Dear Jesus

Dear Jesus,

It's a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod's jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

---Max Lucado

Children's Prayers

Yesterday at HPCA was our Day of Prayer. During chapel in the morning the students learned how to pray in the ACTS format [Adoration (I love you), Confession (I'm sorry), Thanksgiving (thank you), Supplication (please)]

Every hour or so a student would walk through the halls ringing a bell, signaling specific times throughout the day to stop and pray.  Each time the bell rang the students would focus on a different aspect of the ACTS prayer. 

During the supplication time of prayer the older grades partnered up with a younger grade and students would pray together. And instead of simply just asking God for things that they wanted, the students focused on praying for our leaders in our nation.  They prayed for our re elected President. For those in government. For their principal and teachers. For their pastors. 

I loved walking through the halls and not only hearing the whispered prayers of students, but also reading some of the students written prayers.

I pray for homeless people and familys

I pray for our President

I pray for people who are homeless and who are sick and who are dieing in the name of Jesus. Amen

Can you prey for my grandma because she needs medicen almost every week. I am very serios

I pray for hope

Dear Heavenly father. I pray that I can be nice with my sister.

I want to pray for my grandpa, because he's not feeling good & he's living alone, by himself in a bad neighborhood, so I want to pray for his safety & protection and I want to pray so I could do better in science.

Dear God, I pray LORD that my father would come back to church.

May we learn to pray like children. May be we bold in our prayers. Fearless. May we be honest. May we repent and love. May we be learners. May we write our prayers down. May we pray together. May we be intentional about loving God and loving people.

Dear God, As you draw me ever deeper into your heart, I discover that my companions on the journey are women and men loved by you as fully and as intimately as I am. In your compassionate heart, there is a place for all of them. No one is excluded. Give me a share in your compassion, dear God,so that your unlimited love may become visible in the way I love my brothers and sisters. Amen
[With Open Hands- Henri Nouwen]  

Reaching Out to God

“Don’t we use the word “prayer” mostly when we feel that our human limits are reached? Isn’t the word “prayer” more a word to indicate powerlessness rather than a creative contract with the source of all life?

It is important to say that... feelings, experiences, questions, and irritations about prayer are very real and often the result of concrete and painful events.  Still, a spiritual life without prayer is like the Gospel without Christ.  Instead of proving or defending anything, it might be worthwhile to simply bring all the doubtful and anxious questions together in this one question: ‘If prayer, understood as an intimate relationship with God, is indeed the basis of all relationships--to ourselves as well as to others--how then can we learn to pray and really experience prayers as the axis of our existence?” By focusing on this question, it becomes possible to explore the importance of prayer in our own lives and in the lives of those we have met through personal encounters of through stories and books. 

Prayer is often considered a weakness, a support system, which is used when we can no longer help ourselves. But this is only true when the God of our prayers is created in our own image and adapted to our own needs and concerns. When, however, prayer makes us reach out to God, not on our own but on God’s terms, then prayer pulls us away from self-preoccupations, encourages us to leave familiar ground, and challenges us to enter into a new world which cannot be constrained within the narrow boundaries of our mind or heart.  Prayer, therefore, is a great adventure because the God with whom we enter into a new relationship is greater than we are and defies all our calculations and predictions. The movement from illusion to prayer is hard to make since it leads us from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to a risky surrender, and from the many “safe” gods to the God whose love has no limits. ” 

- Henri Nouwen

I Need Wisdom and Grace.

As a team we read and discuss books about culture, race, urban environments and God. Currently we started reading "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria" by the Psychologist Beverley Tatum, PH.D. 

I find her words very powerful. Growing up in a predominately White community it can be easy to distance myself from issues of race and even to unknowingly perpetuate passive racism due to being unaware of certain advantages I may possess simply because I am White and privileged.

