7.12.2010
Married life.
So it's finally here. As of June 26, 2010, I am officially married. (Or maybe it's "official" now that we've gotten our marriage license in the mail). The wedding was beautiful! Here's a list of praises/great parts of the wedding that stand out to me:
1. We got married! :)
2. It was very hot, but IT DIDN'T RAIN!! (at least not until after the ceremony and pictures - apparently we were in a tornado watch during the ceremony and pics, which turned into a tornado warning during the receptiong...green sky, hail, pouring rain, and howling winds...the whole bit! Good times!
3. Lots of people whom we love were able to make it to the wedding. (People from all different parts of our lives - Sioux Center, Australia, BC, Iowa Falls/Eldora, Chicago, Iowa City - all of these places represent times where either Rachel or I spent some part of our lives.)
4. My lovely bride, Rachel, was radiant in her wedding dress!
5. We wrote our own vows and read them to each other.
6. I led the worship by playing guitar/singing, and Rachel signed alongside me. I love that we could worship together at our wedding in the ways that both of us worship the most naturally. :)
7. We had a lot of fun filling the vase with sand during our sand ceremony (so a little sand didn't make it in the vase...we'll show pictures later).
8. My sister, Becca, and Uncle Darrel were able to sing/play guitar during the sand ceremony. (They sounded AWESOME!)
9. My sister-in-law, Gabby, sang the song "Home" by Chantal Kreviazuk (or maybe someone else originally, but she has a good version of it) for our first dance as husband and wife.
10. Oh, yeah, and I guess it was fun that we were barefoot throughout it all! :) Thanks to all who made it and for the well-wishes from those who couldn't make it. Love you all!
11. Puerto Vallarta was the honeymoon spot and it was marvelous! Five days with the person you love more than any other human on earth with nothing to do but relax, ride rickety old school buses downtown, snorkel, ride a ferry to an island (twice!), eat lots of food, try some different drinks, eat at some fancy restuarants, and probably more that I'm forgetting...it was glorious! The only downside was that I left my phone down there...
Now we're trying to get our apartment in North Liberty put together. Rachel's up in Sioux Center taking some continuing education classes at Dordt, so I'm hoping to get some stuff done while she's gone. :) Moving in together sure makes for a lot of work and makes you realize how much stuff you really don't need. Yay for consigning and Goodwill! Photos to come soon!
1. We got married! :)
2. It was very hot, but IT DIDN'T RAIN!! (at least not until after the ceremony and pictures - apparently we were in a tornado watch during the ceremony and pics, which turned into a tornado warning during the receptiong...green sky, hail, pouring rain, and howling winds...the whole bit! Good times!
3. Lots of people whom we love were able to make it to the wedding. (People from all different parts of our lives - Sioux Center, Australia, BC, Iowa Falls/Eldora, Chicago, Iowa City - all of these places represent times where either Rachel or I spent some part of our lives.)
4. My lovely bride, Rachel, was radiant in her wedding dress!
5. We wrote our own vows and read them to each other.
6. I led the worship by playing guitar/singing, and Rachel signed alongside me. I love that we could worship together at our wedding in the ways that both of us worship the most naturally. :)
7. We had a lot of fun filling the vase with sand during our sand ceremony (so a little sand didn't make it in the vase...we'll show pictures later).
8. My sister, Becca, and Uncle Darrel were able to sing/play guitar during the sand ceremony. (They sounded AWESOME!)
9. My sister-in-law, Gabby, sang the song "Home" by Chantal Kreviazuk (or maybe someone else originally, but she has a good version of it) for our first dance as husband and wife.
10. Oh, yeah, and I guess it was fun that we were barefoot throughout it all! :) Thanks to all who made it and for the well-wishes from those who couldn't make it. Love you all!
11. Puerto Vallarta was the honeymoon spot and it was marvelous! Five days with the person you love more than any other human on earth with nothing to do but relax, ride rickety old school buses downtown, snorkel, ride a ferry to an island (twice!), eat lots of food, try some different drinks, eat at some fancy restuarants, and probably more that I'm forgetting...it was glorious! The only downside was that I left my phone down there...
Now we're trying to get our apartment in North Liberty put together. Rachel's up in Sioux Center taking some continuing education classes at Dordt, so I'm hoping to get some stuff done while she's gone. :) Moving in together sure makes for a lot of work and makes you realize how much stuff you really don't need. Yay for consigning and Goodwill! Photos to come soon!
