hello!
firstly i must apologize in advance because this is gonna be a really short post. it's 1am in the morning and we're leaving panama city for R&R and adventure cycle tomorrow morning at 8:30 and i have yet to pack >< but i just wanted to leave you you all with the encouragement that God has definitely answered our prayers! we had our commitment dinner tonight and it was filled! i have no idea how many students came out for it yet (im sure we'll have the stats sometime soon) but just seeing all the students who have stepped out and said "yes" to God just makes our whole trip totally worthwhile! and this is including students who only come to Christ like 2 weeks ago on project! praise God!!!
so tomorrow will be the start of a whole new cycle and im definitely looking forward to seeing what God will do in the interior! please pray for good health, adaptation and overcoming the language barrier, on top of being good witnesses for Christ :)
see you in a week and a half!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sun and Rain
hello everyone!
sorry about the late update this week, it's been quite the crazy week! crazy in a sense that it's just been quite an emotional roller coaster for me. 4 people on our project have been getting sick and stayed home (or hotel) while the rest of us were really feeling the fatigue coming through. the energy level was pretty low and frankly speaking i was feeling pretty discouraged on campus. there seriously is a spiritual battle going on down here and i constantly feel negative thoughts going through my head and things that were focused on attacking my weaknesses and making me feel really sad. i was feeling like i had no value on this team and that God wasn't really using me because i didn't feel as spiritual as the other students on the project and so even when i heard crazy amazing things happening to other people, i could barely feel happy that God is using our team as a whole. i was so focused on myself and wanting to see things happen for myself that i kept bringing myself down.
but last night we had team fun night and Raquel, our STINT team leader told us something that encouraged me greatly. she said that even though our campus haven't been seeing all these crazy things happening, we've actually been able to raise up a core group within the UTP Vida Estudiantil with students who have been regularly coming out sharing with us and translating and just hanging out with us whenever they had free time. and this was something that we on project didn't know because we just assumed that they've always been so involved but it's actually not the case. so it's really cool because now there's students who have been inspired by us coming and are passionate about sharing the gospel as well! there was even this guy who started discipling this other guy all by himself! it's so awesome to see how God is just raising up students, even students who have only been christians for a couple of months! plus, they've also started to become really good friends with each other which is cool because when we leave Panama, what we really want to leave Vida Estudiantil with are students who are committed to sharing their faith and walking closely with God and not just a huge bunch of contacts for them to follow up with. so that really encouraged me because God's been working in ways that i haven't been able to see and just using us in a totally different way than i had expected. plus, that's totally an answered prayer because we've been praying for the local students to get involved too and He's doing just that so praise God!!! :)
anyways so we have exactly 1 week left on campus before leaving for R&R and the adventure cycle (which will be in the interior) so please continue praying for us that God will keep working through us till the very last minute on campus!
ciao! :)
sorry about the late update this week, it's been quite the crazy week! crazy in a sense that it's just been quite an emotional roller coaster for me. 4 people on our project have been getting sick and stayed home (or hotel) while the rest of us were really feeling the fatigue coming through. the energy level was pretty low and frankly speaking i was feeling pretty discouraged on campus. there seriously is a spiritual battle going on down here and i constantly feel negative thoughts going through my head and things that were focused on attacking my weaknesses and making me feel really sad. i was feeling like i had no value on this team and that God wasn't really using me because i didn't feel as spiritual as the other students on the project and so even when i heard crazy amazing things happening to other people, i could barely feel happy that God is using our team as a whole. i was so focused on myself and wanting to see things happen for myself that i kept bringing myself down.
