Are we Jonah?

Sometimes in life it is easy for us to not do what someone asks us to do since we would rather do things in our own way and in our own time and the same is true when it comes to what God asks us to do. Sometimes when God asks us to do something we find it difficult, frustrating, painful, etc and we would much rather continue doing what we are doing and try to do things in our own strength, our own time, our own way, our own routines, etc and run from what God has asked and called us to do. In the first chapter of Jonah, Jonah quickly learns that disobedience to God will cost us and that it’s easier to just obey and trust God than it is to run away from Him and do things on our own.

“What do we do when we begin to believe that the place where God wants us to be the most, is the place where we want to be the least? What do we do when we begin to feel like God has or is calling us to go somewhere where we really don’t want to go or to do something that we don’t want to do?”

Many times I feel like we may not feel like we can relate to Jonah since we don’t feel like we are being called to go somewhere (meaning to another town, state, etc like Jonah was called to do and was running from) but looking at the story, I think everyone can relate to this story. Where is God calling you and is it a place that you really don’t want to be and are you running from it or trying to avoid it?

God may be calling us to rest (“be still and know that I am God”) yet we are wired to be busy and always have something on our mind yet God may just be calling us to rest in his presence and get physical rest… God may be calling us to travel somewhere emotionally by engaging in conversation with someone that is not easy to talk to, to have a difficult conversation with someone, to ask for forgiveness, etc yet God is calling us to do so but we would much rather go the opposite direction and not do what we know God wants us to do… God may be calling us to trust in Him and truly have faith that He will provide what is needed yet we may still be trying to make things happen on our own and as we envision rather than allowing God to work… God may have called us to leave the familiar behind, to change directions, and the list goes on yet we would much rather stay in the familiar and run from His plan and what He wants for us.

“Spiritually, God is calling all of us to be completely dependent on Him -- which, if we are honest, is a difficult place for many of us to be.”

God is calling us all to go somewhere but the question is, are we going to follow Him and trust Him and go where He is calling us and be where He wants us to be or are we going to turn the other way? It may not be easy to go where God wants us to go but it’s the best place to be. It may be scary since we may not know what will happen but things will be better if we are in line with God’s plan and not our plan. We need to take the first step and trust that God will provide and lead us, we need to do our part and then trust that God will take care of the rest and provide and lead us. God’s provision may not be what we expect just as Jonah probably didn’t expect God to allow a fish to swallow him yet he was still kept safe. Even if we are turning from where God wants us to be, God will create a way to get us to be where He wants us to be. There will be storms if we keep running from where God wants us to be and we will find ourselves at a point where we are left with no other option but to surrender and turn back to where God wants us to be and do as He has called and wants us to do and then the storms will calm. It doesn’t mean that we won’t face anymore storms since there will always be storms in our lives, it just means that we will be in line with what God wants and will have peace with any situation, storm, hardship, etc we face.

“Being a deeply devoted follower of Christ means that we go where God calls us -- even when it is the last place we want to be.”

Are we willing to go and be where ever God calls us to go even if it’s the last place that we want to go and be? Are we willing to take the first step and trust God and be in line with His plan for our schedule, our events, and our lives rather than trying to be in line with our plans and desires and are we willing to have complete faith in God in the midst of the unknown? Are we running from God or are we fully embracing what God wants for us individually, as a group, and as Christians?

HOPE for security

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" ~Matthew 5:44

Hope, something you can’t see but a strong sense that something will happen. Sometimes it’s easy to loose hope and for us to think that things will never change and as someone that is helping with working with neighborhood leaders, it’s easy to see that they are holding onto hope for the future and what can be and should be. Part of what I do is attend various neighborhood association meetings as well as over the past few months, help with home visits in 9 neighborhood. So, how am I seeing “HOPE” play out?

When attending one of the neighborhood association meetings recently a lot that I heard before the meeting even started was how Maria and her husband Rafael house was just recently broken into and how it took them calling the police about 10 times and 7 hours before police finally showed up to investigate the break in. Those that had broken into the house took everything including Rafael’s weapons that he had in the house. The neighbor saw the suspicious activity and saw the people that broke into the house but felt unsafe calling the police due to fear of what would happen if those breaking in found out that they reported them.

