Debora Gaspa Mwaja

I recently sponsored a child through Compassion International. Her name is Debora and she lives in an AIDS infected area in Tanzania. She's nine years old, in the 3rd grade, and she's absolutely beautiful! I received my first letter from her this past week and I can't even express how amazing it was to read it. She even drew me pictures :) I highly recommend sponsoring a child through Compassion International. It only takes about $32 a month to change the entire future for one child.

It's been a while...

Apart from the blog entry I posted the other day, it's been a while since I wrote anything on here. In fact the entry before my most recent one is dated October 2007! I've recently been inspired by various friends to give the art of blogging another try. I thought that perhaps I would give y'all a quick update on my life since October of '07...

In November my uncle David passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. A few years ago, he underwent the gastro-bypass surgery in hopes of loosing a lot of weight. He did indeed loose the weight...in fact he went from about 450 lbs to approx. 200 lbs! At first he was the happiest I had ever seen him, but he soon started to develop unexplainable health issues. He would seizure and black out for long periods of time, he developed sever diabetes, and he would get up in the middle of the night and cook food and do other random things and have no relocation of it at all. He met with several doctors, all of which had no idea what was causing his issues. On the last night that my aunt was with him, their cat jumped up on his lap and then their dog laid across his feet. He said, "wow, I'm really loved aren't I?" and she replied with, "yes, David, you're very loved". That was the last thing they expressed to each other before he died. He passed away the night of his birthday...I miss him terribly.

In December, I bought a car. She's a sapphire blue 2008 Nissan Sentra with gray interior. Oh, and her name is Sophia! I also got a job working at the police department...crappy pay...great benefits...lousy work. However, I AM thankful to have a job!

In January, I found out that I was not accepted for a job that I had applied for at a church in Canada. At first, I was very upset, but I soon realized that God had other plans for me. That very same day that I got the news about the job, I received a "random" e-mail from Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, Ontario (this was especially awesome because at that time I was looking in to various Christian universities in my area). Why they would be sending ME information on their school in Canada is beyond me (actually it's God *wink*). I looked into it and was told that if I applied then they would waive the $150 application fee. I had nothing to lose, so I applied...

On April 9th, I received an email congratulating me on my acceptance into the BRE Youth Ministry program at Tyndale! Since then, I have been getting everything in order to leave. I'm terrified at the thought of going back to school, but thrilled about moving back to Canada.

Just this month (May), I returned to Canada to volunteer at a massive youth event known as Pitch and Praise. This was my 3 consecutive year helping out at this event. My good friend and former YB teammate, Darcie, and I planned out, helped build, and then supervised a giant walk-through maze. It was wonderful to see so many of my Canadian peeps again!!

And that's about it I guess...I hope this blog entry finds you well :)

Love,
Brittany Joy

It's all about love

It's not enough to simply love other people. Anyone can say that they love someone, but it's the actions behind the act of love that touches lives. My older brother, Stephen, is 27 years old and is struggling with life due to a seemingly lack of direction and purpose. For the past few years, Stephen has gradually been heading "down hill". This past week, however was a major turning point for him, as well as for the relationship between him, myself and our younger sister, Christina(23). Some time ago, Stephen got into some serioius debt due to poor decision making and turned to our grandparents for help. Our grandparents have a fortune worth about $1,000,000. They "graciously" paid off his credit cards, but have turned him into their little slave and treat him as such. Stephen is subjected to a VERY unloving environment every time he has to go over to their house. This past Saturday, Stephen reached a breaking point and broke down. He went to Christina to ask her for some money because he had over-drawn on his checking account. That was the moment that started a phase of healing for him. Up until that point, we knew that he was struggling, but he always kept to himself. He wouldn't allow any of us into his life, but by going to Christina for help, he cracked open a doorway that allowed her and I to push through. And that's exactly what we did. Christina and I decided that what our brother needs more than anything is to know that he's LOVED, CARED about, and that he has a PURPOSE in this world. The next night we treated him to Starbucks and we all sat outside under the stars and talked, opened up about our struggles, laughed, and cried with each other for about 2 hours. It was torturous to see my brother in such a misserable and depressing state, but Christina and I could see the relief on his face when he opened up to us and he realised that nothing he said would shock us or push us away. We showed him that he's loved!

I used to tell him occasionally that I love him, but it's times like this when I'm reminded that verbally expressing love can bring about a smile, but acting out love touches the inner soul.

I have a feeling that Stephen's going to alright. God is so evidently working in his life and though the process of spiritual growth has been difficult for him...it's also really quite stunning!

With all the LOVE one can muster,
Brit