the world race - dan snyder

mustaches, the fray, and happiness

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

if there's two things the world race is good for it's long travel days and a whole lotta time spent thinking about life.

i recently found myself traveling from uganda to tanzania via an african bus. i didn't have my stop watch going but it was about 26 hours of sitting on a bus...with an hour and a half spent hangin' in a shady kenyan cafe at 5AM watching the al jazeera network. welcome to the world race.

anyways, when i was on the 26 hour bus ride the song "happiness" by the fray came playing through my headphones. i have no idea where i was or what time it was but i was pretty bored so i spent some time thinking about happiness. i started thinking things like: what is true happiness? how do you find happiness? once you find happiness, if that's even possible, how do you stay there?

i'm an adult who found christ smack dab in the middle of my twenties and like a lot of you, i've done some experimentation in my life trying find happiness. and to be honest a lot of places, people and things make me happy. as a matter of fact, some of these things make me really happy...some for a few hours, some for a few months, some for a few years. but most of the time that happiness runs out and i find myself searching for happiness all over again. so what gives? what is true happiness? where am i supposed to find it?

fast forward. yesterday morning i was standing in front of the mirror admiring my mustache (it's malaria awareness mustache march or something like that) when i had an epiphany. i'll be the first to admit, this is a pretty awkward place to have such a profound thought...especially one of this magnitude but here goes:

purpose.

that's my key to happiness.

i must have a purpose for my life otherwise i'm living life for no reason and i'll continue to search for happiness in illegitimate places. my purpose has to be something that will never fail me, it has to be something that i'm willing to give my entire life to, something that will never change. and then it hit me:

god.

the purpose of my life is to live for god. i stepped away from the mirror, a bit shocked and bent down for something (i don't remember what) and thought, i don't need to search anymore, i found my happiness already:

living my life for god.

author rick warren writes, "without god, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. without meaning, life has no significance or hope." thats thick...but think about that for a quick minute and tell me he's not right (and pray about it if you think he's wrong...and email me what you get).

i know you're probably thinking that this is a concept that i shoulda got like 15.36 years ago. and i'm sure you're thinking that this is something i shoulda understood before going on the mission field.

i get that...i've read about it in all the christian books and i knew about it...but it's never hit me like it did this morning...it became real in my own life, in a powerful way. and it happened standing in front of the mirror in 100 degree weather in tanzania (and i have a mustache right now so maybe the key to happiness is purpose, god and a mustache?? just throwin' it out there).

but seriously, i get it...60 or so days before my 27th birthday...finally. i think the old sayin' is something like: "better late then never."

so to those of you out there like i used to be; the one's seeking happiness in things of this world: cars, houses, motorcycles, girlfriends/boyfriends, booze/drugs, or anything else...i pray that you discover the ultimate happiness in your life and that you discover a purpose that you're willing to give your life for. above all, i pray that you'll join me in finding that happiness and purpose in our lord and savior, jesus christ.

"it is in christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. long before we first heard of christ...he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."

ephesians 1:11 (the message)

raising victory: introduction

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

i had the opportunity to serve in pader, uganda last month for about 10 days. honestly, in the short time i was there, the town changed my life. pastor JJ is an incredible man who is doing incredible work in a town that has been victim of years of senseless war. our entire squad is partnering with pastor JJ's church, victory outreach ministry, by helping him raise money to build a church. please read about the town, pastor JJ and his church and PLEASE consider partnering with this outreach. you can't do everything but you can do something.

Rarely has anyone seen such pride for a plot of land as was seen on the face of Pastor JJ's as he took Team Symphony to the sight of his new church. He pointed this way and that detailing where the church would start, where the pulpit would be. He showed them where he hoped to build his house on the church land, how close it was to his son Samuel's school. He told them how in a few years, with the way the town was expanding, it would be the very center of town with main roads on all sides. He bragged on this piece of property the way proud mothers and fathers do on their children.

Really though it was just a regular plot of land. Like almost any other in Africa. But what you must realize is that Pastor JJ is a man of vision. He sees what can be, and better yet what will be. He has only been in Pader, Uganda for 3 years but has already built up a church that is almost the largest in the town. And we do not mean a church building. We are talking about a church. A group of people who come together to worship the Lord. A group of people who are a light to the community, who are joyful because they have a reason to be joyful. However as most can attest churches need a place to operate.

We come to you on behalf of Pastor JJ and his church. They are in need of about $10,000 to build their new church. They have been meeting in a borrowed building which in the next month will be taken away from them. If there is one thing we have learned for certain these past 7 months it is that there is so much need in this world. It is everywhere, it does not matter what corner of the world we go to.

But to be able identify a need for a group of people and even begin to have the means to meet that - this is a blessing in itself. Northern Uganda is an area that has experienced much darkness in the past 20 years. It is an area that has been plagued by wars and senseless death. Men our own age are haunted by the times that they were forced to serve in armies, that their fathers, mothers and sisters were killed, it is an area in recovery, and in need. What better to invest in than the church? We as Christians claim to know something that others do not. We claim to hold to a truth that is beyond us, and beyond this world. If ever darkness was in need of light it is surely here. If we are in Christ than it is our brothers and sisters in Uganda whom we are asking you to help.

We, the J Squad, have been given the opportunity to raise money for Victory Outreach Ministries in Pader, Uganda. They are in need of a church building. This is not a church building complete with bells and whistles and Sunday school rooms and gyms. This is a building, a one room building for God's people to meet. A building for God's people to come together and worship the lord. A group of people standing as a light to a community amongst much darkness.

Team Symphony had the opportunity to spend a month with Pastor JJ and according to the team they have rarely come across a man with such faith, with such blind obedience to the Lord. Pastor JJ moved his wife away from his and her family 3 years ago to start this church. His wife is the only one working to bring money for the family, she works at a NGO as a maid. The church can not afford to give Pastor JJ a salary. Any tithe or donation that the church is able to give goes to both paying for the church building/property and helping those who are in great need, and believe me there are plenty of these people.

Please help us help this man, this family, this church, and this community. There is a need to be met, please help us to meet it. We know many of you have already supported someone on this trip, but we have no one else to ask. We as a squad are coming together to raise money for this church. You who are reading this are our church, you are the people we stand with and so we ask you to help us. Please help us meet this need, this need which we are capable to meet. Even if we do not raise the complete $10,000, we can guarantee any amount will be a blessing to this church. Please seriously and prayerfully considering donating to a worthy cause, we only have until April, 24^th 2010 to raise the money. PLEASE JOIN US!

(We're trying to publish a video of Victory Outreach Ministries but are having a difficult time publishing it with the slow internet, we will post it as soon as possible)

To donate via the internet click HERE.

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

Please enter "2010 Feb 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 Feb J Squad" in the memo section of the check.

Your gift is tax-deductible.

"In the name of Jesus, breathe." -Part 2-

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Here is an update on Trevor, the boy Dan, Matt and Austin had the privilege of praying for after a motorcycle accident. The original story can be found here.

Feb. 26

A couple of hours after the accident, Matt and Dan went back to the Jinja Public Hospital to check on Trevor. Trevor had been admitted and his mother, Sarah, and close family friend, Nathan, were visiting. Matt and Dan talked to Sarah and Nathan and found out that the family is Christian and Nathan is the family's pastor.

They told Matt and Dan that Trevor had woken up for a little while, but could not hear or speak. But, the doctor said he was hopeful that Trevor would make a full recovery.

Although his cuts have been treated, Trevor's forehead is still badly swollen.

After once again praying for Trevor, Matt and Dan leave.

