Pura vida!!
Thank you for all of your prayers and I’m so excited to share that our Mother’s Day event was a wonderful success! Renate and I started our day around 6:30am in the kitchen with a great group of volunteers from a short term team from Colorado. We went to the church Friday afternoon with a volunteer from the community to set up the tables and decorate because we had a lot to do to prepare early the next day. This is one of the many great ideas from the director (Renate) of Metro Ministries, who is super organized! It was also such a blessing to have so many students and staff from YWAM come with us and love on the moms and kids. We could not have done it without them!
We had about 30 moms and 37 kids show up for the event, and had more than enough food, gifts, balloons, and suckers to go around! The moms were served a nice big breakfast, complete with ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit salad, cinnamon bread, coffee, and juice. We originally had bananas and cookies for the kids, but they ended up getting the leftovers from the moms, and to be honest, they didn’t know what to do with all of the food and juice we gave them! Considering the food we gave them might be their only meal of the day, it was great to see God’s provision for them and their moms. One of our staff women shared some encouraging words with the moms, and then we had several ladies lined up outside to do their nails. They even got a hand massage by one of my Discipleship Training School friends and she prayed for them and their families. Before they left, they received a beautifully package coffee mug, stuffed with a few beauty items, a piece of jewelry, and some candies. Almost all of the items for the gifts were donated, including 12 really nice mugs with a Bible verse on them from a Christian card and gift company here called Pechi. Renate had originally contacted Pechi to donate about 100 small cards with Bible verses on them to attach to the gifts, but when we showed up last week to get the cards, they brought out the mugs, in addition to about 50 agendas that we are going to give out this coming Saturday at the second Mother’s Day event. Renate and I were so excited to see God’s blessings that day!!!
Karen( a student, long term missionary, and Aggie) and I were in charge of the kids program outside. She is fluent in Spanish and is absolutely amazing with the kids. We did a normal Metro program, with the exception of several more games and the food. We had a blast singing songs and doing a puppet show before we brought the snacks out and they decorated cards for their moms. We split the kids up into 2 groups for games, and the little ones played with playdoh, and colored, while the older kids played games with balloons. The kids were super excited, and after the water balloon toss, we just let them grab water balloons and launch them at each other ( and us). Some kids were so polite as they asked Karen if they could smash one on her head!! How cute is that???
We all had a great time with the kids and moms, and I was really excited since Renate got to spend the entire time with the moms. Even though she does visitations each week in that community, she by no means gets to see every mom each week, and spend quality time with them. They all hugged and kissed her as they were leaving, and told her that the event was really nice. All of the hard work was truly worth it to see the smiles on the mom’ faces! We both took a nap once we got back and had a bite to eat. I got a lot of sleep this weekend, but please keep Renate in your prayers as she is ill, and can’t sleep at night because she is coughing so much. I went over to her house this evening and cooked a nice vegan meal for us. I brought some quinoa, and have really been wanting to make a pilaf with it like I do back home, so it was a win win situation for both of us! I bought some spinach, and she had some veggies, so we also had an awesome salad. We had a great time of fellowship, and then I left around 8pm so she could get some rest. As most of you know, no one can rest when I’m around, so we made it an early night!!
Renate and I have a lot in common, and we make a great team. I honestly never imagined working with Metro would be so amazing! She is not only a co-laborer, but she is one of best buddies here! I am incredibly blessed to not only have Renate as a new friend, but many other girls here on the base as well! God is truly blessing with “sisterships”, not just friendships. One of the girls here is only 20 years old, but she has a poise and spiritual maturity beyond her years. She and I give each other the biggest and longest hugs ever! She went back to Colorado for her grandpa’s memorial service, and I asked her if she would get me some gluten free granola if I gave her money. I asked her to bring back 2-3 bags if she could fit them in her luggage, and she brought me back 4 bags! This may not sound like a big deal to you, but it is huge to me! I’m eating primarily vegan (no animal proteins) and gluten free, so that limits my food options significantly. This is one of the many blessings in the last 3 weeks, and it has been so neat to see that God cares about the “little” things that make me smile! I also needed to get a very special card, and get it to the PO ASAP. God brought me right to Pechi where I found an awesome card, and Renate needed to go to the PO to pick up packages soon after, so I was able to mail it quickly.
God has also been so faithful to provide for me through friends back home, and through my Juice Plus business. He keeps reminding me that He is my Provider, and if put Him first, He will take care of me. Sometimes I am tempted to send out e-mail to prospects for the business before I spend time with Him, but Matthew 6:33 keeps coming to mind, where Jesus says that we are to seek Him first, and will He add everything unto us. Please pray that I would seek Him above all things, and that I would trust Him to take care of all of my needs. Also pray that I would have the self-control to eat vegan, and that God would honor my food choices and heal my GI tract. God has been so awesome to place vegetarians and my other vegan buddy, Montana, here on the base, so we can encourage one another to eat healthy.
I will have to post some pics from this past weekend another time, as it is already late here, and I need to get some sleep.
God Bless your week!
Living for Him,
Stephanie
Monday, August 8, 2011
Mother's Day and blessings!!!
Pura Vida!!
Thank you for all of your prayers and I’m so excited to share that our Mother’s Day event was a wonderful success! Renate and I started our day around 6:30am in the kitchen with a great group of volunteers from a short term team from Colorado. We went to the church Friday afternoon with a volunteer from the community to set up the tables and decorate because we had a lot to do to prepare early the next day. This is one of the many great ideas from the director (Renate) of Metro Ministries, who is super organized! It was also such a blessing to have so many students and staff from YWAM come with us and love on the moms and kids. We could not have done it without them!
