It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Yesterday was our final Kid's Club in Armenia Bonito before Christmas, so, of course, we celebrated! We had some of the children act out the Christmas story, complete with props and costumes.

The angel visiting Mary

Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem 

Mary, Joseph, the Sheppard, Wise Men, and the angel gathered to see Jesus

All of the cast gathered for a picture after the big show

And of course what Christmas celebration would be complete without a craft....

All the excitement wore this little guy out...

....and this one too

Honduran sights for the day

So today several things happened that had me question where I was. Most days its just my life so I don't really realize when things are a little different than in the States. Today however...
1. Saw a sign today for a "Black Friday Sale", yep in English and in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving yet they are going to have a day-after-Thanksgiving sale??
2. Heard in a department store an elevator music version of the Prince song "Purple Rain"(again hmm....)
3. We were checking out at the pharmacy today when my phone ring so I handed Y the wallet to pay, thinking she would take some cash out and pay. I return to see that not only has she used a credit card that isn't hers but she is signing(and by signing I mean printing) the receipt...with her name?? Neatly written on the signature line of the receipt, under where it has printed Shannon's name, is Y's name.
4. We were at the pharmacy to buy lice treatment, which they sold us, but they don't sell the comb to go with it...you have to go to small corner store to find those????

But its on days like this when the car breaks down with both Y, C, and another girl in the car and we spend the whole time waiting on someone to come and rescue us laughing and joking that I have to stop and think, is this really my job? I love my job!

Special outing with the boys

My new best friend Alfredo

Saturday we went with street boys who are a part of the Peter Project on a special outing. The boys have been learning a series of 5 verses that tell the story of the gospel through the rainbow. Black is the first color and the verse is "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23, the verse for Red is "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus." Romans 6:23, and it continues you get the picture. The boys who memorized all 5 got to participate on Saturday. We went out to eat at Pizza Hut and then afterwards rented a field and played soccer for an hour. It was a real treat for most of the boys to be able to eat out in a restaurant.

Fernando, Alfredo, Christopher, and Ramon at the soccer field 

With Fernando in Pizza Hut

Louis praying at Pizza Hut

The boys pray after playing soccer

Ramon who comes to the Peter Project with his 3 brothers Chele, Alfrado, and Louis

Little Louis who is 9 memorized 3 of the verses and was able to participate in the fun!

Model for the day

Today Y had exams for her beauty school. I got to be her model. So off to school I went with Y today. We get to the gate of the school and she shows her school ID to get in, the guard then looks at me and says, "What about her?" Y responds with "Her? I don't know her! She's just some 'gringa'" After some persuasion and leaving my ID with the guard we were in. She wet my hair then blow-dried it and straightened it, what a feat! She did an awesome job! When I was raising support to come to Honduras I could have never imagined what I would be doing when I got here. I also would have never believed when I was in language school that I should learn how to say "straighten" or "dye". The Lord is full of surprises!

A Day of Firsts

So today I drove in Honduras for the first time! Shannon says to me, "Today is a great day for you to drive because I think all the lights are working" (as in all the stop lights in town, yes folks that's a rare thing. A stop light we go through daily was out for several weeks when it went out.)
Another first tonight: I was at Puerta de Esperanza and little J comes running through the house yelling, "Jenny, Jenny, Jenny". Today is first time I've ever heard her call me by name. She is developing such a little personality and is less of a baby and more of a little girl every time I see her.
 Little W was being super cute tonight too. He wanted a sip of my water, so I was trying to get him to do sign language for "please" (you rub your hand on your chest). He watched me with a "you must be crazy" look for a few seconds then rubbed his hand on MY chest, not his. He then looked at C and I confused when we were laughing at him.
Continue to be in prayer for my relationships with these girls, for C and for Y. That language wouldn't be a barrier and that I would be able to show them grace and love and most of all more of Jesus.

The family comes to visit Honduras

These past 5 days have been a whirlwind of catching up with family, showing them the sights of La Ceiba, and giving them a glimpse of my life and ministry here.

My grandfather and Josef playing Frisbee in La Fe at Kid's Club

My dad passing out candy to the children who could tell him what each color of the salvation beads represented. 

