It has come to my attention

Here we are, a little over 4 weeks in to an amazing journey that I will forever be grateful that God chose me to be on. And im overwhelmed. Im overwhelmed at what i've seen. Im overwhelmed at what i've experienced emotionally. Im overwhelmed at what i've learned and continue to learn. Im overwhelmed at what is really happening outside of our God blessed U.S. borders. Im overwhelmed that the world has no idea what's really going on here in Haiti. But im overwhelmed at what actually is. Im overwhelmed that we as American's are so boxed in and naive so much of the time as to what reality is like for the rest of the world...............and im devastatingly overwhelmed that we as christians and as a church as a whole are so boxed in as well and just as unaware.

My heart now at this point is broken. I am frustrated and I have nothing else to give. I am empty and tired, and I finally understand what Jesus is talking about when He says 'Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.'
You see, the poor in spirit that He is talking about are those who recognize a desperate need for God's fulfillment because they know they simply do not have what it takes to carry on. These poor in spirit have given up. They have quit. They have responded to the free gift of grace and allowed Christ to be the only source of strength possible. The only true source of 'able' in their lives period. Simply nothing else will do.
And the best part of the verse is the second part! 'For theirs is the kingdom of God.' What a beautiful promise! You see Christ did not come simply to prepare us for a kingdom to come, but for a kingdom that has already come to earth. 'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' Its now! Jesus lived a life of COMPLETE sacrifice, even to death, because this is the only way that any of us could experience the kingdom of God. Not some far off experience some day, but a real, meaningful, purposeful and rewarding life NOW! And it seems like such a beautiful thing! Right?

The problem is that almost none of us want to actually seek and discover how Christ actually lived, because the harsh truth is that you're scared of what you might actually find. Aren't you? You see, there was another in scripture who sought what you are seeking in a 'life of Christ', but did not like what he found. In fact he couldn't handle the truth and ended up turning his back on Christ. This specific young man was told to go sell everything he had, give it to the poor, and come follow Christ............ THIS WAS NOT A SUGGESTION! This is not a great elusive contextual mystery! It is literally spoken. Give it all up, let it all go, rely fully on the Father. Rely fully on Christ for provision. But you aren't capable of that are you. Most of us aren't, and it has put the church in the very hypocritical I.C.U. she has been in for centuries. The cost of actually following Christ is great. But it leads to a life of wonder. A life of miracles. A life of divine splendor. But most of us have never experienced this in our 'christian' walk, and we can't figure out why. Why did the early church, The Way as it was called, experience so many miraculous signs and wonders. Why were the disciples able to heal people and cast out demons, but most can't even believe that the gift of tongues can even be used beneficially?

The problem is that you have created for yourself a life that no longer needs miracles. You see, in the early church, when miracles seemed to be a daily occurance, so was daily the practice of giving EVERYTHING for the sake of the good of the body. No one thought they had the right to own anything, or to hoard, and selfishness was not a way of life as is now in the modern church. Everything was given in the name of Jesus for the benefit of others. As shane Claiborne puts it in His book "Irresistible Revolution", 'We have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them. There is rarely room for the transcendent in our lives. If we get sick, we go to a doctor. If we need food, we go to a store to buy it. We have eliminated the need for miracles. If we had enough faith to depend on God like the lilies and the sparrows do, we would see miracles.'

We have created a vending machine culture in which miracles are no longer an option. We apparently have everything we need. Right? Consider the account in Matthew, chapter 17 where Jesus and Peter need money to pay their taxes. Neither of them have jobs at this point, they have no home, and they have committed to ministering to people at ALL cost. They have no money! So how are they to pay their taxes? By depending fully on the provision of God because no other option exists for either of them. Verse 27, '...go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and yourself.' Of course God put the money in the mouth of a fish. He's awesome like that. Jesus and Peter understood what it meant to give up everything for the sake of a call larger than themselves. The call to do the will of the Father. And imagine, a life of miraculous provision because we leave no other option. My prayer is that we as the church would become as desperately dependent on the Father's provision as Jesus and Peter in this story. Lord give us strength.

As we start the downhill end of this trip, my hope is that we would leave this place with more spiritual vigor than we came with. That we would desire to storm the gates of hell in the name of Jesus, for we know that in that name, those very gates cannot stand! I pray that the church will be passionate about truly giving up everything to pursue the life of Christ. Not the easy, misunderstood, convenient life of Christ, but the TRUE to the death life of Jesus. The reason Jesus came for the poor, was not just to save them. To bring them into some new life of financial prosperity. He didn't come to just help them, He came to join them! Jesus was poor! He was the dirty guy that smelled. He made a mess of religious men everywhere He went cause He shouldn't have lived the way He did based on what He knew! Yet today, the people that know the most about 'Faith' are the most paid! They are the world travelers, have wonderful reputations of being 'nice people' and always have a smile. Most don't live any closer to how Christ lived than the unsaved. To harsh? ............ Is it? You decide.

For now we continue to pray that we would have strength to continue the Lord's work. We want to be a part of the bold, ordinary radicals that have decided to make a difference in a big way. To shake things up at all cost, not for our sakes, but the sake of the one who sent us, as He leads. Grace and Peace.

NEEDS
As was brought to our attention after arriving here, Zach, Dani and I will need roughly $250-$300 each to pay the orphanage our cost of living here. We are more than happy to pay this, the issue is that we didn't plan on it. Therefore we didn't fund raise for it initially.
Also, we are a little short of what it will take to get us back to Santo Domingo on April 15th. This cost shouldn't be more than $200 for the 3 of us, but it might be. Either way I know God will provide.
Dani also received a call from Verizon that $1100 of last months bill will not be covered after all due to some of the calls being made from the Dominican Republic. So our total needs to be able to cover the trip completely will be a little over $2000. We have just about 2 weeks left and have no fear or doubt that this cost will be provided. Please continue to pray that this money would come. To donate, click here:

http://apps.facebook.com/paypalsendmoney/
ENTER EMAIL ADDRESS: calebwhail@gmail.com
Then follow the simple steps

Also continue to pray for Health needs. Several people here have been sick, and we just need continued covering of prayer regarding health.

Most of all continue to pray with us, as one body, unified in Christ, that our lives together would honor Him. That we would work diligently and with great courage knowing that our sovereign God has a perfect plan for our days. A plan that has the power to shake the earth, to crumble kingdoms and to effectively spread a contagious gospel of truth!

I pray that we as a people would be emptied of ourselves completely to be filled up completely by the Spirit, to be used in miraculous ways. To prophecy the coming truth of Christ and His perfection. To claim all that is good in His name and to defend the helpless with a ferocity that is second to none. Blessings!

In Him,
Caleb