Enough is a Feast.

After being in Florida City for two years, I would have thought that some things would stop surprising me. I would have thought that I would be used to some things by now. However, there are days when I am still caught off guard by the little things that surround my everyday life in Florida City. One of these “little things” is the concept of generosity and sharing. I grew up in a home where I was taught to share at an early age. However, I am also becoming increasingly aware of that fact that I grew up as the spoiled baby of the family. Often times, my sister, who is four years older than me, would just cave and give me whatever I wanted simply to avoid a scene. Plus, with only two kids in the family, sharing is pretty easy. My sister and I would share toys, chores, beds, and food when we were younger and now we share clothes, accessories, friends, and taste in books and movies among other things. (Just not beds...I apparently kick and steal covers...)

Sharing is not hard. We are taught from an early age that we have to share. If you don't share, you're a rude kid and often punished. So, it's not a foreign concept – to anyone. However, the way it is done in Florida City is completely different from anything else that I have ever witnessed. When I was in middle school, my mom made me take my lunch to school everyday. She would buy healthy foods like bananas and peanut butter and fruit leather for me to pack in a cute lunch box and take to school. Now, I am thankful for these habits she instilled in me. However, in middle school, I was mortified. Everyone else bought their lunch and ate french fries and other various fried foods. I wanted nothing more than to eat these fried things. So, every day, I would ask my friends for them to share their french fries. And, most of the time they would. Sometimes, they would get fed up with me being a mooch. (Obviously appropriate...) However, on the off chance that my mother would let me buy lunch, I would buy my own french fries. And when my friends would ask me to share, I'd refuse. It's like I would completely forget their daily generosities and just get greedy.

This is what I think it's like for a lot of upper-middle class kids. (Which I would absolutely fall into the category of...) They expect everyone else to share, but then when it's their time to share, they don't want to. I think it's even the mindset of some adults, as well. However, in Florida City, they have adapted to their environment – they have discovered a way to survive. It's called sharing. It's a shocking concept, really. Apparently, when you have something that other people want, you give it to them. In fact, you offer it to them – you don't have to wait for them to ask. This happens in the smallest of instances at Branches and in Florida City. On a student's birthday, one of our volunteers always brings in a pack of gum as a gift. When they receive this gift, the very first thing this child will do is rip it open and give everyone in the room a piece. Let me tell you, at the age of 6, if I got a pack of gum, the first thing I would have done would have been run to my room, stuff six pieces in my mouth at once and then hide it under my mattress so my sister wouldn't get any.

I took a few of our youth out to eat at Wendy's last week as a “thank you” for their volunteer help at Summer Shade. There were 5 of them and I told them they could get whatever they wanted (first problem...) At first, I was kind of upset because between the five of them they ended up spending $60! (My fault for not giving them a limit...) But, just as I was conjuring up the “don't be so greedy” lecture in my head, I realized they were only eating half of their food – some of them only ate about a quarter of it. That's when I started to realize what was going on. They packed up the majority of their food to take home to their little brothers and sisters. That incident really got me thinking. If we had even an ounce of the generosity that these children have, our world would be completely different. Instead of everyone trying to be the best and have the most, we would share what we have been blessed with. And not because we're asked to – because we want to. Because we genuinely care about the welfare of others. Sometimes the troubles of our government, the politics of the church and workplace can really get me down. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the general hopelessness that I see on the television and read about in the paper. However, then something like this happens and I see these tiny glimpses of hope in this next generation and my faith is restored and I know that every little thing is gonna be alright.

Rejuvenation.

re·ju·ve·nate \ri-ˈjü-və-ˌnāt\

To restore to a former state; make fresh or new again.

“I am about to do something new. It is beginning to happen even now. Don't you see it coming? I am going to make a way for you to go through the desert. I will make streams of water in the dry and empty land.” - Isaiah 43:19

Camp OASIS is meant as a time for our kids to get out of their homes and current miserable situations and have a time to experience these "streams in the desert." However, what is often overlooked is that it’s also a time for the adults to have similar experiences. The last night of OASIS, there was a worship service that was so full of energy and God that it was really indescribable. I will let this short clip speak for itself:

That experience began the break down process of the spiritual blockades I had been feeling in my life. After Camp OASIS, I traveled with a friend up to North Carolina. I was able to reconnect with friends I had not seen in about ten years. It was a time of getting to know each other all over again. We are both people trying to navigate this world of ministry, being strong women, wanting to make a difference, constantly wondering about our own spirituality, where the church is headed as a whole, and where we fit into it all. It was a weekend filled with great conversation, great, laughter, and great tears. On Saturday, we traveled up to a town called Blowing Rock. As I sat looking out on this view:

