"What about me?" (missions trip part 1)

This week I am on a missions trip with Sharptown youth group (which I love so much btw). This trip is basically right in our back yard. It really is a shame that I haven’t done something sooner to help Hurricane Sandy victims in some way. These people only live about 2 hours from my home (in South Jersey), and I’ve always pushed off doing something because is wasn’t “my problem.” 
As I was thinking about this, I started wondering about what “my problems” are.  And I came up with about three things... school work, student loans, and finding a job to pay off the loans. 
Thinking about these things while standing in a 70 year old, Christian lady’s home who lives alone with several cats (that she rescued during the storm) on the second floor of her house, because there was 20 inches of water that destroyed the first floor, as well as her car and everything in the garage, put a new twist on my thoughts.

How have I never thought about this as my problem before?

As followers of Christ, we’re supposed to “bear one another’s burdens” to fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). Our home owner who is 70 years old, is also a believer. 

Why haven’t I been bearing this burden of hers a long time ago?

In the book of Acts, shortly after Pentecost, the church was described as very giving. Acts 2:45 says, “And they were selling their belongings and possessions, distributing their proceeds to all, as any had need.” And then it goes on to say these things were done with glad and generous hearts.
I have a lot of things this 70 year old homeowner needs. Like water. Food. Money. Clothes. Shoes. Safety. Shelter. A Job. A Car. Education. Life Insurance. (Seriously...life insurance? Don’t even get me started on that one. Just throw me off a boat. It won’t hurt. I’m dead anyway.)

But listing these things and then thinking about how some people in other countries have to walk 2 miles a day in the heat to get clean drinking water for their families. Or thinking about how some people in other countries, and in our country, don’t know when or how they’ll get their next meal. Or don’t know if they’ll have somewhere safe to sleep at night, or if they have anywhere to sleep at all. Thinking about these things make me realize how insignificant my problems should be to me, and how I should be focused more on others. I don’t mean I shouldn’t do my school work, or pay my bills. I still have to prep for those things. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's a feeling that hopefully you understand!

I know God will provide.

This makes me realize I have so much more than I need. I knew this before, but maybe now the realization is “What do I do with all this stuff? How do I help? Who can I help? Who is in need? What is my problem?”

Bear each other’s burdens.

That doesn’t mean I should watch a fellow believer struggle, and then say “Awe, I feel so bad.” and then walk away. I would have actually just made no difference at all in that persons life. I only said that to make myself okay with walking away without doing anything to help that person.
 
What do we do about fellow Christ followers in Haiti who depend on God for meals?
Do we ignore it and pretend like it’s not happening?
 
What do we do about the street kids who have no warm clothes in Africa and sleep wherever they can at night?

What do we do about the children who are being abducted from their homes and forced to kill others and fight in a war they want no part of?

All these examples are different, but they’re all fellow believers in need of something. Whether its guidance, love, wisdom, water, money, or food.

Maybe you can’t afford to sponsor a child, 
but I know you can pray. 
Maybe you can’t take a trip to Africa to love on some street kids and participate in a VBS program, but I know you can pray. 
Maybe you can’t protect all the children being forced into a war, 
BUT...I know you can pray.

Praying leads to so many things...
Opportunities will open up for you, and you may find one cause you are overwhelmingly compassionate about. It might be a problem in Africa, or right in New Jersey. But wherever it is, I encourage you to find it and make a difference in one life, or a million lives. 

And that is possible through prayer.

It may seem like a small thing to us sometimes, but if it’s God’s will, it will be answered. We have Jesus Christ on our side, who says “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14)

I know the passion God has put in my heart. I know what I need to do. I know what I have to give up in my life to pursue this and help those in need. My prayer is that you find yours too.


FYI
Tomorrow, we are gutting our home owners whole kitchen. This lady spent the whole winter in her house with no furnace and she’s been living in this home with no running water since Sandy hit. This lady is a trooper. She didn’t give up, and I don’t think she will anytime soon, even after recently being diagnosed with COPD. And she gives God all the glory for her survival. I haven’t had the privilege to meet this lady yet, but our team leader, Sarah, says she always says how she couldn’t have gotten through it without God.
I will post more soon!




-Erika

What's Missing?

