A different kind of Christmas

This Christmas has definitely been a different one for me. The past few days I have had a lot of ideas on what my Christmas should look like- lounging in my pjs, skyping my family, reading a bit. I didn't want to participate in any of the festivities on the base. I wanted my Christmas just like it was at home. Last night I was semi pouting about my boring Christmas Eve. We had fun famiy time taking family pictures but then everyone went their own ways and I was left to clean up everything. At first I had a total attitude. No one was praising me for cleaning up and I really didn't want to be doing that on Christmas Eve. Earlier that day I had asked the Lord to totally change my preception of Christmas and he used my attitude to do just that. I started thinking about the first Christmas. The one where my Saviour King was born. His birthday really wasn't some extraordinary day for the entire world, well at least not that they knew. He was born to normal people on a normal day. Yes the heavens rejoiced and he shepherds came but the whole world should've been on their knees. If he was born in such a humble way, why does my Christmas need to be so special? Why can't I help clean up meals and make dinner and SERVE on the greatest servant of all's birthday? Christmas isn't about presents and it isn't about traditions. It isn't about my level of happiness. It's about the glorious birth of Emmanuel. Today I spent the most time with Jesus than I ever have on Christmas and that's what has made my day so wonderful(though the surprise presents from home helped too)I encourage you on the celebration of such a life changing day to marvel at the glorious birth of God with us.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

God is Good All the Time

The title itself should be enough for this blogpost, but I'll ramble a little bit for your enjoyment. :) I have officially been in Hong Kong for two weeks! It has been a good two weeks, full of adjustments, major spiritual warfare and lots of prayer. I like it here though. The city is such an adventure. It's huge and full of people who need to know about Jesus. 7.1 million people or something crazy like that. We are staying at the YWAM base here. It's in an old old Chinese village tht is very traditional. There are temples ALL around us so we have been doing lots of prayer to proclaim Christ as King here.
Anyways, back to the point. God is always good. It sounds like such a simple statement, but when you really apply it to your life, it's kinda hard. Our first intense testing of this was the other night when we went to the red light district here. God is good all the time? When young girls are selling their bodies? When men who probably have families at home walk down the street with someone who is not their wife by their side? Our team had a hard time swollowing that at first glance.
God has been whispering this simple truth to me every day. In the moments when 4 more months of being away from home seems like an impossible amount of time. When hearing hurts of loved ones thousands of miles away happens through words on a computer screen. When trees are being decorated and fires started and movies watched, all with out me there. When the aches of my new family here seem unfixable and forever painful, GOD IS GOOD.
How do I know this? Because I have seen His goodness. I have seen how He places it in the hearts of people to love prostitutes and hope for a better life for them. I have seen how He has given me family and friends that im able to miss, because He loves me that much. I have seen how he heals the hearts if those who seem too broken.  I can see the evidence of his goodness in my life everyday if I look hard enough, and I bet the same is true for you. I have also been learning that He deserves to be praised all the time, so here are a few examples of His goodness.
-Skype. It is a wondeful invention that allows me to see the faces of sweet loved ones. I'm so thankful that God has provided that blessing.
-Internet in our house. Somehow we get Internet from one of our neighbors for free. One of the few places it reaches is right on my bed. God knew our team needed that one :)
-The joy of a little 8 year old Nepali girl as she read me book after book
-Breakthroughs when it seems like all hope is lost
-Worship every single morning
-The heart that God gives me for this place when I feel like I won't last another day
-The story that God has written for me ad the greatness that he continues to call me to
-The joy that the Lord gives when you ask for it
-Faces of prostitutes when they realize that someone remembers them and cares about them
-The power of prayer
-Encouragement from those around me and those at home

Those are just a few things that make me remember the goodness of my God. He cares about me. He cares about even the little things like the comforts of ice cream at McDonald's and unexpected hugs.
Please keep me and my team in your prayers! We know that the strength of the Lord is the only thing that will allow us to continue serving and loving so please pray that we will continue to fall on him ad remember his goodness!
I have two more weeks here and then I'll be headed to Thailand! I'm so excited to continue on the path God has for us :)
Love you all!
Carrie
P.s sorry for no pictures. I was waiting to post this until I could figure out a way to put some on here but I've realized that it's not gonna happen :(

