A Call to Prayer

"Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life for I am devoted to you. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you." Psalm 86:1-2


"Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 1:13


"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

I am calling out the generation of warriors.

I am calling out the generation of the faithful.

I am calling out the generation of the revolution.

Brothers and sisters, a crisis is raging in Kenya right now. Many of you may know that President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya was elected for a second time this past December. This caused an uproar among followers of another presidential candidate, Raila Odinga.

Mr. Odinga accused President Kibaki of rigging the election before the votes were ever counted. Apparently, many voters came to cast votes and found ballot boxes already full, leading them to believe this.

President Kibaki denies any wrongdoing.

This stems from an age-old conflict among tribes. Two main tribes in Kenya (the Kikuyu, President Kibaki's tribe, and the Luo, Mr. Odinga's tribe) have struggled for years, as do most tribes in Africa. But many Kikuyu people have been killed in the violence following this election.

Riots broke out in cities and in the country. Hundreds of Kenyans are dead and tens of thousands are displaced from their homes. Many fled across the borders of neighboring countries.

In one riot, fifty Kikuyu people fled to a church for protection. They were burned alive.

You may see this as a horrible tragedy taking place halfway across the world. And it is. But it reaches closer to home than that.

Compassion International is a program that serves children around the world in some of its poorest countries. It matches each child with a sponsor, who donates money to pay for food, shelter, education and other necessary commodities. The sponsor and child correspond through letters.

One of our sponsored children is a fourteen-year-old Kenyan girl. I am constantly amazed by her bravery and faith. She is always writing me about how thankful she is for her schooling and for her family, who have all become believers. She is one of seven children and they are a very poor family.

A few months before the election, she wrote me a letter saying how excited she was to witness an election. She told us how she had learned about the political process in school. She was blessed to be in one of the most stable democracies in Africa.

And now her world has fallen apart around her. She wrote us a letter that we recieved today. Here are some excerpts:

"Dear Yuen Family,

Much greetings in the name of Jesus Christ... I hope that you are all fine because there is peace in your country... I celebrated my December holiday very well but there was no peace and we ran and went to our rural home to stay there, where there was peace. I thank God for me and my family being alive because without God we could not be alive now. I also pray to God to keep you safe with your family...Here in Kenya there were some people who were displaced in their houses because of their tribes and some were killed and some were injured because of politics and now I am praying for my country. Please pray for our country too..."

She ended her letter with the verse passage Psalm 86:1-2: Hear, O Lord, ans answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life for I am devoted to you. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you.

This isn't a distant issue. This is here and now. Persecution and destruction exist- and they exist for me.

Persecution and destruction exist- and they exist for my Kenyan friend.

But what can we do, half a world away?

We can pray. President Kibaki and Mr. Odinga are trying to work out an agreement to stop violence and possibly share power. Please pray that they would come to a settlement. Please pray that the people of Kenya would be able to establish peace and stability for its citizens. Please pray that people would come to know God through this.

Citizens are fleeing to churches during riots. While they are being taken care of by servants of God, these people will be told the gospel. Pray that in this turmoiled time people's hearts and eyes would be opened to God.

Pray also that people in our own country would see this and be inspired to reach out to the Kenyans.

Persecution and destruction exist. Do they exist for you?

A Very Good Idea

It all started with a very good idea. Isn’t that always how it starts? At the beginning of the school year, I told God, “I’m really excited about school this year. I want to learn everything you have to teach me.”
He took me seriously.
It started with school. I moved into my first year of formal high school this year (though I’d been doing high school work for a few years before this one). That meant homework- and not just a little homework, but a load that convinced me that it would never end!
Then we brought home my brother. He came into our family through adoption, and babies who were adopted tend to be a little more demanding for the first month or two. They don’t come home as sleepy newborns, but as active (sometimes overactive) toddlers, in many cases.
School dropped on my priority list. I looked for every loophole, shortcut and way to cut a corner in my classes. And I figured out some pretty good ones. Then I felt as if God stopped me dead in my tracks.
It was time to do my work with excellence. That meant skipping out on doing some things that I’d much rather do. It meant working longer on projects and studying harder. I have an almost-photographic memory, so to actually sit down and study is pure torture to me. I had prayed for opportunities to learn. So he gave me some.
Now I’m here at the end of the year, staring ahead to a very blank summer. Part of me wants to make one big push to get all of my school work done really well and really fast. The other part of me is saying, “Why bother?”
Doing school is like preparing for a race. Some of you will go to college after you graduate. Others will stay behind and begin another part of their calling. Regardless of what you’re going to do when you’re out of school, it’s important to prepare for whatever God might call you to.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 talks about how when runners run, they have to go into strict training. Kind of like school. We have to work hard and be strict with ourselves so that we get a good training for our next path in life. Then, when we’re ready to run the real race, we’ll run in such a way as to get the prize. We’ll know what we’re doing, and we’ll have practiced throughout our training.

Tag

I got tagged (really, I'm not sure who came up with the brilliant idea of tagging via cyberspace. I'm not sure if he was a lunatic or a genius). So, here it is. How much do you know about me?

JOBS I'VE HAD:
1. Babysitter
2. Student
3. Library volunteer
4. Church volunteer (I'm noticing a disturbing pattern... only one of these jobs I've ever been paid for!)

