Just Plain Sick

My apologies for not posting sooner, but I have been sick. I have tried to stay at work for as long as I could, and just tough it out, but I woke up last Wednesday down for the count. I have been sick now for 10 days! I started back to work three days ago, still sniffling and coughing...but my personality will not let me just rest for that long without going crazy. Anyways, enough about me. 


Here is what is going on with our students and our ministry. Honestly, there have been ups and downs. I'm not going to use this blog to paint a picture that is all rosy, because it's not. We are in ministry, which means we are dealing with people, and people are messy, sinful and flawed (including myself). 


So first with the lows. It is very near the end of the semester, which means students start to "coast".  They coast on everything else in life because they are tired, because it is almost Thanksgiving break and then Christmas break and the end of the semester. All that is left to do is finals and then they are done. So why is this frustrating? Because they kind of give up spiritually, or maybe it just drops much lower on their priority totem pole. Our student leaders just aren't pursuing new students at Cru or even non-believers like they were before. Also, last week it seemed like we had hit a wall, when NONE, not one student signed up to do that weekends service project. That was devastating to me! But, God is good... :)


Now for the Highs! This week, we started promoting a service project that will take place the first weekend of December. We only needed three guys and six signed up. Praise the Lord! Our students have become very good at community. We have a constant 50 or more students coming every week to Revolve, and the great thing is, it's not the same 50 every week. The students that attend vary, which is refreshing because the last thing we want is a Christian clique. It is also huge to see new students coming. That means Jesus is ministering to more people than the week before. Also, this last week, Nations (the Native American group within Cru) saw two more of their students come to the Lord. That is a total of five students just within Nations that have given their lives to Christ. We have had Mayra and Dillon accept Jesus as well, so that is seven! We are very excited and expectant to see what God has in store for Dillon's roommate who has been attending Cru and other outside activities. 


All in all, it has been a great semester. God has done more than we could have ever imagined, and now there is so much more I want to pursue and see happen in the Spring! Thank you all so much for reading this, for praying for us, and for your support! God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!

Goodbye Jude

If any of you have been following Mandy Pelton's blog about their son, Jude's, fight for life, you would know that he passed away. Jude met Jesus on October 22nd. It has been a tear-jerking journey, but now as we morn and grieve with the Peltons as they miss their baby boy, we rejoice that all this are made new. We know that Jude is no longer suffering, and that his body has been redeemed. There is no more precious a thought but to think of Jude with a perfectly healthy body, able to move freely, to cry and to laugh. I know we all look forward to the day where we can see Jude in heaven.


God has been holding Mandy, Brandon and their 5 year old son Caleb, close to his heart and He has been encouraging them every step of the way. It is bittersweet to have the Peltons back to Las Cruces, because although I am overjoyed to have them physically here, to work along side and do community together; it is at the same time heartbreaking to know they are here and not in Albuquerque because Jude is gone. God is a God of wisdom, love and justice. He did not allow Jude's life to be as it was by accident; but He orchestrated it, and planned out how to use it for his glory and blessings to his children. So many people's lives have been touched and even changed by Jude's story, and we are all excited to see what God will bring from all of this. 


Please continue to pray for Mandy, Brandon and Caleb Pelton, and follow along their blog for updates!

Worship Through Service

I am very excited to announce that October has kicked off the Service aspect of Cru. All of the staff members, including myself, have a huge place in our heart for bringing the Kingdom of God to others by preaching the Gospel, living the Gospel out in our everyday life, and service. As an organization, we have done a decent job of the first two, but have been lacking in the latter. It just so turns out that the latter is something I am passionate about, and so I was given the responsibility to set us in to motion.

Our vision is to find ways and places that the students involved in Cru can physically serve NMSU and also the entire Las Cruces community. We are searching out local ministries, such as The Gospel Rescue Mission, El Calldido Soup Kitchen, Los Pelligrinos Orphanage, La Casa Battered Women's Shelter, etc...for ways we can partner with them in the good job they are already doing. We also are asking churches to give us projects that they may need help in, or introducing us to people in their congregation who need help so that we can provide aid in any way. Our heart is to not just write checks or donate money, but to get our hands dirty. So far we have found a few needs, and have had a blast!

