my life His Mission

HOME!!!

2009-06-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

Im home!!! Its feels completely strange to be back at my house, yesterday i went to the food store with my mom and was blown away at the prices...i miss being able to buy a avocado for .30 cents!!! its definitely overwhelming to be back, a complete rush of emotions all at once!! leaving Ecuador I pray that i have changed, i pray that God will never let the burdden i feel for the kids at the hospital, or the families at PEPE to leave my mind. that i would be diligent to pray for them daily! going to Ecuador was one of the hardest things i have ever done, but God has been so FAITHFUL because of that. my desire to learn more spanish, to finish school and attend grad school is so strong....i want to get back out there!!! Most trips that i go on, or leadership opportunities i am apart of, i am usually the one leading, or speaking...but this trip God did not choose to use me in that way!! i was there to pray, encourage my team members, and PRAY!!! God was able to use me without the use of my lips in many cases, with the language barriers, and cultural barriers...how much more can he do through me in my own home. in a place where i understand the language, the culture and God!! im still praying for God to WOW me each day, for chances to see him regardless of where i am!!! thats a wrap...over and out!!!

His Children

2009-04-16T06:56:00.001-07:00

After the craziness with my parent’s flights they finally made it here late Friday night!!! It was so overwhelming for me to just be able to hug them both...I just LOVE my family!!! My mom could hardly wait to show me the two HUGE duffel bags PACKED full of children’s clothing they had brought. I was completely overwhelmed by the sight of it!!!! I had asked my parents to gather a few things to bring when they came down, But God moved in a way BIGGER than I could have asked for!! So many people from back home donated piles and piles of clothing!!! We had such a blast going through all the clothes, brand new PJ’s, slippers, bathing suits, dresses, shorts, pants, shirts and the list goes on… for these children that you have SO blessed, Praise God!!! So far we have been able to give a new outfit to each of the twenty kids at the PEPE pre-school, all the PJ’s, slippers and infant’s clothing was taken to Baca Ortiz children’s hospital, and we still have three large laundry baskets in our room filled with more clothes to hand out!!! In first John it talks about the children of God, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” So many children here are in need of something, clothes, families, love…but the thing that hit me when I read this passage is that we are all considered to be children of God, and we are all in need….of HIM!!! Later John says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” This was such a beautiful picture of that for me, when your actions meet the physical needs of God’s children!!! THANK YOU SOOMUCH!!!

Buen Pastor

2009-03-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

so lately my prayer has been to be WOWED by God, to be able to see a little more of His glory in everything i experience!!" He has been so faithful to me, each day i am truly amazed how he choses to reveal himself to me. yesterday we were able to help out with a dental team from texas. we were at a private school called "Buen Pastor," and we spent the morning going from classroom to classroom doing a short VBS for the kids, while the dentists checked all the students teeth. they were defintely some of the cutest kids i have seen!! towards the end of our day i was introduced to Martha, the owner of the school. she is such an amazing woman of God!! so here is a piece of her testimony i want to share with you: she is 77 years old and moved to ecuador to work in a hospital right after graduating from nursing school. she was later kicked out of the hospital for preaching to the patients...CRAZY!! God then called her to open a medical clinic in Pifo, and she was the only nurse between the jungle and Quito!!! she delivered 3,600 babies with no fataities, and pulled 2,000 teeth. she has adopted 20 kids alone and was later kicked out of the HCJB for adpoting two many kids. she never married and says that she has the most loving husband and the best father for her kids, all found in the LORD. (how often do i focus my attention on praying for god to place someone in my path, never truly thanking him for the opportunity to be solely devoted to Him right now in my life!!!) she opened a christian school which now has 600 students!! she has been able to send all of her kids through college in the states, only through Gods provision!! it was so encoraging to listen to all her stories and how time and time again God has provided for her EVERY need. she explained life as a giant weaving, from underneath its full of knots, loose strings, disorganization, and makes no sense, but God has the view from the top, a beautiful collection of colors and desgins that we could never even dream of!!! she had the most gentle spirit and complete dependency on God, unlike anyone i have every met! my heart is craving to have my life that devoted to my God, and im starting to experiencing what it means to desire him more each day!! towards the end of our conversation she was sharing about God's return and how soon she thinks it will be. i honeslty found myself sitting in my seat praying, 'dont come back just quite yet, i want to see you MOVE in mighty ways and be absolutely glorified in my life" a little selfish i know, but i just have this passion to see him continue to use us, his servants in mighty ways!!!!

p.s. please be in prayer for my aunt and family!!

