Won’t you be my love?

There are the lyrics to the song “Won’t you be my love” by MercyMe, I would definitely recommend looking it up on YouTube so you can listen to it. The entire new MercyMe CD is really great and filled with a lot of amazing lyrics. A couple other of my favorites are “Beautiful” and “Back to You”.

However I chose to give the lyrics to this one because it’s a really powerful song displaying our connection through Christ to the people suffering around the world and the privilege we have to tell them about Jesus and His suffering on the cross.

When you fall asleep tonight
In your warm and cozy room
Know that I'm awake
And I've got no shelter and no food 
 
I am not alone
My friends are broke and lost
Looking for someone to lead them to my cross
I need your help, I need your help

Won't you be My voice calling
Won't you be My hands healing
Won't you be My feet walking into a broken world
Won't you be My chain-breaker
Won't you be My peacemaker
Won't you be My hope and joy
Won't you be My Love 

The other side of the world
She is just a few days old
A helpless little girl
With no family of her own
She is not to blame for the journey she is on
Her life is no mistake
Won't you lead her to My cross?

Won't you be My voice calling
Won't you be My hands healing
Won't you be My feet walking into a broken world
Won't you be My chain-breaker
Won't you be My peacemaker
Won't you be My hope and joy
Won't you be My Love 

To those I call My own
To those I've set aside
As spotless without blame
The chosen ones My bride 

We will be Your voice calling
We will be Your hands healing
We will be Your feet walking into a broken world
We will be Your chain-breaker
We will be Your peacemaker
We will be Your hope and joy
We will be Your love

Prayer keeps us close

Today I received a message from one of our hosts in the Philippines telling us about something tragic that happened this morning in one of the communities we ministered to while in Cebu.

 

Throughout the day I’ve been constantly in prayer for this family. But I will admit, I have been close to tears numerous times due to my frustration. What are we supposed to do on those days it feels like prayer just can’t possibly be enough? When we feel like we are so far away and can do nothing to help? On days like today, when I would give anything to be on a plane to Cebu and all my family I left behind there…

 

And then I remembered something.

 

I have a friend who went on a mission trip to Puerto Rico a year ago and even then I remember being blown away by this sentence he used in his support letter, “No matter how far away, prayer keeps us closer than we can imagine, and God uses it powerfully to affect our lives.” Something told me to hold onto that letter, and remember that sentence, when I read it. And today I was incredibly grateful I had.

 

This is exactly what I’m taking comfort in. It doesn’t matter how far away geographically I am from my filipino family, when I pray for them it’s as if I am right next to them laying my hands on them and asking God to pour His strength into them. And that’s enough. God’s using our prayers to powerfully affect lives. Our prayers make a difference. They don’t go unheard.

 

God has given us the gift of prayer for just this reason. To stay connected. To always be close to Him, as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ here on earth.

 

Let’s not let the distance keep us from praying powerful prayers. Because they are heard by a God who draws near to us all. There are a lot of broken hearts to be repaired, broken families to be restored, and tears to be wiped away through the power of prayer.

 

So what can we do? And is prayer really enough? We’ve been called to pray…and yes! Right now, it is enough. Today, God’s using our prayers. Don’t let Satan feed you lies about prayer, don’t let him attack your communication line with God.

 

Satan wants us to feel disconnected from one another. He wants us to feel helpless and lonely. Because connected we are strong and powerful. When we are linked in prayer there is nothing here on earth that can get in the way of the Kingdom of God.

 

So Pray. Pray. Pray.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Be joyful always; pray continually'; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I was there. I saw that.

One of my teammates just sent me a link to an article that was recently published in Compassion Magazine. I had just shut off my computer but when I read the text telling me there was an article I could read online I couldn’t help but turn my laptop back on. Even while in the Philippines, God was placing Lorega on my heart over and over again.

 

I read the article, and I will post the link at the end of this blog update. The font is kind of small and hard to read, but if nothing else look at the pictures. The one that caught my attention the most was the one looking out at all the tombstones at Lorega with the little girls running. You want to know what I immediately thought? That picture could have very well come off of my camera…

 

I was there. I saw that.

 

The article talks about a number of different issues in the community and the amazing story of a woman who has come to know God. Loving My Neighbor was mentioned and it immediately made me think of my night in the Philippines with my two little buddies Jasper and CJ. Our team had the opportunity to volunteer with the program “Loving My Neighbor.” And what a blessing it was to me.

 

There was one night I remember especially well.

 

Margo and I walked into the classroom we were going to be volunteering in and there was a teacher and two tables…divided up into boys and girls, as we all know kids of any culture tend to do at the age of 10 and 11! =-) Anyway, Margo sat down at the girls table, and I at the boys. I was placed in between two boys who a few minutes later I learned were Jasper and CJ. I played a couple of games of Connect 4 and asked some general questions that I tossed around the table in my attempt to get to know this new group of children. I especially hit it off with the two boys sitting next to me. Margo and I got up to teach a couple of Bible songs, and after that we sat back down to play for a few more minutes before moving on.

 

At this point in my mind I was fighting the question. But God was pushing me to ask it. I turned to Jasper and asked him where he lived. He said, “Lorega.” Of course after this my mind was again screaming, “Don’t turn and ask CJ, just don’t do it. You already know what the answer is going to be. Save yourself the pain of knowing for sure.”

 

But as always, God won. I turned and asked CJ where he was from.

 

“Lorega.”

 

Now, at this point we had already been to Lorega and I had already had Zandra wrap her arms around my heart. And I was struggling. Part of me couldn’t wait to go back to Lorega, and part of me wanted to run as far away as I could from anything and anyone who had a connection to Lorega.

 

But here I was sitting at a table with at least two boys who I knew lived in this place I feared. Who, in about an hours time would be heading to the place they called home. The cemetery.

