What, truly is the state of this world in which we live, and how on earth (literally and poetically) should we, or can we, measure it?

If you had to, how would you rate the general well-being of this world? 

If you had to stick a thermometer into its soul-core and take a general reading, what would your prediction be, and what would be your criteria for measurement?

I’m clearly not talking about temperature (because that would be very, very warm, I’m assuming) but health: wholeness, happiness, life satisfaction, joy – the whole piñata. 

What is the health of the earth?

This is my attempt to kind of answer that. To provide my own perspective.

I invite you into this space. My space (not to be confused with Myspace, RIP), to sit with me and see the earth as I do.

The answer to this HUGE QUESTION of course depends largely on where you live, who you are and who you ask. 

My own answer has a lot of statistics and in light of that, I’m going to urge you be present. To resist the great temptation to half-read these things and move on as quickly as possible.

I’m going to ask you to take a real, solid moment, because we are talking about people here. Complicated, wonderful, unique, created people, and we are talking about our earth, the one and only. 

When you read these things, try not to picture somebody in another world – a developing word, a “third” world (see my post from last month) – but in your world. Your people. Try to be as present as possible.

OKAY. Longest, strangest intro ever. Let’s do this.

In international circles, the year 2030 comes up a lot when talking about global health, poverty, wealth and inequality. This is rooted in what is called the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development produced by the United Nations. 

In this Agenda, the United Nations uses 17 goals, with 169 targets to rate the earth’s well-being. This is because the U.N, like me, have discovered that matters of humanhood and earth-living are not simple, or easy, but multidimensional and complicated.

I’m going to use most of these 17 goals to break up the following statistics and provide some semblance of order and organization to this monster of a thing. The heading will be the category, and the goal next-door is the U.N.s measure of success. Here we go. 

POVERTY (Goal: No Poverty)

• 1 in 10 people in the world live under the extreme poverty line of $1.90 per day. That is $1.90 for all of life’s needs: food, education, healthcare, housing, etc, etc. That’s 1/10th of humanity. That’s $1.90. That’s insane.
• Around half of humanity live on less than $5.50 per day. 50% of humans (I know, I know, I’m a mathematical genius).
• A child under the age of 15 dies approximately every 5 seconds (6.3 million children per year), mostly from preventable causes. The vast majority of these deaths (5.4 million) occur in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half of these deaths. 
• If current global trends and circumstances continue, 160 million children are at risk of continuing to live in extreme poverty by 2030. 160 million. 160 MILLION.

FOOD (Goal: Zero Hunger)

• 1 in 9 people in the world today are undernourished, without enough to eat. That is 815 million people. Without change, this number is expected to grow to 2 billion by 2050.
• At the same time, 2 billion people globally are overweight or obese.
• One in four children under the age of five are of inadequate height for their age. One quarter!
• 45% of deaths in children under 5 are caused by poor nutrition. 3.1 million children every year.

HEALTH (Goal: Good Health and Well-Being)

• Every day, 10,000 people die because they lack access to affordable healthcare. 
• In 2017, there were an estimated 435,000 people who died of malaria. Malaria is both preventable and treatable. This means it doesn’t have to be this way.
• A woman is 14 times more likely to die during childbirth in the majority world than in the minority world.
• AIDS is the leading cause of death among 10-19 year olds  in Africa and the second most common cause of death among adolescents around the world. Again, preventable and treatable.
• 1 in 4 healthcare facilities around the world lacks access to clean water. To clean water; the most basic of tools for providing healthcare services. 
• Up to 80% of people living in rural areas in the majority of the world rely on traditional plant-­based medicines for basic healthcare. 

EDUCATION (Goal: Quality Education)

• Today, 265 million children will not be allowed to go to school. 22% of these children are primary-school aged and 50% live in areas of conflict.
• 617 million youth around the world lack basic mathematics and literacy skills.

