1) I have a home (and a dorm, and a home in Ghana).
2) I've never had to prostitute myself for money.
3) I can choose to fast but I've never been forced to.
4) I can wear a scarf and a sweatshirt and a down vest and huddle under a blanket in front of my fireplace.
5) If I don't shower, it's my own fault.
6) I own at least 5 Bibles.
7) I can choose which clothes to keep, which to donate, and which to return.
8) I've never had to turn to drugs, alcohol, or sex for affirmation or love.
Obviously, only the material things; the biggest of all is knowing that I have a Savior in Heaven, and His name is Jesus.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Pilgrims Travel Light
My phone vibrated at 6:15 this morning, and I, snuggled comfortably and contentedly in my bed--mine, at home!--but still curious, fumbled around on my nighstand to see who might be calling me at this hour. "P.P.OD," announced the glowing screen. It had been several months since we'd talked, so I picked up: "Hello?", but not the usual "hell-O?"--no, "HA-lo?" And a little confusion ensued, since the connection from Ghana wasn't great:
"Akua?" / Jessica?
"HA-lo, P.P.OD?" / Hello, P.P.OD?
"HA-lo, Akua?" / Hello, Jessica?
"Aane, HA-lo?" / Yes, hello?
"Akua, εtε sεn?" / Jessica, how are you?
"Nyame adom! Ei, m'ani agye sε woafrε me... Na wo nso wo ho tε sεn?" / By God's grace (I'm fine)! Hey, I'm glad you've called me... And you also, how are you?
By God's grace, P.P.OD responds, he's also fine. We chat, him asking my how my family is and both of us lamenting that it's been so long since we've talked; me asking how Nana, the chief of Oguaa, is, and learning that he's doing great and able to walk anywhere without trouble after a year-long battle with an infected leg wound in the hospital; and him asking, as usual, how long it will be until I'm able to return to Ghana. Somehow the time does tick away, and no longer is the answer "aka mfeε nan; mewie sukuu a, mεsa aba" / in four [eternal, unending] years after I graduate.
I ask him how everything is going at his new job teaching at the local international school since he and all his fellow teachers-in-training were fired from their post at Seniagya Methodist JHS, where they had worked without ever receiving their pay for the past 8 months. The pay is small, he replies, and he can't stay there forever; instead, he'll pay the entrance examination fees and purchase an application to university in the spring, and pray--really, bring before the throne of grace with desperate pleas and humble, persistent reliance--that God grants him admission. Surely God is a provider, but I ask how much the fees will be, and after a pause, a mental calculation, carry the one and do the sum: "Bεyε 100 Cedis." About 100 Cedis, $70. This for a man whose monthly rent for a cramped room with a single bare lightbulb about a 5 minute walk from the borehole is $3/month, who went into a debt of $15 that took months to repay so that he could give parting gifts to the five Princeton students on the Bridge Year Program who had come to live for some few months in Oguaa. Seventy dollars that could kill a dream before the real obstacle, the 700 Cedis, $500 in tuition that university will cost if he's accepted, even needs to rear its head. I burned through almost $20 on incidentals and food at various airports as I flew home yesterday.
We end our conversation; his phone credit has almost run out, and I know full well that our quarter-hour conversation has probably cost him the equivalent of half of that month's rent:
"Hwε wo ho so yie." / Take care of yourself.
"Wonim sε mεnyε basa-basa." / You know I don't get into trouble.
And I went back to sleep, woke up a couple hours later to another cell phone vibration, a text from my dad wondering if we could do some errands, and soon found myself wandering the aisles of WalMart and Festival Foods. Bounty upon bounty towered before me, and as I trundled around, I thought of my friend Danny. After he graduates in the spring, he'll spend 11 months trekking across the world, serving God and loving people and living the message of the Gospel in 11 different countries. And he'll do it with a backpack full of clothes, a Bible, and not much more than that.
Remember what Jesus, the Word and our Emmanuel, says to us about how we're to go out when He sends us into the world? Sometimes I forget that, too, what with my prideful, foolishly self-sufficient, and ultimately sinful desire to do everything myself and not disturb God with my requests for food or protection or shelter. So I'm glad that my friend Lizzie called me back to the words of Matthew on her blog: "Do not get any gold or silver of copper to take with you in your belts--no bag for the journey or extra shirts or a staff, for workers are worth their keep." No staff, no copper for my belt? Okay, this I think I can handle, but no extra shirts? No bag for the journey? Really?
