Danny Gutman Danny Gutman - Life Simplified

A $3 wage is all it takes

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Imagine working for 8 hours in a day... and coming home with three dollars to show for your labor. Would you be able to buy anything other than food? Could you pay your electric bill on top of that? What if you had to pay most your salary for water that wasn't already sewage so that you could drink and bathe? Could you ever get out of a place where you are barely able to survive let alone make ends meet? Would you go to work everyday?It's depressing. A wage like that start to make sense of why so many men in the Philippines seem to be doing absolutely nothing all day. It begins to make a little more sense why daughters choose to go into a life of prostitution to support their family. It begins to make sense why in every open space in Manila there seems to be thousands of illegal squatter homes made of what I would toss away as trash. It begins to makes sense why there is so much crime here, so much pollution here, so much disease, and so much corruption.

Though I am not saying that better wages is the cure to all these problem, I can't imagine how anyone could say it is not a major contributor. I have come from a totally different place in life and I can honestly say I have no idea what it is like to not know if I am going to be able to make it to the next week. My wage has never been a matter of life or death and I will bet that almost all the people I am closest to are in the same situation. God knows what I would do if I didn't have enough to provide for a family. If I didn't have anyone I could go to. If I couldn't find anyone that cared. I know I would like to think that I would rise above and come out a better man on the other side... but can you imagine? Can you imagine how you would feel if everyday was simply a struggle and the only job you could get by the grace of God paid you three dollars a day?

I have been able to spend some time with some of the squatters in their houses and get a glimpse, and it really is only a glimpse, into their world. Between taking them bowling, being invited into their houses, and doing Bible studies with some of them I have had these questions constantly running through my mind. There are some things that I will never be able to understand that are simply everyday life for 40% of the people here who live below the poverty line. I have had different responses at different stages of life to the overwhelming injustices of this world. At times I simply didn't care to know and never bothered to find out. This is what you would expect from someone who grew up in the states where my home... was the states. 99.9% of anything that happened was of little concern for me. Occasionally catastrophic events such as Columbine or 9/11 would come to my attention, but that was the extent of it. Then, I went to college, traveled around a bit, experienced and saw more. My position moved from unintentionally not caring due to unawareness, to one of intentionally not caring due to denial. This stage could largely be described as one of helplessness. I became more aware, but to help seemed overwhelming... and not my problem. It is easy to detach from something when it doesn't involve you. For the most part I am still in this stage. There is something different however. Especially after the last two years of seeing more, experiencing more, and being closer to more injustice and oppression... I realize that I really do care in some instances, and that I want to care about more. I am at a point in my life where I actually want to spend the rest of my life caring.

As Colleen and I spend our honeymoon together here I can't help but realize how much I look up to the people that surround us. They are people that really care and are doing things to alleviate the heart aches of poverty here. They don't look at the task and say it is too big and they can't change the world... they just change the world for one person, one person at a time. Here are some examples of what I am talking about.

The Jeepney Magazine has one main goal: to provide jobs to the homeless. The concept is that homeless vendors can sell the magazine and keep half of the profits for everyone they sell. Most of the vendors earn two to three times the minimum wage in manila which is roughly $7 per day. The content of the magazine is geared towards giving the homeless a respectable wage as opposed to a handout, but it is also giving the homeless around the city a voice by telling their stories. So, not only does the purchase of a magazine give the homeless a respectable job, the stories raise awareness of the trials and tribulations of the poor. Though the magazine is still in its formulative stages the concept has unlimited potential in helping alleviate poverty for some individuals.

In many cases, somewhere between 30% of a squatters' income goes to buying drinkable water. By simply putting in several wells in surrounding squatter communities, fresh drinking water is given freely and that 30% percent can go to buying enough food for a family or towards giving a child and education. Something so simple has tremendous impact in a community and little by little, a community transforms. Kids International Ministries exists for this purpose among many. Jobs are also provided to men and women in the community through building the wells, repaving the streets, building more housing... each and every project gives a few dozen squatters a consistent job with a good wage.

There is so much going on here that simply seeks to help. Jobs are given, Jesus is shared and seen in His believers. Children are schooled, Jesus is shared to a generation that actually is given opportunity to rise out of the slums. Orphans and widows are taken care of by being fed, housed, employed, and cared for, the life of Jesus is evident in the actual actions of his believers. What is happening here seems is so unusual, yet it is the very things that should characterize the Christian life. Coming here challenges me. It makes me want to help, to contribute in intentional ways that have the ability to transform. It causes my wife and I to rethink what is valuable to us, and what our priorities are. It makes us define what we want in our daily lives. It makes us want to actually do something, rather than stopping at realizing there is a need. It only takes something better than a $3 wage a day to make a families life significantly better... and if you ask me, three dollars a day is practically nothing.

Unfamiliar Familiarity

Sat, 1 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It has been about a year and a half since I was here in the Philippines. Ever since leaving in January of 2008 I felt strongly that I would be back. So, when Colleen and I talked about where to go on our honeymoon, the choice seemed obvious. Beautiful Manila. Where the air is so polluted that just being here for two days has made my throat scratch again. Where sewage puddles in the streets making dinge fever a commonality among the people here, especially the poor. Where the traffic makes daily traffic in LA seem like a Sunday drive, and the dogs roam breeding all kinds of God knows what diseases. Where poverty is the norm, unclothed babies are everywhere, and squatter shacks are simply part of daily life.. it is to this industrial paradise that we chose to have our honeymoon.

To tell you the truth I couldn't be more excited to be here. Despite its inherent lack of beauty as a physical location, I can honestly say I have never visited a more beautiful place.

Four years ago a missionary who taught at a local missionary boarding school was driving to his home in a condo right outside one of the few golf courses in Manila. As they were driving through an impoverished neighborhood, his youngest daughter asked the question "Daddy... why don't we do anything to help the poor?" The simple question would be the start what today, I would consider the most incredible ministry to the poor I have ever been a part of.

It has been four years since the question was asked. Last night around midnight, amongst a down pour of warm rain, a truck container loaded to the brim with food was unloaded by a dozen or so homeless Filipinos and a handful of missionaries from the surrounding squatter towns. The container will serve around 2,000 meals a week, to several hundreds of impoverished families for a whole year. This is only the surface. To go into depth of all that is going on here at the place we are honeymooning will take another blog for another day. The only thing I will say for now is it is simply incredible what a community of believers can do for a community, for a family, for an abandoned child. It is hard for me to find words to describe it.

I guess the words that comes to mind when we are here are words like

redemption...
restoration...
transformation.

It is no wonder why we love it here so much, because really, I don't know of any words that are more beautiful and significant. They are the kind of words that move beyond simple physical descriptions to ones that suggest things that are new and different... things that heal and rebuild... things that bring new life. When all is said and done, I find that these words beat the sunny beaches of Tahiti any day. I would much rather be around new life. Life... where a simple question creating a spark of action can transform and inspire the lives of thousands. Life... where taking care of those who are forgotten is common place. Life... where the lives of those who have everything entangle with the lives of those who have hardly anything. Life... where the heart of God is seen in the actions of his followers like a light shining on a hill.

As I walk the familiar streets of where I was a year and a half ago... I am reminded that this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. When I think of my marriage to Colleen as the start of a new life, I truly believe that this place more than any other represents the kind of new life we want to live together. What a perfect place for a honeymoon... what a perfect place to inspire the hearts of our new life together.

Runnin with a Dream

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ever since I was a young lad (meaning since high school five years ago) I have dreamed of running a coffee shop. Throughout college, I made a local coffee shop in Salt Lake called Salt Lake Roasting Company my second home. Countless hours of studying, amazing conversation, and drinking delicious goodness were had there. I especially loved knowing that the owner of the shop was a committed Christian, who loved God and the people from all around the world where he bought his coffee. When you go to the coffee shop, you will find pictures of all the travels to all the coffee farms where the owner has developed personal relationships and made trip to provided much needed help in the form of physical and spiritual aid to the communities that work the lands where he buys his coffee. I always thought it was a beautiful thing.

As I continued through college I decided to take classes which would help give me a working knowledge of business, particularly as it applied to being a small business entrepreneur. Most of my major projects in my business classes involved scheming business plans to start coffee shops in Hong Kong or Kona Hawaii. Though the locations and some of the ideas of the shop have changed, if you were to ask the people who have known me most in the past five years, or even some people who have only known me for a short time, they would probably tell you that I have always dreamed of opening my own coffee business one day.

I love a lot about life. I love experiencing, I love learning, I love good food. I love my wife and marriage, I love being stretched and challenged. Three things that I probably love most in life however, are:

God
Community (I want to make clear that I include my wife in this category as well)
Culture

In that order. When I look at this list I find that at least in my life, all these categories have been mutually dependent. To experience community has been to experience something that is a part of God. To learn about culture has come from being in community (hopefully) and learning about people who are made in the image of God. In many ways, I have always seen a coffee shop as a business that can be heavily involved in all these areas.

I dream of a business that makes a difference in the life of others just as much or more than it makes a difference in my own life. One that involves not only creating community, but rallying a community to live outside itself and serve a greater cause. I want to connect people to other cultures, especially those cultures which simply need help, in any form, as they are impoverished, suffering, and dieing of preventable ailments. I want to create a place whose heartbeat reflects the heartbeat of God. Where overcoming injustice, illness, poverty, and suffering take precedent over the income of the owners. I have noticed that many businesses treat the priority of profits and charity as mutually exclusive; it is either profits or charity. Thus if a business chooses profits they become only aware of their own needs, and neglect the greater need of others. On the other hand, if a business chooses charity, they must either receive outside funding or government assistance, and they can often be poorly run or treat their own workers unfairly because they have the excuse of being in existence only for the cause of others. I wish to see a company that is both/ and, not either/or. A company whose seeks profits for the benefit of its employees, its customers, its local community, and the impoverished global community that makes up most the world.

What is interesting is that I don't think I am unique in this dream. I truly believe there is a part of everyone that simply wants to help other people, that wants to know other people and be known by other people, and that wants to experience other cultures that are completely different than their own. Purpose, intimacy, and knowledge are universal things that people not only want, but that they need.

So all this is to say that my wife and I have decided to take steps into realizing this dream. As with anything, there is a chance of failure. But to me, the risk of failing is far outweighed by the potential of living out my dreams and passions, serving those in need, and connecting intimately with a community. For the last few weeks I have been learning how to roast coffee and run a coffee shop. Eventually, my friend Brian Babb and I will buy the coffee shop where I am learning, and create the community and business we have dreamed of. We will create a space where people are known and loved, where serving others is placed before serving ourselves, where the orphan and the widow are grieved for and taken care of. A business that operates to motivate action all over the world, simply by buying a cup of coffee. In the end, I want to live my life in a way that demands an explanation. I want to live the dreams that I believe God has given me.

For more information specifically about the coffee shop please go to (www.coffeeinvestment.com). I can't even count the conversations I have had with people who have sharpened the picture of what would make a successful, transformational, coffee community. I would love to hear your thoughts, critiques, advice, or dreams. Please do not hesitate to give feedback or comments to all this whether it be through my blog, facebook, or via email. Most of all, please keep this venture in your prayers.

