Local opportunities

operation care dallas promo 2010 from Cola Pictures on Vimeo.

So far I've been sharing with you about how GAiN works around the world. Well this month we have an opportunity to serve right here in the Dallas area! Operation Care Dallas is hosting a Christmas party on December 18 at the Dallas Convention center for all the homeless people in Dallas, TX. This is a one day event where the homeless and outcasts of society are the guests of honor. GAiN has sent  27 total pallets of aid including new clothing, duffle bags, bottled water, toys, blankets and coats to be distributed on the day of the event. But aid is not the only thing that is needed on this day, hundreds of volunteers are needed to make this happen. Here are just a few of the volunteer opportunities you could be a part of!

• Children:  Help pack toys, set up Friday before the event, Help man areas such as bounce houses, gifts, art, family pictures, ponies/petting zoo, etc. After the event, help box and clean up.
• Homeless Gifts: GIFT DRIVES – organize drives around the city, help with the packing of gifts, connect with stores/ organizations for donations of shoes, coats, toys, personal care products,
   
• Evangelism/Prayer:  Share with the homeless the only Hope we have who is also the greatest Gift of all – Jesus! PRAY for them individually before and during the event. Connect our homeless and needy friends to churches around who would continue to disciple them to become a productive member of our community. Would love to have more Hispanic members, a great need!! Prayer is where the Power is!
• Medical / Dental / Vision : Medical Professionals, contribute your time and expertise to help ease the pain of homeless and needy families. 
   
• Footwashing and Homeless Shoes: An act of servitude will be demonstrated at the Foot washing area where the homeless will be treated like royalty! Provide new shoes to homeless adults.
   
• Entertainment: Provide a worshipful atmosphere where God is magnified by having some selected musicians and  groups that would provide music and entertainment. Will connect with churches and other Christian groups who could share their talents. 
• Inside Ministries: I did this a couple of years ago, it was really neat!
  • Hair Cut - Hairstylists and Barbers to provide our homeless friends with a new outlook.
  • Makeover - For Makeover Professionals. Provide a make over area to our homeless friends with haircuts, make up and manicures to aid in their physical well being.
  • Family Counseling - provide professional assistance to meet the mental, emotional, psychological and legal needs to our guests. Assessment will be made and direct them to the local and available resources in the community for further counseling.  Contact other Christian Counseling agencies to be a part of this service.
  • Food - Conducts Food drives at their church/org. Collects the Food donated, Help serve and clean up at the Food area.
     
• Facility (Decorations, Security/Guest Assistance, Transportation): Help set up and decorate the facilities to be cheerful and welcoming for the homeless. Provide Guest Assistance services to the guests, and supplement the security personnel. Assist with logistics of goods, loading/unloading and set up.

Sounds pretty awesome! 

More pictures

Processing

Well I'm back from Guatemala and I have mixed feelings about it for sure. I absolutely loved my time in the country. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and yet at the same time I saw so many things that broke my heart. I also met some really sweet friends and got to practice my spanish a little bit :) Today is my day off and I am trying to process through all of my thoughts now that I have been home for two days.

As the media person for the trip, I spent a lot of time observing this week. I had some great times of ministry for sure and it was such a gift to get to meet Benjamin and Yanki (see last post) but for the most part I was behind the scenes taking photos. But I think that was exactly where God wanted me, to see that ministry is NOT about me but about Him and His glory. This concept is definitely something I am thinking about and praying through...more thoughts to come later...

The other thing I am thinking about is "what's next?", "where do I go from here?"  Over 1000 school children received food, shoes, and toys this week. Here are some of the faces we saw. 

So my question is this, what happens to these kids when we get on the airplane and head back to our homes? They continue in their lives and I in mine. Somehow it doesn't seem like enough. We came in and showed them love and met their needs for a moment but there are huge gaping needs that still need to be met. What happens 6 meals later when they are hungry again? Many of these children need new clothes, a shower, and a safe place to live. There are thousands of children in Guatemala that we didn't get to meet many because they can't go to school, they have to work. What happens to those children?  It seems hopeless by human standards, but Jesus said in Matthew 6,  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"  How comforting is it to know that He knows them all. His heart is broken for this world and He is sending out workers into the harvest to love and care for hurting and needy people all around the world. What a privilege to be a part of God's redeeming work. All we have to do is be obedient and go! As I said earlier I got a taste of what it means to love God's people this week and I want more!

So that's where I'm at right now...these are the things God is revealing to me and showing me (a little bit at a time) where He wants me.  I don't know what the future holds for me but I'm continuing on the journey!

Warning: this is a long post but the end is worth it! Keep reading!