Because the truth is this: I have lots of stuff. Too much stuff--way too much stuff. I was packing two nights ago in preparation for returning home, and I had to do some visual inventory:
(1) Closet of tops, dresses, and skirts
(2) Drawer of sweaters
(3) Drawer of t-shirts
(4) Drawer of socks, bras, underwear
(5) Drawer of shorts
(6) Drawer of jeans and dress pants
(7) Drawer of sweatpants and leggings
(8) Crate of shoes
And please, let's not go into the books piled everywhere, and the assortment of jewelry, and the two plastic totes of random things lurking under my bed, and the laptop I'm writing this blog post on. God, the things You've entrusted to me are really beyond my comprehension, and obviously well beyond anything I deserve. Thank you.
So let's keep this straight, this procession of thoughts in my head today, and add to it a few spices until we have a nice little mental soup simmering. Firstly, the broth: my conversation with P.P.OD. Secondly, a collection of vegetables: Danny's upcoming trip 'round the world with a backpack. Thirdly, the meat: this confounding passage in Matthew 10:9-10. Fourthly, some noodles: the excess of my life as divulged by my dorm room's contents. And then the spices: room cleaning, and Jesus' return, and contentment in all circumstances, and being a pilgrim.
When I came home yesterday I brought a suitcase full of clothes with me, justifying spending $25 (which, disregarding the disparity in cost of living between Ghana and the US, let's remember, equals 5% of the annual tuition for a university like the one P.P.OD is hoping to attend) to check stated suitcase. I reasoned that I need something to wear for the next three weeks and I thought really don't have many clothes at home. (Judging by how much clothing I have at school, I was hoping this would turn out to be the case when I arrived home, and it sort of did.) Upon arriving home, I did a visual inventory of my room here, too, and found, again, many things. I've been thinking about all these ingredients in my soup, and adding the spice of a quote by Randy Alcorn, author of The Treasure Principle, who makes this keen observation: "Pilgrims travel light."
Certainly, as my friend Trent has reminded me, to be ungrateful for the things that have been entrusted to me would be to refuse to be "content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want," as Paul wrote to the Philippians; but are we not pilgrims living in tents? I want my life to reflect that. So I'm cleaning house. How many pairs of jeans and t-shirts and sweaters can I need anyway? There's a satisfyingly robust pile of clothes on my floor now, waiting in limbo to find a better home than my closet. And that makes me excited, because the fewer things I have, the less tethered I'll be to my earthly treasures when God calls me to follow Him anywhere, whether that means to my next class or back to Ghana or Uganda--traveling light!
Yet not only my closet, Lord, but my heart also: Clean me out!
Remember that Christmas is coming? Sometimes I forget. But it really is, and soon: that day when Emmanuel actually is given birth, when the Word takes on a garment of flesh and breathes among us as God breathed Him into creation. Please, beloved friends, can we prepare our hearts for the arrival of our Savior? Because He has already come, lived, and defeated death; but He's coming back. Revelation makes that clear: "[Jesus] who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." And so, just as we sing "let every heart prepare Him room" at Christmas, let each of us prepare room in our hearts for Jesus to return, not clinging to things but learning to live light, to travel as pilgrims in this world, unencumbered by things that tether us. We must throw off everything that hinders--our pride, our reliance on ourselves, our self-focus, and maybe even our fascination with things and clothes and gadgets and stuff--to run with perseverance this race set before us. Amen!
Prayer Requests:
"Akua?" / Jessica?
"HA-lo, P.P.OD?" / Hello, P.P.OD?
"HA-lo, Akua?" / Hello, Jessica?
"Aane, HA-lo?" / Yes, hello?
"Akua, εtε sεn?" / Jessica, how are you?
"Nyame adom! Ei, m'ani agye sε woafrε me... Na wo nso wo ho tε sεn?" / By God's grace (I'm fine)! Hey, I'm glad you've called me... And you also, how are you?
 |
| Me and P.P.OD, aka Oduro, at Oguaa [April 2010] |
By God's grace, P.P.OD responds, he's also fine. We chat, him asking my how my family is and both of us lamenting that it's been so long since we've talked; me asking how Nana, the chief of Oguaa, is, and learning that he's doing great and able to walk anywhere without trouble after a year-long battle with an infected leg wound in the hospital; and him asking, as usual, how long it will be until I'm able to return to Ghana. Somehow the time does tick away, and no longer is the answer "aka mfeε nan; mewie sukuu a, mεsa aba" / in four [eternal, unending] years after I graduate.
