We were the “fabulous five.” Instant friends and God-ordained connections (SERIOUSLY)! WOW! Each were so different but there is a special reason I met each one of them!
And Tina (far right) is a midwife at Parkland hospital....HERE IN DALLAS!!!!! We have already met together several times since we have been home. I don't think I have BLOG-ed about this yet, but I have a strong passion and desire to be a Doula (birth coach/partner/advocate). Tina and I are talking about how we can work together to help women in various ways! And most of the urban poor and refugee community have their babies at Parkland hospital where Tina works...EEK! SO EXCITING...!
My new friend Elizabeth: she is a true inspiration, and confirmation for what God has been showing me lately...!
Over the years, I have had so many great people come to me looking for ways to get involved and volunteer. Traditionally we ask volunteers to donate things and serve the poor in various ways like: clothing closets, food pantries, toy drives, etc. So we ask for money, donations or service. I am starting to notice that those efforts come and go so quickly, and the people are still stuck in poverty...
Over the last year, as I have been learning more about economic empowerment efforts, I am starting to re-think how people can get involved...
People (like you) have skills, knowledge, education, experience and connections...and if that could be shared with people who are financially poor, what a difference that would make in their lives! We could not only provide for their needs every Christmas (for example)...we could come alongside them and give them what God gifted us with to empower them to provide for their own needs!
I still don't know exactly what that looks like today, but let's learn from Elizabeth...
She is in Bank Management and wants to use what she knows help others. To start, she is going to teach some financial literacy classes and look for mentorship opportunities in career coaching! WOW! I LOVE it!
One of the HIGHLIGHS that came from this conference was a workshop on "Storying" or “Orality.”
For the past couple of years, I have noticed that a lot of the people we encounter are oral learners. They are hungry to hear about God, and they ask us to tell them stories from the Bible, they don't want to read them, even if the scripture is in their native language.
And I have had a hard time telling it, without reading it to them..
I think they said that over 70% of the world's population are oral learners...including the new generation in North America!!!!
One week after returning from Arizona, I had the opportunity to go to Houston for a day of training to build on what I learned at the conference about Orality. We learned 5 simple stories from the Bible that are easy to retell and share with people. And I have made some great connections in teh Orality community here in Dallas and there in Houston! :)
I started writing this BLOG from Parkland hospital. My friend Yirgalem had surgery on Tuesday morning (22nd)...and we just got her home Monday afternoon (28th).
I have been updating her family members over the phone (none of them live here). They keep saying she is so lucky to have me in her life and thanking me over and over...just showering me with compliments and thankfulness...it is so hard for them not to be here with her. But I am just sitting here, as she sleeps and I am overwhelmed with how thankful I am to have her in my life...
I cannot tell you how many times I was feeling stressed, depressed, angry, or hopeless...and then I would spend time with Yirgalem and my problems would just melt away. Yes, sometimes because her problems were so much bigger than mine. But a lot of times, it just took my mind off myself, and I was able to gain a little perspective of the bigger picture of life and things that are really important. SHE has taught ME so much about FAITH, true HOPE and TRUST in God! I am so thankful for her!
The picture above is me and Yirgalem at a friend's wedding a little over a year ago.
