Hello again my dear family!
You are probably thinking "WOW! Amy's made three posts in one week, this is crazy" There has been so much happening that I just can't keep it all to myself, especially when I have the body of Christ behind me!
I just wanted to let you all know that I received an email last night with a letter stating my acceptance into the Ambassadors in Sport family! I am so pumped and excited for what is to come. I know God has really big plans with this and I am blessed and honored that He would choose someone like me to be a part of it. How humbling that is! Years ago I never would have guessed that this is where the Lord was leading me, but it makes sense since God and soccer are my two greatest passions and loves and I have a heart for the people of South Africa. I am currently waiting to hear back from two people from AIS who will talk to me about raising support and how much I will need to raise. I just wanted you all to be up to date with what's happening. I hope you will start praying now and seeking God as to whether you will feel led to support me in full time ministry. I can't thank you enough for the ways you all have already blessed me and "thank you" seems inadequate, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
Love you all so very much!
Amy
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
COMPASSION...
By: Amy
Compassion, it’s not something that every person has, but it’s something that every person needs. However, I have come to find that the number of people that do not have compassion far outweigh those that do have it. This subject is something that I think about quite often because the Lord has blessed me with a heart full of compassion and I don’t say this with a boastful heart. Not only that, but the Lord blessed me with the best earthly role model, a Godly mother who is the most compassionate person I know.
The prompting of this post came from watching The Blind Side last night. Wow, now what a story of compassion. As I sat there watching I saw my mom and myself in the character of Sandra Bullock.
I was blown away by the compassion that Mrs. Tooey (Sandra Bullock) had on Michael, a homeless boy who had a really rough background. She and her family took him in, cared for him, tended to his needs, gave him clothes, provided him with an education, believed in him, encouraged him, built him up, and gave him love like no one else had ever given him before. I saw all of this and realized wow, now how much more has God done that for us. When we were in the midst of sin, when we had nothing to give, when we felt that we weren’t worth anything, He picked us up, cleaned us off and He tended to all of our needs. Christ gave us love like no one in this world would ever be able to give us. Talk about compassion, Jesus is the definition of compassion.
For a good part of my life I have been told that I am “too nice”. To me, it’s what I’d like to define as compassion, but because it is a foreign subject to many, they don’t know what it is so they see it as being too nice. I often wonder how people can’t have compassion, especially when I look at the world around me and see hurting people everywhere. Perhaps Christ gave me such a big heart of compassion because of the great amount of compassion He had on me. Honestly, where would the world be if there weren’t people that had compassion on others? We would live in a miserable world where no one cared about anyone but themselves. Christ showed the ultimate act of compassion on us, how much more should we live to follow His example, rather than living for ourselves?
Compassion, it’s not something that every person has, but it’s something that every person needs. However, I have come to find that the number of people that do not have compassion far outweigh those that do have it. This subject is something that I think about quite often because the Lord has blessed me with a heart full of compassion and I don’t say this with a boastful heart. Not only that, but the Lord blessed me with the best earthly role model, a Godly mother who is the most compassionate person I know.
The prompting of this post came from watching The Blind Side last night. Wow, now what a story of compassion. As I sat there watching I saw my mom and myself in the character of Sandra Bullock.
I was blown away by the compassion that Mrs. Tooey (Sandra Bullock) had on Michael, a homeless boy who had a really rough background. She and her family took him in, cared for him, tended to his needs, gave him clothes, provided him with an education, believed in him, encouraged him, built him up, and gave him love like no one else had ever given him before. I saw all of this and realized wow, now how much more has God done that for us. When we were in the midst of sin, when we had nothing to give, when we felt that we weren’t worth anything, He picked us up, cleaned us off and He tended to all of our needs. Christ gave us love like no one in this world would ever be able to give us. Talk about compassion, Jesus is the definition of compassion.For a good part of my life I have been told that I am “too nice”. To me, it’s what I’d like to define as compassion, but because it is a foreign subject to many, they don’t know what it is so they see it as being too nice. I often wonder how people can’t have compassion, especially when I look at the world around me and see hurting people everywhere. Perhaps Christ gave me such a big heart of compassion because of the great amount of compassion He had on me. Honestly, where would the world be if there weren’t people that had compassion on others? We would live in a miserable world where no one cared about anyone but themselves. Christ showed the ultimate act of compassion on us, how much more should we live to follow His example, rather than living for ourselves?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Oh, Father!
Hello All!
This is going to be a pretty short post as I have midterms this week, and have been extremely busy with them, among my regular school work and missions work.
Something that has come to my attention a lot while here, has been the absence of Christian male role models, both in the Church and communities. It is an issue I was aware of from our last trip, but during this trip is has become more prominent as I have gotten to know the people here better. Obviously, having a male role model plays a very important role in the lives of children, both boys and girls. This absence is strongly felt by everyone in the communities, adults and children alike.
