Help the People.

Does your heart ever hurt for someone you've never met? I do not mean that classic Romance film kind of aching. I mean you know there is someone out there that needs you deeply, needs you to guide them to the Father, and they seem so close, yet still out of touch.
My heart aches. I have one in particular. But they are all over the place. There are so many in need.

I've often thought...what if we just took one person, just one, to fully invest in. For myself, my "uncle" (not biological, but practically) is the one. He has stretched me and shown me things I never thought I could be, and things I never thought I could do.  Through Christ, he has taught me so many things. Has seen potential in me I would have laughed at a few years ago.

And I have one to invest into as well. Someone so close, but out of touch. I am realizing this. He has taught me so much, as have I to him. I can only hope I have done my designated job, and have/will guide him to Christ. And it is a burden, with someone who is in such despair. But I love him a lot. And with faith my only guide, I know he will leave this world with hope.


But what about the rest of them? That is only one in a billion. Who will reach out to the rest? To the homeless man on the side of the street, to the rich man in the business suit down the road. Are we not all equally lost? Are we as Christians not all equally called to GO therefore, and make disciples?

My heart aches. aches. for the people. The incredibly important people.

State 4/50: Missouri "Hollywood to Dollywood"

Okay...so not quite Dollywood. But it was Branson! And it was so good to be back in Branson, MO after a good many years.
DRAMA Ministry has taken me on the road (and in the air) quite a bit. This is another one of those times :)

We're in Branson, MO for a leadership conference with AIM Around the World. The theme was "The Surrendered Leader." So good. I'll have to review my notes eventually.

We had a fantastic group of people trekking our way to Missouri, and we were fearless. Nothing could hinder us [and succeed]. Lack of sleep, a broken van, nothing.
...Okay, I take that back, sort of. We had a few hindrances , but we made it! Our originally 18 hour drive, ended up taking...much longer.

It's the middle of the night, I am rather uncomfortably attempting to sleep with two other girls on our 15-passenger front van bench, and it's not working. There's a cramp in my neck, and I can't quite move my legs, but I deal with it. That's when I hear our driver Mr. King start to talk about the car. He's whispering, so as not to wake anyone, to his co-pilot, my friend David. I hear him start to say things like the gauge isn't working properly..and the headlights are growing dim.
   Then we lose all electricity in the van. (By now mostly everyone is awake). He starts to drive on the shoulder of the highway, keeping out of people's way. We get off the nearest exit, and silently say thank you to God when we see a Flying J so close. Because it's so late, there is barely anyone on the road, so we pull a red light in order to make it into the parking lot without breaking down....Guys, there was a cop pulling out of the road next to the truck stop. We were *sure* he was going to pull us over...but, nothing. It was kind of comical, actually, if it wouldn't have been such a frustrating situation.
   Let me tell you, though, God really provides, even in situations like this. Have you ever been in a Flying J? I hadn't, so maybe they're not all like this, but this one had a Denny's attached to it, a little mart, a place with lots of chairs and a TV, big bathrooms, and even showers! (not that we used them, but it was a nice thought.) They allowed us to spend the night on the chairs, until we could get our van fixed. What a huge blessing!

in the morning... ick. it wasn't exactly the most comfortable place,
 but it was definitely better than nothing.

The next day...we were *exhausted.*...and David was
using my pillow.

By noon the next day, we were back on the road with a van with electricity! So wonderful. 

However...I'll admit, the one good thing that came about from that whole thing was that generally when they go to this annual conference, they pass by the Arch during the night so they don't see it. But we got to :D

We finally made it to Missouri!! 

So beautiful (: 

This family is amazing^

It was a great weekend, filled with wonderful people, and impacting messages. 

So many inspiring things we learnt about Surrendering everything. I'm sure the hymn "I Surrender All," will never be thought about the same way again. 

 (I Surrender All - CeCe Winans)

A lot of friendships built in the 36 hours I was here. I'm gonna miss these wonderful people, from all across the States.