Peoples places and things. (My one night as a roadie)

The places you go, and the people you meet, where you find yourself at the end of the day, blows my mind.

Wednesday night I had never heard about Concordia University. It's only a 5 minute drive but it's a small university that has nestled itself in the hills nearby yet is simply over-powed by the much larger UC Irvine which I attend. But, last night I was asked to join some of the IC Roadies for the SoCAL/Hawaii group at a screening there last night mainly to hang out with one close growing friend, Hailey Mitsui, who originally worked with my brother in Seattle.

For the night, I was an "honorary roadie" and what that meant was I joined Hailey and Josh (another roadie) to present the story of invisible children to a small group of followers at Concordia. I know enough about invisible children to carry my own weight and answer a number of the common questions. My experience has been centered mainly on the Rescue from last year, Rescue Riding, and Lobby Days, and yet my passion is to see the war end. Invisible Children is campaigning the rescue and recovery act and in concordance to what i'm learning in my social problems class I found myself explaining why I have chosen invisible children, and subsequently, why it's important for others as well. I felt like a roadie in all the logistical sense of the word. As an outsider, as a informant, as a activist, the night was about getting to know people, share stories, and inspire others to join this cause.

But, It was more than that. For me, my conversations centered on Jesus. I was able to recognize simple truths about what Invisible Children is doing and how they are sharing the love of Christ, bringing restoration, and one of my favorite words, reconciliation to a destitute and needy area.

My favorite part of the night was getting to know some of the coolest people. Partly because I had no idea that I was going to go visit Hailey and Josh until about 5, It blew my mind to see God bring new friends into my life. Maybe the roadies feel like this all the time, meeting passionate idealists and inspired youth, but I realized that God was over it all. God had his hand over the whole situation and when I stayed for a worship service I was so encouraged by my opportunity to share with a new friend, Blaze McEntee, a sophmore, theology and english major, at Concordia. I'm so stoked to continue to know this guy, but It was clear to him and myself that God was moving in his life and opening the doors to a missions trip next semester. We were able to pray about God's will, praying thankfully that God has good plans for us, and he has a purpose for us. Blaze was rad, and I'm just so excited to know that I was able to make an impact on him that quickly.

I can only imagine what the roadies at IC are doing. For example, I remember instantly connecting with Chad Stauton, a roadie for the Cal-Vegas group and being so encouraged by him. Now I have seen both sides of the coin, I have been in both sets of shoes and it's just awesome to sit back and wonder at God's amazing plans for all of us.

My night continued with a video chat with my brother and one of my best friends ben. we just spent time sharing stories about where we were. There is no clear explanation other than this, by sharing how God was working in our lives, we were recognizing the power of our awesome God, and what else is that but Worship.

I fell asleep last night with a smile on my face. I'm excited to see where my connections with Concordia will go. You never know. My life changed last year because of one class, one screening, one girl, one opportunity, one plane trip, and 3 weeks in tanzania.

I'm encouraged by this: Jeremiah 29:11, "Thus says the Lord, 'For I know the plans that I have for you, Not for evil but for good, so that you may have a future and a hope."