2011 Year In Review

So... I guess the world is going to end this year.


You know, I'm not really all that worried.


I am excited about the year twenty-twelve. The possibilities are endless. Too cliche? Well, that is alright. Right now, I don't want to talk about the new year. I want to talk about the year that just ended. Good ol' 2011.


The year contained some really high highs, and some pretty low lows. But it is over. And I learned. And I grew. And things changed. And we can never go back. Only forward. "Making the most of every opportunity."


I rang in the new year last year in Lima, Peru. It was loud. Because there were a ton of fireworks. Here are other highlights of the year:


January: I returned from Lima and began to work without my partner Ester. We were down to only four 40/40s on our team (Cailyn, Alex, Emily, and Kathy). I ate pig skin for the first time. And shared Christ with people. Life became routine.


February: We completed a full year in Peru. I was left in charge of church in San Jeronimo, preaching and leading the services while our pastor was away. I found out that my partner was not coming back to work with me. Alex got a new partner. God opened doors for us to begin working in a battered women's shelter.  


March: Carnavales.  I fell down a mountain. And became famous. We did the Daniel Fast as a team.  We visited Puno, too.  We did a movie in San Sebastian, and I preached afterward. 


April: We started church services in Coya at a contact's house. We celebrated Easter, and I preached at the mother church on Easter Sunday. We continued to work at the battered women's shelter.   


May: Church services in Coya. Battered women's shelter. Discipleship. Routine. Eating guinea pig. You know how it is.


June: I went HOME for vacation!! Yay! Then came back and kept working with my NEW PARTNER, Kathy.


July: We did Jesus Film showings (in Quechua) and prepared and served hot chocolate. We felt like we made a lot of progress. 


**Okay, here's the thing: the next several months, I became a little busy, or maybe a little lazy, and stopped blogging. So I am not even sure what happened each month. Lo siento...**


August through November (?): I worked. Kathy and I worked together. We made new contacts. We did discipleship lessons. We started and stopped church services. We started renting locales in Lamay and Coya. We spent more time than I can count on public transportation.


December: The busiest month of the year. Hot Chocolate nights. Advent. Christmas church services. Open-air preaching. Discipleship and evangelism. A visit from a few members of the Paraguay team. Christmas in the Queep (Arequipa).


And, to wrap up, just like last year, here is my "Best Of" list, my favorite blogs of 2011.


Fellowship of the Gospel


A Song Blog: Part 2


The Day I Became a Legend


Suffering and Grace


Really, Kid?


It Really Is Good News


BAM. Saved.


I'm In Love

God bless you all during 2012!

What Are You Doing New Years Eve? by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-L...

Missions Trip to Starbucks?

I am a missionary. But I am also currently hanging out at Starbucks.


Trust me, it is weird to me, too.


Technically, I am on vacation. I should be able to do what I want, right?


I saved up my money, so why shouldn't I spend it how I choose, right?


I can make all these perfectly logical arguments, but this still feels weird...


But hey, next week, it's back to work.


Nonstop work for six more months.


So I will try to enjoy this little break, and put the guilt aside.

*****

Well, since I'm sitting here at Starbucks, I made a playlist of my favorite songs of 2011 (in alphabetical order by artist). There are eleven of them. Oh the irony.


1. Adele, "Set Fire to the Rain" from 21


2. All Sons and Daughters, "Spirit Speaks" from Live in Relevant Studios


3. The Civil Wars, "Poison and Wine" from Barton Hollow


4. Eisley, "Ambulance" from The Valley


5. Fleet Foxes, "Helplessness Blues" from Helplessness Blues


6. Gungor, "When Death Dies" from Ghosts Upon the Earth


7. Hillsong United, "Take Heart" from Aftermath


8. John Mark McMillan, "Seen a Darkness" from Economy


9. NeedToBreathe, "Oohs and Ahhs" from The Reckoning


10. Switchfoot, "Vice Verses" from Vice Verses


11. Us and Our Daughters, "Remember When" from Songs About Us

Poison & Wine | The Civil Wars

GUNGOR "When Death Dies" Acoustic Performance Video

Extreme Peru Vlog #11: Christmas Greetings

I Celebrate the Day by Relient K

"God bless us, everyone."

