Last night i flew into Birmingham at about 10:00 p.m. I stopped by the office of Bedouins International for a brief conversation and an interview. We talked about their recent trip to Haiti and also their work with folks in Mexico, New York, Adventures in Missions, and She Dances. It was a great conversation. So, what is Bedouins? Check out the video below then go check out their site and their blog.

Dear Embassy Suites La Quinta,

You’ve been good to me these three weeks. You’re air conditioner works wonderfully because i wish i had a jacket. When you don’t put trash cans in your lobby it makes me feel lazy for leaving my trash everywhere, but i thank you for your hospitality when you clean up after me. I was impressed by your ability to stay quiet after the suicide. You still have not given me any details. Thank you for cleaning my room and making my bed every single day for three weeks. That’s impressive, and i must say, now i feel spoiled. Oh, and i shouldn’t forget that happy hour was my favorite two hours of the day. I don’t know how you afford to give me free popcorn and free cokes everyday, but i sure do appreciate it. I’m sorry that i never had my “VIP Card” in the morning that allowed me hot breakfast, but thank you for asking for it every single day as if you haven’t seen me every morning for three weeks.
All-in-all, i’ve been happy with your facility and your services, but i would like to make one small suggestion: please get rid of that torturous waterfall in your lobby. When i talk with my friends i do not like to feel like i’m standing next to Niagara.

Thanks,
Biscuet

P.S. I’ll be checking out in about an hour, don’t worry about that pile of stuff in my room, you can have it. It wouldn’t fit in my suitcase.

P.S.S. WAR EAGLE!!

Today, my friend, Will, drove over from San Diego to La Quinta to hang out for the afternoon. He also brought his girlfriend so that was an added bonus. For as long as i’ve known Will he has had his hand in social justice and humanitarian causes all around the world. He worked for about two years with Invisible Children, an organization that has focused on bringing peace to Uganda, but since then it seems that he has reached out and touched nearly every part of the planet. He’s an amazing person who truly loves people and i want to tell you a story he told me today.

For a short period while he worked for Invisible Children he was the official spokesperson for the organization, which meant that he was the one to show up at all the big events and such. At one point, he was invited to a dinner of some sort at the National Civil Rights Museum. When he showed up he found himself at the same table with the best friend of Rosa Parks who was on the bus the day that Rosa held her seat and made a statement for equality. This friend of Rosa was well aware of what Invisible Children is about and looked up at Will and said, “Boy, you are crazy!” Then with tears in her eyes she said, “But don’t you stop doing what you’re doing, they told us we were crazy too.”

This story reminds me that you and i have the power to change the injustices of the world. We are called to respond to the evil of the world and redeem it. These ambitions may seem crazy, but it’s the crazy ones who make a difference.

Some of my videos have recently been talked about a lot around here in California. One of them was shown last night at our commissioning service. I want to provide some links to some of my favorite videos for the newcomers that might be here just to see a few videos. So here you go.

• Graduation Party
• A Banquet
• Philip Hayden Foundation
• Lisa Outtakes
• My Vimeo Page
• My Youtube Page

I hope you enjoy. If you have any comments or suggestions for other videos then please let me know.

Since Sundays are a slow day for us all i thought i would find something i could look forward to in Beijing. You can definitely count me in for an evening of boating on the river. Anybody know of some other fun Beijing activities? Or just some big city activities in general? I would love to know your ideas!

Thanks to The Beijinger for the photo.

I stayed up late to watch news coverage of hurricane Ike because i enjoy being in the loop with current events. My choice of news coverage was Fox News, but i don’t have a real reason for that. It’s the first channel i found with live coverage. However, after 45 minutes of watching i have some observations that lead to me scratching my head in confusion. I’ll share:

1. Who’s idea was it to put those poor news guys out in the weather? They tell you to evacuate or it’s certain death, but then they put these guys out in the weather and tell them to talk about it. Crazy.

2. Geraldo Rivera is a maniac. A minute ago they showed him in a place where it looked like he was sitting in a palm tree. What was he doing there?

3. A few of the reporters are reporting from the edge of the water. Is that smart considering they are predicting 20 foot surges of water?

4. This is the best part: They showed an interview that Geraldo did with Chuck Norris earlier today. Yes, i said Chuck Norris. My first thought was, “What does Chuck have to do with a hurricane?” Apparently, he is opening his ranch to refugees from the hurricane. Chuck Norris and Geraldo Rivera together for an interview; it doesn’t get much weirder than that.

