Fractured noses aren't so fun...

Home again! It's been an incredible time home with friends and family, I've been hanging out with my mom and sister lots, I got to go to Disneyland with the Duddy's, have lots of hang out nights with my San Diego friends, Tricia came down to stay with me - highlight was going with Trish Jessi and baby Owen, Jessi's 5 month old, to the zoo! can you say panda? the slobbering camels were actually the surprisingly cool animal... my computer stayed in Chile to help out the base communications director, so I dont have any of my pictures with me now, but I think there's pictures of some of this fun stuff on facebook, and from the end of my time in Chile, which included two weddings! Amazing!

As I look back on the Counseling School I just completed before coming home, I am honestly IN AWE of my God, how BIG He is, all the miracles He has done in my heart and in the lives of others around me, all the ways He has been pushing me, stretching me, comforting me, giving me new dreams. Really it was a time of falling in love. With Him, with His Word, with Spanish, with worship, with worship IN Spanish, with Chile, with His dreams and plans for my future. He is so good, always, in all ways, all the time. At the end of the day, He is all that matters and He is all I need. I have so much to process and journal still, so when I have time I will try to be less vague. Or should I stay all vague and mysterious? It's kind of fun.

So news about my nose. Yes, my nose:

After a long process of accepting the challenge to go to Bolivia, getting a visa and vaccinations last minute, and searching for plane tickets, I am actually not going to Bolivia at all! Instead I am recovering from surgery!

Long story - basically I got punched in the face in Chile doing a drama and messing around with friends, one guy "pretend punched me" in the face, and everyone thought it was very realistic because I swung around "acting"... but when I came back up covered in blood, I was like "guys, I'm not that great of an actress! this is reeaal!", of course he felt SO bad, but it was as much my fault as it was his.. so I got some x-rays, basically it was fractured and wasn't healing right, so when I got home for some amazing Christmas family time, I went to a doctor here who told me I needed surgery. More specifically, I needed rhinoplasty to correct the deviated septum and nasal passage... yes, rhinoplasty! Sorry YWAM, can;t go back out on the missions field cause I'm getting a nose job! Haha but its so great I was here and able to get in to Dr. Stephen Cohen, one of the best nose surgery doctors in the nations, last minute. God worked every detail out.

I actually just got home from the hospital a while ago and feel good. It was a 3-hour surgery, I was nervous about going under for so long but it went smoothly. Now I just have to rest and heal for the next ten days so I can head back down to Chile Jan. 10th. I will not be joining my team in Bolivia; I will be back at the YWAM base in Pichilemu, which is super full and busy during the summer (their summer is Jan-March), and I am still praying about where exactly I'll be serving, but the options are working with a new DTS, King's Kids summer camp, women's counseling, interpreting, worship, all the summer sports complex outreaches, and possibly helping with a German-Spanish counseling school (the students who speak German all speak English too so I could help interpret there also). All of these options sound amazing to me, and I am figuring out where God might use me until March. When I come home again for Tricia and Ryan's WEDDING!!! Whoo hooo!!

Keep praying for guidance for me.. I want to be flexible to serve the Lord at the base wherever He leads me. I am excited to go back and see my friends, learn more Spanish, and pour back out on the base, which has been such an amazing place where I've grown in my faith and learned SO much. Vive Chile!

Also pray my nose heals quickly and won't be a burden when I go back - I can't run, swim, lift anything over 5 pounds (including baby Elisabeth! ahhh not fair!), sneeze out my nose, go on roller coasters... hmm what else? Mostly just take care of it and be mellow, so pray I remember all the instructions and be a good little nose job post-op patient :) Thanks!

New plans...

Change of plans….