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might really live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Seen a Darkness by John Mark McMillan

I am IN LOVE with John Mark McMillan's new album, Economy.


Fall in love with me, and enjoy these lyrics:


We have seen a darkness
But we have seen a light
We have felt the love 
Of a hope’s hot blood
In the machinery of night

We have seen a darkness
But we have seen the sun
We have come undone 
To a love’s hot song
In a symphony of blood

The valley of the shadow knows our name
We have seen a night 
But we have seen the day
Dressed in the blood of love’s hot veins 
We have overcome
Yeah, we have overcome

Born into the grave
But born a second time
We’ve been born again 
Into loves hot hands 
On someone else’s dime

The valley of the shadow knows our name
We have seen a night 
But we have seen the day
Dressed in the blood of loves hot veins 
We have overcome
Yeah, we have overcome

You have called us loved 
And you have called us wanted
One time we were bruised
We were bankrupt and haunted

© 2011 Integrity's Alleluia! Music/SESAC (adm at EMICMGPublishing.com) CCLI#5921894

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Here's an Advent Devotional about my favorite Christmas hymn:

Hymn Story:

With its haunting minor melody, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is a much-loved Advent hymn. Its lyrics come from the Advent events of the medieval Christian church. Each night, for seven days before Christmas, the church would sing one of the "Great O Antiphons"-anthems sung to a short verse.

The word "antiphon" implies that the lines of each anthem were sung alternately by two choirs sitting opposite each other in the chancel. Each antiphon featured a prayer beginning with "O Come" and including an Old Testament reference for the Messiah:

The Great O Antiphons

"O Sapientia, quae ex ore altissimi. . ." (O Wisdom from on high...)

"O Adonai et dux domus Israel. . ." (O Lord and leader of the house of Israel...)

"O Racix Jesse qui stas in signum populorum. . ." (O Root of Jesse who stood as a standard of the people)

"O Clavis David et sceptrum domus. . ." (O Key of David and scepter of our home...)

"O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae. . ." (O Dayspring, splendor of eternal light...)

"O Rex gentium et desideratus. . ." (O longed-for King of the nations...)

"O Emmanuel, rex et legiter noster. . ." (O Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver...)

Read backward as an acrostic, the first letters of these antiphons spell ero cras, which translates into a hopeful advent message: "tomorrow I shall be there."

About the twelfth century five antiphons were put together as verses of a single hymn and a chorus was added, creating the words for "O Come, O Come, Emmanual." John Mason Neale translated this hymn to English, originally beginning "Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel." A year later, he changed the opening lines to "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," the well-known words we use today.

The hymn's five antiphons include five Old Testament references to the coming Messiah, including:

Emmanuel (God with us) Isa. 7:14

Lord of Might Ex. 19:16

Rod (Branch) of Jesse Isa. 11:1, Isa. 11:10

Dayspring (Morning Star) Num. 24:17

Key of David Isa. 22:22

The other two "O Great Antiphons," less commonly sung are: Wisdom Isa. 28:29 Desire of nation Hag. 2:7

The chorus echoes the desire of Zechariah 9:9, "See, your king comes to you" and Revelation 22:20, "Amen, Come Lord Jesus." We echo the glorious last plea of the New Testament as we meditate on the names and person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Devotional:

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him ‘Emmanuel’, which means ‘God with us.’ Matthew 1:23

The season of Advent is often a whirl of buying gifts, decorating the tree and a non-stop succession of programs and parties. It was, however, not that way for the Monks of the Middle Ages.

In the monastery, Advent was a time of meditation on serious subjects: death, judgment, heaven and hell. And the month in which we think of Christ’s first coming was used by monks to reflect on His second coming. In the same way, this should be true for Christians today. We glance backward to Bethlehem, but we look forward to the Great White Throne, that is, eternity with God.

