Rise Up Church…

   I wrote a blog post when I was on the World Race and a part of it said, "So, my challenge to you, my blog readers… GO! Find a corner of darkness that really breaks and captures your heart- whether it be homelessness, AIDS, poverty, orphans, human trafficking, people trapped by idol worship and false religions- and bring Kingdom to that place. Go and show them the beautiful love of Christ that brought you to life and freedom." (Read the full post). I long to see the Church, the adopted sons and daughters of God, the heirs to the Kingdom, rise up and take our place bringing forth His Kingdom.

   We, as children of God, should be living lives that our saturated with His Kingdom. Our lives should look drastically different than those of the world. All of our lives will look unique as each person sets about building a part of the Kingdom, but they should all be characterized by relentless love and self-sacrifice. ¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. -Ephesians 5:1-2  I know people who are living lives completely dedicated to the Lord and His Kingdom counseling sexually exploited girls in Atlanta, ministering to deaf street kids in Cambodia, serving at a free clinic for the homeless in Los Angeles, advocating for refugees at the Thai/Burma border, or a school counselor in NC who saw a child in need and decided to become a foster mom to her. All of these lives are different, but each one is full of life and the Lord. Our lives should not mirror the world's values, safety or comfort. We should be living lives of reckless abandon and love.   

   I have been living in this tiny impoverished village in NW Nicaragua for almost three years now. In my time in Candelaria, I have encountered so many heartbreaking and difficult realities: sugar cane workers dying at alarming rates and the grief of their young widows, young girls sleeping in potato sacks to not be raped in their homes, children unloved by their parents, teenager's life lost by terrible tragedy, extreme poverty that shortens lives, families who survive living and working in the trash dumps, children without a chance for education, childhood stolen by disease, moms who must choose between being present with their children or feeding them, battered women and children, teenagers' confidence torn down within their own families, abused and abandoned children. I am surrounded by heartbreaking things every day; and thus surrounded by opportunities to build His Kingdom and places that are in desperate need of His hope and love.

  The current reason for this uprising in my spirit to see the Church become the Church is that I have been confronted with yet another unacceptable reality in this world…

   Since arriving in Nica, I have heard so many women talk about their abusive relationships as something you must endure as a wife. That resignation and acceptance of the unacceptable has always stirred indignation in my heart. This month I began to understand their hearts a little more.

    A beautiful friend of mine lives in constant fear. Her boyfriend is an abusive drunk. He beats her. He threatens her with a machete. She calls the police only to have him released a few hours later. Her daughter is terrified of her father. Her small plastic home would not provide protection for them if she ended her relationship and asked him to leave. He has threatened to kill her if she forces him out. A young mother with a fifth grade education, she has no job. No money. Nowhere to run. And so she remains. She endures.
    I began to search for safe house options. A way for my lovely girls to escape this nightmare and start anew. I searched. I called. I asked everyone that I could think to ask. And I came up empty-handed. In a nation where 52% of women report experiencing domestic violence, there are no safe houses for battered women. What? There are day programs where they can receive support and education, but each night they are sent home to endure their abuse. Of course they feel resigned to endure. Literally there is nowhere for them to go.

   So this is a cry for the church to RISE UP. If you have a heart for abandoned women, please consider making Nicaragua your home. There is such a need for safe houses in this nation. For safe house. For counseling. For education and discipleship. For restoration centers. If this is your heart's cry, please come.