What do I With My Fear?

We had this tradition growing up that every Christmas before we opened up our gifts, we (meaning me and my two older sisters) had to give Jesus a gift.  It was my parents brilliant way of reminding us that Christmas really was about a little baby who was born and not just opening presents.  And I always remember being super challenged by this tradition of what to give.  And I don't think I will ever grow out of the feeling of inadequacy in what I bring the King just like the drummer boy.  But tonight, what I have to offer Jesus are my words.  I love to write but so out of practice and can never seem to put my thoughts together.  But tonight, I'm gonna stream them together and offer them because its been on my heart to write this post for a bit.

The first time I ever left US soil was when I was 14.  My grandmother had a promise that she would take every single one of her grandchildren on a trip with her when we turned 14.  This was not unusual because my grandparents spent their entire married lives traveling and doing ministry all over the globe. Switzerland and Germany were my first two stamps in my passport of what would be many many stamps to come.  My second global adventure (when I was 16) was to Moldova, a small country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine.  It was on this trip that I remember specifically asking God if he would ever have me live overseas. I kind of asked not wanting to know the answer, but I knew deeply in that moment that He had something for me abroad that I would always chase after.  All I knew at this point was that my heart was growing for different cultures and for different nations and my heart was more alive than it had ever been.  Not just because of my growing love for cultures but because it was here that I learned how beautiful it was to be a person that brought hope and peace as tangible as if I pulled it out of my back pocket and passed it out to people.  There is something addicting about bringing people hope.

I never knew that by the time I was 32 I would have not only lived overseas but would have had the honor of being in so many different countries.  I don't know exactly what to do with all the things that I have seen, the stories I have heard, and with the beautiful people I have met, but my heart is grateful beyond words.  These days my heart is grieved for the state of our world.   The world seems just a little bit crazy and unstable these days.  With an election year around the corner, the largest refugee migration since World War II, ISIS, shootings, earthquakes, global warming, terrorism, hunger, war, cancer,  trafficking, poverty (not just physical but emotional, educational, spiritual, etc..) and exploitation on every level...the world seems a little bit like its in need of rescue.

In the past year, God has grown my heart for Arabs.  I have several amazing Iraqi friends in Houston and have had the joy of sharing in baby showers, holidays, shopping, and lots of other fun life events.  My heart has been burning to go their country ever since I heard them talk so endearingly about their homeland.  In addition to having Iraqi friends, I got the chance to go Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine last fall and I fell even more in love with the Middle East and have really grown in my understanding of Islam and what many of my Muslim friends believe. I have attended many mosques, shared Eid, observed Ramadan while in Jordan this summer, and been good friends with an Emam.   I have heard horror stories from the civil war in Syria as I have sat in homes of Syrian refugees. So much loss that is unbearable. And to be honest, God has given me such a love for that part of the world that I can't explain and even more so for her people.  The truth is that people are all the same.  As women, we all love to feel pretty, go shopping, endure the joys and hardships of motherhood, long to be loved, and to take care of our families.  I think that when God looks at that part of the world His heart is full of love and His chest puffs up like a proud dad.

I will be super honest and say it has literally grieved my heart as so many people have expressed so openly of their desire to kill this group of people (that I now love), deny them refuge, or mistreat them.  However, I also will not judge people for their fear. I get it.  Fear is one of the most crippling of the emotions.  We fear what we don't know.  And there are so many things we don't understand in our ethnocentrism. And sometimes we have legitimate reasons to actually fear.  My best friend, who lives in Southern California, went to school with the shooter of the most recent San Bernadino terrorist shootings.  Her husband was on lock-down at work.  Shit gets real when fear seeps out of your television screen and enters in your life and into your family.  And heres the deal, its ok to be fearful.  That's normal, but what are you doing to do with that fear?

