Life in Logistics

The Logistics Team here at the World Race (World Race, Real Life, etc.) talks to a variety of people throughout each day in several countries, like Australia, Nepal, Peru, and South Africa. And though each day is packed full of stressful situations, trouble in interpreting emails in broken English, and terrible phone/internet connections, we find that we have built relationships with men and women, some whom we have never met face-to-face, who have given everything they have to serve the communities they have been placed in.

Over the past year of working in the Logistics Dept., I have had the privilege of getting to know several ministries around the world. Their stories inspire me, their perseverance moves me, and their hearts humble me. It is for these men and women, sisters and brothers, that I do the work I do. These are the hands and feet that go for me, that raise the shelters of the homeless when I cannot, that place food on the tongues of the hungry on behalf of me.

I do not want to go into too much detail, but these are just a fraction of the men and women I talk to, who sacrifice time, money, personal space to host World Race, Real Life, and Ambassadors teams so that God can impact their communities even more. I pray for them regularly and I ask you to join me. They need rest. They need help. They need life. They need refreshment. And the blessings they are sowing into others need to be returned to them one hundred fold. As you read just these small snippets about them, cover them in what prayers you can give them. Thank Our Father for them.

—–

Emmanuel : Pakistan – I have only spoken with this brother a few times over Skype chat, but what I have learned from him is about faith and hope in the promises God has spoken over us as His children. A pastor in eastern Pakistan, he has a great heart for his community and his country, desiring a transformation that brings God’s Kingdom to the people of Pakistan through healing, feeding, and teaching. We have not been able to send teams to Pakistan to work with Emmanuel, but we are still praying for opportunities to partner with and bless his church. Please join me in declaring safety and blessings over Emmanuel, his family, and his ministry today.

Bhuvan : Nepal – Much like Emmanuel, I have only sent emails back and forth with this dear brother of mine, but there is a connection that happens in the spirit when two men are joining together to serve the Kingdom of God. Bhuvan has been an incredible ministry partner in connecting our World Race teams to incredible, small-operation ministries in and around Kathmandu, the capitol of Nepal. He has a wonderful heart for equipping young Christian leaders in Nepal and asks for continued prayers for the Christian leaders as they face hardships and temptations on a daily basis.

Kyampisi Childcare Ministries : Uganda – I worked with this ministry last summer when I lead the Real Life:Uganda trip, and I cannot say enough good things about them. When I was there, they told us about how they hope to re-dig and build wells in their small village, and while we were able to go into the “jungle” and dig two wells, just recently they have posted pictures of a brand new well they have built. This can supply hundreds of men, women, and children with clean drinking water, free of parasites and disease. It is ministries like these that can and will save the world. Join me in praying for their development, their resources, and their success in healing the land in Uganda.

Matthew 6:33

As my latest blog implies, I have a lot of different things going on in my life right now and it is incredible to see how God is moving and shifting me into new places, new responsibilities, and new positions. He is revealing more and more everyday of Who He is, who I am, and how He is continually growing and refining my life.

One of my tattoos, and a verse I have preached on several times before, is Matthew 6:33, which says this:

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.”

There is a huge amount of faith and trust that comes with reading this verse. Jesus is saying that if we wake up everyday asking God where He wants us, what glorifies Him, and how we can bless His Kingdom, then God will give us direction and we can be a part of what He is doing- today, here, now. And we know from Jesus’ teaching that God will speak, move, and guide us by the Holy Spirit in how to further the Kingdom of God. Jesus says if we join with God in what He is doing, God will make sure that we have what we need to accomplish what He asks.

Living by faith is something we all have to do, even if we do not realize it. I believe that we are all walking in and acting on faith in our lives. We have faith that we will wake up in the morning. We have faith that we are living for something beyond ourselves- family, friends, work. We have faith that we will have food, clothing, shelter. We put faith in ourselves, in others, in God, in whatever, knowing that nothing is definite and nothing is predictable. We set off into the things that are important to us, knowing that provision will come from something, somewhere, someone.

Every day I wake up asking God what today is about, knowing that I need provision and resources to fulfill it. I am involved in many different things, taking responsibility for things I feel God asks me to. The time and energy I spend is invested into my community (Gainesville and surrounding areas), my work (Adventures in Missions), and my family. I know that I am able to sit here, writing this, because of God’s provision to accomplish these things that glorify Him. And I know that the work I am doing is positively impacting the world around me.

