Jun 10 2012
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Fun stuff, Random Thoughts, technology

Tomorrow Television Will Change Forever.

A couple of years ago I wrote an entry about the future of TV. One of the major players in the prediction is the Apple TV. A device that is currently a separate box with WiFi and an HDMI connector for TVs. The catalyst of this proposed future is a device and or TV that simplifies the process of developing apps, monetizes it, and rolls it out in an ecosystem that works for the US.

Most of the major networks have an app for iPad and iPhone already whereby you can watch all the most recent episodes of their current shows. If only there was a way to access the same content on demand on TV in an similar fashion while still being able to stream live events live when the time arrives.

a mock-up of Apple's new TV set

Tomorrow is Apple’s annual Word Wide Developers Conference. At the conference Apple is rumored to announce an updated line of Mac computers and an upgraded operating system for their mobile devices. Mac rumors, a website that tracks patents and leaked news, got wind of the fact that Apple will be announcing a new operating system for their apple TV device, which will presumably be the same operating system that’s used on their fabled TV set, rumored to hit the market sometime this year. Steve Jobs’ supposed final revelation was in regards to this device. Shortly before his death, Jobs talked about the new TV with his biographer, saying that he “Finally cracked it.”

We stand on the cusp of an enormous change to the way we receive television. Tomorrow at WWDC Apple will be announcing that developers can now write apps for their upcoming TV Set. What this means is that NBC, ABC, CBS, TNT, TBS, Fox and most importantly – Disney will all be able to create apps for your TV that allow you to interact with their content as they see fit. If they want a world premiere to run live – it will. If they want to make it available for a week after it showed – they can. If you want to email a friend and have them pull up a clip of a TV show right to their TV set and watch it – shebang.

Other cool features like Skype on your TV and the ability to send video messages to friends are possible as well. Advantages like being able to have a live video chat while watching a live event are also feasible. Re-airing classic shows and movies with video commentary or live chat with the stars and creators. Imagine being able to watch something on your iPhone or iPad, pause it and then resume it in full HD on your TV.

And of course let’s not forget the gaming potential. Developers can write games that can be downloaded right to your TV. Using a bluetooth or WiFi connection you can use your iPod as a touch screen controller. You can use voice activation to command the action. You can use your existing Apple game center profile to connect with friends and play co-op games. Oops! Did Apple just merge the computer and console gaming industries – I think they did.

Perhaps most intriguing in this brave new world of TV is the fact that hierarchy will soon be gone. Much like the recording industry has become obsolete in the post-modern era of internet-based marketing and delivery, soon everyone can develop an app that can deliver TV content to the world. Youtube stars and non-profits can create a an app that can sit along side your ESPN app so you can receive new content from them the same way.

When it comes to mainstream content, thought Disney is going to be the Key. I wasn’t joking earlier when I said they were most important. Disney owns the station that most men would pay a premium to have – ESPN. They also own ABC, Disney, Disney XD, ABC Family, ESPNU, 2, 3, Classic Deportes and all associated radio stations and print media. This could be a big outlet for them so long as they can monetize it. And if there is one thing that Apple is good at – it’s making money. Plus Disney and Apple are intertwined as Apple owns the majority stock in Pixar and Pixar and Disney merged a few years back.

After that comes Time Warner and News Corp. Once CNN and Fox News are on board, all of the most watched stations currently only available on cable and satellite will be available through Apple TV. Though, I feel confident that regardless of whether they make the transition cable news stations are going to see a sharp decline over the next few years as most people under 40 get their news from social media. If they don’t adapt it’s entirely likely that CNN and Fox News could both die a slow death over the next ten years.

The biggest opponent to this change is Comcast which is about as big and evil as a media corporation gets. They’ve been under investigation by the FCC constantly for questionable network neutrality, data throttling and for their efforts to block any a la carte offerings by cable stations. Unfortunately Comcast owns 51% of NBC. The fact that NBC is the lead steak holder in Hulu.com is an encouragement, but Comcast is currently the biggest cable/internet company in the States. They might try to hold out in an effort to keep cable as king. If they withhold NBC’s content that would create a large gap in the programming. Even worse if they throw their digital weight around as such to make it harder for people to use their network to access on-demand content. (They’re already suspect of such in regards to Netflix.)

At the same time NBC has been in fourth among the major broadcast networks for several years now. And all of the broadcast stations have been in decline of viewership despite over all TV viewership being on the rise. They’ll all have to follow the audience if they hope to stay relevant. It’s questionable whether stations of any kind will be needed in this new form of TV. Studios could skip the middleman and present their content right to the audience. The structure remains to be seen, but undoubtedly there will be those who adapt and those who don’t survive.

Microsoft already announced their plans to open the Xbox platform to developers in hopes of creating a similar experience – so there is competition which will drive prices down and quality up.

Believe me when I say tomorrow marks the beginning of the end for traditional television, and the dawn of something way cooler.

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Jun 09 2012
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Musings, Random Thoughts, Spirituality

A life without God

Westboro baptist church is, as you may know, an organization that claims to be a Christian church located in Topeka Kansas. I say ‘claims’ because their actions clearly show that there are large portions of the Bible that they ignore. WBC is best known for picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers and people who were openly gay. They often sport extremely hateful slogans that have no Biblical foundation and they teach their children to do the same. In the past ten years I’ve seen this church shown on national TV at least four times and I don’t even watch the news very much. It’s likely that they’ve shown up on TV much much more.

What is the significance of this? Westboro Baptist Church reports its membership at 40. The church that has probably appeared on national news more than any other single church has just 40 members.

I work at a church with seven thousand members. In my four years here we’ve made national news zero times. We’ve helped hundreds, if not thousands of people in need and we’ve seen people being healed of addictions and marriages being saved. We’ve seen people called to go work in other countries and poor neighborhoods. We’ve seen miracles take place and yet we haven’t made national news mainly because it’s not as interesting as hearing about a group of 40 really hateful people. But also because that’s not the way Christianity is depicted in the media.

