Archives 2011

As long as I can remember I have always been a reader. I call it feeding my soul and I have a voracious appetite. I find great encouragement and strength from walking with giants through their books. I find it sad that many miss out on this great opportunity for one reason or another. I think often of this quote and pray that it does not become true of me,

“One thing I’ve noticed about Evangelicals is that they do not read. They do not read the Bible, they do not read the great Christian thinkers, they have never heard of Aquinas. If they’re Presbyterian, they’ve never read the founders of Presbyterianism. I do not understand that. As a Jew, that’s confusing to me. The commandment of study is so deep in Judaism that we immerse ourselves in study. God gave us a brain, aren’t we to use it in His service? When I walk into a Evangelical Christian’s home and see a total of 30 books, most of them best-sellers, I do not understand. I have bookcases of Christian books, and I am a Jew. Why do I have more Christian books than 98 percent of the Christians in America? That is so bizarre to me.” ~ Dennis Prager, Jewish radio talk show host, in an interview in The Door. Quoted in Disciplines of a Godly Man, Pg. 78.

I love and have imitated Erasmus comment,

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”

~ Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

Elizabeth Hardwick said and I agree,

“The greatest gift is a passion for reading.”

~ Elizabeth Hardwick

I read many journals, blogs, theological articles, etc. daily to keep my soul feeding on and pursuing Christ and I try to always have a book or two going as well. Here are some favorites (in random order) that I was blessed to read in 2011 and that have greatly benefitted my life. Click on the book cover to order the book for yourself. Many Blessings!

Radical by David Platt

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

The Cause Within You by Matthew Barnett

Costly Grace by Jon Walker

Spiritual Warfare And Missions by Jerry Rankin and Ed Stetzer

Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado

In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson

Primal by Mark Batterson

Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson

The Dangerous Duty Of Delight by John Piper

Hudson Taylor, The Man Who Believed God by Marshall Broomhall

Experiencing The Spirit by Blackaby

The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

How To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit by A.W. Tozer

Currently Reading

Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan

Reckless Abandon by David Sitton

I’m compiling my wish list for 2012… Tell me, what was your favorite book from 2011?

Last December I wrote a post entitled No Room At The Inn about how God often sends people (Jesus in disguise as Mother Teresa would say) to our door who have nowhere else to go or who need a family. Last Christmas it was a homeless girl just out of prison and then three Colombians, (two orphans and a government official.) This Christmas is no different.

Our daughter Mercy came home for Christmas yesterday and brought another girl, Angelica, who is without a family or place to go for the holidays. It made my heart swell with joy that once again the Bullen Inn has room for Jesus. Having girls sleeping on bunk beds, the floor, and the couches makes it feel more like Christmas around here. Another blessing this year has been the people coming to our door with groceries and gifts. That’s something new and wonderful for us. Usually we are the ones giving but this year it is the other way around and it has really made it feel like Christmas as well. It warms my heart to think that those dropping by with food, and presents, and those who collected clothes and gift cards and food for our family this year were also giving to Angelica without even knowing and according to Matthew 25:45 they were giving to Jesus.

Michael Wells, a preacher now in heaven, used to say, “When you become a safe person for God to use, you won’t have to go searching for people to minister to, He will send them to you.” I often pray for God to make me that person. I ask Him to send me and to send His children that need help to me. And the most intriguing thing is that no matter how hard you try to give God always gives you more in return. The fun and happiness that has permeated our home over the years as we took in whomever God sent us and the memories that we share and are making every day are treasures that silver and gold cannot buy. The Christ child is all around us if we are ready to receive Him. May there always be room in our inn for Jesus. Merry Christmas.

 

My sweet girl, Rebekah, came home for Christmas yesterday. She has been serving a one-year internship at the Dream Center in Los Angeles, California. We are so happy to have Rebekah home for the next two weeks. She has been so busy there and I have been so busy with Orphan Hope that we haven’t had much time to talk while she has been gone so I made her sit down last night and catch me up on all of the details.

The Dream Center (www.dreamcenter.org) is an inner-city ministry in downtown Los Angeles that ministers to  more than 35,000 people each week in the Center’s 40 services and 273 ministries and outreaches. The Dream Center is an amazing example of how the church should be impacting the world. In the first four years of the Dream Center’s establishment, prostitution and gang violence dropped 73%, the homicide rate dropped 28% and rape dropped 53%. The Mayor of Los Angeles and the City Council have publicly acknowledged the dramatic impact of the Dream Center and praised its efforts. In 2000, President Bush, then Governor of Texas, visited the Dream Center and deemed it “a model for faith-based organizations.”

I was so amazed and blessed to hear about what God is doing for and through our little girl in L.A. I really enjoyed her regaling us with her weekly schedule. On Mondays Rebekah helps count the offering from the church and then does an after school program with elementary, middle, and high school kids from the Echo Park area around the Dream Center. On Tuesdays she and her team deliver furniture and other things to needy families and then she helps in youth church on Tuesday nights. On Wednesdays she does office work for the Adopt A Block program and deliveries to needy families in the afternoon and then her after school program. On Thursdays she works in the office and then takes the bus out to her Adopt A Block site to pick up people for church. On Friday mornings they separate all of the donations that have come in during the week and bag them up for their site visits the next day. She does her after school program again and then on Friday nights they go to Skid Row and minister to the homeless there. She sometimes go with the prostitute ministry on Friday nights after Skid Row and witnesses to and prays for the working girls in South Central.

Saturday is a big day for Rebekah. Her main job at the Dream Center is in the Adopt A Block ministry. As I said above, the Dream Center has over 200 outreach programs and Adopt A Block is their signature program. There are 15 neighborhoods (sites) where they go on Saturdays and minister to the people there. Rebekah is the site leader for Nickerson Gardens in Watts. Nickerson Gardens is a 1,050 unit apartment project and is the largest public housing project west of the Mississippi River. It was the birthplace of the Bounty Hunter Bloods gang and one of the sites of the famous Watts riots in the 60’s. I was pretty amazed that my little girl is the leader of the team for this housing project. Every Saturday she and her team of 30 deliver donations to needy families, go door to door and pray with people, meet needs of various kinds and share the love of Christ. They have been known to help children with homework, take out trash, wash dishes, and all kinds of things to build relationships and thereby share Christ.

On Sundays Rebekah and her team take a 60 passenger bus out to Nickerson Gardens and pick up people for church. The church, pastored by Matthew Barnett, founder of the Dream Center, is Angelus Temple and is a few blocks from the 8 story Dream Center building. Rebekah and her 50-60 people that she brings from her “site” join with thousands of others at the church on Sundays to worship the Lord. Sunday afternoons she usually joins up with a group that loves to hike in the nearby mountains around Los Angeles. Monday her schedule starts all over again. She loves every minute of it and is blessed to be there and we are so proud and grateful for this opportunity that God has graciously given her.

