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As a lot of you know, my friend Micah is here visiting for a couple of weeks (more on that at a later date!). He's filming us for a video/documentary (he's good at that kind of stuff). It's been great and a lot of fun so far.
I do have a quick prayer request though...as we filmed one of the guys sharing his testimony this morning, I realized again that there's still a lot of pain just under the surface for some of the guys. It's tough for them to talk about their pasts without feeling a lot of emotion. This morning was no exception. It was fairly difficult for this young guy to share his story at times. At one point we turned the camera off, and just talked about some of his experiences and how God was there in those difficult moments. It's good for them (and for me) to remember that. In very tangible ways (even before they could really understand that), God was with them. They were never alone.
If you can pray for the guys as we do this filming and they share their stories. As I said, it can be painful for them, but also very positive. This morning we prayed together after talking, and celebrated all the things that God had done to bring that young guy to the place where he's at now. And trust me...it's incredible to realize how far he's come.
I don't want these times to be opportunities for Satan to attack or try to destroy, but rather times of celebration and understanding of God's goodness and mercy. Pray for protection and for peace for the guys and that this will continue to be a fun and positive experience.
So far it's been great fun filming this. Okay...except for when I was cutting a doughnut in my truck and Micah just about fell out of the back. I forgot that he's a white boy and doesn't know how to hold on like a Bolivian. He'll be grumpy about me writing this 'cause he thinks it was one of the other guy's fault. Well...he probably thinks it was mostly my fault. Not sure why though... =)
Anyhow...I'll be back writing here soon enough, by the way. I've got lots to tell. Christmas/New Years was a lot of fun this year. But I'll save all that for another day. The guys tell me it's lunch time...
Thanks for praying everyone!
UPDATE: We continued filming with two more guys this afternoon. They did great! But I found something interesting afterwards, in what one of the guys said to me. Last year he ran into one of his good friends from when he was a streetkid. His friend was still living on the streets, and we talked a little bit about that experience on the film. Afterwards, the fellow from our home said that it was hard for him to talk about his friends from the streets. He said that it makes him feel strange...it always brings up a lot of questions for him. Why is his life is so much better than theirs? Why has he received so much? Why had God chosen to bless him?
For the guys here, those questions often translate into feelings of guilt and unworthiness. I don't believe that's God's desire for us, and we've talked about that here at the house a lot. At the same time, I was thinking today that maybe it's not a bad thing for us to take a minute and consider those questions ourselves. To think for a moment about how blessed we truely are, and really...how unworthy we are to receive those blessings. It all comes back to God's grace and mercy to us.
I'm sure there are people out there who can articulate this all better than I can. All I know, is that tonight I feel very blessed and thankful for what God's given me...
As a lot of you know, my friend Micah is here visiting for a couple of weeks (more on that at a later date!). He's filming us for a video/documentary (he's good at that kind of stuff). It's been great and a lot of fun so far.
I do have a quick prayer request though...as we filmed one of the guys sharing his testimony this morning, I realized again that there's still a lot of pain just under the surface for some of the guys. It's tough for them to talk about their pasts without feeling a lot of emotion. This morning was no exception. It was fairly difficult for this young guy to share his story at times. At one point we turned the camera off, and just talked about some of his experiences and how God was there in those difficult moments. It's good for them (and for me) to remember that. In very tangible ways (even before they could really understand that), God was with them. They were never alone.
If you can pray for the guys as we do this filming and they share their stories. As I said, it can be painful for them, but also very positive. This morning we prayed together after talking, and celebrated all the things that God had done to bring that young guy to the place where he's at now. And trust me...it's incredible to realize how far he's come.
I don't want these times to be opportunities for Satan to attack or try to destroy, but rather times of celebration and understanding of God's goodness and mercy. Pray for protection and for peace for the guys and that this will continue to be a fun and positive experience.
So far it's been great fun filming this. Okay...except for when I was cutting a doughnut in my truck and Micah just about fell out of the back. I forgot that he's a white boy and doesn't know how to hold on like a Bolivian. He'll be grumpy about me writing this 'cause he thinks it was one of the other guy's fault. Well...he probably thinks it was mostly my fault. Not sure why though... =)
Anyhow...I'll be back writing here soon enough, by the way. I've got lots to tell. Christmas/New Years was a lot of fun this year. But I'll save all that for another day. The guys tell me it's lunch time...
Thanks for praying everyone!
UPDATE: We continued filming with two more guys this afternoon. They did great! But I found something interesting afterwards, in what one of the guys said to me. Last year he ran into one of his good friends from when he was a streetkid. His friend was still living on the streets, and we talked a little bit about that experience on the film. Afterwards, the fellow from our home said that it was hard for him to talk about his friends from the streets. He said that it makes him feel strange...it always brings up a lot of questions for him. Why is his life is so much better than theirs? Why has he received so much? Why had God chosen to bless him?
For the guys here, those questions often translate into feelings of guilt and unworthiness. I don't believe that's God's desire for us, and we've talked about that here at the house a lot. At the same time, I was thinking today that maybe it's not a bad thing for us to take a minute and consider those questions ourselves. To think for a moment about how blessed we truely are, and really...how unworthy we are to receive those blessings. It all comes back to God's grace and mercy to us.
I'm sure there are people out there who can articulate this all better than I can. All I know, is that tonight I feel very blessed and thankful for what God's given me...
2 comments:
PRAYING!
It is hard being here, in a place of so much material blessing, to really understand what it is to be truly grateful. And to be afraid of praying that God would really show you what it means to appreciate and be thankful for things. No one really wants trials. I watched a documentary on the tsunami from 5 years ago. All of the survivors are struggling with why they survived and others didn't. What was more valuable about their lives. Or when we do come through a time of challenge and struggle, we wonder, what good did God mean to come from this? So many questions and so many opportunities for God to heal, or Satan to pull us down - all the more reason for prayer!! God is bigger than all of this - and has plans to redeem these young men's lives and stories, and a plan for Micah being there. I bet it will also greatly touch Micah's life and impact more lives in his world when he returns. Awesome.
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