Living Beyond Yourself

Meet my friend, Will Walker.

When Perfect Glass finally sees the light of day, you’ll find a reference to him in my acknowledgments. Something along the lines of “Thanks for being the kind of guy that proves me right.”

I wrote that because, as you’ll see, the way Will approaches life and faith proves to the naysayers that yes, in fact, there are young men in our midst that make Henry look realistic. And he’s got a group of friends at Texas A&M University who are just as Henry-esque. And Meg-esque. There’s my plug for Texas A&M for the week.

Will is a junior international studies major from tiny Shallowater, Texas (pop. 2,100), twelve miles north of Lubbock. He’s a powerful 6’7″ so it’s a good bet the Shallowater High athletic department was sorry to see him graduate.

He and his best friend and roommate John Mark Vanderpool, along with a close-knit core of other students, recently launched a new campus organization called Live Beyond.

What’s remarkable about these students is their love for others, and their unequivocal belief that the time to serve is now and they are willing.

I caught up with Will after he returned from a recent trip to Haiti. He and other Live Beyond members went there to help Mobile Medical Disaster Relief (MMDR) with an ongoing project in the city of Thomazeau. He was gracious enough to answer some questions for Writing for Young Adults, although he wanted me to reiterate that he’s just one part of the group, and that his teammates and friends have all worked long hours to make this project happen.

 Tell me how Live Beyond went from being a pie-in-the-sky dream to a reality.

The reality of Live Beyond is still so new. We just recently learned that it’s now registered as a campus organization. It took the hard work, brainpower and talent of a group of guys and girls who loved the idea and wanted to see it happen here.

The pie-in-the-sky aspect to Live Beyond was definitely there in the early discussions. A group of us who were all friends, some of us roommates, had long, intense, late-night conversations about what we really wanted out of life. These were talks that happened on rooftops in Haiti in the middle of the night, or on the back porch of the house where I live with several guys. I have to mention names of some of the folks that worked so hard–Kayla Hansen, Candace Bayles, John Mark Vanderpool, Laura Seifert, Caroline Edmonds, Brooke Harris, Paige Harris, Greg Neill, Wes Walker, Wes White, Matt Brown, Emily Huff, Randi Mavroulis, Tristan Bankhead, Kassie Stone, Meagan Stewart, Taylor Whittlesey, Collin Edmonds, and all the people that have come on board and pulled through. It’s been an amazing effort by a bunch of people, and our numbers are growing rapidly.

The concept behind the group is exactly what the name says. We are trying to live beyond ourselves. We are trying to soar above the norm and reject the constant movement of our culture toward self-absorption and unbelievable materialism. We want to see the big picture and acknowledge that there is more to this life.

I guess, above all, our whole group really recognized that we had, as individuals, been blessed and we felt that with blessing comes responsibility. We’ve been entrusted with so much and we didn’t ever want to take the easy way out, and kick back. We have so much while others have little or nothing.

So out of our late night conversations and prayers and, just, hopes, we kept coming back to the idea that we wanted to serve others. We wanted to help others see His face and feel His love. It’s so simple.

What’s beautiful about Live Beyond to me is that, while your peers all across the nation are becoming more and more socially active and mobilizing globally to help in any way they can, you and your friends are organizing the same efforts with Christ as the reason and the way. For you, it always comes back to Christ.

Yes, and our dream now is that this kind of service just blows up and spreads like a virus. We would love nothing more than for everyone who hears about us to want to help and serve. To want to increase the faith of all through loving all. This is a Christian organization. We all believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that we do nothing for our own glory. We strive to give it all to Him.

Did you and John Mark ever worry that no one would want to be involved?

Ha! No. We didn’t worry. Our thought was that even if it only ended up being four or five of us, it would be better than nothing. We just want to make a difference. We want people to come alongside and help but we’re going to be there no matter what.

There may be readers who would like to know what it takes to set up a group like this on a campus. Can you talk about that?

It took a lot of work. We spent hours training online and then hours trying to get a constitution written that reflected our hopes exactly. There were people on this team who worked around the clock on that.

Last semester was bumpy for us, trying to get everyone on the same page and figuring out how best to communicate information. Everyone has trials when they step out on a limb to do something new. What matters is how we respond. I think we all stayed stubbornly focused on the goal and now the hard part is behind us. Some other universities have expressed interest in starting Live Beyond chapters and we are looking into that possibility.

Okay, so we know Live Beyond’s basic goals. Tell me about the reality. What, exactly, will the group do?

Live Beyond is tied in closely with the non-profit Mobile Medical Disaster Relief based out of Nashville. That group was started by John Mark Vanderpool’s family. So, basically, Live Beyond is a college, non-medical chapter of MMDR.

Since we’re so new, we’re learning that we have to start small, and work to gain credibility so that other and bigger opportunities come up for us. We’ll get our feet wet with smaller service projects. We brainstorm about ways to help constantly.

Our first big project involves 58: the Film. It’s based on Isaiah 58 and the group behind it is focused on ending global poverty through twelve projects spanning twelve months in twelve countries.

