Providence

I have a really great story from last week of God providing for me that I want to share.

So I only had $1,000 paid of the $4,300 for the first 12 weeks, at the YWAM base in Kona HI. I expected a lot more support to come in than has this month, and I hadn't thought paying the lecture fees on time would be a problem.

I went up until last week with only the $1,000 paid, and started freaking out in my mind about paying. I was talking with my friend the other night. He felt like he needed to talk with me. Money came up, and we talked about what God has been doing (and not doing, it seems...) in each of our lives. The next day he gave me a note with explanation and a check for a large chunk of the money I need.

Now, this friend doesn't have a lot of money himself, and in fact, is praying for a huge release of finances by this Thursday. (Seriously, please join us in prayer for my brother; I'm not going to give his name now, but God knows exactly who this man is. Please prayer for the needed money to come in miraculous ways, and soon.) But he gave this money it seems he can't afford to give because God asked him to give.

Now, I also need a little over $4,000 by Thursday just to pay for my lecture fees and the deposit for my outreach airfare. I don't know where this money will possibly come from. I have not heard from any friends or family or supporters about money coming in for me.

I still believe I'm in PhotoGenX right now for a reason, and this is exactly where God wants me. I believe this in large part because a number of the PhotoGenX staff keep telling me I'm supposed to be here and the group wouldn't be complete without me. But, I still have to pay to be here. =)

The great thing about YWAM is everyone in the organization, students, staff, and even the founder, everyone has to pay their own way for the schools and travel and living at bases and everything. And being inYWAM means you cannot really have a job at the same time. It's like, YWAM is your job, and you are paying them to work for them... O_o'

YWAM is completely faith based, and that means most people in YWAM need outside support. The faith based core of YWAM includes raising much of the money they need for things come from YWAM students and staff, who already have little money. But the history has been that the financial needs are always provided for, both for the organization and for individuals as they give when they hear God saying "Give."

This giving is scary, sometimes. Thursday night, I felt God saying "Give the money you have to [a girl in PhotoGenX]." I literally had three dollars left to my name. I was planning to use it for laundry later in the week. I said, "Okay, God, if You want me to..." So I gave her my last three dollars Friday. Do you remember what I said happened on Friday? Some friends felt God wanted them to give me $1,500 that they could not logically afford.

My three dollars where multiplied 500 times. Because I stepped out in faith at God's leading. And I'm praying their faith will be multiplied at least 7 times by Thursday. And I'm praying the girl I gave $3 to will receive $1,500 by Thursday. And now I think a number of people are praying I will receive $4,300 byThursday. And there are more people who still need to pay their fees and deposits.

The view about praying I have taken is, if I pray this, I must be willing to be God's answer to my prayer. Followers of Jesus must be willing to follow if Jesus says, "Come," or "Go," or "You do it." Jesus did this when He had been preaching for a while to a crowd of 5,000 men, plus their families (probably at least 12,000 people). His disciples said, "Hey, Jesus, these folks need to eat. Send them away to get some food." Then Jesus, in His absolute brilliance, simply says, "You feed them." Feed 12,000+ people... which would cost more than a laborer would receive for 200 days of work, basically a way of saying "Do you know how much that would cost just to give everyone a scrap of bread?!" So they scramble around and find five loaves of bread and a couple fish... A lunch for one. Jesus, without missing a beat, simply says "Okay. Thank you God for providing food," and proceeds to pass out a meal for everyone, and there were a lot of leftovers. (See Matthew 14:13-21 and John 6:1-14.)

The disciples were praying that they people would go away to get food, but then Jesus asked them to be the answer to their own prayers. This is not to say that they miraculously multiplied the bread and fish. Only God could do that. But the did the possible, following Jesus when he said go and finding some food. Then God did the impossible and made enough food for 12,000 hungry people.

It's all faith, and acting by faith when God asks us to do something. What I want to stress is that you might pray that God would provide the money I need (and the money other people inPhotoGenX need), and ask God if you are supposed to give to me; if no, than please don't give, and if God says yes, ask Him for a specific amount to give, and trust that He will be faithful to you. I know this is a scary thing to do. It stinks giving away your last $3. But it is more than worth any sacrifice to be faithful.

