Thanksgiving time

Our family just got back from my Grandma's memorial service. It was a good family experience, we shared Thanksgiving dinner together and remembered my Grandma together. I am sure most people think along these lines on occasions like these, but my sister and I both have been thinking about what a wonderful person grandma was, and it makes us wonder how are we investing our lives. It is a good, thought provoking question.

While we were in western Oklahoma, we also visited the old farm, and.... cut down our Christmas tree! We used to have the tradition of cutting our own tree when we lived in Wyoming, but it's been years since we've done that. But this year, we ransacked Walmart for a saw. Then we cut this fragrant cedar tree and tied it on the jeep. It's always more fun to have a tree that has some history like this one.

Now it really feels like we're in the Christmas season! I love it!

Rachellium

My Christmas present from my sister last year was this amazing game called Rachellium. She invented it, made all of the pieces out of bottle caps and paper clips, and wrote all of the cards: humming, acting, drawing, and imitating the sound. But I've rarely gotten to play this marvelous game because I am rarely home.

However, for the holidays and my Grandma's memorial service, we have my aunts and cousin in town. So tonight we played. It was great fun, lots of laughs, and louder yelling than is ever allowed in the house. I don't think I realized how important it is to have a place where you can "let your hair down" so to speak. The place to let it all out, the place to be silly without it being embarrassing. But it is important to laugh, to feel free, to run around the living room acting like a skunk, to try and make the sound duct tape makes. I'm just so glad to be laughing again. Now it feels like I'm really home.

At Home

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me these last days and weeks. And now I am happily at home enjoying warm showers and home cooking.

It was such a difficult decision to leave Colombia, but I believe the right one. Our ministry, and my life, got to a point where it wasn't sustainable. The lifestyle just consumes; and I left depleted emotionally, physically, financially. When I could see that nothing was going to be made better by staying longer, for me or the ministry, I decided it was time to go.

I am home indefinitely, to get redirection, to hear from God, and to just live life. A major thing lacking in my Colombian life was not having relationships with people outside of our YWAM base. So, for now I hope to continue studying and learning, but at the same time develop relationship and friendships. It's a new phase in life. Changes such as these always come with a bit of pain, but also some excitement to see what things this adventure will bring.

In Need of Prayer

I have some huge decisions to make and am feeling the pressure. Please pray for guidance. With much love,

Rachel

Homecoming

I've got about 46 days and 08 hours until I arrive in the states once again. I have this widget on my computer that is counting down. Every year I start listening to Christmas music earlier in anticipation of being at home. Those old Amy Grant songs hold memories of so many tree decoratings and fudge tastings. The melody takes me straight to those times.

But I'm at a loss to tell you where my home really is. Driving into Medellin always feels like coming home. But being with my family, that feels like home too. I value home so much that it's a crisis to not have a straight answer when people ask "Where do you call home?"

But then another song, not about Christmas, comes to mind. Steven says "Keep on looking ahead. Let your heart not forget: we are not home yet." The crisis isn't that I don't have a home, it's that I'm looking for a place to call home in the wrong place. We have a home that's coming, and let's not get too comfy until then.

Note to self: In the mean time what do I do? Answer: love God and cut out anything that's getting in the way of that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Us girls are having a blast living together. Really, I think this is the best roommate situation I've ever been in. We enjoy each other and talk about everything. We laugh and cry together, and thankful we laugh more than we cry. And we are making plans as well.

Mayer is looking for a place for her and the two girls to live. The babies' grandma will take care of the girls and Mayer through the last month of pregnancy and the first months afterwards. It's exciting to see here planning for her future, but also please pray that all of this works out. And that she continues with minimal complications.

That was quick

... yes, it was. I am now single... again. After spending more time together Hector and I realized we were not there for each other the way we had imagined. Without some significant changes, this is not the kind of married relationship we would want. So we are leaving that phase of our life behind.

These are a lot of changes for me right now in almost every area of my life. I'm really learning that "in our weakness he is strong."

God, when our vision gets fuzzy and the path isn't clear, remind us of your love and care, and guide us back to the path. Amen

Reflection

Oswald Chambers writes:

The key to the missionary's work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost

That's comforting and puts me in my place at the same time. I like to meet needs. But whenever life seems to be getting more difficult, more complicated than before, it's probably because I have that wrong. It's probably because I'm responding to needs and not looking solely towards the authority of Jesus Christ. Because it's life: it's always complicated and there are always difficult situations. That doesn't change much. But God's authority is over us in whatever circumstance, and that never changes either.


P.S. I highly recommend that everyone read "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers

Home again

Mayer came home from the hospital today. She is doing much better, but now we have to be very careful with diet and exercise. We're trying to get into some kind of routine. While she was in the hospital we prayed every night before I left, but now we'll try to continue doing devotions every night before bed along with Lorena. The biggest thing for her is emotional support. Two doctors mentioned to me that many of the complications are brought on my emotional stress and instability.