After that, someone else spoke up and mentioned that her grand daughter had been stopped at gun point and had her purse and everything in it stolen from her even though it was still light outside. She has mentioned though that the person that took the purse tossed out the wallet that was in the bag and included her license, credit cards, id, etc into someone’s yard and that person was generous and kind enough to take the wallet and everything inside it back to the person that it belonged to. However, the car keys, house keys, and phone were still missing.

Both of the above instances occurred in the same neighborhood where they have had to deal with drug dealers, drug houses, crime, etc taking place yet the neighborhood leader identifies with each of the residents and feels like when someone’s house is broken into then her house was broken into, when someone was stopped at gun point, then she was stopped at gun point, etc. The leader is one that knows the streets of the neighborhood and doesn’t show fear but rather shows hope for what can and should be. Hope for a place where the residents don’t have to fear walking around the neighborhood, hope for residents being able to feel safe in their own homes, hope for a safe community for families to be brought up in. Even with knowing that someone now has weapons from the above house that I mentioned that was broken into, she is still determined to make her presence known in the neighborhood and make it where people know not to mess with her and the neighborhood since she truly has identified and owned the neighborhood and is leading the residents and the neighborhood in bringing in HOPE.

In all honesty, how many of us would still be able to walk the streets, make our presence known, etc even when we knew all that was taking place? But when we know that God is with us and that God wants His Kingdom to be here on Earth then we can have hope and keep moving forward in “hope” that one day we will be able to live in a community that is safe for everyone and is secure.

This isn’t only happening in one neighborhood but it’s happening in numerous neighborhoods that I help work in. In another neighborhood Eva ended up quitting her job because her house was broken into and she wanted to have a presence at the house all the time so that it wouldn’t be broken into again. Eva is involved with the neighborhood association and one day ended up telling us that she just hoped for a better community where residents of the neighborhood were able to enjoy life. She envisioned the neighborhood as being a place where families would feel safe, where neighbors would know each other, and where family owned businesses could start up and be made into something bigger. Even with being broken into more than once, Eva is still holding onto the hope to safety and a neighborhood that people are free to be themselves and not worry about if someone is going to break into their house, if their small business will be taken over by bigger businesses, where neighbors are helping each other out and connecting with one another, where there are resources, and where you can build up a family.

That’s hope, in each of these instances, the resident or leader doesn’t currently see or have the neighborhood that they have since a lot of what they see is the crime but they are still able to envision and hope for a better community and neighborhood. Hope, it’s something you can’t see but it’s something you have a strong desire to see happen and that greatly defines what the residents and leaders envision for the neighborhoods they live in. 

**Names mentioned above are not the real names of the people but still actual instances that have taken place and have been told**

Prayer request: pray for the neighborhoods, the leaders, and the residents that they may continue to have hope in what is currently unseen and for the safety and protection of them all

Hope, what is it?

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. ~Romans 8:24-25  

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ~Romans 15:13

“Hope appears 126 times in the Bible (KJV). 68 times in the Old Testament and 58 times in the New Testament and hoped is mentioned 11 times. 7 in the Old Testament and 4 in the New Testament”

For the past couple of months I have been constantly reminded of the word “hope” and that’s expected since we have a city-wide work day coming up called “Celebration of Hope” and much of what we do is about “Hope” but when thinking about it, what does hope truly mean or is it just a buzz word that is thrown around so much that it doesn’t have a meaning or it has lost it’s meaning?

I feel like in today’s world, the word hope is just another word that sounds good and is tossed around so much that it has lost it’s meaning but when looking at it biblically, “hope is an indication of certainty. “Hope” in Scripture means a strong and confident expectation.” Hope isn’t necessarily something that can be seen but it’s something that will eventually happen. Hope is the vessel to peace and joy, if there is no hope then it’s hard to find ourselves in a place where we have peace and joy.

