Africa Update
After much prayer and agonizing, I have decided to not go to Africa in September. I have been going back and forth and praying about whether or not it was God’s will for me to go but I recently got confirmation that it wasn’t. I always think in my mind that to go on mission trips must always be God’s will, after all He said go, right? But the more I prayed the more I realized that although I wanted so desperately to go back, it wasn’t in His timing for me. This will be the first year I haven’t gone overseas and although it saddens me, it also excites me because I know the Lord will continue to fuel the fire in me and that He must have something so big in store for me.
I am looking forward to a real vacation and am going to the beach with my brother, sister in law and my nieces and nephews!! I used to go every year with them but not for the last 4-5 years and I am so looking forward to it. We have so much fun and I can’t wait to feel the sand between my toes and the sun on my face.
On a side note, since I can’t go to Africa, I decided to sponsor another litlle girl in Swaziland. She is so beautiful and her hair sticks straight up in the air! It is such an incredible feeling to know that there are 3 little girls out there who are able to eat, go to school and learn about Jesus because I sponsor them. I was talking to a coworker today and she sponsors one in Peru and she asked me how much of a difference it makes. It is such a small amount to us, but to people in third world countries, it may as well be millions of dollars. I told her that her little boy will get an education, become a Christian and change his part of the world. His entire family also benefits so it’s not just his life she has rescued. Child sponsorship is an incredible way to give back part of what the Lord gives us. Think about it. What if one of my girls in Africa invents the cure for HIV or Malaria? What if she grows up and becomes a teacher and shares Christ with all her students? She will have an impact on her country, more than I could ever have. What if my little girl in India ends up being like the missionary Amy Carmichael who rescued so many little girls from being sold to temples as prostitutes? The possibilities are endless! If you don’t like the world you’re living in, then change it! Can I, just one person, change the world? You bet, I am changing the world…one life at a time.
My Last Day at Work
I can’t believe that today is the last time I will walk through the doors at church and go up to my office. I have so many mixed emotions. It’s almost surreal, like it’s not really happening. Yesterday I told my Thursday morning Bible study ladies’ that I wouldn’t be teaching the class anymore and I think out of everything, I will miss it the most. I have done it for so long and absolutely love these women and to watch them fall in love with the Lord has been an incredible blessing.
After my Bible study, my team (adult ministries) has devotions and yesterday when I went into the prayer room to join them, they had cake for me and then they all prayed over me. It was an incredible blessing and their prayers confirmed what’s in my heart. I guess after 4 years of listening to my obsession with missions, they all realize it is my heart! It is faith building to hear people tell you they know you will change the world. I say that all the time and I know some people have thought, well that’s prideful statement but with my Lord, I am going to change the world. Isn ‘t that what we are supposed to do?
I am excited about embarking on my new adventure. Although I will be going to work for a Christian owned company, I will have alot more opportunities to share my faith with other people and clients. I was talking to someone at the company last week and she asked me a question that I thought was funny. She said, “you’re one of those evangelistic types, aren’t you?” Well, by golly I guess I am!
I took next week off and I am looking forward to some R & R. I am feeling burned out and need some sabbath time alone with the Lord. I should go away somewhere close like the mountains or something but I don’t even have the energy to plan it!
Well, I guess I need to get ready to go to work. I hope I don’t cry too much today! This will be the last day me and Courtney (aka, foo foo skippy) get to make our “Starbucks Friday” run together. I am sad that this chapter of my life is coming to a close but excited because a new one is beginning.
Africa…again…still…
I am so excited!!! I think I will be going to Uganda, Africa in September and I am about to bounce off the walls! The focus of the trip is to do evangelism in the bush and I can’t wait. Please join me in prayer to make sure this is the one the Lord wants me to go on. I have read alot about Uganda and it breaks my heart to see the devastation there. You can read about it on Invisible Children. Will keep you posted…
Awana Missions night
I just got home from talking to the Awana kids from church about missions. It was so much fun! There were about 125 kids from kindergarten to 6th grade and it is always a challenge to keep their attention for any length of time! I think they did pretty well considering.
I started off explaining what missions is and what missionaries do and explained that they were all missionaries too. I really wanted them to walk away with a sense that they can change the world and I think I did. I showed them a video of pictures of my trip to Africa and they were pretty awed by it. I am pretty sure most of them never saw the poverty and trash in many of the pictures that was all over the place. When I told the kids that there was no running water or electricity where we went, they were a little bug eyed! They could not believe it. I told them that many of the children only have the clothes on their back and most don’t have shoes. I told them to envision them looking in their closets and dressers at all their clothes and then told them to imagine only having one short or one pair of pants. It was pretty amazing.
One of the teens that I took with Africa with me this past summer was there and she shared about one of the healings we witnessed and they were really impressed by that! It was cool. We then had a Q & A session and boy was that interesting! Many of the kids were concerned about where we slept and what we ate so I had to tell them we had food and beds. Some of the boys asked if we got to build houses and I told them that I had but not in Africa but I did in Mexico and Peru. You could see the boys’ eyes getting all big at the thought of being able to swing a hammer or play with power tools. What is it with boys and their toys anyways???
