Ups and Downs

So this is just a short update on how support raising is going so far, coupled with a few stories/examples, and a praise. So far the meetings I've had, with the exception of one, have been discouraging. However, yesterday I was blessed with three one-time gifts, 2 from friends, and 1 from a couple at church. So that was an awesome blessing! Today on the other hand, I spent all morning sending emails, writing thank you notes, and writing letters, to be greeted with 3 Nos right off the bat. Now, I totally respect people who don't feel that they are called to give, or simply don't have the money to give...that is totally ok! I know that not everyone is called to this ministry the way that I am. What surprises me is how mean people can be!! I got an email today that essentially said "Chelsea, I didn't pray about whether or not to support you, but I don't want to support you, and I won't be praying for you either....but have a nice life..." How nice, right?! So pretty much today has been discouraging altogether...however...one bright spot in my day: I got to talk to a teammate on the phone earlier who was really encouraging to me. It was nice to be able to swap stories and commiserate on the trials of support raising with someone. She even prayed over the phone with me, for us and all the support we need to raise, it was really a blessing. This got me thinking about how excited I am to spend the next year with these 5 people, 3 of whom I already know at least a little bit...but more importantly, who desperately love Jesus and have a heart for Venezuelan students just like I do! I'm excited for the hard times and the good times, I'm excited to be a part of this team of people who are all so different but who are all taking huge steps of faith to follow the Lord with their lives. That is the blessing of my day.....the other blessing of my day? Matt Kim is in my kitchen right now making dinner for 7 people who are coming over tonight (roommates are out of town so I can do whatever I want!)...He planned it all, and he's doing all the cooking, all I have to do is hang out......I like that! I love my friends, so hopefully it'll be a great evening. I'm taking a break from support stuff for the evening, the negative morning has kind of taken it out of me. Feel free to pray for me!

Little Brother graduated!

So my "little" brother, who is three years younger, but about a foot taller than me graduated from both high school and community college (running start) with his AA last weekend. I just wanted to put this up here because I'm proud of him! I give him a lot of crap about going to the University of Idaho next year, but truthfully, he's a pretty good kid, and I hope he enjoys college as much as I have. He plans to double major in electrical engineering and computer science, with a minor in drama. I bet him $20 that he'll drop at least one major before the first quarter ends. I haven no doubt I'll win that bet. College is hard - but I know he's going to have a great time...even if it is in Idaho. One of the most important lessons that I learned in college - in the end your grades really don't matter nearly as much as the quality of time you have spent with people and the relationships you will build. I wish him, and all those other recent grads out that the best of luck in future endeavors. Remember that it goes by very fast, so try to sink in the joy, even in the late nights of studying or cramming for exams, because it will be over as soon as it starts. College has been the best time of my life, and little brother, I'm excited for you to get to experience it for yourself. Congratulations, I love you Taylor!

USCM Email

So many of you know that I have been trying to use my USCM (United States Campus Ministry) email address since the STINT conference months ago, and I have never been able to. Every time I've tried to fix it the help line has been closed (they're on Eastern time and I usually work until 4 which is 7 their time). However, today, FINALLY, after a lot of confusion on the phone with the guy and after having to come up with a new password numerous times, it works! Praise God for small victories!!

Here's the other encouraging thing - when I finally was able to open my uscm email, I had 2 donations from people who had donated online, I just didn't know it - because I couldn't log into my email....!! What a blessing...

A couple things to pray for:
1). Other technical difficulties I'm having that no one seems to have an answer for.
2). I'll be home alone all weekend, as my roommates are all going to a wedding in CA, so pray that I would use my time wisely and efficiently to get a lot of support work done.
3). Just pray that the hearts of people I'm meeting with would be softened to see the ministry as I see it - in desperate need of workers (the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few...)

Thanks for the prayers everyone - I appreciate them more than you can even know!

Oh! and by the way - that new email address is Chelsea.Hasenpflug@uscm.org.....I'll be checking that and gmail, but I prefer that one.....thanks!

OVCF!!

Today I was privileged to get to share my passion for this journey to Venezuela, and my passion for the university students in Venezuela with the Olympic Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Port Angeles, WA. Sequim, WA is my hometown, about a half an hour from Port Angeles. But I "grew up" in OVCF. I was only up front for a short while, and it FELT even shorter than it was, but I know that God was speaking through me. I looked down at my paper of notes afterwards, and hardly any of it was said - I think I was truly speaking in the spirit, I said what God wanted me to say - not what I wanted to say - and I'm SO GLAD!! In my own selfish fallen pride there is no way that I could have communicated the passion and love that God has for the Venezuelan students the way that only His spirit could. God is so good!

