Mozambique, my old friend

Hello non-Pemba world! You are quite far away now! But I hope to make you feel closer.

Oh wow – I’m so thankful to be bringing news from my new home on the coast of Mozambique! God is good!! Aaalll the tiiiimmme!

I’ve only just arrived and barely gotten started with the things I’ve come for, but, wow, life is so completely different here and I feel as if I've been here quite a while already.

Adjusting

Things are quite different as a non-Harvest School Student (what I did here last year which prepared me for this (and the rest of my life)), and I am definitely still adjusting to that. I am living on another base which is down the road about 10 minutes walk from where all the Harvest students and the Iris Children live called “Aldea de Gloria”, meaning “village of Glory”= YES!! The Mozambican Bible students stay on this base, as well as other long-term Missionaries, which believe it or not, I AM. HA! I’ve been realizing what an honor it is to be a Missionary beside people that have worked here with Heidi and Rolland for years (or months) fulfilling the heart of Iris and furthering along the revival. It hasn’t really hit me yet, but I know for sure that I am so blessed and am going to be growing under the best example of how to serve/love the poor and lost that I have ever seen. Wow, it’s overwhelming.

I have a cute little house – I love it. My roommate is the amazing Catherine Restiau from Belguim who was in my school last year as well. She is a doctor of sorts and works in the clinic as well as hospitality. There are hundreds of visitors on the base all year round, and we have dorms and rides etc. for them - this is one of the ministries of Iris. We are both so laid-back that it's an amazing environment living together.

Seeing Friends!

So far I have had many many happy reunions. I’ll share a handful but you can imagine the rest of them. The night I got here I came to one of the Harvest School meetings; Randy Clark was speaking (he was also on my plane to get here. I love the way this place brings the “giants” and the people like me together at the same level of experience. It’s a bit of a rough journey to get here, and even harder to live here. But we all experience it together and learn from one another.)

The first Mozambican friend that I saw on the base was a little boy named JUMA!!! And He gave me a big hug – and then I saw someone running up to me and it was MESSIAJSE, my 12 year old very best friend out of the children here!! I picked him up and twirled him around laughing so joyfully and he was so happy too and he didn’t hide it!! Oh it was one of the happiest moments in my life! Then I was surrounded by familiar little boys faces and I kept breaking the no hug rule and getting so excited and telling them how much I missed them and love them and how I cant express how much I love them and am happy to be back here ( I had learned most of those phrases particularly on the plane before I came, knowing how I wouldt want to express so much to them when I saw them). And I got to tell them that im a missionary here now! Messiajse couldn’t hold his smile back, and I was holding his hand as we were standing just as I used to! And I told them about how much Elena (Ruth Atkins, one of my very closest friends from the Harvest School last year who had a similar heart to me and would go with me into the village with our Mozy friends as you aren’t supposed to go alone) misses them and told me to hug them every day! There were so many that would remember my name that I didn’t remember; they are amazing like that. Then jalia, my other really good friend from last year came up running too and we had many hugs. I saw another boy that I was close to, Javier, later that night. He usually plays it tough but, it was amazing, he couldn’t keep his face from smiling really big though you could tell he was trying. He was so happy to see me and it was such a blessing to my heart.

The Harvest School Session with Randy Clark was such an awesome time. I felt so immediately at home!! I walked into a crowd of people wholeheartedly worshipping the Lord, full of joy, no restraint, hunger for greater things written all over their faces. I saw my fellow classmates from last year who are staffing the school this time praying for each other and going a bit crazy with God’s presence was kind of hitting them in the face with a pie (ha), and they of course jumped on me when they saw me with partial hugs, and partially getting me shnonkered (a term coined by Mama Heidi for when you feel pretty silly in the presence of God) in the Holy Spirit. Ha it’s amazing; I just immediately felt God and I could barely stand and Joy was making me want to explode. I have missed this environment SO MUCH!!!!! I love how there are no restraints – everyone wants God’s love whatever it makes them looks like!! And that is an amazing place to be…the best place to be! God filled me with a peace and took away some of the striving that I was already feeling in realizing that the job placed before me here was somewhat intimidating. Thank you, Jesus. Yay – it’s good to be home.

