A Year of Questions, Part 6: “Are You Back in Minnesota for Awhile?”

In 2015 I started getting into the habit of traveling a lot. While doing an internship in Omaha, I still had to take seminary classes in Ankeny, IA, so I estimate that I made about 40 of those 5-hour round trips that year. God also provided opportunities that year to go on a family vacation in Washington and Oregon, an orchestra tour in Minnesota, a short soccer tournament trip in Florida, and a ministry trip in the San Francisco Bay area. Read Full Post

A Cloud of Witnesses

BCP Banquet

I love how Hebrews 12 begins: “Seeing then that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” In the context the author is urging his readers to live in faith, following the example of the many men and women of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11.

As I begin my church planting internship and anticipate many years of church planting ministry in the years to come, I love every opportunity I have to interact with the church planters who have gone before me. Read Full Post

Day 50: The End of the Journey

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The plane began its descent on American soil, and shortly before 6am EST we were on the ground in Atlanta.

A new day, a new month, a new city…and a new perspective.

My ministry trip to Brasil is over, but life continues on. I could not just come back the same person that I was when I went there. But I’ll talk about that later. Read Full Post

Day 43: Eureka! Treasure Island!

Noe II

Today’s a day I have been anticipating for a long time…Treasure Island! I ate a quick breakfast of egg casserole and coconut bread and packed everything I would need for three days on the island. With the exception of my hammock, I managed to get it all in a small suitcase.


We left Petrolina in late morning and drove back to Sobradinho. Uncle Doug took me, D
Right after passing over the Sobradinho Dam, we turned off the road. There, tucked back in a tiny little canal is Noe II, the boat that would take us across the lake to Treasure Island. Uncle Doug dropped us off there with all our stuff and then drove into Sobradinho to start picking up the campers.anae, Joy Baxter, and Neto, the latter two having been picked up in Petrolina. Aunt Renate took Destiny and picked up Tatiane and Chelsea, a couple other girls who were going to be counselors with us. Read Full Post

Day 40: Pettttttttttttrolina!

Today we left Exu for another city in another state- Petrolina, Pernambuco. It is home to the Reiner’s, but it is my first time outside of Ceara since coming to Brazil. We woke up around 7:00, packed our stuff, and ate a breakfast of French rolls and butter, cheese, goiaba juice, hot milk, and cake. We quickly ate and loaded up, moving on to our next destination which was several hours away. Read Full Post