Welcome to UnderTheOverpass.com

Hi there! Thanks so much for coming to UnderTheOverpass.com. Chances are that you've read Under the Overpass, or someone has told you about my friend Sam's and my intentional journey on the streets of six different American cities as homeless men. Either way, I'm excited that you're here.

Whether you're wanting more information about our journey, or have some thoughts you'd like to share with the rest of us, or want to check out some video footage from our time out there, this is the site for you. Specifically, though, I'm hoping that it will do 3 things:

Connect: UnderTheOverpass.com is meant to be a place where you can connect with different people who have read Under The Overpass and felt the Lord move or lead them powerful ways. Use the Testimonies feature on our bulletin board to post ideas / comments / reflections. See other people's comments and how the Lord is moving in their life. Learn more about Sam's and my journey through the streets of American cities, and find out where we're at now.
Empower: God wants to use each of us in very real ways as we live out loud for Him. What are some of the ways that God may be asking you to get connected with other people or to make a difference in this big world we live in? Want to get connected to some local Rescue Missions and find out how you can help out? Go to the Rescue Missions page and check it out!
Encourage: Learn about just some of the ways that the Lord is using Under the Overpass to make exciting things happen in the world!

I know that there are lots of different places you could have landed on the Internet. Know that I'm excited and prayerful about what the Lord has in store for you because He directed you here.

My prayer is that you would evermore be willing to walk off the edge with Him!

Grace and Peace.

-Mike.

> My wife Danae and I have just released a new book: Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Jusice. This is a response to some of the world’s urgent needs in light of Christ’s great love. Through first-hand accounts and up-to-date facts about eight global issues, this book provides readers with the information, inspiration, and involvement they need to personally make a difference in their world.

Hope you can check it out!

To find out about having Mike speak at your church or organization, click here.
For a list of Mike's Jan - April 2010 Speaking Schedule, click here.

Below is my latest journal entry. Click here to view the complete journal archive.

July 6, 2010

Wendell Berry Poem

I have been deeply moved by many of Wendell Berry's essays and novels. His poetry is equally insightful. Here is one of his most famous poems. I thought it a fitting reflection two days after the 4th of July:

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.

Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go.

Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Grace and Peace.

-Mike