This is a blog written by my new and wonderful teammate Carly Crookston about some of the things we will be encountering this month.... We need your help, so please read and do what you can to help us.
How much?
How much is she worth?
How much money would you be willing to pay to hang out with your waitress for the night? Five dollars? Ten dollars? More? Less?
What if she was your best friend? What if she was your little sister? What if she was your daughter? What if she was your wife?
How much then?
Take a walk with me. We're in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It's nearly midnight, but you wouldn't know it by the looks of it -- the lights flicker and glow enticingly, the music blares, the streets pulse with all of the people on them. We walk into a bar, slide into a booth and a young woman comes to take our order. To call her a young woman might be a little bit generous -- she can't be much older than eighteen. She's pretty, the way that all of the women here are pretty with their fine bone structure and round cheeks and sweet smiles. Can you see her? Who does she look like?
To me, she looks like my little sister Shelby. She looks like my best friend Jess. She looks like my younger cousins, Allie and Ginny and especially Paige. Could this have been Paige? What if she hadn't have been adopted from South Korea when she was a baby -- would she be standing at a table like this somewhere, taking drink orders and preparing for whatever would be happening later that night?
If you read this blog, chances are that you know me. You've probably talked with me or spent time with me at some point… After reading these posts for the past seven months, you surely know what I've been experiencing and learning lately. So what if it was me? What if I was the girl “waiting tables” at these bars and I was tired? What if I was tired of my life, but I had no other options? Would you help me?
If you read this blog, chances are that I know you. And after being blessed by your generosity and support thus far, I know that you would help me. To many of you, I am your friend, your sister, your daughter -- or at least, I could be. You wouldn't pass by me when I was desperate. I know that you wouldn't.
So let's not pass by these women when they are desperate. Let's not pass by the young girls stuck in these bars. Let's not walk past them, most of whom are not here by their own design. Close your eyes and see your little girl, your best friend, your only sister, exploited and alone. What are you going to do about it?
My team and I are partnering with Lighthouse in Action ministries this month. We're walking those streets, sitting in those bars, talking with those girls and our goal is to be Jesus. We're not walking in with Bibles, preaching a message of condemnation or anger. We're walking in to be girlfriends. We're trying to get to know these girls, to build relationships. The program director made it very clear: we're not a SWAT team running in to grab the women. We're farmers -- we're planting seeds, watering them, and maybe even harvesting a couple if the season is right.
How do we do that specifically? Our ministry this month centers around two of my favorite things -- praying and dating. Every day and every night, some part of our team will be in the prayer room, interceding for this country and the women that we meet. Then we spend two days and two nights a week in bars, getting to know the girls and inviting them out on dates. We want to take them to lunch, to the movies, to get our nails done -- the regular things girlfriends do with one another. Ministry this month is deeply relational. Success is not counted in how many women we personally pull out of the bar scene; it's about the depth and quality of friendships made.
But I need your help. My team needs your help. We have to pay to buy ourselves [non-alcoholic] drinks in every bar we go -- even the ones we go in just to pray. We have to pay to buy the women drinks and the price doubles. I'm hoping to get to the point where I can offer to pay a girl's bar fee, pay to take her out of there for the night. Then on any of the dates we have, we're paying for the women. But all of this requires cash, something that runs pretty short after seven months around the world. My team and I are trying to raise some money so that we can treat these women. We want to make some real, quality friendships -- friendships where we aren't trying to get anything out of them, but just showing them the love of Jesus through our lives.
If you would be willing to partner with us on this, you can deposit money into my teammate Brittany Gray's checking account [account number: 748597630 at Chase bank]. Any money that we have left over after the end of the month will be given to this ministry; a prominent bar is closing at the end of April and the director has a vision for a rehabilitation program, where the women can come to learn about Jesus, but also to learn practical job skills. The four-month program costs about $1,000 dollars per woman, so any money that we do not use “dating” the girls will go directly towards that project.
So there we are, sitting in the booth. The pretty girl's name is Nam and she's ready to take our order. What will you have? Coca-cola? A cocktail? Maybe the girl herself?
How much?
He has shown 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
Read more of Carly's blogs @ http://carlycrookston.theworldrace.org/
How much?
How much is she worth?
