I have so much to update on, and it's too late tonight to dig into all of it. The last couple weeks have been crazy to say the least. There have been some very challenging days, tear-filled moments, and many nights spent on a bus, but one thing is still true. The Lord is faithful. He knows my needs and His timing is perfect.
I was so discouraged earlier this week and the Lord sent people to me who encouraged, listened, empathized, lifted me up, prayed with me and made me laugh. I am so thankful for and blessed by my friends. I hope I can love them as well as they love me.
Updates about all my amazingly awesome students coming this weekend.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Overflowing with Joy
My heart is so full with excitement tonight about what the Lord is doing through the summer missionaries. They are faithfully walking through the doors that the Lord is opening for them. Yesterday I sat down with a volunteer who came to set up students in Los Angeles and as she share (with much excitement) about how well the students were doing and what an incredible team the Lord brought together, I just beamed.
I've started numerous posts about how thankful I am for my students, how proud they make me, how much I want to be in a village alongside them in ministry, but extroverted me wants to talk and tell everyone. It's harder to sit down and write about it. I don't feel like I can communicate my excitement as effectively without facial expressions. With each report from a team of students I am encouraged by them. I've never doubted their abilities or that the Lord would use them, but all the teams hit the ground running through doors that the Lord has opened.
Tomorrow I'm going to meet a team of 6 girls in Huaraz. We're not any where near the middle of the summer, but due to some IMB meetings, we're going to go ahead and get together. They are wrapping up their first week of teaching in the elementary schools and have had Bible studies in the mornings before school. I'm looking forward to being with the girls and sitting around with hot chocolate and they share stories. I have the best job in the world. This weekend I'm going to hang out with amazing students, hear about what the Lord is doing, encourage and pray for them, and take care of any logistical type things that have come up. It's just awesome.
I feel like my mind is going in a million different directions with things that I want to share and am processing through. The Lord is showing me so much through my students about Him and about me. I wish I could sit down with you and a big cup of coffee to really share about it all.
I've started numerous posts about how thankful I am for my students, how proud they make me, how much I want to be in a village alongside them in ministry, but extroverted me wants to talk and tell everyone. It's harder to sit down and write about it. I don't feel like I can communicate my excitement as effectively without facial expressions. With each report from a team of students I am encouraged by them. I've never doubted their abilities or that the Lord would use them, but all the teams hit the ground running through doors that the Lord has opened.
Tomorrow I'm going to meet a team of 6 girls in Huaraz. We're not any where near the middle of the summer, but due to some IMB meetings, we're going to go ahead and get together. They are wrapping up their first week of teaching in the elementary schools and have had Bible studies in the mornings before school. I'm looking forward to being with the girls and sitting around with hot chocolate and they share stories. I have the best job in the world. This weekend I'm going to hang out with amazing students, hear about what the Lord is doing, encourage and pray for them, and take care of any logistical type things that have come up. It's just awesome.
I feel like my mind is going in a million different directions with things that I want to share and am processing through. The Lord is showing me so much through my students about Him and about me. I wish I could sit down with you and a big cup of coffee to really share about it all.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Team Recuay Update
I promise not to repost every blog of all my summer missionaries, but this one is special to me. For those who have followed my blog or facebook for a while, you know that the students in Ancash (a province in Peru) las summer, were faced with a lot of spiritual warefare, especially phyically with illness. Amber (pictured below) was one of the students in Ancash last summer and has returned this summer to serve in Ancash again. I "borrowed" this blog post from Amber.
What an incredible three days so far in Recuay.
After a seemingly short 8-hour bus ride to Huaraz (thanks to Dramamine and an INCREDIBLE original story by the amazing Andrew Harper), we got settled into our hostel and went out to dinner in a city that is SO different from last summer I can´t even begin to explain it. Last year, Huaraz was a place of darkness and oppression... The spiritual warfare there was so PHYSICALLY evident... And this year - joy. light. peace. I´m constantly amazed at the difference prayer makes.
On Tuesday we took a combi (think 15-passenger bus with at least 22 crammed in) to Recuay - only about 30 minutes away - and as we were moving into our home for the summer, three little girls and two boys came up and said HOLA! and we introduced ourselves and said we were here for the summer to teach English and tell stories about Jesus. I asked if they wanted to hear a story right then, and they enthusiastically said YES! So, we plopped down on the curb and started telling the story of how Jesus told His disciples to let the little children come to Him. It was beautiful. They were spellbound. and I KNOW it wasn´t me and my broken Spanish. Praise the Lord for His Holy Spirit who gives us the words to say when we need it! We sang songs and danced and played a game with their volleyball (which we accidentally lost in the stream a couple of times) - that´s what ministry in Peru is all about. Just meeting people where they are and sharing stories of God´s love.
