The following is a blog written by a racer from L Squad, Justine Zins. She has been out in the field since October 2009. Her team is currently ministering in Nigeria. This is her latest story:
Today I walked through a small village in Nigeria, where just
months prior hundreds of families were slaughtered in the wee hours of
the night into the break of dawn. March marked the calendar in a long
decade of conflict between Christian and Muslim, ethnic groups,
political groups, and neighbors.
This place once named for salvation and peace. Now, the blood of
God's children, Christian and Muslim, cries out in desperation for
justice, peace, and hope.
We walked through the village to see homes that had been torched,
windows broken, and lives that had been shattered. We listened to
accounts from children to elders in the village of the bloodshed and
horror of that unexpected night in March.
As I listened to their stories memories floated to the surface of
fears I had as a small child. I remembered having this fear, from where
it came - I know not, that someone would break into my room and cut off
my limbs. I would sleep in a ball, curled up on my bed thinking that if
they went to cut off my legs, they would miss and it would wake me up to
run. My fear of someone breaking in was usually abated by my parents
assuring me that the door was locked, and that it would not happen. My
hope came from the belief that it was near impossible that something
like that would ever happen, that I could trust in the safety of my
home, my father's protection, and my faith in the deadbolt on the front
door. My childhood nightmare was the reality of these children.
Mercy, a twenty-year-old girl, in the village told us her story
today. Her arm was bandaged from finger tip to elbow and her nose had
been sliced off from the tip to the left side. She was asleep in her
room with her siblings when she awoke to men in her room hacking her
siblings to death with machetes.
An elder in the village gave his story. There were gunshots fired; a
few here and a few there to waken the villagers out of their beds and
draw them out of their homes. They came out of their homes to find men
with machetes ready to kill. The only hope was to run and hide for most
of the villagers. This man lost ten of his children and his wife that
night.
There is an entire generation of children in that village that woke
up to my nightmare. The very thing that plagued me in paralyzing fear in
the night as a child, is their very reality.
I feel there are no words to process what I heard today. I will not
even attempt. As I pour over my reasons for hope now, I realize that I
had a false sense of hope. This hope was not universal or incorruptible.
It could not be extended to all. There was no eternal sense about it.
That leaves one hope, and One alone.
My team will be spending days at a
time in the villages that were brutally massacred. We will be focusing
on the children as much as we can. We know there is great HOPE.
We know that God can take what the enemy intended for destruction and
use it for good. We know that there is a HOPE for the
next generation that they will stand for peace, justice, and above all, LOVE.
We know that perfect love casts out all fear and that is what we intend
to bring: Agape, Abba, God, LOVE. He is perfect LOVE.
We will be praying with them,
prophesying over them, and teaching them. We will also play games with
them, sing with them, and laugh with them.
We have hope because we have Christ.
We have hope because we truly KNOW Him. It is from that relationship
that hope is birthed.
Through the years of devastation in
this city Muslims and Christians alike have twisted their books to a
terrifying end. It is flat out distortion, perversion, deception, and
the deadly will of the enemy. It is only Truth that will prevail and
bring freedom. All need to hear it. All need to come face to face with
Truth and Love and surrender.
Posted in Faith Journey by Jessica McVey on 4/23/2010
I wrote a blog a few weeks ago entitled: My God is so BIG where I talked about some of the awesome things our Heavenly Father is doing in and through some of our Real Life teams in Africa. When I wrote that particular entry, I too was in a place where I felt as though God was challenging and stretching my understanding of who He is. He has continued to do this.
The last several weeks I have been wrestling with the passage in John 21 where Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love me?". (As a quick reminder, Peter is the one who denied Jesus 3 times on the night of the crucifixion, and now, after the resurrection, Jesus stands before Peter and asks him three times if he loves Him). I feel as though Jesus has been asking me this very question lately along with another question that he asks Peter in Luke 9:20 "But what about you?...Who do you say that I am?".
