Josh's update from Africa 12/31/11

Hey Guys! 

 

Freaking amazing here! I'm loving it. We got in to juba on the 27th and then took a land rover to Yei. It was supposed to be a 10 hour ride but it only took like 5. it was crazy! The road was so bumpy it was so fun haha. I'm loving it here though. We are staying on the YWAM base in Yei. We get our schedule on monday for what ministry is going to look like, so for now we're just building relationships with the people right around the compound and on base. 

Right now we're in town at an internet cafe. The town is crazy! People everywhere. Although it feels different because it's not my home in america, it definitely feels like home here already. It has been so much fun to be able to connect with some of the kids while on the compound. They taught us a game that is kind of like hockey combined with volleyball (ish). You hit a puck back and forth with sticks adn try to get it to go high in the air. It is so much harder than it looks but is seriously so much fun! I am also learning how horrible I am at football (soccer) because I get worked by kids who are like 10 years old. haha. 

We're going to be doing some water projects while on base here. We're hoping to build some filtration units as well as a rain catchment tank for the base! It's going to be awesome to be able to teach them that! 

Tomorrow we're probably going to be at church all day and preaching. Crazy. Out of my comfort zone right away haha. I'm so excited though.

Whenever i'd tell people i'm going to south sudan I'd get a crazy look like "wow, you're insane." haha. It is really nothing like i imagined thusfar. It is so laid back and relaxed. I honestly feel really safe here. Although I must admit it is weird to see people walking around with AK's haha :)

I'm praying for all of you guys! Miss you a lot. I will continue to try to update whenever I can. We have to pay to get into town and then pay to get on the internet so i don't know how often i'll be able to but i'll try!

Love you all! 

Josh

In about 22 hours I will be on a plane flying over the Ocean to Cali! I will then spend 11 hours in LAX chillin there, enjoying my last in n out burger for the next 3 months. From LA we will be flying out to London where we'll have a day and a half before our next flight, which will be to Kenya. After spending about 7 hours there we will finally fly to our destination!

Freaking A. I'm so stoked. It's finally here. The last 3 months have flown by like crazy. I can't believe we're doing it! All of the preparation is about to be applied. All of the ways that God has completely destroyed me and rebuilt me are about to be used. All of the ways that my life has been changed are about to be shared with people. Man, it's crazy to think about.

The more I think about outreach, the more I realize how faithful God is. Had you asked me 8 months ago what I would be doing around Christmas time I woulda responded "nothin special." Man, would I of been wrong. I'm 20 years old and moving to Africa. This is getting real. I'm not going on a missions trip. This isn't a trip out there to help people and then come back...I'm moving there. For the next 3 months it will be my home, it will be my culture, it will be my life. So crazy.

God is so faithful to come through on things. It's funny to look back on all of the little things that have happened that I never really thought about but have led up to this moment. From me losing my scholarship within days of getting accepted to DTS to God telling me that it wasn't the time for a mission trip (last summer) there have been so many ways that he's prepared me for this upcoming trip. There have been so many ways that he's molded me in such a way that has made me ready for this.

Had I tried to go out and do this being the person I was 3 months ago I have no doubt in my mind that it would have tanked. God's done so much in my life to prepare me for this. Some examples:
-Wrecking the religious mindset I had on my relationship with God.
-Blowing up the box that I had him in.
-Breaking off fear of man
-Breaking off anxiety
-Destroying my frustrations with the church as a whole
-Humbling me.
-Bringing me to a place of complete surrender to him.
-Actually relying on him, not myself.
-Teaching me what simple obedience looks like.

All things that were completely different in me before I came.

It's absolutely insane to think about. Since coming to DTS, I feel like I've become a completely different person. I'm 100% different from who I was on arrival day, yet I'm still the same. My mindset has completely shifted, but I'm still the same me. I'm still the same Josh Morrison. That hasn't changed. My outlook on life may have changed, but who I am didn't change.

