Give1Save1 Feature

Many of our friends and family have been asking about our adoption and how it is progressing.  We have been rather quiet with it, because over the past few weeks, we haven't received a lot good news regarding Zion's situation and our ability to bring him home.  We have a lot of fight in us, and we are refusing to give up on him.  But, all of that fight takes additional resources to make it happen.  The good thing is that we have some great people with abundant knowledge who are on our side.

Give1Save1.com is a great website with a ton of information for and about adoptive families.  Given our situation, they have decided to make us this week's feature family in an effort to bring awareness to the difficult situation in Ethiopia and help us with resources to continue our fight for Zion.  

Please take a moment to watch our feature video and visit Give1Save1.com to learn more!

The Hauschildt Family Adoption Video from Mitch Hauschildt on Vimeo.

Home Again School Project Update

An update from Shannon:

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see our school project in person. I had an idea what the ministry was and knew that it was special, but I wasn’t ready to fall in love with the people of the Home Again like I did. They are such anamazing group of people! We pulled up in the van and were met by a swarm of young kids clinging to us, longing to be held and loved. Their faces, so beautiful and pure; their hugs, so strong and true. I felt honored by their greeting.

Our group of 23 people met under a tree and Pastor Andrew explained his ministry and his vision. He truly is a disciple of the Lord and is full of compassion and love for those he serves. Then the women of the community put on a skit for us. There was no language barrier. The message was clear. The only way to have peace and happiness in your life is through knowing our savior, Jesus Christ. We were then entertained by some teenage girls performing a traditional Ugandan dance. After that, we split them into two groups: the children and the adults.

Three of the men on our team gave testimony as we painted the women’s nails. A little purple sparkle polish made the women smile with beauty! What a humbling experience, to dust the African mud off of my fellow sister’s toenails, and give her a little token of my love and respect.

Finally, we were able to see the start of the nursery school. Pastor Andrew was so proud to show off the beginning of this children’s ministry. The latrines were completed and there were men working on construction of the school itself. Our group gathered around the wood posts to pray for God’s guidance and blessings upon the project. I then was able to give Andrew an installment of money. We had an impromptu “ribbon” cutting ceremony. We didn’t have ribbon or scissors but the idea and celebration was a success.

I want to thank you again for your prayers and support. This nursery school project has become very dear to Mitch and I. We have been so blessed to have friends and family give us donations. At this time, we have raised $17,230 and are well on our way to our goal of $25,000. We aren’t done though. Please consider helping us finish this task with a financial donation. Anything short of the $25,000 goal will put the school operations in jeopardy in several months. Please continue to keep Pastor Andrew and the people of the Home Again Ministry in your prayers.

Perspective

At church this weekend, Pastor Scott gave us a valuable lesson on perspective by looking at Luke 23:39-43.   I won't spend much time on the passage, because that isn't the point here.  Basically, the passage tells us about the 2 men who were crucified next to Jesus on the cross.  Each man had a completely different perspective of who Jesus was.  Prior to their death, Jesus promised one man that he would be in heaven while we are left to assume that the other wasn't so fortunate.  The lesson here is that there are 2 men in the same situation with completely different perspectives on Jesus.  The same can be said of virtually any situation in our daily lives.

It made me think about how Man Up has changed my perspective in life.  As I have said so many times since returning home, I continue to be amazed at how 16 days in Africa flipped my world upside down.  I have shared much of this before, but many of them are worth re-visiting:

• Africa is more than just a shape on a map.  It has real people, real resources, real love, and real problems.
• Soccer is more than that sport that I watch every 4 years during the World Cup.  It is a universal language of fun and love.
• Leprosy isn't a disease that just existed 2000 years ago.  It is still a problem that affects thousands of people in Africa.
• Faith is more than just going to church on Sundays.  It is about being obedient and following Him in every part of your life.
• Love is more than simply saying the word to your spouse and children.  It is taking time to stop and truly honor them and love them with your actions, words and thoughts at all times.
• Orphans aren't just the kids that you see on the infomercials with bloated stomaches.  They are real children that have endless amounts of love that are looking for someone in this world to accept just a little of it.
• Leadership is much more effective when you serve those who you are trying to lead.
• The vast majority of things we worry about in our world trivial in the grand scheme of things.
• And I could go on and on...

For all of the problems and things that Africa has wrong, they have so many things right in this world.  They insist on putting relationships first in their lives instead of the next meeting, the next purchase or the next TV show.  We can learn a lot from them.

I'm so excited for my next opportunity to be with them in their great land.  After returning from the inaugural Man Up for Orphans trip, I prayed hard about how and where this experience was going to lead me.  I am doing my best to be obedient and I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a co-leader for another Man Up team to Ethiopia and Uganda.

