Saturday, April 18, 2009
RE-BUILDERS
"Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings." Isaiah 58: 12
Have you ever experienced blessings so rich, so extravagant, so overwhelming, so breathtaking that they left you speechless? Well this week I experienced just that. I know some of you are struggling to imagine what exactly me "speechless" would sound like (apart from quiet) and others, who know me a little better, are already covering your ears in fearful anticipation that such excitement may result in the only outburst of noise I am capable of making at such a time: an excruciatingly painful high pitched squeal! First let me try to explain why all the excitement.
I was in Uganda! You may remember Miss Main and I were there in August of 2007. At the time we wrote (and wrote and wrote) about how are lives were enriched by the infectious joy and faith of the children in Dwelling Places; how our understanding of compassion was increased by the demonstration of gentleness and extravagant love poured out by "Mama" Rita Nkemba and all of her staff and how our cheeks were made sore from the laughter we shared with the Weegies (Glaswegians) we met up with.
Officially Dwelling Places is an organisation dedicated to removing children from the streets, rebuilding broken families and restoring broken individuals with the love of Jesus Christ. They do so by "rehabilitating and reconciling street children with their families." Unofficially it is church! Dwelling places is Isaiah 58 personified and witnessing the exuberance and commitment with which they are "rebuilding the walls" was catalyst for my screams and the reason for the overflow of thankfulness spilling, in painfully high pitched tones, from my heart.
During the summer of '07 we and the Weegies were part of a team training some of the children to perform a musical called Peace Child. Although the show was a huge success and the children performed so professionally the rehearsals, I have to admit, were anything but peaceful: choruses were sung over and over (and over and over again); drama workshops were conducted, dance moves were perfected and costumes were fitted. Amidst the beautiful chaos that was Peace Child we got to know the children and staff there in Uganda. Everyday was an opportunity to catch a glimpse of what God was doing in their young lives; children who were orphaned, abandoned and/or vulnerable were being restored: given food, a place to sleep and education. So I assumed that the scripture from Isaiah, the foundation upon which DP was built, was being made flesh. We were witnessing it in action everyday. However that was only the beginning of my journey to understand rebuilding.
Although I myself know very little about architecture -other than that I occasionally admire the intricacy of ornate decoration sculpted on a the high ceiling of an age old building or comment on the practicality and cleanliness of a innovative, fresh design of a new one- I happen to have friends a lot more creative than I and so understand something of the care and professionalism that is practised when designing or constructing a building. Recently, through conversations with my amazing friend, Sajey B (Sarah Jane), I'm beginning to understand a little more about the differences between the old and new. It appears that the restoration of an old building is so much more time consuming and demands much more intimate involvement than simply constructing something completely new. Time is taken to consider and research the original architects intentions and their imaginings for the character of that building. Thought is given to recognising and preserving what is good and the best, most professional methods are used to repair damage and deterioration caused by the passage of time, wear and neglect. Time is taken to source materials that replicate original ones used so as not to detract or devalue its form. Sarah Jane explains that often more costs are incurred because materials are so unique and precious that they become more expensive and she explains that time taken to restore something so old within new guidelines and conditions...and without the original architect is often much longer.
And so back to my screams: caused by a new appreciation of the restoration that is taking place. Unlike last time I wasn't part of a team teaching music, although I did have the joy of being accompanied by Weegies (and John). I mentioned that DP is a place of rehabilitation. This means that although it is an orphanage and will be home to some orphaned children until they become adults and can live independently, for many DP is a resting place. A place where the children can dwell with their parents are supported (by DP) to manage to look after them. The level of support given differs with every child and individual family. Some stay only months in the safety and care of DP while their parents attend adult literacy classes or vocational training, enabling them to find employment in order to be reconciled with their children. Others live for years while support is given to parents to prepare to be reconciled with their child or children living in the DP home. This Easter I had the joy to be able to visit some of the children, whom I had previously taught in Peace Child, in their homes. Most of the homes were in the slums which cradle the busy city of Kampala. Others took hours (on the back of a boda- motorbike) to locate, situated in small villages amongst the peacefulness of matoke plantations and Jack fruit holdings I was reunited with the children.
What a gift from God to see these children so happy back in the heartbeat of their families! However, amidst tears of thankfulness, screams of "Auntie, Auntie you came back! Auntie meet my brother...and sister...and brother...and sister...and cousin...and cousin (all, more often than not, living in the same one bed-roomed aluminium construction) was my appreciation of the rebuild taking place. In witnessing the staff of DP encouraging parents: delivering support, school fees, Easter eggs, a hug and appreciated words of advice I witnessed real restoration.
