Tuesday, February 15, 2011
V-Day...
Friday, February 11, 2011
Less than five months...and wow.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Life
Sometimes I wonder what I am going to do with my life. Katie and I have plans but sometimes when I clock in to work at the factory I get depress. This might seems weird but I think if people realize the symbolism behind it then it might be better understood. Growing up, my father worked two jobs to make sure that we could survive. I swore at a younger age that I would do my best to avoid that fate. And here I am...clocking in at a factory that is hell. What gets me more sad is the fact that the people who work here have been doing this for years. I look around me and tell myself that I am only doing this for a short time and that made me feel a little better. Then I felt worse when I realized that I would not be here in another year. But they would. It's one of the saddest things I have ever witness in my entire life! They work so hard and I am pretty sure that a lot of them are not legal immigrants which makes me feel even worse. The company takes advantage of the workers. If someone get hurt or injured, they fire him before he can sue or claim workers comp. The joy I see in their faces when they go cash their checks at the cash van outside on payday is priceless. Many of these people have two jobs and most of the money goes towards their families either here or Mexico. I am now one of them. I just try to remind myself that I am working towards something. Something better.
A lot of people dont realize how sad life is. how horrible life is. They port the most trivial things when people are truly hurting. There are people, especially at Loma, who go out on retreats or on outreaches to help people. I think this is all great and what not but I dont think they will ever truly know what it means to be them until they live that life. One can easily go out and be placed in a horrible situation but in the back of their minds they must know that they can get out anytime they want. If things get to harsh or hard...an out is there. A homeless person or poor person cannot get out just by asking to get out. There are times when i get upset when people in church assume that just telling a poor person that God loves them is enough. They do not realize that these people have never truly seen or felt God. That love that makes us feel all nice and wonderful inside. They have know nothing but pain and suffering their whole lives. Then some person who's never had to work a back breaking job or known any real despair or suffering come and tell them that they should cheer up because God loves them. Why cant people put themselves in their shoes and realize how stupid that sounds.
There are times when I just wish I had a billion dollars so that I can just help everyone that truly needs help. Sometimes I think that people are so concerned with their own salvation that they forget about the suffering of other people here on earth. Of course suffering on earth doesnt matter im told as we will be rewarded in heaven. Yeah, you try telling people in Africa or other nations who are dying that. See what they say.
I will agree that there are wonderful people out there and not helping others does not make them horrible people. I just people could understand me more and how I see the world. I love God and I believe in the Gospel but I see the world and weep. It makes me feel so sad and depress. I think that's one of the reason I was soo sad at Hume Lake and at Point Loma. I dont think people realized that there was a world outside themselves. Homework, Glee, Gossip Girl, or other trivial things aren't the most important things in the world.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Glossolalaia
The contemporary phenomenon of "speaking in tongues" is of recent origin in Christianity. Glossolalia (Tongue Speaking) is defined as “utterances approximating words and speech, usually produced during states of intense religious excitement.”1 It is derived from the Greek word ******2 which means l*ssa, *tongue* or *language* and λαλεῖν 3 which means lalia, “talking.” Tongue speaking is explained by many who practice is as the initial and indwelling witness of the Holy Spirit in oneself. It is part of the Pentecostalism of the twentieth century, beginning in modern times around 1900 and more recently, since the 1960's, involving the charismatic movement. Charles F. Parham, a former non-ordained Methodist pastor, is given credit for being the one who influenced modern Pentecostalism. In the fall of 1900, Parham taught on the book of Acts and encouraged his students to interpret what they believe to be the “initial witness” of the Holy Spirit. They concluded that the speaking in tongues as the Apostles had done was the sign of the indwelling of the Spirit. During a New Year’s Eve service, Parham and his students gathered together to pray in order that they too might receive the gift of tongues speaking. Early the next morning, after a night of prayer, thirty year old Agnes Ozman began to speak in tongues after feeling impressed to ask to be prayed for.4 Historians indicate that the difference between the tongues that came initially under Parham's ministry and what had happened previously, was that the speaking in tongues this time came as a direct result seeking the Holy Ghost and an associated study of the Bible. While it appears that speaking in tongues was not first received through Parham's ministry, the focus on what it meant (as the "evidence") appears to have started there, and shortly afterwards it gained momentum. In 1906, William