I'm going to speak to those that are followers of Jesus.  As Jesus followers we should be the most FEARLESS PEOPLE on the planet.  Jesus wants to meet us in our greatest fear and heal us from the inside out and make us fearless.  One of my favorite quotes from my mentor is, your greatest dream is on the other side of your greatest fear.  When we live in fear, we live differently and sometimes we miss our dream and what we were created for.  We calculate differently, we hold back, we don't give or receive as freely or at all, and we quite honestly are miserable.  And I know personally, I make the worst decisions when I am fearful.  Like terrible decisions.  So what do you do with fear when it creeps in? You bring it straight to Jesus and have him speak to you about your fear.  Every time I have an extreme emotion that is not usually my norm, I take it as an opportunity for Jesus to do a deeper healing in me or to speak to me about what He wants me to know about that feeling.  So when you are fearful, ask him what He wants you to know about your fear.  When you ask Him it gives Him the chance to speak truth to you or for you to confess what it is that you don't believe about God to be true.  It says in Scripture that it is Truth that sets us free.  So when you stop and allow God to speak the truth of the reality of the world, the truth of the root of you fear,  it is then you find true freedom and the ability to live fearless.  God will always be for people, for his creation, for you.  He will always draw you to a place of healing and a place of letting Him speak.  Can you imagine how influential the Church could be if we took the time to let God speak into the deepest places of our fear, our shame and our guilt? We would truly be a set apart people and HEALTHY people! But not set apart in the way we judge but how we love AND because were free...truly free and living in our true identity and having right view of God.  We'd be free from ourselves, our own way, and our own shortcomings.

As followers of Christ, we have to move past fear because we have Hope that the rest of the world  doesn't have. And when we fear, we look like the rest of the world.  And for some reason, Jesus named the Church as the vehicle for carrying this Hope and if we are all tangled up in fear we lose the ability to do the one thing He designed the Church for.  So my prayer in this next year, is that the Church, followers of Jesus, will be more present in the world than ever before and we will not shrink back.  Jesus came as a little baby to rescue us, redeem us, and give us hope.  And He is near the broken hearted.  And He comes to those who call out to him.  I have some friends that just came back from doing relief work among Syrians in Germany.  He said that the Syrians were coming off the boats asking who Jesus was. They had been having dreams and visions the entire time they were on the boat of a man in a white robe named Jesus.  Jesus is King and He will draw all people to Himself when he is lifted.  He becomes hope, life, and joy.   Jesus meets us and rescues us and he loves all people...especially Muslims, and me, and you.

It is too great of a risk for us to be a people that are crippled in fear.  We miss out on loving the world and His creation and we walk away from the one thing we were created for.  Maybe you're not fearful of the world, but your fearful of your calling, or to speak in front of people, or to leave your miserable job, or to pursue people and friendship, or fearful that God won't come through for you.  Whatever it is take it to Jesus...He has something He wants to tell you.

My prayer is that I will always be a woman who was truly fearless because I've trusted in the One who makes me fearless and free. 

Happy Fourth Birthday Bayou City!

Today,  Bayou City Fellowship celebrated Her fourth birthday.  We are officially a pre-schooler with a pretty mighty sister church toddler in suburbia.  All day I've just been thinking about those 4 years and I decided I needed to sit here and write. Because I don't want to forget and I need a place to process all the feels and all the joys that were in my heart today.  Also, do people still blog in 2015?  Well...today I am and not even gonna apologize for it.

Yesterday, I was serving at an event in Cypress and someone asked us what we were doing for Vision Sunday (our birthday party).  So I went on to share the details and this woman then said, "Bayou City Fellowship celebrates well". My heart couldn't have been more glad to hear such words expressed. Mostly because 4 years and 3 days ago, I wrote this blog post sharing my expectancy and curiosity for what She (our church) would look like.  And now, four years in, I don't have to wonder anymore, I get to experience her beauty weekly in the life of its people. And this is what I have come to know about Bayou City Fellowship.

