There is a homeless ministry in Atlanta
called Safehouse Outreach. Every day of the week they hold a Church
service and feed around 300 homeless people. We've been volunteering
there once a week and we asked them if they knew of any affordable
housing inside the Atlanta perimeter. Joe who works there told us
about this man who is an entrepreneur. He goes around and buys up the
worst apartment complexes he can find, runs out all the drug dealers,
restores them, and rents them out for quite cheep. He had recently
started on one such apartment complex, Deer-field Gardens. We were
told that they wanted missionaries there who could serve the
community and do ministry in the neighborhood. It seemed like a
perfect match....
And it was! We moved in 2 weeks ago and
are starting to build relationships with our neighbors. We've been
playing outside with the kids a lot and were in the process of
planning a fall festival.
Be in prayer for those relationships
and for many more. I'm also still in the process of support raising
and need prayer for that.
It's a question that we seem to always ask ourselves, what's next? Where do I go from here? When I'm done with this, what do I do? This question has hindered way too many Christians from stepping out and doing something for God. We always look at it as a bad thing if a high school senior doesn't know what he or she is doing after graduation. Here in the west we're in control of our situation. We're in control and we like to schedule and lay everything down in stone. When someone doesn't know the answer to the question, what's next, we always view it as a bad thing.
A lot of parents probably won't like that I'm saying this, but I'm in support of not always knowing what the next step is. In my life, the times when I had no idea what I was going to do were the times when God showed up and did the most powerful things. God really likes using us when we're not sure how He wants to use us. One of the things I'm beginning to learn is that if I always knew what the next step was, I'd probably screw it up.
Coming back from Africa I had no idea what I was going to do next. I was struggling to find a way to apply all that He taught me in Africa back here in America. I had no idea how to do it. All I knew was that I needed community. I needed to be The Church with other believers who needed also to be The Church. I needed people who could walk with me through the valleys, and be with me during the desert times. I needed a community of people who could cheer with me in the good times, and cry in the bad times. Most of all I needed people who wanted me to be with them in those places.
I knew I needed community so I moved to Georgia with some friends from the Novas Project. None of us have jobs, none of us are going to school, none of us have a "next step." We know that God has lead us to live in community and to invite others to do the same. God has provided everything for us during this time. We haven't gone hungry and we have had a roof over our heads (except the times when we intentionally didn't want one.)
For this next year He has presented me with an opportunity to work for AIM through their apprenticeship program as He teaches me more about community and more about His plan for my life. I will be working with leaders for AIM's short term missions department. I absolutely love pouring into leaders and fell like this is something God has put in front of me to be able to do that. The Apprenticeship Program is designed for people who have a dream or a vision that God has given them. While those people work at AIM they can be discipled, mentored, and coached into making this vision a reality.
I feel like I'm exactly where God wants me. So maybe I have a plan or a "Next Step" right now, but I never would have gotten here if I had known where I was going. If I had a plan as soon as I came back from Africa things would have been so different. I guess that's just how God works. I'm so thankful that I've had a community of awesome folks who could walk with me during this time. You guys are awesome!
This is Windy. He's somewhere between nine and twelve. (I got different answers every time I asked). Either way his face is that of someone who's seen a lot more than a twelve year old should. He's got this smile that's infectious to everyone around, and I think he knows that. Just like all the other children at Son of God orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he's starved for attention. He desperately desires someone to hold him and play with him. But unlike some of the other kids, however, he doesn't show his desires at first.
The first time I walked into the orphanage I was overwhelmed by how small the facility was. (Smaller than a lot in a normal American neighborhood) And yet this tiny building housed one hundred and thirty orphans and counting. When you walk in your instantly ambushed by tons of kids who just want to sit with you. But not Windy. He was very individualistic and stayed to the side, just watching. I had heard his story from one of my co-leaders, so the first day I was there I intentionally sought him out.