J. Seymour, a pupil of Parham, visited Los Angeles in what was to be on one month speaking engagement but was instead locked out on the second day by the very church that had asked him to come. During his first sermon, he had preached that speaking in tongues was the first Biblical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Some of the attendees had been won over and after a couple of months of preaching and praying at the house of congregation member Edward S. Lee, the group moved to 312 Azusa Street. Worship at 312 Azusa Street was frequent, and spontaneous, with services going almost around the clock. Press coverage gave them a nationwide audience and many came to Azusa to receive the Spirit. Seymour and his disciples held on to five core beliefs; Salvation by Faith, Sanctification of the believer, Tongues as evidence of Spiritual Baptism, Faith Healing as part of God’s redemption and the soon to come return of Christ.5 By the end of 1906, most leaders from Azusa Street had spun off to form other congregations, such as the 51st Street Apostolic Faith Mission, the Spanish AFM, and the Italian Pentecostal Mission. By 1913, the revival at Azusa Street had lost momentum, and by 1915 most of the media attention and crowds had left. Seymour stayed in Los Angeles as pastor until his death on September 28, 1922.
A common misconception among many Christians is that the term Pentecostal can be used synonymously with the Charismatic Movement of the 1960’s. The term “Pentecostal” refers to that set of denominations that arose out of the 1906 Azusa Street Revival, whereas the Charismatic Movement refers to a different era, context and theological content. The Charismatic Movement has a relationship with Pentecostalism, in that it shares a commitment to the use of spiritual gifts. The Movement beginning was credited not to a Pentecostal minister but by an Episcopal priest by the name of Dennis Bennett. In 1960, Bennett preached from the pulpit that he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit and then tried to lead a Pentecostal revival. From then on, the Charismatic Movement took off as more and more non-Pentecostals Christian of various denominations began reformations in their respective denominations. By the turn of the century, Charismatic Movement had 176 million followers making them the second largest Christian branch in the world behind Roman Catholics. 6For this reason, glossolalia is a huge topic among Christians everywhere.
Having now covered the modern church history of the phenomenon of glossolalia, we must now ask what goes on during tongue speaking using a psychological/emotional approach. In other words, what goes on in the brain when one speaks in tongues? Is it a conscious thought? Some critics of glossolalia suggest that tongue speakers are mentally troubled or that they are in fact just faking it to fit in. “Aish nay gum nay tayo,” These words seem like gibberish and I myself think they are but this exactly the kind of sounds that you may hear from a tongue speaker while in full force. If one was asked to speak words unknown to us on the spot, one would have difficult to as our brains would have trouble making them up. “Tongue-speakers can go on almost endlessly in a fluid, easy manner. They never seem to be grasping for a new syllable. Because their performance cannot be duplicated by non-tongue-speaker, even with strenuous conscious effort, a psychologist must say that glossolalia is not completely under the conscious control of the person who speaks in tongues.”7 What this means is that the tongue speaker is using his subconscious to speak and he is not using his ego. In a dream the ego is relaxed, and another part of the psychic structure takes over so that images present themselves to the consciousness. In tongues, instead of a visual image coming before the consciousness, you have a motor response taking over. If speaking in tongues are controlled by the subconscious how can a person be able to control it as easily as turning on a light on and off? Is this any correlation to mental health? Another theory that is being examined is that off hypnosis. Glossolalia and hypnosis have some similarities as both giving themselves voluntarily to something that is unseen and is a matter of trust. Just as the hypnotist is able to control the subject, can also the Holy Spirit speak for someone? Using a various test and case studies, Kildahl came to the conclusion that glossolalist are; more submissive and dependant in the presence of authority figures, they always thought of a benevolent figure when they began to speak in tongues, they do feel better after a tongue speaking session.8 The first conclusion was made using Thematic Apperception Test using pictures that had two figures interacting with each other. In each one of the picture, the two figures were of various ages. A group of glossolalist was asked to make stories on each of the picture involving a crisis and a group of non tongue speakers were asked to do the same. The group of tongue speaker always made stories that involved the older looking person to settle the problem proving they were outer-directed while the other group did quite the opposite. The second conclusion was made by asking the glossolalist to share a little about their church leader before speaking in tongues. The response was very positive. The third conclusion was made by asking them how they felt after speaking in tongues. What these three mean is that glossolalist meet the criteria needed to be properly hypnotized.9 They were very trusting and happy so a being hypnotized by something was legitimate conclusion.
