Where I'm At

A big "thank you" to everyone who has come along side me and supported me, you have no idea how amazing it is knowing my family, friends, and church are all behind me!

I thought I'd post a short time table for all of you so that you can keep track of where I'm at financially.

I'm super close to being able to buy my tickets because of your generosity. I just need about $600 more and then I will be set to get those.

Then it's on to Visas (about $200).

By April 18th, I need to pay for my Mexico training & Gabon trip (about $3000).

In May, I'll have to raise another $200 (part of my Uganda trip), plus about $500 for ministry work.

When I arrive in Uganda (July 23rd), I'll have to pay for my first 4 months of my stay ($2400 for 4 months).

Then the rest will be monthly support of $700.

If you would like to support me let me know, you can do one of the following....
1. Email me at shannonlundberg@yahoo.com
2. Donate on my online page (click the donate tab at the top of my page)
3. Send me a check at 1163 Olive Ave. Redding, CA 96001
4. Find me at the Stirring

Again, thank you, for being a part of sending me to Africa!
God Bless!
Shannon

We Are the Blessed

     This past week I had my wisdom teeth removed. I decided to have the surgery now because I didn't want them to become impacted while I was overseas. This wasn't my first surgery or my first time under and I figured that I'd be up and running after maybe two days. Well, it's day five and I'm only now starting to feel a little better. Last night, I was thinking about how such a small surgery can cause so much pain and how I had wanted to get this done. But then in that moment I was convicted. For a moment I saw just how blessed and ridiculously well-off I am. If I want to have a simple surgery even though it's not life or death, I can schedule one for next week in a clean, safe, and comfortable room. If the surgery causes me pain, I can ask for painkillers. If I need more painkillers, I just make a call to my doctor and then pick them up from the pharmacy. If I need to rest for a few days, people understand and are eager to help me. If I can't eat anything, people will bring me food or liquids. If I say I'm in pain, people are there to comfort me and make me feel better. If anything goes wrong, I go back to the doctor and they fix it. And through the whole thing everyone goes out of their way to wish that I feel better and tell me how sorry they are for me. Why are they sorry for me? Many people around the world are dying because they do not have any of these resources and they are in life or death situations, and I am complaining because of some discomfort while on my pain medication.

I am shaking my head at myself, how could I be so clueless and act as if I deserve better; I live the better already.

• Around 1 billion people don't have access to clean water, that's 1 in every 8 people.
• 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease.
• Nearly 80% of illness in developing countries is linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. 
• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease.
• Around 25,000 people die every day from hunger, many of whom are children.
• AIDS kills 1.5 million people a year.
• Close to a million people die from Malaria each year and millions more are weakened from it, 90% of those people live in Africa.
• Diarrhea kills over 1.5 million people each year, most of them children.
• Pneumonia kills 1.5 million children alone, each year.

1. A single well can provide clean water for the whole village, and not only offer clean drinking water but clean water for sanitation and hygiene as well.
2. There is plenty of food in the world for everyone.
3. AIDS, Malaria, Diarrhea, and Pneumonia are all treatable and preventable. 

 

      It's pretty easy to complain or feel sorry for yourself, there is always something that could be better. Yet how often do we look at our lives and see all of the ways that our life is already better than most of the world. Today, I am in a little pain from getting my wisdom teeth out, on the other side of the world children are starving to death, dying from preventable diseases, and all without and any medicine. 

     Maybe this is how the world has been working for a while; some people have everything and others nothing. Maybe it's always the lucky ones who survive because they only look out for themselves. But this is not how it has always been, and this is not how it was meant to be. I won't accept that I am one of the "lucky" or "blessed" ones, simply for my own good. No, I know that because I have been blessed I am responsible to share my blessings with others. The more I am blessed, the more I will give and bless. Nothing I have is mine, and nothing I have was meant for me. Not even my own life. We are meant to bless others with everything we have, and that is why we are blessed so much. 

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48b).

Seeing Jesus

O Jesus- You who suffer, grant that, today and every day,

I may be able to see you in the person of your sick ones and that,

by offering them my care, I may serve you. 

Grant that, even if you are hidden under unattractive disguise of anger, 

crime, or of madness, I may recognize you and say, 

"Jesus, you who suffer, how sweet it is to serve you." 

Give me, Lord, this vision of faith, and my work will never be monotonous, 

I will find joy in harboring whims and desire of all the poor who suffer. 

Dear sick one, you are still more beloved to me because you represent Christ. 

What a privilege I am granted in being able to take care of you! 

O God, since you are Jesus how suffers, 

deign to be for me also a Jesus who is patient, indulgent with my faults,

who looks only at my intentions, which are to love you 

and to serve you in the person of each of these children of yours who suffer. 

