Stories

Man, I just read Rachel's blog and am going to reference you there because she did a good job capturing our experience. (The link is under my favorite links and has the word Rachel in it. Sorry, I don't have it in front of me, but you are all bright people).

Another school has past. I have just completed my third semester with YWAM Medellin. This was one of my favorite and most challenging outreaches.

I love the work we did get to do. Highlights- Fefa and I were eating at a family's house for two weeks and got to see a clear picture of what the family was going through. All Christian, but hugely suffering in silence. The father had a past of being abusive, the son had gotten into huge trouble as an adolencent (involvement with a homocide) which very much affected the family. And no one talked about it. There was so much hurt. So much unforgiveness. But so much desire to more forward in life and forgive.

The last night, Fefa and I sat them down as a family and started to tell them what we saw and what we felt like the Lord had for them. We talked about the effects of violence in the family. How it needs to be dealt with. And they had a beautiful time of asking for forgiveness from one another and speaking words of blessing. Then we prayed for all of them. It was awesome. The next day, there was a whole different feel in the house. Lightness. Love. Hope. I left so aware that we had really changed the course of their destiny.

The challenging part was that it was hard for people to trust us and consider us authorities for our ages. I was the oldest by...five years? Six? So many people missed their opportunities to receive help by not opening up.

I will be home soon. As you know, I do not have a cell phone, so the best way to get ahold of me is still via email. :)

Photos from the Amazon

 

 

 

 

Half Way Point

Our time in Macedonia has been amazing. The community has totally opened up to us and has received us with full confidence.

We are working mostly with the local schools, teaching on relationships,identity, and what it means to have a relationship with the Lord.

They are so open!

And it is the most beautiful place on Earth I have ever seen. Raw creation. It is delightful.

Pray for wisdom for me. There are some complicated things going on with the pastor. I need wisdom to know how to confront it and do what is best for the community.

The picture above was taking in a time of counseling with one of the girls in Filadelfia. She was the one I got the cool word for. So much need...

Off to Macedonia

We are heading out to Macedonia right now. We will be out of contact for two weeks.

Please pray for our health (we have been a little stomach sick).
Please also pray that we would have a special grace with the people to win their trust. (They are not quick to trust from centuries of abuse).

Blessings,
Desteni

Filadelfia and Leticia

The first three weeks of outreach have been amazing. Unfortunately my camera is locked in a woman´s apartment right now, so I can upload any pictures. I wanted to share some of the stories though.

We arrived in the river community Filadelfia on October 3rd. It was so great. I stayed there last year for a very short period of time, but for some reason I fell in love with the people there. My heart felt so full to see the missionary and his family again. He is Brazilian and she is Ticuna (an indigenous tribe in the region)and their kids are all adorable.

Our team ended up working with the local church there, staying with the pastor and his wife.

We had our difficulties at first. The culture isn´t given to trusting people immediately, especially after having some bad experiences with missionaries in the past. Normally we give conferences at night, and have one on one counseling session in the afternoon, and prep time in the morning. Well, they were not open to having counseling times. That´s ok, because we´ll just go out in the community and talk to people...no...not that either, you can´t do that without a Ticuna guide or people won´t talk to you. Well maybe we can...NO. Alright. So the first week was complicated in that sense. Oddly, though we are a counseling team, every person on my team is really strong in dance and drama. So we thought of teaching the youth a dance in the mornings so that we could at least have contact with them. They were all about that. We broke up into small groups to begin with and processed what they learned the night before in the classes we were giving.

The trust really grew. People would still not open up though, so I just started talking to them about what God was telling me about their lives. (That is always fun and scary for people- "Hey, this this and this is going on in your life and you feel like this and this. God wants you to know this and this. Do you want to talk about it?") They would affirm everything I was saying, cry, and not respond. Until the last night. One girl I had been praying for finally opened up and shared what was going on in her life. God have given me a really cool word for her and I wrote it down so she wouldn´t forget it.

Then we had a tearful goodbye and made our way to the city.

This week has been full of counseling. Rachel and I took on the teaching load and taught every night. Very receptive. They too, would be very touch and not want to talk about it. That´s ok. We are working with a really neat guy in counseling. I have high hopes that God is going to make some radical decision to change his life. He wants it.

