How do we LIVE a life of service rather than just DO service?

Now that I am finally home, I have some time to process the trip.  My plan is to post a blog that goes into greater detailer of what we did each day.  As I blog about it, I pray that it will allow me to process this trip on a deeper level, and that the Lord will uncover some truths to me that I am still trying to comprehend.

Today, I’ll start by covering the day we came into Puerto Plata, the day before we went into the community.  Here is an excerpt I wrote in my journal:

“Eddie, our bus driver, and Sondra, the pastor of the church that DCC partners with down here, just picked us up from the airport.  Sondra is such a beautiful and kind woman!  She is all smiles and welcomed each one of us with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  I am excited to see what the Lord has for us here.

I must say one of my concerns is that I speak little Spanish (well, none really), and they speak it predominantly here.  I hope that God will still use me and help me to be effective regardless of this barrier…

After being picked up from the airport, we went to get lunch at a local pizzeria.  There was a young girl at the pizzeria, probably only 4 or 5 years old.  She wore a green dress and had these huge, deep, beautiful brown eyes.  She sat outside on the street with her younger brother and mother.

I saw her mother whisper something to her, and she then walked over to us.  She looked deep into our eyes, and extended her hand out towards us, a gesture asking us to give her money.  We had not yet exchanged any of our money, and told her we had none.  Immediately after getting back into our bus, I felt a huge sense of guilt overcome me.  Why didn’t I show more compassion in that situation?  Why didn’t I take that opportunity to embrace her and pray over her family?”

I spent some time thinking about it, so that I could learn from my mistake, and then shared my experience and thoughts with my team members.  As we started to talk about it, we explored the idea of what it looks likes to live a life of service, rather than just to do service.  What does that look like?  I don’t want to just serve in the days that we are in the community here, but I want to serve wherever the Lord puts me, at any time, and in every opportunity.  How do we take these experiences that we learn here and bring them back to Colorado?  How can we be better servants in our local community?  There are plenty of people in our own community that need love and compassion and help.  Yes, there is a great need for help and missions work here in the DR, but there is also a need in Colorado, and there is a huge need for us to serve where we live, too.  So how do we embrace those opportunities?  I encourage you to think about this question—where can you serve?  How can we transform our lives into a life of service, rather than just doing service

Overwhelmed by lessons, blessings, and opportunities

Hola again!

Sorry for not being better about updating... there's just so much going on here and in my mind and processing is a slow progression! God is teaching me so many things and I am amazed by what He is doing down here. I'll keep this fairly short because I'm pretty wiped out, but here's a little update...

Yesterday, we had a rainy day, so it was a little bit more low key in terms of construction work, but a blessing in that it was a little more relationally focused. Mandy and Katie shared a great conversation with some of our friends here about what it means to be a Christian in different cultures, which led to some deeper and greater conversations to think about for the future. Thinking about how we as a team are coming down and respecting that culture, and also how we address our differences between cultures as Christians but still share a deep love for Christ that connects us all. We spent most of the morning at a couple of our construction sites, and over the afternoon we split off, as some of us taught a lesson at the school, and the boys went off to play basketball. Mandy did a beautiful job of coming up with a lesson last minute, and the other team members worked together well as we tried our best to manage 60 children under the age of 7 in a classroom to teach them the story of creation through numbers and colors! An hour and a half of craziness and fun! :)

Today was another day of heavy rain. My roommate, Pami and I, woke up to a bathroom that was full of water from the rain coming through the roof. Good way to start the day :) We started the day by going to Sondra's son, Daniel's, private school, to meet the students and see what kind of work needed to be done there. A few good lessons... we asked some of the students if they could have more in the school, what they would want... a few of their comments:

"A volleyball court"
"A computer lab"
"A library"
"Basketball"
"Air Conditioning"
"Windows so that rain won't come in"

It amazed me the things we take for granted in our schools back home! These kids just want a library and basketball court, and many schools in the US already have all of these things. It put me in a very humbling place to hear this, little things that I've always taken advantage of.

