40,000 texts in one month! Really? This is not uncommon for some people. 40,000 words, just single words, are enough to write a novel (Wikipedia). How many texts do you send? Our world keeps changing and it seems that our thumbs are increasingly in use to keep our relationships at arm's length.
I was at the AT&T store yesterday. I figured it would be good to get a phone living back stateside again. I haven't owned a personal phone in over 2 years - crazy right?
I chatted with a friendly and knowledgeable AT&T representative, Jay. We were discussing phone plans, I was worried I wouldn't have enough minutes, but he reassured me that people (young) rarely burn up talk time, because they are texting more and more. Jay gave me the 411 on texting.
He said that one of his customers texts on average 40,000 a month! At 5 seconds per text that comes out to over 55 hours. Comparable to a good work week with overtime. He said on average he sees his customers my age texting around 3,000-5,000 a month.
A recent CBS arcticle writes, "the rate of texting has sky rocketed 600 percent in three years." Putting teens at an average of 3,000 texts a month.
Jay told me a story about one of his college classes. On the first day of class the professor asked everyone to hold their phone high, turn them off, and place them on the edge of the desk. Soon afterward some students stealthy slip their phones in their laps under the desk to stay synced up. My brother tells a similar story, only he saw some of his classmates leave halfway through unable to overcome their nicotine text withdrawal.
Addicted to texting?
Addicted: "Physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects. - Oxford American Dictionary
Yep, sounds like an addiction.
The average Facebook users spends 7 hours a month syncing up by clicking away on countless friends, according to The Nielsen Company. Are you an average user? I remember when Facebook first came out in 2004. I said things like, "I will never get an account, not falling for it, I am holding out" Right? Many of you may of have a similar story but then one day you took the plunge.
Now I am not against texting and keeping up with friends. (I texted in Haiti regularly and used Facebook to stay connected - I even used it to have people pray for me when I was running a fever.) But I am against addictions.
My generation, and the one below it, is taking comfort in a new kind of drug - The Purple Haze Data Craze. Most of us are good kids with good hearts - we believe in LOVE. However, I think our drugged up 1960s friends said something similar, "All you need is Love".
Makes me wonder if we/I are coming under the influence of a subtle growing ensnarement. A bondage. An idol. A silent plague.
Living back in the states will present new tests. Will I cave into data drug gluttony? Or will I be able to maintain my ever increasing lust for God and his Kingdom?
I like a quote from Seth Godin, "People who are way out of sync with the digital maelstrom of the moment
aren't always bad followers. They might be great leaders."
Posted in Trip Update by Neil Bruinsma on 8/27/2010
3 months in Haiti come to a close tomorrow. It is hard to compress everything in my mind. So much has happen this summer. So many faces. So many stories. Everyday I feel a little more Haitian.
What I will never Forget:
Arriving in Haiti in the middle of a tropical storm and getting soaked. The storms here have been amazing. Just about every other night. Lighting strikes so close that you go blind for a few seconds. The sound of thunder is deafening with the mountains behind us. The streets turn to ragging rivers - I had some fun driving through them.
Driving through Port Au Prince again and again and never getting accustom to the endless supply of trash everywhere. I think someone told me that Port Au Prince has the most trash per capital in the world - I believe it. I have been many places and this tops the list.
Placing bets on when the power would come on.
Waking up with nothing planned to do for the day - but then being so busy that I had to schedule my own bathroom breaks.
Waking up and wondering what vehicle would start up.
The impromptu glow stick party that got out of hand with glow stick fluid sprayed everywhere in the living room. That was awesome, I felt I like I was in the movie Avatar walking around at night.
The awesome times of community worship at the base on Saturday nights.
Hanging out on the roof at night and watching lighting storms in the distance or shooting stars.
Doing Insanity workouts in the morning.
Eating Rice and Beans every day for the first 2 months. Plus PB-J's almost everyday for lunch.
The humor, laughs and smiles of the Haitians.
Blue and Gray Tarps.
The heat.
The sweat.
The fireworks we launched off the roof on 4th of July for the whole community to see.
Many hours spent in the Hammock talking or meditating.
Seeing the Joy in the Pastors we worked with.
Holding our translator's new born baby only hours old.
Doing 24 hours of prayer at the base.
Rubble everywhere.
Sleeping in the bed with Troy and Thomas because there wasn't anywhere else to go.
Taking 3 different sets of Cipro to fight away those nasty bowel movements that never seem to stop.
Being blessed by the hospitality of all our ministry partners.