So blessed to know this young man and to get to have a part in his story.

Well we jumped back in the grove of work this week. I have really missed our outreaches. Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon we canvassed for the joy of Christmas we are having at the church. The Joy of Christmas is a Broadway style musical and after every show we are giving free toys away to all the kids that come. I am very exited about this show! I watched so of the practices today and they looked very good! Thursday we spent in the office getting ready for Adopt a Block. I had a lot of work to do because for two weeks we weren’t in the office. We had so many messages to listen to and call back! Friday we canvassed again for Joy of Christmas with about ten people from the Movement. We literal walked around for about three hours canvassing one street after the next street. But we gave out about one thousand fliers on Friday. We also canvassed six different school this week. Friday night we finally were able to have our Skid Row outreach. It was awesome! We had about thirty new people go with us and they brought about ten bags of cloths with them to give away. Saturday we jumped right back into Adopt a Block. I was so happy to see my families again. We had a lot of fun playing basketball and tag. Sunday we had a guest speaker John Bevere. He preached a great sermon on never giving up when you have trials or struggles because God designs those trials for your growth and to mature you. Sunday night I went to the mall and the Grove with some friends. We had fun shopping and walking around the mall seeing all the decorations. I can’t wait to go home for Christmas! Twelve days!

I saw firsthand today that one little boy or girl can impact the world. It all started when my friend Mike Ford agreed to go to Colombia with us last June. His heart was touched as are so many as they walk through the fields of the fatherless. Mike came home so excited to tell his family about all that he had seen and felt. His family was very touched, especially his 6th grader Michael. The whole family has put their weight behind Orphan Hope and have worked hard to help in any way they could. Recently Michael’s teacher at school, Ms. Lisa Stoyak, proposed a plan to teach her students about giving and selflessness. She gave each one of them $5.00 of her own money and encouraged them to go out and find ways to multiply that money. She then told them that each of them would have an opportunity to make a presentation about their favorite charity and they would take a vote and all the money that each student raised by multiplying that $5.00 would be given to the charity that was selected. Michael worked and worked with the help of his dad to create a presentation about Orphan Hope International and when the day came he gave a wonderful presentation and his teacher and some of his friends even cried. Michael and his friends in the class worked and worked to raise money. They baked and sold cookies, had car washes, lemonade stands, made and sold jewelry and many other things. Altogether they raised the amazing amount of $6,000.00. The class selected two ministries, Living Water International and Orphan Hope International, to give the money to and today was the day they presented the checks to us. I had no idea of this whole story when I arrived at the school, Tomball Intermediate, today. I only knew that Michael had made a presentation about Orphan Hope and his class had raised some money to present us. I was so touched and impacted in my heart when I heard the story. The library was filled with children and parents and news media as the children each stood and told about how they had raised the money. They had made a giant poster saying “We love Orphan Hope” and another one saying “We love Living Water.” Mike and I shared with them about our personal stories and then about the ministry. Living Water shared as well and then the children presented us with the money. There were lots of photos and interviews. It was really wonderful. I realized today that one teacher with a big heart and a good idea, one class of 6th graders with big hearts and a little work, one little boy, one little girl can change the world for someone, somewhere.

God is so good to give me friends like the Grahams and then to let me share with them in this amazing journey. This is why we do what we do.

I am feeling a little homesick listing to Christmas music but I am praying I will be able to go home for two weeks for Christmas. Wednesday I was asked if I wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my great Aunt, Uncle and my Cousins that live here in LA. I was so excited because not only would I be able to hangout with my family I have not see in along time but I also be able to get away from the Dream Center for almost three day. It is really important to get away from the Dream Center sometimes because you see so much need and hurting families that you some times need to remember what it is like to live with a family. My cousin Shannon and his wife Brandy came down to pick me up Wednesday night and let me stay with them until I had to come back Friday afternoon. I had so much fun playing football, Frisbee, and the Wii with the kids. My Aunt Jan made the best home made roll ever! The kids and I were able to help her roll up the croissants. After Thanksgiving dinner all the men, the kids and I went out side and throwing the football around so more. We were having so much fun until Shannon threw the ball over the wall in their back yard on to the freeway but when he and Uncle Butch went down to get the football the kid had a lot more fun watching them I think. Friday we went to the Grove and shopped at farmers marked. I had so much fun watching the kids get exited about this toy or that doll. We ate lunch at In-and-out just so I could say I have had a In-and-out burger. Friday night Jesse and I went on our weekly prostitute outreach. We weren’t able to talk to very many girls because we went out to early but next week I hope we can help more girls. Saturday we canceled adopt a block so I was planning on just staying in my room most of the day but Greco my friend asked me if I wanted to go hiking with him and a lady from our church, so I went and we had some much fun. We hiked in the Glendale mountains again but this time instead of following the trail we hiked up the stream until it got to dark to go any farther. Sunday after church I went hiking with my life group to Paradise falls. We ended up leaving a little to late so by the time we got to the falls it was to dark to take pictures but I hope we will go back some time soon because it was very beautiful. Today is my last day off for Thanksgiving and I am so ready to get back to work!

One of the beautiful stories resulting from our summer vacation host program.

Evermons on Adoption from Shoby John on Vimeo.

Orphan Hope International – Intro video from Shoby John on Vimeo.

