Going BACK to Africa...again!!

Adventures with Desiree

Going back to AFRICA!!

Estimated date of Departure 1 October 2010

Salama! Salama!

Hello Friends!

“Greater love has no one than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

Can you believe it has been an entire year since this crazy adventure began? It is 19 August (now it is 30 Aug) and last year this time, I was beginning my first re-entry process from Mozambique. I was sitting like a duck in the water trying to “figure” it out and process the depth of what had occurred while I encountered Jesus’ heart, love, and passion through the poor. One year later, I am finally beginning to have a language to dialogue about the experiences. It has taken two times to Africa, a trip to India, a retreat in Tahoe, a mountain top experience in Redding at art school, more rest and not…finally, my words are beginning to form coherent thoughts!! ;)

To sum up in one sentence what the year has been and what I’m still learning daily: Love… is beautiful; can be seen in the eyes of a poor child; smells like a cup of coffee with a stranger whom you just met; has a face; patiently waits; and will stop at nothing to embrace another. Love is my life!

This fall I am headed back to Ministerio Arco-Iris to lay down my life for 3 months and partner with missionaries, Mozambicans and radical Harvest school students who will go anywhere and stop at nothing to learn about LOVE!!

The Quest to Know Love

Heading back to Mozambique…Trip #3

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you…You are My friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:12,14

Christ Jesus urged His disciples to love each other as He loved them. He was not talking about a feeling or an emotion, but a willingness to lay down one’s ambitions, desires, and maybe even physical life all for love and the hope and future of others. Christ then called His disciples friends with their obedience to this Love mandate. Christ lived the perfect example of laid down love. The examples in which Christ displayed such reverence for mankind are still valid today. He is Love. And through Him, we can answer the question, what does Love look like? Humbly serving; He washed His disciples feet, He stopped to talk to the “unclean” lepers, Samaritans, and women!! Christ through Holy Spirit and complete surrender to His Father in Heaven, cleansed the lepers, healed the sick, and raised the dead! But the greatest act He did was to show us what Love looked like with His arms wide open, His heart exposed, as He hung on the tree, taking on every curse, sickness, sin, to free us from the iniquity that would have been poured out on us for our actions. His choice to obey His Father in Heaven, to love not His life even unto death on the cross, has opened up the door for me to choose to LIVE…a life of laid-down love.

A few weeks back, I was asked the question, “Why Africa?” I had to sit and ponder for a moment, and my response was simply. “Love.” I long for Africa, because it was in the African dirt that I encountered Love in a very real way. I met Him as a friend through a stranger who embraced me in a moment of weakness, feeling utterly alone, who stood (and still is) faithfully holding me up in prayer and running the journey with me. I saw love embrace the children who were once orphaned and abandoned but now have a roof over their heads and three meals a day. I saw love when I took the village children out for a meal and they did not devour everything on their plate, but saved a portion to bring back home to their younger siblings. I saw Love when I went into an unreached bush village encountering hunger for the first time, and was given a simple potato—a treasure to this villager who wanted to bless me because I prayed for her. These simple acts of kindness are raw and real ways that the Love Christ walked in is displayed today.

Christ Jesus revealed love in every aspect of His life, and my quest is to know what and who this love truly is. Love is the passion that propels one to move and compassion compels one to stop. Each trip to Africa, India, Laguna Niguel, South Lake Tahoe, or [Insert your city here] my passion grows and I become more compassionate as each moment a different aspect of the face of Love is revealed; I learn how to communicate Love to all I meet, and Love looks like something practically here and now. In the states, it may be a coffee chat with someone, in Africa it may be a gift like shoes, or in India hugging a “leper” and showing them that they are beautiful and loved by Love Himself. I want to know who Love is; that all would know the true power of Love; Love that sets captives free, that takes depression and anxiety and turns it into laughter and joy, that takes pain and heals, that causes one to stop and see that every single person on this planet, here and abroad, was born to be loved.

