I was called to be a missionary, although I have been a bad one.

I have been called to be a missionary. In fact everyone who calls on the name of Christ is called to be a missionary, and the mission field to which they are called is the very place they are standing. We are never to go out anywhere without Christ on our minds, the word of God on our lips, and the gospel in our hands and feet. I recognized this call when I was 17 and have had it on my mind since then, always knowing that I was either walking towards or away from this fulfilling life that was being offered to me. Over the past few years I have recognized it more fully and reluctantly embraced this call. While trying to figure out, kicking and screaming along the way, what it looks like to be a missionary, I had fallen in love with many people that I would have never known how to love otherwise. Truly loving those who have no way of loving me back. At the end of the day I recognize that it was not I that loved them, but God through me, using me as a tool to spread the love of a Maker for that which was made.

In the beginning of my serious pursuit of what it means to be a missionary, three years ago, I met a man named Sam. Sam was a local of Ybor City in Tampa, FL. He has lived there for years and was know to be a local crack addict. When I first moved into the neighborhood he was one of the first men I met. He would offer to wash my truck for a few dollars, have me drop him off at local shelters late at night with $12 in hand. It was always $12. Over time I had learned of his addiction, his homelessness, and the situation he had found himself in. He became a friend of mine, a friend of ours at the Lake House. Much of the friendship was difficult. At one point we let him borrow our lawnmower to make money, which he never returned. We actually did this twice. You would think one would learn. But through all these troubles and over the years we worked with him, trying to find him sobriety and a stable life. Once he had been sober for 3 months working on his barbers certificate and a GED education. Shortly after this we watched him spiral once more down into the pit of self-inflicting poverty and under the oppression of addiction. Over time he has had his highs and lows, and then there was nothing. We had not heard word nor had we seen him around town, all we had to offer him were our prayers. In the end, our prayers had been answered. Last month, just before leaving for the Philippines, I received a call from Sam, a healthy Sam. He is living in Zephyrhills now with a full time position as a local barber with over a year of sobriety under his belt. He is following God and has built back up his relationships with the members of his family. He called only to thank the Lake House and me for having patience and treating him with love in spite of any wrongs, and that without the love shown he probably would not be where he is today.

It is beautiful to know that although we may not see the way we have an impact on lives we are making an impact and sharing the love that Christ first gave to us. It is encouraging to know that enduring heartache and betrayal can lead to complete transformation in a person, just showing a person dignity can give them the courage to take a step toward salvation. Although we may plant seeds, we may not always be the ones to harvest or even be able to see the fruits of the harvest.

It is not the end product we look towards, it is only sharing the love and having faith that God provides the end product.

Home church 10/12/11

What a blessing it is when people gathered to have dinner and study the word of God. We had over 30 people at home church tonight, including 4 moms with their respective children. 4 moms! Wow, we're reaching the masses. All the joking aside, it was a wonderful time. We cooked chicken basil curry and had some cookies and brownies for dessert. People were fed delicious food along with a passage from Luke. We had so many people that we ran of food and had to improvise. Thanks to Danielle and Megan for helping with the cooking tonight. I was very impressed by Ryan and the way he connected with the new folk. He even sacrifice his own plate of food so someone else could have something.

We had people from all walks of life, which is why I enjoy the Lake house. From a person recently release from jail to a recent college student graduate. From young to old...I love it.

Criminalizing Poverty

I'm going to go back to February of this year,which was before the election. And I'm going to tell you a story. I was advised by a member of the previous administration, and was, that if I voted, if I did not vote for the, the banning of (panhandling on) arterial roads, that I probably wouldn't be back here in March. I took it very seriously. And it went from first reading to second reading. At second reading, I stood here, I sat here, my knees were shaking. I listened and listened and listened. And I wanted to be able to hear what I needed to hear to bring that vote forward. But what I heard was people losing their jobs. And so I had to come to conclusion. And my conclusion was this. That if a job was to be lost, it would be mine, not theirs. And I did not vote for it. Not only did I not vote for it, it changed the vote on Council. I am here today.

-Councilwoman Capin, voted this week to ban panhandling

Our city council, under immense pressure to pass an ordinance to get the poor off our city streets, has been discussing a panhandling ban for over a year now. It is a problematic law that has been difficult to write in a way that could be defended as constitutional. Council has gone back and forth with ideas and compromises. The first idea was a full ban, then a compromise of a ban on arterial roads was proposed and voted down by the previous council, who clearly favored a full ban. Then there was the proposal of a five day ban that would allow street solicitation on the weekends but this was not supported because it could not be demonstrated that weekends were safer that weekdays to stand on the corners. It has not been easy task to single out and legislate against the homeless since as Councilman Cohen stated “We are operating within murky constitutional parameters.” After a year of legal gymnastics, they finally passed an ordinance that remotely approaches constitutionality. Really its more about avoiding a lawsuit. Councilwoman Mulhurn, the only voice of conscience on council, stated “We have to realize that there is no public safety need for this. And then, let's move on to what our legal department's been telling us about how we can make all these exceptions. What if we make no exceptions and we just don't do it? Then we don't have to defend a law. But the reality is, who is going to sue the city? It's not going to be homeless people. It's not going to be people selling flowers and water on the street. They can't afford to sue us. So who could possibly sue us? The unions or the Tribune. So we're making these decision...based on who can afford to sue us, and that is very sad.”

