Everybody's got an opinion. When you go on social media, it seems like the whole world is trying to push one agenda or another down your throat; vaccinations, gun control, abortion, gay marriage, evolution, refugees, presidential candidates, celebrities. Everyone's got an opinion on everything and they want you to agree with whichever argument they're pushing.
Now I'm not saying it's wrong to have an opinion, or that you want others to see things from your perspective, but the question I want to present to you is what would settle these arguments? Is there actually a peaceful way in which both sides can come to a place of agreement?
The question that I'm asking is "What is truth?" Surely, if it was clear to everyone what is true and what is a lie, then hardly anyone would have anything to fight about. Yes, we will always have those subjects where it's all a matter of opinion, but how many of today's arguments have to do with opinion? Think about it. What's happened has happened, though it is a rare occasion when you will hear the truth without exclusion of facts or exaggeration. Sadly we live in a time when you can't trust what you hear or read. The internet is unreliable at best and any books read are likely to be biased in one direction or another and are written by people with their own opinions of reality.
One thing that's been going over and over in my mind is this plain and simple fact: The truth is true, whether you choose to believe it or not. Let me put it this way: 2 + 2 will always equal 4. And whether you choose to believe in gravity or not, if you jump off a roof gravity will always bring you back to earth. While these facts may seem simple, these are things that you cannot change. They are fact. They are truth.
If you look in Ephesians 6 you will read about the Armor of God. You will notice that Truth is represented by the belt. It is called the Belt of Truth. What does a belt do? It holds everything together. What happens when you take the belt away? Everything falls apart. So what does that mean for Truth? If we don't have the truth, everything falls apart.
It might just be me who sees it this way, but it feels like the whole world is falling apart; everything is falling into chaos and people are running to religions and science and anything else they can find to believe in. People need something to believe in to feel a sense of security, even if the thing they believe in is that there's nothing to believe in. So where does Truth fit into all of this? Aren't everyone's opinions valid? Can't people believe what they want to if it makes them feel better? Isn't everyone right by the politically correct stance?
Well, I've never been one of those people pleasers who goes by what's politically correct. I believe that the answer to those questions is "No, not everybody's beliefs are correct." It is literally impossible for everyone's "truths" to be correct, seeing as most of them declare that theirs is the only real way.
I believe there is only one Truth, whether you choose to believe it or not.
John 8:32 says "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." When you face the Truth for what it is everything comes together. It starts to make sense. John 14:6 states "Jesus answered, 'I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" I honestly believe that Christ is the only Truth. I know this might seem like another agenda being pushed at you, but please believe that I only say it in Love. Later on in John 8 you'll find the verse which states "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." My hope for you is to find freedom in knowing the Truth which is Jesus Himself. He is the Truth that is true, whether you believe in Him or not.
How do I know that Jesus is the Truth? Because I know Him. I've experienced Him. I've heard Him speak to me. I know what He's done for me and in my life. I've always heard that the person with the experience is not at the mercy of the person with the argument. In other words, though you may disagree with me, I know what I've seen and Who I know and no argument you bring will ever change that experience. That is the truth.
So through the bombardment of opinions and arguments of who's right and who's wrong, I challenge you to not take what you read as fact, but to question what the real truth of that situation is. I challenge you to wear the Truth as a belt, a thing to rely on to hold your life together. And lastly, I challenge you to ask God Himself to show you Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I pray that this Truth will ultimately set you free.
~Be blessed~
Monday, October 12, 2015
Thursday, September 3, 2015
My Year With Ignite
I know a lot of people will be asking this in the coming weeks, and I also know that it will be nearly impossible to give a full answer to everyone who asks. So I will try to answer this question and as well as any others I can anticipate.
How was your year in Wales?
I find it nearly impossible to answer this in a simple sentence. How would you sum up any past year of your life? There have been many ups as well as downs, I've learned much, and made many friends. Some things I wish I could do over and some things I wouldn't change for the world.
What did you do over there?
I interned with a youth ministry called "Ignite" based just outside of Cardiff, Wales. I worked in a variety of situations and with a variety of different people and groups.
I worked in the office with menial things occasionally, but I also wrote a number of devotionals, as well as a study on the subject of prayer.
I got to play with babies every week at a moms and tots group. This group, though it met at the church, was made mostly of non-Christian moms from the neighborhood of Tremorfa. There were moms from many different nations, languages and religions. Poland, Sri Lanka, China, and the Republic of Congo to name a few. I enjoyed playing with the little ones, as well as talking with the mothers. Even though there was often a language barrier, I found that if you ask any mother to talk about her child or ask her to teach you something in her language, they will open up to you in other ways as well. One lady has told me about her struggles to find time for anything outside of working and taking care of her daughters.
I helped run Sunday School in this small church in Tremorfa. Despite the church itself being so small, and most of the members being seniors, there is usually a large amount of children who show up without their parents to learn about Jesus. I also got to teach dance a time or two to these kiddos!
I helped run a couple of youth clubs during the school year. One in Tremorfa and the other in another part of Cardiff. For my American friends, a youth club is basically like a youth center/youth group, where we open up for an hour and a half each week and tell the kids about Jesus, and play around with them the rest of the time. We've done things like sports, baking, nail polish, dance nights, karaoke and quizzes. It was great to be able hang out with these kids and get to know them better. While I didn't get to witness any of our youth come to Jesus, I know that seeds were planted and that it's just a matter of time and Jesus for their salvation to come about.
I spoke at a nursing home every month or every few months, sharing with them what God had been sharing with me. I would bring in my violin and play some of the old hymns that we all love. It was often a challenge to come up with things to speak on, but then I'd find a way to shift what God had been teaching me to fit their situation. My last talk was on the topic of "God's not done yet."
I went to the church plant that Gary Smith (my boss) pastors, and I helped lead worship when I could. Sometimes it was every week, sometimes it was a few months spread between, but it's all about being available, right?
Now that's all that I did on a weekly/monthly basis. I also helped run events and courses for young people to help disciple them in their walk with God. At Ignite, it's not just about bringing kids to Christ, but rather walking with them after they've said "the prayer" and helping them along their Christian walk.
Did you learn anything while you were there?
I learned loads, but it can be difficult to sum it up in one post. In practicalities I learned how to do some of the legal things that it takes to do youth work. I've learned some more about the details of how to put on an event.
I've learned that the power of prayer is stronger and more vital to doing ministry than I had originally thought. I've learned that teamwork can mean the difference between chaos and order. I've learned that I apparently don't have a very telling face, so I need to be quite clear about myself so that people don't think I'm always angry ;)
On a faith level, I've learned that God will come through if He says He will. He was able to not only cover the cost of my moving to Wales for a year, but He did it with plenty of time to spare, praise God! I've learned that He really is my Rock and when things were difficult, I knew that He was the only thing that will never change in my life. I learned that God is really a huge part of my life, and even when I was in secular settings where people really don't expect you to talk about God, He was almost all I could talk about. It wasn't until I was in those situations that realized how much I rely on God and His Word to guide me through life. He wasn't just a topic that I tried to push, but a part of my everyday life and conversation. I didn't even realize just how much I trusted Him.
In some of the courses that I did as a part of my internship, I learned things like different ways to read the Bible. Like, try brainwashing yourself with the Bible. It sounds bad to say brainwash, but if the Bible is the absolute truth, then is there a better thing to be brainwashed by? I was reminded to practice hearing God's voice more; to exercise my hearing "muscles". I learned about how to be a servant leader; to submit to Christ in all that I do and to let Him lead through me. I learned about the importance of having a mentor, "running mates" and mentees, when on your Christian walk.
On a more personal level, I learned more about who I am in Christ and who He's called me to be. I learned more about the Father Heart of God and how He sees me. I learned that it takes being vulnerable with people to make the best and deepest friendships. I've learned that God can answer even the silliest sounding prayers; God gave me some of the best friendships this year than I think I've ever had. I learned that it takes stepping out in faith and stepping out of the boat in order to walk on water with Jesus. I learned more about my own faith just by writing the devotionals that I wrote when I was in the office. And even in the last days of being with Ignite, I was reminded to look at the brighter side to life. Since I naturally tend to look towards the negative, it has been a challenge, but I think this skill will definitely help at any stage of life. We've been blessed with so much, why must we find clouds with every silver lining? Maybe not bulletproof logic, but you get what I mean.
I worked with a lot of great people while over there and it was surely an experience of a lifetime!
How was your year in Wales?I find it nearly impossible to answer this in a simple sentence. How would you sum up any past year of your life? There have been many ups as well as downs, I've learned much, and made many friends. Some things I wish I could do over and some things I wouldn't change for the world.
What did you do over there?
I interned with a youth ministry called "Ignite" based just outside of Cardiff, Wales. I worked in a variety of situations and with a variety of different people and groups.
I worked in the office with menial things occasionally, but I also wrote a number of devotionals, as well as a study on the subject of prayer.
I got to play with babies every week at a moms and tots group. This group, though it met at the church, was made mostly of non-Christian moms from the neighborhood of Tremorfa. There were moms from many different nations, languages and religions. Poland, Sri Lanka, China, and the Republic of Congo to name a few. I enjoyed playing with the little ones, as well as talking with the mothers. Even though there was often a language barrier, I found that if you ask any mother to talk about her child or ask her to teach you something in her language, they will open up to you in other ways as well. One lady has told me about her struggles to find time for anything outside of working and taking care of her daughters.
I helped run Sunday School in this small church in Tremorfa. Despite the church itself being so small, and most of the members being seniors, there is usually a large amount of children who show up without their parents to learn about Jesus. I also got to teach dance a time or two to these kiddos!
I helped run a couple of youth clubs during the school year. One in Tremorfa and the other in another part of Cardiff. For my American friends, a youth club is basically like a youth center/youth group, where we open up for an hour and a half each week and tell the kids about Jesus, and play around with them the rest of the time. We've done things like sports, baking, nail polish, dance nights, karaoke and quizzes. It was great to be able hang out with these kids and get to know them better. While I didn't get to witness any of our youth come to Jesus, I know that seeds were planted and that it's just a matter of time and Jesus for their salvation to come about.
I spoke at a nursing home every month or every few months, sharing with them what God had been sharing with me. I would bring in my violin and play some of the old hymns that we all love. It was often a challenge to come up with things to speak on, but then I'd find a way to shift what God had been teaching me to fit their situation. My last talk was on the topic of "God's not done yet."
I went to the church plant that Gary Smith (my boss) pastors, and I helped lead worship when I could. Sometimes it was every week, sometimes it was a few months spread between, but it's all about being available, right?
Now that's all that I did on a weekly/monthly basis. I also helped run events and courses for young people to help disciple them in their walk with God. At Ignite, it's not just about bringing kids to Christ, but rather walking with them after they've said "the prayer" and helping them along their Christian walk.
Did you learn anything while you were there?
I learned loads, but it can be difficult to sum it up in one post. In practicalities I learned how to do some of the legal things that it takes to do youth work. I've learned some more about the details of how to put on an event.
I've learned that the power of prayer is stronger and more vital to doing ministry than I had originally thought. I've learned that teamwork can mean the difference between chaos and order. I've learned that I apparently don't have a very telling face, so I need to be quite clear about myself so that people don't think I'm always angry ;)
On a faith level, I've learned that God will come through if He says He will. He was able to not only cover the cost of my moving to Wales for a year, but He did it with plenty of time to spare, praise God! I've learned that He really is my Rock and when things were difficult, I knew that He was the only thing that will never change in my life. I learned that God is really a huge part of my life, and even when I was in secular settings where people really don't expect you to talk about God, He was almost all I could talk about. It wasn't until I was in those situations that realized how much I rely on God and His Word to guide me through life. He wasn't just a topic that I tried to push, but a part of my everyday life and conversation. I didn't even realize just how much I trusted Him.
In some of the courses that I did as a part of my internship, I learned things like different ways to read the Bible. Like, try brainwashing yourself with the Bible. It sounds bad to say brainwash, but if the Bible is the absolute truth, then is there a better thing to be brainwashed by? I was reminded to practice hearing God's voice more; to exercise my hearing "muscles". I learned about how to be a servant leader; to submit to Christ in all that I do and to let Him lead through me. I learned about the importance of having a mentor, "running mates" and mentees, when on your Christian walk.
