This past week I had the opportunity to visit Gracie again at Heart of Christ Ministries here in Honduras. For me, it was a couple of days to have Christian (English-speaking) community and to have hours of uninterrupted quiet time with God. Since being there a year ago, God has provided in huge ways and her ministry has taken off- more than doubling in members and property size! She currently has a month 9 World Race team there with 7 beautiful women, and I was blessed to spend time with them. Gracie has designated shopping days for her to run errands and shop in Tegucigalpa, so I tagged along with two of the racers.
On our way back, I sat in the truck bed with one of the young women and had a great discussion on Christianity. It basically boiled down to this: you cannot put Christians in a box.
I don't mean you can't shove a bunch of Christians in a cardboard box. I'm sure it would be possible in some strange way. What I mean is, there is not a required profile to be a Christian and to live a Christian life. To be a Christian is to live for the Lord, to answer His call, to honor and obey Him, and to love Him with heart, soul, and mind. Aside from that, God doesn't give a 'Christian profile.'
It is almost the opposite, really. God calls us to be different, to be unique, to answer the specific call that He gives each of us, and to respond to it according to our experiences, character, and individuality. If He wanted us to be the same, He would have made us just that- cookie cutter versions of each other.
There are different types of Christians because our pasts shape who we are; everyone has a different testimony. Likewise, there are different types of missionaries because there are different areas of ministry. To think that all ministry is the same and that each person does the same sort of work is false. There are missionaries here who focus solely on support for other missionaries. Without them, we would all be a mess! Others work primarily in schools or partner with existing local churches. Others build churches. Some do informal ministry with house visits, family support, and education support. Some have children homes. Some work in the streets.
We cannot all be put in the same box, the same category.
Because each person answer a different calling and has a different ministry, we cannot all be the same. I will not look, act, or think the same as every other Christian.
In order to accomplish what God has called me here to do, I have to step out of the box of Christianity. Outside of the stereotype and the cookie-cutter perception. I have to level myself with the Honduran people, especially the young adults, in order to reach them. I have tattoos, piercings, and black hair. They can relate to me. But they can also learn from me and from what the Lord has given me. Likewise, they will learn about the Lord. This does not make me a 'bad Christian' because I do not look like someone else. It only makes me different.
What has God called you to do?
Have you stepped outside of the box?
I am sure this post will step on some toes, but maybe that is a good thing. It is beneficial to be self-aware and to recognize how you can better reach those to whom you are ministering.
Here in Ciudad Espana I am continuing to work with the young people and different families. The past month there have been numerous extra visitors almost each night for dinner. It is so wonderful to have them here! To see and feel the response of the community, and especially the jovenes, is encouraging. I love spending time with them and showing them more of who the Lord is. They each have started to take turns praying before dinner and are learning more each day about what it means to be a Christian. Not only that, but they are able to eat a good, healthy meal that they probably would not have gotten otherwise. Many of them come from poor, struggling families who are unable to buy food each day. Pray for each of them that they will accept the Lord into their hearts and that He will continue to bless them!
Because of this increase in dinner guests, I am using a bit over my budget for food. I am looking for one or two supporters that will help this aspect of my ministry so that I can continue to have dinners with these wonderful people and they can learn more about Christ! Please consider helping! I am estimating that it would be two monthly supporters at about $25 each.
God called me to be different, to live outside of the box, and to go into the unknown. He continues to put people in my path and to give me the resources to help them. I am so thankful I am an out-of-the-box Christian!
God bless all of you!
To help with my ministry in Honduras, donations are possible online and through mail at:
www.worldoutreach.org/donations (click Jennifer Olsen from the drop down box)
and
World Outreach Ministries (Jennifer Olsen #263)
P.O. Box B
Marietta GA 30061
Friday, May 29, 2015
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Lose Yourself to Find Yourself
In the past week, we went from 98 degrees with a blazing sun to 70 degrees with pouring rain. It has been more than a blessing, but also a struggle. Living in a secure home with a hole-free roof and windows that close, I am able to sit in my house- dry- while the rain passes and nourishes the earth. With the heat from the past weeks, the grounds are dry, the rivers are non-existent, and the crops have little water to grow. We need water. On the flip side, there are countless people that do not live in a secure home like my own. They live in homes made from cardboard boxes and scrap wood that they can salvage from the garbage. They live on mountainsides that throw water and mud from the downpours or in valleys that collect all of that same water and mud. The rain is good, but it is damaging. A blessing, and a travesty. Our prayer: Send the rain, God, but be please be gentle.
There is, however, something about rain that brings me peace. It transports me back to my old apartments on rainy days where I could sit for hours with a good book and a pot of coffee. Yes, a pot. (A cup just never seems to be enough). With little explanation, it connects me to my 'old life' and launches me into self-reflection. How far I have come, how much has changed, how I have changed. And those looming, eternity-long questions, who am I and why am I here?
