Their website is http://www.landof1000hills.com/ if you would like to check it out, too.
There is an expectation and a certain level of stress that is continually developing around here. We are about 2 weeks away from our double church-plant. Easter weekend will be one of the busiest, most awesome weekends. I have a feeling the verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," will take on a whole new meaning.
I must remind myself over and over again that its not about "doing" ministry. I always worry about what I'm going to say or how I'll do this or that, but really, it's about the people. I don't know why we always feel the need to make our stages great, the music perfect, everything just right- and yet we forget that its all about relationships and living out the Love within us.
I got an email from my dear friend and inspiration, Ms. Sara, and it is something that I hope I will never forget. It's a story from a book called What's so Amazing about Grace?.
"A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter - two years old! – to men interested in kinky sex. She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing, it made me legally liable – I’m required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this woman. At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naïve shock that crossed her face. ‘CHURCH?’ she cried. ‘Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.’”
What struck me about my friend’s story is that women much like this prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from Him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Evidently the down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when He lived on earth, no longer feel welcome among His followers. What has happened?
How sad is that... My prayer today and for the rest of my life is that I would allow Jesus to use my hands, feet, heart, mind, mouth, my whole being, for HIS purposes. If that is touching a leper, hugging the homeless, speaking to the masses, or enjoying meals with the rich, so be it. I am His. I am in this world to bring restoration and healing. I want to be like Jesus.
Lord, forgive me for my pride. For thinking that this life was made for me and my wants. Thank you for buying me with the highest price, for loving the wretchedness inside of me, and most of all for filling my broken life with your unconditional, undying love. Thank you for blessing me so that I may go into all the world and bless others, drawing them to You.
Speaking of going into all the world, I'm so excited to be going with a team from my church to Bolivia! I'll write more about that later. I don't know much about it, just that we'll be working with an incredible missionary that we help support. I know an orphanage and a school is involved. And we're building something. Will you pray for us? It feels a little unreal right now, and we have so much to plan and prepare for. Thanks!
"I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going." Psalm 139
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