I was/am really challenged by this verse. I came upon it the other day when reading KP Yohannan's The Lords Work Done in the Lord's way. Do I do this...do I set the Lord ALWAYS before me? The answer came quickly and it was a resounding no. At the same time I was filled with a desire for the answer to change and become yes.
I have set the Lord ALWAYS before me. Before me in my desires, my wants, my actions, my EVERYTHING and on top on that not just sometimes but ALWAYS. I know this is something I can not do in the flesh. I want to be one who is set on studying my Master's mind. I want to always seek and inquire of God. I want to ask- Lord, is this the way you want your minsitry to function? Is this how you want me to serve you?
As I read the bible I see that waiting on God always precedes the unfolding of His plan or purpose. I have to be willing to sit as his feet to take time to come into His presence and hear form Him. Often I get busy and do not do this. In order for Psalm 16:8 to be true in my life I have to know God and be known by Him and this takes time. Time I want to give.
Jesus has already done this for us. He set us always before him, loving us so much that he was willing to die.
Psalm 16:8 is challenging me. I want this to be true of me!
Rachel
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Weird!!!
It is weird being back in the US!!! Weird in so many awesome ways and weird in a bunch of not so good ways also. I feel like I am already super busy and it is just the first week of classes. What happened to things slowing down a little now that I am not teaching full-time and going to school full-time? That was one of the many things I thoroughly enjoyed about Nicaragua...time! We share the same 24 hours in a day but it seemed to me that life was slower, in a good way. People would come over unannounced "ahhh the horror".... YEP, unannounced!!
In fact it was expected that people would come over and just do "life" with you. There were no specific preparations or plans. People would just work together, sit together, eat together, go get water together....whatever happened to be going on you were made a part of. In the evenings people sat and talked or read aloud to one another. LOVED IT!
Then again, I am very thankful to be back and have HOT showers...he he! I think that is the wonderful thing about traveling internationally, you have the opportunity to live life in a different way. Maybe better, maybe worse, maybe just different. Such a neat thing to do.
I am making a video from my time in Nicaragua. Nothing fancy but I should post it on here and facebook soon. I have had so many people interested to see and hear about the trip....so Cool! God did some amazing things in me, through me, and all around me! To Him be the glory!
In some ways it is hard being back because I find myself getting used to the comforts of the US once again. When I first got back into town I was incredibly embarrassed by the amount of clothing that I had in my closet.
NO way I could wear it all IN SIX MONTHS..YEP...embarassed!!!
The other day I found myself at Target and I almost bought a shirt that I thought was cute. WHAT????
I don't need a shirt. I have a bazillion shirts. Not that it is bad to buy a shirt...I am sure I will buy a new shirt one of these days....probably one day soon. It is simply the principle. I can give away alot and still have more than I need. Why have I not given some of this stuff away?????? I need to do that AND continue to do it when I have more than I can use!!!
Then, there is this small nagging of a feeling that in some way I am still gone. Not sure if that makes sense but even with my family and friends I feel like for some reason I have not yet had enough time with them. I still feel distant. I feel like I need weeks of time to just hang out with them uniterrupted and catch up. I know that catching up will happen slowly...I was gone for 8 months and I can never fully catch up from 8 months...it is just an interesting dynamic. I have urges to stand up and give them all a really long bear hug. I missed them!
On another note, it is so AMAZING to be back at my home church. I missed the body so greatly. These people encourage me, love on me, and hold me accountable. I have missed singing praise to God with them, missed praying with them, missed going through the good and the bad with them. I praise God for Living Hope and the sister Churches of New Life and Living Hope Bryan. If you are not involved in a local church body...JOIN ONE! God desires for us to have this type of community...so awesome! I blessed to get to live with a group of ladies that go to one of these churches and it is so nice to know that they are praying for me and I for them.
Okay, enough for now.
Off to do other things...like grade papers....yuck!
In fact it was expected that people would come over and just do "life" with you. There were no specific preparations or plans. People would just work together, sit together, eat together, go get water together....whatever happened to be going on you were made a part of. In the evenings people sat and talked or read aloud to one another. LOVED IT!
Then again, I am very thankful to be back and have HOT showers...he he! I think that is the wonderful thing about traveling internationally, you have the opportunity to live life in a different way. Maybe better, maybe worse, maybe just different. Such a neat thing to do.
I am making a video from my time in Nicaragua. Nothing fancy but I should post it on here and facebook soon. I have had so many people interested to see and hear about the trip....so Cool! God did some amazing things in me, through me, and all around me! To Him be the glory!
In some ways it is hard being back because I find myself getting used to the comforts of the US once again. When I first got back into town I was incredibly embarrassed by the amount of clothing that I had in my closet.
NO way I could wear it all IN SIX MONTHS..YEP...embarassed!!!
The other day I found myself at Target and I almost bought a shirt that I thought was cute. WHAT????
I don't need a shirt. I have a bazillion shirts. Not that it is bad to buy a shirt...I am sure I will buy a new shirt one of these days....probably one day soon. It is simply the principle. I can give away alot and still have more than I need. Why have I not given some of this stuff away?????? I need to do that AND continue to do it when I have more than I can use!!!
Then, there is this small nagging of a feeling that in some way I am still gone. Not sure if that makes sense but even with my family and friends I feel like for some reason I have not yet had enough time with them. I still feel distant. I feel like I need weeks of time to just hang out with them uniterrupted and catch up. I know that catching up will happen slowly...I was gone for 8 months and I can never fully catch up from 8 months...it is just an interesting dynamic. I have urges to stand up and give them all a really long bear hug. I missed them!
On another note, it is so AMAZING to be back at my home church. I missed the body so greatly. These people encourage me, love on me, and hold me accountable. I have missed singing praise to God with them, missed praying with them, missed going through the good and the bad with them. I praise God for Living Hope and the sister Churches of New Life and Living Hope Bryan. If you are not involved in a local church body...JOIN ONE! God desires for us to have this type of community...so awesome! I blessed to get to live with a group of ladies that go to one of these churches and it is so nice to know that they are praying for me and I for them.
Okay, enough for now.
Off to do other things...like grade papers....yuck!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Full Acceptance!
I am back in the US! Sorry for he slowness of this posting. It has been a fast and furious month of packing Loren and Karen to move to Chile, unpacking myself here in the US, visiting family and friends (packing and unpacking with some of them...hint Melodi..ha), and so on. It has been wonderful to be back and see those that I love and difficult to be back and miss those that I love in Nicaragua. Still, I am glad to be here because I know that this is where God wants me for right now. I am excited for the semester to start and to meet my new group of college students and to get to catch up with many of you!
1st off I want to say a huge THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been so blessed by God over the last 8 month journey and so many of you have prayed for me, financially supported me, encouraged me, checked in one me, and made me feel loved and cared for. I am humbled and blessed to know you and be loved by you...thank you!
Currently, I am back at A&M teaching all my fun classes once again...YEA! I am also praying over where God wants to use me in the future. For now I am asking about one day at a time. I have a meeting in September with the International Mission Board...so you can be praying for a sensitive heart to the HS for both myself and the IMB representative as to where God is leading.
There is one thing that I am for sure of wherever I am:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1: 15-16)
I amd in full acceptance of this scripture and this is really where God is showing me that I should be spiritually regardless of where I am physically. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners......people like me...messed up in their thinking and in their selfishness...sinners of whom I am the foremost. And I received Christ's mercy for one reason, that I foremost of sinners, might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe!!!
I was not given mercy just for me! God loves the world...every nation, tribe, and tongue. God gave me mercy so that I can in turn share with others about His greatness and glory. That I can tell others about this life I have found that is fuller, richer, and greater than anything I could have desired or accomplished on my own accord.
There is so much more to share and I will as time goes on. I am going to keep up with the blog..yippee!
With a thankful heart,
Rachel
1st off I want to say a huge THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been so blessed by God over the last 8 month journey and so many of you have prayed for me, financially supported me, encouraged me, checked in one me, and made me feel loved and cared for. I am humbled and blessed to know you and be loved by you...thank you!
Currently, I am back at A&M teaching all my fun classes once again...YEA! I am also praying over where God wants to use me in the future. For now I am asking about one day at a time. I have a meeting in September with the International Mission Board...so you can be praying for a sensitive heart to the HS for both myself and the IMB representative as to where God is leading.
There is one thing that I am for sure of wherever I am:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1: 15-16)
I amd in full acceptance of this scripture and this is really where God is showing me that I should be spiritually regardless of where I am physically. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners......people like me...messed up in their thinking and in their selfishness...sinners of whom I am the foremost. And I received Christ's mercy for one reason, that I foremost of sinners, might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe!!!
I was not given mercy just for me! God loves the world...every nation, tribe, and tongue. God gave me mercy so that I can in turn share with others about His greatness and glory. That I can tell others about this life I have found that is fuller, richer, and greater than anything I could have desired or accomplished on my own accord.
There is so much more to share and I will as time goes on. I am going to keep up with the blog..yippee!
With a thankful heart,
Rachel
Thursday, July 15, 2010
A Beautiful Exhaustion!
So much has happened in the last four weeks that I have put off writing for a few days because I didn't even know where to start. However, there is one thing that keeps coming up. One thing that I do know.
God is working!
"Jesus said to them, My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working." (John 5:17)
Throughout the last few weeks I have been "on" pretty much all the time. I was leading (with lots of help) groups of 40+ people. Also, I had the honor to be a prayer partner for Melodi while she was with the Living Hope team in Haiti. It was so neat to hear about how God is working in Haiti while at the same time being in awe of all that God is doing here in Nicaragua. What is so incredible to me is that while my body and mind were in a state of complete exhaustion, my spirit was in a complete state of awe. Do you know what an amazing God we serve?
I mean seriously think about it for a moment. The God we serve is working...in us, around us, through us (if we let Him) ALL the time and ALL over the world! I think sometimes I get this narrow view of where or how God is working. Well, not the past few weeks. God is drawing people to Himself all around the world. God is doing miracles, changing lives, forgiving, healing, moving mountains!
Each night our large group would get together and talk about all the ways in which we had seen God move that day. Sometimes we would talk for hours about all that we had seen God do. I was so encouraged by listening to others and by giving the glory to God for all He is doing.