It has been so cold this week! In Houston it will get cold one day and the next will be warm but not in LA, every day I wake up thinking maybe it will be warmer, only to find it colder then the day before. I am such a wimp when it comes to cold weather. There is actually snow on some of the mountains around us. Tuesday I helped one of my friends with organizing files and other paper work. So much fun! Wednesday Jonathan had received a call from one of the pastors at our church that an old man named Larry who uses to come to church many years ago, needed help cleaning his house. So nine of us went over there Wednesday afternoon. The house was a one bedroom house and looked like it had not been cleaned in ten years. There were literally cobwebs every were, it looked like the cottage on Snow White. It was all I could do not to throw up when I walked in to the kitchen. I am not kidding, there was thrash on the kitchen floor piled up to my knee. You could not even walk through the living room because there was so many boxes stacked up every where. Mindy and I started on cleaning the kitchen and Dustin started on the bathroom. Everyone else took all the boxes out side and stacked them on pallets in the front yard. We cleaned for two hours then we had to go back to the dream center but we promised to come back on Friday. Thursday I spent all day in the office calling people back that had left messages asking for furniture. We now have about four new people to give furniture to. Friday morning we usually separate the need for our adopt a block sites but we had to cancel adopt a block this week because of a conference they had at the church on Saturday. So we went back to Larry’s house and spent all morning cleaning with a team of people that came to work at the dream center for the week. I have to say I was not sure we were even making a difference but when we left for lunch I felt a lot better about our progress. After lunch we took another team of about ten Movement kids with us and I have to say they did a great job. When we left Friday night you could actually cook in the kitchen and the rest of the house looked like a home you could live in. Saturday after the conference Jonathan, Mindy, and I with some Movement kid canvassed around the dream center for the Joy of Christmas musical we are having at the church. It is going to be great! We are giving out free toys after every performance. Sunday was the turkey give a way at the church, so my families from my site were feed lunch and given thanksgiving dinner. Sunday night I went to a game night with my friends. We had so much fun playing uno and mafia. Monday afternoon I went with my friends to Universal City Walk. We took the subway to get there, I had never ridden on the subway before. It was so much fun to stand on the edge of the platform and watch the train come around the corner and fly past you and the wind almost knock you over. After we walked around the City Walk we decided to go to Hollywood. Hollywood was so much fun. We walked up and down to sidewalk looking at the stars and taking pictures of our favorites. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving!

As a young Christian I was constantly thinking about and worrying about “What is the will of God for my life?” It seemed that I constantly wrestled with such questions as “What city does He want me in?” “What ministry does He want me to do?” I wanted to serve Him so desperately. I wanted to be used by Him terribly. I wanted to make a difference in the world. And it seemed to me that knowing the will of God was a mysterious, mirky, uncertain business. Today, I know better and it is a great delight to my life that I have figured out how to consistently discern the will of God for my life. God doesn’t play shell games with us. He doesn’t have a mission for our life and then spend the rest of our life trying to hide that mission from us. He has a mission for our life and He wants us to know what it is and to accomplish it more than we could possibly imagine. As Mark Batterson says, “God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go.” Matthew Barnett says, “God wants you to know your cause. He does not play games. Because He loves you more than you can understand, He is not going to make the discovery of your cause a tug-of-war in which He simply messes with your head. He designed that cause specifically for you because He knows it will deliver tremendous joy and fulfillment.”

Of course, sometimes God speaks directly to us in dreams, visions, or other ways but I have generally observed that He more often speaks in that still small voice. So quickly, here are the steps God has taught me for discerning His will in my life. I learned these by experience and then God has confirmed them through others over and over again and I will quote some of them. I specifically want to focus on the last one, Invitations. This is not a formula but the steps that I know God uses in my life to get me where He wants me to go.

1. Pursuing God. God’s will is not something He wants you to run off and do without Him. The first part of God’s will for every Christian is to know Him deeply and love Him deeply and stay in His presence. It’s only when I am pursuing God Himself that I can have any chance of knowing what He wants me to do.

2. Absolute Surrender. God’s will is GOD’S will not my will. The Lord’s prayer is hallowed be THY name not hallowed be MY name, THY kingdom come not MY kingdom come, THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven not MY will be done. If I want to be used of God I must be completely surrendered. I must lay my self on the altar and say, “Lord, use me how you want. You decide how my life can best bring You glory.” If it is suffering, sickness, prison, death, or advancement and prosperity, I submit to You Sovereign Lord. When God knows that I will do whatever He tells me without hesitation then He will clearly show me what He wants me to do. Matthew Barnett says, “So how do you find out what your cause is? From experience – mine and others’ – I’d argue that the first step is to surrender your will to God.”

3. Passion. God begins to lead us into the specific areas of service that He wants us in by desire. This was a wonderful revelation to me. When I realized that God put this unquenchable passion in me to know, love, and serve Him, I remember leaping for joy. I was studying 1 Timothy 3 regarding the qualifications for pastors and it hit me that the first qualification was desire! It says, “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a pastor, he desireth a good work.” When I realized that the call of God starts with desire/passion my whole life changed.  Matthew Barnett says it so well, “In my life, God speaks through passion and circumstances. In other words, He instills a sense of desire and urgency within me. I have a passion to accomplish certain dreams. Because those dreams are not the normal human impulses, especially in today’s self-indulgent culture, I believe those are God-inspired passions.” For example, I have seen God take the passion He put in me as a little boy to be a good father when I grew up and to be the leader of a family that would love God and impact the world for generations to come and expand that original passion beyond just my blood descendants to encompass the orphans of the world. Amazing.

4. Invitations/Circumstances. The final way I, and others, have found that God directs us to His mission for our lives is through invitations to become involved in what He is already doing in the world. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life that as I am pursuing God and loving Him and that relationship begins to spill and splash on to others around me that invitations begin to come in from people to “come over and help us” (Acts 16:9) Most of the greatest blessings in my life have come from an invitation that I said yes to. Our involvement in evangelism, youth ministry, church planting, conference speaking, authoring a book, Tres Dias, adopting our precious daughter Mercy, our ministry in Colombia, our wonderful church that we now attend, and many other blessings all started with an invitation that lined up with a passion God had already stirred in our hearts. Matthew Barnett again says it so well, “If you’re serious about knowing God’s chosen cause for you, think carefully before you turn down invitations to help somebody you know engage in some type of service activity, no matter how big or small it might be. That invitation might be the beginning of the adventure that identifies the means to filling the hole in your heart.” Wow! I love that and have proven it in my own life.

So, all that being said, as I begin to think about the year ahead and what God wants for my life in 2012 I realize that God is drawing me to Himself and His presence more powerfully than ever before, I am less afraid to lay it all down on the altar for Him than I have ever been, there is a terrible burning passion in me and in my family to be involved in what God is doing in the nations, and I currently have invitations from people that I love and admire to come and preach/minister with them next year in Colombia, Mexico, Zambia, Liberia, Rwanda, Nepal, & India. I am humbled and amazed at the way God is moving in my life and I can’t wait to see where He leads.

Last Thursday night I had the joy and privilege of being interviewed by the guys at Streettalk Live on 700 AM radio here in Houston. It was wonderful because one of the hosts, Michael Smith, is one of the parents in the process of adopting a girl from this summer’s Texas Vacation Host Program. It was great to share about what God is doing with Orphan Hope International and to hear a little of Mike’s heart as well. Here is the audio from the interview.

