I often mention "outreach" or prison ministry and yet many do not know exactly what I am referring to so here's a brief explanation of the things that have captivated my heart and the open doors God has led me to walk through.
When I was 21( eh em...last year...j/k!!!) years old God broke my heart for so many things, one was sexually broken women, specifically prostitutes. I can remember weeping on my bedroom floor as my heart ached for women I had never seen, met or had any idea that I ever would. I really thought God was crazy (ok maybe I was!) I had never been a prostitute, talked to one...how in the world was I going to ever minister to prostitutes. I didn't know what to do with this burden, but I knew I should pray. I prayed and prayed for women in prostitution, I had hoped someday I would be able to share Jesus with these women...but that seemed impossible. Over the next 7 years the Lord would often bring back this burden, I would be driving somewhere in Europe and see one brothel after the next, my heart breaking more and yet I felt more helpless for how to help. Certainly I couldn't just go alone to the places these women were and what would I say? I knew I needed to keep praying.
When I moved back to the States, the Lord told me it was time. Admittedly I still didn't understand how and really thought the idea was crazy...but who prays for something for 7 years, surely God was going to do something. I knew of a recent church plant in Hollywood, CA and I knew their heart for ministry and thought, "surely they have a prostitution ministry" now this is not a normal thought, but it was God's leading. Sure enough I looked on their website and there it was, "After Hours Ministry, a ministry to pimps and prostitutes". They taught classes every month and led outreaches in the LA area. What an incredible day that was, the desire of my heart was being fulfilled after 7 years. His timing is perfect and His ways are beyond understanding.
I went to the next class and well the rest is history. I have the privilege of serving in a variety of ways with After Hours ministry, one of them is taking part in weekly outreaches in the LA area where we get to physically meet these women and where God has been developing relationships leading them to trust more and open their hearts to Jesus. I have been challenged far beyond my comfort zone, God has grown my compassion for His children, He has helped me see our devastation with His eyes and yet He has also given me a heart to show these men and women who they are in Him and the beautiful plans He has for them in Christ.
If your heart is burdened in a specific way, I encourage you to continue to pray, do not give up, the Lord has created each of us uniquely and He wants to bless us by involving us in His work and teaching us more of His heart.
* I felt like I needed to add to this that simply because I prayed for something...didn't mean God "had" to do something in the way that He did....sometimes He may burden us for something, simply so we can pray and learn more of His heart or be a part of what He is doing. Hudson Taylor said, "move man through God by prayer alone"... one of our greatest resources is prayer and I don't want to discount the power of that.
Camp 13...
Camp is a local women's prison where the prisoners work with the fire department. These women work hard and are able to learn new things while in prison.
4 years ago I began going into this prison with a team from our church that had long been established there. We basically hold a church service when we go, we have worship in song, a time of prayer and we teach God's Word. Just this last weekend I was so overwhelmed by the faith, joy and hunger for Jesus that these precious saints have. We are so blessed to be a part of God's restoration in their lives. Different members of our team are there 3-4 times a week, what a blessing that we can have such a consistent ministry with these women. We see so many come and go and so many come to Jesus and turn their lives around. God is gracious and loving and desires that all come to repentance... no one is too far from Him.
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!'" Romans 10:14,15
"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Hijm, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him..."Psalm37:3-7
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
My Third Year of Teaching...a Look Back
2 years ago I was an assistant manager at a local Starbucks, I loved my job and especially the people I worked with, but I knew it was time for me to move on, but where? Having spent time on the mission field my heart is always drawn back to serving the Lord abroad and I believe I will serve in this way long-term again as the Lord leads, but that wasn’t it this time. When I graduated college I prayed about doing many things one of them was going into the profession of teaching, but I didn’t have a green light from the Lord and soon knew He had other plans for me at that time. It’s funny, usually God doesn’t give me a long term plan, He reveals things when it’s time and says “Go!”, this was the case with my job as an RA in college, my move to Europe, my move back to the states and even working for Starbucks…the Lord had put these things on my heart and I knew nothing (especially my own weaknesses and inadequicies….like the inability to spell that word), would stop it.
2 years ago in early August I believed the Lord was calling me into a season of teaching at a local Christian school. I didn’t have a teaching credential, I didn’t know anybody at the school, I had some teaching experience (from Bible college and even Starbucks) …but to the natural man I was certainly not qualified to take on a full-time teaching position. Even so, I knew God was going to do it. I emailed the principal of the school, told her who I was and that I wanted to teach…anything! I can only imagine her reaction to the email, maybe she closed it immediately, maybe she laughed or maybe she prayed for the Lord make His will clear on the matter. She didn’t respond right away (it was summer time and she was on vacation), so I went to the school and picked up an application and began to work on it. Since I still hadn’t heard from the principal I decided to call her, I can’t tell you how many messages I left, or how crazy she must have thought I was…but eventually she called back! It was a very awkward conversation! I told her I wanted to teach and was open to teaching anything, but it was on my heart to minister to the kids. Crazy or not after receiving my application she decided to interview me….I couldn’t believe it! Even though God had opened unimaginable doors for me dozens of times before, it always blows me away. When I went in for the interview she told me she needed a secondary teacher and handed me a list of about 20 classes and said rank them in order of which ones you would want to teach…there was anything from Physics to English to Economics on that list no joke! I’ve always loved math so I picked Algebra, my degree is in science so I listed several sciences…she began showing me books and asking me if I was familiar with the subjects and if I thought I could teach them…ok, of course I didn’t think I could, but again, I knew what God had said, so I said, “sure!” The next day my boss at Starbucks got a call from the school, they were checking my references…when I came in she said, “They’re going to hire you, I can tell”. I really could not believe it but I was thrilled!