I wish I could share it all with you. I wish I could give you eyes to see into me so that I could show you all that God has done. I think that is often what many people think when they get home from a mission trip. How do you explain to the people you love, to those around you, about all you have witnessed? You can't! There is no way they can know....truly know. At the same time, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Every time someone hears the excitement in my voice, the look of awe in my eye, or the lack of words to express how great my God is they will gain a glimpse into His goodness.
Yes, I have been exhausted. Yes, I have slept on hard surfaces. Yes, I have been hot...dirty....eaten up by mosquitos...sick at my stomach....and so on. And all I can say is....Yes, I am overwhelmed by God's goodness.... My cup overflowth!
What?
That doesn't make sense.
Oh, but it does.
Anyone who has gone out for the sake of the gospel is shaking their head right now. They understand exactly what I am saying. They know that God is working. They know that God allowing us a small glimpse into His goodness is overwhelming.
I am in a state of beautiful exhasution.....my heart is full of praise!
Psalm 148
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens,
Praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all the angels;
Praise him, all the hosts!
Praise him, sun and moon,
Praise him, all you shinning stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
Priase the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulling his word!
Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds!
Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above the earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the pople of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the Lord!
God is working!
"Jesus said to them, My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working." (John 5:17)
Throughout the last few weeks I have been "on" pretty much all the time. I was leading (with lots of help) groups of 40+ people. Also, I had the honor to be a prayer partner for Melodi while she was with the Living Hope team in Haiti. It was so neat to hear about how God is working in Haiti while at the same time being in awe of all that God is doing here in Nicaragua. What is so incredible to me is that while my body and mind were in a state of complete exhaustion, my spirit was in a complete state of awe. Do you know what an amazing God we serve?
I mean seriously think about it for a moment. The God we serve is working...in us, around us, through us (if we let Him) ALL the time and ALL over the world! I think sometimes I get this narrow view of where or how God is working. Well, not the past few weeks. God is drawing people to Himself all around the world. God is doing miracles, changing lives, forgiving, healing, moving mountains!
Each night our large group would get together and talk about all the ways in which we had seen God move that day. Sometimes we would talk for hours about all that we had seen God do. I was so encouraged by listening to others and by giving the glory to God for all He is doing.
I wish I could share it all with you. I wish I could give you eyes to see into me so that I could show you all that God has done. I think that is often what many people think when they get home from a mission trip. How do you explain to the people you love, to those around you, about all you have witnessed? You can't! There is no way they can know....truly know. At the same time, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Every time someone hears the excitement in my voice, the look of awe in my eye, or the lack of words to express how great my God is they will gain a glimpse into His goodness.
Yes, I have been exhausted. Yes, I have slept on hard surfaces. Yes, I have been hot...dirty....eaten up by mosquitos...sick at my stomach....and so on. And all I can say is....Yes, I am overwhelmed by God's goodness.... My cup overflowth!
What?
That doesn't make sense.
Oh, but it does.
Anyone who has gone out for the sake of the gospel is shaking their head right now. They understand exactly what I am saying. They know that God is working. They know that God allowing us a small glimpse into His goodness is overwhelming.
I am in a state of beautiful exhasution.....my heart is full of praise!
Psalm 148
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens,
Praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all the angels;
Praise him, all the hosts!
Praise him, sun and moon,
Praise him, all you shinning stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
Priase the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulling his word!
Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds!
Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above the earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the pople of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the Lord!
The man holding the bible is Sergio, a man very dear to my heart. I turned around one day on a hike and saw these 2 men kneeling in the middle of a dirt path on the side of the mountain. They prayed together and this man accepted Jesus as his savior. Sergio saw me and called me over. He said to the man, "I would like for you to meet your new sister in Chirst!" Sergio has been out with the past 7 teams...7 weeks in a row....a beautiful exhaustion!!!!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Ocotal Area!
God is working mightly in the Ocotal area of Nicaragua. We are heading back out with 4 more teams to the same area in the morning. It is a mix of teams from different areas and a mix of ages so be praying for unity within the group.
We are passing out a study guide that one of the IMB missionaries made to go along with a radio program that will air for 12 weeks througout rural areas of Nicaragua. The guide shares the gospel and then also goes through some discipleship. This is great for rural areas that often don't have a church close enough to attend. It is also wonderful for those who can not read. Almost everyone has access to a radio.
Last week we had 2 groups in the Ocotal area and we passed out the study guide in 42 communities. Many people have already called the surrounding churches asking for information because they read the guide and accepted Christ. We had about 25 people accept Jesus just from the days we were passing out the guide!
Pray for us as we go back out. Pray for the Lord to open more hearts to the truth of His word. Pray for wisdom and energy for me and the other leaders as we have been going non-stop. I am so excited to see what the Lord is going to continue to do in this area and I am beyond excited about all that He has already done! Okay, more later... it is 1:00am and I am still not packed. Here are a few pictures from last week. (The first picture is of a couple of young men reading the study guide we had just given them)
We are passing out a study guide that one of the IMB missionaries made to go along with a radio program that will air for 12 weeks througout rural areas of Nicaragua. The guide shares the gospel and then also goes through some discipleship. This is great for rural areas that often don't have a church close enough to attend. It is also wonderful for those who can not read. Almost everyone has access to a radio.
Last week we had 2 groups in the Ocotal area and we passed out the study guide in 42 communities. Many people have already called the surrounding churches asking for information because they read the guide and accepted Christ. We had about 25 people accept Jesus just from the days we were passing out the guide!
Pray for us as we go back out. Pray for the Lord to open more hearts to the truth of His word. Pray for wisdom and energy for me and the other leaders as we have been going non-stop. I am so excited to see what the Lord is going to continue to do in this area and I am beyond excited about all that He has already done! Okay, more later... it is 1:00am and I am still not packed. Here are a few pictures from last week. (The first picture is of a couple of young men reading the study guide we had just given them)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
An Amazing Week!
I was so blessed by the team this week. It is such a sweet thing to spend time with others who are wanting evermore to be fully surrendered to the gospel. We had such awesome times of bible study, discussion, and encouragement. We went to Nawahwas and Las Canaes to spread the gospel. It was really sweet that one of the team members Jared had gone to Las Canaes a couple of years ago and there was only one believer. Now, the church is growing and the message is being spread. One of the men that walked with us from house to house had only been a believer for 5 months and it was incredible to see his excitement to share the bible with his community. What a sweet time for Jared to be able to come back once again and share the love of Jesus with this community.I want to tell you about an experience in which God showed me a small glimpse into how He has compassion on us. One very hot afternoon (all days were very hot, it is 100% humity in this community and your clothes are soaked with sweat even if you are just sitting in the shade) we gathered together with the local Nicas for a fun game of baseball. I decided not to play and to spend some time with the locals who where watching the game. I met this sweet little girl!
Isn't she beautiful?
As she came running up to see us I thought to myself "what a pretty little girl." I saw her running towards me and and my heart was filled with joy to have the privlige to get to spend time with her. As she began to warm up to me she would jump on my lap or touch my hands or face. At one point I made her laugh and she threw her head back and giggled with a huge grin.
This is what I saw inside that beautiful little girl's sweet mouth.
My heart grimmaced, it actually ached for her.
Now, this is not an uncommon sight here in Nicaragua. In fact, her teeth are better than some. However, for some reason at that moment my heart hurt for her because of her rotting teeth. Even though these are her baby teeth and new teeth will come in...it is likely they will end up in the same shape as these teeth. Many nicaraguans go through much pain and infection due to the rotting of their teeth. What God later showed me as I had some down time was that this is often how He sees me.
I saw this beautiful sweet child who my made my heart happy coming towards me. As she smiled that big happy grin my heart clinched because I could she the rotting teeth and I knew the pain she would have to endure because of it.
I think that this is maybe a incredibly small glimpse of how God must see me. I am His child, who make His heart happy, running towards Him and yet He can see the sin inside of me that is rotten and wicked and His heart clinches and aches for me because He wants the best for me. He loves me and desires for me to be His, to live in the grace and mercy He has freely given me through the sending of His son Jesus to die on the cross for me. Yet, I often instead choose to live in my rotteness - to pursue my own fleshy desires and to satisfy myself and I grieve Him because He loves me so dearly and has compassion on me. Yet, a time is coming, and will come when there will be no more compassion.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son to condem the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whowever believes in him is not condemened, but whoever does not believe is condemed already, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Son of God. John 3:16-18.
Whoever does not believe in the name of the Only Son of God is condemed already........that was me before I was saved, that was you before you were saved, that IS you if you are not saved. Jesus is the name of the Only Son of God and the bible says that Jesus states:
I am the way, the truth, and the life and NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME. John 14:6
We often don't like to talk about it so bluntly beacuse it seems like such as harsh gospel. Yet that is because we don't see it as it truly is....we all deserve Hell, we are all sinners and in His GOODNESS God has made a way for us to come to Him and be restored through his son Jesus Christ.
As I spent the afternoon with this beautiful little girl my hearts cry was , "please Lord open her heart to the gospel, save!" In your goodness and grace open her heart because my heart aches for her because of her teeth.....wait, rewind....did I just say her teeth?
Yep, it ached for her teeth and the pain it would cause her in the future. Oh, how much more deeply my soul crys out for her real future that will be after this life.
Those who do not know God will suffer the punsihment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord....2 Thessalonians 1:9
Your word says that you are returning and on that day you will judge. Oh, God open our eyes to the truth of the gospel! Let every believer take your word to be truth and share this truth with those around them who are lost and dying to eternal separation from you. Have mercy on us Father and open our eyes to your calling. You have called us to share the message of truth with others!
Please God raise up workers for your kingdom..... so that a little girl in a community that does not even appear on the map of Nicaragua may come to know you and then share you with her sweet little brother
and that he might share ....and on and on!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
You can't outgive God!!!
Wow, things are moving fast around here. So much has happened since my last post. Teams are coming in and going out while so much is going on in the middle of their stay. My heart is ever more burdened for the lost. The harvest is ripe and the workers are few. Matthew 9:(36) When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37)Then He said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. (38)Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."