We didn’t have any furniture to deliver this week so Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we spent in the office doing paper work and making new fliers for the sites, so that the fliers have the name of the streets that we pick up of church on the front of them. Friday we went to a park with our track to just have some fun playing football and eating snacks. It was so much fun just to get away and have a little picnic. Friday night it was not raining so we were able to go to Skid Row. I was really glad we did because it was cool and we gave out about fifty blankets to the homeless there. I also was able to pray with an older woman who really wanted pray to trust in the Lord. I felt really sad for her because she know the truth but still will not do anything to change her circumstances. I had heard about this ministry call Hope for the Homeless that goes out every Friday night from eleven to three to South Central LA to minister to the prostitutes, so after Skid Row my friend Jesse and I went with them to South Central. I could never have imagined how desperate a young lady would have to be to stand out in the freezing rain with nothing on but a very thin t-shirt sweeter thing and try to flag down cars to make money. Most of the girls were not receptive to our pray or food but I was surprised by one girl who after the pastor I was with prayed with one girl asked very desperately for us to pray with her. I just ask you all to keep me in pray as I continual to represent Jesus’ love to these girls. Saturday my site leader was not able to make it to adopt a block so I ended up leading our site. We had to leave earlier then usual because two of the staff members of the Dream Center got married at three on Saturday. But I was able to visit the girl we helped last week. Sunday we had fifty six people on our bus, we never usual have more then forty five! God has blessed our site so much! After church I was just going to hang out in my room and read but Greco my friend asked me if I wanted to go hiking again, so I did. It was so much fun! We hiked almost all the way to the top of the Glendale mountains. Next week we are going to Paradise waterfalls, I can’t wait!

I was feeling a little down on Tuesday about my devotion time and feeling a closeness to Jesus I had. I don’t know if I was tried or if maybe I was not spending enough time in the word and praying. So I decided to just asked Jesus for a sign to encourage me that I was on track. I am reading through a book of the Bible randomly every morning, Tuesday I started Daniel and read the first five chapters. Well Tuesday night I go to the youth group and the youth pastors sermon that night was on Daniel chapter one! God is so good to me and I am so happy to know He loves me that much! Wednesday we delivered furniture to two different families. One was a single mom with five kids living in a house with only one bed a no other furniture. The other was a lady living in a one bedroom house with no furniture and only blankets to sleep on. We gave her a couch, a mattress and a tv. Thursday morning we went back to the single mom’s house to give her to dressers and another mattress because we gave her a queen size mattress but she told us that her kid were sleeping on the floor so we brought her three twin size mattress for her kids. I think this is my favorite part of our job! Thursday afternoon we worked in the office and I called a couple families that had asked for prayer. I prayed with one lady whose daughter is in Mexico and not in a very good place but can’t come here to be with her mom. I really hop I encouraged that lady. Friday was very rainy and cool. We went back to the retirement home to hang out with the residents there. I was very surprised that one of the ladies there remembered me and thanked me for coming back to see them. We sang some songs , colored and just talked with them. I am so glad we do this every other week, I think it really makes a difference. Friday night we had to cancel going to Skid Row because of the rain and Dave and Dustin could not come with us so it would have had to just be Jonathan, Mindy and me. I was sad but I did get to go to a open mice night at the Café here at the Dream Center. Saturday was the best Adopt a Block for me yet. Every Saturday after we give out the food and needs, I take a team with me to knock on some doors to get to know some people and invite them to church. Well for the last six weeks I have each week knock on about thirty doors with no one opening up to us. But this week we were so blessed to have three different people really care what we were doing and to said they would come to church with us. One was a girl how was about sixteen and was at home by herself with some younger siblings to take care of and she was trying to clean up her house by herself, so we helped her with the dishes and cleaned up the trash for her. It was awesome to be able to finally be a blessing the way we want and try to be every week. Sunday after church I was able again to go hiking with some of my friends. This time we went to Malibu Mountains right next to the Malibu beach. It was amazing to be up in the mountains and on one side see the ocean and on the other see part of the city. We did a some rock climbing and had a little devotion after wards. I love how much God has blessed me this week.

Today, Sunday, October 30, 2011 was another wonderful day in the presence of the Lord and His beautiful people. The morning started out at 8:00 a.m. with praise and worship at Pastor Tatis’ church in his living room in central Bogota. We had a sweet time together. Pastor Tatis had a brand new pulpit and he proudly told me that I would be the first one to use it. I was humbled and honored. Pastor Tatis and his sweet family, Dellis, his wife, son, Danny, and daughters Sarah and Ruth are building this church solely from the families of the children that they have ministered to that come into the emergency center. So in the emergency center they are ministering to the children and in their home on Sundays they are ministering to the families of the children. I gave my testimony and preached about the family being the building block of the kingdom of God and of society and as goes the family so goes the world. As soon as we were done and had hugged everyone there, a car was waiting to take us to the next church where I would preach for pastors Lucas and Doraynne at Liberty Church also in central Bogota.

Pastor Lucas and Doraynne are precious to me for many reasons, one of them being the way they have ministered to my sweet Heidy. I was so delighted to get to be in their church and to preach for them as well. I shared with them how going on mission with Jesus is wonderful because we get to go FOR Jesus because He said GO! and He is the boss with all authority. (Mt. 28:18-19) But we don’t go alone an in our own strength. We get to go WITH Jesus because He is on mission in the world and has invited us to go along. (Mt. 28:20) And not only do we go FOR and WITH Jesus but we also go TO Jesus and minister TO Jesus because He has told us that when we feed the poor or clothe the naked or visit the prisoner or care for the “least of these” we are doing it unto Him. So all of our work in this world is not about us it is about Him. We minister FOR Him, WITH Him, and To Him.

 

We enjoyed lunch with the pastors and some friends and then headed over to our dear friend and sister in the Lord, Nelda’s house for coffee. I was so tired and experiencing a bad case of Lupus flare up that I went and laid down on one of her guest beds and slept for about 3 hours. We then went and did some shopping for the Goddaughters and laughed and talked and then she fixed us a wonderful meal. We headed home to the Safe House to sleep and prepare for a full day tomorrow with Fundacio Mundo Nuevo as they have a grand costume fiesta with all 600 children in the organization. I can’t wait.

Today, October 29, 2011 is my 46th birthday and I am so happy to be spending it with these sweet children that I love so much.

