When most people envision the D.C. skyline they think one thing: monuments. From the Washington Monument to Arlington National Cemetery, our Nation’s Capital is filled with statues, buildings, walls, and the like dedicated to men we deem virtuous enough to enshrine. One of my classes in D.C. explored the cross between history and monuments for much of the semester. Before we even had our first lecture we were instructed to take the two-mile walk from Arlington National Cemetery to the Washington Monument, documenting what we saw, and what we didn’t see, along the way. There are a few things that stand out when you take a closer look at the monuments and memorials: 1- most are paying homage to a war, 2-virtually none pay homage to women, 3- all the individuals represented (Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, etc.) are laced with some controversy regarding their personal “moral” fiber in light of more recent historical claims.
So what does this say about our culture? I’m not here to unveil a senior thesis on the subject, but I do think that in lieu of our celebrity culture and 24-hour news cycles, our fascination with monuments erected to dead guys (because there aren’t any for women to even pick on) is tied in to how we continue to elevate public figures to “God-like” status. We continue to build men up, only to watch them fall. There’s no need to list the names, turn on the nightly news or SportsCenter and you’ll get at least a few examples. Back in Thomas Jefferson’s day, there was no CNN or E! News to cover a scandalous affair with Sally Hemmings, no Politico to pick apart every political theory he published. While I was attempting to explain to our class during a lecture at the Jefferson Memorial why I didn’t think it was right to worship the Founding Father the way that we do, one of my classmates asked me how, if we could only build monuments for those who were morally “perfect,” would we have any monuments at all? His rhetorical question summed up my thoughts exactly. Thanks Andrew.
These days, we’re happy to practically begin erecting monuments to our favorite public figures before they’ve even hit mid-life status. Then, when they begin to fall, we gawk with horror at how such men could let us down. All the while never placing any responsibility on ourselves for demanding access to their “private” lives through tabloids, reality T.V. shows and entertainment news. We don’t have this luxury with monuments; the men we’ve put on display as tourist attractions are literally set in stone. It’s up to the history books to decide what to write in, or leave out (the Texas legislature apparently understands this one). Perhaps Jefferson was a blatant racist, so we’ll just leave those quotes off his monument walls and claim one need understand the “historical context” of the time to rationalize his actions. While these monuments do represent some great moral achievements, I don’t think they should be worshipped for the man on display. Elevating the man makes them a constant torment for society, leaving us to clamor for the next great man to build an alter for and then sulk in defeat when we continue to find out he’s as imperfect as the rest of us.
Watching people flock to the monuments shows how desperately our society is striving for worship. Unfortunately, we settle for mere mortals.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
DC Diaries
The last four and a half months has been the most unique time of my life. I spent my last semester in college living in a giant row house with 15 “strangers” a block away from the Supreme Court and literally in the shadow of our Nation’s Capital. I left DC on Monday, and have been reflecting a lot on what that time has meant in my life, how it has already changed me in some ways, and how it will continue to shape my life from here on out. If DC has taught me anything, it’s that reflections are best experienced in conversation with others, so that’s exactly what I plan to do. Over the next few weeks, I hope to share a few vignettes of my experience, revealing more questions I have in lieu of my time in DC rather than answers. Here’s a preview of some of the topics I’ve been dwelling/dreaming about and hope to invite anyone else into:
The Idolatry of our Fathers: What does a city filled with monuments for dead guys say about our culture?
City of Power: It is commonly said what money is to New York, and looks are to LA, power is to DC. You don’t have to live in DC long to realize people don’t come here for good looks, nor to make money. So why does this notion of power (often times disguised as wanting to “make a difference”) draw so many to the nation’s capital?
Men Without Chests: Many will agree that our society’s desire for materialism and comfort in part got us into this financial mess. Our head sees the flaw that our appetite desires yet we refuse to go through the heart to fix it, why?
Somewhere in the Middle: Can a moderate/centrist have an impact in DC without having to choose a side?
“16 Strangers, picked to live in a house…”: How living with 15 other people redefined my notion of community.
Look for the first post to come in the next day or so.
The Idolatry of our Fathers: What does a city filled with monuments for dead guys say about our culture?
City of Power: It is commonly said what money is to New York, and looks are to LA, power is to DC. You don’t have to live in DC long to realize people don’t come here for good looks, nor to make money. So why does this notion of power (often times disguised as wanting to “make a difference”) draw so many to the nation’s capital?
Men Without Chests: Many will agree that our society’s desire for materialism and comfort in part got us into this financial mess. Our head sees the flaw that our appetite desires yet we refuse to go through the heart to fix it, why?
Somewhere in the Middle: Can a moderate/centrist have an impact in DC without having to choose a side?
“16 Strangers, picked to live in a house…”: How living with 15 other people redefined my notion of community.
Look for the first post to come in the next day or so.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
A DC Day in the Life
It's officially my half-way point in DC. And I have done a terrible job of blogging. To compensate for this failed attempt at blogging regularly for friends and family, I'm trying to redeem myself for the second half of my stay in DC. Starting...now.
I thought I'd start by giving everyone a little "day in the life of" my DC experience. The days here, like most places in a fast-paced city, are far too short. It really does feel like a time warp to realize my time is already half-up. So here's a little taste of what my typical days look like:
-Wake up by 6:00am and leave by 6:45. Being in a house with 16 people, I find this time of day incredibly peaceful because I'm usually the first one up, and typically out the door before the majority of my house is awake yet.
-Commute to work- 45 minutes...usually get to office by 7:30. Our offices are in Arlington, near the Pentagon so it's a longer commute than most. I also usually stop for Dunkin Donuts coffee too...it has fast become my favorite.
-From 8:30-9am in our office is "Stillness" time. It truly is a peaceful start to the day...the calm before the storm where we all prepare ourselves spiritually for the day. I really praise Jesus for this.
-11am is staff prayer everyday. Also something I praise Jesus for. I will eventually write a blog about all these things because it has truly influenced me in more ways than I could have ever imagined.
-On Mondays and Wednesdays I leave the office by about 4/4:30 to make it to class at the Archer Center. Class typically runs until about 8/8:30 on those nights, making for pretty long days.
-Weekends are a mix of things...this past weekend I took a day trip with some friends to Baltimore. One weekend a month we have Dr. Daly's class. Other times we'll have things for Dr. Swerdlow's class. The rest are really free and up to us. I usually like to spend my Saturday's at Eastern Market...which is one of the most fabulous parts of living in a city. I also like to go for runs around the Main Mall. Every time I make it to the stairs in front of the Lincoln Memorial (my half-way point), I just stop and look out on the mall...it never gets old. I'm hoping to do a much better job of exploring museums this last half of my stay, particularly the National Portrait and Art Galleries.
That pretty much sums up my daily "schedule." It is quite the busy city and I think people in DC really have a hard time with the concept of "rest." One of our class guest speakers was telling us a story about a Catholic nun he met on a bus one time. As they were talking, she would mention at every person she saw running past "look at all these people running...look at all these people running." He finally stopped and asked her why she kept saying that, and she said she always noticed how many people exercise their bodies in this city, but wondered how often they exercised their souls. Looking over my own daily schedule, it is incredible how lost we get in the business of life...the materialism of time. Grateful for the ways in which I do get to exercise my soul here amidst the clutter...and that is for another post :).
I thought I'd start by giving everyone a little "day in the life of" my DC experience. The days here, like most places in a fast-paced city, are far too short. It really does feel like a time warp to realize my time is already half-up. So here's a little taste of what my typical days look like:
-Wake up by 6:00am and leave by 6:45. Being in a house with 16 people, I find this time of day incredibly peaceful because I'm usually the first one up, and typically out the door before the majority of my house is awake yet.
-Commute to work- 45 minutes...usually get to office by 7:30. Our offices are in Arlington, near the Pentagon so it's a longer commute than most. I also usually stop for Dunkin Donuts coffee too...it has fast become my favorite.
-From 8:30-9am in our office is "Stillness" time. It truly is a peaceful start to the day...the calm before the storm where we all prepare ourselves spiritually for the day. I really praise Jesus for this.
-11am is staff prayer everyday. Also something I praise Jesus for. I will eventually write a blog about all these things because it has truly influenced me in more ways than I could have ever imagined.
-On Mondays and Wednesdays I leave the office by about 4/4:30 to make it to class at the Archer Center. Class typically runs until about 8/8:30 on those nights, making for pretty long days.
-Weekends are a mix of things...this past weekend I took a day trip with some friends to Baltimore. One weekend a month we have Dr. Daly's class. Other times we'll have things for Dr. Swerdlow's class. The rest are really free and up to us. I usually like to spend my Saturday's at Eastern Market...which is one of the most fabulous parts of living in a city. I also like to go for runs around the Main Mall. Every time I make it to the stairs in front of the Lincoln Memorial (my half-way point), I just stop and look out on the mall...it never gets old. I'm hoping to do a much better job of exploring museums this last half of my stay, particularly the National Portrait and Art Galleries.
That pretty much sums up my daily "schedule." It is quite the busy city and I think people in DC really have a hard time with the concept of "rest." One of our class guest speakers was telling us a story about a Catholic nun he met on a bus one time. As they were talking, she would mention at every person she saw running past "look at all these people running...look at all these people running." He finally stopped and asked her why she kept saying that, and she said she always noticed how many people exercise their bodies in this city, but wondered how often they exercised their souls. Looking over my own daily schedule, it is incredible how lost we get in the business of life...the materialism of time. Grateful for the ways in which I do get to exercise my soul here amidst the clutter...and that is for another post :).
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Theology of Snow Days
If you haven't heard, DC has been under a "snowpocalypse" since last Friday. In about 24 hours we got over 2 feet of snow (close to, if not surpassing the record). It literally shut down the entire city through the weekend and into the work week. I awoke to a blanket of white outside our home on Saturday morning, with people skiing past my front door to get around. Mind you I live next to the Supreme Court. As I write this on Monday night, four days after the snow first hit, the Federal Government has closed their offices for the second day in a row. Everyday that the Fed has to close is estimated to cost $100 million. Expensive "grown-up snow days" as I like to call them.
What has struck me most about these past few days is the reminder they serve to the feebleness of man. One of the women in my office used to work for the OPM office that decides on the Fed's office closings. It is no doubt a big decision to take on, especially with that price tag. She sent us a verse out of Job that they would be reminded of as they debated whether to close or not. I think it speaks for itself:
Job 37
1 "At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4 After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
5 God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,'
and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'
7 So that all men he has made may know his work,
he stops every man from his labor.
DC is a power-driven town. They say what money is to New York, and looks are to LA, power is to DC. Even one of the most powerful cities in the world cannot withstand the power of nature. With all of the technology, progress, and influence this town exerts, it was stopped by a more powerful hand, one that turns Capital Hill into a playground for children and adults for a few days rather than the political powerhouse it is known as. But even the "wind and the waves" obeyed Christ. Now that is something to dwell on in when you're sitting in a house with two-feet of snow piled up in front of your door.
