Hello everyone!
We goofed!
Tuesday when we updated you on the dental team in Guatemala, we mentioned that there was still room for the upcoming Play. Story. Eat. Experience here in Kansas City. The big reveal? We already had it! Tuesday's update was written last week before the event, but we decided to wait and send it this week--forgetting to strike the first paragraph. Sooooo, if you were getting all geared up to come to KC this weekend, sorry! We have no back-to-the-future trick up our sleeves.
The First Play. Story. Eat. Experience, March 2017!
However, that does bring up the question, "How did it go?" Speaking for myself and Bill Burrows, our official Play. Story. Eat. coach, we think it went great! We had 22 of you who came, and the energy and participation was terrific. Thanks to Kenny Warren, we should have some video snippets to use in future training videos on the website. Special thanks also goes to Joyce Burrows, Nola Reed, and Barb Cates for supporting us in the many logistical aspects of the experience!
News from the Play. Story. Eat. Experience
There were three things we wanted to accomplish last weekend.
1. Give you a Play. Story. Eat. Experience and a basic understanding of the vision and values that under-gird and inform what we are trying to do. So much of what we are doing in our projects has to be experienced. We can talk about how we use Play. Story. Eat. to do evangelism, discipleship, and professional seminars, etc., but until you experience it, we don't believe you get the full effect. My job this year is to get better at communicating some of this. In the meantime, we invite you and your friends to experience this with us and help us pass it on to others.
2. Invite you to consider using this process with family, friends, and co-workers where you live and work. We believe that there are people around you who are not being touched by any current church or Bible study group. They don't have friends who love Jesus. Maybe you are God's agent for doing something about that. We would like to help you do what God is calling you to do.
3. Change the heroes in the ongoing Daybreak Story. Here is the actual big reveal from the weekend. The future heroes in the story of Daybreak/P.S.E. are not Steve and Cesar. THEY'RE YOU! You are going to be the heroes of God's story as we move into the future. Here's why we are thinking this way.
Why You Will Be The Heroes for Daybreak International
For years you have heard or read stories about Cesar and me and others in our work who have been slugging away for 17 years in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. God has opened so many doors to us, and it has been incredible. Both Cesar and I could be happy doing what we do for many years with volunteers just like we have done, going to the same places. (Currently that list is at 75+ between Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.)
But both Cesar and I have become increasingly convicted that to continue doing this ministry like we have done (with us at the center) would be unconscionable, because it would mean that we will not be able to respond to the many invitations coming to us from other countries.
Just on this last trip alone, we received invitations to go to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Cuba, Brazil, and Argentina. If we had time and money dedicated and the teams ready, with one phone call, we could go right now to any of those countries and see very similar results to what we have experienced in Guatemala and Honduras.
What does that mean? For us it means that we can no longer do this by ourselves. We need to focus on you--on preparing you. In faith, we believe that, ultimately, being responsive to you and whatever God is calling you to do will perfectly align with some of the opportunities that are open to Daybreak.
But what if I’m not a cowboy? Well, what we are finding is that the principles and process we have used with cowboys work with anyone. We believe that almost anything that you could say that God is calling you to do, we could find a way to help you fulfill that commitment. In short, we believe that the principles and process we are using in Latin America are relevant to you here in the U.S.
So the question is, "Will you play other peoples games, tell your story, listen to their story, and eat their food, no matter who they are?"
One Part of Our 2017 Strategy Revealed
This year we would like to raise up 250 Play. Story. Eat. Missionaries. Over this weekend we had about a dozen of us say that we will be the first ones. What that means is a commitment to join Jesus in being faithful to His Great Commission (Matthew 28) and being intentional about developing transformational friendships by playing, storying, and eating with people.
So to bring the Play. Story. Eat. Experience to you, help us out! Currently, we have scheduled the Play. Story. Eat. Experience for September 8-10 in Carthage, Missouri, and November 10-12 in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. We also have it scheduled in Spanish in Guatemala and Honduras.
If you would like for us to come to you, that just might be possible! Let's talk!
Steve