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1 year ago
Jesus continues to answer prayer here in the DR!
so i have about as much time as this computer has on it… i have 16% whatever that means.
today ruled once again. im so thankful for the wonderful things God is showing me and letting me experience.
this morning was another crazy encouraging time in the word and some strong coffee. we sang spanish worship songs and got to hear the vision for this place from our wonderful pastors that finally arrived from Florida and North Carolina.
It was a beautiful day on campus today and there were tonnnns of students out. great news came right away. remember the girls we spoke to yesterday who said they weren’t ready to give their whole life to Jesus yet? this morning Lauren, Kaden and Ky met the same two girls, told them they knew us and after a night of thinking on it both girls accepted Christ into their hearts. holy buckets!!
one after spending some time in prayer and we went in search of Denny and the bible study he and his friends did on the library lawn. We were seriously pumped for this bible study but again Jesus had a better plan. as we were looking around the library we ran into a guy named Gerard. he walked right up to us and asked
are you americans? looking for a bible study??
what!? how did he know!?
only problem was he wasnt denny, nor did we know him. then he says, here come to the bible study with me in this building over here
uuuummm… ever seen the movie Taken? yes. that flashed before my eyes (well apparently he thought we were part of a big group of campus crusade people that were also sharing this week from somewhere on campus.) so i decided to thank him but we were going to keep looking for our friend and maybe go over to where he told us it was if we couldnt find him.
after turning around to head back to the front of the building a guy who was studying on a ledge at the side of the lawn jumped down and stopped us. asked if we were american and why we were here. Native Dominican that spoke PERFECT english. what, what!! i answered him, told him why and asked what he believed about God and Jesus. after saying a bunch of pretty generic stuff, he finally said he was a Mormon who had converted to mormonism because of missionaries coming to his house. i asked him to go through all his basic doctrine and then if we could sit and if i could tell him what i thought. he agreed immediately. i went through a lot of the Romans road and in detail explained the gospel, especially the parts that Jesus is the ONLY way, no matter how good he is work dont get you to heaven, and that if he wanted he could know for sure where he would go when he died after living a changed life of purpose because he said he wasnt sure what would happen when he died.
As i explained all these things, i could see it in his eyes. it really made him think. he couldnt believe i was so sure and passionate. he wanted to know for sure but he said it was so much to think about. he said he wanted to hang out and promised he would really think about all this stuff. he also promised to read Romans for me. i dont think ive ever had someone i asked to read something for me say they would and be 99 percent sure he’ll hold to his promise. PTL. his name is Jhoan and im gunna call him tomorrow morning to set up a time for tomorrow night.
after grabbing a yummy lunch we went back to campus and for the last 2 or 3 hours of sharing we only walked up to one person. the rest approached us. for hours. it was crazyness. another answer to prayer.
we ran into some wonderful people from the ministry on campus here in Santo Domingo who walked right up to us and asked if we were the group from Iowa. seriously im getting creeped out haha. they explained who they were and when we told them our names they got really excited and said oh! Gerard told us about you. haha sorry Gerard you werent a bad guy. apparently it was all legit! lol they were soo great, i was so encouraged talking to them and they totally answered all of our prayers as a group of 54… they had 30ish spanish/english speaking people ready and willing to be translators for us sharing the gospel! oh.my.lanta.
after that i got to share with another guy who was passing a young boy trying to tell us something and heard me say i only speak english and he could help. after going through the gospel with him i saw that the girls had started a conversation with a guy who walked up to them as well. another Christian! so great. he loved Jesus a lot, and music, hillsong, singing, worship, spreading the gospel. we got along soooo well :D haha.he couldnt believe we had to leave in just a few days and was really bummed but we got his name and hes excited to speak to us on facebook.
when we went to meet up at the end of the sharing day with our group more encouragement came, Isreal said he had just met our friend Denny and that we was just down the street. yay! apparently denny had been waiting for us at bible study while we looked around and somehow missed each other. but he met some of the others in our group and was helping them translate and hanging out at the hostel tonight.
Last but not least we shared a great meal with our group and our wonderful pastors Tim, Terry and Paco. so thankful for these wonderful men.
if you think about it being praying for Jhoan tomorrow
love you all :)
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1 year ago
Santo Domingo Day 3
blogging from an iPhone in Santo Domingo and I want to say a bunch of things but we’ll see how much I can take typing on a phone. God has been so good on this trip. We started out wonderfully leaving church with a bus of 51 pumped to tell people about Jesus and got to Chicago without a hitch. haha then we started getting attacked like crazy. 15 of us didn’t have tickets to get to New York. at all. so as the rest of our group left for JFK, what we now have affectionately name Team Leftover, got put into a hotel till our plane left the following day. frustrating bc we wanted to be together but God apparently had different plans and people for us to meet. so Friday night we ordered Chicago deep dish and spent lots of time in prayer and bonding. I was thankful for a random group of drake, yaf, grand view and dmacc people that I only knew like 3 of them really well, so thankful i was able to get to know such amazing brothers and sisters I didn’t have a chance to before. late that night though, the attacks kept coming. we found out they finally let one of the guys with us on the plane in NY and told him there would be a good chance the minute he tried to get through customs they could deport him back to the US. and a few minutes later we had to take one of our girls to the emergency room. after getting to bed at 3:30, waking up, grabbing some coffee and needed time with Jesus we went to the airport praying we would have anymore problems. Jesus answered! yay! the girl we took to the hospital had to go back home to Iowa :( but Isreal got into the country with no problems PTL
the plane ride to Boston we all got to have some good convos with the people next to us. I got to sit by a guy who was actually from Des Moines and his son goes to Urbandale! crazy town.