As I walked around the Capital building on Saturday afternoon when the snow finally let up, I felt as though I was living in a dream world, or the set of some expensive post-apocalyptic movie where the Capital is reverted to a place for children, not grown men and women. The snow storm also had this way of fostering community in this normally recluse city. The streets were no longer normal streets for two days, but rather one big snow route where feet actually ruled over tires. People were out all over the place joining in snow fights, offering a hand to shovel sidewalks, offering up one another's sleds so people could have a chance to "play" too. It was beautiful. Something transformed in this city for two days, and it all happened when the most type-A population of people were reminded to sit down for a bit. I smile just thinking about it.
"I fancy the beauties of nature are a secret God has shared with us alone. That may be one of the reasons why we were made- and why the resurrection of the body is an important doctrine." - C.S. Lewis
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
What I'm Reading for Washington, D.C.
Part of the Archer Fellows Program I’ll be doing in DC (starting next Tuesday the 5th!) is the classes that we take over the course of the semester. I’ll still be considered a full time student at UT and work a full-time internship with IJM. The Archer Fellows Program consists of 4 classes, one of which is technically my internship. We’ll have class two nights a week from professors that have worked in DC for many years, and then Dr. John Daly will fly in from UT-Austin three weekends over the course of the semester to teach our final class. I’ve had to do some pre-reading for my classes, and have given myself a “personal” reading list to supplement those as well. Here’s what I’ve been reading the last few weeks to prepare:
For my internship at International Justice Mission:
-“Good News About Injustice” by Gary Haugen, IJM founder
Advocacy in Applied Settings – Dr. John Daly
-“The Prince” by Machiavelli
-“Life’s a Campaign” by Chris Matthews
Beyond Congress and the White House – Dr. Joel Swerdlow
-“Being There” by Jerzy Kosinski
- watch “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”
Policy Making Process – Dr. Julie Donnelly
-Two articles: “Four Amendments & a Funeral” by Matt Taibbi and “What I Wish Political Scientists Would Teach about Congress” by Lee Hamilton
My “personal” reading list for DC:
- “The Reason for God” by Tim Keller
- “The Abolition of Man” by C.S. Lewis
-“Counterfit Gods” by Tim Keller
-“Bobos in Paradise” by David Books
- Most of the articles David Brooks cited in his “Sydney” awards
The books I had to read for class are all pretty interesting. I disagree with just about every premise from “The Prince,” as it is essentially the antithesis of Tim Keller’s “Counterfeit Gods.” I finally finished “Reason for God,” and really enjoyed it. If you can’t tell, I’m a big Keller fan, and going into an intense intellectual environment for the next few years (DC and then TFA), it was refreshing to hear such a strong academic engagement about faith. I haven’t finished “The Abolition of Man,” but chose it because it’s meant to argue for the importance and relevance of universal values in contemporary society. My time in Quincy has been a perfect break to be able to accomplish all of this, as Middle America doesn’t provide many physical “distractions” to waste my time on. I’m really looking forward to pulling in some of my personal readings into our class discussions over the required readings, I think they compliment (probably more like counteract) popular thought well. The nerd in me is giddy to start discussing these issues with my peers, who also happen to be my housemates for the next five months.
If you have any suggestions for readings that might compliment these, feel free to shoot them my way!
For my internship at International Justice Mission:
-“Good News About Injustice” by Gary Haugen, IJM founder
Advocacy in Applied Settings – Dr. John Daly
-“The Prince” by Machiavelli
-“Life’s a Campaign” by Chris Matthews
Beyond Congress and the White House – Dr. Joel Swerdlow
-“Being There” by Jerzy Kosinski
- watch “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”
Policy Making Process – Dr. Julie Donnelly
-Two articles: “Four Amendments & a Funeral” by Matt Taibbi and “What I Wish Political Scientists Would Teach about Congress” by Lee Hamilton
My “personal” reading list for DC:
- “The Reason for God” by Tim Keller
- “The Abolition of Man” by C.S. Lewis
-“Counterfit Gods” by Tim Keller
-“Bobos in Paradise” by David Books
- Most of the articles David Brooks cited in his “Sydney” awards
The books I had to read for class are all pretty interesting. I disagree with just about every premise from “The Prince,” as it is essentially the antithesis of Tim Keller’s “Counterfeit Gods.” I finally finished “Reason for God,” and really enjoyed it. If you can’t tell, I’m a big Keller fan, and going into an intense intellectual environment for the next few years (DC and then TFA), it was refreshing to hear such a strong academic engagement about faith. I haven’t finished “The Abolition of Man,” but chose it because it’s meant to argue for the importance and relevance of universal values in contemporary society. My time in Quincy has been a perfect break to be able to accomplish all of this, as Middle America doesn’t provide many physical “distractions” to waste my time on. I’m really looking forward to pulling in some of my personal readings into our class discussions over the required readings, I think they compliment (probably more like counteract) popular thought well. The nerd in me is giddy to start discussing these issues with my peers, who also happen to be my housemates for the next five months.
If you have any suggestions for readings that might compliment these, feel free to shoot them my way!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Lessons in Leaving Part II: Coming Full Circle
My last semester in Austin was by far the best one. It was a season of rest, a season of healing, a season of celebration, and all around a season of delight for me. Most of all, it was a season to come full circle.
I say full circle because I had a lot to learn in my short time in Austin over the last four years. I came into UT with one foot in the world, and one foot trying to figure out this “faith” thing. My freshmen year is nothing short of a bad reality TV show for me to look back on, as I think most of ours tend to be. Then there was the spring semester where my world got rocked by Jesus, the book of Acts, and Shane Claiborne. Sophomore year was definitely my “feisty” phase, where I felt like I had brought back to Austin some spiritual golden ticket. I laugh when I look back on that time, how blunt I was in trying to talk to anyone who would listen to me about this idea of putting college students in East Austin. I laugh because I don’t like being that forthcoming about anything, but somehow I was talking off anyone’s ear that would lend it to me. What I had in that time, and for pretty much the next two years, was a lot of passion, vigor, and fight…but not a foundation. I always tell people I’m not sure how I got hired by the Austin Stone my sophomore year because I still didn’t like “mega” churches at the time, nor did I ever care to pick up a theology book. I was just flat out immature, and thought because I knew all the newest Christian lingo, I never really needed the gospel.
See that’s where this circle started coming around, but it was rough in the middle. I put way too much on my plate for two years. I wouldn’t let anyone help me for two years. I wanted to do things my way for two years. I only took seriously the parts of scripture that I wanted to hear. And yet God still granted me worthy to save me from myself. One night at an intern dinner this past fall, Stew made this statement about our time as interns that pretty much summed up my sanctification over the last two years. He said that the way God molds leaders at our age is never a matter of what he does through us, that is rare, and it will take 10-15 years before most of us get to see much fruit in ministry. But what He does do in this time, and what is most important, is what He does IN us. God is a carpenter, and rather than see us for the big block of wood that we are in the stupidity of our youth and flesh, he sees us exactly the way he made us. And to get to that piece of perfection, he just starts hammering away, sanding down our rough edges and stripping away everything that is keeping us from being the way he intended for us to be. Last spring was complete hell for me. I was absolutely miserable in just about every area of my life. And God brought me physically down with a medical condition all semester just to show me how much he cared about me. It may sound silly, but I truly believe that entire ordeal, going to a doctor everyday for three months, was purely a physical manifestation of my spiritual condition. I was bitter, I was frustrated, I was angry…and I was finding every outlet, person, and thing to attribute those feelings to. Everything but my own flesh, which was where the problem lay.
God healed me of that illness right before I left to study abroad in Ghana. He did it by opening up the wound in my body all the way, so that all the fluid building up would come out whole…”my sin not in part, but in whole.” I went to Ghana for four weeks, fell in love with Jesus all over again, and then spent two weeks traveling around Europe by myself (who ever let me do that?!?) to just enjoy Jesus. I came back to Austin as myself, and everyone around me noticed. It carried into this fall as I got to spend a semester truly enjoying the gospel, enjoying community, enjoying my time at Stone, enjoying the simplicities in life. All of the frustrations I had vented about for most of college seemed to just dissipate this semester. The things that felt like thorns in my side became small joys to me. I learned that compassion is not reserved for the “least of these,” it is meant for everyone, rich and poor, young and old, seen and unseen. I learned I pass judgment on a lot of people, and none of it is holy. I learned that rest is not laziness, it is a gracious gift from the Lord. I learned that busyness just another form of materialism. I learned that sometimes, you just have to turn on Beyonce and dance in the living room with your roommates…
Most of all in this season, I learned how the gospel is what brings things full circle. The passion and fight I had when I was a reckless 19-year old trying to “change the world” is still very much alive in me. But I realize that the end I was seeking the entire time was not a radical lifestyle, it was the gospel, and that is about as radical as it gets in this world. What I learned in coming full circle is what C.S. Lewis calls the “intolerable compliment” that
“We are bidden to "put on Christ," to become like God. That is, whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little.”
I cannot express the gratitude I have in my heart for this last semester in Austin. Why God allowed me to heal wounds only I had made for myself, I can only describe as a love for his daughter that is too much for me to understand.
I say full circle because I had a lot to learn in my short time in Austin over the last four years. I came into UT with one foot in the world, and one foot trying to figure out this “faith” thing. My freshmen year is nothing short of a bad reality TV show for me to look back on, as I think most of ours tend to be. Then there was the spring semester where my world got rocked by Jesus, the book of Acts, and Shane Claiborne. Sophomore year was definitely my “feisty” phase, where I felt like I had brought back to Austin some spiritual golden ticket. I laugh when I look back on that time, how blunt I was in trying to talk to anyone who would listen to me about this idea of putting college students in East Austin. I laugh because I don’t like being that forthcoming about anything, but somehow I was talking off anyone’s ear that would lend it to me. What I had in that time, and for pretty much the next two years, was a lot of passion, vigor, and fight…but not a foundation. I always tell people I’m not sure how I got hired by the Austin Stone my sophomore year because I still didn’t like “mega” churches at the time, nor did I ever care to pick up a theology book. I was just flat out immature, and thought because I knew all the newest Christian lingo, I never really needed the gospel.
