for the least of these

I'm not sure but it's quite possible that this past week was the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life...ever...

During the course of last week, I got to watch 4o high school students be the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus to 36 kids from the Franklin projects. It's completely impossible to communicate what happened. And I think it's flat out because it wasn't of us. It was something so much bigger than us...and therefore cannot be explained.

But I'll try to give an idea of what the week looked like...
Sunday was simply a day for the HCC youth to do some team building activities and prepare for the week at Deer Run. Little did we know how much there was to learn...

Monday was rough...and I do mean, rough. At 9:00, the bus arrived with 36 kids ranging from kindergarten through 5th grade. And they were ready to test their limits with us. Our problem was that we didn't have much of a plan as far as how to handle discipline, etc besides just to keep loving on them. The kids were fairly close to out-of-control and had very little respect for us. A few comments I remember hearing from the first day:

• "I hate you."
• "I hate this camp."
• "I'm never coming back"
• "Y'all (the HCC youth) are just here to get mad at us and tell us what to do"

Here's what was amazing...our students didn't retaliate. They didn't get angry. They just kept loving...unconditionally, relentlessly. The kids left at 3:00, and we were completely wiped out by Monday night. We encouraged everyone to not give up on these kids...to understand why they are acting the way they are acting. And to keep loving.

Day 2 was so much better than Day 1, and by Day 3, we started witnessing miracles...

One of the miracles was just watching how God so faithfully supplied us with everything we needed for the day, hour, minute ahead. We prayed a lot this week...and He so lovingly gave us more than we asked or imagined.

The other miracle was watching the hearts of these kids from the projects start softening. The love that our students was so unconditionally pouring out every day allowed the walls to start breaking down. The kids started letting down their guard and letting us into their lives. There were so many times when I had to just step back and soak in what was happening around me. It was truly a foretaste of heaven. I COULD NOT wipe the smile off my face by Day 3. It was truly unbelievable.

What was so amazing this week was just watching the power of love. It was seeing 40 students completely taken over by the Spirit and loving in ways that were not of them! They were loving like Jesus loved. They loved without expecting anything in return. They started to understand what Mother Theresa meant when she said to "love until it hurts. And then love some more".

One of my favorite parts of the week was during the morning and afternoon "YoHoHo Shows" when we would have our students go up on stage and bring up a specific kid and speak words of affirmation and encouragement to him/her in front of the whole group. These kids, who are rarely recognized for anything good, got to stand in front of 75 people and have someone talk about the GOOD that they see in them. I had to walk behind stage the first morning we did it because I couldn't control the tears.

There are countless stories to tell about last week. One of our students told me in all honesty yesterday that he thought JP and I should write a book about it. We probably could. But one of my favorite parts about camp is this: these kids live right down the street from us. They have already been calling our students and our students have already been hanging out with them...just in the past couple of days! Our students are already talking about their future plans for hanging out with these kids and deepening these relationships. As one of our girls said at the banquet on Friday night, our family just got a whole lot bigger.

I believe eternity was changed last week. The unconditional and relentless love of Christ is so very powerful. And it is humbling to think that He chooses to use us to show that love to a broken and hurting world. That's crazy. But if everyone in the world loved like those 40 students loved last week...who knows what would happen...

I'll leave you with a few of my favorites from the 980 photos I have from the week!

mukama asiimwe

It means "Praise Him". And the answer to it is "Asiimwe muno", which means "Praise Him more". Learn it, use it.
I have been anxiously awaiting this past week, because Bob and Brenda Schulyer (pictured above!)- missionaries who work at the Kibbuse school in Nyamarwa, Kibale, Uganda - came to Franklin to meet and talk with many people from Harpeth. It was so good...so much to say. So many exciting things discussed.

But it has been decided...November 1 is departure day. It looks like I will actually be traveling down with my senior pastor, Bobby, and our missions director, Lonnie. They will stay for a couple of weeks. I will stay for an additional couple of weeks and come home somewhere around November 28. My good friends, Matt and Amy Walter, will be coming around the second week of November and will be staying for 3 months. I am thrilled to get to be there with people who I consider family.

Talking to Bob and Brenda naturally got me more excited than ever. Because they put some reality to my dreams. They told me specific things that they could see us doing...they told us specific things to bring...specific things about where we'll be staying, what we'll be eating...it just made everything a lot more real.

And they brought lots of pictures...
This is the village of Nyamarwa where we'll be staying!
These are the students at the Kibbuse Vocational School where we'll be serving during our time there. I get to know these people!
oh yeah...and down the street from the school? there's an orphanage where Bob and Brenda said they could probably use a lot of help. yeah, you don't have to twist my arm on that one. look at these faces...
possibly the thing I am most excited about is singing and dancing with my brothers and sisters in Nyamarwa. Brenda said that two of their favorite things to do is laugh and sing. Sounds like heaven to me...
sunrise over Nyamarwa...
then I just had to throw this last one in because I love it so much. This little guy was just walking down the street. The man in this picture is Reverend James Adyeri, who is head of the Kibbuse Vocational school. Bob and Brenda had awesome things to say about this man...I'm really looking forward to getting to know him.

