Pictures from the Trip

I didn't have enough pictures to show you the finished product here but I can in the next couple of days. This is the picture of the pit we cleaned out and sealed. It was one of the main drains for the corps but the Lieutenents' sons also lived in a room that shared a wall with this pit. Unfortunately the mold which was growing on the outside of the pit had crept into their room. So, we cleaned the walls to their room and the pit and then sealed the pit. I hope it holds off the mold for a while.



We were also able to waterproof their roof. It didn't look so bad from the outside but the huge waterspot on the inside said differently. It rained every day before we arrived and we were afraid we might not get a change to get this project done but we didn't see a drop the entire time we were there.


I don't know if you can tell from this picture or not but the chapel we started with was not the chapel we ended with. In the beginning the floor was loosely covered with three pieces of carpet that had the seams showing - so we took them up and laid cement and waterproofed the floor. Then we added carpet.


I believe this last picture is of Joe hard at work. He gets paid the big bucks you know!


This is just a picture of the last day of laying cement. Thank goodness I only had to do this for one day. I had some serious nose problems after I breathed in all of that cement dust.

Changing Leaves

I went out tonight to get some things from the store and for the first time this season the air outside actually felt and smelled like Fall. The smell and the feeling aren't really something describable but everytime they happen a wave of nostalgia washes over me. This is my favorite time of year.

As I drove I remembered living not too far from here on Mapleton Drive. I remembered raking leaves into piles in the neighbors yard only to have them wonder if my mom and dad put me up to it. I remember how one particular Fall all ChristyAnn and I would do was jump on her trampoline and make up dance routines to M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This." That all changed the next year because she had gone to summer camp and gotten rid of all of her "non-Christian" music. Even then I wasn't that big a fan of burning music. I remembered how every school year I would come home after the second or third day and crawl up in my mother's lap and cry and cry because I couldn't do the work. It was all too hard.

In High School Fall meant football games and eating at Denny's afterward. It meant trips to the beach on the weekends and Marching Competitions at Disney World. It meant Homecome (whether it was a dance or not) and lots of pictures.

Fall always meant new. It meant I was beginning again - new friends sometimes, always new challenges (some I thought I couldn't handle), new romances every once in a blue moon, new chances to grow.

What I don't remember was worry. I don't remember ever worrying while I was jumping on ChristyAnn's trampoline - unless there was homework to be done. I could face the next day with certainty because my entire future didn't hang on it - just a grade or two. I could trust that everything was going to be alright.

Today, as I reminisced I realized why I loved Fall and why so often there is also a little bit of sadness in the air. Fall used to mean change - change that always produced growth. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really growing and how to mark it. I used to have a marker (Washables if you must know). Fall also reminds me of a time when I used to have childlike faith. I believe that's what the Lord is teaching me right now as He leads me into something new - childlike faith. It's a simple trusting with wide, sparkly eyes and laughter. It's a faith that doesn't hold on to the edges or strain to see what's around the corner but basks in the moment.

Those are the two things I want this fall - growth and childlike faith.

Happy Oranges and Yellows,
Joy

I Heart Mexico City

I returned home yesterday from Mexico City with one pair of clean underwear, an entire suitcase of stinky clothes (no comments please team), a few souvenirs and an overwhelming knowledge that I had been and still am in the presence of God.

Before leaving and even during the first part of the week that we were there I wasn't expecting much from the Lord. I was just glad to be out of the country and a part of another mission trip. I really looked forward to it but I really thought it would be just another mission trip.

Throughout the course of the week what I learned was that God answers prayer that I don't remember uttering; he allows us to be a part of experiences that will forever teach us; he brings us into contact with other believers to strengthen His body of believers; he puts in frong of us impossible situations because He wants us to understand who completes the work.

The beginning part of the week was normal. We went to church on Sunday and began our construction on Monday - removing old flooring, laying cement, waterproofing the roof, cleaning away some mold and mildew in a room and a pit that backed up to the room, sealing the room, laying carpet. All these things we worked on all week long. None of us could have ever imagined that we would get them finished, not to mention the fact that eight out of the eleven of us got sick during the last part of the week. He truly completed all of these tasks.