One of the earliest case studies took place in 1912 by Oskar Pfister, a close friend Sigmund Freud. “He intuited that glossolalia was an infantile regression directed towards autoerotic satisfaction.” The man being studied was a 24 year old German Lutheran named Simon who first began to speak in tongues at the age of 20. When asked about his thoughts while he spoke in tongues, Simon responded by feeling guilt associated with masturbation. What this mean was that in Simon’s subconscious, his fears came out. What is noteworthy in this case is that Pfister said that someone who was speaking in tongues actually spoke words that were meaningful to him or her.10 This introduced another theme that has come to the front, that glossolalia is a way of expressing that which the person wants to express but does not dare to express.
“Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine.”11 From the begging of glossolalia in Christianity, there has always been the accusation that those who speak in tongues delude themselves. The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues contains a chapter that has proven useful in this case as it takes a brief look into the dependency syndrome, the reliance on external authority, the pressure of the leader, regression and hypnotized.12 Looking at personality types, it has become clear that many tongue speaker feel dependant on someone with higher authority, they hate being alone and have a strong desire to be with a group. This study also shows that the happy feeling that they get after tongue speaking is a submission to someone higher than them. Humans quite simple do not wish to take responsibility of their own lives and actions and seem to want to feel safe in someone’s arms. I can relate as when I get stressed out by the world, I feel so much better when I am in my girlfriend’s arms. She is someone who I view as being better than me and having higher authority in the world than myself. I feel safe in her arms as if the world does not matter. One might call it a dependency. There are of course tongue speaker who do not practice it publically but they still get the emotional lift from his fellow church goers if they attend a church were other also speak in tongues. But the study has proved unfruitful in discovering this as not many private tongue speakers did not make themselves for testing.
It is at this point that we make a move towards the Biblical viewpoint of both supporters of glossolalia and its critics. Let us begin with the arguments that Pentecostals and Charismatic Movement use to defend their use of tongue speaking. Pentecostal defense usually starts with Acts. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” 13 Charismatic interpretation states that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we speak in tongues but is the gift they claim today the same as the claim they make then? They teach that at conversion a Christian receives the Spirit in a limited way. Later on is when they receive the fullness of the Spirit by being baptized in it. It is this second step teaching where Pentecostalism is based upon. The experience is usually accompanied by speaking in tongues and can result in new spiritual awakening and power. This is known as the doctrine of subsequence.14 The Pentecostal understanding is that the baptism of the spirit is separate from conversion and that the sign is the speaking of tongues and that it should be something that all should seek. The reason that they find salvation and baptism as distinctly separate is that the apostles and everyone else who received the Spirit were already saved. They claim that the twelve had already received the Spirit by Jesus himself, “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’15 And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” And it was the second receiving of the Spirit that gave them their power. That they actually received the Spirit in John is not made clear here and it most likely that they did not as chronologically Acts occurs after the events of John and in Acts 1:8 Jesus stated, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’” So therefore this line of thinking must be wrong. Although the 120 in the upper room may have been praying in a mood of anticipation and excitement because they knew what was promised of them, there is no evidence that they were asking or seeking the Spirit as many groups do today. In fact, in all my reading of the New Testament, there is no evidence of there ever being a case where people ask for the gift of Tongues.16
