SPLICE

It is hard to believe that its already February 5th. I have been in Colorado since December 31st, yet it has gone so fast. We ended the 5 weeks of training with a huge snow storm (they are saying 20-40 in). It was fantastic, we finally got to play in some snow, I went sledding! These last three weeks were SPLICE: (Spiritual, Personal, Lifestyle, Interpersonal, Cultural, and Endure/Enjoy) training!  It was challenging, encouraging, tiring, rejuvenating all at the same time (thats called a paradox, which we studied, because in the field I will be experiencing great things yet during those great times I could also be experiencing trials hence the paradox). It was really refreshing to have a sense of community, fellowshipping with people that have the same passions, goals, and dreams as I do. We covered everything from leaving families, to resilient families in the field, from singles to married, from moving to settling, from grief to joys. It was an amazingly emotional couple of weeks. There were small groups that we met with at least twice a week for encouragement and to share any questions we have, or fears, or struggles we had. I also had the chance to meet with a personal coach once a week to ask any questions and hear a little bit about what it is going to be like being single and on the field. I will greatly miss all my friends that I met and got to know, but God is bigger that everything and I am positive that one day we all will be together again. I met people going all over the world, Europe, Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and it will be great to see how God is using his people all over. If I had to narrow it down to the top 2 take away points that I learned these three weeks I would have to say the grief session, and the bridge analogy were the two that hit me the most. The grief session was so freeing (and emotionally draining) in that every period of life has a component of loss that requires grief. There is extreme grief but there is also every day grief. I learned that if tears are streaming down my face its doesn't necessarily mean that I'm being dramatic, or reading into a situation too much, its just the way I'm wired to process things. With out properly processing these griefs I am not free to move on to the next stage of life. The bridge analogy also stuck with me... Think of an extension bridge.

On the left side imagine the US. In the US life is settled, calm, I have control. But as I started pursuing missions my life started becoming unsettled. I know this is where God wants me and instead of me having control God has control, things arn’t as clear as they were. The middle of the bridge holds the chaos. Completely leaving the US and moving cross-culturally. Everything is new, I have lost all control, and total reliance on God. on the other side you have resettled, life is getting easier, beginning to feel at home until completely on the right side is New settled. Still a stranger but more understanding of the culture, feeling at home, regain some control but still relying on God to help you. This analogy was really helpful to understand the steps that I will be feeling, and encouraging to know that God is ultimately in control and that one step isnt going to last forever. 

These were just a few of the take home messages that I learned these weeks. There are many, many more things that I learned but I’ll spare you any more details!

I am truly blessed to have met the people I did, learn the stuff I learned, and been challenged the way I was challenged. 

More pictures to come.. I just have to upload them on the computer... 

Thanks for all  your prayers during the training time!

Trials part 3.. What to do with this trial

WHAT TO DO WITH THIS TRIAL

Now that I have accepted the fact that life will not be easy and there will be trials that come to me at every stage of my life, what am I supposed to do with these trials? This lesson is about how to embrace the fact that all Christians will suffer trials, and help you to life so that your life will bring glory to God no matter what is going on!

Step 1:  Acknowledge that suffering will come. (1 Peter 4:1-7). Suffering is a part of the every day Christian lifestyle. You will face trials no matter what. Focus on pulling your joy from God, and reflect His glory to those around you! I teach a 5 year old Sunday school class and I think these kids understand the concept of reflection a lot better than I do. One of the first lessons I’ve ever taught was this concept of reflection. I took a paper heart, covered it with tinfoil and asked them what they saw. The answers varied from nothing it’s not smooth enough to see anything, or I see everything, but the one answer I like the best was… “I SEE ME”. God should be able to look at our hearts and lifestyles and should be able to say “I see me!” But he can’t. Sin entered the world a long time ago and ruined the perfect relationship that we had with God and covered our shiny hearts with darkness. To emphasize this to my group of 5 year olds I took out paint and started painting over the tinfoil. They went into momentary panic, “what are you doing, you’re ruining it, and stop”. But it gave me the chance to explain that when sin entered the world so long ago it covered up everyone’s heart and no one was able to reflect back the glory of God. The kids were devastated. But the next lesson was on how Jesus came into the world to cover up our sinful hearts with grace so that by accepting Jesus to come into our lives our hearts would once again become reflective of God’s glory. At the start of each Sunday school class the kids give me a review of what happened the week before, and it always goes the same way. Noah had a dark heart full of sin. But he trusted in God and his dark heart was covered up by Jesus to reflect God’s glory. Abraham had a dark heart full of sin. But he trusted in God and his dark heart was covered up by Jesus to reflect God’s glory. (Okay I’ll be truthful; those are the only two that we have covered so far.) You can still look through the entire bible and see examples of people that, no matter their circumstances, whether good times or times of trial they chose either to reflect God’s glory or fail miserably. The choice is yours. My mom always used to tell me growing up to change my attitude to gratitude. We are all going to face trials. How you deal with it is up to you!

