Fruit Salad, love and respect

This morning when I woke up I didn't hear birds chirping, or grassing blowing, no I woke up to little boys bouncing a basketball and squealing (okay maybe yelling) at each other, but the reality is that's my calm, that's my birds chirping, that's my peace. I was so excited, I jetted down the stairs and opened the door and asked them what they were doing and if they wanted to help me make a fruit salad. Of course they just wanted an excuse to see if I have a TV yet, so we can watch Cars, but they came and we made according to them, "the most delicious ever, Miss Colleen," fruit salad. As I stood in my kitchen with these beautiful little boys, I couldn't help but smile as they tossed the fruit I chopped into the big bowl and squeezed the lemon over it. I couldn't help but think of these little boys who shove, hit and scream at each other on the street, hanging out with me, being polite and learning what it means to share and have manners.

You see when I moved into this house, I immediately begin to dream about what it would look like to live here, making cookies with the girls, playing Wii with the boys, having bible studies with the moms, already I have made cookies with the girls, made fruit salad with the boys and have invited some of my neighbors to join me for dinner on a few different occasions next week. Last night when I pulled up in front of my house, I heard, "hey guys Ms. Colleen's home, come on," and suddenly I was surrounded by kids, I came in and got a basketful of ice pops and we sat on my front steps talking, and sharing flavor-ice. About an hour later one of the grandmothers who lives a couple of doors down from me, came over and said, "When you pulled up tonight it was like the world stopped, you sure are loved here," this meant so much to me, because really I didn't want to be the white girl who moved into change the neighborhood, I want (ed) to be the new neighbor who moved into to love her neighbors and live life with them. And while ultimately I know that God has put me here for a greater purpose, being a neighbor who shares loves is just one of the ways I get to do this. I love the fact that when I leave at night "Big D" asks where I am going and when I will be back, and while at first I was a little put off by this, I realized it was because he wanted to make sure I got home safely at night, and when I come home after dark "Big D" is sitting on his step waiting to make sure I am safe, while he's quiet and doesn't interact much he's made it perfectly clear to me that he's looking out for me. I feel so loved and respected within my community. I love that I can have conversations with my neighbors about prayer, I love that the kids want to know where I am going and when I will be back, I love that Pee-wee asks me why he can't see Jesus!

Over the past week my friends from Stough Baptist Church in North Carolina, were visiting Baltimore for their annual youth missions trip, we did a lot of things, but the one thing that means the most to me is that they worked so hard to help my house become MY home, they cleaned, they blessed me by fulfilling some of the wishes on my wish list and they finished some of the projects that were on the list. I have been so blessed this summer with people from all over the country who've come to Baltimore to be a part of my journey. Another amazing thing that we did last week was run a camp called Art Explosion, at the end of the week we had planned to have an art auction, the idea was that the kids would chose a charity that we would give some of the money back too, so they would know what it means to give back. It came down to pets and homeless people, the kids chose last week to support the homeless in Baltimore and they will be giving a lot of the money they raised back to the Helping up Mission here in Baltimore. The other part of the money will be used to do something special for the kids the last week of camp, these kids have been faithful in coming to camp every week and I want to do something fun with them. Thanks to all of our friends who came out and supported our auction we were able to raise over $500. When I told the kids this they were so excited, and I am so proud of them for their hard work last week.

I have a few prayer requests to share with you:

I am praying for Pee-Wee, I have fallen in love with this little 5 year old from day one when he told me I was his new best friend, this past week he has been asking a lot of serious questions about Jesus, and why we can't see Him, I have been praying and asking God to give me the right answers to say to him, but I also praying that he can see Jesus through the people God is placing here to serve and love.

We have two more camps this summer, I am so excited about them, I am praying God is glorified in everything we do here and that these last two camps are nothing but honoring to
Him.

Thanks for taking this journey with me through your prayers and support!

We're all the same....

