He's not done

On October 2, 2012, at 8:10 in the morning, my airplane took off from Portland, Oregon for Toronto, Canada. This was my first of three flights to reach my final destination of Southeast India. I would be spending my next five months there. My tickets had been paid for, my bags packed, my seatbelt fastened, and my tray in its upright position. There was no turning back now. I was on my way for an adventure I was more than excited for, and yet so unprepared. And as He does, God did not disappoint.

In my five months here, the vast majority of what I have done is preach. I partner with a ministry here who seeks to serve the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor. They reach out to tribal people that even most low caste people wouldn't reach out to. And they continue to build up churches, both physically and Spiritually, around their area. This is what I knew I would do coming into this thing. This is what I could say when asked what my trip would be. But this is so much less than a description of what I was actually a part of here.

In India, I got to teach God's word to people who have never seen a white person in their life. I got to pray over people and see healing in incredible ways. One man stood upon a knee that was previously deformed from a bad healing from a break. He walked away smiling and praising God! I met person after person who had testimonies of how God came in and healed their broken bodies and broken hearts. I got to watch a high caste family throw out their last Hindu idol and submit themselves and their family to the Lord Almighty! I got to witness demon possessions manifest themselves in ways I had never heard of. I got to cast out demons in Jesus' name! I got to meet a man who had broken his back in a terrible car accident. The doctors refused to perform surgery on him for two reasons- one, they saw very little point considering his back was so bad that the surgery could do nothing, and two, he was a leper. But he believed upon the Lord and received a vision and healing. He went back to the doctor who told him what had happened to him was impossible. Not only was his back healed, it was like a young man's again! I got to drive in vans, cars, trucks, a scooter, and more often than not, a motorcycle. I saw thousands of kilometers of India from the back of a motorcycle. I got to preach at 6 weddings, and attend 3 others. I got to live in four different cities with four very different people. For instance, I lived in a village with people who spoke very little English for two whole weeks! I got eat at McDonald's in a random Indian town for Thanksgiving. I met a man named Cody from Kansas City there who was visiting the country with his wife, who was originally from India. I got to see two palaces of Indian royalty, one of which was the size of a small city I'm pretty sure. I got to put on some rubber gloves and clean Indian children's teeth. I got to ride in an auto (a rickshaw) for the first time. I got to ride a bus in India for the first time. I got to get my hair cut for the first time in India. I got to live with a crazy awesome German lady for a week and a half and cook in her kitchen with her, which she apparently never lets happen! I got to spend my birthday in a different country for the first time in my life. I got to preach on Christmas, and see more than 10 people come to Christ! Amen! I got to preach in the New Year with a really good friend at three different churches. I got to see her step way out of her comfort zone and give a message of encouragement to the congregation. I think I was the most encouraged one there, knowing what it took for her to do that. I got to help build a basketball court at an orphanage. I got to play soccer, basketball, cricket, and many more games with a bunch of beautiful Indian children! I got to preach at 8 funerals for wonderful, loving church members who went to be with the Lord. I got to meet people from all over the United States and even several different places all over India! I got to watch a concert for the benefit of the Sandy Hook Elementary School families that were wrought with tragedy with two pastors from the Bridgeport, Connecticut area. I got dedicate more than a dozen new churches to the work of God and His glory! I got to eat hundreds of pounds of rice and curry. I got to watch 6 beautiful full moons rise and set. I got to see monsoon season come and flood us out of being able to work. I got to witness baptisms in rivers, ponds, and a tank. I got to take a couple thousand pictures and capture so many wonderful aspects of India's beauty. I got to meet many wonderful people from all over who have forever blessed me. And just tonight, as if God were saying "There's still so much more for you to see!" I got to see a rocket take off for space. Yeah. Like, for real. A freaking rocket. And tonight there is a full moon, I'm pretty sure just for me and my last night here in India.

BUT! The best part of all of this is this. I didn't actually do any of this. I didn't do anything cool at all. Nor could I. But the even greater thing is the knowledge that God chose to do all of these things through a broken vessel like me! God was the one doing the work the whole time, and allowing me to see what He's been doing this whole time! He's the one who put those things around me for me to enjoy. He's the one who brought many people into my life that I will never forget! He's the one who continues to give me everything I need, and then so much more! And tonight He reminded yet again that He has so many more incredible and wonderful opportunities ahead of me.

Yes, my five month mission trip to India is coming to a close. But my next opportunity is just about to open, whatever it may be. And I'm sure that God will send me back here again in the future. When? Who knows? Next year? I hope so! I have shared many laughs, tears, joys, heartaches, music, meals, sleep, games, messages, words, scriptures, and life with so many incredible people here and I am so thankful to God for all of it. I am also thankful that even though God has given me so much, shown me so much, and done so much in me, He's not done.

(Not So) Subtle

“My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself.”- Clive Staples Lewis: A Grief Observed.

Ever have that feeling that tells you, "Man, God. You sure have done some great work with me and in me."? Yeah, unfortunately so have I. Not that it's wrong to praise God for what He's done, especially when He's chosen to do His work through such a broken vessel as you or I. But that's not what I'm saying. It's easy to read that sentence a number of different ways, make it sound like such a beautiful sentiment. But sometimes the heart behind such a statement really lies in the self, and not in God. He politely (as He is always such a gentleman) reminded that such a praise does not ever lie in the self of the admirer, but the Admired. He politely reminded me of what He has yet left to do in me.

In India, time moves at a different pace than anywhere else I have ever been. Things don't matter here, matter a lot there. 10 o'clock means see you at 11. "Be ready at 1:30" means"why aren't you ready yet?" at 1. It's been an interesting challenge to say the least. I consider myself an already very flexible person, and would say that most would agree. Praise God that He has wired me in such a way, as it's allowed me to be able to take most that has come my way thus far. But that isn't to say that there aren't times that it isn't easy. There certainly are times where the "American" comes out in me, and I just want to yell that we haven't left yet, when we were supposed to two hours ago! I had such an experience, or should I say a series of experiences, in the past few weeks.

It began on a trip to a village with my Pastor and host here in India on January 30. He had mentioned briefly earlier that day that he was planning on sending me to a village for a "few days" and that I would leave that night. I asked what a few days meant (as mentioned earlier, timing doesn't mean exactly what it claims lol) and he said four. Okay, I say. I can do that. Four days in a village living with a man who barely speaks any English, and I even less Telugu. Sure, why not? This will be an experience of a lifetime!  As the day went on, we talked about two more times, each time that timetable slowly growing longer, never even mentioning the previous amount, as if we had yet to talk about how long I'd actually be gone. So, I decided I needed to bring it up in the car ride out to a village program so we could finally set in stone the details, face to face. We had only really talked on the phone so far.

"Well," he began, "I'm not sure how long you'll be there. You might come back on the 8th (of February), you might come back on the 10th. I'm not really sure what Madhu (the man I'd be living with, a pastor here) has planned for you. But he's really excited to have you! It's going to be a great experience for you!" And that was that. I was set to leave at midnight that night to a village with a man I'd met twice before, live with him for an uncertain amount of time (even to the head Pastor here), and doing who knows what? All I knew is that I'd be helping him (Madhu) with church construction of some kind. "Oh yeah," apparently that wasn't yet that, "and when Madhu's done with you, you're going to go live for a couple days with another pastor and visit a couple of new villages. I want you to study and write about the people in those villages, so we can tell people about them." "Does he speak English?" "Nope."

I think at this point you can imagine how I felt that night packing for this extremely vague and uncertain trip. Unrest would be the tip of what I felt. Frustrations and doubt crept in at every dark corner of my heart, laying seed that rooted faster than I realized. I was genuinely excited to go in a lot of ways. I mean, I was going to be living in a village. In India. For a week, week and a half. I would have the challenge of barely speaking verbally, while loving on people. This is literally why I came, and how I've asked God to use me since this trip was laid on my heart. And yet the sinful part of me was so not ready for the trip that awaited me.

"My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself." While there, a small sniffle turned into an all out cold, and I found myself in and out of sickness for nearly a week. Amidst the time I wasn't resting, however, I was able to help build the floor to a village church, and then paint it. This was the church construction I was told about. I was able to pray over people, families of the churches in villages around where I was staying. I was even able to preach in a pretty large Telugu Baptist church in the village I living in. And yet, I found myself still wrestling with frustration and bitterness at being there. One day, I found myself in prayer saying to God, "LORD, what the heck am I doing here? Why do you have me here? I know you have something for me, something to teach me. But all I see right now is the frustration right in front of me. I can't see what You're doing. I don't know what You want from me." And then it hit me. Like a sack of rocks, God spoke gently, "Exactly." And in that little whisper of great wisdom, God, as He does, spoke so much more than that one word. Exactly, Joel. That's My point. You are so caught up in what you're trying to do, you're not letting Me do it. You're trying so hard to see instead of letting Me show you. You have come a long, long way my son. But boy do you have so far to go.