I think that's one of the biggest ways that God has rocked me. For the longest time I looked at going completely and 100% in on the whole christianity thing would make me turn into someone I'm not. I felt like if every area of my life was revolving around Jesus then I would turn into someone who was so religious that they never had fun, that they never told jokes or laughed at things, that people wouldn't be able to relate to them. Man, was I wrong. God's totally wrecked me and captured my life, yet I'm still me. He's not in the business of changing who we are...he's in the business of using the person he designed to do amazing things. God made me the way he did for a reason. He made me to be musical...he made me to tell stupid jokes that, 90% of the time, aren't funny. He made me to be super sarcastic. He made me to have all of the qualities that I have because he is a creative God. We are all completely unique...and he's made us to all be our own person. He doesn't want to form us into something we're not, which is so awesome because that means he wants to use what he's made. Man, that's rocked my world to realize that. It's rocked my world to realize how much Jesus wants to use me. I know this may sound like common sense, but it's one of those things that we can claim to know for our whole lives but once it actually clicks it radically changes you. Man, God's so good.

I just wanted to write this one last message as an encouragement to all of you. God wants to do amazing things with you that you can't even imagine. He wants to absolutely demolish the box you have him in on what he can do and do crazier things than we can even picture. He wants to run with you and your passions, afterall, he put those passions in you! He wants to partner with you to create amazing things. Simply let him love you and love him back and the craziness can ensue!

I probably won't be able to post very much while we're over there. From what I hear there are some internet cafe's so I will try to get on every once in a while to let everyone know I'm still alive and maybe share a couple of stories. I may be able to check my email every once in a while so if you want to shoot me a message that'd be awesome! joshmmorrison@yahoo.com is where you can send that!

You all mean so very much to me! I am incredibly thankful for all of the prayers and support that you've given me. I can't wait to sit down with each one of you and tell you about the craziness that went down over there!

Much Love

It's freaking here...

Yeah, it's here. What seemed to be something that was so far away is now here and about to happen. I can't believe we're all leaving for outreach. It feels like it was yesterday that I was dropping my bags on my bed and getting ready to head to the beach with people I had just met. it feels like it was just yesterday that my world was getting rocked because I felt like, for the first time, I heard God's voice right when I asked him a question. It feels like just yesterday that I was sending out an email telling people where I'm going for outreach. Crazy. Now it's here. Wow.

In a few minutes we will see the first team leave. Team Cambodia! Then later tonight we see off a team to the middle east, Orange County, and New York. It's so crazy to think that I won't be seeing any of them for the next three months. Some of my best friends are on those teams and It's going to be really weird not hanging out with them or seeing them until debrief week. Crazy.

Tomorrow we see off team Nepal in the morning and then team South Africa in the evening.

Friday we see Mozambique go as well as our team to Africa! Wooo! So stoked!

Ending with team Japan going out on Saturday.

Please pray for these teams for the next three months! Crazy and radical things are going to happen to, in, and through them!!!

These past three months have been absolutely life changing. I feel like my life has been wrecked in every way imaginable. So many things about me have changed. My outlook on my life and everyone in it has completely shifted. My appreciation for people has grown so much it's hard to even describe. The things that I value are completely changed. It's crazy.

If I'm being completely honest with you, I came out here to DTS with the mindset that I would have a good time. I planned on working on my relationship with God while hanging out in hawaii, to then go out to somewhere in the world and do a missions trip like I've been doing every year since I was in 7th grade. I planned on this just being a generic experience that would put me onto a spiritual high and then I guess I hoped it would continue once I went back to San Jose. Man, was I wrong.

Being out here has completely ruined me. When I say ruined, I don't mean in a bad way. Nor do I mean in a condemning sort of way. It has ruined me in a way that challenges me to take a serious look at my life and everything about it. It has challenged me to question what I consider to be important. It has challenged me to look at where I spend my time. It has challenged me to question what I think is worth fighting for. It has challenged me to look at people and not myself.

It has challenged me to look at my relationship with God.

