I was expecting.

<p>I was expecting God to work in big ways in me and thru me, but I wasnt expecting it at training camp. As hard as it was, I learned a great lesson about Surrender but apparently I didnt learn it well enough.</p>
<p>So after training camp I expected each day to be just as challenging and for it to be very evident to me what God was doing and His plan. i had expectations for the ministry we would be doing and I felt like we were just being good people. And then MY expectations werent being met and doubt was creeping in. And God said, "Chill out Sweetheart (because He still thinks Im sweet even when Im wrong) Ive got this under control too! " So yesterday while we were working on a building project for our Christian cook and I had nothing to do (Struggle : spending alot of time ministering to other believer instead of ppl who arent even tho im really glad we can provide a hime for her bc she does an incredible job preparing us 3 meals a day and also having a lot of sitting around time while on the job bc there just isnt always enough jobs) i pulled out my handy dandy Bible and also picked up where I had left off in Luke. Now the night before I received a message from a friend encouraging me to read Proverbs 31, which Ive read before but the Bible is one of those great things to keep reading and reread, and so thru that i was prompted to start a womens devotional and so i bought What Happens W<i>hen </i>Women S<i>ay Yes To </i>God by Lysa Terkeurst of Proverbs 31 ministries. In the first chapter I was encouraged to say "Yes, God"to start my day, even before I had any idea what the day would look like. So thats how I started off this particular morning.
Okay so I was reading in Luke and read 9 :61,62

Luke 9:61-62 NKJV

And another also said, Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go  and  bid them farewell who are at my house. But Jesus said to him,  No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Okay so God did let me say goodbye before I left but what He aslo told me was dont do His ministry halfheartedly. I had all these expectations and well they werent His. Them this sparked conversation with a teammate who was struggling with the same as me and she told me about a verse in Galatians.

Galatians 6:9 NKJV

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

And as I continued to read God said,
Galatians 6:10 NKJV

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

So the good we are doing is still ministry and part of Gods plan, even if it is stillme sitting around and that day Im learning from God and about His plans and expectations. And we need to ESPECIALLY serve memebrs of the faith family. God just wanted my exoectations too and wants me to say yes to His.Plans.

We arent always building though. Two days a week we go to the village of Bethel and build relationships there with the locals some who are of the faith and some who are not. We olay baseball and lose to the Nicaraguans but still have fun and build team unity thru this. Little girls teach us songs, hold our hands, paint our nails, love to be hugged. Our Spanish is improving and please pray that this desire and abilty will continue for all of us on the team so we can communicate more and More! We are loving our time here with the people, eachother, and God and look forward to the coming days and ministry God will provide for us.

Blessings,
Teani :-)

Ask and you shall receive.

What an incredible Promise! This is no teaser. Read it. And then receive it.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

There are no maybes in there. Beautiful. I think this relationship is going to be great because I dont want any maybes about Gods love for me and He definitely doesnt want any maybes from me.

Okay, so how can I share that with the Spanish speaking Ninos? Te amo? Nice to hear but maybe they hear it too much and dont actually receive it. How can I actually share and show love without words, only actions, and start to show them ultimately my love comes from God? That they are so loved by a Father, the Father, our Father! Well two Ninos [kids] showed me how my small actions could bring them such joy.

Armando and Marcel, hermanos [ siblings ] , warmed up to us slowly the first day. They kept their distance from just outside their house and then made there way to the street corner where they watched us play futbol with some older boys. Then they crept behind us. Just giggled and laughed and kept working closer and closer to us. Then as I turned to them to ask names, Armando reached out to take my aviators. I just watched as he put them on. He waited to see what id do. Kids fascinate me. So i kept watching. :-) Thus began a friendship. He loved them and flipped up some rocknroll signs. From then on he and his sister had no worries about us. I had given something so little (well i took them back eventually ) so freely and happily. I couldve said no or maybe and given the impression they were not worthy or not important or good enough for my things, but instead i chose "Yes". They were so much fun and even came looking the next day and discovered my big awesome Nikond40 camera. So with my guidance i let them use it. They may never see or touch a camera like that ever again. And it brougt them so much laughter. Their laughter and joy is far more important to me than anything i brought on this trip.

So with so little words they asked and received. They received my love, trust, care through things and my hugs too :-). If nothing else I hope ive planted a seed and helped open doors for them. Give much of yourself, dont hold back any love any great thing that you have when you could have an opportunity to testify of  Gods greater Gifts!

Bienviendos to your final destination...Nicaragua!

Well we have Arrived!

It is just gorgeous. The country, the people, the culture. I cant wait to be more immersed over the next 4 months. This is going to be incredible.

Last night we were greeted by a group of local teens from the town of Betel (Sp?) . Its where we will be serving most of the time. Well 22 at least piled into the back of this pick up, a large pick up bed and Marcus and I rode on top of the cab. Oh yes. Best ride ever. I felt like we were riding in Gods big white chariot pulled by His big white stead. Faces into the wind, boldly going into this country. And as a team we pray that we do just that. That we be bold to share Christ and know that He is leading us.

