This week has been one of extreme failure on my part and utter success on God's. In theory: the perfect week. In actuality: a very hard one.
This week was one that most students say is the hardest week of Patmos. The weekend before we were barraged by spiritual warfare attacks with the enemy trying to divide us as a staff and just get a foot in. So I started the week of with a firm mind, determined to be a prayer warrior for our students. But as the students learned about the sin in their lives, and what it looks like to a Holy God...the Spirit was faithful to walk me through a parallel lesson.
In addition: one of our students had a seizure, we got a brand new student last Sunday (never before in the history of Patmos has a student joined half way through), I've been fighting a cold all week with less sleep than normal, I very nearly botched the climax of this week's lesson by sending an e-mail out prematurely...
I have never felt more unqualified to be here, and more grateful that God uses me inspite of that. He truly did succeed this week, and I have been diligent in seeking out the students and hearing the lessons that God taught them.
To end the week: just last night all of the Adventure Learning Centre was invited on board the Operation Mobilization ship Logos Hope which arrived in Nassau Friday morning and will be here for two weeks. We were served a high class meal while witnessing the work God has done through the 16 years of Mr. and Mrs. Randy Grebe, founders of the Adventure Learning Centre. The stories, testimonies, and witness of faces were overwhelmingly encouraging.
It felt very familiar to me: a couple hundred people gathered in a room-all committed to serving the Lord in ministry- praising God and testifying to the work He does through our lives on the mission field. I felt very honored to be there.
In addition I got a little taste of home from my old church Trinity. Allison and I got to spend Saturday with them at the beach, and though I am unfamiliar with most of the new students who attend, I was able to connect with them well and enjoy their company. They just smell like Redlands!!! We also got a care package bag that the second team just brought in. It contains small comforts like full leaf teas, snacks, and other fun things.
Thank you for all your prayers. I know that I have been so empowered this semester because of all of you who pray so diligently on my behalf. God is truly working with these students and this last week proved to reveal amazing growth in their lives. Their old selves are dying and they resemble Christ more each day!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Beach Workouts Make Weekends Better
Yesterday we did an early morning beach workout! Although it was hard to get up for it, it ended up being really fun, for a change ;) The waves were super strong and at one point we were running in the shallow surf, and lifting our feet above the water when a series of waves came and swept us off our feet! My friend Charles got sucked out into the next wave and the next, and the next, until finally someone went in to go help him. And then they both got sucked under again! I was laughing hysterically! They were both fine, of course, just very sandy. But the ocean water was warm and refreshing and it was a great morning.
Now it is Saturday and I have some free time to myself!...which I have mostly spent working on my support letter. Before we know it, Brazil will be upon us! Please pray for God's provision, but more for my faith and peace of mind in that. He who has called me will be faithful.
Tomorrow my old youth group from Redlands, CA is flying in for a two week missions trip! It will be a huge blessing to see the few people that I still know! (including Shawn and Monet!!!) And next week they will be bringing me and Allison a care package!
Next Saturday the Operation Mobilization ship Logos Hope is sailing into the Bahamas. Randy Grebe, the ALC founder is on board and so Patmos and the ALC will be very involved in events over those next two weeks. (It is basically a floating library that travels around the world for ministry) I am excited to get on board and witness what they do firsthand.
And after all that excitement dies down, we will have one more month of Patmos! This term is going by fast, and there is so much work to do before we leave for Brazil!
Now it is Saturday and I have some free time to myself!...which I have mostly spent working on my support letter. Before we know it, Brazil will be upon us! Please pray for God's provision, but more for my faith and peace of mind in that. He who has called me will be faithful.
Tomorrow my old youth group from Redlands, CA is flying in for a two week missions trip! It will be a huge blessing to see the few people that I still know! (including Shawn and Monet!!!) And next week they will be bringing me and Allison a care package!
Next Saturday the Operation Mobilization ship Logos Hope is sailing into the Bahamas. Randy Grebe, the ALC founder is on board and so Patmos and the ALC will be very involved in events over those next two weeks. (It is basically a floating library that travels around the world for ministry) I am excited to get on board and witness what they do firsthand.
And after all that excitement dies down, we will have one more month of Patmos! This term is going by fast, and there is so much work to do before we leave for Brazil!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Jeremiah/ One Week
This week
I woke up in Haiti
I have flown in a small 19 seater aircraft out of Haiti
I have run at least 11 miles
I have woken up to a massive thunderstorm
I have met 15 pastors from across the United States, and heard them teach
I have dragged myself up the inside of a 45 ft tube slide using a rope
I have been pulled out of bed to paint the books of the Bible on wooden blocks at 11pm
I have discovered that changing a flight on Jet Blue costs the same as canceling it
I have picked up a baby lamb
I have had to do my laundry twice in 4 hours because someone put my detergent bag in the dryer and it exploded all over my clean laundry
I have stood 30 feet above a hammerhead shark with a warm ocean breeze blowing at 9pm
I have heard 20 students describe how in the last couple weeks, suffering led to hope and transformation in their lives
And this is the life that God has called me back to. I look back at this week in surprise. What a strange, diverse, trying, wonderful thing. In one week I have sacrificed, I have been rewarded, I have been moved, I have worked, I have played, I have been blessed, and I have blessed others. This is just one week. Life down here is full and sincere. The blessings are huge because the sacrifices are huge as well.