My main job today was to help our videographer from Sugarcreek Baptist Church, Dave Grumme, who is here this week shooting video for several upcoming OHI promotional pieces. We had a full schedule of videos planned throughout the day but as often happens here in Colombia things change quickly. First, I was asked to speak at a worship service being conducted at San Miguel Emergency Center across the street from where we are staying. San Miguel is one of the places where the children come for triage when they are first brought in off the street by the police. I was excited to speak there but was worried about the time because I only had Dave Grumme for this one day and we had a lot of work to get done. The thing I didn’t know was that my sweet Goddaughter Heidy had alerted San Miguel that today was my birthday and so they were secretly planning a party for me after the worship service. Anyhow, I spoke (without a translator… it was short 🙂 ) and sang some songs for the kids. They were so sweet and applauded like crazy. Dave and I kept trying to leave so we could get our work done and they kept delaying us and we kept looking at each other like, “what is the deal.” Suddenly the girls burst in with a big banner telling me happy birthday and a cake that Heidy and another girl decorated beautifully for me. They sang to me in English and Spanish and we all had cake and then it was time to go.

Dave and I were both worried because our plans were really getting demolished. But God! The rest of the day went so smooth and so anointed that we kept looking at each other and saying, “Wow, God is giving us favor.” We got so much done and made every appointment on time and got Dave to the airport only 15 minutes late tonight. He shot some wonderful video and some interviews and at one point he was so excited he said to me, “We need to make a movie.” I just love that the story of these precious children will be getting out to the world. We had lunch at a place that specializes in meat from an animal in southern Colombia that is like a large rabbit. It was amazing. Then for the second time in a week I got to go up to the mountain top at Monserate but this time with Dave so he could shoot video and photos and Heidy and some of the girls from Casa De Egreso and Oscar from Fundacion por un Mundo Nuevo. We had a wonderful time and then headed down the mountain to dinner and dropped Dave at the airport. It was a wonderful, wonderful birthday.

Well home sickness kicked in this week but I am really hoping to go home for Christmas. No madder how much fun you have or how many friends you have nothing can replace just sitting on your couch watching a movie with you family. Ok Monday I at our after school program I joined the guitar class. My friend Mindy is the teacher and I have wanted to learn to play for a long time and she said she would teach me! I am so excited! So Tuesday we started our long week of canvassing for Pastor Barnet’s awesome illustrated sermon this Sunday. Tuesday night George Lukas had invited about two hundred people from the dream center to his first viewing of his new movie Red Tails. I was able to go and it was as much fun! We sat in a very comfortable theater and the movie was really good too. Wednesday was the Dream Center’s big annual fundraiser. I didn’t work at the fundraiser but it was fun watching them set up everything. Thursday we spent all day in the office until it was time to ride the busses for church. I love how much time I get to spend with the kids at my site, with Saturday adopt a block and Sunday riding with them on the busses and then again on Thursday. Friday we canvassed again for the illustrated sermon on Sunday but after we were done we still had some time left so Dave decided to take us down to the mall. On the way to the mall we still had some fliers left so my crazy friend and coworker Dustin started throwing the fliers out the car window at cars passing by. I thought I was going to die from laughing so hard! Friday night when we were at Skid Row a fight started out with two homeless people so we had to leave a little earlier then usually do. After adopt a block on Saturday I went down to a costume store to see if I could get a real cheep costume because my friends James and Jesse wanted me to go with them on Monday to trick or treat in Beverly Hills. So I found this great cap and vampire like makeup for really cheep I was so happy. Sunday Jesse, James, and I dressed up in costumes for the bus ride to church with the kids from my site. I was so much fun how at first the kid would not even go to the back of the bus were Jesse was (he looked like scarecrow on Batman Begins) but the longer we were on the bus they started seeing who was brave enough too get close and closer to him. The illustrated sermon was amazing, Pastor Barnet had four rooms on stage that represented four different stages of our lives. The first was our childhood and the second was the compromises we make in our lives because of the things that haunt us from our childhood. The third was the death room and he explained how a lot of us because of our compromises we live as if we were dead but still alive, the living dead. But the final room was the shower room or the room of renewal when God come and revise our hearts. He even had real shower on stage that anyone could come and get in after the service who wanted to as like the alter call. Monday was my first day off since I came here it was nice I went on a long walk and went to the library. Monday night I went with James and Jesse trick or treating in Beverly Hills it was the first time James and I had ever trick or treated. We had to take the bus but that was fun because I had never taken a public bus in my life. We ended up not getting very much candy because we got there kind of late but we had so much fun just dressing up and seeing all the people in Beverly Hills.

Cartagena was an extreme eye opener. I have never seen anything like the poverty we saw today and yet in the same place a gleaming oasis in the midst, the CDA school that we visited today. In the photo above Joner and I are standing in front of his home of 11 years that was destroyed by a flood last week. He lives in a neighborhood of shacks with dirt floors and on this day and many like it because of the rain the floors are mud and we walked through ankle deep sewage in some places to visit the families in their homes. Joner attends the CDA school and recently had the highest score of anyone in the school on a government test. Last week the whole neighborhood was under water waste deep and many lost their homes. Most of these families have been displaced from the homes by violence and have found “refuge” in this neighborhood of squatters. And right in the middle is this wonderful CDA school where they are teaching these children about Christ and about becoming productive members of society. They are also helping the families in the neighborhood to come and get vocational training at the school, helping them with micro loans to start businesses, and teaching them about Christ. So in the midst of abject poverty we saw hope, love, and joy. We were greatly touched to see what CDA is doing in Colombia and have many thoughts about how to help them. We flew back to Bogota and Jose Vicente from Mundo Nuevo had a birthday surprise for me. My sweet Goddaughter, Heidy, gets to spend the weekend with us. God is doing many things here. Praise the Lord!

Day 5 was another huge God day. Dave, Gail, and I spent the entire day meeting with the Colombian government and God gave us great favor. The remainder of the team visited some amazing CDA sites, the living hell that is El Bronx, and Hogar San Mauricio, a new institution that we had not previously visited but where many of the children live who visited us on our Vacation Host Program this summer. We were then supposed to meet at the airport to fly to Cartagena but Dave, Gail, and I wrapped up our meetings too late and just missed our flight.

We caught a little later flight and then we all went to the old city of Cartegena and had dinner inside a huge, ancient stone fort. It was really neat. We had a wonderful dinner and then a carriage ride throughout the old city. It was an amazing night. Today we go to a very bad area where CDA has built a school. I can’t wait! Thank you Lord for allowing me to be a part of the amazing things happening and the amazing people you are using in your kingdom.

This is my 10th trip to Bogota, Colombia in 2 1/2 years and just when you think you have seen some things you are exposed to a whole new side of what is going on here. The CDA (Corporacion de Dios es Amor… Corporation of God is Love) van picked us up this morning at 7:00 a.m. and we took a 2 hour ride to a place in the foothills of Bogota called Altos de Cazuca. It started out as a squatters village for people fleeing the violence in other parts of the country and slowly developed into a town.

