Brazil 08

Brazil 08..... Tomorrow morning 13 of us from Lurgan Elim Church will set out to Brazil for just over two weeks. We will be stopping Rio and then travelling (by slow boat 16 hours) down the Amazon to a village called Maues. Maues is a small densly populated town, with great needs. There poverty and hopelessness is evident. The team will be working along side the church there, helping in the primary school, bringing food hampers, involved in kids work and carrying out practical work in the area.

This is a great opportunity and privilege for us as a team to be heading out. All of the guys have worked hard at raising funds for this trip. A big thankyou for eveyone who has supported us both practically, prayerfully and financially. thank you for believing in us and this work.

If you have a moment please pray for us; the team consists of myself, Lee Allen, Rebecca Barr, David Cheyne, David Dawson, Grace Gardiner, Calum Jones, Timmy Lawson, Jonny McKinley, William McShane, Ryan Patterson, Mandy Steenson and Chris Wing.

You will hopefully be able to keep up to date with our trip here and if you want to leave a comment for any of the team they will get it.

Chaos

At His birth....chaos!

A teenage girl is suspiciously pregnant.

At His death.... chaos!

Darkness, defeat, disillusionment.

A God who appears to work His master plan in the midst of chaos. That He generates a powerful, beautiful, alternative kingdom against the backdrop of confusion, suffering and despair. At his birth, His death and throughout history God is a able to work through the chaos, and often appears to prefer it.

God is at work; at work in my chaos. Those times when life delivers the unexpected, when your unsure of the next move, when you cannot create space within your head. That God works in my chaos. He can work through it even though it's messy. That God can work through the chaos and something divine is happening. Something of God is at work.

God can work through the chaos and He is in complete control of it. Through it He can create something beautiful. Through those times that I cannot predict, understand or enjoy.....something divine is happening. Something of beauty is being created, Beauty that can only be observed in the depth of a persons soul.

I choose to believe that God has not given up on this world or generation. The He has not given up on me. That He is doing more than I can ever imagine. He works in the shadows, in mystery and the mundane. He even works in the chaos, the mess of my life and this world; creating something beautiful.

Discrete Humble Life-Giving

I went to hear Brother Thierry speaking tonight at True. To be honest you don't really know what to expect when you are going to listen to a monk. However, I’d heard some good reports about this guy and I have to admit he is one of the few people that have lived up to expectation. His humble approach caught my attention straight away and I wanted to listen to all that he had to say. The conversation focused around ‘practicing the presence of God’, that the God of all creation dwells within us. How can we become intentionally aware of His presence in every area of our lives and also carry His presence into our living and being.
The disciplined lifestyle that Brother Thierry has chosen to live is stirring. Based on the three Benedictine principles of prayer, work and community he has sacrificed a lot. Hearing him talk of its reality you understand better the practicalities involved and also the satisfaction and fulfillment that he has been able to glimpse from this surrender. As I hunger for more of God this man’s life is a challenge to me, I’m forced to acknowledge that I know little about this level of sacrifice, dedication and discipline. Intimacy with God is costly and demanding.
One point that resonated with me tonight was in connection with my last blog. Brother Thierry mentioned that before we can love God and love other people and be filled with more compassion, we must begin to accept and love ourselves. As we accept the reality of who we are, we are more capable of loving other broken people. In my last blog I talked about loving people unconditionally with no agenda, yet having this desire to see them grow and move forward and find something of the life that was designed for them. Tonight Brother Thierry was responding to a question on how we hear God’s voice. He said ‘the voice of God is a discrete, humble, life-giving voice’. It is not forceful, arrogant or controlling. As we take on Gods heart for people, as we join with Him as He calls them to follow after Him and in doing so they find life; we don't do it a forceful or manipulative way. We do it with this discrete and humble voice; a voice that is often recognized more through our actions than our words. A voice that calls clearly to people who are listening, yet does not trample upon their freedom to choose.

We need to learn to love more and better.

Change

I dont want to fix people the way that i think that they should be fixed. Putting the pieces back together in the order that i think they should go in. Building a creation that I think is good. I don't want to be so arrogant to think that i have all of the solutions. That my way is best. However, I want people to grow. I want them to be stretched, to discover and become all who they can be. To see all of this potential within people lie dormant, unused or wasted- it frustrates me. To deal with the tension of people taking steps forward and then running backwards is sometimes incredibly difficult to bear. I think i am trying to figure out my role in all of this, what is it that is expected of me? My faith commissions me to make disciples- which in essence is bringing change into peoples lives. The people that i meet on all levels of relationship, I'm called to navigate them towards God. I think that this is a good thing- I think that people drawing close to God is incredible. But does it mean that in relationships that I always have an aganda? Does it mean that there is certain degree of manipulation? I want to love people unconditionally. That means accepting and loving them just as they are- without any of my little adjustments, changes and plans. How do I love someone this way when my mission is to see them transformed? I don't want to be someone who is constantly trying to fix people. Maybe i should concentrate more on simply loving people? Maybe all of these things come from relationship? Maybe I should concentrate on fixing myself? As an overflow of this people will be afftected, changed and transformed?
But maybe this is the same agenda only with a different approach?

Created

Journey

I dOn't wAnT YoU tO BeCoMe LikE Me oR tHe LitTlE grOuP I ExiSt WitH,
I ReaLly DoN'T tHinK i wAnT tO BeCoMe LiKE yOu EiTheR,
So hOw AbOuT wE JoIn oUr HaNds
aNd fRoM tHiS mOmEnt
We wALk To a plAcE
ThaT nEiThEr oF uS Has EvEr bEeN BeFoRe

Ty

This would be the dog Ty