Hands and Feet of Christ

Serving at Acoinprev

We had the privilege of inviting our friends from Acoinprev to visit our school recently.  After visiting them at their school back in October, my students were excited to love their new friends and be able to show them their school.  We had such a fun morning of playing games in English, making an Art Project (which my kids had already made, so they had to be the teachers!), playing soccer, and sharing our school library with them.

After we had fun playing and becoming better friends, we all came together and shared a snack.  Each student from ECA brought in snacks to share.  They were so excited to share food with their new friends who are from a poorer area of Bogota.  We ended our fun morning with singing a worship song and then telling them about Jesus.  One of our parents shared a story comparing the return of the Colombia National Soccer Team last summer after the World Cup with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem during Easter.  The students listened and learned all about who Jesus is and all about the special way we should welcome Him into our hearts.

After our friends left, my 3rd Graders wrote reflections and shared with each other about their experiences that morning.  Below, I have put some pictures of our morning and some of the thoughts from my 3rd Graders.  Enjoy!

"I help a friend named Sofia.  I help her in art.  She nows (knows) how to spell strawberry because I help her.  I serve a girl named Daniel.  She say thank you because I hand her my snack and show her friendship."

"This morning I felt good because I knew that it was going to be fun to serve them.  I pray that they would believe always in Jesus, remember that he is our Savior and more things."

"I'm going to pray for a new bathroom in Acoinprev.  I take 2 girls to the bathroom and they were like look how the toilets flush!!"

"I felt like they were an unreached people.  We did very well by giving them snacks, and love, and friendship, too!"

"So you can pray for them so God can go in their heart and so they can be more close to you and get you in their heart, God."

"It was awesome to serve.  I like to serve!"

"Good because we share with them and tried to be friends with them.  So we didn't feel sad because they or us didn't like each other.  I serve them by helping them in art.  Something surprising was that a kid plays good soccer!"

"Me and my friend were doing a lot of stuff together like doing the art stuff and doing the english games.  My favorite part was going outside and playing soccer.  What surprised me was that a girl of Acoinprev didn't recognize me when I was with her last time always."

"It felt really good serving them because we showing God's will and how God serves us and how we can serve them."

"My favorite part was in art.  It was the only time I got to communicate a little with Acoinprev kids.  I wonder if they ever bring snack to school?  It felt good to share our snacks and school with them."
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"We are making pencil toppers and a girl named Laura asked me how to put it.  I was so surprise because she was the first one to ask me a question.  I want to pray for them.  Please help them know about more Jesus and God and please they can be good and don't hurt!"

"It was really cool when we play something of "Headbanz" and they didn't know how to play.  I got to help teach them.  They already know a lot of words in inglish like "bathroom" and "trash can".  I felt really good because they learn more about God and how to compare God and another person."
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"The thing that surprise me is that a girl of Acoinprev played a lot of soccer.  It was cool!  Well, first I felt good when I shared a snack and it felt a lot more funner that I thought."

Prayers and Praises:
Please pray for hearts of my students - that they would realize how their teasing is actually hurting their friends.  Also, for any student that is feeling left out, rejected, or bullied - that they would have power and strength in Jesus to listen to who Jesus says they are over what they are feeling from their friends comments.

For my transitioning back to the USA in June - it will be really difficult to leave this wonderful community and ministry.  Please pray for faith and trust in God to surrender to Him all of the emotions and feelings I will experience during this time.

Blessings,
Carrie

Decisions: How do we know where God wants us?

Making decisions has always been hard for me.  So, you can imagine how hard the decision would be to make to continue at ECA for another year or to return to the USA.  My heart is in love with both places and I felt like I was making a choice between 2 very good options.  I would love to share with you my process of discerning what God plans are for me for the future.

Confirmation through Scripture: The question that kept coming to me was, "Lord, where do you want me?  Make your direction clear so that I know where you want me to follow.  My desire is to serve and follow you, God, so make that path clear for me."  For those that know my story, God has made that abundantly clear the past three years.  Three years ago, when God encouraged me to step out in faith and move to Colombia, the life of Elijah in 1 Kings were scripture verses that spoke right to my heart.  When I prayed about returning for the following years, the words of Esther spoke to my heart saying, "You were called for such a time as this!"

