Everything?

Lord, I give it all back.

Take and receive all that I am and have.

You've given it to me; I give it all back to you.

Do what you want with me.

Just give me your love and grace and that's enough.

- St Ignatius

All. Everything.

  Surrender. Sacrifice.

"Any road, Lord, at any cost."

I used to pray these prayers, these words with such fervor, such anticipation. The road, the cost, though unknown seemed exciting and enticing. An adventure!

Meaning. Purpose. Value.

Today these prayers conjure other thoughts and emotions...

Hard. Difficult. Scary!

  Too much. Not enough.

  Can I really do this?

My life has become more complex since I first uttered those prayers, or it at least feels more complex. Perhaps I just carry more baggage that is painful both to carry and let go of.

There are 3 of us now - me has become we. One is tiny, dependent on the other two for her every need.

Really God? All? Everything? At Any Cost?

Our promise: Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

JOY

If that Joy is worth the cross to my God, what can I truly hold back? How can I hold back?

We're too far now...its all or nothing. We choose all and search for the Joy in each moment of this adventurous journey we are on...

Reflections

So for those who don't know, I stepped down from my position leading the Boaz Trust in September. For some time, there was a nagging sense that I was not quite in the right place, despite being in a position of responsibility and influence. I stepped down in the knowledge that there was a strong chance I may return to my previous place of work, Siemens with a short term contract. Last week, it became clear that was not going to happen. So, in short this has become an extended absence of leave from full time work. Whilst im still looking for another short term work opportunity so that we can pay the bills, i do not have a peace about accepting another full time job at this point. We've been asked to wait by God, explore a few opportunities that may lead to longer term appointments in ministry, and take a temporary job to pay the bills in the meantime! 

A period of waiting gives you an opportunity to reflect on what has gone before. Back in 2009, I left my job with Siemens to explore a sense of calling to the poor and went to work in the DR Congo with Medair. Change and transition has been a prevalent theme since I made that decision. Me and Jennie got married, we came back to the UK, started new jobs, moved to a church plant, I got a degree in theology, Jennie gave birth to baby Kora and here we are. It feels like we are in the final stages of this particular period of transition. 

The experiences we have had over the past few years have clarified important things about ourselves, foundations in marriage, identity, clarified our sense of calling. Its interesting to look back. Through experiences with Medair, we commenced our journeys of faith but equally became disillusioned with the solutions that the aid sector had to offer the marginalised and poor. Yes people were helped through the practical delivery of large scale emergency relief projects, but ultimately we became dissatisfied with a form of mission that generates a dependancy culture, disempowering people and communities, a blight on the ability of individuals to think through solutions to the problems existing in their own countries. At the end of the day, its far easier to accept a handout than to work through issues in relationships, governance and corruption. We wanted more! 

In the UK, we have been working for grassroots charities. Led by Christians, supported by local churches and involving lots more face to time with the 'poor', suddenly the people we were serving had a name, a personality and a story that made everything much more personal. Hard to just go back to normal life at the end of each day, when your lives become so intertwined with those you are supporting through your work, the poor are no longer kept at arms length, they are in your face and its uncomfortable. The practical support provided by these charities provided was vital, life saving at times, like the Boaz Trust providing accomodation and basic needs support for refused asylum seekers. 

That sense of nagging pervaded though. There was still a dependency culture that broke through, a desire to see this cycle broken, to see the poor come to realise how Jesus sees them, discipleship, the good news, a calling to mission. A combination of practical expertise plus spiritual input seems a positive way forward. Still not completely sure what this looks this looks, but in reflecting, im reminded that we are on a journey and God is revealing new things all the time

Kingdom Journey

Its always been strange and very disconcerting that most experiences of church we see  look nothing like the bible. Church has got to be more than a never ending stream of dinner parties with your white middle class friends. Right? Fortunately we are in a good place right now, on the leadership team of a church plant in an urban priority area. Part of a healthy community of disciples, we are learning that there is nothing quite like the thrill of seeing the gospel planted in a new place. Whilst there is never a perfect way of doing church, big or small, urban or rural and each approach has something to teach us, there are some truths from Scripture that you would like to think always prevail. Lets be kind and say mission, outward focus, incarnational, community, inclusive, justice, kingdom, humble - maybe these can all be summarised with one word - love! What about risk, trust, faith, dependance, discomfort, journey? Are we willing to embrace these values as readily?

