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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 3/3/2010
YOU KNOW YOU'RE A WORLD RACER (in Asia) WHEN...
- "look both ways before you cross the street" no longer means anything. "hold your hand out as you casually stroll through 6 lanes of on-comming traffic" is more the norm here - if you wait till "just after that truck" you will be there for 25 minutes... and your teammates will leave you behind...
- you feel ripped off when you come across a meal that costs more then $0.75 (U.S currency)
- you walk past some puppies on the street and tell the owner "ohhh I like this one, it's cute" and point to one you'd like to hold... in which case he picks it up, takes it in the back, and ten minutes later has it quartered up and boxed up for you to cook for dinner...
- seeing up to 6 people on one moto is completely normal
- you stay up for 24 hours straight before a travel day just so you are able to sleep on the bus
- your van driver drives 100 mph, passing cars that are passing cars, not seeming to mind if traffic is rapidly approaching from the other direction
- you willingly jump into an SUV with 3 complete strangers you just met on a tour who offer to give you a ride home in avoidance of riding the city bus
- a dance party consists of pressing the different "rhythm" buttons on an old yamaha keyboard
- you have access to cozy beds with blankets, yet you find your teammate taking a nap on the cold hard floor
- "same same but different" has become a normal part of your vocabulary
- living with a stomach ache almost every day is normal
- even things that "have no fish sauce" in them... are made with fish sauce
- YWAM in Bangkok feels like home
- you jump in a cab and tell the driver who doesn't speak any english where you want to go... and somehow manage get there
- you are in downtown Ho Chi Minh City and an Abba song comes on and you and your teammates start dancing in the street, as locals surround you and take pictures, then ask you for your autograph when the song is over
- you have spent 3 months here and it doesn't seem "foreign" anymore...
- it's harder to leave this nation then it was to leave home 5 months ago...
We are leaving Asia in 4 days... I never thought it would be so difficult to leave a place that was not "home". In the past 3 months I have seen so many amazing things, and met so many amazing brothers and sisters in Christ... I can't believe our time here is through. I know Africa is going to be crazy awesome - but I also know that nothing can replace the people I have met here, and the things I have learned. You all will have a place in my heart forever! And like I tell everyone I've met, it's not goodbye forever. It's just "see you later". Maybe I'll be back one day, who knows?
***
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 2/24/2010
As most of you know, this month is not one where I am able to share many specifics. Sooo I thought I'd take some time to let you know how God has been working in me personally.
One of the most appealing things to me when I applied for the race was the opportunity to "spread the Love" to the nations... A chance to play with orphans, teach English and Bible lessons, love on those that might never have experienced true Love before. A chance to reach out to the "unlovable" people, so to speak - the sick, the elderly, the unclean. And of course, a chance to see the world. We've been able to do all that and much more, but I'm beginning to realize that those things are just the beginning - just the surface - of what the Race is actually about. I'm starting to realize maybe... just a little bit... subconsciously...at the beginning... I thought it would also be a chance to escape my own struggles.
HA!! WRONG. I was sorely mistaken... but in a good way.
One thing I've always struggled with is patience. I've always been on the edge of my seat about "the next chapter" of my life. As soon as one chapter begins, I'm already anxious to know what's going to happen 100 pages from now. Where will I live after college is over? Who will I marry? How many kids will I have? And now...What the heck am I going to do after the Race? These are typical run-of-the-mill questions, I'm sure of that. I'm a girl, for crying out loud! The problem is, I never waited on God's plan - I always tried to make it happen myself. I always tried to figure it out before I was supposed to. That is where I got myself into some serious hardship... Looking back I can see I wanted all those things so badly that I would rush the answers - in turn making some bad judgement calls. I could only see my idea of the perfect end result, completely blind to what was actally happening. I would pray and pray for an "answer" but felt like I wasn't receiving any. Over the past few weeks that old feeling has started to creep up on me again, even thousands of miles away from home... and it just hit me... God's going to keep bringing this up until I learn to completely trust Him with it. Either I give it all to Him, or live one long, tiresome, anxious life. And really, that's no way to live! I also have been thinking that God doesn't answer prayers in just Yes or No... all those times I thought I wasn't hearing anything, I think I just didn't want to accept that the answer was wait.
