Less is More

The Lord Sustains. I should just end the blog right here. But for your sake and for God's glory I will continue. :-)

We've been in Thailand for about a week now, and what a week it's been. Our days are filled with prayer walking/doing chores around SHE,worship,and ministering to girls on Bangla Road; or working on the land (more about that later), worship, and interceding for our teammates as they go and make friends with the bar girls.Our days end at about 1 or 2 am and for me begin around 7:30 or 8. For those of you who do not know me, I like getting around 8-9 hours a sleep a night, and people around me like it when I've gotten that amount of sleep too. :-)  I get less sleep here than I do at home, but yet wake up more refreshed; because the Lord Sustains.

We are so blessed here at SHE to have Thai cooks prepare meals for us during the weekdays. We are learning to live in community to make sure that everyone gets enough. So I may not always put as much rice in my bowl as I want, however I am always satisfied by the end of the meal.

I am eating less than I do at home, but I am not hungry. The Lord Sustains.


Lastly, one of my favorite songs is "Set a Fire" by United Pursuit Band.
"Set a fire down in my soul, that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God."
That has been a prayer of mine for this trip, that there would be less Karina, and more of Jesus.

And here's the really cool part, He's answering it! I find myself praying over people and situations and it's totally the Spirit speaking through me. I don't know what some of the things my students have gone through or are going through, but the Lord does and He uses His Spirit in me to encourage the students He has intrusted to me. Such a blessing. Oh may I be in constant communication with Him, and be completely obedient to Him. May I be His humble servant completely led by His Spirit.

Nightmares in Istanbul

I have read and researched human trafficking, I have walked and ministered in red light districts, but nothing has made me more aware of the tragedy more than what I am about to tell you. 

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to have lunch with a very dear friend, who had just gotten back from Europe. She had been traveling all over the EU because of her career. Her first stop was in Istanbul, Turkey. We talked a lot about all of her adventures, especially the very insane ones that occurred in that city. My ears perked up when she began to tell me that her hotel was right next to a BROTHEL. She told me that one night she heard someone screaming. She ran to peek at what was going on. All she saw was a girl wearing an itty bitty tube top and high heels. She called one of her guy friends to help, to do something. They decided to call security at the front desk. Security was very hesitant to get involved, but because of their insistency security came to investigate. All the while, my friend hears this rustling going on in the room next to her. She overhears the conversation security has with the "gentleman" next door. He tells security that he bought the girl from the brothel next door, that she was "BOUGHT and PAID FOR". That when she screamed, he started CHOKING her. What did security do? They dragged her away.

Needless to say, I could not bear to finish my lunch. My heart was broken in so many ways. I can only imagine this girl's story. She was probably trafficked to this brothel. Her life is a living Hell. If she was not abused by the hotel security for causing them "trouble with the Americans" she was most definitely beaten and abused by the brothel owners, for screaming; if not murdered.

So many emotions ran through me, but the strongest one was anger. Who does this western "John" think he is, to buy a person, for his own sick pleasure to abuse as he wants? To choke her for not submitting to him? This was not how people were intended to be.

In Genesis, it says that God created male and female. He created us differently, but equally. Scripture states that a wife is to submit to her husband. This does NOT mean that all women need to submit to all men. I feel like, a lot of times men have this mindset to rule over women, and this has been testified to be true by men in the book "The Johns" which explores "why men who buy sex, do what they do.' Sin and Satan, are at work in distorting God's word in the minds of millions of men all over the world.

The more I encounter the "John's" the more I am drawn to pray for them. My anger at them does no good. They don't know me, they can't feel my anger. However, my God hears my prayers, and He wants to work in these guys. In His timing they will feel my prayers. They will come to know the God who sent His one and only Son so that their sins can be BOUGHT and PAID FOR.

When the men stop buying sex, women will stop being sold for sex. Please join with me and praying for the sex tourists all over the world. That they will be see the depravity of their sins and turn from it. Pray for their REDEMPTION that instead of buying sex they will become abolitionists!