Boston (airport) was great. the flight before ours was super delayed and this old never-lived-anywhere-but-Boston guy started talking to us. he ended up, without us even asking about God, tried to give us advice on life and told us no to buy into that whole God, religion stuff. haha well nothing like Jesus throwing an opportunity into our laps. we shared with him for quite sometime. he played it off that he was happy but you could tell he was really hurting inside and searching. so we gave him a mark cahill booklet he promised he would read on the train. they seemed to really like us. and So thankful I got to really bond with his wife too. she’s been a hair dresser/salon owner/aveda selling for 35 years and really great. flight delayed for a reason!
Dominican Republic bound! got a little sleep on the plane and arrived at 3:00am. thought our taxi wasn’t coming. finally did. got a flat tire. fixed the flat tire. stopped again with lose bolts on the tire. and FINALLY got to the hostel (which is beautiful by the way) and went to sleep around 4:45. arriving a day and a half after the 1st group. then up 8:30 at for church. great church here in town.
1st day of sharing was the probably the hardest, most frustrating, humbling, sharing on a mission trip I’ve ever had in my life. I would almost rather people get mad at me for telling them the truth than not able to even speak to them at all. it’s the most frustrating thing to have truth and want to tell it and literally can’t. I got back to the room that night and was so unbelievably discouraged. Caleb (my group leader) jokingly has said the all week that the bunch of us who can’t speak Spanish are crazy for coming bc we can’t speak to people and I seriously felt that way. why did I come If I can barely say hello let alone get through the entire gospel? I take for granted the ease of sharing the gospel in America. God’s taught me so much that I have to lean on the Holy Spirit. we can do so many things without God. Christian things. totally without Him. Hes taught me so much about fighting spiritually through prayer for their souls instead of physically talking to them. so needless to say at the end of the day, I felt like I super bombed the 1st sharing day and was not really looking forward to the rest of the trip and begging God to send english speaking people my way.
Gods mercies are new every morning. oh my lanta. PTL. got up this morning very refreshed with a seriously hot shower, a good night of sleep, an amazing cup of coffee, delicious breakfast made by the people who run the hostel, time in the word and some encouragement from miss davenport :) i claimed 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and decided I would share the gospel no matter what it took and that seemed to be writing down my greeting in Spanish and then just reading our Spanish way of the master sheet. so I got familiar with some of the words and we were off.
today was the 2nd of sharing and my first on the campus. it’s insane. it’s like ants in an ant hill haha I don’t know how to even describe it. there’s tons of people everywhere (there are 100,000 students that attend this university) i was sharing with Marissa and Dottie today. it was great!!! we shared with so many people. actually sharing and them understanding. it ruled.
everyone is so nice too. nothing like America. they’re willing to sit and listen not only to the gospel but to people fumbling through their language and butchering it.
side note: I am no, and 99percent sure will NEVER be, a celebrity but i think this is the closest I will ever come. seriously. everywhere we go EVERYONE stares at us. not glance or even try to hide it. but all out gawk at us. Ive had several people follow me with cameras and take my picture, people just walk up and start talking to us bc we’re white.
tody we met a ton of people who needed Jesus, people who said they had Him but I don’t really know.but God crazy encouraged today by sending us A TON of Christians, like legit Christians to us. I could talk all day about all the people we talked to but I’ll share my two favs.
the third group we talked to started with one and was joined by a friend then 3 more came over as we were talking by the end of the time one of the girls said she wants to be saved but is afraid. she’s so close and may get dinner with all of them later in the week. but the best part ever was that one of the guys that came over late became a Christian 3 years ago and was so joyful and so kind. and spoke english pretty well!!!!!!! his name is Denny. so we left that group, shared for a little longer and then went to lunch, met with our pastors who just got in! and wandered back over to the same spot like 2 hours later an started sharing with a girl. and right as the convo was getting really difficult bc she spoke no English. Denny pops up! he translated for the rest of our conversation and asked if he could go with us to share. what, what translator!!! I asked for English speaking people and God sent a translator who I immediately hit it off with. he is unbelievable. such a heart for the gospel and to know Jesus! he hung out and shared with us for almost 2 hours and only left because he had a study group meeting. he was able to meet Tim Rude and Paco Lopez and we’re going to go to a bible study he goes to tomorrow at 1 at the library and we’re all gunna grab dinner. and he’ll probably help us the rest of week translating. I’m soo thankful! he’s also tryin to teach me key spanish phrases and I’ve been picking up on a lot already.