Feb. 27

Matt's team left the night of the accident to travel to Tanzania, so the following day, Dan and Austin go back to the hospital to visit Trevor. They are greeted by Sarah and Joshua, Trevor's father. They told Austin and Dan that Trevor had woken up for a few minutes and had been able to eat a small amount of food and drink a little bit of juice. They told them that Trevor was able to hear and talk!

Trevor's parents had taken him to another hospital in order to get his head checked, possibly by a CT scan, because the doctor was worried about possible internal injuries to his head.

The cut on Trevor's forehead had been stitched and the swelling had also gone down.

Before leaving, Austin and Dan pray over Trevor once again and promise that he'll continue to be in their prayers.

Feb. 28

Because both Matt and Austin are now traveling to Tanzania, Dan goes to the hospital alone. As he walked through the courtyard of the hospital, he spots Joshua, Sarah and Trevor laying on a mat in the grass.

Trevor is doing a lot better and is expected to be released in only a couple of days. He'd been able to walk outside all by himself, but was still in a lot of pain. And although he's been able to eat and drink, the doctors think there may be something wrong with his jaw since he's only able to open it a little.

Joshua said that the man he had seen up the street on the day of the accident was the driver of the motorcycle. The crowd had found Trevor dead, so they'd begun beating the driver so he had run away. The man was later arrested and caned by the police for killing Trevor.

When the police started asking where Trevor's body was, the crowd told them they didn't know because some Mzungus (white people) had taken him away in a car. They found Trevor at the hospital.

Alive.

Dan found out that Trevor's sister, Precious, had been the only one the locals had decided to take to the hospital since Trevor was dead.

She and her brother had been walking hand in hand from school when they were hit by the motorcycle. She's been released from the hospital and is resting at home.

As Dan is talking to Joshua, Trevor wakes up and sits up on his own strength, but doesn't respond to Dan-- only drools.

Dan prays for Trevor once again and tells Joshua that he'll be back in the morning, before he leaves for Tanzania.

*again, thanks to marissa villa for typing this up! we love you marissa!!*

unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it back to the hospital to see trevor before I left uganda. i called joshua and he told me that trevor was still improving and was going to be released from the hospital soon! thanks for all of your prayers and emails, please continue to pray for trevor!

"In the name of Jesus, breathe"

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

They met for the first time in the Atlanta, Georgia airport back in May 2009. Matt Patch, Austin Anglea and Dan Snyder: instant brothers with much in common. After training camp the three of them had dreams and visions of the Lord using them together. Even though they'd talked about it with each other, none really knew what it could possibly look like.

In November 2009, Matt, Dan and Austin were baptized together in the Jordan River by their brother, Aaron Bruner. As they prepared for the baptisms, they reminisced about the dreams and visions the Lord had given them and how He was going to use the three of them in His Kingdom to do huge things (read Aaron's blog about it here).

It's now Feb. 26, 2010, and the three have gathered in Jinja, Uganda.

Austin was in town purchasing bus tickets for his team as Dan and Matt took a boda boda, or a motorcycle taxi, into town to do some work on the Internet.

Little did they know that God was about to use these three transformed men--one a former teacher/coach, another a former realtor, and the other a former cop--in a mighty way. Just one to three years ago they were living for themselves, living the American Dream, the party life. Today they were living for the Kingdom.

As Matt and Dan rode towards the town of Jinja on the back of the boda bodas, they saw a man surrounded by a group of people, laying on the ground to the left of the road. As the bodas slowed, the man, who was covered in blood, came to his feet. He'd obviously been hit by a car or thrown off of a boda, but seemed OK. The drivers kept moving.

As the boda bodas came around a slight bend in the road, Matt and Dan noticed a motorcycle laying there. Its pieces were strewn across the road. As the bodas slowed, a young girl of about 7 years old came into view. She was wearing a pink dress and her face and arms were covered in blood, but she at least was standing.

But just past her, a group of about 15 people were surrounding something else on the road. The boda bodas stopped in front of the group and a small boy, also about 7 years old, came into view. His body was laying in the middle of the road.

He was lifeless.

"He's dead," they thought.

A man shaked the boy, trying to bring him back to life, but he lay limp.

Dan and Matt pushed through the crowd to get to the boy who had a four inch bleeding bulge on his forehead. His mouth and ear was spilling blood.

Matt prayed as Dan looked around for a ride to get the boy to the hospital.

It was then that Austin arrived on another boda boda that was coming from the other direction. Austin jumped off of the motorcycle and immediately ran to the boy.

"The kid's dead," Dan told him.

Dan told Austin that someone in the crowd was willing to take the boy to the hospital. The two of them and another man carried the lifeless boy's body to the car.

"Do you feel a pulse or see him breathing?" Dan asked Austin.

Austin stopped his prayer mid-sentence, looked up, and simply responded, "No."

As they lay the boy in the backseat of the car, Austin pulled his sweatshirt off and put it under the boy's head. As he did this, the boy's chest started to rise and fall.

He was breathing.

The prayers for the boy continued as Dan, Matt and Austin climbed back on boda bodas. Matt and Dan rode to the hospital to pray over the boy again. The doctor on duty said the hospital didn't have the necessary medicine to stop the bleeding and swelling in the boy's head.

Matt and Dan decided they'd have to buy the medicine. They ran across the street and bought some, ran back, and gave it to the doctor.

They prayed again.

Meanwhile, Austin hopped back on his boda boda along with the boy's friend and the driver on a mission to find the boy's parents. They drove along back roads, through clothes hanging on lines, and finally arrived in the boy's village. His parents weren't home, but they managed to find neighbors who agreed to tell the boy's parents about the emergency.

A few hours later, Dan and Matt were at the hospital again to pray for the boy once more. They found him, his mother, and his close family friend there. They were told the boy, Trevor, and his sister, Precious, were both hit by a boda boda.

And they both survived.

The family is Christian and the family friend who was there is a pastor. Dan and Matt explained what had happened, that Trevor hadn't been breathing when they'd first arrived, but that his breathing came back after they started praying for him.

As they prayed for him again, Trevor began to move his fingers and his eyes started to flutter. His mother, Sarah, thanked God and thanked them for praying for her son.

They promised to keep Trevor and Precious in their prayers, and walked away knowing they'd experienced the miraculous ability of the Lord and prayer.

Austin:
I remember becoming irritated as it was taking a ridiculous amount of time to buy the tickets for the team. But it was no accident for it was the Lord delaying me for what was soon to happen! After my time spent in town I headed back on the motorcycle taxi. I looked ahead and saw a crowd of people and as soon as we pulled up close I saw Dan in the middle taking charge of the situation, and by the look on his face I knew something was wrong. I tapped my driver and told him to stop, I needed off! I remember seeing the boy laying in the middle of the road saturated in blood, Dan looked at me and said, "he's dead." Going up to the boy he was lifeless, as his eyes were open but glazed over, he surely looked dead. There was a man there trying to massage his chest trying to get his heart working. Not knowing what else to do, I put a hand on the boy and began to pray in the Spirit as Dan figured out a car to put the kid in.......we carried Trevor to the car while all three of us continued to pray and then the car pulled off to take the boy to the hospital. As quick as that, it was done.....riding back home on the taxi after we went and told the people in the boy's village, I began to cry thinking about the whole situation, but then I began to think how God aligned the three of us in order to be there for that boy, and I began to rejoice! God has a plan for that boy and he wanted him to live, and how grateful the three of us are to be a part of what God wanted done that day.