When talking with various residents in the neighborhoods that we serve as we get ready for “Celebration of hope” and when listening to the stories and what they are or have gone through then it is evident why hope is needed.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” ~Romans 12:12 

 “But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish” ~Psalm 9:18 

During one of the home visits the homeowner was brought to tears and was grateful for the help that she was going to receive. Both she and her mother had spent many visits in the hospital and sick yet she was still hopeful for what was to come. She had mentioned how she was fixing up the inside of the house so it would be ready for when her mother arrived back home from another stay in the hospital. Just listening to her and her story and what she was facing was enough to bring the neighborhood leader to tears and a reminder of why it is that we do what we do. She had hope in what was to come and that gave her peace and joy. She not only had hope but I would as far as saying that she gave us hope in what we are doing. After numerous home visits, trying to solidify and get the houses to work on, etc it can be draining and at times wondering why are we doing it but it takes one act of gratitude and one story of hope to remind us why we are doing what we do and make all the work that goes into it worth it and keeps us moving forward and doing the work we do.

 “Why are you downcast, o my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,    for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” ~Psalm 43:5 

 “There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” ~Proverbs 23:18

Hope isn’t always something that can be seen but it’s something that is felt and is needed. Without hope then people would give up. Hope is what gives us life and what keeps us moving forward even in the hard times… Hope is needed everyday and we need to help bring the hope of Christ to others. Without hope, there is nothing. Therefore, hope is ultimately the thing that gives us life and is the reason for tomorrow. But the ultimate hope should be in Christ Jesus.

Why Texas?!?

Last week I decided to attend the young adult ministry at Highland Park UMC for the 3^rd time. We started out with a study of the last half of Romans 15 and then went out to dinner to fellowship and hang out. Since I am still new to the group, it seems like I am asked by at least one person each time, “what do you do?” and that’s a hard enough question to answer at times but the question that proceeded that caught me off guard and I didn’t seem to have a legitimate answer to “why would the United Methodist Church send a missionary to Texas?”

After leaving the group and on my drive back to the house, that question kept running through my mind and continued to be on my mind the next day. It’s the first time that someone has actually asked me, “why Texas?” but it has been a question that I have often asked myself. I realized that I wasn’t able to answer the question that night because it is often a question I ask myself and a question that can’t fully be answered at the moment but I do have an answer.

So, why Texas? The why is because there’s a need in Texas. There’s a need for the Hope of Christ to be seen and spread in Texas. Most often I feel like we are blind to what’s going on around us. We live in a specific area and we get comfortable that we begin to adapt and think that everything is okay and normal yet when you move from one place to another and you find yourself somewhere that you’ve never been before then you start to see the brokenness and the things missing. Too often as Christians, I feel like we do the same thing, we get so caught up in the church life and even being missionaries/ in ministry/ pastors/ etc that we get to a place of being comfortable and we forget to look around and see what’s truly going on and see the continued need to reach out to people and bring hope to the various sectors of the neighborhood/ state/ etc.

I used to be someone that thought that you had to leave the country to be a missionary but since being in TX I can tell you that there is a need everywhere and that’s why I am in TX because there is a lot of brokenness/ hurt/ etc in Texas that God wants to redeem. As an earlier blog post stated, things may look fine on the outside but once you take a look on the inside then you will realize what’s going on. This past month or 2, I have helped with doing about 40+ home visits in the 9 neighborhoods that my placement site works. These houses are ones that we will be working on at the end of June but we don’t want to see it as merely working on houses but as a way to be able to reach residents and bring them hope when they may not have been loosing hope. You can look at a house and see that it needs painted and you can change the way the outside of the house looks but what truly matters is what’s on the inside. The inside will tell you the truth and will show you the need. It truly is beyond the paint and beyond the walls but it’s about getting to know one another, showing the love of Christ, and bringing hope to the hopeless. It’s about relationships and about changing the inside and taking the time to truly listen to people and hear their stories. When you take the time to listen to someone, allow them to talk, and truly listen then you will no longer have to ask, “why Texas?” because your question would have been answered by the person you were talking to and listening to.

So again, why Texas? It’s because God brought me here and because there is hurt/ brokenness/ a loss of hope/ etc in many people’s lives in Texas and it’s about time that we take time to go beyond the paint and truly see and hear what’s going on. It’s time that we stop acting like we have it all together and that our neighborhood/ state/ country is fine when in reality, it’s falling apart and in great need of hope and for God’s love to shine through us and reach those that are hurting. Truly take a look around and you will realize why Texas or why ______ (fill in the blank with where ever you are since no matter where we are, there is a need for people to be “missionaries” and bring hope/ love/ God’s light/ etc)… That’s why Texas and I wouldn’t want to change where God has me at right now.