With the care and compassion of skilled craftsmen the staff and volunteers set about restoring. Taking time to listen: the initial step is to understand in order to initiate intimacy; carefully considering feelings and preserving beauty in order to repair and build up. Taking time to draw alongside (or huddle with a parent on the dusty floor of a mud hut); no one rushed the process (admittedly not rushing is part of Ugandan culture) but more than that time was taken so as not to cause more damage, laying foundations that will last and can be built upon. I watched, and followed, as Rhona (a radiant member of DP staff) lead us "Muzungos" through Catwe (a slum), greeting family members, extended family members and even passers by in a community she's become involved in through her relationship and commitment to serving the street children. I realised that as she practised true fasting (Is 58: 6-11), as she reached out to serve the least of these (Math 25) and as I joined her, we were the ones being restored. Yes the process is so much more time consuming but like Sarah Jane's, Rhona's elation was so much more than that of someone who had thrown up something as a quick fix solution or new design. Seeing someone restored and reaching the potential they were designed with is something worth screaming about! Their architect is God and the intimacy and intricacy he designed each child with, you with, is one full of character and beauty (Ps 139), never to be destroyed but to be repaired and made more radiant by the support and help of others.
What Lorna and I have witnessed since returning home is that as we share the testimonies of the children at Dwelling Places and the hundreds of others we had the privilege of meeting, we are restored. When we reach out it is then that we find our joy...in the Lord!
And so I am thankful. Thankful for what I witnessed in Uganda. I'm blessed by what I experienced today and I'm excited about what God will do with tomorrow. I'm going to St Andrew's Church, Bo'ness. A congregation whose architect is God! A congregation who are reaching out and as we do we are being restored. It takes time, intimacy, care, relationship, compassion to serve and a humility to accept the help of others. The help of people close by and the love of those far away.
And so you'll be pleased to know I'm finally speechless. Lost in wonder and excited anticipation of what the building will look like when it is fully restored. By building I mean the church Christ calls us to be. A church that recognises that where there is brokenness God intends there to be healing. Where there is damage God calls us to carefully, gently start to repair. Not in a slap dash, anything will do fashion, but with skill and attention to detail. I believe we have been through the season of preparation. The season where on a building the scaffolding is put up and the materials are stripped clean in order to start a new thing. Behind that scaffolding cracks in the walls are sealed and the building is made new. When it is finally revealed it is always magnificent. Passers by comment on the newness, the beauty and what a good job has been done putting it all back together; to it's original state. When we are made new, all put back together; when the church of Jesus Christ is revealed (even parts of it at a time) it is so radiant the passers by stop and stare; they are drawn to it. It is in that magnificent place the the real Dwelling Place of Christ will be...
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Latest Soul Touch News...
We love you gorgeous girlys! Ps 34:5 ' Those who look to him are radiant their faces are never covered with shame.' You both sparkle and shine with a radiance that reflects the beauty of our Father...we know you'll light up the lives of every person that you meet around the world! We are soooo proud of you! E n L x
We could attempt to be philosophical, theological, psychological, intellectual or even poetical but really the awesomeness of what God has been doing, and is doing, in the world of Soul Touch is far too breathtakingly indescribable that we're not even going to try...
for a change we're going to let others talk! And so what follows are the hearts two precious, beautifully anointed, completely divinely chosen girlys of God. Laura and Jennifer (Jen as we know her).
They are the new (and improved) Soul Touchers! Laura and Jen will be the first (we trust of many) pairs that are going to be going out and serving. Leaving in January and following the same route we took around the world the girls will live life, pray and serve alongside many of our partnership churches and dearest friends around the world. The heart of Soul Touch is give others the opportunity to worship: to be worshipful in the way we are living our lives. We believe that we are part of a generation that want to go and be Jesus' hands and feet; we want to serve and to love.
So girlys we want you to know: we love you. It is such a privilege to witness what God is doing in your lives. We are so encouraged to hear you constantly giving him the glory and we pray extravagant blessings over you. You girlys are the change and we know that as you go others will follow Christ who goes before you!
And to everyone else who is part of Soul Touch (if you are reading this now you are officially a SoulToucher), thank you! Thank you for your support thus far. Soul Touch started with prayer and it will be our prayers that will sustain us and move us forward. So lets all unitedly commit to praying for Jen and Laura. Pray from them as they prepare to leave in January and also for all the host churches who are going to, not only bless the girls, but who are going to be blessed by the love of Christ that exudes out of them!
