email me  tell a friend  Editor Login 

changes



i have a few coming soon but i'm still sorting through all the muck.  

if you wanna keep following along i'm gonna be doing more updates at this blog: 

http://daniel-snyder.blogspot.com/

it's easier to use, thats all.  

see you there.  

god is love, nothing is impossible.   
Comments (0) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

final cribs video!



here's a cribs video from our final debrief in hua hin, thailand.  as you know, the quality of these are usually a bit sketch and this one is definitely no exception.  

denver is good.  although i'm only 30 hours into it, reentry hasn't been too bad.  more to come soon about future plans!  

god is love, nothing is impossible.  


hua hin cribs from dan snyder on Vimeo.

Comments (6) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

thank you video



i've spent a considerable amount of time trying to think of ways to thank all of you who have supported me this year.  and honestly, anything i think of falls way short of expressing how much i really do appreciate and cherish each one of you.  

it's not much, but i put together a video of my year.  it's my first attempt at videography, it's not gonna win any oscars, but its a small way for me to say thanks.  i hope you enjoy it.  

thank you so very much.      

god is love, nothing is impossible.  


supporters video from dan snyder on Vimeo.

Comments (19) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

real men play with dolls



Real Men...a blog from my amazing friend, Matt Patch:  

I'd like to tell you about real men.

This month was "Man-istry". A time when all the guys from all of the teams on J-Squad come together as one unit. For 21 days we drink beer, spit, and talk about sports. Well, not exactly... we pray, worship, and push each other toward being better men. Men that will make spiritual leaders in their future careers, and families. Men that will become great husbands and loving fathers. Men that are human and can admit their mistakes, short comings, and weaknesses all while keeping their head held high.

Real Men that...

Hug. This month was hard for me. I previously wrote a blog about my brother titled "Forever Bound". Well this month was his hearing. It really took a toll on me emotionally and spiritually. At times I just wanted to break, and quit on the guys and the ministry... The day before my brothers hearing I'll never forget feeling heavy and depressed when Callan Edquist waited for me as I walked up the stairs and just gave me a hug and insured me that he was praying for me and my family. Real men encourage and lift up brothers when they are down. 

Pray. Our guys are tough. Especially when it comes to our loved ones... our girls. It's hard knowing our girls are out sharing the love and freedom of Christ at all hours of the night. It's hard not being able to be beside them and watch out for them. So we pray, and we trust. Real men know of a Bigger Man that they can put their trust in.

Play with Dolls. I never thought to myself "man I'd love to have a daughter" until now. I can't even put into words the feelings and the emotion that comes over our guys when we walk into that orphanage. Between the 14 of us we have learned every patty cake game there is and enjoyed it. All for the smiles and the endless laughter it puts on the little girls faces... Real Men show His love no matter what it takes.

Bust their butt doing construction. Over the past month we've busted out concrete, poured new concrete, dug trenches, laid out plumbing, built concrete block walls, sealed tile, landscaped, moved trees, all in the name of Jesus. We flex in the mirror, walk around with our shirts off, hit each other on the butt, talk sports, take showers with a hose even though there's a nice shower inside, "break wind", play cards, because we have "high testosterone and are grown men" as Austin would say. 

When it's all said and done, we're real men cause we love each other, and we love God. We got nothing to prove...
Comments (1) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

j squad man-istry vid



here's a look into what we're doing this month.  thanks chad jowers for taking the time to create this.

i'll be home in 16 days, crazy.  

god is love, nothing is impossible.  


Man-istry Month Vid from Chad and Leslie Jowers on Vimeo.

Comments (7) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

transforming toch village



Vuthy's Vision from Nick Pauley on Vimeo.



We have met incredible people all over the world during this past year. We have gotten to live day in and day out with people who are putting it all on the line to follow God's vision for their lives. We leave most months inspired and thankful that God would allow us to see the ways in which He is moving throughout the world.


This past month Team Ninja from the J Squad worked with one such inspiring person. His name is Vuthy Nurn, and he lives in a small, remote village in Cambodia called Toch Village. He was born in the village but spent his childhood in Phnom Penh, the capital. After a few rebellious years, he accepted Christ through YWAM. Almost immediately God laid a vision on his heart for how Vuthy could transform his village.


