Mar 25 2010
I am so sorry all. I have been out of pockets with this blog the last couple of months. I am ever so sorry. My hope is that we can get back on track. I’ll try to “catch you all up” on what has been going on the last couple of months. Truthfully, it has been mind boggling how much happened in this short time. Appreciate you all!
Roy
Nov 26 2009
The other day, I was able to share something that I am passionate about with my kids. Ever since I was in Junior High I have loved aircraft, specifically World War II aircraft. When the cub scouts were given the opportunity to visit and tour a B-17, I passionately had T-9 jump at the opportunity. He seemed excited and I certainly was. Jonathan and Lisa had to go somewhere else but C-6, T-9 and I went to see this amazing flying WWII war bird at the Arlington Municipal Airport. It was really fun!
They were offering rides around the airport and while we couldn’t afford that, it was really fun watching the Flying Fortress run up on the runway and take off and land. The roar of the engine, the gradual climb out, etc… it was just like something out of an old World War II movie. You can imagine 100′s of these taking off all at once.
After it came back from its flight we got to climb around inside the airplane. Wow. Everything is so tight. I could barely maneuver from one part of the aircraft to another. The ball turret looked even small for C-6. I can’t even imagine sitting inside for the whole mission as was common.
The best part was seeing the wonder in T-9 & C-6′s eyes as they ran in and out of the aircraft, running through the bomb bay, looking at the gunners stations, etc. It was magical.
Sep 09 2009
I just saw these quotes in a friend’s signature and was touched greatly and I wanted to share them with you…
“Make sure the thing you’re living for is worth dying for” -Charles Mayes
“Only in the world where faith is difficult can faith exist.” -Peter John Kreeft
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.” -Daniel H. Burnham
“Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again “I did not know” -William Wilberforce
Sep 03 2009
Dear Roy
What an amazing month we have had in our Big Howdy welcome events.
Take a look at some of the numbers that all represent relationships and ministry.
500+ students at the Big Howdy party.
300 pieces of pizza
100 Chipotle burritos
300+ students country line dancing for the 1st time!
170 students picked up at the airport.
126 students taken to Wal-Mart.
100+ students have furniture and apartment needs to start their year off right.
72 feet of potluck food dishes devoured by 500 hungry students.
20 campus ministries and churches demonstrating unity in the body of Christ
19+ countries represented by the students at Big Howdy events
1 God to give all the praise!
Thank you for praying and giving!
Ron
Check out pictures from the Used Item Sale and Big Howdy party and for the TCU Welcome Party. Pray for the students you see and relationships that God will grow as the year moves forward.
Take a look at some of the numbers that all represent relationships and ministry.
500+ students at the Big Howdy party.
300 pieces of pizza
100 Chipotle burritos
200+ volunteers who provided food, did airport pickups, transported students to Wal-Mart, lifted and delivered furniture to students apartments, and many other acts of love and kindness.
300+ students country line dancing for the 1st time!
170 students picked up at the airport.
126 students taken to Wal-Mart.
100+ students have furniture and apartment needs to start their year off right.
72 feet of potluck food dishes devoured by 500 hungry students.
20 campus ministries and churches demonstrating unity in the body of Christ
19+ countries represented by the students at Big Howdy events
1 God to give all the praise!
Thank you for praying and giving!
Ron
Aug 06 2009
One of the special things about being a father of two boys is that we get to do some fun “guy” stuff. My guys are not sports guys, but they both have a great interest in chivalry, games and other things like that. This last weekend the three of us shared something very special.
Back when J-13 (not 12 any more) turned 9, feeling that I wanted to integrate rites of passage in my kids development, we went to a Japanese garden in Fort Worth and I shared with him about his heritage, how he is descended from samurai/teachers though Yabuki blood and from John Muir, Alexander Hamilton, Daniel Boone & Davey Crockett through Lisa’s family and how… wait… I guess it wouldn’t be all the special if I told you everything… suffice it to say, I tried to emphasize our heritage of service and now in our family love and devotion to God and people around the world. I then outlined a process of passing on what I am to him… He began the process as a “page” at 9, being instructed in the ways of men. At 13, he would move on to being a “squire,” given more responsibility but also more freedom as he learns how to apply what he learned in the previous four years. 
Finally he moves on to full knighthood, the full attaining to manhood, when I feel like he is ready, probably around when he is 18.
This last weekend was special because both T-9 and J-13 went through the ceremony in going to next levels. We were not able to go to the Japanese garden because as we left, a huge storm came by. But that make things more memorable in a way as we sat under a picnic shelter as a huge thunderstorm came by and a river swelled beside us. J-13 shared the “essential Yabuki things” with T-9 and I passed on the rites of passage to J-13.
The rest of the day, I really saw a noticable change in both boys. It was really fun and I was really proud of them. It was a special time. We then proceeded to celebrate J-13′s birthday with a trip to the aquarium. The kids took tons of pictures. Here is a link to a few of them.
