Luke Parrott

It's Not Hard to Find the Face of Jesus...

Some great students and staff at Grace Prep here in Durango traveled up to Denver to work with Ryan Taylor of Access to show firsthand the ministry of connecting those in the suburbs with those in the city, those with means connecting to those on the margins.  The result:  We find we are all poor.  And now something beautiful can blossom.

Our KIVU Gap Year students have the privilege of being a part of this ministry during their Denver Experience in the fall.  Thanks Ryan and Mile High Ministries for all you do to show us the face of Christ.  And thank you God that you chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.  You hide treasures in jars of clay.  You say, in order to be first, you must be the very last.  You exalt those who are humbled.  You embody the poor.  In them, we find the very face of Jesus. 

 

Access Denver from Jacob Brooks on Vimeo.

Let it Hurt, Heal, Frustrate, and Change You

Community is about living life with people.

But it takes an incredible amount of work to create it.  It's not something you can find or stumble upon without great cost.  True community is something you commit to working on for better and for worse.  It's something you want badly enough that you will let it hurt, heal, frustrate, and change you.  Its something you just keep showing up for each new day and each new week.  It happens incredibly slowly over a great span of time.

But it can only happen when people are walking together through the whole gambit of life's emotions.

God Speaks to Communities, Not Just Individuals

Each summer at KIVU, we ask our staff and campers to share what God is teaching them today and it never fails that there are overarching themes and common threads He is weaving into all of us.

God speaks to communities of believers.  He has common threads and patterns he is weaving, by his Spirit, into the fabric of Christ's body.  Through it all, he is weaving a tapestry of unity both in purpose and progress.  Sadly, most of us never tune into this phenomena.  He's doing it all the time, everywhere but often times our arrogrance or rampant individualism prefers to let one voice speak for the whole.  In so doing, we silence the voice of the masses and, in effect, the voice of God.

At CTK (my home church here in Durango), we are finding that sometimes a sermon is best said when the whole group shares God's movement in our hearts and lives.  As we go around the circle and share our joys, aches, and pains, he is revealing to us all strikingly similar statements for both our corporate and individual growth.

Then, we realize that we are moving forward together both in pain and progress.  Defeat and victory.  Vision and outreach.  Unity and togetherness.  And in so doing, we fulfill the law of Christ.  To bare one another's burdens.  (Galatians 6:2)

A Rwandan proverb says it best, "To go fast, walk alone.  To go far, walk together."

Good Ole Manual Labor in Rwanda

We fell two trees and hauled them out of the woods.  That's enough work for one day.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The writings and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr are remarkable to revisit.  My favorite of all is a speech delivered in February of 1968 titled 'The Drum Major Instinct".  In honor of this day, take time to listen to this speech of his.  Here is the link.  It is worth every minute of your time.

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_the_drum_major_instinct/

I wish he were still alive today.  It would have been his 83rd birthday and I can't imagine what social issues he would be speaking out against in America today.  Because you know he wouldn't have stayed quiet!

 

stay tuned

I am currently in Rwanda for 10 days getting our KIVU Gap Year students settled into their 6 week adventure here.  It is great to return and see old friends, make new ones, and see the work our students will be engaged in here with Kids Across Africa Camps. 

For now you will have to refer to my Facebook page for real time updates.  But I look forward to posting upon my return and diving into another year of blogging in 2012. 

Murakoze Cyane! (thank you very much in Kinyarwandan)