Tatum writes: 

"The impact of racism begins early. Even in our preschool years, we are exposed to misinformation about people different from ourselves.  Many of us grew up in neighborhoods where we had limited opportunities to interact with people different from our own families. When I ask my college students, "How many of you grew up in neighborhoods where most of the people were from the same racial group as your own?" almost every hand goes up.  There is still a great deal of social segregation in our communities.  Consequently, most of the early information we receive about "others"--people racially, religiously, or socioeconomically different from ourselves--does not come as the result of firsthand experience.  The secondhand information we do receive has often been distorted, shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete. 

Some examples will highlight this process. Several years ago one of my students conducted a research project investigating preschools' conceptions of Native Americans. Using children at a local day care center as her participants, she asked these three- and four-year-olds to draw a picture of a Native American.  Most children were stumped by her request.  They didn't know what a Native American was.  But when she rephrased the question and asked them to draw a picture of an Indian, they readily complied. Almost every picture included one central feature: feathers.  In fact, many of them also included a weapon--a knife or tomahawk--and depicted the person in violent or aggressive terms. Though this group of children, almost all of whom were White, did not live near a large Native American population and probably had had little if any personal interaction with American Indians, they all had internalized an image of what Indians were like.  How did they know?  Cartoon images, in particular the Disney movie Peter Pan, were cited by the children as their number-one source of information.  At the age of three, these children already had a set of stereotypes in place.  Though I would not describe three-year-olds as prejudiced, the stereotypes to which they have been exposed become the foundation for the adult prejudices so many of us have. 

Sometimes the assumptions we make about others come not from what we have been told or what we have seen on television or in books, but rather from what we have not been told.  The distortion of historical information about people of color leads young people (and older people, too) to make assumptions that may go unchallenged for a long time.... 

Stereotypes, omissions, and distortions all contribute to the development of prejudice.  Prejudice is a preconceived judgment or opinion, usually based on limited information.  I assume that we all have prejudices, not because we want them, but simply because we are so continually exposed to misinformation about others" 

Tatum continues the discussion about racism defining it as a system of advantage based on race. She writes:

"Understanding racism as a system of advantage based on race is antithetical to traditional notions of an American meritocracy. For those who have internalized this myth, this definition generates considerable discomfort.  It is more comfortable simply to think of racism as a particular form of prejudice. Notions of power or privilege do not have to be addressed when our understanding of racism is constructed in that way....

Frequently someone will say, "You keep talking about White people. People of color can be racist, too." I once asked a White teacher what it would mean to her if a student or parent of color accused her of being racist. She said she would feel as though she had been punched in the stomach or called a "low-life scum."  She is not alone in this feeling.  The word racist holds a lot of emotional power.  For many White people, to be called racist is the ultimate insult. The idea that this term might only be applied to Whites becomes highly problematic for after all, can't people of color be "low-life scum" too?  

Of course, people of any racial group can hold hateful attitudes and behave in racially discriminatory and bigoted ways.  We can all cite examples of horrible hate crimes which have been perpetrated by people of color as well as Whites.  Hateful behavior is hateful behavior no matter who does it. But when I am asked, "Can people of color be racist?" I reply, "The answer depends on your definition of racism." If one defines racism as racial prejudice, the answer is yes.  People of color can and do have racial prejudices.  However, if one defines racism as a system of advantage based on race the answer is no.  People of color are not racist because they do not systematically benefit from racism.  And equally important, there is no systematic cultural and institutional support or sanction for the racial bigotry of people of color.  In my view, reserving the term racist only for behaviors committed by Whites in the context of a White-dominated society is a way of acknowledging the ever -present power differential afforded Whites by the culture and institutions that make up the system of advantage and continue to reinforce notions of White superiority.  (Using the same logic, I reserve the word sexist for men. Though women can and do have gender-based prejudices, only men systematically benefit from sexism.)   

Despite my best efforts to explain my thinking on this point, there are some who will be troubled, perhaps even incensed, by my response.  To call the racially motivated acts of a person of color acts of racial bigotry and to describe similar acts committed by Whites as racist will make no sense to some people, including some people of color. ... At moments like these, it is not agreement that is essential, but clarity. ... 