With overflowing thankfulness and expectation that the BEST IS YET TO COME,
Erica and Lorna xxx
Wow! I don’t know where to start! I am soooooooo excited that Jenn and I are the next ‘Soul Touchers’. Lorna and Erica have been such an inspiration to so many people; I am so excited that Jesus wants us to follow their footsteps around the world!
I feel so humbled that God is blessing me in this way, what an honour to serve such an awesome God! He has been so faithful to me over the years and I am so thankful that he is letting me serve Him and His children all over the world.
This afternoon I met with Jenn, Lorna and Erica to plan our route. We had such a blessed time together; I am even excited about our planning meetings.
Thank all of you for your encouragement so far, I have such peace about Soul Touch. I totally trust God and know it will all come together.
Please continue to pray that God will use Jenn and I to serve and honour Him as we prepare for our journey.
Laura xXx
“Seek your happiness in the Lord and He will give you your heart’s desire.” Psalms 37: 4
No kidding!!! So, after years of searching for someone or something to fill the emptiness inside me, and various attempts to ease the constant overwhelming ache I have in my heart for all those who have so little yet smile for what they do have, I finally (reluctantly) gave up my fight to be happy independent, and gave it all back to God. I opened my over-protected heart and finally got over myself and my ridiculous pride and prayed. Stubborn and impatient as always, I “reasoned with God”. Basically I promised Him my heart but only on the condition He looked after it, gave me support in my journey with Him and was faithful and dependable (which by the way guys is an extremely scary thing for girls to admit they need) and I waited…
...But not for long, the very next day I was alone in St Andrews church gathering my things together to slip out quietly when I was attacked by two extremely chirpy and bubbly (keep in mind it was a Sunday morning and I hadn’t even smelt coffee yet!) girls who I believe you all know as the “original soul touchers”. That’s right… I was jumped at church by Erica and Lorna! And thank God I was. The next few months were basically a whirl wind (as is the case with most newly flourished relationships – I mean with God not the girls) of meeting amazing people, having more and more prayers answered in front of me and so many amazing blessings put into my life than I can’t begin to explain.
At New Year I was receiving the usual “happy new year” texts whilst feeling extremely sorry for myself stuck on the sofa ill for the night, when Spider (an amazing NCLC dude) text me “Happy New Year, God’s gonna blow this one out of the water for you”. I remember reading it and thinking it was nice but, as cool as Spider is, he’s not God so I shrugged it off as a nice text and a hopeful thought.
Three months on and I’m completely bowled over by how faithful God is to prayers, and the extent to which He not only blows thing out of the water, He gives you no warning and generally sends explosions of blessings just when your not looking! After my many prayers to be challenged with an opportunity to really have impact on people’s lives and serve God by serving those who have real needs, I was given the opportunity of opportunities: Laura T and I are officially the next to follow the soul touch journey!
I cannot begin to express my thankfulness for how faithful God is other than, yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I am so aware of how undeserving I am of this opportunity and how blessed I am to even have God welcome me home to Him, and so the idea of God giving me the desires of my heart before I could even put them into words turns me into a gooey-eyed, love sick teenager. I really pray I can show some of this thankfulness by doing the only thing I can and leaning further into the warm, cosy hug of our Father and entirely following His lead everyday, dancing and laughing with Him and growing in Him.
I can’t wait for the tears, the laughter, the inevitable tummy aches, the amazing people I know we are going to meet, the boundaries Laura and I will push, and of course, singing along to Laura’s guitar at the end of a long day (that’s right Laura, I’m going to work that musical talent of yours for my own pleasure!). We will miss people here, but the support we have behind us is amazing and the friendships we will make I know will be worth every second. Anyway, our personal tour guide created the place and us, so what can go wrong? Watch out world…here we come!!
Hugs and blessings from an eternally thankful heart,
Jenn
xxxxx
We could attempt to be philosophical, theological, psychological, intellectual or even poetical but really the awesomeness of what God has been doing, and is doing, in the world of Soul Touch is far too breathtakingly indescribable that we're not even going to try...
for a change we're going to let others talk! And so what follows are the hearts two precious, beautifully anointed, completely divinely chosen girlys of God. Laura and Jennifer (Jen as we know her).
They are the new (and improved) Soul Touchers! Laura and Jen will be the first (we trust of many) pairs that are going to be going out and serving. Leaving in January and following the same route we took around the world the girls will live life, pray and serve alongside many of our partnership churches and dearest friends around the world. The heart of Soul Touch is give others the opportunity to worship: to be worshipful in the way we are living our lives. We believe that we are part of a generation that want to go and be Jesus' hands and feet; we want to serve and to love.
