oh those morning drives...

Hi all,
I know. I'm not in some other country telling updating you on the latest adventure. BUT, I just really felt like writing about my drive to school this morning!

I left the house late to begin with... yeah, surprise surprise. So, I was clippin along pretty good when I saw the bus in front of me pass two little girls who were out by the road waiting for the bus to pick them up. And when I say little, they looked like about five or six years old...really little. So as I watched them in the rearview mirror it became evident that they were quite surprised to be left behind! They both dropped their jaws and threw their hands up and had this "what do we do now? we've been left behind!" expression on their faces. I guess I just couldn't get over it so I turned around to see if they were okay, meanwhile thinking "I can't imagine they are home alone..and even if I do give them a ride, where will they sit in my junk filled car??" Well, anyway, as I started down the road to their house, I saw another bus coming to pick them up. Well, that's a relief! I turned back around, thinking about those little girls--so precious and innocent. They thought for sure their day was all messed up, but it turned out just fine.

My next incident happened as I was driving passed the Angel's Crossing golf course and up that hill right before the train tracks. As always I was thinking about my family or the day ahead or whatever. I looked down momentarily (ahh yes, I was eating a chocolate CLIF bar and it was falling everywhere). When I happened to glance up, I was flying straight into the blinking railroad crossing gates that had started coming down when I was distracted. I shifted into neutral and slammed on the brakes, heart racing. As I calmed down I turned off the music and listed as the train tooted its horn. Thanks again, God, for always helping me to look up right when I need to, I prayed. Wheww.. As the train passed I thought about all the lives that have been taken at railroad crossings--probably a lot. They are one of the few things in our daily lives that are so powerful and virtually unstoppable at a moment's notice.Everything yields to the train. As I crossed the tracks I could see another train coming from the other direction, heading towards the intersection I was currently crossing. It's not too often there is more than one train..but I was certain everything would be fine. BUT I spent some extra moments hoping that the people behind me would look up in time to stop too.

As many of you know, the drive between Vicksburg and Schoolcraft is long and FLAT. So I was driving about the same speed as the train heading West. As I watched it, I was mesmerized. Just like a man on a serious mission, it charged through the countryside, leaving the beautiful sunrise in the dust.

The last 'happening' of my early morning drive to Western happened on the exit ramp coming off 131. As is common with this particular exit and this time of the morning, drivers were rushing off the highway, stomping on their brakes and piling up behind the stop sign. The problem was there was a freshly dead deer right in the middle of the exit ramp, so everyone was waddling around the poor thing, not really considering the freshness of the situation. After I had passed the deer and looked in my rearview mirror, I spotted the victim car parked on the side of the ramp, next to the deer. The accident had probably just taken place and the driver was likely still working on controlling their breathing. The vehicle that hit the deer was a pearl-colored Lexus, just like my mom's. The windshild was completely shattered and caved in. There was no way to pull over or stop or go back because of the traffic.
What I noticed was that every car that passed the deer and the damaged car just drove on by. I wanted to go back to help, but there was no way. What a devastating day for that person!

I guess I concluded one thing from my drive to school today. Life is SUPER fragile, yet so highly valued. Life is the one think we can lose in an instant unlike money, fame, etc. Are we living every day like it could be our last? This isn't some question that's just to get ya thinking. It's real life stuff...stuff that happened today to many people. It reminded me to thank God for giving me another day and to commit this day to Him entirely. I want my life to have value in eternity. Everything else would be a waste of time, something we can never get back.

We Made It!

Hey all my readers! I’m here in the states in case you felt like I left you hanging! The blog right below this one was just posted as well, and it explains what happened in the last weeks of outreach. I recommend you scoot down and read that one first. J

I wrote that other blog while we were still stuck in Argentina if you didn’t gather that. So, to put together all of the pieces, I will write one last blog and close this thing out.

So after missing our flight that took off out of Chile on the 20^th of June, we spent a couple more days waiting for the passage to open up so we could enter Chile. Remember, we couldn’t cross to Chile in southern Argentina because of the volcano and couldn’t cross in northern Argentina because of a massive snow storm.  The time we spent with the lady who took us in while we waited to cross the border was really blessed. God used us to minister to her heart through leading devotionals in her home for the first time ever and also just by talking with her and listening to her story. With no way to thank her with money, we opted to use our time cleaning her house, serving during meals, praying for her and leading worship in her house. God has a purpose for everything!

