It Rained on Our Parade

Yesterday the Catholic church around the corner from me celebrated the last day of Corpus Cristi (the Body of Christ). As I mentioned before, each church celebrates this event at different times throughout the year. No one we asked could tell us the purpose of this celebration, seeing as how Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost are already over, but it has been a long-standing Catholic tradition in Latin countries. I should do some research on it. Anyway, the house where I live was one of the houses chosen this year to recieve the Body of Christ and the blessing of the priest. It is a great honor here and doesn't happen often. All day Friday, my Papa and some neighbors strung the yellow and white streamers over the top of our street and all day Saturday was spent turning the garage into a sanctuary with an altar. Early Sunday morning, all the neighbors lined the street with fresh pine needles, adorning this path with rose petals, daisy petals and eucalyptus branches. Several houses had this strong smelling insence burning all day, filling the neighborhood and our lungs with billowy smoke. I did not attend mass yesterday, opting to attend an evangelical charismatic church instead, but I did return home at noon to await the Corpus Cristi procession coming down our street. This procession is quite long and includes little children dressed up as angels, all of the altar boys, old faithful widows and people who have paid money to participate. The priest walks amid the procession under a canopy carrying the 'custodia' which holds the 'santisimo', or large-sized communion wafer which represents the literal Body of Christ. The priest's hands can't even touch this sancitfied object, so he wraps the bottom in a blessed white cloth. The priest holds the custodia before his face so that you can't see him, only the host. Anyway, the procession ended up coming down our street at around 1:30 pm. They walked in the middle of the pine needle path (intended to stir up the wonderful fragrances) and turned into our garage where the host was placed in a pocket in a sheet that hung and the priest prayed a blessing over the house. The entire street was packed with people singing and kneeling before the host. White and yellow tissue paper squares fell from my bedroom window as the second oldest daughter poured them over the priest's canopy. It rained on us as we worshipped the Lord together.

Ahhhh, Antigua

This morning I awoke at a quarter to 6 to the sound of fireworks going off in front of the nearby cathedral, La Merced. We are in the time of Corpus Christi and fireworks have been going off at random times ever since I arrived here in Antigua just over a week ago. Every village and subsequent Catholic church celebrates Corpus Christi at a different time of year, but this is Antigua's time. Really, it went off without a bang(save the incredibly loud fireworks)-- though I was fortunate enough to glimpse a few sand paintings in a village on our way to one of the local volcanos. Antigua is surrounded by several volcanos: Fuego, Pacaya, Acatenango and Agua, to name a few. Only Fuego and Pacaya are active, Fuego (Fire) being the most active. I was invited to join a group of other students to hike up Pacaya-- no easy feat, I tell you. We arrived at the base of the volcano at about 9 am. Young kids were there offering to sell us walking sticks (roughly sanded sticks about an inch and a half thick) for 5 quetzales (about 70 cents). Too, there were several men standing by with horses in tow ready to take us lazy ones up the mountain. Two girls from our group opted to take horses for the fun of it. We were told as we began our trek up that the first 200 meters were the hardest. Now, I don't know meters from miles or feet, but what I do know is that after 5 minutes of walking, I wanted to die. Talk about an intense incline! I never do well, anyhow when increasing altitude, but really, being as out of shape as I am... I ended up on a horse after about 10 more minutes of intense pain. This was no easy decision, let me tell you. There are only two times I have ever tried to ride a horse and both times the horses spooked and tried to buck me off. So, I was between a rock and a hard place: either attempt to get up on the horse or keep trying to drag my body up this mountain (that appeared as though it would never even out). I was right. It was a two-hour hike UP. I loved my horse. I chatted up a storm with the guy leading the horse and was able to enjoy the view. After about forty-five minutes or so, we on horses were dropped off and left to trek the rest of the way up (another half hour). Up until this point, the trail had been dirt and leaves. From there on, it was all lava rock. I've never walked on lava before. It is sort of like walking on charcoal briquettes that are really sharp and rough. We slipped and slid a lot and one girl cut herself pretty bad and had to get stitches later that day. Anyhow, all this to say that I got within a hundred feet or so of hot, flowing magma. Others from our group opted to go up the rest of the way and get within a foot of it, but the walk there was almost like scaling a wall of slippery sharp rock and it was really hot. The bottoms of their shoes melted a bit. I was content to stay behind and and just watch it from afar. After a picnic lunch of granola and sandwiches, we walked back down the volcano (this time I went without horse). I am so incredibly glad I went, but here, two days later, I'm walking around Antigua grimacing every time I have to step up or down because my legs hurt so bad.

Yesterday, Sunday, I went with several others to a mega church in Guatemala City (about a 45 minute drive from here) to see what that would be like. It was exactly like an American mega church and I didn't care for it at all. I like the intimacy smaller churches have. Anyway, it's good to have different experiences...

