Revolt Towards

Pre-Order The I.Am.Revival Shirt w/ Proceeds Going to the Gypsies!

We are almost done taking pre-orders on these shirts at only $16 each, a savings of $4 when the shirts go on sale for around $22 once we get them printed. While the men's shirts will be a standard cut, we are also excited to tell you that we will be printing these on a special v-cut, charcoal poly-blend for women (which is soft!) and both styles will be sweat-shop free/exploitation-free shirts from Alternative Apparel and Next Level.

And lastly, we believe that the Kingdom is not of talk, but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20). This means we believe there is power in what we wear so we will be sending $5 from the sale of each shirt towards building projects in the impoverished Gypsy community of Kazanlak, Bulgaria where we just visited with Global Celebration.

Order here!

We Did It!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say thank you! Some how, by the grace of God, together you all raised almost $500 more than my target goal of $2250! And most of you didn't know this, but there were many checks and cash that also came in! I'll be posting the final tally once I can get back to the internet. Currently, I'm at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. and got about 3 hours sleep since I lost my night and landed here at 5:00 AM!!! 

I'm still in awe of all of this and all of your support. Complete awe that here I am. It was actually while I was packing to leave yesterday that I believe everything about this trip started to be realized... The day I decided to go on this trip and put the down the first payment, I got into a car accident (coincidence?). Then money from my business had been delayed so I pulled money out of saving that was given to me from the accident, in faith that I was going to the Roma people. 

But then there was the moment a little over two weeks ago when I found out I would be doing photography on this trip. On I went to set up this Kickstarter project and in less than two weeks, we raised way above and beyond my intended financial goals. It has let me know, yet again, that I'm supposed to be on this trip, three years in the making and not a minute too late.

Thank you all again. If you are wondering (and this is from what I understand as it's been emailed to me) Kickstarter, connected to Amazon.com, will start to pull the pledged money from your accounts. I know some of you thought the money was pulled out right away, so I'm sorry for the confusion. I'm learning this along with you all and I hope this doesn't inconvenience you in any way.

Last but not least—one more thing I need that doesn't cost a penny.

Pray for this trip. Keep me and the team in your thoughts over these next few weeks. Safety in the midst of foreign lands. Divine creativity in using my new, sometimes-foreign gear. Patience to sit & learn from those I will meet. Wisdom in the midst of adventure. Compassion in the midst of poverty. Joy in the midst of all my eyes will see. And God to give me an expanded heart to love like I've never loved before, because His love perfected in us casts out whatever fears, doubts, worries, and second-guessing we may have.

Follow me on my trip through my personal blog Revolt Towards, my photo blog HelloSweetVisual and through my Twitter account.

Much love to you all. See you in a few weeks!

--
Joel

 

Cole In Thailand

My friend Cole just got to Thailand a couple weeks back to work with NightLight in Bangkok. Cole is out there with my friend Emily and Janie and he is documenting his time volunteering in Bangkok over on his Tumblr. He is doing many things while there, including teaching photography to the women and children. From the training he gives them, he and I will be partnering so that another World Through Their Eyes book can be published with the emphasis on Thailand and the money going to support NightLight.

NightLight is an international organization committed to addressing the complex issues surrounding trafficking and prostitution by catalyzing individual and community transformation. NightLight’s vision is to offer intervention to sexually exploited women and children, to enable them to discover their dignity, and to provide a program of holistic transformation, empowering them to live and work in their community. 

NightLight’s mission is to build relationships and provide hope, intervention, rescue and assistance to women and children exploited in the sex industry by offering alternative employment, vocational opportunities, life-skills training and physical, emotional and spiritual development to women seeking freedom. NightLight builds support networks internationally to intervene and assist women, men and children whose lives are negatively impacted by the sex industry.

For more info on Cole and to see some of what he's been up to, check out his Tumblr.

Follow Up

 
 

So when I was in New York, or rather, Brooklyn, I wrote a blog (I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For) after an afternoon spent at Prospect Park. I wish I would have wrote this followup a few weeks ago, but it never happened. But something awesome did happen on my day there in the city.

