Happiness Begins: A Place at the Table
As I walked, my blood started to boil, I was so angry that I was close to tears. We found Fernando hunched under a tree and the boy towering over him.
Forty-Eight Hours
After we put a big, wooden cross up outside our front door, we had a crazy forty-eight hours. We had been going slow and steady, meeting people one at a time, accompanying the missionary family already here to remote pueblos for prayer services, and brainstorming what this community could use. Moreover, we were still acclimating to the heat, caring for a newborn, and running the kids to and from school four times daily because they each have different daily schedules. Then we put the cross up…
Feast Or Famine
This life in Haiti is one of extremes. One moment rain is pouring down in sheets and the next, the sun comes out and scorches the earth dry again.
Look Up
He ever so gently chimed in as soon as I was done with my questioning and said, “My daughter, won’t you slow down and look up?” And for a moment, I stepped outside of myself and my struggles and I looked up.
Learning to Live
I’m in a country I’ve never been to and I’m staying for the year; it’s really hot and there is no A/C; I don’t know where anything is; and I don’t speak the language. As I write this down I have to admit: that’s terrifying! … Living in Haiti is hard. I can do hard things though, with the help of Jesus.
Seeking God: “Busita de Jesus” in Action
It is a ministry of encounter, of witnessing to a culture of encounter, and then serving those we meet. In essence, we are seeking out God in the poor, the marginalized, the outcast, the sick, and the forgotten, wherever they may be: physically, socially, visible or invisible.
His Abundant Mercy
It didn’t take long for God to remind me that the weakness and inadequacies of my flesh were exactly why He must humble Himself in hiding His glory because He wants to be welcomed into my mess.
Crawling Our Way To Glory
Crawling. Isn’t that how we sometimes live the Christian life? We talk about the Christian walk, climbing the mountain, running to attain the goal…but in reality, it seems that we’re slowly creeping along on our hands and knees, doing all we can not to give up before we reach the top.
Grace Upon Grace
Fr. David reminds us that Christ has called us here to serve the people of Haiti, but we ourselves are not Christ. We are fully human and must establish and keep boundaries and set priorities. Jesus is the one who saves, not us.
Intake 2018 – Call to Missions!
Why would someone become a foreign missionary? The members of the 2018 Intake class tell their stories.
Perspectives In Peru
We have been in Peru for 2 1/2 weeks. We have had a lot to process as life here is very different from our life in Minnesota. Our children want to share some of their perspectives with you!
How Beautiful Are The Feet
These few weeks have taught me more about living in sync with nature. We cook with foods that are available locally instead of going to a grocery store with hundreds of options. We decide when to wash our laundry based on the rain forecast, since they are hung to dry—after they are hand washed. Many conveniences that I’ve taken for granted are not part of our life here. There is both beauty and challenge in the simplicity of it. But we choose this route so that we can walk in solidarity with the poor whom we serve.
My Heart Is Haitian
On Saturday February 9th, Team Haiti was excited to be leaving for the mission field after being one of the last teams to set out. We said our final goodbyes to our community in Louisiana and hit the road. Our fun in the van on the way to New Orleans was soon interrupted by news of “manifestasyons” happening in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti and the airport we were meaning to fly into the next day.
The Church Is Poor In Taiwan
Christianity is a simple and common concept in the United States, but I am learning that is not so in Taiwan. We are learning about the gods and ancestors that a majority of the Taiwanese people worship; about the ideals of wealth, power, success, superstition, and education that govern the people’s lives.
Another New Home
We began our descent into Lima, and when the clouds finally cleared, we could see the ocean and the beautiful mountains. As we looked out the window, Jimena’s eyes filled with wonder and she leaned over to me and said with a gentle and warm smile, “El mar! Bienvenidos a tu hogar nuevo.”
Six-year-olds Talk Missions
The Intake class of 2018 has been commissioned and many of our newest missionaries are already on their way to posts in Peru, Haiti, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Taiwan. Check out what two of our littlest new missionaries have to say about Intake training, their new posts, snakes, cockroaches, their cousins’ names…
Sparks In The Stubble
I am not the person who is going to change the world, but Jesus is, and He knows that we are simply just a spark in the stubble. And that’s all He needs to start a fire.
Love Over Fear
I am ready to move to Taiwan. I’m ready to love, and serve, and bring the amazing gift of Jesus Christ to my brothers and sisters there. No matter what the future holds, I’m confident in the love of Christ. I’m confident in His goodness. I’m confident that only with God as the center of my life is all this possible.