Here's where it gets cool though. Wednesday and Thursday we were able to partner with a group in Mexico City called Casa Alianza (Covenant House). This organization works with street children. They go to them, play games with them, teach them about the dangers of drugs, sex trafficking, rape, living on the streets and then offer them a better choice - the choice to come and live at Casa Alianza. The deal is however, that in order to live at Casa Alianza, the kids have to be willing to leave behind their drugs. On Thursday I went to Casa Alianza. Because everything up to this point in the trip had been routine for me, I was really hoping that the Lord would challenge me this day - speak to me, change me, something. I had placed all my eggs in one basket for the Lord to do his part. So, we get to Casa Alianza and Emanuel and I are teamed up with Fransisco and Erika. We leave Casa Alianza to go talk to Juan about coming back to the crisis center with us. We find him curled up under newspaper right outside of a metro station asleep and can't convince him. Fransisco and Erika promise to come back on Saturday. The next stop is supposed to be at a hospital where a young boy had been admitted because he had swallowed the inhalent that most of the children who live on the street use. On the way there however, we found two boys sleeping at a metro station so we stopped and played uno with them for a while. Then Fransisco and Erika convinced them to come back to Casa Alianza with us for a shower and a change of clothes. Fransisco headed on to the hospital to visit the boy who swallowed the inhalent. When we got to the crisis center we simply played more games with Julian and Gabriel (the two boys) and then Erika walked them through some of the dangers of living on the street. They had just run away from home the day before and when asked said that no one would miss them. I was really hoping that they would choose to stay at the home but they just wanted the clothes and food and to return to the metro station. After that, Emanuel and I didn't leave the home. It was 12 and we weren't supposed to return to the children's home where we were staying all week until 5:00 and we were through for the day. When the other team returned I was so disappointed. They hadn't stopped all day. They had encounter after encounter with children who were huffing while talking to them, children who wouldn't give up their drugs, they played soccer with some. They just didn't quit until they came back to Casa Alianza. I was upset that I hadn't had a better day - that was supposed to be my challenge. That was the day I told the Lord to speak to me! When we returned to the Chidlren's Home I journaled some. I asked the Lord, no, I told the Lord that if that wasn't going to be the day that He needed to speak to me another day. Then, however, he removed a veil from my eyes and began to teach me things I hadn't thought of until then. He showed me that I continually ask for more while I'm in the States and when He gives me that gift - it isn't good enough. I need to be thankful for what He gives. He revealed to me that ministering to street children wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Playing games with them was easy and I could do it! That wasn't something I expected. He showed me the fluidity those who work at Casa Alianza have. They had an appointment with someone else when they stopped to play Uno with those two young boys. If it had been me, I might would have kept going hoping they would be there on the way back. They understood the importance of every single child and they trusted that every single one would get visited that day. Then, the most important lesson I learned from those that work at Casa Alianza that day was persistance in the face of addiction. I learned what it looks like to keep hoping even when it seems like there is no hope. I saw what it must look like for the father to continually come after us. The folks at Casa Alianza offer so much more to these children than what they have - clean clothes, shelter, food, rehabilitation, and most importantly a future. Most of the time these children reject their offers because they want to remain where they are, where it is comfortable. It was an incredible picture to me that day of the God who pursues us.

Friday we finished the floors in the church and on Saturday we got to go to the Pyramids that the Aztecs built. Only two civilizations in the world built pyramids - the Egyptians and the Aztecs and I got to climb one of them. What a cool day - despite a sunburn on the back of my legs.

Then Sunday came. Gamaliel spoke that morning on Isaiah 6:1 - 8. What's funny is that I was content. I had learned my lesson (or so I thought) and had forgotten (almost) that I told the Lord to speak to me since he hadn't on the day I went to Casa Alianza (even though he obviously did). What's cool is that the Lord didn't forget my prayer and was faithful even though I didn't need him to speak or at least I didn't think I needed him to. Anyway, Gammy spoke and he talked about the Lord asking all of us the question "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" He talked about how the day he went with Casa Alianza he forgot that those children were dirty and stunk but remembered that the Lord loved them. He talked about the hard places that the Lord calls us to. I remembered then how I heard a sermon once about the verses after verse 8 where God tells Isaiah what He wants him to do. He tells him he will preach and preach and their hearts will get fat and that He will weed them away until only a stump is left. I just kept thinking about how it's not always easy what God calls us to do. Then I realized what I had been doing. I had been taking away what I promised the Lord. A long time ago I said to the Lord what Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me!" When I was young he called me to be a missionary and since then he has been confirming it. The hard part however, is that Marty and I's callings don't line up and we have a hard time trying to figure out how it will work. So, Sunday morning I realized that what I had been doing was conditioning my response to God. I was telling him that perhaps short-term missions is what He's called me to do. I was telling him that perhaps since the challenge is harder at home that perhaps incarnational ministry is what He's called me to do. Sunday mornig he struck my heart. He told me that I couldn't do that anymore. I had given him all of myself a long time ago and I couldn't take it back. He wasn't taking His calling back - I couldn't take myself back. I was trying to figure it out on my own. He convicted me of that too. It's about trust and faith and allowing him to work it out.

All week long I kept remembering the verse, "Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine." (Ephesians 3:20) We never could've asked for or imagined the things that we accompished at the beginning of the week. We never could've even imagined a team like ours fitting together like it did. We never could've asked for anything that the Lord freely gave to us. When I got home I realized that's what the Lord wants me to claim for my life. I can't ask for or imagine big enough the things that He's going to give me. I can ask for the small - which is what I'm doing now and it seems huge but I know He'll give me more than that. I can't wait! I just have to hold on for the ride.

Bring it on Lord! Bring it on!

