WOW!!

I'm still in shock at this all and as time gets closer, I'm becoming more and more anxious/excited. I have training camp in a little over a month and I leave the country in three months!! Ahh!! I'm looking over all the stuff I need for the trip: backpack, daypack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, head lamp, tent, netbook (well I just need a laptop) and I'm getting overwhelmed. As I look over this list, though, it becomes all the more real that this is REALLY happening!!

I just spent the last hour reading about the specifics for each item I need and watching videos from World Racers that are currently on the trip or have already been. This is going to be an amazing year and God has been preparing me for it my whole life!! My family and friends joke that I don't shave often enough or bathe often enough and I always tell them I was made for an island. Well, I can definitely say I'm made for this kind of lifestyle. I'm holding all this love that I'm dieing to give away and I know that I will have the opportunity. I'm even more excited about the prospect that on this trip I may find the people and place that God is calling me to pour my life into!!!



I can't wait!! Please be praying and if you can help support me financially, my first deadline is coming up on June 18th. I need $3000 and I'm currently at $895. I've learned to trust God in this because last year when I went to Bali, God brought up $2000 in two weeks. We have a BIG God and He is capable of unimaginable things!! I'm thrilled to spend my life dedicated to whatever He has in store!
 
madissonwisher.theworldrace.org

It's di Easster bUnny!

I was watching this documentary the other day (before I would have thought of myself as lame for watching a documentary but my roomies here have gotten me into it and I really like it!!) any who it was called God Grew Tired of Us. It was about the lost boys of Sudan, of how they came together and how they have been living together for over 10 years now waiting for the Sudan to stop fighting.  If you get the chance, WATCH IT!!  Some of the boys - now men- were brought to the states to give them opportunites and it follows there journey to the states over a 3 year period.  It was odd to watch as they were brought into an apartment and had to learn how to turn lights on and off, learn that food is ready made and they don't have to cook it, learn that trash goes into a trash can.  Just stuff we don't even think about.
  
   Then it came to their first Christmas time.  Now these boys know who Jesus is and they know the Bible, but they were so confused at who Santa Claus is and why we have Christmas trees and such.  One of them was even asking, "Is this in the Bible?"  How pathetic that this is what our holidays have come to be about.  How sneaky and deceptive has Satan become in our lives.  In the lost boys camp, to GET READY for Christmas, something we wouldn't even think necessary, they have celebrations and sing songs and fellowship.  We spend our time in stores and exhausted wasting our money on things that will not be used after 2 months and forgetting who the holiday is about.  Not only that but we allow Satan to decide what standards we live to, we watch the ads on TV that show kids opening all these presents and being happy and we think, if we can't do that for our children, we aren't good parents. FALSE!!  If it were up to Christ, there would be no presents for us, this is HIS birthday anyways.  We don't buy presents for other people on our birthdays, this is a time that should be spent repenting, falling at His feet and worshiping Him, not just the night before at a 2 hour candlelight service.  Satan is so deceptive and turns our minds to materalistic things in the western culture.  We need to be aware of this as Paul says in 2 Cor. 2:11 - "we may not be taken advantage of by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his intentions." [a little out of context, but still applies to this]

What does this have to do with Easter?  What is Easter to the follower of Christ but the most fantastic day of all???  HE IS RISEN!! Our Lord and Savior is NOT dead, He IS alive!  He was buried for THREE days and then He rose from the dead, not by anyone's power but His own!!  Our God is STILL alive, He died for OUR sins and then DEFEATED death!! Who else can boast of that?  They yelled at Him, "He saved others, He cannot save Himself." -Mark 15:31, but He was not on the cross for Himself, He was on the cross for us!  So to fill this day and make it about egg hunts and chocolate bunnies and all fun and games, but it's gotten ridiculous.  Our God did not die and rise again so that we could sit around painting eggs in honor of Him.  This is Satan!!  The devil has brought in materialism and consummerism to deter us from what is truly important on this day.  Easter should be spent in complete and total worship to the Lord!!  I say this not from a point of having used my Easter wisely to praise the Lord to the fullest, but a point of realization that I could have spent so much more time honoring Him that day.  It just disgusts me that people would wonder if Santa is in the Bible because we make it such a big deal that it overshadows Christ!!!!

It's a Race...I'm winning, I'm winning!!

First, if you know what movie that is from, you are fantastic!

Second...it's time for that big news.  If you haven't received a letter from me, that's because it's either in the mail or I don't have your address.  Sooo....

