What has she gotten herself into? (and the Liz Promo Video!)

So since this week was project planning week, how 'bout we discuss what I'm already involved in? As you probably know, I'm taking the Children at Risk School with Youth With a Mission. So what exactly is that? What am I really up to? Well I'm in class most of the time. We have class Monday through Friday and each week is a new topic pertaining to helping children in need. I am also involved in a street children's ministry on Monday nights. We go to the Red Light District and play games and make crafts with the kids who live there. We have fun with them while showing them Jesus' love and teaching them about the character of God. Tomorrow night I begin teaching the kids English. I'm planning on starting out teaching them the parts of the body and how we were created in God's image. So what else do I do with my time here? Homework and chores. My homework is mostly what you see here on this blog. It's time consuming but it keeps me up to date and is actually mostly for my benefit (and I'm not just saying that because my staff reads this.....) No but in all seriousness, I'm really enjoying this school and I'm learning a lot. I'm being challenged a lot. It's hard. But I'm so excited about everything that I'm learning because I get to use it!! Isn't that great? How bout we take a trip back to my sophomore year. It was there I learned about the quadratic equation (.) Do you know when the last time I used that equation was? My sophomore year. Astounding. See the great thing about this school is that I'm going to use what I learn to change the world. That's way better than Algebra (yuck.) And I'm REALLY, I mean really, hoping and praying that I will be able to go to Costa Rica after this school. I plan on going there for outreach for six months! Wow! What an awesome experience would that be? I'm so excited. So have I piqued your interest? Can I recruit you to my support team? First what I need is prayer. As I afore mentioned I go out and do kids' ministry on Monday nights. This is a superb moment for you to be praying for me. Our ministry lasts from 4-8 PM (pacific time), which means you in the eastern time zone can be praying for me from 7-11PM on Mondays. Feel free to go about your normal lives as you pray :). During that time you can be praying for open ears and hearts and a blessed ministry. Also I'd like to get a personal prayer support team. I need seven people to each commit to one day a week to consistently be praying for me. You can pray for my safety, my health (physically and spiritually), and my financial needs. And I have a lot of financial needs. I wish I had an exact number to give you but I won't know for sure for a couple more weeks. But if you're eager to give (or know someone who is) you can send all checks or cash gifts to: 

YWAM San Diego/Baja

Liz Moss-CRS Tijuana

100 w. 35th Street, Suite C

National City, CA 91950

USA

Checks can be made out to YWAM San Diego/Baja with Liz Moss-CRS Tijuana written in the memo portion. Also for your entertainment and enjoyment, my fellow students and I made a promotional video. Enjoy it and keep praying!!

Ps. If you have any questions and/or would like to join my prayer or financial support group you can email me at lizm_10@hotmail.com. :)

When I grow up, I want to be just like a janitor.

Project Planning. DUN Dun duunnnn.......! For those of you who know me fairly well, you probably know that I'm not much of a planner. Have you ever taken a bottle of coke and shook it up? What happens when you open it? BOOM! Fizz and froth EVERYWHERE. Often times I think that's how my mind works. My thoughts are like coca-cola under extreme pressure just waiting to spew senselessly in every direction. So, naturally when I heard that this week was project planning, I got a little nervous. Our speaker was Dave Swann formerly of the UK but now an active missionary in South Africa. I think his accent made it less intimidating. So, what did I learn this week? Did you know that 60% of all Children at Risk ministries fail within two years? Doesn't make you want to be a missionary does it? So how 'bout we ask ourselves what makes a project fail? Dave taught us that often times it's a lack of research, differences in culture and language, the failure to think long term, or a lack of a system to measure progress. I think that when we want to help people our gut feeling is that the bigger the better. The more kids the better. And so we rush into these enormous unplanned and scatterbrained projects. Not exactly the key to success now is it? So what if we back up and plan ahead? What if we start small and add on as we go? Extraordinary. Brilliance. Perhaps Dave is on to something. The goal of any project is sustainability and we can achieve that only when we start small and work our way up with God's help. Dave also talked about success. What comes to your mind when you think of success? For me it's recognition. Everyone knowing you did good. This week I was really challenged to rethink that. I always thought that unless I was the next Mother Teresa, I'd be a failure. If people didn't write a book about my life, I'd fail. If I didn't help everyone everywhere, I'd fail. Where do we get these ideas? Dave told us this: Success can be defined by a janitor loving his wife and sending his kids to school. The kingdom of God in his situation is keeping his family together. How many broken families do you know? I know more brokenness than wholeness. Success can be defined as taking responsibility for what God has given you. If it's your family, then love your family. If it's missions then go. You can't compare the two. They're equal. One is not better than the other. Success cannot be defined by numbers, it is answering this simple question: are you living the kingdom of God? I hope to do just that. I will do just that. If I can count the number of people I have helped on my fingers, I will be successful and God will be proud of me. I am confident in that. 