Yeah, my relationship with God. Oh how that phrase is just thrown around like it's the word "like" being used by someone from California. Oh how it's used in every day language in the church (not meaning the building, meaning Christians as a whole) to describe that 10 minute reading session right before bed. Oh how it's used as a convenience to not do some stuff because it's 'wrong' and to do others. Man, how much of a lie this has been. (All of these examples are ways that I thought of MY relationship with God. Not condemning or trying to judge anyone else here at all. This, afterall, is my blog so I use it to think out loud. haha)

Man, have I been rocked. As Christians we claim to believe that God sent his son, Jesus, to die for us so we could have a personal relationship with Him. God is relational. God seriously loves us and wants to engage in a relationship with us. The problem is, we don't let him. We don't let him love us. Loving us doesn't mean forgiving us when we screw up. It doesn't mean being there for us when things are hard. It doesn't mean being a lifeline when we really need him. Of course, he is all of these things. He does forgive us. He is there for us when we need him and things are hard. It's just that it's not the only thing he does. He wants to have a real relationship with us.

If I meet someone and I talk to them once a week for like 10 minutes, then we don't have a relationship. Of course, I know them and they know me. We can say "ya, i know them" and likewise they can say the same of us. But is that really a relationship? Of course not. A real relationship means that you are constantly there with them. It means that there is such closeness on both sides of it that there's a constant growing. It's not a one way thing. If we spent all of our energy pursuing a relationship with someone, and they didn't offer jack, then it wouldn't be a relationship. We would be wasting our time and ultimately (most likely) give up on it.

If we would do this, then why do we totally do this to God? I'm so glad he doesn't get tired of pursuing me, because I would have been hopeless a long time ago. That's part of the glory of God. He doesn't stop pursuing you. He wants to have a relationship with you with everything he is. He wants to pour crazy blessings on you. He wants to have such a close relationship with us that he pours his heart out to us. That he shares dreams that he has. That he shares what he wants to be done with us on a daily basis. Of course, to have this happen there's something we have to do too. We gotta let God love us like this.

Man, I definitely planned on just posting about the teams leaving and asking you to pray for them. Thank you Holy Spirit for taking control of my hands and writing all of this haha. So good!

I've been radically rocked by the simplicity of God's love. I challenge you to think about it as well.

Hmmm...

Read it! All of it! I know it's long, but seriously. Read it.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil. "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.  Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

What if Jesus really meant what he said when he said all of this? What if we stopped making it say what we want it to say by saying "well, what Jesus meant was..." What if instead of saying "what he meant when he said" we said "He meant what he said."? Crazy. 


It's crazy when we read his sermons how they were spoken. Instead of breaking it up into sections and then pulling out a section when it's convenient to our circumstances, why not try taking his message for what was spoken? 


What would our world look like if us Christians, who claim to believe all of this, actually lived it out? Actually lived all of it out? I know we're not perfect, but there's gotta be some degree of attempting it. 


Boom.

Two in one night? yup. I'm doin it.

Yup. Two posts in one night. Had to be done!

The last post was just wrestling with some of the stuff we've been talking about. This one is more of an update on where we're at!

I am SO so so so so so sorry that I never sent out an update letting you know where we were financially! I definitely wrote one up and clicked submit, but I guess the internet freaked out on me so the page never actually loaded to post. It has been sitting in my drafts folder for the past couple weeks now. I am so sorry!

We made our goal! Wooo! Praise Jesus! Thank you all so very much for all of your prayers and financial support! It has truly been a blessing to have all of your help throughout this whole adventure! It was truly a crazy way that all of the money came in!

From what I've been told, I have one of the highest numbers of people that have supported me out of our class. I had almost 50 people contribute money to my account online alone! Crazy! I thank each and every one of you for your support!

Something crazy happened the other day. We were on our last day for funds to come in. They needed to go do the currency exchange for all of the teams so they couldn't push back the day any longer. We (as a school) still needed some money for all of the students to be funded (little bits here and there from every team). In class they did an offering (really simple, nothing special). Somehow, 12 thousand duckets (slang for dollars incase that wasn't known) came in from 80 college aged students that do NOT have $12,000 to spare. It was absolutely crazy. I have no idea how it happened, but it was a miracle! Little bits kept adding up here and there. So good! So now the whole school is fully funded with some excess to be able to do more projects out there on outreach! So good!

