Blessed Beyond Measure

     I know that it has been months since I`ve posted on here...sorry!  Part of the reason is my computer "bit the dust", if you will.  The main reason, though, is there is so much to say that I usually have no idea where to start!  God is working in so many ways!  I have been blessed beyond measure!

     When I first got here, all I truly knew is that God was sending me to help with the ministry at New Life Children`s Home and to teach at Fetzer Memorial Christian Academy.  I knew that I would go to church at New Life Baptist Church.  I knew that I would be helping the Kennedy family and the Frey and Miller families.  I knew I loved this place, but what I didn`t know was all the many different things I would get to see and be a real part of...the "blessed beyond measure" part...and then some!

     I have seen hundreds of children, teachers, and people on the street be fed by the Soup Kitchen that is a part of Peru Ministries.  I have seen thousands of tracts and Bibles handed out on the streets of Lima.  I have seen people saved because someone took the time to share the reason of the hope they have.  I have met people who have shown up at the home or the church because they were handed a tract on the street and wanted to know more.  I have seen missionary kids take part in street evangelism just because they want to.  I have seen missionary kids lead the way and be drawn out of their shell.  I have seen girls, who have never met each other, be put together in a room without a mirror or dresser and still come to be the greatest of friends. I have seen the faces of orphans come to life because someone cared enough to jump on the trampoline with them or push them on the swing or just simply hold them.  I have heard these amazing kids get so "tickled" that they can barely breathe because they are laughing so hard.  I have seen people be Jesus to the world...and not think twice about it.  I have stood on a mountain and prayed over the city of Lima.  A few weeks later, I stood on a mountain and prayed over the city of Cusco.  I have even seen Machu Picchu!...and the salt mines...and the place with the "cicles in the ground!"  I am truly blessed beyond measure!

     I realize that this is a very brief overview of the past 2 months.  In that time, I have moved from the children`s home to the school...a move that was so very difficult that I wasn`t sure was going to happen at all!  I have begun teaching at Fetzer to 4 very inquisitive 6th graders and 1 5th grader who doesn`t like noise when she`s working...I love them though!  I have no doubt that I am where I am supposed to be!  I`m so sure, actually, that I`m truly praying and seeking God`s plan about my staying indefinately.  I will return to the states in December and have the option to stay for a little over 2 months (I was already coming for about 2 weeks).  I will take this option and use the time to raise as much support as absolutely possible.  I covet your prayers as I, all too quickly, come to the end of my 6 months in Peru.  It hurts me to even have to think about leaving this place, but I know that God`s plan is perfect and He is leading me!  I also covet your prayers as I begin to seek out how to raise support in the coming months.  And, as always, I covet your prayers as God is leading me and as I am leading the children that I get to teach...and not just the ones in my class.  Pray that I can be half the blessing to them that they have been to me.  I am so beyond the measure of blessings!

"Es mi Peru"

First of all, I have to thank the Father for letting me set out on this adventure with Him.  I'm still unsure as to why He chose me, but I am so grateful and blessed.  I am thankful for His provision and His grace.  I am truly blessed beyond measure!

It's hard to believe that I've already been here for 3 weeks!  With the team from church we were able to go out to many places taking Jesus to all who could hear.  We went to schools, villages, jails, parks and holding tanks.  We also got to take the soup kitchen to a town nearby and pass out blankets to the homeless on the streets of Lima.  We saw God work in an awesome way!  I am so glad to be a part of this ministry!  Looking back, I'm not sure I could pick a favorite thing!

I have spent time since the group left sitting in on what will be my class at Fetzer.  I have been able to meet most of the kids and all the teachers.  I am so grateful to already be forming friendships with the teachers and the kids.  I truly think it's going to be great!  I am so excited to see how God will work!