We had about 30 moms and 37 kids show up for the event, and had more than enough food, gifts, balloons, and suckers to go around! The moms were served a nice big breakfast, complete with ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit salad, cinnamon bread, coffee, and juice. We originally had bananas and cookies for the kids, but they ended up getting the leftovers from the moms, and to be honest, they didn’t know what to do with all of the food and juice we gave them! Considering the food we gave them might be their only meal of the day, it was great to see God’s provision for them and their moms. One of our staff women shared some encouraging words with the moms, and then we had several ladies lined up outside to do their nails. They even got a hand massage by one of my Discipleship Training School friends and she prayed for them and their families. Before they left, they received a beautifully package coffee mug, stuffed with a few beauty items, a piece of jewelry, and some candies. Almost all of the items for the gifts were donated, including 12 really nice mugs with a Bible verse on them from a Christian card and gift company here called Pechi. Renate had originally contacted Pechi to donate about 100 small cards with Bible verses on them to attach to the gifts, but when we showed up last week to get the cards, they brought out the mugs, in addition to about 50 agendas that we are going to give out this coming Saturday at the second Mother’s Day event. Renate and I were so excited to see God’s blessings that day!!!
Karen( a student, long term missionary, and Aggie) and I were in charge of the kids program outside. She is fluent in Spanish and is absolutely amazing with the kids. We did a normal Metro program, with the exception of several more games and the food. We had a blast singing songs and doing a puppet show before we brought the snacks out and they decorated cards for their moms. We split the kids up into 2 groups for games, and the little ones played with playdoh, and colored, while the older kids played games with balloons. The kids were super excited, and after the water balloon toss, we just let them grab water balloons and launch them at each other ( and us). Some kids were so polite as they asked Karen if they could smash one on her head!! How cute is that???
We all had a great time with the kids and moms, and I was really excited since Renate got to spend the entire time with the moms. Even though she does visitations each week in that community, she by no means gets to see every mom each week, and spend quality time with them. They all hugged and kissed her as they were leaving, and told her that the event was really nice. All of the hard work was truly worth it to see the smiles on the mom’ faces! We both took a nap once we got back and had a bite to eat. I got a lot of sleep this weekend, but please keep Renate in your prayers as she is ill, and can’t sleep at night because she is coughing so much. I went over to her house this evening and cooked a nice vegan meal for us. I brought some quinoa, and have really been wanting to make a pilaf with it like I do back home, so it was a win win situation for both of us! I bought some spinach, and she had some veggies, so we also had an awesome salad. We had a great time of fellowship, and then I left around 8pm so she could get some rest. As most of you know, no one can rest when I’m around, so we made it an early night!!
Renate and I have a lot in common, and we make a great team. I honestly never imagined working with Metro would be so amazing! She is not only a co-laborer, but she is one of best buddies here! I am incredibly blessed to not only have Renate as a new friend, but many other girls here on the base as well! God is truly blessing with “sisterships”, not just friendships. One of the girls here is only 20 years old, but she has a poise and spiritual maturity beyond her years. She and I give each other the biggest and longest hugs ever! She went back to Colorado for her grandpa’s memorial service, and I asked her if she would get me some gluten free granola if I gave her money. I asked her to bring back 2-3 bags if she could fit them in her luggage, and she brought me back 4 bags! This may not sound like a big deal to you, but it is huge to me! I’m eating primarily vegan and gluten free, so that limits my food options significantly. This is one of the many blessings in the last 3 weeks, and it has been so neat to see that God cares about the “little” things that make me smile! I also needed to get a very special card, and get it to the PO ASAP, and God brought right to Pechi, and Renate needed to go to the PO to pick up packages.
God has also been do faithful to provide for me through friends back home, and through my juice Plus business. He keeps reminding me that He is my Provider, and if put Him first, He will take care of me. Sometimes I am tempted to send out e-mail to prospects for the business before I spend time with Him, but Matthew 6:33 keeps coming to mind, where Jesus says that we are to seek him first, and will He add everything unto us. Please pray that I would seek Him above all things, and that I would trust Him to take care of all of my needs.
I will have to post some pics from this past weekend another time, as it is already late here, and I need to get some sleep.
God Bless your week!
Living for Him,
Stephanie
Thank you for all of your prayers and I’m so excited to share that our Mother’s Day event was a wonderful success! Renate and I started our day around 6:30am in the kitchen with a great group of volunteers from a short term team from Colorado. We went to the church Friday afternoon with a volunteer from the community to set up the tables and decorate because we had a lot to do to prepare early the next day. This is one of the many great ideas from the director (Renate) of Metro Ministries, who is super organized! It was also such a blessing to have so many students and staff from YWAM come with us and love on the moms and kids. We could not have done it without them!
We had about 30 moms and 37 kids show up for the event, and had more than enough food, gifts, balloons, and suckers to go around! The moms were served a nice big breakfast, complete with ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit salad, cinnamon bread, coffee, and juice. We originally had bananas and cookies for the kids, but they ended up getting the leftovers from the moms, and to be honest, they didn’t know what to do with all of the food and juice we gave them! Considering the food we gave them might be their only meal of the day, it was great to see God’s provision for them and their moms. One of our staff women shared some encouraging words with the moms, and then we had several ladies lined up outside to do their nails. They even got a hand massage by one of my Discipleship Training School friends and she prayed for them and their families. Before they left, they received a beautifully package coffee mug, stuffed with a few beauty items, a piece of jewelry, and some candies. Almost all of the items for the gifts were donated, including 12 really nice mugs with a Bible verse on them from a Christian card and gift company here called Pechi. Renate had originally contacted Pechi to donate about 100 small cards with Bible verses on them to attach to the gifts, but when we showed up last week to get the cards, they brought out the mugs, in addition to about 50 agendas that we are going to give out this coming Saturday at the second Mother’s Day event. Renate and I were so excited to see God’s blessings that day!!!