Jewelry making Class

The next day I had my first classes with the ladies, and widows. It’s not just widows, but also the very poor women from the area. There are actually over 200 of them (I thought it only 90) broken up into different groups for each day. I went into the class and was greeted with the surprise of having TWO of my favorite ladies that I met last year in the class; Rita, the wife of Phillipe who is head of the kitchen (you can read stories about her from this blog – mainly she blessed me by dressing me like a local Mozambican when I left here last year), and Geti, who is the mother of Anna who I spent many times with at their house last year. I am actually going to be working WITH Geti, as she is one of the Mozambicans that Iris has put in charge of the class, along with another woman named filomena. Filomena is also the sister of the lady that taught me basket weaving last year. I am surrounded by friends!! Simpwanaka!! This means “my friends” in Makua, and I use this phrase all of the time.

Can I just tell you all how much this class is PERFECT for me? The more I find out what it is, the more I realize it’s what I was unofficially doing last year. I am basically hanging out with all of the widows and ladies, loving them and making friends with them as well as teaching the jewelry. But as the teaching doesn’t take too long, we sit together during the class and chat in Portuguese and Makua. AH! These are the ladies that I would come hang out with when I wasn’t in classes last year, and I can’t believe that this is why I am here now. And let me tell you, the ladies sing worship songs at the beginning of class; you’ve never seen or heard something more awesome and beautiful. They sing A capella with a song leader and a call and response style. They add rhythmic clapping and do fun dances as well. One of the ladies had tears streaming down her face during prayer – a beautiful sight of her receiving the Father’s love. Oh how I love sitting with the ladies, taking their hands to pray together, and learning their songs!!! It’s awesome guys – God is good alllll the tiiiime!

The woman I am working with, Nathalia, is amazing. Her heart for the ladies is obvious and amazing. We are really going to grow together, I can tell and learn a lot through being with these ladies.

Our classes are Monday through Friday 8 - 10:30 am and then we work on putting all of their jewelry into its packages and write the names of the woman that made them on tags. In my free time, which I'm not sure if I'll have much, I get to hang out with the other ladies in the kitchen or play cards with the kids.

I am out of time, but there is never enough time to share everything. Please pray that I will continue to walk with the holy Spirit, no striving, fully adjusting, fully loving from Him, and tghat He will use this time in ALL the ways He wants to.

Blessings my friends

It's a small, big, beautiful world

Hello my family spread out across the nations!

Im so glad to be able to check in with you all – I haven’t had a lot of opportunities with traveling; the choir (that I’m a chaperon for) has concerts or tours about the cities we are in, and we don’t get to our hotels until quite and there is rarely internet at them. But I’ve been thinking of you all as I am here a good deal.

Just for clarity and respect sake, my dears, I want you all to know that I haven’t spent any of the money donated to me for being in Mozambique on this trip . My father has actually lavishly blessed me by paying for me to be here, and has been paying for meals as well (this has been a humbling lesson for me in which God has told me to accept gifts from my dad that I normally would feel it irresponsible to accept. It has been an amazing reminder of papa God's love as well as my earthly dad's love!). I was sure to keep the Mozambique money very separate from any money that I would spend on the trip that would come directly from my work checks, and I believe I should be spending less than 200 dollars of my own money for the 3 weeks of the trip!

For those of you who may not have read some of the details in my emails or blog, I am not in Mozambique yet. I am on the first and much shorter leg of this journey, in which I am chaperoning my father’s choir trip through Western Europe. It has been a somewhat startling realization that I am here, as my thoughts, as well as maybe yours, have been much more focused on being or preparing to be in Mozambique! I decided to be on this trip before I knew I would be going to Mozambique, and so I have been preparing the details of going from London to Africa, and to a degree I had been a tad unsure of whether or not this Europe trip is something that I should be a part of .

And that is where I may have been wrong! It’s been obvious since I’ve started this trip or even before it, that there are some un-dealt with issues in me regarding serving the Lord, and I’m so thankful that He is dealing with it on this trip.