Last night was a really interesting experience interpreting for the Friday night church service…. It was one of those nights where everything was going wrong with worship and lots of technical difficulties and everyone up front knew it, but we faked it and smiled and stalled so no one in the audience knew. Gotta love those moments. Everything went well with interpreting, it’s all calm and quiet and everyone is listening and the speaker pauses to let me interpret… but then come the announcements which is always chaos. Whoever has an announcement to make for their school or ministry stands up and yells it out, and I have to interpret them from up front… which makes it a little difficult when everyone is laughing and clapping at what they said in Spanish, and when I interpret no one can hear and all the English speakers and straining their necks to read my lips. It’s chaos, and I can barely hear sometimes. Which makes for some interesting interpreting. Like when one girl stands up and announces she cuts hair (“corte de cabello”) and cracks a joke so everyone who understands Spanish is laughing, but I can’t hear her finish and I interpret that she is going horseback riding (“andar de caballo”) and the bilingual people who hear me start cracking up and it’s even more chaos. Or like when everyone is tired of standing up and sitting down, and someone starts praying for the offering, and they say something like “I know you’ve gotten your exercise for the night, but let’s stand up again to pray” (exercise = “ejercicio”), but I am trying to fix my broken microphone and think she’s praying and getting all spiritual and passionate, and I say all passionately “Ohhh yes Jesus we exalt your name” (the words for exercise and exalt sound similar) and Lindsey starts cracking up in the front row and so I lose my concentration even more… good times. My vote is that we make a newsletter or something for the announcements. Please.

Ok so two weeks left of this school, which is CRAZY. I have loved living here during this school way more than during the DTS, I think because I am used to how things work here, the things that were weird and hard for me before (like their lame washing machines that don’t really wash your clothes, or eating the same thing every week over and over, or the strict schedule), and my Spanish is better, and I love my leaders this school (didn’t really connect with my DTS leaders as much). This time has been so much revelation, so much healing, so many promises from the Lord… He has really revealed Himself to me in new ways and I feel closer to Him than ever. Having His Word as the guide and the foundation to everything in my life and the final say on all my decisions, big and small, has really changed the way I think and my priorities.

Something else new is… I’m going to Bolivia! After a LOT of prayer and even fasting, I decided to finally listen to what I knew God was telling me a while ago, and I am going on the outreach with my school from January to mid-March to Bolivia. I LOVE my team, I am really excited to go to Bolivia and work in the home for abused children there, and with the YWAM base in Santa Cruz, I’m excited to see the next step of this process and I know it’s not over yet. Yes, I am coming home for Christmas for 2-3 weeks (Dec. 15^th-end of Jan.)… but no, it’s not over yet. It’s been the most amazing time of my life here, in friendships, in learning Spanish, in investing in the base and the kids here, in discovering so much more of who I really am, who my God really is, what He’s done for me and who I am in Him. The last thing I was to do is cut this process short because it wasn’t in MY plans to go on the outreach. Isaiah 42:6-7 were the verses that really sealed the deal for me… “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.” This verse is not just for the outreach but for my life! When we have the truth and light of who God is and the freedom we have in Him, when we are healed and whole, we can bring this freedom, light and healing to others and restore relationships, families, cultures and nations. I believe that, and I want to fulfill my part in that calling.

Please pray for me to finish strong, to keep focused and not be homesick (I CANNOT listen to Christmas music here yet or I wont make it!), to soak in everything God has to teach me now (it’s not over yet!), for finances, health and travel in preparing for the outreach (for every team and every student and leader). Also pray for all the couples here who are getting married in the next two months (there’s 4 in my school, and my friend Maia is marrying her Brazilian love Beto in two weeks – crazy).

Thanks for your support and prayers!

Anyone feeling generous?

My friend Daniela Vargas wants to go on the outreach to Bolivia with our school, but she cant afford to go. God used her in huge ways, she has a powerful worship ministry and a servant's heart, but she needs help to go. If anyone prays about this and feels led to give some to help her go on a two month outreach to Bolivia, which will minister to street kids, work in orphanages, help raise up a new YWAM base, and evangelism, let me know ASAP. She needs to start paying this week for the outreach, and she is praying and fasting to rely completely on the Lord to provide for her if He wants her to go, the cost is $500. Let me know TODAY by emailing me at jharper0921@gmail.com, thank you for praying about investing in extending God's kingdom!

Hailing?

So it's hailing today, which is really weird since it's been really sunny... but thats okay it's kind of an interesting change. What's up, Pichilemu? I don't get you and your weather pattern bipolarity. Get it together.

