it’s been a long time since I’ve written on here, so I have way too many thoughts to share at once. not sure where to begin. or where to go from there. here’s some quick bullet point thoughts/happenings:
-For spring break I brought my friend jessica Navarre home to oroville with me for the first few days of break. It was super fun to be able to share my beautiful hometown with her and to show her the magic of northern california.
-Also during spring Break, Kurt’s initiative led our church to sponsor a showing of the film Call+Response in our movie theaters which is a film that details the global human traffiking situation of today. It is a film that seeks to make people aware of the situation, and that tries to inspire them to not only get depressed, get mad, and get fired up about it, but that pushes them to do something with that passion. When I was watching the movie, God spoke to me very clearly, and he filled me with excitement and passion against this injustice once again, and I have more to tell about this at a later time, but the bottom line is that God loves the broken, the down-trodden, the oppesssed, and that’s exactly who these slaves are. He fully identifies with them and they are his people, and he is calling his Church to be a part of the movement that will free them from slavery. I’m on board. and I’m excited. and I’m trying to figure out what comes next. So far I’ve been being conscious of my purchases and activities as a consumer, and I’m fasting and praying for the slaves in our world. And i’m doing a lot of research and trying to brainstorm how I can be involved further. I’m also getting into conversations with people, trying as best as i can to be a voice for the voiceless. “It is not permissible to add to one’s possessions if it is done at the cost of another man — that has only one true name and that is exploitation.” (from “Cry, The Beloved Country”). I’m trying to make sure I make the switch from being a part of the problem to being a part of the solution.
-I’ve begun painting. I find that if I don’t have an outlet to create something outside of my self for very long, I get kinda antsy. I’ve been feeling that way a lot this semester, and because of a happenstance offer by my artist apt.mate, I discovered that I can kind of paint. So I bought some starter supplies and am loving it.
-the semester is almost over and I’m going to Peru for 3 weeks as soon as the school year ends. then i’ll go home for a week. then i’m going to be spending the summer doing a church ministry internship in san francisco. I’m super excited about this opportunity and to see how God will partner my fresh eyes and passion with the wisdom and the experience of the pastors that have been in the city for years in order to further extend his touch in the city to the broken lives there.
– I’ve also just found out that I get the opportunity to be the main speaker at the Norcal district Junior high summer camp this summer. I’m super stoked about this. i love junior highers. and i think i’ve got some good stuff to share with them.
-I also just watched a video about a new financial stewardship initiative that my home church is doing. it’s called C3. in short it stands for campus, community, and compassion. expanding our current campus to meet the needs of the people within the community. furthing our involvement with local endeavors to minister to those in our community and to build relationships with one another. and to expand the ways we live compassionately by tying ourselves in a partnership with a community somewhere else in the world where we will commit to do life “with” them for 5-10 years or so. We not only want to help where we can, but we want to learn, we want to love, and we want to get to know them and have our hearts and mind intertwined with theirs so that whatever affects them affects us and whatever affects us affects them. This video that they made to explain C3 literally brought me to tears because it’s just another testament to the willingness of the people of Oroville who are in this church to truly do what God is telling them. I love that our church is a constantly moving, growing, changing organism. it is alive. and God is on the move. and I couldn’t be prouder of being from oroville — not because it’s a great town. in fact it’s a super super broken messed up town. with a lot of broken and messed up people. but some of those broken and messed up people belong to a church family that’s willing to admit that we’re all broken, and that we need Jesus, and that we need each other. and I pray that someday I get to be a part of the daily life of that church family and the community of oroville once again.
-I also have felt God telling me lately that in order for him to use me in the ways he wants to in the coming days, weeks, months, and years, it is essential for me to get to know him by getting to know his whole story. So, I’ve decided that it’s about time (long overdue actually) that I read the entire scriptures in order to get a more full picture of this history that my life is extending of the Christian Church. So, starting yesterday, I’m going to be reading the Bible in 100 days. and I couldn’t be more excited about it!
-lastly, Klaus and Martina Arnold (the Rector of EuNC [my school in Switzerland] and his wife) are at PLNU today for meetings so I’m going to run off now and crash their luncheon so that I get to see them! I’m so excited. They are some of the best people I’ve had the chance to meet in my travels and I love them dearly!
-that’s my “quick” update.