The financial income I receive is directly impacted by people who want to see my work come to fruition. They are men and women who have seen fruit from my life and who know that there is value in the plow to which I have put my hands. They are being used as God’s provision in my life and they are the answer to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33.

I believe that God has asked me to be involved in the things I do here (youth group, worship leading, Adventures in Missions, etc.), and I know He provides for those things. I believe there are some of you reading this now that desire to help accomplish these things and be God’s provision in my life and the lives in which I have influence.

I need to raise a total of $7000 by September of this year. There are some of you that can help me reach this goal. One-time gifts help tremendously in boosting me closer to this goal, but I need some of you to agree to help provide for my ministry on a monthly basis. If you have questions about my ministry, the organization I work for (Adventures in Missions), or anything else, call me, email me (braedontabor@adventures.org), or comment on this blog and I will be happy to respond.

Please think about how you can partner with me financially and click on the “Partner w/ My Work and Ministry” button on the right side of your screen. Give $10 monthly. Give $1,000 monthly. Give $7000 monthly and bless the heck out of the ministry of Adventures in Missions. Give what you think is wise. Give what you think is generous. Give some counsel. Give some feedback. Give some encouragement. Ask questions. Be a part.

Thank you for your boldness and passion. And thank you for reading.

Update on Braedon

I have not written in a while, and I feel like I need to give a little bit of an update on my life. Life has been busy over the past month or so, and it’s been difficult to find time to sit down and write for a while, so I will try my best to catch you all up to speed:

Just a week and a half ago, I “graduated” from Financial Peace University, a video seminar by Dave Ramsey. The idea is to educate people about personal finances so that wise decisions are made financially, in order to 1.) get out of debt, 2.) become financially secure, and 3.) build wealth so that one may be able to pass down security and blessings down to later generations. The hope with wealth, also, is to bless others in abundance, giving without worrying about taking care of one’s own home (shelter, food, work, etc.). Honestly, going into this class I was a bit hesitant, perhaps with a stubborn pride, thinking “Damn, I shouldn’t have to take a class to learn how to manage my own finances. I should have this stuff figured out already.” And honestly, a lot of what Dave teaches in the class is common sense stuff, like getting rid of debt before worrying about investing in the future, or saving up for big purchases like cars or a down payment on a house instead of borrowing money and paying significantly more for longer. But, I swallowed my pride when my friend Jake Rodriguez recommended I take the class, and I am very thankful he did. I have been taking the class since the beginning of January, and it has been a great experience. Not all of it applies to me (credit card debt), and I need to put much of it in my back pocket for later when I run into things (IRAs, Mutual Funds, Mortgage, etc.). But just getting into the mindset of thinking about budgeting, planning to support a family in the future, and so on is really good and I am glad I took it. Plus, getting to work through some financial successes with other great people face-to-face was beneficial in itself. So thanks, Dave, for pouring out your knowledge and wisdom…

Many of you know that I am a musician, and that I have written a small amount of music in the past few years. I have really struggled to accept it, but music is one gift God has blessed me with that can really impact His Kingdom in significant ways. No amount of “good jobs” or “you sound goods” will help me realize this (sorry). Really it takes me sitting with Pops in this and hearing Him tell me His heart behind my music. And it takes me really accepting His faithfulness and Love before I begin to see that my music might actually carry some weight. So I have had many opportunities in the past few months to play music, both my own “entertaining” music and in worship settings. I will be writing more along the way, and I will be working on where my music is taking me. Keep your ears open for music to come.

A couple years ago, I had the privilege of working alongside Jana ‘Grant’ Snyder at First Presbyterian Church of Lewisburg with the youth group. Though youth groups are not really my thing (getting pied in the face actually pisses me off), it was a great experience and I learned a lot from it. Well, I am now volunteering for a small youth group here- North Georgia Church- playing guitar for the band and speaking, both in front and in small groups. God is doing some crazy good things with it and He is impacting the students in ways that I would never have imagined. There is great favor and blessings on this program and I am excited to see the continual fruit born from it.

