Guatemala Update, Nicaragua Trip, and More “MAPS”

In my recent trip to Guatemala, Ray Gurney, Cesar and I had what we believe was a divine appointment with a guy who wants to help Cesar start a new Christian Ranchers group in San Rafael, Guatemala. See the pictures below for more!

Good morning everyone! 

I have a lot I’d like to share with you, but I will attempt to keep it short. After I got back from Guatemala at the end of February, my mother had a small stroke (a TIA, they call it) and I have been spending a little more time, along with my sisters, helping Dad care for Mom. Fortunately she is doing better, and I have been getting back to a more normal schedule.

Today, I’d like to share a few pictures from that trip with Ray Gurney, pastor of Cross Creek Baptist in Oak Grove, Missouri. We had a great time and were able to follow up on several projects. We made the rounds between the children’s home in Monjas, our cowboy friends in several places, a senior adult center in Santa Cruz, speaking to a coffee growers class in Barberena, and a motorcycle gathering in Amberes! Before I share those pictures, I want to tell you a little bit about our next adventure in a few weeks.

Soccer trip in Nicaragua April 22-27

We have a team of 9 of us from Lenexa Baptist who will travel to Nicaragua April 22-27 for a soccer related project in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua. Eduardo Mejia, the leader for that ministry in Nicaragua, was here in Kansas City Monday night, March 24th, for a training event, and our team is excited about going! Stay tuned for more about that trip.

Eduardo Mejia, of Project Hope in Nicaragua, shares with our Lenexa Baptist team getting ready to go to Rio Blanco, Nicaragua, to help with an evangelistic soccer tournament.

“MAPS” Gets Translated into Spanish!

Before I show you trip pictures, I need to let you know that thanks to our good friend, Selvinth Maldonado, our monthly “MAPS” plan for having a daily conversation with Jesus is being translated each month into Spanish! Please pray for Selvinth as he begins another baseball season this week as the chaplain for the Kansas City Royals Spanish speaking players. Down below you will find the links to all our MAPS stuff and to our Zoom call scheduled for this Sunday, March 30th, at 4pm. If you need the Spanish versions, let me know and we can get those to you.

Eduardo Mejia (left) and Selvinth Maldonado (right) share a laugh together at our Nicaragua soccer team meeting.

Links to Our April maps eXPERIMENT

As always, we love hearing from you.

Love y'all!

Steve

Guatemala Trip in Pictures!

Cear and Ray have birthdays a week apart from each other in February of the same year! While we were at the Senior Center in Santa Cruz Narranjo, the staff offered a cake to celebrate!

In a new extension group of the Seniors Center in Santa Cruz, Ray shares a greeting.

One day while we were in Guatemala, we spent a day with our good friend Juan Carias, who teaches an agricultural class focused on coffee production. Here, Juan is showing us around some coffee plants. I was blown away by his insight into how coffee growing teaches many life lessons.

Here Juan is introducing Cesar to speak to his coffee production class on the value of having a mind open to change.

Cesar spoke about how in Romans 12:2, the Bible explains how our minds can be transformed for success in life and connecting to God.

At the possible location of a new Christian Ranchers group, Ray and Cesar share a moment with Gerzi Hernandez (on the right), the owner of this restaurant called “El Ranchero” (The Rancher) near San Rafael, Guatemala. Cesar plans to have a “Rancheros Cristianos” meeting there in the near future with their cattlemen’s association and some of our cattlemen’s association friends in Monjas. Pray that all of that can happen soon!

In Monjas, Guatemala, our friends from the Monjas Cattlemen’s association hosted a fun event for the children of the James Project Children’s home (also in Monjas) to come and have a day on the farm of one of their members.

One of the leaders of the children at the home grew up on a ranch and showed the kids how to rope.

Pony rides were a big hit!

Photo ops were everywhere!

This gunny sack race turned into a sprint!

Byron, the owner of the ranch (left), gives a prize to one of the girls who won a gunny sack race.

One of our Lions Club friends in Monjas helped give away prizes to several of the children.