The west tends to be fascinated with security, certainty and safety. One of the questions you tend to be asked in interviews is what is your 5 year plan? Where do you expect to be in 10 years? Do you think these values can be translated to the way we live and experience church? I think they often are in contemporary society, and consequently we don't always experience all God has for us - we get stuck with our jobs, promotions, success, mortgage payments, cars, gadgets and who knows what else! When we take examples from scripture we often see a different story! Lets take Abraham - he was asked to go on a journey in faith without knowing where he was going - to trust, believe and have faith. The disciples were sent out by Jesus and told not to worry about where they would sleep, the food they would eat and the clothes they would wear. These kingdom journeys led to periods of adventure, brokenness, emptiness, abandonment, dependance and ultimately deeply intimate relationships with God. 

The journey's were just a part of their stories though! You can't stay on the journey for ever! You have to descend from the mountaintops and return to the banality and difficulties of everyday life. Once the journey has started however, nothing can be the same again! You live in a new reality, a kingdom reality where you start dreaming about Gods kingdom coming on earth! That there is more!!! No longer a slave to yourself or the world around you, Gods purposes and plan for your life become clearer

Transitions

We can strongly relate to this description of going through a period of transition. In many respects, It seems to be a very accurate description of the journey we have been on recent years. Its from a book called 'Stuck', written by Terry Walling and based on the leadership development research of Dr. J. Robert Clinton of Fuller Theological Seminary.

 "Kingdom influence is the by-product of men and women who allow God to do a deeper work in their lives."  

"Transitions are characterized by a prolonged period of restlessness, self-doubt, lack of motivation, job stagnation, diminished confidence, lack of direction, distance from God, isolation, relational conflict and tension, lack of effectiveness, and struggle to stay focused and motivated."  "Transitions are more about character development than job description.  In a transition, God turns a searchlight onto the heart." 

Transitions often bring clarity of self-definition (who I am), role (my contribution) and new paradigms (presuppositions and worldview).

"God uses transitions to better align people's lives to his purposes." 

"Every phase of one's development has purpose.  Failing to process the challenges and implications of each phase can mean moving to the next phase with unfinished business." 

Remember the children's song, Deep and Wide?  "The width of one's influence with Jesus is in direct proportion of the depth of one's intimacy with God.  Transitions take a life deep, so the result of a life and its influence can go wide."

Pain à Intimacy à Power à Influence

The entry stage of a transition is often characterized by emotions of restlessness, confusion, self-doubt, and isolation as well as relational trauma and a consistent lack of energy." 

The evaluation stage may include rehearsing past struggles, confronting issues of wounding, consolidating lessons, deepening convictions and challenging life assumptions. 

The alignment stage is surrendering to God's agenda.  It brings one to be more pliable, teachable, open-minded and openhearted to change.  

In the direction stage destiny experiences begin to occur as God reveals new direction.  The end of transition brings one to a crossroad of faith, a challenge to step out in obedience.  

"Breakthrough, and the end of a transition, often comes at unexpected moments."  Destiny moments are special experiences or events that reveal insight into where God is leading you. There may be a series of preliminary insights and then an 'aha' moment where you know you have heard from God.  God may use destiny moments to endorse a commitment or decision, affirm a paradigm shift or affirm a new course of direction or opportunity.  (51)  God's plan begins to unfold. 

Destiny moments build faith to meet the challenge of a new step.  "In the end, every transition also brings on a challenge to one's ability to trust God." 

We are still waiting patiently for breakthrough!

Restless Pilgrims

Its been a bit of a whirlwind of a few months. Those of you who know us well will know that we gave birth to a baby girl, Kora Joy a few months ago! Its been been an amazing and bewildering time adjusting to being full time parents, we are loving being a family! In other news, Mark left his position with the Boaz Trust last week. He doesn't have another job to step into at the moment, but we believe that God has been preparing us for this for some time - whilst a very rewarding job with a truly gospel centred organisation, we have been sensing Gods preparation for a release from this position for almost a year. So we have taken a leap of faith! At the moment that means taking a temporary position for a year and taking some time out to discern where God might be leading.

