That's What Christmas Is All About, Charlie Brown!

One of my favorite Christmas Movies is Charlie Brown.  What amazes me is this movie proclaims the message of salvation of Jesus Christ at a time of year where there are so many things that compete for our attention like presents, decorations, and receiving instead of giving.  I shared this movie with my students as we ended our 1st semester together.  I always say, it isn't Christmas until you hear Linus tell you the gospel story from Luke.  Well, here is the story of Jesus's birth from Luke mixed with some stories and pictures of how we remembered Jesus and celebrated HIM this Christmas in 3rd Grade at El Camino Academy.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was from the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn..."

Christmas Program:  In Elementary this year, we put on a music program called, "The Sights and Sounds of Christmas".  The students acted out the Christmas story, but made pauses and stopped to ponder the sights and sounds that they would have seen if they were there at the birth of Jesus.  All of the ECA community was invited.  We had it in our own school this year instead of renting out a local church.  It was such a blessing to be able to decorate and celebrate as a body of Christ the birth of Jesus at Christmas.  Upper Elementary focused on the shepherds, wisemen, and the nativity scene where all come to worship Baby Jesus.  Below are some pictures during the 3rd Grade presentation of the Wisemen and King Herod.  

The Shepherd and the Angels

"...And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!...."

The Giving Place:  Students were again encouraged to serve and love others this Christmas Season, which is especially hard for young ones like my 3rd Graders.  ECA works with many ministries all year long, connecting our ECA students with poor areas of their country that they would never see or grow compassion for on their own.  My 3rd Graders work with a poor school in Suba called Acoinprev.  My students were so excited to bring in money and go to the Giving Place.  The Giving Place is where they can buy a toy (or toys) and wrap them for a friend that they have at any of the ministries.  One of my students asked if they could specifically buy a present for a certain girl they had become friends with at Acoinprev.  How sweet!

"...When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it has been told them.  And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was circumcised in the womb."

Luke 2:1-21

Please enjoy these Christmas Carols sung by Elementary at ECA!

We Three Kings

Do You Hear What I Hear

Little Drummer Boy (In Spanish)

 

 Merry Christmas from Bogota!  May God's peace and light be abundant this holiday season.  I look forward to seeing many of you while I am in Chicago for Christmas.

Blessings,
Carrie

Me and my aide, Erica :-)

I'm Thankful for my Plateful!!

"We are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew with Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."  Ephesians 2:10

There are so many things to be thankful for.  But, sometimes we don't always see them clearly or appreciate them.  Lately, there have been some challenges that I have struggled to see the good in.   My heart was challenging God's goodness and faithfulness.  There were moments of doubt when I was reminded of His promises.  Through relentless prayer, God's patience and love have overcome these doubts and I am truly grateful for certain aspects of God's character that have new and deeper meaning to me.  Celebrating Thanksgiving here in Colombia has been warmth to my heart.  Time with an new ECA family for Thanksgiving brunch, a delicious dinner with ECA teachers later that day, and playing fun Pilgrims and Indians Games with my students were just a great way to celebrate all we have to be thankful for in Christ Jesus.  Here are just a few things I am grateful for lately along with some picture of our Thanksgiving festivities :-0

1. Solid Preaching of God's Word

When I was home visiting my family for my grandma's funeral, I had the opportunity to attend the Orchard Network - my Pastor's preaching ministry with seminary students.  Being able to preach God's Word and make the Bible come alive is a GIFT and I so grateful for Pastor Colin's willingness to share this gift from God with other young men and women who have the same desire for people to know and love God's Word.  

With my 3rd Graders here at El Camino, I want to make God's Word come alive to them.  How to do this at a level they will understand is tricky.  Sometimes, I fall into the trap of not knowing what they will and will not understand (especially reading some deep Bible passages in their Second Language!!) Pastor Colin reminded me that what he was talking about with seminary students and other preachers were not only applicable to preaching on Sunday morning, but also when I teach Bible lessons in Colombia.  Here is one important truth that I will keep with me as I continue to open the eyes and hearts of my students to the gospel:

"God's voice is heard when His Word is preached, related to life, lifted off the page, press it home through the mind and into the heart and life.  The great paradox of ministry is that if we preach what the unbeliever can see, he won't see.  We must preach what the unbeliever can't see, so that he will see."

-  Pastor Colin Smith

2. Blessing of God's Timing

One challenge I have been facing lately is wanting certain things to happen on my own timing.  Or, not understanding why my timing for certain things is not lining up with God's timing :-0  This has caused me to question and push my own desires in relationships, take certain circumstances and make them personal, or be completely blinded to God's blessings that are right in front of me because it's not the right timing.  What I am learning through studying the book of James is that God's timing is ALWAYS the best, whether we can see his greater purpose or not.  

