"The Joy of the Lord is my strength"

This verse from Nehemiah was on one of the letters that people sent with me to read during my time in Africa. It was extremely encouraging to me. Tonight though, I saw it lived out. Tonight I saw contentment. Tonight, I saw grace.

• Donovan, Heather, Sarah (my intern buddy), the Drew’s kids, and I all went to Salvakop tonight to hand out blankets and join in on the bible study that Randy Clark does there. On the way, Donovan explained the situation to us. We were going to an area that used to be a suburb but now is more of a shantytown. It is mostly full of refugees from Zimbabwe. There are houses just like the one the baby home is in, but these are rented out to LOTS of people. Then, in each yard, there are tin huts. They are made of scrap metal and about at the size of one of those tool sheds that we would buy at Home Depot. Whole families live in these, sometimes more than one family. They are not warm, they have no running water, and they all share another hut that has a hole for the restroom. While I was bundled up in my North Face coat, children were running around in shorts and Tshirts.
  
  I’m not sharing this to tell how bad the conditions are of someone’s lives, I’m telling this because I have been so very humbled tonight. At home, we don’t want to invite anyone into our house unless it is perfect. We might choose not to be hospitable or host something at our house because someone else has a bigger, nicer one and we would be embarrassed. Tonight one of the ladies from the church invited us into her home with a genuine smile on her face. She took pride in what God has given her and had decorated the 10 by 6 foot home of her’s. One of her decorations was a framed picture of her recent baptism! She did not complain or apologize ever, even when we had to wait to go inside for the electricity to start working. She showed me contentment, and she showed me what the grace of God does to a person. She was so thankful for the home that God provided and she would not compare it to what he had given other’s or hang her head because He saw fit to give her less. She may have lacked in earthly possessions, but she was rich in heavenly ones.
  
  

  

  Me, Sarah (The swiss intern whom I love!) and three little girls from Salvakop!

  
  After this, we walked down the street to a school auditorium for bible study. Praise God that the gospel went out tonight! Randy shared the gospel despite the language barrier and did fabulously at a very hard job. Nickson is an African seminary student who helped Randy to lead. Many of the people who came to the bible study did not speak English as well as they did their first language (Shona) and Nickson was invaluable as an interpreter. He boldly shared the gospel tonight as well. Everyone was quiet at first but after a while, they started asking questions that revealed what they had understood about what was taught. One woman asked “what is sin?” and then we sat for about 5 minutes while a bunch of people talked extremely fast in their first language. There were some new converts in the group as well and it was so fun to see them speaking up and telling their friends what they now know – even if I could not understand a word of it! You could see the faces as sin was explained to them – from, “That doesn’t apply to me” changing to “oh… maybe that is me.” I love seeing God at work!

  New Prayer Requests:
  Pray that the Salvakop bible study would grow, that the attendees would come to understand that they have sinned and need a savior, and that they would repent
  .

Adoption and the Family of God

You would think, wouldn't you, that you might feel lonely if you traveled 8,888 miles away from home all by yourself? This doesn't have to be true for the believer though. I was reminder by Donovan Drew (Missionary here over part of the baby home and interns) of the beauty of adoption into the family of God. We call someone our sister or brother, we call God our Father, because it really is true. I felt that not just in name but as a reality tonight more vividly and tangibly than I ever have in my life.

This afternoon I went to church for the first time here at Living Hope - and I couldn't think of an more appropriate name for this church. It is a church that is on fire and alive; full of hope and sharing hope with the community.

At 1 o'clock, we loaded up the babies and drove to a rented property where the church was gathering. We were greeted as we walked in, people introduced themselves to me with genuine smiles and tried to get to know me - consistent with the hospitality I have felt from the moment I entered this country. The music  was familiar - although a little more upbeat :) During the service I had to take my little charge outside since he was getting a little too fired up over Josh Mack's sermon. I went to the "cry room," which is really just taking them outside, and listened to the sermon through the open door. Josh taught an encouraging and convicting sermon on prayer today.

