Panama Extreme Trip 2010

I went on my first Extreme trip March 13th through the 21st. Boy, was it EXTREME. Typically an Extreme trip consists of hiking and camping in the village in which the team does ministry. That is exactly what happened. Hiking galore! Camping, yes! This was not what I meant by extreme. I learned a valuable lesson on this trip: "Wants vs. Needs". I did not have my luggage for the entire trip and I was not feeling well for most of it. The very amazing part was that everything I NEEDED my team had extra or I had in my carry-on. Everything I WANTED didn't really matter after the first day. The ministry carried on despite the lack of supplies. :)

Here are some pictures of this trip:

This is the surrounding area of where we camped for the week. We were tucked into a valley. It was very windy and when the winds began to kick up it swirled around this little valley like a tornado.


On our way to Escopeta (the village I worked in during the week), this was the bridge we crossed over. VERY menacing at first glance, but surprisingly sturdy.

On our way to Escopeta:
Escopeta:Children's ministry in Escopeta. Bala (one of our team) is sharing the cube, while Bridget (our amazing translator) translates:This boy walked with me on our 45 minute, uphill hike (that nearly killed me). He decided to chat away with me in Spanish while grabbing on to my backpack as we walked up said hill in the heat. He got bored of me when I said one to many times, "I'm not quite sure what that word means. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."On our last day of ministry, we gathered 'round for some baptisms. Oh how I love a good baptism! I cried like a baby. :)Mom and daughter after they were baptized:
The four who were baptized:
Bala and friends (too cute!):Kid-a-palooza. These kids would smile and laugh until you clicked your camera (except for the girl in the red dress---Good job!):Try number 2:More kidlettes:
Ok, I know you're not suppose to have favorites, but I couldn't help it. Introducing (from left to right) Anna (or Miss Anna Banana as I called her) and her sister Diana:

Anna Banana and me with my CRAZY missionary hair. Super crazy because of the heat AND the wind:
Thank you SO much for your support of me on my trips to share God's love and the good news of the Gospel!! (can't figure out why this is blue and underlined, but I can't get rid of it either--Oh technology!!) :)

Kenya 2009

This past November I went with a team of 9 people to Nanyuki, Kenya. I was able to go with 3 friends that work with e3 Partners and my friend Holly from California. It was really a great trip and I was so blessed! Here's my team that I worked with for the week (Mercy, Holly and Pastor John):

On this trip we had an eyeglass clinic. People could come and try on reading glasses and pick a pair out free of charge. After they could stay for spiritual counseling. We spoke to one man as he was trekking up the hill. We told him about the eyeglass clinic and with a sigh, he turned around and went down the hill. Later on we saw him walking back up the hill, smiling and waving at us. We asked him if he got his glasses and I told him to try them on so I could take a picture. Here he is:This is David:He was one of the first people I shared the gospel with on this trip. I came to find out that David was a believer and was so happy that I was sharing the gospel in his area. I found myself talking with a lot of people in this area who were believers. I encouraged them to be the shining light in their community. Please pray for David that he can be used by God in his neighborhood.

Halfway through the week we had the privilege to go to a hospice. There were people with AIDS, cancer, many neglected elderly people, homeless and one man with leprosy. We shared our testimonies, the gospel and sang songs together:

The man on the left of this last picture (green shirt) was a homeless man. The nun who is in charge of this facility told me that he had never known love. I was shaking his hand when she told me this and right after he hugged me with the biggest hug (I bawled my eyes out).

On our last day, Pastor John said, "I feel like we need to go into this house." So we went. As Mercy was sharing with the family outside:

Pastor John was talking to the man of the house inside. I went in to give Pastor John a tract and when I did I met the man Pastor John was talking to. He had been very involved in the government and was a very dedicated Muslim. I asked him a lot of questions and he answered and argued with me. I tried not to have an argument with him but to ask him what he thought about Jesus, God the Trinity, etc. It was very interesting. By the end of our conversation he said, "I am not prepared for you and I don't think you are prepared for me." He was right. I asked him if I could pray for him. He said no. I said that I would pray for him later then. :) He said he would pray that God would send me to northern Kenya to talk to the pagans there. I wondered why he would want me talking to them since I wasn't Muslim. I found out later that it is VERY unsafe for North Americans to enter northern Kenya. Ha! :) Here he is:

At the end of the day we spoke with a man named Peter who wanted us to pray for him. He said his life has been destroyed because of his alcohol and tobacco addiction. Pastor John and I prayed for him and when we were done he gave us his bag of tobacco and said he didn't want it around him anymore. Please pray for Peter. We gave him the name of the pastor of the new church that is now established in his community so that he could get some more help with his struggles.

What a great trip!! So many people blessed my life.

Panama '09

Last year I had technical difficulties with my Panama pictures. Not this year!!! I've got some great pictures and great stories.

