FredMcKinnon.Com

Hello from Ocean Grove, NJ.

A rare moment of quiet and stillness in the “parlor” of the place we’re staying here for The Forge Conference gives me this opportunity to catch up on the blog.

I’ll be here the next few days with a list of some super talented and cool leaders in worship ministry, technology, and ministry.  We’re leading the 1st-ever “The Forge Conference” and I’m excited.

I’ll be teaching a couple of classes and leading some of the “late night worship” which from my understanding, is a free-for-all praise and worship time for anyone to join in with.

Pretty smooth first day – our flight from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte, NC was quick and easy.  I am traveling with a couple of co-workers from SSCC … Travis Paulding and Shannon Lewis.  I’m proud that our church is reaching out and equipping other churches and leaders beyond our 4 walls.  In Charlotte we connected with long-time friend McKendree Augustas.

Landing in Newark was cool – I’ve never been to New York City and didn’t realize that Newark was right there by Manhatten and was pretty excited to see New York City and the Statue of Liberty from the plane window.  Yeah, I’m just a good ole’ boy from South Georgia.

We were expecting a guy from Ocean Grove to pick us up at the airport and joked for about 30 minutes about this limo-guy walking around with a sign that said “Augustas”.  Finally after waiting outside for a half hour, we got a phone call that the limo dude was for us … well, we didn’t have a stretch limo, but we did have a big ole’ black Suburban.  I told Travis I felt like I was in a Harrison Ford flick like Patriot Games.  Thankfully, no rocket launchers took us out of the NJ interstates.

For those who wish to follow “tweets” and updates on Twitter/Facebook during the conference – we’ll be using the following hashtag, which you can use to “search” the net:  #ForgeCon10
More later …

It was our incredible pleasure and blessing to have a professional photographer, Kimberlee West on our trip to Peru.  She was always behind the cameras so that we could always be in the moment.  Last night she blew us away by giving us all a USB key full of hundreds of pictures and THIS video she produced (on her Mac, of course).  Thanks, Kimberlee – you are a true professional and a Christ-loving servant!

Today was a fantastic day in Lima, Peru.  I am totally blown away by the faces, testimonies, and stories from all of these projects by Compassion International.

We spent some time this morning getting some tours en route to the church where today’s Compassion project was hosted.  (click the image for a larger picture) … this is one of the big city squares.

We spent a good amount of time with the kids today – for the first time we spent some time with the teenagers today and saw that they are learning marketable skills at the Compassion projects.  For example, they were learning to make silk screen design T-Shirts calendars, printing, and they made some incredible chocolates that they typically would sell.  I say “typically sell” because we ATE THEM today instead.

We also spent time with 3 students who are part of Compassion’s “LTP” (Leadership Training Program).  This is a program where some of the best students get scholarships and leadership training to the colleges and universities.  If only I could have pictures and videos of “Elizabeth” and her story.  She grew up as a sponsored child and now is in the LTP and is studying in the university to be an elementary teacher.  When asked what she wanted to do, she said “go to the farthest parts of Peru and teach the children about my faith in Jesus Christ”.

Last night I shared a once-in-a-lifetime treat with my friend, Scott Copeland.  Scott is a worship pastor up in the Atlanta area and we met at the re:create conference earlier this year.  In addition, Pastor Francis Castañeda from Lima, Peru attends the conference.  We kept thinking it would be a shame to visit Lima, Peru and not see Pastor Francis whom we’d grown to love from our visits at re:create.

In addition to being a full-time Worship Pastor here in Lima, Francis founded the Allegro Institute, a training center for the arts  – worship, music, arts, etc.  His passion for teaching and training worship leaders is contagious – I’m ready to fly back to Peru soon and teach these students in music theory, arranging, and the spiritual aspects of worship leadership.

Scott and I became true locals – as everyone else on our team from Compassion was headed up to bed, we joined Francis and jumped in a cab and toured Allegro Institute.  We toured all around Lima, seeing some sights that I’m sure we’d never see otherwise.  We enjoyed coffee and some incredible “steak-kabob” type dish in a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean together.  We returned to the hotel around midnight – exhausted, but exhilarated from our time with Francis.

Finally, I captured a great video today with a couple of the sponsored kids.  I’ll post that as a separate blog, it’s still processing.

Thanks for your prayers.  A few of you have emailed or messaged me and asked “how can I sponsor a child”?  Just visit www.compassion.com and it’s so simple.  Have questions, just ask me!

Fred

Yet another great day in Lima, Peru.  We visited a rural church today and were greeted by these beautiful kids.  Maybe you sponsor one of them?

Over and over, we talked to these kids about how their Compassion sponsors have changed their lives.  One young lady (she was 17) said she had just graduated and was hoping to get accepted into the Navy.  She’s been a sponsored child since she was 4 years old.  She said “Compassion has changed my life”.

I met a great little boy today – I tried so many times to comprehend his name, but I can’t recall it and I’m sure I can’t spell it.  He was my buddy.  He was so shy at first, but a few hours into our day and he was saying “your name is fred”.  I love hearing them say “Fred” – they roll the “r”.  So do I, now.

Our home visit was a moving experience, as expected.  We hiked up these hills as our bus couldn’t make the climb.  We kept saying “I think I can, I think I can” like the little train who could.

Our home visit brought us to a place where once again I was amazed at the poverty.  A tiny hut with a cloth roof, a stove, some chickens – but this actually had two rooms.  The mother weeped with joy as we blessed her.  Her two daughters are 5 and 3 … the 5 year old is in the Compassion project.  They are all Christians walk to the church.  Loving this woman, encouraging her as a good mother, praying a blessing for her, and seeing those kids excitement over the visit and the food … words can’t express.

I have a video of the actual visit inside, but it’s still uploading to YouTube … so enjoy today’s clip of our hike down to her home.  Maybe I can get some videos of our “competition” today – my team won, we jumped through hoops and crawled through the church in a maze race.  I was glad I’d been doing regimen!

Compassion Trip to Peru, Day 1

Awesome first day in Lima, Peru.  We visited one of the urban projects here in town at a local church.  Did you know that ALL of Compassion’s ministry is carried out through the local church?

We were greeted by the most beautiful people ever with song and dance, as you can see from some of the videos I’ll post.

Today we learned about Compassion’s “CSP” – or “Child Survival Program”.  This is an amazing ministry where Compassion workers reach children before they are even born.  Those who are pregnant or who have recently given birth and who are part of this program are ministered to on every level, from spiritual to social, emotional, and intellectual.

We had the honor of visiting the home of one of the mothers who is in this program.  She was a young, single mom with a beautiful little girl.  She lived in the “Squatter” area — in a tiny hut that was probably not much larger than a 12×8 room.  We were able to witness the Compassion worker as she worked with the infant and checked the various assignments and homework that had been given the mother.  I had the pleasure of praying for this mom and her young daughter and speaking a blessing over her home and family.

Totally had a blast with the kids today.  This one little boy, Ernesto – he grabbed my heart.  He was such a sport-model … and I was pretty surprised at how quickly the Spanish came back to me.

Tonight we’re having dinner with three of the local pastors here in Lima who are part of the Compassion ministry.

Looking forward to Day 2.

Here’s a quick video we made outside after our home visit. We were also able to give this young mother a big basket full of groceries. My perspective of life, people, love, and what’s important … is changing already.