I-HEART {A Miscellaneous Midweek Matter}

I have watched this video over and over and I still cannot move on from it. Don't be afraid to let the truth change you. 

Shoulder to Shoulder {A Miscellaneous Midweek Matter}

Laughter. Cries.

Games. Chains. 

Loved. Abused.

Free. Trapped.

How can these two lives

Both be lived through child'e eyes?

How can they keep going

Without even knowing?

They grow older,

Shoulder to shoulder.

Finally they look around,

The other is found.

Now aware that life is not fair

How can they not care?

How can we keep in stride

Knowing that the other is trailing by our side?

How can we turn our heads form the abused,

From the used?

How can we shield our eyes from their lives?

Or cover our ears from their cries?

How can we know

And go about life like it is one big show?

How can I?

How can I turn a blind eye?

How dare I.

A Short Story {On My Own #2}

There is so much I could share with you, fifty post worth. 

{I won't do that to you}

However, I would like to share with you a short story I just wrote.

Disclaimer: This is purely fictional, not based on any reality. Simply based on a passion of mine. I wrote this because of everything Biola has encouraged me with. They are encouraging me to react to injustice. I cannot imagine a better place to learn to be on my own.

There once was a boy and a girl. They weren't close friends. Merely acquaintances really. But boy was intrigued by girl. She was different. One day boy asked girl, "What do you want with your life?" Girl was taken back, she had never really talked to boy. She looked him in the eyes and stated, "I want to end sex-trafficking." Boy was all the more intrigued, "And how do you plan on doing that?" Girl sighed, "That is the question isn't it." Boy continued, "Yes, it is. So, what is the answer?" Girl mused, "Through my pen. Through patience and persistence. Mostly through Gods love." Continuing still, boy asked, "Do you think you can really do it. Do you think you can end it?" "No", girl answered.  Boy thought this was quiet curious, "Well, why do something you don't think you can accomplish?" he reasoned. Girl looked at the ground intently, "Because I have to." 

When injustice is being committed, react.

When a passion is stirred don't stop it.

When God calls, follow. 

An Affirming Tough {Ventana #5}

On our last full day in Mexico we went to Casa Gabriel which is an orphanage for disabled kids. There are so many things I want to share with you guys about this orphanage. I want to tell you how the orphanage got started, I want to tell you each kids story, I want to tell you everything.

 But right now I need to tell you about my day Thursday.....

It was one of those days. I felt sickish, I felt insecure, when I went to the store to get four things I left with one, I was packing up to move to college (an emotional thing for me), I started to question my future again and I just felt defeated. On the way home from the store I sat in my car for a moment and cried. I prayed that God would be God and he would make it clear what he has for me. I took a deep breathe and I drove home. 

I had forgotten. I had forgotten everything. 

When I went to youth group that night we talked about the Mexico trip, specifically Casa Gabriel. Then I remembered. I remembered Shelly, a girl who no control over her body. She couldn't sit in a wheel chair, respond to you or look at you. All she could do was lie in a bed. I remembered her. I remembered playing with her hair and grazing my fingers along her face. I remembered praying over her. I remembered telling her how beautiful she is. I remembered feeding her and I remembered her laughing at me when I spilled the food. I didn't even know she could laugh, but she did. 

I remembered and it knocked the wind out of me. There I was upset over such stupid things. I was so humbled and disgusted with myself. How had I already forgotten? I now know that I can never walk away. I will be back. I will kiss Shelly's forehead, I will whisper to her how beautiful she is, I will offer an affirming touch. 

You see, I don't know how to end this entry. I don't have a well planned take away or piece of advice. This is just my broken heart for a girl who is still lying there at Casa Gabriel. This is just me saying something is not right. And this is me saying I am not okay with it. 

El Faro {Ventana #4}

Our second day in Mexico we went to the beach with a girls from a home called El Faro [translation: lighthouse]. El Faro is a house for girls who have been rescued from abusive homes. We took them to the beach to give them a little break from their everyday lives. My favorite question to ask the girls was what they did in their spare time. 

They all had passions, I want to share a couple with you.