GENDER INEQUALITY (Goal: Gender equality)

• Men control over 86% of corporations around the world, and 50% more of the world’s wealth than women.
• For every 100 men aged 25-34 living in poverty, there are 122 women of the same age group. The conclusion: poverty is absolutely a gender issue.
• 49 countries in the world have no laws protecting women from domestic violence.
• 18 countries have laws whereby husbands can legally prevent their wives from working.
• 39 countries do not have equal inheritance rights between daughters and sons.
• Around the world, 750 million girls were married before their 18th birthday. The issue of child brides is a big, big deal.
• Around 200 million women and girls across 30 different countries have been subjected to female genital mutilation.
• Women represent only 23.7% of global national parliaments.
• Only 52% of women in a married or seriously relationship make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care.
• Only 13% of agricultural land is owned by women.
• The global gender pay gap is 23%.
• Of those who are forced into labour as a form of modern day slavery, 99% of victims in the forced commercial sex industry and 58% in all other sectors are women. Slavery is also a gender issue.

WATER (Goal: Clean Water and Sanitation)

• 1/3rd of the world’s population lacks access to safe water (2.1 billion people). One in three people. One. In. Three.
• One person dies every 37 seconds from water-related illnesses and every single day nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal diseases. 
• 4.4 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation and 2.4 billion lack access to a toilet or latrine. Did you read that right? 2.4 billion people lack access to a toilet. Any toilet.
• By 2050, if current trends continue, 1 in 4 people in the world will be living in a country experiencing chronic and persistent fresh water shortages.
• 892 million people are estimated to still practice open defecation.
• 40% of the world population lives with water scarcity issues.
• 1.7 billion people access their water from river basins where their usage exceeds the recharge rate. As in, this is unsustainable.
• 80% of wastewater produced by humans flows into rivers or seas without any efforts to remove their pollutants. 

ENERGY (Goal: Affordable and Clean Energy)

• 1.4 billion people in the world do not have access to electricity.
• 3 billion rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste to cook their food. 3 billion.
• In 2012, 4.3 million people died from air pollution caused by using combustible fuels within the home. 60% of these deaths were women and girls.

GLOBAL INEQUALITY (Goal: Reduced Inequalities)

• In 2018, 26 people in the world owned the same amount of wealth as 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity. 

SUSTAINABILITY (Sustainable Cities and Communities)

• 883 million people live in slums today.
• As of 2016, 90% of urban dwellers have been breathing unsafe air, resulting in 4.2 million deaths. 

IRRESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION (Goal: Responsible Consumption and Production)

• Should the global population reach 9.6 billion as projected by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets would be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles.
• An estimated ⅓ of all food produced worldwide (1.3 billion tons estimated at $1 trillion) ends up rotting or spoiling before use due to poor transportation or harvesting practices. 

CLIMATE (Goal: Climate Action)

• Despite occupying only 3% of the earth’s land, cities are responsible for 60-80% of global energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions.
• Between 1880 and 2012 the average global temperature increased by 0.85°C. For every one degree of temperature increase, grain yields drop by 5%. 
• From 1901 to 2010, the global average sea level rose by 19 cm due to melting ice. Since 1979, the Arctic sea ice has shrunk by 1.07 million km² every decade.  This number is predicted to increase to 24 – 30cm by 2065 and 40-63cm by 2100. 
• Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by almost 50% since 1990.

THE SEA (Goal: Life Below Water)

• Since the Industrial Revolution, acidity in the oceans has risen 26%.
• Coastal waters are deteriorating due to pollution and land run-off, which causes oxygen depletion. Without change, these rates are predicted to increase 20% by 2050.  

THE LAND (Goal: Life on Land)

• 13 million hectares of forests are being lost every year while 1.6 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods. 
• 2.6 billion people depend directly on agriculture, but 52% of the land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by soil degradation.
• We have lost land suitable for growing crops at an estimated 30 -35 times the historical rate.
• Due to drought and fertile land becoming desert, 12 million hectares are lost each year (23 hectares per minute). Within one year, 20 million tons of grain could have been grown.
• Across 120 countries of the world, nearly 7,000 species of plants and animals are involved in illegal trading.
• 8% of known animal breeds are now extinct, with 22% at risk of extinction. This is heart breaking.

