My intention was to post a blog everyday that our good friends from around the country are in India sharing their experiences. However, life has not lent itself to that this week. So today I offer up this prayer:
God today I pray that you would blow the doors off the containers of the minds represented in this team. So often we can allow our thoughts and minds to become cluttered with the junk of our own selfish existence. As eyes have been widened, smells have become different, tastes have been challenged, ears have heard a new cry and hands have touched a new part of society, I pray that those senses will never be the same. That once they return they can never go back to the lives that existed before. That even these on this team are and were all fully aware before they left, may their awareness reach a new level towards those that are oppressed, impoverished, and in need.
I thank you for their hearts and desires to make your name great and known. I thank you for their humility and ability to be used. May you grant them rest and joy as they encounter the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
-Wearing The Hearts Of Others On Our Sleeves-
*Amen*
For more go to Anne’s Blog and Pete’s Blog
Yesterday I had the joy of hanging out with one of those people I have collided with in life that is steadily becoming a great friend. Jeremy and I headed down to the West Village in Dallas yesterday and had an afternoon of conversation with Anne Jackson. Now she has lots of accolades behind her name and is a mind of brilliance, especially in the Christian world. What I love about Anne is that she is continually wrestling with and having open and hard conversations within the context of life and ministry.
Now you may be wondering why the introduction above. Well…glad you asked. Anne, Pete Wilson (Lead pastor at Crosspoint.tv) and a team of peeps are going to board a plane and head to India for the next few weeks. They are going to encounter things they have never experienced before. They are going to touch poverty in a way they have never touched it before. They are going to smell poverty in a way they have never smelled it before. The are going to have new eyes given to them to help them see in a way they have never seen before. One and a half years ago I was right there. I was in the heart of one of the most poverty stricken countries in the world and it completely messed me up when I came home. I know that when Anne, Pete and there team return they will not be the same. I also know that they are going to want to do something about that when the return. SO….here is what I submit:
This is a community where we want to support the oppressed and those that are working with the oppressed. It is tough in both realms. So we are going to dedicate this space to praying for this trip and their journey over the next few weeks. Please leave comments of encouragement and prayers for them. Let them know that you support them. Let them know that you will be here to work through it all when they get back. More than anything…pray that God would use them in incredible ways to reach and touch the untouchable of society.
-Wearing The Hearts Of Others On Our Sleeves-
-The Remedy Team-
Get your appetite’s ready…here comes some more treats from the road. ENJOY!!!
CAL AND TREVOR RUNNING THROUGH THE DETAILS FOR THE NIGHT!!!
KYLE TRYING TO FLEX SOME MUSCLE WITH NO AVAIL
JEREMY AFTER WAKING UP AT 12:00pm ON THE BUS
SAILOR SCOTT PERFORMING AT OUR NASHVILLE STOP (You need to go and read her stuff and listen to her music. Great heart for the hurting)
Here are some more tasty treats from the road. Hope you enjoy.
Kyle sharing his story with a girl that is enthralled with is life (Crew Favorite Pic)
Kyle and Jeremy Interacting with people after our Oronogo, MO Stop
Trevor Speaking at one of our locations
Nathan and Robyn trying to get some relaxing in before our Atlanta show
Crowd and Room at our Atlanta stop. Great night with some great new friends.
Once again I want to give a big thank you to Daley Hake for giving up his time and talent for our 8 day tour. Here are a few teaser pics of what he sent me. A lot more to come in the coming days and weeks. For more of his work go HERE!!!
CHRIST CHURCH ORONOGO- MISSOURI
THE CREW LEAVING EMMAUS CHURCH IN NASHVILLE, TN
JEREMY PETERSON BRINGING IT AT CROSS POINT CHURCH IN NASHVILLE, TN
TREVOR DEVAGE CLOSING OUT THE NIGHT AT CROSS POINT CHURCH IN NASHVILLE, TN
Sorry this took so long to post. Been crazy since we got back. Keep checking back for the updates on Kyle’s story.
REMEY UPDATE ATL-DFW from Trevor DeVage on Vimeo.
Some places don’t get full names, they just function according to airport code, preceded by “the.”
The ATL.
The PDX is gaining steam.
The PHX.
That was entirely unnecessary.
_________________
We rolled into the ATL on the 30th. I think. Give or take. When bedtime is 6am (or maybe 5am, or maybe 7am, depending on the time zone, and depending on if you abide to the structure of time zones), and the morning is +/-2pm, well, days don’t begin and end the way they once did.
Nevertheless, we rolled in to a parking lot across the street from our venue, Dannemans. Dannemans is a great coffee spot in Cabbagetown, with a sweet performance space upstairs.
We decided to do a hybrid presentation of the stripped down version we did at Emmaus, and the full (frontal?) version we did at the rest of the venues.* I really loved the vibe–we kept the video segments, scratched the rockstar lighting, and Cal switched from electric to acoustic. It fit perfectly together, and fit perfectly with the venue, too.
