Author: Adventures

I will always be in chains

     The closer I’ve come to God, the more I have come to understand that I’m not free from chains. In fact, the closer I get to my Savior, the more chained down I am. I have never in my life been free from chains, nor have you. Think of it this way, there are two different types of chains. Those which come from below, and those which come from above. We’re always bound in one. The chains which come from below come from the earth, and are of the flesh. Most of my life I was bound in these chains, which I couldn’t break, but only Christ could (and...

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The cost

“If anyone ould come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me”. Luke 9:23 .Powerful words spoken by none other than Jesus Christ himself. But what does that mean, really? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself all this past week…This is something Christians don’t really like to talk about. “The cost of following Jesus” we’d much rather dwell on his love, his goodness, his Grace and mercy… But the more I study the life of Jesus’ disciples the more he convicts me. The radical way they...

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I hurt, I mourn, and I weep

I physically hurt when I think about the child whom I met in the Philippines that seemed as though he was ready to collapse from not having food, nor water. I mourn when I see the child outside our base in swaziland who chews on plastic because of his pain from hunger; he watches me eat my third meal today. I weep for the family in Guatemala that lost their 12 year old daughter. I can only imagine the anguish and pain that her dad felt as he could do nothing but watch the river overtake her. I hurt, I mourn, and I weep. They say that to weep Means you are weak. They say if you mourn You...

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The White Teacher and the Babies of Bricks

It’s not every day I get the chance to say “ok go wee wee outside and run back!” followed by 16 four year olds running across the yard to the fence, squatting and standing all in a row doing their business and running back in.  But really, this week I did.  Nor is it common to march about a dirt field (called the playground) with a trail of children behind, clapping my hands above my head in a preventative measure so as to not become a human jungle gym.  But yes, this week I did.   Manzini ministry has looked different for everyone this week, but...

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Washed by the “water”

The A TEAM, that’s what ya call us (aka the agriculture team). While in Manzini we have been given the task to create a garden at a care point with squash, cucumbers, corn and more veggies. Throughout the week you could say we have had a few set backs: equipment breaking, rain, you name it. Personally for me, it had been a tough week, feeling almost worthless.  While sitting under the tree at the care point, preschool must have just ended because right when I looked up there was a stampede of 5 years olds coming for us. Oh the joy in their eyes. We danced, we sang, we shared life...

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Sleeping in Church

     I look up and the young African man in front of me is slouched in his chair with his head down and hands his in his lap. It would appear that it is not just the white people who get hit by the drowsy feeling during these long church services. Then all of the sudden he lifts his head up and says “amen” along with much of the congregation. “Oh, we were praying. Of course.”      This was about an hour and a half into the three hour service. It was neither the first, nor the last time during the service when I realized I had utterly no...

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