I'll be honest in saying that my answer has often been: "Yes, Lord, I love you, but I don't know who you are in my life.". I have struggled a little to see Him as the God that He tells us He is in His Word. I've had to ask Him where He is in things and why I should see Him as trustworthy in my life. Bold and defiant even, I know.
The Lord, in His love and mercy has shown me who He is this week. He's shown me how the hurts and pains in this life provide avenues and places for Him to move--to "show up" and REVEAL more of who He is to me. Does this mean He makes such things to happen, no, but He USES them to bring Himself glory--to redirect my eyes towards Him, once again.
This week alone, I have seen God as a provider, a protector, a comforter and a friend. I know He has been so much more, but these are the ways that He has allowed me to consciously see Him moving. I was humbled before Him this morning as I sat at His feet and heard Him ask me, "Jessica, who do YOU say that I am?". My answer this morning couldn't be "Lord, I don't know."
A trend that has been spreading through the World Race staff community recently is daily declarations of who God is. So often, we lose sight of the truth that God IS who He says He is. He is good, He is love, He is trustworthy, etc., etc.. We get wrapped up in this world and lose sight of the ALMIGHTY POWER of God to overcome obstacles and bring joy and blessing into our daily lives. So, we have a page of declarations to speak truth and prophesy richness over our day.
This morning, as I sat before the Lord, I sensed Him telling me to declare who He is in my life and to claim it as truth again and again. I want to challenge you this morning to do the same.
If you need a little help in reminding yourself who He is, take some time to listen to this declaration from Chris Tomlin. I think it captures a hint of how God wants us to see Him in our daily lives...
Mark
your calendars. August 30 - September 2, 2010
We'll give you three hints
and only ONE guess as to where we are headed...
Hint #1 - you might see rainbows with pots of gold. Hint #2
- there will be little green men - or at least we're told. Hint #3 -
it's the birthplace of Guinness - the beer of old!
IRELAND. Yes. Believe it.
And... if you come, you might just
be able to worship to the musical stylings of... JONATHAN DAVID HELSER.
The Awakening is a Prophetic Worship Experience & World
Race Alumni reunion.
We're planning for over 500 in attendance
at this year's event - current World Race squads, World Race Alumni, and
friends & family of Alumni are all invited!
Check out www.theworldrace.org/awakening
for more information and to begin planning! More details to
come. Stay tuned and spread the word!
Last year, in Tanzania, our team spent some time working with the Kid's program at the church we ministered with that month. One particular Saturday, we spent a few hours teaching them to sing "My God is So Big" in English so they could perform it in church the next day. One of my favorite things about teaching this song is the hand motions that go with it which put emphasis on the fact that God is so big and so strong that there is NOTHING He cannot do.
I will confess that last year may have been one of the first times in my life that I really began to see the truth in these words. It took my leaving the country, having to raise a large sum of money and meeting people in places where I had nothing I could physically offer them to ease their pain and hardship for me to begin to fully rely on God to be who He says He is in my life and in the lives of those I ministered to. In each and every moment of need, the Lord revealed Himself to us. Sometimes He revealed Himself in the ways we asked Him to and in others, He revealed Himself differently, but He never failed to "show up".
My dear friend and former squadmate, Kelly, is now in charge of the Real Life program here at AIM. Kelly visited the office a couple of weeks ago and took some time one morning during her visit to share some of what the Lord is doing in and through some of the Real Life teams we have out in the field right now. The following is her account of what one of the teams shared with her when she went out to visit them--it's an awesome reminder of how the Lord continues to move in our lives when we call upon Him and ask Him to provide for our every need.
"2 days after our Real Life Kenya team hit
African soil, they were given a few tents and sent into the
bush with the Maasai tribe for a week. Their assignment? Door
to door evangelism. (Well, maybe hut to hut is more accurate!)
So they headed out, confident in the Lord if not in themselves.
But for several groups, they were met with a less than favorable
response. It seemed nobody was all that interested in hearing about
Jesus, and instead could only talk about rain. They'd experienced a
drought for several months and finally one man became downright
disrespectful before putting it bluntly, 'If there is a God, why hasn't
He brought rain for so long?'