Lindsay Christie, a man living in New Zealand, was walking down the streets of Auckland one day in the 1960’s and a man handed him a leaflet about the violence in Colombia and when that leaflet touched his hand, CDA was born in the spirit realm. Mr. Christie was so moved by what he read that in 1966 he loaded up his wife and 4 girls and sailed to Colombia as a missionary. They had an amazing ministry and then he passed away in 1994 but not before passing the reigns on to his 24 year old daughter, Missy. Since then, CDA has grown into one of the most successful and respected organizations in Colombia and is now having an impact in several other Latin American countries. Mr. Christie started a medical aid station in Altos de Cazuca and then a school and that is where we visited this morning. It was mind blowing what they are doing to help the people in this very poor area.

We saw the medical station which was packed with people waiting to get help.

Then we went over to the school and WOW! What an amazing work they are doing there. We saw classes from preschool up to high school and heard many stories of the wonderful impact this place is having on the children of Cazuca.

We saw a presentation by the little ones and then met and spoke with the high school kids and then Shoby, Don, and I were interviewed on their radio station that they operate there at the school. We were so impressed by everything we saw and heard. Every child of whom we asked a question spoke with such confidence and clarity and they all spoke of how CDA had taught them to love God and love others and how much they loved CDA.

Later we went down into the village to visit some of the parents of the children who are taught at the school. It was real to life poverty unlike anything I had ever seen. We visited with two different families at their homes. It put such a burden on our hearts to help in some way some day. We will see what the Lord has for us. Tomorrow we continue with CDA and tomorrow night we fly to Cartegena to see what God is doing there and how we can help. Thank you for your prayers.

It’s hard to believe that it has only been 3 days. It’s almost midnight and the fun begins again at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow so this will be short. God did some amazing things today that will have to remain top secret for now. The team split and went 2 directions today in order to expand some things that we are doing. Jose Vicente, Nelda and our split team met up right at sunset on top of the mountain overlooking Bogota. I was so happy to see Vivianna running up to me. She gave me such big hug and hardly left my side the rest of the night. Jair and his brother, Elber, from the band Viraje, who will be performing at our Share The Hope dinner this year met us on top of the mountain with Shannon and with their guitars and we sang and worshipped and prayed over the city. It was so powerful. We had gathered in a large circle holding hands and suddenly Colombians who were up there visiting started breaking into our circle and holding our hands and praying with us with tears in their eyes. It was so cool. One lady named Marta was going the next day to have her interview to see if she could get a Visa to come to the USA and work. Her boss from Boston was there with her and his wife and they asked us to pray over her. We also had the privilege to lay hands on and pray over Jose Vicente and Nelda. It was a blessed time.

Tomorrow we will spend the day with CDA/Conviventia and see many things that we have never seen before. I am so excited. We also have some very important meetings with the government today and tomorrow night so please be in prayer for us.

Well like always I must say I had another incredible week! Monday I caught up on a lot of my sleep after we counted the offering for the church. Tuesday we canvassed for our His Hands clothing ministry in one of our adopt a block sites that Dave is the site leader for. It was cool to meet some of Dave’s friends and to see how much they love him and he loves them. It inspired me to want that kind of relationship with the people at my site. Wednesday and Thursday we spent most all day in the office, which was good for me because I was able to finish some work that I couldn’t last week. Friday was awesome we went to a retirement home to visit the residents there. We sang some song for them and then I gave a little devotion about having the best day of your life. After our devotion I colored with four ladies and just chatted with them about different things. Some of the boys with us had a guitar and they asked me to sing with them for a lady that asked for them to sing for her again. We had the best time with them. Friday night we again gave out food and water bottles to the homeless on Skid Row. I did not see my friend from last week there but I pray she found a place to stay. Saturday at adopt a block Alicia my friend introduce me to one of her good friends big mama ad they call her. We had a great time talking to big mama about old revival meeting and different experience she has had in her life time. Alicia and I also did some chores around the house. After we got back to the dream center I went with Dave and Dustin to help a family move to our family floor here at the dream center. They are volunteering here in our after school program and just needed a place to stay. Sunday after church I went on a hike with some of my friends up a mountain to a waterfall it was amazingly beautiful. We played in the water and had a little bible study on 2 Corinthians 12:9. We are going to do something like this ever other week. I am so glad that the Lord gave me this year.

Colombia, October, 2011 Day 1

 

This morning we went to Santa Maria where we have been many times. It never gets old seeing those beautiful girls running to greet us with their big smiles and warm hugs.

My Goddaughter, Heidy, ran screaming when she saw me and leaped into my arms. Words can’t describe how good it was to hold her in my arms once again. She looked really good and I was so happy at how good they are taking care of her here. Pastor Lucas and his wife Dorayne are the spiritual leaders at this institution and dear friends of ours. They have taken Heidy under their wing and I could see the positive transformation that has taken place in her heart as a result. It was delightful to spend a few short hours with her. We toured the buildings that when I first came here had resembled an abandoned prison and I was so full of awe and joy to see what Jose Vicente and Un Mundo Nuevo have done here in a year and a half. God is really moving in their foundation and we are blessed to be partnering with them. We saw the amazing art that they have been creating and Heidy presented me with a beautiful piece she made. She said in English, “For your house Daddy.” Rachel was able to deliver two large suitcases full of gift bags that the children at Vista Academy at Celebration Church in the Woodlands had sorted and packed. There was lip gloss, hair bows, socks, a bookmark, and many more things in each bag.

 

We sat down for a while and a cute little girl named Sol (sun) came running up and jumped in my lap and hugged me so tight. She was precious. I had a great time talking to her and teasing her and Heidy because they are both shy about getting their photo taken. Soon it was time to go but not before we gathered in a large circle over a plot of ground where they hope to someday build a chapel where the girls can come for prayer or silent reflection. Pastor Don Waybright prayed a wonderful prayer over the ground and the future blessing it would be to the children and then we sang Here I Am To Worship in English (the girls favorite song because we always sing it to them when we come). It was a beautiful time.

We then headed into town for a meeting at Jose Vicente’s office. We have heard about and discussed several times what the large vision is for Orphan Hope and Mundo Nuevo and at this meeting we wanted Jose Vicente to share his whole heart and vision. It was an awesome time. We talked about his current operations and then he cast for us his larger vision for the city of Bogota and how we can help. It was fantastic. He genuinely has Christ’s heart for these children and for the city of Bogota and Colombia. The master plan includes the orphanages, churches, schools, OHI missionaries and volunteers, and all the facets of our ministry play into it. What a delight to see such a kindred spirit with what God has called us to do. There are huge things in store for this partnership. Tomorrow is another packed day so I am signing off with much love and joy in my heart and immeasurable gratitude that the Father has allowed me to come with Him on this grand adventure.

