KIVA

so my brilliant friend Karisse (there's a link to her blog Musings on the right) has introduced me to Kiva.
Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. it is an organization that allows people with opportunity to lend to those seeking it in other nations. You can pick any person or group of people, and choose how much you want to lend to them. by lending to them, you help them start a business that they otherwise would not be able to do. they set up a re-payment system, whether in one lump some or monthly installments, and when you are fully paid back, you have the option to use that money to help another budding business. most of the businesses come from countries where the economy and government make it difficult for entrepreneurs to make a living.

I feel like this is one way I can help by sharing with others the insurmountable blessings and opportunities i have been given. I factored what it costs me to buy one coffee a day (the coffee room here is just too irresistible), plus happy hour at claim jumpers (a few of us have a standing date on wednesday nights), and matched that to help someone.

theres a cool story with how i chose my person. i was browsing the website, seeing what exactly it involved, and decided i wanted to help, but had to leave it for later as there was work to be done. i was at a thai restaurant getting dinner with my friend melany, and i asked God who i should pick. i felt like he told me patience, and i was like, "okay God, ill wait." when i got home, i started looking at all the different entrepreneurs in africa, since i knew that i wanted to help someone from there. (i love africa, my soul just agrees with the spirit of the people there!) a few people in, i saw my person. her name was patience! Patience Emmanual to be exact. (and i love the emmanual part, since that means 'God with us.") heres the information on patience:








" Patience Emmanuel lives in the town of Igbelerin, in Lagos State, Nigeria. She sells hair products and hair pieces for a living, and also does manicures and pedicures. She spent two years studying this trade before going into business on her own in 2006. Patience is 30 years old, married and has five children. She needs a loan of $1,200 to buy products and hairpieces to sell to her customers, and wishes to extend her thanks to Kiva and to her lenders. "


so thats my girl. this is just one way that we can end human trafficking, because most people that are trafficked live at or below the poverty level. by helping people rise above that, we are helping them have a chance at a better life. this is just one small way that proves that one person really DOES make a difference.

my hope is that after every time my loan is repaid i can double it to help others. my other hope is that this might inspire you to go take a look at the website :)

order in the court

so the summer program (mission adventures) has this thing every thursday called a panel. they ask base staff to come and answer, or attempt to answer, or shed light on, or share life experience with, questions that the students write down and ask on monday night, the day they arrive here. its girls with girls and guys with guys, and ive been participating in this thing, and i would like to share some thoughts ive been thinking and journaling about in my quiet time, that applied to the panel today.
its about judgment. or more specifically, judging.
we all judge others. whether we are fully aware of it or not, we do. "first impressions" is a fancy way of saying first judgment. when someone says or does something we don't or aren't, regardless of how aware of it we are, we judge them. little judgments. big judgments.
anyway, i asked God how He felt about it, and this is what i feel he said:

-when you judge someone, you strip them of the value i have placed on them, you render them valueless.
-when you judge someone, you are the opposite of me, you place yourself high above them...and thats breaking a commandment, because you are making a god out of yourself.
-never assume you know the full story, even if they don't, i do.
all i need from you is to love them, allow the spirit inside of you be love and truth, don't be anything else, i will take care of it. when it comes to people, your job is to love, let me guide the rest.

needless to say, there was some repenting going on. this is serious stuff. of course judging is bad, but i never knew how personal it was, and how far it keeps us from God when we do it. it is the opposite of his character.
making a god out of myself? its true. when i judge someone, im really promoting myself, saying that im better, im right, they are wrong, im placing more value on me then on them.
it never ceases to amaze me what is really going on with people, and if i would take just a moment and listen to them, to spend time getting to really know them, how much you learn and feel stupid about, because you assumed certain things that were of course untrue.

i hope that this isn't making anyone feel guilty, because thats not the point. im just into sharing my life and what it looks like everyday, and i hope you want to share your life with me, because sharing our lives is what its all about...after our king, of course.