For many White people, the image of a racist is a hood-wearing Klan member or a name-calling Archie Bunker figure.  These images represent what might be called active racism, blatant, intentional acts of racial bigotry and discrimination. Passive racism is more subtle and can be seen in the collusion of laughing when a racist joke is told, of letting exclusionary hiring practices go unchallenged, of accepting as appropriate the omissions of people of color from the curriculum, and of avoiding difficult race-related issued. Because racism is so ingrained in the fabric of American institutions, it is easily self-perpetuating.  All that is required to maintain it is business as usual.   

I sometimes visualize the ongoing cycle of racism as a moving walkway at the airport.  Active racist behavior is equivalent to walking fast on the conveyor belt. The person engaged in active racist behavior has identified with the ideology of White supremacy and is moving with it.  Passive racist behavior is equivalent to standing still on the walkway.  No overt effort is being made, but the conveyor belt moves the bystanders along the same destination as those who are actively walking. Some of the bystanders may feel the motion of the conveyor belt, see the active racists ahead of them, and choose to turn around, unwilling to go the same destination as the White supremacists. But unless they are walking actively in the opposite direction at a speed faster than the conveyor belt--unless they are actively antiracist--they will find themselves carried along with the others. ... 

It is important to acknowledge that while all Whites benefit from racism, they do not benefit equally.  Other factors, such as socioeconomic status, gender, age, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, mental and physical ability, also play a role in our access to social influence and power" (3-12).

While I have never thought of myself as an active racist, I do think that I have become too content with how things are in the world when it comes to issues regarding race. Like Tatum suggests, I have probably been standing on that conveyor belt, not making an active enough effort to walk in the other direction.  

I pray God will give me (and everyone) wisdom and grace in this area as we seek out justice in a broken world. 

Waiting at the bus stop

I made a new friend. Well I guess he is sort-of a friend.

Every morning at 7:30am I walk to the bus stop down the street to catch the 4 bus north.
I often have to wait anywhere from 5-15 minutes.  But there is no need to worry about me getting bored while I wait.  Everyday, a squirrel (who I have started calling Oscar) entertains me.

Oscar drops acorns on my head. Everyday. Without fail.

While some mornings may be harder than others, Oscar always seems to bring a smile to my face as I often think: this is real life; this is great.

The little moments are often the greatest ones.

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Prayer

• Half of our house (Mitch, Mary, Dave & Me) got sick this week and we all seem pretty exhausted. 
• As we all get more familiar with our service sites, I pray that we learn how to be proactive in learning and helping 
• I have some friends and family who are either sick, unhealthy, stressed out, or exhausted. And I just pray for healing and rest and a supportive community of friends.
• I pray that I will actively look for God as I go about my days. 

My Family

My team and I just finished our first week working at each of our service sites! It was a busy week. It was a new week. But is was also a good week. 

Our team is becoming more like family as Philly is starting to become more like home. It is crazy to think we have only been here for 3 weeks; it seems like months. 

I linked a few of my housemates blogs in the sidebar --->
so if you want to find out more about our awesome north Philly adventures, check them out!

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Prayer

• for rest 
• for healthy food choices as we go grocery shopping and cook meals
• for areas of commonality with our neighbors that will lead to blessed and easy conversations. We do not always want to be viewed as the new young white neighbors; we want to just be friends.  

Touring the City; SEPTA day.

Last week we spent a day getting comfortable with public transportation and got to visit a bunch of different places around the city. 

Here are a few pictures from the day! 

Liberty Bell

Benjamin Franklin Bridge (to New Jersey)

City Hall

Art Museum/ Rocky Statue 

Basically we are really awesome. 

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Prayer

• We all start work at our service sites on Monday, so prayer for calm nerves and good first impressions would be greatly appreciated.
• Also prayer for safety and a good sense of direction so that we do not get lost as we travel alone on public transportation for the first time. 
• Constant prayer for us as a community as we continue to learn how to relate to one another.
• Prayer for our neighborhood and church as we try to integrate ourselves into their existing communities. 
• Prayer for rest. 

North Philly!

I am now a resident of North Philly!!

My team and I moved into our apartment on the third floor of a ministry site (Teen Haven) last friday, and we already feel like close family. 

We have all bonded well and each day I get more and more excited for what the year will bring. 