Quote of the week: I asked her what she planned to do with her life & she said she was way beyond that point already. I'm just happy I remember to be there when it happens, she said. -Brian Andreas of www.storypeople.com

Fun Friday.

Proof that no matter what happens in the world, God has given us the gift of joy and laughter.

Spontaneous dress up and tire play.

How we relax on the weekends.

When I think of life, I think of the color Green.

Christina Taylor Green. Pleasant name isn't it? I can just picture any little nine year old girl with such an adorable name being sunshiney and lovely. Do you remember third grade? I do. Back in the days of story time and recess. It was wonderful. The most difficult aspect of life was working on your penmanship. Little third grader Christina Taylor Green died January 8th, 2011. She once said, "I hope you know all the words to the Star Spangled Banner and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles." How precious is that? It is so sad that we lost one of God's treasures to a violent public shooting. It is believed that her death was a casualty of an attempted assassination on Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. I recommend the article below to learn more about this tragic event.


Link to Christina's Story


Discussion Questions: What do you think could have been done to prevent Christina and the other victims' deaths? How important do you think it is that we provide more help for the mentally unwell? What emotions and thoughts do you think the Green family is experiencing right now? How does this story make you feel? What do you think should happen to the murderer? How do you think this makes God feel? What is the responsibility of the local church in Tuscon? Is there anything that the local school system could do? What kind of programs do you think they could implement to educate their students in what to do in violent situations in public places? Where do you think public safety failed? Is there anything we can do from our own homes? What measures or steps do you think we can take to ensure that violence of this kind does not occur again? 

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: the life of liz.

Drum roll please....... It's Mission Statement time!! That's right folks. Now that I'm a missionary in a foreign country, apparently I need a mission statement. So let's take a crack at this bad boy. I'll conduct an interview with myself.
My personal Mission Statement: To remain joyful in spite of all circumstances. To follow God wholeheartedly wherever He leads, trusting in His perfect and infinite plan. To be His instrument in changing the world for the positive.
What ministry am I currently involved in? I'm glad I asked. I am a part of Youth With a Mission. It was founded in 1960 by a man named Loren Cunningham. He had a vision of using young people to evangelize and bring Jesus to every nation.  According to Wikipedia, "YWAM currently has over 16,049 full-time volunteer workers in nearly 1,100 operating locations in 171 nations and trains 25,000 short-term missions volunteers annually." Their Mission Statement is, "To know God and make Him known." Pretty cool huh? I'm glad to be a part of it and I think it will be a great foundation for me no matter what kind of ministry I join. My goal is to be an active part in YWAM until God calls me to something else. I hope to work in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Africa through Youth With a Mission.


Quote of the Week: The life of the planet, and especially its human life, is a life in which something has gone wrong, and badly wrong. every time that we see an unhappy face, an  unhealthy body, hear a bitter despairing word we are reminded of that. The occasional flashes of pure beauty, pure goodness, pure love, which show us what God wants and what He is, only throw into more vivid relief the horror of cruelty, greed, oppression, hatred, ugliness, and also the mere muddle and stupidity which frustrate and bring suffering into life. Unless we put on blinders, we can hardly avoid seeing all of this; and unless we are warmly wrapped up in our own cozy ideas and absorbed in our own interests, we surely cannot help feeling the sense of obligation, the shame of acquiescence, the call to do something about it. To say day by day "Thy kingdom come"-- if these tremendous words really stand for a conviction and desire--does not mean "I quite honestly hope that someday the Kingdom of God will be established, and peace and goodwill prevail. But at present I don't see how it is to be managed or what I can do about it." On the contrary, it means, or should mean, "Here am I! Send me!"-- active, costly collaboration with the Spirit in whom we believe. -Evelyn Underhill

Street Kids... and Not of the Sesame Kind.

