Mountains of Spices

I am currently reading "Mountains of Spices" the sequel to the ever-famous book "Hinds Feet on High Places" (which I read years ago, and only vaguely remember....)

This book is *an allegory about human weakness and strengths comparing the spices in the Song of Solomon to the fruits of the Spirit* (taken off the cover)

I came across this part in the book and just though it was a great picture of the True King's Love.....

"I am love," said the King very clearly. "If you want to see the pattern of true love, look at me, for I am the expression of the law of love on which the universe is founded. And the very first characteristic of true love, as I have manifested it, is willingness to accept all other human beings, just as they are, however blemish and marred by sin as they may be, and to acknowledge oneness with them in their sin and need. To acknowledge also that every human heart needs both to love and to be loved, and that herein lies the very root of the oneness of mankind." p.46

T n T

(Trinidad and Tobago)....





It was gorgeous! We were very blessed by the opportunity to visit these islands, it was quite the experience...we arrived back to "Merida" (we were actually flown into a city about an hour away...) yesterday morning, and we're still recuperating a bit.

Trinidad was EXACTLY what you picture when you think of Jamaica, or any Caribbean island (think Bob Marley, dreadlocks, Calypso music (Trinidad is the home of the "steel pan", jungles and beaches, and a generally just laid back attitude about life). Yes, they spoke English! However, it was basically British English with a Caribbean accent....most of the time we had to stop and listen pretty hard to figure out anything they were saying.



We were really blessed to get to stay at a location owned by the Campus Crusade for Christ staff in Trinidad....Maggie, the lady in charge, was a huge help in showing us around the island and driving us where we needed to go and suggesting things to do during out stay.

We got the chance to go the the grocery store (don't laugh, it was a huge privilege!) they even had a lot of American foods, we got to spend a day at the MALL, and a day in Maracas Bay (the best beach in Trinidad) and a day in Tobago (mostly on the beach, and on a boat trip). All in all, it was a very fun experience....but I'm glad to be back! Merida is home now...I love it here.

Sadly, in some freak camera-to-computer glich, most of the pictures I took got deleted....but I'm posting a few of the good ones that were left.....enjoy!

The last one just is a funny translation from the Maracaibo airport...

GUACALA!

Well folks, here's the news....I have PARASITES living inside me :( Blastocystis hominis to be correct, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastocystis This is the reason I have been so ill for a week....

After spending the entire day at the doctor/ER (thank you Lucia, Amanda, Sarah, and Amber!), I now have some medicine that will hopefully clean them out of my system....but it still sucks until that happens.

Also, unfortunately we are leaving for Trinidad on Wednesday, so my illness will carry into that experience :(

By the way...Claudia also has parasites. Major bummer for us.

I should be eating green platano soup for a week or so....

Here's a pic of my new "friends" (as Lucia so lovingly calls them...)

Once Again....

it is time for the team and I to depart our beloved Venezuela, and re-enter the country so as to renew our 90 day tourist VISAS, that allows us to stay in this country. This time we are headed to Trinidad (of Trinidad & Tobago) for 4 days. There is actually a Campus Crusade movement on the island, and we will be staying at the headquarters during our stay. We are hoping that it is a time of rest as well as time for the team to spend quality time together, planning for the upcoming craziness of the month of March (with Congreso and everything that comes with it). We head off to our destination on Wednesday/Thursday, directly after the weekly meeting we will be flying to Maracaibo, spending the night with the staff there, and then heading to Trinidad (Puerto España) at 6 AM. Claudia will be staying in Maracaibo with her family for the week, she's very excited to go home :)

Please pray for safe travels, quality time, and time of rest...for our whole team.

You can also pray for my health, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow...I have been nauseous for a week now, and haven't been able to eat anything besides toast and crackers.....please pray that it's nothing serious!

Trip to Valencia!

