Break the silence...

"Just a breath away to make a change. One voice can make a difference. Share the knowledge, break the silence!" - The Bilz and Kashif
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX7ktZF6U4Q

I was asked this past week, "What are you passionate about?" It was oddly a difficult question to answer without time to think about it. My first reaction was to think of places and groups I am involved with and why they attract me. But looking back now, I think the answer lies much deeper than a specific place or group.

To truly answer this question, I need to establish not only what my passions are, but how I define my own personal value. I find that this is an area I am growing in daily and it is starting to take hold. I find my self worth in God, not what I do or how much money I make. I am a child of God, just as every other person on this planet is. Holding on to this idea leads me to explain my passions much better.

As they say at Good-Works Inc., "What we do emerges from who we are." What I am passionate about emerges from how I define my self worth. As a child of God I am called to love others. Thus I am not passionate about one group of people, I am passionate about all people.

The reason I quoted the song "One Voice" is to point out the power of being passionate about people. If we were concerned about the good of all humanity, there would be no war, there would be no orphans, there would only be LOVE.

So now I ask you...what are you passionate about? Break the silence, spread the love.

"One for One" or "One for One Thousand??"

The trend is now in full gear. People all across America are buying TOMS Shoes with intentions of helping others in the world. It has almost become a sense of social status in the US. When a person is seen wearing TOMS, they establish themselves as charitable and benevolent people. I wonder though how many people question where their money goes?

If you are not already aware, TOMS Shoes is a "FOR PROFIT organization with giving at its core" according to their website. Founder of the organization, Blake Mycoskie, is certainly enjoying the popularity of his product and has captivated the hearts of poverty-conscious Americans everywhere. The goal of the company is simple..."One for One." For each pair of shoes purchased a pair of shoes is given to a child in need and the cost of a pair of TOMS shoes ranges from $44 to $98. With costs that high, TOMS is able to rack up tons of profit. According to Business Week, TOMS Shoes made $4.6 million in revenue from its first 115,000 pairs of shoes!

Now trendy or not, TOMS shoes are making a positive impact. However this impact does not compare to that of making a direct donation to a non-profit organization such as Food for the Hungry or World Relief. The same $44 you spend on a pair of TOMS Shoes could help Food for the Hungry deworm 1,000 children who are being robbed of their foods nutrition. Or that $44 could help World Relief provide clean water to a family protecting them from all kinds of water-borne disease, dehydration and long treks to the nearest water source.

I don't want people to think buying TOMS Shoes is a bad thing. That is not the message I am attempting to send. I would agree it is better to buy TOMS than Nike's, but I am concerned that they have become merely a status symbol that their owners are charitable people.

This Christmas please consider donating to Food for the Hungry or World Relief.
http://www.fh.org/give/catalog
https://worldrelief.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=723
Put your passion for helping the poor into action and think carefully about how best to help others. Also, do some research! Find out how you can get involved and what is really making a difference in the lives of the poor!

Check out Food for the Hungry

World-Renowned Peacemaker Art Gish Dies

World-Renowned Peacemaker Art Gish Dies
by Rose Marie Berger 07-29-2010
Art and Peggy Gish are career peace, civil rights, and human rights activists who embody the motto of their primary affiliation, Christian Peacemaker Teams: “Getting in the way.”
Art died yesterday morning in a tractor accident on the organic farm where he and Peggy live near Athens, Ohio. He was 70. (See Athens County peace activist killed in farming accident.)
Art Gish has been part of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron since 1995, getting in the way of Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinian civilians. Peggy was in Iraq as peace advocate and witness before, during, and following the invasion of Iraq.
Both of them have been mentors to generations of Christian pacifists and peace activists — as well as bringing a deep love and peaceableness to places of violent injustice around the world, including Hebron and Iraq.
The last time I saw Art was when I was leading a nonviolence training in preparation for risking arrest at the White House as part of the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq on March 16, 2007. To lead a nonviolence training with Art Gish in the room was humbling. And talking to him afterward was a deep spiritual blessing.
Art is loved by many and will be mourned by more. I hold him up to the Light. He is an witness to the model of an honorable man who literally lived “neath his vine and fig tree in peace and unafraid” while always standing with those whose vines and fig trees were uprooted by men with guns and for whom peace and safety were fleeting ideals.
“Well done, good and faithful servant.” Thank you, brother.