I was Sunday, September 27 and my last day on the east coast so I wanted to make the most of my day. I really wanted to go to Central Park at some point, but my prayer was that my time in NYC wouldn't be in vain (ie: just to see U2) and that something would happen that day to conclude my time there.

A few different things happened that day (encountering a drugged-out woman on Broadway and Spring; spending time at Grace Church while the girl's choir practiced singing Isaac Watts' "When I Survey the Wonderous Cross"; and being able to walk through Central Park after the rain), but it was in the evening at my friends' church, Trinity Grace, that everything made sense.

I walked into the church that night with Nathaniel while their time of worship was going on. While they sang songs I didn't know, it wasn't hard to sense that they knew why they were there and wanted to encounter God. After worship, this woman came up to give the teaching for the night. What would you know, but it was all on the dunamis power of God.

She talked of us being a people who live for the renewal of all things by being people who pursue the power of God. She talked about how embarking on this means we have to repent for not pursuing it actively before. She talked about how this is what the world needs, what New York City needs and what the church needs. 

She spoke from Act 17 where Paul and Silas are preaching in the city and they get accused of "turning everything upside down" and for "proclaiming another king" other than Caesar. 

Acts 17:6-7
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

They turned everything upside down! They proclaimed another king! 

If we are honest, when was the last time those who follow Jesus were blamed for turning everything upside down? Maybe during the Jesus People movement of years past. But not lately. Not even our justice movements within the Church have gotten blamed for such a thing. 

I think a key to understanding the power that can transform families, homes, cities and nations is that we have to proclaim another King. And if we aren't proclaiming another King, in whatever we do (work, play, social justice, church, ministry) then we truly do need to repent. 

...Because God is waiting for us to join Him in the renewal of all things.

World Through Their Eyes:Russia

To All my Friends, Family and Readers!

I will be leaving on October 10 to October 24 on a trip to Russia and Latvia. As some of you know, I headed off to Russia in 2004 and 2005. During these trips, I made a lot of friends and it has been three years too long since seeing them. While this trip is short, I am very excited to be going back to the nation of Russia to hang out with kids and also to reestablish my friendships and connect to the country. I will also be going to Latvia to see what can be done in the way of raising up Latvian leaders and also learning about their cultural context and how they are dealing with the surge in sex trafficking.

As my friends and family, it truly excites me that you are inadvertently joining me in this endeavor as I go to Russia. In September of 2005, four of us traveled to Russia to encounter its children. Not just any children, however. These children were the lost ones, the ignored ones—the ones left behind by any number of excuses. We in the West might call them orphans. For us on this trip, it was believing through our faith that we have all been adopted as sons and daughters of heaven with no room to be left as orphans. For the four of us on this journey, we fell in love and these children became ours and we called them our own.

Engage recently compiled a book of photographs, all taken by the Russian children while we were there titled World Through Their Eyes:Russia. We are offering these 70-page photo books for sale for $33 dollars.

We have partnered with a couple groups who are on the ground in the Ryazan region and fifty-percent of the proceeds of this book go into directly helping children like these (the rest goes into printing these one-of-a-kind books). We are looking to sell 200 of them between now and Christmas. They are also the perfect gift for the holidays that are quickly approaching.

Now Ready to Print and Ship! Click here to order the book!

If you feel led, I could always use the financial support through PayPal as this trip isn't cheap and you can also purchase a new book, World Through Their Eyes:Russia to help those Russian young people in transition from the institutional life to the real world.

However, beyond finances, I really feel the best thing I could ever receive are your prayers.I would definitely appreciate all prayers while I'm away as the US and Russia relations have been tense as of late, but also prayers that the doors are open that need to be open and the Spirit of God goes before me as I reconnect there. If you can commit to giving  a 'shout out', even as you read this, that to me is all I truly need.

In the Presence Is Where Our Dreams Come Alive...

This weekend, I had the priviledge of speaking to the young people from New Hope South Bay. There were about twenty or so of them as well as the leaders. As it so happened, my friend Dave was supposed to lead them, but this plan changed pretty last minute. And, as it so happened, I was at Expression58 a few weeks ago and heard God tell me to "prepare two messages". Of course, I thought I heard wrong knowing that Dave was coming to speak as well. It wasn't until the following day, I got the shock to hear that Daniel Iwao asked me to speak for the two evenings.