Being blessed by the Haitians that prayed over me.
Playing soccer with the kids right outside our gate.
The crazy Haitian traffic that never made any sense to me. It seemed that they intentionally create their own traffic jams.
The U.N. and their guns.
Beans and Rice. I think I said that already.
The Hope of Haiti.
I could easily keep going. It was an awesome summer and I was so blessed to be apart of what God is doing here. Thank you to everyone that has kept me in your prayers! I am heading back to Michigan tomorrow for a few weeks and then plan to move down to Georgia where I will be working with AIM stateside. I will continue to fill you in.
blessings, Neil
*First Pic, is me with Michealson, Samuel and John. Some of our translators that I got to know really well and enjoyed working with.
My friend Katie was out on a walk with one of our translators ,Karl, and came across heart-wrenching remains of the quake. Here is her blog:
The hand of the LORD was
upon
me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the
middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth
among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley,
bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these
bones live?"
I said, "O Sovereign
LORD, you alone
know." (Eze. 37)
The
sun beats down on dusty Port-au-Prince as I follow Karl on foot
through the city. We weave through street vendors and are careful to
stay out of the way of colorful tap-taps bouncing down pot-holed
streets. As we walk on, all I can think is this: in Haiti, life goes
on amidst the rubble.
Karl
points out the huge hospital complex on our right. "Hundreds of
nursing students died there, where the tents are now." Outside the
gates is a group of probably 40 women dressed in church clothes.
"What is that church group of women doing?" I ask Karl. "Ah yes
- they are going to visit and pray for the sick in the hospital."
This is just one of the ways in which I've seen the church in Haiti
come together to meet the needs of their country.
We
pass the ruined presidential palace, the ruined justice building, the
ruined finance building...all the government buildings, brought down
by the 45-second quake in January. They haven't been rebuilt yet; I
guess because it would look bad for the government to fix their own
buildings first, while so many remain displaced.
We
arrive at our destination: where a building once stood. It was a
school, and more. Karl was teaching English here when the earthquake
hit. He and eight others escaped, and nearly 100 inside the building
died. The rubble has since been removed; all that's left is a cracked
and filthy foundation. Karl says the pancaked rubble was as tall as a
man.
On
either side are destroyed buildings, rubble remaining. Karl climbs
atop the rubble and I follow. He starts shifting something around
with his foot...it's a human bone. Judging by its size and shape, I
guess it may be a femur.
"See
the clothes there, from the bodies. The bodies rotted away and were
eaten by dogs. So many people died here, beautiful young people,"
Karl says. His voice has a strain to it I'm not familiar with, even
after working with him on multiple occasions. "These bones were
probably the bones of one of my English students."
I
can't seem to pry my eyes away from the bones. Nearby is a pair of
sport shoes. Other, smaller bones are strewn around. I can see the
teeth marks the street dogs made in taking advantage of free,
abundant meals in the months following the earthquake.
As I
look down at the bones amidst the rubble and wonder how many other
bones and bodies are yet to be uncovered in the thousands of ruined
buildings that have yet to be cleaned up in the city, I think again:
in Haiti, life goes on amidst the rubble.
The
passage from Ezekiel 37 that we've been praying over Haiti becomes
real in front of my eyes. We've been prophesying life into the
spiritually dry bones of Haiti; as life in Haiti goes on, and the church
continues to
look to God for strength and guidance in the rebuilding process, I
know God will be faithful to this country. He will be faithful to
breathe onto these dry bones so that the spiritually dead people of
Haiti may come to life in Christ.
4 Then he said to me,
"Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the
word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these
bones: I will make breath [a]
enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you
and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put
breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I
am the LORD.' "
7
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there
was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to
bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin
covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9
Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of
man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from
the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may
live.' " 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath
entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast
army.
11 Then he said to me:
"Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They
say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.'
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign
LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you
up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then
you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves
and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you
will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know
that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'
"
Posted in Trip Update by Neil Bruinsma on 8/1/2010
So the longer I stay down here the more influence I gain and the more
responsibilities I am given. As of next week our Field Directors (the
people who are in charge of all on the ground operations for AIM in
Haiti) will be leaving and myself and Seth Jr. (Seth Barnes son) will become
the new Field Directors. It is a big coat to wear. It should be only
for 3-4 weeks but I know it will come with challenges. Please pray
that God gives me supernatural discernment and authority as I will be in
a headship role. There are a lot things that need to happened for AIM
to end well for the summer and transition into the Fall. Pray that
God gives Seth Jr. and I vision to help AIM plan for the future.