On a more personal level, I learned more about who I am in Christ and who He's called me to be. I learned more about the Father Heart of God and how He sees me. I learned that it takes being vulnerable with people to make the best and deepest friendships. I've learned that God can answer even the silliest sounding prayers; God gave me some of the best friendships this year than I think I've ever had. I learned that it takes stepping out in faith and stepping out of the boat in order to walk on water with Jesus. I learned more about my own faith just by writing the devotionals that I wrote when I was in the office. And even in the last days of being with Ignite, I was reminded to look at the brighter side to life. Since I naturally tend to look towards the negative, it has been a challenge, but I think this skill will definitely help at any stage of life. We've been blessed with so much, why must we find clouds with every silver lining? Maybe not bulletproof logic, but you get what I mean.
I worked with a lot of great people while over there and it was surely an experience of a lifetime!
The Subject of Home
Last month I was having a rough time. The thought of going back to the States terrified me. You see, while I was away my parents and younger sister had moved away from my hometown and the home I'd known since I was born. They'd moved so far away that it wouldn't be possible to visit my old church and friends, even once a month. This left me with the ever present question of where to go when I get back to the States: move to my hometown or move near my parents?
At the beginning of last month, I was mentally kicking and screaming, digging in my heels wishing I wouldn't have to leave this place that I've come to call home in Cardiff. But due to legal reasons, visas and such, I must leave. My emotions were everywhere as I tried to get everything done that I'd wanted to do in my time in Cardiff, as well as trying to see everyone before I left indefinitely.
I had been intentional about not making plans for after Cardiff until I was back in the States. I'd felt like God had been telling me to not make plans for afterwards because it would distract from what I was doing in the moment in Cardiff. I wanted to finish well. So I didn't make plans. And that scared me more than a little.
For the last few months, whenever I thought about going back "home" I felt like an astronaut, floating above the planet without really knowing where I would land. I felt like, if I didn't know where "home" was then I would have no gravity to pull me back to earth. I was afraid that I would forever be one of those people who remained unsettled and was always traveling. For the creature of habit that I am, the thought of never settling does not sound all that wonderful.
People were always asking me those dreaded questions: So where will you go back to? What are your plans for when you go back? I know these people were all well meaning and they were asking in a caring way, but the idea that I had no answer for them or myself was very scary. I wanted to know what was next too, but I had no plans.
But then, a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that I had a peace about it all. I had been asking friends to pray that I would have peace, so I can only assume it was God who had given it to me. I was able to face leaving with a level head and not feel like a small child rebelling against the inevitable. I've always known I couldn't stay.
But just last week, my last week in my beloved city, I had a new thought. My sweet landlady and my dear friend had thrown me a surprise going-away party! I love surprises and I have a special place in my heart for all who came to wish me well. It was in this time of sad goodbyes that I realized: I'm not a traveler without a home; I'm traveler with many homes! I had been so sad about leaving that I didn't recognize that this sadness wasn't because I'll just be leaving this city, but rather, because I'll be leaving this new home and friends that had been made here.
I might not know where I'm going in this next year, but I know that I now have at least 3 places that I can go home to. I know that as a traveler, and a follower of Christ, I can go to any of these places and expect open arms to welcome me. I don't know where I will live in the future, but I know where I can drop anchor and those are places where I've lived in the past. As a traveler, I can expect that I will be having many houses/flats in the future, maybe all in different cities or countries, but then I will have homes there too. I can feel welcomed when going back.
I know that I will miss my home in Cardiff, and I'm already missing the dear people I've come to know there. I will continue to pray for those I've met who have not met the Lord yet, and I will pray with those who are already my sibling in Christ. I'm glad to now know in my heart that Cardiff will always be another place that I can call "home".
At the beginning of last month, I was mentally kicking and screaming, digging in my heels wishing I wouldn't have to leave this place that I've come to call home in Cardiff. But due to legal reasons, visas and such, I must leave. My emotions were everywhere as I tried to get everything done that I'd wanted to do in my time in Cardiff, as well as trying to see everyone before I left indefinitely.
I had been intentional about not making plans for after Cardiff until I was back in the States. I'd felt like God had been telling me to not make plans for afterwards because it would distract from what I was doing in the moment in Cardiff. I wanted to finish well. So I didn't make plans. And that scared me more than a little.
For the last few months, whenever I thought about going back "home" I felt like an astronaut, floating above the planet without really knowing where I would land. I felt like, if I didn't know where "home" was then I would have no gravity to pull me back to earth. I was afraid that I would forever be one of those people who remained unsettled and was always traveling. For the creature of habit that I am, the thought of never settling does not sound all that wonderful.
People were always asking me those dreaded questions: So where will you go back to? What are your plans for when you go back? I know these people were all well meaning and they were asking in a caring way, but the idea that I had no answer for them or myself was very scary. I wanted to know what was next too, but I had no plans.
But then, a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that I had a peace about it all. I had been asking friends to pray that I would have peace, so I can only assume it was God who had given it to me. I was able to face leaving with a level head and not feel like a small child rebelling against the inevitable. I've always known I couldn't stay.
But just last week, my last week in my beloved city, I had a new thought. My sweet landlady and my dear friend had thrown me a surprise going-away party! I love surprises and I have a special place in my heart for all who came to wish me well. It was in this time of sad goodbyes that I realized: I'm not a traveler without a home; I'm traveler with many homes! I had been so sad about leaving that I didn't recognize that this sadness wasn't because I'll just be leaving this city, but rather, because I'll be leaving this new home and friends that had been made here.
I might not know where I'm going in this next year, but I know that I now have at least 3 places that I can go home to. I know that as a traveler, and a follower of Christ, I can go to any of these places and expect open arms to welcome me. I don't know where I will live in the future, but I know where I can drop anchor and those are places where I've lived in the past. As a traveler, I can expect that I will be having many houses/flats in the future, maybe all in different cities or countries, but then I will have homes there too. I can feel welcomed when going back.
I know that I will miss my home in Cardiff, and I'm already missing the dear people I've come to know there. I will continue to pray for those I've met who have not met the Lord yet, and I will pray with those who are already my sibling in Christ. I'm glad to now know in my heart that Cardiff will always be another place that I can call "home".
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
To Comfort A Child
This last week I've said goodbye to 2 of my churches here in (or near) Cardiff. I've had some good times in both churches and I've met some amazing people.
This last Sunday, I was helping in the Sunday School, and we were having a goodbye party with cupcakes and ice cream and sprinkles (I'm sure the parents loved us when we sent the kids home), as well as some fun dance music and balloons.
The kids had made cards for me, which were super sweet! One of the cards read "You was a good person and we will miss you." Haha. I love kids.
At one point, while we were playing musical chairs, one of the little ones had missed the music ending and thus was out of the game. She immediately curled down with her knees on the floor and her hands over her face and she didn't move. I had been out for a couple of rounds already and was batting a balloon in the air with one of the little boys, so I went to the little girl to pick her up and move her out of the way. As I lifted her up, her body didn't shift, so she stayed in her "ball" position. I just held her for a bit, sensing that she might just need some cuddles for the moment.
I ended up holding her for the rest of the class and she didn't uncover her face for a good 15 minutes. I would sing to her what ever songs happened to be playing, or I'd bounce her around like we were dancing. Eventually, we sat down at a table to eat the cupcakes, pizza, and ice cream. She still hadn't uncovered her face, so some of the other kids were asking her what was wrong. I think she was a little embarrassed by now, so I just told the other kids that she was just in a bluesy mood at the moment. I started asking her what she was sad about. I asked her if she was sad because she was out of the game and she nodded. I asked if she was sad that I was leaving? She nodded again. I asked if she wanted cake? And she didn't. She just stayed in my arms. It was so sweet!
I'm not a mom yet, but I love it when children let me cuddle them as their mom would. I feel like I'm doing what I was made to do, when I can just hold a little one in my arms. I feel called to be a mother to the motherless; to give the love that some children might not have received from their mother. But more than that, to share the love of Jesus with these kids. I fully believe that God has given me a piece of His heart for these little ones. When He hurts for them, I hurt for them. I know that what I've been called to do will not be easy, but I know that if I keep God as my Rock and my source, He will be the strength that I need to keep going and to keep loving unconditionally, as He has first loved me.
I couldn't have asked for a better way to say goodbye to these kiddos than to be able to do what I love doing: comfort a child. And a while after this little one had gotten up and was playing with the other kids, she shouted for my attention and proudly announced "Hey look! I'm happy now!"
This last Sunday, I was helping in the Sunday School, and we were having a goodbye party with cupcakes and ice cream and sprinkles (I'm sure the parents loved us when we sent the kids home), as well as some fun dance music and balloons.
The kids had made cards for me, which were super sweet! One of the cards read "You was a good person and we will miss you." Haha. I love kids.
At one point, while we were playing musical chairs, one of the little ones had missed the music ending and thus was out of the game. She immediately curled down with her knees on the floor and her hands over her face and she didn't move. I had been out for a couple of rounds already and was batting a balloon in the air with one of the little boys, so I went to the little girl to pick her up and move her out of the way. As I lifted her up, her body didn't shift, so she stayed in her "ball" position. I just held her for a bit, sensing that she might just need some cuddles for the moment.
I ended up holding her for the rest of the class and she didn't uncover her face for a good 15 minutes. I would sing to her what ever songs happened to be playing, or I'd bounce her around like we were dancing. Eventually, we sat down at a table to eat the cupcakes, pizza, and ice cream. She still hadn't uncovered her face, so some of the other kids were asking her what was wrong. I think she was a little embarrassed by now, so I just told the other kids that she was just in a bluesy mood at the moment. I started asking her what she was sad about. I asked her if she was sad because she was out of the game and she nodded. I asked if she was sad that I was leaving? She nodded again. I asked if she wanted cake? And she didn't. She just stayed in my arms. It was so sweet!
I'm not a mom yet, but I love it when children let me cuddle them as their mom would. I feel like I'm doing what I was made to do, when I can just hold a little one in my arms. I feel called to be a mother to the motherless; to give the love that some children might not have received from their mother. But more than that, to share the love of Jesus with these kids. I fully believe that God has given me a piece of His heart for these little ones. When He hurts for them, I hurt for them. I know that what I've been called to do will not be easy, but I know that if I keep God as my Rock and my source, He will be the strength that I need to keep going and to keep loving unconditionally, as He has first loved me.
I couldn't have asked for a better way to say goodbye to these kiddos than to be able to do what I love doing: comfort a child. And a while after this little one had gotten up and was playing with the other kids, she shouted for my attention and proudly announced "Hey look! I'm happy now!"
Monday, August 10, 2015
What Will You Let Go Of To Gain?
These past 3 weeks, I've been out. And when I say out, I don't mean "out to the store" or just "out with friends". This past week, I've been out and about the UK! I got to spend 3 weeks with my beautiful cousin, Dorita, exploring London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff, 3 big cities in the UK. We went to some amazing places and met some amazing people along the way. Happy times.
We went through London by bicylcle (the cheapest mode of transport) and got to see some places that the average tourist might not see. We fell in love with a market place in Greenwich and got to walk through some other markets that we don't know the names of. We went through the Royal Naval College and walked UNDER the River Thames. We got lost numerous times and while it was frustrating, Dorita insisted that it would make for better stories later. Still not sure about that, but needless to say, we did (eventually) find our way back to our hostel every night.
We took a walking tour through the popular spots in London and our tour guide was brilliant in that he told more than just the dates and names of the places, but also some of the funny happenings that occurred in those places. Such as, a drunk man breaking into Buckingham Palace, but still getting off with only a fine because it wasn't illegal to break into the palace until after 2004 because is was considered public property! Our guide was quite a sight to see as well, as he held up a red ladybug umbrella so he could be easily spotted in a crowd.
We eventually made it up to Scotland and to be honest, we were so exhausted from London, that we spent the first day in a cafe resting. We were hosted by the sweetest couple who not only let us stay at theirs, but they drove us to the places we wanted to go and waited around when we were out doing things! They even took us to watch a Shakespearean play! They were fantastic hosts and we couldn't have asked for better.
In Edinburgh, we got to climb up a mountain (really big hill?) called Arthur's Seat. When we got to the top it was just about sunset and the perfect time for taking pictures and looking out over the city. I did a dance while on top and the setting was beautiful! (footage will be put up sometime after I return home)
Now, Dorita and I have wanted to travel the world together for a few years now, and it was fantastic to be able to check the UK off of our list of places to go! We hope to do more traveling in the future, but whether or not that will be done together has yet to be seen. We know that this was the trip of a lifetime.