My mom and Stephanie

JR and Arnold playing soccer

My mom hanging out with Elias at Puerta de Esperanza

Up, up, up

The babies at Puerta de Esperanza are learning simple sign language and English. E, who will be 2 in December, knows the most sign language. He knows the signs for "more", "please", and "thank you". When he wants something but you tell him no he signs, 'more please' really fast. It doesn't matter what it is, it could be a toy, water, or my cell phone. He thinks "more please" equals give me what I want.
J on the other hand who knows the most English (as a result of Shannon and I really only speaking to her and the other 2 babies in English),  knows if she wants someone to pick her up she has to say "up". In J language that means the same as signing "more please" to E. J says "up" for anything she wants. She wanted a magnet off the fridge the other day so what did she say? "up, up, up" over and over again until I handed her the magnet. Did I also mention J says "wuv you". Melts my heart every time:)

Bible Study with Y

Friday I did Y's weekly book study with her. She is reading the book "Lies that Young Women Believe". She was engaged in the book and since the book in Spanish several times we just died laughing because there were words that neither of us knew the definition of. She is still in the first few chapters and the book is talking about Eve and how all the lies that women believe go back to the first lie that the first women believed from Satan in the garden. The book quoted Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." When the Psalm was quoted she immediately said, we have to look that up and she found it in her Bible. She made me read the entire Psalm outloud (which was a little painful to hear me reading in Spanish :) When I had finished she said "that's beautiful, I love it". And later when Shannon came over she read the verse to her. It's encouraging to see her excited about God's word and applying the book to her life. Even in the 2 months that I've been here I can see a change in her. She's joyful and pleasant to be around and I am excited to get to spend more time with her!
On a completely unrelated note when I got ready to leave later in the day it was like 1:45 and I hadn't eaten lunch yet so I said I have to go I'm so hungry. Well the house mom heard me and was giving me a hard time for not telling her when I got there at 12:30 that I hadn't eaten lunch yet. Y interjects and says "yeah, here at Puerta de Esperanza (which means door of hope) we have hope for food and for water". Several times a day a think, 'This is my job? I love it!' My time yesterday with Y was one of those times:)

Fernando

Yesterday I started tutoring Fernando! He's 14 and has never gone to school. He lives with his older brother and washes windows at the stop light to earn money. He is very excited about the prospect of learning to read and potentially going to school sometime in the near future. He's a little self-conscious of the fact he can't read and doesn't want the other boys at the center (which now has a name...Peter Project) to know so I was a little unsure of how he would do. But we met at the center an hour before the other boys came yesterday and he did awesome. We worked on writing his name and identifying all the letters and sounds in his name and ended with making his name out of play-dough. I'm glad all those Early Childhood Education classes can come in use all the way in Honduras! It's our Monday plan now and I'm excited to see how much he's going to grow and would love to see him in school sometime soon!

After tutoring Fernando in the morning I spent yesterday afternoon going to several government buildings with C from Puerta de Esperanza supposedly finishing ALL the necessary permissions needed from the government to open the used clothing store. But this is Honduras, nothing is that simple, and so maybe today it will all be finished?

BUSY Week!

This past week was a long week! I feel like I was able to get a good insight into the different ministries my teammates have here and understand better what they do everyday and help to discern what I will be doing everyday. This week the drop-in center for the streetkids opened! Right now the center is opened 3 days a week. The kids are able to come and have a hot lunch and hangout and play board games or soccer and receive positive attention from adults and experience the love of Christ. This week the center averaged between 6-10 kids each day. These kids come from all different backgrounds. 2 boys wash windows at the stoplight to pay for their school. Their family is just poor and can't afford to send them but they have a dad who is very involved and was waiting with them when we picked them up on Monday. Another boy literally sleeps on the streets. He has a grandmother who he sometimes stays with but he hasn't been there for a few weeks now. Pray for these boys and pray for Kate and for Hector (a Honduran who works with the streetchild ministry here) that they can reach them.

 Lunchtime at the drop-in center

An Uno game at the Streetchild drop-in center

The second half of my week was spent with Shannon at Puerta de Esperanza, a home she started for young single mothers and their babies. Currently 2 girls and 3 babies live at PDE. C is 19 and is in college. She has a 10 month old little boy, W. Y is 16 and is in beauty school. She has a 2 year old little girl named J. C is in college and is taking an English class I have been helping her some with her homework the past 2 weeks. This week Y decided she wanted to learn English, so twice this week I met with her and we learned some basic English. The first day we met it took her 30 minutes to say a single word in English. All she kept saying was "I can't", "I'm nervous", "I don't even know the letters, so I can never learn English". And while this speaks volumes about her self-esteem the even sadder thing is that she has a 2 year old little girl who is watching her and taking cues from her. 2 days later J was sitting in my lap playing with a toy. The toy was sticking and all of the characters wouldn't function correctly. After trying a few times J said, "I can't". She refused to even try any more she just kept whining and saying she couldn't. She broke my heart. It was something so simple, 2 words she had heard her mother say over and over again, "no puedo". Pray for these girls and these sweet babies. Pray that they would understand and experience the grace of Christ.

