Belize part 3

On Tuesday night our team put together an outreach event on the local basketball court. Two of our team members are skilled musicians so they played some music for awhile while people came. It turned out that the basketball court was actually the local gang hangout. However, because we were the there, many children came to hangout with us on the court. It was really cool to bring the community together in a place they normally feared. That night I sat with one of the local gang members and just got to talk to him for awhile during the service. The gang members were quite welcoming of us and open to talking about whatever. I got to share the gospel with the young man I was talking to and I am glad God opened up the conversation to go that way. Well Wednesday rolled around and in the morning we did VBS again for the kids. It went quite well that morning. Then, that afternoon, instead of doing our usual games and bible study we got to take a break from ministry and our team traveled to the Mayan ruins of Xuantunich. It was a relaxing even if we were walking around the whole time. That night we had another outreach event very similar to the previous night. It was a much bigger turn out from both the community and the gang community. Just like the previous night I spent some time with the gang members. I talked to a guy named Richard. We talked for at least an hour and he did most of the talk which was fine because he was just sharing the story of his life. I loved that he was so open with me about his struggles and fears and everything else. It was probably the best ministry conversation I had the whole trip and it was one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me. I got to share a little of my story and a little about Jesus but what really mattered what I felt like we really connected and I got to know who he really was. It was the first time I got to learn how gang member's think and it showed me how human and like us they really are. A lot of the "bad" things he has done are things I could see myself doing in his situation. Then we went back to the hotel and to bed, knowing that the next day would be our last day with the children and that community.

Dark Thoughts from The Dark Knight

Great article on the themes of The Dark Knight

late night emotions

I went to see the new batman movie "The Dark Knight" tonight. It was an amazing film and it wasn't your run-of-the-mill super hero flick. This was a dark movie. Movies have a profound impact on my emotions, especially good film. This movie was one those. Dark movies bring me to a place where I can "feel" evil. I drove home crying out to God realizing the evil I had seen in the lives of people around me. I don't understand why God seems to hide his face from evil. I don't understand why God lets false ideas about him endure. I don't understand why God chooses to only show his true glory and righteousness to some and not all. I don't understand why I see people who seem to be seeking God being led into falsehoods. I thought God was a God who rewards those who earnestly seek him?

Also, for the first time in my life I think I felt what the apostle Paul felt when he said that he would rather himself be cut off from Christ so that the people he loved could know Christ. I felt like I wanted to take some of my friends place so that they could know Christ and have the peace that comes with faith in that savior. Normally, when I would read about Paul saying that, I would have to admit I was too selfish to feel that way but tonight the Lord gave me a taste of what that feels like. I feel that I could name a few people who I would trade places with so that they could experience true life.

In all this I still trust that the Lord is just, a God of his word, and full of love even if I don't see it.

Belize part 2

On the third day of our trip, Monday, we started our Vacation Bible School in the morning. A few of the members of our team went out and did home visits right before starting VBS so that we could tell more people about it. The first day was hectic and i was surprised by the number of kids that showed up. The first three days of the trip were rough on me because it took me until Tuesday to recover from having to wake up at 3 in the morning to catch our flight. Added to my fatigue from getting up so early, the first night the air conditioning in my room wouldn't work right so I could not sleep. Now on Monday afternoon we had our first bible study for the teens in the community. A good number of teens showed up but them seemed really bored and uninterested during the lesson. I was a little frustrated because these kids just seemed so apathetic. Later that afternoon our team went to a local children's home. It was basically a home for kids whose parents couldn't afford to take care of them. It was our first day there and it was hard. The guys we were trying to connect with were really closed off. We played some volleyball with them but it seemed like we could only connect with the younger children. Tuesday came around and we did the same thing in the morning and afternoon. At the bible study I undertook the responsibility of leading it. The problem was I didn't really know what I had my plan thrown out when only a fraction of the kids came back for the second day. The kids seemed even more apathetic than the day before and I don't know how I made it through the bible study. It was difficult to teach when they didn't seem to have any desire to learn. At the end of the study we broke up into smaller groups and I ended up with a group of guys. I decided that since they like sports I could try teaching about Paul's illustration of Christian's running a race. What I realized from the conversation that ensued was that these kids had no actual concept of the Gospel. They still thought that God was a militant leader who wanted them to be good so that they could get into heaven. So I spent the next 20 minutes or so telling them about Jesus and his loved that loved us first. They seemed pretty attentive to that and my only regret is not getting the chance to follow up with them on what they thought. On Tuesday at the children's home, which was our second but last day there, We played some soccer with the kids in hopes of getting the guys to open up but with little luck. The girls on our team got to spend a ton of time with the girls from the home as they painted nails and talked about life. I spent some time hanging out with some of the younger kids.

becoming spiritual

I was reading through some early Christian writings and I came across this:

"For the scripture saith; Woe unto them that are wise for
themselves, and understanding in their own sight. Let us become
spiritual, let us become a temple perfect unto God. As far as in us
lies, let us exercise ourselves in the fear of God, [and] let us
strive to keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in His
ordinances." -THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS 4:11 Translated by J.B. Lightfoot.

Belize part 1

I just returned from a 7 day trip to Belize. I love mission trips. I always come back how feeling like I learned and experienced so much. This trip was a very surreal experience but now that I am back home I really miss it. I think this past week I really got to live. I got to live the way that God wants me to and it was so freeing. I arrived in Belize on Saturday, July 5th and when I was only in Belize for a few hours we were already serving the people of Belize by going to a local rest home and hanging out with the people there. On Sunday we attended church at the Baptist church that we hosted our Vacation Bible School at. Our team was made of 18 college students from my church, a group of high school students from a Roman Catholic church in Atlanta, and then a lady and her niece from Illinois. I feel that God really put a very good team together. Even though I had never met the people from Atlanta or Illinois, we really worked well together.