Church Clothes: The Method Behind the Madness

About a month and a half ago, Lecrae, a well known Christian Rap artist released a mixtape titled "Church Clothes."  That's not too strange when first hearing about it, but let me throw in another fact:

This mixtape was done in collaboration with Don Canon--the DJ who's done a lot of 

work on albums for big names, such as Ludacris, Jim Jones, Young Jeezy, and Sheek Louch.

And that is what had much of the Christian world in an uproar after the mixtape's release.  Even while perusing the mixtape's videos on youtube, you'll see comments like "Sellout!" mixed in with others that are in favor of the mixtape.  These people hold the position that after years of promoting Christ, Lecrae has "forsaken Christ and lost his sight" (The Evangelical Outpost).  I could weigh in on the subject, but I came across a blog post by Lecrae, himself, and it was DEFINITELY food for thought!  Pasted from reachrecords.com, enjoy:

"Church Clothes - Purpose, Passion, Progression"
Posted on May 21, 2012 / by Lecrae

The truth is: God is still at work!

Thanks to everyone who is downloading and spreading the "Church Clothes" mixtape.

I'm blown away at the response. It’s humbling and pushes me to keep going. 

At the beginning of my musical career, my intention was to enrich and give hope to the listener (it still is). I was volunteering at a halfway house, and the young men there embraced Hip Hop music that encouraged their low ideals and detrimental perspectives. Over the years, some, due to their new found faith in God, had their ideals changed but now had few musical offerings. There were always Christians doing Hip Hop, but the music was usually inaccessible or unpopular. I would listen to the radio and wonder where was the Christian's perspective being heard in Hip Hop culture? "Contemporary Christian Music" had developed, "Gospel" had its lane, but where was Hip-Hop that articulated faith in Jesus? Hard to find.

Interestingly enough, those genres are the only ones categorized based off the content and not the style of music. Though it gives people identifying marks for their music, it can also (in many ways) limit their reach. Many people take these titles to mean the music is for an exclusively Christian audience. If indeed the true Gospel is what transforms people outside the faith, then why should the term Gospel seem exclusive to those in the faith? Of course that's not the intention, it's just a reality that any missionary should consider.

As far as Hip Hop music done well by Christians, there were always a few groups and artists over the years that helped ease my woes; but I was not at all content. The general market was flooded with Hip Hop artists, but I rarely heard anything that embodied a worldview that God would endorse. Trying to be a part of the solution, I took to the studio and recorded an album. It captured my southern roots, love for lyricism, and I tried to make it as current in production as I could. (I produced most of it.) The result was a tool for my fellas at the halfway house and other areas with similar struggles. That project opened doors for me to travel a bit—mostly prisons, churches and inner city outreaches—and perform my songs. I found that I had a gift for catalyzing people toward truth and creating anthems for Christians to live sacrificially and unashamedly for their faith.

Personally, I couldn’t simply talk about change. I had to be apart of it, so I spent my life living in the inner city, doing foreign missions and serving in the local church. All of that was ammunition for my Rebel album. My life bled out in that project, and the result was God showing tremendous fruit and people's lives being transformed by His power.

But one problem I faced was that, in my hood, only the kids in after school programs and the Christians were feeling it. Sure, some were rejecting the Gospel but others didn't give it a spin at all due to the labels placed on it. I was respected by my non-religious friends, but my music to them was very limited and didn't speak to any areas of life other than salvation and living right. I sought advice and was led to books by people like Francis Shaffer, CS Lewis and others. (There are links below.)

I was challenged in more ways than you can imagine.

Desperate to help the lost, broken and hurting, I tried building relationships with my newfound understanding. It was difficult and awkward, but God showed me plenty of grace. People came to Jesus and grew deeply, and I found I was liberated and matured in ways I could not articulate.

I'm starting to get it. God hasn't changed my vision, He's expanded it.

Only 4% of all Americans have a biblical worldview and only 10% of Christians see the world with a biblical lens. (There's a test link below to check ya self!)

We tend to wear bifocals—partially seeing things as spiritual and seeing other things as secular or non-spiritual.

We limit spirituality to salvation and sanctification. As long as we are well versed in personal piety and individual salvation, we think we're good. But most Christians have no clue how to engage culture in politics, science, economics, TV, music or art. We tend to leave people to their own devices there.

We subscribe to views like, "Politics and movies are evil or of the devil," and we don’t touch them. Leaving them to be dominated by non-biblical worldviews. Or, since we don’t have a philosophy or filter, we do it the way culture says to...chasing vain ambition.

Most professing Christians have no idea how to direct their careers with biblical lenses, but instead of praying for and offering solutions we usually just shake our heads and dismiss these “sellouts & compromisers.”

We are missing out on the gospel's power of redemption and glorification in all things.

The whole idea of a secular/sacred divide was born because ancient Greeks (specifically Plato) thought matter (or things) was preexisting and eternal. They thought matter contained the ability to resist the gods or just God--making it evil. But as Christians, we defeat that claim with the doctrine that only God is preexisting and eternal. He is the source of ALL creation.

PSALM 24:1 “The Earth is the Lord's and all it contains.”

In Genesis 1, God repeatedly identifies His creation as good, meaning no part of creation is inherently bad or evil.

Paul in 1 Tim 4:4 says, “Everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving."

I can already hear people saying, "So pornography and crack is good if embraced with thanksgiving!?" Obviously not. The origin of objects and God's intended function are what's good; it's man's direction that distorts them. So the origin and function of sex is good, but the depravity of man to direct and distort it into pornography is a manifestation of man's darkened heart.

Is there such a thing as evil music? Well, the artist’s heart may be evil and because of that you are hearing their heart. Matt 12:34 says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The heart is therefore the problem, not the music. Changed hearts produce changed music.

When Adam and Eve rebelled, they sinned. The trees didn’t sin, the ground didn’t sin, humanity sinned. The natural world was, however, affected by human sin. Humans were the housekeepers of God's creation, so their sin had a ripple affect into the natural world.

Humanity had authority and there is a consequence for authority. If the owner of a house is lazy, the house is going to catch the effect of his laziness. It’s going to look ragged and filthy. It’s not that the house wants to look ugly or creepy, but the people’s sin has affected it. Even good things fall to the depravity of people.

Evil and disorder are not intrinsic, built-in or inherent in material things like art, dance, or alcohol. "The heart is wicked," the Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9. We take those things and distort them, because the human will and volition are rebellious and wrong.

Paul writes in Romans 14:14 nothing is unclean itself. It becomes unclean when sinners use it to express their rebellion towards God. The line between good and bad is therefore not in the thing, the music, the movie, the politics, but in the heart.

A butcher knife is usually depicted as an evil murderous tool. But God made the ore and wood and man can use it to make a knife that cuts food and feeds people.

A skull is typically viewed as evil and demonic, but God made skulls. We all have them and they are VERY good. They protect our brains! So wearing a skull on your shirt doesn’t make you less of a Christian, even though society has given it negative associations.

All this to say that the "secularizing" of things or music speaks more to the heart's intention on not painting a picture that God would endorse. After all, food, music and school buildings are just things. They don’t have a soul or mind and can’t have intentions. The people who are involved in them do.

Worldliness does not mean engaging culture, it's when the culture shapes your thoughts over God. Jesus prayed we would remain in the world but protected. He also tells us the gates of Hell will not prevail against us. Gates were established to protect cities, so for the gates not to prevail would mean we are trying to storm them. We are here to engage culture not run from it.

Wrestling with worldly ideas challenges us and gives us new ways to depend on God. Is this my new direction? No, it’s just an expansion on what I’ve already been doing.

