Giving and Beyond

Today we had a chance to go and see a little of the city. It is a very pretty city and I cannot get over how blue the sky is. It is always rainy but the sky is always blue. It is because there is a mist over the city that comes from the Andes mountains. The bluest sky I've ever see, and never knew that hue could actually exist in the sky until now. And very nice people. Everyone invites you to their house but they never tell you when, what time, or where they live. It is said that they the people will always tell you what they think you need, but never actually listen to you actual need. So for example, when we arrived at the airport, we requested a big van to load all our stuff from our guides. They were very close to bringing a school bus or two. Luckily, someone from our group told them that a van would do. They brought two vans. Oh well. :-)

(all our luggage of gifts for the children)

We went to a church today, and it was very refreshing to see other cultures in worship. When I see other people worshiping God in a different way than we do in America, it is comforting to me because I I believe in God. As odd as that sounds, if we all did "church" the same way, I would wonder if we just made this all up, but God is a very diverse God. And again wonderful people.

Tomorrow we head to Luz y Vida. It is actually a holiday tomorrow so we don't know if everyone is going to be there. Today we organized all the stuff that our church brought to give to the orphanage. It is incredible how much we have!! Everyone (10 people) packed an extra suit case which contained all the gifts and stuff for the kids. We were unloading today and we have 88 little backpacks (which was purchased through a miraculous donation), an entire suitcase of toothpaste, an entire suitcase of crayons and school supplies, there were legos, and notebooks, and soap, and toothbrushes, and pencil sharpeners, and coloring books. It is incredible! These were mostly donations from our church or friends from our church, and I was amazed of how much a little church can give. And I was moved that even though we are small, and so far away, that we can in turn bless these kids. It felt that we were getting something right.

And I say this not to boast, but rather to remember and remember how Jesus fed the 5000 and then the 4000, meeting the needs of everyone (though stomachs will go hungry again and toys be broken), our purpose for giving should 1) never be limited by the size of who you are, if you desire to give it will be given to you to give and 2) try to put a smile on a kids face and you begin to see the heart of God.

En Route

June 28, 2008
I am sitting on a a bus on my way to Guadalajara, Mexico. We are about 3 hours from the city. From there I will take a plane to Mexico city, and from there to Panama City which will then direct me to Bogota, Colombia. As I sit here and think, I get excited because this is my first mission trip. I am so excited to be going with my Lord serving Him. It is exciting going on mission trips, mostly because of the thrill of the beyond. The human spirit was made for such adventures, like we were designed to do this along.

Starting off, it is my belief that everyone who is able would should go on a trip to another country in order to see how others live. And then it hits me how privileged I am to be going on such a trip. I would guess that there is only 10% of the world who has the means and the ability to go on such a trip. In Mexico, I started off by telling everyone that I was going to Colombia! How exciting, and I was sure that they would be excited for me for they speak Spanish there! But as I did, I got a sense of disappointment, a feeling like, “Why can’t I go?”. And then I asked myself. Why can’t they go? It was hit with the fact with how rich I in fact was, even I being a “poor” college student, simply because I live, and work, and play, and befriend, and eat among kings and queens, even the poorer of us. And so as I the date for Colombia grew closer, I became almost ashamed to speak of my travels in a very humble sense asking, “why me?”

There is a verse in the Bible that says this, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” I believe that is one of the most haunting verses in the Bible, because I have seen what I have, I have seen what I have done, and I’m a witness to the good life I live. And so what the Bible tells me is that I am expected to give a lot. Which is a high and heavy standard for me as a 22 year old to live out just trying to get through a college education and figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. And how much exactly is “much”. 10%? I would have hoped so, however, I have a sneaky suspicion that it is not a fixed number that I take out of my paycheck every week, that would be too easy. CS Lewis once wrote:

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if out expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them.”

CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, pg 86

So off I go to Colombia, and will arrive in my destination in about 12 hours from now. Not (only) because I want to, and I am excited about this trip, but because I have to, for there is an insurmountable debt of blessings that I must return.

Destination Colombia: Excitements and Oppositions

Something funny happens to you when your heart is caught by something that you know you need to do or by that feeling that captures you soul that tells you you ought to pour yourself into a cause. Since I am a Christian, I call this feeling the Holy Spirit, the living God flowing into my heart causing me to give myself to something which I might not exactly benefit from, but only because He told me to. Others might call it something different. Nevertheless, what's interesting about it is that I have never even met these kids who I have attempted to help over the last year at Luz y Vida. But to those who know this feeling I'm talking about, that seldom seems to matter. For you know that someone out there needs your help.



