The Last time I saw Emma.

I’m one of the privileged ones to have seen, heard, and touched Emma in person.  Just a little over two weeks ago I was sitting right beside her looking into her eyes.  Just sitting beside her I could tell she knew she wasn’t alone.  During my last week in India I realized in my entire four months their I had been running about capturing photos and video of over 100 children in their daily lives, but had never just sat down and watched over this particular little girl.  It doesn’t take long to figure at that Emma was no ordinary baby.  Her condition left her to the security of her crib.  Even a slight touch to the cheek gave her a sense of fear from the multiple surgeries she had received in her short life. 

But that last day I spent some time just sitting with her next to her crib.  At first I wasn’t even sure if she knew I was there, but when I got up to leave, she began to whimper.  I knew then that she wanted me to sit with her.  She didn’t want to be alone.

And alone she was not.  This one little girl had been rescued from what many doctors pronounced better off dead.  But God, Sarah, and many others refused to believe her life was beyond all hope.  Four months and several surgeries later she was in a stable condition, gaining wait, and able to muster a small smile at the sight of a loving caretaker or volunteer to wrap her up in physical and spiritual warmth.  To read more click this link:  Emma's Story

I took this picture of Emma on my last day with her because at the time I thought I never want to forget this moment with her.  Little did I know it would be the last time I saw her.  

photo taken of Emma on 4.28.12

But her story is far from over.  She has been wrapped up in the arms of an unfathomable loving God, who I fear because of my own inadequacies.  Fear in the sense that He is far greater than the limits of my imagination yet he has acted in my life in way I will never be the same. 

Emma lives on in the hearts of many. Some who meet her face to face, others who labored in prayer far away yet closer than we can comprehend.  From Blogs, pictures, to film Emma’s story will be told.  For she is a Child of God and my Papa loves to talk about his children.  

Emma passed away on 5/16/12 in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  The shunt from her brain which drained fluid had failed.  She is now home with her heavenly Father.

India Day 105

With the tumoult of facebook posting, instagraming, tweeting, and vimeo posts, I have neglected to write a blog recently.

I can hardly believe I have been in India for 105 days, at times it has stretched on and feels like I have been here for years, at other times I am reminded that "I am a pilgrim in an unholy land" - Dr. Jones "The Last Crusade" I'm not sure why that quote just came to mind but it did.  So now its out and posted on the web.  India is not more unholy than any other land in the world, one might argue that India is one of the most "holy lands" in the world.  India is known as the birth place for four major world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism), but my religion for the first time in my life was part of a minority.

This has stretched and challenged me.  This has changed my perspective.

But one thing always remains the same.

Psalm 62:2
He alone is my rock & my salvation;
     he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Being a voice

“Be willing to be only a voice, heard but not seen” – George Matheson (Streams in the Desert 2/24)

The past two years of my life have been defined by an all-out, no holding back, reckless abandon to seek who God truly is, who he made me to be, and the plan he has for my life.  On this road there have been many turns.  Some turns I expected, other turns I had to depend on Christ who led me through the dark.  I have lost friends and gained others.  I put to death the “old man” in me so that I might take on an identity in Christ.  I paralleled my life with the story of Isaiah “The Willing”.  Just as Isaiah began to listen for God, two years ago I began to learn how to truly listen to God; to cast aside all the other noise in my life and pray humbly in my closet.  One of the first instructions Jesus gave his disciple’s was how to pray ,”But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen” (Matt 6:6).  I did this for the first time in my life and God began to chip away the story I wanted for my life and replace it with His story for my life.  My eagerness to take the first step into an unordinary life was encompassed in the momentous statement from Isaiah 6:8,”Here I am God, Send me to the world.”

Two years later I have found myself literally sent to the world.  I have not only been sent half way around the world to India, but I experienced many places of growth and servant hood in my own backyard around the states.  I feel my story shifting.  What I once thought would be a life of complete separation from the “secular world” has become a life of being a voice to the world for those who the world hates.  The women and children the world wants to ignore.  The ones for many years I neither acknowledged or cared about.  Sure I lived a good life, I was kind and helped others, but at the end of the day who was I living for?  Did the love God has for his children burn inside me to the point of sacrificing my own plans and goals? 

If your closest friend was suffering from HIV, AIDS, disease, hunger, abandonment or persecution; would you be able to go on living a normal life?

We live in a world virtually connected from small villages to major cities.  Anyone who reads this blog has connection to the internet and therefor has a way to be informed about people around the world who need help.  People who God knows, people who God loves, people God commanded us to love as ourselves.

The words of Jeremiah are speaking to me in a new light. 

Jeremiah 1:6

Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.”

I do not claim to be a prophet.  I do not claim to have any power or superior knowledge.  If I have learned anything in the last two years it is that I myself am “like all other men.” – Bonhoeffer.

I am a sinner saved by grace.

God is using me to be a voice for those who have none…

Blocks

Just happened to be present when the boys were playing with blocks and learning creative thinking skills.  Shot entirely on iphone 4s.   Watch closely and you may see my cameo in the reflection on the window. 

Piano Prodigies

Piano Prodigies from SCH INDIA on Vimeo.

There are several seeing impaired children at SCH who are starving to be challenged creatively. Through some simple prayers of faith God provided an electric keyboard to be used at the Girls Home to provide a creative outlet and entertainment for our school aged girls.

Love Gives Movement

Love Gives Movement from SCH INDIA on Vimeo.

My personal favorite so far. Simply a life in action moment. I saw the teenagers and their teachers going out to the field with a bucket of balls, grabbed my camera and went. Just a beautiful glimpse of life here in India.

Republic Day

Republic Day from SCH INDIA on Vimeo.