Karen( a student, long term missionary, and Aggie) and I were in charge of the kids program outside. She is fluent in Spanish and is absolutely amazing with the kids. We did a normal Metro program, with the exception of several more games and the food. We had a blast singing songs and doing a puppet show before we brought the snacks out and they decorated cards for their moms. We split the kids up into 2 groups for games, and the little ones played with playdoh, and colored, while the older kids played games with balloons. The kids were super excited, and after the water balloon toss, we just let them grab water balloons and launch them at each other ( and us). Some kids were so polite as they asked Karen if they could smash one on her head!! How cute is that???
We all had a great time with the kids and moms, and I was really excited since Renate got to spend the entire time with the moms. Even though she does visitations each week in that community, she by no means gets to see every mom each week, and spend quality time with them. They all hugged and kissed her as they were leaving, and told her that the event was really nice. All of the hard work was truly worth it to see the smiles on the mom’ faces! We both took a nap once we got back and had a bite to eat. I got a lot of sleep this weekend, but please keep Renate in your prayers as she is ill, and can’t sleep at night because she is coughing so much. I went over to her house this evening and cooked a nice vegan meal for us. I brought some quinoa, and have really been wanting to make a pilaf with it like I do back home, so it was a win win situation for both of us! I bought some spinach, and she had some veggies, so we also had an awesome salad. We had a great time of fellowship, and then I left around 8pm so she could get some rest. As most of you know, no one can rest when I’m around, so we made it an early night!!
Renate and I have a lot in common, and we make a great team. I honestly never imagined working with Metro would be so amazing! She is not only a co-laborer, but she is one of best buddies here! I am incredibly blessed to not only have Renate as a new friend, but many other girls here on the base as well! God is truly blessing with “sisterships”, not just friendships. One of the girls here is only 20 years old, but she has a poise and spiritual maturity beyond her years. She and I give each other the biggest and longest hugs ever! She went back to Colorado for her grandpa’s memorial service, and I asked her if she would get me some gluten free granola if I gave her money. I asked her to bring back 2-3 bags if she could fit them in her luggage, and she brought me back 4 bags! This may not sound like a big deal to you, but it is huge to me! I’m eating primarily vegan and gluten free, so that limits my food options significantly. This is one of the many blessings in the last 3 weeks, and it has been so neat to see that God cares about the “little” things that make me smile! I also needed to get a very special card, and get it to the PO ASAP, and God brought right to Pechi, and Renate needed to go to the PO to pick up packages.
God has also been do faithful to provide for me through friends back home, and through my juice Plus business. He keeps reminding me that He is my Provider, and if put Him first, He will take care of me. Sometimes I am tempted to send out e-mail to prospects for the business before I spend time with Him, but Matthew 6:33 keeps coming to mind, where Jesus says that we are to seek him first, and will He add everything unto us. Please pray that I would seek Him above all things, and that I would trust Him to take care of all of my needs.
I will have to post some pics from this past weekend another time, as it is already late here, and I need to get some sleep.
God Bless your week!
Living for Him,
Stephanie
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Preparing for Mother's Day Event
Pura vida !! I’m doing great, and enjoying life here on the base with my YWAM family! It’s still so surreal to me that I’m a missionary, and I’m incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such awesome men and women of God! I’m inspired more each day to be a woman of vision, and I’m praying that God shows me how I fit into the awesome things He wants to do through YWAM San Jose.
This week has been super busy as my director and I have been preparing for our 1st Mother’s Day event this month on Saturday. We will also do our normal kids program, so the work has been endless. We are determined to everything with excellence, and are very excited about blessing the moms in this community in a very special way. They will be served a nice breakfast and will hear an uplifting word from a staff member. Some YWAM staff ladies will be doing manicures and hand massages to finish the event, and we have purposely left some time in between the encouraging word and the manicures to pray and minister to the moms if the Lord is speaking to them. Each mom will also receive a special gift as she leaves. I will be working with the kids program this week, but next weekend will be with the moms.
I will share more on Sunday or Monday about the events and about how God has been blessing me over the past week. I am super tired, and would like to get as much rest as possible the next two days, as we might be doing a full day on Saturday. Every other Saturday Renate works with a local church and is training them to take over the Metro program in the near future so we might be heading over there after the Mother’s day event.
I would like to finish with some prayer requests. Please pray for the event this weekend and that we would finish all of our preparations in a timely manner. Pray that God would already be stirring the hearts of the ladies who are coming, and that they would be encouraged, healed, and would receive revelations from the Spirit. Many are single moms struggling to provide for their kids, and have been in abusive relationships. We just want to show them the love of Christ, and our prayer is that they will come to know Christ personally and make better decisions for themselves and their families.
Also pray for my friend Pedro, as he is having some health issues. He has not been feeling well for the last few weeks, so he went to his hometown here in Costa Rica to have some tests run.
Have a great weekend and I’ll post an update from this weekend in a few days!
Living for Him,
Stephanie
This week has been super busy as my director and I have been preparing for our 1st Mother’s Day event this month on Saturday. We will also do our normal kids program, so the work has been endless. We are determined to everything with excellence, and are very excited about blessing the moms in this community in a very special way. They will be served a nice breakfast and will hear an uplifting word from a staff member. Some YWAM staff ladies will be doing manicures and hand massages to finish the event, and we have purposely left some time in between the encouraging word and the manicures to pray and minister to the moms if the Lord is speaking to them. Each mom will also receive a special gift as she leaves. I will be working with the kids program this week, but next weekend will be with the moms.
