Isiro, DR Congo

Im back in Manchester now after after my week in the Netherlands with Medair. It is very difficult to know how to summarise such an intense week, but i can certainly say i've learnt a lot about humanitarian work, about living and working in a team and about myself. I've been back at home for 10 days and im still processing all that happened. It was great to be in that environment though, surrounded by so many passionate, committed and professional people from all over the world

during the week i was spoken to about a Finance and logistics role in the DR Congo, in a town called Isiro. There was so much to take in during the ROC that i didn't want to make any decisons there and then. I've since had contact with Medair and feel there is where God is leading me. Its looking like I will be heading out there in June. Excitement, awe, fear, some degree of panic - these are some of the emotions im feeling right now, all normal im told. I will post more details about my role in the near future. Thanks for everybodys encouragement and prayers - you're all amazing!!!

Heading to Steamboat!

After 24 hours of snowfall, our city is snowpacked...and yet the sun shines today & the great melt has already begun! Brandi, Tif & I are headed to Steamboat this evening, hoping & praying for clear roads and good weather on the way. Tomorrow is the Come, Let's Dance celebration that we'll be helping with as well as dancing the night away! Here's a link to a news story about Come, Let's Dance & a little excerpt:

Come, Let’s Dance gets its name from a psalm — “You have turned my mourning into dancing.” The organization got its start when Gilbert, who had taught in Steamboat for six years before moving to Los Angeles to make films, traveled to Uganda to make a documentary. She found a community of orphans who were essentially raising themselves, she said.

“It captured my heart. I gave up my film company and moved to Uganda,” she said.

The effort since has been truly grassroots, Gilbert and DeBoer said, fueled by a commitment to empowering a community, no matter how small.

“When you’re there and you look into the eyes of a kid that’s been abandoned or a friend that’s hungry. … It’s the simplest act to come alongside them and see what you can do to help. It’s kind of a journey,” DeBoer said.

The mission behind Come, Let’s Dance is serious, but so is the hope the organization brings, organizers said.

“It’s not always with money; sometimes it’s just with the hope of a better life and, man, do these kids dance. That’s why we had to have a dance party,” Gilbert said.

Miller said she and her band plan to do everything to make that dance party pop.

“We’re coming to bring in the funk, bring in the noise, get them dancing and get them celebrating,” Miller said. “Hopefully, we’ll all catch up with that spirit that Shane has every day of the week.”

Hazel Miller and her band will be bringing the entertainment for the evening, and its sure to include a lot of dancing! We're excited!

Pictures to come!

I only wish these kids could be here to help us dance - they sure do know how to get down! :)

40 hours of silence

This past weekend I ventured off to a beautiful retreat center in the mountains on a 40-hour silent retreat. The experience was as communal as it was about solitude, which made for an interesting weekend. We ate together...in silence. We hiked together...in silence. I even played speed UNO and scattergories with some friends...in silence! Who knew you could do so much without words? Of course, the retreat was not about being together as much as it was about taking time away to silence our minds and hearts to listen for the still, small voice of God. On Saturday morning we spent 3 hours in solitude, just ourselves and God. Daunting for some and a welcome respite for others, I believe I can speak for most of us that it was a profound and exceptional time.



Part of my time of solitude was spent in the Labyrinth. You can't see it too well, but in the picture below, in the bottom left, there are some people within the labyrinth that has been made with rocks outlining the path. Above is a picture from Chartres Cathedral in Paris, which the labyrinth below is modeled after. It is a prayer-tool that has been used for hundreds of years to depict a pilgrimmage to God. One takes their time following the path - sometimes coming quite close to the middle and at others finding themselves to be quite far away again, yet always farther along the path than when they first began. I had never walked through a labyrinth before and wondered how it could be beneficial. As I took the time on Saturday, I found the journey to the center to be a rich time of stripping the layers of anxieties, responsibility, and burdens off and giving them over to Christ. When I began my mind was so distracted and overflowing with scattered thoughts - when I reached the middle, my mind was centered, my heart was light and I was ready to spend time at the center of my God's affection. For that is where I found myself to be - in His loving gaze. I don't have many words to describe my connection to God at the center...but it was deep and intimate and transforming. Why...well I'm not sure I can explain it, but it was! I spent a chunk of my time there, just sitting in His Presence. Then I returned from whence I came, pondering how different the journey out was from the journey in - so much more focused and relaxed and joy-full.

I share all of this because it was profound for me and I've come away from this experience acknowledging my need to slow down more and seek my Lord along the journey.