VIOLENCE AND CORRUPTION (Goal: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)

• US $1.26 trillion is lost in the majority world each year due to corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion.
• Violence against children affects more than 1 billion children each year. 50% of the world’s children experience violence every year. Globally, every 5 minutes a child is killed by violence. Read that one again. It’s horrifying.
• 1 in 10 children around the world are sexually abused before the age of 18.
• In 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people were trapped in a form of modern day slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriage. This means that for every 1,000 people in the world there are 5.4 slaves.
• 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.
• In 2014, the International Labor Organization estimated that forced labor and human trafficking industries are worth $150 billion worldwide.

If you’re anything like me, reading a list like the one above – with world crisis after world crisis after world crisis – does three things. 

One: it makes me so angry and so sad and so hopeless.

Two: it makes me want to push it out of my mind as quickly as possible, because it’s too hard to sit with. I instantly reach for easy distraction.

Three: it makes me so, so thankful for Jesus, and the absolute truth that this world is not all there is. It’s not the be all and end all, it’s not the final destination, and there is more. A better more. A better, eternal more. 

I feel all three things simultaneously, and deeply.

However, one of the primary aims of my research and writing is to address that second point: our inability to sit with the horrific reality of this world in which we live. 

I believe that inability acutely perpetuates so many horrific issues that are both preventable and treatable. In other words, a big part of the problem is our refusal to recognize that there is a problem.

And I get it. I do. It’s much easier not to think about these things. 

It’s so much more convenient and fun to just live my life as if the whole world exists as I do: with food in their bellies, jobs to complain about, a choice of great healthcare providers and more than enough running water from the sink. 

My life can feel pretty great and full when it’s filled with hilarious memes, beach vacations and pinterest recipes. With simple notification adjustments, I can easily and intentionally ignore the rest.

The logic is simple: why upset my mental health when there is:

a) Nothing I can do about it anyway, and

b) Enough to worry about in my own little circle. I can barely keep a hold of me, let alone the dying billions, starving polar bears and rising sea levels. 

Anyone? Just me?

However, today, I want to offer up a different narrative.

A narrative that first acknowledges that things in this world are dreadfully and terribly wrong, but one that is also filled with joy and life purpose. I believe there is a way.

My invitation is simple:

a) We need to hold the hand that holds the world, and

b) We need to step into a space that makes us wildly uncomfortable.

We need to hold the hand that holds the world

In this context, the meaning of this sweet little phrase is simple: we need to have a Jesus worldview. And Jesus does not call us to be comfortable. He calls us to be holy, to be obedient, to die to ourselves and to know there is a great redeemer (and the very source of all love and peace and joy and purpose). We are to see the world, the nations and its people groups as people: designed and worthwhile.

We are to engage with the hard realities of this world and link our lives to something bigger than ourselves. Something better than ourselves. A purpose that has eternally positive ramifications. A purpose that stems from the glorious heart of God.

I recently heard the President of ZOE International, Carol Hart, speak on the topic of child-trafficking. Put simply, she saw the realities of the issue and said not in my lifetime. Not in my lifetime will children be purchased, sold and trafficked. 

Oh my, those words. That message. Not in my lifetime. I personally can not fix all these issues listed above. I can’t even mend just one of them. But, I know the creator of all things. Half the battle is just choosing to engage with the reality of the world, and decide to be a part of God’s redemptive story.

To take grasp and take stock of this world in which we live, and then walk forward into God’s invitation to be a part of its restoration. But first, we must take stock. We must sit with reality. We must be people who understand the truth, but are not okay with staying there. We have to be people who pull ourselves away from distraction and engage with pain.

We need to step into a space that makes us wildly uncomfortable 

First off, I need to say this:

There are so many things that we can practically and actually do about these issues listed above – it’s why I’m writing a book about it. There really, really are. SO MUCH progress has been made in the past, and there is SO MUCH hope, and we have learned a lot and there are solutions. Really and truly and I promise you.

But before we get there, we have to take stock. To read the global thermometer. To take our eyes off social media. To grieve.

Yes there are so many glorious, beautiful, wonderful, incredible things within this world – but that truth does not remove these harsh realities. We have to get uncomfortable. We have to run to the pain.