Byron shares with the children about how glad he was that they came to visit his ranch.

The last day I was in Guatemala, a motorcycle club from Guatemala City came on an outing to Cesar’s house in Amberes. This club has several guys who grew up with Cesar’s son, Cesar Jr.

Cesar’s wife, Elba, serves breakfast to the club before having a meeting together. Ray, an avid motorcycle enthusiast himself, enjoyed meeting the guys to talk about both motorcycles and having a dynamic relationship with God.

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

March MAPS plus Guatemala News Coming Soon

The menu board at MAPS Coffee in Lenexa, Kansas

Good morning everyone! 

I just got back from Guatemala and am needing a little more time to sort out my pictures to share more about my recent trip. In the meantime, March is already at our doorstep! Can you believe it?

So for those of us using the monthly MAPS verses, our February MAPS plan ends today. But fortunately for us, Bill Burrows has put together a new set of verses for us to continue on in March! Woo hoo!

Along these lines I want to mention that Nola and I are especially grateful to Bill for putting so much thought into each month’s roadmap for our daily conversations with Jesus. We look forward to each day’s assignment, and it has been a real blessing for us.

You Can Join us In March to do “MAPS”

If you know of someone who might want to join us, feel free to pass this on and invite them to try it. Here are the links below for you to have everything you might need to get started. Note that we have a Zoom call scheduled for Sunday, March 9th, at 4pm for anyone interested in hearing and sharing about how the MAPS process is going.

Links to Our March maps eXPERIMENT

As always, we love hearing from you.

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…If you know anyone interested in a short soccer-related mission trip to Nicaragua April 22-27, have them contact me! See pic below.

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

My friend Eduardo Mejia is sharing a map of Nicaragua and pointing to various places that they have done soccer tournaments. April 22-27 several of us from Lenexa Baptist are joining Eduardo and his team to put on an evangelistic soccer tournament in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua. If you or anyone else might be interested, let me know ASAP!

MAPS Update and Steve Heading Back to Guatemala...Again!

This pic is from last year with Ray Gurney, Cesar Gonzalez, and (in the blue shirt) Eddie Gonzalez, Cesar’s nephew, who is a pastor in La Casita, Guatemala.

Good morning everybody!

Well, our Kansas City Chiefs got humbled on Sunday, and I’m finally off the hook for paying Guatemalan kids in hamburgers to pray for the Chiefs to win! (See the last update for that story!)

I know that we are a week past Groundhog Day, but if it feels like we keep repeating the cycle of me introducing you to our MAPS initiative and then telling you I’m going to Guatemala, this update will NOT dispel that narrative!  

Next Tuesday, February 18th, I am scheduled to go to Guatemala on a trip with my good friend, Ray Gurney, pastor of Cross Creek Baptist in Oak Grove, Missouri. Ray and Cesar planned this trip to celebrate their birthdays. (Ray’s is February 10th, and Cesar’s is the 16th…of the same year!) While celebrating, they had planned to do some motorcycle ministry. But then, after all the developments from our last trip, plans were made to add a quick trip to Monjas to check in with our cowboy friends, the new James Project, and touch base with our soccer friends as well!

While getting Ray up to speed on all the new developments, he mentioned that it would be a lot easier if I just went too! After Cesar joined the arm twisting and after I cleared it with Nola, I decided to book my plane ticket. I’ll share more about all this when we get back. For now, I want to invite you again to our MAPS initiative and tell you a quick story about how this is helping me connect with one of my grandkids.

You Can Still Join us to do “MAPS”!

For those who are new to our updates, “MAPS” is our daily scripture plan for having lifegiving conversations with Jesus that we started as an experiment in January and have continued into February. Because of continued interest, we will have another Zoom call about it on Sunday, February 16th, at 4pm.

My Forgetfulness and God’s Grace

Last week, Nola and I spent a few days in Omaha, Nebraska, with our Nebraska crew (aka Josh, Kristin, Brayden, and Landon) to help in the beginning stages of finishing out a basement.