Will I continue to write songs like "Don't Waste Your Life" and "Go Hard"? ABSOLUTELY! But after seeing how powerfully God is using my latest efforts, I will also write songs to engage culture and speak to things that humanity in general will wrestle with and think on.

So, thank you for supporting me and helping the success of the mission and vision. I’m not concerned at all with being a "star". I got in this to bring hope and that's how I'm going out.

Love y'all
Lecrae

Links:

Biblical Worldview Testing - http://www.nehemiahinstitute.com/peers_test.htm
Francis Shaffer - http://amzn.to/KnKnab
Chuck Coloson - http://amzn.to/JWeM1Y
Nancy Pearcy - http://amzn.to/Lng2Q7
CS Lewis - http://amzn.to/J9A4bs
Tim Keller - http://sermons2.redeemer.com/category/sermon-hierarchy/mission/renewal/arts

Grace Like Rain

The weather was crazy today, and while it didn't exactly resemble the picture above, it was pretty darn close!  Tornadoes touching down, random splatters of rain, elementary school evacuations...  And I heard about it all, while I worked on the 19th floor of my office building in Rockville, MD.  Honestly, I looked outside and just saw GRAY EVERYTHING, so I didn't think much of it.  After all, I felt safe where I was.  All that changed when my boss told me to leave early because of the threatening weather.

I walked out of the lobby of my office building and was nearly lifted off of my feet by the wind, alone!  (No short jokes)  Sensing the danger, I rushed to the Metro.  After all, when there's trouble up high, it's best to get low.  (Who's got short jokes now?!)  Due to the relative safety of the Metro, I forgot about the weather.  Then I boarded the MARC train to head home...

My train left Union Station and stopped in the middle of the tracks with rain pouring down all around it.  I couldn't even see out the windows.  At this point, I was a bit concerned--didn't bring a jacket or umbrella.  After 20 minutes of sitting still and another 20 minutes of riding, I finally made it to my stop.  I got off and the rain was still pouring!  I ran to the underpass to get to the other side of the tracks, but when I got to the other side, the rain had stopped!  For what seemed like no reason at all, the rain stopped for the entire time until I reached my car!

On my brisk walk to the car, I paused--only mentally--to thank God for the gift of a dry commute.  That's when He hit me with the wildest truth:  The fact that the rain had paused had nothing to do with anything I had done.  I was totally helpless before the elements--no jacket, no umbrella, no roof.  It was all God.  You may be thinking, "Jamil, aren't you making too much out of this?"  Not at all.  Think about it:

I sat in my office building in relative comfort, totally unaware of the destruction that awaited me.  I was content to continue working in my "safe zone," but I was removed from that environment and confronted with the danger that I had only glanced at through a window.  Going into survival mode, I tried to fend for myself by going underground, only to find myself stuck on the tracks.  Then, when all hopes of remaining dry had dissipated, God stepped in and cleared the way for me.

In the same way, in the past I walked through life, unaware of the destruction that awaited me due to my sin.  I was content to continue living my sinful lifestyle until I was confronted with the danger of my apathy (thanks, Steven).  I tried to DO things to make it right, but came up short.  It wasn't until I got to a point, realizing that it's all GOD and not me, that I found a reason to smile and whisper three words that have become a favorite phrase:  "Thank you, Lord."

Paul, inspired by God, makes it clear:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

My sins aren't counted against me.  There's no debt to pay, no hurdle to get over, no mountain to climb--Jesus paved a flat pathway to God that I might fellowship with Him unhindered!  And He's done the same for you.  If you aren't already, I implore you:  "Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

God!  I love Your creation...you teach me so many things through it..."nothing in my hands I bring; only to the cross I cling..."

Unbridled Faithfulness

You know, after having a pretty terrible first few weeks of being back in the United States, God came through with a pretty amazing week...  Lately, I've been struggling with being back:
- "How do I fit back in around here?"
- "...all of my close friends seem to have moved away..."
- "Are there any ministry opportunities here for me?  Or did I leave them all in Mexico?"

I'll admit, for a while I was a true Israelite in my thinking!  "Why can't I just go back to Mexico?  It was so much better there!!!  I had food, friends, and ministry!!!!"  Lol!  Let me give some background information.  For some reason unbeknownst to me, my finances have been bled COMPLETELY dry.  It's really been a combination of me being in Mexico for 6 months and a crazy wedding week with the Holston's...  Either way, I ended up begging my dad for gas money so I could make it to my new job this week.  Now, we have reached the beginning of my story...

Worship was just finishing up at church as offering was being collected.  I realized that I hadn't yet tithed on the money that my dad had given me for gas.  I wrestled with the thought for a moment.  After all, I needed that money for gas and parking at work ($10 a day)!  If I gave that money to God, there'd be no way for me to take care of those financial responsibilities!  Still, I gave in.  After all, God is sovereign!  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, for crying out loud!  (Psalm 50:9-10)  $10 won't break HIS pockets!  Lol!  So I gave...

On Monday morning, I headed to the MARC train station around the corner from my house to purchase a MARC/Metro monthly pass for April.  I spent the last of my saved money to secure my travel for April and headed to work, unaware of what awaited me...  When I arrived at work, my boss said that the company would totally expense my MARC/Metro monthly pass (about $227)!!!!  Of course, I won't see the reimbursement for a few weeks, but it's great news!  Whereas most employees have their parking paid for, I'm getting my entire trip to work paid for!!!!  God is incredibly faithful, and His favor is amazing...

About midway through the workday, a lady entered the office to deliver new parking passes for the month of April.  The receptionist started handing them out to the employees who needed them and collected the passes for the month of March.  The thing is, the new passes were for a parking garage under the building.  So pretty much, no one would be using the March passes that were good for in front of the movie theater...  Guess what the receptionist decided to do?  


"Hey Jamil, why don't you use one of these parking passes for the rest of the week and give it back to me when you're done?"


WHAT?!!!!  While I'm at my desk, thinking of how to beg the movie theater people for parking validation so I can afford the cost, God is working behind the scenes to faithfully provide for my needs!  My God is indeed huge!

The end.

NOT!!!  It continues!  You see, back in my senior year of high school, I was looking for an easy "A" class and took web page design.  While in that class, I learned basic HTML!  Um, that's "computer geek" for "I learned to read and write the basic language of web pages."  While I'm at work this week, guess what my supervisor asks me:
"Hey Jamil, I know you studied architecture, but are you familiar with HTML?"


Not only is God faithful enough to plan that far in advance, but He's faithful enough to help me REMEMBER WHAT I LEARNED!!!!!!  Lol!  I'm done!  I can't even function at the moment!  I'm taking all of this Saturday just to reflect...thank you, Lord...I truly don't deserve You...

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 12

God has interesting ways of reminding you to do something...mine came at church when a friend said, "Jamil!  You're back!  ...you didn't update your blog!"  Hahaha!!!  It's true; I've been back in the U.S. for about 3.5 weeks now.  I have to say that my return was filled with everything that I DIDN'T expect!!!  I flew into Miami, Florida for my best friend's wedding, and I was greeted by.....no one.  Haha!  My best friend had car troubles on the way down and couldn't meet me at the airport as we had planned.  So I was in an unfamiliar city with no clue where to go and no working cell phone...  :-/  Aside from that, I made it back to the DC metro area in time for my Grandpa to pass away and my mom to collapse at work with heart problems.  Needless to say, I was truely in the "back to Mexico" crew at that time (last week).

Enough with the update on the States!  My last month in Mexico was simply amazing!  By God's grace, I was able to complete EVERYTHING I had set out to do!  The building plans for the community center are complete (as well as my neighbor's plans)!!!  Not only that, but all audio files for the online Bible school were made into podcasts and linked to iTunes!