Isabel

2009-02-26T20:01:00.000-08:00

Today was a sad day.

It was sort of a weird day. We had only brought two books, no coloring sheets, no story board, nothing. We didn't really know why…we just didnt.

So we went up to the 6th floor of the hospital to see the girls we had pictures of and to give them their photos. As soon as we walk into the floor, Isabel ran up to us and wrapped her arms around us! It was so cute! We got to her room and two of the girls had already gone home but we were able to give pictures to Isabel and Naomi. Naomi was hoping that she would get to go home today, and it turned out she did! That was really exciting!!!

We were reading the stories with the girls when a huge group of doctors came into the room. We left to get out of their way, then waved us to come back in. They asked us where we were from and if we knew why Isabel was in the hospital…we had no idea. They then told us that she has AIDS and that she has no family, NO ONE!! They asked us to adopt her,,.. I was overwhelmed…what do you say to that….i was shocked!!! My heart was so broken for this little girl….I have grown to LOVE her only after our few short visits with her, and it was so incredibly hard for me!!! The Hospital and doctors are all a great family for her and are able to give her some of the medication she needs but really she has no one to pay for all the medicines and everything for her. I pray that the Lord would place a family in her path that would LOVE her and care after her, allow her to experience a life outside the hospital walls!! I know God can heal all things….i pray you take this away from her!!!!

The whole presence in the hospital was sorrow…a few minutes later outside our room a doctor was talking to a mom and she was bawling, so we knew she had heard some bad news.

Val and I were a little overwhelmed at this point, so we went out by the elevators for a moment to pray, when Maria grabs us and tells us that a ladie's child is dying and we need to go pray with her. We find the lady in an office weeping!!! Then we went to her son’s room, where her baby was laying on the bed struggling to breath. The father was on the side of the bed in tears. I was overwhelmed with emotion and sadness!!! Watching the mom crying over her son and seeing the tears rolling down the dads face…it was SO HARD to stand there feeling completely helpless…all we could do was pray!!!

Val and I after all this went and prayed together for the family of this little baby boy and for Isabel. After leaving the hospital I kept thinking…how can I be in health care for my profession…I pray that the lord would not let my heart become numb to death and heartache, that I would be able to use those times to minister to those families and love on them, to share Gods amazing LOVE with them!!!

God can heal all of the diseases of all of those little kids at that hospital, even Isabel who has AIDS. I know He really can I am just not so sure if I completely believe it in my heart. today that was my prayer, that He would heal these kids, that He would help me to believe with all my heart that he can heal them! I also am praying that Isabel will find a family too!

Being at the hospital today, this song came to my mind. the lyrics say,

"now that i have seen i am responsible, faith without deeds is dead, now that i have held you in my own arms i can not let go....i will tell the world, i will tell them where i've been"

i feel such a burrden for the kids that we meet at the Baca Ortiz, and i pray that the lord will continue to press that upon me! check out this song, brook Fraser- Albertine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGx-xU6TnU8

Come By Here

2009-02-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

"O my children, what do you need today? Is it comfort? is it courage? is it healing? is it guidance? Behold, I assure you, whatever it is you need, if you look to ME, i will supply"

YES all of the above!!!!

It has been such a great week!!! We have been with a team from Texas in a town called Cumbaya, which means "Come by here". It has been so refreshing to be around their excitement and energy of sharing God's word. On Monday we met the team and they shared their vision for Cumbaya and what they had experienced on their last trip. That afternoon we were able to prayer walk around the town, asking God for open doors and to find people of peace in the community to form relationships with. While I was walking I was asking God to WOW us that afternoon, not exactly sure what we were supposed to be doing later on in the day, but just wanting so bad to see God MOVE. We had a skit that we had literally practiced twenty minutes before preforming at the park in the center of town. It was a great visual of how our sin separates us daily from God and his love. I was amazed every time we preformed it, how many people seemed to come out of no where to watch. The skit allowed us to talk to so many people...FUNNY STORY TIME...so me and val were talking to a woman and her mother trying to tell them that we were meeting a lot of people in Quito (nosotros conocemos muchas personas) here's a little background, when i start talking Spanish i get really excited and the words just don't always come out right...so instead i told her that we have been EATING a lot of people (nosotros comemos muchas personas) the look on her face....once val told me what i said, we all busted out laughing...it was a great ice breaker and conversation starter!!! i have been so amazed how god has been blessing my lack of Spanish skills by making me laugh DAILY!!!!