And- No weird illness. Every Fefa, would is allergic to mosquitos (bad for being in the Amazon) has NOT HAD ANY REACTIONS. Thank you for praying.

Change of Address

Please note that we are in the process of moving. If you would like to send me a package, please write to me first so that I can send you the new address. If you send it here, they have no forwarding services. So it won't get to me :)
Thanks!

Back to the Amazon

Well, something funky is going on with the site, so the pictures are out of order...let's be flexible.

Tomorrow morning I will be heading out to the Amazon again. I am taking a mighty team of four women (including myself). Rachel (of course you know who Rachel is), Lorena (21), and Stephanie (aka Fefa 17). Some might laugh at the thought of receiving a team of counselors and then...surprise! They are four girls with the average age of...you do the math. But I have full confidence in our team and believe that He has given us sufficient gifts and passion to really bless the people there.

We are going to be going to different towns/cities along the Amazon River. I will have the HUGE blessing of being able to return to the little community where I was last year. We are starting our outreach there for two weeks, working alongside the DTS team (which should be interesting and challenging but good). Then we will be in Leticia, Tabatinga (Brazil), another river community on the Colombian side, and...other places that we don't even know because they are unconfirmed!!! Yes!!

We need prayer! Like crazy.

1. Pray for safety/health. Last time I was there we were drinking rain water. Yum. We can have a parasite competition in the group. Or maybe we can go to new frontiers like typhoid!! Weeee! Good news is that I have health insurance. Good stuff. They will even fly me back to Medellin if I need it. (Like THAT would ever happen...wait...this sounds oddly familiar...) There is also malaria, more dengue...who are we kidding. It is the jungle. Prayer for health is not going to be in vane.

2. Language/Communication Barriers. Guess what they speak in Brazil...NOT Spanish. So me, Rachel (who is still working on Spanish) and two Colombian girls are going to give conferences to people who speak Portuguese and Ticuna. If I need to translate, that is going to be interesting, since I haven't really practiced Portuguese in...six years? Pray that the three weeks that we are in Brazil would be amazing at that people will understand us (and that we would understand them).

3. Team sanity. I am leading. Enough said.

No seriously, when you are intentionally jumping into the middle of the hurt and sin of people and families, there is NATURAL emotional stress not to mention SUPERNATURAL opposition. We need spiritual covering.

4. Wisdom. Discernment. Boldness. Creativity. All absolutely necessary. Please pray especially for me as I am leading the team.

5. Pray that God would use us greatly and that we would allow ourselves to be used greatly.

Just pray alright? Why are you still reading this...you should be praying!

But first, I must address the burning question in your hearts. Did Desteni do something to her hair?? Why yes. I went to get the roots done again (since post-black hair trauma) and my hairdresser decided that I wasn't white enough so he went just a wee bit more blond that we were going for. But hey, it is still cute.

Now, with that inspiration...on your knees people!

Brigade Update...Finally

Clowns to entertain the people waiting to see the doctor.
My director and I. I am trying to stab him with my Peace flag.
Karen Lorena and I. She was a part of team Dengue when we all got sick.
Morning devotional.

This last brigade was amazing. God provided so much and so many things came together, that we knew that He was going to work in a special way. There is so much to tell...

Pre-Arrival

I had written to various supporters to see if they wanted to help with the brigade. Thanks to the offerings of a group of people, we were able to take hundreds of dollars of clothes and medication to the people of Tierradentro.

Adorable story I must tell. My beautiful, amazing, missionary nieces worked to be able to send special presents to the kids in this village. So this section is for them.

Auntie Xuxa (I) bought clothes and a special puppy to give to a little girl there with the money you gave them.

Xuxa crossing the river with puppy.
Puppy loved the river. She was there with my other team members.
I loved puppy very much and gave her one last hug before giving her to Adriana.
I told little Adriana that I needed her to take care of Puppy for me. She loved her, too. She even took her to the Pact for Peace event and had a little blanket to cover her from the rain! (Soooo stinkin cute).