The Journey

Sat, 30 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Colleen and I have been hiking a lot lately. After a week of work and studies there is nothing like going out on a nice hike on the weekend. Two weeks ago we decided to take off and go on a hike in the San Monica Forest around Malibu. After checking the trail online we were told that there would be water and plenty of shade. It was supposed to be one of the better hikes in Southern Cali, eventually leading up to the highest point the in San Monica Mountains. Colleen asked me if she should bring her camelback and I told her no, because I had my water filter and we were going to "rough it." She decided to bring it anyways... she really does have an amazing gift of discernment which is really helpful as I have a gift for sometimes doing senseless things.

As we got to the trail the sun was bearing down. It was 10AM and about 95 degrees already. The plan was to do an 8 mile loop, stopping frequently to get water. The only problem was... there was no water. For the first four miles of the hike things were great. We had water, food, beef jerky. There was enough shade and plenty of people. As we were making our way around the back side of the loop Colleen took a sip of her camelback... nothing. It was the middle of the day, now reaching over 100 degrees and we had nothing. we pressed on for about two miles. We were ok, water would have been nice but we were fine for the most part. Soon the effects of dehydration began to be felt. A dizzy, somewhat disorienting, nausious feeling. The trail was completely exposed so if we were to get in the shade, it would have had to be behind a cactus. We pressed on. We began praying that God would make it rain or something, or like Moses I could hit a rock and water might come out. At one point there was a set of water towers teasing us as there was no way to get into them. Needless to say for the rest of the hike we were miserable. But I noticed something. Whenever things would get to the point that we wanted to just curl in a ball and quit there would be something to help motivate us. Sometimes around a corner we would find a breeze in the stagnant air... just enough to cool us down. At what seemed like the roughest places of incline, trees would randomly appear to provided a little bit of shade for us. At one point we even saw another hiker and I asked him if Colleen could take a sip of his water. There was no deluge, or magic river that we stumbled on, rather it was just enough provision to get by.

As we were stumbling through the desert I couldn't help but find myself drawing all kinds of parallels to my life right now as a newly married man. First let me say, I love married life... but in many ways it is very unfamiliar to me. I came out here to work with a church and join a community. But what I came here for turned out to be much different than I thought coming in. This venture of life was something I thought I was much more prepared for, I thought it was set for two years. But sometimes the path God leads us in life is much different than we envision going into it. The thing that struck me most about the hike was we really were surrounded by sheer beauty. The desert colors on top of the high hills were incredible to me. Yet at the same time, I had never experienced so much thirst in my life. I had never wanted water so badly.

So here we are in a place we know God has brought us both to. We are surrounded by beauty. Become so entangled in someones life after living so individualistically for so long is such a beautiful but tough thing. In many places of our life we are in something of a desert. We are so thirsty for certain things that have always been there, yet here we haven't found it yet. We have an idea of what it looks like, we have things we will not compromise on... but we are thirsty. Community is one of those things that has been hard to come by for us. We long for a kingdom community where loving each other is on the forefront of peoples minds and God is moving and breathing life into every part of it. We felt like we tasted some of this on the World Race. Since moving to LA, we haven't gelled with a community that we can both empower and feel empowered by the spirit in. It has been killer for us, as we have both been intimately connected to people and relationships throughout our lives. Another thing we have been thirsting for here is purpose. Without community, it has been hard to find a place or a ministry to be truly passionate about. Our passions haven't died, they are as strong as ever, but we haven't found places to really give our lives away. We are busy... we are working, in school full time, traveling often, adjusting to marriage... the passion thing just hasn't come. This is due partly because we are adjusting... we are learning oneness in our marriage now and building foundations that will last for the rest of lives.

Through all this... God is so good. At just the right times just like the cool breeze, the perfectly timed shade, or the dude who gave Colleen some of his water... God shows up at just the right times, not to save us from thirsting and struggling, but to let us know He is with us. So while I certainly wouldn't want to compare our time here near the beach in sunny LA with that of the wandering tribe of Israel in the desert for 40 years... I do love the image.

One of those tastes of God is that we found a church called Cornerstone that we love here. It is farther than we would like, but they have some things going on here in Pasadena. Please keep us in your prayers as we truly would love to dive into a community if we felt confirmed by the Lord that he had us there. The first week we went the Pastor spoke about justice, particularly about maintaining your passion for God's justice to be felt on earth, and the role that community has in giving courage, or encouraging, reckless faith, mercy, and abandonment in our lives. You can check out that sermon by Pastor Francis Chan on 5/17/09, as well as others on their website.

Another thing we are seeking the Lord on is the possibility of running a coffee shop, here in Pasadena. Not only is this a dream of mine, but I have had dreams of planting missional coffee shops all around the world. It may be a place that God has us build kingdom community or at least support kingdom causes while we are here. For the past several weeks I have been learning the art of roasting, and we are praying as to whether God would have us become more involved. Please lift this up in your prayers as well. I will be writing more about it later.

God never promises that He will relieve us from our pain, that we won't suffer or struggle, or that we won't feel distance... like we are in a desert. He does promise that he will be with us and that he will never leave us. He promises that He will be enough, no matter where we find ourselves in the journey.

The Second Season

Fri, 1 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I can remember a conversation a year ago with my World Race Dude mate about our "in like" feelings towards two girls who were on the Race with us. Kyle was "in like" with a girl from another team, and I fell "in like" with a girl who I saw every day in my own team. "So when do you think it will happen?" I remember him asking. Not wanting to fully expose the fact that it was a topic constantly on my mind I replied "I'm not sure, we will see where God has us... it's crazy to think though that at this time next year we might both be married."

"I'm thinkin September" he said, "no point in messing around."

Though I felt I identified with him about not messing around I was thinking I'd wait at least until Spring at the earliest to tie the knot.

I want to clarify, this was not a conversation Kyle and I had all that often, but we were certainly both sure of the things that God has laid on our hearts. I can't help but smile when I think of that conversation... because it happened... just like we said it would. Just like we prayed everyday for God to give us courage and strength to make it happen. It has now been a year and I just finished up my first month of marriage, Kyle is working on his sixth.

So here I am in an apartment in Pasadena getting ready for my last day of intensives at my school, while my wife just left to drive to Watts to teach a kindergarten class (not an easy day for her). I prayed with her and ate breakfast with her before she left. I feel like I am living a dream right now. I'm married to a girl who I feel I can't be more in love with though I know our relationship will only become stronger and deeper from here. I came out here to be involved with a Church while going to seminary, but before we got married we both realized that there was to much going on in our lives and that we wanted to simply focus on our life together, laying foundations that stand firm in the storms of life. Life has sped up and slowed down both at the same time, but at the end of the day I can't get over the feeling of coming home to my wife. It is incredible. I can't believe that God brought us here, and I still can't wait to see more of the things he has in store.

I'm pretty sure we had an awesome wedding... the reason I express some doubt is because the whole day seemed to go so fast. If you are interested you can look at our photos ( http://picasaweb.google.com/danieljgutman)

I Just Know

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

God am I crazy? Is it just wishful thinking? Am I forcing myself to have so much peace about this? Can I really "just know"?

One year ago today I remember asking myself these very questions while staring out at the ocean on a boat in the Philippines. It stands out to me because the questions I was so used to asking were more along the lines of...

Why am I not crazy about this? Why don't I have peace about this? and why can't I "just know"?

When I met Colleen I saw her Cubs shirt and yelled across the field "Cubs Suck!" and shook my fist at her... now we are getting married though she is still a Cubs fan. I guess this is what Paul was talking about when he says that love covers a multitude of sins. Looking back it easy to see how all this happened.. Our Coaches last year told Colleen and I that we would click with eachother. One even told Colleen that he thought we would end up liking eachother, even though the rules stated that there were to be no relationships on the trip. So it seemed to be unavoidable in a lot of ways. Two people, naturally inclined to like eachother, on a trip around the world where they would spend every single day together, though thick and thin, through hard times and great times, through tears and fears. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was in way more than I had ever been before... about three months to be more specific.

So there I was, in the Philippines, praying and asking God for a sign... God if you want this let the boat catch on fire... God if you want this make a wave come and hit me in the face... God if you want this show me. As cliche as it may sound I saw in the midst of the boat a rainbow. "I'll take it," I remember thinking. But the thing that stood out most was the peace... I really "just knew." I remember smiling trying to conjure up the future... I had never been so peaceful. The best part was, I didn't have to do anything. All I had to do was be myself. She couldn't run, we had to be with eachother for the rest of the year. I didn't feel like I had to act or else I would miss out, we weren't allowed to have a real romantic relationship anyways.

So we continued on. We got to be around eachother, we got to laugh together, we got to get frustrated with eachother and other people, we got to know eachother. I got to fall in love with her laugh, with her joy, with her heart for hurting people, with the way she connects with people at such a deep level. It's amazing that I am still falling in love with those things. It's amazing that we got to grow together. It's amazing that one year later, that peace still rests in my heart. It's amazing that God has had his fingerprints all over this thing from the start.

So... now I get to continue this. I get to keep loving her. I get to marry the girl who in my eyes is the greatest girl in the world. No one can laugh like her. No one can care like she does. No one is as tender hearted as she is. No one gives herself away like she does. No one has as much fun as she can. I get to marry this girl. I get to die for this girl. I get to be one with this girl. I get to experience God in a way I probably never could have imagined with this girl.

So I knew my life would change when I signed up for the Race... but I never would have imagined this. This is so much more than I ever wanted or thought I would have. This is soooooo good! There is so much more to learn and experience! There is so much more to know about eachother. There is so much God is doing.

Many of you might be wanting to know how I proposed... Colleen is all over that. You can read her blog (http://colleenfoley.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-story) and you can look at a ton of pictures (.http://picasaweb.google.com/sheena.mb/StarredPhotos?authkey=fAz8bB9MCvY#) It was one of those days where you just knew God was right there with you. It was one of those days that you just knew was supposed to happen.

The Big Vid

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

We are back in the States. It has been an emotional last few days. Goodbyes are tough stuff, especially when it's with people you have been with everyday for the last year. I will miss my team like crazy. They have made this year absolutely incredible and have stretched and challenged me beyond belief. Here is our final video. It's hard to capture a years worth of experiences in a short video... but we do our best. It's a little long, but hopefully enjoyable. Thank you to all who made our year possible.

LESS from Danny Gutman on Vimeo.

The Last Supper Week

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Friends,

I have moved from an amazing few weeks in Honduras to our last stop, Granada Nicaragua. It's our last week together on the World Race and there is a lot going through my head. Hopefully I will be able to put some of it down on the ol blog. Anywho... here is an exerpt of the book "Through Painted Deserts" by Don Miller. Some friends shared it with me today and it seemed to encompass lots of my thoughts right now. If you have a minute you might really enjoy it.

IT IS FALL HERE NOW, MY FAVORITE OF THE FOUR seasons. We get all four here, and they come at us under the doors, in through the windows. One morning you wake and need blankets; you take the fan out of the window to see clouds that mist out by midmorning, only to reveal a naked blue coolness like God yawning.

September is perfect Oregon. The blocks line up like postcards and the rosebuds bloom into themselves like children at bedtime. And in Portland we are proud of our roses; year after year, we are proud of them. When they are done, we sit in the parks and read stories into the air, whispering the gardens to sleep.

I come here, to Palio Coffee, for the big windows. If I sit outside, the sun gets on my computer screen, so I come inside, to this same table, and sit alongside the giant panes of glass. And it is like a movie out there, like a big screen of green, and today there is a man in shepherd's clothes, a hippie, all dirty, with a downed bike in the circle lawn across the street. He is eating bread from the bakery and drinking from a metal camp cup. He is tapping the cup against his leg, sitting like a monk, all striped in fabric. I wonder if he is happy, his blanket strapped to the rack on his bike, his no home, his no job. I wonder if he has left it all because he hated it or because it hated him. It is true some do not do well with conventional life. They think outside things and can't make sense of following a line. They see no walls, only doors from open space to open space, and from open space, supposedly, to the mind of God, or at least this is what we hope for them, and what they hope for themselves.

