New home for WMF Sierra Leone

I’m excited to share some news about a wonderful opportunity for Word Made Flesh of Sierra Leone. As many of you know – Ryan and I spent 4 months with this ministry last year in SL and the original purpose of this blog was to share updates and process experiences of our time there.

One of the challenges of our time there was not having a central ‘headquarters’ so to speak. We tutored kids in one location, had Lighthouse meetings in another, staff meetings in yet another, and small group meetings in various locations. Even though WMF has had a presence in SL for almost 7 years, they have been – well, a bit nomadic… moving from place to place.

They have recently found an *amazing* (well, I think so!) possibility for their new ‘home’. It is located near Kroo Bay and is huge! They also say it is quite the steal (as far as price goes). It’s really hard to explain why this ‘home’ would be so beneficial and wonderful for the staff and children there – that’s why I encourage you to read about it here from the staff themselves (there’s also pictures!).

If you get excited about this too – please pray about this opportunity for them. They have big dreams for this place and I believe God can use the ‘home’ in the lives of a lot of children/teens that need a safe place. And if you feel led to give towards the purchase of this ‘home’, follow the directions at the end of this post.

Simple Acts of Solidarity: More on water

As I mentioned in our previous post, I recently watched a film that really shook me. If you haven’t watched the documentary FLOW, please do – it’s worth it! As for me, I simply could not ignore these statistics:

• Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. (www.charitywater.org)
• While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five. (www.charitywater.org)
• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. (www.water.org)
• In a scientific study in which more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water were tested, about one-third of the bottles contained synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. (www.nrdc.org)
• Water is a $400 billion dollar global industry; the third largest behind electricity and oil. (CBS News, FLOW)

• The U.N. estimates that it would require an additional $30 billion a year to provide safe clean drinking water to the entire planet…  last year alone, we spent 3 times that amount on bottled water. (FLOW)

After watching this film, I won’t touch bottled water! Ok, maybe what I should say is that I won’t buy bottled water. And even taking a step further than that, I’m not so sure Ryan and I want to support these companies (like Nestle, Coke, and Pepsi). After seeing their lack of social responsibility… basically killing in the name of the bottom dollar – how can I give them my money?

This goes beyond water for us. After reading a few other books and spending some time in Africa, Ryan and I were already thinking about what we spend our money on and what we had (ignorantly) been supporting (like multi-million dollar corporations that make their money at the expense of the poorest of the poor). I think I’m getting ahead of myself – I’ll share more on another Thought{full} Thursday.

However, today I’m focusing our ’simple act of solidarity’ on…

• not ever buying bottled water
• committing to be more mindful of this issue and how we can make the smallest difference
• shining a ’spotlight’ on this issue and…
• signing this petition:

ARTICLE 31

Everyone has the right to clean and accessible water, adequate for the health and well-being of the individual and family, and no one shall be deprived of such access or quality of water due to individual economic circumstance.

I encourage you, even if you are just visiting for a second – please take the time to sign the petition to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right. There are millions of people who cannot afford water and should not be forced to pay for it. Water is not gasoline… it is a basic human right.

Thought{full} Thursday: Flow

Over the past couple of years, Ryan and I have read a lot of books and watched a lot of documentaries that have really made us think. As a result, we have been more mindful of how we live and how our actions affect more than just ourselves.

Ryan and I were so ignorant about these things before and still unsure about what to do with it all. Our hearts are getting heavier and heavier with this knowledge and need an outlet and place to share (we invite your input as well).

One documentary that I have watched recently (this past week to be exact) is FLOW. Please watch the trailer below for this incredible documentary:

This documentary is so heavy on my heart. The facts and statistics put forth in this film were truly disturbing. I strongly encourage you to take the time to put this film on your queue and watch it. The movie is much better than you may think (trust me – I’ve watched a lot of good and bad documentaries!).

And FYI: I’ve never considered myself an environmentalist or activist (not that those things are bad – I just never thought about it), but these resources (FLOW being one of them) have certainly opened my eyes to social responsibility. I hope it has the same affect on you.

More to come on this subject later…

Early signs of winter…

It’s official – winter is on its way! So much for our fall!

(taken from our deck… no Pikes Peak today)

So, it looks my ‘hiatus’ post was not accurate. I felt bad for ignoring our poor blog for so long that I thought I should take an official ‘hiatus’ from it. What I realized is that I feel more freedom and inspiration to post when I don’t feel the pressure to do so. So, no more posted hiatus(s). From now on, if I don’t feel inspired – I’ll take the freedom to ‘disappear’ and make a blogging appearance when I feel like it! Ha!

Wake up!

Part of the reason I think I love the previews for this movie is b/c of this song. Being the little music lover that I am – I quickly looked up the band and the lyrics… and of course – it’s my new favorite song. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this band before (considering how long they’ve been around). Click below to hear the song – (I couldn’t figure out how to just get audio).

Anywho – in my previous post, I mentioned that this preview/movie was more to me than just that… it was a representation of something that I think about almost on a daily basis. And this song does a great job of describing that (I guess that’s why they used it in the preview – how clever!).

As some of you may know (yes, the 2-3 of you that actually read this), I work for a child placement agency. In the short while that I’ve been there, I have heard (and seen) so many sad and wonderful stories about these kids that end up in foster care. A lot of these kids’ lives have been turned upside down, where they are left wondering, ‘Does anyone care? Where is my home? Who are my parents? Will anyone ever love me?’ It’s heartbreaking. Understandably, most of them have a lot of attachment issues.

My heart truly goes out to these kids and I often wonder what their little worlds must be like. That’s why I think this movie has captivated me so. Through the eyes of this little boy, I can see the same eyes of so many hurting and wounded little souls that get stuck in ‘the system’.

I could literally go on and on about how I feel about this subject, but I thought I would spare you all and shut up and share these wonderful lyrics:

Somethin’ filled up
my heart with nothin’,
someone told me not to cry.

But now that I’m older,
my heart’s colder,
and I can see that it’s a lie.

Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.

If the children don’t grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We’re just a million little gods causin’ rain storms turnin’ every good thing to rust.

I guess we’ll just have to adjust.

With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’ to be
when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’
With my lightnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am, go-go, where I am

You’d better look out below

I love how this song calls the children to ‘wake up’ and not believe the lie they’ve been told their whole lives to repress and bottle up all their emotions… but instead to embrace their mistakes and be honest w/ themselves. Beautiful! For a more in-depth look into the songs meaning, click here.

Where the Wild Things Are

I know that I recently posted that Ryan and I are taking a ‘hiatus’ from our blog. But I just felt so compelled to share my excitement and love for this upcoming movie – that I decided to post anyways!

I can’t tell you how many times I have watched the previews for this movie. It’s genius adaptation, beautiful creativity, and raw emotions capture me every time! I get goosebumps and I even cried while watching it! I know, that’s a bit extreme. But I believe that what I feel is bigger than this movie/preview. If I have the time… maybe I’ll delve into ‘why’ later. But right now, I just want to share this:

We don’t go out to the movies often (because we hate to spend so much money on what we feel we could do at home for a fraction of the cost and be much more comfortable). But, I simply cannot wait to see this movie! So, we’ll be making a special exception for this one! I just hope the movie is as good as the previews.