Venture Local: Spotlight on Dallas

In case you missed it, here is a little Q&A I did with Venture Expeditions (ventureexpeditions.org) about the power of joining with your community to make a difference across the globe. Enjoy!

Q & A with Jessica Bell, Venture alumnus and Venture Local participant in Dallas.

Explain some of the ways that your community has engaged in God’s story of justice through Venture:

The Dallas community has really embraced Venture and has been able to use the organization as a way to act.

Some of the ways our community gets involved is by hosting the Southern Ride:Well team each year. We love making them feel appreciated each summer when they role through our church, The Oaks, by doing things like cooking for them, getting to know them, taking them to the doctor, and setting up a day of pampering with relaxing yoga and massages.

My favorite thing about Ride:Well being in town is having the Art Benefit. Members from the church and surrounding community have donated hundreds of pieces of art to be auctioned and sold on behalf of Ride:Well. It’s a fun night of art, music, and community. Last year we were able to raise $5,000 to put towards clean water projects in Africa. It is always a beautiful week.

We also have a coffee shop, The Cup, whose motto is ‘Benefit the World, Discover The Cup.’ Its main purpose is to raise money and awareness for Venture’s projects. The Cup is run by volunteers within our church, several of whom are Venture alumni, but all of whom want to see the injustices of this world radically overcome.

And last year our community started Run Free Dallas– an initiative to encourage people to live out the Venture motto in their local areas. On our first run we had some 60+ people all wearing Run Free shirts running through Dallas and making a difference.

What are some of the results of that engagement?

It has been so neat to watch people realize that God can and will use anybody to make a difference in the world. Families have pledged to make activities like the Water Walk a family affair, people are volunteering their weekdays and weekends to run the coffee shop, and so many individuals have signed up with Venture to climb mountains, ride their bikes around the country, and run in local races. It’s been really exciting to see this movement go from “something the young adults do” to something that the church does. When you see a 60-year-old couple carrying a couple gallons of water and a mom walking in the heat with her kids so that they can try to understand what people in other parts of the world are experiencing, you know that God is doing something in your community.

How has engaging in Venture locally been different than engaging through a cycling or hiking tour?

For our very first Run Free Dallas event we had around 60 individuals run anywhere from a 5k to a full marathon while wearing matching Run Free shirts. This Venture local activity was so inspiring because we were doing it with people that we see every week. While cycling or hiking with a team of people that you’ve just met and going through the bonding experience is priceless, there is something so fulfilling about partnering with your pastors, your friends, and the people you see on the other side of the church every Sunday to free slaves. You get the true feeling that you’re walking hand in hand with your community and together you’re fighting for people you’ll never know.

Dear Courage, I would like to invite you over for dinner.

I do not know why I am thinking so much these days about being brave and having courage to do the things that I believe in. Perhaps it is because I am on the verge of closing one chapter of my life and as I am doing so I am prepping myself to begin writing the next.

Not too long ago I was reading a post that Michael Hyatt wrote on having courage. In this particular post he shared six steps to finding the courage you need to swim against the tide (tide being difficult situations) and pursue greatness in your projects as a leader. If you have not heard of Michael I suggest you look him up. He is a great writer and shares some very inspiring thoughts on leadership.

Anyway, since Michael shard his steps and thoughts with me (as well as a few thousand other followers) I thought I would share with you the ones that I have found to be most beneficial in my pursuit of bravery and courage, not just in leadership but in my everyday life. And as always, my very intelligent and insightful commentary will follow. har-har.

1. Take a stand for greatness in your life-I am so lucky to have the friends that I do. My favorite thing to do with them is sit around and brainstorm ways that we are going to benefit the world and discover our souls (shout out to Venture!) Who knows if any of the things that we talk about will ever come to pass but one thing that I have come to realize as we talk and as I watch my future unfold is that I can not just seek out greatness for the world but I also need to seek out greatness for my life. That’s right. I want to have a great life. I dream of doing amazing things, I talk about doing amazing things but rarely do I believe that those amazing things will be a daily part of my life. I want to have great things happen in my life so I am going to take a stand for that greatness- believing everyday that it is possible. I feel stronger already!

2. Connect with the original vision- Michael Hyatt quoted an awesome scripture here: “Without vision the people perish” (Prov. 29:18) It is so true! Sometimes I get so caught up with the big picture and the overall outcome that I’m working towards that I forget to be in the moment and remember why I am doing what I am doing. Sometimes it is necessary to say, “Hold up, wait a minute…” close your eyes and reconnect with your original vision. If the vision is gone more than likely your excitement/passion/momentum will be gone shortly.

