Mission Go Detroit

 It is no secret that I love Jiu Jitsu, so naturally my first mission trip would be to spread Gods love by way of Jiu Jitsu and Kick boxing. One of my training partners from back here in Amarillo Shawn Fouts took God's calling to be an urban missionary in the inner city of Detroit. He is spreading the message of salvation through a non profit martial arts school called LIONS ROAR EXTREME MARTIAL ARTS. I mentioned to my pastor back home I wanted go in the summer and suggested that we put together a mission team and go as a church family. What a great idea!!!

 Well after several months of prayer and planning here we are ready to leave at 6 AM to start our 2 day drive from Amarillo TX to Detroit Michigan. At this point all we knew was we were going to help out with their VBS called "fight Camp". Where Shawn is at, you can't just come out and say
" hey join our VBS it will be fun" you have to find a back door way to spread the message of God's love. Christopher and I were the only ones with any martial arts experience so it was all in God's hands as to how he was going to use the team. This was also the first mission trip for both me and Christopher. It was a special time for us to bond while doing Gods work.

 As we drove down the road we stopped every 3 to 4 hours for bathroom and snacks. Little Abigail is absolutely the best traveller ever. This is her stopping in for a leg stretch and "bites".

 Mr. Greg Palmer was our resident bug expert so when we stopped to sleep the first night it is only natural that he inspected for bed bugs right away. It was very weird and a little creepy but I slept better that knowing there were no bed bugs.

 Dinner the first night was at Steak and Shake. As you can tell she wasted no time. All that riding makes for a very hungry little girl. This was also an adventure. It took 1 hour to get our food and it was cold once it came out, but we all got to fellowship and laugh. It was a great bonding experience for us.

 The next day we loaded up and drove to Indianapolis where Dyana had family. We got to eat a good meal paid for by the generosity of her family and she got to visit with people she doesn't see very often. This is Christopher eating a plate of BBQ nachos that were bigger than he was. He made a valiant effort but in the end the nachos won the race.

 This was my help driving. :)

 We finally made it to Detroit . Everyone was hungry and ready to be done driving.

 It didn't take long for Gods plan to start unveiling itself.  BJ and Dyana created a VBS out of no where. This is the special talent that God used these wonderful people for. BJ and Dyana are also frequent visitors to Africa where they go and create Vacation Bible Schools out of nothing so it was no surprise they went right to work. This is them with Shawn's wife Rochelle planning out how the rotations were going to work and explaining the crafts and music that they were going to do each day.

 The school where Shawn's son Jack attends was gracious enough to allow us to use there facility to sleep and shower for the week. Here is Christopher's and my room for the week. It was amazing and helped save money for us.

 After church on Sunday Shawn and Rochelle took us to a Tigers Game and lunch at two of the famous Coney Island hot dog places. They are literally side by side so we had to stop in to both of them to see who made the best coney island .

 They were both delicious. Christopher decided at place number two he would try the coney island fries instead of the dog.

 Great game. I kind of felt like I was cheating on my Rangers but still sported my hat in enemy territory and we got to see the home team win by way of walk off home run.

 Day one was absolutely crazy and exhausting. The team at Lion's Roar made us our own special t- shirts for fight camp.

 I played a game with the kids called "SENSAI SAYS". It was a big hit and way to keep attention in between techniques. Getting the opportunity to talk about Jesus and Jiu Jitsu was what I believe God gave me a gift for. These kids were great!

 Wednesday Greg gave the message of salvation to all the kids. Those of you who know Greg Palmer (that should be everyone, because he knows everyone) know there isn't a better person to bring the word than through him.

 Christopher was my helper on the mats for fight camp. He even taught one of the lessons. This is him teaching the Key Lock. Getting to share my two biggest passions along side of my son was a special moment I will always remember.

 During craft time one of the days they made light sabers out of foam pool noodles. I don't have a picture of the team singing the song "GOD IS ON THE MOVE" but they had dance moves to go along with it. I thought it was corny at first but as soon as I saw how much the kids liked it I quickly got on board and learned the moves so I could take part. That song had more meaning that week than anyone could put into words. If you get a chance go to you tube, look up LIONS ROAR FIGHT CAMP 2016.  It is a video that Rochelle put together.

 At the end of fight camp every day we did a service project, This is where God brings Greg's talents into play. During the week Greg, BJ and the two boys went to Shawn's house and worked and fixed things that would cost Shawn and Rochelle a good bit of money that they could use helping kids at thier school. They did brick repair and fixed windows, they even did work at the DOJO(martial arts school).

 While Greg and everyone else were busy doing repair work me and Shawn did some work at the dojo. We put together a basketball goal. We probably should have waited for Greg to help. We put this thing together at least three times. Every step we did wrong and had to take it apart and do it over again. It was good to find a person as mechanically handicapped as myself. I sent this picture to my wife with caption "guess what". She replied with "you are taking it apart because you put it together wrong". She knows me too well.

 This is Greg and BJ running cable through the ceiling so they could install a TV into the waiting room for the kids to watch.

 By day three everyone was exhausted. There was usually an hour in between service projects and classes at night that everyone just kind of found a spot and crashed.

 I had the privilege of teaching all the classes at Lions Roar in the evening. Shawn was gracious  enough to just let me takeover. This is the kids class.

 I taught the adult class as well. I made a lot of new friends and got to train with great people that share my passion of martial arts. I can't wait to go back.

 We wrapped up Fight camp on Thursday and headed home early the next morning.

 We stopped in St Louis Thursday evening and allowed Greg the opportunity to scratch something off his bucket list. We all went up into the arch and then ate at White Castle.

I can't believe it is over. This is my Family sporting their Lions Roar t-shirts I brought them back. The theme song from fight camp was God is on the move and I have to tell you that after all this, he is still very much on the move in my heart. There are big things coming for the Lis family in the future. Go to the Lions Roar Facebook page and follow them. They do amazing things for a community that is in pain and needs God's love. The mission field does not always mean leaving America. There are people hurting in our own backyard that need God's love.
Romans 1:16 says that I am unashamed of the Gospel.