*Just to give an idea of what has been done so far:
*We have had students help two couples from different churches move into new homes.
*Cru bought pairs of shoes for the Soles 4 Souls shoe drive, which buys pairs of shoes for local elementary students whose parents can't afford to buy them new ones.
*Students helped out a local church's Harvest Festival
*A huge number of students came together to prepare and set up things for Jude Matthew Pelton's service
*We baked 20 dozen chocolate chip cookies for Kairos Prison Ministry


This is just the beginning. My greatest desire is that this would not be something that the students do every once in a while, when asked, but that they would develop a heart of service. Serving is something that should come naturally to us when we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and it is something that we should do out of obedience, because it was asked of all of us. Serving, just like sharing the Gospel, is something that God commanded of us (like the Great Commission). I am hoping and praying that the Spirit transforms all of our hearts, and that we would become so sensitive to the need around us. That we would not hesitate to help, give, love, forgive and serve any and everyone around us if needed.

Matthew 25:35-40: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

The "New" Birthday

If you have been following my blog, or have read my newsletter, you will be familiar with my friend, Mayra. I have some amazing news to share!

For her birthday, we (20 students and myself) took Mayra to White Sands National Monument-it was her first time there!

God's hands were all over the that day. We grilled burgers, played games, ate cake, and just had a wonderful time. At the end of our day, Mayra asked everyone to come over into a group. It was there that she shared with everyone how great Cru has been, and how she had never experienced such a loving community as she had with us. Then she said that she wanted to make this decision with everyone there, and she prayed to accept Jesus. We circled around her, laid hands on her and each one of us prayed for her, her relationship with the Lord, and her journey as she walks with HIM.

It was the most amazing thing I have been apart of since being overseas. God just keeps overwhelming me with his Faithfulness, Provisions, and Sense of Humor. So Mayra's eternal birthday now falls on her earthy birthday. :)

Joy, So Much Joy!

I just have two quick praises to share.

We have a Freshman girl, named Breanna. She is wonderful. She recently decided to rededicate her life to the Christ and to start living fully for Him. It was a tear-filled and humbling experience for her, but she couldn't be more excited to see what God does in her life and through her faith in Jesus.

We also have a Freshman guy, named Dillon. He, two nights ago, accepted Christ for the first time. He has had a group of our guys coming along side him, encouraging him and praying for him as we begins his journey in faith.

Please keep them in your prayers.

The Reason For God

We spent four weeks discussing the "Reason for God" and why He does certain things. We watched a video series done by Dr. Timothy Keller, where he proposed certain topics with a panel of non-believers. His panel was full of unbelieving business men and women, and they had very good questions.

The questions we discussed were:
1. How Can God Be Full of Love and Wrath at the Same Time? How Can God Send Good People to Hell?
2.  Why is the Church Responsible for So Much Injustice? Why Are Christians Such Hypocrites?
3. How Can You Say There is Only One Way to God? What About Other Religions?
4. Suffering: If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?


After each talk we would have the students turn around and discuss with each other certain questions proposed during the panel. These were very hard topics that, lets be honest, most of us would not want to have to sit down and discuss. But God was so good, and we received so much good feedback. 


This all led up to our own University Q&A time, with our own panel of scholars. Our panel consisted of a High School Biology teacher, a leader of the Presbyterian college ministry, and a pastor of a local church (and philosopher). We asked students and professors all over campus if they had questions about God and Christianity, the week before, as well as allowed the audience to text their questions in during the Q&A time. I believer 80+ students came that night, and there were a lot of really good questions asked. It was a really great learning experience for me as a leader, to see what works and what didn't work, in case we do something similar in the future. I think a lot of theological, philosophical, even scientific students got their questions answered in a way they could relate to and understand. I think the only thing we could have improved on, was to have someone who could have answered in a more "everyday" kind of language, and that would have explained some big topics easier. But I guess that is where the Holy Spirit steps in and gives us the ears to hear and the wisdom to understand matters that relate to God. 


God has been so good this year and we keep hoping and praying for more!

High Country Adventure

Each year Cru takes our students on a Fall Retreat. This year we had the opportunity to partner with UNM's Cru, and come together as one large group. It was wonderful! We met at the Glorieta Retreat Center, just North of Santa Fe, New Mexico. I believe we had about 30 students from NMSU and UNM had 25 or so (because NMSU is better.) ;) As our keynote speaker we had a gentleman from the Missouri staff team fly in, and he did just an amazing job. His name was Justin, and he spoke on the importance of good Godly community, and how that is only achieved by genuine, vulnerable accountability. We were there Friday until Sunday, and during that weekend, Justin challenged the students with some difficult discussions. After each talk, the students would break up into groups and answer a set of questions. Doing a specific discussion (which was separated by gender) the students were asked to be vulnerable with each other, and to share their life story, the good and the ugly. You could just see the transformation in the students hearts as they started to understand their peers better. By catching a glimpse of their background, the facades came off, and there was nothing left to hide. I joked to a friend that "when all of the girls start crying, you know God is doing something." Seriously though, there is nothing more true or necessary in a Christian community than vulnerability. Without it, people will just play their parts, and do the status quo.