3.13.2010
Life happens.
I've been reading some friends' blogs and realizing how long it's been since I've updated mine. Since I moved to Coralville. So a lot has happened during that time. Here's the run down for you faithful few who still might chance to look at my site. :)
1. I've started working at Systems Unlimited as a job coach. This is similar to what I was doing before, working at Hope Haven, with some major differences. (I know I gave some details in my last post, but now that I've worked here for 6+ months, I think I have a better feel for the job). I'm still working with people who have disabilities. But now I work with adults at their jobs. My day typically consists of picking up individuals for work, transporting them to work via my car or company van, helping them clock in and helping them with their jobs (i.e. cleaning, rolling silverware, bussing tables, data entry into computers, and some other types of jobs). Some people don't need much help at all and I just check up on them once a week...others have jobs where I am checking their work and helping them do their jobs better. Sorry I can't be more detailed...confidentiality and all that. :) But I do enjoy the job and getting to know my co-workers and the individuals that I serve.
2. We've found a church home! Rachel and I have begun attending a church plant in Iowa City that meets in a music building associated with the University of Iowa. It's a Presbyterian church (PCA) called One Ancient Hope (http://www.oneancienthope.com/) and the church is very determined to serve the hurting people around them, reaching out to neighbors, homeless, homosexual, and others that the church (sadly) often rejects. It has been a joy to begin getting to know the pastor and his wife during this time, as well as so many other people who really have a heart for serving Christ here in Iowa City!
3. Rachel and I are engaged!! :) As of February 12, 2010, we are officially going to get married! It's been such a whirlwind as we continue growing together, but also planning the wedding and trying to get everything ready for this summer. The big day is June 26, 2010, and we'll be getting married at Inspiration Hills. We're both really excited about this! :)
4. I'm an uncle!! My twin brother, Nathan, and his wife Stephanie, had a beautiful little girl on February 13, 2010. Her name is Lilian Marie Super and is growing fast. I had my first chance to babysit last week, and it was a lot of fun (except that I couldn't really get her to stop crying). Oh well...Na and Steph say that they'll try to give me some pointers someday. :)
5. As of this coming Monday, I will be all finished applying for the University of Iowa College of Education! I am going to be taking classes to become a Special Education teacher, hopefully for middle school (maybe elementary?) students. Not quite sure, but doors are all opening, and we're praying that they'll keep open so that I can become accepted into the University. Feel free to pray for that, as well. :)
I'm sure there are other things that I am forgetting, but those are the big events that have been affecting our lives here. I hope all is well with everyone and feel free to comment or email with news or just to say hi! :)
1. I've started working at Systems Unlimited as a job coach. This is similar to what I was doing before, working at Hope Haven, with some major differences. (I know I gave some details in my last post, but now that I've worked here for 6+ months, I think I have a better feel for the job). I'm still working with people who have disabilities. But now I work with adults at their jobs. My day typically consists of picking up individuals for work, transporting them to work via my car or company van, helping them clock in and helping them with their jobs (i.e. cleaning, rolling silverware, bussing tables, data entry into computers, and some other types of jobs). Some people don't need much help at all and I just check up on them once a week...others have jobs where I am checking their work and helping them do their jobs better. Sorry I can't be more detailed...confidentiality and all that. :) But I do enjoy the job and getting to know my co-workers and the individuals that I serve.
2. We've found a church home! Rachel and I have begun attending a church plant in Iowa City that meets in a music building associated with the University of Iowa. It's a Presbyterian church (PCA) called One Ancient Hope (http://www.oneancienthope.com/) and the church is very determined to serve the hurting people around them, reaching out to neighbors, homeless, homosexual, and others that the church (sadly) often rejects. It has been a joy to begin getting to know the pastor and his wife during this time, as well as so many other people who really have a heart for serving Christ here in Iowa City!
