I am leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for the beautiful country of Mozambique. This will be my third time to this wonderful part of Africa and I have my friends I can't wait to see! Please pray for the team of 10 that I'm taking - for our ministry there and our safety. Also, pray for the other teams I'm sending out tomorrow - Kenya, Uganda and Albania! I'll be writing as often as possible from Africa. Thanks and God bless you!
This spring, it has been heavy on my heart to partner with the Oklahoma City Rescue Mission in huge ways. I've taken all of our mission teams downtown to spend the night there. It is extremely humbling to sleep on a thin mat on a cold, hard floor. Incredible ministry is taking place there and it's such a joy to meet the people and build relationships with them! Many people there are participating in a discipleship program that pushes them to sobriety and to hold a job. Others, while suffering to different addictions/setbacks, are slowly finding hope in Christ for their future. Here are a few students from our Albania and Nepal team's serving lunch...
I think that this picture defines what many people deal with on a daily basis. We have great intentions when we wake up, but by the time we go to bed, we are filled with guilt and shame for that day's thoughts and decisions. Yesterday, Clark shared a great message on how to live each day filled with the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit leads us into more righteous living. Romans 8:5-6 says, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."(NIV) I don't know about you, but the scripture puts in very clearly - choose death or choose life and peace.
How do we set our minds on what the Spirit desires? How do we submit our minds to the control of the Holy Spirit? Good questions - I think it takes a lifetime to figure this out, but for today... GET THIRSTY! "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37)
Our team going to Uganda in a few weeks had a creative idea for a fundraiser - find a donated car, paint it up and charge people to destroy it. Here's the funny thing... for some reason, men find it very exhilarating to beat a car with a sledgehammer (including me). I must admit, watching some of the girls swing the sledgehammer was pretty entertaining. I think they made close to $500.00 (the windshield, painted with a Texas Longhorn, went for $150.00). Well worth it, if you ask me. Well done, Team Uganda!
Tuesday night, I met with a group of college students to talk about prayer. The Bible says a ton about prayer, but there is no better place to look than Matthew 6, where Jesus tells his disciples how to pray. So, we spent an entire hour simply talking through a small portion of this chapter. It was an incredible time and the conversation was delicious (can I say that?). Here the the whiteboard post-meeting:
One of the best parts of ministry is the people I get to work with every day. We sharpen and encourage each other as well as laugh non-stop. We go through difficult, stressful times together and also have an incredibly humerous work-environment. One of my co-workers, though, has a hard time keeping his area clean (I won't mention who, though, unless you can read the namtag on the desk!).
This weekend, I took 25 college students to spend the night at the OKC Rescue Mission. This place isn't your typical homeless shelter - they do offer three meals and a place to sleep to 1,000 people every day, but that's not all. They provide the Bridge to Life Program that walks people through an intense discipleship program, freedom from addiction and work therapy to prepare them to hold full-time jobs. It really is an incredible place, and the group of students that went this weekend did an incredible job of meeting people and sharing life with them. I honestly think a lot of great relationships were formed. The best part of coming home is knowing that many of my students will return on their own time!
Below is a picture of our team knocking out a huge project in their warehouse - organizing tons of clothes and toys donated over Christmas. Donations are awesome, but require a TON of work! Along with this, our students played ball, cards, games, sat around and talked with people and attended their chapel. The most humbling part, I think, is sleeping on a thin mat on the floor like hundreds of homeless do every night. If you want more info on the Rescue Mission, let me know!
