Great Thanksgiving Banquet

These pics were taken at Mission Possible's "Great Thanksgiving Banquet" at Church Under the Bridge (under I-35 & 7th Street) on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008. Over 800 meals were served to the homeless and to those with homes who came to volunteer. The main way we asked volunteers to "serve" was to simply sit with homeless folks and listen, learn and love. These were the photos I captured as I walked around the gathering. It was as if heaven had a crack and was spilling down blessings. How often do you see sights like this?

Mobile med clinic at Booker T

These are pics from a mobile medical clinic Mission Possible did at the Booker T Washington housing community in cooperation with Christian Women's Job Corp on Nov. 22, 2008. Doctors, nurses and other volunteers from Hill Country Bible, EV Free, and Gateway came together to serve and care for the uninsured in East Austin, most of whom were single moms living on government assistance.

Letter I recently sent out - long...and long overdue.

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. - Psalm 33:22

November 5, 2008
Hi friends and family,

Can you believe it’s been a whole year since I left the ad biz?? Sometimes it feels like yesterday, but mostly it seems like another lifetime. My journey took me on mission trips to Panama, Oman, Yemen, Ethiopia, Egypt, India, and Zambia to serve the poor. In actuality I ended up learning from the poor, working alongside the poor, and seeing God’s face in the faces of the poor.

This letter is long overdue, mostly because I have struggled to know what to say, with it being impossible to encapsulate my experiences in words. I haven’t yet fully processed everything myself. It seems that each week I have flashes of memories, with haunting images of a burned boy’s raw-skinned belly and forlorn gaze, a malnourished man’s toothless grin and yellowed eyes, an orphan child’s torn shirt and joyful giggle, a village woman’s dirt-caked calloused feet, a black-robed woman with only henna-tattooed hands escaping cover, or a dust-filled home made out of sticks, plastic bags, and tin. It seems like the minute I rest on a revelation or understanding of my experience more pleading questions arise. I have waves of pain and outrage for injustices I saw and still see, not the least one being the vulgar wastefulness of American lifestyles, including my own. Even our “poor” are wealthier than 99% of all the people who have ever walked on this earth. Even so, I would argue that, except in the face of devastating poverty or disease, we are no better off with all our material wealth; in fact the pursuit of it isolates us from each other and from our own hearts, and worst of all, from God.

Over the course of the year I had the opportunity to slow down and listen to God’s voice and my own heart, to ponder my purpose & desires, and to learn from faithful people around the world. I got to sit and talk and have tea – for hours. I got to wander. I got to see three of the wonders of the world. I got to be humbled and inspired. I got to be alone with God while never being alone. I got to live in community with gracious hosts. I got to be gripped by terror in the night and rescued by my God who was nearer. I got to pray and be prayed for.

The cost to do this was almost everything yet nothing at all. In pursuit of God’s call I gave up most of the worldly possessions and professional identity I had built up for myself over the years, and laid down my pride to ask for the help of family and friends. But looking back the only things I would do different now would be to have chosen more radical trust in God for my well-being and more willingness to serve Him. I marvel at His goodness and at the lovingkindness with which He has cared for me.

I also marvel at you guys, my faithful loved ones, who have stuck by me through the ups and downs of helping me live out my calling (a messy process at times) - inspiring many of you, terrifying others, befuddling some, and even offending a few. I thank you for taking the journey with me in the form of friendship, love, encouragement, shared wisdom, loving caution, financial support, help with packing and moving, and faithful prayers. It’s a journey that in many ways has just begun, and I truly thank you for being part of the team that helped me get started, even when the vision wasn’t clear and the outcomes were unknown (and still are!).

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Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
-Hebrews 11:1
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“And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray
to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare…For I know the plans I have
for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and
I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
-Jeremiah 29: 7 & 11-13
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As many of you already know, my journey led me back to Austin where I am re-planting my roots in this new season of my life, after a period of discerning whether or not I was being called to mission work in Cairo, Egypt. God released me from that sense of calling in mid-May, coincidentally on the morning of the day I set out to co-lead a team of 30 people from my church on an “Urban Submersion Weekend” mission trip to East Austin to serve with an inner city ministry called Mission Possible. Mission Possible connects Christians from different churches, regardless of denomination, to serve the homeless, at-risk youth in nearby housing projects, and the poor and elderly neighbors around their community center, an old church building on a corner notorious for drug-deals and prostitution. It’s also an area that is experiencing the pressures of gentrification which pushes the poor out as the wealthy move in, “flipping” homes and tearing down affordable housing, which causes skyrocketing home values and taxes.

While I was in East Austin I sensed God inviting me to join the work He is doing right here at home and saw how some different aspects of my calling aligned with Mission Possible’s vision for community transformation through individual lives being touched by the love of Christ. In this season God has called me to go where others don’t or won’t go and then report back what I see and learn while on the front lines, or better said – to be a scout and a vision-sharer. It doesn’t really matter whether I’m in Egypt or East Austin. I am who God created me to be wherever I am. It's not about what I do, it's about His grace and love and my heart being surrendered to both. That weekend with Mission Possible opened my eyes to the plight of the poor, sick, addicted, abused, homeless, hungry and oppressed in my own city. I began to see God’s plan to transform this city of Austin that I love so much. I started to pray for an east side revival to spark citywide transformation, for people to be reconciled to God and to each other through the power of Christ’s love. Before the weekend was over, I told the executive director Tim Pinson Sr. that I felt like the Lord was calling me to Mission Possible.

After that I served as a volunteer at Mission Possible for two months in order to get to know the staff and for them to know me, and on August 1st I came on staff in a full-time role as Director of Community Outreach & Communications. In a nutshell, my role is to network with church leaders and volunteers from all over the city, sharing Mission Possible’s mission and vision and getting them connected to serve in one-on-one relationships through the venues of spiritual, social, and economic programs we offer. The programs I oversee are under the umbrella of Community Outreach: a wellness center that provides free medical care to the homeless and uninsured, an in-home grocery delivery service for the elderly and homebound on fixed incomes, a free home repair ministry, and a community garden. I also do PR and media promotion for our community events such as His-Story, a live presentation of Jesus’ life with live nativity scene (complete with camels, donkeys, goats, and sheep – reminds me of my vet clinic days in Ethiopia!!). In the upcoming year I will coordinate a charity golf tournament as well as our annual banquet and silent auction. Plus I get to go to Camp Nikos with the kids and teach arts & crafts and the ropes course! It’s all hands on deck at this small-staffed ministry that runs on volunteer power and the faithful donations of individual donors, with no government grants and no corporate sponsors, just faith in God’s provision alone.