On Sunday evening, right before going out to celebrate Nola’s birthday, I realized that I had forgotten to do my MAPS for the day, so I pulled out my phone and started working on it. Brayden, my 11 year old grandson looked over my shoulder. “Papi, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to do my MAPS for today. Do you want to help me?”

“Sure!” Brayden replied enthusiastically. “How does it work?”

“My verse for the day is ‘Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.’” I shared.

“Okay,” Brayden said, hesitating for further clarification.

“We need to say it in our own words,” I said, still looking at my phone, “and then we need to do something about it.”

I’ll spare you what we came up with. But we talked about what each of us tended to worry about, and we came up with an action we both wanted to do. Here was our collaborative prayer that we prayed together: “Jesus, thank You for providing us everything we need for living, eating, and having clothes to wear. And thank You for helping me and Brayden do this together. Amen.”  

I know it was Nola’s birthday, but I felt like I got the best gift of the day!

If you’d like to give MAPS a try, below are all the links to get started!

Links to Our MAPS Info

As always, thanks for your continued prayers for our missions endeavors. If you have a MAPS story, write us!

Love y'all!

Steve

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Nola got to share her birthday last week at GuacaMaya’s Mexican Restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska, with a couple of our grandsons, Brayden and Landon! ¡Feliz Cumpleaños Nola!

Guatemala News and MAPS Update

This is our scout team that came to the James Project in Monjas, Guatemala on a vision trip. There were four churches represented in our group, three from the Kansas City area, and one from Vancouver, Canada!

Good morning everybody!

I’m back from Guatemala and have a lot to share about my recent trip! Before I do that, let me say a few words about our January “MAPS” initiative.

MAPS Update

If you are joining us in this update for the first time, “MAPS” is our daily scripture plan for having lifegiving conversations with Jesus. For those who have engaged in our January experiment, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. I’m grateful that Nola and I have been able to do it together—even with me being out of the country. Besides getting some spiritual traction, we have had some good laughs along the way as I have bumbled along in several of my scriptural commitments! Check out the Zoom call replays for a couple of these stories!

Join Us in February!

Now that we have done this in January, we’d like to keep it going and invite you to jump in with us in February! The focus of this month is: “What is our mind occupied with?” (What are we thinking?)

Below are several links to get started. One is a link to a recording of our last Zoom meeting from January 26th. It starts with me at Arrowhead Stadium right before the Chiefs game! I shared a bit about my trip to Guatemala before Bill led the group in hearing from one another about how it’s been going. Note that our next MAPS Zoom call will be Sunday, February 16th, at 4pm.

Links to Our MAPS Info

As always, I love hearing from you. If you have a MAPS story, write us!

Steve

PS…now scroll down below for the Guatemala news and pics!



James Project in Guatemala

Jim Fruth and Dave Owen were my partners on this trip from Lenexa Baptist. Jim is the Executive Pastor at LBC. Dave is a former Lieutenant Governor for the state of Kansas and a former professional roper!

As I mentioned last time, for me, part of this trip was a scout trip to check out the James Project in Monjas, Guatemala. This is a ministry that is rescuing children from abuse and neglect and helping to restore families in crisis. I went down with Jim Fruth and Dave Owen of Lenexa Baptist. After spending time with them, I stayed an extra week to make the rounds with Cesar to touch base with friends in other places doing cowboy ministry, soccer stuff, and a ministry to senior adults in Santa Cruz Narranjo.

From my perspective, I was amazed at how all our connections came together. Here are a few pics to tell the stories.

This is Bryon and Tiffany Applegate. Originally from the Springfield, Missouri, area, they picked up the torch around 2013 from the founders, Joanne Hartley and Carroll Bishop, and are the directors of the ministry.

Tiffany is sharing the view of the surrounding mountains near Monjas. Jim Fruth is looking on from the right.

The first evening at the ministry, the children welcomed us by family units. While there are approximately 115 children cared for at the ministry, the children are given a home and a family unit to stay with. Each family unit consists of about 8-12 children and father and mother figures they call aunts and uncles, who stay with them.