Our hymn has its origin in seven prose Latin sentences which were sung during medieval monastic vespers leading up to Christmas. Its usage dates all the way back to the 9th century. Each stanza (originally, the stanzas were short sentences) salutes the returning Messiah by one of the many titles ascribed to Him in Scripture.

The ancient hymnwriter refers to Jesus as "Emmanuel" and "God with us". He implores Jesus to come and end the Christian’s separation from God. "Israel", used three times in the stanzas and each time in the refrain, signifies the waiting Church. While we can experience reconciliation and friendship with God right now, the hymn longs for that perfect, completed fellowship which will be enjoyed in eternity.

Jesus is also referred to as the "Dayspring" (or the "Rising Sun"—see Luke 1:78) and is asked to remove the gloom of spiritual night and the shadows of death. Whether writing in the 9th or 21st century, these words still address the yearning of Christians everywhere for Christ’s return.

Another name for Jesus is the "Rod of Jesse" (see Isaiah 11:1). It is a term found in the King James Version of the Bible and signifies Christ’s fight to free His people from Satan, hell and the grave. It hearkens back to the time when a rod, the club used by shepherds to fight wild animals, played a significant role in defending the sheep.

This hymn is one of the oldest to be found in any Christian hymnal. It is a treasure (see Matthew 13:52) and illustrates our great debt to our spiritual ancestors.

But it is also vital for today’s Christian, who with the seeming obsession for this present world, must be reminded to prepare for the world that is to come.

"And He shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead" and He will announce "the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."

Nicene Creed, 325 AD

Facts:

Lyricist: Latin Hymn Lyrics Date: 1710 Translator: John Mason Neale Translation Date: 1851 Key: e minor Theme: Christ's coming, Advent, Christmas Music: Plainsong Music Date: 13th Century Tune Title: VENI EMMANUEL Arranger: Thomas Helmore Arrange Date: 1856 Meter: L.M.ref

Scripture: Isaiah 7:14

Copyright © 2011 Center for Church Music

Love of the Liberating King

I recently read this in 2 Corinthians:

"You see, the controlling force in our lives is the love of the Liberating King."

When I begin to forget that, that's when I start to have issues."

Of course, now that I've been a volunteer missionary in Peru for not-quite two years, "issues" has taken on a whole new meaning. (Think bathroom.) But I don't mean those issues.

I mean, getting down, becoming discouraged, questioning everything. Those kinds of issues.

When I can remember that jesus Christ is all that matters, that he is the one who satisfies, that he sustains me and the work he has called me to do, things go just fine.

*****

So, here is just a quick update on things in Cusco:

With church services in two of our places, plus youth services in two of our places, plus all the discipleship classes we do, Kathy and I stay pretty busy. We have seen people become really firm in Coya. I have learned that it is not about quantity, but quality of our contacts, and I believe in the ones in Coya. Lamay has struggled a bit, but I believe we are seeing it bounce back. Santiago is going well, but we still don't have a site to hold weekly church services, which can be somewhat limiting.

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

*****

And since I am not posting very much, here are some pictures to tide you over!

 We went to Machu Picchu in October

 My 22nd Birthday

 Membership Conference

 Amy and I decorated our house for Christmas

This GIGANTIC spider was in the locale where we sleep on weekends

I'm In Love

There are many things about being a missionary in Peru that I wasn't prepared for. I think that is a good thing. It just means I am growing and adapting. This is good.

And I really do love my job. Really. But there are things I don't love about my job, in addition to the things I do love.

So this post is dedicated to the things I love, and don't love, that you may not ever have thought about, the things I wasn't prepared for...

This post has been several months in the making, but I am going to go ahead and publish this incomplete list.

Things I love about my job:

1. I love my people. Each one of them has something special to offer. And their hospitality is incredible.

2. I love the excitement they have about learning the Bible. The majority are adults who have almost never in their lives opened a Bible. They don´t know the books or even the testaments. They don´t even know the stories. It is all pretty much new to them. And they get so excited! They truly enjoy learning it. For how many of us is reading the Bible often a chore? But they make me realize that it is a privilege. And when they hear about God´s love for them, they get excited. And the unfortunate fact of the matter is that I often forget that this really is the best news ever. But they make me remember. I love that.