God is teaching me so much. Big, powerful thoughts...yet so simple. Such as, Do you believe the Bible? No, I mean do you REALLY believe the Bible?
If my answer to that is yes (which it is) then it must change the way that I live. It must change the way I think, act, pray, everything must change. I can't just live comfortably in my house, surrounded by all my stuff, and pretend that the bible and what it says is not impacting. It is impacting! It impacts everything! It impacts eternity!
I could go on and on about thoughts such as these because God is challenging me greatly. He is challenging me in many ways.... one way is through this sermon series/book. I challenge you to check it out! Here is the link to the videos or the book (Radical) which you can buy for around $12.
http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/radical
This is an 8 sermon series called RADICAL. So incredible, so biblical!
More about the series later! I am still processing alot of it myself and would love to process along with you if you have read the book or listened to the series feel free to leave comments.
On another note, God sure can give beyond measure! I never dreamed that through my obedience to God by coming here to Nicaragua that I would be blessed so amazingly. I have been able to see God's creation so clearly and so beautifully. I have been where few people have walked. I have stood on mountain tops and walked along the sea shores. I have prayed in wooden homes tucked in valleys holding the hands of people whose words I don't understand all the while smiling because I know that our Father in heaven hears and understands. I have held children in my arms whose little hands cling to mine and faces beam with smiles that we have come to their homes, homes that few come to visit. Oh, God...who am I that you are mindful of me? Who am I that you would desire to use me? I am in awe of your goodness.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him. (Psalm 8:3-4)
God is teaching me so much. Big, powerful thoughts...yet so simple. Such as, Do you believe the Bible? No, I mean do you REALLY believe the Bible?
If my answer to that is yes (which it is) then it must change the way that I live. It must change the way I think, act, pray, everything must change. I can't just live comfortably in my house, surrounded by all my stuff, and pretend that the bible and what it says is not impacting. It is impacting! It impacts everything! It impacts eternity!
I could go on and on about thoughts such as these because God is challenging me greatly. He is challenging me in many ways.... one way is through this sermon series/book. I challenge you to check it out! Here is the link to the videos or the book (Radical) which you can buy for around $12.
http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/radical
This is an 8 sermon series called RADICAL. So incredible, so biblical!
More about the series later! I am still processing alot of it myself and would love to process along with you if you have read the book or listened to the series feel free to leave comments.
On another note, God sure can give beyond measure! I never dreamed that through my obedience to God by coming here to Nicaragua that I would be blessed so amazingly. I have been able to see God's creation so clearly and so beautifully. I have been where few people have walked. I have stood on mountain tops and walked along the sea shores. I have prayed in wooden homes tucked in valleys holding the hands of people whose words I don't understand all the while smiling because I know that our Father in heaven hears and understands. I have held children in my arms whose little hands cling to mine and faces beam with smiles that we have come to their homes, homes that few come to visit. Oh, God...who am I that you are mindful of me? Who am I that you would desire to use me? I am in awe of your goodness.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him. (Psalm 8:3-4)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
A Few Pictures of Nicaragua!
The church we built in Muy Muy Viejo! (1st church in this area ...God is So Good)
This is about midway through the project.
Beginning stages. We carried that wood for miles on our shoulders.
Getting ready to put the frame up.
Sleeping quarters when out with a team. I atually enjoy sleeping in a hammock.
A few girls hanging out with us at a school.
A boy with his little brother.
This is how they make cheese...gringos can't eat it because it will make them sick.
This is the make-shift shower. I usually go for the creek.
A good mode of transportation during the rainy season!
La Latrina - this is where you do your business...ha!
A typical family home in the mountains.
In the kitchen- cooking area. The stove is made up of dirt, it is pretty awesome.
Girls looking out the window at the funny gringa! Monday, April 19, 2010
Lay it Down!
There is so much that has happened over the last several weeks. We have had a couple of teams and it has all been an amazing and exhausting experience. The last two weeks we built a church in Muy Muy Viejo. It is a mountain town up in the middle of nowhere Nicaragua. It was alot of hard work and yet a beautiful thing all at the same time. We carried wood over a mile on our shoulders. The wood was cut with a chainsaw from huge trees and carried long distance by men and women up to the top of a hill where the church now stands. I want to write more about this church and the people of Muy Muy Viejo and I will later.
What I want to write about now, instead, is a little more difficult but a sweet conviction from the Lord nontheless. You see the last couple of weeks I have been doing ministry and yet I felt off. I couldn't expalin to you why. I just knew my quiet time and prayer time with the Lord wasn't the same. I had been praying about it and wasn't really sure what was going on. The Lord has been showing me over the last couple of days.
What God showed me was that over the last few weeks my focus has been on myself and not on Him. You see several weeks before the last team came in people had been telling me about a 31 year old guy that was coming. They were kindof hinting about he and I. Well I didn't really put alot of thought into it then. But as the days got closer I started thinking well, maybe this is a Godly man who the Lord has put in my path for a reason. It turns out the guy was very sweet but not the guy for me. What I now realize was that as the week went on I started thinking.....Hey God what about me...a family???? I starting thinking about things that sometimes I think girls worry about...lonliness, a protector, physical beauty, comparisons, etc. What God has shown me was for about 8-10 days my thoughts were all about me. My focus was on me and it was a continous spiral of thoughts where the devil could take hold...what if I never marry? Am I pretty? What will I do after this? Where will I live? I had taken my eyes off the Father. I had taken my eyes off the one who is love...the one who is life.
I was listening to a sermon by Ben Stuart from Breakaway. It was one on the Abraham series about the sacrifice of Issac. Ben asked the audience to write down a question. What are you holding on to? What will you not lay down and give to God? I thought to myself, well...nothing. I have given up my home, job, family, etc. Is there anything else God? Then Ben said...are there any hopes, desires, or dreams that you wouldn't lay down before the Lord trusting him as your Lord. Trusting that His will is best?
There was...although I do pray over this from time to time I had never had it fill my thoughts as it did the last 8-10 days. My thoughts were all about me. I had missed opportunites to share with people, to encourage younger women, to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His leading.
I would rather not write this post honestly. I don't even know who will read it or why it would impact anyone other than me. I do know that for some reason tp write it makes me feel weak. I find myself wanting to follow it up by saying I am confident in myself and happy and all that....because I am...but that doesn't mean that negative thoughts don't come and no matter how few, they are destructive. Plus, it is my fullest desire is to lay it all down. My life is no longer mine but belongs to God. I want to serve Him with my life and I trust that whatever His will is for my life is best. I want to serve Him in faith in my singleness or with a family. I want to walk with him keeping my eyes open for what He is leading me to and be in obedience to His will. I have nothing to fear in that. I know truth! I know I can have an inexpressible joy because however He decides to use me will be far better than anything I could ask or imagine. It will be IMMEAURABLY MORE. I know it.
So, I write this. I write it so I don't forget. What is so sweet is that as soon as God showed me my focus was on myself I prayed and asked forgivess and it was gone. "it" being the yuckness of the "what if's?" Instead, I was filled with a joy and excitement of what God will do in me and has done in me. What it has reminded me is that I must Lay it all down each day. What is mine is not really mine but His. If I do have children, they are His and what better place for them to be but in His Hands. So I pray with my hands open before the Lord. Whatever God chooses to fill them with I will not grasp to tightly but keep them open because my life and everything I have is His.
How quickly thoughts can happen. We take our focus off of Him and begin to worry, to think about the future or the past in our own understanding, to wish or want something the world puts before us.
I don't want those things. I want to abide in him and know truth. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
----A few verses from Before the Throne of God ----
My soul is purchased by his blood, my soul is hid with him on high. One with him I can not die. With Christ my savior and my God.
Why would I want my focus to be on me and on this world when I know truth. I know that it is all about Jesus. His love, His sacrafice for me. My name is graven in His Hands and Written on His Heart. My focus and my desire is for others to know Him... wherever He takes me and whatever I do that is my hope and my desire.
What I want to write about now, instead, is a little more difficult but a sweet conviction from the Lord nontheless. You see the last couple of weeks I have been doing ministry and yet I felt off. I couldn't expalin to you why. I just knew my quiet time and prayer time with the Lord wasn't the same. I had been praying about it and wasn't really sure what was going on. The Lord has been showing me over the last couple of days.
What God showed me was that over the last few weeks my focus has been on myself and not on Him. You see several weeks before the last team came in people had been telling me about a 31 year old guy that was coming. They were kindof hinting about he and I. Well I didn't really put alot of thought into it then. But as the days got closer I started thinking well, maybe this is a Godly man who the Lord has put in my path for a reason. It turns out the guy was very sweet but not the guy for me. What I now realize was that as the week went on I started thinking.....Hey God what about me...a family???? I starting thinking about things that sometimes I think girls worry about...lonliness, a protector, physical beauty, comparisons, etc. What God has shown me was for about 8-10 days my thoughts were all about me. My focus was on me and it was a continous spiral of thoughts where the devil could take hold...what if I never marry? Am I pretty? What will I do after this? Where will I live? I had taken my eyes off the Father. I had taken my eyes off the one who is love...the one who is life.
I was listening to a sermon by Ben Stuart from Breakaway. It was one on the Abraham series about the sacrifice of Issac. Ben asked the audience to write down a question. What are you holding on to? What will you not lay down and give to God? I thought to myself, well...nothing. I have given up my home, job, family, etc. Is there anything else God? Then Ben said...are there any hopes, desires, or dreams that you wouldn't lay down before the Lord trusting him as your Lord. Trusting that His will is best?
There was...although I do pray over this from time to time I had never had it fill my thoughts as it did the last 8-10 days. My thoughts were all about me. I had missed opportunites to share with people, to encourage younger women, to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His leading.
I would rather not write this post honestly. I don't even know who will read it or why it would impact anyone other than me. I do know that for some reason tp write it makes me feel weak. I find myself wanting to follow it up by saying I am confident in myself and happy and all that....because I am...but that doesn't mean that negative thoughts don't come and no matter how few, they are destructive. Plus, it is my fullest desire is to lay it all down. My life is no longer mine but belongs to God. I want to serve Him with my life and I trust that whatever His will is for my life is best. I want to serve Him in faith in my singleness or with a family. I want to walk with him keeping my eyes open for what He is leading me to and be in obedience to His will. I have nothing to fear in that. I know truth! I know I can have an inexpressible joy because however He decides to use me will be far better than anything I could ask or imagine. It will be IMMEAURABLY MORE. I know it.