I ended up speaking to the young people about the presence of God, with the first night focused on the presence of God for their personal life, and then on the second night, showing them how when they are in the presence of God, it affects their place in the world.

So at the beginning of the second night, I had each student write down what their dreams were. Dan, their fearless leader, made sure to yell out that they shouldn't put they want to be a basketball star. But to Dan's dismay, it was exactly those dreams I was wanting them to write down. You would have been amazed like I was to hear what their dreams were:

To be an FBI Agent. To be a dancer. To be a pro-golfer. To publish a book. To find a cure for AIDS. To start high-end, 5-Star hotels around the world. To be rich. To be a doctor. To be successful and have a good family. To start orphanages. To be a singer. And to be in the NBA!

So many good things! I even shared with them how my brother wanted to play basketball, but the odds were against him. You have 30 basketball teams with a minimum of 14 players each. That means only 420 chances out of the 300 million people living in the world that you will be on an of the NBA's teams.

But I shared with them the reality is that God is outside of reality. God is not confined to statistics and figures. When we read in 1 Samuel, Jonathan wanted to take on the whole Philistine army with his armor bearer. That was the Jonathan's dream in that moment and he wasn't worried about the statistics. This is why he said his words in verse 6:

"Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."

He wasn't concerned with the odds, the many or the few. His armor bearer responds to him in verse 7:

"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

Jonathan rested in the reality of the presence of God. He could see what not many could see. But he would have gone no where if not for the man at his side. There is something when we, who have dreams (and we all do) can be encouraged when we open and share those dreams with others around us. We are all Jonathan's, but we also all need to become armor-bearers, carrying the dreams of our friends. I even told them not to make fun of those who wanted to be rich and wealthy, because maybe it would be them who would be able to pay for the research so the others could find cures for AIDS, end poverty or rescue trafficking victims.

It was encouraging to hear some of the stories back from the kids. Here are some reports:

"Thanks for coming out to camp with us you rocked." - Josh

"Just wanted to say thanks for coming out and talking to us, especially me with your friends.
you definitely encouraged me rethink about my future and my dreams. Thanks again!" - Michael

"Really enjoyed you at camp by the way. Thanks for speaking to us!" - Jason

"You did a great job at our camp. The kids really enjoyed ur message last night! they told me. - Myong

"After you talked to us about how you approached random people because you felt like God was pushing you. I felt like that was what God was trying to do with me. I prayed about it, and I was able to confront one of my former best friends. I think I helped her because she seemed better, but it might be for the time being. She was going through alot and I felt like I should talk to her about it instead of cooing her and telling her stuff that would make her feel better...We have a pretty strong bond. I suggested she talk to God about it because I know that he listens even though it doesnt seem like it at first. I felt alot better after I talked to her about it. Hopefully it helped her too. I want god to give me more of these pushes now." - Hope

Thanks to Seth, Anna, Aimee, Ray and my parents for helping me out on Friday night. The kids were blessed by that and the above words show it.

Santa Cruz Island

So yesterday I made reservations to Santa Cruz Island. Awesome. Yeah! Adventure! Woo!

Well, on the National Parks website, there is a nice disclaimer saying: 

Boat transportation arrangements to island required BEFORE making campsite reservation.

Well, I didn't think any of this message. Of course, my friend Winston would have to be the one to tell me that Island Packers doesn't go to the island on the Friday I had just made my camping reservation. So now it looks like I will either be canceling my reservations for the fee of $10 or I will be going to the island a day early, for the fee of $15. I am thinking the latter.

A note to anyone interested in visiting the isles: Make sure the boats are going out the day you want to get there. Otherwise, you look like a fool.

Oh, How He Loves Us

world prayer day at the boiler room, originally uploaded by hello sweet visual.