I am incredibly blessed to once again be in my home away from home, Bogota, Colombia. I had a wonderful but crazy couple of days preceding the flight down, running around collecting Padrino gifts to bring down to the children from a dozen or more families. The flight down yesterday was wonderful. My health is the best it has ever been on one of these trips, praise the Lord and thank you prayer warriors and my dear wife and daughters for keeping me healthy. Don Waybright, missions pastor at Sugarcreek Church in Sugar Land, Shoby John, director Orphan Hope, Chris Poole, Orphan Hope missionary, and I made up our party flying out of Houston. Shoby, Don, and I had seats right next to each other and so we were able to visit all the way down and what a delightful visit it was. What sweets servants of God both of these men are and how I enjoyed our conversation that ranged from missional living, discipleship models, to passion, to suffering, to family, to anointing, to how God has put us on this plane headed to love on orphans. What a blessed time. We kept mentioning how similarly God has been working in our lives over the last 3-4 years and about that time Don asked me, “what are you reading there?” I said, “Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship.” He laughed, reached in the seat back pocket in front of him and pulled out his copy of Bonhoeffer. We all just shook our heads and thanked God for what He is doing in us. It was truly a delightful time and really prepared me for the week ahead. We arrived at the airport and were happy to meet up with another team member that had arrived on a different flight, Rachel Yeates. Rachel has been sending money and items to orphans all over the world for years through her ministry Great Comeback Kids but has never actually been into the fields of the fatherless until this trip. We are very excited to have her along. We walked outside and were happy to meet up with Dave and Gail Beach, Orphan Hope directors who had flown in that morning. We arrived at our hotel at about midnight and I was very glad to get into that bed but not before Dave Beach popped in the door and said, “special delivery” and handed me a beautiful letter from my precious Goddaughter, Heidy, whom I will see tomorrow. My heart leapt when I opened it and read, “Hola mi papito hermoso, te quiero mucho (Hello my beautiful Daddy, I love you). The remainder was just a sweet as the opening line. What a blessing these dear children are to my soul.

We rose at 6 a.m. had a nice breakfast and headed to church where our dear, dear friends Hector and Liliana are the pastors. I could not wait to hug and kiss them and their beautiful children. What a blessing this “adopted” family is to me. The joy and honor of calling them brother and sister and to see and hear their teenage children come running when they saw me this morning saying, “Tio Mateo”, “Tio Mateo” (Uncle Matt, Uncle Matt) and the smiles and hugs and kisses. These are just a few of the “beyond all that we can think or imagine” blessings that our Father has for us as we follow Him where He leads. The service this morning was glorious reunion with the children from Casa De Egreso, the workers, Jose Vicente, President of Fundacion Nuevo Mundo, many of the workers, Nelda, a dear sister in the Lord, Missy Christie, President of CDA Colombia and her mother, Jair and Shannon Montiel of Christ for the City and Pastor Pedro, National Director for Christ for the City Colombia, and many others. What a delight! We worshipped the Lord in song and praise and reading of the scriptures and the presence of the Lord filled that place.

Then Pastor Hector introduced me to preach and I was humbled and blessed when Missy Christie, an international hero in orphan ministry stepped up to translate for me. Wow. We prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to come and speak to us and then I began to share with the church about the Grand Adventure that awaits all those who follow God on His mission to reconcile the world to Himself, through Christ, and with our blessed involvement and restore it to a world of love, joy, and peace. I told them of how the Trinity enjoyed perfect fellowship, love, harmony, and joy and as Daniel Fuller used to say, “God’s complete joy in Himself as a Trinity led Him to want to double that joy by extending it beyond Himself to the human beings He created” and so God has been on mission ever since to share Himself and His joy with the world just like Jesus says to His followers in John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” and then again to His Father in John 17:13 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.” The ancients captured this when they made the first question and answer of the Westminster catechism, “What is the chief end of man?… to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” When we get in the presence of the blessed (happy) God (1 Tim. 1:11) we get happy (Psalm 16:11 In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever) as Joni Eareckson Tada says so well, “God happily shares His gladness, His joy comes flooding over heaven’s walls filling my heart in a waterfall of delight, which then in turn always streams out to others in a flood of encouragement, and then erupts back to God in an ecstatic fountain of praise. He gets your heart pumping for heaven. He injects His peace, power, and perspective into your spiritual being. He puts a song in your heart. I want to know God like this! Shove me under the waterfall of the Trinity’s joy, which splashes and spills over heaven’s walls. If He’s always in a good mood, I want to catch it.”  And we get holy because no pleasure derived from any sin can compete with the joy of being filled with God’s love and joy as C.S. Lewis said so well, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and   ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” And so the Grand Adventure is following this amazing God wherever He leads. It is, like Peter, James, and John, leaving their nets and boats and everything they had known at the shore of Galilee when Jesus said, “Come” never knowing the incredible adventure that awaited them of seeing the blind healed, the lame made to walk, the dead brought out of the grave, Jesus transfigured before their eyes and speaking with Moses and Elijah. They could have had no idea that answering that call of Jesus to, “Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 MSG, would take them all over the then known world preaching the gospel and seeing the world change before their eyes. And all they did was obey a simple command, “Follow Me.” And that is what we must do if we want to experience this all-satisfying God of love and joy. We must join Him in total trusting, obedient, faith. We must listen for His specific call for our lives. We can’t assume that what He asks of someone else He will automatically ask of us. He has created an adventure to enjoy with each of us specific to each of us. He told many to “Follow Me” and yet He told the maniac of Gadara, “Don’t follow Me but go home and tell your friends and family what great things the Lord has done for you.” Each of us must listen to the call of our Master as He has ordained a specific way in which each of us will fulfill His general call to “Go and make disciples of the nations.” Like Pastor Matthew Barnett says, “When you were born, God instilled many things within you. One of them was a great CAUSE that He wants you to embrace. In His unique grandeur, He created a universe in which the cumulative effect of all people faithfully pursuing the cause within them would result in a transformed world – one in which everyone’s needs would be met and every servant’s heart would be filled with the joy of blessing others. Unfortunately, we live in a traumatized world – in part because so many people fail to identify and pursue the cause He has given them. Even though it would provide the happiness and fulfillment they have been seeking, they have failed to build their lives around that cause.” So let’s not miss His call. Let’s get in His presence and learn of Him and listen for His instructions and then step out with Him in faith and walk on the water. Let’s go to work with Daddy and change the world.

