...and its back!

This week, I realized something. Not necessarily profound, just something worth more than a facebook status...in my mind at least (a sad standard for profound, I admit). Something that's been nagging at me for a while on this project.

It's been three months now that we've been on the road, trying our best to share stories of God at work in various individuals and ministries around the world. We've got four countries and a few phrases from as many languages under our belts and I've learned so much so far...especially how much I dont know.

But what I realized this week is that, on this project, I'm seeking to share everyone's story except my own. From the start, we agreed that our site, www.namingtheworld.org, would be a place for our professional work, of sorts. A place to share photos and stories that are the result of our very best efforts as writers and photographers, rather than a place for our own random musings, sundry tidbits, and experiences along the way. We want the site in its entirety to be one big, high quality, testimony of God's awesome, divine, and endlessly beautiful work in and through others.

That is and will remain the case throughout the next 12 months. But this week, I decided that I want - or maybe I need - a place to share bits and pieces of my own personal story along the way. Maybe that is a reflection of my own insecurity and the need to be heard. But I suppose that's ok. Even if this is all a misguided, self-indulgent exercise, I at least hope you get a grin now and then out of the random stories, mishaps, non sequiturs, and perhaps naive reflections on life that will make their way here.

So here's to stories, yours and mine, and sharing the ones that shape us most.

All the best,

-Ryan

One, two, three, draw! (Mars Hill, Athens, Greece)

Chapter 1: Stories worth telling

Think of a story that changed your life. I'm sure you have one.

Did it convict you? Motivate you? Maybe it inspired you. Maybe it turned apathy into action or struggle into opportunity.

I really believe that a story is a powerful thing, especially when it gets told. But what is it that makes a story truly powerful? Maybe you already know the answer to that question, but it didn’t hit me until two years ago when I was in Lusaka, Zambia.

I was sitting at the back of cramped bus driving away from a small orphanage in the slums of Lusaka. The four-walled, tin-roofed compound we had just left was nothing special to look at, but inside I had seen stories that were utterly priceless. I met Elina that day: a Zambian widow who was striving to feed, shelter, educate, and raise over 20 children from the slums with little help and even less money. There was nothing glamorous about the dirt floors or dusty walls of the orphanage, but Elina’s selfless faith left me in awe. I decided that she was more of a heroine than anything Hollywood could imagine. The simple mixture of laughter, shouting and singing from 20 kids with swollen bellies and big smiles made an utterly organic soundtrack to the story I saw that day, and it was beautiful. I wish I could replay it for you now.

As we drove away from that place all I could think was, “This is the kind of story that needs to be told.” And in that moment I realized why. A truly beautiful story is about hope and redemption being alive and at work in the midst of struggle and conflict. That is the kind of story that changes lives simply because it reflects the most beautiful, powerful story ever told: the gospel. Looking back at the orphanage as we pulled away, I prayed that God might somehow use me to tell people those kinds of stories.

- - - - - - - - - -

I want to share with you a vision the Lord has slowly been laying on my heart these last few years as I have been in college studying journalism. It was after returning from that summer in Zambia that I began to wonder what it might look like to use my love for writing and communication to tell the stories of how the Lord is alive and at work around the world; to look behind the statistics we hear regarding need and oppression to find a real face and a real story. Could the Lord use a Christian journalist and powerful stories like Elina’s to raise awareness for great needs, proclaim truth, and maybe even cast a vision for others? I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to find out.

I cannot tell you how excited, scared, and humbled I am to tell you today that the Lord has taken what was just a vision and turned it into an opportunity. Starting this spring I will begin 15 months of full-time ministry work overseas with a Chicago-based missions organization called International Teams (ITeams) where, I found out the Lord had grown a vision among the organization's leaders that was just like mine. I also have the blessing and privilege of doing this work with a brother in Christ, Andrew Nicodem, a graduate of Wheaton College who is a fantastic writer and photographer too!

Here's the plan:

• Where: Travel to 12 different locations in 10 counties where groups of ITeams missionaries are serving in order to write their stories and the stories of those they serve. (For a full map and more location details, check out the “Map” tab at the top of the page).

• What: Each team in each location is involved in a different kind of ministry. For example, the team in Athens is ministering to refugees, in Soroti, Uganda the team works with orphans and child soldiers, and a team in India is fighting human trafficking. That is just a snapshot of the many ministries ITeams is involved in as they strive to see lives and communities transformed through the power of God.

• How: Our time in the field will be split between physically serving and writing. Generally, the half of each week that is not spent serving in a given ministry will be used to dive into the community and learn about those who live there, their needs, their stories and how the Lord is at work there. We also want to encourage the missionaries working in each location by telling their stories and how God has used their desire to serve Him.

• Result: The stories we write and the pictures we take will be published in several locations: First, they will go up on the International Teams website (www.iteams.org/us). Second, those with a bit more of a personal touch will be on our team blog (which is forthcoming). And finally, we will seek to freelance our work out to as many different outlets as possible to spread these stories as far as we can.
  

Here's the goal:

In all we do, Andrew and I desire to serve, advocate, and witness:

• Serve: To be a helping hand and a willing spirit to physically serve alongside and encourage teams dedicated to helping the oppressed and spreading the gospel.

• Advocate: To be a voice for the voiceless and raise awareness about critical needs by telling the stories of real lives and how the Lord is at work in the midst of those struggles

• Witness: To tell the greatest story of all, the gospel, to a broken world that desperately needs the truth. And along with that, to be witnesses, documenting the supernatural so to speak, as we seek to cast a vision that encourages others in the body of Christ to live with purpose and passion. Our prayer is that readers would be encouraged as they see evidence of the Lord tangibly at work in this world and that many would ask the Lord how He might want to use their story to impact others, whether that be around the block or around the world.

Here's a question:

I want to invite you to consider whether a small part of your story might be about joining this project. It takes so much more than one or two people to make a vision like this a reality. I truly believe the Lord has a purpose and a plan for this work and I would love to see you join us! Therefore, I want to encourage you to prayerfully consider whether the Lord might be leading you to partner with Andrew, myself, and ITeams to tell the kind of stories that need to be told. We need prayer partners, financial partners, and networking partners to come along side us in this project. If you are interested, just click on the “Join the work” tab at the top of the page to learn more. And thank you in advance!

The truth is, each of us is living out a story day by day. My prayer for you and me is that our stories are powerful testimonies that point to eternal hope and true redemption in the midst of the inevitable struggles and trials of life. That is a story worth telling and I would be blessed and honored to join you in telling those kinds of stories together!

Serving for Him,

-Ryan