Prayer requests

hello faithful followers, here are a few more prayer requests as i look to coming home.

*that saying good bye goes well and every things is done before i leave.
*that i would be accepted to Moody Bible Institute for the fall semester.
*that i would find a car, either a cheep one or if you know someone that has one i can borrow for the summer please let me know!!

thanks for all the prayers and support you have given me while being here. i will be home April 5th at 5pm. you can come see me at the airport if you want or come visit any time. And we are planning a Venezuela dinner and presentation for May 1st. All are welcome.
See you all soon!

Sorry it has been so long but here is a little breif update of my crazy and wonderful life.

November: I spent two weeks with the kids at the foundation. It was a blast!
Thanksgiving here was nothing like home and the acutal day of Thanksgiving was one of the harder days here because i was not with any family, the next day we had a gathering with a couple of the other missionary families in the area. that was great and the food was wonderful!

December: The first week of December a couple of men came from Pella and started the building of the new church. I was busy all of this week cooking for all the workers and bringing food to the church.
Marcia's parents came and spent a little over a month with us. it was fun having them and marcia's mom really can bake! lots of sweets!
I then spent another week with the kids at the foundation and celebrated Christmas with them. I don't think i have ever laughed so hard during the christmas story in all of my life!! i was one of my favorite nights here!
Then we had the church Christmas party. that was fun and we played a game and all got gifts! the food was great then too!
Christmas was wonderful. we spent the day together as a family and opened some gifts.
The next day was the day my parents arrived. I was more than excited to see them and show them to everyone here! That day we picked mangos at the foundation and relaxed a little! We even went to Angel falls and spent a few days at the beach. It was wonderful having them here.
New Years eve was great and filled with fireworks and family. It is like the 4th of July but 10 times more!

January: My birthday is January 4th and we had a huge party. It was so much fun. we spent most of the day getting ready and searching for a piñata. We finally found one of strawberry short cake. there were lots of people that came and we played charades! Marcia's mom said it was the funnest 23rd birthday party she had ever been to! i thought it was great too...everyone i love here was all together having a wonderful time!
On January 10th i was baptized at the river. this was a great day of fellowship and spiritual growth! I am now a new creation and living ever more for the LORD!
Mom and dad left and there were lots of tears but i will see them again soon!
I then went back to the foundation with the kids and spent the last 2 weeks of January with them.
February: I spent the 1st 3 weeks of Feb at the foundation also. In the mornings i helped Linda run errands, visit the hospital, and clean her house.
the hospital is one of my favorite places as of current! the kids are wonderful. We bring them clothes and coloring books with crayons. the hospital we visit is one of 2 free hospitals in town. the people here are very needy of clothes and Jesus. we bring them both whenever we go. I have whitnessed at least 12 mothers accept the Lord through this ministry.
Now i am watching Marcia and Guillermo's two little ones while they are on a trip to the beach for marcia's birthday. We are having a great time.
Oh one more thing that happened this month...i bought my return ticket. I will be home at 5pm on April 5th. This will be happy and very sad. I am not looking forward to leaving yet and know i will miss everyone here very much!

thanks for reading this.
please pray for the kids at the foundation and the kids in the hospital. Also marcia and Guillermo's church.
thanks and God bless
See you all very soon!

October

It seams the longer I am here the faster the time goes, I can hardly believe it is November and I have been here 4 months.
In October I spent two weeks at the Street kids ministry. I rote about my first week there in my last blog, my second week there was much fun as well. I even got to attend one of the services at their church, this was interesting because they had me pray…I choose to do this in English because I did not want to say the wrong thing. This time I was also able to do more with the kids and help them with more homework, we even played freeze tag in the front yard. These two weeks really helped me with my Spanish.
Also this month we went to Ciudad Bloivar for a day. This was fun and we even had lunch with Guillermo’s dad at a chicken place.
Sara had her 12th birthday on the 21st. That day we went to the mall to bowl and have pizza for dinner. This was fun even though none of us as pro bowlers. ☺ She said I was a good birthday and was happy for what all we did. Oh I even made cupcakes and jello.
This does not seam like a lot but we are getting more in to a schedule. I plan to try another attempt at an English class on Wednesday, pray that I will have students!
Thanks for your prayers and reading this. I miss you all.
God Bless!
ps my parents are coming in December and I am VERY excited for that! It is hard to believe next month is December. The weather does not change here so it is weird not having change of seasons, I still feel like we are in summer! ☺

