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Please please pray for the students and families of VA-TECH. :(
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OH MY GOD!!!
LITERALLY....
I usually dont say this. but pls pls pls read this blog. amazing. I dont even know where to start
Pause
For those of you who dont know, a group of us have been on a 4 week journey to learn more what it really means to be 'christian'. the first 3 weeks were pretty incredible... and tonight was week 4. wow.
I'm speechless.
I dont even know how to explain what happened tonight. but i must try... cause people must know and hear about how amazing God is... and what happens when the people of God choose to really follow God..
please keep reading. it gets awesome at the end. i promise
Challenge 1:
a few days ago, i sent out an email asking people to help the cherry street mission by meeting some basic needs of homeless people in toledo. u know.. basic stuff like shampoo, soap e.t.c. The problem was, i wasnt sure how many people get my email and who would remember.
Challenge 2:
Tonight we talked about how God has blessed us and is calling us to love the world in a radical way. One of the things i was trusting God for was that people in the room would support a kid in a 3rd world country somewhere for $32. So for $32/month u can basically change someone's life. I called compassion [the ministry involved with adopting these kids] and asked for 50 kids. they only sent 10 and some informational stuff... bummer.
Challenge 3:
There are people dying around the world because they dont have water. Over 400 million kids in the world dont have access to clean water. Basic water! What are we going to do about it? It cost about $3000 to build a well to supply enough water for an entire village for a lifetime [i.e save tons of lives]
Problem 1:
Only about 45 or so people showed up 2night. [week 1 and 2 were about 95 people]. I didnt even have enough faith that 100 college students could build a whole well. now 45? I didnt tell anyone this, but i seriously almost considered not mentioning how much it cost to build a well cause it seemed soooo huge. 45 people?! thats 45 college students by the way.....$3000? yea right.....
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Ok here's the good part. The results.
Challenge 1 [help the homeless in toledo]. we got:
- 43 tubes of toothpaste
- 47 toothbrushes
- 10 things of shaving cream
- 38 bars of soap
- 17 bottles of shampoo/conditioner
- 46 pairs of socks
- 213 razors [thats gonna be a lot of clean shaven homeless people. whoaa]
- also received some random food, lotion, mouthwash, detergent, deodorant, dental floss e.t.c
Incredible.
Challenge 2 [adopt compassion kid]:
- All 10 packets were taken. So 10 kids for sure have been rescued tonight. wow
- lots more people took information kits to sign up online to get a kid. we dont have an exact number [because we didnt have enough packets] but i know that there was a long line back there and people were still signing up after 2 full worship songs. awesomeness. Best part was we didnt even need the emotional powerpoint presentation of starving kids around the world that i made. nearly the whole room responded before it even started.
- 8 or so out of the 10 committed to giving $40 a month instead of $32. and extra $8 to go towards disaster relief, bibles for children and care for children affected by aids.
Now for the best part.
Challenge 3 [build well for village in Africa]
- Total amount raised: [DRUMROLL PLEASE]....
$3,745. 76
YUP, Thats right. 40 college students. $3,745.76. Yes. three thousand seven hundred and forty five dollars and seventy six cents. and a couple more people still want to give. Every penny is going to Africa. to the 76th cent.
IN. CRE. DI. BLE.
Enough money to build a well for a whole village in africa... and send money towards helping out another village.
I'm floored. I'm speechless. I'm amazed. 40 students in toledo OH will change history for an entire village of people in Africa.
I saw more of God tonight than i've seen in a 1000 songs sung.
This is what its all about. This is a REVOLUTION. This is Jesus.
[by the way if you missed tonight, and have been a part of our journey, dont feel bad. You can be a part of this amazing journey. So if you want to send money to build a well. please let me know. Maybe we could
build another well while we're at it. why not? haha. for real.]
I'll leave you with a song we sang tonight. God of justice by Tim hughes. Download it. its amazing.
God of Justice, Savior to all
came to serve the weak and the poor...
You have shown us what you desire
We must go...
live to feed the hungry
stand beside the broken
moving forward
keep us from just singing
Move us into action.
WE MUST GO
Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me -Jesus
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| ALIVE
Normally I really hate jumping on online-trends. but yesterday i was really inspired by the "things that make me alive" lists people have been making.
anyone else think its ironic how we make a list about things that make us alive when we are supposed to be uh.. alive?
Yesterday I realized that most of the time i just exist. I dont feel alive. and the worst part is, I dont see a problem with it. or even realize it. cause I dont particularly feel dead either. I just exist. its like life becomes so robotic. so routine. so mundane. so normal?
So yesterday i decided i wanted to feel as alive as possible. I decided to stop and find life in everything i did.
so this is not a 'things that make me alive' list but rather a journey of my 'life-full day yesterday"
* I stood in the wind and let it blow over my face. I breathed deeply. It was amazing
* I laid in the grass and let it graze my skin. I looked up at the sky and breathed deeply.
* I looked at trees. really looked at them. something so normal all of a sudden seemed so weird. I saw God in those trees. and a squirrel way way up there. AWESOME
* I REALLY held my girlfriends hands. and thought about what it means to be able to feel the touch of another human being. wow!
* I watched ants play in the sand. then i looked at the sun. back at the ants. the sun. ants. sun... I've never felt more like there was a God
* Ashley and I learned the lyrics to the rap classic "this is how we do it" and sang out loud as we drove around town. "this is how we do it, its friday night and i feel alright. the partys here on the westside.. so i reached for my 40's and i turned it up. designated drivers got the key to my truck".... a rap song has never felt so full of life?
* I listened to "my favorite things" from the sound of music and it almost made me cry. I decided my kids will be forced to watch that movie. Then i came home and downloaded "do-re-mi" from itunes.
love.
that.
movie.
* Ashley and I listened to our favorite song at the park [through an ipod] and sang out loud while people walked by. Yea we looked foolish... but i didnt care. I felt so... alive.
Its amazing how "life" allows you to see God. I laid in the grass today and looked around me. i mean REALY looked. and honestly I dont understand how anyone can REALLY look around us and say there is no God.
I saw him today in the grass. I felt him on my skin. I heard him in the winds.
He's alive. are you?
the earth IS full of his glory.
again. come. thanks
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Tonight.
7p.m. Rockys attic.
Come and meet God.
"Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed
For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told"
-Habakkuk 1:5
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Read this... and this. and this
I
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p
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a revolution is brewing... fast.
a faceless generation.
13 more days.
and its rising up, all around...
its the anthem of the Lords renown
i'll explain more in a bit...
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