Today, I began my second week of Spanish class. I received a new teacher today (my other teacher had a previous obligation) and I LOVE her. She is a wonderfully passionate Catholic woman who was practically preaching the gospel to me. We got along famously and she is incredibly encouraging. Every time I pronounce something correctly she practically does backflips. Plus, she told me I'll have no problem picking up all of the grammar, etc.

My family here is really great. I am living in a huge house with 10 other students of various ages and all of us have pretty big rooms. Our food portions are small, but Antigua has every kind of food you could possibly want to eat, so my other roomies and I have been gnoshing around. Last night a few of us went to this legendary place called Dona Tonita's to have Dobladas de Queso (sort of like a fresh cheese Hot Pocket), Taquitos de Papas and Atol (sort of like a hot horchata). We were in absolute heaven. Basically this woman sets a little awning out in front of her house in the evenings and just fries up a storm. All of us students laugh about how the constant topic of discussion here is food and we share our favorite finds. However, I did go to an art exhibit yesterday that was amazing and thought- provoking (photo and sculpture). Last week, our school went on an excursion to a local village where there is a cooperative of women who do weaving for a living. I am really blessed to be here.

On Thursday, I will be picked up by the field director of Students International, Antigua, whose name is Fernando. He came to the school today to meet me and asked if I'd like to attend a staff meeting on thursday. As well, SI just began an art site here in Antigua this week, so I will get to meet the woman who is running that and they have asked for suggestions from me. We'll see if God gives me any becuase I really don't know what I'm doing...

Thank you for all of your prayers. The grace of God has been keeping me well and through your continues prayers, I will stay healthy, learn Spanish and return safely home mid-July.

Peace and Grace to you in Christ Jesus.

La Casa de Amy

Hola Amigos!
I may have recently shared with you that I have a roommate and house waiting for me in the DR. Well, tonight I went onto her blog in hopes of seeing if she'd posted photos, yet, and sure enough... so, I took them off of her site and put them on mine for all of you to see. The first pic is the front of our house, the dog came with the house and her name is Rosy, next to her is a photo of my room, then you will see the living room, dining room, bathroom, front yard and backyard. We get all of this for about $300 a month including utilities. Of course, there are always some unexpected expenses that come up (like the inverter was recently stolen and had to be replaced). Anyway, I am really excited that I have such a beautiful home to go to and apparently we live very near several other of the Dominican staff. Plus, another missionary family lives across the street. Amy (my new roommate) said it is a very quiet street.
Enjoy looking and getting excited with me. The car in the carport is hers. I will also have to buy one, so be praying for that last amount of support to come in!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

The restraining Hand of the Almighty God finally lifted off of me this Monday and all I can do is praise Him. After 6 very trying weeks of God refining me while I squirmed in impatience, He finally released me to purchase tickets for language school!!! Hallelujah! I am scheduled to leave on June 2nd, learn as much Spanish as possible for six weeks, fly home on the 14th of July, spend two weeks with family and then head down to the DR with our church team on July 29th. And then I hope to stay.
Many thoughts and emotions, like falling autmn leaves, swirled around me during these last weeks as I pondered my call in God. Had He called me to the Dominican Republic? Was He going to provide it all? Was He going to change His mind and call me to stay here? Excitement, fear, confusion, emptiness, all paraded one by one before me. Each one I was tempted to believe, to cling to, until, one by one they all fell away back into the silence where God's Spirit just smiled. How many times has He heard these things? How many children has He counseled through these dark times? How many hands has He had to hold as one by one His servants tried to find their own ways? "I will perfect that which concerns you". "I will remain faithful even when you are faithless because I can't deny Myself". "I love you".
These precious words from my Father sustained me like the manna that fell from Heaven. And then, in the twinkling of an eye, He said, "Okay... NOW!"
Colors, sounds, joy rushed around me as I danced in abandoned worship. He meant it!! I'm going!! He's faithful!

I bought my tickets today.

The next task is to see the rest of my support come in ( I need $205 more a month pledged and about $10,000 more for my one-time budget). I know God will provide miracles for me because those He predestines, He also calls and those He calls He also justifies and those He justifies He also glorifies (Rom. 8:30).

Thank you for your prayers and perserverance in the Spirit for me. We are all in this together. Please pray for me as I begin saying goodbye to precious friends and family and as I prepare to absorb another language.

Until next time, peace be with you in Christ Jesus.

