Sandals Worldwide

Sunday at Sandals was awesome! I get excited when I see a passion for other nations developing in those around me. It was fun to hear about the recent Sandals Worldwide trips to Botswana and India. I thought you might enjoy hearing it too! Check out the video or the mp3 (the video's more fun!). I love Sandals! I'm anxious to see how this passion continues to grow.

Let's get some conversation going here. I know there are a few of you out there that read this thing. I want to know who you are and I want to know your thoughts. I want to be challenged and encouraged by you. So help me out! Here are some starters...

What are your thoughts on missions? Has God given you a passion for a particular place? What are you doing with that passion?

ministry spotlight ~ riding for africa

I ran across this through a friend of a friend of a friend's blog. There's a youth pastor that has committed to going everywhere by bike for 7 days. No car...period. He is doing so in order to raise support and awareness for what is going on in Africa, namely in Uganda. Any support he raises is going to Invisible Children which is a pretty cool non-profit organization working with the kids in Uganda who have been affected by the 20-year war. Anyways, I'm not trying to get you to dish out cash, but I would love for you to become more aware of the situation in Uganda. Check the links at the top of my blog under hopeisrampant. A new link will show up each time Dustin posts an update about his 7-day journey. If you want to access his updates directly, check out his hopeisrampant blog.

OK, it's way past my bedtime. Don't forget to pray for Rob and Leah! They've landed in the Middle East and have begun their journey of encouragement.

ministry spotlight ~ rob & leah

Hey there, troopers! You might think I've been avoiding you, but in actuality, I have been attempting to be intentionally disciplined and purposeful. I've been striving to spend quality time with God and finish my work before playing on the computer, so please bare with me as I work out the kinks (it is not at all natural for me!).

I have some exciting missions news. Some friends, Rob & Leah, are on a plane as we speak (or perhaps they've arrived) to the Middle East on a quest to bring love and encouragement from Sandals Church to a couple of our brothers and sisters who are serving there (Derek and the Georges). They also intend to capture the lives of those individuals and the people they love and serve on film in order to bring their lives back to us in a vivid way. I'm excited! They will probably have updates and pictures on their blogs as they travel. I hope you will keep up with their journeys and pray for them along with me as they go. Leah asked that we pray for the following:

1. Safety
2. Peace as we travel in our own hearts and minds
3. That we would be such a blessing and refreshment to our precious brothers and sisters
4. That God would impact our lives in huge ways with this trip, and show us his will regarding us and missions
5. That this would be so much more than just a fun trip
6. That God would inspire us with ideas, stories, and creativity for our coffee table books (this is their plan for the photos)

Photo courtesy of kimmysun.

a typical day

Hmm...long day, but good. I had my morning class, as usual. The first great thing was all the great reactions I got to my hair when I walked in. I love those students! They're fun. The second great thing - I walked out after class feeling like I'd accomplished something. Those are always good days. I feel a connection with the students, I feel like they're getting it, and we even laugh and have fun. Those are the moments I understand why God made me a teacher.

Tuesdays are my long days. I have my extra class - Prepositions. I would be perfectly content to never, ever teach this class again. My hope is that I will not have to. Every Monday night I realize how deeply I despise the class (not the students, just the content...and the fact that I only see the students once a week so I hardly know them). Nonetheless, today was fun. After brainstorming with my roommates for awhile last night, we determined that the most fun and educational thing I could do in class today was to have the students do skits. So we did the normal routine - a quiz, then homework review - then they worked together on their skits. It was fun actually being able to interact with the individuals in each group, which is a rarity because this class is so brief. So that was a blessing.

To make my typical Tuesday longer, I stayed to observe my mentor teacher (she is teaching one of the classes I'll be teaching in the Spring...and today I met some of the students I'll have in that class...shh...don't tell them they're not going to pass her class!). It was a blessing though to be there. I was encouraged to be reminded that she and I have very similar teaching styles, but also recognized many ways in which I could improve my teaching. It was also refreshing to talk with her after the class for awhile.