Here’s one of the houses getting ready to sing their theme song to our group.

The children were quick to give hugs to all of us. Here Jim and Dave share a moment with two little girls.

The following day, Bryon took us around the property to see the houses and the agricultural projects they use to raise as much food as possible to feed the children.

Bryon shares how this is a typical home where the children stay. Here we are standing in the kitchen area where the children eat together.

During the tour, I met up with two good friends who work for Project James—Glendy and Manfredo. I’ve known Manfredo for more than 20 years as we have done cowboy ministry at his father’s ranch from time to time. Glendy was one of the leaders in the local Lions Club who helped us in our soccer project a little over a year ago. Incidentally, Glendy grew up in the home and after graduating college moved back to work with Project James. She and Manfedo are counselors and their primary role is helping the children with their court appearances.

Jeff and Chelsea Hatfield, of the Foundry Church in Lenexa, Kansas, share a moment with a little baby in the arms of one of the workers. Some of the teen children come to the center having been impregnated by family members or by random strangers if they have been pimped by the adults in their life.

Here we are praying over the ground of an adjacent property where new structures will house battered women and their children together.

Here, Chelsea prays over a mom with an incredible story of survival and God’s grace. Part of their programs involve helping women outside of the ministry compound who have been widowed or abandoned by their husbands.

After our team left the James Project to go home, Cesar and I came back to Monjas a couple of days later and put on an event at the children’s home with some of our cowboy friends from the Cattlemen’s Association in Monjas and the Lions Club in Monjas. The following pics are from that day.

Cowboy Day at James Project!

On that Saturday morning of the event, we met up with some of our friends at the Cattlemen’s Association rodeo arena in Monjas. When we invited them to come with us to pull off an event with the kids that day, they eagerly jumped into action with us.

When we got to the center, our rancher friends were ready to round up the kids and show them how to rope!

It was a great privilege for Cesar and me to meet Carroll Bishop, one of the founders, who still lives in Monjas and came to our event. Originally from Montana, she was more than happy to put on a cowboy hat to take a picture with Cesar!

Here the president of the Cattleman’s Association brings a greeting to the children.

In short order, Cesar took one of the cowboy ropes and made it a jump rope. Turning the ropes are a couple of our Lions Club friends.

The kids loved the sack races.

Musical chairs is always a hit.

Here Gloria gives a prize to the jump rope champion.

The president of the Cattlemen’s Association and one of the Lions Club members gives a prize to the girl who won the musical chairs competition.

After the competitions, Gloria divided the children up to ask each other what they were thankful for and what they were concerned about. Then she led them to pray for each other. Here she is saying a final prayer of blessing over the children. Gloria is a dedicated teacher and follower of Jesus, and last year I spent several days with them when Cesar and I were following up on our big soccer event in 2023 that saw many soccer enthusiasts and children come to Christ.

Before we left, we got a group picture. Unfortunately, the person who took the picture cut off some folks on the right side of this picture!

I was amazed at how God brought several of our friends together to bless the children of the James Project. Cesar will be going back to Monjas next week as the Cattlemen’s Association will be having their annual fair, and one of the days they will be hosting a free Children’s festival. Since meeting the children at James Project, they wanted to make sure that they are invited to be special guests of the Cattlemen’s Association.

Stay tuned for more info as we partner with Lenexa Baptist and the James Project!

Making the Rounds

Here are a few pics from when Cesar and I met up with friends in various places that second week.

At the Senior Center in Santa Cruz Narranjo, I got to “win” the dancing competition with this dear lady!

Here Cesar gives her a scarf that she proudly wears.

In attendance with us at the Senior Center was the leadership team from the mayor’s office of Santa Cruz Narranjo. Joining us on the far left is Cesar’s son, Cesar Jr., who was visiting Cesar and Elba from Los Angeles for part of that week.

On another day, we set up an event for cowboys in Santa Rosa de Lima. Here, Cesar is directing some boys in hammering in the stakes for some horseshoe throwing.