I remember the sweet sensation of leaving, years ago, some ten now, leaving Texas for who knows where. I could not have known about this beautiful place, the Oregon I have come to love, this city of great people, this smell of coffee and these evergreens reaching up into a mist of sky, these sunsets spilling over the west hills to slide a red glow down the streets of my town.

And I could not have known then that if I had been born here, I would have left here, gone someplace south to deal with horses, to get on some open land where you can see tomorrow's storm brewing over a high desert. I could not have known then that everybody, every person, has to leave, has to change like seasons; they have to or they die. The seasons remind me that I must keep changing, and I want to change because it is God's way. All my life I have been changing. I changed from a baby to a child, from soft toys to play daggers. I changed into a teenager to drive a car, into a worker to spend some money. I will change into a husband to love a woman, into a father to love a child, change houses so we are near water, and again so we are near mountains, and again so we are near friends, keep changing with my wife, getting our love so it dies and gets born again and again, like a garden, fed by four seasons, a cycle of change. Everybody has to change, or they expire. Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons.

I want to keep my soul fertile for the changes, so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it is time for things to die. I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently.

Only the good stories have the characters different at the end than they were at the beginning. And the closest thing I can liken life to is a book, the way it stretches out on paper, page after page, as if to trick the mind into thinking it isn't all happening at once.

Time has pressed you and me into a book, too, this tiny chapter we share together, this vapor of a scene, pulling our seconds into minutes and minutes into hours. Everything we were is no more, and what we will become, will become what was. This is from where story stems, the stuff of its construction lying at our feet like cut strips of philosophy. I sometimes look into the endless heavens, the cosmos of which we can't find the edge, and ask God what it means. Did You really do all of this to dazzle us? Do You really keep it shifting, rolling round the pinions to stave off boredom? God forbid Your glory would be our distraction. And God forbid we would ignore Your glory.

HERE IS SOMETHING I FOUND TO BE TRUE: YOU DON'T start processing death until you turn thirty. I live in visions, for instance, and they are cast out some fifty years, and just now, just last year I realized my visions were cast too far, they were out beyond my life span. It frightened me to think of it, that I passed up an early marriage or children to write these silly books, that I bought the lie that the academic life had to be separate from relational experience, as though God only wanted us to learn cognitive ideas, as if the heart of a man were only created to resonate with movies. No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath:

I'll tell you how the sun rose
A ribbon at a time...

It's a living book, this life; it folds out in a million settings, cast with a billion beautiful characters, and it is almost over for you. It doesn't matter how old you are; it is coming to a close quickly, and soon the credits will roll and all your friends will fold out of your funeral and drive back to their homes in cold and still and silence. And they will make a fire and pour some wine and think about how you once were . . . and feel a kind of sickness at the idea you never again will be.

So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up. You begin to mourn its ending, and want to pace yourself slowly toward its closure, knowing the last lines will speak of something beautiful, of the end of something long and earned, and you hope the thing closes out like last breaths, like whispers about how much and who the characters have come to love, and how authentic the sentiments feel when they have earned a hundred pages of qualification.

And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you, about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?

It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.

I want to repeat one word for you:

Leave.

Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.

The Last Month

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Just a quick update on what's been happenin in here. As you may or may not know, we left Panama on June 10 and took four and a half days on the bus to get up to Guatemala. For the first time all year our team split up as the girls lived in a hostel for ten days while Kyle and I along with three other dudes spent a week of manistry living in the mountains. It was some good times with the guys. Aaron Bruner put out a video of our hike up an active volcano where we cooked steak on burning molten magma. We also did other manly things such as riding husky steeds through forests, constructing houses with our huge chiseled muscles, and roamed the streets of Antigua ready to uppercut anybody who would dare stand in our way. We stayed with an amazing family who welcomed us into their home with open arms.

Now that we are all back together with the woman, things have more or less returned to normal. I have been reading Redeeming Love, an enchanting tale of love and romance based off of the book of Hosea. Kyle has been poking around in his Osh Kosh Big Gosh blanket. We life in a comfortable little bungalow

About a week ago we met up with my friend Tony Deine. Tony moved here a little more than a year ago and has been working with a Church called Iglesia Tranformacion. This place has been especially exciting for me because my church back home (K2) has been doing mission trips down here for the last several years. It has been awesome going to some of the houses in Los Pinos, which is a squatter community across the street from the church, and listening to them talk about how people from K2 came and painted their house, or built water systems, or just had meals with them. Many of the families even know the exact date that they met people from K2.

We are spending our time here getting to know the kids who come every morning for breakfast, organizing the massive amount of donations that have been accumulated here at the church, and eating meals with families in Los Pinos. Life is good, and God is better. Though many of us are exhausted on so many levels, the community here has been very understanding and supportive. Pray for us to finish strong, with the amount of love and grace that we have had for most the year. Also, for all the K2 peeps that read this, let me know if I could do something special for some in Los Pinos. I would love to deliver any amount of flowers, candy, or singing telegrams that I can.

The Road Ahead

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

    All my life I have yearned for divine guidance. I have often been one to worry about the future. I worry about money, I worry about loving my job, I worry about not having a community that believes in me, I worry about everyone else being better than me at what I am best at. If it's not one thing, it's usually another. I have spent a lot of my life worrying. Luckily I have also learned to carry on pretty normally when I am worrying about whatever I can find to worry about.
    For most my life I have loved security nets... those things in life that you aren't positive about so you try as diversify yourself as much as possible. I didn't really stick out in any one sport... so I did them all and learned them all. I wasn't really sure if I would get accepted to the colleges that I wanted... so I applied to many so as not to disappoint myself. I've never really known what career I want to pursue... so I switched my major several times and had a lot of different jobs. I never had a lot of clarity as to what God calling in my life is... so I have made sure I have places to fall back into that aren't necessarily involving full time ministry. This has been a pattern of my life. I will choose one path, but at the same time place other paths around me that I can fall back into. Thus, when life gets tough or I get tired of one thing, I can easily transition to the next. While I might be making myself out to be a bit flaky (which I am), I don't think this pattern in my life has been an all bad thing. I've experience a lot of different things... I've been able to see a lot of different places... I've gotten to meet all kinds of different people. I've learned to learn rapidly and to adapt quickly. I would consider myself in many ways a Jack of many trades but a master at none. Normally I feel like I can do pretty much anything and do a decent job, whether or not I am the best for it, whether or not I love it, whether or not I feel God is calling me into it.
    This pattern of life... this characteristic is changing though. Over the year I have come to realize that the nets I've set up, and the constant mind change has often robbed me of living by faith. My life should not be about trying to decipher whether or not I heard God on something, and then making all sorts of back up plans just in case God's plan doesn't pan out for me. I want my life to be characterized by hearing God's voice, and following it with confidence. Through struggle, through blessing, through burnout, through apathy, through everything... when I hear from the Lord, I go, certain of what is unseen that lies ahead.
    For the last several years it has been on my mind to apply to seminary after I finishing my undergrad. While on the World Race I have felt this draw intensify. The process has gone rather differently than normal though. I didn't apply to a lot of different seminaries... I only applied to one. I prayed that if God would have me there he would open the doors. And he did. I was accepted despite my current circumstances, and a lot of dropped calls on Skype while trying to do a video interview in Costa Rica. Throughout the whole process I have been quite at peace with all that is going on. I've had God open doors before, but usually I am always indecisive and uncomfortable about taking a door even though it is open. Even when I found out I would only get to be home for three days in Salt Lake until I pack up and move to California... I felt much less worry than I am accustomed to. And that's the thing... I LOVE Salt Lake. I cannot wait to get back to my community there. But God has something for me in California right now. I truly believe that all of this is God tilling soil from which I will be reaping substance for the rest of my life. Though it takes sacrifice, though I would much rather have a few months to catch my breath in Salt Lake, I know God want me to keep pressing into this faith thing. I have always prayed for guidance... and looking back I think God has always offered it. Yet now I think I'm confident in him enough to actually let go and dive in head first. Below is an excerpt from my application when asked "why do you feel a call into vocational ministry?"

Since a missions trip to Thailand in 2003 I have felt a tug to full time ministry. It seems like everything I am passionate about points me to vocational ministry whether it be playing and writing music, being poor and living simply, teaching, spending hours at a coffee shop, or studying and reading books about God. The last five years can be summarized by saying God has been helping me figure out the when, how, and if questions about that call I felt into vocational ministry. Everything came to an apex in the spring of 2007 when I had to decide on taking a more secular route of Political Science, which was something I truly loved in college, or holding unswervingly to a path of pursuing vocational ministry. I wish I could say it was an easy decision, but at the time it really wasn't. It was really the input of the people I look up to most, who most of which happen to be in vocational ministry, that I decided to ditch the internship I had aligned in Washington D.C., and pursue vocational ministry with all my heart. To live is truly Christ and to die is gain. I want to give God everything. I want to lay my life down for the mystery of something far greater than I could ever become. If I were to summarize my life's ambition in two words it would be to heal people. I believe this mission includes healing people from wounds they have received in the Church, as well as healing people whose perception of the Body of Christ is tainted. I want to heal people who are hurting inside, and help people who are suffering outside. I want to show people a better way, a way that breathes life, and transforms in radical ways. My life is about being a servant, and I want to serve as many people as possible. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

As of August 5th I will be doing an internship at Mosaic Church in California while working on a Masters Degree as well. I don't really even recognize my life anymore. It has changed and continues to change so fast. I can't wait though. There are things on the horizon that I have prayed to God all my life for... and now I get to see it unfold. It's incredible to me when I think about it. Please keep me in your prayers. Pray that I don't let up upon returning to the States. Pray that I continue to hear and follow. Thank you all for your continued support. I will be back around Salt Lake mid September to unload on all you guys and be with you. I can't wait...

He Moves

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I must say... it's hard to live in the here and now when youre coming to the end of a journey like the one we've been on. Thoughts of the future and what lies ahead dominate my thoughts these days. I don't think I've check out necessarily, but rather, it just seems easier to think about the future right now. Right now I just feel exhausted.

We've been away for almost ten months now. When I think about it, it's not that long of a time. But it feels like so much has been packed into these last ten month. So many different experiences, so many different journeys, so many different relationships. It's crazy when I think about it. One of the hardest things for me this year has been the continuous cycle of initiating and terminating relationships. The amount of time we have with each contact is just enough time to finally be comfortable around a person, but not enough time to get to know them really well. I would be considered an extrovert... but I have always had a hard time initiating relationships. Once the ball gets rolling I do a lot better. The first few days however, those crucial first magical moments, are often times moments I rather dread. The continuous saying hello and goodbye has taken its toll on me. Our team has done pretty well when it comes to being in community with contacts, and getting to know them well in the short time we have. It has been a huge blessing. But we don't seem to go into places anymore with the same eagerness to dive into the culture and the people that we are around.

