The Beauty of Grace

This summer has taught me a lot already:

Medically—I’m experienced in urine analysis, pregnancy tests, administering shots (in the arm and the bottom), reading doctors’ handwriting, filling prescriptions, bandaging cuts, helping flush out ears and more!! I LOVE every minute of clinic and cannot wait to do even more.

Mentally—I reinforced the fact that I NEED my quiet time to think, reflect, pray, etc…and normally I get this through running.

Physically—I’ve learned very few people love to run as much as I do. This poses a problem when you can’t go anywhere by yourself, so joining the gym with the other interns has been a good solution (and by the end of this internship I should be in the best shape of my life).

Socially—Keilah and I have become quite the team and sharing this experience with her has been fantastic! I love being around so many like-minded people.

Spiritually—God is so good and knows exactly what He’s doing. I didn’t realize how many other people applied for the internship, and the fact that I’m here shows that this is exactly where God wants me at the moment. That can be trying when your hard work goes unnoticed. Teams repeatedly ignore our instructions. It’s difficult to give up your favorite activity of the week in order to stay back with a sick team member. Using every minute of your “free time” to cook and clean wears you down a LOT. Repeating yourself and explaining over and over and over again seriously drain your energy. Mistakes are readily pointed out while accomplishments are quickly forgotten (if noticed at all). Being grateful is hard…but then I look at the cross. God demonstrates so much grace. My best attempts to do everything on a checklist (for any part of life) always fail, yet God doesn’t value me any less because of that. Christ humbled himself to a life on earth and death on the cross for our sake. He put up with torture while I’m only experiencing annoyances. By God’s grace I have come to know Him and He has led me here. By His grace, others are coming to know the joy of salvation. By His grace, our kitchen fire yesterday didn’t destroy anything (but we’ve spent the last two days cleaning every dish we have). And by His grace will we love each other and enjoy the coming weeks.

These past three weeks have been some of the most exciting and draining days of my life. I’m gaining hands-on medical experience. I feel more content than I have in quite a while and know that’s only because of God. We’ll see what the future holds, but I would love if it looked a lot like this.

Prayer Requests:

·         Praise for the numerous learning experiences and helpful conversations I’ve had

·         Praise for God’s continual watchfulness and protection

·         Pray that I will be patient and grace-filled

·         Our fifth intern Caroline arrived yesterday. I’m looking forward to getting to know her. Having her will lighten everyone’s load, but it’s different from “normal” so please pray that the adjustment would go smoothly.

·         Pray for the one-week team from North Carolina. They’ll be working in La Fe.

Glimpses of the King

         You may know someone for an instant, for a week or for a lifetime. When I had to say goodbye to this last team, I realized it is very likely I will not see them again this side of heaven but I will always remember the lessons they taught me, the fun we had, and what it means to be surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1-3).

In three days of clinics, we saw over 210 patients. The ultimate Healer chose to use us to give these people a glimpse of the wholeness that He alone can bring. There is nothing significant about this team or me…we are broken and flawed but thoroughly equipped by God to extend His glory wherever we are. This week, it took the form of seeing patients, participating in Kids’ Club, introducing Honduras to Sipma cookies, playing at the river with the children from Armenia Bonito, and talking with our guide as we explore Pico Bonito National Park.

God chose to mold and prepare us by placing people in our lives as examples. Is anyone a perfect model? Only Christ. But I do have some other pretty good examples in my life. This Father’s Day, I can’t help but miss my family and praise the Lord for showing me Christian leadership through them. The faith and support of my grandparents are a constant encouragement. Dad, I love our conversations and definitely miss being able to ask you questions when I’m away at school or in another country. I know you don’t have all the answers, but you’re always searching God’s Word for the truth and stand boldly for it. I can’t write more because I’ll be crying even harder then, but thank you and happy birthday!

 So, here’s how you can be praying for me this week:

·      Praise God for the opportunities to build relationships

o   I’ve gotten closer to Alejandro and Ericka who helped out with pharmacy this week

o   Gisel, Estela, Oneda and Morena are some of the girls I’ve gotten to know through Kids’ Club and our trip to the river

·      Pray that I will get to know and love these wonderful kids better

·      Praise God for the great cloud of witnesses I have here (the Pettengills, Clows, Troxells, Kate and Shannon) and at home

·      Prayer for homesickness

·      Pray for safety and open hearts for the new team from Tennessee

·      Pray that the Hondurans will see God as the Provider

Here are some pictures from the week:

Alejandro helping me in pharmacy

Seeing patients at the clinic

We had over 90 kids at Kids' Club this week!

One of the waterfalls in Pico Bonito National Park.

Trials and Triumphs

Let us not be surprised when we have to face difficulties.