 |
| My students assemble at the end of the day at Seniagya Methodist JHS [March 2010] |
I ask him how everything is going at his new job teaching at the local international school since he and all his fellow teachers-in-training were fired from their post at Seniagya Methodist JHS, where they had worked without ever receiving their pay for the past 8 months. The pay is small, he replies, and he can't stay there forever; instead, he'll pay the entrance examination fees and purchase an application to university in the spring, and pray--really, bring before the throne of grace with desperate pleas and humble, persistent reliance--that God grants him admission. Surely God is a provider, but I ask how much the fees will be, and after a pause, a mental calculation, carry the one and do the sum: "Bεyε 100 Cedis." About 100 Cedis, $70. This for a man whose monthly rent for a cramped room with a single bare lightbulb about a 5 minute walk from the borehole is $3/month, who went into a debt of $15 that took months to repay so that he could give parting gifts to the five Princeton students on the Bridge Year Program who had come to live for some few months in Oguaa. Seventy dollars that could kill a dream before the real obstacle, the 700 Cedis, $500 in tuition that university will cost if he's accepted, even needs to rear its head. I burned through almost $20 on incidentals and food at various airports as I flew home yesterday.
We end our conversation; his phone credit has almost run out, and I know full well that our quarter-hour conversation has probably cost him the equivalent of half of that month's rent:
"Hwε wo ho so yie." / Take care of yourself.
"Wonim sε mεnyε basa-basa." / You know I don't get into trouble.
And I went back to sleep, woke up a couple hours later to another cell phone vibration, a text from my dad wondering if we could do some errands, and soon found myself wandering the aisles of WalMart and Festival Foods. Bounty upon bounty towered before me, and as I trundled around, I thought of my friend Danny. After he graduates in the spring, he'll spend 11 months trekking across the world, serving God and loving people and living the message of the Gospel in 11 different countries. And he'll do it with a backpack full of clothes, a Bible, and not much more than that.
 |
| My room in Oguaa, surrounded by my possessions for those 9 months: clothes, books, gifts, toiletries [April 2010] |
Remember what Jesus, the Word and our Emmanuel, says to us about how we're to go out when He sends us into the world? Sometimes I forget that, too, what with my prideful, foolishly self-sufficient, and ultimately sinful desire to do everything myself and not disturb God with my requests for food or protection or shelter. So I'm glad that my friend Lizzie called me back to the words of Matthew on her blog: "Do not get any gold or silver of copper to take with you in your belts--no bag for the journey or extra shirts or a staff, for workers are worth their keep." No staff, no copper for my belt? Okay, this I think I can handle, but no extra shirts? No bag for the journey? Really?
Because the truth is this: I have lots of stuff. Too much stuff--way too much stuff. I was packing two nights ago in preparation for returning home, and I had to do some visual inventory:
(1) Closet of tops, dresses, and skirts
(2) Drawer of sweaters
(3) Drawer of t-shirts
(4) Drawer of socks, bras, underwear
(5) Drawer of shorts
(6) Drawer of jeans and dress pants
(7) Drawer of sweatpants and leggings
(8) Crate of shoes
And please, let's not go into the books piled everywhere, and the assortment of jewelry, and the two plastic totes of random things lurking under my bed, and the laptop I'm writing this blog post on. God, the things You've entrusted to me are really beyond my comprehension, and obviously well beyond anything I deserve. Thank you.
 |
| My bookshelf--before this year's books were added [February 2011] |
So let's keep this straight, this procession of thoughts in my head today, and add to it a few spices until we have a nice little mental soup simmering. Firstly, the broth: my conversation with P.P.OD. Secondly, a collection of vegetables: Danny's upcoming trip 'round the world with a backpack. Thirdly, the meat: this confounding passage in Matthew 10:9-10. Fourthly, some noodles: the excess of my life as divulged by my dorm room's contents. And then the spices: room cleaning, and Jesus' return, and contentment in all circumstances, and being a pilgrim.
When I came home yesterday I brought a suitcase full of clothes with me, justifying spending $25 (which, disregarding the disparity in cost of living between Ghana and the US, let's remember, equals 5% of the annual tuition for a university like the one P.P.OD is hoping to attend) to check stated suitcase. I reasoned that I need something to wear for the next three weeks and I thought really don't have many clothes at home. (Judging by how much clothing I have at school, I was hoping this would turn out to be the case when I arrived home, and it sort of did.) Upon arriving home, I did a visual inventory of my room here, too, and found, again, many things. I've been thinking about all these ingredients in my soup, and adding the spice of a quote by Randy Alcorn, author of The Treasure Principle, who makes this keen observation: "Pilgrims travel light."
Certainly, as my friend Trent has reminded me, to be ungrateful for the things that have been entrusted to me would be to refuse to be "content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want," as Paul wrote to the Philippians; but are we not pilgrims living in tents? I want my life to reflect that. So I'm cleaning house. How many pairs of jeans and t-shirts and sweaters can I need anyway? There's a satisfyingly robust pile of clothes on my floor now, waiting in limbo to find a better home than my closet. And that makes me excited, because the fewer things I have, the less tethered I'll be to my earthly treasures when God calls me to follow Him anywhere, whether that means to my next class or back to Ghana or Uganda--traveling light!