This past week (as well as next week) we have had orientation and training.  And during our free time we go out and try to meet our neighbors.  Today we even got to navigate the public transportation systems as we try to learn more about our new home. For the next 5 weeks we will all be on a technology fast (sans Friday's).  While at times it may seem hard, I am excited for the opportunities this fast will provide for our team as we aim to be fully present here in Philadelphia. 

I will be starting at my service site on the 17th and while I am a bit nervous, I am also really excited. 

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prayer
- for continued team bonding
- for our neighborhood
- for Hunting Park Christian Academy (my service site)
- for rest

Mission Year!

I'm going to Philadelphia for a year!! 


I leave August 31st and could not be more excited. 


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Prayer

• for team dynamics
• for flexibility as I adapt to a very different lifestyle
• for boldness as I seek to share all the God has done in my life as I serve those around me
• for the local people I will interact with and build relationships with

Where to next?

Recently I have been praying over what God wants for me and where and if I should go somewhere this spring.

I am trying to be open.

I am trying to be honest.

I am trying to be bold. And patient.

I am praying over applying to go to Peru, inner city LA, or inner city Chicago for this spring.

Join the adventure.

On the road again (but not off the road again)

I am going to Michigan tomorrow.

I get to see some family members that I love dearly. And it has been far too long since I last saw them.

I pray that God will bless my trip and my travels.

Bye for now.

I leave Africa in less than 12 hours.

And I will then start my 30 hour venture home.

It has definitely been an adventure.

Thank you all for all your prayer and support these past few months.

God has done great things and you have played a large part in it. I wouldn't be out here without you.

As I return home and process all that I have seen and experienced I will try to keep you updated.

Love you.

Meg

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Prayer:

• for safety as I travel for the next 2 days
• for my host family as they return home on Sunday after the death of a family member in the States
• for the words to share all the God has done.

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Faces.

Prayer.

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Prayer

• for me. I am tired. My body is tired. My mind is tired.
• for my host family. They are returning to the states tomorrow to be with a sick family member. May they have peace in this sad time since they will be returning home under difficult circumstances.
• for the team here. May everything run smoothly and to God's glory during their absence.

Love you.

Meg

1 Timothy 4:12

For the past few days I helped out at a youth retreat for some of the international kids who participate in the local youth group, WIRED (Walking In Righteousness Every Day), here in Ouaga.

A lot of these students are missionary kids and are constantly saying ‘hellos’ and ‘good-byes.‘ This camp provided an end of the year opportunity to hang out all together before a few girls head off to Ghana, a few families return to the States, and a few students graduate. They not only got to hang out all together, but they also got messy, got dirty, played silly games, went swimming, ate, and worshiped God together.

Only having known them for a short time, I was amazed at their great faith. They were constantly seeking out God and how their lives and their futures would bring glory to Him. They weren’t afraid to ask hard questions or search for the answers.

There was one game they liked to play at the pool: Jump or Dive. A few people would start running toward the pool to jump in and and then someone else would yell out ‘Jump‘ or ‘Dive‘ (or anything that came to mind in that moment) and the people jumping in would have to try to enter the pool in that fashion. (When ‘bellyflop‘ was yelled you could tell they hadn’t thought it completely through before hitting the water).

It was quite funny to watch. It was also neat because at one point one of the kids pointed out that we had 6 continents represented in the game. Talk about cross-cultural relationships.

I’m excited for their futures and all that they will accomplish. God is at work everywhere.

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Prayer:
For all the young students I met this past week.
For my itchiness; I have a bunch of bug bites.

Bonjour!

So. I’m in Africa.

Burkina Faso.

Ouagadougou.

For the next few weeks I have the chance/privilege/opportunity to intern for a C&MA missionary family (the Wolters) here in Ouagadougou! It’s kind of awesome; it’s okay to be jealous.

For all those who have ever been on a short term mission trip somewhere and worked alongside full-time missionaries, have you ever wondered what it is like before your team arrived, or even after they left? Well, I get to see a glimpse into what it means to truly minister to the community here in Africa.

