blessed to be a blessing

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

22,000 children die each day due to poverty. They die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death. 

Every 21 seconds a child dies of diarrhea. 

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than seventy five percent of the people in the world.

824 million people in the world do not have enough food to eat today.

It costs $0.25 to provide a child with all the vitamins he or she needs in order to grow up healthy. 

If you can attend a church or synagogue meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are more blessed than three BILLION people in the world.

If the entire USA stopped eating ice cream, world hunger could end within one year. 

Two children are sold into slavery every 60 seconds. That's 2,880 children per day. 

Feeling sympathetic? 
Feeling bad for these people and children? 
What are you going to do about it? 

Sympathy without action means nothing. Jesus was compassionate. Compassion moves you into action. It may start with a feeling, but it's much more than that. Jesus met the needs of the people. He gave food, medical care, water, and life. He was practical and got down to their level. He never walked into a room of hungry people and started talking about Himself without first giving them food. James 2:15-16 says, "Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed', but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?"

So, where is the justice? Does compassion produce justice?
No. Compassion brings hope. The reality is- we live in a world that is always going to have injustice and issues. Compassion brings change, healing, life, and HOPE. Compassion brings the freedom to dream, the hope of tomorrow and a future. Hope is contagious. Compassion produces agents of hope. 

This is the world we live in, ladies and gentlemen. If these are just numbers to you- we're doing it wrong. These are real people living in the very same world as us. Breathing the same air and having the very same needs. God created each one of these lives- they aren't accidents. Each life has purpose and was created fearfully and wonderfully by a loving God. These are His children; His people. 

"If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person?" -1 John 3:17. 
My God doesn't beat around the bush, eh? Straight to the point. Jesus LOVED. Love is a verb, people. Love moves. Love has hands and feet. Love is named Jesus Christ. 

Now, if you have ever wondered where God was when you were crying out to Him- He was probably with the millions being raped and sold right now as you read this. He might just be with the 1000 children today who will die because no one ever taught them to wash their hands. He probably is with those on the verge of dying from preventable causes, with the widow, the prostitutes, the orphaned, and the broken. Those are the places where my God abides. These are the places we are called to go. And if you can't go yourself- support someone who can. There are innumerable organizations and opportunities to give. 

Do you believe God is big enough to do miracles? Do you have faith? Well, let's do something. Faith without works is dead. 

"If anyone is poor among your fellow Isrealites or in any of the towns of the land the Lord your 
God is giving you, do not be hard hearted or tight fisted toward them. Rather, be open handed and 
freely lend them whatever they need."

Deuteronomy 15:7-8

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

Hey, outside world. I'm sorry I suck at remembering to write blogs. Life is busy and there's so much to do! It's also overwhelming writing because I never know where to start. I guess I can start by saying my God is so awesome- as usual. I have been learning more than I can possibly write down or describe.

Little update on outreach:
There has been a lot of fighting going on at the border between Haiti and the DR. People are being killed and it doesn't seem to be improving. As we have a few Dominicans on our team, the fear of this fighting is very real. As scary as this is for us North Americans, the reality for them is a lot more frightening than it is for the rest of us. The history of the fighting going on right now goes back hundreds of years. Pray for resolution. God seems to be closing doors and our options in Haiti suddenly limited. God has other plans for us. In Haiti, our plan was to be working with Justice Water which is an awesome movement that we are learning about all this week. As it stands now we will not be entering Haiti, we will be going with Justice Water to another city in the DR called Barahona. So ours plans have changed, but our God hasn't. We are excited and know that God will move where ever He takes us. His thoughts are higher than ours. (:

On January 8th we will be flying to Brazil. There we will be staying in a Favela in Rio at an orphanage. We are going to be working with street kids, with the local church, and with ministries there. We will be there for a month. We have spent time looking into the culture, what they believe and why, and their government issues. There is so much corruption and injustice and so much goes unnoticed. Only to the world does it go unnoticed- God sees, knows, and created every life in that city. I am praying God gives me His eyes for the people in every place we go on outreach. I know He loves them so much and is broken at what is going on there.

