Our Partner in the News!

A few months back, we shared about one of our 100% Sent partners, Apartment Life.  They were recently highlighted in an article in Christianity Today!  The article begins with, "In order to love one's neighbors, one must first know who they are—a teaching that's much easier said than done...."  We all feel this difficulty, but as we shared in our newsletter Apartment Life is set up to train our graduates to do just that.  Take a look at the full article to see how God used our friends in ministry to help a Phoenix couple reach their neighbors with the love of Christ! 

Love God, Love People: Simple but Not Easy

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 22:35-40

As a black and white thinker I have often read this passage and put 2 and 2 together and found they do, in fact equal 4.  If you love God and love people without ceasing, then you will fulfill God's law. It makes logical sense so that's where my analysis ended.   

However, first we must realize that we will never love God or people perfectly, so we will never fulfill the law of God in this way.  That's why we must have Jesus' redemptive work on the cross, he did this perfectly and took the penalty I deserve so I don’t have to. 

Jesus did this so that we might have eternal life with him and so that his Spirit might live through us to make a difference on this earth.  As we love God more deeply and truly love people more genuinely, God's Kingdom will come and His will will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  I believe that Jesus taught us to pray this so that we, the church, might be the answers to our prayers.

Recently I have been wrestling with these truths and my revelations aren't that surprising; Jesus actually meant what He said!  But this isn't about obedience in a legalistic sense as I first thought.  It's about the embodiment of the gospel in our daily lives.  2 Corinthians 5:14 says, "For the love of Christ controls us."  Christ's love for us so compels us to the degree that we are controlled by it.  We experience His love as the greatest thing in our lives, not to be outdone by our desire for power, control, or comfort. 

This great love for God is demonstrated through a life of love for others.  This is what James meant when he said that "faith apart from works is dead" (James 2:26).  We don't earn God's grace by our works; however, we prove that we love God and have been rescued by Him through our loving acts of kindness towards others. 

Can you truly love someone and watch them be abused without stepping in?  Imagine seeing a child you love, possibly your own, being physically assaulted.  You would intervene, right?  Of course, because you love the child.  

Along the same lines, can you care deeply for the well being of a friend who is addicted to drugs and not confront them?  Of course not. 

Now what about people we don't know?  Would you feel uncomfortable and look the other way when you pass a homeless beggar if you actually loved them?  If you really loved your neighbor, would you continue to smile and wave to them like you've done the past 3 years without ever having a real conversation with them?   Would your life to go unchanged with the knowledge that people live in slavery in your city if you really loved each an every one of them the way God does?  Would it be loving to never bring up your faith in a conversation with your friend just because you think it might be uncomfortable because they're not a Christian? 

When I say "you" in these questions, I mean "I/me."  The answer is humbling.  I don't love others the way they God does.  Why not?  The answer is simple: I don't love God the way I should.  For who He is and what He's done for me, He should be second to none but often He is second to my desire for control or comfort.  These same idols cause me not to love others well either.  It's difficult to step into the messiness of people's lives and to love them well.  It's not comfortable.  It's risky.  But God didn't say our lives would be comfortable, but He did tell us that if we lose our lives for His sake, we'll find true life and that life will be abundant.  I don’t know about you, but I'm tired of living a legalistic life, trying to manufacture a relationship with God by my actions.  I'm ready for the real life, a real relationship with God, risks and all, so that my life will truly be abundant. Join me.

Nov. Prayer Update: Setting Captives Free!

This month we'd like to share about a new ministry venture that we're working on in addition to our responsibilities with 100% Sent.  We're really excited about partnering with International Justice Mission to launch justice chapters on our campuses.  Learn more about what that looks like in our letter.  We also give a little adoption update as well.  Click here to check it out!  Thanks for your prayers!

Thousands of Miles to Bring Back 2 Feet

We are extremely excited to share our big news with you! You guessed it, the Lord is growing our family through adopting a child from China.  We have mentioned this briefly in our blog but this is our official announcement.  For many years, we have desired to expand our family through adoption and God has made it clear that now is the time, and China is the place.

The Lord has blessed us with 2 wonderful children and we are eager to extend our love to one more. With Sarah’s diabetes and our past miscarriages, it is risky to attempt another pregnancy, and we have always loved adoption. As Christians, we are adopted into God’s family. What better way to more deeply experience God’s love for us than by joining Him as adoptive parents?

Over the years, we have gotten to know many Chinese international students and, through these relationships, learned a lot about the country. You may be aware that due to Chinese culture and the one child policy, many families prefer to have a son. As a result, families will abandon their daughters simply because they are female or if they have special needs. Currently, thousands of children fill the orphanages of China, many of them girls. We desire to give one of these children a Christian home where they will be loved and cared for.

We began the process a couple months ago, and it will probably take about 18 months until we bring home our new little one. Aiden and Addy are both very excited to have a new little brother or sister. Right now, we are on the paper trail working to obtain all of the legal documents needed in our dossier to send to China. Please pray for us as it is quite an extensive (and stressful) task! The estimated cost of the adoption is $30,000. We also would appreciate your prayers for God to provide the finances we need.

Thank you for your partnership in our ministry as we trust God to use us to change lives of college students as well as to change the life of a child from the other side of the world!