Saturday morning my team from Zanesville pulled out and my new team pulled in just a few hours later, it's an all women's group from Elizabeth, New Jersey they've come to love the women in my life. The Pretty in Pink girls, my homeless lady friends, the little girls in my neighborhood and the homeless ladies I've grown to love in the park. On Saturday night we had trip orientation and we talked about the week, one of the ladies on the trip was worried about not being able to relate to the women she would meet this week, we talked about how she's right in so many ways she won't be able to relate to a girl standing on the corner selling her body, or a woman living in the park, or a young girl who goes home to an empty home with no food, but then we talked about all of the ways that she would be able to relate, she's a woman growing up in today's world, God has made us all beautiful and special and we each have a story to tell.

Sunday morning this particular girl was put to the test we went to street church and interacted with people who are "different" than us, we invited women who they didn't know to join us a few hours later for lunch and a day of pampering. A day of pampering it was, the ladies arrived to the church around 12:45 and we all had lunch and fellowship, and then the women on the team served the women from the streets through feet washing, massages, pedicures, manicures and love. It was a room full of beauty, I wish that I could have been able to share it with everyone of you who is reading this, this was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Laughs, love, hugs and stories were exchanged, some of the most broken women in my life were smiling, were relaxed and were getting the opportunity to forget about the outside for a few hours and understand the love of God through a group of women who God sent to serve them.

As I sat back and got pampered as well, I realized that we really are all the same, not in the uniqueness that God has created us all differently but in the sense that we do all have a story, and that we are all beautiful in God's eyes, God doesn't make ugly.

Today as we hosted day 1 of Princess Camp, we talked about being brave princesses, and we read a story about a little girl who was so brave that when lighting struck around her she believed that she was so beautiful God was taking pictures of her. When I first read the story I through to myself, how often do I become scared of life? How often does fear stand in the way of serving God? Am I not trusting God if I don't believe that He could protect me from my fears. The bible verse we meditated on with the girls today was 2 Timothy 1:7 "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." God has created us to be confident, to walk boldly into this world and serve and love Him beyond all measure.

As I pray over this week, I hope that God works in my heart, I struggle sometimes with accepting the truth I read about God creating my fearfully and wonderfully, and about how I am beautiful in God's eyes, and how the girls on the street that have captured my heart are no different that me. I am so thankful that God has called me to serve these women and young girls He strategically places in my life, I hope and pray that the story I have is one that can change lives, that can help these women. I hope that I can continue to blossom into the woman that God wants me to be.

I sat in a room yesterday full of women who were broken, but that God is working in, a room full of women who can relate to my journey and women who are going to love me through the ups and downs of the journey God is taking me on, for that I am so thankful and realize how blessed I am.

As I close tonight I have just one request, would you please keep these special women in my life (my team from Elizabeth, the women in my neighborhood, the women I meet through Pretty in Pink, the women from the homeless park and the women of street-church) in prayer, each of them has something in their life they are working through, each of them has a story to tell, would you please pray that their hearts would be protected through their journey?

I LOVE MY LIFE!

I can actually say that with complete truth, yes there are ups and downs and things that go wrong and things that go right, but I know that I am EXACTLY where God wants me to be right now, and I love it. I love that my "9-5" (which is hardly 9-5) is living in a community and serving the people there, I love that it consists of walking 50 kids to the local park for a day of fun, I love that it consists of watching the kids run through the sprinkler on my back porch, I love that it consists of hosting missions teams from all over the United States, and I love that I get to be Jesus with hands and feet in a broken city. I love that I get to hear stories like that of "S" and of "A"!