It's really been crazy to completely and 100% rely on God for finances. Its really awesome to see what ways God provides through this! I know it's your guys' money that comes in, it's just exciting to see the way that God prompts some people who have no idea the situation to give x amount of dollars and everything ends up coming in! So good!

Now, away from money stuff and onto some of the stuff going on with me!

In 11 days my team and I head out for Africa. Wow. It's gone SO freaking fast it's not even funny. It feels like just yesterday I was getting on a plane wondering to myself what the heck I was getting myself into. It feels like just yesterday we were sitting in the class room and I was silently judging the prophecy message in my head. It feels like just yesterday that I sent out my first email telling people that I had put down _________ as the nation that I'm going to! It's gone so fast! It's crazy!


Wanna see a picture of my team? here ya go!

Back Row: Josh, Tara, Liz, Lucas

Front Row: Me, Melodie, Victoria, Lindsay (Leader), Esther (Leader)

Aren't we a boss looking team? Yup. Gonna blow things up (in a figurative sorta way, NOT literally) over there! 

I am seriously SO stoked about heading over there. God is going to do some absolutely amazing things and I can't wait to see the lives that are changed and how our lives will be changed as well. It's going to be such a stretching experience that I can't even imagine all that's going to happen, but it's all gonna be nothing but glory and awesomeness! So stoked! 

There's been a lot of thought about what I'm going to do after DTS. I've really had a passion for injustice develop over my time here. Specifically I want to do something dealing with sex trafficking. It's a topic that has absolutely broken my heart everytime I've heard anything about it. It's an issue that we tend to throw some statistics up about and then turn an eye to and pretend it's not there so that we don't have to think about it. I really want to do something to fight against it. I don't know what it is yet but I'll see what I can do! 

I've gotten an opportunity to come back out here to Kona for 3 weeks this summer. There is a seminar going on about Justice called "Let Justice Roll Down" (Check it out! It's open to anyone and everyone! : http://flavors.me/ljrdseminar) It's going to be awesome! Not sure how I'm going to get out here yet, but I feel like it's what the Lord is leading me to do for those 3 weeks so I have no doubt that He'll provide the funds and a way to do it! 

Something else that has been really put on my heart to do is one of the secondary schools here with YWAM. It is called the School of Worship. It is for people who are passionate about music and worship. It's kind of like a DTS, except it's specifically geared towards worship leading. It's pretty much like a music degree at a University, except there's the whole worship aspect that it's geared around. I've already talked with some people from it and am really feeling like it's on my heart to do it. Again, God's going to provide the funds, let's see how he wants to do it! 

I'm really feeling like God is calling me to do missions long term. He's birthed a passion in me to see lives radically changed and I am praying about how I am to step into that role. I know I will most likely be back in San Jose after my DTS for a season, but I'll have to wait and see where God calls me from there.

There are several visions that I have of starting things up that will drastically change the world as we know it and I would love to have your prayer and blessings along the way! I started this blog to journal about my ywam experience, but it has quickly turned into something that I can see myself using it long term to keep you all updated on the crazy journey that God is taking me on!

Obviously, I am leaving for outreach soon. I definitely don't need an answer any time soon, but I would love it if you would prayerfully consider supporting me long term in the missions field. I feel like this is something God is going to be having me do for a long time, so I'd love to have the backing of all of you and be able to share the experiences with you! If you would like to talk to me more about this or about some of the ways I am wanting to spread the love of Jesus please feel free to ask me any and every question you have!

Also, I have added a spiffy new "donate" button through paypal onto my blog page! Wooo! I feel so smart (even though it's really easy to do, haha)!!! If you would like to support me long term you can do so by donating there! I would love to be able to run with you with the crazy things that God is calling me to do.

I love you all so freaking much! You're absolutely amazing! I can't wait to sit down and talk with each and every one of you about the craziness that happened on outreach. I am truly expectant that it is going to be a crazy experience to share with you!

Peace, yo!

"It's not the question of 'Where's God in the suffering of this world,' It's the question of 'where are we?'"

To start, I want you to think about how you view the world. Really think about it. What do you picture? How to you picture the people in the world around you? How do you picture their living conditions? How do you picture how much money they make? It's really based off of where we grow up and what we personally know.

