Eres Todo

Eres todo poderoso
Eres grande majestuoso
Eres fuerte
Invincible
Y no hay nadie como tu

One of my most favorite songs in the world...in Spanish or English. :) We had a preperatory meeting last night for our trip. It was kind of the first in the last push of regular meetings before we actually leave. Notice the countdown? Not long now! :)

I've been a little stressed this week about the trip...mostly because I feel like I have soooo much to do in very little time. But, after our meeting last night, I feel a lot better. The meeting didn't really help me get anything done...in fact it was yet another evening I wasn't at my old apartment packing boxes to move, or at my new house doing laundry. But, I can look around the circle of team members and so completely see God's hand in every aspect of the trip. And even though I panic every year at the two-weeks-before-we-leave point, I have no doubt that the Lord will accomplish everything that needs to happen between now and June 16.

I am also realizing how blessed I am to be a part of a church whose very heart is missions...and missions for the sake of being a part of what the Lord is doing and not just the adventure of a few days in another country. I'm ready a book right now called Serving With Eyes Wide Open. Its about how often Americans are convinced that our way is the only right way. (Don't get me wrong, I'm am very aware of how blessed I am to live here.) We have no concept of how vast the church is outside of our borders. We have a tendency to run into a church/ministry in another country and force our programs and mechanisms...without regard for the time and work the missionaries or national believers have put in. And, I am so grateful that so many of the "wrong" (for lack of a better word) motivations and movements of missions teams are so very far from my experiences with missiosn trips...and this is my fourth trip out of the country in, ummm, 3.5 years.

I can't for that trip when I don't have to come back! :)

20 Days...Yikes!

So, I sign in and look at the left side of my blog...Holy Cow...20 days!

Three weeks from now I'll be back in my very favorite place on the planet!!!

It makes me a little nervous because I feel like I'm very not ready...but I also know that even if I haven't packed a thing and only have one set of clothes for the whole eight days...I'll go anyway.

Counting down the days till I can hug some incredible women!!!

Long Time, No Post

I knew it had been awhile since I had last posted...and then I looked and its been four months...which really seems to not be a big deal since nobody has ever commented which means, probably, nobody ever reads this anyway. The real reason for my lack of post-age (btw...I firmly believe that one can add '-adge' to the end of any word and have a new word that is just as functional)...the real reason is two-fold: 1. my computer broke (still haven't had it fixed) 2. I could use the computer at work to post (as I am now) but, generally, by the end of the day, I'm ready to get out of dodge...and I surely won't get here early enough to do it before I clock in. :)

Anywho...

If I had been posting the last four months what you would have read about, mostly, would have been my upcoming trip to Ecuador. I am sooo excited! I've been counting down since Day 50-something. We leave three weeks from tomorrow! God has been incredibly good in my support raising...I'll tell more about that later...maybe tomorrow. For now...I leave you with the letter I sent out about my trip:

Hey, friends!

You don’t have to know me for very long to know that my heart is captivated by South America and sharing Jesus with people of the Spanish language. If you go to Grace, I’m sure you’ve heard Buddy say that what you think about when you’re not really thinking about anything is what you are most passionate about. For me, hands down, it’s South America and specifically Ecuador. And, I am so excited to share with you an opportunity that I have to return to Ecuador this summer. But first, I want to tell you a story about a little girl I met in Ecuador last year.

Last summer, Maria was nine years old, with a younger sister and brother. When Maria smiles, it consumes her entire face. She’s the kind of kid you know before you even know her name because joy and love radiate from her. Our team spent five mornings at her school participating in a kids club run by some people from a local church in Ambato. One morning, after the club, all of the other kids were playing soccer and other schoolyard games, but Maria was content to sit in my lap and just be loved on. Now, I speak Spanish, certainly enough to carry on a conversation with a nine-year-old, but the Spanish I learned in college is not exactly Jesus-Spanish, so I asked Maria if I could pray for her out loud in English because I didn’t know the words in Spanish. She said yes and I prayed for her—in a language she didn’t understand—that she would find Jesus and that He would become real to her. After I prayed for Maria, the Lord touched my mind and my tongue and I was able to share the gospel with her, in Spanish words that I hadn’t known earlier, even, that day. Afterwards, Maria told me that she understood and later she told a missionary that now Jesus lives in her heart.

People ask me sometimes why I love South America so much. Experiences like this one with Maria are a definite reason, but also I have to share the verse I am claiming for this trip:

Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners.
Isaiah 61:1

I am so thankful that the Lord has called me so many times in the past, and once again now, to be a part of what He is doing in South America. And now I ask you to be a part of my next adventure in Ecuador.

Please, please be praying for our trip! With every trip, I learn a little bit more about the value of bathing such a journey in prayer…and there is so much to pray for! Pray for our safety and health as we travel. I always come back from South America sick and I am determined not to this year. (I feel like I say that in every letter…and I haven’t come back healthy yet!) Pray for the hearts that we will encounter while we are there. The dates for our trip are June 16-24. Pray that every person we meet that week will see Jesus in his or her encounters with us. We will spend the majority of our time in Ambato working on a building that was recently purchased to be used a church plant. We will be working alongside youth and adults as we paint and prepare the building. Pray for the finances of our trip. The cost for me to return to Ecuador this summer is $1550 and my goal is to have it all turned in by mid-May. Past experience has taught me that if it is the Lord’s will for me to go on a trip, He will provide every penny! Pray that those whom the Lord is calling to give will respond in obedience.

Please know that what I need and desire most is your prayer support. If you feel, though, that the Lord is leading you to participate financially in this ministry in Ecuador, make checks payable to Grace Fellowship Church and mail them to me at the address below.

I so greatly appreciate your willingness to be a part of this ministry through prayer, encouragement and financial support! Nothing makes me happier than being in South America and it encourages my heart to know that so many people at home are so supportive of the time I spend there. I need to thank you, belatedly, for all of the love, support and encouragement you have provided over the last few years as I have sought to find who I am and what the Lord would have for me. I am so blessed to have so many people who blur the line between friends and family! You are all such a blessing to my life! As much as I would love to go to Ecuador and not have to come home, I do look forward to returning and sharing with you all of the amazing things the Lord does while we’re there. He is such an awesome God!