In TV, film, news, books and popular music Christians are almost always shown to be ‘fundamentalists,’ ‘bigots,’ and ‘extremists.’ When statistically the average church-goer is more likely to be a nominal Christian who doesn’t know enough about their own faith to have strong thoughts on any controversial subject. That’s a problem unto itself, but it is not the one being depicted – instead we’re shown as unstable and hateful.

I haven’t heard any news stories about Mama Maggie Gobran who is living in the slums of Cairo, Egypt and working with the children there. Even Bono’s foundation to feed helpless children has gotten far less press than Sean Penn’s humanitarian efforts – the main difference between to two is their worldview. (It certainly isn’t their ability to get drunk and start fights, as they are both equally talented in that measure.) I haven’t heard a news story about Katie Davis who graduated from high school and immediately went to africa to work with diseased, disabled and otherwise less fortunate children. I don’t hear about the fact that Christianity is being persecuted more violently around the world than any other religion and that every day Christians in countries like Iran, Ethiopia and China put their lives on the line by witnessing to the truth of the Gospel. Because it’s more convenient and easy to place us all in the same box – along with these 40 hateful people.

It’s easy to take a cheap shot at Atheism and point out that almost all of the most terrible dictators have been proud Atheists. Joseph Stalin wanted to get rid of religion in the Soviet Union. Mussolini and Mao Tse-Tung wanted the same for their countries. All three were genuine monsters – killing their own people and anyone who would oppose them. At the same time one can bring up the crusades and the inquisition in relation to Christianity. So instead of basing an argument on unbalanced political leadership I’d like to look at more contemporary leadership right here in the old US of A.

In 1963 Madalyn Murray O’Hair won the landmark court case that removed prayer from public schools. It’s pretty interesting to look at the state of the public education system since then, but that’s another blog entry. O’Hair fought for her son’s right to not have the Bible read nor prayers prayed around him. Her son’s name is William Murray and he’s written a book about his life. You see, he’s a Baptist pastor now and his book entitled My life without God is all about the way his mother tried to raise her children to hate God. Aside from seeing that prayer was removed from schools Madalyn Murray O’Hair is perhaps best known as the founder of American Atheists – an organization that seeks to advance the cause of Atheism – rallying people to the cause of believing in – well, nothing.

O’Hair stole, she cheated, she lied. She broke the law on numerous occasions. She never paid taxes. She abused her children emotionally, manipulating them into unhealthy lifestyles. She and her children (and later grand children) were all morbidly obese. She believed in living ‘high off the hog.’ There wasn’t a charitable bone in her body. Before they were killed, O’Hair, Her Son Jon and William’s Daughter Robin (her granddaughter) all lived together and never separated. Jon never married – he never left his mother’s side. Robin, like her grandmother took to a decadent lifestyle and became severely overweight. None of them ever spoke to William who had become a Christian. When he first told them, they ridiculed him and called him a traitor.

O’Hair was proud of her lawless lifestyle and said she believed that the only law should be ‘do what thou will.’ She hired unrepentant convicted felons who were known for their violent crimes. She claimed that she supported their lifestyle. Ultimately this is what led to her death. A former employee kidnapped her, her son and granddaughter. All three of them were brutally murdered by one of her fellow Atheists.

William Murray said

My mother was an evil person … Not for removing prayer from America’s schools … No … She was just evil. She stole huge amounts of money. She misused the trust of people. She cheated children out of their parents’ inheritance. She cheated on her taxes and even stole from her own organizations. She once printed up phony stock certificates on her own printing press to try to take over another atheist publishing company.

This happened all within my lifetime and yet I don’t remember hearing about it. Maybe you did, but I didn’t.

I say all this because these aren’t some obscure people on the outskirts of the Atheist movement. These were the leaders – and yet it is the Christians that are depicted as foolish and hate filled. When I encounter this kind of hate I get angry. Then I get sad. Then I get energized to show the world the love of Christ.

In reality the difference between the Christian life and a life without God is quite simple.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:18-23

 

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May 28 2012
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Quotes

Quotes: Memorial Day

Being thankful to live in the US has become increasingly ‘uncool’ within my lifetime.

As a result, too often people of my generation take for granted the hard work and sacrifice that was made so that the United States could be the great nation that it is. The phrases have all become so cliched and mis-used that any words that might remind of those sacrifices and the cost of freedom almost all ring meaningless. I found a few thoughts that I believe would be good to share in recognition of those who have died that I might live in this great country and be free to worship my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Consider these and thank God for the men and women who gave their lives for us to live.

Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal language? Are they dead that yet act? Are they dead that yet move upon society and inspire the people with nobler motives and more heroic patriotism? ~Henry Ward Beecher

Green sods are all their monuments; and yet it tells
A nobler history than pillared piles,
Or the eternal pyramids.
~James Gates Percival

Is’t death to fall for Freedom’s right?
He’s dead alone who lacks her light!
~Thomas Campbell

 It is not cool to act as if America is the greatest country in the world, but the fact is it still is. Granted this is a really really messed up world, but there is nothing wrong with thanking God for the freedom we celebrate here. There is nothing wrong with defending those God-given freedoms and there is nothing wrong with praying that God will continue to bless our nation. These are all Biblical principals. So though it be exceedingly uncool and markedly cliché, I thank God that I was born in the USA.
May 24 2012
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Everything Else, Health

Less TV more Water.

I love watching TV, but to be honest TV is terrible for you.