After the service, everyone (Maybe 100 people but I'm really bad at estimating) drove about 30 minutes to the Mack's home for a meal and communion (we couldn't stay in the church longer because the land owners recently upped the rent times three). The Mack's had filled their home with tables. All the kids played in the living room while everyone else sat around the tables and answered questions like, "Where is the most beautiful place you have ever been?" and "What is your life story in 4 sentences?"  Instead of cheesy I'm-too-cool-for-this answers people were genuine and conversation was interesting and God-glorifying. A girl my age invited me to sit by her and I felt at home immediately. At my table, was an Afrikaans couple, a colored couple (not an offensive term here.. it just means that they are a line of mixed races), a girl from Zimbabwe, and a man from the Congo, an English South African (Donovan Drew), and an American who lived for 10 years in Spain (Heather Drew). The rest of the room was filled with even more diversity.

It was amazing to sit in that room with people from every nations who were truly worshiping as we sung to the Lord. I was with people with languages, traditions, histories, and lives so different from mine but we are all in the same family, with the same Father, worshipping the same God. Later we took communion together. THIS is the body of Christ, I thought. As Heather said on the way home, "It's a taste of heaven." What will it be like when there is someone from every tribe and every tongue worshiping him? I think tonight showed me just a little bit. I'm so thankful to be meeting all these sister and brothers of mine. Most of all I'm thankful that God adopted me into his family.

Airplanes, babies, and more babies

Well, you'd think with all the exciting things happening my mind would be swimming with creative blog posts, but in all honesty it is just so darn tired!! I left Little Rock Monday evening and flew to Dallas. All was good so far, nothing scary about Dallas right? Then, I made that big step. One of the biggest step my short legs have taken in their life. And that's when all the bravado left me. I truly hadn't had a single fear or struggle until then, but as I walked to the very back of the plane and sat down straight across from the bathroom, I suddenly realized... "I am about to fly across the ocean!!" I was in the middle of asking the stewardess an ordinary question when I just started bawling! One of the absolute, most embarrassing moments of my life! I'm ashamed to say I cried at all. What reason had I to fear? I wasn't going alone, God was with me! That was my comfort as the stewardess gave me a Kleenex and a hug. Mean while, through my sobs the 19 year old Czech guy sitting next to me introduced himself and asked about where I was going. He then shamed me further by telling me how his dad dropped him in the states at 15! Once I got past all the drama, I had a really nice talk with him.I think God used my crying to make the point that even though it was a big deal to me to cross the ocean that Jesus Christ was a worthy reason for it. He didn't think there was a need for "religion" in his life, but I hope that God will answer my prayers and open his eyes.  We were companions until we had to go to different terminals in the London airport. I'm thankful for Him and praying for him and the things we talked about in his life.

 

Me on the plane to London

After such an unexpectedly rocky start, i was thankful when I got through London and onto plane number three. God's gracious hand was on me again. At this point I hadn't slept all night, he placed me on an nearly empty plane and I had three seats all to myself to stretch out on!

From the London Airport.

It was 6am when I arrived in Jo Burg, SA. God graciously made customs and baggage claim extremely easy and I met the Drew's very quickly after landing. They stole my heart the minute they asked, "Would you like some coffee?" And I haven't stopped loving them since. They are the most gracious of hosts and I'm learning daily by their example.

I spent my arrival day (Wednesday) trying to stay awake! The Drew's kept me busy meeting people: The babies, the caregiver, my roommate (Sarah from Switzerland...a true gem), the Macks, a German couple.. and the list goes on.. so that I wouldn't fall asleep. I also got a tour of the city, went to the grocery store, and had dinner at the Mack's (another missionary couple here and my original connection to the organization.)

At 10:00 I finally went to sleep and rested for a full 13 hours!! Thursday afternoon started my training. I got the blessed news of being told that contrary to my expectations, they have unlimited Internet access - that means more blogs and video Skype! Praise Jesus! A sweet surprise joined us: a new baby!! She's a precious little thing who is adjusting quickly. Thursday night was dinner, where I got a awesome experience talking to a couple from the church. They told us all sorts of stuff about their culture and promised to cook a few specialties for me: Chickens feet and Mopane worms!

Friday I worked in the home in the morning, had discipleship after lunch, went to awana in the afternoon, and then worked my first official shift that evening. After that I watched Invictus with Heather Drew and got an initiation into some of the history and culture here. All that is boring though.. what exciting thing happened? Another baby came!! There are now 6 babies in the home! I hope to tell you about each of the nuggets that are holding my heart right now, but I won't be able to tell you quite as much as I'd like because for their privacy and protection.

