The Deep End

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krystelp — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:55:26 +0000

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Day of Prayer

krystelp — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:46:00 +0000

October 1st marks the first day of our fiscal year at World Vision. Every year World Vision sets the day aside for prayer. This year was my first Day of Prayer; I missed last year’s by just a few days. It was a great day set aside to absorb, pray, reflect, share, worship and dedicate the year to the Lord as a community. It was very cool to know that World Vision offices all over the globe were participating in the Day of Prayer.
Throughout the day we engaged in corporate prayer, individual prayer, lifting up new campaigns, requests from our field staff and the needs of people affected and afflicted by dire circumstances all around the globe. One of my favorite parts of the day was when we prayed for our donors. World Vision had collected prayer requests from people that financially support World Vision. I think it is so easy for us let people invest into us as a humanitarian organization because we know that our work requires people willing to financially support us, but it is some times difficult to remember that our donors have needs as well. They may not be suffering from malaria or struggle to feed their families, but they still have real needs- cancer, a broken marriage, loss of a loved one, depression. As staff we had the honor of silently working through piles of prayer requests, praying, and then writing a postcard of encouragement to individual donors we prayed for. It was a powerful and humbling experience and I was really encouraged by the whole process. How wonderful to be able to prayer for our donors after they have been praying for our work!
In Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline he writes, “To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives” (p. 33). I am so grateful to work for an organization that does not abandon prayer, but seeks the Lord as we are starting a new year. We pray because we know that without His power and might, our work is dependent on merely human effort. We pray because we need change, transformation, not only in our work but in our own lives as well. The Day of Prayer is the beginning, a reminder of our oneness with Christ as His Body, a call to lean into Him as we enter a new year as a community seeking to serve the least of these.
To learn more about how you can be praying for World Vision, visit our Newsfeed with up-to-date prayer requests.

Photos by Brian Tropiano

Tis the Day of Peace

krystelp — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:45:00 +0000

Today is the International Day of Peace. Established in the early 80s, the International Day of Peace is “devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace.”- UN Resolution
As former Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on the International Day of Peace in 2005, “Twenty-four hours is not a long time. But it is long enough to look over the barricades, or through the barbed wire, to see if there is another path.”
Although it’s one day, one day carries power and weight. One day creates awareness, changes minds, encourages people to pray, listen, and reflect upon the power of peace, justice, and breaking down the barriers that divide us as individuals, communities, religious groups, ethnic groups and many other labels we voluntarily or involuntarily possess. One day is a start, a day of hope for change.
As you may have guessed, this day is like Christmas for those that work for peace the rest of the 364 days of the year. How amazing to see nations lay down their weapons, children march for peace, and people gathering around the globe to stop and imagine a peaceful world. In this day we find hope, motivation and inspiration in the stories of peacemakers and peacebuilders.
The more time and energy that I invest into my peace work at World Vision, the more I realize that peace is a foundational need for the well-being of the most vulnerable. Without it we are susceptible to violations of human rights and basic elements of what it means to live. This may seem like an extreme statement for someone living in the developed world, but think about those in the developing world. When peace is replaced with war, food security, access to water, education, health, livelihood, and basic human rights are all put at risk. Therefore, developing a culture of peace and capacity-building are necessary in the fight for peace.
Communities partnering with World Vision are celebrating today. This year we not only celebrate as we have in the past, but we also celebrate the inaugural World Vision International Peace Prize. I have had the honor and privilege of helping oversee this process and absorb the work of some incredible individuals and organizations. The Peace Prize includes two awards, the Peacemaking Award which honors an individual, and the Peacebuilding Award which is being shared by two organizations this year. The Peacemaking Award is awarded to Mary Ann Arnado of the Philippines and this year’s Peacebuilding Award is shared between Kids for Peace of World Vision Kosovo and World Vision Rwanda. Read their stories. Listen to the ways they have worked to overcome difficult obstacles and stand for peace.
Dare to imagine. Happy International Day of Peace.

Wedding dances

krystelp — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:12:00 +0000

Check out the video of the wedding entrance below. Pretty fabulous if you ask me. After dancing down the aisle in my friend’s Kenyan wedding in April, I think dancing down the aisle is pretty great idea.