Probably not kosher but whatevs

Love you guys!!! Here is my blog: http://damayanglagi.blogspot.com

Remembering Francis

Canticle of the Sun

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,

All praise is yours: all glory, honor and blessings.

To you alone, Most High do they belong;

no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your Name.

We praise you, Lord, for all your creatures,

Especially for brother Sun,

Through whom you give us light.

He is beautiful, radiant with great splendor,

and in this he bears your likeness.

We praise you, Lord for sister Moon and the Stars.

In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

We praise you, Lord for brothers Wind and Air,

fair and stormy, and all weather's moods,

by which you cherish all that you have made.

We praise you, Lord for sister Water,

so useful, humble, precious and pure.

We praise you, Lord for brother Fire,

through whom you light the night.

He is beautiful, playful, robust and strong.

We praise you, Lord for sister Earth,

who sustains us with her fruits, colored flowers and herbs.

We praise you, Lord for those who pardon,

who for love of you bear sickness and trial.

Blessed are those who endure in peace;

they will be crowned by you, Most High.

We praise you, Lord for sister Death,

from whom no living person can escape.

Woe to those who die in their sins!

Blessed are those she finds doing your will.

No second death can do them harm.

We praise and bless you, Lord and give you thanks,

and serve you in all humility.

St. Francis of Assisi

Congratulations, Will & Laura Barrett

We're proud of you, Will.

Feed the hungry (somewhere else)

The Vicenete Martinez Ybor Neighborhood Association is rallying together in opposition to a local organization that serves meals to hungry neighbors. For ten years, Trinity Cafe has been serving meals restaurant-style: china and flatware on a cloth-covered table, with respect and dignity for the people served.

Neighbors are concerned about crime going up and property values going down. Not that they are opposed to any of these negative effects happening elsewhere, just not in their neighborhood. Nor is the V. M. Ybor Neighborhood Association concerned about homelessness or hunger in Tampa, just the sight of it on their streets. How individualized have we become? If people could be dying one street away, and somehow it wouldn't affect my house or your house, would we then not care? If we could tint the windows of our cars with suffering-opaque tinting so that we couldn't see hurting people as we drive to work, would we be OK with that?

House Day: September 2011

Once each month, the whole lot of us Lake Housemates spend the day together. Very often we spend the time doing some kind of work, a project for productive bonding. This September's house day saw us working on our property to streamline the needless clutter, and to take better care of what we have.

The endless summer finally comes to an end

It has been an intense summer, filled with projects and plans. Here is a recap of all of our project related accomplishments over the summer:

1. Painted roof white (which really helped to bring down the temperature within the house)
2. Got the aquaponics system back up and running (no tilapia, but we have plenty of apple snails)
3. We built the solar hot-water heater.
4. We built the trellis system on west side of house to block out the evening sun (now we are waiting on the plants to grow)
5. Finished setting up the mosquito netting on all the windows and doors
6. Mortared up the bricks in the St. Francis garden.
7. Topped off the gardens with fresh mulch and compost for the winter season
8. Installed a ridge vent in the attic
   
9. Cleaned out and organized shed
10. Built a better chicken run area
11. Moved the dryer outside
12. Finished installing the dual flush toilets
13. Bought a new energy and water efficient washer machine
14. Installed the crazily efficient dish drying rack
15. Installed a better lighting system in the kitchen

I am also amazed by how much we haven't done. I am impressed by our collective will to sacrifice things.

We haven't:

Used A/C (except for during homechurch and during a visit from a close friend)
Used the dryer, ever since it was moved to the front porch (maybe 2-3 months)
Used hot water...that was until the solar hot water heater was finally built.

It has been wonderful.

Summer has been rough.

I guess that's nothing new, but it feels fresh right now. We're still shaking off the dust, gaining our bearings again, and beginning to figure out where to go from here. Or maybe we're still sitting in the dirt, wondering whether we can or should go on. Now more than ever are we blessed with memory. We look at what has come to pass so that we may know what is to come. We have seen our weakness, and seen a strength at work through it. We have known discomfort, only to find that we live in opulence. The road we walk has turned out to be tougher than we are, so that we can't possibly make it through, but we make it still. Our past calls out to our future so loudly that it almost drowns out the groaning present. Ever caught between memory and hope we live, and so we look to the One in Whom the furthest extent of both memory and hope dwell, in Whom we live and move and have our being.


Yet, in the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed trust my spirit clings;
I know that God is good!

Not mine to look where cherubim
And seraphs may not see,
But nothing can be good in Him
Which evil is in me.

The wrong that pains my soul below
I dare not throne above,
I know not of His hate,—I know
His goodness and His love.

I dimly guess from blessings known
Of greater out of sight,
And, with the chastened Psalmist, own
His judgments too are right.

I long for household voices gone,
For vanished smiles I long,
But God hath led my dear ones on,
And He can do no wrong.

I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.

And if my heart and flesh are weak
To bear an untried pain,
The bruisèd reed He will not break,
But strengthen and sustain.

John Greenleaf Whittier