair trade, ending the war or other sanctity of life issues? There is one corner of the room dedicated to praying about abortion. I’m just curious about the history of the Christian community jumping on this issue over many others that are more clearly addressed in Scripture.
• What would it look like if a Muslim or Jew walked in there to pray?
• There is a constant flow of talking to God, but are there times of being still and listening?

Like I said, overall it was a good experience and I think the people there are doing a good thing. I’m sure I disagree with them about some things but that’s part of the beauty of a place like that. A whole bunch of people that might not agree on anything but Jesus can be in a room united by worshiping God.

1. Megan and I are on vacation in Kansas City visiting Megan’s brother Adam. We flew standby to get down here but got bumped off the KC flight from Atlanta so we ended up spending the night in the airport. That was an interesting experience.
2. KC is a pretty cool town. Lots of old buildings and tons of local restaurants and shops. Last night we went to a bunch of art galleries including Hammerpress. The first Friday of every month all the art galleries are open for free so there is a lot going on downtown. The art culture here is really cool.
3. I’m enjoying the time off because things are pretty busy when we return home. The day after we get back I go to Leadership Summit and then that weekend leave for the Crossing retreat. Good stuff, but I anticipate being tired after this stretch of high activity.

I leave at 5 AM for Washington DC. About 100 of us are going to awareness for the work our church is doing in Africa. I’m really excited. This kind of stuff gives me a different kind of energy. Keep us in your prayers. We’re not sure what to expect.

Yesterday Megan and I decided to venture out onto the city bus system. Since we’ve gone down to one car we’ve been thinking about other ways to get around town. Normally there’s a bus stop right outside our apartment but our road is torn up with some major construction right now so we had to walk a few blocks to get to a stop.

We had spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the Appleton transit system. Their website isn’t very clear but we picked up a brochure at the downtown bus station. Overall it was a pretty easy experience and the bus drivers were very friendly but there are a few things that would have to change in order for us to use it on a regular basis.

1. The price would need to drop for in town travel. We live less than 5 miles from downtown (where we were going yesterday) and it cost $6 for us to get there and back. That’s only $3 per person which isn’t bad, but when both of us have to travel that gets expensive pretty quick. You can buy a 10 ride pass for $13 but I would really like to see the price drop down closer to $1 per ride when buying a pass. It’s still cheaper to drive for 2 people when going short distances.
2. Improve the routes so it takes less time to get places. The time factor isn’t a bit turn off- I’m willing for it to take longer to get around. But when the cost is considerably higher than driving myself I would like to see the time improved. Driving to downtown Appleton usually takes about 10 minutes and it took almost 40 on the bus.
3. The website needs to be greatly improved. For someone that’s never used the bus it’s pretty difficult to figure out how to get around. In order for the average person to consider public transportation it needs to be much easier to figure out how to reach your destination.

When Megan begins going to school in Oshkosh taking the bus is a much cheaper option and we’re seriously considering it. It really would save us money on gas because of the 25 mile distance one way. But for in town travel it’s not a great alternative. The only bonus for taking the bus is that it’s better for the environment because it’s one less car on the road. I suppose if we didn’t own a car it would be a good option because when compared to the overall cost of owning a car (repairs, insurance, maintenance, etc.) it would be much cheaper. But not owning a car isn’t really an option because our work isn’t on the bus route.

So I think it’s something we’ll be open to if there’s a situation where both of us need to go different places at the same time and the bus is the only option to make it work. Otherwise I don’t see us being frequent riders other than Megan riding to school. I’m curious to know how transit systems rank in other mid-sized cities.

Last weekend Megan and I took a trip to Chicago. We drove to Milwaukee and then caught a bus into Chicago. Using public transportation made the trip much more interesting.

Here’s a quick rundown of the hilights of the trip:

• Friday night we went to a fundraiser event for NOOMA. We got to see the next video that will be coming out as well as hear from the director and Rob Bell about the vision for where NOOMA is going. It was cool to meet some of the NOOMA staff and we got to talk to Rob Bell for a few minutes. He’s had a huge influence on how I think about my faith, so it was awesome to get to meet him in person. There were only 100 or so people there…probably the smallest room I’ll ever be in with Rob Bell.
• Saturday we went to Navy Pier and then downtown Chicago. In the evening we were meeting up with Megan’s parents to go to a White Sox game. The subway we were supposed to get on to take us to the stadium was under construction so we had some challenges getting to the field. There were a bunch of us tourists all trying to get to the game and figure out Chicago public transportation. We even got on a bus that was supposed to shuttle us to the spot where we could catch the train, but the guy drove us in a big circle and dropped us off where we started! We ended up talking to this couple our age from Toronto, Canada and we decided to split a cab fair since the buses weren’t getting us anywhere. We got there later than we hoped to, but we made it. And then the Sox lost 3-0.
• We stayed in a hotel about a mile from O’Hare. It was a little far from downtown (about 45 minutes), but the rate was much cheaper. It was easy to take the free shuttle from the hotel to the airport and then catch the train at O’Hare. I think we probably saved money because we weren’t paying $10 or more for parking all the time. A 2-day bus pass was $9 per person.
• We used Megabus to get from Milwaukee to Chicago. They are based out of Chicago and go all over the mid-west for really cheap. I think our tickets cost $20. If we would have chosen a departure time besides noon the tickets would have only been $10. I kind of liked just being able to read or sleep and not having to drive. We plan on taking the bus for other weekend trips in the future.

