A Friendly Reminder

Dr. Corey's e-mail/message, sent from Dr. Greene:

One thing I meant to mention at the end but neglected to do so was a word of encouragement to your students. If you could convey this to them, I would appreciate it.

My hope is that through the learning of this class that you as students interested in global service and making an impact for Christ, would take some risks and immerse yourself in one of those transformational environments. As I reflected with you last week, I remembered again how much I needed to break out experientially from my subculture and living in the world of the "other," only to discover that the "other" was not much different from me. We laughed and had families. We worked and loved. We needed to know grace. I challenge you as Biola students, mature and brave, to think and pray about how you might experience your "plunge" during these years of life in your twenties when you are about as free as you'll ever be to go for it with hardly anything to lose. As I write this, on my desk is a paperweight that reads, "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" You have an exemplary professor in Dr. Greene who, among others, is giving you the tools you need and I wish I had. May something stir in your heart this semester calling you to a new challenge--beyond your comfort boundaries--that will change you for the good, for good. God has throughout history used willing college students like you to take some risks for the sake of Christ's love, risks that have few if any regrets.


{Amen}


It is a Friday night. I am home reviewing before the big test tomorrow and reminding myself that God has orchestrated all things for the purpose of His will. Pray for me, por favor. 

Big Girl Stuff

Today I got asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend Teddi's wedding, which is NEXT January! Ha, so a long time from now. I am just so excited, even though I have no idea where I will be at that time. Wherever I will be, I will just be one plane flight away and $300 short. All worth it for a friend I love and support greatly :)

I am starting to think that I might, JUST MAYBE, be the person who will be in a lot of peoples wedding, maybe 27 before I get married. Who knows. I hope not.

On another note, I feel like a big girl because I am taking the admission counselors advice from USC. He keeps calling me and telling me about their teaching program. I keep insisting that I am not going to apply to USC and he has told me at least three times, "Angela, you need to expand your options." At first I was thinking, "Why is this guy that I don't even know telling me this!?" And now I am thinking, "Ha, he is probably so right!"

Even though I am set on MTR, that does not mean that I should not explore my options. I mean after all if I do not get it, that does not mean I should stop pursuing the teaching route. So ladies and gentlemen, I am going to complete my application for Teach for America and apply to UCLA's Master in Education Program. High hopes... I know.

Although the future is exciting and not set in stone... I need to pay a little bit more time on the present.  So here we go.

Kingdom & Blessings

Mother Teresa once said, "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." When we stop and think about our God and His desire for the kingdom to be more bright in this world that could not be more true. We are living in the already but not yet stage of the kingdom. I have been thinking about the individualistic view of salvation and the gospel. God never desired the gospel to be a sin management gospel or a three step plan. The gospel is so full of life, it is whole, it is more than just salvation... it is a way of life. It is about caring for the poor, loving our enemies, surrendering our lives, endless grace, redemption, fighting for good, etc. It is a big picture that sometimes we miss. I think Biola does a fine job of making sure that the gospel really is full. As far as I know, most people do not see a hole in the gospel here on Biola's campus. We talk about social issues, have outreaches, feed the poor, and go serve among those who need love. 

Mother Teresa was one smart lady. She understood God's love for His children, that is for sure. God uses every single one of us in some small way to bless others. Sometimes I say "It's just your life" in response to people freaking out about the future and how they are going to serve. God wants to use us. God wants to open our eyes. God wants us to love others the way He would love. God desires for people to have abundant lives. God desperately wants people to know that they are loved and valued- after all He was the one who created them in their Mothers womb, so don't they have a purpose on this earth as well? What about the homeless man who walks across the street barefoot- doesn't he have a purpose? I believe so. 

So we are an instrument for God. We are the aroma of Christ... so let's be a pretty smell that attracts people to knowing that there are bits of the kingdom here on earth. 

On Wednesday I had a phone interview with Memphis Teaching Residency and found out that I got selected for the Fall Selection weekend in December. When I found out I went from the nervousness of asking "When will I find out" to jumping for joy and shedding a few tears. This Memphis journey has gone from a city that God put on my heart to a city that I have fallen in love with, all through prayer. God has his way of blessing- even if it is just to make it to the next step. Now I don't know how I am going to pay to go out there- but I know that I will make it out there. 