How much money would you be willing to pay to hang out with your waitress for the night? Five dollars? Ten dollars? More? Less?
What if she was your best friend? What if she was your little sister? What if she was your daughter? What if she was your wife?
How much then?
Take a walk with me. We're in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It's nearly midnight, but you wouldn't know it by the looks of it -- the lights flicker and glow enticingly, the music blares, the streets pulse with all of the people on them. We walk into a bar, slide into a booth and a young woman comes to take our order. To call her a young woman might be a little bit generous -- she can't be much older than eighteen. She's pretty, the way that all of the women here are pretty with their fine bone structure and round cheeks and sweet smiles. Can you see her? Who does she look like?
To me, she looks like my little sister Shelby. She looks like my best friend Jess. She looks like my younger cousins, Allie and Ginny and especially Paige. Could this have been Paige? What if she hadn't have been adopted from South Korea when she was a baby -- would she be standing at a table like this somewhere, taking drink orders and preparing for whatever would be happening later that night?
If you read this blog, chances are that you know me. You've probably talked with me or spent time with me at some point… After reading these posts for the past seven months, you surely know what I've been experiencing and learning lately. So what if it was me? What if I was the girl “waiting tables” at these bars and I was tired? What if I was tired of my life, but I had no other options? Would you help me?
If you read this blog, chances are that I know you. And after being blessed by your generosity and support thus far, I know that you would help me. To many of you, I am your friend, your sister, your daughter -- or at least, I could be. You wouldn't pass by me when I was desperate. I know that you wouldn't.
So let's not pass by these women when they are desperate. Let's not pass by the young girls stuck in these bars. Let's not walk past them, most of whom are not here by their own design. Close your eyes and see your little girl, your best friend, your only sister, exploited and alone. What are you going to do about it?
My team and I are partnering with Lighthouse in Action ministries this month. We're walking those streets, sitting in those bars, talking with those girls and our goal is to be Jesus. We're not walking in with Bibles, preaching a message of condemnation or anger. We're walking in to be girlfriends. We're trying to get to know these girls, to build relationships. The program director made it very clear: we're not a SWAT team running in to grab the women. We're farmers -- we're planting seeds, watering them, and maybe even harvesting a couple if the season is right.
How do we do that specifically? Our ministry this month centers around two of my favorite things -- praying and dating. Every day and every night, some part of our team will be in the prayer room, interceding for this country and the women that we meet. Then we spend two days and two nights a week in bars, getting to know the girls and inviting them out on dates. We want to take them to lunch, to the movies, to get our nails done -- the regular things girlfriends do with one another. Ministry this month is deeply relational. Success is not counted in how many women we personally pull out of the bar scene; it's about the depth and quality of friendships made.
But I need your help. My team needs your help. We have to pay to buy ourselves [non-alcoholic] drinks in every bar we go -- even the ones we go in just to pray. We have to pay to buy the women drinks and the price doubles. I'm hoping to get to the point where I can offer to pay a girl's bar fee, pay to take her out of there for the night. Then on any of the dates we have, we're paying for the women. But all of this requires cash, something that runs pretty short after seven months around the world. My team and I are trying to raise some money so that we can treat these women. We want to make some real, quality friendships -- friendships where we aren't trying to get anything out of them, but just showing them the love of Jesus through our lives.
If you would be willing to partner with us on this, you can deposit money into my teammate Brittany Gray's checking account [account number: 748597630 at Chase bank]. Any money that we have left over after the end of the month will be given to this ministry; a prominent bar is closing at the end of April and the director has a vision for a rehabilitation program, where the women can come to learn about Jesus, but also to learn practical job skills. The four-month program costs about $1,000 dollars per woman, so any money that we do not use “dating” the girls will go directly towards that project.
So there we are, sitting in the booth. The pretty girl's name is Nam and she's ready to take our order. What will you have? Coca-cola? A cocktail? Maybe the girl herself?
How much?
He has shown 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
How much?
How much is she worth?
How much money would you be willing to pay to hang out with your waitress for the night? Five dollars? Ten dollars? More? Less?
What if she was your best friend? What if she was your little sister? What if she was your daughter? What if she was your wife?
How much then?
