Slideshow #2

Ok here is a better look at our time in Nicaragua. Be sure you turn off the music at the bottom of the page before you watch it. Enjoy!

Drowning

Late Thursday night as I was reading my Bible, I stumbled across Psalm 93. Verses 3 and 4 read, "The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea - the Lord on high is mighty."

When we spent our evening on the beach in Nicaragua, the waves were stronger than I had ever felt. I waded out into the water until I was a little more than waist deep. Wave upon wave crashed over me. Their force was so strong that I could not stand. They crashed upon me, dragging me under, rolling me in their current. I would fight their force until I emerged, struggling for breath, just in time for another wave to drag me under. When I had finally had enough, I pulled myself back onto the shore. I was completely exhausted.

The Psalms says, "...mightier than the breakers of the sea - the Lord on high is mighty." I want to be rocked by God like I was rocked by the sea. I want to throw myself into His depths and be caught in His pull. I want wave upon wave of His love to crash upon me. I want to emerge completely spent, yet longing for more. I want to drown in His love.

But the thing about the beach is that it isn't as much fun to be there alone. It's best when you have people in the water with you. Let's all drown together, shall we?

Changed

Here is a glimpse of our time in Nicaragua. It was an amazing experience that no doubt forever changed us. The people of Nicaragua are so precious and so full of love. They have so little. So many are not only physically starving, but are starved for love. They long for it just like God longs for us. Deuteronomy 4:9 says, "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them." That is our team's prayer. It is our prayer that God would continue to change our heart because of what we have seen. It is our prayer that the effects of our week in Nicaragua would overflow into everyone we meet. It is our prayer that God has changed you.

Day 5

Today the team visited our final school. The children were precious and we had so much fun working with them. We told the story of the Tower of Babble. The kids made their own towers out of paper cups and absolutely loved it.

Unfortunately after lunch it was time to tell the El Ayudante kids goodbye. An event that I have been dreading all week. These children stole a piece of my heart last summer, and now an even bigger piece is being left behind. We gave away hundreds of abrazos y besos (hugs and kisses), but it never seems to quite be enough. I can't speak for my other team members, but I fought tears as I whispered "te amo" in the ear of each child. One little boy, Benito, saw my tears and asked why I was crying. I explained to him that I was very sad. That we had to leave tomorrow morning to go back to the states, but that I loved him and the other children very much and didn't want to go. As I explained my heartache to this young boy, tears filled his own eyes. These children hold a special place in my heart. Nothing I could say, or write, could explain that love.

After our goodbyes, David, Michael, and Junior went on to the construction site. The roof was finished on one house and two and a half walls constructed on the other! With our remaining funds we could either provide a freezer for a family to use as a means to sell things or buy a bicycle to provide transportation. Well, God is absolutely amazing. We were able to provide 2 freezers and 3 bicycles!! We also had the opportunity to deliver both freezers and two of the bikes.

It was certainly a special time for me. Francis is the little girl that I met and fell in love with last year. I became her sponsor, sending money, cards, gifts, etc. The children call sponsors "madrinas" or "good mothers." Marjorie is Francis's mother. We were able to buy her and Francis's older sister Erica a bike. I was able to spend the afternoon with Francis and her family. It is something I will forever treasure.

Our day concluded with an awesome night of worship and discussion. We serve an amazing God that deserves every ounce of our worship. Our God is love. Love is so evident here. We all have been changed because of this week. I believe it's impossible to come here and not be overwhelmed by how great God's love is. Proverbs 10:12 says, "Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrongs." Christ's love for us covers all wrongs. He cleansed every sin on the cross. What more could we need?

Thank you all for supporting our team. We could not have made it here without your love. I pray that our work here has changed you. I pray you hold your family nearer and recognize your countless blessings. I pray that you are overwhelmed by God's love. May He sweep you away so that it is only Him.

Stay tuned for more pictures from our week!!

Day 4

Today our team conquered the volcano Cerro Negro! It was quite the challenge, but we all made it! After lunch we toured a cathedral in downtown Leon. Our day ended with dinner on the Pacific Ocean by sunset. We have all begun to realize how quickly our time here is ending and can't wait to cherish another day.