So first of all I have to say, Google changed to Spanish automatically. It knew I was in Guatemala...weird!

Second, I LOVE Guatemala! Here's an update from the past couple of days!

Day 1:

We flew into Guatemala City and drove for three hours to our hotel in Zacapa. On the way we stopped for dinner at a restaurant where I accidentally ordered “ceviche” thinking it was an exotic Guatemalan dish. Turns out it was just shrimp cocktail, which I don’t even like. So much for being adventurous! That night after unpacking we unloaded hundreds boxes of MannaPack (FMSC) and Kellogg’s cereal. Each member of the team helped and we got the job done in just 2 hours. We slept well that night!

Day 2:

The next day we woke up and met for a beautiful breakfast by the pool. We spent the majority of the day packing up sacks for the school children. Each sack contains one box of cereal, 4 meal packs (24 meals total), a toy or a pair of shoes, and some candy.  The rest of the day was spent discussing GAiN’s ministry and briefing on the rest of the trip. It was a long day of preparation for the week!

Day 3:

This was our first day of ministry. We woke up early and some of the team loaded up the truck with the bags for the school children.  We ate breakfast and started out on our journey. After driving for about thirty minutes we picked up 2 officials from the ministry of education and continued on to our village. As we entered the village we passed by rows and rows of makeshift houses, most with tin walls held together by sticks. Children came running out to greet us and jumped on the back of our bus as we drove up to the school. I immediately began snapping photos of the children and speaking to them in the little Spanish that I remember from high school. The families were so excited to see us and thankful that we came to bring hope the village. A group from a church in San Juan accompanied us and put on a clown show for the families. Then we took the children into their classrooms and began our small group presentations. Different members of each group shared their testimonies and then we shared the Gospel beads as a large group. Each child received a bracelet along with one of the bags packed the previous day. I met hundreds of children but one stuck out to me on this day. His name was Marvin and he was 15 years old. He caught my attention because he was wearing “Boomerang Express” t-shirt like the ones we had for VBS a couple of years ago. I started talking with him and his friends and once they realized I knew a little Spanish they tried to teach me more. I ended up being the classroom with them and gave Marvin a Gospel bead bracelet. After the presentation we went back outside and I was surprised to see Marvin running up to me with a beanie baby in hand. He told me he wanted to give me something to remember him by (“a recuerdo”). I had to put the horse in my backpack  (“mochila”) so the other children wouldn’t take it from me. It was such a nice gift and I loved getting to meet Marvin. I can’t wait for tomorrow! 

Day 4: 

Today we went to a school in La Vega de Coban. We played with the school children and passed out shoes and food packets. After lunch we showed the Jesus Film to over 125 students. During one of hte showings of the film I was taking a break outside I noticed two little boys walk up and I wanted to get a picture of them.

When I saw them up close I knew that these children were different than the students at this school. Their shirts were dirty with multiple holes and the youngest one had no shoes. When I asked them if they went to this school they said no, their dad wouldn't let them attend school because they had to watch their nephews while their older sister went to work. We played with some bubbles and then I shared the Gospel bead bracelets with them. The oldest one listened with a sweet smile on his face as I shared (through Rut's interpretation) the story of Jesus. When I asked them if they had ever prayed (or talked to God) they said no. When I asked them if they would like to, they both smiled and nodded. We prayed the prayer and I know that they were talking to God for the first time. Soon afterward their sister and her children came by. We were able to talk with her and figure out more of the story. The oldest sister must work and the two oldest boys stay home from school to watch a 3 yr old a 2 year old and a 5 month old.  Their clothes were torn and dirty and smelled almost acidic. The children had lice and they were in desperate need of a bar of soap and a shower. We gave the sister a pair of tennis shoes and the two oldest boys got Crocs along with six food packets for the family. When Rut was putting the shoes on Benjamin she apologized that they were too big. He replied, "that's OK! Its better than going barefoot!" We were also able to give the 2 year old little girl a brand new dress sewn by one of our volunteers from the distribution center. As we were all talking we got to share the Gospel with the sister and she asked some great questions. However, she has never been to school and therefore cannot read. Talking with this family broke my heart, their story is so sad. It is hard to explain my feelings as I was talking with them but as we were leaving I broke down into tears. I felt so hopeless about the situation until I remembered that God loves this family more than I ever could. And as one of the other teammates reminded me, God was showing his love for them by sending our team to them and all we have to do is "answer the call" to go and serve. 

I don't know where God is taking me on this journey but I think I saw a little glimpse into His heart today.

This is it!

Ok first of all, apology needed. I have been TERRIBLE about posting on this blog! I think I am "social media-ed out" since I do it all day at work. But, excuses excuses.

