Miami April 5, 2007

Last night was ridiculous at South Beach. It's so sad how people live their lives down here. On the beach, there were men and women wearing scandalous swimsuits and thong swimsuits. There were also several couples on the beach that were all over each other making out. The streets were filled with women in swimsuits or inappropriate clothing. While Amanda, Cory, and I were walking down a street, we saw ten guys lined up on a porch and when a woman walked pass them they'd hold up a sign rating them from 1-10. It was awful. I was sad that night thinking about all of the people there who think they are leading such a pleasing and complete life, but they're still incomplete without God and always will be. That night we went to a Haitian restaurant and laughed about sneezes and we got dessert. It was a pretty goodnight.

Today we went to Camillus House, another shelter that helps homeless people get back on their feet. Amanda, Jess, and I started out our day with making sandwiches. It was fun thinking about how we're serving our brothers and sisters just by doing something as simple as making 120 sandwiches. It was fun hanging out with the black people too. After that, we joined to boys with wrapping silverware and we cut tons of dessert--in fact too many. We sat around talking for a while because they didn't really have anything for us to do. While we were sitting, I read something cool. 1 John 3:16-18 "We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help--how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions." I thought it was so cool to read that because it has been what we've been doing all week. We're showing our Christian brothers and sisters that we love them--even ones that are homeless and seem so low to the world but they are really right where we are at.

It was fun talking with everyone. When people who are in the Christian program to get better were coming in, one guy saw the desserts and kept saying how he was in heaven. It was so cute. I'm sure that made his day. After we left, it was really awesome because I saw a homeless woman on the street and she looked really depressed as we walked by. I decided to make eye contact with her and smile. She smiled back. I'm not sure why, but that meant a lot to me. In the Old Testament somewhere, it says seeing a friendly loving smile is like seeing the face of God. I thought that when I walked pass. When we were going up on the metro mover, it was awesome to be able to see a familiar face of a guy who was at one of the homeless shelters. I have loves that the most. Recognizing faces in such a large city where there are so many homeless people is awesome and they recognize us too. I've decided that my next goal is to locate homeless shelter organizations and try to help them out occasionally. It has been on my heart. Hopefully the opportunity will come.

Miami April 3, 2007

Miami Rescue Missions

Yesterday was such an amazing day and it was life-changing to me. All of us went to Miami Rescue Missions to help out. The Rescue Missions was in a bad looking neighborhood sort of like a Chicago Heights appearnace except there were no trees. As we were walking there, you could see several homeless people walking in the street and some of them had mattresses pulled up along the sidewalk.

We arrived at our destination and began to look for Tiffany who would be helping us. After we found her, we were put in a board looking room where this black guy with a white t-shirt began telling us about the mission and how it had impacted his life.

Pause. Back it up. The night before, I was feeling so burnt out just because I'm so concerned about my dad, my mom, my little sister, and the school work I'm going to have to do once I get back. I was crying on the phone to Jordan and he cheered me up and encouraged me to do as much as I could and give God all of me despite my tiredness. I went to bed late and prayed for God to restore my energy and feeling of brokenness--He did. In the morning, to encourage myself to work for God, I read Isaiah 40:30-31 "Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men (and women) will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strenght. They will soar high on wings like eagles, They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Rewind to what I was talking about earlier.

This black guy was telling us about how he was doing so many drugs and he was homeless. He came in touch with the missions and God slowly transformed him. At the rescue missions, they have different stages where you have to progress in order to graduate. They guy we were talking to was a graduate and now he was working with the rescue missions. He told us about how his flesh hasn't changed. He's still the same person and the only thing that's different is that he's got God's Spirit living and working in him. It was so awesome and encouraging listening to his story.

Then, we went to go work on our big project. This Friday, Good Friday, the rescue mission is having a type of Thanksgiving for the homeless. They're picking up the homeless off the street, providing them with showers, Easter baskets, clothes, lots of food, and hygiene products. After the event, they're taking each homeless person to where ever they want to be dropped off. Our job was to put forks, knives, and napkins together and tie them tightly with a bow. It was so awesome that our group came together and made it happen. We had an amazing assembly line going and God really brought us perfectly together to get things done. While we were doing it we made jokes, recited Bible verses, and had tons of fun. Ha. They were making fun of me because I was young and I said "Doesn't matter to me because you all will die first." Ha. Then, we went to lunch at the Missions place. It was a little gross, but we really didn't care because we were all just thankful to get food. Our group split up and we went to different tables. I sat with a guy named Arley and I believe he was latino. He had the same problem with doing tons of drugs and after a while God brought him to stay with the missions. Once a drug addict, he is now working with the missions and he's going to be getting his GED and going to college to become a veterinarian. It was awesome hearing his story and another guy left us with a comment of how you can't need recovery, you have to want it. Arley left us with how in order to become a master of something you need to be a servant first. All of these people seemed so spiritually in touch with God. We heard about another guy who had been helped by the rescue missions and he hoped to start one in South America.