As you may remember, I wrote in my last post that I intended to write letters to certain people/groups before leaving Mexico.  I must say, the teenaged group received my letter warmly!  A large part of that could be the soccer ball that accompanied it...either way, they received a letter jampacked with my testimony and the Gospel!  I hope that God uses it well!

Three unexpected events took place in my final two weeks in Mexico.  For one, I met a group of great friends who took me swimming at the base of a waterfall!  We went for an hour-long hike along a river, and then we broke for lunch when we made it to the waterfall.  Being there was too breathtaking to describe in words...so look at these pictures instead!  Haha! 

This picture above shows the lowest "pool."  Actually, there's another "pool" behind that giant rock on the left, which is where I was standing in the picture on the left!  In hindsight, swimming probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, since it was overcast and the water was freezing...I paid for it the next day...with a cold.  Haha!  It's fine; it was a Saturday, anyway!

The second event was a visit from a doctor friend of Lee's.  It turns out that the doctor graduated from Howard University!  He treated Lee and I to dinner at a restaurant I never expect to be able to afford...  Haha!  Seriously, though...this place had an amazing view!  From my seat, I was looking at all of Puerto Vallarta...the ocean, the city, and the mountains...and did I mention that the steak was an inch thick???  :-)

The final event, and probably the most impactful, was a surprise going away party that the community threw for me!  All of the mothers from the neighborhood that I had worked with during my stay in Mexico had gathered together their own money and set up a party for me!  That, in and of itself, is touching, enough...then throw in a host of kids and what you get is this picture:

Everyone had little going away messages for me, which they wrote on a soccer ball.  All of the messages can be summed up in this statement:  "REGRESA PRONTO!"  Literally translated, this means, "Return soon!"  It was truly heart-wrenching to leave them all...  I don't know when it will be, but I definitely want to return!  I love the people there too much not to...

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 11

Wow, somehow I've let an entire month go by without posting an update!  Please excuse my negligence.

Teaching Bible Verses before eating and English class.

The holidays wrapped up nicely and we started anew with the kids' program at the Community Center!  I walked all throughout the community, posting announcements about this semester of the program so that the parents would come sign their kids up before we ran out of available spaces.  That was an adventure in and of itself, as I got lost a few times...  It was a good thing that there were kids around to direct me!  (rereading that, I sound pretty pitiful...)  Haha!

Anyway, sign-ups took place and the program is underway!  I'm seeing growth in the program already:  new kids and more teachers (thank God!).  Additionally, there's a new program up and running for 2012!  Lee spoke with a few representatives from the Food Bank to get two distribution spots in our community (one at the center, and one at Miguel's church across the highway).  As you can see from the picture, there was a large response from the community!  The need is great, but God provides, proving that He is greater than our felt needs.  :-)

Speaking of new things in 2012, God is opening so many doors for me, giving me the opportunity to introduce Him to others!  I already shared about the letter I wrote to Paula concerning agape love vs. worldly love, but that seems to have just been the start!  I've been thinking about how quickly my time here is running out and how much I want to say to everyone I've met, and God has not failed to make a way for my desire to be fulfilled!  I'm going to start a "letter writing ministry."  That sounds really official, but what it really means is that I'm going to write letters to leave behind for certain people.  Lol!  It's amazing to me, though.  When I brought special stationary and envelopes with me, I intended to use them to write back to friends and family in the U.S. about my time here; however, I quickly discovered that the Mexican mail system is terrible and shouldn't be used...but now I see the TRUE purpose for me bringing them, and it is beautiful.

One open door that's presented itself has to do with the teens of the community.  They get a bad rep around here because many of them don't work, but will get into "mischief", instead.  When I look at them, they seem like the "forgotten ones" in the area.  Not many church outreaches that I've seen here seem to target that age group; it's either young kids and pre-teens, or parents.  I really do hope that there are teen outreaches going on and that I just haven't been aware of them...

Anyway, I've started playing soccer and volleyball with the teens in the evenings.  I'm hoping that a door will open for the Gospel!  The guys aren't really that bad.  They may cuss at each other and do stupid things, but they still seem to have a sense of right and wrong.  Case in point:  I let them borrow the program's volleyball the other day and it bust while they were playing.  Not only did they bring it back, but they had SEWN IT BACK TOGETHER, BETTER THAN BEFORE!  I have to admit, that small gesture really touched me.  It was like a sign of mutual respect.  They really remind me of myself when I was in high school (before Christ, people).  Haha!  God has put it on my heart to leave a letter for that group, too.  I think I'll enclose it in the packaging of a new volleyball.  Who knows what will happen from there.  However, I do hope to see them in heaven some day...

Checking construction work vs. building plans

The other open door has to do with my background in architecture.  As many of you know, I've been working on the plans for the community center here, trying to complete them before I leave so that Lee and Carol can move forward with the ministry, unhindered.  Well, we recently had some issues with our neighbors...  It's troubling because their kids attend our program!  Still, in the midst of the situation, the mother approaches me, asking if I could help them with the plans on a house they want to build!  At this point, I'm not staring at an open door--THIS IS A GATE!!!  Haha!  I met with her and her husband and discussed a few things.  Recently, I've been working on the community center plans by day, and my neighbor's house by night (feels like the architecture studio at Howard University all over again).  They've given me full design freedom!!!  Literally, one of my designs will be built in Mexico!!!  Only God could accomplish that!  Hopefully, God will also accomplish peace between us as I develop the building plans/design for them!  I plan to hand them their plans with a letter, as well.

I'm really excited to see what my final month here will bring!  I'm hoping it will be my best one, yet!  Still, I have no clue what awaits me.  Alas, vamos a ver...  ("We'll see...")

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 10

It's Christmas 2011...and I have OFFICIALLY had the Mexican experience!  Lol!  That's thanks to a guy named Miguel.  I've mentioned him before, but he's the guy that does the construction work at the center where I live.  I alternate between working with him and working on the architecture plans.  Anyway, when he found out that I had no plans for Christmas (except staying in my room), he invited me to go on his church's Christmas retreat!  (two things:  Miguel is also a pastor, and this is the first time I've EVER heard of a Christmas retreat!)

So on Christmas Eve at around 5:30pm, I walked to his house/church.  He said we were going to travel to a town called "Las Palmas" ("The Palms").  When Miguel had invited me, he had paused to calculate space for the trip.  Thinking like the American I am, I assumed that we were going to carpool.  After all, not many people have cars here.  Well...I was kind of right...we did carpool...13 people in an old pickup truck!!!  Lol! 
The first part of my Mexican experience completed:  Riding in the back of a pickup, totally crammed for space.

We arrived to Las Palmas and I was freezing!  I know winters here aren't the same as Maryland, but imagine a Fall night while traveling 60+mph in the back of a pickup!  We went into the church building there, but it's still under construction...so no roof.  Lol!  It didn't matter!  We carried on a church service anyway; complete with songs that I tried my best to keep up on...  Lol!  The message walked us through the story of salvation (total depravity, enter: Jesus, salvation opportunity).  It was definitely hard-hitting!  After the message, there was a great skit on loving God by touching the lives of others.  The food wasn't ready at that time, and everyone was cold, so we did kids' songs to keep warm...like "Father Abraham"!  Lol! 