A couple days later, the passage to Chile opened up and we were able to cross the border (after waiting 5 ½ weeks!). We spent one night in Chile at another YWAM base. And I froze my buns off!! In Chile, they typically don’t have heaters in the houses. So, there we were bundled up, two girls to a bed..chilled to the bone. Let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep that night. Then, we headed off to the airport early the next morning. Santiago, Chile is a beautiful city surrounded with mountains. I enjoyed watching the sun rise over the Andes Mountains as we sped to the airport. Once we arrived and began the check-in process, Brando realized he had lost his passport. For a while, we were calm, thinking nothing of it. He would of course find it after a little looking around. Well, this didn’t happen.  So then we all began searching frantically while Brando ran to try and find a phone or internet to find the passport. Well, all of this stress plus the fact our flight was leaving shortly began to build. After I cried and everyone was all upset we began to pray. Miraculously, the airline allowed Brando to pass with only his equivalent of a license! He then was interrogated by the police for a while, and then barely made it for the flight! Wow. We were thanking God and thanking God some more, as we clearly were BEYOND ready to go home!!

With just enough money for each person to get a milkshake at the Panama airport, we sat slurping and playing UNO while waiting for our flight to Colombia. Since we had missed the entire week’s debriefing that the rest of the students back in Colombia were having during the week, our leaders gave us a quick 30 minute run down of what was discussed. That would have to do! As is typical of our group, we drew a lot of attention on the plane back to Colombia…hooting and hollering when we finally touched ground. If only our fellow passengers knew our crazy story…they’d be celebrating too!!

Once there we immediately felt the heat. By the evening of the first night we were all sopping in sweat, but content, as we had made it back in time for graduation. After graduation, Jesse and Laura (from Colombia) and I were picked up by Laura’s parents and began the journey to the beautiful town of Santa Marta. We enjoyed a fun weekend at a resort and on the beach before Jesse and I headed back and caught our flight to the States. And let me tell you…what a wild feeling seeing your home country after 6 months!! Talk about patriotism!!  

To continue on this theme of patriotism..we are truly blessed to live in a free country. I thought I was thankful before, but after six months of seeing thousands and thousands without proper homes, clothing, sanitation or hope of change,  I get the picture much better. Jesse and I had mixed feelings coming back to the States..of course we would miss Colombia and Argentina, but we were also just itching to see all of those special people we left six months ago.

I’ve been back at home for about two weeks now. For the most part, things are coming along really nicely. Thanks to God, I’ve been granted the grace to transition well. I’m still in the process of catching up with family and friends, but I’m sure that will be an ongoing process. I’m also excited to get involved at church, to hang out with our German foreign exchange student coming this fall, and to attend Western (except the first day of school is my birthday:P). Getting back into school and studying Spanish and Psychology will be challenging but fun, because these are two things God has put on my heart! Anyway, there’s much to look back on and to look forward to, but one thing remains: Jesus Christ is the center of my world, and my one desire is to walk with Him closer and closer every day!

Thanks readers and supporters and those who pray for me. God bless you!!

Chelsie

The Story

Well, it’s not hello from Chile as I hoped this blog would be, but neither is it hello from Bariloche. Rather..hello from Mendoza, Argentina. Our flight back to Colombia left at 4am out of Chile this morning. So, we aren’t exactly going as planned, but we haven’t been for 5 or 6 weeks now! If I could describe our experiences in the last weeks in one word it would be WAIT. We have done this more than anything else, but our time has not been wasted. Every day the Lord has something new in store for us, something more to teach us. Here’s the continuation of our story:

By the time I can actually put this blog on the internet, we will certainly be in Colombia, but I figure you may find the story interesting anyway. J

