A little more B*ntu camp!

The feast on the last day.

Me and the littlest baby in my group, N*rto.

My brother Joseph helping out in the little boys group. He was awesome this week, its the first year he's been old enough to do it and I was so proud of how gently and appropriately he handled those rambunctious little guys.

Water slide!

Dragon-slaying party at the end of the week.

Dancing at the feast. :)

Eating some cotton candy one day.

Beauty.

Some precious little ladies with some seriously silly attitude.

B*ntu Camp

This week was B* camp for me and my classmates. Its the third annual camp we've done with the B*ntu refugees. They are a severely oppressed, under priviledge, Muslim people group here in Nashville.

I have such an incredible time there every year, and I love following up with the kids throughout the year through in little one-day activites and stuff. I have several special relationships with certain kids and the trust level between the kids and our volunteers has grown so much. Jesus be praised. We are continuing to break down barriers in the hope that one day soon we will be able to speak openly about our faith and be heard by receptive little ears and without the danger of the kids being persecuted/banned from seeing us by their families.

More to come, hopefully.

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl

Just read this book, given to me by a friend for my graduation. Oh. My. Word.

Can you say beautiful?
How about fascinating?
Brilliant?
Life-changing?
Hilarious?
Thought-provoking?
All around full of wonder?


Whether or not you can say those things, read it. Readitreaditreaditreadit. I'm hoping to read it atleast once a year.

Spreadin' the love....or the work.

We have a lot of work to do.

In fact, until Jesus returns we are called to be constantly doing one of three things: Working. Resting. Or Worshipping.

And by work I mean Kingdom work, and by rest I mean Kingdom rest (As in, not chocolate bar glutton rest and not endless hours of facebook rest. Real, healthful, body-spirit-soul rest. Says the chocolate-eating facebook addict. Not as I do, people. Not as I do.)

That being said, we have a lot of work to do. We are working with Christ in redeeming, in gardening the world. Our world is a mess, but our work is far from hopeless. Actually, our work is certain to succeed. Good will always prevail over evil in the end. Good is so much bigger than evil.

I digress. But happily. :)

My dear IRL* friend (to steal a phrase from this lovely blog), Chelsea, is working on raising money, like many of you, for a little Reece's Rainbow girl for the 5/5/5 project. I'd be delighted if you jumped over to her cute, green blog (doubtless she would be delighted as well) and poked around to learn more about her fundraising efforts and see what you can do to help.
*in real life

We're working together. We're gardening together. We have a lot of work to do.

And someOne has gone before us. Blessed be His name in all the earth.

Fundraiser for my darling

Everybody remember my little love, Heidi?

I dressed up her picture. :) Did anyone else notice that her hair is frenchbraided? I'm happy that at what ever point this picture was taken there was somebody who loved her enough to fix her gorgeous silky hair. And I am an absolute sucker for plaiting in every form.

Several months ago I was praying/brainstorming for a fundraising idea for Heidi, as I've been pretty inactive about raising money for her. I decided on making necklaces, and calling it Hearts of Heidi. Heidi has a minor heart defect which I don't think is causing her any huge problems now, but still a heart defect is a heart defect. I just want her home and healthy.


I'm making them out of things I have at home: handbraided silver string, nail polish, and scrabble letters, so there isn't any over head. They're 5$ and every bit goes towards Heidi's grant to help with her adoption expenses if/when a family commits to her.

The hearts remind me to pray for Heidi's physical health and her spiritual health. I am hoping to have a specific verse to pray over her soon too.

Contact me at ama2@bellsouth.net if you're interested in a Hearts for Heidi necklace!

A Little More LONDON

Beach!

My friends Kylie, Abby, and me.

The Round Church built by Christians home from the 3rd crusade. This thing is so freaking old. I think its my favorite church we saw.

My friend Claire and I at the Lewes Castle. Please delicately ignore my offensive black leggings/brown dress/converse situation. I know, poor choice. Sometimes my wardrobe just takes over and attacks me. Oh well.

My friend Caroline Grace and I at Bunhill feilds, where many puritan heroes (such as John Bunyan) are buried. We also had outdoor church there.

In St. Pancras station looking at the Eurostar which runs from London through the Chunnel to Paris! Its long. VERY long.

My dear friend Kylie and I on the beach.

Morning train ride from Brighton into London.

With a palace gaurd's horse!

This was a very cold decision. But I'm glad I did it. :)

6 pounds in an Antiquarian bookshop in Cambridge. Happy sigh.

Rooster on the top of All Hallows Barking Church across from the tower of London. Did you know that the rooster was the symbol of protestantism? I didn't. Cool.

Grateful

I graduated from highschool yesterday.

I'm just so grateful for all that the Lord has taught me and will teach me and all of the wise and wonderful people who have poured into me for the past 18 years to get me to this point.

In other news, my pastor preached this morning about being constant in prayer. Um, convicting? Yeah. Remebering to pray for this precious boy. God has given me so many oppportunities. To many to blog about. And I'm so grateful.