Leaving and Arriving . . .

Commissioning Sunday was a special time!!!

Open House - so thankful for everyone who came!!!  

I don't have photos of everyone, but here are a few!

Saying goodbyes were hard . . .so hard!!! 

Here are some random photos from the first week here: 

Mundane tasks made more fun with this incredible view . . . 3 volcanoes, one of which is active and occasionally puffs of ash can be seen coming out the top! 

the battle of the ants is on . . . they loved the poison i set out for them!!!
i'm excitedly waiting for them to disappear!!!

the garbage man

beautiful flowers from the market, so inexpensive, but so beautiful!!!

being known in the unknown

I was so thankful for my time in Guatemala in June!  

There were many reasons why, but the biggest ones were that I felt known, or more known than on recent trips!  

How???  Well, after going to language school and living in Guatemala for a few months, I would occasionally run into people that I knew at random places.  I felt known, and it was home! 

After being gone for a bit, that changes, I am no longer known there. 

But this last trip was different.  I was there with friends from the US, they now know me here and there!!!  Holly and I attended nursing school together, although hardly knew one another.  After graduation we both moved to Chicago and started working at the same pediatric hospital, so we decided to be housemates!  Even though she got married a year after that, we remained friends!  She then moved to Indianapolis a few years later, and I follower her there =)  We have remained friends, I have been thankful to be included as part of their family over the years, and to have her children be able to say my last name perfectly at a record young age!!!  

I was amazed and thankful as we served together in Guatemala and walked the streets together to the Potter's House, only getting slightly lost =)  And, to know that they now love the Guatemalan people and know where I will be living and serving was an incredible gift!!! 

I also felt a little more known at the Potter's House.  I've only been there on more "official" business, for example, tours, talking with the staff about potential opportunities.  I've gotten to know a few people along the way, but I have spent little time there.  This time, I was able to call and talk with them, and they remembered me!  I was able to walk through the building and be greeted by familiar faces! 

And then, as I was in a different city, I ran into a couple different people that I know, both American and Guatemalan.  

So while this is a difficult season of uprooting and goodbyes and fears of being completely unknown as I move to Guatemala, I was beautifully reminded mostly, that I don't go alone, and also that I am known, even there in the unknown!!!

Overlooking Guatemala City with Holly and Aiden

Holly, Aiden, and I near the Potter's House

At my new apartment with Holly, Aiden, and Henry

Getting lots of hugs while serving at a school

Henry and Patty (Holly's parents) working hard!!!

Holly and I and another nurse taking care of the children!

A new group of friends from the US and Guatemala!

sweet homelessness???

is that really possible?  this time of uprooting and releasing common comforts like my own space has been difficult, but yet good.  good because it reminds my heart that i'm rooted in Christ, not in a place or in things.  it also reminds me that i am not alone, as so many people have sweetly come alongside of me to offer encouragement, help and a place to sleep.  and, it reminds my heart that while i don't know the next step, the Lord does.  He was already preparing an apartment for me in Guatemala, and He continues to provide the support to get there!  amazing, He knows, He's got this =)

speaking of, here are some photos of my apartment as well as some photos from my recent time in Guatemala

outside of my apartment building

volcano view from the apartment =)

modern kitchen!!!

great space with lots of light and windows!

awesome team i'll be joining!

mother and child in a village we visited

visiting a lady living in the garbage dump community

street near the Potter's House

inside the Potter's House, children gathered for a healthy meal!

more than the impossible!!!

the Lord continues to grow my faith little by little!!!!  my support it up to 70% - i'm so amazed!!!  and i have half of my preparation/start-up costs - only $10,000 left!!!  somebody said that it would be impossible to have this much support by now - but the Lord has done more than the impossible!!!
i'm so grateful for every new person that joins my team, every person that is praying for me and the ministry in Guatemala, and every encouraging phone call, e-mail, text or moment spent with others!  the Lord has been gracious to me on this journey and i'm so thankful for the opportunity to see Him do more than the impossible!!!!

amazed and encouraged!!!

My sending church has every missionary establish a monthly prayer group, they call them Barnabas Teams.  Yesterday was the second time that my Barnabas Team gathered and I am just amazed and encouraged by them and their hearts for the Lord!!!  Such an incredible privilege to gather with this group and praise the Lord together, pray together, and know that they love me and want to encourage me on this journey to Guatemala!!!  

