Bebo

Bebo aka Becca

I am assuming you have heard or sang the song Undignified by David Crowder. (I know it has been recorded by many other artists, but just hang with me) The lyrics go like this:
"I will dance, I will sing to be mad for my King.
Nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul.

And I'll become, even more undignified than this.
Some may say it's foolishness,
but I'll become even more undignified than this
Leave my pride by my side."

While we were in NYC at the Taft Houses this song echoed in my mind as I watched Becca dance and sing with the kids from Taft.

One day when we were doing music outside, the ladies that were running the Taft Center told us not to do music on the steps in front of the building because many of the tenants would throw stuff out their windows down at us. So you kinda get the picture that doing the music outside was not going to be a welcomed thing. This didn't stop Becca. Without hesitation, she moved the kids a few yards away and began singing and dancing. She lead them in some crazy songs and fun motions and the kids jumped right in and had a blast.

She was undignified. She wasn't worried about what others may be thinking or about how dorky she looked; she knew that she was there to be Jesus. To share love. To smile. To laugh. And she did. The entire trip Becca was an encouragement to everyone around. She was willing to do whatever was necessary to see God's love expressed.

Personally, it was great to have Becca along on the trip. I have known her for several years, and she has always been a someone who has lived out her faith by putting others first and serving whenever or wherever it is needed. But on this trip, I was able to see Becca's heart.

It was like she was finding Jesus again for the first time. She exuded joy and wonder and appreciation and humility and love. It wasn't necessarily something she said or did. It was just around her. (Check out Acts 4v13.)

Thanks Becca.

below you can read about the trip in Bebo's words:

"I started this trip with a variety of emotions. I was excited and anxious to get there, nervous about the relationships I was bringing along and leaving at home, and confused on exactly where and what we were really doing. I had spent the majority of the week prior to departure on the other side of the country and the remaining time working the equivalent of a week's work in 4 days to make up for all the time I missed. Regardless, I was packed and found myself standing in Nate's driveway in the middle of the night that Sunday not really knowing what I was getting myself into.

Things were soon revealed to me as we jokingly discussed the drawbacks of our beloved Baptist van. Driving there I grew more and more nervous realizing I really was oblivious to the future and this is out of the ordinary for me. I like to be prepared and ready for what is to come so I can give my all at any moment thus encompassing the fact that I HATE to stand still. The thought of not knowing what to do with myself makes me cringe.

However, there was no need to worry for God was already at work. At the first rest top, Nate challenged us to pick a word we wanted to work on over the week. Something we could offer over to God, an area of improvement for ourselves. So thinking about all my anxieties, I choose the word surrender and desired for this trip to be about God's agenda and not my own.

That Monday, our first day at the Taft house, I passed the first test. When we arrived in the afternoon, a group of southern elderly ladies were already set up and ready to present a Bible school. Determined to follow their plan, they were somewhat uncooperative and we became miffed about what to do. Lingering outside WAITING for what to do, a wave of calmness came over me. I remembered that this was God’s plan and that we were only a part of it. I asked if I could pray with the kids of our group and right there, on the steps of the apartment building, we gave it over to God.

He worked his miracles all right. About 15 minutes later we were engulfed in a water balloon game and kids were already starting to warm up to us. We worked it out to come back to the Taft house each afternoon and neither the kids our ourselves could wait to come back.

Another thing that moved me about our openness to God was our willingness to step out of our comfort zones for these kids. We were warned that the kids had a different life from what we were used to and came from hardships we would probably never know. When I arrived that first day they seemed different and foreign, almost beyond us and untouchable. We sat with them in their classroom on the outskirts confused about what to do when I saw a little girl struggling to get into her chair. I immediately jumped up to help her and she gave me that innocent little kid smile like you have just saved their life. I felt the walls come down right there as I realized these kids need and want my love just as much as the 4 and 5 year olds I left back at home in my all white Christian Reformed Bible school class at work.

Looking back I feel that God used every minute of every day of that week. The time we spent bonding in the sprinklers to the excitement I saw on their faces when I said they could take the leftover stickers home was priceless. Even on the crowded bus ride to the Zoo, God had a special plan.

I sat in the back with a rather vocal young girl named Fatima. Diagonally from us sat a girl named Shannon who had an attitude that tended to rub Fatima the wrong way. Out of the blue, Fatima leaned over to me and asked me if I would ask Shannon to be her friend. I did, and after a talk about forgiveness, they decided to renew their friendship and forget why they were fighting. God wasn't done though. In about 10 minutes two small boys began picking on a girl named Rosalee. I told them how and why this was wrong and they started to explain the story about why they didn't get along. After a few tears and another explanation of forgiveness, another set of friends had been made. I had never felt more like Oprah in my life.

When I reflect on the trip, I don't regret a thing. Not even our trip to Broadway when we thought we got to leave at intermission (imagine how excited we were for the second half). Leaving for this trip I expected to help people, I never thought God would help me so much. I thought I had my life and everything figured out, but I realized I'm not even close. I'm not worried though, because I have learned to surrender it all to God for he knows what the future holds. I don't need to plan the future I just have to live it. Don't tell my parents though, they still want me to pick a college."