After going to the school, we came back and had a little down time, since it was still raining. Four of us found a quiet room and spent that down time in prayer. We prayed for the community- the school, the children, the families, the leaders, and that God would work through them. It was pretty awesome that I was able to share this with a few others, because at the moment I was feeling a little frustrated that we weren't able to work, and was asking God for an opportunity to serve in other ways. Almost immediately after that prayer, one of my teammates told me she felt led to pray for the community, so she, myself, and two others found a room to do this in, which ended up being some pretty awesome time.

After we were finished, it was time for lunch. Once we finished lunch, we helped move all the sewing machines and materials from one building to another, and then I spent the remainder of the day painting the old building, which is now going to be a cafeteria for missionaries that come in. It was a fun afternoon-- I painted with two other teammates, along with some of our teenagers-- Suzanna, Henry, and Kelvin. I ended up getting a little paint on my face, and laughed a lot. Kelvin kept saying I was his girlfriend... Kelvin is 18, and I kept saying "Muy Joven, Muy Joven!" (very young, very young)! He kept blowing me kisses and winking, and I kept rolling my eyes... the other kids were picking on him for it, too. It was sort of funny... all the kids seem to think I'm like 18 too... I guess I'll take that as a compliment in a few years...

After painting, we took a bunch of the teen girls out for pizza. The pizza place was pretty cool... it had a little park inside, with swings, teeter totters, monkey bars, etc. I think the girls enjoyed getting out of the community, enjoying some good food, and some time to play.

I'm pretty tired right now... it was a busy day, and I'm still trying to process what it all means and what God is trying to show me through all of this. He's been teaching me some big lessons this week, and I'm excited to see how He will continue to work through the rest of the trip. Thank you as always, for your continued prayers and support!

Blessings,

Erin

Day 4 and AMAZED

Hola Amigos es Amigas!!



All is well here in Puerto Plata. I thank you for the ongoing prayers and encouragement and support. These last few days have been pretty awesome-- at times overwhelming, but man, it's so great to see how God is working and the presence of the Holy Spirit in Aguas Negras. I will go into greater detail post-trip about each day, as I still have a lot to process and want to be open to what God is showing and teaching me, but I'll give you a brief rundown of what has been going on...

After our arrival on Friday and getting settled, we dove into Saturday with full force. We started by taking a gondola up to a mountain, where we were able to see the city of Puerto Plata. It was a great way to start the trip-- it allowed us to see the beauty of the city, and also to be able to point out where the community of Aguas Negras was within the city. We were able to spend a little over an hour in quiet time with God, which was pretty awesome. I spent my time in prayer really thinking about what it means to serve and to show love and grace and compassion in every situation and in every place. When the team came together after our quiet time, we talked about this for a while, and what it means to live a life of service, rather than just to DO service. There are many people in our own community of Denver that need love and compassion and hope. Yes, there is a great need to have work here in Puerto Plata, but God has a lot of work for us in every place we are, and we really wanted to focus on what it looks likes to bring that life of service back home and in every situation. How can we serve and love others in our own hometown where there is a need, too? And during this week, let's make sure we're serving all of the time... not just when we're being assigned tasks to work on. One of my teammates said his theme was to "Be aware of God's presence in and all around us at all times." I personally decided I would stick with that theme as well. Watch where God is working in all places. And man, God is working in all kinds of places here in Aguas Negras.

After our quiet time, we headed into the community to tour and meet the people. As many of you may know, I speak very LITTLE Spanish, and was not very successful in making time to learn pre-trip. This became a huge concern for me, knowing that most of the people here speak Spanish, and hardly any speak any English. How would I relate? How would I connect? Smile and wave? That doesn't seem super effective. I've continued to pray that God would not let that be a barrier to serving Him and letting Him use me, and I felt He immediately started responding to that prayer as soon as I stepped off of the bus into the community on Day 1. I was greeted by a young girl named Laura... as soon as I stepped off the bus, she came running towards me and wrapped her arms around me with a huge hug... and many hugs! I would have to say I was very grateful for such a welcoming greeting, where the language did not create a barrier. We toured the community, and kids guided us around... many kids of all ages... on our backs, holding our hands, anything goes... I noticed at any given moment, you could see all 8 of our team members with at the very least having three kids somehow connected on or next to them!