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He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. -Micah 6:8
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Eternal moments from the frontline…


THOMAS
During my second week on the job a middle-aged African-American man pounded on the side door of Mission Possible while I was upstairs working, asking if I had anything sweet I could give him. I knew that was a sign that he was coming down off of crack but decided his request was innocent enough, and his tone of voice didn’t sound malicious, so after rummaging around our food pantry I found some cookies to give him. Barely 10 minutes had passed and I heard another banging on the door. “Hey, um, yeah, say, can I have some cookies too?” the voice on the other side of the door said with an urgency that betrayed his faux timidity. So there I was, suddenly playing trick-or-treat with these guys, not knowing what it would bring next. That’s when I felt a check in my spirit that said “pray for him.” So I decided to go with that nudge and opened the door, but before handing him the bag of cookies I looked him in the eye and said with a playfully stern smile, “there’s only one stipulation, tell me what I can pray for you about.”

It’s weird but in that moment I felt like he was kin to me, my brother, and like I was supposed to be there to show love to him at that moment, but also like it was growing something in me to be able to be there for him, like he was there for me as much as I was there for him. I think he felt the connection too, because he instantly bowed his posture and then looked up at me with a plaintive look of trust mixed with desperation and said, “um, yeah, um, can you pray that I would get off the drugs?” I said of course and asked if I could pray right there (yes) and could I put my hand on his sweaty shoulder (yes) and asked what his name was (Thomas). So right there we prayed. Right there I was just a sister bringing her wounded brother before the throne of our loving Father, asking Him to show mercy to His struggling son. I thanked God for Thomas’ faith to even let me pray for him, and I pleaded with the Father to grant victory to Thomas over the drugs, and to restore the damage done to his body. I said goodbye to Thomas and went upstairs and cried in Tim Jr.’s office. At the end of that day, when I looked at all the things I didn’t accomplished on my to-do list, God spoke to my spirit and said, “Well done my child, you did what was most important to me today, you loved your brother.”


DOROTHY
One afternoon, as I was alone in the office and getting ready to leave for the day, a haggard-looking overweight Hispanic woman came to the door. When I’m there alone I’m more cautious about who I open the door for, but as a general rule I always let women in. Plus, she looked pretty desperate. I let her in and she explained that she’s been living in her car with her baby, and that the car was out of gas and she was broke and had walked several blocks to find some money and food and use a phone. I asked her name (Dorothy) and gave her a cup of water and invited her to sit down and talk. She was exhausted from the long walk in the heat and seemed so downtrodden and alone. We talked about her situation and I learned that in the past she had lived on the streets in Austin but had moved to Houston last year, but that Hurricane Ike has displaced her back to Austin to live in her car. She used my cell phone to call her husband and ended up getting hysterical on the phone, yelling back at him and starting to cry. She hung up abruptly and broke down sobbing, with huge tears rolling down her face and onto her t-shirt. I put my hand on her back and rubbed it gently to comfort her as she told me how her husband had left her and was now married to her sister. She was so dejected, and in that moment I felt such pointed compassion for her, such a deep connectedness to her pain. There was nothing I could do to solve her problems, but I could rub her back and sit with her in her time of sorrow, and I could pray. After I prayed for her she wiped the tears from her eyes and thanked me. We have an informal policy not to hand out cash to people, but I gave her $3 and packed her a couple bags of food for the road.

Two weeks later I saw her again at Mission Possible, this time in the morning as I came in to work. I excitedly greeted her, “Dorothy!! How are you doing!?” She beamed at me and said she was doing so much better than when I had last seen her. She was there that morning because she had come for our Tuesday Night Fellowship for the Homeless the night before, where we serve a meal to 100+ homeless people and have music and Bible study, and then invite them to sleep over on the floor of our community center. A doctor comes twice a month to treat and give out necessary meds free of charge. Our building used to be a church, so we have the dinner and worship serve in the old sanctuary, and when all those homeless people are crammed in there talking, listening, laughing, debating, arguing, complaining, singing, and smelling as human it gets - in those moments - you get the sense that you are in the presence of angels.


THERESA
Again, I’m upstairs in my office, working on my computer, doing things that could pass for your typical cubicle job in corporate America. Emails, phone calls, paperwork, following up on this and that, the usual. In comes Theresa, a 42-year-old Caucasian woman with scraggly blond hair and thin as a rail. She’s been using crack cocaine for 20 years and her skin, teeth, and body have aged accordingly with the damage it’s done. She had just been in Terry’s office talking to him. A retired IBM guy and then missionary to China and Russia, Terry counsels some of the homeless people and neighbors in our East Austin community when they are in need of someone to talk to about spiritual concerns and matters of physical and economic need.

So Theresa bounces into my office and says “I need a card, do you have a card??” I thought she was asking for my business card, like maybe so she could keep it handy to call me for stuff, but something told me to ask her what kind of card she wanted. “A greeting card” she said, “like the kind you give to someone.” She then explained to me that she has a crush on Brian, one of our regular volunteers who serves the homeless on Tuesday nights and on Sundays at Church Under the Bridge (under the I-35 & 7th St. overpass). She went on about how he is so kind to her and to everyone else and that she would love to marry him, but that she knows he would never marry a crack addict like herself. I commiserated with her, as women do when talking about unattainable men, and encouraged her to think of it like this: maybe God was showing her a guy like Brian as a wake up call, to show her that He has good plans in store for her in the future, maybe to inspire her to seek victory over crack. I think Terry had given her similar advice, so she was content to just dream but still wanted to show her appreciation for his kindness.

Right then I realized I had a greeting card in my desk that I had planned to give to a friend but hadn’t gotten around to (sometimes procrastination has unforeseen benefits). I pulled it out and gave it to Theresa. She was so excited because it had a violin on the front and a message that said something about being created to play a tune that only you were meant to play, and on the inside it said “Play on” and had a meaningful Bible verse at the bottom. She ran out of my office giddy, and ten minutes later ran back in waving the card at me. She kneeled down by my desk and showed me what she had written in huge scribbly handwriting that could have been that of a first grader. She was so genuinely excited to do something nice for this man who had been so genuinely kind to her, and I was so happy to be able to help her do it. And in that moment, conspiring to commit that random act of kindness together, we were sisters.


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And he will answer, “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.” -Matthew 25:45
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Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love.
-I Corinthians 13:13
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I can’t say that every interaction with the homeless has been as pleasant or meaningful for me or them. I’m not even saying that those moments meant a hill of beans to Thomas, Dorothy, or Theresa in the grand scheme of their lives or in helping them to get off the street or off of drugs. But I do know that God’s Word says that only three things are eternal: Faith, Hope, and Love. For me those were moments of obedience to the Holy Spirit’s nudge on my heart, obedience that God sees as an act of love towards Himself and other people, who the Bible says over and over that He loves and sent Jesus to die for, to reconcile to Himself. So if these little moments of love are pleasing and of eternal value to the Lord, then they are treasures for me to hold dear, treasures so valuable that I am compelled by His love to share them with you.

It’s not easy doing inner city ministry, and some days it feels like too big of a burden to bear. But those are usually the days I find myself working in my own strength instead of God’s. It’s His work, not mine, and He will accomplish His purposes with or without me! I just thank Him for inviting me to be a part of His plan. And when I work in the peace of that knowledge He uses me to bless others, which is the greatest blessing of all to me.


