Mixed Emotions

While I have been in California talking with different groups of people about my cross-cultural work, I have frequently been asked how I process my experiences interacting with the women I visit.  Honestly, each time I visit with the women I feel a wide range of emotions.  I am saddened by the injustice of the situation.  I can feel angry when hearing their stories of past hurts and exploitation.  I am in awe of these women and their strength. They are able to survive in horrible situations and somehow maintain a decently positive outlook on life.  I greatly admire their strength and courage.  I respect them and their desire to provide for their families.  I am overwhelmed with the knowledge that this problem is systemic and cannot be easily fixed.  Often times I am joyful because we had a great conversation with the women.  I am thankful that I can speak truth into their lives.  I am thankful that He has provided me the opportunity to love on these women.  I am grateful for everything that I learned from them.  Most importantly, I am hopeful.  These women are loved by the Creator of the universe.  He has a plan for them and is pursuing them.  I get to be apart of their stories and long for the day when they can know Him personally. I am thankful that He loves these women much more than I do and that His is and will be faithful to them!

Just Peacemaking

Over the weekend beloved Fuller professor Dr. Glen Stassen passed away.  I took Dr. Stassen's Ethics course while at Fuller and have been profoundly impacted by his teachings.  Dr. Stassen's ability to research complex passages and explain then in a digestible manner allowed me to experience the Word in new way.  I highlighted, marked and underlined so many sentences in his book, Kingdom Ethics, that it is almost unreadable now.  Dr. Stassen is best known for his work with Just Peacemaking (http://justpeacemaking.org/the-practices/) and his scholarly work on the Sermon on the Mount.

The principles I learned in his class will remain with me forever. My biggest take away from Dr. Stassen's teachings is the Kingdom principle of reconciliation.  His heart is for people to be brought back into right relationship with Himself, each other, and the world around them.  J. reached out to people who were rejected by society.  He stayed at Zacchaeus' house as a sign that even the most hated person in town is worthy of love and a relationship with the Creator.  The Kingdom is about restoring relationships, bringing those outside back into the love found in right relationships.

Kingdom Ethics helped me better understand love.  One of my favorite lines from the books: "Love sees with compassion and enters into the situation of those in bondage (or enmity)."  I am so thankful for his wisdom that helped me prepare for a life of working overseas with amazing organizations that reach out to those on the margins of society.

The Human Condition

22 million people, 8 million cars, and immeasurable numbers of buses, cyclists, and pedestrians.  To say that this city has a traffic problem is a gross understatement.

No one is their best self when stuck in a traffic jam after a long day at work. Knowing this fact in my head has not helped my attitude.  I have found myself easily frustrated with the sheer amount of people on the road.  I have found myself judging traffic patterns, saying things like: "This would never happen in America.....if everyone would follow the rules we would move quicker......why do people always do that?"  Without meaning to I was judging a culture and people I love so much.  I was comparing my new culture to the one I grew up with, focusing on the negatives.

One day when I was riding my bike to language school and grumbling to myself about bad drivers and how no one actually stops at the lights, He gently whispered one word to me: selfishness.  Every single human being is selfish and is only looking out for their own good, myself included.  People are born selfish.  Parents do not need to teach their children how to look out for themselves, focus on their own interests.  It's the opposite.  Parents exert a tremendous amount of energy teaching their children to set aside their own interests and consider other's.

I do not even want to know the number of times a day I only consider my own interests.  He knows that number, which is way too high, and He uses my grumbling to highlight an area that I really need to grow in.  He gave me a supernatural glimpse into traffic and then called me to be less selfish. Now, anytime I see a bad traffic situation or someone running a light, I am reminded that I need to be less selfish and that my actions effect other people.  A crowded bus is a call to live out the Fruit of the S.  I always need to be showing people more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control.

It's All His

It's all His....what a RELIEF!!!

This is the truth that has deeply registered with me these past two weeks.  Every area of our lives is under His control.  We don't have to worry about messing up or missing the mark because it is not our's to begin with.  Each relationship, job, ministry, position of leadership are all His.  We don't have to worry about falling short.  Our job is not to be perfect but to be faithful and obedient to do what He has called us to do.

I am so thankful for this grace! When I miss-speak and say the wrong Mandarin phrase, His grace covers my language mistake.  When I am in situations that require more language skills than I currently possess the H.Spirit is with me and uses my ineptitude to bring deeper relationships with women still in situations of exploitation.  There were multiple times this week when He redeemed my language blunders to bring smiles and laughter into dark places.

What a blessing to serve our Father who does not register our mistakes but celebrates our victories!