So after I wrote the last blog, we continued working in Bariloche waiting for the parental permissions to arrive in the mail, the post office to open after the repeated aftereffects of the volcano, waiting for the passage to Chile to open back up. The weather would improve and we would have power and hot water for a day or so, then the conditions would worsen with another storm. We called over and over tracking where the permissions were in the mail and why they had not arrived to Bariloche. The first problem they told us was that the address we gave them in Bariloche was not a house, so they would have to send the papers back. Then the problem was supposedly that the papers were in Buenos Aires but could not get to Bariloche because of the airport closure due to the volcano. Then we called them again and they tracked the papers and found they were mistakenly taken to Brazil! But we had to leave for the north of Argentina (Mendoza) because we needed to make our flight and the passage to Chile was open in Mendoza but not in the south where we were in Bariloche.

 So, the Chilean console said to have the papers sent to Mendoza and if they didn’t arrive in time we could probably use the emailed copies that the parents had originally sent to Chile 5 weeks ago. So we bought bus tickets with nearly all the money we had and road 10 hours, but because of a delay we missed our connection bus. So they left us in a bus terminal at 1:30am and said to wait for the first bus to leave at 8:30am. Miraculously a bus showed up and accepted us at 3am. So, we continued by bus for another 12 hrs or so until we finally reached Mendoza. There we found the friend of a friend who would take care of us for the night before we had our bus ride on Saturday to Chile. She met us with the permissions in her hand—praise the Lord! The pieces of paper that had held us up for going on 6 weeks! We got up the next morning and road to the terminal where we waited 3 or 4 hours before they told us that the entrance to Chile from Mendoza was closed due to a snow storm and no one could pass. We returned to the house, and waited until the next day and they said the same thing. That was our last chance to cross before missing our flight that left early this morning. The passage is still closed and the parental permissions expire today. Everything is closed today due to a holiday here so we cannot leave to do anything because all is closed and it’s Andres’ birthday. NEVERTHELESS, we are doing well! We have enjoyed our time here, celebrating father’s day gathered around a table full of people we didn’t know. It has been wild. But God has provided us with a place to stay, food, beds, warm showers all for free. We are still waiting on God and His perfect timing.

Rapunzel

Well, hello from Bariloche...still! We would be on our way to our third city in Chile if plans had not DRASTICALLY changed, but alas, here we are in the fine city of San Carlos de Bariloche starting our fourth week here.

The above picture captures our moment of deportation from Chile...photo with the police man. :) I tell ya, when God has different plans, He makes them happen! Here's the breakdown of our story:

So, we spent a very sweet, cute week in Bariloche--working at the base and a lot with a nearby church. This particular church has a lot of issues and pain within the body of believers, so we spent a majority of the time teaching, sharing our testimonies, and just encouraging them to keep moving forward. It's a hard situation because the pastor has diabetes and is in a terrible condition, unable to leave the house. So we went to his house...just beautiful by the way--log cabin style tucked into the mountains...and were truly blessed to spend some time sharing our testimonies with him and spending a time in worship. We intended to be there for a few hours but it turned into the entire day! I shared my life story for the first time in Spanish and it was a really special time for us all to connect and hear feedback from the pastor too.

Then, after that week, we packed up, said our goodbyes and road a bus for three hours to the Chilean border. There they did the whole bag search, passport check, paper fill-out and Mayra and I crossed into Chile. The rest of the group, however, got held up and were not allowed to enter because of some new law that requires they show parental permission when entering. Well, they had parental permission to leave Colombia, but when we left Colombia the border patrol took their permission slips because they shouldn't need them after leaving the country. So, you have to understand that at this point we had exhausted our Argentinian pesos and were left with only Chilean pesos and US dollars because we were crossing the border we thought! We spent a while stuck in the terminal there. Brando whipped out his guitar and we sang worship songs to the Lord, thanking Him in advance for his faithfulness. We attracted lots of attention along the way and were able to talk about Jesus to all of curious onlookers. :)

