February 29, 2012

Tuning Our Lives to the Love of God

I had the opportunity to sit down for lunch with a missionary from Africa today. This man moved into the Zambian bush with his wife where they lived among a tribe in an area with no water or electricity. The area had many orphans who could not be supported by their extended families, so this couple began an orphanage and a small school, which they built. They now have 17 children living with them, plus 2 of their own that they have had since living there. They are also providing the necessary supports for the extended families of another 130 orphans. In these cases, the extended family members have mostly been able to feed and shelter the children since losing their parents. Also, this missionary couple has began employing the community widows to help in the orphanage and school. As he told me his story I just kept thinking of James saying faith that is real it the faith that takes care of the widows and orphans.

February 23, 2012

An Ironic Dialogue between Generosity & Simplicity

The picture above is of duck tape shoes made by one of our Lake House church girls. She has been embracing the idea of simplicity in creative ways and I gotta say I really loved her idea. At our meeting tonight on of the guys that lives in a nearby boarding house was sitting next to her. I noticed him staring at her feet throughout the evening. When the meeting ended he went over and asked her if she was in need of shoes. This man who has very little felt bad for this girl who he felt pity for because of her shoes. He asked her about five times throughout the evening if she wanted him to help buy her some shoes. She has a place to live, works, goes to school, has a car and in comparison with him is quite well off.
I am proud of both of them. I am proud of her for breaking herself out of compulsive buying so that she may do more meaningful things with the resources that God has given her. I am proud of him for being so generous with the very little that he has. The Kingdom of God is a funny place.

February 06, 2012

An Enchanted Weekend with Sekajipo & The Jungle

This weekend was rich. It began Friday night as almost all of our community went rock climbing with some friends. We just played and laughed and destroyed our bodies. Then Saturday we hosted an incredible Conscious Party with Sekajipo & The Jungle. It was also a blast to have him staying at the house all weekend with us. We really miss him so much!
Then Sunday morning I spoke at Underground's Crucible. I spoke on Mark 5:1-20 and the audio recording is below. Then on Sunday afternoon we had a few couch surfers come over to stay for a few days. Their names are Taylor and Steve and they are riding their bikes across the USA raising money for KIDS. Here is a link to their blog called Trailing The Sun. Sunday we had Sekajipo, Taylor, Steve and another Steve staying at the house. We were supposed to also have our friend Russ spending the night but after showing up and seeing how many people were over he decided to seek shelter elsewhere. We understand but we were also bummed that he didn't stay. It is such a joy to have a house full of people to love on.