niko.

Niko means to overcome or conquer.
Our group overcame lack of sleep, food and comfort. We overcame 20 miles of inclined Mexico mountains. We overcame windy, cold nights with only our breath to keep us warm. We overcame sore bodies and spirits of giving up. We conquered being encouraging and joyful. We conquered no showers or toothpaste. We conquered killing chickens and hot days.
Niko is a two and a half day test; test of patience, endurance and hope. It's also a luxury to see the sunset on the Pacific ocean from 100 feet, to see how far you can go, to see how awesome God truly is. This week was different for everyone and in so many ways, the same. We learned. We grew. We laughed. It was a once in a lifetime kind of deal.
My attitude, if something arises that is difficult, is to give up; simply and plainly. It's much easier to coast when the ride isn't as bumpy but I was forced to see the joy in persevering. To get to the end of what I am capable of and then keep going. To face a challenge with a smile genuinely across my face. To run after the bumps because it's worth the refinement. He taught me that it's not about me, ever; it's never about what I want, it's never about what I am comfortable with, it's never about what rights I have or what I think - it's about Him. This life of sacrifice is for Him because of Him. My God doesn't want to see me pushing myself as far as I can go and then scream, "I DID IT!" at the top; He wants to be the one pushing me the hardest and motivating me to say, "YOU DID IT, GOD!".
At the beginning and end of the day, there should be no me.
He's cultivating a spirit of joy and thanksgiving, a deep perseverance, an ever expanding heart.
It was a simple journey, but one that meant the world.

hard days.

rejoice, always.

i'm on the shore of an ocean bigger than my imagination,

and it wakes my feet with the struggles of this world;

the hopelessness that comes with injustice,

my ankles feel the brim of uncertainty and inaccuracy.

somehow, i'm locked into place,

my feet are grounded like the roots of a tree

and i stare ahead.

home is no where in sight, not even a phone call away;

the coldness of water is now touching my knees,

i shiver with a knotted stomach but brush it off just in time 

to realize my thighs are in the depths of insecurities. 

still, my eyes are locked on a glorious sky straight ahead,

hardly noticing i'm drowning within myself.

suddenly, salt water covers my stomach with reclusiveness,

and an 'i wish..' mentality,

my hands swish the water back and forth wondering where 

the air went.

a firework of colors stream the sky as a sun sets,

there are blues and reds and pixels of hues i've never witnessed before,

so naturally, i focus.

my neck realizes the water has clasped all around with 

unanswered prayers and arrogant excuses;

the gravity of the water triggers my mind to act,

panic, sheer terror, sadness envelopes me -

water never covers my head, this is where i stay

and this is when he commands me to

rejoice, always.

justice starts here.

Human trafficking is the act of transferring or recruiting a person through force, deception or other means for the purpose of exploiting them. Many people who are trafficked are poor and told they will be leaving their families for a certain amount of time to make money and then be coming back. The minute they leave with their employers, their literal identities are taken and they are too scared to leave or have no idea where they're at. Some may return to home but most don't because it puts their families in danger. There are several different kinds of trafficking - sexual (which is the most known and consists of woman, children or men unwillingly being sold for sexual gratification), labor (doing work which they are either paid little to nothing for), child soldiers (kidnapping, brainwashing and training them for war), or organ trafficking (which is the act of a parent selling their infant or child to someone for them to kill for their organs). This isn't a demented story told in a different country, these aren't just words - they have faces, names, personalities, purposes that are being stripped from them.

This isn't something we can't do anything about.

The oppressors have a story, too.

All of human trafficking stems from the root lie of power or lust, but do you want to know where that lie begins? It begins in pornography. It starts with seeing woman as objects instead of jewels. It starts with a lie that watching the act of sex will gratify a man OR a woman's deepest desires. Most of the women who are in those videos are trafficked, most of them do not enjoy what they are doing; they are being forced. 

We can't just go into a red light district and take a person out and give them a new life because guess what? Another person will fill in their place, and another heart will fill their place because THERE IS STILL DEMAND. Demand starts with pornography. In the U.S alone, 20 million search engines typed in 'teen sex' or 'teenage sex'. 