The apostle Paul told Timothy, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

The number one tool in God’s chest for chiseling our character is suffering, so we can brace ourselves. God’s design is to make you a better person. 

NOW WHAT TO DO WITH TRIALS:

Guard your behavior (1 peter 4:1-6). Make your mindset like Christ’s. Arm yourselves like a warrior, this will make you a better person and better equipped to handle these trials.

Remember: 1. Trials remind us that life is not going to go on forever. Life is short! Live it for the will of God!

1. Sin over promises and under delivers every time. Sin looks so tempting but really it’s not worth it! Yet over and over I give into that temptation. James tells us that sin begins when we give into the temptations and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Spiritual and sometimes physical. 

Glorify your God (1 Peter 4:11b-19) my existence should be a SHOUT about God’s existence, in comparison to the muted voice of creation. People should be able to tell right away that God is in you! We should be walking billboards of the gospel!!!

Rejoice when God’s glory is revealed in your suffering even as it was revealed in Christ’s suffering (1 peter 4:13) Rejoice, manifest the reality of the presence of God in you life. The whole earth will one day be filled with His glory! Don’t be ashamed! Self examine and entrust yourself to God. God is faithful and in control. Don’t stop believing that! 

Grace your relationships (1Peter 4:8). Be self-controlled sober minded. Above all, Love earnestly, love covers a multitude of sins. Use your gifts to serve one another especially when facing a trial yourself, or when you see others facing trials. In trials you will never go wrong sharing scripture with people. Whatever you do, do it in the power of God. However, If you want to help someone in trials, you better be sure you are right with God first! Grace doesn’t just save you. It keeps you. It is the reason the sun rises, it is the reason the sun sets, and it is the reason everything happens. It is all because of GRACE!!!!        

The follow pictures are just some of the sights in Antigua, Guatemala!

MISSION TRAINING INTERNATIONAL

Beau Jour Tout, 

That means good day all. This past couple weeks (starting January 2 - 13th) were intensive PILAT (program in language acquisition training) training. MTI is going great!! Oh my goodness there is so much that I have learned. I learned the International Phonetic Alphabet, the spanish phonetic alphabet, the best way to learn language, a little bit of pigeon english, french, and JEH (a vietnamese tribal language), I learned that without learning the language you will never have an effective long term ministry, I learned that when called to go into the mission field I have to step out or "my" cultural, and language boxes and fit into theirs, and that was just the PILAT part of the program. These next three weeks are more emotionally based and what to expect while we are there and how our emotions and values will be challenged. Im am so blessed to be able to come and be a part of this training it has been so helpful!!

Here are some of the phonetics stuff that we learned: 

Im am so blessed to be able to come, and I cant wait for these next three weeks. They start the SPLICE (The cultural, emotional and spiritual) training side of the program.

Here are some pictures of my time here in Colorado!!!

 The first weekend I was here I went with a family that is here to Garden of the gods. Here is a picture of Balancing rock.

 This is a picture of the Beautiful family, that have taken me in while here at the training, and they also took me with them to garden of the gods. 

 This is me with their two oldest girls, in front of balancing rock. 

 The three pictures before this one are some  of the beautiful rock formations at garden of the gods. 

 We also went to Manitou springs where they have springs of naturally carbonated water. This is me tasting it!!! totally carbonated. It was kinda cool!

 This past weekend I was taken in by Deb and Kurt Emanuelson, they took me to Whit's end and seven falls. 

 Here is me and their daughter Erica at Whit's end. 

 And at seven falls

 Fun picture!