The worship team we pieced together out of our NMSU students did an awesome job, even in the higher altitude! During our time at HCA, we were able to have a men's/women's time. Holly Hoppe, one of our staff women, taught on the intimacy we were created to have with God. She shared that the only place we will find our satisfaction, self-worth, or identity has to be in God, otherwise we will be disappointed every time. It seems like an obvious statement, but this is something that women young and old battle all of their lives. Whether it is our accomplishments, popularity, money, men, intellect, ability, love from a parent, friend or companion, outward appearance, etc...we always try to put our worth in tangible things...but they always fail us. Even being a staff person, I could feel the Spirit moving in my own heart, along with the students. We are never to old or to wise to be convicted by the Lord of something else He needs to refine.

This weekend getaway was tremendously influential on our students, and such a refreshing blessing on us staff. We have been running at such a high speed to keep up with the semester and accomplish all we can within our limits, and it was so needed to just sit back and spend time with Jesus. He and the Spirit are the ones who accomplish anything good in this ministry, we are just the vessels...and it is so wonderful to be reminded of that. HCA was a success, thank you for your prayers.

Learning Can Be Tough

We are now a month into school and a month into my experience of being on staff with Cru. I will be the first person to admit that this is harder than I thought it would be. 

This is my first experience raising support in such a personal, hands on way. It is such a good challenge for me to learn how to be attentive to my supporters and to find ways to show them my appreciation.

Our staff team has wonderful men and women, working full time to spread the Gospel and reach the students on our campus. This year, God has allowed for us to be spread very thin. By thin I mean, I am the only female staff on campus. Holly Hoppe is getting ready to give birth to her and Vince's 3rd baby. Mandy and Brandon gave birth to their 2nd son Jude a 3 weeks ago, and you can pray for him and read about his incredible story at Mandy's blog.

So instead of our usual 3 full time women and 3 full time male staff members; there is Vince Hoppe, a male intern and myself. It is a blessing to have so little ability, because it give the Holy Spirit so much room to move! :)

We have such huge hopes and dreams for the students at NMSU, and the impact Jesus could make with enough momentum. There is so much I want to see happen, so much that God has laid on my heart. 

->We want to see Cru serving the campus and in turn, our campus serving the Las Cruces community. 
->We want us to live out the Gospel by bringing Kingdom to others like in Matthew 25. 

->Injustice issues way heavily on the hearts of our students and we desire to raise awareness amongst   the other on campus. 

->Living missional lifestyles by doing life and creating friendships with students on campus, different then ourselves. 

There is so much to do, so few people and so little time. The work is great, and the workers are few...but our numbers are growing and God is faithful!

When Seeds Fall On Good Soil

I am so joyful right now, I cannot even fully explain how stoked I am to share this with you!

I have a friend, named Mayra, who I used to work with before I came on staff with Cru. She is my age (mid 20's) and like myself, received her Bachelors Degree at NMSU. Mayra hopes to one day return to NMSU and get her Master's Degree. She is very bright and so sweet; I would dare say that she is the nicest girl I have ever met. In getting to know her, I have come to appreciate her heart even more. While Mayra has attended Catholic and Christian churches before, in Mexico, she is not a believer. We have had wonderful conversations about faith, but that was all they were, casual conversations...until a month ago.

About a month ago, I randomly asked Mayra if she wanted to go to church with me and she said yes. So to church we went, and afterwards she shared that she really liked it. To my surprise she came with me the next week, and the week after. :) Once school had started, I invited Mayra to come to campus Thursday night, to see our Revolve Meeting... so she could see what I do, and why I quit my job. :)  She came to Revolve and was met by many young women so excited to meet her acquaintance. Mayra loved Cru!

Needless to say, the Holy Spirit is so amazing, and has been drawing Mayra to himself all this time. I had NO idea! Last week God completely rocked me. We were eating Greek food after Revolve with a huge group of students, when Mayra turns to me and asks the following questions:
"How do you become a Christian?"
"How do you know when you are saved?"
"If I come to Cru just to get to know God better, and could care less if anyone else was there...is that God calling me?" :)

I tried to pick my jaw up off the floor, and smiled, and prayed silently that God would help me share the Gospel clearly. She listened, took it all in, and said she would think about it more when she reads her new Bible (the one that some Cru girls bought for her earlier that day). I cannot wait to share with you in a couple of days when Mayra excepts the Lord and steps foot into the Kingdom of God. Praise God, for He is so GOOD!