Hello to all!
So in 19 days I will be boarding a plane to Hong Kong! My time in the lecture phase of my DTS has been so great, but I am super excited to head on our outreach! God has been specifically designing our time away and I think its going to be awesome. In the beginning, we were heading to the Philippines and Bali, but through things falling through and God speaking to us, we are now headed to Hong Kong for a month, possibly Thailand for a couple of weeks and then to Bali until April. We are all so excited to embark on this adventure that God has set before us.

the streets of Hong Kong

While we know that God is sending us to Hong Kong, serving there come with quite a bit more cost. The cost of living for us in Hong Kong is almost twice as much as was budgeted for. With that knowledge my team and I would appreciate it if you would consider helping us cover the extra cost of 9,700. That number is for our team of 10 as a whole, not individually. I know that amount seems great, but I am confident that with Christ it is nothing.
More than anything I would appreciate your prayers. I ask that you would pray for unity for my team, for the hearts of those we will be ministering to to be prepared and that I would continue to allow God to mold me.

I can't wait to be on the streets of Hong Kong sharing the saving name of Jesus. I can't wait to look into the eyes of prostitutes in Bali and tell them of a hope that is greater than their despair. I can't wait to hold babies and whisper prayers of faith over their lives. I can't wait to make children laugh and smile and tell them that they are loved. I can't wait to capture these things in photographs to share with the rest of the world. I can't wait to speak the name of Christ to those who have never heard it. I can't wait to take wounded women in Bali to a SAFE house, a place where they can learn skills and hear about Jesus. I can't wait to be the hands and feet of Christ and share his greatness with everyone. It would be such an honor if you would partner with me in whatever way is possible for you, whether that is financially or in prayer.
If you would like to help, you can send a check made out to YWAM Kauai to:
YWAM Kauai
ATTN: Raquel Brace
4-831 Kuhio Hwy Suite 438 #122
Kapaa, HI 96746
If you would like for it to be tax deductible, you can make the check out to your church and have them send it to that address.
Thank you thank you thank you, to those of you who have made it possible for me to be where I am today. God is moving and I am LOVING being a part of it
love,
Carrie

Giving Up Your Rights

I have been trying and trying to write this blog post, and for some reason it has been SO hard. Summing up all that God is doing in me seems to be nearly impossible, probably because I don't really know myself. My days are filled with Jesus. Lectures about Him, worshiping Him, reading His Word, talking with Him, and I feel like he shows me something different in each one of those times. I have loved spending so much time with him though. I am really trying to take advantage of this time where everything has the potential to be about him, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't hard. There are distractions, lots of noise and moments of serious frustration with being here. Last night the biggest spider I have seen in my whole life was wandering around the room, I have a mouse living (and pooping) in one of my drawers, I live in a room with 6 other girls, my feet seem to be permanently brown (which means my sheets are too), the shower seems to be cold more often than not, I have no control over what I eat, where I go or what time I wake up. But what I'm learning, is that he is WORTH it. SO worth it.

So, instead of explaining all thats going on I'm just going to single out one thing that  has been in the front of my mind.

A few weeks ago, our little YWAM family took a trip over to The Big Island where one of the largest YWAM bases in the world is. We spent 5 days there soaking in the "big group" atmosphere. Kona, the base, has about 300 DTS students right now, not counting the students of other schools and staff. They have about 1000 people on campus. Compared to the 14 people we have on our base, it was like we were in a totally different world. I loved being there so much. The week was called Corporate Week. We had a band (thats actually from knoxville yeah!), United Pursuit Band, come and lead worship for us which was AWESOME. Our speakers were actually the founders of YWAM, Loren and Darlene Cunningham. It was so cool to hear their stories and know that we are apart of the vision Loren had 51 years ago. 

In the middle of the week Loren spoke on a topic that still has my mind reeling. He talked to us about giving up our rights. The things we feel like we deserve to have- like a bug-free room or hot shower. I would guess that the majority of the world live with bug infested homes and cold or no shower at all. Most people share their lives with their entire family, and here I am complaining about sharing 8 months of my life with 6 other people. 

Loren talked about how Christ's command to us was to "take up your cross and follow Him." Taking up your cross= giving up your rights. 