If you are still asking why Texas or why _____ then ask God to give you His eyes to see and then you wouldn't be asking that question any longer but then the question would be, what can be done and why is this happening?

"Beyond The Paint"

"There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever." ~2 Corinthians 4:18 (The Message)

When you begin to work on a house or drive through a neighborhood, what are the first things that come to mind? For many people, we see what’s on the outside and start to compare environments and houses to each other but is that truly all that is there? The Dallas Leadership Foundation is about leadership and building relationships however with everything comes projects but the projects aren’t just seen as a project and then you’re done but they are seen as a way to engage with others, build relationships, and show/ share Christ’s love to those being served.

In the end of June, we will be having a workday where we will be working on about 40 houses in 9 neighborhoods but right now we are in the pre-work stage and talking with the residents that own the homes. Today we were able to speak with the residents from 10 homes and with doing so; it became apparent that we need to be looking beyond the paint and beyond the walls of the homes. There is pain and hurt in many people’s lives and it seemed like at least half of the people we talked to recently this week have had a death in the family yet that would not have been apparent from the way some of them were acting and you wouldn't have been able to tell from the outside. It’s in those times that people need to be reminded of God’s love for them and that He is able to help them through the tough times in their lives. However, when looking on the outside, some of the houses aren’t in the worst shape but when you take the time to talk with the residents and get past the walls and paint then you will be able to reach out and be of encouragement and hope to those you come into contact with. It's then that you realise that the stories and what's going on goes beyond the paint and beyond what we can see.

It’s the same with people, many times we put up walls in our lives where we seem to be okay on the outside but on the inside we are hurting yet we want people to see the masks we put on rather than see the pain. Yet when we put up the walls and wear the masks there are times that we just wish that someone would see past the act and truly see beneath it all. We wonder if anyone will ever truly stop and ask how are we truly doing and take the time to truly get to know what’s going on… The same is true with houses, we are able to keep things clean and looking good on the outside yet once you walk inside the doors, then you get a better glimpse of what’s going on. You get an idea of how someone is living and what they are going through and when you take it a step further and engage in conversation with them then you can truly get to know them and their situation and are able to minister to them better and be the hope that they need and show them the love and light of Christ.

I have been a part of working on homes and doing service projects throughout high school and college and looking back I realize that very rarely did the group I was working with take the time to get to know those we were serving and truly get to know them. We only saw the exterior and “paint” but rarely ever went “inside” and have the chance to minister to the needs of those we were serving. Many times, we get so caught up in doing service projects and helping others and see it as something that we can check off of our list of things to do because we are Christians but then we are missing the entire purpose of being able to do the service project. If we only see it as a task then we forget about the relationship and about the person we are serving. We end up overlooking the person and seeing them as just a project rather than as a person and that’s not okay.

We need to start seeing what we do as ministry and being able to be the light and hope of Christ to others in this broken world and truly take the time to get to know someone and pray with them rather than see it as an agenda item and a box we can check off. We need to look beyond the paint that we can see and beyond the act that so many people put on get inside where we can see what is truly going on. It’s easy to get caught up in the business of things yet that shouldn’t be an excuse. We need to start seeing service projects and things we do as a way of engaging in relationships and getting to know someone so that we can get beyond what the eyes can see and get to where the soul is and what’s going on inside.

What meets the eyes can be deceiving but it’s what’s underneath and beyond the paint that we need to get to and bring the hope of Christ to. How is God calling you to look beyond the paint and beyond what meets the eyes and who is He calling you to reach out to and truly get to know rather than allowing what you see to deceive you? Someone may say they are okay but are they truly okay? A house may look in tact on the outside but once you get on the inside then is everything in tact or are things falling apart and needing a helping hand and the light of God?

While I'm Waiting

“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ~Hebrews 10:35-36

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ~Galatians 6:9 


For many of us there is something that we are waiting for or we have in the past had to wait for something. There were times that we knew when we would get an answer and there were other times where we didn’t know when things would happen yet we just knew that God was calling us to wait. If you are anything like me then it’s super hard to be patient and wait, I would much rather see results and get answers right away yet there are times where God has to remind us to just be still and know that He is God. He calls us to wait for Him and for answers.