Street Kids

Yeah I know this is early but I want to tell you all about what I did last week. While we were on Vacation back in August I met a couple that is friends with Marcia and Guillermo. They told me all about their ministry here. They are also from the states! They work with the street kids. These kids have really bad backgrounds and have lived on the street all alone. They have to do whatever they can to make it. Some of them have been thrown out of their homes and most of them have done drugs at some point. In this ministry they go out and find these kids and help them. They get them in school and help them with their homework. They have a system they have to go through and then once they are ready they get to live in this house with a full time caregiver, Jaqui, a 24 year old that is pretty much their mom. She works at a school so they all get to go there on scholarship. Their day starts at 5 am when they all wake up and get ready for school, this runs like clockwork, the each know what they are to do and do it, if the finish early and while they are waiting for breakfast they read their bibles. The transportation comes at 6:30 and they leave for school. The cleaning and cooking lady comes at 9 and makes lunch and cleans the house. Then at 12 they are home and ready for lunch. During meal time they each take a turn praying and have a seating arraignment. After lunch they take a nap from 1 until 4, and then homework starts. They work very hard with presentations, reading, and other homework. Before they came none of them could read and now they all can read to me! (lots of hard work and dedication) After homework is done it is time to play. I had fun playing a random marble game, I still don’t think I totally understand nor did I ever win! We also listened to music and danced, this was probably my favorite thing all week. One night we played volleyball but I was no good at that! ☺ These kids may have come from a rough background but the love of Jesus is all around. They are really good kids, polite and very respectful. Jaqui has a worked very hard with them. After play time there is an hour every night that they have bible study, this includes bible reading, prayer and some nights a message from Jaqui, she has such a heart for these kids and keeping them on the right path and sharing her love of Jesus with them. Next is bed time because 5 comes earlier than anyone wants it to!
One day while I was there the dog was acting very abnormal but I did not know what was going on so I went back in side, a few moments later one of the kids came and told me that the dog was having puppies! We all ran to the back of the house and sure enough there they were. I have never seen anything quite so gross! She had four all back puppies. SO CUTE!
I had so much fun this week and did not really want to go back to Marica’s even though I missed them. These kids were so great. I did not always understand them but my Spanish did take a really big step forward! I am really wanting to spend more time with this ministry so hopefully next month I can go back and spend more time with them. One funny story was that while I was there they were all asking me what kinds of food we eat in the States and one of the little girls asked me if we had eggs!!! LOL! I tried so hard not to laugh and answer but it was hard! Oh also there are five kids living there currently but Jaqui wants to go back out and start getting more. They also want to bring me out on to the street and meet some of the other kids they are working with. Marica said this will be really hard for me because I will want to bring them all home with me but can’t. I will probably cry when I get home too because Jaqui does every time she goes out.
I now ask you all to pray for these kids. They have come a long ways but still have a long way to go. I only spent a week there and already love them and know they each have a special place in my heart. God really is at work here!
Thanks for the prayers and for reading this!
Love you and miss you all!

September: my month of firsts

I am sorry this is late but it has definitely gotten a lot busier around here in the last month. In September I had many firsts. I had my first Sunday of understanding most of the sermon at church. This was a huge blessing and encouragement in my Spanish learning. I have understood more and more every passing Sunday. I also had my second outing without the family to the movies and mall with Catherine and her friends from the university. We went to the movies in Spanish with no English subtitles. This was a first as I did not understand most but caught on after Catherine explained some stuff to me. Next I had my first alone time. The family went to another town over night and I stayed here. As scary as this may sound it was very relaxing and a welcome break, once I got over being in the house alone and all the lights were out! Another first was my grammar classes with a lady in the church. I was meeting with her everyday for 2 hours but now she has to watch her grandson so we meet on Sunday mornings for 2 hours. Not as much but I am still learning a lot! Probably the most exciting was my first concert. It was the longest day of my life and my feet hurt so bad after but that is nothing different than what I have experienced in the US. It was loud, there were TONS of people there and it was all in Spanish. ☺ I went with a group of young people from here and Catherine (my translator). I did catch a few things but this mostly just wore me out and I am still recovering! ☺ At the beginning of September we went to the river for the second time but this time I played volleyball with a group of the people we were there with. I knew Aunt Launa and the girls would appreciate my effort at the game, however my team did not win! ☹ Another frist was my trip to the University with Catherine. She was signing up for her English test. This was much different than my experience at Northwestern. She first stood in line to get a paper and then we went to the bank on campus to put money in and then we went back to the first line and handed in a different paper from the back…just in time before that window closed for lunch at 11am. Then we waited for a lady to give the paper to that said she had paid for the test. Then we rode the bus (another first) and then ran around trying to find a place her dad had mailed something to. I was very lost! Then we rode a taxi home. So many new experiences here that make me realize how easy life in the US is or just maybe how lazy we Americans are.

