Got a call from a buddy right before my trip who in essence said, “Pete why are you going to India right now? You need to be promoting Book #1 and I know your writing book #2. You guys are having record settings weekends at Cross Point, you’re getting ready to open a 4th campus and you’ve got a new teaching series you need to work on. Couldn’t you have found a less busy time?”

He’s got a great heart but I think there was a part of him that felt as if I was almost being a little irresponsible. Almost as if I were clowning around when more important things needed to be tended to. None of his concerns were new to me.  I had selfishly thought every one of those things myself.

We tend to put things in categories:

Things that are important. Things that aren’t.
People who matter. People who don’t.

Henri Nouwen explains in Clowning in Rome(which is rocking my world right now)…

Clowns are not in the center of the events. They appear between the great acts, fumble and fall, and make us smile again after the tensions created by the heroes we came to admire. The clown don’t have it together, they do not succeed in what they try to do , they are awkward, out of balance, and left handed, but…they are on our side. We respond to them not with admiration but with sympathy, not with amazement but with understanding, not with tension but with a smile.

The church today is full of lion tamers and trapeze artists whose dazzling feats claim our attention and elicit our applause and yet what the Kingdom so desperately needs is more clowns.

In a way this is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 20:  ¹⁶“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” In other words the way up is down.

In God’s Kingdom it’s not the ring leader or the trapeze artist who grabs the spotlight but it’s the clown who simply prays, God may I evoke a smile and awaken hope today, even in a city terrorized by violence, poverty and despair.

I’ve never spent way too much of my life trying to get to the center of the ring. Time to head in a different direction. Time to be a clown!

Every once in a while you lock eyes with an individual who changes the way you think, act, and love. Here’s a few eyes I was blessed to glare into.

I could tell you their stories, but just look into their eyes. I think you know.

Matthew 25

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Laughter may not fix everything, but it sure is a good place to start.

They had never heard of Red Rover in the Khalpar slum until yesterday.

What’s your favorite childhood game?

Mine? Freeze Tag.

Red Rover from Pete Wilson on Vimeo.

Let me introduce you to Bishal Barik.

This kid grabbed my heart from the moment I met him. Maybe it’s because he’s 8 like my oldest or maybe it’s his contagious smile, but we instantly hit it off. Bishal is a student at the school we’ve started in the Khalpar slum.

His mother abandoned him the day he was born and another family took him in. There were complications with his birth which have left Bishal battling issues with his legs. He walks with a limp and is often in pain after a day of playing outside. He’s in desperate need of physical therapy but obviously that’s just not a reality in his situation. The couple who took him in are both employed and combined make just over one dollar a day.

You’ll have to trust me when I say Bashil is a special kid. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up he quickly responded, “I want to be a pastor.” I said, “Why do you want to be a pastor, Bashil?” He said, “Well, because I Iove Jesus.”  And boy does he ever! This kid has Jesus written all over him.

Despite his physical hardships and extreme poverty he simply loves anyone and everyone who comes in his path.

His laughter is a sweet sound in a sea of despair.

His kindness is a light in deep darkness.

His joy is a miraculous contradiction in a hopeless slum.

While Bashil dreams of one day being a pastor he doesn’t even realize he’s more pastor than I’ll ever be.

Matthew 22: 37-40
Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

How can you love God and people better today?

Our first day in Kolkata was a tough one. After 30 hours of travel we finally arrived, grabbed a quick shower and headed out to the slum we’ll be working in the rest of our short visit.

The Khalpar slum is currently the focus for Cries of Love. This slum is the home for some 500 people. While most of the men in this community work as rickshaw pullers the women serve as maid servants. While the adults are off working during the day this leaves the some 70 kids in the slum to fend for themselves.

Cross Point is partnering with Cries of Love to provide a school for these kids during the day. The school includes an aged graded curriculum which also features Bible classes and a daily hot meal for these kids. In the future we’re hoping to provide all around health care and nutritional support to the kids as well as vocational training for the mothers so they will be able to live a life with self respect and dignity.

I’m absolutely blown away with the impact this ministry has already had on this community in the few short months it’s existed. I’ll share more soon! Thanks for all the prayers.

Have you ever played the game “one of these things is not like the others”. While I’m so honored to be speaking at LIT later this Spring I clearly feel way out of my league. However, despite me speaking there, you’ve got to come check out this new conference. I mean just look at these speakers.