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But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from
God and not from us. -II Corinthians 4:7
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If you would like to donate to Mission Possible you can specify on the mail-in envelope provided that your donation go to the general fund or to one of our three ministry areas: Homeless Ministry (Church Under the Bridge), Project Intercept (kids after school programs and Nikos camps), or Community Outreach (medical, groceries, home repair, community garden). You can do a one-time gift or an ongoing monthly donation. For questions about giving you can call our administrative assistant, Billie Robinson, at (512) 494-0953.

I am personally fundraising for the purchase of a MAC laptop for business use and for general personal expenses that will enable me to continue doing ministry long-term. If you would like to donate to my personal ministry please put #1006 on the envelope or attach a note to your check. If you do not receive a hand-written thank you note from me within six weeks please contact Billie or myself to verify proper accounting of your funds.

As I move forward in this ministry I ask for your ongoing prayers more than anything else. There is nothing, NOTHING, of greater value, blessing, protection, and provision for me than prayer. Thank you again for your friendship, love, and support!

Love,
Susan Joy
Personal contact info:
12401 Los Indios Trail, #28, Austin, TX 78729, (512) 773-3240 cell

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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to
us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. –I1 Corinthians 5:17
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the Flip-side...

Ok, I feel kinda bad for not saying all the wonderful things about Yemen and the middle east in my last email. After three weeks I'm growing a bit impatient with middle eastern culture, so even though everything in my email was true, it was probably tainted towards the frustrating differences vs. the awesome ones!

Here's what I will say...obviously from the pics there are some beautiful incredible people and places. The market ("souq") in the Old City was amazing and colorful with winding streets and people selling their wares of all kinds. I took lots of pics b/c it all struck me as so incredibly beautiful. Same thing at the House on the Rock which is toward the end of my web album, just gorgeous. Regarding culture, I have learned more than a thing or two about hospitality. People here openly welcome friends and strangers into their homes (of course separated by gender). They always serve you tea and usually with an appetizer or full meal whether it was a planned visit or not. If you're invited to someone's home it's understood that you can bring all your extended family, so they are fine with it if you show up with 10 extra people. We in America have gotten so closed off with our fences and locked doors and busy over-planned schedules that many would be offended if friends brought over uninvited guests or (gasp!) were to stop by unannounced. Here I have been lavished with graceful and generous hospitality and have been made to feel comfortable, special, and doted on.

I also think it's amazing the way they take care of their family and extended family here, taking care of ailing relatives, widows, and unmarried women. They don't just throw money at the problem for someone else to deal with. They take people in and take responsibility for their longterm care. You have to respect that.

Also, regarding modesty, while it's way out of whack here with the face-coverings and full-length robes, there is something to be learned from it in moderation. I think of some of the ways women and girls dress and act in America and it is kind-of out of control. I can't blame guys for staring & lusting when our junk is all hanging out!! I am in no position to judge either culture, but I personally am learning about some of the benefits of modesty... again, IN MODERATION!! :-)

My last thing is that it is not as dangerous here as everyone makes it sound. Yes, there's tribal violence going on in some parts of the country and there are the occasional dangerous fundamentalists you have to watch out for, but by and large I've felt safer here than in any big city in the states. It's considered extremely dishonorable to bother a woman in public, so except for the occasional "welcome to Yemen, I love you" from men on the street I've been completely left alone. In fact, the other day my aunt and I walked right through the middle of the quat souq (market where the men buy the quat drug they chew) and you would have thought we had a bubble of protection around us. Even though it was a sea of hundreds of red-eyed men getting high, they let us pass untouched in total peace. I wouldn't walk through a group of men like that in the states or Europe for a million bucks!

So, there's my other side of the coin. I feel better now.

Ma salaama, salaam aleykum! (goodbye, peace to you)
Sooz

2/8/08

Copy of email I sent from Yemen on 2/8/08:
Hi everyone,

A few of you have commented on my pics and the fact that there are few women and girls out and about on the streets and in my pictures. Here's my reply to one friend plus some additional comments..."You are correct in your observation that mostly they are confined to the home, however, that is changing somewhat and more Yemeni women are getting jobs outside the home, of course they stay covered/veiled while at work. Some brilliant women have been offered great high-paying jobs at international companies that would require them to not veil their faces (they could still cover their hair at work), but many have had to turn down those jobs if their fathers or husbands won't allow them to remove their veils for any reason. All of that being said, there are some women out and about on the streets, but my pictures don't show it because it is considered VERY disrespectful to take pictures of women and girls. Whenever I ask they always say no, except for a few little girls here and there. It's a huge issue of modesty and would be shameful and disgraceful for their photos to be shown to people. Some even feel that taking a person's picture steals the soul and invites the "jinn" or evil spirits in. Many of the women here say they love being covered and feel protected like "beautiful flowers" that are to be cherished and only seen by their husbands. Hmmm, not sure if I'm buying it."

Technically I could just dress modestly and walk around in normal clothes since I'm a foreigner, but it would really invite unwanted stares, and showing my hair is to them is practically like going topless is to America. So me and the other American women I'm with cover up so as not to draw attention to ourselves and to respect their culture of modesty. It has invited confusion and conversation from Yemenis who wonder if we are Muslim and if not why would we cover ourselves, but ultimately they always end up thanking us for our respect for their culture.

The day before yesterday my aunt and girl cousin and I went to a public hot bath ("hammam") with a Yemeni friend. It was dirty and super basic and like being in a dungeon or old cavern but I loved it just for the experience of it. The Yemeni woman taught us how the locals wash and scrub and prepare for wedding day (scrub first on dry skin, THEN wash...who knew?!). It was much different from any "spa day" I've ever had in the U.S. We had a lot of good laughs (at our own expense) with the other women near us b/c we were doing it all wrong at first. I tried rubbing this hydrating orange mud stuff on me but because my skin is so white compared to the Yemenis' it was staining my skin orange, so they got a kick out of that. For some reason I don't mind being laughed at in a foreign country. If you look at my web album there are a couple pics towards the end of a door on a gross building on a dirt road. That's the front door of the hammam. We were told this was one of the nicer ones.........my aunt had been to one years ago with roaches climbing up the walls.

On the drive home I took off my head scarf for two seconds to flip my hair (you can take a girl out of the 80s, but...) and my aunt freaked and said to put it back on and that she'd tell me why later. After the Yemeni friend got out of the car she said that having wet hair means you had sex that day because women are required to shower afterward b/c it makes them "unclean" and then they wouldn't be able to pray. She didn't want to say it in front of that girl b/c she's not married yet and it wouldn't be appropriate to talk about that in front of her. There are so many rules here that I keep unintentionally breaking!!!!!!! I feel sorry for women here who are shamed at every direction. Women also aren't allowed to pray or go to mosque when they are on their periods since that also makes them "unclean" (so does nail polish), so once they are off their period they have to make up the prayers they missed. Fascinating huh?