I'M GOING ON THE WORLD RACE....I leave in September for 11 months in 11 countries!!  I'll be doing ministry work in each of these countries and seeing what God is already doing in these places.  I'm so excited to go back overseas because I know that my heart is drawn there.  I need support in this for sure because in order to go on the trip I have to raise $15,000.  That's a lot, I know, but I have to raise it in staggered amounts.  So by July 18th I have to have $3000, but Sept. $6000,  by Dec. $10,000 and by March the full amount.  If you really break it down though, if 150 people give $100, I'm covered.  Or even if 75 of my friends and family decide that for two months they will give $50, again covered.  It's not much when it comes to the Lord.  He has provided for me before and I know that He has given me a strong community for just this reason. 

If you would join me in this journey as I learn more about God and share with you, here is a link to my World Race blog.  I don't have a large amount of details yet, but I will be keeping everyone updated here and on my other site.  Also, please e-mail me your e-mail address if you would like to be on my prayer/update list that I will start sending out in the next few weeks.  Prayer is going to be so huge for me in this whole experience and I need you all.  God is going to stretch me and challenge me in this time of support raising as well as spending 11 months overseas make relationships and sharing His love. Thanks to all the people that have already started praying for me and for all that will now.  I have have the most amazing people in my life! Love you all!!

madissonwisher.theworldrace.org/

There's a Fort calling my name

   I feel like everyone knows about this, but maybe not.  I kept it hush-hush at first simply because I was not excited about it, but I've come to terms and decided that God definitely wants me back at Fort Caswell this summer!!

   Yup, I'll be back as Co-head lifeguard.  This will make summer number four, gah I'm getting far too old for this mess.  ha ha!  I had originally hoped to stay here in California for the summer with the program that I'm working with, but it works out because me not coming back here allows others to get the opportunity to be a part of this fantastic program.  I received a phone call from a Mr. Hemphill asking me to come back and my first reaction was "no", I'd given up any idea of going back to Caswell two summers ago.  Then this phone call, I spent a whole weekend debating, pro and coning, calling people to get opinions, praying, reading my Bible.  I really didn't want to go back, not because I don't absolutely love the people and the place, I just felt like my time there was done and it was time for me to move on.  But in a month and 1 week, I'll be back there, so I guess my time wasn't over.

   Also...this isn't my big news!!  A lot of you will be receiving letters from me this week and if you want one, send me your address.  I'll be saying what it is probably by Monday!

Send Me, I'll Go!

Lecrae just says it better than me...

i seen it with my own two,
there's no way i can show you

a perfectly poverty stricken people with no view.

And i bet you can't believe this,

they never heard of jesus.

Heard young butler, lil wayne, and young jeezy.

No one's signing up to go on missions this summa.
Rather sit at home and watch exibit pimp in a humma
while a nine year old is shot down.
No one's screaming 'stop now!'
no bridge illustrations for criminals who on lock down.
People deep in africa
looking for an answer bra'.
In china man,
they're dieing man,
until they know who died for sins.
So look what grace did.
Not for us to stay here
inside our comfort zones
at home in mama's basement.
Get out on the grind y'all.
Ain't no better time doll.
I know y'all read the great commission.
Let me just remind y'all:
make disciples of the nations.
Teach'm to obey the lord.
Have to lead someone to christ before i face the lord.
hey! After, 1,000 years in the west and the churches
get'n bigger daily without understand'n worship. (say what?)
Some regenerate but a lot ain't saved.
You walk outside and be surprised cuz the block ain't changed.
And the numbers they be get'n me.
Something just ain't hit'n them.
America ain't christian they practice'n the ritual.
That's why we should be mission though.
Hey, what you think i'm spit'n for?
The united states is die'n
and in the east is looking pitiful.
Some places if they catch you
they'll arrest you.
They'll serve you,
but they still need the word too.
The gospel should be heard too.
We claim we ain't ashamed,
but we ain't hit the block up.
Were in our christian bubble,
while our brotha's get'n locked up.
Lord i wanna stock up,
pack a bag and walk up
in a country where my faith may get me shot up
anywhere i go, whether my city or far abroad,
i just wanna show' christ the risen holy god.
Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
i know they're die'n in the streets over in the middle east.
Some kids sink in piece
others hold'n up a piece.
If the violence doesn't cease,
then at least the deceased
might know jesus as their savior as their bodies hit the streets.
And i know this is a graphic view.
And i pray that it's attack'n you.
Track'n you to act and do
what you see in the back illusion.
Mathew twenty-four and fourteen.
We should read it twice
before we think that life is just a battle
see we free in christ!
Look dawg! Life is more than church work and football!
What if you were dead and seen that christians overlooked y'all!
This is why we leave the couch
and leave the comforts of our house
to show a die'n world a god they'll probably never read about.
The great commission says make disciples of all nations.
Have we even made them in our own nation?
Come on christians!
Missions exist because worship doesn't.
People don't worship the god who made them.
We're ambassadors.
Let's go!

