On the Road to Somewhere

Well, I'm well on my way to being a missionary with International Teams. I have completely filled out their extensive long term missionary application and will be submitting it tomorrow. I was struck yesterday by two things that I read/heard.

The first was reading about a missionary family in Medellin, Colombia that has been there for 15 years. I-Teams interviewed them in January of this year and asked them about their ministry. You can read the full interview here (http://www.iteams.org/news/archive/jan13_06.shtml). It was amazing to read about the lives of drug addicts, prostitutes, alcoholics, adulterors and former gang members that had been transformed through Christ. The family said it has been a blessing to be there during this time of harvest and see these changes. They were saying many young girls will get plastic surgery and other body enhancements because they are cheap and then turn around and become prostitutes to make money, because the job market is so tough there. But praise God, they are finding out the love of Jesus and turning away from that lifestyle.

The second was last night when I attended the Annex, the university service at my church. One of the interns was speaking last night, and gave a very powerful message about how so many times we are not content and seek to be better in some aspect of our life. We tell ourselves we need better clothes, or food, or cars, and many other things. He said it was because we simply are not accepting God's love and content with that, seeking to find our hope in material things. We simply need to trust him, and that is what scares a lot of people, maybe not on the surface, but deep down for so many Christians.

This made me think about something that I have not really been focused on. It made me realize that when I am considering locations, I need to not pick based on what fits "me" but what will bring me closest to God and what will stretch me. Only then will I be dependent on God. But, I also need to be careful not to become too stretched, or I'll find myself on a plane home to Colorado. I'm praying God will find a place for me that is a good compromise.

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!

No Ecuador

Well, despite my best efforts to try and workout something with the project in Cayambe, it's just not going to happen, at least not this year. This throws everything into a mess, and I will now decide what to do next. I still believe God has called me for missions, and feel strongly about the culture down in South America, I just have to find the right project. I have several viable options at this point that I can see:

• Ixiamas, Bolivia - As I had mentioned before, this is SIFAT's main project, located northwest of the jungle town of Rurrenabaque, Bolivia. If Cayambe is a possibility for 2007, I could go here in the interim and work.
• La Palmera - During my time at La Palmera in Trinidad, I received interest from the directors of the project in having me for a long term period. They are currently on furlough, so I'm not sure what the timetable would be for this, but I know they are interested in having me.
• I could find a completely new organization, such as I-Teams that I went through for my trip in 2003 and ask to be assigned to a project in Latin America and then they would place me based on their needs and my skills.

Please join me in prayer over this, it is not something I had put a lot of thought into, as I thought Ecuador would work out.