March 2008 Archives
As the official blogger of Team Mexico, I feel that it is my duty to inform you that we have all arrived safe and sound in beautiful Upland, Indiana. We arrived around 1:30 am (that would be 11:30 pm in Mexico), and after a long day of travel including a delayed flight in Charlotte, we are all safely back (with all of our luggage). PRAISE GOD!!!!!!
I would just like to say (before I go to bed in time to get up for my 8:00 class tomorrow morning), that I have thoroughly enjoyed being the team blogger and hope that all of you have enjoyed reading my little ramblings. I would like to say though, that if you know someone who was on the trip, please, please, please talk to them about their personal experiences because I am positive that everyone is coming away with something different. In fact, even I have a few stories to share that I wasn't necessarily willing to post for the whole world. Please be patient with us as we process what God did through/for/to us while we were gone. We really do want to share with you, it just might take us a while to put everything into words. And again...THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is absolutely no way any of this could have happened without all of you! Be blessed!
- Emily
First off, I would like to reply to Adam's comment about pranking us. It was a pretty swell prank, but our rebuttal was so much sweeter. The night after their prank, we girls set our cell phone alarms to various times during the night and hid them all on the first floor where the guys were sleeping. Ok, I do have to apologize to Matt Reno for having to stay up for four hours trying to find the phones as they went off... Anyway, they took our phones captive and around 1:30 or so the next night Julie Johnson's cell phone alarm goes off. Nobody moved to turn it off. It went off again and I decided that if that was how it was going to be, I was going to sleep on the third floor. So I gathered my stuff and walk out the door only to find the four potted lilies from the first floor sitting in the hallway. I laughed to myself and checked out the situation. The guys had put our cell phones in the lilies and wrote us notes with The Beatles lyrics on them. I woke up some of the girls and we all had a good laugh. So the following night we made encouragement cards for the guys. I suppose that's the best way to end a prank war. :)
We had a lot of fun and jokes and games on this trip, but, like Adam and Sam have written already, most of our trip was some real intense learning and experiencing. Early Wednesday afternoon, while the guys were putting drywall up, we girls went on a scavenger hunt to get more acquainted with the Southside. We ended up at a cafe/art school called the Little Black Pearl. Basically the Pearl is a place for high schoolers to go during or after school to learn how to paint, sculpt, whatever. And it's free for them! They just have to sign up. They make artwork for the cafe to sell and also for advertising for other non-profits. And this stuff isn't sloppy art, it's incredible art. For instance, next time you drive along the Dan Ryan (I-90/94) expressway in Chicago, check out the decals on the wall beside the highway. Those kids made them! Just amazing.
Wednesday we also went to Pacific Garden Mission and toured their shelter. (For all your old-schoolers out there, that is the mission that broadcasts "Unshackled" on the radio) God has blessed them with a new building and they are able to house so many more people now. They also have free food, a free clinic (which I, being a pre-med student, found particularly interesting), a garden, and ministries to meet the spiritual needs of others. Our tour guide had a great story too. He used to be homeless, but a year ago he committed to one of the programs at PGM. He now lives and works there spreading the love of Jesus.
Thursday we visited Jesus People USA or JPUSA and learned about their ministry. JPUSA was founded during the Jesus Movement way back before I was a thought process and it's basically around 400 Christians living in a former hotel in Uptown, Chicago. They have a record label and the top half of their building is affordable housing for senior citizens, one of whom I met named Vernon and had a 50 minute conversation with about aliens, the government, Spaceballs, pet rats, motorcycles and Wisconsin. Ask me about it sometime. I'd be more than willing to elaborate.
Friday we went to Little India and visited South Asia Friendship Center and learned about Islam and how to respond to Muslims. We were going to go to a mosque, but we ran late and didn't make it in time. Instead we listened and were challenged by a man named Sam about our faith. He was so intense! I mean, he knew the Bible in and out. He knew verses without notes or looking them up. But he told us that we have to know our faith, especially when conversing with Muslims. He was pointed and blunt at times, and a little harsh, but what he said was oh so relevant.
Saturday we spent some time by ourselves just to reflect on the trip. So I came up with my Top 10 Highlight Reel from this week (in no particular order):
1) Pacific Garden Mission. Just seeing God at work there and the blessings he's given them
2) Learning that I need to know my faith more and to be prepared to give an answer (1 Peter 3:15)
3) Knowing that I am rich in more than money. God has blessed me with so much: family, education, being able to speak English, etc. and finding out that when Jesus says give to the poor, he also means more than money (i.e. time, skills)
4) The team. Our team was A-mazing and hilarious. We did an encouragement circle on Saturday and I could come up with something to say for everyone. Everyone contributed to the team, from musical genius to creativity to humor to thoughtfulness. And it was so obvious that God hand-picked our team and worked in each of our lives.
5) The "El Experience." I think this was touched on a little in a previous entry, but it was soooooo stretching for me to talk to people on the El. Although none of my conversations lead to anything spiritual, it was encouraging to know I actually can carry on a conversation with someone. haha.
6) Realizing I make Jesus invisible when I refuse to withhold talking about him to others. Finding this out really broke my heart but it was a well needed break.
7) Receiving so much encouragement on this trip.
8) Learning- that I am a little racist in my heart and I need to change; that I need to trust in God and trust others; that I cannot fix people, only God can,
9) Seeing God work in the city through all the diverse ministries
10) being stretched beyond comprehension, worshiping God in ways I never thought possible, and just loving life
Please continue to pray for the team. Even though the trip is over, the work is not done. Please pray that we will continue to live out all we've learned, that we would "go slow, but GO." Pray that we would continue to seek to understand others around us. And especially pray for us as we get back into the swing of things here at Taylor. I know a lot of us are apprehensive about this, so pray for peace and discernment and guidance.
"For he himself is our peace, who has made the one and barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility." Ephesians 2:14-16
-Sarah "Scotty" Scott
One word for the past few days: irony.
I do believe God thought it would be fun to play a big joke on us. When most of us were checking up on the weather in Bolivia, weather.com gave a vicious report of rain and cold weather all week long. Well, it has been far from that while we´ve been here. Most of the days the high is in the 70´s and we have had glorious sun all week long, some showing it on our cheeks more than others. Apparently the sun decided to run away from us when we headed to Lake Titicaca yesterday. All was well and good when we drove the hour and half to the lake, but it was far from pleasant once we boarded a ferry to Isla del Sol. Dark thunderclouds welcomed our entrance onto the Island and most of us were also far from pleasant. Island of the Sun? Seriously?
The boat ride from the mainland of Copacabana (ya, like the song) to Isla del Sol started out fun as most of us boarded the top of the boat hoping to catch some sun, but all we saw ahead was rain. Thank you weather.com. You finally have it right! The waves got pretty choppy and all of us carefully made our way to the bottom of the boat. Smart choice! The 2 1/2 hour boat ride finally dropped us off at Isla del Sol and many of us bartered from some cheap ponchos to keep us dry for our supposed four-hour hike. After a consecutive decision not to do the hike in the rain, we all huddled into a museum and learned about the Tiwanaku culture, a people group whose city is apparently under Lake Titicaca. Atlantis, anyone? When the museum tour was over (I call it a tour, but one can hardly "tour" a one-room building. nevertheless, it was cool), we boarded the boats once again. This time, it was worse.
Although the rain had finally let up, the waves were still vicious. I have to admit, I was expecting a Gilligan´s Island type of arrival on whatever island we found off Lake Titicaca. Despite the seasickness felt by most of us and rough waves, we made it to another island safely and Gilligan-type-of-situation-less. Once on solid ground, we wasted no time getting on with our day. Since we opted out of the 4-hour hike, we decided that a 45 minute stair climb would be better: The Thousand Stairs to be exact. Well, actually there´s 1200 but the Thousand Stairs sounds way cooler. Some were faster than others, but we made our way up the stairs with low air supply, some dizziness, and many rests along the way. I´d say the view from the top was worth it all. How can we deny a maker when we see such sights of his glory? Plus, it was a good way to keep our mind off of the fact that our bodies were screaming in pain for oxygen and rest.
The prize at the end of the trek was a delicious restaurant where we got served fresh trout and potato soup. Now I hate fish, but I have never felt so grateful for food as I did atop that mountain. When lunch was over, we made our way down the mountain. Oh how I wish it could have been downhill both ways! It probably took us just as long to come down as it did to go up as many of us were captivated with the various stands selling souvenirs and beautiful jewelry. Many of the team´s journey seemed to be less rewarding though and more of a scam. Note to travelers: if a small Bolivian child asks you to take their picture, be warned. You may come out 2 Bolivianos poorer than when you came in. These kids know how to scam.
Hotel Oberland never felt so much like home when we finally arrived back around 10:30 last night. We shortly debriefed about the past few days and were demanded to go to bed! Many of us were still feeling the sickness of the boat, the long car rides, early wake-up call, and long hike so bed was very appealing.
While we can look back and laugh at God´s humor of yesterday, we are still grateful for the rest that we have today. A large group headed to a Bolivian church this morning while some stayed behind to get more rest and enjoy some solitude before headed back to the busyness of school. School...wow, I had almost forgotten I was still a student. Ugh.
Please still be in prayer as it is our last night here in Bolivia. Pray that God will continue to provide opportunities for us to show Christ to those around us. Pray for rest tonight and tomorrow morning (3 am we´re off the airport!). Pray also for our team meeting tonight. We´re hoping today´s rest will prepare us for a beneficial time together tonight where we can encourage one another in the Lord and reflect on our time in Bolivia. It´s almost done, but God´s work is still continuing!
Miss you all.
Laura Bobbett
First and foremost, I´m sitting across from three very attractive professional Bolivian Football (soccer) Players. Despite their good looks, they are computer hogs and wear way too much cologne. I´m trying to make out what they say, but unfortunately my spanish is patchy.
But on to more important things... for instance, yesterday´s events. Friday afternoon we left La Paz to stay the night at a mission center. From there we would leave for our "hike" on Saturday morning. I feel my ideas and feelings would best be expressed through list form. These are the highlights of the day, David Letterman style:
10. Traveling to Isle de Sol: a ferry ride in a boat that looked like it was made 80 years ago, a windy and curvy drive, an altitude 2,000 feet higher than La Paz, another 2 hour boat ride...(I lost my wallet somewhere in here)
9. Isle de Sol (Island of the Sun), was rainy, cold, and grey
8. El Museo de Isle de Sol: we still aren´t sure what happened here... It was a small room filled with artifacts. My good friend Paige is pretty sure she has the same rocks in her backyard
7. 45 minute boat ride to the starting point for our hike: this may have been the worst 45 minutes of my life. Imagine the rockiest boat ride possible, and multiply it by 10. By God´s grace, no one got sick... but there were many close calls. Students sitting on the "roof" of the boat were planning which way they would swim when the boat tipped over
6. The 1200+ stairs: instead of a gradual 3 hour hike, we did the 45 minute stair climb... most of us still felt like we were on the boat from hell. We ate at a resturaunt at the top, then walked back down
5. Another boat ride: I hate boats
4. 3 minutes to get "dinner": pringles, stale candy
3. the rest of our travel: another ride in the 80 year old boat, narrowly escaping a torrential downpour, a long drive back to the mission to gather our things, a drive back to the hotel that felt like an eternity
2. having to paying to use bathrooms that don´t have toilet paper or water
and the top highlight of the day....
1. we laughed the whole time
Climbing into bed has never been so sweet...
Football players are filtering in, and the smell is suffocating. I think I´m going to head outside to soak up our last day´s worth of sun.
Leigh Anne
Today is our departure from the 85 degree weather and our new friends. Please pray for traveling mercies as we travel to the coast and fly to NY. The transition at JFK will be tight, we have a 2 hour delay, but that includes customs.
This whole week has been such a blessing. God brought our team together to serve Him and bring glory to the Kingdom. The ability to that is such a wonderful reaffirmation of the Christian faith.
To fill you all in quickly, we finished out our sites on Friday with a bang and a quite a few sunburns. Then we had a banquet on the river where we recieved certificates of appreciation for our partnership with the missionaries here.
Saturday was all play; we went white water rafting...what an experience! It was fabulous to say the least. We had 6 different boats so I can't share all the stories. :)
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. We felt them; the whole trip we were surrounded by a cloud of protection (safety and health). In less than 24 hrs it's back to TU. Pray that God will still use our time here to grow us and His kingdom here in the DR.
Brooke
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
My entry today is going to be a jumbled mess, and I know it. There are too many things to say. Too many angles to take. Too many people's thoughts to relay.
I am at a loss for words. Or, I have too many words to say.
I am surprised. Or, my suspicions are confirmed.
I am seeing the temporal pain. Or, I am seeing portions of the eternal blessing.
This was a crazy day. It started off normal, waking up at 5:15. At the worksite, some groups had no work to do. Some groups worked too fast and ran out of materials. Some groups had plenty to do. There were numerous situations on the worksite which frustrated or at least attempted to frustrate. For many, this was a trying day because it was juxtapositioned next to a day in which encouragement, productivity, and excitement reigned. It was apparent that today was different--harder. All I know is that there are no accidents in life.
Before I go into any details of the day, let me just tell you a story:
Tuesday I got to spend a lot of time on the worksite with one of our AmeriCorps workers. These people (AmeriCorps) are the volunteers in charge of coordinating our work on each site. This girl, Sam, and I got to talk for a while about many things, just life I guess. Turns out that I know a lot about her life now. First and foremost, she isn't a Christian and she has made some lifestyle choices that I am entirely opposed to. Second, she is doing "fine". I always assume that those without knowledge of Christ are admittedly suffering, that they think their life sucks, and that I have the answer to fix their problem. But, what can I do when someone who doesn't know Christ, seems ok? All I know to do is love. All I know to do is be joyful. All I know how to do is be a light. She doesn't think she needs love. She doesn't think she needs joy. She doesn't think she is in darkness.