Matt:
Once we pulled up I was scared, shocked, and felt useless. I was looking at a lifeless child. A million things started to create a wall in my mind. Then God busted through all of the feelings and said, "hold on, I'm bigger than that... pray." So, I did. I walked away from today realizing that being in God's will is just that... being. I can't do anything. However, in Christ I can do everything. All I have to do is "be". Did I raise the dead today? No. I witnessed the beautiful gift of life that was being stolen given back. Glory be to God. How wonderful and amazing He is to let us be a part of His plan, His miracles... His son Trevor's life.

Dan:

once we pulled up and i saw trevor i thought without a doubt that he was dead...just the way he was laying on the pavement, i could tell. as i got closer and saw his forehead, the blood coming from his ear and mouth and his half opened, glazed over eyes...i just knew he was dead. in retrospect though, i have no idea if he was dead. to be honest, i thought about praying but quickly replaced that thought with, "i've gotta get him to the hospital" and started working to find a driver to get him there. i looked over at matty and saw him praying on the side of the road...and then out of nowhere austy showed up...to think of all the different variables that went into the three of us being there at that exact moment...it's unbelievable. anyways, i didn't think about praying again until i heard austin praying as we carried trevor to the car. i immediately started praying and a few seconds later, after all three of us were praying, trevor started breathing. i didn't realize it as it was happening but god put the three of us in this situation for a purpose...he had aligned it...it blows my mind...three different guys...all doing different things amongst the chaos to help this boy...trusting our god...praying with all that we had...and trevor lived. i know we didn't act any differently then most people would've but the lord put the three of us there for a purpose...to experience his miracles and the indescribable power of prayer...and trevor lived...that's the kind of god i am willing to give my life to.

*As of 2/27, Trevor is still alive but they doctors are concerned about the trauma to his head, please keep him in your prayers*

*thanks to Marissa Villa for typing the details of this story*

to my supporters!!

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

i am fully supported, praise the lord!! i want to thank each and everyone of my supporters from the bottom of my heart. this has been an amazing journey that has completely turned my life upside down. each and everyone of you has made this possible and i cannot thank you enough. you have changed my life and i will always be thankful for you.

people have donated anywhere from $3000 to $5.

close friends and family have donated.

complete strangers have donated (please email me!!).

people have donated and not even given their name (please email me!!).

people have donated once.

people have donated numerous times.

people have donated every month.

no matter who you are or how much you gave, i am so thankful for you. again, this life changing experience wouldn't have been possible without you.

as you may or may not know, a few months ago brandy chaffer and i were selected to be squad leaders. our world race experience has changed a bit but i am so grateful for this opportunity.

instead of being on one team and staying in one location for a month, we travel from team to team to help them out in anyway possible...it's been awesome...and hard! it has brought me to a whole new dependency on the lord!! i can't tell you how many times i've prayed something like this: "lord, i cannot do this on my own, please help me...i cannot do it without you." the amazing part is seeing him answer those prayers and feeling him help me through situations i know i couldn't have made through on my own.

this month brandy and i had the opportunity to visit teams in lira and gulu, uganda. i visited villages, played with kids, went to AIDS/HIV support groups, preached in a prison, visited home groups, attended open air crusades, prayed over people in a hospital, taught on leadership, helped run the "daycare" of the church (aka: played games for an hour until we ran out of ideas so colby and i decided to lead them in physical exercise, they loved it!).

this month brandy and i will be back in uganda...visiting pader and lira. i am looking forward to the month and looking forward to serving in anyway possible!! please pray for safe travels, team/squad unity, further dependency on the lord and for people to GO FOR IT!

thank you again for ALL of you who supported me...i am so grateful for this experience that each and everyone of you made possible.

god is love, nothing is impossible.

children of war

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

i spent the last 18 days or so in northern uganda...splitting the time between teams in lira and gulu. i sat down this afternoon to try and put it all into words. i tried to describe the pain and suffering the men and women of these communities have endured. but more importantly, i tried to describe the faith that these people have through ALL of it. i struggled to paint the appropriate picture but my friend, halley power, did an incredible job...so below is her latest blog titled "children of war." thank you halley!!

When I was twelve years old, my main concern was surviving middle school. My mind was focused on things like impressing my crush, having my own phone line,and getting my first kiss. I think back to those years and remember how awkward I was. Life was tough on all of us at that age, right? So I thought.

In my last blog, I introduced you to Nancy. Now I'd like to share her story with you.

When Nancy was twelve, her concept of struggle was totally different than mine. In 2003, she was abducted from her home at night, along with 9 other siblings and cousins. The rebels targeted her home after being informed of two things. First of all, a teacher (her father-Santo-also introduced in my last blog) lived there, which to them meant he worked for the government. Second, they were informed that there would be many children there. The rebels came to the house around 11:30 that night. They threatened the bomb the entire house if they weren't allowed in, so the mother opened the door. Santo had left that very day to stay at the university, so he wasn't at home. If the rebels had come one day earlier or later, he would have been killed. Everyone was tied together and taken away. Nancy said she was crying hysterically, but they threatened to kill anyone who cried. The rebels took all of the belongings from the house and dragged the children into the night. The mother was dropped off and allowed to return home because she had Robin (a small baby at the time). Out of the ten children taken from the home that continued with the rebels, the youngest was six. The commander told them that they wanted Santo to pursue them so that he could be killed. The kids were smeared with a black vasaline-type substance so that they could be identified by other rebels in the event of an escape. This marker meant they would be killed on site. They then began their walk to Sudan.

Andrew is Nancy's brother. I've also gotten very close to him. He has a large part in this story, as well. Andrew was ten when the rebels came. The ten children were separated into different groups. Andrew was with some of the other children, but not Nancy. Andrew had a special job. He was basically one of the commander's personal slave. He carried his equipment, gun, and food. They were given very little (if anything) to eat most of the time. Typically, two cups of beans was split between his group of twenty other abductees. The rebels had no regard for human life. If they came across a river that needed to be crossed, someone would be pushed in to gage the depth, which usually resulted in drowning. They were frequently beaten by canes for being "lazy". They were walking to Sudan to train to become soldiers. Yes, I do mean walking to Sudan. At one point, Andrew said he was too tired to keep going. His feet, ankles, and legs were swollen greatly. Running on barely any food, he had enough. He sat down and refused to keep walking. Keep in mind he is ten years old at this time. The commanders threaten to kill him if he doesn't continue. He tells them that they'll just have to kill him because he can't do it anymore. An older abductee (around thirty) had a similar response with exhaustion. Without thought, they killed him with a machete. Andrew guesses they let him live because he was the coveted luggage carrier. He finally got up and continued walking.

Both Nancy and Andrew have a similar escape story, even though they happened two months apart. Government troops ambushed the rebels. Planes flew overhead and dropped bombs. Soldiers on the ground fired guns. The commander that Andrew was tied to was shot in the chest. They both fell to the ground. Andrew grabbed the knife from the rebel's waistbelt and cut himself free. He crawled on the ground until he escaped the gun fire. A soldier eventually found him and took him to safety. In the chaos of the battle Nancy encountered, she ran as fast as she could into the bush. She ran and ran until she finally found help.

Andrew was gone for one year and one month. He was the first to return home. Nancy was gone for one year and three months. Out of the ten that were taken, only six survived. Their sister was killed by a government bomb during an attack. Casualties was not a concern. Three cousins died as well, but I'm not sure of the details. Andrew thinks he was the only person to survive the day he escaped. He said, "God protected me...because I was tied to the commander who was shot, I fell on the ground. The bullets went above me. God must have a special plan for my life". Wow.