You see this week at camp we talked about prayer, and last night when we invited the parents to join us for a night of camp, we relived a day of camp for the parents, at the end we invited some of the campers to pray. Well as I looked back "S" was raising his hand and coming to the front. He stood in front of a room of about 60 people including the kids, and he shared the beginning of his story, about how just a few weeks ago he committed his life to Christ and how just last Sunday he followed in obedience to baptism. He also shared that just before a few weeks ago he didn't know how to pray and he said he wanted his first "real" (because I believe all prayers are real) to be with us, and "S" stood there and prayed with all of us the most beautiful prayer, about life changes, about Pastor Tally, about Maurice and Val and the new family to love him God has provided. Mind you "S" is only 17 years old, a senior in high school, he came yesterday and served along side the missions team, he stayed last night and shared his heart about going to college someday and what he wants to be. This is why I love my life, I get to experience these things day in and day out.

You know what else I love, I love that I get to watch teenagers who come from the suburbs, small towns and other place, come to Baltimore, serve there hearts out and leave Baltimore changed. On this trip there were many life changes, but there was one that stuck out the most to me. Last night after we shared late night tacos, and the kids sung one more song and did one more dance for us, we debriefed. It was probably one of the longest debriefs I have ever experienced but also one of the most beautiful. Student after student raised their hand to share how God had worked in them this week, but as "A" rose her hand and begin to tell her story it really touched my heart, coming to Baltimore almost questioning her faith, but knowing God had brought her here, spending time loving the "unlovable" and working along side my team and I, changed her life. As she cried and shared that she felt her faith level went from a 2 to a 10+ it made me smile A LOT especially on the inside. I realized that these students didn't just come here to change our lives, but they came here to allow God to change theirs. I love that I get to be a part of life changes on the regular.

There are so many things I could write about loving, but I will leave you with this final LOVE thought, I love that I get to intercede on behalf of others, so would you please pray with me for a few requests?

- Yesterday at Camp there were about 20 kids who accepted Christ, I want to make sure that we are following up with them, we are sheparding them, and helping them in their walk with Christ, I also want to make sure they understand what it means to accept Jesus to be their BFF!

-"S" he has big plans for his walk with God, he wants to make sure he's doing the right thing, he wants to go to college, he wants to have a family later on in life.

-D.A.- I will write more about him later, however please pray for his life, D.A. is invited to join a gang on a regular basis, he doesn't want to, but says that sometimes he walks away after saying no, wondering if he's going to get shot or jumped. The kicker to all of this D.A. is 12 years old.

-Finally please pray for our new team they are arriving in just short time, and will be leadning Princess Camp this week, and doing some outreach to women, women on the streets, women in the neighborhood and even women like you and I.

Thank you so much for praying, your prayers are HUGELY appreciated!

Life Changing

That's the only phrase I can think of to describe the last few days. I have to tell you that every time a missions team rolls into town I pray for their lives to be changed, but the reality is my life is changed every time there is a group here. This week I am blessed to work with a youth group from Zanesville, Indiana, the minute this group stepped off the bus they were hit with culture shock and a WHOLE bunch of work, I don't think they were expecting right away. But they took it in stride and god work done! I for one was impressed.

The first night they were here they got to experience Baltimore, we had literally hit the block to do a prayer walk and invite our neighbors to church on Sunday, and as soon as we crossed over one block, the police helicopter was out overhead and cruisers were all over the place. It turns out a criminal from another district took off running with handcuffs on, so they were trying to catch him. Welcome to Baltimore friends. In the end this all worked out because we actually got two police escorts for the rest of our walk, and they were actually engaged in what we were doing, its so refreshing to be in a police district where the officers seem to take an interest in what is happening within their community. It was so exciting to watch the students put aside there fears walk up to complete strangers in a completely unfamiliar place, and pray, place their hands inside the strangers and call out to God on their behalf, moments like this make my heart happy.

Sunday was an even more special day, we go to experience Street Church with Baltimore Street Church members, this is what church is about, stripping away everything and getting down to the nitty gritty. Street church is filled with homeless, addicts, prostitutes and the poor, it meets in the middle of an old abandon mall, and in my heart and eyes is the epitome of beautiful. As I looked around and saw my team holding hands in a prayer circle with our new friends, sitting next to someone they didn't know and listening to their story, and learning the 'Sinners Prayer' song and dance with Ms. T, I knew that we were all in for a treat. I love having the opportunity to share my heart and passion with people, yesterday as I stood in the middle of Old Town mall, I almost cried as I watched the people that I love so much be loved on by 30 "strangers" who quickly became friends. In fact, I heard that when the bus pulled up our friends got SUPER excited!

