SUMMER PART 1

From May 11 to June 22, I will be living in Bangalore, India and Vasco de Gama, Goa, working for an organization called RR to serve and empower victims of sex-trafficking. During the six weeks, I will be teaching baking classes as well as administering lessons on health and nutrition, hoping to provide a loving space for learning, healing, and preparation for these women and their futures.

SUMMER PART 2

From June 30 to July 19, I will be serving at a mission hospital in Kapsowar, Kenya,with my family. For the three weeks we are there, I will be spending most of my time working in the hospital, but also making several visits to Kapchesewes orphanage to spend time with the 35 children who live there.

The Hydrangea

The Hydrangea
The hydrangea flower is a symbol of friendship, devotion, and understanding...and some say it represents all heartfelt and sincere emotions. My hope is to authentically love and sincerely serve the women in Bangalore, that friendships grounded in comfort and consolation would flourish over the six weeks. My hope is that the women I am serving in India would be filled with an abundance of hope...that despite the pain and brokenness and suffering of their past, that each one would know that they are absolutely beautiful and pure in God's sight, that they have worth and value that is beyond their wildest dreams, that they have the power to live new lives and be freed from the horror of their pasts. My heart longs to serve these women in a way that will empower them to bloom from roots of compassion and stems of courage, flourishing with hope for their futures.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

HOME...3 days till departure.

Being home for the past few days has lifted my spirit...I feel refreshed and rejuvenated by my family-and especially today, on Mother's Day, I'm reminded of the blessing of being in a family, both an earthly and eternal one. In Isaiah 66:13 our Father promises, "As a mother comforts her children, so will I comfort you." A mother's touch is unlike any other-it soothes, heals, protects, comforts, and connects in a way that no other person can, and my mother's selfless and active love reminds me so much of Christ's sacrificial love-that can transcend all understanding, break down all barriers, cleanse all sin, heal all hearts, make all new, do anything and everything we can possibly imagine. This love, this perfect love that is patient, kind, humble, gentle, calm, forgiving, joyful, protecting, trusting, hope, and causes us to persevere (1 Cor. 13), this is the love that I long to bathe in--dipping my heart into Our Savior's living and loving water, and pouring it into thirsting hearts just like mine.

This morning at church we studied the epistle of Jude and learned about apathy, and I was so convicted. I never want to be numb to the hungering of my heart, to be ambivalent towards the suffering and hurting and darkness of so many all around the world, to forget and become unmoved by the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to doubt the healing power of love, to be concerned with MY desires-MY dreams-MY life, to live for money and success, to become obsessed with my reputation, to spend hours worrying, to forget why I am here.... and yet I have and i do and I continue to struggle with my own pride and selfishness. Though I have been broken many times, I sometimes find myself blinking an eye when I hear stories of starvation and hunger, genocide, sickness and disease, death, human-trafficking, and other sufferings... after this morning, my greatest fear is that I will fall into a routine revolving around me, my job, my school, my work, my friends, my activities, and my passion will flicker and burn out. I hope and pray my heart will ALWAYS be sensitive to the hurt of any and all people, and that I would grow more and more selfless and be able to see and hear and feel the pain of my brothers and sisters in a more real way every day...so that I can love them better.

ELW
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