As far as teachings so, there has been way more than I could ever write down! We had one week called the Divine Plumbline based on Amos 7:7. We talked about the importance of knowing the TRUTH and how it sets you free. Each one of us have had words spoken over our lives- whether words of life or words of death. It is so important to know where the truth is and if there is no truth to be found in the words of the people around us- do not let those things take root in our hearts. God revealed so much to us and we really dug deep into our hearts that week and spent time searching for God's truth. The reality is there is a war going on around us- but fear of that war is a choice. Satan wants to run our lives by guilt and shame. Shame says, "I made a mistake." Guilt says, "I am a mistake." Shame says I don't like who I am; guilt says I don't like what I do or what I have done. The truth is, God forgives our wrongs and He doesn't make mistakes. We talked about the importance of humbling ourselves and how the world looks at humble people as less. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Let's be humble. None of us are good enough anyway. Only God can judge.

The next week was awesome as well. We had team building. It was probably one of the hardest weeks so far, but we definitely came out much stronger as a team. Our speaker Tim on the last day said, "My job is done, but your guy's job is just starting." It's true- we've got two months of outreach left! Trust is the foundation of a team. My generation is the most judgmental and critical generation yet. At the same time we desire to be accepted and loved and feel part of a family. Another huge problem with my generation and with Christians as a whole is we don't know how to say "I'm sorry", "I don't know", or "I was wrong." We are so prideful. We struggle with taking responsibility and we blame everyone around us. If you don't like what you've done in the past; take responsibility and change it for the future. Each one of us has a past, but by the grace of God we don't live there anymore. Life moves forward.

If we continue to bring our past into our present, we put out future at risk.

I'm ready to move forward, who's with me?

Just amen.

And this is my favourite song :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hymsg5IfXU

God bless! Hugs.

You have called me higher

Each and every day is a new lesson and a new adventure. I am overwhelmed at how much there is to learn, but I am so excited to learn more. I know that I can never ever learn everything- that is the HUGENESS of our God. It is so exciting and I am so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by the people that are here. This is family. We learn together and we cry together. I know that when I cannot hold myself up, they will hold me. I know when I am joyful, they will laugh with me.This fellowship is better than anything I could have imagined. I have so many edifying, God-given friendships and I am so unbelievably grateful to God for bringing each one of the people here at this time. He has hand chosen us- my God is purposeful and deliberate. Blessed.

The past two months God has revealed and changed more in me than I can ever write down. Over and over He has shown me who He really is. I am so thankful that He is not who I think or say He is. He is not trapped in my box or in any way defined by me. He simply is. My God is "I am." He always has been, He is now, and He forever will be. He's God of the universe, my Perfect Father, my best friend, and worthy of praise. He is to be feared & He is to be loved.

Last week I was reading in my quiet time about Jesus feeding the 5,000. That same day in class, our speaker talked about this story in a way I had never heard it. In the Bible, there are no detailed descriptions of the boy that came with these five loaves and fish. As far as we know, he was just a typical little boy. He came expecting a normal day. He probably woke up feeling the same as any other day. I imagine him being alone with a little backpack, ready for a cute typical little boy adventure- but that's just me :) All it took was for him to be willing- to trust. It doesn't say he gave some and kept a little bit for himself because he was hungry. It doesn't say he hid a little bit in his pockets for safe keeping. He gave it all to Jesus. He gave believing that Jesus would provide and multiply the little he had. He placed everything he had in his hands into the hands of The Saviour- and what he gave became more than enough. Jesus took the little bit he thought was small and insignificant, and blessed thousands with it. All this boy did was be willing. That's all God asks of us.

That same day I felt God tugging at my heart to place all that's in my hands into His and watch it become more than enough. I may be small, I may not think I have anything to give, & I may think my hands are empty. God sees through the crowd into my heart and into my hands. He won't relent until He has it all. I'm excited to see what Jesus will do through the bits of things I have taken out of my hands and placed in His. My God does miracles. I am learning daily that it's not about what you give; it's about the attitude of your heart. It's an exciting place to be.

I think my biggest revelation has been realizing that me and Jesus are doing this life together. I talked about this in my last blog. I think it's funny to think I used to stress and worry about "missing God's will" or "choosing the wrong path". We make God's will entirely too complicated. I somehow thought God needed me to accomplish something for Him on earth during my life. As if God needs me, right?! I need Him- not the other way around. If God wanted to do something, He could do it. He doesn't 'need' me to do anything for Him. Nothing I could do would ever make God love me more or love me less. Walking daily with Jesus is the only way to life. He loves me, and without that love, I am nothing. There are enough people playing it safe. I believe we were created for faith, for adventure, and for living on the edge. Our life on earth is only a second in eternity. We were not called to live boring lives- we were made to be radical.  If we take Jesus seriously, if we believe everything He has said, we will see the world change. Keeping our eyes fixed on Him.