The ROC

Its arrived finally!!! Very early on Saturday morning I fly to Amsterdam for the ROC, which is Medair's training week. I expect to be learning lots about relief work, this will be my introduction humanitraian aid and Medair's mandate within that context. I thought that I would be feeling nervous and apprehensive as this moment approached, but i've got to say im really looking forward to it. Not sure if thats because i've been so busy recently ...I think its more to do with my outook on life though. I always get excited by a new adventure!!!

It promises to be an intense week as I start to understand what it means to be living the life of a relief worker. I believe this is where God wants me, I have a real peace about that. I hope things come together as the week unfolds, that a role and place within the organisation becomes clear for me. Thats where i will really need your prayers I think.

I really believe in Medair's programmes. They literally work amongst the most vulnerable people on earth, in some of the most forgotten crises across Africa and Asia. It will be interesting, no doubt about that.

Come, Let's Dance

Please check out what my friends at Come, Let's Dance are doing in and around Kampala, Uganda - they are an amazing group of people dedicated to loving & caring for our Ugandan brothers and sisters.

www.comeletsdance.org

On March 28th they'll be hosting a fundraiser event...well, more like a Celebration of 3 amazing years of lives being renewed, restored and empowered in Uganda through the partnership of people on this side of the ocean with some amazingly gifted leaders and servants in Nansana, Uganda. I'm so excited to get to attend this event and celebrate with them the testimonies of those who have been forever changed by the works and faith of this organization as well as looking ahead to what more is to come!


Any and ALL are welcome - this is an invitation! If you are in the area and are interested, please let me know and Ill get you more information. It's going to be a huge party to benefit some of the most vulnerable children and families in Uganda.



Love Hard. (Teaser) from Come, Let's Dance on Vimeo.

Surprised by Joy

At the bottom of my last post I put a picture of Riley, my good friends Brian & Kelly's daughter. I was living with these friends for the first 6 weeks of being back here in Denver and they are like family for me out here. Their home is always open to me, and their hearts as well. I'm going to be watching Riley for a few hours each week to let Kelly have the chance to run errands or rest for awhile and my first time doing this was this week. When I arrived, Kelly and Riley were sitting on the couch, hanging out. I sat down with them and after a few moments Riley began errupting into these belly laughs and giggles at her mom's faces and at us tickling her. We spent at least 10 minutes, just laughing and giggling with her, it was pure joy! For some reason, that time of joy has really stuck with me, reminding me how little joy I embrace and participate in on a daily basis. That day it was a gift to me & continues to be.

Below is an excerpt from "Here and Now" by Henri Nouwen, one of my favorite authors. A friend just posted this on her blog & I really wanted to share it as well...

Are we surprised by joy or by sorrow? The world in which we live wants to surprise us by sorrow. Newspapers keep telling us about traffic accidents, murders, conflicts between individuals, groups, and nations, and the television fills our minds with images of hatred, violence and destruction. And we say to one another: “Did you hear that, did you see that…isn’t it terrible…who can believe it?” Indeed it seems that the powers of darkness want to continue to surprise us with human sorrow. But these surprises paralyze us and seduce us to an existence in which our main concern becomes survival in the midst of a sea of sorrows. By making us think about ourselves as survivors of a shipwreck, anxiously clinging to a piece of driftwood, we gradually accept the role of victims doomed by the cruel circumstances of our lives.

The great challenge of faith is to be surprised by joy. I remember sitting at a dinner table with friends discussing the economic depression of the country. We kept throwing out statistics that made us increasingly convinced that things could only get worse. Then, suddenly, the four-year-old son of one of my friends opened the door, ran to his father, and said, “Look, Daddy! Look! I found a little kitten in the yard…Look!…Isn’t she cute?” While showing the kitten to his father, the little boy stroked and held it against his face. All at once everything changed. The little boy and his kitten became the center of attention. There were smiles, strokes, and many tender words. We were surprised by joy.

God became a little child in the midst of a violent world. Are we surprised by joy or do we keep saying: “How nice and sweet, but the reality is different.” What if the child reveals to us what is really real.

Friends and birthdays

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks...

Tif & I at her birthday dinner

The birthday girl!

Lisa & Brent were in town for the weekend! I loved hanging out with them!!!

We went antique/flea market shopping - it was quite fun...lots of random finds!

And these pics are just because...above & below is Riley and Micah - respectively... my previous roommates & now weekly Tuesday afternoon dates.

doesn't he look smart in his tie? :)