Helping Others

When turning on the news at the end of the day, the images of hunger, poverty and suffering are paraded before us. We can change the channel, or we can take charge, and that is exactly what the organizations that attended the Annual Global Mission Conference are attempting to do. I had the great pleasure of attending the conference at Atlanta Christian College this past Saturday, March 27th, and I was just amazed by the not only the amount of organizations there, but by the enthusiasm of the people who run them. One such group that stood out to me was HOBO 50/50, a non-profit whose mission is to get homeless people who do want to work jobs, and to expose those artists who live on the street.



Website:http://www.hobo5050.com

The vast outpouring of love and passion for the work those associations are doing truly gave me hope that no matter how tough and brutal life may be, there are still those out there willing to help others.

Mysterious, Beautiful Life

Last night, I had the pleasure of watching an episode of “Life” on the Discovery Channel with my family and a few friends. With Oprah Winfrey narrating (no comment), I was yet again taken into the beauty and harshness of life as the images on the show are truly breathtaking. One scene in particular stood out for me, that of a tiny one inch tree frog taking tadpoles individually from a puddle at the base of a tree, climbing 150 ft, and then depositing it’s offspring into another puddle on the tree. At the end of the day, the frog had climbed over a mile, but this was not the amazing part to me. I wondered how in the world did these tiny tadpoles know when to get on and get off the back of their mother. This got me to thinking…

While sometimes life can suck, there is an order to all the things we do, a plan if you will. The Creator does not arbitrarily throw trials into our lives; He has a plan for us, and there is nothing that happens that is not in controlled by Him. So on rainy days such as today, when the world is wet and weary, it is comforting to know that there is someone up there making sure that everything goes according to His will and understand that God’s way is not my way.

Praying and Paintball

While paintball and Christ are not exactly synonymous with one another, I was lucky to experience both this past Saturday, March 13 in Rome, Georgia.

Six years ago, Kevin Bradberry and I started a scenario paintball team as a part of the men’s ministry in order to show that having tons of fun and being Christ-centered can be achieved. Also, what a great way to get out all that male aggression! While I have not been directly involved with the Renegade Ratels in about three years, Kevin has kept it going, and the team has grown from six individuals to about fifty, all as a result of his hard work.

Not only was it wonderful to be a part of the Renegade Ratels again, I was grateful that the game, called Flag Wars, was family friendly and Christ oriented. About 200 individuals came out, of all different ages. We all were able to pray together before we started shooting one another, and the referees patrolling the field made sure that anyone using vulgar language or not in keeping with the rules were swiftly taken out. The game lasted from 9am to about 5pm, and our team managed to bring 8 people, including Kevin’s dad and brother. All in all, we just had a really fantastic time.

And one more interesting thing happened, and that had to do with the Most Valuable player (MVP) medal, awarded to one member of each team, in this case Red and White, at the end of the game. The generals on each side chose a player on their side to receive this medal. The referees too patrolled the field to observe how the players interact with one another, and if one from each team showed great sportsman-like conduct.These two players were voted on by the refs. Well, I could not believe my ears when they called my name. I was awarded the sportsmanship award and even though our team had been awarded with most valuable team twice before, it was a great surprise to be shown that individually I was great on the field. Honestly, I see it as a credit to the entire team-without them, I would never have received anything. Julie was also thrilled, since it seemed to justify me spending 100 dollars to get out there!

Truthfully I had no idea how they chose me or singled me out of over 200 other ‘masked’ players. Hmmm, isn’t this how a Christian should be? Impacting others around us without even knowing? Then at the end of the day being recognized by Christ as doing what it takes to Glorify Him, not that this is the goal of a Christian to be recognized, quite frankly, just go about being what Christ wants you to be or do and impacting those around you on the spiritual ‘battlefield’…

Christ can be truly present in everything, even paintball!

Never a Moment Wasted with the Lord

I was recently shown by the Lord that nothing He does is a waste of time-He always has a plan!

I had been invited to the Christian Youth of Georgia Conference on beautiful Hilton Head Island, SC, during the weekend of Friday February 26^th to Sunday February 28^th. The purpose of my attending was to have a display at the conference, giving me some great networking opportunities. I did have to pay my own way to get there, so I was hoping to meet and establish relationships so I could get my monies worth! My family was able to accompany me on this trip, which provided me with the support I needed to do my best.

About midday Saturday, however, I began to feel dejected. I felt that I had wasted my time, energy, and money on attending the conference. I did not feel like I was getting the experience I had come for, and the weekend was not turning out how I had envisioned. Then the Lord seemed to say “Oh really Fledge?” and set out to prove me wrong.