Dead Religion

Anger. That's what I felt on Monday. That anger turned into bitterness and sadness. Who do people think they are anyways...?

It's very hard to put in words what I experienced Monday, so bear with me. It started like any other regular Monday. I love Mondays. Monday is Wellhouse day. I get to be the hands and feet of Jesus as we go into the darkest places in Birmingham and be a light for Him, by ministering to women on the street, truckers, and anyone God brings are way.

Outreach was going really well. We got to minister with some truckers. They all confessed to be believers in Christ. One man said that he was real religious, but didn't really want to be prayed for. hmm. That just didn't really sit right with me. Well, we prayed for him anyways and went to share with other truckers. We share with them about the ministry, how we want to help get girls off the streets, and also pray with the truckers.

It was during this time we saw a girl, and she was angry. I haven't seen anything like her anger before. She said that she wasn't a prostitute, but was angry at us because we were keeping her from her customers.hmm. She yelled at us some more and then walked away.

We then went to a gas station nearby to see if we could talk to any of their patrons and pray for them. It was very quiet, too quiet. You don't understand, usually the gas station is happenin. People wanting prayer and what not. Well as you know, it's always quiet before a storm.

We walked back over to the truck stop and that's when we saw it. Not 1 but 2 transactions go down. The same angry lady from before got into the "religious" man's truck. The audacity. I was angry. I will not repeat some of the thoughts I had toward that man. I did want to take back my prayers "for safety on the road" though. I felt like He was laughing in God's face. I mean this was an older man, did he not have any children of his own? And where was God? Did we not just pray His presence on to the lot? Had we not claimed it as Holy Ground? Why did He not intercede as we had seen him do countless times before? 

All I could think about was Psalm 37 the psalm I had read countless times the day before. Then the Lord led me to Ezekiel 33:11 today, nearly a week later which reads, "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! turn form your evil ways!" So I pray for this trucker. That he may feel guilt and shame over his encounter that it will turn him to his knees for forgiveness. Oh, may he turn from his dead religion to a life giving relationship!

Ask the Lord!

When I was in college I had to read a book called "The Great Omission" by Dallas Willard. In the book he talks about how there aren't "disciples" of Jesus. That in this day of information we go to the internet instead of going to Christ for help. He says that, "In our culture, and among Christians as well, Jesus Christ is automatically disassociated from brilliance or intellectual capacity.  Not one in a thousand will spontaneously think of him in conjunction with words such as "well informed," "brilliant" or "smart." He goes on to say, "But can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart? If he were divine, would he be dumb?"

I had a major problem with this part of the book, because I had no idea where he was coming from. So I asked my friends at the time who they thought were the wisest/smartest people to walk the earth, and after some digging around on Facebook, I found their answers. A lot of people had said that Jesus was both the smartest and wisest person. Others said that Einstein, or Aristotle had been the Smartest and King Solomon the wisest; but that's beside the point.

I am saying all that to say, Jesus is the smartest and wisest person to walk on the earth, because, well He created it. :-) The creature isn't smarter than the Master is he?

So why is it that we, (me and you) hardly ever go to Him for advice? On the Race, and then in Nicaragua this Summer, we asked the Lord about anything and everything. We asked Him what road we should go down on, where to go for ministry, what we should do that day, who we should take to. And He responded and we saw some crazy things happen. People being lost, and praying their way to their location. We prayed which way to go and that led us to meeting new friends.

Then I come home, and everything changes. I begin to rely on my own understanding instead of His. I start to ask my friends and family for advice, and not Jesus- who knows what is best for me.(I'm not saying that you shouldn't ask your friends, the Holy Spirit works through them. I just think you should ask the Lord first and see it confirmed through what your friends say.) I mean, I got all caught up in going places that I hadn't even asked the Lord if I SHOULD go, that's why I'm not in Thailand right now. I didn't have a peace about going, because I hadn't sought the Lord, it was my wish to go not His. Even though sometimes I am discouraged by the decision I made, I see why the Lord has called me home for this season in my life.