We are so glad to have her back at home and doing well.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I think I need to add myself to the prayer requests. It has been a heavy week, I think I've almost had my fill of stressful situations where something needs to be done, but I'm not sure what. Thank goodness we have a big and attentive God.

Blessings to everyone in the states. Enjoy the fall weather and football season extra for me!

Prayer Request

Please continue to keep Mayer in your prayers. Her pregnancy has had complications and she is still only 6 months along. Tonight she had to stay at the hospital because she has been having contractions and spotting and her belly is very small. I did get to hear the baby's heart beat, still good and strong. The baby appears to be alright, it is the mother that has been having health issues, and emotional stress as well. But we are trusting that despite the turmoil, God is taking care of his children and will help her through the pain.

Continuing

Good morning. We are now two weeks into outreach. The teams seem to be doing well, one is in the coast and the other team is in the capital: Bogota.

And as for us girls:

Lorena (on the left) is living with me so I'm not alone in the house. She is also studying dance in one of the major universities in Medellin. And Mayer (on the right) is our pregnant girl. We're getting along well, it's fun living and keeping house and cooking together. It almost feels like little girls playing house, expect it's for real.

It's exciting to have our first girl living with us, but without Cristina being here, we are very limited in what we can offer. We're both great, and well prepared, for counseling sessions. But even though Cristina and I are clear in the goals we want to accomplish when we help girls, but we don't have curriculum or the steps to go about doing it. Conversations and counseling sessions are one thing, but living 24/7 with someone is quite different. Starting something new means there is always more to get ready than I realized! Please keep us in your prayers: Mayer with her pregnancy complications and me with the providing the best support I can.

Big News

First of all, I now have a boyfriend! This week Hector and I announced it formally to the base, the university students, and King's Kids. It's been quite the week. We've been friends over a year, but pretty intentional in getting to know each other for a few months. It all started when my dad was here teaching and Hector was doing a lot of the translating...

So here's the scoop on the boy: he's 26. And, yes, he is Colombian, but his English is better than my Spanish. He's been working some at the base with the DTS and in King's Kids. He's also studying upper-level English so that he can do more translating. We are both pretty outgoing and serving oriented. He has been helping us a bit in Esperanzas de Vida, too. So we are pretty happy doing missions work together.


The other big news is that I will have a pregnant girl living with me during outreach. All of the students leave for outreach tonight along with Cristina. So our girl will be moving in with me on Wednesday. She is 22 and has 2-year-old daughter. She is 6 months along and has been having some complications; this week she was spotting quite a bit. Right now all we can really offer is food and a place to live and friendship. We will start having daily devotions together and that sort of thing, but I will really have to learn as I go.

It's so exciting! But as a ministry this will also require more resources. She is coming here without sheets or a towel or anything really. She will need baby clothes, money for doctor appointments. She is trying to work a little, but part time jobs are very difficult to find and she also has a two-year-old to care for. Cristina and I are looking for anyone who would be interested in sponsoring her through the end of this year. If anyone is interested or would like some more information, please email me: rachelanman@yahoo.com

It's so neat to see how God is working. We have this big house that we had to use for the counseling school; but as soon as there is empty space, along come girls who really need this ministry. God is so faithful.


We just finished making a new ministry movie! We will have the English version out sometime this week so that you can see two of our girls and hear their experiences first hand!

School

We are getting close to outreach, we've almost finished the theory part of the school. This week the counseling students are doing their presentations, and today the first two boys went. One is 31 years old and had more experience teaching. He did well, a little short, but well. The next one was our 17-year-old all dressed up in a suit (I tied his tie because he didn't know how to) and he taught us for an hour and a half. It was incredible, I had no idea he was a good teacher. But it was so cute and made me feel so proud to watch my little student up there so confidant and prepared. I wish I could see him on outreach.

I will not be going with the students on outreach. The 6 students will go with Cristina to Venezuela, but I will stay in Medellin. I need to start the process to make Esperanzas de Vida a legal non-profit organization, in Colombia and in the states. I also am printing our fliers and making contacts with churches and clinics. We have been wanting to do these things all year and didn't have time to devote to them. But please pray a lot that all of the legal stuff makes sense to me and I can do it well. Also that we have open doors with clinics, family services, churches that could support us, and people to donate more things to get the house livable for women (Livable for missionary teenagers is one thing, but we want a more organized, family-feeling home for young moms). This is our plan for this year. Next year, we dive in to working full time with women.


And for our last announcement: the twins arrived on Sunday! They are adorable! Abby and Gaby

Abby Alejandra is the oldest

And Gabriela the youngest.

Missions week photos are coming soon...

cookies

I just spent a wonderful and interesting afternoon with the girls from King's Kids. We wanted to have a girls day, so I taught them to make chocolate chip cookies. But it's not very normal to bake here, so none of them have any experience with measuring cups or with ovens.