Today, the interns were able to go with the group that is at the home right now.  We went to a fruit market and walked the aisles handing out Bibles and tracts.  We saw many saved and now have many new brothers/sisters in Christ!  From there, we went to the top of a mountain that overlooks the city of Lima.  After being just simply amazed by the view, the group, the translators, the interns, the Kennedys(the 4 who were there), Pastor David(from the church in Cieneguilla), and a man named Jose(whom we met there) joined hands and prayed over the city and the ministry of the Kennedys and the church. I don't think I could ever have the words to describe this experience!  We would, finally, end up at the Presidential Plaza to walk the streets and hand out more Bibles and more tracts.  One of the men in the group was so...afraid?...worried?...I'm not sure of the right word...to pass out tracts, yet God used him to lead a man to the cross.  The man accepted and was totally changed and angels rejoiced! 

I have enjoyed every minute of my time here, but today was so much more!  Again, I am so blessed and so grateful to be able to be in Peru serving the risen Savior.  He is so much more than words could ever say...but I will give Him every word I know!

My Peru

2009 was the first year my church, Lizella Baptist, went to Peru.  I did not go on that trip, but my younger brother did.  He fell in love with a set of twins and, once he returned, had me ready for a trip to Peru!  He and I both went in June of 2010.  After a plan ride, a really bad layover in Miami, a airbus ride (where I sat in the exact center of the plane), and a few panic attacks later, we were finally on the ground in Peru.  I'm not sure if it was because this was my first mission trip after my grandfather passed away (he held on long enough for my brother and me to return from a mission trip to North Carolina in '08) or if I was running from God, but that first trip was really rough.  The best place for me was at the children's home.  I, too, fell in love with the twins (they were adopted in Dec 2010) just like Greg had.  They were contagious!  From their eyes to their smiles to their laugh, they grabbed your heart strings and you couldn't help but love them!  I was pretty glad to be back on US soil at the end of that trip.  And, that has nothing to do with the ministry I was with or my church.  I never planned to return to Peru.  But, God had other plans!  Applications for the next year's trip came out in September and were due on the 26th of that month.  On the day they were due, I knew God was telling me that I wasn't done there yet.  So, I filled out an application and awaited the phone call I knew would come.  I got it about a month later and met with 2 of the people over the 2011 trip.  They had both seen the way I struggled the year before and had some questions.  All I could tell them was that God was telling me to go back and I couldn't tell Him "no."  They eventually agreed and Peru 2011 was in motion.  In March of 2011, I met with a friend who was a missionary in Taiwan (She is about to leave for Mali this year!).  The very first thing she said to me, after not seeing each other for 3 years, was "So, when are you moving to Peru?"  I thought she had lost her mind!  But, by the end of our 3 hour long conversation, I was contemplating the idea.  By the time I got to Peru in June, I was ready to give my whole heart to that mission field.  I spent the week being amazed by how God had moved in my life and changed me in just a year.  God is so amazing!  He allowed me to pass out blankets to the homeless, pass out Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes to children, perform dramas on a military base and sing outside of a navy base.  He let me love on the children at the home and other orphans not so lucky.  He gave me a passion for this country and the people in it.  By the time I left, I was ready to stay forever!  So began the planning!  I returned in June of 2012 with a different church because my church wasn't going.  I was beyond excited to go with people who had never been before!  I never thought that plane was going to land, but as soon as we came out of the clouds and I could see the city lights of Lima, I knew I was "home."  I was super excited when we got into so many schools.  We got into a school that had never allowed groups in.  One teacher, 2 weeks earlier, had rejected the Gospel and didn't want her students to hear it either.  But, on that day, the harvest was ready.  God saved her soul and she invited us into her classroom to talk to her students!  For me, that trip was also about ministering to the ladies who work at the children's home.  I got to spend time with a special needs child who has totally stolen my heart!  That time allowed his caregiver to spend time with other ladies and that meant so much to her.  As much as I wanted to be a blessing, I got blessed by that sweet little boy.  I'm so grateful for Mike and Chelene Kennedy and New Life Children's Home.  God is doing so much through them and that ministry.  I'm so glad that God is letting me be apart of it.  Go to www.perumissions.com to see more about their ministry.  I fully support them in what they stand for and who they are. 