One of the awesome prophetic words that was spoken over me and repeated a few times before leaving was: “no striving, no striving, no striving”. He went on to say that God wants me to work with Him, not for Him. A month or two ago God told me that He sees me as faithful, and repeated it two other times through friends and a sister at Grace close to the same time. I was surprised by that because I didn’t feel faithful, (similarly to how I feel a bit in environments like this trip when I’m not necessarily DOING obvious ministry) lately when I don’t think Im “living up” to my calling. I said, “God, how have I been faithful in these hard months where Ive felt like ive gone up and down with how Ive walked, and haven’t really DONE much (ministry)?” What He said in response to me was: “You have loved me.” Wow! It was a type of thought that I never could have come up with; I am called faithful simply for loving Him. I thought over those months, and thought about how it was true. I hadn’t DONE amazing things or prayed and seen the dead raised etc, but through all the tough emotions I had or confusing life situations, I had loved Him very much through it all. What a realization! I thought, “is that really all you require of me”?!

So, on this trip, I have had a deeper realization of that fact that I’m a bit uncomfortable with fun, and that I feel a responsibility in some ways to work for God. I think I’m somewhat uncomfortable with just having fun! I have noticed that I’ve had an underlying feeling of guilt during this week of the trip, and that I’ve felt that way many times! I know that it can't be right; how could lack-of-fun be God’s desire or plan for me?! He says in Psalm 16 that there are pleasures forever more at His right hand! He delights in the things that I delight in! He loves that I love cultures, speaking other languages, tasting amazing foods from different amazing countries, enjoying art history and His amazing and breathtaking natural wonders. My wonderful friend Casey Long told me before I left that she thoroughly believes that fun should be a priority in our lives, and I think that she is so right! And how can I forget how much fun is to serve the Lord – being with Iris Ministries last year was some of the most fun times I’ve ever had! To think that it has to be separate, ministry and fun, is faulty thinking. And to think that not doing obvious ministry isn’t important is also faulty.

My friend David Causer prayed over me saying that he believed that God would carry the feeling of fun-vacation-lack of anxiety into my time in Mozambique. I love it! - God obviously knew that this stuff was here and needed to be dealt with before I wear myself working FOR Him in Mozambique.

-There were also two prophetic words saying that God would use me during this trip, so God is meeting me in the middle with my desire for ministry on this vacation type trip! Oh, I'm SO thankful for the things He has done that I don't know about through me, the things He is doing that I can see, and the things that I confidently believe He will do!
I have loved being wih the students (Trevecca Nazarene University Madrigalians), and am so happy to see teh way He is moving through the friendships we are building!! This morning I was able to lead a deovtion on the tour bus; that was such a happy thing for me to be able to relate to these guys in the way that I so desired an opportunity for! I love being right in the spot God wants ya, and being the instrument to show God's love!
I spoke about hearing God's voice, and shared my own experiences alongside the promises it shares in the scriptures, especially Ephesians, about the promises that He has given us in regard to how twe relate to Him/ our inheritance in Him. I shared at the end that I would love to talk to anyone more about my own experiences with haering God or anything they wanted to talk about regarding the Lord. I was SO overjoyed when a little knock came on the door of mine and Timbre's hotel room by a girl in the group who wanted to take me up on the offer to talk about hearing God. The get together ended up becoming an amazing time of healing prayer and building each other up - wow, it was awesome! It was totally worth the trip, because I think she really had an experience with God.YAY -talking and being used in her life was worth the trip, for sure. Oh thank you Jesus for being faithful.

The trip has been amazing for other reasons as well, here are some highlights:

-The group’s first location was Athens, Greece! I marveled at the city that had such a lavish way to celebrate their Gods up on the highest point of the huge city. I was overwhelmed with the realization rooftops how much our God and our savior reigns above all other Gods that were so revered in that city, and I wanted to shout from the rooftops (of our Hotel)! So I did! Treble and I had a devotion on top of our hotel and I yelled out, “Jesus is Lord!” and called out to Athens saying, “Rise up and meet your savior, the only true God!” He is the unnamed God that Paul spoke of there on Mars hill (next to the Acropolis, which we got to see!). That was an awesome experience, and I loved praying for the city. I got to have some amazing heart to heart conversations with my dad, as well!

