Andrew R Rogers

Well, yesterday was hard.  We had our interview and were basically told that there is no family housing available for us aboard the Africa Mercy.  You see, family housing is provided specifically for certain positions.  And neither the A/V Tech position nor the Ward Nurse position would qualify us for these limited family units.

Hard. To. Take.

But it’s ok.  Becuase God has other things in mind.

Mieke and I have gotten to know a very interesting couple over the last few days.  He is a surgeon and she is a wonderful lady who has grabbed Jace from us many times and entertained him in the back of the classroom.  They are considering joining Mercy Ships.  They are being heavily recruited by Mercy Ships.  You see, there has been a recent event on board the ship that has left the ship without a head surgeon.  And when there is no head surgeon, the production line of life changing surgeries comes to a halt.

The couple is not sure that they will be able to cover their expenses while on board the ship.  They are highly paid professionals here at home, but once on board they will have no capacity to make money to support themselves.  And the social circles they are involved with may not be able to understand how a highly paid surgeon is now asking THEM for money.

That’s where you and us come in.  Mieke and I would like to challenge any of you who have said you will support us to consider supporting this couple instead.  I know it’s quite a mind – bending leap of faith.

Look at it this way – any money you send will DIRECTLY impact the life of hundreds or even thousands of Africans as the surgeon’s skilled hands literally become the hands of Jesus.  I hate to say it, but your dollars will have much more IMPACT if you choose to support this couple than if you were supporting Mieke and I.

Hard.  Yes, I know, hard for us and hard for you.  But I truly believe that the Lord would be pleased with this sacrifice.

Please send an email to andrew@findyourfans.com if you would like to be a part of getting the Mercy Ships production line running again.  Please also include an estimate of how much you would like to commit (either monthly or a one – time – gift) so that we can give this number to the couple and to Mercy Ships administrators here.

Shortly there will be a web page  setup that will allow you to give directly to this couple via Credit Card, Check, or over the phone.   We will send this information out to all who have responded.

Thanks for your prayers.  It’s exciting to think that one day we may be able to join Mercy Ships.  But it’s even more exciting to see God working right in front of us, in a way that we and YOU can be involved NOW!!

Once again, please send your email with your estimated gifts (either monthly or one – time gifts) to andrew@findyourfans.com as soon as possible.  The week is coming to a close and we want to be able to clear the way for this couple to go as soon as possible.

As I type this, we are traveling along at 70 mph in a cool cocoon of comfort.  Every luxury is at our fingertips; music, movies, high speed internet, GPS, books on CD and even old fashioned paper books.  Coke, coffee, snacks, fruit, everything we need for our voyage across America.  We have denied ourselves nothing.  The Honda Accord purrs along mile after mile, nary a hiccup and going strong at 170,000 miles, clearly the pinnacle of perfection in engineering.

Which is what makes this trip so ironic.  We are going to visit the headquarters of Mercy Ships, located near Lindale Texas.  They operate a massive hospital ship that provides free medical care to the world’s forgotten poor in West Africa.  A place where you’re lucky to find clean drinking water.

Don’t get me wrong, I love all of our gadgets and wealth.  And I don’t think there is anything wrong with them.  But the contrast between my life (as a lower middle class American) and the life of the average West African is……..staggering.  Or ridiculous. Or unfathomable.

So we’re here in Texas to figure out if (A) we are a good fit for Mercy Ships, and (B) what to do if once we figure out (A).

We’ll be learning all about this Mercy Ships operation, doing some interviews with human resources, then attending a seminar on fundraising.  It’ll be an interesting week, to say the least.

We really appreciate your prayers as we try to discern the Lord’s will for us in this endeavor!

UPDATE!!! We have arrived here at the Mercy ships headquarters and have already had a few classes.  We’ve met two Germans, an Australian, a New Yorker,  and a bunch of other interesting people.

It is hard to describe how things are going at the moment.  I am in awe of this organization and what they do every day. Up to this point we’ve had a very small view of what goes on here and the scope of their operation.  Regardless of what happens with Mieke and I, we are sure of one thing – the Lord is working here in powerful ways.  The blind see, the lame walk, the mute speak, leprosy is cured, and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.  Literally, every day in Africa.

My hope is that we do indeed live in an upside down Kingdom where to live you have to die, and to die means to be with Christ.

