Palm Sunday. It’s the day we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. At Cornerstone, Pastor Linn wrapped up a series on what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. He preached out of a passage in Luke 9:57-62 that says nothing should hold us back in following Christ. So he challenged us to give up that thing that is holding us back and stop being a ‘casual Christian’. Ribbons representing our sins were laid upon the cross stating we are done with living life for ourselves. I love that they did this a week before Easter. This year’s lent campaign has been a tremendous time of healing for me. I have spent since November allowing God to strip me down and refine me to be the man He wants me to be. It has been incredibility difficult facing my garbage and baggage. But at the same time, God is using all of this to mold me into a better man and an effective Christ follower. I’m done with my continued issues with anger and lust and everything else I find myself carrying. I’m done being a slave to these sins and I am ready to lay them down at the foot of the cross and be all that Christ wants me to be.
This is Ka and she lives in Cambodia. She comes from a very poor family and has even scavenged through trash in order to find food at times. At 16, she left to the Thai border to find work because of the poverty. She ended up in a karaoke bar that was a front for a brothel. She was lured in with nice clothing and things and eventually found herself being forced to performed sex acts. After trying to escape, she owed money and ended up in forced prostitution to pay her debt. She would work 5 to 10 men a night and still was unable to pay her debt no matter how much she ‘worked’ . She felt she had no chance and continued to live this life of sin in order to get by.
Many times I have found myself in desperate situations and took sidesteps in order to get what. I’ve lied and cheated to get by. I eventually had to ask myself the question “Do I trust God that He is big enough to be Lord of my life? Am I willing to let go of my life of sin in order to grow and to be set free?” (John 8:31-34). Sin separates me from God. It causes me to hide and be ashamed. God is big enough to handle my stuff and I want to surrender it to Him so I can walk with Him and be in tune with what He wants to do with my life. (Isaiah 59:1-3). I’m done with being a slave to sin.
This is holy week and it is a week we Christians celebrate Christ dying on the cross for our sins. He paid the ultimate price for my sins and I no longer need to experience the pain and guilt of being enslaved to them. I praise God everyday for His grace and for loving me enough to forgive me. I am praying for continued strength and hope in the areas I struggle with. (Galatians 5:1)
A photo from Cambodia of how hard it is to get water
Another video from the field in Uganda… please continue to support my campaign to help support these causes.
Childhood is not quite the same in Africa as it is in America. In America, children go to school because it’s required. School is simply part of the deal of being a kid – regardless of whether you go public school, private school, or home school. In Uganda, not all children go to school, and it is not always for the reasons I would imagine.
As I walked through the village of Alobo Rom in Northern Uganda to check out an unprotected spring of water, I met Janet. She had a small pile of laundry in front of her and was washing her clothes by hand. When we started talking, she said that she did not go to school that day because her clothes were dirty. At age 13, Janet was washing her clothes rather than sitting in the classroom.
A lot of things ran through my mind at that point. Why would she be kept out of school for dirty clothes? Why were her clothes not washed the night before? Was there no one to help her? When did she stop being a child? Yet – I know this is part of life here. I know that the rest of her day is likely full of other chores, including carrying water for the family needs. I hope that some day this is not her reality, and that nothing will keep her from school – not laundry, not carrying water, and not illness. On the day that I met Janet, all I could do was share a smile and wish her the best when she returned to the classroom.
Living a life that Matters 
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