I will share more on Sunday or Monday about the events and about how God has been blessing me over the past week. I am super tired, and would like to get as much rest as possible the next two days, as we might be doing a full day on Saturday. Every other Saturday Renate works with a local church and is training them to take over the Metro program in the near future so we might be heading over there after the Mother’s day event.
I would like to finish with some prayer requests. Please pray for the event this weekend and that we would finish all of our preparations in a timely manner. Pray that God would already be stirring the hearts of the ladies who are coming, and that they would be encouraged, healed, and would receive revelations from the Spirit. Many are single moms struggling to provide for their kids, and have been in abusive relationships. We just want to show them the love of Christ, and our prayer is that they will come to know Christ personally and make better decisions for themselves and their families.
Also pray for my friend Pedro, as he is having some health issues. He has not been feeling well for the last few weeks, so he went to his hometown here in Costa Rica to have some tests run.
Have a great weekend and I’ll post an update from this weekend in a few days!
Living for Him,
Stephanie
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Back to the Mission Field
Wow! It’s so surreal to be in Costa Rica again! On Thursday I will have been here for 2 weeks, and I finally feel like I’m settling into my new home here on the YWAM San Jose base. The “base” is an old coffee factory which has been turned into a compound of classrooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, a full service kitchen, a dining hall, lounging areas, and guest rooms. We are surrounded by beautiful mountains and lush green vegetation, but we are in the city with access to all sorts of stores and cafes. We are in the rainy season, so sometimes it rains a lot and other days just a little shower. If it rains all day, it’s super chilly at night. It’s typically around the mid 70’s during the day with a nice breeze some days. At night we sleep well, as the temp. is around 60 degrees. Overall, the weather here beats out the humid and intense heat of Houston any day!
I have enjoyed catching up with old friends here, and have met people from all over the world! I have already made some great new friends, and met people from Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Estonia, the UK, Bolivia, and all over the USA. I’m super excited about meeting people from different parts of the world and learning about their cultures!
We currently have 2 schools running, a Discipleship Training School (DTS) and a Children at Risk school. The summers are busy around the base and some teams are here for a week and others for several weeks on their DTS outreach or as part of a summer program. (Some of you may remember that my outreach was in Germany). We just had a group of high school students and several adult sponsors here from a church in Salisbury, NC that were working with our Homes of Hope staff to build a house for a family. We also have a group of teens here from Montana for a month. They are part of a 2 month fine arts program and some perform dances while others play instruments and/or sing, and some do mini sports camps around the city. I also had the privilege of doing kids ministry with a group of Korean students this week from New York. They are absolutely amazing young people, the youngest of which is 11 years old. This group has also done homeless ministry and manual labor on and off the San Jose YWAM base.
We also have a DTS here that started in New Zealand. They are a part of the “Around the World” DTS, so they travel to several countries over the course of 5 months. They will meet the rest of their team who are traveling around the world in 4 other groups in Madrid this week for debrief, and will graduate on the Mount of Olives in Israel. How cool is that?
As for me, I got to do kids ministry and visitations this week with my awesome Metro leader, Renate! She is about my age and is from Germany, and has a huge heart for kids at risk and their families. It is such a privilege to work with Renate in this ministry, and I know I’m going to learn so much from her in the next 2 months. She is the only full-time staff member in this ministry and plans out every detail. She gets the lessons from Metro Ministries in Brooklyn, NY, and translates them into Spanish. She works endlessly to prepare each week. We travel to 2-3 communities a week doing a full kids program in the Metro Ministries truck. The side of the truck folds out into a stage, and we bring balls, and play games with the kids before the program starts. The program consists of 2-3 energetic worship songs, teaching a Bible verse in Spanish (then the kids come up and recite it)a mini-Bible lesson, and a game.
We also do visitations in these communities on a weekly basis. During visitations, we don’t do a program, we just go visit parents and kids, assess their needs, pray for them, etc. A group will also simultaneously play with kids during this time. For the majority of programs and visitations we will be accompanied by either a few DTS students or some of the students in the Children at Risk School.
In addition, Renate plans out events like VBS for 6 days this month. Currently we are planning out events in 2 communities next month for Mother’s Day. We will have a nice breakfast and Vanessa, one of the FT staff here will share an encouraging message with them. We will also have a craft in one community and manicures in another.
Many of you are probably wondering about what’s going on with Pedro and I, but this blog will not share details as this is to update folks on what is going on in ministry, as well as what the Lord is teaching me or doing in my life. If you want to know more, you will have to e-mail me! For those of you who do not know who Pedro is, I will share that we met here in San Jose in our DTS last Sept. We are getting to know one another slowly, and we are still praying about dating. He is a very special man, with a beautiful heart for God and people. We both want to honor God if we are going to be in a relationship, so we want to be sure that this is truly God’s will for us before we jump into anything serious.
Please stay in touch and keep Metro in your prayers. I am already so blessed after just 2 weeks of being with the kids. I really want to make a difference in their lives in these 2 months, and will be praying about joining Renate FT in the ministry in January. I will not be able to work with Metro once I start the Bible Core Course here on Sept. 23. The course runs through the middle of December, and then I will head back to Houston for about 2 weeks for the holidays. I am planning to return to work FT with YWAM San Jose in January, but will wait for the doors to open here and see what the Lord wants me to do. I was reading in Proverbs yesterday and found a great verse that speaks of this:
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21
Please also pray that the Lord would be very clear about a possible relationship with Pedro and that He would provide for me in every way. I will be living by faith more than I ever have, completely relying on His Provision. Please let me know how I can pray for you too!
Feel free to e-mail me or set up skype a date with me! I want to stay as connected as possible with family and friends from the USA and all over the world!