Melanie, one of Cesar’s granddaughters, tries her hand at swinging a rope.

Here is Cesar with Valentin, one of our good friends who is a pastor near Nueva Santa Rosa, Guatemala. His family has cattle and have grown coffee for decades. Anytime we are in the area, Valentin is quick to help.

One day was spent with several soccer teams we have worked with in the past. Here is a team in Amberes, near Cesar’s home.

One of the older boys’ soccer teams came over to Cesar’s for an evening of food, fun, and a devotion. Cesar got the boys playing Connect 4 before we ate. Two years ago, he got me to promise to buy hamburgers for several of the boys on this soccer team if they would pray that the Kansas City Chiefs would win the Super Bowl! They know little about American football, but they are quite aware that the Chiefs have not lost a Super Bowl since they started praying! So as you can imagine, they are already planning a third annual hamburger party!

A couple days after getting home from Guatemala, I got to attend the AFC Championship game with my sons, Josh, Ryan, and Zac! I’m hoping they will help me with my hamburger fund!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support.

Love y’all!

Steve

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Click here to Invest Now

More Maps and Steve HeadiNG to Guatemala

Three of our grandkids, Bridget, Addie, and Connor, help their daddy, our son Ryan, shovel their driveway.

Happy New Year everyone! 

Hope you are staying warm today. Here in Kansas City, we are digging out from a big snowstorm that walloped us this past weekend. Every year when it gets to be snow shoveling time, Nola accuses me of scheduling a Guatemala trip. Well, she is not wrong!

Next Monday, January 13th, I am scheduled to go to Guatemala on a scout trip with Jim Fruth and Dave Owen of Lenexa Baptist. We plan to check out a ministry in Monjas and then meet with some of our cowboy friends in three different places—including Monjas. You might remember that we have done various projects in Monjas through the years. The last big thing was a soccer tournament in 2023 that had a huge impact. We hope to give you a quick report while we are there.

You Can Still Join us to do “MAPS”

Before I head out of the country, I want to let you know that we got a good start on our January MAPS kickoff. This is our daily scripture plan for having lifegiving conversations with Jesus during the month of January. If you are interested in joining us, it’s not too late. We recommend that if you join us, don’t worry about catching up on the days you missed. Just start on whatever scripture is given for that day and keep going.

Below is a link to a recording of our Zoom meeting from December 29th. It highlights some helpful information in getting started. Note that this coming Sunday, January 12th, at 4pm, we’ll do another Zoom meeting to check in with one another to see how it’s going.

Links to Our JaNUARY maps eXPERIMENT

Thanks for Your Generosity in 2024

As we turn the corner into 2025, I must say a quick word of thanks for your financial and prayer support in 2024. So many things we were able to do because of your faithful prayers and generosity.

As always, I love hearing from you. If you have a good snowstorm story or pic, send it to me!

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…Here’s another pic…this one of a couple of our grandsons!

Izaiah shows good snowball throwing form while his brother Zeke tries to decide if being out in the cold is worth it!

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Get S.M.A.R.T. in 2025

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did.

I know I am dating myself, but do you remember the “Get Smart” TV series where Maxwell Smart and his trusty sidekick, Agent 99, would solve crimes and deal with international intrigue? If not, you can look it up!

In my update last week, I shared about how I needed to open my heart to God for me to be obedient to His will for me. Today I want to talk about how we can “get smart” and make S.M.A.R.T. commitments when we are following directions from God.

This reminds me of something my grandfather used to say when I was a kid. He said, “We grow too soon old and too late smart!” Back then, I thought the saying sounded kind of funny. Now I look in the mirror and realize how true that is!

How do we grow S.M.A.R.T. in our walk with God?

Making S.M.A.R.T. Commitments

Several of us are about to embark on making daily scriptural commitments to God, and this acrostic has been extraordinarily helpful to me. You might have heard it in a business seminar on setting smart goals. Here, it helps us when seeking to obey God’s directions. To do this we want to make it:

S--Specific  

If our commitment is vague or too broad in scope, it becomes hard to get a win, so the more specific, the better.  