J playing with a toy at Puerta de Esperanza

Lessons from Honduras

Things I learned about Honduras today....
#1 The post office gets robbed. Yes, that's right robbed. I went with Shannon to pick up a package today and the lady couldn't find it. After looking for 10 minutes she said, look we were robbed and they maybe stole it. This isn't the first time the post office has been robbed either....(They did eventual find her package, which was really only a card. Probably why it wasn't stolen)
#2 You can go into a copy shop and buy 5 sheets of blank computer paper. Don't need a whole pack? Well come to Honduras where you can buy paper by the sheet. (5 sheets cost us $.10)
#3 Two bags of Kashi cereal will set you back about $15 (yes for cereal, no I definitely didn't buy any)
#4 When the lights go out (which inevitably happens everyday) people flock to the mall to enjoy the generator-powered AC
#5 There are used clothing stores literally on EVERY corner. Great for me when I need shorts cause let me tell you there is no way I can wear the jeans and capris here that I wore in Costa Rica. I would die. So today Kate, Shannon, and I did a little shopping, Honduran style. 2 stores and $30 later I am now  the owner of 6 more pairs of shorts and a tank top. And these are totally things I would have bought in the states. I got some Old Navy, Gap and Target stuff (my 3 favorite stores). Oh and by the way while on the topic of used clothing stores Puerta de Esperanza (the home for young mothers and their babies) is opening a store! Today we went and moved all of the clothing that had been donated along with the racks into the store! Friday hopefully we'll get to paint and then well set the store up! This is an awesome way for the girls to work and become self-sufficient. Pray for paperwork to go smoothly (which would be an anomaly for Honduras) and that a contract could be signed next week so the store can open soon!

Oh southern problems...

So today I helped teach my first English class. I had a group of 5 girls. It was fun, they were all energetic and excited to be there. A few were a little shy about pronunciation but overall it was great. Mike said, and I quote "Yeah, it helps you got all the smart ones." We read a Clifford book (in English of course) and after every few pages I would ask comprehension questions (in Spanish). The teacher in me wanted to ask all these really great questions, however the Spanish-as-a-second-language part of me prohibited some of those great questions from happening. BUT overall the girls understood what was happening in the story and seemed to enjoy the funny parts. Then we moved on to the vocabulary for the day-transportation/travel themed words. It was during this section I realized how thick of a southern accent I sometimes have...for example the words trip, drive, and airport to name a few (I think its the 'i' sounds..). The girls were repeating me and several times I had to stop and re-say the word myself. So in a few years when there are all these Honduran girls speaking English with a southern accent you will know why :)
After our themed vocab for the day we read a Bible passage in Spanish and then read the simple, what would be children's story Bible version in English. Today it was about the "important" man who came to Jesus wanting his son to be healed and who Jesus healed without even leaving where he was. Afterwards we talked about that Jesus didn't even need to see the boy to heal him because he is powerful.
At the end I tested the girls and they all passed for the day, imagine that :)

 

Teaching English class in Armenia Bonito

Jen in Honduras- August Newsletter

                                                                               

 August Newsletter

Short term teams!

Well I arrived in Honduras! And within an hour of me arriving 2 short-term teams from the states did as well. The past 3 weeks have been filled with 6 (YES 6!) short-term teams. The first week I was here there were 2 dentists visiting so we hosted clinic 2 days in the community of La Fe and 2 days in the community of Armenia Bonito. I spent the week translating for the dentists and when it was slow playing with kids who were hanging around.

Dental Clinic in the community of La Fe

 

The second week we had a brigade of medical students so again we hosted clinic 4 days that week in La Fe and Armenia Bonito. I translated, helped to do patient intake, and of course played with the kids J I also got to know one of the girls who lives at Puerta de Esperanza the house for young single moms. Carolina helped us with clinic all week. She is 19 and has a 10 month old baby boy named William. They are both precious and Carolina loves to help and to serve others.