Can I share a thing that God spoke to me just yesterday?

I was sad. Really sad. There’s an issue, a big one, that was heavy on my heart and so I spent some time in prayer and worship. I wanted God to take it from me, essentially – I wanted Him to make me happy. I wanted to stop feeling sad, and I wanted it to go away. Long story short, God essentially said this to me:

“You need to be okay with being sad when it’s the season. This issue should grieve your heart because it’s awful and it grieves mine. Moving past it ignores the reality of it, which you have a tendency to do. You need to be comfortable with not being okay because this issue isn’t okay.”

So, for right now – my invitation is this, become comfortable in a place of not being okay with the state of the world. Face it, grieve it. Wrestle with it. Ask God about it. He may very well invite you into something that you declare is not okay within your lifetime.

Practically for now: take this list and read it. Re-read it. Take it to Jesus in prayer. Ask Him about it. Take note of what sparks reaction in your Spirit. Allow some space for sadness and righteous anger. Become uncomfortable. Take stock and sit with this reality of this world in which we live.

To close: I measured the state of the world and it’s not great. There’s a whole lot of terrible and we have to learn to sit with that. But that’s also not the end of that story. More to come.

ps: If you want any of my sources for the above stats and information, HMU. I have them all available and well organized (of course).

Why saying “third world country” is incorrect and obsolete.

Friends, it’s been a while. Years, in fact. It’s not that I haven’t been writing, it’s just that I haven’t been writing here.

I’ve been working and traveling and reading  and researching and growing a business and diving deep into the things that most capture and take hostage of my heart: that is, poverty alleviation and practical justice. You know, the normal, simple, light-hearted stuff that most almost-thirty somethings fill their lives and time with.

This post will be the first of a series on some deep and hard, important and life-defining stuff, so let’s start simple and talk about some language. What even is a third world country and why is saying it both incorrect and obsolete?

First up, there is zero judgement in this space. I operate out of the general understanding that most people are doing the best that they know how in life. If you’ve said, or say third world country, it’s okay and welcome to the club. But, there is a better way.

Put simply, the verbiage third world country is outdated and unhelpful. Here’s why.

Most people, when talking about third world countries are referring to poor places. Poor nations, in fact. Places filled with slums and shanty towns, barefooted children, rural villages without running water, etc. It’s one of those things that’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it. The term is used all the time, it’s common, we all know what people mean.

But, what most people don’t know is that these words did not originate as an economic stance or a geographical category, but as a political term and standing. Here’s a little history .

The terms first, second and third world originated after World War II and during the Cold War. The first world referred to the capitalist societies aligned with the U.S. and its allies (including Japan, Western Europe and Australia but also Papua New Guinea, Angola and Mozambique), whereby second world countries promoted communism and included the Soviet Union and its allies (including Russia, Poland and China). Third world countries were those who did not have a side within the Cold War division, including most nations within Africa, Asia and Latin America but also Finland, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. As these terms no longer accurately represent the political climate in which we live, they are outdated and inaccurate. I’m sure nobody would call modern-day Sweden a third world country and yet by its history and real life definition, it is.

Not only have these terms become obsolete, they are also inherently damaging. Defining the world in this way more than suggests a hierarchy with winners and losers, the haves and the have-nots. It simplifies entire nations and it’s also divisive, suggesting there is more than one world, and more than one humanity within it (which I will argue is not the way of Jesus). 

This of course all begs the question, if not ‘third world’ then what do I say? 

There are a variety of other alternatives being used that carry many of the same and some of their own issues, such as developing and developed nations.

These terms are problematic because they’re not only very hard to measure, but they feed into the rhetoric that some nations have ‘arrived’ and ‘succeeded’ in existing correctly (which we all know is not true…), while the rest of the world should strive to be as they are. We reduce entire nations, people groups and cultures to their lack and to their poverty. This also incorrectly assumes that this world in which we live has enough resources for all people to “develop” to our standards, which is simply not true. If everyone consumed at the rate that Americans do, we would need 4.1 earths to sustain ourselves, two of which would be needed just to absorb the quantity of carbon emissions. The USA makes up 4.73% of the worlds population, but uses 20% of the world’s energy, eats 15% of the worlds meat and produces 40% of the worlds garbage. It the whole world was ‘developed’ like the United States, it would not be a pretty place to be. 