We are just a bunch of fishermen-  Sometimes God doesn't need talent, He just needs hearts that are His. I remember one of the first staff meetings we ever had and I remember looking around the table and thought, why did Pastor Curtis pick us?! But really. The pastors and lay people that God has used to lead and serve are just everyday imperfect people that have a radical love for Jesus and are committed to the people of our city.  There is nothing flashy or overly impressive about the people, production on Sundays is absent, we are not always super professional or efficient, BUT Jesus is lifted high and every time He is lifted people are drawn and experience Him.  So may we continue to be a people that live lives that constantly and experientially point people to Jesus.  I'm convinced it's the nameless and faceless people that win cities.

You can find Jesus here-  Lets be honest.  Church is hard.  I actually really struggle with telling people not only that I am a pastor but that I work at a church.  Not because I am ashamed of the Church but because so many people have been wounded by church, religion, or their own disappointments with God.  And rightfully so.  So much of Western Christianity is a shallow and a religious representation of the Church.  I think today, Western Christianity could be synonymous with the Pharisees and religious leaders that Jesus was always speaking against in the gospels. They always got it wrong and had no influence.  After living overseas post-college, I really struggled with the Church in America and wondered if I would ever love the Church again.  Shoot, I never would've thought I'd work at one-- ever.  But Bayou City has restored my love for the global Church beyond our small expression in Houston.  I have experienced the presence of God here.  Most people come into our space and just cry because they experience the presence of God.  We don't water things down we just share Truth and who Jesus is.  People come back not because of the preaching (which is the best) or the worship (which is always great) but because they know and experience the presence of God and can see that God is doing something among us. I've seen people find freedom, I've seen God heal people, I've seen people find hope, and I've seen people find refuge.  If you come to Bayou City Fellowship you won't find religion but I promise you will find Jesus.

We are family- We pray intentionally that when people come into our House that they feel like family.  You can come once or twice as a guest but come the third time and you're family.  I love that our community groups meet in homes and that they are multi-generational.  You live life with people in all seasons of life and you just love them kind of because you not only have to cause they're family but because you want to. Some of my deepest friendship are people my parents age and families with the sweetest babies and toddlers. The people are so genuine and real and honestly some of the best people in this city and the reason I love my job.  If you need family and community you can find it.

We like to move-  Well it is true we have moved more than we like.  But what I mean is that we are a mobilized people.  We are a fast-moving organic community that is always growing and constantly changing.  I see leaders raised up, new people sent out, people serving, individuals growing, groups starting, passions stirred and people working hard. We keep our people on their toes and don't let them get comfortable.  We don't get bored and we keep our focus outward.  But we don't do it in the name of busyness we do it because it's just what you do when you're in the family of God.  You just do things that look like Him naturally and we do it together.  Because again, we are a family and the church was never meant to be an organization but a community of people doing life together and pointing people to Jesus.  The heartbeat of Bayou City is the mission and it keeps us alive and healthy.

There a million other things I love my pastor who is also my boss and my brother, my team that feels much more like family than co-workers, we celebrate, we have fun, we love well, we empower people to do their thing, and we dream big.  We're not perfect but we aren't supposed to be.

I've never been so proud to be apart of Church.  I always pray I steward my position and lead with integrity, as the spirit leads, and with a lot of love.

Here are some pics I took really quick and some video so I wouldn't forget!

Established: September 11, 2011 at Houston Christian High School (started with a Core of 50 now about 1200)
December 2013- Planted Bayou City Fellowship Cypress at Northwest Forest Conference Center (started with a Core of 125 and now about 1200)
June 21, 2015- Spring Branch location moved to Westchester International Academy

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.  

Looking Back to 2013 & Ahead to 2014

I'm waking up this website for a little New Years post, which by the way is one of my favorite posts each year.  I could kind of care less about the actual party of New Years (my favorite way to bring in the new year is with close friends in a simple setting) but the refection of the past year and the hope of a new year is reason enough for me to love the turning of the calendar.

The year 2013 for me was a year of establishing.