God reminded me again that my prayer should have a lot less "I's and me's" in it and a lot more of Him instead. He reminded me to listen. He reminded me to wait. To wait on Him. To wait in Him. To wait for Him. He's not done with me yet. I have so much selfishness, so much bitterness, so much self-seeking will left in my heart that He is chipping away at. And He reminded me that yes, God has done a great work with me and in me. But boy does He have so much more for me than this. And to think, all it took was sending me to a remote village in India with nothing familiar around me, not even my own language, to teach me that. To teach me that there is so much left for me to learn. And I am once again ready to stop thanking Him in just my words, but in my heart and actions as well.

LORD, You are so good and wonderful. You are the only One worthy of our praise, worthy to be thanked. I thank you, Lord. God I pray that You would not stop with me. Keep doing Your good work in me that I would continue to see my great need for you. Let me never lose sight of Your holiness and righteousness. Let me never lose sight of Your hand that is preparing me for so much more than what I already have been given. Thank You for what You've already given me. God, I pray that You would illuminate the path that is in front of me, in Jesus Name. I pray that if it is only enough for me to see the next step ahead, that it would be enough to follow, in faith and love, God. Give me the faith to follow You. And let me never grow tired of You doing Your work in me. Let me never ask you to take a break, or give excuse as if You work were finished in me. Let me instead open my arms wide and receive Your grace abundantly, and all that comes with it. The joy and peace, and the growing pains of sanctifying this wicked heart. Thank You, Lord, for all the incredible blessings that You've given me here in India. I pray that You would open my eyes to see all that You've done, that You're doing, and all that You have left for me here. I thank You and love You, God. In Jesus' holy and precious and beautiful Name I pray. Amen.

Looking Through Branches

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him." -Psalm 34:8

It is so easy in ministry to lose sight of the beautiful things, of which are innumerable. I'm not saying that this is only in ministry, for it certainly is not. Often times people might lose focus on why they once loved their job or life, as the mundane seems to have taken over everything. However, I do contend that in ministry there are more things to appreciate, more beauty in things. Ministry is meant to point to the Creator and Maker of all things, the Giver of every good and perfect gift. How could we run out of things to be thankful for?

The answer for this is simple: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Paul sums up the sin of mankind in this incredibly simple statement. All have sinned. All have fallen short. We are a broken people. We are. You need not look very hard to see that we are. Even those of us who are in ministry, who are "in the trenches" so to speak. We are just as broken as the man cheating on his wife, or the women looking for love in material things or physical relationships. Any man would be foolish to say otherwise. But praise be to God that He stepped in and changed all that. He has decided to make me His, to take my sins from me as far as the east is from the west. He has redeemed me and made me new, the old is gone and the new has come! Amen!

And yet. Sin is still here, all around us. What God has done in my life, He may have yet to do in another. And even as He has redeemed me, I am still in need of His everlasting Grace daily. I am still a broken, sinful vessel. I am a jar of clay, holding this incredible treasure of His extraordinary power. I, therefore, can lose sight of what He has done for me, to me, with me. God, however, does not give up on me. He has not, and He will not! And in that reminder, He has given me a reminder of sorts to "stop and smell the roses" so to speak.

More so than any place I have ever worked, or ministry I have ever been a part of, this concept of losing sight of the beautiful was never more obvious than it was with my time at camp. I spent 15 incredible, wonderful, awe-inspiring months at Crista Camps in Kitsap County working at both Island Lake (Silverdale, WA) and Miracle Ranch (Port Orchard, WA). I was the Program Coordinator (glorified games director) for both summers of 2011 and 2012, and spent the time in between as a Program Intern amidst and incredible, talented internship program. We essentially were the cogs that kept camp going. We did everything from helping groups with their own stuff, working meals, running activities like ropes course or motocross, and even cleaning all of camp (which we did at least once a week!). We always had meetings on Wednesdays, and worked together to push camp forward.

Needless to say, it was very easy to get caught in the routine of things. It was easy to lose sight of the bigger picture of what we were doing. We struggled to see the promise land through the thick of the wilderness. And never was it more apparent that I had lost my ability to see the beautiful than in the month of February. It was by far the hardest month of the entire internship, I think for all of us. It was busy, and we were just comfortable enough with each other to get on one another's nerves...a lot. It all accumulated to one night after a long day of hard cleaning. It was clear that everyone was just bitter and frustrated, and I found myself both in that group, as well as having a heavy heart because of it. That night, myself and two wonderful friends prayed for nearly 50 minutes, all three of us in tears by the end of it. I literally could only pray out loud for one sentence, but it was one of the most intense times of prayer I have ever been a part of. I heard God speak to me in that time, and tell me to never lose sight of what was beautiful.

And so began an intentional goal to take time, at least once a week, to look through the branches. At Island Lake, where I spent the majority of my time from then on (it was a fairly even split before that) has an outside amphitheater of sorts, where the teaching and worship services are held for camp as well as guest groups that come. It is called Fireside, and holds an incredible amount of memories of redemption and healing. It is also almost entirely covered by a canopy of tall trees, firs and the like. I would go down, lay down on one of the benches, and just look through the branches. In the summer, it was especially beautiful to see the sunlight breaking through them in beams left and right. Camp had become more than just a home, and I was so comfortable and used to it that I had become numb to how incredibly beautiful of a place it truly was, both physically and spiritually.

In the past couple of weeks, I have found myself in India losing sight of the beautiful. I have been apart of a lot less ministry here than I have in the past, and taken on a more host-like role for the teams that have been coming. This has been bittersweet for me. I have enjoyed it because it has allowed me to get to know people in some cool ways, and to be able to serve them as they are here. It has, however, stunted my opportunities to go out and preach/teach, which is where my heart is, and the reason I came. Not the only reason, no, but it was what I came to do. And in that, I allowed myself to lose heart; and sight of the beautiful. But I am not going to allow such a foothold for any lies to come in. Not anymore! I am convinced that my God is bigger than my petty problems and self-pity, and has great and unimaginable good for me! I have decided to look through the branches once again.

Thank You, God, for reminding me of Your goodness. Thank You, God, that You never give up on me, that Your love never fails. I pray that I would not lose hope of why You have me here, nor will I grumble in times of thick wilderness. Instead, Lord God, let me look through the branches at Your immeasurable beauty, and take hold of all that You have for me! Let me walk by faith, Lord God, needing not to see anything but Your hand as You guide me. Thank You for Your promises, God. For Your faithfulness and mercy. You are so good. I love You and thank You in Your Son's holy and precious Name, Amen!

Hope And Healing

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is January 15, and Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. He was an incredible man, known the world around for his conviction and uncompromising endurance. He became the face of a movement that would eventually alter the course of history. His words have affected millions of people he has never met, and reached farther than he could have ever dreamed. What defined him most was his unwavering faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. His message of love was always founded upon his understanding of the Love he had received. He knew that he could only talk about love because he was loved first.

On December 14, 2012 in Newton, Connecticut, a man decided to end the lives of 20 children, 7 adults (including his own mother) and eventually himself in what was the second deadliest school shooting in our nation's history. 28 lives lost in the blink of an eye, as a man had lost his grip on hope and the reality of love.

In what was the worst part of the shooting, Lauren Rousseau, and fifteen of her sixteen of her first graders were fatally shot. The sole survivor was a six year old girl who acted dead until the sounds stopped, and she felt safe to leave the school. She was the first student to run out after the events were over. She described the shooter as only a six year old could; he was a very angry man.

Tonight, January 15, 2013, on what would have been Martin Luther King's 86th birthday, A Night Of Hope And Healing was held in Ridgefield, Connecticut, honoring those who were lost, and mourning with those that were affected. Lead by Casting Crowns, a host of Christian artists performed a free show for anyone and everyone. Toby Mac, Chris Tomlin, Mandisa, Laura Story, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Building 429 all played songs of worship and praise, all the while preaching on the good news of Jesus Christ. Louie Giglio, long time ministry partner of Christ Tomlin shared about being strong in the Lord, for He is strong. Mary Chapman, Steven's wife, spoke about the accident that killed their young daughter, and forever affected their family as it was their son, and Steven's drummer, who was the driver of the car. She spoke about the hope and reality of peace that can only be found in the arms of God. And Max Lucado spoke about the identity that we find in Christ. That He is our shepherd, and we His sheep. We are in great need of Him, helpless and hopeless without Him. He spoke about the opportunity to know God, how real it is, how available it is. He spoke about how great it is that through such a tragedy, such an awful experience, that God wants to make us new and holy, even amidst the confusion and chaos. How great it is that the devil would intend such a horrible day for evil, yet God would use it to bring people to Him! Amen! He encouraged and challenged those in attendance to remain strong in Him, to not give up, "don't throw in the towel" he said.

I sat at our breakfast table with two pastors from Connecticut watching the live stream of this incredible night. The weight of the moment was certainly not lost on me. We ate bites of our fried potatoes as Casting Crowns sang the words "And as Your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise the God who gives And takes away. And I'll praise You in this storm, And I will lift my hands, For You are who You are No matter where I am. And every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand. You never left my side. And though my heart is torn I will praise You in this storm." I could not hold back the tears of the impact of these words. Not in the context they were being sung. To sing 'I will raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.' to an audience, a community trying to reconcile the loss children. The loss of friends. The loss of people they'd never known...I can hardly begin to describe the faith it would take to sing these words as the heart breaks in confusion and pain. What hope they bring! Amen? To say God, I don't get it, I don't. But I am going to trust You, even in this storm. Even in this time that seems so hopeless and pointless, I am Yours.