All this going through my mind the last couple of days, and so Monday I turned to Sage's daily devotional (that was Feb 22) and it was all too fitting for me not to share it with you:
PATIENCE
"Have you prayed and prayed and waited and waited, and still there is no manifestation? Are you tired of seeing nothing move? Are you just at the point of giving it all up? Perhaps you have not waited in the right way? This would take you out of the right place - the place where He can meet you.
"With patience wait" (Romans 8:25). Patience takes away worry. He said He would come, and His promise is equal to His presence. Patience takes away from your weeping. Why feel sad and despondent? He knows your need better than you do, and His purpose in waiting is to bring more glory out of it all. Patience takes away self-works. The work He desires is that you "believe" (John 6:29), and when you believe, you may then know that all is well. Patience takes away all want. Your desire for the thing you wish is perhaps stronger than your desire for the will of God to be fulfilled in its arrival.
Patience takes away all weakening. Instead of having the delaying time, a time of letting go, know that God is getting a larger supply ready and must get you ready too. Patience takes away all wobbling. "Make me stand upon my standing" (Daniel 8:18, margin). God's foundations are steady; and when His patience is within, we are steady while we wait. Patience gives worship. A praiseful patience sometimes "longsuffering with joyfulness" (Col. 1:11) is the best part of it all. "Let [all these phases of] patience have her perfect work" (James 1:4), while you wait, and you will find great enrichment."
So yeah. So much for thinking that God wasn't telling me anything - I'd say that's pretty clear! So here's to turning over a new leaf to trust and patience. No longer worrying about the future, but focusing on the here and now, and everything I'm learning and experiencing. I know there will be days when it's not easy, but at least now I can rest on the fact that He's got it. Not withholding anything from me, but just keeping it for a while until it's the perfect time.
And that, my friends, is more comforting then anything I could ever come up with :)
Hold steady when the fires burn,
When inner lessons come to learn,
And from this path there seems no turn-
"Let patience have her perfect work."
- L.S.P.
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 1/28/2010
So here I am in Cambodia, and for a couple weeks now I've been struggling with what to write about. There's so much on my heart that I really don't even know how to put it into words. The past places we have been have all touched me, but none in the way that this place has. I guess it's not fair to say that I feel more connected to the people and the villages here then the months before because each place I go to it seems I feel more intensely about the last. But I can honestly say there is just something about these people and this nation that hits my heart in a very different way then I've ever experienced.
I can't lie - our first couple days in Cambodia I was not too thrilled. The whole process of getting into the country was long and tiring, and it seemed as if we went back 20 years when we crossed the boarder from Thailand. Strange sights, strange language, and very strange smells... it was by far the most "foreign" feeling place we've been to yet. Cambodia is also referred to as "Indo-China" because of it's strong influences from China and India, and I could clearly see the aspects of both cultures right from the beginning. Not that I've ever been to either place, haha. But from what I have heard and seen and read about, I gather it's spot on :). The country is on the up and up right now, coming out of a 20 year genocide called the Khmer Rouge. Thousands upon thousands of people were brutally murdered, women and children included, simply for being educated. The leader of the regime would go to the villages and ask for all of the educated people, and trick them into thinking he had jobs for them if they left with him. Instead they were taken to concentration camps and killing fields and murdered because he wanted to wipe out anybody that could potentially be strong enough or smart enough to rise against him. This all completely ended in 1997, and some of the people we are working with have shared with us the things they have experienced and seen in their lifetime.
 Although the country is growing tremendously, it is still facing huge problems with poverty and hunger... and alcoholism is a huge problem here. It's not like in the states where college age kids go out and drink too much... it's fathers of 4 and 5 children literally selling the roof over their heads for alcohol. It's 10 year old girls and boys raising their younger brothers and sisters because their parents have either drank themselves to death or are on their way to it. It's enslaving the elderly and the crippled and the tiny children out to beg for money - which they then take and use for themselves. I was sorely mistaken in thinking that human trafficking only effected young women... there's many different forms of it, and although the sex industry is a huge part of it, it's not the only one.