 

Hanging out with kids during a break from clinic in La Fe

This past week (our last week of hosting teams for the summer) was a “normal” week (which simply means we had no dentist or doctors). I was able to go to Kid’s Club (something similar to Good News Club or VBS) in both La Fe and Armenia Bonito. I was blown away by how much the kids are learning and understanding about Christ and the gospel.

My long lost daughter in the community of Armenia Bonito (who knew?)

 

Prayer Requests:

·         Pray for my financial needs. I am currently at 83% of my support so I am lacking about $250 per month.

·         Pray for wisdom and guidance as I try to figure out now that short term teams are gone what exactly my ministry here will look like.

Kid's Clubs, Taxis, and HUGE rocks, oh my

Yesterday I got to go to Kid's Club (something kind of like Good News Club or VBS) for the first time. And I didn't get to go to just one but to 2! In the morning I went to the community of La Fe to their weekly Kid's Club hosted by some of my teammates. A visiting short term team had prepared and had songs, a story, games, and crafts! The kids loved it! The team did awesome and I would say that I helped but really I just held a super cute baby the entire time.

me and Dixiana at Kid's Club in La Fe

kids enjoying thier visors and balloons in La Fe

Dixiana and her little brother (aka the baby I held all of Kid's Club instead of helping:)

Then in the afternoon I went to the community of Armenia Bonita about 30 minutes away to the other weekly Kid's Club hosted by a different one of my teammates. This one wasn't hosted by a short-term team so it was more of a routine and the kids at the end recited the answer to the catechism question for the week. The question was (and I'm paraphrasing because it was in Spanish) "Why did God give us the Bible?" I was completely blown away when not once but twice kids who were maybe 4 or 5 came up and repeated the entire answer without any help or prompting! It was incredible! These kids every week are not only hearing the gospel but are memorizing scripture and important foundational gospel truths!

Then today it was a new adventure. I have been spending a lot of time with one of the girls, C, from Puerta de Esperanza, the home for single moms and their babies. Today C needed to go to the bank to pay her college tuition, Shannon was busy with the teams and couldn’t drive her C was going to have to take a taxi. She doesn’t like taking the taxi by herself so I went along. So C, her 10 month old W, and I get into the taxi in front of where I live. (Keep in mind I have only left where I live with team members in their cars up until this point) As we drive off I ask, “Do you know how to get back here because I have no idea?” To which she replies, “I think so, we’ll see.” (She sounds really confident right!) So we get to bank and both realize that neither of us has as much cash as we thought we did. We spend several minutes checking all the pockets of our bags and are still about $.25 short. So the taxi driver realizes what is wrong and is getting a little upset. Finally, luckily (or guess more by God’s provision), C finds more money in the bottom of her bag, so we pay. We go to the bank everything is great. (We intentionally took the baby even though we could have easily left him with someone because here being old, pregnant or holding a small child means you don’t wait in line.) We go back outside get in a taxi and tell the driver “La Isle” which is the neighborhood/community we live in. We come into La Isle and he asks where to. (There are no such things as addresses here and the streets don’t have street signs with names. So you tell people, 200 meters north of this store, or close to this ball field, or next to the 2 story white house.) C responds “I don’t know exact directions but I tell you when I see it.” He was not loving that answer and after driving for a few minutes threatened to put us out right there. Again by God’s provision, because I definitely have no idea how we finally made our way back, we saw a street we both recognized and were able to direct him. So between the adventure of that this morning and the adventure of going to a local river with some kids in Armenia Bonita and jumping off a HUGE, REALLY HIGH rock(I’m terrible with estimating size or distance, so I have no idea how high it really was) this afternoon I’m trying to figure out what to do next J

As a side note, I am still at about 83% of my support so if you would like to give or no some one who would.....

Old sins die hard

Yesterday was a frustrating day. There is no other way to put it. I was reminded time and time again how inadequate my Spanish was. I was hot, frustrated, and in a bad mood- and this made me in a worse mood because even in the moment when it was happening I saw my sin in it. BUT it was good because God is teaching me that his grace is sufficient and is continually challenging my need to be a perfectionist(old sins die hard). He reminded me that he will provide for my needs as he always has. So all of that being said pray for me. Yesterday I saw the first glimpse of culture shock that I've had since arriving in Honduras. Pray for my Spanish definitely but more importantly for my walk with the Lord and that I would look to him in my weaknesses.