Anyways, after a long weekend of writing a 10 page research paper on purity in the Bible (which I wrote 100% in Spanish, I must proudly add!), we have begun a new week studying spiritual gifts and ministries. I love learning about these because you really get to know yourself better, your strengths and weaknesses, how God can use you, what to avoid in using your gifts, and you can also explore and understand other people much better when you study their gifts and how they are different from yours. I am finding I have gifts in the areas of teaching, encouragement, mercy, leadership and creativity... my weaknesses would be in areas of service, perseverance, follow-through and plain old hard work. I always thought I was a hard worker when I apply myself, but seeing how some of the people here have worked so hard and dedicated so many years of their lives to difficult and time-consuming projects and ministries puts me to shame. I've loved working with the kids here and doing Sunday School, which has been interesting teaching it in Spanish with few resources, but God meets us where we're at and its been a great time. I love learning all the old Sunday School songs from my childhood in Spanish, even some old Barney songs thrown in there... good to know! Gotta love it.

Last week studying what the Bible says about money was also very eye-opening! The Bible mentions money over 2,800 times (salvation: 300; prayer: 500), so it's obviously something that matters to God. It's a necessity in our world, so we can't ignore it and treat it like something "secular." How can we truly glorify God with our finances, not only by tithing and giving to missions and the church, but also by trusting His provision for EVERYTHING?? Our American culture of individualism, self-made-man, I-earned-it-so-it's-mine mentality really does undermine our ability to recognize that EVERYTHING, even just the ability and health to work, and the opportunity of a job, comes from the hand of God. He provides everything. We do nothing on our own and we achieve nothing on our own. Tithing is one way of demonstrating this in obedience to God, but also being wise stewards and seeing our money as God's money is a way to glorify Him with every penny. It's a touchy subject; money is viewed as something very personal in our culture, and its especially a touchy subject here because sometimes it feels like you can divide the rich from the poor on the base by the color of their hair and eyes. But its something very applicable and practical we can learn in glorifying God, and He sees the heart, not the color of our hair or the amount in our bank account, and thats what really matters. Learning that there is healing God wants to do in the financial area of our lives is freeing - our imprudence and selfishness, cultural view of money, sin, ties to debts, love of money, greed, poverty and needs have left us wounded in this area, but the truths of His word bring healing when we put them into practice: by tithing, trusting in God for everything, being generous, recognizing His sovereignty, and being obedient in every little detail. It's definitely something I am still learning but it's been a good couple of weeks studying this subject!

The difference between living in grace and in the law is also something that God has been bringing to my heart lately - the extremes between living legalistically and following every rule but not knowing God Himself or His grace, and the extreme of living in grace and using your liberty as a cover for sin ("I can sin now, God will forgive me anyways"). Truly understanding this grace and walking in it, with wise limits set by His truth and Word, is life-changing.

Hmm what else is going on here... I am having issues with my neighbor's puppy, whose name is Dominico, because one of my leaders is named Dionicio... imagine the mayhem when Dominico tries to follow me to church and gets his head stuck in the fence and starts freaking out right when I go to say hi to Dionicio... am I to blame if I sometimes say "Dionicio, stop being so stupid and get your head out of the fence you idiot!"... or "Thanks for the great sermon Dominico" ?? I really dont think I should be held responsible, but the confusion has been considerable. Really this puppy follows me everywhere, he's like my little shadow. It is kind of funny cause I will talk to him in Spanish and he will listen to me and obey me, but when I speak English he pretends like he doesn't hear me... I swear! He knows where he's from. Or maybe he's an egocentric racist English-hating puppy. Still not quite sure.

Alright off to do some more work, there's always something...

Prayer requests/praise:

-Guidance for the future - I am praying if I am going to come back to do the outreach from January - March with the school. I feel led to do it (Isaiah 42:6-7) - keep praying for guidance and clarity for me!

-For the counseling of the high schoolers here, it's been a challenge to get it up and running...

-For finances of the school - many students cant pay for the outreach, for God to send the finances they need to go bless the nations we will be sent to...

-The base might start building an elementary school soon for the kids and neighbors of the base, which is really necessary since the schools here are pretty shabby. We prayed over the land as a school and now the owner might donate it to us instead of selling it to us! Right on.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Prov. 4:23

March for Jesus

In the high school with some of the girls...

After an honest talk about eating disorders and sexuality.... with a Biblical perspective! We could NEVER get away with this in public schools in America!

The entire counseling school.. my family for these 3 months

With Daniela

Juliette, the base director, and her daughter Katrina.

Mitch, the base director, praying in front of the government building to bless Pichilemu

The flamethrowing was actually pretty cool, and no one burned their face off!!

Emily holding her cute little sign. Doesnt she look excited? Contain yourself girl!