I was very lucky growing up to have a Christian father of integrity who loved and cared for me, even if he could not always be home as much as he would have liked. And I am very happy that he can be even more present in the lives of my siblings, now that he has a more manageable job. I am constantly faced with challenges in my life, and now that I am grown up and mostly independent, I often find myself asking, “What would my dad do/say in this situation?” and I find myself calling, emailing, and messaging him on a nearly daily basis for advice. It is a true testament of a great father, when their adult children feel they have the freedom and ability to seek their father’s guidance.
Here, on the other hand, most of the children do not have prominent male role models growing up, as many fathers are not interested in being fathers, or they simply do not know they are the father. They do not have the encouragement I had from my father growing up, to become a man of integrity, chasing after God’s heart. I heard a sermon on this subject recently discussing the importance of the father’s role in his children’s lives. What struck me most was the importance of hearing, from your father, how proud he is of you. I will never forget my high school graduation because of that very reason! To actually hear your father say, “Good Job, I’m Proud of You!” as a child, youth, or young adult, is by far greater than any award ever given. And to think God, our heavenly father, whispers that very thing to us all on a daily basis! It’s Incredible!
I am encouraged, to see a few men really stepping up in the communities here through the various churches to be the role models the children here are so desperate for. My prayer is that God can be revealed as a proud father to all the children here who are so despite for guidance.
In His TLC,
R.
This is going to be a pretty short post as I have midterms this week, and have been extremely busy with them, among my regular school work and missions work.
Something that has come to my attention a lot while here, has been the absence of Christian male role models, both in the Church and communities. It is an issue I was aware of from our last trip, but during this trip is has become more prominent as I have gotten to know the people here better. Obviously, having a male role model plays a very important role in the lives of children, both boys and girls. This absence is strongly felt by everyone in the communities, adults and children alike.
I was very lucky growing up to have a Christian father of integrity who loved and cared for me, even if he could not always be home as much as he would have liked. And I am very happy that he can be even more present in the lives of my siblings, now that he has a more manageable job. I am constantly faced with challenges in my life, and now that I am grown up and mostly independent, I often find myself asking, “What would my dad do/say in this situation?” and I find myself calling, emailing, and messaging him on a nearly daily basis for advice. It is a true testament of a great father, when their adult children feel they have the freedom and ability to seek their father’s guidance.
Here, on the other hand, most of the children do not have prominent male role models growing up, as many fathers are not interested in being fathers, or they simply do not know they are the father. They do not have the encouragement I had from my father growing up, to become a man of integrity, chasing after God’s heart. I heard a sermon on this subject recently discussing the importance of the father’s role in his children’s lives. What struck me most was the importance of hearing, from your father, how proud he is of you. I will never forget my high school graduation because of that very reason! To actually hear your father say, “Good Job, I’m Proud of You!” as a child, youth, or young adult, is by far greater than any award ever given. And to think God, our heavenly father, whispers that very thing to us all on a daily basis! It’s Incredible!
I am encouraged, to see a few men really stepping up in the communities here through the various churches to be the role models the children here are so desperate for. My prayer is that God can be revealed as a proud father to all the children here who are so despite for guidance.
In His TLC,
R.
BIG NEWS NEWS NEWS, READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Hello treasured family!
I don't remember the last time that I wrote, several weeks ago now, but I have some big updates for you all.
So this past week was Holiday Club. The kids had a two week break because of Easter, so during one of those weeks we run a special program that the kids come to every day to hear the gospel, do a craft, sing songs, play games, and get food. My team of LSEs had to divide between two communities, some were in Capricorn and some were in Overcome Heights. Since last year I have had a heart for Capricorn and I still do, but this past week God gave me a greater heart than I'd had for the Overcome people. I had never been through Overcome other than to get to the container where we have club, but we actually drove the main "road"-a dirt path that was meant for two cars but only wide enough for one and these little shacks (if you can even call them that) lining both sides of the road. Last year when I saw Capricorn and how bad it was it broke my heart, but compared to Overcome, Capricorn seems like luxury. In Overcome, all I saw was utter poverty and it just broke my heart. I started observing more and realized that this place was the only place I've seen where race is mixed. All the other communities are segregated, whites in one place, blacks in another, and coloured in yet another. I found out that Overcome Heights isn't really considered a community; it's a slum. In the communities, people choose to live there because that's where their families are, but in Overcome people stay there because they have no choice-they have nothing. There is a 97% unemployment rate which means only 3% of people have jobs! That's ridiculous and makes more sense why there is such a huge problem with gangs, drugs, giving one's body for sex in return for food or drugs, etc. Anyway, my eyes were opened and I was deeply saddened, heartbroken for these people. It gave me even more love for this place and these people.
