You Are A Treasure

      I turn away and bite my lip. I cannot bear to see where this beautiful, sweet fourteen year old girl from Belize has been living. The policeman opens the old wooden door and and we step inside a dark, 10' x 12' room. There is no electricity, no running water. There are only two wooden pallets that have been raised to serve as a bed...no pillow, blanket or mattress. No clothes or food anywhere. The smell is overwhelming. Alone, she has slept here. A year ago, she told her mother that her step father had been molesting her. She was left with an aunt. In the emptiness of this horse stall like room, she fears her aunt has abandoned her, too. Yet, through this fear, she clings to the hope of the One who said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."(Joshua 1:5). While we wait for the policeman to talk to some neighbors, she writes in the dust on the car window, "Jesus rocks!" What the faith of a child can teach us...


      The One who was born in a filthy stable, not so unlike her home, is her hope. He knows her heartache and she knows His heart for her. 


      All week long, we speak into the 12-18 year old girls of southern Belize, "You are a treasure. You are valuable and unique, because you are made in the Image of God. Your strength comes from Him alone. Your life has purpose." The message is for them as much as it is for us all. 

                   
      The men on our mission team speak to the teen age boys. We have been told that ninety percent of the population of Belize is not married. Years ago, the slaves who were brought into Belize were not allowed to marry. Over time, this has led to a culture in which there is a lack of commitment, especially from the men. Many men will have 4-5 families from as many women. The results of this have been devastating, especially for girls and women. Sexual abuse, incest and child-trafficking are prevalent. But, Belize is poised for change. There are no laws preventing it, only discipleship and education are needed for their potential to explode. We pray we can be a small part of what God is doing all year long through our missionary friends, David and Karen. Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus is the vehicle God is using and David and Karen are holding on tight, as He speeds His hope through this incredible ministry in huge ways. Already, in a few years, they have put together and are teaching a discipleship program in the schools. Stop Hunger Now has partnered with them and they have started a feeding program in the schools and villages they serve. School supplies are being provided, medical teams are brought in every ninety days to a new clinic they've set up and a technical/vocational training program will start this fall. In addition to all of the practical help, the love that is being provided every day is invaluable. Hugs and smiles are lavished on every child.  

     The teen boys listen all week to the men on our mission team. The boys hear messages of God's love for them as well as His love for girls and women. They learn what it means to have a relationship with Him and how a Christ-follower should treat others. They see their need for a Savior and fifty-nine young men commit their lives to Christ. A tidal wave of change has begun in the hearts and minds of the next generation!

 Perhaps it is God's providence that this place in Belize is called Light of the Valley, or LOV for short. For in this low lying place, the light of His love shone into the darkest and most difficult circumstances this week. We saw it in the hope brought forth from the truth of His love, spoken over young women, who have mostly known only a distortion of it.  We saw it in His light  rising up in a group of young men, ready to shine the love of Christ in the darkness and be the change for their generation and their country. We experienced it in our own hearts, as we saw that EVERY child, no matter where he or she lives, no matter what his skin color or how much she has or doesn't have... is a treasure in the eyes of God.

      

Preparation for Birth

 
"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."~Jesus Christ, John 3:8


      I have endured three pregnancies. I have birthed three babies. Each one was unique, an unspeakable blessing. Each one required sacrifice and pain. In the months and hours of preparation, there was more mystery than certainty.


      I am preparing for a birth tonight. I am preparing for something new, something exciting and something that only God can design and give breath. I am getting ready, with eager anticipation. I am praying, I am hopeful. As with the births of my children, there are the familiar feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, and even doubt. Will I be able to meet the unknown challenges? Will I grow weary and falter? Will the seeds I plant grow and bare fruit?


     I am not giving birth in the ordinary sense of the word, but is any birth ever ordinary? Certainly not to the One who brings it from idea to life. 


   With my family by my side, I am going to a foreign land to see the youngest, poorest, and sweetest faces of God. To go into the unknown, to carry God's mission into the world, to be the love of Christ to the "least of these", that is what is being born. And with it, life. There is no greater privilege than to go where the Spirit blows and to ride the wind with the message of hope and salvation. 

     Where is the Spirit taking you? Where are you being led to give life? It is not always a far away place that you must go to share God's love with the hurting and the hopeless. It is wherever you are and it is whoever God has placed in your path. There may be "labor" involved, but isn't the privilege worth the pain?

What To Keep and What to Throw Away?

    I am in a season of rest. I know that and I know that God is granting me this gift; this sweet reprieve. But, as a person who has probably been moving far too fast on this crazy hamster wheel of life, I find it hard to be still. How should I use this "extra" time? So many options.
    I ponder my life. I reflect on the past. In all reality, I would say at best, it is probably half over. Thus the question emerges; how do I want to define the last half? What do I want to keep and what do I want to throw away? I can't help but laugh, as I visualize one of those awful reality T.V. shows in which they would go through all of a person's belongings and in a split second, they had to decide whether they would put it in the "keep" pile or the "throw away" pile. So, what things are of value to me? What relationships are intrinsic and invaluable to my life? What are the acquired characteristics I want to put in the "keep" or "throw away" pile? What qualities, interests, and behaviors should I let fall away? How do I make such decisions in a thoughtful way; with a nuance and reflection that will be bold and purposeful and make this last half really count?


   Of one thing I am certain; that the most joy-filled and rich moments of my life have been tied to my Creator. Birth, life, family, friendships, love, purpose, and the pure beauty of creation have all been the most indescribable blessings. None of these are things I could have bought or manufactured for myself. Only the Creator could have orchestrated these so perfectly.


Perhaps, that is it! First, I must sift every decision, every choice, every relationship through Who He is and who He wants me to be, not just who I want to be. So who is He? As I know Him; He is love, kindness, justice, faithfulness and a pure beauty that I can only see partially reflected on this side of eternity. So how does that translate into decisions and choices for this purposeful refining of my life? I must ask myself with each activity, each relationship, each minute of precious time, "Is this someone or something that is an opportunity to either fully give or receive love, kindness, justice, faithfulness or beauty?" "Am I using this moment to be a reflection of His love, and beauty?" In other words, should I "keep" this OR...is it simply sapping me of time and energy with little or no eternal purpose?


This leads to my second criteria; does it count in the "big picture?" In other words, will it really matter in ten days or ten years or ten thousand years? If not, I must discard it and not cling to it just because it is familiar and comfortable.


Thirdly, is this decision or choice based on selfless love or selfish gain? I have found that as I look back over the past half of my life, it is the moments of sacrificial loving, risking and surrendering that have been when I have had the deepest connection to my Creator. It is these moments, that as I look back, remain, while all else simply falls away. With each choice, relationship, and activity...am I living these things out? Am I loving sacrificially in this friendship? Or am I only in it for personal gain? Am I willing to be bold and take risks or am I too afraid of failure and what others will think? Am I surrendering to the Father my will, that I may be fully living out His purposes for me? Or am I simply ambling along my own selfish, silly path to self-fulfillment? These are the hard, but important questions I must ask myself more now. I must be more intentional. Every moment and every decision matters.


   Oh that these quiet times of reflection may define my future reality! That every choice, relationship and minute be defined by who He wants me to be, based on a selfless love and may it all count for eternity; that as I live out this second half...I will hear the most beautiful words ever uttered, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." That will be my most precious reward...I need "keep" nothing else, no religion, no possession, no human accolade...nothing but His sweet praise ringing in my ears for eternity.