One of the pastors began saying praise God, praise God under his breath as he watched. I mean, I was sitting at a table with two pastors from the area directly affected by this massacre, watching this live stream from Nellore, India! Are you kidding me? We sat there in awe of what God was/is doing, just singing praises out to Him. Casting Crowns finished there set with one of my favorite songs, Glorious Day. I could no longer fight back the tears that were coming. Max Lucado came out once again to wrap up the night with another word of encouragement. He begged the audience to not leave without prayer, to remain steadfast, holding on to the God who loves and desires good things for them. The only God who was and is and yet to come. As he spoke, all of the artists began coming behind him, lining up as a choir for one last song, as Chris Tomlin took to the front with his guitar and microphone. Max thanked everyone for coming, prayed, and invited Chris to lead one last song.

And Chris played a song that I have loved in the past, but have never felt a stronger connection to. Out of all of the songs that he could played, none could have captured the prayer of the local church more. "You're the God of this city. You're the King of these people. You're the Lord of this nation. You Are. You're the Light in the darkness. You're the Hope to the hopeless. You're Peace to the restless. You Are. There is no one like our God. There is no one like our God. Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city! Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city!" What an anthem! What a prayer! Greater things have yet come and greater things are still to be done, even when things seem like nothing could be farther! Even when hope seems but a word, God still has greater things in store! God will not forget His people, He will not forget His promises! By the end of the song, not an artist on stage was left with dry eyes. They knew it. They felt it. God is doing something. God did something in the Bridgeport area of Connecticut tonight.

We felt it all the way in Nellore, India, some 14,000 miles away! And to be able to share it with two pastors who will be in the battlefield of it, I mean, I couldn't write it myself! I couldn't make it up! God made it that I would celebrate His presence, His work in a town halfway around the world with two men whose communities have been forever changed by the sins of one man!

Thank You, Jesus, for Your sacrifice that make all things possible. Thank You for Pastor Kevin and Pastor Joe and they're work and hearts for Bridgeport, Connecticut. Thank You for allowing me to be amidst their mourning and celebration. It was beautiful, Lord. You are beautiful. I pray that You would continue to do a good work there, Lord God, that You would have Your way with them. God, I pray that You would shape hearts to listen, to be still before You. God I ask that You would continue to bless me with Your goodness and Your presence. Thank You for Your unfailing Love, for Your Grace and Mercy unending, and for everything that You do. Thank You that You are the God who gives and takes away, and that we need not but praise You. You are good. Thank You, Jesus, for You are good. It is in Your wonderful, holy, and precious Name I pray. Amen.

All you need is love

"If I give it all to You, will You make it all new? If I open up my hands, will You fill them again?" -Will Reagan & United Pursuit's 'If I Give It All'

I live in a world of technology. I don't think it's a secret. America is often at the forefront of technology from the major standpoint of the major population. While other countries have more technology here or there, the general public of America is ridiculously advanced. And it has never been more painfully obvious in my life than it is now. Than it has been while I have spent my time here in India over these past three months.

Now I'm not in any way going to rant about how evil and corrupt technology has  made us or anything of the sort. I love technology. I'm typing this blog for the internet on my laptop lol it would be hypocritical of me to do something of the sort. But what I do want to write about is necessity. This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately, especially in the context of the last two weeks.

A team of eight people from Vancouver and Seattle, WA came to India on Dec 28 with the intention of building a basketball court for the ministry I am working with. This team ranged from a 16 year-old to a 63 year-old, from high school students to a pastor to a real estate agent. They are all in very different walks of life, dealing with very different issues in their homes, at their schools and/or workplaces, and have very different outlooks on certain things. Some had health issues, some were not all mentally here, some were more prepared than others. You get the idea. But what they did have in common was a desire to leave everything that knew, their homes, their lives, their comfort, to come to a common goal halfway around the world. They wanted to see a basketball/multi-sports court built at the second of two orphanages at this ministry in the last two years.

Why a basketball court? What can that do? For those of you who have experience playing sports, I'm sure you can attest to the many incredible opportunities sports can bring. But amidst the many many reasons that I could list off, only one is needed. The smile of a child playing. That's why we build a basketball court. If this court were built for two kids who never see each other on the same place in society to be able to play with one another, it would be enough. We sought to provide that for 50+ kids! And so we embarked together with this incredible task and idea. Through the process there were arguments, disappointments, tons of laughter, surprises, lots and lots of work, and finally the beautiful sound of children bouncing balls on a court they could call their own.

And through this entire process, I was forced with to face the reality of necessity. I have found myself praying that I would need God. This seems like an almost "duh" prayer, that it's like praying for the whole point. My response is-exactly. It is the point. The whole point. And I want it. I want to need God in everything I am, in everything I do. I don't ever want to feel like I don't need God, even in the 'little' things. But I have realized that I far too often replace God with the comforts that He has provided for me. It's like I have eagerly received His wonderful gifts with selfish and ungrateful hands. And God has really convicted me of this. He has reminded me that He is the giver of every good and perfect gift, that all that I have has come from Him, and in the end will mean nothing next to the eternity spent with Him, sharing in glory and praise for all days. He has reminded me that I "need" nothing but Him. That He will provide for me. Over and over again, He reminds His people, the Israelites this same message, and they continue to screw it up. I almost scoff at them as I read about their unfaithfulness. Then God gives me this same reminder, and all of the sudden I am one of these unfaithful Israelites that God just won't let go of. It reminds me that they were human, that I am human, and that God is God. And I will never not need Him. I will never need anything other than Him. I may have wants galore, but needs are non-existent. Needs implies that there are more things than one. But I do not need anything aside from Him. That's it.

One of my favorite United Pursuit songs is If I Gave It All. It has two incredible questions of faith in it. The singer asks "If I give it all to You, will You make it all new?" and "If I open up my hands, will You fill them again?" These are the cries of a heart that desires to need only God. They are not questions of the unfaithful, but of the heart that is realizing this is what is desired of us. I want to be able to give all things to God, because He desires and promises to make it all new. I want to open up my tight grips of fear and uncertainty so the God would fill them again.

Father God, I want to need you. I want to know that You are all that I need, that You are all that I could ever need. Lord God, provide for me in the way that You see fit, and allow my heart to be grateful for it. Do not let fear, ungratefulness, bitterness, or selfishness to leave my lips. Jesus, let me live like You did, always relying and trusting in the Father, because He will give all that I need. You will give all that I need, Father. Thank You. Thank You for Your unfailing love and mercy that fill all my necessity. You are so good, Lord. I thank You and love You. In Your Son's holy and precious and beautiful Name, I pray. Amen.

A Christmas Special

"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on Him." -Hudson Taylor, British missionary to China in the 1800s.

I love this quote. It puts things into perspective for me. A lot. It puts such a huge emphasis on God that it leaves no excuse to the man. It is in our weakness that we boast (2 Corinthians 12:9), that He might be shown, yes?! Over and over in scripture, we see God using men who are so much less "qualified" than what He has called them to. But that's the point, isn't it? That He would do things so great with people who appear not to be that He would be glorified, worshiped. He uses men like Noah, Abram, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Daniel, David, Matthew, Mark, John, Thomas, and Paul. All of these men, and many more throughout the Bible, are not who society would have chosen to do what they did. But that's just it. They didn't do it. And they would all be the first to say this. It was God. It was always God. It always is God. He used these weak and feeble men who were willing to lean on God, to rest in His plan and strength. And what He did with every one of these men is nothing short of miraculous and amazing!

Take Gideon for instance. In Judges chapter 6 we are introduced to a young  man named Gideon, who is threshing wheat in a wine press, to hide it from the Midianites who were oppressing the Israelites. The Angel of The Lord commissions Gideon (in a somewhat comical conversation. Gideon's responses are so honest) to lead the army that would eventually defeat Midian and free his people. When he begins, Gideon gathers an army of 32,000 men. God tells Gideon that this army has too many men. He says, "I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against Me." (Judges 7:2) So Gideon cuts it down to 10,000 men. Again God tells him that there are too many men. Gideon then, following God's command, finally has an 'army' of 300 men. 300 men! He began with an army of 32,000! But God says to Gideon, "With the three hundred men...I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home." (Judges 7:7). And God did just that! In an amazing miracle told in Judges 7, God defeats the Midianites with just 300 men, led by Gideon! And He did this so that they would boast about what God has done. He did not allow them to think it was by their hand, by anything that they could have done. Because 300 men (Sorry Gerard Butler) cannot defeat an entire army. But the One true God certainly can! And He did! Amen!

I have felt God giving me much of this same treatment while being here in India. It hasn't always been incredibly easy, to be honest, but He continues to give me no excuse but to boast in Him. And I cannot complain about that. How could I? What would I say? "Aw man, God did it again, but He just HAD to do it His way, and leave me no choice but to praise His Name..." lol yeah, it really is as ridiculous as that sounds! He does keep giving me these amazing opportunities to boast in my weakness, however, that He would be glorified!