The community of Aguas Negras does have more work to be done, yes, but there is SO much joy there regardless, and to me that is so encouraging.

After our tour, we went to pray over a woman who was sick, and I will discuss this more later as I go back through the days and process, but it was a pretty special moment, and I pray that the Lord will continue to bless her body.

After having dinner that first day, Sondra took us around to show us many new churches in the community. Just in Aguas Negras, there were 8 churches! I wish I could have taken a video of the services... I think we as Americans could learn a few things from the way they pray down here! People of all ages were praying loudly, exclaiming, praising, pleading to God, lifting their hands, outside on streets, inside buildings, everywhere for long periods of time. Lots of singing, and joy in worshipping the Lord. Man, would it be cool to see people worshipping God in that same way in our own churches. My prayer that night was that God would allow me to pray boldly in all circumstances and in all places regardless of the situation. I felt so encouraged, so rejuvenated, and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in that place was so strong!

Day 2 we spent most of the time at our house. Sondra's four kids and some of their friends came over, and we took them to the beach. Part of me felt guilty at first that we were at the beach, but I know that it was a time where we could grow in our relationship with these kids and learn about them on a deeper level so that we could better serve them and their community, and give them a chance to just have fun and be a kid! They are AWESOME kids, and I love them so much! Although I don't speak much Spanish, and they don't speak much English, I was still able to connect with them, and felt very encouraged that God was not allowing my weaknesses to get in the way of serving Him. That's a big lesson I'm learning this week. My weaknesses will not limit my abilities to serve God, unless I let my weaknesses limit me. I'm grateful to see God is using me through this, and am even learning some Spanish from it, too :)

Today we spent the day in the community getting into more dirty work. We worked on a few houses through construction... carrying bricks (heavy ones, mind you), and I had the specific task of laying concrete for the bricks to lay on. Lots of work, but awesome to see that it's helping families in this community. I also went with a couple of girls to teach the Girls Club some English words. The lesson went well, and afterwards, we were able to give them the dresses we brought down for their prom dress collection, which they rent out to other girls/women in the community for special occasions. It was so cool to see the joy on their faces, and THANK YOU so much to those of you who donated some of your beautiful dresses to these girls-- they LOVE and appreciate them! (I have some great photos I will post when I get home)

Okay, that's all for now... time to get to bed, but please continue to pray for us. Thanks for your prayers and your support!

We Made It!!

Hi Everyone!!

Thank you for your prayers and support! We have made it safely to Puerto Plata, and I'm so excited for these next 10 days. I'm grateful that our flights went smoothly, that we made our connecting flight with less than 30 minutes to spare, and arrived with no lost baggage. The weather here is beautiful-- warm and humid, blue skies-- can't complain. Sondra, the woman who runs the church that we partner with down here picked us up from the airport and greeted us all with smiles, hugs, and a truly sincere welcome. She is such a kind and beautiful woman, and I look forward to getting to know her better over the course of the week. We just arrived at the place we are staying at for the week and are getting settled today, and will go into the community tomorrow. I'm so excited to see what God's going to do down here and how this team is going to work together. Please keep praying for us-- I will give you more detailed updates as the days go on. I won't be able to upload photos until I get back, but will be as descriptive as I can be!

4 DAYS AWAY!!

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  WOWSERS, I’m leaving in 4 days for the DR!!  I can’t believe I’m really going!!  Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.  I know many of you are praying, and for that I am so, so grateful.  I am getting very close to my fundraising goal, and want to thank each and every one of you who've contributed.  I’m so excited to see what God is going to do down there, and am ready to serve with open hands. 