If you've seen the movie Blood Diamond, you remember the scene where the African father finds his young son who was abducted and turned into a child soldier. The son doesn't recognize his father. I always thought this part was dramatized in the movie. Who could forget their own father? Andrew could. He didn't remember people. He didn't remember how to have normal conversations. He was used to only following commands. War was all he knew. It took time, but he was rehabilitated and is doing wonderful. He's so intelligent and mature for his age.

Nancy is doing well also. She is nineteen and just passed the exams to continue her education. She wants to be a doctor. She sings in the youth worship group and has been at church almost every day since we've been here. I'm really going to miss my friend. Santo, Nancy, Andrew, and the rest of the family have been so hospitable. We spent time at their home again this week and it was amazing, just like last time (refer to previous blog).

These are faces of Northern Uganda. This nation has been plagued with the longest running war of Africa's history. And it's been personal. Every single person we've encountered was affected. It's their story. And there are so many. These stories are no longer just stories. Nancy and Andrew are representations of the mllions of people that have endured through this conflict. They've all been through so much, but they have hope. They have joy. Last night there was worship time at the church. The last song they sang was one I'd heard before...but never in this light. "Sing for joy to God our strength." I've been in services in which we sang this song. For these people, it has so much more meaning. God has been their strength. And he is their joy. In the midst of the tragedies they've faced, they latched onto the hope of Christ. They glow with joy. Glow. And it's contagious. They give me hope.

If we call to him he will answer us
If we run to him he will run to us
If we lift our hands he will lift us up
Come now praise his name, all you saints of God

Sing for joy to God our strength
Sing for joy to God our strength

Draw near to him, he is here with us
Give him your love, he's in love with us
He will heal our hearts, he will cleanse our hands
If we rend our hearts, he will heal our land.

i can't do this alone

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

over the last few days i have felt so miniscule in comparison to the worlds problems, i've felt like i can't make a difference...i can't do this alone. i came to africa as a naive american thinking that i would make an impact here, thinking i could help people. to be honest, never in my life have i felt so helpless. i want to give people anything they ask for but i fall so short of being capable.

the power of my prayer doesn't fall short though, as people ask for money, for food, for clothing, i offer prayer. honestly, its hard to just pray...it's hard to see the impact of prayer with my eyes...but i know that my prayer and the kingdom of god is stronger and more powerful then anything that i can offer on this earth...

"the lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god. and the peace of god, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus." phillipians 4:5-7

a few of us had the unique opportunity to attend an AIDS/HIV group at church yesterday. as i walked into the room many of the women looked at me hesitantly, i felt as if they didn't know how i would treat them. i don't know if it's true but i think it's safe to say that they are the outcasts of society because of their disease. i introduced myself, shook each of their hands and sat with them. while we waited for the meeting to start we smiled and laughed with each other as they tried to teach me their native language (which is pretty laughable) and as they tried to get me to eat some sesame seed/sugar ball.

after i was able to escape the sesame seed/sugar ball (barely) i started talking to a woman sitting in front of me named lucy. lucy is a 43 year old widow who has AIDS. she and her family survived the genocide inflicted on the people of northern uganda over the last 20 years but all seven of them have been diagnosed with AIDS. she began to tear up as she told me how her husband recently died from AIDS. she continued by telling me that she cannot afford to feed their five children and equally as important to her, how she cannot afford to educate them.

lucy told me that the only hope she has is from jesus and the daily church services she attends. she told me that she lives five miles away from the church...and that she walks to and from church everyday because she feels loved and accepted there. she told me that she prays daily for jesus' love and that he will provide for her family...i tear up and ask if i can pray for her...and she graciously accepts my invitation.

after praying for lucy, anna asked me to pray for a 10 year old boy named vincent. vincent was wearing a reggie white jersey and wouldn't make eye contact with me or smile...you could tell that he was hurting, emotionally and physically...i asked him if i could pray for him and he said yes. he closed his eyes, lifted his hands in front of his face and put the palms of his hands together while i prayed (you know, like old school put your hands together while praying)...it was the most precious thing i've ever seen,
child
like
faith.
afterwards, anna told us that vincent has AIDS and that he is in an immense amount of pain as he slowly dies.

so as i feel so insignificant here, i lean on the love of jesus and the power of my prayer. i know that through all of this suffering and pain that he loves every single one of his children. i cannot explain why this suffering takes place but i know with all of my heart that jesus loves each and everyone of his children and that i am here to love them too.

'blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ, the father of mercies and god of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by god." 2 corinthians 1:3-4

we may not be able to stop the pain in the world, cure AIDS, feed the starving or even make a suffering child smile but we can love, pray and be a friend to the outcasts...in the words of former TNL pastor dave terpstra, "you can't do everything but you can do something." (you should listen to his sermon "how god ruined my life") what will you do?

god is love, nothing is impossible.

coming at ya from uganda!!

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

africa is amazing but the people are even more amazing, seriously. i'm currently serving in lira, uganda with team journey. the team is working with victory outreach ministries doing a variety of things such as: working on the farm, preaching (at the church and over the radio to 1.5 million people), helping run a four day youth conference, teaching sunday school, playing soccer, doing door to door evangelism, doing prison ministry, praying for people at the hospital and loving on people diagnosed with AIDS/HIV.

in the last eight days i have had several experiences that i know would make great blogs. unfortunately, i feel like if i tried to put them into words i wouldn't do justice to just how amazing the experiences have been.

one example that rocked my world was on the ugandan bus from kampala to lira. every so often, the bus would pull over in a village and locals would sprint to the bus trying to sell water, meat, bananas, and candy to the people on the bus. i remember a young girl standing in the back with a look of suffering and pain on her face. i just looked at her face and wondered what she had been through in her life...and i wondered if she had encountered the love of god. she glanced at me, i smiled and reached out my hand to her. the suffering on her face was replaced with a huge smile, she reached out and took my hand...and we just held hands, we didn't even say anything. i don't even know her name, how old she was, or anything about her but this girl changed my life...it was an encounter with the love of god, for both of us.

"beloved, let us love one another, for love is from god, and whoever loves has been born of god and knows god. anyone who does not love does not know god, because god is love."

1 john 7-8

we ate lunch yesterday with our local contact, pastor johnson, and he started describing the last 20 years of his life...and how the lords resistance army was fighting to take over uganda, especially in lira. one of the things that he explained was how the "soldiers" of the lords resistance army would kidnap children and then force them to kill the remainder of their family...and at times they would force the children to cut the bodies up (search "invisible children" for more). he described the hell that the people endured during this time but ended his description with something like, "but we praise god for answering our prayers and ending this suffering."

really? through all the suffering, death and despair he ends by praising jesus. truly amazing.

i wish i could describe the pure joy and happiness of the people as they worship the lord and as they cry out to jesus. the suffering they have endured is nothing compared to what i could even imagine yet they are so joyous and want nothing more then jesus. they have truly given their life to serve jesus, it's an inspiration.

please continue to pray for our squad as we spend the next three months in africa. pray that our hearts continue to break for the people here, pray that we have real encounters with jesus, pray that everything that we do is to glorify jesus, pray for safety and health and most of all pray for blessings for the african people!!!

i love you all.

god is love, nothing is impossible.

cribs istanbul (video)!!!!

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

a well overdue cribs episode from istanbul, turkey with unwritten remixed!!

thank you for your prayers and support, i love and miss all of you!! off to kenya!!

god is love, nothing is impossible.

an unwritten christmas (video)!!!