I went to Panama with a church group from Atlanta. I didn't know any of them, but by the end of our journey I came away with some wonderful friends. We broke up into 4 teams of 3. My team worked in two different locations. The name of these places were: Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) and Nueva Vida (New Life). How amazing are those names?!?!

Here are some pictures of a service at Nueva Esperanza. This was a church that had children attending. The pastor and leadership of the church had been there for years inviting the parents to come and they just continued to send their children. They had no interest in coming and thought the church was only for the kids. This was our challenge in the area. Scroll down to see what God did:

After our 4 days at this site we had a discipleship group with eight adults in the community as well as several in hope discipleship visits!! Praise God!

One very special story involves the man in the wheelchair that you can see in the last picture. His name is Luis and he had no legs and about 6 fingers in total. A group of us went to his house one day and ended up staying there for close to an hour. While we were there he shared his life story with us about how he came to be in his wheelchair. He seemed to have had many stories about how God had spoken into his life, but also his issues with the church. At one point he had vowed never to go into a church again. Lately, he said he had been feeling like he should go back, but every time he wanted to the enemy would throw something in his way. I shared with him (as with about 80% of the people I spoke to in Panama) about the prodigal son and how just as the father was waiting, looking for his son, our Heavenly Father was waiting and looking for them, longing for the day He could see them coming home.

As you can see, Luis did come back to church. In fact, he spoke with me after the service that night. He said, "Do you remember when I told you that I would never go back to church? I think that there was a reason that you came to Panama and stopped at my house and spoke to me. Now I'm in church!" I told him, "That was completely God that brought me here and had us meet."

Please pray that Luis will continue to grow in Christ and that his family will also be a Godly light in their community.

Here's some shots of the fun I had with the kids that night:

On our last day in Nueva Esperanza a few of us were sitting with a little girl. I talked to her about the color bracelets that share the gospel. I shared it with her and said that when I give her the bracelet I wanted her to share the story with a friend. Then I gave her another bracelet. It just so happened that a friend of hers dropped by. Now was her chance to shine!!!! She shared the gospel bracelet with her friend and then had her friend say it back to her. Her friend got an extra bracelet to share. Even the children can be disciples!!!

Our second location was Nueva Vida. This area had very steep dirt roads. During the next few days we encountered a lot of apathetic people and were also met with some extreme weather conditions.

We were still able to share with many people. This was our church in Nueva Vida:

These were some of our team in Nueva Vida:

World Conference: 2009

I had such a great week in Texas at the e3 World Conference. There were many celebrations, many reunions and many changes. Here's a glimpse:

Celebrations:

*This year is the 10th anniversary of the EvangeCube. This is a tool we use to help in evangelism. You cannot be truly impressed by this until you see how God uses it while sharing the gospel to others. Here are some exciting statistics:

3,474,693 EvangeCubes have been distributed worldwide.

320,577 nationals have been trained in how to use the EvangeCube.

2,222,531 direct gospel presentations given using the EvangeCube in just the last 4 years!

13,098 new churches planted as a result of those gospel presentations.

From a little cube!!!

*Another thing we are celebrating is the new launch of I Am Second. This is a powerful media tool having people from all walks of life share why they are second because God is first in their lives. Please check out this amazing website: http://www.iamsecond.com/

Reunions:

*I had so many wonderful reunions on this trip. One of them was my friend Gladys. I stayed with her for the first few days I was there. Her daughter, Gail, is a dear friend and I was finally able to meet Gail's niece Sophia:

*Another unexpectedly wonderful reunion I had was with a friend that I went to high school with. We were friends and classmates from kindergarten through our senior year of high school and we sang a duet at graduation appropriately named "Goodbyes Aren't Forever". I was so happy to see Tiffany on FaceBook recently and when I asked her where she lived she said, "Frisco, TX." I told her I'd be there next week!! We had a wonderful time catching up over lunch:

*Of course I had reunions with all my e3 friends in mobilization and with those from my Uganda trip. It was a lot of fun:

Changes:

*There are going to be some great changes in e3. I think they will help everyone to be more effective in our ministry. We our now going to be a part of a country group. While in this group we will be focusing on that country and how we can effectively spread the gospel and plant new churches. There are also new components that are being started. One of them is in the area of worship. I am so excited to be able to see how God will use praise and worship throughout the world to help spread His kingdom!

*These changes will start taking place around April. My prayer is to be involved in the Central America team that works with both Panama and Costa Rica. I would like to be a part of the worship component as well as a new group called Legacy. This is a component of e3 that takes families on mission. What an excellent legacy to leave your family!!! The legacy of mission.

Well, clearly I'm all fired up! I hope you are as well because you are a part of this ministry. Thank you for your many prayers for me and the ministry of e3 Partners!!