Anyway, I have to post today because I AM LEAVING FOR GUATEMALA TOMORROW! I wanted to post a schedule of what we will be doing so if anyone wants to pray specifically for our team, you will know how to pray!

Friday: flying to Guatemala City bright and early...
Saturday: training/briefing day in Zacapa.
Sunday: Ministry La Union, we will be ministering to over 180 families (300 children)
Monday: painting and cleaning at a school called La Vega de Coban with 125 kids
Tuesday: 2 different schools each with 250+ kids
Wednesday: 3 different schools (Rio Chqiuito, Pueblo Nuevo, and El Jute each with over 200 kids)
Thursday: several other school combined with 700 kids total, we will also be traveling to Antigua this day.
Friday: Ministry at an elderly home
Saturday: traveling back to Dallas

So, as you can see we will be working with ALOT of kids! We have a container loaded with Carepacks (school supplies), food, blankets, and other aid but it is being held up by customs in Guatemala City. Please pray that it will be released in time for us to use this aid on our trip! I know that God is in control of this situation and He is going to do some amazing things on this trip with or without this container.

Also, please pray for me this week. I am thinking through a lot of things ministry wise and otherwise and I just want to be led by the Lord this week. I am praying for Him to move in big ways in my heart as well as the hearts of the people in Guatemala. I can't wait to see the other side of the ministry that I have been doing for three months now. I can't wait to be able to actually hand out the aid and share Christ's love with people who don't know Him! YAY!

Stay tuned for updates...

Here is a picture of Guatemala in case you are like me (before GAiN) and don't know where it is! http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/maps/guatemala_pol00.jpg

Compelled by the love of Christ

Check out this video from a couple of weeks ago at the Global Aid Network Distribution Center...

An update from Memphis

I am back from Memphis and completely exhausted! We had a great weekend and I learned a lot! First let me explain just what I was doing in Memphis. Global Aid Network is partnering with Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) and Hope Presbyterian Church to provide 100,000 meals to people down in Haiti. FMSC brings the food to be packed, Hope Church provides the $$ and volunteers, and Global Aid Network ships and distributes the food to the people who need it. My co-worker April and I went along to take photos and videos and work the "Social Media" aspect of the event. We set up a booth with brochures and a card with all of our social networking information on it. Then we had a place for people to like our Facebook page right on the spot. We also did a drawing for an IPod touch giveaway. The event took place all day Saturday and Sunday. Most of our time was spent taking photos and shooting video of the participants packing the food. To give you a little bit better picture of what exactly takes place at a food packing event I am inserting a blog post that I wrote for the GAiN blog.


"Chicken! Veggies! Soy! Rice! That’s the battle cry this weekend at Hope Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN. Over 500 volunteers have gathered Saturday and Sunday to pack meals for starving children in Haiti. Did you know that 18,000 children die every day from starvation or starvation related diseases? Not if we can help it! Global Aid Network is partnering with Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) and Hope Presbyterian to pack 100,000 meals to provide hope and healing for these children.

During each packing session volunteers gather together on the steps to hear a presentation from Scott Hendrix, VP Relief and Development at GAiN and Kevin Ewing, MobilePack supervisor. They watch a video about a family in Haiti expressing their gratitude for the meals they have received. The volunteers are then trained in the mixing of the actual meals. Each ingredient is scooped into a funnel, mixed into a bag, weighed, and sealed. Then the meals are packed into boxes and loaded onto pallets to be shipped out by Global Aid Network. During the 2 hour sessions each group of “mixers” becomes a small community, a picture of the Body of Christ working together to serve the Master. Each time a new box is needed at a table, shouts of joy and celebration can be heard across the Gym. “Table four has one more!”

After the session is complete, the volunteers gather together again for a closing word from Scott and Kevin. Scott shares about the work that GAiN is doing around the world and the impact that the food from FMSC is having on the families receiving it. They announce the number of meals packed during that session and then all the participants gather around the newly packed boxes to pray over the food and the distribution. Another beautiful picture of the Church coming together to love people across the world whom they may never meet."

This explains a little bit better about what happens at a Food Packing event. I actually got to pack food during one of the sessions, and it was so fun! Overall the event was a huge success and I look forward to getting to do something like this again. It was great to see this side of the ministry before I head off the Guatemala in November!

Memphis

Hey everyone! I'm in Memphis for the weekend for a Food Packing event with Hope Presbyterian church. We are setting up a social media table at the event and will be posting live updates and videos on our Facebook page. I'll be posting some stories and pictures here soon hopefully as well.

More to come later....For now check out the Facebook page!

