it was like a mini-amplified!

!!!!!

this was certainly an unforgettable three days! God did some awesome things in our hearts.

friday, God really had His hand on the showing of the invisible children movie. we had probably forty people!!! i was amazed.

i really believe that this movie opened people's eyes and stirred their hearts. it's so unbelievable- all that these little kids go through! and i pray that we will be able to stay focused on God so that He can use us to reach out to people like that.

saturday morning we had soooo many people show up for the justice project! yet again, God had His hand over the whole thing. we painted bleachers and locker rooms and re-did the teacher's lounge at prescott middle. it was great.

one thing that pastor jason shared friday night, after the movie, is that if we want to go to the world- to other nations and reach people- we have to begin with where God has us now. we have to be faithful here before we can expect Him to entrust us with any other places. that is so true!

after the justice project, we all headed home to get cleaned up and packed for displace me. at 4:30 we all met up at the annex- and for the third time this weekend, God sent an abundance of people to participate! seriously- we filled up the shuttle bus and we had to ask like four other people to drive, too! how awesome is that?!! it took us a little while to get loaded up and to get everything in order, but we made it!

when we got to tulane (where displace me was held), we all got to set up our own little cardboard huts and decorate them. ashlyn and i put our sleeping bags together and set up a very simple headboard type thing...without a covering so that we could look at the stars when it got dark. the only problem was that the dew made some serious puddles on our sleeping bags. (but God really took care of me- i didn't see any bugs whatsoever!! plus- there was not one cloud in the sky or any sign of rain!)

so after we set up our houses, we got to be a part of their filming...and we watched some videos from the people of uganda...telling us how they live their lives everyday. what their homes are like, how they get food and water...
we had to get our food and water in a similar way to their's, but really nothing even near to what they have to go through...

then we had 21 minutes of silence and prayer (each minute counted for each year that they have been at civil war). this was such a cool experience. i loved how there were hundreds of people- and yet (pretty much) total silence. the feeling was so peaceful- being under the stars...just reflecting and crying out to God for these beautiful people- His treasures! (isaiah 61:6 nlt) during this time of silence, i began to read psalm 91...and that chapter always brings me comfort..no matter what i'm going through... but this time i began to read it and i let it become my prayer for the people of uganda- that they would be able to feel this type of assured peace and comfort. they need it so desperately.

well...after that, everyone wrote letters to the government of america and to the president of uganda asking for aid in helping end this war.

then our group of refugees all sat together and sang some worship songs while paul and ryan played the guitar. it was so awesome. just to sit in God's peace.

then tyler barry stood up and shared something that God put on his heart. he said that someone asked him why we would displace ourselves for the kids in uganda- it's not like they care.

he said that this hit Him pretty hard...but God spoke to Him and said that it doesn't matter- even if nothing changes in uganda or if these kids never know what you are doing for them...it's not about that. it's about you representing Me. you're here not for recognition, but to worship Me.

i was like...WOW! that really hit me. i know that i've said before that sometimes i feel like "why bother? what i'm doing won't possibly make a difference."

and other times, honestly, i do things wanting to be recognized for it. i get so prideful and so caught up in who sees me doing what.

and i tend to be really quick to want to take credit for my actions when they're good, but when i am being sinful, i have no problem with just letting Jesus take it from me and moving on. it's terrible.

pride and self-centeredness get you nowhere. somewhere in proverbs it talks about praise being one of the easiest ways to become full of pride- and it's sooooo true.

anyway, God smoked me when tyler said that. it's all God- and if i want to be a part of reaching the beautiful people of this world- i've got to stop seeking recognition and credit. it's all God's.

so, displace me turned out to be AWESOME!!

and by the way...
i've decided that i want to be a (modified version) hippie! there really were hippies everywhere and it was soooo cool. except for all the smoking and weirdness. but i am somewhat fascinated by this lifestyle. i would love to be able to make my own version of a hippie. i'd be a vegetarian who eats caine's. i'd sleep outside but kill bugs and snakes. i'd be a tree hugger who writes almost a whole notebook in a week! and i'd be all for peace- but by standing for justice rather than just having a go-with-the-flow attitude.

i'm a freak! but it would be fun!

anyway...
this weekend was an incredible experience! thanks to everyone who came and helped get it together- especially tweezy and jennifer, leah, miss carole, and miss lori. you guys are AWESOME! and thanks to everyone who helped promote it and who was praying for us.

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AND!!!!!

check out tyler barry's blog. he's got some awesome stuff up about this weekend...and please be praying- he and ryan fontenot and johnny nguyen are going to ask their principle if they can show the invisible children movie at dutchtown!!

click here and read all of his posts (starting at friday's).

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oh and my daddy gets home wednesday! oh yeah! i've been reading katherine and barton and all of the elevator's blogs. crazy and awesome stuff. God is really using them and speaking to them. He's changing them. and He is REALLY protecting them.
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that's it for now.
thanks for reading (well, rather skimming probably.:)

-tori