When the wind blows hard on a tree, the roots stretch and grow the stronger,

Let it be so with us.

Let us not be weaklings, yielding to every wind that blows, but strong in spirit to resist.   

         –Amy Carmichael

           Missionaries do not live a life of luxury. Daily reminders make us think of home in the United States, distracting from our ultimate home in heaven. Additionally, Satan has his ways of slowing work for God. This week, we had four people get sick, the van break down, a transmission go out, and power outages (meaning bucket showers in the dark after an intense soccer game).

The Pettengills remind us that one of the greatest insults a Christian can receive is Satan not paying us any attention because that means that what we are accomplishing is not attacking his kingdom or promoting God’s kingdom.

We have hope because we have One who has defeated death and sin. That is why “we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor 4:8-9). We treated around 70 people physically and spiritually at our clinics. We started the foundation of a house. A record of 70 children attended Kids’ Club and learned Q.12 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism which tells them nothing is hidden from God. The electrical work in the upstairs dorms is now done. Kids saw the love of God through the Americans who willingly wash lice-infested hair, move rocks, teach them some English and learn some Spanish. Mike and Erin celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary, and John and Kathy celebrated their 15^th anniversary.

God did not promise a life of luxury, but He does promise His presence which is the greatest comfort we can ever know. Matthew 28:18-20 says “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The power outage offered a great time to stargaze and reflect upon God’s greatness. The van breaking allowed a visiting team member to use his skills as a mechanic to bring God glory. Sickness is a reminder that we are not invincible but dependent upon our Lord. This week has taught me a lot, and I’m looking forward to the experiences God has in store for the rest of the summer!

Prayer Requests

• Praise for the God-given ability to learn
• Praise for the Lord’s faithfulness to His people
• Pray for the safety and cultural adjustments ahead of both the team leaving and the team arriving Saturday
• Pray that we might not be distracted from the truth by the larger trials or petty inconveniences
• Pray for the hearts of all involved—that God might be at work bring each of us closer to Him and unto salvation

Semper Gumby

             So I am alive and well in Honduras!! Yes, it’s hot and humid. I’ve gotten several bug bites already. I’m exhausted at the moment. BUT I am soooo excited to be here and am soaking in everything like a kid at Christmas.

Training at Ridge Haven (in North Carolina) was a blast, and our team arrived safely in this foreign land with our only hold up being the slow-moving line in customs. The first week-long team arrived a couple hours after us, so we’ve really been learning right alongside them and are doing a pretty good job of it. I'm known as one of the "good interns" since I will be working with Mike and Erin. Tomorrow is the real test when we head out to the ministry sites.

“Semper Gumby” was a phrase I was introduced to as an RA this past year and is very applicable to these coming months. It is an encouragement to always be flexible. While I’m a good student, there are a couple lessons I just don’t grasp and this is one of them. I love my plans and order, but God tends to throw them out the window. Just like Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart,but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” The good but frustrating news is that apparently God’s not giving up on teaching me that lesson.

I guess this lesson really picked up in intensity last summer in Guatemala, continued as I learned more about serving as an RA, and will extend for who knows how much longer. Over the course of this year I’ve had several people talk to me about my love of control and plans. Having those different voices saying the same thing definitely makes it stand out, and now God is using another language to help reinforce the fact that this is an important lesson that I can’t just skip or brush off. One of the points that really struck a nerve during tonight’s sermon was giving God your plans and being ok with the consequences. Not having control terrifies me, but I shouldn't be afraid because "I know whom I have believed in and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day." God desires to give His children the good things that we desire or thing better than what we've imagined. I know that as I've grown closer to Him my dreams and the desires of my heart have changed...so I guess I have been "flexible" or at least molded without really being conscious of it.

What will I be doing this summer? Serving however God needs me that moment. Tomorrow it’ll take the form of learning how to run the pharmacy for the clinics we’ll have every week and learning what it looks like in Armenia Bonito. Will that look like a pharmacy or classroom in the US? Nope. Will I have all of the resources I “need” (by American standards)? Nope, but God will provide exactly what is needed for me to love whoever He places in my path. Am I getting the hang of this being flexible? Sorta, and I know that God’s going to keep working with and throwing more surprises my way. What the rest of my future holds…I’m not sure at the moment, but I’ll let you know as God reveals it to me!

Prayer Requests:

• Praise the Lord for the bringing us here by providing the funds, flights, prayers and so much more
• Praise that training went well--I met some incredible people, learned a lot and am very encouraged as I head into the summer
• That God would be glorified in all we do 
• That I'll learn well my responsibilities in the pharmacy
• For continued health, safety, and adjustment to each other and our new surroundings
• Please pray that the team and I would not become discouraged by the extreme poverty and hard situations we will be experiencing in the coming weeks
• Flexibility :-)