A few days ago one of our key Haitian brothers that has been
foundational for running our operations here was asked to leave do to
hidden sin that creep into our community. It has really put us on our
knees as everything has become difficult to run without him. We just
finished a 24 hour prayer time as we are seeking God to provide
for us and direct us as we move forward. It really shook us up as
trust was violated. Pray that God unites our community.
I really do appreciate all your prayers. We need your protection here. The spiritual is always tied into the physical. That connection seems very heightened here. Pray we have God's blessing and favor with our operations and ministry. Sickness and broken down vehicles can make for complicated days.
Check out this video on Haiti's education system. Most of it was filmed right out side the base I am staying at. Many of the teachers I have met are now teaching for free because there is no money to give them. They teach because they hope for a better tomorrow for Haiti.
What does it look like to worship God with all your heart? There are many lessons I am learning in Haiti and one is the art of worship. How does a 4 hour worship service sound in 90 degree weather with 90% humidity? Sounds sweaty right? Yep. My clothes are pretty much soaked after worship services here. If you are smart, like most Haitians, you bring a small towel to keep your face dry.
Worship here is not a matter of just engaging your mind and voice in uplifting praises but a matter of engaging your whole body. Were talking straight up dancing. The first time in a worship service here I was pulled into a dance circle of Haitians, sort of similar to a dance club. Everyone was busting out moves, especially the children. There is something so freeing when we can praise God with not just our soul heart and mind but our body as well.
The thought of seeing my church back home all dancing like it is 1999 is hilarious. Right? Can you imagine? But come on! We need that sort of freedom in the church. We need that passion! Many men might say well that is just not me. "Shouting before the Lord and dancing is not my personality." But I beg to differ. I have seen many grown, mature, professional men get pretty animated and zealous at sporting events.
The passion is there, in all of us. Why not be fully passionate before a life giving, all sovereign, all powerful, all loving God? On any giving night from the roof of the Base I can hear a worship service going on. And sometimes I am awoken to 4am services. Something is going on here and it is contagious. The freedom of worship is here. Freedom to, shout, sing, clap and busta-move.
Check out the video below of Pastor Jean Claude Belchet, who oversees 7
Haitian churches, tells his story of surviving the earthquake despite
great losses in his family. You will see some Haitian freedom of worship!
Posted in Trip Update by Neil Bruinsma on 7/4/2010
Some of you may remember from my Swaziland trip the blog I wrote on the NFL players that came to our base. Recently a video was posted on the NFL website about their trip with AIM. I enjoyed watching it as I recognized most of the people and children. Click HERE to watch it.
In Haiti God moments have a way of finding you. Here is one such story, by Katie Rowland, that happened near our Base with our staff:
His name might be Davidspa...but we really
don't know.
I first saw him walking down the street from a tarp
school. I was following the team back to the house as we passed him: a
teenage boy laying in the dirt, filthy from head to toe, skin and bones,
seemingly sleeping. I felt the usual tug on my heart of knowing there
was little I could do for him...
A moment later, Christianna
called out to me. "Katie, this little girl (we were walking with) just
told me that boy on the street was dead."
Dead? what? He looked
like he had been sleeping...for a few moments I panicked, wondered if I
should turn around, check to see if it was true, search for someone
nearby who knew him...but I didn't. In my turmoil of spirit I kept
walking, turning over this thought in my mind...I'd never seen a dead
person in the street before...is this normal for Haiti? Is it typical to
leave the dead in the streets? How should I know what to do, if
anything?...
A few hours later, I was back at the house. Marcio
was frantically looking for Geftay, our live-in Haitian we rely on
tremendously. "It's a matter of life and death! I've got to find him so
this guy who's practically dead on the street can get saved!" ...
Turned
out the team had passed back by the boy and he had been awake. In his
desperate state they wanted to try to help...but he wouldn't accept food
or water. A crowd began to gather, so the team decided to leave so that
we could send some of our translators back to reach out to him... Before long, AIM's black truck
pulled into our courtyard. In the back was the boy, several of our
interpreters, and some AIM staff. Try as they may, they couldn't get the
boy to talk, eat, or drink. Christianna lovingly looked into his eyes,
smiling, trying to break through his walls with the love of Christ
pouring out of her...
From the balcony, I looked down on the
scene. In prayer, I could sense the heavy spiritual darkness enveloping
this boy. Hopelessness, fear, and just emptiness exuded from him. Not
only was his body half dead, so was his spirit.