I am not living my life for my hopes or dreams, but for a Love greater than life and a hope so strong that nothing compares! It is my passion to see this Love be freely given to all I meet that they would know that there is hope for them and their future. My desire is that I would fulfill Christ’s mandate to “Love one another” and “Lay down one’s [my] life for His [Jesus’] friends”

Thanks for joining me! Blessings & Love, Desiree

I mentioned earlier about my return to Mozambique. I have been invited to join the staff of Iris Harvest School and will get to put my words into action…All for Love!! I have been called up to service;) Here are some of the things I will be doing as a servant leader.

Duties as Staff for Harvest School

(List not complete)

1. House Mama: I will be a “mom” to 4-8 girls for the duration of the school, to encourage, exhort, pour in, and love.

2. Bush-Bush: I will be leading an outreach in the bush bush (usually far away from society)!! Help me Jesus!!

3. Help with school specific duties will be discussed upon arrival, 3 October 2010 (including: Helping students, Iris missionaries, School Staff, Iris children, projects, etc.)

4. Continue the Quest: To know Christ’s Love and make Him known

5. Lead by lifestyle

WAYS for YOU to be a Part

Duration of African time 3 October-28 December

In this short time before I leave the US, I am finding those who will continue to run with me on this leg of the journey. We are all one body, and I am just one member, but together we accomplish the words Jesus asked of us; that “You love one another”…You may not physically be heading to Africa with me, but YOUR part is just as important!! Will you ask if you are to stand with me in prayer, worship, finances…ALL are needed in His commission to go into all the world bringing the Good News. I look forward to seeing whom the Lord leads to partner with me to SEE His love poured out. You are all with me in EVERY moment of this journey…

Are you ready for Africa PART 3? Here’s how u can help:

NUMBER ONE: PRAYER COVERING: This is the single most important need to have before, during, and after returning from overseas. I will email updates as much as I can (depending on internet availability) with specific needs…Holy Spirit is the best notifier though;)

FINANCIAL GIFTS: I will be donating my time to serve and cover my expenses to get to Mozambique. There are a variety of options available, tax-deductible donations, as well as PayPal options, and checks. >>>

SPREAD the WORD: www.desirama.net will be updated this week!!

PayPal e.mail address is: dunamisdesi@gmail.com

Tax-Deductible Donations: Checks: MSN Ministries (Desiree-Africa in Memo)

Checks Made Payable to me: Desiree Metcalf

PO Box 2076 La Habra Ca 90631

For the Love!!

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “ABBA! FATHER!

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God;And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be it that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together…

Romans 8:14-17

I have been chewing on what it means to be a son/daughter of God. This passage above is sooo hefty and filled with much, but the key thing I will touch on is the “adoption” and being free to call God, “Abba! Father! Papa! Dad! Daddy!...” We are granted access to our Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit. Today, I started to think about this LOVE that this Father offers freely to all His children, because it is part of our inheritance in His Son, Jesus…anyway, here was my prayer, my thoughts to Him and they are not just my words, but are the cry of a generation that is beginning to grasp what exactly it means to be “Adopted by God.” His love for us is deep and vast and far and wide, and without a true heart knowledge of it…well…this is the struggle and the glory of His love… Be blessed, Desiree…

written 23 August 2010 @ 5:00pm-6:20

 Father, so I love You and I got to this point hours later than I expected, but I must say, I have enjoyed this day. And thank You last night for reminding me that You just love me. Period. You just love me. Period. You just love me because YOU LOVE me. Period. Do I have to do anything for this love You are so freely giving? No. It is a love without strings attached. Do I have to journal everyday, read the word, draw paint, write, flip over and over? Nope—You love me. If I was standing in a vast expanse naked and empty-handed, unable to offer anything to You, You would still love me!! You love me standing upside down, hands on the ground. You love me underwater swimming like a fishy. You love me when I rise. You love me when I’m sleeping! You love me when I write, when I sing—even when I am doing “my thing.” You love me for me.

