These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the divisions of Israel. (Numbers 1:15) Good leadership matters. Great leaders make life much better for people they’ll never meet. I consider Angela Merkel such a leader. I’m a little behind in my reading so I’ve just finished the December Time article about Angela Merkel: Chancellor of the Free World. Time selected her Person of the Year for […]

Two days before I was scheduled to fly to El Salvador for my third Thrivent Builds-Habitat for Humanity trip I got an e-mail from our State Department warning me of escalating concerns about safety there for U.S.A. travelers. Were this my first trip I might have canceled my flight. Since this was not my first trip, I deleted the e-mail and continued packing. Both Thrivent (a not-for-profit financial services organization for Christians) and Habitat in […]

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. (Gen. 11:1) I’ve just returned from my third trip to El Salvador through the Thrivent – Habitat for Humanity partnership. I’ve met some terrific people – like Betty (L) and Glenda (R) pictured above. Glenda came to our work site each day to help because she wanted to practice her English. I wanted to practice my Spanish so we helped each other. One of […]

You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed. (Psalm 10:17) This week I am in El Salvador for my third trip with a group of folks to help build homes through a partnership between Thrivent Financial Services and Habitat for Humanity. Mostly I read books to the kids who always show up to help with the construction projects. If […]

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult I gave up childish ways. (1 Cor. 13:11) When I was a child my mother was friends with a woman her age and that woman’s mother. I no longer remember their names, but I do remember spending time at their home. They fed me great treats while they visited. I […]