World Next Door is Live!

Ok, so if you haven't already heard, I am now the director of World Next Door, Inc., a fully operational 501(c)3 organization that is officially off and running.

As a result, I have been so busy doing director type things and writing for my organization that I haven't even been able to spare a thought for this blog.

But the other day I realized, "What if there are people who used to follow my blog that don't even know about World Next Door? They're really missing out!"

Right now I am leading a team of three interns (what? Interns already???) in Nairobi, Kenya. We've been here about three weeks with five more to go, and we are posting up a storm.

So what are you waiting for? Check it out!!! www.worldnextdoor.org

See you over there!

Slumdog Millionaire: So accurate it's creepy...

A lot of people have been asking me lately what I though of the movie Slumdog Millionaire. It might be because of my stellar reputation as a world-renowned movie critic, but it is more likely because I just spent three months in India. Hmmm... Not sure.

Ok. No critical build-up to my final opinion here. Slumdog ROCKED. It was awesome. Fantastic. Whatever you want to call it. I loved it.

Seriously, if you haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire yet, you need to. And not just because it won 8 Oscars. I would recommend it hands down even if it hadn't won a single Academy Award. I've already seen it twice, I'd easily see it again, and the soundtrack has been playing non-stop in my car for 2 days.

Slumdog Millionaire is a must-see movie.
So go see it. You must.

So why did I like it so much? Why all this hype?

Because Slumdog Millionaire captured poverty in India like nothing I've ever seen. The images of people and places in the movie were so spot on that it took my breath away. I felt like someone was reaching into my memory and pulling out the exact things I had seen and experienced.

In fact, it genuinely was a little creepy, because of the sheer volume of sights and sounds in the movie that matched my trip exactly.

At one point in the movie, there is a little girl wearing a filthy yellow dress picking through a massive pile of garbage. Children like her (called "rag-pickers" in India) were a common sight in New Delhi. Once, as we were driving around a corner in my neighborhood, I saw a little girl, clothes filthy, picking through a heap of trash. I think her dress might even have been yellow. The exact same image.

Later in the movie, two young boys make money by walking through a train, selling things to the passengers. I travelled in the exact same type of train, and yes... little boys tried to sell me stuff.

Slumdog's protagonist, a boy who grew up in a Mumbai slum.

One image in the movie is of a little beggar girl tapping on the window of a car and asking for food by making motions with her hands. The image was spot on, even down to her hand motions and the little bobble of her head.

Then there was the stuff that was so accurate it was creepy. At one point they show a little blind boy begging at the bottom of the stairs in a subway (underground passage). I used to regularly go through a subway to avoid crossing the crazy street above, and just about every time I would see a little blind boy begging.

And to top it all off, there is a song playing in the background of one scene which of course happened to be from one of three Bollywood movies I saw while in India. What are the chances?

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Slumdog Millionaire captures poverty in India well.

But from just reading this you would think that it's a really depressing movie. That it's all beggars and garbage and poverty. And there is a fair share of really difficult images. But in the end, the movie leaves you with a feeling of hope... of redemption. On top of all that, the movie revolves around a simple and beautiful love story.

And come on. Who doesn't love... [SPOILER ALERT] ...a happy ending???

Excuses excuses...

Well, there's no getting around it. I haven't posted anything on this blog for ages. There are actually plenty of completely legitimate reasons too. Seriously!

What, you don't believe me? Well here... let me share a few heartfelt excuses (that are actually just a pathetic attempt to creatively explain what I've been up to...).

Excuse #1: I've just been so busy!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am in the process of getting a not-for-profit photojournalism ministry started. It's called World Next Door, and it has been totally consuming my life since I got back from India.

In the past 4 months the organization has been incorporated with the State of Indiana, we've officially created a board of directors and just last week I sent in the application to officially become a not-for-profit with the IRS.

That, along with creating a website, reading through applications for our summer internship and sending out support letters, has made me a pretty busy guy... Oh, and did I mention I'm putting in 25 hours a week doing temp maintenance work for a factory?

I have also been spending some quality time with Chuck-E-Cheese.

Excuse #2: I don't want to bore people...

You see, a bunch of people are signed up to get emails whenever I update my blog. The problem is, a lot of them signed up for those when I was off doing crazy stuff in India. Now that I'm home, there's not nearly as many cool moments to share (not yet at least).

Also, once worldnextdoor.org launches in April, all of my experiences and crazy stories will be posted as part of that online magazine. This blog will become more of an outlet for my personal musings, spiritual discoveries and reflections on being the director of a groundbreaking not-for-profit.