Salt Life: Living It

 Living in Florida, I often see "Salt Life" t-shirts and car stickers.  In case you're not familiar with it, Salt Life is a popular surf shop and company that sells products for all kinds of ocean-related things from scuba diving to surfing to just hanging at the beach.  The salt life is nothing new.  Jesus talked about how we should all be living it but it has nothing to do with salt water.  In the Sermon on the Mount these are His words:

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet." - Mt. 5:13
 
Thrown out?  Trampled?  Ouch!  With these strong words, it is obviously important to remain "salty." So what does it mean to live the Salt Life?  This comes right after the Beatitudes, so from this we learn that being "salty" requires things like hungering and thirsting for righteousness, meekness, and mercy to name a few. 

Immediately following is another illustration where the church is described as "the light of the world. A city set on a hill...."  This illustration is clear that God intends for us to be seen in the world and that our faith should not be hidden but lived out among others. 

As believers, God is calling us to step into the world and be seen making a difference - adding salt, shining light.  In a world full of sin and the consequences of greedy, selfish, power-hungry people,  the Lord has called His church to be the ones to shine light into the dark places and to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom.  According to Eph 2:10, God has prepared good works for us to walk in.  God could have chosen to preach the gospel to the world through a giant megaphone, but He has chosen to use us - "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

Similarly, He could have chosen to feed the poor with manna from Heaven, protect the oppressed with legions of angels, and wipe away every tear from every eye with His own physical hand.  Instead, He wants to use us to bring mercy, justice, and compassion to this world - to make it salty. 

I want to live the Salt Life.  I want to make a tangible difference in our world through the power of God's Spirit.  If it means taking risks and getting my hands dirty, then so be it.  Jesus was willing to leave Heaven and become one of us and even suffer and die by the hands of those He was dying to save.  The least I can do is hang out with non-Christians and engage in the world to help the needy and defend the oppressed.  In doing so, maybe, just maybe, God will use me to make our world a little saltier. 

Prayer Update: Why We Do What We Do

This month we wanted to share with you the motivation behind our ministry with 100% Sent and give you a glimpse of some of the important work we are doing.  It is a large change initiative in our ministry and it is only possible by God's Spirit, so please join us in praying for the Lord to send laborers from our ministries into the fields that are ripe for harvest!  THANKS!!!  You can read our update here.

Meeting God in Banana Republic

It's been a normal summer, and by normal I mean the kind where you think it's going to be slow and laid back, but it's actually crazy.  Because of the craziness and the taking care/keeping alive/entertaining 2 kids all day, I needed a break!  Plus, my mind has been very full because we are starting to enter into the adoption process again, so I've been worrying, uh, I mean thinking about that a lot . . . So, my friend, Kristina, and I decided to take a trip to the mall to shop around and have dinner.

It was almost time to go home, but we made a last stop in Banana Republic where I love to go and look, never buy things full price/if I buy something, it comes from the sale section (preferably if there's an additional 40% off).  As we walked into the store, an hour before closing, Geoff (sales associate) has 5 cards in his hand; he tells us that 1 of them is a $500 shopping spree.  I said, "bummer Blair isn't here because he always wins things."  Kristina opened her card, and I put 1 finger on each card to see if I could get a vibe from it.  The one in the middle had the vibe, but I thought - no, that's too obvious.  It's never the one in the middle, but nevertheless, I went with my gut.  I opened it up and I saw "$500 shopping spree."  I thought it had to be a joke.  I felt certain I was part of a psychological experiment where they tell you, you won something and then tell you it's a joke just to see how you'll respond.  Well, it wasn't a joke.  I won a $500 shopping spree . . .

It had to be spent right then!  I felt frantic.  I was shaking, sweating profusely, and disoriented.  Kristina was helping me and all the sales associates seemed really happy for me and they were helping too.  They pulled things they thought would look good.  I felt like someone featured on "What Not to Wear."  This sweet guy, Louis, pulled out the nice jewelry that I would never in a million years look at because it's so expensive.  He talked about complementary colors on the color wheel, and I was thinking - Sarah, you need to take this all in because it's a once in a lifetime experience.  The store did close, but they let us stay because they were all staying until midnight anyway, so it felt extra behind the scenes and VIP.

It was seriously a dream come true – literally.  I would never in a million years have expected that to happen.  It was truly amazing, fun, memorable, special.  I kept searching for the right word to describe the whole experience, and the word I came up with was "lavish." It's one of my favorite words.  I've always loved in Ephesians where it talks about how God has lavished His love on us.  I always think of lavishing as . . . to go completely and utterly above and beyond to show love.  The dictionary says it’s “bestowing profusely.”  It felt like love and care was being "bestowed profusely" on me.  I felt seen by God and desired and special to Him.  I struggle with feeling unworthy a lot.  I always have.  In that moment, that day, I felt worthy of love and lavishing.  I will never forget it. 

The other great aspect of it all is you know how I mentioned before that I've been worrying, uh, I mean thinking about adoption lately.  A lot of it is about the money.  I don't know about you, but we don’t have $30,000 laying around.  When I got home, I felt like God was saying, “I can provide you a $500 shopping spree out of thin air.  I can also provide the money you need to bring your 3rd child into your family . . .”

Just for fun - here are a couple of pics.  This one is me as we were leaving.  I couldn't take the card with me, so here I am in all my glory with the card i.e., this is what someone with curly hair looks like after trying on clothes all day . . .

 

 Here is  my biggest splurge.  I would never have otherwise bought it, but when do you get $500 for free at one of your favorite stores???