Our Staff Blog

Worth It!

              Self-preservation…. Its presence is in every generation, culture, age, gender or status.  Explained as normal human behavior, it is encouraged in the pursuit of health, prosperity and happiness.  Conditional service to Christ is its fruit and compromise in willingness its by-product.  Common among the human experience, it is also unfortunately taking storm in our local churches.  The gospel is being twisted to make audiences believe that if they come to Jesus he will make their earthly life easier.  “Jesus will get you a better job, relieve all your sickness, and give you the give you all your wants (If we only have enough faith).”  Do we miss verses such as Phil 1:29: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” Or we just simply unwilling to count the cost?

I want to beg those who read this blog to put their ears down to the bible and hear Jesus gently yet boldly speak.  In love He beckons us lay down our lives and FOLLOW Him. How often do we forget that Christ was described as a man of many sorrows?  A man who suffered mocking, hatred, affliction, and ultimately death. In addressing His disciples He mentions that whoever does not take up His cross (an instrument of torture) and follow Him he CANNOT be His disciple (Luke 14:25). He also says that if a man does not even hate his own life he is not worthy to be His disciple.  What does this mean???  In Galatians, Paul writes “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me”.  Such an important role model in the scriptures counted his very life dead in his own eyes, nor as precious to himself.

             That testimony is very different than the song most proclaimed evangelicals are singing in modern churches. We say we care about the poor, yet spend more money on ice cream and cosmetics than relief aid. We offer Christ everything; yet give nothing towards missions and neglect to spend time with those who desperately need love in our own communities. We proclaim willingness to give Him our lives, yet only choose roads that are easy, safe and comfortable.  Does this mean we are all called to foreign missions? No, but it does mean that we are to make disciples and love the broken in the location that God has ordained us to live in, foreign or domestic. Does this mean that we should wonder around this earth hating our very existence and journey? And that following Christ should be dreadful? No. It means that we become a people willing to lay down our lives for others sacrificially as Christ freely laid down His life for us. It means that we freely give our money, our time, and even our very lives to see the gospel proclaimed and the kingdom of God advanced!  It means that we stop being safe and stop-making service to Christ conditional to our own demands and concerns. Nowhere does it ever say that if we follow Him we will gain a better life on earth.  However, Christ offers something much more worthy and glorious! He says that if we follow Him will gain Him, the king of kings, and lord of all lords. We gain relationship with God and eternity to spend forever with Him! We gain forgiveness and reconciliation to a Just and HOLY God. That is worth more than this temporary world can offer, more precious than money, health, or comfort. “I came that they might have LIFE, and might have it abundantly.(John 10:10)” In the Greek context, this word life (ZOE) refers to the spirit and soul, separate from physical life (Bios), expressing the highest and best which Christ gives his saints in the most blessedness of the creature. His most blessed gift to us is eternal, spiritual, and relational. Christ desires His people who count the cost… Men and women who see the cost of losing the comforts of this world and everything that this present life has to offer and count them rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ! (Phil 3:8) Who worship the GIVER and CREATOR, not his gifts or things created. Who see His face and proclaim.. “WORTH IT, YES LORD… AT ANY COST, I WILL FOLLOW YOU”

Rise Up church! And let us follow CHRIST into the unknown and uncomfortable and love sacrificially! HE IS WORTH IT!

 

Utterly abandoned
  To the Holy Ghost!


Seeking all His fulness
  At whatever cost;


Cutting all the shorelines,
  Launching in the deep


Of His mighty power,
  Strong to save and keep.

Utterly abandoned
  To the Lord of all,


Seeking all His fulness,
  Answ'ring His dear call.
 

Utterly abandoned
  To the Holy Ghost!


Oh! the sinking, sinking,
  Till the self is lost!


Till the vessel's emptied
  Broken at His feet;


Waiting till His filling
  Makes the work complete.

 

Utterly abandoned
  To the will of God;


Walking in the pathway
 That my Master trod;


Leaving ease and pleasure;
  Making Him my choice,


Waiting for His guidance,
  Listening for His voice.

 

Utterly abandoned!
  Through eternity;


My will never choosing,
  His it e'er shall be;


All my plans and longings
  Lost in His sweet will,


Having nothing, owning
  All things in Him still.

 

Utterly abandoned!
  'Tis so sweet to be


Captive in His love-bonds,
  Yet so wondrous free;


Free from sin's dominion,
  Free from doubt and fear,


Free from every worry,
  Burden, grief or care.

 

Utterly abandoned!
 Oh, the rest is sweet,

Waiting in His presence
 At His blessed feet;


Waiting for the filling
  Of the Host divine,


Who my inward parts shall
 Perfectly refine.

 

Lo! His Spirit fills me,
  With His presence sweet!


I, in Him, am blessed!
  I, in Him, complete!


Now the light within me
  Never shall grow dim


While abandoned ever,
 Living unto Him!

-Author Unknown

Posted: April 23rd, 2012

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Roses for a Widow

The following was written by a member of our Mumbai Project. She has spent time with us previously in Goa and shares how that has propelled her into Mumbai.