Pure Joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

You know those times when God's Word just smacks you over the head? I had one of those tonight. I shouldn't be surprised. God does things like that. This week at church Matt Chandler talked about the authority of Scripture and how it is universal (not cultural or dated) and also how it is sufficient. According to Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

So on Sunday I remember thinking, yeah I have heard that God's word is relevant to my life and I know I have experienced that before but it just doesn't seem like it has anything to say about my situation right now. "It speaks vaguely about God's overall plan for your life...bla bla bla". All I have to say is be careful what you say to God because He WILL shine light on those areas where you are wrong. I don't think this verse (James 1:2-8) could be any MORE specific about my situation. Today after work I stopped by the bank to deposit a check and ended up opening up a savings account. It was really a blessing because I got to talk with the personal banker for almost an hour about finances and online banking etc. It was such a great time and I left encouraged and feeling a little bit further along in my journey to "maturity". Well when I got home I had a very "immature" moment and felt very discouraged just 20 minutes later. I went back to the "this is going to be a long year"... mode and lets just say I wasn't being joyful. Then I open my Bible and decide to read James for my B-study tomorrow night. The first thing I read: "consider it pure joy...". Yeah, Lord I don't want to. Keep reading. "The testing of your faith develops perseverance." But I don't want to persevere. I want to give up. Keep reading. "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."Boom. Thats it! I can't be mature by myself. I'm not going to wake up one morning (shouldn't this have already happened?) and be this Godly woman! First of all, it comes from God. There is nothing inside of me that is good, its all Him. And He is the one who is going to produce fruit in my life. My job is to keep pressing into Him even when I don't feel like it and allow Him to change me. Persevere. What a relief! I can't change myself, and when I let go and allow Christ to transform me that's when the JOY comes! And....how can I be transformed by Christ? By spending time with Him through His Word. 

Inspiration

I found this video about a couple who packed up and moved to Haiti to teach right before the earthquake happened. The thing I love about this video is the way God's hand was so evident in their lives! They were open to where He wanted to move them and now He is doing mighty things through them to bless a nation in crisis. This is such an example to me and I pray that I will be open to wherever the Lord takes me. What a blessing to be used by Him!!

Exciting news!!

First of all, I have been thinking about how I haven't been posting too much about what I have actually been doing on this internship so far. I have really spent the last month working on Social Media with GAiN and developing our Facebook page. I think I mentioned that in an earlier post, but some exciting things have come up that I want to share! 

Oct. 1-3 I will be traveling to Memphis, TN to do social media at a food packing event at Hope Presbyterian Church. We are hoping to create awareness for our page and gain more "fans". Hopefully we will be able to use facebook to track the food from the church all the way to the hands that will receive it overseas...but more on that later. Please be praying for this event, over the food that will be packed and the people who are doing the packing. I know that it is going to be an exciting time! 

Oct. 11-16 I will be traveling to Mount Joy, PA to spend a week at the Distribution Center at our October Packing Event. This is a whole week spent at the warehouse with thousands of volunteers and staff that come each year to pack different types of aid to be shipped around the world. I can't wait to be a part of this event and get to see another aspect of GAiN's ministry! We will be doing some Social Media stuff there as well so keep checking for updates!

And...I am going on my first overseas mission trip with GAiN Nov. 5-13 to Guatemala!! YAY!! We will be visiting schools and distributing Carepacks to the children along with some other ministry opportunities. I will continue to update as I learn more about the trip but please be praying for me as I prepare and also for the people we will meet. I can't wait!

Before the Throne of God Above

We sang this song in church on Sunday and I have been singing it my head ever since. The words are so powerful and a beautiful reminder of how much our Savior loves us. Enjoy!


Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

Because a sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the One,
Risen Son of God!

Behold him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I am,
The King of glory and of grace!

One in himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by his blood
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God

Little reminders

Hello to all my readers! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have the best intentions of posting weekly, or more but I never seem to sit down and finish a post. But here I am and I wanted to share something cool with you. I might have mentioned this but I am working with Social Media here at GAiN. A large chunk of my day at the office is spent working on our Facebook page trying to connect with new people and coming up with fabulously creative posts. Well, the other day I was transferring photos from our old "group" (so outdated...come on facebook ;) ) to our new and improved "fan page". I was looking through the photos and came upon this one...

 At first I'm thinking...Cute hat...Cute shirt....I have that shirt...That is my shirt...That is me!! This picture was taken at the Dallas Winter Conference in 2008 (my sophomore year of college!) We had a day of outreach and partnered with GAiN to make Carepacks (school supplies) for kids in a neighborhood in Dallas. Then we went around the neighborhood and distributed the packs and shared the "Gospel Bead" bracelets. 