3. Rachel and I are engaged!! :) As of February 12, 2010, we are officially going to get married! It's been such a whirlwind as we continue growing together, but also planning the wedding and trying to get everything ready for this summer. The big day is June 26, 2010, and we'll be getting married at Inspiration Hills. We're both really excited about this! :)
4. I'm an uncle!! My twin brother, Nathan, and his wife Stephanie, had a beautiful little girl on February 13, 2010. Her name is Lilian Marie Super and is growing fast. I had my first chance to babysit last week, and it was a lot of fun (except that I couldn't really get her to stop crying). Oh well...Na and Steph say that they'll try to give me some pointers someday. :)
5. As of this coming Monday, I will be all finished applying for the University of Iowa College of Education! I am going to be taking classes to become a Special Education teacher, hopefully for middle school (maybe elementary?) students. Not quite sure, but doors are all opening, and we're praying that they'll keep open so that I can become accepted into the University. Feel free to pray for that, as well. :)
I'm sure there are other things that I am forgetting, but those are the big events that have been affecting our lives here. I hope all is well with everyone and feel free to comment or email with news or just to say hi! :)
8.17.2009
Moved in
So I'm finally moved into my new apartment. I just brought the last of my stuff from SC last night and now I can officially say that I live in Coralville, Iowa. It's been a fun ride - I've started working at Systems Unlimited - job coaching. I thought I was going to be working in their day program, but apparently they needed help in the job coach area (which I didn't even know existed)! :) That's okay though, I like the work. I wasn't sure at first - I'm still working with people who have developmental disabilities, but a lot of these people are more independent than my boys at Niessink, so it's a definite transition. But I'm learning that the job is a lot of what you make it. You can decide to sit there and read a book while the people are working - only prompting them when they need it...or you can choose to interact with them while they're working. The only tricky part to interacting with them is doing it in a way that isn't distracting them from their jobs. There are a lot of job sites around and each one requires different amounts of interaction. A lot of cleaning jobs, but I've been cleaning at the motel since I was 7, so I'm used to that! :) Well, I'm off to the bank to get my new account opened up. Hope all is well on the other end of this post! Take care, all! (I'll try to publish pictures of the apartment later)!
6.17.2009
Entitlement
This last week, I've had a lot of time to be lazy and think...mostly because Rachel's been in Europe (Ireland and the Netherlands) and doesn't get back to the States until next week. Anyway, I was thinking about how I (and a lot of people that I come in contact with) consider ourselves "entitled people." We think that because we live in the States, we have the right to do what we want. We're citizens of the USA, so we should have the rights that come with that position, right? But what did we do to receive that right? We were born here. Some people who weren't born here have had to fight for that right because they want what "Americans" have. So how does that affect the way we live? I think it makes us arrogant. And it can make people not care about what's going on in the world around us. I've seen this first hand - I have a job, an apartment, a church, a God, clothes, food, people who love and care about me, and so much more, and because of that, I often don't look around at other people who don't have those things. Here's a thought from James 2:
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
As a Christian, I think I'm entitled to all the "blessings" of God, like so many other people. But really, I have so much already, so why should I be so concerned with everything I have? God has called us to be on the watch for others whom we can serve - isn't that what Jesus did? Washing his disciples feet and ultimately dying for people he didn't even know?
As I think about the concept of entitlement throughout the Bible, I can actually see a lot of examples where God's people felt the effects of it, too.
First one - Jonah: felt entitled to a plant that grew up on its own overnight to shade him. Then, when it died suddenly, he was huffy with God - saying that it wasn't fair that God would take that away from him.
Then there's David. King David. He figures because he's the king and he saw a naked girl taking a bath from his lookout over the city, he can call her and have sex with her. It was all fine until she ends up pregnant and her husband is fighting for King David in the war. David figures...meh, I'm the king, so I can cover this up by putting her husband on the front lines and having him killed. Then I'll just marry her and no one will know the difference.
And Jacob feels he was entitled to a birthright and blessing from his father, even though it was really Esau's right to have both. So he tricks his father and brother, enraging Esau and driving him away from his family in fear of his life. He never gets to see his mom again, and he stays away for a long time because of his deception.
While all of these people may have jumped in with feeling like they were entitled to something, but God still used them to do mighty things. Jonah preached to the people of Ninivah and they repented. David did marry Bathsheba, and their first son died. But God then gave them Solomon, who would become a great and wise king in the future. And Jacob was reconciled with his brother, becoming the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. So God didn't condemn them (good thing, because i'm just like them in my desires for entitlement), but they had rougher lives because of the choices that they had made.