When I didn't think the day could get any better we headed over to what we call "Tent City" which is no longer tent city it's just some homeless people living in a park next to a church. These homeless people are more than just homeless people they are friends, they know John and I and they allow us to come into their home and bring guests. We came with nothing more than Bibles and water, you see most other people who visit the park come with meals, clothing and gifts, but we came with very little other than ourselves and had an experience like none other. I watched Miss Candy tell her story to the girls about contracting HIV, I watched Ms. Dee-dee share her story about being homeless, a prostitute and running from the law and how God has redeemed her, I watched a group of students sit around a homeless man and hang on his every word and he shared his story, as you looked around the park all you saw were mini prayer circles, you saw students laying hands on what most would consider dirty and disgusting people. I am telling you these experiences change my life, I get to watch life transformations in people and it changes MY own life.

Finally, on Sunday we got to attend a Captivate City Night, we were meet at our East Baltimore location, it was a special night because two young people from the neighborhood were baptized. What made it even more special, was one of the team members that may have been questioning something about her relationship w/Christ, she was among 4 people who accepted the gift of Eternal Life last night, it was beautiful.

I tell you the more I look around the more I see lives changing in this group, in me, in the community, kids are lined up waiting outside to play, to come to camp to love us and for us to love them. Today we had our first day of summer camp 27 kids showed up, 27 kids were loved, 27 kids loved us back. It was probably in the 4 years I have been doing camp one of the BEST first days. I am so excited for what camp is going to be like tomorrow.

Finally we had one more life changing experience this evening, want to talk about bringing things home, even for the leaders of these wonderful students, tonight we took the team on a murder walk, we walked to five different murder sights within the city, sights that were researched and personal to us, sights were we could tell a story. While were standing at the sights we challenged the kids to think about what it is like to stand on the site were literally at some of the sights six months ago someone was murdered. We stood outside of a corner restaurant were a 15 yr old was shot and killsed in November, to hear the thoughts that were going through the teams head as they stood their and in other places throughout the evening was evident there was change.

This is home...

I've been hearing the chorus to Switchfoot's 'This is home' song for the past 24 hours, here are the lyrics:

This is home
Now I'm finally
Where I belong
Where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching
For a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home,
Yeah this is home

Last night my team and I hit the streets of East Baltimore, we knocked on doors on my block, we ventured down Jefferson Street almost to Lakewood, we went up and down Glover St. and we made friends, we greeted people, we invited them to church, we loved people, we invited their kids to join us for summer camp, we prayed, we laughed and some of us went well beyond our comfort zone. IT WAS AMAZING! I don't know any other way to describe it then amazing.

When I am in the "mean" streets of what most people would consider the "hood" I literally feel like I am home, in my element in the place I've been searching for to call my own. Sometimes I have to sit back and giggle to myself that this white girl from Kansas, finds her comfort place in the middle of a place that most people would never step foot in, let alone give it a second thought.

The one thing I have been praying for as I make this transition from quiet Little Italy, to not so quiet Luzerne Ave. is that I would be well received by my neighbors, that they would not only welcome me to be a part of their neighborhood, but that they would also welcome me to live (and share) life with them, experience the pain and heartaches they experience, to celebrate the victories and joys they celebrate. I have prayed they'd join me in fellowship around my dining room table, they'd find peace in my quiet prayer room, they'd join me for bible studies, they'd join me at church on Sunday. I crave community within my community.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you know that I spend days dreaming about what my life is going to look like in my new neighborhood, I dream about making PB&J's and sitting on the front stoops with the little boys playing ball, I dream about teaching the little girls to make cupcakes and cookies, I dream about sharing Jesus with them, I dream about starting an early morning bible study for the young adult women who live near me, I dream about applying for a Kaboom grant and building a community playground.