Yet not only my closet, Lord, but my heart also: Clean me out!
Remember that Christmas is coming? Sometimes I forget. But it really is, and soon: that day when Emmanuel actually is given birth, when the Word takes on a garment of flesh and breathes among us as God breathed Him into creation. Please, beloved friends, can we prepare our hearts for the arrival of our Savior? Because He has already come, lived, and defeated death; but He's coming back. Revelation makes that clear: "[Jesus] who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." And so, just as we sing "let every heart prepare Him room" at Christmas, let each of us prepare room in our hearts for Jesus to return, not clinging to things but learning to live light, to travel as pilgrims in this world, unencumbered by things that tether us. We must throw off everything that hinders--our pride, our reliance on ourselves, our self-focus, and maybe even our fascination with things and clothes and gadgets and stuff--to run with perseverance this race set before us. Amen!
 |
| Come, Lord Jesus. |
- For Siddhu, who I met on the train to the airport yesterday and who is an agnostic who'd like to believe in God but can't get over the problem of suffering and says he feels a big void in his life; I gave him a Bible and Henri Nouwen's Reaching Out, so please join me in praying that God brings growth in his life and that he comes to know God's fullness!
- For my friend David, who's trying to discern whether God has called him to co-lead the mission trip to Uganda in August with me
- For the Outreach Team of PFA, the Christian ministry I'm involved in at school; we need God's guidance and power and vision to see many, many people come to know Christ and walk in His joy and peace!
- For people who don't have close friends and people who are depressed and lonely
- For God to be preparing the hearts of those He has called to the Uganda mission trip in August, and for wisdom for me in preparing for that and deciding how to use the time before the trip
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Prayer begins... last Friday
Do you realize how much God loves dust?
Genesis 2:7 // The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Isaiah 41:14 // "Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Daniel 9:18 // "Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy."
That's me: the dust, the worm, the little one, the unrighteous beggar for mercy--wow, God. I'm just thinking about the wonder of it, that God would meet with such as us, and that He calls us His people (Hosea 2:23). And I just end up stunned every time.
I guess that--to just share my amazement at God's glory--was the primary purpose of this little post, as it should be for every post, but secondarily, I've a request for you: I've been asked to lead the mission trip to Uganda (the one I went on last August with my Christian fellowship here at school), and after about a month of prayer and discernment I accepted on Friday. Which means that prayer for the trip began on Friday, and I'm asking you to join me! At this point I have essentially no details (when? probably about August; who? I don't know, but I may have a co-leader; how? by God's provision), but will share them as they're settled.
Things at school are going well, and I praise God for His work in my heart and in the lives of others around me this semester! Only a week and a half til I'm home for Christmas... Peace!
UPDATE: I'm no longer going to Uganda this summer, but please continue to keep the team in your prayers!
Genesis 2:7 // The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Isaiah 41:14 // "Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Daniel 9:18 // "Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy."
That's me: the dust, the worm, the little one, the unrighteous beggar for mercy--wow, God. I'm just thinking about the wonder of it, that God would meet with such as us, and that He calls us His people (Hosea 2:23). And I just end up stunned every time.
I guess that--to just share my amazement at God's glory--was the primary purpose of this little post, as it should be for every post, but secondarily, I've a request for you: I've been asked to lead the mission trip to Uganda (the one I went on last August with my Christian fellowship here at school), and after about a month of prayer and discernment I accepted on Friday. Which means that prayer for the trip began on Friday, and I'm asking you to join me! At this point I have essentially no details (when? probably about August; who? I don't know, but I may have a co-leader; how? by God's provision), but will share them as they're settled.
Things at school are going well, and I praise God for His work in my heart and in the lives of others around me this semester! Only a week and a half til I'm home for Christmas... Peace!
UPDATE: I'm no longer going to Uganda this summer, but please continue to keep the team in your prayers!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
on being content where i am
God, I trust Your provision and plan. Lead my steps each day, guiding me waking and guarding me sleeping, and humbling me hour by hour as I see face to face my desperate need for You. Remind me that I am living in a mere tent, yearning for a better country and a home to call my own--and speak to my heart that Your plans are better.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
To Gulu
Hi friends!