 So, eventually they granted us a free bus trip back to Bariloche (miracle #1) where we found ourselves stuck again in the bus terminal without a way to call the YWAM base there, without money for taxis and without an address to the base. Oh and by this time we had gone most of the day without food and had no money to buy food and no money to travel to a money exchange station to get money to buy food! Yikes! They then granted us free bus tickets to travel back to Chile the following Saturday when we would supposedly have the parental permissions (miracle #2). Then we scrounged around and gathered all the money we could find and bought one taxi (miracle #3). Two of the group went with the all of the heavy luggage in the taxi to the YWAM base, and the rest of us carried the other luggage and walked the 30-40 minute walk to the base. By this time I looked and felt like I was on the survivor show. When we got there they made us tea (I've drank so much tea in the last month that I think I could do without it for the rest of my life!) and bread. Ugh it felt like the end of the world!! :D Anyhoo, we then began the process of contacting the Chilean console and the parents and all of that to get the passports sent. They told us we could have them sent by email so we waited 4 days and then they told us that now they can't accept them that way and we have to have new original copies sent by snail mail. Well, that really put a damper on things as Andres' dad lives in Spain and would have to send his permission slip from there all the way to Argentina which meant we would be here until it arrived. With no money, we couldn't pay to stay at the base, so they decided to adopt us and allow us to stay here for free until we could leave--paying for food housing and all of that (miracle #4). Otherwise, we'd be huddling up outside on the street!

For the first few days we didn't have anything to do and we're rather disappointed to have been rejected from entering Chile. Then we discovered the first reason that God wanted us to stay here longer. We played a key role in allowing the YWAM base workers here to enter into a public school to give a presentation--of course without talking about God or anything. The teachers and students of the class were rowdy and skeptical of what we had to offer, but by the end, they decided to invite us back the next day to do two more presentations for other classes. The following day we did four more and were at the school from 8am until 6:30pm! God really moved in an incredible way and the staff of the school said they were already seeing big class-wide changes in their behavior. What was impactful about our presentation is that we talked to them about finding their identity--but we did it through sharing our own personal stories of hurts and hardships. And with us being of similar age to them, we were able to relate easily, even though the students in this school live REALLY rough lives.

This past Saturday, we gave the same presentation to the church we have been working with, as they still have many issues--lots of bitterness and apathy as a result of hardships. So while we were presenting this, I went outside to take my turn playing with the kids when it started raining powder! I was asking them in Spanish, what is this stuff? And nobody knew! Then we got news of the volcano in Chile and learned that it was raining and thunderstorming volcanic ash! This is where we discovered the other reason God did not allow us to enter Chile--as the place we were going to visit was very close to the volcano. Here in Bariloche we are 2 hours from the volcano which is on the other side of the mountains. We are stuck here in a declared state of emergency until things clear up a bit. We aren't supposed to leave the house much and so we feel like Rapunzel.

It's been a really hard couple of weeks as God has been shaping our characters and we have been spending a lot of time cooped up in close quarters with the same people for three weeks now. But, we know our work is effective as we have also been very attacked by the devil with different sicknesses for the past week. Currently Daniela and I are ill, but resting and on the road to recovery AMEN! Anyway, our whole team is greatful to God for His perfect plan, but also very ansy to move on from this place. So, we appreciate your prayers as we continue waiting for the post office to open so we can get the permission slips and then the border entrance to Chile to reopen so we can continue on our journey!! Hope to talk of Chile next time I write! :)

Love you all,

Chelsie

SOUTH!

Hello from Bariloche, Argentina Everyone! Finally I have a second to write you a quick update. We are beginning our fourth week of outreach tomorrow as we just arrived to the YWAM base here today after a 20 hour bus ride.

Man I don’t even know what to write!

The first week and a half we were working with a new church in a really rough neighborhood outside of Buenos Aires. We stayed at the Pastor’s house who is Brazilian. It was really nice to stay with them and get to know them and learn their ‘outsider perspective’ on the culture and different issues in Argentina. We worked a lot with handing out pamphlets with encouraging messages on them and the church contact information..to people in the streets. And we visited various other churches to preach and what-not. But the majority of our work ended up being within the church as most of the members are new Christians and need some guidance. We cleaned the church one day, we preached and led worship and did skits many days. We spent some time walking around and getting to know the culture while handing out pamphlets and stuff. It’s soooo different from Colombia! Almost everyone has piercings/tattoos. They all dress similar and even look similar physically…as general as that is. The culture here is a mix of latin american/european, so it’s a lot more like the  culture in the states than Colombia’s culture. For this reason, it hasn’t been a huge shock to adjust for me, but my team has had a few culture shocks. The culture here is very direct. When they think something or want something, they say it! They also operate on a VERY different time schedule. Stores open at around 10am..they have a small breakfast, eat lunch at 1pm, then all the stores shut down until 4 or 5 so everyone can sleep some more, then they open back up, people eat dinner around 9 or 10pm and go to bed at around 12am or 1am…So that was a little different to get used to too! Eating dinner at 11pm every night didn’t settle so well with us! But anyway, we are getting used to things now.

