The Travelling Summary

Hey y'all!!
I'm back from Haiti and Colorado and done with Challenge! Wow, what a crazy two weeks, but I loved every minute of it :) Thank you for the prayers that kept me going. I'm still feeling energized for my last 4 weeks in New Orleans!

Smoke rising out of the canyon. All the trees in front are burnt.

Colorado was a great experience. It was a quick, 14-hour trip but I learned a lot about our ministry and why we do what we do. The people I met there were incredible, the way they trusted God even without knowing if their houses were still standing. I hope I have that kind of faith! Please continue to pray for them and read the story I wrote for EFCA after coming back from CO. I was extremely impacted by my time there.

Jess and Liz and I at Challenge. I met them at our
awesome Haiti experience!

Challenge was just as awesome. I think I thrive on youth, or maybe I'm just subconsciously missing my youth group days as well. But being surrounded by over 5300 teens and lifting high the name of Jesus corporately was something I never experienced at their age. Plus, I was able to meet some of our Haiti staff before I even got to Haiti, practically live at the New Orleans convention center, and spend almost every waking moment with Katie Hooks.

Anika and I. This little girl attached herself to me. So cute!

And last, but not least, Haiti was incredible. At Challenge we set up an entire exhibition hall to look like Haiti. While I think we did a great job, it's nothing like experiencing it in person. If you saw our Love Moves Haiti exhibit and were impacted, go to Haiti. You will fall in love just like I did. What a beautiful country with an ongoing list of problems. Please, pray for Haiti.

Next week, my blog will be about the new direction I'm headed. Sorry for missing a week, but please keep checking back!

Love,
Chelsea :)

Wild Fires and Craziness that Ensues

The last blog post that I wrote, I had thought that the next place I was headed to was Haiti. That's been changed.
I heard the incredible story of Pastor Rob fleeing from the wild fire that broke out in Colorado and immediately my heart went out to him, his family and the people in Colorado Springs. I was able to write a communications piece for EFCA (check out www.efca.org and the TouchGlobal blog) on the Waldo Canyon Fire. I knew that Mark Lewis was headed there this weekend on a trip to assess damage and minister to those affected along with coming up with an action plan for response. I'm going to go with him and Ella to help and learn and listen. Yes, TouchGlobal is responding to this disaster.
Please, please pray for me, Mark and Ella as we visit Colorado. I leave tomorrow night (Friday) and return the following day. Right after, Challenge begins. It will be a busy week. I've had a lot of responsibilities with designing our booth and working with the Love Moves Haiti exhibit (to learn more, visit www.challengeconference.org), so I'm so thankful for the people who will be adopting my New Orleans duties while I'm in Colorado.
Thank you for your prayers and support!

Chelsea

Running Blind

Meet Simon Wheatcroft:

Simon was chosen to be a torchbearer in the 2012 Summer Olympic games. He'll be carrying the Flame through a small English village on June 26th, cheered on by friends and family. There is one thing that makes him pretty special: he's blind.

I thought about Wheatcroft as I was running today. I looked at my feet and watched them avoid every dip, step over sticks and roots and turn with the sidewalk. I couldn't imagine closing my eyes and running the rest of my route in the dark, even though I run it every day.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm running blind when it comes to my life, though. I really don't know what this next year will look like, exactly. Who does? I have plans...marriage, for example. A lot of things are unknown, though. I know what I want to do, I'm just not sure if it's what God wants me to do. But, I do have confidence. I know that Christ has gotten me this far, and I could not have done it myself. I depend on Him for strength and guidance. Proverbs 16:9 keeps coming into my head: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

One thing I feel like I'm running blindly into is Haiti. I've decided to go there with Ronnie and Katie in less than 3 weeks. It wasn't necessarily in my budget and it took almost my entire support for the month to buy the ticket, but I firmly believe that I'm called to go there this summer. I'll be there from July 8th - 12th. Please join me in prayer that, if it's His will, God will provide the funds to make up for the ticket I purchased.