After lunch, we checked out the thrift shops that the rescue missions had started. We met this amazing guy and I can't remember his name. He played a song for us on the piano and the incredible thing was that he had never played the piano before. He just sat down and God provided him with a song. It went something like "God is smiling on me." He left us with how we need to give back to God's people by using what we have received. All of these people had such amazing outlooks and such encouraging comments. After that we did the center pieces for the tables and we all came together again to get it all accomplished. It was awesome. Then we went to serve dinner from 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. By that time I had loosened up and I was being friendly to all of the homeless people I saw. I felt like I was soaring high on eagles wings. It was incredible. All of these people had been so low and had nothing and God transformed them. It makes me realize how I'm similar to a homeless person because I've been at an all time low like them and God has lifted us from that. Homeless people have just not had as many possessions and it makes me realize how much I have taken for granted.

When we were working and serving food to the homeless it was so amazing. Just to think that I was serving God's people, my brothers and sisters and I was humbling myself to serve them. It's just nuts. Some of the people you could really tell who was in the process of going through the program or had already done it. Those who had not yet gone through it seemed so ungrateful and they would ask for more and more food. Jordan Casey kept giving in and giving more food. I gave out veggies and chili. Those who had gone through the program would constantly show their gratitude and read our nametags and say "Thank you Michelle." Kingson helped us a lot and was a great guy. He got us coffee lovers some good coffee. It was disturbing because some guys were checking Jessica, Amanda, and I out all day. But we were fine and I was high on coffee and eating donuts out of Amanda's hand. After serving food, we went to the chapel service and this speaker was so on fire and amazing and emphasizing Pslams 23--I think. The Holy Spirit was so stirred up inside of me. It was an amazing experience.

Later that night we were off the walls going crazy and Jess and I were singing Moulin Rouge. We had a great day and we were so scummy when we got back and whining to each other but then we showered. Before we showered we ran around the court yard of the church to make sure we were hot enough to get into the cold showers. Haha. We also sang Moulin Rouge while we were in the showers because it was dark and we couldn't see anything.

Today we cleaned up the church and came together and got a lot done. The church is huge and some ladies might be turning it into a Christian Elementary School. It's awesome to think we have helped that come about.

When we lose, God wins.

God gave us a longing for purpose so that we might find Him.

Miami April 4, 2007

Today we got up and left around 7:45 a.m. We went over to this place with nuns called Missions of Charity. These nuns were really hard core. They relied on God for absolutely everything. They relied on God for whenever the would be running low on soap and God would provide. There was this story of how this man with a truck had gotten lost and he ended up at Missions of Charity. During that time the nuns were completely out of dish soap and praying to God that he would provide. The nuns gave him correct directions to where ever he needed to go. He came back and told the nuns how he was delivering dish soap and he just so happened to have 2 extra boxes of it. He gave it to the nuns and God had provided. They wouldn't know when volunteers were coming and they'd simply rely on God. They had a pretty straight program. First, they would bring in the homeless people and we'd greet them and give them cups. The sister would read the Bible, Cory read it in Spanish. They would pray and make announcements. I passed out plates and cleaned them. I wasn't really enthusiastic today. I made grilled cheeses for everyone once we got back. Right now we are at South Beach.

Later on after talking and being at the beach, I've realized more of how I need to take things a day at a time. We can't carry the burden of living our whole life for God and instead we can take things slow and say that we're going to live our lives for God a day at a time.

Miami April 1, 2007

April fools!

I've realized more that I should begin andend my days with God. I forgot to mention that yesterday I heard from my dad for a little bit and he didn't really say much.