"24Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" Matthew 16: 24-26

When Jesus came down to earth, He gave up ALL of His rights to be with us. He is GOD, and he came to us as a man. He was tempted, ridiculed, tortured, and murdered and what he asks of us in return is to follow after him and love him. In response to His request we often act a lot like the rich young ruler. 

"20The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" 21Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." Matthew 19: 20-22

The man thinks that he has done enough "stuff" to follow Jesus, like following the commandments, but when Jesus asks him to sell all that he has and give it to the poor, the man simply can not relinquish his right to his things. Now, I do not believe that this man lost his salvation or anything. I would say he probably goes off and continues living his mediocre Christian life, but he did miss the greatness of God's will for his life. Just because he couldn't lay down his right to what he thinks will make him happy. We are SO like that. I bet we all have that one thing that if God asked us to lay it down we would strongly consider holding onto it and missing the greatness of what God has planned. For some it might be money or reputation. It may be the right to have food 3 times a day or freedom. For Loren it was his right to his wife. That was the one thing he could never give over to God and let him handle and protect. It took a horrible wreck where Darlene almost lost her life for Loren to finally listen to God on this matter. As we prayed about what our right that we needed to lay down might be, I got completely convicted. I have lived my life like I have the right to anything and everything I want. One of the really big ones for me was the right to my family. It has been really hard for me to be away from them for so long, but I have realized that I need to give up the right to be with my family always. Because Christ has called me to follow him wherever he goes, and I'm not so sure that its always going to be where my family is. And really, thats okay. Because whats 8 months or 8 years here on this earth when I have ETERNITY with them in heaven? I want my sister to move away from me to Cambodia and my parents to follow my dads new work calling wherever it takes them and my brother to follow wherever God calls him, because how much better will the Kingdom be for that! How much greater will our celebration be in heaven because we have given up our right to live life like many others and have instead followed Christ! It gets my heart all excited just thinking about the impact that my family can have for the Kingdom if we let this become truth in our lives. It gets my heart all excited thinking about the impact that all of you reading this could have, if you would step out in faith, pick up that right, and follow where Christ is leading you. Look at the impact Paul had. We read all of the things he wrote because he gave up his right to freedom! Look at Katie Davis. She is a 22 year old girl from a privileged life that is now living in Uganda because she gave up her right to live the American dream that she had at her finger tips. (kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com) I want my life to look different like Paul's did and Katie's does. I want your lives to look different too. Not just because its exciting or good to be different or anythings. Only because Christ demands it of us. In order to live the rich full life that is in Christ, we must drop our desires and pick up His. His promises are greater than any earthy reward ever could be.

"28Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones,judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first." Matthew 19:28-30

Sunset at Hanalei Bay

Hawaii Life

Aloha friends!
My time on Kauai has been SO great. This week was our first week of class time and it was such a busy week! Everyday we have quiet time with Jesus, class time, meals together and then worship or intersession or work duties...lets just say its busy. Internet has been very very scarce, but hopefully we'll have it soon! Here's a little tiny picture of my life here so far:

This is my family for the next 7 months, minus our leaders. It has been so fun to get to know each and every one of them! I'm excited that we all get to grow and learn together.

to the left is my front yard and above is my side yard

Last Saturday we went on a scavenger hunt around the island and learned how to surf. I wish i had pictures of me "surfing" :). We have gotten to see only a few of the beautiful sights to be seen on Kauai and I can't wait to continue our adventures on the weekends! Here's a few adventure pictures:

The girls on my scavenger hunt team and I by the Kilauea Light House

Me on the rocks by Queens Bath, a place that is notorious for deaths

Nikki and I with our new Hawaiian friend Paris

My school leader Kimberly beside the waterfall we jumped off for rec time this week!

So pretty much, our time together has been wonderful. We have loved getting to know each other and it already feels like we have been together forever! Our class time this week was spent talking about learning to hear God's voice and having intimacy with Him. I am loving all that I am learning. I'm sure I'll post more on that sometime soon! Also, I found out that I am going to go to the Philippines and Indonesia for outreach! We will be in the Philippines for three weeks working and learning from a ministry that gets girls out of sex trafficking. Then we will head over to Indonesia where we will be partnering with YWAM Bali to pioneer the same type of ministry in Bali. I am SO SO excited. The more time we spend praying and preparing as a team the more I am ready to jump on a plane and go! I know our 4 and a half months there will be so great and God has great things planned!

