McCain and Bono

i just got off the phone with the ONE campaign’s regional coordinator. he called to let me know that McCain, Palin and Bono all met the other day. McCain told Bono (who was one of the original founders of ONE) that the nh volunteers had made such a huge impression on him. how cool is that?? i have to give McCain props as well. he first greeted us with a bit of timidness- who are these people trying to talk to me about Africa, are they crazy nh people??- to starting to engage us in conversation when he saw us, to actually calling on us to speak in front of his audience about ONE at every town hall! no matter where we were, sitting down, standing in the back of the room- if we wore our ONE shirts he would give us a chance before anyone else to talk about ONE. so cool. from then on, at almost every town hall he was at or speech he was giving he would mention extreme poverty and the people raising awareness. his wife Cindy has actually gone to Rwanda. twice. she went during the genocide then literally 2 weeks before my church did in august.

it’s just so exciting and motivating to hear stories like this. to hear that the hard work you and others are doing is starting to make a difference. i hope this motivates you into putting your thoughts and passions into action. use your voice. it can make a difference. i am sure no other volunteer expected this type of response- a few people from nh making an impression on a presidential candidate. so don’t ever get discouraged and think that your single voice can’t make a difference. you never know what is happening in people’s heart beyond your scope of vision. God uses our passions for good, so get out there and do something! whatever it is you stand for! (totally being a cheerleader right now!)

p.s. my friends are talking about the best concert they have ever been to right now- weezer- and i am totally jealous!

what a God

unfortunately i still don’t have news to share with you. the meeting with the elders went well- that’s all i got. there is no decision made, but that’s ok. i am really learning to put my worries and cares in God’s hands. God knows what my future holds. God only wants the best for me. so if i stay the course and work for Him and Him alone, i know everything will be ok.

that’s a hard thing to say. working for Him and Him alone. i thought i had that figured out until last week when i got tripped up from some negative comments. all i could think about was “what? how could this person think this about me?? don’t they see how hard i am working??” then it hit me- why am i so upset about one persons opinion? one person who can’t see my heart, one person who doesn’t know my mind, one person who doesn’t see me 24/7. the only being that can do this is God. God knows my heart, mind and soul. He knows if i am trying my best or slacking off. He knows if i am living for Him or living for others. so i decided to lay down this burden. to lay down the burden of living up to other people’s expectations. to lay down the burden of being concerned with what other people think. i know it will be hard, that i will still sometimes me saddened by negative comments, but i recognize this problem and i give it to God. that’s something that will forever blow my mind- here is my God, our God- so full of love that even when we turn from Him time after time, when we hurt, He hurts. He gave us His Son, to die on a cross, so we could lay our burdens down. to lay my insignifacant burdens down. what a God.

what i love

you know what i love? i love being forwarded links to websites that have the same goal and dreams i do. i was just given a link to saddleback’s orphan care initiative and i almost started to cry. i just keep thinking about the little boys and girls, covered in filth, begging for some money. i keep thinking about how they need so much more than that. they need stability, a home, clean water, some clothes, a loving family, an education, the knowledge that they are here for a reason, and not some mistake- everything most of us take for granted. imagine waking up each morning covered in dirt and not knowing where you will be getting your next meal or glass of water? imagine not knowing if a single person cares about your existence? i can’t. i can’t even fathom it. i can’t even stomach the idea that all around the world millions of kids are waking up to these thoughts.

i keep thinking about the children that came up to me and everything in me screamed to help them, give them money, feed them, love them, but how could i -who was just walking down the street- do that? if i just hand money over am i making the problem worse? am i creating a higher dependency for hand outs when they really need hand ups? so to answer the questions my heart is screaming to my head, i want to throw myself into work like child sponsorship programs and orphan care initiatives. things that will be sustainable and have a higher impact on a child’s life than me just handing money over. it would be easier for me to come home and forget what i saw. to forget the feelings i felt when i saw a hurting child, but i don’t want to. i want to be reminded daily of how i felt so i don’t lose focus on what is important in my world- His children.

so that is why i love being shown websites of other people dreaming big too. if they can dream big, so can i and so can you. if you dream big and give it up to God, i can’t even imagine the awesomeness that will come forth.