Our goal is to screen the film next semester at Texas A&M to raise awareness of the project. In the long term, we want to impact poverty in Bryan and College Station in a major way and continue to send teams to help in places like Haiti.

How will you raise funds to send teams to other places?

Most of our group has traveled to Haiti in the last year as part of MMDR, and for now, we will continue to form teams and send them using the same model. We’ll pay for the trips by raising the money individually and fundraising through letter campaigns.

What’s your biggest goal for the group?

That the mindset of living beyond spreads like wildfire.

Your group traveled to Haiti right before Christmas. Although you’ve gone more than once, this trip seemed to catch your heart in a special way. What is it about Haiti that moves you so much?

How much space do I have?

A group of us went back to Thomazeau over the break. It’s a small suburb about forty minutes north of Port au Prince. For some of us, this was the third time to this area. We met up with a Nashville group representing MMDR. They’ve been going since the earthquake destroyed so many lives.

We work with the Children of Hope Orphanage. Usually there are fifty children living in the orphanage, plus or minus a few.

Having been so extremely blessed to be able to go for a third time, it is impossible to communicate how much these experiences mean to me. I know I’m speaking for all that were privileged to travel to Haiti when I say that we were all changed after spending a week there.

Our groups are composed of a medical team and a construction team. The medical team provides medical attention to all of the community, while the construction team works on a project in the community or for the orphanage.

During this trip, the construction team, with the help of many vigorous Haitians, worked to lay concrete in the courtyard of the orphanage. Scabies is a huge problem there because it is in the dirt and soil. If you happen to be in Haiti, fall and scrape yourself, count on having some big itchy bumps popping up. So, now, with concrete to walk and play on scabies won’t be as much of a problem for the children. They can run and play in the courtyard without worry.

And you should see them run and play. I get emotional thinking about it. I can’t describe what it’s like to watch the sun fall in the sky and stay late into the night playing with the children. Or to convey what it’s like to see them run, hear their giggles, see their eyes gleam, and see the joy in their smiles.

You walk through the gate and you don’t even have to talk. You just grab the hands of kids like Eventz and Rhoudolphe and stroll through the yard. There’s nothing like it. Just holding the babies until they’re snoring on your shoulder.

These kids have nothing and no one. All they want in life is to be held. To be loved. I plan to be there for them. They mean so much to me and to so many others who have been blessed to be a part of their lives.

The thing is, coming back to our lives here is tough. It’s hard to talk to someone that hasn’t been on a trip like that about your experiences. It’s hard for them to grasp the magnitude of poverty unless they’ve seen it. Anyone who has served in this way knows what I’m talking about.

But in some ways, that’s okay, because I travel with friends that have become like family. We all love the same kids and we all understand how difficult it is. We all get goofy when we talk about it but we don’t care. We’ve caught the bug. And these are my Live Beyond teammates.

It feels like we’re actually doing something worthwhile when we’re on these trips. I feel like I’m getting a glimpse of His face when I’m with these kids and working over there. Nothing else compares to these experiences.

There is something more to this living thing. And I pray and hope that your readers are able to experience this type of work.

And just because my readers will want to know you a little better . . . What’s your favorite verse?

Right now it’s 1 John 2:17- “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” Or a close second is Psalm 139: 23-24.

Favorite book?

My favorite books are the Chronicles of Narnia and the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. I also just recently read Another Man’s War by Sam Childers. It was intense and awesome too.

Favorite movie? 

This would have to be Braveheart, August Rush, or Hook.

Music?

SWITCHFOOT! I can’t get enough of them. Especially “Where I Belong,” and “Restless.”

Who do you most admire?

Outside my family, I look up to Larry Henderson, who was a missionary in Thailand for twenty-four years. And missionaries Ryan and Ty Hayes. And Jared Brock, my counselor for my final summer at Camp Blue Haven in New Mexico. They’ve each had a huge impact on my life.

If you could live anywhere?

San Diego, hands down. If not there, somewhere in the mountains.

If you could do anything?

I want to have an adventure. I want to do something worthwhile. And I love to travel. If I could combine all those, I’d be happy.

A habit you’d like to break?

 I drink too much coffee.

A habit you’d like to make?

I should probably clean my room.

Favorite things to do?

I love to play guitar. I love to read. Hanging out with friends. Traveling.

Something you wish people knew about you?

I am going to learn how to surf someday.

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Thanks for telling us more about Live Beyond and Haiti, Will! I’m praying that the idea of living beyond the norm touches my readers, too!

If you’re a student at Texas A&M and want to be involved with Live Beyond, send me a comment and I’ll put you in touch with Will or John Mark Vanderpool and they will get you the information you need.

If you’re a student at another campus and you’re interested in starting a chapter of Live Beyond, visit Mobile Medical Disaster Relief to get the ball rolling.

But, you don’t have to be in an official group to serve. Just. Serve. Anywhere. Anytime. And do it in the name of the Lord.

Here’s a video of the sweet kids at the Children of Hope Orphanage playing and singing a favorite song.

Love,