Thinking Outside the Box.

So I have been here for two weeks now, and I feel like it has been a year.  God is doing some really awesome things and I am so blessed to be a part of what he is doing here.  I am learning a lot, and I feel like I am grasping the Spirit better and better which is fantastic!  I hope to continue learning and growing in this practice, so that my life will be filled with obedience to His Spirit.  I am sure God will continue to help me see and hopefully he will challenge me even more throughout the rest of my time here, as well as throughout the rest of my life.

Two things that have been very beneficial to me are my time in solitude and in worship.  I have been taking time every morning to read and pray and just wait on the Lord.  I have been challenged to be purposeful in spending time doing nothing except trying to find God.  It is interesting how he meets us and brings things to our minds when we purposefully don't do anything.  I just reflect and ask God to give me more of Him and to draw me near to Him.  It has been so life giving for me.  Worship has been another thing.  As I listen to the words and dwell on His faithfulness and goodness, I have found worship music has a whole new meaning.  God is humbling me and giving me a desire for him like I have never experienced and I am so blessed to have had these times.  The best part is too, that I am experiencing God in all sorts of ways with the community too, so I am being opened and challenged in many ways.  I am very thankful.

I have also started working at the Friendship Center where we have summer activties for the kids.  I am learning a lot about patience... I have been praying that God would break my heart for the kids and to allow me to understand them more, and just to allow me to love them greatly.  It is tough when they are disrespectful and arrogant.  I am struggling with loving them a lot, so I pray that you will pray for me in this area too.  I need patience and love, and I really want to give my all to them in an authentic way, but they are just very difficult to deal with.  I also have been trying to play basketball with some of the neighborhood, and I am finding some surprising things.  I thought for sure that all the guys out there would give a hard time for people who are not that good, and that I would stick out so much and it would be difficult in the atmosphere that is there, but God is faithful even in that.  They have been kind to me, and even when I miss a few shots they encourage me and I them.  It is a really cool thing, because when I think of playing in the "hood," I think of ball hogs and people who are just too competitive for their own good.  I am learning from all people in all their walks.  It is truly profound how God is taking me on this journey to find His people who he loves, and to try and share him with them any way that I can.  What a blessing and a purpose!  I need to be very careful not to place people in boxes and judge them.  I need to make sure I am seeing God's truth in all humanity.  A calling much needed in my life.

Thank you for your time and energy spent praying.  Praise be to God for this wonderful community and blessing!  May peace and joy follow you throughout your days!

Chicago: Moving Beyond?

Hello everyone,

So I am in Chicago now, and I am working on figuring out what my weeks will consist of.  As mentioned in the first email, I will be working with South Asian Friendship Center, and at different parks, but those are not all day by any means.  I have a lot of free time, and Bob just kind of wants me to hang out in the community and build new relationships.  I am trying to understand what that looks like as I sit in a coffee shop waiting for God to burden me, or let someone come to me.  This week I could really use prayer for who I am and who is God calling me to be.  I am not a super outgoing person, and more often than not, I don't want to bother people, but being here makes it seem like God is wanting me to step outside of myself and to meet and instigate more.  So I am having a hard time understanding if that is who I really am, or if that is what God wants from me.  I just am not your typical bubbly individual, and I don't even know if that's what I want to become, so I just need prayer to understand how God is using this time in my life.

On other notes, God has been faithful in allowing me to meet some different people who will be great contacts for me throughout the summer.  Hopefully I can get with some of them and do different out reach activities at the parks or something.  So prayer that God would develop those things also.

And for my theological push, on Sunday night the YWAM base that I am staying at has a fellowship gathering for people in the community to come to.  This past Sunday I went, and I got talking to a man from India and a graduate from Moody who wants to be a missionary.  The man from India, John, basically said that there is no need for Westerners to go overseas anymore.  There is a project called Gospel for Asia, where people invest money to train Indian people or whichever group to teach and disciple.  John says that it makes much more sense because someone like me cannot even drink the water nor speak the language, nor do I even know the customs.  He also said the governments are very suspicious of Westerners, and that it is best for them to just come for a week or two to train and then leave.  So, I am not sure I entirely agree with him, because if God calls anyone to go somewhere, they need to go; however, it really made me think about my life and if I should go overseas or if I should just stick around in the states where I understand the culture and know the language.  I am not sure how God is calling me exactly, but I do feel like being in the US for my mission work is good.  I'd still like to go abroad, but I do see a lot of needs in the states, and I want to use what God is giving me to give to them.

So yes, so far I've been challenged and am growing.  I have a lot of time during the morning and afternoon because a lot of places do not even open up until after 11.  So God is doing some cool things as I offer up my time and energy to him.

So I would just ask for continued prayer in how I should live and work, and how I should use my days.  Thank again everyone!