So, I write this. I write it so I don't forget. What is so sweet is that as soon as God showed me my focus was on myself I prayed and asked forgivess and it was gone. "it" being the yuckness of the "what if's?" Instead, I was filled with a joy and excitement of what God will do in me and has done in me. What it has reminded me is that I must Lay it all down each day. What is mine is not really mine but His. If I do have children, they are His and what better place for them to be but in His Hands. So I pray with my hands open before the Lord. Whatever God chooses to fill them with I will not grasp to tightly but keep them open because my life and everything I have is His.
How quickly thoughts can happen. We take our focus off of Him and begin to worry, to think about the future or the past in our own understanding, to wish or want something the world puts before us.
I don't want those things. I want to abide in him and know truth. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
----A few verses from Before the Throne of God ----
My soul is purchased by his blood, my soul is hid with him on high. One with him I can not die. With Christ my savior and my God.
Why would I want my focus to be on me and on this world when I know truth. I know that it is all about Jesus. His love, His sacrafice for me. My name is graven in His Hands and Written on His Heart. My focus and my desire is for others to know Him... wherever He takes me and whatever I do that is my hope and my desire.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Loved!
I promise that pictures will come soon. I will work on getting some up over the next day or two before we head out with the next team. Living Hope - my church in College Station was in this past week and it was such a blessing to have them here.
I want to write more about that later. However, I'd first like to share a little about what God has been teaching me. God loves me!!! Hmmmm....sounds like one of those "duh" statements, right? Really though, think about it.
I am loved by the creator of all things. I am loved by the almighty most high God. I, we, are loved by God! Again, I know it doesn't sound like an ahhh haaaa moment because we know God loves us, right??????
Well, I am not so sure about that. I know that some people don't know it. They are told for the first time that God loves them or that anyone loves them for that matter. But what about all of us who "think" we know it. Do we really?
Do we really understand that God has made a covenant with us and that He loves us even when we are so underserving of love. He is faithful even when we are not. His love is perfect and ours is not... but God decided that He would love us anyway. God doesn't just love us a little bit, or love us when we do good things....God loves us all the time. His love for us is great. He desires for us to know him. He desires to use us. I don't have to earn God's love...I already have it.
Do you believe that? Do your really believe that God loves you....all the time? If the most High God of this universe loves me so dearly then why don't I see such value in myself? If I am precious unto the Lord, valued, lifted up, prized then why do I often think of myself as less? Well, I know where I have been. I know who I was before surrendering my life to the the Lord. But wait!!!!!!!!! I was loved THEN before I decided to follow the Lord. I was valued THEN. I was prized THEN.
I know that I can do nothing apart from the Lord! (I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5) Yet, even then when I could do nothing because I was trying to do it on my own....I was still love greatly.
Now, with the Lord living in me He can work....He can do amazing things through me. Yet, I am not loved any more than before. My pastor often says, "There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less" God loves you (period). It (God's love) was and never has been based on me and what I do.
Still, here is the thing. Sometimes I don't rest in the fact that God loves me. I think we let Satan in and we don't see ourselves the way God does. We think we can't do, or we aren't good enough. The truth is...we were never good enough to begin with....ha! God chooses to love us and God chooses to use us. Imagine what we could all do if we rested in that...
God loves me! God desires to use me! I am precious and valued in His sight! I am a child of the risen savior!
Boy, I can't wait to see how the God who loves me and calls me His child is going to use me. It feels kindof weird to write that out even. But I think that is the point God is trying to get me to understand. What if I have such a confidence in God's love for me that I can't wait to see how I, the one He loves and values so dearly, am favored so sweetly to be used by Him. It blows my mind.
To say it another way....
I am blessed to have an amazing earthly daddy. I EXPECT..he he.. to be favored by him. I know that he will stop what he is doing and focus on me. I know that he has trained me, that he has put me in charge of things. I know that he has introduced me to people of influence, I know that he has prepared and worked so that I can now be out in this world with a leg up. Confident of his love for me. Confident that I am special to him. Ready to do....ready for action. Why in the world would I take a step back and question whether or not I am worthy or whether or not I am good enough? I am confident that he thinks I am valuable. I know that he sees me as precious. I know that he loves me.
God's love for me is so much greater than that. So the question I have been asking myself is....Do I know that God loves me? For Real? Am I confident of His love for me? Am I so confident of His love for me that I am know that I am favored and useful to him, that I am valued and precious in His sight?
Let me tell you it is humbling thought. At the same time it is an amazing truth. We ARE LOVED. Deeply loved...and wow how it should change my thinking to know this truth. I am Loved, I am favored, I am valuable, I am useful, I am the daughter of a King.
Amazing Love,
How can it Be,
That you, my King, should die for me?
Amazing Love,
I know it's true......
Do you really know it's true? God is showing me...He is teaching me.
I want to write more about that later. However, I'd first like to share a little about what God has been teaching me. God loves me!!! Hmmmm....sounds like one of those "duh" statements, right? Really though, think about it.
I am loved by the creator of all things. I am loved by the almighty most high God. I, we, are loved by God! Again, I know it doesn't sound like an ahhh haaaa moment because we know God loves us, right??????
Well, I am not so sure about that. I know that some people don't know it. They are told for the first time that God loves them or that anyone loves them for that matter. But what about all of us who "think" we know it. Do we really?
Do we really understand that God has made a covenant with us and that He loves us even when we are so underserving of love. He is faithful even when we are not. His love is perfect and ours is not... but God decided that He would love us anyway. God doesn't just love us a little bit, or love us when we do good things....God loves us all the time. His love for us is great. He desires for us to know him. He desires to use us. I don't have to earn God's love...I already have it.
Do you believe that? Do your really believe that God loves you....all the time? If the most High God of this universe loves me so dearly then why don't I see such value in myself? If I am precious unto the Lord, valued, lifted up, prized then why do I often think of myself as less? Well, I know where I have been. I know who I was before surrendering my life to the the Lord. But wait!!!!!!!!! I was loved THEN before I decided to follow the Lord. I was valued THEN. I was prized THEN.
I know that I can do nothing apart from the Lord! (I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5) Yet, even then when I could do nothing because I was trying to do it on my own....I was still love greatly.
Now, with the Lord living in me He can work....He can do amazing things through me. Yet, I am not loved any more than before. My pastor often says, "There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less" God loves you (period). It (God's love) was and never has been based on me and what I do.
Still, here is the thing. Sometimes I don't rest in the fact that God loves me. I think we let Satan in and we don't see ourselves the way God does. We think we can't do, or we aren't good enough. The truth is...we were never good enough to begin with....ha! God chooses to love us and God chooses to use us. Imagine what we could all do if we rested in that...
God loves me! God desires to use me! I am precious and valued in His sight! I am a child of the risen savior!
Boy, I can't wait to see how the God who loves me and calls me His child is going to use me. It feels kindof weird to write that out even. But I think that is the point God is trying to get me to understand. What if I have such a confidence in God's love for me that I can't wait to see how I, the one He loves and values so dearly, am favored so sweetly to be used by Him. It blows my mind.
To say it another way....
I am blessed to have an amazing earthly daddy. I EXPECT..he he.. to be favored by him. I know that he will stop what he is doing and focus on me. I know that he has trained me, that he has put me in charge of things. I know that he has introduced me to people of influence, I know that he has prepared and worked so that I can now be out in this world with a leg up. Confident of his love for me. Confident that I am special to him. Ready to do....ready for action. Why in the world would I take a step back and question whether or not I am worthy or whether or not I am good enough? I am confident that he thinks I am valuable. I know that he sees me as precious. I know that he loves me.
God's love for me is so much greater than that. So the question I have been asking myself is....Do I know that God loves me? For Real? Am I confident of His love for me? Am I so confident of His love for me that I am know that I am favored and useful to him, that I am valued and precious in His sight?
Let me tell you it is humbling thought. At the same time it is an amazing truth. We ARE LOVED. Deeply loved...and wow how it should change my thinking to know this truth. I am Loved, I am favored, I am valuable, I am useful, I am the daughter of a King.
Amazing Love,
How can it Be,
That you, my King, should die for me?
Amazing Love,
I know it's true......
Do you really know it's true? God is showing me...He is teaching me.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Pictures
Obviously the other pictures didn´t load. Sorry but no time to try again. Will post them when I return in a week. God Bless!
A Quick Update!
Hi friends...things have been fast and furious. We just finished with a medical team. It was a cool new experience for me. Tons of people came for the clinic. Many who had never seen a doctor in their lives...LIKE EVER. One young woman 18 or 19 came in with a few day old newborn that she had just had at home. SHE walked the several miles with the infant to get to the clinic.
I worked most of the time in the makeshift pharmacy that we set up. We saw all kindof things....most frequent was parasites\worms....most unusual was a gangrenous foot where a machete had gotten hold of a man´s toe.
We gave out lots of children´s and adult vitamins as well as prenatal vitamins. These are very helpful because a large percentage of Nicaragua eats the same meal, for each meal of the day, everday. Beans and rice (sometimes with eggs or chicken), tortillas and whatever fruit grows locally around their home or their neighbors home. This I have quickly realized is why many countries who eat the same foods for each meal are not overweight. When you have rice and beans for every meal you listen to your body when it tells you it is full (and I love beans and rice but you can only eat so much of them)
I have included a couple of pictures from the team this past week. Plus one of a really cool insect we saw and a cool toad. I mean who wouldn´t want to see a picture of a cool toad? Ha!
We are leaving tomorrow for a hiking team. We are going to Nawawas. Please pray for the HS to go ahead of us and prepare the hearts of the people. Pray for salvation and for God to raise up Gody leaders in their area. There is a small church that Loren has worked with there before.
Pray for Loren please. He has a heal spur that is really bothering him. He has been walking with a cane around the house for several days and now he has to hike on it. He is considering having surgery when we return. Pray for healing and for wisdom about the surgery. We have a bunch of teams scheduled back to back. In fact my church, Living Hope, comes in on the 13th of March the same day this week´s team leaves. I am super excited to see them. Pray with me that we are all in awe of what God does in us and around us.