See that’s where this circle started coming around, but it was rough in the middle. I put way too much on my plate for two years. I wouldn’t let anyone help me for two years. I wanted to do things my way for two years. I only took seriously the parts of scripture that I wanted to hear. And yet God still granted me worthy to save me from myself. One night at an intern dinner this past fall, Stew made this statement about our time as interns that pretty much summed up my sanctification over the last two years. He said that the way God molds leaders at our age is never a matter of what he does through us, that is rare, and it will take 10-15 years before most of us get to see much fruit in ministry. But what He does do in this time, and what is most important, is what He does IN us. God is a carpenter, and rather than see us for the big block of wood that we are in the stupidity of our youth and flesh, he sees us exactly the way he made us. And to get to that piece of perfection, he just starts hammering away, sanding down our rough edges and stripping away everything that is keeping us from being the way he intended for us to be. Last spring was complete hell for me. I was absolutely miserable in just about every area of my life. And God brought me physically down with a medical condition all semester just to show me how much he cared about me. It may sound silly, but I truly believe that entire ordeal, going to a doctor everyday for three months, was purely a physical manifestation of my spiritual condition. I was bitter, I was frustrated, I was angry…and I was finding every outlet, person, and thing to attribute those feelings to. Everything but my own flesh, which was where the problem lay.
God healed me of that illness right before I left to study abroad in Ghana. He did it by opening up the wound in my body all the way, so that all the fluid building up would come out whole…”my sin not in part, but in whole.” I went to Ghana for four weeks, fell in love with Jesus all over again, and then spent two weeks traveling around Europe by myself (who ever let me do that?!?) to just enjoy Jesus. I came back to Austin as myself, and everyone around me noticed. It carried into this fall as I got to spend a semester truly enjoying the gospel, enjoying community, enjoying my time at Stone, enjoying the simplicities in life. All of the frustrations I had vented about for most of college seemed to just dissipate this semester. The things that felt like thorns in my side became small joys to me. I learned that compassion is not reserved for the “least of these,” it is meant for everyone, rich and poor, young and old, seen and unseen. I learned I pass judgment on a lot of people, and none of it is holy. I learned that rest is not laziness, it is a gracious gift from the Lord. I learned that busyness just another form of materialism. I learned that sometimes, you just have to turn on Beyonce and dance in the living room with your roommates…
Most of all in this season, I learned how the gospel is what brings things full circle. The passion and fight I had when I was a reckless 19-year old trying to “change the world” is still very much alive in me. But I realize that the end I was seeking the entire time was not a radical lifestyle, it was the gospel, and that is about as radical as it gets in this world. What I learned in coming full circle is what C.S. Lewis calls the “intolerable compliment” that
“We are bidden to "put on Christ," to become like God. That is, whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little.”
I cannot express the gratitude I have in my heart for this last semester in Austin. Why God allowed me to heal wounds only I had made for myself, I can only describe as a love for his daughter that is too much for me to understand.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Lessons in Leaving Part I: The Places I'll Miss Most
It’s officially happened, I can no longer call Austin, TX “home.” This past Saturday my parents packed me up and moved me up to their house in Quincy, IL for the next three weeks. I’ll fly to Washington, DC on January 5th, but until then I’m stuck in the epitome of “Middle America.” The final week in Austin was bittersweet; actually, the entire fall semester was bittersweet. It was a week filled with many memories, laughs, good food, good friends, and goodbyes. By the time my going away party at the Stewart’s came on Friday night, I was almost too exhausted from having to say “goodbye” all week. The night was beautiful though, and I'll go into more detail on that in another post.
Although I may never be able to call Austin my physical “home” again, it will forever be where my “family” resides. I’ve lived a lot of places in my life, moving throughout the Midwest my entire childhood, but no place has treated me quite like Austin, TX. Here are a few parts of the city I will miss most:
-Driving down I-35 (as long as there isn’t any traffic!) and seeing the skyline, particularly the UT Tower
-Hearing ice cream trucks drive by my house in St. John’s late at night, and even in cold weather
-Running at Town Lake
-Hyde Park eateries (particularly Quack’s Bakery and Dolce Vita)
-Whole Foods
-The UT campus
-“Treasure hunting” at all the Goodwills around town
-Half Price Books
-The Gingerman (more for the people I shared a drink with there)
There are, of course, many people I will miss way more than these landmarks. But that is for another entry. If you’re reading this and still in Austin, please enjoy a few of these places for me. I know I’ll find my favorite spots in DC, and even Mississippi, but for now, these are the places I’ll daydream about when I want to feel “home” again…
Although I may never be able to call Austin my physical “home” again, it will forever be where my “family” resides. I’ve lived a lot of places in my life, moving throughout the Midwest my entire childhood, but no place has treated me quite like Austin, TX. Here are a few parts of the city I will miss most:
-Driving down I-35 (as long as there isn’t any traffic!) and seeing the skyline, particularly the UT Tower
-Hearing ice cream trucks drive by my house in St. John’s late at night, and even in cold weather
-Running at Town Lake
-Hyde Park eateries (particularly Quack’s Bakery and Dolce Vita)
-Whole Foods
-The UT campus
-“Treasure hunting” at all the Goodwills around town
-Half Price Books
-The Gingerman (more for the people I shared a drink with there)
There are, of course, many people I will miss way more than these landmarks. But that is for another entry. If you’re reading this and still in Austin, please enjoy a few of these places for me. I know I’ll find my favorite spots in DC, and even Mississippi, but for now, these are the places I’ll daydream about when I want to feel “home” again…
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Provision for my Sudanese Brother
*As you read this, please prayerfully consider providing for this request on behalf of my Sudanese brother Joshua
The day after Thanksgiving, I received an urgent email from my Colleen who is serving as a missionary in Nagishot. William and Eunice's son Joshua, who lives with them on the compound and suffers from Epilepsy and Schizophrenic episodes, had an accident the day after Thanksgiving and accidentally drank battery acid that was lying around the compound. He immediately threw it up, burning this mouth and throat. Eunice treated him immediately, having him drink lots of milk, water, and eggs throughout the day. You can assume how dangerous this is, and as Joshua began to urinate the acid out, it literally burned holes through his underwear and pants.
As Colleen corresponded with a doctor in the states about the incident, he told her to seek serious medical attention for Joshua as soon as possible, seeing as his chance of surviving this in the states would be low, much less in a remote African village. For weeks we have prayed for sweet Joshua, and the Lord has provided along the way. I can now report that Joshua is recovering at a hospital in Kampala, surrounded by his family and in good hands medically. We are still waiting to hear back from the test results that will determine what long term damage Joshua has suffered from this. We at least know from an X-Ray that there appears to be a hole in his stomach from the acid.
Many have joined us in prayer for Joshua, William, Eunice, and their entire family. Joshua brings a smile to my face every time I think of him. Since the first time I met him he has reminded me of Boo Radley from "To Kill a Mockingbird," my favorite book. He is a gentle giant, and a gift from God. His spirit is so in tuned with that land, and William and Eunice believe this is why God has chosen to use his illnesses in the way he has, because it brings much reliance on HIM and glory to HIS name. The Laku's are relying on God's provision again in this, as they wonder how they will cover the medical expenses. The Laku's are missionaries in Nagishot. Even though they are both Sudanese, they gave up wealth and much prosperity to answer God's call to the Didinga, an unreached people group. I am so passionate that it is in these times when we are HONORED and PRIVILEGED to serve such heroes of the faith with our finances. Truly, truly, I know no two people in this world whom I believe in the mission of God more because of the example they set. Below is information on how you can donate to Joshua's medical fund. Every little bit counts. Even giving up the price of a Starbuck's for today would help tremendously. Even though I don't know the total needed yet to cover the costs, I can at least tell you that the plane ride out of Nagishot was $1200, and this needs to be covered ASAP. Please join me in providing for our family in Christ:
For online giving:
https://my.efca.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=359
Designation: Sudan Field Ministries #22059-011
Tribute information: NAME: Joshua Laku; DESCRIPTION: Medical fund for Joshua Laku
To mail a check:
Make checks out to EFCA Reach Global
Please put project # 22059-011 in the memo line
Mail to:
EFCA Reach Global
901 East 78th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55420
The day after Thanksgiving, I received an urgent email from my Colleen who is serving as a missionary in Nagishot. William and Eunice's son Joshua, who lives with them on the compound and suffers from Epilepsy and Schizophrenic episodes, had an accident the day after Thanksgiving and accidentally drank battery acid that was lying around the compound. He immediately threw it up, burning this mouth and throat. Eunice treated him immediately, having him drink lots of milk, water, and eggs throughout the day. You can assume how dangerous this is, and as Joshua began to urinate the acid out, it literally burned holes through his underwear and pants.
As Colleen corresponded with a doctor in the states about the incident, he told her to seek serious medical attention for Joshua as soon as possible, seeing as his chance of surviving this in the states would be low, much less in a remote African village. For weeks we have prayed for sweet Joshua, and the Lord has provided along the way. I can now report that Joshua is recovering at a hospital in Kampala, surrounded by his family and in good hands medically. We are still waiting to hear back from the test results that will determine what long term damage Joshua has suffered from this. We at least know from an X-Ray that there appears to be a hole in his stomach from the acid.
Many have joined us in prayer for Joshua, William, Eunice, and their entire family. Joshua brings a smile to my face every time I think of him. Since the first time I met him he has reminded me of Boo Radley from "To Kill a Mockingbird," my favorite book. He is a gentle giant, and a gift from God. His spirit is so in tuned with that land, and William and Eunice believe this is why God has chosen to use his illnesses in the way he has, because it brings much reliance on HIM and glory to HIS name. The Laku's are relying on God's provision again in this, as they wonder how they will cover the medical expenses. The Laku's are missionaries in Nagishot. Even though they are both Sudanese, they gave up wealth and much prosperity to answer God's call to the Didinga, an unreached people group. I am so passionate that it is in these times when we are HONORED and PRIVILEGED to serve such heroes of the faith with our finances. Truly, truly, I know no two people in this world whom I believe in the mission of God more because of the example they set. Below is information on how you can donate to Joshua's medical fund. Every little bit counts. Even giving up the price of a Starbuck's for today would help tremendously. Even though I don't know the total needed yet to cover the costs, I can at least tell you that the plane ride out of Nagishot was $1200, and this needs to be covered ASAP. Please join me in providing for our family in Christ:
For online giving:
https://my.efca.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=359
Designation: Sudan Field Ministries #22059-011
Tribute information: NAME: Joshua Laku; DESCRIPTION: Medical fund for Joshua Laku
To mail a check:
Make checks out to EFCA Reach Global
Please put project # 22059-011 in the memo line
Mail to:
EFCA Reach Global
901 East 78th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55420
Thursday, November 26, 2009
An Update on Life
A lot has happened in life since I last posted here. I'm currently about two weeks away from moving out of Austin indefinitely, and here's a little preview of where life's journey is taking me...