Support just keeps going up!!! I received a recent report and was amazed and encouraged that I can officially say that I'm at 52% of my support with others who have mentioned being interested in becoming financial partners.  I wasn't sure if the Lord would allow me to be at the 60% needed by mid-January which is the goal in order to be able to attend a required orientation in Feb. I'm now expecting that goal to be reached, and maybe even surpass that goal =)  The Lord is so faithful!  As the Lord continues to expand the team of people supporting me financially, I am so thankful for how each one is a unique story of God's faithfulness!  I feel more than just supported with money, but I feel prayed for, encouraged, and loved - that this team of people are journeying with me and are already playing an important role in ministering to the Treasures of Guatemala!!!

If the Lord is calling you to join this incredible team- there is still time and plenty of needs, and you too will be amazed and encouraged along with me!!!
I'd love for you to be part of my prayer team for sure!!!
The next goal will be getting another $1300 - $1500 in monthly support and another $18,000 in one-time gifts in order to be able to move to Guatemala!!!
If you you are able to join my financial team by supporting me monthly or with one-time gifts, click HERE for the direct link to my organization, TEAM, who collects all donations and will send you a tax-deductible receipt!

Seeing the Beauty of the Lord

I was recently asked how I have seen the beauty of the Lord in my own life or in the lives of others, and it took a moment to think about how I could answer that.  Have I seen the beauty of the Lord in my own life?  The truth is, the beauty of the Lord is all around us!  I can see the beauty of the Lord laced through my journey getting to Guatemala.  I can see the beauty of the Lord in unlikely places like the Guatemala City Garbage dump where the hug of a child reflects the beauty of the Lord.  I can see the beauty of the Lord all around me in His creation. Once I started looking I could see it over and over again - even in the falling brown leaves or the soon to be cold winter!  

What about you?  How have you seen the beauty of the Lord in your life recently?  

Ps. 27:4 "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."

Conferences

October was an exciting month at my church as we focused on global missions.  I had many opportunities to share with others about Guatemala and the Lord's faithfulness in leading me there.  

In November, I was able to attend the Global Medical Health Conference in Louisville.  It's an amazing time to gather with around 2,500 people who are also interested in or involved in medical missions.  I had a great time learning from others as well as reconnecting with many others that I've journeyed with at different times of my life whether in Chicago or Cedarville or Indianapolis or Togo or Nepal or Guatemala!!!

Changes

I will continue to work in the Riley ER as long as possible, but I have cut down my hours some to allow for a little more time to focus on preparation!  I started an internship at my sending church, College Park Church, with the Global Missions department which is such an honor!  I'm currently there every Tuesday!!!

Continuing to wait for the Lord's timing in moving out of my apartment.  

Along with this comes packing/sorting/purging, all of which I'm horrible at!!!  

Any help is welcome =)

The journey to Guatemala

I have about 40% of my monthly support - and I rejoice in how the Lord has provided EVERY one of those dollars!!! 

Would you also like to partner with me on this journey? 

Here are a few ideas: 

*I need people to pray for me, can you do that? 

* I need monthly supporters, any monthly amount helps, but I can't go to Guatemala until I'm at 100%, will you join me as a monthly supporter?  

* I need one time donations for pre-field training and transition/start up costs - if I need to get a car, it could be up to $20,000, can you help with that?

* I would love more opportunities to share one on one or with small groups or churches!!!  Do you know anybody who would like to hear more about this ministry?

Do you want to know more about prayer or financial partnership?

I would love to talk with you more!!!!

If you already know that the Lord has called you to be part of this ministry, you can click HERE to begin online donations.  Once I have 100% of the monthly costs needed to move to Guatemala, I can go!!!  That will be an exciting time to come to the point of knowing that the Lord’s abundant provisions will allow me to go and serve the least of these and bring His hope to those who have no hope!!!

***My desire would be to return to Guatemala by March of 2015!!!  

Watching and waiting to see if that is also the Lord's timing!!!*** 

I can’t tell you enough how much your prayers and support along this journey have meant to me!!!  And, how much I will continue to need that as I walk this new journey!!!  Please continue to let me know how I can be praying for you!!!  It is a privilege to have the opportunity to bear our burdens together as we take them to Jesus and entrust Him with ALL things!!!