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

here's a video that holland put together for our friends and family back home!!! merry christmas, i miss you all very much!!

love,

dan

world race TV, episode #2 (video)

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

here's marissa interviewing patch and i on day 136 of the world race!!

merry christmas to everyone back home, i miss you and love you!

the thin blue line

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

a powerful video done on the memorial service of the four police officers murdered in lakewood, seattle. god bless.

what god has been teaching me, day 125

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

as most of you know, the squad is on a technology fast. sans a daily check of my email for some squad stuff, i haven't been on facebook, checked football scores or listened to my ipod. as i sit here and type it seems like it shouldn't be a big deal but it's been huge.

i'm in a town in west turkey with team olur (it's amazing here, a HUGE shout out to the team hosting us here, they are amazing!). we've had some great work to do this last week but at the same time there has been a lot of downtime. instead of us all retreating to the comfort that electronics provide; we've read, played games and discussed everything from how to greet someone with a holy kiss to whether or not god is good.

and in this downtime i've been learning a ton...i've been forced to think...i've been forced to listen to god about the uncomfortable things he wants me to change. for the last 25 years, i lived the "american dream" and lived in comfort:

i graduated college

i bought a house

i bought the brand new cars

i've had the beautiful girlfriend

i've had the undercover narcotics job
i've been on the SWAT team

i was living to glorify myself, i was comfortable...i was searching for something to make me happy and couldn't find it, i was living in the dark and i refused to deal with the real issues.

god saved me when i needed it the most, when there was no hope...when i had hit rock bottom. he didn't show up, he was there all along, waiting patiently for me to turn it over to him.

and a couple months later he called me on the world race and asked me to abandon everything, especially my comfort. he's been here for me but it's a two way street, i have to be willing to listen and to live in the discomfort...and in the discomfort he will bring me to greater levels, to things beyond my imagination.

it's time for me to live uncomfortably.

it's time for me to stop and listen.

it's time for me to serve jesus and serve others.
it's time for me to glorify his name.

"Through him we have also obtained access by faithinto this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that sufferingproduces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, andhope does not put us to shame, because God's lovehas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

romans 5:2-5

god is love, nothing is impossible

am i successful?

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

as i sit here at our month four debrief in istanbul, turkey there is a lot on my mind. i'm not really sure what to share, what to write or how to put it all into words but my friend holland cox gave me a couple of topics and the one that has stuck with me is perseverance.

the definition of perseverance is "steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success." so as i look back on the last four months, i cannot help but realize that it's been difficult and i've tried my best to stay steadfast. but as i sit here i wonder what is it that i'm trying to achieve? what is success? to be completely honest, i don't know. i just know that there is more out there, i know that god is calling me to do more, he is calling me to greatness. he is calling me to put him first, others second and myself last...in everything single thing i do.

so as we are nearing the end of our debrief, our squad is facing some hurt and confusion. to be honest, i fit into that description and i am feeling emotions that i've never felt before. i'm four months into this and have seven to go..i know that i cannot get through this race (and more importantly, through life) without jesus. i am learning

that i have to depend on him with every single thing that i do, everything.

i want to depend on jesus for every single thing that i do. in order to be dependent i have to pray without ceasing, i have to deal with the emotions that i've never dealt with, i must abandon the things that make me comfortable and i have to surrender everything to him...everything.

part of what he's calling me to surrender right now is electronics, it's apparent that i've held on to electronics as a source of comfortability. whether it's my ipod, fantasy football, jason bourne, facebook or google it's holding me back from greatness...it's holding me back from success.

so our squad is doing a two week electronics ban. do i think something this small will change my life? i don't know...but i am praying that it does and i expect god to move in big ways! do i expect to come together at the end of this month a different squad, yes. do i expect it to be difficult, yes. do i expect that it'll make me uncomfortable, yes.

but most of all, do i expect to persevere? yes, because i know that there is more out there and i know god is calling me to success.

god is love, nothing is impossible.

world race TV, episode #1 (video)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

today is day 101 of my world race, crazy.

right now i'm in arad, israel with team chrysalis, olur and shekinah. i'm currently staying in the house of a biblical scholar who is an amazing man. his house overlooks the desert, the dead sea and jordan. put simply, it's incredible.

matt patch and i sat down today and did an interview with marissa villa. it's almost 15 minutes long so i don't expect a lot of people to watch it but i figure there's a few faithful supporters out there that will battle through it! my thanks go out to marissa for doing this and to matthew patch for being himself!

i miss everyone back home, thanks for your prayers, i love you guys!

god is love, nothing is impossible

god shows up

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

well, where do i start? i've been putting this blog off for a few days now, i'm not really sure how to put my thoughts and feelings into words. i've experienced such powerful emotions over the last 10 days and seen the lord show up in huge ways. i feel as if i've been completely broken for the j squad.

quick informational piece: our squad started this year with two alumni racers, aaron bruner and caroline crawford, who are our squad leaders. the goal is for them to pour into us, love us and build us up for the first 3-5 months of the race and then go "home." one of the visions of the world race is to raise up leaders. so aaron and caroline were tasked with raising up leaders before they went home.

back in romania, brandy chaffer and i were asked to leave our ministry a few days early so that we could go to a squad leaders meeting at the awakening conference. aaron and caroline explained that they were considering us as squad leaders and that they were praying through the process.

shortly thereafter, i began to honestly consider what would happen if i was asked to be a squad leader. to be honest, it scared the crap of me. but as i'm learning to do on a more frequent basis, i put it in god's hands...i prayed about it. the lord spoke and among other things, he told me that he had prepared me and that i was ready.

about ten days ago, the entire j squad met up for a debrief in istanbul, turkey. debriefs are a time for all 43 men and women of the j squad to get together and minister to one another. we worship together, pray together, eat together, laugh together, cry together and love together.

on the first night, aaron and caroline asked brandy and i to go on a walk. we sat on a bench under the shadows of the famous blue mosque and talked about the squad. we shed some tears, shared some laughs and the invitation to lead this squad was extended to brandy and i.

i walked back to my hostel room and went directly to the one constant that i have, the truth, the bible. i put my headphones on. i just started reading. i prayed on my face. i cried. i opened my journal and wrote a letter to god. i asked if it was his will, i asked if i was ready for this...if i was prepared, if i had it in me.

as he always does, he moved. he spoke. it was so clear. in a gentle way, he told me to put my pen down and told me that it wasn't about me. that it was bigger then that. he told me that we had already dealt with this...that he called me to this, that i'm ready. he told me to move forward and walk with the boldness and authority he calls me to walk in. he told me that he was walking with me and would not leave me. calmness. he showed up in a massive way. he told me that WE are ready.

the next night, aaron and caroline announced that brandy and i would be taking over as squad leaders and announced that team changes were going to be made. they explained that above all else, they sought the lord with the changes. they trusted that the changes were from the lord and among other things believed that the changes would promote squad health.

to put it lightly, a lot of people were upset. there are a lot of different reasons behind the tears but they didn't last long. we woke up and started the morning with worship. and god showed up. our squad realized that their small team, who they didn't even know five months prior, was part of something bigger, the body of christ. our squad made the choice to abandon themselves and walk in full dependancy and trust of the lord, even if it hurt. this was bigger then ourselves, this was about his kingdom!!

i am so completely humbled and honored to lead this squad of fire breathing men and women of god. nothing will stop us. we are seeking the lord through absolutely everything we do. we are in the process of abandoning our selfish desires and replacing them with the desires of the lord. we will not settle for less then what god is calling us to. we will lean on god first and on each other second. we know that with our god, all things are possible.

god is love, nothing is impossible.

we are offically european smugglers who smell like smoke

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

so team seven camels and unwritten took a 24 hour bus ride from bar, montenegro to istanbul, turkey. here is a recap of the events (thanks to my boy don brensinger for this idea):

