Home at Last

After some crazy travel plans, we all made it back! I am going to demonstrate how confusing our routes were to get back using numbers:

3/14
4am- 15 people in Orlando
8am- 15 in Cincinnati
8pm & overnight- 6 in Cincinnati + 9 in Atlanta

3/15
4am- 6 in Cincinnati + 9 in Atlanta
7am- 2 in Cincinnati + 13 in Atlanta
8am- 9 in Little Rock + 4 in Atlanta + 2 in Cincinnati
9am- 13 in Little Rock + 2 in Cincinnati
10am- 15 people all together again in Little Rock
11:30am- All 15 back at Harding

Devon and I flew standby but thanks to God's providence, we made the first flight with two other team members. Everyone else thankfully had confirmed tickets by this morning. God was really watching over our trip back, and I have never been more grateful to see my twin size dorm room bed. :)

Thank you all for praying for our trip and following us on the blog. I hope you've enjoyed it!
-ej

Grateful God is in Control

I'm sending this from my phone in a hotel in Cincinnati because our flight early this morning was canceled due to mechanical issues. Our team was split up, nine going on to Atlanta tonight and six staying in Cincinnati then following to Atlanta in the morning.

Those including me staying in Cincinnati are all tucked in for the night. The others have landed in Atlanta and are working out hotel details. They will be on an earlier flight to Little Rock then we will follow on the next flight out of Atlanta. It's going to be another early morning for very tired people.

Please pray that we all get into Little Rock tomorrow without much trouble. God really has blessed us so much already, even with free hotel rooms and meal vouchers. Also pray for the Massachusetts team which was delayed overnight because of weather.
-ej
  

Nearing the End

I spent most of the day at Clean the World again, which was long but fun work. I am proud to have been a part of that organization, even just for two days, and to help out all of the other groups this week. After dinner, we headed as a group to Downtown Disney until 11 pm. I was so excited to be near Disneyworld! I also got to meet up with a good friend of mine I hadn't seen since her graduation last May, Jess. She was a part of my mission team last year to Arizona. We had 1/3 of our "Arizona family", 5 of us total at Disney. It was wonderful albeit brief.

It's late here now, and we are meeting early in the morning to enjoy our day off at the beach so I am leaving today's post short. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post more pics or here on the blog until I return to Searcy on Sunday, but I'll try to at the airport.

Thank you so much for your prayers this week! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. Please pray that we have safe rest of the trip from the beach to travels. Thank you so much for reading this blog! I am so grateful for all of my friends and family and incredibly appreciative of your support.

-ej
  

Cleaning the World

This morning we split off again into two groups, one heading back to the preschool development program I went to yesterday and another group including me helped a fairly new organization called Clean the World.

It is a great idea spawned from one question someone asked: what happens to all the partially used bars of soap left in hotel rooms?

Over 1.5 million bars of soap are thrown away each and every day. So what Clean the World has started doing is partnering with hotels to collect their partially used soap. They scrape off the outer layer, coat it with a solution then put it in a steamer to sanitize the soap. Scientific research by an independent lab was done to confirm that all germs are destroyed. It is a simple process and allows them to clean thousands of bars of soap every day.

We helped with the sanitation process...

 








...and also packing the clean soap into boxes ready to be shipped out.

Right now a majority of the soap is being sent to Haiti, but it's been sent all over the world. Clean the World was started in March of 2009 in Orlando, but they have plans to expand to Atlanta soon as well as other metropolis cities around the US. Over 100 hotels are partners with Clean the World--including Disney hotels with their Mickey soaps and the Peabody with cute duck soaps--but can you image what good could be done if many more hotels joined in?

It is a great recycling program that also saves lives! With proper handwashing using soap, diarrheal disease decreases between 30 and 60%. Soap can save lives in a third world country or even here in the US. By meeting physical needs, we open the door to let God meet their spiritual needs. It is His light we want to shine through our actions.

I know I for one will never look at a bar of soap the same way again. It is an organization I would like to work with again in the future. So simple, and yet incredibly effective. Makes me wonder what other questions we should be asking ourselves that could make such a difference?































If you'd like more information about Clean the World, here's their website: http://www.cleantheworld.org/. They also have a facebook fan page here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Clean-the-World/272954222509?ref=mf.