Then we went outside for PINATAS!!!  I was content to watch the younger kids and teens whack away at the candy filled shapes, so I sat with Miguel and watched.  (on a side note:  the first pinata was a large Tinker Bell shaped one...something about kids beating a woman-shaped pinata with a stick doesn't seem right to me...I just can't put my finger on it...)  :-P  Then Ade, the young lady who was organizing this part of the night came and pulled me over to the pinata and said it was my turn!  Then she blindfolded me and everyone separated!  Don't worry, I wasn't hitting the Tinker Bell pinata!  Lol!  I just kept swinging as people around me screamed, "Ya!  Ya!  Ya!"  My mistake...when they say "Ya!" it sounds like "yeah," so I thought they were cheering me on, like in sports...but "ya" is used to mean "already, done, stop"...heh-heh...
The second part of my Mexican experience completed:  Beating down my first pinata.

Finally, it was time for FOOD!!!!  And, man, was there PLENTY to eat!  Christian people here are so open to sharing...  Three churches had gathered together, and each brought food to share for a feast.  I sat with the other men as the women made themselves busy with preparing tables and passing out food/drinks.  I ate too much...  Lol!  1 tomale, 2 tacos, and a plate of rice and pork.  Now, there weren't any utensils given to eat...just a stack of tortillas...  :-)
The third part of my Mexican experience completed:  Eating rice and pork by tearing tortillas and grabbing it!

I'll admit, I failed hard at that eating style for a bit...but I was able to catch on quickly by watching Miguel's technique!  Lol!  And for those of you who think, "Why couldn't you just pick up the rice and pork with your hands?"  The pork was in a sea of sauce and the rice was Mexican style--coated in spices and flavor--it would have been completely messy if I had picked it up!

We gathered around a campfire and told jokes for the next hour, or so (I mainly listened as I tended to the fire--Camp Sonshine training!).  Ade joked that if someone's joke was bad, I was going to throw them into the fire!  Lol!  As I looked around, I realized that God had really answered my prayer...it was around 1am on Christmas morning...and I wasn't alone on Christmas.  I had a large family of believers around me who were all excited about spending Christmas together!  Praise God!  :-) 

We finished for the night and loaded up for the return trip.  Somehow, I fell asleep on the way back, while leaning against the tailgate...(thanks for the safety, God).  :-)  I made it back to my room around 3:30am, and I can honestly say that my heart was, and still is, full of joy!  Feliz Navidad!

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 9

My goodness!  The past few weeks have been busy!  We all know how the holiday-packed month of December can get busy in the U.S., but who knew it'd be just as busy in Mexico?!  Well, it's been busy here for a few different reasons....

The first is:  CAMP SONSHINE!!!!  For those who don't know, Camp Sonshine is a summer day camp ministry based out of Silver Spring, MD.  There is also another one in Roca, Nebraska.  In addition to these ministries in the States, there is Camp Sonshine International!  There are Camp Sonshine camps all over the world, in places like South Africa, China, Australia, and of course, MEXICO!!!  Actually, Camp Sonshine International is how I got hooked up with the missionaries where I am currently.

A team of 12 people arrived for Camp Sonshine International last week!  I was more than happy to see them (and not just because I had already worked with most of them).  We put on a 5-day camp for the kids in Mezcales, full of games, crafts, songs, skits and Bible discovery time!  I can honestly say that the kids had a BLAST!!!  (after all...they're still talking about it and asking when everyone is coming back)  Good times, indeed!

I've already noticed a change in some of the kids who came to camp.  A lot of the older kids seem to have more confidence.  Perhaps it's due to Whiley's explanation of how God values them each individually...or Havilah's songs as they traveled from activity to activity...or dancing with Trisha without a care for who saw...or just being around older males who show love freely like Daniel and Corey...  Whatever the case may be, God truly used the counselors in the lives of the kids!

Some of the smaller kids are smiling more, where before they would just hide or push joy away from their expressions.  One kid in particular, Dulce, definitely benefited from being around Brenna!   (that isn't Dulce in the picture...I didn't have a picture of the two of them together)  Anyway, my point is that Dulce smiles a lot more now, adding to the English meaning of her name:  Sweet.

While in Mezcales, we also helped the missionaries with various construction needs for the community center.  We used a pulley system to hoist sand, gravel, and bricks to the roof of the building.  The repeated phrase became "20 more buckets..."  Lol!  

After camp ended in Mezcales, the team and I headed to Arroyo Seco to meet up with Artemio Rosas and his family.  We had met Artemio back in February on our first trip in San Pancho.  He has a surfing ministry in Arroyo Seco (the guy is a pro surfer!!!), so we put on a 90 minute camp session for the kids there.  Afterward, I can honestly say that the entire team wished we had more time to spend with the kids there!  Who knows...maybe Arroyo Seco can be added to the CSI: Mexico trip...(Jeff, I hope you're reading this).  Lol!  Plus, it's always fun when I get to hang out with Artemio's youngest--my lil buddy, Israel!

Camp Sonshine left last weekend amidst tears and smiles (from both the kids and the counselors).  Right afterward, a clinical nurse from the U.S. arrived to give a two-day presentation on the importance of health and personal hygiene for the kids. I became "Captain Germ" as I carried spray bottles of colored water and sprayed the hands of the kids, forcing them to wash them clean.  Lol!

Now, as the program is winding down for the end of the year, we're gearing up for the end of the year Christmas party!  It'll be my first Christmas party with pinatas!  Lol!  That's coming up on Tuesday, and we've received many donations to give to the kids as gifts!  I'm definitely looking forward to partying with the kids and using the opportunity to share about Christ's birth.  Hopefully my Spanish will hold up...heh-heh...

Speaking of opportunities, I was talking with a group of the older girls (middle school age) after the program last Tuesday.  One of them kept going on and on about how she really loves this guy, so I asked her what "love" is.  Perfect segue, because after she gave a very emotion-filled response, she asked me what I think "love" is!  ...honestly...my Spanish failed me at that exact moment...  Perfect timing, right?  Though I tried to explain love from a Scriptural standpoint...I just lacked the vocabulary.  The good thing is that where I suffered in speaking the language in school, I excelled in writing!  So I've written down my thoughts on the subject and plan to give it to her when I see her next.  I hope this gives her a clearer view of Christ and love, in general!  Please continue to pray for opportunities to spiritually feed the people here!  Camp Sonshine shook up some stuff, and I'm excited to see what falls into place!

Consistency

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 8

Last Saturday I woke up early (6am) and went with Jennifer's husband, Ed, to their church called "La Fuente."  We spent a couple hours making sandwiches and packing them into trucks, then we headed out to different locations to outreach to the community.  I'm a little familiar with San Vicente, which is where one group went; however, my group headed to Punta de Mita.  The town is pretty small; comparable to Mezcales in many ways.  We set up on a basketball court and the kids started to come.  Other Americans that attend the church arrived to help hand out food, so I didn't have much to do except hang out with the kids.  Still, I hung back, feeling the weight of the language barrier and lacking confidence in my Spanish skills...

Enter:  Carmelo.  This guy is amazing!  I'd definitely recommend him as a camp counselor if they had those here!  Lol!  He was coming up with games and races on the spot, and the kids love him!  The guy has a ton of energy!  It was refreshing to see!  I shared a game with him, and all of a sudden, all of the kids wanted to play!  ...and they were soon beating me at it...  Lol!  The rest of the outreach went well:  the kids ate, danced to Hillsong, and then broke up into different age groups to be taught from the Bible (there was a group for the parents, too).

