Today marks a year. A year in the same country,
mostly the same city, same room, same bed. A year with every comfort
imaginable, and the only travel being weekends with a small carry-on
bag, not a backpack. A year of sitting in an air conditioned office. A
year of being able to eat whatever I want when I want, no beans or rice.
A year of making new friends in the city I left. A year of learning to
be content in one place. A year where nothing is different, yet
everything has changed. A year of transformation.
Landing in Los Angeles after a year abroad on the
World Race, I had no idea what was ahead of me, no inkling what I
wanted, no clue what God wanted for me.One year later, it
seems as though nothing has changed, even the Gamecocks are in the
College World Series championship again. I am still figuring out what
God has for my life, still learning who I am, still seeking the mystery
of who He is.
Over the past year my passion for the orphans and
widows has grown, despite their absence in my daily life. I still hurt
when I think of the millions of people in poverty. I still cry over the
people who think they have no choice but to sell themselves to make ends
meet, or even traffic their children hoping to give them a better life.
I am burdened for people who lost everything in a single moment. My
heart breaks for the impoverished who don't see hope, encompassed in
darkness. I still don't know what I am supposed to do about it.
It would be easy to sit and compare and feel that
my year at home was wasted. To feel that after a year moving from the
inner city of Dublin to the African bush to the jungles of Southeast
Asia living among the poorest of the poor, sitting in an office 40 hours
a week means nothing. It would be easy to spend today fixating on all
the things I didn't do this year, places I didn't go, people I didn't
meet.
Instead I am going to spend today celebrating what
God did in my life this year. The people I have been
blessed to meet,
and the relationships that have grown even deeper. For the change He has
made in my heart, and for the passions that remain. I will praise Him
because I still don't know what lies ahead, because I am still learning
my role in His plan, and as I discover more of God's heart mine will
change as well. The Lord has a unique purpose for my life, and I don't
have to worry about the next step. I just have to follow. I just have to
listen to His voice and obey.
Thank you Jesus for this year. Thank you for a
family that loves me and a roof over my head. Thank you for better
friends than I deserve, who demonstrate Your love for me so well. Thank
you for air conditioning and clean water. Thank you for Charles and my
time behind the fence. Thank you for the times I felt lonely in a room
full of people, and the reminder that You were with me. Thank you for
continuing to shape my heart to look like yours, even though it hurts.
Thank you that I am not complete, and that you will never give up on me.
Coming back to the "real world", I had every intention of NOT blogging. However, I decided it was time to start again. I have a new blog that I would love for you to follow:
When I come home, I know I will be different. Not because I
have traveled the world or gained important life experiences. Not because I
spent a year amongst the poor or because I devoted a year to some "greater
good." I am not changed because I saw wonders of the world or walked on three
different continents.
No, I am changed because of the times I spent with God: the
mornings alone with coffee and my Bible, or the hours in prayer. I am changed
by praising Jesus with my squad and the words God spoke to me through my
teammates. I am changed by the moments I took the time to be still and listen
to God's whisper. I am changed by silent worship as I ran through rice fields,
banana trees, and African savannas. I am changed by the service of African
mamas and prayers of the mamas, friends, and family at home.
I am no better, no more spiritual, or any more mature than
anyone because of my experiences. I have not done anything extraordinary except
to be obedient to following God's still small voice.
This year is just a small part of my walk with Christ. This
year is not the only one that will change my life. A life walking with Jesus
will continually shape my heart to be like His. Each day with Him will be one
that changes me.
I am not changed by the things I have done and seen this
year. I am changed by the love, grace, and mercy of my Savior. I am changed
because I took up my cross and followed Jesus around the world.
And I am
sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion
at the day of Jesus Christ.
Daddy, since I am in Cambodia for Fathers' Day, I wanted to
take a minute to thank you for all the things you have taught me throughout my
life:
Teaching me how to change a tire.
Showing me the importance of serving others. I
will never forget the hours you spent helping little old ladies with their cars
at the Station.
Giving me an appreciation of good music. I may
have hated it growing up, but now I can understand the greatness of Zeppelin,
classic jazz, and others.
Always supporting every endeavor I chose to
follow. Even quitting my job to travel the world.
Teaching me that hard work always has its
rewards.
Sunday morning Boberry biscuits.
Knowing exactly how to fix my car over the
phone: teaching me how to add transmission fluid or how to check where the
weird noises are coming from without even being with me.
Showing me the lighter side of life: even though
all your silly antics occasionally embarrassed me, they taught me that things
didn't always have to be serious.
Thank you Daddy for these and the hundreds of other life
lessons you have taught me over the years. I could not have asked for a more
supportive and loving father. I love you! Happy Fathers' Day!
Growing up in Prektey, Jack did not have the safe, plush
childhood a lot of children in America experience. After his mother deserted
him as an infant and his father died when he was five, Jack and his brother
bounced from family to family working around the house to earn a place to
sleep. Life was not easy. Finally, Jack was fortunate enough to live with a
Christian family who showed him the love and grace of Jesus. Jack's new family
helped him through school, and is now helping him pursue a college degree.