Today we visited the home of a local man and his family. We were pleasantly shocked that he allowed his wife to eat and talk with us and even remove her veil! Apparently that is extremely rare and was a huge huge sign of trust. Most times the women would all be put in a separate room and we wouldn't see my uncle again until it's time to leave. That happened to us in Oman a couple times, where us women were herded into the women's quarters with no English speaking Omani women. It was awkward, but fun in a way trying to muddle through the time with smiles and extremely basic English. They did let us take digital pictures of the children there and occasionally of the women because they don't veil their faces as much. So the camera provided a lot of fun and laughs. So anyway, with the family today we were served a traditional Yemeni meal on the floor with everyone eating family style from all the plates (the man with his hands but the rest of us with utensils) and then talked all afternoon -- the women with the wife and my uncle with the husband. We were there for four hours! My aunt tried to translate as much as Arabic as possible for me. I brought some balloons for the kids which were a big hit. The wife got out all these homemade perfumes and made me put them on and then sent me home with some homemade incense chips. I got a headache from all the strong scents in the small room we were in! I keep forgetting to mention that men in the middle east can marry up to four women, as long as they can financially support them all. So guys, you interested in moving over here?!? ;-)

Moving on.........I found out the other day that the vet clinic in Ethiopia is definitely happening, and sooner than I thought. I will fly from Yemen to Ethiopia on Sunday, and then we'll leave first thing Monday morning for the remote desert to work with a nomadic "people group" immunizing their camels, goats, and sheep. We'll have four men and two women, so me and the other girl will handle goats and sheep, thank God b/c I am keeping my distance from camels these days! Pray for that and for my own battle with fear. It always seems that I get all freaked out before big stuff like this, and then I get there and the holy spirit totally takes over and brings me peace and strength. I am praying for remembrance of God's past blessings and for faith in His promises of future grace towards me. Your prayers will be extremely important, so please keep them coming!! Monday - drive all day to desert camp, Tues-Thurs - Vet Clinics all day, Friday drive to hotel, Saturday - drive back to Addis. We won't be able to shower til we get to the hotel Friday night, so we will be N-A-S-T-Y with dirt, sweat, and animal crud all over us. I know that Kilimanjaro and Panama have prepared me for this, but still, I tend to get anxious and scared about being that primitive! This time I'm really really REALLY trying to claim victory in JC and surrender my pride to God's protection and provision. Growing my faith has been a humbling and messy process, and I'm still a work in progress, breaking old habits as I learn to trust God more. Also pray for my pre-work lesson planning for Egypt. I am running behind (shocker) and needing to get all my stuff turned in by Sunday. I'm working on it a little bit each day and plan to spend several hours tonight and tomorrow finalizing stuff to send to the translators before I leave for Ethiopia.

I know it's hard to know where I am and what I'm doing, and having to be so vague about so much of this is no fun. But it just helps me to know that you guys are out there thinking about me and praying for me. I think of you OFTEN and am missing home quite a bit this past couple days. I'm going to call home tonight for the first time in three weeks.

To all the Gatewayers - I will totally be praying for the AIDS Experience exhibit this weekend!! Good luck with everything!
Love,Susan

To see my Yemen pics click on this link...
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/susan.knechtel/YemenPics?authkey=3UuMfIAzFhg

Prayer requests for my family back home

Please pray for:
-healing for my mom from shingles and the constant headache that it creates
-my nephew Cal's first trip to the dentist which can be scary for a little guy at age 3
-my sister Carolyn's job situation & praise for health insurance which changed for the better

Also, pray that God will lead me to the right apartment rental and/or roommate situation when I return to Austin homeless in late March. Ask him to prepare a home for me that is comfortable and peaceful and within my new financial constraints.

I'm back to blogging!!!!!!

Hi you guys!!! I'm finally back on my blog! What a disappointment it's been to not be able to blog and post pics like I had planned. I'm hoping to get back on track now that I'm at my aunt and uncle's house. I safely arrived here day before yesterday. I'm not going to mention what country I'm in just to be safe.

When I arrived my aunt and cousin picked me up from the airport. On the way home we stopped at a little fruit and vegetable shop to get some veggies. I was taking all kinds of pics, and my cousin laughed and said, "I can't imagine THIS being new to someone to where they would want to take pictures!" Their everyday shopping experience is exotic and eye-opening for me! All the men who worked there and who were hanging out on the street were chewing quat, the daily ritual for about 80% of men here. Quat hour starts around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and the various stages of the drug's effects take them through chatty and energetic, to mellow and dazed, to no appetite, to the inability to sleep. Their cheeks were bloated like chipmunks and eyes bloodshot red.

After that we went home and had tea and cookies in the muffrage, or communal living area with the couch cushions and pillows on the floor. We caught up for a couple hours and then had a nice spaghetti dinner. It was nice to have home cooking and a mellow evening at home with family! My uncle has been in another part of the country helping because one of their coworkers died unexpectedly a few weeks ago. He'll be back today. Two of their other kids are at a boarding school in Kenya near where all the riots and violence is happening. Please pray for their safety, that the school can get the food and supplies it needs, and of course for God to bring peace and forgiveness to the region.

Fridays are holy days here, so yesterday we went to a fellowship at a home. It was neat to experience that first-hand in a country where the Truth is not widely known or celebrated. Afterward we went to the old town square to do some sight-seeing but there were many armed soldiers out everywhere not letting cars in where they can normally go. So we decided not to get out and to just drive around the city. Today or tomorrow we will try again. My aunt thinks maybe a dignitary or some important person was in town. There did not seem to be any violence, thank God. Pray for extreme tribal violence that is currently taking place in another region of the country.

Today we will be visiting the home of a local believer. This is a huge deal and an experience so few get to be a part of! I feel blessed to have the opportunity to get to know this person, and to be able to convey prayer requests to you guys at a later time on their behalf. God is at work here bringing people to Himself, and it's exciting to see the fruit firsthand!!

Monday afternoon I will get to volunteer at a local outreach program for street kids. Please pray for me to have grace and sensitivity to their collective situation and individual needs. Pray that God's light will shine through me and that I will be able to live out His love for them by being the hands and feet of JC. Pray that I will have one-on-one heart connections with these kids and that my visit will be eternally meaningful to them.

This country is very poor, so there are lots of beggars and street kids here. Last night during dinner a beggar rang the doorbell looking for money. It's hard to turn them away, but my aunt and uncle give in so many other ways that they can't give to every beggar that rings the doorbell. They do keep bags of rice and lentils in the front seat of their car to give to beggars who come up to the windows at intersections. It's kind-of like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in that way, although I think it was actually worse in Addis, with lots more crippled and maimed people coming up and knocking incessantly on the car windows. Granted, I've only been here two days!

I am sleeping in one of my cousin's rooms (while he's away at boarding school) which is what would otherwise be the guard-house outside by the gate. It's kind-of nice having some privacy. I have my own little bathroom with a "squatty potty" (i.e. hole in the floor toilet). Each night around 4am I am awakened by the local mosque's call to prayer over loud speakers. The do it at 4am, 11:30am, 3:30pm, dusk, and an hour after dark each day. That being said, there's one going right now and it's 12:30pm, so they almost an hour late (being on-time is relative here...if you are a punctual person it would drive you crazy, but I feel right at home in that way!!!). The call to prayer is a really creepy sound, although I'm getting used to it, and my aunt and uncle barely even notice it anymore other than to signal what time of day it is. Our hotel room in Oman had a mosque right outside, so I got woken up by that some nights, but here it's louder since I'm right out by the street, so I anticipate that this will be a nightly ritual for me. I just say a quick prayer to JC and then doze back to sleep!

Yesterday morning I was awakened by the sound of birds I've never heard before. It reminded me of being in Africa last year. It's weird to be on the other side of the planet and hear and see so many new sights and sounds. It can be sensory overload, so I'm really happy to be here relaxing with family for Week 3 of my nine-week adventure!

My main goal in the next few weeks with family is to have more down-time to experience growing intimacy with God. We were so on-the-go in Oman that my personal quiet time suffered. We did a group devotional daily and lots of prayer, but it's not the same as spending one-on-one time with God myself. This morning's devotional brought the message home that my personal love relationship with God is the single most important thing, and everything else will flow out as it should from there. When I get busy and stressed I start relying on self-sufficiency and works instead of relying on God's promises of future grace to get me through. I thank God for continually reminding me that he created me for an intimate and personal love relationship with Him!!!

Love to all, more soon,
Sooz

Trying to post pics - we'll see if this works!

Wish me luck. Here goes....

1/28/08

Last ones for tonight are attached. The beautiful blue water pic is of a Wadi we hiked into for an hour and then got to swim in. It led to all these pools of intensely blue water that looked like they were lit from beneath. The blond woman in that pic is my aunt. From that first pool you see we swam and hiked in and out of several wadi pools and finally swam through this little crevice through a cave for about 25 feet which then opened up to a gorgeous cavernous pool. The swim was really good for my arm. I think the resistance of the water helped to loosen up where the camel had kicked.

The memory chip with my dune-bashing and dune skiing pics is up in the room, and I need to get to bed. More hopefully tomorrow if they give us time to chill out for more than two seconds so I can email!!! :-) I'll also try to put in more stories about the people we've been meeting and the types of interactions we've been having. I have to be careful about emailing some of those details. It's tough b/c I wish I could be totally free to say whatever like back in the States. Just know that we are connecting with people but that a lot of patience and restraint is required.

I meant what I said about you guys emailing me what's going on with your life. I don't want two months to go by and me totally be detached. I am realizing more than ever how much all of you mean to me.

Also, has the stock market crashed over there??? What's going on, or should I not want to know?

Good night!
Susan

1/28/08

1/28/08 - PICS FROM OMAN

1/28/08 - It's 1:15am here but I am trying to send you guys a few pics before going to bed since I've had such a hard time posting them to my blog...... please bear with me. I'm sending 2 by 2 so they go through..........this hotel lobby computer is SO SLOW it's driving me nuts!

Here's a story while I wait for these pics to attach -- Wednesday night we are going to the Muscat festival with a group of Omani women we met last week. We were invited to their home and had the whole traditional coffee and sweet noodles, dates, and oranges pre-meal meal in the majales (sp?) room. Then we had a full on real meal with them. The whole event took nearly five hours! It was getting so late that they ran out of time to do this tradition where they put a pot of burning incense under your skirt to make you smell good. I can't remember the name of it but if I find out I'll let you know. It's about the weirdest tradition I've ever heard of, but at this point nothing is really surprising me anymore. :-)

1/28/08

1/28/08 - CAMEL ATTACK!

I am retroactively updating my blog since I couldn't access it from overseas. All the headers were in Arabic for the first half of my trip, and then poor internet access became the issue. This post was from an email I sent to my supporters on Jan. 28th...

Hi all,

I miss you so much! I don't have too much time to write, and it's overwhelming to try to tell you all that's going on. I've been away from email from several days b/c we went on an excursion to the desert. I have lots of stories to tell, most of which can be told better through pictures, but I'm having a hard time uploading my pics onto my blog and onto a Picasa web shared album b/c I'm on the hotel lobby computer. So for now I'll just attach a few here and there.

The first pic attached is of me getting henna this morning from a Bedoin (sp?) woman out at the desert camp we stayed at last night. The Bedoins are gypsies of various tribes. We stayed in their region for two nights at two different desert camps. Yesterday we were able to snowski and snowboard on the dunes and then went dune-bashing in 4-wheel drive SUVs, which was INSANE. You won't believe it til you see the pics. I was really scared at first b/c I was in a car being driven by one of us Americans. It wasn't until I switched to a car being driven by the local guy that I was able to relax and totally enjoy it. He's been driving these dunes since he was nine, so that just put me at ease. This is a camp that our local friends here take groups to several times a year. Pray for the people who run the camps, for blessings on their families, and that God would draw them near to Him.

The other pic is of a village boy we saw on the drive to the desert. We were driving slow through a little village and stopped for something and saw this boy playing with four kittens that couldn't have been more than a day or two old. He was soooo happy playing with them and was excited to share his joy with us on the side of the road.

I have a scary story to tell -- mom, dad, Carolyn, and Kathy: close your eyes for a minute -- on the first day of our drive to the desert we stopped the cars to take pics of wild camels that were on the side of the road. Long story short I think there were too many of us too close to one of them, and I was the closest to him and happened to maybe look him in the eye too long or something, who knows why but he all of a sudden charged me. In an instant I knew I had to run for my life or be trampled by this huge beast. Something told me to suddenly zig-zag ala my powderpuff football quarterback-style moves (as seen in the BHS class of '90 yearbook). Just as I zig-zagged I threw my arm above my head and behind me to block just as his hoof or head or something came down and hit it. My arm hurt all day and is now bruised, and I was really shaken up for an hour or so, but overall I was not hurt considering how dangerous the situation was.

Since then it's been hard not to think about it, and in a weird way I've been pretty deeply affected by the incident. It's the first time I've ever had to run for my life, which is a weird feeling. One time when I was 13 I had to swim for my life when a boat was coming straight at me in the lake, but since then I can't recall feeling this feeling, and this camel thing was definitely worse. For the first day or so I kept replaying the scene over and over in my head, not being able to shake that moment of fear when I knew he was coming after me. It all happened so fast that I didn't really have an accurate picture of what went on. It wasn't until the next day that I actually got all the stories from the others about what they saw happen. The first day everyone was just trying to let the dust settle and get my mind on other things.