Here is the exciting part...this is the day that I decided to go into ministry. The exact day...crazy! I was going around the neighborhood with Paige Jarvis, Philip Pippin, and Cody Bell (who now works with GAiN too!). I remember so clearly sharing the Gospel bead bracelets with these sweet little girls and seeing their faces light up when I talked about Jesus. But my most vivid memory from this day is a little boy in a navy blue turtle-neck. I remember I walked up to the house and rang the doorbell. An older woman came out and when we explained to her what we were doing she called for her grandson to come meet us. He walked out with the sweetest little toothy smile and food all down the front of his turtle-neck. He was thrilled to receive the new pencils, notebooks, and other school supplies and he listened with rapture while I explained to him that Jesus loved him and died for his sins on the cross. We talked for a little while and said goodbye but as I walked away from that house, I started crying. (And if you know me at all you know this is not a rare occurrence) but

something happened to me in that moment. I knew that I wanted to share the Jesus with people for the rest of my life. And now, two years later here I am at GAiN. I had really forgotten that story until I found this picture. I thank God for the reminder of His goodness and provision in my life. He led me through so many things in these past two years but brought me to this place and seeing that picture reminded me that I am right where I am supposed to be!

Thankful

I have decided to dedicate this post to a few things that I am thankful for. My thankful heart has been somewhat absent these past few weeks even though the Lord has blessed me tremendously the past few weeks. So, I just want to spend some time reflecting on God's goodness and I thought I would share a few things with you.

My job is absolutely wonderful. It is amazing to be working with people who love Jesus and want to serve Him with their lives. I already feel like I am part of a community and I wasn't expecting that. I am learning so much and I am SO thankful that God placed me at GAiN. And more about that later....

I am so thankful for my boyfriend Jin Kook Lee :) After almost two years of dating long distance he has moved to Texas! God has provided for us in so many ways in our relationship and blessed us with this year to grow and learn together. I am thankful for his heart to serve and his desire to lead and be a warrior for Christ.

God has really blessed me with some sweet friendships this year in Dallas. My very best friend from forever is living at home with her family as well and teaching at Yale Elementary. God has taught us so much over the years and I am so thankful to be able to share this year after college with her. We have been reading through a Bible study together and praying with and for each other. She is such an encouragement to me!

And last but definitely not least, I am so thankful for my family. As I have been home this summer I have been watching my parents and starting to see them as adults, real people, instead of your typical "parents". I respect them so much and I am so blessed to have a Godly relationship right in front of me.

Its funny how God continues to be faithful and good even when we are not. All of these things have absolutely nothing to do with anything I have done. I certainly don't deserve these good things and that's the only reason I can write all this on my blog. All the glory MUST go to God because all good things come from Him! I want to meditate on that truth every day and remember who I am in relation to Him. While I was stuck in my sin, He rescued me and made an heir with Christ. (Romans 5:8) He gave me His righteousness and began a work in my heart to transform me from death to life.

So I say all of this to encourage you, my wonderful supporters and readers, and to remind you of God's beautiful plan for each of our lives, the Gospel.

This is a message that I got from a friend who just spent a few weeks in Uganda with CURE International. I just had to share her story with you. It reminds me that God loves us, broken as we are and that our hope doesn't come from anything this world can offer. It can only come from Christ and what He has done. 


So I'm not exactly sure where to start. or what to say. coming back to america makes my time in africa seem like a dream. but i'll try to jump in and give ya some insight about probably the hardest and most influential thing that happened while we were there.

The first day at the CURE children's hospital, I was chosen along with one other team member to follow the Spiritual Leadership department around the ward and pray for the babies who were suffering from hydrocephalus, brain tumors and spina bifida. Most of the babies that we saw were suffering from hydrocephalus which is a buildup of fluid in the skull which leads to a very disfigured head and causes a lot of pressure and pain. We walked into the ward which lacked air conditioning and the seemingly expected comforts of home and were greeted by smothering mosquito nets and the sound of crying babies. My team member and I both felt pretty uncomfortable about praying with these mothers because we didn't know the language, the culture and we couldn't relate to them in any obvious way. At the first babies bed, the mother proudly called herself a believer and we prayed with her and held her sweet baby as we reminded her that while her situation seems dark, the Lord will never leave her alone and is with her, even now. She cried, we cried and we moved to the next baby's bed.

