The Lord is My Strength

Well, there were about 15 people at the dinner last night.  Honestly, I was disappointed that more people could not come, but I know that GOD IS GOOD.  The Eller family was so gracious to not only open up their home but also provide dinner and dessert.  I cannot thank them enough for their hospitality and for hosting last night.  The guests that He did send to the dinner were very supportive and positive. Thank you to the Eller's, the King family, the Whited Family, Lauren, Audrey, Katie, Lyanette, Pam and Kaylin for your support. 

Overall, the purpose of last night was to share with people what I believe God is doing in my life and His plans for me in the Dominican Republic over the next year and long term. Additionally, I wanted to get people to partner with me in prayer and financially.  At the end of the night, people pledged to donate, others agreed to remain prayerful for me, and I received 2 donations. And so, even though numbers were small, I feel loved, supported and blessed.  I am a true believer that while God's plan doesn't always look like ours, He has a tremendous plan far beyond what I can imagine.

I am hopeful that at my next two dinners, God will send more people to listen and to partner with me to help the kids in the Dominican!

Yesterday, my verse of the day was from Habakkuk 3:19.  It was the perfect message for me because I was a bit nervous about the dinner and articulating my feelings well.  And, God sent me this verse.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

He enables me to go on the heights.

Thank God for reminders like these. Any strength that we have comes from above.  We are only made strong by Him in our weakness.  When we realize that we cannot do anything on our own, and totally give up control to Him, He shows His power.  

Thanks be to God.

The Perfect Gift of Love

Well, it's Christmas!  The best day of the year... not because of presents, or the wonderful Hallmark Christmas movies, or the cold weather if you are anywhere outside of the south, but because on this day, God came to Earth in the form of baby Jesus so that we would be released 33 years later from sin.  The miracle of Jesus' life here on Earth is one that I cannot fully comprehend. Yet, I do know that my God loves me.  He showed it by sending His son to save me from all of the bad stuff that I do, think and say.  And that love is so undeserved.  It's the perfect example of how we should love one another -- even when the other person doesn't deserve it one bit... because ultimately, that is what God has done for us.  He sacrificed for us so that we could choose to accept that enormous gift and live here on Earth with hope and one day live with Him in Heaven!

My pastor passed this on to me from one of his sermons a few weeks ago.  I do not know where it came from, but I think it goes well with how we should love one another on this day and every day. 

People who love each other need to have something they can do for each other, and it will need to be something necessary, not something frivolous. You can't carry out a relationship on the basis of Christmas and anniversary and birthday presents. It won't work.

You do needful, useful things for each other, and that seems to me to be the way that a union is made...You're being made a partner by your partner's needs and the things that you're required to do to help...Love is not just a feeling; it's a practice, something you practice whether you feel like it or not. If you have a relationship with anybody - a friend, a family member, a spouse - you have to understand the terms of that relationship to do things for those people, and you do them whether you feel like it or not. If you don't it's useless...

This is what you learn as soon as you become a farmer, for instance. Once you get into a relationship with even so much as a vegetable garden, you realize that you have to do the work whether you want to or not. You may have got into it because of love, but there are going to be days when you are sick and you're going to have to do your work anyway. With animals, the work is even more inescapable. There's no way out if you have a milk cow, no reprieve...She makes the milk and you've got to go get it.

God's love for us was shown perfectly in what He did for us and continues to do for us each day -- even though we don't deserve it.  My prayer is that on this day, we would all remember what it truly means to love.

May we remember the true meaning of Christmas and that we have a God who loves us more than we can even imagine.

Dominican Dinners and Lots of Prayer

In less than a week, I will have my first fundraising dinner to try to raise awareness of what I will be doing in the Dominican Republic and to find people who want to partner with me in God's call to work with children, orphans and the poor.  Right now, I just need prayer that God will bring people to the dinner.  I have invited Wesleyan graduates and their families from the classes of 2009 and 2010 who either were on mission trips, in Bible studies or just were close to me through the years and kids from later classes who traveled to the Dominican Republic with me in 2009 and 2010.

Following this dinner, I will have 2 more for friends from church (February) and Wesleyan faculty and teachers (March).  I will also contact other friends and family along the way either in person or through letters.

Please pray that people will be in town and will RSVP for the dinner that Mrs. Brenda Eller and her family are so graciously hosting.  Also, please pray that people's hearts will be open to support me in God's call for my life to help spread His word through the ministry of education.  And last, please pray that I will get the details together to be able to express myself well over the next few months.  I am fully confident that it is God's will that I go to the Dominican Republic.  My prayer is that I will fully trust Him and not doubt.