I think one of the more interesting things that happened was my conversation with one of the American women who had come to serve.  She was telling me about her experience with two of the kids that usually come:  Brian and his sister, Wendy.  She said that they first met the two siblings selling food on the street.  Curious why they were working instead of their parents, she went with them back to their home.  That's where she saw it:  The mother of the two children was laying in bed with several knife wounds!  It turns out that the woman's ex-husband had stabbed her multiple times and left her for dead!  Still, knowing that money was tight, the mother skipped the hospital visit and forced herself to cook food each day in hopes that enough money would be made to care for her children!  After hearing about this, the church, La Fuente, helped raise the money for her needed surgery.  Now, she's doing much better!

The story amazed me!  That's when the American storyteller woman said, "And that's not all!  You wanna know what surprised me the most?"  I was shocked to think there was more!  Considering what I'd heard so far, I braced myself.  She continued, "Sometimes Brian goes to sleep early to escape his hunger over missed dinner!"  That situation sounded familiar to me, so I continued to brace myself...

After a moment, I realized that she had already said what she had to say.  My first thoughts were, "You've gotta be kidding me!  A woman lays dying in bed and you're surprised by a situation that sometimes makes her son go to bed hungry?!"

It hit me then.  All of the Americans I've met here in Mexico so far are in the "50+ club."  You see, a few weeks back Jennifer looked at me and said, "I have a hard time relating to the kids; I mean, we're so different."  I thought she meant the age gap, but that didn't make sense to me because I see how she interacts with the kids--they love her!  Now I understand what she meant.  It's not the age gap; it's because the kids are poor.

I realized that the older Americans I've met at La Fuente aren't here on extended missions trips like me.  They retired to Mexico and are living off of their savings.  Even the American storyteller woman is retired.  She joked with me later that her husband hates to fly and driving is dangerous, so they booked a cruise instead to travel to the Mexican West Coast!  "Sure it was a couple hundred dollars more, but what can you do?" she'd said as she laughed.  I didn't really get the joke, so I just smiled...

I don't fault these older Americans for having money.  It's just that the more I spend time with the kids here, and the more I read Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, the more I realize how affluent America is.  I'm starting to think that God brought me here because I can understand poverty.  No, I've never gone hungry for days, and yes, I own a car which makes me richer than a large portion of the world;  however, in the context of America, I've experienced some of the things they have:  choosing to go to bed early in hopes of rationing my food, and owning very little.  By their standards I'm well off, but in America I'm a candidate for welfare and in debt for school loans!  Lol!  [sigh]...the affluence of America is astounding...

God has used many of my life's circumstances to help me relate to the poor; for example, my work with Sunshine Gospel Ministries on the southside of Chicago (speaking of which, congrats on the wedding, Dave!).  Hopefully, I'll be able to use that for His glory in the furtherance of the Gospel!  I'll get opportunities for sure, like this coming Saturday!  La Fuente is playing Soul Surfer outside in the main plaza of Bucerias, and I'm organizing a trip with my kids from the English classes.  Please pray for open doors!  (hmm, something about this feels strangely familiar to my days working in youth ministry...)

After the outreach ended, Ed dropped me off back at the entrance to my community.  As I walked back to where I stay, I saw Neyda on the main dirt road, selling items that she and her daughters had knitted.  I smiled and decided to sit with them for a few hours.

[excerpted from my journal--thanks for telling me to keep one, Patrick Esdelle!]

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 7

If you have raced with men on foot
   and they have worn you out,
   how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
   how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? 

- Jeremiah 12:5

An older brother in the faith named Brian shared this verse with me a few years ago.  I so needed it today.  Following last week's English class at the program that went really well, I came in today really excited about class!  I had my lesson plan all set out!  The sentences I had set out for the kids to translate were all verses from the Bible!

After class...so things were added and subtracted from the original, but you get the gist.

If you could have measured my excitement for the opportunity, it would have been a number with infinite digits!  Not only that, but today we started our program memory verse with the kids:

So with all of this Biblical focus, why wouldn't I expect a little difficulty?  It sure came.  It wasn't in the form of physical harm or heretical babbling.  No.  It came in the form of preteen boys.  Lol!  They came for the first time today and sat in my class.  As if on instinct, all of the girls in the class, who are normally my best students, gravitated toward them.  It didn't take me by surprise--I half-expected it.  I continued with class, trying my best to hold their attention.  Then the younger boys, wanting to be with the "in crowd," started talking with the preteen boys and girls.  Right as that happened, two teenage boys walked up to the iron gate and started talking with the "disrupting group"!  Completely missing the opportunity to reach out to the two guys I've never met, I told them that we were in the middle of class and asked them to leave...smh...  Sometimes my short-sightedness is just down right comical to me...it's like watching a scary movie and shouting out at all of the obvious parts.  Oh, but hindsight is always 20/20...

The epilogue of the story:  I've dealt with classroom disruption before...but that was when I had the English language to fall back on!  Trying to calm a class of kids and point them to the Word, all while speaking Spanish, is completely EXHAUSTING!!!  I think what bothered me the most was that I wasn't sure they fully grasped the concepts written on the board.

The thing is that this situation shouldn't have tired me the way that it did.  Don't get me wrong; it was a workout!  Lol!  Still, it's not like God hasn't gifted me to work with children.  After the program ended, I didn't have the energy to think about the next task I had to do, and I found myself wondering around repeating the program's memory verse to myself; more so clinging to it than reminding myself.  That's when the verse in Jeremiah came to mind.  Indeed, if running with people is wearing me out, then how will I compete with horses?  Likewise, if I'm stumbled when I'm only facing frustrations and tiring situations, then how will I fare when confronted with real persecution?  I definitely haven't reached the pinnacle of where God wants to take me!  I guess it's back to "business as usual"--time to get alone with my Dad.  After all, even if the kids didn't hear a single word I spoke, the verses on the board ended up written down in their notebooks.  And God's Word DOESN'T return void.  Haha, indeed...  :-)

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 6

God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy.  She didn't like the thought of Timmy walking to his first-grade class unaccompanied.  But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother.  "Besides," he explained, "I can walk with a friend."  So she did her best to stay calm, quoting the Twenty-third Psalm to him every morning:  "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..."

One day she came up with an idea.  She asked a neighbor to follow Timmy to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, lest he notice her.  The neighbor was happy to oblige.  She took her toddler on morning walks anyway.

After several days Timmy's little friend noticed the lady and the child.

"Do you know who that woman is who follows us to school?"

"Sure," Timmy answered.  "That's Shirley Goodnest and her daughter Marcy."

"Who?"

"My mom reads about them every day in the Twenty-third Psalm.  She says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life.'  Guess I'll have to get used to them."

You will, too.  God never sends you out alone.
[excerpt from Max Lucado's book entitled Fearless]

 It's Day 7 of the month of October, and this passage from Max Lucado's book really spoke volumes to me; not simply because I'm "on the mission field", but because I'm kind of in isolation for the duration of October.  Lee has journeyed back to the States to pick up his wife, Carol, and to settle some ministry business.  They will return in November.  So this marks my first full week here by myself.  And boy, has it been interesting!

Knowing the circumstances and potential dangers here hasn't really helped much.  My first night alone, I found myself doing a military-like sweep through the building with two large knives after hearing a strange popping noise.  Later, I found out that the lid had popped off the top of a tupperware container in the refrigerator...

What has generated such random fear in me?  I was writing a dear friend in an e-mail earlier saying that I'm not used to feeling fear for my personal safety.  After all, I lived in DC for 5 years!  Lol!  I thought I had adapted to a lifestyle of trusting God for what may happen to my physical body.  I mean, my fears USUALLY revolve around finances, future circumstances, the safety of others, etc.

The other day I was editing video on my computer when I caught a glimpse of a shady figure over my left shoulder.  Immediately, a jolt went straight to my chest as I turned to face it as my heart raced!  What I saw was...nothing...nothing was there.  This is definitely something I'm not used to and something that I would really like prayer over.

