Week 10: Check!

In 9 days we leave for Nepal. This is crazy!! This week the topic was sex and relationships. Having grown up in the church we are drilled about purity in youth group, Bible camp and youth conferences, so I went into the week with a passive mindset. Yet relationships encompass all aspects of life: child development, gender identity, confrontations and the list goes on. It is crazy how so intricately our body is connect. No speaker has impacted me more than Pat.

One thing that blew my mind was when Pat spoke on child development. Once the baby is conceived, the child begins to know the thoughts and emotions of the mother. The heart needs of a child, even in the womb include feelings of safety, affection, affirmation, value, significance and love. By the time the baby is born, the child will know if he or she is being born into a family where they are loved and accepted. If the baby is a mistake, regret, an unwanted gender, or a burden and the mother thinks and feels this way, the baby will know. From the moment we are conceived, we begin a relationship with our mothers.

This past Wednesday the orphan care DTS led intercession. Intercession is a time to intercede with

Had the chance this week to go swimming and
were able to relax, enjoying each others
company and a good book!

prayers to God on behalf of other people, places or organizations. There are five of us girls in the ODTS and we all chose five different countries to do a brief overview of each countries foster care and orphan care system. I chose to do India because in December the ODTS will be living in an orphanage in India for 3.5 weeks. So, here are some crazy statistics about India:

• Over 1.2 billion people
• Second most populous country
• 9% of India's children are orphans; 31 million orphans
• Home to the largest number of AIDS orphans in the world
• Around 447 million children in India; 1/3 of the country
• India is home to around 19% if the worlds children
• Population of United States, Sweden and United Kingdom combined only reaches around 398 million
• 80.5% of the country is Hindu, 13.8% Islam, 2.3% Christianity

India has a class system based off the Hindu belief system. This system does not allow those of a higher class to associate with those of a lower class. It is believed through the cycle of reincarnation and karma, each person is put into the class system based on their behavior from their previous life. So that three year old girl dieing from AIDS on the side of the road, she is only getting what she deserves from her previous life. 

Yes, these are scary facts. But you cannot simply look at the devastating facts and statistics of child soldiers, HIV/AIDS victims, deaths from preventable diseases. Yes, no the bad. But only focusing on the dark is only giving glory to the one who came to steal and destroy. For example, Compassion International (I love this organization!!) has established 579 child development centers in India since 1968. Over 136,400 children go to these centers meaning they receive at least one fully balanced nutritious meal a day, clean water, education, prayer, a chance to learn about God, and a chance to have truth of who they are spoken to them. 

There is a Starbucks done the road from us, and they know
who we are.

One thing I struggle with is thinking I can actually make an impact when there is so much disaster. But I can love one child, who can love on two children who can love on two children. I can volunteer in an orphanage and give relief to the over worked caregivers. I can feed one child and tell them about the beautiful story of God, this child can be the child who leads their generation into a revolution against human trafficking. God's math is not like our math, He multiplies without rules. RELATIONSHIPS!

Pour into others. There is a lady who sends me Facebook messages of encouragement. She does not know how much her messages refresh my soul. It is the kids who smile and cheer for me on my morning runs as they walk to school. It is the barista at Starbucks whose perky attitude gives me joy. The heart needs of every individual can be met through strangers. You can give a stranger a sense of purpose simply by saying, "Wow, you have amazing customer service skills." When you begin to doubt your impact on the world, you begin to doubt the impact of God working through you. The thing about God is He is ultimately for himself, meaning He will get glory out of you whether you like it or not. How much more beautiful it would be to intentionally create space in our lives for God to create through us.