Present events in Egypt

Marty and I have been concerned for our Egyptian friends who live in Cairo as we've watched the escalating violence this past week. For days we've wondered as our emails were returned due to the imposed internet blackout. We started hearing a few lines here and there from them a few days ago to let us know they were alright and that they would try to update more later. This is what they wrote this morning:

We really appreciate your prayers and concern. We’ve received your messages loaded with love and we know your hearts are with us. We are safe with our families and friends, and we’re ever thankful for that; but our safety is not really our main concern now.

Right now, we stand united with our courageous young people who broke the barrier of fear and started to demand their basic human rights for a dignified life, freedom and social justice. We feel the pain of our nation, our hearts bleed with our people. For generations now, young Egyptians feel betrayed by people in authority and those who are fighting for it. Corruption, excessive and illegal personal gains have caused a wide spread poverty among our people.

If you want to know where we stand from the present events; we refuse to give in to lies and to fear. We do not accept the lie that says accept a repressive and non democratic regime because the alternative is worse. Is our God limited to few options?

The church and the saints in Egypt, for many generations now, have been praying for years for blessings for our nation. We are asking our living God who sees and hears to come and save. We’re asking for a new era of freedom and dignity. We are asking for a new system where leaders with integrity and fear of God would tend to the need and the aspiration of Egyptians.

Please pray with us.

We are praying, my friends ... so many of us are praying.

Time flies ...

Happy Anniversary to us! And I cannot believe Marty and I have been married for 37 years. Check out this post for a little background (and for those of you trying to do the math). With Marty, it truly is "better when we're together."

What I Love about Young Life I Saw at Summer Camp

Scott and Holley have been volunteering for Young Life Ministries in Frisco for several years. We’ve seen how they impact high school students as they attend their students’ football, volleyball, and baseball games; track meets, band and UIL competitions, graduation and baccalaureate ceremonies … more than most parents. That is on top of the Young Life club meetings and Bible studies every week. And then they use their summer vacation to be leaders for these students at summer camp.



They invited Marty and I as adults guests when they took their group to Crooked Creek Young Life Camp in Colorado this year. And who could turn down a chance to go back to summer camp?!



Within the first hour I met "Sam", who was from a different city, as I wandered the camp. This was his first time at Young Life camp, a YL leader in his school had basically insisted he come, and he was feeling lonely. An awkward teen, he told me how he felt like no one wanted to be around him on the bus. Marty joined us as we walked and talked. At two different times, kids from his group came up and asked him to join them and he blew them off. Marty gave him a good “guy” talk about hanging with those kids and we’d check on him later.



That night at the club gathering, we noticed Sam hanging back. As we watched from the side, we could tell that Sam would push people away with his words just to see if they really wanted him around. Another student walked up to Sam and physically drew him into the group. Soon, they all were hanging on each other as they sang and jumped around to the songs.



We passed Sam on the way to breakfast the next morning and asked him what he thought of club night. “It was the coolest time ever!” The next time we saw Sam, we was King of the Rodeo and belting out the National Anthem (solo!) in front of 450 kids.



The adult guests at the camp are free to help or participate in all activities and leader's meetings or simply hang out. There were 10 couples and shared a separate house, which looked like a national park lodge. Our host couple, Boone & Peggy, were as energetic as the kids. It's obvious they love Young Life as much today as they did 56 years ago when they first met in college and Boone was a YL leader. I loved hearing their heart for the kids and their community and I'm glad they live in Dallas.



One of the other couples, “Dawn” and “Mark” told us the story of how a Young Life leader had invited their son to camp. Mark and Dawn were each doing their own private spiritual searching and not involved in church. That year, Dawn had been diagnosed with MS, her mother had died and their son “was making some very bad decisions.” That son came home from camp with a completely different attitude and conduct and started going to church with his YL leader. Dawn and Mark decided to check it out...that was six years ago and their individual lives were transformed.