We continue to feel a senses of restlessness, a dissatisfaction with the status quo. It does feel like God has been and is continuing to prepare us for a major shift in our ministry focus over the last few years. So we have taken an intentional step to take some time out to really discern what this might look. Although these feelings of restlesness can be deeply frustrating, we have come to realise that there is such a thing as a holy restlesness, an uneasiness if you like with just accepting how things seem to be. It can also redeeming though. It takes you to a place of non-conformity and non-complacency, keeps you on edge... it helps you search for something deeper and more true. God has already revealed a lot to us over the past few years of this journey.There are no magic answers, just as we step out in faith each time the Lord reveals a little more to us!

To be honest, we're not completely sure where God is leading. We have some ideas but nothing concrete at the moment. As St. Augustine once said ' Our heart is restless until it rests in you Lord.' The idea is to be quite serious over the next few months about doing some things that will help draw us closer to God and continue to discern his will and really discover why God might be trying so hard to get our attention. Please continue to pray for us as the Lord leads us on this journey. it feels like an exciting time for our little family right now!

Life without papers

I thought i'd signpost you to a great blog about some of the people i work with every day, its called http://www.lifewithoutpapers.co.uk/ This blog is not an easy read, it tells the stories about the daily struggles and vulnerabilities of this often forgotten and neglected group

Undocumented migrants have nothing. They are not allowed to work. They have no right to state benefits nor to a place to live. They are unseen and potentially the most vulnerable group in the UK today.

Undocumented (or irregular) migrants include those trafficked into the sex trade or for domestic servitude; they include visa overstayers; those whose asylum applications have been refused and others who have been subject to failures in the immigration system. All of these may originally have come to the UK legally.

‘Illegal immigrants’ – those imagined to have entered the country in the backs of lorries – make up a small proportion of the undocumented.

Indeed some sources suggest that half the estimated 120,000 undocumented children in the UK were actually born here to undocumented parents. These children are disadvantaged from birth, solely by their immigration status. Written by photographer and writer Len Grant, the subjects of the stories have been introduced through agencies or charities that work with destitute migrants.

....and 2 years later!

Well its been some time since we updated this site...and the past couple of years have been full of adventure! We have loved the first few years of marriage, have experienced the ups and downs of working for 2 growing charities, not to mention moved to a new church and established ourselves in a new community. 

The last time we posted, we talked about how God was working in our lives through the many changes we were experiencing, that we felt a deep desire to experience God more deeply and connect with those around us, there was a strange kind of restlesness driving us! 

This feeling has continued to shape our spiritual lives over the past few years. Our work has opened our eyes to many new things, working along rejected and marginalised asylum seekers and helping the church to engage with their wider communities across the UK. We felt compelled to leave our church and move to a new plant within a social housing estate in Manchester. The church plant is within a more deprived area of the city, and the church has grown quickly to total about 60 people. 

This same restlesness continues to drive us though, and we are continuing to feel God drawing us to new things. Trendy words that are often thrown around in Christian circles include incarnational, church planting, justice, mission. Thoughts around some of these issues are shaping our thoughts about our future. Thats all i'll say for now but im sure there will be more to come in the near future...watch this space

When the Holy Spirit moves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG827sCz-v4

Check this guy out, Francis Chan. He was the senior pastor at a mega church in California until he decided to step down from his role in July this year. I can empathise with this guys story. His obedience to the Lord and the move of the Holy Spirit in his life is quite inspiriational. Francis Chan also wrote the book Crazy Love, which is really about how the American church today differs so much from the Early church and what Jesus called us to as his disciples. Well, if thats true for the Amercian church, its true for the church in the UK as well. the idea of the church as a movement of people, built on relationships, that breaks people tradtional viw of what the church is,  now thats appealing to me. 

Final Ella update

SO SO much to share but long story really short (I’ll try), Ella and her lawyer, Hanan, and I bus-tripped 4 hrs south to Aqaba (city on the Red Sea where Ella worked before) last Saturday to meet with the police there.  It was the last step she had to take before being released to fly back to Manila on the 15th.  Once in the police station, though, Ella’s previous employer was notified and came to meet with us (the same man who raped her repeatedly, he AND his son) and it was decided that since Ella was a run-away and now illegal (work permit had expired) the law said she needed to be taken into custody until she could be returned to the Philippines.  Hanan fought it and fought it…Ella had one more week of work, hadn’t said goodbye to anyone, we weren’t prepared for this at all, I asked them to make me her guardian til the 15th promising to deliver her at risk of being deported myself…NO.  It was the law.  So Hanan and I went with her employer to the airline office to change her ticket to the following night…

Second Sunday of Advent – December 5

An excerpt from iGracias! by Henri J.M. Nouwen

"A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him . . ." (Isa.11:1-2).