God loves to bless. Today Shannon asked me if I wanted to go out on a boat with her parents and Joel and let me tell you... It was SUCH a blessing. The water was beautiful, the weather was gorgeous, and I was with some of my favorite people. It was family time to me. 

I say let's let God use us in His love letter... after all He already wrote it already. 

Russia

I am working in SMU Right now and one of the lovely secretarial duties is to check to the mail every day. Most of the time when I check the SMU mailbox it is a lot of newsletters from different Missions Organizations. As bad as it sounds, I do not have time to read them so I end up just throwing them away.

Today's newsletter, from a Missions Organization that I will not name, caught my eye. The newsletter said with a big heading "Pastor: Murdered in Russia." It is not unlikely that pastors are murdered in Muslim populated areas, but this really hit me. Russia? Really?!

This man who was murdered was spreading the gospel and loving on lots of people in the community. A lot of people were coming to know the Lord through this man. People were yearning for Jesus and the church was growing. He was killed because of it.

Please pray that these believers would not be scared, that they would continue seeking the Lord, and that the church would continue to grow!

September 1st is approaching

On September 1st the application for MTR opens :) Lets just say that I am excited. God has put a few people in my life that are in this program and have been a great resource to me. Whenever I think about Memphis I visualize change. I have never even been there- but I have heard a lot of things about it. I have heard it is ghetto, all African Americans poor, hot, that I would stick out like a sore thumb and that I would scream "California." None of those things sound super appealing yet it is still a city that God has asked me to pray for. The other day I was telling someone that the thought of going to Memphis would be me completely outside of my comfort zone and someone I didn't even know was listening chimed in and said "Our life is not suppose to be about comfort!"It was simple, yet so true. Sometimes I find people saying "Well we will see what God wants... He will figure it out." I think we often forget that we can seek, pray, and ask for God's direction throughout the process and we do not have to wait until the end result. Things happen in steps. It is all about being obedient in the small things. That is what I am doing just with applying. 


Here is the website to check out: http://www.memphistr.org/


(Here is a sneak peak from the website)

Nationally,

• Fourth graders growing up in low-income communities are already three grade levels behind their peers in high-income communities.
• Only 7% of low-income 8th grade students complete a bachelor's degree within 12 years.
• About 50% of them won’t graduate from high school by the time they are 18 years old.
• By twelfth grade, African Americans are typically four years behind their more affluent peers.  These students are finishing High School with a Junior High education.
• Those who do not graduate from high school will earn approximately $17,000 annually, and those who only graduate from high school but do not attend college will earn only $20,000 annually – both below the national poverty level. 
• The resulting social chaos from a lifetime of such low earnings potential is extreme.Only 1 in 10 will graduate from college.

In Memphis,

• 97% of African-American children attend public schools.  49% of white children attend public schools.
• More than half of all children living in Memphis live in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty (as defined by neighborhoods in which at least 20% of households live beneath the poverty level).
• Half of children living in high poverty neighborhoods change schools at least once per year.  Changing schools is associated with academic under-performance.
• Approximately 5,000 young men and women turn 19 every year in Memphis without a High School diploma. Shelby County residents who work without a High School diploma earn, on average, $17,000 annually.  College graduates earn $44,700 annually.

It doesn't have to be this way.  These statistics can change.

My desire for this year

My one and up-most desire for this year is to...

have a servants heart and to truly find joy in serving others. Jesus must increase and I must decrease.


I have been praying about this and today Rebecca in SMU told me that she had a dream about this. Funny how the Holy Spirit works.

Bring it Lord. Bring it.
And friends... keep me accountable to this. Thank you :)

Tomorrow is the first day of school!

This may sound silly but tomorrow is my very last "First Day of School." I am a bit of a dork so I already have my outfit set out (mainly because I have to work), my backpack ready to go, and my mind fully aware of what I am going to make for breakfast tomorrow. In honor of tomorrow we are all going to take some epic first day of school pics. You will see them soon.

Tomorrow is a free for all chapel but all my roomies and I are going because we cannot miss the epic DBC chapel. We figured it would be a good talk and an even more wonderful transition from summer into the semester.

Cheers to a new year! Full of love, joy, and LOTS of dependence on our Father (inshallah).



Also I love this song. I just had my sister listen to this and she was like "Oh yeah- I was at that concert." Haha, she is so on top of it.

