LIONHEARTED LANDLOPER

“Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people.” - Robert D. Lupton ***        A lot of times, people have a certain mindset regarding mission trips. "I'm going to save people," they think to themselves, "I'm going to change the world." But, in reality, you're not.  Long-term missionaries spend years building relationships and working among people in order to learn their culture and earn respect. Spending two weeks in a country you know little about does not make you a hero nor will it spark some major revival. Do not go if you think you are going to "fix" their country or do something they cannot do for themselves.        Whatever it is that we are going to do, there are people already in the country who could do it just as good (and probably better) for cheaper than the price of our plane tickets to even get there. More problems arise when people show u...

For context, read my previous posts: Hospitals -&- Thanksgiving ,  Hospitals -&- Christmas . ***         The day started out normal. A good day, actually. A fun day; a school day. I showed up to school at 9:00 AM, per usual. It was one of the first days with sunshine and blue skies in a while. I found Jaren wandering the hallways of the church in his big camo slippers. I asked him if he wanted to go for a walk and we ended up pretending to be spies and dramatically running, rolling, and hiding around corners. We found Tracie and asked her to be a spy with us. After maybe 10 minutes of sprinting past doorways and "spying" on innocent bystanders, we discovered that the baptismal pool was open, warm, and unoccupied.        "We should all three put on our swimsuits and sneak into the baptismal pool when no one is looking" Jaren suggested.        And although we all knew he was originally joking, it somehow se...

This is a paper I recently worked on in my English class. The topic was one very close to my heart, and I found my research to be very fascinating. I think every Christian should be aware of this issue and have an idea on where they stand. This paper attempts to present the ideas at either end of the controversy without taking either side. ~***~ Insider Movements        Among Christian missionaries today, there is a topic that has caused much controversy. This is the issue of insider movements. The term refers to “. . . any movement to faith in Christ that remains integrated with or inside its natural community” (Higgins, 2009, p. 75). Specifically, a group of people within a highly religious culture who, although confessing faith in Christ, still identify with their original religion. Most commonly, this refers to the occurrence among Muslim people groups. The issue is regarding syncretism and heresy — how much of Christianity as it is today is necess...

    "Next year I will be better." She said simply, as if somehow she had disappointed me by being sick on Christmas.     But I don't need you to be better. I don't require that from you, mom. The holidays aren't for you to entertain or please me. I would rather be with you right now than anywhere else. This is time for us to be together.     After doing a biopsy on my mom's brain, the doctors were able to diagnose her with Central Nervous System Lymphoma. I never saw any of this coming. But I guess.. How could I?     Mom has gotten progressively better since they started treatment. She wears normal clothes and eats normal food. She can wheel herself around in a wheelchair and she keeps getting stronger. Sure, it's hard to see her like this -- but it's nice to see her improving.     I did not know I would be spending Christmas in a hospital this year. And no one knew the Messiah would be born in a mang...

    Hospitals are peculiar places. Each day in a hospital feels incredibly long -- yet somewhat like it only lasted around four hours. It feels like you entered some other dimension where the outside world just pauses until you leave.  The only way to occupy oneself and escape from the tormenting thoughts demanded by your surroundings is to stare blankly at a small table in a waiting room nearby and lethargically put together a puzzle that is most likely missing pieces.  I met a woman in that waiting room. Her name was Lily. Lily was beautiful and alone. She spoke broken English and had a broken heart. She told me about her husband who either had cancer, a stroke, or both (it was hard to understand some of what she said). Either way, she was obviously afraid. I asked her if I could pray with her, and she let me.  ~let's rewind~ Everything started when I was at a conference playing the cello in the band. I got a call that my mom was taken to the...

        Something inside of me is starting to feel restless. Partly because I don't feel very "Beccca-y" anymore, and partly because I miss the short, refreshing adventures that gave me a break from the humdrum of daily life last year.        I feel like I don't get to be myself. I feel slightly too common. All I do is go to school, do homework, go to work, and sleep. Markers, dictionaries, and journals are collecting a little too much dust. There's not any free time to set up a hammock and spend an hour doing Beccca stuff like I'm so used to. Part of that is okay and just necessary in this season of life. But also, having that time to fully be myself is very important. The lack of it leaves me feeling slightly unfulfilled and unsatisfied. I need some sort of outlet to express my manymanymanymany thoughts, opinions, and feelings. I need time to draw pictures and play with cardboard and sing as loud as possible. But I also need to understand t...

School has been so good. I love my ministry internships, roommate, classmates, job, and the absence of obtaining student debt. I love the mountains. I laugh harder here. I feel more independent here. It's good for me, and God is so obviously working. I am confident in the fact that I am where I need to be. Also, my life is hilarious. So I started making videos with my roommate.