#10

#10 Help Derrick launch "Our Response"

Back in November...Derrick had this sort of "spiritual awakening"...He had been wrestling with a bunch of questions- "Is there eternal significance to what I'm doing?...Am I completely missing the point?...What does being a worship leader mean?...etc" One night, the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart. (You will have to hear the full story from DLo) Derrick had a new understanding of worship and a renewed vision for his life. What he discovered is that worshipping isn't just about singing a song...but that it's MORE than that... Worship is our response to God.

So. As Derrick began sharing his heart...his vision has become my vision. Part of how we are changing our lifestyle is to be a champion for the hurting and the oppressed. What does this mean? Oh...well, it will look like different things at different times of our life...but an example might be to take sandwiches downtown and pass out to the homeless- or working a Saturday morning at the Arizona Haitian Disaster Relief bagging up medical supplies- or sponsoring a child- or not doing Christmas gifts, but adopting a family instead.

Recently, Derrick came across the story of Scott Harrison. He's the founder of charity: water. The long and short of it is that this man was living it up in the Big Apple but ended up in Liberia- where there is no public electricity or running water...or even sewage. He was able to see first hand what poverty looks like (-the world currently has 1.2 billion people living in poverty-). Why water? One in eight people on this planet do not have access to clean drinking water- which is the cause for 80% of all sickness and disease. Wow. Many children miss school- walking more than 3 HOURS a day to fetch water...dirty water that will more than likely make them sick. Why NOT water? (check out charitywater.org to read all about it...it's heartwrenching)

Last night, Derrick was able to share his heart with his worship team- thus launching "Our Response". He shared some powerful scripture (Matthew 25:31-46, Matthew 22:36-40, John 6:1-14, Luke 10:25-37) and then presented each member on his team with a gift: a bracelet. (each wristband can give one person clean water for FIVE years)

Derrick plans on launching a website for "Our Response" soon...I'll let you all know when it's up and running! :)