God has been putting this verse on my heart over the last two weeks:  I pray that I can have faith and fully trust in what I cannot see.  [Faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1]

If you are interested in attending a dinner, please check out this invitation and RSVP or email me.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0849AEA729A46-dinner

Lead, and I Will Follow

I haven't written since this summer.  The truth is, quite a bit has happened since then and finally, the news is public so I can write more candidly about where God is leading me.  In close to 6 months, I will be leaving for the Dominican Republic to work there as a missionary.  Lots has happened to lead me there.  I have never been so sure of God's will for my life than I am now, and yet there are feelings of fear, of being overwhelmed, and moments of awe of what God can and has shown me and just how abundant He is.

To write about His blessings in this process would be a task, as God has blessed me with a wonderful group of people who have prayed for me for a long time. They have prayed about my fears, for clarity, for the details, and much more.  I am so grateful for them.  In addition to prayer, they have supported me by designing cards, giving advice, helping me budget, downloading pictures, creating my blog, stuffing envelopes, and just listening when I am scared or overwhelmed.  God has blessed me more than I can express and through the people He has put into my life and the small moments, I realized His power.  I truly wonder what His complete plan is, and I cannot wait to follow His lead.

I am still reading through the Bible and find myself in the beginning of 1 Samuel.  Samuel has shown his dedication to the Lord as a judge, his sons have become judges, but are not leading lives that follow God, and the Israelites have proclaimed their strong desire for an earthly king.  It strikes me that God, even knowing the freedom that will be lost in them having a king, still allows them to make the choice to get one.  But, God chooses the king for them... Saul.  Saul, while tall in stature, comes from the smallest clan and is completely unsuspecting.  He even wonders why God would choose him to be King.  Well, flipping forward a bit, I realize that Saul doesn't even live the life that God had planned for him.  He throws it away.  In the words of Samuel, Saul acts foolishly and does not keep God's command.  God chose Saul and has ideas of establishing Saul's kingdom over Israel for all time, but Saul, not knowing God's full plan, is fearful and thus disobeys. As a result, God grieves and eventually chooses another leader in Saul's place.

I rejoice in knowing that God has chosen me to help further His kingdom. While I cannot see the end result of God's plan, I really want to follow His lead.  I know that God is calling me.  I want nothing more to step into His will.  While I fear and while it may seem like a crazy idea to step out of such a comfortable life to live in a foreign land with mostly strangers, to live with inconsistent electricity, to be dependent on others to support God's plan for my life, and to be away from my family and close friends, I know that God's will has clearly been revealed to me.  I will follow.  After all, by stepping into God's will, I am proclaiming my faith, that I am sure of what I hope for and certain of what I am yet to see.  And, I know that if I do not follow God's plan, He can and will give it to someone else for His will be done!

In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel rebukes Saul for not following through with God's plan and disobeying with these words:

Does the Lord delight in burnt offering and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice

and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination.

and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord

he has rejected you as king.

I want nothing more than at the end of my life when I meet God face to face for Him to smile and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant.  Well done."  May He continue to lead me down His path, and may he provide me with the strength, courage, and faith to follow wherever that path may lead. -AMEN.

He iS iN CoNTRoL

Well, I have been back now for a little over a week, and it's crazy how life here gets back to normal so quickly.  Last year, when I came back I remember the quick culture clash of reading facebook and learning about everyone else's life and being hit with feelings of jealousy and envy really quickly, feelings that I hadn't had since I left this place.  After being gone for over a month, upon my return, I now am overwhelmed with busy-ness, knowing that in a few weeks, that will only hit me more.  I already find myself having to really figure out when in my schedule I put reading and prayer, something that was really easy over the last few months.  Lord help me to have energy and to continue to desire to be in your Word every day -- especially in the mornings, as it really focuses my day.  Also, I am stretched with thinking about how I spend my money and how I can use those funds to benefit others instead of myself.  This is something that weighs on my heart a lot, but that I especially have been thinking about since I returned this year.  May God take that part of my life in His hands.

I am hoping to more consistently blog about what I am learning through my daily readings.  This past summer, I finished Acts, Romans and led a Bible Study on Philippians.  Then, I started reading Genesis.  Currently, I am in Exodus and am thus reading about Moses.  The overall story of Moses strikes me as very interesting and useful because over and over again, Moses' distrust, unfaithfulness, fear and doubt come out through his conversations with God.  But, God is faithful and has Moses, his life, and His people in his hand.  While reading Exodus, I am reminded over and over again that God is in control.

