True Courage

What is Courage?  The dictionary says that courage and bravery are the same thing.  The dictionary is wrong.  Bravery is facing challenges head-on without thinking about it, bravery and stupidity are often the same thing.  Courage is doing the right thing even when it's hard.
Mother Tereza was courageous.  She saved lives, a lot of times she would be in the process of saving someone and they would spit in her face for no other reason than that she loved our Lord Jesus.  She had courage to keep doing what she did even though she probably really didn't want to.
My favorite preacher's name is Nick Vujicic, he was born without arms or legs.  He has courage because he travels around the world proclaiming the name of Jesus.  He has overcome not just the physical obsticals but also the challenges that come when people around you say "You can't".  He has courage because he has proved anyone who may have doubted him wrong.  And continued to spread the name of Jesus around the world.
I have courage because I am going as a long term missionary to Russia two summers from now, despite the fact that my peers do not support me in that decision.  Quite often my parents ask me about my plans for collage, even though I have already told them that I am not going.  I hear, "You can't survive in the real world without collage".  God himself has told me GO and who am I to say NO???  If God has told me to go, than he will protect me and provide for me.  I know who I am and where I'm going.  That's why I have courage, because I am willing to listen and obey God's voice even though everyone around me (save a few) tells me "You can't".  Or "It's not possible."
That is courage, everyone is capable of courage if they ignore their inner doubts and obey God's word for us with all our hearts.

Dreams

A lot of people think that the Lord doesn't speak to us.  I am hear to tell you otherwise.  I have heard the lord plenty of times, mostly through dreams.  Maybe because we are more receptive during sleep???  Anyhow, this is the dream I started having when I was almost ten... I had this dream for almost two years.

My Dream

When I was ten years old I had the same dream almost every night for two years. Finally, I figured out that Jesus was trying to tell me something. After I figured that out, the dreams stopped. This is the dream.

I stood on a mountain that was covered with pine trees. I saw many children running around. They were all different nationalities. The children ranged from the age of six to sixteen. Almost all of them were girls. Then, in the dream I saw one child who was different. She might have been twelve. Her eyes were cloudy with scars all around them. The dream zoomed in on her and the scene changed.

Now I was standing in a large cement room. There were many cages. There was a girl in every cage except one. As I watched, another girl was dragged into the room and tossed into the only empty cage. It looked as if someone had clawed her face. Blood dripped into her eyes but she didn’t seem to notice. She curled up in her cage, looking utterly hopeless.

I don’t know how but I knew that because she could no longer see, she was no use to the person who ‘owned’ her. I knew that he was going to rid of her (kill her).

All of the other children reached through their cages, trying to reach her to comfort her. When the girl (whose name was Xiwang which is Chinese for ‘hope’) was unresponsive, the other children tried something else. They all started singing. I knew that they were speaking a different language, but I could understand. This is what they said:

Amazing grace,

How sweet the sound

That saved a retch like me.

I once was lost,

But now I’m found,

Was blind but now I see.

Then another voice joined the children’s:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years;

Bright shining like the sun;

There’s no less days;

To sing God’s praise

Then when we’ve first begun.

The children looked shocked when the other person joined them singing. The person walked into the room. That was when I realized, the person who had just walked in was an older me (that was a little disturbing because I had the feeling that I was seeing my own future). Future Me picked the locks on all of the cages.

Every night the dream got more intense, I saw how they got away… Although I don’t remember much of those dreams. I also saw what had happened before that, those girls were child slaves.  People would pay to... Do stuff to them.  Sometimes, I heard the Lord’s voice telling me that I was meant to save them.

This is my dream, my future, my life.

Another Dream

I saw a small boy in an orphanage in Russia, his name is Daniel.  He was waiting for someone.  He would sit in the window and stare out, waiting for someone who would adopt him.  Many people would come to the orphanage looking for a child and time after time, they always looked right over him, as if he didn't even exist.  No one wanted him, he was different.  And he feared that he would never have a family, because he knew that no one wanted to adopt older kids.

The Lord told me that someday I would be the one to adopt him.  Whether that was literal or metaphorical, you decide.  But I do know that in a couple years I am moving to Russia to help the orphans there who have no hope left.  I am going to Russia to love the children who feel like no one will ever love them.  And then hopefully, a couple years after that I will travel to hostels in India, Nepal, and China to rescue child slaves.  The Lord speaks to us, maybe my dreams were metaphorical, maybe I will never meet either Daniel or Xiwang, maybe they are only symbols as to what my Lord Jesus will have me do, or maybe not.  Either way I am going.  I am going to make a difference by shining the light of the Lord where no light has ever reached.

This isn't just a cool story, it is a challenge   Listen for the Lord's voice and you will hear him.  We are all meant to make a difference, In a couple years, I am going to make a change in Russia, but I'm not going to wait to bloom until I'm transplanted.  I can make a difference right here, in Trophy Club Tx.  And I will.  WILL YOU? Wherever you are BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED!!!