Archer Fellows Program- Washington, DC
Last spring, I was accepted into the Archer Fellows Program through The University of Texas at Austin. As part of Archer Fellows (http://www.archercenter.org/programs/archer_fellow.html), I will live and work in DC with about twenty other UT students from various schools in the UT system. We will all have full time internships at an organization of our choosing, and then be enrolled as full time students at UT while we live there. The Archer Program is an incredible opportunity to live and work in the nation's capital. I will work full-time in an internship (more info on that below), and then have classes on Monday and Wednesday nights with the other Fellows. Additionally, the program provides various opportunities for us to explore the city, democracy, and all that DC has to offer. Although I will only be in DC from January 5th-April 23rd, I consider it my version of moving to "the big city." Having never been drawn to the bright lights of LA or NYC, DC is the equivalent of those "bright lights" for nerds like me.
International Justice Mission - Government Relations Intern
I applied to a couple places that focused on international development issues, but when the offer came up to work as the Government Relations Intern with International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org), I couldn't pass it up. I consider this position with IJM to be my dream job, seriously, and I am completely humbled and excited by the opportunity. IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems. I will serve as the Government Relations Intern, where my main responsibilities will include: insisting in the planning and implementation of the Justice Advocacy Campaigns; researching current and past legislation related to IJM's casework; researching substantive issues in the areas of US trade relations, foreign aid, HIV/AIDS, women's rights, slavery and trafficking; and more. I truly feel that the experience at IJM will be an invaluable asset to my career, and I am honored to work for such an outstanding organization that fights for justice on a daily basis.
Teach For America - Mississippi Delta
After the Archer Program is over, I will have about 7 weeks before I start the next chapter of my life- teaching in the Mississippi Delta as part of Teach For America. I will graduate on May 22nd, and then head off to Institute training for TFA on June 13th. TFA is like the Peace Corps for domestic education. Here's a small description of their mission:
"Our mission is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort. We recruit outstanding recent college graduates from all backgrounds and career interests to commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools. We provide the training and ongoing support necessary to ensure their success as teachers in low-income communities." www.teachforamerica.org
The issue of education inequity is one that has become near and dear to my heart the last three years. I am excited to take on the challenge (and it will be a BIG challenge) of teaching in the Mississippi Delta, and even more thrilled to join the movement of young leader's that TFA is building to give all of our nation's children an equal education.
Bittersweet
That is the best word to describe how I'm feeling about all that God has placed in front of me for the next three years. Austin has become my home, more than any other place I've lived, and I will look back in the rear view mirror with tears of joy in my eyes as I drive up I-35 in two weeks. More on this "bittersweet" journey to come soon...
Archer Fellows Program- Washington, DC
Last spring, I was accepted into the Archer Fellows Program through The University of Texas at Austin. As part of Archer Fellows (http://www.archercenter.org/programs/archer_fellow.html), I will live and work in DC with about twenty other UT students from various schools in the UT system. We will all have full time internships at an organization of our choosing, and then be enrolled as full time students at UT while we live there. The Archer Program is an incredible opportunity to live and work in the nation's capital. I will work full-time in an internship (more info on that below), and then have classes on Monday and Wednesday nights with the other Fellows. Additionally, the program provides various opportunities for us to explore the city, democracy, and all that DC has to offer. Although I will only be in DC from January 5th-April 23rd, I consider it my version of moving to "the big city." Having never been drawn to the bright lights of LA or NYC, DC is the equivalent of those "bright lights" for nerds like me.
International Justice Mission - Government Relations Intern
I applied to a couple places that focused on international development issues, but when the offer came up to work as the Government Relations Intern with International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org), I couldn't pass it up. I consider this position with IJM to be my dream job, seriously, and I am completely humbled and excited by the opportunity. IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems. I will serve as the Government Relations Intern, where my main responsibilities will include: insisting in the planning and implementation of the Justice Advocacy Campaigns; researching current and past legislation related to IJM's casework; researching substantive issues in the areas of US trade relations, foreign aid, HIV/AIDS, women's rights, slavery and trafficking; and more. I truly feel that the experience at IJM will be an invaluable asset to my career, and I am honored to work for such an outstanding organization that fights for justice on a daily basis.
Teach For America - Mississippi Delta
After the Archer Program is over, I will have about 7 weeks before I start the next chapter of my life- teaching in the Mississippi Delta as part of Teach For America. I will graduate on May 22nd, and then head off to Institute training for TFA on June 13th. TFA is like the Peace Corps for domestic education. Here's a small description of their mission:
"Our mission is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort. We recruit outstanding recent college graduates from all backgrounds and career interests to commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools. We provide the training and ongoing support necessary to ensure their success as teachers in low-income communities." www.teachforamerica.org
The issue of education inequity is one that has become near and dear to my heart the last three years. I am excited to take on the challenge (and it will be a BIG challenge) of teaching in the Mississippi Delta, and even more thrilled to join the movement of young leader's that TFA is building to give all of our nation's children an equal education.
Bittersweet
That is the best word to describe how I'm feeling about all that God has placed in front of me for the next three years. Austin has become my home, more than any other place I've lived, and I will look back in the rear view mirror with tears of joy in my eyes as I drive up I-35 in two weeks. More on this "bittersweet" journey to come soon...
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Gosepl and Race
It’s hard to believe I’ve been in Ghana for almost a week now, time is flying by so fast. Things have begun to lighten up in some ways, allowing us to stretch our wings more and begin to explore Ghana in our own ways. I’ve had a pretty intense couple of last days, with a lot of emotions and processing. I’m a big fan of these times, even when they suck to go through. We had an event as an entire group two nights ago that really shook me in a lot of ways, and has put a lot of thoughts and feelings into my head, both good and bad.
On Saturday, we spent the morning as a group going through the museums. One in particular had a portion devoted to the slave trade, and it brought up some heavy emotions for people, especially as we get ready to head to the Gold Coast on Wednesday. The rest of the day, we were allowed to either go to Tema, which is the town that our student liaison Kwame is from, or head to the market with Dr. Aggrey. Most students chose to go to Tema, and a few of us stayed behind to do a little shopping. The markets were quite an experience, and while I had been through similar ones in Nairobi, I was quickly reminded how well you need to have your stuff together before you head in there. With people pulling you all over the place, it gets difficult to make decisions on things or even turn down a “good” deal. I ended up making it out alive, with only one or two things I kind of regretted later. Dinner was on our own, so after resting a few of us headed to the small restaurant next to our hostel. We stayed there until about 10pm and then headed back to Catters. On the road back, Rian got a call from Dr. Aggrey that we were having a mandatory meeting in 30 minutes because of some things that took place in Tema. No one was quite sure what was going on, but we all braced up for the meeting.
The next three hours would become one of the most emotionally intense nights of my life. While in Tema, the students got to attend part of a funeral and then ended up playing with some local school children. The Tema area has some extreme poverty parts in it, and the reality of children filled with joy, playing with you in the midst of trash, was too hard for a few students to take. While those few students were more distraught, the rest had an amazing time and loved the area. The result of the conflicting sides led to some feeling as if some intentions of people here were ill-mannered, or more ignorant because they weren’t as emotional over the situation. Some people had taken comments they overheard on the bus afterwards out of proportion on top of already being in a sensitive emotional state. The result was strong feelings that lead to an even more intense discussion between our group. Dr. Aggrey called this a “catalyst” for a greater discussion we had to have about race. The discussion quickly became heated, and became more of a black/white argument than an expression of differing emotional states. It was almost as if you had white students on one side and black students on the other. On top of that, people never handle themselves well with these things, and everyone feels as if they have to be a smart ass when they have a chance to speak; only fueling the fire in many regards. So many people jumped to conclusions, and made very volatile remarks towards bits and pieces of things they had overheard at one time or another throughout the trip.
I sat there pretty paralyzed by what was going on. I don’t consider myself ignorant to the reality of racial divisions in this world, and particularly in our own American culture. But I also believe in a God that not only created every race out of His divine creativity, but is SO much bigger than any racial division that broken men and women take part in. There were times in the discussion when it was more about socioeconomic statuses than race, and other times more about maturity and life stage. Yet people always let the fire kindle too long, until it has started to burn out of control. Dr. Aggrey also told us during this time that we were going to be split up by race during the first visit to the slave castles. This only opened up a whole new can of worms. Many white students felt that was counter-productive, and if we couldn’t handle the past together we would never be able to learn from it. There were also some African American students who felt strongly about going through it separately. So we had two sides, both feeling as if the only way to go forward was to step with their foot first instead of their neighbors. The decision was already made by our professors, but nonetheless students were extremely upset on both sides.
For three hours I sat literally dead in the middle of everything, the only thing I could do was put my head in my knees and pray for Jesus’ peace to come to our group, for it is the ONLY thing that can unite our broken group. It may be one of the clearest times in my life when I realized just how powerful the truth of the cross is. By the end of the discussion, emotions had been able to calm down some, while some were still left confused in many areas. I was emotionally drained by how broken our humanity is. I’ve seen absolute poverty, severe sexual immorality, and many other physical signs of brokenness, but the racial tension I sat through for three hours almost topped them all. It’s such a thick amount of spiritual warfare, so deep rooted and so hurtful. For the next two days after that I even began questioning my place being here because of the color of my skin. I let myself start thinking those lies rather than the TRUTH that is we are all from the same soil, and we all belong here. I’ve thought about William and Eunice in Sudan often, how much they’ve welcomed me as a daughter in Nagishot. That is truth, which is the spirit of Jesus that transcends all things, the ultimate healer of brokenness. We are untied as brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of a MIGHTY KING. Many of the “chochos” here (public transport vans that are packed with people all the time) usually have a Christian message written across the back window. While we were driving today with my group around the area we’ll be working with next week, one of the guys asked Ken, our Ghanaian guide, what “Yesu Mogya” meant, and he replied “Jesus’ Blood.” I about flipped out in the back. Jesus’ blood has been so heavy on me this past week, and the significance it stands for in this place, to heal what has been so devastatingly broken by colonialism and slavery, and what is the only answer to continue to heal the repercussions of that.
I’ve learned so much my first week here. I can only imagine where I will be in three more weeks. Cape Coast is coming up on Wednesday, and I’m trying to prepare myself for the emotional toll that will take. It’s going to be devastating for me to see churches built by colonialists on the same compounds as the slave castles, literally right next to each other. I know it will bring about many hard conversations, but also many inroads to the gospel. I’m quickly learning how un-gifted I am at sharing the gospel, while at the same time experiencing a burden for it like never before. The overwhelming response and support of prayers and encouragement from friends back home has been incredible, and literally given me peace and boldness every morning. As I prepare my heart and pray over our time to the Cape Coast this week, those prayers and words mean so much to me. I know I’m about to embark on one of the most emotionally devastating ,and at the same time beautiful, weeks of my life, and the only thing that can carry me through it is the blood of Christ…
On Saturday, we spent the morning as a group going through the museums. One in particular had a portion devoted to the slave trade, and it brought up some heavy emotions for people, especially as we get ready to head to the Gold Coast on Wednesday. The rest of the day, we were allowed to either go to Tema, which is the town that our student liaison Kwame is from, or head to the market with Dr. Aggrey. Most students chose to go to Tema, and a few of us stayed behind to do a little shopping. The markets were quite an experience, and while I had been through similar ones in Nairobi, I was quickly reminded how well you need to have your stuff together before you head in there. With people pulling you all over the place, it gets difficult to make decisions on things or even turn down a “good” deal. I ended up making it out alive, with only one or two things I kind of regretted later. Dinner was on our own, so after resting a few of us headed to the small restaurant next to our hostel. We stayed there until about 10pm and then headed back to Catters. On the road back, Rian got a call from Dr. Aggrey that we were having a mandatory meeting in 30 minutes because of some things that took place in Tema. No one was quite sure what was going on, but we all braced up for the meeting.