I can't promise that any of my posts will follow a complete train of thought or that any of them will sound eloquent.  What I can promise is that God will get all the glory for anything and everything that happens in my life.  I will do my very best to be who I am and not put ideas of who I am into my writing.  My heart is in Peru (well, it's actually in heaven with my Savior).  I am blessed beyond measure and way beyond what I deserve.  I will do my best to keep this as detailed as possible so that you can all be as involved in this trip as much as possible.  Thanks for reading my blog and thanks for the prayers on my behalf.  Blessings!  To God be the glory!

Here is the link for my crowdfunding site:

https://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/persuing-god-s-call-in-peru/55954

Please, pray about giving to support me in this mission!

God Calling

     It's not always easy to answer when God calls.  It may not always be what you want or what you think best.  However, answering that call always proves to be the biggest and best blessing.  For being in God's will is the best place to be! 

     I grew up in a Christian home.  We were at church every time the doors were open.  Then, my mom joined the church staff and we were often there when the doors weren't open.  I knew all the Sunday school answers to any question asked of me.  Until high school, I thought I had been saved when I was 7 years old.  As soon as 7th grade started, though, I began to have doubts about my salvation.  I kept it a silent battle for awhile.  Finally, I was ready to settle all doubts.  I walked into my youth pastor's office on March 12, 1999 and told him about my doubts.  He smiled, got his Bible, and led me to the Savior Who washed my doubts (and sins) away.  About 3 1/2 years later, as a junior in high school, God called me to something that I fully surrendered to...even though it scared me!  I have always had a heart for missions and for the mission field, but this time, God was calling me to that.  I had already been on a few stateside mission trips and would go on a few more in the coming years and a few outside the U.S.  It wouldn't be until I was 25 years old that God would reveal His plan for me in His calling.

     In June of 2010, I took my first mission trip to Cieneguilla, Peru, South America.  I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't a big fan of it.  I was pretty glad to be home after that trip.  I never planned on going back.  I loved the ministry, but had a rough week and didn't want to return.  September 2010 came around and applications for the next trip were due.  I walked by one and laughed..."so glad I'm not going."  That didn't last long!  I ended up filling out and turning in an application by the end of the month.  It was one of those things where I could hear God reprimanding me and telling me that if I didn't fill out the application, He would.  So, needless to say, I lowered my head and obeyed.  I got together with a friend in March for coffee.  She was on furlough from Taiwan.  The first thing she said to me was, "When are you moving to Peru?"  I thought she had been in Asia too long!  We spent about 3 hours talking that night.  By the time I got home, I was really feeling God working on my heart.  I walked into our kitchen and brought the idea up to my mom.  God had already let her in on this plan.  So, by the time I returned to Peru in 2011, I was ready to see what God had for me in that country.  I left in love!  I prayed for the next year about this journey.  I returned to my Peru in June of 2012 knowing that, as soon as I could see the Lima city lights break through the clouds, I was "home." 

     I'm so excited about this new journey God is leading me on.  I leave on May 30 for a year long mission trip to my Peru.  From June to August, I will intern at New Life Children's Home in Cieneguilla.  Then, in August, I will start another new journey...inside the current journey!  I will be joining the staff at Fetzer Memorial Christian Academy teaching 5th and 6th grade missionary kids...something I've wanted to do since I was called to missions in high school.  God is opening doors and blessing me beyond my wildest dreams...and way beyond what I deserve!  I am so grateful!  I can not wait to see just what all God will lead me to on this journey.  I do, however, covet your prayers.  I'll blog again with more specifics, but, for now, just pray!

   God is great and great to be praised!  I'm so humbled that He is choosing to use me!  So, when God calls, don't be afraid to answer.  Don't miss the blessing(s) He has in store just for you!

     "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'  Then I said, 'Here am I; send me.'"  Isaiah 6:8 (KJV)