Last night as I locked up and was headed to meet my team at Mr. Yogato for our weekly tradition of yogurt and laughs, I ended up being 20 minutes late because every kid in a 2 mile radius needed to know where I was going, who I was going with, and when I would be back, it makes my heart smile to know these kids anxiously await their play time with Ms. Coco! Today as soon as I pulled into the neighborhood, Damian came running across the street (yes I scolded him for not looking both ways) threw his basketball at me, and told me he had been waiting for me to come back, these are the type of relationships I want with my neighbors.

I have a few prayer requests to share with you, last night we had the opportunity to pray with some pretty special people, and also to hear some pretty special requests, I am going to share a few of them with you, so you can join me in praying:

-Ms. "P" she lives across from me, her entire family is in Detroit she moved to Baltimore for a job, she asked us to pray for her family, her health, our neighborhood, city and country.

-Ms. "D" rededicated her life back to Christ a few weeks ago, she told us that Jesus has been popping up everywhere in her life lately, and this weekend her son is getting baptized this Sunday and she wants to pray for him and his journey.

-Ms. "T" asked us to pray for her family, she was so thankful for a job, and she was excited about joining us in church on Sunday, so we are praying that she's able to make it.

-Norman is 14 years old he joined our prayer circle and asked us to pray for school and his family.

Thank you for lifting up my new friends in prayer with me!

Feeling Like Stretch Armstrong

You know that gooey toy we played with as kids, you could pull his body parts and see just how far he could be stretched? That's how I feel this week, a lot like Stretch Armstrong, that God is pulling me in 5,000 different directions to see how far I can be stretched outside of my comfort levels, in my faith and in trusting Him.

Honestly it has done nothing short of make me run into His loving arms. Yesterday I spent so much time reading, praying and meditating in scripture it was so refreshing and renewing, it was just reaffirmed that He has overcome the world, so that I may find Peace and that He will NEVER leave or forsake me. I find great comfort in knowing that when I find myself in tears in the middle of a bed that doesn't belong to me questioning what on Earth I am doing, that His loving arms will find me and comfort me.

Between Saturday and today I have found myself hitting wall after wall when I try to accomplish things that need to get done for hosting our first missions team this summer, however I am not going to let that get me down! I am so excited for this team, I did a little bit of research this morning, this team is in for a treat there are from a town where the population was less than 600 in 2009, the percentage of races other than white is 2.5% combined, I am so excited to see how this team reacts to first stepping off their bus in East Baltimore, to what their reaction is when they get on the bus to leave in a week. I am anxious to watch God take away the fears they may have, to grow them and stretch them in ways they've never imagined, I am excited to watch them get scared and comfortable all at the same time, I am excited to see how they react to murder walks, homeless people, drug users and everything else they are going to experience while they are here.

So during this week while I continue to follow my heart and work to get acclimated to my new neighborhood, new home, new ministry and basically new life, while I continue to get stretched beyond my wildest dreams and God continues to work in my heart in remarkable ways I will continue to run into His loving arms, continue to seek His face and continue to pray for ways to become more like Him.

Would you join me in a few prayer requests this week?

-For rest and renewed strength this week as I prepare for a big week of ministry next week.
-For safe travels for the missions team that will be driving here from Indiana on Saturday, it's approximately at 10-12 hour drive.
-Also for the team to grow in Christ and each other while they are here, and that as a team we will all walk in the steps that God has ordered for us over the next week and that we will have complete grace with each other.

Thanks friends!

Guest Post: James Yi!