So girlys we want you to know: we love you. It is such a privilege to witness what God is doing in your lives. We are so encouraged to hear you constantly giving him the glory and we pray extravagant blessings over you. You girlys are the change and we know that as you go others will follow Christ who goes before you!
And to everyone else who is part of Soul Touch (if you are reading this now you are officially a SoulToucher), thank you! Thank you for your support thus far. Soul Touch started with prayer and it will be our prayers that will sustain us and move us forward. So lets all unitedly commit to praying for Jen and Laura. Pray from them as they prepare to leave in January and also for all the host churches who are going to, not only bless the girls, but who are going to be blessed by the love of Christ that exudes out of them!
With overflowing thankfulness and expectation that the BEST IS YET TO COME,
Erica and Lorna xxx
Wow! I don’t know where to start! I am soooooooo excited that Jenn and I are the next ‘Soul Touchers’. Lorna and Erica have been such an inspiration to so many people; I am so excited that Jesus wants us to follow their footsteps around the world!
I feel so humbled that God is blessing me in this way, what an honour to serve such an awesome God! He has been so faithful to me over the years and I am so thankful that he is letting me serve Him and His children all over the world.
This afternoon I met with Jenn, Lorna and Erica to plan our route. We had such a blessed time together; I am even excited about our planning meetings.
Thank all of you for your encouragement so far, I have such peace about Soul Touch. I totally trust God and know it will all come together.
Please continue to pray that God will use Jenn and I to serve and honour Him as we prepare for our journey.
Laura xXx
“Seek your happiness in the Lord and He will give you your heart’s desire.” Psalms 37: 4
No kidding!!! So, after years of searching for someone or something to fill the emptiness inside me, and various attempts to ease the constant overwhelming ache I have in my heart for all those who have so little yet smile for what they do have, I finally (reluctantly) gave up my fight to be happy independent, and gave it all back to God. I opened my over-protected heart and finally got over myself and my ridiculous pride and prayed. Stubborn and impatient as always, I “reasoned with God”. Basically I promised Him my heart but only on the condition He looked after it, gave me support in my journey with Him and was faithful and dependable (which by the way guys is an extremely scary thing for girls to admit they need) and I waited…
...But not for long, the very next day I was alone in St Andrews church gathering my things together to slip out quietly when I was attacked by two extremely chirpy and bubbly (keep in mind it was a Sunday morning and I hadn’t even smelt coffee yet!) girls who I believe you all know as the “original soul touchers”. That’s right… I was jumped at church by Erica and Lorna! And thank God I was. The next few months were basically a whirl wind (as is the case with most newly flourished relationships – I mean with God not the girls) of meeting amazing people, having more and more prayers answered in front of me and so many amazing blessings put into my life than I can’t begin to explain.
At New Year I was receiving the usual “happy new year” texts whilst feeling extremely sorry for myself stuck on the sofa ill for the night, when Spider (an amazing NCLC dude) text me “Happy New Year, God’s gonna blow this one out of the water for you”. I remember reading it and thinking it was nice but, as cool as Spider is, he’s not God so I shrugged it off as a nice text and a hopeful thought.
Three months on and I’m completely bowled over by how faithful God is to prayers, and the extent to which He not only blows thing out of the water, He gives you no warning and generally sends explosions of blessings just when your not looking! After my many prayers to be challenged with an opportunity to really have impact on people’s lives and serve God by serving those who have real needs, I was given the opportunity of opportunities: Laura T and I are officially the next to follow the soul touch journey!
I cannot begin to express my thankfulness for how faithful God is other than, yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I am so aware of how undeserving I am of this opportunity and how blessed I am to even have God welcome me home to Him, and so the idea of God giving me the desires of my heart before I could even put them into words turns me into a gooey-eyed, love sick teenager. I really pray I can show some of this thankfulness by doing the only thing I can and leaning further into the warm, cosy hug of our Father and entirely following His lead everyday, dancing and laughing with Him and growing in Him.
I can’t wait for the tears, the laughter, the inevitable tummy aches, the amazing people I know we are going to meet, the boundaries Laura and I will push, and of course, singing along to Laura’s guitar at the end of a long day (that’s right Laura, I’m going to work that musical talent of yours for my own pleasure!). We will miss people here, but the support we have behind us is amazing and the friendships we will make I know will be worth every second. Anyway, our personal tour guide created the place and us, so what can go wrong? Watch out world…here we come!!
Hugs and blessings from an eternally thankful heart,
Jenn
xxxxx
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