Now, let me just finish the story of today.
Eight of us left the worksite and headed back to the church we are staying at. We were caravanning with another van and we pulled up next to them at a light. We decided that it would be fun to get out and do a Chinese Fire Drill (a game where you get out the car and run around and then get back in). It turns out that the traffic light changed back to green in the middle of our run around the car. As we dashed for the doors, a boy on our team tripped and fell just as our other Taylor van accelerated. The other van had the misfortune of rolling over his ankle. It was nobody's fault, it just happened. He got back in the car, promptly announcing that he had just seen his leg bend and split into two. The car group worked together to get directions and navigate to the nearest health clinic in extreme traffic (who claimed that they couldn't treat him). Meanwhile, car members were working feverishly to keep Paul's mind off the pain. We laughed and we joked. We asked him questions to concentrate on answering. We screamed with him every time the car accelerated and decelerated. Finally arriving at the hospital, we waited for what seemed like an hour and a half (perhaps it was more like 15 minutes) to get a wheelchair for our cripple. We said good bye to him and Dusty and made our way back to tell this crazy story to the rest of our team.
So, basically, we made a silly mistake. We did something very unintelligent. There was a freak occurrence and one of our team members leg's was broken. This may sound odd, but this was one of the best car rides I have ever been a part of. I laughed more in those 30 minutes than I have in a very long time (and I know some funny people). I saw a true sense of community. I saw a peace that passes understanding. I saw the joy of the Lord as our strength. Not only did I see all these amazing things right after the fact, but I also, upon thinking it over, realized what a unique opportunity it gave me and my team to share what makes our lives as Christians highly unique, hopeful, and peaceful, despite trials.
The whole time I had been looking for a way to reach my AmeriCorps girls through some trial in their life, some flaw, some inconsistency, or some painful event. It turns out that God turned the tables on my thought process and, again, proved me ill equipped to plan the course of human history. By giving us a trial, a problem, that by anyone else's standards was the most unfortunate of events, one that would cause panic, uneasiness, blame or sadness, He really gave us an opportunity to show how we are different. Before this occurrence, I struggled to find a way to show WHY we were different. Here it was, and thanks be to God.
I was in charge of devotionals the next morning, and I had stayed up late, basking in the glory of the so-called, "bad-day," which I prefer to call the day of opened doors. I should have been tired, but God had given me strength through the joy I derived from that previous day. Upon talking with a group member, he shared some verses that served to perfectly encapsulate the situation, not limit its effects, but describe all that we had been gleaning from the day's events.
1 Peter 1:3-9, " 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
These sufferings are for such a little while. They are physical trials, in a spiritual battle. In this case, an physical injury has turned out to be a spiritual blessing, for His power is made perfect in weakness.
This time spent reflecting on the previous day's events in the morning before we started work was truly a blessing. The AmeriCorps girls said how much they enjoyed what we had to say. Sam, in particularly, made a point to come up and tell me that she wasn't "religious" but that after the devos for the past two days, it made her want to be "religious." This was comforting, just to know that she had tasted something that she hadn't yet experienced. It gave her the reason behind why we seemed so different than all the other groups (a compliment she heaped on us often).
If you think of it, commit the AmeriCorps workers to your prayers. I know that I, along with the rest of my team, have loved on these people and shared about our faith. We have done what has been asked of us, but now it is up to those Christians who happen to be in the program already. Pray that this would be an open door for those people to slip in and be a catalyst for change in their lives.
Well...we finished up today with another 300+ burger day....kind of felt like a farewell "party" as we said goodbye to a number of our new friends...made commitments to keep in touch with a few and a some frustration over the seeming lack of time to "finish" some of the conversations that have started. There is a sense of great accomplishment (people cared for, burdens lifted, commitments made), but along with this there is a humbling realization that the need is far greater than anything we could have accomplished. Our prayer is that God will bring others along to water the seeds that have been planted and that the individuals we've talked to will continue their steps toward their Savior.
As we sat down as a team to talk through the week....there was the realization that while we have had the opportunity to work with the people we've met, God has taken the opportunity to work in us. We have been changed....and want to see the seeds planted here, in our lives, also grow and bear fruit. We'd learned that living out the Christian faith includes sharing our Christian faith. We've learned to take time to listen to those around us...believers and non-believers...to care for those that we come into contact with...friends and strangers...and we want to live this "new" reality when we return home.
As we get ready to pack up and leave, we would ask you to pray with us for safety on the journey...for the work that God is doing here in Daytona....Also, pray for the new believers we worked with (Joel and Robert) and for those that seem to be
so very close (Kevin)...remember with us those who claimed to know Christ, but had lifestyles that were counter to that claim, that God would relentlessly call them back (David and others)...for people we have talked with for a number of years, that the seeds continually planted will eventually take root (Jose, Vicki)...Remember the guys from the Rehab center that we met on Monday, that their journey would not only lead to freedom from addiction, but also to true freedom in Christ...for our friends at the home who each morning greeted us with great joy and dancing....for the homeless men and women whose lives are often so difficult and dangerous...for all the wonderful people we met from infants to snowbirds...each with unique stories and needs....and each who are loved dearly by their creator. And pray that the lessons we've learned and the changes we made will be more than a great memory....but will become a permanent part of our lives.
Thanks for your prayers...we know that anything that was accomplished during this trip is owed to the prayers of God's people....
Wednesday: We woke up Wednesday morning able to look at the Aegean Sea on one side of our hotel and Mount Olympus on the other. We began the day on our double-decker bus to Philippi. After a multi-hour drive and a couple of breaks, we arrived at the ruins. Costas showed us the place in Acts 16: 12-40 where Paul was brought before the "magistrates" or generals to be punished. As the story goes, Paul demanded the demon to come out of a posessed slave girl and so ruined her masters' chance of gaining wealth through her. The Chorale was able to stand in the meeting place of those magistrates where Paul was brought. We continued walking around ancient Philippi, seeing the Agora, one of the earliest churches built, and a theater that had been turned into a stadium where many Christians were publically persecuted. Next we were able to see the spot where Paul baptized Lydia. We continued on our journey after Philippi to see one of the original roads in Neapolis, a road that Paul had traveled on.
Wednesday night, we had a concert in Alexandroupolis, at a community theater. The mayor of the city welcomed us, and there was another full audience. A few encouraging stories about interactions with audience members were told to us after the concert. Dr. Rediger talked to a music teacher here in Greece who had been very discouraged and drove an hour to come to our concert. As she talked to Dr. Rediger afterwards in tears, she said it was a very uplifting experience for her, and she left encouraged. Philip Byers talked to a military man who had deliberately broke the law by traveling too far from his base to attend our concert. He told Philip that he wasn't able to hear many choirs like this, so he had decided to travel this far just to attend the program.
Thursday: Leaving from the retreat center we stayed at Wednesday night, we traveled to Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. While here we visited a museum with the history of the ancient city and were able to spend some time walking around the marketplace and the town square.
From there we traveled on to Katerini to perform in a Greek evangelical church. Before our performance, we had the great privelege of hearing Costas' personal testimony, and his story of mission work in Albania. We were very blessed to hear this wonderful story of our brother and how God has worked and is working in his life.
This performance was at one of the best venues for our sound; the church design made our sound resonate with much energy, and it was great to have that help at this time in the trip. Although in a church, our concert was seen by many people from the community who didn't attend this church. The minister was able to give a "short" sermon to the audience, and we were able to share our message with these people as well.
Friday: Finally on to today. We were granted an extra hour of sleep by the vote of Costas and our officers before we headed out to visit Vergina, the ancient capital of Lower Macedonia and the place where the the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, was found. Costas told us that the discovery of this underground tomb was the second most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century...after the burial site of King Tut. This site and museum was very educational...and a little haunting. We walked down into a dark tunnel and saw the actual tomb, along with many of the items found intact within it.
We traveled to the city of Volos, Costas' hometown, to perform in the cultural hall of the city. Dr. Rediger explained to us before the concert that we were the first Protestant choir to ever perform inside the building. This program had been sanctioned by the Evangelical church here in Volos and was attended by members of the community. Although some health issues plagued a few members of the Chorale, we had one of our best overall performances. Many of us were very blessed to talk to people from around the community after the concert who shared with us their views on how they saw America as having hope due to the young people of our country. This was a great way to end our night.
This will most likely be our final blog while in Greece. Tomorrow we are traveling back to Athens for our final concert at the Olympic Royal hotel for a celebration of AMG International. Very soon after that, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, we will be starting our flights back to the States. We will see you soon!
God bless,
Chorale co-bloggers Mark Statler and Erin Hinnen
The lack of blog entries can give you a clue as to how busy we have been. We wake up to the sun every morning, eat breakfast, head to Alalay (ah-lah-LAI), do some paint work in the dorm rooms, eat lunch, spend time with the kids, return to the hotel, eat dinner, debrief as a team, and head to bed. It may sound monotonous, but trust me--it´s not.
The painting project consists of trimming and rolling the whole inside of the boy´s "dorm" with watered down paint. Oh, and before that we have to fill in cracks and sand them. The first day was rather chaotic, but we have had some wonderful male leadership in the days following. I´ve noticed how some boys have little collections of books, second-hand toys, crayons, books, etc. Yesterday I saw that one boy was saving two rolls right next to his pile of clothes. You can imagine how every little trinket becomes a treasure.
Our time with the kids is somewhat structured --singing (which they love), group games, and crafts. I wake up every morning with a different song in my head (Rebosando, rebosando, rebosando esta me copa --overflowing, overflowing, overflowing is my cup), (caminamos en la luz de dios, caminamos en la luz de dios--I am walking in the light of God, I am walking in the light of God). The little boys love getting up on our guy´s shoulders during singing.
Organized games are basically the kids and our team running around the basketball court--which happens to be set against a backdrop of mountains. They have absolutely loved craft time. The favorites seem to be making bracelets and coloring.
There is so much more to update you on, like shopping in an artisan district, but I have about 15 minutes to pack up for the weekend. We are heading to Lake Titikaka after working at Alalay this morning. Rumor has it that we have a 4 hour hike tomorrow--pray for us. The altitude is kiiilllller, and I think it is starting to get to a few of the team members.
In closing, let me leave you with one of my favorite things about yesterday. I was talking to my buddy Christian. I told him, "Jesus Cristo te ama," (Jesus Christ loves you). He replied, "Porque es me papa," (because he is my daddy).
Hasta luego
Leigh Anne
Hi all-
Well, after our third day of work I am happy to report a fantastic day. At my job site tonight we got to experience the best part of habitat for humanity, meeting the people you work for. Mapwina has three children under 5. She applied for a Habitat home with a picture of her old living arrangements. Mapwina and her 3 kids shared two beds in a one room home. She struggled to make ends meet and went to Habitat for help. The joy Mapwina brought to the job site warmed my heart more than I can describe. As Mapwina came up, she did not greet me with words, she quickly walked up, wrapped her arms around my waist and just stayed there. I looked down quickly and ask her if she was okay, and all she could manage was "thank you." The sense of gratitude this woman showed warmed my heart more than you can imagine. However, that wasn't the only thing the day was going to bring us.
The day before a small section of our team, roughly 14 members, were informed that Habitat was doing a silent auction in conjunction with the Sony Ericcson Open. This is a major tournament in both the men's and women's tennis tours here in Miami. Part of the auction was that two of the players agreed to visit the job site and do some volunteer work. So, as I stood their painting the living room of Mapwina's home I was awestruck by two players both ranked 15 in the world, Nadia Petrova and Ivan Ljubicic. Now, these people may seem like nothing to you, but as someone who follows tennis I was freaking out to be standing next to one of the Russian wonders, and a man who could hit a serve at 150 Miles per Hour. My exact quote to the teammates on my feelings of this experience was.....
"I feel like a 12 year-old girl at an *NSYNC concert in 1999."
Yes, I did a little dance as I stood next to Ivan and Nadia, we talked about their future matches and reminisced over matches with Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova. Needless to say, it was incredibly cool to be working with world class athletes. However, what was cooler was their attitudes on the sight. Ivan and Nadia came in and picked up a brush and painted. They were friendly and pleasant to talk to, in fact I learned that Ivan is married and is on tour for 45 weeks of the year. Also, Nadia is actually an ambassador for Habitat for Humanity and works around the world on Habitat sites.
Today was good for a variety of other reasons, getting some chill time at the beach after a hard days work, an authentic Cuban dinner, getting our pictures up on Getty Images (yes, search Habitat for Humanity...we're there), and getting a free hat. However, today would have felt completely empty if it wasn't for Mapwina.
So, what makes the best day ever?
Seeing true Joy in someone, seeing their dreams come true, and knowing that your two hands had a genuine part in it.
Until Next time,
-Nate Baggett
Hard to believe we have one more day at the beach...
Today was another VERY busy day with again over 300 burgers served and lot's of people touched. We've 
developed some great friendships with an odd assortment of characters. And it's amazing that once you get past the labels we put on people (homeless, addict, snowbird, spring breaker, etc) you find yourself talking with a real individual, with a real story...you find yourself seeing the person through the eyes of Christ. Each a unique, loved child of the King with a unique (sometimes tragic, sometimes uplifting but always interesting) story to share.