but last night we had team fun night and Raquel, our STINT team leader told us something that encouraged me greatly. she said that even though our campus haven't been seeing all these crazy things happening, we've actually been able to raise up a core group within the UTP Vida Estudiantil with students who have been regularly coming out sharing with us and translating and just hanging out with us whenever they had free time. and this was something that we on project didn't know because we just assumed that they've always been so involved but it's actually not the case. so it's really cool because now there's students who have been inspired by us coming and are passionate about sharing the gospel as well! there was even this guy who started discipling this other guy all by himself! it's so awesome to see how God is just raising up students, even students who have only been christians for a couple of months! plus, they've also started to become really good friends with each other which is cool because when we leave Panama, what we really want to leave Vida Estudiantil with are students who are committed to sharing their faith and walking closely with God and not just a huge bunch of contacts for them to follow up with. so that really encouraged me because God's been working in ways that i haven't been able to see and just using us in a totally different way than i had expected. plus, that's totally an answered prayer because we've been praying for the local students to get involved too and He's doing just that so praise God!!! :)
anyways so we have exactly 1 week left on campus before leaving for R&R and the adventure cycle (which will be in the interior) so please continue praying for us that God will keep working through us till the very last minute on campus!
ciao! :)
Monday, May 18, 2009
1st Day of Week 2 on Campus!
Guys thank you SO much for the prayers and the awesome msgs and emails! :) we were just talking about this today about how blessed project is because we have like 20 people here and each person has like at least 20 people praying for them on this project so its like we're super covered in prayer and God is doing great things on campuses :D thank you!!!
so we rounded up the stats for last week and we had 40 people come to Christ in total! thats just amazing even for me to imagine...the harvest is totally ripe here and it's cool coz the people here already have the foundation of going to church since they were young so they believe in God and everything, they're just lacking that personal relationship with Him and a little nudge for them to get serious in their faith. but its also really important to do follow ups with them and disciple them so that they will go out and share their faith with others as well and that's what we'll probably be focusing more on now onwards. we've been encouraging the Panamian students involved in Vida Estudiantil (Campus for Christ in Panama) to come sharing with us and translate for us coz a percentage of the students dont speak english and there's been a couple of students who are coming out for the first time and it's just great for us to work together!
one really cool example is Eduardo and the amazing thing about him is that he's only 13! he goes to this american education system school so he's having his summer vacation right now and last sunday, he actually came up to one of us and asked us if he could come along with us and help translate! so since last week he's been coming to campus with us everyday and sharing with us and he's a pretty good translator! today i shared with him and my friend darren and this guy accepted Christ! like when i look at him, i'm just so amazed because i definitely wasnt thinking about furthering God's kingdom when i was 13 but he's just so passionate about telling others about God! its like in 1Timothy 4:12 it says, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." and i definitely give him props for all that!
this week our focus will also be on our outreach which is this Panamian version of icrave, during which each week for this month we'll be doing our weekly meetings based on a craving that people have and this week it's on relationships so please pray for that! we'll be talking about how each person craves for different things but ultimately our cravings and only be satisfied by God. we've set up a booth with solarium on it and just inviting people out to the meetings so please pray that this will stir up interests in the students and that they'll come out to it and that it'll just strike a chord in their heart!
thanks so much once again and till next time, adios! :)
so we rounded up the stats for last week and we had 40 people come to Christ in total! thats just amazing even for me to imagine...the harvest is totally ripe here and it's cool coz the people here already have the foundation of going to church since they were young so they believe in God and everything, they're just lacking that personal relationship with Him and a little nudge for them to get serious in their faith. but its also really important to do follow ups with them and disciple them so that they will go out and share their faith with others as well and that's what we'll probably be focusing more on now onwards. we've been encouraging the Panamian students involved in Vida Estudiantil (Campus for Christ in Panama) to come sharing with us and translate for us coz a percentage of the students dont speak english and there's been a couple of students who are coming out for the first time and it's just great for us to work together!
one really cool example is Eduardo and the amazing thing about him is that he's only 13! he goes to this american education system school so he's having his summer vacation right now and last sunday, he actually came up to one of us and asked us if he could come along with us and help translate! so since last week he's been coming to campus with us everyday and sharing with us and he's a pretty good translator! today i shared with him and my friend darren and this guy accepted Christ! like when i look at him, i'm just so amazed because i definitely wasnt thinking about furthering God's kingdom when i was 13 but he's just so passionate about telling others about God! its like in 1Timothy 4:12 it says, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." and i definitely give him props for all that!
this week our focus will also be on our outreach which is this Panamian version of icrave, during which each week for this month we'll be doing our weekly meetings based on a craving that people have and this week it's on relationships so please pray for that! we'll be talking about how each person craves for different things but ultimately our cravings and only be satisfied by God. we've set up a booth with solarium on it and just inviting people out to the meetings so please pray that this will stir up interests in the students and that they'll come out to it and that it'll just strike a chord in their heart!
thanks so much once again and till next time, adios! :)
Monday, May 11, 2009
1st Day on Campus :)
wow God is so good. Today was the first day of our campus cycle and our team went off to the Universidad Technologica De Panama (UTP). We arrived around 9ish and had a bit of orientation around the area just to get to know the campus grounds a little better and were off to do sharing! by the end of the day...