Sometimes I feel sad about not being as settled as most of my friends; most are married, or at least on their way there, some have kids, some have great jobs and make a lot of money. But I know that had I been in a relationship this time last year, I probably never would have come to Wales and I never would have traveled with Dorita to all of these amazing places. I know that if I had stayed settled, like those I sometimes envy, I would never have come to Cardiff and made the amazing friendships that have brought me through this year. I know that God is in all of it, whether I settle or continue moving, but one thing I've learned: God's plans for my life are way better than any dreams I could have come up with for myself.
My church over here has had a theme for the last couple of weeks of giving your everything to God. To go all in, being willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. And from an earthly standpoint it seems like you're giving loads up, but in truth, you are gaining more than you could have seen if you'd stayed where you were. I know that God has done that for me, and in all likelihood, will continue to do this with me.
So how much are you willing to give up to Jesus? Are you willing to let go of what you have to grab hold of the bigger something that God is just waiting to give you?
We went through London by bicylcle (the cheapest mode of transport) and got to see some places that the average tourist might not see. We fell in love with a market place in Greenwich and got to walk through some other markets that we don't know the names of. We went through the Royal Naval College and walked UNDER the River Thames. We got lost numerous times and while it was frustrating, Dorita insisted that it would make for better stories later. Still not sure about that, but needless to say, we did (eventually) find our way back to our hostel every night.We took a walking tour through the popular spots in London and our tour guide was brilliant in that he told more than just the dates and names of the places, but also some of the funny happenings that occurred in those places. Such as, a drunk man breaking into Buckingham Palace, but still getting off with only a fine because it wasn't illegal to break into the palace until after 2004 because is was considered public property! Our guide was quite a sight to see as well, as he held up a red ladybug umbrella so he could be easily spotted in a crowd.
In Edinburgh, we got to climb up a mountain (really big hill?) called Arthur's Seat. When we got to the top it was just about sunset and the perfect time for taking pictures and looking out over the city. I did a dance while on top and the setting was beautiful! (footage will be put up sometime after I return home)
Now, Dorita and I have wanted to travel the world together for a few years now, and it was fantastic to be able to check the UK off of our list of places to go! We hope to do more traveling in the future, but whether or not that will be done together has yet to be seen. We know that this was the trip of a lifetime.
Sometimes I feel sad about not being as settled as most of my friends; most are married, or at least on their way there, some have kids, some have great jobs and make a lot of money. But I know that had I been in a relationship this time last year, I probably never would have come to Wales and I never would have traveled with Dorita to all of these amazing places. I know that if I had stayed settled, like those I sometimes envy, I would never have come to Cardiff and made the amazing friendships that have brought me through this year. I know that God is in all of it, whether I settle or continue moving, but one thing I've learned: God's plans for my life are way better than any dreams I could have come up with for myself.My church over here has had a theme for the last couple of weeks of giving your everything to God. To go all in, being willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. And from an earthly standpoint it seems like you're giving loads up, but in truth, you are gaining more than you could have seen if you'd stayed where you were. I know that God has done that for me, and in all likelihood, will continue to do this with me.
So how much are you willing to give up to Jesus? Are you willing to let go of what you have to grab hold of the bigger something that God is just waiting to give you?
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Don't Let the Chain of Good News Bringers End with You
I've been taking a course for this last term called "Leadership Academy". In it we've done things like, make presentations on a book we read for the class, or writing essays about this book on leadership. One of the big assignments of this course is for two separate teams to organize and run some sort of ministry event. It could be any kind of event, as long as it was ministry/ outreach. And this week was "Mission Week", the week when we're to run our events.
My group did a youth event that we called "United". It was the plan to get multiple youth groups and to bring them together as the Body of Christ. Sadly, we weren't the most organized when it came to advertising so we only had 2 full youth groups come, and a couple of kids who came without a youth group.
The point was to break down the barriers between who goes to which church and possibly denominational barriers as well. But since we didn't have that many youth groups, and I don't know that there were many barriers like that, it turned almost into, what should we as the body of Christ be doing.
The thing that brought the kids in was a giant games night, but I did a short talk in the middle of the night. At first I got really repetitive, trying to gather my thoughts and get my words to make some sort of reasonable concept. I ended up getting some divine creativity (I can't take credit, because my own thoughts definitely weren't making sense) and getting some volunteers to form a chain. I told them each to come up with a dance move(and each was unique), then tap the person on their left. They could only start dancing after they've been tapped. So we ran through this a couple of times, then I took one kid out of the chain at the end.
I told them that a lot of times, as young Christians, we can think that we're the end of the line; that we can just go to church and get all of this wisdom and Jesus, but we don't have to pass anything on. Cuz if we're at the end of the line, then it's not really affecting anybody, right?
I put the kid at the end back in the chain and then took out the second person in the chain. I told the first girl to start dancing and carry on like normal. Of course, with the second person out of the chain, the dancing stopped with the first person. I told the kids that if the disciples had just taken in what Jesus had told them, but didn't share that with anybody, nobody would have Jesus today. I reminded the kids of the "Great Commission" where Jesus tells his disciples to go out and make more disciples and teach them what He had taught them.
I told the kids that they are not at the end of the chain. I told them that as a part of the body of Christ, we have a responsibility to share what we've been told about Jesus, otherwise, the chain really will end with us. I told them that each person has a gift, whether seen or unseen, and it is their responsibility to use their gifts for Christ and that will be used to advance the Kingdom of Heaven and grow the Body of Christ.
I then put the second person back into the chain and told them to start the dance chain again. They continued down the line until it got to the last person. The person on the end was about to stop but I told him "Hey, don't let the Good News stop! Pass it on!" so he tapped me and I then went to the kids in the crowd and tapped them until almost everyone had joined the chain of dancing people; passing on the Good News about Jesus!
It was a powerful example and visual about how we need to continue to share Jesus with people. How we can't let the line end with us just because we didn't feel like sharing, or didn't feel like we could help. Everyone can and should get involved in sharing the Good News about Christ and His love for us! There is no gift or person too small to be used by God. Just as a hundred pennies add up to make a dollar (or pound for my British friends), a hundred people using even just a little of their gifts to serve God can be multiplied. And one thing I've found that it doesn't usually add up like 2 and 2 is 4 in God's Kingdom. It's often 2 and 2 is 6 or even more! God can do incredible things with you; all He needs is your obedience. God told me a while back that we were not created to be idle worshipers. We were made to be ACTIVE in our worship to God. Praise God!
So while the event turned out great and we did get youth groups to get together for a night, I think this message from God was one of my big highlights of the evening. I may have been the one giving the message, but I was only the messenger. I asked God at the beginning of the night to speak what He wants through me, and I truly believe that He did. Praise God!
Please pray that these kids take this message to heart. I believe that a group of 20 kids who are on fire for God and use what they have at their disposal for His purposes can change a nation. We keep praying for revival in Wales, but I think getting out of a place of apathy can be a great first step!
My group did a youth event that we called "United". It was the plan to get multiple youth groups and to bring them together as the Body of Christ. Sadly, we weren't the most organized when it came to advertising so we only had 2 full youth groups come, and a couple of kids who came without a youth group.
The point was to break down the barriers between who goes to which church and possibly denominational barriers as well. But since we didn't have that many youth groups, and I don't know that there were many barriers like that, it turned almost into, what should we as the body of Christ be doing.
The thing that brought the kids in was a giant games night, but I did a short talk in the middle of the night. At first I got really repetitive, trying to gather my thoughts and get my words to make some sort of reasonable concept. I ended up getting some divine creativity (I can't take credit, because my own thoughts definitely weren't making sense) and getting some volunteers to form a chain. I told them each to come up with a dance move(and each was unique), then tap the person on their left. They could only start dancing after they've been tapped. So we ran through this a couple of times, then I took one kid out of the chain at the end.
I told them that a lot of times, as young Christians, we can think that we're the end of the line; that we can just go to church and get all of this wisdom and Jesus, but we don't have to pass anything on. Cuz if we're at the end of the line, then it's not really affecting anybody, right?
I put the kid at the end back in the chain and then took out the second person in the chain. I told the first girl to start dancing and carry on like normal. Of course, with the second person out of the chain, the dancing stopped with the first person. I told the kids that if the disciples had just taken in what Jesus had told them, but didn't share that with anybody, nobody would have Jesus today. I reminded the kids of the "Great Commission" where Jesus tells his disciples to go out and make more disciples and teach them what He had taught them.
I told the kids that they are not at the end of the chain. I told them that as a part of the body of Christ, we have a responsibility to share what we've been told about Jesus, otherwise, the chain really will end with us. I told them that each person has a gift, whether seen or unseen, and it is their responsibility to use their gifts for Christ and that will be used to advance the Kingdom of Heaven and grow the Body of Christ.
I then put the second person back into the chain and told them to start the dance chain again. They continued down the line until it got to the last person. The person on the end was about to stop but I told him "Hey, don't let the Good News stop! Pass it on!" so he tapped me and I then went to the kids in the crowd and tapped them until almost everyone had joined the chain of dancing people; passing on the Good News about Jesus!
It was a powerful example and visual about how we need to continue to share Jesus with people. How we can't let the line end with us just because we didn't feel like sharing, or didn't feel like we could help. Everyone can and should get involved in sharing the Good News about Christ and His love for us! There is no gift or person too small to be used by God. Just as a hundred pennies add up to make a dollar (or pound for my British friends), a hundred people using even just a little of their gifts to serve God can be multiplied. And one thing I've found that it doesn't usually add up like 2 and 2 is 4 in God's Kingdom. It's often 2 and 2 is 6 or even more! God can do incredible things with you; all He needs is your obedience. God told me a while back that we were not created to be idle worshipers. We were made to be ACTIVE in our worship to God. Praise God!
So while the event turned out great and we did get youth groups to get together for a night, I think this message from God was one of my big highlights of the evening. I may have been the one giving the message, but I was only the messenger. I asked God at the beginning of the night to speak what He wants through me, and I truly believe that He did. Praise God!
Please pray that these kids take this message to heart. I believe that a group of 20 kids who are on fire for God and use what they have at their disposal for His purposes can change a nation. We keep praying for revival in Wales, but I think getting out of a place of apathy can be a great first step!
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
A Weekend At Spree
This last weekend, Ignite helped run a youth event called Spree. Spree is an event set for 8-15 year olds and it's basically a weekend summer camp for youth groups with kids church sessions throughout. But this place had some awesome things for the kids to do in their free time; things like bouncy houses, bouncy slides, trampolines, swimming pools, as well as a rock climbing wall! I was wishing I could be one of the kids for the weekend.
I knew I was in charge of helping with games for our sessions but due to complications with a co-worker being out of the country and different things going on, I didn't understand that we were meant to be hosting these sessions. So it was only after we arrived and I'd asked my boss what I would be expected to do, did I find out.
Now, if you know me at all, you will have noticed that I'm not the super energetic type. I'm not especially good at getting teens to do anything they don't really want to do. But here I found myself up in front of about 50 teenagers trying to psych them up for the next game or session or whatever. Thankfully, God was moving during worship, so I didn't need to be all uppity but rather I could be my more genuine self and just pray and praise God. I felt much more comfortable doing that and bringing the kids with me in worship than trying to get them to respond to jokes and things.
At one point near the end of a session, we had a time of response with the worship team playing. I was asked to sing a part on the last song, so while I was up there, the kids were released but welcomed to stay if they wanted to. Well, with all the cool toys and things outside, none of the kids stayed for more than 5 minutes. But the worship kept going. The musicians kept playing and I kept singing and we all just stayed in that place of worship for another 20 minutes or more after the kids had all left. The Spirit was moving and we didn't want to miss any of it. It was amazing having that time of just praising and worshiping, even when we didn't have an audience (per say) to play to. We were playing for God.
I loved singing with the band and just worshiping. There was no need to try and impress anyone. Plus these musicians were fantastic #bencharles. It was so nice to actually sing with a band who was so together and they take their music seriously. So good.
Later (or earlier. I don't remember clearly), I was helping out by watching one of the bouncy houses, and I had a number of kids come and join me on it. They would jump for a while, but when they got bored, they'd come and sit with me and talk with me. They'd want to show me their tricks they can do and tell me their stories, etc. It was so nice to just have that time with kids again. While I do get to work with the kids in Tremorfa, they're not usually up for talking that much.
One of the boys sat down beside me and half whispered "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I'm actually a secret agent. I work for a secret agency and we stop bad guys."
He then went on to tell me this fantastic story about the villain from "Bolt" who had a space station above us and there was some mention of an evil plot happening when there's a full moon. He told me that Doctor Who went up there with Bolt to stop the bad guy, but they were captured! "It's time to call on the Thunderbirds for help!" he shouted. He then turned the entire bouncy house into a spaceship and we all went up with the Thunderbirds, me, his sister (who was about 5) and him.