Then don’t you know it, someone asked us if we got to see any lions or elephants. My partner told them that we got to go on a safari and that we did watch a lion eat a zebra. Well, it went downhill pretty stinkin’ fast from there. The next several questions were about giraffes, rhinos and the likes. I had to get us focused back on missions but it worked out well. At the end, I asked if they were all ready to move to Africa with me and amazingly enough, about half of them were. I am praying and hoping that I planted seeds and that one day, one of these future missionaries will think back on this night and remember that this is where their hunger for missions began.
At the end of the night, I had all the kids stand. I asked them if they were ready to change the world and we all yelled really loud, I can change the world! Then I told them all that I knew they could change the world but are they going to actually do it. So then we yelled, I will change the world! It was awesome. God is so good to give me such cool opportunitues to share the love of Christ and my heart with so many people. I pray that these little ones go home with such a sense of knowing that God has called each one of them and has a purpose for each of their lives. I am praying that they will pray and get their parents to pray for missionaries all over the world. I am praying that some of them will actually change the world.
My email is worldchanger and I get asked lots of questions about it like do I really think I can change the world? My answer, you bet, not only do I think I can change it, I am changing it. With Jesus leading me and the power of the Holy Spirit, I will change the world. One life at a time. One child at a time.
Missions
Ah, my favorite subject. I love missions. I am a missions junkie. I can’t get enough of them. Praying about where to go this summer. I thought I was going back to Africa but am now praying about Thailand or Cambodia. I would love to do both. I had a vision last summer while in a worship service during leadership training at Teen Mania headquarters. Not some weird freaky vision so just calm down! We were preparing to go to Africa and on this one night, we were singing a song and one of the lines in it is:
Here I am Lord, it is I Lord? I can hear you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if You lead me. I will hold Your people in my heart.
I cannot even begin to explain the feeling in my heart when we sang this. It was like a crushing weight on my chest. I had my eyes closed and the Lord showed me what appeared to be an old black and white film rolling of pictures of children from all nations. It was like one of those old reel to reel films, not that I am old enough to remember them, I just read about them ;)
Anyways, the picture that is seared in my heart and my mind is of a little girl from Thailand (I think) with one of those hats covering her head. I can’t shake the picture from my mind, it’s like she is calling me. I know exactly how the apostle Paul felt when the man from Macedonia called him in his vision. I know it may sound weird and I assure you I have my weird moments, but I know the Lord is calling me to minister to the nations, especially vulnerable children and orphans. Please, please pray with me that God would reveal His will to me regarding my role in missions. In the next few days, I plan on writing about the sexual trafficking that is going on world-wide. It will be a hard post, but a necessary one. Awareness leads to prayer which leads to change. (Hey, I just made that up!)
I am speaking in a few days to our Awana kids at church about missions so please pray for me that they would go home and have a burden for missions and missionaries. I am going to show them a video from my Africa trip and pray that they would go home changed. What a privilege for me to get to share my passion with these little ones.
Look at these little faces, what’s not to love?! 
A few pics from Africa
Summer Missions to Africa
Well, I guess I could share a little more about this! I was just so excited when I found out.
As many of you know, I have been praying about fulltime missions to Southern Africa. I believe the Lord is calling me to serve the AIDS orphans there, specifically in Swaziland, since they have the hightest AIDS rate.
I have been praying about it for 2 years and at first, I thought, there is no way I am going to Africa! I was concerned about raising money and actually doubted (yikes!) that I could get there. I have been praying radical prayers and believing that God is who He says he is and that He can do what He says He can do. Who am I to think that just ’causeI ain’t got any money, that I can’t fulfill God’s call on my life? Does He not own everything? If He calls me to go, won’t He call people to send me? yup and yup.
So, the youth group at church is going to South Africa in July and one of the leaders can’t go now so I prayed about it and asked if I could take her place and now I am going! How awesome is that?
This is more than a summer missions trip to me. I feel like God will confirm in my heart this call and I need lots of prayers. I will probably not want to come home. I think the other leaders will keep me on a tight leash knowing I could accidentally get left behind!!!
Children’s Cup Video
God has not forgotten all the orphans in Africa. He loves them and He has a plan for them. James 1:27 commands us to look after orphans and widows in their distress.
Will you, by faith, be the hands and feet to help these little ones? Jesus loves these children and He needs our help. Watch these powerful videos and pray and ask God how you can help.
Click here to what the ‘Cup does. Click here for look into what these children live with every day.
To make a donation or help one of the missionaries in Southern Africa with Children’s Cup, click here.
Today’s Teens
I am going to a Teen Mania Mission Leadership Training Seminar this weekend so I was checking out the Teen Mania webpage. I was flabbergasted at the statistics and naturally had to blog about it!
Ron Luce, president and founder of Teen Mania, came to my church and spoke about it last year and I can’t believe I had fogotten so many of the things he said.
StaggeringStatistics about Teens:
1 out of 11 attempt suicide each year.
1 out of 10 fifteen year olds and younger have gone through family divorce in their life-time.
58% have been involved in objectionable content on the web.
40% have experimented with self-injury (are “cutters”).
Use of prescription drugs (Ritalin, anti-depressants etc.) by children/teens has increased.
By the time the average child graduates from high school, he/she will have watched 19,000 hours of TV including about 200,000 sexual acts and 1 million acts of violence.
1 in 10 high school females have reported being raped at some point in their life.
