DC - I

Today was an amazing day. I am in Washington D.C. for a couple of days at a faith-based initiative forum sponsored by our Assemblies of God CONVOY OF HOPE ministry. CONVOY OF HOPE has done tremendous things both here and around the world to bring real help to those who are hungry, homeless, sick, under-resourced and diseased. The forum in D.C. is to help us all understand the plight of poverty, AIDS and other social ills in our U.S. society.

I sense my own heart and vision and passion and motivation being driven in these directions more and more as days go by. I believe our congregation back home is beginning to feel the same - some have for a long time already.

So today there were several speakers to enlighten us -- Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania and Steve Preston, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, were two of them.

A couple of other unrelated, but cool things happened to me today, too. I took a taxi from my hotel down to where the forum was being held. The driver happened to be the hippest 30-something Pakistani guy. This is what I absolutely love about places like Washington, D.C. It has such a wonderful international feel to it. My taxi driver, whose name I could not begin to pronounce, has been in the U.S. for about 15 years, but still had the thickest accent. He was a great conversationalist and we engaged each other non-stop during the whole 20 minute drive - 4-letter words and all (not from me, but from him). He has a wife and three children under age 6. He talked about how much he loves being in America, and yet it frustrates him that it seems we are so bent in the U.S. on 'work' and having 'stuff.' Very astute, wouldn't you say? He said over in Europe and Asia, people are more relaxed - they spend more time with family - they go on vacations - but not over here. Work, work, work, for stuff, stuff, stuff. Consequently, he said - to make ends meet - he has to work 10-12 hours per day, seven days a week. I was shocked at that and challenged him on it - I mean, what about his young FAMILY?! He said (with a couple of choice words) that he HAD to work that way just to keep their heads above water. He gets to see his kids in the early morning before he leaves for work and then he gets to see them sleeping when he comes home. Occasionally, he may have a few extra hours on a weekend when he can take them to Chuck E. Cheese or somewhere like that. My heart broke for him. Such a nice guy. I told him I would pray for him that God would relieve his situation. He seemed to appreciate that. The trip ended on a very UP note. I was wearing a suit today for the meetings and when I got out of the taxi - as I handed him a $20, he told me I reminded him of a MOVIE STAR! That's right - you heard it here first. I wanted to ask him WHICH movie star I reminded him of, but I didn't. I was afraid he might say Ernest Borgnine or someone like that. I didn't want to push my luck.

I also had the opportunity in mid-afternoon to sneak away from the forum for about an hour to get over to the Longworth Congressional Building (about 6 blocks away and directly adjacent to the U.S. Capitol Building) to see Representative Paul Ryan from Wisconsin. He represents our district in Congress. Paul has had a relationship with our church since back in the days of musical productions. He has attended several. I sat in his office area even though he wasn't there. His assistant took me down outside Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner's (R - WISC) office, where Paul was due to stop by for a meeting. His assistant, Ted McCann, graduated from Tremper a few years back and has been in D.C. for a couple of years now helping Paul. As Ted and I were standing there talking, a voice came from around the hallway corner: "That must be Kevin Taylor I hear," and into view came Rep. Paul Ryan. I guess he recognized my VOICE before he SAW me. Kind of cool. We chatted for about ten minutes in the hall before he had to go into his meeting with Sensenbrenner. It was great to see him. He's a definite 'up-and-comer.' Keep watching him.

I also had a chance to see Ebenezer's Coffeehouse right across from Union Station. It is the largest coffeehouse in D.C. and is owned and operated by Mark Batterson's National Community Church (www.theaterchurch.com). The church meets on weekends in a theater right in Union Station and during the week they meet downstairs underneath the coffee house. I sat inside Ebenezer's for about 30 minutes with a hot chocolate, big blueberry muffin and free wireless internet. Very cool.

I am excited about the forum tomorrow. It includes a tour and meeting inside the White House and other meetings in the famous Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where much of the inner-workings related to the White House takes place. Should be fun. I have to wear a suit. Good thing I kept all those.

I'll be in touch tomorrow sometime to give you a full report.

And be blessed.