  • According to the New York Times. A recent study found that happy people have several things in common: They go to church, they socialize, they read print media. But the only thing that they do less of is watch TV.
  • A well known study in the 70s told us much about TV’s effects. A town in British Columbia first introduced TV to its population in 1973. Several sociologists heard about it and decided to study the effects. In short they found that health declined, test scores dropped and perhaps most alarmingly, aggressiveness saw a sharp rise.
  • Studies have found that people who watch TV think the world is a much more violent place than it is. When surveyed, people who watch several hours of TV a day overestimated the number of violent crimes that occur in their town on a regular basis.
  • Surprise, surprise – Several studies found startling and undeniable link between amount of TV watched and depression. (Incidentally exercise has the opposite effect)
  • According to Kidshealth.org Kids who watch four hours of TV or more are more likely to be poorly behaved, overweight and make poor life choices.

I don’t drink enough water, but water is really good for you.

  • A recent study showed that drinking a full glass of water before every meal can help you lose weight.
  • Your brain is 90% water – ergo the more you drink water the more you think clearly. It also has shown to improve mood so drinking water will improve the quality and productivity of your day.
  • Water is the single best skin care product. Drinking enough water every day can replenish skin tissues and help skin maintain its elasticity.
  • Water aids in all major body systems, especially digestion. It can even relieve headaches.
  • Water improves you over all health and immunity. If you want to avoid anything from the flu to a sprained ankle, from cramps to cancer – a tall glass of water at every meal does wonders to bolster your immune system and speed up healing.
  • It is abundant, inexpensive, easy to get, and free of calories.

 

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May 23 2012
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Everything Else, Random Thoughts

10 Things this single guy has learned about marriage.

Over the past month I got to interview 18 couples about what it is that makes their marriage strong. I asked them lots of questions. I asked if there was anything they wished they had known before they were married. I asked them about things they do together that keep their relationship strong. I asked them what habits they have that help maintain their marriage. Some couples had been through illness, some couples had been through divorces, some couples met when they were kids others didn’t get together until they were adults. We talked about their mission as a couple. We talked about how they met. We talked about the advice they’d give to new couples. We talked about what they would say to a couple who’s considering divorce. I edited these interviews down to six videos totaling to about 27 minutes.

I tried my best to capture the thoughts of these people in the videos but it’s not possible to capture five hours worth of interviews in less than half an hour. So here is a summary of my findings in simple terms.

[list]
[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]As with everything else in life ITS NOT ABOUT YOU. If you get married just to get something, you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re always looking out for the needs of the other then you’ll be far happier than if you were only concerned with your own needs. What happens is reciprocity; when you empty yourself out the other person can’t help but give of themselves.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]As with everything else in life ITS NOT ABOUT YOU. If you get married just to get something, you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re always looking out for the needs of the other then you’ll be far happier than if you were only concerned with your own needs. What happens is reciprocity; when you empty yourself out the other person can’t help but give of themselves.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Apparently married sex gets awesome after 40. I had two couples tell me this. No joke. One man said “Sweet Moses – it’s insane.”[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Several people said it’s more important to like your spouse than to love them. All of these people were women. I think that’s because when women think ‘love’ they think romance. They simply recognize that the romantic part of love isn’t the most important part. Endearing companionship is a more important aspect of love than romance. Romance is very important, but it’s not where you’ll live most of the time.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Your spouse is no replacement for God. You can’t place that kind of faith in a person.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Most people start by saying “We don’t have the perfect marriage.” That seems silly. The perfect marriage doesn’t exist. So don’t try to fool anyone – your marriage is just as imperfect as the next guy’s. You have fights, you may have even had some serious issues, but that’s okay. Don’t hold your marriage as an Idol.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Most people start by saying “We don’t have the perfect marriage.” That seems silly. The perfect marriage doesn’t exist. So don’t try to fool anyone – your marriage is just as imperfect as the next guy’s. You have fights, you may have even had some serious issues, but that’s okay. Don’t hold your marriage as an Idol.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Divorce is terrible. It effects the people getting divorced far more than they expect it to, but it also effects everyone around them. There is no exaggeration for the destructive power that divorce has. It is not worth it. It is most definitely not a ‘reset’ button for you life. You cannot get married, get divorced and just ‘go back’ to the way things were.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Several women said that they were surprised to find out that they can’t change their husband. This sounds obvious, but don’t marry someone you don’t like, because while they can change, you can’t change them. It’s the Holy Spirit’s Job to change people. It’s your job to love them.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Several women said that they were surprised to find out that they can’t change their husband. This sounds obvious, but don’t marry someone you don’t like, because while they can change, you can’t change them. It’s the Holy Spirit’s Job to change people. It’s your job to love them.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]Marriage is really hard sometimes. Really really hard. But it is worth it.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]We’re not big enough to fix all of our problems on our own. Counseling isn’t for broken marriages it’s for marriages that don’t want to break.[/list_item]

[list_item icon=”fa-home(Check Font awesomes for Icon Class Names)” color=”#ffd600″]It only gets better. The couples that had been married 40-60+ years all said that marriage only gets better as time goes by.[/list_item]

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Mar 24 2012
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Movies & TV

Movie Review: The Hunger Games – Why can’t reality TV be this good?

I feel bad for anyone who happened by Rave Motion pictures at 2:30 this morning. They were probably surprised to see the deluge of traffic such that they might expect at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Tonight was the premiere of the Hunger Games and unless you’ve been fasting from all forms of media for lent, you’ve probably heard something about this ‘next big thing’ movie-based-on-a-book-series.

If you’re ‘Oh crap not another ‘Twilight’ antenna just went up, don’t worry. This book series is actually excellently written. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Stephen King is actually quoted on the book jacket, talking about how great it is. I think it’s important to note that Stephen King also said, “Harry Potter is about overcoming adversity – twilight is about the importance of having a boyfriend.” Comparing this book to twilight is like comparing apples and some fruit that is only interesting to pubescent girls with bad taste in books. The first twilight movie made $7 million at it’s midnight showing whereas Hunger Games grossed over $19 Million. This movie has legs and it’s going places.