Take for instance Christmas day. We went to two churches, one in the morning for a short, encouragement message, and at night, for a long (the longest I've given in fact) sermon on the Christmas story, what we celebrate, and why we celebrate it! I felt like God was leading me talk about sin, and how His coming down here was a direct result of His incredible plan to save us wretched, hopeless sinners. With the translation, the sermon lasted about 45 minutes, and we wrapped it up for what would be a late night. I felt confident that God was going to do a good work, but as usual, He blew my expectations out of the water! In the church, there was roughly 55-60 people. After the service was complete, 10 or so people said that they wanted to repent of their sins and trust in the Lord who came as a baby, lived as a man, and died as a savior! Hallelujah, Amen! I could hardly believe it. They kept saying thank you to me for the words, and I realized what it means to have a humility before God. Because it wasn't me. It wasn't my words. It wasn't my passion, my work, my breath, none of it. It was Him. His work. His Spirit. It was God. He just chose to allow me to be a part of it! And in this knowledge, I felt God almost patting me on the back, as if to say, "Well done, son!" And it was so freaking good, I tell ya!

I thank God that He continues to give me no excuse. That He doesn't leave me room to boast in anything that I do, but instead blows my expectations out of the water. I pray that He would continue to do this, and that I would continue to be reminded of my everlasting need of Him, and of my humble place before Him. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." -James 4:10.

Double-Oh, Tea, Why?

As some of you may know, I spent 9 days total traveling across Southeast India to a small tourist community called Ooty, in the northern part of Tamil Nadu. I went there to visit my dear dear friend, Katy Stiffler, as she is in India right now on her own crazy adventure. To say that this trip was a blessing and a half would undermine it completely. It was a wonderful, beautiful, ridiculous experience that I hope to be able to put into words.

I left here, in Andhra Pradesh, Tuesday, Dec 11, to Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Chennai is kind of like the capitol of SE India, and is a major point of commerce and travel. I would be taking my overnight bus to Ooty from there. I was almost late to my due to some pretty crazy traffic, and got to it literally as it was pulling out of the station. I was all but thrown on, handing off my luggage to the guy to put it in the back of the bus, and finding my seat as we pull out onto the busy street. It was definitely a bit of relief as well, considering I made the bus and was now on my way to see a good friend in a completely different part of India! Needless to say, I was a little more than excited!

I was able to get a little bit of sleep on the bus, which was both nice and unexpected. I usually don't sleep too well on buses, and I wasn't overly tired when the trip started, but it all worked out for me. I woke up about halfway up the mountain. Ooty is something like 8,000 ft in elevation, so yes, we had to go up the mountain to get there. It's kind of tucked away in between hills, and is quite unassuming at first. I got off the bus and called Katy. I was about twenty mins earlier than expected, so of course, Katy wasn't quite ready to get me. I took an auto (a rickshaw) from the bus station up to the house they she and her roommate, Morgan, stay at, the Farley Guest House. It took a little while to find an auto driver who knew where to go, which I later found out to be interesting because almost all of them know where it is! But after a few tries, I found one, and we made our way from town up the big hill that leads to Farley. As we rounded the corner to the driveway, Morgan (Katy's roommate, a missionary from GA) met me, hopped in, and rode the rest of the way up, which is no small distance! lol I was very glad to meet Morgan because one, she seemed very nice and excited about life, and two, because she was someone who knew who I was and could help me out a ton! We got to the driveway, I got my things to my room, and we went to the kitchen when Katy finally arrived to Farley. She met us in the kitchen, and we immediately hugged for a good minute, excited to see one another, and that our visiting each other was actually happening!

The rest of the day was spent with Katy and Morgan seeing some stuff in the town, and going around with Morgan as she was leaving the next day for home! We spent a couple of hours out on the front lawn (yeah, they have lawns in Ooty...lol) playing and singing worship in the gorgeous sunshine. It was kind of breathtaking, I'll be honest. It was even more beautiful to me because I got to sing with other people for a change, as both Katy and Morgan joined me and kept spitting out requests for us to sing. Morgan, it turns out, has a beautiful voice and some amazing harmonies, which was an unexpected blessing for me. It had been quite some time since I sang with someone, let alone with someone who was a talented singer! Thanks, Morgan!

The next day, we said our goodbyes to Morgan, not without their fair share of smiles and tears, and began talking about what the rest of my trip could/would look like. It turns out, I was volunteered to help lead worship for their Sunday service, which I was more than happy to do! That day, a local Brit named Jack came to the house, and we practiced out a set that we would play on Sunday. It went really well.  Katy and I then went to dinner at Dominos (yeah, they have that too...this place is WAY different than I'm used to! lol) and just sat and talked for a couple of hours. It was awesome. We caught up on a lot of things, and shared war stories from our respective missions. It still stands as one of the major highlights.

To help me not write a novel about everything that happened, I'm going to kind of cover the rest of the highlights in a montage fashion lol- Friday night I got to share a little bit about what God has been doing in my life, and what I'm doing in India with a group of Australians who were staying at Farley at the same time. They were an all girls high school from Queensland, and they and their teachers were some pretty awesome people. Saturday I joined Katy at her horse therapy session at the place the she works the most. It was almost overwhelming how awesome it was to hold these beautiful kids as they took pony rides, and did small physical stretches to help with balance and coordination. Sunday we went to church. I helped lead worship, and it honestly went better than any of the three of us could have anticipated. I then was able to sit in church for the first time since coming to India. Since I work with a ministry that builds and support churches, generally I'm the one preaching! It was nice to sit and listen to a sermon. And then there's Monday. Monday no doubt stands as the highlight of the trip, and probably the best day outside of ministry that I've spent here in India so far. We went back up to the Malstead's house (where Katy works with the horses) for a half-day of work, and a half-day of fun. The Freedom Firm, the ministry she is working with, was having their annual Christmas party there. Since I'm not a ton of help in the way of barn chores, I was put to work in the kitchen, a place I can be of some pretty good use! ;) I made a guac, a super tasty salsa, and a spinach cheese dip, along with helping finalize the flavors on a couple other dishes. Mala, the lady who lives there and runs Leg-Up, the horse therapy part of Freedom Firm, could not stop telling me thank you for my help. That was really cool. Then the party. We ate, played games, including Viking Dragon Fire (yeah!) and a White Elephant Gift exchange, both of which I was fortunate enough to lead. It was super fun! Katy and I were the last two to leave, which seemed appropriate as we were the first two to arrive lol and made our way back to Farley. It was an incredibly breathtaking sunset, so we sat at the bottom of the driveway and just looked on in awe. We spent some time in scripture, and then prayer, and just sat there taking it all in. God was/is doing so much, and He overwhelmed us both with His love and peace at this moment. I'm not gonna lie, I definitely cried. It was too much, how could I not!? The rest of the my days there were spent enjoying time to myself, often reading and playing worship, and then hanging out with Katy. We watched movies, sat and talked, and just enjoyed hanging out. It was really great. I also got to give Katy a little cooking lesson as she made a homemade Spanish Rice, which she knocked right out of the park! So good! I then left on the bus Thursday night, not before saying a long goodbye with a hug that neither one of us seemed to want to let go of. If not for the bus driver's impatience, we might have held on to the hug all night. It was the first time either one of us had seen anyone we were familiar with, that we were good friends with, and it was just so cool for us both.

I can't thank Katy enough for having me out to Ooty to see all that she's been doing, and to enjoy a time of rest and renewal. It was something I needed, without even realizing it. I've been so busy with the incredible ministry here, that I hadn't taken that simple time to sit with Him for a little while. It was great to be able to do that in such a beautiful place as Ooty, and with some great old friends, and a couple new ones! Special thanks to Morgan and Katy for all the you did to help my trip to be what it was, nothing short of amazing.

I love you all and can't wait to share with you what else God is doing here in India! Only a couple more days until the court team, my team, gets here!! I am ridiculously excited, I'll tell you that!!!! lol Talk to you all soon! Thanks! Bye.

Two Down, Three Up

Well guys. I have now lived in Southeast India for two months, and it has been nothing short of an incredible journey! I look back in awe at all the God has shown me thus far. He has taught so much it is nearly embarrassing to admit! I clearly think far too small of God!

I wanted to tell you guys about how amazing these past few weeks have been! I'm sorry I haven't been giving any updates of what I've been up to. To say that we've been busy around here would be an insult! It's been absolutely nuts, so obviously, I've loved it! haha

My story begins by telling about my first experience helping host some other missionaries. Merri and Kerri, two sisters from America, arrived the night of Nov 10 for a two week dental mission. I cannot even begin to say what a blessing these two awesome women were to me. First and foremost, it was just good to have people around. For those of you who don't know, I am alone here quite often. If I am not working with the guys in the office or out at a village with one of them, I am alone. I'm sure you can imagine how difficult a change this has been for me! Simply having other people around in and of itself was wonderful. But these two went so much further to bless me than simply be here. As I said, they came to do a dental mission, the second of its kind here; they came last year to do the same kinds of clinics. The first day they were here, they were up early, and already at work! They gained my respect right away, let me tell you! And I was even fortunate enough to help them out with their work! That was so much fun, and a little crazy! We got to brush the kids' teeth here at the orphanage, and teach them how to brush correctly and what they're missing. It was so much fun! I never thought I would ever be sticking my hands in little Indian kids' mouths at an orphanage that I called home! What an incredible God we serve, amen?! We then spent the next ten days going to villages and teaching them about the importance of dental health and healthy living in general. It was a really cool thing to see, because I am rarely a part of social ministry like this here. I am mostly here as an evangelist, which is great and where my heart is, but this was just so cool for me to see! So many people were blessed and saw firsthand the love of Christ because these two women from America cared about they're teeth! How sweet is that?!