It's an amazing sight to stand at the grill and watch Taylor students hugging homeless men and women, listening intently to the stories of residents from the home, caring for peers who seem genuinely interested in what this group of college students is doing. It's great to have retired couples seek you out, simply to thank you, not for the food, but for the opportunity they've had to talk with the students. If we have learned
anything, we've learned that the world if full of needy people....and that you can't tell the need by looking at them. We've been amazed at the depth of spiritual maturity and insight in some of our homeless friends, and frustrated by the materialistic "passion" of some very nice "church going" people. But in all cases, we have seen God use the group to meet these individuals where they are...and work in our lives in the process.
Tomorrow we head out to the beach for one last day of grilling and talking. We are tired, but determined to finish
the week strong. Pray with us that we will be faithful during this final day and that we will reach those that are in most need. Continue to pray that the county will not step in and stop the work...but that even if they do, we will see God work in the midst of changed plans.Time:
Location: Bus to Poseidon Palace Hotel
Last time we wrote, we spoke about Easter Sunday. So it's Thursday...we're only a few days behind.
Monday: Monday began our day of travel. We first traveled to ancient
Next we traveled to
To end our day, supper was prepared for us at
Tuesday: Tuesday was another day of long travel, this time up to northern
--Chorale co-bloggers Erin and Mark
Prayer requests:
*Rest and rejuvenation during our free times
*Health...specifically for our voices
*Continued excitement and energy to share this ministry with the people we come
into contact with
*The language barrier will be able to be broken by this music
This entry is complied by the whole team giving y'all an idea of what we do...
Sports: Yo, Harry, Josh Gates, Jason, Doug, TK
"In the words of Yo, "we enjoyed geting owned by some Dominicans at baseball..." It was obvious who was teaching who on the old field in the middle of the city; none of our team were really baseball players, but all day we participated in drills and makeshift games with kids both elementary and high school. Though the hot sun left us burnt and exhausted by the day's end the experience was unforgettable and definately worth it." -Doug
Education El Cllejon: Carolyn Jones, Mary
"I have been extremely impressed witht he preschool we are helping. They have a small building broken up into two very small rooms for 12 students each. There is also a larger pavillion outdoors from some classwork and lunch as well as a nice playground. The school is well organized with a surprising amount of supplies. It has definitely been a challenge communication with the kids and trying to understand where they are coming from, but it has also been very rewarding as well. It's a great blessing to see the way this preschool is helping the kids with life skills adn a headstart in math and reading which they many never learn later in school." Mary
Education Mata Gorta: Daniel, Katie D
"The preschool is set to give the children from the poor town a chance in public school by giving them a jump start with reading and writing. They have responded well to us and our bubbles and guitar songs. Ihad to keep one entertained so he wouldn't bother the construction team at our site, so I "pulled" off my thumb and moved it around. They was folled by a "double pound-it" started by him. " Daniel
Agriculture Los Higos: Adam, Kelly, Cassie
The first two days working in Los Higos were interesting to say the least. Our activities included knitting, irigating the garden, diggin up sweet potatoes and digging up several hunder pounds of clay to make and oven for a family. there are some things to talk about , but God really showed His hand in one area in particular. On Monday the people of Los Higos rioted in the streets because for years the government has promised to fix the road up to their village, but it still has not been done. So since the road is in such poor condition they made it worse by cutting trees down in the road, burning them and even digging ditches across the road. Fortunately theyt workings of Satan did not keep our team away. God has been faithful and continues to be faithful as we near the end of our time." Adam
3/28/08 Updates...and the long awaited story
Social Work Los Higos: Nadeah, Ashley, Josh Gilbert, Jody
"Hola from Los Higos! We have the privelege of working with Andre in the tiny village of Los Higos in the beautiful mountins outside Jarabacoa. The people here maake roughly $1300 a year, abut $100 a month and double in December. The beautiful thing about this village, outside the amazing scenery, is the people do not seem to recongize their poverty. You'll see the kids walking barefoot or at best in shoes 2 sizes too big that an american most likely from SI brought ot them. But they are so happy to be alive and LOVE Andre and of course us. Everyday we help Andre with his "club" which is basically an after school program for kids in the village. It has been a privilege to help out and pray that God will continue to work through Andre and SI." Ashley
Construction El Callejon: Justin, Zach, Stan
"We are working with a couple of other students from other groups at clearning out an area of land next to the school so they can expand. So far we've cleared the land and are working on putting up a chain link fence and pourign footers for the foundation. All of this may sound simple but when everything must be done by hand with picks,and shovels and cement mixed by hand it takes a long time." Zach
Special Ed/Physical Therapy: Nikki, Steph, Laura, Brooke
Special Ed and Physical Theraphy sites for SI recently got a face lift when they moved from a cramped church basement to a piece of beautiful propery outside of Jarabacoa. The school now has rooms for all the classes, administration, and a yard! The change has enabled everyone envolved to do their job more effectively.
Art/Media: Katy
Katy is busy taking photos for us and SI this week. Due to the incredibly slow internet connection I can't get things to upload in a decent time frame.
And NOW...The Story: Forest Fire
*Just a quick note- "Taylor University, friends, family and the United States of America should be extremely proud of two young men on our team - Zachary Lee and Justin Kyle Rush- who put their lives on thei line to save not only the SI base, not only the beautiful city of Jarabaco, but the entire island of Hispanola and the Dominican people from the hellish flames of a ragin forest fire. that caught the DR unaware. Armed with only simple garden hoses and the shirts on their back they beat back teh blazing flames into utter submission.... T.K. held the hose. Justing and Zach have humbly asked that the Dominican president wait until their mission trip is over to hold the awards assembly and honorary citizenship...
-Written by two team members :)
That's all for now... Brooke
It is hard to believe that we are already in the midst of our last full day of work. At the beginning of the week, we thought our time would last forever, but suddenly we are nearing the end. Work today has been very good so far. We seem to have a lot of people coming through and have been keeping busy all morning. It feels so incredibly good to be able to help so many people. The auto refractor that I talked about has been fixed so yesterday and today we have been able to move people through there quite rapidly. There is still a grand need for patience as the pickings are getting slim. However, God is so good, and there have already been several times today in which He provided the perfect pair of glasses.
I realize that I am beginning to sound redundant, but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray for health!!!!!!!! Today two girls stayed back at the hotel because they are sick. Last night we were calculating, and we determined that there are only about 5 or 6 team members who have not had some sort of illness since we have been here. Many are feeling better now, but everyone is kind of on edge wondering who might get sick next. Your prayers are not only appreciated...they are NEEDED!
Something else that you can continue to pray for is our relationship with our translators. Yesterday I was caught off guard when I was working with one of the Mormon translators. I had turned around to bend some glasses, and when I turned back around, the Mormon was giving a tract to the Mexican man. I was a bit resentful because I kind of felt like the Mormons were taking over our mission. Actually, something we've all been thinking about this week is whether or not the love of Jesus is being shown to these people. Our desire is to do His work while we are here. As we talked about this last night, someone pointed out that God is big enough to use anything that we do for His glory. I guess we just need to trust that His will is going to be done.
Last night our after dinner debriefing time was really excellent. People had the chance to share several good things about the day, as well as frustrations. It is so encouraging to know that we all share the same frustrations. God has truly blessed us through every member of our team. Today we have been even more unified in our work. I feel like God is being so good to us, even amidst all of the sickness and frustrations.
Tomorrow is a half day of work, and then we plan to visit an orphanage in the afternoon to deliver all of the toys that we brought with us. It should be good. Saturday is a day of resting and more exploring, then we head back to beautiful Upland on Sunday. This may be the last time I get to write (I have no idea) so I will just take this opportunity to say again Thank you soooooooo much for your prayers. Please keep them coming!!!!!!
- Emily
(Written Wednesday the 26th at 6:30 pm)
The days go so much faster when we are busy! Yesterday we did around 1200 people, and today was a little over 1000. It was really great. Today we even gave glasses to a 98-year-old woman! It has been good to feel really productive the past couple days.
One thing that we need a lot of is patience. As we begin to run out of glasses, we are having to distribute pairs that are a little less than stylish. Some of the people are quite obviously unhappy with what they receive. Please pray that we will be patient with them and they with us and that nobody will be discouraged.
Also, one of the biggest things you can continue to pray for is health and strength. Several team members are still ill and others are echoing the sentiment of one team member who said, "My stomach is asking permission to get sick so I am taking it easy." It is hard to work when one feels miserable, let alone work joyfully. Please pray.
Our time here is not spent solely in work. Last night we had a fiesta grande for Melanie's birthday, complete with cake from a local pasteleria and a piñata! It was great fun! Our Mexican hosts even made a special drink from rice and milk. They are such a blessing to us! They have been so kind and generous, always bending over backwards to keep us comfortable and well-fed.
Tomorrow is our last full day of work so it will be interesting to see how much we get done. John has said he is very proud of us. Please keep us in your prayers!
- Emily
No need to worry, nothing has happened to us. We're sorry that we haven't updated the blog recently, but we've been doing a lot of traveling and have had no access to any computers. The past few days have been action packed for us.
A few days ago we woke up bright and early and traveled to s new city to visit a deaf and blind school. The majority of the students were deaf with only a few blind students. There were about 200 students ranging in ages 5 to 18, and about 150 of them lived there. It was touching to see the joy and excitement on the kid's faces when we showed up. Even though it was a short time, many of us got to play with the kids and pass out candy which brought a lot of smiles.
The following two days were filled with much travel. We're finding that we're falling in love with Jordan and are considering not coming back (okay, so I guess we don't really have that option). Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Red Sea were just a few stops on our ventures across the country. The culture and history here are so rich that all of us are continuously taking it all in.
Today and for the rest of our remaining time we will continue to make house visits to the poor and hurting of Jordan delievering food boxes. This morning the group that I was a part of had some particularly difficult visits. We went to the homes of several refugee families from Sudan. The last house we visited was by far the hardest part of this trip for me so far. It was a house with a young family with two small children. Walking into the house we saw a small, three-year-old boy scurrying to get out of the room. We were unable to see his face, but after sitting down he returned to where we were. Then we saw for ourselves the two large cancerous that covered his eyes. Unable to afford treatment, the family is faces with the heart ache of watching their son loose his sight. By the end of the visit all of us were in tears. These house visits have been filled with a wide range of experiences and people, and we are looking forward to sharing their stories when we get back to the US.
We ask that you continue to send your thoughts and prayers for our team:
:: That we will be able to beging to process all that has happened here in Jordan
:: That we will be an encouragement to our host families
:: For continual protecting both physically and spiritually
Melesa McEwan
Monday, March 24, 2008
It seems like all I've done so far is have fun. When I wake up at 5:40 tomorrow morning, I might be singing a different tune, but I doubt it. So, today, a few kind souls got up extra early to make a grocery run to get breakfast food to make us a delicious pancake breakfast, using some semi-workable griddles. We enjoyed breakfast, packed ourselves a lunch, and then headed to the beach. We to a somewhat overcast South Miami beach around noon and the games began. Soccer, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball were the sports of choice at first.
After an hour or so, a few of us decided to run and jump in the water, which turned into a buoy swim. After a little while of floating way out, more people came to join us. Pretty soon we had a 15-person buoy party. We easily floated in the ultra salty Atlantic Ocean, planning out the multi level restaurant that we will be opening in Miami. We all picked our roles for this company, I happen to be the taste tester--apparently I have no skills.
Some of us left the beach to visit Sam's Club to do some shopping for the remainder of the week. After filling up 4 carts at Sam's and picking up 3 fans at Walmart, we were ready to head to the meeting--or not. Turns out we took a little longer than expected and we couldn't make it to the Habitat Orientation that the rest of the team was currently attending.
At that meeting, the team listened to the presenter talk about this history of Habitat, beginning with Koinonia Farms (where we stayed), Jimmy Carter's involvement (whom we listened to and met), and Millard Fuller (whom we also met and worked with). Basically, I am told that it was a really cool thing to watch the slide show involving all these people and places, and to have already seen them first hand. It gave us a sense of solidarity with the ministry of Habitat for humanity. These foundational aspects of Habitat were no longer abstract ideas, but tangible people and places. Cool. REALLY cool.
We got back, before everyone else who was still at the meeting, and I got to take a nap...which is why I'm still up at 11:20. There are a few of us still up, listening to beautiful music be made by 3 fine musicians in our group. There are about 7 more people scattered about the fellowship hall, spending time in prayer and in the Word. I love this. I love being in this room full of worship and fellowship. This is what life is about I think.
But, I suppose sleep is essential to the quality of both these things, thus, I'm going to hit the sack. Goodnight, and keep praying for us--many people must be praying right now, because everything has run quite smoothly and according to plan. Nighty night.
--Annie Dimond
Today was a busy day....during the 5 1/2 hours we were "open" for business, we served over 300 hamburgers and box loads of hotdogs and countless cans/bottles of drinks...This is great news....because it means that we have a unique opportunity to connect to a large number of needy (spiritually speaking) people and to feed their souls as well as their stomachs. But it also stretches the limits of our resources....not just financially, but more importantly, the resources of our team...at one point....during the "lunch rush"...the majority of our team was out talking with individuals and a handful of the team was serving a group of around 40 individuals waiting on some food. This presents some unique challenges that we are working through. This crowd also came to the attention of the the 
Beach Patrol who have suddenly warned us that we will now need a permit to give out food at SunSplash park...this after last year telling us we would not need to....however, it looks like they're going to "turn the other way" for this year...so pray with us that this doesn't hinder our efforts for our final two days on the beach...