-Rome was our next location. I was SO HAPPY to meet up with one of my very best friends, Stephanie Eatherly, who lives in Hernhutt Germany and is on staff at the YWAM base there. She was with me for 3 days and we had some wonderful adventures, conversations, and encouragement (we won’t see each other again until later this year most likely). The group sang in St. Peter’s Basilica, which was so beautiful and overwhelming. Yet, I couldn’t help but think about how Jesus would feel in the Mass that we were a part of. As we were sitting there with the gold covered chair of Paul, and all the lavish things. A woman took her crying baby out of the hush room, and I was truck with the thought, “I think Jesus likes having crying babies around. I think He likes us living or real life with Him, and seeing our humanity.” I thought of the amazing church in Pemba, where everyone sits on the floor in the front of the church with their babies tied to their backs; I always love sitting there on the floor with them, and children usually pile on top of your lap. I understand that reverence is an amazing part of how we worship, and I love the idea of giving our wealth to the church for Him, but when if it’s in exchange for us sharing our ugly parts or our real parts of life with Him, then whats the point? Thank you Lord for saving me from a conceptual relationship or lack thereof with you! And I ask Lord that you would break our hearts in the church, for your kingdom and to see you the way Jesus was trying to reveal you to us.

-florence – I studied abroad there 5 years ago, and what an amazing time to visit my old places! I saw my old apartment there on Via ghibellina a few blocks from the main cathedral there, or Duomo, Santa Maria Del Fiore! Stephanie and I rented bikes (I broke from the group for the day) and we biked about the city looking at all of my favorite places in the city, and just having a blast. It was a beautiful sunny Tuscan day, and I was so full of joy! I really enjoyed the Italian words that I haven’t spoken for 5 years coming back to mind, like old friends.

The group also sang in the mass at Santa Maria Del Fiore. It was wonderful as always, and this time there was an amazing Cardinal that spoke, and really really blessed me. His name is Alessandro, and he didn’t speak a lot English, but what I could understand in my limited Italian resonated with my spirit very much. He was very unorthodox and kept laughing into the microphone that echoed throughout the amazing acoustics in the cathedral. He was such an amazingly happy man, and he explained with joy all over his face that he loved to see smiles on our faces, because he believes that we should have great joy in Jesus Christ! He explained to me that he suffers from Oesteoperosis but he said, “I will win! I have God on my side and He fills me with joy!” Wow, what a delight he was. Later I told him that I would be praying for him, and that I believe he will live a long life. He told me that he wanted to live a long time so that he can love many more people. J I was so touched by this man who seems so selfless and truly in love with the Lord! I was so happy to meet a kindred spirit in a large church that I don’t necessarily agree with or understand theologically, and don’t speak the same language.

-Venice – We had another amazing experience with the local church there. It was a small church with a congregation made up mostly of elderly lovely Italian women. They were so enthralled with the choir’s singing and were incredibly charming in their interaction with us. They were so loving, and I was again reminded of how much I LOVE interacting with people with other cultures and languages, and how much I love to see our unity in Christ.

Afterwards my sister and I prayed for a woman whose arm was in a sling because of arthritis. She seemed to think it a bit strange that we would want to pray for her in person and seemed to doubt that it would make a difference. She said it didn’t feel any different when we were done praying, but I truly truly believe she was affected by our love for her and that the Holy spirit will take over from there! It was a lovely experience, and I was so thankful for the opportunity to show someone god’s power.