More than that, I was incredibly blessed by the number of people who signed up to be on my team of "Prayer Warriors" and to contemplate financially supporting (my) God's mission in Venezuela. I walked away just feeling surrounded by a loving and supportive group of people who are committed to seeing Venezuela reached for Christ - praise God! The Spirit of God is moving in that church, for sure. The worship time was amazing, and I know that many people in the room felt God's presence. He has brought great people to this church to do great things, and I'm excited to see it.

On top of the large number of people who committed to praying for me, I was also blessed by receiving prayer numerous times, by numerous different people at church this morning. In my church (which is a huge megachurch) there's not a lot of hands on prayer, so it was really great to get that from the people in this church that I really respect, I was so honored that they wanted to pray for me. AND, I even got to pray for a couple friends in the church...and I will continue to pray for them. I hope, more than anything, that the things I said today were an encouragement to some of the people in church, and above all, a testament to the person and work of Jesus Christ!

So, to sum up, my "little hug" (if you're confused, read a couple posts earlier) for today was definitely the reception by the people of OCVF and their willingness to back me in this crazy venture and in taking this step of faith. No journey could ever be accomplished without the prayer of the faithful, and today I was truly blessed with seeing how many faithful people at OCVF were willing to take the step of faith with me.....

"Cheese-in-a-bag"?

Today I was reaquainted (sp?) with an old friend....and by old friend I mean, food I used to eat when I was younger. I haven't had it in years, in fact probably not since middle school when everyone thought I was strange for eating it. However, there were other people who used to dip carrots in chocolate malts, and I thought that was pretty weird. Anyway, as I am at home, and searching through my parents' regrigerator, I stumbled across some American cheese, or as we always called it growing up "Cheese-in-a-bag". "Cheese-in-a-bag" was always a super exciting treat at Grandma Sal's house in San Diego, CA...along with the tiny boxes of sugar cereal that mom never let us have, and tiny kid-sized cans of apple juice. Grandma Sal always had the best stuff. Anyway, upon discovery of this "Cheese-in-a-bag" at my mom's house I was ecstatic! When we were younger, while watching an episode of Mr Rogers (was that actually what the show was called, or did it have a name? something about his neighborhood maybe?) we discovered the perfect use for this disgusting "cheese-in-a-bag" concoction. Bananas! You wrap a piece of said CIAB (how I shall be abbreviating from now on becuase writing all those hyphens gets old...) around a perfectly ripe banana, and voile - the best snack ever. We ate these for many years, I owe it all to Grandma's house and Mr. Rogers. Today, as I stumbled across said CIAB in my parents' frig, I'm not gonna lie - I was pretty excited. Luckily, we had bananas, and I whipped out the ol' CIAB-banana snack. To my horror I realized what people had been telling me all along......Cheese-in-a-bag is disgusting!! Also, I hate bananas. Together these two food items make a ridiculously disgusting snack. And so, today, I say farewell to the beloved, albeit disgusting, snack of my youth. Apparently, I truly have grown up now, my tastebuds have left behind the joys of "Cheese-in-a-bag"/banana goodness. So long.

A little hug...

A friend (Danielle Carpenter, for those of you that know her) once shared with me an interesting thought....She said that she thought that God often gave her little "hugs" during the day - little experiences, conversations, or interactions with people that she felt blessed by and that made her smile. Today I had a little "hug" from God, although it didn't come from any interactions with people, but rather interactions with some of my old junk. As I was cleaning out old bins today and sorting them into "garage sale stuff", "stuff I might take to VZ", "stuff I need when I come back to the US" piles, etc....I came across a bunch of old "journals" (for me they're as close to a journal as it gets, as I am not much of a writer...little scraps of thoughts and prayers written in a wide variety of notebooks), and sermon notes, conference notes, notes from discipleship and life group in Tahoe (for those of you who don't know I went on the Tahoe project in 2005) and other miscellaneous (sp?) bible stuffs. Anyway, as I was sorting through and throwing away a majority of it I found a page of random thoughts about God and with a verse that after reading I feel very blessed by...