By the end of Saturday, I was able to establish three incredible contacts. I spent time talking with the guest speaker of the conference, Steve Geyer, a truly wonderful guy. I had dinner and spent time with the band members of “True Story”, a great Christian group. This interaction has opened a few doors for possible future opportunities together. I had a terrific conversation with Keith Wagner from Woodland Christian Camp, and he explained to me that their summer mission will be to put clean water wells in Africa. Wait-that sounds awfully familiar. That is a part of my dream too! The weekend turned around, from failure to success. I was able to achieve my goal of networking with great people and ended up having a great time.

Thank you Lord, You always know best.

Road to Radio

Well, when opportunities present themselves I see a need to take them. I have a friend, Russell, Wall, whom I have known fro over 10 years now who works as a DJ on the morning show - WDJC 93.7fm - in Birmingham AL.

He invited me over to visit him and his awesome family, and to see if the station he works for would be a fit for future Son Safaris advertising.

I made the trip out there this Wednesday and what a great opportunity it turned out to be.

Russell introduced me to the evening host - Jon Walden - what an incredible guy. Young and in tune with young listeners.

We chatted for a while before his 8pm show and got to know each other. He then got ready to do his stuff, but before I left the studio he asked if I would do his 5 minute 10:15pm devotion.

WOULD I? WOULD I?

Of course I would. I then had voice time on his show. Awesome.

But it didn't end there....

Russell invited me to be on his show in the morning - The Dave and Russell Show -

Yay, there I was, on the morning show in Alabama speaking to what.... over 100 000 people.

Dave and Russell pushed sonsafaris.com over and over and I had voice time just chatting with them on air....

Whether or not Son Safaris finds the budget to advertise now or in the future this was a great opportunity to meet Jon and Dave, and spend time putting a face onto the voice of the mission and goals of Son Safaris.... Thank you Lord.

TCTC - Gatlinburg, TN

What do over 5500 people, more than 7 States, and loads of Churches all have in common?

They all braved the truly Arctic winter conditions of -10f, snow, wind and closed roads to gather in Christ's name at the Tennessee Christian Teen Convention in Gatlinburg, TN

Son Safaris was invited to host four workshops.

Gary Welch was responsible for creating the workshop program. "Thank You" Gary for all the planning you did and allowing Son Safaris to be represented at this ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE gathering of students and adults.

What a great way to begin 2010.

One thing that happened while driving up, and I actually cracked out laughing was:

When driving on the Interstate doing 70mph in below freezing temperatures don't try to wash your dirty windows. I quickly found out that the water may very well freeze on your windshield - DUH!!!! Hey I'm from the SOUTH.

The conference was truly amazing.

I had great opportunities to speak to around 800 people within the workshops.

Alongside this I had great one-on-one interaction with students, parents, and ministers which allowed me to share the vision of being invited to speak at their next event.

This Convention was incredibly well put together, and I hope to be invited again to share the uniqueness of Son Safaris.

The Body is a Unit. 1Cor. 12:12

I had not really comprehended the Christian Body of Believers until now.

This week THE BODY manifested itself in Christ-like service.

Here is the ordeal.

My wife and I are expecting our second boy in February, 2010. She had minor complication with our first pregnancy, and these problems reared again for this one too. While we were away for Thanksgiving week she was hospitalized Friday Nov. 27 for the likings of a kidney stone. It was not. They had to give Julie a minor epidural and so forth to relieve her pain. It worked.

No worries right?

Wrong!!!

Three days later we are back in our home town and back in the ER. Extensive vomiting and excruciating headaches for my poor wife.

Turns out the epidural from the Friday op had left a leak in her spinal column and her spinal fluid was emptying leaving her brain to rest on who knows what part of her spine.

How does THE BODY fit into all the this you may ask?

1. One call to a friend to take care of our first 22 month old boy, 10 minutes later the help arrived and cared for Brody for the afternoon.
2. Then another call and a friend had made plans to spend the night at our house to care for our son overnight.
3. Not only this overnight stay, but she organized a few others to go over to our house and clean, tidy, make beds, do the dishes. Everything to be done from being a way for the week prior.

Oh but it doesn't end there...

1. Guys from our community group step up the next morning and carry me off to breakfast and some company. Just to get me away from the hospital for a while while Julie gets prepped for surgery.
2. Plans for Brody are made at this meal and another member from our group picks up Brody from the baby sitter to be cared for during the afternoon.

That evening we are discharged after a relatively successful operation and on our way home.

We arrive to a clean and tidy house.

1. Then we receive a phone call, another family in our small group is bringing us dinner.
2. I receive a text not long after from another family from our small group to organize a meal for us on Thursday.
3. Needless to say our freezer has been stocked with casseroles prepared by groups of college students who went out of their way to show Christ's love.

Our life was in turmoil. We had no control.

We were hurting, and we were cared for....

THE BODY of believers stepped up and did what true Christians should do for each other.

Thank you all who prayed for us and helped me grow closer to understanding what it means to be THE BODY OF CHRIST!!!