 Us "pretending" to rock climb!

 But really we were about a foot off the ground!

 And here is seven falls! Frozen solid but still amazing!

I thank God for all of the people supporting me and praying for me! Please continue to pray that God will show me what he wants me to learn in this training and as I pursue his plan for me in Guatemala!

Guatemala video

Trials part 2... why trials?

WHY TRIALS?

So we covered what trials are, but why are we faced with trials! After this study, I hope that you will look at trials differently. They’re not as bad as they really seem. And looking at them differently, through God’s eyes they become bearable.  The verses referenced in this study are James1:1-10, Psalms 27:13, and Job 23:10.

Trials are not meant for us to suffer for the sake of suffering. Their sole purpose is to teach us to reach out to God, and to become dependent on him. Through Him our weakness will be made strong, the unimaginable will become imaginable, the impossible will become possible. 

CONSIDER THIS IN YOUR TRIALS:

  Consider your trials JOY (James 1:2). Joy isn’t something you have in your self. You are unable to be joyful on your own account. (Joy and happiness are 2 complete different things.) Joy can happen in all situations. Joy is a supernatural delight in the person, purpose and people of God. Happiness is circumstantial. For a Christian Life is about displaying the superiority of a life lived in God. When you are facing a trial I pray that you will ask yourselves these 4 questions. I know it will cause you to look at life differently. It has helped me look at the trials I’m currently facing in a whole new way. And it will further advance the kingdom of God!!!

1. What is happening to me? Is it a trial or a consequence? With out determining the difference you will never be able to grow through a trial or repent and get out of the consequence.
2. Why am I here on earth?
3. How can this trial advance that purpose?
4. What can I do this moment to display the superiority of God?

WHAT DO YOUR TRIALS PRODUCE?

Trials produce staying power (or steadfastness) James 1:3.

If faith were to have a final exam, imagine these three questions:

1. Do you believe God is in control?
2. Do you believe God is good, and that his purpose is good (Psalms 27:13)
3. Will you wait on God by faith until the darkness becomes light?

These questions may be easy head answers. But when it comes down to practicing them on a daily basis it’s really hard. In my head I know that God is good, and his purpose is good, but I have a hard time living in wait for God to show me his plan and purpose. The original translation of steadfastness, endurance, perseverance and patience literally means to remain under. There are 4 alternatives that we can choose instead of demonstrating steadfastness. 

1. We can complain against God
2. We can lash out at others
3. We can bail, declaring “I didn’t sign up for this!”
4. We can fold, collapsing without benefiting from the trial. 

Let’s face it. We’ve all done this at some point in our life. (Even if it is in hiding. On the outside making it looks as though we are dealing with the trial but mentally and spiritually we have given up.) HOW CAN YOU EVER EXPECT TO GROW FROM TRIALS BY GIVING UP!!!  God would not have put us through this trial if we could not handle it. Granted we are not meant to handle it alone. We are meant to rely on God, lean on his shoulder for strength to complete this, and through the trial he will complete the good work he has started in you!!! Job 23:10 says: He knows the way I take and when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold!... But how are we going to come forth as gold without being put through the fire and with standing it! We will come out on the other side pure and holy! Just as God wants us to be! That’s encouragement enough to stand firm!

Trials also produce life transformation! (James 1:5-6)

We will become perfect and complete lacking nothing!!! When it comes to wisdom:

1. Ask God. Ask and you shall receive. 
2. Make sure you really want to know, without having any conditions. God isn’t going to give you wisdom if it’s not what you really want. Imagine this… I want to know the answer to a certain situation only if the out come goes like this… God loves us unconditionally, when we ask him for something it should be asked without doubting and without conditions, and we should really want to know the answer. 
3. When pursuing wisdom, beware of double-mindedness. (James 1:8)

If you lack wisdom in the trial, God will answer the personal why. But this requires TOTAL SUBMISSION TO GOD!!! When we are stubborn, doubting, or placing the blame elsewhere we are just prolonging the process. 