We will be visiting many of the wonderful ministries that we visited last summer, as well as discover some new opportunities to serve.  We are in the process of assembling a great team of men (and women) who are interested in following James 1:27 and visit orphans and widows in their time of need.  

If you enjoy epic road trips, laughter, sports, hugs, tears, music, beautiful landscapes, coffee, and kids, you are perfect for our team.  Or, if you are just looking for something to give you a little different perspective on things, join us August 14-25.  I don't ask people to join our team.  Rather, I simply ask that you pray about it.  It is my belief that if you openly and honestly pray about answering God's call to do your part to end the orphan crisis, there is no way you can say no to this incredible opportunity.

If you want more information, leave a comment and I can get you a step-by-step itinerary for the trip and all of the details you are looking for.  If you are past that point and know you are in, visit www.onechildcampaign.com to apply.  

Man Up!  Live Dead!!  Love BIG!!!

My Most Important Post Yet...

On the day that we celebrate our Lord's resurrection, we have decided to announce something that is very close to our family. It is our first major fundraising effort.  Since in Uganda last August, I have kept a number of images and people close to my heart. There is no denying that in a land of the greatest poverty known in the world and millions of orphans, there is not shortage of people and ministries to wrap your arms around.

I certainly don't want to make light of many of the great ministries that we worked with, but God really stirred my heart at one particular spot in Uganda. We were there a short time, but I will never forget my experience.

Our Man Up team met with Pastor Andrew of Home Again Ministries in Jin-Ja, Uganda one afternoon at his church. Pastor Andrew has a humble church in a struggling community. He has dedicated his church and life to serving the poorest of those among him, widows and children. The people that live in this community are a mixture of different tribes and backgrounds, but they have several things in common...they are almost all single mothers and widows caring for their many children (usually 5-8 children each) with little to no resources or opportunity.

Andrew broke our team up into teams of 5-6 people and sent us out into their tight communities. We were simply told to "share the Gospel." This was the moment that I became rather uncomfortable. I have never been one who feels comfortable standing on a street corner preaching the word. But, I believe God puts us in uncomfortable situations to make us stronger, better people, and to learn to rely on Him, so I pushed ahead.

As we were driving in our bus down the street, our driver randomly stopped on the side of the road and told us to get off and that he would be back in an hour and a half. My response..."You want me to do what?? Are you nuts?? You are going to drop me off on the side of the road in Uganda where we don't know anyone, no one speaks our language, and we're supposed to trust that you'll be back in 90 minutes?"

In faith, we stepped off the bus and started a short journey over uneven terrain and railroad tracks, until we were met with some gorgeous, anxious little faces. They were smiling ear to ear, quickly taking our hands. Most of them had some tattered and torn clothes, but several met us without pants or shirts. A 7 year old boy grabbed my hand and we immediately bonded as we walked together. It was clear as we walked with them towards their homes, this was going to be an interesting 90 minutes.

They led us to what I would describe as a small courtyard between some of their family mud structures. This is where we were greeted by 20-30 women and 1 man. We sat before them, somewhat uncomfortably (they had pooled their resources so we could sit in chairs, while they sat on the dirt), and looked around, unsure exactly what was going to happen next.

One of my team members took over and began speaking with them, sharing the Gospel, and encouraging the women who had gathered with us. It was extremely powerful to learn about these women, how they provide for their family (many pay the bills with prostitution), and the other hurdles they face (disease, hunger, no education, etc). We later found out that we were the first white men to enter their community. They seemed very happy to have us and their one request from us was to help them get bibles in their native language.

The children were eager to play with us, but sat very respectfully, waiting for the okay from their mothers. As we finished our time with them and began to walk back to the road, the same little boy again found my hand. His mother (Helen) came along side of me and we began to converse (she was one of the few there who spoke english). Our conversation hit me like a ton of bricks and showed me what Man Up is all about. It went something like this...

Helen (with a smile): "You know my son would love to go home with you."
Me: "Oh, but you would miss him."
Helen (laughing): "He is the youngest of 5, I would be free!!"
Me: "Yes, but you would miss him greatly!"
Helen: "You are right. But, you have no idea what kind of an impact you have had on that boy! Even though you have only been here a short time, he has no father, no positive man in his life. By just coming here and spending time holding his hand, you have made a huge difference for him. I can see it in his eyes!"

I was floored!  We like to think that we are doing good things on our trips, but until you hear it from the people we are serving, you never really know.  After returning home to the US, Pastor Andrew sent me an email, thanking me for coming and he wanted me to know that he had a record number of people at his church the Sunday after we were there.