Now, I'm going to give you a model that really represents the world. It's crazy to think of this outside of our little scope that is the United States:

If we reduced the world to one village of 100 people:

-61 would be Asain

-13 would be African

-9 would be European

-5 would be North American

-16 would be unable to read and write

-80 would live in substandard housing

-39 would lack access to improved sanitation (i.e. toilets)

-24 would have no electricity

-76 would only use electricity at night

-50 would be malnourished

                -1 would die today because of being malnourished

-33 would be without access to safe water

-8 would have access to internet

-1 would have a college education

-40 would live on less than $2.00 a day

-20 would live on less than $1.00 a day

-1 would have HIV

-5 would control 32% of the wealth (and all 5 would be U.S. citizens)

Interesting perspective, eh?

I was working on a really long post about everything that we've learned about over the past couple weeks but I couldn't seem to put into words everything that I'm wrestling with. I seriously wrote out like 6 different posts and couldn't express it. To put it simply; I feel like my world has been rocked. We had speakers that talked about worldview, missions, and injustices in our world. It's totally and radically shifted how I view the world around me. It's totally and radically changed some of the stereotypes that I've held about certain people groups. By this I mean people of different races, socioeconomic classes, and genders. It's been insane to see how many single story worldviews that I've been holding for so long.

A single story worldview is one that we've seen for so long and understood for so long that it starts to become "truth" to us. An example of this is when we think of Africa, we think of poor. We immediately think of an extremely poverty stricken, helpless people that are devastated by aids. I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but I think if we actually sit back and ask ourselves what we think about when we hear "Africa" at least one of those things would come up, if not all of the above. The reality of it is that the idea of this is a single story. There are actually very well off people there and a lot more live happy lives and never struggle with diseases. We've grown up associating the image with everyone there that we've started to think it's what everyone is like.

Other examples of this include things like associating everyone who looks like they're from the middle east with Islam, saying everyone who lives on the "East Side" lives in the ghetto, and if someone dropped out of college then they are lazy. (These aren't necessarily single stories that I was holding, they're just some examples to think about.)

Once people are put in the box of a single story it warps the way that they are looked at as a whole. If everyone who has dark skin is considered "African American," then they've immediately been put into a box. Then that's assuming that everyone who's from Jamaica is from Africa. Heck, Africa is treated like it's a country in itself when it's really a continent of a crazy amount of different cultures and customs.

It's things like this that have been really challenging me lately. Our DTS has been moving away from the internal stuff (hearing God, building our relationship with God, etc) and moving into how we interact with the world around us. So good!

The lectures on Injustices and missions were totally mind blowing. I really could write the longest post ever on this topic. It has really become a passion of mine and I can't wait to continue to run with it. There have been some things laid on my heart to do in the area of injustice and missions that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life, but I'll get more into that after my DTS when I have time to think more about how it's all going to happen.

(This next paragraph may sound like I'm frustrated...I want everyone to know that it's all questions I'm asking myself and thinking out loud [over text] on, so I'm not blaming anyone or pointing the finger at anyone other than myself. If it makes you think too, then awesome! But please know that I am not pointing the finger at anyone other than myself and the goals I have set for myself in my life.)

I'm still trying to process everything that I have learned about in this area...but for now I'm going to bring some facts into the light. These things absolutely rocked me...One thing specifically that rocked me is how little our nation does to fix this kind of stuff. We make so much freaking money in the US it's ridiculous. The average income is around $40,000 per year in the United States. Yet, there are 4 billion people in the world that make less than $2 a day. Since I'm a math genius, my calculations show that they make around 700 bucks a year. My bass amp costs about $700 bucks. Wow. Perspective rocked.