It's not all hopeless, though. The ministry we are working with is absolutely amazing and I am so grateful that we have fallen into their hands. They take "at risk" girls and provide them with a skill that gives them an out to the lifestyle they had been living before. They have youth group and church for the villiages out in the countryside which I've been working at, teaching English and even teaching piano to some of the staff (whom I have slowly but surely become very close with). We also drive from home to home to teach english to the orphans that don't really have a way of getting to the youth center/church they had built. They "bring the church" to the people that can't get there. There is a woman who is crippled from polio and can't leave her house - it is built up on 15 foot stilts because of the flooding in the rainy season, but there are no steps for her to get down even if she could. When I asked about it they explained to me that's where she stayed all day every day, and because of that they bring the church to her - because that is what God intended the church to be. Talk about a gut check. It really put a lot of things into perspective for me, especially my view of "the church" and how many are run in America. On a different note, we also were lucky enough to hand out the shoeboxes from Operation Christmas Child... to say that I was the person who got to hand that box to a naked little kid covered in dirt in a village in Cambodia is almost inexplainable! Especially to see that those boxes we pack up at church really do make it to the children across the world.
 We are usually out literally from sun up to sun down, working 12 hour days. We are hungry and exhausted by the time we finish in the evenings, yet I have never felt so fulfilled at the end of a day. I love love love it here... I don't know how I'm supposed to leave in 8 days! I know I have to, but it won't be easy.
Miss you and love you all back at home!! Thank you for all your support and encouragement. I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I promise I will be more faithful with it in the weeks to come. ;)
Until next time...
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 12/26/2009
So as all of you most likely know, music is a big part of my life. When I left for the Race, I left a half- finished degree in piano performance, my piano, my teacher, and 22 students behind - who have all become very close to me. When people asked me what I was going to do without a piano for a year I just shrugged and said "take a break, I suppose". Well as it turns out, God had something way different in mind...
At the beginning of the Race I simply hoped for an opportunity to play on a piano once in each country we visited. Not only has that prayer been answered, but I've ended up playing way more than expected... in Guatemala I played with the rest of my team in front of the whole town for our goodbye service. In Nicaragua our hostel just happened to have a full sized grand piano. In Costa Rica I played a song I wrote for an entire church, which turned out to be an amazing experience - you should definitely ask me about it if you think of it J I should probably blog about it, I suppose... but that's another story all together! So back to where I was going with this...
Last Monday we had a day off, and I was determined to find a place that had a piano. I noticed a few days before there was a piano bar down one of the side streets that was open 24 hours a day, and I just had a hunch that if I went early in the day they'd let me play for a bit. It just so happened that this piano bar was right in the middle of the gay section of town, but that didn't stop me or my teammates. I set off around 10:00 am followed by my awesome teammates who came just to listen and support me.
I'm not gonna lie, when we first got there it was a little awkward. We probably were one of few women to set foot on that street in a long time, especially sober ones during the day just asking for a coffee. We got some strange looks, but when I asked the bartender if I could play the piano and explained that I had been looking for one all month he was more than happy to open it up for me. So I sat down, played a few songs I wrote, and played somewhat of a rendition of God of This City that I managed to sound out. I figured it was only appropriate that I played it, considering this is the city it was written for. Anyways, it was awesome to be able to play in a place like that and to play those particular songs. As I played, it was kind of my own way of praying to God for the city. My teammates that came along were prayin' along with me, I'm sure ... and the guys working at the bar listening didn't even know the half of what was going on ;)
Now if you know me, you know that's not very common for me to do... I don't like to be in the spotlight. I can hardly get the guts to start a conversation with a person I don't know. Well later that night we were on Walking Street and walked into a bar that had a live band playing... After some strong persuasion from my teammates and a little bit of coaxing from the band members, for some strange reason I ended up on stage again. Except this time it was in front of a whole bar full of people, with an actual spotlight on me. I played the same songs, and they must have liked it because half way through my first song one of the band members came up and turned up the volume on the keyboard. Part of me thought "crap, now they for sure can hear me" and sure enough the whole bar went silent... I almost froze until I looked up at the girls and saw the looks on their faces. Then it just hit me... this was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I've been called to do. After a while Becca and Christina got up and sang with me and Jordan jumped in on the drums and we played our own version of You Won't Relent. Every time a song was over it was received with applause and cheers, and absolutely mind boggling that we were playing these songs in a bar a bar called Sin City. And they loved it!