So now I find myself in Panama. The people here are incredible. We are staying with a family on the floor of their living room. It can be tight at times, and it's hard to find a place to be alone. The first day we stayed with a pastor who offered to house us the whole time in an even smaller house. They actually moved their two kids into their own bedroom so we would have room to stay. It blows me away. We offer to put up our tents, but they insist we don't. We offer to pay them some money but they don't want to take it. We offer to cook them food, but they insist that they cook because they love to cook. They tell us we can clean the dishes. We eventually moved into the pastors parents house which is bigger, and we cook our own meals, and meals for a bunch of other people. But still the people here are incredible. My natural reaction to such hospitality and kindness is to insist that I be the one to be hospitable and kind. Often times I feel unworthy of such kindness and service. I feel I must do something to earn it. But usually there is nothing I can do. And when I force myself to do something, I find that I take something away from the people who are so eager to serve. If I insist that we cook, they are grateful, yes, but really they love to cook. I take that away from them. If I insist that we are intruding on their home, and we decide to find a hotel or hostel to stay at instead, I rob them of the very things that they love to do. That is simply part of them. And I would miss out on the community that I could have had with them. Why on earth do I want to stop this? I think I know some of the answers. It's what we are told we have to do to be successful in America. We have to be independent. We want to be a self made men. It's is completely opposite to the Christian message though. Completely opposite to the way we were made to be.

So what is my response to be. All I can do is be grateful, and thank God for the people he places us with. Thank God for calling Christians to be such people. These Christians actually make me want to be like them. They make me want to open my heart and my home to whoever I come in contact with. Whether they are Christians or not, whether they speak my language or not. Or whether its a bit of a burden or not, I know I want to be like them because I know how it changes me and the way I think. Hopefully I can also make it my life as well. I have been reading a lot of Old Testament lately. Time and time again God tells his people to take care of the widows and orphans... and the foreigner. You never know how you affect someone's life by being a servant. It speaks more words, without even opening your mouth, than practically any deep profound conversation you could have. I want this in my life.

So continues the theme my year. When I am tired, God picks me up. When I am failing, God reassures me. When I feel weak, God places people in my life that are so ridiculously incredible that I can't help but be changed by them.

Finding Myself

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Faith never knows where it is being led,

But it knows and loves the one who is leading.

-- Oswald Chambers

Oh Oswald, thou doth speaketh to me...

So I find myself in a place that I have never been nor could have imagined being. It is a place all together unfamiliar to me as I only thought it possible in dreams or in church sermons. As I type this I can hardly keep from smiling...reawakened I suppose to a immense sense of peace and zest for life that seems much more permanent than it ever has before. It's beginning to permeate every part of my life. Every conversation, every embrace, everything I do seems to radiate with a sense of the presence of the Divine, picking me up, dusting me off, and guiding me through he next step. For what feels like the first time in my life I feel at peace for I know the Lord is walking with me. For the first time in my life I feel like I actually trust God and what he is doing here and now, and I look with nothing but sheer excitement for what he has in store for the future. And that's the funny thing. The future is looking completely different than any of my previous dreams could have conjured, and I'm sure they will continue to change. I am actually sure that God can and will give to the ones he loves more than they could ask or imagine.

So I find myself in a place knowing what I have seemed to know for as long as God has been in my life... but there is something more now. Something that has been missing but now seems so essential and crucial. I have always known the Lord gives and takes away. I have always known that Satan comes to steal kill and destroy abundant life in Christ. But I haven't always been so sure that there is peace on the other end. I haven't always been so sure that I am resting in the arms of a Father that loves me beyond belief. I haven't always had this sense that no matter what happens... God's goodness and love always prevails. Whether it be through pain, hardships, abandonment, doubting, confusion, incredible blessing, euphoria... whatever the situation may be, God's goodness and love will prevail. Whether it immediate, whether it's years from now, whether it's in this life or in the next... something tells me that God's goodness and love will prevail.

So I find myself in a season of knowing God is what He promises to be. A season of knowing the things I hope for, and certain of the things I simply cannot see. I know not where I am going, but I can't seem to stop being enamored with the mystery of the one who is clearly in the lead. Every new day brings an abundance of endless possibilities, and new songs on my lips sing of what the Lord is doing or has accomplished.

From my journal at the beginning of the race

9/3/07 9AM

God will you reveal yourself to me when the time is right? Should I be questioning my relationship with you? Do you hear my prayers? Am I even really praying this or is it just lip motion? And if you are hearing me what must I do to get close to you? Must I speak in tongues and heal people while dancing and skipping about? Show me what true relationship is for me Lord and help me to live that out every day. I pray I have so many experiences this year I could write a book on them. I pray by the end of the year I will know you like I have never known you before. I pray that you exceed my greatest hopes and desires. I pray you show me who I am, show me how to love, and show me where I hurt. Show me that life with you is the only thing I need. Help me to clear away distractions and focus on you like I have never done before.

Test me God, so my faith in you will be forged stronger. Test me to see that I won't do anything for you if I know that's where you are leading me. Confide in me God and I will go.

9/3/07 11AM

I must say... I'm sad that the last season of my life is over. No longer I am in College and I must now move onto a new unfamiliar season. In the last four years God has grown me through uncertainty and defeat, good times and and not so good ones. I'm gonna miss being with my family, being with friends, and with the ones I have come to love so much. I will miss my brother. I will miss my mom and dad.. I will miss my youth group and being with Ryan.

However, I trust what God has in store for me will be more that I could ask or imagine... while at the same times I am thankful for the times the last season has given me. Prepare my heart God for this next season. May the trails and hardships that I experience be ever so insignificant compared to my love and dependence on you.

So when I look at it, this year is becoming more and more and answer to prayers that I have had before... but rarely believed. As I move forward the future becomes brighter. As I draw closer I come to love and trust more. My life is not the same right now, and everyday I'm reassured that it will never be the same. It will only be greater than I ask or imagine... because I am with the Lord, and His goodness and love always prevail. Life is so sweet , when Jesus is your leader.

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.

(Psa 62:11-12)

Africa in Color

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I havehad some people ask me to write more blogs about what we are doing with other people... not just about how my heart is. So although God is doing a lot in my heart right now, so I feel like I have a lot more to write about... we did have a lot of good ministry in Africa.

Here is a brief overview...

We started our journey in Mozambique with a missionary couple named Jaco and Maria Randolph. We added another member to our team for the month in the form of a rad 14 year old man named Michael Black. The seven of us and Jaco's family lived in the bush near a lake just outside of a town named Vilanculous. It was amazing. We were able to help Jaco show the Passion for hundreds of people in two different places. At the end of each showing we shared testimonies and prayed with people to receive Christ. We were also able to spend a few nights at an Orphanage in the bush. The kids live in two tents and cook rice and beans twice a day over a fire. Our hearts went out to these kids. You can check out Jaco and Maria's web site (http://www.mozambique-orphans.co.za) to get more info as they have a lot of plans but little money to put the kids in a better living environment. We were also able to preach at a lot of churches and share what God has been laying on our hearts.

Next we moved on to Nsoko, Swaziland. Our team split up in groups of two and we lived in three different homes with Swazi families. During the day we would help at Care Points which are buildings set up to provided basic education and meals to some of the local children who are in need. The guys were pulled of the homesteads early in order to help set up a massive revival tent which was set up to dedicate a new church plant and community center. We also worked to help the church plant pastor named Gift prepare for the revivals. On Easter Sunday some five hundred people showed up to the dedication of the community center and the ordination of Pastor Gift. We killed a cow (a 7 mile, 4 hours, fun filled morning) which fed all the people. The new Church is doing well. Around 60 people have been showing up every week.

Finally in Botswana we stayed with a pastor named Musa and his family. God brought us right where he needed us by plugging us into a church community in the capital city of Gabrone. We spent a lot of time in worship and in prayer. More time than I ever have in my life. We lived among people who were completely filled with faith. They expected God to show up in everything they did. We visited a hospital and prayed for people as well as an aids clinic. They worshipped with fervor, and passion. The people welcomed us into their community showed us an amazing amount of hospitality. We were able to help one of the church members prepare a day care center by moving bricks a few days. One of our prayers going into Botswana was to set up some opportunities for other teams to be based there. We were given to opportunity to sit in on a board meeting for a group called Fly Missions who were gracious enough to put us into contact with all kinds of local ministries including an orphanage and another church. Though we weren't able to do much ministry with them, the January team will be going up there these next few months and plugging in.

This is as quick of an overview as I can do. I know there is a lot missing. Its been an amazing last three months though. God has brought me through a lot, and he has allowed me to be involved in a lot. We saw many come to Christ, and many different expressions of Christ in the pastors and people we met.

Below is a video that we made of our time in Africa. Hope you enjoy it...

LESS in Africa from Danny Gutman on Vimeo.

Update

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hey all,

I'm in Spain right now, heading to Costa Rica tomorrow. It's sad to be leaving Africa but I'm excited for what God has next. I'm also stoked to try and use some of my Spanish for Jesus.

I wanted to let you know that I made my support deadlines thanks to you all. So I will be finishing this thing out. These next three months are going to be intense. God has been bringing up a lot of stuff in my life, a lot of wretchedness. It's been a hard last three months in Africa, but I know he redeems everything in the end. He always offers us new beginnings, new trials, new heartaches that stretch and grows us. He also shows us how to life out the new changes he makes in us. I feel like Central America will be living out change. Figuring out what it all means, and embracing it. He has given me a new name, and I don't want to stop pressing in until I can walk in that new name.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I still need to raise around $1000. So please continue to pray for me in that.

Thanks friends.

A little ditty

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Here is a little blog our girls put together... enjoy

We wanted to make a really special photo blog that would capture the really amazing, powerful, meaningful couple of weeks we experienced in Botswana. Seriously, it was amazing... but upon scanning our photos... it seems that it is more appropriate to do this photo blog. Here's a glimpse into another part of our world.

Before we went to Botswana we spent some time in Pretoria and Johannesburg:

Normal Things: passing the time on a street corner, waiting for our ride

Multitasking: we cleaned our pores and practiced driming to share the love of Jesus all at the same time. Please note what a Holy experience Lindsey is having.

Several mornings in a row we practiced packing our bags and the car... only to unpack them and return to our cabins later in the morning. However, when the big day came we were ready... and we were on our way to Botswana.

Upon arriving in Botswana we were surprised to discover that we weren't living in the bush, but rather in a gorgeous guest house...

And we got to drive a Benz... once. But it was really awesome. Danny even found a pair of bling bling Grandma glasses.

The rest of the time we rode in the back of a pickup truck. It was really windy. We always looked exactly like this. Always.

Except when we got bored... and started to pick on each other. Don't be worried, Sarah only had minor wounds from her beating by the loaf... Colleen kissed it and made it all better

The pickup took us to lots of interesting places... and got us in touch with our inner selves...

Everywhere we went we met some really amazing people from Botswana:

Meet Felix.

There was always something to laugh about.

We met some people with common interests... like the little mermaid... and head hugs.

Some of us even found love...

Looking Back... in Botswana we really got in touch with our African roots:

After a rigourous tryout... Sarah made the South African rugby team... and then went into the past and won the world cup. She's really good at rugby.

Kyle did his best to blend in. He sprung for a precision haircut. Please observe the perfect 90 degree angle at his hairline... as the stlyist is applying Hair food... before he brushed the hair for no less than 10 minutes. Kyle makes this look goooooood.

Kyle did his best but Lindsey actually became African... note the puffy sleeves and the sweet tambourine skills.

We spent some time reflecting on the last 8 months of our lives, what the World race has meant to us, and how dreamy that George Clooney is.

We're back in South Africa for debrief now. We'll be flying to Latin America on the 20^th to start the last leg of our Journey. Don't worry... we have plenty of memories to share... and even a few souvenirs for you lucky folks back home.