Fear of violence in schools is now the leading “worry” of public school teens.
48% of high school seniors are sexually active (had sexual intercourse in past 3 months).
91% say there is NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH.
75% of teens in America believe the central message of the Bible is, “God helps those who help themselves”.
53% believe Jesus committed sin (40% of born again teens believe Jesus committed sin).
We need to wake up! What a challenge to us. This is our future generation. If we don’t get out there and start making a difference and changing the world, what will become of it? Evil is so prevalent in our society today. Do you know a young person? Read those statistics again and put that person’s name in where the statistic goes and it will make it more real. This is life and death we are talking about here!
Take them to Acquire the Fire! Click here for more information on BattleCry. It’s coming to Baltimore in May. Do something today! If you are not already praying for them, pray! Pray like never before.
Life is full of Surprises
I have been praying about Africa and how I can help with the AIDS orphans for quite a while now. I am trying to figure out if God wants me to live there full time or what. I am an advocate for these poor children and my heart is with them but does that mean God is calling me there to minister to them? Does that mean that God wants me to pack up my few meager things and move there? Does he want me to leave my unsaved brothers, sister and mother to go spread the Gospel there to complete strangers? As a single adult, should I date knowing God could call me to live there? Will I be able to raise thousands of dollars in support to get and stay there?
These, and many more questions have been on my mind for the last few years. I am in my last year of Bible college and I am praying that the Lord will reveal His will to me soon!
I have asked many of my friends to be prayer warriors for me and to help me to seek God in this and I am so grateful for people who I respect to speak words of wisdom and who encourage (and yes, sometimes admonish!) me.
One of my friends told me it was time to start doing something about it so I sent out an email to some friends and asked for prayer. That was 2 days ago and amazingly enough, an opportunity opened up for me to possibly go to South Africa with our youth group at church this summer.
One leader is unable to go now so there are 2 candidates vying for this position! And one of those is me!
An even greater opportunity opened up for me in that I am being sent to a seminar next weekend in Chicago with Teen Mania to go through their leadership missions training program. Our youth group at church is using them for our mission trip and in order to be a leader, you have to go through their training and be approved. Even if I don’t get picked, how awesome is that? Maybe God is opening another door with Teen Mania for me somehow. Maybe I will make more connections and my missions network will grow because of this trip. I don’t know, I can only pray that whatever happens, I have an open and responsive heart.
I was thinking about Abraham today and thinking about how I would respond if God said to me, Go, leave your country and everything you know and go to where I will tell you to go…by the way I am not sure where yet, just go and I will let you know when you get there.
Yikes!
Oh Lord, that I would be ready to go. Today…Tomorrow… Next Year… Whenever…
Martyrs for the Cause
I was reading an article in this months Voice of the Martyrs magazine and came across a poem that Betty Stam wrote when she was only 18 years old. Betty and her husband John and their 3-year old baby, Helen Priscilla, were taken captive by Chinese Communist soldiers in December 1934 for preaching Christ and being missionaries. The first night in jail the baby cried and the guards wanted to kill her but a prisoner who was just released protested. The Communists demanded “your life for the baby’s” and the man was hacked to death in front of the Stam’s.
The Stam’s were executed shortly after but miraculously, their baby was rescued several hours later by a pastor and his wife who took her to Betty’s parents who were also missionaries in China.
I love to read the accounts of Christians who have given up all for the sake of Christ. It is so easy for me to read them and then think to myself that if I was in certain circumstances, I would die for Christ too, but would I really? Am I so willing to lay down all for Him and share what He has done for me? Could I really walk away from everything I know and love in my life if He said, “Come”? I used to quote Isaiah 6:8 all the time, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for me?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” But would I really? I hope and pray that I will.
Here is the poem Betty wrote:
Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes
All my own desires and hopes,
And accept Thy will for my life.
I give myself, my life, my all
Utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.
Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.
Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt.
And work out Thy whole will in my life, at any cost,
Now and Forever. Amen.
Christian Martyr-one who chooses to suffer death rather than deny Jesus Christ or His work… Sacrifices something very important to further the Kingdom of God…
Endures great suffering for Christian witness…
Philippians 1:20 (KJV)
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
Still counting my blessings…
I finished reading Deuteronomy today and I had forgotten how much of it focuses on God’s blessings for obedience. I know we don’t obey so we can be blessed but how incredible is the promise of blessings for simply being obedient. Not that it is any way simple to be obedient. Sometimes it’s just plain difficult but I would rather listen to God than have Him curse me. Yikes, perish the thought.
Anyways, here it is almost the end of another year and the beginnings of a new one. I am working on my goals for next year, not resolutions but real goals I would like to accomplish. And no, I am not going to publish them here for all the world to see!
I have been taking this recuperation time from knee surgery to pray and seek the Lord and try to figure out some things. I really want to be involved in missions but I am not sure to what extent that will look like. I would love to work for an organization that mobilizes missionaries and short term mission teams overseas. That way I may not have to live overseas all the time but I would get to lead several trips a year. I am not sure. I was researching jobs with organizations and I realized that I will have to continue in school. Almost everyone wants a Bachelor’s degree so my little Associate’s degree ain’t gonna cut it. I prayed most of today (and on and off for the last 6 months) about whether or not to continue in Bible college and I am pretty sure I am going to continue. It will be difficult and I will be taking 2-3 classes each semester. Studying takes up so much time and is a huge commitment. I am going to try to balance it this year though because last year I studied way too much.