Lord, increase my faith. Bless my efforts and my work, now and forever.
Mother Teresa

    It's easy to look around and see that things could be better, but sometimes you

don't realize that things are better for you.  If you can't look at your life and

see all that God has done and it good, then what type of life are you living? 

Often times all we see is; what is going wrong, what should be happening, 

or what we think needs to change. But do we take the time to see what is truly 

happening and going on around us? Do we know the people who we are calling 

the problem or blaming? Can we see the beauty in the darkness? Because without 

seeing things and people as they are, how can we hope to understand what beauty 

looks like. If our primary goal is to fix people instead of knowing them, then we will 

never understand what God's plan is for the world or see what is beautiful.

I am so glad that I don't have to worry about fixing anything, because honestly,

I don't think that I would be any good at it. Life isn't about fixing things though,

it's about discovering who you are and being confident that you are needed here. 

It's about the journey that one goes takes, the trip. It's about the people who you 

walk alongside. It's about forgiving and letting go of the things that don't matter, 

so that you can hold onto and go after the things that do. It's about discovering 

that you are not alone and that you you were never meant to live that way. It's about 

realizing that you can make a difference in someone's life just by supporting them 

and being there for them. It's about understanding that a person longs to be; loved, 

accepted, and to belong, and choosing to love, accept, and give belonging to each 

person you meet. It's not just meeting someone's physical needs but helping them 

meet all their needs. This is why it's so important for each one of us to know who we 

are. We are the ones who are meant to go. We are the ones meant to love. We are the 

ones meant to walk alongside the world. God isn't just calling a few to be His hands

and feet, He has  commanded all of us to go and bring His love to the world. Are you

living out His heart for the nations? Because His plan is bringing justice and 

redemption to the whole earth. Can you hear His heart beating for His people?

Will you answer?

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  ^{Matthew 25:31-40}

Redeemer's Plans

   I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:18)

      People say that there are moments in your life that define you, I disagree. I don't think that it's the moment's in our lives that define us but the way we choose to live our lives which defines us. It's the choices we make, the things we sacrifice or pursue, the people we stand up and fight for, that make us who we are. Yes, there are moments in our life that seem clearer but we remember them because how we reacted impacted us, it shaped us somehow. If we were able to focus on what mattered we wouldn't just have moments in life to hold onto, we would have everything. We can't always control life or where it takes us, but we control the way we live that life. I believe that no matter how hard life seems, we still have the ability to make a difference; for people, for our cities, for the world. I don't want single moments of my life to matter,  I want my whole life to count towards something. I want to make a difference and because of that I will live my life differently.

     There are so many things in this world that are beautiful and worth fighting for. They aren't always easy to see, or find, or keep, but they always are worth the most. Often they require you to fight for them and to make sacrifices, yet you treasure them and hold them close to your heart because their value is beyond anything you have or could ever give. One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen is justice, and it is definitely worth fighting for, sacrificing for, and living for. This is the beauty that I want to see, that I want to find, and that I want to keep. I may be young but no one ever knows how long they have to give, and I refuse to let the time I have slip away.

Gabon

     In May I'll be leaving to go back to Africa for at least 14 months. To some this might seem like a long time but when it's the life that you want to be living, it's just the beginning. I'll be first going to Gabon through Envision for 2 months and then to Uganda for at least a year. I am so excited to be going back to Gabon, I really miss everyone. Even though I've been home for more then 9 months it really seems like only yesterday that I was there. I cannot wait to see all of the Hope House children and to be able to tell them how much I've thought of each and every one of them. I'm also looking forward to being a part of what God is doing in Uganda. I'll be working with Empower A Child and many of their different ministries, including primary schools, secondary schools, a remand home (variation of a juvenile hall), breakfast ministries, street kids homes, babies homes, a hospital for children with severely broken limbs or disabilities, sport and drama outreaches, and village building projects.

Uganda

     When I think of somewhere that needs to see justice, it's Uganda. With a population of 31 million, 50% of their population is under 15. Nearly half of the over 2.4 million orphans are orphaned due to AIDS. In Uganda alone AIDS is killing more than 200 people every day.The average Ugandan lives on $1 US a day. Since 1987 a rebellion has been going on in the north and tens of thousands of children have been abducted for it's cause, and more than 2 million Ugandans displaced. This is a country that needs help, healing, and hope.

    There is so much injustice and need in Africa and I want to see it end. The wonderful thing is that I already know the ending . It might be hard to see in this broken world but Victory is coming and it brings redemption, healing, and restoration.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:26-27)