3 people came to Christ today!
isnt that just so awesome? :) God is amazing...and i actually got to witness 1 of those 3 people come to Christ, my first time ever! I was with Raquel my team leader and Darren and we had talked to 2 people before that but werent able to present the gospels with them...then we went into this new building in the university and in this cafeteria was this guy Abel. so we talked to him and he's this really laid back guy but he was really receptive to the things we were saying :) he was asking us questions and stuff and we went through the 4 Spiritual Laws with him and when we got to the sinners prayer, he said he'll pray it with us! i was so happy when he said that! then we went on to get to know him a little better and planned a follow up session for next week :) another soul won into the kingdom of heaven!!! i can hardly wait to see how God will nurture this seed in him :):):)
then the other 2 people i didnt really hear much details about but there were also 2 other people with whom we shared with and we did the solarium with them. when it got to the question about picking a picture that would represent the spiritual life that they wanted to have, one of them picked a picture of this girl kinda running after this guy and she was like, i feel like i have to chase after God all the time and we were like, wow she's definitely searching! but she didnt have time after we finished the solarium so we scheduled for a time next week to continue so we can share the gospel with her :) then this other person picked a picture of a beer bottle and he was like, i'm really thirsty to get to know Christ! and we were really excited about it! it totally reminded us about the Samaritan woman that Jesus was talking to about how He's the living water and whoever drinks from Him will never thirst again! anyways he didnt have enough time either coz he had class so we scheduled a follow up as well :)
yeah its just so amazing how open the people here are to the gospel and they're really searching for Him...and God just brings us to them! His plan is truly so perfect and its like our director said, God is painting this wonderful picture and all He needs is the brushes and thats what we are, as long as we abide to His will and not want to go our own way, He'll use us to paint a beautiful picture here in Panama :)
3 people came to Christ today!
isnt that just so awesome? :) God is amazing...and i actually got to witness 1 of those 3 people come to Christ, my first time ever! I was with Raquel my team leader and Darren and we had talked to 2 people before that but werent able to present the gospels with them...then we went into this new building in the university and in this cafeteria was this guy Abel. so we talked to him and he's this really laid back guy but he was really receptive to the things we were saying :) he was asking us questions and stuff and we went through the 4 Spiritual Laws with him and when we got to the sinners prayer, he said he'll pray it with us! i was so happy when he said that! then we went on to get to know him a little better and planned a follow up session for next week :) another soul won into the kingdom of heaven!!! i can hardly wait to see how God will nurture this seed in him :):):)
then the other 2 people i didnt really hear much details about but there were also 2 other people with whom we shared with and we did the solarium with them. when it got to the question about picking a picture that would represent the spiritual life that they wanted to have, one of them picked a picture of this girl kinda running after this guy and she was like, i feel like i have to chase after God all the time and we were like, wow she's definitely searching! but she didnt have time after we finished the solarium so we scheduled for a time next week to continue so we can share the gospel with her :) then this other person picked a picture of a beer bottle and he was like, i'm really thirsty to get to know Christ! and we were really excited about it! it totally reminded us about the Samaritan woman that Jesus was talking to about how He's the living water and whoever drinks from Him will never thirst again! anyways he didnt have enough time either coz he had class so we scheduled a follow up as well :)
yeah its just so amazing how open the people here are to the gospel and they're really searching for Him...and God just brings us to them! His plan is truly so perfect and its like our director said, God is painting this wonderful picture and all He needs is the brushes and thats what we are, as long as we abide to His will and not want to go our own way, He'll use us to paint a beautiful picture here in Panama :)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Day 3!
