Here it is folks!! The video of our time at the coffee shop that was promised! Please enjoy! And if you are ever in Vietnam make sure you check it out!!!
What Does Ministry Look Like In A Closed Country?!?
This has been a curiosity of mine for a week now as well...
I think you will get a different answer with every different person you ask.
However, I found my answer & will gladly share it with you.
Today.. ministry looked like this...
(video to come shortly)
Today was a free day, so my team and I decided we needed some good old fashioned Jesus time.
(AKA finding a cafe with A.C and WiFi)
We found a cozy cafe equipped with not only all the requirements mentioned above, but also couches, cool light fixtures, and greeeaaaat music.
By great music, I actually mean Brittany Spears, Celine Dion, Maroon 5, Backstreet Boys, etc. Use your imagination!
What does music have to do with ministry you ask???
Well, our Jesus time started off with all of us spread out across the cafe, minding our own business, drinking coffee, and diving into the Word.
It then progressed into recognizing all the old school American pop music from our pasts (chosen specifically for us by the workers). Which of course then turned into all of us singing, dancing, and the typical making fools of ourselves.
After 4 hours, we were walking behind the register changing music like we owned the place, singing to the workers, encouraging them to sing with us (AKA Jordan F was all up in their faces with a camera), & of course getting stared at like freaks.
The best part??? Our new friends loved us too!
Want to know how I know?
All the workers sat down and drew all of our names in calligraphy, with a picture on the side!
Yes, They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love! Yes! They’ll know we are Christians by our love!
So, obviously the picture above is not actually a birdhouse. It is, however, a spirit house. Spirit houses are believed to be an appealing shelter for spirits to dwell in. While traveling throughout Asia, one will see these spirit houses in front of restaurants, office buildings, malls, car dealerships, hotels, houses, temples, fish ponds, etc. They are literally everywhere...
They are extravagantly built, and decorated with offerings of flowers, incense, food, and more. People believe that by pleasing which ever spirit they are inviting, that in return the spirt will bring them good fortune/protection/happiness/etc.
During our morning walk to the Teen Challenge Center, the girls and I began to joke about how extravagant the “birdhouses” here in Asia are. It became a running joke that has still not gotten old.
“Umm.... there is a dog eating your bird’s food!”
“Wait, don’t birds like seeds?”
And while we may make light of the situation, it is truly heartbreaking to see these people inviting spirits into their home, bowing down, and worshipping them. I can only imagine God’s tear filled eyes as He sees yet another one of His children bowing down to an elaborate “birdhouse”. While they pray to spirits for protection, we walk by and pray for God to rain down His love and glory over them. We pray daily for Truth in these dark places. We praise God that He is a loving God who will never give up on His children, no matter how far they stray. We pray for strength for Pastor Map & his family, for Samuel, for all the boys at TCC, & for every believer we come across.
Keep Cambodia in your prayers my friends, the Holy Spirit is moving here, but we still have a lot of kingdom to bring!
Debrief was a time of rest and recovery. The whole squad came together and stayed at the Prum Bayon Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This hotel is a 2 or 3 star hotel, but I never would have known it was less than 4 stars had we not been told. The manager treated us like absolute royalty!!
We stayed for 5 days, basked in the sun, laid out by the pool, and got slapped across the face daily.
.......
Yup.... you heard me correctly...slapped across the face......daily
....
....
metaphorically of course.
Another aspect of debrief that I failed to mention is that AIM staff flies out and “debriefs” us. The nervous butterflies I had reminded me of the way I felt during quarterly reviews at work!
Our days played out as such;
8am: Free continental breakfast....best ever!! (French toast with honey! yum!)
9am: Daily Devotional lead by one of the squad leaders
10am: Worship & Session --> Where an AIM staff member taught on important aspects & characteristics of World Race culture.
12pm: Lunch
Afternoon: Debrief session/free time (pool time)
5pm: Dinner
6/7pm: Worship & Session
......
You’re all still stuck on my comment about being slapped across the face aren’t you?
Well if you must know...
My new team struggled with having grace and honoring each other during our first month together in Thailand. We were absolutely CONVINCED that we had done everything we could to make the team dynamic work, but it couldn’t be fixed.
.....hmm...
Enter AIM Staff...
Noe
Sean
Tim
&
Bethany
During our first session, Sean stood up in front of us all, apologized for his exhaustion (jet lag much :S), and then proceeded to slap me across the face.
