haiti (sort of)

first off, i want to apologize to Candice Lyerla (haha) and all of the other loving, amazing, faithful followers of my blog.

being in hait, there has been so little to talk talk about and so much time. or is that so little time and so much to talk about... (that would be a delightful spin off quote from charlie and the chocolate factory. sorry, i've been dropping dad jokes like crazy lately. i think it's the water here, at least that's what is going to get the blame).

joking aside, there are seven weeks of absolute joy, sadness, cuts and bruises, babies, kids, 115 year old ladies, hello's and goodbye's, mountain adventures, radical love, God's radical love, flattened buildings, sledge hammers and new re-bar frames, anger, frustration, injustice, peace that passes all understanding, tent city after tent city with thousands of homeless families in each one, rice and beans (lots of rice and beans), late nights and early mornings, early nights and early mornings, (my) selfishness, delicious mangos, a goat, a few pastors, a few ministries, a few (26) friends... and a beautiful story intertwtined with these scenes and so many more.

but i need to think. to reflect.

Haiti: week 1

i want to write so much about my trip, but the only thing that comes to mind is that i am so incredibly fortunate for the life i've been given, and i take advantage of it all the time... these people have nothing and i continue to complain (in my head most of the time so no one else will know) about my circumstances and my selfishness wanting more for me every day.

there is more that i am pondering, but i will hold onto those things for a while.

Haiti on monday

after a budget mix up, we have all of the money necessary for our trip. after many switches and changes, we seem to be set up to work with an orphanage and help work with a church in port au prince and then spend three weeks with YWAM st marc. who knows what else God has planned, but seeing his faithfulness coming to pass is one of the biggest blessings i've ever received...

-We ought not to grow tired of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.

a little bit of the most recent me

so... i will be headed to haiti on monday with three other leaders and 23 students. we will be spending seven weeks and i have been so worried about things and what's going to happen and how things are going to work, but God has literally thrown encouraging words and situations in my face. i don't know why i so easily forget Him and His faithfulness. He is so good and trustworthy, but i forget it as soon as a new obstacle arises. i was praying the other night and i began to just speak open to God with where i was at. before i knew it, i was saying things that i had no idea i had been going through. i love the honesty that i can have with my amazing father and friend...

and i love his honesty when he softly speaks... I LOVE YOU JOSHUA, I ALWAYS WILL.

p.s. please pray for myself and our team. we will definitely be involved in a spiritual battle and battling natural things at the same time. thank you.

LOVE

LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind. LOVE does not envy, LOVE does not boast, LOVE is not proud. LOVE is not rude, LOVE is not self-seeking, LOVE is not easily angered, LOVE keeps no record of wrongs. LOVE does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. LOVE always protects, LOVE always trusts, LOVE always hopes, LOVE always perseveres.

There is true LOVE, I just need to choose it... we all need to choose it.

piano man...

i met a man today named nick juele.

nick was rugged in sight and shifty in vision.

he was playing a piano on pearl street in boulder, colorado for the small amount of change and bills filling up a red dixie cup sitting atop his blanket covered instrument. spending close to an hour enthralled in story after story, i hated saying goodbye to my new friend. nick's love for music, a sarcastically excited understanding of the daily grind, and a deep knowledge of pain and joy was evident in his story and song. many rough patches and few breaks. music is a hard road he said. life is a hard road...

nick said he didn't normally do this, but he gave me a cd.

nick was kind.

nick wanted to share his story.

nick was heard.

justice...

Last September I was asked to be part of the staff which was pioneering a new school at Youth With A Mission Denver, the School of Social Justice. To be honest, going into the school I had absolutely no idea of the injustices which are going on in the world today. I spent 2 days a week sitting in on the lectures that angered me, tore my heart out, made me cry, and brought out a holy rage that I had never known before. There is something about injustice that I cannot live with. I have been exposed and I cannot sit around as kids, adults, black, white, poor, rich, PEOPLE, are beaten, made to be sex slaves, raped, and worked until they die... I cannot sit around and do nothing.
Our schools unclaimed motto became, "with knowledge comes great responsibility." And now I see this every day in my life. I see that everything I complain about would be a blessing and an amazing gift to about 90 percent of the world. Everything that I take for granted could be stripped away at any moment. When I hear the statistics: 2.2 children die every year because they are not immunized; some 1.8 million child deaths each year are from diarrhea; 2 kids are sold into slavery EVERY minute; 1.5 million kids are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS; and some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. I can only think one thing, this is injustice...
This is not what God meant when He looked at everything He made and said, "it was very good." We have to make a change. We have to change the world. It has to start with us. God can't just magically fix everything. But he wants to use us, and he wants us to use his strength, wisdom, power, and love to change the world...

LET'S BE THE CHANGE.

STAND UP FOR WHAT'S RIGHT!

-justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.