As Pastor Colin Smith recently told us in a sermon, if we want to know what God is telling us, all we need to do is read his Word!  This definitely was true for me as I served God here in Colombia these past 3 years.  I began to seek his Word again, longing for a clear message from his Word to guide me.  When a clear direction wasn't coming, I continued searching with a different focus in mind.  Maybe I was searching for too specific of details.  With as much as I desired to know specifically if God wanted me in Colombia for the next year, my detailed questions were met with silence.  The message I finally concluded that God was giving me was this:

"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."   Joshua 1:9

You see, God was reminding me that he will use me wherever I choose to be.  No matter what ministry I get involved in or stay with serving, God will bless that choice and be with his children wherever they go.  It didn't matter if I stayed in Colombia, returned home to Chicago, or ended up some place different.  This verse released me from the fear of making a wrong decision and from feeling paralyzed from taking the next steps in deciding.  In a sense, God was asking me where I wanted to serve Him.  I still didn't know the answer to that question.

Looking for God's Fingerprints:
As I started seeking whether there was a longer future for me here at ECA, the opportunity was presented to me to go back to school and become an administrator for the school.  As I pondered what that might look like, I knew the school had a need and that I had to decide whether I was willing and capable of filling it.  While I love filling in a need that an organization has, I had never thought of myself as an administrator before.  I always saw myself in the classroom with the kids.  Knowing that I would probably never use this new degree in the USA if I returned, I decided that it wasn't wise to take on more student loans for a degree that I would really only use at ECA.  I decided that while it was a privilege to be thought of in this way, it was something I had to say no to.  God's fingerprints were not leading in that directions once I explored what it might look like.

Next, I was approached by my church to come home to complete about 2 years of training and then be re-deployed somewhere else as a missionary.  This would include training in church planting and would be using my Spanish knowledge.  While I am still processing this and need more information, I concluded that for the time being, I would like to settle back into a teaching job back near Chicago.

When I started exploring the possibility of coming back to the Chicago area, I decided to put my resume out to some of the school districts.  I also have talked with people at church about possible ministries I could get involved in if I was back home.  God's fingerprints were all over these conversations and opportunities.  I have had an interview with a school where God seems to be bringing together my Spanish knowledge and my passion for special needs students.  Also, I already see ways I can be involved back at my church in Chicago, which is a wonderful vision to have already.

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."  2 Chronicles 16:9

Lastly, this whole last year I have struggled with being away from my family and close friends.  God reminded me when I left for Colombia that He alone is my provider.  At times when I would miss my family, Jesus would be there to help me deal with my emotions, feelings, and the sacrifices that I was going to have to make.  I learned that these family and friend sacrifices were worth it to be at ECA and this wonderful community of believers in Colombia telling them about who Jesus is.  I kept praying and asking God to let me know how long I am supposed to be sacrificing these precious people.  I prayed that he would make me willing to keep sacrificing my family and that my strong desire to live and be closer to my family would not be more important that following Christ.   After a lot of prayer, my desire did not go away but actually increased.  I believe that this is God's way of telling me that my true desire is to be back home and that my time at ECA is coming to an end.  This decision has been a difficult one.  Leaving the people I have loved for the past 3 years will not be easy.  Leaving the comfort and mission that I have poured my heart into these past 3 years makes me think I may not find anything else quite like what I experienced at El Camino.  But, I know that God's fingerprints are over my life, guiding me no matter where I go.  I am excited to see what is next.  With faith, I am moving forward to settling back in Chicago once more.

So, thank you to all of you who have supported me these past 3 years!  I will be sending out more information soon about how ending my time at ECA will look for those who have supported me financially.  As far as prayers, please cover my transition period in prayer and that I would end my last 2 months here well.  I want to finish the work God has for me here with faith.

Blessings,
Carrie