I am waiting for my school counselor to call me back with my classes. I know I need to take some hard ones like Apologetics and Systematic Theology, oh goodie!!!
To send or not to send…
I am taking a missions class in school and this week’s homework is a forum. It’s a discussion based on the paragraph below. I wanted to get feedback from people about what they thought about the subject. Don’t worry, I am not trying to get you to do my homework, I already turned mine in. 
Our country is in dismay spiritually. Every time you watch the news or read the news paper, another school shooting has occurred, another city has developed a larger population of homosexuality, or another symbol of Christ has been removed from the publics view because it may offend someone. The television shows and music in our society are driven by placing sexual themes in them to lure people to watch or listen. Why should we as a “Christian Nation” send missionaries to other countries when we choose to not be missionaries in our own country? Should we be more focused on being missionaries in the United States, or abroad? Discuss your standpoint on this topic and support your views with scripture references.
Any thoughts? Insights? Speculations? Post your comments…
Uganda Gulu Walk Update
FYI- I had to cancel my participation in this 5 mile walk. You can still click here to make a financial contribution though. Here is some information about Uganda. Please pray and ask the Lord how He would want you to help with the horrific situation these innocent children are going through.
For the last 20 years, the people of northern Uganda have been caught in a brutal war between the Government of Uganda and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA have terrorized the local population as a means to challenge the government and sustain itself. The LRA has abducted over 30,000 children to be used as soldiers and sex slaves. Tens of thousands have been wounded, maimed and killed in LRA attacks. The LRA has no support from the local population; however, northerners also feel excluded from the central government. Since the current regime came to power in 1986, northerners have been marginalized in political and economic processes. Further, the government plan in 1996 to confine people to “protected villages” has collapsed into a displacement nightmare with 1.7 million people displaced in horrid conditions. One thousand people die weekly in these camps: deaths that northerners attribute to government’s neglect and failure to protect them.
Children are lucrative resources for the LRA rebels. The atrocities committed against these children are impossible to imagine: in captivity children as young as seven years old are tortured, beaten and raped. They are then forced to become rebel soldiers, sexual slaves, porters and labourers. Some are forced to kill, maim, beat or abduct innocent victims, including family members and neighbours, or to look on as these abuses are committed. Girls are used as domestic servants or forced into sexual slavery as LRA commanders’ ‘wives’. They are subject to rape, unwanted pregnancy and the risk of infection, including HIV/AIDS. Child abduction is clearly a major security concern for northern Uganda. Desperately afraid of abduction, vulnerable children as young as four years old will walk from their homes or displacement camp to a large urban centre every night. These ‘night commuters’ travel as far as 20km on a daily basis without any adult supervision subjecting them to a wide range of violence. They gather in schools, hospitals, district offices and NGO compounds – wherever they believe they can spend the night in safety. They settle to sleep in the open, where they are often abused and exploited. This temporary night displacement has destroyed family and cultural roles, and has deprived an entire generation of children from a primary education. At the peak of the conflict, the UN estimated the number of night commuters in Gulu, Pader and Kitgum districts to be 40,000.
To learn more or give a donation, click here.
Homework, homework, homework
I have been doing homework for the last 8 hours and my brain has turned to mush! Although being in Bible college has been one of the best experiences of my life, I am glad that I am in my last semester, woohoo! I am taking 3 classes, Kingdom of the Cults, Church History and a Masters level advanced missions course. What was I thinking taking 12 credits? Haha.
It is cool to be able to learn about the Lord and Christianity and I realized that since attending college, I have a real thirst to know stuff. I want to know everything! It amazes me that with my past addictions, God has graciously saved not only me but my brain cells too. It’s so cool to know that He has a plan for my life and He doesn’t waste any part of it, no matter how bad it is. Everything has been redeemed! I am living proof. Hallelujah!
If my High School teachers could see me now, they would probably fall out in disbelief. I never actually won the award for least likely to succeed but I was a close runner up. I hated school, I only went to hang out with friends and socialize. Who would have thought I would be able to maintain a 4.0 in Bible college? My Abba Daddy thought so, that’s who! He saw my body being formed and knew that He had a plan and purpose for my life even though I didn’t figure it out until 5 years ago when I accepted Jesus as the Lord of my life.
Whew, I love talking about Jesus! I get so fired up. Back to the school stuff…
I am actually praying about taking more courses but not in Bible college but taking medical courses to become a certified medical assistant. I know…more school… I am not really concerned about getting the certification though because I am pretty sure that overseas (where I want to go) certification doesn’t matter. They have so many needs that they would take anyone willing to help in the hospitals and clinics. I want to go to Africa, big surprise as my blog is full of Africa, and help in whatever way I can so I think it would be beneficial to have some medical skills. The HIV/AIDS situation has devasted the country and I am tired of complaining about the situation. I am going to do something about it. With God’s help, I will go there and share the love and hope of Jesus with them and try my best to minister to the 42% of the people dying right now.
