Its my birthday and I'll ...

Every year my birthday comes, as all birthdays do.  But for me my birthday marks the almost half year mark of being in Ecuador.  This year on the 19th of February I not only turn 28, but I also officially have been in Ecuador for 3 years, 5 months and 4 days.  It is hard to imagine that so much of my life has gone by and people still tell me how young I am.  Yes I am young, but I have also lived.  So I thought I would celebrate some of those things that I have lived in this birthday and on this sort-of anniversary of my time in Ecuador.

1. Having over 18 roommates/housemates from more than 9 countries.  That should be enough said.  There are countless ways of doing things and I think we have tried all of them.  We have broken countless cups until now we have gotten wise and have plastic cups.

2. Learning a new language - Spanish.  It was not easy and it did not come fast.  But after reading almost the whole new testament out loud in Spanish.  Taking countless hours of classes, making mountains of mistakes and talking incessantly - here I am.

3. Preaching.  Over the years I have taught children and youth hundreds of times, I have given testimonies, reports, presentations, dramas, and workshops.  But I have not preached, until recently.  In January, while I was in Colombia I was asked to preach in a church, not once but twice - in Spanish.  So I did, I preached over missions and helping the poor.  I think it must have gone ok as the pastor asked me to preach again the next time I came to Colombia.   Thanks mom for making me take all those public speaking classes... though I hated them at the time.


4. Traveling alone. Though it sounds a little scary it really isn't.  Mostly I have traveled alone when going to another country, like Colombia, Costa Rica, South Africa, Holland and Peru among others.  I have become an expert at spotting people who are looking for me though I had never seen them before.  As I have the annoying habit of forgetting to ask for contact information, I arrive to the country wondering who will pick me up and how I will get where I need to go.  Germany was quite the experience but I learned how the public announcement system works in the Hamburg train station!

5. Organizing Medical Mission Trips.   There are a lot of things to consider when bringing a team of doctors and nurses to your field.  The first one that I organized with the help of my team was in April 2010, then again in March 2011 and how we are in the middle of planning the March 2012 Mission trip.  


6. Drawing Cartoons.  I don't really have a great talent to draw but I love drawing with black ink pens.  There is are several comics that  have drawn about our time in Ecuador.  They are stick figures but pretty funny ones.  


7. Interesting foods.  I have eaten tripe, intestines, blood sausage, heart, guinea pig, chicken feet, and hoof soup.  Just about any fruit you can think of I have had in a juice - they love juices here.  Plantains in about any form that you can think of, they are yummy!  And rice, lots of rice.  


I have witnessed lives changed, heard testimonies on the greatness of God, seen miracles, held the hands of dying children and felt the presence of God.  I am not an amazing person.  I belong to an amazing God.  This was not my plan, this was not what I had wanted to do with my life as seven years ago I flatly told God that I would never be a missionary.  This is His plan, this is why I can keep going even on the tough days.  He is the keeper of my soul.  He directs my path.  

Not to us, LORD, not to us 

but to your name be the glory,

because of your love and faithfulness. 

Psalm 115:1

the fear of colombia

Colombia is mostly known outside the Latin world for three thinngs: the FARC, drugs and coffee.  So when I told my family that I was going to be in Colombia for three weeks, naturally it scared them.  I arrived in Cartagena, Colombia on the 19th of January to this sight

Needless to say it didn't strike fear into my heart.  The purpose of my trip was to help Martha Ardila get started with the work in OM Colombia.  We began a long two weeks of visits with pastors, churches, missions groups and ministries.  I was impressed and awed with the local church's desire to get involved in missions and saddened by the fact that the majority of pastors were wary of missions organizations because they believed that we are only out to steal their best sheep from them.  It became obvious to me that the first focus for OM Colombia needed to be on one of the nine core values of OM - Esteem the Church.  So we have set a course for OM Colombia to seek ways to better involve the church in the mission process so that they will realize that it is the church that sends the missionary, not the organization.  During our time in Cartagena I was also given the chance to preach in Spanish about missions

Martha and I

In my two weeks in Cartagena, I also had the opportunity to visit several ministry sites.  We went to the women's prison where I met a woman named Wanda, arrested for being a drug mule.  She has a powerful and sad testimony.  We also visited a girls house were 25 girls live with a family and are treated like family.  They had me translate the songs to a Disney movie (in dubbed musicals the music stays in the original language).  We also visited a very poor neighborhood on the 'wrong' side of town.  It has a lot of problems with gangs.  Mabel the missionary who has a preschool foundation there showed us around the neighborhood and it was obvious that she is loved by all.  As we were leaving we had to go by a different route as there were gangs fighting on the corner where we had arrived a couple of hours before.  Yet nothing that you will not find if you went on the dangerous side of any big city in the world.  It strikes me as odd sometimes that we are will to serve God as long as it is safe.  Yet the funny thing is that the most needs are where it is not 'safe', because everyone is scared to go, no one helps.  

Preteens in the 'bad' neighborhood

The famous coffee on the coast comes in a dwarf cup.

 We also visited a nearby town where HIV is very prevalent and gave a Church's Channels of Hope workshop.

Centro Cristian Betel Church is a channel of HOPE

My last week was spent in Bogota, Colombia a huge city full of people.  I stayed with the Echeverri family as Hugo, a local pastor is going to take the role of representative for OM in Bogota.  We also had a very full week of pastor and church visits.  I am happy to say though by the end of my time in Colombia I am so excited about the direction that OM Colombia is taking! I also had a chance to speak in a youth group and to teach a group of 30 pastors, of which only three present were women.  It was an exciting trip, I want to go back!

Hugo, me and Martha - GO OM COLOMBIA!!

Teaching the pastors

Evidently I didn't do so bad

Speaking at Juanse's youth group - forgot to take the picture while speaking