Arrival-

We left Thursday night at traveled all night. (My non spiritual story that is a taste of what it is like to live cross-culturally...I went and got my seat on the bus in back. I go and a woman and her TWO CHILDREN were all in one seat. Like the kids are really going to sit stacked there for SEVEN HOURS. So the woman and her children, another adult woman, and I all squeezed into two seats. That was exciting. I, honestly, was furious. They also sold too many tickets and three people had to stand, yet pay the same price. I sat silently and tried not to breathe fire. The other woman made a bed on the ground for the children and offered her them her food. She showed me Christ.)

Other highlights- we were so tired that we slept on the ground at the bus station with homeless people. Then we got caught in mud on the way there are were stuck for an hour. (This will get more spiritual...I promise).

Look, Mom! I can mud skate!
Mom, no worries! Everyone needs to sleep on the ground in a public place at one point of their lives. Live on the edge.

We arrived and went immediately to work. I was working between counseling and with the youth. I did get to attend a couple of people, but it wasn't a very counseling happy place. So I put myself to work with the youth and WOW. I loved it! I even had a special class with the girls to talk about sex and relationships. It was so much...well, I was going to say fun, but that isn't the word. It was enriching. We had a time of ministering afterwards and three of the girls from the Cartagena team came up to me to tell me how much it had blessed them also. I got to talk to a 12 yr old girl and explain why it was not a good idea to run away and get married. She got it. I was glad.

I was also working closely with my friend Jhonny who also had a great time with the guys. There is so much need there among the youth. They have been through so many horrible things, and have so much immorality. We were really impacted by the need for discipleship there.

The youth we were working with.
I would be the white girl on the left. I think... No wait. That is another girl. Ha! So what. I was still there.
Team praying beforehand.

Me praying over people from the community.

We finished the event with a Pact for Peace. Members from the community, along with representatives from the government, schools, hospitals, etc came to make public commits to peace in their area of influence. There was also a time of forgiveness for those that had committed acts of violence against them.

God's Protection-
Tierradentro is not a safe place. The night before we left, a man was tortured and murdered in the village. We were assured it was an act of revenge, but still, I prayed to make sure I had God's blessing in going. I had a vision of a warrior angel with a huge sword to fight for me. So I felt confident in going. We went there and in orientation that pastor told us that we were not allow to leave the building alone. And we should try not to be outside too much. We (the foreigners) slept together next door to the military post. The intention was great, but the security sucked. The building was open to the street because the wall had been bombed out last October. The locks on the door were nails that you just had to push with a little force to open. The last night, two insurgents scoped out our night service, letting us know without using so many words that they knew we were there. The next morning, they sent us back early in a separate car to throw off any attempt at us. The pastors asked that, though they loved us and God used us amazingly, that they not send foreigners next time. It was a sobering time to know that God really did protect us. He knew we didn't know the degree of danger there and He honored us. So I will not be able to go back there unfortunately until it stabelizes more. That makes me sad because I really did love so many people there and have a burden for the work.

I will post more pictures soon to tell more stories.

Another Brigade!!!

Thursday night we are leaving for a health brigade that will last until Monday morning. So exciting!!

We are going to Tierra Adentro, a place that has been very affected by the violence. There is so much need there and the people are so open.

I will write more details when I get back.

Please pray for our safety. This is a red zone that we are going to. There is military presence and they will be protecting us (the only way that we would choose to go), but please pray that there would be no need for the military :) I long for God to touch lives of those that are into things they shouldn't be in terms of the war here.

We are going to do a pact against violence with the whole community. Pray that it would be a decision that each would make consciously, before God. Pray that there is understanding.

Blessings,
Desteni

La Maestra

A quick update.

This week we are doing Family Systems in the counseling school and...drum roll...I am going to teach on Friday. I am excited, but really nervous and stressed!

Pray that God would use me and guide me!

