June 29, 2008

Yello! It’s Carly here. I haven’t blogged yet, so this should be fun!!! Today our team slept in ‘til 10 a.m. Glorious! Then we spent the entire morning eating muffins and donuts, doing affirmations, and sharing what God has done in our lives. This was a very exciting, fun, and emotional time for our team. First, we shared what God showed us this week. Tessa said that she had expected some huge “God sightings” or miracles and forgot to look at the little things. That is totally how I’ve felt this whole trip. I had such high expectations for the trip and felt empty. Yet, today I realized God has shown me his love through so many people and in so many ways. I think God has shown the whole team His love the most through the sweet kids of Cotui. They come up and just want to spend time with you. They don’t care who you are or what you look like. They just love. I couldn’t walk down the street without 12 kids tickling me and grabbing onto me! Another thing that I was reminded of by Lucy was that we are the hands and feet of Christ. Not only are we loved on by the kids, but it is our job to embody Christ. We shouldn’t be there for us, or even for the kids, only for God.



Hola! It’s Cassi J. I don’t even know where to begin in talking about our trip. Our group is so much fun and it feels like we are at church camp again! It’s crazy how many amazing experiences I’ve had throughout this week. One incident really stuck out in my head and I would like to share that with you guys. It was Friday night and we went around the community of El Circulo in small groups. We would go to people’s houses and give them a goody bag that we made which consisted of a bible, a sermon tape, and candy and then invite them to church at El Circulo Sunday night. Sometimes that’s all we would do but other times, we would sit down and pray for the families. One of the most memorable and moving experiences of the trip came when Nicole, Ana (our translator) and I came up to this hair salon. Inside were about 10 women and so we talked to them to them and soon found out that most all of them were Christian. Before we were about to leave we asked them if there was anything we could pray for them about. One woman had a nephew in jail, one had a bad leg and knee, another had health problems and one of the ladies, Ramona, had cancer. So we all gathered in a circle, joined hands, and Nicole and I split up the requests and started praying aloud for these women. Ramona was one of the few I prayed for. After the prayers ended, I looked around to a room of women with tears falling down their faces. Ramona right away then asked if she could pray for us. In her prayer she said “Thank you God for these three beautiful angels.” Right then, I got choked up for the first time. My goal this trip was to make an impact on someone, someway, somehow. This was that moment. I totally felt like God had really used me for something. Just knowing that I had such an impact on someone who I had just met 10 minutes ago was so awesome. Anyways, I’m excited to get back home to everyone and tell them more about my experience. Mom, Dad, KK, Kymberli, and Caralee- I miss you guys so so much! I know you are just miserable without me, right? J KK-THE ROOM BETTER BE CLEANED when I get home!! Haha. Adios and see you Tuesday! XOXO <3