Thanks to all of you who helped get me to YWAM Kauai. I know that God has such great things in store for me these next 7 months of my life...and I can't wait to see who I am when I come back to Knoxville! I'll keep soaking up the sun for yall!

Love you and aloha,

Carrie

Short and Sweet

I don't really have much to say or much time on the internet! I just wanted to let everyone know that I am LOVING KAUAI! It is so so beautiful! We have been spending the last few days getting to know each other and running around the island! I have learned how to semi-surf, saw Bethany Hamilton, and am loving being a beach bum! Tomorrow we start class and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and my team of 8! Sorry that there are no pictures, I forgot to bring my camera to the internet place. I'll update more as soon as we get internet at our house and I have more time! Aloha! love and miss you!
-Carrie

Depraved Indifference

I've been cleaning out my room in preparation for YWAM. I don't know if you've ever gone through every single thing thats in your room all at one time but it has AMAZED me. I have SO MUCH stuff. So much, and for some reason, I'm often convinced that I don't have enough. 

In my give away pile I have at least 15 t-shirts. And my drawer is still over flowing with them. Many children in this world have ONE shirt that they wear every day, until it no longer fits. Taken out of my closet, my shoes take up most of the floor, when many children will walk around in absolute FILTH with no shoes at all. Putting up the dishes this morning, I could barely even stand to look in the cabinet. 43 normal sized plates we have the option of eating from every night. The silver ware is over flowing from the drawer and it pounds through my mind, "How many kids in this world have never even seen a fork?" I can pick up one of the many glasses we own and get water any time I want. "How many kids will go to bed tonight wanting water more than anything? How many kids will DIE today because they don't have access to water?"

These things are obviously nothing new or way out there, but they have hit me strongly today. I have lulled myself into thinking that I'm not that bad. The people who live in the REALLY big houses, with all those fancy fancy things, they are the ones that need to tone it down. They are the ones, in my mind, that have all the responsibility in changing their spending and giving more to the needy, but what about me? I can think of 10 places in my house that I could sleep very comfortably tonight, in privacy. Many families will all sleep in the one room that makes up their house, on the floor, crammed in a bed. What about all the clothes I found when cleaning out my room that I "forgot about." If I have those why did I just spend a bunch of money on MORE clothes this weekend? I keep thinking I need more and more and better and better, but why? My heart right now is longing for contentment. I long to look at this world with heaven as my true home. I know that I have been blessed in this life, but why am I convinced that these blessings are just for me and my family? Why do we all live like WE are the ones that deserve these blessings? I so long for my heart to be one that gives, that takes the blessings God has given me and gives them back to his people.

 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:34-40

27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27

I long for a religion that is pure and undefiled before my God, and I pray that you would, too. 

I ask that you take a few minutes to watch this video. I totally get that most of you wont want to, because I never really do, but just do it :) I think it also helped a lot in putting these things on my mind:

(pause the music at the bottom)

DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE: "callous disregard for human life"

I pray that God would wear down the callousness of our hearts.

And if you're feeling extra awesome, then listen to this song, because its that great. I've been listening to it while writing this post:

I hope these ramblings stir up something in your heart today, and I pray that you won't ignore it. 

Oh, how He loves us. 

Hawaii or Bust

Well, its official. In 31 days, I will be leaving for Kauai, Hawaii! I found out a little over a week ago that I got accepted to the YWAM base there and am SO PUMPED! I'm sure I'll be staring out at scenery like this every waking moment. :)

Ha I wish. I'll be in Kauai for 3 months. I have tried many times to tell people what I'll be learning while I'm in Hawaii and totally failed, so here is what the website says, "The Discipleship Training School (DTS), is designed to encourage students to develop in personal character, to cultivate a living relationship with God, and to identify their unique individual gifts and callings in God. Cross-cultural exposure and global awareness are special emphases throughout these courses, preparing the students to reach current and future generations and answer the call to… “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations” – Matthew 28:19."  