 Nothing will change that—You love me! You love me! You love me! You love me! You love love love love love love me in unfathomable ways—overwhelmed by this. I cannot begin to try to grapple with this love. Love that is so vast and deep and pure and true—You love me cause that’s what Daddy’s do! Perfect love requiring nothing in return! How is that so? So? So? What love that even if I turned my heart away and refused to love you any moment after today, still would I hear You say, “I love you forever and always.” Though I do love You and it is my desire that I would know the depth, width, breadth, and height of Your love. To know the fragrance of Your love—How You love!! So great is Your love. I am undone—so undone, undid, undo me again. My Father, who’s love knows no bounds—oh how You love, so deep so profound…

 What kind of love is this? Finding words to describe its feeling filling within. Like every cell, fiber, molecule is reaching out, saying, “LOVE!!” It is the shout. Oh how You love! It draws at my inside, it aches and it weeps, it longs, it is deep—It groans and pulls and rises and falls—a moment not aware of it and life seems to fade to grey—then You say, “Remember, My Love, it’s you I love!” I want to yell and scream and shout! WHAT is this love all about?! You long for me like a deer panting for water. You ache when you are not loved in return—and STILL You love. You love. You Love. You Love! Oh how by this Love I would be utterly consumed. Consumed and saturated by Your love so sweet and requiring NOTHING of me…

 Still the battle rages—How is this so? You love through the ages—don’t I need to grovel and bow and kiss Your feet? I hear You say, “I love you. Period.” You would love me even if I buried my head in the sand. You love me. You love me. You love me. Oh the wonders of Your love—FREE—YOUR GIFT to me! Can I know this love so deep again? This love without limits—this love this love; intense!!

 Father, my Father, draw me up and in again…This love this love…so deep so true—You’ve welcomed me into Your love, eternally new…nothing I can or will ever do will separate me from Your love—You love me. Period. I can’t earn Your love. I can’t change Your love. I can’t remove Your love. I can’t hide from Your love. I can’t run from Your love. You ARE love! You are Love!!

 Father, do I need to perform for Your love? “Nope,”—You say, “Just be you. I love you for you.” But why do I struggle, when You say, “Just being you is enough.” To say I get it and I really don’t, because life is spent trying to gain approval, from mothers and teachers, lovers and friends—and yet here YOU are, always You have been, loving me forever and ever again. You say, “Let Me love you more, Let me strip away all the facades, all the mirrors of smoke. Let me show you My love. A greater love, unending, unyielding, passionate love, deeper than time, brighter than the sun. Let me show you My love that is new, again and again…”

 Father, why do we fight Your love, so strong so real? You fight it because you think you are not worthy to be loved…Years of life…the fall of man…choices that man makes…many reasons that build walls, cause hurts, and only LOVE cures it all.”

 Father, I know you have been healing areas in me that have not been able to receive Your love, and I just desire so much more—These past few days, I feel as if I have been struggling receiving Your love—I am grieving for a friend. It seems as if he feels he has to do do do to prove to me his love for you—and Papa—I am heartbroken, for that is not so—And then I feel this wrestling and wrestling and wrestling again—I can see how I was believing that I must “do” to justify my love for You! I must “do” to give a valid reason for Your provision to come through. Help me Father—I know Your love is real—Heal my heart—I wish to be still and know You are—I love You. I love You. I know You love me—I do not wish to perform to prove my love again.

 You just love me. I just love You. Period. Over and over and over again. Can’t add to it cannot subtract. Your love is great!! Your love is received by faith!! I believe in Your love. I believe. I believe. I am undone!

 Father, You are such a good father, a loving Daddy—In the ways I have been hurt, or the choices I have made that would cause me to feel unworthy of Your love, please show me—heal me—I want You to love me more—I NEED You to love me more—otherwise, Papa, I feel lost and forlorn. I need You! I need You! I need You! You love me and Jesus is the door to truth, to You. Teach me, heal me, help me that I could receive Your love…Always…above all else give me Your love. Above all the rest give me the one, the One my heart loves. Whatever it will take to know Your love for me is no mistake—I give You permission overwhelm me with Your love!! Undo me again!! Please wreck me with Your love!!