These words from last night's liturgy have stayed with me during the day. Our salvation comes from something small, tender, and vulnerable, something hardly noticeable. God, who is the Creator of the Universe, comes to us in smallness, weakness, and hiddenness.

I find this a hopeful message. Somehow, I keep expecting loud and impressive events to convince me and others of God's saving power; but over and over again I am reminded that spectacles, power plays, and big events are the ways of the world. Our temptation is to be distracted by them and made blind to the "shoot that shall sprout from the stump."

When I have no eyes for the small signs of God's presence - the smile of a baby, the carefree play of children, the words of encouragement and gestures of love offered by friends - I will always remain tempted to despair.

The small child of Bethlehem, the unknown young man of Nazareth, the rejected preacher, the naked man on the cross, he asks for my full attention. The work of our salvation takes place in the midst of a world that continues to shout, scream, and overwhelm us with its claims and promises. But the promise is hidden in the shoot that sprouts from the stump, a shoot that hardly anyone notices.

iGracias! - A Latin American Journal (December 2, 1981) © Henri J.M. Nouwen. Published by HarperCollins. Reprinted with publisher's kind permission. Photo by K. Smith.

Ella update 2 & 3

So guess WHAT??  Since I wrote last, Ella’s former employer AGREED!!!  He’ll return her paperwork/passport and will drop all charges against her, without compensation, if she agrees not to take him to court.  Can you believe it??  Our Daddy is SO good.  Truly a miracle.  I still can’t believe it.  Bless you all for praying…I called Ella straight away and told her the news and she just cried and cried…soooo thankful to all who have given and been praying through this…and wanted to make sure I thank you for her.  Man what a privilege it’s been to watch God remind one of his children how dearly loved she is and how bright the future is with him THROUGH his people on earth rallying around her and giving and praying and fighting for her!  Beautiful.

So keep praying…I dropped off a copy of Ella’s ticket back to Manila yesterday with her lawyer, and once they have that, her papers should be returned quickly, hopefully early this next week.  Pray for the details of that, for her employer’s heart in all this, for wisdom for Ella’s lawyer in making sure all the little details are covered (visa expenses and police reports, etc) between now and the 15th so she can get on that plane and fly out without any hangups.  And pray for Ella and I as we talk and dream about the future for her and her family, for God to “take us by the hand and lead us in the path of life” for them, for direction in how to best use the money that’s come in (and still is…there’s time if you still want to!).  About $1250 has come in so far over and above what was used to buy her ticket, and right now her dreams are to use ~$500 of it to pay off an outstanding debt from her previous job in Hong Kong and the rest of it to start a small business in Manila so that she can stay close to her family.  I have a few contacts in Manila I’m writing that might be able to help in her transition and know of one microcredit NGO working there, but if you have any ideas or know of anyone who could help, pls let us know!!

Follow up...

Quick Ella update:  Found out this week that she needs to present herself in person at the police department in Aqaba (4 hrs south of Amman on the Red Sea) before they’ll drop the charges that were filed against her by her employer when she ran away. I called Ella after talking to her lawyer to tell her…she was instantly in tears, so so scared, wondering why and if her employer would be there, etc.  I was on the other end just exhausted, wanting all this to be over, not knowing what to say or how to support her.  I was on a break from class and had to get back so told her I’d call her lawyer again to get more details and then call her back after class finished.

Two hours later I called her back, and she answers with “Oh hi Ate (big sister), I’m fine now!”  WHAT?  I asked her, what happened?  “Well, I just did what you and Pete & Layne (my two friends who just left after visiting me and who got to meet and pray with Ella while they were here) told me to do.  After we hung up, I went into the bathroom and locked myself in the stall (her only place of peace and quiet in the gym where she works, she spends alot of time there!) and sat on the toilet and asked God what He thought I should do.  And he told me that I didn’t need to be afraid.  That actually, my employer was afraid of ME.  And that he is with me wherever I go.  So I’m ready Ate, let’s go to Aqaba!” 

AMAZING.  I was laughing and crying on the other end, she was like a totally different person than the one I knew even a few months ago…amazing and beautiful to watch her change as it sinks in how MUCH God loves her and how he longs to walk with her, in confidence and truth and boldness.  LOVE IT!  The Spirit of God at work, isn’t he amazing?

