the unexpected on mars hill

We arrived safely in Greece, if somewhat lacking sleep, but we could pass up walking around the city on a beautiful evening. With camera in hand, I had one goal, get a good photo of the Acropolis during that photographer's, "magic hour" of lighting right before dark. Not knowing exactly where we were going, we just kept walking straight ahead with the Acropolis looming before us. We passed by quaint alleys and small restaurants packed with people.

 I thought finding a good spot would be hopeless and wished that I had looked up rooftop restaurants for our perfect view. As we kept climbing higher, we stumbled upon picturesque snapshots for the city and finally found a set of rough hewn steps leading up to a rock. I kept praising Jesus for this chance encounter with this tall rock that loomed over the city with 360 views and the perfect spot to see the Acropolis.

After taking a few photos, Bonnie and  I sat on the rocks and took some time to pray for our trip, for the safe travels there, for grace towards one another in the long hours we would be traveling together, praise for the beauty he had brought is to, but also for intentional conversations with the people we would and had already encountered. We prayed that our plans would come second to the plans that God was preparing for our trip and that we could use our time here as his hands and feet. That we would shine with his light here. After praying, we sat in awe of our surroundings and I told Bonnie that I thought the people sitting beside us might be fellow believers.

We couldn't figure out a way to start conversation, so we sat watching the sun setting, listening the some guys playing the guitar close by and our own conversations turned to trying to figure out where we were and also trying to figure out where the apostle Paul had spoken to the Athenians about the "unknown God" in Acts 17. "Wouldn't it be cold if Paul stood on these very same rocks" I said.

Then Bonnie, turning to the people beside us, asked if they knew where we were. It turns out that we were sitting on Mars Hill, also commonly called the Areopagus, the exact spot that Paul stood! When they saw our Bible open, we discovered that they were in fact Chrisitians and are here with YWAM. We sat together for hours as the sun faded and the city lights started to glow.

After sharing a meal together and much encouragement, we felt like we were on an adrenaline rush and spiritual high. What a blessing to run into fellow believers whose hearts are so wrapped around the Lord and where he is leading them. It was such an immediate response to the prayers we had been praying right before meeting them and can see God's hand already at work on this trip. 

In addition to James, Rose and Danny, we've gotten to me several other people who have also gotten the groupon deal, so we pray for intentional conversations with them over the next few days. 

For now, I'm sitting on a ferry in the Mediterranean headed toward Mykonos Island. 

Please join me in praying for our time away and for the people that God is bringing into our lives here. 

Blessings, 

Liz

washed clean

Today we went to one of the barrios in Alajuelita - one of the poorest counties in Costa Rica. The neighborhood consisted primarily of Nicaraugians who had transplanted to Costa Rica for a better life. If the poor corrugated metal shacks where a better life for them, I can't imagine what life looked like before.

We had so much fun playing with the kids, but it was extremely dirty. We played in a dung filled, dust bowl with sewage water streaming down in rivers through the makeshift concrete gutters beside the houses. When we got there, children appeared from many of the rusty doorways and quickly ran out to join us in playing with the jump rope, coloring pages and games of tag over piles of abandoned rubbish.

I've been dirty before, but today I felt filthy, from the snuggles with snotty children, to the superfine dust that filled every crevice, I looked and felt utterly disgusting.

It's amazing how I shower ever single day and never appreciate it as much as I do on days like today. I feel like a person transformed. I've come away clean, no longer covered in the stench of this world, but have been made into something fresh, good smelling and sparkling clean.

What a picture of Christ's transformative work in our lives.

"We are all infected and impute with sun. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags." Isaiah 64:7

I once sat,  covered in the mire of my own sins. My identity was wrapped in this barrio of the world when Jesus came and plucked me out of my own filth to cleanse me from my sins.

"Jesus answered, 'unless I wash you, you have no part with me.'" John 13:8

"How lovely are the feet of those who bring good news." Isaiah 52:7

expectancy

Recently I've been looking at the difference of living a life of expectancy and living with expectations. Although they may sound similar they're not quite the same thing.

My life has been filled with a list of expectations, but unfortunately expectations don't fly solo. They always come with an equally big list of disappointments and broken dreams. We dream about how events will be, we want to look forward to certain things, but when life doesn't bring you the list you expected, it very quickly goes from something exciting, to dejection and disappointment. Eventually, I tend to turn to complaining, because things just didn't happen the way I expected.

Expectations are are all about me and the outcome that I want.

I wrap layers of expectations around events, life experiences, and future hopes, but when the wrapping paper is stripped away, I'm faced with the ugliness of the events.

Expectancy comes through looking towards God and the plan that he has for my life. It rests in the hope that I have in a plan that is infinitely more detailed the my own.

God doesn't doesn't cover up the gifts he has for us. Our loving father gives us life experiences in their raw form. Just as they are, good, bad, scary, beautiful, and joyful. Sometimes these gifts come through hardships, and sometimes through the beautiful interchange of another person who culturally is so completely different than you.

Life experiences can color your own expectations. What I look forward to and what my friends expect may look completely different.

As I prepare to go to a new country, I've tried to set aside my expectations to be open with expectancy to the experiences that God wants me to have. I want to experience each gift that he has prepared beforehand for me. I know there will be challenges and joys to experience, but I am fully expecting that God will use each experience to teach me and grow me.

In order to experience this, I have to be open and adaptable to God's plan. I must die to my own plan, and in humility consider myself a tool and instrument in God's greater plan.