After our work there we traveled by train to Mar del Plata. And after this journey…I’m convinced hell will have not only fire, but ice.cold.broken-down.dark.scary. trains! What an awful experience! Sleeping was nearly impossible because I was cold and my chair was broke and my neck hurt and I had to pee and oh goodness. My neighbors on the train were odd too…one homeless man, and many who would just not stop staring! Well, anyway, we eventually arrived but then had to take a bus without heat. Then the bus dropped us off in the middle of no where with all of our massive suitcases and said he wasn’t going any further. So we waited outside freezing for another hour before another bus without heat came and dropped us off a little closer to the house and then we dragged everything the rest of the way all at around 5am. Ahh..glad that’s over. Now I can laugh, but then I was just so cold I ran around in circles like a crazy woman just to stay warm!

Anyway, we arrived to the base and settled in and warmed up quickly. What a divine place! You’ll really have to check out the pictures on facebook because I don’t feel like typing anymore about what we did at this moment. J However, in a nutshell: God is amazing. We laughed like crazy, worked hard, saw some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, a rainbow, the beach, a penguin… We spoke about Colombia, we visited a school and actually talked about God. The students were soo receptive and hungry for something real. We taught skits to the students at the base. We painted 15 blocks worth of curbsides…that was a day. We evangelized downtown Mar del Plata. We worked with kids. We led a church service.  And had some incREDible times of worship!

God is Awesome!! Okay, over and out my friends. Blessings!

Pray for a great week!

blink of an eye!

Good evening my loved ones!

I'm excited to tell you that I have officially completed the school portion of my Discipleship Training School in Cartagena, Colombia! I can hardly believe that I've been here four months!

The last two weeks were truly a blessing.

The first of the two included a pretty intense teacher who, before becoming a Christian was a guerrilla (like the FARC in Colombia) in Peru. He told us of all the horrid things he had done all the women they had raped and the people they had massacred. One day while with his companions, he found himself in a police trap. The police shot him twice as he was running away, and he could not walk any further. So, they captured him and took him to a prison and told him he would be killed the next day for his crimes. He prayed that night saying: God, if you are real please save me from being killed tomorrow morning, and I promise to serve you all the days of my life. So, the next morning the guards came to him and explained that the documents that proved he was guilty of all the crimes had been lost and he was free to go home. Needless to say this miracle got his attention, and he completely gave his life to Jesus that day. Ever since, he has been serving God with his whole life. He has some very tragic stories to tell, even ones after he became a Christian including losing his daughter, but his One True Love and Audience of One is the Living God even still. It was very encouraging to hear what he has been through and witness his love for Christ despite the hardships.

Oh and I forgot to tell you how the India night went! It was really fun! Everyone looked so beautiful dressed as Indians with all of their beautiful materials and make-up. We unfortunately didn't eat any food with curry in it, but we had some yummy sandwich type things with stew in them (all though the word 'stew' is repulsive to me, I did like this stew). We also watched some Bollywood (Hollywood India..check it out) videos and made up some dances. Lots of fun!

