See what God has done by watching this:

This left me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, so to that end I would like to say…

Thank you.  Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.  Thank you for caring enough about empowering young Christ-followers to share the good news of Jesus with others.  Students, thank you for choosing to make living by faith a priority in your life.  Thank you for not compromising.  Parents, thank you for trusting God enough that you would let YMI send your children thousands of miles away for a season, so that God’s work would be done.  Churches, thank you for letting us work with your youth and youth leaders as we help them do mission work.  Missionaries, thank you for your unwavering friendship and ministry partnership.

Thank you.  For all those of you who haven’t gone on a YMI mission trip or training, but have prayed – and continue to pray.  Thank you for those who have chosen to sacrifice their time or money to make this ministry possible.  Thank you for those who have literally sacrificed career opportunities to join YMI – and a thank you to spouses who have let them.  Thank you for all of you who have made sacrifices above and beyond the call of duty, but obediently to the call God has laid on your hearts.  You inspire me and to you I will ever be grateful.

Most of all, thank you Lord.  Thank you for the four most exhilarating years of my life.  Thank you for the good times.  Thank you for the tough times – the hard times – the times when my faith has been tested.  Thank you for the growth I have experienced as a result of your testing me.  Most of all, thank you for showing me how awesome you are – how you are capable of far more than I can ever hope for or imagine.  You are the God of the possible; the God who chooses to use us in spite of our feeble-mindedness to accomplish your purposes.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of what you are doing.  Thank you.

Headed by Julio Serrano, the national director, YMI Peru aims to train young people in Lima and in the amazon region of Peru to share the Gospel. This is only the beginning, as YMI Peru intends to not only reach its whole nation, training young people to reach out in their communities, but also begin to influence surrounding countries to join the movement.

Sure, travel agents do charge a fee for using their services.  Considering the amount you are already paying for a ticket, however, this extra cost is sure worth the possible savings you will receive.  Here are some reasons you should consider using a travel agent for your next trip:

#1 You can avoid paying more at the check-in counter.

Too often we forget that although we may find a great price online, there are hidden airline fees we will not find out about until we get to the airport.  A travel agent already knows about the fees up front.  So, they may elect to book you on a ticket that may have a higher base fair, but will save you money overall because the airline they put you on does not have as many fees as others.

#2 There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to web fares.

If fees don’t bother you – or if you want to spend the extra time researching them to try to not pay a travel agent, you still may be missing out if you go it alone.  No matter what websites advertise, they only have access to published fares the airline chooses to release to them.  A travel agent, on the other hand, deals through ticket wholesalers, who have access to all the fares on any given flight, including unpublished fares – and here is where you may find significant savings.  Even if you end up paying the same for a ticket booked through a travel agent as you would have online, you actually paid the airline less than you would have for your seats plus you hired a travel agent who will make sure your trip runs smoothly.  This brings me to my next and most important reason to consider using a travel agent – especially for international trips…

#3 You have someone who will relentlessly work for you in unforseen circumstances.

As President of an organization that is consistently sending people around the world, year-round, we make sure we use a travel agent for this very reason.  Most of our trips go very smoothly.  However, this past year has presented us with some travel nightmares.  First, we had booked a flight from the US to Ireland in April so that we could set up a mission trip. Unfortunately, our flight was cancelled at the last minute due to the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano explosion in Iceland.  Instead of me having to be on the phone, competing with travelers from North America and Europe for time with the airline, then needing to re-book, we let our travel agent do the work for us.  Time saved.  Money saved in the re-booking.  Piece of mind.  Within 48 hours we were re-booked on another airline only a month later for the same price – and we had a full refund coming our way from our first booking.

A second incident that occurred was just a week ago, when we sent a church group from Nevada to Newark/Philadelphia for a mission trip.  They had chosen to do a trip from December 27 to January 7.  Unfortunately, the East Coast Blizzard of December 26-27 hit, and the team got stuck in Salt Lake City because their destination airport – Newark – was closed!  They were stranded with thousands of other holiday travelers.  One phone call to our travel agent sprung him into action.  Within a few hours the problem had been solved and the team was rerouted to Baltimore – all arriving there at the same time – even though air travel was in total chaos.  All 12 were able to reach their destination together – a church in  the Philadelphia area – in 48 hours, rather than waiting that long to catch a flight from Salt Lake.  Why did this happen?  Because our travel agent worked directly with the airline to make it happen.  All I and the leaders of the group had to do was sit back, relax, and allow him to work the system on our behalf.  Time saved.  Ministry saved. Piece of mind.  Oh, the air fare, with our travel agent’s fee was no different than if the group would have booked online.