I know this is helping me get through my trials, and I know that by looking at them this way God will help you over come your trials too. I don’t feel strong enough to handle my trials; I’m moving to a different country, living on my own away from my parents and all that makes me feel safe. This is something I have never done. Not even when I went away to school. I stayed close enough to home that I could come home every weekend, work, have home cooked meal, see my family and do laundry. I won’t have that in Guatemala and it terrifies me. But I also know that this is right where God wants me and he will help me endure it! I’ll be living with a family I never met, and if this isn’t hard enough we won’t even speak the same language. I’ll be leaving my grandpa who might not even remember me when I get back. He has advanced stages of dementia and barely remembers who I am now. Although I get caught up in all of this and it causes me to be emotionally and mentally exhausted and ready to give up, I know that God is in control and the only way I will get through this is through his help! That is why I am confident these couple posts on trials will help you, because they have helped and are helping me cope with these terrifying hard times in my life!

My first trip to Guatemala was spent doing construction at a local school, The trench was hand dug, the rebar was hand twisted.. Tough work!

The cement was hand mixed on the ground, from one pile to the next and back again until it was fully mixed. 

Then the water was added.. My favorite part because you stood around until enough water had been added, then into the trench it went. 

Then it was play time with the kids. They love clowns so anything to do with clowns was the best thing that could possibly happen. 

I hope your all enjoying these!

Trials part 1

TRIALS:

Good day all!!!   This has been weighing heavily on my heart the past couple months so I thought I would share it with you all!  People tend to give up the second anything challenging comes along. But the bible gives us fair warning that life will not be easy. Jesus suffered what makes us think that we will get off easy. Jesus gave his life to the trial, what makes me think that my life is more important than His to not give Him my all. Our lives on earth are so short compared to the rest of eternity, and it is not even my life to live. Without God’s grace I wouldn’t even have this life. The very least that I can do is give it all to Him. So after doing some in-depth studies from Pastor James Macdonald of Harvest Bible Chapel, here are some thoughts on trials that I want to share. 

WHAT ARE TRIALS: (Hebrews 12:5-12, Phil 1:6, Titus 2:11-12)

Trails are extremely common! Every one has them. 

There are many kinds of trials. Some small, big, short, long, irritating, devastating, stretching and shattering. 

A trial is a painful circumstance that is allowed by God to change your conduct and your character! Trials are showing what God is doing thru me and in me! Allowed by God, not caused by God. God allows these trials in your life to strengthen and grow you. 

Everyone is going through a trial right now! If you are one of Gods children you are going thru a trial right now. If you life is easy, no complaints, no hard spots maybe your not one of God’s children. Chilling isn’t it. If you’re not going through a trial, you are NOT a son/daughter of God.  It really causes you to stop and think. God’s word tells us that we are going to face trials of various kinds (James 1); God gives us a heads up, why should we be shocked when we face a hard time. God doesn’t want our lives to be miserable, he wants to grow us, He wants for us to become more Christ like, He wants us to deepen our faith and dependence on Him!

BUT YOU’RE NOT ALONE!! Look at the great cloud of witnesses that has gone on before you! Abraham, Noah, and Moses, David: these patriarchs of the Old Testament as well as many prophets of the New Testament faced trials including: suffering, hardship, difficulty, chastening and discipline. Doubt me… look up Hebrews 11-12!

WHAT IS THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD?

Proverbs 3:11-12: “my son do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights!”

The whole point of trials is so that we come to God broken, and He is taking us to a new level of devotion and dependence!

Our acknowledging that we don’t have the resources needed to see us through the Lord’s discipline is exactly what God is going for when we face trials. 

WHY DOES THE LORD DISCIPLINE HIS CHILDREN?

  The Lord disciplines the ones he LOVES!!! The purpose is to restore the perfect relationship we had with God. John 1:12 says he loves us and we became Children Of God!!! Coheirs with Jesus! I’ll take that discipline any day!

There is a difference between consequences and trials. You go and rob a bank, and get put in prison… Consequence, not a trial. 

The way out of a consequence is repentance, a trial is completely different. God disciplines us because he LOVES us! God is treating us as sons. 

HOW SHOULD I RESPOND TO THE LORDS DISCIPLINE?

 We must ADMIT that “YOU ARE RIGHT GOD” and we must SUBMIT to God. 

Now humans do a lot of admitting, or maybe its blame placing right? We will never grow in our trials if we do any of these 3 things: 1) we don’t admit God’s right, we say there is no problem or we place the blame. 2) We recognize that there is a problem but it’s not our fault. Or 3) There is a problem but it’s not me. 