As the team looked into this man's eyes their discouragement turned
into determination and they prayed for rain. They prayed for rain as
if this one man's life depended on it. And sure enough, that night, the
skies opened up and did it ever rain. In fact, it rained for 3
days straight until finally, on the last night, their tents
flooded and their mattresses started floating away.
When it
finally stopped long enough for them to leave their shelter, they went
back out and stumbled across this same man.
He didn't seem to want to get too close and they could see the fear
in his eyes. When they finally approached them, he said, 'I've
searched up and down this valley for someone who could bring the rains
and nobody's been able to do it. I don't know who your God is, but if
he can control the rain, then I want to know him.' So the
team prayed with him and praised God that He is not only the God of our
salvation, but also a God who can send the rains."
The same God who brought this rain is alive and at work here in the United States! He loves YOU and desires relationship with YOU! He desires to answer the cries of YOUR heart and provide for YOUR every need. Do you BELIEVE this is true? Is He really THAT BIG?! Are you willing to ASK Him?
Since coming on staff here in GA with The World Race, I have had a number of opportunities to dive into conversation with young adults who are considering taking part in the World Race adventure and with participants who have been accepted to go on The World Race. Once racers are accepted to a specific race, they are assigned to a team blog where they can communicate with others who will be embarking on this journey with them, and we, as staff have the opportunity to read what they are posting. The following is a blog I read this morning written by Kirsten George, one of the June 2010 racers. Her words really struck a chord in my heart. My heart races when Lord reveals His heart to His children and leads them to share His goodness with those around them! I hope Kirsten's words resonate with your Spirit as much as they did mine!
KIRSTEN's Heart...
I
am so grateful tonight. Who am I that God thinks so highly of me? I
have recently been forced to take a long good look at my life.
All of my sins, my mistakes, my failures. I've had to look at it
all. Just tonight. I was having a serious discussion with a brand new
roommate and old unknown friend. I was faced with the decision to tell
her that everything I have gone through was somehow worth it. I could
have lied, and told her that my damaged past was worth it to feel this
healthy when it really wasn't.
But somehow, I was able to look her straight in the eyes, and
say,"All of the crap I have gone through, all the poor choices, all the
evil sins and situations God let me get fall into, was WORTH it because
it has gotten me to this place. The place where I can say for the first
time that I feel healthy. I feel alive. I finally feel loved and
independent."
And it's all about God. He has brought me through all of these
trials and tribulations to meet me here, at a place where I can lift
another up. My sister is hurting. She is in pain, unsure of what God
has in store for her life, and I (hopefully) was able to bring her some
sort of hope, because I was able to say: "I was there. I understand.
And I got through with His help, and you can too."
The fact that God somehow counts me worhty to help another person,
someone who I look up to and respect, is amazing. I feel like Aaron or
Hur who held up the arms of Moses when the Israelites fought the
Amalekites. Who am I to help someone as respected as Moses? As
knoweldgable as Solomon? As powerful as David?
And yet, God chose me, for such a time as this, the way he chose
Ester. . . I am beyond blown away. I didn't know that I would EVER
amount to ANYTHING as far as the Kingdom of God is concerned, and now,
I know that if I don't bridge this gap NOW it may forever be uncrossed.
God has shown me Love, how could I not share that with others? We
are all a beautiful disaster, and God is constantly seeking to show us
love, to heal us of our broken hearts and our bloody scars. The healing
is what hurts the most, but the health it leaves us with is WORTH any
pain it takes to get there.
Jesus knew this. That's why He died on that cross. He knew how
badly His father wanted to be reconciled with us, and so Jesus took the
pain we could not endure to bring us back. To heal us from the death of
our sins, Jesus openly received our wounds so that He would know how to
heal us. Yes, He healed people in His life, but how many more did He
heal in His death?