I was wondering how this trip would happen…two foreign gals-one with some basic Arabic, showing up at the police department in Aqaba and hoping for the best, but if they weren’t there or the right paperwork wasn’t signed, the time is so short before she flies I wanted to make sure we knew what to do and who to talk to…so today I went to her lawyer’s office before class with some cookies and a card Ella made her over the weekend and before I said ANYTHING, the lawyer volunteered to come with us.  YAY!!  So this Saturday the 3 of us are taking a bus trip there and back, and insha’allah everything should be set after that for Ella to fly back to Manila on the 15th.  So keep praying!!!

Redeeming Our Communities

Some of you may notice a new shiny widget on the left of your screen...did you see it yet? 

That's right, I'm fund-raising...again! Is anyone really surprised? I'm sure not, that the Lord would lead me on another journey of faith. I'm actually thrilled because its another opportunity to see His provision and for my trust in Him to grow. We both feel this way, Mark & I, and we hope that you'll join with us in prayer and giving (as you can).

Redeeming Our Communities is a worthy cause and I hope to keep you informed on this blog about what we do here. For now, I'll leave you with a video to hear some thoughts from folks who have caught the vision with us.

ROC Ambassadors Conference (29th-30th Oct 2010) from Redeeming Our Communities on Vimeo.

Ella update!

an update following my previous post...wow!!!

You won’t BELIEVE what happened today. Long story short, we were able to buy Ella’s ticket for 360JD (the cheapest I was able to find online was 640JD) thanks to a Sri Lankan angel with connections @ Royal Jordanian. She flies out in’shallah 15 Dec. AND Ella and I met with a pro bono human rights lawyer we learned about who, with Ella’s permission, called her former employer and gave him a choice of either handing over her papers and dropping all charges against her without compensation (the $800 he had asked for that we were trying to raise) OR having his and his son’s butts hauled into court for multiple cases of rape and sexual abuse. YES!!! He was speechless…hadn’t known prior to that that his son had raped her too…and in the end he said he’d think about it tonight and give her a decision tomorrow. The lawyer feels confident he’ll agree but we need to PRAY!! Pls pls pray for his heart and decision tonight.
The beautiful thing was that after sharing about their conversation, the lawyer looked straight at Ella and said “What this man did to you was WRONG and we will FIGHT for you.” I just started weeping, am again now writing this. Seeing someone care enough to fight for her! And Ella turned and looked at me, her eyes just SHINING and said “Ate, God did it! He gave me the JUSTICE!” She just knows he’ll give in, that he’s scared, but even without his decision already justice is being done. I had no idea up til then how completely injust it seemed to her that all these people were raising money to pay off a man who had wronged her so horribly…today made me want to go to law school. I think I want to be a lawyer.

On the way out to the taxi, Ella started talking about how her family could use the money that was meant to go to this man…she was DREAMING out loud…of having enough to start a little market or buying a motorcycle taxi and hiring a driver…the possibility of being able to provide long-term for her family while staying in the Philippines…we’ve already raised ~$650 in addition to the money spent on her ticket and more’s coming in…so let’s dream WITH her and do what we can to see it come true.

So praise GOD!! WOW. And keep praying esp for tomorrow!! The lawyer will call me as soon as she hears from him, and if he doesn’t call her she promises to call him.

Can YOU help???

Please read the story below and let me know if you can help. This is from a trusted friend - a REAL need in the world this week, please will you help?

One of my all-time favorite people here in Amman is my Filipino friend, Ella.  We met last spring, she works and lives at the gym I go to, and since this summer she’s spent her one day off each week crashing at my place.  I’m honored and so grateful to call her my friend, and she’s given me permission to share her story with you all bc WE NEED YOUR HELP.

Ella (not her real name) is from a province in the north of the Philippines but years ago her family moved to the slums of Manila after a volcano erupted and made it impossible for her dad to make a living as a fisherman, and right after that a massive typhon destroyed their home.  Two years ago, Ella’s husband left her and their 2 young girls for another woman so the burden of providing for them and her aging parents (she’s the eldest daughter) fell to her.  Even though she’s a university educated teacher, she was forced by the lack of jobs in the Philippines to go to Hong Kong to work in the home of some wealthy Chinese folks.  Soon after getting there, she was cooking dinner for them and accidentally burned some chicken and as punishment the lady of the house poured hot oil over Ella’s arm.  Seriously.  She still has the scar.  She ended up leaving the job early after more abuse and decided to come to Jordan instead.