It might sound ridiculous, but I love these stories, where the kids are using their imaginations! Sadly, that's becoming a lost art among kids these days, so I was more than happy to play along.
I loved hanging out and playing pretend with kids again. It's been a while since I've done that and it felt good to be with kids who weren't concerned with looking cool.
All in all, it was a good and exhausting weekend. Plus, about 15 kids gave their lives to the Lord this weekend! Praise God!
I knew I was in charge of helping with games for our sessions but due to complications with a co-worker being out of the country and different things going on, I didn't understand that we were meant to be hosting these sessions. So it was only after we arrived and I'd asked my boss what I would be expected to do, did I find out.
Now, if you know me at all, you will have noticed that I'm not the super energetic type. I'm not especially good at getting teens to do anything they don't really want to do. But here I found myself up in front of about 50 teenagers trying to psych them up for the next game or session or whatever. Thankfully, God was moving during worship, so I didn't need to be all uppity but rather I could be my more genuine self and just pray and praise God. I felt much more comfortable doing that and bringing the kids with me in worship than trying to get them to respond to jokes and things.
At one point near the end of a session, we had a time of response with the worship team playing. I was asked to sing a part on the last song, so while I was up there, the kids were released but welcomed to stay if they wanted to. Well, with all the cool toys and things outside, none of the kids stayed for more than 5 minutes. But the worship kept going. The musicians kept playing and I kept singing and we all just stayed in that place of worship for another 20 minutes or more after the kids had all left. The Spirit was moving and we didn't want to miss any of it. It was amazing having that time of just praising and worshiping, even when we didn't have an audience (per say) to play to. We were playing for God.
I loved singing with the band and just worshiping. There was no need to try and impress anyone. Plus these musicians were fantastic #bencharles. It was so nice to actually sing with a band who was so together and they take their music seriously. So good.
Later (or earlier. I don't remember clearly), I was helping out by watching one of the bouncy houses, and I had a number of kids come and join me on it. They would jump for a while, but when they got bored, they'd come and sit with me and talk with me. They'd want to show me their tricks they can do and tell me their stories, etc. It was so nice to just have that time with kids again. While I do get to work with the kids in Tremorfa, they're not usually up for talking that much.
One of the boys sat down beside me and half whispered "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I'm actually a secret agent. I work for a secret agency and we stop bad guys."
He then went on to tell me this fantastic story about the villain from "Bolt" who had a space station above us and there was some mention of an evil plot happening when there's a full moon. He told me that Doctor Who went up there with Bolt to stop the bad guy, but they were captured! "It's time to call on the Thunderbirds for help!" he shouted. He then turned the entire bouncy house into a spaceship and we all went up with the Thunderbirds, me, his sister (who was about 5) and him.
It might sound ridiculous, but I love these stories, where the kids are using their imaginations! Sadly, that's becoming a lost art among kids these days, so I was more than happy to play along.
I loved hanging out and playing pretend with kids again. It's been a while since I've done that and it felt good to be with kids who weren't concerned with looking cool.
All in all, it was a good and exhausting weekend. Plus, about 15 kids gave their lives to the Lord this weekend! Praise God!
The New Revival's On It's Way!
Last week a group from my home church, Heartland, back in Fort Wayne, Indiana came to visit me! Okay, actually they would have come whether I was here or not, but the visit was a great plus!
There have been prophecies spoken over our church relating to the Welsh revival that started over a hundred years ago. Our pastor, Dave Frincke has done a lot of research about the revival and has even written a musical for the stage about the revival. So Pastor Dave brought a group of 9 other people who have a heart for Wales over and here's where our story begins:
The group was supposed to fly into Cardiff on Saturday night, but due to a completely unreasonable amount of delays and lost bookings, they only arrived on Sunday. We figured that all of these troubles and delays can only mean that God has got something great in store for this trip.
We did a lot of touring the first couple of days, going to significant places involved in the Welsh revival, as well as just going to the awesome Saint David's Cathedral. We'd also gone through a part of Wales known as "The Valleys". This area is what used to be a collier community, where people moved there to work in the coal mines, but when the mines closed, the villages were left with pretty much no way to make money. Therefore the name "The Valleys" generally implies a poor community and social deprivation.
After driving through one of the villages in "The Valleys" our tour guide (a brilliant man who knows much about the Welsh Revival and was taking us to the points of interest) wanted to go by this one church where he suspects the song "Here Is Love" was written. On our way there, we did have to turn around once or twice, but when we made it, our guide said to stay in the cars because he just wanted a picture. We all sat in our cars, waiting for him, when he came around saying that the groundskeeper happened to be right outside and he offered to let us in! So we all made our way inside the church. Once there, we had a short chat with the caretaker then Dave made went to the piano to lead us in a few songs of worship. We sang "Here is Love" of course, and when we had finished singing, we noticed a few people standing behind us near the entrance of the church.
The groundskeeper had left while we were singing and had seen 3 members of that church pulling up in their car, right at that moment! So he invited them inside to meet with this strange group of Americans who had waltzed into this church singing hymns. The people told us that there are only 10 members who go to that church. We asked them what they would like us to pray for and they said that the young people would come into the church. These people were all in their sixties and they said that they are the youngest people in their church.
So we all joined together to pray for these three people. As we were praying, one of our team members went out of the church and returned a few minutes later with a woman, a teenaged girl, and a girl of about 7. We prayed over these girls and one of our team members asked the younger girls if they'd like to give their lives to Jesus. They both said they weren't sure, but the woman was really tearing up behind them. We asked if she'd like to give her life to God and she said yes. She was then led in praying for salvation, while she was crying the whole time.
We're calling this the beginning of the new revival. If the team had only come to help that one woman get saved, then the whole thing would have been worth it! God treasures each person so crazy much that He orchestrated that whole day to lead us to that church at that time and for all of these different "coincidences" to add up to this one precious lady coming to Him! All of the turn-around and wrong turns, all of the people that "happened" to be walking by/driving up, all added up to this woman's personal revival! These are the kinds of divine appointments that we could never have planned out if we'd tried.
While I loved having this team here, I found that the hardest thing about their visit for me was the point of saying goodbye. While they could all breathe easy, knowing that they were almost done and they could go back to their lives and their families, I found it difficult knowing that I would not be going back as well. Not only that, but the home I once knew no longer exists. I have no home back in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and no real purpose to fulfill back there.
While this makes me incredibly sad to think about (with me being the sentimental type), it makes me realize that the only way to go is forward. This forces me to face what God's got ahead of me, rather than going back to the life I've always known and slipping back into the "normal". There is no normal for me anymore (if you can call any of my life before as normal). When all that's left is the unknown, it's daunting, but it makes me need to lean on God for guidance and comfort. It MAKES me rely on God and His instructions, rather than my own expectations from what life used to be. And I know that His plans are way bigger and better than any I could dream up for myself.
So in the words of a man with no name: Allons-y!
There have been prophecies spoken over our church relating to the Welsh revival that started over a hundred years ago. Our pastor, Dave Frincke has done a lot of research about the revival and has even written a musical for the stage about the revival. So Pastor Dave brought a group of 9 other people who have a heart for Wales over and here's where our story begins:
The group was supposed to fly into Cardiff on Saturday night, but due to a completely unreasonable amount of delays and lost bookings, they only arrived on Sunday. We figured that all of these troubles and delays can only mean that God has got something great in store for this trip.
We did a lot of touring the first couple of days, going to significant places involved in the Welsh revival, as well as just going to the awesome Saint David's Cathedral. We'd also gone through a part of Wales known as "The Valleys". This area is what used to be a collier community, where people moved there to work in the coal mines, but when the mines closed, the villages were left with pretty much no way to make money. Therefore the name "The Valleys" generally implies a poor community and social deprivation.
After driving through one of the villages in "The Valleys" our tour guide (a brilliant man who knows much about the Welsh Revival and was taking us to the points of interest) wanted to go by this one church where he suspects the song "Here Is Love" was written. On our way there, we did have to turn around once or twice, but when we made it, our guide said to stay in the cars because he just wanted a picture. We all sat in our cars, waiting for him, when he came around saying that the groundskeeper happened to be right outside and he offered to let us in! So we all made our way inside the church. Once there, we had a short chat with the caretaker then Dave made went to the piano to lead us in a few songs of worship. We sang "Here is Love" of course, and when we had finished singing, we noticed a few people standing behind us near the entrance of the church.
The groundskeeper had left while we were singing and had seen 3 members of that church pulling up in their car, right at that moment! So he invited them inside to meet with this strange group of Americans who had waltzed into this church singing hymns. The people told us that there are only 10 members who go to that church. We asked them what they would like us to pray for and they said that the young people would come into the church. These people were all in their sixties and they said that they are the youngest people in their church.
So we all joined together to pray for these three people. As we were praying, one of our team members went out of the church and returned a few minutes later with a woman, a teenaged girl, and a girl of about 7. We prayed over these girls and one of our team members asked the younger girls if they'd like to give their lives to Jesus. They both said they weren't sure, but the woman was really tearing up behind them. We asked if she'd like to give her life to God and she said yes. She was then led in praying for salvation, while she was crying the whole time.
We're calling this the beginning of the new revival. If the team had only come to help that one woman get saved, then the whole thing would have been worth it! God treasures each person so crazy much that He orchestrated that whole day to lead us to that church at that time and for all of these different "coincidences" to add up to this one precious lady coming to Him! All of the turn-around and wrong turns, all of the people that "happened" to be walking by/driving up, all added up to this woman's personal revival! These are the kinds of divine appointments that we could never have planned out if we'd tried.
While I loved having this team here, I found that the hardest thing about their visit for me was the point of saying goodbye. While they could all breathe easy, knowing that they were almost done and they could go back to their lives and their families, I found it difficult knowing that I would not be going back as well. Not only that, but the home I once knew no longer exists. I have no home back in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and no real purpose to fulfill back there.
While this makes me incredibly sad to think about (with me being the sentimental type), it makes me realize that the only way to go is forward. This forces me to face what God's got ahead of me, rather than going back to the life I've always known and slipping back into the "normal". There is no normal for me anymore (if you can call any of my life before as normal). When all that's left is the unknown, it's daunting, but it makes me need to lean on God for guidance and comfort. It MAKES me rely on God and His instructions, rather than my own expectations from what life used to be. And I know that His plans are way bigger and better than any I could dream up for myself.
So in the words of a man with no name: Allons-y!
Monday, June 29, 2015
A Spiritual Debate with a 60 Something, Muslim Philosopher
The other day I was in Cardiff city centre waiting for a friend who I knew would come in about an hour. With the coffee shops and stores beginning to close, I wandered around looking for something to do. I found myself in the library looking for anything interesting when I heard over the loudspeaker that the library was about to close as well. As I made my way to the door, I was walking beside an older gentleman who was also on his way out.
I'm not exactly sure how the conversation got started, but it was probably along the lines of him asking if I was a student (a question I get asked often when people see me toting my giant backpack). I told him that no, I'm not a student, I'm an intern. He asked if I would get a career out of this internship and I told him that no, once my visa expires I have to flee the country *wink*. He asked what I was interning for and I told him I was in youth ministry. You could see the mental walls go up as he confirmed what he'd heard "Ah, you're into religion."
We had gotten onto different subjects, such as his studies on philosophy, science, and human nature. When he tired of talking about himself, he asked me if I would go to school or university and I told him that I wasn't planning on it unless God leads me there. He stopped and looked at me saying that if I want to live I have to get a good education and career to have money! I told him that "Ah, but that's the world's thinking! I'm living by Kingdom thinking and I know that God will take care of all of my needs when I live in obedience to Him."
Now this guy looked middle eastern and was very likely to be muslim, so I couldn't believe I had so blatantly stated my absolute trust in God and Kingdom thinking to this man who could potentially get very offended. He was taken aback that I would put my future and everything in the hands of a God that he didn't really believes exists.
He told me that he was a practicing muslim to honour his mother's dying wish, but in actuality he is an atheist. He said that his religion is simply a social thing for him.
He tried to convince me that everyone can have their beliefs but that shouldn't dictate how you live your life. That you still need to make plans for how to make a living and have a career. He went on to say that he thinks that religion is a form of slavery. That it tells you what to do and how to live. He gave me an example of what a life without God or religion would look like, how you can do what you want, make your own life choices and get to do anything without having to consult with this "being in the sky". Independence! He asked what I thought of that. I replied that it sounded lonesome. I told him that being with God isn't a form of slavery, but rather a caring relationship.