Hmm...from there, I've basically been procrastinating. It is now 1:12am and I still need to prepare for tomorrow's class. So, with that said, I will going. I was just going to leave a quick message, but I guess this gives you a picture of a day in my life, which is the title of this blog, right!? Ok, so what I originally wanted to say was... Go check out Carlos Whittaker's blog if you haven't already. Yesterday, they brought home Losiah, a baby they've been trying to adopt from Korea for two years. It made me cry, but it's precious and exciting. If you want to see the journey, click on "Adoption" to the right and you'll find a collection of videos. Ok, I think it's finally homework time or I won't get any sleep tonight! God bless.

JC's girls girls girls

There is a ministry at Sandals that makes me very proud to call it my church. There was a woman in our church who was a stripper. After God changed her life, she realized there were a lot of women (and men) in that industry that are dying on the inside and need the love of Christ. She felt a burden to meet that need, and thus began the vision for JC's Girls. The girls in this ministry, sometimes referred to as the Holy Hotties, and the leadership of our church have received a lot of criticism from a lot of people. These precious women that are going into the unreached places and giving everything to reach broken people with the hope of Christ have been called things that I won't repeat here. But God is working through them and changing lives. It is amazing to hear some of the stories. It is such a blessing to look down into the chairs at Sandals and see women that would be cast aside or asked to leave many churches...but to see them loved, accepted, and welcomed at Sandals, because they need the love, forgiveness, and hope of Christ as much or more than many. God is working through some amazing women who have chosen to be obedient and stick themselves out there despite the risks. Check out some of these responses that came from a documentary about them that was shown in the UK (and here are a few more). I was very encouraged. I hope you are too. Pray for these girls. They are not fighting an easy battle.

mission impossible: night vision

We were challenged once again at Sandals on Sunday about our mission and our vision. Here are more of my thoughts. I will only answer a couple questions that really hit the spot. I am remaining brief(er?) out of respect for all the precious nonnative English speakers that read this (they're sacrificing hours of their lives just to keep up with me!). Let the reflections begin...

How many rejections are you willing to experience in order to hear just one person say, "Thank you for loving me into His Kingdom?"

Really, for me, the issue isn't the fear of rejection or even a willingness to sacrifice to show people His love through me. That's a lot of what I live for. I love people. I love loving them. I love giving myself for them. And I love when they see Him through me, because of me. I love sharing His hope; it changes lives. Sharing, risking, that is not my obstacle.

My obstacle is me, not the people I need to love. I have every desire and intention to love them with everything in me, to love unconditionally, to share hope and Truth whenever I can. But here's the problem: We need love in order to give love. He showers His love on us. There is never a shortage. My obstacle, my struggle, is that I fail to go to Him as my source of all that. Have I said this before? Ya, I think I say it a lot. But that's the bottom line, really. I can't give myself to others unless I am giving myself to Him completely first. Every time, without fail, I fall short. I pour myself out until I am empty.

And for crying outloud, they don't need me! They need Him!! I need to stop giving myself. I need to stop giving my love. That will never be enough. And even worse, it's destructive. When I am giving me, I begin seeking things that fill me. And none of them fill me enough. I seek things that hurt me and hurt others in an attempt to fill the emptiness from pouring myself out. All the while, God is sitting there wondering how I could possibly overlook His unending supply of everything I need. And still, I seek it elsewhere. This is my struggle. I need to be filled by Him.

My efforts to love others for Him cannot begin when I encounter the many precious people around me that need His love. The battle, the journey, must begin in my heart, in my priorities, in my understanding and acceptance of His incomprehensable love and grace...that is my obstacle.

The final question for discussion: What would He want me to begin doing today in order to be the hope that others are searching for?

I must once again begin living as though He is the hope that I am searching for! In my priorities, in my thoughts, He must come before all; He must be all.

This is not as brief as I intended, but it is progress. Until next time...