“When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?”17 These verses make it clear that the Apostles who spoke in tongues were speaking in different dialects as so many different people were present all were able to understand what they heard. If the desiples were actually speaking in their own native dialects then that gives more power to the ear of the auditor rather than to the person speaker, so theses verses cannot be used by Pentecostals to further their claim that what they speak is another language unlearned. No wonder Pentecostals and Charismatic Movement do not insist that what they speak be distinguishable foreign languages because using certain 1 Corinthian passage, they could completely bypass the indication of Acts 2 that what they speak should be understandable by someone. The message here is clear; the Pentecostal foundation is unstable as they find themselves unable to stay consistent. 18 The basic point of Acts was to report of the amazing things that occurred at the beginning of the church. It was meant as a narrative and not really as a theological discourse. The Apostle Paul wrote about the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians and it is there where we must look to base our belief of glossolalia. To further this claim is this, Paul only stated being able to speak in tongues in 1 Corinthians yet when he became a Christian in Acts 9 it does mention that he was filled by the Spirit. Strangely enough no mention of tongue speaking is made.
In his book, Facing the Tongues Issue, Norman Oke gives five Biblical witnesses of why the speaking of tongues is not that important to Christian lifestyle.19 The first is the testimony of John the Baptist. John was given a great honor and that was to introduce Jesus as the messiah! If we cannot trust this man’s testimony then who’s can we? "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”20 He did not specifically state that speaking in tongues would be the evidence of the Holy Spirit. While in Acts 2:3, it does mention tongues of fire; it does not state that it was these that allowed the Apostles that speak in different dialects. The second is the life of Jesus Christ. He spoke many times concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit but did not tie glossolalia with it at all. He mentions the Spirit as a helper, teacher and comforter but none of those can be used to enforce glossolalia. The glossolalia supporter might throw in Mark 16:1718 in the mix to defend himself. “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." But why would Jesus give out five things if he only meant one? It is clear that Pentecostals believe in the gifts and signs of the Spirit so what about these? Why do they focus only on one? Where are the demon casters or the poison drinking pastors? I haven’t seen a snake used in service once. What should also be noted is that verses 9-20 are not found in the original manuscripts. The third witness is Simon Peter, the main speaker on the day of Pentecost. The only words that he spoke to the people were understood by all which means that if he did speak in a tongue that was not of his, everyone understood him. This is opposite to the glossolalia of the Pentecostals. In his Epistles he never once wrote about glossolalia, even though if it was important than who would need it better than them who were scattered because of persecution? Could they not use the evidence of the Holy Spirit? The fourth witness is the Apostle John. He was also at Pentecost yet none of his writing speak highly of tongue speaking. His gospel is instead richly filled with theology of love.
The fifth and final witness is Saint Paul who had the most to say concerning glossolalia and therefore deserves his own paragraph. His earliest experience with tongue speaking would be chapter six when he started the church at Ephesus. While it is true that Luke write that the Ephesians received the Spirits and spoke in tongues, Paul never re mentions it when he write to them some time later. While he did encourage the seeking of the Holy Spirit, he did not write that one must have tongue speaking to associate with it. “To another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.”21 It is clear here that what Paul meant to be tongues is normal human language. The Greek translation uses the word hermeneuo which mean translation. He also used the Greek word “γενοζ”22 which means “genus” or “kind.” Genus means family or group and because of this it can be seen that he meant language families as in real ones. Like today with French being similar to Spanish.
