C-mail, Before Departure

Howdy all,

Well its Sunday and I'm leaving Monday, so this'll be the last state side email for a while. So here's the important stuff...

1. Wrong link on update stuff (thanks to David (I'm referring to everyone by first name basis for no good reason, just fyi) for pointing that out:), its www.globalurbantrek.org then I think once they start posting updates, you'll click on Lima and then journal entries. There should be entries for all the different cities too if you're so interested.

2. The point of the trip is to serve the urban poor in Lima (and the world) This is because:
a). Jesus loved the poor, so should we if we want to follow him.
b). There are a LOT of people living in slums/trash in massive urban centers all over the world. Research the facts and hear the stories yourself, they'll mean more if you find them. Look up third
world urban slums or global poverty. Or if you really want to know, check out this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932805192/sr=8-7/qid=1150603376/ref=sr_1_7/103-3141177-5357461?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Apparently there's even a whole field devoted to studying this kinda stuff, it causes, trends, and future outlook. Its called Social Science because it is the science (loose terminology) of society. Amazing! (why did I have to go to an engineering school?)
c). The world is getting a lot more urbanized so urban poverty is only going to increase in the near future. Check out the growth of urban centers over the past few decades (it's a cool, but scary,
little interactive map with growing dots for city size,) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/world/06/urbanisation/html/urbanisation.stm

3. I don't know all the details about we'll actually be doing, but most likely we'll focus on construction (of what, I don't know), health and hygiene training, small business development, and education. Also our team is half from the states, and have university students from Lima, so the team is completely bi-lingual.

4. I think I'm kinda ready to go, but honestly I have no clue. And I wish I knew Spanish better. So, if you're the praying type, please pray for Spanish skills and clear communication with the people there. Also pray for our team to be bonded together in Christ, both the team from the states, the team from Lima, and the both of us combined. And as always, pray that we'd all just be giving up our own rights and desires and seeking the good of each other and seeking God.

5. I gave in and got a *sigh* blog: http://pressonforjoy.blogspot.com/

I'll let you know what its like when I get there! And thanks for all of the responses, they are very much appreciated. I probably won't get a chance to respond once I get there, but I'll try to get back to you once I'm stateside again.
Press on for Joy!
Cameron

Hold on kids, this could get lengthy. Read at your leisure:

I'm going to focus on points 2 a, and 4, but understand I write this from a greenhorn point of view. I haven't experienced a lot of what I'm writing about at this point, but I'm hoping that the learning process will be evident through these emails as well. So take everything I say more as an in progress report than anything else.

2.a What's all the fuss about "the poor"? Who is this group anyways? There's a lot to say about this, so this email will focus on the fuss about the poor. I put some thoughts up about who the poor are in the blog. (if you can't tell, I'm pretty bored and don't really have much else to do besides write long emails).

So what was Jesus' deal with the poor? I honestly don't have time to give this topic the justice it deserves, but there is a really great book written about it. It's called the Bible, and specifically, I'd recommend checking out Deuteronomy, Amos, and the Gospels to see God's/Jesus' heart for the poor. My third year I co-led a bible study with an amazing guy named Nathaniel (howdy!) and we went through the book of Luke, one long chapter after another. We read some pretty crazy stuff like:

6:20-26 And lifting up His eyes to His disciples, He said, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall cut you off, and when they shall reproach you and shall cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in Heaven. For so their fathers did according to these things to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full! For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For so their fathers did to the false prophets.

And also:
11:29-34
And do not seek what you shall eat, nor what you shall drink, and stop being in anxiety. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you have need of these things. But rather seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in Heaven, where no thief comes nor moth corrupts. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And also:
14:12-14
And He also said to him who invited Him, When you make a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends or your brothers, or your kinsmen, or your rich neighbors; lest they also invite you again, and a recompense be made to you. But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you shall be blessed, for they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

And later in 14:
And great crowds went with Him. And He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, he cannot be My disciple.

And also in 14:
Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not first sit down and consult whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other
is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So then, everyone of you who does not forsake all his possessions, he cannot be My disciple.

And also:
18:22-27
And when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, Yet you lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, He said, How hardly those having riches shall enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich one to enter into the kingdom of God. And the ones who heard said, And who can be saved? And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

And of course more, but for brevity's sake. Well, praise God for that last verse! We'd all be done without it. But seriously looking at everything else, Jesus can't really mean all that stuff? Surely he's only talking about our hearts, right? I mean, no one really gives up all their stuff to follow this guy. To do what he's asking, I'd have to be homeless and just live out in the streets?

These were the questions I wrestled with, and still do. It would be so easy just say that this all boils down to the state of my heart, but shouldn't the state of my heart be reflected in the way my life is lived, both outward actions and inner thoughts/attitudes? I can't just write this off, this is the Son of God saying this. And not just here, this is all over the Bible. Now, I'll admit that the passages above are cut and paste and as such can be taken out of context, but I challenge you, go see what Jesus is really saying and what he calls his disciples too. I don't think it is an easy life, but that's the point, it is life. Only He can make us alive, after we die to ourselves. Its only when I'm following him that I do feel alive. And as for no one following Jesus like this...I'll save that story for later. However, I will say, as according to Thess 4:9-12, that work is good so that you're not a burden on anyone and not lacking in order to give to those who do need help. The question of how much comprises "not lacking" and what all needs to be had in order to not lack is a tougher question.

So those words above are the words of Jesus. I guess that's the whole motivation behind this trip, I'm trying to take him at his words. I'm not doing such a great job since I certainly haven't sold everything and given all I have to the poor, but whether Jesus actually does call his disciples to that is a question I hope to answer on this trip. I would certainly appreciate prayer in this matter as well, but pray for the folks we'll be serving first, they are the reason we're there in the first place.

4. So here it is, just before the trip. I feel, well, ready. At least I'm ready to get out of SLO and this apt. I've been here for 5 years, and I'm a little too comfortable here, so in a sense, I'm glad to go. Moving on to something new always brings the same anxiety you get just before going into high school after a long summer of being done with junior high. "What do I do? I don't know anybody! What if that dream where I'm there, but I forgot to put pants on comes true?" Aside from initial anxiety, I've had this fear that I'm just going to wake up there and be like, holy cow, I'm Peru, surprise! That thought is disconcerting, but I don't know what to do about it. I'm slowly
pegging away at Spanish vocab. I'm trying to pray a lot more. I've been reading Ezra and he had some pretty amazing success since he prepared his heart before he traveled to Jerusalem. I haven't had much luck dealing with my heart, frankly since I don't totally understand what "the heart" is (not definition, but in life). So I ask God for help and He does some pretty good stuff with what I guess
is my heart. Even so, God's been showing me this week how important obedience is. We can't just say we love God if don't do as he asks of us. We need to humble ourselves to him and what he asks of us. That is love of God. Its not easy, but it is so good. 1 John 4 is an awesome chapter, check it out.

As for preparedness for the culture there, I listened to a radio station out of Lima. To my untrained ears, the music seemed to be a mix between Mexican and Chinese. It wasn't bad, but to me it all sounded the same. My complete guess is that entering into another culture is one of those things that you just have to jump into and get your bearings in the midst of it. I'll be sure to let you know, if I learn.

Thanks for hanging around during the long introspective one, they'll be much shorter and hopefully story based after this.

Press on for Joy!
Cameron

PS check out the blog for the origin of the word mission, graciously provided by Reneau.