I know this is kind of a precarious word to describe a year,  but I can't think of a truer adjective.  This year was filled with plenty including global trips (El Salvador, India, & Cancun) several new roommates, new friendships, a brand new member of my Alicia family (my fur child Catsby), introduction into another decade (30), another church plant (hello Bayou City- Cypress), hospitals and surgeries for family members (Nonnie's miraculous recovery), the engagement of my best friend, lots of pregnancies and babies, and so much more...but I will always ear-mark this year as a year where he put my feet on a strong foundation and made me ready to run the lane he has given me.

I have now lived in Houston for about two and a half years.  My first year in Houston, I feel like He spent the entire year pastoring me and just slowing nursing me back to spiritual health.  Man, I was a physical and spiritual mess when I first arrived here from Cali-- some of my darkest days.  I was in no place to lead or probably have the job I did, but thankfully grace covered me.  So this second year (2013), when I finally got to a place where I could spiritually stand and no longer crawl, I saw him establish my feet.

In 2013, I saw him establish female/sister relationships that I had longed for and prayed for this year that was always lacking in Houston.  I saw him establish my home (it took several roommates and lots of furniture and curtain switch-ups) by providing roommates that are community and family again.  And even though I still haven't seen him give me a spouse yet, he gave me a pet-- something to love and something to take care of that won't move away or  move out.   So I guess I can also jokingly say he established my title as Cat Lady.  I feel like he took all these primary and important relational and physical needs in my life and made them RICH beyond my expectations.  He used this year to restore and FIRMLY establish what had been lost in transition.

But most importantly, I saw God establish my identity in my job.

I remember so clearly, standing in my backyard in California, talking to Pastor Curtis on the phone regarding my job at Bayou City Fellowship when the church was still just a seed.  And I remember him telling me that if I took the job that I could be the "missions pastor".  I of course immediately interrupted him and told him basically there was no way I would EVER call myself that, but thanks.  I was so incredibly uncomfortable with that title...I mean 50 year old MEN have that title...not 26 year old females.  Then Pastor Curtis lovingly told me, well you call yourself what you want but I will always see you as pastor and will always give you the same authority. Stunned by his response, I just carried it all these years.  The funny thing is I remember that conversation so extremely clear like it was yesterday.  So when I moved and the seed became a plant, I named myself the Director of Mobilization-- not pastor.

About mid-year this year, I began to wrestle with the Lord about my title.  Stupid I know.  And to be honest, I don't think I fully understood the purpose or reason for the wrestling and the conflict in my heart.  I later realized that it was conviction.  I eventually realized the angst was because I was not fully walking in what God had for me because I was holding on to an identity that wasn't me anymore.  I had grown and changed and I was ready.  After about 4 months of wresting with God, and a theological conversation with Pastor Curtis and Pastor Vernon about female pastors, I finally changed my job title to Mobilization Pastor (10 second dance party). I know that titles are insignificant and its not my identity but somehow God had more for me even in my title. Before this, I lived in such fear.  Fear to lead, always feeling that that was there was someone better, more equipped, more spiritual, smarter, more competent.  I lived in total self-condemnation.  But since I change my title and started to walk in obedience, I have seen these lies destroyed slowly and I have found a new and fresh confidence in the Spirit, a new freedom, and ground where there was none before.  I am ready to run my lane.

So I pray and I hope, that now that my feet have been established in 2013,  that 2014 will be a year of WALKING fully in what God has stewarded to me. Heck, I might even pick up RUNNING with a banner of joy waving over my life and ministry.

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Each year, I like to have specific things that I pray over my year.  These happen to be what I am praying for this year.

1. Hand of the Lord- I went to Rise, an event at my church that Beth Moore speaks to our women, and she talked about the Hand of the Lord.  It was so funny because she put into a "handy" acronym what was already in my heart.  So she basically organized my heart and thoughts for me!  I know that I am in way over my head, but the Holy Spirit can empower me.  So I need him desperately to put his hand of favor and annointing over my life.

