One Word Changed Everything — Will You Say It Too?

In 2009, my friend Kevin McQuaig walked into my office and disrupted the next two decades of my life. In the best possible way.

A man of few words, he leaned in and simply said, “Hey, we should go on a mission trip.”

Inside, I was thinking: What’s a mission trip? But my mouth was already saying: “Sure, let’s do it.”

A few months later, I was inhaling diesel exhaust on an old yellow bus, grinding up a washed-out dirt mountain road toward the village of Las Conchas, Guatemala. Over the next seven years, our team built a school, a clinic, a community center, roads, and roughly twenty homes. But more than any of that — we built friendships, developed skills we didn’t know we had, and discovered something that has never left me: you can change the world simply by saying YES.

Ten years ago, I was asked if I’d take a team to Honduras.

Yes was the only answer available.

That single word launched a decade-long partnership with Mission Lazarus — one of the most remarkable organizations I’ve ever encountered. Bob Goff wrote it well in Love Does: love isn’t an emotion, it’s a verb. It’s action. It does things....hard things. At its very core, it’s Jesus not just talking about laying down his life — but actually doing it.

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.” — 1 John 3:18

That’s the assignment. And every year, our team ships out to live it.

Last year, we built a bridge.

For months every rainy season, rising river waters cut off an entire community — kids couldn’t get to school and adults couldn’t reach work or medical care without walking miles to the nearest safe crossing. We fixed that. It was our first bridge project, and honestly? It was one of my favorite projects.

The year before, we dug a well and installed a water distribution system that gave an entire village access to clean water. And every single year, without fail, we carve out time and resources to install as many latrines as we can — because basic dignity matters and the health impact is extraordinary.

This year, we’re doubling down.

In February, we’re building two bridges, digging a well, and installing a full water distribution system — all on one trip. It’s the most ambitious project we’ve ever attempted, and we need your help to pull it off.

Our goal: $120,000.

I know that sounds like a big number. But here’s what I’ve learned after seventeen of these trips: the people who give are every bit as essential as the people who go. Without both, none of this is possible. Your name is on every bridge. Your dollars dug every well. You are on this team whether your boots hit the ground or not.

➡️ Donate to the Honduras Mission Trip

We also have a few spots left on the trip itself.

If something in you is stirring right now — pay attention to that. Raise your hand. Reach out. Just know: once you go, you won’t want to stop. God has a way of doing something to you on the mission field that no sermon, no book, and no amount of comfort ever quite replicates.

Thank you for even reading this far. Your generosity is not lost on us, and its impact reaches far beyond what any of us will ever fully see.

With gratitude

(A few images from last year’s trip below — these moments are why we keep going.)