Work in Progress

I’m excited to blog about this!  One of the guys from my church who I’ve had the pleasure of being in Life Group with for the last 18 months is launching an awesome project: Uganda Bible Project.com

2 years ago Lance was a rafting guide in Utah.
18 months ago he got involved in our church planning to head back on his Utah adventure.
15 months ago he surrendered his life to God, choosing God’s adventure over his own.
12 months ago he went on an exploratory mission trip to Uganda  and God tugged at his heart.
8 months ago he became a missionary with Eternal Impact.

On his last trip he went praying that God would reveal to him a need that he could focus on, and he was captured by the lack of Bibles in Uganda.  He had multiple conversations with non-Christians who expressed a desire to know more about “this Jesus” who the people serving their city are worshiping.  Lance left with the reality of the need for Bibles impressed deeply on his heart.  He knows that some of the people who he talked to will give their lives to Christ if they had a Bible (see Yusef’s story).

Lance made it his mission to raise money for the churches he partners with in Uganda to buy Bibles.  Since it begun, he has shared stories of people he talked to who are now walking with the Lord because they eventually received God’s Word.

I love this because it is simple, affordable, and acknowledges the power and importance of God’s Word.

Mon and I, in an effort to make sure our wedding planning didn’t center around money, that we committed to taking the equivalent of 10% of the gifts we received for our wedding, and providing Bibles for people in Uganda.  How exciting to know that for only $6, someone will know the Lord in an intimate way.

Lance, we’re proud of you.  Thank you for honoring God by being a Rom 12:1-2 guy.

On August 1st 2009 Monica and I became Mr & Mrs Scott Burns.  We’re currently in a beautiful hotel right on the beach of the Island of Kos in Greece.  We’re having a wonderful time.  Thank you for helping make this dream a reality.

I feel like the luckiest man alive.  Not only am I about to marry the most amazing woman, but standing up there with me will be some of the greatest men alive.  I want to take a little time each day this week to give a shout out to each of my groomsmen and tell you a little bit about why I think they’re so great….

Billy Padot

When I was in Israel I was praying about a church to get plugged into when I got back and before I got back to the States I knew God wanted me to serve at Grace Chapel Community Church.  The first week back I connected with Brian’s brother Peter, and a week later I was interning at the church with the Young Adult ministry.  He told me to turn up at their young adult men’s Life Group, and that’s where I met Billy.

As is my habit, I like to take guys out to coffee to get to know them one-on-one.  Billy and I went for dinner at my favourite Mexican restaurant, and God moved.  Since my first day at Life Group I’ve been impressed by Billy’s vulnerability and his vulnerability allowed me to be open and honest about me.

During our life group meetings I was always impressed by Billy’s natural leadership abilities, by his pastoral heart for the other guys, and the sound way he handles God’s Word.  And so this year, when the group had grown beyond manageable and we decided to split the group into two, I asked Billy to co-lead the new group with me, and I’m glad I did!

Billy has been an amazing support to me especially over the last six months.  When the going got tough he was on the phone checking up on me every day.  When I was mentally exhausted, I knew he was praying.  He was ready to listen when I needed to offload all that was on my mind, and knew what to say to keep me focused on Him.  There have been a few times over the last two years that if it wasn’t for Billy, I would have imploded!

We’ve connected on an even deeper level through common experience… he’s getting married on August 29th.  It’s been such a blessing to have such a good friend walking through the same journey as me just now.  We’ve been able to laugh about all the wedding stress which helps lighten the load A LOT.

Billy in an incredible guy with a great future.  From what I’ve seen of his pursuit of God this last year and a half, I know that he will be an awesome husband, and that God will use him and his (soon to be) wife Randi to change and impact lives.

Billy, thanks for being the guy I texted first, even though you never got them!

I feel like the luckiest man alive.  Not only am I about to marry the most amazing woman, but standing up there with me will be some of the greatest men alive.  I want to take a little time each day this week to give a shout out to each of my groomsmen and tell you a little bit about why I think they’re so great….

