From Colorado

Can you believe this beautiful rainbow?! The most vibrant I've ever seen...

I've been "living" in Colorado for about a week now, and what a week it has been. I'm attending Missionary Training International (MTI) here outside of Colorado Springs. To be honest, my attitude was not great upon coming here. I am eager to start my work and life in the Dominican, and it seemed to be another "mandatory" step before getting there. Praise God that my attitude changed within a few days after realizing how crucial this time will be before I head to the field.

I am learning a lot about myself, God, me and God, and how awareness of those can help immensely on the mission field. There are also great interpersonal and cross cultural adjusting skills that we are learning. I don't think I realized how many expectations I have for my new life, and how many of those will probably never produce or become reality. Without this training I suppose I would have kept riding this "roller coaster" without a lot of crucial examination of myself and what exactly I am stepping into. By the end of this, I have faith that I will be a little less blind sighted by some of the experiences and feelings I have while abroad. Praise God for this opportunity, and for His grace in giving this to me, even when I was being prideful and having a bad attitude about the whole thing.

There are about 43 other "almost missionaries" in this building - living, eating and working together each day. It has been rare to be able to talk to a missionary in the past year, let alone someone who is in the same spot in life as me, preparing to go. Sharing my feelings and talking with each of them has been incredibly refreshing and encouraging. It has also completely wiped out my view of what a missionary is like. Before I decided to do this I think I had an image in my head of a really religious person, who acted perfectly and had a perfect relationship with God. Although I knew that wasn't true when I realized this is what I was called to do, I am even more convinced now that missionaries are just people who love Jesus, but are as broken and in need of rescue as the rest of the world... a fantastic realization for me ;)

Once again I have been placed in a just beautiful place. I seem to keep meeting with mountains during my travels. I have been surrounded by them for the past few months, which I think is neat because Jarabacoa is in the mountains as well. I am feeling a greater connection all the time to them and their beauty. I also continue to grow in my adventurous and "outdoorsy" side. I went on a long hike yesterday that I really enjoyed, and may even go camping while here! All of the people are so much fun to be around, and I just wasn't expecting to once again enjoy these "mandatory" things set before me. How have I not learned to trust God completely!? He always seems to know best, and that is being made more and more clear to me all the time. After a pretty fast-paced, tiring time in Antigua, He is giving me rest I need here in Colorado - it is just a different type of adventure and fun. Still challenging and tiring at times, but more in an emotional sense. I am so thankful to have this opportunity before I go.

I want to say a big THANKS to those of you that have been praying. I am getting so excited about the work that lies ahead of me - that children in the Dominican come to know our precious Father and Savior. I would ask for more prayers of God's Spirit in me as I am navigated through this time and prepare to leave. This week is supposedly more "intense" than the last, so I ask for prayers for enthusiasm and God's wisdom/discernment in what I need to learn.

So much love and blessings to each of you reading! Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer ;)

Manos de Jesus

I just wrapped up my last weekend in Guatemala. Once again, the Lord blessed Darby and I with protection and guidance. We decided to travel, just the two of us, to Lake Atitlan and Chichicastenango to visit her friends from church who are missionaries there. Lake Atitlan is a beautiful lake in Guatemala surrounded by volcanoes, mountains, and a few small towns. We bartered our way onto a boat with a man named Santiago and checked out a couple of them. I enjoyed getting a real authentic view of what a Guatemalan town is like. Antigua is wonderful, but touristy and very Americanized. There were of course vendors out in the street in these towns, but the rest is fairly "real" to what Guatemalan and Mayan culture is like. We did laugh though because in the town we ate breakfast, we both ordered "desayuno americano". When it came out, the majority of the plate was covered in french fries. Just a single example of the view people in Central America have of those in North America - always amusing and interesting!

The lake was beautiful and I enjoyed my time there, but one of the most impacting experiences I've had since being here was in Chichi, a small town up in the mountains of Guate that holds one of the most famous markets in the world. A family from Darby's church is serving there and they were kind enough to let us stay with them for a night. They are part of a ministry called Pray America, and the project in Chichi is "Manos de Jesus". The focus of the mission is mainly on building houses for widows, feeding impoverished children, and building stoves for families. They are also renovating a large house right now to be used as a home for abused girls; it will hopefully be up and running in the next six months.

View of Chichi.

It was interesting checking out another mission and seeing/hearing about the impact they are having in the area. The Gardeners (Darby's friends) host the service teams there and last week was the first week in about 3 months they have not had a team to host. Praise the Lord so many people have felt lead to go down there and work. It truly is a remarkable ministry. Even more interesting than touring the ministry site and hearing about what they do was observing and listening to a family that just spent their first 8 months as missionaries. They were very honest about emotions they have felt and struggles they have encountered, which I appreciated. Upon meeting them, I immediately felt the strength of their family. I don't know if it just happened during this experience, but they are extremely respectful to one another and just seemed to be best friends. That is definitely a blessing that came out of their decision to come.

Below is an aerial shot of Monte Flor - the main headquarters of the ministry.

We attended church with them on Sunday and God certainly had our attendance in His specific plan. Their church is very small - just a single room in a hotel/school in Chichi. The pastor there was a pastor of a megachurch back in the States, but left to be a missionary in Guate who would serve other missionaries. I had never heard of such a thing! But WHAT a blessing and what a ministry to be part of. He is incredibly gifted, and just pours into the missionaries in Chichi every week. They are currently studying the life of Moses, and Pastor Don focused mostly on the time when the Israelites were journeying toward the Promised Land. Though it was the Promised Land they were heading toward, the journey was hard and God was basically leading them into a "hostile environment" and a desert of places. It then hit me that that was exactly where I am being lead, and just like the Israelites, I am grumbling and messing up a lot during the way! Thankfully He never forsakes them, and actually blesses them immensely when they don't deserve any of it. The main focus of the sermon was that God is interested in your transformation, not your transportation. We as humans like transportation more - fast transportation. So true, and it really resonated in my heart for the first time.

I won't go on and on about the sermon, though I could, but I will say that it was impactful and emotional for me. We talked a lot with the Gardeners afterwards about what was said, and they were emotional as well, sharing their struggles of mind and heart that have occured over the past several months. I am not even in the D.R. yet, but have already experienced emotions I've never met before: incredible excitement, discomfort, fear, and contentment with where I am. Mr. Gardner said over lunch yesterday, "It's like an overload of emotions that you can't explain and you really can't even put your finger on." I know I'm going to experience even more of that over the next two years. The only person who can possibly help, lead, and deliver me is Jesus - this is becoming more clear to me all the time.

With all of that seriousness being said, I am beyond excited to begin my work with Kids Alive. I am really enjoying learning Spanish, and witnessing the desperation of the children in these poor countries has given me even more of a desire to serve them. It is incredible what you see in these countries that doesn't exist at all in the reality of your world back home - I'm thankful Jesus is letting me serve them.

I am going to do my best to enjoy my last week in Antigua. I have been feeling bittersweet about leaving for the past two weeks now - I have enjoyed my time here SO much, but know it's time to move on. Praise God for the way everything has gone. Thank you so much for praying - my newest prayer request would be for energy and to feel refreshed each day. I don't know when I've been this tired! Hopefully God will give me rest in these next days before I head home and head out to Colorado for Missionary Training International. :)

Until next time ... Psalm 123:1,2