March Against FARC

Today, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the center of Medellin to participate in a march against the kidnappings of the FARC (the guerrilla). Recently 11 political figures were killed after being held for about five years. There response to the public was that they were really sorry that they had to do that, but that it was ultimately the governments fault for not making a deal with them.
Colombians from all over the nationed wore white and went to publically protest.
Six of us from the base participated.
I have never experienced anything like it. It was so moving. Hearing the cries of the people- calling out for freedom...freedom from the kidnappings, freedom from living in fear, freedom from those that are currently held captive.
As I marched with thousands of people, all I could think about was the Israelites in their captivity in Egypt. It says over and over again that God heard the cry of his people. I am sure that God was moved by what He saw today.
A famous latin singer (Juanes) was there and sang part of a song that he wrote with the following lyrics
"I dream of freedom for those that are kidnapped in the middle of the jungle and I dream of peace in the middle of a bloody nation and with the end of this unjust war."
But I couldn't see him because my vision was blocked by signs the face of a young man who had been kidnapped just weeks ago...
http://picasaweb.google.com/home March Against Kidnapping

Back to School

Hooray! We have officially begun the second semester of school.

I am blissfully happy to report that I am working with the Intrduction to Biblical Counseling as a pastora! Yeah!! We are already off to a great start. The girls are very open and I can just sense all that God wants to do in their lives. I feel very expectant.

And the DTS is going well, too. They have a really great group. The atmosphere is totally different than the last school. It is calm. Way more peace.

And what better way to start off the semester than with RACHEL'S FAMILY coming to visit. I finally got to meet her parents and was able to see Abby. Love them. I felt like my own family was here.

Upcoming Challenges

There are somethings I don't typically share, because it is not as exciting to hear. But there are some very real things happening here that are taking up a lot of prayer time.

The house that we rent is going to be torn down in order to build a big apartment complex. (This sounds like a Brady Bunch episode). Our renters gave us a smoking deal on the rent, so now we are faced with the dilema that we have grown and now have to move to what is hopefully a bigger house. Bigger house means more rent. Ideally, we would like to buy a house, but since the move will probably happen within the next three months, we are looking to rent for now.

I wish you guys could appreciate the financial situation we are in. We eat rice, beans, plantains, and eggs, because it is the least expensive food there is. Rachel and I buy our own fruit because we would never see it otherwise. They are very good stewards of every peso spent. Conserving water, light, gas, you name it.

So the thought of having to pay about $500 more a month is concerning. If any of you would like to make a monthly commitment to help with the rent, please let me know.

My other challenge is something I like to call coming home for Christmas. I had some money saved and it was wiped out with my whole "dengue extravaganza" (ie surprise flight home, hospital bill, medication, etc). So if I would like to come home for Christmas (which I do), I am going to need extra help in order to save towards this goal. Again, if you are interested, please let me know :)

Blessings,

Desteni

It Was Worth It

Saturday night, twelve students graduated from our DTS. I do not normally get emotional at events like this. But this time was different. This whole graduation was different. I stood up to give the final reflection to the students and wept. Why? Because I could see the fruit of what God had done in their lives, through all of the difficulties and mistakes. These students are definitely not the same as when they came. It was a hard school, for the staff and students alike. But in the end, it was agreed that the theme of this graduation was "It was worth it."

One of the girls that almost got sent home sang a song at the ceremony called (translated) "Look at what God has done in me" and I don't think there was a single dry eye. She couldn't sing in parts because she was crying, too. Ugg. I cry just remembering it. God really did miraculous things in the lives of the students and my prayer for them is that they would continue to walk in it. That they would remember who they are. That they would remember what God has done.

WHAT NOW?

Our next set of schools start in two weeks. Next week we will be told what our functions will be. I am hoping to work with the Intro to Biblical Counseling, but I may be needed in the DTS again. Many of our staff are taking the semester to study at other YWAM bases, or are going to be on sabatical. Lots of transition. It should be challenging. We are also going to have many different nations represented, which should be a blessing and again, a challenge.

HEALTH UPDATE

Many of you have been concerned for my health. I am now healed from dengue and functioning at 100%. Thank you for your prayers.

*To see more pictures from outreach, please click on my picture link.

Real Update!

As I promised, here are some stories from outreach. This little angel is Gina. Her mom brought her in for counseling, along with her teacher, because she was having trouble in school. One day she could write her name, and the next day she couldn't. They told me (right in front of her) that they thought she might be mentally handicapped. So I talked to the girl by herself, and what a doll! Nothing wrong with her. She did mention that she has no one to play with and that she plays with an old dish towel by herself in her room. (I made sure that we got her one of the dolls that was donated- see photo below). And she told me enough to know that there was stuff going on in her house.