So bringing it back to personal application now, I grew up watching a white Jesus with blue eyes and a nice smile walking around and doing the things that were written in the Bible. Now I'm not saying that just because Jesus was a white guy, I'm scarred for life, but it really made me think that because I was born and raised a Christian, I was one of the ones that God really died for. Now before anyone calls me a heretic, I do believe that God died for me and all people of all races, but hear me out. I was reading in the book of Ephesians, and here's what I read:
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." (Eph. 2:19-22)
It just made me realize more plainly a fact that I already knew, that we (white, United States citizens) are a part of the "foreigners and aliens" that Paul was talking about here. We were never the original intenders for God's redemption, but by his grace, we have been given the chance to be called children of God. Amazing!!!! One last part of Eph. 2 to help reiterate my last point:
"For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
We're not entitled to anything. God has given us grace in giving us what we do not deserve. Thanks to any who have made it this far. I'd welcome any thoughts on the topic. Have a great week!
4.21.2009
525, 600 Minutes (almost)
So it's been almost a year. When you don't have the Internet at your home, sometimes it's easy to forget that things like blogs exist. So I figure I should give an update of the last 9 months or so. Most of the time since I've gotten back from Venezuela has been split up a number of ways:
I'm still dating her (mostly via cell phone from Montana to Iowa), so that takes up a good amount of time at night after work. And a lot more time when we actually get to visit each other like we did this week. :)
2. Becca.
My little sister, Becca, is now a freshman at Northwestern College (I know! the irony!) and so we try to hang out together at least once a week. It's been really amazing getting to know her better and to see her mature as a young woman of God. I love seeing that she's making amazing friends, and she's really finding herself at college. And she's going to be 19 on Thursday! (wow, I feel old). Happy Birthday, Becca!!
3. Niessink.
Good ol' Niessink home. How I love thee. Sometimes. :) That's the boys' home that I work at, and it has definitely had some ups and downs in it. For a while, I think I was getting burnt out, just because of the crazy, split-shift hours and the way some of the guys were acting for a while was just hard to deal with. But God keeps giving patience...and it's a good things, too...because I wouldn't be able to do it otherwise. :)
4. Christ Community Church.
I love my church. It's amazing to be a part of the OuTbUrSt! jr. high youth program and be able to see some of those kids mature and grow in Christ everyday. I also started giving guitar lessons to 4 of the youth in our church, but that's cut back to 2 because of spring sports schedules. There are some amazingly talented kids in our church and community. Love the family and the fact that Christ and the Bible is preached!
5. Kinsey Elementary.
I also have the wonderful privilege of volunteering at the local elementary school about 4 days a week in the midst of my random schedule. They are very flexible with when I help...usually from about 12:30pm to 2 or 3 (depending on if I work at Niessink at 2:30 or not). So that's been awesome helping out one of the 4th grade boys that has some learning disabilities. Through that, I've been able to help some of the other kids and get to know them (and the teachers), as well.
6. Friends.
Then the rest of my time has been spent trying to spend time with friends and continue developing relationships with some of my friends in the area.
7. Medical scares.
I found out about a month ago that my mom got taken to the ER for heart-attack like symptoms. That was a really scary time that really reminded me that I'm not in control and nothing in this life is certain. But (Praise God!) there were a lot of people praying, and it ended up being related to her acid reflux. Some acid had somehow gotten into her esophogas and caused the chest pains and lack of breathing. So she's home and doing a lot better now. Then we found out in March that Rachel's mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. So that's been a roller coaster in itself. Greta just had the port put in on Friday for her chemo and starts treatments in the beginning of May.
8. News!
So amid all the other things that have been happening, Rachel and I have been praying and trying to see if there is a spot where we can both get jobs so that we can be closer together. Well, Rachel had been interviewing with a few different schools, and one of them (Heritage Christian School in North Liberty, IA) asked to fly her out for a second interview. Rachel had that interview last week Thursday, but they said they won't be able to get back to her until the end of May. In the meantime, I applied and interviewed for a job in Iowa City (about 10 miles from North Liberty). While I wasn't offered the supervisor's position that I applied for, I was offered a job as a direct care staff with the company (Systems Unlimited). The company is similar to Hope Haven, in that it serves people with disabilities, in order to try and help them reach the potential they have within them. I would be working in the vocational setting, directly with clients at the workplace, helping them with their goals and objectives during the workday. (8-5!!) Anywayz, we were really unsure about whether I should take this job or not, because we didn't know if Rachel was going to get the job. And so I talked with Rachel for a while after her interview as she was traveling home from Iowa City (to Rock Valley), and about an hour later, the school called back and offered her the job!! So we both have jobs in Iowa City that start in August!! We're moving to Iowa City!!! Praise God!! Rachel told me later that she had prayed for God to either open the door wide open or shut it completely...and a little while later, she gets offered the job. It's a huge blessing, and we are so thankful. Rachel and I are going to look for apartments in June and July and hopefully be able to move into our apartments in late July, early August.
