Passion 2010

I thought that I had already posted the giving amounts of Passion 2010 but upon second glance, I see that I did not. So, below are the total amounts of monies given to the numerous NGO's in the "Do Something Now" center at Passion 2010. To me, these numbers are jaw-dropping and so encouraging. Please comment on what seeing these numbers does to you ... I would love to know! The following is from Louie Giglio

The heartbeat of the Passion Movement is not simply abut filling arenas, but a generation mobilized to carry the message of God’s fame to the unreached, oppressed and forgotten wherever they are on the planet.

To that end, one of the five statements of the 268 Declaration is:

Willingness To Shine The Gospel To All People—
Because God is seeking worshipers of all peoples, I will spread His fame among the nations, fully participating in His global purposes while engaging poverty and injustice in Jesus’ name.
[God, kindle in me the desire to go anywhere, at anytime, at any cost, to do anything to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.]

While the worship at Passion is vital, it is not an end in itself. Rather, our songs and anthems are fuel for our journey to the nations. Thus, Do Something Now is front and center in all we do, a major component of every gathering.

At Passion 2010 we introduced 12 partner organizations with causes totaling $500,000. Our goal was not pledges for the future, but giving on site together in four days. In the end (and this number will continue to grow), the total passed on to our 12 partners includes:

Building an education center for the Dalit people of India through Operation Mobilization. Goal–$75,000. Given–$92,753.91.

Small business loans for women in Haiti through Hope International. Goal–200 x $200 loans. Given–$64,412.34 for 322 loans.

Bible translation for Shatika and Rom People of SE Asia with OneVerse. Goal–translate 4000 verses at a cost of $100,000. Given–3134 verses/$78.359.

Sponsor 100 seminary students in the Middle East with E3 Partners. Goal–$30,000. Given–$45,318/151 students.

Build 10 wells in Guatemala with Living Water. Goal–$50,000. Given–$113.865/22 wells built.

Provide 100 cleft palate surgeries for children in Afghanistan with Cure International. Goal–$55,000. Given–$68,160.54/111 children get surgeries.

Package and send Bibles to unreached people in Asia through Bibles Unbound. Goal–3000 Bibles packaged and $3000 to cover cost. Given/Done–3000 Bibles packaged/$9,530.56 given to send more.

Build a border outpost in Nepal to intercept sex trafficking victims through Not For Sale. Goal–$25,000. Given–$86,516.72 for 3+ border outposts.

Support a Child Survival project in Indonesia through Compassion International. Goal–100 students x $20 a month for one year = $24,000. Given–205 students x $20 a month for one year = $50,170. (The 12 month commitment represents pledges for this cause).

Package meals through our partner Feed My Starving Children. Goal–package 100,000 meals atPassion 2010 and give $17,500 to cover costs. Given/Done–108,432 meals packaged and $17,533.32 given.

Sponsor children affected by HIV/AIDS in Mozambique with World Vision. Goal–200 students x $35 monthly/package 1000 Caregiver kits. Given–174 students x $35 monthly/1000 caregiver kits assembled.

Drink coffee and fund projects in Ethiopia through our partner Gobeana Coffee. Given–$24,548.

Total given at Passion 2010 = $724,480.42.

IN ADDITION, a family at Passion 2010 matched the total as of Tuesday morning with a gift of $668.597.00.

For a Passion 2010

As well, 14,820 towels and 72,600 pairs of socks were given to assist the homeless shelters of Atlanta.

Obviously, it’s not all about the money. But we know the verse, “where your money is your heart is also,” applies here, and believe many lives have been captured by His global purposes in these days.

Thanks to everyone who joined this amazing cause. Let’s continue to give everything until His grace, hope ad healing are extended to all.

Humbled,
LG

Praise God!