Karen has started working from home for her job that she will be doing in Chile. She is good at it and I think she will enjoy this job. She is going to stay here this week but will go out with the Living Hope team.
Okay, gotta run for now. Maybe I will have time to post more before we leave. Thanks for checking in with me and for praying.
Rachel
Thursday, February 18, 2010
People Get Ready!
This week has been all about getting ready. We have laughed, we have sighed, I have messed up...Loren has laughed..ha! I have learned a bunch.
I have changed the oil in 2 vehicles, changed an oil filter, cleaned an air filter, bought a new part for a speedometor, fixed an air conditioner, used an air compressor, bought tons of food for the next three teams (of which you can not buy all in one place so this is at least a two day job), baked and frozen 6 lasangas (spinach and hamburger), 6 dozen brownies (plain and walnut), made several dozen hamburger paties, oh yes and I have packed...packed...and packed....packed food, packed utensils, packed supplies, and packed a gazillon medicines that were all labeled in Spanish. It has been great! Okay, so Loren sorta helped with all the vehicle stuff..he he!
This is what the Lord has been teaching me this week:
My entire focus this week has been about getting ready. We have thought about all the things that the teams for the next few weeks are going to need. We have made sure that we have done what needed to get done... regardless of all the other things going on. Some things we wanted to do have had to wait to ensure that what these people needed to have...they have. We have waited in lines, spent $200 on a part for a vehicle that is smaller than my pinki finger, separated pills for like ever, been to the bank several times, to every store in a 50 mile radius, I have sat in the car for hours waiting....AND it has all been just fine. I am not for one minute complaining. I am so blessed to be here. To be getting ready for teams to come in and to tell people the good news! I have just been thinking over what I have been doing this week and the Lord has been teaching me alot through it. So, I thought I would share it with you.
People get ready....JESUS is coming!!! Do we really fully wrap our heads around that? I always start humming the song when I think about it. Yes, it is a wonderful, amazing, imaginable thing.......but wait!!!!!....what about my cousin? What about my favorite professor? What about my friend and my neighboor? What about all the nations who have yet to hear? Do we understand that Hell is real?
¨He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power...¨ (2 Thessolonians 1:8-9)
I have heard it said, ¨That is just a fear thing, people are just trying to scare me into believing¨ I always think to myself...darn right you should be scared...Hell is a real place...its eternal damnation. But in truth, why should they believe in Hell if they are lost? They are lost, they don´t believe in God, Heaven or Hell. WE as the believers are the ones who have to believe it, to live it, to know it....it is real, all of it, and we have to get ready. We have to do what God is calling us to do to make sure the people have what they need to get ready! We HAVE to share the gospel with PEOPLE. How else are they going to get ready for when Jesus returns? If I have to wait in line to talk to them or If I have to bake brownies for them or If I have to invite them over for Lasanga so I can tell them then okay, let´s get them ready. Oh, God forgive me for not telling more people that You ARE real...that You are the living God and Your word is truth.
One of the days this week Loren was needing to run some errands and he asked me and Carolina (a young girl staying here to help me with Spanish) if we would like to go to the movie instead of waiting in the car for several more hours while he finished a few more things. Well, of course, we jumped on that. It was going to be just watch whatever happened to be about to start at the movie at that time. Well it was Percy Jackson...and something else that goes along with that title that I can´t remember.
We watched the movie which is about the greek gods and their demi-god children and it was an entertaining youthful type of show. Then it came to the scene where Percy and his friends travel to Hell to find Hades. As it showed the flamming scences of Hell with souls crying out in agony I thought Oh God, please help. This isn´t even a glimpse of true Hell and the agony of that place. Give us more time, God Please,You alone are mighty to save! The movie went on but my mind stopped there. I couldn´t get over the fact that to so many people this was just a movie. Hell, Heaven, God it was just a movie.
I wanted to scream and say no, this is real. God is alive. You will be judged. We all will be judged. You don´t get another chance...you have to decide before you die. God is waiting for you with open arms. It doesn´t matter what you have done or how bad you have been. Jesus died for you and He is waiting with open arms. Yes, you may be unsure. Yes, you may have doubts and you may not understand everything and that is okay. Pray to Him and ask Him about your doubts. Ask Him to show you truth and He will. He says seek and you will find me.
But wait, How can people seek when no one has ever asked them about where they will spend eternity...or maybe they have...surely someone has. Oh God help!
People Get Ready...Jesus IS Coming!
I have changed the oil in 2 vehicles, changed an oil filter, cleaned an air filter, bought a new part for a speedometor, fixed an air conditioner, used an air compressor, bought tons of food for the next three teams (of which you can not buy all in one place so this is at least a two day job), baked and frozen 6 lasangas (spinach and hamburger), 6 dozen brownies (plain and walnut), made several dozen hamburger paties, oh yes and I have packed...packed...and packed....packed food, packed utensils, packed supplies, and packed a gazillon medicines that were all labeled in Spanish. It has been great! Okay, so Loren sorta helped with all the vehicle stuff..he he!
This is what the Lord has been teaching me this week:
My entire focus this week has been about getting ready. We have thought about all the things that the teams for the next few weeks are going to need. We have made sure that we have done what needed to get done... regardless of all the other things going on. Some things we wanted to do have had to wait to ensure that what these people needed to have...they have. We have waited in lines, spent $200 on a part for a vehicle that is smaller than my pinki finger, separated pills for like ever, been to the bank several times, to every store in a 50 mile radius, I have sat in the car for hours waiting....AND it has all been just fine. I am not for one minute complaining. I am so blessed to be here. To be getting ready for teams to come in and to tell people the good news! I have just been thinking over what I have been doing this week and the Lord has been teaching me alot through it. So, I thought I would share it with you.
People get ready....JESUS is coming!!! Do we really fully wrap our heads around that? I always start humming the song when I think about it. Yes, it is a wonderful, amazing, imaginable thing.......but wait!!!!!....what about my cousin? What about my favorite professor? What about my friend and my neighboor? What about all the nations who have yet to hear? Do we understand that Hell is real?
¨He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power...¨ (2 Thessolonians 1:8-9)
I have heard it said, ¨That is just a fear thing, people are just trying to scare me into believing¨ I always think to myself...darn right you should be scared...Hell is a real place...its eternal damnation. But in truth, why should they believe in Hell if they are lost? They are lost, they don´t believe in God, Heaven or Hell. WE as the believers are the ones who have to believe it, to live it, to know it....it is real, all of it, and we have to get ready. We have to do what God is calling us to do to make sure the people have what they need to get ready! We HAVE to share the gospel with PEOPLE. How else are they going to get ready for when Jesus returns? If I have to wait in line to talk to them or If I have to bake brownies for them or If I have to invite them over for Lasanga so I can tell them then okay, let´s get them ready. Oh, God forgive me for not telling more people that You ARE real...that You are the living God and Your word is truth.
One of the days this week Loren was needing to run some errands and he asked me and Carolina (a young girl staying here to help me with Spanish) if we would like to go to the movie instead of waiting in the car for several more hours while he finished a few more things. Well, of course, we jumped on that. It was going to be just watch whatever happened to be about to start at the movie at that time. Well it was Percy Jackson...and something else that goes along with that title that I can´t remember.
We watched the movie which is about the greek gods and their demi-god children and it was an entertaining youthful type of show. Then it came to the scene where Percy and his friends travel to Hell to find Hades. As it showed the flamming scences of Hell with souls crying out in agony I thought Oh God, please help. This isn´t even a glimpse of true Hell and the agony of that place. Give us more time, God Please,You alone are mighty to save! The movie went on but my mind stopped there. I couldn´t get over the fact that to so many people this was just a movie. Hell, Heaven, God it was just a movie.
I wanted to scream and say no, this is real. God is alive. You will be judged. We all will be judged. You don´t get another chance...you have to decide before you die. God is waiting for you with open arms. It doesn´t matter what you have done or how bad you have been. Jesus died for you and He is waiting with open arms. Yes, you may be unsure. Yes, you may have doubts and you may not understand everything and that is okay. Pray to Him and ask Him about your doubts. Ask Him to show you truth and He will. He says seek and you will find me.
But wait, How can people seek when no one has ever asked them about where they will spend eternity...or maybe they have...surely someone has. Oh God help!
People Get Ready...Jesus IS Coming!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Taking care of things!
God shows his glory to us in so many different ways. One of those ways is by taking care of things as only he can!
I have posted before about Elmer, a 19 year old that lives with Loren and Karen. Elmer has been given so much. Where he is from most kids go to school until about the 5th or 6th grade. Elmer moved in with Loren and Karen so that he would be able to finish high school. This is a huge oppurtountiy for him. He lives here for free and is able to get a start at a good job. However, he is sortof lazy, all talk, and has proven himself untrustworthy. He doesn't really realize how good he has it (of course I didn't realize how good I had it either growing up and often acted just like him-thankyou for your grace God)!
Well, on Tuesday morning about 1:30am I awoke to the sound of Elmer banging on the hall door. It scared me at 1st because I wasn't sure if someone was in the house or what? We keep the hall door locked in the evening. I soon realized that Elmer was crying out in pain. I opened the door and found him laying on the floor with his hands and feet cramping and his arms wrapped around his stomach. He was sweating profusely and moaning in pain. I ran and got Loren. We both figured it was an appendicitis.
Loren an Karen live off the normal streets of Nicaragua so to call and ambulance would take forever and they might not even find the house. So, Loren loaded Elmer into his vehicle and took off for the hospital. Elmer's family lives 4-5 hours away (and you have to take a boat for the 1st part) and they have no phone. So, there was no next of kin. Loren started praying about where to take Elmer. There is a local hosptial but it is pretty rough here. He decided instead to take him to the Baptist Hospital here in Managua. He wasn't sure if they would treat him without a next of kin. However, they were willing to treat Elmer if Loren gave them his credit card. So, of course Loren did...it was that or let Elmer die. They rushed Elmer back to surgery and took his appendix out. There was no infection and the appendix had not burst. He was out of surgery by about 5:00am Tuesday morning and doing well. We went back and forth from the hospital for a few days but Elmer is home now and healing up very well.
