summer 2007

I’m finally back from an amazing summer! The CM2007 conference in South Korea was an incredible visual reminder of God’s heart for the world to truly know Him! We were surrounded by students and from 127 different countries including closed countries in East Asia and the Middle East, speaking numerous different languages and yet, God had at some point intervened in each of our lives and saved us. Leaving CM2007, I was re-convinced that people knowing Jesus matters and I want my life to be about the great commission no matter what my vocation is. Our time in Africa was so fruitful! At the University of Pretoria we were able to share our faith over 200 times, saw 20 students come to Christ and over 21 movements launched! The Lord did way more than we could have asked or imagined! We also spent time working with Beam Africa, a non-profit community center that is in the heart of the Mamelodi township, an area struck with poverty, orphans, and prostitution rings. One area of the township is solely for single mothers many of whom have been forced into prostitution because of a lack of basic transportation and job opportunities. This community center is committed to giving children and families in this township a chance to live and grow through meeting basic physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, creating job training programs and providing jobs. Many of these kids come to the center for food after school and then rush home before the sun goes down (since they have no electricity) to take care of parents dying of aids, or younger brothers and sisters who are orphaned. We look forward to a continuing partnership with Beam Africa as they continue to serve the people of Mamelodi.
One of the biggest things I was challenged in this summer is the way I respond to the needs of the poor. It’s so easy for me to be so concerned with other things and miss the needs right outside my door step. What would it look like for me to look at the world through a redemptive lens- that I could see everything the way God intended it to be and moved towards it in that way? I’ve been struck by the consistent challenges in scripture to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute... Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and the needy...the righteous care about justice for the poor but the wicked have no such concern.” I feel like the Lord is impressing these things in my heart as I transition into my PR job– that I would view Denver and Boulder as places that the Lord desires to redeem and that He has placed me in for a reason.