M--Measurable

If our commitment can’t be measured, we won’t know if we’ve succeeded in fulfilling it.

A--Attainable

If our commitment is too big, we get discouraged when we fail. Every big goal needs to be broken down into small, achievable steps that over time might reach what we can’t attain in a day. Small steps over time can get us over the mountain.

R--Relevant

If our commitment is not related to the scripture verse we are trying to obey, we can get unfocused on the main reason we are doing this—to be obedient to God’s directions every day.

T--Time bound

If our commitment doesn’t tell us when we plan to get the job done, we can put it off and procrastinate. Giving ourselves a deadline helps us take action at the appropriate time.

An Example of a S.M.A.R.T. Commitment

Let’s look at Colossians 3:19 and see if we can make a S.M.A.R.T. commitment. The verse says:

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

So let’s take a first stab at this and come up with an action that I want to take to be obedient to this verse. I could say this:

My action: Starting today, I want to love my wife more.

Let’s run it through the checklist.

S—Is it specific? No. What specifically am I going to attempt to do to love her? Not clear.

M—Is it measurable? Not really. I’m just going to try to love more.

A—Is it attainable? It’s too vague to even know if I actually was successful.

R—Is it relevant? Yes, it is at least relevant to the passage.

T—Is it time bound? No. There is not a deadline for me to know when to evaluate my commitment.

Take a Mulligan

Let’s try another run at this and see if I can do better.

My action: By God’s grace, on Tuesday when I get home around 6pm, I will find Nola and express my love for her. I will hand her a single red rose, give her a kiss, and tell her how much I appreciate her.  

S—Is it specific? Yes. I can clearly see what I get to do.

M—Is it measurable? Yes. I even know how many roses and what actions are involved!

A—Is it attainable? Yes. I can do it.

R—Is it relevant? Yes, it is relevant to the scripture that directs me to love my wife and not be harsh with her.

T—Is it time bound? Yes. I need to do it on Tuesday at 6pm.

Get S.M.A.R.T. with me in January

You, YES YOU!, can join me and others in our January experiment. Use these links to register, get the January MAPS template and join us on the zoom call.

Let’s Go for it when the Ball Drops!

With only a few days left before our Zoom call this Sunday, I’m getting excited! I pray that what we do together will help all of us get some spiritual momentum when the ball drops at midnight on January 1st.

As always, I love hearing from you, so keep those cards and letters coming!

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…If you are wanting to get a final end of year gift to us, remember that anything postmarked by December 31st counts towards 2024 giving.

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Open Hearts for 2025

This amazing shot was taken five years ago of my open-hearted friend, Jason Neland, in the Smoky Mountains overlooking Clingmans Dome near the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. Wow!

Good morning everyone! 

In my update last week, I shared a quick synopsis of a plan I want to follow in January of 2025 to raise my level of obedience to the Word of God, and I invited you to join me. Today I want to share how we can get our hearts ready for that process.

Closed Heart vs. Opened Heart

This was a big part of my problem that I mentioned to you in my Thanksgiving confessional a couple of weeks ago. For most of last year, there was a part of my soul that I didn’t want to think about. I was open to God in many areas, but in one particular place where I felt shameful, I didn’t want to even consider it. Yet, when God’s grace crashed in on me, I felt that I couldn’t do anything but open up, knowing that God loves me even in the middle of my shame.

As I think about it now, there were five things that happened to me when I opened up to God. Here’s the process that we can go through when we want to be intentional about having our hearts open. Note that this applies to any area where we need spiritual traction.

  1. I opened up by disarming.

    In my soul I had a shield of protection I was holding up to protect myself from my shame. When God’s grace overwhelmed me, I dropped my shield and realized I didn’t need to protect myself from such a gracious God who had overridden my shame and blessed me beyond belief.

  2. I listened to Jesus.

    After I opened up and realized where I was protecting myself, I slowed down to listen to Jesus and what He thought about me.

