if.

"If the moment I am conscious of the shadow of self crossing my threshold, 

I do not shut the door, 

and in the power of Him who works in us to will and to do, 

keep that door shut, 

then I know nothing of Calvary love."

"If the praise of man elates me and his blame depresses me; 

if I cannot rest under misunderstanding without defending myself; 

if I love to be loved more than to love, to be served more than to serve,  

then I know nothing of Calvary love."

~Amy Carmichael, missionary to India 

home for a little while.

I am home from training.

For a little while.

At the beginning of February, due to a couple of freezing days in El Paso, pipes burst and our house flooded.  The house to which I have returned is beautiful!  The richness of color now invading every room and the blending of new styles of fabrics is fascinating and enchanting.  I love it!  But along with being so fresh and new and beautiful, it is also different.

It is different.  But not in a bad way.  I am so glad that God brought the flood, because along with it He brought newness and inspiration for cleaning!  It is different.  And as I lay looking at the newly painted ceiling in the new twin/trundle bed in my new room, I thought how the house is such a picture of my life right now.

Change.
Out with the old, in with the new.
Transition.
Living uncomfortable to move toward something better.
New.

One of my brothers in Christ spoke up during our wrap-up session at training.  He shared with us that he had learned that there is a difference between "house" and "home."  House is a building, that is familiar and comfortable, and carries with it the idea of safety and security.  But a home is more.  Home is being with people you love.  Home is peace.  Home is anywhere that God is in control and He is the focus of the heart(s) there.  Houses can be destroyed, but homes stand.  Houses can change often; home can change, but it remains.  One couple mentioned that the new house in their new country where they are going soon will be their 23rd house.  But home, for this couple, is each other.

I have returned home for a little while.  The house has changed, but my home has not.  I am so thankful to God for these 11 days to spend with my family and friends.  I have thought that saying goodbye to them soon is leaving home.  But God is always with me.  And He is leading me to a new home with Him.  My comfort is in God.  And home is with my family in Christ in spirit no matter where I am.

Though I am leaving for Kenya for two weeks, and then Zambia for a month, and then finally to Sudan for two years, I am not leaving home.  It will just be different.  In a wonderful way!

DC report.

Our DC trip went wonderfully!

When we arrived and the buses dropped us off at Union Station, I was very motion sick.  Not fun.  But I was surrounded by helpful friends who gave me peanut butter crackers, dramamine, water, and a ginger ale.  After walking around the station for a little while, I began to feel much better!

We stayed in Union Station observing internationals for about thirty minutes.  While we were standing in the middle of the lobby, two acupuncture students approached me and another woman on my team (A) and asked if they could take our pulses.  They have to take 40 pulses every day for their classes!  We said yes, and we began talking to them as they found our pulses.  I talked to Holly for a while, asking her questions about acupuncture.  Apparently, there are five types of acupuncture, and only one of those, the one used in Japan, is of a spiritual nature.  She asked what we were up to, and I shared how I am moving to East Africa to teach kids, teach AIDS education, and to share the love of Jesus.  When she heard I was going to Sudan, she responded with a high pitch, excited "oh!" followed by a much lower, scared-sounding "Oh."

"Are you nervous?" she asked.
"No, God has given me a real peace," I said with a huge smile on my face.

After she finished taking my pulse, Asia, who just finished taking A's pulse switched with Holly and took my pulses too.  (I say pulses, because they were feeling at least 12 arteries that lead to 12 major organs therefore taking 12 pulses.)  Asia was a Christian (A had actually prayed with her), and she shared how excited she was that we were going to East Africa to share Christ there.

It was lunch time, so we rode the metro to the area of the city around Embassy Row.  We ate lunch at El Khartoum, a Sudanese/Middle Eastern restaurant, where we met a Kenyan man named Robert.  I talked with him a little in Swahili and then A's family spent time asking him about Kenya as they are headed there in just a few days!

I ate chicken shawarma.  Check out my beautiful plate!

 Yum!
And guess who I got to see...my dear friend Jessie!!!
Aw... just look at us in our St. Patrick's Day green.

After saying goodbye to Jessie, my group went around the corner from the restaurant on the way to find one of our embassies.  T stayed behind and talked to Robert about his faith.  He said that he wants to follow the Lord and accept Him as his Lord and Savior; he was just not ready.  Please lift up Robert in prayer, that he'd follow through with the Holy Spirit's tug on his life.

We finally found the Kenyan embassy and were invited inside.  After receiving some pamphlets on Kenya, another man, named Jeremy, came inside and started greeting us.  He thought one of the kids' names was Jonathan and said, "You know, that reminds me of a story about a Jonathan whose best friend was David."  Then, he proceeded to share with the us the Bible story of Jonathan and his faithful friendship to David, who would later become king.  T was shocked!  "Do you read the Bible?"

"Yes, I am a Christian."
T replied, "We are followers of Jesus as well!"
Jeremy was so excited and asked if he could pray for all of us.  He took us back to the conference room of the Kenyan embassy to pray.  While there, he told us two more Bible stories about the Good Samaritan and the Woman at the Well.  He encouraged us and then prayed for us.  He asked God that He would use us like large stones dropped in water, that we would be the voice of Christ that ripples to the people of East Africa, and that many would hear the truth about Jesus Christ and turn and follow Him.