Today was the Global Day of Prayer (http://www.gdopusa.com/), Pentacost Sunday and Mother's Day, all wrapped into one. This morning I found myself at Jacob's Well while Andrea took care of the kids' ministry. She had her own Mother's Day to attend so I had her leave me downtown. I met her best friend Teresa and went to lunch with Tim, John Teresa, Rachel and Erese at the Jerusalem Cafe. Very good food, all from the Holy Land.

Teresa dropped me off at the Boiler Room for the afternoon. The reason being is that we had ended up talking and chatting at Jerusalem Cafe for over three hours! It was already 4:00 by the time I got to the Boiler Room. For those familiar with Pete Greig, the Boiler Room is the 24/7 Prayer base for the US. They were the first like it, and Adam and his wife are good friends with Pete and his wife. And for those familiar with Soliton, we actually brought out Pete to speak to us many moons ago.

I really wanted to see Linnea's studio since it moved up stairs and it was great to see her working. I also saw (John) Dowdy again and it was awesome to hear his heart for the Boiler Room and what he hopes it to be within Kansas City. I also got to talk to Julie and Max about Lakeland. Max, I discovered is a programmer as well as a electronic musician, but hearing and seeing his passion for both of these worlds was a joy. Really, because when you see people who know who they are and they know who they are created to be, there is a confidence there that no book or person could ever give one's self.

A few hours later, they began there evening gathering. One of the leaders got up to see if there was anyone who had a story to share testimony of God using finances to bless others. (This topic was something they had been discussing.) A young guy stood up, sharing how he felt that God wanted him to give his money to a woman, though he was concerned how he would do it. He only had $2500 and felt led to give it up. Well, he ended up getting a check in the mail for $2400, and he totally knew that God was in his actions to get this gift. He then invited his girlfriend up to his side. Well, as it turns out the gift was an engagement ring and the guy proposed to her right then and there. I think it was a first for everyone in the room and everyone couldn't stop laughing and cheering at the same time.

Things toned down and we entered into a time of "restful" worship. This was the theme of the evening, just being able to rest in His presence. For me, call it rest or relaxation, but it was a holy moment as well as a moment to just be with Him. Towards the end of this time that went on for over an hour, I was on my knees on the floor and God began to show me a picture.

The picture was that of a richter scale. Coming from California, we are very familiar with these. We are also very familiar with being prepared and as a kid growing up, every year we made our earthquake kit with water, snacks, etc. It was a part of life, especially after the Northridge quake.

I see the scale and God says "Look." I look and with eyes still closed, I see the scale going back and forth, left to right, right to left. Then I hear Him say: "This is my presence."

He then began to speak to me about his heart for Kansas City, telling me that:

"In this city not known for Earthquakes, let alone tornados, there will shaking. Just as in the natural, there must be preparedness. You too must do the same. This is the caution: to prepare your hearts. The movement and the marks on the scale are the increase of my presence. Where even the Kansas City Royals cannot win a game, I will establish my royalty with my presence. The city that may get written off will have Me. And what happens in Earthquakes? Cities shake. This will be the shaking of my presence. So prepare this house for it is coming. My presence is coming. I am coming to shake Kansas City."

I shared this with Linnea and Julie and the encouraged me to share with with Adam, the leader of the K.C. Boiler Room. I was nervous for not wanting to come across as some stranger that must get my voice heard. But Julie introduced him to me and I shared with him what I posted above. I was sure what he would think. But just then, he encouraged me that what I was sharing should not be taken lightly. He told me that he and others have been praying for more of God and his presence for the Boiler Room and God in the city. It was very reassuring for me. I shared with him that I was on a pilgrimage myself and he asked if he could pray for me and of course I obliged.

And then he asked, "What was your name again?" "Joel", I replied.

"Wow", he said. "We only have one Joel in here at the Boiler Room. A few nights ago, another man in our community had a dream that Joel was walking around his room, clear as day. When he awoke, he felt the Lord say to him: 'Joel will be coming to you in normal clothes.'" He told me of how they felt God was saying Joel's prophecy in scripture would be coming, not through a state production, but through the normal joe-schmoe, John or Jane Doe. And he realized that as I was sharing this with him, I was Joel coming in normal clothes confirming their prayers and petitions to God.

