Insomnia
I only slept for 2 hours last night
Why?
I couldn’t stop reading the news.
Article after article, posts, reports, videos, information,
breaking news
DEVESTATION
Do you know what is happening in our world?
Surely you heard about the devastating earthquake in Nepal
It affected two of the countries that are on my route for the World Race.
Because I am traveling there soon, naturally I am interested in the state of Nepal and India, However, when I began reading about what was happening I couldn’t stop……
Over 5,500 lives lost.
5,500 faces, souls, loved ones.
I can’t imagine. Simply, I just haven’t experienced anything like that. I CANT understand even though I want to sympathize.
This week I also went to a mission chat for Cambodia. (I am also going there on my race). The topic was about Sex Trafficking in Cambodia. It is a problem that most Americans are completely unaware of.
There are countless cases of children (as young as 5 years old) being sold by their families into Sex Slavery just to eat for that Day. In Phnom Penh, the Capitol, communities are largely uneducated, living in poverty, and don’t give a second thought to selling their OWN children into this Sex Trade. It is just “what they do” to survive. They don’t feel/think/process these issues, so it has become normal and widely accepted by the culture.
There is little to NO justice for the cases that are brought to the courts, and that is only if someone is brave enough to admit to being sold/traded/molested/raped. It is frowned upon to even talk about sex trade (as if it weren’t a problem).
Ministries certainly have their work cut out to make a difference in just one City.
Meanwhile, In Baltimore (USA)…..
RIOTS
What?
Agressive. Destructive. Violent.
Riots
It is our right to protest, and it is my understanding that they began as peaceful protest. However, it is certainly NOT how it ends and it makes me absolutely sick to my stomach! SICK.
Overall this made me angry because:
My heart aches
My heart is broken.
How could it not be- after hearing all of these stories,
BUT
Wednesday morning I found myself in the Tennessee State Commerce and Insurance building trying to appeal a situation where I had been wrongfully charged due to someone else’s mistake.
Sparing the details- there was a mistake made with my car insurance and it cost me a few hundred dollars to correct it.
I was infuriated that I had to pay out when it wasn’t my fault.
(Here is some honesty)
I was standing there shamelessly crying in the state building because
I was angry and felt that I was entitled. It wasn’t my fault, but I had to pay for it.
I have to admit I am embarrassed that I came to tears in a public facility over a few hundred dollars. Really Rachel?
But I want to share because it is important for the rest of the story……..
There is a reason the “I’s” are Hi-lighted
I am GUILTY of the very mentality that led to the riots in Baltimore.
Even though I completely disagree with this response of violence and behavior and I feel disgrace that I live among a society that feels so entitled, I realized that:
I am a part of it.
A sobering thought
sobered by the embarrassment that I felt so entitled
sobered by the fact that I was so upset about money
sobered by the stories that I heard just this week…
this hit hard.
I let it go and then I prayed-
I wept as I prayed for the lost in Nepal
I wept as I prayed for the unimaginable, silent torture in Cambodia
I wept as I thought about my very own lost Nation. We FIGHT ourselves and are ignorant to the rest of the world. Ignorant to Nepal and Cambodia.
So I prayed for us too.
And just like that…
Jesus taught me to love.
Isaiah 60:1-7
“Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God’s bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, But God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you. Nations will come to your light, kings to your sunburst brightness. Look up! Look around! Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you: Your sons coming from great distances, your daughters carried by their nannies. When you see them coming you’ll smile—big smiles! Your heart will swell and, yes, burst! All those people returning by sea for the reunion, a rich harvest of exiles gathered in from the nations! And then streams of camel caravans as far as the eye can see, young camels of nomads in Midian and Ephah, Pouring in from the south from Sheba, loaded with gold and frankincense, preaching the praises of God. And yes, a great roundup of flocks from the nomads in Kedar and Nebaioth, Welcome gifts for worship at my altar as I bathe my glorious Temple in splendor.
See “though the whole earth is wrapped in Darkness, God still rises and Nations will come to his light”
There is hope…
SPLENDOR (I love his language)
for the kingdom of God.
There is hope and light for Nepal,
for Cambodia,
for Baltimore,
There is Hope and Light for all the Nations!!!!
John 1:5
3-5 Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.
The darkness can’t overcome the light no matter how hopeless a situation seems.
I am going on the World Race for reasons such as natural disasters, human trafficking, poverty, abandonment, and lost and broken souls.
I must share the victory over darkness with the world and those that don’t know my Jesus.
The Nations break my heart and that motivates me.
My own need for Jesus renews me EVERY DAY.
His Spirit refines me daily, allowing me to love those I have never met, and those who have done wrong to me and others.
I am approaching training camp very quickly.
15 Days left in Nashville
20 days until training camp
ONLY 57 Days until I leave!
I would love your prayers:
unpacking things in my heart that have no place on the race
pray for Nepal, India, Cambodia and any countries placed in your own heart
pray for the remaining funds to come in before the next deadline (June 17 $7,500) I only need $2,240
and join me praying for the Good Ole’ USA. I love my country and I am thankful for the blessing of being so privileged, but we all need Jesus.
Especially in our comfort, we need Jesus
If you would like more information about Cambodia and the Sex Trafficking the information I received was from The Hard Places Community. My friend Alli is there working with many children against Trafficking. Please check out their website and support her mission against Child Sex Trafficking at http://hardplaces-community.org