Vuthy's vision is almost as big as his heart is. His vision includes building a home for abandoned children from the village, as well as for orphaned street kids from Phnom Penh. He wants to construct a youth center for the local youth from his village and the surrounding area. He wants a place for the youth to gather to learn about God, to have a space for a computer lab, and to run English classes. He currently runs English classes every day for local children and youth.


Throughout the month Team Ninja and the J Squad caught Vuthy's vision. We believe that God is working mightily through his life. In order for Vuthy to be able to see these dreams come to pass in reality, he will need financial support. He needs money to begin the initial process to build both the orphanage and the youth center. Please watch the video that we have put together to give you a more complete picture of Vuthy and his vision. We hope that you will be able to see the amazing things that will come out of your donations to his project.


With love,


Team Ninja and the J Squad


To donate via the internet follow this link

Please select "Support a World Race Project" under Choose Program.

Please enter "2010 Jun J Squad" in the Project Field.
  

If you wish to send a donation by mail, please make your check payable to Adventures In Missions and mail it to:


Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 303

Please indicate "World Race Project Fund " 2010 Jun J Squad" in the memo section of the check.


Your gift is tax-deductible.


Comments (3) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

month 11: manistry at remember nhu



as you know, we do a month where just men work together out here.  a lot of times during manistry, the men do construction projects and do a lot of manly stuff...you know how we do. 

but this month the lord is breaking the mold and doing something huge with the j squad men.  

while i'm not sure of the specifics of our ministry, we will be serving at a girls home called remember nhu.  

remember nhu has rescued the girls living at the home because they were at risk of being sold by their families into the sex trafficking industry.  in other words, they were at risk of being sold into brothels and prostitution...against their will...beginning anywhere near the age of three.  thats not a typo, three.  

so please take a moment to watch this awesome video that january '10 world racer jake kennedy put together. 

and please take a moment to pray for these girls.  and for us.   

god is love, nothing is impossible.


Remember Nhu from Jake Kennedy on Vimeo.

Comments (6) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

it is so good



it's the end of month 10.  so crazy.  

for the last week brandy and i served with team shekinah in krongnoung village, cambodia.  we worked and lived at a kindergarten slash church...we did some home visits, prayed for people, met the village chief, taught english, played a lot of volleyball, fixed a fence, picked up and burnt trash and naturally did some sodie shop ministry.

it was hot and none of us had much energy.  to be honest, from time to time, i really just wanted to leave.  it was a tough week.  but the lord sustained me and i trust that with god's help, we made an everlasting impact in krongnoung village...and on this little girl: 
(precious lita...pic by the legit sam mongonia)

one afternoon, austin gave me the idea to count how many places i've slept in the last ten months.  and since i closed my eyes for a couple of hours on a overnight plane to ireland back in august, i've slept in about 67 places.  

last night, as i was laid my head in my 68th location, i began to think about life on the race.  you see last night, three grown men (austin, sam and i) laid on two twin size mattresses turned sideways so we could all fit on the padding...and it was hot and smelly. 
 
(thats me, sammy and austie poo with nasty beards in the village)

as i laid there, i couldn't help but think about how wonderful my own bed is going to feel in 30 days.  but the feeling was quickly replaced with how much i am going to miss the world race.  it might sound a bit sketch, but i'm gonna miss laying next to two dudes talking about life, god and whatever else comes up...usually sports.  

although there are moments that i wish i was laying in my own bed, i wouldn't trade the world for this experience...i wouldn't trade the ridiculously long travel days, the feedback, the heat, the malaria, the growing pains, the cramped sleeping spaces, or re-packing my pack 68 times...i wouldn't trade ANY of this, it is so good.  seriously, thank you to those who helped make this experience possible.  
i'm pretty sure the number one question a world racer gets in months nine through eleven is, "what will you be doing after the race?"  so:

what will i be doing?  

i have been very fortunate to have some great opportunities present themselves over the last few months.  god is so good.  but for now, i'm still in heavy prayer and discussing some options with close friends and people i deeply respect.  so, please stay tuned...i hope to let you know in the next couple of weeks!!!  in the mean time, please keep praying for me!!  honestly, above all else, i want to serve the lord faithfully wherever he calls me!!

but i do know this much...i will be landing in denver on june 29th!!  after a couple of days of rest i'd like to catch a rockies game or two with friends and family and take a couple days in the mountains with god, my bible, lucky and a guitar!!  and then i want to meet with YOU to talk about my experiences...so please email me if you want to meet up!!!!! 