Since that time, Andrew and I have been exploring different options of ways that we can help break the cycle of poverty and the feeling of hopelessness in this community.  We have looked at several options, but keep coming back to education.  So, Shannon and I have made the decision to be obedient to His calling and do our part to help these people.

We are starting by helping Andrew start a nursery school for 60 children age 4 and below.  It will allow these children to get at least 1 stable meal a day, and will start them off at an early age with a basic education.  The school will also give the single mothers an opportunity to work and start to earn a respectable wage to support their family.

The need is great, and unfortunately, so is the cost.  We are hoping to raise $25,000 which will purchase all of the necessary supplies to start the school and fully fund it for the first year.  In that time, we are hoping to secure more long term funding options for Pastor Andrew and the school.  Eventually, we have hopes to bridge this into a primary school for older children and a vocational school for the mothers, but we will work on that as God provides.

So, I hope that after reading this post, you are asking yourself, "How can I help?"  There are several ways that you can help this wonderful cause.

1. Pray - Prayer is very powerful for all of us.  Pray that God will help us find the funding to reach our goal and put 60 little ones on their way to prosperity.
2. Share - Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.  Anything we can do to spread our work helps us.
3. Join us - The August Man Up team will be visiting Pastor Andrew and these amazing people.  You can experience the people, project and everything that surrounds them yourself.  For more info on the trip, visit http://www.onechildcampaign.com/.
4. T-Shirt - The new puzzle shirt design is ready and waiting for you.  They are a higher quality shirt than our last ones and very comfortable.  They are a heather charcoal color and we are currently taking pre-orders.  You can purchase one either by contacting myself or Shannon, or by ordering one here, in the right hand column.
5. Donate - You can give Shannon or I monetary donations. If you are wanting it to be a tax deduction, we are now partnering with the National Christian Foundation to help us manage our fundraising efforts.  They are a 501(c)3 and any donation you make to them is tax deductible and 99% of the proceeds go directly to our project.  Donation checks can be sent to:

                                    National Christian Foundation

                                    11625 Rainwater Drive, Suite 500

                                    Alpharetta, GA 30009

• When making your donation by check, write in the memo "The Home Again Ministry School Fund." so it gets processed to our fund.  It would also be helpful to include a short note with the checkin stating the fund name to direct them.  If you have questions, leave a comment below and I'll help you out.
• You can also donate by clicking on the link below and making a tax deductible donation.

Donate to The Home Again Ministry School Fund!

Thanks so much for all of your time, prayer and support!  It means a lot to have your help with this important project.  Please remember to share this with all of your friends!!

Man Up for Orphans

It is well documented that the inaugural Man Up for Orphans mission trip to Uganda and Ethiopia was bigger and more important that any of us ever imagined.  The children, widows, mothers, men, and missionaries taught me so much about what is important in life, how to properly love those around me, how to better love and honor God, and how to be a better man.

I was so moved by the experience that I am leading (along with my good friend Jason Clement) a team back to Uganda and Ethiopia.  We will be visiting many of the same ministries that we visited last summer, while also serving in a number of new areas in an effort to spread the Gospel, LOVE BIG on orphans, and disciple the men of Africa.

Man Up And Go PROMO from Man Up And Go THE MOVIE on Vimeo.

If you are wondering what kinds of things we will be doing, take a look at some of my posts from last August and you will get a great feel for how this trip changes the lives of those who we serve, as well as those who serve.

I have told people for years about how great of a blessing adoption has been for our family.  Many people look at our beautiful adopted children and comment "They are so blessed that you took them out of the situation they were born into."  My response is always, "That's true, but they bless us much more than we have blessed them."  That is how I feel about serving in Africa with Man Up.  I know we are doing great work for those we serve, but I know I am much more blessed by them than they are by me.



We still have spots open on our team.  If you are a man (or woman) who is opening to trying the adventure of a lifetime, serving the Kingdom, loving kids, and becoming a 127 Warrior (based on James 1:27) you need to join us!!  Please visit the One Child Campaign website for more information on the trip and to apply.  This is one of 3 Man Up trips scheduled for 2012.  If this trip doesn't meet your liking, leave a comment and I can get you more information on the other trips.

It is easy to make excuses not to go.  Trust me, we all have those thoughts.  It's always going to be too much money, at a bad time of year, you can't leave for family for that long, you don't have enough vacation time, etc.  I can tell you without a doubt, that if you decide to make this leap of faith, God will provide, and you will never regret taking the chance to do something bigger than you are.

At the end of the day, it's hard to ignore the word of God..."Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Join Man Up today!!

Live Dead Conclusion

As I reflect on the Live Dead 30 Day Challenge, I have to say that overall it was a great experience.  I have not posted much lately, because of the usual excuses of being busy, but in addition to that, I wanted to digest the entire challenge prior to giving my final word on the topic.