Then I realize, somewhere along the way, I lost myself. Not like the early 2000's Eminem song, but like someone who has changed. I am no longer the same as my 17-year-old self; the one that people have imprinted in their minds as 'me.' My dreams have changed, my goals have changed, my priorities have changed, and I have lost that old self.
Without a doubt, living in another country changes a person. Or, it should. A culture with different traditions, rules, history. A language that doesn't always seem to make sense. It is challenging, rewarding, and life altering. Even more so now that I am the only gringa in the town that I live in, I have lost. Lost selfish qualities that I used to have. Lost previous goals and dreams. Lost fear and embarrassment (not that there was much less of either for me to lose). Lost self-dependency. Lost unwillingness.
But, I have gained.
Losing myself has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Because I have not lost myself involuntarily or begrudgingly. I have lost myself to this culture, but more importantly, I have lost myself to God. And by losing myself to Him, I have gained. I have lost my goals and they have been replaced with His goals, His plans. And boy are His goals better than my own. There is no impossible or improbable. There is only hope.
Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."
Luke 9:23-24
I came to Ciudad Espana almost temporarily. Then God gave me a house, community, and new goals. After seeing the need for various services in the community, God has called me once again to step in. In a culmination of what seems like all of my life skills and past ministry experience, I am responding. I will be opening a coffee shop that will sell fair-trade coffee and basic pastries. More importantly, it will be used to teach English classes, tutor, give artisan workshops to women, have small groups for young people, and just generally provide a safe place for the community.
This is not something I would have previously done or even considered. It was not my goal when I came to Honduras, and certainly is not what graduated from college to do. But things change, people change. I lost myself to find myself. I found myself in the plans of God and His plans for this community. I found myself in His love for me and His love for this community. He has provided the plans, the place, and the people. Likewise, I know He will provide the proper finances and resources.
Goals change and plans change, we lose and we win, but God's ultimate plan does not change, and with Him, we always win. We are always found in Him.
The rain comes, and it makes all things nourished and new.
Please join in prayer with me for this new chapter that is anything but temporary.
If you feel called to help, funds will be required for the start-up and initial preparation. Donations are accepted both online and through mail. Details can be found on the right hand margin of the page.
There is, however, something about rain that brings me peace. It transports me back to my old apartments on rainy days where I could sit for hours with a good book and a pot of coffee. Yes, a pot. (A cup just never seems to be enough). With little explanation, it connects me to my 'old life' and launches me into self-reflection. How far I have come, how much has changed, how I have changed. And those looming, eternity-long questions, who am I and why am I here?
Then I realize, somewhere along the way, I lost myself. Not like the early 2000's Eminem song, but like someone who has changed. I am no longer the same as my 17-year-old self; the one that people have imprinted in their minds as 'me.' My dreams have changed, my goals have changed, my priorities have changed, and I have lost that old self.
Without a doubt, living in another country changes a person. Or, it should. A culture with different traditions, rules, history. A language that doesn't always seem to make sense. It is challenging, rewarding, and life altering. Even more so now that I am the only gringa in the town that I live in, I have lost. Lost selfish qualities that I used to have. Lost previous goals and dreams. Lost fear and embarrassment (not that there was much less of either for me to lose). Lost self-dependency. Lost unwillingness.
But, I have gained.
Losing myself has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Because I have not lost myself involuntarily or begrudgingly. I have lost myself to this culture, but more importantly, I have lost myself to God. And by losing myself to Him, I have gained. I have lost my goals and they have been replaced with His goals, His plans. And boy are His goals better than my own. There is no impossible or improbable. There is only hope.
Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."
Luke 9:23-24
I came to Ciudad Espana almost temporarily. Then God gave me a house, community, and new goals. After seeing the need for various services in the community, God has called me once again to step in. In a culmination of what seems like all of my life skills and past ministry experience, I am responding. I will be opening a coffee shop that will sell fair-trade coffee and basic pastries. More importantly, it will be used to teach English classes, tutor, give artisan workshops to women, have small groups for young people, and just generally provide a safe place for the community.
This is not something I would have previously done or even considered. It was not my goal when I came to Honduras, and certainly is not what graduated from college to do. But things change, people change. I lost myself to find myself. I found myself in the plans of God and His plans for this community. I found myself in His love for me and His love for this community. He has provided the plans, the place, and the people. Likewise, I know He will provide the proper finances and resources.
Goals change and plans change, we lose and we win, but God's ultimate plan does not change, and with Him, we always win. We are always found in Him.
The rain comes, and it makes all things nourished and new.
Please join in prayer with me for this new chapter that is anything but temporary.
If you feel called to help, funds will be required for the start-up and initial preparation. Donations are accepted both online and through mail. Details can be found on the right hand margin of the page.
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