Eventually, AIM staff decided to take him to the
hospital, and a man from the boy's tent community came along as well, to
prevent any charges of kidnapping (you never know in this sort of
place). The doctor said that (naturally) he was severely malnourished
and dehydrated, and had extremely low blood sugar. But other than an IV
bag, the doctors couldn't do much, and they released him back into our
care.
Several AIM staff believed they'd heard from the Lord to
take the boy to the pastor-doctor who runs Son of God orphanage. Late
that night, after the hospital, they dropped him off at the door. He
tried to wander off down the street, but Mark wrapped him in his arms
until he stopped fighting. Then, Geftay told him there was food inside -
and for the first time, he reacted to the idea of food. He went inside
and was eating a plate of rice when the AIM staff left!
The next
day, he spoke to request chicken. But when it was cooked and offered to
him, he once again refused to eat.
For now, we don't know what
will happen. We don't know how long he'll stay at the orphanage under
the pastor's care. What we do believe is God sent us to intervene and
intercede for him. Physically and spiritually, he was more dead than
alive. We're doing what we can, and it's up to God to break through his
walls and redeem this empty life from the pit. Even though we can't
confirm his real name, God knows it.
Believing these verses for
the boy whose name might be Davidspa:
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them
is forgotten
by God. Indeed, the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more
than many sparrows. ~Luke 12:6-7
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out
of the mud and
mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm
place to stand.
He put a new
song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
Posted in Trip Update by Neil Bruinsma on 6/27/2010
Have you ever tried juggling chainsaws or tried to cover
yourself up with a tissue when stepping out of the shower?Me neither. A bit ridiculous
right?Those are some of the
jokes we make here at the base with trying to get stuff done.It is almost impossible at times.A lot of times it seems like we are
asked to accomplish great things with little resources. It is, interesting,
challenging, unique, fun, frustrating, creative, and ever bit dependent on God.
My position for the summer has changed. I am not leading anymore sort term
teams. Instead I have been assigned as head of the Set Up team.Which means I am responsible for
juggling all 800 participants that come for the summer.I need to find good pastors for the
teams to partner with and housing/areas for them to stay for the week.Plus endless random requests that get
thrown into the mix.It is a
delicate balancing act of people’s emotions, physical health, supplies needed,
unreliable transportation, spiritual warfare, peanut butter and jelly,
ministry, foreign culture, and the movement of the Spirit.
These past 2 weeks I have been extremely busy with trying to
learn my role and plan for the summer.I don’t think I have worked this hard sense studying mechanical
engineering in college.But I am enjoying it.It aligns well with my giftings in
administration and leadership.It
also has forced me into a position of dependence on God.It doesn’t matter how much I work or
plan.There are too many things at
play to foresee all possible challenges.
For example, sickness.We as a staff constantly battle sickness.I have awoken feeling great and then all of a sudden felt a
head cold come on.I get a couple
people to come around me and pray and it leaves.Last night I prayed over two staff.One was struggling with a head cold and
the other with stomach cramps.They both said that as soon as I put my hands on them they felt
instantly better and the sickness left.We need God here and he is here.
Continue to pray for me.I need good rest at night.Sometimes it is really hot and or noisy at night.Right now a dance club nearby is
blaring music and won’t stop till about 2am.This usually only happens on Sunday nights, thankfully.We need prayer for spiritual
protection.Sometimes it manifests
in sickness other times as little thoughts of anger or anything else to cause
disunity to our mission.Pray that we have the Lord’s favor as we plan and do ministry here.
Sweat trickled off my back from the bright sun as I peered
around looking at the devastation.I was standing on 3 feet of rubble that consumed the entire property of
brother George’s land.His house
had collapsed during the earthquake and his neighbors house had also caved in
on his drive way.Thankfully no
one from his family was killed although two of his eight children were in the
house when it collapsed.
How were we to make a dent in just 5 days?Where to even start?Was it worth trying?
These thoughts went through my head as I began to feel
overwhelmed by the task beneath my feet.I was told that we could use dump trucks to load up the rubble but the
road to brother George’s property was not passable by vehicle.
The team looked to me for direction.I pondered for a few minutes and
decided we would give it a try and see what ideas popped into our head as we
worked.We began by tossing hand
size pieces of concrete into an adjacent house that still had its first floor
dangerously standing.
Pretty soon some Haitian brothers crowded around and
watched.And then to my surprise
some of them started helping.Soon we had so many people that we were bumping into each other.
