Moving on to Refuge Nola

Hey there so from now on I will be blogging at http://refugenola.blogspot.com/ which will be linked to www.refugenola.org

If you are interested in sending bikes somewhere overseas, check out www.worldbicyclerelief.org they have a lot more funding than I and are better organized

Community Development

So I have been reading Compassion Justice and the Christian Life, by Robert Lupton, and it has been quite amazing to see someone discuss urban ministry on a larger scale than giving a hand out. He states "Doing for others what they can do for themselves is charity at its worst." He then discusses ideas of food pantries and clothing closets as examples of ways we attempt to help others but it is only "betterment" and doing for others what they can do for themselves. He discusses that sometimes ideas like clothing closets and food pantries are only partially half hearted efforts at attempting to offset societal problems. That we don't quite think hard enough or want to put a lot more effort in addressing the issue and develop a business like a thrift store or a food coop where money would cycle around in a neighborhood, and provide jobs and mentoring to the poor.

So there are a few of us here in New Orleans that are reading this book, and are conjuring up innovative ways to begin to address some of the social issues and bring justice to the poor.

It has been rough out here in New Orleans the past few weeks. I have been going through the whole home buying process and it is moving really slow, and a lot of ups and downs. I feel like I am walking in the dark and its raining, a new day is to come with the sun shining and a breeze will be in the air.

Earthquakes and magnitudes of difference

I have just received e-mails from friends of mine in Indonesia informing me of th 7.6 earthquake off the northern coast of Sumatra. This hit close to where I have spent most of my time in Indonesia. My friends informed me of the villagers and themselves fleeing to the mountains after the earthquake happening in fear of another Tsunami. Some of the villagers will stay up there for a week or so until the ocean settles.
I often reflect of the time I spent over there and realize all the knowledge that I acquired there and apply here. New Orleans has been quite an interesting environment to grow in. I have ran into many peace corps people and people that have done a lot of work in 3rd world countries, and they are attracted to New Orleans because it has many of the similar issues that hurt third world countries. It's a little third world place with resources that flow abundantly yet still has big social issues.

I am currently in the process of trying to buy my first house. It's in a rough area and its amazing. I am hoping to make it into the city and invest in the youth of the neighborhood and see the social tide change!

Fathering the fatherless

The Christmas break was filled with perplexities, heartache, learning, service, and love. I am back in New Orleans after spending Christmas break in Atlanta. It has been interesting being back and the 7 hour drive to think and ponder about life. I hate that I have been a very Transient person in the past couple of years. I moved out here to New Orleans wanting to force myself into staying here for quite a while and buying a house in the hood. I think all this is about to change now and it's quite beautiful the way that Christ works in our lives. If I had not moved out here I do not believe I would have the faith and guts to readily and willingly move in to the roughest of hoods. There's also a pack of amazing ladies in Atlanta that helps me rest assured that God is loving and has a really AMAZING wife out there for me that will be willing to live in a rough area.
I think I am planning to move back to Atlanta when the school year is over in June, I may leave sooner though. I am currently praying over the possibilities that may prevail of what to do with my life in Atlanta. There are 2 main areas of which I am praying over.
1. Where am going to live... I feel led to live in a rough part of Atlanta, where I can meet and mentor local youth. However I am not one to want to pay rent and could have rent free living in Downtown Atl at the ol Condo. The other thing is which hood? West Atl, or East Atl. Who will want to partner in Ministry with me?

2. What to do? Im applying to Ga Tech for their Masters of Industrial Design program, McAfee School of Theology for MDIV and contemplating starting something like a Youth Ministry like FCA. I dream of living in a house, close to a park or apartment complex or both, a place where there is easy access for interaction with Youth. I want to help at schools, and find some of the the worst students and see if i could mentor/be a big brother to them and help them live and learn. I want to Expose them to the outdoors and to the Arts. I want to see them respect and love one another. And of course not much of this can happen without them finding Jesus along the way. I want to be a light into the lives that many will just push aside. I want to be a Father to the Fatherless.

so if you would pray with me over those things.

I woke up this morning and it was in the 40's in my room that I woke up in. I did not want to get out of my covers and get dressed. it was pretty frigid. i guess thats what you get in a beat up middle school with not much insulation. Work was tough, all i could think about was being in Atl and meeting up with youth and teaching them about Jesus and loving people. And seeing my friends get involved in loving on these kids with me!

I miss friends a lot. I miss the network of people that I know i can count on when i need something done, or just need to feel loved. I loved getting to know these west Atl ladies a little better, and the condition of their hearts. Its amazing to see the passion that overrides all reason at times.

Reflections

The time I often write a lot, is when i am down and out. When I am low in spirit and backed up against the wall. I should feel wonderful, because I have the hope of Christ. The hope that my dreams will become reality. That I would be able to love people in a rediculous manner by using my brain to think innovatively to build and design products. This will eventually allow me to provide jobs to people who are "risky" to mentor and develop them. This would also allow me to join the Fair Wage wagon, and invest into hard his areas, and help with community development, water sanitation, and education. It is a blessing to have such a big and attainable dream. It is also very daunting though, to know there are many steps that it is going to take to get there.

I still also have hopes of having a family and living in an inner city area, and serving and investing in my neighbors rediculously. I know that i will probably have a fairly abnormal lifestyle, and the woman of my dreams will have to be rediculously amazing to be crazy enough to walk with me through it all. She will be loved much though, her beauty will me revealed by encouragement safety and support for her to dream big. I pray that i will be good enough for her.

What I may not be

I am one filled with hopes and aspirations. To love and to live like the least of these. To seek and pursue experiencing life, to be able to understand it better so that I may be able to help my friends in need. I want to uphold justice and responsibility for my actions. I want to be treated fairly. I want to attempt to live like no other. It is by Christ's death that I am released to pass on the burden of trying to be perfect. That it is Okay for me to weep, or be angry at the world for injustice. It is hard to see friends not chasing the dreams that once fueled them, and began to settle for something less than the best. It is hard caring and loving on people who forget that you exist, and yet to continue to invest in their life. In hopes that they may get a glimpse of the Glory that God wants to show them.

I may not ever have a nice car, I may not ever live in a nice neighborhood, I may not ever have someone in my life that wants to know more about me than myself. I may not live long. I do know that my life will be lived with meaning. That i will chase the will of our father with wreck less abandonment, and sometimes life just really stinks in pursuit of that. That I often just want to give up, but i have the hope of Christ, in that our Father has something better up his sleeve. He's a good father and wants our dreams to come alive.

I feel like i am currently one person lost in a sea of people.

Walking in the Dark

I know that somewhere out there is my end destination. I know that somewhere out there is the Woman I am to marry, cherish, and to love forever. I wonder when this wife will come and rediculously love others with me. I wonder if I will be able to encourage women to not settle for anything less than a Man that will help them persue their Dreams in life. These dreams we often put aside, and begin to think are childish just because they are dreams. Many think dreams are insignificant, I think they are integral to our lives, Dreams push me to push foreward through the crappyness of life at times. Dreams give me hope. Dreams are passions that God has given us. Dreams are whispers of caution. That if we abandon them we sell ourselves short of God's glory and full potential. I get frustrated when I hear of girls marrying guys that dont have the same dream in life. I get saddened because i know that Woman will be very limited in chasing her dream and be sedated. I despise guys that shut a womans dream down because they are uncomfortable with it, or because its not something they are interested in. As men we are supposed to love care and protect above ourselves. We should care about the woman more than ourselves. That they may be encouraged, and feel safe to be free and unleash their beauty upon the world.