Teresa and Javier

A few of the Brazilians

Flower Power

This weekend we had a big march with the entire base to "reclaim Pichilemu for Jesus", which was super entertaining and fun and a little big ridiculous. We all dressed up in bright colors, painted our faces with our country's colors, wrapped ourselves in our flags and marched around singing, dancing, chanting, flame-throwing, drum-beating and did dramas all around Pichilemu. Ahhh good times. Babies, grandpas, leaders, students, dogs... EVERYONE in the base marched around the whole little city and it was so entertaining to see the looks on the peoples' faces as we went by. Classic.

GOOD NEWS!

The school program was amazing, the kids were super receptive and involved, we got to give each class of freshmen and seniors a teaching on drug prevention, eating disorders and sexuality (from a very Christian perspective!) and we even got to give a gospel message at the end which was unexpected but amazing. Over 30 kids requested personal counseling from us, which we will start this week, and the school principal invited us to come give the sophomores and juniors the teachings also! We might even start a Christian club on campus, which would be so cool. God opened up doors beyond what we even imagined! Keep praying they will be open to receive Christ as well as counseling, that's the end goal.

Pray:

-for friendships and communication in leadership (we are all being tested in this area since that's what we are working on in the school - communication and leadership skills - and of course so many little conflicts and problems are breaking out in these areas!)

-health (I am getting better but always a little sick - my body just doesnt like all the changes in climate here)

-guidance - for the future, for clarity, for purpose, for making future plans!!

Thank you!!! Love you all!!

Springtime!

Pichilemu!

Can you find the gringa?

MY BABY! I am in LOVE with Elisabeth, she is the cutest baby EVER and she loves me too! When she hears my voice she tries to jump out of her mom's arms, and I am one of the only people she will fall asleep with. She is always smiling and laughing - I am basically obsessed with her.

Konichiwa! (I have no idea how to spell that)

Translating! ...In front of everyone! ....with my face painted like a geisha... cool.

"And here you can see the points we will pray for in China..."

I forgot to mention: please keep my health in your prayers - I've had a cold/sore throat for like three weeks and it won't go away no matter how much lemon and honey I drink and no matter how many days I don't talk... although, let's be real, that is no going to work out so well). I think it's interesting that I lose my voice right when I start serving in worship and interpreting ministries. Coincidence? or not?

I am also part of a team working with the public high schools this week and next week presenting classes on sexuality, drug prevention, anorexia and bulimia. It is a miracle they gave us six days ALL DAY to teach these kids "positive messages" (we can't really mention Jesus but we are going to sneak Him in there anyway)... please pray for our presentations (I am making the power points - all in Spanish of course, which is a challenge with all the technical terms and definitions and big words that I don't know very well yet)... and also for next week when we present the classes:

-for the kids to be open-hearted and willing to listen

-for the directors and teachers as well

-for the schools to be won over for Christ

-for counseling and continued opportunities in the school (we will be giving counseling hotline phone numbers and offering free counseling to students from the YWAM base)

Thank you!!

The Chinese blondie

The past two weeks we have had a guest teacher from Uraguay, whose ministry in deliverance has made a huge impact on many lives, including my own. Tio Daniel (Uncle Daniel) as we call him, is a tiny man with a mighty anointing – he is not afraid to speak the truth and his messages on the spiritual reality we live in are very eye-opening. The main point of the two weeks was that the spiritual reality is more real than the physical reality we live in, and only by bringing light to the darkness (truth to the lies) can we truly walk in freedom. Jesús cast out demons and told us to cast out demons in His name, and I think we can all agree that the devil has a huge hold on all aspects of all societies all over the world. He has twisted what God created for good into something evil and perverted, and with the Holy Spirit we can untwist them and live free! By taking the truths of the Word of God, declaring them in our lives, cutting ties with the enemy, renouncing things that the enemy has a hold on in our lives, and walking in the truth (remaining in the truth!!), we can live in the freedom Christ died to give us.

It was in intense week with a lot of healing, confession, memory- and soul-searching, crying out to the Lord, studying the truth of His Word, fighting intense and deep-rooted spiritual battles, and the class came out of the two weeks in victory – the last class session ended with a worship time where we were literally dancing and yelling out praise in victory to our God. He is so big! Honestly these two weeks have been very transformative, and God’s strength, grace and gentleness in healing keeps surprising me.

