goin to Brazil

Headin to Brazil today for 2 weeks. Will be serving and sharing with the people in Belo Horizonte. Doin ministry in the streets and outside the brothels. Please pray for this outreach. That people would be delivered from their damaging lifestyles and restored by the life that is Christ.

'Sharing and Caring'

Met a man at Tompkins Square Park today who introduced himself as 'Sharing & Caring'. He was very poor but so joyful and kind. He talked about how God gave him a desire to write poetry and he even wrote a poem for me. Please pray for this man. He faces more struggles than most of us ever will. The picture above is one of the poems he wrote about the homeless.

rundown/up & coming - June 15, 2009

Just finished the second full week here at Street Life and it's been great. Most of the stuff we do around here is about as new to me as it is to the teams coming in. The two teams we had last week were energized and willing and it was encouraging to hang with them. One team was even from Ohio and close to where I go to school at UD. Small world indeed.

My roomate let me borrow the book, "The Shack", and I just finished it (apparently everyone's read it except for me). It's one of the few books I've actually read in a long time, but it was very good. Definitely poses some interesting and refreshing images of God. It lays out specific insight and answers about God pertaining to some big-time questions that most of us have. Anyway, it was pretty powerhouse!


The outreach to Brazil is coming up soon! We leave next Wednesday (June 24 - July 7). We're all pretty jacked! I'm also very excited because the team has been practicing a drama that we'll perform on the streets called "Puppet-Master". It shows the battle between Jesus and Satan for control of our lives. Please pray for this trip. That people would see God's heart for them and turn to Him for LIFE!

Continuing to have interesting, nourishing, and Lord-orchestrated encounters on the streets. Spoke with an Asian man for about a 1/2 hour and he poured out his appreciation for the ministry and work the Lord was doing there as well as his desire to get involved in the King's work. Also got to hang out with Bob for a while and have a cup of soup with him (though he had about 4). Bob has been homeless for 2 years and has a soft heart, but like many, he's very discouraged and needs the true hope of Christ. We got to pray together. I hope I see him again.

Thank you to everyone who's interceding and protecting and blessing me and this ministry through your prayers and support.

on the streets

been getting to spend some good time on the streets this past week… getting to hear from the lost and homeless as well as share some things with them, pray with them, and be prayed for by brothers and sisters in the Lord who are passing by. During a prayer station outreach in Queens I got to talk a long time with a man from India who’s teaching in seminary over there. It was cool to hear some of his stories about what God is doin in that part of the world. He urged me many times during our conversation to PRAY FOR INDIA. We prayed together and we might meet up sometime to talk more since he'll be in the states for a while.

Also got to hear part of our team leader’s story about their response and presence at Ground Zero right after 9/11. It was so intense to hear it from someone who was actually there when it happened and their experiences during that time prove the Lord’s sovereignty and favor.

NYC - first couple days

got here to Street Life on friday, May 29. had a day or two to get settled (unpack, get groceries, etc.) The staff is so welcoming. they even made a sign for my room when i moved in.. : - ). i've only been here a few days and it already feels like home. get to be semi-roomies with a legit guy who has already poured some of his insight from the Lord into my life.

the first team of the summer arrived today to stay with Street Life for the week and do ministry. We're gonna be doin some service for Street Life tomorrow and then we're goin to a park to minister and hang out with the homeless as well as others.

some sisters preached tonight about Christ's humility and our urgent call to serve humbly. Also about God's compassion for the afflicted, the broken and the poor. how we need to embrace that same compassion for people and be the light of Christ to them.

God is continually affirming that this is where i'm supposed to be this summer. Am praying hard for what the Lord would have me do after I finish my last year of college.

Pre-NYC: May 25

hangin out in my hometown, Wooster, OH this week before I leave for NYC to stay with Street Life Ministries this summer. thought i was gonna leave a couple weeks ago, but the date got pushed back. was excited to go, but God has totally used these past 3 or 4 weeks to bring restoration and preparation. my roomie's drivin me to NYC on friday. will def. be an epic road trip. should get there on friday and will probably have a day or two to get settled and then it's right into the action. headin into the streets to listen to people, encourage and provide for them, share with and pray with them. it's going to be a powerhouse transforming time for all involved. the staff at Street Life has some serious intensity and fire for the Lord. i'm hoping to learn a lot from their obedience and can't wait to experience the amazing gifts God has graced them with. the outreach trip to brazil is from june 24 - july 7. there will be live worship and testimonies and dancing for the Lord in the streets. am prayin that this summer will be a good indicator of whether or not Christ might be callin me to full time ministry at Street Life or anywhere else or not.

thank you everyone who is praying! God's using you to make this happen! please continue to pray.
thank you everyone who donated shoes and clothes and bibles! people will be touched and people will experience Christ's love!
thank you everyone who provided financial support! you are the senders!

SEALED

Was at a prayer gathering this weekend. 20-30 people circled up in a living room in a house off-campus. After hearing an epic, powerhouse and real story about a Muslim who turned to Christ and was stoned to death by her own family people began to cry prayers out to the Lord. When we had been praying for a while, a woman spoke up and invited anyone who hadn’t fully trusted their future and life to Christ to surrender to Him… that this was that moment… that this was the night. Nothing happened right then so we continued praying. A few minutes passed and then a girl stood up in the room. She said something along the lines of… I’m that girl. I’ve never fully accepted Christ, but now I think I’m ready. She sat down in the middle of the room and many laid hands on her. She herself proclaimed out loud that God is GOOD! That she trusts her life to Christ and that she never wants to stop saying His name until death.

She was flooded with prayers and encouragement from excited believers in the room. It was powerful to see the Lord bring a high school girl to her knees and confess in front of many strangers that she accepts His grace!