The funniest moment was when I was telling them the ingredients. I explained it all, but one girl wasn't listening very well. So she really thought we were going to put "soda" (as in soda pop) in chocolate chip cookies. How cute, but thank goodness she wasn't in charge of adding ingredients.

They did turn out pretty yummy though. But within an hour they were all gone. That's what happens when you live with four guys that just got back from playing soccer.

Direction

This week has been my week of pure accounting. Finally I can see light at the end of the tunnel. But I feel like I am in the middle of a tug-of-war game. Because there are many needs at the base that I would love to help with. But there are many things we need to do this year for Esperanzas de Vida, and there just isn't time for both.

This year we need to make our non-profit legal, contact clinics, print fliers, and get our counseling material ready. All of those things take some time. Right now Cristina and I are in the process of encouraging our director to let me stay in Medellin during the outreach time so I can work (some of that will also require a trip to Bogota). He doesn't really see the need for me to stay...yet. So, a major prayer request for us would be that we can know with assurance how we should be using our time.

This is also bringing up a life "crisis" I have. I am often tempted to do good work that I enjoying doing, but it's not actually what I've been called to do. We've got to trust that God knows what he's up to and can provide for the needs in the base as well as our ministerial needs. But in trusting we have also, as YWAMers, got to take the time to really search out what God is desiring for us in this time. When we get to busy sometimes it is really a discipline to be quite and still and listen to God, and yet when we're busy is when we need that time the most. God, we do need your direction!

Wedding!

Yesterday I got to see my first Colombian wedding, and even more exciting was that it was our first pregnant girl getting married. It was a simple wedding in the Catholic church. We will continue counseling the couple in their relationship as spouses and their upcoming responsibility of being parents.

This week we have an American teacher visiting, Dean Harvey, who was actually the founder of the School of the Bible in YWAM. It's very exciting to have him, and because it's special to have him here, both the counseling school and the DTS are in class together. So things are a bit different this week, but very good. The class is about moral government, which is a weighty subject, and excellent for us all to hear and process together.

The King's Kids are about to start their last week in China. They have found a couple Christian contacts that have let them do cultural stuff, like teach Colombian dances in a coffee shop. It has opened up doors because people wonder what a bunch of Colombians are doing in China. What a great way to start a conversation. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on because they can't write about anything God related in the emails. I'm excited to hear all of the stories when they get back. Please help us pray that they have an amazing impact in their last week and can make good contacts for their next trip.

Famous for a Day

Yesterday I got to spend all day with DNA, the music group from Puerto Rico. It was amazing to get to hang out with them. The concert went very well. They danced and sang great, and the two acoustic songs with the guitar and piano also went well. Afterwards a couple of kids even asked me to sign CDs for them. It was neat to be apart of something quality and I just love to play piano.

But I think the best part of being with them was seeing what they are like back stage. They always pray before they start a concert or presentation, and they reflect such hearts for helping young people understand what love really is and making wise decisions. Often before presentations or shows people are running around and stressed (at least in my experience). DNA however, even though we were running around, have a peace about them too. They know they can depend on everyone to do their part and there is calmness in their attitudes. What a privilege to work with people who know what they're doing and do it well, and also people that live what they preach. I will be sad to see them leave tomorrow.

But the entire experience also motivated me to find more opportunities to use my music. I do love playing, but I also love being around musicians, we just connect. If I wanted to build more relationships with non Christians (which is sometimes difficult when we have such full schedules in the base) I would want to hang out with musicians and tell them about Jesus. The best things in life are what we have to intentionally work for: relationships and music are worth it though.

music and meditation

Dear friends and family. I have very exciting news. DNA, a music group from King's Kids Puerto Rico is here visiting. They are amazing. They write their own song and sing and dance to them. It's been exciting to have them here. DNA stands for Discipling Nations through the Arts, so they sing songs about love and life that aren't necessary "Christian," but are communicating Christian principles. They are doing presentations at churches right now, but their big concert is on the 31st. And I will, possibly, get to play two songs with them on piano. I'm way excited. Here's their music video of one of their songs:


Thank you, New Hope, for the piano. It is so amazing to have a good piano to lead worship from, for my personal time with God. What an incredible blessing.

Besides all of this excitement, the missionary life continues. I have very full days, I'm realizing, and it's brought me to start considering where I want to be most involved in the future. It's always a good question to ask: is what I'm doing now leading me to where I want to go? These are just ponderings that are rolling around in my head. But a major prayer request for me and the ministries in Medellin is direction. We are going through a time of defining our visions and refocusing, and while there are so many good things one could be doing, we really want to be doing what God is specifically calling us to. I pray the same for you, that you find God's specific calling for you in this phase of life.

The Prostitute House

This semester we have an ongoing project for intercession. It is the prostitute house across the street. This house is a special place. For one, it's about the biggest house in the neighborhood. And it's perverted. Couples go there to mix things up, let's say. I can't imagine my boyfriend (we're imagining here) taking me to a place like that. But it keeps very busy. We never see anyone inside, we just see the guy who is in charge of the gate, and I prefer not to encounter him alone at night because he does make comments. No one in this upper-class, family-oriented neighborhood is thrilled about what goes on there, and we think it is illegal. However, when the police have been called it seems that there is some exchange of money and nothing ever changes.