At the very start of Jeremiah, he says to God in chapter 1 verse 6, "Oh, God. I really don't know how to speak well enough for that. I am too young." and God replies, "Don't ever say I am too young. Go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. I am there with you."
This is our call, too. Let's go.

We are called to go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Love God, love your neighbor. Care for the widow and the orphan. Love. He said we would do greater things than He did. I am not going to wait for someone else to do what God has called me to do myself. Imagine if we started taking Jesus seriously. I want to give it all I have- running in reckless abandon toward my Creator. This is life. There is no life outside of Him.

"God, I want to know your heart. I want what you want. In my weakness, you are stronger. You must become greater and I must become less. Thank you that you are love- love that can move the mountains, but knows me by name. Let your joy be my strength. In Jesus name, amen."

What are you waiting for?

A typical child laughs about 240 times a day. A typical adult laughs about 15-20 times a day. God created children with a faith much bigger than most adults. They trust, believe, and find joy in the simple things. There should never ever be a reason for that to be broken or stolen. Somewhere along the way we have lost our laughter. The time of childhood is so important in any life. This is where we develop the way we think; this is when we dream; this is when we laugh more than any other time in life.

Each year, sex trafficking victimizes 2.2 million children. That's four children every minute. A child prostitute can serve up to 1,500 clients per year. 78% of child prostitutes will acquire an STD and over 90% of children rescued from brothels are affected by HIV. 8 in 12 child prostitutes will have an abortion. This is not okay. These children are REAL. They have purpose; they have value. No one on this earth has the authority to give a price to anyone. No one should ever be bought or sold. These children, as everyone on this earth, have been made in the image of God. And we are equal, the pimp trafficking children, me sitting here writing this, the clients, the child being trafficked, and you reading this.

These children need someone to stand up for them. It's time for change. It's starts with you and me. Whoever you may be. Tell someone. Pray. Research. Write a letter to the government of a country dealing with these issues. It may be in your own backyard. Open your eyes to see it. It's everywhere.

Human trafficking is a cycle. Hurt people will hurt people. One of the beautiful qualities of our God is that He is into taking broken people and turning them into something beautiful. He wants to take out the roots of human trafficking that have so deeply invaded our world. Be a part of it. They are trapped, they are hopeless, and they need Jesus. There are more slaves in our world today than any other time in our history. Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves.

"People were created to be loved, and things were created to be used. This world is in chaos because things are being loved and people are being used."

What would Jesus do?

He got down and sat in the dirt beside the broken adultress. He loved on the prostitutes. He said in Matthew 19:14, "Let the children come to me." He loved. He accepted them with open arms. My God is love. He was a voice for the voiceless and He was never afraid of letting someone else's dirt get on Himself. He defended. He moved. We are called to live like Him, so it's time to take action. This is the world we live in, too.

God's heart is broken for these people. Is yours?

Now, you may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say that you didn't know.

     

"You can go through your DTS, or your DTS can go through you."

Can't believe we're in week seven! Almost the two month point!! Over half way through lecture phase. Just a little more time before outreach and I know it's going to fly!

The past three weeks have been unbelievable! Unbelievably busy & unbelievably incredible. Our speaker for week 4 was Stephanie Murillo and she taught us about the Fear of The Lord. During the week, God spoke lots! One morning we spent at the beach just resting and spending time with God and He brought me to Romans 8. He spoke directly to my heart and I found so much peace. We talked about God's character and what it really means to fear the Lord.

The next week we had Kay Charlotte. She talked about Identity in Christ. I think that was my favourite week of the school so far We talked about the things that hold us from being the people God created us to be and what holds us from seeing ourselves the way God sees us. We talked about pride, being vulnerable, and how important dealing with the past is. We talked about forgiveness and the effects the lack of forgiveness has on us. She spoke life into us and for me, God brought so much freedom through her. Praise God that His yolk is easy and His burden is light. On Friday that week, we went to a cemetery. Sounds weird- I know. When we first arrived Kay Charlotte told us that God has spoken to her to share Romans 8 with us. The very same passage that God spoke to my heart one week before. We spent time there sitting and talking with God. Verse 10 says, "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." Being in a cemetery really gives you a solid visual of being dead to yourself- it's probably the best visual there could be! When Jesus said, "Take up your cross and follow me" he meant it to be a one way trip- dying to yourself and living in reckless abandon because of what is ALREADY finished. All things are possible with Him.