Since Monday God has really been moving, Jason and Matt have already started a bible study with a man who owns a wood shop and makes his own guitars. his wife had been praying for Christians to come to Cumbaya for two years, and was weeping when she found out we were there. Today they were able to meet with the faculty of San Fransisco University, in hopes to gain access to the campus!! it was CRAZY to see God place people in our paths each day, the people of Ecuador are so willing to stop everything in their day and talk to you, they have a genuine desire to find out why we are here!! I was able to really experience God moving in our team, each person with different gifts and talents was used for a specific purpose. For me i was able to really see that fulfilled, the complete body of Christ. for me it was really humbling to acknowledge that God is not always going to use me front and center, that sometimes he chooses to use me back stage. My role in Cumbaya was prayer and i think God was really listening!!

Last Friday we took Maria and Monica out to lunch after working at the hospital. they are two of the most selfless woman we have met here. daily serving the children of the hospital and ministering to their families. They both shared that working in the Ludotecca is the hardest and most rewarding job ever. Not going to lie...most of lunch I had no clue what was said, and tried my hardest to translate the few words that i knew and tried to put my own story together. Each one has had a hard past, Monica's son was actually a patient at the hospital a while back and he has since passed away, but that is what got her working there, wanting to love on other children, just like her son. Maria has such a gentle spirit and is a wonderful source of encouragement to so many kids and their families in the hospital. As we were coming down to say goodbye for the day, she started sharing with us all about her family and how her heart was broken over her daughter leaving home without notice. we were able to pray with her, and GOD IS SO GOOD, the next day she was giving praise because she was able to at least talk to her daughter. please be praying for both of these woman that they would each find their own personal relationships with Christ, apart from following just traditions. (this is a picture of Valarie, Robyn and me at the hospital with michelle, and our creation story board!!!)

PEPE...cant leave them out. today we were able to teach!!! we made a story board with all kinds of animals and plants to share the creation story. as we told the story the kids came up and placed the pictures on the board. I forgot the script in Spanish so we had to improvise...you wouldn't believe how crazy seven days of creation can be in Spanish!!! (check out the video, it was snack time at PEPE, and they were singing along with a Chavo CD...well kind of....its real cute!!!)

When we first got here i had been praying for opportunities to meet people in our bario. today as me and val were walking home we came across a coffee shop two blocks from our house, that i had run past so many times but had never noticed!! Anna and Sarah (we think) the owners, were so welcoming to us, they are two young girls who own an AMAZING bakery/coffee shop. we are planning already to have cooking classes there!! we pray that a wonderful relationship will be formed and hopefully that we will be able to invite them to our house bible study!!!

sorry i know this was a little long, but GOD IS DOING SO MUCH HERE, and it just too much to put into words!!!
please be in prayer for all the exciting ministries god has placed before us here during this time. For my Aunt Tree and my family!!! love ~jacks~

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AmAzEd!!!

2009-02-17T04:32:00.000-08:00

I have to start out praising you Lord...you are SOOO good, it still amazes me that you chose to use me here in ecuador!!! feeling completely inadaquet, and not going to lie a little defeated at times, but still you remain constant in my life, persuing me daily!!! i woke up this morning, with an overwhelming burden for this city on my heart, a desire for each person to KNOW you!! to feel your joy, even in the tears of this world. I desire to be completley used by you, in whatever that looks like here in Quito. What do i have to lose? I pray over the families we have yet to meet, the conversations we have yet to have, knowing that you have already gone before our team preparing a way for us....its totally crazy to think about!!! Thank you for this day!!!