Apparently when the camel started to charge he was practically on me within just two big steps of his long legs. Then he reared up, which is (I'm told) right about the time I did my zig-zag. On the way I threw my left arm up and behind me to protect my head. Either his head or foot (they think his head) hit my arm and then somehow I got away and he went the other direction chasing some of the others briefly and then stopping. I know the holy spirit was what prompted me to zig-zag at that exact moment, but I literally shudder when I let my mind go to a place of wondering what would have happened had I not moved in that way in that instant. It's not healthy or productive to think about that, but naturally I was shaken up and kept thinking about that the rest of that day and the next. I'm always looking for spiritual metaphors in things lately, and I can't help but equate it to my spiritual walk. I think of the certain death I was headed towards before God rescued me, and I shudder to think of what would have been had he not stepped in. But I shouldn't fixate on that, rather on his mercy and love and promises of future grace. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Another interesting side note about the camel incident is that I didn't even have my sandals on all the way. I had slipped my toes into my Teva straps but hadn't fastened the strap around my heel. And we were on this bed of little rocks, in what they call a Wadi, which is a dried up river bed. So, the footing was shifty and insecure. How I was able to turn on a dime the way I did I'll never really know.

This morning I conquered my new fear of camels by going on a camel ride. This one was muzzled and leashed, so it wasn't so bad, and actually I really enjoyed it!! I'll send pics in a separate email so they go through.

Please send me updates on your lives and what's going on in Austin and cities you live in. I'm already feeling a tiny bit homesick and really really like hearing about you guys b/c it helps me feel connected. I may not be able to respond one-on-one, but know that I am reading them all!!

Attached is a picture of the guilty camel. You can tell by the look on his face that he is about to go postal on me.

Love to all,
Susan

1/28/08

More Oman pics!

Enjoy!

Lots of Oman pics!

Enjoy!

Finally, I can blog again!

Hi you guys!

Sorry for the delay in posting to my blog. I haven't been able to because the headers are all in Arabic, so I couldn't figure out how to log in. Somehow I figured it out tonight, so yay!

Due to security reasons I won't be able to blog about the specific spiritual aspects of my journey as I had hoped. But I CAN use it to post pictures and tell you about the touristy stuff we do.

Muscat (the cap city of Oman) is very beautiful. It's a coastal city with absolutely perfect tempertatures in the high 70s right now, although in the summer it often gets up 120. It kinda reminds me of a middle eastern La Jolla, California. Everything is super clean and nice, in fact, people can get ticketed if their car is too dirty! All the cars look normal and people drive normal... I even drove a couple times since I'm one of the only ones who can drive a stick shift.

All the buildings are white, many with beautiful intricately designed doors, windows, and gates. Most of the homes are huge, since extended families tend to all live together. There are virtually no poor people, becase Oman is an oil rich nation. It makes getting the gospel into this country even more difficult. The people here are very comfortable in every worldly way. One of the benefits of their wealth for us is that we can freely eat the food and drink the water without fear of getting sick. That's been nice and has alleviated some of the culture shock I experienced in Africa and Panama.

The major culture shock here is in the male/female relationships and the way I as a woman have to dress and act. The females in our group have chosen to respect the local culture of the Omanis and "cover" ourselves as much as possible, unlike most American tourists who come here and don't care that they are completely offending the locals. This means that we mostly wear long loose ankle-length skirts and long baggy shirts. If we wear pants we wear shirts long enough to completely cover our butts and crotch area. That's a big deal here. When we visited the Grand Mosque this morning we were required to cover our heads, wrists, and ankles. Many of the westerners who showed up to tour the mosque were denied admittance because of how they were dressed.

The other thing we have to do is avoid eye contact with Omani men as much as possible, unless they are working at a store or at the festival, then we can talk about that and exchange pleasantries like "Salaam Alekum" (peace to you). More than that is considered inappropriate and loose. The weird thing is though, that we CAN make eye contact and talk to the many Indian and Pakistani men who live and work here. At first we were all like, how on earth are we supposed to know who is Omani vs. Indian vs. Pakistani??? In America we are taught NOT to racially profile, but here it's a necessity. Basically, you can tell who everyone is pretty much by how they dress. The Omani men wear the starched long white (occassionally brown) robe called a Bid-Bid with a cap that has beautiful intricate embroidered designs. The Indian men dress like westerners, and the Pakistani men look like they are wearing pajamas -- long flowy pants with long flowy knee-length shirts.

At the Muscat Festival the other night we got some food and had a good time laughing and joking with the Egyptian food vendors. They are Muslim, but not as strict, and because they were vendors we were able to be more relaxed with them. But then we had to go sit on the "women's side" of the eating area. When we bought tickets for the rides there were separate men's and women's lines.

With few exceptions the women here all wear long traditional black "abayas". All of them cover their hair completely, and some cover their entire face except for the slits of their eyes. We've seen a few who actually wear a complete face veil that they can see through but we can't see in, not even their eyes. It's kinda creepy looking, but you get used to seeing it and now we even comment on how beautiful and different certain abayas are. We're told that women here claim to love "covering" and say they choose it because they prefer it and feel more "free". Hmmmmm, I'm not sure I'm buying that!

I could talk all night about the dress and the male/female thing. It's been a major thing to get used to. I'm just not used to rubbing elbows with people who look like sheiks!!

I'm running out of time on my prepaid computer card and want to post some pics, so GOOD NIGHT!

Love,

Sooz

Pray for peace in Yemen and Kenya

Hi guys, I'm back. Just got this email from my uncle in Yemen...

Hi Family,
I do not know if you have heard but two tourists from Belgium were killed in an Al Kaida attack in Hadramout yesterday. It is about ten hours drive from us. All is ok here, though there are some demonstrations here planned this morning (not related to the attack) , downtown…so we will not go there then. Never a dull moment here.

Anna and Tim left yesterday and spent the night with Margie. They are at the Addis airport now with about 8 other kids going to RVA. They were ready to get back to school, but it sure was nice having them home longer. We have heard that rioting in Kenya has decreased but it is more violent when it happens. Keep Kenya on your prayer list. They really have a lot of problems and the two sides do not seem to be budging.

I will be in Yemen Jan. 31 - Feb. 10. I am not at all surprised or deterred by the timing of these attacks. I was prepared mentally for this, since conflict in the region is practically unceasing. Please keep both Yemen and Kenya on your prayer list, for God to supernaturally increase peace and love and decrease violence and hate.

Good morning from Dallas!

I arrived safely in Dallas last night around 2:30am. It took me 2 hours to load my dad's truck by myself. The boxes were heavy and awkward, and there were more last minute items to get packed than I realized. So I didn't get on the road til 11pm. I was kinda worried about my safety, but I talked to Rick Bowman on the phone and he spoke some big words of encouragement that totally made me a woman on a mission to get to Dallas! He was like, "there is a calling on your life and God knows you need to be in Dallas safely, so walk in that truth and stay alert and focused on your mission!" He was right! I got iced coffee and hit the road and seriously before I knew it I was suddenly in Hillsboro, 2 hours had flown by. The rest of the drive to Dallas was a breeze. I was in the zone. I was a drivin fool.