This week has also been really fun since we had an Asian Dinner to celebrate a missions trip a school from the base took to China. We all dressed up Asian (which was super funny because the average South American has never even met an Asian, and all they know of Asian culture is from Pokemon, Mulan, Hello Kitty and anime. Their ideas about Asian culture are pretty hilarious!) I actually won third place in the costume contest, and am now known as “China Rubia” (“the Chinese blondie”). The School of Biblical Studies showed a slide show of pictures from their trip, informed us of Asian customs and culture, made Chinese food for dinner, and had an open-mic kind of talent show. The traditional dance by the Columbian students was amazing!

But the best part of the night was actually a surprise to me – they called me up to interpret at the last minute. I was nervous at first, since it was in front of the entire base, including the directors and leaders, and all the “real” interpreters, but it ended up being so great to practice for real and see that I can do it! I even translated from English to Spanish for a few minutes for a girl from the States who was explaining the drama her group presented in the show. Didn’t think I would be doing that dressed as a geisha! At least my face was painted white cause I’m pretty sure my face turned red more than once when I messed up or couldn’t think of the right word. But everyone said I did great and two of the interpreters who are like spiritual dads to me both told me I should keep praying about it as a gift and something God can use in the future.

I have been praying for the Lord to open my ears, sharpen my mind and loosen my tongue so I can do the job well, and also for more opportunities to interpret if He wants me to do it. And the next day I was called up again to interpret something for the main interpreter! It was so fun, I absolutely love doing it. There is something about bridging the communication gap and making the information accessible to everyone that I love, and God has given me such a real LOVE for the Spanish language.. I am honestly in love with it and want to keep learning more and more. We’ll see where it all ends up!

Keep praying for our school as we study occults, new age, Free Masonery, and world religions this week. It keeps us on our toes. Also keep Daisy in your prayers as she continues radiation and chemo this week. She is only six and SO precious, I can’t stand the thought of her going through chemo, losing her hair, being in such pain. PRAY!

Her family’s blog is at http://prayfordaisy.tumblr.com/.

Also please pray for me for guidance for the future… I have been praying about coming back here in January to work as a staff with a DTS and interpreting… also the outreach for this school is going on from Jan- March, which is a possibility, and of course my original plan of coming back to Santa Barbara and “settling down” at least for a few months. It’s in God’s hands.

My Chileans

Pichilemu sunset

My lovely Chilean roomies, Damarice and Daniela

Cleaning our cute casita

The view of the ocean from our porch

Where we live - "La Casa Blanca", the White House of the base

Welcome - introducing ourselves

Andre drinking Yerba Mate, this weird herb stuff South Americans love to drink. You put it in a little hollowed-out gourd and pour hot water in it, then drink it through a straw with a filter on the bottom. It's their water!

Arabella Daniela and I

Spring on the base is so beautiful!

First day back with everyone!

This is our classroom - we live here. All day, almost every day.

TGIS - Thank God it’s Saturday. Even though Saturday means classes ALL day (double class sessions on a sunny Saturday and I can see the ocean from the classroom window, it’s just not right), it has been an amazing week and I’m thankful we had classes today because they were the best classes so far. We studied the Israelites’ temple and altar, which ushered in the presence of God in their midst, and how their process of rebuilding the temple and altar mirror our process of rebuilding your heart, mind and life to be in God’s presence continually, which was a really incredible comparison. 

First the Israelites came out of captivity and slavery to their enemies because of their repentance, which we need to have in humility and brokenness to be free from sin and turn back to the Lord. We have to be broken down in order to be rebuilt.

Next they were attacked and intimidated by their enemies, who told them they can’t rebuild the temple, which the enemy always wants to do in our lives and prevent us from being in God’s presence. They stopped for 16 YEARS then finally got a word of encouragement and got their faith moving again and rebuilt the temple. 

But the Lord’s presence couldn’t be with them until they made a radical change. They had disobeyed God and taken foreign wives, so they had to remove them from their land. Basically they had to kick out tons of their own wives and children in order to be true to God’s commandment of being set apart. It was sacrificial, painful, and seemed cold-hearted but it was worth the pain to have God’s presence back among His people. 

The question was, “What do you need to radically renounce in your life, no matter how painful it may be, in order to be set apart for the God who took you out of slavery to sin and made you His child? What do you need to clean our of your heart so God’s presence can be with you and give you the abundant life you were created to have? How long have you stopped rebuilding your heart as God’s temple because you listened to the lies of the enemy?”

