A Different Kind of Training

This morning I woke at 3am to catch a ride from an ulrarunner to a puddle jumper which brought me from Scranton to Newark.  I then had a 4 hour layover then took another small jet from Newark to Indianapolis, IN.  Why? To train.
For me most of my training has been of one kind with one goal and that has been with my sights set on May 22.  My first Tri.  My running is going to have to take a back seat as I think I may have stirred up and old injury, swimming is going to get some more focused work and I am getting more confident with every ride.  But to be honest those things are about me.
I am here in Indianapolis to train for others.
Unless you have been living under a rock on another planet you have probably heard of the devastation in Haiti.  I am part of a denomination that has a very active church in Haiti and lost many of it's schools, churches, and its main hub in the earthquake.  And as it was put today during one of the sessions, the reset button has been hit on Haiti.  The whole infrastructure is being rethought, buildings and roads and homes are being relocated and changed.
What is unfortunate is right now helping Haiti is a fad and it just can't be that way.  This is a not a fashionable cause to throw money at and a huge flux of resources.  These are people with names, cares and concerns.  When a congregation of almost 300 Haitians was asked "How many of you have lost a loved one?" Everyone raised their hand, yet they picked up and worshiped the God who loves them.
I was very encouraged to hear that the Haitian Free Methodist church is not run by American missionaries but by Haitian leaders.  I am also glad that the Haitian leaders are deciding how the money being sent should be spent.
So this week I am here going through a training so a team of people from my local church body can also be trained to go, help, and to love.  I will be giving little snippets as to the things I will be learning over the next few days.
But in the mean time, think about training...no, practicing.
Practice loving someone other than yourself today.