Tomorrow our team of 14 will join 200 Uganda university students for a week of service, discipleship, and general mayhem in Gulu, a region in northern Uganda where Watoto, the church we are working with, has established a children's village where orphans live with adoptive mothers and up to seven other children in a home. This is sort of the culmination of the past few weeks' services projects and acquainting with Watoto's mission and involvement in Uganda (and now South Africa as well, with hopes to expand to South Sudan by the end of the year, and potential future projects in Ghana and various other African nations. In fact, if you haven't checked out Watoto's website yet, I'd encourage you to do so; this is truly an incredible ministry that is bringing the love of Christ to Uganda in tangible and invisible ways).
On Sunday after church (when our team served as the choir for 2 services of 800 and 1300 congregants after only having learned the songs--some in English and some in Luganda--during a 20 minute rehearsal the night before... Yet we did it for an audience of One!) we visited Ssubi, one of Watoto's children's villages. After eating a meal in one of Mama Irene and her children, I took a walk with the two youngest girls, Miriam and Violet, who showed me the swingset and wrangled my hair into three impressive braids. As we walked over to watch a game of basketball between the bazungu (foreigners) and some of Ssubi's best basketball talent, I asked a simple question, the response to which I want to share with you: "What does it mean to be a Christian?" There are two parts, they told me: to obey God and share Jesus with people.
So I've been striving to frame my time in Uganda this way, because in these two simple commands I see a parallel with what Jesus affirms as the two greatest commandments in Matthew 22: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.... And love your neighbor as yourself." What better love can we show God than to obey Him as He requires in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 ("Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.")? And how do we better love our neighbors than by sharing with them Jesus, both as we tell of the salvation and hope we have in Him and become His hands and feet in service to our neighbors? Lord, only let us fulfill these two commands as daily we are conformed to the likeness of Christ.
I'll leave you with that for now, as well as many thanks for your faithful and loving support of me and the team! Be greatly blessed.
Love,
Jessikua*
*I've found that I've picked up (or maybe resurrected) quite a strong "African" accent, which has lead to the team calling me "Jessikua," I mixture of the name my parents gave me and the name my host family in Ghana gave me, Akua, which means "girl who was born on Wednesday." But don't worry... It doesn't show itself when I'm speaking with bazungu.
Tomorrow our team of 14 will join 200 Uganda university students for a week of service, discipleship, and general mayhem in Gulu, a region in northern Uganda where Watoto, the church we are working with, has established a children's village where orphans live with adoptive mothers and up to seven other children in a home. This is sort of the culmination of the past few weeks' services projects and acquainting with Watoto's mission and involvement in Uganda (and now South Africa as well, with hopes to expand to South Sudan by the end of the year, and potential future projects in Ghana and various other African nations. In fact, if you haven't checked out Watoto's website yet, I'd encourage you to do so; this is truly an incredible ministry that is bringing the love of Christ to Uganda in tangible and invisible ways).
On Sunday after church (when our team served as the choir for 2 services of 800 and 1300 congregants after only having learned the songs--some in English and some in Luganda--during a 20 minute rehearsal the night before... Yet we did it for an audience of One!) we visited Ssubi, one of Watoto's children's villages. After eating a meal in one of Mama Irene and her children, I took a walk with the two youngest girls, Miriam and Violet, who showed me the swingset and wrangled my hair into three impressive braids. As we walked over to watch a game of basketball between the bazungu (foreigners) and some of Ssubi's best basketball talent, I asked a simple question, the response to which I want to share with you: "What does it mean to be a Christian?" There are two parts, they told me: to obey God and share Jesus with people.
So I've been striving to frame my time in Uganda this way, because in these two simple commands I see a parallel with what Jesus affirms as the two greatest commandments in Matthew 22: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.... And love your neighbor as yourself." What better love can we show God than to obey Him as He requires in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 ("Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.")? And how do we better love our neighbors than by sharing with them Jesus, both as we tell of the salvation and hope we have in Him and become His hands and feet in service to our neighbors? Lord, only let us fulfill these two commands as daily we are conformed to the likeness of Christ.
I'll leave you with that for now, as well as many thanks for your faithful and loving support of me and the team! Be greatly blessed.
