HELP ME FINISH MY SUPPORT RAISING, RESPOND W/EMAIL FOR DETAILS
“My curiosity is my creativity on the way to discovery.” -Why
on Quartz
Curious I continue to be, so enjoy a glimpse of my creativity…
Mindanao, Philippines
Many have proposed that it should be a simple task for someone
who has such a way with words. Spoken words that is, I find it hard to sit at a
computer in another country to write about my experiences, but could also see
the selfishness in not sharing such amazing stories. I could also argue that my
way with words is more HIS way than mine and trust that blogs would suffice for
now, until the fullness of HIS creativity in me is discovered!
With that said, I could admit a pinch of laziness at times
with a dash of stubbornness and maybe a drop of WHY!? Why should I write blogs?
WHY should I write about Richard, a young pastor/former gang
leader in the Philippines whose life is now devoted to AGAPE loving young men
on the streets of Mindanao. These young men aren’t bible preaching evangelists
broadcasting their former lifestyles in hopes to save the masses. They continue
to act like gangsters*, talk like gangsters and even dress like gangsters, but
Richard continues to love like GOD! We discovered that Pastor Richard has been
saving money for a few years to make t-shirts for HIS gangsters, in September
he was up to 12 tees. Humbly he shared with us his chicken scratch idea for a
logo, for t-shirts, for HIS gangsters, for LOVE. Some things you pray about and
some things you just respond to, so we did and a few days later a wonderful
graphic artist along with a few others decided to step in and make this dream
happen. On Christmas day last year M.Y.T.C (Mindanao Youth Transformed in
Christ) celebrated with their tees! We picked out a sort of purple color,
gangsters or not, they’re being transformed into a Royal Priesthood!
*fight broke out in a bible study…guns and samurai swords…REVIVAL
NEXT!
Siem (see HIM) REAP, Cambodia
A good tour guide needs a good haircut!
WHY should I share with you Sophan’s story? Imagine growing up
in a village where you were the unfavorable sibling, the runt of the litter
having to fen for himself. Here’s a young man who understood that leaving his
mother, his comfort, the countryside and fleeing to the city (Siem Reap) would
reap him some benefits. He would become a voluntary orphan if you will, living
and helping out at an orphanage while he studied English at a YWAM base, in
hopes to become a tour guide in and around his country. Sophan shared with me a
kind of JOY and compassion that I find rare, the kind that I would expect to be
more evident in a “Christian” country like ours, but experienced in a Buddhist
country like his. I’m convinced that many like Sophan have found Christ without
really understanding YET. Their expression of a love so deep is simply the work
of a Master Artist at work in the hidden and empty places of TEMPLES, of rock
and flesh.
Sophan: “I know now GOD loves me.” When asked why he responds:
“Because of the way my brother Michael shows me love…” *cause for tears
KL, Malaysia
WHY must I share this story discreetly? Because in some countries professing Christ doesn’t mean hiding out in a church on Sunday and
from the world Monday through Saturday. In this country the hiding out happens
for “fear,” or lack of it, of being discovered for helping the masses discover
the Christ we’ve hidden so well! Imagine a church with no visible pastor, no
offering plates, no reading of scripture, no 2 hour sermon and certainly no
Christians, okay maybe a few! WTH kind of church is that you might ask? The
kind of church that understands that an edifice filled with the musings of
tradition doesn’t change people, the kind that isn’t satisfied with normal
church fellowship with the “saints” (in some sects they’re made of stone, lifeless!) a kind of people that are willing to break laws, of comfort
that is, because a LOVE MESSAGE needs to show up in a bottle somewhere,
EVERYWHERE in this country where over 60% of it’s inhabitants are Muslim. Bottles of
dreams, visions, encounters, people, letters, books, emails and maybe, just
maybe, writings (graffiti) on a wall or a dove with an olive branch landing
safely on the window sill of some young girls 3rd floor apartment,
as to give her assurance that her world is safe, because of a peace that
transcends all things, logical or not!
P****T, Thailand
WHY would
you care if women all over the world are being exploited? I once wrote a spoken
word piece titled “Opportunity.”
When given the chance, I introduce the piece with a question to men
based on the popular saying take advantage of opportunity (i.e. carpe diem.)
I
question men: if Opportunity presents herself to you in the form of a woman, how
would you respond, would you take advantage?
My
response: If Opportunity presented
herself to me in the form of a woman I would have to say NO, I just can’t take
advantage! Me taking advantage of Opportunity would mean the wrong side-of-me or sodomy or so–do–me
to the point where she, Opportunity, felt the need to black-male or should I
say black-female me, making Opportunity nothing worth taking advantage of!
Apparently
“Opportunity” or should I say ABBA’S daughters are being taken advantage of on
the little Island of P****T. The scene is a mall on one corner of the strip and
a beach on the other, everything in between seems to be PC (Politically Correct)
along with all the viruses (no pun intended, okay maybe.) All to say that the
area looks very touristy, acts touristy and is even sold as being touristy, and
touristy it is! The type of tourism whose marketing is geared toward men, many
from the U.S.A., many unfaithful, many lost, many who might need as much LOVE
as the very women they call their “girlfriends!” This isn’t my attempt to pass
judgment on anyone, simply a cry to YOU for help! HELP, how?
Effective: PRAY!
More Effective: PRAY, then respond to HIS reQUEST!
Opportunity
may present itself to you in the form of men who struggle with the addictions
of porn and other sexual immoral things that lead to a countries billion dollar
“Tourism” industry. Here’s a chance to TAKE ADVANTAGE-engage, talk, LOVE,
challenge, inspire!
What you
leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into
the lives of others…
Start weaving!
Rwanda, Africa 101
and AFRICA!
WOW! From Uganda to Rwanda to Kenya and who knows where to next…I’ll be very
brief in sharing my experience in Africa so far, as it’s just getting started…I
will say this, I said to a young man that African people have the most
beautiful smiles I have ever encountered. His response was surprising, but
enlightening. He said the reason for their smiles is that they don’t have an in
between in smiles or they don’t waste their smiles. “When we smile it’s
genuine, not some fake plastic smile…” I’m done with smirks, BEAMING is where
it’s at!