A MIssion

I have a bone to pick with about half the churches in the united states... One of my friends went on a mission trip to Japan with her church.  And they stayed in THE NICEST HOTEL IN THE CITY!!!! There is something wrong with that!!!  If you go on a mission trip to tell poverty stricken people, people who have next to nothing, that Jesus loves them, and you are staying in the nicest hotel in the city... Can you seriously think that you can get through to them!?!?!?!?!? Those people will just think to themselves, "you can say that, you're rich and have everything you need.  Yet you come to me and tell me you understand what I am going through when I struggle every day just so I can have enough food to give to my starving children!" Seriously? Do people really, truly believe they can talk to the lowest of society, the poor and the destitute, when they have never even come close to experiencing what those people have been through?????
Granted, not all churches are like that.  But it just made me a little upset.  Misson trips aren't supposed to be "fun" but so, so many people think that they can go on a mission trip and tell people about jesus, and go shopping, and look at the sites.  When that happens, it ceases to be a misson and turns into a vacation!!!!  A mission is suposed to be about JESUS, nothing else.  Take my cousin, who went to Cambodia for a month on a MISSION.  He lived with a host family there who, in American terms, were super poor.  My cousin ate what they ate.  And it was a struggle for them to find food every day.  My cousin even had to eat dog.  He said that dog tastes like wet-dog smells.  SOmetimes, my cousin had to even scavenge for food.  But the whole time he was serving.
Telling people about Jesus, holding orphaned and starving children, cleaning toilets (and believe me, toilets in cambodia are not like the ones here.  Take the nastiest, grossest bathroom you have ever been in, get rid of the 'toilet' and and a hole in the ground that people poop in, and you are starting to get an idea of bathrooms in different countries)
That is a mission trip.  To do the lowest and dirtiest of labors while smiling.  To rock a dyeing child and tell him/her that everything will be okay.  To tell everyone you meet that Jesus loves them!!! And he wants them to KNOW him!!!!  To serve, instead of to be served.  That is also the definition of LOVE.

Love

So, I've been thinking about how much the Lord loves children.... When the apostles were fighting over  who was the best, Jesus said that none of them were and told them a child was the best out of them.  He also said, "Let the little children come unto me."  Jesus LOVES kids, I think that's sort of cute.
John 14:18 says, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come for you."  I love that verse, because someday I will rescue children like that.
Also, people say that abortion is a 'debatable' issue.  There is nothing to debate about it.  It is MURDER... How is that debatable?

Why can't parents put the child up for adoption?  Why do they have to murder it?  I've heard stories of kids only 13-14 years old getting abortions.  Underaged kids shouldn't be getting pregnant anyhow (idiots).  But if a person does sin by sleeping with someone before getting married, they shouldn't continue to make bad choices, but do the right thing and give the child LIFE.

Russia

So earlier this week, I was doing research about the orphan problem in Russia.  Russia is one of the places I feel called to.  That country is stuck in circle of problems.  Orphans "graduate" from the orphanage when they are 16, with no financial help and no idea how to provide for themselves or get a job.  Most of them turn to drugs or alcohol to forget their worries, and most have kids of their own who in turn become orphans.  In 2011, there was estimated to be about 800,000 orphans in Russia.  And the problem gets worse every year.

People may ask "Why should we care?"  Well, we should care because these children are living, breathing humans.  Who have just as much right to live as we do.  Hundreds (if not thousands) of children are dying EVERY DAY of starvation and neglect.  Every time I think about it, I feel like my heart is being ripped out.  I refuse to let these children suffer any more!  What would happen if only 50 people would band together and say "We will fight to keep these children alive!  We will protect the helpless!  We will stand up for those who can't stand up!  We will be a voice for the voiceless!"  Well, I'll tell you what would happen, the world would change.  I'm not saying that only Russia needs this change.  Also, China, India, Romania, Zambia and America.  Yes, America.  This country NEEDS HELP!!!  Do you know how many people (even young children) in this country kill themselves every day because they feel useless, and unloved.  Do you know how many middle and high school kids turn to drugs and alcohol to try and get rid of the pain that has built up inside of them?  This country has a problem.  WILL YOU HELP FIX IT?

A Beginning

Hi, my name is Angel.  I am writing this to tell the world that we can make a diference.  1 Timothy 4:12 says, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." No matter how old we are, we can make a difference! Even if it's just telling people at school about Jesus or carrying your Bible around.  People will notice :)  That's what I do.  Another good idea is to go somewhere like Walmart and talk to the workers and just be friendly.  Or tell some random person that they are really pretty.  My favorite idea is to print off bible verses and stick them inside the packs of beer at stores.  One verse in the right place can change a life!  That's some things kids can do, but I can't wait until I grow up and do even more!
When I'm an adult, my job will be to rescue child slaves.  It is my path.  How do I know?  Well, Jesus told me.  People in America have a hard time believing that the Lord will do stuff like that, but believe me.  He will if you ask him to.  I started having a dream when I was 10 years old.  At that time, I didn't know that child trafficking existed.  Scientists say that it is impossible to have the exact same dream more than once... Well I had this dream every night for 2 years!  And it was about something I didn't know existed!  Is that enough proof that Jesus still talks to us?  I draw what I see, and I see my path.  Here is one of the pictures I've drawn (yes, I know that I can't draw very well):

These children have as much right to survive as we do!  It is time for all of us to help the helpless!!!  It is time for us to stand up for those who can't stand up!!!  It is time for us to protect those who cannot protect themselves!!!  It is time for us to spread the word of Jesus to those who have never heard!!!  PEOPLE ARE STARVING FOR JESUS!!!  Will we give them what they are starving for?  
John 14:18 says, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
Exodus 22:22 says, "You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child."
Matthew 25:40 says, "And 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.'"
We are commanded by the Lord to save/help these beautiful children.  The question is WILL WE?