Last night after church, some of my friends were hanging out at our coffee house which serves Starbucks, man is God good or what? One of the guys there heard me talking about missions, becuase I am always talking about missions, and he informed me that he would never support a person going on a mission trip because it would be nothing more than a paid vacation. I praise God that I am a new creation in Christ cause I was ready to jump out of my seat and….. I couldn’t even say anything because I knew I would say nothing that would honor God at that moment. I used to be one of those people who thought the same thing. Why go overseas when there are starving children here and yada yada yada. I tell you why. I heard a great line from a missionary to India that about sums it up with me, “Why should someone hear the Gospel twice when there are people who haven’t heard it once?” Amen and Amen. I have nothing against evangelizing the US but I wholeheartedly agree with the statement. Especially in light of AIDS, poverty, war and famine that is killing people at an alarming rate.
Hmmm, I started off talking about homework and ending up here again. Imagine that!
Gulu Walk for Uganda
As most of you know, I am praying about when to go to Africa as a fulltime missionary. There are so many needs there and Northern Uganda is one of them. I will be raising much needed funds by walking for 5 miles around Washington DC on October 21 for Gulu Walk. Click here to learn more about the purpose for the walk.
Please consider joining the team by walking or by making a financial contribution. You can make the difference in a life and you can do it in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have created a team, Team Redeemer, and my prayer is to have many of you walking with me. I set an initial goal for the team to raise $2000 but I pray we can go above and beyond that goal.
Maybe you are thinking that you are unable to walk or don’t have time, you can still help by making a donation. It can be as little as $1 or as much as you want. Any amount would be more than they have now and could literally save one child’s life. Click here to donate. Once you get to the donate page, click on the sponsor an individual link on the left sidebar and follow the instructions.
If you are unable to give a donation, you can still help us by praying for the situation in Uganda and by praying that many will join the team to walk.
Thank you so much!
Answering the Call
I can’t really pinpoint the exact moment I felt in my heart the desire to go to Africa. I shook it off at first and tried to not think too much about it. The more I tried to push it out of my heart and mind, the more it seemed it be at the forefront. I have been to Mexico and Peru and I loved both countries but I can’t see myself living there. I can picture myself living in Africa though. I would love to live in the orphange and be a “mom” to at least some of the 12 million orphans there.
I am still praying for confirmation from the Lord that this is His will for my life and not just something that I think would be cool to do. It’s so hard because I want to go to so many places. I want to go to India. I want to go to the Czech Republic where I have friends who have given up all to be missionaries there. I want to go to Papau New Guinea and preach to the tribes there. (Side note-that one scares me a little since they cooked and ate the first missionary there!)
I have been going over my finances and with the Lord’s help, I will be totally debt free in about 2 1/2 years. That would be awesome. I feel like the Lord has been preparing me for the last few years to be able to let go of material things. I think back to a time when I had the best of everything. Clothes, cars, homes, everything I had I felt represented my successfulness. It all seems so meaningless to me now. When I see the devastation of poverty and war, it seems almost ridiculous to me that there are so many orphans walking around in so many countries. So many people starving. I read an interview that a missionary had with a young boy who lived in Kenya and they asked him this question, “if you could have just one thing, what would you want?” Do you know what this young man asked for? A shirt. He said, “I would like to have another shirt.” I remember all the times I looked in my drawers or my closet and I thought I had nothing to wear. I have hundreds of pieces of clothing. How could I want one more thing?
I have been in contact with an organization called Children’s Cup and am praying about serving with them in Swaziland and Zimbabwe. They have several Care Points where they feed the orphans and educate them and basically take care of them. Click here to read about what they are doing and if you feel led to contribute to them, you can do that right on the website. Pray for all the missionaries there too.
Lord willing, I will be going in the next 6-9 months to visit and stay with the missionaries. This would be a dream come true because I don’t want to just go on a missions trip to Africa, I want to see how the missionaries live on a daily basis. I want to see Africa from their viewpoint.
If you are reading this, please pray for me. Pray that God would confirm this call in my heart I feel and that I would not go ahead of His perfect timing. Pray for financial provision as well. This will not be an easy task as I will have to raise all my support. It’s almost uncanny though this peace I feel about it. When I first felt Africa stirring in my heart, I immediately thought there is no way I can do this financially. My faith is increaasing on a daiy basis and I know that if I am called to the mission field, God will meet all my needs. I am holding to this Scripture:
1 Corinthians 12:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Peru 06 Mission Night Video
We just posted our video on the internet, click here to see the testimonies shared and video we made from our pictures. You have to scroll down to the bottom of the page, then click on View video.
I dreamed of Africa
My Soapbox on Africa
I have a little girl I sponsor in Swaziland, Africa through World Vision. Her name is Ntombikayise and she is 5 years old. I call her my little Tombi. She and her family live in a community severely affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. For less than a cup of coffee a day, she is able to have her basic necessities met, clothing, food and water. Things we don’t have to even think about here in the US. Things we take for granted. Her life, as well as countless others, is being changed by Christian organizations like World Vision and Compassion International. Many people ask why we should help these children overseas when there are so many in the US we can help. My question is this, how many children are you helping right now here in the US? If your heart is in helping the many here that need help, then I will challenge you to step up and do something today.
