Andrew R Rogers

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.

I used to hate the word “marketing.”  This was because I misunderstood what marketing is.  I have now come to realize that good marketing is actually putting others above yourself, and trying to see things from “their” perspective.

Good marketing is not a list of overblown features, a slick tagline, or a flashy presentation.

Good marketing is identifying ways you can interact meaningfully with people to solve problems, add to their lives, even bring them closer to God.

Controversial question for the day – was Jesus a good marketer?

If this topic is of any interest to you, check out Derek Sivers’ extremely helpful advice here.