Jan 28 2009
This Saturday was very special. We had our regular Spring Big Howdy Party. ISI’s Ron, BSM’s Gary, Breakthrough’s Christian, Cornerstone’s Steve (and many others) did a tremendous job this year with quite a few innovations that I thought really worked. Over 350 people, mostly international students came to the Bluebonnett Ball room in the UTA University Center. There was plenty of food. We got the contact information from most of the students. I really believe that these welcome parties are very important in making Christ’s name sweeter. It was truly incredible with people talking afterward till late. You can often judge the relationships built at an event by how many pictures of groups are taken at the end, and at this one there were many! You can see the pictures here and the video below…
Anyway, the best moment for me came with my daughter C-5. One of the things we have done at the Big Howdy over the years is allow the students to dance with music from their countries. Often it eventually becomes a turns to a medly of Ballywood music because Indians constitute our largest group. Anyway, as behind us 100′s of Indian students were dancing in classic Punjabi form to the driving modern indian music beat, I had the special pleasure of dancing with my daughter. I was reminded of Stephen Curtis Chapman’s song, Cinderella (check out the video on Youtube). Time seemed to stop as we spun and swing danced… (or a facsimille of such) It was really special and fun watching her laugh, getting led and falling down… I don’t think I will forget that special time especially some day when she will be dancing with someone else.
Nov 28 2008
While Lisa and I were focused on the Thanksgiving Party for UTA international students with our church two others of our ministry teams hosted other “new” thanksgiving parties… Here’s what happened…
Jeff Anthony, our ISI City Mobilizer and “blessing man”, helped kick off the first thanksgiving dinner for Collin College (formerly Collin County Community College), a new ministry focus for us. Here is his report…
It was fantastic! God definitely answered our prayers and pulled everything together for His glory. We had over 100 people and I think more than 60 students. Countries represented were: Pakistan, Vietnam, China, India, Kenya, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Iran, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Bolivia, Taiwan, Fiji, and Belgium.
A lady from Iran who works in the int’l student office and brought her three daughters (soph at CC and two HS seniors) went on and on about how wonderful everything was and how much she and the students appreciated it. She called me the blessing man (I’ve been called lots of things over the years, but this was a first!) and said I would be blessed because of all that we did to make the students feel loved. We had lots of students from Pakistan and they really had a good time. I re-connected with several students I had met at the BSM retreat in Oct. and two of them lead different int’l student organizations on campus.
McKinney Memorial Bible Church offered to host thankgiving dinner parties for international students at several different american volunteer homes as they provided the food. As key TCU ministry team and McKinney member Babs shares,
All went well with the American Thanksgiving Dinner Saturday night. We had about 40 students and all went to an American home. They seemed to be in groups in which they knew people and felt comfortable. The feedback which I have received from students and JP and Cassie has been very positive; everyone had a good time! The families really enjoyed having the students, so all in all, I think it was a very positive experience for all! Praise the Lord! Thanks to all who were involved from planning, to recruiting students and sending them to the right place, to driving and eating with them, and getting them back home! Thank you so much!
In addition soon-to-be TCU intern Cassie adds,
There were… students there from China mostly and Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, and some others. We split up into groups. JP (Cassie’s fiance) and I took 4 Chinese students to a house and we got to stay with them. Everyone involved seem to have a great time. Plus, the time waiting at the [TCU Frog] fountain was just good talking to a lot of students I had not met before.
Finally, Bennie & Patti, key TCU team members, had more than 30 people, mostly international students, over their house on Thanksgiving day as they do every year. It sounded like, as usual, students had a rich and warm time. Bennie was telling me that he went down to TCU to pick up some students and twice as many as were expected were there… They are incredible people…
Nov 05 2008
Tonight a most remarkable thing happened in our house… Let me preface what I write with the following. I am generally not politically expressive… I generally don’t make a big deal about elections, who I will vote for, etc. I do have strong views on politics, economics, policy, etc… In college, I immensely enjoyed following and studying the subject. The systems, cause and effect relationships, etc. (Lots of etc’s here) really fascinated me. I loved reading Machiavelli, Mill, Jefferson, etc. But there came a point in my life the God’s kingdom became more riveting than the world’s governments and while God works through governments and such and those who are involved in it, I have become disillusioned with government’s ability to cause much change in the world. It is the heart of people that is the problem… not systems… God is in control and only He can change the heart of man such that any real change can occur. Government can only check the effects of our fallen hearts… (if you want to debate man’s inherent condition or my view of politics… we can in the comments…) You have to pick your battles and I chose to change hearts not the result of hearts… Still, I vote on important occasions like today’s and follow politics, policy, etc., especially with and eye towards how it relates to God’s Kingdom, trying to figure out how He is moving in the world through it.
