Reflections after 4 years from the mission field

Exactly 4 years from this time, I was coming back to America after living in China for 2 years straight as a missionary.  I seem to forget that a lot of people don't know this little fact about me, especially the friends I have made over the past 4 years.  At times it feels like just yesterday I was walking the streets of China, taking public transportation everywhere, going to school studying full time and sharing the Gospel with many who have never heard.  At other times it feels like such a long time ago since so much has happened since then.  Though I don't talk about my experiences as much anymore, I will never forget all the Lord did in my life those 2 years and the wonderful memories I made.  It was definitely the hardest 2 years of my life thus far, but oh so good at the same time.  Besides marrying Justin, I had never been so sure about a particular decision in my life.  I knew since high school that the Lord was calling me to be a missionary for at least 2 years after I graduated college.  I think most people thought it was a phase, but the Lord continually confirmed that calling to me over and over all throughout college.  Shortly after graduating college, I was off with my 4 huge trunks and suitcases of luggage, and flying 2 days straight with 6 different planes. I arrived to a big city where I was met by a teammate to get some stuff done there before flying to my smaller city.  I somehow made it okay, though none of my 4 suitcases/trunks made it!  Since ALL of my luggage was lost, we had to stay in a hotel in the big city much longer than what we had anticipated.  In the meantime, I was told to get out in the culture and eat the local food as much as possible.  After doing that for a few days, I became incredibly sick with the worst stomach sickness you could possible think of.  At one point, I thought I was going to die. Okay, not really, but that was how awful I felt.  On top of being horribly sick, the hotel toilet also broke, which is a complete nightmare when you're that sick.  Adding the fact that I had no luggage, I guess you could say I was definitely questioning if I heard God wrong!  Thankfully, I did survive, and my luggage finally did arrive, and I ended up loving the city, the people, and the culture more than I ever could have imagined. 


I wish I could say that the hardest part was behind me, but what part about living overseas is easy anyway?  Throughout my entire 2 years, I had to say goodbye to practically all my teammates as they had to leave the country one by one all for different reasons (medical and government issues).  It was rough to say the least, but I'm reminded by how much the Lord taught me during those 2 years.  I became incredibly independent and had no choice but to rely on the Lord for strength daily.  I learned so much from the people and their hospitality and how much they value family and not "stuff".  I grew and was stretched in ways I never thought possible.  And at the same time, I loved it. 

I have been thinking about missions a lot lately and how the Lord wants Justin and I to be involved here in the states.  I'm thankful I married a man who has a passion for evangelism.  I have learned so much from him and his heart for the lost over the past 3 years.  Before we were dating, Justin signed up for an international friendship ministry through our church where he was paired up with a Chinese friend who was living in Houston.  Justin and his friend hit it off so well, they even went on vacation together to Colorado!  I love that about my husband.  Though he may not have lived overseas like I have, he has ministered to many people, and is constantly sharing the Gospel with the lost. 

I hope Justin and I can go back to visit the city where I lived one day.  Being in Colombia together brought so much joy to our lives serving together in foreign missions and evangelism.  We know missions will always be a part of our family's life.  We don't want to plan our entire future of where we will live and where we will be as we have no idea where or what the Lord will call us to do.  We want to be open to where He wants us and we are excited to see the journey He will take us on together!

Our Colombia Mission Trip: Part 3

After our first 2 days in the 1st village Villa Carmen, we spent the next 2 days in a different village called El Bosque (The Forest).  We were sad to say goodbye to the Pastor and the church members, and some of the families that we witnessed to, but were excited for a new start in a new place.  We didn't really know what to expect with our 2nd village.  We met the pastor and some of the church members who were incredibly hospitable and welcoming towards us.  They were just so happy we were there to partner with them.  I remember what it was like living overseas and feeling like you're one of just a few Christians in the area and I'm sure that is how they felt.  I remember how joyous it was to have visitors and other believers come to work with us even if it was only a few days.  They were just so happy we were there and it was a blessing being with them for 2 days.  When we got there we immediately noticed that it was very different than the first neighborhood we were at.  This neighborhood was a little more dangerous that the first one.  We had to be more careful overall with our personal belongings.  Of course the people there were still incredibly friendly as kids played outside together and they allowed us into their homes to share the Gospel with them.