Okay so here is some Glory to God taking care of things stuff:
1. Elmer usually stays at the house to watch over things while we all go out with teams. We are usually gone a week at a time an he is here alone. Glory to God that we were here. Elmer would have died had we not been.
2. The hopstial was willing to treat him and quickly! That is not always the case here. This prevented a possiblity of his appendix rupturing and causing blood posioning or infection.
3. Are you ready for this?
Loren and I were talking after the surgery and I said..."so what happens? Elmer has no insurance and his family can't pay." Loren said, "well, it will just be on me personally. I gave them my credit card. I prayed about where to take him so we shall see"
The next day Serhio was at the hosptial watching over Elmer when we got there. (Serhio is an amazing man of God. He has worked with Loren for years and he will be the one to take over when Loren and Karen leave in August. God has called him to this work here in his own country and it is awesome to go out with him. I trust him completely and we can't even talk to each other because he speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish...ha!) Anyways Serhio has worked with and knows alot of people in this country. He told Loren, "let me go and talk with some people here at the hosptial and see what can be done." Loren was hoping for maybe a 20% discount or something. Serhio comes back about an hour later and says...."It is taken care of." ALL OF IT. The hospital is covering the bill completly because Elmer is a pastor's son. I just turned and looked out the window and grinned. Yep, this is God in his infinite glory just taking care of things!
So, keep praying for Elmer and his healing, but most of all pray for his salvation. God has a purpose for this young guy and I pray that his eyes will be opened. Many people in this country die of an appendicitis. Pray that Elmer will be saved and bear much fruit because apart from God we can do nothing!
John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
I have posted before about Elmer, a 19 year old that lives with Loren and Karen. Elmer has been given so much. Where he is from most kids go to school until about the 5th or 6th grade. Elmer moved in with Loren and Karen so that he would be able to finish high school. This is a huge oppurtountiy for him. He lives here for free and is able to get a start at a good job. However, he is sortof lazy, all talk, and has proven himself untrustworthy. He doesn't really realize how good he has it (of course I didn't realize how good I had it either growing up and often acted just like him-thankyou for your grace God)!
Well, on Tuesday morning about 1:30am I awoke to the sound of Elmer banging on the hall door. It scared me at 1st because I wasn't sure if someone was in the house or what? We keep the hall door locked in the evening. I soon realized that Elmer was crying out in pain. I opened the door and found him laying on the floor with his hands and feet cramping and his arms wrapped around his stomach. He was sweating profusely and moaning in pain. I ran and got Loren. We both figured it was an appendicitis.
Loren an Karen live off the normal streets of Nicaragua so to call and ambulance would take forever and they might not even find the house. So, Loren loaded Elmer into his vehicle and took off for the hospital. Elmer's family lives 4-5 hours away (and you have to take a boat for the 1st part) and they have no phone. So, there was no next of kin. Loren started praying about where to take Elmer. There is a local hosptial but it is pretty rough here. He decided instead to take him to the Baptist Hospital here in Managua. He wasn't sure if they would treat him without a next of kin. However, they were willing to treat Elmer if Loren gave them his credit card. So, of course Loren did...it was that or let Elmer die. They rushed Elmer back to surgery and took his appendix out. There was no infection and the appendix had not burst. He was out of surgery by about 5:00am Tuesday morning and doing well. We went back and forth from the hospital for a few days but Elmer is home now and healing up very well.
Okay so here is some Glory to God taking care of things stuff:
1. Elmer usually stays at the house to watch over things while we all go out with teams. We are usually gone a week at a time an he is here alone. Glory to God that we were here. Elmer would have died had we not been.
2. The hopstial was willing to treat him and quickly! That is not always the case here. This prevented a possiblity of his appendix rupturing and causing blood posioning or infection.
3. Are you ready for this?
Loren and I were talking after the surgery and I said..."so what happens? Elmer has no insurance and his family can't pay." Loren said, "well, it will just be on me personally. I gave them my credit card. I prayed about where to take him so we shall see"
The next day Serhio was at the hosptial watching over Elmer when we got there. (Serhio is an amazing man of God. He has worked with Loren for years and he will be the one to take over when Loren and Karen leave in August. God has called him to this work here in his own country and it is awesome to go out with him. I trust him completely and we can't even talk to each other because he speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish...ha!) Anyways Serhio has worked with and knows alot of people in this country. He told Loren, "let me go and talk with some people here at the hosptial and see what can be done." Loren was hoping for maybe a 20% discount or something. Serhio comes back about an hour later and says...."It is taken care of." ALL OF IT. The hospital is covering the bill completly because Elmer is a pastor's son. I just turned and looked out the window and grinned. Yep, this is God in his infinite glory just taking care of things!
So, keep praying for Elmer and his healing, but most of all pray for his salvation. God has a purpose for this young guy and I pray that his eyes will be opened. Many people in this country die of an appendicitis. Pray that Elmer will be saved and bear much fruit because apart from God we can do nothing!
John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Open Doors!
Well, I have been hear a little over a month now. One thing that I have been reflective about is the people that I see each day. Many have been such a blessing as they have offered us food or drink in the different places we go. Many have warm smiles or curious looks. However, yesterday there was a man (not sure how old, but he was young, 24??) and he was stumbling around in the middle of the street. He could barely walk he was so high on something. It is common to see people all in the streets as you drive...many in a similar condition to this man. However, I caught a glimpse of this guys face...we made eye contact. Wow, I thought, what a terrible existance. He had no hope in his eyes. He looked de-humanized.
It was just a moment, a glance, and we were gone. I wondered where he stumbled off to. Then I started thinking...why are there so many people here like this...what has happened here?
But then I remembered that here people live with open doors! You see their lives, their days, their hours! Many live in wood or cardboard homes and they all theyd do in them is sleep. All other hours of the day they "live" outside for all to see.
HHHmmm, I wonder what we would see in the U.S. if there were no doors? If we could see inside people's homes to see daily life. Would we see people self-medicating? Would we see hoplessness? Would we see hunger, thirst, anger, pain? What would people see if they had a window seat view into my life up to this point?
"And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:34)
"When he saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary (harassed, helpless) and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36)
No matter where we go in this world there will sheep be, scatterd without a shepherd. They are there living right down the road from you; they work next to you; they pass by you walking through the store....
God, open the doors that we may see, open our ears that we may hear and have compassion! We have to share the good news...we have to give hope...we have to open our doors! In His great mercy He has given us hope!
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1: 3-5)
As a believer, do you remember life and what it was like before you heard the good news of the gospel? Do you remember trying to do life on your own...
It was just a moment, a glance, and we were gone. I wondered where he stumbled off to. Then I started thinking...why are there so many people here like this...what has happened here?
But then I remembered that here people live with open doors! You see their lives, their days, their hours! Many live in wood or cardboard homes and they all theyd do in them is sleep. All other hours of the day they "live" outside for all to see.
HHHmmm, I wonder what we would see in the U.S. if there were no doors? If we could see inside people's homes to see daily life. Would we see people self-medicating? Would we see hoplessness? Would we see hunger, thirst, anger, pain? What would people see if they had a window seat view into my life up to this point?
"And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:34)
"When he saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary (harassed, helpless) and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36)
No matter where we go in this world there will sheep be, scatterd without a shepherd. They are there living right down the road from you; they work next to you; they pass by you walking through the store....
God, open the doors that we may see, open our ears that we may hear and have compassion! We have to share the good news...we have to give hope...we have to open our doors! In His great mercy He has given us hope!
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1: 3-5)
As a believer, do you remember life and what it was like before you heard the good news of the gospel? Do you remember trying to do life on your own...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Change is a coming!
Change is such an interesting topic. It is exciting, scary, uncomfortable, challenging, etc. We learn so much when we are willing to change. I once heard a saying, "If you are not willing to yield to the will of God, why should God show you His will?" God, please continue to change us I pray. Less of me and more of you. Change....Some things we like and others we find we dislike. Often it is a time when we are weak and we must rely on God to be strong. What a wonderful place to be in...total dependence on God.
Change - moving to a new country! Karen is leaving for Chile early tomorrow morning. She will be gone for 3 weeks. She is excited and nervous. She will be looking for a place to live, finding stores, learning new Chilean Spanish, meeting new people, learning the area, and have days filled with training for her new Job. Pray for her. Pray that someone will be there to show her around and that the training will go smoothly. Loren and Karen will be preparing to move from here on out...all in addition to continuing mission work full-time until they leave August 2nd.
Change - a new healthier lifesytle! Pray for Loren - we will be here scouting new areas to travel too and working on medical team suppplies etc. However, the main thing we will be focusing on is Loren's weight. He needs to loose around 40-50 pounds for the IMB medical check-ups but also just for his health (He gained weight after and injury that kept him down for several months). Pray for us these next 3 weeks as we will fast for a few days and then go hard with exercise and good nutrition (Obviously it will take more than 3 weeks but this is just the start). Pray for self-control (for me too...you know I love my sweets). Pray against injury as we train. Loren has bad knees and ankels and his weight is a big stressor on his body. Pray for wisdom for me on how hard to push him.
Change - learning a new language! In addition to training Loren these weeks I will also be in training in the evenings. Carolina and Noelle (sisters) will be trading off living with us for the next 3 weeks. They will be taking me through language school in the evenings. Pray that the Lord will open my mind to understanding Spanish. Pray that I will learn what God desires for me to learn to share the gospel wherever He leads me while I am here. I am learning a little...but of course for me it seems too slow. Also pray that I will be a good example of Christ to Carolina and Noelle -young women of 24 and 18. I am excited to have them here. They both know some English so I will be able to help them with that also.
Change - GET A JOB! There is an 18 year old young guy, named Elmer, who has lived with Loren and Karen for a while now to go to school. Many schools in the smaller mountain villages only go up to the 5-8th grades or so. Elmer is a sweet guy. However, he has no real ambition to do anything. He is going to be forced to move out in May. He has no job training or desire to get any. 1st of all pray for his slavation...he knows alot about God...I am just not real sure he has a realtionship with God. Pray that he will have a desire to be a man of God.