“Your eyes are searching the earth. The groom’s eyes are searching for her.” -Shane and Shane

A couple weekends ago, I had the amazing privilege to attend a girls retreat with some of my best friends. So many amazing memories were made! The title of the retreat was called Obsessed. It was based on a six week bible study written by Hayley DiMarco. The study was about being obsessed with the “things” in our life. Whether that is love, worry, fear, your laptop, cutting, drinking, shopping, or success.  It was convicting and hard to hear, but it was so good! The last session was about being obsessed with God, who is the only one who can give you joy. 

The one thing that I kept seeing was that all the things I mentioned earlier that some of us may be obsessed with, or consumed by, only leaves us feeling more and more empty when we don’t constantly have these things. If I am obsessed with “stuff”, I will always want the most recent iphone and I won’t be satisfied until I get it. Or if I’m obsessed with love and being loved, I won’t be happy when my boyfriend leaves my house to go home. It may leave me feeling lonely. And when we break up, I may feel worthless and empty until I find someone else to love. OR the more I shop and feel the excitement of buying new things, the more I want to shop to feel content. All these things leave us wanting more in an unhealthy way. Being obsessed with shopping may put us in debt. Yes, we may feel full at the time of our purchases, but when we become obsessed with that feeling we may always want to buy things all the time to keep us feeling sustained. AND America has made this so easy for us because of credit cards and online shopping!
    
 Anyway...

After things like this kept coming up throughout our study, it became hard for me to think about why we don’t already know these things. We can look into the lives of celebrities or even our friends and neighbors and see it well. For instance, Justin Bieber... This kid is loved by so many girls, he has a lot of money and talent, and gets to do what he loves everyday of his life. Okay, so with that being said, why is he doing drugs? Why is he doing self destructive things? Why is he searching elsewhere for fulfillment? He has everything he has ever dreamed of, and there is still something missing for him and he is trying to numb or avoid the emptiness he is feeling.   

Imagine being on stage in front of thousands of people who are cheering and screaming your name, and singing along to the lyrics that you wrote. Then imagine walking off stage after your show is over and you feel absolutely amazing, like nothing can stop you. After that, you get escorted back to your tour bus through crazy fans who are screaming your name, and you love every second of it! After this happens night after night for a while, you start to get tired of it. Your highs are becoming higher while your lows get lower. You want life to be a high all the time. And now when you walk off the stage. You’re dreading the walk back to your tour bus because you know it won’t last. The feeling wears off quicker and you feel more alone than ever once you get to your bus. So you look somewhere else for fulfillment while you’re not on stage. And when you can’t find fulfillment, you look for something to numb the pain.

I am not saying this is exactly what happened to Justin Bieber, nor am I trying to bash him at all!  The kid has talent. I was just using him as an example.  BUT so many artist have overdosed on drugs or try to numb pain with alcohol or sex. I’ve always wondered why.  They’re living the dream, become hooked on drugs, and then overdose or go crazy? 

Why?

What’s missing?

We see it all the time with artists. But yet, so many of us dream of being actors or singers because we see all the money they make or all the attention they get.

The lives of these celebrities should be clear examples to us that money and attention isn’t everything. 

What’s missing? 

What have they done wrong? 

Where can they go? 

Is it even possible to be fulfilled all the time? 

Here is my observation:
They are searching this world for things to fill them and this world has nothing fulfilling in it that will last, because this kingdom is the devil’s! We see this in the bible in Matthew 4:8-9 when Jesus is being tempted by the Satan:

“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you bow down and worship me.”
 
Satan tried to tempt Jesus with all of the things of this world, but Jesus knew there was something better waiting for him. There is nothing in this world that will make us satisfied all the time. We have to look for a kingdom not of this world, and seek after it earnestly with all of our hearts, and we will find it and be satisfied. 

Look at the lives of the people around you. Look at your own life. 

What do you enjoy? 

What do you hate? 

Did you think life was going to be something amazing once you reached your goal, and then when you reached your goal it was like nothing changed? Or did you or someone you know reach their goal, and then after a while the feeling wore off and they felt more down than ever before because their goal wasn’t all they thought it’d be? 

Sometimes we put our hope in our dreams. 

Sometimes we put our hope in people. 

Sometimes we put our hope in things. 

All the while hoping we’ll be satisfied by them, but putting our hope in these worldly things will not   ever last. 

EVER.

If we put our hope in Jesus, we’ll never be disappointed because He’ll never fail us.
He is all we need, and He wants us!

While our eyes are searching the earth, Jesus is searching for us. Trying to get our attention through the things that have failed us. He finds us in our failed attempts to find ourselves, and will love us no matter how long we ignore Him calling our names.


We can try to ignore Him all we want, but our hearts know the truth.