It's gonna be weird...leaving Sioux Center. Now that Becca's in the area, and I have good friends and a great church...but I really feel like God has orchestrated this whole thing, so I'm excited to see where it goes from here. I'm not sure how many people still read this, but if you do, I hope this helps give some semblence of where life is leading right now. Glory to God!!
1. Rachel.
I'm still dating her (mostly via cell phone from Montana to Iowa), so that takes up a good amount of time at night after work. And a lot more time when we actually get to visit each other like we did this week. :)
2. Becca.
My little sister, Becca, is now a freshman at Northwestern College (I know! the irony!) and so we try to hang out together at least once a week. It's been really amazing getting to know her better and to see her mature as a young woman of God. I love seeing that she's making amazing friends, and she's really finding herself at college. And she's going to be 19 on Thursday! (wow, I feel old). Happy Birthday, Becca!!
3. Niessink.
Good ol' Niessink home. How I love thee. Sometimes. :) That's the boys' home that I work at, and it has definitely had some ups and downs in it. For a while, I think I was getting burnt out, just because of the crazy, split-shift hours and the way some of the guys were acting for a while was just hard to deal with. But God keeps giving patience...and it's a good things, too...because I wouldn't be able to do it otherwise. :)
4. Christ Community Church.
I love my church. It's amazing to be a part of the OuTbUrSt! jr. high youth program and be able to see some of those kids mature and grow in Christ everyday. I also started giving guitar lessons to 4 of the youth in our church, but that's cut back to 2 because of spring sports schedules. There are some amazingly talented kids in our church and community. Love the family and the fact that Christ and the Bible is preached!
5. Kinsey Elementary.
I also have the wonderful privilege of volunteering at the local elementary school about 4 days a week in the midst of my random schedule. They are very flexible with when I help...usually from about 12:30pm to 2 or 3 (depending on if I work at Niessink at 2:30 or not). So that's been awesome helping out one of the 4th grade boys that has some learning disabilities. Through that, I've been able to help some of the other kids and get to know them (and the teachers), as well.
6. Friends.
Then the rest of my time has been spent trying to spend time with friends and continue developing relationships with some of my friends in the area.
7. Medical scares.
I found out about a month ago that my mom got taken to the ER for heart-attack like symptoms. That was a really scary time that really reminded me that I'm not in control and nothing in this life is certain. But (Praise God!) there were a lot of people praying, and it ended up being related to her acid reflux. Some acid had somehow gotten into her esophogas and caused the chest pains and lack of breathing. So she's home and doing a lot better now. Then we found out in March that Rachel's mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. So that's been a roller coaster in itself. Greta just had the port put in on Friday for her chemo and starts treatments in the beginning of May.
8. News!
So amid all the other things that have been happening, Rachel and I have been praying and trying to see if there is a spot where we can both get jobs so that we can be closer together. Well, Rachel had been interviewing with a few different schools, and one of them (Heritage Christian School in North Liberty, IA) asked to fly her out for a second interview. Rachel had that interview last week Thursday, but they said they won't be able to get back to her until the end of May. In the meantime, I applied and interviewed for a job in Iowa City (about 10 miles from North Liberty). While I wasn't offered the supervisor's position that I applied for, I was offered a job as a direct care staff with the company (Systems Unlimited). The company is similar to Hope Haven, in that it serves people with disabilities, in order to try and help them reach the potential they have within them. I would be working in the vocational setting, directly with clients at the workplace, helping them with their goals and objectives during the workday. (8-5!!) Anywayz, we were really unsure about whether I should take this job or not, because we didn't know if Rachel was going to get the job. And so I talked with Rachel for a while after her interview as she was traveling home from Iowa City (to Rock Valley), and about an hour later, the school called back and offered her the job!! So we both have jobs in Iowa City that start in August!! We're moving to Iowa City!!! Praise God!! Rachel told me later that she had prayed for God to either open the door wide open or shut it completely...and a little while later, she gets offered the job. It's a huge blessing, and we are so thankful. Rachel and I are going to look for apartments in June and July and hopefully be able to move into our apartments in late July, early August.