I can't wait to go. I can't wait to meet these people. I can't wait to become friends with the compounds' "cook", who will be my roommate for the month. I can't wait to sing with them and play "net ball" with them. I am so looking forward to studying the Bible with those girls and learning from them how to make dresses and how to grow vegetables.

178 days...and counting...

rockin' the famine

For 30 hours, about 40 youth and adults fasted and spent the weekend connecting with our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering from poverty.
much to say about the weekend...but eyes were opened and hearts were pierced. 26,000 children die every single day from hunger or hunger-related diseases. Something is very wrong in the world.
But instead of simply letting our sadness and guilt end at sadness and guilt, we want those things to push us to action. We want to "be the change we want to see in the world"...one child at a time.
check it...

the best birthday present of all...

It is amazing what rest will do for the soul. And I don't mean sleep. I just mean rest.

Last week, I got some rest. It was amazing...and honestly unexpected. I didn't set out to rest...it just kinda happened. I think it was like my birthday present from up above!

so check it...here was my birthday week:
Sunday = Easter = no youth group. Now don't get me wrong...of course I love youth group. But a night off every once in a great while is a welcomed thing! So after church was over that morning, I had no more responsibilities for the rest of the day! I got to totally relax for the rest of the day with my "Jesus family" celebrating the awesomeness that is Easter! Of course, no blog post is complete without some pics, so I'll include some here

(side note: Our youth Easter service was AMAZING! We got to have church in a tent! that's right...old school revival - style!)
What better way to celebrate on Easter Sunday, right?!?!?!
Riley and I paired up as a team for the egg hunt...we were quite the killer combo...

LOVE...these people...

JESUS FAMILY!

I purposefully took off work on my "big day" (Thursday). Spent the day with two of my favorites...
had my first-ever Curious Gourmet cupcake...
and then to cap off the day, went to see Demetri Martin with my good friend, Melanie!! oh my goodness...HILARIOUS guy...

I laughed so hard, I got a headache...oh how the cheeks hurt.

Friday night was girls night over at the Robinson's. Jill made my very favorite cake (strawberry with strawberry icing) and some of the girls came over and we watched one of my favorites: STEP UP 2, baby!! I have a not-so-secret burning desire to be a hip-hop dancer :)
Then there was Saturday...which ended up being a day with my girlfriends full of:
sitting out in the blessed sun...reading (or in my case...preparing Sunday night's lesson...)
eating...
napping...
and we can't forget...
PARTYING
the girls threw me a little surprise, ghetto-fabulous birthday party. HILARIOUS

So that was my week...amazing. I felt so rested and rejuvenated starting out this week. Makes me wonder why I don't take time-out for myself a little more often.

So although I was given many wonderful things on my birthday week, I might say that the Lord's gift of rest, friends, family, and fun might have been the best gift of all!

send me

For the past 4-5 years, I've had this faint little pull to Africa. For the past year, this little pull has turned into an undeniable angst...and last fall - somewhere around Oct 9 - the decision was made. "I'm going to Africa". I just couldn't shake it any longer.

Since then, I've known I wanted to go. I've even know WHEN I wanted to go. But I just didn't know where. And that's definitely not something I was going to take lightly. I started doing some talking and some researching. But honestly...I just wasn't feeling a strong pull toward any particular area or particular group. And that was frustrating...and honestly made me wonder if this really was what I was being called to.

Then the director of missions at my church (Lonnie Hearne) sat down at my desk one Sunday and started telling me all about his dreams for our church's involvement in a specific area in Uganda. (Side note: there are two countries that I have prayed for on a daily basis for the past 5 or 6 years - and those countries are Belgium and Uganda...Belgium because I went on a mission trip there in college and Uganda because we have had many ties there with missionaries and my best friend lived there for year...so when he started talking about Uganda...I got excited right off the bat).

Anyway, there's an area in central Uganda called Nyamarwa where there is this Kibbuse Vocational School, which was founded in 2000 by nine villagers who had a vision for their children to become job creators rather than job seekers. So at this school, young men are learning carpentry, bricklaying, metal working, and auto repair. Girls are learning tailoring, dressmaking, and home economics. All students are learning English along with hygiene, nutrition, and disease prevention.

Lonnie started telling me about his vision for development in that specific area of the country...and my heart was about to beat out of my chest. Later that week, I had lunch with Lonnie's wife and she started sharing with me how women in Africa are so often de-valued and sexually exploited. There is such a need for women to come over and teach these girls about their worth and about their beauty. She said that she saw me being able to teach a class at the vocational school to young women about their identity and their worth. Are you kidding me?!?!?!? That is what my heart beats for!

So I'm going...in November. Just one month...to see what God does in my heart. And who knows...it may turn into something longer one day. And what's amazing is that two of my close friends from here in Franklin are going over at the exact same time...and for the exact same reason. I'm overwhelmed with excitement...

man...what is to come?

duh...