A Video?

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

So I know its been a while since a video was posted on this thing. But below is a special video because is a Danny/ Sarah joint production. She asked me to put together a video of some of our little competitions in Mozambique. She told me she thought it would only take an hour or two. So two months later and a bunch of hours spent toiling... here it is.

I would also like to know that we are well aware of the chessy Christian music playing in the background... what can I say... we have changed so much on this thing. It's pretty much the only music that satisfies.

And for any of you who really do like the music selection I would also like to point out that I'm a huge testify to love fan. So much so, me and a bunch of dudes drove up to Alaska and listened to it on repeat for probably a total of an entire day... it warms my heart.

World Race Olympics from Danny Gutman on Vimeo.

The Big 23

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I had a birthday this week. I am in Botswana. A Botswana birthday. It was a Botswana birthday to remember too. Birthdays have always been kinda funny things for me. I remember some that were awesome. At the same time though there have been a lot of birthdays where some of the saddest things in my life have occurred. In middle school on my birthday I remember waking up to find my mother in pain. She was pregnant and she asked me to pray for her baby. She had a miscarriage later that day... Then, in high school I remember waking up on my birthday and finding my mother crying once again. It was like deja vous. She told me her mother, my grandma Nonnie, had past away. We headed out the next day to her funeral. There are more things too, my mom or dad went in for surgery once or twice on my birthday. I'm not really sure where I'm taking this... but I think its strange, how on days of celebration God has showed me death, and pain, and sorrow. To tell the truth I don't really remember the normal birthdays. Don't get me wrong. I know I've had really good birthdays, but its the ones where something tragic happened that I remember most. Something big and different than the birthday clowns, and games, and gummy bears. The birthdays I remember are the ones where I found myself at a completely different place at the end of the day. Every time I have a birthday I remember my grandma. I remember how awesome she was and how she cared for me so much. Every time I have a birthday I think of how crazy it would be to have a little brother that was 10 years younger than me. I remember that life is not all about a party. It's about remembering what has happened, where you have been, and where you have come. If I go through my past, and measure how and where I have grown and where God has taken me, against where I am today... chances are I haven't changed much. All this to say, I want to always remember. God has been drilling in my head to remember my first love. Remember that Jesus is the one that brought my parents together so I could come into existence. Remember that Jesus is the one who has changed my life in more ways than I could count. Remember that Jesus is the one who has brought me here today to have a birthday in Botswana. Just like I never want to forget my grandma, or my brother... I never want to forget what Jesus has been doing in my life here in Botswana. Though nothing bad or sad happened on my birthday, I never want to forget this birthday because it's a year of change and growth for me. It's one of those times that at the end of my 22^nd year I found myself in a completely different place than I expected.

Now that I have shown you how deep and mature I am now that I am 23 by telling you all that, I would like to tell you about what happened on my birthday, because it really was an awesome day. The day started with my team. One thing you should know about my team is that we have Sarah. Sarah is passionate about birthdays. She carries around a calender of all the birthdays she celebrates and its packed with birthdays. We also have Colleen. Colleen is passionate about being awesome on birthdays and making awesome birthday cakes called the Bomb. The two of their powers combined form the birthday committee. They are so on-it when it comes to birthdays that they buy people birthday presents months in advance. They managed a ride to one of our favorite South African chain restaurants called Mug and Bean. We got a nice breakfast, opened presents, and drank good coffee. Any day with good coffee is a good day to me. As a birthday treat I got to frivolously spend some of my support money on a latte. So thank you supporters for the latte.

After breakfast we went to the church we have been working with and prayed and worshipped for over three hours. I love it. I love worship. I love to think about being face to face with the God of the Universe praising His name. I love His presence. Kyle shared an awesome message which you could probably get a glimpse of if you check out his blog. God has been laying incredible stuff on his heart.

We managed to head back to the mall to meet a contact to find out about some ministry opportunities, and we also got some internet time. After the meeting we then went and found some more internet time. It's a precious thing here in Africa.

The day was finalized by going to a surprise birthday party that I already knew about. The party was sweet. The people here are so loving, it blows my mind. They made a ton of traditional Setswana food which was so good. They also gave me a bag which had roses (cultural thing), an African shirt, and a card. One lady even put money in the card. It's overwhelming to me. I felt so loved by a community that I only met a week ago. They also bought me a big cake. Overwhelming.

So we spent the night together. The six people on our team and some fifteen Botswanan people. We talked about God, about cultures, about food, about marriage, about divorce, about traveling. It was truly the kind of night that I wish everyday on the Race could be like. We eventually ate the Bomb (so good). Let me tell you about the bomb. The bomb is Ice Cream cake with not one but two different flavors of ice cream. They also packed marshmallows and chocolate pudding (a rarity in these parts) into it and cover the whole thing in Nutella. Wow. Needless to say after pounding the bomb everyone was about to keel over and it was late, so we sang some worship songs, prayed for some people and went home.

The bottom line...it was an awesome birthday. Not only because we had the bomb, the gifts, the coffee, the worship, the internet, the food, the people... but because God spoke to me. He reminded me how far he has taken me, and how far he still will take me if I let him. He reminded me of times that have changed my life. He reminded me of people that were in my life and poured into me. He reminded me that birthdays are a dime a dozen, but people are forever. He reminded me of my family and how much they have done for me, and how much they love me. He reminded me that he has my heart and he has an amazing purpose for my life if I will only press into him. He reminded me that I wouldn't be here without the friends and family that pour into my life back home. I could go on. Thank you for bearing with me. God is so good. In good and bad he is so good. Thank you for you're prayers and support.

Pressing On

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Folks,

I'm currently in Africa and loving every moment of it. Communication has been difficult here so let me fill you in on where I've been for the last few months. We arrived in Swaziland at the end of January and spent a week or so going through teachings through some of the staff that have moved here and Tom Davis who originally got me into this journey. After this we drove for two days into Mozambique into a coastal city named Vilanculous. Vilanculous was absolutely amazing. We lived in our tents near a lake and did everything from living at an orphanage in the Bush, to preaching at crazy churches who are entrenched in Witchcraft. As far as Mozambique itself, it was definitely the poorest country we have lived in thus far. For more on the Orphanage we stayed at (which is in desperate need of attention and finances) check out our web site www.becomeless.com. It will tear your heart out. At the beginning of March we moved out of Mozambique (two day drive with eleven other people in a seven passenger vehicle... memories that will last a life time) back into Swaziland. We spent a weekend driving up to Kruger National Park where I was able to see some wild life and some friends from Salt Lake who are out here on a mission trip. It was flippin incredible to see some familiar faces though it did make me somewhat home sick. Nevertheless it was a huge blessing. The last few weeks we have been in rural Swaziland living amongst the locals while preparing for a Church Plant. The Church was officially was planted on Easter Sunday. Similar to my involvement with K2 before it was officially a Church, the Church in Swaziland was a powerful thing to be involved with. I was certainly blessed to be a part of it. Currently I am listening to a group of Zimbabwe immigrants, who just had there homes burned to the ground, pray and thank God for his provision... though they have lost pretty much everything.

It really has been incredible being here as God has used these last few months to really challenge, grow, and stretch me. Just like any other time in my life there have been some huge ups and some killer downs. There has been a lot of new life, and there has been a lot of death. A lot of light, and plenty of darkness. While there has been plenty of ministry, orphans, hammering, feeding, and preaching... I feel God is changing me more than anything. Coming onto this trip I had three major spiritual goals. I wanted to increase my faith, find my name in Christ, and I wanted to come alive. God has moved more than I could have asked or imagine in all these, and I know that he will only continue to move more.

Before the World Race started I was unsure about whether God really wanted me on this thing. Now there is no doubt in my mind that I am exactly where he wants me to be. It's freeing. However I have only managed to raise about 80% of the support needed to finish the Race. I can't show my appreciation enough to those who have supported me in there prayers and finances. Just thinking about how many people have poured into me over the course of my life and the course of this trip humbles me, and brings joy to my heart. However if I want to finish this thing I need around $3,000 more in support. When using my math skills from college I figure if most the people I'm sending this letter to could give $30 I would set for the rest of the Race until August when I return home. There are a few ways you can give. By going to my web site (www.danielgutman.theworldrace.org) you can donate support online. Otherwise, you can make a check out to Adventures in Missions with Daniel Gutman on the memo line and mail it to Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA, 30353-4470. My next deadline is mid April. If I don't have at least $1000 raised I will not be able to go the the final leg of the trip in Central America.

I can't thank you guys enough for how you have supported me already. Thank you for reading my blogs and encouraging me throughout the year. My community is such a blessing to me. Though I really do miss and love you guys, I know God has me right where he wants me.

Much Love,

Daniel

Whats happenin In Mozambique

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hello from Team Less. Sorry it's been so long since we've written. Internet was off limits during out time in China and it's taken us awhile to get back to this. Since we last wrote we've arrived in Africa, done training for a week in Swaziland and made our voyage into Mozambique. Jackie and Lindsey also celebrated birthdays in January and February!

Here's our latest update and some pictures for you

Ministry and Team Activities - CF

The past two weeks have been full of different ministry opportunities and times of learning and being filled up by God. Last week we spent two days and two nights at the orphanage. It was a great time of playing with the children, cooking, and at night having a time of songs, games, and a Bible story. This week we spent three days teaching at a local church. We each taught one or two lessons and the topics were things like children's ministry, prayer, God's comfort, the Kingdom of Heaven, distractions, etc. We also have spent time at this church the past two Sunday's and another local church. This has given both Danny and Kyle the opportunity to preach to both congregations. The days we have not been teaching at the church or at the orphanage, we have been focusing on the Elijah House Christian Counseling course we are taking on Inner Healing. This consists of video seminars, small group discussions, and personal reflection. We have all gained from these teachings and God is teaching us and growing us individually and as a team. A highlight this week was Friday because it was Lindsey's birthdayJ! We spent the day at the markets in town, went to lunch, and spent time at the beach. It was a fun day of relaxing and being "us"

Lindsey reclaimed her pirate identity on her birthday

Coming Up- LM

Tuesday thru Friday we will be going out to the Bush in Mabouti, which is about 3hrs from Vilanculos, where we will be splitting up into three groups and teaching at three different churches. We will also be showing the Jesus film at night and hopefully getting the chance to get to know the people who live out there. We are looking forward to spending time out there.

Jackie preaching at church

Danny playing a log at the orphange

Spiritual Discussions - DG

We have all been growing here in some pretty awesome ways. Having to preach so much has in many made us all sit down and really process what God has been teaching us and laying on our hearts. Additionally we just finished doing a 25 lesson course dealing with inner healing called Elijah House. Not only has it been good for healing in our own lives, but God will surely use it to better understand and help heal the lives of other. Many seeds have been sown this month. Seeds that come harvest time will yield some amazing fruit in our lives and others.

As far as prayer goes

Pray for continued healing in all of our lives

Pray this upcoming week as we are heading into the bush to preach Christ crucified and encourage the local churches

Pray for people in the bush as they will be seeing The Passion and The Jesus Film for the first time.

Pray for guidance as to where in Africa we are to go next... there are many open doors.

Pray for continued unity among the team... that God would continue to knit our hearts together.

Pray for the Orphanage that Jaco and Maria have started here. Right now it is running off bare essentials, and there is a huge waiting list for more Orphans to receive aid.

Pray for continue health in our team.