-Austria - We drove through the astounding Alps today. They reach up so high to the sky! I was allowed to lead a devotion this morning, and was so happy to be a speaker of truth for God's glory! I spoke on hearing God's voice, which is what I felt prompted by Him to speak on. I had the opportunity to be open and honest about how much God has changed in me through His Holy Spirit and a fuller revelation of His love, and power. I told them of how it's our inheritance (Ephesians) to her the Lord, and be filled with the "fullness" of God. Afterwards I welcomed anyone who wanted to to speak more about the subject or anything they wanted to since I love sharing the amazing things that God has done for me!! I was SO excited to have a knock on my door later that evening from one of the girls who decided to take me up on it. We talked about the practicals of hearing God and deciphering His voice, and talked about His spirit, the relationship that is guaranteed to us through Christ's death and the Holy Spirit inside of us, and ended up praying and talking together for about 4 hours in our hotel room! YES!!!!! Ha! I love it so much, and I'm so thankful for God moving! This relationship with the lovely girl is completely worth it all.

Miss you all, and soon I'll be in Mozy! Thanks for your prayers, and please continue to pray that God do all that He needs to do in me to better use me!!

Blessings!
LOVE!!

If , and only if, God has prompted you to give, them you can now donate to me through the amazing Ministry, Miraculous Love with checks written to them in the memo line, and my name in the description line and it is tax deductible :)

P.O. Box 1543

Franklin, TN 37064

I will boast in Christ!

Can Ijust take this opportunity to boast about Christ??!!
I serve, am friends with, am loved by, and have been redeemed by the most amazing being of all!
He tells me I'm amazing, when I feel as if I am...nothing; and He convinces me of how amazing He thinks I am by telling me over and over. He tells me who He has created me to be; He tells me that I am an artist, that He is going to use my art, to be ready to be teaching (1 year ago I had 2 prophetic words saying that I would be teaching soon), He puts a heart in me that loves people and loves learning about cultures, and then He sends me to use art, teach art, love people, and delve into other cultures.
He gives me a family like Grace Center, who told me today that they are my family, they support me and are behind me, and they encourage me and speak life into me and agree with God's purposes for my life! I had a meeting with the Missions Department, and have never felt so at home and cared for as an adult in my home church. Hallelujah to the God who made the body and made us for community! thank you lord for accountability, for a Godly covering over me as I go into the Mission field! Thank you for the easy access to sharing with all of YOU what He does in other parts of this world!
He is faithful, and never changes - His kindness and goodness and sweetness never dim! He takes the lives of the people that i care about, that He gives me compassion for, and He shows them how He loves them, and how He restores and redeems!
Today Shyanna came to church with me and they played her favorite song: "Came to my Rescue", which speaks of God answering us when we call and rescuing us....this girl who has been abused, this girl who has seen drugs, alcohol, and sex in her own home when she was supposed to be simply growing up...this girl who is the second mom to her three sisters since her single mom is often sick....she experienced God's love today. I heard her very quietly joining in on the chorus of the song "He loves us"!!! She came to me and asked if I would take communion with her, and I got to pray with her reminding her that Jesus died for everything that she ever feels that she has done wrong and that has been done wrong to her - everything that makes her feel dirty or bad is gone and she is new!!! Thank you Jesus!! You care more about the people that I love than I do - how can I thank you for that?!
He has been reminding me and reminding me that He has called me worthy...I am not just going to Mozambique and doing things taht are the desire of my heart because I forced the situation, I am going because God has called me there and has plans for me that are more amazing than I know, and He thinks I'm more than "good enough" to be a part of such things. Thank you Lord!

i just wanted to boast on Him a little bit. I have had so much opportunity to remember His goodness in the last few days, that I can't help but SCREAM IT OUT - GOD IS GOOOOD!!! It's all true: what He says about laying down your life...we died with Christ but now we live! And I have never lived with as much Joy as I do with Him in my life!!!

Bless you all

Mozy preparations!!

Hey everyone!

I want to let you all know how Mozambique preparations are coming:

I leave in two weeks and 2 days!!! WOW! = pretty surreal!