Today is Saturday, I'm not quite to normal with my times yet, but I'm getting there. I worked another shift and then went to a couples from the church's house for dinner (The hospitality here is so convicting!) and a rugby game!

I know this post is a little dry, but hey! a lot has happened! I have a lot of processing to do still :) I'm very happy and loving getting to know the rainbow country. A few things that I have learned and/or loved so far are: 

1.The kindness of the church family - everyone has been so friendly to me and genuine trying to get to know me.

2. The cultures...plural. There are 11 official languages here and just as many cultures. All around you are many accents and many different languages. There are so many tribes, all with different traditions. It's stunning (as in beautiful)!

3. My little babies, their heart-breaking stories, and their beautiful smiles and heart-stopping laughs.

4. The tradition of the Afrikaans people to walk their guests all the way out to their car as they leave.

Updated prayers:

1. Pray that I would grow in my love and relationship with Christ.

2. Pray for Martin who I met on the plane to London. Also for our brother in Christ, Randy who is met on the way to Dallas and who is reading this :)

3. Pray that I would be an encouragement to the people around me.

4. Pray that a smile would never leave my face.. even if I'm changing a nappie or mopping the floor.

5. Pray that I would be a humble servant - this is important because it will encourage the leadership of the African caregivers.

Hopefully the rest of the posts will be shorter and have more pictures and details.. but hey this is a start :) God bless!

God the Provider

At the beginning of this year, I found myself challenged to fight the sin of worry in regards to money. God had already gone above and beyond and supplied the money for me to go to South Africa this summer, but I suddenly had several large expenses and realized just how low my savings account was getting. This is when I realized it wasn't that I always trusted God...but that I always trusted my savings account. He sustained me and taught me a lot about His care for us.

Now He has amazed me once again. I didn't think I would make any money this summer, but God works for our good. Without me asking or looking,He provided several short, well paying jobs for me in these weeks before I leave for South Africa. Praise God! He always takes care of His children!

Yesterday I read these words from 2 Corinthians 9:

"6 Now I say, he who sows sparingly 

will also reap sparingly, 

and he who sows bountifully

will also reap bountifully.

 7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, 

not grudgingly or under compulsion,

 for God loves a cheerful giver. 

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, 

so that 

always having all sufficiency in everything,

you may have an abundance 

FOR EVERY GOOD DEED;"

If you are worrying about your finances or letting them keep you from being a cheerful giver or from serving..stop! I promise you that He will take care of you..even better, HE promises you! I'm not saying that we should not be good stewards or wise with our money. I don't have a family to take care of or bills to pay and I know that adds different responsibilities. I just want to encourage you to praise God with me for His abundant care and to remember that he will supply the need for every good deed!

Another Summer arrives... and so does Winter.

Summer is here and I'm off again on another adventure! I leave in eight days to fly to South Africa! A sunny, hot, dry, wear all khaki and a nice safari hat kinda place... oh wait! It is actually winter there! :) That's right.. I'm packing my big coat and long underwear for this trip! I'm beyond excited to meet my fellow intern, the missionaries, the people of SA, and especially the little nuggets (i.e. babies) I get to love on for the next two months!

If you don't know about this trip here's a quick update: God has given me a desire to work in an orphanage since I was very small. My junior year in high school I started working for a family who has a huge heart for some missionaries that our church supports and their mission in Pretoria, South Africa. As I worked along side this family, God opened my heart to love these missionaries too. Last year, I spoke with our missions pastor and found out that they have started taking interns. We began the application process and through the help of many people, if God wills it, I will be leaving soon to be an intern for 2 months at the Muphamuzi Baby Home.

Preparing for this trip has felt different from any other for reasons I'm not sure I can put into words yet. But for starters, this is my first mission trip to go on alone. That in and of itself is teaching me a lot. It has made me search my heart and find two things: First, in whom does my dependence and security lie? And secondly, on what/whom does my joy and excitement lie? It is easy to feel safe and secure when you are in a group of people and it is hard not to get excited about something when people you love are excited and going with you. Don't get me wrong... I'm bouncing up and down about this trip! It has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl to work in an orphanage and God is blessing me to allow me to serve him in this way.But, as I get ready, I'm learning that God is enough, he is where my joy and contentment is found. Only God will satisfy. I love that my lessons start even before I have a single pair of socks packed! God is going with me on this trip and he alone will be my rock and my strength - what more could I need? I'm so glad he is giving me the opportunity to pull other factors out of the picture and be convinced that my heart is truly full of Him.