The other day I was lost and I felt the Spirit tell me to stop and pray for directions, even though I had experienced His guidance before, I didn't have the faith to ask, and I just gave up and went home. What a missed opportunity to see the Spirit work.

This is an awkward time in my life. I need the Lord for all kinds of advice! Not only to ask Him the big stuff like, "Where should I live?  What should I drive? Should I volunteer at this place or that one? How much money should I give to this charity?  Where to go on a mission trip?  If I should go at this time? Who should I date? If I should date?"

I also need Him for the little things. "What should I read today? Who needs prayer? Do I need to call someone and check up on them? I have a few minutes before I have to be at work, how will they be most glorifying to You, Lord?" I want to be led by the Spirit in everything I do.

That is what I've been learning the past few months. How important it is to really ask the Lord before I make any decision no matter how big or small. He delights in that. We are His children after all. What good father when his child comes to him for advice says, "go away, you're bothering me" or "I don't know" or " I don't care." No good father says that. God, the Father who is infinitely good wouldn't say that either. He is delighted when His children come to Him for advice.

So this is my challenge to you, whoever you are. Ask the Lord, or ATL as the cool kids call it; and be amazed.

Freedom Will Rain

President's Day 2012, will be a day that I will not soon forget, if ever. It was just an ordinary Monday, at first. I slept in, checked all my emails, ate lunch and then left the house to go do ministry with the WellHouse. I spent the time in the car praying and worshiping, listening to my "ministry" playlist, which are songs that are about freedom and being a light in the darkness. One of my favorite songs is "Freedom Reigns" by Jason Upton. The lyrics are pretty simple:

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom/Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom / If you're tired and you are, there is freedom /If you're tired and you are, there is freedom

Freedom Reigns in this place/ Showers of mercy and grace /Falling on every face /There is freedom

Jesus reigns in this place/ Showers of mercy and grace/ Falling on every face /There is freedom

Freedom Reigns in this place/ Showers of mercy and grace/ Falling on every face/There is freedom

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom/ Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom /So we lift our eyes to Jesus, there is freedom /So we lift our eyes to Jesus, there is freedom


Simple, but so powerful, so profound, so prophetic. It's one of my favorite songs to sing while on ministry sites, and I found myself singing this song and proclaiming it at the truck stop where we were led to go on Monday. While I was singing, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something that caught my attention. I saw a girl and two guys, in between two trucks, talking to one of the truckers. I asked one of my friends if she would walk with me to talk to them; she grabbed one of the men from our group and off we went. We approached the group and asked if we could pray for them. We prayed for the trucker. One of the guys was trying to sell DVD's and we told him what we were doing and gave him a flyer. He told us he was going to make lots of copies of the flyer and pass it to all the girls he knew. I really want to believe that he will. We offered the other guy a Bible, and he said that he didn't want it; he never touched the Bible. Why? I wondered. I started to talk to the girl and asked her name because I wanted to pray for her. She didn't have a specific request so I told her that I would pray that the Lord would guide her and I told her that she was in His hand. She was all "smiley" and I feel like she was encouraged by our conversation. Encouraged because someone wanted to talk to her, and get to know her, for who she is, and not what she can do. While the ministry group gathered together to pray before leaving, my heart went out to this girl. I don't know her life's circumstances that led to her to this current situation with this boyfriend/pimp. I wish she could see herself, like the Lord does, someone valuable and worth dying for. While we were leaving I had such an urgency in my heart to do something, anything. I got some of the flyers and my friend and I went to the bathroom to see if we could tape them on the walls in the bathroom stalls. There was only one problem - I didn't have any tape. But the Lord provided, there were remnants of tape already on the doors! My prayer was that if only she could break free, and have to go to the bathroom, she could be rescued!

It wasn't until I got in my car to head to accountability that the weight of what I saw hit me; and the tears formed and fell. I have been around the world and have seen pimps, have seen girls in bars and clubs, but I had never really seen the two together. How fallen is man?  How fallen that we would abuse another human being for personal monetary gain?