So let me die to myself. Let me face MORE trials and MORE
tribulations if it allows me to understand the hurting. Bring the pain
and the sorrow if It shows me how to heal a wound or share a smile. It
is so worth it. To know that you're not alone, and to show others they
aren't alone. So worth it.
It's been 37 days since the Earthquake in Haiti, and I have to admit that I have been rather distant from everything that is going on--not because I don't care and not because I'm not concerned. It's simply because I have busied myself with other things.
I had the opportunity this morning to sit in on a presentation by Seth Barnes (founder of AIM) and Clint Bokelman (head of the short term missions department at AIM). As Clint shared his heart and the experiences he had in his three day trip to Haiti, my heart broke. Clint told story after story about people he met and the experiences he had while he was there, but what he really drove home was the PRESENCE of our Father's KINGDOM IN HAITI. Each story he told oozed with truth about the glory and majesty of GOD. He spoke consistently about the work that GOD IS doing in Haiti. He told story after story about the church rising up in Haitian communities and pouring out praise and thanksgiving for all that God has given them.
The reality of faith and God's Kingdom in the hearts of these people humbles me again and again. I've sat at home for the last 4 weeks, eating my fill, sleeping on a bed with a roof overhead and an abundance of water to drink--and yet I have become frustrated with the Lord time and again in this short period of time and have expressed those frustrations to Him as if I was actually entitled to something. I have neglected to praise Him and honor Him and have lacked, nothing.
I stand in agreement with what the Father is doing in Haiti. My Spirit stirs and roars when I hear the truth in Clint's stories. I want you to see the heart that I see--our Father's heart for this nation (Haiti), OUR nation (USA) and the nations around the world! The Kingdom of God isn't just coming, it is here--alive in you and me, and we are called to action--to be His hands and feet and to share HIS truth!
I encourage you to set aside some time to read Clint and Seth's blogs and the blog on our Haiti blog page. The Father is pouring Himself out--He is there! Don't miss HIM!! I pray that God would give you eyes to see HIM moving in Haiti and around the world.
If the Lord has laid it on your heart to be a light to the Haitian people, I pray that you would pursue that yearning. Below is a link to to some of the opportunities offered through AIM but I would encourage you to pursue a partnership wherever the Lord leads you!
This page has all the listed trips available as of now. Most are 7 days, some are 9, some are 14 days; for the next 6 months.
This is the main site.
"For God so LOVED THE WORLD, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John
3:16
"GREATER LOVE has NO ONE than this,
that He LAY DOWN HIS LIFE for His friends." John
15:13
"Love
is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not
proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the TRUTH. It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Many blessings as you celebrate the ones you love!
The New Year seems to be starting off in full sprint.When I pause for moment and look back
on where the Lord has taken me in the last 18 months, I am truly amazed.He has molded, moved, and shaped my
life in some powerful and significant ways.It's crazy to think that it all started with a prompting to
go into missions for a year.Little did I know that "running away with the Lord" for this time would
have the impact on my life that it has.
As I prepare to move forward on this path the Lord has let before
me, I find myself reflecting on the events of this past year.The Lord used the race to open my eyes
and fan a flame in my heart for the nations and for His seeing His Kingdom
around the world.
Before leaving for GA on Monday, I will be giving a presentation
at church about my experiences this last year.The video below is a compilation of photos I collected while
I was out in the field.I thought
I would share this with you as a way of celebrating all the Lord has done and
all He is going to do in the year to come!
and the truth and the truth will set you free."--John 8:32
On the race, our squad (G squad) was known as squad "FREEDOM"--whoot, whoot! I couldn't tell you the exact story behind this label or nickname, but at some point, this is how we became known around the AIM office. A good portion of our time in debrief on the race was spent being set free and being taught to claim the freedom and victory we have in Christ over our own lives as well as the lives of those we encountered in ministry. Being in the community of fellow racers, this proclamation of victory was often made for me by my brothers and sisters in Christ when I couldn't make it for myself. The Lord recently reminded me of the importance and need to claim these things over my life.