Last week, week 6, our theme was Destiny and Calling. Life is about walking hand in hand with Jesus Christ. When you're in that kind of relationship with Him, you're right in the middle of God's will. God didn't create us to accomplish His will, He made us for relationship with Him. The end. We don't ever need to stress about missing God's will or being in the wrong place. If we are where ever we are WITH Jesus and our eyes on Him, we are where we need to be. There is always going to be choices and decisions we need to make in life, but if God has an opinion or a dream for you, He will make it clear to you. He'll bring it around again if you miss it the first time :) We need to be wanting Jesus more than we want to know the future. The secret to discovering our destiny is living with our eyes fixed on Jesus, running towards Him daily. Jesus loves me, because He loves me. I didn't do anything to deserve that love, nor could I ever. 

She explained, "If you had children and all day everyday they were running around- cleaning the house, making you food, making you coffee, working all day, giving you money, and building you big beautiful buildings - and because of that at the end of the day they were always exhausted, would that make you happy? No. All you would want for them- your very own children- would be to slow down, take time, sit down, and talk with you. Share their heart. Be close." This is the kind of relationship God wants with us.

I don't serve Him to BE loved by Him,

I serve Jesus because I AM loved by Him.

So, to say the very least- I won't ever be the same :) Life is good. The sun is hot, ministries are awesome, and the joy of the Lord is my strength. 

This past weekend we got to finally go visit NPH which was awesome. Loved seeing everyone there.

Fransisco and Junior, some of my NPH babies.

Some of my favourite ladies! Last week the beautiful girl in the blue dress left us after two months of mission building here. She's super and we miss her. Love you Caedy!

Beach day with my sisters :) 

Early morning sunrises at the beach appreciating God's creation.

My boy Junior.

Anyways, outreach is coming up really fast! Only one month left! We're really trying to fund raise and we're lacking a lot of money. So if you want to help, please let me know! But our God is Jehovah Jirah and He will provide. He wouldn't have called us to these two countries if He wasn't going to help us get there!

Love you all<3 Hugs from the DR to home. God bless,

Mairi MacP.

"Freely you have received, now freely give." -Matt. 10:8

Hey all. I'm sorry I suck at this whole write blogs and keep in touch thing- my bad. Hopefully this will help catch you up on my life :)

The first week of classes we had was on the Father heart of God and our speaker was Mitch. It was such an amazing week. God really spoke through him and really revealed new things to us. We focused on the way Satan uses our insecurities to take over the things that God has given us for good. We talked about how there is nothing in the world that could ever separate us from His love and how important forgiveness is. He said, "Bitterness and unforgiveness is a poison that you drink hoping it will hurt the other person." and that really spoke to me. God doesn't call us to live by feelings, we live by right choices. God's protection comes in at times when we need it. He's not a God who is interested in our comfort zone. He wants to comfort us, but in order to do that we need to be in a place of needing His incredible comfort. This video is neat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koutUz0Im48. God is so neat :)

On Wednesday nights we have a ministry called Malecon where we go into San Pedro with a bunch of food, gather up the street kids, tell them about Jesus and give them food. It's so much fun sharing with them and being blessed by their beautiful smiles! On Friday nights we do "Lemonade and Love" where we go into a park in San Pedro and spend time handing out lemonade, praying for people, and just lovin' them like Jesus would.

We spent this past week in Santo Domingo at the YWAM base there. We shared the speakers with the Arts DTS that is running there and the topic was Communication and Relationships. It was really interesting and especially useful and applicable because we talked a lot about how our interpretations do not always line up with the truth. Living in multicultural community can lead to quite a bit of miscommunication! We talked about how life is a team sport and we were made to work together. Unity is so important. The base there is very, very different from here but so cool. They do some really cool ministries! For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnYcSZFYDXc :)  On Wednesday afternoon we learned a drama and then Wednesday night we were able to go with them for their street ministry and do the drama in a church. Supah cool.  Being there was a huge blessing.