 My favorite story of the week was during our first day there Justin and Pastor Felipe were talking about if they should go witness to these group of guys that were always hanging out at the very top of the hill overlooking the barrio.  Justin sensed that the Pastor was very hesitant about sharing with them.  He came to find out that these guys were actually drug dealers and that the Pastor had tried to witness to them at a previous time.  When the Pastor tried talking to them, the guys showed him their gun, just giving him the message to stay away.  So of course the Pastor was a little more hesitant go talk to them again, though he really wanted to.  After they were debating if they should take the risk to go talk to them, the Pastor said "these guys need Jesus too, and it would be wrong for us not to share."  Justin was ready and said "alright, lets go talk to them".  They took a big group over there to be safe, and Justin started talking to them.  He spent a long time with these guys sharing his testimony and then sharing the Gospel with them.  I walked up about halfway and had no idea what was going on since there was such a huge group with them.  I could just sense the Holy Spirit speaking through Justin and moving in these guys hearts.  They seemed like such tough guys before but when I looked at them then, their hearts just seemed to be softened.  They were so respectful and attentive and they seemed to be hanging on every one of Justin's words.  It was amazing.  The Lord was working in their hearts and the Pastor prayed with them.  Only the Lord knows their hearts but how amazing that He used a random American like Justin to share with them, when they refused to listen to it before.  I am thankful for my godly husband who feared the Lord more than man. 

There were stories after stories of all the people the Lord led us to talk to and how the Lord was moving in their hearts.  Our love definitely grew for missions, for Colombia, for the poor, and for the Gospel.  Our love also grew for each other.  We loved going on a mission trip together and think every married couple should go.  It brings you to another place in your relationship.  Our time together on this trip was sweet and I am truly thankful for how the Lord grew us closer together.

On our last night in Colombia we held a Victory celebration service at a Baptist church located centrally in the city. The people we witnessed to in the neighborhoods were picked up by buses and brought to the church that night. It was beautiful to see 16 churches represented from various denominations come together that night as one Body to worship through testimony, preaching and song.  The room was packed full of people!  We were so encouraged by all the people that came to the service who we had the opportunity to share the Gospel with earlier that week. We were also so thankful for how well the Pastors were doing with the follow up process.   We worshiped in Spanish and some in English.  I just love worshipping in another language, it is always so beautiful to me.  The service was encouraging and just a great time to celebrate all that the Lord did that entire week.

So now we are back into the real world and it hasn't been easy.  We were slammed hard immediately with sickness and trials once we got back which has kept us from even processing our trip.  But the Lord is good and has reminded us of His faithfulness towards us on this trip and all that He did in and through us.  I believe He even used that trip to prepare us for the trial that would come our way once we got home.  Lord willing, this will be the first of many mission trips for us in the future.

Our Colombia Mission Trip: Part 2

Through the exhaustion of the week, the Lord continually gave us joy and strength through serving and sharing the Gospel a dozen times a day.  On Tuesday, our team did something a little different.  There was a painter on the E3 team who came to our village and started painting a beautiful picture of the crucifixion to try to draw a crowd.

 At first, there was hardly anyone there.  About 10 minutes later, there were people everywhere.

We immediately started talking to the people that were there and sharing the Gospel with them.  After being there over an hour, I think I shared the Gospel with different groups of people at least 10 times. There were a lot of kids there as well because of course children are very curious.  I got some great pictures of Justin sharing with some boys:

One thing I loved was after going through the evangacube with some of the children, and teaching them the Gospel, we had little cards to hand out to them that were just like the cube so they could share the Gospel with someone else.  They absolutely loved this and were begging us for the cards so they could share them.  We had a limited supplies, so I would tell the children that they had to really know what it meant and share it with me first before I would give them a card.  I was so impressed with how attentive they all were and could share the Gospel so well!  After they repeated it all back to me, they would immediately go to another child and share it with them.  Though only God knows what is going on in these children's hearts, seeds were definitely being planted!

It was a really great day and we rejoiced over all the people young and old who heard the Gospel that day....many for the very first time.  God is definitely at work and it was only day 2....

to be continued...

Our Colombia Mission Trip: Part 1

Before we knew we it, we were on a plane to Miami, and then another plane to Colombia!  The Lord had already answered so many prayers.  The flights could have not gone more smoothly, and all our luggage made it with no problems.  That is very unusual!  (especially looking back on my last mission trip, everything went wrong, I lost all my luggage, and become extremely sick..not fun!).  So we arrive at our hotel late Saturday evening and meet the rest of our team.  There was a huge group from the team leader's church there, but we were all split into groups of 4-6 people for the entire week.  Then Sunday morning, each group went out to different churches to join their worship services.  Just driving around the city fills my heart with joy as I just love being in a different country experiencing different cultures.  It was great worshipping in another language that morning.  The Pastor also asked us to give our testimonies during the service.  Here is a picture of Justin giving his testimony.