As I am working as  US-2 missionary in Dallas, TX and with the Dallas Leadership Foundation, there are times where I wonder when results will be seen, when changes will happen, when I will know fully why God brought me here, etc yet currently I do not know all those answers, I am in the waiting stage. It’s then that we have to be reminded that God is asking us and calling us to serve Him in our times of waiting and uncertainty.

We may not always know the answer and it may seem like we are in the waiting stage of things constantly but from scripture, we are promised that we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up and that we will receive what God has promised. It may be hard and we may be discouraged at times, we may be tired, we may be wondering why people aren’t showing up to things, and so forth yet we need to continue to preserver and trust God in the preparation that He is doing. He has gone before us and is preparing the work for us and he will come back behind us and follow through with what was started yet in the middle, we find ourselves doing the work and find ourselves wondering when things will happen. It’s then that we find ourselves in the waiting process and sometimes just want to fast forward our lives, our neighborhoods, our jobs, etc and see how things turn out since we can’t see the entire picture but the good news is that God knows what’s going to happen and He is at work.

He has chosen to use us as His faithful servants and at times He will call us to wait and will show us one piece of the puzzle to us at a time and then reveal the final picture to us when He’s ready. But when we find ourselves waiting, it’s not the time to be discouraged but to be serving God, worshipping God, praising Him, etc since He is still at work and we will see the harvest of our efforts if we continue to be faithful and worship God.

So be encouraged and don’t loose hope but know that God is at work and is preparing the harvest for us while we are waiting and possibly at a point where we don’t see the fruit of our labor and are left with only questions.

It may be painful and hurt to see things going slow but be patient and move forward boldly and with confidence that God is at work, that He is using you, and that a difference is being made. Wait on the Lord even when it’s not easy but with faith, know that things are happening and renewal is coming. Continue to serve the Lord and worship Him while waiting and continue running the race with confidence that change is happening and hope is coming about from the work that you are doing in the communities you live in and from everything that you are doing!

I’ll leave you with this scripture…

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. ~ Isaiah 40:29-31

So be encouraged and know that God is with you in the communities, He is working while we are waiting, and that the race is not over!

Leadership, service to others

When you hear about leadership, most of the time it’s about those who are in the front and are prominent in the operation of what’s going on yet there is one type of leadership that is often overlooked and the type of leadership that I have always resonated with the most and the type of leadership that Jesus exemplified and lived out during most of his ministry. That leadership is servant leadership and I feel like if you are involved in ministry then you are highly aware of this type of leadership and style of leading since that’s what ministry is.

Servant leadership is service to others and doing yourself what you would ask others to do. It’s not a dictatorship where people are afraid to be around you but it’s a ministry. Servant leadership draws people in rather than pushes them away. I would say that I have been a leader most of my life yet it’s not always been leading in front but more of walking along side others to get the job done and to encourage and assist with the process.

Servant leadership is discipleship and Jesus is the best example of what servant leadership can and should look like. While none of us are Jesus, we can still and should strive to live like He did and we can still lead through servant leadership. So what does that look like today? It looks like many things yet an easy way to extend servant leadership is to be of service to others and as I stated earlier, to lead by example and be willing to do what we ask others to do since if we aren’t willing to do it ourselves then why would someone else want to do it and why should we expect someone else to do it?

Servant leadership means leading by example and going first rather than pushing things onto someone else to do. Everyone has the capability to lead and everyone can be apart of servant leadership and become more like Christ by doing so. Lead by example and lead by serving others not by dictating and forcing people to do things since then you will have people following you and asking why you lead the way you do and act the way you do. Then there will be an open door for you to share about Christ and how you are following His example on how he led his disciples and everyone He came into contact with. After all, Jesus cleaned the feet of His disciples and Jesus came to serve and not to be served. He came to do the will of God his Father and to make a difference.

So, how is God calling you to be a servant leader? Is He calling you to volunteer your time to a service project, to listen to the stories of your neighborhood, to get involved, etc? Is God calling and asking you to go first rather than wait on someone else to take the first step? What are you waiting for?

Go ahead and take the first step and become a servant leader, a leader that’s not only leading but also being of service to others.