The end of their trip, however, was nothing short of incredible. They were set to fly out of Bangalore, a huge city southwest of us, about 9 hours away. We left at the early hour of 4:30 (yeah, I got up that early! lol) and got to Bangalore just around lunch time. Entering Bangalore was like a movie. First of all, it was one of those ridiculously beautiful days, where everything just seems brighter and happier because of the sunshine! And we came in on this big bridge (overpass really) that showed us a great view of much of the city and just how huge it is! The next day we left for the historical city of Mysore, the home of a famous Indian palace. On the way, we stopped in a town called Srirangapatnam, where the summer palace of Tipu Sultan, and Indian freedom fighter and ruler in the late 1700s, is found. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A wonderful gate led to a huge courtyard outside of a small but no less impressive palace. Once entered, the walls were covered top to bottom with hand painted murals depicting Tipu's military victories. I'd also like to point out one funny fact about this place. To see it, you need to purchase a ticket. Now, this seems normal, right? Well, it would be, if it weren't for the inflation for foreigners! lol for Indians, it's Rs. 5 (5 Rupees), but it's Rs. 100 for foreigners! What's with that?! lol As we were leaving, we passed by an old English fellow who laughed at this fact. "Can you believe that? 100 Rupees for foreigners? Well I told them that's fine, but I'm not a foreigner! I'm British!" haha he was funny...Anywhos! We left there to the heart of the town, where Tipu's grave was. Now, it wasn't quite the Taj Mahal, but honestly, it was absolutely amazing. He built it originally for his father, whom he loved and revered greatly, and his father's wife (not to be confused with his mother lol). He was later buried there, along with his sister, his wife, and two daughters. Tipu was a Muslim, so right next to his tomb is a mosque. We weren't able to go inside, but the outside of it looked quite beautiful. We left there to finally finish our journey to Mysore. As we got into Mysore, we stopped at a catholic church called St. Philemona. It was breathtaking, a wonderful place of refuge for many local Christians. It was an honor to pray within its walls of comfort and solace. We left there for the palace that we had been waiting to see all day. And oh my goodness did they undersell this thing. First of all, I'm pretty sure this palace is the same size as Rhode Island, just saying. This thing was huge. And holy crap was it beautiful. I have had the wonderful blessing to see some of the most recognized and historical wonders of the world, and I have to say that this palace rivals most of them. I would try and describe it here, but it would be like describing the Grand Canyon. Well, it's uh...big...and uh...pretty...did I say it's big? lol It was perfectly symmetrical, though. That I can tell you. That was incredible to see. Part of the tour goes to the central room of the whole palace, where the King would look out over the crowds of his people and decide the fates of difference diplomatic needs. I cannot describe how beautiful it was! I wish I could, but there should be pictures of it soon! lol We then left there for a tasty lunch, and then went to the zoo! Yeah, that's right! The freakin zoo! It was so wicked cool! We rode this trolley-type bus through the whole thing and saw the whole zoo in an hour! It was freakin awesome! lol

The rest of the trip was spent seeing Bangalore, which was much different than Mysore, but still really cool to do! We saw a couple temples, went up to the Nandi hills, which overlooks the countryside near Bangalore, all the way to the city. It was crazy high, which was clearly my favorite (not) part but it was definitely beautiful! We then took Merri and Kerri to the airport, said our goodbyes, and we were off back to drive another 10 hours to get back home! All in all, it was wonderful to have joined them in their ministry here with us, and I hope to join them again sometime in the future!

Since their departure, it has been back to the same ol' routine, which is anything but boring! I have been to several villages, preaching and teaching a whole lot of wonderful and amazing people! I finally rode in a rickshaw for the first time, which was hilarious. We shared it with two other people who were getting dropped off between where we all started, and the church that we were going to. I rode a couple more on the way back, and then finished it with a bus ride. We have been working a ton on some very important applications for some funding that would greatly help the ministry here. Please keep these in your prayers! Also, we are soon looking forward to the court building team who join us in just three weeks! So very excited! We are about to begin the build here in the next couple of days, and appreciate any and all thoughts and prayers that you can spare for this process! Thank you!

I love and miss you all so very much, and look forward to seeing you all once again sooner than you realize! haha I've been here for a short two months, and have what I can only assume to be a shorter three months left! But, no matter how long they feel, I cannot begin to imagine how much God has in mind to teach me in them! And that fact excites me more than anything!

So you believe?

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder." James 2:19.

What does faith look like? Is there a way to quantify it? I mean, faith isn't something that we can see is it? It's not something we can touch. So I ask again, what does faith look like? And what about belief? Is the act of believing enough? Does it matter if we believe something to be true or not? What does faith (or belief for that matter) produce, if anything?

I have been thinking a lot about these things in this last year. God has truly impressed upon my heart to consider the activity of faith, and the fruit of a faith that moves. I have also found myself asking the question "Is it enough to believe?" In this life, are we called to believe? Is that where it ends? What separates faith from belief? Is there a difference? In this conversation (I hope you find yourself talking to me as you read what I have written) I hope to unpack these answers, and I hope to explain well why I believe that they are extremely important in our walks as Christians.

What we first must look at is the object of our affection- Jesus Christ. He alone is the object of our faith, our belief, our trust, everything. To be called a Christian is to literally entwine our identity to that of Christ. And if Christ is the object of what we claim, then we should know who He was, and what He was about. What did He say? What did He do? What did He think? How did He live? Why did He live this way? What was said about Him by those around Him? How did He respond to these accusations? What was written about Him after He died (and again rose to glory!)? All of these questions have answers long enough to fill 1,000 blogs of their own, so I will not attempt to do this. I will give an overarching answer to them, however. Love. This is the very character of Christ. What He did, what He said, how He lived, what was said about Him, it all comes down to love. So, by default, the object of our faith/belief is Christ and His unbelievable love. This must be understood (I don't mean comepletely. That's NEVER going to happen. And I don't mean you have to have the seminary theological terms either!) before we can talk about faith and belief. If this is not understood as a precursor to the entire point, then this will simply be a philosophical topic, and we cannot, we MUST not turn faith into a philosophical topic, standing next to other philosophies and doctrines that do not base themselves in the perfect love of Christ. This is so much more than that. With this in mind, let us unpack faith and belief, and why I think that belief is not enough. It must be faith, active and moving, that we have.

What do these two words mean? Is there a difference?

Belief-confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.

Faith-confidence or trust in a person or thing (thanks dictionary.com!)

According to dictionary.com, belief and faith both mean in essence a confidence in something else. Why then would I say that belief is not enough? Why would James write such a challenging verse in Ch 2 Vs 19? I would like to thank dictionary.com for its willingness to help, however I am going to slightly change how these words are defined, in view of what I see in scripture. From a Christian perspective, I believe whole-heartedly that these two words do not mean the same thing. Though they derive from the same thing, having a confidence in something else, or, an object of affection, I would like to argue that this is not a complete definition of faith. According to Hebrews 11:1 (one of the most well known verses of our generation) "Faith is the confidence of what we hope for, and the assurance of what we do not see." (NIV) This looks a lot like the dictionary definition, however, I think there is more to it than what we see at first glance. Faith is the confidence of what we hope for. What is it we hope for? To answer quickly, we hope for life eternal. We hope to live an eternal life for the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Now we know that eternity is forever, that's what the word means. Life eternal, therein, means a life lived forever for the glory of God. For some reason, from what I have seen/heard, this is treated as a future hope. It is treated as a hope that we do not live in yet. Now there is certainly some truth in that statement. We do live for the hope of life after death in eternity with Him, and that the completion of our hope will come at the bowing before Christ in heaven! Amen! But. And this is a big but. Like, it deserves its own TV show, big but. This hope that we live for, the confidence that we have in it, begins the moment God takes ahold of your heart. It continues through this life, and is COMPLETED upon seeing Christ seated at the right hand in glory! And if it begins now, if it is being persued now (this hope I mean), what does faith mean? Faith is the confidence of what we hope for. All through scripture, from the days of the first sin, through the last days described in Revelations, man's hope, man's cry to God is simple: Change me. He gives praise to God for saving him, for taking away his sin. He begins to see his heart change and that he hates his own sin as God does. He prays that God would be with him, that he might not boast about anything other than God. And did God answer these cries? Absolutely! Abundantly He answered them! And why? Because of their faith. Their faith was always accompanied with an action, proving that their faith was real, that it was more than talk. It was more than a simple "belief" or claim towards some all-powerful being that they liked. No, they staked their lives on God's provision. Many times over! The rest of Hebrews 11 goes on to describe many "heroes of faith" throughout the old testiment that did something faithfully, trusting that God was with them, that He was protecting and providing for them. It was accredited to them as righteousness! They were called righteous by these faithful actions! Faith is the confidence of things hoped for, the assurance of what we do not see. Faith is not simply believing that something is true. It's living like it!