I think what has caught me off guard the most is how acutely aware I have become of people on the streets. There were a lot of people on the streets in the neighborhood that we were in, and I feel a whole new grace when it comes to my perspective on each person that I see. Maybe a more tough grace than before, especially after the remarks that I’ve heard Kyle express when someone bums him for a cigarette. It’s interesting to feel this shift in my heart, from what I’m not entirely certain, but it feels more like God and less like me.
Here are a couple more shots from Daley from our stop in the ATL.
-julie
*that sentence could get really awkward if you haven’t watched the update videos. but then that would be your fault. i just hope my blogging privileges aren’t revoked.
Today was a big day. As many of you know we just got back off of our ten day tour for Remedy last week. It was quite the adventure, but the whole premise of the tour was to raise funds to get our homeless friend Kyle off the streets. To our surprise we raised three more thousand dollars than we had even hoped to raise and raised just at $7000. A lot of people have been asking what next. Well…I am glad you asked.
We have been in contact with an organization in Ft. Worth, TX called Cornerstone. They have a Transitional Housing Program for homeless men to get them back into society. They offer them a college education at any level they want, give them housing, job placement and at the end of their college life they help them find and purchase a place to live.
Today was Kyle’s interview. For the past few days he has been sketchy at best about this program. He has had numerous bad experiences with what he thought were similar programs. His life has been spent being picked up and dropped off at temporary housing programs with little to no help. Their only desire was to drop the homeless number, but not to help the individual. So when we pulled up to the house Kyle was in a questionable mood. He was somber and was showing hints of attitude on his face. We walked into the office and sat across from Marc. He would be conducting Kyle’s interview. He asked some questions and longed to hear more of Kyle’s story. He, like many others we have seen, hung on every word of his story. Afterward we had the pleasure of meeting the head of the mission, a guy by the name of Phillip. He was brilliant and his passion came through. All of a sudden in the middle Phillip sharing his love and vision for the homeless with us I saw a look of relief come over Kyle’s face. In a moments notice he had realized that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance at a new beginning in life. I saw the stress and apprehension leave his face and a peace and joy welled up.
We took a tour of their incredible facility and I could see even more so that Kyle was getting a little excited. He was like a high school senior visiting the college dorm room he was going to live in the next school year. He began to talk about how he would decorate his space and what kind of job he would like to have. All of a sudden the dreamless man I knew was dreaming big dreams about a new life and a new future with a new hope.
Many of you are reading this and asking what is next…well…here is the run down of what has to happen:
1. Kyle must apply for Pell Grants and enroll in classes at Tarrant County College (which he is doing tomorrow)
2. Once all the paper work goes through we go back to Cornerstone and walk through that very paper work
3. Once a room opens (which is a month to two months away) he will move into the housing at Cornerstone
4. Until that time our good friend Nathan has been gracious enough to offer his house and spare room as a place for him to stay.
5. Once he enters the dorms of Cornerstone he will have work through the colleges work study program
6. His rent at Cornerstone is $50 per month
7. His work study will pay him $500-600 per month.
8. He will be responsible for paying for his food and basic needs
9. His schedule is his to keep.
10. At the end of his schooling he will have three months and help from the program to find a job and housing.
As of today they are very excited to see Kyle enter their program. As of today Kyle is excited to enter their program. All of a sudden the 50 year old hopeless and homeless friend of mine is about to be a 50 year old college student and more importantly, a man full of hope. The road ahead is a tough one, but one at the moment, he is willing to walk. I believe that he is more than ready and I think for the first time in a long time he believes that too. Please keep praying and checking back for updates as to what is happening along the way.
-Wearing The Hearts Of Others On My Sleeve-
-Trevor-
Over the past ten days I have had the unbelievable opportunity to travel across the country in a tour bus with nine other souls. Our journey has been an incredible one to say the least. One of my favorite stops on the tour was at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. Pete Wilson and his amazing team welcomed us with open arms and made us feel even more like we were apart of their vision as a church. While there I met an incredible young woman by the name of Sailor Scott. Little did I know that she would write and article about me and our ministry that would completely wreck and humiliate me…in a good way. You can check it out HERE!!! Please go and support this amazing woman’s ministry. Thanks again to all my friends at Cross Point that welcomed us and made us feel like family.
To the Bergstrom family…you will never know how much I love and adore you guys. My life will never be the same as a result of knowing and doing life with you all. You girls are amazing and your house is so not a house…it truly is a home, and I have never felt so at home in a place that was not my own. Thanks for your friendship and thanks for your continual hospitality to us and the least of these. PS. I love Brett this much as well. Any brother of yours will be a brother of mine. LOVE YA!!!
With all that said please read Sailors blog and give her some props and love: