I was not that affected by the video on prostitution and by the trip to Winnipeg regarding homelessness. That's because my father is a pastor in the inner city. I often go to his church and see many homeless people and prostitutes. My father has told me about their stories, which are shocking and devastating. What affected me, however was the video about prisons. I was especially shocked at how the prisoners were treated by the guards and by fellow prisoners. I think it must be very lonely for these people in prison, especially if they cannot see their families. It must be especially hard to be labeled a criminal if you did not do the crime.
Denita
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
This Ugly World
Looking at this week, someone could say we just learned more about how this ugly world operates, but as a Christian, I learned more and more fully about why dying on the cross as God's Son was the only thing that was going to save this dark world and why we aren't already in heaven; this world needs Jesus and we're the only ones that know Him. The prisoners, prostitutes, widows, orphans, victims of violence, and everyone else that are trapped and hurting need love, but more importantly ultimate love, the agape love, the kind I experience everyday. So why is it so hard to love like that? Because it's inconvenient. Being a Christian is inconvenient. It means I represent Christ, shoes too big to fill on my own, but thanks to Jesus I don't have to because when I'm human, forgiveness is right there and grace and mercy are easily mine. Being like Christ also means my heart, hands and feet have to be in it. The end of Matthew 25 kept coming to mind. Where helping the sick, hungry, naked, imprisoned, etc. is more a commandment than an option. The concept of compartmentalizing came up this week as well. Where I can't compartmentalize my life. Where I'll have sleep time, eating time, relaxing time, work time and then ministry/Christian time. Christ is in all parts of life.
I will never be able to shop the same way again. After spending some time in the mall just looking at the people around me as human beings, too, all who have families and problems, too, I won't ever be able to buy a t-shirt without wondering who made it or seeing the people outside the store and wondering how long they've been sitting there.
Having Hannah Newlin speak to us about where she's been and what she's passionate about was a huge blessing. She reminded me that there is hope. Hope amidst all the disaster.
I will never be able to shop the same way again. After spending some time in the mall just looking at the people around me as human beings, too, all who have families and problems, too, I won't ever be able to buy a t-shirt without wondering who made it or seeing the people outside the store and wondering how long they've been sitting there.
Having Hannah Newlin speak to us about where she's been and what she's passionate about was a huge blessing. She reminded me that there is hope. Hope amidst all the disaster.
Our week with Hannah Newlin
Wow!!! I have to say that God really used Hannah to open my eyes to many things in society that i didn't know existed until recently!
First of all, Hannah is such an amazing young woman! She is fun, compassionate, and loves God! She also has a sweet Texan accent! I think she really conected with most of us here at Cross Current because this morning after class we were all like "Hannah don't leave us! u have to come back and teach us for another week!" She said she would if she could but didn't think her boss would let her! but i guess it is the thought that counts! She is also super flexible and easy going when it comes to scheduling cuz some of the stuff that was supposed to happen didn't actually happen due to difficulties.
Anyways, God used Hannah to help me realize all the needy people around me this week! One of the things we talked about this week was human traffiking. To be honest, untill i watched the movie "Taken" i had never known this was happening around me all over the world! It got me thinking and on Monday we watched a movie called "Trade" which was kind of like "Taken" except from the girls point of view instead of the parent's point of view! On Tuesday we watched a documentary on Human traffiking in India with actual footage from the "Red light District" (the name for the prostitution areas). After this I was thinking,"Wow, this could be me!" I was also thinking about how i could help all of these girls because 73.7% of the girls need to be rescued if they are ever going to get away from that life! It just makes me so mad that the government officials know exactly where everything is in this industry but do absolutely nothing to stop the people in charge!
On Wednesday, we talked about prison. I don't know anybody that has ever been to jail so i have never given it any thought before. Prison is hard! Sometimes the guards will beat a prisoner till they die! I just don't understand how they can get away with that and why the government is ok with that! I feel like going to the government or the jail guards and saying,"Hello! Prisoners are people too just like everyone else in this world!" I wish there was no need for prisons/jails!
Yesterday we went into Winnipeg and did two things. First we went to Portage Place to look for homeless people to talk to and give things to if they would accept our gifts! Up until 2 years ago at a youth retreat i had never seen a homeless person up close so i really had no idea what to look for! It was hard because of this and i didn't want to stereotype anybody into being homeless when really they just didn't care about how they looked! I think that maybe if we would be more involved with the street ministry we would've had more luck finding people to talk to yesterday! I hope we can volunteer at UGM or Siloam Mission sometime soon because I really want to learn more about homelessness! The second thing we did was go the head office of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). I am familiar with their work because there are men from my Church who have worked with MDS before but i didn't know what exactly they did. I learned that they are still working in communities in the southern states that were devastated by huricanne Katrina! That was 5 years ago when that hit! I also learned that MDS only works in Canada and the United States! The two ladies that talked to us yesterday both had worked for MDS for about 3.5 years now but i think i would've gotten more out of the presentation if they would've been more passionate about their work!
All in all, i learned a lot this week about the needs of people around me and that it is better to help sooner rather than later! I also had a lot of fun! I feel the need to help but i don't know how!
First of all, Hannah is such an amazing young woman! She is fun, compassionate, and loves God! She also has a sweet Texan accent! I think she really conected with most of us here at Cross Current because this morning after class we were all like "Hannah don't leave us! u have to come back and teach us for another week!" She said she would if she could but didn't think her boss would let her! but i guess it is the thought that counts! She is also super flexible and easy going when it comes to scheduling cuz some of the stuff that was supposed to happen didn't actually happen due to difficulties.
Anyways, God used Hannah to help me realize all the needy people around me this week! One of the things we talked about this week was human traffiking. To be honest, untill i watched the movie "Taken" i had never known this was happening around me all over the world! It got me thinking and on Monday we watched a movie called "Trade" which was kind of like "Taken" except from the girls point of view instead of the parent's point of view! On Tuesday we watched a documentary on Human traffiking in India with actual footage from the "Red light District" (the name for the prostitution areas). After this I was thinking,"Wow, this could be me!" I was also thinking about how i could help all of these girls because 73.7% of the girls need to be rescued if they are ever going to get away from that life! It just makes me so mad that the government officials know exactly where everything is in this industry but do absolutely nothing to stop the people in charge!
On Wednesday, we talked about prison. I don't know anybody that has ever been to jail so i have never given it any thought before. Prison is hard! Sometimes the guards will beat a prisoner till they die! I just don't understand how they can get away with that and why the government is ok with that! I feel like going to the government or the jail guards and saying,"Hello! Prisoners are people too just like everyone else in this world!" I wish there was no need for prisons/jails!
Yesterday we went into Winnipeg and did two things. First we went to Portage Place to look for homeless people to talk to and give things to if they would accept our gifts! Up until 2 years ago at a youth retreat i had never seen a homeless person up close so i really had no idea what to look for! It was hard because of this and i didn't want to stereotype anybody into being homeless when really they just didn't care about how they looked! I think that maybe if we would be more involved with the street ministry we would've had more luck finding people to talk to yesterday! I hope we can volunteer at UGM or Siloam Mission sometime soon because I really want to learn more about homelessness! The second thing we did was go the head office of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). I am familiar with their work because there are men from my Church who have worked with MDS before but i didn't know what exactly they did. I learned that they are still working in communities in the southern states that were devastated by huricanne Katrina! That was 5 years ago when that hit! I also learned that MDS only works in Canada and the United States! The two ladies that talked to us yesterday both had worked for MDS for about 3.5 years now but i think i would've gotten more out of the presentation if they would've been more passionate about their work!
All in all, i learned a lot this week about the needs of people around me and that it is better to help sooner rather than later! I also had a lot of fun! I feel the need to help but i don't know how!
God is moving in this place
He is talking and sometimes we listen, sometimes we don't. This week God was speaking through Hannah Newlin, (our guest mentor for the week). We discussed and touched upon some important , and very controversial topics, such as Human Trafficking, the homeless the jailed the lost and often hard to love. I did a lot of thinking... realizing that as Christians we don't have the luxury of indifference or ignorance toward these things. This week was very uncomfortable, I often at times just wanted to not think about the topic, because it is far easier.
I don't think God wants me to have a easy life. where we take everything we have for-granted.
I believe that my God is calling me to greater things than living the North American life of selfishness. I naturally struggle with this.
This week showed me that my heart was hard, and there is no place for that in the Kingdom of God. I feel challenged and blessed, and am thankful.
I don't think God wants me to have a easy life. where we take everything we have for-granted.
I believe that my God is calling me to greater things than living the North American life of selfishness. I naturally struggle with this.
This week showed me that my heart was hard, and there is no place for that in the Kingdom of God. I feel challenged and blessed, and am thankful.
