Another great Relevant article

This article is my heart. Since living in England my whole worldview has changed. My eyes have been opened to so much more in the world, what's happening and what I can do about it. My awareness has grown. As a Christian, I am called to be Christ-like, and Christ was all about helping the less fortunate. How many times in the Bible is there scripture that mentions the "widows and orphans"? So many!! We are called to go above and beyond just taking care of ourselves and putting ourselves first...we are called to "look not only to [our] own interests, but also to the interests of others. [Our] attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..."
Phil 2

And from "Mountains Beyond Mountains":
RE: the poverty in Haiti- "How could a just God permit great misery? The Haitian peasants answered with a proverb: ‘Bondye konn bay, men li pa konn separe,’ in literal translation, “God gives but doesn’t share.” This meant, as Farmer [the doctor whom the book is written about] would later explain it, ‘God gives us humans everything we need to flourish, but he’s not he one who’s supposed to divvy up the loot. That charge was laid on us.'"

God's Ambassadors

“The sick and maimed are not hot spots of contamination but potential reservoirs of God’s mercy.” —Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?

Some say that their spiritual road is laden with themes, and I realize how true this is in my own walk. What’s my theme lately? Missions. Serving. Loving. OK, so there are a couple of themes, but they are each interrelated. And when God moves, I don’t want to hesitate in following. Recently, God has shocked me into the reality of how blessed my life truly is. Martyrdom. Enslavement. Homelessness. Forced prostitution. Starvation. Genocide. All of these I’ve never known. In even my darkest hour, I can honestly say it was no true obstacle compared to what most face on a daily basis. And I think God is making me aware of the responsibility that comes with the grace He has shown me. In such a blessed nation, I think it is our responsibility to reach out to the world. Faith without action is non-existent. In James 2:23 and 26, James writes, “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did … As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” When we truly kneel before God and ask Him to make our priorities His, a servant’s heart will surface.

The striking thing is the fact that we are only vaguely aware of the sad situations around the world. And why? Do I even have to mention the ridiculous and redundant obsession with celebrity court cases? The coverage tends to occupy every news station and creates a buzz around the nation. But it is my belief that what American media today considers important is peanuts compared to the under-publicized atrocities that people all over the world fall victim to. But going straight to the media is not going to solve the problem. I think it’s our personal responsibility to make an effort to get informed and take action. I realize that complaining will get you no where, while proactive strides toward change make the lasting impact.

I’ve read a lot of articles and heard many sermons lately that emphasize how we as Christians fail to act on the calling God has placed on us. While this is true, I want to acknowledge that there are those who obediently follow God’s prodding nudge to compassionately serve others in the name of our Father. And part of my desire is to get the names of these organizations and groups out in the open. I want you to get connected. I want to see a revival. I’m talking huge. A wave of impact that lets future generations know we are fighting for truth, justice and mercy. I want every person to know where we stand not only as a generation, but as the church. I want to break the priorities America has come to stand on.

We as Christians should not be advocates of stagnancy. The truth is, once we get our hearts right, God begins to reveal His plan by moving us up, out and forward. And I strongly feel a sense of urgency and think He’s asking our generation to be a part of one of the greatest movements. Some say a Revolution. God has always been ready and desiring to use us, but most people have no idea what this really means because we float in stagnant waters instead of proactively and obediently submitting to God’s calling. We have to make an active decision to let God lead us if this is going to happen.

In our time of great technology, the access we have to networking provides us with the greatest opportunity to take the matter into our own hands. Making political changes in countries or just providing a meal for the hungry are both ways to touch lives as ambassadors of God.

Unbelievers have asked me the question, “Where’s the goodness in God if He let’s so many bad things happen?” The answer to counteracting the heartless acts of man is responding to the call God places on us. He wants us to intercede. That’s the goodness of God. During our weekly meeting of twentysomethings at my church, we began to fervently pray over our “one more life” campaign. My friends and I prayerfully expressed our faith in His provisions as we continued to raise money for starving nations. Then a woman in my circle cried out for God to tell the hurting people that their prayers would soon be answered. I began to weep as the reality of this sunk in. Imagine coming face–to-face with malnourished families in an oppressive country and hearing them tell you that God is good because He provides. Then you realize that you were the ambassador of the ultimate Provider. You were allowing God to work through you! We have the power to show God’s love and mercy. That’s our command and our calling.