And finally, I've seen what Young Life has done for the leaders...the way that YL has deepened the marriages and friendships of Scott & Holley, Cody & Kelly, Jerry & Shari and others as they intentionally serve together in their marriage and model relationships that some of these students never see in their own homes. Brian and Julie are not officially with Young Life. But as foster parents, they and their kids are good at making other kids feel at home, so they volunteered to take care 4 year old Everett so Jerry & Shari could serve as leaders.



As we heard at the first leader's meeting ... "we want to make sure that everything this week will help the student's encounter Jesus." And they did!

Headed (back) to India!

In 2008, I was part of a team from Bent Tree traveling to Pune, India. Bent Tree Bible Fellowship “adopted” the Maratha people of Western India. Our goal is to establish and develop a thriving, multiplying church movement entirely led and supported by Marathas. I love remembering the people and places of that trip …. traveling with a fun and funny group, meeting new people in India and making friends, learning new ways and culture, stretching, growing and flexibility. The women taught a 5 day Counseling/Discipleship Conference to women leaders in Pune. The men taught Leadership to the Church Planters ready to graduate after a year of Bible Study. And I’ve dreamed of the day I’d go back



On April 29th, I will travel back to India as the leader of the India team. There will be six women (yay, girls’ trip!) and we will co-lead two conferences for church planters’ wives (one in Pune and one in Aurangabad) with a team from India led by my good friend, Teju. (Joseph and Teju are nationals who lead the team in India.) This is an opportunity to continue to build relationships, share resources, and provide interactive training for the church planters’ wives.



As I head out for our team meeting tonight, I feel inadequate with the title of “leader.” But I'm glad when realize that I do not have to rely on my own strength. (What is it, short-term memory loss that I keep forgetting? doh.) I am constantly reminded that it is not my strength, but God’s. They are not my plans, but His. And I am on this journey with five amazingly talented sisters here and we’ll meet up with Teju and her amazing team. We’re in this together!


(with Teju)

The Advent of Love - Cambodia

I love Cambodia. The people ... the country ... I love Cambodia! Plain and simple. So I was excited to return as part of the team to put on a conference for the leadership team and the families of World Relief Cambodia, which are majority Cambodian.

After spending the first few days visiting in rural provinces where World Relief is doing great work, we headed to the Koh Kong province in the Cambodia/Thailand border on the Gulf of Thailand to hold the retreat. (More on the 6 hour bus trip another time!)


This leadership conference allowed us to teach, minister to, pray with and genuinely love and serve the workers and their families. The group included about 120 people and the theme was The Father's Love from 1 John 3:1-3.



There were main sessions in the morning with breakouts for small groups and great, personal discussion.


Worship and prayer times.



While all that was going on, we provided youth and the children's programming with the same theme.



And then in afternoons, we had breakout sessions with everything ranging from mani/pedi pampering times, jewelry-making and legos for kids to How to Lead a Bible Studay, Christian Men's Leadership and Love Languages.(My duties included: facilitating the main group discussions, organizing the mani/pedi pampering and leading a breakout on How to Lead a Bible Study.)


And of course, I had to join in the lego breakout time since, with two sons, I'm very experienced.

We all had our own responsibilities and duties. And, while not everything ran "according to plan," it was great to see how the Lord showed up when we just let go of control.


As you reflect on the birth of our Savior this season, may you experience the Father's Love. And may that love compel you to live your life giving His love away.

The Advent of Peace - Cambodia

Peace on Earth is unfortunately elusive in this broken world. But as this is the the week of Peace in the Advent season, I'm back to my time in Cambodia. Cambodia is still recovering after brutal years of civil war, horrific genocide, including French and UN occupation. All which all left a deep and traumatic impact on this country and its people. And many times on this trip, their pain clutched my heart.



To realize what this small country endured, we toured Tuol Sleng Prison. Now a genocide museum, the site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979. An estimated 17-20,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng. Entire families were often brought in to be interrogated and later murdered at the Choeung Ek, the largest and most well-known of the "killing fields."

