Drinking Bubbles

Among the existing church, community and our Memphis staff there were the popular kids. The ones who have street cred at the age of two and who everyone loves to hold and high five. That was Meechie. He was so little but he had more street smarts than I probably ever will. He was everyone’s favorite with his husky voice and mischievous brown eyes, he had a new girlfriend on ever team. I walked to Meechie’s house every morning to pick him up for Bible club. Many times I would find him sitting on the front porch eating noodles with his neighbor, Dee Dee. After weeks of walking Meechie to and from Bible clubs he proclaimed me his girlfriend. We had many long walks in the morning with me carrying him on my back and his head resting on my shoulder. Sometimes he would fall asleep while we were walking and other times he would spend the entire walk trying to steal team member’s hats and furiously waving at the occasional passing car.

One day Meechie asked me when we were going to get married. I remember hugging Meechie tightly and laughing with the team members we were walking with. Later that morning he smacked his lips on my cheek while I wasn’t looking. He spent the rest of the day yelling “I kid Mi Kati” or “I kissed Miss Katie!”

Meechie loved to help Jessica and I run our Bible club and he loved to drink bubbles. Despite Jess giving him talks about the dangers of drinking bubbles, many times he found them to be his beverage of choice. Meechie loved wearing sunglasses, especially my neon wayfarers. During song time he loved to be held and occasionally he would flip upside down to get a better view of things. He was a smiling, crazy-dancing, bubble-gum-chewing, hat-stealing angel.

I loved Meechie but I loved all of the kids. There were the twins who were nine. They were such beautiful girls and so motherly and caring. When I picked them up for Bible club one would carry their two-year old neighbor and the other would carry her diaper bag. They made sure everyone had a partner when we crossed the street and offered to carry anyone who had sore feet. I’d never seen anything like them.

On my last day at Bible club I accidently stepped in a red ant pile. I didn’t realize what had happened until I felt sharp pains in my lower leg. I looked down to see my shoe crawling with ants. The twins quickly assessed the situation. They instructed me to take of my shoes and socks and one started brushing the ants of my legs while the other beat my shoes together.

The twins overwhelmed me. They daily lived love to each other and to those around them. Finishing the walk that morning I remember them patting my arm and telling me not to cry. The other kids ran ahead as soon as the club was in sight but the twins stuck by my side. They put their arms around me while I explained to Jessica what had happened. They ran their hands through my hair and made sure I knew it was going to be okay when I started feeling dizzy from the ant bites. Even after I told them they should go play they would skip over to check on me. At only nine years old the twins had a better understanding of love than most people I know. The twins loved Jesus and He loved them.

There were the tough kids, the funny kids, the sweet kids, there were shy kids and the kids you knew were hurting. Many of the kids had known more pain in their few years then I might ever know. There were kids who were neglected and kids who had never heard the name of Jesus. It’s hard to see people in pain and not be able to help. It’s hard to know what the problem is but not be able to fix it. It’s hard to realize that in many situations the best thing you can offer is a shoulder to cry on and a friend no matter what. 

I'm Writing a Book.

I believe in crazy things.  I believe in a God whose love is beyond all understanding. A God who is jealous for the hearts of His children and a God who saves, a God who redeems. Sometimes I mess up. Sometimes I am a rude, selfish, chauvinist pig. Sometimes I care more about what the world thinks about me than what God thinks and on those days I usually have to pray for forgiveness and go to bed early. Sometimes I get caught up in meaningless trends and worldly concepts and hurt others in the process. The worst times are those when it becomes to late for an apology and I have to live with my mistakes. But no matter what it’s never too late with God. He listens to me when everyone else is sick and tired of hearing my crazy ideas and it’s never to late at night or to early in the morning to talk to Him. I think I'm going to write a book.

59th Day Home

"Time will erase the dirt, the flies, the hopelessness, perhaps even the rotten smells and beauty that exude from the land. But when I close my eyes I will forever remember the dark skinned people whose lives are so unlike mine and whose hearts are just the same."

Crazy Love

This summer I was given more examples of true love than I can remember much less write down. This is a list of my favorite examples throughout my Summer in Memphis, Tennessee:

Love is running into pouring rain to pull a car around for your wife who doesn't want to get wet.

Love is walking two miles in the scorching heat because you promised you would be there

Love is looking past mistakes and believing in someone when you have no reason to

Love is wanting the best for someone regardless of where that leaves you.

Love is giving half of your sandwich to a hungry friend when you haven't eaten that day.

Love is sending brand new clothes, toys and gifts to people you will likely never meet.

Love is offering trust and faith where no one has offered it before.

Love is giving a second, and many times a third chance.

Love is carrying a child on your back for miles because their flip-flop broke.

Love never fails.