But this is all about to change, because in 7 days I will have an opportunity to meet these kids. My church and I will be traveling to Bogota, Colombia to Luz y Vida, an orphanage containing many mental and physical handicap children, as well as normal kids who have happened to be a victim of the unrest there. I'm very excited about this opportunity, and I will be bringing my camera (obviously) but more importantly, I look forward to interacting with these kids and being blessed by them, as I hope to return the blessing. Keep checking this blog daily, as I will updating it frequently when I get there and will be posting pictures as fast as I can.

One other thing I would like to touch on, which has surprised me. I am surprised about a few oppositions I have received about 1) going to another country to help orphans and 2) going to another dangerous country to help orphans. The first group of people implying that we should be focusing on our country and helping orphans there instead of spending money to go to another country to help them. The second group of people implying that there are other countries out that are much safer, why not go there, why try to be the "hero" and go to a dangerous country to help others.

I'll address the second one first. Why go to a dangerous country (a country that has over 4 million-ish refugees as a result of a 40 year war of drugs and power)? To me this really shouldn't be a question. We do not blame (well most of us) soldiers for going and doing their duty overseas, we honor them for their service. Granted, we might blame the powers at be who cause us to be in Iraq in the first place, but if anyone has fought in a war (I have not), I would assume that the issue isn't whether or not we are in danger, for we can all run from danger but it doesn't really get us anywhere. Selfishness has never been a standard for the human race. It is not a matter of becoming a hero, I don't believe that Mother Teresa would consider herself a hero, I think she would just consider herself a human being who doesn't like to see others suffer, so she did something about it by going to the people who were hurting the most. It just made sense.

So if danger isn't the question, then what is? That is whether or not we should go or not. I met a guy in Mexico who was very strong in his belief that we should only help people in our own country. I belief that this is the most ludicrous system of belief. Hear me, I'm not saying that we shouldn't help our own country, I think we should help our own country more than others because if we don't know how to serve here in America, how can we serve a people who we don't even speak the same language? But to say that we should never help other countries is completely rediculous.

First of all, from a Christian point of view, I come to the story that Jesus tells about the Good Samaritan. An expert of the law asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. It was concluded, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbors as yourself." But then the expert of the law wanted to be justified it says, and asks, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus proceeds to tell the story (Luke 10) about the Samaritan (who would have been in those days like a Muslim here in America) who helped the Jew. A complete foreign helping another foreign, which means that Jesus broke the boundaries of who we ought to help.



See, the expert of the law wanted to be justified, and hoped that his neighbor would only include his neighbor John Smith who he happens to get together and plays cards with every Saturday night. The expert would be in the good standings then. But that would be too easy. But Jesus lifted this idea that boundaries define our service. No it must be everyone, even our enemies.

Secondly, even if you do not have these convictions, why wouldn't you want to help others outside your boundaries? If you are most concerned about your country wouldn't developing good relationships with other countries most secure your survival? Instead of bombing them with bombs, why not bomb them with care packages? They might then desire to see your development rather than demise. But I cannot speak much on this as I'm not an expert on other world belief systems and politics, but just seeing how half the world hates the USA, I suspect I'm not far off.

Either way, we will be going for 10 days. Please stay tuned and offer your prayers and thoughts for us and the kids as we are there. I am very excited for this opportunity and look to keeping you updated. Blessings.

Composing the Vision: New Beginnings to See

Welcome! Thank you for visiting my site. To those who have been with me from the start. Those I knew before I even knew all this would happen. Those who have encouraged me in my gifts and who ultimately developed me to who I am today. Who have pointed me to the Lord who gives us eyes to see with, in order to see this Vision that existed since ancient days. I thank you, from my heart, this is for you, that you might receive the blessings and not me.

Welcome! To those who maybe are just passing by. I hope that you like what you see. I never consider myself the best photographer out there, but I do like to pour my heart into what I do, and this is a result of that. My hope is that you will take time to stop and see the beauty around you, even if just for a while, and give thanks. And perhaps you will then become inspired to pour your heart into the things you do best, whatever it may be. I hope that I can encourage you to live the greatest and most fruitful life you can and create what you have been designed to do. But I hope that you may never stop there, for we have been given so much to keep it for ourselves. Learn to give some of it away and you'll begin to catch the Vision which so many quiet saints and great men and women before us did.

So this is my gift to you. Feel free to look around, leave comments, subscribe to the blog, send me favorites pictures you've taken, or contact me with questions or stories you might have. I am grateful for you being here. Thank you.