And this is the very reason why I have been thinking so much about faith and belief. I found myself asking this question- Do I live like I really believe what I say I believe? In many ways, I found I could answer yes to this very tough question. I also found that in many ways I had to answer no. No I am not living like I believe what I claim to be true. Why do we do this as Christians? We have been given the greatest truth anyone could ever know! We have been saved by a grace we could never deserve! We have been counted righteous by His blood, which atoned for the sins we have done! We have been saved, changed, moved, and enlightened by His very actions! And far too often we do not live like this is true. Let me tell you a story, a parable of sorts, to explain this better.

A man sit on death row, awaiting a sentence he had received 15 years ago. You see, he was to be executed in one hour for brutally murdering his neighbor over a simple disagreement. As he sat in his cell for so long, he found himself growing sorry for what he had done. He longed to change it, though he knew he could not. He wished he could ask forgiveness from those he hurt, though that seemed as unlikely a chance as anything. As he sat here in his final thoughts, a man approached his cell. The guard walked up beside him, opened the man's cell, and took hi post once again. This second man, a stranger to the first, said nothing but instead took a seat beside him. "You probably don't remember me, but you killed my father." It was his neighbor's son, grown up from the years that separated this day and that. Before he could go on, the murderer fell to his knees sobbing. He grabbed the boy's grown hands and kissed them. "I am so sorry for what I did. I know now that what I have done is wrong. I don't deserve it, but can you forgive me?" The second man listened and thought for a moment before saying, "I came here today hoping for two things. I'd hoped you would say that to me so I could say this to you- I forgive you. And not only do I forgi you, but I have bought your freedom. I spoke with the judge, told him it should be me who sat in you bed, not you. I told him I was the one who killed my father. You are free to go." The first man wiped his tears, confused as he looked up. "Why would you do this for me? I killed the one you most loved! I ruined your life! You are innocent!" The second man smiled. "My life was not yours to ruin. I do this, so that you may go tell everyone what has happened here today. I have saved you because my life is over, but yours is not. Use this freedom to live as a changed man! Do not repeat the same mistakes that led to this conversation. Live differently." At this, the man smiled, pulled his hand back, and laid down. The first man stood up, thanked and kissed his savior on the head and turned around. He faced an open door for the first time in 15 years...

I stop here to ask this question- What happens next? You might answer "Well duh, the man walks out of the cell a changed man! He's been given a new life! A story of incredible circumstances and timing that would be unbelievable if not for the fact that he was there, alive, telling the story himself! He lived differntly!" My response to you, then, is this: Why don't we? Why do we allow our "belief" stop us from living out the faith to which we are called? I fear that we too often allow ourselves to stay in our prison cells telling Jesus "Thank You for all You've done for me!" while He is all the while telling us to leave our prisons, to tell the world what He's done for us, and to live differently! Do we really believe that He has saved us from our prison cells? Then walk out of them. If we are saved from them, if the door has been opened, then take that step of faith. I mean, it has to be faith to walk through that door. In the parable the guard is standing post right there. He could easily kill the man for trying to escape. I mean, this scenario isn't necessarily very popular on death row, right? What if this guy was just his new cell mate, and was crazy? To take this step would require great faith. It would require going against all of the habits and lifestyles that he had grown so accustomed to. His prison bars were comfortable at that point. But they were still bars. And I fear that we are still living in too many prison cells that Christ died to free us from! I fear that too often we are praising Jesus from the beds He has now taken, instead of praising Him by going, living in freedom, telling the world of what He has done for us!

My challenge for you is that your life would begin to look like you believe what you say you believe. That your beliefs would instead become active steps of faith, trusting and having confidence that God will provide! Because He has promised to do so!

I thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I hope it has if nothing else, allowed you to think. Please please please feel free to leave any questions, comments, disagreements, favorite parts, anything. It is a blessing when we can rejoice together, amen?! Thank you and God bless.

From Dawn to Dusk

Well this certainly has been a week, let me tell ya! No, really, let me tell you-

It was a fairly uneventful week around here actually. I was able to go get a very much-needed hair cut and shave, which was wonderful. Went to a little cafe for the first time, and ate a very tasty chicken burger. Okay, I ate two. They were delicious, don't judge! ;) We basically spent the week getting ready for Friday and Saturday, two very big days for us that needed quite a lot of preparation. Friday was the monthly evangelist meeting here, where many (nearly 100!) of the ministry's evangelists come here for a conference where we share the word, pray together, talk about the previous month's programs and any fruit that is seen thus far, as well as discuss the coming month's programs. Saturday was going to be a big trip to Chennai (which is the cultural center of Southeast India!) and the coming of the first missions team!

Thursday, I was asked to prepare a lesson for Friday to teach the evangelists. I decided on speaking about the life of Paul. I began with 1 Corinthians 11:1 "Follow my example as I follow  Christ's example." Follow me as I follow Him. Wow. Think about that for a second. It may come off as a very prideful, boastful statement, but it isn't. Just read his letters to find Paul's heart. He was so confident in his faith, and in who God had made/called him to be, that he knew he was walking in the light. What a challenge! Can we confidently say these words to someone? Can we tell them 'follow me as I follow Him'? I know I am gaining more and more confidence in my faith all the time, yet I don't know if I could ever write these words. And to put in this statement into a bit of statement, Paul has just said to not ever make anyone stumble, whether Jew or Greek or Gentile. He goes from 'do not make anyone stumble ever' to 'follow me as I follow Him' in two verses! I pray to have the Holy confidence to say these words one day!

I then talked about when we first meet Saul (spoiler alert!!! Saul=Paul! What?!) the men who are witnessing the stoning of Stephen are laying the coats at his feet (Acts 7:58). And then in Acts 8:1 we find out that "Saul approved of their killing [Stephen ]." This murderous, religious zealout of a Pharisee turns into the man who are over half of the NT! Why? Because Jesus was never anything less than absolutely real to him after his conversion (Acts 9). Paul dedicated his life to living for Jesus. He always had a 'live is Christ, die is gain' (Philippians 1:21) mindset. He lived his life by these very words. And you couldn't touch Paul. No matter what you did! They'd threaten him with death, and he'd say to die is gain. We'll keep you alive then, they'd say, and he'd say to live is Christ. My life is for His glory. They'd beat him, stone him, drag him out of the city thinking he was dead, and he just got up and WENT BACK INTO THE CITY (Acts 14:19-20)!!! He shipwrecks multiple times. At the end of Acts 27, Paul's life is spared when the other prisoners were killed because he encouraged the men by praising God for His provision! In the first part of Acts 28 he gets bit by a viper, a freakin viper, and just shakes it off like it's nothing. He "suffered no ill effects" (Acts 28:5) and shocked the men around him! Then when he's thrown in a Roman prison, which isn't a nice place in case you didn't know (remember how they tortured Jesus? Yeah, they knew what they were doing. When God saves Peter miraculously from prison in Acts 12, Herod has all of the soldiers killed when they can't find him! This is a serious place!), he preaches to the Roman guards and converts them! Come on! This dude could not be touched! No matter what you did to him! He wrote more then half of his epistles with chained wrists! He wrote some of the most encouraging words in the NT while in a prison cell! And then he asked for prayer. He always asked for prayer! And what prayer did he ask for? "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." Ephesians 6:19-20. He didn't ask to pray to have things happen to him, for him. He didn't ask to pray to see his circumstances changed. No. He asked that they would pray for him that WHENEVER he speaks that words may be given that he would FEARLESSLY make the gospel known. And why? Because he knows he should. What a bold, confident, humble faith Paul delivers! At the end of Acts 28, we see the end of Paul's ministry, and it is another incredibly challenging thing for me. "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ-with all boldness and without hindrance!" Acts 28:30-31. With all boldness and without hindrance. Wow. This man was awaiting his death sentence, and it only allowed him yet another opportunity to preach boldly the gospel (good news) to anyone and everyone, never finding a hindrance against him. Why? "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for u, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31. Because God was with him. And he never lost sight of that, and always proclaimed that simple yet incredible truth. This is what I had the honor and challenge to preach about to the evangelists of this wonderful ministry. It is contiuing to stay in my mind, challenging me to remember to be like Paul in ministry.