There’s no goin back for her. She is changed forever! God’s spirit LIVES in her!
He is true! He is transforming! He is life-giving!
Thank you God for saving this girl!
Her eternity is sealed forever!

So Simple?

“live simply so others can simply live”

That’s what my friend quoted to me a few weeks ago. What does that even mean? Well, I don’t know, but it’s been weighin heavy on my heart, that’s for sure! Mondo convicting.

I wonder how much money I’ve spent on pizza? 12 dollar trips to Bdubs once a week or more. Games bought, played for a week and then traded back in. Movies or entire seasons of TV shows that I’ve only watched once, or never. Some of these things are enjoyable, but they’re only a temporary fix. None of them provide lasting satisfaction. And in the case of food I usually don’t feel too great after because it’s usually unhealthy food (double whamster). Not that it’s wrong to enjoy these things sometimes (I think… ?), but the amount and how often I indulge in all these things is far too extravagant and beyond reasonable. Is it all worth it? I don’t think so, but it’s definitely hard to break free of it all.

Could all that this money is used for go instead to sharing a meal with a homeless person, buying someone else a gift or taking care of a friend’s need? Not that I fully do these things, but I imagine these kinds of things to be truly life-giving for all involved.

Am I scheduling my day to include excessive time for movies and games or am I leaving it open so that I can more readily say yes to my roommate when he asks for a ride to the car repair shop? Or yes to a last minute intramural volleyball game? Am I blocking someone from initiating an urgent or deep conversation if I’m completely immersed in a game or movie they would feel bad interrupting? Am I really too busy to talk to my parents on the phone when all they want is their son’s time? Why haven’t I done something with all the clothes I don’t wear?

Lots of seemingly simple questions that don’t all have simple answers I think. It’s a sacrifice to live simply so others can simply live (least it seems that way when I'm so used to having and doing more). But I imagine the overwhelming freedom that will be experienced when I really begin to live simply for Him. Seems that it would be giving up so much, but how much more will be gained?

Trust

How do I believe the truths of God, when on the surface they don’t seem to make any sense?

How do I believe that God allows me to make every decision for myself, even though he knows exactly what I’m going to choose? That Christ’s words were not fabricated by man? How do I believe the seemingly contradictory statement that if I accept and follow Him then I am a “freed slave” of Christ? How do I come to the belief that evolution is not opposed to religion, but perhaps a part of God’s plan for the development of creation? That God is with me when I hurt a friend, fail a test, or experience pain and loneliness? How do I believe I will go to heaven when no one has seen it?

There is no way to prove or gain absolute certainty on any of these things. There is “evidence” that supports both sides, but no argument can guarantee one or the other.

Trust.

Trusting God is the only solution. Without trust I am doomed to live a meaningless, confusing and worrying life. I don’t understand or trust everything about God or entrust everything of myself to Him, but I hope to do a lot more of both. When I try to trust the Lord about something that seems crazy or impossible to me, He begins to reveal the mystery that at first seemed so contradictory. And it’s not really an instantaneous clarity. Over time God shapes my views according to His true perspective (not my perspective or some scholar’s perspective or the world’s perspective, but His).

Trusting is a lifelong battle, but without trust I’m plagued by uncertainty, anxiety and wonderment. What good does that do? Sometimes things just don’t make sense, but “following Christ is not a life of reason and understanding. It’s a life or faith and trust” (O. Chambers).

THANK YOU!

Some people might think that Jesus is unnecessary, ridiculous, “not for them”, or whatever, but I know that my life is not the same and it never will be. I am changed forever. No matter what anyone else thinks or knows, I KNOW how I used to be and how I am NOW. I may not be doing a good job if others don’t see a genuine and lasting difference, but I KNOW there’s a deep, inner, essential difference. A transformation in the primary essence of who I am. A turning around of the things I long for and the things that I live for. I thought I had everyone fooled, but God was not tricked, nor can He be. He saw the hatred I had for some people, the lust, the selfishness and manipulation. You might have thought I was a good kid or that I had most of it together if you knew me before I knew Christ. But I was living a lie. True freedom came when I accepted Christ into my heart. I truly believe that He is the savior of me as well as every person I know and love and every person I’ve never known or loved. But what does He save me from? He saves me from a meaningless, empty life. A confusing, worrisome, and selfish existence. He saves me from myself and all the harm that I can cause to myself and others when I’m not seeking His face. He saves me from eternal separation from Himself and there IS an eternity waiting.

No more do I attempt to live for myself, for the future, or for nothing. I desire to strive with all that I am to live for Him. My hope, purpose, and mission are all found in the absolute actions of Christ on the cross and God’s raising Him from death. There is no possible way for me to deny His existence or His presence in my life. No way to deny His great orchestration from the very greatest of my circumstances to the very least. The very toughest times to the most enjoyable. There is no way that He isn’t real. He’s the sovereign God of the entire universe, knitting together every fiber of my entire being before I even existed.

I definitely still mess up/sin/falter… whatever you want to call it. I still need to be immensely corrected, sensitized, broken, forgiven, softened, helped, encouraged, challenged, taught. But it’s a lifelong journey. And He’ll be refining me for His glory for the rest of my life. Even when I turn away from Him, when I deliberately disobey and rebel against Him, when I lose hope and give up on Him… Not for one second did, does, or will He ever stop pursuing me or give up on me. It’s extremely tempting to immerse myself in my previous ways and I’ll struggle for sure, but I’ve gotten a taste of His love and mercy and it’s unforgettable!

Thank God for making Himself known to me NOW rather than later! Where would I be at this moment if He hadn’t rescued me?