I could go on and on here, but I won’t.  I hope you see my point: using a travel agent is well worth any fee they charge.  In this era, when airlines are looking to nickel and dime you any way they can; when they don’t care about you and provide you with no assistance when something goes wrong, you need someone who can be your advocate.  It makes traveling that much more enjoyable.  So next time you are online, ready to book your airfare and hotel on one of those cut-rate websites, take a moment to pause and consider using a travel agent.  Sometimes it may cost just a little more, but the little extra you pay up front may bring you big savings on the backside.

While we were planning the training, Juca Cerpe (YMI Brasil National Director) and I decided to make the session more interactive.  So, yesterday I first told the class how U.S. culture functions in certain areas of life and then had them how Brasil functions in that same area.  What I found was this:

• There is a big difference in how our two cultures view time. In the United States the clock is king.  For the most part we try to ensure we are on time.  If we are going to be more than 15 minutes late we call ahead.  Everything is run by the clock.  In Brasil the clock matters at times, but being relational is most important.  A perfect example of this came during our training.  We (the YMI US staff) had made a schedule for the training.  Whenever we have had a training, this schedule has been the thing to return to in order to make sure we are on track to complete all the elements of the training.  While here in Brasil we accomplished most everything on the schedule, but we never really followed the times.  It became more of a “to do” list.  In Brasil, it’s all about being relational – taking time to interact with people over accomplishing tasks.  We were not always on time for my many appointments on this trip, but this did not matter.  What mattered was the time we spent with people.
• Transparency is highly valued in the U.S., but not as much in Brasil. Many times our short-term mission teams will return from Brasil, with participants believing that they have a whole lot of new best friends from their time there.  Why do they think this?  Because Brasilians love to connect with people by making jokes and generally being very friendly with them.  In the U.S., when someone takes time to connect with us, especially when making jokes and being very warm and friendly, this is a signal that they truly want a deeper relationship.  In Brasil, this is simply the way they make a first impression.  While two people from the U.S. who have never met each other may give the colloquial handshake and discuss a variety of topics, jokes and a warm smile are usually reserved for later.  When you place two Brasilians together who have never met, their interaction seems to us like they have known each other for 20 years, cracking jokes, laughing, and even putting an arm over another person’s shoulders.  So, while we may think we have made a truly life-long connection with someone in Brasil after 5 minutes, the truth is we have only made an acquaintance.  The fact of the matter is this: only after repeated trips to Brasil and much time with my friends there have I really come to know what they think and who they are.  While people from the U.S. are willing to discuss their problems and their fears up front, people in Brasil will never show these to you unless they are sure they can trust you with them.
• When it comes to gaining status in society, we are the same. Of course, we are not exactly alike, but both societies value achievement.  The “self-made man” and phrases like “from rags to riches” sum up what we value as a society in the U.S.  If we see a person who is highly successful and came from a disadvantaged position in life, we place a high value on them – more than on one who is handed everything.  This is the same in Brasil.  While in some societies status is based on age or some attachment to a segment of the population, in our two countries we value hard work and achieving our goals.  I knew this before I taught the class on Sunday because every time I go to Brasil I am always asked this question: “How many times has Brasil won the World Cup?”  They ask this to me in order to demonstrate their society’s superiority over mine in the world’s most popular sport.

The mission training was a great experiment – highly successful.  While I was able to offer the churches in the area something, I also learned much.  Of course, we have much to learn from other societies, especially one like Brasil.  A great example of this is soccer, a sport the U.S. has yet to win a major competition in when it comes to our men’s team.  Which, coincidentally, is why my Brasilian friends remind me of their dominance in this realm.  If you’re wondering, the answer to the World Cup question is five times.  If we have much to learn from Brasil in this arena, what else do they have for us to learn?