As we were moving to the next bed, the Ugandan Spiritual Leader told us that the mothers at the hospital are the bravest women we will probably ever come into contact with. He said that when a baby is born with a disability in Uganda, the village shuns the mother, the husband leaves her and the baby and the whole society looks down upon her. Western Medicine tells us that this is something that can't be helped, but Ugandans lack the same biological understanding that we have. To them, it is their fault that their baby was born this way - either they did something wrong or they were cursed by someone who doesn't like them. This stigma, the Spiritual Leader told us, leads most mothers in Uganda to neglect their disabled babies until they die or even kill them themselves. The mothers that we were meeting were the ones who took it upon themselves to find a cure for their child - to travel from countries away without food or water - to leave their village and everything they knew to come to the CURE hospital for treatment. These mothers had an unspeakable amount of bravery and a faith, they told me, that came from God.

At the next baby's bed, the mother was clearly depressed. She had spent the whole night holding the baby and seemed to be at the brink of falling apart. The pastor asked me to say something to the mother and I told her that while the love of friends can be conditional and a husbands love can fall short, the love of God is perfect and unconditional. I reminded her that God's love is unfailing and He is at work in her life and the life of her sweet baby as we speak. I held her and prayed with her and reminded her that God, the CURE staff and myself love her and are here to support her.

The next day at devotions, a lady from the ICU came in and slipped a piece of paper to the pastor. At the end of the sermon, he told us that baby Claire had just passed away. The name sounded familiar and within seconds I lost all coloring in my face and I honestly thought I was going to pass out. Baby Claire was the baby whose mother I had prayed with the day before - the mama who was depressed and needed support and love. After devotions, my teammate Lauren and I went to a room where baby Claire's mom, Lydia, was waiting for her husband to arrive. He was coming from 4 hours away and driving a moped so the journey wasn't smooth. We sat with Lydia for hours - holding her, praying with her, crying with her. We told her that baby Claire was in heaven now and in no pain. I think this was the only thing that made her smile during the few hours following her baby's death. The doctor came in a little bit later and told her that baby Claire had died of a simple infection that she couldn't fight because she was malnourished. My sadness immediately turned to a passionate anger. Baby Claire died of malnourishment. Baby Claire died of poverty. Baby Claire's death was preventable. Baby Claire should still be alive.

All of this happened the second day we were there. I'm still dealing with the fact that baby Claire wasn't as lucky as I was to be born in a country where dying of malnutrition is unheard of. Seeing a 2 year old's coffin is something that will be burned in my mind forever, but the hope that was in Lydia's eyes when she knew that baby Claire was in heaven dancing with Jesus is also unforgettable. Lydia was 23 years old and had just lost her baby girl. She had no food, no clean water, only one pair of clothes and no way to get home. She had every reason to lose hope - but she didn't. Her hope was in Christ and between prayers and tears, she would smile and remind me that she knew that her sweet baby girl was in the arms of Jesus. She taught me a lesson about hope, about strength and about faith. My team member and I thought that our prayers on the first day were broken and messy, but for Lydia, they were exactly what she needed to hear.


Psalms 9:18
But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

Praise

Isaiah 12:2-6

  Surely God is my salvation;
       I will trust and not be afraid.
       The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
       he has become my salvation."
  With joy you will draw water
       from the wells of salvation.
  In that day you will say:
       "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
       make known among the nations what he has done,
       and proclaim that his name is exalted.
 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
       let this be known to all the world.
 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
       for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

It's Official!

So I have officially started my internship at GAiN. Today marks the end of my second week. My official title is "Campus Ministry Team Associate" which basically means I will be reporting to two different departments. First, the Mobilization team where I will be working with campuses around the country connecting them with GAiN. I will be working with mostly Campus Crusade movements on different campuses and attending the Winter Conference in our area to talk about GAiN. The other part of my job is HR, where I will be working with new interns as they apply and seek to come on staff with GAiN. However, neither of those things have really started yet so I am working on a report for the Creative Services team at the moment. That is what I want to talk about for now. I am writing a report to one of our donors about how their gift (Crocs) was used in Kenya. GAiN partnered with a ministry called Joy Evangelistic in Kenya to distribute the Crocs. They went to several churches and a prison to give the shoes and share the Gospel with the people that they met. Here is a video that shows a little bit more about Joy Evangelistic. This video isn't from the exact trip that I am writing about for my report but its a similar idea. It is so exciting to see what GAiN is doing around the world to share God's love and meet physical needs!