Well, it's that time again. Who wants to hear about my week? Sooo this week our speaker was the one and only Steve Bartel...... of Colombia! He was AWESOME. The topic was street kids and if anyone knows their stuff, it's Steve. To describe Steve in one word I'd say comPASSION. Notice the obvious highlight on passion. He has been working in Columbia with street kids for more than twenty-five years. To be honest, I can't even imagine doing the same thing for twenty-five years! Can you? Talk about commitment and fulfilling God's calling on your life. One of the major things I learned was that sometimes in order to do something, and do it well, it may take twenty-five years or more. Steve spoke a lot about his personal ministry and the steps it took to get to such a successful place. It took a lot of work. He first began reaching out to children by going out and visiting them on the streets. He told a story that really touched me. Steve was once playing with a six year old street boy who kept asking if he could be lifted up to a chin up bar so he could try to do a pull up like the big boys. He was small and could only do one at a time. He would then tumble to the ground, run around a bit, regain his strength, and ask if he could be lifted up to the bar again. The little boy would do this over and over and over again. It took a few times before Steve realized what the boy was doing. He was taking advantage of the little physical touch he was getting. It may have been  the closest thing he had ever received to a hug. He was probably too ashamed to ask for a real hug in front of the older boys. So he was taking advantage of the closest thing available by getting a lift up to the chin up bar. The next thing that Steve's ministry did was open up a drop-in center and later a half way house. Eventually they established a system similar to a form of fostering, where Christian families "re-parent" the children. The goal of the whole program is to try to reunite the kids with their biological families if possible, and if it is not they find them permanent Christian adoptive or long term foster homes. What an amazing ministry right? I was so impressed. And the best part is that in order to be a part of the program, children have to want to be there. They are not forced into it. They can leave at anytime. They are there voluntarily because they recognize their need for love and help. Steve also discussed the different kinds of street kids. Children of the streets are kids who live on the streets twenty-four seven. They have no where else to go. The live, breathe, and die street life. Children on the streets have somewhere to go when the day is done. The usually spend most of their time on the street, working or causing a ruckus. Last, pre-street children are younger children at sever risk of becoming street kids. It is important to know the difference between the categories because it will change how the child behaves and how you can most effectively minister to them. I think the most challenging concept Steve presented was fatherless-ness. Those children whose parents are alive but not actively present in their lives. He said that it is is worse to be fatherless than an orphan (where the parents are deceased.) I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I'm not sure if I agree or disagree yet. 

A Violence Not Often Thought Of.

Usually when we think of war violence we think of big guys shooting big guns. Sort of a Rambo kind of thing. Like Sylvester Stalone bounding through the jungles annihilating everything in sight. Maybe that's just me. But what about another kind of violence? What about rape? No. That only happens in dark alleyways right? Not necessarily. How often do we think about the women on the other side of the world, whose villages and dignity are destroyed by passing militias. The following article is about the widespread problem of rape. Read the article and share your thoughts.


http://www.economist.com/node/17900482?story_id=17900482


Dicussion Questions: How do you think Malthilde will be affected by her rape? Do you think it will change how she raises her children? If yes, how so? How do you think this custom of raping during war became so commonplace? Is it because of brainwashing? Were the soldiers raped first? Were they just raised poorly? Why do so many rapes go unreported? Why do you think this topic is so often overlooked? Is it as hopeless as it appears at first look? What can we do? 

Follow my Risks Children Face page!

One of my many assignments is to write an assessment on risks that children come into contact with. In order to keep my page semi-nice-and-presentable I've made a link to a page specifically dedicated to these assignments. If you draw your attention to the link just to the right of this post it says "Risks Children Face." Click it to view my justice page. Please leave comments and you can even subscribe specifically to that page if you fancy it. Thanks for taking a look!

Fasting.