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I had the privilege to attend a youth outreach event here in the Atibaia area at PIBAI (First Baptist Church of Atibaia Imperial).  When I arrived I saw friends and ministry partners – people who have worked with teams YMI has sent here since 2008.  This was a great experience for me.  There was a time of praise, a testimony, and finally a message.  At the end of the message there was an invitation.  As a result of this invitation two young people received Christ.

Of course this was a great thing.  However, there was something extra special about this moment for me.  The two were asked to come up front as we sang another song.  As one of them went forward, Juca Cerpe (the National Director for YMI Brasil) leaned over and told me that this young man began going to the church because of the sports ministry our YMI Team helped begin in 2008.  His salvation was a continuation of the impact our team had made for Christ in that church and the surrounding community.

Our team was only in Brasil for 10 days in August of 2008, working alongside Juca, running a sports clinic at this church.  As a result many new neighborhood kids came to the church to play.  When they came they heard about Jesus.  After the team left, the church began a weekly sports ministry, continuing what the team helped begin.  Eventually this ministry grew so much that the church had to hire a youth and sports pastor to run the program.  He was there last night, helping run the outreach event.

So, our mission team from 2008 is still making an impact.  Are the members of the team in Brasil today?  No, but the ministry they helped begin is and nobody can question the fruit of this ministry!  So often I hear about how short-term teams are detrimental to long-term ministry.  In some cases this may be so, but not all.  No, there are times when a short-term team is exactly what the church needs to catch a vision and start a ministry that God will use to transform lives.  Short-term teams, in this sense, are a wonderful tool – extremely valuable to God’s Kingdom.  There can be no doubt about this.  Just ask the pastor of this church – PIBAI – in Atibaia, Brasil.

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Tomorrow I go to Brasil.  Usually, the night before I leave is filled with a bunch of tasks that need to get done at the last minute.  This time is no exception.  In fact, as I write this blog my bag is only half-packed, a store run still needs to happen, and I also need to grab all the documentation needed for travel.  Still, there is a different feel to this trip than to the six I have made previously to this country.  This time, instead of focusing on planning, the main point to this trip is hands-on ministry.

Next weekend, November 19-21, myself, Juca Cerpe (National Director for YMI Brasil), Rose Velasquez (YMI USA’s Latin American Mission Specialist), and Julio Serrano (a partner missionary from Peru), will be leading a mission training for a church in Atibaia, a city near Sao Paulo.  That’s right: YMI will train its first church in another country to go on a mission trip!

In addition to training a team from PIBAI (First Baptist Church of Atibaia Imperial), we will also be hosting a conference for church leaders who are interested in doing local evangelism with young people or perhaps doing mission work in another region of the country.  This represents the official “next step” for YMI!

During our trip, Rose and I will be sending updates via Facebook and Twitter.  To follow me on Twitter, simply click here: @BrianYMI.  If you can, please remember to pray for our trip, the preparation for the training conference, and that the Lord would touch those at the training in a way that would inspire them to tell others in their community about Jesus.

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What happened?  Well, it’s pretty simple.  By the time the Amsterdam Team was able to purchase their airfare, prices out of Seattle (where the team launched from) had soared.  It was obvious we could not send the team from there.  So, I began thinking about where this team could depart from when suddenly the thought occurred to me that we could launch the team from Canada!  Vancouver, B.C. was only three hours away by car and it is a major airport for that country.  Once I searched I found an agreeable airfare for a direct flight from Vancouver to Amsterdam.  We booked it!

Last Friday we drove the team from Seattle up through the Canada-U.S. border (an experience, I can promise you, as the three cars we were in were questioned rigorously) to the Vancouver International Airport.  It actually wasn’t that hard and we may consider doing this again in the future!  Looking back on it, though, it does seem crazy that to send an international team we had to leave the country first!

Over the past two years, this camp has sent (and will send) youth on three YMI Teams from the Sacramento area to the Philippines, South Korea, and Costa Rica.  This summer, prayerfully, more teams will train in Sacramento at First Baptist of Fair Oaks and even more young people will have the opportunity to serve God internationally.  As I am here Tuesday – Thursday this week, if you remember, please pray that God would touch the hearts of the youth and adult leaders of this camp so that they would be motivated to share the message of Christ both here in the U.S. and around the world.