H- Holiness
A- Anointing
N- Name of Jesus on my life
D- Deeds produced by the Spirit

2. That Jesus would fan into flame the gifts of God in me and in our church.  Pastor Curtis mentioned in his sermon last week that he was praying through the giftings of the spirit in 1 Corinthians. I loved this so much.  So praying that those in me would be brought to the surface and used mightily.  Praying for dreams and vision, healings, and the signs of the supernatural to be evidenced in our church and in our staff.

3. Deep personal revival.  That I would personally know Christ more intimately this year than I ever have before. He is doing a fresh and unique work in my heart...and I couldn't be more excited.

4. Joy.  I have found myself singing and dancing a lot more.  Somehow I stopped and didn't know it.  I hope this year to be a woman of joy and that Jesus continually puts songs in my heart.

Happy New Year Everyone!

A letter to my best friend on the day of her engagement!

Bestie Becka Boo,

I can't believe this day is here.  It took infinity to get here, but somehow the wait has made this day that much sweeter and that much more celebratory.  Today, you said hecka yea to Zachary, the man you are going to marry and spend the rest of your life dreaming with 'til death due you part.  Eeeek!!!!! I seriously couldn't love this day any more than I do in this moment.

I will never forget the memory that bonded us together as roommates officially-- a good dose of pillow talk.  I remember so vividly that gabbing conversation like it was last night.  I remember that we stayed up until 2am, that we were sharing our frustrations over all things singleness, including the asinine things that people say to those of us that were still looking for that long-term partner in life.  In hindsight, the funniest thing about that night was that we were both frustrated with our singleness and we were only 24! Oh if only we knew the journey that what was ahead of us.

God's provision was sweet in how he provided you and Sarah as roommates.  But I had no idea initially that he had gifted me so much more... he gave me not only a once in a lifetime best friend but family.  You are such a sweet sister to me.  And I love you dearly.

You have been THE bright spot in my twenties and in my singleness.  You have been my joy, my support, my biggest cheerleader, my confidant, my prayer warrior, my source of laughter, and of course my person.  God has brought us through some hard times too.  He was faithful to make loyalty the foundation of our friendship.  Despite the Carpe Diem phase, the playing with fire seasons, and me moving to Texas, our love for each other and Christ has made our friendship endure, strengthen, and blossom to what it is today.

So today, you are joining the ranks of those that are married.  And although, I've loved living my singleness with you and wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else, I am beyond blessed by what God has done in your life to get you to this day.  YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!  It's finally your turn.

Becka, you have become a beautiful woman of God and have a beautiful story that God is writing for you.  Never forget that night in the bathtub when he showed up and changed your heart and redeemed you. Your story is beautiful.  I pray you never forget it.  I love your spunk, the fun you bring to all stories, your literary heart, your ghetto self, your love of justice, your love of Africa, your love for people, and your desire for the Lord.  You are a absolutely wonderful and a loyal best friend. I can only imagine what kind of wonderful spouse and wife you will become to Zac.  Zac is a blessed man to have you by his side to live life and to dream with.  I couldn't be more excited that you found such a godly man to live life with. And you are gaining a new person that will love you unconditionally because of how he loves Christ.  I am honored to have Zachary as my new bestie-in-law.

I pray that as you walk in this new season as an engaged woman, that you will enjoy, savor, and find the joy in every good and difficult challenge that awaits you.  I love you sister and am honored to be your person, your best friend, and your sister.

Here's to you and #TeamBeckary for life.  Love you both.

Cheers!
Alicia

Shaping Me

In the past week, I have had a handful of people text me or specifically call me to share how God put me so strongly on their hearts to pray for me.  How honored am I?!  The non-coincidence is that in the last few weeks, I have felt a unique movement and intimacy of the Holy Spirit.  Literally, I have sensed something new and something fresh in my Spirit.  I have had so many thoughts, impressions, and lessons that are exactly what I need to for some exciting days that are ahead...He is preparing me, equipping me, positioning me.   Literally the prayers of the family of God are SHAPING ME.  I TANGIBLY feel them shaping me.