Today was my 29th birthday (I say "was" because it's 11:30 pm and my birthday privileges are almost over). I talked to my sister on the phone yesterday and she asked me how I felt about being one year away from thirty. I thought about it and answered as candidly as possible; it doesn't scare me ... as a matter of fact, I think I'm excited. My early twenties were such a hodge podge of bad decisions, immaturity and darkness and my later twenties were a time of complete redemption both spiritually and personally. I feel like with the tumult of the last decade, the next one is sure to be one of spiritual, personal, professional and relational bloom. At least that's what I'm asking God for.
So, for those who want to know how I spent my 29th birthday, I'll first ask a question. What is one of the things I like to do most in life? It's something that brings me great pleasure and from which I often ask God for deliverance. I love to eat! So, that's how I spent my day ... I ate my way through it. The morning started with a trip to Chick-fil-A around 11 am for a chicken biscuit and some coffee. If you don't know what Chick-fil-A is, please look it up and drive to one, no matter how far from you it may be. After breakfast, Joseph, Mercy and I went for a drive around Fulton and Forsyth counties. It was an absolutely beautiful day with the partially melted snow still sparkling in bright patches on the ground and the sun shining over the backs of grassy fields and horses manes. Our new home is a truly beautiful place. After taking care of a couple of errands, we drove to Roswell, our new favorite town and made a stop at Krispy Kremes. By this time it was around 2 pm and Mercy was asleep in the car, so we had to make it a drive through event. I have never had a fresh Krispy Kreme right off the belt (even though they had one at the student union at UCLA) and let me tell you, it is a heavenly experience not to be missed. After our doughnut snack we drove around some more to let Mercy get a bit more rest. Around 3pm we decided it was time for lunch and found a super tiny, hole-in-the-wall Greek/Mediterranean place called Baba's. So good! After some Gyro wraps and Greek potatoes (sweet tea to boot) we got back in the car and headed home.
Oddly enough, there are two movies I've been dying to see so we popped one in when we got home. Not to be too theme oriented here but the movies were Food Inc and Julie and Julia. Just writing this, I'm thinking that I need an intervention. I still haven't finished Food Inc but what I did see was crazy convicting. More to come on that later.
To finish off a great day, we spent the evening with the extended Bell family. Dinner was great: Chicken Tortellini with fresh spinach, grilled tomatoes, broccoli and rolls (sweet tea to boot, again) and then ice cream with brownie bites and chocolate sauce. To finish the evening, a few rounds of Wii and some decaf coffee. The night spent laughing with friends was just what a needed after a few days of solitude. Praise be to Jesus!
So, to all of my friends at home who called, Facebooked, texted and emailed Birthday wishes, thank you for remembering me. It means a lot!
Here's to the last year of my twenties. I'm ready to stare my thirties in the face but I'll take the year to practice my game face.

Old Song, New Meaning

It's too cold today to go to church. The wind is blowing about 20 mph and with the wind chill factor, it feels like six degrees outside. On top of that, the roads are still pretty icy and we don't want to risk driving with the baby. We haven't been out, except for a brief drive, for a couple of days which is making me very homesick. Not getting out to church is also making me really miss our church community at home, Evergreen Baptist Los Angeles. Along with this homesickness comes a small case of the blues. I got in the shower this morning trying to force myself to shake them, but to no avail. Finally, I gave up trying to pep talk myself and just started to repeat "Lord, help me. Lord, help me". This eventually led me to my knees in the shower with the water flowing over my head (and occasionally, up my nose). All I could say was "Jesus, I need you". As I said this and some other words of surrender, a song came back to me that I wrote with a childhood friend when I was eight years old. We used to love to dance and make up songs and one day, we decided that we wanted to write a worship song. As I knelt in the shower repeating "Jesus, I need you", these lyrics came back to me like a bolt of blue. They are trite and silly to an adult but as a child, they meant the world to me.

Jesus, we need you/ we really, really need you
The things you make/ the oceans and the lakes
Jesus, you made the sharks and the ark
You gave us wood to build a house/and then we found a mouse
Great are your works oh Lord
Yeah, Yeah
Great are you works oh Lord
We need you
Great are your works oh Lord
All the time
Great are your works oh Lord
Save us from sin

The rhyming is awful as is most of the song but the things I pull out as a 29 year old are very deep: Jesus, we need you, you made all things, your works are great, you are always great, you save us from our sin! I think this little song will be my mantra as I continually ask God for help during this transition. It's no "Blessed Be Your Name" but I know that God accepts it and is pleased by it nonetheless.

Not in Kansas anymore?