Good class. 

It takes heart-searching and giving up and breaking points, but to have God’s presence in your heart and with you day to day is worth whatever lame thing you need to give up that only hurts you and others anyways. So worth it.

We’ve also been looking a lot at emotions, and how living by your emotions will only destroy your life. Emotions are real but they aren’t always the truth. We are called to live according to the truth, which is God’s Word and character, led by His Spirit, followed by our minds and emotions. Imagine if we did. How different our daily life would be, instead of riding a roller coaster of emotions, trusting His truth and his Spirit, obeying and enjoying the good things that He has for us.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord”... Zechariah 4:6

PS- leading worship actually went great. I knew all the words - I think I practiced them in Spanish so much that I knew the Spanish verses better than in English!

The sun is shining and everything's alright....

Today I had a crazy morning. Every first Thursday of the month, all of YWAM has a morning of fasting and praying for God's voice and guidance within YWAM, which is so cool and I love it but I gotta tell you I am SO hungry by lunchtime! So I am trying to keep my stomach from growling really loud during the intercession meeting for everyone on the base, and I am literally pulled on stage at the last minute to help sing some of the worship songs in English.  I was told the words were going to be projected on the wall, which would have helped, but... they definitely weren't. It went okay but it was unexpected and kind of made me nervous because for the songs in Spanish, I know most of the chorus but some of the verses I don't have yet, so I'm trying to act like I'm not standing there with a microphone in front of the entire base not knowing the words... my strategy was to stick to the English parts and sing only the chorus into the microphone during the Spanish part and it kind of worked I hope. Oh well what are you going to do?? I guess it went okay because I am going to be singing again for the Friday night service on base. Some of you who know me well are probably laughing because I am NOT known as the singer AT ALL, and I definitely laughed too, but I am willing to help if they need me and it's more about your heart than anything right? Ha pray for me Friday night! It is actually so cool to be able to sing the worship songs in Spanish, it adds a new dimension to the songs you already know. "Mighty to Save" is even more amazing in Spanish, it has this whole other layer to it with the way its translated, I love it.

The first week of classes flew by, we have amazing professors and are focusing on some intense topics. Here's a brief recap of highlights:

*Divine Plumb Line (taken from Amos 7) - God put a plumb line against a wall showing Amos there is a line of what is right (only found in His word) and when what we construct with our lives doesn't line up to it, there comes a time when He will no longer tolerate it. God's justice is part of who He is, and He can't and won't use us if we aren't build "right" according to His word and His standards, not the worlds' standards.

*Personality Profiles: We are learning different types of personalities than come from either rejection or rebellion in our life - it's so interesting to see which parts of every profile applies to you, to see the bad parts and also how God can redeem those things that sin has stolen. The four personalities we are studying are Defeated, Complacent (both from rejection) and Competitive and Critical (from rebellion).

*Worship: We've been looking at all the healing and freedom there is in worship because it is exactly what we were created to do... when we worship freely and in truth, with a clean heart, we are being who we were made to be and finding our true identity. So true.

Praise - Daisy's operation went well, she recovered quickly and they removed the entire tumor. But keep praying, she has stage 3 cancer and begins chemo and radiation this week. At only 6 years old, you can imagine how difficult this is for her and her entire family. Pray!

beach day

Thank God this girl is in my life!!

With some of the Chilean police force on Sept. 18th - keeping the streets of Rancagua safe

All the kids dress up in the traditional Chilean outfits and dance!

A beautiful sunrise marking a new chapter....

Prayer Requests:

-for health and restful sleep

-for my Spanish!

-for unity and focus among students of the school, to listen to God's voice

-for financial provision for students in the school

-for Pastor Britt Merrick's 6 yr. old daughter, Daisy, who has a tumor and just had an emergency operation to remove it (visit http://prayfordaisy.tumblr.com/ for updates almost hourly). It went well but she is in a lot of pain and may need chemotherapy in the coming months for cancer treatment... PRAY!!

Prayer and PRAISE...

Also, I sent out an email to some friends and family asking them to prayerfully consider financially helping students here complete the school. Many are from very poor areas of South America and could barely pay their bus fare to get here, but came in faith knowing God would provide.  My good friend Teresa Sepulveda (of Chile) has been blessed with some donations from some of you, but she still needs $400 by the first week of November more to finish the school.  Praise God for His provision for her, thank you for blessing her if you helped out, and let me know if you would like to donate funds to invest in God's kingdom through this opportunity of missions training. Thanks!