How many of us have "fasted?" What do we mean by fasting and what is it we hope to accomplish by doing it? We skip a meal and use our normal eating time to pray. Usually that means asking God for something. I guess personally I've always viewed that as, "Look God, I'm giving up my 'right' to food, now give me what I want." Clearly this is a huge misconception. And maybe you've never felt that way. Maybe your motives have been pure. I guess I've never been exactly sure what fasting is all about. Whenever I've fasted before (which is not very often mind you) I've always felt too "hungry," or too "tired," or too "distracted" to pray. Really pray. Get down on hands and knees completely humbled kind of pray. Not cool. But today I'm fasting. And let me tell you why. 925 million people do not have enough to eat (http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats.) And so today, I'm taking the day to try to understand what hunger feels like. Really feels like. The lack of energy and the gnawing ache of a tummy that says, "Feed me!" Now, I don't claim to really know the pain and discomfort of true hunger. I will eat again. I will eat again tomorrow in fact. But many people won't. In a society where we celebrate overabundance and wastefulness, I think it's good to stop, if only for one day, and remember the struggles of those in need and try to make some common ground. So I encourage you to stop for a moment and say a prayer for all those hungry tummies in the world. And the next time your tummy rumbles, remember how blessed you truly are to be able to simply reach into the pantry and grab something yummy to subside the "hunger."

Albertine by Brooke Fraser

Well, friends. I'm back in TJ. Hip hip hooray. It's so good to back. There's something here called sunshine. It's fantastic. You people up North should invest in some of it. There's even grass here. But that's not the point of this blog entry. That was merely just to gloat. Because I can. But lets get to the nitty gritty shall we? I'm here to learn. How bout I impart some of my new-found wisdom? This week we had.... bum bum ba-da-da..... INTRODUCTION WEEK. Phewph. So much excitement. We had a fabulous speaker, Jana Moats, of the Women and Children Advocacy Centre. She spent the week challenging me and making me a little sad to be quite honest.  I suppose the "biggest" thing I learned is the "child in the middle" concept (and... how much homework I'll be doing each week. yikes.) "Child in the middle?" you ask. Well, allow me to enlighten you. Here it is: Keep the child the most important thing. "Duh," you say. Pretty simple eh? But is it really? How often do we ACTUALLY do that? Probably not very often. I always assumed that my ministry would be working in an orphanage somewhere. But Janna challenged me with this, since when are orphanages in the best interest of children? Well, actually, they're usually not. How many children are put up for adoption because of poverty? How many "orphans" are really loved by their parents who are too poor to provide for their children? Or who don't think they are capable? What if we invested into the family and did what was best for the child? What if that meant more children living in their homes... with their own families? Can we wrap our heads around this concept? Are we willing to? And that is only one example. Now, mind you, I personally don't believe that orphanage's are evil or anything like that. But my whole thinking has been challenged this week and I thought perhaps I could do the same for you. I learned many other things this week and I know I will keep being challenged throughout the next couple weeks. Do you remember that song that used to play on Smile FM called Albertine by Brooke Fraser? The line from the chorus has been running through my mind lately. Seems fitting enough. "Now that I have seen, I am responsible, Faith without deeds is dead...I will tell the world, I will tell them where I've been, I will keep my word." Pretty catchy too. I feel like that will be my theme song for the duration of my time here. Before I conclude, how bout a word about my outreach options? After all my classes end on April 1st I can either go to Costa Rica or stay here in Tijuana. (Don't tell... but I get the feeling God's calling me to go to Costa Rica. We'll see.) I've gots of praying and fundraising to do! Keep me in your prayers! And stay tuned for another adventure in Sunshine and Shenanigans next week!
 
Brooke's music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcI0-axh9WQ


Verse of the Week: Isaiah 1:17, " Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow"

Hunger stalks Niger children - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Here I am eating a cinnamon roll. Breaks your heart doesn't it?

Hunger stalks Niger children - Africa - Al Jazeera English


Discussion question for the week: How do you think we can reduce food waste in our own homes?

Home.

I really like this picture. It screams Northern Michigan. I'm going to miss the snow!

These are the two kids i watched this winter. As you can tell, we had a lot of fun. 

My best friend in the entire world. I'm sure you can tell why.