Right Around The Corner!

"When do you leave for Haiti?" asked my friend Kelly.

Answering that question jarred me into reality. I'll be going to Haiti in a little more than TWO months! It seems so far away...2010. But, it's really right around the corner. Speaking of...I need to finish my application. I did find my passport the other day and it's valid through 2013. Huzzah!

There are a couple other things on my mind lately. Honestly, I can't allow myself to think about being away from my family for that long yet. It's too difficult. It'll only be 10 days, but still...that's a long time.

Also, my pastor, Steve, and friend, Chris, just got back from being down there and I'm excited to hear about it from them. I saw some pictures on FB and I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall in love with the kids. I just don't know any way around it. In fact, I posted my fundraising letter on our work's "virtual water cooler," and this lady I've never met emailed me and told me the kids are going to "melt your heart." She had a similar experience in Port au Prince. I hear that from everyone, though. Those kids are going to capture my heart. My life is going to change.

And that's kind of the point, isn't it?

I'm counting on it.

Why Haiti?

Back in April, during The Masters golf tournament, a new commercial debuted on network TV. It was for TOMS shoes. You've probably seen it. A hip looking young guy talks about how his business couldn't exist without services from AT&T and then he describes his business as we see pictures of shoeless kids running around getting new shoes. This young guy is Blake Mycoskie, "Chief Shoe Giver" at TOMS Shoes, a company he founded with a simple premise: "With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we're all about."

When I saw it...I cried. Really. Shocking, right?

I had actually known about TOMS for quite a while. I'd read about them in Relevant Magazine a long time ago. I thought it was a cool idea, but seeing it in action (on TV) really moved me. I watched the commercial online a few more times and then I went to their website and clicked on "opportunities." I wanted to be involved somehow. There had to be a way.

I didn't find a way to get involved with TOMS (besides buying a pair), but it got me thinking. I've never done foreign missions work. I'm 32 and I'm a pastor, but I've never been overseas to serve. I was feeling drawn toward it. Then another thought popped into my mind.

Haiti.

My friend Mandy started a sponsorship organization in partnership with an orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti a few years ago and our church, The Journey, has been heavily involved with it. Groups from our church have gone there over the past couple of years to help. I had never seriously thought about going. But now, it just made sense. Not only could I be involved in foreign missions, but I could help kids that I'm already directly involved with!

The opportunity had been there all along, but it took TOMS shoes to get me to really see it.