The Hunger games is an especially violent and tragic series of stories that center around Katniss Everdeen who lives in a dystopian future where the US has deteriorated into a country called “Panem” which consists of twelve districts and an enormous capitol that looks like it was an architectural design collaboration of Cosmo S. Spacely and Senator Palpatine.

Panem suffered civil war wherein the districts rebelled some 74 years ago. Now as a reminder of who’s in charge, the Capitol requires that each of the twelve districts supply two teenagers – a boy and a girl – to participate in the titular Hunger Games. There’s really only one rule to the game: be the last one left alive and you gain fame and fortune. It’s basically a futuristic gladiator arena, but with teenagers. We see up close what happens when a society becomes more obsessed with entertainment and comfort than the sacredness of human life. Some conservative reviewers missed the boat and don’t seem to realize that neither the author, fans nor filmmakers are endorsing this world – they are as appalled by it as you should be, that’s the point – they want to see this world brought down. The movie shows this perfectly. (In case you don’t get it the title of this review is similarly ironic.)

Ultimately the movie is a win. There’s no doubt that Lionsgate has found their Harry Potter. But how does it compare to its epic source material? When a popular book is adapted for film I put the changes made from the book to the movie into one of four categories: changes for time or budget reasons, changes to make the film more appealing a larger audience, additions that work on film but wouldn’t have in a book, and stupid changes that no one likes. While there were some very noticeable differences between the film and the book, the changes are almost all positive.

The book is written from Katniss’ point of view so you’re going to see some immediate differences when you realize that the movie has no trouble leaving Katniss and showing us what’s going on elsewhere.

The first scene of the movie is an interview with the head Game Maker Seneca Crane. In the book Crane doesn’t have a speaking role. In fact, we really don’t find out his name until the second book. In the movie he’s a principle character. Crane’s struggle to maintain control of the games and satisfy president Snow is a lovely subplot that gives a window into what the next two movies will be like. It also gave us Wes Bentley (a Methodist pastor’s son btw) for more than just a cameo role.

Donald Sutherland plays the conniving president Snow who has ruled over Panem since before the rebellion (making him probably more than 100 years old, though he doesn’t look a day over 90.) We don’t hear from him until the second book, but in this movie we get him for several brief scenes that establish him as the major antagonist of the series.

The only place where I wish they could’ve remained more true to the books would’ve been the interviews with the tributes. I would’ve like to have seen the full interview with Katniss as it was described in the book. I would’ve liked to see the interview with Rue.

The acting in this movie is spot on. Jennifer Laurence shows us why she was nominated for an Oscar two years ago. I was most impressed with the scene before Katniss is sent into the arena. She looked like I would expect someone to look if they were knowingly headed toward a gruesome death.

Stanley Tucci plays a perfect Ceaser Flickerman. Elizabeth Banks was born to play Effie Trinket. Josh Hutcherson is a great, albeit less broad-shouldered Peeta than described in the books. Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Foxface et all are pretty much perfect. Woody Harrelson plays a fabulous Haymitch; even despite the terrible wig they had him wearing.  My only beef was with Liam Hemsworth as Gale. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s the only non-American in the main cast, perhaps it’s that I never liked the character of Gale or maybe it’s just that he’s taller and much better looking than me – I can’t be sure. I think it’s just that he botched most of the ten-or-so lines that he was given.

On the continuum of movies based on books the Hunger Games is closer to Lord of the Rings than Twilight. It is shot with more artistry and told with more poise than you might expect from a ‘teenie bopper.’ If you’re a fan of establishing shots prepare to hate this movie. Any wide shots last less than three seconds and all other shots are as close as they can get. Also if you get motion sickness I’d recommend heading to the back of the theater – Gary Ross didn’t bring his Stedicam to set.

In addition to staying close to the action (a daring but effective choice) the biggest difference between this and similar movies is the use of silence. During several moments of the film instead of announcing to the audience that they should be sad by throwing in some over-powering score, the director chose to keep it silent. There is a fantastic score during many scenes, but a few key moments are left without any music – allowing the audience to feel what they might feel if this really happened. The blow is not softened by music. Perhaps the best example of this is during the reaping, when Katniss’ kid sister Prim is randomly selected to participate in the games and Katniss volunteers to take her place. You really feel the pain, the awkwardness, the horror of what the characters are going through.

What is perhaps most impressive about the movie and book are the complex themes. Dehumanization in an increasingly consumer driven and mechanistic society is perhaps the primary theme. These aren’t topics that most teenagers are discussing these days so it’s a great way to ask questions regarding what the limit on entertainment is. I personally see parallels betweens The Capitol and the Districts and the US’s relationship with developing countries. I’m hoping fans of the book might do the same.

Someone asked the questions ‘why do we praise teenagers killing each other.’ I should specify that the book and the movie do not praise killing. The society depicted in the books does, but they are depicted as self-centered and desensitized, not totally unlike our own. It’s actually a very powerful allegory. The watcher walks away asking the question ‘have we become like this society?’ The point is similar to that of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Swift wasn’t actually suggesting that people kill children either – his point was how society has moved toward an amoral, godless society that doesn’t value life.

I would not recommend this one for the kids. It is a very violent movie, with characters dying of spears through the stomach, a snapped neck, arrows to the chest and being torn apart by wolves. So I’d say anyone much younger than 15 would probably be pretty disturbed by the violent deaths of several teenagers throughout the movie.

All in all it’s a very impressive film. It manages to question society in some poignant ways wile telling an entertaining story. I’d really recommend going to see this one. Try to catch it this weekend and if the tickets are almost sold out, may the odds be ever in your favor.