The last several days have been a challenge for me. Since the day after Christmas, the Lord has been really tugging on my heart. As I've drawn near to Him, He has begun revealing to me that there are some "weeds from the past" if you will, that have found a home and rooted themselves deep in my heart. The Lord has been revealing my need to allow Him to dig deep to the root of these weeds and let Him exterminate them there. I began to sense that this process was going to hurt, and began resisting Him, in fear. This isn't the first time I've resisted His attempts to pull out some of these weeds. I resisted His attempts on the race, and He didn't fight me. However, recently, I've been hearing Him whisper, "It is time" and quite frankly, I'm exhausted of fighting.
These weeds seem to wrap themselves tightly around on my heart and in the process I lose sight of my identity in Christ and the victory I have been given in Him. I know, deep down that this is an attack of the enemy but in the weakness of my flesh I choose to listen to his lies instead of the truth that has been spoken over my life before.
Those of you who know me know that the Lord often speaks to me through music. I can be in the midst of worship and moved to tears because the Lord is revealing Himself to me in a song. That happened today as I was riding home from brunch with my family. The last several days I have been praying that the Lord would take me to those hard places--that He would continue to show me where I needed to go in order to break free from these past hurts, these weeds that bind my heart and hold me down. In His faithfulness, He's taken me there, and it has been painful.
Despite the fact that I've asked Him to take me to the places that hurt, I've found myself frustrated with the Lord because I wanted or expected the process to look different than it has. I wanted it to be quick and easy but instead it's been long and hard. I know in my heart that my feelings towards God aren't justified, but I they have been welling up anyway. This peaked in church this morning during worship. I forced myself to raise my hands in surrender anyway to glorify the King, but my heart was still filled with hurt and frustration. You see, I was blaming the Lord, even resenting Him for what I was feeling, although the hurt is a result of the world and it's brokenness and some of the decisions I made when I was not walking closely with God. In addition to my frustration with the Lord, I was frustrated with myself--frustrated that I was taking this out on the Him, know it is not something I'm supposed to do. After all, what has the Lord ever done to hurt me?!--Nothing! And to make matters even more complicated, in the midst of this mess, He LOVES me.
So, as I got into my car after brunch, I turned on the radio and heard an old, familiar song. But this time, the words hit me hard--harder than ever before:
Here I am Lord,
And I'm drowning
In a sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where you found me
And it echoes in my mind,
Keeps me awake tonight
I know you cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before you now as,
As though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way
Jesus can you show me
Just how far the east is from the west
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest,
Cause you know just how far the East is from the West
From one scarred hand to the other.
I start the day the war begins
Endless reminding of my sin
And time and time again your truth is drowned out
By the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away,
From you leaving me this way
Jesus can you show me,
Just how far the East is from the West
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
'cause you know
Just how far the East is from the West
From one scarred hand to the other.
I know you've washed me white,
Turned my darkness into light
I need your peace to get me through,
To get me through this night
Can't live by what I feel
But by the Truth your work reveals,
I'm not holding on to you
But you're holding on to me,
You're holding on to me
Jesus you know
Just how far the East is from the West
I don't have to see the man I've been,
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
'cause you know just how far the East is form the West,
From one scarred hand to the other.
Sometimes in the midst of pain and hurt, I forget about the REDEMPTION I have in Christ. I forget that I am covered in the blood of my Savior and that I am FREE and CLEAN in the eyes of the Lord. Christ took on this bondage that I have been living in when He was hung on the cross at Calvary and He BROKE those very chains when He rose from the dead on Easter Sunday! The weeds take root in my heart and remain there ONLY because I allow them to. Just as I have a choice to take up my cross daily and follow Him, I have a choice to walk FREE because of the victory HE claimed for me--the same is is true for YOU!
As we step into a New Year, I think it's important to remind ourselves of the truths that we have in Christ and to make a habit of claiming these truths over our lives and the lives of one another. Will you join me and claim FREEDOM over OUR lives again?!