He the proceeded to pray for me, confirming three things in my own life. He felt God simply saying he wanted to give me more of His presence, confirmation to my prayer of being like Jesus in the wilderness and coming out in the power of the Spirit. Secondly, he felt like God was saying "innovation", confirmation again to me in my love of ideas and entrepreneurialism. Last, but not least, he said God spoke to him about the marketplace, again confirmation as I am about to engage my new business direction as soon as I get home. He believe that God wanted to bring the innovation to the marketplace so that there could be relationships built so that discipleship could happen.

This was my evening. God shows up, yet again. Should I still be surprised like a child getting something on Christmas he didn't expect? I think so. To expect and anticipate God and His workings and to never be complacent when He shows up.

If you want to listen to an amazing song that has been popping up in the past few weeks across the country, listen here.

Oh, the Joy of God's Timing.

When I was in Philly, my friend Aaron Weiss spoke something into my life, specifically regarding the will of God. You can read more here.

During these past two days as I found myself stranded in Chicago, I quickly realized I wasn't really stranded, but meticulously setup to meet Jesus. As I shared in yesterday's post, I found myself in Chicago with Jesus beckoning my attention to meet and dine with Him (Rev. 3).

Today, I was set to board the train at 3:15. Luckily, I had it all worked out to get to the station an hour ahead of schedule, just to be sure I didn't miss it. The train, the Southwest Chief, only goes out once a day from Chicago and I couldn't afford to miss it again. I found myself in the waiting area, watching for the "boarding" sign and while waiting, I was offered a cold Starbucks' Frappucino in a bottle from a young guy sitting next to me. He told me that it was given to him extra from the vending machine. For me, I quickly saw he was extending his "blessing" in disguise in the form of bottled sugar water. Turns out he went to a Nazarene University near Chicago and was a Nazarene himself who grew up right outside Kansas City, Missouri. When boarding time came, we made our way to the car and we said goodbye by sharing each other's names (his name being Wes). I told him that I would probably see him later in the lounge car. After all, on the train, where can you hide?

After a few hours of playing on my laptop and falling in and out of sleep, I decided to make my way to the lounge car. Only on my way there, I did not find Wes on the car he walked onto. The lounge car happened to have a great duo playing the blues and rock and roll, an enjoyable sight to watch and to hear while training across the soulful mid-west. It also gave me time to catch up on the first chapter of Lewis' The Weight of Glory. More thoughts on this later.

So it was after the reading that Wes and I met, as somehow I had walked completely by him on my way to the lounge car. It also so happened that the partner sitting next to him was also gone, so he and I were able to chat about Lewis and his job. While we chatted it up, the train slowed down. I had made a 7:30 dinner reservation and was happy to invite Wes along.

See–two hours prior, me and the two guys surrounding me were also wanting to dine, so we all had made the reservation together. I figured, "A fourth person? Why not?". Turns out it worked out perfectly and the other two joined us. We talked about a lot of things from getting hit on my old men to how pigs are called the "sharks of the mid-west". (Pigs will eat anything and once they have the taste of blood, there is no turning back. You ask why you have never heard of this? Well, dead men tell no tales, my friends, or the fact that their pigs turned on them.)

Wes' stop finally caught up and he had to get going though we actually might meet up in Kansas City while I am there. The interesting thing was also going back to my car and discovering that the other guy I was sitting with, Ivan, is going to the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to study theology. He was also an aspiring young man, working at Trader Joe's, but looking for that great calling in his life. After all, "calling" as we Christians have so watered down, should not be seen as "what we do", but "who we are". We should ask "Who am I called to be?" and not just, "What am I called to do?" The Scriptures speak so much more clearly if we rest in "who we are called to be". This is very much evident at the outset of Jesus' ministry when we see him proclaiming good news to the poor, freeing the enslaved and imprisoned, giving sight to the blind and releasing the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19).

May we learn to rest in the will of God and the endless possibilities of each moment such as these that enter our day. It is in these moments where life happens. Not just any sort of life, but life that is about encountering His will and laying down ours. That is life lived from heaven to earth.