So I've been averaging one post every 2-3 weeks for the past couple of months...makes me sad. But honestly...I just haven't had the time. I seem to be in an almost constant state of feeling overwhelmed. And that really makes me sad. I know that stress and busy-ness is not God's best and is not His will. It's just one of those things that I seem to be caught in, but really don't know how to get out of...anyway...

Lately I have been sensing this overwhelming need for God's people to be on their knees. I have sensed this in my small group. I have sensed it in the youth group. I have sensed it in our church and in our community. It is frighteningly easy to get so consumed in the physical world that we forget that there is a very real and very active spiritual realm where battle is constantly raging.

God has been moving and working in powerful ways in Harpeth Community Church, especially within the youth group. A few months ago, we were at the top of the mountain...amazed at what God was doing and ecstatic about what was to come. But our enemy (who I call "the punk") never goes down without a fight. And he has been doing all he can to creep in and steal what God has given.

The weight of the battle can sometimes feel unbearable. But the awesome part is that we have a Mighty Warrior who fights on behalf of his people. And if we will take up our sword (the Word) and stay connected to that Warrior, we WILL win. Jesus told us that the gates of hell would NOT overcome His church.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been feeling a push to get on my knees for the students in our youth group. And last night, I stood in front of them and confessed that I had not been doing that as I should...not even close. And I committed to them that that was going to change...immediately. There is NOTHING greater that I can do for those kids than to be praying for them - unceasingly. What a shame it would be if I spent all of my time planning events, getting Bible studies together, and organizing programs...but neglected the most important thing.

And no matter where you or who you know...there is nothing better that you can do for your friends, your family, or your church than to be on your face before God for them. NOTHING.

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14

these lyrics from the Shane and Shane song "Waging War" keep ringing in my ears...

When battle lines become unclear And the waging war is all I hear Sustain me with Your voice And the choice to walk in truth And by the Spirit That I might see this day This waging war might go away And be no more That I might see His face And hear Him say Son, welcome home The war is over

broken

I've been reading through the New Testament with my church this year. We read 5 chapters per week and are just starting the book of Luke. I love how you can read certain passages a million times and get a million different things out of them each time...

One of the things that has really been hitting me about Jesus as I've been reading the Gospels is how stinkin' hard he was on those Pharisees. Like he did not mince words with them. He continually told them over and over and over how he hated their "religiosity" and self-righteous attitudes. He seemed to have very little tolerance for them. Jesus spent his time around people who were broken, who were sinful, who were so very aware of their desperate need for a Savior. And he condemned those who were caught up in religion and law and pride. The Pharisees came face-to-face with the same man that the leper and the tax collector and the lowly fishermen came face-to-face with. But because of their righteous pride, they were not able to receive Jesus and all that he had to offer them. They had completely lost sight of the true God in their pursuit of righteousness. It's a sad thing to read about.

But the thing that has been hitting me so hard is this question: which one would I have been? I think about how much I can still get sucked in to religion and rules and self-righteousness...and that's after I already have a knowledge of Jesus and the cross and what He did and said! The Pharisees had only known "law" up until that point, but I don't have that excuse. It's a sickening thing to admit, but I see so much of myself in the Pharisees.

I sat in a room last night full of women who, for the most part, have come face-to-face with their own brokenness. It was an extremely difficult night because the topic was on abuse. And many of these women had stories to share about when they had been abused and raped and how many of them now have children from being raped. They were sharing their struggles and the pain that they still have from those experiences. And I just got to thinking: I have never known that kind of pain. I have never known that kind of brokenness. It was so hard to hear.

But as I was sitting there, I started thinking about how I have honestly led a relatively easy life, in every sense of the word. And while I am so thankful that God has spared me from much pain and difficulty in life, there's another part of me that has a burning desire to somehow come face-to-face with my own brokenness, with my desperate need for grace. I want to be desperate for my Savior. I want to be like the leper and the tax collector.

I was watching a video this week of Nate Larkin...and he said something that hit me to the core. He said: "I created this false self - this "Saint Nate" that I tried to make breathe on its own. I felt bad that Saint Nate can only live at church. Now I know that Jesus never loved Saint Nate, cause He didn't make Saint Nate. He made me. Jesus loves ME. Wants a relationship with Me...
Because of my addiction, I now understand that only God is the center of things. He's actually used my addiction for good. Because of it I've been forced to join the human race and surrender to a power greater than myself...I don't think I ever really met Jesus until I stepped out of my "church persona" and became just another desperate, broken man. That's when He really became real to me." (Powerful video...check it: http://www.iamsecond.com/#/seconds/Nate_Larkin/)

But that's what I want. And it's a scary thing to ask God for that. Because there's no way that coming face-to-face with your own brokenness is going to be an easy thing...but I'm taking a big breath and asking God for it. Because it's only then that I know I will truly be able to meet Jesus and be used by Him and for Him.