The next three hours would become one of the most emotionally intense nights of my life. While in Tema, the students got to attend part of a funeral and then ended up playing with some local school children. The Tema area has some extreme poverty parts in it, and the reality of children filled with joy, playing with you in the midst of trash, was too hard for a few students to take. While those few students were more distraught, the rest had an amazing time and loved the area. The result of the conflicting sides led to some feeling as if some intentions of people here were ill-mannered, or more ignorant because they weren’t as emotional over the situation. Some people had taken comments they overheard on the bus afterwards out of proportion on top of already being in a sensitive emotional state. The result was strong feelings that lead to an even more intense discussion between our group. Dr. Aggrey called this a “catalyst” for a greater discussion we had to have about race. The discussion quickly became heated, and became more of a black/white argument than an expression of differing emotional states. It was almost as if you had white students on one side and black students on the other. On top of that, people never handle themselves well with these things, and everyone feels as if they have to be a smart ass when they have a chance to speak; only fueling the fire in many regards. So many people jumped to conclusions, and made very volatile remarks towards bits and pieces of things they had overheard at one time or another throughout the trip.
I sat there pretty paralyzed by what was going on. I don’t consider myself ignorant to the reality of racial divisions in this world, and particularly in our own American culture. But I also believe in a God that not only created every race out of His divine creativity, but is SO much bigger than any racial division that broken men and women take part in. There were times in the discussion when it was more about socioeconomic statuses than race, and other times more about maturity and life stage. Yet people always let the fire kindle too long, until it has started to burn out of control. Dr. Aggrey also told us during this time that we were going to be split up by race during the first visit to the slave castles. This only opened up a whole new can of worms. Many white students felt that was counter-productive, and if we couldn’t handle the past together we would never be able to learn from it. There were also some African American students who felt strongly about going through it separately. So we had two sides, both feeling as if the only way to go forward was to step with their foot first instead of their neighbors. The decision was already made by our professors, but nonetheless students were extremely upset on both sides.
For three hours I sat literally dead in the middle of everything, the only thing I could do was put my head in my knees and pray for Jesus’ peace to come to our group, for it is the ONLY thing that can unite our broken group. It may be one of the clearest times in my life when I realized just how powerful the truth of the cross is. By the end of the discussion, emotions had been able to calm down some, while some were still left confused in many areas. I was emotionally drained by how broken our humanity is. I’ve seen absolute poverty, severe sexual immorality, and many other physical signs of brokenness, but the racial tension I sat through for three hours almost topped them all. It’s such a thick amount of spiritual warfare, so deep rooted and so hurtful. For the next two days after that I even began questioning my place being here because of the color of my skin. I let myself start thinking those lies rather than the TRUTH that is we are all from the same soil, and we all belong here. I’ve thought about William and Eunice in Sudan often, how much they’ve welcomed me as a daughter in Nagishot. That is truth, which is the spirit of Jesus that transcends all things, the ultimate healer of brokenness. We are untied as brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of a MIGHTY KING. Many of the “chochos” here (public transport vans that are packed with people all the time) usually have a Christian message written across the back window. While we were driving today with my group around the area we’ll be working with next week, one of the guys asked Ken, our Ghanaian guide, what “Yesu Mogya” meant, and he replied “Jesus’ Blood.” I about flipped out in the back. Jesus’ blood has been so heavy on me this past week, and the significance it stands for in this place, to heal what has been so devastatingly broken by colonialism and slavery, and what is the only answer to continue to heal the repercussions of that.
I’ve learned so much my first week here. I can only imagine where I will be in three more weeks. Cape Coast is coming up on Wednesday, and I’m trying to prepare myself for the emotional toll that will take. It’s going to be devastating for me to see churches built by colonialists on the same compounds as the slave castles, literally right next to each other. I know it will bring about many hard conversations, but also many inroads to the gospel. I’m quickly learning how un-gifted I am at sharing the gospel, while at the same time experiencing a burden for it like never before. The overwhelming response and support of prayers and encouragement from friends back home has been incredible, and literally given me peace and boldness every morning. As I prepare my heart and pray over our time to the Cape Coast this week, those prayers and words mean so much to me. I know I’m about to embark on one of the most emotionally devastating ,and at the same time beautiful, weeks of my life, and the only thing that can carry me through it is the blood of Christ…
Thursday, May 28, 2009
First Few Days in Ghana
I arrived in Ghana on the night of the 26th after spending a much needed day and night of relaxation at a hotel in London. About 10 of us from the program all had the same KLM flight from Amsterdam to Accra so we all flew the last leg of the trip together. Arriving in Accra felt much like it did the last time I landed in Nairobi, just a homecoming of a different sort. If you’ve ever been to Africa and fallen in love with it like I have, there’s something about stepping off the plane into the hot African night that is so welcoming. The crowds, small taxis, and bad traffic, all become sweet signs to welcome you back to the continent. It feels so good to be back on the continent. The people are unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been, filled with the type of joy and welcoming hearts that you can’t buy no matter how hard most Westerners try. It’s funny to think I made me first trip here less than a year ago, and here I am on my third one within 10 months. Some places just draw you back to them, and this continent does that for me.
The hostel we’re staying at is just about perfect for us. It’s not air conditioned as a whole but each of our rooms do have window units, and most nights we wake up freezing cold rather than kicking off covers from the heat. Accra is a costal town, nestled in the backwards “C” of the West African coast, so it stays pretty warm and humid, much like Texas weather in July. On Wednesday, only about half of the 40 students were here yet, so we just had the chance to sleep in before all venturing out to exchange some money and go by the mall. Malls are not typically the places I run to in a new city, but we’ve been pretty confined to where we can venture off to by ourselves so far. That’s been the most frustrating part of the trip in some regards, but also understandable. This is the only study abroad program UT has in Africa, so the stakes are pretty high for our professors right now. It gets easy for me to feel comfortable here because I’ve traveled to other parts of the continent before, not to mention much more dangerous parts, but I’m trying to abide by the authority of our program directors as much as possible.
Ghana is one of the safest and most stable countries in Africa. Having gained independence in the 1960’s, it avoided much of the political corruption and ethnic conflicts that have eroded other African countries after de-colonization. The comment I always here about people who’ve traveled to Ghana is that their favorite thing is the people, and I can understand why. There is a very strong sense of nationality here, and not as strong of an ex-pat or foreign influence like I saw a lot of in Nairobi. While Ghanaians are some of the most educated Africans (college was free here until about 8 years ago), the average GDP per person is still less than $400. As the director of the Aya Center told us today, Ghana is one of the richest countries in resources, but like so many other countries around, also one of the poorest economically. As we got to tour some of the slums today on our air-conditioned buses, that is the hardest truth for me to wrestle with. Seeing urban poverty like that doesn’t shock me as much because I’ve been around it before, but now that I’ve studied how countries get to that place, I feel a different kind of heart-break. I think I first traveled to Africa looking at the people as simply disadvantaged, but the more I’ve studied and the more I’ve traveled here, the more I realize that many of the luxuries I enjoy in the US are what keep people in poverty over here. Two of my friends Andy and Ali, and my roommate Danielle and I all grabbed a drink after we got back today, and talked about some of the things we passed through. Andy mentioned how he had come to the same understanding now of poverty, but that he didn’t think Americans would ever be willing to give up our cheap comforts to give someone else across the world a better life. No matter how hard you try to reason out poverty, the only thing that can truly overcome it is an understanding of the gospel. I am one of only a handful of believers on this trip, I’ve only openly had a conversation with one other girl about her faith, and my impression is that most people here have pretty harsh or apathetic views of religion, particularly Christianity. Very quickly I’m reminded how without a gospel worldview, the world can be a very hard place to come to grips with. The poverty we passed through today is just as hard for me to go through as it is for anyone else, yet there is a comfort in knowing that one day the part of town they call “Sodom and Gomorra” here will be renewed, it will be redeemed by the return of Christ, turning the sewage into flowing waters and every sickness into strength.
More than anything, I feel this is my main purpose on the trip, to continue to pour that truth into conversations. I’ve found myself more as an apologetic than anything, as many people have some pretty harsh things to say about religion. I’m constantly reminded that the gospel is the “aroma” to some, and “foolishness” to others. This trip is a challenge for me, and a gift from the Lord to test me on how much I truly believe he can change hearts.
The hostel we’re staying at is just about perfect for us. It’s not air conditioned as a whole but each of our rooms do have window units, and most nights we wake up freezing cold rather than kicking off covers from the heat. Accra is a costal town, nestled in the backwards “C” of the West African coast, so it stays pretty warm and humid, much like Texas weather in July. On Wednesday, only about half of the 40 students were here yet, so we just had the chance to sleep in before all venturing out to exchange some money and go by the mall. Malls are not typically the places I run to in a new city, but we’ve been pretty confined to where we can venture off to by ourselves so far. That’s been the most frustrating part of the trip in some regards, but also understandable. This is the only study abroad program UT has in Africa, so the stakes are pretty high for our professors right now. It gets easy for me to feel comfortable here because I’ve traveled to other parts of the continent before, not to mention much more dangerous parts, but I’m trying to abide by the authority of our program directors as much as possible.