My heart is all over ze place

We have all been there... having a bunch of ideas floating up in that glorious and complex brain of ours. Graduation in the near 9 months, my job starting up in a few days, trying to comprehend how the heck I am going to wake up at 8:30 everyday and end at 9 at night. I am a bit of shambles. It happens- it is all a part of life.

I will give you a little snap shot of the last few days with the new Biola babies. First of all I need to say something: I do not think I am an intimating person by any means. Apparently some freshmen girls think I am because when I talk to them they look like I am scary and too cool. Maybe I am just too overwhelming for them! I like to give them some hope so I have shared how I met most of my good friends the first few weeks at Biola. that is when i see a smile on their faces.

Tonight we had the commissioning of the freshmen/transfers to the Biola community. It was a lovely experience and I met some really nice girls who are eager to be at Biola. It is nice to have a fresh group of people who are stoked about school. Singspo took place after the commissioning- which is always good.

I have been reflecting on the fact that I, like many others (since we are sinners), get incredibly distracted by my purpose on this little earth. I often forget that God put me here for a reason and that my whole entire purpose of being is to glorify Him. If that is my entire purpose of being, then why do I neglect God all the time and forget about spending time with Him? This needs to change. I am most joyful when I am spending time with Jesus, who should be the #1 always. Today I caught myself in the car having a pity party  (in my head) over something and just stopped and was like "Seriously God, I cannot have pity parties, they are stupid and you are so much bigger- please do not allow me to have them." He stopped my pity party, of course.

This little heart is all over ze place. It is okay though- God is in the midst and is totally listening to some legit prayers. I hope I get some guidance soon- especially on if I should apply to Teach for America and/or Memphis Teaching Residency. Shoot up some prayers on those two please.

Disconnect

Sometimes when you least expect it your mind wanders off into a place where you feel you have captured the world's problems. Or sometimes you cannot simply put an issue into words because you are at a loss of them. Today at lunch I was enjoying a delectable salad from Trader Joe's and started talking about different cities in the United States with my friend Hallie. We started off talking about LA, then New York, then San Francisco, lastly Chicago. There is only so long you can talk about something that is exciting on a surface level. Shopping, food, attractions all wear away. All of these cities have a disconnect. I suppose you could say that there is a disconnect between the rich and the poor in every major city. Some people think there is just a disconnect in  India, where there will be an endless Caste System, or perhaps South Africa where Cape Town is booming with money, but go to the Shanty Towns and you will discover that there is extreme poverty that is not always addressed or cared for by the rich.

Today on NPR I was listening to a story about The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They give millions of dollars in grants to organizations all over the world every single year. The lady on NPR this morning was explaining that giving money to these organizations is just not enough. The Gates are starting to address and bring awareness of giving to people who have money. It is one thing for the Gates to be these good people who give money, but after awhile I wonder if they think they are alone (although I know a lot of rich people give) in this process. They are trying to get more people to give who have been blessed to do so. I really respect them for this.

Sorry that was a tangent. But I was thinking about it earlier today as I was discussing these cities with Hallie. Washington D.C. is our Nation's capital. If we are a country that believes in social services (after all we do have a democrat as President) and make policies constantly to better serve our people, why are they not being put into place? That is another disconnect- follow up on passing of policies (that is another story though). When you walk down the streets of D.C. you see people dressed in their best suits, best shoes, and maybe a few more wrinkles then they should have for working too much. You see money and you feel the power. If you go about 15 minutes North East of the Capitol you will hit poverty. If you go 20 minutes NW of D.C. you will hit even more poverty. You will meet kids who have no drive to finish school. You will come across homeless people who will share the part of their story where they dropped out of high school. You will see people in business suits running pass the homeless man into the Senate building because he is late for a hearing.

Almost every big city struggles with the the rich and the poor. Suburbs are left to the average income people so you do not see as much of it. It makes sense why Jesus warned us about money and power. It makes sense why Jesus, a man of power, loved the poor. It makes sense why Jesus did not want to hang out with the Pharisees. I wonder what it would look like if the rich (this is a generalization of course) loved the poor and saw them more then a "poor person," but as someone with dignity, a mind, and a heart. Sometimes I get these visions in my head where I actually see this happening worldwide- a little idealistic I suppose!

Haha, I was looking for pictures in DC and came across this. I could not pass it up.

Jesus is so beautiful

For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:18-22.