Mar 04 2012
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Adventure, Haiti, Travel

Haiti Trip days 5&6

There’s a story in Haiti – we’re not sure it’s true, but it seems likely – that in 1804 the Voodoo leaders of the Haitian people sold Haiti to the Devil for 200 years. They were at war with France for their independence and it seemed like they had no way of winning since they were a tiny country in the Caribbean and France was a large military force, so the only way that their leaders knew to help was to make a deal with the Devil – to sell their nation to him to 200 years in exchange for victory against the French. Well, it worked. The French agreed to make a settlement and sell their financial interest in the land to the nation of Haiti.

If you’re not familiar with what happened in Haiti from 1804-2004 it is a bloody and horrific history. Scanning the wikipedia article on Haiti’s history will tell you there were multiple coups – resulting in the death of thousands of Haitians in pointless political power grabs. It ended in 2004 as the US assisted the Haitian president Aristide escape the country. By that time the Haitian people had been in a cycle characterized by a Miami School of Law Study as ‘a disturbing pattern.’ At that time the UN, with all it’s faults, came in and began to keep the peace in Haiti. A rumor began at this time that the Voodoo leaders were meeting again. They they were thinking about renewing their lease with the Devil – to save their nation from it’s unrest. Christian missionaries gathered and prayed – praying that they would not do this again and somehow they never did. Weather it was the obvious fact that they had been no better off with the Devil’s help or it was truly just the influence of the Holy Spirit, they did not hand Haiti back over to the Evil One. So for the first time in 200 years Haiti had the option of freeing itself from the tyranny of Satan.

However, men love darkness because their deeds are evil. The violence continued essentially until the infamous earthquake in 2010. The death toll is impossible to ascertain; numbers range from 50,000 – 300,000. In Haiti’s checkered history never has one event effected the nation to it’s core like this event did. As terrible as it was, it served as a wakeup call to the remaining Haitian people. Since then, they have elected a new president and over the past year he seems to have been working toward improving the living conditions of his people. It seems the healing of the Haitian people can finally begin. I see the earthquake as a natural evil that Satan would have used for ill, but God is using it for good. It is awesome, encouraging and humbling to think that we’re on the leading edge of an effort to take back the nation of Haiti for the glory of God.

Now, to return you to this trip to Haiti.

Friday morning we headed out to the Leveque deaf community one last time. The whole day was bittersweet since we knew we all had to leave the following morning. After meeting up with Mackenson, Kyle had some phone calls to make and we still had a few small details to finish on the house we were painting. DC and Woody worked on the house while Keri and Elizabeth met and talked with Bertheed, one of the deaf leaders, the only woman on the leadership council in the community.

I took the opportunity to walk around the new community taking pictures and video and relating to the members of the deaf community. Everyone I met recognized me from past trips and smiled and hugged me, asking if I was well. In turn I greeted them warmly and asked them if they knew that Jesus loved them. Many of them said “Thank you.” or a simple “Yes.”

After a few moments I realized I had no idea where the girls had gotten to, but it didn’t take long to find them. I just had to listen for the only house where there was talking – it was easy to find. When I got there, Keri and Elizabeth were talking to Bertheed about the Earthquake. She was expressing how much she didn’t understand the earthquake. She asked if God was angry with Haiti. Elizabeth and Keri assured her that God wasn’t angry at them, but that he was able to use the tragedy of the earthquake to bring them closer. She seemed relieved that we didn’t think God was angry with Haiti.

After the girls spent some time discussing life with Bertheed we walked over to where DC and woody were putting the final touches on the house we had been painting that week. Once they were finished we came back and spent the rest of the day fellowshipping in Mackenson’s house.

As we sat and talked, one of the deaf leaders commented that Kyle looked like he was sitting on throne. We looked over and Kyle laughed. He was sitting in a plastic deck chair. He instantly sat up and made a funny face. I signed “King Kyle” He signed “I am King Kyle! I am now in change Mackenson is out!” The deaf leaders were laughing really hard as he went on this comedic rant for a few moments. Kyle continued “I will make new rules!” Mackenson laughed and said “Just make those rules fair!” It wasn’t until Kyle said that he was going to take Mackenson’s dog, Luke, that Mackenson said “Woah – hold on there. You don’t get my dog.” apparently taking the Dog was just too far.

It’s funny to note that Mackenson’s Dog, Luke was not responsive to us whenever we tried to call him. He just sat there. Once when we were leaving the community and Mackenson was in the back of the truck with us luke came running after the truck. Mackenson simply held out his hand and after a moment Luke stopped and sat. The dog didn’t understand us because his master signs to him. I couldn’t help but have an ‘awww’ moment when I realized that the dog did recognize his master’s voice, it was just his hands through which that voice spoke.

We stopped at the same restaurant where we’d eaten all week. As we were trying to figure out who would pray (always a bit of a discussion before a meal on a mission trip) I just started signing a prayer. “God, thanks for this food. Amen.” Everybody signed ‘Amen.’ And kyle congratulated me on my first sign language prayer.

In the afternoon we walked up the hill to where the new church is going to be built soon. On the way there we got stopped by Kyle’s Haitian ‘mom.’ If you ever visit our Haitian deaf community – she is one that you’ll have to be sure to meet, she has such a sweet spirit and she vocalizes everything she says so loudly. She’s older, especially for a Haitian woman and spends much of her time giggling gleefully. Kyle told us that she was recently reunited with her sister who lives in the house next door. Her sister can hear and doesn’t know ASL, but they manage to communicate using home signs and lip reading. They’re both older and it was very sweet to hear that they are getting to spend their golden years together in such a beautiful community.

As we climbed the hill overlooking Leveque the team was filled with mixed emotion. None of us wanted the day to end, but when we reached the top it was time for one last prayer with the deaf leaders.

We had one more awesome time of prayer. Where we all prayed silently – those who knew sign language prayed ‘aloud.’ It’s so moving to see the expressive nature with which these deaf leaders pray. Seeing their fervor is stirring.

