Grace

"You will call and I will answer You

You will long for the creature Your hands have made.

Surely You will county my steps

but not keep track of my sin.

My offenses will be sealed up in a bag

You will cover my sin."

Job 14:15-17

This is grace. It says, "I desire to have a shameless and yet scandalous love affair with you." Amazing, yet undignified. He who is pure, holy, and righteous comes down from heaven and lives and counts the steps of the filthy and unrighteous. Furthermore, He simply lives life, counting steps, and letting go of the shame of sin. My sin He keeps no account of. Yes this is marvelous, miraculous, and undignified grace. 

May the heart of the soul never be hard to Truth. May the depths of the soul never long to dwell in the dark shadows, but rather to dance in the rays of the sunlight of Hope. And when the soul is beckoned by the Almighty, may it ever be so quick to run and answer. 

   

"Arise and follow"

(Photo taken in Iquitos, Peru)

Life of a Vagabond

Lately it seems as though my suitcase and I have become inseparable.
It also seems that I have adapted the life of a vagabond.

The life of a vagabond is challenging, exciting, and well adventurous.

And who doesn't long for adventure?

The routine of unpacking and then repacking is no longer an unfamiliar task.
However, with each time that I pack my bag it is the foreshadow of another adventure.
This adventure? My junior at California Baptist University.

I am excited to see what awaits around the corner.
Yes there will be challenges
There will be burdens
There will be laughter
There will be tears
There will be joy.

There will be more memories to be packed into the suitcase of this vagabond.

Henna Hand

This is my hand. It is covered with henna.

Henna is a popular form of art that is found in the Indian culture. Usually henna is associated with the wedding celebration. There will be a day set aside in the festivities where the bride and the bridal party will find themselves decorated with this traditional Indian artwork. This strange Indian artwork has found itself to my hands. It temporarily has stained my hand; but has left an impression. Indeed this culture has left an impression on my heart as well. 

I have traveled around the world on the streets of Los Angeles. Several cultures have stained my heart. Stains leave an imprint and they can change an item to become something that it was not before. These cultural immersion experiences have done the same thing.

By the Holy Spirit I have found myself being molded, or stained if you will, into a different person. I no longer see myself as being ignorant to the people groups around me. I have been able to have a taste of the burden that the Almighty has for the nations. Miraculously I have seen the Spirit pour Himself out in ways that testify only of His glory. Prayers have been answered. Relationships have been built. Doors are opening. Our majestic King has revealed Himself in magnificent ways.

And yet I have just scratched at the surface. 

A Whole New World: Just Down the Block

It has officially been one week.
One week of Los Angeles.
One week of prayer.
One week of being challenged.
One week of living in the Spirit.

It has been one week of working in Los Angeles. So many times I feel as though I have left the country, even though that is not the case. It  feels as though I have traveled to India and then to China. Oh and then I stopped in Mexico. It has been an adventure. There are few people that I have met that actually speak English fluently. I am in a different world. Yet somehow, I don't need my passport.

Doors continually have been opening. It's amazing to see what God has been doing. And I know that He still has so much more planned. The focus is to actually dare to live a missional lifestyle. The challenged is to continually be burdened for the lost and do something about it.

We are stepping over the great divide of fear, convenience, and ignorance to be cross-cultural and reach out to the different ethnic groups around us. Los Angeles is a land of culture, religion, diversity, idolarty, and darkness. It is a land that needs Light.

(L to R) Alli, Tiffany, & Katy. We are indeed a small team.

A small taste of my world.

Unwashable Dirt: Rwanda

I went to Rwanda.

I came home and found that something was missing.

A piece of my heart was left in Africa.

Rwanda is a beautiful country.

It is the land of a thousand hills.

A land of poverty

A land of discrimination

A land of brokenness

It is a land of hope.

The beautiful lush country of Rwanda impacted me more than just providing nice snapshots and picturesque views. It changed my perspective of Africa, and even my perspective of God’s people and His heart for the nations. The dirt in Africa is red. It is red and quite simply unwashable. No matter how hard I tried, the dirt would not come off; causing the bottom of my feet to look very similar to the dirt.

In time this dirt washes off. The dirt comes off the sole. But I pray that the red dirt of Africa would never wash away from the soul of my heart.

I was blessed to see and experience so much. I am not quite sure how to put everything into words. But we can take comfort in that “a picture says a thousand words.”

I hope that these photos give you a glimpse of the beautiful Land of a Thousand Hills—Rwanda.

This is the airport in Nairobi, Kenya. Our last flight to the final destination...

This is the hotel that we stayed at, it was very nice.

This is my humble abode. 

Every night I used the mosquito net to protect

 me from the little critters.

This is my friend Cara and me outside the Catholic Church, just across the street from our hotel.

Below are the woods that surround the University, where we would spend our afternoons.

 

This is the University of Rwanda.

This is what my classroom looked like, simple and functional

This is our class of students. They all did excellent. All of our

students passed the English proficiency exam!

This is me with two of my students,

 Odette (on the left) and Chantel (on the right). 

We would teach in the classroom from 8-12 in the morning. In the afternoons, from 2-5, we would walk to the main campus and play games or just talk with the students. 

One day we had unexpected visitors, at least for the Americans. There were monkeys walking around the campus! Monkeys in this part of Rwanda would be equivalent to the squirrel in Southern California. 

 

These are various photographs of what one would see on a walk throughout Butare, Rwanda.

