It is September 21, 2018, day one. Writing a bit each day about my thoughts, motivations, ideas and dreams. I have been a member of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for the past 25 years, oh man, thats a long time. When I was a kid, like 10 or 11, I wanted to be a missionary, someone who gave their lives to those who did not yet know Jesus. I pursued this passionately, through the way I lived my life, where I attended school and the career I chose with YWAM.
Fast forward a bunch of years, and I find myself here, in 2018. I am 46, a husband of 20 years and the father three pretty amazing daughters. I am also living the dream that I had when I was 10. In my mind I thought I would be living this dream on the other side of the world, but I am living my dream here, in Classy San Diego. I live in a 1st world country, I drink great coffee, I are not poor (our family actually have two shoe strings that we can tie together) and we speak English. Yet, I am living the life I dreamed of.
I live in San Diego, and everywhere I look I find people who do not know Jesus. I struggled a lot, at different times, with not living in a foreign country, but then I come back to the fact that even though I am in the USA, there are people here from all over the world that I would never have relationship with if I lived somewhere else.
My closest friends here are Syrian, Kurdish and Mexican (with a sprinkle of white folks). I have learned so much about culture, faith, Jesus and the world though these relationships. I am also humbled that I have had the opportunity to teach my friends (those who are new to this country) so much about life in the USA and culture. In return, my friends have taught me about faith, hospitality, and freedom. I am not the person who stands on a box and preaches the good news in a small village (which is amazing), but I am one who tries to develope deep, meaningful relationships with those who are different than me, showing them the way of Jesus by the way I live my life, and how I love them. It is very organic, very relational (I am learning from others and others are learning from me) and exists without expectation or condition. It feels like a dream, maybe the dream that I had over 35 years ago.