Really, what I want to say is this: you can't rush God.  You can't push Him.  You can't pull Him.  You can't tug Him or taunt Him.  If He has a mind to linger right where He is, you can't budge Him one inch.  You can, however, try to go without Him; but, chances are you'll come back because, if you really have a heart for God, you'll be miserable beyond His blessing.         - Beth Moore

My eyes had been focused down on my circumstances (grandma's passing away while I am off on the mission field) that I needed them to be lifted up to my Heavenly Savior.  Her funeral service was an amazing time to do this.  My friend, Tom Olson, gave the message at the service and helped lift our eyes off my wonderful grandma and onto her Savior, which is the reason she was such a loving and patient person in the first place!  There is a letter she left behind to her family that says how much she loves us and how much she wants everyone in her family to know and love Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  God's Timing??  I think so :-0  These reminders helped me realize that maybe reasons why I might have felt miserable is that I was beyond God's blessing and timing.  So glad that my heart is submitting to his sovereignty and timing once again - able to see his incredible goodness to all of life's circumstances.

3. Purpose in Suffering

Through these challenges, I have sought the Lord in prayer many times being met with what felt like silence.  It took me a while to realize that the act of coming to the Lord in prayer was enough to bring me into closer intimacy with Jesus.  He was speaking and working in the silence - teaching me to trust him and him alone.  This stage of my life has seen many things I have depended on being taken away in some form or another.  I have clung to them, cried, and wept over them, pleaded with God to let me keep them,  While that has been the case with a few things, I have learned that I have survived without them.  My fears of these things being taken away have been faced (though not always gracefully) and my faith is stronger because of these trials.  God has shown up and proven he is enough :-)

"Our sufferings etch engraved invitations to intimate places with God.  A pair of hands clasped in earnest prayer is the best means we have this side of Heaven to hang onto Jesus for dear life.  Even our groanings before Him are echoes of intimate prayer.  Fellowshipping with Christ in our suffering guards it from purposelessness.  While in James in no way suggests that we can't call others for prayer when we're in anguish, we need not wait on another soul to seek prescription from God in our urgent need.  

Sometimes God answers prayer by alleviating suffering.  Other times He eases the suffering.  Still, other times He shows His sufficiency in the suffering, but make no mistake.  He never abandons us in our suffering.  Prayer can prime the well of our souls to a bath in His beautiful presence.  It is often the most determining factor in whether, in our anguish, we sink or swim.."      

 - Beth Moore

I see this as a season of pruning and I am choosing to walk by faith trusting God’s grace to help me hold loosely to the things of the world in order to hold more firmly to Him. In what ways is Christ asking you to submit to His pruning work in your life? Be encouraged, though it seems painful at the time, pruning is only for a season, and a great and fruitful harvest will be the result. He will be faithful.  

Prayers/Praises
My trip home for my grandma's funeral was such a good time.  Thank you for all who prayed and attended the funeral while I was home.  Seeds have been planted and I can't wait to see what the Lord has planned.

Pray for the marriages of the families at ECA.  May God strengthen them, guard them, and let them shine for God's glory.

I will be home for Christmas and I look forward to getting to see some of you while I am home.  Please pray for a safe flight on December 20th and a safe return in January.  Hoping to see snow while I am home.

Grateful for your partnership,
Carrie

Spiritual Fruit

Journal with Jesus
We are doing Journal w/ Jesus again this year: time where they can be with Jesus with their Bible, and a journal.  I love this reflection time and my desire is that they learn to sit and BE with their Savior.  Reading over some of their journals, I am filled with compassion and empathy for precious concerns that are on my students' hearts.  I am grateful that they trust me and how open they are to telling God what is on their heart.  Many speak of family situations or hard times that they have had to really trust in God for.  Some have expressed doubts and questions that they have regarding Jesus and their faith.  This definitely helps me guide them as they start making their faith their own.  It's very easy for a kiddo that has been raised in a Christian home or has gone to El Camino Academy to automatically give the "correct" answer.  They know the answer they are expected to give, whether or not they actually believe it themselves.  Praising God for the opportunity I have to help them discover what they REALLY believe.


Chapel Responses and Application:
In Elementary Chapel, we have been talking about responsibility.  One major area of discussion has been when we play the Blame Game.  Students have been taking this to heart and trying to apply certain strategies in their own lives.  Strategies like:

Is this little problem or a big problem?

Am I part of the problem?

Is it the truth or a lie?

Is anyone hurt?

Here are some pictures of situations where my students have used these strategies in school and with their friends.  Enjoy learning from ECA's 3rd Grade about taking responsibility for our actions.  We are choosing NOT to play the Blame Game!  Will you join us?

Knowing their Hearts
Time with students outside of school has always been my favorite part of ministry here at El Camino.  Recently, I have had the opportunity to watch one of my students perform her ballet recital to the Nutcracker.  Spending the afternoon with her family watching her perform as a sugarplum fairy and then celebrating her dancing with having pizza back at her house was just a perfect way to bond with her.  We played Twister and a new twist/version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. You stand on a line and the looser keeps having to move their feet until they are doing the splits.  Lets just say - she won!

Celebrating my students birthdays is also a highlight.  I was blessed to attend a birthday party for a student and his brother (who is my ex-alumni - werid!!!)  What a cultural experience it was.  There were many friends and family there to celebrate with them.  They even had a pinata for the adults!!  One man laid on top of all of the candy when it broke.  The other adults decided to pull him out of the pile.  Then, using his belt loops, they lifted his stomach up off the floor and swept ALL of the candy out from underneath him.  The poor guy was left with nothing :-)  When my student noticed that my bag was empty since I was just a bystander of all of this craziness, he gave me a sad look and took 3 pieces of his own candy to give to me!!  Super sweet :-)  Loved celebrating with these adorable boys!

