Darren Durrett

So, we made it back after quite an adventure with taxi transportation, airports and the full meal deal, as they say. My clothes are washed and stuff is put away but now it is time to unpack. I really wish I had more time to journal the events of camp. However, with the internet situation and just the craziness of camp made it difficult. In order to get the videos I had to upload, I had to leave it plugged in at the office for long periods of time and at one point, my poor little mac book ended up locked up for the night.

So much to write about and remember! But what a great time and great adventure. I actually realized last night while at community group something that God was working on in my heart… well one of the many somethings. I will get into that as I unpack this trip. Just remind me to write about it if you don’t see it in a couple of days.

The last post left you basically knowing that we were hanging out in Santiago with the Young Life family of the DR. We knew we would have a couple of days on the front end of the trip to just spend some time with and love on the YL’ers that are down here and as a bonus we would get to experience the greatness of perspective. Mark Batterson in his book Wild Goose Chase talks about a change of place and a change of pace = perspective. That is so true. This is one of my most favorite things that God designed for us… the need for adventure, change and perspective. This is the vehicle that is my passion for sharing Christ.

I have been looking forward to this trip for so long, and like so many things I can get caught up in the “me” aspect of what I am doing. This is something that I am learning about myself. With my insatiable appetite for adventure, I tend to build this stuff up in my mind with how it should all be and how it should all go, etc. The tendency for me is to get so caught up in the trip or the details that I can “miss it.” I am not sure if that makes any sense, but it is something I struggle with. This manifests it in many ways, but one of them is a camera stuck to my face and conversation missed, a moment lost, or whatever. But like I said, this is something that I am working on (not that it is all that bad). I think I started to be sensitive to this on the Malibu Kayak trip. Anyway, it was so good just to hang out a little and get to know Chris and Britten, RJ, Katie, Aldo and all the other folks that have given up so much to be down there to share Christ with Dominikids. My favorite thing about YL is that it is the same everywhere you go: Instacommunity, almost.

Sitting and talking with Chris Buster, brainstorming about ideas to fund ministry here with micro-enterprises, web sites, etc. Talking about the challenges particular to the culture and educational system and getting a glimpse of what it is like to serve in that capacity really stokes a passion in me. I am starting to see how God could use my time, talent and treasures for His glory and kingdom. Maybe not even living down there, but maybe in creating business plans, sharing vision and raising support from here. There are so many children in there are DR and Haiti that have no access to education and little access to the gospel other than the incredible work of the missionaries there, YL, tears.org, Makarious, Doulos Discovery School and many others. It really makes me want to pack up and go — now. I know Rebecca has a heart for Haitians from her previous work with writing Vacation Bible curriculum in French and some mission work there. It makes the thought that I need to leave for work in about five minutes (as I write this) very difficult. BUT, I know for today, God has called me to what I am doing now. So, I will do my best today.

So a little later, I will write about our Thursday in the DR…

Wow, time is flying. We have been so busy that I have not had time to update. AND, there is only one spot with internet and it involves disengaging from camp to get to. Anyway, I will have some time later to fill you in on the events leading up to now.

SO, for now, you can see some videos at www.vimeo.com/djdurrett

Here is one from me and Preston when we borrowed a motorcycle and went for a drive in traffic. It was AWESOME! But the battery died on the camera so we missed the best part of us weaving through traffic.

Love you! Laters…

Dominican Motorcycle Ride from Darren Durrett on Vimeo.

Well, day two is in the books. We had a free day to plan program and club but spent most of it exploring Santiago. I had a bit of a rough day starting out due to some stomach issues and non-working toilets. Ugh. Then for the rest of the morning I was grumpy pants mainly just from being exhausted. I only wish I had more rest leading up to the trip. I hate getting here and being so tired that it is hard to enjoy. This morning I feel a ton better.

So yesterday we explored Santiago. We went to the cigar factory at Central Leon, bought a ton of cigars from the Arturo Fuentes Cigar factory. Below is a little video from that greatness. After that, we went to the Plaza mall, which nobody really wanted to do but somehow we ended up there. The mall was just like any other mall and being across from a large hospital, it was pretty “western.” The most annoying thing is that being American, people try to take advantage of you, especially exploiting the language barrier. From now on, I am sticking to the street vendors!