Living for Him,
Stephanie
I have enjoyed catching up with old friends here, and have met people from all over the world! I have already made some great new friends, and met people from Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Estonia, the UK, Bolivia, and all over the USA. I’m super excited about meeting people from different parts of the world and learning about their cultures!
We currently have 2 schools running, a Discipleship Training School (DTS) and a Children at Risk school. The summers are busy around the base and some teams are here for a week and others for several weeks on their DTS outreach or as part of a summer program. (Some of you may remember that my outreach was in Germany). We just had a group of high school students and several adult sponsors here from a church in Salisbury, NC that were working with our Homes of Hope staff to build a house for a family. We also have a group of teens here from Montana for a month. They are part of a 2 month fine arts program and some perform dances while others play instruments and/or sing, and some do mini sports camps around the city. I also had the privilege of doing kids ministry with a group of Korean students this week from New York. They are absolutely amazing young people, the youngest of which is 11 years old. This group has also done homeless ministry and manual labor on and off the San Jose YWAM base.
We also have a DTS here that started in New Zealand. They are a part of the “Around the World” DTS, so they travel to several countries over the course of 5 months. They will meet the rest of their team who are traveling around the world in 4 other groups in Madrid this week for debrief, and will graduate on the Mount of Olives in Israel. How cool is that?
As for me, I got to do kids ministry and visitations this week with my awesome Metro leader, Renate! She is about my age and is from Germany, and has a huge heart for kids at risk and their families. It is such a privilege to work with Renate in this ministry, and I know I’m going to learn so much from her in the next 2 months. She is the only full-time staff member in this ministry and plans out every detail. She gets the lessons from Metro Ministries in Brooklyn, NY, and translates them into Spanish. She works endlessly to prepare each week. We travel to 2-3 communities a week doing a full kids program in the Metro Ministries truck. The side of the truck folds out into a stage, and we bring balls, and play games with the kids before the program starts. The program consists of 2-3 energetic worship songs, teaching a Bible verse in Spanish (then the kids come up and recite it)a mini-Bible lesson, and a game.
We also do visitations in these communities on a weekly basis. During visitations, we don’t do a program, we just go visit parents and kids, assess their needs, pray for them, etc. A group will also simultaneously play with kids during this time. For the majority of programs and visitations we will be accompanied by either a few DTS students or some of the students in the Children at Risk School.
In addition, Renate plans out events like VBS for 6 days this month. Currently we are planning out events in 2 communities next month for Mother’s Day. We will have a nice breakfast and Vanessa, one of the FT staff here will share an encouraging message with them. We will also have a craft in one community and manicures in another.
Many of you are probably wondering about what’s going on with Pedro and I, but this blog will not share details as this is to update folks on what is going on in ministry, as well as what the Lord is teaching me or doing in my life. If you want to know more, you will have to e-mail me! For those of you who do not know who Pedro is, I will share that we met here in San Jose in our DTS last Sept. We are getting to know one another slowly, and we are still praying about dating. He is a very special man, with a beautiful heart for God and people. We both want to honor God if we are going to be in a relationship, so we want to be sure that this is truly God’s will for us before we jump into anything serious.
Please stay in touch and keep Metro in your prayers. I am already so blessed after just 2 weeks of being with the kids. I really want to make a difference in their lives in these 2 months, and will be praying about joining Renate FT in the ministry in January. I will not be able to work with Metro once I start the Bible Core Course here on Sept. 23. The course runs through the middle of December, and then I will head back to Houston for about 2 weeks for the holidays. I am planning to return to work FT with YWAM San Jose in January, but will wait for the doors to open here and see what the Lord wants me to do. I was reading in Proverbs yesterday and found a great verse that speaks of this:
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21
Please also pray that the Lord would be very clear about a possible relationship with Pedro and that He would provide for me in every way. I will be living by faith more than I ever have, completely relying on His Provision. Please let me know how I can pray for you too!
Feel free to e-mail me or set up skype a date with me! I want to stay as connected as possible with family and friends from the USA and all over the world!
Living for Him,
Stephanie
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Hamburg farewell
We are absolutely amazed at how the Lord has been working here in Hamburg. We have been blessed to work with the ELIM church and participated in the same ministries with them this week as we did last week. I have so much to share but am super tired so I will have to debrief more later. I got to share my testimony at Chic & Satt this Tuesday like my sister Jody did last week. I was so blessed when a young Christian from the church told me that what I shared was " the right message at the right time." She had converted from Islam a little over a year ago. I won't share the details about her story, but I was able to share truth with her and pray with her. She added me as a friend on Facebook, and I wants to stay in touch. I was so discouraged about my message, but even if she was the only one impacted, it was worth it !!
Today we speent the morning with some kids at a local school, and I was so excited to be back with tweens nad teens. I'll share more later. Please pray that I would be able to sleep well and that my sinus infection would clear up. Thanks!!!
We leave this weekend for our final week of ministry. I'll will update you once we arrive and have access!
Today we speent the morning with some kids at a local school, and I was so excited to be back with tweens nad teens. I'll share more later. Please pray that I would be able to sleep well and that my sinus infection would clear up. Thanks!!!
We leave this weekend for our final week of ministry. I'll will update you once we arrive and have access!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
New city, new ways for God to move
Hello from Hamburg! We have officially reached our 2nd city here in Germany to do ministry for the König von Königs and Herr von Herrs (German for King of Kings & Lord of Lords)!
We arrived Sunday about 1:30pm and three people from the ELIM church were there to greet us at the train station. I was so excited to see them waving a Costan Rican flag and smiling! We continue to receive warm welcomes from the Germans we are partnering with here, and it has blessed me immensely. They prepared a wonderful lunch for us, and then we had time to unpack and rest a bit. We attended their 7pm service with awesome worship in German and English.