That’s right.  This is a “pedestrian” bridge.  Notice, the bike lane is in the middle.

Notice, the cars have just a little more room for themselves.  The bike lane is the open lane that is closer to you in this picture.      When crossing – beware!

This is the multi-level bike park at Amsterdam’s Central Station.  That’s right – the whole structure is filled with bike!

For those who can’t get into the bike park, there is an entire street corner devoted to bikes.

That’s right.  I am currently in Amsterdam planning one of the three YMI Team trips we are sending to Europe this summer.  It’s been a great time so far, and I am looking forward to getting to know the city better during the rest of my stay.  Since arriving here, I think I have been able to sum up Amsterdam in one word:

BIKES.  They are everywhere.  Of course, coming from the Seattle area, seeing people biking from place to place is nothing new.  Many people like to say that Seattle and Portland have a lot of people who are environmentally conscious and like to ride bikes to and from work.  This may be true, but neither can hold a candle to Amsterdam.

In Seattle there is the occasional bike lane – a small area designated by the side of the road or walkways where one can supposedly safely ride out-of-the-way of traffic and pedestrians.  Here in Amsterdam, bike lanes are alongside every road, can be up to 3/4 of a car length in width, and are separated by a median between them and traffic.  At intersections they have their own sidewalks and lights, just like the cars.  A sidewalk is next to the bike lane where pedestrians are to stay – AND TO NEVER INTERFERE WITH THOSE ON BIKES.

In this city three things hold true:

1.  If you ride a bike, you always have the right-of-way.

2.  If you are not on a bike, you will be run over if you do not get out of the way.

3.  If there is an incident involving a bike, the police will almost always side with the person riding the bike over cars and pedestrians.

The first thing I was told upon arriving to Amsterdam was this: always watch out for the bikes because they will not stop for you if you get in their way.  That’s right – they will run you down – and it will be your fault!  In some cases, if a woman is riding a bike and you get in the way they will not run you over.  Nope – instead they will simply grab their rather large purse and swing it at you as they whisk by, striking you on the head as if to say, “Get out of the way, you idiot!”  It has been told to me that one of the favorite complaints of the locals here is tourists walking, hanging out in, or reading street maps in bike lanes.

People here take their bikes very seriously.  At the Central Train Station there is a large bike park, where people can leave their bikes while they take a trip.  This is several stories high.  Bikes can be seen lining walkways – parallel parked like cars – outside the library.  I even met a guy who collects bikes.  He has 12!  His reasoning: “I can’t collect Ferrari’s, so bikes will do”.

Yep – Amsterdam is the land of bikes.  If I lived here, I wouldn’t have a car – at least not for using in the city.  Nope, I would have a bike.  As for any of you planning on going to Amsterdam sometime soon, bikes are not all there is to Amsterdam (of course!) – but watch out for them: they go fast, they do not stop, and they rule this town.

Fortunately, the ash plume has not directly negatively impacted any of our missionary partners in their planning of trips for the summer.  The impact, instead, has caused problems with the planning that needs to be done by YMI before we send teams to two new locations this summer: Northern Ireland and Amsterdam.

Here’s the deal: Since Europe is my area, I was supposed to leave on a pre-trip to Ireland/Northern Ireland this last Saturday.  Everything looked to be a “go” until just after 12:00am PST my flight was cancelled.  Our wonderful travel partner, Ken Little of Classic Events Unlimited, actually answered his phone at that hour for me (by the way, if you are looking for a travel arranger – he is the guy – trust me) and has been working with the airlines to rearrange the trip for sometime very soon.

As for Amsterdam, I do not leave for there until May 15, but I have to fly through London Heathrow, which is currently in lock down due to the ash cloud.  Scientists are saying this could last on and off for months, even up to a year!  I pray that I will be able to make this trip as well.  These trips are necessary as it is our policy to never send a team to a new location without first visiting it ourselves.

I am confident that the Lord will make a way for this mess to work out – not only for me, but for the rest of the people stuck at locations around the world trying to get to their destinations.  If you can remember, please pray for this situation and that the Lord would provide a way to re-open all of Europe so that we can send our YMI Teams there this summer.