 I love You…=)

Until later,

Beloved

August Rush

August Rush
I sing because You are good! And I dance because You are good! And I laugh because You are good and Your love endures forever!

Well I am laying in bed, hoping and longing for the sweet tender moments of sleep, yet deep inside there is a battle raging. Call it caffeine which I know it is not, indegestion, well I didn't eat much today...yet I am buzzing buzzing... There seemed to be a shift these past three days...Lord what does this mean? My heart is racing, or is that just my belly making wierd feelings like something's moving inside...Spirit coming more alive!! I was born to live in this time and in this place and though i've been reminded, sometimes Ive forgotten to look back on this race.

Maybe that's why my mind is racing, keeping the pace. Running to the rhythm of God's heart! Oh Lord in YOUR plan may I always take part. I think somehow though I've been pressing in I still lost my focus and my patience has worn thin!! I love you Jesus for on Your lips is the law of love...1 Corinthians 13 as written from Above...

POINT 1: LOVE IS PATIENT

You will have to wait for point two. What exactly is patient? It is the first descriptor of the word, the Man, that is Love... Patient...enduring, apparently patience is represented by a fruit...woot woot...a pear! Yummy! Sometimes waiting is hard especially when you're a child... The questions arise, "Why?" or "Now?" or "Can I ask again?" "Are we there yet?" "How long?"

Ahhh...as I impatiently wait for sleep to take over I am brought to momentary flashes of recent times with my 5 year-old niece, "Auntie Desi, can I pretty pretty please?" for the umpteenth time she's asked the same thing, oh how I wish I would realize that she's being used to grow patience in me!!

You see patience is really a pear because it takes a PAIR to grow it. One person asking the other responding with a time equated answer..."Are we there yet?" "no" Or traffic, or this or that...Patience is like waiting for the rabbit to come out of it's hat!

Sometimes the wait is the hardest part and yet in the WAIT we grow strength in our heart! Waiting can be coined in one way...qavah or twisting up, binding together...getting wrapped in... Not too bad to think about...waiting not having to do with time? But an action? "Those who WAIT on the Lord (qavah Jehovah) will renew their strength..."

Feeling a bit tired, rushed, overwhelmed, spent...when was the last time you went for a SPIN on the Merry-go-round of the abundant Joy filled life? Count me in again Jesus, apparently my strand of rope has become a tiny string because I wiggled my way out from you again...

I am laughing at myself as I think of the lessons I must learn. Lord is so simple and extremely profound, He even teaches me a lesson through a tiny little hound. This little pup whom Ive been entrusted to watch has been has been testing my patience, her ways are top notch. As I walked her this afternoon on her little red leash, I'm not sure who was leading her or me? She'd tug and she'd pull and I'd have to hold her back to keep rule, then she wouldn't sit still...oh her persistent tugging brought my grace from nothing to nil. I knew there was a lesson in it somewhere, I just didn't think it would come in me trying to wait for sleep...

In surrendering my Life to be ruled by the Lord, how much Im I pulling at the reigns? And when He says, "Heel! Or Sit" how many times do I wonder and pull us into a pit? Though He will never fall, I occasionally do, and discover scrapes and scratches with an occasional bruise. But what I've learned is far greater that He likes me even when I am like a pup pulling on a leash...

Back to qavah...twisting and binding my life into His causes strength to abound and it's not mine but His...patiently is a violent trevail...now Im falling asleep and I must finish this later...(continued 10 August 2010) Wait patiently for the Lord...

May Flowers and More Seeds...

Salama! Salama! (Hello Friends!!)