I gave him the example of a child/parent relationship. The parent is there to care for and nurture the child. Any rules the parent gives is usually in the child's best interest, even when the child doesn't see it that way. I asked my new friend if he would consider this slavery or son-ship? His response was that a child will then grow up and be able to take care of themselves. I agreed, but retorted that we will never grow up to have the same knowledge and wisdom of God. To Him, we are all like children. He wants to take care of us like a loving Father, if we let Him.
My friend still wasn't finished with his religion=slavery argument. He said that while God might want to take care of us, we still have to work to get in His favour; that I'm giving my life for God's service to get to Heaven. I told him that actually, I do this out of choice. I told him that I know that if I were to die right here right now I would go to Heaven, not because of what I did, but because of what Christ did for me and because I have accepted Christ's sacrifice. My friend was stunned! He couldn't believe that I could have that kind of confidence that I will go to Heaven, whether I work for God or not!
He tried to bend my words to say that I'm working over here because the more people I convert the better God will like me. I told him that I do this entirely out of love for my God and for the people I try to help. I told him that God loves everybody unconditionally and God wants everyone to go to Heaven. He said that nobody loves everybody like that and nobody can love anybody unconditionally. I brought up the example of the parent/child relationship again. I reminded him that a parent will love a child, no matter what they do; even if they don't condone what their child does, they will still love them. My friend agreed with me. He said he knows that a mother will fight for her child even if she knows he's guilty.
He had to pause for a bit to put together a new argument. He then asked "What about the muslims and the hindus and budists, etc. etc. etc. You can't say there's just one God." I told him that I'm not one of those politically correct people who says that everyone can believe what they want and be fine. I told him that I believe the truth is the truth whether you believe it or not and I've seen enough proof of my God to know whom I serve. I've seen God do miraculous things that no scientist or person of the world would believe possible.
My friend was shocked yet again. He argued that God can't be measured or proved. He started rambling about how you can't prove something that has no substance. I interrupted to ask if I could tell him a story: there are two babies in the womb. One says to the other, "Do you think there's life outside of this?" the other replies, "No. This is all there's ever been. Have you seen anything different than what you've seen here?"
I told my friend that you don't know what you don't know. If you don't know what you're missing, then you don't know to look for it.
The hour of waiting was up and the friend I had been meeting walked up to us. I introduced my two friends, then bid farewell to the newest one. As he said goodbye, he asked that I keep my mind more open to other possibilities. I replied that he should do the same. He still looked concerned for me, like he was afraid that I'll throw my life away working for a God that he cannot prove. He thought I was a kid with pie in the sky chances of succeeding. But I don't mind. From this worldly perspective, I may not be the most successful, but from God's perspective, obedience is what success looks like. I know that my God will take care of me. I've seen Him provide in ways I never would have thought of.
None of our conversation was harsh or said unkindly. It was all very sensible. This man was willing to listen to my arguments, just as much as I listened to his. This man is truly after knowledge and truth, he's just been searching for truth from a purely scientific and atheistic perspective.
I don't know what's happened in this man's heart since our conversation, but I do know that God was doing something in Him. This is what my church family calls a "Divine Appointment". This was a "chance" meeting, set up by God to open my friend's mind up to the possibility of a loving and caring God. I pray that the seed that's been planted will spring up and help this gentleman come to realize who God really is, with or without scientific proof.
Monday, June 15, 2015
The Beginning of the End
This last week was our last meeting at GCY. We had a couple of group games and pizza and cakes. It was fun when everyone joined in.
Unfortunately towards the end, a bunch of the kids thought it would be a good idea to go up to the "forbidden" balcony. The reason nobody's allowed up there is because it is a very very old church balcony and the steps up there are shallow and the railing isn't very high and it's just overall not the safest place to be. But of course, the kids wanted to play a game of "catch me" up there... and these were the 15 year olds! Then the younger ones caught on to how fun the game looked and they wanted to join as well. There were 3 ways to get up there, so there wasn't really a good way to block all the ways at once, so we ended up just telling them to be extremely careful and to come down. But to these kids, words aren't worth much. So yelling at them and telling them to be careful had little effect. After a while, I knew words weren't doing any good, so I just stopped trying to get them down. I knew it was becoming more like a challenge than a warning.
Thankfully, we had no injuries, despite the rampant behavior. I found it frustrating though, that my last time with most of these kids ended with people yelling at each other and trying to stop the kids from walking out of the church with things belonging to the church. A few of the kids heard that this would be my last time with them and they came up to give me a goodbye hug, but most just left with friends. I was handed a card before I left that I read when I got home. It was signed by the other volunteers and some of the kids, some of whom I was frustrated with earlier. Reading the kids' notes, I could see that even though they like to push buttons, they still liked having me there, which I find comforting. It's good to know that not all my effort has been in vain.
On Friday, I taught dance at the local Girls' Brigade meeting. I taught a cutesy little ballet piece to the 5-8 year-olds and a hip hop number to the older girls (courtesy of a friend, whose choreography I used *with permission*). Some of the girls got really into it and they wanted your full attention the entire class, while others wanted to just fade away into the background. I did what I could with the time I had, but what I really got out of it was that some of the girls in the older group were really into dance and they wanted to do more. So hopefully, if I do any more dance stuff in the future, I can invite these girls to come and learn more.
I did receive some sad news this week: my sister wasn't able to fly in today because of passport issues. Please pray that all of that stuff is worked out in time for her to come on Saturday with a group from my home church.
Please join me in praying for these kids in the GYC who have yet to understand the Father's love for them. I may not see them again on earth, but I'm praying that I will see them in eternity. Pray that these avid atheists would come to see the Light.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17
Unfortunately towards the end, a bunch of the kids thought it would be a good idea to go up to the "forbidden" balcony. The reason nobody's allowed up there is because it is a very very old church balcony and the steps up there are shallow and the railing isn't very high and it's just overall not the safest place to be. But of course, the kids wanted to play a game of "catch me" up there... and these were the 15 year olds! Then the younger ones caught on to how fun the game looked and they wanted to join as well. There were 3 ways to get up there, so there wasn't really a good way to block all the ways at once, so we ended up just telling them to be extremely careful and to come down. But to these kids, words aren't worth much. So yelling at them and telling them to be careful had little effect. After a while, I knew words weren't doing any good, so I just stopped trying to get them down. I knew it was becoming more like a challenge than a warning.
Thankfully, we had no injuries, despite the rampant behavior. I found it frustrating though, that my last time with most of these kids ended with people yelling at each other and trying to stop the kids from walking out of the church with things belonging to the church. A few of the kids heard that this would be my last time with them and they came up to give me a goodbye hug, but most just left with friends. I was handed a card before I left that I read when I got home. It was signed by the other volunteers and some of the kids, some of whom I was frustrated with earlier. Reading the kids' notes, I could see that even though they like to push buttons, they still liked having me there, which I find comforting. It's good to know that not all my effort has been in vain.
On Friday, I taught dance at the local Girls' Brigade meeting. I taught a cutesy little ballet piece to the 5-8 year-olds and a hip hop number to the older girls (courtesy of a friend, whose choreography I used *with permission*). Some of the girls got really into it and they wanted your full attention the entire class, while others wanted to just fade away into the background. I did what I could with the time I had, but what I really got out of it was that some of the girls in the older group were really into dance and they wanted to do more. So hopefully, if I do any more dance stuff in the future, I can invite these girls to come and learn more.
I did receive some sad news this week: my sister wasn't able to fly in today because of passport issues. Please pray that all of that stuff is worked out in time for her to come on Saturday with a group from my home church.
Please join me in praying for these kids in the GYC who have yet to understand the Father's love for them. I may not see them again on earth, but I'm praying that I will see them in eternity. Pray that these avid atheists would come to see the Light.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17
Monday, June 8, 2015
A Hole In Your Heart
This week was very interesting. I've had loads of good things happen that kept my days full, and I've seen some sad things.
Last Tuesday evening I was at GYC, teaching dance again, but this time we had some other activities so the kids weren't all focused on the dance part. We had some kids come and go as the got bored, but this one little girl stayed the whole time. Even when the others were talking really loud in the back of the room, or when I was distracted by trying to get them involved, she stayed very attentive and she practiced the last move I'd taught until my attention was back to teaching this dance. She was eager to learn the dance and she didn't want to stop when it was time to go have our hot chocolate and God slot at the end. She is a very sweet little girl with big brown eyes that are always looking to learn. She is the kind of student that is a joy to teach and not a challenge.
On Thursday at TYC, we went to the park to enjoy the great weather. It was about 70 degrees and sunny here and that is a real treat when you live in Wales. Some of the kids went off to play Rounders with some of the leaders, but I stayed behind to mind the snacks we'd brought along and chat with the few who didn't want to run around. With last week being half term when we don't have club, it was good to get a chance to talk with these girls again. They still aren't trusting enough to open up to me about life and or answering anything deeper than "How were your exams?" but it's the shallow talks that can then earn their trust. I'm only sad that I won't be around for much longer.
On my bike ride home, I passed this woman standing on the sidewalk right beside a busy road. I noticed she wasn't crossing at the clear opportunities, so I stopped and asked if she was alright. I was surprised by the look in her eyes when she turned to me. She looked as if she was dead inside. Like there was no interest in the things around her and she wasn't wondering why someone was asking if she was okay. She looked at me with those nearly lifeless eyes and said in a monotone voice, "Yeah." I asked, "Are you sure you're alright?" She gave the same dull "yeah" in reply. I left her standing there, and as I cycled away I remember people telling me that that area is known for having hookers stand around, waiting for their next customer. She didn't look like I've imagined a hooker to look like; no fishnet tights or slutty clothes. She was wearing a matching light blue jogging outfit. I don't know if this is her story or not, but the near-dead look in her eyes reminded me of the area that I've come to work in. She reminded me of how hopeless much of these people are. They don't hope for a better day; they just try to survive the days they're in.
It broke my heart to see this woman standing on the side of the road, looking like she's not even truly alive. I know that she's got a hole in her heart. Most people have holes in their hearts. Some try to fill it with sex or money, some with food, some with tv or their favorite video game or sport. But we all have a hole that we feel the need to fill. There's always that something that we can never quite get to to be happy. We were all made with this hole, but only those who've found Jesus know that He is the only thing that can fill it. We were all made with this hole, with this ever-present need. Jesus is the only One who can fill that need. He is the only one who can bring true contentment and joy; and He can bring them in such a way that they are not dependent on your circumstances. Life doesn't have to be perfect before you can feel His joy.
Seeing this woman was a reminder of why I've come here. She was a reminder that it's not just about having fun with these kids or creating the best event. It's about sharing our true hope with the hopeless. It doesn't matter if I'm across the ocean in the capital city of Wales, or in any small town in back home, there are always people who are looking for something to fill this hole in their hearts. They are looking for a true hope. AND WE KNOW WHO IT IS!!! What does it take for us to share this hope?
God's been teaching me in the last few days to not be afraid of looking different or like a fool. He said to expect it! People are always going to think you're a bit weird, so why not just expect these strange looks and start being bold for Jesus. If He can face death for our sakes, surely facing some strange looks isn't the worst thing in the world. Share Jesus. Share this hope.
I'm not entirely sure of how I'm going to live this boldness out, but I know that Jesus will be with me to show me the way. I just pray for courage to expect to stand out.
Please pray for the community of Tremorfa. Pray that God's hope would become so evident in this place that people will be coming in saying "I want what they have". Pray that people would open up their hearts for Jesus to come in and fill this void. Thank you for all of your prayers.
Also, MY SISTER IS COMING IN 1 WEEK! Please pray that all of the legal things and finances come through in time. Thank you.
Monday, June 1, 2015
A Lesson on the Term "Unconditional"
You know how when somebody lets you down, you might have a hard time trusting them again? Or you'll refrain from liking them as much as you did before. Maybe it's just me, but that's how my mind works.
Unfortunately, I was letting my mind go to areas like that, reconsidering friendships because of a let down. Although I know it was an innocent misunderstanding, I was letting myself be hurt more by this than it should have. I was causing myself more misery by dwelling on this mistake, rather than moving on. I know this is quite negative, but to be honest, I'm not a positive person naturally. I have to really work at being positive when I'm by myself.
So I was in worship at church yesterday, when I heard God whisper "I love you". Now, I know that God loves me. That's an automatic in my mind. It's always there. But sometimes it's good to be reminded. God reminded me that His love is unconditional. That even when I mess up or do something that I know He doesn't like, He still loves me. I had to pause to soak that in. Sometimes we just brush past the unconditional love, not actually taking the time to try and fathom what that means.