home again

today was the first Sunday back from our trip to Rwanda. it felt so good to see everyone and share some of our stories to everyone willing to listen! it’s a bittersweet happiness though, as i dearly miss my friends and family in Rwanda. luckily, we have some amazing pictures courtesy of leah, to remember our experience. plus, i know that it won’t be long before we are back!

in the meantime, i keep thinking about what i can be doing here to help. even in my own apartment complex, there are so many children that need some love and guidance as they are taking their steps into their future. i think of how in my community, there are many women that need love and support, whether they are in a bad domestic situation or they could just need some support to help raise their family. God is letting me know that know matter where i am, people just need to be loved.

i love seeing my mom open up and love people unconditionally. she has become such a beacon in her neighborhood for anyone that feels a little disconnected and just needs some love and support. she is a rockstar in my mind because of this. it’s scary opening up your heart and home to strangers, but the payoff is huge. God blesses those who love on others and i know my mom is cause for God to smile.

while there is so much to do here, my heart is also in Rwanda. i keep thinking about the children there that just instantly love on us and want our love in return. it really struck me as odd, how in a society where adults openly show affection to one another, such as men holding hands with men, women with women, and the greetings of a friend or loved one shows an onlooker how much they love each other, could somehow let the children slip through the cracks. i understand every culture is different, but my heart breaks for the child that might not be getting a hug or an affectionate touch from their elder. now i realize, i have not seen the behind the scenes action when a family is in their own home, but from what i have seen, there isn’t a lot of love being shown to the lil tykes!. i can’t wait to get back there and show the children i meet how much i love them are how they are so important and deserve every little bit of affection we can give.

i also am looking forward to getting some type of sponsorship program off the ground. every place we went to, their number one concern was getting the children an education. now this is not the only way to end poverty, but it is a huge stepping stone. without an education the chance of finding a job is slim to none. without an education the chance of starting your own business is slim to none. businesses create more jobs, which Rwanda is in desperate need of. education is the initial stepping stone to work your way out of poverty. so if we were able to help use our abundance of resources to get some children into school, their future would be radically changed. in turn, they can help future generations and so on and so forth. eradicating poverty won’t happen overnight. it will take time. we might not even see some of the fruits of our labor, but it is a lasting impact that will affect generations to come.

i love dreaming big for all the possibilities that we can help with and seriously can not wait to get started. i thank God for all the blessings we have been given, but He didn’t give us these blessings to horde to ourselves. we are commanded by Him to give to the least of these. in many ways, Rwandans are the least of these- materially. in many ways, Americans are the least of these- spiritually. if we can give to eachother what we each have an abundance of, i see only a bright and fruitful future then.

going for it…

woo hoo! first blog! today was a very busy, but productive day. super tuesdays i think i will call ‘em. jim, lisa and myself team up each super tuesday to put some ideas into actions for outreach at our church. it’s incredibly inspiring and exciting to combine all of our visions into one! i secretly feel bad for lisa, for i think we create more work for her than we are of help- hehe.

maybe i should clue you in on the background of this team. lisa is the outreach director at my church ( www.manchesterchristian.com) she totally rocks and motivates us all. jim and i majorly volunteer at the church, but never really connected until the conference in orlando (leadnow conference). the three of us travelled down to fl to listen to some speakers on how to motivate twenty and thirty somethings to start doing more outreach. what we didn’t expect was for the two of us (jim and myself) to have a complete overhaul on our own outlooks on life. we both cut down to part time work and stepped up on our efforts to help lisa with outreach. since then we meet every tuesday to brainstorm and delegate who-does-what-new-project. it’s awesome and exciting and i look forward to every tuesday. unfortunately, like i stated before, i think lisa now has more on her plate than expected…. but i don’t think she minds

the main focus has been our upcoming trip to rwanda!!! this is my second trip to africa, but my first to rwanda. (i went to namibia before but i will share that story on another day) rwanda will be manchester christian church’s vision trip. we are looking to implement the p.e.a.c.e. plan in a community we can partner long term with. i very handily created a link to the peace plan so you all can check it out!  do that and i will fill you in later…ciao