Exciting news....Robert (who we talked about in the last blog) came back to talk with Emily and Amy, and after a lengthy conversation he gave his life over to the Lord. Then Brett had the opportunity to talk with a very bright nine year old who had a beautiful conversion to Christ...with an excitement that was contagious to the entire team when Brett shared. What a remarkable day....and these are just two of an enormous number of great stories...stories of God working in the lives of those we are coming into contact with...and working in the lives of our team as we witness God working.
Keep praying for the names listed before....and for the unlisted others that are spending time under our tent. Pray for strength for the team, and wisdom for how to work through difficult and serious conversations!
Time:
Location: Bus to
"Khristos Anesti!" ("Christ is risen!")
"Alithos Anesti!" ("Truly He is risen!")
Let's get right to it: Easter Sunday, March 23.
For the Chorale members, Sunday was a 19-hour day...long, but definitely fulfilling. It all started with the Ecumenical Easter Sonrise service on Philopappou Hill. This was truly a beautiful experience in many ways: The Acropolis was in the background; many languages were represented in the service, truly representing the unified body of Christ; and we were reminded of God's power and faithfulness through the messages and scriptures spoken. The service began with the Chorale singing "Holy, Holy, Holy," and we also sang "Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down" (complete with a community [not stray] dog walking through our rows) in the chilly early morning. Also represented during the service were an International Choir, a Korean Choir, a Filipino Choir, and an Indonesian Choir. Throughout this service, our eyes were opened to how God had brought us full circle in our experiences this year. Hopefully many of you reading this will remember our Sing Noel: Christmas around the World concert in December. That program had representations from nine different cultures in the speakers, scriptures, and songs. During the Sonrise service, prayers, Bible readings, and songs were spoken or sung in nine different languages. This was such an awesome experience; we don't believe anyone in the Chorale thought it was a coincidence...God had ordained this and worked in such a way as to prepare us for this time.
Next in line for us was a late morning service at a Pentecostal church of believers in
After having lunch with the parallel tour of alumni and parents back at the hotel, we were given a break to enjoy however we pleased. We weren't done with the day, though, because Sunday night we performed our program at the
--The Chorale co-bloggers, Erin and Mark
I left you hanging about the brocksickles in my last entry, and I'm here to set the record straight. A brocksickle (BRAWK-sikh-uhl) is the technical term for the first of a line of products that have been emerging from the murky deptys of the brain of Ben Taylor himself. The idea behind the term is that kids do not eat their veggies nearly enough; when is a mom ever content with their kids' eating habits? The solution, therefore, is to incorporate the yummy things with the un-yummy things. A popsicle+broccoli= voila. As soon as Ben begins a line of this questionable product, the kids will surely be signing up in droves to ingest these delectable treats of veggie goodness. Only time will tell.
So, there have been the obviously predicted shenanigans going on with the team. We do a very good job of entertaining ourselves. For example, last night, the men very tactfully pranked the girls. Essentially, we secured the use of a vacuum cleaner (are you impressed that I know how to spell 'vacuum'?), taped the switch to "ON", plugged it in, threw it into one of their bedrooms, and took off scampering and screaming, thoroughly impressed with our own scandalous acts of mischief. I'm not sure they knew it was us, though it certainly wasn't one of them pranking, well, themselves, though that would have been hilarious--no, they'll never find out, unless you tell them. So please, keep this on the DL, OK?
Yesterday afternoon we actually had the audacity to get on the EL train (not sure what that stands for), having armed ourselves with sheets of bible verses and conversation starters, and we went for it. The assignment was to talk to people, be friendly, and do our best to steer the conversation towards spiritual issues, opinions of the church, and the person's view of God. Initially, and I know that I speak for at least everyone, we were a little scared. It is an uncomfortable thing, to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger, with the hopes of eventually communicating the Good News and the love of God. For myself, I knew that if I didn't jump in and talk to the first person available, it would take awhile to get over the initial hump of taking the first step, so that's what I did. I hope he didn't feel like I was attacking him because I basically sat down in front of him, looked him in the eye, and said, "............". *crickets*. Whoops. I forgot to speak words. I tried again. "Hey, how are you doing?" I croaked. He smiled back and replied that he was doing well, and he was very gracious, so it turned out to be a good first experience. Now, I don't know how this happened, but this first guy, and then every other person I talked to the rest of the ride (which was about five or six others) turned out to be evangelical Christians. I even talked to one Catholic couple. Let me tell you, that was the last thing I was expecting in a random sampling of people riding the EL in Chicago, at 4 in the afternoon of a random Tuesday. By the end, I was wishing that I had talked to every single person I saw because obviously, if I talk to them, they will end up being a Christian. So, I didn't end up sharing my faith with a nonbeliever, but I came away much more encouraged, and I am sure they all did as well, and the Lord certainly used it for good. There are many other vastly different stories from other people on our team, and you will have to pull one of them aside sometime and ask them about their experience on the EL, but the Lord really used each one of us individually to communicate his love to people. One other minor detail about the train ride: on the way back down to the south side, the train exploded. Actually, that isn't entirely true. A bright flash of light and small concussion ripped through the tunnel, being at an underground station at that point in the trip, and everyone panicked. It wasn't actually that much of an explosion, but when the Chicago residents freaked out, we all took the cue and got off with everyone else. We still don't know what happened, but my guess is that there was some sort of electrical shortage or circuiting problem. We were back on the train and moving again in about five minutes, so it was no big deal. All you anxious parents out there: we are fine.
I feel like I need to talk a little more about Joel, the Sunshine Gospel Ministries director. He, his wife, and seven kids (yikes) live here in the middle of a segregated, African-American neighborhood of Chi-town, and they really stick out like a sore thumb. Three of his kids are old enough to be in school, and they happen to be the only three white kids in a public school out of five hundred or so. It is a risky thing to do, especially in a place where gang violence is rampant and crime rates are high, but Joel and his family are actively trusting the Lord in their specific calling to this broken place in urban America.
Joel teaches us in two sessions a day: one in the morning, and one at night. In these sessions we spend about an hour listening to him teach us things that one can only learn from years of hands on experience, and we are learning a TON. This morning he challenged us to rethink our definition about culture, society, and what is considered normal. Our natural tendency as human beings is to believe that the things that are familiar to us, our own habits and ways of life, are inherently good, and that the people and things outside of our realm of experience are bad. Obviously this is isn't true. We need to be able to see the beauty and reflection of God as the divine Creator in the different places and faces of this world. This has to be a starting point from which we can begin to reconcile ourselves to those who are outside of our comfort zone, be it blacks, whites, hispanics, asians, homeless people, dirty people, poor people, corporate-america-people, crazy people, hick people, PEOPLE. 1) Love God, 2) Love people.
Thanks for reading this far, those of you who have made it all the way to here. I salute you and place an imaginary gold star on your respective forheads.
Please be praying for us as we continue through this week! It has been a struggle sometimes with less sleep than we would like, a busy schedule of sessions, projects, meals, devotions, etc, so we need to be able to take it all in and see what the Lord has in store. Thank you for your support thus far, and I/we will be back with more crazy stories and events of ridiculousness that happen here in the Chi-town. Peace out, mah homies.
-Adam Golder
As the sun came out strong yesterday morning....so did the people....
We were just getting the grills warmed up, when many of our new friends started showing up...what a great collection of God's children found their way to our tent. People from the home across the street...college students who we've met during the evenings...high school students hanging out on spring break...homeless men and women...and even a few visiting Taylor students. From 11:00 until 4:30...we turned out the burgers and dogs and God opened up the doors for great conversations. These conversations included some serious things. From young women dealing with incredible pain, and questioning God's goodness/existence in this dark world..to Christians who had fallen away...frustrated by the hypocrisy of the church...struggling to find a reason to believe again.
Jim talked with three great high school kids from Jersey (Zack, Kevin and Brian)...and had the opportunity to share Christ. Kevin was/is open and the boys will be back today to talk some more. Lauren and Timmy had a conversation with Rachael...who has had some tremendous pain...and struggled to help her find hope (see 
Timmy's blog for more)..We talked to a great couple from Connecticut (Pat and Patty) and were able to share the difference between religion and relationship...Patty took a Bible with her and promised they would come back today. Emily and Amy talked with Robert...a thoughtful gentleman who is really seeking God and trying to accept the incredible news that he can be forgiven. Brittany talked with a hurting woman named Tammy who is struggling to come to grips with the hurt in her life, and the claims that Christ makes on her...and Jackie talked with Jose who is coming back today to go through Romans 12 in his new Spanish Bible....these are just a few of the MANY stories that God is writing during our time here in Daytona...please pray for us...and for our new friends...as we join God in this adventure.
Also...there are a lot of confusing messages being shared as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and others are out talking with the people of Daytona....pray that their efforts will be frustrated and that clarity and truth will reign on the beach today....we are tired (and some are a little burnt) but we are incredibly encouraged with what God is doing.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The first day presented a challenge right away in the morning. We were split into two groups; the first group worked in the morning and the second group worked in the afternoon. I was a part of the first group; we arrived at the house, signed our waivers, and got to work right away! The task was to rip off a roof that was covered in three rotten, peeling layers of shingles. Underneath, we found many soft spots in the wood boards as well. For being an older home, the roof contained many angles and dangles; it was more than just a two big sections; I would estimate 1200 square feet total! I worked with the crew on the roof; after ripping off shingles for a while, we were instructed to tear down the chimney. It extended about three feet above the roof; I worked with Travis Camp and Luke Wynsma to tear it down brick by brick! However, what was even more incredible was the grounds crew! Standing knee deep in shingles, they had everything cleaned up perfectly as fast as it was torn off! By noon, we had almost the entire roof of shingles and the gutters ripped off and in the dumpster! We began to clean the roof of loose nails and pieces of shingle. The afternoon group took over at about 1:00 a.m.. They replaced rotten boards and added nails in loose boards. They added a lot of nails to secure each board! One area was totally stripped down to the rafters and replaced with a sheet of plywood! Some of the students worked until 7:00 p.m. to finish tar paper on our section of the roof. Many of us were full of blisters from a day of hard work. With the exception of one small section in the back of the house, the roof was totally ready for shingles after our work!
Let me backtrack and emphasize that the need here was very apparent here! In fact, what I saw when looking through the worst area in the roof was shocking! The water damage had caused a huge section of the ceiling to collapse, exposing the attic to the living space below! About the equivalent of a full sheet of drywall was totally open to the attic. There were three women living in the house: Jackie, Dorothy and Mayme. Can you imagine watching your home deteriorate, but not being able to fix the problem? After searching for help over a period of several years, these women were losing hope of ever getting help on their home. Being persistent in prayer, God hooked them up with the Fuller Center for Housing. Only one week after getting the good news, work was being done for these women, and we we're the first to get it started! The Fuller Center for Housing was founded by Millard & Linda Fullur, who also founded Habitat for Humanity. We were privileged to meet Millard Fuller himself; he has impacted so many people! After being finished with Habitat for Humanity, he started the Fuller Center for Housing in 2005. In just three years, The Fuller Center for Housing has been expanding exponentially!
The Americus Times-Recorder published an article about the day:
http://www.fullercenter.org/site/DocServer/03232008.pdf?docID=2001
In summary, our first day was a huge success! The teamwork was amazing; there was no complaining and everyone worked hard to contribute in their own way, seeing the project to completion! Others contributed in many ways too! There was a team that did an excellent job preparing pasta, meatballs, garlic bread, salad, and brownies for dinner. All I can say is that I am looking forward to next week with much anticipation; it's going to be amazing!
--Joel Wyse
Hola!
It had been longer than I realized since I last wrote about our trip. It's crazy to think that we've hit the half way mark already. Just to catch you up on all the goings on here we've been busy almost 24/7 aside from our sleeping. We have had the opportunity to perform in a church in both the adult service and the children's service which was a great experience for all of us. Church here is what some of us call "Jumping for Jesus" church...not your typical TU stand still clapping service...you move you dance and almost every song has some sort of motions. Sunday afternoon was relaxing and consited of games and surprise fire in our back yard. The valley in which we are staying hasn't had rain for about 3 weeks and it's really dry. Thankfully we had some very fearless guys on our trip who helped put it out (ZL and JR...they wanted to be written about :) ) and according to them "we saved the WHOLE island of Hispanola!"
Sunday night was group mixers because we are staying with a group from Bethel University in Minnesota and a group from CalPoly out in CA. The mixers were a good way to force us to mingle and break some barriers.
Yesterday was our first official day at our ministry sights. Wow, talk about seeing the real DR for many people on our team. The areas in which SI has sights are some of the most deprived areas around Jarabacoa. I want to get specific stories from all the sights, but I'll just give you a brief rundown of a day.
6:45 Devotions with SI staff
7:30-8:15 Quiet Time
8:15-8:50 Breakfast and lunch packing
8:55 - 4 Sites
4-6 Free time
6:-7 Dinner
7-9 Cultural Activities
9-10 Free Time
10 lights out....intense days.
Yesterday was culture night we learned out to Merengue! It was fun and gave us TU kids an excuse to dance.
Today we worked and then went to dinner in the community at a persons house. The people of the DR are so loving and hospitaple. And it certainly was a cultural experience too; as is writing this blog as we switch from city power to generator. So I'm going to quickly wrap up and say adios before I lose power and internet again!
Brooke Jantzen
Anna. Sara. Cristian. Lorena. Baleria. Alajendra. Marielo. Blas.