So here’s the recap:
Deadly hurricanes mean: we can play in the wind and rain even when the government says evacuate, palm trees provide good shelter, Chuck Norris and Geraldo Rivera are good buddies and experts on hurricanes.

Last night as i drove through the desert and over the mountains i had two hours of feeling unhindered, free, and greatly small. Yes, greatly small. A great amount of smallness. The vast desert went on forever and the road was winding up high above the city. Those two hours of solitude should have prepared me for what was next, but it certainly did not.

I talked with my friend Vicky Beeching for hours and hours about everything imaginable. We talked about her heart for China and how she deeply desires to come over there someday. I was able to share with her some interesting insight into the Chinese culture, cross-cultural living, and even a little about language learning. I’m convinced that Vicky’s mandarin is far better than mine.

I drove back from San Diego wide-eyed with my heart full of new and exciting ideas. It didn’t matter to me that that i missed a turn and went over an entire mountain range that was out of the way. It didn’t matter that i got back home about an hour later than i should have. I didn’t even listen to music coming back. Ok, i did listen to that one radio station with the Mariachi band. But, my brain was spinning a hundred miles an hour trying to process all that happened with Vicky. I think it was just amazing to sit and have intelligent conversation and share common dreams and goals.

Basically, here’s what i’m saying, if you don’t know Vicky Beeching you need to go to vickybeeching.com and get to know her. She’s not just another great worship leader. She’s an amazing friend with an incredible heart for the world.

Thank you for letting me take a few minutes to talk about how cool my time with Vicky was. Also, go to her website and watch the video she posted of us hanging out.

So far, i know very little. But i do know that in less than two weeks i’ll be back in China and you must have so many questions about that. With two weeks to go i’m going to give you everything i know. And in typical Biscuet.com fashion, i’ll do it in bullets.

• My Visa has finally been completed and will be in my hands on Wednesday.
• I’m teaching 16 hours per week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
• I’m living just outside of Beijing. 45 minutes by car, about 2 hours by city bus
• There is a school bus that goes into the city several times a day. I plan to use that.
• As far as i can tell i have 6 teammates. Who really knows though?
• Much excitement is soon to come for us all

Disclaimer:
Ok, as far as the reliability of these facts goes, let me just say this: only the last one is a guarantee.

Most of you are at least somewhat aware of the catastrophe that Haiti is facing today. For the past few weeks they have been hammered repeatedly by deadly hurricanes that have produced floods leaving hundreds dead and thousands homeless.

My good friends from Bedouins International are on their way to help in any way possible and also document what they see. Bedouins is a a non-profit organization that produces media for ministries that cannot afford high quality media to tell their story. The initial reason for their trip to Haiti was to document a project called the Vanilla Bean project. They have now shifted gears and are preparing to put on their rain gear and document the massive state of loss and heartache that is surrounding the people of Haiti.

Their plan is to be in Haiti from September 9 - September 18. During their time they will video and photograph everything they see and experience. The story they come back with is certain to move you.

Below is a press release about Bedouins and the trip to Haiti.
Also, follow this link to read an article from the Montgomery Advertiser.

If the Bedouins team has Internet available in Haiti then i will post updates here as they happen. Also, you can follow their blog at www.bedouinsinternational.org/blog/

Thanks for reading, please pray for the team.

Press Release

Alabama Group Travels to Haiti in Aftermath of Storm to Document Destruction
Montgomery, AL; September 6, 2008—As the fatalities and flood waters in Haiti continue to rise in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Hannah, a group from Alabama is travelling to the devastated island nation in an effort to document the storm’s destruction and offer relief to victims. The group of seven leaves Tuesday, September 9th for ten days on the northern coast of Haiti. Five members of the Birmingham based non-profit organization Bedouins International, including a photographer and film crew, will accompany Montgomery natives Anne and Stephanie Reynolds as they travel to Coco Beach, Haiti where the mother-daughter team helped to establish the town’s only school.
The group had originally intended to document the daily struggle of the people in Coco Beach but because of the destruction from Tropical Storm Hannah the group has expanded their focus. Hannah was the third storm to pass near Haiti in three weeks. Fay and Gustav passed near Haiti killing 96 people and since Hannah the death toll has risen to 163 and is still rising. With the outer bands of Hurricane Ike expected to skirt the northern coast of Haiti, conditions will likely worsen. The Alabama group will be based out of Cap Haitian, Haiti’s second largest city and a current refuge for many people displaced by the storms.

You saw it here first.

P.S. As you can see from the last two posts, Sundays are a little slow around here. Tomorrow, we will resume the normal posts. I hope you had a happy weekend.