Sorry for not writing this last week, I didn't realize it had been that long.  Last week we actually didn't have any groups so mostly we served at different places and one day we had a free day, which was fantastic and just what everyone needed.  

  Since I don't have anything in particular to talk about, I'm going to tell you about my favorite ministy site here.  It's called BARM (Bay Area Rescue Mission).  They have a half way house for adults and a culinary program, but we work with the King's Club, an afterschool program for children 1st-12th grade.  It's in Richmond which is the #10 most violent city in the nation.  If that statistic doesn't help you understand what these kids deal with on a daily basis, one of the students there was shot 2 weeks ago, she most likely dealing drugs at the time because her father is a prominent drug lord in the neighborhood and he made his children follow in his footsteps.  She was 14. 

  This ministry is so beautiful because it is our opportunity to show these kids that they are loved, not just by us but by God.  And the people running the program, there are 4 of them, are teaching the gospel.  These kids aren't getting just the old Sunday school stories, they were going through the beatitudes last month and of course the easter story this month.  One day I had a group of high school students trying to remember a verse and one of the 7th graders not only quote it but tell us where it came from. SHOCKED!  These kids know their stuff and proclaim Christ!  Unfortunately they have a limited number of mentors and therefore still struggle with bad attitudes, disrespect, hurtful words, etc. 

  These kids have soo much potential though.  Man can they dance and dang do they have dreams!  One of my favorite little boys, Malklym, wants to be an engineer AND an architect, if I say just one he will correct me.  Many of the girls want to be nurses or doctors, one boy told me he wanted to be a lawyer.  They have dreams, they have goals, but where do they get lost?  I can't answer that clearly or concisely. 




My boy bout to dougie

 

   Please be praying for these children, that God will guard their ears, eyes, and hearts against the temptations and evils of the world.  Pray for the staff, they are burdened with the hurts of these children and a love for them and that's a lot for just 4 people.  Pray for finances, recently they had to sell a large chunk of their playground because they Rescue Mission was about to go under.  Pray for God's love to surround the Richmond neighborhood and that people would start stepping out and living in the "rough" parts of town.  We need to believe that Our God is greater than the evils of this world!!




Now that it's sunny I can play basketball with the fellas

 

Aw Preacher Done Gone And Preached Again!

Sometimes I wonder if the Holy Spirit dwells in me, simply because sometimes I just don't feel adequate as a follower of Christ. I'll wonder if I even am saved and maybe I'm just fooling myself into believing that I love Christ enough, but really when He stretches me I sometimes cave. Other times, though, I know the Holy Spirit dwells in me for certain, because I'll start saying something and words come out of my mouth and theologies that I didn't even know I truly believed! That's how I know the Holy Spirit is in me and I have a place saved for me in Heaven.

For example, last night my group decided to walk through the Castro district of San Fran -aka the gay part of town. They just wanted to see what the community was like and I was like okay you can do that. Later that night when we were doing debriefing they were expressing how angry and mad it made them to walk around in that area and see all these homosexuals. They were thoroughly upset.

Now I will state here that I do believe homosexuality is a sin. 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 1 Tim. 1:10,and Romans 1:26-27 are a few verses that support homosexuality as sin and I trust the Bible to be the very word of God. That said, lying is a sin as is murder as is cheating as is anything that draws us away from Christ. The difference with homosexuality is that it is a lifestyle and not repented from, but none the less we are called the love ALL people. God loved me when my life was full of sin and I do not have the right to shun others when I was loved.

So as they were talking about their anger something rose up in me and I felt the need to say it. Ended up that I preached at them for about 5 minutes! Holy Spirit got it done! The thing that was put on my heart was that we look at these people in sin - whether homosexual, drug addicts, thieves, prostitutes - and we see them as disgusting and filthy. But that's not what they are, they are in prison! They are being held captive to these things that Satan is taunting them with and they don't realize it. When we change our perspective to see people as broken, held captive, in bondage to sin, we can see them the way God sees them.

He wants us to be broken for them. He is crying out, "Look at my children in prison!!! Save them, tell them who I am, tell them of the love I have shared with you!! Stop letting Satan crowd your mind with anger so that you pass them by, I LOVE THEM, TELL THEM I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!" Our hearts can be torn to pieces if we stop looking as people in sin as filthy and disgusting and instead look at sin as filthy and disgusting. Satan is the one tempting them, showing them how fantastic this sin is and Satan is the same one telling us that THEY are the nasty, disgusting people full of sin. Satan is a liar! Don't let him deceive you into walking by people in need, he will twist ours minds to believe that we are righteous to stay away from these people, but God calls us to the broken. Even if it's just to love them, hug them and pray for them, maybe if Christians stopped shunning everyone people could finally see Christ.

I pray that we can all look at people in a new light.  No longer as "sinners" but instead as people held captive by sin.