I thought, “is this the kingdom of Heaven?” ...it certainly looks like it to me. But, as I began mulling over and talking over this philosophy, I realized it is not. At least, not for me. Although it was surely the most beautiful scenery I have seen in a long while, I was reminded of the passage from Luke12:34: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Even though I had a great love for each and every person in that mountain town and even though I had some of the best company I could have ever asked for, I was finally able to reach my point of rejuvenation. I was able to come to the conclusion that while this scenery was incredible, I believe the Kingdom of Heaven lies in Florida City, because that is where both my heart and treasure lie. Sometimes being able to take two steps back and look at the work I am doing from up on the mountain top, I am able to travel back into the valley to continue my work, rejuvenated and transformed, just as my children were from their “mountain top” experience at OASIS.

Where is your treasure?

OASIS prayers

I first want to say thank you for your support of my ministry in South Florida! We are doing good down here - managing the heat while the rest of the country is hoping for an end to winter! Programming is coming along quite nicely as the first month in our new building has flown by. We have been able to expand what we offer for our youth group - girls and boys fitness classes, more tutoring time, the addition of a computer lab, ACT/SAT/GED/FCAT (Florida's standardized test) study courses, paper making (a skill that one of our employees possesses and shared with our kiddos so they could start up their own business) and so much more! We are really growing, moving, and shaking now! Right now is spring break time, so we have an abundance of college groups coming to help out on mission trips.

So, the main update is that GOD IS GOOD!!

The main reason, however, for writing this email is to ask for your prayers. On Sunday, we leave for four days to take all 74 of our youth to camp OASIS. OASIS camp is the camp that we put on for our kids during Spring Break. It is an incredible opportunity for them to encounter the living God and have radical experiences that often change their lives. When you ask the youth what their favorite part of Branches is, 10 out of 10 of them will answer camp OASIS. We chose the name "oasis" for the symbolism of an oasis in the desert. For so many of our youth, this is their time to get away from all their troubles. They get out of their crazy home situations, they get away from their friends who aren't the best influences for them, they get to leave Florida City and travel to the wilderness and spend the nights in cabins - where they have their own beds. They also get to do "crazy" things like archery, hiking, canoeing, swimming, and play in the great outdoors. If you can't tell, OASIS is a time for our kids to have great and sometimes new experiences! What I'm asking for is lots and lots of prayers. We need prayers for safety, (I am the camp nurse this year, so we need EXTRA prayers for safety...) prayers for energy for the adults - especially myself, prayers for God to move and work in all the planning, set-up, and on goings of camp. We need major prayers for our youth to be open to the words they hear and that they have fun, learn a lot, and really let God into their lives.

Thank you so much for being willing to help in this way! I will update you again when we come back on how things went and what happened over the week.

Lots of love and peace!

Back by Popular Demand :)

So, many of you have been asking questions about the past six months and what has been happening at Branches. I have come to the realization that I have fallen short on my updates. So, I thought I would take some time on this beautiful, warm day in sunny Florida to write to you all. (Sorry, I had to make you all jealous about the weather, I only get two months out of the year where it's valid.)

I wish I could sugar coat this update and tell you how wonderful things have been and how amazing my job is. While it is an authentic statement that I still love every second of my job and the community in which I serve, I have to be honest about the past six months. The truth is that every day since the fire has been a challenge. We decided the day after the fire (when we MUST have been delirious from sleep depravation) that we would not stop programming. We would be resourceful, creative, and diligent in our efforts to keep every single program running that Branches offered the community. We would not let this violence against our church and community stop us from the service which we have been called. So, for the last seven months, we have done just that. We have been serving all 125 families in our program out of a tent, two small classrooms, and a port-a-potty. To be honest, looking back, I don't know how we managed.

I moved into a small three bedroom house two blocks from Branches and my house, along with my boss's house have become “second Branches.” We had to do programming at our houses three nights a week because there was just no space. There's not a night of the week when youth and young adults are not at my house: receiving tutoring, doing laundry, editing college essays, having Bible studies, and of course EATING! (All services they should have been able to receive at Branches over the past few months.)

Now, in no way, do I want you to construe this email as complaining. I am taking the time to paint the picture of what the past seven months has been to show the direct contrast of what has happened over the past two weeks. For seven months, we have literally been working seven days a week, sometimes eighteen hours a day, trying to keep up programming, trying to serve (often more than we were capable of), simply put: trying too hard to do too much. It has seemed like an uphill battle all leading up to last week.