At the end of a long day we would walk back from the University to our hotel. 

The walk back was all up hill. This is the view that we would see when we just about made

 it to the top. I loved it. This captures just a glimpse of the beauty of Rwanda.

So Begins the Countdown...

Everyone is settled. The lights flash on. Seatbelts are fastened.

A voice echoes over the monitor: “Prepare for takeoff.”

The engine begins to roar, and slowly the plane moves forward….

And we’re off.

In less than a week the adventure begins. Very soon I will find myself caked in the red, but beautiful, dirt of Rwanda. No longer will the “Land of a Thousand Hills” seem like a distance land found in books. It will become a real, tangible place. And I am sure that I will end up leaving a piece of my heart, truly God’s heart, in Rwanda.

Who knows what is to come. No one can fathom what the Divine has for His treasures.

He is a God who transforms lives. Who miraculously takes the clay of the earth and masterfully molds it into loveliness. For one purpose—that His name may be magnified on high.

Let us dare to venture forth into the unknown and purpose to glorify His name alone.

The countdown begins.

(Photo taken from http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.122218553.jpg)

Beautiful People

We see them everyday. They cross our paths, pass through the same doors, sit at the same coffee shops. They are beautiful people. Some call them ordinary. Others see them as lost. They are the people who do not know Love. They have not felt the touch of Grace. The light of Truth has been hidden from the shadow of darkness. We are to dare to see these people not as the dirt or scum of this earth, but as the beautiful creation of the Almighty.

This is my team. Yes, they are lovely, captivating, and beautiful people. However, they have a different beauty; a beauty of the Divine. For the Light of Truth has invaded into their lives. Our purpose is to become united in our diversity, go to Rwanda, and seek out the beautiful people and show them the Beauty that has been engraved upon the tablets of their hearts. To show them the beautiful people they are in the Beloved.

A Painful Memory

It is April.

Tears are shed. Heart weeps. A deep wound from the past it touched.

It is April.

Night terrors come about in the night of that which is desired to be forgotten.

It is April.

The pain becomes surfaced. Memories are stirred.

It is April.

April: the month of mourning for Rwanda.

This month broken hearts come together to share in their pain, weeping, and hope with each other. The Genocides are brought to the surface. They have been set aside. Like a secret, it is simply not openly discussed. But, it is April. It is a month to dare to remember the past. It is a month to weep over that which was lost. It is a month that painfully reflects upon a fire that consumed a nation. April, it is a time of mourning. April, it is a time to cling ever so tightly to the hand of the Almighty.

It is April.

Oh So Deep

"How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the chosen One,

Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,

Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom."

Just A Glimpse

It has been said that a picture says a thousand words. It is hard to fathom that one could truly have one thousand words from one photograph; but nonetheless it allows us to look and grasp that which seemed so distant and let it become an imprint to our perspective,thoughts, and prayers. Below are some photographs of the University of Rwanda, where our team will be working this summer.

(Photographs taken from http://www.nur.ac.rw/spip.php?article79)

Over Coffee

There are certain things that simply bring a group of people together. For my team (with whom I am going to Rwanda with) good food, laughter, and coffee are some of the things that bring us together. Every Wednesday night we meet at my leaders' home. We settle down in their lush couches, get comfortable, have a cup of coffee and share our lives with each other. It's great. I look forward to seeing those ivory colored mugs on the coffee table and then pouring out steaming hot coffee into such. I feel like coffee is just one of those things that can easily bring up conversation. And if you're lucky it can go on for hours-like the Europeans.

But all that to say, I love my team and the wonderful people that they are. We are finding more and more our unity in our diversity, all over coffee.

(Photograph from http://thezenafile.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/cupcoffee.jpg)

The Journey Begins

Yes, the journey is yet to begin. It is humbling and yet exciting to think of the opportunity to go to Rwanda! I will be introduced to new sights, smells, and culture. It will be beautiful.

However, my heart aches for the Rwandan people. For so many, the genocides are a haunting memory. In three months, over one-million people died. That is a statistic that is quite simply beyond the comprehension for the American. But it is vividly a part of the life and history of the Rwandan. They cannot escape the painful memory of the past that lingers in their present. Therefore, these people need to know of the hope, healing, restoration, and even unity that they have in the Almighty. By no means are they inferior, but beyond any type of value. These people are precious and their worth is beyond measure. This message of truth needs to be shared with the beautiful people of Rwanda!

Joyful Appearance

The shadows dance across the wall. Oh how entertaining they appear, appeasing to my temporary desires, but no real pleasure seems to be found. This is all that I have known or seen—the dancing shadows. But something deep within the soul longs for so much more. There must be more to life than the dance of these shadows. Then, a miracle, the chains that kept one down from only seeing the shadows are broken. I rise and turn around to see statues and a fire that projected those shadows that I was so content with. Now, how fake a surreal they appear. The shadows have now lost their value. Wait! There is more. What lies beyond the fire and the statues? There is a distant light outside of this cave. No longer will I remain in this dark cave, but will dare to venture out to attain a glimpse of this light, this truth. Finally, through toils and pain I have found it—a joyful appearance. The light bursts forth, I have found truth. Oh how beautiful, how glorious it is! No longer must I force myself to be content with the shadows of life on the walls of the cave, but can be engulfed by the beauty of reality. The veil that covered my vision has now been removed and I can now gaze upon the Truth. I have just tasted a joyful appearance of the Divine.