We do not love only those that we know, but we love those whom, to most, are unknown

To bring Kingdom to those who have never experienced the Lord makes my heart rejoice, and I was able to do exactly that!
Three ladies from Cru, who have all just returned from a summer mission trip, had their first opportunity to serve the community tonight. This opportunity did not just reach Las Cruces, but all the way down to Juarez, Mexico!
We were lucky enough to come along side a ministry called "Souls", and help them make sandwiches for their Friday night Outreach. Souls Ministry go down to the Red Light District in Juarez, Mexico to reach out to the prostitues, the homeless and the drug addicts. They pray for these people, share the Gospel with them, give them food and just love on them.
While we were not able to go down to Mexico and be at the front lines, it was such a blessing to us to be able to help in whatever way was needed.


*Please keep the men and women traveling to Mexico in your prayers, pray for protection and anointing on them. 
*Please also pray for the Holy Spirit to be working in the hearts of those they will speak to, so that they may be freed from the bondage Satan has over them and be saved by Jesus' grace.

If you would like more information about this ministry, you can find them at: Souls Ministry

And We're Off!

School has officially begun, which means meetings, meetings, mettings for us staff. It is really looks like it is going to be a great year. We already have a lot of really cool things planned out, now we just have to get the students on board and get the ball rolling.


  Fresh  
Two of our student leaders, Missy and Lance, are heading up a freshman movement, called "Fresh".  Just from one day of tabling we gained 200 freshman contacts interested in knowing more about Christ. Our goal is to get all of them to come to Cru and connect with our freshman students. This past Monday, Fresh had their first get together, it was a free pizza party. The turn out was great, I believe a little more than 20 students showed up. Missy reports that they had great conversations with the students and lots of friendships were established.


  Revolve  
Last Thursday was our first Revolve, which is our weekly meeting in Corbett Center. For being the first day back to school, the turn out of students was awesome. We had about 40 students show up. Vince gave a talk about what Godly community looks like vs. broken community, and our need for Jesus to restore community. It was so good, and connected so well with everyone! Robert Frick (my lovely boyfriend) was the stand-in for music. The music was entertaining in the beginning to draw students in, and the meeting concluded with a time of amazing worship. There is nothing more glorifying and powerful to me than a sea of students singing out to their God. The night had God's fingerprints all over it. The Christians students got to connect with God and non-believing students and visitors seemed captivated. My only prayer is that people would break free of their comfort zones. You could see and feel the crowd wanting to stand up, lift their hands and sing out...but they held back, and stayed seated. How much more could the Spirit move if we just let go of our fears and worshipped Jesus with no reservations? That's my hope.

Lastly, we are getting our Bible studies set up and establishing student leaders to lead small groups and missional groups all over campus. We want to see our students loving and doing life with every student around them, especially those completely different from themselves. We look forward to see the growth of our students through discipleship, quite times, evangelism and everyday life.

Live By Faith-Expect Resistance

Spiritual Warfare: definition-is the Christian concept that the Devil and demons attempt to thwart Good and the will of God. Some believe this "warfare" to be manifested in multiple ways, including by demonic possession, demonic harassment, by attacks on a person's thoughts, relationships, or life with God.

Not only do I believe and agree with this definition, 

but this past month and a half I have experienced it, full on.

Let me explain briefly. 

I have 3 months to cultivate a team of ministry partners who will partner with me financially and prayerfully so I can be hired by Cru to work on campus with them for this next year. 

This entails spending May 1st-August 1st networking, meeting with people, calling people, gaining referrals so that I can reach my goal. 

Which roughly looks like having $3000 monthly and some one time support as well. 

Longstory short, Satan has done whatever he can to trip me up in this process. I just wanted to share how ridiculous this journey has been, not to gain pity but more to rub it in Satan's face and glorify the Lord because He has been and will always be bigger than petty attacks.

May-Upon returning home from training, my medicine which I've been taking for 4 years stops working. I have epilepsy, and a very uncommon type. I never have seizures, but do to a birth defect I was born with, the same birth defect that caused me to have 3 craniofacial/plastic surgeries, the inactive neurons in my brain started to misfire. I have taken a low dosage of medication for a long time, but in May I started to have horrible side effects-I got extremely depressed, anxiety, lost my train of thought, lost my short term memory, couldn't articulate thoughts randomly, couldn't control some of the things I said and everything made me cry.