Prayers/Praises:

Thank you to all who attended my Cute Gran's funeral this past Saturday!  It was a wonderful celebration of her life.  Pray for my family during this time - that they would be open to any questions they have concerning faith :-)

Pray that my mind would relax and that I would allow God's peace to fill me.  There has been extra stress on my mind lately.

Blessings,
Carrie

Life of A Missionary - Sending off my Colombian Brothers and Sisters!

One of my biggest blessings of being a missionary here in Colombia has been to see not just 1 friend choose to spead the gospel to those who have not heard it, but FOUR!!!  My church, Centro de Desarrollo Cristiano, has sent out 4 of my young Colombian friends who have committed to sharing the gospel with the tribal people of Colombia and in the Middle East in Jordan.  They have encouraged me in my own missionary life :-)



1. My friends, Jonca and Talia, got married last January and have spent the last 7 months ministering to the tribes here in Colombia that live in the Amazon.   They recently returned and gave an update at church.  Jonca and Talia spoke of the relationships they spent months building and the hope they have that the seeds planted will help these people who have never heard of Jesus Christ since there is no written Bible in their language.  They plan to return later to continue their work.

2. Stefanie spent the past 8 months training for future missionary work - the last 3 of which she spent in Paraguay living with a tribe.  She hopes to leave in January to work with the Curipacos who live here in Colombia.  Stefanie is such a wonderful friend with a gift of being able to explain the gospel to others.  She is ready to go and be LIGHT to the world.  Stephanie is one of my first Colombian friends here and it has been such a blessing to see her faith and to encourage her in her own journey of being a missionary.

3.  Mayra is leaving this Tuesday to travel to the Middle East to spend 2 years spreading the gospel to the Muslims who live there.  Mayra is also one of my first Colombian friends here  and it has been such a blessing to see her faith and to encourage her in her own journey of being a missionary.  She has not flown on a plane since she was a little girl and flew to San Andres (an island off the coast of Colombia.)  Spreading the gospel to Muslims will be a difficult task, but I know the Lord will bring power and strength to her ministry.  I will miss her terribly, but am so excited to pray for her and all of the people she will reach with the gospel of Christ!  

Stephanie, Mayra, and their family!

                               
Sharing these experience with my friends, encouraging them as they respond to the call of the gospel to obey Christ and to go among the nations has made me think about challenges I have faced going and leaving my country, family, and home to obey Jesus and his calling on my life to come to Colombia.  

Cultural Shock is the biggest thing to overcome as a missionary!  This culture has changed me. It has rocked my perspective. This culture is based upon community and personal connections with people. Even in a big, busy, and crowded city, I have found warmth and kindness. As Americans, time is the most precious thing. If you respect people, you respect their time. If you do things well, you do things super efficiently, like to the up most degree. Whenever we complain about things, it’s usually because something happened that wasted our time. Here, it’s just not that way. You begin to realize that it’s not all about your time. It’s about the people you are with. It’s a very frustrating concept to understand and a huge adjustment when you are used to such crazy high standards of time and efficiency, but it’s also an experience that makes you less selfish and centered on your own agenda. The attitude of “How dare anyone waste my time by _________” has to go. Living outside of the States and all of its many conveniences has its challenges, but removing yourself from those things really makes you appreciate the many blessings of God. It makes you grow. While people complain about being stuck in a ‘long’ line in the grocery store, someone here is being squeezed within an inch of their life on a public bus, for possibly a really long time…Every. Single. Day. We take for granted and forget the simplicity and the ease of certain aspects of the American life (I know I did!). Being flexible is definitely a must for any missionary!

It’s hard, sometimes, knowing that you are forever different, that you have changed in a way that your friends and family back home have not. No one told me that being a missionary makes you feel misunderstood. The people I love back home have not had these same life-altering experiences. BUT, there is such a blessing in never going back to the person you once were.

Lately, I have been grasping hard to the truth that following Jesus in this way is so worth it!!  With as misunderstood as a missionary can feel, we can take comfort that the world did not understand Jesus either :-0  Even through the challenges and the life changes that I have faced, there is nothing like drawing close to My God when he is all you have.  Missionary life will help you experience this kind of faith building like nothing else will. :-)

Prayers/Praises
Info about Granny's funeral - 10:00 am on November 15th at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church, Barrington, IL.  So thankful for any of you that could make to celebrate her life with me and my family.  I will be in Chicago from November 12th until the 18th.  Please pray for sub plans as I leave my classroom for almost a week!!

The school has already asked us to confirm our plans for teaching at the school for the following year.  Please pray for peace and a confirmation from God if my ministry here in Colombia is to continue.

Please pray for my sister, Kristin, as she is pregnant with her 3rd child due in February!!!  Pray for a healthy pregnancy and that she would be able to deal with the pains and troubles that come with pregnancy :-0

Glory to Him Above,
Carrie