Take a walk with me. We're in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It's nearly midnight, but you wouldn't know it by the looks of it -- the lights flicker and glow enticingly, the music blares, the streets pulse with all of the people on them. We walk into a bar, slide into a booth and a young woman comes to take our order. To call her a young woman might be a little bit generous -- she can't be much older than eighteen. She's pretty, the way that all of the women here are pretty with their fine bone structure and round cheeks and sweet smiles. Can you see her? Who does she look like?
To me, she looks like my little sister Shelby. She looks like my best friend Jess. She looks like my younger cousins, Allie and Ginny and especially Paige. Could this have been Paige? What if she hadn't have been adopted from South Korea when she was a baby -- would she be standing at a table like this somewhere, taking drink orders and preparing for whatever would be happening later that night?
If you read this blog, chances are that you know me. You've probably talked with me or spent time with me at some point… After reading these posts for the past seven months, you surely know what I've been experiencing and learning lately. So what if it was me? What if I was the girl “waiting tables” at these bars and I was tired? What if I was tired of my life, but I had no other options? Would you help me?
If you read this blog, chances are that I know you. And after being blessed by your generosity and support thus far, I know that you would help me. To many of you, I am your friend, your sister, your daughter -- or at least, I could be. You wouldn't pass by me when I was desperate. I know that you wouldn't.
So let's not pass by these women when they are desperate. Let's not pass by the young girls stuck in these bars. Let's not walk past them, most of whom are not here by their own design. Close your eyes and see your little girl, your best friend, your only sister, exploited and alone. What are you going to do about it?
My team and I are partnering with Lighthouse in Action ministries this month. We're walking those streets, sitting in those bars, talking with those girls and our goal is to be Jesus. We're not walking in with Bibles, preaching a message of condemnation or anger. We're walking in to be girlfriends. We're trying to get to know these girls, to build relationships. The program director made it very clear: we're not a SWAT team running in to grab the women. We're farmers -- we're planting seeds, watering them, and maybe even harvesting a couple if the season is right.
How do we do that specifically? Our ministry this month centers around two of my favorite things -- praying and dating. Every day and every night, some part of our team will be in the prayer room, interceding for this country and the women that we meet. Then we spend two days and two nights a week in bars, getting to know the girls and inviting them out on dates. We want to take them to lunch, to the movies, to get our nails done -- the regular things girlfriends do with one another. Ministry this month is deeply relational. Success is not counted in how many women we personally pull out of the bar scene; it's about the depth and quality of friendships made.
But I need your help. My team needs your help. We have to pay to buy ourselves [non-alcoholic] drinks in every bar we go -- even the ones we go in just to pray. We have to pay to buy the women drinks and the price doubles. I'm hoping to get to the point where I can offer to pay a girl's bar fee, pay to take her out of there for the night. Then on any of the dates we have, we're paying for the women. But all of this requires cash, something that runs pretty short after seven months around the world. My team and I are trying to raise some money so that we can treat these women. We want to make some real, quality friendships -- friendships where we aren't trying to get anything out of them, but just showing them the love of Jesus through our lives.
If you would be willing to partner with us on this, you can deposit money into my teammate Brittany Gray's checking account [account number: 748597630 at Chase bank]. Any money that we have left over after the end of the month will be given to this ministry; a prominent bar is closing at the end of April and the director has a vision for a rehabilitation program, where the women can come to learn about Jesus, but also to learn practical job skills. The four-month program costs about $1,000 dollars per woman, so any money that we do not use “dating” the girls will go directly towards that project.
So there we are, sitting in the booth. The pretty girl's name is Nam and she's ready to take our order. What will you have? Coca-cola? A cocktail? Maybe the girl herself?
How much?
He has shown 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
I have spent many moments on the race caught up in how God most have gotten this wrong; this isn’t how my life was supposed to be. Many of them are silly thoughts like… how I miss the clothes from back home that express “me” or my massive desire to devour pretty much any meal my mother cooks. Other longings are not quite as silly like the need for a giant hug from my parents or staying up way to late with my best friend laughing until it hurts and knowing we can say anything because we have already been through so much. It is so easy to get caught up in the way things “should” be. The thought process of “shoulds” is not always my far away dreams of home though; it happens to me when I am striving to be present in the moment God has me in too. Yesterday we prayed for a family that had been poisoned with the intention of killing all of them because they were from a different tribe. I find myself angry at all the pain and “should be” around me.