Love,
Jessikua*
*I've found that I've picked up (or maybe resurrected) quite a strong "African" accent, which has lead to the team calling me "Jessikua," I mixture of the name my parents gave me and the name my host family in Ghana gave me, Akua, which means "girl who was born on Wednesday." But don't worry... It doesn't show itself when I'm speaking with bazungu.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Along for the Ride
I've spent a lot of time sitting in a bus recently. Traveling between Emmaus Guest House or Adonai Guest House and Watoto Church, the Naguru Remand Home, New Hope Teenage Pregnancy Center, the Bullrushes babies' orphanage, Ssuubi children's village, the School for the Physically Handicapped, and Makerere University has meant many cumulative hours traversing the roads of Kampala--and, I will note, they are for the most part wonderfully smooth roads; I've been surprised to find Uganda (or at the least the corner of it I've explored so far in Kampala) fairly well developed. But aside from that:
I'm not just riding along on a bus... I feel like I'm riding along on with God, and He's showing me everything He's doing without letting me get my hands too dirty or my feet too wet, because He wants to humble me and remind me daily that ultimately, I came to Uganda to do His work and not my own projects. In some ways, as I've been trundled off in the bus to so many different ministries, usually as a "visitor" and not a "volunteer," I wonder why I am in Uganda, who I am actually serving. But God is persistent in reminding me that I am not Him, but rather the one I am serving is Him. He is showing me day by day testimonies of His surpassing love, and of the way He is redeeming creation--and repeating to me that He does not need my hands, but He wants them to be fully surrendered to Him.
Internet access has turned out not to be too difficult to procure, but time has been, so for now: Thank you for your prayers, love, and support, and I send you mine in return! May God guard you sleeping and guide you waking.
I'm not just riding along on a bus... I feel like I'm riding along on with God, and He's showing me everything He's doing without letting me get my hands too dirty or my feet too wet, because He wants to humble me and remind me daily that ultimately, I came to Uganda to do His work and not my own projects. In some ways, as I've been trundled off in the bus to so many different ministries, usually as a "visitor" and not a "volunteer," I wonder why I am in Uganda, who I am actually serving. But God is persistent in reminding me that I am not Him, but rather the one I am serving is Him. He is showing me day by day testimonies of His surpassing love, and of the way He is redeeming creation--and repeating to me that He does not need my hands, but He wants them to be fully surrendered to Him.
Internet access has turned out not to be too difficult to procure, but time has been, so for now: Thank you for your prayers, love, and support, and I send you mine in return! May God guard you sleeping and guide you waking.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Haiti Blog
We've leaving this morning! While we're gone, I won't be updating this blog because our internet access will be very limited, but we will be periodically updating a blog on the church website at firstpreslax.org.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
"Mission of Romance"
The La Crosse Tribune published an article about our trip to Haiti a few days ago, the title of which was "Mission of Romance." The article itself is a fair depiction of our trip, and I recommend you read it (some people I love a lot are quoted!), but it misses the mark in a key area: Romance is not our mission. Ours is a mission of redeeming, of affirming the covenant of marriage and celebrating love that is commitment, not ceremony, of reawakening--or at least celebrating, for who is to say that it has not already been awakened, or even that it has been extinguished?--the joy and wonder of the gift of marriage.
Granted, so far my firsthand experience with marriage is limited to that of an observer. But during the last six weeks of my freshman year, my Bible study examined love, sex, and marriage in the context of the Bible and tried to build a framework of understanding how Christians are called to live out our sexuality, and as I consider the mission that is set before our team I've fallen again and again back on this framework. I had the privilege of working with my dad, who I'm co-leading the trip with (along with a third leader, Laura), on a set of daily devotions for our group while we're in Haiti, and although I'm excited to see how God uses each of them--and not only the devotions, but the whole experience, really--to open the students' eyes more and more to His goodness, the one I'm most excited for explores marriage: What does our culture say it is, and what does the Bible say it is? I'll share with you some of the ways that we're going to look at marriage in our devotions--and since the students won't have access to the internet for the next 10 days, they won't have all the answers ahead of time! Let's look at some of the reasons marriage is important...
1) We were created to be in relationship
Basically, even though as God's children we are fundamentally complete in Him (so I'm not saying that celibacy or singleness means people are less than fully human), the foundation of the world--before it even physically existed--was relationship: between God, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. We're created in God's image, so we, too, are built for relationships, both with God and with others--particularly the relationship of marriage.
2) Marriage helps us understand God’s love for us and relationship with us
God and Israel (Old Testament)
Jesus and the Church (New Testament)
I love this; the imagery that the Bible gives us of God's love for us is so incredibly intense. In the Old Testament, the relationship between God and Israel is often described as that of a passionately loving husband and his adulterous, unfaithful wife, respectively. Even though I've only excerpted Hosea here, I recommend reading the whole book (it's not too long) to get the complete story, but it is one of my favorite books for understanding the marvelous depth and furiousness of God's love for us. Note: it's written by a prophet whom God called to actually embody the metaphor of God and Israel as husband and unfaithful wife by marrying a prostitute. Then in the New Testament, a common theme is that the church is Jesus' bride, being purified for their eventual marriage. The imagery in Revelation is stunning, but it appears in other places in the New Testament also, including in the Ephesians passage that follows this one and 2 Corinthians 11:2.