Sunday we went to Chennai, leaving here at 5:15 in the morning. I'm sure you can assume how excited about this I was lol. It was a bittersweet thing for me, actually. I was so very excited to have two more Americans joining me for a couple of weeks, yet it was so dang early! We got on the road, and drove for a couple of hours before stopping for a roadside breakfast. We had these things called idly which are little rice cake, patty-like things. They're sweet and tasty, and you put a chutney or curry over it. I very much enjoyed this breakfast! We made it to Chennai at about 8:30, and began a long day of errand running, which was often pretty boring for me. However. There were also many moments of highlights that I HAVE to tell you about lol. Some amazing things that I saw- The single most wonderfully beautiful feathered Mullet I have ever seen. This thing was sooo good, just flowing in the wind as this man rode on the back of a motorcyle passing by us. It went by in slow motion, honestly. I ate pizza at pizza hut. Yes, they have pizza huts here I guess. Found that out quite recently, and was very happy to have found this knowledge to be true! We had a pepperoni pesto pizza (alliteration ftw!) and a chicken sausage pizza. First off, this pizza hut was the nicest pizza hut ever, I swear! There was a hostess, and a restaurant menu with servers bringing you your pizzas and drinks and such. Cool wooden tables and chairs. Hip American music in the background. Yeah, it ruled. I almost fell asleep in a tire shop as we got a new tire on our truck, which was rather entertaining. Then, my pastor wanted to go get a cut and a shave, so he left me and the driver (who speaks as much English as I speak Telugu) to wait for him. He put on the radio, and changes it to the American music channel (yeah, there's that too!) and begins rocking out to the song. We listened to three songs. All three were heavy beat songs that we both just jammed to. They were (no lie) Ke$ha, T-Swift, and J Biebs. It was glorious. Just rocking out, jamming to hilariously fun pop music with this Indian dude who is jamming as much as you are, smiling huge smiles allthewhile, was one of my favorite parts of the day! We then made our way to the airport to pick up Kari and Merri, two sisters from America who have been a huge blessing so far. Their plane was 40 minutes late, but they took next to no time to come out once they'd landed, so it evened out in the end. We then drove back home and took to bed at the wonderful hour of 2am! haha I will write about the adventures of three Americans soon, but this post is slowly finding its way to the end!

I love you all so very much, and thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! You are all wonderful and I cannot say how much I appreciate them! Please continue to pray that our ministry and work would be righteous and fruitful! Pray for protection physically and Spiritually! Thank you so much! Love ya! See you soon!

Joel

Roses are red, violets are blue...

Lord, please change us by your word. Amen.

I heard these words prayed three times by a man teaching a young school group that I was hosting while intering at Crista Camps. They will never leave me. This man honestly and earnestly prayed these words before he spoke each time. It was not a rehearsed word of encouragement or a key-phrase that let the students know that it was time to get serious. No, it was a broken man's prayer. It was beautiful. And I believe whole-heartedly that it was heard. I echo his prayer often, that I would not read the bible, but instead that I would be changed by the ever-active, living breath and word of God. I have often made this my prayer as I study His word here in India. And it is my prayer that it is the fruit of this prayer that is seen and heard in this blog post.

Lord, I pray that my words would be Yours. I pray that my heart would be Yours. I pray that I would not be hypocritical, nor extra critical. Lord, please tame my tongue to be uplifting and righteous. Let me praise You and exalt You in everything I say and do. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. Lord, I pray these things in the wonderful, beautiful, precious, and powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

Roses are red, and violets are blue. Interesting to think about red and blue right now, isn't it? Seems like that's all anyone can talk about. Leftist political point here, right-wing counterpoint right back at ya, bub! (Random tangent, whoever came up with "bub" thank you!) As many of you may know, I am a very opinionated person. I know well why I hold the opinions I have, and why I don't hold the opinions that I don't. I do not make a light-hearted, ignorant opinion (at least I greatly strive not to.) but rather I search to base my opinions in well founded thoughts. This is why I have decided to write this politically-charged post. Please, bear with me and show a bit of patience and grace as I unroll my points. Thank you.

Honestly, people. I am sick to my stomach right now. I spent a great deal of time in prayer to the point of tears earlier as I read the after-affects of the election. The thought that things could be where they are, and seeing where they could possibly go, quite frankly disgust me. Now before you cheer me on or sneer at me, allow me to explain this. Again, patience and grace, please. As many of you know, I am not one for short-winded explanations.

Yesterday, I sat in a small cafe here with a friend (the first time I've done so, it was wonderful!) and began to read the only English newspaper that they had in the place. It's called (I'm fairly certain) The Hindi and it's one of the more prominent newspapers in all India. The center story of the front page, which as you know is the "most important" storyline in the paper, was an article on the American Presidential race. It spoke about two men, the Democratic incumbant Obama and the Republican challenger Romney, fighting it out for the seat of 'the most powerful man on the planet' with last minute appeals to swing state voters and the like. The story beside it, another front page story, though not as "important" as the election in a foreign land, was about the floods in northern Andhra, the state that I'm living in here in SE India. These floods are quite comparable to the affects of superstorm Sandy. Many thousands were left without power, food, water; roads and homes were destroyed, helicopters were flying in food drop after food drop while rescue boats drove the streets in search of injured and lost.

I got home some time later, and checked my facebook, as I often do, memories of the newspaper still riding my thoughts. And then I read post after post of politically charged thoughts and opinions, and some daring comments upon those threads. I read things like "If Obama wins, I'm going to Canada (or Mexico, or the Philippines, or some other place)" and "I don't understand how a person who calls themself a Christian could vote for Obama" and "If Romney wins-" with much of the same after-thoughts... And then today, I get on and open up two windows on my internet. The first was Facebook, and the second was NY Times. I wanted to find out who won, before I read about the many opinions that would surely await me. Obama wins reelection I read. Romney conceeds at 10pm after losing Virginia, I read. Then I take a breath, and go to Facebook. What I read was one of the hardest newsfeeds I've ever had to read. Allegations of all kinds were made from all points of political view, and were then argued from other sides. And then I read post after post about how "whether or not I agree with who the President is, I'm going to pray for them" followed by some verse about praying for those in authority over them. I read posts of verses of taking joy in Him no matter what happens. I read posts with verses about remembering humility and the like. And I began to cry. Literally, I felt a wrenching in my stomach and began to cry. As I type this now, I fight back tears thinking of it. I'm sorry if this comes off as harsh or anything but gracious rebuke, but I feel that I must address this sad fact.

First and foremost, the Bible does not have a precondition of "in case of emergency" or "use when you feel lost" to it. No, the Bible is not a tool for comfort when 'the times seem tough' for you. You might argue that it is these things, and as I would (of course) agree with you, allow me first to remind you that its purpose is to reveal the greatness of God and the hopelessness of the sinner without Him. Nothing else. The Bible is His story of redemption, which glorifies Him. Our comfort, our sense of direction and identity come from Him, not emergency verses of the feeling of comfort. It comes from His presence, His goodness, His love, from Him. Many of the verses that I read came from either a Pauline epistle or a Psalm of David. Let's put that in perspective. Paul wrote these words while in prison. Prison. Literally chained wrists held his writing hands. He was in prison for professing his faith, awaiting the judgement of death to come. David often wrote his psalms of comfort while hiding in caves from Saul and his army who sought to kill him. He was running for his life, while leading people in hope and safety. Or he wrote them out of a confession and repentence of sin (i.e. Bathsheba).These warriors of the faith wrote these incredible, wonderful and beautiful words as they were facing the sufferring of death and despair. They did not write them so we could pull them out when "our guy" loses or wins. They did not write them so we could quote them from our bedrooms and dorms as if we were being persecuted. Like someone making an obligatory "don't bring religion into politics" remark could ever constitute as persecution! Come on! Now, I am absolutely not saying to not find solace in the incredibly powerful and beautiful words of God. They should be what define our lives, as He changes us through them. But they should never be used in such a non-chalent manner. I am also not saying to not have an opinion. Absolutely have one. I have one. In fact, I am one of the most stubborn and opinionated people you will ever meet, as many of you can (often unfortunately) attest. What I am saying is do not ever let scripture proceed opinion. It should always preceed opinion. Period. Your guy lost? Oh no! Your guy won? Great... You know what happened to my guy? They beat Him relentlessly for hours. They tore at His flesh with the worst tools of torture imaginble. They mocked Him allthewhile, tearing into His very soul, attempting to plant the seeds of doubt and regret. They made Him carry the very tree that they would use to hang Him upon through the streets of the city after all of this. He walked up a hill, where they fashioned His hands to that tree, and then nailed Him with three nails to it. They freaking nailed Him to it! They then hung Him up for all to see, as they mocked Him more and more. And they did not even give Him His own hill on which to die. No, He instead shared it with two thieves, telling Him that He was as worthless as they. He died in six hours. That's it. Six hours. It took nearly three days on average for a person to die of crucifixion. They were so surprised that they stabbed His side to make sure He was dead. But He did not stay dead, no! Instead, He rose from His earthly tomb, and walked into glory just as He said He would! Amen! Our lives are not dictated by those in earhly authority above us. No, it is dictated by the One who endured all of this for you, for me. When did the church lose sight of this? The church becomes politically active, making claims for this and that in the Name of God, instead of loving people. Biblical principle should always preceed our opinions, our principles, our actions, our love. It was disgusting for me to see how so many people who I know to be wonderful loving members of the body of Christ slander so many in the name of political view. Perspective? Four years<Eternity. No matter what you may think politically, or even religiously for that matter you cannot argue that. Four years will always be less than forever. And our hope is in eternity, enthroned as the Name above ALL Names, sitting at the right hand of the very God and creator of everything. Our hope is not in an election, or that our opinions are right, so very right, the most right that right could be.