Ghana is one of the safest and most stable countries in Africa. Having gained independence in the 1960’s, it avoided much of the political corruption and ethnic conflicts that have eroded other African countries after de-colonization. The comment I always here about people who’ve traveled to Ghana is that their favorite thing is the people, and I can understand why. There is a very strong sense of nationality here, and not as strong of an ex-pat or foreign influence like I saw a lot of in Nairobi. While Ghanaians are some of the most educated Africans (college was free here until about 8 years ago), the average GDP per person is still less than $400. As the director of the Aya Center told us today, Ghana is one of the richest countries in resources, but like so many other countries around, also one of the poorest economically. As we got to tour some of the slums today on our air-conditioned buses, that is the hardest truth for me to wrestle with. Seeing urban poverty like that doesn’t shock me as much because I’ve been around it before, but now that I’ve studied how countries get to that place, I feel a different kind of heart-break. I think I first traveled to Africa looking at the people as simply disadvantaged, but the more I’ve studied and the more I’ve traveled here, the more I realize that many of the luxuries I enjoy in the US are what keep people in poverty over here. Two of my friends Andy and Ali, and my roommate Danielle and I all grabbed a drink after we got back today, and talked about some of the things we passed through. Andy mentioned how he had come to the same understanding now of poverty, but that he didn’t think Americans would ever be willing to give up our cheap comforts to give someone else across the world a better life. No matter how hard you try to reason out poverty, the only thing that can truly overcome it is an understanding of the gospel. I am one of only a handful of believers on this trip, I’ve only openly had a conversation with one other girl about her faith, and my impression is that most people here have pretty harsh or apathetic views of religion, particularly Christianity. Very quickly I’m reminded how without a gospel worldview, the world can be a very hard place to come to grips with. The poverty we passed through today is just as hard for me to go through as it is for anyone else, yet there is a comfort in knowing that one day the part of town they call “Sodom and Gomorra” here will be renewed, it will be redeemed by the return of Christ, turning the sewage into flowing waters and every sickness into strength.
More than anything, I feel this is my main purpose on the trip, to continue to pour that truth into conversations. I’ve found myself more as an apologetic than anything, as many people have some pretty harsh things to say about religion. I’m constantly reminded that the gospel is the “aroma” to some, and “foolishness” to others. This trip is a challenge for me, and a gift from the Lord to test me on how much I truly believe he can change hearts.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Pray for Pepe
Please pray for my dear Didinga sister Pepe, who has a severe foot infection right now. Pepe is one of the first women I met in Nagishot, and her smile and spirit will melt your heart. She has been suffering from a foot infection for the last three months that has made it hard for her to walk. You can imagine what this will do to a woman in a culture where she's on her feet all day.
Women in the Congo
One of the organization's Amy and I got to meet this weekend at CGIU is called Women for Women International. In particular, we met Christine Karumba, their country director for the Democratic Republic of Congo, needless to say she was pretty inspiring. Upon looking into their website today, I found this 60 minutes video about the war on women in Congo. I will warn you that it brought me to tears this morning, but I feel that it's too important not to share. The last 30 seconds is what did me in, because the women are singing about how they believe their suffering will end in heaven...keep these women in your prayers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/11/60minutes/main3701249.shtml
For more on Women to Women International, go to www.womenforwomen.org
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/11/60minutes/main3701249.shtml
For more on Women to Women International, go to www.womenforwomen.org
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Tales From Nagishot
Two weeks ago I got that chance to return to a place that has grown near and dear to my heart, Nagishot, Sudan. As many of you know, I first went to Nagishot this past summer, on a trip lead by my dear friends Jonathan and Lauren Ramirez who will, God willing, be moving there within the next few months. Those two weeks impacted my life more than I think I even realize right now. From the people, to the smell, scenery, sights, and sounds, all of it infiltrated my soul and hasn’t left yet.
Since coming back on Monday, countless people have asked me about the trip. From trying to get every detail, to asking for a one word onomatopoeia to sum up the trip (thank you Nolan Dean), I’ve tried to recount my second trip as much as I can. Yet I can’t help but feel like I’m doing the people of Nagishot an injustice each time I talk about it. Not to mention an injustice to the incredible things that God did in the midst of our trip. Something I prayed for on this trip was stories. I felt like I missed out on a lot of stories the first time we went, and I really wanted to capture that this time around. I prayed that God would open up all of my senses to Nagishot, to the Didinga people, and to the larger story he was creating for them. More than I could have ever dreamed of, God granted me stories. Whether it’s the story of City on a Hill, as told by William and Eunice in the dark light of a post-dinner conversation, or the story of a parent’s plea to give their child the “light” of education during a PTA meeting, or the story of 24 women who spent one Friday afternoon dreaming with me under the shade of a big tree, these are the stories God has created in Nagishot. And these are the stories that continue to tell of his greatness amongst a people he created for his glory.
So since I can’t possibly attempt to sum up my trip in one conversation, much less a blog, I’m going to tell it in stories. I pray that each of these stories will take on a life of their own, that they may each tell smaller tales between the lines I write about them. And more than anything, I pray that the stories will paint a larger picture of what God is doing in Nagishot, and around the world.
To all of you who have supported me in Nagishot, these stories are especially for you. I could never thank you enough for your support, prayer, and encouragement. You are each truly a part of these stories just as much as I am.
You can keep up with the “Tales of Nagishot” as I post them on my blog here over the next few weeks.
Peace, love, and happy reading-
Jackie
Since coming back on Monday, countless people have asked me about the trip. From trying to get every detail, to asking for a one word onomatopoeia to sum up the trip (thank you Nolan Dean), I’ve tried to recount my second trip as much as I can. Yet I can’t help but feel like I’m doing the people of Nagishot an injustice each time I talk about it. Not to mention an injustice to the incredible things that God did in the midst of our trip. Something I prayed for on this trip was stories. I felt like I missed out on a lot of stories the first time we went, and I really wanted to capture that this time around. I prayed that God would open up all of my senses to Nagishot, to the Didinga people, and to the larger story he was creating for them. More than I could have ever dreamed of, God granted me stories. Whether it’s the story of City on a Hill, as told by William and Eunice in the dark light of a post-dinner conversation, or the story of a parent’s plea to give their child the “light” of education during a PTA meeting, or the story of 24 women who spent one Friday afternoon dreaming with me under the shade of a big tree, these are the stories God has created in Nagishot. And these are the stories that continue to tell of his greatness amongst a people he created for his glory.
So since I can’t possibly attempt to sum up my trip in one conversation, much less a blog, I’m going to tell it in stories. I pray that each of these stories will take on a life of their own, that they may each tell smaller tales between the lines I write about them. And more than anything, I pray that the stories will paint a larger picture of what God is doing in Nagishot, and around the world.
To all of you who have supported me in Nagishot, these stories are especially for you. I could never thank you enough for your support, prayer, and encouragement. You are each truly a part of these stories just as much as I am.
You can keep up with the “Tales of Nagishot” as I post them on my blog here over the next few weeks.
Peace, love, and happy reading-
Jackie
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Greetings from Nagishot!
Hello Friends,
Greetings from warm and beautiful Nagishot, Sudan! On Sunday night, the team
from Makarios finally arrived in Nairobi and we departed for Sudan the
following morning. We were quickly met by Alfred and Pastor William, as well
as sweet Joshua who made the long trek to greet us at the air strip. We have
only been here a day and yet God has already shown up in great ways. The
EVFree team from Austin is doing a wonderful pastoral training for a small
group of 15, and the women are leading a women's ministry in the mornings
where 4 women accepted Christ on Monday, praise the Lord!
Our team spent most of their first day soaking their new landscape. It is
amazing for me to see how much has changed here in the five short months
since I was here. William and Eunice are truly raising up a God-centered
ministry here, that not only takes the gospel to an un-reached people group
but meets their physical needs through development as well.
This morning Pastor William gave us a tour of the City on a Hill School, and
there was much to take in. School started yesterday but students are still
slow to come back after holiday. We spent much time observing the new
additions (the first brick buildings for storage and a bathroom), talking
with some of the teachers, and observing the classes. The students are eager
to learn and take their studies very seriously. The greatest needs right now
are for trained teachers and classroom buildings so school can be year
round. How truly great is our God that he brought together a team with just
those giftings...I am in awe of God's grace and intentionality with us.
We look forward to the days ahead as we continue to spend much time
listening and learning more about the school. Pray that God would continue
to open our heads and hearts to where he may have us here in the future.
Pray for the EVFree team as they continue to teach the word of God.
Love and blessings,
Jackie
Greetings from warm and beautiful Nagishot, Sudan! On Sunday night, the team
from Makarios finally arrived in Nairobi and we departed for Sudan the
following morning. We were quickly met by Alfred and Pastor William, as well
as sweet Joshua who made the long trek to greet us at the air strip. We have
only been here a day and yet God has already shown up in great ways. The
EVFree team from Austin is doing a wonderful pastoral training for a small
group of 15, and the women are leading a women's ministry in the mornings
where 4 women accepted Christ on Monday, praise the Lord!
Our team spent most of their first day soaking their new landscape. It is
amazing for me to see how much has changed here in the five short months
since I was here. William and Eunice are truly raising up a God-centered
ministry here, that not only takes the gospel to an un-reached people group
but meets their physical needs through development as well.
This morning Pastor William gave us a tour of the City on a Hill School, and
there was much to take in. School started yesterday but students are still
slow to come back after holiday. We spent much time observing the new
additions (the first brick buildings for storage and a bathroom), talking
with some of the teachers, and observing the classes. The students are eager
to learn and take their studies very seriously. The greatest needs right now
are for trained teachers and classroom buildings so school can be year
round. How truly great is our God that he brought together a team with just
those giftings...I am in awe of God's grace and intentionality with us.
We look forward to the days ahead as we continue to spend much time
listening and learning more about the school. Pray that God would continue
to open our heads and hearts to where he may have us here in the future.
Pray for the EVFree team as they continue to teach the word of God.
Love and blessings,
Jackie
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Joys of African Travel
It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Nairobi, Kenya. Since Friday, I have spent 7 hours in the Chicago airport, 8 hours on a plane to London, and finally 7 1/2 hours on a flight to Nairobi. And to think we are only half way to Nagishot....
While Amie and I made it comfortably here, the other three members of our team from Makarios weren't so lucky. The thing about international travel that your layovers make a big difference. And since their flight out of NY was delayed, that meant they would miss meeting up with us in London and have to arrive in Nairobi a day late. I hate that they aren't here. I hate that their first experience in Nairobi will come in on such an exhausting note. But I trust in the Lord on this, and I am always so awed by his intentionality with even the most frustrating of circumstances. Our last trip to Nagishot in August found 2 of our team members without their bags for the first week. What started as such frustrating circumstances turned into the most beautiful display of God's sovereignty. It just so happened that the lost bag fee came out to be the exact amount of Didinga brother Hector needed for a personal emergency. In the same way the Lord was faithful in all things 5 months ago, I trust he will do the same this time.
This morning Amie and I got to get to know our hostel a little bit. I love hostels, they bring such an array of travelers. In a matter of minute I met Lucia, an Italian traveler, and Brad, a Tanzanian church planter with AIM, the same missions agency that will fly us out of Loki tomorrow. Lucia and I could barely communicate with her broken English, but she tried none-the-less, asking me the few things she knew in English like what month my birthday was. We met up with our Nairobi travel aide, Sammy, and his brother Josphat this morning. Sammy has been the most incredible friend to me in this trip, he got all of our Sudan visas in a matter of 2 short weeks, and paid for our Loki flights as well. It is such a joy to work with such a truly humble servant of the Lord like Sammy.