Right now, I am in chapter 14 where Moses and the other Israelites are in the desert after having fled Pharoah and the Egyptians who had them enslaved.  They flee.  God tells Moses to camp out near the sea because He is planning to harden Pharoah's heart and make him doubt why he has let them go.  God tells Moses not to worry, though, because all that happens will end up bringing glory to Him.  And in verse 31, it does.  Moses raises his staff and the sea parts.  The Israelites escape on dry land and the Egyptians are swallowed up by the sea.  Even the Egyptians realize that God is fighting for the Isrealites and have fear (v. 25). 

When reading this, some key points that I want to remember are:

First, God told Moses in verses 13 and 14, "Do not be afraid.  Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today."  He also said, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."  During difficult times, I need to remember that I need to trust in the Lord and let Him fight my battles.  It's not that I cannot do it on my own, but rather that I cannot do it at all.  I need to surrender all of my worries, all of my battles to Him. 

Secondly, we should trust in God's power and realize that everything that happens God has control over and ultimately, He will be glorified.  In this part of Exodus, the Egyptians feared (v. 25) and the Israelites both feared and put their trust in the Lord because of what they had seen (v. 31).  I pray that I continually fear Him and trust Him and realize the power that He has -- more than I can ever imagine.

Thanks be to God!

FoR i KNoW THe PLaNS i HaVe FoR YoU

This week has already brought about some more prayer requests.  Please pray for the following ministries.

On Saturdays I have been participating in Kids Club at a local church.  Basically, there are about 50 kids who come to church, have a snack, Bible Lesson and then play games.  I help out with the lesson and games as needed.  Next to that church is a Boys Orphanage called Josiah's House (named after a 19 year old boy who was killed in a car accident years ago.  He loved the Lord and thus a church named the boys’ home after him).  At Josiah's house, there is room for 32 boys.  Eventually, there will be 4 homes, but right now there are 2, one in which missionaries are living while raising 4 boys.  Previously, I have gotten to hang out with the boys both here at SCORE and during Kids Club, but this past Sunday I also got to attend church with them and meet the missionaries who are raising them.  They are incredible.  After being here for one year with the boys the boys now are able to read (upon coming to the home they were illiterate) and they seem very well nourished and overall happy.  Most importantly, they are learning the word of God.  My prayer for this ministry is that God would continue to provide the missionaries with endurance and soft hearts for these boys, that the boys would continue to learn how to read, and that God would continue to provide avenues for them to learn more and more about Him.  There is a possibility that I may stay at Josiah's house this weekend to learn more about the ministry.  Please pray for that time as well.

Today, I returned to my bi-weekly visit to Emanual House (yes, it is actually spelled with 1 “m” as it would be spelled in Spanish) where school is back in session since yesterday.  With about half of the kids back at school without chicken pox, I was able to get a glimpse of a normal day. My day took a turn though when we went on a few house visits to check on some families.  We went to one house and eventually found out that the mother of 4 had been abused by her husband just Sunday after he came home drunk late Sunday night.  He had cut her face (fortunately not too deep) with a machete and had threatened both her life and the lives of her children.  After praying for the family and for guidance, we went back to Emanual House, spoke with Mirqueya (she really is an angel) and we eventually left with the entire family before the husband got home from work.  The family, without even milk for the 7 month old baby nor a change of clothes, fled.  According to the mom, she has endured 10 years of physical abuse, but this time was just really afraid because he said he was going to kill her and the children.  After taking the family to a center for domestic violence in a nearby city, we have brought the family to the complex where I am staying where they will be safe for a few days.  The kids swam in a pool for the first time, were fed a full meal, and had plenty of water (all commodities that they are not privy to on a day to day basis).  My prayer is for a long-term solution for this family.  While they don't have much, they left it all.  I am not sure if or how they will be able to get the little belongings that they do have.  Second, please pray for the health of the little ones.  The kids are 7, 6, 3 and 7 months.  The smallest one, while 7 months old, appears to be about 3 or 4 months old due to his malnutrition.  He also has some health problems.  Please pray for their health.  Pray for the mother, who must stay strong for her children, but I know this must be very hard for her.  Pray for her to lean on the Lord for strength.  Also, please pray for safety.  No one really knows how far the father will go. Pray that the family will stay safe.  Lastly, pray for the people, including pastors and psychologists at the domestic violence center, who are working to help this family long term.  Pray for wisdom and discernment.

As for me, please pray for continued peace in my work here. Pray for humility, patience and compassion.  I cannot believe that this time is winding down, but I am hopeful that in these last two weeks, I will be able to be completely present. 

HoMe SWeeT HoMe

Well, almost a year after having written on my blog, I find myself  back working at SCORE International as an intern.  I decided this year not to bring my computer, but after having been here for over two weeks, there is a lot that I want to share, and thus, I am going to write when I get the chance to use someone's computer.

