Thanksgiving and the Sun

Happy Thanksgiving from the great hill country of Texas!  This morning, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise and immediately my heart was thankful.  He spoke so sweetly, I am Faithful and I am here.  And then my mind immediately remembered the canvases of all the places in the last six weeks, where I have seen the sun rise and set and my heart was immediately filled with gratitude, which seemed appropriately fitting for this day. 

Recently, I had the joy of traveling to some new places in the world that I have never seen such as Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and Turkey. I’ll be honest and say, that I am sometimes overwhelmed with the stewardship of knowing what to do with all the experiences, places, and people I have had the true privilege of meeting along my journey, but I am confident that somehow it is supposed to just make me love Jesus and his world all the more. This time, my travels were unique because I got to travel to lands where most people are fearful to go or a place where most people sometime hate or are terrified of the people that occupy these lands.  But I love this land and these people and I have a mandate from the Lord to lead people to this land for His Kingdom purposes. And the best thing is that the sun is the same here in Bulverde, Texas as it was in Istanbul, Turkey or Jerusalem. The sun will always rise, it will always set, it is faithful to its mundane task, and sometimes even in the mundane it surprises us with the most breathtaking experience that all we can do is praise Him. 

Last month, while in Mafraq being among the displaced beautiful Syrian people, some members of our team would take time to climb to the rooftop of the church and watch God bring another end to a day by putting the sun to rest. Surrounded by friends, maybe more appropriate to say family, we just basked in the uniqueness each sunset, while listening to the call of prayer, sharing deeply about how we saw God at work among this land and among his people and in our own heart.   We just always seem to find ourselves talking about what God was doing in us personally and among the Syrians. He reminded me even then…I am Faithful and I am here. 

And then several weeks later, he took me to His land, Israel, by myself with no team, and he kept reminding me of Himself through the sunrise.  Now if anyone knows me, I am not an early riser, but so many mornings I would wake up randomly to the most breathtaking views just as the sun would peak out for the first time.  And then I would thank God that He gave it just to me for that moment.  And each time he quietly whispered to me…I’m Faithful and I am here.  As I reflect, I hear him say, Alicia, I am faithful in the big things, the small things, in every season— mountain top or deep pit, in every place, among every ethnic group, everywhere that I am, I am Faithful and I am there. 

He is sure, steadfast, trustworthy, and His presence and activity is everywhere. Even in the places where people and lands are misunderstood and misrepresented. 

So today, on this Thanksgiving day, I am thankful for the Faithfulness of God not to just towards me but for all nations and for all peoples.  And He will forever remind me of this truth through the rising and setting of the ever so faithful sun. 

Praise Him all you sinners

Sing oh sing you weary

Oh praise Him all you children of God

We lift high His glory

Shown throughout our stories

We praise Him as the children of God

Our Great Redeemer

Glorious Savior

Your name is higher than the rising sun

Light of the morning

You shine forever

Your name is higher than the rising sun

Your name is higher than the rising sun

Praise His name forever

Speak it loud and clear now

Oh praise Him all you children of God

Our Great Redeemer

Glorious Savior

Your name is higher than the rising sun

Light of the morning

You shine forever

Your name is higher than the rising sun

Your name is higher than the rising sun

Hallelujah name above all

Simply to speak Your name is praise

Hallelujah I will always forever 

We lift your name in praise

 Bulverde, Texas

Jaffa, Israel 

Jerusalem, Israel 

Mafraq, Jordan 

Mafraq, Jordan 

Jerusalem, Israel  

Tiberius, The Sea of Galilee 

Tiberius, The Sea of Galilee 

Sea of Galilee 

Mount of Olives

31 Bits about Me

This past week I turned 31 and it was probably the best birthday I've had in a decade or so.  I think the thing I loved most about it was that my friends and community knew me well enough to know things that I loved.  There is nothing greater in life than being known.  I was showered with so much love and gifts and words and I felt like the Lord just kept saying this is just a small fraction or shadow of how much He delights in me and loves me.  He is the Ultimate gift giver and He is soo good.

All that to say, 31 had an amazing start and thought it would be fun to list 31 fun facts that define ME.  Cause one of the best things I think about getting older is that I know my Creator so much better and the specific ways he has made me.

Cheers!

#1- After 31 years, I finally drink my coffee black.

#2- It is very rare for me to sneeze and it not to become a conversation starter.

#3- Salvation stories always make me cry.

#4- I am a naturally shy person.

#5- I love people but would prefer a heart to heart over small talk any day. 