Tonight we served dinner at the Coalition, the homeless ministry we worked at earlier this week in downtown Orlando. It was a great opportunity for us to glorify God by getting out of our comfort zones once again.
-ej
  

And Introducing...John-John

John-John is 3 years old. He has 3 siblings; 2 older and a little baby brother. His mom brought them all to vbs every day this week and was so kind. She was the only parent to show up with the kids. John-John (or Jonathan) doesn't say much. On Monday I tried to talk to him without much success. He would look at you with the exact expression he has in this picture. It was sure cute, but difficult to communicate. He finally gave me some response by pointing and nodding, but still no words. John-John says so much with his eyes, though. I mean, look at those big brown eyes!

He grew to know many of us over the three days and would come up to us and yank on our pants leg then point to wherever he wanted to go. I couldn't get him to take a picture with me and this picture is when I told him to "smile!" Like I said, not very responsive except with his eyes. But boy did he have fun this week!

Today I was inviting the kids to have their faces painted (who hadn't already) and noticed that John-John didn't have any paint on his face! So I asked his mom if I could take him to get his face painted. She asked John-John who took a second to think, then nodded. I held his hand as we started walking over, but he was so excited that he started running! He was quickly distracting by some of the play equipment...but only briefly. I took him to Devon who asked John-John if he knew what he wanted. No reply, just those big brown eyes. But John-John did pick out what color he wanted. Blue! Devon asked if he wanted a star, and he nodded vigorously. He held perfectly still as Devon colored a blue star on those cute chubby cheeks. I think he even might of thought about smiling when he was finished. I told him he should go show his mom who was watching near by, and he ran over excitedly to show her!

The funny thing is that his baby brother at about 6 months old is at least 10x more expressive than John-John. However, as you can see, John-John did have fun!

He did draw with chalk for awhile, but for the most part he was content to wander around mostly by himself, skipping and spinning. He never strayed too far from his mother, but far enough to be independent and explore on his own.

After three days and as I leaving, I heard John-John say one word: "goodbye." He waved and when prompted by his mother, actually spoke that single word with a smile. It was such a bittersweet moment for me, and one I will cherish.

John-John, Lorenzanna, Luis and so many other kids have touched my heart and my life. Three days invested in their lives and both of us have been changed. I love these kids, and I am so grateful for these days with them. Even though I doubt I will ever see any of them again, I pray that Jesus' light will continue to shine in their lives. His glory is the reason we are here.
-ej

*Don't forget to check out http://picasaweb.google.com/ejtotheworld/SpringBreak?feat=directlink! Those kids are just so photogenic :).
 

Praises to God!

Our main contact here in Orlando and organizer for our trip is Dan Cawthon. He and his family have had a very difficult past couple weeks. His father, an elder for the congregation, died earlier the week we arrived. The funeral was Wednesday and we came to Orlando on Friday. This week his mother, who has been dealing with health issues for a long time, was put in the hospital. Thanks be to God that today she came home from the hospital! :) She is doing much better, but if you would please keep her and all of the family in prayers. It has been a rough week, but as Dan said, we provide a good distraction.
-ej
 

Bully/Zaccheus Skit

I thought I should post our skit for Zaccheus. I don't profess to any acting skills, but they chose me to play the bully since they thought the kids would still like me afterward. Again, acting is definitely NOT my forte, but I'd say the skit is rather entertaining ;). I think the kids got the message, too; the most important thing.



Also, check out the new pics from VBS yesterday at http://picasaweb.google.com/ejtotheworld/SpringBreak?feat=directlink. I played with some features on my new camera, and I think these turned out rather great!
-ej
 

This is Lorenzanna

Lorenzanna is a sweetheart. She rode on my back all over the park for what felt to my poor back like forever, but it was great fun. We set out to meet everyone on the team and after about 20 minutes, we had succeeded. She loves meeting new people. We raced Devon with another kid on his back and when we lost, I told her that it was because I was a slow runner; she corrected me and said we were both fast. Lorenzanna also has a loose tooth that might even come out tonight.