So, our goal is to pray and do something about this house.

We formed teams. My team really wanted to focus on relationships. We want to get to know the guy who opens the gate, because every person that enters or leaves that place goes by him. Haven't accomplished that yet. But we also were praying for contact with people that go there. One day Jhonny (a leader who is in my group) was walking up to the door to the base and a guy was walking away from it. There was a taxi in our driveway with a girl in it. The guy asked Jhonny where this place was. Jhonny was kind of taken by surprise and just answered him. But since then we've been praying for other opportunities like that one. Then Tuesday our group just went out to walk around the neighborhood and pray. We saw two motorcycles multiple times, and finally they stopped and asked us where to find this house. We were surprised again, but this time Jhonny told them he could give directions, but wanted to make sure they realized what takes place there. The couples said yes. So Jhonny quickly told them that it is anything but loving and he would never think of taking his girlfriend or wife to such a place. He challenged them to think about what real love is and in the end we told them where to go. Another YWAMer was sitting out front when they pulled up at the gate and heard their conversation. They did go in, but they also told the guy at the door that they almost didn't come because they ran into a group of Christians.

Then just last night the boys were playing soccer in the park, and someone else asked for directions. Me and another guy from my group tried the same tactic. This girl got frustrated with us and raised her voice a little. We told her where to find the house, but it is also obvious that people react with a lot of guilt. So hopefully moral awareness is awakening within them, warning them that this is not the best way to live their lives. And we hope for more opportunities.

Please pray with us. We do pray that they will have to leave this house. But we also hope that we have some contact and positive influence before they go. I should mention too that the house is for sale, even though the business hasn't seemed to slow down in the least. We'll see what all can happen and what kind of impact we will have in the next two months of this school.

The group of King's Kids that are going to China leave for the capital today and fly out next Tuesday. Please keep them, their travel, and their time in China in your prayers as well.

Intercession

Well, the first week of the new school is over. There is a lot of exciting news.

First of all, the pregnant girl we are in counseling with came to another session.... with her boyfriend. They are planning to get married. Now, his situation is touchy. He has 11 brothers and sister, but then his father has another 45 children outside of wedlock. So, they both recognize that neither one of their families is a good example of how they want their own family to be. We will continue meeting with them, as they are preparing for marriage next month and then the preparation to be parents. They said that they would invite us. It will be in the Catholic church, and it also will be my first Colombian wedding.

We have a wonderful school! The counseling school students are all staying at our house, the Esperanzas de Vida house. There are four boys and two girls, and they all get along wonderfully. They are between 17 and 30, but have a wonderful amount of openness as we are talking about very personal stuff in classes. I have been able to help some with the teaching, and it's amazing what God's been turning classes into personal healing.

I also had the opportunity to teach two classes in the DTS: Devotional Life and Intercession. We had the intercession class on Wednesday, and I was talking about what is intercession, how we go about it, but also emphasizing that prayer is the real work of Christians and really does impact the spiritual world. That morning we spent time praying for Colombia, the government, military, and the people that are kidnapped currently. That SAME AFTERNOON, the news came out that 15 kidnapped people had been freed! Our military actually pretended to be FARC leaders transferring the kidnapped prisoners from one place to another... and it worked! One of them was the most famous woman that had been in captivity 7 years. Her name is Ingrid, and we saw the video of her being reunited with her husband and children after years of torture and separation. What a moment of joy and celebration for our nation! So, as you can imagine, we spent time in the evening classes thanking God. It was so cool to see such a huge victory for Colombia and at the same time be aware that God is inviting us to be apart of the work he is doing in Colombia.

YWAM Medellin

Right now there is a lot of exciting ministry going on in Medellin, and a lot to keep in our prayers.

Today our mercy ministries staff along with the majority of the base staff are getting back from a 5 day health brigade in Cordoba. It was one of the largest and longest ones we've done yet. There were teams of people for counseling, for the medical checkups, and of course people passing out clothing, doing evangelism, and working with youth and children. I hope that we are able to participate in a brigade on the missions trip were planning for next July, they are amazing experiences because you can see some much being accomplished in a community.

Right now there is a camp of 40 King's Kids in our new house. They are learning dances and such, but the focus of this camp is to develop their devotional life and give classes about the character of God and a worshipful lifestyle. It's wonderful to have them here despite the noise. Many of the kids are not yet teenagers but seem to be loving it! For me the most exciting part is that some of my students from a year ago are the leaders for the new kids.

9 of the devoted King's Kids are also in Bogota right now to get their visas for China. On July 8th they will be heading off to China for a month. It has been the dream of YWAM Colombia to send groups to China for years. The group from Bucaramanga is already in China and now the Medellin group will be joining them. Please pray for their support, as the plane tickets are quite pricey, and for group unity as they travel into new cultures. Please pray that they are able to encourage the underground church and lead more to Christ.