It wasn't until I got to accountability that I realized how my sin, my lack of obedience affects other people. The past few weeks I had been so busy with work and social events that I had neglected spending quality in the Word, with my Lord. I couldn't help but wonder if only I had spent more time in prayer, and more time in the Word, I would have had a deeper conversation with this young girl. You better believe this realization has spurned me on to be in His Word. I write all this to urge you to be in the Word. To realize that we just read for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of anyone the Lord places in our paths. His Word is good, and in it is the power to transform lives. How can we do that if we aren't consumed in it?

Silence is Golden

For as long as I can remember I have disliked silence. I was always listening to music whether it was  while I was driving, studying, or going for a walk. Lord only know how many shower radios I have had. I was just not a fan of the silence. It would drive me crazy, just ask my college roommates.

 Then I went on a little adventure called the World Race. Where I lived, worked, ate, and did life with 5 other girls. I could not get away from them. So silence was rare, especially in South East Asia, where there are sounds of traffic, drums, people, animals, etc. I even prayed that I would get sick while I was in India, so that I could just spend some time alone.

Silence was even rarer when I was in Nicaragua doing life with 14 other people, all living in a little "house" with 2 1/2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, if you can even call it that. Silence and privacy were both rare (the bathroom the girls shared didn't even have a door).

I've been back in the US for about 6 months now, and something astonishing has happened. I've been driving around in silence. Which is so weird for me. Part of the reason I wanted an iPod in the first place was so that I could listen to different artists without having to always be switching out cd's (which can be dangerous). It's amazing what I've been learning on these silent drives. 1 Kings tells us that God's voice is a still small voice. It's very hard to hear It when we are bombarding our ear waves with music or talk shows or even our friends whom we have called on our cell phones, just so that there would be no silence.

I once heard a speaker say that He loved listening to Christian music while He was driving, he said it was like having another quiet time in his day. Which I totally agree with, but maybe sometimes, we should have a quiet, quiet time, and just turn everything off and just talk with the Lord, and listen.

Challenge: Embrace the silence and tell me what you learned. :-)

Hosea on Human Trafficking

As some of you know, the Lord has given me a heart for victims of human trafficking-the women and children forced into prostitution. So this verse really spoke to me on their behalf, "I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin." (4:14). What a huge responsibility men have, and while there are several men striving for godliness, there are so many more that are lost and are abusing women all over the world. Let's look at Thailand.  In Thai culture it is the responsibility of the female children to provide for their parents when they decide to retire. Well, in the villages of Thailand most Thai men are extremely lazy, drunkards, and womanizers. The young girls are pressured by their culture to provide for their families and since they have no education they go to the city to do the only job they are offered-bar girl. If their fathers took responsibility their daughters would not have to live in such darkness, with so much shame, guilt, and depression. Their fathers take their sons to see the prostitutes and "become a man" and they either don't see, or don't recognize that it is their daughters that are being abused and used. It's not just the Thai men that go to prostitutes; Thailand is known for sex tourism. Men from Europe, Australia, and North America travel to Thailand for the sole purpose of buying sex. These acts only bring you to ruin! The lust is satisfied for only a moment and will return. Repent and turn to the True Lover of your soul. Leviticus 19:29 also says something about this matter, " Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity." The Thais have made their daughters prostitutes, and their land is very much depraved. I have seen it, I am mourning it, and I am living in anticipation to see the Lord redeem it.

In conclusion I have learned that it is silly and it really doesn't make any sense to follow the idols of the heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it?" My heart truly is deceitful, which is why I need to look to the Lord and not to my heart. Israel was so lost in their idol worship, that they had forgotten their purpose-that they were chosen to be set apart so that they could point the nations to God. Instead they were "swallowed up; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel" (Hos. 8:8). This to me is one of the saddest things about our sin. When we are so caught up in it we are useless. We all have a purpose in life and that is to know the Lord and to seek Him and to do His will which is to make disciples of all nations. We cannot do that if we are wandering away from him and following the things of this world. So now "it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you" (Hos. 10:12b).