When I was at university studying all kinds of complicated, fascinating large and global things, the preferred term of use was (and often still is) Global North and Global South. This refers, in large part, to the fact that most high-income countries (the United States of America, Canada, much of Europe, Japan) are located in the North, and much of the low-income countries and continents (including Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific) are South of those nations. This term is however (you guessed it) also problematic. Being from Australia (heavily rooted in the South geographically..) is one of them. There’s this thing called the Brandt line that divides the world into the Great North and Great South, but as you can imagine (and see.. Google it), it’s awful wiggly. Australia and New Zealand (located south) are included in the Great North (confused yet?). Plus, things are constantly changing, and becoming harder and harder to draw a line around as our definitions of poverty change and expand. Plus, there’s this issue: if you slip ‘the Global North’ into general conversation, most people will have no idea what you are talking about. It sounds more like a high-end brand of outdoor gear than a way to categorize the global in-need.

Then we move on to the phrases majority and minority world which are my personal preference. These terms were coined by a Bangladesh social activist named Shahidul Alam, who argued (rightly) that the majority of the world’s population live in the Global South (you know, the ‘third world’, ‘developing’ places that were historically colonized and exploited?).  

The term minority world  refers to the quarter of the world’s population that controls four fifths of the world’s income. On the flip-side, the term majority world  refers to the other three quarters of the worlds population that has access to only one fifth of the world’s income.

For me, this is my preference in term use as it speaks into nothing other than the amount of people within a geographic location. Of course, it does also come with an enormous disparity of wealth distribution, but also population size which is an asset from which to draw from, and not a comment on lack.

 I’m fully prepared for the fact that most people will have no idea what I’m talking about when I slip minority or majority world into daily life speech, but it starts a great conversation – which is always a positive thing for an introvert. We all know I need all the help that I can get.

You might be asking, why does any of this matter? One word for another, it’s just words. But reality is, it’s not. Words are power and language is a construction tool. Let’s use it wisely.

I for one want to use language that

a) actually makes sense, and

b) honestly represents this world in which we live without lacing that with other unspoken hierarchies.

So there you go! That’s my simplified reasoning behind why saying third world country is incorrect and obsolete. What do you think?

 

MINISTRY UPDATE: MAY 2017

We used one of our favourite wedding photos as the header this quarter, because May 10^th marks our three-year wedding anniversary! It also marks nine months of being on this adventure with Waypoint church. We have a lot to catch you up on over the past three months, so as always there’s the long version for my parents, and a short version for everybody else!

LIFE GROUPS, GATHERINGS AND A DAY OF PRAYER

Quick Version: since our last update we have had three very successful combined young adult Gatherings (with about 30-40 people at each) and we hosted a 12 hour day of prayer for the church on March 24^th that went amazingly!

As was our vision from the beginning, once a month we have organized (and will continue to organize, our next one is May 14^th!) monthly Gatherings, which bring together all of our Young Adult Life Groups on a Sunday night for fellowship, worship, a message and prayer. All three since our last update have been really powerful, with the opportunity to meet new people, share with one another, and soak in worship and the word of God together. We have both been super encouraged about how the Gatherings have been going and building momentum.

Our own Life Group (which meets on Tuesday nights) continued to host around 15-20 people each week, and has become a really tight, welcoming and encouraging community. Our last week meeting together was May 16th, and I’m sure we’re all sad to see that season come to an end. We thank God for all He has done through our Life Group, providing not only community, but a space to worship, for the Holy Spirit to work (people have been healed, others have heard God’s voice for the first time, others have felt His presence stronger than ever, etc) and for God to come in and bring His healing and refreshment. It’s truly exceeded our expectations, and grown our faith. Praise God!