Yes, some of these names look funny or are difficult to pronounce. But these are the children who are impacting our team--the ones who have impacted me. We can only hope and pray that we our impacting them as well. We have been blessed to realize that many of them are familiar with the Easter story. When asked ''¿Donde está Jesucrísto?´´ (Where is Jesus?) two children responded ''En mi corazón'' (In my heart). What a humbling blessing to be ministered to by the very people to whom we are to ministering.
Most of the work we have been doing at the orphanage has been painting, playing games, coloring, math and crafts with the kids. This has been a great way to see that these children really do have individual talents and are often showing us up in those. Not to mention they have the advantage of a better air supply. You see, we´re up in the mountains which means air is thin and our bodies are weak. There is no exception; not even our football players. Nevertheless, they are patient with our lack of Spanish skills and weak bodies. As long as we know how to player soccer and catch, they´re happy.
Beyond the orphanage, our times with the team have been far more encouraging than expected. It could not be more obvious that the Lord hand-picked this team for our mutual edification as we serve alongside one another. During team meetings we have been sharing our testimonies as well as debriefing and worshipping together. What has proved to be the most beneficial during this time has been the vulnerability displayed by many members of the team and willingness to share about their personal issues. Please keep praying that as the week goes on we will continue to open up to be more affective in our ministry.
Learning to appreciate the culture of Bolivia even more, a group of us had the opportunity to spend time with some of Dan Saldi´s friends (Dan´s family is from Bolivia so this is home!), ate at their home, drove around a different part of the city of La Paz than the more run-down areas we have been used to seeing around Alalay Orphanage. The evening included some great Pollo Copacabana which could roughly be described as a KFC but suprisingly healthier! We also got a taste of what people our age experience when they drive. Let´s just say they would be described as offensive drivers in the U.S. and might not be too fond of our friend, the stop sign. The highlight of the night was attending a worship service with Dan´s church that an AMERICAN actually spoke at. He was part of IHOP (International House of Prayer) and spoke blessings on Bolivia to wrap up a retreat he had just spent with the youth group. Some would call him a prophet which was quite an experience for most of the Taylor group. Despite reservations, it was a blessing to hear an American speak to us in English and we were truly blessed by his message.
Thank you for your continued support and prayer for our team. We are still seeing the Lord work in the lives of these children and know that through the power of prayer, the Lord can accomplish great things. Pray that our perspective will be eternal and that we will not limit the capabilities of God. He is a great God. We are but the work of his hands. What a blessing that he would choose to use us.
By His Grace,
Laura Bobbett
p.s. the quote is from our team leader. she may or may not have completely wiped out in front of several Bolivian woman and then, i quote, ''ricocheted'' off the wall. word of advice: avoid flip flops on roads in Bolivia
Good Evening! (And yes! We are alive and well :-)
Our Friday morning began with nerves and excitement as we anticipated what the next 24 hours held for us. The flight we took out of Indy was delayed by 45 minutes, which put us on high alert since we only had around an hour layover in JFK. Sure enough, when we landed and filed out of our extremely small jet, we were told that our plane to Moscow was already boarding. So in a similar fashion to that of the family in Home Alone, we proceeded to power walk to our gate with hopes of making it on time. Luckily, with time to spare we were able to board and settle in to one of the biggest planes any of us had ever seen let alone been on. After all the movies, sleeping, and listening to Babushka conversation, our 10 hour flight set down in a snow covered Moscow, (with all forty some pieces of luggage I might add). Three Taylor Graduates, David (aka. Frenchy), Heather, and Sarah met us at the airport with open arms and helped us in more ways then one. We then took a three hour bus ride to Vladimir, with a pit stop at McDonalds on the way to get our American fix of food. Finally we arrived at our hotel, slap happy and all, and managed to stay up past 8:00 pm before crashing.
Sunday Easter morning, we woke up and walked to an area Wesleyan church where we had the sermon interpreted for us. Even though we didn't know the majority of the songs, we got to sing all the different names of Christ in English while our Russian brothers and sisters sang in their native tongue. What a blessing it was to see the body of Christ come together and confess in different tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Please continue to pray for strength and boldness as we not only are ministering to the children, but to our interpreters as well. We love and miss you all, and can't wait to share the rest of our stories and experiences with you. God Bless!
- - Beth Buchwalter
I pulled myself out of bed this morning just barely in time to go up and throw a pancake in my mouth before we had to get over to Sunshine. I was a little sore. Part of that might very well be from the midnight yoga we did before bed last night, but a lot of it was because this week is off like a race horse, and we aren't really stopping to look back.
Now I know that this comes not at the beginning of the week, as it should have, but this is my first chance to get to a computer to get a few words out. Let me then give you a little update on what has happened so far. We drove up here, but on the way stopped at Kyle's (one of our team leaders) house to take a break, eat some magnificent food, and rest up. The next day we arrived in Chi-Town. Sunshine has put us up in a local church that partners with the ministry. It is in an older, mansion-style home in the hyde park neighborhood, which is about 10 minutes away from the ministry by van. We got settled, explored the house, and had some more fun before the week took off.
Sunday morning we went to the easter service at Joel's church (Joel, by the way, is the director of sunshine and a great guy - he has some incredible knowledge and a great heart for this city). The church is a little ways away in teh south shore neighborhood, and the service was incredible. The people there were some of the nicest we had ever met, they even sang us all a welcome song.
The pastor's message was awesome, and he really brought it hard in talking about God possibly not coming in order that his real power might be seen. So, after we had taken in what he said, putting it "in our theological pipe and smoking it." We experienced a little of the city before we had a meeting to sort of prepare us for the week ahead. It was good, and we had some more really solid time with the team to grow together and focus on what God's will was for the week.
Monday morning we had the second session. Joel gave us a lot to think about. How are we supposed to respond to people around us who have needs? There are so many. Truthfully, our actions in themselves are incapable of fixing even the needs that we do see and that we have the ability to do something about. So what do we do? Joel showed us Luke 6:30 (right before the golden rule): "Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back"
Wow. Everyone? Thats completely insane. Of course, you could interpret that many ways, but Joel encouraged us to look at it just at face value. What would our motives be? How would it work? What people are really asking? Does it need to be verbal, or is the shaking of a cup enough?
That giving is so Christ-like, but so unatural to us. It takes a lot of thought to just wrap your mind around the concept, much less actually get out and do it.
So with that to think about, we took a bus and the el to chinatown to see the ministry going on down there. You should see adam's blog if you want to know a little more about that, he's got some good stories.
Dinner, one more session that night, singing, praying, massages, yoga, sleep, and another session this morning, and now I am here, writing to you all. And Im really sorry, but Ive got to get out of here to go do some work on a house.
However, before I go I would really like to hightlight some of the people we have met.
First there is Jimmy Lee. He rather artfully described himself as a black egyptian gay former minister. We met him in McDonalds sunday morning and over the past two days he has called Kyle at least eight times. After he met us he left to go to missippi. He's got plans to release a music album (hes a singer). And kyle is his friend for life. He is quite an interesting character, and he needs your prayers.
Then there is Mhammed. On the bus last night Jessica ended up sitting next to him, and over the course of the conversation she revealed that we were here on spring break working with a ministry. During a conversation the lasted through the rest of the bus ride and quite a while on the sidewalk, she was able to talk to him about her faith and he was able to talk to her about his, Islam. At the end of the conversation Ben was able to give him a Bible. Keep him in your prayers as well.
I really need to go. More updates later. Keep us and these people in your prayers. Our lives are changing. We are learning. We are loving.
-Sam
I'm sure most of you have noticed, as you've been sitting on the edges of your respective seats, that we have not yet posted a blog from the actual location of Chicago. We've decided to play hard to get, so now that we are already several days into the trip, you will of course be itching to read every little morsel.
I am sitting right now in Sunshine Gospel Ministry's tech center alongside my fellow intrepid (and not to mention dashing) blogger, Sam Edgins. We are actually supposed to be at a service project right now with a group of guys, and this is one of the few times that we have had a window in our schedule to write about what has been going on. And so, being rushed as it is, I apologize for the lack of creativity and/or editing for which you no doubt have already seen the need, but bear with me.
I'm not sure what Sam is writing right now, but he has been pounding furiously on the keyboard for the last ten minutes, so I am assuming some sort of arrangement is coming out. Hopefully you won't end up reading the same thing from both of us.
We arrived in Chicago Saturday evening, and soon were settled in to Ellis Avenue Church, our home for the week. It is a mansion that was bought several years ago and turned into a church, so it still has a homey (spelling?) touch to it and it is a good home base to come back to. We spend mornings and evenings here at Sunshine Gospel listening to Joel, their director, teach us from his experiences in inner city missions. These sessions are very informative and profound, as most of us are not familiar with the inner workings of this kind of mission field, but we are learning a lot. In between meals and sessions with Joel, we have been doing various projects that introduce us to the areas of need and poverty in the city. Sunday was spent at a local church that rocked the house for Jesus with many hallelujas and amens, and the pastor required a beach towel to keep himself from drowning in his own sweat. It was a rockin sweet time.
The first real experience we have had with ministry so far was yesterday, Monday, when we all took the bus and train over to Chinatown. There we were introduced to the organization called Pui Tak, which is a local ministry center that reaches out to newly-arrived immigrants from China. They serve in various ways, such as youth ministry, children's group, ESL classes (English as a Second Language), and culture classes. I'm sure that I'm forgetting others, but you get the idea. After hearing from two of their staff members, we were given several options of what to do with the afternoon. One thing that we were encouraged to do was to walk around the several blocks that comprise Chinatown, see the sights and visit the shops, and spend time in prayer while being in those places. Myself and two of the girls did exactly that, praying as we went, and also doing some window shopping and tasting the culture.
Later that evening I volunteered along with four others from our Taylor group and went to help teach an ESL class that was provided through the Pui Tak organization. Upon arrival, we were paired up with one of the students, handed a sheet of conversation starters, and told to talk with our assignment for an hour. At first it sounded a little intimidating, but soon we were all at ease with the kind and good-humored students in the class. I ended up with Chiu Wong, an 84-year-old woman who had lived in Chinatown for twenty years. She had just recently retired and now had the time to intentionally learn English. We had a wonderful conversation through her very broken English, and even became pen pals, after she coaxed my phone number and email address out of me. Since she didn't have an email, I set one up for her on Yahoo, and spent at least fifteen minutes guiding her through the steps that were necessary to write me an email. I will be very impressed if I receive anything from her in the coming weeks!
That is the extent of what has happened so far, and there is still more coming. As soon as we are done here, as I mentioned earlier, Sam and I are off to some sort of manual labor service project. Then, after lunch, we will all head over to the Chicago train system (called the "L") and do our best to talk to people and love them the way Jesus would. That sounds like it will be the most intimidating thing we will have done so far, but I am sure that the Lord will use us in whatever way He has in mind.
I am so sorry, but I must cut it off here. There are so many things I wish I could have written, even after only three days, but the other guys are probably cursing under their breath and wishing that THEY could have the coveted position of a blogger and get out of some quality back-breaking labor.
Also, remind me to tell you about brocksickles in my next blog. They will change your life.
-Adam "Adam" Golder
I took a brief break from work at the auditorium to walk down the street to an Internet cafe. Today is Day 2, and already we are greatly encouraged! Today seems to be going much better. For one, we are all much more confident in our jobs, but for two, there are a lot more people here today. Praise God! There were even people lined up outside the door when we arrived this morning. We feel a lot better about things when we have stuff to do. God is so good!
Of course, there are still prayer requests. Several people are still sick so please be praying for them. Also, one of our auto refractors bit the dust this morning so we are down to 3. That is making everything a lot slower. I am not sure if it can be fixed or not, but please pray that we still be able to help a lot of people.
Yesterday when I was reading from the Spring Break devotional, the reading was all about having the right motives for service. I realized that that was definitely something I needed to examine in my life. Please pray that we will be working with the right attitudes, that we will be able to show Jesus to everyone we interact with. Please pray for strength and energy and an outpouring of love and joy from God. Your prayers are keeping us going here. Please do not ever stop praying!!!!! Well, I guess I had better get back to work! Much love from team Mexico to everyone at home!
- Emily
(Written Monday the 24th at 6:30 pm)
Well, today was the official day 1. It was exhausting and overwhelming and confusing and even a little frustrating at times, but it was also a good day. We had breakfast at 7 and arrived at our worksite around 8. Things started a bit slowly, but they gradually picked up. About 8 people started on the auto refractors, and the rest of us were pickers or fitters. Though apprehensive at first, I think we all gained confidence as the day went on.
One unfortunate thing (and something you can pray about) is that due to some political issues, the city will not be able to bus people in to the clinic. Consequently, not as many people can come, and today was much slower than we wanted it to be. We had 628 people out of the expected 900. Some of us spent quite a bit of time standing around. In some ways, it was nice to ease in to things slowly, but in other ways, we really want to help as many people as we can while we are here.
Another prayer request is for health. Our cooks here are wonderful, but the food is not agreeing with everyone. Several team members are rather ill. Please pray for healing for them and continued health for the rest of us.
A really big praise today is for our translators. They were invaluable! In the morning, we had some Mexican students who were really excellent. In the afternoon, we had a group of young Mormon men (from America) who were in the middle of their 2 year missionary service commitments. It was really interesting to talk to them and some people even got into some theological discussions. So, praise God for our translators and also please pray that we will be able to show the love of Jesus to everyone whether they are the Mexican patients or our translators.
God has been good to us so far, but there is still a lot of week left so we will definitely need His help to get through it. Thanks for your prayers!