I started reading a book called “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. The author has been through many hard situations in her life and found herself in a negative, draining thought pattern. At some point though she realized this was no way to live and made what seems to be one small change. This small changed started with a piece of paper, a pencil, and the willingness to see the world with a thankful heart. Her eyes were opened up to the small miracles God had swirling around her. As I read this book I was overtaken with excitement. I want to be romanced by all that surrounds me, not consumed by the “shoulds”. Why don’t we live this way? This way of life is almost rebellious to the way society tells us to live. We live in this whirlwind of life believing that if we are just a little busier, have a little more stuff, and have more people in our lives that at some point the ache of our hearts will go away. I am not saying that God doesn’t use people or things to bless our lives, but I think He blesses us so much more than we are aware of. The rebellious way of living in constant thankfulness seems a bit overwhelming to me sometimes. I would much rather curl up in my warm bed in America thinking that I deserve it rather than sitting in Rwanda waiting on Jesus to show up.
Then I realize that I am missing out on so many of God’s gifts. So I am choosing to push through my messed up way of thinking and open my heart to the abundant thankfulness hiding inside. I want to immerse my heart in an ocean of thankfulness, opening my senses to creation, and write down all the gifts I find as if I am playing a word game with Jesus….
1. Waking up to the sound and smell of the refreshing African ran on the tin roof
2. Living my fifteen minutes of fame- being chased down the road by African children just because they want to touch my hand
3.The glimmer in people’s eyes after you have prayed for them and Jesus has changed them forever
Beauty, charm, and adventure are all around us let’s choose to accept them as the gifts they are from God and let thankfulness flood every cell of our bodies.
“Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man.”
Psalm 107:8
This month I am working in India at an orphanage for children with special needs. In India children with any type of disability are viewed as a curse. These disabilities can be everything from TB to being bed ridden due to different illnesses. Most of the time these children are thrown out on the streets to die so they are not an embarrassment to their families. If they are found they are put into state facilities that feed them enough to sustain them, but are not repositioned or given medications needed for their condition. The orphanage we are at has about 110 kids and is maxed out because of their lack of funds and caregivers. It is a heartbreaking experience that some how the Lord is still so sweet in.
Our job is to love on the kids, pray over them and the orphanage, and to help their caregivers learn about the most sanitary way to take care of the children. There are several challenges that go along with this though. I LOVE these kiddos already, but in the back of my mind I am concerned that I may get lice, TB, HIV, or some other illnesses running around this place. This is not how I want to be and it is one of the things that I cover in prayer much of time. We also pray continually for the caregivers at this place. Most of them have been raised in villages that have little to no sanitation with in them, so it is hard to get across why certain things are important for these children and humans in general. Many of our requests to change diapers, wash hands, wipe noses, etc. are not met with friendly responses. It is a hard situation because most of us would react the same way if someone came in to change the way we had done something our whole life.
When thinking about how overwhelming all of this could become I was reminded of a sentence that my dad put in a comment on my last blog. "Love is that big."
God's love is big enough to keep my team and me healthy from anything while here.
God's love is big enough to heal these children.
God's love is big enough to remove language barriers.
God's love is big enough to bring change that is needed, no matter how hard.
God's love is big enough to continue making me a better me.
God's love is big enough to meet all financial needs for this orphanage.
God's love is big enough to bring smiles to ALL children.
"The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and mercy is over all that he has made."
This has been a month full of amazing adventure, but a good part of the time I have found myself consumed with thoughts of back home. I think about my family, my friends, the teaching job/ kiddos I left, and even my cute little house. When I was at home I always felt like it wasn't enough, that there was something more. Then I found the World Race and that had to be the "something more" I was looking for. So for months leading up to the race all I could think about was how amazing this experience was going to be. It would be nothing like home. Don't get me wrong this experience is AMAZING and it is nothing like home, but I have been living out of the "grass is always greener on the other side" mentality. When I am some where- I want to be some where else because surely it has to be better than where I am at. I have realized though that this is no longer something I want to carry. I have missed out on things in my life just by not being present. I also realize this not a new concept for me or probably anyone else, but something I an choosing to change in my life. I want to be present on every moment that God is blessing me with this year and for the rest of my life. So I believe that the "greenest grass" is the grass my feet on in the moment I am present in. To really see, smell, feel, taste, hear, and love what is around me will be the best experience I can give myself. Missing my family and the life I thought I would be living at this point will still be thoughts in my head I am sure, but I hope to get to a point that I can be swept back to the present by God's beauty surrounding me.