I am not sure just when my heart started beating for Africa and more specifically, Sub- Saharan Africa. It may have started when I read a book that chronicled a little orphan’s life in Africa after the Rwandan genocide, where about a million lives were lost. This orphan walked hundreds of thousands of miles. He moved from one refugee camp to another searching for food and safety, several times being kidnapped and brutally beaten. I finished reading this book and had nightmares for months. I did a lot of research on Africa after this and the images of these orphans are seared into my mind. These images haunt me and challenge me to do something. Anything. One life at a time. It’s an incredible feat but I am not alone. The Lord Jesus Christ died not only for you and me but for every person in the world.
When I think about the day I will go to Africa, I always remember the apostle Paul’s vision of the man in Macedonia crying for him to come help him. This is what I hear when I think of all the orphans. They cry for me, sometimes so softly that I can barely hear it, but I do always hear it.
Some staggering statistics:
Many people here in the US are unaware of just how bad the AIDS pandemic is in Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10% of the world’s population, but is home to more than 64% of all people living with HIV/AIDS.
More than 17 million Africans have died from AIDS and about another 30 million are infected, 3 million of them are children. Every day in Africa, 6,600 people die from HIV/AIDS, 8,800 people are infected and 1,400 newborn babies are infected during childbirth or by their mothers’ milk. There are over 12 million orphans. Can you imagine that?
More than 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa—nearly half the population—live on less than $1 a day.
You may be asking yourself, what can I do? You can start by praying for this crisis. You can get involved with organizations like The One Campaign and DATA. You can sponsor a child through World Vision or Compassion International. Click on any of the links for more information. Is giving up a cup of coffee a day worth saving the life of one child? These children are not just getting food and shelter, they are learning about Jesus Christ. They are learning that despite their circumstances, they have a Father who is defending their cause. You can give them hope. You can show them in a tangible way the love of Jesus through your sponsorship.
James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows…”
Peru Mission Trip-Final Chapter
Post Trip Wrap Up
This mission trip was about so much more than visiting and ministering to the people in Peru. It was about what God can do with an open and willing heart.
In March, I had my third knee surgery and on the day I returned to work, I was asked to help Pastor Joey lead the mission trip to Peru this year. I had gone last year and since my heart is in missions, I was overjoyed. Within a few weeks, I began to wonder if I had made the right decision. I began to have some serious doubts and I met with Pastor Steve and told him I wasn’t sure if I could do this. I was still having pain in my knee and there were days that I went home and weeped because I couldn’t bear the pain. I continued to pray and seek God for several more weeks and I met with Pastor Joey on several occasions. I shared my fears with him and he prayed with me many times. I will never forget his statement to me about my decision to go or not to go. He said, “The only reason you should not go is because you know God doesn’t want you to go.” How could I argue with that? Another friend of mine asked me a few more questions that really challenged me. He said, “If your knee was not hurting you and if you did not have to lead the team, would you go?” I didn’t even have to think twice about it, of course I would go under those circumstances.
I realized that I was giving in to my fears. Fear of not doing a good job, fear of rejection, fear of failure and so many other things. I made the decision in my heart and mind to go and I praise God that I made the right decision. I would have missed out on so many blessings had I chosen to give in to my fears. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like Christian cliches, but this one time I need to quote one of my favorites. It goes like this, God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. I am proof of that because if I thought for a minute that I could do what He did in and through the entire team by myself, I would have fallen flat on my face.
I can honestly say that I have never been more proud of 17 people in my life. These people gave of their lives, finances, vacation time and hearts to go and help fulfill the Great Commission. We came together with one heart, one mind and one purpose to accomplish God’s plans.
Each of our lives will never be the same. Each of us were impacted in ways we would never have imagined. Each of us has drawn closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is hard to think back to some of the areas we ministered in and I caught myself wondering why there is such poverty in the world, why so much hurt and pain. Then I remember the answer, sin. Because we want to be like God, knowing good and evil. Because it is so hard to submit our lives to the One who loves us beyond what we can imagine. Because what we want is more important than anything else. Because we want to live in absolute comfort. Because we want to hold on to the things of this world.
My eyes have been opened to my own heart and I pray that I will never, ever forget the images I saw. Images that have kept me up night after night since coming back. Small children with dirt on their faces and lice in their hair, pregnant women living on the streets with nothing, people sleeping under a bridge, abused women with so much hurt and pain, people who have not been outside their homes in years that received wheelchairs and freedom and the many missionaries that have given up all to follow Christ and share His love and His hope in a place that seems to have nothing. God is there, in Peru. He is working out His perfect plan in His perfect timing.
Romans 10:14-15, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
Peru Mission Trip-Day 7
Children’s Home in Chacalacayo
This is one place we always like to visit when we come to Peru. Camino De Vida Church has 2 of these safe havens for children, one in Lima and one in Cusco.
These are not orphanages, most of these children have parents. Many, if not all of these beautiful children, have been abused and taken from their families and placed here. Not only does the home take care of their physical needs, by feeding and clothing them and giving them an education, they are also learning about the love of Jesus. These children are never without a beautiful smile and once again I found myself wondering, who is ministering to whom?
Our church, Church of the Redeemer, is known for our plastic bins that we bring on each visit. During the preparation for the trip, our team was able to collect toys, clothes, medicine, toiletries, crafts and so much more for the children here. We love to watch the children’ s faces light up when we give them presents and share our love with them. One of our team members, Charo, got a donation of hundreds of Beanie Babies and we were able to give one to each child.