Realizing how much God had blessed him, Jack wanted to do
more for the community that raised him. Each day on his way to class he passed
the shell of an old church. He prayed that God would reveal a purpose for the
empty building, a purpose that would advance God's Kingdom. As Jack was waiting
on an answer to his prayer, he became acutely aware of the poverty surrounding
him, especially the conditions that hundreds of children were growing up in. He
wanted to give these children the same opportunity he had, the opportunity for
an education. As a full time university student, Jack obediently followed God's
call and opened General Talent Training School, a school specifically for
children in poverty. It is Jack's vision to pull kids out of poverty by
providing them with an education, teaching them English, and most importantly
teaching them about the saving grace of Jesus.
As a full time student in Phnom Phen, Jack travels almost an
hour every morning, spends all day in classes, then comes back to teach
children at night. He even sleeps in the school. Since opening the GTTS in
November, Jack has worked tirelessly to promote his program, recruit teachers,
and provide a Godly environment for children to learn. At the moment all of his
students only come for part time English classes, but it is Jack's vision to
open a full time primary school as well as develop the school into a ministry
in order to share the Gospel with the students. However, all of this comes at a
price.
GTTS is in desperate need of funding. Jack is searching for
monthly sponsors to help cover overhead expenses and salaries for teachers. At
the moment, Jack can only afford to pay his teachers $10-$20 a month, and most simply
volunteer. It is Jack's vision to be able to afford professional teachers and
eventually transportation for the students, although currently he simply needs
to be able to pay the bills and buy supplies and toys.
Hearing Jack's story I could not only sit by and watch him
work hard to start a school from nothing. I heard God calling me to do more.
After teaching alongside Jack for two weeks, hearing his vision, and
experiencing his love for the students, I knew I had to help. While I do not have the resources to fund the school myself, I am in the process of helping Jack develop fund raising materials as well as committing to being on my knees for Jack and the children at the school.
Next Saturday, my team and I will leave Prektey and the students we have all fallen in love with. However, I am happy to leave a ministry that I know is committed to sharing the hope of Christ with children in Cambodia.
Turning onto the dirt road leading to House of Love, I felt
oddly at home. The overloaded tok tok had to pause and swerve for chickens and
cows, and my teammates and I bumped up and down as we ran over pot holes.
People waved from their homes at the foreigners and young children either ran
to hide or began crying at the sight of white people.
Village life in Prektey is a stark contrast from the busy
streets of Ho Chi Min. Instead of dodging motorbikes on large paved roads, we
are walking down dirt paths passing humble shacks on stilts. Across the trail
from our house is a small factory where men and women are constantly sewing
something that will probably be sold in American stores. Everything stops in
the middle of the day when the heat is debilitating. The only thing my team and
I can bear to do is be completely still. Any slight movement only creates a
deeper pool of sweat around each of us. However, at around 2:30 each afternoon,
we run out to the street to buy homemade popsicles to help cool us down.
This month my team and I will be teaching English in various
schools around the village. After one week, I am already in love with each of
my students. Most are older kids who know basic English, but want to learn
better pronunciation:
"THA. THA. THA. VA
VA VA."
"Thir-TEEN.
Thir-TY. Thir-TEENTH."
"FR-esh. PR-ess.
FR-esh. PR-ess."
Also, the kids love any opportunity to ask whatever
questions they have learned in class:
"Did you eat
breakfast?"
"What do you do in
your free time?"
"What kind of man do
you like?"
Even more they love learning about American culture. With
two minutes left in class, I asked the students what they wanted to do. Their
reply was to ask someone to dance with me.I proceeded to turn up music and teach them a few key moves: the
sprinkler, the shopping cart, and the running man. After my performance I
believe the kids are going to want to dance every day. I would not object.
I am so thankful for where God has me this month. I am so
blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community and have the opportunity to
build relationships. In a few weeks I will be back to the comforts of my real
home: good food, a car, air conditioning, and shelter from bugs and rodents, but
I will miss the simple life here in Prektey. I will miss the smiling faces of
my students and the friendly waves of the Khmer people.I will miss being surrounded by banana trees
and rice fields and watching rain storms move across the village. While I am
looking forward to coming home and finding what God has for me in America,
Cambodia already has a large piece of my heart.
On our second day of teaching, a monk showed up to speak English with Americans. He asked to take a picture with us, but it is a HUGE no-no for a woman to come very close to a monk.
You've loved and supported me in my journey of obedience to God's call on my life and for that I am truly grateful. There will never, ever be words that I can share that give true meaning to who you've allowed me to become by faithfully contributing to my life. My life is forever changed because of your willingness to support me. And it's with a ton of humility and thanksgiving that I am sure I will be able to be the change in the world we all want to see.
There is another opportunity at hand and I believe we can come together and be the change in someone else's life. Someone's life who has supported me over the last year. Someone who you may or may not have even heard of. Nonetheless, they are someone I call family and I'm proud to be on the front lines with them this year.