I just returned from a nine day trek through the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. It was quite a journey, one that I am sure I will never forget. Some of the events that took place on the adventure are…
--Waking up with a chicken in bed with you and really not being that surprised
--Hiking three hours with a thirty pound pack on your back (feeling like crawling part of the way)
--After this hike showing up in a beautiful refreshing village tucked away in the side of a mountain
--Eating food that your taste buds enjoy far more than your stomach does
--Getting asked two days after you have been sick “ Were you sick before or after you ate the goat?”
--Having a woman carry her goat up steep stairs to your room so you can pray over its tumor
--Finding any possible place that you may be a little covered to go to the bathroom
--Standing in Nepal and looking over at Tibet
--Having people surround you for hours that want nothing more than to stare at you
--Showering at “hot springs”, which just looks like an over-sized bathtub
--Getting in the over-sized tub with five other girls and thinking nothing of it
--Riding on top of a bus with 20ish other people, some left over throw-up, and at the same time looking over the side at a sheer drop off
- - Having a dance party in a jeep to a Pit-bull song on Thanksgiving
--During this dance party having a friend yell “ Take that Macy’s”
--Feeling complete humility when you have people fall at your feet to pray for them
--Driving down the road in the middle of nowhere only to look out the window to see other people from your squad that you haven’t seen in three weeks
--Showing films about how Jesus has an impact on our lives to people who have never heard of Him
--Went to a birthday party for a little boy who turned one
--A day when we don’t hike means at least 5K of walking
--Went to the place where the 2nd highest bungee jump is and the highest rope swing
--Sprained my ankle not even hiking just walking from one house to another
--Realized that my life is so much more than I could have ever hoped for
--Met and talked with people that are the only Christian in their family and some the only Christian in there village
--Missed my wonderful family and friends on Thanksgiving and pretty much daily
--Sat on a rock for quiet time that over looked some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen and realized how small I am and how big of a deal it is that God loves something so small in his great plan
I was having a very hard time with the phrase “Just choose joy.” What does that even mean??? Do I need to ignore all the not so joyous emotions that arise and skip around with a smile on my face instead? Because I have tears pouring down my face does that mean I am carrying less joy inside me?
I realized the reason these questions were arising within me was because I have grown up believing that joy is synonym for happy.The word happy is rooted in the word happenings, meaning that we are happy based on the circumstances that surround us. So when we “choose joy” we do have a choice to make that is based on the circumstances around us, but does it look the same as being happy? I read something a few years ago that used joy as an acronym. It listed J as Jesus, O as Others, and Y as yourself.At the time this was just filed away for later use.
On a particular day this month I was having a very emotional day and praying for God to pour joy over me. He asked me what that looked like and how did I know I wasn’t feeling joy at that moment. It hit me then that “choosing joy” does not mean “choosing happiness”. Instead it means to choose Jesus, Others, and Yourself. That changed my entire view of my emotions. When I am crying does that mean I am choosing Jesus any less??? NO! Most of the time those are moments I am pouring all of me into Jesus and choosing Him with all of me. So from this I realized that “choosing joy” is not choosing an outward appearance, its choosing to go after Jesus with everything you have, to choose others over yourself, and to choose change for yourself in order to look more like Jesus.
During this month we are in the town of Cornesti, Moldova. We are working with an organization called Sinai 30. It is an awesome organization with a big vision that will impact Moldova greatly. I am spending most of my time helping create a kids program. This kids program will teach the local children about Jesus, His love for them, and hopefully increase their English skills. We have one week left here and we are spending it having a vacation bible school type thing for the kids. This has been an eye opening experience full of laughing and crying. The video below was put together by my awesome squad mate Stephanie May. It will give you more insight into what is going on in Moldova and the needs it has.