  3. I talked to Jesus directly about it.

    I ventured in to reveal my struggle with shame.

  4. I trusted Jesus.

    I surrendered my control and aligned myself to whatever Jesus wanted to do with me and this area where I was stuck.

  5. I obeyed Jesus.

    In this case I felt that Jesus wanted me to share about my shame with some trusted friends. In the very area that I wanted to keep under wraps, I trusted Jesus to do something good with it when I relayed my story with others.

Let’s Take An Inventory of Our Hearts

I want to continue to monitor my heart, knowing that I can easily have other places where I might be holding back. Maybe you feel the same way. Wouldn’t it be great for all of us to have open hearts and souls ready for a fresh start with Jesus this year?

An Invitation to An Experiment in January

If you are interested in joining me and others in our January experiment, I’d like you to register to get in on our M.A.P.S. plan that we described last week.

Let’s Do This!

I’m getting excited as we get closer to doing this together. As always, I love hearing from you, so keep those cards and letters coming!

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…Stay tuned for the next update where we’ll share how to make “S.M.A.R.T.” commitments to God’s directions.

PSS…If you are wanting to get a final end of year gift to us, remember that anything postmarked by December 31st counts towards 2024 giving.

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Plan For a Great Start to 2025

Good morning everyone! 

In my update last week, I mentioned that I needed to be consistent in connecting with Jesus every day. I allowed the distractions of life to keep me from a vital spiritual practice that had helped me in the past.

It is important for me to have an intentional plan. If you are looking for something to spur you on in your walk with God, I would highly encourage you to join me and others in doing this together.

Why I Need a Different Kind of Plan

For me, one of the most challenging parts of being a follower of Jesus comes not in getting more information or teaching, but in being obedient to the teaching I have already been exposed to. In Jesus’ Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus told His followers to make disciples and “teach them to obey everything I have commanded you…”

I don’t know about you, but I have been taught way beyond my level of obedience! I love hearing great messages. But most times when I hear a good message, I walk away saying, “Wow, that was great!” But within a day or two I forget it and never do anything about it. I hate that about me. I can easily be a hearer of the Word of God and not much of a doer (James 1:22).

So, my aim in 2025 is to raise my level of obedience to the Word of God. Maybe you are wanting to do the same thing.

A Response to God’s Commands Vs. REading a Devotional

What I am inviting you to do with me is a little different than reading a devotional thought every day. It is an intentional plan to respond every day directly to scriptural directions from God—to obey what Jesus commanded us. Each day we plan to engage with one scriptural command/direction to follow or avoid, one simple action, and one prayer of commitment. For me, the process usually takes about 15 minutes.   

Here is the quick outline of how it works. To remember it, just think of “MAPS.”   

SCRIPTURE MAPS - DAILY DIRECTION FROM GOD

Choose from God's Word a simple, direct command or a direction to follow or avoid. If you join me we will provide a list of scriptures.

Repeat the verse to know what it says. Some like to write it or type it out on their computer. Then run it through the M.A.P.S. process.

Meaning/Paraphrase: What does it mean? Write the scripture out in your own words. (Helpful Resource: Dictionary)

Action: What am I going to do to respond? How can I obey this command or direction to follow or avoid in a specific way?

Pray: Write out and pray a simple prayer.

Story: Share your story about the verse, your paraphrase, and your action with someone in person, text, email, or on the phone.

An Example of MAPS

With this outline, let’s take Matthew 7:1, a verse I did this week, and model the process so you can see how it works. The scripture says: 

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” Matthew 7:1 CSB

Meaning/Paraphrase: My paraphrase for this verse was: “Do not condemn so that you won’t be condemned.” Someone else might have translated it, “Don’t be nitpicky so that you won’t be nitpicked.” Remember this is in your words.  

Action: I wrote, “By God's grace, I will not be critical of Nola today, and instead will be gracious to her.”  

Prayer: My prayer was, “Jesus, help me be gracious with family today—especially with Nola.” 