I am so pumped to finally tell you about the ministries that we are participating in, we will be working at a childrens hospital two days a week. yesterday we made all sorts of animals and scences for our first three stories- creation, the fall, and noah!!! we are also going to be working at a pre-school called PEPE, helping out a teacher who has 18 studnets on her own, one of which is autistic. we are planning on hosting a nutritional talk for the parents, teaching about personal hyigene, teaching about foods with the most nutritional value and how to properly wash foods to prevent parasites!! i am super excited about that!!! we are starting up an upward basketball team, hopefully with a youth group around the block. Our prayer is that we would have a basketball camp for the youth where they would meet every week to play basketball and to have a bible study!! i definitely never thought i would be teaching upward in Ecuador..god is crazy!!!

the biggest thing i have been learning has been the power of prayer!! to learn to cease without praying...its really hard to do, and i am no where close to being there!! that at times i am finding all i can do is pray, to lean hard into GOd, and that action is not always what i am called to be apart of!!! we are praying for the youth that we will be working with that they will come alongside us to go to the hospital and to PEPE to continue building the ministries long after we are gone!!!

prayer: my aunt Tree, language barrier...still there!!! for the lord to place people in our path to come alongside us in these ministries! all the other hands on students serving in south america!!!

WoRdLesS

2009-02-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

This week we had the opportunity to help out with a medical clinic. I was sooo pumped about that!!!! The team was from North Carolina, they brough a few nurses and one PA. It was totally encouraging for me to see the PA with the patients, the Lord definitely confirmed in me to persue PA school when I get back home. There is something about helping people out medically that is just so special and enables you to really get to know their needs and help them. Not going to lie I was a little nervous because of my lack of spanish!!!

I was reading this verse yesterday and couldn't have related more to Moses;

"Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servent I am slow of speech and tounge." The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and teach you what to say" Exodus 4:10-11

I feel like I could insert my name here...never do I feel adoquate in my speech let alone in spanish!!! It was incredible how the Lord provided words for me to use throughout the entire day!!!

I was able to help out in the triage tent taking glucose measurements, weight, blood pressure, and temp. I knew had to ask all the right questions in spanish, but when they answered back I often looked like a deer inheadlights. But with the help of hands motions and God's amazing ability to place to people together from totally different cultures and be able to understand eachother is just AMAZING!!! We were able to see so many people, mostly woman and their children. Most just needed vitamins and worm pills, but a few that came really needed medical attention. we started at 9:00, and people had already been lining up since 5 am that morning! At times the line was so long that we had to stop triage to prevent overwhelming the PA. It was during those times that I felt completely helpless...it was so hard to watch people spend their whole day on the sidewalk waiting, and some didnt even get to see the PA the first day!!!

Throughout the entire day they also ran a kids VBS program, coloring, play-doh, singing songs, making braclets, and just playing with the kids. I felt so much more comfortable around the kids, they were so helpful in teaching me more spanish and i think regardless of a language barrier all kids liked to be picked up and swung around. The lord new i needed a little encouragment in the afternoon, and it came in the form of all these beautiful kids!!! It was such an incredible opportunity to see how God can move regardless if you feel capable or not!!!

Prayer Request: please be praying for my Aunt Tree, she is struggling with more than anyone should have to go through physically!!!

Love you all
~jacks~

Hallway Delight! YUM!

2009-02-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

Hey Ya'll!
We've been in Quito for a week now living with Ron our supervisor and his Ecuadorian wife Kathy. Robyn lives about 6 houses down the street with Kathy's mother- Mirriam, sister- Andrea, nicec-Sarahi who is 4, and other sister- Carolina. They make us breakfast and dinner and dinner is often 8 people scrunched around one table. The food is delicious and we eat a lot of cheese!

We have been touring around quito and figuring out the bus systems. Today we went to a church that is right next to the airport. It actually got hit by a plane a while back, eventhough I didn't understand much it was really fun being there and everyone was really friendly! The surrounding missionaries have been so encouraging and are always inviting us over for dinner or to hang out. Today we got to go a super bowl party, but after that awesome half time show we decided it was time to go home and go to sleep... or write an update on my blog.

Tomorrow we have the opporunity help a medical team who is here in Quito for a week holding medical clinics. We are not sure what we will be doing there but it is very exciting to be able to serve in any way and for the first time here!

FUNNY STORY...
Yesterday we were coming home from watching movies with some missionary girls here in quito. Valarie and I were walking up the stairs to our appartment and stepped in dog poop. Long story short... It was all over our shoes, valarie's foot, and Karla's car. Valarie was about to puke in the street too! But we all had a really good laugh about it!

Prayer request:

Our spanish
Opportunities to share God
Team unity
Team members:

Jackie, Valarie, Jason, Robyn in Quito, Ecuador.

Ethan and Jefferey in San Paulo, Brazil

Holly in Brazil staying at a home for girls.

Chris and Eric going up and down the Amazon in Brazil.