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Through the support raising process it has already been so easy for me to get discouraged. I know that I have a prime target on my back for Satan and that his arrows are definitely aimed right at me. However, all the knowledge in the world about evil, does little to stop the heart from hurting when your friends are unwilling to encourage you or telling you that there's not a chance in the world that you will succeed. But reading over this verse in Zephaniah was so encouraging to me tonight. Not only does it remind me that God IS mighty to save (a GREAT Hillsong song, btw) - He will be the ones doing the saving in VZ, not me at all! Also, He takes delight in me. ME?! Say what?! The great, might, omniscent God of the universe takes delight in me - a sinner, completely base and fallen? It's true though. God the holy, wonderful Father takes delight in me, His sinful, broken child. He will quiet me with His love...boy, do I need it. I'm a worrier. I'm an intense worrier. I don't worry like normal people do. I obsess repeatedly every moment of every day until the thing that I'm dreading comes to pass. I'm obsessive about details and specifics and I overanalyze every possible situation that could ever go wrong in my head. When things get really bad I start to bite my nails, and then I start to shake. When I was younger I would shake so much I'd throw up. Now, I just get nauseous (sp?) and I get these terrible back spasms that leave me cramped in a ball for a day or two. But all of that is in vain! None of my worrying will ever change the plans that God has for my life...and despite it all, He quiets me with His love, and He truly does. An hour ago I was starting to shake (I've got a big meeting tomorrow) and get shortness of breath...but I came into my room and discovered my paper and read Zeph 3:17, and God has quieted my spirit. Praise the Lord! Now that He has reminded me not only of His love and mercy, but His joy - in me! - and the care He takes to quiet my soul....I'm off to do some more sorting of things (because that's what us hyper organized, worrier types do....) I hope that perhaps you can also find some joy in this verse.

Have you had any "hugs" from God today, feel free to share!

Aww, home again...

So, yesterday at work the decided to mention to me that if I didn't feel like coming in today, then I didn't need to (they gave out too many hours and they needed them back...). So, rather than wait until Wednesday morning to head back to the homeland (Sequim,WA, for those of you who don't know...) I quickly drove home, packed up some stuff to take (ie: dirty laundry to do in my mom's washer - free is always better! and some things I am going to give to the garage sale my mom is having sometime this summer - to make room for the 3 other girls who are currently living in my apartment) and began the drive "home". Being a Monday evening there was hardly a wait at the Edmonds ferry and surprisingly (as I was driving in between 5 and 8) very little traffic, so I made it to Sequim by 8 pm. Around 9, my dad and I decided to go visit my grandmother. As we drove through town, I started to remember things about small towns....everything was closed! All the lights in the stores down the "main drag" were closed, and there was not a single car at the stoplights (other than ours, of course). Amazing! It's hard to believe that I lived here, and did not go insane for 8 years of my life. I'm definitely a city girl. Anyway, needless to say...it's pretty quiet around here in Sunny Sequim. This morning I got up to meet my mom for breakfast on her "lunch" break at 9:30 in the morning (she went to work at 6:00). We met the quaint little coffee place on the corner that seems odd to me, as I'm a Starbucks junky and can't remember the last time that I had coffee from somewhere else. The funny thing was that as I was driving to meet her, I discovered that I ended up by my old high school, and I had no idea how to get to the coffee place!! Feeling rather foolish I called my mom for directions...to a place I've been a million times before! Oh well...it's been a long time since I've been in Sequim...and for those of you that know me, I'm TERRIBLE with directions. Needless to say breakfast was nice, quaint, and quiet.

As you may or may not know, my main purpose for coming "home" this weekend is to see my little brother graduate from Peninsula college with his AA! I'm so proud of him, he's an adorable (over 6 foot) "little" brother. Among my other priorities for this trip, I want to spend quality time with my family, first and foremost. I'm also giving my roommates a little time without my Nazi-like organizational tendencies to have some fun in the apartment, and be as messy as they want! Currently, a long with working at Eddie Bauer, I'm also working on support raising. I would just like to state, for the record, that yes - it truly is/should be a full time job. I've found that the amount of effort I've put into it so far has truly been huge, and I don't foresee it getting any easier the rest of the summer. Luckily, God is in charge, not me! I know that this is what He has called me to do, and I'm going to do it. A few things to pray for: 1). Continued support raising efforts amongst my friends, who to this point have been incredibly discouraging.... 2). I'm giving a presentation at "my" church on Sunday...which I'm pretty freaked out about! Providentially, I happen to know that God gives us a peace which surpasses all understanding...so I know that I don't have to worry too much. 3). I'm having an interview about the local paper, the Sequim Gazette, doing a story about my trip...tomorrow! yikes...so hopefully, all of these things go well and can be God-honoring. I was reading yesterday in Colossians, and here is something that just really struck me. Colossians 1:10 says "so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." This is my prayer for my life. So often I forget to live a life worthy of the Lord....but only through His grace and love will I ever get better at it. Alright, I think that's it for now........thanks for keeping me in your prayers!