It made me realize how fickle my love and friendship is if I was going to let a small mistake, a mess up, get in the way of what can be a great friendship. I had to think over what the word "unconditional" actually means. Even though I say that "we are to love everybody, because God is Love and He lives in us", I still put conditions on it. If I feel let down or hurt by somebody, I let my feelings dictate my love for them. But that's not real love.
"Love is kind and patient,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or rude.
Love isn’t selfish
or quick tempered.
It doesn’t keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
Love rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
Love is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trusting.
Love never fails!" ~1 Corinthians 13:4-8
This is the example of the true love that God shows us. This is real love. I've got to admit that I've not shown love in all of these ways. But God does. His love is unconditional. No matter what, His love will never fail us. Even when we do things that let Him down, He might be sad that we've done it, but He will never love us less.
So as God pointed out His love for me that Sunday, He also reminded me of this bitterness I was keeping towards these friends. It was a gentle nudge to forgive and let go of anything that was keeping me from loving them with the same love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I know I can't love anywhere near as much to the capacity of God, but that doesn't mean I can't try to love unconditionally. That's what God's been teaching me in the last day or so.
Some things to pray for over here are that there are a lot of changes for Ignite in the coming months. It will be merging with another ministry called The Message Trust in September, so there are a lot of things coming up that could use prayer. There's a local church that will need to decide in the next few weeks if it will join us in ministering to the people of the community and be willing to be actively involved with it. Also, Ignite has been planning to send out young people on a mission trip in west Wales, but we've not had the response we were hoping for. We need people to sign up to go on this trip in the next few weeks or we will need to decide if we will be doing it at all. So please pray about that people sign up.
And one more thing: my sister has been planning to come over here for a visit and some ministry things as well, but is having issues with her passport/visa. These things need to be sorted out in the next two weeks, so please pray that she is able to come on time and that this hiccup won't keep her from coming.
Thank you so much for your prayers.
Unfortunately, I was letting my mind go to areas like that, reconsidering friendships because of a let down. Although I know it was an innocent misunderstanding, I was letting myself be hurt more by this than it should have. I was causing myself more misery by dwelling on this mistake, rather than moving on. I know this is quite negative, but to be honest, I'm not a positive person naturally. I have to really work at being positive when I'm by myself.
So I was in worship at church yesterday, when I heard God whisper "I love you". Now, I know that God loves me. That's an automatic in my mind. It's always there. But sometimes it's good to be reminded. God reminded me that His love is unconditional. That even when I mess up or do something that I know He doesn't like, He still loves me. I had to pause to soak that in. Sometimes we just brush past the unconditional love, not actually taking the time to try and fathom what that means.
It made me realize how fickle my love and friendship is if I was going to let a small mistake, a mess up, get in the way of what can be a great friendship. I had to think over what the word "unconditional" actually means. Even though I say that "we are to love everybody, because God is Love and He lives in us", I still put conditions on it. If I feel let down or hurt by somebody, I let my feelings dictate my love for them. But that's not real love.
"Love is kind and patient,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or rude.
Love isn’t selfish
or quick tempered.
It doesn’t keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
Love rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
Love is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trusting.
Love never fails!" ~1 Corinthians 13:4-8
This is the example of the true love that God shows us. This is real love. I've got to admit that I've not shown love in all of these ways. But God does. His love is unconditional. No matter what, His love will never fail us. Even when we do things that let Him down, He might be sad that we've done it, but He will never love us less.
So as God pointed out His love for me that Sunday, He also reminded me of this bitterness I was keeping towards these friends. It was a gentle nudge to forgive and let go of anything that was keeping me from loving them with the same love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I know I can't love anywhere near as much to the capacity of God, but that doesn't mean I can't try to love unconditionally. That's what God's been teaching me in the last day or so.
Some things to pray for over here are that there are a lot of changes for Ignite in the coming months. It will be merging with another ministry called The Message Trust in September, so there are a lot of things coming up that could use prayer. There's a local church that will need to decide in the next few weeks if it will join us in ministering to the people of the community and be willing to be actively involved with it. Also, Ignite has been planning to send out young people on a mission trip in west Wales, but we've not had the response we were hoping for. We need people to sign up to go on this trip in the next few weeks or we will need to decide if we will be doing it at all. So please pray about that people sign up.
And one more thing: my sister has been planning to come over here for a visit and some ministry things as well, but is having issues with her passport/visa. These things need to be sorted out in the next two weeks, so please pray that she is able to come on time and that this hiccup won't keep her from coming.
Thank you so much for your prayers.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
A Lot of Absences And a Smelly Prankster
We've had small numbers coming into either club these last few weeks. I'm blaming it on the warm weather keeping them all outside. While I'm happy that they want to be out and about and not watching tv being couch potatoes, I'm sad that I've not seen many of the kids in weeks. And what makes me even more sad is the fact that we only have a few weeks left of actually having clubs. When schools close for the summer, so do the clubs.
While I'd be all up for keeping the clubs open to occupy the kids in the summer months, not everyone is up for it. After all, they will be the ones who will come back and continue working after the break. I will be going home, and only God know's if and when I will return and see these kids again.
Moving on to a less depressing subject: This past Tuesday the GYC went out to a nearby playground to enjoy the sunshine with the kiddos. Well, I say kiddos plural, but we only had one kiddo. This boy is one who hadn't been around in quite awhile and we learned that he had actually moved away and was only visiting this week. He was one who was known for getting into the most mischief; sneaking and hiding in the parts of the church where kids aren't allowed, or finding the loudest, squeakiest hinge in the building and making it as loud as he could until one of the leaders had to chase him away from it. He was always pushing boundaries and this has led to his expulsion once before in a club that pretty much never expels a child. He's a handful, but those kids are the most fun, right?
So we went to the playground, about 6 of us leaders and the one kid who showed up, and found some other kids playing there too. And later two of our regular girls came to the playground to find us so we had all of 3 kids from club! We played some combination of baseball and rounders and had players both from the club and the playground playing. After a while, the boys got very serious about the game, so once I was taken out, I stepped off the field to chat with the two girls who had shown up late. They both said that they were hoping to have another dance night! I was encouraged by that; that they had both had fun doing it.
After the game, we went back to the church and invited the boys at the playground to join us for toast and hot chocolate and the Jesus talk. They all declined saying that they had to go home. I had seen a few parents watching their kids, and I know I wouldn't be comfortable letting my kids go off with strangers who promise them goodies, but I'm hoping that their parents will let them come later.
We had our God talk, which involved a lot of chastising the kids to try and get them to listen for 5 minutes. It didn't work very well. I've never seen a group of people with a total lack of respect for each other and their leaders. It may just be that they aren't aware that the whole room can hear them when they whisper during the talk, but it's still very disrespectful.
And as a grand finale, the button pushing little boy thought it would be funny to spray a stink-bomb all the way through the church on his way out... That was fun. The whole place smelled like manure. Thankfully, I'm fairly used to the smell, having grown up driving past cornfields as the farmers were distributing the fertilizer.
All in all it was a pretty good night that ended with a great big smelly bang and all the leaders shouting this boy's name as he ran out of the building. Gotta love kids. I've got to admit it was a pretty good prank.
Please pray that the kids continue to come in these last few weeks and that we would be able to have meaningful conversations with them. Pray that they will open up to God's message of enduring love. Thank you for praying.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
An Evening of Dancing and Mummies
So we had an impromptu dance workshop at club last night. I was getting a lift from one of the leaders last night on the way to GYC when she mentioned that she just found out that I can dance. She then asked if I would do dance with our kids that night.
Later, during the God slot, we ran through the mummy game. We divided the kids into two teams and had the teams compete to make the best mummy by wrapping toilet paper around one of their teammates.
Ordinarily I would have felt hesitant and unprepared, but since I'd done the dance class in Tremorfa that dance was still in my mind, so I said yes. Then I realized that I was even more prepared than usual, because on that particular night I hadn't had a chance to run home and drop off my work stuff, so I had my laptop with my music and everything on it!
It went great! The kids were mostly getting into it and some of the other volunteers were getting involved as well, making everyone feel comfortable. We started out warming up with the Drive the Bus song/dance, which anyone from my home church can tell you is a boat load of fun and goofiness. It's a dance made entirely of the cheesiest dance moves out there. Things like the "Shopping cart" or "Sprinkler". It makes everyone look like a fool, but that's the best kind of fun: when everyone looks so silly that no one can criticize.
We went on to learn a dance to the song "Never Alone" by Barlowgirl. Some of the younger girls were very enthusiastic to learn these new moves, but their energy made them jump up and down while trying to do the moves, resulting in a bit of chaos. And some of the older girls were outright saying that they couldn't do it, but when I watched them attempt the moves, they did it either spot on or just a slight adjustment would make it spot on.
Later, during the God slot, we ran through the mummy game. We divided the kids into two teams and had the teams compete to make the best mummy by wrapping toilet paper around one of their teammates.
It was good fun, and all in all it was a great night with a great message.
At one point we separated into groups to talk and pray. And in this time one of the girls in my group went off explaining everything Christians believe about the Gospel. She said that Jesus died so that we can go to Heaven. I interrupted her at this point to say that even though Jesus paid the price for our sins, forgiveness and Heaven are gifts that need to be accepted to be of any good. I asked her and the other girl if they've accepted this gift yet. The girl, who was first explaining all about the Gospel, immediately said that she doesn't believe in God. She said that she's just interested in Religious studies.
The other girl said that she's a Christian. She said that she's a Christian because she was christened as a baby. We tried to explain that that isn't what makes you a Christian, but accepting Christ for yourself is what makes you a Christian. I don't know if either girl understood the ultimate message.
Please pray that God would work in the hearts and lives of these kids. Pray for revival in their individual lives as well as in this nation. Thank you so much for your prayers. God is really doing something.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Plant the Seed and Wait
It's Sunday morning. We've just had a morning filled with worship music and a sermon taught on how you can plant a seed, but you have to wait for the harvest. The person up front spoke about a man who had prayed for 5 of his friends over many years, and after a few years 2 were saved, and then over a matter of 20 years, two of the others were saved. This man prayed for 50 years for this last friend to be saved, but then the man died, not knowing if his friend would ever be saved. Then a few months after the man's death, the 5th friend came to Christ. The moral being that it can take years of praying for someone to be saved, and sometimes, you may never find out if this loved one has come to Christ of not.
The church is packed. I'm sitting up near the top of the theater-like seats in the back of the church. I can see most of the congregation from my vantage point. At the end of his sermon, the man up front did an altar call. As I watch these people make their way to the front I started to get emotional. I'm watching the family of God grow before my eyes! I was so happy that we now have new brothers and sisters in Christ!
I spotted one of the people going forward and realized it was the boyfriend of a friend of mine. The girls in my small group had been praying for this guy to come to church and I know his girlfriend has been trying to get him to come for a while. I was so happy that this guy was going forward! He had no idea that all these people who he's never even met had been praying for his salvation. Those of us girls who had been praying started rejoicing from all over the sanctuary when we saw him step forward. God does answer prayers!
While I was crazy happy to see all these people come to Christ on this Sunday morning, I became sad as well, knowing that most of the kids that I work with in Tremorfa have not yet realized their need for Christ. As I thought on it more, I began to weep for these kids. I want so badly to be confident that I will see these kids in Heaven in the end, but at this point in time, all I can do is pray and wait for God to move. I will continue to do what I hear God telling me, but I know that no amount of talking about God can actually bring these kids to Him. Only God can change their hearts. I want so badly to have an altar call in Tremorfa where these kids come to give their lives to Christ.
That's when the message this man up front was giving started to really sink in. I know that I can pray for these kids, but I may never know if and when they come to Christ. I may never know if my work and effort to get God's message across will actually have an impact on these kids' lives. All I can do is pray, like the man in the story.
Please join me in praying for salvation to come over these kids in Tremorfa. I want God to completely turn around this community and to bring His kingdom to earth. Even if I go to my grave before I see any results, I will continue to pray for my kids here.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
I Am Never Apart From My Family In Christ
So after the last few weeks of being busy and putting so much out, I was just feeling exhausted! I'm not used to being busy all the time. Turns out it's hard! Thankfully, since I did spend my weekend in a tent in the name of ministry, Ignite graced me with an extra day off.
