by Tim Euken
Throughout this first few months God has been revealing
some unbelievable truths to me that I will walk with for the rest of
my life. With one hand God has shown me my flaws and with the
other extends grace. I believe comforting the hardest issues before
they become giants, is the only way not to burn out.
In Brazil I saw boys under twelve years old smoking some
crack and police officers just turning the back to it. I met people
that have lost there entire families to floods, I found that in those
floods the government said 900 people died but the local census
was around 12,000. In South Africa during a feeding I saw a
woman beat her three year old baby across the street as an older
man laughed. I met children from child headed homes and
helped feed children that quite possibly eat only once a week. I
have lived with a family that has no electricity and has running
water only once or twice a week, with that water they feed all 15
family members, 7 of which are adopted from dead relatives, as
well as water there crops. All this I have seen through a lens of a
camera, standing in the midst of beauty and pain I realize in
these moments I discover Jesus in a deeper way, I discover his
heart and the way he sees the broken and poor.
During my time in Brazil, in the flood zones with the farmers
I worked the fields. Many times I would just run up to farmers
that are already in there crops and say “Posso ajuda?” which
means “Can I help you?” in portuguese. While I was there one
night I went out to the fields that I had worked and it was pitch
black, no street lights and just watched the stars. It was an
amazing time with God. Here, I began to realize how I can relate
God to pretty much everything in nature. Also this is around the
time I realized how many times God spoke in the wilderness: he
spoke to Jesus, Moses, and Jacob - just a few off the top of my
head.
During my time in South Africa and Swaziland I felt like
God really talked to me on humbleness and the ability to have a
joyful spirit in the most dire situations. I learned so much from
the people I lived with that I am not sure if I’ll ever be able
express to how much it meant to me that they spent time with
me. While in South Africa and Swaziland I was very much
needing the Lord because of all the depressing stories and things
I had witnessed. It’s here when I came across the verse where
Jesus says, “Pick up your cross and follow me”. This was shocking
to me that he had said this before he was told he would be hung
on the cross. Than I thought to myself what does that look like?
Jesus picking up his cross; it wasn’t glorious, it wasn’t gracious, it
was painful and wasn’t for himself. When Jesus picked up his
cross he knew that when he got Calvary where he was going he
would be nailed too it - is this what Jesus meant by pick up your
crosses? And I asked myself “is that how far I am truly willing to
go?” Is this dream God put in my heart something that I’m
willing to pick up and walk with even if I know I will be nailed to
the issues in my heart for the rest of my life? That night I told
God that this is truly something I want to give my whole heart to,
something that seems only right after I was saved from a life of
underprivileged and given parents willing to see me go where
ever I’m called and walk like I am asked to walk and love the way
we are demanded to love.
I honestly want to thank all of you for investing in my life as
well as the lives of the people I encounter. All this couldn’t be
possible without you and I truly want to get to know all of you on
a one-on-one basis, please e-mail me whenever you just want to
chat with me. Its honestly an honor to talk to all of you guys. Plus
after traveling so much, being able to communicate with people
that speak my language well is always a plus! Also I have lost 27
lbs sense the start of this track.
Throughout this first few months God has been revealing
some unbelievable truths to me that I will walk with for the rest of
my life. With one hand God has shown me my flaws and with the
other extends grace. I believe comforting the hardest issues before
they become giants, is the only way not to burn out.
In Brazil I saw boys under twelve years old smoking some
crack and police officers just turning the back to it. I met people
that have lost there entire families to floods, I found that in those
floods the government said 900 people died but the local census
was around 12,000. In South Africa during a feeding I saw a
woman beat her three year old baby across the street as an older
man laughed. I met children from child headed homes and
helped feed children that quite possibly eat only once a week. I
have lived with a family that has no electricity and has running
water only once or twice a week, with that water they feed all 15
family members, 7 of which are adopted from dead relatives, as
well as water there crops. All this I have seen through a lens of a
camera, standing in the midst of beauty and pain I realize in
these moments I discover Jesus in a deeper way, I discover his
heart and the way he sees the broken and poor.
During my time in Brazil, in the flood zones with the farmers
I worked the fields. Many times I would just run up to farmers
that are already in there crops and say “Posso ajuda?” which
means “Can I help you?” in portuguese. While I was there one
night I went out to the fields that I had worked and it was pitch
black, no street lights and just watched the stars. It was an
amazing time with God. Here, I began to realize how I can relate
God to pretty much everything in nature. Also this is around the
time I realized how many times God spoke in the wilderness: he
spoke to Jesus, Moses, and Jacob - just a few off the top of my
head.
During my time in South Africa and Swaziland I felt like
God really talked to me on humbleness and the ability to have a
joyful spirit in the most dire situations. I learned so much from
the people I lived with that I am not sure if I’ll ever be able
express to how much it meant to me that they spent time with
me. While in South Africa and Swaziland I was very much
needing the Lord because of all the depressing stories and things
I had witnessed. It’s here when I came across the verse where
Jesus says, “Pick up your cross and follow me”. This was shocking
to me that he had said this before he was told he would be hung
on the cross. Than I thought to myself what does that look like?
Jesus picking up his cross; it wasn’t glorious, it wasn’t gracious, it
was painful and wasn’t for himself. When Jesus picked up his
cross he knew that when he got Calvary where he was going he
would be nailed too it - is this what Jesus meant by pick up your
crosses? And I asked myself “is that how far I am truly willing to
go?” Is this dream God put in my heart something that I’m
willing to pick up and walk with even if I know I will be nailed to
the issues in my heart for the rest of my life? That night I told
God that this is truly something I want to give my whole heart to,
something that seems only right after I was saved from a life of
underprivileged and given parents willing to see me go where
ever I’m called and walk like I am asked to walk and love the way
we are demanded to love.
I honestly want to thank all of you for investing in my life as
well as the lives of the people I encounter. All this couldn’t be
possible without you and I truly want to get to know all of you on
a one-on-one basis, please e-mail me whenever you just want to
chat with me. Its honestly an honor to talk to all of you guys. Plus
after traveling so much, being able to communicate with people
that speak my language well is always a plus! Also I have lost 27
lbs sense the start of this track.
