April 27, 2009

I was just commenting to my mom that I needed to sit down and up-date my blog for this week...but with the swirling around of things in my head that I have to do this week, mixed with the number of things that I wanted to tell you about from this past week...I must say...it makes getting any of it out of my mind and into my blog a bit difficult, but I'll do my best!

One of the issues that is currently being addressed at school has to do with the interaction between Bolivian and North American staff members. Not that there is blatant racism that happens between those two groups, but basically there just isn't much interaction. So, in an effort to change that...the school has begun promoting several social activities as well as workshops in order to encourage more integration. One such activity was last Friday night, in celebration of Labor Day (which is May 1). There was a special program (hosted by yours truly along with a Bolivian teacher), games, pinatas, food, fellowship, etc. You will notice in the link below that I have several pictures of the event. To add to the integration...my coworker and I dressed up for the occasion...I dressed in a costume typical for Santa Cruz...and he was dressed in a black tuxedo with a red bowtie and a blue/silver tophat (with stars). It was lots of fun!

Saturday night was the Jr./Sr. Banquet at school...replaces the high school prom...always a huge event and wasn't any less this year. I wore the dress that I bought for Janet's wedding a couple of years ago...this dress has truly served me well! In the snapfish link below you will also see pictures from this special event!

Due to the fact that I was going to the banquet on Saturday night, we moved our "girls' meeting" with the girls in the youth group at church to Sunday lunch! After the morning service, all of us piled into my truck and went to my house...for lunch and the lesson. While I was teaching the lesson on how God has made each of us different and what kinds of things in our lives affect our uniqueness...a couple of the older girls helped me out in the kitchen making noodles and heating spaghetti sauce. After the lesson, we enjoyed a time of fellowship while eating lunch together. This week there were 8 of us total...however, only 4 of us have been there for both meetings...so that shows you that we had quite a different group. I have a feeling that is how each week may be...a slightly different mix of the group. Basically all of the girls have now come to one meeting, so we'll see how this Saturday goes! One of the things that has been most exciting for me is that God is allowing me to become more involved in the lives of several of the girls in my church. With these sessions, it is mostly the younger girls...teenagers/early college students. However, there are also a few single women who are in their upper 20's and have begun to help me as well. Now, God is opening doors for me to meet regularly with them and for us to begin strengthening our friendship as well! It has been such a blessing for me!

Speaking of Saturday...SAM's children's ministry team has been trying for quite some time to offer a modesty conference for girls, ages 12-18. Every time, for some reason or another, it has had to be postponed. Once again we have it planned for this Saturday...and it appears like it will actually be happening! This is something that is desperately needed, particularly in this culture where advertisements everywhere teach otherwise! We have been inviting girls from orphanages, schools, the Learning Center (where I teach), churches with whom SAM works as well as other churches, etc. The conference will be offered once in the morning (8-12) and repeated to a different group of girls in the afternoon (2-6) on Saturday...with a lunch break for the workers in between. I have been asked to teach the first lesson entitled "Como esta tu corazon?" (How is your heart?)...talking about the importance of modesty and how our outward appearance reflects what is in our heart. Please pray for this conference, the many people involved in teaching and coordinating the event (some of them are coming to training sessions that we are offering for them this week on Monday and Tuesday evenings), and the girls who will be attending.

Well...I think that about wraps up this week! As you can see...it is proving to be quite a busy one! Thank you so much for your continued prayers for the school/staff relationships, the girls/women at church, and the modesty conference! God is definitely working in Santa Cruz and it's exciting to see! Here is the link, as promised, for the pictures I mentioned earlier! There are also a few pictures of the games we played at a baby shower we had last week for one of SAM's Bolivian workers(I think you'll know which pictures those are)! Enjoy!

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=136271240862666758/l=957303008/g=31174248/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Birthday Celebrations!!!

Greetings once again from Santa Cruz! I don't have a lot of time to write this morning as we are doing achievement testing at school and I am responsible for providing modifications for students. That part isn't so hard, but my room is also being used by the other resource teacher who has a larger group of kids so that means that I don't get as much computer time while I'm here! However, I just wanted to touch base on a couple of things. First of all, thank you to all of you who sent birthday wishes and greetings! For those of you who didn't know, Saturday was my 33rd birthday! A couple of people commented that I was now ready for my ministry to begin...following in Christ's footsteps! Lidia, my friend, started my day off right by bringing me breakfast at the house...it was a wonderful surprise!!! After that, there is a girl from school, Veronica Apodaca (pictured above) whose birthday was also on Saturday so her parents invited me to her party. That was a lot of fun as well...although I don't know that I've ever been to a birthday party for someone else on my special day! Then, I went to visit my friend Avelina, who had prepared a special lunch for me (which I ate at about 4:00)...after that there was a women's Bible study at church (and more eating since they brought food for my birthday)...then in the evening we had our first divided youth group meeting. I have been asking you to pray for that time, for awhile. We started this past weekend so that I could begin with a party for me...I decorated my house, made a cake, and had pizza for them to eat!

