I want to change the world...

I've been debating writing this post, for I know it will be a controversy for many. This week I recklessly read the book, Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Shane is a passionate, fuming, beautiful, wretched, and broken person with a strong desire to seek out Christ's heart and the literal way we are to follow Christ. Shane grew up in a "normal Christian" home and church, which he found to be incredibly un-fulfilling. In college, Shane explored his desire to "be Jesus with skin on" and went with his friends to downtown Philadelphia to do night life with the homeless there. The more time he spent in the "dangerous places" in Philly, the more he experienced real life and real love. He has continued to live his life in the pursuit of Christ. He has lived with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, loving on the lepers and hanging out with the little Indian kids there. He has gone to Iraq several times during the midst of war to love on the citizens there. Shane has also started a community in Philly, called the Simple Way (http://www.thesimpleway.org/). The Simple Way is a house and a home, a family and a community. They house the homeless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and simply love each other.

Now I am not writing this post to glorify Shane's work or even to admire his pursuit after Christ, rather, I am blown away by his argument for a world in need of a new revolution, a world that revolves around love and community. I think all of us believe in and even desire a "changed world", but I feel that we are just sitting here, waiting for something to happen. Please know that I am just as guilty of this as anyone, but that I do desire a changed world, sooner than later. We see movies like "Crash" and "Hotel Rwanda" that expose us to the ugliness of our world. We join movements like The ONE Campaign, or read about things like the UN Millennium Development Goals that inform us of global poverty. We read books, hear from speakers, listen to sermons, etc. These things are great and do an okay job of making us aware of our world crisis, but it still seems that most of us fail to live out our dream world, the world that Christ calls us to create.

In Shane's book, he describes our world as "independent and materialistic", while we ought to rely on "interdependence and sacrificial sharing". His constant argument is that if we are focused on loving one another, then provisions will be met, harmony will echo, and our world will soon be changed. One thing I have realized is how much the community of Harmons reflects this idea of harmony and love. Experiencing a week down here, (let alone an entire summer), we are given a glimpse of true community. We see for perhaps the first time true love and true relationships that are based solely on love for our neighbor. We are able to provide for those who have little and love them as Jesus loves us all. I know this is getting lengthy, but I urge you to find and consider what Christ has literally called us to for this world. He is a God of love; a God who loves the righteous and a God who loves the wretched.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Ephesians 5:1-2



This will be my last post for a while. We will be gone all next week. Please keep the staff in your prayers as we retreat and rest for a week...


One Love,
Lace

Funny story from the infirmary-

Hello friends! So I was planning on writing all about the stuff that has been going on in my mind about what it means to fully live the gospel and follow Jesus. However, a funny thing happened during our trip to the infirmary today, so I will write about it instead...

Some of you know what the infirmary is, and some of you don't. The government of Jamaica funds one infirmary in each parish in Jamaica, so there are 14 in all. We visit the Clarendon Infirmary, which is about 40 minutes from Harmons. The infirmary is kind of like a nursing home, however, it has the worst conditions I have seen in my life. Some of the people are healthy and "normal" (as bad as I hate to use the word.) Others are deformed and lifeless. Every week, Won By One To Jamaica takes an hour-long visit to go and love on our brothers and sisters that live there.

It's very interesting being on summer staff and visitng this place every single week. Sometimes it is a horror, while other times I have a great time just laughing and singing with my friends there. I feel a great sense of satan in that place, but I also feel more Jesus than I've ever felt in my life. While talking to the lonely, the dying, the sick, and the rejects of society, I am able to see Jesus in their eyes. These people have a holy nature about them, literally depending on Christ for provision in every area of their life. They have been stripped of every worldly thing (even relationships and physical love), that their only way to hope and have joy is to fall madly in love with the Lord.

Today as I was making my last trip around the men's ward, I went over to a man named Brown. He was hunched over his bed and looked to be feeling ill. I asked him how he was doing and he told me he was "not too good," and pointed to the bowl at his feet. He said his stomach was hurting him. I was with Phil and so Phil asked him if we could pray for him, because we didn't have any medicine so prayer was all we had to help. He said sure. As Phil began to pray, he asked Phil to pull up his shirt. Phil pulled up the shirt off his back and revealed very dry and scratched up skin. As soon as his shirt was up, Brown said, "Scratch it!" Phil and I both laughed. All he wanted was a back scratch! I thought it was so funny, and so neat. He was in an incredible amount of pain, but all he wanted was someone to scratch his back! I loved it...

The greatest part about getting to go to the infirmary week after week is that every week God reveals something new. Everytime I go, God teaches me something different. Sometimes I am mad, sometimes all I can do is question God, sometimes I am overwhelmed with the most genuine sense of joy, and times like this remind me that we are all people, brothers and sisters together. Today the Lord made me realize how much alike we really are with these people. All Brown wanted was a back scratch! He and I have a lot more in common than I thought!

Well, that's it for today. Maybe I'll try to write my "good post", as I called it, sometime in the next couple days. My advice to you, go scratch someones back!

Take care!

