Today is Thanksgiving but it sure doesn't feel like it but that is because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in El Salvador.I have to admit that the day was a bit strange for me, but I thoughly enjoyed it. I work up at 5:30am this morning just like I do every other weekday to get ready to go to up to Guayabo, normally on Thanksgiving I sleep in a lot. I spent my whole day getting to work up in Guayabo and it was such a wonderful time and I am so thankful for the time I get to spend up in Guayabo.
I have to admit that I really missed my family and friends today. I miss the part about Thanksgiving that brings people together to just share what God has done in our lives in the past year. I did get to celebrate a little bit today, because the Turcios family wanted to celebrate and so we had a little bit of foods that you eat at Thanksgiving for dinner and on Saturday we are going to make Pumpkin Pie because I brought stuff for it when I was in the States (I'm excited for this because Pumpkin Pie is one of my favs).
I have to say that this year I have a lot to be thankful for, even though A LOT has changed since last Thanksgiving, I can't thank God enough for what he has done in my life. I thank God for his steadfast and unfailing love, I thank him that he has taken care of me and through every situation he has been with me. I thank God that he has brought me to El Salvador and for the friends and family that I have made here. I'm also so thankful for my friends and family back home, I love them and miss them so much!! I can't thank God enough for what he is doing in my life and that I get to serve him here in El Salvador!
My God has blessed me beyond measure and so as this Thanksgiving comes to a close, I just thank God that he saved me and redeemed me from my sin. I also love the fact that giving thanks is something that we should do everyday, not just on the holiday. Thank you for taking the time to read this! I love you all and I hope that you have all had a very blessed Thanksgiving!!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Trip back to the States
Hey All! I am now back here in El Salvador. I had a wonderful time in the States. I have to admit that all the things I had wanted to do I wasn't able to accomplish, but God for sure blessed my time at home. I got to spend a lot of time with my family and just hang out with them and that was so refreshing and enjoyable. I have missed my family quite a bit, especially my nieces and nephews. I wasn't able to visit my friends in Ames, because my car wouldn't start so that kind of dashed a big chunk of my plans for my trip back home, but like I said it was stil a great time.
I got to MN late on November 5th and when I came out of the airport, my niece Evie (who is almost 9 months) stopped crying and gave me this huge smile it was adorable and was the best welcome home I could have recieved. Then we went over to my sister's house to celebrate my mom's birthday the next day, when I walked in the door my nephew, Cyrus, was so excited to see his auntie. It was like I had never left and we continued to play all sorts of games and such like we would before I left. I know this seems like something very simple but I think that one of my biggest fears when leaving for El Salvador was that I was leaving my nieces and nephews and that they would not really understand why I was leaving them. I praise God that although my plans for my ten days didn't quite work out I got spend a lot of time with them.
I spent most of my time during the week actually still working on things for the Community Center, because somethings with the website still needed to be worked on. I also got my fingerprints done again and sent them off to the FBI, so hopefully they will get processed correctly this time. I also got to have two of the things that I miss most from the US, Caribou Coffee (although ES coffee is still better, I just love Caribou Coffe) and Macaroni and Cheese from Noodles and Company! These were for sure treats of being back in the States and I even got to see some light snow fall, I was hoping for at least an inch but never the less I got some snow. I am really going to miss the snow, this year, especially around Christmas time, because I have never had a Christmas without snow.
On the Saturday before I returned here to ES, my niece had her birthday party. She had her birthday party at a place called Adventure Park, it is this huge playplace ( imagine the playplaces in McDonalds or Burger King on Seriods). It was great and since my nephew is still to small to climb through the things by himself, I was his partner and we crawled all over that thing and it was a blast, but I do have to admit that one it was almost more of a workout than going for my run and my knees hurt so much after that from crawling through all those plastic tubes (note to self bring knee pads the next time lol).
Overall, it was such a wonderful time and I am so thankful that I got a chance to see my family again, I have missed them! I do admit thought that I missed being in ES so much and was ready to come back. I do truly believe the statement a friend told me once, no matter if you are in the US or in ES you are always going to miss people from the other country. Well, that's about it, thank you for all your prayers for my time in the US, I really enjoyed it!