Last night, we got a special treat… We had the opportunity to check out a Dominican baseball game. The local team is call Aguilas, which is some sort of Eagle. Dominicans love baseball more than anything and the whole scene was really fun. One of the most interesting thing to watch was the scalpers on the curb pushing the limits trying to sell tickets but not being allowed to cross the curb. They were very aggressive heckling the patrons to get a sale. The security guards had handcuffs in hand, cocked and ready. They would try to slap them on the scalper that dared to step too close. But they would usually spin out of it and run, but only a short distance before returning for some more action. When someone showed interest, it was an absolute feeding frenzy. David said he was tempted to tell them I wanted a ticket just to see me power through that. At the game, we enjoyed a marching band, dancing cheerleaders, empanada vendors, candy and fruit vendors. Rebecca discovered the Dominican version of a blowpop and I will go ahead and say she is completely addicted!

Aguilas Baseball from Darren Durrett on Vimeo.

After a long day, mostly spent in the Miami airport, we are finally here in the Dominican Republic. It is so good to be back. The team was greeted by an energetic group holding signs saying, “Howdy Partners” and “Welcome to the Rodeo,” which was admittedly the most “texas” thing they could think of. The Young Life community is so great and so similar everywhere I have been and encountered it. One of the leaders played a joke on Chase (one of our team members) pretending to only speak spanish, a fact that was generally concerning to Chase after he found out he would be staying with him the next few days, alone. Not that it was all a bad thing to be immersed into the language, but the funniest part was when we all discovered that RJ (the leader) was messing with him!

The first order of business was to grab some grub. We told Chris Buster, who is hosting us, that we wanted some down and dirty Dominican food. After an exchange of spanish dialogue among the leaders, everyone came to a quick decision. And from the head nods, I could tell that the decision was unanimous and going to be awesome. (more…)

Here is a little video of us today at RRMT. The first shot is of Norm after attempting Joshua Tree Hill. I lent the XR250 to Beck (solid white helmet) and Norm let me ride his sweet new KTM 125. I am seriously thinking about selling the XR and getting a two stroke 125. So light and so fun! Thanks Norm!

RRMT Action 2009 from Darren Durrett on Vimeo.

So, my blog is gone. My old blog, that is. Thanks to some bad security of Word Press, it got hacked and I lost everything. I was able to recover some of the content from the database but it will take a LONG time to rebuild. Ugh, this will take for ever. But for now, its onward and upward.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-20 NIV)

You know, I have read and heard that passage a number of times but I have seemed to have missed something which was revealed to me by the Holy Spirit while on a recent trip in the wilderness. We recently took a small group of our high school friends to Canada for a sea kayaking adventure in British Columbia at Young Life’’s Beyond Malibu Camp. The trip was an intentional trip to the wilderness to seek God and reveal God via his creation and perspective. In his book Wild Goose Chase, author Mark Batterson talks about the importance of venue to break pace and routine to gain perspective. I love that. I love the wilderness for that opportunity to leverage God’s creation to gain perspective. And what a venue it was! (more…)

Up this morning reading a little and came across a good reminder of faith and patience. I have read Nehemiah before but as always, God showed me something where I had not seen it before. Previously, I read it for content on leadership. This morning I read it to see how God can call a complete spare to great things… but what I found was a great picture of prayer, faith and patience: In the month of Kislev in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes (verse 1) Nehemiah heard some disturbing news from his brother about his people and that the wall of Jerusalem had been destroyed. ”When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven” (verse 1:4). Then in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah is presented with an opportunity (more…)

Here is a little video from me and Norm’s trip to Crossbar Ranch in Oklahoma. We camped out and rode some motorcycle trails that were clearly more quad trails than motorcycle trails. They were wide, steep, and rocky in places. Of course it is hard to tell the elevation changes due to the fish-eye lens on Norm’s go-pro camera. Enjoy!

Three hours, thirty-three minutes and thirty-three seconds.  It was the only thing that seemed amusing to me after three hours, thirty-three minutes and thirty-three seconds of being on the bike.  The nifty little cyclometer perched on my handle bar flashed: “3:33:33.”  In that moment, I was very pleased.  It was trivial to me that I just happened to look down to catch that little moment… ”All perfect numbers, too!” I thought to my self. Then that faint feeling returned [TWINGE]…  (more…)