Michael Badriaki

I met Michael at Seminary, although I have a hard time remembering how exactly we first started talking.  I can remember seeing him around the Seminary before he was a student, and being drawn to him, but our paths never seemed to cross.  Our friendship kicked off big time when he was a student in a class I was the Teaching Fellow for.  Michael had taken ill and been in hospital and fallen behind on his work, and so I did what I could to help him get back on top of things.

We soon discovered that we had a lot in common.  For one, we’re both international students who can identify with one another’s frustrations about America and American Christianity.  Michael is from Uganda which has huge political ties with Britain, and amazingly the countries have a lot in common.  It has been a blessing to have someone like Michael around, who understands me (and gets my jokes!).  We’re both very passionate lovers of music and I think it sealed the deal on our friendship when I introduced him to a bunch of lesser known but talented Christian Artists.

Michael is an amazing guy with a tremendous amount of compassion and joy.  When he’s around it’s impossible not to smile when he smiles.  His love for me is so uplifting and I thank God for the way it grew in such a short amount of time.  I have loved spending time going to coffee with him, pouring out my heart and hearing his, ranting about ministry and the state of the Church, talking about needs in the world and ways to solve them.  It’s a friendship built upon mutual encouragement–I just have to think about Michael to feel encouraged by him!

He has been a huge support to me over this last year in particular, coming alongside me in my pain and praising God with me in it!  It’s been an added blessing that Mon and I gel really well with both Michael & Kirsten and we’ve spend many amazing nights chilling with them (along with Andrew & Anna, who also rock!).

Michael, you are more than a brother.  Roll on Uganda!

I feel like the luckiest man alive.  Not only am I about to marry the most amazing woman, but standing up there with me will be some of the greatest men alive.  I want to take a little time each day this week to give a shout out to each of my groomsmen and tell you a little bit about why I think they’re so great….

Joe Garibay

It was actually Mon who first met Joe, the Safeway Checkout Guy.  From a distance as Mon scanned to find which checkout to go to, she clocked Joe and for some reason knew he was a Christian.  She went to his checkout and sure enough he told her he was a student at Portland Bible College.  A week or so later when Mon and I were at Safeway buying food for a BBQ she introduced me to Joe.  By the time we were checked out I had his number and we’d planned that he’d be at the next BBQ or guys prayer time.

We got into the habit of meeting weekly, and by the time I got back from Israel our pattern was to pick a book to read through together.  Each week we would read a couple of chapters and then we’d spend a morning in his room talking about what we’d read, share what was going on in our lives, and enjoy a great time of interceding for one another.

I’ve grown to appreciate Joe tremendously.  I love his humility.  He considers himself nothing more than a lowly servant working in the church and week by week I witness him going out of his way to serve others in the hope to draw them closer to the Lord.  He is a man of Truth willing to be open and vulnerable about his struggles while also, even thought it’s uncomfortable, is willing to call people out when they’re not walking on track. And he loves the church, with all her flaws and short-comings, he is committed to her because Christ loves her!

Which brings me to his  “radical grace”.  He works hard to always see who people are becoming rather than defining them by mistakes they’ve made.  I know that I can walk in to his room at any time and tell Joe any thing and he’ll continue to love me just the same… probably even more. He knows all the nitty gritty ugly details of my life and is committed to walking alongside me and helping me be the man God made me to be.  We all need friends like that.

We’ve walked through a lot of tough stuff together this semester which has strengthened our friendship.  I know that whenever I’m going through a tough time he’ll be on the phone to check up on me and will pray for me before he hangs up.  In our meetings he frequently talks about a time in the future when we’ll be hanging out and doing some kind of ministry together and we’ll look back on these formative years of our friendship and grin at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Broseph, I look forward to looking back at these days with you!

I feel like the luckiest man alive.  Not only am I about to marry the most amazing woman, but standing up there with me will be some of the greatest men alive.  I want to take a little time each day this week to give a shout out to each of my groomsmen and tell you a little bit about why I think they’re so great….