I can't rememer what we did Monday morning other than a time of debrief from our time in Berlin. The days seem to go so fast here! A group of us went to do a prostitute minisry later that night. I had never done a ministry like this and actually been able to talk to the girls. We meet girls as young as 20, and talked to older women ( in their late 30's, or older). We had a time of worship and prayer beforehand as a large group, then we split into groups of 3 or 4 men, and 3 or 4 women. The women took chocolate and our group even had hot chocolate to offer. I guess the guys just prayed as they walked the area, and kept an eye on us girls. My group met ladies from Romania, Venezuela, and a few other nations. We offered to pray for them, but none of the ladies accepted our offer. They seemed to be afraid, and might have been being watched by their pimp. We got to encourage 2 older women from Venezuela in Spanish, and told them that God had better plans for them. After we talked to each lady, we walked down the sidewalk a bit, and stopped to pray for them.
Tuesday was a super day as well, as I got to take part in 2 ministries. Half of our group went to a ministry with the ELIM church ( also where we are staying) to serve food and hot drinks to homeless folks and drug addicts. We started out with worship, and then made sandwiches and passed out pastries and drinks. I had a great conversation with a lady from Poland who spoke great English. Later that afternoon, we returned to the church to help the rest of our team distribute food and clothes to folks in the community. This ministry is every week, and is literally translated in English as "Fashionable and Full". A member of our group shared her testimony, and many were moved in the small audience of about 100. Women shared with her afterwards that their story was like hers. Praise God, right! She was able to connect with several people in another culture, what a miracle!
I meat some very friendly people that I look forward to seeing next week. I am excited to see Tina from Singapore, and Meena from Afganistan. Please pray for fruitful spiritual conversations with these ladies. I am continually amazed at how many nations we are impacting here!
Curfew is at 9pm, so I gotta run. I had a great free day today with my new German sister Jasmin. We became friends within about an hour on Sunday. As weird as it sounds, it's like we have known each other our whole lives! What a blessing she is to me! She's 34, single, and affectionate, so we can really relate!
We arrived Sunday about 1:30pm and three people from the ELIM church were there to greet us at the train station. I was so excited to see them waving a Costan Rican flag and smiling! We continue to receive warm welcomes from the Germans we are partnering with here, and it has blessed me immensely. They prepared a wonderful lunch for us, and then we had time to unpack and rest a bit. We attended their 7pm service with awesome worship in German and English.
I can't rememer what we did Monday morning other than a time of debrief from our time in Berlin. The days seem to go so fast here! A group of us went to do a prostitute minisry later that night. I had never done a ministry like this and actually been able to talk to the girls. We meet girls as young as 20, and talked to older women ( in their late 30's, or older). We had a time of worship and prayer beforehand as a large group, then we split into groups of 3 or 4 men, and 3 or 4 women. The women took chocolate and our group even had hot chocolate to offer. I guess the guys just prayed as they walked the area, and kept an eye on us girls. My group met ladies from Romania, Venezuela, and a few other nations. We offered to pray for them, but none of the ladies accepted our offer. They seemed to be afraid, and might have been being watched by their pimp. We got to encourage 2 older women from Venezuela in Spanish, and told them that God had better plans for them. After we talked to each lady, we walked down the sidewalk a bit, and stopped to pray for them.
Tuesday was a super day as well, as I got to take part in 2 ministries. Half of our group went to a ministry with the ELIM church ( also where we are staying) to serve food and hot drinks to homeless folks and drug addicts. We started out with worship, and then made sandwiches and passed out pastries and drinks. I had a great conversation with a lady from Poland who spoke great English. Later that afternoon, we returned to the church to help the rest of our team distribute food and clothes to folks in the community. This ministry is every week, and is literally translated in English as "Fashionable and Full". A member of our group shared her testimony, and many were moved in the small audience of about 100. Women shared with her afterwards that their story was like hers. Praise God, right! She was able to connect with several people in another culture, what a miracle!
I meat some very friendly people that I look forward to seeing next week. I am excited to see Tina from Singapore, and Meena from Afganistan. Please pray for fruitful spiritual conversations with these ladies. I am continually amazed at how many nations we are impacting here!
Curfew is at 9pm, so I gotta run. I had a great free day today with my new German sister Jasmin. We became friends within about an hour on Sunday. As weird as it sounds, it's like we have known each other our whole lives! What a blessing she is to me! She's 34, single, and affectionate, so we can really relate!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Costa Rica night
I'm not sure when I'll be able to post since we will be staying at churches for the next 3 weeks. We were so excited to have a handful of new people we met come to our party, along with most of the staff here at the Berlin base, and a few friends from Jerusalem church. We were super excited to see a few friends from the park come including the young man my small group prayed for and a dealer! I was so surprised that our new friend, with time, got into the party. He even danced with us! He took a few smoke breaks and we made sure one of us was out there so he wasn't alone. One of guys had a really good conversation with him, and once the party was over, he just hung around. He seemed like he just didn't want to leave. So we gave him some left over soup from dinner, and a few folks sat down with him. They shared the Gospel with him, and he asked how he could have that in his life. So,as far as we know, he received Christ as his Lord & Savior last night!
The dealer was super nice and had conversations with many of us. I think he felt the love from our group, and we even stopped the party when he left to pray for him! Even though we only had a handful of guests, I know we impacted them in a huge way. A few folks we invited in as they walked by, but they only spoke German, so I couldn't talk to them.
I will post when I can!
The dealer was super nice and had conversations with many of us. I think he felt the love from our group, and we even stopped the party when he left to pray for him! Even though we only had a handful of guests, I know we impacted them in a huge way. A few folks we invited in as they walked by, but they only spoke German, so I couldn't talk to them.