Our children’s ministry at our church donated a ton of craft projects that were left over from vacation Bible school so we had a mini VBS in Peru! Linda, Charo, Nikki and Eileen helped the children make visors and paint wooden crosses.
Many of our other team members got to play ulitmate frisbee, soccer and dodge ball with the children. After that, they had a cookout for us and the food was awesome! I think it was the best meal we had while we were in Peru.
While we were there, a local television star came out and also gave the children presents and a TV set. It was hard to watch the children leave us and run to them and I know I had to check my heart. It was easy to feel like these people were cutting in on our limited time we had with the children but when it comes down to it, the bottom line is that the children reap the benefits.
The TV station finally left and the children came back to finish making their crafts and playing.
By the time we left, the children tied green bracelets around our wrists that had I love Hogar de Ninos written on them. (I love the children’s home). We didn’t give the children a giant screen TV, we gave them our hearts and our love and they reciprocated by giving us these bracelets, not the TV station.
We found out that the home was recently robbed so we took a love offering and was able to bless Pastor Christian, who runs the home, with $800. This will help them to install an alarm system and much, much more.
Peru Mission Trip-Day 6
Wheelchair Distribution in Carabayllo
This was another area hit hard by poverty. They had no running water and as you can see in the pictures, nothing green grows here. A water truck comes by every day and the people take whatever containers they have and fill them up with the water. The picture with the houses are what they all looked like. Some of the walls were made of what looked like palm branches woven together. It was amazing to see the size if them as well.
A mission team from Healing Place Church was there and we got to minister with them.
We handed out several wheelchairs and had the opportunity to share God’s love with them and also prayed with and loved on the people who got them. We had so much fun playing with the children here that day. We danced, we sang, we hugged and loved them and I was struck by how freely these children, who appear to have nothing, loved us.
Peru Mission Trip-Day 5
Fun Day!
A few of our team members went to check out the beach. Tami is breathing in some fresh air, and our very own adventurer, Lorenzoooo, is taking a quick dip. Since it is Peru’s winter, the water was freezing! After a walk on the beach in Trujillo and a nice lunch, we boarded our second home, the bus, and prepared for a 12 hour bus ride back to Lima. You learn alot about people when there are 20 people on one bus for that long. As one of the team leaders and sheriff in town, I learned that the best way to cope with the situation could be summed up in just one word… Dramamine. I wasn’t really worried about anyone really getting sick, I just wanted peace on the bus
One of the pictures is our wonderful host going above and beyond her call of duty. If you look carefully on the right side of the picture, you can see our very spiritual leader, Pastor Joey.
I will try my best to describe the scene here.
After many hours on the road, lots of Lomo Saltado and other Peruvian dishes, all the drugs I pumped into everyone, no chemicals in the bathroom, and many other things that can’t (and shouldn’t be shared), the bathroom didn’t exactly smell as fresh as it could have. We voted for our team insomniac, Ted, to go in and open up the window in there and the third picture is of our very spirit-filled hosts locking him in the bathroom, while he is attempting this heroic feat.
I know we all made a pact that what happens in Peru stays in Peru but this was too funny not to share!
Peru Mission Trip-Days 3 & 4
Wheelchair Ministry
Camino De Vida works with many municipalities in Peru to supply wheelchairs to those in need. They have donated over 30,000 wheelchairs so far and the number is climbing! We heard so many testimonies from the recipients. Some of them had not been able to leave their homes in years because they had no way to get around. In my mind, I had pictured only elderly men and women and maybe some accident victims who were unable to walk. I was not prepared to see infants and small children who needed them as well. Because of the poverty in the nation, many treatable diseases and conditions go untreated and the results are seen in a few the pictures here.
We went to several of the towns and met several mayors who are deeply indebted to Camino De Vida for their wheelchair ministry. Pastor Joey was able to share the Gospel at each wheelchair presentation and we saw many people accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
It was hard to watch the government officials who seemed more interested in the ‘politics’ of handing these out while we were interested in meeting not only physical needs but spiritual needs as well.
We watched the people’s faces as they were paraded around in new wheelchairs and how they were filmed so everyone could see how they are being helped by the government. Their faces looked down-trodden and sad and I wondered what they were thinking. After the presentations, our team was able to love on them and pray with them. We handed out tracts and told them about Jesus. As Pastor Joey put it, “There faces lit up when we were ministering to them.” They felt our love and the love of Jesus Christ when we hugged them and shared parts of our souls with them.
I John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.”
Peru Mission Trip Day 2-Cont
Day 2
Nancy Cole Women’s Shelter in La Victoria
This area is also not very safe and in one the poorest neighborhoods. Pastor Lilian, who has a heart for these women and runs the shelter, does not want to leave the area. She wants to stay and minister to the local women there. An Assembly of God church is blessing them by coming in November to build them a 3 story building. It’s amazing what the church can accomplish when we let the Lord lead us.