Last week, when our kids came back from Christmas break, we were finally able to move into the portable building. We now have 7,000 square feet of space. We have a kitchen. We have four toilets. We have four classrooms. We have three offices. We have a roof over our heads. When it rains outside, we do not have to worry about flooding. When it's hot we do not have to bathe in insect repellent. In essence, it's the promise land! God has brought us out of the wilderness. And I realize that's a bit of an over exaggeration, however, after what we have come through, to us, it seems to ring true. The better news is that this portable building is still only temporary. In seven months, through the generosity of our supporters, we have been able to raise the TWO MILLION dollars needed to start our new building. Therefore, this summer, we will begin constructing a new building and church sanctuary that will make our “promise land” of a portable look like an outdoor tent and port-a-potty.

It has been a demanding past few months. To say the least. However, things are shifting in Florida City. God has seen us through our trials and is helping us to prosper and to build a hope and a future in South Florida. I am so grateful for the support each of you have given me through these trials and tribulations and am even more grateful to start a new future in this community I love.

Matthew 6: 25-34

Friday night started like any other. However, it ended a little something like this:

http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21002377218327/

This week has been a tough one. Our first piece (out of five!) of the portable building showed up. And then the next day was promptly taken away. We had a tropical storm warning. Everyone thought that Tropical Storm Nicole was really going to hit us hard. However, she actually just turned into Tropical Depression #16 and dumped some rain around the area. Needless to say, yet again, I was fooled into thinking I would get a day off of work and some quiet time while listening to the rain. We were also, again, fooled into taking down the tent only to have to put it right back up the next day.

For weeks, my boss, her husband, and I have been participating in the Daniel Fast. It's a fast based on the Biblical book of Daniel in which he fasts from all "choice foods" for 21 days. It's been an interesting fast, one that makes your body feel good, but also leaves you spiritually and physically wanting more. My boss and I sat around often discussing the fast and how it's made us feel, or what we were thinking. We both often expressed frustrations because at times it can just seem like a bad diet. The fast ended on Thursday. We didn't think much would come out of it. We didn't think about the power of God.

So, after 21 days of fasting, and a really tough week, a lot of us were just hoping to get through Friday night. Get through it so we could sleep in and gather some rest on Saturday. However, we had planned an amazing night. It was the Oasis Kick-Off Jam, meaning we were supposed to spend the night getting our youth pumped up about our spring break camp Oasis. We had many visitors hanging out with us that night and had even hired a Christian rapper known as "Chirstaholik" to perform. It was shaping up to be a good night. Then, about half way through the "fun and games" portion of the night, we see cop cars show up on the corner. My boss tells me to go see what has happened and before I can even get outside of the tent, I see a mob of about 500 people walking down the street straight at us.

It's pretty funny to hear the different stories on what people thought was going on. These stories are usually centered around how long you have been in Florida City. Some of our new and naive staff members thought nothing of it. They thought, "oh, something's going on..." Where as my boss was certain it was a riot and we were all about to get shot. No matter the first impressions, we were quickly surrounded by this mass of people who started immediately disassembling our stage set up and bringing out their own instruments and sound equipment. My boss quickly recognized some members from a partner church, The Vineyard, up in the Kendall area.

It took me quite a while to come to grips with the fact that we were not actually under attack. However, once I discovered that these people "came in peace," things started to click and I realized that I must be in the midst of witnessing something powerful.

Powerful, indeed. From this point everything kind of seems like a blur of news cameras and camera flashes. But, I do distinctly remember my boss being handed a large, wrapped present. I also very vividly remember their pastor telling us that they took up an offering for us last Sunday and decided to give our church everything. Everyone began chanting "Open It!!" and Kim and Audrey pulled off the wrapping paper to reveal a giant checked marked for $80,377.03. And yes, please do look at that number again. There is not an extra zero.

This church gave us $80,000, because they knew we were in need. They knew of the work we do and they knew of the fire. They knew it was what needed to be done. What they didn't know is that Branches has an anonymous Christian organization that triples every dollar donated to the building campaign. Meaning what this church actually did was donate almost a quarter of a million dollars!

We have been "going through the wilderness" for about four months now. Trusting God and having faith, but living every day discouraged and frustrated at work. Knowing that our ministry could do so much more if only we had the space. If only we had the staff. If only we had the resources. If only... But if there's one thing that this experience has taught me it's the fact that if you seek His kingdom first, everything else will fall into place. We should not worry about what will come about tomorrow, for tomorrow has it's own worries. We should be content knowing that God will always provide what is needed. He knows. He always knows.

Now my boss and I are just trying to figure out how to top that Friday night...any suggestions!?