Each day she was there. Probably carting her small nephew up the stairs to the nutrition program or reminding another little one to bring their cup along. She always wore her hair in pig tails and proudly sported her school uniform after class hours. Sundays too, her hand was the first to shoot up ready to recite the week’s memory verse. I have never seen a young girl so detached from the need to fit in and so in tune with the genuine desire to serve others and know God. Pooja, no doubt, was an eleven-year-old woman of God. I saw great kindness in her, coupled with a passion for meekness. One day in particular, Pooja did something that I will never forget.

It was supposed to be a normal day, I was carrying roses into the slum for the women who attended the small bible study and I quickly realized that the day was far from ordinary. At a normally calm time of day in an area normally painted by a few women cooking and many children racing around the streets in play, an alien sight met my eyes. Large crowds of men filled the streets and as I weaved through their unending number trying to find a familiar face, I knew something went wrong. Some kids from Sunday school found me and my group and informed us that a man had died. We knew what this meant. If a man died, that means he left his wife behind. If a wife is left behind, she has three options: 1. She can burn with her husband. 2. She can marry her husband’s brother 3. She can become an outcast.

We approached a horrifying scene. A woman was prostrate over her dead husband, both of them littered in flies and only one of them weeping. Everyone knew what this meant. No one said a word. Everyone watched.

I quickly gathered the kids from the nutrition program and Sunday school, amongst them was Pooja. I told them that the stories we had been telling them about Jesus weren’t just for the sake of knowledge. I said that he was asking them to be his people in their slum, that he was asking them to be a part of this widow’s life. I told them that if the widow was lonely, they should sit and talk with her, if she got hungry, they were to find her food, and if anyone outcastes her, then they are not to do the same.

 I had no idea if this would register or not. I had little time to communicate something that was completely against their culture and upbringing, but the chance was worth taking. As we were leaving the slum, Pooja found me and asked if we had leftover roses. I told her yes and thought she might want to give them to her friends or put them in her hair. She responded by telling me that she wanted to bring them to the widow. I was stunned. Pooja was willing to do something so unnatural and counter-cultural, I was sure that she was the most caring kid in the world.

Pooja represents the hope that the person of Jesus absolutely invades a life and births them into his own creation despite their past or present. Pooja is an ideal example of where the Mumbai Project seeks to see women and children who are trapped in the effects of sexual slavery. Pooja gives me hope, she gives me assurance that freedom from the norm is exactly what happens to those who meet Jesus. My team and I anxiously await moments like this when people step outside of their circumstances and into the reality of Jesus in their heart.

Posted: March 26th, 2012

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Blessed

I am blessed to have found my calling in teaching.  Of the 15 years of teaching in Georgia I was blessed to have most, if not all, resources at my fingertips… all the latest technologies, reference books, mentors, supplies - for both myself as well as my students - were in abundance.   I am blessed to have a four year college degree and have had many training sessions through the years all in the field of education.  My classroom in Georgia was bright, colorful, clean, inviting and fun. 

                                      
I now find myself staring into the eyes of 40-45 children ranging in ages from 3-14 years old.  I am teaching/tutoring in one of the largest slums in Goa, India. We gather each day in the cement block, cement floored living room of a local pastor.  The only furnishings being two thin woven mats covering the floor.  Nauseating smells of raw sewage stream in through the open windows and doors through which the chickens come and go.  As I look into the eyes of the children sitting “Criss-Cross Apple Sauce” on the cement floor, I see the desire and yearning of hope.  As we begin by learning new words in English I see their little eyes grow brighter.  As we sing “1-2-3 Jesus Loves Me” and the “Tooty Ta” the smiles begin to grow and I hear laughter.  As we act out Bible Stories and recite the weekly Bible Verse the hope arises in their innocent, little souls.  On Friday afternoon when they recite the Bible Verse to me, MY hope arises for them. 

Never, not in a million years, would I have ever imagined that God would be equipping me to use the gift of teaching, that He blessed me with, here, on the complete other side of the planet… in the slums of India.  There is nothing easy, comfortable or clean about this place.  However, as God continues to equip me to do HIS work, I cannot imagine being anywhere else in this world.  I am blessed, so very blessed, to have found my calling and to know that I am in His will.  Easy?  Comfortable?  Clean?  No.  Blessed and honored?  Yes!

-Goa Staff

Posted: February 10th, 2012

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Just Another Day!