Lets talk about the place. Well there is a volcano in my back yard. Awesome! And we sleep with geckos and bugs which important cool with. We have walls and a roof but nothing is sealed tight allowing for nice air flow. A very open concept which i love. Everything is just so simple. Its my kind of style. :-) The food is incredible and so are our two cooks. They help us learn Spanish too.

Everything is just awesome here. I cant wait to blog more about this beautiful creation of Gods and the peopLe!

Adios

Surrender? To lose or Gain?

Well Im in Day 2 of training camp in Ga at camp chereokee ( no idea where that is ). Yesterday I arrived in the Atlanta airport to be greeted by my team and new family for the next 4 months only to be flooded with emotions of excitement AND thoughts of " God do you really want me here? Maybe you want me somewhere else...like home :-) " . Which ive come to the conclusion comes down to trusting God. Fully. Completely. Always. In and with Everything!

And well with thoughts like that...Im not. Ouch. This is gonna hurt a little. Time for some more growing pains.....

This morning we had an awesome time of worship. I love worshipping My God but ive never felt comfortable worshipping Him to the extent i want me because Im too worried about whay everyone is thinking around me. we are talking fist pumping, arms wide, hands held high, praising God. They also encouraged praying and personal outloud praises to God, just me talking or singing to Him, with everyone else around doing the same thing. Talk about awesome, 80plus voices around you all praising God.! Worship should be that way...exciting, spontaneous, personal, not just spoon fed words ( thought that unity in song is also nice :-) , and shared. We shoukdnt be afraid to praise Him outloud, or just talk to Him, pray to Him, cry To Him with others. In front of Others. I look forward to this crazy habit of worship for the next four months. I want to be so comfortable doing that and sharing it with others. So this will require some growing but i dont expect it to be painful :-) itll be fun growing.

But then....we talked about surrendering.

Surrendering control all to God knowing He has a great plan. Surrendering control of communication with home. Prayers here....the thought of it makes me homesick. Trusting God will take care of everyone and everything at home and i dont need to be there. And itllbe there when i get home. Trust that the need is greater elsewhere and i need to go.

A lot to process. A lot of good challenges. Prayers that i am willing and stay willing to accept all the challenges and changes that God has for me. Because when i surrender what i want or things that i hold more tightly i will gain much greater things from God

Jesus said...

The countdown is on. Well, it's been on, but it's down to days now. 3 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes to be pretty exact. Or, 

• 337,080 seconds
• 5618 minutes
• 93 hours (rounded down)

Until I leave for Wisconsin and land in Atlanta, GA to meet my teammates for the next four days. From there we will fly out of GA for Managua, Nicaragua on January 16th and make our way northwest to Chinandega, the city we will be staying and serving in and around. 

Our ministry will be mostly working with the youth in surrounding villages through bible studies, teaching english (hopefully learning spanish) and sports and art activities. I love kids and I knew before hand that we would be specifically going there to work with kids and that's big reason why I chose this trip. Kids are just so amazing in what they understand and can grasp and their own individual thoughts and perspective on life. And being loved and nurtured as a kid is just so important so I can't wait to get there on love on them. Some of them will be orphans and others will come from all sorts of family lives, just like here. Everyone has a story, but every one of their stories will fit into God's plan and I can't wait to share that with them. 

Other ministry opportunities include, but are not limited to, assisting in Vision Nicaragua's http://visionnicaragua.org/  medical facility and construction projects. The full details will be decided as a team when we arrive. We will also have the opportunity to be led by God as he shows us needs that may have been previously unknown - something that I thought we also awesome and really important. We won't be going there with no plan, but we don't need to stick to just our plan. God's plan is more important and I can't wait to see it.  

I'm incredibly excited. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support and love and encouragement. I can't wait to really see how stupendous (my incredible and supportive boyfriend would be excited about the use of this word ;) ) this is really going to be. So many of you have shared your own experiences and I love to hear them, so I can't wait to see what my own will look like...but I'm sure far more amazing than what I can imagine, because that is just how God works and is...more amazing than we can imagine. His power, wisdom, and understanding is just so great!

It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. - Jeremiah 10:12 

Last night I stood before Calvary Baptist Church and became and member and testified to Jesus Christ as my Savior and was baptized. It was a wonderful service. Thank you to all for the warm welcome and for all of those that God used in my life to lead me to Him. Thank you for sharing your own testimonies and His love and your time with me. My life is so much better and I am so blessed to have you in my life and my family. I hope to be a blessing to all of you as I serve you and beside you. :) Keep being beautiful and bold lights for others as you live your life for Christ! 

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20  (emphasis added)

I will try to keep posting blogs here, otherwise I will definitely be posting on my team blog at nicaragua.adventures.org. To be linked directly to my posts, you'll find my name on the left hand side. And most pictures will be on Face Book. You can also email me directly, I'd love to hear from you. We will be provided wifi on our campus. I can't wait to share all that God is doing in this part of the world.

Prayer requests:

- Safety flying on Friday and Monday

- That all goes well when meeting my teammates in GA

Praise:

- My trip was fully funded on time!! Thank you :)
- The peace God has given me about leaving home to live with complete strangers so that I can "go" ..it's really a big deal