I cannot believe it’s already May!! Forgive me for the long delayed update and journey log. Much has transpired since I wrote “Desiree’s India Update” in early January. Since that time, life has been quite the whirlwind…to keep the letter Breve (my new favorite milk with my coffee…steamed please;) I will not fill you in on details of India and Africa—Though there is still MUCH to write and tell you about, and it is a goal to write regular updates as I have had, now 3 months to rest, recover, regroup and realize the AMAZING lessons I learned while adventuring overseas!! Today, I am writing to fill you in on the NOW and immediate things I have been doing and where I am headed in the VERY NEAR future…(sneak peak: Lessons about Seeds, writing, and Bethel’s School of Worship)

Upon returning from India in February, I hid away in my mountain retreat with some dear friends…I caught up on MUCH needed sleep and my body began to readjust to "cold” weather. Believe it or not, I am still adjusting and 62 is cold;)) I began to ask questions about where I would be going in the next season, what dreams God has purposed in my heart and when would I be given my “next assignment”? In Tahoe, it seemed though, the Lord was rather quiet with my “future” assignment, and seemingly He simply wanted me to rest and to begin dreaming BIGGER dreams.

LEARNING ABOUT PLANTING SEEDS
Everyday life back in Southern California

I spent 28 days at my mountain retreat and left READY for “NEXT PLEASE…” and I returned to Southern California eagerly EXPECTING that answer. Yet when I returned I found myself trying to “reenter” and find my place. It seemed being gone for so long the world continued to move forward and I was left feeling disjointed and out of place. This incongruity caused me to dive deeper into my place of safety, in the arms of Jesus, and I began to see, my “next” was actually WRITE before my eyes and based on things that I had begun before travels, and seemingly had forgotten about. I found myself saying, “When can I know what’s next Lord?” To my surprise He said, “When you are faithful with the seeds I have already given you, you will SEE where I will take you.” It was a beautiful “OUCH” moment, yet there is truth in what He spoke and I remembered ALL He had given me to work with; the musical skills, art, writing, studying the Word…He started showing me the principle of sowing and reaping.

(CURRENT PROJECTS;)
I have been given seeds to sow, but the ONLY way they will GROW is if they are planted. I can partially work a field, but if the ground is only tilled, can I expect fruit trees to grow? Absolutely not…I began to look at my life and ask the Lord what seeds was I holding in my hand but not using? He showed me three projects specifically that I had dreamt of and had even begun…one project is actually finished…(See “To Do“ List Below)

Current List of “To Do’s” aka SEEDS
(List not complete)
1. 25 Things To Do when You Are Stepping Out of the Boat (To be edited and published)
2. Autobiography of Daniel de Leon (Children’s book based on adventures of my traveling companion and giraffe)
3. If There is Silence, Be Quiet and Listen (Interactive journal/art book for coffee table use)
Sneak Peaks @ www.facebook.com/dunamisdesi
4. Study with the Master; Pressing in for MORE, worshipping the KING…
Expected Book Completion: Fall 2010!!

My “NEXT”… Bethel Church, Redding CA
School of Worship: June 16-July 9

So, as I am writing in this season, I have also been given my “NEXT”…Yay!! Another seed and gift I have been given is MUSIC, and I have dabbled here and there and led praise for church, prayer houses, mission school, and also on trips like the recent India Adventure…so, I am very excited to tell you that I am going to Redding, CA for Bethel Church’s School of Worship!! I am looking forward to gleaning in the field and learning from musicians and artists who are highly gifted in not only leading praise and worship but who are successful in implementing those skills practically to accomplish much in the fields of songwriting, recording, and ministering to an audience of One…
I am very excited about this next step and I believe it will be beneficial in taking my musical/songwriting skills up a notch and also the foundational elements will add a strength to the already free flowing spontaneous side of me;)

If you are interested in seeding toward School of Worship:
See info Below my nameJ

Planting seeds in GOOD soil = FRUIT!!
In closing, as you may have gathered from this letter, I am in a planting season. I have been entrusted many seeds, and currently I am planting some new ones and cultivating others that have already been planted. A farmer plants a seed expecting a harvest, the Bible is clear about sowing and reaping, and as these seeds are planted and watered they will produce a GOOD fruit. I am looking forward to seeing fruit grow from all of these tiny seeds. I am EXPECTING a harvest from that which He has given me to work with. It’s a beginning and I know that His plan for these “seeds” is far above anything I can ask or imagine for it is His Spirit that is working within me to accomplish it. He who is faithful with little…He trusts with much!!