It is strange that Paul suggest that the people of Corinth desire the greatest gift which is prophecy yet the Pentecostals emphesis tongues. Why is this? As Paul states, tongue speaking does not edify the church and only really cause problems. He does not applaud their use of tongues but rather calls them on it. Paul seems to think that glossolalia was made into a ego-centric gift. Pentecostals claim that if used properly, the gift of tongues can be use to communicate with God. It seems that while the other gifts serve to raise up the church and our fellow humans, why would this gift point to God? It would make more sense if tongue speaking were seen for what it truly was; being able to speak in different human languages to edify the church and others in spreading the gospel! “So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.”23Why are we as Christian seeking for glossolalia when in verse 22, Paul states that tongues is not a sign for believers. Pentecostals try to use this one chapter as their final defense but it instead anything but. The only thing that goes in their favor is verse 39, “Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” Weight of evidence should beat out isolated scriptures any day. As shown by the Azusa Street Revival and many Charismatic Movement services, they are anything but. There are even men of Charismatic pursuation who believe that kicking a terminally ill person is Biblical. It is these people who give our religion a bad name.
“The Sermon on the Mount-read it and it drives you to your knees. There He spoke of prayer and fogginess and patience. But He did not once suggest that speaking in tongues would be an aid to such a life of piety and devotion.”24 I quote this directly because in my own personal life, it is this paragraph that states my opposition to tongue speaking as evidence of the Holy Spirit. We are the salt of the earth, the city on a hill; we are examples to the entire world. Tongues is something that does not edify the Church but rather separates it, it scares non-believers into thinking that we all crazy and it is not biblical. I find it hard to like a life of love and fogginess if I do not do anything to make this world a better place to live in. I find speaking in tongues as deceptive towards those who desire to know God on more personal level. I feel like it plays with their emotions. It gives them something that they lack, emotional expression. We are after all creatures of feeling and intellect and wills. We as Christians should lives of love and forgivenss. The evidence of the holy spirit should be how we live our lives in community with our fellow neighbors. We should edify each other instead of asking something that only God can chose to give us. Instead of looking at 1 Corinthians in order to find something that would continue our self edification we should look these chapters and live more this way.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” ~1 Corinthians 13
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Soninto the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. ~1 John 4:7-21Monday, May 4, 2009
Maria
| Born: Aug 10, 2000 |
| Grade: 1 |
| Favorite Subject: Religion |
| Health: Satisfactory |
| Favorite Play: Volleyball |
| Gender: Girl |
| Chores: Carries Wood |
| Country: Kenya |
Maria Mwende lives with her parents, 2 brothers, and 2 sisters. Her parents struggle to provide for the family.
Maria Mwende and her family live in a community severely affected by the HIV and AIDS crisis. In some communities, AIDS affects the entire social structure as a generation of hardworking adults is being wiped out. Frightened children and exhausted grandparents rarely have money for food, school, or medical care. Through sponsorship, you can help with these and other basic needs for Maria Mwende and her family.
Maria Mwende is in primary school and she enjoys religion. She helps at home by carrying wood. She likes to play volleyball. She is in satisfactory health.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The What Question
It is amazing to think that after a couple of months of uncertainty and confusion, everything seems to clear up after a little bit of prayer. Last semester, I had no idea where or how I wanted to give myself to God’s work, all I knew was that I felt that it is what God truly wanted for my life. Through this whole process, I had my Bible and that was helped me so much. Not because it told me what to do and how to do them but because it offered support for me. Many months later, I am now starting to get the idea of where I will serve in a couple of years.
When I first decided that I wanted to follow God’s path for me I was scared and did not realize that it was not going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be. I thought that I would be going for the position that is considered the most prestigious among people, that of a senior pastor of some huge church. That, I believe, was my first mistake. I had put in my head that it was up to me completely to decide what position I would hold. Like most humans, I had chosen the one position in the ministry that would impress my peers and bring me a higher position in life. From the beginning of this journey, I had already started on a bad note. After six weeks of this, I have learned that it is not where I am to go. I might become a senior pastor someday but right now, my ministry passion leads me to children’s ministry.
