Today is an absolutely gorgeous day. The weather here in Texas is getting chilly in the mornings and evenings, and mid-day is a beautiful, comfortable, sunny temperature of 70 degrees. It's definitely not a Minnesota November, but I'm content :) (I'm still praying for a white Christmas down here...join me if you'd like! Texas needs all the prayer it can get!)
This week was Ministry Prep Week here at YWAM Tyler, which means all 3 outreach teams are preparing and sharpening the skills and activities we'll need when we go on outreach. We've been learning dramas, mini skits, VBS programs, hip-hop dances, children's sports, and have also learned how to prepare and share our testimonies with different types of people in different situations. My assignments for outreach are to be part of the hip-hop team and the children's activities team. This means 2 things: one is that my secret, life-long dream of being a hip-hop dancer is coming true (eeek! so excited!), and the second thing is that I'll be doing crafts, braiding hair, painting faces, and just tangibly loving on the Indian girls and boys that don't necessarily care to be a part of the sports activities and just want to chill (which is exactly my personality, as well!). So this week has been incredibly tiring, and a lot of us are physically worn out, but it's so worth it. I'm very excited to see how we can use our new talents and skills to represent a little bit of Jesus' love to the 3 countries we're visiting.
This morning, my OutreachTeam and I popped popcorn, cracked open cans of Mountain Dew, and sat in front of a television to watch Slumdog Millionaire together. Here's a little clip from the beginning of the movie, just click on the link:
(this movie is rated R for language, a little violence, and simply the harsh reality of life in the slums)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgZ399tSsQo&feature=related
Did you watch it?
I cried.
I've seen this movie before. But now that I'm watching it with the reality of me actually being there hit me hard. And it broke my heart. I'm not sure where my heart was when I watched it for the first time, but now that my heart has been begging God to break for the things that break His heart, I completely lost it watching that clip. The way children live in the slums of India breaks God's heart. The way they live in constant fear and have little freedom to live as children breaks God's heart. The evil and violence and cruelty that goes on in the middle of streets breaks God's heart. The dirty, disgusting, filthy wasteland parents are forced to raise their children in breaks God's heart.
And I'm going to see it with my eyes.
Jesus sees it with His eyes...every single day.
Every day, I get the undeserving privelege of looking waking up in a bed with clean sheets and a fluffy pillow. I get to look out the window and decide what is appropriate to wear based on the temperature. I get to walk outside and look at this beautiful Texan ranch and walk to a meal consisting of all food groups and clean water. The beauty of the scenery and the comfort of the atmosphere in this place is utterly overwhelming compared to what exists in the life of a 20 year old girl in Mumbai.
.
Another awesome privilege I get to experience is The Call next weekend. Check out this video:
We are leaving next Thursday in vans and heading up to Detroit for the weekend. Please pray for us as we prepare our hearts and gather our funds for this awesome event. And maybe consider coming yourself! Don't pass up an opportunity to pray for our Nation...I'm really excited to see what God does when his people pray next weekend.
But prayer doesn't need to be a scheduled event of epic proportions. You can be praying right now and God will move in just as big of ways as he does when 50,000 people are gathered in a football stadium. It's about heart and motive.
Oh, and I learned a thing or two from Justin Bieber (yes, Justin Bieber) the other day, watching his music video, Pray. Prayer doesn't start with you blabbing out the first thing you think of to God. Prayer is about being close to His heart and listening to Him first. Listen to what He has to say to you today. Listen to what He wants you to pray about.
No comments:
Post a Comment