love written, poverty and other stuff

again, i don't know if this is my outlet or if anyone is reading this, but i'm going to get this out bit by bit...

1. i've become very intregued by the movement "to write love on her arms". one, there are some rockers tied to this that initially drew me to it--jon foreman, dustin kensrue just to name two. but i was introduced to it on SL--i was at a christian site there, and there was a twloha t-shirt for sale that i bought because the phrase was so damn magnetic. Leave it to me to wear something that communicated something i had no insight on (hence why i never wear christian t-shirts; well, that and they're usually cheesy and usually are undermined by the wearer). but as i started looking into it, i was all the more captured by the story and motion of it all. twloha is about creating dialogue about depression, creating hope for the down and especially for those who have turned to self-mutilation as an outlet for their pain, their hurts, their life. i've met my share of cutters, and have met even more in SL, and to stand, to love, to offer hope is one of the most essential tasks involved in helping people out of the hole of depression.

here's a link to the story that started it all:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=61976377&blogID=96896737

now, i feel a real burden for this topic, part of it because i've wrestled with my share of depression, and i know the hope that heals, that sets free, and that is closer than the hopeless recognize. i think i'm going to try to go to phila for the benefit tour. i'd love to get into the movement somehow, but i'm unsure how as of now...

2. while ordering my twloha t-shirt (haha--yes, i'm one of those), they also sold a shirt with the word rescue written in hindi. i ordered it too. partially because it looked so damn cool, and partially because i feel like i have a heart tie with india. i, much like jon bailes often has, blame Caedmon's Call. their "share the well" album sparked something in my heart for india--when i think about that nation, my first thought is always "i want to go there and plant churches". last year at passion, i decided to pursue going to plant churches and reach unreached people groups with the hope of Christ. when is a big question: i know my time at hope is purposed, and i know that i have to get an m.div to be considered a somebody by most mission organizations worth their weight. so i'm planning on starting seminary at asbury theological in the winter, and i'm going to focus on missions and church planting as much as possible. but this india thing popped back up when i saw the t-shirt: i'm honestly not sure where to start with it either. but it's there, and i'm starting to look at it more seriously...

3. every time i look at the possibilities of going overseas, or even think about what it means to prepare to do so, i always think: i have too much. i've said casually to a couple of different friends on a couple of different occasions that i think i'd be fine living poorer--even taking a vow of poverty. rich mullens always inspired me in that way (ok, in lots of ways). but i don't know what it would take, or if its me just being idealistic or egotistical or if this is really something worth looking at...but its come up again in my heart. i'm in a 9 month lease as of now, and there's a part of me that wonders if when it's done, i should try to get a small cheap place in a poor part of town and try to live off of much less than i do now. one thought i had was to have a group of people i entrust my finances to and let them decide what happens with the excess. rich always lived off the average income for a person where ever he was living. i don't know...i'm just thinking out loud. something to look into i guess. but its weird. i don't have a whole lot of people i'm telling this to, but i would ask you to pray about these things and offer insight as you get it...

and the new DCB is money.