We also got the opportunity to visit an orphanage for special needs children called Casa de Luz. So impacting and eye opening for lots of our group. One guy in our group, Caleb, was here in the DR three years ago. The group he was with visited an orphanage and met a child named Alexander. He was born deaf, blind, mute, and crippled. His name was Alexander.They said he would never walk. When they met this kid, God told Caleb "Leave your shoes behind and see what I can do." He forgot about this experience. When we go to the orphanage he felt like he had been there before. He walked into one of the rooms at this orphanage and saw this very same kid, Alexander. He was standing. God is so good. We witnessed a miracle. Of all the places we could have gone, God took us there to show us just how cool he is. There is no coincidence here. God is the best!

Our DTS got so much closer as a group and we feel even more like a family than we did before. It felt incredibly good to be come home and see everyone here. On our way home there was a strike so there was fires in the middle of the street and people protesting. We had to go through a town instead of the highway which made our drive slightly slower. Kinda scary but an adventure- yahknow. It was an awesome week, but feels good to be back. Home sweet home :)

This is our DTS plus the Santo Domingo group with the nation directors of YWAM Dominican Republic!

This is my bro Juan. He's super.  

On Anna's (our beautiful kitchen lady's) birthday we went out for pizza and celebrated. Fun night. 

Life is good.

On Thursday night (after an incredibly eventful day) we moved in to YWAM here :) our new home. There is six girls in our room- marina, sonya, and I from Canada, one girl from Dominican, one girl from switzerland, and one girl from the states. There is a pool in the center and three buildings. There is ten students in our school. It's been so fun so far- just taking it easy and meeting people. 

We went to some cliffs on saturday and jumped off. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. The water was so blue and clear. It was terrifying but so fun :) then we went to a beach. 

It's so encouraging to be around people who share the same heart and passion for here. It's also a blessing to see how God is at work in the lives of people here- from all around the world. 

Today we had orientation and it was fun- not too exciting but still fun. I am so looking forward to the coming months. It's been five days and this place already feels like home! :) 

Change.

Tomorrow we're leaving H3 to go to YWAM. We plan to go to NPH in the morning for the last time for a while! It's hard to explain to the kids that we're going to be in the country for so long just not with them. Especially the H3 boys. 

Being at NPH on monday was so awesome, got to spend quality time with everyone and loved every second. 

I'm excited for the change but also a little sad. It's bittersweet. Hard to believe it's already been well over a week since I've been home! Time flies :) 

P.S. i love pineapple juice. 

You lead, I'll follow.

The past two days have been so fantastic, just seeing everyone and getting used to here again. We went to NPH yesterday and it was so good being reunited with all those happy faces. My biggest highlight was definitely seeing Jesel :) He makes me smile. We had a good day just seeing everyone and spending time all the people who I've missed so much. It's crazy how much they grow and how much changes in only six months. Jesel is a GIANT. And makes fun of me all the time, as usual.

We went in to Batey Montey Christy and Batey Aleman to see Yaki for a little while in the morning and on our way back Kiki dropped the three of us off in Batey Nuevo so we could say our hello's. We went down to see the house that our group built and say hello down there. Jose's baby is due at the end of this month and he's excited to be a dad! It's so good to be back.

We went into San Pedro after NPH to get some stuff and visit Gerald! But he was in school when we arrived which is a good thing. He is no longer attending school at NPH.

Back at home we were relaxing and just taking it easy with the boys. They are back to normal and we are a little family. Sadly the only family that they really have. Love them so much. 6 more days!

The days are so full and long, but at the end they fly by!

Still feelin' so good to be the place where I love most. The simple life.

\

Home is where the heart is.

Holaaaa! We arrived yesterday with no problems with baggage or anything! We were greeted by Kiki along with Guayoyo and Japo, two of our very favourite boys. The drive didn't feel very long and we had some good company :) We stopped at Jumbo to pick up some food and stuff and then continued to drop Guayo off in the batey. He wanted to stay with us but he had to go to school! Kiki said she might bring him out friday for a visit. 

Getting to H3 was exciting- felt like coming home. Some things have changed, but the important things stay the same. There's three dogs around now, and two of them had puppies. So right now there's 15 little puppies around!

It's so hot and so perfect- as always. Marina, Sonya, and I biked to the pool for internet and a little exploring around Juan Dolio this afternoon. 

 

Cold showers, constant music, good food, constant smoke in the air, tons of dogs, and the happiest people I know. 

Home. 

Hey!

I landed in Toronto yesterday and I'm thinking this is going to be an easy way to let everyone know what's going on in my world. I will post blogs when I can to keep my family and friends updated! Excited and ready for this adventure!