Thoughts

Hello to all my wonderful readers. Are you there? Haha I am wondering how many people actually read this blog. Just curious, but I guess it doesn’t matter. My purpose in writing should be to encourage and bring people towards the Gospel not to make myself feel good when I look at the “stats” page. Haha! So now that support raising is basically over, its time to transition this blog to the fun part. The actual internship! Well, I haven’t started yet but I will officially begin this adventure on Aug. 2 at 1pm. So that is a week and a few days away. I have been home now for about 2 weeks and when I start my job it will have been three weeks. So what have I been doing in the meantime? How have I spent my time at home in this “waiting period” until real life starts. Well first of all there is a problem with considering this time a “waiting period”. I tend to live my life for the next step. “Well once I get to college I will be fufilling my purpose and living for God”, “This summer on Summer Project, I will be living my life for God and seeking His direction in everything I do”. “Once I get all of my support raised I will be able to glorify God with my life” bla bla bla…you get the idea. Well I am reading this devotional called “Her Hands” and today the chapter was called “Wise women live purposefully” She talked about what it means to honor God and live for him NOW. I don’t want to wish my life away and constantly be waiting for the next step. There are things I can do NOW to honor God and it starts with being obedient. It starts with reading God’s word and spending time with Him daily. So, that is what I am trying to do with this next week and really the rest of my life. I’m tired of living in a “waiting period” and I want to go out and live each day with purpose.

So what does that mean practically? Well, here are some things I have been thinking about. I want to take this year of living with my family seriously and really spend time actively loving them. This is a special time that I have to live life with them that I haven’t had for a while and might not have again. So I want to wake up each morning asking God to show me ways to show them that I care about them and encourage them. I also want to actively respect and honor my parents. I have a feeling that this year God is going to teach me a lot about what it means to be in submission to authority and what it means to respect those who are in authority. I am a little bit in rebellion about this but asking the Lord to powerfully change my heart.

Another way that I am trying to live purposefully is to actively seek out community. I know how important it is to surround yourself with people who are constantly pointing you to the Gospel and I also know how much it stinks to be without it. It is so great to be with people that really know you, know your strengths and weaknesses and love you in spite of those things. And who are running toward Jesus and want to take you with them. So, my goal is to love the people around me, i mean really love them, and actively seek to create a community that is honoring to God and bringing us all closer to the cross. I am thankful for some awesome people that are going to be in Dallas this year with me and I want to start praying now for our relationships to be glorifying to the Lord.

Summershine

So for the past three weeks I have been in upstate New York with Summershine! Summershine is a Christian ministry that puts on activities for families at KOA campgrounds around the US. I basically spent these last three weeks in Watkins Glen, NY working and hanging out with families, it was so fun! I learned what a “boondoggle” is and that “y’all” isn’t a word. I stayed up for 24 hours straight and ate at Cracker Barrell for the first time.

We played water balloon dogeball and jumped on a giant pillow. I learned how to use a giant trash compactor all by myself and sang Taylor Swift (lip sync haha!) in a Talent show wearing buck teeth.

I jumped off the diving board at a waterfall

and cleaned poop off the toilet (more than once). It was an amazing three weeks and I am thanking God for the time I got to spend in NY and the relationships that were made.

Orphan

Orphan

Something has been on my heart lately that I want to share with you. Since I was younger I have always had compassion for orphans or children without families. I remember when I was little watching this old Disney movie called “The Rescuers” about a little girl who lived in an orphanage and gets kidnapped by “Madame Medusa”. It always made me cry when she was sitting at the orphanage holding her bear. When I was in the 1st grade (I think) my friend and I and our moms went and did a service project at the Downtown Pregnancy Center. We collected baby clothes and other items to donate to the women who came in for counseling or other services. I have never forgotten that experience and since then I have always wanted to volunteer again at a Crisis Pregnancy Clinic. When I was in high school I read a book called Divine by Karen Kingsbury and it touched my heart and reminded me of my desire to work with “women in crisis”. The book talks about a woman who was abused and hurt but then finds the Lord and turns around and helps women who were in her same position. One of the women she helps is considering having an abortion. It excites me to think about all of the women who don’t have the resources or desire to take care of a child being able to give that little baby to a family who desperately wants it. There are over 150 million orphans around the world at this moment. And I know there are many families who want a child. And the cool thing about adoption is the beautiful picture that it shows of Jesus Christ. According to Romans 8:14 we are all adopted.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. -Romans 8:14-17

While we were homeless and empty Christ came to bring us into His family. He allowed us a relationship with His Father!

So, I don’t know exactly how all of these pieces are going to fit together for me in the future, but I do know that I want to be a part of giving hope to children without families. Global Aid Network works with orphanages in several different countries providing school supplies, food and clothing to the children there. I can’t wait to be a part of what they are doing to bring Christ to hurting people around the world.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. I look forward to sharing more with you!

By the way, I got some great ideas for this post from JD Greear’s blog. Click Here to read it!

More about believing truth

A friend sent me this quote and I just had to post it on here. I absolutely LOVE this from JD Greear who is the Pastor at the Summit Church in Raleigh, NC.

