Happy Birthday, Sare!

Happy birthday to my sister Sarah who has been the best oldest sister that I could ever imagine since the day I was born.... she took care of me when I was a baby, she taught me how to read and write, and some of my happiest memories are of visiting her when she was living in St. Louis, Missouri, after she got married. She is now the mama of four of my beautiful nieces and nephews, Will, Hallie, Tristan, and Olivia, and is still the most amazing oldest sister! I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Prayer Request

These past couple of days have been rather hard for me, as we've had some 'loco' (crazy) talks with some people that we are sharing the gospel with. On Wednesday nights I go with some of my YWAM friends on the "soup run" which is when we take soup, tortillas, and water to folks living on the streets in Antigua as a way to open up opportunities for friendships and to share with them. This past Wednesday was good but a little difficult. So I am writing right now to ask for you to pray for these dear people that we are sharing with. The Lord knows who they are and He knows their needs, please just pray that they would be accept life in Him and be set free! Also for everyone involved in this ministry, that they would have unconditional peace that can only come from Christ.

Thank you for your prayers.... much love and appreciation from Antigua!

"...The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

-James 5:16

"So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask Him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.

We also pray that you will be strengthened with His glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God's holy people, who live in the light. For He has rescued us from the one who rules the kingdom of darkness, and He has brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son."

-Colossians 1:9-13

Remembering

...My little brother Matthew Jeremiah who was born on this day 16 years ago, but went to heaven shortly after he came to be with us.

I can't wait to see my brother again!

Me, Andrew and Matthew, my sweet friend Suzanna, and Emily

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."

-Psalm 139:16

Happy Birthday, Story Anna!

My dear friends George and Joni are celebrating their youngest daughter's first birthday today! Happy birthday, sweet Story! You make life much happier :)

Answer the Cry

Mary Beth Chapman shared this on her blog and I wanted to share it.... click here and check out this video!

It's a Great Day to be Alive

My friend Suzanna started her last blog post with this: "Today is a day ended with legitimate gratefulness to be alive." And that's exactly how I feel!

Last Saturday I went to Pillar with my friends, a place where they like to play soccer and swim. This was my first time playing soccer and running (this much) since I broke my ankle, so I was a little apprehensive but it was good therapy for my ankle and for helping me get over hating soccer! Afterwards, we swam in the frigid swimming pool filled with water straight from the mountains. It's always fresh so it has no time to warm up! It felt great to all of us, though, and especially my ankle which was really feeling it from the running!

After church on Sunday, a bunch of us went to work in Pastores where there are houses being built for twelve families who lost their homes because of all the flooding. We spent the afternoon digging trenches, preparing for pipes to be laid. We had a great time getting dirty and getting a good workout..... and finding out that we were digging on an old cemetery. Yeah, that was weird! People were finding some bones as they dug and someone found a skull! Anatomy and Physiology class while we work!

The houses

Shoveling away...

Uh... did we dig too deep???

Hey....Carlos has a skull!

We ended the fun weekend by playing pool and foosball at a local restaurant. My friends are freakin' amazing at pool, and let's just say I'm working on it... my friend Carlos (who is pretty much a professional) is attempting to teach me... :)

Elisabeth went back to the States yesterday (for one day before she heads to the DR for a week!), so I'm on my own walking to school and such, but I'm having a great time. I love my classes and have met some really cool fellow students who also go to the same church as me. I'm beginning to be able to carry on more conversation with my teacher, and sometimes we talk about interesting topics... How I'm scared of bears at my house and she's scared of dogs on the streets at her house, how we don't think having debt in order have a nicer houses and cars and other stuff is a good idea, how she wants to have her second child soon but if she doesn't then she wants to adopt a baby, how babysitting is a good idea for practicing how to care for kids and know how to handle hard situations, how sometimes when we are sick we question why we have problems and why not somebody else, but how we shouldn't wish our suffering on anyone else and should trust that God knows why we go through what we do... and just about every other random topic, and I love it! And sometimes she brings me fruit from the trees at her house... Guatemala has some amazing fruits that I've never had in the States, like nisperos and granadias, for example. Oh, and I'm very happy to say that I beat her in Spanish Scrable! It was obviously all luck and no skill, but it was very exciting nonetheless!

I am so thankful to love what I'm learning and look forward to class each day. I can't imagine anything better and am continually grateful to the Lord for His provision in my life of a great place to live, learn, serve, and have a great church and community of friends.

Shout Out To Kids for the Kingdom!

Greg and Karen's visit to Bear Creek this past summer!

Some very dear friends of my family, Greg and Karen Dabel, run and amazing ministry called Kids for the Kingdom, which serves in many countries around the world. I was just reading their October newsletter that told about a story from Zimbabwe, and this is what it said:

“We just returned from the ‘bush’ in Zambezi Valley,” reports Kids for the Kingdom director Reuben Zivagwe. His team was making an exploratory trip into the interior of Zimbabwe for Christian outreach, needs assessment, and mercy projects. “We discovered many orphans and longsuffering people living in poverty and in constant fear of evil spirits.”

The trip into Zimbabwe’s ‘bush’ was a physical and emotional ordeal. “At night we were like ‘free food’ for lions and hyenas but we slept fairly safe in some abandoned huts. In the morning we stopped at the river for a bath and by God’s grace made it to Kotwa village by sunset.” Along the way they saw elephants, antelope, wild dogs, zebras, and dozens of orphan children wandering aimlessly in the bush. Their parents had died from disease or malnutrition, or had simply abandoned the children. “We set up a feeding station in Kotwa and provided meals for 200 hungry orphans.”

The Kids for the Kingdom team also wanted to share the Gospel in Kotwa. “At first we

were unsure what to do. The village was ruled by fearsome evil spirits,” said Reuben. “But to our

surprise the people were filled with gladness, brought us gifts, and begged to know why we came.”

When the village chief found out they had the ‘Jesus Film’ he insisted they project the

film on the largest outdoor white wall in the village – on the side of a local beer hall. “The chief was first to respond to the call to follow Jesus.” Many others accepted Christ.

With every newsletter that I read it is so encouraging to see what God is doing through Kids for the Kingdom, and I wanted to share this encouragement! K for K is a very worthy cause for storing our treasures in heaven and loving our neighbor as ourself.