Day 3

Today has been amazing. First, my rash is healing!! Thank you for your prayers! We went to Grandmother Carmen's preschool this morning. The school is held in her home underneath a tin roof. The children attend class in the stifling heat with swarms of flies on them.

After lunch we delivered care packages to families near the city landfill. These "homes" are located to beside all of the city's sewage. Raw sewage flows everywhere in this village. The houses are made of newspaper, cardboard, anything the people can find. Sickness and death fill this place. We were able to deliver food, cleaning supplies, toothbrushes, toothpastes, toys, and salvation dolls there. Most importantly we were able to pray with these people and share Christ's love.

That barrio is not a place that can be adequately described in words. Pictures only scratch the surface of the hopelessness of this place. A hard, fast rain came while we were there. It only rained for 10 minutes or so, but in that short amount of time, the entire village began to flood. Small rivers of rain, sewage, and trash formed in the paths between each house. My heart is broken for these people. Those precious children are sleeping on ground tonight and every night that is soggy from rain and sewage. They don't know what it is to feel loved. I have no doubt each one of us is changed because of today. May we never forget their brokenness. May our hearts always be broken because of the suffering of God's people. May we never stop loving.

Day 2

We spent our morning at the Jardencito Preschool with Senora Romona. The children were absolutely precious. Throughout the afternoon some of the team began construction of a home for one of the girls at El Ayudante, Celeste. The rest of the team sorted clothes to donate to the children of El Ayudante. Here are some glimpses of our time thus far...

Day 1

I'm still not feeling great, so here is a quick version of our day. The team attended a church in our neighborhood. We were able to provide snacks for the kids there. I wasn't able to attend, but everyone seemed to love it. After lunch we took the El Ayudante kids swimming and to play soccer. We had a blast loving on all of them. Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds. Keep praying for a healing!

Sometimes it takes a rash...

Most often parents start out telling their children to do something in a nice, friendly voice. "Clean your room, please." If the child doesn't listen, the parent will get progressively louder until it's, "Clean your room, NOW!" That's where I'm at with God right now.

Lately, God has gently been pushing me to spend more time with Him, to invest in our relationship. But I haven't been listening. He kept reminding me to set aside time for Him. I haven't listened.

So here I am in Nicaragua, confined to a tiny room with the AC on, taking benadryl, using calamine lotion because I have hives all over my back. I kept pushing God behind other "more important things." Now it's not that I think God is punishing me for not spending more time with Him. I think God is saying, "Here. You have been 'too busy' to set aside time for me. Let me help you with that. There. Now you have plenty of quiet time with me."

God uses all sorts of things to get our attention. Sadly, sometimes it takes a rash to get us to stop and listen. But that's where I am: with itchy hives all over me, rejoicing in my gracious Father.

Hello from Leon!

The team is safe and sound in Leon, Nicaragua! It was a tiring day of travel, but we are so excited to begin working tomorrow! Stay tuned for more!

Here we go!

The before...supplies, crafts, toys, candy, clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, toothpaste!

The after...8 ministry suitcases packed and ready to go!

It is so unreal that we are leaving tomorrow. I feel as if at any moment I will pinch myself and wake up from this wonderful dream. The team will be meeting at 1 pm tomorrow to head for the airport. Our flight leaves at 5:45 pm.

It would be very easy for me to feel completely overwhelmed tomorrow. However, I hope to remember something a very dear person in my life asked me. 1) Who's mission trip is this? 2) Who do I think I am, that I could ruin God's plan?

Our only responsibility while in Nicaragua, is to love. To share Christ's love.

1 John 3:16-18, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. "

See you in Nicaragua!!

My impossible task

Things to do before June 19th...