So many plans and prayers are being realized this year! It's quite an exciting time to be apart of what God's doing around the world.

This weekend we will be starting a new semester of the Discipleship Training School and the Counseling School. Right now I am preparing to help teach the Divine Plumb Line in the counseling school. There is always a lot to do, but always so much promise that God is moving and leading us to accomplish more and more for his Kingdom. And for your ministries in your corner of the world, blessings.

And our second girl

I'm back in Colombia. It's been wonderful to be back, actually better than normal now that we have our own house and kitchen :) So exciting!

Yesterday another girl walked into our lives. One of our students that just graduated last Saturday was downtown yesterday, and noticed a girl crying. For some reason he was concerned about her, one face in the busiest part of the city. He talked to her, and he was the first person to find out the news, she was pregnant. He brought her straight to the base and she spent about an hour talking with Ana Cristina and me. We prayed for her, and then she left to go tell her boyfriend. We are waiting to hear back from her how he and her parents took the news. She told us that she just couldn't go home yet, and was thinking of finding a church when Alberto approached her. I'm so glad we could be that little bit of support and encouragement in her moment of change and guilt and fear. Please keep praying for the ministry to continue form according to God's plan.

Graduation pictures are coming soon!

Our First Girl!!!

Great news! We have our first pregnant girl! It's exciting and a major prayer request at the same time.

Cristina was introduced to an 18-year-old girl that just broke up with her aggressive boyfriend a couple weeks ago. She's very scared that she's pregnant, so today the two of them are going to get the pregnancy test. She told Cristina that if she's pregnant she'll have to have an abortion because she can't take care of a baby by herself and there is no way she wants her ex around a baby. Please join us praying that she will be open to what Cristina has to say and make the best choice, and that Cris has a lot of wisdom.

Summing it up...

My two months in the states is rapidly drawing to a close. What a bittersweet thought. But, being here didn't go anything like I expected. I had been hoping to visit Living Alternatives and figure out exactly what Cristina and I should be doing in the next few months. After thinking through everything I've learned, we're still on square one. When I get back to Colombia we'll have to spend a few weeks just praying and talking over all the possibilities. It's how it should be though, because it gives God room to guide.

I also had hoped to map out the ministry budget and know where we would be receiving our income for the next 6 months at least. But that didn't happen how I expected either. I thought a a couple of places would commit to give a lot long-term, but not so in God's plan. Instead I've had many friends and relations help little by little. And that has been doing many things for me. It keeps me first of all dependent on God, but it also makes me so much more grateful. Having people I know believe in me enough to give and to pray, that's spiritual support that I couldn't have received from anywhere else. God is amazing at providing what we didn't know we needed.

Little Treasures

I'm back from Tyler! The ministry in Texas, called Living Alternatives, was great! They have different areas, all working with young pregnant women, including an adoption agency, a pregnancy resource center, building blocks program for women to earn baby clothing and prepare for motherhood, and Fatherheart. Fatherheart is this wonderful, huge house where girls can live while they are pregnant, and I got to stay there too :) It was so insightful to watch everyone in action.

Now I am back at home, and realizing Ana Cristina and I have a lot to do and to learn. But Beverly, the director and founder of Living Alternatives, said she almost wished she could come to Colombia because starting something new is where to find the fun and adventure and the 100% dependence on God. She's so right.

My little sister just flew down to Florida to intern in a church. That makes about the 67th thing she's doing that I've never done, talk about taking adventures! But Abby was saying something that really hit home with me too. It's so good for us to be together because we remind each other why we go on "adventures" and take risks and do crazy things. We just love God more and more by doing them, sometimes he even uses us, and in experiencing all of that we couldn't imagine a better way to use our lives. Those are the people so important in my life, the people that encourage me and make me love God more just by being around them. I think we all know we need those people. I am realizing I should value them more and keep deepening those treasures in my life.

Mother's Day

I'm enjoying my last bit of time at home before I head off to Tyler this week. Being home is about the most refreshing time of the year. Today my dad and I had a fun time team-preaching for mother's day. And, of course, in honor of Mother's Day, dad started with a story about his mother, which is quite funny.

My grandma is living at a home in Alaska. It's almost like a nursing home except that only five people live there, and it really feels like a home. Now, all of these women combine a bit of reality with a bit of their own perceived reality, and one of these ladies really believes that the house they live in is her house. My aunt Janet visits my grandma every day, and one day while she was leaving the "owner" of this house followed her out to the car (even though she's not really suppose to be outside alone). She called after my aunt saying, "I have two questions for you, well, one really: What am I suppose to do with your mother?"

