Monday, December 24, 2007
Rotting Fruit
When I was preparing my sermon, I was really frusterated that God wasn´t giving me a dirrection, or even a topic. I stressed out, became bitter, angry, and let this get in the way of not only my relationship with God, but with my teammates as well.
In tears I cried out to God and asked him why I had not dirrectin for my sermon that I was supposed to give withing 5 hours. He responded with ¨what was the last thing i aked you to do?¨ I honestly couldn´t remember and asked him to remind me. ¨rake¨ Rake? I was like, okay seriously God, that´s rediculous, I want to rake all the garbage and rotting fruit from around the house to the pile in the back, but not now, i need to get ready for my sermon now.... I knew that I should have done what God had asked me to do but I stubbornly refused and instead racked my brain, and went over notes, and stressed out even more for over an hour. Finally, I was like fine, fine God, I´ll try it your way.
I asked for a rake and began raking the garbage and rotting fruit from the yard to the back pile. During this time, I figured out that raking wasn´t necesarily what God wanted me to do. But he wanted for me to take the focus off of myself, and for me not to rely on my own abilities, but to put the focus on him, and trust that he is in control. During this time I was praising God, and by praising God- exalting His name instead of my own- he was able to rake away from my heart the bad fruits of bitterness, and anger that I had let take root.
and that is what the sermon was about, worshiping God, giving him the glory. That God is a passionate God and that is how we should go about life as well, taking joy in everything that he has blessed us with, and in worhiping God, it acts in the opposite spirit of apathy, self centeredness, and bitterness
In tears I cried out to God and asked him why I had not dirrectin for my sermon that I was supposed to give withing 5 hours. He responded with ¨what was the last thing i aked you to do?¨ I honestly couldn´t remember and asked him to remind me. ¨rake¨ Rake? I was like, okay seriously God, that´s rediculous, I want to rake all the garbage and rotting fruit from around the house to the pile in the back, but not now, i need to get ready for my sermon now.... I knew that I should have done what God had asked me to do but I stubbornly refused and instead racked my brain, and went over notes, and stressed out even more for over an hour. Finally, I was like fine, fine God, I´ll try it your way.
I asked for a rake and began raking the garbage and rotting fruit from the yard to the back pile. During this time, I figured out that raking wasn´t necesarily what God wanted me to do. But he wanted for me to take the focus off of myself, and for me not to rely on my own abilities, but to put the focus on him, and trust that he is in control. During this time I was praising God, and by praising God- exalting His name instead of my own- he was able to rake away from my heart the bad fruits of bitterness, and anger that I had let take root.
and that is what the sermon was about, worshiping God, giving him the glory. That God is a passionate God and that is how we should go about life as well, taking joy in everything that he has blessed us with, and in worhiping God, it acts in the opposite spirit of apathy, self centeredness, and bitterness
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Colombian Prison
we organized to join with a church to go to a prison here in colombia. Its not the dramas that we presented, nor the preaching that was given that struck me. It was the worship. The holy spirit was moving in that place, and it was so incredible to see the inmates praising God with such joy, with such passion. There were really only a handful of Christians, and the rest were just there to get a sandwhich and pop which the church was bringing for this Christmas event. Nonetheless, God was in this place, and I could see that he was starting to break down walls and working in the hearts of seemingly the hardest of hearts, and I´m excited for all that is yet to come with these men and women. God really taught me something through this time of worship. Society looks at these people as not even people, they are ostrasized for what they have done, but they are still part of God´s creation. I feel like I was able to see these men and women, not as inmates but as something much more... as beautiful part of creation lifting up their voices to bring praise to their creator. And the only way that I was able to see this was through the loving eyes of the father.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[a]Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers
Romans 8:38-39
I don´t think that its coincidince that the first place that we went to was a prison, since Isaiah 61 is one of our team verses. I think that God was just giving us a tangible picture of the restoration that can occur when we go to glorify him.
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
what is to be restored isnt just those who are physically devastated becuase of being in a prison or under poor living conditions, but those who are imprisoned in their mind, those who are living under an oppression, under spirits of insecurity and apathy among other things. But we are here to proclaim the freedom that is acailable and the restoration that comes in knowing and following Christ Jesus.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[a]Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers
Romans 8:38-39
I don´t think that its coincidince that the first place that we went to was a prison, since Isaiah 61 is one of our team verses. I think that God was just giving us a tangible picture of the restoration that can occur when we go to glorify him.
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
what is to be restored isnt just those who are physically devastated becuase of being in a prison or under poor living conditions, but those who are imprisoned in their mind, those who are living under an oppression, under spirits of insecurity and apathy among other things. But we are here to proclaim the freedom that is acailable and the restoration that comes in knowing and following Christ Jesus.
Maria Çu, Brazil
Of the week that we were in Santa Rosa Peru, we were given the opportunity to spen one day in a community in Brazil. We werent sure where we were going to stay, or even if we were going to be allowed to stay there, but we felt that this was where God was leading us so we went.
Our team waited as our leaders went to talk with the chief of the community to ask permission for us to stay therw. Once granted permission, we went to the house of a pastor to ask to stay in the church, which we were also granted.
while there we also played with kids and performed dramas and teaching for a church service. But this time it was more challenging becuase none of the kids could understand spanish, when they spoke portuguese we were able to understand them, but their main language wasn´t portuguese but Ticuna. Despite language barriers we were still able to communicate the message of God´s love.... that sounds so corny, but its so true.
