DREAM Gals

I have 4 super great gals working on the level 2 photography/injustice class Tuesday nights.  We are 1/2 way through now, taking pictures for our final art auction on May 24 (more details to follow, so stay tuned!).  This week's photo theme is 'peace' (the past 2 weeks have been 'beauty' and 'family').  Injustice-wise, we've watched "The Great Debaters", "God Grew Tired of Us" and "Invictus".

"We're really not that different from each other."

The Girls, Giggles & Goals reunion that I blogged about a few days ago hit the local newspaper.  Check out the article at:  www.altonaecho.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3091003

Manitoba Prayer Breakfast

Head to www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/prayer-breakfast-hears-horror-of-sexual-slavery-in-cambodia-120562869.html for more details on yesterday's Manitoba Prayer Breakfast.

Procrastinating

The task (though that seems too 'little' a word) of scrapbooking my YWAM travels of 2009 is still on my to-do list.  It actually calls my name, harassing me to get to it already (I did start, but haven't made much progress).  I wish I could say that the actual job of putting it all together was the reason for my procrastination of the project but it's not.  In order to do the quality of work that I want for the scrapbook, it involves me going through my journal and putting a balanced perspective to the pictures I use and the words I write.  I'm even having a hard time deciding what to write here right now - there's just so much emotion.

I've been going through a lot of my 2009 pictures as I been preparing for my Focus photography/injustice class.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself - did I really experience all the stuff that I did that year?  Some pictures surprise me - I look happier than what I really felt at the time.  I met such amazing people and my words feel as though they fall so short towards people who changed my life so much.  It's not something that I can just tie a nice bow around and push to the back of my mind. . .so I'm procrastinating.

Traffick Jam

I just heard about this event yesterday and it's happening tomorrow:  Traffick Jam - The Canada Fights Human Trafficking Walkathon.  More information at www.traffickjam.cfht.net.  In Winnipeg, it starts at the Forks at 10:30 a.m.

Oh My God by Jars of Clay

Oh my God, look around this place,
Your fingers reach around the bone,
you set the break and set the tone
For flights of grace, and future falls
In present pain all fools say, "Oh my God."

Oh my God, why are we so afraid?
we make it worse when we don't bleed,
there is no cure for our disease.
Turn a phrase and rise again,
or fake your death and only tell your closest friends,
Oh My God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief.
Weddings, boats, and alibis,
All drift away, and a mother cries...

Liars and fools, sons and failures, thieves will always say..
Lost and found, ailing wanderers, healers always say..
Whores and angels, men with problems, leavers always say..
Broken hearted, separated, orphans always say..
War creators, racial haters, preachers always say..
Distant fathers, fallen warriors, givers always say..
Pilgrim saints, lonely widows, users always say..
Fearful mothers, watchful doubters, Saviors always say..

Sometimes I can not forgive
and these days mercy cuts so deep,
If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep.
While I lay, I'd dream we're better, scales were gone and faces lighter,
When we wake we hate our brother, we still move to hurt each other,
Sometimes I can close my eyes and all the fear the keeps me silent,
Falls below my heavy breathing, what makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder, we all have the need for wonder.
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the plunder.

Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven,
All the times I thought to reach up, all the times I had to give up.
Babies underneath their beds, in hospitals that cannot treat them.
All the wounds that money causes, all the comforts of cathedrals,
All the cries of thirsty children, this is our inheritance,
All the rage of watching mothers, this is our greatest offense
Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God.

Justice for the Poor

For the next 6 Sundays, I'll be leading an adult Sunday school class at my church (something I've never done before) called Justice for the Poor (more at www.sojo.net).  I hope to be able to share some of the insights and discussions that come up between now and the end of May.

I did a promo of the class in my church way back in January, but things were delayed.  I ordered the books, but they got lost in the mail and then another study series came up, so now we can finally start.  I don't doubt God's timing - I'm sure that the class is happening now for a specific reason, the least of which is to remind me once again of the mission that God has called me to.

G-rated

From the article "Can We Help to Break the Chains?" by Karen Stiller, FaithToday (March/April 2011):

"'We like to have a G-rated church, but as soon as you open the Bible, you realize Christianity is not always rated G,' says Cassells.  'The Church needs to engage in this issue, and become aware that out of the many prostitutes and the many, many buyers, we all know people personally involved in prostitution at some level.'

The church indeed welcomes the broken and attempts to usher in healing, while at the same time facing injustice that would be easier to ignore - and opposing it.  Prostitution is clearly such an injustice, where vulnerable women (and children and some men) are abused to meet the unrestrained appetites of people with whom we cross paths daily."

Freedom

"I am a Canadian, a Free Canadian,

Free to speak without fear,

Free to worship in my own way,

Free to oppose what I believe wrong,

Free to stand for what I think right,

Free to choose those who shall govern my country.

This heritage of Freedom I pledge to uphold for myself & all mankind."

Adapted from Prime Minister John Diefenbaker (July 1, 1960)

Respect Your Freedom.  Vote.

The Clock is Ticking

Continuing from yesterday:

Girls, Giggles & Goals

Last October I was part of a group that planned an event for young girls in our community called "Girls, Giggles & Goals".  We looked at various issues throughout the day including self esteem, dreams, local and global involvement.  I talked about my global experiences and showed the following video:

We met for a follow-up today.  Part of the experience in October included writing letters to girls in an Afghan orphanage and today they received reply letters, which was really neat.  The Afghan girls talked about what their favorite colors were, what they were learning in school, dreams of becoming doctors and lawyers.  Some of them provided email addresses, so hopefully our girls will be able to stay in touch.  It all starts with a girl. . .

Testify

Emmanuel Jal, in the movie War Child, used the word "testify" a number of times.  He would be talking about sharing the story of his life, referring to growing up amid the war in Sudan and becoming a child soldier, and his next statement would always use the word "testify" to reiterate his point.  It's not a word we use regularly.  You hear it more when people talk about going to court and being a witness, not general life.  Within a Christian context, you hear the word "testimony" (and people begin to squirm right away!).

Just before I left South Africa, I encountered 2 women, probably homeless, who asked me to take their picture.  I told them that I was leaving the country soon and wouldn't be able to get them a print, but they still wanted me to take the picture.  Why?  In many countries, especially those with less media than we are used to, having your picture taken puts them into history, as it were.  Someone, somewhere has evidence that they were alive at a specific point in time.

Emmanuel's life testifies to the war in Sudan - he was a witness - but more than that, it was his life - it's his testimony.

Representing God

 I received an update newsletter full of articles from the organization Partners Relief & Development last week.  Their mission:  "Through holistic action, we demonstrate God's love to children & communities made vulnerable by war in Burma".  In the article Beyond Fish, Pigs & Farms by Craig Garrison, he says:

"The Shan people are primarily Buddhist.  Does Jesus come into the equation?  Of course! I was recently talking with a Buddhist, Shan friend.  He said this to me in broken English, 'Three years ago when you first started working with us, I thought you only wanted us to be Christians.  Now I realize that you wanted to be God to us. . .'  What he meant was that his initial thinking about Partners' involvement was about religion; what he has found out is that we desire to represent God to him and the Shan people."

Micah 6:8

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"  (ESV)

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  (NIV)

"The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands:  'See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.'"  (CEV)

"He's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.  It's quite simple:  Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don't take yourself too seriously - take God seriously."  (The Message)