Makes me wonder what her second question was. :) But it is a problem. We have to do something with the people that show up in our lives. We shared about influencing lives, kind of the same way our mothers influence us. Talking about all of that really energizes me to get back to Colombia and be with girls, pastoring and teaching them, for another semester. We do have a lot of power, for good or bad, to influence the people in our lives. Even though resting at home is nice for a while, I'm so lucky that I get to do something that I love and is worth while for my "career."

God has continued working in surprising ways for our ministry, I guess I should probably call it His ministry. Little by little he has been taking care of us through unexpected people. Now, in addition to our beautiful house, we have curtains, silverware and a few kitchen items, and rent is coming in for another month. We do have a good father.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms. Thank you for all of the influence you have had on us children!

Surprises from God

Right now I'm sitting in my parent's dinning room wondering if it's really my life that I'm living or if I'm in some sort of a dream.

Esperanzas de Vida, our ministry for working with pregnant women, has taken turns we couldn't have foreseen. The house next door to the base opened up, and to make a long story short, Ana Cristina and I moved in. It was kind of a leap of faith, because we have yet to see exactly how we will be able to pay rent every month. But neither can we doubt that God was at work to open these doors for us. Right now the house holds two beds, an empty frig, an oven, and all of our clothes. We're also waiting to see how God will fill our house, with furniture and things and also with girls. We also are praying diligently for a team that will work with us. Because things are starting so much more quickly than we had anticipated, we will need more help. God has definitely been doing some amazing things thus far, so we're kind of excited to see what could happen before the new year!

Right now I am in the US visiting churches and getting training from pregnancy centers and the ministry Living Alternatives. Ana Cristina is holding down the fort in our new house as well as attending a conference in Medellin and making contacts with churches and Family Services. In June we'll be back together to share what we've learned and to dive into finding and counseling girls.

The rest of the school is in their outreach time. There are three groups, one in Yopal, one in Cordoba, and one in Armenia. Please pray for all of them, specifically their effectiveness, team unity, safety, and attentiveness to God's voice.

More exciting news coming soon....

Entering Holy Week

Last week was one of the longest of my life. I taught evangelism in the mornings, and I loved doing it. But at the same time I came to have a greater appreciation for sleep and rest. God actually has been talking to me about the value of life and taking care of ourselves while valuing caring for others. Like Oswald Chambers says:
“My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life. Is my primary goal in life to please Him and to be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how lofty it may sound?”

This week all of the students and almost all of the staff are going to the intense camp called NIKO. Ana Cristina and I will be staying at the base to work on Esperanzas de Vida. And seeing as it’s also Holy Week, what better time to get fed from God and really dig into his word? I’m really looking forward to it, I’m even excited about reading Numbers :) Sometimes God just really wants to be with us, you know?

And now for the long awaited ministry update: Ana Cristina had her appointment at the embassy for her visa last week, and she was denied. That’s right, rejected. It was a sad couple of days for us. And so this week we will be forming our plan B. It looks like I will be going to the states by myself in April and May to receive training from Living Alternatives and meet with some churches. Second semester we plan to do some intense investigation in Medellín and next year pull away from the base and focus all our energies in the ministry.

We will have to start with the counseling and emotional support aspect (seeing as we’re counselors and not at all medically inclined) and building a team. The vision is to be able to support women depending on their needs and their crisis: financially, emotionally, relationally, and medically. This includes working with their families and the father of the baby, teaching parenting skills, offering a home in circumstances where it would be best for the woman to live with us during her pregnancy, and someday having our own clinic for the medical side.

Please continue praying specifically for the ministry. It’s a bit difficult when our plans have to be changed, but we are still doing everything we can to learn and make the most of the opportunities we do have.

Peace

I was really glad to be a Colombian today (almost, minus the blondish hair). Our president was in a conference with Chavez and Correa, and Chamorro was present as well. I was proud that our president could handle the situation so well, apologizing to Correa and ending with handshakes and peace again in South America. God, thank you for responding to our prayers and letting peace reign where we thought relationships would be impossible to reestablish. Continue to guide our leaders, protect our people, and end the horrible kidnappings and warfare caused by the FARC. Amen.

WAR

Things are not going too well for Colombia at the moment. Chavez is bad news for us. He is communist, distorts the truth with ease, and he thinks that Colombia and Venezuela should be reunited as one country. (It has only been since 1830 that Venezuela and Colombia were separate countries. That’s why our flags are so similar.) He has been taunting President Uribe and sticking his nose into neighboring countries’ affairs for a while now.

For example, Chavez is friends with the Nicaragua president. Nicaragua is turning more communist, again, and right now there is a weekly inflation on their currency. Things are not in favor of the people in general, only the rich. Added to the bad news, the Nicaraguan president’s wife is witch, literally. She sometimes announces things that come from the mouth of the devil and generally participates in very strange religious practices. Imagine the kind of influence she has over the government. Nicaragua has a bank account (I believe it is in Venezuela) where a percentage of all of their petroleum sales go (business with Venezuela). It is an account to help the poverty in Nicaragua. However, the government does not keep record of any of the flow of money in this account, very few have access to any information about it, and interestingly enough nothing much has improved for those living in poverty. Suspicious.