There are various other decisions that I need to make that I feel in the dark about. Again, please pray for me, for wisdom and that I'll act on that wisdom, seeking the will of my Lord. I'm thinking that maybe we have to run blind in order to bring Christ glory. Because if we could do it all by ourselves, we wouldn't need Him.

Simon Wheatcroft is quoted, saying, "Belief in yourself gets you a long way. Don’t achieve what someone believes you are capable of, achieve what you believe you are capable of.” (ABC article about Simon Wheatcroft)

In my life, I want to say that belief in CHRIST gets you a long way. And that I don't achieve anything without His power and the passion for Him that burns inside me.

-Chelsea

Tearing Down Idols

"'Now then,' said Joshua, 'throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.'
And the people said to Joshua, 'We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.'" 

-Joshua 24:23-24

My theme this week is tearing down idols. This passage in Joshua really convicted me. Joshua asks the Israelites 3 times whom they will serve. Each time they answer with an emphatic "We will serve the Lord!"
Joshua even calls them out, challenges them saying that the Lord is holy and He is a jealous God and the Israelites are not able to fully serve Him if they will turn to foreign gods so easily. Again, their answer is the same.

How often do I tell God I'll serve Him and only Him? And how often do I say that and keep those little 'g' gods in the back of my head? Music, movies, friendships, worry, fear, pride....the list can go on forever. I don't care what it is, if it's taking the throne of God, it's an idol.

In the book of Judges, taking place directly after Joshua's death, we see the Israelites fall again and again and again. The vicious cycle continues for years and years. The Israelites replace the God of Jacob with idols, they are enslaved by another nation, they cry out to Jehovah, the Lord raises up a judge to  lead them, they are freed, and then they fall back into sin.

What happened to that commitment to serve the Lord and obey him? What happened to the fervor that gripped their hearts and the remembrance that kept them in awe of the God that rescued them from Egypt? What happened to my fervor? Where is my awe in remembering how Christ brought me up out of the miry clay and redeemed my soul?

I've had a couple goals in the past week to help me throw away my foreign gods and return to my First Love. One of these goals included cleaning out my media. I did it and it was surprisingly easy. As I looked at each song, it wasn't necessarily a question of whether or not it was 'bad' by any standards. The question was "What is distracting me from my walk with God?" What feelings or emotions does it evoke? What do I think about? When I considered what I was doing, I realized that of course my God is more important than any entertainment I own! How could I even compare the two? It made it so easy to listen with disgust to the songs that I ended up permanently deleting off of my computer.

So, now I want to ask you...What are your foreign gods and what will you do with them?

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..." - Joshua 24:15a

One Year Anniversary

One year ago, today, I stepped off a plane in New Orleans, Louisiana. All I can say is that it has been a crazy adventure since that day. Because of my internship and staff position here in NOLA I've grown in my walk with the Lord, first and foremost, I've grown in the field that I'm studying in college, I've fallen in love with a city that will never leave my prayers, and I've met the man I'm going to marry. I've moved 3 different times, I have made a lot of sweet memories and a lot of sweet people. There are friends that I will keep for the rest of my life that I met here. There are things that I have learned that I will never forget. And today I'm going to share some of those things with you :)

1. Don't worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34) - Because, who can add a single hour to his life by worrying? Through Paul, Christ commands us to focus on what is true (Philippians 4:8). What is true is what is present, what is happening right now. If we worry about something that hasn't happened yet, we worry about something that's not true.

2. If there is conflict with another individual, always go to that person first (Matthew 18:15) - It's a lot easier said than done. For some reason, we as humans love having people agree with us or fuel our fires. Is it ok to 'vent' to someone about another person (Proverbs 29:11)? The Bible doesn't say so. It's so easy to go and complain about some wrong that was done against you, but the best way to handle conflict is to go directly to a person and lay out the problem with them in a Christ-like manner.

3. Never make assumptions - Unless you are assuming the best of them. People have backgrounds and stories that always play into their words and actions. Think about the person first and realize that you don't know everything (Philippians 2:1-4). It doesn't make what they are doing right, but it does give you a different perspective.