I befriended the guys in the band and plan to keep in touch with them who knows, I might just see them again someday J I still have 8 months to think and pray about this so I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I have some awesome ideas about what the World Race can do with music and how I can hopefully be a part of it, even after my race. We shall see... ;)
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 12/23/2009
So many crazy things have happened in the last couple of days, it's hard to even know where to start. I have a feeling I'll have quite a few blogs over the next few days. There's just no way I can fit everything that happened into one.
Yesterday we had a Christmas party for the girls in the English class, which was also our last class to help out with. As the girls filtered in I saw a new face in the crowd and I realized it was a lady that I had talked to a couple nights before in the bar as she was working Her name is Put. I invited her to come to class just like I had with many other girls, and she actually decided to show up! It was so amazing to see her there, and the feeling it gave me was just indescribable. She told me (in very broken English) that all of us women were beautiful inside and out and she could see there was something different about us. She asked if I would be there for class on Thursday and I had to tell her no, we were leaving to go back to Bangkok. Her eyes welled up with tears and she pulled a ring off one of her fingers and put it on mine and asked that I please don't forget her... I told her that was not possible and I loved her and God loved her, then we hugged and parted. I am terrible at goodbyes, and that was one of the hardest I've ever had to go through... or so I thought.
 That night we went out again for the last time to talk to the ladies working the streets and the bars. We headed out at about 6 pm... usually at that time the girls are putting on their make-up and still primping themselves and not too distracted by trying to catch men yet. I was paired up with a Thai girl who had just become a Christian 6 months ago, and we set off to a bar across the street. Apparently this was the bar that Sage and Jordan sat outside of and ate ice cream and felt compelled to pray over the other day, but I didn't know that at the time. Anyways, we went in there, walked up and down the huge aisle and finally sat down at one of the bars in the middle. We started talking with one of the bartenders named Sip (pronounced Seep) and before I knew it she was in tears. She hated her job, she hated selling herself to men, she hated her boss. She had heard about God before but always felt like He had no reason to forgive her or love her after all she had done she had even heard about the Tamar Center and tried to call them about going to church but somehow was never able to get a hold of anyone. She wanted out of her lifestyle but didn't know how to get away - she owed her boss money and was afraid to leave, and had nowhere to go but back to his place at night. I told her some of my story and let her know that there's nothing a person can do that is past the point of God loving them. My partner translated the parts she couldn't understand, and then all of a sudden they began talking a million miles per hour in Thai... I just sat there, smiling and nodding... not really knowing what was going on.
After about 5 minutes of that, my partner looked at me and asked "do you think we should have her come with us now?" and I felt my stomach flip. I replied YES, and so we asked her if she would come with us before her night of work started- that we'd find a way to pay her boss back, and that we had a safe place for her to stay. She anxiously looked around, and then nodded to us. She said goodbye to the girls she was working with, grabbed her purse, and walked out with us. Talk about guts!!
Before I knew it she was swept away by the ladies in charge at the Tamar Center, but not without her asking if she would see me later this week... I had to tell her no. She asked me when she's going to see me again - I couldn't think, and so I just said I didn't know. She hugged me and half stated, half asked "in heaven?" and I sort of laughed and cried and said of course. Then she was whisked away into the crowd, and that was it...
It's going to be so hard to leave here tomorrow morning. I know my teammates and I have made a big impact on the lives of these women, but that doesn't make it any easier to leave. These women have touched my heart just as much as I have theirs... and these past few weeks are ones I will hold on to for the rest of my life.