Second BIG update has to do with Ambassadors in Sport. I've been trying to keep you all up to date as much as possible, so as you read in my last blog post, I have been praying about a possible calling into sports ministry and was looking into coming back to SA to volunteer with them. They are a Christian based ministry (Christ comes first) who seek to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to people by using soccer. Anyway, the weekend before Easter I filled out the AIS application and had two reference forms filled out and sent in. So yesterday I had my big skype interview with Mark and Kelli from the AIS branch in the states. It didn't really feel like an interview, more like a conversation. Mark said I am two steps ahead of most people that apply to this program and that normally a big part of the interview has to do with doctrine and one's spirituality. However, he said that through my application he could tell that I have a true love and passion for the Lord and he was really excited about that. So while he still asked me theology questions, our interview went in a bit of a different direction. He got to know me a lot better and see my heart and I got to see AIS's and his. In, short he was very impressed by me and my passion and love for the Lord, soccer, and South Africa. The interview was such an encouragement to me and it was really fun. By the end of it I forget what was said but Mark said something along the lines of: it's scary how well you would fit right in with AIS. I will know within one week whether I am accepted or not, so I will keep you all up to date. If I am accepted I will start raising money now (while in SA), by emailing support letters out and such and then continuing to raise money when I get home. I already have 3 fundraising ideas.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I seek to follow God's calling and do His will. There are so many Bible passages that I have been encouraged by over the past couples weeks and have really been digging into the word on different subjects. God has been showing me lots of new things in his word, even though a lot of it is stuff I have read countless times.
Love you and miss you all! Even though I won't want to leave SA, I am excited at the same time to come home and see you all!
For His Glory,
Amy
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps".
-Proverbs 16:9
I don't remember the last time that I wrote, several weeks ago now, but I have some big updates for you all.
So this past week was Holiday Club. The kids had a two week break because of Easter, so during one of those weeks we run a special program that the kids come to every day to hear the gospel, do a craft, sing songs, play games, and get food. My team of LSEs had to divide between two communities, some were in Capricorn and some were in Overcome Heights. Since last year I have had a heart for Capricorn and I still do, but this past week God gave me a greater heart than I'd had for the Overcome people. I had never been through Overcome other than to get to the container where we have club, but we actually drove the main "road"-a dirt path that was meant for two cars but only wide enough for one and these little shacks (if you can even call them that) lining both sides of the road. Last year when I saw Capricorn and how bad it was it broke my heart, but compared to Overcome, Capricorn seems like luxury. In Overcome, all I saw was utter poverty and it just broke my heart. I started observing more and realized that this place was the only place I've seen where race is mixed. All the other communities are segregated, whites in one place, blacks in another, and coloured in yet another. I found out that Overcome Heights isn't really considered a community; it's a slum. In the communities, people choose to live there because that's where their families are, but in Overcome people stay there because they have no choice-they have nothing. There is a 97% unemployment rate which means only 3% of people have jobs! That's ridiculous and makes more sense why there is such a huge problem with gangs, drugs, giving one's body for sex in return for food or drugs, etc. Anyway, my eyes were opened and I was deeply saddened, heartbroken for these people. It gave me even more love for this place and these people.
Second BIG update has to do with Ambassadors in Sport. I've been trying to keep you all up to date as much as possible, so as you read in my last blog post, I have been praying about a possible calling into sports ministry and was looking into coming back to SA to volunteer with them. They are a Christian based ministry (Christ comes first) who seek to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to people by using soccer. Anyway, the weekend before Easter I filled out the AIS application and had two reference forms filled out and sent in. So yesterday I had my big skype interview with Mark and Kelli from the AIS branch in the states. It didn't really feel like an interview, more like a conversation. Mark said I am two steps ahead of most people that apply to this program and that normally a big part of the interview has to do with doctrine and one's spirituality. However, he said that through my application he could tell that I have a true love and passion for the Lord and he was really excited about that. So while he still asked me theology questions, our interview went in a bit of a different direction. He got to know me a lot better and see my heart and I got to see AIS's and his. In, short he was very impressed by me and my passion and love for the Lord, soccer, and South Africa. The interview was such an encouragement to me and it was really fun. By the end of it I forget what was said but Mark said something along the lines of: it's scary how well you would fit right in with AIS. I will know within one week whether I am accepted or not, so I will keep you all up to date. If I am accepted I will start raising money now (while in SA), by emailing support letters out and such and then continuing to raise money when I get home. I already have 3 fundraising ideas.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I seek to follow God's calling and do His will. There are so many Bible passages that I have been encouraged by over the past couples weeks and have really been digging into the word on different subjects. God has been showing me lots of new things in his word, even though a lot of it is stuff I have read countless times.
Love you and miss you all! Even though I won't want to leave SA, I am excited at the same time to come home and see you all!
For His Glory,
Amy
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps".
-Proverbs 16:9
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