Abounding in Love!

“I'm gonna get out my club!” Carol yelled as I stepped out of the truck.
“What?” I replied.
“I'm gonna get out my club. You were supposed to be here an hour ago! You don't follow directions very well do you now?” remarked Carol.
This was my first encounter with the lovely miss Carol. I was behind schedule loading up the gear with the current group, and I had a hard time finding her house and this made me quite late. I did not expect to be greeted in this manor and it was startling, but this was the beginning of a wonderful new relationship. I use this example to share with you about how God is working and revealing new things in me this summer.
Patience takes on a new meaning when serving those who don't outwardly appreciate your help. I have learned through serving Carol this summer that I am naturally patient, but I also have a lot of work to go. I have grown to love her rough sarcasm and I very much enjoy her company. It is not always easy to show love like Jesus would and I have had to hold my tongue in certain situations, yet I constantly remind myself of Isaiah 58:10. This verse says, “If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” I want to emphasize the phrase “spend yourselves” because it is essential to the point in my opinion. I want to give all my energy and love to serve Carol regardless of her attitude or remarks. I know God will use my patience and love for Carol to illuminate Himself to Carol and those who serve alongside us.
It is such a blessing to experience God through serving people in this community. The kingdom of God is so evident and real to me in this community. I may have been concerned when I first met Carol, but God has used her to teach me more about His love. I mentioned earlier that patience takes on a new meaning and here is what I meant: Patience is more than just waiting calmly in difficult situations. Patience is about sharing the love of Christ and looking past the difficult situation. It is about having enough love for the person to surpass the challenge.
The moral of the story is do not be intimidated by people with difficult personalities. God's love is bigger and can make boulders seem like pebbles. It is amazing what a difference it makes to love people like Jesus would. In Numbers it says, “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.” What an awesome God we have! I pray that God will continue to give me the strength to be slow to anger and abound in love. It is only through Christ who gives me strength that it is possible.

Settling in at Good Works

I am more and more amazed by God as I am getting settled here at Good Works. It's been beautiful and seemingly perfect in God's plan for me. Today was one of the greatest days I have had in years. God showed me new things and I feel so at peace and resting in God's arms here. This morning we had devotions and God was speaking to me through Dawn's story of personal pride. It is a big struggle to fight the mentality that I am good and everyone else should be more like me. I want to serve God and serve with others. I am not here because I am better than the poor, but I'm here to serve with the poor so the kingdom of God can be experienced. During our Good Works staff meeting this morning, another “God Moment” occurred and I am so glad Marlene shared with me. Marlene had a prophetic word for me and it was very awesome and encouraging. Although I have never met Marlene until today, she hit right where I needed it and God really spoke through her. She told me, “Even though you may not know why you are here, God is going to do big things in you this summer and He will reveal his plans of marvelous things He has for you in your life. You have a great purpose here and God will teach you many things this summer.”
It was so unexpected yet so helpful to hear words of encouragement and assurance that God has big plans for me and my future. After lunch and some activities, I spoke on the phone with Leigh and had an awesome conversation of realigning our values and perspectives so our relationship is always honoring God. I'm so grateful for Leigh and I'm blessed to share my life with such an amazing woman of God. I'm proud of her and miss her as we spend out summer apart, serving God in different capacities. Leigh is an intern at the Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church working with children's ministry.
The last big part of my day was the evening at the Timothy House. I have become aware of so many misconceptions and false ideas about the homeless and it was eye-opening to hang out with the residents. Spending time with them made me realize they aren't any different than me, they just have had some rough times or unique circumstances. It's such a struggle in this area that many people are just an accident or bad choice away from being without a home. I was honestly not excited about hanging out at the Timothy House earlier today, but now I can't wait to get to know these people more. There is so much we can learn from each other and I trust God to work through these relationships.