Chilean again..

Ok so this is a very basic recap...

Arriving in Chile Sept. 15th was perfect because we arrived in time for their weekend-long national holidays (like their fourth of July), and I feel so Chilean after four days of dancing their national dance, eating empanadas, going to the fair, learning their national anthem, and basically becoming Chilean. So fun!

I had a great bday - Lindsey made me french toast (improvised with weird chilean bread and weird syrup someone had on the base, but it was good, and she brought starbucks coffee just for my bday!!) and it was our free day before the school began so we all hung out, reconnected, made brownies, relaxed and enjoyed the sunny day. Really it was the best way to spend a bday here I loved it!!

I am LOVING my time back here, it has been sooo amazing to be back on the base and I immediately felt so at home again. There are tons of people here I knew from other schools happening when I was here before, there are new people who came to take schools when we told them about YWAM during out outreach in Peru, which is so cool to see the fruit of our labor, and lots of new new faces to meet. I live in a cute, brand-new little house in the middle of the base with 7 other girls, and besides a little bit of cold and one girl who has allergies and is snoring a little bit, its really nice. We have automatic hot water, which is such a luxury because we dont have to get matches out, go outside, turn on the gas water-heater, light it, come back in and then shower. It just comes out hot! I feel like I'm in America! We had our first classes today, which was great especially because we are the first Escuela de Consajeria to inaugurate the brand-new building. They put in the windows yesterday, the walls, floors, roof and everything is very basic, the walls are just wood and the outer part but its cool to be the first school to pray in the new building. The base is super green as we enter spring here, and there are horses all over the place grazing in the fields of flowers - its a lot more picturesque here in the spring and I love it! It's been so great to reconnect with the friends I already had from my DTS, we are like a little family and we finally reunited. Daniela, the crazy Chilean, is the only one of my old friends that they put in my house with me, which is a miracle since we thought for sure they would separate us since we are too loud and always late together, but she sleeps right next to me. We recorded the girl snoring on her camera last night and almost woke her up we were laughing so hard, so things are feeling like old times very fast. I pray Daniela can come to the states one day!

Classes began today and I can already tell God is going to do great things here. The whole theme of the school is seeking Him more for your calling and ministry to bring truth and light to the nations. I am praying for more of His clarity and more of His direction for my future, and I know He will bless this time and be pouring into us all. Keep me in your prayers, for my heart to be open and willing to hear His voice, and for focus and purpose. A theme for me this summer has been "His dreams for us are always great than our own" and "Blessings always follow obedience", so we will see what else He has in store for me!

I have lots of pictures I will upload soon, it just takes forever. Miss you all!!

Mzungu returns

Recap Africa... as if I could...

So my team of 12 from Maranatha Chapel, my home church in San Diego, went to Entebbe, Uganda for a couple of days, then to Nimile, Sudan for 2 weeks. We worked with Far Reaching Ministry, which is an amazing ministry that works in Africa, Russia and China training native people to be pastors and ministry leaders to change the countries from the inside out. The base we stayed at is training 300 chaplains right now to be pastors in the army, which has already changed the Sudanese Army since it began (over 500 have already been trained). It's an incredible ministry that is so effective and powerful, since these men will have to fight soon (another war is about to break out in Southern Sudan between the northern Muslims who attack the mostly Christian south, or from the Lord's Resistance Army, the rebels who kidnap children to force them to be child soldier against their own people). Pray for FRM!

We worked with the chaplains to do a 3-day VBS in a local school, which was so fun and brought the gospel to over 600 kids. I had my own class of 90 kids and they all ate it up and prayed to accept Christ with me.. it was definitely amazing. The chaplains translated for us (they speak like 6 languages: English, Arabic, Swahili, and like 3 or 4 tribal languages each), but some of the kids spoke some English, too. One time Annie (my cousin who made the trip insanely fun) and I were trying so hard to sing a song with them and we thought we were learning their language, Mari, and we were so excited singing "beeah parling ooobly"... but when we asked a chaplain to translate, he was like, "umm it's in English!" and we realized they were totally singing "we are marching slowly"... and we thought we were so cool singing in African. Ha! The poor kids were jammed into a tiny little hut all day, sitting on benches which were just sticks resting on pieces of wood (ow, thats gotta hurt the bum) and it was sooooo HOT but overall the best time of the whole trip! I love those kids and never wanted to leave!