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 12/19/2009
Last night we did ministry on the pier, handing out the Word to certain southeast Asians coming off tour boats. They have hardly any access to the written word in their country, so taking it home as a "gift" on tour boats is an awesome way to get more to their people. Many were so grateful for it, even grabbing a few at a time. As awesome as it was to be a part of that, I can't pull myself away from a different situation - one that has left my heart feeling heavy.
After the pier we decided to head down Walking Street where the majority of the bars are, and as we were just sitting and people watching I saw a girl from the English class we help teach. She was with a man... he was vile. She walked past me and I did a double take at first - she was hardly recognizeable with the layers of dark makeup she had on, and the lack of layers of clothing she was wearing. We made eye contact and I smiled and waved. She returned the gesture, but the look in her eye was one of humiliation. She didn't want me to see her with that man. I heard him say "is that your teacher?" and she kind of nodded and hesitated - tried to pull him on but he stopped and shook my hand and introduced himself. My gut reaction was to pull my hand away, but I didn't. He made small talk with me and my initial feelings were disgust towards him - all I felt like I saw when I looked at him was a slimy, slithering, oozing, ugly snake. She finally was able to turn his attention from me and got him to leave, but not without that same look of humiliation written all over her face. Not without me catching a glimpse of how ugly she felt about herself on the inside. That's something that no amount of makeup can hide. She wanted to get away as fast as possible, like I was going to judge her or something... I wish she could understand that I don't care, I don't judge... none of us do. I wish she knew that she was loved, simply just for being... being who she is and nothing more. I am praying non stop that she continues to come back to class.
As I gathered my thoughts I realized I need to pray just as much for that man... humanly I see him just as I described but I need to see him how the Lord does- a child of God, who is loved just as much as the girl he was with. Loved just as much as I am loved. I began to realize that most of these people (the men and the women) have gone through their lives, years and years, feeling bad about themselves and so insecure and hating themselves so much that they are pushed to this point they are at now. Never knowing love from others, so they don't love themselves.
This is real... the girls we see don't just tell us stories, they LIVE this life. They don't get to leave at the end of the day and go back to their cozy hotel room with their friends from the World Race. They don't get to go home to America in 8 months... no, in 8 months the majority of them will still be doing the same thing. They'll still be getting used up, cheated, and tossed aside again and again...
That's why the Tamar ministry is so important here. It is amazing how much hope they are bringing to the city and to these women and men. If it weren't for the Lord working through them here, this situation would be hopeless. Please keep them all in your prayers.
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 12/16/2009
Hello all!
We are in our 3rd month, and we just arrived at our ministry site 2 days ago in Pattaya, Thailand. The city is right on the coast hills and hotel skyscrapers lining the horizon, fresh seafood on every corner, aqua blue water lined by white sandy beaches, and tropical weather welcoming us every day. A packaged deal for any tourist seeking a beach vacation, or so it may seem. It's amazing how deceiving looks can actually be. If you take a closer look, you'll see that the majority of the "tourists" are men older, American, wealthy, and lonely. Some are young, our age, just here with their buddies in search of a good time. Regardless, they are all searching for something, something to fill a void in their life, and they seek it out in the women that work the bars. Street after street filled with bar after bar filled with thousands of women selling themselves to men. Most of the girls and women come to Pattaya from northern Thailand where they were starving and jobless, because it is the only guaranteed source of income available to them. They have no other way of surviving, or at least they aren't aware of any other way.
That's where we come in.
We are volunteering with an organization called the Tamar Center, which is a place geared toward reaching out to the prostitutes and girls working the bars. Many women that work for the Tamar Center have come off the streets themselves, and their stories are unbelievable. It's an inspiration to see women come from a past of being completely broken, empty and used to healed, full, strong women of faith. The center offers English classes for those that are interested, as well as job alternatives (training included) in a hair salon, bakery, cafι, and card making business. They also have a place for some of the girls to stay until they get on their feet, because in more cases then not it is dangerous for them to leave the jobs they have taken up.