Our team dynamics are incredible. These girls have become some of my best friends already. We compliment each other and build each other up constantly. Each night we meet together for prayer and singing praise songs and debriefing the day. We have a Post-It note calendar on one wall of our living room area (and by the way - when I say living room, I mean, blank room with a blanket on the floor as our ¨sitting¨ area. Couches are noticably absent here.) and each day we take down the Post-It note for the day and write words that describe the day as a reminder of the SHORT amount of time we are here - to make the most of every moment.
And speaking of making the most of every moment, please pray that physical sickness and homesickness would NOT distract us from the work God has us here for. Several on the team have already been struggling with stomach problems and with sinus infections - it´s HOT during the day and FREEZING at night - and that makes focusing on the mission at hand pretty difficult. So pray! God has been so faithful already! Today we are ALL feeling so much better than yesterday thanks to PRAYER. So keep it up!
Also pray for our willingness to be uncomfortable. Peru is very different from the United States - in some beautifully refreshing ways and in some potentially distracting ways. It´s great to have such a laid-back atmosphere to serve in, but that also poses a challenge in being intentional and feeling like we´re not doing anything of importance some days. The sun is gorgeous here and the skies are almost always blue - but that also brings with it some pretty annoying sunburn. The food is delicious... but I´m sure you can imagine that it is pretty different from American food and therefore sometimes wreaks havoc on our systems. So pray that as we are uncomfortable we will remember that we are NOT called to comfort. The life of a disciple of Christ is not meant to be easy or painless. So pray we will DAILY deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him - whatever that means.
And pray for FOCUS. For the countless opportunities to serve here not to overwhelm us. That we would have discernment to SEE where God is working and JOIN Him wholeheartedly in that work. That we would not waste our time on vain pursuits but would run passionately after the Lord, desiring Him alone.
And this is my prayer for the summer - for us in Peru as well as for all of you... That we would sing as David did,
Oh God, YOU are MY GOD. Earnestly I seek You.
My soul thirsts for You.
My flesh faints for You as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.
Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live. In Your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips,
When I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the watches of the night.
For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to You. Your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:1-8
 |
| Amber (Recuay), Kiersten (San Jose de Quero) and Mary (Recuay) |
What an incredible three days so far in Recuay.
After a seemingly short 8-hour bus ride to Huaraz (thanks to Dramamine and an INCREDIBLE original story by the amazing Andrew Harper), we got settled into our hostel and went out to dinner in a city that is SO different from last summer I can´t even begin to explain it. Last year, Huaraz was a place of darkness and oppression... The spiritual warfare there was so PHYSICALLY evident... And this year - joy. light. peace. I´m constantly amazed at the difference prayer makes.
On Tuesday we took a combi (think 15-passenger bus with at least 22 crammed in) to Recuay - only about 30 minutes away - and as we were moving into our home for the summer, three little girls and two boys came up and said HOLA! and we introduced ourselves and said we were here for the summer to teach English and tell stories about Jesus. I asked if they wanted to hear a story right then, and they enthusiastically said YES! So, we plopped down on the curb and started telling the story of how Jesus told His disciples to let the little children come to Him. It was beautiful. They were spellbound. and I KNOW it wasn´t me and my broken Spanish. Praise the Lord for His Holy Spirit who gives us the words to say when we need it! We sang songs and danced and played a game with their volleyball (which we accidentally lost in the stream a couple of times) - that´s what ministry in Peru is all about. Just meeting people where they are and sharing stories of God´s love.
Our team dynamics are incredible. These girls have become some of my best friends already. We compliment each other and build each other up constantly. Each night we meet together for prayer and singing praise songs and debriefing the day. We have a Post-It note calendar on one wall of our living room area (and by the way - when I say living room, I mean, blank room with a blanket on the floor as our ¨sitting¨ area. Couches are noticably absent here.) and each day we take down the Post-It note for the day and write words that describe the day as a reminder of the SHORT amount of time we are here - to make the most of every moment.
And speaking of making the most of every moment, please pray that physical sickness and homesickness would NOT distract us from the work God has us here for. Several on the team have already been struggling with stomach problems and with sinus infections - it´s HOT during the day and FREEZING at night - and that makes focusing on the mission at hand pretty difficult. So pray! God has been so faithful already! Today we are ALL feeling so much better than yesterday thanks to PRAYER. So keep it up!