So I changed medications, which worked well for a week, and then I had a severe allergic reaction. My mouth burst out in canker sores, my lymphnodes in my neck swelled, my whole face swelled, my lips were so swollen I couldn't close my mouth and I had vertigo. It was lovely. I ended up having to take time off work...and I could not talk to people, meet with them, go on appointments...basically there was no way to raise support.  My month of May=Gone.


June-To top off my face looking like a blimp, my doctors were not convinced that these symptoms were due to my new medication so I had to continue the meds until I saw signs of a deadly rash known as "Stevens-Johnson Syndrome". If you google it, you will cringe. The second Saturday in June, I woke up with the rash, that spread across my body in a few hours...and finally they were convinced to let me stop this medication. So we started a new one, yay! 


I could now start support raising. I have my entire computer backed up on my external hardrive, just to be safe. To keep all of my 100+ contacts together, with their addresses, phone numbers, calendar dates, support status, etc...I had to download a database. So I did, saved it to my desktop, along with the contact list that I had on my external hardrive. I thought that putting my contacts on my desktop would be so much easier than carrying my external everywhere. :) Oh irony. As soon as getting all of my contacts loaded  and scheduling appointments, my hardrive on my laptop DIES. Literally, just stops! I quickly took it to my computer guy to look at. He did everything he could, and nothing. I was left with absolutely nothing. No database, no contacts, literally nothing. So for the next two weeks, I contacted the people I had in my phone and made due, waiting for my new laptop to arrive. On a whim, I had my hardrive looked at again, and it received the same diagnosis...dead. But I left it over the weekend, and just prayed for God's help in this. I didn't know what to do. I lost two weeks of work. But GOD IS SO GOOD. I received a call late Sunday evening from the computer guy explaining that my hardrive for some reason just turned on, randomly, and he had just enough time to save one folder...the one with all of my contacts!!! God was so gracious in that but my June=Gone.


July-I will fill you in on my next post. But know this, God is bigger, greater, and more capable of everything I expected him to be. Satan has spiritual warfare up his sleeve, but Jesus is the ALMIGHTY...no one can beat that.

Acceptance, unexpected and delighting.

If you read my previous posts you will remember that I said I was looking for a place to serve, a need that God could use me to fill. Well, it seems that He did.

I was asked to intern as a staff member with Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ). Which is funny, because I had been involved in Cru for 6 years (from my senior year of high school-a year after my college graduation). It is an amazing Non-Profit Christian Organization on University campuses all around the world. Out of all the places I thought God would call me, I was not expecting it to be here...but I was excited none the less. 

The process for joining staff is not very simple. You have to fill out a very extensive and personal application, have about 5 references with different criteria for each, and then you wait. You wait for someone in our region to look over my application and speak to my references, and once they okay that they will call. So after a few months of waiting, I got a call telling me I was accepted to intern, but I was not yet placed at a campus. So then I had to go through a grueling weekend of non-stop training and was finally placed at NMSU. But it is not over just yet. Now I have been given from May 1st-August 1st (roughly) to start raising support so that I can report and be officially hired. 

So, here I am, about to return home and start support raising. It is a huge amount, a huge goal, and a lot of trust in the Lord in his provisions. I will keep you updated on how it all goes. But for now, things are looking good.

Good News!

I have a  job! A great job in fact! It is such a blessing.


So, first the background story. I have been in desperate need for a job, so I can, well...survive, while I figure out my next step in life. I had been looking on the internet and around town, and nothing really popped out at me. My biggest fear was ending up at a job where I had to say "Do you want fries with that?" jk. ;) 


Anyways, my mom was at the local hospital dropping off some papers (she is in advertising), and a gal at the front desk asked her if she knew anyone who needed a job and gave her the details. Long story short, in a week I had a job working for a psychiatrist. The top psychiatrist in town! 


I am considered office staff, but I basically play the role of an MA, suicide counselor, prescription decision maker, appointment maker, etc... It is so fun, plus I have gotten to learn so much about different drugs, mental health, counseling and just the human mind in general. It is interesting how much the brain and our belief systems/spirituality coincide. Everyday I meet people who I can encourage and always have a name to go home and pray for.  To top it off, I have amazing staff that I work with. :) Thank you Lord.