Ted Bundy, who raped and killed 36 woman was sentenced to death. A network took an interview with him before he was executed asking him what his thoughts were, and how he could possibly do what he did. This rapist, this killer began to tell his story and this was it: he grew up in a Christian home. Went to church every weekend. Was an innocent boy, and one of his friends, when he was 13 showed him a magazine. And he took the liberty to continue in that. Pornography became an addiction. It became such an addiction that 'normal' porn videos weren't enough so, he started buying and watching violent sex. in the process, he felt so guilty and ashamed, he started drinking. Heavily. Soon, the violence wasn't enough and the alcohol and drugs numbed him enough that he had to act it out. To the point where 36 woman were his victims.

When boys are younger and you ask them what they want to be - none of them say 'I want to rape children', 'I want to run my own pornography business', 'I want to be more obsessed with sex than anything.' They're innocent, just like he was. It starts with a like, just like he was shared with. 

The reason I talk about this is because if we do not STOP the demand for pornography, it will be acted out. Woman will continue to be trafficked, as well as children. Men will continue to long for that power and give into that lie that pornography is normal.

A survey was taken at a Christian college campus and ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the men admitted to watching porn. When did this start becoming okay? When did this become just something fun to do? When does it stop becoming a habit and start being lived out?

This lie, this deception needs to be in the light.

The enemy is stripping us of what sex is meant to be. The enemy is taking one by one and decieving them that the woman actually enjoy being raped. The enemy is planting and rooting seeds that having sex with children is just another power source. The enemy is taking our flesh and making it our god. 

THE ENEMY CANNOT WIN.

JESUS HAS GIVEN US VICTORY.

PORNOGRAPHY IS NOT THE WAY, THE TRUTH OR THE LIFE HE INTENDED FOR YOU.

KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE.

I fully believe once young man and even woman see the deception of this lie and see the consequences of this sin, they will try harder to stop this. They will become more passionate about the justice God wants to bring to this world. We cannot continue to sit back and let the enemy steal innocence and proclaim worthlessness over these woman and children. 

Justice starts with monitoring your computer. Justice starts with walking away from lust. Justice starts with relying so heavily on the strength of God. Justice starts with standing up and walking out of a room if you are by yourself and tempted. 

The demand ends today.

Human trafficking ends today.

Justice begins.

truths.

My days are different every day even with the same schedule.  Thoughts are a million a minute and prayers are accumulating by the second, as I see more of the hearts of those around me, as I learn of the depths of need around the world. One day, we had intercession for poverty stricken families, we were focusing in on Ensenada but there was a statistic: 925 million children died in 2010 alone because of hunger. No one knows that, no one cares about that. Questions came up in my heart - Do I go? Where do I go? I want to be apart of the solution but how? I want to be more than a donation, I want to invest, I want to love, I want to teach them what following this Jesus guy means and that His intentions weren't for their brothers and sisters to starve to death. If I go to college, I would graduate in 2016 - how many seeds could have been sowed, how many hearts could have been restored? But I know it's not that easy and it's not about the location; I'm passionate about going but I'm more passionate about God's will, which I'm not entirely sure is now, today, in this second. That's when I take a deep breath and say, 'I trust you.' That's when I get on my knees and stand in the gap for those families. That's when I learn it's not about me going, it's about Him sending and calling.

Last night, the DTS students performed a skit of the city of Ephesus (when the letter 'Ephesians' was written); there were prostitutes and gypsies. There was a pouring of (fake) blood of a bull on over someone's head. There was a sacrifice of a virgin. There was a god to bow down to, and this was AFTER Jesus came. When we were done, we had a worshiped.
Worthy is the Lamb.
Worthy is the Lamb.
Worthy.
Is.
The.
Lamb.
He didn't die on that cross because He was a criminal. He didn't die because He couldn't defend Himself or wasn't powerful enough. He died because He was worthy enough to take our places, to stand in our gaps; that even when we spit in His face, He choose to say 'I love you.' and He wasn't resurrected because that's a good story. He wasn't resurrected because He didn't die in the first place. He was resurrected so that we may have the same power in Him to conquer our lives, our self, our hopes and choose His. His sacrifice became real, it became intimate and
the puffiness of my eyes are evidence of the tears He stored up for me last night.

God, I love you. God, I want you. God, I see no other but You.
let my scales fall so i may see the glory of the kingdom,
and how this small life fits into it.