In the Windy City

Tonight I found myself in the Windy City of Chicago. The area of Lincoln Park to be exact. It was earlier today that I had missed my train, believing I was departing at 4:15. Instead, I got to Union Station at 3:30 only to discover that the train to Kansas City had left at 3:15. I was sad, frustrated, tired and angry all at once. Last night on the train, I found myself sleeping in the Lounge Car because the train was so packed. As a result, today I found myself wanting more sleep.

That is where I am at now.

Sleepy.

When I found out I had to stay the night here, I immediately began to ask around and ended up calling around for hostels. The Hotels International Chicago Hostel had all of their 500 rooms booked out. This is when I called the Arlington International Hostel. I was excited to hear they had availabilities so I made a reservation. This leads me to the present moment.

I realized tonight that I have been around someone or some expression of Church almost every day since the beginning of this pilgrimage. Tonight, God called me to be with Him. I quickly realized how me missing my train did have purpose and intention behind it—for Him. He wanted to hang out with me in this way, because I have been so busy and surrounded by people every day.

So we went out for Italian...

Leaving Philly

Today I left Philly. The hospitality, warmth and friendship I leave behind there is amazing. At the same time, I do know that God has sooo much more for that city of brotherly love. He has so much more love to give to His people, both in and outside of the church.

I recognized something when I was there. There is a definite breed of Christians that exist there. The funny thing is that the majority of them are all transplants—people from other cities around the United States who all fell in love with the city and the people.

At the same time, there is still so much poverty, strife and unrest. I also realize that this city could easily become a breeding ground for change and uprising. It is because of this poverty and the pain and suffering that is all around that I know that more can be done. But I believe there is but one key.

This key, I believe, is prayer. Not that my friends aren't praying when they are out there. However, so much of the problems in the city can only be brought down or addressed from the will of Heaven. Prayer must be at the center of it all.

Philly (city and friends, strangers and nobodies)—you are in my prayers.

Elvis Lives! Well, Elvis Costello Anyway...

awesome, originally uploaded by hello sweet visual.

I took this photo outside of Geno's in Philly.

On the Streets of Kensington

Arriving in Philly

Today, I made my way from New York City to the "city of brotherly love", Philadelphia. As the train made its way through the outskirts of the city, I saw poverty and ruin unlike any other city on my journey yet. My heart drew to a place of sadness that I can only describe as my spirit was groaning with His Spirit. I still cannot explain it with complete diction, but simply knowing that it was not just sympathetic feelings, but something of deep love birthed out of the heart of God, that He too groans over this region.

We got to Union Station and I worked it out with my friend Daniel to meet up at the bar he worked at, Johnny Brenda's, where he was serving Sunday brunch. I was able to figure out the subway pretty easily and made my way over to the area of the city he worked in. It was great to see him and great to hear he was doing well, particularly with his girl-situation. See, when I had met him in the fall of 2007, there was plenty to listen to. This time around, I knew there was healing for him that was continuing each day.

That night we went to Circle of Hope Northeast where a majority of my friends from the city go. I had a chance to see and meet a lot of familiar people and friends and I made plenty of new ones. Jay and his drum class even did a recital of sorts, a presentation of drums from one of the tribes in the far-reaches of Africa. This song was a prayer of intercession for these people. You can watch it here.

After their gathering, I ran into my friend Aaron Weiss and got to meet his mom and dad. That made me very excited, especially to find that his mom looks exactly like him! Aaron and I were chatting about us hanging out, but knowing that Daniel was hosting me for the day. We were trying to figure what to do and what my plans were, but I was happy to inform him that on this journey, all the plans, expectations and anticipations were the farthest thing from me. (Being so far from home and not having seen the East Coast except for D.C. has kept me at place where the only expectation would be to meet God wherever my feet take me.) It was here that Aaron reminded me of the mantra: "Lord willing".

In Scripture, James would write is as this:

James 4:13-16 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

Lord willing, I would make it to my next destination. Lord willing, I would be safe from harm, sickness and death and live to see tomorrow. And Lord willing, he and I would be able to hang out, catch up and share life (and food together).