Support Letter

Dear Friends, June 5, 2007

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones doing well, and enjoying this beautiful summer. I’d like to take a few moments and give you an update on what has been happening in my life.…
I just graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy. It feels great to officially be an “adult” now, but at the same time it is terrifying! Looking back at the last four years, I realize that some of the most valuable experiences I’ve had have been in working with an organization called Campus Crusade for Christ. Through Campus Crusade I have really learned what a personal relationship with Jesus Christ looks like, and how to live that out in my everyday life. Another thing I have come to see is that there are people all over the world who desperately need to hear about Christ’s love for them. God has given me a heart for these people. It is for this reason that, after a significant amount of prayer, I have realized that God is calling me to serve on STINT next year in Venezuela.
STINT stands for Short Term International. STINT is a year-long opportunity to work as a missionary on a college campus in another country. Last summer I spent 6 weeks in Merida, Venezuela at the Universidad de los Andes (ULA) working with their ministry, Vida Estudiantil. After seeing the students’ hunger to know the true, living God, and the need for people who are willing to share His love with them, I have decided to commit one year of my life to serving the ministry down there. Together with a team of students from all over the Northwest, I will be helping to build the ministry, disciple students, and share the gospel with the students at ULA.
One of the things that really struck me about the Venezuelan students is that, while they understand the basics about who Jesus is and what religion is about, they often perceive God as distant and impersonal, rather than the compassionate and faithful Father that He is. For many people in South America religion is solely a cultural practice and not a reason for living. Many of the people in Venezuela live as slaves to sin because they haven’t had the opportunity to hear the true gospel. I can’t think of a better way to spend the next year than telling students about the freedom that can be found in Jesus Christ.
I am leaving on August 13th, but before I can set off on this adventure, I have the challenge of raising my financial support to live in Venezuela for the year. Like many other mission organizations, Campus Crusade for Christ interns must raise all of their own support. I am currently meeting with people like you to put together a team of ministry partners who would be willing to assist me in my upcoming endeavor financially as well as in prayer. I would love to get together with you for a short meeting and share more about my plans for the year. I will be calling you in a few days to see if we can set up a time to meet and talk. Thank you so much for considering joining my team!

Until the world knows,



Chelsea Hasenpflug



201 N. Brown Rd, Sequim, WA 98382
(360) 809-3259 chelsea.rose.85@gmail.com

Graduation

So to start all this off I just wanted to share a few things about the huge feat (sp?) that I have recently *accomplished*. Now i have accomplished in *s, because, while it technically was accomplished by me, it would have been impossible without God's grace on my life and the help and input of so many people in my life. I would never have made it through college without the amazing friendships that I made and the support my parents and friends have given me. I love you guys! Most importantly, without God's amazing grace and mercy I never would have survived. So many times I felt like I was up against impossible obstacles, but every time through the grace of God, and on His strength alone, I made it. All praise and glory to the God MOST HIGH! Anyway...


The actual day of graduation was quite a soggy one....it rained, typical Seattle rain (rather appropriate really) the entire time. We were given plastic ponchos as we stood in line (indoors, luckily). One of the things that I enjoyed the most was the random conglomeration of people that I ended up sitting with...Sarah Peek, Stephanie Smith, Steph's roommate, Julie and I met up beforehand to walk over together. Julie left to sit with the Bachelor of Science candidates, and the rest of us went to line up with our Bachelor of Arts folks. In line we encountered Ben Bandel, a 6'7" ex-Husky football player, friend of mine from Eddie Bauer, so he ended up with us. Then, my ex-roommate (from freshman year, the goth, crazy, skulls girl) Kaarin was also in line next to us, so she joined our crowd. Then Katie Downing called and she ended up coming over as well. So in the end we had quite a random group, but it was fun anyway (minus the cold and raining part). The speaker was terrible...but oh well.

Needless to say, despite all the difficulties and trials in the last 4 years, despite rain and plastic ponchos, I graduated last Saturday, solely by the grace of God. Now, I'm an "adult"?!?!?!?!? Whatever that means, haha. Nevertheless, I know God has great plans for me in the upcoming years....I will be sharing them with you shortly.

Huzzah

Ok, problem solved. Kudos to Andy! I will be writing more tomorrow....

Me

I can't figure this out! Where are my techy friends to help me?

First One!

Hey all, so put aside all previous blogs I've had....this is the ONE. This will be the one I have and will update regularly throughout the rest of my time in the U.S. and use to keep in touch for next year. I have a ton to say, and especially share with those of you who don't know my plans for the future....but all of that will be coming soon. This is simply a message to tell you all to save this as a Bookmark and keep checking back if you'd like to hear all the news that's going on with me. I love you all, and am so excited to be sharing this process with you all and with your support!

P.S. So far living with extra people in my house is chaotic but fun. God is GOOD!