The other big thing God has been convicting me of as I prepared for this trip all school year is living like a missionary now. It might fun, exciting, and even a command, to go to other nations and proclaim is gospel, as well as to take care of the orphans and the widows, but that most certainly doesn't exclude us from living that way now. If we don't live like a missionary at home - what makes us think we will in another country? I want to pursue holiness now - not just every summer. I want to share the gospel every chance I get - and make opportunities if I don't already have them. I want to glorify, enjoy, and proclaim God every day of my life - not just every summer.

I'm so thankful for the body of Christ! There are so many people who are making it possible for me to go! It is amazing how God has formed not only our physical bodies, but HIS body - the church - to work in such an intricate way that requires every member to function. I'm so thankful for my parents for supporting me, my dear friends the Everetts for encouraging me so much, all the secretaries at church and Pastor Hamline for organizing everything, as well as, all the other people who support me every summer as I pursue the desire God has given me to go unto all the nations. I'm thankful for the prayers and encouraging words, and I'm thankful for every person who has asked me about the trip.

I plan on keeping people updated through this blog so if you wanna see pictures of some cute babies or here about how God is working in my life you can read about it all right here! Please smother me in your prayers!

Requests:
- For safety as I travel alone, (I've never gone this far before.)*
- Pray that God would go before me and prepare what people I will interact with on the planes and in the airports.
- Pray for boldness, dependence, and a radiant joy that would draw people to Him.
- Pray that I would love selflessly, like Jesus does.
- Pray for all the intern, missionaries, baby home workers, and church members in SA and that God would knit their hearts and mine together quickly.
- Pray I'd know what to pack :)

*Departure is June 3rd at 5:30pm

Pura Vida

Pura Vida. The most common saying here in Costa Rica, these two words directly translate to “pure life” but are often used to mean “awesome.” This is the only expression that comes to mind to describe my time in Costa Rica so far – and that’s not just because I now think in Spanish. I’ve been here for 19 days now and it feels as normal to me as living in the states. I love every new experience, every new person. The way of life here is so simple, so warm. The people are kind, generous, and have such a good sense of humor.

Jonathon and Amy are our directors here and are even more awesome than they seemed when I was preparing to come. I love my discipleship time with them. The other interns here are constant reminders to me of God’s goodness. Each one of them has a different story, a different past, a different path that brought them here – but every one of us has our same great God in common! Some girls here have grown up in church, others have never been. Some have known Christ for more of life than they haven’t – others came to know him just this year. It’s amazing to me to see the way they respond to truths that I’ve heard countless times. It shows me the awe I should have of God that I don’t always have. One of my favorite conversations has been with one of the interns who just read about the Holy Spirit for the first time while here in Costa Rica.

All the interns before the Canopy Zipline

Back Left: Isaac, Kayla, Kelli, Blake, Jennifer

Front Left: Me, Melissa, Bailey, Katie, Kelsey

My host family is beyond words! I love them so much! Mitchelle is my Tica mama, Jeffrey my Tico daddy, and Felipe is my little brother. They’ve taken me and my roommate, Kayla, in and love us like their own. Felipe gave up his bedroom for us and sleeps on cushions in a closet. He gives us big hugs and calls us “My Gringos.” We laugh a lot when he tries to say our names! “Lay-er” and “K-ayyy-la.”  Nights spent with our family are Kayla and I’s highlight. We practice Spanish and laugh at things we say wrong. Jeffrey and Mitchelle are learning English so the lessons go both ways. One of our big jokes is that Mitchelle taught Kayla and I to say “Estoy satisfecha” or “I am satisfied” when we are full. Jeffrey laughed at us and held up his pinky and made a very snobby face and repeated it. He told us it’s snobby and to say “estoy llena” or “I am full” instead. Mitchelle tells him “Ellas son muy educadas” or “The girls are very educated.” Another big laugh has to be Jeffrey singing Adele in the shower for the whole house to hear. We laugh so much at home!

Mitchelle and I at the Fería (Market)

Felipe

Our extended family is wonderful too! Doña Olga is our Abuela and takes good care of us, Don Carlos our funny, Hollister-wearing abuelo, we have many aunts as well but I must say one of  my favorites is little Isa. Isabel is our 11 year old genius of a cousin. She speaks Spanish, English, and Mandarin! I love her to death!