HOLA!!!
Hope everything´s going well with everyone over there in Canada! I´ve been here for approximately 3 days and so far its been quite an adventure! For the past 2 days we have been having orientation at the "office" with training sessions and seminars and talks about ways to spread the gospel, learning about the culture and language etc. It was 2 long days starting around 8ish 9 to 9 in the evening but the things we learnt from the sessions were amazing. The crazy thing is, most of the verses and topics that they addressed have been things that/verses that I´ve been reading during my devos as well! Things like Ephesians 6 (about putting on the armor of God) and faith in Hebrews 11 etc. Because we´ll be spreading the word to people, I´ve been feeling like I want to be more grounded in the things I believe in and have been having conversations with various people about what really is faith when it comes to appling it practically etc. and its been most stimulating!
Today we actually got out of our little hotel and office "bubble" which consists of this main street named Peru Ave and went to the national university campus! it was really exciting and we were paired off and shared with students for about an hour, just to get a taste of how it´ll be like to share in Spanish, (or for people like me who knew minimal/no spanish, introduce ourselves in spanish) My partner and I managed to talk to a girl who was already knew God and we encouraged her to really get plugged in to the local campus for christ because she has been trying to spread the gospel to her friends on her own as well! Its amazing the way God´s been working in the students here as well :)
I´m only allowed an hour to update per week and it´s almost time to head back for another session and so I´d like to leave you all for now. Will be back to give another update in a bit!!!
Ciao!!!
ps please pray for the girl we talked to, Sandra, as well as all the students here as we prepare to head out to our various campuses next week! some students will be going out to San Tiago and I´ll be going to UTD, a technical university so please pray for us! GRACIAS!!!
Hope everything´s going well with everyone over there in Canada! I´ve been here for approximately 3 days and so far its been quite an adventure! For the past 2 days we have been having orientation at the "office" with training sessions and seminars and talks about ways to spread the gospel, learning about the culture and language etc. It was 2 long days starting around 8ish 9 to 9 in the evening but the things we learnt from the sessions were amazing. The crazy thing is, most of the verses and topics that they addressed have been things that/verses that I´ve been reading during my devos as well! Things like Ephesians 6 (about putting on the armor of God) and faith in Hebrews 11 etc. Because we´ll be spreading the word to people, I´ve been feeling like I want to be more grounded in the things I believe in and have been having conversations with various people about what really is faith when it comes to appling it practically etc. and its been most stimulating!
Today we actually got out of our little hotel and office "bubble" which consists of this main street named Peru Ave and went to the national university campus! it was really exciting and we were paired off and shared with students for about an hour, just to get a taste of how it´ll be like to share in Spanish, (or for people like me who knew minimal/no spanish, introduce ourselves in spanish) My partner and I managed to talk to a girl who was already knew God and we encouraged her to really get plugged in to the local campus for christ because she has been trying to spread the gospel to her friends on her own as well! Its amazing the way God´s been working in the students here as well :)
I´m only allowed an hour to update per week and it´s almost time to head back for another session and so I´d like to leave you all for now. Will be back to give another update in a bit!!!
Ciao!!!
ps please pray for the girl we talked to, Sandra, as well as all the students here as we prepare to head out to our various campuses next week! some students will be going out to San Tiago and I´ll be going to UTD, a technical university so please pray for us! GRACIAS!!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Hello world!
Hello everyone!
Thanks so much for visiting!!! :) i will be using this blog to update all my supporters and friends on my missions trip to Panama from May 5-June 15 and will be constantly posting prayer requests! if you prefer getting newsletter updates directly through your email instead, please feel free to contact me at eden_the_garden@hotmail.com and i'll send it to you! Thanks for partnering with me on this amazing journey and please continue to pray for me as i prepare for this!
eden :)
Thanks so much for visiting!!! :) i will be using this blog to update all my supporters and friends on my missions trip to Panama from May 5-June 15 and will be constantly posting prayer requests! if you prefer getting newsletter updates directly through your email instead, please feel free to contact me at eden_the_garden@hotmail.com and i'll send it to you! Thanks for partnering with me on this amazing journey and please continue to pray for me as i prepare for this!
eden :)
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