I pray, Lord God, that we would not forget this freedom we've found in you. I pray too that we would share this freedom with our friends, family and even strangers in our lives. May we see this VICTORY take root in our own lives and claim the lives of others for your Kingdom! I ask all these things in Jesus' name...Amen.
I started reading a book today called The Tangible Kingdom
by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.The
introduction of the book begins with an illustration of a sailor, sailing his
ship on the open sea headed for an island that he has heard about and desires
to reach.This island is not easy
to get to because of the wreckage that surrounds it-wreckage from other ships
that have attempted to reach shore and failed or ships that have gotten caught
in a storm and are waiting for the storm to pass before navigating the rest of
the way in.This picture of the
sailor is a metaphor for the church and the island is God's Kingdom.The wreckage represents people and
communities who have been lost and wounded on their journey to find the true
Kingdom-not just eternal life, but God's life and reality here on earth.
For the longest time, I went through life as a part of the
church not knowing that this earthy Kingdom existed.I thought Christianity was simply about accepting Christ as
my Savior, telling my friends about my love for Jesus and being "good like the
Bible tells you to", for the rest of my life.It wasn't until December 2007 that I began to hear that
gentle whisper of my Spirit, calling me to embrace the glory and wonder of God
on this side of Heaven-The Kingdom.
This whisper lead me to The World Race, and it was through
my time at training camp and over the course of the last 14 months that I began
to understand more and more what God's Kingdom here on earth could and should
look like.It's different than any
view of "church" I have ever been exposed to, but it has brought life,
authenticity, transparency and community to me and to others.
In the last year, on and off the race, the Lord has begun to
open my eyes to His reality-His Kingdom here on earth.I don't know if you have noticed it,
but there is a restlessness rising in generations across the globe.The concept of Christianity as we know
it is not satisfying them or us.Our Spirits are aching, yearning for something MORE!I believe this is the Lord, calling His
bride, THE CHURCH, back to Himself.He is calling a generation to rise up and proclaim His truth to the
world-not as a denomination but as HIS BODY!
12For just as the body
is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are
one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or
Greeks, slaves or free-and all were made to drink of one Spirit...14For the body does not
consist of one member but of many...20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body...27Now you are the body
of Christ and individually members of it. -1Corinthians
12 ESV
The Lord has equipped us each in
a special way to contribute to the overall function of His body at work on
earth.He is calling us to respond
to His love and bring life and hope to our friends, families, neighbors and
people across the globe.The key
is finding a vision and a community to work together towards this common goal
that the Lord has called us to.We
aren't called to simply worship and love the Lord within the safety of four
walls or one specific community, but to go out as THE CHURCH and multiply-make
disciples!
The World Race has become that
community for me.Their vision and
their passion have fanned the flame in my heart.For this reason, I have chosen to become a part of their
ministry.Starting in January, I
will begin a 6-month apprenticeship with them in hope of finding a better
understanding of how the Lord might use me and my gifts to help them move
forward with their God given vision.This position is one where I am required to raise support once
again.Therefore, I am asking you
to prayerfully consider supporting me in this ministry, either prayerfully,
financially, or both.
My prayer for you is that you
will hear the Lord's calling for as well.Although I love The World Race, I believe there are members of the BODY
all over the world with a vision to see God's Kingdom here on earth.I pray that you will respond to the
whisper of the Spirit inside you and be mobilized in some way shape or form in
your own family, community or if He calls you, among the nations!
9Only take heed to
thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine
eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but
make them known unto thy children and thy children's children. -Deuteronomy 4:9
ASV
I wrote a blog a few weeks ago entitled: 
Last year, in Tanzania, our team spent some time working with the Kid's program at the church we ministered with that month. One particular Saturday, we spent a few hours teaching them to sing "My God is So Big" in English so they could perform it in church the next day. One of my favorite things about teaching this song is the hand motions that go with it which put emphasis on the fact that God is so big and so strong that there is NOTHING He cannot do. 
