Sanctify Me

Since 1999 I have gone with high school students monthly to serve at the local Rescue Mission. We visit with the clients during dinner or after the meal, then present a humble little chapel service. I have loads of great stories about poignant, moving, sad, frustrating, awkward and downright funny moments from these times.

Here are some the things that our students wrote last night on their Facebook pages after returning home:

another successful night of worship and fellowship at the rescue mission ♥

Rescue Mission was really good tonight.

Rescue mission was amazing. Missed everyone who didn't come though.

Got to talk to some REAL people tonight at the rescue mission. Such a great experience! God is LOVE.

I find it odd how when i go to the rescue mission to help out i some how end up getting more out of it. I genuinly love those people. By far this has been the best and most meaningful valentines days i think i will ever have..

The Rescue Mission was amazing. I was humbled. It made me see how blessed I am. Thank you Jesus!

After all these years, it has practically become a reflex for me to go....

Right?

Sadly, the opposite is true. As the time approached to head over, I faced a familiar dilemma: every time I go to the Rescue Mission I have to talk myself into it... I am mortified to admit that. I should want to go, right?

I could take up a whole lot of space here analyzing why I hesitate each time. But if I think about it, I also drag my feet before going to a high school sporting event, or weekend camp. Sure, Rescue Mission pushes me out of my comfort zone big time. But just like when I arrive at the gym to watch yet another basketball game, I feel great about being at the Rescue Mission once I get my sorry self there.

It's just that painful little half hour before I'm supposed to leave. Where I am waiting to feel like going... and I just don't.

Last night I decided, rather than will my way into going, that I would pray my way into it.

I recited a prayer that I have very slo-o-ow-ly been memorizing the last 2-3 months, sentence by sentence. It comes from a book a friend of mine wrote with a couple of other friends of his.

Pause briefly. Read this. Take your time.

You will see how the words washed over me, wave upon wave, speaking Truth and shaking me out of my apathy. I was blessed, and reminded why I am grateful for God's persistence with me. I am a broken vessel, but ever so slowly, I see him gaining ground in me. It is a long and tedious process, and I am blown away by how He never gives up. Hallelujah.

Draw us into your love, Christ Jesus : and deliver us from fear.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Our Father…
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our brothers and sisters throughout the world, who live and die in poverty and pain. Give them today, through our hands, their daily bread and through our understanding love, give peace and joy. Amen

Blessed are the poor.
For theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Blessed are the hungry.
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the meek.
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the pure in heart.
For they shall see God.
Blessed are those who mourn.
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the merciful.
For they shall be shown mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
For they are the children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness and justice.
For great is their reward.

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bidst me come to Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever. Amen.

Let us go forth to be the Body of Christ. May we become the hands and feet of Jesus to everyone we meet.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Well Done, Faith Academy

I'm still pretty fuzzy due to jet lag (my clock tells me it 8:15pm Saturday night, my body is telling me 12:15pm Sunday...), but I wanted to write a post that gave a bookend to my time at Faith Academy this past week.

The photos here are the group of amazing young ladies I lived with during the week. Though I fell in love with the entire student body, I logged more time with these girls than any others... from Starbucks runs to meals shared to laughing at Facebook photos to lovely "family" discussions about the topics of Spiritual Enrichment Week (because they wanted to meet and talk more), I delighted in every moment with them. Even the 4am surprise invasion to my room the morning of my departure was fun for me, just because of who they became to me during the week.

Perhaps it's not a surprise to some, but what was so wonderful to discover this week was that that these "MK's" (missionary kids) are just like the other high school students I've known all these years ~ full of energy, sensitivity, big ideas, curiosity, shenanigans, short attention spans, crushes, stress and a dizzying mixture of excitement and terror about the future. Our week together confirmed to me yet again that I really love talking about real life and faith with young adults. As long as I listen carefully, ask many questions, be willing to bounce from topic to topic in no time flat, and stay up late, they are generous with their honesty and friendship.

Know that while they are "typical teenagers," Faith students are also fearfully and wonderfully made. Rarely have I met youth who speak so many languages and know how to behead a chicken (long story, but this is a common experience for many of them....)! They have had some incredible experiences while living abroad with their parents in service to Christ. I especially learned so much in seeing the new "face" of missions, as it is truly becoming an international enterprise. With the Christian church growing more in countries like Korea and Brazil than in the US, the diversity of the student body at Faith Academy will continue to shift and expand. I cannot wait to see what God is going to do there as He invites Faith students and staff to learn how to do missions right where they live, let alone all around Asia.

As I told them more than once this week, my greatest hope is that they themselves would desire to speak the stunning and simple prayer of Paul in Philippians 3:10,

I want to know Christ...

Well done Faith Academy. You were hospitable, hilarious and full of hope. Praise the Lord. Keep asking questions and persistently looking for the best answers. See you again someday.

Job Update #2

Hello! Thanks for your emails, comments, and encouragement about my latest work stuff. I sure do appreciate your support. Lots. It's a real gift.

If you haven't read Installment #1 of the Job Chronicles, please look at my post from July 4. I am still very excited to fill you in on Eden Reforestation Projects...

Another big piece of the puzzle is my new part-time position at Providence Hall High School. I taught there for several weeks from January through March of this year. I spent a few weeks in the Book of Philippians, exploring various qualities of true leadership. Then the school asked me to spend five weeks teaching doctrine through a study of the Apostles' Creed. Out of that time at the school, Providence Hall approached me last month and asked to be the Campus Pastor as of July 1, for the 2009-2010 school year.

My energy will be focusing on 3 areas:

1. Teaching the Foundations of Christianity class. The student body meets two mornings a week for studies in the history, beliefs, and applications of the Christian faith. Occasionally I will also have others come in to teach short-term series.
2. Expanding Community Service at the school. I've already contacted a couple of ministries in Santa Barbara for the students to serve with. This has always been a passion of mine, as you know, so it will be wonderful for me to get to continue guiding students in what it means to be a truly selfless servant.
3. Organizing a new community-wide series called "Providence Presents..." Providence is in a unique position to cross denominational boundaries and offer larger-scale parenting seminars. Over the years I have had a few topics come up consistently with parents, and I want to explore those. I am very excited about this! Stay tuned for specifics on this - we hope to advertise in the paper and get the word out. This will be a great resource for folks to bring their neighbors to as well.

I will also do my best to represent Providence Hall in the community: at the monthly youth pastors' fellowship that I have been involved with since the beginning of my Young Life days, with community service organizations, and in the schools.

As I have said to many of you, I am really impressed with the staff and the mission of Providence Hall. I also really love the students! They are earnest in their faith, diverse in their backgrounds, and incredibly fun and welcoming. A surprising addition to all of this is that my housemate & best friend's brother, Tim Loomer, has just been named Academic Dean at Providence. So it's going to be even more gratifying to build my relationships within the staff and student body. It is a wonderful family.

Check back in soon for more details on other projects in my pipeline. I'm having a great time!