Rachel and Candace in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Tiffany, Myra, Ryan, Clayton, and Kristen in Lima, Peru

Amber in Paraguay working with the Deaf there.

Love ~Jacks~

WE here!!!

2009-01-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

hey Everyone!

I have been in Orientation for two weeks in El Refugio a camp in the mountains where 17 kids going to different countries in South America all got together for orientation! It was awesome... let me tell you what is going to happen next and then I will tell you about what we were doing at the camp...

Today we are moving into our house where we will be staying for 4 months and all the other kids are getting on planes to go to Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. We will be living with a missionary named Ron Sutton and his ecuadorian wife. There are 4 of us on our group Jason, Robyn, Valarie, and I. Valarie, Jason and I will be living with Ron and his wife, and Robyn is living down the street at his mother in laws house only two blocks away. Poor Jason doesn't know what he is getting himself into... haha! We get along SO well and it is amazing that God picked out the 4 of us to be together!

Okay... so what we did at el refugio... They taught us how to do chronological bible story telling and all sorts of useful stuff. It is all really cool and helpful. We also spent a lot of time learning to work together at the camp and did all sorts of high ropes courses... I DID IT!!!

We also went on a lot of hikes because El Refugio owns tons of land and we could hike to the top of this mountain. One night we slept out in these huts

and woke up early to get to the top to watch the sun rise!!!!

We also took a gondola to the top of one mountain and got to see all of quito... so amazing and this city is huge!! but the mountains around are sooo cool!

One day we went to the equator and got to balance an egg on a nail... and see the water go down different directions. It was cool but the best part was probably learning about some cultural stuff about ecuador. We all got sun burnt that day!

Another day we were able to race around quito and learn how to take the trolley and taxis and get to see some cool places and churches around here!! It was so fun... and funny! One boy Ryan who is just SO laid back and quiet got his foot stuck in the trolley door... we all about died! It was funny but we were all scared for his foot.

One day we got to try all sorts of traditional ecuadorian food. It was all really good and not too strange. Except for the fact that they eat guinea pig. I tried it... It wasn't bad but I do not think I will order it at a restaurant or anything like that!

SO FUNNY! one day we were walking around town and we had to go from one mall to the other to have dinner with everyone. So two native girls who one of the missionaries here introduced us to were walking us over to the other mall. Then we saw this caterpillar ride/car thing that would hold all of us. They said they would take us around the park to the other mall... WE DIED LAUGHING! This thing was awesome and we thought it was going to fall apart and then we pull ONTO THE HIGHWAY!! haha! We laughed and laughed! He was swerving in and out of traffic. We told Perry who is taking care of us here and he laughed and was like.. We have never heard of anyone riding that! But we had a blast.

We have the cutest bus driver named hugo who would take us into town and back to the camp where we were staying and we sang songs with him on the bus! He was awesome.. the cutest old man!

One of our cooks at the camp was pregnant so we were able to buy her some baby stuff and give her a baby shower! It was great t be able to serve her! Stuff here can be very expensive... like clothes... but then food and stuff here is really cheap!

We got to talk with people who live here and in the villages around quito to ask them questions. One lady named Maria came and she could not stop smiling! SO cute! So then she was telling us about her life and it was CRAZY! Her parents gave her away as a child and then she was stolen by this man and had a baby with him, she finally ran away one night and then married another man and had kids. She then was widowed... one daughter was accidently killed by the neighbor and then her son died in his sleep from drinking too much alcohol. SO sad! BUt then she heard about Jesus and how he died for her sins and she asked him to take a hold of her life and things got so much better... this little old woman cant read at all but she goes and tells everyone about what he has done for her life. He completely turned her life around. She was so sad but then when she accepted jesus into her heart and was living her life for him things turned around and she GLOWS!! She never stops smiling and she is so so so happy!! It was amazing story! We were all just amazed by her story.

So.... I need to go but I will keep you updated! I am so excited to move into our house today! We will let you know when we figure out what we are going to be doing here! Sill not really sure! haha! Oh well! We will find out! I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU ALL!

The 4 of us on our quito team are planning on hiking to the top of this volcano. And then some of the people we worked with at el refugio and did all the ropes course and stuff with said they would take us on a camping trip and climb a 20,000 foot peak! We are all so excited and are planning on doing it! We have been running every morning and stuff to get ready for it. So look forward to That! :-)

Sorry I cant tell you more about what we are going to be doing... I will let yo know! Keep in touch!

love ~jacks~

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