I guess you could say that I'm the original Mudlet. I started Mud Ministry way back in 1997 based on the idea that if God could use something as nasty and disgusting as mud to make a blind man see (John 9:6), how much more could He use a living, breathing person.
I went on my first mission trip to Mexico in 1995 and God used it to change my life forever. I have since been to Mexico more times than I can count and God has given me a passion for missions that just won't go away. With the outbreak of the swine flu and the violence along the Mexican border, we moved our mission trips stateside in 2009 and 2010, but we feel that we are being called back to Mexico and expand farther than we've ever been.
In 2007, I rode my bicycle across America to raise money for one of the orphanages that we worked with in Mexico. I was pretty sure when I set out that the bike trip would be the high water mark of insanity in my life. I was wrong.
Although the trip is going to be pretty intense, the timing definitely seems to be perfect. The camp I have worked and lived at for the past 4 years has been sold, so I'm pretty free to take this two months or so and see what God has in store for both me and Mud in the future. I also think the timing is perfect for our team. I could not ask for a better team. While there are a few other people I wish could come along, I feel like we have a team that will get along really well, have a lot of fun, and still keep an eye out for those divine appointments that God has for us along the way.
The thing that I'm most excited about this trip is our Good Deed Fund. Sure, our main goal is to meet missionaries and pastors and orphanage directors in order to setup future mission trips, but I know that we are going to see so many other needs along the way. We're not going to have the tools or the time to build buildings or rewire houses, but we are going to run across lots of little things and I want to be able to help. I just think it's so cool that God could take a guy from Apopka, Florida and use his small gift to meet a need for a family in Montevideo, Uruguay. It's good stuff.
So...I'd like to make all my friends two deals. 1. If you guys will read my blog and pass it around to your friends, I'll do my best keep it short and funny and worth every minute you spend reading. 2. If you give to the Good Deeds Fund, we will do our best to make sure that the money not only gets used for awesome projects, but that we will document all the cool stories and put them online. Deal?