I hope to be updating this pretty frequently as these last few days wind down, and during the trip, and I want to cover some things that God’s been teaching and showing me.

Over the last few weeks, my small group has started a study called Experiencing God.  One of the huge focuses of it this week was on doing what God wants us to do, not dreaming up the plans that we want God to have for us.  This is a hard subject to grasp, because we’ve all heard the motto of “going for your dreams.”  Yes, that’s great, but at what point do you address whether it is self-centered or God-centered?  If we’re not glorifying God, who are we serving?   Ourselves?  Yep, probably.  So how does that fit with God’s plans? Well, it doesn't.

I know that I myself have many dreams of my own, many plans, thoughts, hopes, and ideas.  But I am learning that they have to be in line with God’s will, and that God can change anything at any given moment.  So where am I getting with this, anyways?  Well, I’ve been praying and preparing for this trip for months now, and in my life, I’m constantly asking the question, “what is God’s will for MY life?”, but I’ve realized through this study that the right question to ask is just “What is God’s will?”  As I serve down in the DR, I pray that I would do God’s will, that I would allow Him to place me wherever He needs me to be, even if it’s uncomfortable or difficult or awkward or if it’s loving someone who is hard to love.  I pray that God will use our team’s hands and feet, and that we would serve where HE needs us.  I pray that I will not focus on what His will is for ME, but what HIS will is in the bigger picture. 

 Whether you’re serving somewhere or not, I encourage you to think about this (I am thinking about it myself, because I know I'm nowhere near perfect, and can be self centered too):  

Are we doing God’s will, or are we just asking What is God’s will for us?

One Person Can Change The World...

Hello again!  Hope you all had an amazing weekend!  The sun is still shining in Denver, and it still feels like summer rather than fall!  I want you to thank you all again for your continued prayers and support.  I'm so, so encouraged by the messages I've been receiving from some of you and your willingness to give, and want to thank you and let you know how much that means to me.  God's really showing me how to trust Him on this one, and for that I am so, so grateful!

The missions preparation is continuing to go well... this week I have to do a few immunizations (EEK!), but hopefully all will go well on that.  Today we had a speaker come in and teach about the history of missions and some great missionaries who were way back when, classified as so uneducated that they did not qualify to be missionaries-- and yet, they changed the world.  I love the quote, "Never doubt that a small group of caring individuals can change the world-- indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  Even if you are just ONE person, know that you CAN make a difference, you CAN change things, and I encourage each and every one of you to reach out and change the world with the gifts you've been blessed with.

I will continue to blog about preparation for the missions trip, etc., but God's been putting other missions and organizations on my heart lately, too, and so I also want to use this blog to make sure I continue to highlight other missions that are in desperate need of help and love and prayer.  I hope you were able to watch the video on my last post about human sex trafficking.  It is such a HUGE issue, and so many don't realize the implications of it or how existent it is, even in the United States!  According to Love 146, "although slavery is legal in some places, it is more existent now than it has ever been!" Please pray with me about those who are facing this horrible injustice, that God would intervene in their lives, and that He would use those of us who are able to reach out to these many people who are being enslaved and traffic.  I pray that you would join me in raising awareness and doing something about this issue! 

Another great organization I learned about this weekend at the Women of Faith Conference is called World Vision.  It's similar to Compassion, and asks you to sponsor a child monthly so that that child can have an education, food, clothing, shelter, etc.  It also allows you to write letters to the child regularly and CHANGE this child's life!  It's an awesome organization.  The World Vision President, Richard Stearns, spoke at the conference this weekend, and it was SO encouraging.  He encouraged us to not just give what is comfortable.  We can all give what is comfortable.  It's taking that extra step, giving whatever you possibly can.  He had an amazing story, and has a book called "A Hole In The Gospel".  The focus of it is the question "What does God expect of us?" and "have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it"?  I look forward to reading this book and what he has to say and will keep you posted on how it goes.