God is Awesome

I've been back in Atlanta for three days now and I'm starting to get used to things back home. I promise the Memphis stories will stop soon but I just had to share this one. Two weeks ago we were having share time with our teams that were in that week when my friend Sam shared this story. He said that he was sitting next to a boy at Bible club who was making a craft. The kid was apparently a little bit rambunctious but overall a good kid. Sam happened to look down as the boy was writing something on the front of his craft. He started with the words "I love...." Sam could only imagine what the boy would write. He looked up for a second and when he looked back down was pleasantly surprised to see that the boy had finished his sentence with the word "God." Sam asked the boy why he loved God to get the reply "Because he's awesome." Sam then asked the boy if he knew that God loved him to which he received a firm nodding of the child's head in return. When Sam asked the boy why God loved him he again answered with "Because he's awesome."
This little boy made such a huge impression on Sam because of his simple but strong faith in God. We have so many "church answers" branded into our minds when really the only answer that matters is that God is awesome. Whether the boy knew it or not, he had the answer for contentment, happiness, joy, peace and true friendship all because God IS awesome. It's reassuring to hear about someone who knew the answer and didn't try to make it sound complicated or technical. That said, lets take a step back from our hectic lives and try to remember how awesome God really is and that He is the only reason for living. And try to remember that only God is awesome. So awesome.

Eighteen Days...well technically Seventeen

Yesterday morning my dad texted me and said "18 days left!" Thats how many days I have left here in Memphis. It didn't really hit me until I got that text that I have eighteen days to make it count. Eighteen days to give everything I can to God and ask Him to glorify Himself through me. It's been such a great Summer. Such a wonderful learning experience. Meeting people from all over the United States who share a same passion and love for the same awesome God that I do. There have been some long days. Days where the struggles of the children here become way too much for me to handle. Those are the times where I have no other choice than to give everything to God. Those are also the times where I can find myself at rest in His loving arms. I've made so many friends here many of which I believe will remain life-long. God has taught me so much that it would take me hours to even begin to explain. I would like to say that I've grown up a lot this Summer. Been doing my own laundry not to mention leading teams around inner-city Memphis...haha. I miss my family and my friends but I don't even want to begin to think about saying goodbye to my sweet children from Bible clubs or all of my dear friends at the nursing home. That's all I've got here in Memphis at the moment. All the praise and glory be to God!

Day 18

Its day 18 here in Memphis. The best description of what we're dealing with here was spoken at debriefing last night. Our supervisor said this..."Memphis is a battle that God is winning." You can feel it. You can feel the warfare and hurt that these people are living in. You can taste the defeat that they've been dealing with for years, maybe even a lifetime. It's heart breaking but at the same time it's exciting. It's encouraging to see a generation so ready to be the change. I've spent the last two afternoons at a local community center and I can't even begin to describe that. The kids there were so inviting, welcoming and loving. They would do anything just to have someone to chase around the playground or have a princess club with. It's made me grateful for the family that I have and the neighborhood that I live in but even more than that it's made me ready to step up and change what I can. My afternoon project got changed back to the nursing home which has been quite and experience. It's crazy to go really from one end of the spectrum to another. Working with people at the very beginning of their lives in the morning and then people who might not have that much longer at the end. One of my good friends is Mr. Art. We win bingo and sing Elvis songs. I know you're all probably jealous. I've already learned so much this Summer and I can't wait to keep going. The farmers tan is steadily improving and my Elvis knowledge is growing daily.

Walking in Memphis

This is day twelve in Memphis. God has already been working in ways I can't begin to explain. Working with these kids every day has wrecked my life. Kids that cry when they hear sirens and come to Bible camp with black eyes. Kids who will do anything for a positive word or a quick hug. It's a culture that is so different than everything I'm used to. It's hard for me to understand what keeps these kids going when sometimes the only thing they go home to is an empty house. Looking into their eyes you see brokenness and sadness that would take years to even explain. They need Jesus more than I can understand. God give me strength.

Give Me Revolution

I've been doing a lot of thinking on the matter and finally reached the conclusion that the main thing holding Christians back from being revolutionary is our lack of faith. If we really trusted God with everything we wouldn't be concerned with asking Him "where will I go to school next fall" or "what mission trip am I going on next," we would ask "How can I best glorify You with my life?" We should ask that. It's a humbling thought to know that God doesn't need us. Not at all. He chooses to use us so that we might glorify Him. We can do that through many ways like worship, loving His people and simply living in faith. Since it's the only reason we're still here after getting saved why aren't we doing a better job of that? Why do we still concentrate on outward appearances over the heart? Why do we get caught up in the church's standards opposed to God's? Why do we pay attention to any opinions other than God's?
So many times I catch myself wanting a revolution. Wanting to see this world revolutionized for Jesus Christ. Wanting to see walls broken down in the church and just to see people that love Jesus with all their hearts and aren't afraid to live like it. But we can't sit around waiting for a radical change in life and society as we know it. Revolutions begin with a thought and then action. Revolutions begin when one person takes a stand for what they believe in no matter the cost. They begin when something makes so much sense that you can't help but to forget everything you thought you knew and change the direction your heading.
We know all the right answers. We know about the power and love that God abounds with. We know stories about martyrs who died happy, simply knowing that they had glorified God with their life. What's stopping us from forgetting about everything that people might think of us and living our lives with reckless abandon because we know the Creator of the Universe? What are we waiting for? Sometimes we need to stop looking and waiting for someone to start something and start it ourselves. Put everything aside and live like we love Jesus. We can't wait for a revolution to come along for us to join. We have to be the revolution. Why? Because we have personal relationships with the The Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and The End. The First and the Last. The One that Was, That IS, that Is to Come. Why not?