If you want to stick around for that, feel free. If not, you won't hurt my feelings. :)

Excuse #3: Ninja Dinosaurs

Some mad genius found a way to clone vicious carnivores from the Cretaceous period and train them in the exotic martial arts of the far east. Obviously I wasn't going to just stand around while they destroyed civilization as we know it!

This shot was NOT easy to get.

Excuse #4: My lack of blogging was an intentional artistic statement designed to focus attention on the deep individuality and isolation brought on by an increasingly segmented post-Enlightenment population.

Yep. That's exactly what it was...


As you can see, there are plenty of good reasons that I haven't picked up the keyboard for a while. But now that I am officially a "photojournalist," I guess my days of making excuses are over...

World Next Door, here I come!

Toronto Snapshot 1: Birthday Boy

On November 14-17, I led a team of college-age students on a pilgrimage to the streets of Toronto. It's one of my favorite GCC short term trips, and it's hard to return without a bundle of incredible and thought provoking stories.

Over the next week or so, I will be sharing a few of those stories here... Enjoy!

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On Sunday morning, our team visited The Church of the Holy Trinity. It was an old building, smack in the middle of bustling downtown Toronto.

Because of its location, the church has become something of a beacon for homeless men and women in the area. They serve soup and bread after their service, have a memorial for the homeless right outside and the atmosphere of worship is one of welcome, hospitality and grace.

Our team visiting The Church of the Holy Trinity on Friday night.

This was made quite evident by the drunk homeless man that I met after the service. Somehow I can't imagine his presence going over quite as well in suburban Indy! He was sitting half-asleep in a chair after the service, and grabbed my attention as I walked past him.

"Hey. How are you doing man?" he asked through squinting eyes. "I'm David."

"Hey there. My name's Barry. How are you?" I replied.

"It was my birthday yesterday."

"Cool! Happy birthday man! What did you do on your big day?"

"Well, in the morning I pounded the pavement and got a few dollars. I told people it was my birthday and I showed them my ID so they would know I wasn't lying to them. Then, I drank four bottles of wine and had two joints."

"Woah," I said, smiling (and trying to imagine what one bottle of wine would do to me!). "Sounds like you had a pretty crazy day!"

"Yeah... Hey. That wine they used for communion. Is that... like, for anyone to take? What do they do with the leftover wine?"

I looked around for the bottle, but I didn't see it on the communion table. "I don't know." I said.

"Because it was just sitting out so I thought..." He opened his jacket and pulled out the half-full bottle of communion wine. "I thought it would be ok to have it. Is that, like, ok? To take the communion wine? I mean, is it ok to drink wine used for communion?"

I laughed and replied, "Well, I'm going to let you wrestle with your own conscience on that one..."

A quarter of Toronto's population lives under the poverty line.

He closed his jacket and shut his eyes. I thought the conversation was over, and I started to say goodbye. Before I could get the words out, he continued.

"She was like an angel man. I think she was 16. She was just a little angel."

"Um, who was?" I asked, wondering if the alcohol was starting to get the better of him.

"This girl I met yesterday. She was 16 and her parents were pushing her in a wheelchair. She had cancer. Cancer! She was 16! Just a little angel." As he said this, tears began streaming down his face.

"And I thought, what did she ever do to deserve that? I mean, I thought my life was hard, but then I saw her and now I know I've got nothing to complain about."

After taking a few breaths, he continued, "And you know what I did? I asked her straight up, can I pray for you? I did. I said, can I pray for you? And then I prayed. I prayed that God would bind up the cancer. That he would heal her! Because I believe in the power of prayer."

"Woah," I said, "that's amaz-"

"And you know what the father did? He tried to give me five dollars! I said, no way, sir. I'm not taking your money. But then he put it in my pocket and told me if I didn't like it, I should give it to someone else. Well, I didn't like taking money from him. It felt like he was paying me for praying for his daughter."

"Hmm. So what did you-"

"So then I was out walking and some other homeless guy I know asked me for a light. I said, 'I'll do you one better.' and I gave him the five dollars. He was shocked."

Someone from the team came up to tell me that we were leaving. I turned to David and said, "Well, it was really nice to meet you."

"You too, man. And hey, would you remember to pray for me? You do believe in the power of prayer, right?"

"Sure, David. I definitely will. And yeah, I do believe. Thanks. Thanks for... talking."

I walked away wondering if I really did believe, and reminding myself once again that God speaks in the most unlikely of places...