This is the divorce spoof that is pretty funny as well:

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

krystelp — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:07:00 +0000

I recently saw an excellent documentary I just have to write about. It’s called Pray the Devil Back to Hell. It is a remarkable story of a group of visionary women who demanded peace for Liberia while the country was being torn apart by civil war. The incredible perseverance, hope, and commitment to peace and justice by this grassroots movement changed the nation and even paved the way for democratic elections and the first female head of state in Africa. The film deals with mature content and includes explicit descriptions of war and human rights offenses, but the message is powerful and hopeful. As I watched this film I became increasingly aware of the foundational need for peace in communities. My heart leaped out to the faces of the children and their complete excitement when peace was finally tasted. As the children on the screen sang about peace a rare movie theatre tear came to my eye and I smiled because that is exactly why I do the work that I do in Peacebuilding at World Vision.
Share the film with others and let the story of these women be told. Let’s celebrate peace together and don’t forget, the International Day of Peace is coming up on September 21st. Hooray!

Dawn in a box

krystelp — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:25:00 +0000

Last Friday my roommate Erin and I went to visit our other roommate Dawn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dawn is a med student, always looking to make some extra cash, even if that means she has to carry pee buckets around with her and collect her finger nail clippings in a bag for a week.

Medical Studies Dawn has done so far:

1) HIV vaccine in 2007 with GWU

2) Gave blood which they compared her D-dimer level to people who are HIV positive. D-dimer is a coagulation product that gives information about clotting and inflammation.

3) A thyroid study where they stimulated her thyroid (gave her TRH or thyroid releasing hormone) and then drew blood for the next 3 hours to monitor her response. They were doing this to see how this correlated to her DNA sequence for her thyroid receptor.

4) MRS study: She did an MRI, but instead of for 20 minutes it was for 2.5 hours. They gave her a labeled glucose infusion so they could watch the metabolism in her brain. They were testing this new way of doing MRI on her.

5) She was screened but got rejected last week from any PMS studies (including the one where they give you a drug to put you into menopause for 3 months). Even so, she did track her level of anxiety, sadness, mood, and energy every evening for 2 months for them.

6) She did a virtual reality study for medical students. She was given an article to read on a medical subject and had to take a quiz on it. Then she saw a virtual patient with a related condition and had to interact with her. Then she answered more quiz questions on her perceptions of the disease and the patient.

7) She was screened last week for a study where they administer electric shocks to her wrists as she watches a screen with geometric shapes and tests her prediction of when the shocks will come (ie can she figure out which shapes come before the shocks?) and will test her cortisol level, a stress hormone.

8) She was also screened last week for a malaria vaccine at Johns Hopkins’ office in DC.

9) She was also screened last week for a study comparing her to former and current smokers. They administer a long psychological questionnaire and collect her 24-hour urine, toenail clippings, blood, and a cheek swab.

My favorite rejection of Dawn’s is a study where they would have injected her with a strand of the Ebola virus. Never a dull moment in apt 615…

Sweet Carolina

krystelp — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:04:00 +0000

This last weekend I rented a car and took a trip down to the South and boy did I ever. I have only been to the South one other time, but that was 8 years ago and I was barely there two days back then. I was so excited to go this time around and couldn’t wait to soak it all in.

The purpose of the trip was to visit two good friends from Fuller- Nicole and Brandon. I met the Berrys just a couple months after they got married in 2005. They may not know this, but ever since I met them, they have been one of my favorite couples. I find their story and relationship very encouraging and uplifting to be around. They are two incredible people that always challenge me in my faith.

It was a wonderful weekend- the perfect balance between relaxing and fun activities. We had cook outs, ate bacon together, enjoyed a Saturday afternoon in downtown Greenville (which included seeing where Nicole and Brandon met as well as an encounter with yummy ribs), played ping pong, hung out with their family, shot guns, kayaked down the river, watched movies, enjoyed great conversation, visited their church, played with Ella and snuggled with 7 week-old Allie.
It was a Southern experience at its finest, complete with mullet sightings, lots of “ya’lls” and conversations initiated by strangers. I drank my weight in sweet tea and tried boiled peanuts. The slower pace was a great change from being smack down in the middle of a city and I was quite sad to have to leave, especially without the youngest Berry stuffed in my purse.

There is something to be said about connecting with old friends. It’s always like coming home and remembering who you were and seeing how they have helped shape you to be who you are now. It was such a blessing to reconnect with the Berrys and I hope to see them again berry soon. Yep, I completely hijacked your pun didn’t I Nicole? ☺