At my last ministry I had the wonderful opportunity of working with and mentoring a group of college students from UMBC and Towson CRU, this summer I get to proudly watch a few of these students go away this summer to places like Ecuador and Africa to serve in Summer Projects, one of these students in James! I am asking James to share his heart with you today, he will be traveling in just a few short weeks to Botswana, Africa, will you join me in prayer for James?

My name is James Yi and I am currently in my final year at UMBC pursing a B.S. in Mathematics. I want to share with you some of the most exciting and humbling experiences of this last year.

Despite what seems like constant struggles in my college career, I have been heavily devoted to a ministry called Campus Crusade for Christ. As you read this today, Crusade is actively involved in over 3,500 campuses worldwide. UMBC has been fortunate enough to be part of this movement for the last three years.

Through Crusade, I had been blessed with the opportunity to serve at MetroKidz where I fell in love with not only the community, but also our fellow volunteers. Our team, led by Colleen, began to spread the love of Christ throughout this area. Serving together every Wed. night was a life changing experience.

MetroKidz was where I developed a heart for young children. Witnessing the struggles these children experience on a daily basis broke my heart. It made me realize how blessed my family was and how much I took that for granted. This was definitely an opportunity for me to give back to the community.

I want to share with you a story about one of the kids I worked with every Wed. by the name of T for the sake of personal privacy. T is in the 2nd grade and lives fairly close to where MetroKidz was held every Wednesday. To say this kid is hyper is an understatement. There have been many occasions where my body has taken the place of a jungle gym for T to climb and I loved every minute of it. Beneath all of the hyper behavior, there was much more to T than I knew at the time.

One Saturday morning I visited T's family alongside a couple other volunteers to meet his family. That morning I had a full list of families to visit, but immediately I knew I would be spending majority of my time talking with T's family. I began to listen as T's mother poured her heart out to our group on her front steps. T's family struggled financially, spiritually, and emotionally. T had recently lost his sister to social services. While listening to her talk, I could see a boy crawling to the door. As I focused my vision towards him I could see his body was deformed to the point where his legs were immobile. It turns out T's mother was raped by a family member and this boy was the result of the tragedy. My heart began to melt on their front step as she continued to tell us the struggles that T's family endures. Through these daily struggles, it amazed me how much she devoted herself to prayer and how firm and grounded this woman's faith in God was.

Despite all of the madness surrounding T's life he was the most easygoing, energetic, ambitious, and optimistic kid in my class. As much as I wanted to be the one teaching T, he taught me how to love and inspire others despite what Satan is doing in our lives. I no longer went to MetroKidz selfishly looking to change lives, but to learn from each and every one of my kids because that's what T taught me.

The day I stepped foot into T's house for the first time was the day I made a dedication to devote my final summer as a college student to go on a summer mission trip to work with young children. I prayed for God to guide me to a place where He wanted me to serve this summer. At Radiate (Crusade's Christmas conference), I found myself in awe at an answered prayer. God has led me to join a team to serve in Botswana, Africa to work with orphaned children and students at the University of Botswana. Praise the Lord!

In order to travel overseas this summer I must raise a total $5175. I have roughly $1900 left to raise by July 2nd. God is in full control and I cannot wait to see what He has in store these next few months. I ask for your helping hand as I humbly attempt to fulfill the Great Commission this summer. There is nothing more my team and I need than your prayers. Please pray that God will provide for us financially, for safety overseas, and that we may be fully dependent on God and not ourselves.

It was a pleasure being able to share with you all what God has been doing in my life recently. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I leave you with a quote from a book I am currently reading, "A Million Ways to Die: The Only One Way to Live."

" If I believe the salvation of my neighbor rests wholly upon my words and witness, I might knock on their door every hour. If I believe it rests wholly on God's sovereignty, I might never knock at all. However one works it out theologically, on a practical level the line between God's sovereignty and human responsibility must be kept taut. Tension after tension, always trying to find the sweet spot: This is the life of a Christ follower."

- Rick James

God Bless!

If God is leading you to support James financially if you click his name it will take you to his secure CRU site where you can make a donation.