9After this I looked, and behold,(H) a great multitude that no one could number,(I) from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,(J) clothed in white robes, with(K) palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice,(L) "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
Our team waited as our leaders went to talk with the chief of the community to ask permission for us to stay therw. Once granted permission, we went to the house of a pastor to ask to stay in the church, which we were also granted.
while there we also played with kids and performed dramas and teaching for a church service. But this time it was more challenging becuase none of the kids could understand spanish, when they spoke portuguese we were able to understand them, but their main language wasn´t portuguese but Ticuna. Despite language barriers we were still able to communicate the message of God´s love.... that sounds so corny, but its so true.
9After this I looked, and behold,(H) a great multitude that no one could number,(I) from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,(J) clothed in white robes, with(K) palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice,(L) "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
Santa Rosa, Peru
we crossed the amazon river to go to a community in Santa Rosa Peru. we were welcomed with open arms, by the pastor who was very excited to have us there.
The church in Santa Rosa
On the right the pastors house and the left is the house that we stayed in
Most of our time was spent playing with kids. as soon as we would step out of the door there would be a few kids, and as we started playing, more and more would arrive, SEriously these kids would like fall from the sky or come up out of the sand or something... well maybe not seriously, but it seemed like it. It was such a blessing to be able to love on the kids here.
It seems that they don´t receive much attention from their parents, and when they do, its to be yelled at. Its common to see a little girl of 5 taking care of her little sister of 3 all day long. Or an eight year old caring for her little brother of 1 month. I just don´t understand what changes in between the time that they are young that they have so much love and care for their siblings, but then they grow up to neglect the children of their own.
Most of these amazing kids have skin or eye infections, a couple of them had lice or parasites. I assume that this is from the conditions of the community as they bathe in a contaminated part of the amazon river right off of a couple different ports. Not to mention that they play in the sand all day.
Rebecca and I
Ester and I ¨hermana
Jade Ester Lucero ME and REbecca
Besides doing activities for the kids we ran the church services with dramas, teachings and testimonies.
Monday, December 17, 2007
you know you are a YWAMer if...
you know exactly how many hand pumps it takes to fill a bucket of water...
you praise God upon the sight of the little porcelain structure in your bathroom...
so for three days we went to a pretty advanced community in Leticia where we had to pump water by hand, fill buckets of water to cook, bathe, flush the ¨toilets¨
all eleven of us stayed at the pastor of the community´s house, while we went out to evangelize and invite people to the church activities we were putting on.
sunday we had a big activity for the kids, i was a clown in unreal heat for 3.5 hours... it was insane, but so worth it.
will finish this later.....
you praise God upon the sight of the little porcelain structure in your bathroom...
so for three days we went to a pretty advanced community in Leticia where we had to pump water by hand, fill buckets of water to cook, bathe, flush the ¨toilets¨
all eleven of us stayed at the pastor of the community´s house, while we went out to evangelize and invite people to the church activities we were putting on.
sunday we had a big activity for the kids, i was a clown in unreal heat for 3.5 hours... it was insane, but so worth it.
will finish this later.....
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Leticia, Colombia
December 10th we set of for outreach... It was hard to say goodbye to the environmental school students, as well as the family that lives on base, as they have come to be like family to me as well. Right before we left, I helped set up a Christmas tree which made it even harder... Its funny how quickly different places can become refered to as home. I have my home in the states, my home in heredia, and now my home in Leticia....
our travels took two days with an overnight layover in the Bogota airport. i was somehow able to sleep there while construction was going on in the same area. This is something that i definitly thank God for, being able to sleep anywhere when given the opportunity.
most of the team had trouble in one airport or another with bags, or visas, or flight reservations and such, but thanks to God everything went through alright.
we were welcomed by the staff in leticia. the base has two parts to it, so the girls all sleep in one house, the main house where we eat and such, and the boys all sleep in another house which is like 5 blocks away. this is where daily devotionals are held after breakfast.
Its really interesting to see even the differences in cultures between colombia and costa rica:
here there are armed soldiers everywhere. whereas costa rica has no army.
everyone uses motorcycles here, and only when going into town do i see cars.
you can see up to 5 people riding a motorcycle, or someone riding a motorcycle while carying a tv or groceries and such.
none of the toilets have toilet seats.
and there are just a lot of words that aren´t the same in costa rican spanish and colombian spanish
one of the girls at the base, jessica she is about 12 years old, (but reminds me so much of carlene in belize)she showed me how to wash clothes by hand on a washboard sink sort of situation, it was quite interesting.
our travels took two days with an overnight layover in the Bogota airport. i was somehow able to sleep there while construction was going on in the same area. This is something that i definitly thank God for, being able to sleep anywhere when given the opportunity.
most of the team had trouble in one airport or another with bags, or visas, or flight reservations and such, but thanks to God everything went through alright.
we were welcomed by the staff in leticia. the base has two parts to it, so the girls all sleep in one house, the main house where we eat and such, and the boys all sleep in another house which is like 5 blocks away. this is where daily devotionals are held after breakfast.
Its really interesting to see even the differences in cultures between colombia and costa rica:
here there are armed soldiers everywhere. whereas costa rica has no army.
everyone uses motorcycles here, and only when going into town do i see cars.
you can see up to 5 people riding a motorcycle, or someone riding a motorcycle while carying a tv or groceries and such.
none of the toilets have toilet seats.
and there are just a lot of words that aren´t the same in costa rican spanish and colombian spanish
one of the girls at the base, jessica she is about 12 years old, (but reminds me so much of carlene in belize)she showed me how to wash clothes by hand on a washboard sink sort of situation, it was quite interesting.
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