It seems like time has gone by really really quickly! Last thing i knew, i was just starting school and now we're goin into the last quarter of school already! I know a lot of the people from cascade would like to hear me say that overall it's been super easy and i have straight A+ in all my classes. but thats not how it is, you've gotta want it just like anything else. I find that there is still as much work as cascade it just doesnt take as long, and i find that i actually enjoy my classes a lot more now. Every teacher is different, but still really fun and crazy and all the students are pretty down to earth,, mostly.
Yesterday, in my english class, several of us had to leave class for the first half hour or so to go take the OAKS reading test that is required to pass in order to graduate.. well on our way down there a kid tells me that if im a christian i shouldnt let a certain boy know that i am and i shouldnt hang out with this certain boy.. confused,,, i looked at him and duh,, i asked why? He told me that this certain boy was satanic, a worshipper of Satan. well not to blow my mind or anything but,, IT BLEW MY MIND!! but nevertheless,, that didnt stop me from talking to him or letting him know that i was a Christian. Everyone was working on the final draft of an essay we were in the process of writing, so the class was very still and quiet. Then all of a sudden this certain boy turns around and looks at me, startled i said, what and he said that
"if we can learn about God, then why cant we learn about Satan? cause they're basically the same kinda thing."
"no they arent. besides why would you want to learn about Satan?"
"Why not? He's real."
"True, but he's evil..."
"How do u know?"
"How can you not know? look around you, every evil work done in this world was done by man but initiated from Satan's evil temptations and man's folly."
"Like what?"
"Well look around you, rape, murder, suicide.. what would cause a man to commit such atrocious things? It says in the Bible that the devil goes around like a roaring lion waiting for someone to devour. He masquerades as an angel of light only to trick and deceive."
"Well if God didnt do it, then why isnt he stopping it?"
"He gave us free will. and we sinned, and this is the cause,, our fallen world."
"How do u know He gave us free will?"
The teacher pipes in, from the exact opposite corner of the room, and asks this certain boy to get busy on his essay.
(note* i turned my essay in yesterday so i didnt have anything to do)
he tells her "We're talking about God though!"
She says "Yes I know"
confused look on his face... "could you hear us"
she chuckles to herself.. "Yes boy, every word."
___________________________________________
I guess i didnt realize how loud my voice is,,, and his was obviously loud.. but i guess i never thought about the fact that if she could hear us clearly,, then so could the whole entire class as well..
so i guess that counts as sharing the Word of God,,, eventhough i didnt think anyone else could hear us.. I was kinda glad they had heard us,, but then i also wish that my answers were better. oh well, God will give me more opportunities, i hope.
___________________________________________
As far as other classes go,, I'm learning a ton of things in World Studies and that is one of my favorite classes for sure! and before north, i used to hate history.. but its really interesting and the teacher relates us to the topics. A couple weeks ago, we watched a documentary that a few college kids had made and turned into a movie. Its called "Invisible Children" and its about the war in Uganda and how and what the children there go through and what they face from day to day. That movie broke my heart and moved me so much as to feeling as if it were my purpose in life to help the less fortunate.
We all have a gift in life. somthing that the Lord God has given us to make the world a better place and to glorify His Name. Most people i've talked to still dont know why they were put on this earth or what their purpose is. A really good quote i came across the other day is this:
"Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't." ~Richard Bach
This is so true, and for my entire life, especially lately, i've been wondering what my purpose is, and why God placed me here. why i have passions for certain things and i absolutely hate other things. I was curious and i really wanted to know. Well after watching this movie and several others, and reading numerous articles about different problems and wars and killings in Africa, i decided i was going to help!
I went home that very day, after watching "Invisible Children" and i cleaned out my ENTIRE room for clothes, shoes, accessories, key chains, excess school supplies, excess Bibles, etc. of things i owned, things i was blessed with that i didnt need, didnt use often, or things i could live without,, and piled them all up. Then what?? well how do you turn items into money? sell them! and just like that my idea is coming into play. I would ask people to donate their things and turn them in to designated sites (select schools and churches around the valley)... and then in mid August of 2010 we will be holding a gimongous clothing sale and all money will go toward the children in Uganda to help them out.
well now that i've peeked ur interest,, lemme tell you about the cause...
Psalm 60:5
"Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered."
The country of Uganda there has been civil war taking place for over twenty years between the Government of Uganda (GOU) against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The LRA led by Joseph Kony and the ADF led by Jamil Mukulu began kidnapping children to use as soldiers, then using them to run into homes and take more children in the night. They turn the children into child soldiers. But first they must train them how to kill and desensitize them from blood and violence. They select a few of the captured children and beat and kill them brutally, right in front of all the other captured children to show them how it is done. To avoid being taken, other children do what they call "Night Commuting", where they walk several miles from their homes to find safe places in other towns to sleep for the night. All kids there live everyday in fear of being captured and tortured and killed by the rebels. After becoming a child soldier they train you how to use various knives, guns, and other devices used to kill. Once you've learned how,, you are ready to go out and kill, but they must test you to see if you are strong enough to be a soldier or if they need to "do away" with you for good. They tell you, you must first go kill your family. Once you do so, you are a soldier and go kill other children.
The GOU tried to solve the problem by encouraging people in affected areas to move into protective camps, but did not properly prepare for the vast numbers of people coming to these camps. So the majority of people are still out there and NOT PROTECTED AT ALL. Uganda's economy is also suffering because billions of their government's dollars are going toward the military to fight, but the opposition is a bunch of scared and brainwashed children being forced to fight.
According to the Uganda National Household Survey, a vulnerable child is one who lives in a child-headed household or is a child laborer, an orphan, not enrolled in school or work, is married, is living in a household headed by an elderly person, not orphaned but does not live with his or her parents, or a child living with a disability. By this definition, 65% OF CHILDREN IN UGANDA FALL UNDER THE CATEGORY OF ‘ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN’. In real numbers, THERE ARE MORE THAN 2.2 MILLION ORPHANS AND NEARLY 8 MILLION VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN UGANDA TODAY. And nearly half of the country’s orphans have lost one or both parents to the AIDS pandemic.
_______________________________________________________
i will have more information about the specifics of my project as soon as i can. Until then i pray that this will touch your heart as it did mine, and you will find it within yourself to help. As Americans we have so so much, we are SO BLESSED but we have way more than we need to survive. These kids have no shoes. they have one shirt, dirty and worn. one pair of shorts or pants of some sort, also dirty and worn. no clean water. no education. no money. some may have a small blanket. no steady source of food, most children rummage around for something edible to eat and survive. Please soften your hearts and bless God's children.
More information is coming soon.
-Taelor
No comments:
Post a Comment