I've never lived in Kansas. California is Kansas for me and I'm most definitely not there anymore. Now I'm in Georgia. That state made famous by Mr. Ray Charles crooning over his long lost home with passion and grit. That's how I feel about my home today. I guess "California Dreamin'" is my theme song today. I really like our new "home". I also have a nostalgic feeling after only two weeks away. Part of it I attribute to the snow and ice outside which have kept us in for two days now. Another, larger, part I contribute to the news I received from my former boss at Coffee by the Books that Fuller's dean of students, Ruth Vuong, passed away a week ago today unexpectedly. I only knew Ruth from the time I spent on student government as well as from the Coffee Shop. She always ordered Paris tea and a Pecan Stick. It's really silly that I remember her order but that's how you get to know people behind the counter of a coffee bar. Ruth also really liked Mercy and always had a huge smile when she saw her. She had such a peaceful presence whether walking across campus, doing the benediction at chapel or speaking to students one-on-one. I would really like to be back in Pasadena, mourning with the rest of campus and remembering her at her memorial service. My best friend, Natalie, reminded me that I can be with them remembering her in spirit and to not lose sight of why we moved. She told me that she knows that I know that we made the right decision. I know she's right. It's just hard at times like these.
We have been here now for two weeks and they have been two good weeks. We were able to be part of Passion 2010. I had the joy of spending my time with a very lovely eleven-year-old girl whom Mercy just adores. I also got to meet and spend time with Matt Redman's little girl who has the name I originally thought we would name Mercy, which is Maisy. Joseph worked loading in and out furniture for the event and also got to help out running Pro to have slides up for the worship sessions. The time was a real blessing to both of us. It's hard now, though, after being so busy to be so not. I'm praying every day about what my next step should be vocationally. There is a coffee company here called Land of 1000 Hills which I would love to be connected with and for whom I would love to work. I also would love to go back and get my Masters in English so that I can teach at the Junior College level. I also want to spend as much time with Mercy as I possibly can but I want her to grow up with a mom who has a career and a life separate from her. I always felt so proud being able to tell people that my mom was an artist and at the same time, it really didn't matter what she "did" because she was (still is) such an amazing mom. On the other hand, I don't want to be away from Mercy eight hours a day. It would be so great to start and finish my Masters so that when she goes to school, I could go back to work. Of course, by then we'll probably be trying to have a second child. The planner in me wants to have everything figured out and the other part wants to just be still and let God figure it out. Only time will tell.
Sweet little Mercy has had many milestones since we left. She is now eating cereal and had her first tastes of both apples and bananas this week. She is also now saying "mama", although I'm not quite sure if she knows what she's saying. She mostly uses it when she wants something. I'm ok with that. She's very close to saying "dada" and is super close to crawling. As well, she's getting her first tooth. It's right on the surface and we can feel it when we put our finger on her gums. She is such a joy and was a total gerber baby during Passion. I got a number of breaks because of all the people who wanted to hold her. As well, I met lots of people I probably wouldn't have without her. I believe that God has an amazing purpose for her life. I also believe that our move here is part of that. Now if we can just convince our families that they should move here as well.
We have a good surrogate family in our friends, the Bells, as well as their families. We are living with Cheryl Bell's mom, Dianne, and she is absolutely wonderful. She has a wonderful sense of humor and we feel so comfortable in her home. Her husband passed away a year ago this February and so I think the arrangement has worked out well for all of us. She may be ready to kick us out soon but I think we're still in good because she has told us that we have to promise to visit when we do move. We are excited to be able to start house hunting soon. We never could've afforded anything back home but it looks like we'll be able to buy a home here. There are some really lovely homes starting at $150,000 and with the tax credit, it may be a great time to buy. We originally thought we wanted to be closer to the city but Cumming is really growing on me. As we drive around, we see horses in fields, old barns and lots of trees. It's also close to lots of restaurants and shopping (about 15 miles) so we don't feel like we are super isolated.
We would really covet the prayers of our friends and family as we continue to look for sustainable work which provides both income and insurance as well as a permanent place to live. Passion City Church could use your prayers for the provision of a church building. God has been so good to us and we are so excited to see what He will do in 2010! As much as I miss California, I'm thankful to be in Georgia with a new start and a new year.

A New Week. A New State.

Today finds us in Longview, Texas just a hop, skip and jump away from the Louisiana border. Thus far I have viewed the driving portion of our journey as merely a means to an end; we needed to get to Atlanta and to do that we had to drive through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. However, today starts with a feeling of anticipation and excitement as we venture into Louisiana, both because it is a state I have never visited and because we are now over half way to Atlanta.
Thankfully, Mercy slept well the last two nights in complete contrast to the two nights before that when she felt the need to sleep very close to me and nurse all night long. We think that she is going through her six-month growth stage because she seems to look longer every time we change her out of her sleepers into her day clothes. She also had a milestone moment yesterday when she drank milk out of a sippy cup. I know that to most of the world this seems totally anticlimactic, but to those of us who are breastfeeding moms, this is brilliant! She doesn't like bottles but with the new found acceptance of the sippy cup, Mom (that's me) can get a break. As well, we're pretty sure that she's ready for solid food because whenever one of us holds her in our lap while we're eating, she starts sucking on her tongue and reaching out to grab whatever we have. We're trying to put off starting solids but I think we're going to have to break on this one.
We noticed yesterday that as we left Abilene and started heading further east, trees began to appear at first just in little clumps along the road and eventually sprouted into entire forests. It's amazing how Texas seems to be divided right in the middle with the east showing mainly plains and the west bearing quite dense forests. I'm really looking forward to the drive today to see how the landscape changes as we head further east. We've been in the desert so long that I can't wait to see some serious green. Thankfully, the weather has been amazing and we've been able to drive without much thought to preparations for any sort of conditions. Longview, where we spent the night last night, had some fog roll in, but that should burn off by late morning. Hopefully, we'll have some more pictures to put up after today's journey. I pray that we make it as far east as we can before the day's over.