We also had 2 women's conferences, which focused on Jesus' character... local women from the villages who attend the churches FRM has started came, and we always danced for hours (more on that below), then they presented us with a goat or a chicken. Good times. The women were sooo appreciative of us, and I got to give my testimony too. It was heart-wrenching to hear the women's stories, some of them are so poor and so alone and have no value in their society as women. I have a whole new appreciation for the women's movement, even if I am not into feminism... we are not viewed as simply property here like the women in Africa are treated. It's not God's plan for them and it's been so cool to see how Far Reaching Ministries has been slowly helping the women of the villages realize His true purpose for them as women and not as property. His Word really is changing their society, one person at a time.

Overall it was an amazing trip.. we never got sick and nothing too terrible happened. The best part was seeing how much God is working there, with the people, with the kids, through Far Reaching Ministries and through the Calvary Chapels we visited (in Kampala and Entebbe, Uganda, and Nimile, Sudan).  Pray for their ministries, God is using them in big ways. I hope I return to Sudan soon, back with the monkeys and flying over the Nile in little bush planes and holding African babies... there are few feelings better than being surrounded by little African kids calling you Mzungu (white person) and teaching you songs about Jesus in their language! 

Thanks for praying for me!!! The best adventures are yet to come...

The tkuls (pronounced too-kle) the villagers live in. Wes told us a funny story about a man who got saved because there was an earthquake and he was afraid his tkul's roof would fall on him and kill him so he became a Christian the next day... Wes was like "a straw roof killing you? are you serious??" but now the guy goes to church so it works.

With the amazing women of the kitchen

Crossing the Nile

We got to visit Calvary Chapel Entebbe in Uganda, which was so encouraging. They just finished their new building (they met in canvas tents before) and have a Christian school.

The women of CC Entebbe taking tailoring classes to generate income. The women there have virtually no way to make money if their husband dies, leaves them or takes another wife, which is common, so the church wants to help them earn money for themselves. 

Bye kids!

After giving the kids their Love Covers packages.. each kid got a backpack, a school uniform, a t-shirt, a mosquito net and a notebook.. they were soooooo excited! Some of them had never ever had anything new in their lives, it was so fun to watch them open their backpacks!

:)

happy

The babies always found me!

At the women's conferences (we had two), the women always sang to us and presented us with a chicken or a goat... good times! Really though, the women DANCED for hours before and after each service, like serious booty shaking dance wars. It was insane. Annie (my cousin) and I were always in the middle of the circles laughing like "how did we get here??"

We bought food and supplies to bring to a struggling family of the church, and it was an amazing time. We went to pray for them and visit their home, and God also gave us a chance to minister to a neighbor who was there. Lily was a single mom whose husband took another wife from her same clan, which her dad didnt approve of, so basically she is disowned by them both and now has her brother's kids since he died recently. She told us she cant make ends meet and has thoughts of giving the kids and herself a poison to end it all, and we got the chance to pray with her, give her some answers from the Word of God, and helped her get a job on the missions base we stayed at, so she is now working and has support. God is good!

Some of these kids came to the base everyday to practice worship songs for Sunday, because its the only safe place they can sing and be in the village. So cute.

The chaplains are trained to be pastors in the army so when they have to go fight (theres always wars going on between the Muslim north attacking the more Christian south, or from the Lords Resistance Army)... and they live on the base, are trained for a year, and are prepared to do childrens and womens ministry, as well as trained in church planting and evangelism. Basically they are the most amazing men ever, they are willing to die any day to protect their families and villages, yet turn around and pick up crying babies and play with the kids with such tender hearts.. in a society where women and children have little to no value, this makes them true men of God and examples in their country.

We were in the schools for a few days, doing VBS and Love Covers (with the backpacks). It was the best time, we sang, taught them who Jesus is, and led them all to accept Christ. I honestly can't think of anything more fun or meaningful I have ever done in my life. One highlight was hearing like 500 little African kids all singing (actually screeching, they dont really sing as much as shriek) a song that goes, "I am a winner in the Lord", which they pronounce as "I am a weiner", which is honestly one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed. Classic.