Ice cream

So yesterday I decided I really wanted some ice cream so I went to this little restaurant/coffee place. I asked in clear Spanish, we know how great my Spanish is :), if they had ice cream. The guy replies yes, what kind do you want. I pause waiting on him to list some flavors, which he never does, so I say vanilla. He then proceeds to tell me about 3 different frozen coffee drinks that have vanilla in them. So I give him a funny look and ask again if he has ice cream. He returns the funny look and kinda laughs and says no (now people I joke about my Spanish because it isn't the greatest but I KNOW I said ice cream the first time). I end up with a frozen french vanilla something and it was awesome. So while I did not get ice cream yesterday I did find an awesome place to get frozen coffee (which is important because you surely won't be drinking the hot stuff here).

I made it to Honduras!!

So I have been in Honduras for 4 days now and I am loving it! Right now we have 2 short term teams a few of which are dentist who are holding a free dental clinic in 2 of the communities. I spent the last 2 days in the community of La Fe helping to translate for the dentist and also for some of the other short term team members. Can I just say that my Spanish is better and worse than I thought it was! Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised when someone asks me how to say something and I know! Other times I have no idea how to say the simplest things and end up spending several minutes talking around the word I don't know. Hence, "entiende" (Understand?) is part of my daily vocabulary. This morning some of the short term team held Kid's Club with the children in La Fe and they made the salvation bracelets with the colored beads. Later I saw a few of the kids with them on and was asking them about the different colors and what they stood for. It was amazing how well the kids understood! One little girl I was talking to knew all the colors and more than just telling me what they stood for she was explaining each one in detail and was able to answer questions when I asked her! This afternoon dental clinic was super slow so I read with my 2 new friends Naomi and Allison and then later got to meet their mother. The people in this community are super grateful and happy just to have us there to play with their kids.
Pray for the next 3 weeks. We have the last of the short term teams for the summer (6 in all) so we are super busy. Pray for endurance and strength, especially for my teammates who are 2 months into having short term teams.
Pray that would continue to adjust well to Honduras and for my Spanish.
Pray that dental clinic the next 2 days in the other community of Armenia Bonita would go well and that we would have lots of patients.
Pray for my support. I am still not at 100%.
If you would like to give online go here: https://donations.mtw.org/donate/default.aspx

Bittersweet

So today was my last full day in Costa Rica. Hard to believe I fly out in the morning! It is really cool to look back and see God's faithfulness over the past 2 months. Before leaving the states my time in Costa Rica was what I was most worried about. I was anxious about living with a Costa Rican family, about not knowing anyone here, and about learning the language. God continually teaches me that he will provide all my needs and I have no reason to be anxious. There have definitely been moments of struggle here but the past few weeks especially I have grown closer to people and I'm not going to lie it was hard to say goodbye and is hard even to type this now. All day I have been dreading our graduation program we had earlier and knowing that I would have to leave these people behind. Some one asked me at graduation if I was excited to get to Honduras and I answered honestly and said no (you can do that with real friends). Then I got home and there was an email with the schedule for the next few weeks. Immediately God used that to remind me why I am here and to get me even more excited than I was when I first left home. So now I am excited and ready to be in Honduras TOMORROW!!
Pray for my transition to Honduras and continually for my Spanish!

Softball Outreach

This past Saturday one of the other students at the school and a local church partnered together to put on a free Home Run Derby as a ministry outreach. I was able to go and to help serve food. There was of course a 3 round home run derby with trophies for the winners, free hot dogs and cookies for lunch, and gospel presentations for both the kids and the adults. It was an awesome way to give back to the community I have been living in the past 6 weeks. It is hard most days to feel like I am doing anything useful even though I know that I am here to learn Spanish and that is what God has called to for this short time.
Then, Sunday we took a day trip to a volcano and were able to swim at a resort at the base of the volcano and to ride horses around the volcano. Let me tell you this was not like any trail ride you will ever take in the States. We pretty much had free range and the guides were normally not even in the front. My horse was a lot like me. She tried to sprint the entire time (which was fine with me) and couldn't stand for another horse to be ahead of her. The only disagreement we had was when she refused to jump a fallen log that all the other horses had jumped-that earned her the nickname Lazy Bones. But that's okay too because I borrowed someone else's horse and jumped it anyway:)
Look for photos on Facebook of both the Home Run Derby and Arenal Volcano.