Lorenzanna is just one of the many reasons we are here in Orlando. We want to shine the light of Jesus' love to these kids, and according to the paintings many of them drew, they are seeing the light! Here are many of Lorenzanna's paintings (4 of these are her's) and some of her friends:

VBS today was wonderful. There were fewer kids today (between 40 and 50 total), but we were more prepared today than yesterday. We told the story of Zaccheus and hopefully I can post a video of the skit here soon. We sang lots of active songs with the kids. They painted and blew bubbles, then played a relay water game and duck duck goose. It's been a lot of fun getting to know the kids over two days. I know that I've made a connection with many of the kids, and I hope that they will remember the light that we show them many years from now.

This morning we broke off into two groups and did some community work. One group went to a school and home for unwed mothers and victims of domestic violence to clean up their yard. My group headed to a preschool intervention program to help organize donated clothes for the school families. Sometimes it seems that we aren't accomplishing much or touching many lives by doing these menial tasks, but I know that God can use every little thing we do to bring glory to His name. We are here to help in whatever way we can.

Tomorrow is the last day of VBS. Pray that the kids will see God's light in us and that the light will shine long after we leave.
-ej
  

Meet Luis

Luis is just one of the 50 or so kids we shared God's love with. Luis and I played hide and seek and an intense game of freeze tag together. He is one fun kid. As the kids were drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, Luis was trying to tell me something that I couldn't understand. Finally he draws a picture on the ground and points to it and says that it's me, the princess! :)

You can clearly see the crown on my head ;). Then he asks me if I want a baby, so I say sure! And he draws me a baby. See it?

It's difficult not to admire the innocence of children. Luis made bracelets with my help for himself and his two siblings, then thoroughly enjoyed the skit and singing. We sang "Father Abraham", "I'm All Wrapped Up" and "Jesus Loves Me" among many other songs. The kids loved playing duck duck goose. It was so difficult to leave! They nearly came on the bus with us to leave. I am so grateful that we have 2 more days to spend with these children to shine God's love in their young lives. I pray that God's light is shining bright through all of our lives!

This morning we worked at a homeless ministry doing a variety of jobs from sorting and cleaning to weeding and disinfecting toys. It was a great time to work hard and have a little fun, too.

I could write a lot more about today, but I think the pictures can speak for themselves: http://picasaweb.google.com/ejtotheworld/SpringBreak?feat=directlink.

They are some really adorable kids! Yesterday I had taken a break from picture taking. Saturday I took over 300 pictures so I felt I had done Orlando justice for my first few days. Today there were only around 200 ;) and I posted 60 of those.

Also if you'd like to check out this website:
http://thelink.harding.edu/index.php/arts/1120-harding/501-student-artist-profile, Harding did a student profile on my co-leader, Devon! It's a pretty neat interview.

Hope you all are enjoying this blog! Thanks for all the prayers; may it all be to God's glory!
-ej
 

Zapatos!

The result of a morning's work sorting a room with boxes full of shoes

at the homeless ministry:

Sing and Be Happy!

Tonight was fun! After worship, we headed over to the preacher's house to eat and sing. And sing we did :). It was an uplifting time for all of us and a really great beginning to a full week.

I uploaded many many pics yesterday including some really beautiful ones from around Orlando so check those out- http://picasaweb.google.com/ejtotheworld/SpringBreak?feat=directlink

And here are two entertaining videos for you enjoyment (if the videos don't work click here).

Matt & Tyler playing their own version of Leap Frog yesterday at the park:

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

Please keep praying for our group. Tomorrow we will be helping clean up at the homeless ministry in the morning then head over to the park for day one of VBS!
-ej
 

The Family of God

No matter where I go in the world, I have family. It's just one of the amazing blessings that comes from God calling me His child; I don't just get an awesome Father and a perfect brother, but an entire family of brothers and sisters. This morning we worshipped with the Concord Street church here in Orlando and it was wonderful to meet so many people I will get to spend eternity with! We visited with a lot of the UCF college students during lunch; I hope we can hang out with them again later this week.

I have visited churches in California, Arkansas, Oregon, Nebraska, Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Oklahoma all the way to Nicaragua and Ghana and now Florida. The family of God is amazing. God truly knew what we needed when He set up the church. We can't do this on our own. We need each other to encourage and challenge us. As a body, we don't have to be alone. We are part of something bigger, something greater. The church is a family spread all over the world. I love visiting churches because we already start with something in common: we are united as a body in Christ. Distance, language, race, nationality, age doesn't matter.