- Emily
Monday, March 24, 2008
Time: 8:00 a.m.
Location: Bus ride to Corinth
"Kalimera!" ("Good morning!" in Greek)
Many people know that the conversion rate between the American dollar and the Euro is much in favor of the Euro right now, but who knew the time rate would be that way, too? These past two days have been filled with so many great things; it's almost hard to keep track of it all.
Let's start with Saturday, March 22.
Costas, our tour guide: Entering our story now is Costas, our "tour guide" while in Greece. Costas is a man that knows pretty much anything possible about Greece...or anything for that matter. He was the very first pioneer missionary to Albania, and many churches there were planted by him.
Acropolis: Saturday began with a tour of Athens with Costas. Our first stop was at the Stadium of Athens, a 70,000 seat stadium where the first modern Olympics took place. Our next stop was at the world-renowned hill of the Acropolis (literally meaning the highest point of the city). We started at the first-ever theater site, which is at the bottom of the hill. As we climbed to the top, we entered through the massive marble gate of the temple created for the goddess Athena. As we entered through, the Parthenon came in full view. It was an amazing site and was appreciated much more with the vast knowledge of Costas; he spoke of the incredibly exact measurements, optical illusions, and the extreme effort needed to build it. As we walked around the top of the Acropolis, the view of Athens was beautiful. The city of 4 ½ million people stretched for miles in every direction around the Acropolis.
Mars Hill: As we walked down, we approached Mars Hill (also known as Areopagus), where Paul spoke to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers and Athenian people. Climbing the same steps as Paul to the top of the hill, our group paused as Philip Byers, our Chorale chaplain read Paul's speech in Acts 17:16-34. For many of the group it was almost an overwhelming experience as we heard Paul's words at the exact place he spoke them.
Concert I: After lunch and a few more stops in ancient downtown Athens, we made our way back to our hotel to prepare for the night's concert. This concert took place at the community center of a town just outside of Athens. It was hosted by the town's mayor and included a secular audience. The concert was very well received by the audience - we began and ended with the Greek national anthem, performed an encore, and each Chorale member even received a single rose. The Greek people were so warm and welcoming; we were very blessed by their reception of us.
We had a great day touring the city of Athens and performing our repertoire for the first time in its entirety. We have been so blessed and are very grateful for God's faithfulness throughout the trip thus far.
--Mark Statler and Erin Hinnen, Chorale co-bloggers
Prayer requests: *Health, strength, rest, high spirits
*Praise for our wonderful audiences
*Travel, especially tomorrow (Tuesday)
*Preparation/excitement of the upcoming audiences
Friday, March 21, 2008
Maybe you don't identify with this, but, I LOVE CAR RIDES. Our group left Friday morning; and from the moment I sat in the car, until the moment I laid down to sleep (a time of about 17 hours), I loved my life. Not that I don't love my life at other times, and in general, but this--this was special. A group of 11 students and our "mom," Andrea DiSanto, quickly became a little family (with less fights than those I remember with my siblings on family car trips). We played "Hot Seat" to quickly get to know many random, and personal, things about our car mates. We each picked 2 songs on the iPod and tried to guess whose music taste fit each song. We had long sessions of talk time, where conversation ranged from campus life to guy/girl relationships. We played the "in 10 years game," in which we pretended that we were back together for a reunion and we were telling each other what had happened in the last ten years. We were graced by Eric and Steven's lovely voices, raised in silly song. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A (which was a treat in and of itself) where I was the first participant in the altogether unsuccessful saltine cracker eating contest--I can still feel the sodium in my body. Nearing the end of our journey, we all estimated the time of arrival. I guessed that it would take 8 more minutes, and others were more ambitious, guessing that it would take 25. Well, we were all very wrong.
Right after we guessed the ETA the van in front of us pulled over on the side of the road. It turns out that Dusty had taken pity on a man who had, unfortunately, run out of gas on the most back road of back roads. We quickly called the vans behind us in the second shift of the trek to get some gasoline to bless to this halted traveler. We found out later that the other group drove around, stopping numerous places to ask for directions to an open gas station and when they were finally able to find one, they filled up their empty nalgenes and waterbottles to bring this man some fuel for the remainder of his journey. I was proud of my team.
When we finally arrived at our destination, an intentional Christian community called Koinonia, there was a bit of confusion as to where we would all be staying, but it all worked out and we ended up splitting up the group with about a fourth staying on the commune (as we have come to call it), and the other three fourths staying in their community center a mile or two down the road. The average bedtime was about 3am and the average wake-up time was 7:45am. You do the math. There were some tired kids, but proving what a stellar group they were, the attitudes were a typical of those who only rested for 5/8 of the suggested sleep time. And again, I was proud of my team.
We had a bagel breakfast together and then split into 2 Habitat work shifts. And here is where my story if different from the rest of the team. Five of us volunteered to work on with Koinonia to clear brush. So I, along with 4 others, headed back to the commune to move logs, sticks, and trees into monstrous piles for their weekly brush burning (unfortunately that happens on Mondays, not Saturdays). We rode around on the flat bed trailer of the tractor through some of the most beautiful green grass, trees, and fields I've ever seen. The weather was optimal, the breeze, soft, and the mood, sublime. We reluctantly finished our work and headed back to meet the group for lunch. I sat on the playground as I ate my sandwich, still loving the weather.
After a short trip to the other work site to see what the majority of our group had been working on, we went back to the community center with the first shift where we enjoyed some chill time together. In this time I played with a football, a Frisbee, a kickball, a soccer ball, and a volleyball--that's my idea of a perfect afternoon. Along with the various leisurely sports activities, my friends Phil and Steven started a little project of their own which I was excited to join in on. Challenged by Andrew Smith's words to, "leave this place better than we found it," they decided to rake up all the millions of billions of leaves that littered the play yard/back yard of the community center. I was proud of my team.
Finally the other group arrived back and everyone woke up from the naps they were taking to replenish the missing hours of sleep in order to eat a delicious meal of pasta with meatballs, garlic bread, and salad. The garlic bread, made by my wing mate, Heather Tyner, was TO DIE FOR. After dinner we all played around a bit more in the yard and then started shower shifts. The job of cleaning up the leaves being unfinished, and darkness already descended, we were at a loss for what to do. However, again, the group rose to the challenge and we had about 12 people outside putting millions of billions of leaves in large black trash bags. We finished the task while others took their shower shifts. No one complained. I met a few new faces. The yard looked GOOD. I was proud of my team.
At this point, I happen to be the only person not showered, maybe that's why no one is sitting by me right now J.
--Annie Dimond
The day didn't start off as we had planned!
Heading out to the beach, we found ourselves in mid 40 degree weather and what seemed like hurricane force winds (okay, maybe not hurricane force, but certainly a mighty wind)...we found ourselves at the park trying to put up the tent, and figure out a way to light the charcoal. As we looked around the empty beach, we figured that today would be a slow day...we hoped we would get a chance to talk to a few people...but didn't have high hopes. God had some other plans...
A
s our team spread out and began talking to the few brave beach walkers...we watched as three white vans pulled up on the beach by our tent...and out of the vans came 30 guys who happened to be on their once-a-week break from a rehab center in Orlando. What an incredible time we had talking with these guys....some of them shared long conversations with our team, while others simply ate burgers, drank soda and played a rousing game of volleyball. And while we spent time with these men, the sun began to peak out, the wind died down and people began showing up. Some of the people that the team had met the night before showed up and engaged in further conversations...It was amazing...if you stood by the tent and looked all around, in every direction you would see people engaged in serious conversations with members of the team. Real connections happening, Bibles and tracts being handed out and friendships being made.
And as we returned to our hotel for dinner and for worship....we began to pray for the individuals we met...and as the stories were shared, we sensed God doing an incredible work in us and through us...and a growing excitement for the week.
Please pray for the people we met tonight...that the seeds planted will find fertile ground....and that, if possible, they will be led back to our tent tomorrow, giving us another opportunity to share God's amazing love and the hope He can bring into their shattered lives.
P.S. If you want to get another great view on the trip, read Timmy's Blog at http://timothe.us/blog/category/daytona/ He also has some great pictures you can check out http://flickr.com/photos/thatkidwithacamera/sets/72157604160826832/
It's Easter in Daytona..and although the day has been a bit overcast, our spirits haven't been. The day started with a sunrise service for those on the team that could wake themselves up that early...followed by the full team heading off to CrossRoad Baptist church to enjoy an easter service with Pastor Dan and the rest of the body at CrossRoad. They were very accommodating to 29 strangers showing up for their service.
After the service we came back to the hotel where we enjoyed a "traditional" Easter ham dinner (complete with asparagus)...and celebrated Brian's 19th birthday! After dinner we headed out to the beach....and we continued to see the team come together in unity...including a somewhat "violent" game where everyone dives in to the pool looking for a little candle (or toothpick)...heard great stories from Laura, Lauren and Liz as they had opportunities during a walk on the beach to have a serious conversation with some individuals...
After dinner we spent a great time in prayer, sharing and worship as we prepare our hearts for tomorrows work.
Pray with us for tomorrow as we set up our tent and begin handing out food...and look for ways to share God's love with the people of Daytona. We are excited (and a little nervous) about tomorrow...dealing with our own feelings of inadequacy....but we know God is faithful, and the he has brought us here for a reason, and we are eager to discover it!
Happy Easter everyone! I think that most of us on the Mexico team would say that this has been an Easter unlike any other. We had originally planned to go to mass this morning, but we were unable to get a ride to the church. We are surely learning about flexibility! Instead, we all sat outside in the Mexican sun (or shade for those who got burnt yesterday!) and had our own little worship service. We sang some worship songs, read the Resurrection story and a few team members shared their testimonies. It was a really great way to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior!
Around 11, we headed out to the worksite. We spent about 4 hours there setting up all of the tables, chairs, boxes of glasses and other equipment that we will need to start work tomorrow. Oh, wow...Tomorrow! We have approximately 21, 800 pairs of glasses to choose from and so many people to help. Today we had one last practice run for picking glasses, but I am not sure that any of us are yet feeling extremely prepared. We will REALLY appreciate your prayers tomorrow as we put everything that we have been working towards to the test. Tomorrow there will be real people behind those unseeing eyes, real people that we have been sent here to help. Please pray for peace and patience and a good memory for remembering all that John has taught us. It is rather a daunting task ahead of us, but we know that this is a good work we will be doing.
Right now it about 4 here. I am sitting in an Internet cafe quite near to the building where we will work. We have been given the afternoon off to explore the market a bit more. This is our last day of rest until we were work from 8 am to 5 or 6 pm starting tomorrow. I am really scared, yet I know that it will be good to dive into the actual purpose of our trip. Thank you sooooo much for your continued prayers!!!!!!
- Emily
(Written Saturday the 22nd at 10:45 pm)
Today was rather a full day but most assuredly a good one. We were so thankful for the chance to sleep in as breakfast was not until 10. After very little sleep and much traveling, we all slept very well. After breakfast, we headed in to town for a day of exploring and shopping. It was a lot of fun to see the market with all of the exotic foods and sights and smells. We also got the chance to wander through several gorgeous churhces. Though some of us got a little sunburnt and a little dehydrated, it was a beautiful day to be outside exploring.
We were exceedingly conscious of our Americanness today. Every where we went, we stuck out like a sore thumb. It is such a strange feeling to be the minority. Our hosts here seem so honored to have us. Tonight we received a tour of the local fire station. All of the bomberos (firemen) were standing at attention when we walked in and were still at attention when we left.
The biggest praise for today was the bonding time we had as a team. Though we had a few weeks of training together, a lot of us felt like we were basically traveling to a foreign country with complete strangers. Today was a fabulous opportunity for us to get to know each other better before we have to start working together. It looks like God knew exactly what we needed!
-Emily
(Due to limited Internet access, I will not be able to post exceedingly often. However, each time I post, I will try to publish a few entries. This one was written on Friday the 21st at 7 pm)
Thanks to YOUR prayers, we have arrived here safe and sound along with all of our luggage. Praise God! Today was sort of an intense day of traveling (I suppose any day that begins at 2 am is intense). Most of us have gotten very little sleep and our first real meal was the lunch that we had when we arrived here around 5. (From now on, all times will be Mexican, which is 2 hours behind Indiana). We were all most grateful for the food and devoured it hungrily. We were quite surprised to learn that this meal was only lunch, and dinner would occur around 8. Hopefully we will find some room in our stomachs by then. Our airport adventures were relatively uneventful so after a slight hold up in customs and an hour and a half bus ride, we arrived here at Hotel San Jose in Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico. The weather here is beautiful as is our view of the mountains which is something we most definitely do not get in Indiana!
On our first flight this morning, I remembered that it was Good Friday so I decided to read the Matthew account of the crucifixion. The thing that stuck out to me today was when Jesus was in the Garden praying "Not my will but Yours be done." In a way, I kind of think that should be our prayer for the trip. I feel like I have not yet had time to process my expectations for this week, but maybe that is good. Maybe God is calling us to completely let go of any expectations and just let Him do His thing.
Another cool thing about the Matthew account is the way it ends. A dear friend pointed this out to me in a note right before we left: After Jesus makes His incredible sacrifice for us, He ends with, "And surely I will be with you always, even to the end of the age." That is such an encouragement for me at least as I am still dealing with a LOT of anxiety and apprehensiveness. In genral I think the dominant attitude around here (besides exhaustion) is excitement tempered with nervousness. May Jesus continue to remind us of His promise to remain with us.
Thank you for your prayers!!!!!