This Buddhist memorial stupa at Choeung Ek contains more than 5,000 human skulls of the 8,895 bodies exhumed. Less than half of the site has been excavated and human bones till litter the site. It is hard to describe my emotions of walking in the now peaceful countryside, with clothing working its way back up through the dirt under our feet.

The only way to bear the horror of wandering these sites was to remind myself of the reason we were in Cambodia ... to help build into the people and ministry of World Relief. "World Relief is committed to working alongside the Church of Cambodia in building its capacity to serve the poor in the name of Jesus Christ so that the healing and transforming power of the Kingdom of God is manifested in all its fullness in Cambodia."

Along with the Hope Program, WR (through their CREDIT program) offers financial services and education to Cambodians provides them with capital so they can start and expand micro-enterprises. CREDIT is also an opportunity to develop relationships with clients, many of whom have not had any previous contact with Christianity. I love this program and the amazing fact is that 99% of clients pay back their loans on time (with over 37,000 clients and $20,000,000 in loans)!

A little view of our day as we traveled to the Prey Veng Province to a village training seminar:



We crossed the Mekong River on a ferry. While waiting, we bought a little snack of crickets fried in spicy oil. (pick the legs off first) Surprisingly, not bad!




Our transportation, 2 pickups for 16 people and rural roads with potholes so big that pigs could bathe in them.






Sitting under a tree to escape the blazing sun, the people get specific training on budgeting, saving and debt management. Obviously, I'm not gettin' it - it's all in Khmer, but I love being out with the people.


And I love the friends and food!

I will dare to say that Dave Ramsey would approve of this CREDIT. We (Bluefish TV) interviewed him for our marriage series this year. And as he is known to say and World Relief practices ... "There's only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus."

Peace.

The Advent of Hope - Cambodia

On the first Sunday of the Advent season, the focus is Hope and I am reminded of Cambodia. But the people and country of Cambodia are never far from my heart.

World Relief's Hope Program in Cambodia includes cell church planting and AIDS ministry for children, teens and adults. We spent the first couple of days of the trip seeing the work and ministry of the Hope Program in the different provinces. This was just one day ...



World Relief works through the village cell church and the cell churches typically start through the children's program, with health, hygiene, safety and Bible stories taught through puppet shows and skits.




After learning that fingernails need to be kept short and clean, they line up for nail clipping. We know just enough Khmer language to tell them "Looks good" and "Wash your hands." It's really just good to mingle with the kids.



We also join in teen meetings for girls and another for boys, as they have great teaching and discussions about making good decisions to prevent AIDS and incorporating fun games.




We then make a stop at the village chief's house for this wonderful lunch and then head to the AIDS education meeting with frank discussion about prevention and choices. And a different place for an AIDS support meeting ...


This was the AIDS support meeting. Everyone in the group has AIDS. Yes, So-phet, the smiling 10 year old boy in the front is infected. The baby in the back, and her grandmother who holds her, are both are infected. They only feel free to meet and talk because they are welcomed and support one another through the village church. So-phet was abandoned by his parents (who are also infected). The people of the church care for him and make sure he gets his medicine every day. The young mother of two behind him lost her husband 4 years ago and also care for two other children. We heard heartbreaking stories, and lots of tears were shed - but the tears were mostly of gratitude for a loving God, hope in the support of friends and World Relief, and sadness for those who do not know. Naru, the World Relief worker on the left, travels to 3 different villages every day. And then there was Vanni, who had been coming to the group, but decided that day to place her hope in Jesus Christ. It was difficult to process the immense emotions of joy and pain that were intertwined. But it was definitely the joy that won out.



One last stop to a Hope church. These young people had traveled from different provinces and were spending a few months training to be interns for World Relief. It was great to hear their hearts of worship. The church floods every year during rainy season so the only way to get in was to drive the truck right up to the wall and climb in!


This is Joke van Opstal, the founder and director of the Hope Program. She's the single mother of seven adopted children - smart, funny, passionate, loves the Lord, unstoppable ... and my friend.