 

A few minutes after I had asked them where they lived there was another “brown out” and we decided to head outside for a game while there was still some light left to the day. The game required chairs outside so we all started to pick up our chairs. When I made a move to pick up mine, Jasper immediately took it and stacked it with his own chair. My first instinct was to wonder what on earth this little boy could possibly be doing. As soon as he had successfully put the two chairs together he looked up at me and started to carry them towards the hallway that led outside. I had to admit, I was flabbergasted. Just from the few minutes before, I could tell Jasper was a good kid, but I never expected him to act with so much……power, authority, and respect. I don’t know his upbringing and I certainly don’t know his parents or if he even has parents, but I do know one thing. Loving My Neighbor was was certainly making a difference.

 

When we got outside he placed my chair in between his and CJ’s. The rest of the night was pretty much a blur, and in all the chaos and darkness due to the brown out, I didn’t even really have a chance to say goodbye to Jasper and CJ. I left that night thinking I would never see them again.

 

The following Sunday, after our church service we were walking into our other church service in Lorega and I hear,

 

“Ate Cora, Ate Cora, Ate Cora!!!!!!!” (Ate in Cebuano means big sister and is a term of respect all the children use)

 

I was caught off guard and was left almost speechless by the sight before my eyes. It was CJ. And he had remembered who I was…he had even remembered my name.

 

And it hit me. This was the point of Loving My Neighbor. It was awesome to get to know all the kids in a church setting, but this was his home. This was his “neighborhood”. The whole point of our work was for them to be able to come back to the place they lived and make a difference. To know there was a greater purpose in life then what they were being fed by the gangs. I could turn my eyes away and be ignorant and run from all the fears that Lorega held for me. Or I could acknowledge this sweet little boy in front of me who was so comfortable in the place I wanted to get away from.

 

But it all changed in that moment. I didn’t want to run anymore from this place. I didn’t want to get away. I wanted to stay.

 

It was a combination of Zandra and CJ that made it so hard to leave. Not jumping out while driving away from Lorega for the last time in the jeepney was one of the hardest internal battles I have ever had to fight.

 

I’m glad the world is going to have a chance to read about the incredible work God is doing in Lorega. But for me, I hope people realize when they read this article that' it’s real. Prostitution, drugs, gangs, broken tombs, animals, hunger, feces, glass…….church services, amazing little children, strong men and women, and God are all present in this place. I know a little boy named CJ who if I were to go back there right now I could walk up to and he would say “Hi Ate Cora.” and I sat with a group of women describing to me how blessed they were to be living for God in this place.These aren’t just random stories on a page, these are real people with a real story to share. Everyday I thank God He allowed me to be a part of His story in Lorega.

 

I was there. I saw that.

 

Here’s the link if you would like to go read the article I’m writing about. When you get there you just have to click over to page 8.

http://www.compassion.com/NR/rdonlyres/elawvbruaag3cf6owgnnn7dlyfzrd46uvedn53gklm6u2z2mrdmzptc65oqrv5tzuxsaaweliyspozrsl5o6bprogpg/CompassionMagazineFall10Final.pdf

This one’s for you, Mariel

You’re beautiful.

 

I am going to take the next paragraph to specifically talk to all the girls out there. So listen closely. (gentleman, that doesn’t mean you can’t read this!)

 

How many times has someone said the words “You’re beautiful” to you? And how many times have you just shrugged it off and not let the meaning of the phrase sink into your heart? Now, if there are any of you girls who are reading this right now, and are thinking “No one has ever said that to me.” Let me be the first. God doesn’t care what this world will tell you, He’s telling you something totally different. He’s looking each one of us in the eyes, holding our hands, and saying, “Beautiful daughter of mine, I have created you in My image and you are My masterpiece.” You are beautiful.

 

Now, I would imagine most of us are told we are beautiful time and time again in a variety of different ways. Whether it be through compliments, or any other gesture. Sometimes it’s not always by the people we want to hear it from, but nonetheless, we are told on a regular basis in a number of different ways.

 

Now here’s where I am going to get to my point.

 

Stop letting them be just words. Don’t deny them, accept them. Don’t just shrug them off. Accept that you truly are a beautiful creation of God, and then move on to tell someone else they are beautiful! Realize the gift God has given you with the person standing in front of you telling you you are beautiful, and turn it around and be that gift for someone else.

 

Here’s my personal connection to the message I’m trying to convey.

 

Mariel.

 

One little girl who taught me the true meaning of beauty. I can still see her eyes open wide in surprise when she finally understood what I was telling her. “You are beautiful.” And when Ruben told me it was probably the first time anyone had ever told my precious little Mariel she was beautiful, I can still feel time stop, and the fight to catch my breath as it had been knocked out of me by the sheer cruelty of the world we live in, and yet the duty and power God had given me to speak those words to this precious little filipino girl.

 

It’s my prayer that years from now she would remember those words. I don’t want her to remember what I looked like, or what my voice sounded like. But I pray she’ll remember those words and be flooded with the love of God when she thinks of them. When she’s surrounded by a group of people…and men, telling her she needs to look a certain way, act a certain way, or do certain things in order to be beautiful I pray she would say “No, I know what beauty is, and nothing you say can change the fact that my Creator has called me His own.”

 

So this one’s for you, Mariel. I won’t let another compliment pass me by without thinking of the gift you gave me that day.

 

May we all think of the precious little girls around the world who don’t get to hear they are beautiful. Who don’t have mothers to hold them and stroke their hair and whisper to them what a gift they are to the world. And don’t be afraid to tell someone they are beautiful, because who knows when the last time they’ve heard it was……

 

Or as in Mariel’s case…… who knows if they’ve ever heard it.