I will not promise God will give you more money because you give. In fact, I would almost promise that He will not just give you more money or stuff. The character of God is not the character that so many "health and wealth" televangelists have painted Him to be. He is a God who wants to bless His children so they will be a blessing to other people (and so on, and so on, perpetually) (Genesis 12:2). I sincerely believe God has blessings in store for people that can only be released when they bless other people in specific ways God wants.

Sorry that was so long and preachy. I mean no condemnation by what I wrote, and if you felt condemnation, then please let me know because I need to heard what you have to say. (Now, condemnation is different than conviction, which is what God may be wanting you to feel. If you feel conviction, don't ignore it.) This has just been very heavy on my heart recently. I have found so much freedom in giving up my rights to money and possessions and giving them away at God's calling. I want to share that freedom.

So yeah, in case you want to get a hold of me and need it, my email is crwolf@knox.edu.

Thank you SO much for your prayer and encouragement. Hope to hear from you soon.

Grace and peace,

Χριστοφόρος (Bearer of the Christ)

PhotoGenX Outreach Update!

Alright, so here's the low down. For the three months I will be on outreach with PhotoGenX, I have the option to go either to Panamá and Colombia for outreach and then spend two weeks in South Africa, or spend all three months to South Africa. There are numerous factors that weigh in to both options as pros and cons. I will not list the pros and cons here. I want to go where God is calling me, regardless of my thoughts on the pros and cons. I want to hear God speaking through other people.

So if you are willing to really commit to asking God to speak and want to listen for His voice and leading, than please pray that God would impress on you the country He is calling me to, and then wait. Listen. Ask God if it's Him speaking and not your own thoughts.

I believe God is able to speak when people quiet their minds and hearts, and wait and listen for Him to talk. Think of this as an exercise if you do not often hear God speak.

Grace and peace,

Christopher

This week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the PhotoGenX DTS and the other two DTSs going this term at U of N meet together for worship, and we read Genesis and Hebrews out loud in groups of three or four. A lot of people seemed not to enjoy this corporate experience very much, but I loved that we read through two books out loud together.

Genesis is probably considered the book of the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses, the Law, i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) that is most relevant of important to us today, followed by half of Exodus. I would personally argue that Leviticus is a contender for the best book of the Law; but they all have to be taken together to understand the others in context, so none can really be the best.

So Genesis starts... well, at the start, the beginning. The first verses of Genesis are some of the best known of anything in the Bible, and are well known outside the Bible. But most of Genesis is a narrative account of Abram/Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel, and the covenant God made with Abraham and Abraham's descendants.

This is simply brilliant. Covenants were made between two people or parties, or between a king and his subjects, for strategic economic or political reasons. But a covenant between a people and a god was unprecedented. Gods do not make covenants with people. But there is something different about this God, and He wants a relationship with people. The nature of covenants was that if either party broke the stipulations of the covenant, the other party had the legal right to take the blood, the life, of the other party. (Israel later broke the covenant again and again and again, countless times, and God showed mercy to His people instead of killing them. But this is something for another time.)

Genesis is about God beginning something big, where He has a relationship with a people. He has made a promise to bless them, something no other god would do. This sets up the narrative of His covenant people, told in Exodus.

I'm really tired, so I'm going to stop writing. I wanted to get out some thoughts about this week. More soon.

Grace and peace!

Chris

To begin with...

I haven't given much of a, "This is my life and what's been happening" sort of update, so I'll start with that a bit and then get on to more interesting matters soon. Hang with me. ^_^

I have a fair amount of notes from lectures and whatnot, but I haven't done much journaling since I've been here. It's been hard to do much of anything, to be honest, without cutting out twelve other things that are about as important. I want to start writing more prolifically and hopefully someday create something more substantial out of my writing. Maybe it's good that I'm writing these updates for anyone to read because I'll be more on top of writing while in mmy abundant free time. (Note to people who have not done a DTS: free time is a sarcastic joke; we don't really get free time, until the weekend when we have nothing but free time....)