She arrived in Jordan a year ago and started working in the home of some wealthy folks here.  After four months of horrible abuse including sexual abuse from the man and son of the house, she decided one day to flee to Amman where a friend promised her a job in the gym.  But leaving meant leaving all her papers and passport behind…a choice that Asian workers (esp women) have to make daily in this part of the world.  Stay and face abuse, flee and be illegal but safe.  Since then, Ella’s been working 6 days/week, 16+ hr days at the gym, making the equivalent of $400/month.  She sends all but a fraction of it home to her family and lives on instant noodles and boiled eggs.   Without her papers, Ella’s unable to go home, scared every time she leaves the gym of being arrested and thrown in jail, is at the mercy of her employer/working with no rights or security, and is accumulating $2/day of overstay visa costs.

I respect and love Ella more than words can say.  She’s a picture of strength and hope to me.  We spend Saturday mornings making breakfast together and sharing what we’ve been learning about God over the past week, reading the Bible and praying together, and her stories and life have just opened my eyes to the world she shares with so many Asian workers in this part of the world…extreme poverty forcing people to leave their families for work, kids growing up without parents, couples separated and sleeping around on both sides and the resulting children and STDs and abortions and brokenness, people separated from their families going to drugs and sex and alcohol for hope and comfort, horrible horrible treatment of Asian workers by their employers…I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard since I met Ella.  It literally makes me rage inside.  And I think what I feel is only a fraction of the anger God feels towards it.

So, this is where we come to YOUR part.  A few months ago I felt like God whispered in a smiling way as I sat across from Ella at Saturday breakfast “You thought you came to Jordan for Arabic and to love Arabs…THIS is who I want you to love.  I want you to love her well and deeply, with everything you have, bc in loving her you are loving me.”  That sparked a desire to do what I can to get Ella’s papers returned, so over the past few weeks I’ve been talking with her former agency and employer as well as a lady whose full-time job is helping Asian women like Ella get legal and get home.  What I’ve learned is that the only way we can get her papers back is for Ella to reimburse her employer for the money he lost in bringing her here ($800) and that she HAS to leave the country immediately after that (one way plane ticket $4-500).  I know this is only a short-term solution to a huge problem…and neither Ella nor I know what awaits her once she’s back in Manila.  But what we DO know is that it’s imperative that her papers get returned and the only way to do that is for her to go home.

So, we’re dreaming big and stepping out and asking our Daddy to provide the money.  The goal is to buy her ticket this week, to meet with Ella’s employer and agency next week on the 23rd to pay them and make sure all is closed and clear, and to get her on a plane home before I leave Jordan on the 21st of Dec.   So it needs to happen FAST!  On this end, some other expat gals who know and love Ella are putting the word out to their people, and we’re planning some bake sales and such.  But we need your help!!  If you want to give, you can either send money to me via Paypal or mail a check to my parents address with Ella’s name on the subject line (email me and I’ll send you their address).

If you have more questions PLEASE feel free to ask away, but believe me when I say I’ve done the research on this end and this is the only way forward for Ella, and every CENT of what you give will go towards her.  If we raise more than we need, it will just go towards blessing her and her family.  And PLEASE PLEASE pass this onto any and all you think might be able to help too.  Don’t forget to pray for us too…for the process of getting her home and for Ella and her family and their future.

THANKS!!  Love and hugs.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Nieces and Nephews

A few pics of our lovelies, thanks to facebook and emails. Our little niece Sophie Grace is just at 3 months:

And Ryan & Maddy - now...

and then...

we miss them!!!

Haiti cholera outbreak is slowing!

