The Anchored Soul

​ I have been on the ground in Kigali for exactly a week today, and I am just now sitting down to write my second blog update. That certainly wasn't my original intention, but Rwanda has a beautiful way of sweeping you up in its own rhythm, leaving very little room for a computer screen. When I finally stepped off the plane at Kigali International Airport, it had been a grueling 28 hours since I walked out the front door of my home in New Hampshire. The journey itself was incredibly smooth—we met up with Dr. Bane Angles and Scott McClimans during our layover in Brussels and flew the final leg into Kigali together—but by the time we landed, the exhaustion of travel was real. Yet, the moment I stepped off the plane, the fatigue evaporated, replaced by an overwhelming sense of gratitude and humility. It felt completely surreal. After 26 years away from global missions, I was finally back on the field. Because we arrived under the cover of darkness, I couldn't yet appreciate Ki...

​ It is easy to get comfortable in the predictable rhythms of daily life. We fall into corporate routines, manage our local responsibilities, and look at global needs through the detached lens of a screen. We convince ourselves that certain chapters of our lives are permanently closed, safely tucked away in the past. But every once in a while, a door opens that reminds you that old dreams don't always die. Sometimes, they just sleep. Tomorrow, I am stepping onto a flight bound for Kigali, Rwanda. I will be spending three weeks on the ground—first in the classrooms of an urban theological campus, and then on the red dirt clay roads of remote rural villages. On paper, I am going to teach. But in reality, I am going to heal a piece of my own story. The Foundation of the Calling To understand what this trip means to me, you have to go back to Labor Day 1995. That was the day I was baptized, gave my life to Jesus Christ, and began a walk that would completely redefine my existence. ...