So now it's 8am and I'm up getting last-minute things done, and making final decisions on what to take on my trip. My flight leaves at 3pm and goes to Wash, DC where I will meet up with my aunt Star and her group whose trip this is that I'm tagging along with. This is her sixth year in a row to go to Oman on this trip. She used to be in advertising/PR for about 20 years, and then about 10 years ago she had a big crisis of faith and felt God was calling her out of that and toward a position as an executive director of a small Habitat for Humanity chapter in Dorchester County, SC. She's been living with my grandpa in Charleston, caring for him as he's 92 and needs someone around.

Side note: my grandparents served as "M"s in the Middle East and North Africa for 46 years, in countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and including 25 years in Morocco. He is blessed to have Star living with him in his twilight years, taking good care of him. He is a dear dear man and strong servant of God. My grandma Beth died when my mom was 10 of Leukemia, leaving behind my mom and three sisters, Star being the youngest at age two, the middle two sisters named Susan and Joy, hence me being named Susan Joy.

People wondered how my grandpa could go on serving a God who would "take" a young wife/mother of age 33 who was serving Him on the field. Luckily my grandpa didn't see it that way, and could see things that are not seen. He trusted in God's loving faithfulness. A few years later God put my Grandma Arlene in his life (the grandma that I grew up knowing). She was about the age I am now. She fell in love with the girls and with my grandpa and they married and served in Morocco running a bookstore which sold, among many other books, the Bible. Prior to that my grandma had been serving the Lord in India for many years as a nurse. So together they had twin girls who are now both on the field with their husbands! Reminds me again of Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

My grandma Arlene died of Leukemia as well, in 1994. Soon after it was obvious that my grandpa needed someone around to help with meals and stuff. I remember a little ditty being said in the family that he was "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good." Star has been a gift from God to him, taking care of the business of the household and keeping some meat on his bones. Luckily, he is a sweet and gentle man even though he's gradually forgetting who everyone is -- although he does spit like a camel, whenever and wherever. My aunts say it's from living for so many years in the Middle East. :-)

I always end up going off on tangents on these posts. You'll have to bear with me, since this is pretty much my journal, so as such I tend to get sentimental and think of all the things that have led me to this day, not just the facts of current day. Hopefully by telling you you'll come to see how the threads of the tapestry of my faith story have come together, and see the way that God has chosen to use my family as his faithful servants, and understand why I am so humbled and blessed to have been called home to Him, to serve in the work in any way he has planned for me. This trip is more about me just being available to him vs. me having any kind of agenda of my own. Please pray that I would remain connected to the spirit of God in every moment so that I may do his perfect will. John 15:5 has been my mantra the past two weeks in preparing myself for this day.

Unless I decide to blog again before leaving for the airport, the next post you will receive from me will be from Oman!!! Pray for safe travels, restful sleep, and a spirit of confident hope to fill me!

Love,
Susan

Ephesians 1: 18-19 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! I can't believe I leave tomorrow!

I'm finalizing my packing right now and loading up my dad's truck (he left it down here for me and took his Corolla up to Dallas, the car I had been using since I sold my SUV). I hope to hit the road for Dallas by 8:30 tonight. Please pray for my safety on the road, since it's kinda freezing raining out, and I am not the best driver in that huge Chevy Silverado. It scares me when they have those cement walls on the highway...I always feel like I'm going to hit them, and in the truck I know I will be white-knuckling it, feeling like I am wider than the actual lane.

My flight leaves from DFW tomorrow at 3:05pm, so I'll leave my parents house around 12:30 for the airport. I can't believe tonight is my last night in the great U.S. of A. for nine weeks, or possibly ten. I might maybe possibly be adding on an extra week in India at the end. My old best friend from jr. high in Chicago, Johnna, who now lives in Brooklyn, just so happens to be traveling in India exactly when I am. We connected when I visited NYC two years ago after not having seen each other for about 10 years, and then this spring she visited Austin on a work photo shoot. She and all her stylist friends even joined me at the Broken Spoke and totally loved it! Imagine a big group of NYC fashion people at the Spoke...they actually fit right in, which is why I so love that place with all my heart. For me, the Broken Spoke is a metaphor for the human desire to find God. We're all a little broken, but we still gotta make the wheel go round on the journey of life, so while we're here we try to find places where we can find a sense of community, belonging, and love. A place where we can forget about the world's troubles and feel the pure joy of being alive. That's how I feel on a good night at the Spoke, twirling around the dance floor. The owner James White says, "we ain't changed a thing yet, and we ain't never gonna!" Kind-of like the one God Almighty, who never changes. He's the Alpha and Omega and his Word is the same throughout the ages.

If you spend any amount of time on my blog you'll see that I love coming up with coming up with analogies. Some are a stretch, but I think my Broken Spoke analogy is perty darn good. You either get it or you don't, kinda like the Spoke!
www.brokenspokeaustintx.com

More on my India plans as details unfold. I gotta get back to packing!!!

Rots of ruv,
Sooz

P.S. Fundraising

One more thing.....if you've been wanting to donate to my trip fund but keep forgetting, you can scroll down on the left to my fundraising update and it will tell you how you can donate. I'd like to not have to think about it while I'm gone. I still need about $1500 for India.

I've been invited on a vision trip to Ndola, Zambia with Gateway end of June. I feel led to go, and as such will need to raise another $3800. I will need for someone to collect those funds in my absence, since my mailbox isn't mine anymore. All my mail will be forwarded to my sister Kathy's house here in Austin while I'm gone.

Goodnight, and thank you!
Sooz

Packing & getting ready to leave

I'm packing right now. I sort-of have been for the past two weeks, but now it's serious! I have stuff spread all over my empty room, piles of definitely/maybe/no's. I also still have some last items to pack up from the condo and take to storage tomorrow. It's going to be no easy task to get out of here and on the road to Dallas by tomorrow. I realized that I never did get my malaria meds. I got so distracted with the move that I totally forgot. Luckily I have 9 pills leftover from Panama, so I think that maybe that will be enough for India as long as I get 7 more immediately upon my return, b/c you're supposed to keep taking it for a week.

Another thing I never did was get my travel insurance in order. I did the preliminary legwork but then got sick with that sinus infection for a whole week when I was supposed to have met with the travel agent lady to help me with it. I hate doing this kind of stuff, so I pushed it til the last minute and now I'm going to pay for my procrastination with total stress tomorrow!

God has been sooooooo in this move. My family was literally a Godsend. My sister Carolyn took 2 days off work to help me pack and get organized, and my dad was down here for 3 days with his truck, and rented a 10x10 storage unit for me to put all my boxes. I didn't end up having to get a big air conditioned space since I ended up selling all my furniture. I feel bad b/c I was kinda moody and overly sensitive while they were here, letting the stress get the best of me. All they were trying to do was help, but I was not able to be myself and let my appreciation show and at times was really snotty and defensive. Sorry Care and Dad!!! I love you guys so much!! Thank you for your selfless help.