3) Marriage sanctifies, or makes us holy as we serve someone else
I wondered about including this passage in our study because it can be a touchy one for Christians when that "s" word in verse 22 comes up. But consider the context: this is an incredible love! What a vision for marriage. In contrast to a culture that seems to promote marriage for the sake of increasing one's own pleasure ("How happy does he/she make me?"), this is an image of humility and service ("How can I serve him/her?"). Certainly happiness is a vital consideration for entering into a marriage, but what makes it endure is a commitment to humble service, which also sanctifies. What a privilege to walk alongside couples in Haiti who are reaffirming their dedication to each other!
We leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, and after a day of driving, flying, and stopping for the night in Ft. Lauderdale, we'll be in Haiti on Saturday morning to begin our preparations for the wedding of 21+ couples on Tuesday. Please keep Clair, Annie, Kendall, Rachel, Fred, Soren, Richard, Evan, Chet, Hudson, Taylor, Laura, and me in your prayers, but alongside us, please lift up the couples we will be meeting who are, in a sense, renewing the vows to each other that they made not in a church before friends and neighbors, but before God "who sees what is done in secret" (Matthew 6:4, 18)--or at least outside the walls of a church.
Granted, so far my firsthand experience with marriage is limited to that of an observer. But during the last six weeks of my freshman year, my Bible study examined love, sex, and marriage in the context of the Bible and tried to build a framework of understanding how Christians are called to live out our sexuality, and as I consider the mission that is set before our team I've fallen again and again back on this framework. I had the privilege of working with my dad, who I'm co-leading the trip with (along with a third leader, Laura), on a set of daily devotions for our group while we're in Haiti, and although I'm excited to see how God uses each of them--and not only the devotions, but the whole experience, really--to open the students' eyes more and more to His goodness, the one I'm most excited for explores marriage: What does our culture say it is, and what does the Bible say it is? I'll share with you some of the ways that we're going to look at marriage in our devotions--and since the students won't have access to the internet for the next 10 days, they won't have all the answers ahead of time! Let's look at some of the reasons marriage is important...
1) We were created to be in relationship
Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our own image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 14)
Basically, even though as God's children we are fundamentally complete in Him (so I'm not saying that celibacy or singleness means people are less than fully human), the foundation of the world--before it even physically existed--was relationship: between God, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. We're created in God's image, so we, too, are built for relationships, both with God and with others--particularly the relationship of marriage.
2) Marriage helps us understand God’s love for us and relationship with us
God and Israel (Old Testament)
She [Israel] will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, “I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.”…
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’… I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.” (Hosea 2:7, 16, 19)
For your Maker is your [Israel’s] husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. (Isaiah 54:5)
Jesus and the Church (New Testament)
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s people.) (Revelation 19:7-8)
I love this; the imagery that the Bible gives us of God's love for us is so incredibly intense. In the Old Testament, the relationship between God and Israel is often described as that of a passionately loving husband and his adulterous, unfaithful wife, respectively. Even though I've only excerpted Hosea here, I recommend reading the whole book (it's not too long) to get the complete story, but it is one of my favorite books for understanding the marvelous depth and furiousness of God's love for us. Note: it's written by a prophet whom God called to actually embody the metaphor of God and Israel as husband and unfaithful wife by marrying a prostitute. Then in the New Testament, a common theme is that the church is Jesus' bride, being purified for their eventual marriage. The imagery in Revelation is stunning, but it appears in other places in the New Testament also, including in the Ephesians passage that follows this one and 2 Corinthians 11:2.
3) Marriage sanctifies, or makes us holy as we serve someone else
Submit to one another out of reverend for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, people have never hated their own bodies, but they feed and care for them, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body.
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:21-33)
I wondered about including this passage in our study because it can be a touchy one for Christians when that "s" word in verse 22 comes up. But consider the context: this is an incredible love! What a vision for marriage. In contrast to a culture that seems to promote marriage for the sake of increasing one's own pleasure ("How happy does he/she make me?"), this is an image of humility and service ("How can I serve him/her?"). Certainly happiness is a vital consideration for entering into a marriage, but what makes it endure is a commitment to humble service, which also sanctifies. What a privilege to walk alongside couples in Haiti who are reaffirming their dedication to each other!
We leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, and after a day of driving, flying, and stopping for the night in Ft. Lauderdale, we'll be in Haiti on Saturday morning to begin our preparations for the wedding of 21+ couples on Tuesday. Please keep Clair, Annie, Kendall, Rachel, Fred, Soren, Richard, Evan, Chet, Hudson, Taylor, Laura, and me in your prayers, but alongside us, please lift up the couples we will be meeting who are, in a sense, renewing the vows to each other that they made not in a church before friends and neighbors, but before God "who sees what is done in secret" (Matthew 6:4, 18)--or at least outside the walls of a church.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Prayers for Haiti
I just had my first meeting (over the phone) with the high school missions team I have the blessing to co-lead on their trip to Haiti this summer, and I am so encouraged. Our team of 13 will be partnering with a family of missionaries, the Wrays, for an unusual project: conducting weddings! Many couples in rural Haiti are confronted with the cost of having a public wedding and are simply unable to pay it, so although they have committed to be husband and wife and are living faithfully, their marriage is not recognized by the community or by the church. Thus they live as second class citizens who are condemned as sexually immoral. By performing weddings for them, we have the chance to restore to them the dignity and celebrate the value of their marriage in a way that few have recognized it before.
Please pray for us in the coming two months before we leave. Here is a list of some the prayer requests we generated together during out meeting, but please also pray as you are led:
*safety
*effectiveness
*clarity of purpose and ability to accomplish that purpose
*gratitude for the opportunity to serve in this way
*the individuals who are enabling us to go to Haiti by their financial support
*the people who will be left behind in the US (parents, siblings, friends, our church)
*people in Haiti who we have yet to meet
*our anxieties, impatience, weakness, etc.
*hearts that align with God's, that love as He loves and break as His breaks
Please also pray for each member of our team: Soren, Evan, Fred, Richard, Chet, Hudson, Kendall, Annie, Clair, Rachel, and Ethan, as well as my dad and me, who are co-leading the trip.
One of my favorite Biblical prayers come from Nehemiah, and I often have to humble myself and remember that God is awesome, able to help in trying times. As Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem he confronted immense opposition, and this was his simple prayer, one that I want to pray in its wise simplicity and totally trusting dependence for myself and for my team:
'They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."'
Please pray for us in the coming two months before we leave. Here is a list of some the prayer requests we generated together during out meeting, but please also pray as you are led:
*safety
*effectiveness
*clarity of purpose and ability to accomplish that purpose
*gratitude for the opportunity to serve in this way
*the individuals who are enabling us to go to Haiti by their financial support
*the people who will be left behind in the US (parents, siblings, friends, our church)
*people in Haiti who we have yet to meet
*our anxieties, impatience, weakness, etc.
*hearts that align with God's, that love as He loves and break as His breaks
Please also pray for each member of our team: Soren, Evan, Fred, Richard, Chet, Hudson, Kendall, Annie, Clair, Rachel, and Ethan, as well as my dad and me, who are co-leading the trip.
One of my favorite Biblical prayers come from Nehemiah, and I often have to humble myself and remember that God is awesome, able to help in trying times. As Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem he confronted immense opposition, and this was his simple prayer, one that I want to pray in its wise simplicity and totally trusting dependence for myself and for my team:
'They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."'
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Revitalizing the Blog for Summer 2011
Hi friends,
It's been a long time! I'm in the process of updating this for my summer 2011 adventures: Haiti in June and Uganda in August, so things will be changing around in the next few months.
Also, I have two requests for you:
(1) First and foremost, please pray! I would love your prayers as I prepare to serve and while I am abroad--not only for me, but for the teams I will be traveling and working with, and for the people I will meet in Haiti and Uganda.
(2) If you would like to contribute financially to my Uganda trip (I have to raise several thousand dollars, and I know God will provide), please visit www.Christian-Union.org/Uganda2011 (select "J Haley" from the list of student designees) to donate and get in touch if you have any questions.
Something I'm learning about God's faithfulness and provision, which comes from Deuteronomy 8:3-4, is that even in the smallest of things God is sovereign. "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years." Wow: what provision, and what faithfulness! I trust Him for all things.
Love,
Jessica
It's been a long time! I'm in the process of updating this for my summer 2011 adventures: Haiti in June and Uganda in August, so things will be changing around in the next few months.
Also, I have two requests for you:
(1) First and foremost, please pray! I would love your prayers as I prepare to serve and while I am abroad--not only for me, but for the teams I will be traveling and working with, and for the people I will meet in Haiti and Uganda.
(2) If you would like to contribute financially to my Uganda trip (I have to raise several thousand dollars, and I know God will provide), please visit www.Christian-Union.org/Uganda2011 (select "J Haley" from the list of student designees) to donate and get in touch if you have any questions.
Something I'm learning about God's faithfulness and provision, which comes from Deuteronomy 8:3-4, is that even in the smallest of things God is sovereign. "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years." Wow: what provision, and what faithfulness! I trust Him for all things.
Love,
Jessica
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