I got to MN late on November 5th and when I came out of the airport, my niece Evie (who is almost 9 months) stopped crying and gave me this huge smile it was adorable and was the best welcome home I could have recieved. Then we went over to my sister's house to celebrate my mom's birthday the next day, when I walked in the door my nephew, Cyrus, was so excited to see his auntie. It was like I had never left and we continued to play all sorts of games and such like we would before I left. I know this seems like something very simple but I think that one of my biggest fears when leaving for El Salvador was that I was leaving my nieces and nephews and that they would not really understand why I was leaving them. I praise God that although my plans for my ten days didn't quite work out I got spend a lot of time with them.
I spent most of my time during the week actually still working on things for the Community Center, because somethings with the website still needed to be worked on. I also got my fingerprints done again and sent them off to the FBI, so hopefully they will get processed correctly this time. I also got to have two of the things that I miss most from the US, Caribou Coffee (although ES coffee is still better, I just love Caribou Coffe) and Macaroni and Cheese from Noodles and Company! These were for sure treats of being back in the States and I even got to see some light snow fall, I was hoping for at least an inch but never the less I got some snow. I am really going to miss the snow, this year, especially around Christmas time, because I have never had a Christmas without snow.
On the Saturday before I returned here to ES, my niece had her birthday party. She had her birthday party at a place called Adventure Park, it is this huge playplace ( imagine the playplaces in McDonalds or Burger King on Seriods). It was great and since my nephew is still to small to climb through the things by himself, I was his partner and we crawled all over that thing and it was a blast, but I do have to admit that one it was almost more of a workout than going for my run and my knees hurt so much after that from crawling through all those plastic tubes (note to self bring knee pads the next time lol).
Overall, it was such a wonderful time and I am so thankful that I got a chance to see my family again, I have missed them! I do admit thought that I missed being in ES so much and was ready to come back. I do truly believe the statement a friend told me once, no matter if you are in the US or in ES you are always going to miss people from the other country. Well, that's about it, thank you for all your prayers for my time in the US, I really enjoyed it!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Life is a Pair O' Ducks
Hey all! I am sitting writing this when I really should be asleep since I have to get up in a few hours to head to the airport but I can't sleep so I thought I would share a few quick thoughts.
I can not count the number of times I have applied or used things that I learned at SPLICE. It was such a blessing to be equiped with cultural things as well as everyday life things that I really didn't even think to think of. One of the biggest things is the yay duck and yuck duck, this has been so amazing to have and I praise God that they talked about this because it helps put into words a little bit more about how to describe situations in life.
As I sit here, I am for sure experiencing a big Yay/Yuck duck moment. I am excited to be going back to the States, because I miss my family and I can't wait to see them, especially my nieces and my nephew. I am also super excited to see my friends, because I miss them so much also. However, at the same time I am sad to be leaving El Salvador, even if its only for ten days, I can say that I actually feel at home here. The people here have become like my new family and the children in Guayabo, I just love those children and not to see them for ten days is going to be hard. I can't describe or put into words how much the Lord has taught me and how much He has blessed me since I came here. I also can't tell you or thank the Lord enough for the Turcios family, they are amazing. They have not only welcomed me into their home but they treat me as if I was always a member of their family. It has been a true blessing. The past couple days I've been reminded of the fact that life is a pair of ducks there are moments that are exciting and sad at the same time. I've learned that I am going to miss people where ever I am, when I am in the States I miss people from El Salvador, SPLICE, etc and when I am in El Salvador, I miss the people in the States. It's for sure a paradox but that makes me all the more excited for when we get to Heaven. Then we will all be in the same place at the same time and we can all hang out together for eternity!!! :)
I just praise God for all that he has done and all that He will do!! To Him be the glory!!
My next post will be from the States, please pray for safe travels! Adios!
I can not count the number of times I have applied or used things that I learned at SPLICE. It was such a blessing to be equiped with cultural things as well as everyday life things that I really didn't even think to think of. One of the biggest things is the yay duck and yuck duck, this has been so amazing to have and I praise God that they talked about this because it helps put into words a little bit more about how to describe situations in life.