I want to provide a network for the army of God and spark a revolution for change. Now, of course, as the body of Christ, we are not all called to physically be full-time missionaries, but I think it is important to earnestly pray and evaluate God’s call on your life. The Spirit of God is moving: He’s encouraging us to do more. How can we sit back and not let our Creator use us in the way He intended?

As God reveals His purpose in me, I’m encouraged to reach out to you. Let’s shake this nation and this world. What can you do? We are looking for articles (600-1,000 words) that spotlight mission organizations that are making an impact, detailed personal accounts of what’s really going on out in the world and pieces that rally for change. What is God revealing in you? How can we fight for truth and justice? Let’s create an army with the strength and confidence of David in a world full of Goliaths.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER

Today is Shane's 25th birthday!! And he is just about to celebrate his 4 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY with Beth. So Happy Birthday to Shane, hope it's a great one, sorry it's on a Monday. I hope all of the street lights turn green for you and that your dental patients are joyful and thankful for you and that you have a fab dinner with your beautiful wife! You have become a great brother and someone that I admire, appreciate, love, and look up to. I am so proud of you and the man that you have become.
Congrats on 4 great years of marriage, well done you! Love you and miss you lots and lots.

Good times

This weekend was full of good times! Pete came down to visit for the weekend, so he got here around noon Saturday and left Sunday night at 8. Unfortunately, he was feeling sick all weekend, but he still wanted to come down. We had a great time despite his feeling yucky. On Saturday the Millisors (awesome fam from church) called and asked me if I wanted to go to Mary Poppins-the musical- that night. I saw it with Megen a few months ago and LOVED it, so I really wanted to go...but I said Pete was coming over, so I couldn't go. But LeeAnne (Mrs. Millisor) said they would see if they could get enough tickets cause her husband Dan was on the phone getting tickets at that moment. So they got the tickets and we were able to go, their treat!!! So it was the Millisor family-Dan and LeeAnne and their 2 teenage kids Kristen and Eric, and then Emily Mellgard whom I live with, and Pete and me. We went to dinner first at the Texas Embassy-which actually has really good Mexican food and awesome atmosphere. I love that place! Then to the musical which was FANTASTIC! It's so magical and happy! It was the last big fun thing for the Millisors because today they are flying back to the states today(Cincinatti, Ohio); their time here is finished.
Sunday was really nice and chill. Went to church in the morning, then Pete and I went to a Nepalese restaurant called The Sherpa Kitchen. It is sooooo stinkin good. Great great great food and really good prices. Also nice atmosphere, very clean and well presented food. Pete and I both get really excited about food, so we fully enjoyed ourselves. Then we went for a long walk in the heath and got a little lost wandering around-I don't have the greatest sense of direction apparently. But it was good and we found our way back easily enough. After that we played 2 games of ping-pong which I WON. I won both!! Close games though. Pete's probably better than me, but I think I got lucky. Watched some Top Gun and realized how many cheeseball moments that movie has, but I will still always love it. I don't even really understand half of what's going on with the flying and the bogies and everything, but that's cool. And then Pete left and our weekend of fun ended.
This morning was the first morning of Vacation Bible School. I got to do a puppet skit! I have never done puppets before, so it wasn't the greatest puppet work ever, but it got the point across and the kids seemed to enjoy it. And we sang lots of little fun kid songs, yay! It's a beautiful day outside, gorgeous weather. Hope everyone else has nice weather too! May God's love encompass you this week through your surroundings and friends and life happenings!

New Interests

"Books just wanna be free" is the motto of bookcrossing.com, a new website that Megen introduced me to a couple of days ago. Basically how it works is that you read a book and then register it on BookCrossing to get a special ID code for it, then you send it out into the wild and wait for someone to claim it and hopefully visit bookcrossing themselves to register where they found it and so on. It's like this massive community of book lovers all over the world releasing books to be found and enjoyed by others, for free! It's really fun, like a game, because you can go hunting for books in your area too. I'm excited about setting some of mine free...but which ones I do not know because I do love my books.
The other new interest is Blood:Water Mission. This mission was founded by one of my fave bands, Jars of Clay, to provide clean blood and water efforts in Africa...in order to help the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic to decrease. I urge you to visit this site and become more aware and involved. I didn't realize that only $1 provides 1 African with water for 1 YEAR. How incredible and easy is that. A dollar. Just one. Get involved!