 Please continue to pray for our team.  I've also had a few of you ask me how to give, and want to thank you for your generosity.  Please know that I only want you to give what you are financially able to, as I trust the Lord will provide.  So, with that being said, here the instructions of how to donate:

One way is to give online— You can go to www.denverchurch.org and then to click on giving, or here is the direct link:
https://denverchurch.ccbchurch.com/app/trx_submit_bp.php?type=public_gift

If you’d like to send in a check, you can send it to:
1101 S. Washington St.
Denver Colorado 80210

You can make the check out to Denver Community Church and put my name in the memo section. I can also send/email you a response form in order to get a tax receipt back from the church. 

Moral of this blog post... YOU can make a difference :)

Join Us In The Fight Against Child Sex Trafficking

Hi Everyone-- hope you have had a blessed weekend.  I want to take a minute to post about another major issue this world is facing-- child sex trafficking.  This is unrelated to my missions trip, however, it's a huge issue that we need to raise awareness and take action on.  Take a minute to watch this video and visit Love 146 to see how you can help.  God Bless!

Imagine from LOVE146 on Vimeo.

Out of Control

Hi All!

I hope you are all having great weeks!  I want to thank you for your prayers and let you know that I continue to be encouraged by all of you and the way I see God moving.  

One of the things I've been struggling with in preparing for this trip is knowing that I'm not in control of everything-- I don't know what this community is like, I've never been to a third world country, I can't speak Spanish, I don't know where I'm staying or what kind of service work I'll be doing, I don't know how the fundraising will go, how the flight will be, how I will get from here to there, etc.  I've been thinking about this the last week and suddenly God was saying, "Erin, you're not trusting me enough! I can take care of this!"  I think we all have moments where we struggle with this, where we want to have COMPLETE control over the situation, to know exactly what is going on at ALL times (I know I have many moments like this), but the truth is, we don't have control over everything, and that's where He comes in.  Do you ever have those times where you read something or see something and you feel like it's this "Ah Ha" moment, or sign, where God just all of a sudden makes it clear?  I've been reading and studying the book of Genesis over the past few weeks, and tonight I read through Genesis 16.  It's the story where Sarah, Abraham's wife, doesn't think she'll ever get pregnant because she's around 90 (yeah, pretty old to have a baby), so she has Abraham sleep with his servant so that she will have a child for them.  And yet, at 90 years old, she ends up having a son!  She didn't trust God, so she tried to take control of the situation herself, but He followed through, as He always does!!  So, just a short message tonight, but as I prepare my heart for this trip, a part of it is knowing that I don't have control over everything, that I need to put my trust in Him, and everything else will take care of itself :)  Pray that I will do my part, and that I will trust in Him to do the rest.

Now comes the part I'm not so good at...

Hi everyone!  Hope you all had a fantastic Labor Day weekend!  Thanks for your continued prayers and support—we are now 7 weeks out from our Missions Trip, and I am so excited to see how God is moving and preparing us for this trip.  I know God is doing some big things in our hearts, and in the community of Agua Negras.   I am so encouraged by your prayers and love, and hope that I will be able to serve in this community in the way that God has laid it on my heart.

As the journey comes closer, I pray that the Lord will financially and spiritually provide for this trip.   We are on our way by receiving generous donations and contributions, and I’m so, so grateful to those of you who have played a part in this!   I am half way there in my fundraising and trusting that the Lord will provide for the funding in this trip. 

Now here comes the part I’m not so good at—I must say, I am not a huge fan of asking people for financial support, and have been praying a lot about it.  However, as I have prayed about it, I’ve realized that this is something I must do in order to serve on the trip and as I have continued to pray about it, I have been so grateful to see how faithful God has been! 

If you feel led to support this mission, please contact me (e-mail, facebook, phone, whichever works!), and I will be so very thankful for your generosity.  However, I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to support me, as I know we all have financial constraints, and I just trust the Lord will provide with what He knows that I need. If you’d like to find out more details about the mission, please read my previous posts, which will give you more details on where we’re serving and what we’ll be doing.