The first week was all about hearing God's voice. (I know I talked about this a little already.) The amazing thing was I did hear God speaking to me, everyday in fact. Nothing huge in the sense of, Go tell the king of Israel he needs to share up, 'cause he ain't obeying My Law, but smaller things like confirmation that God wants me to be here going the PhotoGenX DTS, affirmation of His love for me and my completeness in Him, and a lot of words of encouragement for other people. That seems weird in a way, I know. Why would God tell anyone His thoughts through a person they have know for a week or less?

But really, this is brilliant! We all hear/tell ourselves what we want to hear pretty much of the time. And this can include wishful thinking about hearing God's voice. (I am very sensative to what I hear and believe God is speaking to me, and I have been trying to have trusted friends here bare witness in Spirit with what I here. I know it is so easy to convince myself something I thought was from God, when actually it was my own selfish, prideful desires stirring up. I think I'm slowly learning to recognize God's voice as opposed to my own thoughts. This will be a life-long process to humbly hear God, and I'm very excited for the time I'll get to practice.)

But, if God speaks a word to me through someone I know instead of speaking directly to me, and there are details they could not have known about, God will get my attention and be able to speak to me in ways He may not be able to otherwise. (There is a story to go along with this; I will retell it soon.)

And then the second week (last week) was on Freedom in Christ. The whole week was fantastic, but last couple days especially have stuck with me. We started talking about confessing sins and turning around, asking forgiveness from God and people we've wronged, and forgiving people who have wronged us. This whole deal of laying overything out before God and saying, "I'm walking away from this and toward You" (this is what "repent" means), and forgiveness, these are all the core of having true freedom, which can only come through Christ. A lot of people shared in front of God and the class, and it was a great privalage to be there and be united with such beautiful brothers and sisters. It wasn't easy. Friday I layed myself open in front of everyone, and that in addition to everyone else sharing made it a very difficult day, but it was for sure one of the best I've ever had. I would not trade that experience for anything (not even the money I still need to stay in PhotoGenX... ^_^).

I think there are probably more details I'll fill in later, but please know that all is well, I'm photographing as often as possible, and I love you all and miss you very much. Thank you for the emails and comments, &c., and especially for all your prayers. I'll try to get a specific prayer list up soon....

Your servant by the grace and peace of Jesus Christ,

Christopher

A Voice for the Voiceless: Child Prostitution

I want to present a hypothetical situation. This will be hard to read. In fact I want to advise that you don’t force yourself to read this if it becomes too much. But do remember, this is reality for MILLIONS of children worldwide.

– – –

Kent and Debbie, a young married couple, have two young children: a teenage boy named Chris, and an eleven-year-old daughter, Janet. The family lives on the edge of Denver, a big city in the United States, in a not so great neighborhood/slum. For the most part they get by, but life is very difficult for their family.

Kent comes home one evening, downcast. He breaks the news that he has been fired, and instantly the only income the struggling family had is gone. He and Debbie don’t know what to do. They stay up all night and talk and argue, and the next day they continue, into the next evening. In the morning, Kent tells Janet and the family that he has made up his mind, and although Debbie is devastated, she has to agree. He has decided to sell his eleven-year-old daughter as a child prostitute.

Child prostitution is illegal in the U.S. as in essentially every country, but that does not stop anyone from exploiting little girls (or even boys), it does not stop families from selling girls so they have a little extra money to live one – not to mention fewer hungry stomachs to feed – and it does not stop people from their own country or even from foreign countries coming to have sex with little girls being used as sex slaves.

Janet has no power to stop what her family has condemned her to, and soon a man – who will tell her what to do, who will sell her to be rapped again and again every day – comes and takes her away from her family. Her mothers promises they will see each other again and she will come home as soon as they have money and can afford to redeem her.

The thing is, in so many countries – The U.S. among them – girls are simply used until they are infected with HIV/AIDS, scores of other STDs, and are sick and thinning. When they are about to die, they are literally thrown out on the street.

Janet waits for years. No one comes for her, except grown men who want to force themselves on her. Foreigners, from countries where many claim to love God, come and do nothing to rescue her; instead they help keep her enslaved.

