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Unexpected Beginnings

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Children at the Border | LFI

Can it really be four years ago that I sold almost everything I own, quit my job, and moved to Costa Rica simply because God moved on my heart to do so?  I wanted to be obedient, but I was baffled that God chose Costa Rica to launch me out into the mission field.  For the two years prior, all I had talked about was the Middle East. I even trained one summer with an organization (SWI) that goes into places like Pakistan.  I studied Islam and the persecuted church and areas where persecution of Christians was very prevalent.  I was determined to find and go to any and all areas where Christ is not allowed nor wanted.

In my childlike faith, I wanted (and honestly still do) to just pick a spot in the middle of the world, set up a home and then just house, feed and love every single orphaned, abandoned, hungry child on the globe.  However, that was not what He had in mind for me, and so when He sent me to Costa Rica, I told him I would just take all the little ones in Central America!  So it is not surprising that it did not take me long to discover an unreached, untouched area that was full of exploited and hurting young kids.  As I sat listening to a pastor share all he had discovered in a certain town and how desperately in need these children were, my heart broke.  Although I told the pastor I would pray and would not commit to anything, deep down I knew I would be back.  I came home and prayed, and it was not long before I knew that I was to go back and see how I could help and where.  I also knew then that I was not going home.  I called my mom one night on Skype crying from what all I had learned of these children and crying because I knew I would not be moving home in December.  She cried with me but we were both smiling through our tears because we knew this was God. This was the birthing of LFI and the journey of how a girl from Kentucky moved to Costa Rica.

Like most girls, I grew up with Cinderella stories, but I also grew up with stories like David and Goliath, Moses parting the Red Sea, and missionaries (i.e. Jim Elliot).  At a young age, I was ruined for this world.  Many of us aspire to make a difference, our culture speaks of reaching for the stars, becoming anything you want as long as you believe in yourself.  We flock to the theaters to see good triumph evil, rags rise to riches, and success defy defeat.  Why?  Because the one who designed us, who spoke us into existence, in whose nature we were created; defined those heroic tales.  God triumphed evil with His Son, Jesus, and everyday He triumphs when you step out and be His hands and feet.  Everyday success defies defeat when you allow Him to shine through your weaknesses so He can shame foolishness.  For every counterfeit, there is a genuine.  The Bible is not fiction nor fantasy.  It is a living God telling stories through the lives of everyday men and women who allowed God to use them.  The day I made Jesus Lord of my life, that became my culture.  My heart began to beat with thoughts of how big God was, how through Him all things are possible, and how the world was so hurt and broken.  I knew, I too, wanted to let God take the pen and write His story, His version, His way.  Every test, every trial, every mountaintop and valley has taught me something and pushed me to grow in God.

 

The Cost Of Justice

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I’d define being just as “Pursuing righteousness and truth no matter the cost.”  Too often we jump on the band wagon of “social justice” because it seems trendy without remembering the cost of justice. The call to fight injustice alone, without weighing the cost, will not sustain us.

I’m still not sure what defines a call except that its a deep sense of fully knowing you’re meant to do something; a resonance within your soul that won’t let go, maybe? Nonetheless I’ve felt “called” to work with the victims of sex trafficking since I went to India in 2009. However, in the second year of working with victims on the streets of Costa Rica, I questioned that call. But I knew I was supposedly “called”, right? I had grown weary in my own strength. My vision of justice had not been fully formed from a relationship with God, but from my perceptions of what I thought justice should be—how I could earn it. God alone is the great Justifier. He epitomizes justice. The only way to lay hold of the meaning of justice is by spending time seeking God through prayer and worship. It is a costly process, but in doing so, we can’t help but see and feel His heart beat for people and His desire for social justice.

Without this, “the call” will only sustain you for so long until people become a burden or a job. Once you’ve lost connection with His heart, your head starts to take over and your heart is no longer in the work. A daily renewal and inflowing of His spirit is necessary in this pursuit of justice because without that we are only teaching people to be reliant on their self sufficiency, a greater injustice. As a growing non-profit, LFI has gone through many trial and error periods, but the core of who we are has remained the same. We reach out relationally to connect victims of sexual exploitation to their true value, empowering them to live a transformed life through Jesus. The greatest injustice we can impart to anyone is giving them self-sufficiency rather than a heart fully dependent on a good God who justifies us wholly.

 

Bathtub Included

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Last week, a local pastor asked us to pray for a new house for he and his family. The pastor told me that he needed a much bigger house, but needed his rent payments to be comparable to his current ones. He told me that preferably the new house would be close to where they were already living, and it would be nice if it had a bathtub for his wife. As I prayed, I had no doubts that the Lord would provide as He does time and time again.

Yesterday, they found a house that was just two streets away from their current house and is nearly twice as big, for only $20/month more than their current payments! Moreover, even in Costa Rica where they are hard to come by, this particular house came with a bathtub included just as he had wanted for his wife!

The God I serve doesn’t settle for just providing for us. As if that isn’t enough. You see, without a bathtub, one could say that this house was a “great find” and ignore the fact that God was involved at all. My God desires specific prayers with bathtubs included because when He answers them, He gets 100% of the glory. No questions asked.

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