Now that I know where I will serve, the next logical step is to find out what I will do when I get there. I must answer the “what” question. To answer that question, I used both the Strength Quest and the Spiritual Gift Assessment. On the Strength Quest, my top five strengths are Context, Input, Belief, Relator and Achiever. When I first took it, I did not think much of it. In fact, I thought of it as a joke. Almost two years later I can now see how handy it really is to me in helping me out where I will be in the future. Context; I can look back and think of all the things that I have done in my past and learn from them. Input; I have always wanted to know more and more about how this world works and why things happen, this has lead me here to this university. Belief; my family values is the biggest thing that controls my life because almost everything that I have done is based on what is best for the family. I even have a tattoo on my back with the word “family” in Japanese symbols. That is something I will never regret. Relator; I have always enjoyed one on one relationship with people because of the personal feeling that it brings out. Achiever; I have of course tried to succeed in my goals, whatever they may be at the time.
Faith and Prophecy. According to the Spiritual Gifts Assessment, faith and prophecy are my two main gifts but what do they mean? My faith has always been tested time and time again and there have been long periods of time when I truly believed that I would not be able to have any faith at all. At first, I thought it was going a mistake but now that I think about it, I do believe it. If it were not for my faith then I would have been a lost person and could not have passed the last couple years of my life. I am not going to lie, I had no idea what the paper meant by prophecy. The sheets did not provide a description of the various gifts that it showed. So how was I to know what it meant, let alone know if I really did have it?! After looking at the questions that corresponded with this gift, I realize that even though I am still working on honing this gift, I do posses it. I hope that by using these two gifts wisely, I will be able to teach and help grow all the people that are put under my care. I do not think that it will be that big of a problem since my secondary gifts are mercy and shepherding. Oh yes, I believe I have now answered the “what” question to my ministry journey.
It really is amazing how things do not change, but the things that we already have seem much more valuable now.
My Spiritual Passion/January 24, 2008
Growing up, I did not have much. Every day I would go to school by foot, angry that some children who lived farther away than me could sleep in a little bit more because their parents could drive them to school. I was angry that I could not have what they have, that their lives were so much better than mine. I grew up with the same mentality, up until high school that is. In middle school, we were forced to wear uniforms and I hated it. Once I got to high school, I realized that even though I had clothing that was not up in style, there were people around me that had even worse clothing and that made me sad. It made me realize how lucky I was and how some people all around the world were living lives that were much worse than anything I had ever experienced. There are people today that will go on with this entire day and not have anything to eat, among them being thousands of children. I wanted to help back then, but there was nothing I could really do because I had problems of my own to deal with first.
Something I have realized over the last couple years is that everyone can make a difference. I could have made a difference back then. I could have saved my money and donated it. But no, I was too worried about myself. Earlier this semester, I had been wondering where my life would take me. Would I fail in giving out God’s word properly? Where would I serve? With who? What will be of my family? Before I switched to Christian Ministries, I wanted to be a history teacher. My history teacher had inspired me to set goals for my life and actually achieved them. I wanted to do the same with my life, be someone who children can look up to. The minds of children are clay, ready to be set in whatever way we fashion them. I truly believe that there is where God called me to serve.
My life today is pretty simple, I have very little materialistic things and I care little about them. My mission in life is to help those children who almost no one cares about, who cannot help themselves, the unwanted and poor. These children need the most help and I want to give them the help that they need. All my friends think that it’s an amazing thing that I care so much about my family and other people in general. But I have seen what they have not. I have lived a life a poverty, despair and hate. It’s not easy. One day, maybe they will understand the pain that these kids go through every day. It is a horrible thing to wonder if there will be food available the following day or if today is going to be your last meal.
Jesus came to this earth to forgive our sins, every last single person. That also includes the children of the world who do not know it yet. This is my Passion; this is what drives me today; to make sure that every child in the world knows that there is someone who loves them with a love that is unconditional and unending.