This last week has felt a bit like the calm before the storm. I have been trying to get things done as well as possible, but there are many things that I mostly have to wait and pray for (like my visa to come back without any problems). I have been working my two jobs, trying to learn Portuguese, being sure to spend time with God every day, being sure to get a good deal of exercise (I want to be in the best shape I can for chasing little cute children, and dancing all day and night in the hot hot weather with the church there!!), getting presents ready for the women and children that Im friends with there (I’m trying to draw pictures of people and give them to them), get moved out of my house, see friends here before im gone , and plan a fundraiser/goodbye Tetra evening. Everything is going well! I just need to keep trusting that the Lord has control over every little situation! I’m soo thankful for this time of trusting the Lord, and I’m sooo thankful for this opportunity to GO! YAY!!!

Here are some prayer needs:

-Visa needs to get back to me before I leave May 8^th.

- There are so many small things I need to do that it’s hard to wrap my mind around them!!

- I want to be ready to serve, and I want God to do everything He needs to do in me to prepare me before I go.

- Finances – I need to trust Jehovah Jirah, provider

I need to share praise reports, though!!! I have had a few amazing gifts given to me at times when I completely didn’t expect them!!! At church this last week I was telling how excited I am to go and my pastor asked how much I need in front of the whole group. People I didn’t know came up to me afterwards and gave so selflessly to me. it was so humbling and amazing. I still feel I have to learn how much we need each other as a body of Christ; too often I want to do everything on my own. Thank you lord for giving us these reminders of how we need our community of brothers and sisters. I feel that I am the last person that deserves gifts like this, but that again is a reminder to me of how much God thinks I deserve good gifts even though I actually don’t deserve them.

I wanted to share with you all a list of things that I am going to try to bring with me to Mozambique. These are all presents for either the kids, widows, poor, Bible students , or they are supplies for our class:

Supplies/needs

Girls: Hair clips, ties, earrings, bracelettes, lipgloss, NAILPOLISH, notebooks, diaries

Boys: Balls, flashlights

Ladies jewelry :

Wire ( brass, silver, copper), beads all kinds (wooden are nice), earring holders, hemp, waxed linen, pliers, jewelers wire cutters (most important things I need are the tools – cutters and pliers)

Bible school students:

Reading glasses, Portuguese dictionaries, Portuguese bibles, notebooks

Jump drives

- This is all I have time for, but there is more to come!!

Tetra

The Voice of My Shepard I Will Follow

“Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name…he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’..I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear’…they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up.” Isaiah 49:1 and 6 8-11

The gift of going to Pemba, Mozambique has been given to me.

The scripture up top was one that God specifically told me to read the day that I found out that I wasn’t going to be staffing the school in Pemba (1 ½ months ago) and the day after I found out I actually am going to Pemba (this week). Both times it served as an amazing reminder of who He is calling me to be: “A light to the nations!!” …He knows my name, and He wants to use me to call prisoners out of their bondage or those in the dark into the light. Wow what an amazing reminder; He is so faithful!! It’s amazing how the context of the readings change a bit with both times He put the scripture on my heart ; the first time was to comfort and remind me of my calling, the second as I kind of “I told you so” and that He always fulfills His promises !

It seems that our lives as lovers of Jesus can many times just be a series of scenarios in which God reminds us of things we are supposed to already know or that He has proved to us on repeated occasions! This has been an awesome season of reminders for me. And now I am reminding myself of His faithfulness to get me to Pemba! Ha! I know He can do it, and I have direct proof in that He did it for me last year. This time will be a bit harder time-wise, since I leave in less than a month! Yay! I’m looking at the amount of time compared to the amount of things I need to do, and it is going to be miraculous, for sure, but God is really good at those. J Im totally excited to be in one of these places; I love it when I know I can’t do things on my own and I have to be completely reliant on God. These are some of the best times I’ve had in life.

-So, what do I need to do? I need to get a plane ticket first ( I need to buy it ASAP, so that I can do everything esle! :)

-Applying for a Visa, filling out the letter of invitation (which is time sensitive - please PRAY for no hitches!!) , getting shots, packing/moving my things a bit, and preparing for the Jewelry making classes as well as finding /making gifts for my friends there!

-I am also trying to learn as much Portuguese as I can!!!