"The Blood:Water Mission is a non-profit organization founded by the members of the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning band, Jars of Clay, to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. Blood:Water is building clean water wells, supporting medical facilities, and focusing on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa. We recognize that numbers and statistics are hard to grasp, and that sometimes a step back is necessary to conceptualize the enormity of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Yet we also know that simply standing from a distance with arms thrown in the air is not a solution. We believe in pressing inward, in building relationships and bridges with communities in Africa. We believe in hearing personal stories and walking alongside brothers and sisters who have demonstrated strength and faith in the midst of desperate and tragic situations. We hold fast to the conviction that we are all responsible for being good stewards of our time, our resources and our compassion in a broken world. Every person has something to give in return for what has been received. Please join us on this journey."

Perfect Moments...

This morning at our bible study with the kids we were discussing sort of like hard times we go through-and perserverence type stuff. But the first question in the study was about moments that you just want to freeze and keep forever. There are bits of time; moments that can hold so much in them for a person for whatever reason. I have like a bazillion of these moments because God has SO blessed me!! Some of them are when I am alone-just me and the Lord, some are with family, with friends, in various cities or countries. One of these moments was when I went backpacking a few weeks ago-on the first morning I got up and left the tent and was walking when I noticed the sheeps faces on the hillsides, just these dots of white I could see from a distance-the sheep were still all laying down. Anyway, I felt such peace and serenity because I was surrounded by the field we were camping in and then these massive green hills and a blue sky...no civilization, no noise, and not a care in the world. Incredible. Another was just having lunch with my brother over Christmas break last year...just sitting at Jason's Deli visiting with him was so so good after not seeing him for so long, and not ever really getting quality time just the two of us. Another was last week in Switzerland after Pete and I had hiked up to the top of this mountain. There was a bench sitting on what seemed like the edge of the world, and he went to sit down and check out the view of the lakes down below, but I was afraid because it was quite close to the edge and I do not like heights...but I went and sat down and it was a perfect moment. The view was unbelievable and it was like being in a dream. I wish this picture could do it some justice, any at all, but it CANNOT. This so doesn't capture it, but it's all I've got!

One Year Anniversary

Yesterday was August 10, 2005-my one year anniversary of life in England. Looking back I feel like it has gone sort of fast, but at the same time not. It's weird that a whole year here is finished now, but I have had so so so many experiences over the past year that have impacted me and continued to develop me spiritually and intellectually. It's been good. Looking forward to another one.

Churfirstenblick, Flumserberg, Switzerland

Got back from Switzerland Monday afternoon after a full week there. It was an amazing week that I cannot sum up with words. I wish I could, but as always, it's just so hard to paint a picture of what my eyes saw, or my heart felt, or even what God taught me and showed me in my life. All I can say is that Switzerland is incredibly beautiful, the Alps are truly majestic and so different from many other mountains I have seen. There were fields of wildflowers in yellow, orange, and purple mixed with the green green grass. There was a massive lake at the bottom, which we visited a couple of times and took a boat ride from place to place. There were sharp peaks that looked so powerful and some that were more peaceful and welcoming in appearance. But pictures can't do anything for the reality of the beauty-gotta see it yourself! The massiveness and depth and colors are lost in pictures.
I played a lot of ping-pong, learned a couple of notes on the guitar-had to cut off my nails :-(
did a lot of walking, talking, and praising God. We visited Liechtenstein and a town in Austria on a very beautiful, sunny day. It was a pretty chill holiday for the most part, which was exactly what I needed. I met a really nice guy named Pete Hills. He is awesome! We got to hang out a lot and get to know each other, which was super great. His parents were there as well and they are fantastic too! So I will be seeing him this weekend :-).
God taught me more about him through the people I was with and through his beautiful creation. How anyone can look at this incredible world and not praise their father in heaven-the designer behind it all-is beyond me. My excitement and love for Jesus was renewed and strengthened! It was just an amazing week really. And now it's back to real life...no more holidays for a while!