PLACES I'VE LIVED:
1. Northern California
2. Colorado Springs
3. Um... my imaginary worlds...
4. Heaven someday

SHOWS I WATCH:
Um.... uh.... we don't have a satellite...

BLOGS I READ REGULARLY:
1. My mom's Adoptyuen
2. Auntie Shirin's
3. Lydia Rule's
4. My mom's Munchkyuen

FAVORITE FOODS:
1.Potatoes of any form
2. Bibimbop
3. Chow mein (or lo mein as the Colorado people call it)
4.Falafel (Again, I'm noticing a pattern... all of these foods come from Asian countries except the potatoes!)

PLACES I'D RATHER BE:
1. Disney
2.Church (well, actually, if it were Sunday or Saturday I'd rather be at church)
3. Visiting friends and family
4. Heaven (don't laugh, I mean it)

THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO THIS YEAR:
1. Visiting friends in California
2. Connect ministry at church
3. Awana at church
4. Summit, hopefully

Sparks of a Memory

"I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your words." Psalm 119:16

Emma pressed her face into her hands. How come she could watch a movie once and remember every single line for the rest of her life but she had to work for hours to get one Bible verse down? She opened her eyes and read the passage one more time, but it never stuck.

Have you ever felt like Emma? Maybe it's time for a renewing of your delight.

Psalm 119 is probably my favorite passage in the Old Testament. It's title in my New King James Bible is "The Glory of the Word", and what a fitting name!

Psalm 119:16 says, "I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your words." In other words, we remember what we love.

A friend of mine was recently telling me how much he hates memorizing terms for his biology. He says that he just can't remember them well enough. This is the same person who can spit out dates of all the significant battles in World War II without blinking. The same person who still knows dozens of verses about every basic Christian doctrine. He just doesn't delight in Biology.

I have a friend who can't seem to remember when you use the word 'cord' and when you use the word 'chord'. But she memorizes piano pieces without any trouble at all. She just doesn't delight in spelling.

God loves us. He can remember all of our names. He knows our deepest secrets, our darkest fears, our brightest hopes, our most precious souls. That's because He delights in us. Proverbs 3:11-12 says that the LORD loves us in the same way a father does a son in whom he delights.

If you can't remember God's word, maybe it doesn't thrill you. Maybe it doesn't delight you. So, maybe what we really need is a way to renew our delight in the Bible.

Paul says in Romans 7:22, "For I delight in the law of the Lord, in my inner being." So, delight begins in the heart. We have to learn to love God in our hearts before we can even begin to appreciate the Bible.

Psalm 119:12 says, "Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!" So, after acknowledging that God is the delight of his heart, the psalmist asks God to teach him His statutes. So, next we should have a delight in the presence of God. You can't be taught if you're not around your teacher. You also can't be taught if you don't listen to your teacher. Matthew 17:5 says, "He [Jesus] was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him."

Then, once God is our delight, we are delighting in His teaching, you'll begin to realize, it begins to settle in your heart. That's when it begins to delight us. The Spirit begins to teach us from his word and we marvel at the word. NOW, we don't forget his word. We can't, because we love it so much.

Emma from the beginning of the story could remember her movie quotes because she loved movies. My anti-Biology friend loves history. My cord vs. chord friend loves music. You always have enough memory space for the things you love.

So, if you want to better memorize God's word, start with something you love. Have a favorite verse? Start with that. Have a favorite book of the Bible? Pick some verses from that book.

Just remember, God loves you. He remembers everything about you. So, let your memory be a spark of the Greatest one in the universe.

Sparks of Illumination

Well, here I am. Sitting at my computer writing my very first blog post on my first public site. That's somewhat exciting, don't you think?

Let me begin by explaining the Sparks of Illumination.

I'll first define what this means.

Sparks are fiery particles that shoot off of a larger flame. They are also defined as being an inspiration or a stimulation.

Illumination is spiritual enlightenment. It is the source of light, and it is the adornment of books.

God is our ultimate Source of light. He is the giver of light, the sustainer of light, and the one who called us out of darkness to be children of light (Ephesians 5:8). His Spirit is also the one who "illuminates" or reveals his spiritual truth in the Bible (Romans 8:5) And, most of all, He inspires. He gives us little "sparks" of understanding and ideas. He gives us stories, and songs, and pictures, and little pieces of his heart.

The heart of God is so unfathomable that none of us can understand it completely. But as his children, he gave us each a little part of it. We call these parts our gifts, our passions, the causes we believe in. Little sparks off a big fire.

The piece of God's heart I was entrusted with comes out in my writing. His love and beauty adorns my pages like illumination. He sparked ideas that have become novels, poems, and essays.

This site will share my sparks of illumination- my fragments of God's heart. Thank you for joining me on this journey. A great fire may result from a tiny spark. God is ready to ignite our minds and our hearts for him. God is ready to ignite our world on fire- and may it spark from us.

Some verses about the sparks of illumination:

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on things of the Spirit." Romans 8:5

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whome you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:14-16

"The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue." 2 Samuel 23:2

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them the light has shined." Isaiah 9:2

"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." Ephesians 5:8

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness, into His marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9

"How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!" James 3:5b

"I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Isaiah 49:6b