It was a beautiful Sunday morning as the nine of us headed to Church, five team members traveled in a vehicle and four, including myself took an auto rickshaw. Our driver was very friendly as we went along the way speaking to many people and even stopping to shake hands a few times on our fifteen minute journey. We asked him to wait for us for our return trip as it can be difficult to get a ride out of the slum. The return trip started out similarly as our driver again spoke to many people along the road. He stopped at a Chickoo fruit stand to greet a friend. Much to our surprise he had the stand owner give us a Chickoo to eat. After the snack we were off again. Please keep in mind that the other five team members were in a vehicle and were probably at the house by this time, they have no idea of the adventure we are on and I have the key to get in the house. Unexpectedly, he stopped again. This time our driver disappeared behind a row of shop buildings. He reappeared with a little boy, his grandson. He wanted us to meet his grandson! He then put his grandson in his lap to continue with us on our journey home. We pulled out into the road and suddenly made a u-turn back to the spot where we had just stopped. I insisted we must go home and he insisted we get out of the rickshaw and follow him. I insisted three times and finally resigned to the fact that we were going nowhere until we followed him. We disembarked our rickshaw and followed the driver down a path behind a row of buildings. The girls were saying if you were not with us we would be so scarred! I assured them we were fine and that he was taking us to meet the rest of his family and probably for tea. We arrived at our destination which was a small 3 room home where the driver and his wife lived with their 2 sons and daughter-in-laws and 1 daughter and son-in-law and 2 grandchildren, let me count for you, ten people. Our driver’s wife served us desert on coconut leaf bowls and tea. We sat and chatted for a few minutes and then had a family photo taken before leaving to finalize our journey home.

Just another day in India!

Posted: January 25th, 2012

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The Brothel in the Field

(written when one of our staff spent several days working alongside our direct intervention staff)


Our Indian interpretor told me, today, "I can't help falling into their love." She was trying to say "I can't help falling in love with them" but "falling into their love" is a better description of how I felt today. The field we are in is filthy and partly hidden from the road by wild scrubs and scrubby trees. The girls wore garish make up and ran up to every man who walked down the path, which was strewn with a layer of used condoms.

The brothel consists of four metal stalls with rusted tin roofs and “doors” draped with shabby soiled curtains. Old Hindu god posters and alcohol posters are randomly attached to the back of the cardboard and blue tarp “walls.” There are long wooden tables in front of the “entrances” that the women sit or lie upon while they are waiting for the next customer. They welcome me and try to make me comfortable.

There is a steady stream of men and women going in and coming out from behind the curtains. Money is exchanged and change is made by the madams and pimps. The rate is 200 rupees – about $5. The garish make up gets slightly smeared but isn’t repaired. Some of the girls have black eyes – caught in the middle of fighting between men and other prostitutes.

They all love M and V (Rahab’s Rope staff) with a love that makes no demands and has no agendas. These women – young and old are secure in knowing M and V come 2-3 times a week out of a pure, unselfish love. There is a sweet comfortableness and familiarity in this awful place.

I sat next to a girl named Minnie*. She held my hand as if it were a lifeline. She is probably 21-22 and she speaks English very well. I asked her where she learned to speak English and she said she had been in school up to the 10th grade and fell into a bad crowd. She ended up being drugged and was taken to this brothel and believes there is no way out for her. What I wanted her to understand that God - the true creator God not some crazy idol- loves her, created her, knows her and died on the cross to save her. She is from Nepal - a long, long way from home. Please take time to pray for her today.

One of the women has a little girl with her – about 2 years old. She keeps her in a make-shift tent. The little girl has on a dirty T-shirt, bare footed and no bottoms – no diaper, no shorts, nothing! She squats down in the dirt to “poop” and everyone watches and laughs. Oh, God in heaven, what chance does this child have to know a life beyond this field?

Most of the women were brought here against their will. Tricked and sold by family members or “friends”. Many from Nepal and Bangladesh. Some “arranged” by husbands to pay off gambling debts or to support the household. It is degrading and de-humanizing – there is such a sense of hopelessness in their expressions even when they are smiling or laughing.

Watching Randa* was the hardest – she is probably in her early 20’s and has three children – cared for by the man she is living with now. She is pregnant with twins and due any minute. Since she can’t “work”, she helps collect money and make change. She is so uncomfortable and miserable. We sat on the table and M asked her what she planning to do with the babies. She told us that she will care for them herself. She had an abortion in February and got pregnant, again, a month later. She had planned to have another abortion for some reason, she didn’t. The despair in her face was overwhelming. We asked if she needed anything and she told M, “You have given me so much already. I don’t want to ‘burden’ you.”

Father, God, You are sovereign. Your Word promises that a sparrow doesn’t fall from the sky that You don’t know about. Father, You hold life and death in Your hands. You knew Randa and all her children before the foundation of the world was laid. I seek Your wisdom, Father. I do not ask “why”, I ask “what”. What do You want me to do to help Randa, Minnie, and all the other women I have met and “fallen into their love,” here in India? I know you are the only answer. I pray that You would open their eyes and hearts to receive you as Lord and Savior. We all prostitute ourselves to this world – our comfort, our possessions, our desires and ambitions. We are all like these women – just at different levels of human comfort – when we refuse to accept Your gift of salvation. You are the only answer to every need and longing. Only you can give peace and freedom no matter what our circumstances are. Father, once again, I ask that I might be invisible and that Your love, mercy and grace would be all that anyone can see in me. Thank You for giving me the opportunity to represent you to these women. Amen

Rebecca


*names have been changed for security purposes

Posted: January 13th, 2012

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New Online Store!

Hey guys! Just wanted to let everyone know to check out our brand new online store! 100% of profits go to help fight human trafficking in India and develop our stateside programs. This is a great place to buy gifts with a purpose. Shop items made by the women of Rahab's Rope and other fair-trade items from around the world. Click HERE to check it out!

Posted: December 21st, 2011

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