Work is keeping me very busy, but it is good. I have been working on getting my CDL (Commercial Drivers License) so I can drive buses for training camps, I lead worship for some of our Monday-morning staff meetings, and I am still working on my original duties. Most of my time is spent setting up our ministry partners around the world so they can host our World Race teams in places like Mozambique, Australia, and Nepal. However, I will be getting a small break from these responsibilities in the next few months in order that I may focus most of my efforts towards the Evaluation system for all of our international ministry partners. This tool is essential in developing stronger partnerships with churches, ministries, and organizations we work with, and it opens up communication in honesty and care. I love this aspect of my job, because I not only get to read all of the successes from our teams being in different places, but I also get to see how we, as an organization, can improve the way we do things and how we can better function as an international ministry. It is, indeed, difficult to process and report all of this information when we have teams in dozens of locations each month, and I hope to take the next few months to organize and streamline this process.

I am originally from Pennsylvania. I was born in State College (Penn State), lived in Michigan for 12 years (until 2002), then moved back to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where I graduated high school, I went to Messiah College (2005-2007), located just south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and my parents moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania just after I left Messiah. But after the long Tabor legacy in Pennsylvania (not really that long, historically), all of us Tabors are out of the state. That’s right. There are no more Tabors living in Pennsylvania (at least not directly connected to me). Randall and Vicki (aka Dad and Mom) just moved to Seattle, Washington to be close to my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. My younger sister is still in New York City, and I am still in Georgia. So we are all over the place now, but we still keep in touch, thanks to Skype!

God is doing incredible things in my life right now, and I cannot do anything about it but thank Him for His faithfulness. He is providing huge abundance for me, and He is placing beautiful things in my hands. I know there are very big things that will be happening over the next few months and I am very excited to see how God surprises me throughout it all.

~~

If you have not already, make sure to subscribe to this blog by clicking on the Link to your right.

If you are interested in partnering with me in ministry, whether for my music, youth ministry, or in my work with the World Race, please click the link to your right- ‘Partner w/ My Work and Ministry’ to give a tax-deductible donation through Adventures in Missions. Thank you for all of your help and support, and thank you for partnering with me.

The Questions

There is a church I have been attending for the past few months called North Georgia Church (www.northgeorgiachurch.com), which is about half an hour away from where I live. And since January of this year, I have been helping out with the youth group on Wednesday nights. I play guitar and sing in the worship band, and I will get to speak here and there over the next few months. We have high schoolers and middle schoolers, and I have the privilege of sitting down with some of the high school guys for a small group.

Last night at youth group, we talked a little bit about God’s creation of the Earth and Man, and a little about Adam and Eve and “the fall.” After the talk I sat down with the high school guys to talk about this.

As per the usual, everyone just stared at the floor or started joking with their neighbor. They expected me to give a little mini sermon, make them answer questions they do not care to answer, then send them on their merry way. This did not happen.

I asked what they thought about the teaching.
Heard it.

Ok, what about the creation story in general?
Heard it.

Hm… What about Adam and Eve and God?
Heard it.

God, what do You want to ask these guys? What do You want them to hear? What are You saying?

And I felt like God wanted me to open up Pandoras Box, to let these guys run free and not hold them to anything.

Do you guys believe in Creation?
No hands.

What about Evolution?
No hands.

Thoughts? …
And that’s when it happened. One person said,                      “I think it could be both.”

And the crowd went wild!!!

Just about every guy in the group nodded in agreement, mumbling the same thing. So we actually got somewhere. Someone shot out a thought and the rest asked more questions. And out of those questions came more questions. And they actually spoke. And I was blown away. They would get off on some sort of crazy tangent and “Are the colors I see the same colors you see?” and I would reel them back in a little bit, then they would get off on another tangent. And it was so good.

After about 10 minutes of seeming chaos, one of them turned to me and said, “So we’re all just asking a bunch of questions, but you never asked any, Braedon.” I did ask questions, but not what they were expecting. So I turned to him and said, “That’s the point. I’m not going to give you guys answers because I have just as many questions as you do. And you guys have just as many answers as I have.”

Now, I could have told them about how we need to dive into God’s Word as a lifestyle so that we know what God has said in the past. And I could have gone deeper into how God         continues       to speak        today through His Holy Spirit and reveals some of the “answers.” But I don’t think it’s what God wanted then.

The deeper I dive into Who God Is, the more questions that pop into my head. And it’s so good. Because the same God that created the Heavens and the Earth (I don’t know how the hell He did that…) speaks to me and lives in me and through me and around me. And I don’t have a damn clue how that works. But I know it does. And for these guys to know that God is bigger than our answers, that He created us uniquely and intimately, can open their eyes to unimaginable things. The more questions they ask can open their eyes to the vast freedom and grace of The Father.