May trip to Guatemala

Overlooking Guatemala City

In May I had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala for about 4 days.  It was a very, very quick trip, but I was so thankful for every moment there!  My first trip to Guatemala was in 2003, and then I proceeded to travel there about 6 more times including a total of 4 months living there and attending language school.  My last trip to Guatemala had been in 2007 where I spent one month working with national doctors in a clinic setting.  I have spent time trying to find ways to return to Guatemala long term, but it just seems that the Lord had not opened the door for that until now!  Earlier this year I was accepted by TEAM as a full time missionary!  We have been talking about me going to Guatemala, but I have never seen the specific ministry that TEAM works with and wanted to see that before committing to my 3 or more years in Guatemala!

 

So, the overall purpose of the trip was to meet fellow missionaries and Guatemalan co-workers and see the communities I would be serving.  My first two days were spent at the Potter's House, which is a Guatemalan run Christian NGO (non-government organization).  They serve the 10,000+ people who scavenge through the Guatemala City garbage dump.  There are countless needs within this community and the Potter's House is working to address as many of those as possible.  But, they are not only concerned about material poverty, they are concerned about their spiritual poverty and trying to help them find hope in the only One who can bring them hope!!!  One of the ways they do this is through offering medical care.  That's where I come in!  As I was sitting with the medical team of the Potter's House, they asked me what I would like to do if I moved down there.  My question to them was, what do you do and what are your goals and visions for the future?  They then started telling me about how they would like to expand their medical care of the more than 5,000 children living in these dump communities, work with women and infants to prevent malnutrition, and train some community members to be lay health workers in these dump communities.  When I told that my experience had been mostly in pediatrics and I had already gotten a master's degree in community health nursing, their jaws just about dropped open =)  What I didn't tell them was that I have worked in a homeless shelter, worked in a community clinic primarily working with pregnant women, and have always wanted to train nationals to take my place!!!   This was just one of the many stories during my 4 days that made my jaw drop as well!

Kids in health class at the Potter's House

 

Community surrounding the garbage dump

It's amazing to me that the Lord could take so many of my past "wandering steps" and pull together this opportunity for me to serve Him in Guatemala!    As I've been praying for the Lord to clearly confirm this step towards Guatemala, I can not believe how much He has designed this to be a perfect fit for me!   Now, that's not to say that this has been an easy decision!  The Lord has given me a great love for the people of Guatemala, but the Lord has also given me a great love for the people of many other countries.  It's been a difficult step to feel like I have to choose the people of one country over another.  However, the Lord doesn't need me anywhere - and He cares for people everywhere more than I ever could!!!  So, this is an area that I've had to constantly entrust to the Lord!  I also returned from Guatemala having to work through my response to seeing some of the difficulties that will arise when I do move there.  Like, how will I live in Guatemala City and enjoy it, or where will I live, or how will I navigate in such horrible traffic?  But, the Lord will provide one step at a time, I don't have to know all the answers now before I move!

The next step then, figuring out how and when I can return to Guatemala!!!  My goal is to go back in the spring of 2015.  There will be a lot to do between now and then!  I plan to continue working as a nurse at Riley while I begin developing a team of people who will prayerfully and financially support the ministry in Guatemala.  There will be other things that need to be done in preparing to leave and sorting/packing as well as various trainings to help prepare me for going!  Once I move to Guatemala, I anticipate taking the first couple months to focus on remembering more of the spanish that I have learned and increase my vocabulary!  And then during that time I can work on finding housing and re-acclimating to the culture as well as beginning to serve with the Potter's House.  

Over the past few months, the Lord has been reminding me of His incredible faithfulness!!!  When I'm tempted to worry or be fearful of what lies ahead, I just have to remember His faithfulness in the past and present and know that He will be faithful in the future!  I love the way Psalm 136  rehearses the phrase "His love endures forever" after every statement.  The other day while reading that, I was thinking about my own life and how I could insert my own phrases and repeat the same thing over and over again!  God is in control of all things, good or bad, easy or hard, and we can ALWAYS trust Him!!!!