I wanted to give everyone a digestible list of quick and easy ways that you can support Love Walks. Your support allows us to continue our work in Mexico and here in the valley as we strive to “provide trainings, opportunities, and experiences to young adults in Phoenix, leading them toward becoming lifelong Lovers of God and People.”

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Get connected to what is happening with Love Walks. There are a number of ways to do this. Our communication goal is not to flood people with information, or to annoy them with information not relevant. Rather we have strived to set up multiple channels of communication that allow YOU to choose how you want to stay connected! From our blog to facebook, our newsletter to twitter, pick whats best for you!

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On Monday, after returning from the weekend in Mexico with Love God Love People, I woke up early to make it to Ancala golf course at 6 a.m.  The course was the location for the 1st Annual City Initiatives Golf Marathon with proceeds benefiting the Phoenix based City Initiatives program within Food for the Hungry.  I will be posting more on what/who City Initiatives is in the upcoming weeks, but it is worth noting that I am currently working with Pat McCalla, the director of City Initiatives, on a vision that would unite both City Initiatives and Love God Love People. To fully unfold this vision I’ll need more time, but essentially City Initiatives is in existence with a goal of uniting various sectors of Phoenix (Government, Educational Institutes, Youth, Churches and the Marketplace) with the vision of actually solving a problem. The first problem that this initiative has tackled has turned into a case study for what future initiatives will look like, that issue is underage sex trafficking in Phoenix. It is an unbelievably dark issue, and one that is not being allowed to stay out of site. City Initiatives and their many partnerships have instigated a movement against child sex slavery in Phoenix, “Branded”. This movement is named after a documentary which came out of this project and shares the same name.  I would encourage you to learn more by clicking here and visiting the Branded website.

The event was a great time of both celebration for what has already been achieved, and what still needs to be done. If you would like to contribute to the Branded cause or learn more click here.

One of the last things that the group team from Highlands did was, perhaps,  one of the most impactful for many of them, the house visits. Several of the children sponsored by different team members lived close to school. So, after the farewell celebration that was done by the students (see last post), the team members split up into smaller groups and went out into the community with FH staff to visit some of the families.

Of all the things the team was able to do while in Rwanda this was probably one of the most raw and authentic experiences. No longer are you focused on a vision that includes so many, no longer are you talking about them, suddenly it all boils down to one single child who lives in one particular family.  Some of the families visited had both a mom and a dad taking care of the many children, some were single parents, other children were taken care of by only a grandmother or grandfather. All of the families lived in modest homes, their caregivers working their land and livestock to ensure the survival of their kids.

Their seemed to be multiple periods of sweet and unspoken connections during these visits. Though most parents spoke no English, the translators weren’t needed to communicate the heart of what was being said. While the children appreciated meeting their sponsors, and I’m sure loved getting the small gifts, the parents understood what was being provided to their children that they simply couldn’t provide on their own. There was a humbling appreciation that radiated from the eyes of these parents, as if you were seeing their very hearts gleaming through.  With kind embraces and gentle handshakes they would warmly greet their guests, always inviting them in to their homes.

The visits didn’t last long; usually no more than fifteen to twenty minutes each. But in that time everything became clearer. The struggles of the families, obstacles before them, the hope they still carried, the joy they held tightly to. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. In my experience, Christ is always magnified more in the lives of those who face the biggest struggles, the darkest darkness, or the most difficult roads. It is in these places that hope, grace, and joy seem so unattainable, and yet with him, seem like the only thing that truly matters. It saddens me that in our lives of comparative comfort back in the states we are reminded of this truth seldom and far between. We don’t cling to the grace of God because we must actively seek the reality of that truth; we don’t acknowledge the hope we have in Him, because we surround ourselves by artificial hope; and we don’t realize that we stand in darkness, because many times darkness just looks a lot different for us.

It is my hope that this time was as valuable for the Highlands team members as I suspect it was. I also hope it was a time of encouragement for those visited, a time of sweet reunion between souls striving on towards the same end goal. For me it was another reminder on this journey that when it all boils down to it the only thing that is left is relationships.

People and the Triune God.
That’s it.

When we lost sight of this we lose sight both of what holds us together and what gives us life. It is my prayer that this understanding in my life will continue to be built upon. But for now, what a sweet and beautiful reminder.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,  from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped,when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)