As I sit here, I am for sure experiencing a big Yay/Yuck duck moment. I am excited to be going back to the States, because I miss my family and I can't wait to see them, especially my nieces and my nephew. I am also super excited to see my friends, because I miss them so much also. However, at the same time I am sad to be leaving El Salvador, even if its only for ten days, I can say that I actually feel at home here. The people here have become like my new family and the children in Guayabo, I just love those children and not to see them for ten days is going to be hard. I can't describe or put into words how much the Lord has taught me and how much He has blessed me since I came here. I also can't tell you or thank the Lord enough for the Turcios family, they are amazing. They have not only welcomed me into their home but they treat me as if I was always a member of their family. It has been a true blessing. The past couple days I've been reminded of the fact that life is a pair of ducks there are moments that are exciting and sad at the same time. I've learned that I am going to miss people where ever I am, when I am in the States I miss people from El Salvador, SPLICE, etc and when I am in El Salvador, I miss the people in the States. It's for sure a paradox but that makes me all the more excited for when we get to Heaven. Then we will all be in the same place at the same time and we can all hang out together for eternity!!! :)
I just praise God for all that he has done and all that He will do!! To Him be the glory!!
My next post will be from the States, please pray for safe travels! Adios!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
What's Up
As I sit here writing this after a relaxing day here in El Salvador, I still can't believe that at this time tomorrow I will be back at my parent's house in Minnesota. This comes with both excitment and sadness...it's for sure a yay and yuck duck situation. I am so excited to see my family and friends, especially my nieces an my nephew, but at the same time I don't want to leave ES, I truly feel that I am finally feeling really at home here. I love that I have the opportunity to share Christ with the children up in Guayabo. The children in Guayabo are becoming like my little brothers and sisters and I just love them so much and pray that they would come to know the Lord.
I will be back in the States from Nov. 5th to Nov. 15th. I will be spending most of my time up in MN with my family but I am also planning a trip down to Ames to see my friends there. I do have to say that God totally provided and blessed when I went to purchase my plane ticket for this trip, normally the prices for flights from ES to MN are usually the same but the day that I went to buy my plane ticket, the ticket was almost $200 dollars cheaper than normal! PTL. The biggest thing that I will be making sure I get done while I am in the States is get everything that I need for my background check all settled and good to go, so prayers would be appreciated.
Things up at the communtiy center are going great! We finally were able to go back up to the center this past week, thank you for your prayers...it finally stopped raining and November marks the beginning of summer for them so we most likely won't have any more mega rain storms. I know I have said this before but I love what I do I love that I get to love and serve these children. I've been working a lot with the children in helping tutor them in Math. I actually kind of find it funny how God has used that subject because in school that was my least favorite subject but it has been a true blessing. This past week I had the opportunity to go and visit some of the homes of a couple of the children at the center.. It is for sure a reality check and reminds you of how blessed I am with all that the Lord has given me.
Here are some pictures from the past week! I am heading to bed here because I'm getting up early tomorrow because we are having a evanglistic concert tomorrow at church, it is going to be awesome!!! Thank you so much for your prayers and support and I can't wait to see some of you soon!
I will be back in the States from Nov. 5th to Nov. 15th. I will be spending most of my time up in MN with my family but I am also planning a trip down to Ames to see my friends there. I do have to say that God totally provided and blessed when I went to purchase my plane ticket for this trip, normally the prices for flights from ES to MN are usually the same but the day that I went to buy my plane ticket, the ticket was almost $200 dollars cheaper than normal! PTL. The biggest thing that I will be making sure I get done while I am in the States is get everything that I need for my background check all settled and good to go, so prayers would be appreciated.
Things up at the communtiy center are going great! We finally were able to go back up to the center this past week, thank you for your prayers...it finally stopped raining and November marks the beginning of summer for them so we most likely won't have any more mega rain storms. I know I have said this before but I love what I do I love that I get to love and serve these children. I've been working a lot with the children in helping tutor them in Math. I actually kind of find it funny how God has used that subject because in school that was my least favorite subject but it has been a true blessing. This past week I had the opportunity to go and visit some of the homes of a couple of the children at the center.. It is for sure a reality check and reminds you of how blessed I am with all that the Lord has given me.