After a smorgasbord at Burger King, a night in a Five Star hotel, and eleven long hours of waiting, we finally landed in La Paz (6:30 a.m.). We were greeted by the Saldi family who took us to Hotel Oberland where we are staying. It provides the privacy of a bed and breakfast, with comfort and the beautiful scenery of the mountains. One of the best parts about it is that the rooms are scattered in little white buildlings that are situated higher than the main area. On your way to your room you walk through lots of greenery and flowers. (Mom, I keep thinking how much you would like this.)
After breakfast and showers, we headed to church where we met Mr. James, a Taylor parent. The service seemed like any other evangelical church service, except that it was entirely in spanish. Some women sat with us and translated, but I just couldn´t keep myself from falling asleep, (I´m attributing it to the lack of sleep and the altitude). Some members of the church generously prepared lunch for us which included roasted chicken, friend plantain, rice, and salad. Some of us tried the drink "api" which is made of purple indian corn and other spices. I´m not good with identifying spices, but it tasted like anise, or maybe cloves...to be honest I have no idea. I just didn´t want you to think that by spices I meant oregano or chili powder.
At this point it would be helfpul for you to know how we have been traveling. Two local men have been driving us in two white mini-van type vehicles. At one point today, the one I was in stalled while we were driving up hill. Don´t worry though, we are completely safe.
We traveled for about 30 minutes to Alalay, admiring the mountains along the way. You simply can not escape the scenery. At the same time, it is obvious that you are moving further away from the city. By the time we got to the orphanage, you really feel like you are creating the road as you go.
We walked around Alalay for roughly an hour, just getting acquainted with the kids. This is going to be hard work--not only is there the whole language barrier thing, but these kids seem fairly unimpressed with us, and rightfully so. Dan (our team member/son of the Saldi´s) shared with us that groups from around the world come in and out to spend time at Alalay. The kids only really attach to people who are there for a year or two or three. So what can we do? How can we "represent Jesus" in such a short amount of time? Is that presumptious to even assume that? I think Satan would say "yes", but I´m sure my God would say "no". He functions outside of time, and can use any second that we give back to Him. Think of Jesus himself, and the people that were dramatically changed just by being a day in His presence.
So, the real question is not, "Is this worth it?", but "Is Jesus flowing in and through me?"
Leigh Anne
By the way, I overpacked. Big time. I had to transfer my toiletrees to a team bag. Later, this same bag fell off the top of one of the white vans. Then we ran over it.
Today was a day of catching up on sleep...but even in the midst of the rest, we have been reminded of the great need here in Daytona. From the waitresses at Sonny's BBQ and the server at Burger King to the night watchman here at the El Caribe, we are constantly confronted with the opportunity to show God's love to those around us. During our time on the beach, a mom came up to some of the girls on the team to tell them how impressed she was with the way our ladies carried themselves, and how they were a great example to this mom's young daughter. So even during this "down day" we are beginning to see God at work...and are growing in anticipation for what He is going to do through our team this week.
Hola, and greetings from the DR team!
We are safe and sound in Jarabacoa and have been loving every minute of our time so far. We have some amazing answers to prayer that have happened even since departing Taylor.
On Thursday we left with the Jordan team and stayed the night in the O'Hare area. We all arrived to the O'Hare between the hours of 1:30am and 4 am on Friday morning for our flight. Needless to say we were pretty tired! Our fligh was sceduled to take off just before the massive snow storm hit O'Hare; thankfully we were one of the last planes to leave O'Hare!!!! On the plane most of us spent at least a few minutes checking the weather channel and being thankful that we got out when we did. We arrived at JFK with a few butterflies in our stomachs from the turbulent landing, but we all made and our luggage made it even better! After a very nice flight to the DR we had a 3 hour drive from the coast to the mountain...gorgeous! Our team photographer Katie took 400+ pictures of that drive alone. We finally made it to Jarabacoa and stayed that night in a beautiful mountain retreat on the river Jimenoa. Complete with Semana Santa (Holy Week) parties in the background.
A more exciting note is the fact we have already had one outreach to a community while being here. We had the chance to partner with a house of New Horzions youth (of Escule Caribe) to put on an outreach in the community in which they are building a house. We had over 150 children, just children show up to watch our skits, puppets, and music.
After our outreach we came back to the Student International base to check in, clean up and eat. SI is such an amazing group of men and women of God and love on their teams so well. And we can only hope to reciprocate our love back to them equally as well.
Prayer:
Team Vulerability: openness and honesty to each other
Our outreach tomorrow at a local church were we will be performing for the main service and the children's service!
Continued team unity
Praise:
A team member's brother accepted Christ today! Join our celebration!
A successful first outreach
Health
Safe travels and God's traveling provisions
We have a guitar player this year (Dr. Tyner is extremely thankful for this!)
In Chirst,
Brooke
For all of you who don't speak Arabic this means Hello. For those of you who do speak Arabic, please excuse my spelling. Today was a fabulous day and of course it is late at night so a quick overview.
We began early this morning by going to headquarters in downtown Amman. We spent about an hour and a half in worship/devotions. I was blessed. We sang for a while. Our voices did not blend well. Some of us have heavy Jordanian accents. But it was one of the most beautiful things. This lead into a time of prayer and devotions in which we discussed the fact that we are not bringing God into Jordan...He is already here. A good thing to dwell on before heading out into peoples' homes. We spent hours in peoples' homes today. We broke up into several groups for much of the day so please realize that I only know my own experiences, and from what I have heard there are so many stories on all sides of the board. To each home we took a box of food (boxes we had prepared previously in the day) and then we just spent time with the family. This is the essence of what we did in Jordan today.
I am exhausted and reflective. Let me give you some extra information that lends to my overwhelmed state. Today is my golden birthday. Not many people get to spend their birthday in another country but I recognized that I might have to sacrifice my birthday because I did not want the focus to be on me when I am here to serve God and the Jordanians/Iraqi/Armenian etc people. However, I have been so incredibly blessed on this day. A man, Gusan (one of three and once again excuse the spelling) bought me two birthday cakes. I was given a gift from a family who has nothing...literally nothing. They have a huge hole in their wall near the ceiling, their four children share a mattress on the floor in their two room house. They have nothing and they just kept apologizing that they could not give us more. I have never been more humbled, more blessed, or more honored than I was on this day. I would not have guessed that I am not with close friends and family because these strangers so easily loved me, they loved this team. These people have shown God to us. What was said this morning rings true. We are not bringing God here...He has always been here in Jordan. Praise Jesus.
Sorry, I have written a lot. I could write so much more. Please continue to pray for us, for culture sensitivity, for God to tear down barriers (especially the language) and for protection and safety. Luckily we are all safe and healthy. I hope you feel as blessed as I do.
-Allison Maybray
Excitements were high and temperature low as we headed out of Taylor at 9:00 this morning bound for the Chicago airport. The Taylor Chicago team was gracious enough to lend us their drivers for the ride there and we only encountered one wrong turn. Not too bad considering the inclement weather conditions outside of Chicago and the distraction of college girls singing their heart out in the back of the vans. We never ceased to entertain ourselves!
The airport served as our makeshift home for the next 6 hours. We arrived nearly 5 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave but as we watched the heavy snow fall outside the windows, we had a good feeling our time there might be a bit extended. Our predictions were right and our connecting flight to Miami ended up departing about an hour and 40 minutes after the scheduled departure time. Thankfully we have leaders who kept our spirits high and team members who keep a healthy perspective on the situation.
So there we were in the Miami airport as our team leaders, Emily and Julie, frantically made preparations for our flight to La Paz, Bolivia...tonight. Unfortunately, our flight out of Chicago put us into Miami nearly an hour after our flight to Bolivia left. The airport is provided accommodations for the night and we trust this is only a blessing in disguise for those of us coming from a hard week of midterms and due dates.
With that said, please be in prayer for our focus. It would be far too easy to allow the devil a foothold but looking forward to the beach rather than our mission in Bolivia. Pray that we will take hold of every opportunity to evangelize even while we are still here in the states. The lady at the check-in, a world-traveling photographer, a third grade teacher, a baggage claim attendee--these are people who have already been positively affected by our witness. The Lord can truly work wherever we are.
Bolivia is not the confines of our mission this week. Pray that we remember that God is not limited by a location but rather take every opportunity to be a light in the darkness around us. We are tired, some grumpy, some overly enthusiastic, but we are all here for the same mission and that is to the serve the Lord wherever he has placed us.
By His Grace,
Laura Bobbett
After a four hour drive and a long flight, we made it to Amman! This is going to be short, because we're exhausted and need to be getting to bed, but wanted to make sure to let everyone know that we made it.
Fortunately the majority of us were able to catch a little sleep on the flight over. Once we touched down, energy levels were quickly boosted as we realized that we had finally made it to Jordan. Getting our visas and going through customs was an easy and fast process. Later, after checking into the hotel, we joined Jamal and his family for an amazing Jordanian dinner.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Time: 9:00 p.m.
Location: Hotel Oscar
Greece has finally welcomed us... after 25 hours of travel!
Our Indy to Detroit flight was a piece of cake, but after a four hour lay-over, we began a more interesting trek to Amsterdam! This plane ride included two meals; many games, movies, and music to choose from; eight hours of semi-attempted sleep; and an uncomfortable descent that left quite a few of our group members a little worse for the wear. Upon our arrival to Amsterdam, we weren't quite sure if we actually left Upland, IN - we landed in rain and waited for our next flight in snow. For the next three and a half hours we made our way to Athens. We were picked up from the airport in a double-decker bus by our driver, Eric, and slowly, through holiday weekend traffic, drove to Hotel Oscar. We had a few minutes to unpack before we met with Photis, our main host here in Greece; ate a delectable dinner; and have had a couple of hours to relax, recover from jet-lag, and enjoy the city.
As Photis gave us an overview of our time here, we've begun to get a feel of all that's in store. Tomorrow night (Saturday evening) we kick off our performance schedule, followed by two Sunday morning worship services and a Sunday evening concert! Despite the hectic schedule, many of us are looking forward to the Sonrise (denoting Christ's resurrection) service at the Acropolis on Easter morning. Until then, though, we have a good night's rest and will receive a fun-filled tour of Athens tomorrow!
--Mark Statler and Erin Hinnen
I'm one to start having travel anxiety a week before departure. I am also one to overpack-- by a lot. Both of these problems can cause quite a bit of worry and instability. Travel anxiety covers all of the freeting that goes on before driving to the airport. Overpacking anxiety begins before packing, and lasts until you get to the baggage check. "Did I go over the limit?" "Will a bright orange 'heavy' sticker get slapped on my bag?" "Will everyone point and laugh as I drag what appears to be a body bag along?" As I sit here and type the pre-departure blog, I can proudly say that I have not overpacked.
The other anxieties, however, have not been so easy to avoid. Last Friday night I woke up after 2 hours and was up the rest of the night. My mind kept boucing from fear to fear and I couldn't seem to quiet my thoughts. I gave up trying to "will" myself to sleep, and cracked open my Bible to read some verses out loud. One of the ones that stood out was 2 Corinthians 1:4
"God comfots, encourages, and consoles me in every trouble. He enables me to console others who need comfort"
My prayer for my teammates would be that we find ourselves save in our Father's arms tonight as we fall asleep. I pray that we feel comforted, encouraged, and consoled so that we are eager to show that same affection to those we are going to serve. Pray that we enter as humble servants, eager listeners, and passionate sharers of the faith. And also pray that I didn't go over the 70 lb. limit.
Leigh Anne
Healers always say
Whores and angels; men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted; separated
Orphans always say
War creators; racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers; fallen warriors
Givers always say
Pilgrim saints; lonely widows
Users always say
Fearful mothers; watchful doubters
Saviors always say... Oh my God"
I just listened to the song "Oh my God" by Jars of Clay and it is so perfect for our trip. If you haven't heard the whole song you have got to listen to it or at least check out the rest of the lyrics.
In one of our meetings a couple weeks ago, two professors from the sociology department came in and talked to us about what we should expect while in Chicago. One of the things they said that really ties in with, well everything, was that we should "seek to understand, not to be understood." Of course, that's the advice that scares me the most. Often, I just want to be heard, for someone to relate to me or listen to my problems. But this week we are encouraged to put ourselves aside and just listen to what these people- the ailing wanderers, whores, men with problems, orphans, and the watchful doubters- listen to what they have to say. It's going to be hard, but oh so worth it.
I think the thing that excites me the most about this trip is that it will stretch me way out of my comfort zone. Smelly, frazzled, homeless guy- not the first person I'd have a conversation with. And then to actually sit down and have a conversation with him. Oh man. But something inside me gets so pumped for this. It may be odd, but I am really ready to get out of this affluent, complacent hole called upper middle class living. I want to experience something else.
*God, this is something that has been on my heart a while. Open the eyes of the people on the team. Open the eyes of the people of Chicago. Help us to understand.*
Get pumped!! Only 12 more hours to go!!
-Sarah Scott
I thought I'd take a little break from my packing frenzy (or what is supposed to be a packing frenzy anyway) to give everyone a small update on our travel itinerary. We are slated to leave Taylor at 2:30 Friday morning to drive to the Indianapolis airport. The first part of our group (Austin, John, and the Lions members) will fly out at 6:45 am. They fly to Detroit, then Mexico City and should arrive there around noon. The rest of us (all the Taylor students, led by Arlene and Brad and Kelly Yordy) fly out at 8:05. We travel from Indy to Phoenix to Mexico City with an ETA of approximately 2 in the afternoon. From Mexico City we will take a bus to Santiago Tianguistenco. Basically, in a little less than 24 hours, we should all be in Mexico!!!!