They tried to get me to bite the cake...as is the custom here...which then means that someone will push the cake in your face so that you end up wearing about half of it! Fortunately, I was quick about it and they were kind to me...so it was only a small bite out of the cake!

Praise the Lord, things went SUPER well! We had a great group of girls...two people even brough friends so we had a couple of newcomers! I am so thankful for this group! Please continue to pray that they will desire to come and grow in their relationship with the Lord. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure that one of the girls who came is not a Christian so this is a great opportunity of witness as well! Due to the fact that I have a school event on Saturday night, we decided that our next meeting will be Sunday for lunch! In addition, there also appear now to be more older girls than there were before (upper 20s...and me) so we have begun talking about doing more things together. I think that could really be a great time of support and growth as well! This new ministry is exciting for me!

The celebrations, however, didn't stop on Saturday night...on Sunday afternoon, a couple of friends from SAM invited me out for cake and ice cream. We went to a local cafe, which has the most delicious chocolate mousse ever...and there awaiting us were ALL of the SAM ladies, with gifts in hand! It was a very special time and caught me quite by surprise! I didn't even have my camera with me...so I'm still waiting for someone to send me the pictures before I can pass them along to you.

Thank you so much for your support of this ministry! Well...I need to give up my room for testing now! Blessings to you all!

April 14, 2009

Sorry for writing this up-date a bit late this week! I had hoped to get it written yesterday...but the day turned out to be more busy than I had expected! As I told you in my last up-date...I have been busy this week with the Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week and my Easter vacation travels! I have a few highlights to share with you about each!

Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week...
Thank you to all of you who were praying for this time! I ended the three days absolutely exhausted...however, Praise the Lord for the many ways that He spoke through me! The children were attentive and appeared to really be taking to heart the things that they were learning, which was encouraging to me! There were also 5 children who made decisions to accept the Lord as their Savior during this time! I praise Him for allowing me to be a part of this special point in their lives! Please continue to pray that their walk with Him will grow stronger each day!

Easter Vacation...
On Friday afternoon, I left with two other SAM singles...Katie Wells and Dana Wilson, to go to a resort only about a half an hour outside of the city. The name of the resort is Las Lagunas...due to the lake that runs along the backside of the property. There was also a pool and plenty of areas to sit and relax! Part of the time we spent individually enjoying a refreshing time for a Spiritual Retreat, other times we hung out together (watching movies, lounging by the pool, or just talking), and on Sunday morning...we woke up at the crack of dawn to have our own little Sunrise Service! We returned to the city on Sunday afternoon...about 4:00. All in all, it was a wonderfully refreshing time...rich with Spiritual renewal as well. I can only speak for myself, but there were several things that God spoke to me about in my time alone with Him! Praise the Lord for this time away from the hectic city life!

As promised...I have a link for a few pictures from these two events. If you would like to look at them, just cut and paste this link into your browser...or you may be able to click on the link and have it take you directly to the photo album (http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=671141239766274848/l=655970008/g=31174248/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB). Thank you so much, once again, for your prayers over the past week! They were definitely felt!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

I'm afraid this will be a rather short post! I'm tired, it has been a long and busy day, and tomorrow will start very early! So, let me quickly launch into some exciting things happening this week (hence the extra busy schedule)...then I'm heading to bed!

This week...well, the 3 day week that we have at school...is our Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week. As the elementary chaplain, I'm in charge of this event. Basically, what it boils down to throughout these three days...is a chapel service each morning for 1st through 6th grades (from 8:45-9:15). Due to the fact that we are so close to Easter, we are using Christ's relationships with others through the time of His death and resurrection to help us in how we treat one another. Other than the chapel time each morning, I have also made arrangements to go into all elementary classes from PreKinder through 6th grade in order to do a special activity with each of the grade levels...ranging anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. Of course, I'm still responsible for most of my typical schedule and all of these activities need lesson plans and organization...hence the very busy week! Please pray for these times with the students that this will be a Spiritually enriching time for them...that God would speak to them in a way that they haven't heard Him before. Also, that God would speak clearly through me as I'm working to overcome obstacles such as the wide age range, hyperactive children, English as a Second Language difficulties, etc.

Another exciting thing is that this weekend, two of my friends from SAM (Dana Wilson and Katie Wells) and I will be going to spend the weekend at a resort on the northside of the city. Thank you to a very generous gift, we've decided to go on Friday and return to our homes on Sunday afternoon. While there, other than simply enjoying the pool and each other's company, we also plan to have a Spiritual Retreat. Please pray that this will be a refreshing and renewing time for us...and of course that God would keep us safe while we're away!

Well...I said this would be a short post! Next week I hope to have pictures of both of these events to share with you! May you enjoy this Easter weekend, basking in the presence of the risen Savior!