This leads me directly to a place of gratitude.  I am so thankful that I serve an intimate God that loves me enough that He puts my name on the hearts of the Saints.  Who am I?!  And I am even more thankful that the prayers of His people are effective.

Exciting days ahead...so thankful God is getting me ready...

Disappointment

This past Sunday, my pastor appropriately preached Luke 18:28-40 about the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.  He presented clearly the cultural, geographical, and historical significance and relevance of this story that left me with a deep empathy for the Jewish people. For the first time, it became piercingly clear how the bi-polar Jews went from waiving palm branches and singing Hosanna to several days later handing him over to be crucified.

They were disappointed- to say the least.

Now that my curiosity was peaked, I went back this week and read different parts of the gospels trying to wrap my mind around what transpired in "Holy Week".  But I read it with the lens of the Jewish people trying to understand their heart, expectation, and hope. 

The Jewish people in Jesus' day were longing for a physical King to come and rule and reign their land.  Prophecy after prophecy revealed that one day this Messiah would come and bring an end to their oppression and the days of old would be restored.  The temples would be rebuilt and God would dwell with them.  They longed for spiritual restoration and for salvation.  You can't blame them.  This is what the prophets proclaimed and everything about Jesus was pointing to him reclaiming the throne.  

I can picture the joy and excitement the Jewish people must have had in their hearts as they physically experienced and witnessed the prophecy being fulfilled as Jesus rode in on that donkey.  So much that they did everything culturally (sang Hosanna, waived palm branches, and laid their cloaks down on the road) that declared their allegiance to their King.  Hope had come.  Jesus would reign and all would be restored.  Such relief they must have felt knowing that the God of Israel had come through for them in the way they wanted.

Then I began to think about the hours that immediately followed His entry into Jerusalem.  How anti-climatic it must have been.  Nothing happened people.  Nothing.  Everything was as it was before.  Hope now seemed stupid and pointless.  I am sure embarrassment followed.  Then such deep disappointment.  And then eventually anger because several days later they chose to free a criminal instead and chose to crucify Jesus.  Their hope turned into disappointment and their disappointment  to a place of anger and anger to complete disengagement.  

And that's when I realized there have been so many seasons in my own life when Christ didn't leverage His Kingly authority in a way that I felt was right or just or of any benefit to me.  And then I finally understood why the Jews crucified him.  They were done.  They put their faith in something and when it didn't work out exactly the way they thought they checked out and didn't look back.  

But the Jewish people were short-sited. They weren't all knowing like God.  They didn't understand the immeasurable beauty of the New Covenant that would be poured out for them.  They didn't see the big picture or how God was at work.  

I empathized so strongly this week with the disappointment  the Jewish people must have experienced.  I have lived an amazing 28 years, but man their have been huge seasons of disappointment. Disappointment that has created in my own life areas of disbelief, fear, and insecurity. And disappointment that was so deep that it caused my heart to disengage. 

And the truth is tonight as I write this I am battling areas of my life where years of past disappointment continues to linger leaving me with disbelief and I have spent too many years fighting to keep my heart engaged.  To have fervent faith and a holy hope that in the end might result in the same foolishness the Jewish people must have felt on that Palm Sunday.

But the truth and awesome promise I rest in tonight is that God is King.  KING OF KINGS.  The Covenant promise that I inherited is the greatest gift I can receive as a daughter of the King and I just want to REST in Him.  I want PEACE.  I want TRUST.   And I want every piece of me to yield and surrender to the reign of My King.  I want to believe with every fiber that He is good, that He is who He says He is, and that He does everything for me out of love.    

We have all had seasons of disappointment.  I pray that we fight the urge to check out.  I know He meets us in our unbelief and there is nothing in life more rewarding than a life submitted to the KING OF KINGS.  Let's be vibrantly alive with faith, hope, and love.  

So let'sCELEBRATE this week in the death, burial, and Resurrection of our King Jesus.