Be in prayer for my last 2 weeks of language school! Crazy to think that in less that 2 weeks I will be in Honduras!

TONS of things have happened since I blogged last! First, we went about 3 hours away to Manuel Antonio to the beach this past weekend. It was awesome and kind of like a "mini-vacation". Since it is a huge tourist spot most people spoke English! Then on Monday I went over to a lady from church's house (if you rember Rosita from my last post, this is one of her daughters) for lunch with the youth group. We ate hamburgers and played the Wii (I know, life here is rough haha). Her granddaughter, who is almost 3 was possibly the cutest thing ever! She knows all of the songs on Just Dance and was not too shy to show us. Then today was my birthday and we celebrated by going to the mall for pedicures and American fast food. It was awesome! And more parties to come because another girl in my class's birthday is Sunday, so were having a big, joint party Friday night.
On a more serious note, a girl in our class is in the hospital..tonight will be the second night so be in prayer for her (and for us, that no one else gets whatever infection she has).

Sweet Rosita

I am in awe of God’s faithfulness right now…this afternoon I was able to visit with an elderly widow from the church I have been attending here. This means 2 things: first of all that God answered my prayer for someone to practice Spanish with! And second that my Spanish is improving since I’ve been here, even though most of the time I feel like it’s completely inadequate! Let me assure you that 3 weeks ago when I arrived here I could not have visited with someone for an hour and kept conversation going the entire time! Sweet Rosita and I talked about her children and grandchildren, Guanacaste (where she used to live in CR), all the other countries she’s visited, and her garden. I even got to taste a guanabana from her garden; it’s kind of like a green apple. Rosita also managed to learn in an hour that I have no idea how to sew and can only cook a little, needless to say I don’t think she will be recommending me to any Costa Ricans as a wife. Continue to pray for my Spanish and for other opportunities for me to practice! (Rosita and I already made plans for me to visit next Tuesday too!)

Also continue to pray for my support I still need a little over $3,000 by the time I arrive in Honduras on August 4. If you are interested in giving or know someone who is you can give online at https://donations.mtw.org/donate/default.aspx , just choose my name from the drop down list, or you can mail a check to:

Mission to the World

P.O. Box 116284

Atlanta, GA 30368-6284

(please be sure to put 11854, my account number, in the memo line)

God's redemptive plan

This morning in chapel we talked about the story of Jonah and how God's plan goes forth regardless of us, but that God chooses to use our obedience. There is evidence of this all throughout the Bible, even though Jonah was disobedient and unfaithful at first God's plan for the redemption of Nineveh still went forth and the 125,000 people of Nineveh still heard God's message and believed. Esther 4:14 says, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place." These things are true because this isn't a story about us or what we do or how we do it, it never was. Despite what some popular Christian music may say even my salvation wasn't, and isn't still, about me, but God. This is all a story about God and ultimately about him redeeming people from every tongue, tribe, and nation to himself.

Reckless Abandon

This week at school is Spiritual Emphasis Week (I know, cool, right?) so we have a guess speaker who is speaking every morning during our hour break and again every afternoon. His name is David Sitton and he was a missionary for many years to the unreached people of Papua New Guinea, the founder of To Every Tribe (a missons organization to unreached people), and the author of several books including his newest "Reckless Abandon".
One thing he said this morning that really stood out to me was that God could have in the blink of an eye called the nations to himself. He could have chose to use angels (who would have been far less argumentative and wouldn't cling to their comforts or try to bargain with God, they would have been obedient) but he didn't. He instead chooses to use his children for missions and to reach the world. This is very humbling and leaves me in awe of the awesome God I serve. He chooses to use me even though it isn't the easist way. Missions is not to be viewed as an obligation or duty, but a priveledge. I am not needed yet God chooses and desires to use me.

Thankful

I am thankful for:
-a hot shower this morning
-burritos for lunch(yum)
-an awesome host mom that speaks English and helps me with my homework
-an awesome host little brother who is "muy loco" and runs around the house like a crazy person, but knows how to make me laugh:)
-chapel this morning in English
-a phone call to my dad

Mio

Well, I've made it to Costa Rica! And as proof all of my google toolbar is in Spanish. You wouldn't beleive how long it took me to figure out which button to hit to type a new post (and I am still not confident as I type this that it will post like I think it will)! The family I am staying with is awesome! The mom is a few years older than me and is raising her 3 year old son, Ian. Ian and I are destined to be best friends, I know it! He is my motivation to learn Spanish. Within an hour of me arriving he already taught me a new word, "mio". Any guesses as to what that means? Well he's three so of course his favorite word is "mine".