We don't know to much about Windy's mom but shes certainly not there now. His dad (if you can call him that) was always around. His dad was one of the most powerful gangsters in all of Haiti. Windy's father was ruthless and has killed tons of people. His dad allegedly forced him to participate in illegal activities, possibly even murder.. Windy has seen things that many of us could never dream of. When the police finally caught them, they put both Windy and his father on death row. The government had pity on Windy and let him go on the condition that he remained at the Son of God orphanage under house arrest.
Knowing his story, I decided from the first day to seek him out. I spent most of that first day with him just sitting there. The second day he ran up to me and we just laughed and played and had fun. I thought that I wasn't gonna be able to come back so I grabbed our translator Ci-ci and had her tell Windy that I loved him. He said to me, "I don't have a mom and I don't have a dad, but I love you and I want you to be my dad." That totally surprised me. I've never heard anything like that. I know God commands us to care for the orphans and the widows:
Isaiah 1:17 "learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."
But what does that look like? How do I defend the fatherless when all they want is a father? I cant be a father to them. My gut reaction was to say to him, "You already have a father, and it's God." When I said that I felt like I had just wasted my breath. There are one hundred and thirty kids here who only desire a father. They have been told over and over "God is your Father," but does that even mean anything to them?
I left the orphanage that day feeling really broken and useless. It sucked. I know that God is my Father and yet it was hard for me to see how he was a father to these kids. We found out that we would be going back to the orphanage and it was really hard to commit to going back, but I felt like I needed to go. As soon as we showed up, Windy ran up to me and hugged me. Something was different about him that day. He seemed so joyful and excited. We had a dance competition and the two of us danced and laughed and just had a good time.
We got ready to leave and I knew how hard it was gonna be. I grabbed Ci-ci again and I told Windy, "that I love him and wish that I could take him with me but that I just can't." He said to me through tears, "I love you so much and I will pray for you." My team and I walked outside and I looked around at everyone wiping their tears on their shirts. Everyone was so broken. These kids at the orphanage had nothing.
We turned to walk home, and the door to the orphanage opened and out Windy ran. He said, "before you leave I wanna pray for you." His entire prayer was for blessings. That God would continue to use us. For safety and protection. I've never heard or seen anyone more spirit filled than this young kid while he was praying for us. God spoke to me and said, "Don't question my ability to be a Father to the fatherless." Before that point I was able to hold back the tears. But God totally broke me and I started weeping. Wow God is awesome. I see him redeeming all of this brokenness in Windy's life and using it for his glory.
Needless to say, Gods still got a lot to teach me about what it means for him to be my Father. It's a journey and I don't think I'll ever fully understand how this thing works, but I'm so excited to learn.
In case you were un sure Haiti is probably the hottest place on earth. Everyone here says it has a distinct smell but my nose doesn't work so it smells fine to me. Naturally our first day of ministry would involve being out in the heat all day. I was excited. We were doing prayer walks. I really wanted my team to be totally led by the spirit so I took some time before we went out to pray and ask the Lord about the day. He gave me a vision of a house with a blue sheet in the front of it.
We started walking and I asked them what way they felt God leading us. They said left. I asked again. They said straight. I asked again. Straight. Again. Straight. All of a sudden on our left was a house with a blue sheet in front. We walked up and a young girl came and ignored us the whole time. We asked her if there was anyone else home we could talk with and her mom came out. They both didn't talk much and seemed really dismissive. The mom told us she had been having back problems so we prayed for her but nothing happened. The whole team left feeling pretty discouraged. But as soon as we stepped back into the street the very pregnant woman next door grabbed us and asked us to come inside.
She immediately began to tell us her story. She had grown up in a family that practiced Voodoo and had a child with a man who wasn't her husband. This was thirteen years ago. Eventually he left her and took their son with him. She married her current husband a year after and moved away from her family. She said since then she didn't practice Voodoo but wasn't a Christian. She has been unable to become pregnant for thirteen years. Two weeks after the earthquake she had a dream. In the dream she had a rope tied around her belly and then six white missionaries came up to her and prayed for her and the rope fell off. Within a week of having the dream she became pregnant.