WHAT RESULTS FROM THE LORDS DISCIPLINE?

 When God disciplines us, HE HAS A GOOD PURPOSE in mind! Hebrews 12:9-10. 

God’s purposes in our discipline are very specific, not at all like Satan, who continuously condemns us with generalities. He is causing us to strive to become holy!!! Now I know what you’re thinking. Holy, that’s it. Well let me tell you this. The definition of Holy is this: dedicated or devoted to the service of God! Holiness is the absence of everything that causes turmoil, pain, restlessness, and fear. Holiness is the complete state of God centeredness, Holiness should by a synonym of happiness. So yeah, Holiness that’s it!! But isn’t that great! That’s what all Christians should be striving towards.   

HOW DO I MAKE THE MOST FROM THE LORDS DISCIPLINE?

Focus on these 3 things!

1. The pain is momentary. It’s not going to last forever, and then we will enter into eternal life with God forever!
2. The profit is immense. Holiness!
3. The promise is conditional! To those only who have been trained by God’s discipline, by becoming a Child of God and using the trials in your life as a tool to deepen your faith and dependence in God!

This was taken in 2010 right after a volcano erupted and a tropical storm hit. Huge slabs of concrete were knocked out of houses, and people patched them up with aluminum siding. 

This is volcano fuego. Every once in a while it puffs a little bit of smoke, still very active and just outside Antigua, Guatemala

This is Celeste. She teaches kindergarten at the christian school (Escuela vida y esperanza, the school of life and hope), she is my prayer partner for the past 2 years.

These are 4 adorable kids that live really close to the school, they were so generous. They have an avocado farm!

More to come, this stuff is pretty intense. I hope it helps you all as much as it helped me!

The Journey Begins

My journey begins with my home church, Christ Community Church. CCC has a rich heritage focused strongly on missions. I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel on many short term mission trips, to various parts of the world. Yet the trip that touched my heart the most occurred in 2010 to a little country located in Central America, Guatemala. Here is how my journey to Guatemala began...

January 2010  found me in my last semester of college at Carroll University months away from having a degree in Biology and no hope of finding a job. After sending in numerous applications and resumes to various ecological employees, and hearing no response I was feeling hopeless. God used that to break me and help me realize that without total submission to His will for my life I was going nowhere.

 That is when the opportunity to join my church on a short term trip to Guatemala appeared. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wanted me on that trip. So I signed up, payed my application fee and started writing support letters. Three weeks before the trip was scheduled to take place I graduated from Carroll and in turn was forced off my parents insurance. So There I was getting ready to leave the country with nothing but excitement and no insurance. BUT... God is bigger then all the meaningless problems humans tend to get so caught up in. The night before we were supposed to leave a volcano erupted in Guatemala covering the city with a layer of ash, closing roads and airports. While we tried to make other plans to get to Guatemala, (via El Salvador) God showed us that only in His timing were we going to accomplish His will. Days after the volcano erupted the country was hit with a tropical storm. We had no choice but to post-pone our trip (mostly due to the fact that the airport had canceled our flight). While all this was going on I got hired on full time (with health benefits) at a local retail store where I had been working part time for the better part of 4 years. The health benefits were for full time employees and you had to be working there for a 30 day "trial" period before the benefits could kick in.

Well the storms finally ceased and the roads and airports started opening back up so we rescheduled our flight. We rescheduled it for the week of July 4th. The busiest week of the year at work. I knew that it would be only by the power of God that I would be able to take that week off. Monday morning I went to talk to my boss, feeling antsy and nervous the whole morning. Yet God went before me and before I could even finish my practiced speech my boss was telling me that I could have whatever time I needed off for this trip. But wait it gets better. The day before we left for Guatemala was the day my health insurance kicked in! God's timing is perfect. We may question it, and try to box it in to our understanding, but why limit God's power to the pathetic level of our comprehension.

Finally after months of planning and rescheduling the team and I made it to Guatemala. I knew the first day we were there that God's will for me in Guatemala was not going to be completed in 1 week. Although that week was fantastic, we bonded with the Guatemalans and helped out where we could it  still wasn't enough. A month after we returned to the States I knew that I needed to go back. And that is just the beginning of the journey.