So we did. Aaron, Daniel and I actually walked for about ten minutes only to stop on the street corner while their conversation unfolded for over an hour. I was eager to watch and listen to these kindred spirits sharpen and refine one another. The Lord was willing.

Daniel departed and Aaron and I continued onto the Cambria House in east Kensington, one of the poorest areas of Philly. While the dirt and trashed cluttered their way on the streets, I knew it was only a symptom of something greater that spoke of the hopes and dreams of men, women and children that weren't being nurtured or were stolen from them before them even knew to desire them.

Aaron and I shared a lot of things about Christ, about the theology of humpty dumpty (more on this later), his band and celibacy. The man is one of few words, but his silence only allows him to go deep into the things of God, where in his silence, He brings forth the words to speak. Not to mention, he made me my first tuna melt from dumpstered tuna and cheese and I have to say it was not bad at all. Especially considering I would contort every time I saw a slice of Kraft cheese on my tuna sandwich when I was in elementary school.

The richness of the conversation that Aaron and I shared was something money cannot buy and time could ever recreate. The Lord was willing to meet us tonight.

My Last Night in NYC

Sometimes plans change.

My day was amazing today. I took the subway from Brooklyn to the city and ended up right near the WTC site. Then I made it up to Central Park and took in the waterfront and sheer size and beauty of the park. I also was able to attend the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a buck (they run on "suggested donations") where I saw everything from Picasso to Norman Rockwell to Warhol and Lichtenstein. I also saw for the first an original piece by my favorite artist, Piet Mondrian. I also was able to take in 5th Avenue and the Upper East End, an area free of poverty and strife, but where I felt at home nonetheless.

It was later that even when Nina texted me to inform me that her and some friends were going to a bar closer to SoHo around 8:00pm. A little after 9:00, I jumped on the subway. Being that this route was not too busy on a Saturday night, the waited to leave. It just so happened that four middle-aged women hopped on board too. As it turns out, they had just been to the Church of Scientology and as they seated themselves, began to ask me if I was a Scientologist. I happily informed them that I was not. While I was doing so, I watched as one of the women got up to look at the day's paper sitting on a seat nearby. As she came to sit back down, it turned out there was also a tract for "Eternity" with the day's news and she passed this onto her friend sitting next to her. The jokes ensued about eternity and why do we even care about what will be happening billions of years from now? Why would anyone believe that? And of course, there was only one thing that the publishing company of such leaflets was concerned about. Not wasted paper on dry and weary hearts. Not a flyer that could have been better used as toilet paper than to make people wary of Jesus' Gospel of the Kingdom being near. That one thing? Escaping the flames of hell.

I wasn't sure if God was leading me to speak about my faith and my spiritual journey. What I was unaware that I as I sat, watched and listened to all of this taking place in front of me, I had completely missed the stop where I was to get off to meet Nina. I had to formulate a plan pretty quickly, but reconciled to the reality that I was leaving in the morning, still wasn't packed and if I went out, I wouldn't get earlier than 1:00 am.

The girls and I had it out with some more conversation and I worked through my decision to get off in Brooklyn. I finally got to my exit and said my goodbyes. I still wonder even now if I could have said more. Walking down the street to Nina's house, I contemplated being the only white guy to walk down Franklin at this time of night. I did make it successfully and quietly entered the house.

Suddenly, Nina's roommate Tricia surprised me as she came out into the kitchen. She actually asked if I was going to go to Church with her and Nina's on Sunday evening. Keep in mind that this was the first recognition that Tricia was even a person of faith. I told her I was on my way to Philly and would be going to church there. She told me how Origins was perfect for her faith at this point in life, amidst all the questions and searching she is doing. What sort of questions you might ask? Well, she was hesitant at first to tell even me, just because she didn't want to unload. However, I think I did some good arm-pulling to get her to open up (not really, at all).

To go from hanging out with some random women on the subway to finding myself talking about God, when I was supposed to have gone to a bar, was something only God could orchestrate. Tricia and I dialogued for over four hours about God, questions, faith among other things, all the way till 4:00 am. The best part of it was knowing that He was there, present and near in that kitchen.

Thank you again, Jesus.