After my time of learning and serving in Kauai, I will travel with the other students in my school to another country. The country we go to will be decided once we're all together, but I know it will be one that deals with an injustice. 

INJUSTICE: violation of another's rights or of what is right

The base I will be going to has a heart for injustices in our world. Things like unclean water, human trafficking, women in Africa, the adult industry and child soldiers are what this base longs to see ended. I love that I'm going to a place where God has given people the same passions as me. I can't wait to learn more about the injustices our world faces and act against them. Tonight I went to a wedding and heard this scripture. It really defines what I long for the YWAM experience to be for me:

                                          ¹⁰ if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry 

                                              and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                then your light will rise in the darkness,
                                                and your night will become like the noonday.
                                            ¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
                                               he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land 
                                                         and will strengthen your frame. -Isaiah 58

 I pray that I would learn what it really means to spend myself on behalf of the needy. 

Tonight my heart is breaking for the drought crisis that is happening in East Africa. THIS article really opened my eyes to the devastation. These are the things that I so long to see ended.

I really pray that this time will be so sweet for me and my Father, that I would go with a moldable heart and opened ears. Please be praying for me as I spend my last month in Knoxville. Its crazy to think that I won't be back here for 8 months. Pray that I would prepare my heart for what God wants to do and the goodbyes that must take place. I know that September 6th will be such a bitter-sweet day for me. 

p.s. please excuse the random white high-lighting, I can't figure out how to make it go away :)

Hecho En Mexico

This summer I got the chance to spend 11 days in Tijuana Mexico. Tijuana is a place that is so important in my life. I sometimes feel Hecho en Mexico. That is spanish for Made in Mexico. 

Mexico is where I first really understood some key things about God the summer after my freshman year. It's where I spent a month last summer getting a glimpse of what it's like to live in TJ and seeing true servant hood. Without Mexico, I know that I would not have the passion for the world that I do today. So in many aspects, I was made in Mexico. I love all the meaning that holds. 

two sweet boys from the orphanage casa Hogar

Anyways, this summer it was different. I made great relationships last summer and was looking forward to revisiting the people I so love. But when it came to the kids that live at the orphanage we stay at, I was sure they wouldn't remember me. Throughout the year dozens of Americans come invade their home hang out for a while an then leave...why would I be any different? But when I got out of the van I heard my name...or at least their precious attempt at my name (it's a hard one to pronounce). And it turns out they had been asking a friend of mine why I wasn't there with her again and when was I coming. 
To know that the kids I poured my love into last summer remembered me was such a gift from God. The 11 days I was there were so sweet. Our group took 70 kids who live on an old dump to camp for the first time EVER. We painted 20 houses for families in that community. We loved on kids at the orphanage and roofed a building with them. I got the chance to see a boy that stole my heart the first time I went to Mexico for the first time since the day I met him, and 

Andres, the little boy I met 3 years ago, today

he remembered me too.  After the team left, I stayed with one of my best friends to visit with our friends whose family runs the orphanage. We loved and laughed and talked a lot. It was so good to be with them. To remember and be remembered. 








Lately God has really been pressing Isaiah 55 on my heart. There are so many different things to learn from the passage, but the first part is what has stuck out to me this particular week. Its God remembering the needy.     

¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty,

   come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

   come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

   without money and without cost.

² Why spend money on what is not bread,

   and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

   and you will delight in the richest of fare." 

That's what I feel like this time was for me. Time to come and sit in the place that is so special for me and my Father. Time to love on those my Father has a heart for. Time to remember His invitation and invite others. Just a sweet time of joy. And now I'm home and those 11 days feel so far away. They seem short and inadequate. But I know my Father didn't send me to look at this trip as not enough. He sent me to remind me of life. To look through the lens of my camera and capture joy. 

water balloon fight at camp

As hard as it is to leave mexico, to leave friends that are like family and kids that need love, I will cling to these lyrics:

 "Come away with me, come away. It never to late, it's not too late. It's not to late for you. I HAVE A PLAN FOR YOU, I have a plan. It's gonna be WILD, its gonna be GREAT it's gonna be FULL of me"

                          --United Pursuit Band

I pray that we would not forget the wildness and greatness of our God.