After the prayer there was a long period where we took photos. Photos of everyone with everyone else. Each deaf leader with each member of the team and then the deaf leaders and then the team and then the team with a few of the deaf leaders. Then the girls with Mackenson and William. Then the girls with just William. And a partridge in a pear tree. But it became evident we couldn’t put it off any longer; it was time to leave.

We headed back into Port Au Prince and arrived at New Life just before dark. Dinner was waiting for us – a delicious sort of meatballs and pasta. A few other teams were arriving to begin their trips even as we were preparing to leave. It was fun exchanging pleasantries and finding out what kind of work they were doing.

I had a conversation with a man named David who’s been working with an organization in Haiti for several decades. He was really impressed with the work we were doing. He affirmed the importance of moving the Haitian people toward sustainability. Moving them toward self-sufficience. He was impressed with how we were adamant that our ministry be to the leaders who in tern would minister to the rest of the community. It was encouraging to hear how impressed he was. David mentioned that there were many organizations who didn’t understand this principle. These NGOs do more harm than good as they just give handouts rather than woking to equip the people with the knowledge to elevate themselves for a lifetime. The affirmation was very encouraging.

Our team time in the evening was brief as we were all very tired, but we all were up and ready to go by 6:30 the next morning. As we waited for the truck to come and pick us up one last time Kyle went around the table and affirmed every member of the team – encouraging each one of us and talking about the areas in which he had seen us all grow during the week. We hopped on the truck and took our final ride to the airport. The ride was full of laughter. We were remembering all the good times we’d had that week.

When we got to the airport I had to separate from the group for most of the day as I was flying back by American Airlines while they flew back via Spirit Airlines. I’m told that they had some pretty fun times traversing the Caribbean, connecting in Ft. Lauderdale and finally landing in Atlanta. I had a few adventures of my own. My Miami layover was only an hour and a half long – which meant I had to go through passport control, baggage claim, customs, rechecking, security, and find my gate in a very short time. Remarkably I made it with time to spare. Ironically, despite my efforts to get to my connecting flight, the plane had a mechanical issue that took over an hour to resolve, so we didn’t end up flying out until almost 3:00.

On my flight from Miami I sat next to a Spanish woman. Not a Hispanic woman, but a woman who was actually from Spain. She only spoke spanish so naturally after being in Haiti all week I was delighted to finally have someone to talk to who I could really understand. I made conversation with her as best I could. She was very friendly and I even help the flight attendants understand what she wanted. When I got to Atlanta I originally had planned on picking up dinner, gassing up the car and picking up the others, but by the time I got out to the car I got a text from DC that they had just landed. So I locked the car and just walked back inside where I met the others as they entered the terminal.

Keri honored us with a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem as we stepped outside. I’ve never been a part of a team that didn’t immediately all fall asleep as soon as they hit the car on the way back from the airport. No one fell asleep. We stopped for dinner and were undoubtedly the most obnoxiously loud group there. The last leg of the trip was spent singing, joking and laughing all the way back home to Montgomery. When we pulled up to the back parking lot of Frazer there was a group waiting for us and we were still laughing and singing and enjoying the camaraderie. DC closed us out with one last prayer and we called it a night. The trip was done.I’ve never been a part of a mission team that got as close as this one. It was nothing short of awesome.

I want to close with this: If you are a part of the Frazer family and if you are at all capable, you need to visit Haiti. I ran into someone this morning who I told needed to visit Haiti. He told me he wasn’t called there. I told him he needed to go regardless. I didn’t feel ‘called’ the first time I went. But that trip was enough to give the Holy Spirit a vocabulary in my life such that I was back three more times in less than a year. If I hadn’t gone that first time the help-portrait trip would never have happened in November and neither would the december trip where we brought them the photos.

If you have the desire and it feels impossible, God will make it possible. If you know you can do it and you’re not sure if you’re called. This is the call. You didn’t read this on accident. We have trips almost every month this year. In the meantime be praying. Pray for the deaf leaders. Pray for Kyle, our Missionary on the ground there. Pray for God’s will to be done in the nation of Haiti. Pray that what we’re doing today will have a ripple effect that will effect the whole world.

Mackenson in his house in the new Deaf Community.

 

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Mar 02 2012
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Adventure, Haiti, Travel

Haiti Trip Days 3&4

On wonderful wednesday morning after our devotional and breakfast at new life. Breakfast was an especially awesome rendition of french toast. I guess it was actually Creole toast. Creole toast is like french toast except you don’t conjugate the eggs. There was also an oatmeal that was easily the best tasting oatmeal I’ve ever had. I’d try to describe it, but it’s indescribable.

 

After breakfast we headed out to Leveque. The whole day was spent finishing painting the house that we started on our second day. We had to paint the first coat on one room and put the 2nd coat on the others. DC Cole, the trip’s leader was especially eager to finish the job we started. We not only put the first coat on the room we hadn’t started but at the end of the day we managed to put a second coat. As with the previous day we got to interact a great deal with the community.

One of the things that we’re seeing is that living among Haitians who can hear will be an adjustment for the deaf community. DC spoke with one of the Leveque residents who was baffled that we were talking with Mackenson and Alexis. This unfortunately is a common attitude, we’re hoping that we can help the members of the deaf community at Leveque elevate themselves in their society such that the others realize that they are equally capable. If they can do it there, we’re hopeful that they can do it across the entire nation of Haiti.

 

For lunch we headed to the same creole restaurant we went to in Cabaret the day before. This time as we walked in I noticed a chicken was walking around under our table. Later I would comment that I supposed he must be for lunch tomorrow. At least we know its fresh. I made the mistake of trying the hot sauce this time. It was as if my sinuses were a crowded theater and someone shouted ‘fire!’  But I accomplished what I wanted and that was to make my meal more of a challenge than it was the day before.