So I brought her mom in and gently explained to her that when children don't have their basic needs met (love, safety, security, etc), they can't perform in school. So she mentioned, "Oh, by the way, she was raped by her neighbor last year." Now, I am no Nancy Drew, but maybe there is a connection? Oh, I was so mad and heartbroken for this little girl. Here she had been through this TRAUMA, and her family responds by calling her retarded, saying that she was slutty because she puts on high heels and wants to be a singer. AH! So she became my special most specialest friend at the brigade. She was with me all the time. I made a big deal about her doing everything with me, that I picked HER to be my helper, etc. And one day I was in a counseling session and I asked if she could stay in the room in there with us. Why? Because she randomly sat down and said, "Do you want to see me write my name?" I almost cried. When she feels loved and special, all of those secondary things just come. Of course she can write her name when people believe in her. This was another little girl named Jinet in another city. She brought me mangos every day. So cute.
These were two sisters that came in for counseling. We had a great time. She wept and wept. But it breaks my heart that we can't do follow up. One counseling session can't undo years of heart break. Pray that God would send godly women to Callejas to disciple these young girls.
After being on this outreach, it is more evident to me my passion to work in counseling and with the family. I really want to continue growing in this area. I especially want to study more on sexual abuse in the family. So predominant here! Especially in the smaller towns. It is so heartbreaking and families just don't know how to deal with it.

Update on my health- I am dengue free. I did my blood control test yesterday and my platelets are back to normal. Thank you for praying!

Sent Home

Yesterday my platelets dropped 22.000 and I needed to be hospitalized. So I talked to my director and he asked me to come from outreach immediately to receive treatment in Medellin. (Medellin has the best medical in Colombia). So I flew home this morning and went to the emergency room here. My platelets stabelized again so I got to come home.

Dengue isn't as fun as a goiter. No word with the sound "dang" in it can be really fun. I will work on making it funny somehow. Just give me a sec.

The good news though is that after five months my boxes got here that I send myself over Christmas. Who knows what in the world took so long, but they are here!!!

And I still am planning on doing a big update about outreach soon. I have to rest now though (doctors orders :)

Love
Des

Please Pray

Please forgive me for my lack of ability to update. It turns out that I got pretty sick. I went to the hospital and I have dengue.

Dengue is a tropical illness trasmitted by mosquitos.
For more info go to the following site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever

But please pray. I finally stopped throwing up after they took me to the hospital, but I am starting to feel naseated again. I have got to be able to keep food down though soon.

Thank you. Don´t worry. I am going to be ok. They are taking very good care of me.

Love
Des

Ummm Almost Updated

Well, I dont have time right now to update as I thought, BUT luckily Rachel did. Check out her site for the latest...
www.rachelanman.blogspot.com

Off to outreach

These three crazy women are about to lead an outreach together to Cordoba. Did they really think that one through well???

On Tuesday morning we will be headed out to Cordoba to do the health brigade and to start the rest of our two month outreach. We will be in Tierra Alta, El Palmar, Bijao, and Pica Pica. The rest of the team will end up in Tierra Adentro, but the road is too dangerous for Rachel and I to go there. (We are still not sure if they will send us to another city or just send us home).

Prayer requests:
It is still not certain that all of our team will go. Out of nowhere, we are having trouble with one of our professional students. We are praying that if God sees in her heart that she will not determine to be a blessing, that that would be made known so that we don't send her.

Pray for the physical and spiritual protection of all of the teams. We are going to the safest place and the other two groups are going to red zones (not safe because of the war). Those teams do not have any foreigners on them.

Pray THAT GOD WOULD USE US! That we would have His passion and His heart for each of the places and that He would use us in great ways!

On another note...

You may have noticed...hey, Desteni has black hair. Of course I do. Why wouldn't I? I was trying to go back to my natural color (dark brown) and well...

There you have it. Not dark brown. If I were going to sell that product, that would be the name I'd give it "Not dark brown."

Anyway, going back to the original intention for this post-

I am leaving for outreach. That means less posts, less contact with me, less pictures available. I do have a laptop, but I get to my outreach locational in a small canoe. I don't think I need to explain more on that one. So even though the contact will be less, I need even more prayer.

Blessings,

Desteni

The Baby

Karen, this is for you!