Much love to all who read this. Thank you for your prayers and continued support. We love you guys.

Cultural Quirk- SB

Running water is something we've recently added to the list of things we take for granted. At the house we are blessed with running water but even here it comes in via pump and if the generator isn't running no water. This makes the first toilet flush of the morning a special experience. Then we visited the orphange they are building in the bush. The kids load up containers into their wheelbarrows and head off to the pump several times a day. It's about a 10 minute walk and the pump looks like the cartoons of what you pump to move little carts through mines... I can only hope you followed that! Then they haul the water back and store it in big tupperware tubs that get used for all water purposes.

Special feature- Classifieds

Now presenting Michael Black our extreme makeover World Race edition I think you can see that being around Team Less has really helped our 14 year old friend find his true identity. 14 year olds girls can contact Michael through his fathers blog only those with 5 year plans need apply.

Hows My Heart

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It's been a while. It's been a hard first month here in Africa, so I haven't really known what to write about. Ministry has been awesome. We stayed at an orphanage in the bush for a few days. We have also been teaching and preaching at a local church everyday. God has been working on a lot of things. It's been burying me for the most part, but recently the burdens became a little different. I'm going back to simply writing out my journal. It is after all what I'm going through, the best and the worst. So heres my heart.

I'm sobbing right now. It's cleansing me... purging my body. It hurts, but I feel like I'm human again. My heart aches, but it reminds me that God is with me and he is close to me. I can remember the last time I cried. There have been so few times I've broken down like this that it's easy to remember. Last time I cried was when I watched my baptism four and a half years ago. I have always considered that to be the first time I truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit come on me. It was the first time I knew beyond a doubt I was in the presence of God. You could almost say it was the first time God confirmed ,outside my own intellect, that he would be there for me. He would be with me. It was as if He was taking the first step with me. I was undone. That was the last time also... I don't really break down much. I can usually ride it out when I feel it trying to come up... when I feel like I just want to collapse. I don't know why I ride it out. It may be the way I was raised. But really I feel like it's just the kind of person God made me. Lots of people say strong men cry a lot. This is true... there are a lot of strong men that cry often, but there are also a lot of wussy wimpy men that cry often. And there are lots of strong men that don't cry very often... like my dad. He is a man. He stands up for people and situations where many people may throw in the towel. He knows where God has brought him and what he has been brought through and he doesn't apoligize for the way the Lord has guided him to handle certain situations. He's been loyal to my mother and many of his friends through some really heart breaking situations. He gave up a job that probably could have made our family a lot richer just so he could spend more time with my brother and I. The dude is a man. He's a strong man.

At the beginning of the Race some of the leaders prayed with me and asked God to remove the heart of stone that I knew I had come with to training. I was simply emotionless. I closed my eyes for their prayers and wondered if God was really prompting their prayer for me or if they had just memorized it, like the prayer of Jabez or something. Don't get me wrong, it's a good prayer, powerful stuff that I'm sure has help a lot of people. But it's Jabez's prayer. I realize that every word of the Bible is significant and meaningful, one of the biggest reasons I came on this trip was so that I could find what kind of prayer I should be praying. Why did God make me and wired me the way I'm wired? What is my name in Christ? I wanted to hear what God thinks of me... so I continued on still very stoic.

Throughout the race I've continually prayed to God to break down my walls, help me to trust, destroy my skeptism, increase my faith, and allow me to feel for people. And looking back at it now I realize that God has answered each and every one of these prayers in some way or another. And he continues to answer them. He has been bringing me through all kinds of situations. but God knows that I need him to be gentle...so it's been gradual. I haven't fallen over backwards and recieved it, though some people have prayed for me too. I haven't come to it through hitting a wall of exhaustion. You have to learn to slow dance before you can break dance. From the start of the Race I have simply done the things I know I can do. I have simply taken every chance or oputunity I can for God to use me. Today might actually be the first day I haven't gone out and done ministry when the rest of my team is going.

Today was a different day though. Today I broke down. Today I wept. I tried to hold back, I tried to hold back around my team. I tried to put on my strong face. Leaders don't cry... right? Sometimes God moves so much at a given time that everytime you look someone in the eye you are inebriated with a potent cocktail of love, fear, failure, joy, weakness, grief, shame, strength, peace, anxiety, and pain... this is repentance. It comes when you know that you have grieved the Father and you can't help but notice that your sin doesn't just affect you and whoever it is you sin against... It affects every single person you are around. It's when you can't help but wonder how much love has been withheld from the people around you or how much of your joy has been spent being burdened with your sin. Basically you can't help but think about how completely and utterely depraved you really are. And these feelings don't even begin to describe how you are feeling about the one you sinned against. Ashamed is probably the best word for it. Absolutely ashamed.

Grace Father, I need grace.

Mercy Father, I need mercy

Forgiveness Father, I need your forgiveness

There are two things that made me cry like Oprah today.

1. I've greived God, and I've grieved others. I repent. I have sinned.

2. I don't deserve grace... I don't deserve to be here. People have loved on me my whole life when I don't deserve it. But my parents my brother, my friends, my church, my teamates, my pastors and my mentors continue to love me.

It's God's kindness and God using others' kindness that brings about my repentance. It's God's kindness that brings strong men to their knees. It's God's kindness that show us who we are.

A friend of mine told me that he has been praying for a heart like David's. When David was confronted by Nathan about his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and his murdering of Bathsheba's husband, all David can say is, "I have sinned against the Lord."

So I'm stealing my friends prayer today... Lord give me a heart like David...

Calling On Angels

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I'm still stuck on China even though we are currently in Swaziland Africa. Like most people I know, Africa seems to have always been on my heart for whatever reason. In fact, there have been a few season of my life that I felt like God was calling me here. It never panned out though. Now I am here. It's crazy to me. I don't think God lays something on our hearts without a purpose. There is always a reason if our desires our sincere and in line with him. Coming to this leg of the race there is a strong sense that God has been preparing me for something here. Something he started preparing when he initially laid Africa on my heart. Once again now I am here.

Before I dive into my journal and some of my thoughts about China I would like to go through a conversation we had with one of our contacts before we left. We were briefed by a guy who had been doing mission work in China for some time now. The two things that he told us during our briefing which I wrote more about in my journal were 1. If you ever need help or you get lost, pray to God and ask for help... wait a few minutes... and he will send an angel or someone else who will come up to you and say "may I help you." 2. The other thing that he told us was that we would see people come to Christ in the short time we spent in China. So here is what I wrote in my journal after the first day we crossed into China.

It was one of those days that putting my thoughts down on paper will not do the day any justice. We are now in the southern part of China. Just this morning we were in Hong Kong under the impression that we wouldn't be leaving for China for at least another day. Around 10:00 am we were told that we would be leaving in two hours and hour of which would be taken by a quick briefing on mainland China. As I was speaking with the guy that was briefing us about how we would get to our destination he told me if I ever got lost I would just need to stop and pray for Jesus to send and angel. Seeing that the way we were supposed to get into China was pretty complicated I simply smiled and kept trying to convince myself that everything would go without a hitch and all the loose ends would come together. He then said that after waiting for a few minutes once we asked God for an angel someone would come up to us and say "may I help you."

So we left. I didn't really think much into it. Part of me just thought it was typical Christianise talk I suppose. To be honest I thought it would be a miracle if we made it to the place we were supposed to get to... God loves miracles. What is crazy to me as I write this is that this is my life. I have met people who don't even need to think twice when asked if the believe God loves coming through in their life. I have always thought of those events that you hear happen to people as a special phenomenon in some ways. Its not that I doubted that God had done some pretty awesome things in their lives... but I never really believed it would happen much in my life. God wrecked that belief of mine. I am learning He loves coming through for us in the moments when we genuinely need him most.

As we continued to go deeper into China we somehow were hurried into a tiny bus. This was not in the plans. Six Americans with two other Chinese people and all our stuff were not something I was told I should be expecting. I started to worry. I asked Sarah who was in the front to try and communicate that we need to somehow get to the train station. He of course didn't speak a lick of English. Out of the blue the Chinese girl who was being squashed by all our luggage turned to me saying "may I help you." As watched stunned as she began communicating with our driver. We then got out of the van and she offered to help us find the train station. After that she helped us find a hostel for about half the price we were expecting to pay right outside the train station. I then needed to get a taxi and pick up the tickets at a random hotel. She offered to walk us there. As we were talking with her she told us to stop thanking her so much. Kyle looked down and saw she was wearing a cross on her belt. As we were hurried into a taxi we continued to thank her. "It's not me" I remember her saying. There are 1 billion people in China. Some estimate that around 80 million people are Christians. I was told that one out of every thirty speak conversational English. We found Carol... who spoke English. I am blown away today. I feel like God sent us and angel. He protected us all day. He guided us all day. God is so thick here in China. He is moving is such powerful ways. Though I've only been here one day I can just feel it. He is calling me... beckoning me. He is moving in ways I've never be accustomed to seeing him move. I can't wait.

China was full of these kinds of stories. I hope to put up at least one more journal entry.

First Love

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The word of the Lord came to me: "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: "'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,'" declares the Lord.

(Jer 2:1-3)

Back in the loop. Thank you all for your prayers. The last twenty days have been some of the most incredible days I have ever had. It's one of those times in life that you can't help but be overwhelmed with the love and goodness of the Father. Those times that you feel as if you were getting a piggy back ride from God. He was that close. Every day seemed to offer more and more "coincidences" and affirmations that God was with us, journeying with us. I could try to recap, but I would likely not do to well at telling the stories since it has been a few weeks. It's always amazing to me at how fast we can forget how God has moved in our lives. How fast we forget all the great and amazing things he has given us. Instead we tend to focus on the times that God seemed absent. God does not promise that life will go peachy when you follow him... but he does promise he will be with us, and he does tells us he is good. And when he does show his goodness, you can't help but close your eyes and stand in awe of him. I suppose this is one of the reasons that even through the New Testament, people of the Bible were continually reminded of how God had delivered them out of Egypt. For my next few blogs I will simply type out some of my journal entries of our days in China. Hopefully they will do best to share a glimpse of how God moved with our team these last few weeks.

God help me never to forget the way you showed yourself daily in China. Help me never to forget how good, and loving, and how freakin awesome you are. Help me never to forget God that you are and always will be my First Love. God help me to walk in your presence daily in the rich and the dry times. Help me to continually raise my gaze to you in whatever I am doing. I love you Jesus...

I'm Out

Wed, 2 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Gang,
There is so much on this thing that I planned to catch up everyone up on, but we just received word that we are leaving into China in about an hour. So... please keep us in your prayers this month. There is a lot of warfare here. Continue to lift our team up in terms of unity and loving each other and pray also that God will rock us this month like he has never done before. We will be completely out of contact until around Jan 20, so please also pray for strength as we are without contact with friends and family back home. So much to pray about... pray that people come to know God, and the wonders in life that he has for them. Pray that conversation can be had that have God finger prints all over them. Pray that we get to where we are supposed to with relatively little trouble as we will be in transit for the next three days or so. I love all of you back home. Thank you for the encouragement you sent me around Christmas via video, and emails. China is ahead and God loves China. I pray that he will use our team in awesome ways while we are here.

Team Blog Philippines

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

If you haven't already don't forget to check out www.becomeless.com. We bought a few goats for one of the families that we have bonded with out here with some of the funds we recieved. I can't thank my supporters enough for everything they have given to me and other people that I have met on this trip. Each day is filled with more relationships and faces who don't have many needs we would consider basic. There are a few other families we are wanting to buy chickens for. Once bought the missionaries here will moniter how the animals are being used, and that they are being used as a source of income. Its always amazing when we can meet those basic needs. So thankyou... really.