It all started with the death of a good job.  Two years ago I worked for a music production company.  The Lord blessed my efforts.  The money flowed in.  Everyone was fat and happy – our partners, my bosses, and myself.  Everyone except my wife.  The hours and long commute added up to stress in the family department.

But then weird things began happening at the company.  After three rounds of layoffs, the company was a shell of its former self.  I found it hard to accomplish anything new.  Those of us who were left twiddled our thumbs while waiting to collect a check every two weeks.  After a few months, I decided to strike out on my own.  My wife was happy.

At first I wanted to be an indie – music distributor.  I had great relationships with all the top digital retailers and their suppliers.  After a year working with independent musicians I realized I was losing more money in distribution costs than the artists were generating. That dream shriveled.

I was also involved with a local rock band.  We began honing our songwriting and recording skills.  After years of practice and occasional gigging, it became apparent we were all headed in different directions.  Another death.  This was one of the most painful, because those guys had become my closest friends.

There were many other little deaths.  Realizing I’m not meant to be a music producer.  Working with a band and record label that couldn’t quite tie the knot.  Starting a website development company with no future.  The motorcycle of my dreams, with a dead transmission.  I decided to sell the parts on eBay.  This paid the bills for a few months.

Somewhere in there, the biggest death happened.  The death of my motivation and desires.  I just stopped caring about anything.  Music, money, jobs, trips, vacations, work, careers, gadgets, gizmos, stuff in stores, church.  All these things began to seem stupid.  A chasing after the wind.  Meaningless.  I read Ecclesiastes and was pleased that the wisest man in the world agreed with me.

I just didn’t care about the stuff we spend our lives and energy obtaining and protecting and packaging and selling and marketing.  I can walk through the luminous halls of any department or electronics or music store and I actually feel pangs of revulsion at all the shiny plastic and metal.

But I also realized the danger.  I had never stopped caring about my wife and family.  Or my friends.  I realized that protecting and caring for my friends and family means buying and selling and working and creating and interacting in meaningful ways.  All of those things and actions that I no longer cared about.

So I went searching for my missing passion. This went on for months.  I needed to find something I cared about.  I took some personality tests.  Slowly a few things surfaced.  I like helping people.  I like adventure.  I am technical but can also communicate well with people.

I talked to many wise friends throughout these adventures.  A few key thoughts stuck with me.  My friend David shared something about his own quest “I stopped living for myself and started living for something greater.”  My friend Bill encouraged me to ask a simple question whenever trying something new, “Will this please the Lord?” Such a simple, powerful thing.

So I’ll cut to the chase.  I’ve found my passion again.  Something that fills me with hope and inspiration and a desire to “GO” as they say at Glenstone Chapel. And the crazy thing is that it is something that I never would have considered, if all my dreams hadn’t died.  They had to die, to make room for this passion.  Check ‘er out:

I’ve been learning that sometimes a bit of planning goes a long way.

This summer (mid September), Mieke, Alex, Jon and I plan to head to Colorado to visit my sisters (Heidi and Lori) and our parents, who will be back from Ecuador.  It’s been a few years since we’ve seen them.  It’ll be great to see them all in one place again…if only for a week.

I was adding up the various costs (gas, food, camping fees, etc) and I think we can make the 3000 mile round trip for about $500.

I stumbled across a great new online bank that promises to make saving for this trip fun and rewarding. And it has a great name to boot.  Click the image below to check it out.

This year I knew I wanted to get Alex a train set.  Every time we drive over the tracks, he looks both ways hoping to catch a glimpse of those metal beasts barreling down toward us.  Trains are his favorite things in the world, at the moment.

But money was tight this year.  And I thought I would have to get really creative to figure out how to get him a good train set.  But sometimes things just work out best if you don’t worry about them.

A month before Christmas my neighbor walked over nonchalantly carrying a big plastic box.  He said his kids were done with their Brio brand electric train set.  (Brio Trains are built and designed in Sweden – the engines are made of metal and feature a tiny automatic transmission and powerful electric motor.  The tracks are made of wood and are perfectly designed for a two year old’s hands).

Sometimes I just stand back in amazement at the timing and providence of our Heavenly Father..  This was a gift directly from His hands (through my neighbor), which I passed on to my son.  It’s almost as if the Lord is saying “Don’t worry about these things.  I’ve got your back, I’ll provide everything you need, if you just trust me.”