After leaving the embassy, it was time to head back to the buses at Union Station.  From other teams, we heard other crazy stories!  One group saw President Obama.  Another group wrote down the license plate number of a hit and run and then was able to share the gospel with the woman whose car was hit.  Finally, another guy headed to Europe to work with college students, thinking that there was no way he'd meet college students from his country, ran into three young college guys from his country in the metro station!  He shared the gospel with them and got contact information!  God works in wonderful ways!

Thank you for praying.  The trip was a great way to start putting into practice everything we learned in these two months of training.

Please keep praying as training finishes up on Wednesday, March 23rd.  And for all the goodbyes and transitions we are all facing soon.   Thank you, and God bless!

Off to DC tomorrow!

Tomorrow my small team headed to East and South Africa in a couple of weeks are going to Washington DC for the day!

Please pray for encounters with people from the area of the world to which we are headed.
Pray for open doors that we may share the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ with those we encounter.
Pray that we would, that I would, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance and leadership, and that He'd lead us to the people He's prepared to hear truth tomorrow.
Pray for safe travels and good behavior from all the kiddos.
Pray that we can learn about culture and language from the East and South Africans we meet.

Thank you so much!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

a week of celebration.

This past week during training was full of celebrations.  Why, you ask?  Because in my small group and in my quad, there were three birthdays!!!!!!

Here is me with one of my cakes at my small group leaders home!  I also got brownies from my family, chocolate from a family in my quad, Reese's from my small group, and a cheesecake from another friend from my small group!  As you can tell, there is no shortage of sweets at #24A.  :)

And these are progressive snapshots of me putting on an African headscarf with the help of my small group leader.  Nifty, huh?

*If you happen to be in Virginia anytime soon, please stop my quad for some dessert!  And maybe I will teach you how to wear an African headscarf too!  :)

real faith.

In a certain country, there was a man who had to walk three days to church.  Because of the distance and of the possibility of dangerous roads, this man, whom I will call Faithful Man, started worshipping with his wife and sons in his home.  Slowly, more and more believers gathered together will him to pray, sing, and read the Word of God.  The number grew to twenty-five, and police came to a meeting warning Faithful Man to stop having church in his home.  Faithful Man could not understand.  This was not a church.  It was not a fancy building, and he was definitely not a pastor.  How could they accuse him of having church?

The gathering of believers continued to meet.  There was fifty people, and again, the police came warning him and telling him to stop holding church.  He still stood against them.  But his picture of church began to change.  Maybe this was what real church was?  Then, there were seventy-five people in his home.  The police stormed in and this was the end.  They took Faithful Man from his family and dismissed the believers.

Faithful Man was put in prison.  For seventeen years.

He underwent torture year after year and was lied to often about his family and friends.  But Faithful Man was faithful.  Alone in his cell, he would wake up every morning, face the window, raise his arms, and sing praises to God in his heart language.  The other prisoners, over 1200 of them, would throw extra food at him and curse and mock in their languages.  But every morning, he continued to worship his God.

Also, whenever he found a scrap of paper, he would write down as many verses from God's Word and songs from his language to God as he could remember.  He would stick it up high on the pillars in his cell.  It would stay there until the soldiers found it and ripped it to shreds and then tortured him.

All that Faithful Man had to do to get out of prison was sign a paper saying that he was not a follower of Christ.

One day, Faithful Man found an entire piece of paper.  He filled it entirely with verses and songs.  He knew they would find it in his cell, but it was such a wonderful thing to be able to write so much at one time.

Then, the darkest hours of his life came.  After they found the paper, they lied to him saying that his wife was killed.  He thought his life was over.  After fighting and resisting all day, he finally gave in, believing his wife had died, and said that in the morning he would sign the papers.

That night miles and miles away, Faithful Man's wife and children and brothers and sisters in Christ felt his heavy burden and were praying fervently for him.  And miles and miles away from them, the Holy Spirit allowed Faithful Man to hear their voices praying for him.  He heard his wife praying for him.

The soldiers came in the morning.  Faithful Man told them he would not sign.  He had a weak moment, but he could not surrender to a lie.  He was a follower of Christ and would follow Him no matter the cost.  The soldiers could not stand it anymore.  They were dragging him out of the prison hallway on their way to kill him...

...when over 1200 prisoners faced their windows, raised their arms, and sang praises to God in their heart language.

The soldiers were so terrified that they let go of Faithful Man, left him immediately, and ran far away.  And Faithful Man was able to live to tell his story of His God.

"Then He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

This is REAL FAITH.

Could you stand for Jesus Christ in the depths of a living hell?    He stood for you.

a poem from a training session.

"The Cross Was His Own"

They borrowed a bed to lay His head

When Christ the LORD came down;

They borrowed the ass in the mountain pass

For Him to ride to town;

But the crown that He wore,

And the cross that He bore ...

Were His own.

He borrowed the bread when the crowd He fed

On the grassy mountain side;

He borrowed the dish of broken fish

With which He satisfied;

But the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own.

He borrowed the ship in which to sit

To teach the multitude;

He borrowed the nest in which to rest,

He had never a home so rude;

But the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own.

He borrowed a room on the way to the Tomb

The Passover lamb to eat;

They borrowed the cave; for Him a grave;

They borrowed the winding sheet.

But the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own.

The thorns on His head were worn in my stead,

For me the Saviour died.

For guilt of my sin the nails drove in

When Him they crucified;

Though the crown that He wore

And the cross that He bore

Were His own--

They rightly were mine!

 ~Author unknown