Ministry/ Team Activities

This past week has been packed full of awesome ministry opportunities. We had our usual daily schedules which consisted of: Jackie and Colleen helping teach at the elementary school, Danny and Kyle working on the sewage project, and Sarah and Lindsey spending time at the Children's Home taking care of the kids and playing with them. We were also able to take the children swimming a couple times and attend a fun clown visit at the school. Jackie, Lindsey, and Colleen were able to bake and decorate Christmas cookies one day with the younger children from the Children's Home, while Danny and Kyle took the older boys bowling. Sarah was able to go to a high school rugby tournament all day and spend time with the high school girls she has been getting to know. On our day off, we were able to go visit a market which was a really fun experience. It has been an awesome week, and we are so thankful for all of the opportunities the Lord has provided for us.

Coming Up

Our team along with DJ and Rachel, our hosts, are planning to take a trip next weekend to Corregidor Island, an important island in defending Manila during WW2. We will take an early morning ferry and tour the island during the day checking out previous battle grounds and ruins, swimming and hiking and sleeping overnight on the beach there.

Besides going to Corregidor, we will be continuing our regular jobs teaching, helping at the children's home and working on building a septic tank for the community. We are very sad that our time is coming to a close here. This is our last full week before the rest of our squad joins us on December 19. Even though we will be excited to see them, their coming means that our time here is ending and we have to say goodbye to all of our friends and our community here.

Prayer Requests

God is awesome. We seem to be reminded of this almost everyday. He is working in so many different ways in all of our lives. Its exciting to be here still relatively in the beginning of this thing. Thank you all for your prayers as they are definitely felt. Whether it's our prayers for brokeness, or our prayers for team unity, or our prayers for finances, God has been covering us in His grace and answering our prayers. So thank you.

Pray that God will continue to reveal himself to us, that we would seek Him first, and that we would continue to become completely dependant on Him.

Huge Praise that all of us seem to be feeling much better. There still may be some lingering sickness but thank you for the prayers.

Please continue to pray for the people we are working with. Jeff Long and his family, D.J. And Rachel, Kim and Sherwin's family.

There are 8 new children coming into the children's home we are working with. Please pray that these kids will adjust quickly.

Pray for encouragement and support amongst our team. We are not doing a lot of our ministry as a team though there are some thing we get to do together. Pray that we can support each other however God is using us, and through through us and on us.

It seems like our team has been very fatigued this month. It has been hard to over come. Please pray for God's strength to be present in us in a physical sense.

Huge praise for Colleen and her finances. God has done some incredible things in the last week.

Sarah's foot is hurting lately. Please pray for its healing.

Pray that as we are growing God will bestow us with wisdom and discernment.

Our prayer go out to our friends and family affected by the shooting at New Life Church in Colorado.

Cultural Quirkiness

We heard a new spin on why we eat rice with every meal here in the Philippines. We had a pizza and ice cream party for a group of the boys from the Children's home. 8 boys under the age of 11 ate 3 large pizzas and quart of ice cream. They headed up the street for devotions. An hour later, they were called the kitchen and served another full plate of rice and chicken adobo. We were floored; where could these tiny people possibly be putting yet more food. We asked the staff and the reply was this, "unless a Pilipino eats rice, they are never full." It doesn't matter how much or what variety of food they eat there will always be rice.

When The Rich Meet the Poor

Wed, 5 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Poverty and community are two things that have been enveloping a lot of my thoughts here in the Philippines. As a result my next few blogs will likely be many of the things running through my mind on the subjects. They may or may not be coherent, fascinating, or valuable in any way; but if nothing else, please check out the web site (www.becomeless.com) we put up in an effort to have our supporter join us in simply blessing people who are in need. You can also plug in to many of the ministries we have made contact with and consider your own mission journeys or financial support to anyone of these contacts. It's good stuff. We already have recieved some funds and we are planning on blessing a family here with chickens to hopefully create some kind of income for them. We are excited to see what God does with it.

"It's no wonder that the footsteps of Jesus led from the tax collectors to the lepers. I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end." - Shane Claiborne

It was one of those days where you can't help but be excited for what's about to take place. It reminded me of the way I felt on Valentine's Day this year when a group from our church spent the evening at a rented out restaurant and served a meal to women living on the streets. I woke up that morning just knowing that God's love was going to be irresistible. And it was. It was the best Valentine's day I've ever had. It was one of those days that you felt as if the world were set right for an evening. One of those days that heaven seemed that much closer to earth.

This last Saturday a group of about 20 people wealthy people brought their kids to the children's home that we have been working with for the past three weeks. When I arrived at the children's home you could see that there was tension in some of the wealthy people. The wealthy kids didn't really know how to interact with the children's home kids, and they weren't really sure about the safety of playing on a trampoline with a giant hole in it. I'm sure the same would be true if we had brought all the children from the children's home to one of their houses. But as the day went on the tension seemed to melt away. Our team played with the kids and struck up conversations with the new visitors. The kids started being kids and they began to feel more comfortable being around each other.

Eventually the Children's home kids gathered and gave the rich folks what they could offer them in the form of some dancing and singing. It was priceless.

Dancing With Man Man from Danny Gutman on Vimeo.

The day continued and the wealthy people were taken on a tour of the surrounding squatter residences in the slums surrounding the children's home. They were shown the missionary home that we are staying in, and the wall that was just built to get some of the sewage off the street. They were also shown the community center that was built to be used as a school for orphans and families that cannot afford the public schools here. Throughout the tour some of the rich folk were very interested, some were very uncomfortable, and some decided it was time leave... so they left.

As it came to the end of the day, everyone went inside the Children's home and gathered around the Christmas tree. Under the tree were shoes. The rich folk had bought shoes for all the children. For many of them it was the first pair of shoes they owned. One by one they came up to receive the said shoes and gave the gifter a big hug. As everyone got up to leave it was interesting to see the expression on every ones face. The Children were intently fixated on their new shoes, while the rich folk seemed to be either smiling or crying. They seemed like they were more touched than the children who actually got the gift. The awkward tension of the day had completely dissipated. Many of the rich folk want to make their visits a regular thing, just to be with the kids. Getting new shoes is an exciting thing. But to me it's an even more exciting thing to see the face of a child who gets the shoes. It's way more exciting to love someone knowing that you likely will get nothing in return... and it's exciting to be completely ok with that. It's exciting when the poor meet the rich, because it only takes a little time to realize that we are all human in this thing. We are all in the same boat when it comes down to it. We all want to be loved, we all want to see the good in the world shine forth. It's true that when the rich meet the poor, wealth no longer has a meaning. And when the poor meet the rich, poverty seems to fade into the background.

Team Blog Philippines

Sun, 2 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Our Team has put together a website at www.becomeless.com . It was made in the hope that our supporters could have more of a chance to be involved with what we are doing on the field via support or giving our contacts to others so that they can be used by others. Check it out if you have time. We are still working out some of the kinks so let us know what you think. Thank you for everything, with out you guys we couldn't partake in such an incredible journey.

Ministry/ Team Activities

This week was the start of our ministry here in the Philippines. Colleen and Jackie are working for a local school in the mornings. Colleen will help with the kindergarten class, while Jackie works with the 1^st/2^nd grade class. Kyle and Danny have been helping to make a retaining wall for the sewage that runs down the street. They have worked on this project for 3 days this week. They will continue on this week. Sarah and Lindsey have been helping at the children's home. They get to play with the children and have some fun. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, the whole team got to go swimming. Swimming was a great time to get to know the children at the children's home and have some fun. The team went to a basketball game on Wednesday night. It was nice to get out and cheer on a game. Team LESS was able to have a traditional Thanksgiving with 9 new friends that are helping out at the children's home. Saturday brought a fun day for the team. It was Kyle's birthday and so the team got to go out and have some fun. The activity of the day was paintballing. It was a first for most of the team and luckily not too many bruises were felt. Saturday night was spent at the school playing basketball and showing video.

What We Are DoingA typical day

A couple of us are usually up at the crack of dawn to go jogging and some are up early for quiet time. As a team, we are sitting together by seven with a fresh cup of coffee getting ready to pray and do our daily devotional. Shortly after prayer, we sit down together for breakfast. After breakfast, Jackie and Colleen set out for the Cuatro Christian School to teach. Sarah and Lindsey walk up the street to the children's home to play with kids. Danny and Kyle walk up the road to help out with the sewage/septic project.

Around noon we usually all meet back together at the house to have lunch together.

After lunch, we have a bunch of different options. Danny and Kyle get to go back to the sewage/septic project. Some days we bring the kids from the children's home to a pool to go swimming. We have basketball and volleyball leagues that we have been asked to participate in. Sarah has been helping out by coaching rugby up at Faith Academy, a high school for kids of missionaries. This week, a couple of pro baseball players will be here and Danny and Kyle have been asked to help out with a program that they will run. Danny will also be helping DJ, one of our hosts, with a website design project. When things are slow, we can run up the street and play with kids.

Before the kids' bedtime, we go read bed time stories and have devotionals with them. We will also be staying overnight with the kids at the home a night a week and the some of the girls have offered to stay up watching some little babies next door.

Spiritual Discussions

Every morning, we have been meeting as a team to pray together and have a devotion. Each team member has a day of the week that they share something from Scripture that God is teaching them. This has been so beneficial for our team, and it has caused us to be more open and vulnerable with each other. This month we have also been able to eat our meals together and spend more time with each other than we did in Cambodia. This Philippines has been such blessing to our team in many ways, and we are thankful for what the Lord is doing.

Prayer Requests

-Danny's toe is infected, please pray for healing
-For God to strip down Kyle more and that God will reveal to him who He really is (see his blog for more details)
-The Children's Home
-Our team has been fighting the tiredness/blah feeling
-Continued team unity and quality time

Cultural Quirkiness

Filipinos use a lot of facial expressions to communicate. Do not be offended by the raised eyebrows here. That is just one way of saying hello. Also if you ask where something is it is not uncommon for someone to point to it with their puckered lips.

Our Little Church (Part 2)

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So as promised I want to go through my other teammates. You can read the first part of this blog by clicking here. When I think about even writing this blog, it's amazing to me how much we have better come to know each other since that first week in September. If someone would have asked me the first month we knew each other to write a blog about them I would have laughed since coming into this thing I didn't even know their last names. Now however, it seems completely natural and the things that God has wired them to do.

Agape Gigantisidis or Captain Compassion/ Assistant to the Jefe of Children's Outreach

When I thought about roles for the team, Lindsey's role seem the most blatant. Lindsey just feels for people. Her heart breaks when she see someone hurting, she quivers at injustice, and she is passionate about meeting peoples needs wherever they are at. When I describe her, she kinda sounds like a super hero. There have been several times over the course of this trip already where Lindsey has shared her heart in a devotional or conversation and completely rocked me. She see how the world should be, the way God created it to be, and is distraught by how the world actually is. So going back to the superhero metaphor, you might say that injustice is her cryptonite. It weakens her... to the point that she has felt sick on some days. But God has used her weakness to make her into a person of action and strength. He has made her a person that will feed the one asking for food, or take the opportunity to visit the slum and love on the kids. So, Lindsey has been put in charge of giving that fire to the rest of us and heading up any extra compassion ministries that we do with team money or with extra support given to us by one of our supporters.