#6- My greatest fears in life are insignificance and failure.

#7- I want to own a small house in the city one day. I love all things urban.

#8- My favorite beverage in the summer is a ice-chest-kind-of-cold coke.

#9- My favorite kind of meal is family style and I love a table full of people and food.

#10-  Praying that God will exponentially increase my spiritual children in my thirties. 

#11- Summer is my favorite season.

#12- Not sure if I will ever get a family of my own but I am more hopeful this year than ever. 

#13- I love puns and alliterations.

#14-  I really love to read even though my extrovertedness never allows myself to do it.

#15- I hate speaking publicly in front of people & until recently refused to do it.

#16- I love to host people in my home.

#17- I am fairly straightforward which is my greatest strength and weakness.

#18- Words of Affirmation and Quality Time are my top two love languages.

#19- I love to hear people's stories.  Especially when it involves redemption.

#20- Dark and handsome men have always been my type & always make my head turn.

#21- I am way more rational and logical than emotional.

#22- The beach is my sanctuary and my jam.

#23- Go Spurs Go! Spurs will always be my homeboys.

#24- I'd much rather spend the day with a baby or teenager than a elementary aged kid.

#25- Foreign countries and foreigners make my heart come alive.

#26- I was called into ministry as a high school kid & love that God lets me fulfill that calling daily. 

#27- I long to see the supernatural in my life in greater ways than ever before in my 30's.

#28- My Kingdom dream is to see an unreached people group come to know Christ.

#29- If I could have any talent in the world I would want to flow. Total rapper at heart.

#30- I love skylines and the open night sky equally.

#31- I will never be a morning person even though I really like the mornings.

Jesus Our Only Hope

When I was in graduate school, I took one of the most depressing classes in the history of higher education.  It was taught by a UN employee who specifically dealt with crisis management and peace treaties.  It was a landscape of how countries all fit together like a chess board and how each move that each nation-state makes directly effects all the surrounding nation-states.  There are so many unforeseen unintended consequences of things that were meant for good. We talked about world hunger, boy soldiers, civil war, genocide, the HIV epidemic and other super depressing topics that all ended with the basic conclusion the world is f'd up and there is no solution.   Non-profits, the government, the law, the media, and good people have been wildly unsuccessful in finding a solution to the world deepest problems.  The world seems hopeless.  But then I hear this truth whispered to me... "I am the hope this world needs"...

In the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot about slavery in my generation.  That there are 27 million people sold as a commodity for someone else’s gain.  That the women that are purchased undergo a brutality of torture, gang rape, and abuse that typically ends in their brokenness, loss of identity, and death. The brutality and reality of this injustice literally leaves you undone.  Again, the solution to trafficking seems pretty daunting and hopeless.  But again, so clearly, I hear those words again so gently whispered... the Church is the vehicle for the hope I have for them... I am their hope...

As a pastor, you get invited into the messiness of other people’s lives.  You see the effects of basic every day sin like anger, hate, selfishness, divorce, unforgiveness, pride, and sexual sin. You deal with the residue of sin and broken identities and people in need of hope or a way out.  Or sometimes you make hospital visits for people with cancer, unforeseen sickness, or chronic illness and you can’t help again but wonder how the world has come to this place of sadness.  Again, the truth of Revelation 21 came to me, I am making all things new, put your hope in ME... point people to me because I am their only hope. 

The more I travel, the more I learn, the more people I meet, the more I’m convinced that Jesus really is the only Hope for this world. Whether the need for hope is on a worldwide scale, on behalf of someone you love, or you are the one in desperate need, the solution is always the same: Jesus.  Jesus is the only hope for the world, for communities, for me.   He is the one that saves.  He restores.  He redeems.  He heals.  He makes peace. He transforms culture.  He restores our true identity.  He is HOPE.

And then I keep thinking about the Church.  And the individuals like myself who have this Hope that make up the church.  And how it’s our responsibility but more specifically our joy to share the Hope of Jesus to the world.  And I will just speak for myself, I am too silent.  Too reserved.  Too scared.  I don’t share the Kingdom enough.  I don’t share the solution to the absolve of evil, darkness, and despair as often as I should. The Church has a unique position to actually see transformation that the secular world can never achieve.  Because Jesus has called his people to be the plan for salvation for all peoples to come to know him.  It's the church's privilege to be the one's to lead people to the Kingdom.