4:11 AM: i surprisingly wake up before my alarm goes off

4:13 AM: i go into the girls room and find that two of the girls have explosive diarrhea...awesome

5:00 AM: our ministry contact, micah, picks us up in the alley...after she turns around using the ever-so-famous 9 point turn we start loading the van

5:35 AM: we all make it safe to the bus station (thanks micah)

5:45 AM: anna realizes that she stole a lid and plate from micah (sorry micah)

6:00 AM: our bus fails to show up and we realize that it must've been day light savings time or something...because all the clocks are an hour behind

5:15 AM (yeah, i know i know the time went backwards): i begin a nice conversation with an elderly serbian woman

5:23 AM: while trying to figure out daylight savings time the nice lady tells me that her daughter designs bras in NYC

5:25 AM: i offer the nice lady a bite of my swiss cake roll and she politely declines

6:00 AM: (the real 6AM): our bus shows up

6:10 AM: we take off and the first cigarette is lit in the bus

6:11 AM: we are yelled at in some foreign language that we need to sit two in each row...but we are the only passengers in the bus

6:15 AM: i fall asleep

8:13 AM: we pull over on the side of the road

8:13:15 AM: a few of the bus workers jump off the bus and start loading boxes of shoes onto the bus

8:14 AM: we quickly realize that the boxes of shoes are all being stacked under our chairs

8:27 AM: we stop at a bus stop. we pick up the montenegro national smoking team

8:27:53 AM: i get off the bus to use the bathroom and find that it's a squatty potty.

8:28 AM: i realize that the last 4 guys that have used the squatty potty before me have poor aim

8:28:05 AM: i decide i don't have to pee that bad

8:30 AM: i get back on the bus and am overwhelmed by a cloud of cigarette smoke from the MNST (montenegro national smoking team)

8:36 AM: rebecca now looks like michael jackson. she is wearing a red bandanna over her nose/mouth and has black sunglasses on to protect her from the plume of smoke that has overcome the bus

8:42 AM: i fall asleep

9:05 AM: callan witnesses the MNST gather the shoes from under the seats and secretly stack them under blankets in the back of the bus

11:13 AM: we stop at a bus stop and the shoes are offloaded. yeah, we have no idea either

11:37 AM: we stop at another bus stop and change out bus drivers...our driver is no longer purple shirt guy, its brown argyle sweater guy

12:15 PM: lunch time. i make a PB&J with no utensils while carefully balancing it on my lap the whole time...quite the skill considering brown argyle sweater guy's driving ability...or lack there of

12:17 PM: i put my sandwich together successfully and smile

12:17:20 PM: my sandwich falls off my leg and rolls down the walkway and i frown

12:17:25 PM: i am able to rescue my sandwich within the five second rule and eat it

12:36 PM: we stop at a bus station and several of the MNST start running around. they begin loading unknown items which are stashed all around the americans...yeah, sketch

12:42 PM: i begin to drift asleep but am awoken by a cat meowing

12:42:08 PM: perplexed, i begin looking around for the cat

12:42:10 PM: i hear the cat meow and begin to suspect that it's fake and that it's coming from purple shirt/blue argyle sweater vest guy

12:47 PM: i confirm that the cat call is coming from purple shirt/blue argyle sweater vest guy after he lets out a gentle meow

2:17 PM: purple shirt guy, who was once our bus driver and is now our barista, offers us nescafe...for the 7th time...i suspect that it's a bribe so that we won't tell customs about the sketchy stuff goin' down in the bus

2:20 PM: chad, who is translating for the bus manager, yells at me for having my foot up on the seat...i should've known that the red no smoking signs really meant "no feet on the seat"

5:13 PM: rebecca hands holland a bandanna that will easily function as a smoke mask

5:29 PM: holland asks if we're getting punked and asks ashton kutcher to stop the madness

6:00 PM: we stop on the side of the road and pick up two guys. one of the guys, whom i will call "big guy" looks exactly like the "gas guy" from dumb and dumber

6:00:15 PM: i am kicked out of my seat so that big guy has a seat and i cuddle up with patch

6:00:20 PM: big guy lights up his first cigarette which will remain a constant until he falls asleep several hours later

6:00:25 PM: big guy starts passing out cigarettes like they're candy to his friends on the bus...we are now having an ol' fashioned smoke-fest

6:01 PM: i decide to ask the bus manager why we have to sit in pairs and no one else does. as i should have known, the language barrier presents a slight problem and patch and i go back to cuddling

8:09:45 PM: we enter the serbia/bulgaria border checkpoint

8:10 PM: i have to ask holland to take her red bandanna and aviator shades off so we can get through the checkpoint without getting shot

8:25 PM: we make it through customs

8:34 PM: rebecca, still wearing her mask and shades, gets into a standoff with an elderly woman over whether or not the overhead vent will be shut. the woman is smoking her 42nd cigarette and loses to our MJ look-a-like, the vent stays open

8:39 PM: i fall asleep

9:01 PM: i am awoken by big guy snoring loud enough to wake up an entire bus...literally

10:30 PM: we stop at a gas station for a bathroom break. i ask adam if it was just my imagination or if the big guy was snoring. adam kindly reminds me of how i kept the entire mens room up three nights ago with my snoring...and tells me that he didn't want to hear my complaining

11:00 PM: the bus leaves the gas station suddenly

11:02 PM: bread falls out of the overhead storage compartment. i take it as a clear sign that i should fashion a piece of bread into a gas mask...but i hold out

11:30 PM: big guy falls over in his sleep and head butts the window. holland starts laughing uncontrollably. i have no idea how big guy's head didn't go through the window

11:32 PM: big guy starts to lean over into the walkway while sleeping. he nearly falls into robin's lap on several occasions

11:32:29 PM: jen shines her headlamp onto big guy in an attempt to keep him from falling over into the walkway and/or robin's lap. its successful...big guy leans back into his chair

11:40 PM: we go off-roading in the bus.

11:40:15 PM: we stop in front of a shady shop that sells stuffed animals, barbies, liquor, pastries and cologne so that the guys can offload the second load of smuggled goods

11:48 PM: we leave the SS (shady shop)

12:55 AM: big guy exhales and spits saliva all over as if he is a whale

1:20 AM: we make it to the bulgaria/turkey border checkpoint and park in front of the burger king sign

1:24 AM: the bus manager stares at beks' foot, which is on the arm rest, until she moves it

1:30 AM: brown argyle sweater driver guy decides he's tempted the americans long enough and leaves the burger king sign and drives to passport control

2:00 AM: we make it through customs with only one bag being searched, sorry anna

2:10 AM: we drift off to sleep again

2:13 AM: purple shirt/blue argyle sweater guy meows while walking down the isle

2:13:02 AM: jen barks hoping to scare the cat into silence

3:19 AM: i'm jarred awake by brown argyle sweater guy jamming on the brakes, i think it's because he knew we were all finally asleep

4:10 AM: the lights on the bus come on waking us up

4:10:30 AM: the bus manager tells me that we are in istanbul as the bus stops on the side of the road

4:11 AM: we decide that the side of the road is better then wherever else the bus may take us

4:15 AM: we get off the bus and hear a loud muslim prayer being played over a loud speaker

4:20 AM: the bus pulls away to reveal that we are standing across the street from a mosque which is playing said loud prayer over a loud speaker. we begin to pray and look up to see a street pole that says "TRUST" in plain english on it...coincidence? i think not. pretty amazing.