And the worst part? No one ever comes to tell her about a God who hears her cries, who is broken over her brokenness, who wants to redeem her, who wants her to be a free child. No one ever tells her about Jesus, who died to take away her wrongdoing and make her righteous before God as part of His family. No Christian ever comes to say, There is hope, and I will help set you free.

– – –

This illustration is based off of the true story of an Indian (as in from India…) girl named Prema, told in “30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless” (ISBN 1-4276-0425-8). This is a global pandemic that is the only reality that millions of little girls know. In fact, in 2006, around the world an estimated 10 million children were in some aspect of the sex industry. Over a million children annually are brought into prostitution. In South Africa alone, 40,000 children work as prostitutes. In Thailand, girls between age 10 to 12 are forced to have sex with men 10–30 times every day.

Do you see what I’m trying to drive home? I wanted to bring the reality of child prostitution closer to home, so I tried to use my family, my little sister, to drive home the point. I would feel like killing someone if this happened to Janet. I cannot imagine my baby sister being forced into prostitution, in such intense pain – physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually – dozens of times every day. Until she can’t feel anymore or chooses not to feel. Until her body gives up, shuts down, and dies.

Would you allow this to happen to your child? I know you are saying “No.” So how can we allow anyone’s child to bear this?

This isn’t only a problem in countries like India or Thailand. Child prostitution is alive and thriving in the U.S. too. USA Today ran a story about child prostitution over a year ago (USA Today - Child Prostitution). So many in the world are choosing to ignore this, to pretend this is not a problem, or simply refuse to become informed on global issues of injustice. People choose out instead of in. Out of personal pain, out of responsibility, out of life.

What would happen if we chose in, to choose in to life, to choose in to the pain of others, choose in to taking action? Could one of the most lucrative industries in the world be shut down?

Jesus was condemned often for his interaction with prostitutes and other people no one else wanted to interact with. If God doesn’t love the messed up, dirty people as much as the ones who look clean and as though they have everything together, what kind of God would that make Him? It is never people God hates, but the things people do that are against His nature (i.e. sin). The church seems embarrassed to do anything involving prostitutes, pornography, drug users, anyone involved with something the church is supposed to be against. This doesn’t mesh with what Jesus did.

I am worried my writing here has given a sense of condemnation, and I promise that is the last thing I want. There is no condemnation for anyone who is in Christ, and I do not want to be a voice of condemnation; but I do want to be a voice crying out “Who will save these children?” I want to be a voice asking why the church is not doing what Jesus did. I want to be a Voice for the Voiceless.

I would leave to hear your comments.

Grace and Peace,

Christopher

Photos!

Since this whole PhotoGenX deal is supposed to be about photography, I wanted to dedicated an update to photos. Enjoy.

Scandinavian shaved ice, with half a ton of flavoring and sugar. SOOOO good...

K. B. and Charisa, both PhotoGenX. They are conquering a massive Scandinavian shaved ice.

Brittany and Ashley, both with me in PhotoGenX. Ashley is also from Colorado (woot!). They are also conquering a massive Scandinavian shaved ice.

A friend from PhotoGenX, Charisa. (I hope I spelled that right...) Needs cropping.



This sea turtle was right by a large pier in Kona. Beautiful animal, it was wonderful to see up close.

There is a fantastic farmers market a few minutes from campus. I love the prices here. I am going to buy produce soon...



This photo is actually sideways, but I like it this way.


There are black crabs all over the beach. The girls seem to get very excited when they see these crabs.


One of the beach fronts we went to today had a number of rock sculptures, rocks balanced on each other. I was surprised by how stable these were. I think I will make some of my own on Easter.

Classes & Address & Money/Equipment...

[These are thoughts on Monday and Tuesday. I'm still processing Wednesday. Suffice for now to say it was good. ^_^ I know this is long, and thank you for taking time to read and express your care for me. It means a lot.]

Aside: I've really taken to the Hawaiian way of spelling Hawai'i. So much more character... Anyway.