Just earlier this week, I was reading this passage in Hebrews and I was so blessed by the how trustworthy and true his promises are.  He gifts us his hope and he wants it be the anchor of our souls so much that he gave us his word and the promise of His covenant so that we could be confident of hope. 

Hebrews 6:16-20,

16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

For those reading this, I don’t know what your greatest need is.  What area in your life you need hope.  But I can tell you that Jesus is your only hope.  No person, drug, event, money, or status will provide any clarity for the dark or challenging situation you find yourself in, but Jesus is what you need.  He is true and trustworthy.  He will give you Himself and provide a way out for you.  And if there isn’t immediate relief to your need, His presence and truth in His promises will help you persevere through the storm.

Jesus is the solution.  He always has been.  And there is such sweet sweet joy for those that find Him. And there a privileged passed down for those that have this HOPE to be relentless is our declaration of who He is... hope for the world. 

Greece Trafficking Recap

I had the awesome opportunity to spend a week in Thessaloniki, Greece with the amazing team of The A21 Campaign learning more about the global problem of human trafficking but more specifically in the context of Greece.  I honestly, was extremely honored to have rubbed shoulders with the dozen or so expat laborers in Greece from all over the world (US, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Australia) that God has called as abolitionists for this season in time.

As the reality of 27 millions slaves worldwide is coming to the light, people (like you and me) want to ACT.  We want to DO something.  This reality is powerful because awareness without action is useless and honestly just poor stewardship.  Some of the best ways that we can act is to educate ourselves, help others become aware through our own giftings and creativity, and pray.

Education:

Here are a few things I learned or was reminded of that are worth highlighting.

There are six main trafficking methods:

1. abduction (least common)
2. fake job opportunity (girls promised opportunity in a different city to make money)
3. lover boy scenario (a trafficker will pursue a girl and then once he has her trust sales her)
4. family (family member will sale their daughters in order to make money)
5. false immigration
6. false friendship

It is extremely difficult to prosecute traffickers because the girls that are trafficked are very rarely seen as victims.  Most girls that are trafficked are prostitutes.  The problem is that most people assume they chose to be a prostitute when most of the time they were sold and beaten and threatened and forced into the life of prostitution.  In my personal, non-professional opinion, I think that the next big awareness piece after people understanding there are 27 millions slaves is that girls that are prostitutes are most likely victims of sex-trafficking.

Greece Specific Information regarding Demand for Sex:
1. Prostitution in Greece is legal and socially acceptable.
2. Of the 600 brothels in Athens, only 6 are legal.
3. 60-70% of men use prostitution on a regular basis
4. 20,000-40,000 women are in the Greek sex industry
5. Women can serve up to 40 men daily
6. 50% of married men use prostitution.
7. It's a social activity
8. At age 15, dads take their sons to brothels as a right of passage for manhood.

Because of the Schegan Zone (borders/customs agreement) Greece is considered not only a transition country for trafficked girls but also a destination country.  Basically if they can get the girls in Greece then they have access to all the other countries.  Its similar to the problem we have in Houston, if they can get them to Texas through our Mexican border than they can traffic the girls to any other part of the US with no problem or need of passport or papers. Also, the problem of sexual immorality of Greece is an ancient problem from as early as our Biblical days.  Prostitution and acts of sex have always been a part of worship and their culture. Rulers were known for having a wife, their lover, and than a harem of prostitutes.  Nothing has changed.   The sexual culture passed down throughout the ages (literally) is the main catalyst and sustainer of sex trafficking and the demand for sex.

So how do you abolish slavery when the root of the slavery is in the thread of ancient civilization and culture?  Where's the hope, especially in light of the fact that less than 1% of the 27 million are actually rescued?  I don't know if we will ever see slavery abolished, but I am even more convinced the deeper I get into the trafficking that the only hope is Jesus.  He is the only one that can provide hope in the desperate and dark places that these girls are in, he's the only one that restore identities, he's the only one who can heal them. He's the only one that can restore, redeem, and provide a platform for forgiveness and life.  Christ transform cultures and societies.  Evil will always be present, but Jesus is bigger.   As a pastor, I am more and more convinced that trafficking ministry or outreach at some level has to involve the proclamation of the Kingdom and inviting people to know the ONE who can give them life, redemption, and wholeness.  Therefore, Church, we are the solution to abolish trafficking.  Its not the job of great organizations, or great campaigns, or even good hearted people...it's the job of the church to champion the cause of abolishing slavery.  Church we can't back down from offering the Kingdom and life to those entrapped or those victimizing.  Therefore, Church prayer is essential and the catalyst and the ground work for all activity for seeing slavery abolished.  When we pray we go to war.  Don't discount your prayers or minimize it to "not enough".  Prayer is the most effective and powerful action step you can take to abolish slavery in our generation.