I will tell you, I got spiritually drenched this week! It was great. After an initial day of rest, I was swept away to a women's conference called Colour Conference that's put on by Hillsong. There I was surrounded by women of faith and everyday was filled with worship, inspirational teachings, and long lines.
Okay, the long lines didn't necessarily add to my faith, (aside from maybe increasing my patience) but the rest was uplifting. We had 3 main speakers who are great Christian communicators, Beth Moore, Dawnchere Wilkerson, and Joyce Meyers! All of whom have impacted my thought life over the last few days.
Dawnchere spoke about her father and how when she was in trouble, he would always rush to her rescue, and how God was like that. He rushes to you when you need Him. While I recognize that having a great father figure is a rarity in this day and age I really appreciate my father and what a great example he's been of the Heavenly Father. Hearing Dawnchere speak about her father rushing to her rescue made me sad in that I know that if I'm in trouble over here, my dad can't come rushing to the rescue. But it was a good reminder that our Heavenly Father is always with me and will come to the rescue when I call on Him.
And if that wasn't enough, I then spent Sunday and Monday with people who have encouraged me and have spoke God's truth into my life. I have been so blessed by the ladies who have come alongside me and helped me when I was feeling down and have kept pointing me to God.
Anyone can have friends who say nice things when times are tough, but to have friends who are constantly bringing it back to God and saying "Let's pray about it" is such a blessing and encouragement. We can do nothing without Christ. It's good to be reminded of that. I love my sisters in Christ.
Thank you all for your prayers. I have been truly blessed this week.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
You Can Lead a Horse to Water But You Can't Make 'em Drink
So you know how when you go camping, you generally don't want to be soaked? Yeah, well thankfully, none of us had to be! Thank you to everyone who prayed for this last weekend of camping. The weather was great and it only rained when we were in our tents. And over here, their tents are actually waterproof, unlike the tents I've camped in in the States. Whew!
On another side of the camping trip, we had a turn up of 4 teen-aged boys. A bit of a disappointment after all the planning that went into it, but we figured that God can do great things with the smallest of groups. We went ahead as planned, although we reserved the right to take anyone home who was being troublesome.
We played a game of football (soccer) once we were all there and the boys are continuing to teach me new moves to use in the game, not that I'm even good at aiming. At one attempt of a new trick, I must confess, I slipped and ended up in my rear end. I don't think I'm very skilled at running in semi-wet grass, just saying....
But during the God talks we had some good discussions with these boys. Two of them go to Catholic School, so they know quite a lot about the Bible, but they don't actually believe in God... yet. The youngest of the group was 13, and he was the one who asked the most questions. He kept asking for proof of God's existence. Even though we'd told him countless stories of what God had done in our lives, this boy still wanted physical proof. Finally we told him that he had already made up his mind to not believe, and nothing we say will change his mind. So we told him to ask God to prove Himself.
One thing that was so frustrating about this situation was the fact that this boy is just reaching out for something to believe in and he wants to believe, but he won't let anything we say about the Holy Spirit and about what God has done in our lives influence his belief that he has to actually see proof that God is real.
Please pray that this young man will find the proof he needs from God. He is so hungry for God, but isn't sure of how to believe. Also, please continue to pray for all the kids we're working with in Tremorfa. We've had all sorts of troubles in the last few weeks, and we really need God to step in. Thank you so much for all your prayers. God is getting through!
On another side of the camping trip, we had a turn up of 4 teen-aged boys. A bit of a disappointment after all the planning that went into it, but we figured that God can do great things with the smallest of groups. We went ahead as planned, although we reserved the right to take anyone home who was being troublesome.
We played a game of football (soccer) once we were all there and the boys are continuing to teach me new moves to use in the game, not that I'm even good at aiming. At one attempt of a new trick, I must confess, I slipped and ended up in my rear end. I don't think I'm very skilled at running in semi-wet grass, just saying....
But during the God talks we had some good discussions with these boys. Two of them go to Catholic School, so they know quite a lot about the Bible, but they don't actually believe in God... yet. The youngest of the group was 13, and he was the one who asked the most questions. He kept asking for proof of God's existence. Even though we'd told him countless stories of what God had done in our lives, this boy still wanted physical proof. Finally we told him that he had already made up his mind to not believe, and nothing we say will change his mind. So we told him to ask God to prove Himself.
One thing that was so frustrating about this situation was the fact that this boy is just reaching out for something to believe in and he wants to believe, but he won't let anything we say about the Holy Spirit and about what God has done in our lives influence his belief that he has to actually see proof that God is real.
Please pray that this young man will find the proof he needs from God. He is so hungry for God, but isn't sure of how to believe. Also, please continue to pray for all the kids we're working with in Tremorfa. We've had all sorts of troubles in the last few weeks, and we really need God to step in. Thank you so much for all your prayers. God is getting through!
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Goin' Campin'
These last two weeks have been full of many ups and downs. Firstly, two of my pastors from my church back home flew over and were a part of a conference over here. One talked at it and the other lead worship for it. It was really great to have people form back home around. I love them both and just being able to talk about the happenings back in Indiana were a comfort to me.
Having Pastor Ron come and speak reminded me of just how much influence he's had over my life. I've grown up listening to him preach and I've heard all of his "Ronisms" as they're so called by the church. These little snippets of truth that I've heard him repeat over the years have made it into my mind and heart to such a point that I've found myself quoting them in many of my writings for Ignite.
Later this week, things have been... interesting. I taught Sunday school this last Sunday. Well, I say that I taught it. Actually it was more like me trying to get the kids to stop talking for 5 minutes so I could give them the short lesson I'd prepared. But one of the ladies who is a part of the Re:Gen Tremorfa team is incredible with these kids. They all adore her and they listen to nearly every word she says. You can just watch them imitating her. It is too cute. I know I would have hardly got a word in if she hadn't come into the class to help settle the kids down. While I love kids, I have not yet developed the skill of getting them to listen to me, but this lady has! They might not always do what she tells them, but they love her, even when she tells them no. How does she do it? This lady is so gifted with children.
We've had a lot of extra drama this week with our girls, so please pray that God will step into their lives to turn them around. When all hope seems lost, God can still turn things around.
We're going on a camping trip with some of the kids this weekend, so please pray that God will touch the hearts of these kids and we will come home with more brothers in Christ! Also, please pray that we get sunny weather! If Jesus can calm the storm with His words and He's given us His authority, I think we can still call out good weather in Jesus' name! Amen!
Friday, April 10, 2015
The Battle for the Dance Class
So I don't actually know if that man came to church or not. To be honest, I don't really remember what he looked like, so I couldn't pick him out of a crowd, so he might have been there. Like, I remember what he was wearing, but his face didn't have any really notable features.... my bad.
This week I taught my first dance class in Tremorfa! Let me give you a bit of background before I tell you how it went:
My history involves a lot of dance. I've danced since I was 8 years old, and started assistant teaching by the age of 14. I've done mostly ballet and contemporary dance styles, but have dabbled with other styles, such as tap, hip hop, as well as ballroom. Basically, I love dance!
I'd really been itching to dance lately, and I'd been wanting to teach a class in Tremorfa for a while now. So we finally got a week that would work to put the class and now it was up to me to make it happen. And that's when the nerves set in. I felt nervous about teaching again because I haven't taught for a few years now, and there was no guarantee that whoever shows up would participate. I had to come up with a class that was active enough so that these kids wouldn't get bored, but also easy enough that a beginner could get it.
Before I could get the choreography finished, I had another battle to face. This was more of a mental/spiritual battle. The entirety of last weekend was a battle. I kept getting doubts. I kept hearing whispers in my ear telling me nobody will show up, or don't get your hopes up, or you're not good enough.
It was an incredibly difficult week. I had thought about giving up countless times; just calling it quits and not bothering to do the class. I didn't have much hope of anyone showing up. But somewhere at the beginning of this struggle I had told a friend about my idea for this class and about my doubts for it, too. She told me that if God's calling me to do this, I should just do it in obedience. Whether anyone show up or not, if I've done my best in preparation I will have been obedient, and that's all that God asks of us. Then throughout the week she sent me notes of encouragement about the class. What a sweetheart.
I decided to let go and let God. I went for it and choreographed the dance. We put out flyers invited the girls in Tremorfa to come.
And they did! Well, 2 of them did anyways. They showed up at the door, we let them in, and one of them sat down to be on her phone, and the other didn't go further than the doorway. These 2 are regulars at the club, and I wasn't sure they would join in at all. I was about to pack up and go home because they weren't participating when one of the girls I work with who was there to help suggested that I show the girls what the dance looks like. So I showed them on the condition that they had to both learn 5 moves from the dance.
Once I had shown them the dance, they both stood up to learn the 5 moves promised and they got so into it that we went way beyond the 5 moves they said they would do! We did it with the music and they got excited about how it all went together! Praise God!
I consider it a small miracle for both of these girls to join in something like this. The one girls you can hardly get her to join in a short game, let alone actually moving your whole body in dance! And the other one likes to be the crazy person in the room and not behave, but they both did really well for a first try!
Thank you to everyone who's prayed for me and given me encouragement this week. I really needed it. And I believe that God has something good in mind for this dance stuff. Keep up the prayers!
This week I taught my first dance class in Tremorfa! Let me give you a bit of background before I tell you how it went:
My history involves a lot of dance. I've danced since I was 8 years old, and started assistant teaching by the age of 14. I've done mostly ballet and contemporary dance styles, but have dabbled with other styles, such as tap, hip hop, as well as ballroom. Basically, I love dance!
I'd really been itching to dance lately, and I'd been wanting to teach a class in Tremorfa for a while now. So we finally got a week that would work to put the class and now it was up to me to make it happen. And that's when the nerves set in. I felt nervous about teaching again because I haven't taught for a few years now, and there was no guarantee that whoever shows up would participate. I had to come up with a class that was active enough so that these kids wouldn't get bored, but also easy enough that a beginner could get it.
Before I could get the choreography finished, I had another battle to face. This was more of a mental/spiritual battle. The entirety of last weekend was a battle. I kept getting doubts. I kept hearing whispers in my ear telling me nobody will show up, or don't get your hopes up, or you're not good enough.
It was an incredibly difficult week. I had thought about giving up countless times; just calling it quits and not bothering to do the class. I didn't have much hope of anyone showing up. But somewhere at the beginning of this struggle I had told a friend about my idea for this class and about my doubts for it, too. She told me that if God's calling me to do this, I should just do it in obedience. Whether anyone show up or not, if I've done my best in preparation I will have been obedient, and that's all that God asks of us. Then throughout the week she sent me notes of encouragement about the class. What a sweetheart.
I decided to let go and let God. I went for it and choreographed the dance. We put out flyers invited the girls in Tremorfa to come.
And they did! Well, 2 of them did anyways. They showed up at the door, we let them in, and one of them sat down to be on her phone, and the other didn't go further than the doorway. These 2 are regulars at the club, and I wasn't sure they would join in at all. I was about to pack up and go home because they weren't participating when one of the girls I work with who was there to help suggested that I show the girls what the dance looks like. So I showed them on the condition that they had to both learn 5 moves from the dance.
Once I had shown them the dance, they both stood up to learn the 5 moves promised and they got so into it that we went way beyond the 5 moves they said they would do! We did it with the music and they got excited about how it all went together! Praise God!
I consider it a small miracle for both of these girls to join in something like this. The one girls you can hardly get her to join in a short game, let alone actually moving your whole body in dance! And the other one likes to be the crazy person in the room and not behave, but they both did really well for a first try!
Thank you to everyone who's prayed for me and given me encouragement this week. I really needed it. And I believe that God has something good in mind for this dance stuff. Keep up the prayers!
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Give up the Guilt
Happy Easter!
Let me tell you a bit about my day. It started out joining one of the churches I've been going to and doing a flash mob on the streets of the Cardiff city centre. We danced to the song by Mary Mary, "Shackles"! It was lots of fun. The church was also handing out hot cross buns and flyers in honor of Easter. The flyers explained a bit of the Easter story, as well as an invitation to come to church tomorrow. A friend had jokingly given me one of the flyers, and I had meant to hand it to someone, but ended up just sticking it in my bag.
Afterwards we hung out and talked for a bit, but then I was left with deciding what I was going to do for the rest of the day. Where I'd normally just go home, I decided to take a bike ride down some of the paths in the park nearby. It was a beautiful day out, and a good 60+ degrees. I went to the park and took some photos of the blossoming trees and such.