The next day I came to meet with the head of school and loved him, his questions were things like “what would you say if a child asked you how to be saved? Can you tell me about your testimony? How would you answer someone who had questions about creation versus evolution?” these were great questions and I thought if this going to be my job, awesome! By the end of the interview I was hired and absolutely amazed at what God had done! So, a week and a half before school started I was handed the teacher’s manual for 4 different subjects, a computer, a classroom and some well wishes at figuring it all out! I had no idea how to write a lesson plan, I had no idea how to use the grading system, and one of the classes I wasn’t sure I could teach at all….
My first year was really difficult! I think it’s safe to say I learned more science in that year than in all my four years of college! I learned how to work with difficult kids, some were simply class clowns taking advantage of the new teacher, some were very angry, some had severe difficulties learning. I cried A LOT and remember many days when I would go to bed at 7 o’clock because I was so exhausted. But every day I reminded myself that it was God who had called me there and that He would bring me through. When I felt inadequate (pretty much daily) I reminded myself that these were God’s kids and my part was to do my best and He was ultimately responsible for them. Of course there were incredible blessings mixed in as well, I got to take students on retreats to grow in the Lord and play some paintball, I take my kids to Catalina every year, I have prayed with many hurting and searching kids and watched God work in miraculous ways and I’ve learned a lot of really cool things about God’s creation and how to study it!
Now as I enter my third year I am so thankful for all that God has done, the love that He has poured into me and out of me. I have been challenged to trust God for the impossible and I have seen Him do above and beyond what I could ask. As I prayed last year about whether or not to continue (despite all the blessings the second year wasn’t a whole lot easier) I believed God was saying “3 years” so I moved forward in faith. Now at the end of 3 years He may say 3 more…or He may light the way to something new but mine is simply to be faithful with today.
As of now there are 57 children total on my class lists, 57 hearts that need to know the love of Jesus in genuine ways, daily expressed, my prayer is that God will continue the good work He began and keep me that moldable clay in His hands that can be filled up and poured out for Him and for His kids. I am so thankful for all that He has given me.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.” Proverbs 3:5-8
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20,21
2 years ago in early August I believed the Lord was calling me into a season of teaching at a local Christian school. I didn’t have a teaching credential, I didn’t know anybody at the school, I had some teaching experience (from Bible college and even Starbucks) …but to the natural man I was certainly not qualified to take on a full-time teaching position. Even so, I knew God was going to do it. I emailed the principal of the school, told her who I was and that I wanted to teach…anything! I can only imagine her reaction to the email, maybe she closed it immediately, maybe she laughed or maybe she prayed for the Lord make His will clear on the matter. She didn’t respond right away (it was summer time and she was on vacation), so I went to the school and picked up an application and began to work on it. Since I still hadn’t heard from the principal I decided to call her, I can’t tell you how many messages I left, or how crazy she must have thought I was…but eventually she called back! It was a very awkward conversation! I told her I wanted to teach and was open to teaching anything, but it was on my heart to minister to the kids. Crazy or not after receiving my application she decided to interview me….I couldn’t believe it! Even though God had opened unimaginable doors for me dozens of times before, it always blows me away. When I went in for the interview she told me she needed a secondary teacher and handed me a list of about 20 classes and said rank them in order of which ones you would want to teach…there was anything from Physics to English to Economics on that list no joke! I’ve always loved math so I picked Algebra, my degree is in science so I listed several sciences…she began showing me books and asking me if I was familiar with the subjects and if I thought I could teach them…ok, of course I didn’t think I could, but again, I knew what God had said, so I said, “sure!” The next day my boss at Starbucks got a call from the school, they were checking my references…when I came in she said, “They’re going to hire you, I can tell”. I really could not believe it but I was thrilled!
The next day I came to meet with the head of school and loved him, his questions were things like “what would you say if a child asked you how to be saved? Can you tell me about your testimony? How would you answer someone who had questions about creation versus evolution?” these were great questions and I thought if this going to be my job, awesome! By the end of the interview I was hired and absolutely amazed at what God had done! So, a week and a half before school started I was handed the teacher’s manual for 4 different subjects, a computer, a classroom and some well wishes at figuring it all out! I had no idea how to write a lesson plan, I had no idea how to use the grading system, and one of the classes I wasn’t sure I could teach at all….
My first year was really difficult! I think it’s safe to say I learned more science in that year than in all my four years of college! I learned how to work with difficult kids, some were simply class clowns taking advantage of the new teacher, some were very angry, some had severe difficulties learning. I cried A LOT and remember many days when I would go to bed at 7 o’clock because I was so exhausted. But every day I reminded myself that it was God who had called me there and that He would bring me through. When I felt inadequate (pretty much daily) I reminded myself that these were God’s kids and my part was to do my best and He was ultimately responsible for them. Of course there were incredible blessings mixed in as well, I got to take students on retreats to grow in the Lord and play some paintball, I take my kids to Catalina every year, I have prayed with many hurting and searching kids and watched God work in miraculous ways and I’ve learned a lot of really cool things about God’s creation and how to study it!
Now as I enter my third year I am so thankful for all that God has done, the love that He has poured into me and out of me. I have been challenged to trust God for the impossible and I have seen Him do above and beyond what I could ask. As I prayed last year about whether or not to continue (despite all the blessings the second year wasn’t a whole lot easier) I believed God was saying “3 years” so I moved forward in faith. Now at the end of 3 years He may say 3 more…or He may light the way to something new but mine is simply to be faithful with today.
As of now there are 57 children total on my class lists, 57 hearts that need to know the love of Jesus in genuine ways, daily expressed, my prayer is that God will continue the good work He began and keep me that moldable clay in His hands that can be filled up and poured out for Him and for His kids. I am so thankful for all that He has given me.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.” Proverbs 3:5-8
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20,21
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