Being an intern, I get to basically do what ever is needed. When ever it is needed.

The intern program here with ENvision in Burkina Faso is relatively new. The Wolters have recently purchased two houses (one for guys/one for girls) for current and future interns working with them. Over the next week or so, I will be helping prepare the girls house so we can move in soon.

I have only been here a few days (after a lot of traveling- PRAISE God everything went smoothly) but I already love it. Some things are truly too hard to put into words. And even sometimes pictures can not seem to capture all that I see. But I see God. He is at work. And it is exciting.

Today I bought some African fabric. A tailer also came and is going to make me some skirts! Yay, patterns and colors; I have missed you.

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Prayer:

• for rest; I keep waking up at 4 in the morning
• for intentionality in seeking out ways I can help
• for ease in learning French.

Love you.

Training in Ensenada.

I’m in Mexico.

I love it here. The people. The sounds. The smells.

Back in the States I have always been super punctual and valued time. Here though, ‘ish’ time is great. I feel like it is one of the keys in being relational. It is not about rushing an event or finishing a task. It’s about people. I love it. I’m not always the best at it. But I love it.

I’m here with 28 people from all over the United States, preparing to go to 8 different countries. Kind of awesome. I am excited for my generation

Analynn. Quite possibly one of the most adorable little girls. Ever. As a group, we went to one of the local churches (that the missionaries we are staying with, are partnered with). We helped put on a VBS. There were songs, hand motions, Bible stories, candy, crafts, snacks, and games. Analynn was this tiny little girl who wouldn’t say anything. Even if you asked her what her name was. This did not stop her from hiding under the church pews from me, allowing me to help her put stickers on her craft, or dragging me around wherever she wanted to go. She even gave me a few of her goldfish. I have never considered myself a mushy-fluffy-word-using person, but this girl was precious. It was sad to say good-bye.

We then went to the ocean. Many of the people here with me have never seen the Pacific Ocean before. I told them if they looked hard enough they could see Japan.

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Prayer:

• for rest; traveling takes a lot out of everyone
• for growth

Love you.

And So The Adventure Begins..

I wake to the sound of water pounding the awning outside my window. My stomach churns. My exhausted body wanting so badly to hold on to sleep, but my mind won’t let it. Restless, I lay in bed trying to calm my frantic mind, knowing if I wait long enough my mother will come wake me up.

I leave for Africa in 5 days. I leave for training tomorrow.

I feel nauseous. I have that feeling I usually get before I go on a roller coaster for the first time. My body tense with anxiety. I’m starving. But the thought of food makes my stomach flip.

I used to think about this moment a lot. Now though, I am not sure if I ever truly believed it would actually happen. When I was young I would tell people I wanted to live in Africa when I grew up. I don’t think they believed me either.

God has been doing great and little and big things in my life. I can honestly say I have been blessed. God has given me a heart for the poor. The marginalized. The disenfranchised. The oppressed. And I could not be more excited. The opportunities in this world are endless and I can not wait to see progress. Hope. Joy.

I don’t know what my future looks like. I don’t know how God will use me this summer. I don’t know a lot of things. And yeah, the uncertainty terrifies me. But I know that God is good. And that I want to live my life to glorify Him. (In whatever capacity that may be).

So for now, I go. I say yes. I trust.

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I talked to my sister this morning. She asked if I was terrified.

(pause)

‘Yeah.’

‘You’re ready.’

I smiled.

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I witnessed a miracle today.

Everything I wanted to bring fit in my suitcase. One suitcase.

The song ‘Our God’ by Chris Tomlin is all that comes to mind. As silly as it seems, it’s the little moments like this that I live for.

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I would LOVE if you would join me on this adventure and journey, and partner with me through prayer.

I hope to update this blog often with stories of my adventures and with prayer requests.

Prayer:

• for safe travel
• for calm nerves; boldness
• for lasting relationships with team members and local people
• against spiritual warfare
• that I will constantly cling to God and trust Him

Love you.

“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” -Ephesians 6:19-20

Watch Out World.

I got my visa!

God is good.

“Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world."

Isaiah 12:4-5