A Timeless Message

This is my first entry of this nature. This is the kind of writing I do for my internship with Network211. This cause is something I am very passionate about. It's something that NEEDS to be dealt with. It's something that needs to be brought to people's attention. Christian or not, the freedom of religion is an unalienable right that is not being respected. It is a fight worth fighting. Please read this with an open mind and share it with everyone you know.

Many people believe that once we accept Jesus Christ, we will move from one good experience to another. Perhaps they think that finding salvation is like winning the lottery and all of our earthly problems will be over. But, Christians often must pay a high price for their faith on earth.

All around the world, the church is experiencing persecution in one form or another. In one place, Christians might be singled out for poor treatment in the work place. In another nation, they may lose their property or homes because of faith in Christ. Still other believers may be imprisoned or in the worst situations even die for the Good News.

Jesus told us that we would face opposition and even persecution as His followers. He also told us that He would be with us in those difficult moments. Though our struggles last for a night, joy comes in the morning!

One believer I know is currently being held in a horrible prison for his faith. His name is Saeed Abedini. He is an Iranian born American citizen. He had a wonderful conversion experience as a young man and has been greatly used by God to tell others about Jesus Christ.




Not everyone was pleased that Saeed left Islam and followed Jesus Christ. The Iranian government falsely arrested Saeed in July, 2012 when he was in his homeland building a non-sectarian orphanage. He was held for months without charge and then convicted without an adequate defense. His sentence was eight years in the infamous Evin Prison.

Since his imprisonment, Saeed has been subjected to terrible treatment. He has suffered beatings, been denied medical attention and placed for a time in solitary confinement. All during this time, he has been praying for his captors.

Saeed is a bold man of faith. He wanted us to release the video on this page as his message to the persecuted church. He recorded this in May of 2012, just prior to leaving for Iran. We delayed releasing this powerful testimony, hoping for his speedy release but just received word from Saeed that he wants this message to go out.

Even in the midst of his own greatest trial, Saeed wants to encourage you to stand firm in your faith and serve Jesus Christ. If Saeed can endure so much and still joyfully serve Christ, we can too!

Please pray with us for Saeed's speedy release. His wife, Naghmeh and their two children are anxiously awaiting his victorious return. They need our prayers too.

Reflection

"home is so many things now. but now home is a meal that tastes like grandmas, a figure that reminds me of grandpa, friends that remind me of my siblings, we aren't linked by blood but we're family all the same."

This excerpt is from an old high school friend, T-Fish. I read this post he made last week as he was packing up his dorm room and left his sophomore year of college behind. I couldn't help but be burdened by the apparent need to accept it as truth in my own life and experiences the last two years.

We all left graduation 2 years and 1 month ago so bright eyed and bushy tailed. However, behind the curled hair, fresh cuts and black gowns is where both fear and excitement resided. Fear of the future and excitement of a fresh start.

We traveled all over the country and some of us, the world, in search of ourselves. Who were we without the guiding hands of our parents? What were we going to live for? Who were we going to stand beside? Some of us left to forget, escape, create, transform. Others left with purpose and direction.

I have come a long way from the people pleasing partying church girl that I once was.

I am a completely different person now.

I look back at pictures, read journal entries, remember how certain friendships were obtained and I don't even recognize that girl anymore. The girl that wanted so badly to forget that she turned to alcohol. The girl that wanted to be a 'good time' and wouldn't turn down a drug. The girl that was so insecure in herself that she would settle for cheap lust and empty sex with men.

I wasn't just your typical dumb blond that liked to party and kiss people. I was smart. I knew that the alcohol would only shove life to the side temporarily. I knew that drugs would only make me crash in a matter of time. I knew the men spoke nothing but empty promises. I've heard it and experienced it all. The emptiness that I would feel was inevitable. So why did I keep up this destructive behavior?

I didn't have any answers. But I knew I needed a dramatic change in my life. I needed to forget, escape, create, transform. So naturally, I moved to the Midwest.

---if only my life was glamorous, then I could say I ran off to New York or out west to Cali---

I attended a college I had never visited and that no one I knew attended.

Slowly, but surely I was beginning to fall in to the same crowd. Only now it was riskier. Staying out all night because we missed curfew. Going to parties that could have gotten me expelled. Hanging out with the bad boys of a private christian school. It was high school all over again. Just a little more forbidden. A little more unsatisfactory.

Then everything changed. The desires didn't change. However, I had the determination and will power to say no.

For once in my life it was all settling in. The puzzle pieces were all coming together. The sermons, the books, the honest words of good and kind people. I was worth more than I thought I deserved.

Once this began to resonate in my heart and mind, in my very being, everything began falling in to place.

What I wanted to do with my life. How I wanted to live my life. Who I wanted to live my life for.

That's when I found myself at Central Bible College.

My degree is in Intercultural Studies with a concentration in Islamic Studies.

I want to travel the world.

I want to impact and change lives.

Not just in the now, but eternally.

I want to study indigenous people groups in the Middle East. I want to document my discoveries and publish it so the world will know how to reach these people, how to effectively pray for these people.

I want to go! I want to do!

I graduated two years ago and left to run. Now I have arrived and I'm planting roots. I'm growing solid in who I am, what I stand for and how I'm going to live my life.

I don't need alcohol, or drugs or sex anymore.

I have a purpose, a cause.

I have Jesus.

And as elementary as that may sound it's truth.

On this road of self discovery I have found more than who I was and who I am now. I found who God created me to be.

And that's a world changer.

New Times

This poor thing has abandoned for over a year now.

Like most goals we set for ourselves, we will stick with it for a week until we see something shiny and stray from our newest project or goal.

Since I have last posted a LOT has happened.

I am now in a relationship with the love of my life, Bryan Denison. I'll save the juicy details for a later entry. I finished my sophomore year at Central Bible College and have learned SO much more than I could have ever dreamed. I have met incredible rocks of the AG and have made many useful connections. I have had confirmation one after another of the journey and life that God has called me to live. I am currently an intern at Network211. This internship is the opportunity of a lifetime! I am their social media content writer. I keep up their Facebook pages, their Twitter and their blog. I get to be a part of an organization that is using 21st century technology to reach the 21st century! We have visitors from all over the world! Over 7.5 MILLION people have been reached within the past 4 1/2 years. We have been able to witness and disciple people from parts of the world that we legally CAN'T send missionaries! God is so awesome! On top of my internship I also host at Ruby Tuesday to pay the bills. Haha. I actually love it there and I'm making enough money to pay rent, put gas in the car and do some extra things.

God has moved in CRAZY ways within the past year. As I get back on the blogging train I hope to write some flashback stories that help fill in the blanks since last February.