I enjoy the diversity. I enjoy the unexpected. I am honored to assisst in the discipleship of twenty students. They are dear friends now, with pains and struggles and fears. They are growing and learning huge lessons. I am privilged to pray for them, to listen to them, and to point them always to Christ.
I have been reading through Jeremiah for my personal devotions. I am convinced that God wrote that book for me!!Nearly every chapter has systematically applied to my life during this season and God has spoken huge things to me from out of this book. Most recently He addressed my plans for my future, which were not His.
Jeremiah 42-44 talks about the Israelit'es rebellion. They tell Jeremiah to speak to the Lord and they will do what he tells them, but when they hear they do not obey. He tells them to stay where they are and God will bless them, but if they go down to Egypt, a place of security and comfort, then they will be destroyed.
God has clearly told me that He desires I stay here until He tells me otherwise. My original plan was to go back to Idaho (comfort and security) and get a job. But that was not from God's leading, but my own insecurities. I am excited about remaining committed to the ministry down here, and watching God supply for my needs because I am totally and completely helpless to provide anything for myself. I am desitute in Him, but He has promised to be faithful!!
As always, your prayers are like gold!
I woke up in Haiti
I have flown in a small 19 seater aircraft out of Haiti
I have run at least 11 miles
I have woken up to a massive thunderstorm
I have met 15 pastors from across the United States, and heard them teach
I have dragged myself up the inside of a 45 ft tube slide using a rope
I have been pulled out of bed to paint the books of the Bible on wooden blocks at 11pm
I have discovered that changing a flight on Jet Blue costs the same as canceling it
I have picked up a baby lamb
I have had to do my laundry twice in 4 hours because someone put my detergent bag in the dryer and it exploded all over my clean laundry
I have stood 30 feet above a hammerhead shark with a warm ocean breeze blowing at 9pm
I have heard 20 students describe how in the last couple weeks, suffering led to hope and transformation in their lives
And this is the life that God has called me back to. I look back at this week in surprise. What a strange, diverse, trying, wonderful thing. In one week I have sacrificed, I have been rewarded, I have been moved, I have worked, I have played, I have been blessed, and I have blessed others. This is just one week. Life down here is full and sincere. The blessings are huge because the sacrifices are huge as well.
I enjoy the diversity. I enjoy the unexpected. I am honored to assisst in the discipleship of twenty students. They are dear friends now, with pains and struggles and fears. They are growing and learning huge lessons. I am privilged to pray for them, to listen to them, and to point them always to Christ.
I have been reading through Jeremiah for my personal devotions. I am convinced that God wrote that book for me!!Nearly every chapter has systematically applied to my life during this season and God has spoken huge things to me from out of this book. Most recently He addressed my plans for my future, which were not His.
Jeremiah 42-44 talks about the Israelit'es rebellion. They tell Jeremiah to speak to the Lord and they will do what he tells them, but when they hear they do not obey. He tells them to stay where they are and God will bless them, but if they go down to Egypt, a place of security and comfort, then they will be destroyed.
God has clearly told me that He desires I stay here until He tells me otherwise. My original plan was to go back to Idaho (comfort and security) and get a job. But that was not from God's leading, but my own insecurities. I am excited about remaining committed to the ministry down here, and watching God supply for my needs because I am totally and completely helpless to provide anything for myself. I am desitute in Him, but He has promised to be faithful!!
As always, your prayers are like gold!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A Glimpse of Haiti
I have landed back in the Bahamas, and hit the ground running. Back for two days, I already feel as though it has been a week. Life here, as always, is a delicate balance of being busy about the work of the Lord and allowing Him to work in His timing. There hasn't been too much time to reflect about Haiti.
The flight from Nassau to Jacmel was about two hours long, ending in a beautiful runway approach over the ocean. The airport was very small, with a broken down, breezy bunker building occupied by the Canadian army. We were quickly ushered through a short immigration process and then out of the building. Pastor Chet put us right to work, dividing us up into teams to head to work projects that had been established the week before. I was on the team that headed to our house first to unload luggage.
We rode in the back of a truck through the streets of Jacmel, a wonderful introduction to the country. The sights, smells, and sounds all reminded me of Sentani, Indonesia, except of course that the native language is Creole. Much of the poverty was clearly pre-earthquake but occasional structural damage could be seen and there were small tent communities everywhere. Our house was bright pink with a carefully fenced and gated yard. It was four bedroom three bath and extremely nice, considering our original plan was to sleep in a tent community.
After unloading, my team walked a half mile or so through the neighborhood to our first project: house building. Apparenlty contractors hired men to work for food in building these houses and we were volunteering to help. They were small, cement buildings densely surrounded by banana trees and small lean to shelters. Our task was to sift the rocky sand in order to produce finer sand that could be used to make cememnt and mortar. So that's what we did for the next four hours. It was tough work, not entirely unlike archaeology dry sifting, except that there were no tripods or user friendly shortcuts. Everything was standing and it was hard on the lower back. But we worked hard alongside the locals, and a few men from Colorado who had come down for a couple of weeks.