When we arrived, they were having their worship service. To walk into this room and hear them praising the Lord was one of the most moving experiences of my life. I have never felt God’s presence more than at that moment and it was almost too overwhelming for my heart to take. To watch these women praise God in spite of their circumstances and to trust Him with their hearts encouraged me so much. Many of them come from some type of abusive background, rape and incest are very common. The picture with the baby is of one of our team members, Linda, holding the result of one of these horrific acts. He belongs to a 15 year old girl who was raped by her own father. I could not even imagine what this young lady must have felt as she felt this innocent child growing inside of her. Regardless of the event that occured, this beautiful baby’s real father is our Heavenly Father. We were able to pray with her and encourage her and she knows that the Lord has an incredible plan and purpose for her life. She is one of the most courageous women, if you can call her that, that I know.
We also prayed over each and every woman there and it was amazing. As we prayed, I felt like I was in the very throne room of God Almighty.
Philippians 4:6
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Peru Mission Trip Day 2-Church
Day 2
Camino De Vida church service. It was awesome to worship there. I actually understood some of what Pastor Robert was sharing. I know he was talking about the Israelites complaining about their continual diet of pan y agua (bread and water) and I laughed when he said [of the Israelites] Yo tengo alli de gallina y Lomo Soltaldo! I am sure I spelled all that wrong but focus on the story here…
This church is so commited to ministering to the people in Peru. They have so many ministries, I can’t even begin to mention them here. Click here to find out more. The music was so energizing and God’s presence was definitely there. It was cool to watch the worship band praising God and bouncing up and down. (I am a fellow bouncer).
There is something extraordinary that happens when worshiping in another language. It is so beautiful. I have noticed that people of other nations worship so much more freely than we do in the US. I keep asking myself why that is.
We got to see Pastor Nick and meet his new bride, Kristin. They are only a few off the many people at Camino De Vida who are making an impact in Peru. His enthusiam for Jesus pours out of him. One day on one of our long (12 hour) bus rides, I got a chance to talk to Veronica, one of our hosts from Camino De Vida. She shared her heart with me and I was so humbled by her love for the Peruvian people and her commitment to Pastor Robert and the church. Her sweet, gentle spirit is refreshing and I am so thankful for all her help while we were there.
I am also grateful for our other host, Leah, for all her help and for keeping us entertained! Her heart for children is apparent as we watched her interacting with them. She was a blessing to our team.
Peru Mission Trip- Day 1
Day 1
We began our time of ministry in Peru by going to an area that you will definitely not see in the brochures. We were told it could be dangerous and were warned ahead of time to wear old clothes, to take off any jewelry and not carry any money. We planned on meeting with Camino De Vida’s evangelism team to help minister to the street people. We had to argue with our bus driver because he did not want to drive into the area we wanted him to. He was very vocal about this and some of the team member’s looked a little nervous. The pastor heading up the team there saw our bus and jumped on and told us all that we would be safe and it was ok to enter.
This was a drug infested part of town where the homeless lived under a bridge. Pastor Nick’s evangelism team had started going to the main square that was a few blocks away. They had been ministering there for several months when they were invited into this area where no one dared to enter. The streets are filled with homeless people and the children are known as ‘piranhas’ because they would gang up on a person and rob them. Basically strip them of everything like a piranha would do. But these children did not harm us in any way. We came filled with the spirit of God and under a covering of prayer and were able to love on these children and play with them. We also cooked hotdogs and made sandwiches for them. We handed out over 100 Bibles and we signed them for them as well. We shared our lives and testimonies with them and prayed with and over them.
Pastor Nick really has a heart for them to know Christ and he and his team have been going there several times a week. They have started to clean the area by picking up trash and sweeping and washing the streets. What an incredible witness of God’s love they show. The community has been pitching in as well. Pastor Nick shared with us how they were going to paint the houses and the area they live in and when I asked him who was paying for the supplies, he said, “I am not sure but God will provide.” His faith encouraged my heart and our team took a love offering and was able to give them $300. Not only did they paint the area in 3 beautiful colors, they were able to feed the children a few more times and get them much needed supplies.
I left wondering just how much difference could 17 people make in one day when the needs are so great. When I think about how the Lord could make 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish feed over 5000 people, I understand the meaning of Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” This was one day that this community of people did not go hungry.
Peru Mission Trip
I am going to attempt to post some pictures of a mission trip to Peru that I just returned from. It was amazing! This was my second trip there and I plan on going back.
I am going to share what the Lord did there and what He did in and through our team.
Our team had 17 people on it and a few of us had been there before. We have a sister church in Lima, Peru, Camino De Vida, that we partner with while we are there. This church is amazing and is changing the lives of many people. They have over 50 ministries. They share the love of Jesus and minister to these people in practical ways by feeding, clothing and meeting real needs.
Click here to read about Pastor Robert and Karen who started the church.
Here is one of my journal entries from June 22:
I am so excited and full of anticipation about the Peru trip. It’s so cool to know that our team has been hand picked by God. He has a special plan and purpose for each of us. I pray that all of our hearts would be open to His plan for us. Bind us all together, Lord, in unity with one heart and one soul, one purpose. I pray for a fruitful harvest and that many lives would be changed, not only for those we will be ministering to in Peru, but for what God is going to do for each team member.
On the day we left, July 14, it was my 5 year anniversary of surrendering my heart and life to Jesus and the day I finally got sober. There was no where I would rather have been on that special day than to be serving my Creator and furthering His kingdom.