Creativity:

When you became a follower of Christ, the spirit deposited literal gifts in each one of us to build the body of Christ- these are commonly known as spiritual gifts. He has also given us really also gifts of creativity through the arts,  professional skill sets, and pure talent.  Whatever gifts God has given you leverage them for the kingdom and towards the cause of seeing slavery abolished.  Use you gift of photography, video, organization, administration, communication, etc and see how you can come alongside great organization that are fighting trafficking.  Put your gifts into play.  Leverage them for the kingdom.  We were designed to create.  We are most alive and most like Him when we contribute our gifts for the purpose of the Kingdom.

Resources:

Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are Not for Sale: A Memoir - I read this book about a year ago and it was probably the best and most informative book I have ever read on trafficking and really understanding this billion dollar industry.

Human Trafficking Video-  We watched this 3 hour movie in Greece.  It's gives you a great understanding of how girls are trafficked and more information about trafficking rings around the world.

Nefarious-  This is my favorite documentary on human trafficking.  Great research and ends with hope.

Freedom Church Alliance- This website is still under construction, so keep checking back and bookmark it, but soon this provide all the information you need to know regarding trafficking in Houston.

The A21 Campaign- They of course of rockstars.  Read their website and learn!

**All stats and information provided I received from the A21 staff in Greece.

Greece and Sex Trafficking

In the winter of 2011, I was living in Southern California and had just accepted the offer to move to Houston Texas and help plant Bayou City Fellowship.  I had no previous ambition to be a pastor or even work at a church, so when I was given the opportunity to attend a Catalyst Conference in Orange County, I felt it would be a good step towards wrapping my mind around becoming a church leader. After all, this conference was specifically for church leadership and apparently that was my new position.  All that to say, I don't really remember anything about that conference except for a talk that I heard from Christine Caine the founder of the A21 Campaign and it was the beginning of a journey God would take me on to understanding the fight against the injustice of human trafficking.

Christine Caine is an Australian firecracker and one of the most anointed women communicators of the gospel and the Word that I have heard in my lifetime.  She was one of the guest speakers for Catalyst that year and she was the first person that I heard speak on the problem of trafficking that accomplished taking my cognitive understanding of this injustice and made it a heart issue for me.  She took the time to take a very large number (27 million) and brought it the story of one.  She told stories of the lives of women, just like me that were trafficked, and for the first time I began to take interest and really understand the intricacies of trafficking.

There is an estimated 27 million men and women trafficked around the world.  The slavery "industry" rakes in $32 billion dollars each year. $32 BILLON! That's an underground network whose annual revenue is greater than that of Google. As many as 17,500 people are trafficked into the US annually.  That's nearly 48 people a day who have become slaves on the very same soil where it was abolished 150 years ago.  And average age of these people? 14 years old.  Think about all the things you did when you were a teenager.  Being sexually exploited isn't one of them.  80% of them are women.  Anywhere between 600,000 - 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year.  And somewhere in the neighborhood of half of them are children.  Every minute of every day, 2 children-- children who should be playing and learning and enjoying the most precious part of their lives-- are sold into slavery. (Source and for more info: http://enditmovement.com/learn.php). 

Since hearing Christine speak, I have slowly grown in my knowledge and advocacy of those enslaved.  I have had the joy of advocating for the end of human trafficking through participating in the End It Movement, running and raising fund for the gospel focused ministry of As Our Own, mobilizing people to brothel van tours in Houston, and most recently joining Freedom Church Alliance of Houston Texas as an advisory member.

Houston rivals Atlanta as the city in our nation with the largest population of trafficked girls.  In response to this reality, the churches and non-profits of Houston realized that the issue of trafficking is too complex, inter-disciplinary in nature, and ruled by corrupt systems that there is greater strength in unifying the churches of all type of denominations and an non-profits with their best practices to form an alliance to abolish slavery in Houston. Therefore, the Freedom Church Alliance was birthed this year and my church Bayou City Fellowship is one of the dozen or so churches that help form this alliance. Because of my position as Mobilization Pastor and our churches involvement, I got offered a position to serve on the advisory board for this Alliance.  I consider this a huge privilege and thankful for the opportunity to fight and advocate for the thousands of girls that are trafficked in my city and down the street from my home as if they were my sister, my niece, or my daughter.