Anyway… enough of my philosophy… the remarkable thing happened when we were watching the election coverage… For some reason, my boys were really captured by this particular election. I don’t know why. T-8 had some real issues with Sen. Obama as only a eight year old could… He had heard some things that he did not agree with (I swear I had nothing to do with it) and so he felt it his duty to cheer on Sen. McCain. It was amazing watching him. It was almost like watching a baskeball game. Whenever McCain won a state he would cheer vigorously throughout the house. Whenevern Obama wont a state, he would remind me that there was still hope… He was so into it. When it was declared Sen. Obama was the next president… it was just too much for him. He burst into tears… the kind reserved for when he is most dissappointed… It was truly remarkable… He was unconsolable for the next 20 minutes… I’d never seen anything like it… I’m sure some of us felt the same way… others of us felt the opposite in the heights of emotions… but to see it played out raw in a 8 year old was incredible. It did us good to console him with a reminder of our trust in the system, the values we all agree in as Americans and in the God who is over all… Still… I hope he remembers this night… I hope he never forgets that his passions DO matter and what he cares about is important and yet God is over all.
Aug 26 2008
One of the most difficult things about moving from one country… no continent… to another is that there is only so much you can bring. While many students bring 3 huge suitecases and 2 more carry ons, when you think about it, there isn’t all that much that you can put in them. So, often, even as late as a students second semester, it is not uncommon to see students sleeping on the floor with their luggage as furniture.
Seven or eight years ago, Mark Norton and Mark Peterson saw this need and initiated what became an annual event – the Used Item Sale for international students at UTA. While it has changed much over the years in its implementation and its specifics, the essence has not changed. We collect furniture, and other household items from church members and allow students to buy them for incredibly low prices. (There is a good reason why we sell it rather than give it away… If you are interested, we can discuss in the comment section)
The students love it. This year, Ron Bunyard, working with a team of young adults from 121 church made it happen with items from many different churches including Fielder Road, Grace Community, 1st Baptist Euless, Grace Lutheran, University Catholic Center, etc. It was probably was the most organized sale to date as students all felt like winners after they were there. In addition, Ron instituted a program where people could sign up for what they could not find there. He would then turn over the request card of a particular student to a church or small group and that group essentially adopts that student in terms of getting the things he or she needs. It was really awesome to see the students smiles and words of appreciation. It was equally rewarding to see the volunteers (from the many churches) help deliver furniture and see how important it is to have this sale given the students’ need. Praise the Lord for the convergence in what He is doing in people’s lives.
Aug 20 2008
One of the most important roles we have in ministering to students is to help them with their needs. Through these genuine acts of kindness, they are able to see Christ. We find that to do this the most effectively to impact the most students, we mobilize other Christ followers to do the same. Such is the story of the CareAVan.
The CareAVan started around 9 years ago when former UTA Professor Mark Peterson with fellow Grace Community Church Member, Mark Norton approached the international office to find out what the greatest need of the students are when they first arrive. Arlington doesn’t have a public transportation system and the nearest market is more than a mile away and so one clear need was for transportation to and from a place to buy stuff. Thus began the CareAVan. Every Fall, for six evenings, volunteers from many churches come and provide rides for new students to Walmart to allow them to shop for the basic things they will need in their new apartments and dorms. It has become one of the Big Howdy events ISI has helped to stage at UTA.
The CareAVan in 2008 has already run 3 nights with over 100 people served. Today(Tuesday), I had the privilege of helping out. When I arrived with my car, I as amazed at the number of people assembled in front of the University Center. We later found out there were over 100 students on this day alone. All of them were ready to shop. Kyle, the the leader of the Salvation Army church’s ministry partners, seemed to know several of the students by name as several of them were “repeat customers.” Obviously they were touched by what was going on. Raquel, the team leader for the CareAVAn took down names (to make sure we don’t forget any students on the return) and by the grace of God we were able to transport the students with a rag-tag fleet of church vans, a Salvation Army mini-bus, Suburbans, pickups, mini-vans and regular cars from UTA to the “Super” Walmart. Good conversation and friendship were made along the way. Interestingly, the Walmart is across the street from the new Cowboy Stadium under construction in Arlington. (The oohs and aahs..)
Once at Walmart, many of us were able to help students navigate throughout the store. It was fun helping students translate (from American English to English) what different products were. One student came up to me to ask me where they could find a “pepper.” Apparently, the peppers at Walmart were too big and were not “real” peppers. It was fun. One real image that stood out in my mind was Kyle and his sister in law Maggie walking around, helping student find things, trying to learn the students’ native language and learning the very difficult-to-remember names of the many Indian students that were there. They are real naturals and you could really see Christ working through the Spirit in them. It was a real reminder to me what this is all about and how much fun it can be.
When dropping off the students at each of their apartments afterwords, we shared about the Big Howdy Party on Saturday. It is there that we have the opportunity to share who we are and connect more closely.
For the prayer team… Thanks and keep on praying!
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