From NYC to Memphis

I just realized I haven't written in a long time. I've been sort of busy lately between a benefit concert for Atlanta and then a mission trip to New York City. But let me back up and start with Memphis. As you probably know, God has given me a huge heart for inner city missions. In fact I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's what He wants me to do with my life right now. A few months ago I applied for a sojourners position with the North American Mission Board in Memphis, Tennessee. Two weeks ago I got accepted and I couldn't be more excited! I know God is calling me there and I can't think of spending my Summer in a better way. Here's where it gets crazy...
Three days ago I got back from a mission trip to New York City with the Journey Church. I went with twenty-two students and adults from my church and we stayed at the David Dean House in Brooklyn. The David Dean house was so nice and the owners, Mike and Amanda were more than hospitable. On our first night there I heard Mike mention that he and Amanda had lived in Memphis for a few years before moving to NYC. I asked them if they had heard of Street Reach ministries (where I'm working this Summer) and not only had they heard of it, but they worked there! I was completely speechless and we immediately realized that this was completely a God thing because what are the odds? Needless to say that was a HUGE confirmation from God that I am in His will. That was just the beginning to a wonderful week where I made the following realizations:

1. The people living in New York are no different than the people living anywhere else. They may walk a little bit faster but they're still just people and they have good days and bad days just like we do.
2. If you have a friend that looks strangely like Michael Phelps it's fun to scream "IS THAT MICHAEL PHELPS!?!?" when you are in Central Park and watch all the tourists freak out.
3. When it's twenty degrees, raining and windy, Starbucks caramel macchiatos are simply H-E-A-V-E-N.
4. Some of the friendliest people are the ones you meet in the subway or on Wall Street on rainy mornings.
5. The best directions come from those who speak the same language you do.
6. If a purse vendor tells you to "get these purses before the police do" that usually means that they aren't the legal kind...
7. When you ask God for opportunities to witness He isn't going to leave you hanging :)
8. You don't really know what turbulence is until the flight attendants start buckling their seatbelts.
9. The Toys R Us inside of Times Square has a ferris wheel inside of it.
10. Mr. Softee's ice cream is in a league of it's own.

"Missions"

This morning I spent four hours raking and bagging leaves to raise money for a NYC mission trip. It of course made me think of the trip which caused me to think about missions in general. That is, what we've made missions to be. I was thinking about how when Jesus sent out His disciples, He didn't send them out for a week. They weren't gone for a month, or a year or even two years. They made that their life. It's easy to brush that off and justify our self absorbed lifestyles by saying that it was easier for them than it would be for us. Is it? Do we have half as much faith in God as they did?
I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I finally came to a conclusion. Missions needs to be a lifestyle for us, not just a once or twice a year deal. If we believe the Bible, then we believe that all believers are called to be witnesses. Maybe God has specifically called you to Africa. Does that mean your going to ignore the lost people in your neighborhood and at your school? It shouldn't. I hate that when people think about missions, they tend to think along the lines of trips. It shouldn't only be about a trip. However if you must think of it like that, let's remember that earth is not our home so while we are on this "trip" let's think more towards where we are going then where we are. Shall we?

Beautiful Footprints

Romans 10:14-15 - "How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"
I absolutely love that verse. I love how it narrows down the description of what preaching and witnessing should be like. We obviously shouldn't hop on mission trips simply because we like the location but I don't think that being called is emphasized nearly enough. I recently had a conversation with a friend who told me that she was going on a mission trip because she prayed about it. I waited for her to go on and tell me that God had specifically called her but she didn't. Is that all missions have become? If we pray about it and don't get struck down by fire then we assume that God must be calling us? I just don't understand. I highly recommend this verse to anyone considering and praying about missions.
I also love the last part of the verse, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." I got to read this verse to a group of girls on our Thanksgiving mission trip to Atlanta. A few girls were complaining of sore and blistered feet after we had taken a city walk on the first day and then helped at the SHO Chili Outreach the next day. At first we all had a good laugh about how "beautiful" their feet were but then I think it sort of hit all of us. As Christians we have good news, we should be bringing it to those around us. Our feet weren't beautiful in the sense that we had new Jimmy Choo's and pedicures, they were beautiful because that day God had used them to bring good news.
In all actuality no one's feet were that bad, nothing a band-aid wouldn't fix. It made me think about the disciples feet and how beautiful they must have been. I mean we aren't talking two hour city walks around nice, paved Atlanta. They walked from city to city on dirt roads wearing sandals. Talk about leaving some beautiful footprints! What kind of footprints are we leaving?

