Go. Be. Love.

So for all of you romantics out there, you probably think that this post is going to be strictly about Valentine's day or my wonderful husband, don't you? As much as I could say so many wonderful things about Nate, I'm going to actually spin this post a completely different direction today (sorry to shake things up, but it's more fun this way!) I figured that since Facebook seems to be doing a wonderful job today of highlighting what holiday it is (for those that wanted the reminder and those of you who probably didn't care to be reminded), I figured I'd let them handle the numerous posts of photos of the usual Valentine "stuff"- cards, candy, flowers, treats, quotes....
the list could go on and on, right?

Instead, I thought I'd take a quick moment to highlight a few things that I haven't taken the time to post about since returning from Guatemala a few weeks ago. I promised many of you posts from our trip, so I think I'm finally ready to begin sharing... but where to really begin?

GO. BE. LOVE.

This little phrase was coined by a global mission organization (or at least I assume they came up with it) and so I do want to show credit where credit is due in that this wasn't a phrase I came up with. In looking at today's posts on Facebook, I saw that they had posted what they called "love messages" each hour of the day as part of Valentine's day. These were photos from mission trips they have sent teams on from around the world. Each photo spoke volumes and behind each photo- a story. 

I want to begin by saying this phrase is a challenge in and of itself. 
A challenge to GO to a hurting world that is out there, (whether it be serving those that are hurting in your local city or on the other side of the world) 

BE. (I like to think of this as "be" the hands and feet of Jesus- which can look so many different ways), 

 

LOVE. (this one is pretty self-explanatory, really, but sometimes requires us to stretch ourselves in ways that aren't always easy or comfortable sometimes). 

This last one, for most of us, can present to be the most challenging of all. (love isn't always easy, pretty, or simple; true love isn't always how our modern-day media likes to portray it) 

I think about this phrase and think back to the first day our team met together and we let everyone share why God was leading them to participate in The Village Project- Guatemala and what we wanted God to do in our lives through the trip. As we went around, there were team members who were certainly ready for the challenge, but scared to death of what it might look like to
 GO.BE. LOVE. 

This demonstration of love would require taking risks, getting dirty, having a heart break for the things that break the very heart of God. This is what love looked like for us while serving in Guatemala.

John 13:24-35 (I'll let you look that one up) is a great verse, but I John 3:18 also says it well,  "Little children, let us not LOVE in word or talk, but in deed and truth." When I think about our recent trip, I'm reminded we didn't just show love to those we met just by what we said or shared with them, we also demonstrated our verbal love through our actions as well. 

I plan to share some of these specific stories in the days ahead, but for now, I'll keep it short and simple as it can be summed up in this amazing verse which I'll use in honor of Valentine's Day- " We LOVE because HE first loved us."  It is because of His love that we love and should have a desire to share His love with those both here and around the world.

GO. BE. LOVE.

I promise this one phrase alone will change your life if you live it out. That's my challenge to you on this "love holiday".  How will you GO. BE. LOVE?

Returning From Guatemala

As many of you know, I am just returning from our mission trip to Guatemala in the last week and yes, this blog has been a bit silent for the last few weeks as we were busy prepping our team to leave and preparing for our time of ministry there. Our church is starting a ministry project in Guatemala called The Village Project, where we will help identify a local church planter and begin transforming a village both physically and spiritually. 

 

Through our church, we are working with a stateside ministry, World Help and with Hope of Life in Guatemala, to adopt a village in a rural part of this country where famine and malnutrition continue to take the lives of many. Through this long-term Village Transformation Project, we will support a local church planter, provide clean water, rebuild the school, provide discipleship materials and training, build a church, provide food and medical assistance, and send teams down throughout the year to accomplish these goals and more over the course of the next several years.

This was the first time a team had gone in to serve the village we are adopting and there's nothing like serving in a village of over 700 people and knowing that almost everyone in this village had never even heard the name of Jesus before. We had the privilege of being the first team and also of visiting other villages nearby as well; however, God clearly confirmed that Curva del Pino was where He wanted our church to invest long term and I'm sure as time goes on, He will direct us to other villages there where we can minister.



 

Generally, I am ready to dive in and talk about all of the details immediately upon returning from most of the trips, but this time it was different and took me a good week to begin processing all that we experienced and all that God did during our time there. From serving in the village, feeding families in a dump, worshipping with other villages, to holding toddlers that were less than 10 pounds- these moments will be forever grafted in our hearts and minds.

 

Though I've served and led mission teams in many developing or third world countries over the past 13 years, there were elements of this trip that again were a harsh reminder of the reality of how the rest of the world lives and how spiritually dark many places around the world really are. Yet, in this darkness, it was wonderful to know that there is still a light that can shine brightly in this dark world through the lives of believers reminding us that Jesus is still the Light of the world.

Little girl from Kelly's House- a special needs center

I plan to share a number of stories in the days to come and certainly a lot of photos as well; but in the meantime, I'll let our Guatemala Documentary Video from our trip show you some of the things that we experienced and some of the thoughts I've been processing since our trip. I hope that you enjoy this special video. You will need to click the Vimeo Icon in order to view it and we hope it impacts you just as much as it did our lives.

Guatemala Trip Documentary from The Point on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/58409323