Yesterday was the first day of the PhotoGenX class. We started the whole deal by sharing some things that we are leaving in the past, our stories of how we came to Kona and PhotoGenX, and what we are the goals and prizes we are pressing on toward in this 24 weeks together. The stories almost literally took all day, and they were amazing. I am so thankful that almost everyone shared very personal, very difficult pieces of themselves. I hope and pray God will use the honesty and vulnerability of the group to bring us close, into true community as brothers and sisters. There is so much potential for us over the next 23 weeks.

A lot of people have joked about "suffering for God in Hawai'i." I feel that's kind of what I've been telling people I am doing. The training portion isn't so much suffering (at least I don't think it will be...), although I do expect it will not be all flowers and happiness. When you are in close community with a lot of people (or even a few) things will get tense and unhappy over some things. It stinks, but all you can do is work through stuff. I think the foundation we are building on from sharing yesterday will get us through any tight spots.

Today was the first day of class that felt like class. The morning session was all about hearing and obeying God, what that looks like, the different ways it comes up... so much to process. I wrote a couple pages of notes, and I still have yet to reflect on them. All this week will be focused on hearing God speak and obeying when/what we hear. This is the beginning of the true the core and purpose of thePhotoGenX DTS, or any DTS at any YWAM base, to learn about who God is and be discipled in following Jesus and living for Him. I'm really excited for this week and talking, thinking, reflecting, sharing about hearing and listening and obeying God.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 is the verse that comes most strongly to my mind: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart." In Hebrew, shama is the word translated as "hear," and it can also be translated as "obey." So shama has implications of both meanings simultaneously. When the ancient Israelites heard this call about how they were to relate to God, they would have heard both hear and obey, essentially as though the two concepts cannot exist without the other. Loving God means hearing Him and then doing what He says. He wants to bring His people into the land He promised them because He loves them, so there is no reason not to listen and obey. Loving God back is the most natural expression, because love should respond with love. This sums it up well: "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

Tonight we had the first photography lesson. It was all review for me, but it was fun and I'm very glad to do even review. There are so many fantastic people in this school, and I am excited to be with all of them. I'm really excited to help teach the people who don't know much about photography. ^_^

I want to give you all my address in case you want to mail me anything.

Chris Wolf
University of the Nations – photogenX DTS
75-5851 Kuakini Highway #430
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-2199

I'm still in the process of getting my support letters sent and out. I still need almost $500 by Friday, and almost $6000 by April 30. I trust completely that God will provide everything I need in time (probably not my time...), but I also know part of that provision is asking for help. I want to thank everyone who has already helped me financially: y'all are basically my heroes, and I love you all more than I can say. If you would like to help me financially, in any way, please email me.

I am also kind of hoping that I will find digital photography equipment I can borrow for my time in Kona and during the outreach phase. I have a Nikon D100 right now, which will work fine, but I'd love something with a little more oomph (Nikon D80 is my dream... just wanted to share that). More than a body though, I am praying for another lens, somewhere in the 30-70mm range. I only have a 70-200mm lens right now, which will not help me as much as I need. Anyway, if you know anyone who might be willing to let me borrow any photo equipment - even camera bags or CF memory cards or whatever - I would be very appreciative.

I am excited to share more soon of what god has been doing. I will leave you with a thought from a letter that has become very important to me. "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12-14).

So in the spirit of forgetting pasts filled with regret, shame, guilt, brokenness, junk, may you press on toward the goal and prize and make it your own.

Grace and Peace!

Christopher

(P.S. If you want to look up any verses, biblegateway.com is a great tool and resource.)

The Adventure Commences (Back post from April 2)

I’m sitting in the Denver International Airport, full of black coffee and a little espresso from Caribou Coffee (sorry, Liz), and somewhat tired. I woke up at 4am this morning, after about four hours of sleep (I pack somewhat last minute…). I’ve been at DIA sine about 6am, two hours now. Check in and security check when smoothly; my pants stayed firmly on my hips when I removed my belt, which was a great relief.