God has used many things to encourage me, though!  I've started playing music more often, which has been a great weapon against the idle mind.  God is definitely doing something because the random fear is less frequent.  After all, "Shirley Goodnest and Marcy will follow me all the days of my life"!  Lol!  It's a good reminder from Him that I'm never alone.  Hmm, indeed!  :-)

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 5

Welcome to my first post from Mexico!!!  I have Internet!  I’ve been in Mexico for 5 days now and it’s been WORK!  Lol!  I haven’t done much architecture for the building, but I have the plans.  I’ve also been working with the children and teaching them English on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The main thing that I’ve been doing is uploading videos onto sites like youtube and vimeo for Vida Internacional.  The videos are for the free Bible Institute that is offered for Spanish-speaking people.  There are a LOT of videos and they have to be edited before I can put them online.

For those who know me, I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a tech wiz!  Still, my limited knowledge has been more than enough for the work (only by God’s grace).  That’s true, both in the work and in the opposition…

I told you before about the opposition rising up in Mezcales (where I am).  It turns out that it is a lot worse than I first thought.  The missionary, Lee, befriended this guy who was helping him to perfect his knowledge of Spanish.  The guy, as Lee puts it, is a genius with words!  Not only that, but he has a lot of Bible knowledge—able to quote full chapters of Scripture.  The sad thing is that he is exactly what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:15-16—a wolf masquerading as a sheep.

He’s the one that was tapping Lee’s phones.  Not only that, but his daughters work for Telmex—the equivalent of Comcast or Verizon in Mexico, offering both phone and Internet services.  They investigate the customers of Telmex for security purposes, and they are on board with what their father is doing.  Technology is crazy these days...to be able to hack someone's webcam so that you can see into their room is something that I wouldn't even think to do!

So, back to my limited tech knowledge, God has been totally empowering me to do online battle against all types of spyware, trojans, and other malware!  It’s only through Him that I could summon the knowledge I’ve used, which was previously unknown to, or forgotten by, me!

Still, the work has been stressful, and the threats have been forcing anxiety on both Lee and I.  He and I sat a minute ago after today’s English lesson ended and we talked about the dangers in Mexico.  He asked if I’d heard about any of those dangers, to which I replied that I only knew what my mom kept reminding me about.  Lol!  He was super surprised:  “You don’t watch the news?!”  Haha!  The truth is that I don’t.  I’ve found that watching the news only succeeds in spreading fear and worry.  Learning about drug cartel murders would only help me to stay away from Mexico—the very place that God has called me to!  

Anyway, I’m resolved to stay and work hard!  :-)  After all, as Max Lucado, referencing Matthew 8:23-27, puts it, “It’s not the absence of storms that sets us apart.  It’s whom we discover in the storm:  an unstirred Christ” (Fearless, pg. 8).  I’ve taken comfort in the song below over the past day and a half…especially the last part:  “You make all things work together for my good.”  A wonderful reminder, indeed.

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 4

Two weeks and counting!  This is quite possibly my last blog post this side of the American border.  I felt compelled to do this post because of two big "things" concerning the trip (I don't know how else to describe them, except to call them "things").  The first one has to do with finances.  I have reached a grand total of a $2,050!!!!  Not only that, but the pastor of Immanuel's Church approached me today as I was walking out of the door.  He told me to come see him next Tuesday, Sept. 6th, and let him know how much has been raised toward the total of $2,400.  The next part is the kicker:  He said that the church will cover whatever amount isn't raised at that time!!!  So amazing...

The second big thing is kind of a combination of two events.  One is that Dr. Jennifer, who has been organizing my stay and information for Mexico, recently broke her arm.  She needs medical attention and her insurance covers American health...so she would need to be in the States. That means that my trip organization will fall to the Short's at the last minute.

The other event is that I just got off the phone with Carol Short.  I spent time with her and her husband, Lee, last time I was in Mexico.  They are the two missionaries that I'm going to join on this return trip.  She informed me that she is currently in Texas, while Lee is still at work in Mexico (Mezcales, to be exact).  The reason she called is because Lee has gotten the attention of someone pretty high up on the totem pole in Mezcales.  Whoever that person is, he doesn't like the work that is being done and is keeping a close eye on Lee's actions--even to the point of monitoring Lee's phone calls.  Lee is still carrying on "business as usual," though.  They called me to ask that I pray about it some more to see if I still want to come serve there.

I will continue to pray, but from what I can see at the moment, I'm still on the same path.  Even though there seems to be mounting opposition to the work there, I'm even more motivated to go!  It almost seems as though the Lord has been preparing me for this decision all year; as much as He has impressed upon me the notion that fear shouldn't drive me.  Not only that, but the provision is THERE!  God is doing something...and something is going to happen...  The adventure is in seeing what that something is!!!

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 3

[Narrator's Voice]:  "When we last left our hero, he had just returned from a missions trip to Mexico that absolutely touched his heart.  He resolved to continue seeking the Lord about his future as he finished out his year-long internship with the fabulous Camp Sonshine.  We rejoin him now, 6 months later..."

Hey everyone!  So I'm going back to Mexico!  Short story, huh?  Well, to shorten it even more, I'm going back for about 5 1/2 months--leaving in September and returning in February.  The whole situation hasn't been the easiest to undergo, but it has been extremely encouraging!  I began raising support in early June so that I could reach a goal of $2,400 that would pay for my travel, food and stay in Mexico.  For a LONG time, I received nothing and doubts crept into my mind:  "Did you really hear from God?"  "Maybe your parents were right--get a REAL job!"  "Just messing up, again, Jamil..."

Midway through July, I realized that the most I had done to show faith in God about Mexico was to tell others I was going.  I thought back to the last time I went and noticed that God brought me support AFTER I had taken a step of faith by paying for a plane ticket out of pocket.  So I decided to take another step of faith by buying my plane ticket with no foreseeable support in sight.  THE VERY NEXT DAY AT CAMP, I RECEIVED MY FIRST MONETARY SUPPORT!!!  One of my friend's 5th grade campers heard I was going and donated $1 to the cause (I love that boy!).  Truly, it touched me and I definitely didn't add that to the "ice cream shack fund."  Lol!

One day later, I heard that my fellow interns were doing a fundraiser for me all throughout camp!  The deal was that if $500 was reached, Dan, the blond below, would shave his beard.  If $1,000 was reached, Brandon, the thickly bearded one below, would shave his.  And if $1,500 was reached, Dan would cut his long blond hair.

Well, by Friday of last week (7/29), $1,000 had been raised!!!  I'm sad to be able to say that, only because Brandon loves his beard...  Welp!  Here are the after shots!!!

                            
Not only that, but as of today, 8/2, they have raised a little over $1,600!!!!  I'm also a little sad to say that because Dan loves his long hair...  It will be cut this week...and what a fundraiser!!!  Is there anyone wondering why they raised OVER $1,500?  Well, apparently my camp director, Nathean, caught the fever and said that if we raise the entire $2,400 by Friday, he will shave the curly locks on his head!!!  (for those who don't know, Nathean is the guy in the above photo with Brandon)

I'm feeling so in awe these days...  Not only did God set it up so that I would be TOTALLY taken care of, but He set it up in such a way that I can tangibly FEEL the love and support of the Body of Christ!  Seeing Dan and Brandon give some of what they hold dear just to help me get to Mexico made me a little "misty."  To have campers come up to me during the camp day and give me money for the trip is humbling.  Having the main office workers help coordinate the funds and send e-mails is amazing.  I haven't felt THIS cared for since the surprise birthday party I received on my 22nd birthday.  Oh, Lord...You rock!  Haha...pun...  Please continue to pray for the trip, the kids, the work, and my preparation in the coming days and weeks.  I have NO clue where God is taking me on this one...well...except TO MEXICO!!!!  ;-)

A Trip in Missions, Pt. 2

I'm BACK!!!  Whew, what an adventure!!!  We didn't even get a chance to ease into our own personal epic, but we were met with issues the morning we left!  I was scheduled to leave Thursday at noon with 3 other team members; however, when we arrived at BWI Airport, we ran into ticket trouble and Whiley, one of the team members, wasn't able to get on the plane.  We had to leave without her, and ended up spending our entire layover in Dallas trying to get her to Mexico!  It was pretty stressful, especially for Daniel--her boyfriend who was with me on the plane.  It worked out and she was able to join us on Saturday, when the rest of the team arrived.