I have a HUGE answered prayer from today that I want to share with you guys. I was totally stressed about not having time to clean my place for the renters who are moving in next Thursday. I was having a hard time finding enough people to come help me clean tonight on such short notice, and to be honest I really needed time alone to pack and think through all my final decisions. On my way to a meeting at Gateway with our small groups pastor Gary Foran I prayed literally saying to God that there was no human way possible for me to get all done that I need done in the amount of time I had. I needed a miracle. I needed God to step in and help me because I am helpless at this point to get the job on my own. Not even 20 minutes later I was sitting with Gary and he asked how he could help. I said, well would you pray for me now? Maybe that will bring me peace and calm my nerves. He was like, of course I'll pray for you, but what can I do?? I was like, ummm, what do you mean? And he was like, "let me help you take this off your plate. I'll get a group of volunteers in there this weekend and me and my wife will spend a few hours ourselves."

Oh my gosh is right! His act of having a servant heart, and freely being the body of Christ to me was an answer to prayer, the miracle I needed. It was really hard to first, reconcile with myself that he was actually offering this, and second hard to accept that kind of huge help. Getting a condo ready for someone to move into is no small task. So he's got several of my friends' email addresses and is going to make sure it gets done, asking volunteers to help until it's ready to go. I just feel so taken care of and loved and blessed. Our God is an intimate God who knows our needs and meets us there in that need when we lean on him for help. It may not always be such a swift and obvious answer, but at this point, getting my logistics taken care of is the only thing between me and that 20 hour airplane ride to the great unknown... and God knows that!

So then after that Lindsey called tonight having seen one of my emails mentioning that I had to make a trip to Goodwill. She came over and picked up all the stuff and is going to take it for me. Again, a real, tangible, physical answer to prayer. I have never experienced community like I have this past two months. God is teaching me to trust people more and let them love and help me.

I go back to the verse that my mom sent me in a card, that later my Grandma K. told me was her life verse: The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. I Thessalonians 5:24

(P.S. All the times on my blog posts are incorrect. It's actually 10:20pm. I think it's 2 hours off. FYI)

Clothing metaphor

How weird/cool is this? Ya know how in last night's blog I made that clothing/skin metaphor? Check out today's entry in my Grace For The Moment devotional book by Max Lucado:

Jan. 17
Clothes of Salvation
The body that dies must clothe itself with something that will never die. I Corinthians 15: 53

Does Jesus care what clothes we wear? Apparently so. In fact, the bible tells us exactly the wardrobe God desires.

"But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying your sinful self" (Romans 13:14).

"You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This means that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26-27).

This clothing has nothing to do with dresses and jeans and suits. God's concern is with our spiritual garment. He offers a heavenly robe that only heaven can see and only heaven can give. Listen to the words of Isaiah: "The Lord makes me very happy; all that I am rejoices in my God. He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness" (Isa 61:10).

A Celebration of Miracles

Tonight was the going away dinner I had at the Taj Palace Indian Restaurant. I wanted a chance to see as many people as possible before leaving and say thank you for everyone's support these past few months. I really just wanted a chance to celebrate the miracles that God is performing everyday, in people's hearts and lives. I had it at an Indian restaurant to celebrate India and what the Miracle Foundation is doing in the lives of orphans there. If you've never heard of them you should check them out. They are an Austin-based non-profit that was started in 2003 by a friend of mine, Caroline Boudreaux. http://www.miraclefoundation.org/
I'll be ending my nine-week trip by spending ten days in India, loving on orphans with 45 other Miracle Foundation volunteers.

I was so blessed to have 25 friends and my little sister Kathy there!!! I felt totally surrounded by people I love and who love me. Literally surrounded... Before dinner they all gathered around me, and many laid hands on me, and Page and Brian prayed amazing prayers of protection and blessing over me. If you have never been prayed over like that I recommend that some time before you die you do! It is such a deeply profound, spiritual, delightful feeling like no other. You feel like people are just pouring love into you and like the holy spirit is completely filling you up. It is equally as humbling as it is exhilarating. I wish we could have done it for everyone in the room. Prayers like that are a major part of God equipping me to go be the body of Christ among other tribes and tongues. I feel so lifted up and encouraged!

Looking back on the night, it was just a beautiful time of community and enjoying the company of many wonderful friends. Tim, Christina, and Joe stayed behind and we all prayed again together in a circle. I wondered if the lady cleaning the tables thought we were nuts, because we stood there praying for a really long time. It was a powerful prayer for the ministries that God it calling each of us into in our own different ways and timing, and yet all for the singular glory of the Almighty God!

Then Lindsay showed up after her small group meeting just to say hi. We ended up talking for a half hour and praying about the amazing things God is calling her to do and the bold steps of obedience she is taking towards him. We also talked about my blog and whether or not I should be so open about my inner spritual walk in such a public forum. I've been struggling with whether or not I should temper my enthusiasm for how totally much I am completely in love with Jesus. I don't want to freak people out who have not yet chosen to accept him as their Lord and know him an intimate way, worrying that I would turn them off to him or to me. I came to the conclusion that this is my Voice, and I feel called to use it, and not to hide or feel ashamed or feel any fear around speaking truth and glorifying God unceasingly. He deserves all the glory for being perfect and faithful and all-powerful!

I have not always known Jesus the way I do now, nor do I know him now like I will many years from now. Personally I find it refreshing when people tell me their own stories of faith, stories of their real encounters with truth and with growing to know God more. I like the details and the inner thought dialogue. The real stuff people think about, question, and struggle with. And then after the dark night of their soul has been conquered by Light I love to hear about the revelations they see in the sunrise. I love getting a peek into their hearts because it always resonates with mine. You can only know truth when you know it in your own heart. Mental knowledge is like clothes, you can take it on and off to suit your tastes, depending on the season or the etiquette required for the occassion, but heart knowledge is owned by each individual in a permanent way -- you couldn't take it off any more than you could take off your own skin. I finally feel comfortable in the skin I'm in, and it just wouldn't feel right to edit myself for an "audience" when the only person I'm trying to please is the Lord. So that's why I'm going to continue to use my voice in the best way I know how, and that it to speak from my heart.

Speaking from my heart - THANK YOU to everyone who came tonight and who wanted to come but couldn't be there. I love you guys and thank God that you are in my life. Thank you to my family for your endless love and support. God has used all of you to make this journey possible. You are the hands and feet. Please take care of each other until I return!

John 15:17
This is my command: Love each other

It worked!

Yesss! It worked! Here are a few more.

Photos!

As you can see, I've discovered how to change the text color. I think I may have also discovered how to add photos to an individual blog post. If so, this changes EVERYTHING! Blogging will be infinitely more satisfying than I had ever dreamed possible. AWESOME

Testing now with an image of my condo....bye-bye condo...