I originally had a total of three flights today: Denver to Phoenix, Phoenix to Maui, and Maui to Kailua-Kona. My first flight was delayed an hour at 4am this morning. I’m impressed they knew it would be delayed that early, but I guess that is their job. When I checked in, my airline took good care of me and gave me a flight from Phoenix directly to Kona. The catch is the PHX-Kona flight leaves about ten minutes after the DEN-PHX flights is scheduled to get in with the new, hour later departure. Today will be very exciting. My connection is, thankfully, only a few gates down, so I should make it in time. I’ll let you know later.

I’m so, so thankful that I am going. A week ago I didn’t have tickets to Hawai’i, and I thought I would not be going. But God is faithful and provides in His own timing, and here I am. I still have about $10,000 dollars to raise to pay for DTS, but that feels doable, somehow.

I will let you all know that I have arrived in Kona (in how many pieces only God knows) as soon as I get a chance. Until then, in His deep grace and peace,

Chris(Topher) R. R.

Jargon & Acronyms

Some terms that would be helpful to become familiar with:

YWAM - Youth With A Mission. YWAM is a missions organization that works world wide. The program I’m doing is through YWAM. (www.ywam.org)

U of N - University of the Nations. Located in Kona, HI (on the big island). This is the base of operations for some YWAM training programs, as well as many other programs. (www.uofnkona.edu)

DTS - Discipleship Training School. DTSs are about 24 weeks long in total, and have a 12 week lecture phase in Kona at the U of N, and a 12 week field assignment in which DTS students put the lecture phase into practice. There are a huge variety of DTS focuses offered at U of N. (What is a DTS?)

photogenX - This is the DTS focus I am doing. photogenX is a ministry of YWAM that uses photography as a means to engage a media driven Western culture and be a voice for the voiceless, pleading the cause of the voiceless to people who can do something to change their situations. photogenX DTS students and staff work as advocates for people we meet and photograph, people who have been wronged by social injustices. (PhotoGenX DTS) (photogenxdts.blogspot.com) (photogenx.net)

Advocacy - Some of the issues photogenX is committed to addressing and changing are sex trafficking abroad, racism against indigenous peoples in Panama and Latin America, infanticide in the Amazon, and issues of voicelessness globally. (photogenx.net/sexandmoney) (hakani.org)

These are the basic terms, and the terms I expect to use most often. Ask if you have questions.

Grace and peace,

Christopher

Quick and Simple

I have arrived safely in Hawai'i! I did not get the direct flight from Phoenix to Kona I was hoping for. I flew from Phoenix to Honolulu and had about an hour and a half layover. I waited in line for my boarding pass for nearly an hour, and barely made my island hop flight from Honolulu to Kona. Everyone in the line was complaining and impatient because the woman at the check-in counter was helping a couple and having a lot of trouble. I assumed she was doing her best and did my best to be patient, but the attitudes around me made it so difficult. God calls people to be set apart from the status quo mindset, and I think that extends even to attitude while waiting in lines. Everything we say and do is a reflection of spiritual health. (And I would argue the spirit and "spiritual health" are not separate from physical reality and health and anything visible. More on this later...)

This is only the third full day in Hawai'i, but it seems like so much longer already. My time hasn't felt long in a bad way. I'm not sure how to express it. I love the U of N campus so much, and I love the other YWAMers. I feel as though I have known everyone for much longer than three days. We'll all be amazingly close over 12 or 24 weeks. I sincerely hope we will all be close friends for life when we leave.

There is so much to say about YWAM, about U of N, about PhotoGenX, about Hawai'i and Kona, about church this morning, about eagles and parrots, and about myself and God. I'll try to do that soon. But know I am here, I am safe, and I am doing fantastic. Thanks for all your support and prayers and and emails and texts. Keep them coming.

I love you all. Grace and peace!

Chris(Topher) R. R. W.

New Site for Better Photos

Hey all. I'm switching over to Blogger because I believe the photo capabilities will be better, which makes sense for what I'm doing this for. Sorry for running you all around. I won't do it again (I think...).

First test:
This is my family cat (because I don't have pictures from Hawai'i yet. I'm lame, I already know...).


Test two (Jones Soda bottles):

Real update soon (in about an hour or so...).