It's gonna be weird...leaving Sioux Center. Now that Becca's in the area, and I have good friends and a great church...but I really feel like God has orchestrated this whole thing, so I'm excited to see where it goes from here. I'm not sure how many people still read this, but if you do, I hope this helps give some semblence of where life is leading right now. Glory to God!!
8.13.2008
We're home!!
Hey everyone!
This is just a short note to let you all know that we made it home last night at about 4:30 PM. Here's the schedule of our trip home.
Monday night:
7:00 PM - left Vida Abundante in Valencia
9:15 PM - arrived at airport in Caracas
11:00 PM - finally made it through customs and arrived at our boarding gate
11:45 PM - began boarding
Tuesday morning:
12:30 AM - flew out of Caracas airport on Canada Air
6:30 AM - landed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8:45 AM - made it through customs and found our gate
10:00 AM - flew out of Toronto airport
12:00 PM - landed at Minneapolis
12:30 PM - left for home
4:30 PM - arrived at CCC in Sioux Center, IA
5:15 PM - got my stuff home and CRASHED!!
It was a long trip, but everyone made it safely and (praise God!) no one was sick. I do have to relay one story from the traveling...
While we were waiting to board the plane in Caracas, one of the ladies that worked at the airport came up and asked if any of us were John Doornenbal. So John raises his hand and she says that they've been looking for him. Because of some earlier complications, John had bought his ticket late and somehow got bumped into first class. So we all figure they're boarding first class and we missed the announcement. So John goes with them, and then next thing we know, John is putting on an orange "Security" vest and then going off with the lady. We thought that was kind of strange, so then we look outside and John is out on the runway waving at us. That's the last we saw of him for about 10 minutes. John finally came back and told us that the dogs had smelled all the coffee in his checked bag that he had brought back as gifts. So John had to open his bag and let the armed guards go through everything. It all turned out fine, but it was a situation I'm sure he won't soon forget (and neither will the team).
Well everyone, thanks for all the prayers and support that you've given me and my team while on this trip. We served Jesus on this trip, and now my prayer is for continued follow-up for the people who accepted Christ and recommitted to Christ during that time - that they will continue to grow and learn more and more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. And that I (and our team) will continue to use the things we learned in Venezuela as we re-enter life in the States. I love you all and feel free to email me with any questions or comments!
This is just a short note to let you all know that we made it home last night at about 4:30 PM. Here's the schedule of our trip home.
Monday night:
7:00 PM - left Vida Abundante in Valencia
9:15 PM - arrived at airport in Caracas
11:00 PM - finally made it through customs and arrived at our boarding gate
11:45 PM - began boarding
Tuesday morning:
12:30 AM - flew out of Caracas airport on Canada Air
6:30 AM - landed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8:45 AM - made it through customs and found our gate
10:00 AM - flew out of Toronto airport
12:00 PM - landed at Minneapolis
12:30 PM - left for home
4:30 PM - arrived at CCC in Sioux Center, IA
5:15 PM - got my stuff home and CRASHED!!
It was a long trip, but everyone made it safely and (praise God!) no one was sick. I do have to relay one story from the traveling...
While we were waiting to board the plane in Caracas, one of the ladies that worked at the airport came up and asked if any of us were John Doornenbal. So John raises his hand and she says that they've been looking for him. Because of some earlier complications, John had bought his ticket late and somehow got bumped into first class. So we all figure they're boarding first class and we missed the announcement. So John goes with them, and then next thing we know, John is putting on an orange "Security" vest and then going off with the lady. We thought that was kind of strange, so then we look outside and John is out on the runway waving at us. That's the last we saw of him for about 10 minutes. John finally came back and told us that the dogs had smelled all the coffee in his checked bag that he had brought back as gifts. So John had to open his bag and let the armed guards go through everything. It all turned out fine, but it was a situation I'm sure he won't soon forget (and neither will the team).
Well everyone, thanks for all the prayers and support that you've given me and my team while on this trip. We served Jesus on this trip, and now my prayer is for continued follow-up for the people who accepted Christ and recommitted to Christ during that time - that they will continue to grow and learn more and more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. And that I (and our team) will continue to use the things we learned in Venezuela as we re-enter life in the States. I love you all and feel free to email me with any questions or comments!
8.07.2008
¡Dios es bueno!