Through my connections with the Alliance, I got extended an amazing opportunity to got to Greece, the hub of human trafficking for Eastern Europe, to learn from the A21 team there in Thessaloniki!! It's kind of a full circle moment to learn from the people that first stirred my heart for this injustice.  I swear, the Kingdom of God is filled with full-circle moments! The A21 mission it to abolish injustice in the 21st century through prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership. I have had the joy of meeting Christine Caine (at a Hillsong conference)  briefly and there is no person more gospel Jesus loving and is one of the most honorable, vast, and respectable trafficking ministries in the world.   So I am so honored to go to Greece and learn from their team.  During my time there we will have opportunity to be educated in trafficking in Eastern Europe, tour the red light district there, and also travel to Bulgaria and experience the process of what specifically happens to a girl when they are trafficked and all the while learning and processing and debriefing with the A21 team that is on the ground.

I leave for Greece tomorrow (Tuesday, June 10) and will return a week later.  I wanted to share about the purpose and nature of this team so that you could cover me and our team of 10 ladies in prayer.  These are some specific things I would ask for prayer for.

1. Protection- Of course pray for safety for travels, but more importantly, we will be walking into some extremely demonic and dark places this week.  Please pray for spiritual protection and for us to be keenly aware of our spiritual surroundings.  Pray also for opportunity to bring light and truth in to dark and desolate places.

2. Mobilized- I can't lead my people (Bayou City Fellowship) to a place that I myself am not mobilized to.  Ask that God would bring to the top what my role in trafficking is and how to lead my people in it. I tend to be more logical and problem solving than emotional, but I really want the stories and lives of these women to have Kingdom impact on my heart not just my mind.

3.  Ministry Opportunities-  This is more of an awareness trip than a "doing" trip, but man would I love an opportunity to pray, share the Kingdom, or encourage someone while I'm there.  I get to sit behind a computer all the time, but my heart in this moment is that I want way more than that and to DO some ministry while there and not just learn.

4.  Take-Aways-  Pray that God would bring to the top the exact things that he wants me to walk away with that will encourage, mobilize, build, or contribute to the trafficking issue in my city with the places of influence that I have been stewarded.  Not sure at all what God wants me to learn yet.  So pray it would rise to the surface and it would be clear when I get back what God spoke to me.

Skeleton Schedule if you want to pray for specifics: (we are 8 hours ahead of you in Greece)

June 11 & 12-  Acclimating and Education of Trafficking in Eastern Europe and Time with A21 team
June 13- Day in Bulgaria- A day in the life of a trafficked girl
June 14- Tour of the Red Light District
June 15- Free Day Touring Biblical Ancient Sites in Thessaloniki
June 16- Head Home

Thank you in advance for your prayers and for making it all the way through this post!

The Goodness of God

I get asked often (as most of us do) "How are you doing?"  And thankfully I live in community with a bunch of people that love me well enough to ask this and actually mean it.  And the beauty of my current season of life is that I have been able to answer, "life is really good".  Like so good, that the Goodness of God is being redefined in my life through the sweetness of my current season of life.

Sometimes in our culture it's a little awkward to admit when life is just sweet.  But then I was reminded this Sunday, from one of my teaching pastors, that one of the many expressions of our faith is celebration.  The kingdom of God is filled with 10 second dance parties, feasts, and most importantly the outlandish praise of its citizens declaring the goodness of their King all night long.  Celebration abounds when we allow the Creator to breathe life in us.  After all, isn't the gospel all about Christ coming to not just give us life but to give it to us abundantly?  He is the one that gives Life and He gives us life by giving us Himself.

It is tempting for me to attribute the goodness of my current season to just mere events or positive circumstance.  Because its never been a truer statement that work and ministry life is wonderful and that community is rich, opportunity is vast, and heck even my single heart is content these days.  But I don't want to miss the truth that Jesus Himself is the One that makes all the events and circumstances good.

So today, I want to celebrate the Goodness of God in my life.  He is Good and sometimes I wonder how much favor and goodness He wants to lavishly pour on me. I know that if he were to roll up and speak to me He would just speak words of Life over me and just assure me of how much He loves me.  His favor is His breath in my life.  And I want to live fully alive, fully celebratory.  I want God-breathed ministry, God-breathed friendships, God-breathed joy.  So that when my current season becomes less ideal than it is today or difficulty strikes I want to cling to the goodness of a King that already conquered death and promised Life...therefore in the good and the bad of life...Jesus Himself is GOOD.