love |ləv|: God is LOVE

first |fərst|: Coming before all others in time or order

light |līt|: The natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible

"God,

coming before all others in time and order,

the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible."

Finding a blog title that isn't already taken is nearly impossible these days. In trying to come up with a name for my new blog, all my "creative" and "unique" ideas were already taken (I guess I'm not that creative and unique after all). So I began to think of names that could use a play on my name.  In researching synonyms, I came up with "first light".  Since God is LOVE and I am HIS, I thought "Love's First Light". GOD'S Dawn.  

I liked this because though I have always been myself, though I have made a commitment to be the best me I can be, I had not yet begun to discover who I really was until I went searching for who I am in HIM. Through this journey, as I'm moving away from who I say I am and who the world says I am, I'm free to discover who God says I am. I am HIS Dawn.

Beyond that I thought it made sense since God is really the only one who can shed any real, true light on the experiences, situations and circumstances of our lives and the world at large. He alone sees the whole picture and in seeking His heart in everything we do, see, feel, say...we, ourselves, are illuminated.

That was my thought process in naming the title, but when I broke down the definition of each of these words separately (those of you who know me well, know my affection for words and their definitions!) the way they read together and what it spelled out is absolutely AWESOME! It completely takes ME out of it, and boils it down to the bare bones truth of what I believe and who I'm living for. The only thing I'd add is one extra word...

"God,

coming before all others in time and order,

the SUPERnatural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible."

This is my journey to the ends of the earth to be awakened to the LIGHT that is His LOVE.  

This is my journey away from me and closer to God.

WHO I AM & WHAT I'M DOING

My name is Dawn and I'm 33 years old.  In April of 2010 I joined an organization called PhotogenX, a ministry of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to embark on a 2-year journey around the world.  Our intention is to use our cameras to expose global social injustice that is being overlooked or underexposed.  Digital media, in these days, is the most powerful source of information and awakening to the realities of the world.  We want, in some small way, to be a voice for the voiceless and fight on behalf of those whose voices simply are not louder than the clamor of this world.  Our journey is not just for them, or for us, but first and foremost for the glory of the Lord.  When Jesus left this earth, He did not request of us, but comanded that we love one another.  Take care of the widowed and the poor.   Give of the blessings we have been given.  Let our love for God and for others be bigger than our love for ourselves.  The list goes on and on .. but it's all saying the same ONE thing.  LOVE. Unselfishly, unabashedly and BOLDLY.

The first 3 months of this journey were spent digging deep into the character and nature of God.  I set out to grow in my knowledge, understanding and reality of who God is and who I am IN Him.  I am still discovering the depths of the answer to that question... I believe I will always be discovering more and more of who I am in Him as I continue to discover who He is in me.   Those 3 months were a rich time of hearing from God and being broken down completely so that He could build me back up how He wanted.  It meant dismissing the lies this world has told me, the lies I have accepted and the realities I'd created.  It meant learning the answer to the question, "WHO AM I to God?"  And it meant not only learning the answer to that question, but accepting it as TRUTH.  It meant shaking off all the identities the world has placed upon me, that I've placed on myself, and becoming again what I was in the beginning, HIS.

I spent the next 3 months in various places in India working with orphans, lepers, widows sex trafficked women and prostitutes.  It was a very special and unique time that I will never forget.

Following this I had a break over the holidays and was able to go home, reconnect with family, friends and sponsors, share stories, photos and raise continued support for the remaining 18 months of this journey.

In January 2011, I headed back out into the world to meet up again with my team.  We began in Brazil, where we stayed for 3 months.  We dove into sharpening our photography skills while we were there and were able to serve in orphanages, favelas and assist in Disaster Relief Ministry for the catastrophic floods of Rio de Janeiro that took place in January, while we were there.

From there, we moved to South Africa, where we stayed for 6 weeks.  We participated with a ministry there called 10 Thousand Homes, which builds relationship, community and homes for the orphaned children in South Africa as well as conducting twice weekly feeding programs.  Home to the most HIV/AIDS orphans in the world, South Africa has over 70,000 child-headed homes.  This means no one living in the home is over 18 years of age.  Adults are dying.  Children are raising children.  Orphans are raising orphans and they need help.  Our time was incredibly rewarding and the culture and people of South Africa are beautiful.

