Finally.

Finally. There is resolution in the school. After 137 trillion meetings with staff, students, leaders, Jesus, pizza delivery guy (heck, YOU were probably in some of the meetings), we have come to a decision on the students on the outreach teams.

Three students were asked to leave, and six are going on probation (meaning that we will let them go on outreach conditional upon their behavior). It is sad because I really love two of the students leaving, but we made the right decision. It was too big of a risk taking them.

Since people are leaving, we had to restructure the teams. Only one of my original students is going with us :( But they chose really well. They are really well balanced teams and I am excited for it.

We have two of the professional students (adults) Claudia and Paula, then Ingrid and Juan Daniel. I will try to post a team pic soon!

Happy Easter

EASTER!!!

Well, this was mine and Rachel's big Easter celebration. We hid the egg candles her mom got us and spelled out Happy Easter with our bodies. Now, people don't celebrate Easter here, so all of this was scary and amusing to them.

And I know I haven't updated on the students in awhile. I just keep waiting. On Monday, we pulled nine of the students into a meeting to let them know that we were seriously considering not letting them go on outreach. We were ready to make that decision. We have prayed and feel like some of them still have hope. So we are watching and praying for guidance.

Destination...CORDOBA

In three weeks I will be heading out with a team of students to Tierra Alta to participate in a Health Brigade. In all my experiences in missions, I have the feeling that this will be something that forever marks my life.

HISTORY

Most people don´t realize that Colombia is in a war. There are three different groups that are constantly battling for domination over certain areas. One of the groups will come and drive people out of their homes. Thousands have had to flee for their lives. So where do they go? Colombian refugees make their own little communities in the nearest "safe" place. They have nothing except what the government helps them with for six months: seeds and training how to cultivate their own food. They have lost everything, family members, security, all of their possessions, and have to start all over from scratch- broken.

Four times a year YWAM organizes a Health Brigade to be able to offer relief and consolation to these people. We take doctors, psychologists, dentists, carpenters, beauticians, nutritionists, etc to come and offer aid. We take clothes, medications, house supplies, mattresses, all which have been donated by local Colombians.

HOW ARE WE GOING TO PARTICIPATE?

My team will be divided. We have a nurse and a physical therapist that are going to be offering their services. My team will be in charge of evangelism, which is the focus of the brigade. If people can´t know Jesus, we are just providing band aids for gaping wounds.

I will be working in the area of counseling. That is going to be a huge challenge for me, one that is going to force me to CLING to Him for WISDOM. My director was telling me that she talked to a woman who was eating breakfast one morning with her four kids and a group came in and killed all of her children in front of her, leaving them at the table. No amount of wisdom can speak into those wounds. I need Jesus so much to use me as a vessel of His presence. I feel as though I will actually be going into hell to bring His mercy and comfort. I am not sure I will ever be the same after this.

HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?

We need clothes, medication, MONEY. It is going to cost us about $6000 USD to pull this off. If you would like to send a donation, for time purposes, it would be best to send it to my house (let me know and I will get you the address). Personally, I do not have all of the finances I need to go. Lots of last minute purchases and expenses that I wasn´t aware of. (ie a tent, transportation, uniforms, rain boots, a mosquito net, etc etc and etc). If you would like to help, please send checks, again, to my parents house and distinguish whether it is for me or for the brigade.

PLEASE PRAY

I would like to invite you to make a commitment to pray for us, at least until May 1st. I am asking you to pray in groups, to fast, to really become apart of what we are doing to reach these people.

Please pray that:

1. That God would pour His Spirit upon us and give us a special anointing to do the work that He has put in our hearts.

2. For SAFETY. The area is safe enough for us to go, but it is near dangerous areas.

3. Our health. There is a big malaria risk in this area. It is also pretty unhygienic.

4. Pray for the salvation of the people there. They they would come to know Christ truly as a SAVIOR. As the PRINCE OF PEACE.

5. Pray that the insurgents living in the area would come to know the Lord and would find a way out of the lifestyle they have been living.

6. Pray that we find transportation that will take all of the good the whole way there (which requires crossing a river on a raft).

7. Pray for protection in our relationships. (Best way for the enemy to botch up what we are doing is to bring division among us or conflict).

8. That God would speak to people and touch them in a way that only He can.

Please note also that my leaders are very responsible in where they send us. If they perceive that a place is too dangerous to go, they will not allow us to. In fact, we will not be going to one of the city with our outreach team because the road to get there is too dangerous for foreigners. We are also going as a humanitarian relief group, which is very respected even among insurgents. Do not be afraid.

Lots of News

This is our precious little Danna Carolina, our new baby at the base. She is almost two weeks old now and she is more ridiculously precious than should be allowed.

In other news, it was announced on Friday that I will be leading a team to the coast for outreach. This was a huge surprise for me since I haven't been working with the school. But the other leader is starting another school that will run through outreach and they needed another leader. I will be leading with two other girls (which will be a HUGE blessing, since one of them is Rachel and we work amazingly well together). We will be working at a medical brigade for Colombian refugees in Tierra Adentro, and various places on the coast (Cordoba).

God is so cool. I love how He uses us to bless one another. The other day one of our students was crying. Rachel went to talked to her. She was discouraged about her team she was put on for outreach (with none of her friends), and confessed that she didn't have any of the necessary items for a part of training we do called NIKO. (It is kind of like a survival camp in the mountains). So Rachel and I gladly snuck out and went shopping for her to get her everything she needed. And when we got there, I just had it on my heart to go even beyond that to bless her with a couple of shirts (like most people who come, she has put on a little weight and her clothes are now too small). So we threw a couple of shirts in there, too. We snuck back into the house and I began writing her a letter to leave it all on her bed. God began to speak to me, and I wrote what I believe the Lord wanted to show her. We left it on her bed and went back to my room.

Shortly thereafter, she came home. Even from our room, we could hear shrieks and screaming. So we were thinking, "Cool, I am glad she liked it." A few minutes later she came in with tears running down her face. She choked out that she was going through so much at the moment. Her mom is in the States and hasn't been able to talk to her. In the letter I wrote her, I wrote, "Princess, don't worry." And bawling she explained how her mom is the only one who calls her Princess. God was so intimately taking care of her in the moment. Soooo cool.

God just works like that. It was so fun for Rachel and I. We were more than happy to help. God put the desire in our hearts and used it to bless her. So simple yet so rewarding.

In The Trenches

I love this picture. It is the picture of how I feel right now.

Sometimes I wish I could just control people and force them to make good decisions. I look at the students sometimes and just want to shake them and tell them, "Don't you realize that that is going to hurt you! That is a bad idea." But they continue on with it.

How God must suffer with us. What was He THINKING when He gave us a free will? I can't even grasp how much He loves us, yet watches us do things that He told us not to all the time. Why can't I grasp that His "rules" (as they are often viewed) are not to bind us, it is because doing it any other way will HURT us.

Some of the students made some decision last night that could really have lifelong effects. Leadership has the responsibility to decide how to handle it.

I feel sad. Disappointed. Frustrated...