Getting Out the Door

I can't believe that we have now been on the road for a week! The original plan was to leave in time to get to Atlanta by Joseph's Birthday on the 11th but, of course, the best laid plans ... Instead, we spent his birthday mostly on the road with a stop in Deming, New Mexico, the birthplace of his maternal grandfather, and Van Horn, Texas, where we got some authentic Tex Mex in a little hole in the wall joint just outside of El Paso. While we got out later than we had planned, there is no doubt that God's timing was/is perfect. We started getting down to serious packing last Saturday and got most everything boxed and ready to go in our trailer by Sunday morning. Joseph stayed up all night on Sunday trying to get the trailer loaded before the first wave of rain storms rolled in to Southern California. My amazing husband and our dear friend Kas re-packed our trailer three times before they got it balanced and road-ready. Some residents and retired missionaries at Casa Robles where we live saw that we were struggling to get on the road and graciously offered their hospitality. It started with inviting us over for dinner and then breakfast and then lunch and eventually ended in them giving us a key and letting us stay the night in their guest room. I was blessed by spending time in their home and hearing their stories about being in the missionary field in Bolivia and South Africa. No doubt, spending time with them bolstered my faith in the middle of a very frustrating start to our trip.
After multiple repacking attempts and a few trailer hiccups, we finally got on the road at 5 pm on Tuesday night! Though we knew we couldn't get very far, we were thankful to be out of our apartment and finally started towards Atlanta. Another blessing which seemed to come out of our late departure was that Joseph's parents, Jerry and Olivia, were in Arizona and drove up to meet us in Indio. At one point, we had all talked about driving to Atlanta together. Now, here we are on Sunday morning in Abilene, Texas and they are still on the road with us and are planning to go all the way to Atlanta. Praise God! As well, since they have their RV, they took over hauling the trailer which is a great relief to our little 1987 Volvo. We have now traveled with them for 5 days and have enjoyed great visiting time.
Mercy is a great little traveler and is doing so well! We are hoping to get to Atlanta by Tuesday. We'll try to keep up with blogging as we go!

The Meal

The idea of "the meal" has been on my mind lately. This may be because I'm now a stay-at-home mom and am enjoying exercising my creative meal-planning muscles or because I have taken an interest in sustainable living, but I think it runs much deeper than that. I find that God tends to meet us where we are in ways that are immensely more deep and complicated than we can imagine. I could say that God meets me in the kitchen when I cook, which is true. I could say that God meets me in the grocery store when I shop for food, which is true. I could say that God meets me in the planning of my weekly meals, which is also true. I think, however, that where God meets me the most is in the consumption of the meal itself. Not that the pleasure of the food is so great that God must be in it, but rather that the experience of sharing a meal with my family is in and of itself a part of God's design for His people. On one level, the communal aspect of eating is very spiritual and I want to extend my table beyond myself and my family. On the other hand, though, I think the communal aspect of a meal is a greater metaphor for God's extension of grace to the entirety of humanity. I reflect on meals in the Bible and how in first-century Judaism, meals were shared amongst the Jews as a sign of their oneness with God and their being chosen. Meals were used to commemorate historical events and to recognize God's provision and fulfilled promise as given through the law. And yet, when Jesus sits with sinners and shares a meal, he is in essence extending that promise outside of the Jewish table and to the rest of humanity. The meals that Jesus shares in the New Testament are symbolic of Jesus' role as the extension of God's favor on the world. The picture of Jesus' meal-sharing is portrayed in the New Testament as a specific example of how we are to commune with the world around us. Our tables are not just for our own families and communities but are meant for the broken, misled, un-churched, un-polished, outsiders, uncomfortable and unwanted members of our own neighborhoods. In extending the invitation to share a meal, we are re-enacting God's extension of grace on us. "The Meal" is so much more than the provision of food for our bodies; it is an opportunity to be an extension of the provision of food for the soul.