We also hosted a church-wide day of prayer from 10am – 10pm on March 24^th. Our leadership team gathered the night before to set up a prayer wall, an art station, communion, and a huge taped map of the world on the floor of the sanctuary, and then on the day itself we split each hour into a session, organised leaders for each session, and prayed throughout the day about a number of topics; including human trafficking, the youth in Omaha, homelessness and poverty in Omaha, revival, our college campuses, and so forth. It was a really great event that we were all very thankful to be a part of. The presence of God was near!

DISCIPLESHIP SCHOOL, MISSIONS TRIPS AND LOCAL OUTREACH

 Quick version: We had a local Easter outreach for the refugee kids around Waypoint, we finish Discipleship School at the end of May, we have finalized our team of 10 Young Adults to come with us to Scotland this September (we are currently in the team meeting and fundraising stages), and we are planning a week-long Summer outreach to the local refugee population this Summer.

We have a lot going on as we plan for Summer and beyond! On Easter Saturday we took around 1,000 pre-packaged Easter eggs to three apartment locations just behind Waypoint Church, and let 50 plus kids from the neighbourhood run free and find them. It was a really great event! As a follow up, one of our Young Adult leaders (Katie) is organizing a weeklong outreach event in this community July 10-14. The team will stay in an apartment in the complex, and there will be a Vacation Bible School for the kids during the day, as well as nightly activities for families. Please pray as we are currently forming this team, and in the preparation stages.

We also just began meeting with our confirmed team of 10 Young Adults (not including us) who are going to Scotland on a mission trip this September! We are going to be partnering with our church plant there, to assist in outreach to the Freshman students at three university campuses, and then follow up with them and invite them to church at events. Right now we are in the fundraising stages (the trip is $2,500 per person), so we would be very grateful for prayers and assistance with that process also. We have sent out a separate letter with more details about that trip, so if you haven’t received one but would like to be on that list, please let us know!

Lastly, our nine-month Discipleship School is quickly coming to a close at the end of May! Please pray that we would all finish up strong. It’s been an amazing time of digging deeper into what it means to follow Jesus. We are excited to have so much more time back in our schedules, but we will be sad (for sure) to leave what has become an amazing community, and a pillar of this season in our lives.

NEW LEADERS AND A TRAINING TRIP TO WACO

Quick version: We are so excited that next ‘year’ (starting in September) we will have four Young Adult Life Groups starting (doubling our numbers from two!) with four, possibly five brand new leaders jumping onto our team. May 6-9 we travelled down to Waco, Texas with one of our leaders for a two-day training event.

 This year we have been meeting monthly with a team of six other amazing Young Adult leaders, but over the Summer this will grow into a larger team of eight or nine! These leaders will start four separate Life Groups in September, which we are really excited about. May 6^th – 9^th we took one of these leaders down to Waco, Texas with us for a College Ministry Training event which was an incredible time. It was so helpful to see the hub of Antioch, as well as connect with other College Ministry leaders from around the nation. The training itself covered a variety of topics (including counselling and pastoral care, vision and processes, leadership training and more) and was very, very helpful. We are so glad we went and wish we could have taken all of our amazing team!

 ALL THE OTHER STUFF (SOME MINISTRY, SOME NOT)

Quick version: These ones are dot points! You can read them.

• Luke recently accepted a position to be the spiritual counselor at a Creative Arts College here in Omaha. In addition to speaking a couple of times a year to the students, he will permanently be ‘on call’ to any students who are seeking his advice. Please pray that they do!
• We are currently in the next application process for my (Bec’s) US Green Card, as my conditional residency expires in July. As we had a terrible experience last time (6 months of marriage separation), we are praying for God’s peace and provision in this situation.
• We are both going to Alaska in June, for Luke’s 10 Year High School Reunion, which will in many ways be a missions trip in itself.

PRAYERS AND SUPPORT

Quick version: We would love, and in fact really need your prayers!

As always, truly crave and treasure your prayers! In addition to the request scattered throughout, please pray for our:

• Summer plans. Although Life Group and D-School will be coming to a close, we have lots going on in the Summer; the local week-long refugee outreach, weekly outreaches to the young adults in Omaha, campus prayer walks, discipleship, our monthly Gatherings, Scotland fundraising events and more!