3. This one could truly fall into either category; but the glass is half-full on this one. Missionary life, in my experience, causes a change in personal hygeine standards. During my first nine months in Peru, when hot water was not a guarantee, let´s just say I learned how long I could go without washing my hair. And this is actually a good thing! Most days...

4. This one could probably go in either category as well, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. On a regular basis, we will be walking through town, and will have an entourage of several kids. They just follow us around. They see us, they want to know what we are doing, and they want to do everything possible to accompany us. Sometimes, they ask us for money. And sometimes they won´t stop following us, which is pretty awkward when we knock on someone´s door with ten kids...

5. A health benefit of living at 11,000 feet abouve sea level: I will never suffer from asthma again. There is a cure...

6. We are so lucky to always have cheap, fresh produce available to us.

7. A combination of high altitude, very organic and usually healthy food, and a ton of walking makes it really easy to lose weight here.

8. Etc.

Things I don't love about my job:

1. I do not love the constant staring I receive as a white girl. Everyone stares. And it is not like I´m all that. But I´m different. Different skin tone. Different hair color. Different eye color. Different accent. I´m different, and for some reason, that gives everyone else the right to stare at me. Which can be somewhat uncomfortable. It is probably a confidence builder though; now it would be ridiculous to assume that just because someone is staring at me means I must have something on my face or stuck in my teeth.

2. On a daily basis, I see people urinating in public. Men, women, children. In the road. In plain site. It doesn't really matter. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

3. I am now a pro at the squatty potty. That could be a good thing, but the lack of accessible bathrooms with toilet seats or even toilets in general is not something I love.

4. When you are white in Peru, it is naturally assumed that you are a tourist. The idea that I could live in Cusco, not in a hotel, is appalling. When we tell a taxi driver where our house is, they just assume that we are headed to the hotel five blocks away, even when we are very clear about where we want to go. People also automatically speak English to me, even though it is not arrogant to say that my Spanish is much better than their English. But I am white, so I must be a dumb tourist who can´t speak Spanish, right? And, when you are white, you must be a dumb tourist who will pay way to much for all products and services, right? Yes, they overcharge tourists. Almost always. You have to fight for fairness.

(My apologies for the above tirade. Obviously that is an annoyance that has been building up for a while. After all, it is tourist season.)

5. There is no movie theater in Cusco. I repeat: A movie theater does not exist in Cusco. I don´t love this fact at all. However, there is a very alive and well bootleg business in Cusco. I cannot say that I ever use this service, but a movie that is just out in the States is usually available (albeit oftentimes as a terrible recording) within a few weeks here in Peru.

6. For some reason, being white means that it is okay to ask me abruptly and incessantly for something that you want. A little girl yesterday walked up behind me and grabbed my wrist, specifically my bracelet. After she scared me half to death (made worse by the fact I was listening to music in my own world), she told me my bracelet was cute, and if I would give it to her? Then would I give her my earrings? Maybe I didn't understand her...would I give her them? How about my backpack?

7. Etc.


The important thing here is that I am in love...with my job. There are plenty of annoyances, but the good always outweighs the bad. 

BAM. Saved.

We make salvation way to easy.

Okay everyone, close your eyes and repeat this prayer after me to accept Jesus into your heart…

And then, that’s it.

SAVED.

But it is significantly less simple than we would like to believe.

For starters, we overlook repentance completely.

Oh sure, we are totally fine with confessing sins, but leaving them behind, and living a new life in Christ, well that’s a little too radical. Jesus would never ask that of me.

And we wonder why Christians live just like the rest of the world.

And it might just be because we don’t work out our salvation with fear and trembling, like we’re supposed to.

There’s this passage in 2 Peter 1:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins."