The rest of the week I was on a different work site everyday. They included: VBS downtown, orphanage, digging trenches on the mountain, and demoloshing a damaged three story church building. We worked everyday for six to eight hours and then returned for dinner to the house. After dinner we had class for about an hour and then time for fellowship and homework, but by then we were all wiped.
Most of the week I had no more responsibility than to work alongside the students. It was simple: we were there to serve the Haitian people through love and labor. We had few translators, but most Haitians loved our efforts of broken vocabulary and hand gestures. The kids, of course, just wanted love, attention, and time. My hardest days were spent with the kids all day. I felt so unqualified to give them anything that they needed. Teaching games without using words was humbling in itself, and the smallest amount of laughter worked wonders.
What blessed me the most was watching and hearing about the relief work coming in. Hundreds of aid groups are working in Haiti now, but aid is going to more than just earthquake victims. Needs in Haiti that have existed for years, are now being addressed as the country is slowly being rebuilt. It is huge to imagine that this is just one way the Lord is using this earthquake for His glory and to further His kingdom.
Our trip is over, but Pastor Chet is the coordinator for the rest of the Calvary teams that will be going to Haiti. He was able to properly observe the needs and make connections with the right people in Jacmel, and now Calvary Chapel has plans to be a part of the long term rebuilding process. Their first team (besides us from Patmos) arrived the day that we were leaving and we were able to pass on information and resources for them, to make their trip more effective and less stressful.
I am truly blessed to have been a part of this short trip. Just working alongside these people and playing with their children was a blessing, not to mention how privileged I was to watch the students on our team as they grew in amazing ways. God really impacted their lives through this trip and the fruit is becoming evident. For many students it was their first mission trip anywhere.
Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support! I will try to get pictures up soon.
The flight from Nassau to Jacmel was about two hours long, ending in a beautiful runway approach over the ocean. The airport was very small, with a broken down, breezy bunker building occupied by the Canadian army. We were quickly ushered through a short immigration process and then out of the building. Pastor Chet put us right to work, dividing us up into teams to head to work projects that had been established the week before. I was on the team that headed to our house first to unload luggage.
We rode in the back of a truck through the streets of Jacmel, a wonderful introduction to the country. The sights, smells, and sounds all reminded me of Sentani, Indonesia, except of course that the native language is Creole. Much of the poverty was clearly pre-earthquake but occasional structural damage could be seen and there were small tent communities everywhere. Our house was bright pink with a carefully fenced and gated yard. It was four bedroom three bath and extremely nice, considering our original plan was to sleep in a tent community.
After unloading, my team walked a half mile or so through the neighborhood to our first project: house building. Apparenlty contractors hired men to work for food in building these houses and we were volunteering to help. They were small, cement buildings densely surrounded by banana trees and small lean to shelters. Our task was to sift the rocky sand in order to produce finer sand that could be used to make cememnt and mortar. So that's what we did for the next four hours. It was tough work, not entirely unlike archaeology dry sifting, except that there were no tripods or user friendly shortcuts. Everything was standing and it was hard on the lower back. But we worked hard alongside the locals, and a few men from Colorado who had come down for a couple of weeks.
The rest of the week I was on a different work site everyday. They included: VBS downtown, orphanage, digging trenches on the mountain, and demoloshing a damaged three story church building. We worked everyday for six to eight hours and then returned for dinner to the house. After dinner we had class for about an hour and then time for fellowship and homework, but by then we were all wiped.
Most of the week I had no more responsibility than to work alongside the students. It was simple: we were there to serve the Haitian people through love and labor. We had few translators, but most Haitians loved our efforts of broken vocabulary and hand gestures. The kids, of course, just wanted love, attention, and time. My hardest days were spent with the kids all day. I felt so unqualified to give them anything that they needed. Teaching games without using words was humbling in itself, and the smallest amount of laughter worked wonders.
What blessed me the most was watching and hearing about the relief work coming in. Hundreds of aid groups are working in Haiti now, but aid is going to more than just earthquake victims. Needs in Haiti that have existed for years, are now being addressed as the country is slowly being rebuilt. It is huge to imagine that this is just one way the Lord is using this earthquake for His glory and to further His kingdom.
Our trip is over, but Pastor Chet is the coordinator for the rest of the Calvary teams that will be going to Haiti. He was able to properly observe the needs and make connections with the right people in Jacmel, and now Calvary Chapel has plans to be a part of the long term rebuilding process. Their first team (besides us from Patmos) arrived the day that we were leaving and we were able to pass on information and resources for them, to make their trip more effective and less stressful.
I am truly blessed to have been a part of this short trip. Just working alongside these people and playing with their children was a blessing, not to mention how privileged I was to watch the students on our team as they grew in amazing ways. God really impacted their lives through this trip and the fruit is becoming evident. For many students it was their first mission trip anywhere.
Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support! I will try to get pictures up soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)