Lacy

Staff Bio #3

Name: Phil the Thrill Stroessner
Jamaican Pet Name: Tip, the Rat
Age: 21
Hometown: Missouri’s very own capital, Jefferson City… home of Central Dairy ice cream
High School: Helias Crusaders
College: Mizzou
Major: International Studies
Activities: Young Life, soon to be Granny’s House, Eating, Praying, Intramural Sports
Interests: Food, Oak Island, God, Historical Context behind Scripture, my wonderful girlfriend
Favorite Color: the color of the bouncy balls that look like the sunset
Favorite Team: M-I-Z…Z-O-U!!!!
Favorite Book: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Song of Songs, Psalms, the Gospels, the Bible, On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Favorite TV Show: Man vs. Wild, Myth Busters, The Bugs and Daffy Show
Favorite Foods: My mom and dad’s home cooking… usually fried and/or barbecued!
Favorite Jamaican food: The Pork Pit (jerk pork, rice and peas)… go there if you ever visit Montego Bay
Favorite Music: everything… except Pop-Country… which is not real country... or real music for that matter
Biggest Dreams: Start an orphanage/school or start a mission in the States
Job in Jamaica: Lead the evening and morning meetings with David Cover
Biggest thing I’ve learned lately: Jesus did not come to burden us with His radical teachings. Instead, He has come to set us free and give us a life to the full. This is not an idealistic dream. This is truth. I do not come to Jamaica in order to be a Christian. I do not serve and love others at home to be a Christian. I already am a Christian! Instead, I do these things for the “least of His people” because Christ is living within me. I no longer feel disappointed that I can never do enough to please Him. I feel overwhelmed with joy and the freedom of Christ because I have allowed Him to more fully live in me and through me!

That's it for the day! Check back for a post tomorrow. I'm working on something good!

One Love,
Lacy

Expectations, Fears, Hopes, and Dreams

We're back at the Harmony House and ready for week 4! Our new team from Conroe First Baptist Church in Conroe, TX arrived today. (See picture below). Only two of the team members for this week have been to Harmons before. Therefore, this week is a new week for almost everyone. No matter how many times you have experienced this place, there are always expectations you have, fears and things you are nervous about, as well as dreams and hopes for the week. I asked Haley Roberts, a senior from Conroe to tell us about what she is thinking right now at the beginning of the week.

Ok, first let me preface this by saying that HOLY COW, the bus ride to Harmons from the airport was the craziest I've ever been on! Just when you think the road can't get any narrower... it does! Oh, and if you are ever driving in Jamaica on a road that appears to be one way, beware! It is a two-way road! The people here drive ten times crazier than NYC taxi cab drivers! I really feared for my life more than a few times!

Anyway, on a more serious note, I am so excited to be here in Harmons. I expect to become closer with Christ and also regain a proper gratitude for how blessed America is. This week, I want the Jamaican people to see who Jesus is through us and learn about His grace. I would love it if God would bring forth a specific person that I could minister to personally.

I must admit, I'm a little afraid of the dirt here... I don't mind working hard and sweating, but all of this dirt bothers me a little bit - especially because we only get two-minute showers! I'm one of those people who likes to be clean, so I'm out of my comfort zone a little here. Another fear of mine is that my team will leave on Monday without truly making an impact or without being changed themselves. I don't want this to be just a fun trip where we got to dance and hang around with new people. I want us all to realize the real opportunity we have to make a difference.

An accomplishment I want to make would be to share my faith and testimony with many people, and maybe even lead a few to Christ. An even bigger accomplishment, however, would be that my faith would be shared without words. I want to be Jesus to these people and demonstrate God's grace to them by working with them and helping them along spiritually, emotionally, and physically. I hope that wherever our church's mission team goes, everyone we come into contact with will notice something different about us and want to know more about the everlasting God that we serve.

--- Haley Roberts, FBC Conroe

That's all for tonight!

Lacy

The Rule of Life

This summer, we have been studying the basics of Christianity. We have been emphasizing the importance of having a rock solid foundation to build your life on. Without solid Christian beliefs and knowledge about our Christian faith, the Christian life will without doubt become boring and unfulfilling. So many Christians today find themselves burnt-out or stagnant, wondering why the 'life to the full' has left them dry and hungry. To our surprise, we are finding that so many Christians have forgotten the incredible fact that Christ is presently living inside of them. We have been reading Classic Christianity, by Bob George. His insights have been incredibly helpful as we wrestle with truth about basic fundamental Christian beliefs. One thing that has stuck out to me is that so many people do the "Christian things" (i.e. go to church, read the bible, reach out to the homeless, come to Jamaica) because they are trying to please God and earn a little bit more of His acceptance. Yet we all know that Christ loves us each the same and that His love is endless. Since we are no longer under the law but under grace (see Romans 6), we should now set ourselves to a higher standard. We should now strive to allow Christ to live in us as fully as possible. If we live for any other reason, our faith is not based on grace and love and life in Christ, but on good works or what others think of us. I could go on and on about our nightly discussions and what we are experiencing and learning together, but today I want to focus on one thing that will help us to have a dependent, receiving heart for the Lord to use in our daily lives.

This summer, the summer staff has created and committed to our rule of life. We have six things that we will strive to do each day or week (depending on the rule) that will enhance our relationship with Christ and allow Christ to move in us and live in us. We understand fully that these six things are not to be done for any other reason than to serve the Lord. Here is our rule of life, divided into three different categories...

The Inner Life
- Journal Regularly
- Spend one hour per week in solitude
The Communal Life (this applies to summer staff only)
- Participate in a weekly happy/crappy session (This is basically a weekly discussion about how we are living with each other)
- Serve a staff member daily
The Outer Life
- Engage a team member in a significant conversation daily
- Engage a Jamaican on an emotional level daily

As you can see, these six rules really stretch us each day, but allow us to be intentionally filled with Christ's love and live in Christ with each other and the people we are ministering to this summer. I would like to challenge EACH OF YOU to create and commit to your very own rule of life. It may be something very small, or you may want to go big with your rule. Regardless, I urge you to make your rule of life something that will help you to have a dependent, receiving heart for Christ's love and life to be overflowing in you...

In Christ Alone,
Lacy