“When someone (or Satan or my own heart) tells me I am a failure, or worthless, or sinful, I have a choice. I can believe what they say and become what they say about me, or I can believe what God says about me and believe that God says that in Christ I am a new creation. He says I am clean and forgiven. He says I have a future and a hope. He says I was chosen to be incredibly fruitful…and a world overcomer. He says goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, that nothing can separate me from the love of Christ, and that no weapon forged against me will prosper. I BELIEVE HIM.”

I want to believe the truth of the Gospel and live it out daily. That is my journey…to believe God for who He is and live in line with that.

Believing Truth

God has been so faithful to me already on this journey of support raising. The reason that I have called this blog “A Journey of Hope” is two reasons. First, Hope is what Global Aid Network is all about and that is my prayer for the year that I will be able to bring Hope to people who are hurting. But also because this is a journey for me as well. The whole support process is a journey. I feel like my emotions are so up and down all the time and I go from believing truth about God and myself to believing lies throughout the day. But here are some things I know:

• God is good! “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His loving kindness is everlasting!” Psalm 107:1
• God is compassionate when I am down! “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” Lamentations 3:22-23
• God cares about the little things we worry about! “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7
• God is faithful! “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown himself” 2 Timothy 2:13
• When I am weak He is strong! “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

The HOPE for me lies in these truths and I am going to keep on believing them! I hope this encourages you too

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Something I have been praying for recently is for God to break my heart for the hurting people of the world. That might sound weird since I am doing an internship with a humanitarian aid organization, but that’s the thing. Even though I see the need and want to do something about it my heart is calloused towards the brokenness of our world. So I figured the best place to start is the scripture. When I began to search the Bible for verses about compassion and the poor I was surprised at what I found. Scripture is filled with verses about the poor and needy. Here are just a few:

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” Deuteronomy 15:11

“He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.” Psalm 72:4

I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.” Proverbs 13:23

But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.” Psalm 9:18

“Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD ; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 29:19

Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 1:17

But this is my favorite:

“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.” 1 Samuel 2:8

What a picture of the Gospel!! After reading through these I realized that God is a rescuer. That is exactly what He has done for me, He came to me when I was broken (“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8) and He saved me! He is the Redeemer of mankind and every time we help someone who is in need He allows us to be a part of that. We are made in His image and we reflect that part of His character! This may seem kind of obvious but it was revolutionary for me!

So my prayer is that the Lord will fill my heart with compassion for the broken people around me so that I can reflect His character and love the people that He loves.

This video is simple but it is a great reminder of who God is and what He loves.

My Heart Behind Support Raising

When I was contemplating what I wanted to do after I graduated I of course thought of Campus Crusade for Christ. I have been involved with them since my freshman year and have had some amazing opportunities through this organization. But something BIG was holding me back. I knew I didn’t want to raise support to work with them for a year. This was different than raising support for a short term mission trip like I had done twice before, this was going to be way out of my comfort zone. So I applied for several other options similar to Global Aid Network but nothing seemed to match my heart for what I wanted to do for the next year. There are so many amazing opportunities out there but the Lord kept bringing me back to interning with GAiN. So I realized that if raising support was the only thing that was holding me back from this internship then there really wasn’t anything holding me back.

Since deciding to intern with GAiN the Lord has changed my heart about support raising. I have realized that it isn’t just a means to an end, but part of what God is trying to teach me through this internship. It is like the first step in the process. Sometimes I find myself putting confidence in my own abilities to do ministry, I think that my past experiences in East Asia or Santa Cruz will carry me through. But throughout this process the Lord has taught me that He is the only one I can depend on. When I come to the end of my rope, He is there waiting for me to trust Him with my life (like I should have done in the first place!).

The verse that I am claiming throughout this whole process is this one:

Hebrews 12:1 “¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

I want to fix my eyes on Jesus, the one who has called me and is faithful!

This next year I will be interning at the GAiN office which is located in the Hope Center in Plano. The Hope Center is home to more than 40 different ministries. The center was “designed to foster a relationship between independent Christian ministries so they can work together to share the love of Christ and better meet the needs of people.” During the majority of my internship I will be working in the office helping to mobilize the aid being sent around the world. Then I have the incredible opportunity to go on three trips with GAiN. First, I will be going to the distribution center in Pennsylvania to help pack meals and other supplies to ship out to the different places in need. Click here for a video of some people packing meals in the distribution center. Then I will get to go on two overseas mission trips to distribute the aid. I am so thankful to the Lord for this opportunity!

To work with Global Aid Network for a year I will need to raise about 18,000 dollars to cover the cost of these trips and my monthly ministry expenses. Would you like to join with me? Giving is easy, just go to the “join my team” page at the top of the screen and follow the directions!

Thanks so much for being a part of what God is doing to meet the needs of those around the world through GAiN!