1. Jewelery party fundraiser May 1st
2. Car wash fundraiser May 8th
3. Send in team roster
4. Send in team information forms
5. Mail check to El Ayudante for team fees --> mailing it tomorrow
6. Raise money to pay team fees
7. Book hotel rooms for the final night --> booking rooms tomorrow
8. Plan 3 days of Bible school for 20-150 kids
9. Buy supplies for Bible school for 20-150 kids --> collecting donations and buying things this week
10. Raise money to buy supplies for Bible school
11. Get team in one piece to Leon, Nicaragua --> unable to complete until June 19th
12. Complete items 1-11 while taking finals and studying abroad in London for 3 weeks
13. Preferably stay sane while completely items 1-12 without driving friends and loved ones crazy --> questionable

Wow. That is all I know how to say right now. Wow. In my last post I was freaking out. Trying my best to keep my faith in God, but freaking out none the less. Suddenly, magically, miraculously, supernaturally, we have more than enough money for our ministry. We leave for Nicaragua in 10 days!

We always claim the truth in Philippians 4:13, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" and Luke 1:37, "For nothing is impossible with God." But we all, or at least I, have moments of doubt. We think things like, "I know you can do anything God, but are you really sure this is going to happen?" Isn't it amazing when God gives us the impossible to do. That's what this mission trip has been for me. The impossible task.

I was a twenty year old junior in college with a million things on my plate when God plopped this project in my lap. How could I ever lead a team of people older and wiser than I? How could I ever do everything that needed to be done to make this trip happen? How could I possibly raise SO much money? I couldn't. I can't. I never will. This has been something in my life that I know, beyond any doubt, would have been impossible if it had not been for my Holy Father.

Now here we are, 10 days away from our trip. And while I'm pretty sure I am in fact driving friends and loved ones crazy, I am so thankful to have them as my unfailing support. God is truly amazing. There are no words to describe His wonder.

We ARE GOING to Nicaragua!!!!

Don't freak-out

Things to do before June 19th...

1. Jewelry party fundraiser May 1st
2. Car wash fundraiser May 8th
3. Send in team roster
4. Send in team information forms
5. Mail check to El Ayudante for team fees
6. Raise money to pay team fees
7. Book hotel rooms for the final night
8. Plan 3 days of Bible school for 20-150 kids
9. Buy supplies for Bible school for 20-150 kids
10. Raise money to buy supplies for Bible school
11. Get team in one piece to Leon, Nicaragua
12. Complete items 1-11 while taking finals and studying abroad in London for 3 weeks
13. Preferably stay sane while completely items 1-12 without driving friends and loved ones crazy

I list such as this tends to cause freak-out moments. Freak-out moments are when I have tons of things to get done and suddenly remember all of the things at once. I then become extremely stressed and "freak-out" over all I have to do. This is usually the conversation I have with myself, "Oh my gosh I have so much to do! How will I ever get it done? It's too much. This is too much pressure for one person. I'm not ready to handle all of this. This seems impossible. I'm going to have a heart attack before it's all done. There's just no way I can do this." I was having one of these moments last week, having that exact conversation in my head. And when I thought, there's just no way I can do this, I heard God say to me, "No you can't, but I can." I love when God does that. When I'm crying out to Him, saying I can't do it, wanting Him to tell me that I can do it, and instead He says, "No you can't, but I can." It's something that should be so obvious to a Christian, but yet I need to be reminded of it all the time. I am so thankful that my Father doesn't expect me to do it. I'm so glad that "with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Workin' at the car wash!

The Count It All Joy Mission Team had our first car wash on March 27th. God was so good to us! We washed cars nonstop that day, sometimes having up to five cars waiting in line. We were able to raise about $400. God's provisions are amazing. Thank you to everyone who came out to support us!

This past weekend was Easter. There is no greater love than the love God demonstrated when He sent Christ to die for us. Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." It is unfathomable that the king of the universe would make himself a servant and die a criminals death for us. God is Yahweh Rophe, the Lord who heals. His death healed, cured, and restored us. His death made us whole. And He is still Yahweh Rophe today. He still longs to heal our bodies, minds, and hearts. He still wants to heal us of our sin sickness. And we so desperately need that healing everyday.

A sacred ambition. A holy obsession.