What was crazy was that we found encouragement every step of the way to Mexico.  First, I was passing through security and was stopped to have my bag searched.  The guy saw my bag full of Spanish tracts and was so excited and exhorted me to be faithful!  Then, Daniel and I ended up sitting next to a girl named Brittany, who was just returning to the States from a 10-month missions trip to Nicaragua!  Not only that, but the flight attendants would stop their work to talk with us when they found out we were going to do the work of the Lord!

Since Daniel and I arrived to Mexico 2 days ahead of the team, we spent a day promoting the camp we would be holding.  It was amazing!!!  We walked around, making balloon hats for the kids and telling them about camp, and they started following us around!  Before we knew it, we had a group of about 15 kids walking around with us, promoting the camp!  After promoting, we played some soccer with the kids....and got beat so badly....but it was fun!!!

Camp in Mezcales was a full day of work!  The kids would either go to school in the morning or the afternoon, so we'd have two camps--a morning session and an afternoon session.  During camp, we'd feed the kids, have craft time, live worship songs in Spanish, skits, sports, and a host of activities!  So you can imagine how tired we were at the end of the day!

While we worked with the kids, other members of our team did work projects for the community.  One of the men in the community had an accident at work, severely burning his hand, so he couldn't work.  We were able to give him a finished cement floor for his kitchen, so that he and his family wouldn't have to cook on a dirt floor!  Also, we were able to help finish the community center that we were sleeping and holding camp in.  I was even able to do some stucco work on the outside!!!

So many doors opened up for our team while we were in Mezcales!  For one, we were able to hold a full camp session in the school!  That was great because a lot of the kids that went to school in the morning didn't come to the camp in the afternoon.  Then, we held a parent night at the community center to let them see what their kids had been doing at camp.  THE MAYOR came out to the parent night to speak for a bit and hear what Lee Short (the full-time missionary that hosted us) had to say about the camp.  We were able to share the Lord with so many people while we were in Mezcales!!!

One of my biggest highlights of Mezcales was my experience with Cristian.  He is a 15-year-old guy who played soccer with us our first night there.  We continued to invite him out to camp each day, but he would always give us some excuse for why he couldn't come.  Then, on the next to last day of camp, he came out!  We spoke for a while and hung out, and then he returned the next day for the last day of camp, BRINGING FRIENDS WITH HIM!!!!  I left him with a Spanish Bible and some of the tracts that we gave all of the kids.

Camp in San Pancho was pretty similar to camp in Mezcales, except for two key differences:
1) There was only one camp per day in the afternoon
2) The camp was outside in the main city square

That second point was especially important to note, since San Pancho is more of a tourist location.  We actually met two Americans, while we were singing worship songs to begin our first day!  The guy said that God had led him to go walking in search of worship...and he found us!  Camp was amazing, and each day would end with a campfire on the beach.  At one of the campfires, we witnessed the release of recently hatched sea turtles into the sea!!!  God truly is amazing and showed Himself faithful throughout the whole trip!  There's so much more that could be said, but I'll end this post by quoting one of the team devotionals from the trip:
"Be WILLING to go out on a limb with God...In order to follow God wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your tendency to play it safe."

A Trip in Missions

I'M GOING TO MEXICO!!!!!!  Lol!  A good amount of you reading this already know this, but I'm still excited to say it!  I leave this coming Thursday (Feb. 17th) at noon.  My team and I are going to Mezcales in Mexico to run a camp for about 80 kids.  As if sharing Christ's love with kids weren't exciting enough, the camp will be held out in the open air of the main city square!  Talk about opportunity!  We'll also be doing some community building (building projects, counseling, etc).  I'll get back on Monday, February 28th.

January was truly a month of adventure.  On January 4th, I found out that I had been accepted to go on this missions trip to Mexico with Camp Sonshine International, and was tasked with raising $800 in support by February.  Feeling very confident that this is the path that God desires for me to walk, I paid the $800 from my own finances--devastating my bank account in the process!  Oh, but God is SO faithful!  Since then, my trip has been completely paid for by my brothers and sisters in Christ!  Their sacrificial giving has blessed me in ways that they'll never truly be able to know.  Just check out a message I received with a donation:

"Jamil,
I hope God blesses you in Mexico and that you will do the work of the Lord there.  I pray you be safe and God bless."

Not only that, but I went into work one day and found this note in my mailbox (along with $247):

"Dear Jamil--
A friend and I have noticed your hard work and dedication to do the Lord's work in your life.  We have also heard that you are attending C.S.I.: Mexico and that you could use some funds to get you there.  Please use the enclosed money for the trip.  We pray that you would impact the lives of kids in Mexico!  We're praying for you and for your team!  Have fun and be safe!!
Love,
Your Friends!"

With all of this prayer and encouragement behind me, and God going ahead of me, I can't help but be excited about this trip!!!  I'm not going to pretend that preparations have been all daisies and rainbows, though.  January was an extremely trying month....  Indeed, God was so sovereign when He gave me James 1:2-3 and Psalm 103:5 as theme verses for the year.  Lol!  In the words of the psalmist from Psalm 73, "My foot had almost slipped..."  Then, through His perfect timing, God led me to finish my study of the book of Acts, reading about Paul's journey to Rome.

He faced threats from soldiers, wind, a shipwreck, a viper, etc; yet, he persevered in the Lord, arriving to a wonderful ministry opportunity in Rome (preaching the Gospel under guard, and waiting to appear before Caesar).  No doubt, the attacks I've faced have meant to distract and discourage me from the Lord's work; instead, I've persevered, by God's grace!  My jaw injuries, my emotional distress, family health issues...all were meant to do harm, yet God has used them for good (Genesis 50:20).  I can only wait with anticipation as to what awaits me in my "Rome"!

I'll be "off the grid" while I'm in Mexico, so no one will hear from me until I return.  As you pray for me, please keep my mom lifted...she's been watching the news...  She's seen that upwards of 15 people have died in Mexico recently from violence, and now she's completely worried and has tried to dissuade me from leaving.  All that worry isn't good for her heart (she's had heart disease since before I was born, and now she's developing kidney failure because of her heart medicine).  I look forward to posting photos, videos, and much more upon my return!  Until then, take care and be blessed!

"Missions is very simple.  There are only two ministries in missions.  You're either called to go down into the well, or you're called to hold the rope for those who go down.  Either way, there should be scars on your hands."  --Paul Washer

A Modern Day Stephen

Well, it's currently 5:30am on Wednesday, and I'm awake.  Lol!  For those who don't know, being up this early is strange for me; especially since I don't usually wake up until 7:30am for work.  That's on a usual day, but today...well, I just had quite the encouraging dream, and I just HAVE to share it!

