handmade gods

To whom would you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me, that we would be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse and weigh silver on the scale hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; they bow down, indeed they worship it. They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it; they set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer; it cannot deliver him from his distress. Isaiah 46:5-7
Just over a week ago i was walking down the crowded streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chiang Mai has incredible night markets that bring people out of the woodworks. me and 3 friends were browsing along with a sea of Thai people, sampling interesting foods, gazing at local art work, trying on jewelry, and marveling at interesting clothing trends. one could easily get lost in the chaos or feel overwhelmed at the sight of it all. the smells, the sounds, the sights...i felt swept up in the moment, thoroughly enjoying myself when my friend Aline grabbed my arm and softly said, "it's just like in the bible.." my eyes followed her gaze to find her staring at a man sitting on a stool hammering out the image buddha. my face fell at the sobering reality rolling before my eyes. it was happening right in front of me just like isaiah prophesied thousands of years ago. i wasn't sure what to do with myself. my friends continued on while i stood and watched, my mind reeling. i turned and caught up with my friends and we continued on our way, but my mind kept wandering back to that goldsmith...my heart felt sad.
I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength...Isaiah 45:23-24 We can only rest in God, in who He is and what He has said. His hand is mighty to save. pray that blind eyes might be opened to the truth of God.
ok, time to switch countries. we arrived in india a little over a week ago. we are staying on a catholic compound called the pastoral care center. this will be my home for a little more than 3 months. yesterday we visited GMH (government maternity hospital) where we will begin training on monday. the hospital grounds are large and teeming with people...lines of women with precious lives growing in their bellies, families of women waiting, doctors, nurses, birth attendants...my heart lept with joy at the incredible opportunity God has laid before us. so many people just sitting around, waiting, bored...so perfect an opportunity to meet people, speak with people, sit with people, to mourn with people, to be joyful with people, to laugh with people, to touch people, to love people. GMH, here we come....

elephants, sweat, and antenatal care in thailand!

hello friends!
wow, it is hot here! i get a little jealous when i hear of how fall and winter are right around the corner in Texas. i'm not sure just how hot it is getting here, but i break a sweat just walking to the 7-11 for water right around the corner. haha...

nonetheless, we are all being challenged and stretched in a good way. last week was an amazing time of refreshing and fellowship during the University of the Nations conference that we attended. we heard from an array of speakers and attended some really amazing workshops. youth with a mission staff gathered from all over the world to encourage one another, pray, worship, and seek God's face. some days i felt overwhelmed at the task that lies ahead. so many people die daily without knowing the love of our precious Savior. Thousands of children die every single day from starvation and preventable diseases. Thousands of children and women are trafficked each day into prostitution and the sex industry. shouldn't people have a right to hear about Jesus? shouldn't children have the right to go to school and have a childhood? i guess if i feel that these people have a right, then i have a responsibility. my faith must be an active one, not a passive one. God has not called the church to maintain the status quo, but to bring transformation! "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 when we see injustice in the world, there should well up from within a holy discontent. Sex trafficking, abortion, people dying from preventable causes...unacceptable. regardless of age, sex, race, or social class each human being has inherent value. Do we value life? What is our response? I pray that we would shield the wind of passivity that creeps through our churches and actively combat these issues that grieve the heart of God. my prayer has been so often of late, "Lord align my heart with Yours."
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -Edmund Burke, 1770
"Our temptation is to look eagerly for the minimum that will be accepted." -C.S. Lewis
May we never find ourselves doing nothing or merely the minimum. Let us boldly push forward to fight for justice and kindness. Let us be peace-bringers! Let us be life-speakers! Let us be hope-givers! I pray that you would be the one to chase after God whole-heartedly even when all others choose to stay behind because the road is too steep or rocky or because it's uncharted territory...









on a lighter note we were able to get out of the city yesterday. several of us took a tourist tour of the country side. we did some amazing hiking, elephant riding, and bamboo rafting! we visited 2 different Thai hill tribes, which was interesting. i was reminded of how much i love the country...oh i miss it. this week we will finish up our lecture phase. wednesday we will be leaving for india!! we will be there for 3 months and will finally begin to volunteer in a hospital there! i'm excited to finally have the opportunity to put the things we've been learning into practice...

blessings
jill

i found elvis!!

i found elvis presley!!!! can you believe it? he works from 5-7pm in the mall food factory here in chiang mai, thailand! unbelieveable...
well we just finished an incredible week attending a missions conference. i heard so many amazing testimonies from missionaries working in places like indonesia, papua new guinea, nigeria, china...basically all over! anyways, hopefully soon i'll be able to post some of what God has been teaching us...
we'll be here in chiang mai for a week and a half, then we're moving on to hyderabad, india!!! blessings...

some thoughts pondered as i'm about to leave the land downunder...