Then, on Thursday night Jim arrived late and brought us lots of love, hugs and food! He stayed with me at the base the first night and was able to see how every thing works there as we still had class and activities on Friday. And on Friday night we had a really beautiful prayer service with feet washing, praying for different nations, nailing letters to the cross and the like. It was really special to have him there and being a part of that. Many of the students were touched by his generosity and love. Many of the students only wish to have a wonderful dad, and I'm blessed enough to have two!! :) But anyway, Friday night we went out to dinner with Jesse and our friend Jonathan from Venezuela. Then Jesse and Jonathan went back to the base, but Jim and I stayed in our cute little hotel. Oh and the air conditioning was just so cold!!! I woke up four times in the night I was so cold! Isn't that funny? I'm used to sweating 24/7 I guess. Haha! But anyway, basically Jesse and Jim and I just lounged around all day in the hotel--just relaxing and getting some stuff accomplished before we leave on outreach. I have to say there were a couple things that were key during this weekend: a packet of doublestuff Oreos (which we later came to realize that Jesse and I ate the whole pack! Don't do it. But just between you and me, I still love them just as much as before I ate a half a pack. Oh, and try it with peanut butter.), someone doing a laundry for us, an unoccupied bathroom and ceviche (which is like seafood and other things uncooked but cooked with the acid in lemon juice or something like that) Oh my goodness, we had such a good time with him! It was at first difficult to try and mix my two lives together--Jim from home and then everything here.. But honestly, I was just amazed to watch him give and give and give. He truly came to just give us a break and to spoil us rotten--and that he did!

This past week, we had an American teacher named Dean Harvey-age 81. Wow, he had some really challenging things to say. What a knowledgeable man! He just really knew and studied the Bible. By the end of his first teaching we were all bawling. Coming with many new, deep perspectives on old teachings, he was difficult to follow at times. But all week we sat on the edge of our seats as he spoke because although many of his points were contradictory to what we had previously learned, he totally backed everything up with a thorough Biblical study.

Basically I received a new revelation of how much God's heart breaks when his loved ones die without knowing him. It gave me a new motivation to really work for God and His Kingdom during this upcoming weeks on outreach. I am sure that these weeks will have challenges and growth and difficult choices, but I have a better understanding of God's heart for the lost which encourages me to press on.

We watched the Passion of the Christ last night and took communion. Unlike most other Good Fridays, this one really touched me deeply. Normally, I want to be touched by what Jesus did for me more than I actually am, but this time God really touched my spirit. It's incredible the way He lived completely perfect and died for me--the pain he felt physically, as awful as it was, is nothing compared to the weight of all our sin on Him spiritually and emotionally. There's a song that has this verse in it: "carried to the table". It's talking about taking communion, and I just kept thinking of what a beautiful picture it is to envision Jesus suffering so much, raising from the dead and then picking me up and carrying me to the communion table to share with Him. What incredible sacrifice and love!

Well, times up again. Tonight we are saying goodbye and celebrating cowboy style! Yeehaw!! Better go fetch my lasso.

Who knows when I'll be able to write again as I will be leaving for Argentina in 3 short days! I appreciate your support and prayers while I am away, and I will update you as soon as I can!

Blessings,
Chelsie

Oh the Life of a Learner!

The past two weeks have been jam-packed full of stuff! Which, I guess, is always the case. The first of the two weeks was our second and last mini-outreach. My group ended up staying here in Cartagena. Working with a 24/7 prayer/praise ministry in our classroom, investigating child prostitution in the city, and going into various poor neighborhoods presenting a leadership campaign and a princess campaign (Don't worry, I'll explain.) The first two days Saturday and Sunday were spent in the hot-box of a classroom learning a new dance that we would be presenting to different neighborhoods every afternoon of the week. Saturday we spent 5 hours dancing in the sweltering heat. I...well...didn't have a super positive attitude during these first days and fought it a lot. Eventually God made it clear to me that if I was going to survive, I had to change my attitude, because, to be honest, it was far from what I would have wanted to do the day after a long week.

As I fasted and prayed, I made the decision to cheer-up and see things in a positive light. From that  point on, God really blessed me with the grace to carry it out. For the rest of the week, I continued in this way, walking in peace and joy! Now, it wasn't easy, but it was a real encouragement to see what God does when we give Him absolutely everything. I grew a lot in my ability to communicate with others in Spanish and got along well with my group.