Story: I emailed my commitment to Bill.

Note: This process invites us to write things down. I have done this with pencil and paper as well as on the computer. In recent days, I have come to appreciate the fact that if I write on my computer, I can more easily pass it on and keep track of my commitments. Know that you can do it anyway that will help you be most consistent, even if you start out by just working through the process mentally.

An Invitation to An Experiment in January

I am making a commitment to do this every day in January. Would you like to join me? Here’s how it works. When you respond to this email you’ll receive:

Respond to this email to let me know if you want to join me in this.

I’m looking forward to seeing what God does with us along the way!  

Finally, thanks again for your grace and mercy towards me. Several of you encouraged me with calls and notes about my Thanksgiving confession. That meant a lot and is helping me get more traction in my conversations with Jesus. 

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…Stay tuned for the next update where we’ll share how to prepare our hearts to make our conversations with Jesus life-giving and empowering.


A Thanksgiving Confession

Good morning everyone!

On our annual Thanksgiving reunion, this is a sunrise snapshot of Tenkiller lake near Muskogee, Oklahoma, near where Nola’s family has gathered for many years. On that morning walk, I was thinking about how I could best share this update with you.

Good morning everyone! 

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! We sure did. One of the things I'm grateful for is that I am reconnecting with Jesus. For much of this past year, I've been more hit and miss in regards to investing intentional time with God. For a while I attributed it to this year's messy reconstruction of our house. I assumed that after the project I would snap back out of it and resume as if nothing happened. But for months I did not. 

Then, in the early part of October, I stopped to reflect on the past year of mission projects. In reviewing that, I was overwhelmed by God's grace. In a year when I was in a spiritual slump, God had blessed us way beyond what we deserved.  

As I reflected on God’s grace toward me, it became clear when my slump started. 

Steve’s Confession 

A couple of years ago, I was asked to do a memorial service for some old friends. During the message, I shared the gospel and invited people to pray and receive Christ. I should have stopped there. I went on for way too much time to share a recent mission experience that took the focus off of the family and put it on my missionary work. After sitting down, I thought, "Why did I do that?" But what was done was done.

Later, I texted the family a quick note of gratitude for a generous honorarium. I considered apologizing for taking too much time at the end, but I felt like that would distract from my note of appreciation. 

A day or two later, I received a text from the family telling me that they were offended by the additional story. Those words stabbed me. They were right. My story was about me and was unnecessary. I immediately drafted a long text of apology. After a few more days of texting, I received one last text that my apology was acceptable. They added that they hoped that I had learned something and would not do this to anyone else in the future.  

The Destructive Power of Shame

The net effect on me was a big case of shame. I felt humiliated. I had failed God and this family in a very public way.  

David, in one of his Psalms said,

Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, and I groaned all day long. Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, and my strength was gone as in the summer heat. Psalm 32:2-3 CEV

I think that describes what happened to me. Anytime I thought about what I did, I ached with regret. I held it in. I didn't want to talk about it. Many times the memory caused me to groan out loud. 

Looking back now, my shame caused me to close off a big part of myself and hide from God. Whenever I got anywhere close to shame, I avoided the thought. Because of that, even though there were times I went through the motions reading my Bible and praying, my heart remained closed off in this area that I was ashamed of.  

Rescued by Gratitude

But let's get back to the gratitude. Since the realization that God's blessings have been way beyond what I deserve, I have had a renewed desire to get back into the game--not to prove anything or earn anything, but to enjoy a second chance with Jesus out of a true spirit of thanksgiving for all He has done. 

Join Us to Connect Daily with Jesus in 2025

As I am writing this, I am about a week into re-engaging in this daily conversation with Jesus in written form. With this momentum, I am looking to have a month-by-month plan ready for being consistent in 2025. Maybe you would too?

If so, please consider joining me in making daily life-giving conversations with Jesus a priority. More details about this invitation will follow in the next update. 

Thanks for your grace and mercy toward me and your continued prayers. God is good! 

Love y'all.

Steve