Starting A New

Now that I am back to doing life in the states, it seems a little hard at times to get my bearings. Sometimes it feels like the last 6 month were a dream, and then I wake up. I am in the same place, but I feel different. What do I do with that? Well I guess that is the question that I'm waiting for God to answer.

So here is what I do know:

• I am supposed to serve, wherever the need, if that is where God intends for me to go. Whether it is cleaning poop or joining an organization...whether I'm in the background, or in front. I'm ready.
• I'm not going to continue to live in my mother's house unless I have to. Not because it is bad, but I'm ready to be fully independent. 
• I need a job :)
• I will be grateful for what I have, always be willing to give it away, and not want for material things. Continue to watch and learn how to be selfless with my most "prized possessions".
• I will not fall stagnant, or at least not stay there. 
• I will not lose sight of the God that I caught a glimpse of.
• I will try to run along side the active God I serve, no matter how difficult that trail is. 
• I will not go to church, and do my Christian duties, but I will find a way to open eyes about the Kingdom of God and do what I can to bring that Kingdom to the here and now, for those who have not yet experienced it.
• Learning is just as vital, if not more than teaching. 
• Listening is always better than speaking. 
• Brokenness and humility are the easiest ways to combat pride.
• I will sustain relationships with my family and friends, and those who reside far away, I will make it a priority to have community in any way shape or form. 

India

The last month of my Outreach was spent in Chennai, India (previously known as Madras) which is in Southern India. I had no idea what I was in for, but I had watched enough Bollywood videos before I got there to be super excited. I could have never imagined. People always ask me "How was it over there?" or they say "I could never go to a third world country, how did you do it?". But you know what? By God's grace, when we arrived in the Chennai airport, it was such an easy transition. Yes, it was exactly like you would imagine it in some ways. It was dirty in some areas, extremely impoverished, soldiers holding gigantic guns, thick aroma filled humid air, tons of people, and if they had a bathroom it was a squatty-potty. In other ways there was extreme extravagance, fine jewelry and linens, awesome food, the most vibrant colors I've ever seen, and the coolest people I've ever met. So if you truly want to know how it was in a third world country: It was AMAZING and I loved every minute of it. The pros outweighed the cons.

There were really hard parts of our time in India. I live close to the Mexico border here at home, and so a lot of these things I had seen. I still to this day have a hard time saying "no" to a baby begging for money, even though I know they are slaves. I have a hard time haggling a street vendor, even though I know I'm being overcharged. I had the hardest time not taking home all of those beautiful boys and girls who were orphans, gypsies, and enslaved. I cannot resist hugging a leper when they come up and pray for me, when I was are there to pray for them.  I cannot deny the power of the Holy Spirit when I walk into a small room of people praising, dancing, crying and singing to the Lord, in such a sincere way...like I have never seen. I cannot but help feeling dirty and greedy every now and again, realizing how little I needed over there, and how much I cherish my "things" here. While I was in India, I felt more like the woman God created me to be, than I have ever been in the United States.

India is the wake up call to the nations. A people group who has Nothing, provides Everything for others. They should me what selflessness looks like. It didn't matter if we went to a big church or a small church, a rich peoples house or a homeless house...whatever they had, they gave it to us. In a family of 6, in a 4 room house...the family we stayed with, opened up their rooms for 12 of us. The grandparents slept on the floors outside so we could have a place to stay. The grandma, Maggie, got up at 5am every morning to make sure we ate before a long day of work. It didn't matter who they were, when we came, they gave us the best they had, even if they didn't get to eat. How Biblical is that? Didn't Jesus say "Love your neighbors as yourself"? Exactly. They showed us how to do that.

Jesus, thank you for the people in India. Protect them, bless them, and prosper them. Walk with them through the hard times, and spread your name and your Gospel through the land Spirit.


My time in India and Thailand brought my passions to life and to the surface. Many will say why did you go to University if you aren't going to use your degree? Many will see my choice to be a missionary and live out the Gospel as a failure or a "phase" I'm in. But I don't, because I know this is who I am and where I am supposed to be.

At the Leper Colony

Sari's

I will fight for those who can't fight for themselves, protect others from any/every injustice and love those around me like Jesus loves me.

The Gypsy Children

Beautiful Orphans

Preaching-I was terrified :)

Photos From Another World

After our time in Australia with YWAM, we spent two months on Outreach. 