Great news yesterday morning that the cholera outbreak seems to be slowing!! What an atrocious disease this is, all associated to lack of access to safe drinking water. We were praying for this yesterday during church and its been on my heart for the past few days. Keep praying that it is completely stopped as it usually hits children and elders the hardest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11617094#

Forgiveness

I live within the confines of our society...and that looks truly normal and good and right. Yet when I look deep within and hear the entitlement, the anger, the voices that seek to exalt me rather than bring me to a place of service to others, I know that the way I live is actually not the Way I claim to have chosen. These words from my friend, Ali, are powerful to me today:

"I’ve been reading about unforgiveness recently and a week or so ago I was walking home from school carrying some hummus and cucumbers for dinner, talking to Daddy about the day, and he reminded me about the post I wrote last month  (“Storytime”).  He whispered in his gentle, kind, strong way of love that what I was feeling/what I wrote about wasn’t only due to being tired and ready for a break, that I just don’t “click” with Jordan and am called somewhere else, the fault of Arab men, or that those walls that I’ve gotten so good at putting up in my heart are just necessary for single foreign women living in this part of the world…but that actually, bitterness and anger and hatred towards Arabs and towards Arab men in particular were growing in me as a direct result of my unforgiveness towards them.  He showed me that in big and little ways all thru these past 1.5 yrs I’d been holding onto wrongs done against me, growing more guarded and critical, when his way in reality is just the opposite.  He calls us to forgive and to bless to leave the rest up to him.

Man ALIVE talk about conviction and truth.  I asked his forgiveness which I know I already have…and then we talked about how it looks for me to live differently here, like Jesus would if he were me.  I felt like he was asking me to CHOOSE to immediately extend forgiveness after a wrong done against me and to follow it with specific blessing upon that person (for their family, work, future, rela’ship with God, etc).  So in the days following, I started doing it…to the guy who looked me up and down and made a comment as he passed me on the street, to the taxi driver who tried to rip me off and the kids on the street barking into my window just to hear the dog bark back at them…and seriously it’s totally changed me.  I feel like I’ve seen more smiles and acts of kindness and beauty around me in the last week than I have in the last YEAR just bc I have the EYES to see them again!  And this deep real LOVE for Arabs that so isn’t me but HIM is just bubbling up in place of the bitterness and anger.  It’s AMAZING!  It’s indeed so so true that WE are the victims when we choose not to forgive those who have wronged us."

The Boaz Trust

So, following Medair I'm now working for the Boaz Trust. The Boaz Trust is a Christian NGO which aims to meet the needs of asylum seekers suffering destitution and hardship in the Manchester area.

Immigration and asylum are contentious issues wherever you go in the Western world. To give you some idea of the problems here in the UK, we have about 3000 failed asylum seekers in Manchester alone. For London, you could probably multiply that figure by at least 10.

Asylum seekers are people fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries. The people we meet here in Manchester come from various places on the African continent, DR Congo, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, as well parts of the Middle East and the Far East, such as Iran and Afghanistan. They often arrive via Southern Europe, and many have taken huge risks to get here.

When asylum seekers arrive the UK, they are initially supported by the Government. Many of their applications for asylum are rejected, and these people then have no recourse to any public funds. The consequence is that some do become homeless living on the streets, others are helped in their communities, will find a sofa or a floor to sleep on. There are so many of these people now here that the government is incapable of either supporting or deporting them, often they don't have any travel documentation and their home countries will not accept them anyway.

So, i guess if you've read this far, the asylum issue is a complex one and my role as the Programme Manager is a demanding one. I'd suggest reading the Boaz website if you want a more in depth view of what we do, but in brief we resource Churches and Christians around the city to help run a housing and hosting system, we are running an advocacy project to assist many of their clients with their cases, and we run several social programmes to try and provide holistic care for our clients.

OK, so some of you may be reading this and be thinking that some of these asylum seekers probably don't have a genuine case, and are simply seeking a better life in the UK, and I'd be the first to admit you are right. With the development of advocacy and legal expertise, Boaz are getting better at identifying these situations when clients first come to us for help.

Boaz are serving some of the most rejected and despised people in our society, and in reaching out to such a forgotten group of people, hopefully we are showing something of Jesus to all the people we meet. I'll update you more soon on how the role with Boaz is developing. Bye for now

Prayer Storm

This is a plug for something we've been to in Manchester recently. Its exciting to see God moving so powerfully in this city. When in Colorado, me and Jennie visited the Toth Ministries Ranch for 48 hours. We were impacted by the power of Gods presence, the freedom and joy that was such a part of the community there, and the total reverance of and worship four our God. There was a similar atmosphere at the recent Prayer storm meeting we went to. Prayer storm is a movement of young Christians in Manchester which is challenging Christians on their lifestyles, its really a movement of radical worship and intercession.

Check it out on http://www.prayerstorm.org/