Isolation vs. Community

At the Catalyst Conference we watched a video about a group of families who share a house. Each family has a floor, they share a common eating space and they always share meals. These families, mind you, are not just married couples. They are married with children. They help raise each other's children and walk through life together. Sounds ideal, right?

On closer inspection, I thought, how would I feel about one of my friends disciplining my child? In essence, that's what they're allowing each other to do. How would I feel about always having someone else in my house - sharing meals, sharing living space? Who would do the dishes? Would there be rules and if so, someone, if not, everyone would break them. How often would there be fights? How often would I actually get along with my friends once I started to live with them?

One of the speakers at Catalyst (I think it was Bill Hybels but I can't be sure) said, "Young adults speak so openly about community and how you long for it but I rarely see you live it - take part in it." Ouch.

I want it. I talk about it. I desire it. But I live in isolation. I don't know my neighbors and I know that if I lived with any of my friends there would come a time when we would come close to losing our frienship.

Then I think, isn't that why we should choose community though? I can like you as long as your nice to me and as long as I show you everything that's great about me. Can I love you through your sin? Can I love you through your faults?

Marriage is a form of community - I can't choose to walk away from Marty. We're in this forever. But my friends? My neighbors? If you get on my nerves I can just walk away from you until it blows over. That's just not true friendship really. That's not true relationship. That's not true community.

It wouldn't be pretty, true community. However, I honestly believe that if the world could see a picture of community among Christians they would be drawn to Christ. They would see a love that passes from the superficial into what matters - the bone and the marrow.

I guess these are just the beginning thoughts and I haven't really come to any conclusion. I know I'm not ready to move into a house with another set of married friends. I know community looks different in different settings but what I'm tired of is talking about it and continuing to live in isolation.

Where does the rubber meet the road? Where do we begin?

The Catalyst Conference

Last Thursday and Friday I was able to attend the Catalyst Conference where I got to hear Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Donald Miller, Malcolm Gladwell and Erwin McManus speak. I've just been going through my notes and I'm overwhelmed at the knowledge God imparted to me through these speakers in just a short amount of time. I want to make sure I unwrap it all and do so slowly so that I don't miss anything but for today I wanted to share with you the notes I took from Erwin McManus' session. By far, he was the one who spoke to me the most and I believe he is speaking to the church. He is a prophetic voice for this time. So, I thought I would share.

John 9. This is the Scripture verse where Jesus heals a blind man by putting spitting in the dirt, making mud and putting it on his eyes. Then he tells the blind man who now has mud all over his face to go to the pool of Siloam and wash it off. Right! How does the blind man get there? Why doesn't Jesus just touch him and heal him? Erwin explained that the word Siloam means sent. And here's where it starts to get really good.

We're all chasing daylight - like the blind man. Sometimes we're just like the blind man, walking around with mud caked on our face but we all must go to the place we're sent. Jesus won't do everything for us - he wants us to go. He's sending us. There are some things Jesus leaves for us to do. Many times it doesn't make sense to anyone else except us.

Then Erwin said there are five paradigm shifts the church has to make in order to stop being relevant and to start leading the way! We let culture dictate our order, our programs, our ministry. We need to be leading the way, not trying to catch up. He said that the following five things will enable us to lead the way.

1. We need to shift from standardization to uniqueness. We're known for standardization. We tell people they have to become like everyone else. We lose our instinct for what's real. If you want to find out God's unique fingerprint on your life go where Jesus is.

2. We need to move from utility to creativity. We plug people in rather than try to light them up. (I think this one was my favorite one) Move from visionary to visional. Move from a dream God has given us to a people who God has given dreams! We need to become a people who believe in the passionate gifting of every human being. Become the place where people discover that people were created to create. The sin that is consuming us is average. The defining moment of this movement is that it would be full of dreamers and visionaries.

3. We need to shift from homogeny to diversity. We need to be a place where we actually start liking people (yikes) - people different than us. You want people to go to church with you but you don't want people to live their lives with you. You want the church to be a lie. People don't leave their tribes without their leaders. Make space for leaders who are different than us. Homogeny communicates that we are everything. People should be your highest value. Go out and love them into a relationship with God.

4. Reject pragmatism and move toward mysticism. People are becoming increasingly spiritual and people are walking away from the church because they don't consider the church spiritual enough. We are intrinsically spirits and we know stuff we don't know how we know (he gave the example here of Peter knowing Christ was the Son of God and Jesus told him there was no other way he could have known that than by the spirit). Step into the invisible reality of the kingdom of God. You know when you love someone? You can't test that. We need to become a movement of mystical warriors. People are looking for evidence that you have been with God.

5. Shift from conviction to compassion! (My heart sang and was convicted all at the same time over this one.) The Holy Spirit convicts. He tells us to go and be compassion and wrap them in this insane love. People without God are asking if love really exists.

All this that is happening is to bring him glory - even if we have to go there with mud on our face.

Woohoo! Go Erwin! That's all I wanted to say for the rest of the day!