She said when she saw us she knew we were the ones who had prayed for her in the dream. We asked if she had accepted Christ and we were able to share the Gospel with her. We gave her a bible and our translator invited her to his church.
I didn't see her the rest of the week but I'm confident that God is working in her life. God is really awesome and even though we might not always see it or feel it he's working in so many ways, that are way bigger than any of us. I have faith that God healed the first woman even though we might not have seen the immediate effects of it. I've seen him do it before and I know that he brought us to the first woman just as much as he did the second woman. Pray for the seed that was planted.
So over the past few days I've had a really hard tiMe talking to God. Every time I would pray I would feel like my prayers were hitting the ceiling and going Any where. While I'm in the middle of working through this my friend Trevor and I were riding home and I said, "HeY, so what are we gonna do this next week?"
Now that we've moved to AtlaNta neither of us have jobs or school so our days are primarily free. Its so great because it frees us up to seek after God for what he wAnts us to do each day. Having that idea in the back of ouR minds we decided when we got home we would sit down and just seek him for what he wanteD this next week to look like.
The entire ride home was dreadful cause I knew that I'd have a hard time speaking to Him and seeking after Him this week. I told God exactly that, and He said, "If you can't speak why don't you just listen." Essentially God was telling me to shut up.
When we got home that's exactly what I did. Trevor had a phone call and I just got alone, shut up, and Listened. As soon as I silenced my own voice He just started speaking all these things and I just listened and soaked it up. Before I knew it Trevor busted in the door and said that the person on the phone had just invited us to go project lead in Haiti for twelve days.
God is so faithful and I love how as soon as I stopped talking He started talking in amazing ways. Right now I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Port Au Prince. I can't wait to get there, Gods gonna do some awesome stuff. Please be in prayer for this trip and for what Gods gonna do when we come back.
So since coming back from Africa I've had several people ask me what it is I'm doing next. I wasn't sure how to keep everyone informed, until now. Some friends told me that I can still use this blog, so I'm gonna be updating it about once a week to keep people up to date with what I'm doing. So please subscribe.
After coming back from The Novas Project I helped out with an Ambassadors training camp at AIM and was asked to co-lead a team to Costa Rica. If I went I would have to raise the money for the trip in a week but I felt like God was telling me I needed to go.
So after coming back from Costa Rica I feel like God is revealing to me what the next step is. During the Novas Project I experienced authentic community, and I can point at that and know that it was the single point of most growth in my life. God is leading a group of us to plant a community like that in inner city Atlanta. A lot of our ministry would involve working with the poor, homeless, and those caught in human trafficking and prostitution.
Community is a big part of my heart and I'm ready so ready to see what God does threw this community. More soon on what it will look like and what our ministry will consist of.
Just a few thoughts that popped into my head over the first week or so here in Nelspruit, SA.
--- The Beautiful Mountains all around.
(Driving here is so amazing because everywhere you look your surrounded by mountains.)
--- The Accents.
(Everyone here speaks English but they all have sweet accents. 1st, the Afrikans which sounds almost dutch. 2nd, the British. 3rd the Saswati. 4th the Tsonga/ Shangaan.)
--- They drive really well
(Compaired to Mexico)
--- The cars
(Everything is right hand drive, the drive on the left side of the road, half of the cars here are early 90's Volkswagen Golfs, I've seen maybe 5 cars with V8's since I've been here, everything is either front wheel drive of a jeep/ land cruser.
--- The World Cup
(Its everywhere! They built a stadium in Nelspruit. You can't go anywhere without hearing people talk about it.)
--- The Women have amazing balance
(They really do carry lots of stuff on their heads)
--- Nothing's on time
(Its not uncommon for someone to tell you they will be there at 10 and be 3+ hours late.)