I suppose I should share with you how this mission trip came about. Let me begin by telling you an experience I had years ago. I am not sure how old I was, maybe close to 13. I was at church when a woman came to my mom and I. She told us that she had seen great plans that God had for my life. At the very moment she told me, I very clearly felt God speak to my heart that I would one day be working in missions. At the time I had never been on a mission trip and thought nothing of it.

Fast forward to freshmen year of college. Early in the first semester, I felt like God was calling me to go on a mission trip. I spent hours searching the internet trying to find a way to go. I never found anything that I felt was God's trip for me. I had no idea where God was sending me, but I knew He was calling me to go. That burden stayed on my heart for a year.

In my second year at college, I began attending something called Campus Church. Campus Church would gather on Tuesday nights and would offer college students an opportunity to join together and pour their hearts out in worship to God. Towards the end of the semester, an announcement was made that a group would be traveling to Nicaragua on a mission trip.

From the very first informational meeting, I knew that was where God wanted me. We spent the next six months or so planning. We faced a lot of challenges in those months, but God had begun a good work in us and would see it to completion.

The first week of May 2009 we traveled to Nicaragua. I had no idea that one week there would forever change my life. Even now as I remember our arrival and the rest of our time there, my heart swells with love. We spent our week working in various schools conducting Bible school. I am sure the word "school" brings a certain image to mind (concrete walls, classrooms, colorful creations lining the walls, playgrounds). School in Nicaragua is very different. Instead children have class underneath a big tree in their teacher's yard, in a house smaller than my room, or in what used to be a chicken coop. We were also taken to the local landfill one day to distribute food. The people who lived in that area dig for food in the landfill. Tears streamed down my face as I saw families living in homes of cardboard and newspaper. The poverty broke my heart.

But what broke my heart even more were the people. Despite the horrible conditions in which they live, they were so full of joy. They were so welcoming of us, so thankful just for our prayers. My heart was broken for people living in the U.S. We are so ignorant. We are all so rich. Despite your salary, the car you drive, the size of your home, you are rich enough to have a computer to read this. Yet despite our abundant blessings, so many are lacking in joy. We constantly are striving for more. More money. More stuff. We need nothing more. We only need more God.

I was heart broken to leave Nicaragua. I found myself constantly longing to return when I came home. My heart had been split. Like the lyrics of the song "Albertine", I knew, "now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith without deeds is dead. I will not let go until you are..." I had seen, and I knew I held the responsibility to act. I could not let go of those precious people.

I began to pray for God to open a door. I prayed Isaiah 6:8 over my life. "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" I wanted to go, but more than that I needed to go. God had given me a sacred ambition, a holy obsession.

In July, God allowed me to begin forming a team to return. Over time that team has developed into nine members. Leading this team has been the most challenging thing God has ever called me to do, and the most rewarding. I suppose some would call me stubborn. So the fact that I know satan HATES what this team is doing, just makes me want to fight him all the more.

Since July, I have become more aware of the responsibility we have as His disciples.

• Psalm 96:3 "Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples."
• Deuteronomy 15:7 "If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs."
• Deuteronomy 27:19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless, or the widow."
• James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
• Proverbs 28:27 "He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses."
• 1 Corinthians 13:3 "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

We are not going to Nicaragua to convert the people to Christianity. We are going simply to love. We want to show Christ's love through our actions. Time and time again throughout God's word, He tells us to love. That we will be known by our love for one another. That we are to love our neighbor as ourself. It is not our job to save the world. Christ did that when He died on the cross for us. We are called simply to love. God will do the rest.

Pieces of my heart

My heart longs for Nicaragua. It always does, but this is one of those times when my heart aches a little bit more than usual. I long to hold those dirty little hands. To kiss on there faces. To be so tired, dirty, filthy in this wonderful, beautiful, never felt so clean kind of way. It feels like home there. A chunk of my heart was left there when I came home last May. Pieces of my heart are spread all across Leon. I know God has called me back. So I know he will provide. It would be easy to look at what we still need and be so overwhelmed. But in ways that I do not understand, God will provide. I do not know where it will come from, but it will come. God will see this to completion. He will make a way.