Sean talked about culture. He discussed what culture means, looks like, and why it is the way it is. Then he jumped into World Race culture, which is a culture of high honor, high preference, high courage, high safety, & high consideration.
The Slap In The Face = One can never run out grace, and if you ever get to a point that you think you have... You need a reality check. God has an infinite amount of grace for all of us, and we all mess up A LOT!! Thus, we must strive to maintain the same grace for others that we are blessed with.
Thank you Sean, Noe, Tim, & Bethany... I look forward to 8 month debrief and a few more red handprints!
“For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” - Romans 3:23
Then we walked into our team debrief where the squad leaders & AIM staff had us speak life into each other for a few hours.
Word of advice for anyone at home having “trouble” loving your neighbor. Speak life and truth into them, because it forces you to see that person the way God sees them. If you are continuously looking at someone through God’s lens and not your own, loving them will become second nature.
Also... if I learn nothing else on this race....I have learned the importance of how to really fight for my relationship with someone
*Where I witnessed a young woman explore her curiousity for the Lord, an dying man who had recieved the Lord the week before, & a burn victim who was in the processing of healing & giving full credit to the Lord.
- Rode elephants & held a giant snake
- Praying over students at a local university
- Attended a Thai wedding
- Traveled to a local Mountain Village. Handed out food and soap to the poor while praying over them.
- Helped plan and organize an ordination ceremony for our pastor
- Prayed for God to provide our pastor with the provisions to buy/build a new church (He came through by the way!)
- Ate grasshoppers and crickets at a night market
- Played bocce ball with a group of Thai pastors in the mountains
- Watched the sunrise over the mountains in the Thai jungle
- Mastered the squatty potty
- GOT DREADS
- Sang in Public
And so much more!
This video gives you a sneak peak into what daily life can look like on the World Race.
You will ask yourself on a daily basis...
Ok, God has provided in some really big ways today. But I don't believe He is done yet.
Robin Taylor, my beloved friend and sister, is leaving the field tomorrow if we do not help her meet her deadline.
She needs 4,000 dollars.
I know it's a lot. But nothing is to much for the God we worship.
That is huge donations by some awesome people
or
10 people donating 50 bucks for 8 months
or 40 people donating 100 bucks
or 20 people donating 25 bucks for 8 months...
2 bucks a month???? really?
This is not a "Can you sponsor a lost puppy for blah blah blah"
No this is a girl whose heart is so HUGE for the Lord that she has given up everything to be here.
She has put her full faith in God, that He has called her to this, and HE will provde for her.
AND HE WILL
Let me tell you about Robin quick
She is one of the most loving people I have ever met.
She has a heart of gold.
From day one she was a huge support to me.
Any question on gear, or support, or prayer... Robin was there
she is a prayer warrior for the rest of us...
It's time for us to be a warrior for her... It's time for us to rally around her & fight for her and her journey wiht God.
Robin is special... and she needs to be here... and deserves to be here
I know the Holiday season is hard on the wallet....
If i could give her all 4,000 I would, because I know its worth it.
But i cant...
But together... if we all give just a little bit..
okay, maybe not death... but this is DEFINITLY a Life Situation!!!!
Ok!!! I have 4 of my GOOD friends & sisters in Christ facing a FAST APPROACHING deadling!!
Let me Re-Phrase that! THEY ARE PAST THE DEADLINE, AND AT 3pm TODAY A DECISION WILL BE MADE ABOUT IF THEY ARE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH US!
PLEASE HELP IN ANYWAY YOU CAN!
These four girls, Courtney, Nikki, Robin, and Viv
are strong warriors for God´s Kingdom!
They radiate God´s love, and are much needed on our squad. We are currently in the middle of an intense tranisiton period! Changing Teams, Changing Continents... However, we do not believe that losing these girls is a part of that transition period.
Please fight to keep them here, so that we can continue to fight for the Kingdom as a powerful squad!
Their Blogs are
courtneyburks.theworldrace.org
nikkisienkiewicz.theworldrace.org
robintaylor.theworldrace.org
vivianzavala.theworldrace.org
To donate go to this link, enter the name of who you want to donate to, & the amount!!!
Credit Card donations are appreciated due to the accelerated rate of arriving in their accounts!
Also if you plan on donating, please email our support coach Melina at
So, most of you may know this already, but some probably don't! We have a support deadline coming up on JANUARY 4th! Crazy! I have reached my deadline thanks to all of your wonderful and greatly appreciated support!!!