As you may have noticed, leaving at 2 doesn't give a lot of time for sleeping tonight. I think most of us plan to stay up until then and then grab a few hours of sleep on the bus/in the airport/on the plane. Perhaps you could pray that we will all be rested by the time we actually have to start working. Also, I would venture a guess that my room is not the only one that currently looks like a war zone so wisdom for packing is also still a prayer request! ;)
Right now I am still having trouble realizing that this is actually going to happen. I have a feeling that it isn't really going to hit me until we get on the bus. I know one thing that I am trying to pray is that God will really open each of us up to the things that He wants to show/teach us while we are gone. Wow...it is so close! Thank you sooooo much for your prayers!!!!! We can't wait to see what God is going to do with us!
- Emily
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Indianapolis Airport
Starbucks Frappuccinos,
digital cameras,
Subway sandwiches,
scones,
and a single Indianapolis Star newspaper.
Yes...sure signs of the Indianapolis International Airport, where the Taylor Chorale is stationed for the next hour before our first flight leaves.
Our schedule so far, you ask? Well, let me just tell you a little of how our next 19 hours are going to pan out:
Flight from Indy to Detroit
Flight from Detroit to Amsterdam
Flight from Amsterdam to Athens
"Flight 1010 to Detroit now boarding."
Here we come.
--Mark Statler
But first, an excerpt by Joe Hamgeri, Jenny Wolcott, Matthew Hurst, Mark Statler, Dan Luy, and Dr. Rediger:
Here we sit on the brink of Greece
Excited for joys that will never cease
For who knows what may wait ahead
Like dreams lived awake instead of in bed
We're gonna be on 'the road' for 22 hours
Being brought to foreign lands by our loving God's powers
We will see things few people get to see
And be in places few people get to be
Keeping the view of the Parthenon in focus
Going together in formation, with purpose, like locusts
Finally it's coming into full bloom
We're comin' for ya Greece so make some room!
Wow, it's hard to believe spring break is already here!
Today we are leaving Upland behind to travel north. Wait a second, you're supposed to be going south you may say. And correct you are,but first we have the privilege to "bus"pool with the Jordan team to O'Hare.
Both teams should be leaving campus around 3pm. Once in the O'Hare area we are dropping off the Jordan team to catch their flight. If you want more info on the Jordan team visit their blog www2.taylor.edu/weblogs/springbreak/jordan. (copy and paste link)
Then we're headed off to a hotel for some team bonding, pizza and the ever important ZZZ's. And that's just phase 1!
Phase 2: Depart O'Hare to Jarabacoa!
This phase will start very early in the morning as we shuttle our team to the airport for our 4am check-in. Please pray specifically for traveling mercies, good spirits, and the avoidance of lost luggage! If all goes according to plan we hopefully will reach Jarabacoa around 4 or 5pm if my calculations are correct.
In Christ,
Brooke Jantzen
*written March 28
I'ts hard to believe that we are just days away from Jordan. After thinking about it since November, we can count the actual hours till we leave. Last night we had our last meeting at the Cramer's. Listening to each other's thoughts and stories, it became obvious that there's a ton of different thoughts going through everyone's minds.
For some there's feelings of great excitement-- it's finally here; we're so close to going! But to be honest, this has not been the feelings of the majority. Don't get me wrong; we're very excited to be going and getting this great opportunity, but there are also fears and apprehensions. Many of us are fighting to make it through this week with multiple midterms, presentations, papers, and events to plan--stress levels are high. It is hard to focus on preparing for this trip when there's so much that needs to get done before hand. I know I am looking forward to Thursday morning when everything will be done and turned in, and I'll be able to concentrate on what's ahead of us.
However last night's meeting was also a great source of encouragement. As a team, the thought of this trip costing so much for being there for such a sort amount of time has been a struggle. There's always thoughts of wouldn't it be better just to send all that money directly to Jordan so that more people can benefit? But last night Caleb and Mikey reminded us of the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with her precious perfume. This was a costly and expensive way just to show her love and sacrifice to Jesus. It seems that throughout his word, God gives extravagant demonstrations of his love. Perhaps we are called to do the same.
In midst of the apprehensions, fears, and hesitations about this trip, I think we are learning a little bit more of what it looks like to be Christ's body. From the get go, I have loved the fact that our team has been able to be open and honest with each other. We get to share in one another's joys, but also in the not so easy times. So many of us have felt the personal attacks from Satan targeted not only against us, but also against this trip. As difficult as those attacks have been/are, it was good to be reminded that we wouldn't be under attack if God wasn't up to something. I am always amazed of how I come away from our meetings feeling so encouraged and refreshed.
After reading all of that I don't want you to be deceived... we are so pumped to be leaving in a few short days! Seeing team member around campus makes the excitement well up within me. Believe it or not, we're going to Jordan!
Melesa McEwan
As we prepare to go to Russia, I feel this overwhelming excitement, yet anticipation of what all will go on in Russia. We are going to be working with the Russian orphans there. My heart has been broken and burdened as I have learned about the lives of these orphans. In Russia, they are discriminated against and thought of as sub-human. Around 95% of the orphans have living parents, but they were either abandoned by them or removed from their homes for different reasons. When babies are born, if there seems to be any abnormality of any type, they are advised to abandon their baby. There are right now about 1 million orphans in these institutions. The death rate in these orphanages is 2-3 times more than the average child due to disease from being medically neglected. There is no funding for the orphanages from the government, so the children are usually malnourished and have poor housing. Rape within the orphanages is very common. They influence hazing too whenever the children get out of line. In some of the orphanages, they allow the orphans to prostitute themselves, so that the headmaster can make money off of them. At age 18, the orphans have to leave the institution. Most cannot function in the real world though, since they were never taught to take care of themselves. They also have been physically, sexually, and/or emotionally abused. Once leaving the institution, statistics show that 80% of all orphans turn to prostitution to make money. Within the first year of being in the real world, over 10% commit suicide.
Once learning all of this, I just sobbed. I was so completely burdened for these orphans, and all that they have had to go through. I was overwhelmed by the evil and injustices that these children have had to live with. These past few days, I feared that my heart would just completely fail me when I entered these orphanages. I started to pray that God would strengthen my heart and prepare my team for this mission trip. I then came across Psalm 73:25-26, Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. This was just what I needed to hear from God. It was comforting to know that He will be the strength of our hearts and our portion forever. He will provide us the strength to love on these children and we will just have to trust in Him during these difficult times. Also, these verses apply to those precious little orphans. I know that they too can have God be their strength and their everlasting portion. I pray that many orphans will soon know that they have a heavenly father who loves them and will be there strength for them. It will be incredible to see how God is made known through these orphans in the next week to come.
Lauren Bournique
It is so hard to believe that we will be en route to Mexico in less than 30 hours! 16 Taylor students, 3 Taylor leaders, and 7 Lions Club members (including our fearless leaders John and Arlene Clester) will be spending our Spring Break in Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico providing eyeglasses to people who need them. The plan is to set up shop on Sunday, and bright and early Monday morning, the people will be lining up to receive their glasses. Members of our team will be running auto refractors (machines that test eyes...they look kind of like some sort of weird video game), picking glasses with the correct prescription, and fitting the glasses on the people. Ideally, we are going to put glasses on over 5000 people while we are down there. Wow!
5000 people...I guess that kind of puts things in perspective. Lately I've been feeling kind of apprehensive about this whole trip, being a little worried that I'm really going to mess something up or that maybe I shouldn't even be going on this trip. But when I think of basically giving sight to over 5000 people...well, that certainly seems important. I think it is going to be really awesome to be able to see such tangible results of our work.
We would love it if all of you would really keep us in your prayers from now until we get back. Please pray for wisdom as we pack, for safety and health in our travels, for team unity, and for the people we will minister to down in Mexico. Also, please pray for peace for all of us. I guess I'm speaking for myself, but I'm betting that a lot of the team is kind of nervous/apprehensive about the whole trip. Your prayers will be so greatly appreciated!
Stay tuned for more updates...
- Emily Fox
It is Monday. I am about to leave for our last spring break meeting at Jeff and Jane Cramer's house. I have to admit with three days left I feel completely ill prepared. This is strange because really we have done so much to get ready to go. We have completed presentations on history, economy, people groups, and culture. We even have a web site so that we are able to review facts. We have visited a Mosque and chatted extensively about Islam. We have sampled Middle Eastern food on multiple occasions. We have even learned a little Arabic. However, I am still so nervous and not ready to leave. I am in fact dreading it. I am so worried I will offend the Iraqi refugees and the Jordanian people. Our cultures are so different and really Americans/Christians do not have the best reputations in the Middle East.
However, regardless of my feelings, we leave in three days. I have to trust that God has ordained this trip. He knows every second, from the moment we leave Taylor on Thursday until we return the following Saturday. This is His trip, not mine. He is a God greater than cultural differences, than animosity, than fear, than any barrier that could and will be thrown at this team. He has brought together the perfect group of students and we should be ready to learn and to encounter Christ in powerful ways. So please pray for us to rely on God and to trust that although we do not know what will happen, He does.
Allison Maybray
The group of 55 students and faculty/staff are packing up for the trip which will leave around 10am Friday morning. The trip South will be made in five 12-passenger vans with a stop halfway for the weekend. A preview for the week includes: work projects, small group time, group meals, and a few fun activities but you'll have to come back to read more about those.
The DR team is really excited to head out on Thursday for our time in the DR. We are blessed to have 8 returning memeber from last year and we are extremely excited to be heading back. Please pray in the next few days for us as we pack and finish our our week of tests, papers, and classes strong.
Brooke Jantzen
Someone asked me recently where I was going to spend spring break this year. I told him I was going to Chicago. He congratulated me on picking a prime location for weekend festivities and general mayhem with my friends. "No," I had to explain. "It's a spring break trip. Kind of like a mission trip, except we're not leaving the country." My friend looked confused for a second, and then asked "Well, what are you going to DO?" I got slightly awkward when I realized that I didn't have an answer for him, because quite frankly, I don't know. Our team leaders aren't entirely sure either, but we know that it might involve homeless people, cold showers, gang violence, and Ben Taylor. All of these factors, we are told, will eventually gel together into some shapeless mass that is the Chicago trip; Ben Taylor was a bonus.
It is already days away from this impending masquerade, and I don't know where the time went. It feels like only yesterday that I met our team for the first time at dinner in the DC, where I went through the initiation ceremony of being force-fed by one of the girls; I'm not sure she recovered from the experience. We are told that this had something to do with learning to be a servant, and we will take their word for it.
Our leaders are three very sweet people (and by sweet, I mean sah-WEET): Ben Taylor, Deanna Ingerham, and Kyle Lantz, in no particular order. Besides the fact that they can and will cook food for us, Kyle and Ben have taken up the flag of years of past spring break trips and are shooting for the record of Worst-Smelling-Team-Leaders-Known-To-Man. The means to this grisly detail of our trip? 1) Using only one backpack to fill with clothes to wear on the trip, in order to conserve much-needed space in the vans, and 2) Sharing the backpack. Yes, we are impressed with the will power that it will take to not take their clothes out of the accursed backpack (which will have formed its own bio system by Day 3) and fervently wash them in the Chicago River. It will not matter that the river might still have a green tint to it after the St. Patrick Day festivities, but we will know when they cave in because they will come back with clothes that do not match anything except themselves, and, maybe, Green Lantern. So don't be surprised if you return from your spring break, Taylor students, and you see two burly men walking around campus with a neon green glow emanating from their pores. Just smile and nod.
We haven't even left yet and I am already anticipating more of the same excitement that has been part of our team meetings, again, thanks in large part to the Ben-Kyle combo. Deanna is like the mom, I think, because putting a bunch of students under their supervision for a week might have been akin to asking Jack Black to baby sit your five-year-old. Something will end up being destroyed, shredded, or whammied, in the name of Rock. I know that she has the skills to keep them under control, while they in turn keep us under control, because you have to have that kind of cool to be a hall-director. You can pray for her right now, and I mean NOW, as the sanity of this trip hangs in the balance in the person of Deanna Ingerham.
Until next time, heres to hoping there is a next time, assuming we don't end up washing clothes in the Chicago River all week long, though I am sure in one way or another, it would have something to do with integrating faith and learning. Chicago team, we're almost out of here!
-Adam Golder
Hola! Nos estamos yendo por Bolivia en cuatro días! That's right. The Bolivia team of 18 students, 1 grad student and 1 faculty member is headed out Friday afternoon from Chicago, flying to Miami, and arriving in La Paz, Bolivia early Saturday morning. Be praying for plenty of energy throughout this long process.
But before we leave, we are taking care of some major preparations. We have the opportunity to spend the majority of our time at the Alalay Orphanage in La Paz. When we're not rollin' up our sleeves during work projects, we'll be doing various activities with the children including organized games, coloring, math, crafts, and singing. Each of us is assigned to a specific task and are in the process of getting supplies for these activities. We're also hard at work on basic Spanish phrases which Dan Saldi has been patiently helping us with. As a Bolivian native, we're so grateful for him and his family welcoming us to their country.
The team as a whole is eager to just get there and serve alongside the Saldi's in ministry! Please be in prayer for health as a few of us have been fighting sickness and such. But God is good and I am confident he will give victory over these things that the enemy only wants to use to discourage us. Keep praying with us and I am excited to share more of what the Lord is going to do in Bolivia!!
By His Grace,
Laura Bobbett (on behalf of Bolivia SB 08!)