After the sermon there were several testimonies and beautiful music and celebration. We finished up and then went across the street for lunch and then met back at the church for some time with Pastor Pedro and Jair and Shannon of Christ for the City as well as Pastors Hector and Liliana and the OHI team. We had a marvelous afternoon of sharing and learning as Pastor Pedro unfolded for us the amazing work that Christ for the City Colombia is doing and ways that we can help. He invited us to Medellin, a city in northern Colombia at our earliest convenience to see what God is doing with their ministry there and pray about how we can be involved and since we discovered that he is an international marathoner we invited him to come to our Orphan Hope marathon February 11, 2012 and he heartily accepted. What a blessing! What a grand adventure. We also heard from another friend of Jair’s about a curriculum they have developed for children that uses the Jesus Film and then follows through with discipleship and how they have implemented it in schools in several Latin American countries and how we may use it in our work. It was a tremendous day in His presence and with His choice saints and we thoroughly enjoyed it. To God be the glory for the great adventures He is pursuing and He has asked us to join Him.

I had lunch this week with Pastor Timothy Vowell and Scott, both of Relationships For Christ.  They are building an amazing work in Zambia, Africa called Project Samuel (click on the logo above). I was introduced to Timothy by Scott and Anita Gilbert, parents of our own missionary Chris Poole. From the moment I met Timothy, I knew that we were kindred spirits. I love their core values, one of which is working with the whole body of Christ. We at Orphan Hope International hold this very dearly as well. We believe that God has called us to cooperate with anyone who is following Christ to expand His kingdom in the world. I was so happy when Bill Byrd invited Timothy to speak to us at our annual OHI board retreat recently and he helped us in more ways than I can tell you. Anyway, due to our shared core value of working together, he has invited me to come to Zambia and see what God is doing for them there and then seek the  Lord together as to how we can help Project Samuel. In the same vein, I have invited Timothy and possibly his son Brenden to come with our team in January to Bogota, Colombia and see if God would have us partner on some projects there. One of my favorite things about being on mission with God are the marvelous people that He brings me into contact with who are also chasing Him on this glorious adventure. To God be all the glory.

This week was my busiest and hardest, but I had so much fun! On Tuesday we canvassed a high school with fliers for a new outreach we are starting for high school kids that want to play basketball. It was fascinating how the kids that were interested were the outcast of the groups. The popular kids didn’t want anything to do with us. I really praying that we are able to influence a lot of kids through this new outreach. Wednesday a family from the church was moving a needed to give a way a lot of their furniture and cloths. So we were able to load up a whole buss load of stuff. It was awesome! They gave us a couch, four TVs, about five chairs and six mattresses. We are all ways in need of mattresses so that was such a gift from God to be given that many mattresses. Thursday morning we delivered some of our furniture to a lady in need. It is a great experience to really be Jesus hand and feet in a persons life. Thursday afternoon we went back to the church family’s house to load up another full buss load of stuff. It was amazing how much one family was able to give us! God is so good that no matter how many families in need we are helping we always have more then we need. Friday we canvassed again at a different school and again the only kids interested were the one all by themselves out side of the groups. Friday night we went to Skid Row for our weekly outreach. I had prayed all week that we could make a difference in someone’s life and we wouldn’t fall into a passionless rhyme. He answered my pray in a mighty way this Friday! We were walking around a corner when this lady came up to us a say we should go and help this other lady put her shoes on because she couldn’t do it by herself. I was like ok that is a little wired of a lady out of no were comes up and says we should go help someone but ok. So me and my friend went to the lady (whose name is Diana) and asked if we could help her. Diana said she needed help up so she could go around the corner and go to sleep. We help her up but she was so drunk that she could not stand up on her own. We asked Diana where she was going but all she would say was that she needed a cover because she didn’t have one. All Diana had with her was a sheet and the clothes she was wearing. I didn’t know were we could get her a cover because we didn’t have any blankets with us or anything like that but we just started walking her to the back of our group were Dustin one of my team was. Dustin asked a ministry we are friends with called the Joan Projects if they had any blankets we could give Diana and by God’s grace they did. So we made a bed for Diana by a church on Skid Row. We Dustin gave Diana his testimony of being an alcoholic and how he meet Jesus at the dream center. I pray we were able to make her see how she can have a different life. Saturday after adopt a block I just rested and watched a movie. Sunday after church Jonathan wanted to have a site leaders meeting to build up the team. It was awesome, we went to a park in the mountains. I rocked climbed for the first time in my life! They made me leave my camera in the van so I couldn’t get any pictures but it was so much fun. Dustin and I jumped of the side of a cliff in to a stream with all of our cloths on. The water was so cooled but I had do it once in a life time moment! Ok I will write again next week! Love you all.

Our 2nd annual Share The Hope dinner is fast approaching. Please join us for an evening of Stories and Dreams and hear and see what God is doing through this amazing ministry He has called us to.

I can’t believe it has only been two weeks since I started at the Dream Center, it feels like it should be a month! This is the first time I have been able to sit down with my computer all week. Well Sunday I road on the Buses again to pick up the families that want to go to church with us but this time I went to my now adopted site Nickerson Gardens the best site ever! The serves at Angeles Temple was amazing! They had a guest worship leader who writes his own songs and one of his songs call The Great I Am was incredible. I can’t remember his name but that song was like hearing The Revelation song for the first time but almost more touching some how. Monday a now very good friend Courtnie Stevenson moved in to my room for the week. We have had a great time together! Wednesday I moved into my permanent room on the intern floor after work but it was a nightmare because I had to wash all of my clothes. The Dream Center has a problem with bed bug, so anytime you move to a different room you have to wash all the clothes you brought with you. I thought I was not going to ever be done wash and folding laundry, but thank God I did! Lol Friday was a great day, we started out separating and bagging up all the needs as we call them for the families at the adopt a block sites and all of the fruit we also bag up. After lunch we were going to go to a retirement home to bless them and I was suppose to give a devotion but our printer was not working on Thursday and we couldn’t finish all of our work for Saturday, Sad but we are going this Friday instead. Friday night we made our weekly trip to Skid Row, Again God worked in amazing ways. One cool story was, at a corner we were talking with a woman, her niece and there friend and after talking with them for about ten minutes they asked the whole team of about ten of us to pray for them it was remarkable. Saturday we visited Nickerson Gardens, it was fun. I already feel like some of the families are my good friend. Sunday after church I went with Courtnie to the beach! Wow we had a fantastic time I posted some pictures on Facebook. Please pray for me to have the strength to not get to tired to see God working through our work. I want enjoy God’s work every day 🙂