We spent the rest of our morning hanging around the Sarit Center, a big shopping center in nairobi. We are currently in a cyber-cafe, and loving the cheap rates :). This afternoon, Amie and I will explore Nairobi as much as we can, eating at well-known Indian restaurant for lunch, and then try to meet up with Ruth, who works for Food for the Hungry. It is a beautiful day in in Nairobi, and while Kenyans think it is hot, we think it is just perfect...
I am eagerly awaiting our arrival in Nagishot tomorrow. All throughout our travel, I have barely been able to sleep, thinking and day dreaming about reuniting with my Didinga family soon. I can't wait to be greeted by familiar faces off the plane, and attempt to regurgitate the little Didinga I still remember. Last night as I sat in my hostel room, I wrote in my journal how natural it feels for me to be here. I actually enjoy the travel (easier said for me than our makarios team i'm sure), and love being in new places. I feel comfortable in Nairobi, like it is another city I could call home to one day. Who knows, maybe I will find myself here one day soon...
I believe that is all for now friends. There are so many thoughts and feelings to be written down, but so many of them are to be shared in person with all of you, and many have yet to be processed for myself. To think we aren't even to Nagishot yet! I feel so blessed to be here, to be a part of this trip, to reuinite with a people that have become like family for me. Family, what an interesting concept. Amie asked me of all the places I've lived, where do I feel most home, and to that I didn't have a concrete answer. I believe my family resides in many places. From Kansas City, to Austin, to Nagishot, God has given me a family that is beyond any I could ever deserve. I love that soon enough, two of my closest families will be together, the Ramirez's and the Laku's. The next time I come to Nagishot, it will surely be a family reunion to celebrate.
Please continue to pray for our team from Makarios. Pray that they will rest in the Lord in the midst of their travel troubles and that his grace and mercy would be known to all of us.
Until Nagishot... :)
While Amie and I made it comfortably here, the other three members of our team from Makarios weren't so lucky. The thing about international travel that your layovers make a big difference. And since their flight out of NY was delayed, that meant they would miss meeting up with us in London and have to arrive in Nairobi a day late. I hate that they aren't here. I hate that their first experience in Nairobi will come in on such an exhausting note. But I trust in the Lord on this, and I am always so awed by his intentionality with even the most frustrating of circumstances. Our last trip to Nagishot in August found 2 of our team members without their bags for the first week. What started as such frustrating circumstances turned into the most beautiful display of God's sovereignty. It just so happened that the lost bag fee came out to be the exact amount of Didinga brother Hector needed for a personal emergency. In the same way the Lord was faithful in all things 5 months ago, I trust he will do the same this time.
This morning Amie and I got to get to know our hostel a little bit. I love hostels, they bring such an array of travelers. In a matter of minute I met Lucia, an Italian traveler, and Brad, a Tanzanian church planter with AIM, the same missions agency that will fly us out of Loki tomorrow. Lucia and I could barely communicate with her broken English, but she tried none-the-less, asking me the few things she knew in English like what month my birthday was. We met up with our Nairobi travel aide, Sammy, and his brother Josphat this morning. Sammy has been the most incredible friend to me in this trip, he got all of our Sudan visas in a matter of 2 short weeks, and paid for our Loki flights as well. It is such a joy to work with such a truly humble servant of the Lord like Sammy.
We spent the rest of our morning hanging around the Sarit Center, a big shopping center in nairobi. We are currently in a cyber-cafe, and loving the cheap rates :). This afternoon, Amie and I will explore Nairobi as much as we can, eating at well-known Indian restaurant for lunch, and then try to meet up with Ruth, who works for Food for the Hungry. It is a beautiful day in in Nairobi, and while Kenyans think it is hot, we think it is just perfect...
I am eagerly awaiting our arrival in Nagishot tomorrow. All throughout our travel, I have barely been able to sleep, thinking and day dreaming about reuniting with my Didinga family soon. I can't wait to be greeted by familiar faces off the plane, and attempt to regurgitate the little Didinga I still remember. Last night as I sat in my hostel room, I wrote in my journal how natural it feels for me to be here. I actually enjoy the travel (easier said for me than our makarios team i'm sure), and love being in new places. I feel comfortable in Nairobi, like it is another city I could call home to one day. Who knows, maybe I will find myself here one day soon...
I believe that is all for now friends. There are so many thoughts and feelings to be written down, but so many of them are to be shared in person with all of you, and many have yet to be processed for myself. To think we aren't even to Nagishot yet! I feel so blessed to be here, to be a part of this trip, to reuinite with a people that have become like family for me. Family, what an interesting concept. Amie asked me of all the places I've lived, where do I feel most home, and to that I didn't have a concrete answer. I believe my family resides in many places. From Kansas City, to Austin, to Nagishot, God has given me a family that is beyond any I could ever deserve. I love that soon enough, two of my closest families will be together, the Ramirez's and the Laku's. The next time I come to Nagishot, it will surely be a family reunion to celebrate.
Please continue to pray for our team from Makarios. Pray that they will rest in the Lord in the midst of their travel troubles and that his grace and mercy would be known to all of us.
Until Nagishot... :)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
City on a Hill Video
Here's the video of the City on a Hill boarding school that we will be visiting in Sudan. As you can see, the school is little but sticks and bricks, yet they're already educating some of the children. While we will not be working much on the school this trip, we will be there to encourage, pray, and live with the Didinga people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THvp3VpQ0Jg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THvp3VpQ0Jg
Sunday, June 29, 2008
40 Days of Health before Sudan
While contemplating how I can prepare myself physically for Sudan in a little over a month, I realized one of the biggest things that needed to change was my diet. I'm a pretty healthy eater for the most part, I don't eat fried food, rarely do I eat fast food, and I'm all around cautious about the type of food I eat. BUT, I do love to snack, and I love bread, did I also mention I have a giant sweet tooth?
Since the food we'll eat in Sudan is all natural, locally grown stuff, I decided I should change my eating habits before I go. Also, I've never traveled overseas before, and I don't want my body to be in withdrawl from diet cokes and sugar when I'm there. I want to be in the best health and shape possible. I lost a lot of weight due to my appendix surgery last year and kept all of it off for almost a year until this last spring. Because my schedule got all out of whack and I fell out of my regular running patterns, I put all the weight on pretty quickly late this spring. Even though I'm back to the weight I came into college with, my body was used to the lighter weight for a while and I really started to tell a difference.
When I began looking at diets to take on for this time, I knew I wanted to find something that would give me an eating pattern close to what I'll have in Sudan. I thought about a detox diet, but those are really costly, and when you're raising support to go on a trip, you think very differently about the money you spend personally. One diet I had actually learned about in an anatomy class I took in the fall was the Maker's Diet, it was developed by a man who suffered from Crone's disease and didn't react to any medicine. Instead, he developed his own diet, based of Old Testament eating principles, and ending up treating himself. Basically the diet gets rid of most processed foods, and trys to rid the body of your addictions to certain foods, mine being bread and carbs.
I've known a couple people to adapt this way of eating, and a lot of people swear by it. The plan also entails a lot of hygine rituals and a couple other things, but I haven't followed those yet. The diet is a 40 day plan, split into 3 phases. The first phase-14 days- which I started Friday, allows you to eat most protein, except pork, shell fish, and some specific types of fish. I can only have berries, cherries, lemons, and limes; no cow's milk products; no sugar; and no grains (my hard one!). I'm still allowed to have coffee (thankfully!), tea, and all the veggies I want. I thought this would be hard for me since I'm such a carb addict, but I've found it surprisingly easy. Even though I'm limited in my choices, I've been able to stay away from the cravings and temptations really easily. I don't snack nearly as much as I'm used to because I really don't have a lot to snack on. Also, since my breakfast is usually a veggie omlet or eggs, turkey bacon, and fruit, I stay satisfied for much longer. I've really enjoyed cooking fish like salmon and tilapia too. I never used to eat salmon but I know how good it is for you and now I really love it.
I'm also training for a triathalon at the end of July! My friend Courtney and I are going to do a women's triathalon here before I leave for Sudan and she leaves for grad school. The tri is short, just a 300m swim, 11 mile bike, and 2 mile run. But since it's a women's one, they give you ice foot baths and mimosas after :) I really feel like all of these things will prepare me well physically for our trip. The diet is less about the weight, and more about getting my body to a more natural state of food sources. It's sounds kind of hippie like, I know, but so far so good! If I can make it through birthday weekend at the Stewart's with all the cake and cookies here, I think I can make it a couple more weeks :)
Since the food we'll eat in Sudan is all natural, locally grown stuff, I decided I should change my eating habits before I go. Also, I've never traveled overseas before, and I don't want my body to be in withdrawl from diet cokes and sugar when I'm there. I want to be in the best health and shape possible. I lost a lot of weight due to my appendix surgery last year and kept all of it off for almost a year until this last spring. Because my schedule got all out of whack and I fell out of my regular running patterns, I put all the weight on pretty quickly late this spring. Even though I'm back to the weight I came into college with, my body was used to the lighter weight for a while and I really started to tell a difference.
When I began looking at diets to take on for this time, I knew I wanted to find something that would give me an eating pattern close to what I'll have in Sudan. I thought about a detox diet, but those are really costly, and when you're raising support to go on a trip, you think very differently about the money you spend personally. One diet I had actually learned about in an anatomy class I took in the fall was the Maker's Diet, it was developed by a man who suffered from Crone's disease and didn't react to any medicine. Instead, he developed his own diet, based of Old Testament eating principles, and ending up treating himself. Basically the diet gets rid of most processed foods, and trys to rid the body of your addictions to certain foods, mine being bread and carbs.
I've known a couple people to adapt this way of eating, and a lot of people swear by it. The plan also entails a lot of hygine rituals and a couple other things, but I haven't followed those yet. The diet is a 40 day plan, split into 3 phases. The first phase-14 days- which I started Friday, allows you to eat most protein, except pork, shell fish, and some specific types of fish. I can only have berries, cherries, lemons, and limes; no cow's milk products; no sugar; and no grains (my hard one!). I'm still allowed to have coffee (thankfully!), tea, and all the veggies I want. I thought this would be hard for me since I'm such a carb addict, but I've found it surprisingly easy. Even though I'm limited in my choices, I've been able to stay away from the cravings and temptations really easily. I don't snack nearly as much as I'm used to because I really don't have a lot to snack on. Also, since my breakfast is usually a veggie omlet or eggs, turkey bacon, and fruit, I stay satisfied for much longer. I've really enjoyed cooking fish like salmon and tilapia too. I never used to eat salmon but I know how good it is for you and now I really love it.