So as I pack my bags and prepare to leave to visit a new culture, I want a fresh expectancy for what God wants to do in and through me. I desire a heart filled with compassion and eyes open to ways to serve others. I expect that God will give me the right words to say to the people that I meet and boldness to say the words he gives.

"Do not say, 'I am only a youth;' for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command  you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord."
-Jeremiah 1:7-8

I want to be open to be used in any way that God wants me to be used. Open for activities not going as I planned and adaptable to those surprise, unexpected moments. With arms outstretched in expectancy, I look towards the cross and
the real work that Christ may be doing.

Blessings,

Liz

"Be a learner not a knower. Be a server not a master. Be a listener not a speaker. Go with only the expectations that you are open to God’s plan and you want to be used in any way he wants to use you. Go with the heart that you have been sent by God. Act like a diplomat of God’s kingdom, because you are."

-Mike Pettengill

From the Heart

We began the day with a loving example of a generous and selfless heart. Even after having little sleep for the past few days, Rod Story, the vice president of EE, woke up early to fix a delicious breakfast, something he's been talking about doing for the past week.

After we were given our breakfast, a group of us got into a small bus and drove to Nabila school. A school in Australia has been raising support to buy the Nabila school several laptops, as well as a printer and stacks of books to add to their library. Both the teachers and students will be able to benefit from more resources.

While we were presenting the students with their gifts, I was again blown away by the selfless generosity shown by others. The students were thrilled with their new books. They couldn't wait to start reading them and poured over the pictures in the book.

For people that have so little, they have so much to give back.

 

I have a lesson to learn from today. When I'm tired, I think I owe it to myself to save the last scraps of my energy. I don't want to turn around and give back to others. In fact, when I get tired, I become selfish and it doesn't cross my mind to look out for those around me. 

      

I want to give from my overflow, but when I'm running low, I begin to hoard. It's not just my time or willingness to help others. I do the same with my money. I'm generous when I have plenty, but when the coffers get low, I tend to keep what I have for myself.

     

I'm reminded of the story in Luke 21:1-4 where the widow puts the last two coins that she has into the offering.

Jesus told his disciples that she gave more than anyone else, because "they all contriuted out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

  

For a school that has so little, they were able to put together a snack for all of us. Again, I was blown away by their generosity. Here we are to love them and help them in any way we can and what do we get in return? They're putting everything they have together to give back to us.

Today I am blessed by the giving hearts of those around me and encouraged to act likewise.

Blessings,

Liz

Nadi Town

We've been learning tools for sharing the gospel for the last several days, and today we got the chance to go out into the town and put them to use.

We were told to try to connect with people, and if there was an opening, then we could share with them. I've been a Christian as long as I can remember and have done multiple mission trips, but in all my 27 years, I've never actually gone out to talk about Jesus. I don't know why not. It was never encouraged. In youth group years ago, we were told to "lead by example" or the Augustine quote was thrown about. 

"Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

These are great things to do, but as a Christian, they should not be a way to fall behind actually sharing the gospel with others.

The first person I got to talk with today was a girl by the name of Shoshon. Like 80% of Fijians, she goes to a methodist church every week, but she didn't know who Christ is in her life. After sharing with her, we asked if she would really like to make him real and have a relationship with him and she said yes!

My prayer is that she has a complete heart change and that it changes the way she interacts with her family and friends! 

Afterwards, I stepped into a shop that I've been in several times and started talking with some of the Indian women working there. 

(Side note: There is a large population of Indians in Fiji due to the British colonizing the islands and bringing them over to work the sugar cane fields)

So as I talked with these women I didn't get to share the gospel much, but I got to ask them questions about themselves and their religion. I feel like it is the building blocks for some good discussions in the future.

Well, it's late and I've got a busy day ahead. Please continue to keep me and my team in your prayers.

Blessings,

Liz

Nabila Village

The brevity of life is not one that I tend to dwell on often, but every once in a while I do. Why am I? well, this morning I went to check on the puppies to find that one was dead and the other had disappeared.

While a bit sad this morning, I just started reflecting on the fact that in our Western culture, we try to shield ourselves from natural life events, but in the village I visited this weekend, the hand of death and suffereing is part of daily life.

When I get a scratch, I have clean water to wash it out or antibacterial cream to clean it off. If it gets really bad, then we have clean hospitals to visit. For the friends I've made this weekend in the village, that's not the case.

I have so many new friends, and unfortunately, they know my name a lot better than I know theirs. They gather around in crowds. Smiling. Holding my hand and laughing with one another. They are some of the happiest kids I've ever met, but if you looked at them, they're dirty, their teath are rotten and their bodies are covered in scabs.

All of the children, even the smallest toddlers had scars and scratches. They climb the palm trees for coconuts and scratch their hands, but without the proper care, the scratch turns into something bigger. But... you don't hear any complaining. It's just daily life.

There are no computers, tvs, video games, or really any "children's toys" but they are so happy.

In a place so deprived of the "essentials" or basic Western necessities for survival, there is life. A fulle, more complete, well-lived life. In the slice of one day, there is fullness.

Some joke about living on "island time" and the inconvenience it provides when activities don't start when they're supposed to, but there's something nice about living with no rush.

They don't look at their clocks, impatiently waiting for the next activity, rushing from one thing to another.

After 3 days in the village, I'm happy to get back to the comfort of a bed and no bedbugs. I relished in the delights of a shower and electricity.

 Breakfast with one of the village families.

 Mitch with some of the kids.

Blessings,

Liz