Saturday a major guerrilla leader was killed by the Colombia military. We were happy about this. However, the actually bombing took place in Ecuador, unwise move on Colombia’s part. So now the good news of the death of the FARC leader is countered by worse news: that Chavez has convinced Ecuador to sever all diplomatic ties with Colombia and investigate what took place on their side of the boarder. One of our soldiers was killed as well, apparently by the Ecuador military. But things get worse.

Chavez also announced that we have some outrageous number of troops waiting on the boarder with Venezuela, all lies. Chavez said he wanted to avoid war, but he will not allow anyone to divide or weaken them. First, it appears that he has given millions of dollars to the FARC. He also has united most of the leftist leaders against Colombia. (Ecuador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Bolivia, and to a smaller degree Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru). Colombia would have to enlist men if we went to war. Luckily the UN is keeping an eye on the situation, because things in South America are not looking favorable for Colombia.

As I was discussing this with my friend, he said the real reason Chavez has been so hostile towards Colombia is because Colombia (specifically President Uribe) is so friendly with the states and the states are so anti-Communist. Chavez actually blames the US for the attack in Ecuador and calls the US the master of "sub-president Uribe." But as the elections approach in the US, Colombia’s relationship with the states will likely change. The party elected will also decide if we pass a trading agreement between the states and Colombia. I’m not sure if it would help or hurt our economy to have the agreement passed, but one thing is for sure, our economy will change greatly. Colombia right now seems to be between a rock and a hard place. Please pray for wisdom for our leaders, peace for South America, truth to shine though, and that Chavez by some miracle will not be reelected as President of Venezuela.

“Why we love Rachel”

...was the theme of my birthday. I woke up early to start making my cake and throughout the kitchen found little notes saying why people love me from all of my staff friends. Later in my office I found notes from my students and from friends in the states. It was such a beautiful and full day.

At night for my party. Well, it was something else (thanks to Desteni). It started out with a continuation of people telling me why they loved me but then some of the boys starting confessing their love for me. It made me a little nervous until I figured out it was a skit, planned, fuew, I’m not getting engaged today. It was hilarious, they ended up having a dance off. (I highly recommend looking at the photos and make sure you read the comments for your maximum entertainment). Then people really told me why they appreciated me, and say happy birthday along with a movie of Abby and roommates singing me Happy Birthday. Then there was cake and more dancing (Christian style).

But I have to say the best part of my day was a pastoral time I had with my co-leader Katherine and three students in the evening. They are a bit behind on their devotional journals where they have to read and write about a chapter of the Bible daily. So we talked about responsibility and getting all they can out of the school.

Then we curled up on cushions in my office, drank tea, and read the Bible together. It was amazing. We all had new revelation into the passage (John 10) and our ideas would build on one another and I saw some of them get deeply passionate about the Bible for the first time. It was one of those moments that I will cherish forever, one of those “yeah, this is what I live for” moments. It was a beautiful day!

BIRTHDAY

It’s almost my birthday. Just a couple hours to go! How exciting! I’ve invited about 50 people to my party, but seeing as my friends at the base have to plan it I have no idea what I’ve gotten myself or them into. It will be a day full of surprises. The only two things I can really be sure of is that I know that I will be making my own chocolate cake and I will be wearing a peach colored shirt.

I have many hopes for this year.
°I hope to get our ministry, Esperanzas de Vida, projected, financed, and everything ready for us to leave the base next January and start serious classes and counseling with young pregnant women.
°I hope to get better at piano and singing.
°I hope to understand more in the book of John.
°But really I hope I learn to be a consistent type of person where I have loving relationships all of the time, in the stressful moments and happy moments and downright heartbreaking moments. (that goes for God and people)

Coming soon.... I can promise more details about our ministry after our meeting with the leaders and I can promise some great photoage after my birthday party. And this week is missions week at my church in the states, so I will look forward to talking with you all on Saturday! Think of your crazy little America having an even crazier day down in Colombia tomorrow!

Life Theme

“You are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure that I seek. You are my all in all.”

I don’t know what it would take to be able to say that every moment of ever day, but there are those times when you really know God and don’t want anything else aren’t there? I hope those times start to last and the distraction become less and less prevalent.

My life has a theme. A theme in all of my teaching, it’s the lens through which I read the Bible, it’s my approach to life. To me, everything pretty much comes down to relationships and helping people have healthy relationships with people and God. And it’s heartbreaking to see so many broken relationships. People don’t understand who God really is and therefore don’t trust him. People are hurtful. People have enemies, manipulating friends, tension in their marriages. And I don’t think anyone expected the bumps they find in their road. That’s also the reason I love to teach about God, the reason why I’m a missionary living in Colombia. I really believe knowing God and living like he taught could change everything. Those are just my musing recently.