I am always encouraged by meeting with God's church and this morning was no exception. Concord St is a large, thriving congregation. There's a Spanish congregation downstairs and the pews are filled in the auditorium. But even with all they do, they want to do more. Which is why we are here to help. Orlando is seen as a tourist place first, but there is a lot of poverty here, too, as we saw yesterday.

The sermon today was...if you would believe it...about letting your light shine :). Seems my post yesterday was an introduction to the lesson this morning. It's something we all need to actually think about. We need to make conscious decisions to let our light shine through our actions. And as the preacher pointed out, that can also be in what we chose to expose ourselves to with media and how we spend our free time. We need to let our light shine 24/7. 

-ej

   

Let Your Light Shine

There's one image from today that stands out clearly in my mind. Handing out flyers this morning, Sean, Rebecca & I came to a home with a couple of little kids hanging out an open door. The oldest two came out and greeted us so we gave them both flyers for the VBS this week. They were obviously excited, so two younger kids followed out wanted flyers themselves. The youngest was a really cute 3 or 4 year old girl who didn't say much, but was so proud to have her own paper. Even though she couldn't read, she held on to that piece of paper for at least as long as we were walking down that row of houses with a smile on her face. As her older siblings shared their one bike, their mom could be heard inside the house- cussing. We never saw their mom. The kids followed us around the neighborhood with no one watching them. Down the street the smell of marijuana was strong. The apartments are small and very poor. There is hardly any privacy. No driveways, no backyards. Nothing but the park down the street where we will host the VBS. These kids, who were so proud to have their own flyer, are the reason we are here. They were thrilled to have us in their neighborhood and excited for us to come back this week.

These were just four kids out of many we met today and there will be many more for VBS this week. After we doorknocked this morning, we hung out at the park for a while. We are here for a short time. We will be in these kids lives for 3 days and then leave. We cannot change their situation. We cannot fix everything. We will not make them promises we can't keep. But there is something we can give them.

Light.

Jesus calls us in Matthew 5:16 to "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." That's the kind of light these kids need. They won't remember our names, what we said, the skits we wrote, the games we played. But they will remember the light that God shines through those who love Him and serve Him with their lives.

The light is not just for the kids. Just a couple verses earlier Jesus declares, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." After the lunch we headed to a very different park, Lake Eola Park. When you get an image in your head of Orlando, this is it. Beautiful lake, fun playgrounds, plenty of tourists and locals alike. But even with it's attraction, it too is filled with people who need light.

When we are filled with God's light, it should shine in everything we do; whether it's sitting by the lake, playing ultimate frisbee or talking with an LA Laker coach. We are called to be different. Mr. Dan has already emphasized one point to our group for this week (and for life): when you encounter someone, you need to say SOMETHING. Even if it's nothing specific and just a simple hello, we must remember that every single person who crosses our path is someone who needs the light. We aren't supposed to hide our light, but let it shine.

We have all been called to shine His light. It should be our response for what God has done for us. As Paul says in 2 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Do we need any better reason than that?

So what are you waiting for? Let your light shine!
-ej
  

United in a Common Purpose

There were 15 of us piling into a bus at 7:30 this morning, waiting patiently in line to check bags at the airport, sharing breakfast and lunch at airports, and getting to know each other during two flights to Orlando. Despite our best efforts, up until today not everyone on our team had met each other. We tried to orchestrate meetings in busy schedules where everyone could come, but it had just never worked out. So this morning, it was incredibly important to me to ensure that by the time we landed in Orlando, each person on our team would know something about everyone else.

And you know what? I needn't have worried. At first there were the few awkward greetings "Are you going to Orlando, too?" or "I don't think I've met you..." But by the time we landed, it was obvious to me that it didn't matter if we had been strangers only a few hours or a couple months before today; we are a team united with a common purpose.

Every individual here in Orlando is committed to Christ and sharing His love. It is clear by the way that they live their lives and in the way they treat people. How many people actually take time to get to know the stewardesses on flights? These guys did and carried on conversation throughout the airport. Who do you know who gives up an entire week of freedom when they could go home or take a true vacation? Every single person here gave up something else they could've been doing this week. I am honored to have each and every individual here with me in Orlando; I couldn't ask for a better team than those God sent my way.