And finally some pictures from our weekend:

Wow. It’s been over a month since I’ve posted. Here are some quick, unconnected thoughts to catch up on the past month.

• I’ve been busy with a steady stream of freelance design and photography work. It’s been a huge blessing financially, but I want to pull back on the amount of freelance work I take so I have more time for Megan and for life in general. Money isn’t the bottom line for us.
• I will be buying a new iMac soon and doing away with all the PC’s in our house. I’m very excited about that.
• On the Apple front, OS X Leopard has been delayed again. I’m not excited about that. I want it now.
• I spoke at Crossing (our twenty-something ministry) last week. I think that’s my first time giving a 20 minute talk. It was fun and I think it went pretty well. It was based on The Gospel of Apple.
• I continue to try and discover my strengths…the things I’m really great at and focus more energy there.
• Andy Stanley had a great three-part series on prayer. You should listen to the podcast. He points out that when people asked Jesus about prayer his response was never “Praying is just talking to God.” Jesus had some specific instructions about how to pray. I want to learn to pray. I think there is a lot to learn and it’s not just as simple as we make it sometimes.
• I brought the idea of moving our church database to FellowshipOne over a year ago. A few weeks ago our Senior Leadership Team approved it. This is going to change the way we do everything…for the better.
• Nobody does world missions like Christ The Rock. I really believe we have one of the best missions departments in the world. God is doing some incredible things through them.
• Megan is going to Mexico in June. I am planning on going to Africa (Sahara Desert) in November. It will be my first real “mission trip.” And I hesitate to use that phrase because the things that are happening, especially in the desert, are so much more than the typical idea of a mission trip.
• Megan and I are going to Chicago next weekend. I’m excited. We wanted to travel as eco-friendly as possible, so we’re taking a bus from Milwaukee to Chicago and using public transportation once we’re there. I think it will make the trip a little more adventurous and enjoyable.
• Our new apartment really is great. If you need a place to get away, come to Appleton and stay with us. We have an indoor pool, hot tub and access to a gas grill.
• Life really is better without TV. Try it for a week.
• Megan is not the person I married.  She’s a deeper, more caring, more Godly and more beautiful woman.
• Today is beautiful. Warm and sunny. A much needed change from last week’s snow storm. Megan and I are going to do something outside.

I have a lot more things I want to post about, so hopefully I’ll get to it in the next week. Have a good weekend!

After spending the day with Brooke and staying at Megan’s aunt and uncles yesterday, we woke up and went to church at Granger this morning. It was a great experience. Very inspiring on a personal level as well as from a ministry standpoint. The word that comes to mind is authentic. Even though I had never been there before, it felt familiar because I have spent time on their website and I keep up on their staff members blogs. The message and the expectations that I had because of my online experience matched right up with what it felt like to be on campus. Their senior pastor wasn’t there which was a bit of a bummer. But the guy that spoke was great. The message wasn’t fluff at all…go to the Granger website this week to watch the service.

After the service at Granger we made the drive to Grand Rapids. It was snowing  quite a bit today, so it made for a dreary drive. We checked into our hotel and a few hours later went to Mars Hill for the 6 PM service. We had a little trouble finding the church partially due to some confusing directions from Google Maps and partially due to a lack of signage at Mars Hill. It’s a very different experience than Granger. The parking lot was a free for all because of all the snow. Once we parked and got out of the car we still weren’t sure where to go. I knew it was in a mall, but I always thought they were the only thing in the mall, so the YMCA and restaurant threw me off. We followed the stream of people and found our way in. The service was good and it was cool to experience a set-up with the stage in the middle. You could really hear everyone sing because of the set-up. Rob’s teaching was interesting as always and then he interviewed a lady that is doing work in an underpriviledged neighborhood. It was awesome to hear the things that are happening there. When Rob took the stage he had everyone stand that was there because of the conference and there was a surprising number of people. Then he asked people where they are from and people are here from all over the world. People from Kenya and Switzerland and a bunch of other places. I never expected people from that far away to come to Michigan for a 2 day conference.