¡Hola, mí familia y mís amigos! ¿Como están? So my day has been fantastic...but it didn't start off that way. i taught ESL this morning in La Begoña and was frustrusted with feeling like i wasn't teaching well and that everything i said came out bumbled. so then this afternoon, i taught both classes of ESL because usually i have one class outside and Pastor Randy teaches the other one inside. but because of massive downpours, we combined classes inside with me as the teacher. we went through the lesson - teaching different foods and things about meals - and at the end we read through the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet before the last supper. When we finished, I was talking with everyone about Jesus and I asked the girl, Vanessa, (there were only 4 in the class - 3 boys and 1 girl) if she knew Jesus personally. She said that she knew about him, but she didn't go to church or anything like that. anywayz...I was really tempted to give her the book we have (bilingual) on the 4 spiritual laws and encourage her to read through it tonight, but then I felt like I was being tempted to give her the book and not ask her if she wanted to go through it with me. So i asked her and she said that she did. to make a long story short, we talked about what it meant to accept Christ and how she could do that. and she let me pray with her and it was amazing!! i am so thankful to Jesus for the transformation in her life...its fantastic to see her spirit soar and her desire to become a part of the church and everything like that. totally God's power. and i know that especially because if anyone without God's help would have stayed and listened to me when I was stuttering and messing up my words like I was...they wouldn't have stayed with me until the end. :)
Oh, and you guys could pray for us - Satan's been trying to cause a lot of commotion by accidents. there have been at least 5 people who have fallen in some manner. one lady, Sra. Delia, fractured her arm, Victor, my host dad, fell off whatever he was standing on while doing some electrical work today, and one of the missionaries down here, Valerie, fell on a step in front of the church, and I slipped and fell while playing soccer. (i'm fine...not hurt...but there's a lot of falling happening...so prayers for safety would be great).
So that was my day today...and now for some pictures!!
Megan, Sarahi, y yo (me)
This is me getting mangos from Marines' (pronounced Mar-E-ness) casa:
And this is me and Marines:
Here's a pic of us helping with childrens' ministry in the afternoon before leaving to teach english at las quintas:
this one's for you, mom and dad...remember how you got frustrated that some customers in the motel from latin america put their toilet paper in the trash cans? well, apparently here, the pipes are so small that if you flush the TP, it clogs the pipes and the house gets flooded. So my family was kind enough to present us with a sign on the back of the bathroom door to help us remember:
Ludavina: Wendy's mom and the queen of the kitchen. She's amazing and loving and NEVER lets us go hungry! :) such a servant!
Victor and I practicing for Sunday morning in his house:
Oh, and you guys could pray for us - Satan's been trying to cause a lot of commotion by accidents. there have been at least 5 people who have fallen in some manner. one lady, Sra. Delia, fractured her arm, Victor, my host dad, fell off whatever he was standing on while doing some electrical work today, and one of the missionaries down here, Valerie, fell on a step in front of the church, and I slipped and fell while playing soccer. (i'm fine...not hurt...but there's a lot of falling happening...so prayers for safety would be great).
So that was my day today...and now for some pictures!!
Megan, Sarahi, y yo (me)
This is me getting mangos from Marines' (pronounced Mar-E-ness) casa:
And this is me and Marines:
Here's a pic of us helping with childrens' ministry in the afternoon before leaving to teach english at las quintas:
this one's for you, mom and dad...remember how you got frustrated that some customers in the motel from latin america put their toilet paper in the trash cans? well, apparently here, the pipes are so small that if you flush the TP, it clogs the pipes and the house gets flooded. So my family was kind enough to present us with a sign on the back of the bathroom door to help us remember:
Ludavina: Wendy's mom and the queen of the kitchen. She's amazing and loving and NEVER lets us go hungry! :) such a servant!
Victor and I practicing for Sunday morning in his house:
Arantxa: she's a drama queen with a great heart:
8.05.2008
ESL and flying lessons
Hey everyone!
Sorry, no pics this post, just a short update. Everything is going very well here in Valencia. I was a little discouraged yesterday with feeling like everything was very disorganized, but today went a lot better with teaching english and I think a lot of it had to do with a change of attitude - instead of thinking that I wasn't qualified to teach English, I started saying that I was going to be faithful where God put me and let him do the work. It really showed today - I could see the growth in the people I worked with and got a chance to share a Bible story and read and answer questions about it too. the story in Matthew 4 - the temptation of Jesus. It was a good story to keep the kids' attention, but also to show that Jesus is God and let the students have a little practice on numbers (40 days and nights), as well as a couple other vocab words we've practiced over the last few days. No one's sick yet, but one girl did get hurt by having a bunch of others hold down a long branch of a tree and let go so she swung back and forth!! another kid did it and just swung back and forth - had a great thrill...but Fadia lost her grip and went flying off like a catapult. she's in the hospital and might have to have surgery. please pray for her!!
so thanks for your thoughts and prayers - i will write more later and send more pics! special hello to my family and rachel! :) buenas noches!!