Hello all, I am, of course, back in Mérida. My trip to Valencia was incredible. It was a great opportunity to get some time outside Mérida to gain some perspective, as well as, of course, getting a chance to visit La Universidad de Carabobo, connect with key students at UC, do some promotion for Congreso, and check out La Estancia El Milagro (where Congreso will be held). http://www.campamentolaestancia.com/


I had a great time in Valencia, my travels went off without a single hitch - Praise be to the Lord and thank you to all of you who prayed for me! We were warmly greeted at the airport by MariaGracia (a very sweet girl involved with Vida Estudiantil) as well as her brother, Hernan, and his girlfriend, Tibisay. They were very sweet to us and drove us "home" and chatted with us the whole way - in English! and Spanish. It was

incredible, actually Maria's entire family spoke varying degrees of English, which was really cool and helpful for us. They were such a welcoming and warm family, it was great to feel loved from the moment of walking through the door.

We spent one morning/day on the Universidad de Carabobo....We got to meet a few of the key Vida students at the faculty, as well as explore the campuses and speak with another Christian group to promote PRUEBA DE FUEGO. We also did some promotion at a local church. We spent one afternoon/evening at La Estancia El Milagro (http://www.campamentolaestancia.com/) taking pictures of the location, checking out all it has to offer, and asking a list of 37 very specific questions in order to be better prepared for our students to spend 4 days there. I'm super excited to see how everything will transpire in the next month, and how God will be speaking to students hearts, asking them to take steps of faith to come to the Congreso.

The coolest part of the experience for me, was getting the chance to live for 4 days
with a Venezuelan family. Having lived with gringos the whole time I've been here, it hasn't provided was the super cultural experience that this was of actually living and experiencing daily life, like a Venezuelan. It was really fun! The family we stayed with was incredible and took great care of us :). However, ever since leaving I've really been missing my family and feeling pretty homesick :S. I also miss having a mom to take care of me! (especially right now, I've been super sick for days now...) Haha, I guess I'm really not grown up yet afterall.

Keep praying for Congreso! It's coming up realllllllly soon, and we are still lacking in finances for students, as well as transportation to Valencia. Thanks for your prayers!

Chao Mérida, be back soon....

Well friends, I'm leaving in about 4 hours for Valencia (not Spain...just the other side of Venezuela). I'll be spending a few days there with Kim, a staff member from Maracaibo (she's in charge of the whoooooole Congreso, wow). We will we working on hammering out details with the Estancia (where Congreso will be held...), spending some time of the University of Carabobo campus, and hanging out with some of the key students involved with Vida Estudiantil in Valencia. AND, of course, doing promotion for Congreso, I think we're even speaking at a few churches in the area....so that should be sweet. Please pray for safety in traveling and that all the details that need to be figured out, would get figured out.

There are only 42 days until PRUEBA DE FUEGO.....!!!!!!

"Fear" of the Lord

Well folks, let me start this by sending out a forewarning that this blog will be dissimilar to others I've written in that it really has nothing to do with ministry here in Venezuela and neither does it provide some cultural anecdote about my experiences Rather, and perhaps I am simply making use of this space in which to write, I have some biblical ramblings I'd like to have congregate here and perhaps even receive your input on.....For about a month or so, I have been studying the book of Proverbs (concurrently with the book of Isaiah, although the two are not really related, I just happened to begin both at the same time). One recurring theme I noticed the book of Proverbs (aside from the primary theme of wisdom) was the continued mentioning of the "fear of the Lord". The more I read, the more I noticed these occurrences and the more I began to realize that the "fear of the Lord" is something that is mentioned a LOT in Christian community, and yet I think it is not something I quite have a grasp on. Is it truly being "afraid" of God, as the phrase would suggest? Or is there much more embedded in those words "fear of the Lord." If it is, indeed, being "afraid" of the Lord, it would be valid to have fear of an all-powerful sovereign God, if it weren't for His grace. In truth, the God of the Bible, the God that I serve, does deserve to be feared as well as revered. God has all the power in the universe, He created each of us with His own hands, He certainly has the ability to take our lives if He so chooses. However, after reading throughout the book about the "fear of the Lord" I think it implies much more than actual "fear". Here are the verses that I discovered:

1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction."
1:29 "....because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord"
2:4-5 "If you seek it like silver and search for it as hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."
3:7 "Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and turn away from evil."
8:13 "The fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and they way of evil and perverted speech I hate."
9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight."
10:27 "The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short."
14:26 "In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence and his children will have refuge."
14:27 "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death."
15:16 "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it."
15:33 "The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor."
16:6 "By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil."
19:23 "The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied, he will not be visited by harm."
22:4 "The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life."
23:18 "Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day."
24:21 "My son, fear the Lord, and the King, and do not join with those who do otherwise."