Each morning we practiced the dance and had prayer and worship time with music and painting and dance (this was really cool). Then we worked on researching and coding a map of vulnerable areas in Cartagena for child prostitution and statistics of the like. In the afternoons we visited various neighborhoods in these 'danger zones' within the city. We presented young people and children with the idea that they CAN rise above their circumstances to be the leader, to be the change amidst generations and generations of hopeless destitution.

Later on in the week, God spoke to me about Psalm 45 which talks about girl of royalty and how the king was enthralled by her beauty. We developed this idea in an effort to minister to the girls of these neighborhoods--to resurrect the truth that they are highly valued princesses of the King of Kings! I absolutely loved this part, as did all of the precious girls we ministered to. We french-braided their hair, gave them lotions and spa treatments as well as painted their nails. And they soaked. it. up. Coming from nearly nothing, and being treated like a piece of meat by the people in their societies has taken its toll. Child prostitution with the young girls is common in all of these neighborhoods because it's a quick fix for a dire need. For example, often times, if the family doesn't have food, the mother of the house will trade her daughter's body for food to the guy working at the corner store. So, to be able to provide them with a new way of thinking, that their value is from God, was really a special opportunity.

On Friday night we went to the Center, the tourism trap, where you can find most of the prostitution and lots of drug trades. We walked in pairs covering the area with prayer from 12am-almost 3am. It was at first a great struggle to have the energy to go on, but God really provided us with encouragement and strength all the way. It's a place filled with desperation and longing, so our prayers were powerful!
On Saturday night (the last night) our leaders held a special banquet dinner for us as princes and princesses of God. It was a really fun time to dress up and to be pampered a bit. :)

Moving on to this past week. We had a couple different speakers. One couple spoke to us about how God has put a special purpose and gifting into our generation. They explained that this is our time to prepare ourselves for something BIG, because the world cannot wait for another generation to bring hope and change. So, I spent a lot of time in prayer for my generation but most of all for my family specifically...my grandparents, my cousins. Because I know God has something very special in store for my family and I love them oh so very much!! :)

We also talked about shaping our character to reflect Christ and remaining sexually pure as a testimony for God. All of this was also related to preparing our generation for what God has planned for us.

I enjoyed this week very much. We did a bunch of random stuff and it was more relaxed. I bought my plane ticket for Argentina which was quite the ordeal, but during the whole shin-dig I got to skip class several times AND I got to try this funny little fruit called mamon or something. You break open the shell and out pops this little sour jelly ball...but there's a big seed in the middle. Bummer. Oh and I also tried this incredible jugo de papaya con leche (which essentially is a papaya smoothie with milk). Oh it was just divine!

Another funny thing. We are now in the beginning of the rainy season...just like ya'll are experiencing right about now. And the mangos off our mango trees in the backyard are just LOADED with mangos! In fact I have something with mango in it almost every day! But anyhoo, about the rain. For the first time since I've been here, it rained a MONSOON! I've never seen anything like it! The street turned into a river and Jesse and I went running through the streets bare-foot! We could have white-water rafted almost!! Everything in the house was soaking wet, and I even did all of my cleaning chores in the kitchen barefoot...(they don't have safety rules in the kitchen..at all, haha!).

But, anyway, I have to go dress up like a girl from India now. We are having our India Alliance night. It should be interesting to see how Colombians fix Indian food. :) And they layed out all of these beautiful rugs for us to sit on and candles and mints...oh it should be fun!

And one more thing. I know I just briefly mentioned my outreach to Argentina and Chile before. But the time is coming fast when we will be actually flying out, 17 days to be exact!! Each week we will be in a different city of either Argentina or Chile, working with churches and serving other YWAM locations. It will be a crazy but wonderful experience I am sure! I know this is last minute and I don't want any of you to feel like you have to support me, but I think it's essential that I give you all an opportunity to be a part of what God is doing here. Those that go on the mission are no more important than those who pray for the mission and those that give to the mission. God wants us all to work together. So I appreciate your prayers and support. If you feel led to support me financially during this outreach portion of my ministry school, you can send money to my parents who will put it into my bank account.  Their address is:
Kemi Laing
15676 Poplar Lane
Vicksburg, MI 49097

Thank you all for taking the time to even read this blog! It blesses me greatly to have you backing me in all of this! Love you all!
Chelsie