Thank you for YOUR seeds of faith into my field. Your prayers and support are all a part of the harvest that is and is to come! God is astounding me with His faithfulness on this JOURNEY and I am grateful He uses each of you in special ways in my life to encourage me to RUN for His purposes, I could not continue on this journey without YOU!!

Please continue to pray as He leads and may He bless you in abundance for EVERY SEED you have sown, in prayer, finances, and encouragement!! May He bless you with the FAVOR of His face in EVERY good thing He has for you!! May His hope, joy, love and peace abound to you in Jesus’ name!!

Until the next update…VERY VERY SOON…
Love and Blessings in Jesus,
Desiree

find my paypal@ http://www.desirama.net

Salutations from India...Pt. 1

Namaste (let there be a salutation to you)

Here is my first India update written on January 27...day one of my recent trip to Hyderabad, India. I will be sending a few more out with regards to other events that took place on the trip! Thank you all for your prayers and support!!

Goal of January 27
1. Feed the multitude: 200 families in the village where pastor Nahum has his church
2. Visit the dump
3. Visit the little girl's home
4. Visit a leper colony (if time permits)

On paper, the above "To Do" list seems reasonable to achieve, BUT here is the plain and simple truth...T.I.I. THIS IS INDIA!! Of course we would love to have accomplished all of the above, but as westerners we have to take into account the ways of a non-western culture...

Let me list a few reasons why T.I.I.
1. 9:30a departure really means 10:00ish
2. Exchanging money is a few hour process (with 12 westerners and times of interrupted business for the worship of the tantra idol)
3. 200 does not mean 200!! Think of the loaves and fishes...Jesus fed 5000 men plus women and children!! 200=1000...plus children and we only purchased enough rice, dahl, and oil for 200 families!! Multiplication multiplication multiplication
4. The garbage dump is now partial garbage dump and then some areas have been "cleared" and now contain houses that are made of, mud, cow dung, plastics and tarps or what not...it's amazing to literally find such beauty amidst the ashes...

Well day one may not have included everything on the list, but we did manage to feed about 1,000 people (families) (seriously like the 5,000 Jesus fed) for about $.00213/family (we originally purchased enough food for 200 families!!) it's pretty incredible to think that with a little faith, some hope, a little rice and of course Jesus Christ...the hungry always get fed!!

Because the feeding was more people than expected we only stayed in Pastor Nahum's village (he is the host pastor), but there were many people with needs that we were able to help. I played my guitar for the children and taught them phrases in English, Portuguese, and Makua;) Their favorite phrase and mine by far was the word "Shaba!" (which is actually a real Hebrew word!).

On the outskirts of Pastor Nahum's village is the garbage dump. Like the Bocarilla in Maputo, Mozambique you see people actually living in the midst of the piles and piles of rubbish. This is how they survive and where they draw their resources...they dig through the rubble to find recyclables and things to sell to make a few Indian Rupees. In the middle of the filth are beautiful people who are hungry for anything, even a blessing for their babies! The people of this dump village have been born into a caste system and are impoverished, and most will not venture out of that place...

Leaving the first day's outreach I began to notice a great truth in the appearance of India... In the middle of the darkest dirt you will find a stark contrast of bright colored sarees and scarves, panjami suits, and shirts. These colors that seemingly mask a hopeless impoverished existence mirror the spiritual darkness guised in the colorful shrines, temples, and idols worshipped in India. However, as a prayer and a declaration of hope we can proclaim what The Word says in Isaiah 60:1-2 "Arise, shine [oh India], for your Light has come, and The glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you..." May India begin to see the brightness of the Lord's rising as He lovingly removes the veils from their eyes and reveals His glory to the Indian bride!

Until my next update...

Tchau,
Desiree