Change - Missionaries! As I mentioned before IMB missionaires will be leaving Nicaragua in the next few years. Pray that the Lord will raise up Godly Nica men and women to continue to spread the gospel. Pray that the Lord will put us in contact with those that He is drawing to himself. May the HS go before us as teams come in.
Change (Matthew 6)....I tell you, do not be anxious about your life...are you not of great value to me..... I, your heavenly Father, know all that you need. So seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.....do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Change - moving to a new country! Karen is leaving for Chile early tomorrow morning. She will be gone for 3 weeks. She is excited and nervous. She will be looking for a place to live, finding stores, learning new Chilean Spanish, meeting new people, learning the area, and have days filled with training for her new Job. Pray for her. Pray that someone will be there to show her around and that the training will go smoothly. Loren and Karen will be preparing to move from here on out...all in addition to continuing mission work full-time until they leave August 2nd.
Change - a new healthier lifesytle! Pray for Loren - we will be here scouting new areas to travel too and working on medical team suppplies etc. However, the main thing we will be focusing on is Loren's weight. He needs to loose around 40-50 pounds for the IMB medical check-ups but also just for his health (He gained weight after and injury that kept him down for several months). Pray for us these next 3 weeks as we will fast for a few days and then go hard with exercise and good nutrition (Obviously it will take more than 3 weeks but this is just the start). Pray for self-control (for me too...you know I love my sweets). Pray against injury as we train. Loren has bad knees and ankels and his weight is a big stressor on his body. Pray for wisdom for me on how hard to push him.
Change - learning a new language! In addition to training Loren these weeks I will also be in training in the evenings. Carolina and Noelle (sisters) will be trading off living with us for the next 3 weeks. They will be taking me through language school in the evenings. Pray that the Lord will open my mind to understanding Spanish. Pray that I will learn what God desires for me to learn to share the gospel wherever He leads me while I am here. I am learning a little...but of course for me it seems too slow. Also pray that I will be a good example of Christ to Carolina and Noelle -young women of 24 and 18. I am excited to have them here. They both know some English so I will be able to help them with that also.
Change - GET A JOB! There is an 18 year old young guy, named Elmer, who has lived with Loren and Karen for a while now to go to school. Many schools in the smaller mountain villages only go up to the 5-8th grades or so. Elmer is a sweet guy. However, he has no real ambition to do anything. He is going to be forced to move out in May. He has no job training or desire to get any. 1st of all pray for his slavation...he knows alot about God...I am just not real sure he has a realtionship with God. Pray that he will have a desire to be a man of God.
Change - Missionaries! As I mentioned before IMB missionaires will be leaving Nicaragua in the next few years. Pray that the Lord will raise up Godly Nica men and women to continue to spread the gospel. Pray that the Lord will put us in contact with those that He is drawing to himself. May the HS go before us as teams come in.
Change (Matthew 6)....I tell you, do not be anxious about your life...are you not of great value to me..... I, your heavenly Father, know all that you need. So seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.....do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thanks for the Prayers!!!
Hi,
Just wanted to give everyone an upadate. The esophagus is slowly starting to heal....yea. I can take more than 3 or 4 bites at a time now without spasms so that is great. No Diet Coke yet...ha! Actually still eating pretty bland for now but things are getting better.
Also, thanks for praying for Loren and Karen concerning Chile. They heard today the final word and they are leaving Nicaragua for good in August and will be moving to Chile! God hears our prayers... Keep praying for them...they are excited to see what God is going to do in Chile but also sad to leave the people they love here in Nicaragua. I asked Loren if he was excited because Karen and I were doing the "happy dance" (because they finally got a definite answer) and he said, "well, not so sure about a happy dance but is there an obedience dance?" They know God is calling them away from Nicaragua to a new place....so pray for ministry opportunities even now. Karen is leaving to do some training in Chile next Thursday. She will be gone for 3 weeks. Pray that she will excel in training and that she will find a friend to show her around. They have alot of things to organize on that end before the move.
Tomorrow I am going with Karen to do a missions day at a church. There will be around 36 women attending. The focus of the day is teaching these women from various churches in the area about doing mission work locally in their communities. We are praying over these women, yearning to see God move mightly. I won't be able to understand very much tomorrow. I consistantly have to remind myself that I can pray and that God knows each person there. Sometimes the enemy attacks and makes me feel like that is not much because I can't talk to them. Wow, how prideful I am! It is not about me or what I could say and the most important thing I can do is pray. He is the one who is mighty to save!!!
I am really excited about what all happened this week. We went to a pastor's conference that they have once a year here. We meet with multiple people who were wanting Loren to bring in teams to their area to share the gospel! I have been praying for opportunites....for God to bring people to us and us to them....the time here is short. The IMB is pulling out all IMB missionaries from Nicaragua (this is a normal process, they will move to other areas that are less reached). There are many native missioinaries here that Loren and Karen and others have worked with for years to continue to carry on the work. However, the IMB provides a vehicle, supplies, tracts, the word, etc. that may not be as easily avaliable once they leave. God was gracious to bring people to us. Once Spring Break starts we are booked solid until the last week in July. It is going to be fast and furious, sometimes with multiple teams in at one time. It is going to be so awesome to see what God is going to do. We are thankful for the rest and preparation time now.
I am glad to be here now at this time, a time that God prepared in advance for me to be. It is so cool! I am learning to seek God daily, seek Him to see what He desires to do through me, in me, or around me for that day. Then, we will see about the next day when it comes. He is burdening my heart ever more for the lost. I am not ashamed for He saved me, one who was lost! It is the power of God that I share to those who will believe.
I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Romans 1:16
Just wanted to give everyone an upadate. The esophagus is slowly starting to heal....yea. I can take more than 3 or 4 bites at a time now without spasms so that is great. No Diet Coke yet...ha! Actually still eating pretty bland for now but things are getting better.
Also, thanks for praying for Loren and Karen concerning Chile. They heard today the final word and they are leaving Nicaragua for good in August and will be moving to Chile! God hears our prayers... Keep praying for them...they are excited to see what God is going to do in Chile but also sad to leave the people they love here in Nicaragua. I asked Loren if he was excited because Karen and I were doing the "happy dance" (because they finally got a definite answer) and he said, "well, not so sure about a happy dance but is there an obedience dance?" They know God is calling them away from Nicaragua to a new place....so pray for ministry opportunities even now. Karen is leaving to do some training in Chile next Thursday. She will be gone for 3 weeks. Pray that she will excel in training and that she will find a friend to show her around. They have alot of things to organize on that end before the move.
Tomorrow I am going with Karen to do a missions day at a church. There will be around 36 women attending. The focus of the day is teaching these women from various churches in the area about doing mission work locally in their communities. We are praying over these women, yearning to see God move mightly. I won't be able to understand very much tomorrow. I consistantly have to remind myself that I can pray and that God knows each person there. Sometimes the enemy attacks and makes me feel like that is not much because I can't talk to them. Wow, how prideful I am! It is not about me or what I could say and the most important thing I can do is pray. He is the one who is mighty to save!!!
I am really excited about what all happened this week. We went to a pastor's conference that they have once a year here. We meet with multiple people who were wanting Loren to bring in teams to their area to share the gospel! I have been praying for opportunites....for God to bring people to us and us to them....the time here is short. The IMB is pulling out all IMB missionaries from Nicaragua (this is a normal process, they will move to other areas that are less reached). There are many native missioinaries here that Loren and Karen and others have worked with for years to continue to carry on the work. However, the IMB provides a vehicle, supplies, tracts, the word, etc. that may not be as easily avaliable once they leave. God was gracious to bring people to us. Once Spring Break starts we are booked solid until the last week in July. It is going to be fast and furious, sometimes with multiple teams in at one time. It is going to be so awesome to see what God is going to do. We are thankful for the rest and preparation time now.
I am glad to be here now at this time, a time that God prepared in advance for me to be. It is so cool! I am learning to seek God daily, seek Him to see what He desires to do through me, in me, or around me for that day. Then, we will see about the next day when it comes. He is burdening my heart ever more for the lost. I am not ashamed for He saved me, one who was lost! It is the power of God that I share to those who will believe.
I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Romans 1:16
Monday, January 18, 2010
Hard Day....
Today was a hard day for Loren and Karen. They had to put one of their dogs to sleep. They had him since he was a puppy. He was 8 years old. We buried him around the back of the house. Karen cried and cried and Loren cried some too at the vet. So pray for Loren and Karen today. I know he was "just" a dog but people tend to come and go alot on the mission field. Animals don't...they are always there happy to see you when you get home from a team.
Also please say a prayer of healing for me. It is kindof silly really but let me tell you it hurts! I did not swallow an antibotic all the way one evening and so it burned a hole into my esophagus. Every time I eat or drink it spasms and it feels like someone is squeezing my heart really tightly. The amazing Dr. Bacak called me in some medicine that helps coat my throat before I eat AND Praise the Lord they had it hear in Nicaragua! However, he also said it may take 10-20 days to heal. It is nothing serious just very painful when I eat or drink. Tell you what... you really look at that food and think....hmmm is it worth the pain to eat this? So, I appreciate your prayers.
Okay, here is the 3rd thing you can be praying for. As some of you already know Loren and Karen will be leaving Nicaragua in August. They will be moving to Chile (please pray that the paperwork etc. goes through for the move...it is going slowly) to continue mission work there. Thus, there is an urgency here in Nicaragua..especially in remote areas were Loren is usally one of the only missionaries to travel to these places and share the gospel. Pray that the people will have open hearts and that the Lord will raise up Nica men to send out as native missionaries. Pray for Serhio, Darwin, Pablo, and others that the Lord is calling to missions in their own country.
Thank you so much for praying! God is moving here!
Also please say a prayer of healing for me. It is kindof silly really but let me tell you it hurts! I did not swallow an antibotic all the way one evening and so it burned a hole into my esophagus. Every time I eat or drink it spasms and it feels like someone is squeezing my heart really tightly. The amazing Dr. Bacak called me in some medicine that helps coat my throat before I eat AND Praise the Lord they had it hear in Nicaragua! However, he also said it may take 10-20 days to heal. It is nothing serious just very painful when I eat or drink. Tell you what... you really look at that food and think....hmmm is it worth the pain to eat this? So, I appreciate your prayers.