Over the last year I have traveled the world and seen workings and miracles that I will never be able to fully explain. I believe another miracle is at hand. As we transition home we are believing to have everyone fully supported by July 1, 2010. We believe God for this and ask that you prayerfully consider how you can be a part of this miracle.
Below you will find pictures, names and support amount with direct links to online support accounts. Will you ask God how and who He would like you to partner with in being the change in this persons life. No one deserves to come off the field after serving the Lord's abundant kingdom with debt from a mission trip. And we believe God is asking us to step up, stand out and make a way for someone who will make a way for many others.
Will you join us in making a way? Will you join us in making a difference in someone's life who has impacted the world? Will you make a contribution, no matter how large or small, to a generation that will not stand for the sick going without, the homeless not being loved on or the orphans having no place to call home? Let us stand in the gap together as brother and sisters believing there are greater things in store for those who believe.
We believe in you and thank you for believing in us so that we may be life to someone else!
Please review names below and amounts. Click on a link to view that persons story and walk with God and ask God whom He wants you to partner with to make a difference in the world today!
By the world's standards, Mark was successful. At 22, he had an MBA and a great job with a prestigious "Big Four" accounting firm. He owned his own home in the suburbs and was down the path to an average upper middle class life. However, he had a passion for more than business and numbers. He wanted to change the world.
Patrick had an eye for beauty and a heart to serve the poor. He went to a Christian college for youth ministry, but quickly realized God had called him to more.
Together they dreamed of working together to advance God's Kingdom and change the world. They wanted to stand up together and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
After a trip to Nicaragua in December, 2008, Mark was overwhelmed with the poverty and brokenness surrounding him. Going back to his desk in Charlotte, North Carolina was not enough. He wanted to serve God's children in Nicaragua.
Together, Mark and Patrick started Project: Nicaragua, a project which sold t shirts and the proceeds helped to feed families in the villages and slums of the third world. What began as a mission to feed the hungry quickly evolved into a passion to empower God's children stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty. They then expanded Project Nicaragua to a for-profit company called One Thread Outfitters.
One Thread seeks to use business to holistically bring people out of poverty. They seek to promote creativity, show the poor ways to support themselves, as well as spreading the hope Christ offers all of His children.
Mark and Patrick are ordinary men with extraordinary passion. Living an average life is not an option for them. God has called them to more, and they are being obedient in following His voice. With plenty of opportunities to live a life that the world would see as safe, they are not content with normalcy. They cannot sit back and watch as people around the world suffer. They are using their gifts to advance God's Kingdom.
I am blessed and inspired by my friends and their passion. I am proud to know people who are not afraid to chase their dreams, men who will follow Christ to the places most people do not want to go. Mark and Pat have a vision to change the world and the courage to pursue it.
"I am not letting you leave," said Bon, clutching my hand.
It was time to go, and everything inside of me wanted to stay with my new
friend.
When I was told I would be visiting an elderly home I
immediately imagined an American nursing home: private rooms, men and women in
wheelchairs playing games and drinking coffee, and a nice yard or parlor to sit
and talk with them. In our orientation before leaving, I realized I was wrong.
The "elderly home" was located in a pagoda, or Buddhist temple, and there were
no private rooms, no pretty lawn, and definitely no cute parlor to sit and
visit. We entered rooms full of beds, practically tables, with about 100
elderly people, most of whom were ill or disabled.
As my translator and I entered a dark side room I was
overwhelmed with the smell of urine, but even more so was the feeling of
hopelessness. The women there probably had no family or anyone that cared for
them anymore. They had been given to the monks, strangers, to be taken care of.
Throughout the day people come in and out bringing little gifts, food, and
small amounts of money, but no one stops. Most people come in as their Buddhist
duty, they do not care about the feelings of the people they pass.
I sat beside a woman who immediately crawled up next to me
and wrapped her arms around me. For almost two hours, I listened to Bon tell
stories about her life. Her husband had died almost ten years ago, and they had
no children. She had not kept in touch with her brothers and sisters or
extended family. She had no one. Her
life was like the hard surface given to her for a bed. Everything she owned or
thought valuable was contained in the small space where she slept and sat all
day.
During our time together tears continued to fill my eyes. I
thought of my own grandparents, Mama 2 and Daddy 2, who spent their last years
surrounded by a family that loved them. Both passed away after months of being
in Hospice Care, in their own beds, being cared for by their own children. Bon did not have that option. She grew up in poverty, abused by her father.
Both parents died before she was six. Now she is alone. She had no hope. She
had given up.
Bon needed Jesus, but I could not tell her.Not only was it illegal, the people we were
with asked us not to. As I listened to her pour out her burdens, I kept my hand
on her back and prayed silently.
"How do you feel about my situation?" she asked. I was
speechless. The one source of hope and peace I knew was something I could not
share.
Leaving the pagoda was the hardest thing I had done all
year. Bon took a piece of my heart. As I was leaving, I told her I would be
praying for her. I know God does not need me in order to give comfort and
salvation to others. I have faith that Bon will come to know the hope and peace
found inside the heart of Jesus. I pray that the Holy Spirit falls so heavily
on Bon that there is no mistake that she can have hope in something greater.