New Outlook

After 24 hours of being really confused, depressed and disappointed, I've now moved on and have focused my efforts on moving forward. Fortunately I still feel very called to the missions field and have a desire to find a place where God wants me to serve. As for SIFAT's other opportunity, I don't feel like the Lord is calling me to Ixiamas, Bolivia. I'm sure it's a neat ministry and I hope it continues to develop well for SIFAT, but it's just not something that I want to be a part of.

Yesterday I submitted an interest form to International Teams, the organization I went through to Bolivia in 2003. In addition to sponsoring La Palmera, the project I went to last year and in 2003, they also have a variety of other projects all over Latin America. From glancing at their website and ministry areas, combining that with my skills and interests, three possibilities jump out:

• La Palmera C.C.C. (Trinidad, Bolivia) - Lucho officially gave me an offer to be a long term volunteer at La Palmera running the computer lab and mentoring the high school students as my church ministry. It sounds very appealing, I'm just not sure if that's what God wants me to do.
• Medellin, Colombia - This is another likely place, as they have a well developed youth ministry here with technical needs as well. Now before all of you jump to conclusions about me be crazy in considering Colombia, I should tell you that Colombia's crime rate has dropped dramatically in the last 5 years, and even kidnappings are down too. The rebels are on the defensive and the future is looking brighter (it is one of the last remaining democratic strongholds in S. America). Most of the kidnappings occur when traveling, but many people have reported very safe conditions in the cities themselves, Medellin being one of them. I also trust I-Teams in their judgement, they have a very conservative attitude towards mission work and will not purposely put missionaries in harms way.
• Quito, Ecuador - This seems like an unlikely choice because it would be through another organization that I-Teams works closely with called Youth World, and they don't seem to have any tech work involved, but wouldn't that be ironic after all the planning I put in to going to Cayambe!
• The Unknown - The facts I was looking at on I-Teams website are a few months old. It's possible new ministries have popped up and need help or older ministries have new needs. I-Teams other Latin America locations include Queretaro, Mexico (outside of Mexico City); Tegucigalpa, Honduras; San Isidro, Costa Rica and Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

In my next steps I will work with I-Teams to decide which of these locations is the best fit for me and then I will be required to attend their training. I will most likely withdraw from SIFAT's training since the I-Teams training will probably be held at some point in the summer and conflict. As part of the process I-Teams will walk alongside of me every step of the way in making sure I'm doing the right thing. I feel confident between the prayers of me, them and you the supporters that God will speak to me and lead me in a direction that will serve Him best and fit me best and I want to give this to God.

Thank you all for your continued support and I will keep you updated!