Here are some pictures from the past week! I am heading to bed here because I'm getting up early tomorrow because we are having a evanglistic concert tomorrow at church, it is going to be awesome!!! Thank you so much for your prayers and support and I can't wait to see some of you soon!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Prayer and Glorifying God
Hey All,
First of all I am asking all of you to be praying for El Salvador, it has been raining pretty much non-stop since last Tuesday here and at times the rain has been very intense. The land here can not handle all this rain and a state of emergency has been declared for El Salvador, because in many parts of the country there is tremendous flooding and there have been many land/mudslides, people are being evacuated from their homes and all the rain makes many road impassable. So please pray not only for the people but also that the rain would stop soon. Especially pray for El Guayabo, as many of the people there do not have well built houses and it rains into their houses as well we have heard from our friends up there that part of the way up the volcano to Guayabo is impassable because of all the trees that have fallen and near the entrance to the community center is blocked because there was a mini mudslide that has blocked the way. We have not been able to go up to Guayabo since last Tuesday, because with all this rain and of course the impassable roads. So please be praying and pray that the people of El Salvador would turn to the Lord and the even through the midst of this crisis in the lives of these people that they would seek His face and come to know him.
Yesterday, I was completely humbled in the aspect of what it looks like to glorify God in the midist of intense adversity. This month the theme/series that we are talking about is glorifying God. This has been such a freshing series but also a very convicting one. I also have to admit that although I can pretty much understand everything since I got here, I am finally to not only just understand the messages, they are actually getting through to me (I don't know if that is the right word) but this past Sunday, I actually wasn't just listening and translating to understand what the message said, but God really spoke through the message.. I think that the first two months that I have been so focused on understanding that even though I knew the words that were being said I didn't focus on the actual message. I praise God that I have finally been able to acutally listen and understand the message. We are all to give glory to God in all circumstances and through this we are a light unto the world because that is something that sets us apart from the world that in the midst of adversity we can still praise and glorify God. I was humbled and amazed by a few of my brothers and sisters here in the church, yesterday. As I mentioned many people have been evacuated from their homes and there were a few from our church who were evacuated and they didn't have much time to get out of their homes and try and find somewhere to stay. Yet, through this adversity they still were giving God glory and thanking them that they still had clothing and they still had their family and that they had brothers and sisters in the church who welcomed them into their home even though they didn't have much room. It was a great reminder and it reminded me that through all things we have something to give God glory for because God has saved us and everyday He blesses us more and more even when we don't recongize it as a blessing. I'm just so thankful that our God is all powerful and in control of all things! To Him be the glory!!
First of all I am asking all of you to be praying for El Salvador, it has been raining pretty much non-stop since last Tuesday here and at times the rain has been very intense. The land here can not handle all this rain and a state of emergency has been declared for El Salvador, because in many parts of the country there is tremendous flooding and there have been many land/mudslides, people are being evacuated from their homes and all the rain makes many road impassable. So please pray not only for the people but also that the rain would stop soon. Especially pray for El Guayabo, as many of the people there do not have well built houses and it rains into their houses as well we have heard from our friends up there that part of the way up the volcano to Guayabo is impassable because of all the trees that have fallen and near the entrance to the community center is blocked because there was a mini mudslide that has blocked the way. We have not been able to go up to Guayabo since last Tuesday, because with all this rain and of course the impassable roads. So please be praying and pray that the people of El Salvador would turn to the Lord and the even through the midst of this crisis in the lives of these people that they would seek His face and come to know him.