 We have only been here a few days, and already I feel that my heart is beginning to be wrecked for this place... I've heard people say that before and never understood what they meant... until now. Even as we got off the plane in Bangkok I had this incredible feeling... not quite sure how to explain it, but it has followed me to Pattaya and only grown stronger. It's a feeling of peace, like this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, mixed with a feeling of urgency to do what we came here to do. I feel like we don't have a lot of time because we are only at this site for 10 days before we have to leave, yet there is so much I want to do here... so much I want to see happen.
It is a dark place, but it is not a hopeless place. Little by little, one life at a time, this city is changing. And it is going to keep changing and growing. In a place that was once consumed in darkness there are now a few bright sparks...
And all it takes is a spark to ignite a wildfire...
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 11/22/2009
When I signed up for the world race, I knew that in no way was it going to be a year long vacation traveling the world... I understood that the majority of my time would be spent working hard. I knew there'd be a lot of hard physical labor, and I also knew there'd be a lot of emotional difficulties as well. Our first month in Guatemala was physically straining, but the atmosphere was light and joyful. Costa Rica has been more of a strain on the soul. The poverty and crime in Carpio along with the stories of the girls and the children just engulfs the heart in heaviness. Our mission this year is to be a light in situations such as this one... BUT, that doesn't mean we don't allow ourselves to have a little bit of fun every now and then.
Which is why we took a couple of days to head to THE BEACH!!! J
We spent 2 nights in a place called Manuel Antonio, and it was like right out of a magazine. Tropical beaches, national parks, awesome seafood dinners, and a hotel with a HOT shower!! There did happen to be a couple of friendly sand crabs in our room, but they didn't bother us too much. The first night we arrived at about 10 pm to our hotel and headed right out to a restaurant that was built inside of an old airplane. Saweeeeeet!!
The next day we slept in, ate a good breakfast, and then rented some jet skiis in the afternoon for a couple of hours. I was the lucky one who got to sit behind Elizabeth who, mind you, has never ridden one before, let alone driven one. As we all took off on our jet skiis, I watched the others race away ahead of us while Elizabeth and I putzed along at a pace of 12 mph... and I am willing to bet it's almost worse to go slow on those things in the waves!! I must admit though, we haven't laughed that hard in a while. Later that night we ate fresh seafood, and went and talked on the beach for hours under the stars, just learning more about one another and listening to one another's hopes and dreams.
Our last morning there, Sage, Tim and I decided to get baptized. For me it was the first time in my life and what better place to do it then the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica J It was a big step for me... I have been saying for years that I wanted to get baptized but never felt completely ready or able to let go of certain things from the past... but over the past few weeks it's been on my heart and I finally felt that it was the right time.
We are back in Carpio now... refreshed and rejuvenated, and ready to take on the last week and a half with a different spirit then we had before. I can't wait to see what is in store for us our last days here! J
Once again I'm having problems uploading pics so check out Facebook for this month's photos so far!
Until next time... Adios!!
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 11/17/2009
Well, we are finally settled in to our second month of our journey. The plans were to go somewhere in Nicaragua ... instead we've been called to Costa Rica. I'm sure you can imagine how insanely excited we were when we found out that we were coming here, let alone the ONLY team coming here. We are working and living outside the city of San Jose in the slum city Carpio - a complete 180 from where we were in Guatemala last month. We are working with the youth through an organization called New Horizons, and we basically play sports and games with them, do Bible studies, and help out with the girls that come there for math and English classes. New Horizons is pretty much a safe haven for the youth to come and get away from their everyday life.
The city is built right outside of the landfill for San Jose, and there is only one way in and one way out. It's a very poor community, therefore it's common to have 6-8 people living in a room the size of a horse stall... usually dirt floors and no windows, so the only natural light source they have comes from the front door. A lot of the families are so poor that they only can afford to eat one meal a day so when the kids come here to play it almost feels like a sin to make ourselves lunch. Drugs and alcohol are a huge problem, and the amount of crime related to theft is ridiculous. Since we've been here there has been a stabbing on the main road outside of our campus, and a shooting at one of the bus stops all presumably having to do with drugs or robbery for money for drugs, or food, or anything else they may need.