It was fitting that I learned the word "mio" last night and then this morning went to church (in spanish) and the sermon was on Abraham and Isaac and was entitled "Mio o Suyo?" "Mine or Your's?" The pastor at the end of the sermon asked what you were holding onto as yours, "Como tienes esperar?" "What do you have to give?" It hit me just now as I finished taking my cold shower that I am still, despite coming here and despite how God continually proves his faithfulness, holding onto my comfort. I still feel entitled to certain things like showers and water I can drink and a long list of other things. I still feel that God owes me something or that I deserve something. Despite the fact that God already gives me things I don't deserve through his grace daily, like a host family that speaks English, internet access in my room, and the opportunity and calling to be here now, doing what I am doing.

Final Update before I fly!

Hello Friends!

Well, the time has finally arrived! I fly out of Charlotte on Saturday to arrive in Costa Rica in time for my language classes that start on Monday! I am super excited about the “big move” and even more excited to see all the Lord is going to do. Pray for me as I navigate unfamiliar airports alone (I have a layover in Dallas).

I am currently at about 78% of my support! This means I still need about $3,800 more by the time I arrive in Honduras in the beginning of August in order to be able to effectively do ministry there. The Lord has continued to surprise me through this entire process and I have no doubt that he will raise the remaining funds. He never calls us without providing the means necessary. With that being said, I have exhausted my known resources (though not his) so if any of you are considering supporting me I would urge you to really spend time in prayer about it and to give joyfully and sacrificially. And if you know of anyone who has a heart for missions and may be interested in giving either one time or monthly forward this info along!

Please pray that language wouldn’t be a barrier and that I would pick up on Spanish quickly so that I am able to effectively serve the Lord in Honduras. Pray that my time in Costa Rica wouldn’t be overwhelming and that I would look to the Lord as my source of comfort. And also pray that through this whole process more of Christ and of his grace and provision would be revealed both to me and others.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

In Christ,

Jennifer

“And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him.”    –Daniel 7:14

Prayer Letter

Hello Friends!

I hope each of you is doing well! As you know summer is quickly approaching. That means it is almost time for me to leave! My language classes start June 11 in San Jose, Costa Rica, so only a few more weeks till I fly out. I wanted to give you guys a quick update on my support and also give you ways that you can be praying for me.

The LORD has graciously provided $12,000! That means I still need about $5,500 to be at 100% of my support. Please pray that the Lord would continue to meet my physical need for support and that people would continue to follow his leading and give sacrificially and joyfully.

Other requests for prayer are that I would seek to the Lord to energize me and to meet my physical, emotional and spiritual needs and that I would hit the ground running when I arrive at language school (I only have a week between the end of the school year and flying out for Costa Rica). Pray that language wouldn’t be a barrier and that I would pick up on Spanish quickly so that I am able to effectively serve the Lord in Honduras. And also pray that through this whole process more of Christ and of his grace and provision would be revealed both to me and others.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

In Christ,

Jennifer

“And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him.”    –Daniel 7:14

Support Update

Hi friends, as most of you know I am leaving (hopefully in June) for Honduras to serve with Mission to the World for 15 months. While there I will work mostly with streetchildren and will help host a weekly kids club (similar to Good News Club or VBS). I am currently at (drum roll please) 50% of my support!! And while that is very exciting that means that I have about 5 weeks to raise $8,000 more. I am fully confident that the Lord is able and willing to provide this support. I know that if he is calling me to Honduras, he will meet my needs and  will provide for me in His timing. Please pray as I finish up the last 6 weeks of school that I would manage my time well and would seek Him above all else. Also pray as I am looking for a bank with low international fees (if anyone has a suggestion or a bank you would NOT recommend that would be great!). I currently have BB&T but their international fees are very high.

If you would like to support me financially you can make a tax-deductible donation! All checks should be made out to Mission to the World with my name and 11854 (my account number) in the memo line.
Checks should be mailed to:
Mission to the World
PO BOX 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284