After church, we spent the rest of Sunday resting and going through some training.  We also broke into our teams Sunday evening and met our translators.  There were enough translators there for each of us to have our own, which was awesome.  All the translators were so nice and helpful and were such servants.  Here are some pics of just some of the translators we go to know during the week

So then Monday morning comes and we are all pumped and ready to share the Gospel.  We had a prayer time with the group at 6:30am, breakfast, teaching time, and then we made our way out to the neighborhoods by 9am.  Each team was assigned to 2 neighborhoods for the week.  One for Monday and Tuesday, and a new neighborhood for Wednesday and Thursday.  Each of the neighborhoods had a church plant that was either just starting or just starting to grow.  The first neighborhood was in Villa Carmen where we worked with Pastor Eduardo and his wife and 2 beautiful children.  They moved to this poorer neighborhood to start a church there which is amazing.  There are about 5 core people involved in the church and they meet at the Pastor's home.  So, our team spent all Mon and Tues with this Pastor and church members, sharing the Gospel in the neighborhood.  We were each paired up with a translator, and a church member and we all went to different parts of the neighborhood for door to door evangelism.  Here are some pictures of the neighborhood and some people we shared with:

It was incredible to see just how hospitable people were!  Almost all of them would invite me into their homes and allow me to sit in the nicest chair and put the fan directly on my face.  Each of them were interested in what I had to say and listened attentively.  We used an evangacube to share the Gospel which was a great tool to have.  It really keeps their attention as it shows pictures especially for the visual leaner.  When I was invited into a home, I usually started with a few get to know you questions and explained to them why I am here and that was to share my story and about my relationship with Jesus Christ.  I would then share my testimony with them, and then share the entire Gospel.  It was awesome being able to see the Lord changing their hearts and how the Lord has been moving in their lives way before we even got there.  I would then invite them to the church that we were working with in their neighborhood.  Each evening, they held a Bible Study for all the people in the neighborhood to come and learn how to study the Bible.  Everyone who came whether new believers or just seeking were broken into small groups which were led by the church leaders.  The groups were called Yo Soy Segundo which means I am Second.  We thought it was a great way to get new believers involved right away and teaching them how to study the Bible. 
After the evening Bible Study we were on our way back to the hotel to have dinner and then finally to get some rest.  By the time we would get back to the hotel after dinner was around 9:00-9:30, so there was not much free time as we were exhausted...but a good exhausted...

to be continued...

Our Colombia Mission Trip...how it all began

It's so hard to believe that we have been back from Colombia for 3 days now.  How is the trip that we were planning so long for, is already over?  It feels like just yesterday we were first telling people about it and raising our support.  From the moment that we felt the Lord leading us to go to Colombia with E3 Partners, we knew this was His will for us.  Justin and I have talked about going on a mission trip together from when we first started dating.  After the Lord brought us together, it didn't take long for us to know He was calling us to marriage.  So after a wedding, and settling into married life, we started talking about going on a mission trip again.  For those of you who don't know, I love foreign missions.  I spent 2 years in Central Asia as a missionary and loved it.  Justin has a huge heart for Evangelism.  The man has a gift that is so evident to me.  He is passionate about sharing the Gospel and it is something that has drawn us together.  After praying about where to go for our mission trip, we did a lot of research and just didn't know where or what we should do.  We knew we wanted to go somewhere where sharing the Gospel was the central part of the trip.  After a friend introduced us to E3 partners and told us about his experience, we started to do some research.  Sharing the Gospel and Evangelism was the entire purpose of the trip so we were drawn to it immediately.  We also heard some great things about the team leader and his leadership so we began to pray about going to Colombia to join their team.  Another reason why we were drawn to this organization is because they partner with local churches there and emphasize growing the Churches and doing follow up.  It was extremely strategic.  You don't just go to random neighborhoods, share the Gospel, and leave and no one ever sees these people again.  The churches there are very intentional about following up with all the people we talk to.  After much prayer, talking to wise counsel, and Justin having many conversations with the team leaders, we knew the Lord was leading us to this trip.   We then started raising our financial support and the Lord provided all our funds more quickly than we could ever have imagined!  The Lord was definitely at work!  We began praying, preparing, and packing....and before we knew it, July 2nd was here and we were on our way....

to be continued...