However!!! My sisters in Christ, Courtney Burks & Nikki S., have not yet reached their deadline! Selfish as this is, I cannot let them leave me! If they do not reach their deadline of $10,500, they will be forced to leave the race early! I cannot sit idly by and let this happen!
I'm sure all of you are feeling the after effects of Christmas... whether thats in your wallet, or in my usual case, around the waist! haha kidding!... But seriously... this is the time of year when I always decide I am turning my life around! This is gonna be the year that I will accomplish the goals I set, and make that difference I have been meaning to make. Just haven't had time to get around to it!
Sound Familiar?
I frequently stay on track for about 3 weeks before I derail HARD! However, this year I am realizing what is truly important in life. It's not about the 5 extra pounds around my waist. It's not about working so hard I get that promotion. It's not about making the team. (All great goals however!)
It's about developing a stronger relationship with your Heavenly Father.
.....
....
....
...
...
Yeah, I know... slapped me in the face as well
So, how can you make a difference this New Year, while developing a stronger relationship with God, AND fighting the crowd at the gym Monday morning?
Easy now, I am not asking you to jump up and add another extracurricular activity to your already hectic schedule. Actually, complete opposite! The best thing you can do, is set aside 10 minutes a day for your Daddy! He will just love it, I promise!
And if you are sitting there like Liz.... I can and want to do more than that! Give me the Challenge already!
OK OK, Calm Down..... Reeady????
K GO!
In honor of the New Year 2012
I CHALLENGE ANYONE WILLING AND ABLE TO DONATE $12 TO
This is a very simple and easy way to help bring the Kingdom of God to earth....
Whoa... talk about making a difference!
Oofta!
Thank you all again for all the prayer and support you have given me throughout this whole process! I appreciate everything so much! There are not words for the wonders I am experiencing here, or for how much God is growing me. Courtney and Nikki are vital to our squad. They both bring so much light and love to the world. They are exactly where God wants them to be, doing exactly what He has asked them to do. I have no doubt that He will come through like He always does and provide them with the money needed to continue on His path.
I pray that if you feel moved to support these two lovely women, that you follow your heart! Whether that is simply to follow their blogs and pray for them, or to accept this challenge and donate $12 dollars to their cause!
I love you all, God Bless!
Miss you with all my heart!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!
May all your resolutions come true! I pray for strength, resiliance, & patience for the lady that takes your machine at the gym ;)!!
Hey y'all!
I promise I have many blogs to come! Sorry they have been so scarce lately! Live has been interesting!
But, here is a video showing a little bit of what we have been doing here in Nicaragua!
So this is a blog I ment to write last month in Guatemala. Better late than never right!
I just wanted to share with everyone back home some of the moments ministry moments I had last month. As you know, we stayed in an orphanage, and dedicated a month of our lives to loving on the children.
~*~ Taking baby George out to play on the playground for awhile! We were on the see-saw! When we first arrived at the ministry he had difficulties walking because he was never taken out of his walker. One nanny takes care of 8 boys and 2 baby girls all day with no help. This ment that the babies layed in their crib all day, and George sat in his walker. By the time we left, George was running around the house on sturdy legs! It's amazing what a little extra love and TLC can do!
~*~ Hanging out with my baby boys! Just had their baths, and getting them ready for bed!
~*~ Coloring with Umberto! He kept stealing the crayons, and giving me one at a time to use...never the right color! but he got a kick out of it! He was also the sweetie that would say Si Bonita! and then I would smile big! and then he would say No bonita! and I would pretend cry and then he would smile and scream SI BONITA! (yes pretty, no pretty) This game went on for hours!
~*~ Weighing and Measuring the height of all the children to see if they are growing properly and normally!
~*~ Teaching the little boys how to play musical chairs!
~*~ Teaching the kids how to make sand castles out of glasses from the kitchen! They loved it! And would then proceed to make me count to 3 and then they would jump and destroy it. Then build another and repeat the pocess.
~*~ Miguel building sand castles!~
~*~ Umberto making sand castles! It took him a few tries to understand the "wet sand" principle
~*~ My baby girls!
~*~ Lupita rocking my sunglasses! All the kids got so much joy out of stealing them and running around! So cute!
So! That is a few of the great memories shared with the kids! Obviously many many more!
The one thing I learned from them was that there is joy in the simple things. Take time to breathe, and look around, and appreciate the flowers, the glistening snow, or the small child running around in your sunglasses!