I will post when I can!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Hamburg bound!
Well, I wanted to blog about the last week here before we head to another small town tomorrow. We are going to the city of Brandenburg tomorrow for the weekend. It's about an hour or so away from here, and we are going to a prayer house run by our new German friend from Jerusalem church. We will leave for Hamburg on Sunday and stay there for approximately 2 weeks.
I'm excited to see new cities, but sad to leave Berlin. We have a really nice YWAM base here, and we had great ministry as well. Monday we went back to park to give coffee and tea to drug dealers and others we met. A large group also prayer walked around the park again. The park is in between a mosque and a Buddist temple. We prayed for worshippers in these places to come to faith in Christ. We specifically prayed that the veil over their eyes & hearts would be removed. This time I went with one of the groups that handed out coffee & tea. We were able to talk to a handful of people. We met a young guy who was super open to us praying for him after we talked to him for about 15 minutes. He needed some direction in his life, so we prayed for opportunities for him to pursue his dreams in music and the arts. He spoke really good English & Spanish, so we could all communicate with him. I'm still amazed at how many languages the Europeans speak. We all went to lunch, then came back to the park to pray and worship where we put the stake in the ground. It was gone, but we knew what we had done in the spiritual realm. Some guys even came up there and before long they knew they were gone. One of the guys told his friend something like " we can't do this here." We could already tell that the atmosphere of the park was changing! While we were singing, we could faintly here a voice on a loud speaker. I'm not sure where it was coming from, but it sounded like a call to prayer or worship in Arabic. We wanted to keep singing to declare truth even as they were praying to their god. A group also went back to Teen Challenge. I was bummed that Gabby didn't come back. Her friend said she was sleeping. I met many friendly guys though, mostly from Lebanon, Lativia. Most of the people we met seemed to be okay with the fact that we were American. They even said Americans are friendly. A few Swedish folks came to give a mini sermon and the young girl sang a few songs. The staff were really impressed that the people stayed for the preaching and worship. One man even received Christ! What a way to finish the week out here! I'll write a bit more later...
I'm excited to see new cities, but sad to leave Berlin. We have a really nice YWAM base here, and we had great ministry as well. Monday we went back to park to give coffee and tea to drug dealers and others we met. A large group also prayer walked around the park again. The park is in between a mosque and a Buddist temple. We prayed for worshippers in these places to come to faith in Christ. We specifically prayed that the veil over their eyes & hearts would be removed. This time I went with one of the groups that handed out coffee & tea. We were able to talk to a handful of people. We met a young guy who was super open to us praying for him after we talked to him for about 15 minutes. He needed some direction in his life, so we prayed for opportunities for him to pursue his dreams in music and the arts. He spoke really good English & Spanish, so we could all communicate with him. I'm still amazed at how many languages the Europeans speak. We all went to lunch, then came back to the park to pray and worship where we put the stake in the ground. It was gone, but we knew what we had done in the spiritual realm. Some guys even came up there and before long they knew they were gone. One of the guys told his friend something like " we can't do this here." We could already tell that the atmosphere of the park was changing! While we were singing, we could faintly here a voice on a loud speaker. I'm not sure where it was coming from, but it sounded like a call to prayer or worship in Arabic. We wanted to keep singing to declare truth even as they were praying to their god. A group also went back to Teen Challenge. I was bummed that Gabby didn't come back. Her friend said she was sleeping. I met many friendly guys though, mostly from Lebanon, Lativia. Most of the people we met seemed to be okay with the fact that we were American. They even said Americans are friendly. A few Swedish folks came to give a mini sermon and the young girl sang a few songs. The staff were really impressed that the people stayed for the preaching and worship. One man even received Christ! What a way to finish the week out here! I'll write a bit more later...
Friday, January 7, 2011
Types of ministry
We have done several types of ministries sinced we have arrived here in Germany. We have split up in a few groups each day. Some of my team worked with a kids hip hop dance ministry, while others have worked with teen challenge or a youth group. I went to teen challenge Tuesday night and really enjoyed building a friendship with Gabby. This ministry is open several nights a week and they serve food and coffee to street folks. They also go out on the street to love on people. Even though the name denotes teen ministry, we only saw older folks. We had praise & worship & they also prayed for some folks who requested it. There was a man there who had been a drug addict for 40 yrs. & he wanted prayer. Praise God! I think we get to go back next week, so I plan to go because Gabby wanted me to come see her again. I can't even tell you how many hugs she gave me before we left. Michael, one of the YWAM Berlin base directors said she is never that open & friendly. A few guys also had a great conversation with a guy in English. Michael said he was so pleased with our work that night & he said the atmosphere was full of love. We also went to the train station again Wednesday with our free hugs sign , guitar, & drum. Another group went out with 3 question surveys. Some of us were successful, but my partner and I were rejected a lot. It was super hard to be rejected over and over again, but I had to remember that they were rejecting Jesus not me. We asked 2 questions about their culture & the last one was how has God influenced your life? Each person read all three
questions, & all but one said they couldn't think of any answers. It was so weird to hear that no one could think of anything positive about their culture ( question # 1).
We also have done a lot of prayer walks. They want to start a new
ministry here in a park known for drug deals. We served coffe to drug dealers yesterday & the groups that went said they couldn't believe how nice the people were. Most of the people they met were not Germans, & it was just a job to support their family. I was in the group that prayed the whole time. We even went to the highest point in the park and put a stake in the ground to claim that park for God's kingdom. Well, it's really hard to blog from my phone so I'll write more later. Keep praying for us & for the Germans. It's super hard to watch their faces full of bitterness and pain.
questions, & all but one said they couldn't think of any answers. It was so weird to hear that no one could think of anything positive about their culture ( question # 1).