Next we went to Swaziland, also a country experiencing an HIV/AIDS crisis.  With an infection rate of 26.3%, (1 in 4) Swaziland has the highest infection rate in the world. Another beautiful country with precious little ones left to fend for themselves as disease robs them of their parents.  We served a couple named Petros & Elizabeth, who have recently created an organization called ROAD to HOPE, which serves as an orphanage/adoption house for these children.  It is small as of now, a grassroots project, but Petros & Elizabeth are fully dedicated to the 13 children they are caring for and it was incredible to be able to come alongside them and help them in the small ways we could.  We were able to provide them with 15 handmade blankets that we helped create. Meeting that family has been one of the most rewarding parts of this experience to date.

We next moved on to Egypt.  We were taking a break from focused service time and instead we will be spending the next 3 months traveling throughout the Middle East, digging deep into the Bible with an on location Bible study.  We will explore the lands where much of the Bible was written and where many Biblical and historical events took place. We read through Genesis and Exodus while in Egypt and were able to experience the deserts where the Israelities were held as slaves and then delivered from.  We had our own little mini exodus when we left Egypt by hiking to the top of Mt. Sinai (where Moses met with God and received the 10 Commandments) followed by walking across the desert to cross through the Egypt/Israeli border.

Welcome to Israel.  The border crossing is literally ON the Red Sea and if you're coming from Egypt, you have to walk across it.  The Red Sea, mentioned so much throughout scripture, was incredible to lay eyes on and imagine everything that has taken place in and around it!  It has gorgeous, clear, sparkly turquoise water with beautiful tropical fish in it.  A true vision of God's perfect creation.  


We are spending 3 weeks in Jerusalem, Israel and 3.5 weeks in Bethlehem, in Palestine's West Bank and will also be traveling to Jericho and Galilee and spending time in prayer on top of the Mount of Olives!  From there, we head to Greece and Italy where we will explore the lands of the New Testament.  During these 3 months, we will read the Bible cover to cover and dig deep into the Word and experience the Bible come to life in the land it came from!

AND SO IT BEGINS...

I arrived safely in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Jan 6, 2011 with two of my teammates, Hilary and Marisa. We were met at the airport by a guy named Rodrigo, who has quickly become part of the family here. He is not with YWAM, but works very closely with this base and is very helpful and excited to participate in our ministry time here as well as simply giving us the lay of the land and showing us around.

Our first week has been much about team building and drawing focus and vision for this year ahead. We each prayed about what God’s plans are for us as individuals on this journey, as a group and also what God’s heart and vision are for our final project/publication. It was really encouraging and exciting to hear what everyone felt the Lord speaking to them personally and for our group.

As a group of 7, after praying about it, we each felt very strongly called to one particular ministry realm. To my surprise, I felt the Lord saying HOMELESSNESS. I really feel like God is aching for the homeless that line the streets of just about any city anywhere in the world. There is a human, a heart, a soul and a life lived underneath each face of homelessness that we too often write off as dregs or drug addicts. I really feel called to expose the stories of homeless people around the world and communicate our common humanity as opposed to our polarity.

The two other issues the group feels led to focus on during this year are children (street children & orphans) and sex trafficking. Each of these three topics relate and intertwine in the areas of beauty, value and worth. We are all so excited to see how we are able to impact people, learn and grow as we travel the globe seeking to see social injustice overcome with both local compassion and global action.

While we are here in Brazil (until the end of March) we will be involved in training to improve our photography technique and photojournalistic skills so that we can capture the images that help tell the stories and put faces to issues as we move forward on this mission.

I am so grateful to all my supporters, both in finance, prayer and simple words of encouragement for coming together for one cause and getting me here so that I can fight on the behalf of others. That I can grow in my gifts and in my spiritual walk. That I can become someone armed with a global perspective of injustice, such that my voice can become a voice for the silenced. That together we can spread the love of Jesus to a dark and hurting world. That we can use our lives, our time, our resources and our passions to create a better world for our future generations.

Thank you, from me, from every life we touch together, from all the children who are walking into the world we leave them and to all those who will follow after them. Thank you.