God's People
So this week Hannah Newlin came to us from Dallas Texas. She really has a heart for human traffiking, the orphaned, the widow, and for uniting the church. The first day we talked about human traffiking a lot and watched a movie called Trade to help us better understand how it actually works. Now most people might think that I don't have a lot to say about this subject because I didn't say a lot dring the classes. But truth is, I"m just not always super comfortable saying my own opinion in larger groups. The sex trade has actaully been on my mind a lot during my life and I've always wanted to know more about it. It really confuses me. I've always wondered how there can be such perverted people in the world who would allow themselves to take these girls and to do whatever they want with them. I just don't understand that world and how they could have ever come to such a place. I know that in Canada there are not nearly as many girls being traffiked than in other places in the world, but it is still going on around here. It actaully scares me. I've always wondered, what if I was one of them? What if it was me? Would my family still want me back after something like that? Would I want out if it was the only thing that I had ever known? It struck me soo hard to know that about I think it was 80% of the girls who get rescued just go right back into it because they know nothing else and have been soo psycologically and emotionally damaged. This week though also caused me to stop and to think about the pimps who are involved. Not just to hurt for the girls but also to feel for the men who are caught up in this and might have their own reasons for being in something like this and not knowing where else to turn. It also caused me to think that God sees all sin as equal. Raping someone and stealing are equal in God's books. I don't even know how to comprehend that thought but it just really caused me to stop and to change my adjust my attitude towards saved pimps. They deserve forgiveness from us and we can't judge them forever for a past sin that they have committed and repented of. It was really encouraging for me though to hear of all the things that are going on to help get girls out of the sex traffiking. And also to see what they are doing for the grils after they get out and helping them get back on their feet and to develope skills and things like that. It was just really cool for me to hear about a topic that I am passionate about, and what I can do and we as the curch an do to be a light to the world in this situation
On Thursday we then were talking more about reaching out to homeless people and the prisoner, etc. We headed into the city where we went to Portage Place and were able to talk with homeless people there. Me, Nick, and Denita talked to a guy in the mall. We ended up finding out that he was a Christian and well which was extremely cool a well! He told us some things about him life. He wasn't homeless but he was jobless and it was just realy neat to see his faith in how things would work out for him. He wasn't really concerned about finding a job. He was just saying that if it was God's will he would get the job. We had an opportunity to pray for him and I was also able to give him a scarf which would go to either his gilfriend or his girlfriends daughter. They are not Christians so it's just super exciting to know somehow I am showing God's love to people that I don't really know and to people that I will never meet. One passage that we went over a fair number of times is Matthew 25:31-46. It says that "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something t drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..." How when we did one of those things for someone we were doing it to God. It's just a really sweet metal image for me. To see that everything we do for one of his people is how we're treating Christ in that moment.
I really enjoyed this week and all the new things that I learned about God's world. The one thing that I think we all need to remember is that even though the problems of this world seem soo overwhelming we need to respond to them as the church. We don't have to go in it alone but think of it as, what can WE do? Something that Hannah said today really hit me and that was something like, we might feel really insignificant as we try to change the world with out little group of people, but frankly, that's the only thing that ever has. I just pray that we wouldn't forget that God is in ultimate control and that he knows what's going on in the world and knows these people's hearts. He's the only one who can truly change them. God just uses us to help complete his plan.
On Thursday we then were talking more about reaching out to homeless people and the prisoner, etc. We headed into the city where we went to Portage Place and were able to talk with homeless people there. Me, Nick, and Denita talked to a guy in the mall. We ended up finding out that he was a Christian and well which was extremely cool a well! He told us some things about him life. He wasn't homeless but he was jobless and it was just realy neat to see his faith in how things would work out for him. He wasn't really concerned about finding a job. He was just saying that if it was God's will he would get the job. We had an opportunity to pray for him and I was also able to give him a scarf which would go to either his gilfriend or his girlfriends daughter. They are not Christians so it's just super exciting to know somehow I am showing God's love to people that I don't really know and to people that I will never meet. One passage that we went over a fair number of times is Matthew 25:31-46. It says that "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something t drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..." How when we did one of those things for someone we were doing it to God. It's just a really sweet metal image for me. To see that everything we do for one of his people is how we're treating Christ in that moment.
I really enjoyed this week and all the new things that I learned about God's world. The one thing that I think we all need to remember is that even though the problems of this world seem soo overwhelming we need to respond to them as the church. We don't have to go in it alone but think of it as, what can WE do? Something that Hannah said today really hit me and that was something like, we might feel really insignificant as we try to change the world with out little group of people, but frankly, that's the only thing that ever has. I just pray that we wouldn't forget that God is in ultimate control and that he knows what's going on in the world and knows these people's hearts. He's the only one who can truly change them. God just uses us to help complete his plan.
for those of you who are wondering
i didn't take a break cause i was mad, i didn't take a break cause i was sick of you guys, i didn't take a break because i want to punch reese's face in, i didn't take a break for any other reason then i have to rethink why i am attending cross current. am i going for fun? am i going to learn? am i going to serve? am i going because i don't think there is anything else to do? that is why i took a break so i could think outside of the camp about these things and hopefully have answers! and who knows maybe i should stay! maybe i shouldn't. only God knows and i will try my best to hear it.
please pray for me.
Chris
please pray for me.
Chris
Thursday, January 28, 2010
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