Broken – Alien Youth Army Wed Night Session Two
The following is excerpts from our Wed night session that also includes all of the videos. If you missed this Wed night session and would like a full transcript, please just let me know.
Everything that you will need for your own personal recovery and life long healing will hang on your ability to see greater forces at work. In this moment and with this series of conversations God is standing in the path of your circumstances and He is saying this: “I’m here. It’s going to be difficult and you will need me for the rest of your life to make it through this.”
You won’t experience healing overnight but if you believe that God is doing something in you and with your pain it will require you to take healing personally.
In 2002, a man by the name of Blake Mycoskie decided to tryout for the show, “The Amazing Race. Blake and his sister sent in their application and video tryout among thousands of applicants. They didn’t think they had a chance but Blake and his sister continued to receive callbacks as their application was escalated thru the rounds. Amazingly, Blake and his sister were selected to compete and were sent to Argentina for that season’s taping. Something profound happened to Blake as they ran through the shows stages. Blake became bothered by the thousands of kids he observed walking through the streets with no shoes. Seeing the hazards and health issues that kids were exposed to Blake also learned that there are many children who can not receive an education simply on the grounds that kids are not allowed in schools around the world without shoes. Another concern that bothered Blake was the reality that in many third world countries a disease exist that slowly infects the feet and completely debilitates children.
Blake could not put the faces of kids without shoes out of his mind even after he returned to the states so he decided to do something about it. He began to look at ways to make the cheapest and most durable shoe. His search led him to a style of shoe called the alpargata a common shoe with no laces, heavy cloth, and thick rubber soles.
An epiphany occurred to him one day to sell his shoes with the challenge that another pair of shoes would be sent to a child in need of a third world country. In this moment TOMS shoes was born. 400,000 shoes a year are distributed worldwide solely on the dream and personal vision of Blake Mycoskie.
(this video is not the one shown on Wed night because of time constraints…I put it here now for full viewing.)
Raise your hand if you own a pair of TOMS shoes? I don’t think there is anyone in the USA who hasn’t heard about TOMS. It’s kind of cool to think that a child is walking around in another country, attending school, and being protected because a product went viral on one man’s dream.
Raise your hand if you like Toms and LOVE to read? (at this point we gave away a copy of his book)
When I say take healing personally I want you to hear that you are allowed to dream big. For Blake being bothered meant taking drastic measures. If your family suffers from brokenness and there is dysfunction or disease of sin it’s time to break the cycle. If you’re spirit is broken because of personal hurt you need to take it personal by starting something, anything to break to the cycle.
You may not have a clue as to how or what the next step is but right now it’s enough to know that you want to see things differently. This is why you need to see your family as real people with a past and a future. At the core of your siblings and parents is a heart that longs to be loved well. They are not perfect and neither are you. We are all capable of good and bad at the same time. I have no idea what is happening to all of you personally, but I do know that whatever is broken can’t continue. My challenge to you is to take it personal and be courageous. You may need to tell a counselor or one of us as your leaders. You may need to turn the keys over to someone who will stand with you and for you.
The thing I love about all of you is that when you put your heart and mind to something you really do great things. I’m so very proud of all of you.
But who dreams for your family? Who dreams of seeing their parents chasing after Jesus? Who dreams of seeing their siblings stop abusive behavior? Who dreams of being on mission for the heart of mom or dad?
If you don’t dream big for your home, no one else will?
Testimony: Annie Lobert tells her hearbreaking life story. If you only watch one video, this one is it. It is a perfect example of brokeness on every level…promiscuity that leads to prostitution, rape, beatings, drug addiction, a cancer diagnosis, and finally a suicide attempt. Just take ten minutes and watch…
We are taking a look at another woman presented with another impossible situation…
2 Kings 4:1-7
1Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared theLord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”2And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
The Point is this:
Struggle has a way of making you feel as though nothing is possible. Pain has a way of never ending and problems always seem too big and impossible to overcome. I would never want to over simplify your situation but in some way these two stories are a picture of what you can experience. Both Annie’s story, and the mother in our scripture both are in situations that for all appearances seem impossible to overcome. Annie’s downfall began with the brokenness in her home. Unresolved, it led to a life of emptiness leaving her a shell of a person. Her story seems like one that would be impossible to resolve. The world would say to just write her off as a lost cause, but with God…we know that all things are possible! Redemption is available for all that believe and ask. “Set free. That’s my life.” – Annie Lobert
If there is an overwhelming brokenness in your life that seems too high to overcome and too big to handle on your own,
It starts with asking God for help.
As this video plays, I want you to write a note to God. In that note I want you to name your family’s brokenness or any other type of brokeness in your life. If it’s arguments, fighting, divorce, loss, failure, stress, or hate, whatever it is, write it out. Take this to God with pen and paper and leave them in the basket at the foot of the cross. You can sign it if you want me to know about what is going on, or you can leave it anonymous. It’s up to you and how you feel led.
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