Wednesday is almost over now here in Australia. In less than 24 hours I will be off on a new adventure. Even as I type these words i feel the anticipation in my belly. I feel it in my heart. I serve a wild, untamable God. At night i lie awake and ponder what lies in wait for me in the days ahead. Adventure. Excitement. Tears. Life. Death. Joy. Pain. Love. Heartbreak. Color. Darkness. Light. Time will tell all that this journey beholds. We go forth as the bride of Christ, advocates of life. The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; Jesus came that people could have life, and have it abundantly. all throughout history the enemy has attacked life. i can see so clearly how he sits pleased as we lose whole generations to genocide and abortion and disease. we have been warned that as we go forth to usher in life, we will not go unresisted. there will be a battle. Paul urged the church in ephesus to put on the whole armor of God so that they could resist the schemes of the devil. so that's what we'll do. we will go forth with the trusty sword of truth in hand and our shields of faith raised to "extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." as i write this, it all sounds so dramatic...really, i'm just going to learn how to "catch" babies in a couple of foreign countries, right? yes. but most of my life i have either been unaware of the battle or maybe chose not to see it. might i find most of the church in the same boat? i'm convinced though, that our ignorance of the battle does not make it nonexistent...it's more like we're off chasing butterflies in a spiritual warzone. Jesus was zealous for truth, He fought for life, and He gave His own life for love. Paul told the ephesians that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. therefore, take up the full armor of God...that's heavy stuff, haha.
these are things i continue to ponder...what does it mean to be a warrior? how do we love as Christ did day in and day out? how do we see into all things spiritual? i am convinced they are things that you just begin to walk in...and grow into...maybe for a lifetime...and day by day. well, off we go to celebrate life and to welcome in new creations with joy and thanksgiving!!

...the Way of Holiness...

hello friends!
treasures from Isaiah 35...
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear, your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you."
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

We are all walking a path, paths that we choose. Dorothy followed the yellow brick road. I want to walk on the Way of Holiness. What does that look like? That's a question i often ask myself and I challenge you to do the same. Probing, questioning, pondering, seeking...the unshakable Kingdom, the Way of Holiness, the radical Cross. Each morning we choose to walk on the path of righteousness or destruction. Will others watch our lives and choose the same path we walk? While the path that leads to destruction seems easy and quite inviting, the Way of Holiness is steep and narrow yet truly beautiful. It is full of healing and redemption and joy and hope and singing! Walk it and invite others to taste and see...

unshakable

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28-29
I'm not sure i can get my head around this unshakable kingdom stuff...but i'm trying. I am figuring out that this should radically affect my life. I am living in and building on a kingdom that cannot be moved. therefore, i will not be moved. i will not be shaken. i will not look to the right or to the left, but i will keep my eyes on the Author and Perfector of my faith so that i can complete this amazing task ahead of me. Jesus is so worthy. He is worthy of my life, my love, my all. and i He knows i would give it...

this week we've been on the topic of labor and delivery. there is so much to be learnt, most days i find it impossible to remember everything i've taken in...all the stages of labor, how to take care of mom and baby in a million different situations, because birth can be so unpredictable. i mean i had NO IDEA that after you deliver the baby, you have to deliver the placenta!!! but seriously, it is AMAZING learning how the baby starts from a single cell and slowly but surely glows into a beautiful miracle of a baby. life is a miracle, and i'm so honored that God has brought me to a place to experience it.
This past weekend the Birth Attendant School found out where we would be spending our 8 months of outreach. We will leave the busy city of perth and travel to chang mai, thailand for the month of september. there we will finish up our last month of lecture phase in preparation for outreach. from thailand we will travel east to hyderabad, india for 3 months to begin working in hospitals assisting with deliveries. from india we will travel farther east to sudan, africa for another 3 months. our final 2 months of outreach will be spent in jakarta, indonesia. sooooo....to say the least, i am thrilled! i never would have dreamed up this journey for myself, but i serve a creative and amazing God. i wanted to see new places and new cultures and hear new languages...so the desires of my heart were more than answered. so now i pray that God would equip me, refine me, prepare me and use me to do my part to see His unshakable kingdom come.
love love lots of love
jill

well, here i am in australia...

I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For He has clothed me
with garments of salvation
and arrayed me
in a robe of righteousness,



as a bridegroom adorns his
head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself
with her jewels.
For as the soil makes
the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make
righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.
Isaiah 61:10-11

So, here I am a world away from home. there is more than 14 hours time difference between me and most of you. you're all enjoying the summer sun, while we're finishing up winter here. it's wierd. it feels like i've been here so long, but it's been less than 2 weeks. i arrived saturday, june 30 (a day late because i vacationed in the LA airport for an extra day due to delays and missed flights) to find most of the Birth Attendant School students already moved in. There are 11 of us girls in all, number 11 just arrived 2 days ago. Our team consists of new zealanders, germans, and americans from all different walks of life. we are a beautiful team if i might say so myself, and i'm anxious to see how God uses us. We have begun to dig into the textbooks studying the human anatomy at the moment. we are also learning to check vital signs (blood pressure, respirations, temperature, pulse.) it is a flood of information, not counting the spiritual side of it all. God has been challenging me...i sit here wondering how to put that into words. the challenge is quite large...seeming impossible, but day by day slowly attainable. "With all i am i will live to see Your Kingdom come..." during worship a few days ago, these words hit the core of my being. is it true of me? am i willing to spend my life for the Kingdom? anyways, i'm being challenged more each day to be kingdom minded...it's not always easy when the kingdom of Jill is calling for my attention....
on a lighter note we visited an incredible park here in Perth as a group. i took a million pictures of trees...the trees and plants are so different here, it's beautiful! trees teach me...they all have a lesson, a story, a character.





i love you all
blessings
jill