Kenya 2009

krystelp — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:15:00 +0000

It is hard to believe that it has been nearly a month since I got back from Kenya. The primary purpose of my trip was to be there for my dear friend’s wedding. If you haven’t heard me brag about her, it was this cheeky woman that got hitched:
She’d argue that I’m actually the cheeky one since I’m always playing tricks on her and she’d be right but that’s really not important. Anyways, I met Loice the summer of 2007 when I went to Kenya for my Fuller practicum. We became dear friends while I was there and our friendship deepened despite the distance. She has touched my life in incredible ways and she is one of my favorite people on this earth.
I had the honor and privilege to not only be there for her wedding and be part of the wedding, but I got to spend a week helping her with final wedding preparations. It was such a precious time for both of us and it was also very meaningful to spend time with her family- a family that literally has made me one of their own calling me and treating me like their daughter.
The wedding was awesome and I loved being able to support Loice and witness her big day. Did I mention that this “support” also included me doing an African dance down the aisle? Despite the requests, that video will not be making its way on YouTube any time soon.
My amazing boss was kind enough to link me with some field work Peacebuilding was doing in Kenya, an arrangement that was both a personal and professional blessing to me. Following the wedding, I spent the next two weeks with World Vision for two different projects in Western Kenya.
The first project was a consultation of Empowering Children as Peacebuilders (ECaP) in Eldoret, Kenya. One of my biggest roles in my position in DC is facilitating the development of an ECaP project model, which is designed to provide the field with a strategic and practical model of how to implement (or adapt/redesign) ECaP. Therefore, our work in Eldoret was quite relevant to my own work with ECaP project design. We had about 30 individuals that are involved in World Vision peacebuilding activities come together to discuss what they’ve been doing in their own communities. This process helped us assess our work through their own feedback and ideas and will continue to provoke new areas for redesign and improvement of ECaP programs. I had the opportunity to serve as both a facilitator in the consultation and discussion sessions as well as photographer among these teenagers.

The second week was spent in Kitale completing a Do No Harm (DNH) evaluation. DNH is a toolkit and approach that World Vision uses to recognize how assistance affects conflict, which is helpful in the analysis of both a development and relief context. The whole idea of DNH is to make sure that our assistance does not harm while carrying out our intended good. Our team’s role was to do an evaluation of a project designed as a result of the post-election violence. It was a food security project and peacebuilding project that was coming to completion. We interviewed almost 30 individuals or groups (both key informants and focus discussion groups) in the area in order to better understand areas where the project succeeded and fell short.
In between these two weeks of work I was able to also visit a child my family and I sponsor together. I had the honor and privilege of meeting Makose, his brother, grandparents, and about 30 other relatives and friends. This was a very unique experience, not only as a sponsor but as a World Vision employee as well. My time with Makose and his family was very meaningful and surreal. We enjoyed great conversation and laughter over chapati and chicken in their small mud hut tucked away in the hills of the countryside.
As rich and meaningful as my time in Kenya was, it was also very painful. The post-election violence has scarred the lives of people I love and that is nearly unbearable to process. I’ll never understand why so many use violence in its many awful forms to express their anger, primarily against the most innocent of peoples. The brokenness of this world can sure be discouraging and easy to fixate on, but I have to remember that God is faithful and just in the midst of this brokenness as well. Because He is the Great Physician, Healer, Comforter and Deliverer, there is hope.
It was very difficult for me to leave Kenya. Although I know God has placed me in DC for this season in my life, my time in Kenya made me ache to be in sub-Saharan Africa again and also confirmed my desire to continue toward living and working overseas. For now I am trying to enjoy where I am and take the experiences and lessons as they come, never looking too far forward that I miss what is in front of me.

Journeying for justice

krystelp — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:51:00 +0000

It was a vibrant and powerful weekend at International Justice Mission‘s Global Prayer Gathering. I have been a big fan of IJM for about 7 years, ever since I first heard about the organization while at SPU and read Gary Haugen’s book Good News About Injustice. The organization’s distinct mission to secure justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression is incredible. We live in a culture where working in the field of sexual exploitation and trafficking has become kind of “sexy.” Saving lives has become sexy. If you have invested or even dabbled in this field very long, you know what I’m talking about. IJM rises above this all too familiar trend and does not shy away from the rawness of pain, suffering, and injustice. They uniquely deal with reality and invite others to taste some of the darkest parts of this kind of work, but they press forward with immense hope. IJM’s professionalism is something that I’ve rarely seen elsewhere, which is evident not only in the presentation of who they are, but also in their fourfold methodology: victim relief, perpetrator accountability, victim aftercare, and structural prevention.
This weekend was a time for people to come together in prayer and lift up the work and faces of IJM. I heard countless stories of people from all over the globe and their battles with injustice; some had happy endings and others did not. With the details of many of these stories you could feel the heaviness that evokes feelings of hopelessness in a broken world. The complete evil and opposition that so many face all over the world is just unfathomable when you really let yourself absorb what you hear.
Despite this, I found complete hope in my experience this weekend. I was reminded of God’s power to overcome injustice. And as I found myself surrounded by people that have touched my life in all of the major life stages of my adulthood (college, grad school and now DC), his presence in this work hit me and broke down barriers that had grown all too familiar to me.
He has not abandoned us in this difficult work. He has not left us to fend for ourselves and figure it out as we go. He advocates for us and he campaigns for those we seek to serve. His ears hear and his eyes see. He weaps with us and yet offers us a hope and joy that we cannot comprehend. On the opening night of the conference Gary asked us to write down three specific things we wanted from God that weekend. On Sunday as we were closing out the weekend, he asked us to look at what we wrote down. I kid you not, these three areas were the exact areas where he broke down walls for me. That was his gentle (or not so gentle) reminder that he walks with me in this fight against injustice. I read about cases of oppression that effect the poor every day in my work and often times I become numb to the depths of its pain, but God reminded me that it’s okay to weap for the oppressed. In our weakness his power is made perfect. In our vulnerability and cries out to God for justice, he reminds us that he is still fighting. He fights with us…in fact it is us partnering with him, not the other way away. He began the fight not us. Because of his commitment to justice and goodness, we join in that and press on.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in suffering, persevering in prayer” ~Romans 12:12

