Jason in China

Hi Everyone! My friend Jason is going to China next week. Please read what he's written regarding what the Lord has called him to.

Thanks,
Joy

China - Touch Their Poverty!

I have been asked to be a part of a human trafficking assessment team to
Mainland China. I will be going with a team of Salvation Army leaders to
various project sites within poor communities in China which are at risk
for human trafficking. My role on the team will be to see the situation
through the eyes of a westerner and give my feedback as to how this problem
may best be communicated to the west. My goal for the trip is to "touch
their poverty." Or rather I want to be touched by their poverty! I want to
feel the discomfort of their living to the point of it breaking my heart.

This is something that The Salvation Army has always been called to do.
Last August I was able to read, "Good Morning China!" a book by Lt. Colonel
Check-Hung Yee which tells the history of The Salvation Army in China. In
an epilogue his daughter says, "As you step back in time and experience
God’s transforming work in this generation of brave soldiers, may your
heart also leap and be fanned to flame with the bond of love for China’'s
1.3 billion souls.’ As I read this book that is exactly what happened. I
found myself with a burning desire to go to China and see the Army at work
there.

I plan on coming back to the States with a renewed vision and passion for
God's calling on my life for the world. I will be leaving next Wednesday
and coming back on April 8th. I would love to ask you all to support me and
the team. Please pray for us even now as we prepare to go. On my return it
is my plan to provide a report of the trip on this blog.

One friend wrote to say the Lord had layed the following verse on his heart
regarding this trip:

'You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap
their hands. Instead of the thorn-bush will grow a pine tree, and instead
of briers, the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an
everlasting sign which will not be destroyed.'

Isaiah 55:12

I am raising support to cover the cost of this trip. If you feel that you
would like to help support this trip financially or would just like more
information please contact me at Jason_Pope@uss.salvationarmy.org.

Correction

Today I stand corrected. I should really consult the Word of God before I decide whether or not something is or is not Biblical. My good friend Anna pointed out to me that the saying "God is not a God of confusion" does indeed come from scripture and is not just some cute little saying that church people throw at us in the middle of a crises. I was wrong. I have been wrong in my life about a lot of things. I just wasn't ready for the simple that day - that's all.

I'm not quite sure I'm even where I was when I wrote last time. I think it was a pretty saying really - to ask God not to calm the storm but to show me his presence in all of it. I was too quick to criticize the disciples though. I always am.

Right about now I'm wishing the Lord would wake up and calm the storm.

In other news however, my beautiful cousin Leslie just had a gorgeous baby girl named Lindsey Nichole yesterday who weighed 4 pounds and 14 oz and was 19 inches long! God is the author of life.

Happy Birthday Lorelie and Beth!

It's Beth and Lorelie's Birthdays! I wish them both a really great day! Enjoy you two! I love you both!

Joy

God is a god of confusion?

I've been gone a long time! I didn't know it until I checked the date of my last post and realized that it was almost a month ago.

I don't have anything profound to give today. Marty and I are in the middle of the biggest decision we've ever faced as a married couple and while I know in the end this journey will be rewarding, in the middle it's just downright frustrating and tiring.

Someone, a lovely lady who attends Atlanta Temple, stopped me last Wednesday night after she found out about the decision we're facing and said, "Just remember, God is not a God of confusion. If there's confusion, God's not in it." I have used that line before with people. I believed it as well. Until last Wednesday night when a person offered that advice to me who doesn't really know me or Marty all that well. I walked away thinking - "I don't remember that part of the Bible." I don't remember Jesus saying of his father that he wasn't a God of confusion. What I'm pretty sure of is that the disciples spent a lot of their days in confusion - scratching their heads because they couldn't quite figure this Jesus guy out.

He definitely confused them - and the world around them.

I was left with the thought that the cliche I was handed wasn't really Biblically based at all but just something Christians made up to make themselves feel better instead of really pushing through to the end of the confusion to reveal a deeper relationship with their father. It sucks being in the middle of two choices. It sucks not really knowing what God wants from me specifically in all of this but I know he's teaching me that I need to listen more and pray more. Perhaps God is not a god of confusion but I'm beginning to believe he's in the middle of the confusion helping you know which way is up.

I'm reminded of the disciples in the boat during the storm. They thought they were going to drown. They woke Jesus up and he immediately calmed it but then he questioned their faith.

Is my faith big enough to ride out this storm? I don't want him to calm it if it doesn't bring growth.

Teach me Lord, in the middle of the confusion to hear you clearly and to trust you completely. I will not ask you to make the storm go away - just that you allow me to understand your presence in all of it.