Random photo 2

Can you guess what trip this photo is from?

i am a student..

And this is what I am studying in my first class- an online class.

An examination of oppression along with social and political acts of resistance will provide an invaluable framework for (a) analyzing oppression in its present forms; (b) identifying themes and patterns in oppression and resistance throughout history; (c) understanding how power operates to foster, or to confront, oppression; and (d) acting with integrity to confront oppression.

It's amazing. I love the content. Sometimes I read about such incredible awful events- things that humans have done to other humans. And I want to throw up, or cry, or scream. I usually cry. It has been a good to remember that this is a fallen world. A very fallen, messed up world. But Jesus is coming back! He will make all things new and wipe away every tear and those who trust Jesus will worship God forever! There will be no more racism, no more poverty, no more slavery, no more abuse, no more death... amazing. I do long for heaven more as I read.

Went to Chile

And I am back.
I wish I had some profound life altering revelation to share. But I do not. I think I had that long ago, and this was just confirmation. I love Latin America and I want to live there. I had more confirmation in church today when we sent out our first missionaries. I want to go. (as in "go and make disciples of all the nations").

Chile was amazing though. Such a crazy country geographically- mountains on one side and ocean on the other - it such a long skinny country. The mountains are INCREDIBLE. We were in the north so its mostly desert. crazy. God is at work. I think the most encouraging time was visiting some college students in Viña del Mar. These guys are on fire for Jesus. So excited to serve Him and tell their friends. And God is at work, saving people.

(playing catch up, so the post date is the day I started this post!)

Going to Chile

That's right. 5 days from now I will be on my way to Chile. You can follow me on the TCC travel blog. I mentioned before about my church starting the process of sending a team of missionaries to Latin America... well this is the next step. Send a team to Chile for a week to see if we can find a church or group of Christians to partner with. So, this is an information gathering trip. Pray I would be a good listener and observer. (Not things I am natural at.)
Thanks for reading!
Again, my main Chile updates will be on the TCC blog

some photo fun. A practice by Thomas (practicing). Pastor Travis, our fearless leader, is diligently looking at the camera while Tiffany, Mindi and I strike our "we are having so much fun" poses and David stares out the window.

Random Photo 1

Since I have been negligent about posting photos, and photos are fun, here is one:

Thanksgiving 09:
Alison, Anna, me
Daddy, Grampa, Uncle Johnny.

slavery

First post of a few on human trafficking. this one I wrote a while ago.

My thoughts on human trafficking and 21 century slavery. When slavery was abolished in the US and in Europe, it was not human nature that was changed. Some hearts were changed, but some gave up slavery with a fight. A war, in fact. And the next generation was not born with no desire to oppress their neighbors. We were not born with love for each other. That comes from God - it's a gift of grace. But our hearts are still evil! We still desire to be in control. What better way to show power than to "own" a person. I think this is a reflection of the human heart at its worst.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7886461.stm

Social Work

Well faithful readers (all two of you), your unfaithful blogger is back. For a minute. I am going to try to be concise, so don’t expect to be entertained from this blog post- just updated.

Last year my church started the process of sending a team of missionaries to Latin America. Starting the process simply means we started looking for people to talk about partnering with. As I talked with our pastor of missions and tried to help with the search, my desires to be sent back on the mission field grew again. I started to look at my life and evaluate how I was preparing for the mission field. Maybe I should go back to school? Social work?

At a party that summer I spoke with a man who has lots of connections in the non profit world. He mentioned human trafficking – a topic that highly interests and saddens me. Modern day slavery that is underground and huge- so much bigger than most people realize. I picked his brain and my interest and hatred for the injustice grew. After that conversation I talked to my cousin who shares my feelings about the topic and also knows a lot. I started looking up organizations involved in addressing the issue, and trying to figure out how I could help- or if I should help. I learned something quickly. They need lawyers and social workers. Hmmm…

I still do not know what my role should be in the fight against human trafficking, except education. I hope to start blogging about it. Or at least pointing to other bloggers who know more than I do.

From that point on, though, I felt as if I was being swept along in a river that would lead me to a masters of social work. In a mechanical way, still not sure if I really wanted to go back to school, I went through the motions. Everything just started falling into place. I took the GRE, applied to UNC’s program, and was accepted. I felt emotionally behind my decisions last week when I sent in the tuition deposit! At the same time I have so much peace about it and I see God’s hand in every step. I am starting to get excited about the classes, what I will learn and how it will help me to care for people around me better.

Thats it. The 3 year plan of Mara's life. haha. God, my loving heavenly father knows how it will really go. Glory to Him!