Okay, here is the 3rd thing you can be praying for. As some of you already know Loren and Karen will be leaving Nicaragua in August. They will be moving to Chile (please pray that the paperwork etc. goes through for the move...it is going slowly) to continue mission work there. Thus, there is an urgency here in Nicaragua..especially in remote areas were Loren is usally one of the only missionaries to travel to these places and share the gospel. Pray that the people will have open hearts and that the Lord will raise up Nica men to send out as native missionaries. Pray for Serhio, Darwin, Pablo, and others that the Lord is calling to missions in their own country.
Thank you so much for praying! God is moving here!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A Sweet Little Boy!
On one of our hikes last week with the team I met a sweet little boy.
We had just finished a four hour boat ride (I use the term boat loosley...ha) and had done a short hike... but for some reason I was exhausted. We grouped off and went to hand out the gospel of Luke and tell people about the Jesus film that evening. There were around four of us in my group. We walked up and down the hilly dirt trails for about an hour and came to 3-4 houses (we were in the mountains so houses are few and far between). At the last one we asked how far to the next house. It was a good ways and so off we went to get that last house. In my head I was thinking..."God who lives up here that you want to reach so badly"...we were bushwacking through tall weeds, thorns, and mud. I was selfishly thinking I am tired, thirsty, and ready to go back.
Then, we get to the last house and the Lord teaches me a sweet lesson. As we came to the last house 3 young children were standing around the house their parents were out working but were supposed to be back soon. Then out of the corner of my eye I see another young boy. He flashes the sweetest, biggest grin. I am sure that he has never seen a gringo in his life.
As he comes around the side of the tree I see that he is crippled. One side of his body doesn't work correctly. He has on a ripped pair of shorts but nothing else so you can see his body is distorted. The boy hobbles over to us right as his parents come up to greet us. We give the parents the gospel of Luke and then we give the children cristo te amo cards that were colored from kids in the US. As we started to leave I was the last one to come around from behind the house. Everyone had gone ahead of me. As I came around the housse I saw the little boy grinning and leaning down to kiss the cristo te amo card. He just kept kissing it and grinning. Then he saw me and looked up and smiled and waved. I walked off with tears in my eyes thinking okay God....THAT is why we hiked up this hill. You want to reach tha one! I wonder what plan God has for that little boy?
I know that I will never forget the image in my mind...like a mental photograph of that boy kissing the card! I think I would walk that path a thousand times to see him leaning over that card. I bet that is how the Lord thinks about us.....
We had just finished a four hour boat ride (I use the term boat loosley...ha) and had done a short hike... but for some reason I was exhausted. We grouped off and went to hand out the gospel of Luke and tell people about the Jesus film that evening. There were around four of us in my group. We walked up and down the hilly dirt trails for about an hour and came to 3-4 houses (we were in the mountains so houses are few and far between). At the last one we asked how far to the next house. It was a good ways and so off we went to get that last house. In my head I was thinking..."God who lives up here that you want to reach so badly"...we were bushwacking through tall weeds, thorns, and mud. I was selfishly thinking I am tired, thirsty, and ready to go back.
Then, we get to the last house and the Lord teaches me a sweet lesson. As we came to the last house 3 young children were standing around the house their parents were out working but were supposed to be back soon. Then out of the corner of my eye I see another young boy. He flashes the sweetest, biggest grin. I am sure that he has never seen a gringo in his life.
As he comes around the side of the tree I see that he is crippled. One side of his body doesn't work correctly. He has on a ripped pair of shorts but nothing else so you can see his body is distorted. The boy hobbles over to us right as his parents come up to greet us. We give the parents the gospel of Luke and then we give the children cristo te amo cards that were colored from kids in the US. As we started to leave I was the last one to come around from behind the house. Everyone had gone ahead of me. As I came around the housse I saw the little boy grinning and leaning down to kiss the cristo te amo card. He just kept kissing it and grinning. Then he saw me and looked up and smiled and waved. I walked off with tears in my eyes thinking okay God....THAT is why we hiked up this hill. You want to reach tha one! I wonder what plan God has for that little boy?
I know that I will never forget the image in my mind...like a mental photograph of that boy kissing the card! I think I would walk that path a thousand times to see him leaning over that card. I bet that is how the Lord thinks about us.....
Sunday, January 10, 2010
2 Weeks of Teams and Now a Week Off....SORTA!
This is so cool! Can I say that again? God is so cool! It is amazing being here and being in awe of God continually. There is a lot to do but yet there are very little distractions when we are out with a team. Thus, you are able to listen more, focus more...to lay down in green pastures....to be still!
The Living Hope team just left. Well, actually we took them to the airport about 4am this morning. It is now 6:45pm and I am about to go to bed...ha!
What a great team from Living Hope and Living Hope Bryan. Pastor Butch, Jeff, Sherman, Garrett, Jennifer, and Carolynn. I was encouraged and challenged by each of them. It was so neat to see each one of them interact with the Nicas. God used them in amazing ways!
I will write more specifics later...but for now...sleep seems like a great idea!
Oh and Karen made her famous fried chicken this evening for dinner....YUMMY!
The Living Hope team just left. Well, actually we took them to the airport about 4am this morning. It is now 6:45pm and I am about to go to bed...ha!
What a great team from Living Hope and Living Hope Bryan. Pastor Butch, Jeff, Sherman, Garrett, Jennifer, and Carolynn. I was encouraged and challenged by each of them. It was so neat to see each one of them interact with the Nicas. God used them in amazing ways!
I will write more specifics later...but for now...sleep seems like a great idea!
Oh and Karen made her famous fried chicken this evening for dinner....YUMMY!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Kept losing Internet....
Sorry spell check was off on the last one and so is the spacing...keep scrolling down to see all of the post.
A NEW YEAR!
Wow, what God has done in my life in the past 2 years! I am speechless! I can think of no better way to bring in the new year than to be out hiking in the mountains sharing the love of Christ to those who have yet to hear. This week was hard and incredible all in the same breath. The mountains were high and the climb was tough but the top was filled with amazing people eager to come and watch the Jesus film or to sit and talk with us...(in my case of no spanish...sit and look at us...ha!). Being in these beatufiul mountains didn't feel like being in a 3rd world country it felt like stepping back in time. No running water, no electricity, no phones, no noise. People share what they have with each other because they have to in order to survive. I washed off in the kitchen of a family of 8, filter water in the hut of a family 0f 6, boiled water on the dirt stove of a grandmother, and made tortillas with a young girl of about 8. Oh how blessed I am to share a moment of life with them.
We had a OPERATION GO group of college students from around Texas in this week. Most of them did not know each other and it was super cool to see how God has molded them together as a team. They are all young and super excited about being here. Last night we shared the ways that we saw God move during the week and it was great to hear how each one of them individually saw God as we were out and how God is working in each of their lives so differently.
My comment in how I saw God move was this: I was never nervous about coming to Nicaragua. It was a long "hurry up and wait" and alot of prayer and anticipation but no anxiety. What is awesome is that as I was hiking with this team up the mountains sharing Jesus I thought...this is it.... I am home. I am right were God wants be to be for this time. The next morning during my quiet time I was praying asking God what he wanted me to do and peace filled my heart that I AM doing it and He will show me what the next step is as it comes.
Of course it came and I had a sweet time of sharing with a young woman on our team last night. So cool how God knits our lives together.
Loren and Karen's anniversary is today. It is also Loren's birthday. Once we got back into Managua last night we had a party. We had a pinata, cake, pizza, etc. It was lots of fun. Karen had planned it all out ahead of time because she didn't go out with this team because it was a tough hike. It is neat to watch Loren transitioning into more of a mentor/outside role and most of the Nica men that were with us on this trip giving the message after the film. I really enjoyed being there with Loren and the team and Carolina, Rami, Pabalo, and Carlos.
Carolina's (a young Nica girl who has some very basic English) feet looked like hamburger meet during the trip because her boots were such por quality....she never once complained. She always had a smile on her face and said "don't worry about me." How humbling. How beautiful the feet of those that carry the gospel out! Teach me Lord!
The Living Hope team comes in this evening around 9:00pm and then we are heading out again in the morning. I am excited to see them! I can't wait to see all that God is going to do this week.
Okay, gotta go to work. I miss you all and love to hear from you.
Thanks for praying. Pray the HS goes ahead of us this week and that the harvest will be ready.
Rachel
We had a OPERATION GO group of college students from around Texas in this week. Most of them did not know each other and it was super cool to see how God has molded them together as a team. They are all young and super excited about being here. Last night we shared the ways that we saw God move during the week and it was great to hear how each one of them individually saw God as we were out and how God is working in each of their lives so differently.
My comment in how I saw God move was this: I was never nervous about coming to Nicaragua. It was a long "hurry up and wait" and alot of prayer and anticipation but no anxiety. What is awesome is that as I was hiking with this team up the mountains sharing Jesus I thought...this is it.... I am home. I am right were God wants be to be for this time. The next morning during my quiet time I was praying asking God what he wanted me to do and peace filled my heart that I AM doing it and He will show me what the next step is as it comes.
Of course it came and I had a sweet time of sharing with a young woman on our team last night. So cool how God knits our lives together.
Loren and Karen's anniversary is today. It is also Loren's birthday. Once we got back into Managua last night we had a party. We had a pinata, cake, pizza, etc. It was lots of fun. Karen had planned it all out ahead of time because she didn't go out with this team because it was a tough hike. It is neat to watch Loren transitioning into more of a mentor/outside role and most of the Nica men that were with us on this trip giving the message after the film. I really enjoyed being there with Loren and the team and Carolina, Rami, Pabalo, and Carlos.
Carolina's (a young Nica girl who has some very basic English) feet looked like hamburger meet during the trip because her boots were such por quality....she never once complained. She always had a smile on her face and said "don't worry about me." How humbling. How beautiful the feet of those that carry the gospel out! Teach me Lord!
The Living Hope team comes in this evening around 9:00pm and then we are heading out again in the morning. I am excited to see them! I can't wait to see all that God is going to do this week.
Okay, gotta go to work. I miss you all and love to hear from you.
Thanks for praying. Pray the HS goes ahead of us this week and that the harvest will be ready.
Rachel
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