Well school has started. The kids are gone by 6:30am and return at noon just in time for lunch. Then after lunch we rest and then have class with me and then spend most of the rest of the evening doing homework. I help with what I can. I even helped David with his and it was all in Spanish. We never miss an opportunity for my to learn Spanish. In the morning I fill my time doing things around the house for Marcia and making lunch.

One more thing I hope you all find funny. The stores started setting up for Christmas this month (September 15th) . Marcia says this is early but normally they start at the end of October because they don’t have thanksgiving here and Halloween is growing but still not that popular. So now I have 3 months of Christmas! Does this mean I can listen to Christmas music now?

Prayer requests:
God is working here and long with that comes requests.
*I want to start an English class but I need students. May God provide them for me. I have already had one failed week. ☹
*The church and the challenges it is facing. They are building a new roof, safety and a smooth project. Leadership challenges.
*The ministry I am involved with, there are many things and I am getting frustrated, may God work these out and may this ministry truly glory him and may he use it for his kingdom.
*The Foundation that the church started is facing challenges. May God guide them.
*My friend Catherine’s friends at the university, they are not saved. Pray that God would speak to their hearts and open them to his free gift also that they would ask questions. I would love to see them accept the Lord while I am here and I know God can do it!
*The kids, they get very overwhelmed with school and homework. Sara gets very upset over this. I pray that God comforts them and helps them with their studies. They are very bright children! I love working with them! ☺

I think that is it for now. There are no pictures…sorry but I don’t have a camera. ☹
Thanks for everything and for your prayers.
Until next month!

prayers needed

i know this is going to sound really selfish but i am really sad. Please pray for my camera...it is gone....i don't know where it went but i know that God knows and in his time will bring it back to me. all prayers for this are greatly appreciated.
Also here are a few more prayer requests:

• the church: they are building and working on a lot of things. also pray for the leadership of the church as they are growing and learning. may they follow God's leading.
  
• my spanish: it is coming along and i have started new classes with another lady today, may God continue to open my mind and ears to this language.
  
• the kids: i am having a hard time of late putting up with them. they are great kids but sometimes they ware on my nerves, i am just not use to having kids their ages around all the time. I still do manage to find time to enjoy them and classes are going well.
  
• marcia and guillermo: they are very busy and may they find time to be together and to spend with God to follow him and what he has planned for them.
  
• my spiritual growth: i am reading the bible through before i leave here and i am also trying to figure out what it is i really do believe and making it my own.
  

Thank you for everything. i am praying for you all too!
God bless!

VBS and Pirates of the Caribbiean!

Plan Vocational was the busiest week ever! Imagine that if 11 people came and lived at our house for a week while you planed and directed the VBS at your church while feeding them and letting them live in your house. First we cleaned the whole house and then they came and we took care of them and helped with the VBS and then when the left we cleaned the whole house again! i was tired for a week! It was also a very fun week. We made new friends, grew in my spanish, and got to play with kids! They loved the english "Jesus loves me" song we taught them! the picture i chose for this week is of my class. we had about 6 each day and they sure kept us busy, two of the boys were 2 and my class was for 3-4 year olds. One of them left our classroom with a chair on his head! LOL! Also that week we went to the other park and i fed the fish in the lake and while we were on a walk it RAINED on us. One of the boys from here told me that there was an anokonda in that park that once ate a little boy...it was really scared! (Marcia says it is not true)
After that we (as a family) went on vacation for a week to the Caribbian coast. Our room had a balcony that looked out over the ocean, the sunsets were beautiful. While there we swam in the pool, spent a day at the beach, tried cocanut, walked along a path with people selling things, took a boat ride on the ocean, visited a cathederal, read, watched TV (in english and spnaish), visited with friends, and realxed! Sara and i were sad when we had to come home. i told Marcia i was going to stay there forever!
Now we are home. I am still taking spanish classes and teaching Catherine english. I am now helping with skits on sundays at church, this week i will play the devil. All my parts are not speaking parts! Oh also this week i answered the phone and bought bread at the bread store all on my own. Marcia said these things are really good, i have only been here 2 months. The picture above is of me and Catherine at the Baptism that took place at the river during the week of VBS. it was a lot of fun.

well that is all for now. there are many many more pictures where these came from and when i get home you can all see them. thanks for the prayers and thinking about me...don't be afraid to send me a note or e-mail and ask me more. i love sharing stories!
God Bless!