My Hero:  Olga (red shirt)

Can't believe that I've held out on you all for this long but it's finally time to introduce you to my current hero.  Her name is Olga, she's married, has 3 kids, lives in Monterrey and had to vision to feed hungry people in one of Monterrey's most dangerous neighborhoods.   She sounds awesome already doesnt she?  

Olga feels called to feed people, to serve people, to clothe poor little kids, tell them about Jesus, love people.  She felt God leading her to the place in Monterrey where the police refuse to go to at night and she answered that call.  She set aside other pursuits in this life and decided to stand with the defenseless, the hungry, the naked, the poor.  

Who goes to a place of sadness, crime, abuse, and extreme poverty and says that God is going to restore that place and those people?  Olga did.  She's just as "normal" as anyone else- as your neighbor or the person who bagged your groceries yesterday.  But clearly, Olga is different, very different from most people I know.  She can sense where God is leading her - She is believing God and trusting in him to feed hundreds of people everyday.   A couple of weeks ago, I read the following in a book by John Piper:  "Ask yourself: Of all the spiritually minded people you have known -- those who seem to walk most consistently with God and are in tune with God's Spirit -- do they not all overflow with Scripture?  Prick them, and they bleed Bible."  Last week, I went to breakfast with Olga and 2 other Back2Back staff members to tell Olga that someone had just donated 7000 pesos (which is around $700 USD) and that she could finally purchase the old truck she's been renting when she needs to transport food donations to the people.  Olga didn't even have a car.  Her husband rents a taxi everyday and at the end of the day, he can drive food out to the people in the rio.  Olga and her husband just cried tears of joy at the table.  It was the answer to their prayers and she told us of the dreams she's been having for this ministry and where she feels like God is going to provide.  If you talk to Olga, she bleeds Bible.  She bleeds hope and encouragement and vision.  

When I think of all the villages that must exist in our world where people literally starve to death and who might possibly be the one to "rescue" those people and feed them- I think i often envision some hollywood celebrity with tons of money walking around the dirt roads of the village playing with kids.  Perhaps my idea is totally off.  I'm beginning to realize that more often than not, it is not the wealthy (in terms of monetary wealth) who feed these people and save their lives, rather it is the poor themselves who are wealthy with vision and hope and determination.  

So how is Olga doing these days?  She's working to build a soup kitchen, outreach center, pharmacy, doctor's office, church, community center, feed children and clothe them... all in the place that the rest of us had already forgotten with money she doesn't even have yet.  

"Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." - 1 John 3:18

Christians are always saying that God loves you.  Do you ever feel like maybe that statement is true for some people but perhaps not for you? I mean, what if you are a drug addict, or you curse like a drunken sailor?  Better yet, what if you ARE a drunken sailor (maybe we could be friends?)-- does God still love those people?

The orphans we minister to here in Monterrey deal with similar questions i think.  They probably have to battle daily with the idea of whether or not anyone loves them or want them.  They've been abandoned before- what would lead them to think that it wont happen again in their lives?

Lately, I've been contemplating the labels and stereotypes that go along with my job description:  "Missionary."  Contrary to the stereotypes I don't live in a tent, i dont eat rice everyday, i dont wear long skirts or work boots, i'm not perfect or ultra holy, god doesnt love me more than someone with a "real job," i have attitude problems, i struggle with my self image, i have insecurities, doubts, fears, worries, and I fall short of the glory of God and his standards all the time.  I'm nothing special on my own.  I don't do anything that would be considered praise-worthy or "saintly" on my own.  I am just as messed up as the next guy.

Why do we think that God loves us based on how we act? The Bible says that we are justified (judged or made right), deemed righteous (like considered "good" or "holy" in the eyes of god), forgiven (all my sins canceled and made right) based on my FAITH in God and his son Jesus Christ to be the payment for my sin.  The bible does not say that "good" people will go to heaven.   In fact, according to God's word, none of us would make it into heaven because we all mess up and no one has ever been "perfect" according to God's standards except Jesus.  God loves us.  God wants us to be free from the weight and guilt and conviction of our sin.  That was the whole point in sending Jesus to earth.

That's straight up beautiful.  Because of that, I've got freedom to be who God created me to be.  I  believe God's promises, ask for forgiveness and choose to pursue God.  I've got the freedom to have a conversation with God.  Have you ever had like 1 question you'd want to ask god if you got to meet him?  God wrote down a billion on his thoughts in the Bible.  We can read God's thoughts - sounds crazy right?  The bible is the most historically accurate book EVER written.  I used to do a lot of research to investigate whether or not the bible was a scam.  Is the bible legit or is it just a bunch of stories that don't hold up at all to archeological or historical findings?  Like historians have proved the bible wrong like a ton of times right? If these questions resound with you (cause that was totally me), I dare you to go to the library or bookstore and pick up some books on who wrote the bible, how did they put it together, when was it written, what history supports it or doesnt support it, read some passages in the bible itself and then see if those events never happened.  And after you do, please get back to me- I'd love to know what you find out. 

As for me.... God's love for me (ME: totally screwed up in my own right), is compelling.  It compels me to want to learn about him, seek him out, get to know what he's like.  With God, I've got some insane joy.  And dang, no one can try to convince me that one does not need joy or that lasting joy can be found in a nicer car, a new wardrobe or more money.  I want joy that doesn't fade when I get fired from my job.  I want joy that fills me up when I'm literally all alone in a FOREIGN COUNTRY.  I want joy that surpasses all understanding.  I want the confidence to believe that the God of the universe thinks that I'm awesome and important.  With God, I've got hope, joy, a purpose, challenges, freedom, strength, peace, justice, passion, and excitement. 

In what do you base your hope?  Who or what defines you?  Jesus asks us, "Who do you say that I am?"  - Matthew 16:15

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."  John 10:10

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  John 8:32

"Know that the LORD is God.  It is he who made us and we are his."  Psalm 100:3

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10:9

Prayer needed!

All of you blog followers out there:  I need your help.  Some of my favorite kids need your help.  A home that we serve here called El Retiro Juvenil is in desperate need of money for food.  Several months ago, they lost 50% of their monthly financial supporters.  Often, Americans who visit the homes we serve here ask what happens when the money runs out, how do they feed the kids?  Well that is a great question.  Our response is usually that they just "add water to the beans," which means literally adding water to a pot of beans to make it go further.  This home has been doing that for months now and the kids need to eat.  Could you please pray for new monthly supporters to come alongside this pastor and his family and the orphanage they run.  Also, for Carlos and Martha (the directors) to have the peace to sleep and not stay up all night worrying about how to feed their 23 children.  God is able- let's ask Him.