Soooo....the "fear of the Lord" has to do with knowledge, wisdom, hatred of evil, insight, prolonging of life, confidence, refuge, humility, and other things. "Fear of the Lord" has to do with not so much "fearing" the Lord as it does revering and following our Lord. I believe that when God "saved" us through the death of His son on the cross, He gave us a new heart - a heart that desires to follow Him and do His will. To be in compliance with His will, and to live pleasing to my Lord involves having a "fear of the Lord." Were I to actually be afraid of God, I would be unable to see Him as the perfect Father that He is. Rather, because I can see Him as the perfect Father, but also an all-powerful sovereign God I can know that I am so undeserving of His love....but also that He has given it to me anyway through His grace, and that I accept that gift and move on....walking in the Spirit....."fearing" the Lord.

...these are simply my musings for now. Does anyone out there have input for me? I'd love to hear it.
On a side note, isn't our Creator creative? I thought these were beautiful :)

Santa Barbara - 2

Last week I ventured out on my second catalytic trip to the "nearby" (about 3 hours away by bus) town of Santa Barbara. There is a Vida Estudiantil movement there, that has no staff to guide it - we call that a catalytic ministry. I was fortunate enough to
be accompanied by three excited young gentleman involved in our movement here in Merida - Darwin, Neptali, and Jonas (yes the latter two were those that accompanied me on the
primary visit). I was very blessed to have their companionship as the trip involved 2 bus rides, a transfer in between, and then taking a carrito (some sort of cross between a bus and a taxi) to get to the university (that's just one way....). It was a test for my Spanish, as all three of them speak only Spanish, and none of the students involved in Santa Barbara speak any English either - but it was a good challenge. Needless to say by the end of the day - my brain hurt.
After the extravaganza of traveling there (nearly 4 hours), we arrived in Santa Barbara at the university - UNESUR to a warm welcome from the Professors that work with Vida Estudiantil. We began helping them to set up their weekly meeting. For those of you who don't know - Santa Barbara is REALLY HOT and HUMID. It was a blessing to have the weekly meeting in an air conditioned classroom. We helped them set up decorations as this meeting both a weekly meeting and a birthday celebration for those who had birthdays in January. The meeting kicked off with some worship and a great talk from one of their key students. After which, Neptali, Jonas and I got up front and did some promotion for our Congreso Nacional - PRUEBA DE FUEGO. Last year there was only a very small group of students from UNESUR that were able to make it to the conference, and we would love to see a bigger group join us this year!! We talked with the students about the conference as well as about raising finances to get themselves there (once again, the biggest struggle for students here in VZ). We had a large number of students who signed up for Congreso, trusting the Lord to bring in their finances.
After the meeting we sang happy birthday and shared cake with the students for those who had birthdays in January. We then headed to the dining hall for lunch and had a good time hanging out and getting to know the UNESUR students. I was encouraged to see how the movement is growing at the university.
Also, on our way out, the students took us by to see the Vida Estudiantil mural that was painted at the school (the last time I
was there, it hadn't been painted yet, they were still working on it) !!!!! It's great what a presence their movement has on the campus.
All in all, it was a great trip, despite the long commute in both directions, it was very encouraging to me to see the students from Merida who desire to share with students in Santa Barbara and exciting to see the movement in SB growing and desiring to invest in their movement.
In a few weeks, I will be taking some leadership students from Merida to Santa Barbara to do a seminar type talk to teach the leaders in SB about how to run weekly meetings, as well as what a movement should look like. I'm very excited to see their enthusiasm, and how much these students are willing to "own" their movement.