We also have done a lot of prayer walks. They want to start a new
ministry here in a park known for drug deals. We served coffe to drug dealers yesterday & the groups that went said they couldn't believe how nice the people were. Most of the people they met were not Germans, & it was just a job to support their family. I was in the group that prayed the whole time. We even went to the highest point in the park and put a stake in the ground to claim that park for God's kingdom. Well, it's really hard to blog from my phone so I'll write more later. Keep praying for us & for the Germans. It's super hard to watch their faces full of bitterness and pain.
God has clearly gone before us
We have just been so blessed to be in Germany for the last week of our outreach. The culture here is the complete opposite of the culture (& climate for that matter) in costa rica. Even though the people are not as friendly here, I know God can change their hearts. We have already noticed that initially folks are reserved, but they open up once you get to know them and they can trust you. The language barrier is definitely present, so please pray that we would be able to supernaturally understand & speak the language. Many people speak English, so that is a plus. The hard part is just getting them to open up.
A little story of God's provision.
When we first arrived in Frankfurt, we spent new year's eve at a church. We cooked lunch and took a nap, and attended their new year's eve service. A woman from the church brought about 18 really costly jackets for our team, not to mention German chocolate & towels. The winter coat I brought was great for Texas, but not Germany! I have a new jacket that is so warm & has several pockets to hold all of my stuff for the day! What a blessing!
We arrived in Berlin Jan. 1st without a place to stay & our leaders heard the Lord say are you willing to give up yours rights to sleep tonite & pray for Berlin at the train station? We had worship at the train station & prayed about what He wanted us to do as individuals. Someone in our group made a sign that said free hugs in German & English, so a few people gave hugs and we also talked with several peole who wanted to know what we were doing. A young guy came over & said he felt positive vibes from us. He mentioned Bob Marley, but we knew where our "vibes" were from! He even played his harmonica to the worship music! We attracted many people with our guitar & cajon drum including a Christian woman. We got to talking with her, & mentioned we didn't have a place to stay. She called her pastor and they opened up their prayer house for us to sleep & pray! They were absolutely wonderful & we are excited to have started a new
relationship here between them & YWAM! Some of us went to their first prayer service on Wednesday and 2 latinos shared their testimony of how They got here & a word of encouragement for the church. They had a guest speaker from the USA, he prayed for each of us. He blessed us and then spoke a powerful over us. He said that I would receive all the desires of my heart, so I was stoked! We are going back to the church this weekend to spend some more time with them & attend their saturday service.
A little story of God's provision.
When we first arrived in Frankfurt, we spent new year's eve at a church. We cooked lunch and took a nap, and attended their new year's eve service. A woman from the church brought about 18 really costly jackets for our team, not to mention German chocolate & towels. The winter coat I brought was great for Texas, but not Germany! I have a new jacket that is so warm & has several pockets to hold all of my stuff for the day! What a blessing!
We arrived in Berlin Jan. 1st without a place to stay & our leaders heard the Lord say are you willing to give up yours rights to sleep tonite & pray for Berlin at the train station? We had worship at the train station & prayed about what He wanted us to do as individuals. Someone in our group made a sign that said free hugs in German & English, so a few people gave hugs and we also talked with several peole who wanted to know what we were doing. A young guy came over & said he felt positive vibes from us. He mentioned Bob Marley, but we knew where our "vibes" were from! He even played his harmonica to the worship music! We attracted many people with our guitar & cajon drum including a Christian woman. We got to talking with her, & mentioned we didn't have a place to stay. She called her pastor and they opened up their prayer house for us to sleep & pray! They were absolutely wonderful & we are excited to have started a new
relationship here between them & YWAM! Some of us went to their first prayer service on Wednesday and 2 latinos shared their testimony of how They got here & a word of encouragement for the church. They had a guest speaker from the USA, he prayed for each of us. He blessed us and then spoke a powerful over us. He said that I would receive all the desires of my heart, so I was stoked! We are going back to the church this weekend to spend some more time with them & attend their saturday service.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Germany!!!!
Hola from Berlin! After many hours
of travel we arrived in Germany safely at 6am new year's eve. We flew into Frankfurt and spent the day resting and bought some groceries. We went to church that night, and had a little party to ring in the new year. Some folks went to see fireworks but I spent my first new year's eve in bed for the first time in several years. I just didn't have the energy to stay up that late. I was blessed to see God provide for me specifically with food. Our contact here in Frankfurt knew exactly where to take me to buy some gluten free items. We have sandwiches for lunch almost everyday on outreach so I was hoping to find some GF bread and some other treats. Praise God I was able to find several healthy GF items, including bread to get me through the 7 hour train ride to Berlin. We are tired, but thank goodness they had us on a prayer walk today so we could stay moving. I'm excited to share how God has blessed us in amazing ways already, but I'm tired and want to rest.
Happy new year!!!
More to come...
of travel we arrived in Germany safely at 6am new year's eve. We flew into Frankfurt and spent the day resting and bought some groceries. We went to church that night, and had a little party to ring in the new year. Some folks went to see fireworks but I spent my first new year's eve in bed for the first time in several years. I just didn't have the energy to stay up that late. I was blessed to see God provide for me specifically with food. Our contact here in Frankfurt knew exactly where to take me to buy some gluten free items. We have sandwiches for lunch almost everyday on outreach so I was hoping to find some GF bread and some other treats. Praise God I was able to find several healthy GF items, including bread to get me through the 7 hour train ride to Berlin. We are tired, but thank goodness they had us on a prayer walk today so we could stay moving. I'm excited to share how God has blessed us in amazing ways already, but I'm tired and want to rest.
Happy new year!!!
More to come...
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