Also pray for our willingness to be uncomfortable. Peru is very different from the United States - in some beautifully refreshing ways and in some potentially distracting ways. It´s great to have such a laid-back atmosphere to serve in, but that also poses a challenge in being intentional and feeling like we´re not doing anything of importance some days. The sun is gorgeous here and the skies are almost always blue - but that also brings with it some pretty annoying sunburn. The food is delicious... but I´m sure you can imagine that it is pretty different from American food and therefore sometimes wreaks havoc on our systems. So pray that as we are uncomfortable we will remember that we are NOT called to comfort. The life of a disciple of Christ is not meant to be easy or painless. So pray we will DAILY deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him - whatever that means.
And pray for FOCUS. For the countless opportunities to serve here not to overwhelm us. That we would have discernment to SEE where God is working and JOIN Him wholeheartedly in that work. That we would not waste our time on vain pursuits but would run passionately after the Lord, desiring Him alone.
And this is my prayer for the summer - for us in Peru as well as for all of you... That we would sing as David did,
Oh God, YOU are MY GOD. Earnestly I seek You.
My soul thirsts for You.
My flesh faints for You as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.
Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live. In Your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips,
When I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the watches of the night.
For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to You. Your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:1-8
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Orientation Recap
All of the students have arrived at their final destination for the summer! We had an incredible four days of orientation. It included teaching on Bible Storying, world view, mountain culture, spiritual preparedness, discipleship, evangelism, cooking from scratch and much more. We really packed in a lot and tried not to overwhelm anybody!
It was so fun for me to watch the students bond. Not just with their teammates but with other students they won't see again until the end of the summer. It seemed like a group was always playing Banana-grams during the breaks. Other sat and laughed, played guitar and sang, took mini naps when they could.
As the village teams departed on Sunday and Monday, there was a sense of peace that they are where the Lord wants them this summer. I was brought to tears as the last group departed Lima yesterday thinking about all they are going to experience and learn, how the Lord is going to shape them, what and impact this summer will have on their lives and the light that they are going to be to the people around them. I am humbled to have the opportunity to be a small part of what the Lord is doing with these 25 amazing students.
Now I wait (slightly impatiently) to be back with them again. In about 3 weeks I'll begin traveling to meet up with the mountain teams for a time of rest and debriefing for them. I just want to encourage and love on them during that time. I pray that I will be a blessing and they will feel refreshed (and not just from a hot shower).
If I haven't mentioned it yet (and you will see this again). I love these students.
It was so fun for me to watch the students bond. Not just with their teammates but with other students they won't see again until the end of the summer. It seemed like a group was always playing Banana-grams during the breaks. Other sat and laughed, played guitar and sang, took mini naps when they could.
As the village teams departed on Sunday and Monday, there was a sense of peace that they are where the Lord wants them this summer. I was brought to tears as the last group departed Lima yesterday thinking about all they are going to experience and learn, how the Lord is going to shape them, what and impact this summer will have on their lives and the light that they are going to be to the people around them. I am humbled to have the opportunity to be a small part of what the Lord is doing with these 25 amazing students.
Now I wait (slightly impatiently) to be back with them again. In about 3 weeks I'll begin traveling to meet up with the mountain teams for a time of rest and debriefing for them. I just want to encourage and love on them during that time. I pray that I will be a blessing and they will feel refreshed (and not just from a hot shower).
If I haven't mentioned it yet (and you will see this again). I love these students.
Monday, June 6, 2011
And then they were sent out...
They have arrived, learned, asked questions, laughed, cried a little, prayed, and encouraged one another for the past four days. Today the summer missionaries are sent out to their ministry sites.
As the teams depart this morning, I will have to start dealing with my "empty nest syndrome." I absolutely adore these students and would love to work alongside them in the villages. For now, that is not my role, and as I stay in Lima and continue to pray for them I look forward to the reports of what the Lord is doing among them.
As the teams depart this morning, I will have to start dealing with my "empty nest syndrome." I absolutely adore these students and would love to work alongside them in the villages. For now, that is not my role, and as I stay in Lima and continue to pray for them I look forward to the reports of what the Lord is doing among them.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Summer Missionaries 2011
We had a great first day of orientation. The students are troopers. They are tired and probably slightly overwhelmed but they were awesome today.
I love getting to know them in person instead of via email or Facebook. It's so much more personal and real, the extravert in me needs that.
Here are a few pics from today. We did have a beautiful sunny day all day until we got down to the coast to take pictures. Go figure.
I'll add more as the week goes on.
 |
| Iquitos Team |
 |
| Los Angeles Team |
 |
| Recuay Team |
 |
| San Jose de Quero Team |
 |
| Chancay River Valley Tean |
 |
| The Whole Gang!! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)