This morning I got up at 6:45 a.m. to go and help out at a homeless shelter. I was terrified. Growing up I've realized that I've been sort of trained to be scared of homeless people and think that all have made big mistakes--when they all haven't. A lot of them were black males, only a few females. Amanda, JB, and I all washed peppers (apparently they eat peppers like they were apples) for the homeless people and then we went to the service that was prepared for them. During worship, they stood, slept, sang, clapped, yelled praise to God, said amen, and other things too. The man speaking said "Most people keep going back to their small fixes that only keep them happy for a little bit and what they actually need is an eternal fix--Jesus." Afterwards or at least in the middle of it, we left to go and help serve spaghetti. I got to work with the plates. There was a lot of homeless people. They seemed to keep piling in. The scary part for we was that some of these people reminded me of my dad. For all I know, he could be homeless now too. I'm not sure what God was trying to show me. I realized that a lot of the homeless guys, well at least two, said to me "It's okay to smile." That showed me that these people are able to maintain happiness even when they have so little. Even when other people don't have great living conditions, they're still able to smile. I guess I thought it'd be rude to smile when they aren't in the greatest of situations, but really and hopefully they are in the best situation because they have God and their brothers and sisters in Christ got the chance to serve them today. Even in such a lowring position, God brings comfort.

Miami March 31, 2007

I have no idea what to expect from this trip. The flight here was smooth; the first plane was small; the second plane was bigger; and the end of the day was nothing but tiredness. We strived at the end of the day to eat pizza, unpack our things, and do devotions. I was in charge of devotions last night - Colossians 3:23 and Matthew 25:40. I thought it'd be a good way to start out the trip. I talked about how we must work enthusiastically for the Lord and whenever we're serving people we are serving God directly. I feel like I'm not as connected to God as I should be. I'm always feeling so unsatisfied with my relationship with God and like I should be giving more. God, take away my distractions and help me to be more focused on your wants instead of my own.

On another note, today we woke up and went to the beach. Juliet (our leader who lives in Miami and programed everything for us) Amanda, Jessica, and I soaked up in the sun while Jordan Casey, Chad, James, and Cory walked around the beach. We were all warned of the blazing sun and I made sure to pile on lots of sunscreen. Luckily, I didn't get burned! At about 2:30 us girls went back to experience something quite new. Not the disgusting port-a-pottys, but the extravagant port-a-showers. These showers have the shrieking cold hoes water in place of the hot soothing water streaming from showers back at home. I slowly eased my way into the shower and I couldn't help but make squeaky gasps. I had my head sticking in the water as I was attempting to wash my hair, and the rest of my body was far from it. After getting ready, we made our way over to a Methodist Church where we dyed and decorated eggs for a kids easter egg hunt. After the eggs, we sat around and played with the younger kids. Jordan Casey mostly ran around with the kids and we watched. One thing that seemed pretty different about the church was that there were bars on the enterances and it had a sort of unwelcoming feeling. The church doors should be opened to everyone, but maybe it is on Sunday mornings. We ate some dinner in this church that was cooked by this girl from New Zealand. After that, we went to this young adult worship service. It was sort of cramped, but the band there was amazing! Everyone played their instrument so well and it was amazing! The sad part is I feel like I haven't been opening up my heart as much as I should to God. My attention span lately has not been much for God. Back to what I was saying, at the young adult service, i was not ready to try and let God's Spirit guide me. One thing that was pretty awesome was that I met Nadia Turner who was on American Idol! This service had about 20 people and she got up and sung at the end of it and I had a feeling it was her because she looked like her and sang as good as her. I was super excited and hyper later on when I found out it was Nadia Turner and i was off the wall - everyone made fun of me at how excited I was. Haha. I also forgot to mention that in Miami we have ridden on these subway like things that are above the ground and they are like little buses. It's called the metro mover. On the inside, we've got poles to hang on to. We got back to the church and decided we were hungry so we walked to Burger King to discover that it was closed. JB and I changed our minds and we decided to walk back to the church. We ended up talking for a while and he told me a lot of things that have been going on with his life. He's got an amazing story of God's grace and I just haven't heard it yet.

Chad was talking ambout how people can debate beliefs and other worldviews, but they can't debate you on how God has changed your life. It was a good day and I got to sleep late. I'm not really sure what I'm going to get out of this trip yet. I know it's going to be more of just giving into what God wants and being flexible. I hope that God will help me to be ready to submit to His way. God has also been convicting me for quite some time and I'm just becoming more aware of how I have to acknowledge my convictions and be ready to change. I need to get my priorities straight in my heart.