we're heading to thailand in a couple of days...we won't be anywhere near the riots but we could use your prayers nonetheless!  god's gonna use our squad to do HUGE things this month!! 

god is love, nothing is impossible     
Comments (11) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

you gotta listen to this song



this is phil wickham's song titled "heaven song." 

my favorite verse:
"i hear your voice and i catch my breath
'well done my child, enter in and rest'
tears of joy roll down my cheek
it's beautiful beyond my wildest dreams"

join me in thinking and discussing these questions:
what will heaven look like?  
when will i be called home?  
will i be ready?  
have i done everything here that i need to do??
what will He say to me?

i pray that this song moves you like it moves me.  

god is love, nothing is impossible.



Comments (6) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

the SWAT team and God



the other day a wonderful friend asked me what was one way that i experienced god before the world race.  so i thought for a second and immediately remembered a late summer day in colorado when i was called out on a SWAT call.  and it's law enforcement memorial week in america...so i thought this story was fitting for a blog.   

a little background first.  as you might know, i was a police officer before the world race and spent a few years as an operator on the SWAT team.  the team i was on was a part time team meaning our team was called out, via a phone system, anytime a high risk situation developed or there was a high risk warrant to be served.  


so here's the story about the SWAT team and God:

it was about 10AM on a sunday when my phone rang and an automated voice requested that i respond to the police department as soon as possible.  the voice told me that the situation involved a barricaded gunman which, in this case, meant that a man had brandished a handgun, held it to his girlfriends head and threatened to kill her.  fortunately the girlfriend was able to escape and call 911 but the man was unwilling to surrender to the patrol officers on scene.  in fact, he threatened to kill any police officer that tried to arrest him.  so the decision was made to call the SWAT team in to handle the situation.  

i drove to the police department (probably really fast) and changed into my SWAT uniform (really fast, too).  once the team loaded the SWAT van, we jumped in and started driving to the scene.  as we were driving to the house, one of my teammates asked if he could pray.  to be honest, a lot of us started laughing (i was probably laughing the hardest), we were kind of like, "dude, we're the SWAT team, we don't need prayers...are you serious?"  

he was.  

in fact, my teammate said, "yeah man, i pray before every callout, how do you think we make it home safe?  i wanna make it home to my wife tonight man...maybe you should pray too."  and i thought about that for a second and though, "man, maybe i should pray...i wanna get home tonight, too." 

once we got on scene, we sat outside of the house for hours, sweating profusely trying to negotiate a peaceful ending to the situation.  after a few hours, we broke some windows out of the side of the house to throw a phone inside so our negotiators could talk to him directly but he never answered the phone.  then we opened the front door so the negotiators could use a megaphone to talk through the open door but he never answered.   

after awhile (like 5-6 hours), our commander made the decision to enter the house to arrest him.  i was part of the entry team that went into the house and i'll be honest, i was scared!  i'm not sure if many SWAT guys would tell you when they're scared (i wouldn't have)...but in retrospect, i was pretty dang scared! 


(me coming through a door at practice)

after we entered the house we began doing a slow, silent and methodical search to locate the man.  as each minute passed, the anticipation and anxiety began to build and i began to get more and more nervous.  but after about ten minutes of searching, i remember thinking amid all the thoughts and tasks in my head, "we're safe...the guys prayed in the van."  

i didn't start acting recklessly or start yelling, "hey man...we're all swampin' out here and we're tired and thirsty...will you just come out so we can get this gear off and go home already?"  but a sense of peace overcame my mind...and i felt safe!  seriously, inside that house, i thought about those prayers and i was able to regain my composure and refocus on the task at hand...trying to safely apprehend the suspect.  


(this is why i was so hot)

the rest of this story doesn't matter for the purpose of this blog...what matters is how bold my two teammates were.  surrounded by 12 SWAT guys (who are some pretty testosterone filled dudes and kinda tough) they had the boldness to speak out and pray!!! 

i wonder how many people around us would find that sense of protection, safety, and hope like i did that day if we were more bold in sharing our faith?!?!?!

lets be bold, lets reach out, lets share our faith...because you never know whose life will be radically changed if we do!!! 

and while you're at it, if you don't mind, please pray for police officers this week and for the families of those killed in the line of duty.

(the thin blue line)

god is love, nothing is impossible. 
Comments (17) | Send to a friend | Update Alerts

Next 10 Articles >>