Isa

How's the whole Spanish thing going? Well I guess I'm getting the hang of it - according to my Kayla I am sleep talking in Spanish!

Kayla

At the project, I enjoy the construction which so far has varied from digging dirt, gardening, painting, pulling nails to, yes, I used a power tool! Don’t worry only one person was injured in the process! Just kidding! This week we are doing an archeological dig on the new property which is required before getting building permits to start on 4 new Children’s Homes. The Children’s Homes are located on the project.  I love my afternoons spent there! The house parents are awesome missionaries (both gringos and ticos). The kids’ stories would make anyone’s stomach turn. Some stories involve a dad making his son box against bigger boys, betting on him like a chicken fight, and then giving him whiskey to numb the pain of the hit. This had been going on for years when the boy arrived at the age of 7. Others were addicted to alcohol and drugs by their parents, used in robberies, and one was even lying in bed with her mom when her dad used a machete to decapitate her. The horrors these kids have suffered are unimaginable to me – and even more so when you see their precious smiles. They are as normal as any kid you’ve ever seen. They love to play on the playground and be pushed on the swing and to wear my watch; and they don’t like doing homework or going to bed! I can’t post any pictures of them though because they are under protective care.

I’ve has some really cool experiences while here! Riding the canopy zipline was amazing! It’s was so beautiful. During a mission trip to another church last weekend I drank coconut milk from the coconut – cut open with a machete. I also ate sugar cane and palmitas (palm tree heart) cut open for us. The food here is bland and repetitive but still so good! The fruit is fresh and melts in your mouth. I think I eat a pineapple a day here!

Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The first word to describe it is verde – green. Everywhere I look is green and other vibrant colors. Mountains surround me no matter where I am. The weather is perfect – especially after a rain cools things down in the afternoon.

There is so much more I could say about life here – but I’m enjoying it too much to waste time writing about it!

If you’ve taken the time to read this far I’d ask for some prayers though:

• ·         Pray for the kids here. My heart is heavy for them. Pray for speedy adoption processes. Also pray for quick adaptation to the changes they encounter. We recently got two new kids (one with a broken arm and both with bruises). We are also getting new kids this week. It’s very hard for them to transition. Another girl was recently adopted and it’s been very hard on one of my favorite little boys here who grew up like a twin with her.
• ·         Pray for continued unity with the interns and for growth for all of us.
• ·         Pray that we’d all finish our month out strong, taking every opportunity to serve and to get to know each other and our Savior better.
• ·         Pray for me that I’d be an encouragement to the other interns and missionaries here and that I’d leave having been used by God.

Joseph: Trust and Obey

A few days ago I read Genesis 39, the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. There are a few things that stuck out to me.

The first one was recently pointed out in Sunday school. In verse 9, Joseph says, "How then can i do this great wickedness and sin against God?" Joseph understood how terrible sin is. He had no regard for how it would affect his life to refuse the wife of an officer of Pharoh. He trusted God to take care of him and committed to obeying God. Joseph didn't have an attitude of "I've been good and look how God has rewarded me" which would have been an easy response in his situation. In verse 12, we see him fleeing from sin, literally. This should be our response. I am too quick to make excuses and toy with sin. I need to have the perspective of Joseph. I need to realize the terribleness of my sin against a Holy God and flee from it.

The second thing that sticks out to me is how often God says he is with Joseph and he is blessing Joseph. In Joseph's situation it would be so easy and natural to see only the bad and blame God. But, because of his perspective, Joseph was able to realize and enjoy the blessings of God.

v. 1 - We see God directing Joseph's path
v. 2 - The Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man
v. 3 - His master saw that the Lord was with him and the Lord caused all he did to succeed.
v. 5 -  The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on all he had, in the house and field.
v. 21 -  But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in sight of the keeper of the prison.
v. 23 - ...the LORD was with him.  And whatever he did the LORD made it succeed.

So many people in Joseph's situation would see only the injustice he suffered again and again.I know I would. I easily become focused on what "I deserve." So many people would question God's goodness and His hand in these evil events taking place in Joseph's life. But the whole time God was with Joseph. And hew as blessing him and directing his path.

No matter what the situation in life, I want to remember, like Joseph, how great sin is. I want to trust and obey. And I want to remember that God is with me and see his many blessings.