I strongly dislike (cause people might get offended by the word “hate”) youth group. I strongly dislike church. I strongly dislike all these types of “services.” Always have. But I know that God can do so much in times where people are meeting in His Name, and are asking questions so that they may be closer to Him. Incite (the name of this youth program) is this type of environment. And God is blessing it.

 

I Don’t Talk to Jesus Anymore

Alright, that’s not true. I still talk with Him, at least every once in a while. But the truth is, that’s not really what I’m about nowadays. I’m not too concerned with sitting down for “Jesus Time.” And honestly, I don’t think Jesus is all into that, either.

Don’t get me wrong. Jesus is great and all. I love Him and He loves me. I just don’t think He’s the point of this thing. Remember back in John 14:6-7 when Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus just summed up exactly why He came in the first place: So that we may dwell and abide in the Father. The writer of Hebrews talks about how in the Temple, it takes all of the Law to get into the Holy of Holies, and a perfect sacrifice to be placed there. The writer talks about how Jesus was the fulfillment of that Law, and how He was the perfect sacrifice needed. Therefore, all men may enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s the good news Jesus told us to preach to the nations. Unfortunately… too many people get stuck at the door…

::History SideNote
When Moses and the Israelites were in the wilderness during the Exodus, Moses would go into what is known as the Tent of Meeting. Here he would sit with God and speak to Him “face to face,” building incredible intimacy with God and really learning the Heart of God. This Tent of Meeting was eventually transitioned into the Tabernacle, or Temple.::

I see the Tent of Meeting, or Temple, having one entrance. Outside that entrance is a gigantic crowd of all of humanity (that’s a bigger crowd than all of the people trying out for American Idol…) and they’re all trying to get into this one entrance. Of course, Jesus is this entrance and He’s letting anyone get in, as long as they actually decide to come in through Him. Great. We agree that Jesus is the only way to the Father.

The problem is not that the people aren’t welcomed into the Tent of Meeting. The problem lies in where the people dwell once they get in. Everyone crowds around Jesus. They think, “Well, Jesus said He’s the Way. So I’m going to follow Him.” But they forget that Jesus was sent by the Father. He spoke what the Father spoke. He did what the Father did. The Gospel (good news) is not about Jesus- the Gospel (good news) is about the Father. The Gospel is Jesus.

Take a deep breath. Shake your head. This is good stuff, folks.

Jesus is the Way to the Father. The ticket booth is the way to a Billy Ray Cyrus concert. No one can get to Billy Ray except through the ticket booth. No one comes to a Billy Ray Cyrus concert and hangs out at the ticket booth because it was the way into the concert (I mean, they probably don’t go to the concert in the first place… but work with the analogy). Once you find the way into the concert, you go to see Billy Ray. That’s the point.

I’ve found myself there many times before- just hanging out at the entrance to the place, chatting it up with Jesus: “So uh… I hear this Father dude’s pretty cool, Jesus. I haven’t really heard much of His stuff besides what You’ve told me… But I’m sure He’s pretty good.” All the while, Jesus is elbowing me in the kidney whispering to me, “Get up there! You’re not going to believe what you will see and hear.”

That’s the good news (Gospel): “Once you get past Me (Jesus) your world will be turned upside down… God has greater things in store for you than He had for Me. I’m just here to get you into this thing. Keep going deeper and further in and you will realize and receive the Life that is intended for you.”

Again, this is not to downplay who Jesus is, nor is it to say the Church is screwing it up. It is great to see the Church taking responsibility and presenting Jesus for Who He is- The Gospel. However, I want to bring attention to the words Jesus, Himself, spoke to us: It’s not really about getting to Jesus, it’s about get through Jesus to the Father. The Father is where it all comes together and where we find real Life in abundance. Know Jesus. Keep working your way into the Tent of Meeting. And when Jesus says, “Get past me and go in deeper and further to the Father,” make your move and work your way to the front.

Coffee Shop Gig

Next Saturday, Feburary 12th, I am playing a show at Inman Perk in Gainesville, GA. I will be opening for Austin Crane. I will start at 7:30pm for about an hour set, then Austin will be playing from his new project Valley Maker. Come out, grab some coffee, and have a fun time with us!