Colin Wyenberg

Five years ago when I first heard about Multnomah I went online and downloaded their catalogue/prospectus.  I thumbed through the pages and was struck by a couple of pictures of a young good looking trendy guy reading his Bible.  I remember looking at the picture and taking it downstairs to my mum saying “Look, at last I’ve found a Bible college who churn out people who are cool”.  I’d been used to seeing pictures of old bearded men in cardigans.  It wasn’t till after Colin and I were friends and I was looking through the catalogue that I realized he was the guy I’d seen in the pic.

My admissions counselor told me to go talk to Colin one day to show him my red shoes.  For some reason, I did.  Then every week I would pop by the admissions department to talk to the staff and would end up sitting on Colin’s desk talking while he worked.  It’s amazing how a friendship can develop by seeing someone a few times a week for just 10 mins.

I went through a season of intense Spiritual Attack at the beginning of my second semester and was encouraged to find that Colin would experience Spiritual Attack in the same way.  He prayed for me, and told me he would continue to pray for me.  I left our conversation thoroughly encouraged.

Colin and I have a lot of fun when we’re together.  We hang out and act like kids.  It’s fun having a bud to clown around with, jumping through fountains and going to kids toy stores.  I love too that amidst the clowning around most of our conversations are deep and open, sharing the good and bad of life and praying for one another.

I’ve always been impressed with Colin’s attitude towards prayer.  He’s one of those guys who I know is regularly praying for me.  I remember being in his office one day when an alarm went off on his computer and the letters PFS poppsed up.  It stands for “Pray for Scott”, and was during one of the most trying weeks of my time in the States.  What an amazing support!  I should really pay him counseling rates.  So often I walk across campus and plop myself down on his desk.  He’ll ask me just the right question to probe at something and the next thing I know I’m offloading a weeks worth of frustration to him.  He listens, encourages me, uplifts me, and then… I leave.  HaHa.

He’s been an amazing friend to me since I got here and I can’t wait till me and my wife are hosting him and his wife in Scotland!!!

I love you Colin, thanks for allowing me to invade your life.

I feel like the luckiest man alive.  Not only am I about to marry the most amazing woman, but standing up there with me will be some of the greatest men alive.  I want to take a little time each day this week to give a shout out to each of my groomsmen and tell you a little bit about why I think they’re so great….

Mark Jones

The first time I met Mark was at his church and we jammed to the worship song Your Love Is Amazing.  I think that was 9 years ago?  I refer to Mark as my “partner in crime” because for some reason, trouble follows us around.  You should ask him about the time we got attacked by a group of 15 stoners… for no reason.

My journey with Mark has been a unique one.  He’s 4 years younger than me, a fact I often forget about.  It was the discipler in me that originally pursued him, feeling led to invest in him and push him in his faith.  I have walked with Mark through some rough seasons and had to do the unpleasant “tough love” thing on a few ocassions. There were seasons where I was ready to give up and walk away but God always nudged me to continue to love him even when he was being a punk. 

In the exact opposite of what I’d envisioned, taking me out of Mark’s life caused the growth that I had been praying for.  A strange and unexpected twist to my friendship with Mark was the extra depth that developed when I left for America, to the point that over my time at Multnomah he’s been the person at home (other than family) who has kept in touch most consistently.

It has been amazing to watch Mark grow from a distance.  I spent at least a year trying to convince Mark to come and visit Re:Hope but he was always resistant (you can ask him why yourself!).  The week before I left for Multnomah he came with me and fell in love with what God was doing there (the very reason I wanted him to visit in the first place!).  While I’ve been here in the States, he has attended the church and ended up raising support and going on staff.  It’s been incredible to watch his life change as he’s been challenged to pursue God with deeper passion, and to watch his heart grow for God’s Word!

Mark in an amazing guy with incredible potential, and I cannot wait to see how God moulds him, shapes him, and uses him in the expansion of His Kingdom.

Bro, I’m there for you always.