 

Wednesday I also tried put together a few sign phrases that I hadn’t before. After lunch when we were riding back to Leveque, Mackinson was asking some of us if we new deaf people before we got involved with the community in Haiti. We admitted that none of us had grown up around people who are deaf. I managed to sign to him, “But now, we have a big deaf family in Haiti.” And he smiled and signed ‘cool.’ When we got back later on William, the guy who sang-signed for us yesterday, showed up I told him that I want him to come to Frazer one day and sign for everyone there. He told me that I should learn to sing.

We painted until we ran out of paint. We had to stop for the day when they told us that they wouldn’t have more paint for us until friday. We had to leave one room half finished and stop for the day. We headed back to New Life for the evening.

 

After dinner, we engaged in a lengthy discussion on some future developments in the community. One of the recent changes was that the design of the church at Leveque has been adjusted by a leading architect who specializes in optimizing spaces for the people who are deaf. This means that the sight lines will be improved such that the members of the deaf community should be able to see their interpreter from almost anywhere in their new church home. The discussion was a great opportunity for the members of the team to get clarification on Frazer’s role and the hope that one day we’ll no longer be involved with the deaf community in Leveque, but rather we’ll be able to expand our scope here in Haiti and move onto other projects. After many great conversations we all headed to bed.

I should mention that Woody apparently talks in his sleep at that night DC caught him shouting angrily, “But I’m trying to serve God!” to someone in his dreams. Woody doesn’t remember what he was dreaming so we have no clue with whom he was arguing. But it was a funny event.

Thursday was a really cool day. We started off by visiting our friends at Rebuild Globally – an organization that is working to employ Haitians through creative means. They pay Haitians fair wages to make sandals out of trash – old tires and clothes. The sandals are actually excellent and we were able to see their efforts regarding planting a garden and starting a tilapia farm. It’s always cool and encouraging to see other groups and organizations succeeding at helping people move toward sustainability. It also is great because it gives us ideas as to ways we can help move our community (and future communities) toward sustainability as well.

Panoramic view from atop the MOH guest house

After that we headed to Mission of Hope’s compound for a bit to drop some things off at Kyle’s new apartment. It gave us a chance to see their campus – not all of the team has yet and it’s a pretty cool place. Frazer hopes to learn as much as we can from MOH and organizations like them so that one day we might be able to do something similar. Kyle got to have a chat with a few MOH leaders while the rest of us looked around. In the afternoon we stopped by Wahoo bay partially to take a little break partially to celebrate Kyle’s birthday. Wahoo is a resort which has a restaurant and beach access. We all took a few moments to hop in the water which was as clear as if it had come out of the tap. The scene was absolutely stunning. Clear water, mountains and a beautiful afternoon sun setting just above us.

We headed back to town before the sun set and came back to New Life. The truck ride back was the longest contiguous ride yet. I took some footage of us riding back as we came into town.

We gave kyle a few more gifts and had some cupcakes (which I had managed to bring in my suitcase all the way from Montgomery’s Publix.) We made our plans for the next day – which were mainly to try and make an effort to just relate to the community members and really speak the gospel into their lives.

So as we go out today, I ask for prayers – prayers that we will be bold, clear and have the Holy Spirit’s words. I pray that the language barriers would not be a problem even as we speak to the hearing people in the community. Please pray that our last day with them would be mightily effective.

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Feb 29 2012
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Adventure, Haiti, Travel

Haiti Trip Day 1&2 (and -1&0)

Bonju everyone! It is a beautiful morning here in Port Au Prince at the New Life Children’s home. I’m taking a pause to write a little bit about the jounry thus far.

 

This team’s trip actually started on saturday with a drive to Ft. Lauderdale to deliver a Land Rover and Frazer’s eldest church van to the port to be shipped over here via – well, ship – arriving later on next month. I was not with them during that leg of the journey which is unfortunate because it was by far one of the most interesting pre-trip trips so far. The key to the land rover included (as many modern keys do) a chip to inform the car that it was not being stolen when the ignition is cranked. Unfortunately this part of the key fell apart halfway down to their destination. The assembly broke off along with two tiny parts of said chip. Between the engineering genius of Woody Parramore and the mechanical expertise of DC Cole, after 40 minutes – and the generous donation of tinfoil from a local Dunkin Donuts – they were able to get the car up and running again.

 

In addition they had trouble finding a hotel to stay for the night on saturday and when they finally found a place with a vacancy it was truly only a single vacancy so Keri Ward and Elizabeth Beaird slept in the room while the guys slept in the church Van. Because of the broken key they had to first visit a Land Rover dealership before they could call it a night on sunday. Finally they made their way to Haiti on Monday morning where they met up with Kyle and visited the old deal camp first thing in the morning. I joined them that afternoon.

 

I had a very different Monday morning. Like the others I awoke at Dark:30 in the morning only my drive was to Atlanta to drop off the car that we would be riding home in on saturday from the airport. The day of travel was pretty smooth and I was very happy to find that everything I was bringing to Kyle indeed arrived safely in Port Au prince. This included about 10 books, two packages of coffee, three packages of coffee creamer, two drink cozies from the tipping point, several smaller odds and ends and (dah,dah, dah-dah) a laser printer with extra toner. Yes ladies and gentlemen Kyle can now print. You don’t realize how big a deal it is to have something as simple as a decent printer down here until you don’t have one.

 

I was expecting to ride to new life with Naz, the orphanage’s hired chauffeur, but as I battled my way through the crowd of haitians begging to take my luggage I was met by Keri and Kyle who brought me over to a small pickup truck – our chariot for the week. Woody, DC and Elizabeth were  standing in the back ‘shouting’ my name sign as I approached. For those of you just joining our program my name sign, given to me by the deaf community in November is a ‘W’ signed over the stomach, I wish I could disagree with their assessment but every time I see a picture of myself I have to admit that it is my best feature ;-)

 

We rode back to New Life – the orphanage in whose guest house we’re staying this week and had dinner before discussing how tuesday would go.