There was a conference being held in a well-known hotel, and everyone who was anyone attended.  During this conference, a banquet was held in the main ballroom.  The room was huge, with many tables and chairs--there were at least 100 people at the banquet, easily.  All the conference attendees were quiet, listening to the main speaker for the event as he spoke about the main focus of the conference--which everyone would quickly forget as soon as the conference ended, as people normally do for those sorts of things.  The main speaker finished his piece and, motioning to the waiting staff, invited the conference-goers to, "Dig in!"

All of the guests were eating and enjoying themselves as the hotel staff served them by clearing tables and making sure that their beverages stayed full.  The staff did such a good job that the guests didn't even notice they were there!  Due to the good time that the guests were having, the banquet dragged on, and the staff faithfully stayed to serve; however, unknown to the hotel's guests, the staff members that were serving had already pulled a double shift and were getting tired.  Outside of the banquet hall, two staff members leaned into a corner and began to go to sleep.

At that moment, one of the waiters walked out of the banquet hall (no names are given at this point, but we'll call this one Stephen).  Spotting his two co-workers, Stephen approached them and woke them.  Startled, one said, "Ah!  ...oh...it's you, Stephen.  Just let me get a few minutes to sleep.  I've been working all day and I'm tired."  Stephen replied, "I understand, bro, but remember Who we represent!  Let's be found diligent in our work and faithful in our service to Him!  C'mon guys, let's get back to work."  So the three of them re-entered the banquet hall.

They were greeted with three angry faces.  "While you guys were out there slacking off, we've run out of water!" said one of the men.  "What type of sham is this hotel running?!"  Realizing that it was the staff members with him that were in charge of beverages, Stephen quickly apologized and started to help his co-laborers refill the beverage station.  However, due to exhaustion, one of the staff members dropped the container of water in mid-lift, spilling its contents all over the floor.  At that moment, all talking in the banquet hall ceased, and a sea of upset and indignant faces focused on the "incompetent staff member" who had disturbed the peace of their conference.

The conference speaker arose out of his seat and marched dutifully to the scene of the incident, and proceeded to shout at the embarrassed staff member!  The same three men from earlier joined in, adding in side comments about how lazy the staff member was.  Stephen looked up from the beverage table and quickly got the crowd's attention with a loud "EXCUSE ME!"  Once again, the banquet hall was silent, as all eyes focused on Stephen.  Then Stephen began to speak:

"We apologize for disrupting the status quo of your banquet.  We have been working hard for the past 24 hrs. and many of us have grown tired.  Still, we have fought hard to uphold the basic tenants of what we believe!"  As he said this, he motioned to a banner on the wall that displayed the Bible passage:  Psalm 119:1-9.  Stephen continued, explaining the Scripture reference.  From there, he shared the Gospel with the entire room.  During the whole time, everyone present was speechless and attentive to him.  Stephen finished by asking the question, "So what will you do with what I have told you?"  Then, he walked over to his fallen co-laborer, helped him up, refilled the beverage station, and went about his duties.  The banquet ended shortly after, as the guests pondered deeply Stephen's words.  The conference leaders immediately went to the hotel manager to have Stephen fired for speaking to them in such a manner.  Stephen didn't care, for he was happy to have been given the opportunity to stand in the gap, reaching souls for Christ.

 I'm pretty sure you can easily see why this encouraged me!  Just like the Stephen in Acts 6-7, the Stephen in my dream would have had to be spending time in good fellowship with the Lord to show such a balance of boldness and restraint.  So, in the spirit of Stephen from my dream, what will you do with what I have told you?  What will I do?  Let us be a people who seizes the opportunities God gives us to glorify Him!  Let us praise Him with blameless service on the job!  Let us worship Him with our time throughout our days--not just in the mornings or at night!  Let us honor Him by making Him known to the nations--starting with those closest to us!  AMEN!

Lyrically Inclined

I absolutely LOVE the word-smithing skill known as lyricism!  Those who know me know that I love listening to/writing creative song/poem lyrics!  If I had to pick my top two favorite poems, I'd pick the two below.  Enjoy!

Whose Plans???

Before I begin, let me wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!!!  (assuming that people will read this...maybe?  Lol!)  I've been really thinking about 2010 lately; I couldn't say that it was my most favorite year, but it was ok.  At church yesterday, I was with the Youth Ministry like usual, helping out and putting the middle schoolers in head-locks (j/k).  The middle school ministry leader asked a question:  "What is one bad thing from 2010, one good thing from 2010, and what would you like to do differently in 2011?"  He wanted everyone to answer--not just the kids.  I really got to thinking...

2010 was characterized by one truth, and that truth is my "bad thing from 2010":  NOT A SINGLE THING THAT I PLANNED WENT THE WAY THAT I EXPECTED OR HOPED!!!  Lol!  Seriously, though.  I entered into my final Spring semester of college and expected to graduate with no issues (after all, I hadn't had any issue before my senior year).  Instead, I ended up having to "run a marathon" just to walk across the stage!  I almost didn't graduate and the stress from my professors (and myself) was crucially heavy!  But I did graduate with a Bachelors in Architecture (truly by God's grace).

During that time, I was also planning my grand scheme for proposal that I had arranged to be in May.  Everything I was setting up was falling into place perfectly, and then it all fell apart in a nice "domino effect."  First, my girlfriend broke up with me (kind of a big element in the proposal scheme).  Then, the money that had been donated for the plan dried up in all the graduation madness.  Finally, the ring situation just evaporated.

Then came the summer.  I planned to work my "final" summer at Camp Sonshine and then begin full-time work in an architecture firm in August.  Instead, God closed the door on those applications and led me to stay at Camp Sonshine as part of the intern program (me in full-time ministry at THIS point in my life?!).

Fall came, and with it, quite an adventure.  My girlfriend and I got back together during the summer and I proceeded with my proposal planning.  With the help of some great friends, I managed to pull off a nice proposal, and she said "Yes."  So, with my fiancé, I moved forward in wedding planning.  As I've said in other posts, I enjoyed it!  ***spoiler warning***  But after 3 months of being engaged, my fiancé and I called the engagement, and the relationship, off (story shortened to prevent a never-ending post).

Haha!  I think you get the picture.  I had so many plans for 2010!  I remember God saying on New Year's last year that 2010 would be a "year of change."  Apparently, His "change" and my "change" differed, just a bit.  Lol!  It's cool, though, because my good thing for 2010 was that NOT A SINGLE THING THAT I PLANNED WENT THE WAY THAT I EXPECTED OR HOPED!!!  Lol!  Let me explain:

1)  I faced many issues and barriers to graduation, but they only caused me to go deeper into prayer and to CONSISTENTLY seek out the fellowship of believers for encouragement.
2)  I didn't get engaged at the end of May like I planned, but with everything else that was going on at the time, I wouldn't have been able to truly put all of my energy into planning for a memorable proposal.
3)  I didn't get a job in an architecture firm, but I'm able to work in full-time ministry with people I love and admire from camp!  Not only that, but I was in the perfect work-environment to endure the situation with the broken engagement!  I mean, not only could I find encouragement in my personal times and at church, but at work, too!
4)  The engagement ended, but it ended!  Can you imagine what marriage would have been like if I had a wife who still doubted if we should even be together in the first place?!!!  That would have been MISERABLE!

In the end, nothing happened how I planned it, but nothing happened that was bad for me (Romans 8:28).  The Scriptures are true:  "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" (Proverbs 16:9).  Now all I want to do for 2011 is LET GO!!!  Sure I can plan some things, but if God closes a door, then I need to let it go--it's too much stress and headache trying to hold on to MY visions of how things should go.  After all, God is sovereign; I think He knows a little better than me.  ;-)

"My Heart"