--- Prostitution
(South Africa legalized prostitution for the extent of the games)
--- Shorts
(Old white guys wear short shorts, and young black guys wear capris. I wear both)
--- Christmas
(Its hot outside)
--- Prayer
(If you don't seek God everyday you will get so worn out. There is just alot of spiritual warfare going on in this continent)
So I sat down to write this blog and I couldn't think of one thing to talk about. I wanted to write this hugely spiritual thing. I wanted to write something that would convert the masses, something that would inspire people and change lives. I wanted to tell an awesome tale of action and adventure. That would bring you to tears and somehow make your walk with the Lord better. I wanted to uncover some hidden secret that would make people live differently.
Then I realized I was just being vainglorious. So I'm just gonna tell a story instead...
My team was dropped off in Colonia India just south of Matamoros. Its one of the poorer colonias in the area. We were left with a bag containing three oranges and five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and told we'd be picked up in eight hours. My first thought was "ok so what will we do for eight hours? None of us know enough Spanish to go "convert the masses", as if we could do that anyway, were starving, and we only had five hours of sleep last night."
So we just start walking down the road. We see a little convenient store off in the distance and start heading over there. In Mexico there are two kinds of convenient stores, the kind like you find everywhere in America, or the kind that are located in the front room of someone's house with vastly inadequate selection. That's not to say that I care to much about massive selections its just nice sometimes to have more to choose from than coke and water. Fortunately enough this store was of the former type.
We walk inside and realize none of us have any money. So much for quenching our hunger. We start to head back down the road and we see this guy briskly walking towards us. He walked up and put his hand out to greet us and said, "hello" in perfect English. Most people in this close proximity to the states speak a little English but its mostly cursory greetings or basic phrases, so obviously we didn't really think anything of it. We went back to Spanish and asked him how he was. He said good in English.
The next thing he said stunned all of us. Again in perfect English he said, "You guys are missionaries and I'm gonna translate for you all day." And he did translate for us all day. My team speaks the least amount of Spanish out of all the groups, and God provided the crap out of us with a translator. We were able to pray with numerous families and he introduced us to some people and the day was totally awesome. The end :D
Corinthians 12:9 your power is made perfect in my weakness.
It's five in the morning and the light comes on way to early. I look up and Blair is standing in the doorway telling us to get up cause were leaving in five minutes. I had only been asleep for maybe four hours and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. It took me a second to realize what he was saying but when I did I jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on.
Breakfast was real quick so that we could get out the door. Hard boiled eggs and bread. We crammed on the vans and none of us had any idea where we were going. Its almost mandatory that when your destination is secretive everyone tries to guess where your going, and everyone is usually wrong. We drove into Matamoros and wound up at a park in the middle of the city.
When we got out of the van we were told two things. First that for the immediate future we would be doing only things Jesus did. And Second we were read Mark 1:35.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
So for the next two hours we were just spending time praying and spending time with the father. My first thought was I would love to spend two hours with Jesus but why do we have to do it with only four hours of sleep when its freezing cold. I felt God say "What if when you wanted to spend time with me you had to get up this early and go outside in the freezing cold. Would you still spend as much time with me?" My honest answer was no. It would suck, and I couldn't even imagine living like that. I couldn't imagine being uncomfortable in my relationship with Christ.
I've never starved for him, I've never gone without sleep for him, and I've never been beaten or persecuted for him. In America we don't suffer for Christ. We don't deny ourselves or take up our crosses daily. 1 Thessalonians 1:21 says:
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
What does it mean to die to myself? And what does it mean to suffer for Christ? I want to know.
I'm gonna be blogging a lot over the next few days to talk about everything I've done this week. Gods really done some awesome stuff in me and everyone here over the past few days and I cant wait to share what all he's done with you.
This is Windy. He's somewhere between nine and twelve. (I got different answers every time I asked). Either way his face is that of someone who's seen a lot more than a twelve year old should. He's got this smile that's infectious to everyone around, and I think he knows that. Just like all the other children at Son of God orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he's starved for attention. He desperately desires someone to hold him and play with him. But unlike some of the other kids, however, he doesn't show his desires at first.