Resting Between His Shoulders

Since my last blog update, not much has changed. I prayed about some dates that I could possibly leave for language school, checked them out online, but didn't feel peace about purchasing tickets. Within days, as has been in the past, the ticket prices went out of my range. As I wait, somewhat impatiently, I have been helping to organize our church team's upcoming service trip to the Dominican Republic. It is a privilege and a joy helping others get to the place I will one day be living. It has been fun reuniting with last year's team (all of whom are going again!) and sharing stories with the newcomers. It looks like we will have 12 going this year! You can be praying for them as they each prepare in their own way (passports, immunizations, etc). My goal has been, through this whole process, to leave with the team and then just stay down in the DR. To have this accomplished, I will have needed to complete language school (6 weeks) and have all of my support in. Currently, I need $220 more a month pledged to me and around $8000 for my one-time budget. God has done miracles in this area and I am watching for more. Thank you for all who have given and I ask for continued prayer in these areas.
One awesome gift that God is blessing me with is an upcoming visit from my friend Amanda! I met Amanda in Colorado at our pre-field missions training. She is a young woman from North Carolina who has been raising support for 2 years in order to get to Italy. Unlike me, she is planning on moving there indefinitely. She is working for Greater Europe Mission (GEM). I have a link to her blog that I encourage you to check out. She is in great need of R&R and Cambria is just the place for this!!
Actually, I encourage you to check out all the links I have posted, especially the Slabach Family blog. Nate Slabach is our staff pastor down in the DR and he continually posts goings on, ministry stuff, etc that I will eventually have on this site once I am down there. In fact, there is a story he posted about a young boy and a bicycle. You can't imagine how overjoyed I was to read about him, but especially to see his photo. I carried that young boy around on my back for hours one night when we were doing an outreach in his community. As we walked around his village, he just laid his head on my back and rested there, pointing out different friends' houses. Occasionally, because of the heat, my glasses would slip down my nose. I would say, 'Gafas!' ('Glasses') and he would push them up for me, since my hands were in use trying to hold him up. It was easy to love him and then, months later, to see his picture on Nate's blog and to hear his story...
I so look forward to being able to share more stories of my own, with beautiful photos once I am there.
Peace and blessings to you all as you rest between the shoulders of Christ.

She is Healed!

Thanks to a group of faithful brothers and sisters in the Lord who, in obedience and love, laid hands on me and prayed, I experienced a miraculous healing of 'The Pleurisy That Wouldn't Go Away'. Many prayers leading up to this paved the way for breakthrough and so this is to say 'muchisimas gracias' to all prayer warriors and caring friends.

But now what do I do?

God, through various circumstances (namely, I was eagerly attempting to get to language school sometime before Easter, but the plane tickets kept doubling and tripling in price every time I was about to make a purchase), has hemmed me in for a little while. I am in the prayer process regarding when I should get down to Guatemala and I'm thinking it will be in mid-May. With all this beautiful time on my hands, I have been making some art, trying really hard to finish the last book I am required to read before I leave for the field (Walking With the Poor by Bryant Myers), and spending time with my 11-month old nephew who is precious beyond words. Due to some hard circumstances, my brother has relocated here to the Central Coast with his baby and it has been a sanctified time of restoring family relationship (thanks be to Jesus). If it is for this reason alone I was kept here, it is the most valuable thing to me and I don't want to leave too soon. Of course I know that the Lord promises 100% reward for those who leave behind family, but I'll take as much time as I can get!!

As far as support, I am currently at 90% of my monthly budget and need about $12,000 more for my one-time budget. Keep praying with me!

Spicy Spiritual Gumbo

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. Is. 55:8

True dat. As I zipped up my suitcase for the last time and plopped myself into bed with excited anticipation, I little expected that within a few hours I would be caught up in a wholly different kind of whirlwind. All through the night, as I battled head-on with The Stomach Flu With a Vengeance, I cried out to God to save and deliver me so that I could get on the plane for Guatemala the next day. I tried taking authority over the sickness. I rebuked every spirit I could think of. I threw up. Toward morning, I realized I wouldn't be making it to church. I called a few close friends to have them pray. One faithful saint was actually prompted by the Holy Spirit to leave church, drive to my house, anoint me and proclaim healing. It was an awesome, powerful time of prayer. Full of faith, I rose up and walked to the bathroom, had myself a shower, got dressed and passed out on my bed. My mother finally showed up and after looking at me for about 2 seconds said, "You're NOT getting on that plane." I argued. I told her about my prayer warrior friend coming over and that God had healed me. She just looked at me with those mom eyes and I started crying as she called the airlines to cancel my trip.

And, I'm glad she did.

That same night I awoke with excruciating chest pains that lasted all through the morning. Turns out I developed pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the lining of the lungs. I had started off the week with strep throat, caught a little head cold, then barfed a lot and this was the result. How bizarre. Across the board, everyone's reactions were, like the Body of Christ itself, completely varied. Whether it was an outright demonic attack, God's perfect protection, just a fluky, weird time of catching EVERYTHING that's been going around or a spicy gumbo of all three, it has kept me from going to Guatemala at this time. I thought I might be able to go in a week or two, but even if my lungs were miraculously healed by then, the nightmare with ticket prices, etc ... it's not even an option. So, I wait.

In the meantime, God has just completely blown my socks off. Tonight I received a message that I will be getting quite a hefty monthly supporter and that puts me up to 81%. Woo-Hoo!!