The donation is tax deductible and can be made out to Denver Community Church Missions.  Please put in the memo: Erin Gehlsen, and I’ll also be happy to get a receipt to you.

If you are not able to contribute financially, please know that even your prayers for our team will go such a long way! 

Please pray:

-That God will prepare our hearts (Laura, Howie, Katie, Stu, Jacalyn, Nik, Mandy, Pam, Tim, Erin)  for the work He has for us there.

-That we would work together as a team to serve in the way that He has called us.

-That we would serve selflessly, be open to what the community has to teach us and what God has to teach us while we are there.

-That God would protect us spiritually, bless us with good health and safety, and bless us with grace and peace.

-For the community of Agua Negras, that God would watch over them, protect them, and bless them.  That the Lord would strengthen them to endure difficult situations and that they would persevere through their trust in the Lord.

 -For those in the community there that do not know Christ, that God would open their eyes, soften their hearts, and give them the wisdom and revelation to know God better.  That our team would act as servants of Christ and that we might be able to show Him through our own actions and words, and that God would speak through us.

-For the ministry down there whom we partner with (A Light In the Road), that they would be faithful servants to God ,that he would bless their ministry.  That he would bless Sondra, the leader of the church, with spiritual protection, guidance, compassion, and health and safety.

Thank you again for your prayers and your support—it means so much to me!  I will continue to update you on the preparation of this journey, and the journey itself.  I am so blessed to have you all in my life!

 

So, What Are You Doing There Anyways??

Hi everyone!  I hope you are all have a great week—happy hump day! J So I first want to say how much it means to me to have your support—I’ve been seeing God move in some big ways lately, and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for this journey to the DR.  I am so grateful for your prayers and just for your love—I’m blessed with so many incredible people in my life! 

We had our first missions meeting on Sunday, and everything went really well.  There are 12 of us going from DCC, and I am so excited to get to know all of them as a team.  We discussed a lot of the basics—where we are going, when, how, what we’ll be doing, etc.

I’m sure many of you are wondering what in the heck I’m actually doing while I’m there, and the short answer is, I don’t know exactly.  I could be doing anything from construction, to Vacation Bible study, to working with youth students, to helping with local businesses.  We’ll be serving wherever God is moving and needs us to be.  Our church has a partnership with the ministry down there, and here is some more info on where exactly we’ll be going, the partnership we have, and some of the things we have done in the past:

Our Service Journey Practices in the Dominican Republic

We journey together to the city of Puerto Plata, DR and partner with a church called A Light on the Road Church, in the neighborhood of Aguas Negras (“Black water” – which is a slang term that basically means “sewage”).  Such a nickname does not reflect the beautiful simplicity and love that we have experienced in this community.  We seek to serve alongside and learn from this sister church community as they also seek holistic redemption and restoration in their community.

Through this partnership we have been able to serve the various entities of the churches ministry within the community.  Including:

-       -A boys and girls club that focus on creating positive outlets for youth to dream about living life abundantly inside and out of the slum community.  While higher education is an unrealistic dream for many kids in the community, the boys and girls clubs promote, mentoring, positive role models, creativity, and community action for kids of a wide variety of ages.

-       -We support a sewing shop and co-op that generates income for the community organization and elementary school.   We have also been able to purchase many of their products for sale in the U.S. in support of their ministry.

-       -Effective education is a big problem for the children in the community because many students because of their poverty and/or undocumented status (Haitians) do not have appropriate credentials for school.  The church has started an elementary school for the community.  We have supported the school through teacher training, curriculum, and teacher compensation.

-       -There is a small health clinic in the community that we have helped to develop through consultation, medication supply, and facility development.

-       -By partnering with other local NGO’s we have been able to participate in the construction of several homes and buildings for the organization.  We use these projects as a platform for building relationships within the community. 