Sunday night when I got home I received a call from my oldest friend Jolleen. We’ve known each other since we were in preschool, but have been separated by distance since 5th grade. Even though we don’t talk or see each other all that often, we have always loved being part of each other’s lives. Her out-of-the-blue call was the perfect way to end the weekend. Jolleen had come across a six-page letter I had written her when I was 15 years old that spoke of my first real encounter with poverty and injustice. I had just come back from my first “mission” trip and knew that God had called me to commit my life to working for the marginalized and poorest of the poor in the developing world. Her kind words brought it full circle for me and really encouraged my heart. It’s been 11 years since that summer he put this call on my life and he has been so faithful to walk with me and lead me in this journey. My heart is grateful and filled with joy for the break-throughs of his loving goodness.
Let me close by leaving you the lyrics to a song that has meant a lot to me this weekend:

Mighty to Save

Everyone needs compassion,
Love that’s never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.

Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Savior;
The Hope of nations.

Savior, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.

I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.

My Savior, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We’re singing for the glory of the risen King…Jesus (x2)

My Savior, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

My Savior, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave.

Lenten Reflections

krystelp — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:56:00 +0000

We are now a week and a half into the Lenten season and I just wanted to take a few brief moments to reflect upon its significance. Although my family and the church I grew up in never celebrated Lent, every year I am finding it increasingly vital to my understanding of who Christ is. This year is no exception. For those unfamiliar with Lent, it is a time aside for prayer, fasting, abstinence and reflection, all in anticipation of the joyous celebration of Easter. This Ash Wednesday I saw the importance and meaning of the ashes in a new way.
“…for dust you are and to dust you will return.” ~Genesis 3:19
Although the ashes symbolize atonement and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.
“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” ~Joel 2:13
The liturgical use of ashes developed in the Old Testament times. Ashes symbolized mourning, mortality and penance. Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the decree of King Ahasuerus to kill all of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire (Esther 4:1). Job repented in sackcloth and ashes (Job 42:6). In relationship to the prophesy of the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem, Daniel wrote, “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3).
The Church adapted the use of ashes to mark the beginning of the season of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins. In today’s liturgy for Ash Wednesday, the ashes used are made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. As followers of Christ, we must remember the significance of the ashes we have received. We mourn for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. We abstain from certain distractions or valued pieces of our lives or commit to a specific type of discipline, all so that we lean into Christ and take the time to focus on who He is. We renew the promises made when we first received God’s grace, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ. Mindful that the kingdom of this world will pass away, we strive to live the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven as we embrace the “already but not yet” of the Lenten season.
Some will say this doesn’t make sense to them as they claim, “Christ already rose from dead. He’s already conquered death so what’s the point of putting yourself through a season of penance and mourning?” This question misses the point and chooses to ignore that faith requires a deeper reflection of the Biblical narrative and the choices we have made, both collectively in our humanity and as individuals. This question and its mentality implies an artificial understanding of God’s grace misses the complexities and sorrows that fill life. Furthermore, it also misses the opportunity to understand a little bit more about the pain and sorrow that the Triune God endured through the Biblical narrative and throughout modern history as we have turned our backs on God over and over again. In past seasons of Lenten I have tasted that sorrow and become more aware of the sorrow my decisions have put upon the One that longs to know me most.
Embracing the season of Lent is not a self-righteous journey; again this misses the whole point. We participate out of our response to know God and to enter into our humanity while also moving away from our humanity through selfless sacrifice.
May this Lenten season bring you hope as you anticipate the coming of Christ.