12:24 PM: after a long day of walking, talking and trying to find a place to sleep we are sitting in the lobby of a hostel that our logistics people found. it's super cheap and it'll get the job done! god is great!

here's a picture of a few of us on the bus...one might assume that the picture is blurry but it's just that smoky!!!

god is love, nothing is impossible.

niksic tribute video

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

here is a video that the girls put together to say thanks to the surbatovich's, our host family in niksic, montenegro.

god is love, nothing is impossible.

follow up: my name is dan, i'm an alcoholic

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

i am so absolutely humbled and speechless. i spent about 3 hours trying to get the courage up to post my last blog, "my name is dan, i'm an alcoholic." even after i was finished typing, i sat on my tupperware box pondering whether or not i should post it. you see, my family and close friends know everything about my testimony...but i wasn't sure if i was willing to share my testimony with everyone...would others judge me and think differently of me? would i still be respected if people knew i was a recovering alcoholic?

as i was debating whether or not to post it, the lord reminded me of my first name, daniel. as you may or may not know, daniel in hebrew means "god is my judge." i trusted the lord and posted it. after all, i know that the lord wants me to share my testimony with others to show how incredibly powerful he is.

i have no words that can describe how i feel right now. i have received an overwhelming amount of support from family, friends, racers, future racers and strangers alike. it is truly amazing how things i once considered shameful can give hope to others. to be completely honest, as i type this i am in tears.

i want nothing more then for my story to show how powerful our redeemer is. i want the light from my story to shine for nothing more then his glory. his amazing grace, love and mercy are beyond words and i cannot explain them, his touch has changed my life.

i want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support and i know that my words fall short of describing how much it means to me. that said, i know that above all else i owe my thanks to my lord who saved me from darkness.

"but thanks be to god, who gives us the victory through our lord jesus christ!" 1 corinthians 15:57

god is love, nothing is impossible

my name is dan, i'm an alcoholic

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

i asked my teammate, holland cox, what i should blog about today and she said "change." as soon as she said it, i knew that it was time to blog about the change that has happened in my life over the last seven months. i have thought about writing these things in the past but honestly haven't because of fear. fear that my testimony is too dark, fear that my walk in faith hasn't been "long enough" and fear that i would be judged by others. but it's time to talk about how powerful my redeemer is, and how much he has completely changed me.

today is day 61 of the august, '09 world race. i'm sitting on a tupperware box in the upstairs of a mansion in niksic, montenegro using a ping-pong table as my desk.

today also happens to be day 183 in my new walk with christ.

i grew up catholic, went to a jesuit high school and even pondered entering the jesuit priesthood before college. i continued my walk in faith through college and into my career field...law enforcement. shortly after entering law enforcement in 2004, i stopped my walk in faith and began walking a life of darkness. i was an egotistical, materialistic, addicted police officer who considered himself a "man."

up until march 22 i was battling alcohol addiction. i had become someone who i hated, embarrassed to look at myself in the mirror. i tried to quit drinking on my own will but couldn't...i failed countless times.

on april 10 i sat in a candle lit good friday service alone and crying. i had no idea what had happened to my life and had no idea how to change it. i had been going to church for about five months but was just going through the motions. as i sat in tears, i turned my life over to the lord and asked for his help in my life.

change.
about a week later, i left my job as a police officer and started working construction...on the surface i was working to build a house but more importantly, i was working to re-build my life...to redefine what made me a man...to be like christ. although i had stopped drinking on march 22, i went to an addiction counselor and started going to AA.

on october 10, 2009, i am a man free of strongholds who is doing god's work through the world...i woke up this morning and prayed, read the bible and looked into the bathroom mirror to speak truth over myself. i said things like, "i am daniel christ snyder, i am a man of god, i am chosen, god is my judge, i am good enough, i am loved" and i smiled because i knew that these things were true.

i want so much more, i want to become less so that he can become more. my greatest desire is to be defined as a man of god...nothing else. when i meet people, i want them to think "there's something different about him" and realize its because i am in love with my god and that i put others first. i don't want to be defined by anything of this earth...i want to be defined through him.

my challenge to the people who read this is to not give up on people (or yourself). i look at myself and the change that has happened in my life and know that it can happen to ANYONE...if the lord is powerful enough to completely change my life (and countless others), he can change ANYONE...we just need to be the example that christ calls us to be and pray without ceasing!!!

god is love, nothing is impossible.

montenegro cribs #2

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

without further wait, here is a lil' clip from our current housing conditions...in niksic, montenegro...which we have nicknamed "the mansion." it's certainly not our best cinematography work thus far but it works!

god is love.

montenegro cribs #1

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

here's our crib from our first stay in montenegro! thanks goes out to the pastor vladimir!

god is love.

what i've learned...in 51 days

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

i've learned a lot over these last three months, some serious, some not so serious.

nonetheless, here is a list of some of the serious things i've learned thus far:

-to be truly happy, i need the lord
-god knows my name
-i cannot do things on my own, i must ask others and the lord for help

-living in community is a blessing

-god is my judge, i have no reason to fear man
-there is nothing better then reading the bible over a cup of coffee in the morning
-i miss my family a lot but love them even more
-the guys on my team are awesome men of god who are willing to hold me accountable
-you can be paralyzed in one arm but absolutely be in love with the lord
-worship music can literally change my day
-speaking truth over myself in the mirror was awkward at first but now i can't wait to do it every morning
-you can have nothing but truly change the lives of 13 americans
-i want nothing more then to live a christ-centered life
-it's okay to trust people
-i have some amazing supporters back home that have helped change my life

and now for the not so serious (like me trying to back a horse out of a tree):

-callan reads normal books in about a day so he reads really big books
-fantasy football is possible, even on the world race
-people in romania smoke a lot (thanks ken)
-abbriev's are pretty BA
-mexican food in romania is a horrible idea
-leslie has a low BC
-futbol is actually pretty fun
-a "picnic" in romanian translates to really long horse ride...i mean hike...with no food
-i need lotion for my dry hands, even in montenegro
-you should wake up more then 4 minutes before you get to your train stop
-sometimes diarrhea scales are necessary to prevent further disaster
-romanian horse carts have a weight limit of 12 americans
-wear gloves when digging through "dirt" for worms with romanian boys
-the best team times are quite often times the most ridiculous
-i'd pay a lot of money for some tabasco sauce out here
-when being attacked by a lady at the well, holland giggles
-speaking of giggling, robin giggles when explaining how two of our teammates just got arrested
-speaking of getting arrested, don't play the guitar in the romania train station
-speaking of guitar, i learned "all my single ladies" on the guitar
-speaking of my musical talent...i have none
-men and woman can really talk about the best way to fold/crumple TP
-i could feel my chest hair growing when eating carol's irish stew

-taking a shower in a river is fun...unless people watch, then it's awkward

-oh, i'll never shower in our river again...because i saw a snake in it this morning...sorry team

-beks has bourne like skills
-it rains every single day in ireland, no matter what
-there is a clear difference between a murse and a man wearing a purse
-chad has mad ram horn skills
-tent poles have no chance against an irish hurricane
-underwear can...and therefore should...be worn for at least 5 days in a row
-jen shouldn't go to the bathroom alone when sick...or she will end up laying in a corn field yelling my name
-i may have a future in filming cribs episodes

-i do not have a future in horseback riding

in the end, i have a lot to learn still but i am surrounded by people who will challenge me to grow deeper in my relationship with the lord. more importantly, i have a god who loves me and wants more of me.

god is love.