-       -There are other various projects that have given us the opportunity to build relationships, and support the ongoing work of A Light in the Road Foundation.   These include:

o    Promoting the financial sponsorship and implementation of bio-sand water filters in the homes of families and schools .

o   Supporting VBS programs in the community (Vacation Bible School)

o   Various art and sports projects that help facilitate the churches outreach and engagement in the community.

If you have questions about this-- let me know!  I'm happy to share with you!  I've continued reading the book I told you about in my previous post (Serving With Eyes Wide Open).  It's continuing to teach me more about gaining a wide perspective on the world-- to go into this trip with an open heart and open mind, willing to serve, but also finding humility-- knowing that we are going there to make a difference and to serve selflessly, but that there are things we can learn from them, too.  I also learned at our Missions meeting that the community predominantly speaks Spanish, and so I'm hoping to forcefully teach myself Spanish over the next 7 weeks so that I can at least communicate with them, rather than just smile and wave.  Thankfully, a few gifted Spanish speakers have agreed to help me with this endeavor (thank you Annie, Nathan, and Rachel-- and Kelly for the book!)!  Hopefully I'll be able to learn a little something :) Si??

Thanks for your prayers and for following along!  I'll keep you updated!

e

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello!  Hope you are all doing well and having a great weekend!  Yes, here I am starting another blog, and I'm hoping that this time I'll be better and more consistent about posting on this.  As some of you might know, I have decided to go on a Missions Trip to the Dominican Republic at the end of October.  I'm going with a local church, Denver Community Church with a team of others to serve one of our church's ministry partners down there-- this could mean anything from construction projects, leading devotions and bible studies with kids, helping with economic development, or health development.  I'm sure I'll be finding out more details as this journey continues, but that's a start! 

As many of you know, I've traveled quite a bit-- and LOVE it.  However, I've never had the experience of traveling to a third world country and serving.  At this time in my life, this is something I've been wanting and praying to experience.  This world is SO big, and God is SO big, and I think sometimes we all get wrapped up in our lives right here and now.  It's hard not to get wrapped up in this world around us, but gosh, even though we are so blessed and lucky here in America, there are still so many places in this world full of brokenness, poverty, corruption, and illness, that are just needing restoration and love and compassion.  I just started reading a book, recommended by my former youth pastor, called Serving With Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions With Cultural Intelligence, by David A Livermore (thanks, TK!).  I'm just getting started on the book, but I'm already blown away by some of the statistics.  Here are some of the statistics from the book:

• 20% of the world lives on $1 a day (yes, ONE dollar!)
• Another 20% live on $2 a day
• 20% of us live on more than $70 a day
• The remaining 40% are somewhere in between
• Americans make up 5% of the entire world, and consume 50% of the world's resources
• More than 2 billion children live in our world, half in poverty
• One of every four children in the world has to work instead of going to school
• 8% of people in the world own a car 

(Livermore, 22-23)

Now, I'm not trying to be a downer by any means, but it really does put things in perspective.  I'm sitting here worrying about whether I want a latte or iced coffee from Starbucks, and what clothes I'm going to wear tomorrow, and almost half of this world lives on less than 2 bucks a day!  

I am hoping that on this 10 day journey, I'll be able to just a little something, to make a difference in these communities that are less fortunate than us.  And I pray that through this journey, that I might be prepared to serve with an open heart, open mind, with perspective, with compassion and love, and I might be bold in the parts that are difficult or frightening to me.  I pray that our team that is going will prepare our hearts for this journey and that we would work together so that we can serve this community in the way that we have been called.  All of your prayers for this are greatly appreciated!  I also pray that through this blog, that I might be able to share with you some of my experiences, hopes, worries, and that I might be able to bring a greater awareness for how much need there is in this world, and how much we can do to help.  

Tomorrow is my first meeting with the Missions Team-- I'm anxious to meet all of my team members, and to get more details on the trip, as well as training and preparation for this journey.  I will keep you all posted!