-I also am planning an outreach to the Tusculum area here in Nashville which will be the last Saturday of April (I’m soo excited about it!!!) with the Nepalese and Burmese people in that area. This will take a little bit of work, but mostly it will just be a great time. (Everyone is invited!!! Let me know if you’re interested in being a part – its April 30^th and we will be having a potluck, playing games with kids, and playing live music. It’s basically just a hang out time with the people there! It’s going to be wonderful).

I’m excited to see God carry me through, and I’ll love sharing the stories to you all afterwards of how He continues to be faithful always always always!

------

A little bit about what I’ll be doing!!!:

-I will be in Pemba, Mozambique for 3 months (Ill be leaving from a trip with my father and sisters that runs from May 8^th – 28^th)! I will be working with a woman named Nathalia who is from Colombia and is starting a class for widows on Micro-business Jewelry making as a discipleship program! Many of the widows there have children and a lack of work options. Teaching them a trade is an amazing way for them to start a small business and support themselves.

-I spoke with Nathalia through Skype video chat, and she is so amazing, has such a beautiful heart, and I’m so excited to work with her!! She was telling me that she is bringing different jewelry making supplies and beads from Argentina (Wow , what a cool connection for me! My mom lives in Argentina and I have wanted to study jewelry making there in the past!). Looks like she has a lot of experience with business and she and Heidi Baker are coming up with an idea to really help widows support themselves there. (I can’t believe how amazing this opportunity is for me! Thank you, Jesus!!)The name of the business is "Iris Arts", and all of the items will be made by the widows, and we will eventually be selling them online! I am going to be doing a lot of creative work and helping to come up with designs looks like. :) WOOO!!! This is what I'm made to do!!!!

-We will also be discipling and making friends with the widows. I looks like there are at least 200 ladies taht are wanting to be involved; so we will probably having classes daily. I'm going to try and stuff my bags with jewelry-making supplies!

The women there are some of my favorite people that I met while living there. If you have read any of my other posts, you’ll know that my best friends were the ladies that worked in the kitchen there on the base; they were teaching me the local dialect, and we would joke around and have a wonderful time together. A few of them are widows, and I’m hoping they will be in the class with me!!!

An amazing thing to look back on now is to remember how my friend, Lurdish, told me that she would be praying that I come back there as a Missionary!! Ha! At the time, I thought, “I will definitely come back, but it will probably be only for visits or to staff the Harvest Mission school.” Being a Missionary on that base is a little bit difficult, because there aren’t usually many openings, and it’s very popular as that is where the Harvest Schools are, and where Heidi and Rolland live. Also, I just had no idea what I’d be doing in the future, though I knew/know that I have a heart for Asia. But I so love Mozambique, and the people that I met there, and this is one of the most exciting opportunities of my life! I love that God and Lurdish had bigger plans for me than I could see. J And I can’t wait to go back and be with my friends like they so wanted me to do!!!!

-The lady to the left of me is Lurdish. She is a widow who works for Iris Ministries. She is such an amazing woman of God and I can't wait to see her!!!

I can’t tell you how much it means to me that there are people that want to know about these things that are so close to my heart, and to even be partnering with me Spiritually to bless the people that I care so much about overseas. I am so thankful for you, and I don’t really know how best to express that, but I very much hope you believe me!

I can only hope that my story is inspiring to you and reminds you of God’s faithfulness and of the fact that we should believe God when He says the we are important to Him and that He has called us even before we were born, and knows our name, and has very big plans to use our little lives. I can’t express to you how valuable we are in His eyes. I hope that it helps you as God is helping me SEE the people around me. This is my constant prayer: that He will open the eyes of our hearts and show us the way He sees His children (including the adult ones!).

I love the way that He has given me more roots here in this country over the last 6 months and opened my eyes more (though there is still a lot more opening to be done) to the needs of the body and the poor here. I thank you to those amazing friends that I have made at Grace Center and in California and Cincinnati and Philly and Charlotte and wherever else I have found amazing brothers and sisters in Christ; you have encouraged me greatly, and taught me a great deal about how to love my own culture. I take you with me on my little trips outta this country and look forward to partnering with you more in the future to rock our country as well.