Chris Stephens- Senior Pastor of Faith Promise Church in Knoxville, TN and founder of Kaleo Ministries.  Chris is a pastor’s pastor and has a heart for encouraging, equipping, and raising up other leaders to achieve their full potential. Chris is also the author of The Climb of Your Life. This guy is the real deal. You’re going to love him.

Pat Summitt - head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, men or women in any division, and one of only three collegiate coaches with 1000 victories. She has written two books, Reach for the Summitt and Raise the Roof. Honestly, I’m scared to death of this lady. She intimidates the heck out of me.

Johnny Hunt - senior pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock in Georgia and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention. As one of the most dynamic preachers in the country, Dr. Hunt combines an unrelenting love for Jesus with a powerful conviction for biblical truth. He’s been a hero of mine for years!

This is going to be an incredible day where I have no doubt you will have the opportunity to refresh, refine, and recalibrate your leadership and pastoral skills .

And here’s the best news yet. I’M GOING TO GIVE AWAY 3 PAIRS OF TICKETS TO LIT! Just leave me a quick comment and your qualified for the random drawing.

If you don’t win, no worries. You can register HERE for just $89 for Church Leaders and $49 for Pastors’ Wives. Come join us in the beautiful setting of the Smoky Mountains. One of my favorite places on earth!

Here’s a quick video of Chris explaining a little more about the conference. Hope to see you there!

Welcome to LIT from Kaleo Ministries on Vimeo.

I’ve always wanted to go to Paris. I’m only here for a couple hours but I guess that’s better than nothing. Wonder if I could make it to the Eiffel Tower and back without missing my next flight?

What’s one city you’ve never been to that you would love to visit?

Last year I was privileged to travel with Compassion International to India. I could talk about that trip for hours but there were two things I walked away with.

1. Compassion is doing an amazing work. Our family’s compassion child is in India (Sammy) and we’ll continue to support kids through compassion. I love and believe in the work they’re doing around the world. If you’re interested in sponsoring a child in India just click the banner in my sidebar.

2. I was blown away by the extreme hopelessness and paralyzing poverty that exists there. With 25% of the worlds population living in India the ministry opportunities are almost overwhelming. I’ve honestly never visited a place where there was such a heavy spiritual oppression. It took me months to emotionally recover after my last visit.

When our team left India on May 1st I knew in my heart there was still some unfinished work there for me. I knew on the plane ride home there was a burning passion that life could no longer go back to the way it was.  I had to get back there as soon as I could. Since then I’ve started a non-profit called Cries of Love to help the children of India to be filled with the Hope of Christ while helping meet their basic needs.

So today, nine months later, I’m finally getting the opportunity to go back. I’m traveling with Jenni Catron, our Executive Director at Cross Point, and Ryan Bult, our Pastor of Missions. Since returning from India not only have the families of Cross Point literally sponsored hundreds of kids in Kolkata, India, but we’ve also helped start a school and feeding center there as well.

We’re going to check on the new work that has been started and also scout out the logistics for future trips we hope to take as a church.

We should be on the ground in Kolkata, India Thursday morning (I think that will be Wednesday night here in the US). I’ll try to blog a few times while there but I believe our internet connection will be unreliable at best. In the meantime I would appreciate your prayers.

1) Pray for our safety. The State Department just released a new travel warning.

2) Pray for our productivity. There are a lot of meetings and decisions that need to be arranged while we’re there. While I believe in the future of Cries of Love there are several things that need to fall into place to ensure the future and effectiveness of this ministry.

Here’s a few posts I wrote on my blog during my last trip to  India:

The Source of My Passion
Looking Into The Eyes of Bondage
A Reminder of Nothing
Sometimes I’m Miserable, Poor, Pitiful and Blind

We’ve been busy making lots of memories the past couple days. I really have no words to describe how much fun we’ve been having. We only get snow like this about once a decade here in Nashville so we had to take full advantage of it.  Here’s a few things I’ll never forget.

-Sledding with the kids at 11:30 p.m.

-Gage looking outside and seeing all the snow and saying, “This is the biggest miracle of my life”.

-Making snow cream.

-Having friends snowed in with us.

-An awesome family hike through the snow filled woods.

-Building a massive snowman.

-Going 45 mph down the hill at Steeplechase.

-Lots of Dutch Blitz (I never won a single time and officially hate the game).

Do you have a favorite snow storm memory?

Yes, it was a scary as it looked.

When was the last time you went sledding?