I am writing a meditation paper on Ephesians 1 & 2. I have been reflecting and meditating on these passages for the past 3 weeks and God is so good. I want an increase in the Holy Spirit. I want to realize that the spirit is dwelling in me at all times. I want to be in tune with the spiritual realm more. I want to be more thankful. He makes me cry with Joy and thankfulness of what He has done for His children and for humanity.

We serve the most loving, the most gracious and the most redemptive God.
Jesus is so beautiful. The most beautiful.


Also, PRAY for Chile and Haiti. The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in Spirit (Psalm 34:18) Click here for pictures of Chile.


Extra also, I have officially applied for 22 jobs and nada. Please pray that I will not be discouraged and that my bank account can somehow multiply... maybe someone will be extra generous this month.

Life

Sometimes I feel somewhat ridiculous (which I am well aware that I am), that I always change my blog around. Sometimes I even get embarrassed. But then I think, who really reads this? I know there are a few people, but then again it is my place to write so I should be allowed to make it aesthetically pleasing. So there, it suites me.

In recent news, I have officially applied to over 20 jobs in the La Mirada, Fullerton, Whittier, La Habra area and have had no luck.

I have applied to one internship in D.C. and a job in Yosemite for the summer. I am applying for two more internships this week... hopefully there will be some luck there.

I have been praying about a mission trip to go on this summer as well and God closed both of the some what open doors for a SMU trip and for India.

I am trying to figure out what God is up too, but I know trying to figure Him out and His ways is not always the best way to go about things. Instead I am trying to trust that God will provide a job or a way for me to live very simplistically. Maybe a envelope of money will appear in my mailbox (cough: mom please). I have put myself on a $15 budget per week! I should be good for a few months.

In school news, I will be doing assessing and evaluating some projects for MIKA, a community development organization, in Costa Mesa this semester. I am pretty excited about it. I feel like a big girl finally with my development classes. All of my development classes and my classes in D.C. have finally come to meet in a beautiful place. I guess hard work does pay off. It gets me excited for the future.

I am starting to think of  how I will live once I get out of college and life in general. CHEAP. Since there are no jobs in California, or at least not around here, maybe I will end up in some random state for awhile. I would take any job out of college. I have thought about working at a national park, working in a tea room, working at a homeless shelter, working overseas for some random company, etc.

As one can tell many things in my life seem uncertain. Some would stress, but I am totally okay with it. Atleast for now.

God's got this.

"Today We're All Haitians"

The news about the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti is absolutely devastating. Haiti, being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is slowly spiraling deeper and deeper into poverty. A country that is severely struggling with environmental issues, governance issues, poverty, health, education, etc. is now having to add on another issue: the aftermath of an earthquake.

Luckily, the United States, other countries, the UN, and many humanitarian relief organizations, such as World Vision, World Relief, the IRC, USAID, have stepped in and are providing major humanitarian assistance. Tens of thousands have died.

Apparently Obama promised Haiti that we would have "unwavering support," which is a good thing.

I know that there are catastrophes like this happening all the time, but this earthquake has really hit home with me. Prayer is needed and donations are needed (click here).

I feel that Nicholas Kristof has put the response for our human heart best (if that even makes sense):

After 9/11, the French newspaper Le Monde declared: We Are All Americans. And after yesterday’s earthquake: Today, we are all Haitians.

For a closer look @ the destruction click here.

rise of attention.

I am not going to say I do not love Muslims, because I have met some really great and wonderful Muslim friends. Unfortunately, the extremists just give Muslims a really bad name.

Last year I would say anything to defend Muslims, mainly due to the fact that many Christians hate them, when there are many who are striving for peace and are doing everything they can do to gain righteous favor in Allah's eyes.

I still think Christian's should love on Muslim's and not hate, due to the fact that we are called to love all people. There has been increased attention in my eyes on extremists issues within the time I went to D.C until now. On one hand I am disappointed in myself for not reading the news more, but on the other hand the sense of "not knowing" blocks out certain issues and does not bring forth godly frustration. I have never read, been more frustrated, or hurt by international as I have with all these extremists groups. Since going to D.C. my pride for America has increased, ha, who thought that day would ever come. The Fort Hood incident really frustrated me as well, as I know it has for many other American's.

This article really through me for a loop.... click here to read "Britain Moves to Ban Islamic Group" from the New York Times.

Pray that these people would experience Jesus Christ in a real way, that the Devil would no longer have a hold on them, and that they would repent and strive for righteousness.