ADONAI

I got to go to a Torah dedication service this morning at the Messianic congregation I attend. They are based at my church so it's cool going to services twice during the weekend. During the service they sang this song and it almost made me cry. I absolutely love it! It was so cool to hear everyone praising God. People brought up in Jewish homes and Southern Baptists all praising the same God. Our God. Here is the song:

ADONAI -

Lord of eternity
The mystery behind the veil
Lord over Heaven and earth
God of Israel

Come with Your wisdom and power
Clothed in Your honor and strength
Lord hear the cry of our hearts
Come O conquering king

And every eye will see
Your glory fill the sky

Adonai Adonai
Every knee will bow to you Lord Most High
Adonai Adonai
You alone are God every tongue will cry
Adonai

Here Jerusalem waits
Praises lifted on high
Here the beautiful gates
Long to see You arise

When all of Zion sings
Barch ha ba b'shem
You are the Lord over all the earth
You are the Lord over all the earth

King of Nations

Have you heard the song He Loves Us by John Mark McMillan? It's a great song. Really great song. But lately it's been sort of annoying me, dare I say it. The story behind the song is really cool! If you haven't heard it I highly recommend it. In the past few months it's become one of the most well known songs in Christian music. Very cool! But here's where it starts bothering me. It's one of those songs that has got everyone closing their eyes and lifting their hands. "Worship" is what most would call it but worship means a lot more than that to me. It bothers me because I think we as Christians are slowly forgetting everything that God is about. Yes, He loves us! He is a Great and Loving God! But He is also a Consuming Fire. A Jealous God. Alpha and Omega. KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. KING OF NATIONS. THE LORD MOST HIGH. SOVEREIGN. ALL-POWERFUL. I've yet to hear a song about God being a Consuming Fire, much less a popular song about it. I'll let you know if I hear one.

Let's not forget who God is.

MLK Day!

I'm missing Atlanta a lot today. It's MLK day and it's a pretty big deal there. I keep getting distracted from the homework that I am supposed to be catching up on this holiday. I'm missing those beautiful smiles with rotting teeth and the inexplainable motivation that many of my friends in Atlanta seem to have plenty of. I miss the conversations about everything from the weather to the sovereignty of God. I really can't think about any of it without a smile being brought to my face and feeling a tug at my heart. I truly love those people and I LOVE to see what God is doing in and among them. Which brings me to another thought.
People are People. Easily said, easily done? Do we live that out with our actions? The way we treat people? Do we give everyone an equal amount of respect and love? One of my teachers recently asked our class an interesting question. If we were in a situation where we had the chance to save only one, your dog or a complete stranger, which we would choose? A dog or a stranger? I immediately chose the stranger but looking around the room confused me. Most of my classmates and friends chose the stranger, the human life and soul, but a few were unsure. Really? An animal over a person? Really?
It's getting easier and easier for me to treat people the same. To look past stereotypes and see who they really are. To ignore what I've heard about someone but to really get to know them. Sometimes it's challenging but I have yet to find a situation where it wasn't worth it. It's easy to tell yourself that you treat all people the same, believe me, I've don it. A friend and I recently had a conversation about it applies to everyone. Treating homeless people like they are beautifully and wonderfully made is great, because they are. But this also applies to the people who don't have the same morals and values that you do. The kids at school who freak you out with all their weird clothes and jewelry. The annoying underclassmen who keep asking you for directions. People who don't seem to care about anyone even half as much as they care about themselves. But if you really love God, it's impossible not to love His people. Love isn't always convenient, it's definitely not always easy, but with God, it's always possible. Always. God is love.

Jesus Freaks

I've been reading the book Jesus Freaks by dc Talk and it is incredible! It's about martyrs both from the Bible and modern day. It's crazy how when people have nothing they embrace the gospel much easier than those of us living in the top two percent of the world. I heard a speaker recently who called out Christians who lived no differently than non-Christians. At first I was skeptical but then it really hit me. If we are trying to convince people that they need Jesus then we need to live like we do. We need to live walking by faith day by day. Hour by hour, depending completely on Jesus Christ. It's hard to tell people that they're missing something when your lifestyles are identical. That makes me want to live completely different. Shouldn't everyone want to?