4. God moves, He works, and He is faithful (Lamentations 3:22-24) - There have been times when I was scared I wouldn't have a place to live, wouldn't have food to eat, wouldn't have money to live on. I was scared that I would fail at school or at work. A car caught on fire 30 seconds after I got out of it, I've lost in the city multiple times, and not in the best neighborhoods either. A tree almost crushed me. I've felt exhausted and been really sick. Every single time, God proved himself faithful. I was never lacking and He always provided for me. And He'll continue that, even when I'm off 'the mission field'.

5. Be content in every season (1 Timothy 6:6) - I posted about this a few days ago. I'm learning that God places us in a certain season for a reason (yes, that rhymed). We are never lacking in anything. Ever. God gives us the grace to embrace (I know, another rhyme) every situation, every day. In fact, the grace given to us will overflow our cups, falling into our laps (Luke 6:38). We have enough grace for our day and then some. Let grace flow out of your life into someone else's and be content. It's not something you are born with...it's a skill that you acquire, sharpen and hone (Philippians 4:11-13).

So, there are a few things that I've learned in the past year. Learned doesn't mean perfected, because I am working on every single one of these points. Pray for me as I close out my time in New Orleans in less than three months. Pray that God stretches me and I grow in my walk with Christ. I want to be a bright, burning flame. Unashamed and heart abandoned for the cause of Christ.

Love,
Chelsea :)

Moving In (For once, I'm not talking about myself)

I just got off the phone with the most delightful woman! One reason why I love my job is that I am blessed to be able to record and document how God moves so powerfully in New Orleans.

Miss Pat is one of our homeowner's who is well on her way to moving into her house. She's an incredible woman of faith who excitedly told me how God moved and worked in her situation after Katrina. She was at a point of hopelessness and despair and God lifted her out of the pit and set her feet upon the rock. Miss Pat told me that she knows that God brought TouchGlobal to her even when she thought the enemy had won.

Please pray for Miss Pat as she works a lot on the North Shore and also in the city. She has the capability of moving in, but has not purchased the furniture and other things that she needs in order to do that.

Miss Pat with a team from California in October of 2011

How powerful. Today, I'm just praising God for bringing more and more homeowners to us. Or vice versa.

This summer, we have a projected number of at least 700 volunteers. Please pray that as we, as a staff, impact those volunteers and in turn, they impact the people they come in contact with. The glory is all HIS!

Love,
Chelsea

A Time to be Content

Right now, I'm sitting on my bed and talking to Jen (Who is laying on it. Guess she's commandeering it for the time being.) and listening to Casting Crowns. Tomorrow, she's leaving for Alabama, then I'm following on Sunday. It's time for my (what seems like) quarterly trip around the United States!
I've been thinking a lot about being content in EVERY situation and in EVERY circumstance. Wow, wouldn't life be so much easier if we could just say, "You know what, God placed me here for a reason, so I'll make the most of it."
My favorite phrase is, "I can't wait". I guess I don't mean it literally. I can wait, I'm just excited. I say, "I can't wait" to Dustin when we talk about getting married, or my next visit. I say it to the people I'm coming to see in Pennsylvania. I say it when I tell people where I'm going to college. I say it when I talk about this coming summer.
While my intentions might be innocent, I've been feeling a little convicted. I find myself looking forward to the fall when I go to college, or next spring when Dustin and I get married. There are so many exciting things happening in my life, it's true. But what about right now?
I can't believe this is happening, but I really believe that sometimes I take my time in New Orleans for granted. But it recently hit me, I'm only here for a season. This is a time in my life that I can do things I will never be able to do again. I'll probably never be a single girl out on the mission field again. After these next four months comes college, marriage, graduating, a job, kids, etc. Now (and while I'm on this earth) is a time to live intentionally, impact others and be content in where God has so divinely placed me.
I'm reading The Resolution for Women and the very first section of the book talks about contentment in your current situation in life. Here's an excerpt:
"I do solemnly resolve to embrace my current season of life and will maximize my time in it. I will resist the urge to hurry through or circumvent any portion of my journey but will live with a spirit of contentment."
Feeling challenged? I am.
"True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth." 1 Timothy 6:6
"If we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content." 1 Timothy 6:8
"Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5