First month: Bangkok, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, Thailand

The Largest Lounging Buddha

The Famous White Temple

We saw so many sights and learned so much about the culture, the religion and the food :)

But we did a lot of hard work and spent a lot of time with amazing boys and girls.


Did You Know? Thailand, especially Chiang Rai has the highest rate of boys and girls from the ages of 5-15 years old sold or kidnapped into the Human Sex Trafficking, slave trade. Chiang Rai is near the border of Burma and Laos. Most children are sold to "job brokers" by their parents who can't support them. They are taken to brothels masked as "massage parlors" and picked out like puppies at a pet shop. The details are gruesome and prison like. A few postings below there is a YouTube video that explains Thai sex trafficking.
Did You Know? There are more slaves today than there EVER was during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. From 1650-1900 there were about 10 million slaves sold. It is said that 800,000 slaves are sold or captured into the human slave trade every year. 70% of those slaves are sex slaves.


The children you see were the children that would have been sold...if a pastor of a church didn't create a boarding school for them to live, sleep, eat and be educated. These are the faces of the very children that would have become slaves..but instead have been given a hope and a future. We got to be a part of this and we had the chance to share the Gospel with them. We played with them, taught them stories, practiced English, prayed with them, fed them and taught them how to hug. :) But I think we left more blessed than them.

They LOVED hugs!

Let Me Catch You Up...

So, posting a weekly blog in Australia was harder to do than imagined. A lot harder. While Internet availability was difficult;  free time was even more scarce. I apologize to all of those who were checking up on me and wanted to follow the trip closely...but I am grateful for the disconnect in a way too. I was free from everything at home, every person and circumstance. God took me totally out of my element and into severe uncomfortability, but how else can you be "ruined for the ordinary" unless you are in an unordinary position? Let me catch you up on the rest of my lecture phase and time in Australia. The next posts will be about my Outreach Time spent in Thailand and India (September-November).

On my previous posts, I had covered the first 4 weeks of lecture. They were Evangelism, Hearing God's Voice, Father Heart of God, and Prayer Week. I loved my first month in Oz. Even with all my experiences with Campus Crusade, in the church and at Christian School...I discovered there is still so much left to be learned about God. In fact, I will never know it all; but I want to try. I want to pursue him and get to know him better so I can get to know myself better as well. One of the topics I've kept with me and utilized the most was Hearing God's Voice mixed with the idea of Intercession. I am amazed that in the past 12 years I've been a Christian, no one ever took the time to explain how to "hear God's voice" or explained to me the difference between prayer and intercession. But now that I know, I am challenged to teach it to my peers, friends, and other believers, because I believe it is a powerful tool and amps our relationship with God so much.

But onto the new stuff.
The next 8 weeks, I studied the following topics: Missions, Fear of the Lord, China's Church, Spiritual Warfare, Covenants, Outreach Preparation, Relationships, and Kingdom.

Missions: The highlight of this week was probably the teacher. While the topic was not a new one to me, our teacher was a pioneer of YWAM India. His name is Merv McDermand and I have never met a person with such a passion to share Jesus and be Jesus with the whole world. He is fearless because God is the foundation for his confidence and boldness. Merv, an Aussie native, has spent his whole adult life in YWAM, traveling all over the world and reaching people in different cultures, religions and hobbies (I believe 40 years). I learned so much from his character alone, plus the great tools and insight from his experiences really blessed me.

Fear of The LORD: taught by a New Zealander (Kiwi), Mark Parker was an amazing speaker. He was very passionate, vulnerable, straight to the point guy. He had ideas and ways of viewing God that totally shook my previous ideals. He taught me:
-True worship is a sacrifice and commitment. It is in the Spirit and truth, not a feeling or experience.
-If Ido something for God, do it with passion and do it with zeal, don't worry about tomorrow.
-The easiest part of Christianity is salvation...the hard part is living out Kingdom with help of the H.S.
-I will never mature if I do not recognize that He is Lord and I am not.
-My generation is so quick to repent and so slow to obey.
-God will never make me do something that He hasn't given me the desire to do.
-Jesus is not a meek Savior but a roaring lion of a ruler!
-Don't be overwhelmed by the sin in the world...overwhelm it with his love and power.
-Remain consistent, forgive easy and don't give up!
-On the contrary to what John the Baptist said, More of Jesus=More of me (as God created me to be) and less of the crap.
This was huge for me:
1. Who is your Master? Once I experience Jesus as Lord and experience his manifest presence...I will receive my mission.
2. What is your Mission? Once I know my master and my mission, I'll be ready to get married.
3. Who will be your Mate?
*I think as an American culture we get our priorities out of order and this was really insightful for me.