I have learned a lot about myself, my faith, and the unreached around the world during the past 30 days (actually now its more like 50 days, but who's counting), but more than anything, I now value taking time every day to be in His presence more than I ever have.  I still struggle with the daily discipline of spending extravagant time with Him, because that is my busy, consumed, sometimes lazy, sinful nature, but I am now lightyears ahead of where I was several months ago.

I also find myself taking time to acknowledge smaller things in life that I never thought about before, as well as sending up "arrows" throughout the day as I witness people's needs or I'm reminded of a certain group of people who need something.

One product of the challenge is that I am now deeply convicted that I (and coincidentally Man Up) am being called to serve in Sudan.  I am still learning more about this war torn area of the world and I'm unsure as to the nature or timing of the project, but there are many pieces that seem to be falling into place to make it a natural fit for Man Up in the near future.

I have another item that has been weighing heavy on my heart that I hope to be able to announce soon, but the timing isn't quite right, so I'll save it for the next post.

Until then, LIVE DEAD and LOVE BIG!!

Live Dead Challenge: Week 3

If you happen to check in on the is blog regularly, you may notice that if you count the days between the last post and this one, it has been more than 1 week in the challenge.  That is for 2 reasons:

1. I have not been very good about blogging and have gotten behind (Today is day 23)
2. I have taken a few days away from the challenge as life has become very busy for me.  I am trying VERY hard to "be more" in so many ways, and unfortunately, everyone gets skipped every so often as I am physically a little drained from balancing everything.  The worst part about this is that I know in my mind that everyone EXCEPT God should get skipped every now and then, because he should be at the center of everything that I do.  But, to be honest, I'm not quite there yet on my faith walk.  I am, however, much closer than I was 30 days ago.  

Because my last couple of weeks have become more busy in virtually all facets of my life, it has been very difficult to devote extravagant time to Him.  I hope he forgives me for this shortcoming.  On the other hand, when I stop to think about it, I have developed many new tendencies (I'm not prepared to call them habits yet), that take place throughout my days and weeks that are bringing me closer to Him.  I am encouraged in my mind by these actions, although I also know that that is creating shades of gray in this world (like we humans love to do), when pretty much everything is actually black and white (you are either following Him or you're not).  So, I'm not prepared to break my arm patting myself on the back just yet.

I find myself listening to different radio stations in my truck which allow me to take a few minutes in my day to appreciate a little worship.  I am much better about seeing a need in someone's life and immediately "shooting a prayer arrow" in an effort to help them.  I am taking time to attend daily mass 2 times per week over my lunch break and it is amazingly refreshing in the middle of my crazy work schedule.  I have made time in my schedule in the past few weeks to sit down and talk over coffee or lunch with some great like-minded men.  I have limited some draining activities from my life in hopes that I can focus more on the energizing items which lift me up.  I have worked hard to invest spiritually and emotionally in some of my college student athletes in an effort to be a positive mentor in their life (I have been rewarded handsomely by several of them thanking me for making an impact in their life and showing me what their new relationship with Christ is doing for them).  Then again, I probably shouldn't say that since I work for a secular institution.

As I said, I'm not prepared to call these habits yet, but they are me moving in the right direction.

This week's challenges that stand out to me are those which relate to apostolic function, worship, and suffering.  It may be hard to understand unless you've read these challenges, but to me they relate back to a common theme:  Serving.  This week I am firmly convinced that He is calling me to help many unreached people in Sudan (hopefully with Man Up).  It is kind of a long story, but I have been slapped in the face repeatedly with Sudan in the past 7-10 days and the suffering that has taken place there in recent years.  This is for many reasons (many of which I don't understand), but I believe that one of the main causes is the lack of believers in their society.

Apostolic function is all about bringing the Gospel to unreached people (i.e. Sudan).  The challenge day on worship was all about listening and following God's call (i.e. to visit Sudan).  And obviously suffering is also related to these people.  Through apostolic function, we can help those who are suffering to understand why their suffering is taking place and to learn to trust in Him to know His plan for them.

The day that stands out to me as a call to action was "Hospitality."  I think I'm pretty welcoming to others and easy to be around, but I do know that as I reflect on myself and my personal thoughts that I do not view small inconveniences in my day as opportunities to invest in others.  Rather, I find myself annoyed and not always as hospitable as I should be.  One of my many efforts this coming week will be to look for those opportunities to share with others and show His love by working to serve and not be concerned with myself when others ask for my assistance.

It has been a great month so far.  It is coming to a close, which is a little bit sad, but also a relief.  I only hope I can continue these changes when the challenge is complete.