The biggest thing that has been really getting me angry is how much complaining I do about all of the injustice in the world. I sit around wishing that there wasn't poverty. I sit around wishing that there wasn't starvation. I sit around wishing that aids wasn't devastating a huge chunk of the world. I sit around wishing that EVERYONE had clean drinking water. I can blame the fact that there's wrong in the world. I can blame it on crappy circumstances Heck, I'll be honest, I blame God. Sometimes I ask God why he hasn't done anything about all of the injustice. The reality is that we have the means to stop all of these issues. The united states has the money, the manpower, and the resources to end all of these injustices. The US has the power to stop the world sex trafficking. The US has the means to do all of this, it simply doesn't have the willpower. We sit in our wealth and complain that people in the US have more than us. I always compare to the people that have more than me. "If only I had that next better amp." "If only my salary was higher." Reality? I'm freaking rich. I might not be the richest among the rich (our nation, sorry to break it to you, we're all freaking rich.) but in the scope of the rest of the world I'm rich. I've justified this for a long time by saying that I can't help where I'm born. This is true, I can't decide where I'm born. The thing that I can do is that I can decide what I'm going to do with all of the wealth I have. The more I have the more that is expected of me. Boom. This simple line has rocked my world in such a crazy way.

Another quote that has rocked me is what one of the speakers said:

"If God is just, then he MUST judge the western world."

 

 Ouch. That hits hard. How freaking wasteful I have been. How I haven't stepped up to the plate and just sat back and complained about how no one else has done anything. It's really challenged me to do what I can do.

Here are some facts to think about. I'm still trying to process them. It's crazy to think about. It's all too easy to read these and just see the numbers. Just see a statistic that really means absolutely nothing to you or I and really is of no relevance to our lives. I challenge you to read these and apply them to the people you know.

For example:
500 children are trafficked in Atlanta, Georgia every month.

Wow. that means in two months, EVERYONE that I know has been trafficked in one city alone. All of my friends from school, all of my family, all of my church friends, everyone.

Does it seem a little more scary when it's applied like that?

Here's another:
10 million children (minimum) are prostitutes in the world.

That's 10 cities the size of San Jose where EVERYONE is a prostitute. and these are all kids. It's sickening to think about. Yet it's a reality. I know each and everyone one of us would go crazy on someone if our (well, eventually mine, I'll be able to completely relate when i have kids some day) children were in prostitution. So why do we ignore it when it's someone else's kid?

Continue reading for more:

2 billion people live on less than $1.00 a day

4 billion people live on less than $2.00 a day

5,000 children die every day from diseases related to dirty drinking water

500 children are trafficked in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) every month

14 million children are aborted every year

200 million women in the world are missing because of selective abortions and neglect

300,000 child soldiers in the world

                The average age a child becomes a soldier is 7 years old

The average Chinese factory worker makes $7.00 a month

20 million AIDs orphans in the world

70,000 child-headed homes (both parents died, children raise themselves) in South Africa

15.4 million refugees in the world

10 million children are prostitutes (this is a very low estimate) in the world

200,000 people are killed every year for their faith in Jesus

400 million Christians are persecuted in the world

It's all too easy to just look at these as statistics or numbers. The reality of it is these are people's parents. These are people's children. These are friends and relatives of people who are really living in these conditions. These are friends and family dealing with this suffering. These are friends and family dealing with these tragedies.

After reading this post, look at the statistics again. Do you have a little bit of a different perspective as you read?

If we reduced the world to one village of 100 people:

-61 would be Asain

-13 would be African

-9 would be European

-5 would be North American

-16 would be unable to read and write

-80 would live in substandard housing

-39 would lack access to improved sanitation (i.e. toilets)

-24 would have no electricity

-76 would only use electricity at night

-50 would be malnourished

                -1 would die today because of being malnourished

-33 would be without access to safe water

-8 would have access to internet

-1 would have a college education

-40 would live on less than $2.00 a day

-20 would live on less than $1.00 a day

-1 would have HIV

-5 would control 32% of the wealth (and all 5 would be U.S. citizens)

It really makes me want to do something about this. Really, change is possible. It doesn't take a president that promises "change" to make it happen. It doesn't take any mediocre "occupy" protest to change it. It doesn't take anything crazy. It simply takes people stepping up saying enough is enough and actually doing what they can do to change our world. It takes people stepping up saying that they're done with mediocre and want to use what they've been blessed with to truly make life better.

I'm in. Are you?