I paused and guzzled half of my water bottle as I talked to
Pastor Wilnord.He said that
brother George was going to fix the road by filling it in with rubble so a dump
truck could get to the property.The road had been badly carved into ditch by the heavy rains.
A flicker of hope started to burn in me.Maybe this was possible.Maybe we could make a dent.
The next day as I approached the work site I saw brother
George drenched in sweat as he dumped a wheel barrel of rubble into the
road.I couldn’t believe it the
road was completely filled in and the dump truck had just arrived.Things were looking as bright as
the hot Haitian sun.
We went to work right away starting at the entrance.Immediately Haitians were helping load
up the truck.We filled it in
about 20 minutes.
I talked to brother George and found out that he and his
family were living in a tent city.He said the conditions there were horrible.He desired to leave that area as soon as possible and move back
to his own land and set up a structure until there was more money to build a
house again.
The Haitians continued work even when we left.Each day I would return and be amazed
by how much rubble had been removed in our absence.Now it wasn’t a question of a dent being made but
rather removing the entire house.Our budget for this project would pay for 25 dump truck loads getting us
close to removing all of the rubble.
On the last day we spent time praying over brother George,
his family and the workers.Brother George got down on his knees and raised his hands to the sky as
we prayed over him.I got the
sense that he was just as thankful for the blessing we were imparting through
prayer as he was for the work we had done.
We weren’t able to completely remove all the rubble with our
budget but there was plenty of room for brother George to move his family back
to his land.The last image I
remember of brother George was him clapping his hands, shouting Halleluiah, and
dancing for joy with a big smile on his face.I will never forget that moment.
*Check out the video below captured by Katie Rowland, part
of the media team, of the removal.
40,000 texts in one month! Really? This is not uncommon for some people. 40,000 words, just single words, are enough to write a novel (
He said that one of his customers texts on average 40,000 a month! At 5 seconds per text that comes out to over 55 hours. Comparable to a good work week with overtime. He said on average he sees his customers my age texting around 3,000-5,000 a month. 
Now I am not against texting and keeping up with friends. (I texted in Haiti regularly and used Facebook to stay connected - I even used it to have people pray for me when I was running a fever.) But I am against addictions.
3 months in Haiti come to a close tomorrow. It is hard to compress everything in my mind. So much has happen this summer. So many faces. So many stories. Everyday I feel a little more Haitian. 
The impromptu glow stick party that got out of hand with glow stick fluid sprayed everywhere in the living room. That was awesome, I felt I like I was in the movie Avatar walking around at night.
"See
the clothes there, from the bodies. The bodies rotted away and were
eaten by dogs. So many people died here, beautiful young people,"
Karl says. His voice has a strain to it I'm not familiar with, even
after working with him on multiple occasions. "These bones were
probably the bones of one of my English students." 
The
passage from Ezekiel 37 that we've been praying over Haiti becomes
real in front of my eyes. We've been prophesying life into the
spiritually dry bones of Haiti; as life in Haiti goes on, and the church
continues to
look to God for strength and guidance in the rebuilding process, I
know God will be faithful to this country. He will be faithful to
breathe onto these dry bones so that the spiritually dead people of
Haiti may come to life in Christ.
So the longer I stay down here the more influence I gain and the more
responsibilities I am given. As of next week our Field Directors (the
people who are in charge of all on the ground operations for AIM in
Haiti) will be leaving and myself and Seth Jr. (Seth Barnes son) will become
the new Field Directors. It is a big coat to wear. It should be only
for 3-4 weeks but I know it will come with challenges. Please pray
that God gives me supernatural discernment and authority as I will be in
a headship role. There are a lot things that need to happened for AIM
to end well for the summer and transition into the Fall. Pray that
God gives Seth Jr. and I vision to help AIM plan for the future. 
Worship here is not a matter of just engaging your mind and voice in uplifting praises but a matter of engaging your whole body. Were talking straight up dancing. The first time in a worship service here I was pulled into a dance circle of Haitians, sort of similar to a dance club. Everyone was busting out moves, especially the children. There is something so freeing when we can praise God with not just our soul heart and mind but our body as well. 
Have you ever tried juggling chainsaws or tried to cover
yourself up with a tissue when stepping out of the shower?
These past 2 weeks I have been extremely busy with trying to
learn my role and plan for the summer.
Sweat trickled off my back from the bright sun as I peered
around looking at the devastation.
The team looked to me for direction.
The next day as I approached the work site I saw brother
George drenched in sweat as he dumped a wheel barrel of rubble into the
road.
On the last day we spent time praying over brother George,
his family and the workers.