Now for the Esperanzas de Vida update: Today Ana Cristina and I leave for Bogota for a week. We are attending a conference about creating new projects for ministry. I think it will be kind of intense, we have to presenting our project the last day. But it is a God send that this is available right now, because even though we know about counseling and loving people, we have no idea when it comes to all the logistics of starting a new ministry. Cristina is also still in the process of applying for her visa so we can visit the states for more training. Please pray that her interview at the embassy will go well.

Besides that, life is always an adventure. My best friend just got a motorcycle. And keeping to his promise, he let me be the first to drive it. It was fun, maybe a little stressful for him. Today I have my second less: where the break is and how to use it. Have a wonderful weekend... I’m signing out to go spend some quality time with Jenkins.

Jenkins

Now we are two weeks into a new school! This class is amazing. The kids are pretty young, but they have really open hearts, they want to be apart, they want to grow. One moment that really blessed me happened the first week of classes. There is a student named Deimer. He’s a good guy, low voice, fun to be with but he’s not the outgoing, attract attention to himself type. In one of the classes the students had to go by themselves to write down a conversation with God about some stuff from their past. Deimer came back and asked the teacher, kind of nervous like, if he really had to read it out loud to the class. You could tell he would if he had to, he wouldn’t avoid it, but it would be tough for him. Well, the assignment was personal, not to be shared with the class. But the spirit their of being willing to do whatever it takes to grow and be closer to God is what I love about this school.

I’m still learning the ropes at accounting. A good friend and I are co-pastoring three girls. They have lots to grow on, but again are willing to try. We’ve had a great time so far, I’ve also been surprised at how open they are within our group. I also have had the opportunity to help with some of the teaching these two weeks. It makes me really excited when I understand something well enough to help others get it too.

But now I must make mention of the newest addition to the base... my piano named Jenkins. Jenkins is a Yamah, weighted key, beauty. I am in charge of worship this semester, which was really a trial for my patience with a little keyboard that is really just for beginners. Because of a wonderfully generous gift, we now have Jenkins at the base. I can’t tell you how much it has blessed me to be able to worship through playing something that actually responds and makes pretty noises. But it changes worship too to have an instrument that can handle dynamics. To sum it up, the biggest blessing so far this year has by far been the gift of a piano. I am such a lucky girl!

Returning Tidbits

Tonight we have the opening dinner for a new school. Each semester always brings an amount of excited energy for me, because each one is so unique. I can never really imagine what the students are going to be like beforehand, nor how I personally am going to grow and be stretched.

We had staff meetings, and a lot of cleaning last week. I have three jobs as staff this year: accounting, worship, and pastoring girls (I'm one of three pastors). I also get to teach one day the first week of the school on Intercession. It has been amazingly affirming to see the staff help me developed my giftings. Although learning accounting has been like learning a new language all over again, there are so many words that weren't in my Spanish vocabulary before.

Today was my frist day back at my church, which I really enjoyed besides getting hit on! Some 40ish-year-old guy sat next to me, asked broad questions to find out if I was married to Jorge or not (Jorge and I go to the same church. He is our base director, much older than me, and a quiet, respectful kind of personality in public... who could mistake him for my husband?). Right before the end of the service he asked me for a piece of paper, and of course I gave it to him trying to be nice, not knowing he wanted it to write his phone number down for me and the best time to call him. So ladies: always watch out for the desperate middle-aged men that show up at your church, and don't sit alone!

As always, please pray for the process the new students are just starting. And please pray for wisdom, unity, and integrity among the staff. Happy New Semester!

2008!

Leaving on a jet plane, tomorrow. So much happened over break, but it just ended too soon, as normal happens with good experiences. Each semester is unique and a challenge, so I'm sure this one is going to be the same. I find that I will have a lot of responsibilities in the base and in starting our new ministry, Esperanzas de Vida. And in the midst of all of those things to be doing, my new years goal is to firstly focus on being. Like being the person I want to be, being in the right relationship with God. I think I've had that goal many times in my life, and have yet to accomplish it. But I will definately attempt to getting closer this year. But before that busyness and priority struggle begins, let's reflect on some of the most wonderful moments from the holidays.

-My sister invented this game called "Rachellium" for my Christmas present. It involves my dad trying to sound like a blow dryer, or even more complicated, a dying bunny (not dead, dying. I know, tricky). And my mom humming old Greese songs. It's wonderful and hilarious. Stilll learning the art of being a llama.

-Skiing by myself one day and totally marveling and God's work: snow capped mountains, sunsets over the Amazon, God's pretty amazing.

-About a 30 hour road trip with 5 people in the car :)

-Customs in Houston... enough said.

-Playing spoons with 3 generations of my family. I would never have survived without my cousin/teammate (no, spoons does not normally require teams)

-Seeing Steph's first impression of snow

-Team-Preaching with my Dad

-Mom's fudge.

So, with a load of good memories and good cookies to give me enegry for the new year, we're off to another foreign adventure. Happy 2008 all! Good luck with your goals for the new year!