“It’s God who sends you, he’ll pay your expenses”, this is a Haitian proverb that at it’s core, is basically “God provides”.
And YOU decided to be a part of how He answers bold prayers.
I can’t thank you enough, but I can let you know that you are generous, encouraging, and just generally awesome for saying yes to God. To sacrifice, time, partnership, prayer, and straight up financial giving.
After an amazing event last Sunday put on by some beautiful people, there is enough support for me to buy a ticket to leave! In fact, we DID buy it & I’ll be leaving on November 6th!
Here’s a quote from my last monthly report to CPR-3: “this is a bold ask and if it happens we can give ALL the glory to God”! And because He’s awesome and uses people like you, we all got to come together and defy logic. I shouldn’t be leaving this soon on paper, and I should have had a while to go in fundraising. But I prayed, and you prayed too. And you stepped up too.
$6217.56 was put towards support as a result of Sunday night.
JUST on Sunday, $371 per month was committed in partnerships. (That adds up to $4452 annually!)
And it’s not just the money, friends. It’s the communication, your presence, your time, your prayers – don’t get me started on prayers. It’s getting to be in community with you.
You guys are amazing. You guys are changing the world, you guys are helping me brag on God and how completely trustworthy & faithful He is, you guys are a part of a story that isn’t about me or poverty or fundraising or programs – but a story of what He is writing and has been. And we get to be a part of it. Thanks for deciding to be a part of making life together.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” {1 John 5:14-15}
Really, you are. You’re too nice, your words are crazy kind, your encouragements are the best.
But there’s just one catch: when people say I’m changing the world.
(besides the fact that this is not me. I’ve tried doing things myself before, and so I’m very sure it’s not me and instead all God doing awesome stuff)
I wish the single mom working hard to be present for her kids, no matter how overworked she is, was told that she was a world changer as she impacted those lives because she knows personally how important it is for them to be deeply assured that they are loved.
I wish the older man in the church who comes early and stays late, unnoticed but tying the loose ends of details together that WOULD be noticed, I wish that people let him know that he was a world changer.
To the girl who decides to be vulnerable in a group, telling a story that then changes the hearts of other girls who were too afraid to say the same things that they were going through – she deserves to be told she is a world changer.
For the anonymous donors around the nation who give to non-profits, those in need, and neighbors – they may not hear that they are world changers, but they deserve to.
For every student who has made even the tiniest decision to say no in the moment, you are a world changer.
There are mentors stepping up for a generation of boys without fathers. You are world changers, and I wish that every one of you could hear it and often.
Are you a faithful grandparent? Ignored at times even, but no matter what you get out of it, you are a constant in the family – you have grown up to have generations see you as a trusted backbone that seems to hold them together at times? I hope someone has let you know that you are a world changer.
If you are in line for food today and decide to react calmly despite the mistake that was made or the complaints of every other customer around you – you are a world changer.
Your moments, your yeses and your nos, they are all adding up to impact you, the environment around you, and the people around you. You are making an impact on the world. And if you are using your moments and decisions for something that is impacting the world for Jesus – I don’t care how unseen, small, big, public, or seemingly silly your step towards whatever He has called you is – You Are A World Changer. You deserve to hear it.
I appreciate you guys, I really do. I am so encouraged by you and your support means everything. But let’s not wait for those in international work, or those labeled as missionaries, to talk about who is changing the world. Let’s start letting the people living it out all around us know what we think of them, and let’s truly believe in ALL of the world changers.
Especially in these past few months, people ask me a lot of questions that run along the same themes:
“But what about….(being single, using my degree, what every other 24-year-old is doing, safety)?”
“Aren’t you….(scared, overwhelmed, lonely, negative something I could be feeling)?”
“Do you miss….(insert anything here, especially good food & my awesome family)?”
“Woah, that’s a long time”
Yes, it is a long time. (laugh here, you’re allowed and I want you to, I laughed as I typed that) But if I could wrap up my heart’s response to these questions and more, it’d be exactly what I read today – But Your love is better than life.
I’m never quite able to express in the moment out loud when questions are directed at me – but this is it. This is my answer to all of it. This Psalm actually starts out ‘in a dry and weary land, where there is no water…’. If you’ve ever been to Haiti, that’s one of the first things you see. If you haven’t, use Google Earth & take 3 seconds to look at Haiti beside the Dominican Republic on their tiny chunk of land.
Notice the ground all around Migo here? That’s pretty consistent.
I spy two five gallon buckets, with water being used sparingly to get hair done for school
At the end of the day when my feet are covered in dust and dirt no matter how much or little I’ve walked, no matter how many times I’ve cleaned them. As I sit with families living – cooking, cleaning, bathing, doing dishes, laundry, and drinking – from the one 5 gallon bucket. When I am exhausted and I can’t fathom how a single mother feels as she is trying to feed, clothe, bathe, keep school clothes pristine if education can be afforded, and raise six children while trying to create a way to get an income and just basically survive. The country I now call home is a dry and weary land. There is not enough water. We’re all exhausted.
But because His love is better than life –
I will go to the dry and weary land and my lips will glorify you.
David, who wrote this Psalm as he was fleeing in the desert from people who had it OUT for him, could have longed for a ton of things. Water. Bread. Comfort. Rest. Friends, community, or loving family to be surrounded by. He was human, so revenge or justice. But his soul and his body thirst and long for God.
And as Psalm 63 also says, my soul will be satisfied. He is my help and I can sing in the shadow of His wings, which cover me. His right hand upholds me as I cling to Him.
And whatever you’ve heard word-vomit from my mouth as I try to explain what can’t be limited to a one word answer, this is my “Why, How, and What”. This is my “Yes, that’s a long time”. Because His love is better than life.
Redeeming Spaces 