Although food and monetary assets are scarce here, the problems run way deeper than that. 98% of the girls that come here for classes have been sexually abused and just a small percent less in regards to the boys. Living in quarters of that size with that many people means the children see lots of things going on that kids shouldn't be seeing unfortunately, that is just the tip of the iceberg. There's a little girl, Tonya, who has become very attached to one of my teammates - and she's absolutely precious. She is four years old, and her mother is 19. Her mother is also her sister... when she was 15 she was forced into sexual actions by her own father, resulting in her pregnancy. Tonya has grown into a beautiful little girl she is completely healthy and happy and extremely intelligent... all I can do is hope and pray that somehow, in some way, we can make a good impression on her life.
She is just one story out of many... the children's views of relationships and family life are so distorted and twisted that they found it surprising that the women on my team had never had any kids. They have no positive role models in their lives except for the people at New Horizons, and groups like us that come in to show them hope and love.
My goal and prayer for the rest of this month is to just pour into these children and be a positive influence in their lives, showing them there is so much more then what they have experienced. To show them there are people who genuinely care for them and love them, without any ulterior motives. To give them hope, show them love, and be a light amid all the darkness they've experienced. And most importantly, to open doors into their futures that provide an out to the lifestyle they believe they deserve...
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Posted in General Posts by Lindsay Fox on 11/5/2009
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." James Dean
This has been a favorite quote of mine for almost as long as I can remember. I have always been a dreamer at heart, there's no denying that. Most of the time it got me into trouble instead of accomplishing the "priorities" at hand I'd often go off into "la la land" for a while, where I'd find myself in another place, another time... usually another point in my life. Before college I would often dream about the future what my career would be, when I'd get married, how many kids I'd have, where I would live, all the lives I would touch... I had it all planned out. Although they were big dreams they were not outrageous, and I truly believed that God wanted me to achieve those goals just as much as I did. To me, those day dreams might as well have been reality.
When I went away to school, everything changed. Due to multiple circumstances (some by choice and some by happenstance) my outlook on life went from optimistic to pessimistic. I found myself trying to please everyone around me and began to base my self worth on others. Obviously that is not a very fulfilling route to take, and my self esteem plummeted because of it. I was young and naοve and I became involved in some unhealthy relationships... relationships that instead of fanning the flame in my heart completely put it out. I can't tell you how many times I heard that I needed to get my head out of the clouds and have some realistic goals. So that's the way I began to think. And I have come to learn over the years, what is in your mind becomes your reality.
So, you're probably wondering where I'm trying to go with this... Well, it boils down to what I saw and learned during my weeks spent in La Cama. Pastor Manuel and his family don't live a life of exquisite means. When it comes to materialistic things they don't have a lot but that doesn't diminish the hopes and dreams Pastor has for his family, church, and community. He dreamed that his children would finish school, and we watched his son graduate. He dreamed to build a church for his congregation, and we helped him lay the foundation. About 40 people attend his services every week, yet he is building a church big enough to fit 500 people. Missionaries will be coming to help him out throughout the course of this next year, when he hadn't planned on much help at all. He has received everything and even more then he asked for... and that's just why. He asked the Lord, whole heartedly and faithfully. And it was given. Despite any hardships him and his family had seen, he had such incredible faith that the Lord would provide, and that is exactly what He did.
1st John 5:14-15 says that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of Him.
God wants us to achieve our dreams. He wants us to dream big. He even wants to give us more then we imagine or ask for... He didn't give us such vivid imaginations for nothing! All we have to do is simply ask and know that we are heard . When I signed up to go on the race and found out I had to raise $13,000 I had no idea how that would be possible... but I asked that if it be His plan for me to come on this trip He would make it possible and sure enough I'm here in Guatemala... building life-long relationships with people thousands of miles away from home, with teammates who share the same dreams as I did years ago - and now do again.
 I feel like I'm truly "living the dream", and I can't wait to see what else my eyes will be opened to these next 10 months. I can't wait to see what doors will open towards my future, and I can't wait to see prayers answered and dreams fulfilled for all of you that are asking.
So... have you asked?
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