First of all, I have to give credit to my friend and fellow Cusco 40/40, Alex Adams for pointing out this passage and making me think about its implications.

“Make every effort.” So this adding to our faith does not come without exertion of some kind. It isn’t just waking up everyday, “Hey, check it out, now I’ve got self-control! Sweet, I wonder which one I’ll get tomorrow…” It is an endeavor to pursue more of Christ in our lives, more of the Holy Spirit’s power working in us, and surrendering again and again until we are perfected by love into Christ’s image. It is a struggle, constantly attempting to, through the Spirit’s power, add to faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge self-control…

And it is interesting that perseverance is among this list of traits meant to characterize the Christian. How is perseverance developed? According to James, through “trails of many kinds.” Suffering.

Come on, now you’re telling me I have to suffer.

Yes, it is necessary to suffer as a Christian, and to do it rejoicing. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

“In increasing measure.” The process of salvation does not end after we say a prayer. We are being changed and shaped into Christ’s image. And during this process, we are producing the fruit of a Christian life “in increasing measure.” I should not look the same day 1 as day 15, because on day 15, there will be more godliness in me than on day one. These qualities characterize the Christian life. Without them, we are “ineffective and unproductive.”

Are our churches in the United States filled with ineffective and unproductive people? Is the church making a difference in its community? If not, it is most likely full of ineffective, unproductive Christians, who believe they are saved but do not experience these qualities in their lives in increasing measure.

I saw a study conducted by the Barna Group about Christianity’s impact on the world, be it positive or negative. The research showed that less than one percent of the population complained Christians are too aggressive in their evangelistic efforts.

Really? Less than one percent? Does that not bother us?

Hello, we were called to “make disciples of all nations…” Not just to go, but “as you are going.” We are told that we are Christ’s ambassadors. We are asked, “How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe if they are not told?” We have a very clear job as Christians, and no one complains that we are doing that job too well.

Because we are ineffective and unproductive.

It is no wonder that the church is filled with people who are “nearsighted and blind.” I find this phrase remarkable. I am nearsighted, literally. And what characterizes a nearsighted person? They can’t see far away, only what is close up. The rest is a blur. And there are people, whether supposedly Christian or not, who live their lives nearsighted. They only look at what is directly ahead, the next moment, never thinking about future consequences.

“I came here tonight to party. Who cares how I’ll feel tomorrow.”

“I want to be with this person now. I’ll deal with my spouse later.”

“I want this pleasure now. It doesn’t matter if I’ll regret it later, because it is awesome now.”

This is obviously not a direct line of thinking in the people making these decisions, but it is the essential truth. They focus on the immediate gratification given by the sin, and do not think past it.

Nearsighted and blind. It is why scandals happen in churches, because someone supposedly good and godly doesn’t see ahead, and falls.

And if we want to be effective and productive Christians, not nearsighted and blind, we must make every effort.

We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

We must constantly remember that we have been cleansed from sin, and we want to live in Christ.

“We who have died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?”

I am trying to make disciples in Cusco, Peru. And it is so incredibly hard to make people understand what salvation really means. You want it to be something easily explained in three bullet points, but it really is not that simple.

It is a miracle, and we CANNOT forget the magnitude of this gift.  And we need to make sure we are working out our own salvation, making every effort.

News (Seize the Day)

Things are going great in Lamay with consistent attendance each week in church, and October marks the beginning of church services in Coya too, because as of the first of the month, we are renting a location!

Praise God!

This update has to be brief, because I am short on time, but here are some prayer requests:

·      We are still searching for an affordable location in Santiago to begin holding church services there.

·      The enemy is attacking the new believers in my church plants. Please pray for God’s protection for them.

·      Pray for new believers to be ready and willing to take the next step to be baptized.

·      We are showing a movie in Santiago on Sunday. Pray for us to make many new contacts and for receptiveness to the gospel.

·      Please constantly pray for us to reach this goal: 3 churches, 30 members each.

·      Pray for me to have more of the Holy Spirit in my life with his power working through me

It Really Is Good News

I am entirely too passive.