 

Yesterday morning started with a devotional from Elizabeth – which naturally included scripture reminding us that ‘The deaf will hear and the blind will see.’ There is little doubt in the minds of those involved with this ministry that this scripture is being fulfilled right before our eyes. No, I’m not talking about deaf miraculously regaining their ability to hear. But without a doubt, this community of deaf people has heard the Gospel more clearly than many people with all five senses.

 

After breakfast here at New Life we hopped in the back of the truck for a ride out to the new community at Leveque. The ride takes about an hour total, but would take half that in the states. Traffic is terrible around Port Au Prince and the roads are worse, though half the Journey is made on one of the nicest roads in the country. The trunk we’re riding in isn’t exactly what we would consider a ‘full size’ in the states. Six people in the truck bed makes for a constant game of human Tetris as one person’s leg falls asleep and another person gets tired of standing. We get lots of interesting looks from the Haitians many of whom have no love of ‘Blanc’ or white people. But we arrived at the deaf community to cheers from our community members.

 

As we pulled up I was immediately greeted by several familiar faces who hugged me several times over. I was especially glad to see the community’s leader, Mackenson St. Louis. Right off the bat Kyle gathered up the interns from Mission of Hope who were facilitating another mission group from Minnesota. When we were all circled up Kyle prayed in sign language and Elizabeth interpreted while a Mission of Hope employee interpreted into Creole. Praying in three languages is always cool, but sign language is an especially beautiful language for prayer and praise. I have to mention to anyone who is reading – if you’re running camera for another church group and you see that another guy is taking video, it’s just common courtesy to stay out of each other’s shot. I’m talking to you, guy from Minnesota who thought the best vantage point was in-between the pray-er and interpreters. . . .anyway  . . .

 

Embedding the video didn’t work but please click here to check out a video of Mackenson praying. 

 

After we finished the prayer the group from Frazer followed Mackenson up the hill to the location where the new church is soon to start construction. We prayed over that location – Keri prayed in english and Mackenson prayed in sign. I neglected to mention that when I arrived at the Atlanta airport on Monday Virginia Thompson, our pastor’s wife, called me. She had just gotten back from Haiti for a weekend trip and told me that she had tried to take a large stone from the future location of the church on the hilltop, but because her luggage was all carry-on, she wasn’t allowed to bring the rock aboard the plane. She called to ask me make sure and bring her a stone back in my check luggage for her. So I took this moment to find a large rock for Virginia. So, Virginia – your rock is on it’s way.

One of the coolest parts of the day was when William, one of the deaf leaders who one day hopes to be one of Haiti’s first deaf pastors, invited us into his new house. For me it was special because I got to see where he had hung the photo that we had taken on him in November with the Help-Portrait group and delivered in December. Before we left he shared a song with us. He writes songs and performs them in such a powerfully expressive way you could almost swear you hear the way the music sounds in his head. It was nothing short of awesome in the true sense of the word.

 

 

After looking around the new community at Leveque we got to painting one of the houses in the new community. The houses are all painted on the outside already, but the inside is still gray concrete. Painting may not sound terribly practical, after all you can live without paint, but when you’re light source is entirely based on sunlight coming through window vents, it’s pretty amazing how much different light colored paint makes in making a room brighter. When we walked in the room seemed so dark, even with mid-morning light beaming straight into the room, but when we finished the first coat by the end of the day it was sup rising how much more light there was in the room simply created by paint that reflected the light around the room.

 

Our first few hours painting were pretty chaotic as the children in the community wanted to help paint too. In addition to the kids there were the six of us, several deaf adults and a few pieces of ‘furniture’ to work around. After we got most of the coat done we decided it was best to get the kids out and make sure we were actually providing them with a decent paint Job.

 

Our lunch was back in the town of Cabaret (which isn’t far away from Chicago – again, musical theater joke) The food in Haiti is always enjoyable – rice and beans, chicken and Coke with real cane sugar – that may not sound like a big deal, but to those who have had it – they know what I mean.

 

Back at the community we finished up the first coat of paint. The team began to sing praise songs together and them moved on to disney songs. Alexis, one of the guys in the deaf community, had his hearing aid in so he could hear us well enough to laugh at us and sign to Mackenson “They’re singing crazy.” We finished up with what paint we had and at the end of what felt like a too-short day we headed back to New-life. On the trip back Kyle bought us some sugar cane while we were stopped in traffic. Most of us enjoyed it as we continued our game of human tetris – standing up when we could no longer feel our backsides, sitting down when we got tired of getting hit in the face by bugs. I have to say, I love riding in the back of the truck it’s a bit of a rush when our driver pulls out to pass a big truck only to miss a head-on collision by ales than ten feet. This is normal driving in Haiti and somehow they don’t seem to have accidents. It’s pretty remarkable.

 

I’ve even included a video via my GoPro of riding on the back of the truck in Haiti – click here to see it.

 

When we got back to New Life, a delicious dinner was waiting for us. The evening was restful and included some good time to process the day. Keri Ward is the only member of the team to not have been here before and both Kyle and I remarked on how quiet she had been on our way back that evening. She said she was just trying to process it all. One by one we all went to bed.

 

That catches you up to this morning! I thank you all for your continued prayers. It is truly awesome to see the progress as the community has moved out to Leveque and continues to develop together. Even yesterday as we were talking one of the deaf people kept saying ‘We must be patient. We must trust god to protect us.’ Their faith is always inspiring.

 

Feb 26 2012
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Everything Else, Random Thoughts

Not another reboot!

Hollywood is doing all these gritty reboots these days, I thought I might as well do a not-so-gritty reboot of my blog. Check it out it’s all different looking and e’ry thing. I hope to have the contents of my old blog restored to this one shortly but for now I should be writing again soon – as in tomorrow.

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