Thanks for taking the time to read the long or short version of our ministry update!

Blessings,

Luke and Bec

MINISTRY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2017

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s crazy to think that it’s already February and three whole months since we sent our last update. Happy New Year! As seems to be the theme these days, we’ve been busy, and there’s a lot to fill you in on. As always, there’s a long version (hi Mum and Dad), and a short one (for everybody else).

2016 Isaacson Christmas Letter

Below is our 2016 Christmas letter (well.. blog post). People don’t really do this as much in the USA, but they do in my family so I’m carrying on the tradition!

 It’s one of my favourite things this time of season, to receive and read about all that various families have been up to all around the world. If you or your family writes anything of the sort, please add me to your list! It truly brings me joy.

Merry Christmas!

 I can hardly believe it’s that time of year again, and that 2016 is quickly disappearing. Every year around this time I (Bec) begin to ask God for a defining word or theme for the following year, and for 2016 I believe God gave me ‘the brave and the new’. This time last year our lives were a bucket load of uncertainty and impending decisions. Yet here we are, on the other side of it, having experienced a whole lot of new (and therefore a huge amount of brave!) over the past twelve months, weaving God’s words as very much true.

The true over-arching theme therefore has been the faithfulness and provision of God. Sitting down to write and think about all that has happened in 2016, and it reads as one long list of adventurous answers to prayer.

I was able to travel three times internationally this year, twice with work (to Costa Rica and El Salvador, to see, hear and write about the incredible ministries of Christ For the City International) and once, very last minute, to Australia. For those who know me even a little, you’ll know my deep and passionate love for the reality TV show Survivor. This was the first year that Australia had its own season, which meant that (dream come true!!!) I could apply, which I did; making it all the way to the top 5% and the final round – a live audition, in Sydney. We made the snap decision, I flew down for two weeks, I had the awesome opportunity to surprise my family for Easter, and (although I didn’t get on the show), I don’t regret it for an instant. I will also be applying for the next season (and the next and the next and the next!).

While I was globe-trotting, Luke also had the opportunity to travel down on a vision quest trip to Arizona and see the Grand Canyon.

In June/July Mum and Dad came to visit for a month, which was a really special time. One day after they arrived (jet lag’s not a real thing, right?) we all piled into my jeep and went on a camping road trip. In the middle of Summer and a few hours in, my air-conditiong went out (which was later followed by a complete multi-day breakdown), but we had an absolutely incredible time exploring South Dakotah and then just a dip in and out of Wyoming. We moved every couple of nights and spent our days hiking, exploring, and camping amongst some incredible landscapes; including the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and Devils Tower. It was a great trip. We then spent some time together exploring the site (not a typo) of Omaha, before they went to Washington D.C by themselves.

 

That’s not a laugh, this is a laugh

People often ask me what the differences are between Australia and the USA. There are many, most of which are impossible to explain.

A select few include:

MINISTRY UPDATE | NOVEMBER 2016

Hello family and friends!

I apologise for my recent blog silence (it’s not for lack of content, I have a mountain constantly piling up in my mind!), but perhaps once you read the below update you will understand why?

THE FLESH THAT WE BORROW

Brand new short and simple Soul Thread posted yesterday! Read all about The Flesh that we Borrow.

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10 WAYS TO BE SUPER CHEAP

A little bit of a different blog today, as I pass on my exceptional wisdom on how to be a major cheap-skate. I’m famous for never spending money, ever, if it’s at all possible to avoid doing so. So much so, that when Luke and I were first married he went out and purchased bath towels behind my back because he was afraid I would buy them second-hand (ha!).

Many of these you will already know, and some may be USA specific, but enjoy the cheap life!

Introducing, Bec’s 10 WAYS TO BE SUPER CHEAP!

1. Freecycle

If you’re not a part of freecycle, you need to be right now. I have used this in both Australia and the USA and it’s the BEST. It’s kind of like ebay but everything is free! You simply need to pick things up yourself.

YOU CAN’T HANDLE IT

Brand new Soul Thread posted yesterday! Read: ‘You Can’t Handle It‘.

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