Yesterday, I was completely humbled in the aspect of what it looks like to glorify God in the midist of intense adversity. This month the theme/series that we are talking about is glorifying God. This has been such a freshing series but also a very convicting one. I also have to admit that although I can pretty much understand everything since I got here, I am finally to not only just understand the messages, they are actually getting through to me (I don't know if that is the right word) but this past Sunday, I actually wasn't just listening and translating to understand what the message said, but God really spoke through the message.. I think that the first two months that I have been so focused on understanding that even though I knew the words that were being said I didn't focus on the actual message. I praise God that I have finally been able to acutally listen and understand the message. We are all to give glory to God in all circumstances and through this we are a light unto the world because that is something that sets us apart from the world that in the midst of adversity we can still praise and glorify God. I was humbled and amazed by a few of my brothers and sisters here in the church, yesterday. As I mentioned many people have been evacuated from their homes and there were a few from our church who were evacuated and they didn't have much time to get out of their homes and try and find somewhere to stay. Yet, through this adversity they still were giving God glory and thanking them that they still had clothing and they still had their family and that they had brothers and sisters in the church who welcomed them into their home even though they didn't have much room. It was a great reminder and it reminded me that through all things we have something to give God glory for because God has saved us and everyday He blesses us more and more even when we don't recongize it as a blessing. I'm just so thankful that our God is all powerful and in control of all things! To Him be the glory!!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Eres Todopoderoso
Eres Todopoderoso, means you are all powerful. That for sure defines our awesome God. He is always in control of all things so matter what may happen. I was really reminded of this the past couple of weeks, especially in regards to my visa situation. I have to admit I was a bit stressed out about it because I didn't know how it would all work out if I had to leave ES, because we are in the middle of starting up some big things with the Center, but as always, God not only had it all under control, he had an awesome plan. :) So I found out that I will have to return to the States and get my fingerprints done for my background check in order to apply for residency( don't know the exact dates yet but it will most likely be between Nov. 5th and Nov. 15 and I will be back for a week to 10 days). The cool thing about this whole thing was that not only will I get to see my family and friends that I miss, but as I was talking with Victor( who's family I am living with and who is the pastor of Iglesia Gran Commision) said that he is try to make it work so that he can visit Stonebrook (my home church in Ames) in the beginning of November and we would be able to talk about what what we are doing at the center, so that would just be really cool, if it works out but either way I am really excited to see my family especially my nieces and nephew as well as my best friend Sarah! So I will update as to when I will be back in the States, I will in Minnesota for most of the time staying at my parents house, but I will make it down to Ames for a day or two, hopefully. Thanks to all of you who prayed about my visa situation and continue to pray for my ministry here! I'm so thankful for your prayers.
Eres Todopoderoso is also the title of one of my favorite songs in Spanish, so here it is because I love music.
Eres Todopoderoso is also the title of one of my favorite songs in Spanish, so here it is because I love music.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Prayer Request
Hey All!
I hope all of you are doing well! I have a quick prayer request. As you may or may not know, when I came to El Salvador, on August 16th, I entered the country on a 90 day tourist visa. The plan was to apply for temporary residency once my fingerprints and my background check were processed by the FBI and got all the apostille on it, because I need the background check with an apostille in order to apply for my residency. My mom was going to just send me the completed background check once it got processed and everything since I was already set to leave before I was going to get the document back. However, this all has not gone to plan :( and I now have a slight problem, the FBI send all the stuff back to my mom and said that my fingerprints that I had taken were not good enough and had to be redone and they could only be redone in the US, so here lies my problem is my tourist visa is up on Nov. 16th and I have to be able to get permission to stay in the country longer otherwise I am breaking the law (which would not be a good thing).So here is what my options are...I was directed to information about getting a visa extension and I have contacted the immigration services here in El Salvador about seeing if they would extend my visa until Aug when I was planning on going back to the US next, however, it's not looking very likely that they will give me an extension for that long. So right now it is looking like I will be heading back to the States the first week of November to get all my fingerprints and such redone and such. So if you guys could be praying about this situation,mainly because a lot is just unknown right now and it can be stressful at times. I just SO thankful that God is in control, so in the end everything will work out!!
Thanks so much for your prayers!!
I hope all of you are doing well! I have a quick prayer request. As you may or may not know, when I came to El Salvador, on August 16th, I entered the country on a 90 day tourist visa. The plan was to apply for temporary residency once my fingerprints and my background check were processed by the FBI and got all the apostille on it, because I need the background check with an apostille in order to apply for my residency. My mom was going to just send me the completed background check once it got processed and everything since I was already set to leave before I was going to get the document back. However, this all has not gone to plan :( and I now have a slight problem, the FBI send all the stuff back to my mom and said that my fingerprints that I had taken were not good enough and had to be redone and they could only be redone in the US, so here lies my problem is my tourist visa is up on Nov. 16th and I have to be able to get permission to stay in the country longer otherwise I am breaking the law (which would not be a good thing).So here is what my options are...I was directed to information about getting a visa extension and I have contacted the immigration services here in El Salvador about seeing if they would extend my visa until Aug when I was planning on going back to the US next, however, it's not looking very likely that they will give me an extension for that long. So right now it is looking like I will be heading back to the States the first week of November to get all my fingerprints and such redone and such. So if you guys could be praying about this situation,mainly because a lot is just unknown right now and it can be stressful at times. I just SO thankful that God is in control, so in the end everything will work out!!
Thanks so much for your prayers!!
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