Intercessory Coordinator and Jefe of Children's Outreach/ Assistant to the Hospitality Manager

Here on Team Less we are not at all about doing things passively without consideration as to why we are doing it, but we are all about intercession with our creator. Sarah, in particular, is all about prayer. Sarah role on our team was also very easy to think of. She just does it, and she has been doing it since Day 1 without anyone designating that prayer is something she is amazing at. She continually seems to remind us of how pivotal prayer among our team is. It has been very good for me since I sometimes struggle with making my first instinct to pray about things. Sarah also loves to hang out and be around kids. They just stick to her like she is velcro or something. We will go to a place with kids and Sarah will just smile and for the next four hours she will have them crawling all over her. Sarah also helps out pretty much everyone where ever she can. She was the first to crown herself assistant to Colleen and her role with hospitality, and she is always doing what she can to see if people need help.

Logistical Wizard and Handy Man

As for myself, my role is not as defined I suppose. I'm helping and encouraging wherever I can, and providing some humor at the worst times possible to lighten the mood. I'm discovering that God has been raising me up to do many of the things I find myself doing here such as building things, or playing guitar for children, or working with high school students. I try to listen more than speak out, and mediate only when needed. Sometimes I am better than other times. Occasionally when needed I will plan out trips for our team to make them easier. This is where the Logistical Wizardry comes in I suppose.

God is building all of us to be something that we could probably have never grasp before coming on this journey. It seems there is always more to learn, and more to unlearn. All in all God's got us exactly where he wants us... it's an amazing thing.

Team Blog #5 11/11

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Spiritual Topics from the Week and How You can be Praying: SB

Coming out of debrief our team is learning a lot about each other. We are re-energized about praying together each morning and just working on going deeper in our friendships. During debrief we were blessed to have Seth and Karen Barnes here to meet with us as a team, a larger squad and as individuals. They gave us some great practical advice about how to run meetings, how to deliver criticism to each other, and encouraged us in new ways to pray for each other. We were particularly challenged by Seth's talk how the World Race is part of the process of coming alive and finding our identities in Christ. God wants us to be broken as part of this refining process so we can gain dependence on Him. Brokenness hurts but there is this peace that goes with it when God is there. Seth also identified this feeling of limbo that many of us have been experiencing. How freeing to hear it's normal and what we signed up for! We feel like God is stripping us down and showing us glimpses of what He has in store for us... but we're not there yet and it's the constant question "what's next?"

Please pray for:

Our ministry hosts this month: Jeff and Colleen Long and Family, Rachel and DJ, the staff in our house, Children's home, and CCC

Our team as we work on building deeper relationships and community, help us to push each other out of our comfort zones, and to speak truthfully and lovingly towards each other

Joy and peace for our coaches, Gary and Nancy and their son Kevin with his cancer diagnosis

Our September teamates as they travel to other islands and get settled in with ministry

Ministry/Team Activities: LM

We are in Manila until Dec. 24 working with Jeff and Colene Long. They have been in Manila for about 16 years working with New Faith Academy, a school for children of missionaries. A couple of years ago their desire to provide a safe place for abused, abandoned children in the Philippines became a reality with the opening of the New Faith Family Children's Home (NFFCH). The children's home now houses 28 children and is hoping by next summer to have room for 40. Because it is located in a very poor area sometimes called a squatter village, Jeff and Colene make it a point to reach out and provide for the community. They have given the community water access including an area for showers. They have opened a school at the Cuatro Community Center (CCC) for the children at NFFCH as well as the ones in the neighborhood who cannot afford to go to public school. The school also houses a free dental and medical clinic and on the roof is a basketball court/indoor soccer court opened to the public. This is a community with many needs and Jeff and Colene are constantly seeking ways to expand and grow to help the largest number of people possible. They are excited to have our team here and we are very excited about being here.

We will be helping Jeff and Colene through a variety of ways. Jackie and Colleen will be teaching in the morning at the school (CCC) Monday thru Thursday. Sarah will be helping out at NFFCH as well as using her rugby talent to help coach the New Faith Academy Rugby team and build relationships with the girls on the team. Danny, Kyle, and Colleen are helping to make a drainage ditch and build outhouses to keep the sewage off the streets and allow for a healthier environment. Danny has also been asked to use his web designing gifts to help improve the Kids International Ministry website. Basketball is the favorite sport of most Filipinos, and Kyle will be working with the sports coordinator at the community center to set up various basketball events where they can evangelize to the community. Lindsey will be helping out at NFFCH and has been asked to give specific attention to a child named Maricel who is 13 and has lived at NFFCH for about a year but does not verbally communicate very well.

Besides our individual ministries, we will be working as a team to help paint the building we are living in. They just acquired the building right around the corner from NFFCH and are allowing us to stay here while they decide the best way to use it. On Sundays, our team will have community outreaches at NFFCH. Also as a team on Thursdays night we will be in charge of taking care of the children at NFFCH; feeding them, cleaning up, giving nightly devotional, helping them get ready for bed, tucking them in, and staying there for the night. This is a very active community and it seems we will be playing a lot of basketball and volleyball with them, and will hopefully have an opportunity to take the children swimming twice a week. We have a lot of things planned for the upcoming week including watching a Filipino college basketball game, celebrating Thanksgiving, and Kyle's birthday is on Saturday!

Cultural Quirkiness DG

The Tagalog language has been pretty sweet to learn for many of us. The Philippines were once a Spanish Colony so there are many Spanish words that are used in Tagalog. It has been pretty sweet. There are also some other fun words that have been easy for us to learn. One of them in particular is the commonly used phrase "mabuti"(pronounced My Booty). Mabuti is a response to the question "kumasta ka?" which means how are you? Being the cheerful team that we are, certain individuals laughed so hard that they started to cry when they heard how to pronounce the word. I won't name any names, but I will tell you that her first name rhymes with Sarah. Then when ask to repeat the phrase, she cried even more trying to force the words "my booty" out of her mouth. Good times with Team Less.

Our Little Church (Part 1)

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

(1 Corinthians 12:24-27)

As we continue on the race it's inevitable that we will all start falling into our gifts. I'd like to go through everyone on my team and try to depict some of their gifts and crystallize their strengths. The amazing thing is that people's gifts are diverse enough that we can do a lot as a team well that we wouldn't be able to do well if everyone on our team was like me. At the same time, we all are willing to invest in pretty much any kind of ministry. Meet my Church...

Chief Financial Officer and Detail Extraordinare

If our Team was classified as ADD, Jackie would be our riddelin. Jackie is a huge stabilizer in our team full of otters. When we're off track, she brings us back. It quite an amazing thing. She also has the enormously large and crappy job of doing all the team finances. If anyone else had been given this job, I'm pretty sure all our support money would be going to a new message chair, or bass fishing tapes. Instead, we are still alive and on budget. Though she must play a serious role on our team sometimes she is also able to laugh at herself... a lot. It's a cool thing to see when she gets going.

President of Hospitality and Motherly Duties

Colleen is incredible. She's the type of person that every team needs, but most teams never have. You know you have something special on your team when you have a person who has a passion for doing dishes (her words, not mine), who will never forget to include a little note in your sack lunch, and who will laugh at you so hard sometimes you think shes having a stroke. I haven't met many people in my life with a bigger heart than Colleen. She actually loves to take care of people, and serve people. Weird isn't it? She makes you feel like you been friends for years when you've known her for ten minutes. I'm not really surprised that she has 273 friends on facebook. Colleen takes care of the people who are serving us. She will organize times that we can return the blessing that our hosts have been to us by getting our team together to cook them dinner, or to help them with whatever else they need.

Spiritual Dominator and Developer

Kyle is at an incredible place in his life. It's one of those places that most Christians wish they could stay in forever. He's seeking God. But it's more than just seeking. The dude is thirsting. He's welcoming challenges that shape character if life and embracing them when they come. It's really amazing to be around. Kyle will lead the team in matter of praying over people, exhorting, and teaching messages. Every time he has an opportunity to lay down some Jesus on someone Kyle is poised and ready. God has laid plenty on his mind and heart to be incredibly apt for this role.

I've been told that I don't write enough blogs so the other three will have to wait so it will at least seem like I'm writing more. There are three more coming soon.

Sick of Me

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I have been deliberately stalling blogging about my current frame of mind lately. I'm really not sure how to put all the things running through my head into words that make sense.

Lately I have been overwhelmed on many levels. I'm overwhelmed by the dualism of seeing on the streets and in the provinces the poverty and neediness which has become a daily part of my life, and knowing that back home and throughout my life I have everything I've needed or wanted for that matter and more. What do you do with the poverty? I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I'm on this trip, meeting people and helping people as much as I can all around the world. Yet most the people I'm helping have never even left their city. What do you do with all the blessings? I'm overwhelmed by the stories of people who were in Cambodia during genocide, and people who fought for the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam War. What do you with all the suffering and heart break? I'm overwhelmed by the fact that i spend everyday, day in day out with the same group of people. They see me every single day. They know how I'm feeling. I couldn't really get away if I tried. How do I handle people knowing me so well? I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I have spent my life pushing these questions to the side and justified them and rationalized them away. I will say I don't support child labor, but won't even stop to think about where the things that I buy are coming from and how companies treat the workers that make them. I will say that I care about poverty and go to the homeless shelter for a few weeks, but I usually end up filling that time with something else. Why am I so two faced?

And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we are all sinners, everyone of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin. (Romans 3:23) MSG

And without God's grace, there would be no way out. Even if I was a regular "ergonomic, only uses recycled paper and only one square at a time, low carbon footprint, kind hearted Joe nice guy, Ghandi-esque" type of person, I would still have to face my complicity in the world problems and have no answer for it. We all contribute to the heart ache, we all fall short, even when we are unaware of what we are doing. When I turn away from one problem there always seems to be another larger one waiting right behind me. It's never ending.

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

(Psalms 51:1)

David spent most his life fighting for his people and finding favor with God. But he failed, just like everyone else. He killed a guy...I'm overwhelmed by God's grace. I can't do anything right. I can help a person one day, and the next day walk right past a beggar on the street without skipping a beat. I can buy a child a meal, and uncomfortably ignore the next widow that approaches me. It eats away at me. I can't even count how many naked children I came across last month. I could cloth some of them, but not all. I could wake up one day and smile at the children on our street, but the next day glaze over them as if they ceased to look at me that morning. It happens all the time. It has been this way my whole life. Until now however, I have reverted to saying "thats just the way the world is" and leaving it there. It's not my problem. I continue on forcing myself not to think about it. . I am nothing without grace. Nothing. David was a nice enough guy who only murdered some of the time. Without grace I'm a nice enough guy that still oppresses and ignores people some of the time.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

(Romans 7:21-25)

So I find myself broken, confused, and desperate to have an answer. I find myself wanting nothing more than to see justice, to see the hungry fed, to clothe the naked. I find myself wanting nothing more than to quit waiting for the world to change, and living to change the world. I was talking with another guy on the race the other day and he quoted Leo Tolstoy saying, "Everyone wants to change the world but no one wants to change themselves." This is me... this is all to true of me. The longer I spend on this race the more I realize God is changing me in ways I never thought I would change. I have become the idealist I have always smirked at, and thought in my head that they are simply dreaming. I'm finding that me hoping that the world will change doesn't do anything. Ghandi wrote "you have to be the change you want to see." He wasn't known for the people he couldn't help, he was known for pouring out his life helping anybody and everybody he could. But he was just a dreamer.