Then God stepped in. As I was enjoying the view I noticed this man sitting on a bench by himself and he seemed to be talking to himself. As I got nearer, he seemed to get more frustrated and louder as he stood up, and I realized that he was saying the same thing over and over again. He was chanting "I can't believe I did that! I can't believe I did that!" etc.
I had passed by the time I understood what he was saying, but I had a feeling that this man was in need. I had to talk to him and at least ask if he was alright. I turned around and came back to him, asking if he was alright. He seemed surprised that I asked, but thanked me for stopping. He said I was the only one who stopped to see if he was okay. He told me that of course he wasn't alright, because if he had been alright he wouldn't be saying that over and over.He told me a bit of his problem, that he had made a huge mistake financially and that he believed he was ruined.
He thanked me again for stopping, as if expecting me to leave, but I had the feeling I should give him that flyer from the church. I told him that if he'd like to meet more people who'll care to come to church tomorrow. He told me that funnily enough he'd turned to religion out of desperation. He said that he'd read the pamphlet, but he'd already committed "the 7 deadly sins" and he was beyond hope.(This told me that he had actually read a Jehovah's Witness pamphlet, not really scripture.)
This opened up the conversation to actually telling this man about God's goodness and why we celebrate Easter. Some of you may not believe this, but this was the first time when I've found myself in a conversation that was practically begging me to tell the salvation story. And around Easter as well? This had to be God. This man then told me about how all these different "coincidences" kept coming up and pointing him to God. But he knew it wasn't just a coincidence. I told him that it was God! That things might be hard, and he may have done things wrong, but God has a plan for him and that God loves him. Maybe it's not him being punished like he thought, but maybe it's God giving him a wake up call. He admitted that it's really woken him up. He seemed filled with regret, wishing that he had done things differently. I told him that it's not the end! His hearts still beating, there's life ahead! He didn't seem too hopeful. He couldn't get his mind around the idea that he doesn't have to carry guilt around but just give it to God.
He seemed inclined to take up the invite to church. I know that God has something great in mind for this man. Please pray that he does come and that God seals the deal and brings this man the peace and hope he's lacking. God is so good. He's great at setting these things up.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
The Truth is Getting Out!
Wow! What a week.
Sorry for the late post, but these weeks has been crazier than usual, it feels.
What have we been doing that has made it so crazy?
For the last week or so some of us at Ignite have gone into 2 of the high schools here in Cardiff and have been telling the story of Jesus' last 24 hours before His death. The program we were doing was called "24 Hours That Saved the World".
As a part of the session, we would take a couple minutes and have the kids discuss things like, "How do you decide if something is true or not?" Some of the kids answered that they Google things to see what's true or not, while others were a bit more sensible and said, "I'd want witnesses and evidence before deciding." We even put out the point of saying "If this stuff isn't true, than we might as well forget about Christianity, but if it IS true, then this is really a big deal." And we make a point of quoting the Gospel of John when he said "I saw this with my own eyes, so I know that it's true."
One part of the school lessons that I really enjoyed was in the beginning we would all introduce ourselves and give an interesting fact about ourselves. I tried using something unique to the US and said that my mother had been Amish in the past. I didn't quite get the reaction I wanted simply because most of the kids didn't even know what Amish was.
So I changed my fact to "I've been in prisons more times than I can count." That got their attention! And I left it at that! Then at the end of the session, when we would encourage the kids to ask questions either about the lesson or one of us, they'd usually ask why I went to prison. (For those who don't know me personally, my family goes into prisons to share Jesus through our music. I've never been arrested or spent the night in a prison.)
For TYC this week, I spoke a bit about Jesus' resurrection, but more about why He did what He did on the cross. I told the kids that before they were born, God had placed a value on their heads, and that value will never change no matter what they do. I told them that God says they are worth the death of His own Son. I told them that God wants them to come to Heaven when they die, so He paid the price for them to come, but the only way that payment is valid is if they accept it for themselves. Jesus was that payment. And He went willingly to die on the cross because He wants you to come to Heaven too. Because He loves you.
Later that night we had one of the kids completely kick off and she started swearing and hitting and throwing a chair and the whole shebang. We had to tell her to go home. I'm wondering if this might be the enemy's attack, trying to fight the Gospel that is making it's way into the hearts of our young people here in Tremorfa. We have been feeling a lot of opposition in the natural, but we're pretty sure it's coming from the spiritual realm.
You may or may not believe in the spiritual side of our fight for Christ, but that doesn't make it less real. That is why I'm calling all you prayer warriors to pray for Tremorfa and the rest of Wales as well. God is definitely doing something and the enemy doesn't want it to come about. So please pray against any spiritual attacks of the enemy, either on the workers or on the kids and people we're working with.
Thank you for praying.
Sorry for the late post, but these weeks has been crazier than usual, it feels.
What have we been doing that has made it so crazy?
For the last week or so some of us at Ignite have gone into 2 of the high schools here in Cardiff and have been telling the story of Jesus' last 24 hours before His death. The program we were doing was called "24 Hours That Saved the World".
As a part of the session, we would take a couple minutes and have the kids discuss things like, "How do you decide if something is true or not?" Some of the kids answered that they Google things to see what's true or not, while others were a bit more sensible and said, "I'd want witnesses and evidence before deciding." We even put out the point of saying "If this stuff isn't true, than we might as well forget about Christianity, but if it IS true, then this is really a big deal." And we make a point of quoting the Gospel of John when he said "I saw this with my own eyes, so I know that it's true."
One part of the school lessons that I really enjoyed was in the beginning we would all introduce ourselves and give an interesting fact about ourselves. I tried using something unique to the US and said that my mother had been Amish in the past. I didn't quite get the reaction I wanted simply because most of the kids didn't even know what Amish was.
So I changed my fact to "I've been in prisons more times than I can count." That got their attention! And I left it at that! Then at the end of the session, when we would encourage the kids to ask questions either about the lesson or one of us, they'd usually ask why I went to prison. (For those who don't know me personally, my family goes into prisons to share Jesus through our music. I've never been arrested or spent the night in a prison.)
For TYC this week, I spoke a bit about Jesus' resurrection, but more about why He did what He did on the cross. I told the kids that before they were born, God had placed a value on their heads, and that value will never change no matter what they do. I told them that God says they are worth the death of His own Son. I told them that God wants them to come to Heaven when they die, so He paid the price for them to come, but the only way that payment is valid is if they accept it for themselves. Jesus was that payment. And He went willingly to die on the cross because He wants you to come to Heaven too. Because He loves you.
Later that night we had one of the kids completely kick off and she started swearing and hitting and throwing a chair and the whole shebang. We had to tell her to go home. I'm wondering if this might be the enemy's attack, trying to fight the Gospel that is making it's way into the hearts of our young people here in Tremorfa. We have been feeling a lot of opposition in the natural, but we're pretty sure it's coming from the spiritual realm.
You may or may not believe in the spiritual side of our fight for Christ, but that doesn't make it less real. That is why I'm calling all you prayer warriors to pray for Tremorfa and the rest of Wales as well. God is definitely doing something and the enemy doesn't want it to come about. So please pray against any spiritual attacks of the enemy, either on the workers or on the kids and people we're working with.
Thank you for praying.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Laughing at Ourselves and Daring to Dream
We've created a new game this week called Keep it Going. It involves a ping pong ball and 2 paddles, and it may or may not involve the ping pong table. Basically the game started out with me and one of the boys playing (or attempting to play) ping pong, but we couldn't seem to keep it on the table! So we started playing where you'd just keep the game going, even if it hit the floor or the ceiling, or just stayed in the air while we hit it back and forth. It was a fun challenge to keep the ball bouncing, especially when it was so near to the ground.
One of the best parts about this new game though, was the fact that you didn't have to be good at it! So when neither me or this boy were good at ping pong, we could play this game and just laugh at ourselves and not be embarrassed by our lack of skill. And then when we did almost manage to look like we were playing a proper game of ping pong, we could congratulate ourselves.
I love being able to see these kids use their skills in various areas. When you get used to seeing people in a certain environment, you can forget that they might not be the best at this one thing, but they are a genius at something else. So when some of these kids might not be good at reading or football (soccer), they might be really good at keeping a ping pong ball bouncing on their paddle.
I met up with one of the girls for coffee yesterday, just to chat and hang out. This is one girl who has come to the Lord, but when she and her mother moved to another side of Cardiff, she had a difficult time staying plugged into church. During our conversation I asked her "If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?" I like to ask things like this just to open up the kids' minds to the possibility of something different in life; daring them to dream.
Her answer greatly surprised me. She said that she would like to be either a police woman or a prison guard. Now, understand that this girl, while she might be 17 looks to be about 13. She's petite, mild mannered and maybe an inch over 5 foot. It boggled my mind that this little lady wanted to be a prison guard! Not wanting to squelch any dream she has, I changed the subject, but I brought it up later.
I asked her, "Why do you want to be a prison guard?" She answered that she wants to help people who have had troubled lives in the past and help them to start again new.
Now I get the idea! I am then blown away by this girl's heart and her motivation behind her answer. Still unable to see her working as a prison guard, I suggest that if that's how she wants to help people, why not try helping at a half-way house? It's a place where prisoners might go to help bring them back into society. Or, if she's determined to help people who are currently imprisoned, she could try being a chaplain.
She seemed to really like that idea. We got distracted by then, so we didn't fully finish that conversation, but I am so encouraged by that meeting. She not only revealed her heart for broken people, but also her courage! I am so proud of her, for wanting to live her life for Christ. I encouraged her to ask God where He wants to take her, and that He will provide the way there.
Thank you all for your prayers over this city. Please pray for this young woman as she embarks on this new adventure with the Lord.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Hurting for the Hurt
A lot has happened this week. We had the beginning of the
Thrive course, youth club, mentoring, as well as an afternoon hangout time with
some of the girls in Tremorfa.
At mentoring, it has been getting easier now that we’ve
gotten to know the kids better. Now we can start to plan the sessions more
around the individuals rather than as a group. I had each of them write a list
of 5 goals they would like to achieve either in their lifetime or in the next
year. I explained again what I was there to do as a mentor: to help them set
goals and help them achieve goals. One girl sat up straight when I said this,
like she just now got what we were there for. She then got really excited and
quickly picked up her pen and started writing her goals.
I then went down the list and asked about each one, “What
would it take to accomplish this goal?”
She wrote that she wanted to get more confident at gymnastics and when I
asked her the question she responded, “I guess stretching and conditioning?”
This was one thing I feel I can actually lend my expertise
in since I have such a history with dance. So we ended up sitting on the floor demonstrating
different exercises we can do to condition our muscles. It was great because
she really clicked with this and she realized I can practically help her with
something she wants to do. She was excited to come in again next week and work
on that some more! It’s so encouraging to be able to help this girl with
something she wants to do because I’ve been through the stretching and
conditioning with dance.
Later that day, some of us with who work at the youth club
in Tremorfa invited some of our girls to come over for hot chocolate and girl
talk. We wanted to talk to them about how valuable they are and how they don’t
need to give their bodies away to receive love. Some of the girls have put
themselves in very vulnerable positions in looking for a boyfriend, and we
wanted to tell them off a little bit, but mostly, tell them how much they are worth.
We had a notecard with each girl’s name on it and then we
passed the cards around the table and had the girls write only positive things
on each other’s cards. It was amazing how difficult it was to get the girls to
write anything positive about their friends. Some even refused to write something
as shallow as “pretty” because they didn’t want to say that their friend was
pretty! Good grief!
Some of the girls were as young as 11, and when they got
bored they just up and left. But what happened after that couldn’t have
happened if the younger ones were there. The 2 girls we had left had both
confessed to self-harming, and one of them showed us her arm with the scratches
still there. We spent time just talking to them about other ways they can
express their pain aside from self-harming, then we spent some time praying for
them.
Neither of these girls are saved yet, and they weren’t quite sure what to
do while we prayed, but I think they took it okay.
I am gifted with this thing where I’ll cry for others who
have hardened their hearts to a point where they don’t cry anymore. Like, they
can’t cry anymore. Maybe they don’t even realize just how big of a deal some of
the stuff they are dealing with is. But I cry. I cry for them. I’m not entirely
sure what it does, but I think it can help these hardened people to realize
that what has happened to them is not okay, and that it’s okay to hurt. So, of
course, I was crying as I prayed for these girls who aren’t older than 15. I
explained to them after the prayer that I cry because God in Heaven is crying
for them; He is hurting for them and with them.
Please pray with me for these girls who have been so hurt in
their short lives. Please pray that the self-harming would end, and that they
would find Jesus. Pray that their hearts would be softened.
Thank you for your prayers.
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