And this fact might actually hinder our work here.

It might stem from my generally mellow, phlegmatic personality, or perhaps my tendency toward conflict avoidance, but whenever people make excuses not to meet, or say they don’t have time on a particular day, I am not very pushy. I don’t press the issue. I prefer a passive approach.

And because of this, I think we often miss out on opportunities. And we don’t advance as quickly as we might otherwise.

And here’s the thing: being pushy would not necessarily be the correct approach, but it would be a more accurate way to express the URGENCY of the situation.

If I really believe in a literal hell, and I truly believe there is only one way to avoid it, my life should look a bit different.

Look at the life of the apostle Paul. He was always telling anyone and everyone about Jesus, leading them to the foot of the cross, leading them off the wide path to hell.

And in light of eternity, in light of what the Bible says about hell, Paul’s life makes sense.

I get that I am a missionary. Every day my task is to make disciples. It’s what I do. But I don’t share the gospel every single chance I get, on buses, at lunch, in plazas, in the street.

Think about it. People would think I were strange if I turned into one of those street preaches, standing on a box in the middle of the plaza, sharing the gospel, or on a bus, just talking about Jesus with the people around me. That seems strange to us.

But should it?

When we read the actual words of the Bible, “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” “darkness,” “eternal,” “fire,” shouldn’t we want to steer people away from this?

And more than anything, shouldn’t we want to bring them to our Savior?

Seriously, we’ve got the best gift in the world to share. We could do the absolute most compassionate thing in the world, and lead people to the foot of the cross. We have the secret to rich and abundant life. Why wouldn’t we want to share it?

I’ve been thinking about a funny question:

Do I anguish enough?

Have you ever asked yourself that question? In Romans 9:2-3 Paul says, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.”

Wow.

Do I feel literal anguish for the lost, for the people separated from God?

The fact of the matter is, I barely anguish at all, but I should.

God’s heart is broken for the people not living in right relationship with him, and mine should be too.

And that should cause something in my life. I should give me urgency to share his love all the time, everywhere.

And I fall so short.

Lord, help me to anguish. Break my heart for what breaks yours. Help me to feel what you feel, and to love like you love. And fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may share your gospel boldly.

Zion and Babylon by Josh Garrels

Oh great mammon of form and function

Careless consumerist consumption

Dangerous dysfunction

Described as expensive taste

I’m a people disgraced

By what I claim I need

And what I want to waste

I take no account for nothing

If it’s not mine

It’s a misappropriation of funds

Protect my ninety percent with my guns

Whose side am I on?

Well who’s winning?

My kingdom’s built with the blood of slaves

Orphans, widows, and homeless graves

I sold their souls just to build my private mansion

Some people say that my time is coming

Kingdom come is the justice running

Down, down, down on me

I’m a poor child, I’m a lost son

I refuse to give my love to anyone,

Fight for the truth,

Or help the weaker ones

Because I love my Babylon

I am a slave, I was never free

I betrayed you for blood money

Oh I bought the world, all is vanity

Oh my Lord I’m your enemy

Come to me, and find your life

Children sing, Zion’s in sight

I said don’t trade your name for a serial number

Priceless lives were born from under graves

Where I found you

Say, my name ain’t yours and yours is not mine

Mine is the Lord, and yours is my child

That’s how it’s always been

Time to make a change

Leave your home

Give to the poor all that you own

Lose your life, so that you could find it

First will be last when the true world comes

Livin’ like a humble fool to overcome

The upside-down wisdom

Of a dying world

Zion’s not built with hands

And in this place God will dwell with man

Sick be healed and cripples stand

Sing Allelu

My kingdom’s built with the blood of my son

Selfless sacrifice for everyone

Faith, hope, love, and harmony

I said let this world know me by your love

By your love

Oh my child, daughters and sons

I made you in love to overcome

Free as a bird, my flowers in the sun

On your way to Mount Zion

All you slaves, be set free

Come on out child and come on home to me

We will dance, we will rejoice

If you can hear me then follow my voice