First and foremost, I want to say that God is so good.  Being here has given me an abundance of time to read the Word and pray and just focus on everything that I do -- and doing it for the Lord.

When I first arrived here, I instantly felt at home.  I was greeted by Ryan and Margaret, two missionaries who I met in past years.  Then, when I arrived at the complex where I am staying, I was constantly greeted by familiar faces.  I saw my dominican family and had the opportunity to spend the night with them as well. My first week was spent with a team from Chapel Hill, NC -- a group of kids many of whom I knew from last summer.  


Well, while I could go on and on about my experiences here since the day I arrived, instead, I am going to tell some prayer requests that I have...


First, I am working twice a week with children at a ministry called Lily House.  Lily house is basically a safe house for former prostitutes and their children.  These ladies want to get off of the streets and the missionaries here are working with them to provide a home and teach them how to make jewelry to sell for money in lieu of selling their bodies.  Please pray for this ministry.  Juan Dolio, which is the city in which I am living, is rampant with prostitutes.  Prostitution looks a little different here than in the United States.  Yesterday, one of the missionaries showed me three prostitutes in the middle of the day... dressed in shorts and tank tops.  They looked young -- no older than 16 or 17.  I couldn't believe it!  Please pray that these girls would find work and that they would find worth in themselves enough not to sell their bodies.  May God soften their hearts.  Also, please pray for the ladies in Lily House and their children.  I am working there twice a week spending time with the kids to help them with reading and math.  They are sweet kids.  Please pray that God provide for me activities to do with them, that He give me the words to explain in Spanish, and that my relationship with these kids would grow and grow so that He can use me to share the gospel with them.  The kids' names that I am working with are Brandy, Evelyn, Magi, Daniel, and Jennifer.  Please pray especially for Magi.  He is 12 and hasn't been in school for 2 years.  His reading level is probably at the level of a 1st or 2nd grader.  But, he is so smart -- Pray that these last few weeks will impact his abilities!!


My next prayer is for a place called Emmanual House.  I have had the opportunity to go there three times thus far and should be going twice a week regularly for the remainder of my time here.  Emmanual House is located in Quisqueya which is a city about 30 minutes outside of Juan Dolio.  The people seem to be very friendly and very poor -- some being the poorest in the district.  Many of the kids can't go to school because in Dominican Republic, if you do not have a birth certificate, you cannot attend school. It is an area lacking electricity, water and often food. But, God sent them an angel -- Mirqueya.  She started a school out of her house years ago, where she was educating 55 kids in her one-room apartment.  This ministry was then picked up by SCORE and a famous baseball player (Sorano??) and now has moved to a two-story building.  She is in charge of 100 kids. There she, along with a staff of teachers, and people who truly love kids, educate, feed and show love to them.  I have fallen in love with Emmanual House and what it stands for!  Pray for Mirqueya, she has had some minor health problems recently.  Pray for the health of the kids.  Many only eat when at Emmanual House, many don't have water at home and many are sick at home now with the chicken pox.  After two weeks of being closed because of so many people with chicken, the healthy kids will come back on Monday.  Please pray that when we do house visits on Friday, we will find more healthy kids than sick ones.  Pray for Andy, a new missionary from the states who has been working at Emmanual House for four months and is now in charge of helping organize, raise support, and find sponsors for the kids.  Please pray for the kids to each get sponsored.  The goal is to have each child have 3 sponsors.  Once this happens, they can grow the ministry to help even more children.  Please pray that God would use me in this ministry for the remainder of my time here and even when I come home.


My third prayer and awesome ministry that I have been involved with is the little girl that I sponsor here, Nicole.  She is 9 and she lives at an orphanage about an hour away in a city called La Romana.  The orphanage houses somewhere between 150 to 200 girls.  You can imagine the energy, I'm sure. I met Nicole last year and started sponsoring her around Christmas this past year.  She is beautiful inside and out, loves the Lord and sings!!!  I have had the opportunity to see her twice sense I have been here.  This Friday she will be singing in a competition.  Supposedly, she is one of the favorites.  I do not have a grasp on how old the other people are that are in the competition, but this Friday is the final round.  Pray for humility for her and that she would sing to God's glory!  Also, she is in the orphanage because her mother is dead and her father does not take care of her -- or even call her.  (I do not know the whole story.)  She did tell me that before arriving at that orphanage, she was bounced around between other family and lived in another orphanage.  Please pray for her continued safety at the orphanage, pray for her growth in relationship with Christ, and just that she would feel loved by me, by those around her and mostly by God.

My final prayer is just for the SCORE staff (me included).  Pray for endurance, energy, and joy when doing His work!