Also, Mark explained to us that every person has a  Spirit, Soul and Body; and he defined the differences between each one.

We spent the week discussing: what the Fall means for us as humans, what true Salvation looks like, Fear of the Lord vs. fear of man, and finally Preparation for the Tabernacle.

On Friday, we spent the entire day (8am-7pm) walking through the steps of Tabernacle like in the Bible. It was the most amazing thing I've ever been a part of. All I can say is, that was my first introduction with how big and amazing the Holy Spirit is. I experienced the manifest presence of God and it was so thick and so heavy. I have never felt so much, as I did in that room that day. I could go on forever, but I won't. Just ask if you are interested, I'd love to share more.

Spiritual Warfare: I think it is only fitting that during this week, I happened to undergo spiritual warfare with my health. I was diagnosed with Epilepsy 5 years ago. I had done so much testing, and all the doctors in Las Cruces told me my tests were negative...there was nothing wrong with me. Yet, during strangely coincidental times, I would have an episode (once a full on seizure, but other times I would just forget what I was saying or thinking). I went to the best, the Mayo Clinic, and the neurologist there found a nerve bundle in my brain that may be causing the problem, although it is hard to tell. I've been taking medication consistently and have had no problems for a year...until this week. I was having an intense conversation with my discipler, Fleur, and totally forgot what I was saying, and then it happened again later with my other leader, Callie. Also, all this week, everyone in my house had been abruptly awakened during the night by loud unexplainable noises. People were struggling with unusual fear and anxiety. Needless to say (and sorry if you disagree with me) but Satan was on the move.
The man who taught us this week, Glen Vines, was a missionary from Tibet, and a counselor and pastor dealing with Spiritual Warfare. While some of what he taught was intense, everything he taught was Biblically based. Spiritual Warfare, Satan, demons, strongholds, generational "sins"...we just don't like to talk about that in America. Everywhere else in the world, they know that the Spiritual World is alive and well.
The one thing that was interesting for me this week was something Glen said. He said in the middle of his teaching that a lot of young people with unexplainable epileptic symptoms have one big similarity...they deal with abandonment issues with their father. In the Bible and in his experience, epilepsy is sometimes a result of Spiritual Warfare and demonic strongholds...especially when addiction in parents is involved, and that it is a very tough stronghold to break. One of the biggest symptoms is the "deaf and dumb spirit" which is characterized by a loss of thought or inability to verbalize a thought temporarily. Now Glen knew nothing about me, and this made my ears perk up a little. I did go and seek counsel and prayed about it. I met with Glen separately and we prayed that I would be released from any strongholds and prayed against Satan in this and other areas of my life. Now I'm very logical and I received my degree in a medical field so I know the implications. I will not stop taking my medication, but I do have faith that I am free from seizures, and I continue to pray against that, because I know God is the ultimate authority in both the Physical and Spiritual realms.

Covenants: This was like being in a college lecture all over again. The teacher, Neville Strachan, is a pastor and a teacher at a Bible College in Australia. He is as Aussie as you can get...and man he is well read when it comes to God and the Bible. I loved just sitting and having lunch with this man. I probably took 50 pages of notes on just his lectures. I have never looked at all of the Covenants in the Bible between God and his creation, until now...and I will never read the Old Testament the same again.

Nev taught us the difference in meanings between: LORD, God, and Lord.
It was amazing to see all of the Covenants and how they all point to, foreshadow Jesus. He "paid in full" all of the previous covenants. It is AMAZING!!!

Kingdom: This was the most applicable week for me, because it changed my entire outlook on life and how I experienced my Outreach time.

I think that this topic is commonly misunderstood, it is a word said like "Gospel" but yet no one is really sure what it means. What was Jesus talking about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John talking about in the Gospel? The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not focused on how we can escape earth to get to heaven, but how we can bring the Kingdom tangibly to earth.
Salvation was not the goal of the Gospels, living the Kingdom is...salvation is just the beginning
Christians in the Western World are guilty of thinking agnostically and enlightenment rather than Kingdom. The Bible tells us "how to think" but not "what to think". The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve the world's problems.

Something that stuck with me about "Fair Trade" amongst my retail purchases was: "If you are going to enjoy jeans, shirts and shoes made by developing neighbors...then these people are your neighbors"...and doesn't Jesus say one of the most important commandments is to "love your neighbor as yourself"?

Well those were just some brief highlights of my lecture phase.