Adventures in Missions

Soy una mercenaria

June 30, 2012
Adventures
Guatemala

Funny fact of the week: I went around the markets telling people that I am a mercenary and that I would like to pray with them. The word for missionary is misionero and the word I said was misioneria which is close to mercenaria which is the word in Spanish for mercenary. That was quite funny and learning Spanish is an embarrassing but beautiful process. This past couples of weeks has been amazing and my love for God and these people just continues to grow. I am dreading the day that we leave with my whole heart and I never want to leave this place! God is so good. My Spanish...

Keep on shining

Throughout our weeks here so far, my team has been able to communicate the story of Jesus to this community. These people of Cambodia have become our family. We have spent time individually explaining the relationship with God to the women and depicting who God is and why He is a God worth worshipping every day of your life. We have also spent time with the women washing clothes in the dark in buckets, using a broomstick as a microphone singing Justin Bieber cleaning the kitchen, killing large bugs, laughing at ridiculous make up and outfits for our music video, and hiking...

Wave Your Flag

I was feeling discouraged because of the language barrier between myself and the women. Our translator, Ratana, was not able to be with us this week. So instead of having English class—we decided to make a music video. It was SO fun to do with the girls. Because they take cosmetology classes, there is a salon and full hair and make up staff available at the snap of a finger. The first day we filmed- in the morning we scouted out locations. This consisted of Sengdy making us climbing a surprise mountain. We survived—barely. The first day of filming everyone did each others...

Every heart will see this hope we have in You

June 30, 2012
Adventures
Guatemala

Everyday I grow to love Guatemala more and more; the people, the culture, the language, it's just beautiful. While we get to experience the great things of Guatemala we also get to experience the hurt and brokenness of Guatemala. Last Wednesday we got to visit the special needs school, i wasn't particularly excited to go nor was i not excited. We got there and I felt like immediately there was a kid latched onto everyone in our group except me. I stood back and watched everyone play with the kids for a few minutes and that's when a joyful, tiny, 9 year old girl...

Growing Relationships

June 29, 2012
Adventures
Guatemala

One month down and one more to go. Time here in Guatemala has gone by so fast. I have really enjoyed getting to know our ministry contact here. Kevin, Hilda, Pastor Ronnie, Andrea, Christian and my favorite Naomi our cook. Every Wednesday is my day to do the dishes and help Naomi cook. Bless Naomi's heart, she is such a hard worker when it comes to cooking. She is in the kitchen from 6:00AM to 8:00PM cooking non-stop. When we help her cook we mainly help her make the corn tortillas. We make the dough, roll the dough into small balls, and then we smoosh the dough in a tortilla maker,...

Guat’s Up?

June 29, 2012
Adventures
Guatemala

Month one, complete! I can't believe how fast time is flying by, it seems like yesterday I was at my house packing up my things and eating my last American meal. We have 3 weeks of ministry left here in Puerto Barrios before heading out to Antigua for debrief. Let's just say words cannot express how excited I am to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, mom get ready! Living in a foreign country has been awesome but also a challenge. I've been reminded the past few days just how much I miss the small things of America. For example,...

from boy crazy to love sick.

Before all my friends back home start to freak out– don’t worry, I won’t be changing my facebook relationship status anytime soon. AIM doesn’t even allow romantic relationships to form on these trips—and even apart from that I’m on an all-girls team, so it would seem quite impossible for the title of this blog to be accurate. But you see there are these boys (yes, boys—plural) who have absolutely stolen my heart. Words cannot describe how much I adore these fellows. Their mischievous grins, non-embarrassed involvement, and...

The Beauty of Dance

If you know me, even just a little, you know that I love to dance. Whether it’s just dancing around with my friends, taking a Zumba class, or doing it real big at Dance Marathon, dancing for me has always been a form of self-expression and fun. But after being here in Cambodia for a few weeks, dancing has taken on a completely different meaning for me. Since the women do not speak English, and I do not speak Khmer, you might be wondering, how are they communicating? Yes, we have a wonderful translator that helps us tremendously when we’re teaching them...

There Is Joy In The Suffering

My blog from last week didn't post like I thought it did so here it is: This week has been the hardest week for me so far. I had a hard day last Saturday and when we got back to the centre we had some team time. We got together and started praying and had some worship. One of the girls had come into our room and sat down beside me. After I prayed, I started to cry. She comforted me and held me until I stopped crying. I remember feeling overwhelmed with that. I felt like it was a bit twisted, having her comforting me instead of me...

An answer in the Silence

June 23, 2012
Adventures
Guatemala

We are always searching. Always asking: Why? How? When? Who? What? Constantly seeking a new destination or a new answer. And more often than not we get to that point of impatience where we break. That place where we offer God an ultimatum or tell him we can’t wait anymore. That’s been me. I’ve been the girl filled with constant questions and impatience while waiting for guidance. I’ve been the beggar, the yeller, the pouter, the crier, the whiner…you name it and that’s been me…Day after day trying to find my answer. But during worship as I was...

A Paper Heart

It's easy for me to love on someone. It's not as easy for me to ask the important questions and have the intentional talks. It's easy for me to give up something I'm doing to go and hang out with someone who just needs to be loved on. It's not as easy for me to dig deep with them. I know that I came on this trip for a specific purpose. In ways I have surely been obedient to God in what he has asked me to do. On the other side, I also know that I need to be really intentional. Right now. Yesterday in my devotions, I was praying and God...

Face to Face

I heard about Ambeleka before we arrived at the center. She was a quiet, 19-or-so year old girl who did not talk to us the first week we were here. Then, out of the blue, she came to life. On Thursday, she told us some of her story. Greg, our contact, told us the rest before we came. I asked her if I could share it with you, she said yes. Ambeleka’s mother and father got divorced when she was a young age. She was then put into an orphanage and grew up there. When she was older, she was kicked out of the orphanage. Many orphanages will kick out older kids because they do not...

Author: Adventures