a month in romania

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

today brings the start of our third month on this eleven month journey. romania was awesome. we stayed in a village called tonciu and slept in the local church. we were paired with a host family that cooked our meals: nanu, his wife, three children and john, nanu's dad. they literally had nothing but would give everything. it was amazing to see how little they had yet how happy they were.

one of the biggest things i learned this month was from john and nanu (and the rest of the village) and we didn't even speak the same language. they taught me that i don't need materialistic things in my life to make me happy. they lived in a mud shack, ate bread and cheese everyday and owned a horse drawn cart but they were some of the happiest people i'd ever met...because they loved the lord and were living completely for him.

switching gears, we are fresh off of the first annual awakening conference in brasov, romania. it was a four day prayer and worship conference with about 175 current world racers and about 50 other alumni and staff attending. it was an intense four days to say the least.

one of the best experiences from the awakening was an intercession night. the j and k squads (the squads that launched in august '09) were responsible for praying for the nations and the world race over night, in a 15x20 foot laundry room. we started with some prayers which turned into 8 hours of singing worship songs and praying over one another, it was amazing. there we some encounters with the holy spirit that still boggle my mind but i have come to realize that i don't need to know the answers to everything.

we are headed to montenegro right now, we have two 12 hour train rides with 8-12 hours of lay over in between so we're looking at about 48 hours of travel time. that said, it's a blast, we are having so much fun getting to know each other! we don't have any set ministry plans for the month, we are tasked with meeting contacts and working with them to decipher whether or not future racers should work with them. it should be an amazing but challenging month!

stay tuned for some more videos!

god is love.

fake cribs=fibs #1

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

here's a video of our conditions during our 8 hour lay over in the bucharest train station:

romania cribs!!!

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

another raw and unedited cribs episode from "tokyo" village, romania:

ireland cribs video!!

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

here's a video of my crib in ireland (sorry i'm pointing the camera at my chin while talking and sorry it's unedited):

learning from 6 year olds

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

we're here in romania and are in a village about 5 hours outside of the capitol city of bucharest that we've named "tokyo village". the village is very primitive, but full of love and life. it is so unbelievably humbling to be here. the village doesn't have much but i bet they don't even know that, they love the lord and put others first. there is power but no running water. we use a bucket to take showers and use an outhouse. and i ride a calu (horse) bareback.

the first humbling experience of the village was at the church, which is a tiny building with dirt floors and a mud wall. the people of the village put money together to put plastic down on the dirt so we don't have to sleep on the dirt floors. i doubt that the plastic cost much money but i know for a fact that this money could have been used for countless other needs in the community. it's amazing how these people put others first...we've been in the village for less then 12 hours and there are always people willing to lend a hand.

we went to our first meal at our host family's house, which is a short walk away. i wish words could explain the joy in the children's face as we showed up and the joy that was in their eyes as they ran around to the neighbors houses to gather seven chairs for us. they get joy from serving others.

i have been humbled to see how generous the people of "tokyo village" are. on saturday night we had a church service. i sat and watched one of the girls, who is about 6 years old, open a bag of cookies. she immediately walked to all the people in the front rows of the church and offered a cookie to them before taking one for herself. no one told her to share, she's just been raised that way...as my friend colby said, "i've never seen that in america."

the people of this village have taught me so much in such a short time. i have learned lessons from grown men and women all the way to the little boys and girls. these lessons are unforgettable and i am so thankful for unwritten, the w

god is love.

trash juice

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

disclaimer: this is a scattered blog...it jumps around a bit, sorry!

the day before i left, i was talking to my roommate, derek, about my mission trip. i discussed how i didn't want to go into other cultures and tell them that their beliefs and religions were wrong. we talked about how i wanted to go into other cultures, learn from them and show them what it's like to live like a christian. we talked for awhile and i walked away with a quote from saint francis of assisi that describes this year perfectly, "preach the gospel always; when necessary use words."

for the last two days we have worked in the "travelers" neighborhood. honestly, i don't know a lot about them but i know that not many people talk to them and they are considered "lower class". as a result, no one goes into their neighborhoods and they don't get a lot of help. we went door to door yesterday offering to help any of the people with whatever they may need help with. at first, most people slammed the door in our face but a few brave residents allowed us to help them. soon the community warmed up to us and let their children around us and invited us in for tea and coffee. one of the children asked why we were helping and one of my teammates explained that we were christians and wanted to help people. a little bit later, i heard the little kid say, "when i grow up, i wanna be a christian and help people." "preach the gospel always; when necessary use words."

here is a picture of a backyard we started to clean up...and a picture of all the trash bags we collected over two days in the neighborhood:

i had the opportunity to go to saint nicholas cathedral last week. it was built in 1320 (not a typo) and was the last church that christopher columbus prayed in before sailing into the unknown. i was in complete awe of the beauty of the building and how enormous it was. although there are still services on sunday, the cathedral is primarily a tourist attraction now. however, there is still a quiet room where people can pray.

when i saw the sign for the room, i immediately dropped my backpack and my cleaning bucket and entered the room. as soon as i walked into the room, i felt his spirit come over me. i walked quickly to the front of the room and knelt down at the alter, below a small brass cross. i closed my eyes and was overcome with emotion, it was truly amazing. i won't go into the things that i prayed for but the holy spirit has been working through the prayers since, it's truly amazing to see the lord work. the point of this story is to ask people to pray for things in their lives. as i heard recently, "god won't answer 100% of the prayers that aren't prayed" so you might as well give it a shot. i read this last night in my tent:

"and all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" matthew 21:22

so, if you're needing help and prayer, trust him, he won't let you fall. pray and if your prayers aren't answered, pray again. if you'd like, you can send me an email and i assure you that i will pray for you without ceasing.

god is love.

what kind of church do you want?

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

if i'm honest galway, ireland is cold, windy and rainy. we are camping in a campground about 100 feet from the atlantic (thanks ken) ocean, truly breath taking. i'm writing from the confines of my tent which is about to blow away in these monsoon-ish winds (and now i'm posting it in the free internet at a christian coffee shop, awesome!). while i was setting my tent up, i broke a pole so i'm a bit worried that i'm gonna wake up flying through the air in my tent. for the time being, there is no rain pouring down...which is nice but rare. the squad is getting a whole lot closer because a lotta people are cuddling (thanks holland) with someone else instead of sleeping in their own drenched tent. who's tent is aaron in anyway? team unwritten (minus the jowers):

even with all the weather...this has been a truly amazing first week of ministry work.

half of our squad is working with a local christian church. we have been doing a variety of different "green ministry" projects that include graffiti clean up, trash pick up, yard work, painting and...you get the idea. through these projects we have had the opportunity to talk to the people of ireland about life and the lord.

this has presented the biggest hurdle so far. to be honest, the people of ireland don't really trust the church and have completely turned against it. i'm sure this is the result of a lot of things but the majority of the mistrust comes from priests taking advantage of innocent woman and children and sexually assaulting them. once the scandal was exposed, the irish government did it's best to cover it up and protect the priests. hence some mistrust and dislike for organized religion.

we have had a hard time talking to local people about the lord. they automatically shutdown when the word "church" or "jesus" is mentioned. and honestly, can you blame them? but i want to show them that there is more then organized church and mistrust, there is love and trust.

a guy walking down the street asked our small group, "how do you do church differently?" it really made me start thinking about that and some of the ideas i've had racing in my mind. it reminds me of how appreciative i am of the church that i have back home...a church where you can be yourself, be real and be loved, a church where you are accepted exactly the way you are. thats the kind of church i want...not one that is full of rules and takes advantage of the innocent...one that teaches the word and believes in the spirit and lets you live that glory.

so...what kind of church do you want?

god is love.