3. Listen to your heart- I think this one speaks for itself. My heart knows what’s up. In my heart I know what I want and I know what is right. You know that feeling you get when you just know? Some call it intuition but I think it is God using our hearts as a wireless telephone. If you’re brave enough to listen to your heart, and to God, then you will be brave enough to do a lot of other things.

4. Be stubborn- This is my favorite one. It is also the most difficult one, I think. Being courageous requires that you never back down. When you know what you want you should pursue it with all the gusto that you have. Some people will try to discourage you, maybe because they have your “best” interest in mind or maybe because they are jealous of your awesomeness, but even when those circumstances arise you have to be stubborn and go for the gold.

What are some ways that you pursue courage?

Casual Wednesday: When I Cruise

In a few weeks two of my friends will be committing their lives to one another aboard a ship that is bound for Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. As soon as they say those two magic words they, along with several friends, will be setting sail. I've never been on a cruise or to any of those beautiful beachy locations so I decided to treat myself to a pre-graduation graduation gift.

For your entertainment, but mostly mine, I've listed a few items that I will be taking on the cruise...Enjoy.

1. These floppy hats are totally cool. I like the one pictured here because it's not too big and also because it's very natural looking. I could wear it on the boat, off the boat, and when I go out into my orchard to pick strawberries.

2. More than likely you will see me with various styles of scarves wrapped around my head. There are several reasons for this: a) I hate fixing my hair and b) I'll be on vacation so you really can not expect me to fix my hair. You'll be lucky if I even pack a brush.
3. I probably won't even bother packing clothes because I don't plan on ever changing out of my swimsuit. I'm literally just going to go back and forth between the lounge chairs, the pool, and when we are at bay, the beach. I love the swimsuit in this picture. It's so classy. If I wasn't buying myself a graduation cruise I'd buy myself a graduation swimsuit...
4. This dress is so cool. Ideally I would own 700 of these types of dresses so that I never have to wear anything else. They are so practical, especially for a cruise. Obviously it makes a cute ensemble when paired with a belt and probably some sassy sandals but you can also use it as a swimsuit cover-up as well as a bag dress so that you hide the 10 pounds you will probably gain thanks to the unlimited supply of food you have on the boat. I actually have a dress similar to this that I will definitely be throwing into my bag.

Tell me, what did you take/will you be taking on your cruise?

Humbled

Wow. The week that I look forward to every year, Ride:Well week.

Each June a team of approximately 18 cyclist begins the journey of biking from the west coast to the east coast. They do this to raise awareness and support for Blood:Water Mission. Having been a part of a trip similar to this (climbing Mt. Kili) I know how emotionally and physically strenuous something of this nature can be. That is why every year when the team rolls through Dallas my friends and I do the best we can to make it a relaxing and memorable week for the team.

Our young adults community, The Gathering, has made it our special mission to make sure the team feels loved and supported for the few days that they are with us. One of the ways we do this is to host an art benefit that features local artist from our community. We auction off all of the art that is donated to us and then give the money that we make to the Ride:Well tour.

Last year we had about 80 pieces of art that were donated and we raised $3,500. That was huge for us considering the statistic that says $1 provides 1 African with clean water for 1 year. This year, we wanted to surpass that amount by $1,000, so we jumped in head-first. For the past two months a very committed team of people and I would meet every week to brainstorm, plan, problem solve, create and build a plan to out-do our last art benefit.

Well, the event was a huge success. We had about 150 art pieces donated and through it all we raised about $5,000. Although I've been involved in the planning process for this event for the past 2 years I've never been impacted the way that I was last night after we counted the money. I was humbled by the commitment of my community to spend late nights and countless hours putting this event together. I couldn't contain it. Tears flooded my eyes as the realization that the hard work we put it and the love that we gave to this benefit was going to provide 5,000 people with clean water. Does that even register with your brain? 5,000 lives changed. My life, changed.

Last night I realized, deep inside, that this lifestyle of giving until it hurts is not just a trend. This group of people that I'm surrounded by, they really care. We worked so hard and the team has cycled so far all because we want to see the water crisis in Africa ended.

This is crazy but we believe it's true: We are going to change the world. What we do every day is going to change this world. And I do believe that we will not rest until we see the change.

As I was driving home I was listening to a song that I love. One of the lyrics goes like this, "Rivers and roads. Rivers and roads. Rivers 'till I reach you."

I'm so humbled to be surrounded by a group of people that are willing to cross any river and travel any road until we reach justice.

Rivers 'till we reach you.