Today we arrived in Orlando. It was a perfect day of flying. No luggage lost, no delays. We met with Mr. Dan, the college minister here and his wife made us a wonderful lasagna dinner. Then we each headed off to meet our host families. We are excited and eager to see how God will use us. These 15 college students who gathered this morning on a bus have become a team. We are here to serve. However, wherever, whenever. Each of us answered a call to come to Orlando. We are united in this purpose. And God can do amazing things through His people committed to a common goal.

-ej

*Also I've started posting pictures!!!!! Check out the picasa slideshow in the left column or click this link to see all of them: http://picasaweb.google.com/ejtotheworld/SpringBreak
  

Waiting at the little rock airport!

Details

I thought I'd share some of the actual details of the trip. There are 15 of us going to work at the Concord Street Church of Christ (website) in Orlando, Florida.

Here's a list of who's going so that if you'd like, you can pray for everyone by name: Devon and I are the leaders, Emily, Gelpi, Josh, Lisa, Amber, Rebecca, Kristin, Matthew, Tyler, Sean, Bonnie, Lisa and Allie.

We fly out this Friday morning, March 5, with a layover in Cincinnati (woohoo! another new state) on the way to Orlando. We return on Sunday, March 14 also in the morning.

I can't wait to see what God has in store for us, and I ask that you be praying along with us that His name will be glorified in all we do.
-ej
 

Called

The theme for this year's spring break missions from Harding is "Called":
Romans 1:5-7 "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

This blog will be updated hopefully daily with posts and some pictures. If you look on the left column, there are links to my Twitter which will be updated very frequently with what we are doing and a slideshow* from my Picasa photo album (*note: the photos at this moment are from last year's trip, but they will be updated as soon as i take new ones). If you click on either the Twitter or Picasa icon, it will take you to my webpages with more tweets and photos, respectively :). There's also the current weather in Orlando and my Facebook badge with current status.

Here are the links just to have them handy:
1. This Blog will hopefully be updated daily- http://beautyofenormousthings.blogspot.com
2. Twitter with very frequent updates- http://twitter.com/ejtotheworld
3. Picasa- http://picasaweb.google.com/ejtotheworld
4. Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/erinjoytotheworld

Oh, and please leave comments! :) (just click on the comment link at the bottom of each post)
-ej
  

Everything Glorious!

Almost exactly one year ago, I was in Chandler, Arizona enjoying quite possibly the best week of my life. You know those moments that you wish could last forever? There aren't many events in my past I'd like to last forever, but that week is at the top of the list. We prepared and hosted an all-day VBS, door-knocked and encouraged the church. During the week, there was a song that really became our "theme song" for the week. It was played more times than I could count in the van while driving around town. I never grew tired of it. I now consider it a theme song for my own life.

The song is "Everything Glorious" by the David Crowder Band. It gives a high calling for me to view the world through God's eyes; including myself. The glory of God fills the earth. He gives everything value, and I am His...which means I have value. Not only do I have just any value, the Almighty God claims me and therefore may bring glory to His name through my life! What an incredible thought. I have worth because God shines His glory on me! God makes everything glorious, and I want to be a part of that glory. I want to bring glory to Him in all that I do; in every aspect of my life. I want to be a glorious sacrifice.

Spring break 2010 begins this Friday, and I am once again co-leading a mission trip, this time to Orlando. I don't know everything that this week will hold, but I do know that God will make it glorious. My prayer is that through my own actions and every member of my team's actions, we may bring glory to His name.

Here's the song "Everything Glorious" with lyrics:

Listen here.

The day is brighter here with You

The night is lighter than its hue
Would lead me to believe
Which leads me to believe

You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?

My eyes are small but they have seen
the beauty of enormous things
Which leads me to believe
there's light enough to see that

You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours!

From glory to glory
You are glorious. You are glorious
From glory to glory
You are glorious. You are glorious
Which leads me to believe
why I can believe that

You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours!

You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours!

From glory to glory
You are glorious! You are glorious!
You are glorious! You are glorious!

This blog is my way of sharing with you the glorious things God will do through a group of servants eager to glorify His name. I ask that you be praying along with us for this upcoming week and every person we will touch in Orlando.

-ej