I'm also training for a triathalon at the end of July! My friend Courtney and I are going to do a women's triathalon here before I leave for Sudan and she leaves for grad school. The tri is short, just a 300m swim, 11 mile bike, and 2 mile run. But since it's a women's one, they give you ice foot baths and mimosas after :) I really feel like all of these things will prepare me well physically for our trip. The diet is less about the weight, and more about getting my body to a more natural state of food sources. It's sounds kind of hippie like, I know, but so far so good! If I can make it through birthday weekend at the Stewart's with all the cake and cookies here, I think I can make it a couple more weeks :)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
My Crash-course in Parenting...
So this week I took over "parent duties" for Kimberly and Stew while they were in the hospital with new baby Karis. From Monday morning, until Wednesday afternoon, I've had the little buggers 24/7. As much as I've babysat by myself for over 8 years, this was more of a first for me. It changes quite a bit when you can't just "give" the kids back at the end of the day ;). My room mate Christel, who also lives with us, was here too, but she has class and nannys for another family during the day, so it was just me and the kiddos during that time.
Monday was a fairly easy day with them. I took them to a pottery place to make something for Karis, which was really fun, and they didn't break anything! Kimberly was scheduled to be enduced that morning so we played a waiting game all day for the news that Karis was here. At 1:50pm Karis Elizabeth Stewart was born! We spent the afternoon here and brought the kids up to see their baby sister after dinner. They did so great with her. Sally treated her like another one of her baby dolls, and Wesley Grant instantly turned into protective big brother. By the time we left to come home, they were pretty pooped and went right to bed at 8.
Sally, Wesley Grant, and new sister Karis
Tuesday, however, was a different story. Wesley Grant woke up at 6:45am, and Sally soon followed. He woke up full of energy and didn't let up all morning. I've had to learn the balance of realizing when he's just being a 3-year old boy, and when he's actually disobeying me. For the most part, when he's been a little crazy this week, it's just because he's a boy and he's stir crazy. By the time I got them in the car at 11am to take them to the hospital, I just sat in the car for a minute, I was so exhausted! I got to leave them at the hospital with Stew while I left to get lunch and go up to the office for staff meeting. Lauren Ramirez stayed at the house when the kids got back from lunch and stayed with them while they went down for naps. I came into a quiet house when I got back and just pondered the silence for a while. I was so tired but couldn't really sleep, so I just rested in my room and read until they woke up at 5. That night Wesley Grant was awesome, but Sally what the whiner. She had cut her finger a little bit and had a runny nose, the combination I think that led to her be more needy than ever. After we just sat and rocked for a while she was better, and Christel took them down the street to a neighborhood Backyard Bible Club this week while I had my girl's small group over.
Christel and Karis
Even though yesterday was the hardest day, it was the most rewarding. Having to actually discipline the kids, but see the fruit of that, was a really rewarding feeling. I never want to feel like I'm "controlling" them all the time, so when I have to hold Wesley down, it's usually only after he's had a serious outburst. It's funny to see how he responds to me now, I can just give him a look or come into a room and he knows he's in trouble. Being back in a family setting has shown me just how sinful in nature we are. You can't teach kids to throw a fit, they didn't see that from you, and you can't teach them to say a lot of the things they do. But we're proned to certain sins, and even from a young age they are apparent. Wesley is a passionate kid, and will someday be an incredible young man who stands up for what he believes when everyone else is sitting down. But until then, his energy and passion is unharnassed, and it's up to his parents, and for a small time this week, for me and Christel, to channel that for him. There have been times when Christel and I have just looked at each other and thrown our hands up, like "we're never having kids!" But then we get to see Wesley Grant and Sally see their baby sister for the first time, or even hold Karis ourselves, then go through so much with the kiddos at home, that it makes me value family even more. I thought I knew how to parent until this week. Not to say I'm even close to being there, but I feel like I've seen some climpses of why God has given us children, and as Stew says, it's long, long periods of frustration and chaos, mixed with small glimpses of hope and reward :)
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Last Year...
This one might take a while...
Through our community group, I met Jonathan and Lauren Ramirez who I'll be going to Sudan with this summer. Jonathan and Lauren part of what I call my "Austin Family," along with the rest of our community group. It's like having one of my sisters here in Austin with Lauren and having an older brother for the first time with Jonathan. About half of our community group will be going on this trip, which is nothing short of incredible. We're a little "traveling church" as we like to call it. While I was given the opportunity for Sudan early in the year, I was also given the opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Rwanda for an internship there. After a lot of prayer, I decided it was not my time for Rwanda yet, and I took the Austin Stone position and confirmed my heart to go to Sudan. What I love about this trip is that it is completely based on vision. We don't have a huge game-plan and we're going in to "fix" anything. We are the ones who are learning, and while the Didnga people may have nothing in terms of our American mindset, they have much more to give us than we ever could. I'm beyond excited to see how God will stir things in my heart during this time, everyone on this trip has a heart to go back long term and I really hope I get the chance to when I graduate in May 2010. The future blog entires I make will mostly be focused on the Sudan trip.
So for all of you that don't get to keep up with me on a regular basis (which is most of you :) I'm going to try to compact the last year into one blog entry. To sum up the last year of my life, I would have to say it was composed of countless "grace-filled blessings" as the Lord provided time and time again in ways I could have never imagined...
School-
I'll be a junior this August at The University of Texas-Austin, majoring in Political Communications and in the Bridging Disciplines Program for Social Inequality, Health, and Policy. The BDP is a bridge for students who want to study in an area that is not an offered major at UT, and also for students who want to gain undergraduate research experience to prepare them for grad school. I'm not sure if I'll do grad school yet, I've started to look into studying for the LSAT for law school next spring, but I really love the program. I was a member of Delta Delta Delta from my freshman year up until this last December when I made the hard decision to leave after I really felt my calling (and my finances!) was elsewhere. As much as I miss all the girls, I'm even closer to some of them now. Not to mention, the Lord used that experience to literally allow my story to be shared with the whole chapter after I left, I could not have asked for a better way to share the gospel with 200 girls. I've always enjoyed the academic side of college, and as I get more in depth in my studies, I really feel like I'm studying what I'm passionate about.A Whole lot of Jesus-
Last summer, the Lord blessed me with a group of friends in Fort Worth that I was able to live out the gospel with all summer. I won't explain all of that story, if you read my old blogs from last summer you'll get all the good stuff :) When I came back to Austin last fall, I knew my heart was burdened to see the gospel lived out daily in my life and others. I have a huge heart for the poor and oppressed, and the Lord burdened me to fight for them here in Austin, to live with them, and experience Him in some of the darkest areas of the city. I'd been going to The Austin Stone Community Church (http://www.austinstone.org/) since my freshman year, and when I came back from doing house church in Ft. Worth all summer, I wasn't sure if a big congregation was really where God was calling me. But he was, and through some unbelievable circumstances, I was able to share my heart for missional community and living in East Austin with various members of the staff. Not only did they listen, but they took my passion to heart, and began equipping me for ministry. In the fall, I was mentored by a few people who were able to speak a lot of truth into my life, as well as wind in my sails. I was introduced to our community pastor Stew and his wife Kimberly in October and began to form an incredible relationship with them over the course of the fall and spring (more on that in a bit). When I came back from winter break, I wanted to see us but a college team in the St. John's neighborhood here (the poorest neighborhood in Austin, and my new home:) for Spring Break. What I had envisioned to be a small college urban-emersion trip, turned into being asked to put on a Spring Break Day Camp for over 100 Hispanic kids in the neighborhood. Having never even been to a VBS that I can remember, planning one in 2 months on top of being a full-time student and working an internship was quite the learning process. But once again, God provided and the week was the most amazing part of my semester. To read some of the stories from volunteers at the camp go to http://friendsofstjohns.blogspot.com/. After spring break, I came on staff at Austin Stone as the Local Missions College Intern. I literllay got to write my job description and have given an opportunity to do what I love, and get paid for it. Half of my duties rest in local missions outreach for our church, particularly here in St. John's, while the other half rest with the college ministry. As much as I was nervous about coming on staff (you hear a lot about people getting burned and turned off my church when they actually work for one) I could not be more overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for my position.My Austin Family-
I mentioned Kimberly and Stew earlier, and this past spring I was part of their community group where we went through the world missions course called Perspectives. I honestly can't talk enough about these people, they have been one of the biggest blessings to ever walk into my life and I have never seen the gospel lived so clearly in a couple's life. Kimberly has become my "spritual momma" of sorts and has gone through a lot with me this past year. I just recently moved in with their family (Wesley Grant 3 1/2 and Sally 2) as we await the arrival of their 3rd child, Karis Elizabeth, anytime now! It's been sooo much fun to wake up to little legs and giggles running around in the morning. Sally loves all things girly, including my shoes and jewelry....
Stew and Kimberly also live in the St. John's neighborhood so it has given me the opportunity to live here sooner than I thought I would be able to. After this summer is up, I will move into another place close-by with my room mate Christel was was also in our community group and lives with the Stewart's this summer too.
Through our community group, I met Jonathan and Lauren Ramirez who I'll be going to Sudan with this summer. Jonathan and Lauren part of what I call my "Austin Family," along with the rest of our community group. It's like having one of my sisters here in Austin with Lauren and having an older brother for the first time with Jonathan. About half of our community group will be going on this trip, which is nothing short of incredible. We're a little "traveling church" as we like to call it. While I was given the opportunity for Sudan early in the year, I was also given the opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Rwanda for an internship there. After a lot of prayer, I decided it was not my time for Rwanda yet, and I took the Austin Stone position and confirmed my heart to go to Sudan. What I love about this trip is that it is completely based on vision. We don't have a huge game-plan and we're going in to "fix" anything. We are the ones who are learning, and while the Didnga people may have nothing in terms of our American mindset, they have much more to give us than we ever could. I'm beyond excited to see how God will stir things in my heart during this time, everyone on this trip has a heart to go back long term and I really hope I get the chance to when I graduate in May 2010. The future blog entires I make will mostly be focused on the Sudan trip.
The Markovich Fam-
For those of you who don't know, my dad took a job with a small family-owned agriculture company in Lancaster, PA last May. We finally sold the Keller house in December and my mom moved there in January. They are in the heart of Amish country these days, but the town is absolutely beautiful. I got to visit them after school got out in May for a few days and fell in love with the area. While it's far from all of us girls, it's only about 90 minutes from Baltimore and D.C., and 3 hours from New York City.
Me and Mom at Rockefeller Center in NYC
Jen, Me, and Katie in August
That's about it! In a nutshell! I missed out a lot of stuff, but those are the good parts. I can't thank you all enough for your support and prayers for my trip. I've never raised support for anything before and it's been beautiful to see how God confirms your call through that as the support indeed comes in. If you would still like to contribute to our trip or join the prayer team, email me at jrmarkovich@mail.utexas.edu. I love all of you sooo very much!
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour." -Luke 1:47
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