Home and Reflection

Now that I am home and rested I can relax and reflect on my trip. I feel strongly that to learn and truly benefit from an experience, you must spend time often reflecting on what was learned. I think the reflecting is almost more valuable than the activity during the trip. So as I reflect, a few things really stand out to me. I definitely learned a lot about Catholic beliefs and I am so grateful Kristin came along. God really worked in me to transform my opinions and misconceptions about Catholic beliefs and practices. I am honestly a little embarrassed of my ignorance and feel guilty that I have an entirely negative image of the Catholic tradition. I also learned a lot about appropriate leadership when linking people with contrasting political and religious opinions. I constantly prayed for guidance in dealing with discussions and making sure they were productive and God-honoring. I look forward to more debriefing and learning how I can improve my leadership. I also look forward to hearing from FH in Nicaragua and seeing what the communities thought of us and how our ministry and work can be improved.

Sunday May 30 - Traveling Home

Today we traveled home leaving at 4 am to the airport. It was a short nights rest, but I'm very excited to be home. The flights were excellent and we had no delays or issues with bags. I'm so grateful about how smoothly things went today. God is so good and faithful. I know he answered our prayers and I continue to pray for growth in myself and the team as we return home. I was super excited to see Leigh when I arrived in BWI and it was awesome to give her a big hug when I first saw her. The team was very tired so opted not to stop for dinner and drove straight home. My mom prepared waffles for me at my request and it was soo good to eat something other than rice and beans for dinner. I do enjoy rice and beans, but I get tired of it after two weeks of it at every meal. I'm excited to learn and reflect this week at home.

Saturday May 29 - Beach!

With all the rain we were not expecting to go to the beach, but God is Good!! We got up to bright blue skies and warm weather so we headed to the beach! We drove to Pochomil and spent the morning and part of the afternoon there. I had a great time swimming and relaxing. It was so nice to just lay in a hammock and enjoy God's beautiful creation. It was also a good time to reflect on the past two weeks and process all my experiences. Around 2 pm we left the beach and returned to the Nehemiah center. I was exhausted when we got back and slept til 5. I woke up and Jairo did a nice Nica-Made presentation so we could buy products made in the communities we had worked in. I got to buy a few things then got ready for dinner. We ate dinner with Jairo's wife and kids then finished debriefing after dinner. I then packed my bag and got to sleep around 10. We have to get up around 4 am in the morning to go to the airport!

Friday May 28 - Service and Tourism in Managua

This morning we had the opportunity to do a service project that was not planned by FH but by Jairo, our team leader. Jairo has some connections with other ministries in Nicaragua and so we were able to work something out with a local church to help serve food at the dump. It was great to get one more service project in and not just have an extra day of tourism. Every day Monday through Friday this church serves food to the children in two communities near the dump at noon. We left the Nehemiah center at 9:30 and got the car cleaned first, then headed to the church. The car cleaning was definitely needed and it also provided time for us to debrief and unpack our experiences from the trip so far. We got to the church named "El Faro" and then drove to the dump to help serve food to the community children. This experience was very challenging and shocking to see such poverty. I have seen this type of communtity many times, but it never ceases to shock me and is always hard. In the afternoon after finishing with the church, we went to the market in Masaya and then to the Volcano. I really enjoyed the Volcano and it was cool to experience that for a second time.

Thursday May 27 - Early Return to Managua

Last night Jairo spoke with Kim and Nathan and they recommended we return to Managua today. Since the road was not passable yesterday, it was for sure not passable today. This was hard for the team to hear since we did not get to finish our time in El Ojoche abd could not do the pottery work with the community. I know Keith and Lauren were especially excited to do pottery and we had to miss that. It was also sad to leave without saying goodbye. Anyway, we drove back to Managua this morning and spent the afternoon at the Nehemiah center. We got to watch some videos made by students about the communities and it was particularly cool to see a recent video made about El Ojoche. I liked seeing more of the community that we missed out on, but it was also a sad reminder of what we could have done there. We got to go to the movies in the evening which made Joey really happy. We saw Prince of Persia which was awesome and the theater was soo cool. They have "VIP" theaters in Nicaragua in which you sit in Lazy Boy recliners and they bring food to your seat when you press a button!