P.S. Tyler - Victor, Wendy, y Issac send their greetings back your way! ;)
Sorry, no pics this post, just a short update. Everything is going very well here in Valencia. I was a little discouraged yesterday with feeling like everything was very disorganized, but today went a lot better with teaching english and I think a lot of it had to do with a change of attitude - instead of thinking that I wasn't qualified to teach English, I started saying that I was going to be faithful where God put me and let him do the work. It really showed today - I could see the growth in the people I worked with and got a chance to share a Bible story and read and answer questions about it too. the story in Matthew 4 - the temptation of Jesus. It was a good story to keep the kids' attention, but also to show that Jesus is God and let the students have a little practice on numbers (40 days and nights), as well as a couple other vocab words we've practiced over the last few days. No one's sick yet, but one girl did get hurt by having a bunch of others hold down a long branch of a tree and let go so she swung back and forth!! another kid did it and just swung back and forth - had a great thrill...but Fadia lost her grip and went flying off like a catapult. she's in the hospital and might have to have surgery. please pray for her!!
so thanks for your thoughts and prayers - i will write more later and send more pics! special hello to my family and rachel! :) buenas noches!!
P.S. Tyler - Victor, Wendy, y Issac send their greetings back your way! ;)
8.02.2008
Viajar y mi familiá
¡Hola, mi familía y mis amigos! ¿Como están? I hope that you are all doing well. We arrived in Valencia, Venezuela at about 4:00 this morning and met our host families. I´ve been up for about an hour now and it is currently 12:30. We´re so blessed to have awesome people to stay with and being able to stay with our families until our meeting tonight at about 7. My host family is a young couple named Wendy and Victor. They have a soon-to-be 3 year old named Isaac. (pronounced E-saac). It´s been fun to hang out with them today.
Here´s us before we leave:
As for the trip down here, we flew out of Minneapolis at about 11:30 yesterday and had a 2 hour flight to Toronto. During that time, I had an awesome experience that was just a testiment to what I know God´s going to do during our time here. I talked with a guy named Julian on the plane, who was going home to Toronto. He was someone that absolutely epitimizes ¨moral relativism.¨ He related to me with how I work at Hope Haven, and his mom works at a similar place. But as I was talking about how my faith in Jesus influences my work, he shared that he wasn´t a Christian and he thought it was all okay because we all had the same ¨moral value system.¨ Long story short, he doesn´t believe in God, but if I want to, then it´s fine for me. He is raising his children to make their own choices in everything from diet to religion - and his ¨fulfillment in life¨ is making others happy. So if you could say a prayer for him...I think a seed was planted, but it didn´t look like he was very open to my encouragement to at least check out the Bible. (Especially since his wife was a Catholic - examining the Bible would be a good way to relate to her).
So that was a really great experience and a reminder that this trip is in God´s hands. We got to Toronto at 1:30 or so and then spent a 6 hour layover playing cards and talking. Here are some pictures to show you what we were doing.
After that, we got on a flight to Caracus, Venezuela and began the 6-hour trek south. We arrived at the airport at 1AM and (praise God!) we got through Customs in about an hour. The only little snag we had was that the people weren´t going to give us our guitars and keyboard. Thankfully, we got that figured out.
Here are some pictures from the trip down to Caracus. And then also, some pictures of Marie and I with our host family, Victor, Wendy, y Issac. Thanks for all the prayers and I will let you all know how everything progresses from here! Love you all!!
The view from out my window:
Mi familiá:
8.01.2008
I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...
Well, I'm in a Minneapolis hotel, just before I get breakfast and get ready to board our flight. We fly out this morning at 11, going first to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and then get into Caracas, Venezuela around 11 or 12 PM. It should be a crazy day of traveling and meeting people and who knows what else! This is just the start - it's a good thing to remember that I'm not in control here - God's taking charge! I will post more when I get into the country. Thanks for everyone who's praying...I would love it if you could keep it up over the whole trip! Love you all!
