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.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, April 28, 2008
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....
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....
Monday, March 17, 2008
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.
“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.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
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.
Monday, March 3, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
“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!
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!
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