Mimi: Languages

Mimi loves languages. She is also extremely outgoing. She brought her composition book with her everywhere to teach us Spanish and to learn English. She would constantly write down our words in English. I know enough Spanish to carry on a conversation but she was the only person to correct me on my grammar and pronunciation the whole trip and she must have corrected me every two seconds. She loves to learn and teach languages. Its her passion. 

Jasmine: Writing

Jasmime loves to write. We sat next to each other on the way to the beach so she was one of the first girls I really got to talk to. She was shy and seemed a little skeptical of me, like she was wondering who I was and what I was doing there. She told me she liked to write, I smiled and told her writing was a love of mine too. A wall came down then. She smiled and told me that she writes short stories about everything.  For the first time she looked comfortable. It appears that writing is where is finds her peace. Its her passion.

Haide: Bracelets 

Haide loves making bracelets. She is one the sweetest girls I have ever meet. When I first saw her she was a couple feet away from the crowd, keeping a safe distance.  She looked happy as she watched everyone meet each other and joke around. When I introduced myself to her the biggest smile appeared on her face. We talked and she told me she loved to make bracelets. She was quick to hold our her wrist to display them. She was eager to show them off. They are her passion. 

Everyone has a passion. 

Don't be afraid of yours. Embrace it. 

A Former Prostitute {Ventana #3}

Her name is Margarita. 

She lives in Por Venir, Mexico.

She used to be a prostitute. Now she is a christian.

Margarita grew up in a house where she was consistently abused, so much so that at the age of 14 she decided to run away and start a new life for herself. With no where to go and no way to support herself it was not long until she began selling her body. 

This continued for years. A man eventually got her pregnant, he left her with his child. Then another man got her pregnant, he decided it was his job to take care of her son and daughter.  She was not worth marrying but he took her and her kids into his house. 

When she became a Christian the man she was living with was less than thrilled. He moved her and her kids out to a trailer where she had to pay their bills even though she had no source of income. 

One day her trailer caught fire. For months she has been living inside of a charcoaled trailer. And just two weeks ago a church donated the money for her to build a small house. 

When I meet Margarita I already knew her story. I also knew she was still living inside of that charcoaled trailer. I didn't know what I was expecting her to be like but I never expected her to be so calm. She was not frantic or worried, she was just tranquil. She knows who her God is, she knows that he is good, and no matter what happens to her she knows that she can trust him. 

May that be the spirit of the Church. 

A Little Laughter {Ventana #1}

Its incredible how a little laughter can change everything. It breaks through silence, awkwardness and language barriers. It kills prejudices and stereo types. It brings unity. 

I have been on a few missions trips and one thing I have learned through them is my own prejudices. I have stereo types and ideas about who the people are or who they aren't. I create barriers that don't even exist and I hate it. I see the locals as different, I think like they won't understand me and, therefore, I feel insecure and awkward. As I arrived in Mexico this last week it was no different. I would meet some people, play with their kids but there was a solemness, a barrier. That is until we played soccer. We saw each other play, laugh, joke, trip and fall. Both sides saw the other being human and everything changed. The truth is no matter the cultural and language differences we are all still simply human. We all laugh and we all fall. We all have hopes and dreams. We all have felt pain and insecurity. The truth is we have created a disunity in this world. A disunity that makes us think it is okay to drop bombs on towns, to take advantage of the immigrant and ignore the marginalized. May God turn our world into a Mosaic.  May we all play together. May we all smile and laugh together. May every tribe, tongue and nations worship God together.

¡Hasta Luego!

Translation: See you later!

I am leaving this morning for Mexico to work with Ventana Ministries [I am so excited!]. I am going down to with some people from my church for five days [1st-5th]. We will be working with an orphanage for disabled kids, a rehab center and a house for abused girls. And like I said earlier, I am so excited! 

I love missions and no matter what I do with my life, I will always love missions. God has declared that he will redeem a people from each and every people group. God has a heart for it, therefore we should too. Its a beautiful reality really and he invites us to be apart of it! From supporting to praying to going, we get to join him as he redeems! So, yes, I am excited.  

However I will not be able to write until I return on the 5th so this is goodbye for now. When I return, though, I will be starting a new series called Ventana, in Spanish this means window. This blog series will be a little window to the world. I will share some of my heart for missions as well as stories from the trip.

 I will be praying for you this week, please keep my group in prayers as well. I am excited to see what God is going to do! 

Well, Hasta Luego!