I’m really looking forward to the sessions tomorrow. But I will say that Grand Rapids is kind of a depressing place so far. The dreary weather doesn’t help, but the town kind of makes me feel like I’m in Pekin.

Tomorrow Megan and I are off for our first road trip of 2007.

We leave Appleton after I get off work around 1 and we’re heading to Goshen, IN. Megans sister goes to school there and she has an aunt and uncle that live there as well. We’ll hang out with them Friday night and all day Saturday.

Sunday we’re going to Granger Community Church in the morning and then to Mars Hill in the evening. It should be quite the interesting day. We will be going from one of the most polished, media savvy churches in a state of the art facility, to an anti-slick (best term I could think of) church in an old shopping mall. Both of these churches are at the top of my list of churches to visit. I just never thought I’d get to both in one day.

Monday and Tuesday we’ll be at Mars Hill for the Isn’t She Beautiful conference. I’m really looking forward to this. I hope to blog my notes, but I’m not sure about the wi-fi access there.

Then Wednesday we make the trek from Grand Rapids, MI back to Appleton.

I’m excited about this whole trip. I’m hoping it’s a time of refreshment and renewal, especially since things have been a bit hectic at work lately. Traveling is always a bit crazy, but I enjoy it for the most part. One of my favorite parts of being married is that I get to go on road trips with my best friend.

A lot of other people have posted their notes from MinistryCOM so I don’t think I’m going to do that here. If you really want to see notes check out Tim’s blog because we sat in most of the same sessions.

The conference was great. Most of the speakers were very engaging and I don’t think I’ve ever walked away from a conference feeling like I have so much knowledge that I can actually use in my job. I met some really great people and it was an awesome opportunity to network with other church commuications folks. I’m definatly going back next year and hopefully the other people on my communications team will come as well.

Besides the conference I had quite the adventure getting home. I was flying from Phoenix to Atlanta and then supposed to fly to Appleton. I got a good deal on the ticket thanks to my brother, but had to fly standby. All my flights were smooth until the very last one. I got into Atlanta at 12:15 and went to the desk to check on open seats for my 3:15 flight. There were plenty of seats and only one other person on the standby list. So I hung out for a few hours and then returned to the gate. They started boarding the plane and just a few minutes before I was to go on 5 or 6 guys come running up to the desk saying “we were supposed to fly to Green Bay, but the flight was cancelled, so they told us we could get on here to go to Appleton.” I’m thinking “oh crap, I’m going to get bumped.” If you’re not aware, flying standby means you only get on if there are extra seats available. So while these guys are trying to get their tickets changed, I go up and check with the ticket lady. I say “Um, yah, I’m flying standby and just need to check if there are still seats open.” She looks at my ticket and asks my name and then says “oh yah, I already cleared you. Go ahead.” I’m thinking “sweet! I can’t believe I’m actually getting on this flight.” I walk down the hallway thing, get on the plane and sit down. Then two seconds later a guy comes up and says, “Are you Mr. Crow?” and I said I was to which he replied, “Sir, please come with me.” At this point I’m thinking “Dang it! So close! And now all these people think I’m a terrorist or something.”

The lady apologized for clearing me when she wasn’t supposed to and then told me to go to the re-booking desk. I go to the desk and you don’t actually talk to a person. They have these black phones you pick up and it connects you to Delta. I pick up the phone and explain the situation and they inform me that there are no more flights going out to Appleton tonight and all the Green Bay flights are cancelled. My options are to fly to Milwaukee (2 hours away from Appleton) or stay the night in the Atlanta airport. I have to admit that I was freaking out a bit. I went ahead and listed myself for Milwaukee hoping that Megan would be able to come and get me. She was teaching her leaders for the fall at this time so I couldn’t get ahold of her. About a half hour before my Milwaukee flight took off she called me and we worked out the details. So in the end what was supposed to be around 6 hours of traveling turned into almost 12. I was beat.

It’s the weirdest feeling to be in the 2nd largest airport in the country and totally on your own not knowing when you’ll make it home. You’re surrounded by tons of people yet feel completly isolated. I’m sure this is the way many people live on a daily basis. I’m so thankful for all my friends and family after this. I forget what it’s like to be outside of my bubble.

Finally, here’s a few picture’s from the beautiful Christ’s Church of the Valley campus.

Inside the worship center.

The baptismal.

Palm Tree.

Cool water.

Outdoor grills.

View from the large hill on campus.

They have a prayer cave

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