Thank you so much for reading this. Please please please leave any and all thoughts that you have. If you want to message me on FB, that we could talk privately, I more than invite you to. If you disagree with me, I am so okay with that, but please tell me. Let iron sharpen iron. If you agree with me, or have more to add, please feel free to do so. I truly and deeply love you all, and thank you for your thoughts and prayers so very much. Please know that this was not easy for me to type. I find myself being convicted and guilty of everything I've written...so excuse any lack of flow or thought, as I was very emotional and passionate as I wrote! I'm sure you understand!

I'm sorry if this seemed as a rant, and I can see how it reads as one, but I assure you that my heart in typing these words is to challenge you to live as the church, as the very bride of Christ. I am sorry if you feel attacked by this, but I hope that you see rebuking as loving instead of sinful and hurtful. I very much hope and pray that these words are a blessing to you, and a challenge to remember that we as the church are called to love people. Three scriptures I leave you with to chew on are Luke 10:25-37, 1 Peter 3:8-22 and James 3. Please read them, pray on them, and respond to them in life and love. I know I am.

Joel

From Abraham to Isaac to Tiramisu

"The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make you descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.'" -Genesis 22:15-18
"But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' And God said, 'I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.' Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of you fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?' God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" -Exodus 3:11-14
"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have i not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:6-9
"The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine-press to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, He said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.' 'Pardon me, my Lord,' Gideon replied, 'but if the lord is with us, why all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.' The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?' 'Pardon me, my Lord,' Gideon replied, 'but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.' The Lord answered, 'I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.'" -Judges 6:11-16
"The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and He let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His word." -1 Samuel 3:19-21
"David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him." 2 Samuel 5:9-10
1 Kings 19:9-13, Jeremiah 1:4-12, Ezekiel 3:22-27, Ezekiel 34:11-16, Micah 6:6-8, Matthew 5:1-12, etc.

You get the point. God both promises His presence to be with you, and that you would rest (live) in His presence. What an amazing thing this is to know! God is absolutely showing me just how true this is. He constantly reminded His people that He is with them. His presence is shown in clouds, pillars of fire, quaking of the ground, a whisper, many things. Yet He yearns to live within us, and promises to do so, as we live within the calling He has put on our lives. His promise to be with His people, His prophets is so often accompanied with the word "go" in some way. It is an active faith that is at the heart of our calling. This calling is simple. I've realized how much I don't like the sentence "I just don't know what I'm called to do." or "I'm just really trying to see what God is calling me to do." As there is (or can be) certainly wisdom in these statements, the answer is simple. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all you strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. That's it. The rest just comes with going, moving for Him. We are the gospel's hands and feet, pushing forward by the Spirit to bring disciples of all nations before the cross' redemptive power and holiness! And the only reason I speak so passionately and blatant about this is because not so long ago I was the one who was living in the crippling fear of, "Well, I just don't know what God has for me..." and I am seeing the harvest of living out Luke 10:25-37. We remember so easily the story of the good Samaritan, yet we (I) so easily forget the context of this parable! The teacher of the law asks, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' I mean, how big of a question is that?! Isn't that the question that we are placing our hope, our faith in?! And when Jesus asks him what is in the scriptures, he quotes Deut 6, Love the Lord your God, etc, and Jesus says, "You have answered correctly. DO THIS and you will live." It's right there! He isn't saying that we need to do anything to gain life (salvation) but He is saying that our faith life should be active, as an active faith life ALWAYS POINTS TO JESUS! It has to! It's kind of the point of living faithfully! And I cannot tell you all how much God is showing me this while living here in India. He is teaching what it means when He says, "Go, for I will be with you." What an incredible promise that we can take part in! Amen?!

Last night, I met a man named Isaac. Isaac is an evangelist in a very remote area in Andhra Pradesh (where I am haha). I was told that I needed to hear his testimony, so I listened as he began, and then waited to have it translated to me. Give me a break guys, I've been here three weeks. I can barely say thank you for the water at this point. That may sound random, but, come to SE India, you'd say it all the time too! haha Back to Isaac. He began telling his story, and I was immediately amazed. "He was in an accident, a bad car accident two months ago." The pastor who was translating began telling me. "I broke my back, near the top of my spine, and could not walk." The pastor then began to fill in a little bit of the back story for me as well. "Just a month and a half ago, we came to pray for him. He was stuck on a bed, laying down, having gone to the bathroom all over himself as he couldn't move. He had gone to the doctor, but they couldn't operate on him because one, he's a leper, and two he had no money. On top of it all, there was a small small chance that the operation would even help." Let me stop there. Yeah, don't forget that this guy is freaking telling me this story himself. At the church. Three blocks away from the house we first saw him at as we drove by. Continuing... "We went up to him, me and three of the other pastors, and began to pray for him. We prayed for healing, for a miracle, and for God to give him a testimony that cannot be silenced." Isaac jumped in again, as the pastor had then let me know that he left for America on a trip the next day, so he did not even know what happened. "God came to him in a vision," the pastor was telling me, "and awoke him from his sleep. He looked up, and saw me coming at him. I jumped up above him, standing on his bed, straddling him with legs on either side. I took a small wire, pulled him upright, and pushed it down through his neck. I then tied it off. I let him lay back down, looked at him and smiled. 'Do not worry.' I said to him. The next day he woke up, and stood right up!" Wait, what?! Are you freaking kidding me?!?! This guy freaking stood up! This leper! This man who doctors said surgery couldn't fix. They told him to essentially go home to be with your family, and die. "So he went to the doctor that had sent him away. The doctor was amazed, he could not believe his eyes. (No way? haha) 'How did this happen?' he asked Isaac. They took an X Ray, and yeah, you guessed it. Nothing. Wrong. With. His. Back. Let me repeat that. Isaac, who had been in a terrible accident not even a month before this, who was bedridden, laying in his own waste, who was told surgery was useless, and he just go die, was healed completely. 'Like a young man' the doctor told him!" Isaac then went on to tell the doctor (who is a doctor in a prominent, high class Hindu area, and a high class hindu himself) that it was all God. That Jesus had come to him in a vision as his pastor and healed him. The doctor could not deny this, as the testimony was being told to him firsthand by the man he'd told to die! How freaking awesome is that?! Now here's the really awesome part. This man was telling me all of this outside of the church in the dark. We went inside to take a picture together (I'll get it up as soon as possible), and then I saw him. He, having been born a leper, has only his big toe on his right foot, all of his toes are half on his left, his right hand is missing every fingertip, on his left hand his ring and pinky finger were grown only halfway, and he is blind in his left eye. Oh yeah, and he was paralyzed a month ago in a terrible car crash. This man exuded a joy that was blinding with the light of Jesus. Blinding I tell you. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever known, and I am truly honored to have met a man of such great courage and faith. He was and is a true walking-out-his-faith believer, and God is certainly with him!

Today was a little different, but pretty great nonetheless! It started out with a wonderful devotion. I have the devotion book Jesus Calling, and have been in it everyday (as it's designed). It has been a great encouragement, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a devo right now. I then went to my pastor's house to work on a couple of projects with him. They are trying to build a recording studio here, so they can produce their own worship music to give out to evangelists as an outreach tool, which obviously I love. Today, I went to the building where the studio is going to be built and took measurements of everything, I mean EVERYTHING to send it to a man in America who is going to build it for them in late March, early April. That took quite a while, but it was so much fun. Two other pastors came with to help, and we had a really fun time, laughing the whole time through. It was nice to just laugh and make fools of ourselves. It has been a while since I've done this, and it felt as refreshing as a well timed song can feel. I then went back to my pastor's house to help him with some emails. Since I can type in English a little bit faster (okay, a lot faster. He's Indian...it's not a fair fight!) I send out many emails for him to teams and people in America who are planning trips to come here. Before doing this, however, I had lunch. And oh my, let me tell you about this. It was this lamb curry kind of stuff (it wasn't exactly curry, but yeah...curried lamb is all I can call it) but it was incredible. Melt in you mouth incredible. Over rice, my mouth watered the entire time I ate. Then we worked. Then my pastor made a phone call to have someone shop for vegetables for me. Side note, upon receiving the veggies tonight, it was very apparent to me that this man knows how to shop. Oh man did he get me a TON of veggies, far more than I had asked for. I am quite excited! I cook for myself most of the time, so this is a good thing! Back to the pastor's house lol. Right as we are about to leave, his wife asks if she can make me a treat, and asks me to wait a few minutes. I figure, yeah, of course I can wait for you to make me a tasty desserty treat! I mean, this was the woman who had made the lamb. Come on! Well, she made this stuff (again, pics will be up when I can!) that was made out of biscuits (cookies that look like giant Ritz crackers and have a hazelnut flavor) with some kind of cream sauce and espresso in it. It was like an Indian Tiramisu (a super tasty Italian dessert for those unfortunate souls who don't know what this is). Needless to say, it was incredible and I ate way too much of it. It was SO good though! Then, when I got back, I continued to write a short story that I'm writing here, which will get posted on here when it's finished...maybe...lol then I took a small nap, listened to a sermon, some good music, and had dinner. That's about it! Overall great day!

Well guys, I hope this has been a blessing for you! I love you all VERY much and think of you often! Please continue to pray for me. Pray that His words would overflow from my mouth, and that His Spirit and Presence are felt and seen in me in all that I do. Thank you! Love you!