Elizabeth & I have had the joy of sponsoring the Carranza-Vega family in Honduras over the past 4 years through Great Commission Latin America.
Through our travels, we’ve been able to meet the family several times over the past four years. We’ve visited with them in their home, at church and in their community.
I’ve played soccer with Orlin (father) and learned more about the daily challenges facing his family. Continue reading
Our dear Baby Wendy the day we met her on July 30, 2011. She passed away in Aug. 2012. Learn her story: http://bit.ly/1vNxKl6
On July 30, 2011, I stumbled into the most devastating sight of poverty I’ve ever experienced in the rural outskirts of a forgotten-town in southern Honduras.
I’m still troubled to adequately identify the full range of devastating and heart-breaking emotions I felt on that day — and continue to feel to this day.
Despite immediate intervention and excellent care from our friends at Great Commission Latin America, Baby Wendy passed away from complications of an underdeveloped immune system just a year later in August 2012. She barely reached her first birthday.
Having experienced just a glimpse into the paralysis of poverty, my then girlfriend, now wife, Elizabeth and my passion is making a difference with our lives– our time, our money, and our influence.
The Right Time:
Elizabeth & I have wanted to rescue a dog since we got married in May 2012. But the timing was never right, with her sporadic schedule as a nurse and my never-ending schedule as an entrepreneur.
After my transition to a new job and Elizabeth’s transition to graduate school, the stars aligned for us to start our search for a rescue dog.
We spent a solid week searching online for dogs at KC Pet Project, Great Plains SPCA & a handful of other small shelters that hosted weekend adoption events at PetSmarts around KC.
After six hours driving the I-435 loop searching for a dog that would find our 600-sq-ft apartment a suitable new home, we finally found our match at the Zona Rosa KC Pet Project location.
Finding Our Girl
As we walked toward the door for KC Pet Project, I caught a glimpse of an unassuming, poorly groomed pup that clearly needed some TLC.
She was quiet and just wanted to be still. She was listed as a stray and the shelter didn’t have any records of her past. From the look of her unkempt hair, matted ears, and emaciated frame, she must have lived as a stray for weeks if not months.
I couldn’t help but flash back to our baby Wendy and her helplessness when we first met her. She had no control over her circumstances and required immense TLC.
Let me be clear, for a moment. People are 100,000 times more valuable than pets. Don’t take this as some sort of sob story for this little pup and putting her on an equal plane with our dear baby Wendy– the human from Honduras.
However, I flashed back to Baby Wendy in Honduras at the parallels of their situations– helpless and hungry. Just like in July 2011, I knew we couldn’t just walk away.
A Tribute to another “Wendy”
As we took “Vesta” home (the name given by the shelter), we started pondering a new name for her.
We wanted it to be significant and remind us of something special. It didn’t take long for Elizabeth to suggest Wendy.
At first, I pushed back. Really? Call our dog Wendy after our baby girl in Honduras? But after talking through it together, it just made sense.
We had committed when we first met Baby Wendy to not let her life be in vain. We didn’t want to let our fateful encounter on that summer day be a fleeting feeling of despair– we wanted to transform it into a beautiful opportunity for redemption and new beginnings.
It’s only been a week, but I can’t help but smile every time I see our little dog Wendy. With each day, as she grows a little more healthy and a little more adventurous, my heart warms at the sight of transformation.
The first night we brought her home, she wouldn’t eat, potty and was so hesitant to rest her eyes.
Just a week later, she loyally follows us wherever we go, eager to eat at the first sight of food and offer a friendly snuggle to everyone she meets. And baby girl has no problem napping all day long in peace.
It’s a small symbolic gesture, but we hope it continues to spark the same joy we felt as we saw Baby Wendy’s transformation as well as continue to remind us of the commitment we made on that hot summer day in 2011 to seek to live our lives for the least of these.
Two of my favorite females in the whole wide world cuddling on the couch while dad’s at work!
Little Wendy is a Brussels Griffon Maltese mix (we think) & weighs about 8lbs. She’s quite the cute little two-year-old dog!
When I first saw Pete Briscoe’s I Am Second video testimony, my heart really connected with his story. 
So when I was looking for books at Mardel a few weeks back I immediately grew attached to “The Surge.” I’d never heard of it, but when I saw Pete’s byline I knew it was worth the read.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been reading it at my leisure and soaking up his perspective on world missions and his passion for “The Surge.”
“The Surge,” as Briscoe calls it, is essentially the massive wave of God’s love and His movement for reaching people and revealing to them His love through all kinds of missions movements throughout the world. He encourages his readers that, despite the stagnate nature of the American church, there’s a lot of momentum worldwide for the Gospel.
One part in particular really resonated with me throughout all my mission work with GCLA over the past few years.
There’s an old cliche that “there is no safer place than the center of God’s will.” Pete obliterates the validity of this statement with a section titled, “But ‘Is He Safe?'”
“Really? Is following God’s will the safest place to be? Tell that to Jesus while he hangs on a cross; tell that to Paul as he pulls the seaweed out of his ear and nurses the snakebite on his hand; tell that to the disciples as they find themselves exiled from their loved ones or hanging upside down on a cross because they refuse to deny their faith in Christ. For that matter, try sharing that bit of wisdom with Martin Luther or John Wycliffe. Far from being a safe place, I would argue that the center of God’s will is, for many of us, an extremely dangerous place to be. … ”
“… Far from encouraging his followers to stay safe, Christ invited them to die when he asked them to pick up their crosses and follow him. It’s really not a question of if we are going to die; it’s a matter of when and for what cause.” (Pages 154-155)
Considering I named my blog “The Luke 9:23 Project,” I would assume you could understand why this passage would resonate with me.
Since Christ called me to be his child and really walk in his ways, Luke 9:23 has been my life-verse. It’s given me hope and joy. But more importantly, a humble purpose.
“If ANY man would come after me, he must deny himself and pick up his cross daily.”
Thanks for the reminder, Pete.
I don’t normally spend my time reviewing or encouraging others to read books, but I think “The Surge” is definitely worth your time. It’ll get your mind racing about ways you can be involved in “The Surge” (Great Commission) where ever you may be physically.
Relentless Optimism 