2nd fav was just as we were done sharing, a women named Caesarina stopped me and asked if I was American and if she could hang out and practice her english that she was learning. seriously Jesus! holy buckets! then even better she’s a Christian who couldn’t stop talking about how much she loves Jesus and how much He loved her and died for her and how he changed her life and that she’s learning English and French so she can share the gospel with the world. so awesome! we’re getting dinner with her wednesday night!
Praise the Lord for such a wonderful day and ended with my favorite form of worship -singing! we sang for a long time in English and then the hostel workers really really wanted to sing with us so we started singing all in Spanish. so amazing! praying they see they need Jesus
more to come of how Jesus is awesome …
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1 year ago from photographsmemories (originally from sendingmylove)
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1 year ago
let the waters rise…
been a long time since i wrote on this thing. so here it goes. open and honest is the theme today i guess. im trying to put words to all the crazy things running around inside my head and i miss writing, so i thought “lets see what comes out”. i usually need to talk or write things out to understand them better so we’ll see. the song “Let the waters rise” by MikesChair is awesome! i love this song and i feel like its my life right now. this year has been different then any other one ive ever experienced. the last few years God has really shaped who i am. it was amazing/hard/stretching/encouraging. going cosmo school, coming to Walnut Creek, giving my life to love and serve people and see them come to know Jesus, moving out, switching jobs a few times, watching God do crazy things at Drake, in Europe on the mission trips, and in Des Moines. really worked on my character, theology, knowledge. i always told God i would do whatever He wanted me to do, go wherever He sent me, always love and serve Him and people, work to know Him and make Him known the rest of my life, give Him whatever He asked.
and i think He decided 2010 would be a year of testing. to see what i was made of. seeing if i was serious when i said all those things. not in a mean ‘im waiting for you to screw up’ kind of way. but to see if meant what i said. to see if when hard times came if i would continue to be faithful to Him, continue to trust Him, continue to hope and love and serve. to seek Him no matter what i came up against. to see if He could continue to use me. and sadly, i have to admit. i really failed my test. ive felt stuck all year. just wanting to give up. so many things vying for my attention and love, so many distractions and things to give my life and heart to. ive been battling my sin, battling temptations, battling complacency and discontentment, battling lies and finally gave up the fight. let it take me. this year kind of chewed me up and spit me out. the hard part is i know the answers. i know the verses. ive listened to hundreds and hundreds of sermons in the last year or so, i can tell you the greek and hebrew and historical background. but i havent been getting it to my heart and really fighting for my relationship with Jesus with that knowledge. i think as Christians we get really excited to love Jesus and worship and work hard when things are good. and thats great. but we forget a really important piece of life. our sinful nature. the world. and satan. i know i do. ephesians 6 talks about the armor of God. armor is for defense. you dont fight with shoes or a helmet- those are for protection. i think this year i really thought i had the Christian life down and i picked up my sword and ran onto the battlefield with nothing to protect myself. and it did not end well. I love Jesus and want to give my life to Him and serving and loving people. I know that this life is worth living and i want to give Him everything but my nature and satan are a good opponents and their lies seem so believable sometimes. This world looks good. but satan just wants to devour us. he knows exactly how to pull us in, entice us. “theres a raging sea, right in front of me, wants to pull me in, bring me to my knees.” and if we’re not on the defensive, not fighting to remember God’s promises and faithfulness. we’ll get carried away.
this year God’s grace has been more and more real to me. im so thankful He loves me the same no matter what. He never sees me differently. always waiting with His arms open for me to come back. ready to forgive and forget. ready to give grace upon grace when i show even a little bit of effort and willingness to begin fighting for our relationship again. im so thankful that He’s faithful when im not. “He was faithful before, He’ll be faithful again” 2011 will definitely be a rebuilding year. the Holy Spirit is really speaking to my life and working on getting me back to where i should be. I dont want anything or anyone to stand in the way of me and Jesus. not even myself.
“God, Your love is enough, I will follow You”
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2 years ago
life is about to be very different. ughh.
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Notes: 1 / 2 years ago from
Gears & Grinds Spotlight: Ritual Café(as published by Ritual Café)
Ritual Café is a concept that developed between friends over dinner one evening. It was a thought mentioned out loud, one of those “Oh, wouldn’t it be cool to have a great little place that…” It was a seed. A seed that has been planted. It is our dream to become a hub of cultural creativity by creating an open, loving and diverse environment that mutually supports free, respectful expression in a variety of art forms. …Oh yeah! And we sell really great coffee and food, too!
If you wish to share in our Ritual Café experience, you’ll find us in downtown Des Moines, Iowa on 13th Street, between Locust and Grand Avenue.
Our Coffee:
Not just any coffee will do for our daily ritual. While some folks are O.K. with big chain coffees and fancy labels, we believe the best and freshest products are found locally. With Denise’s 10 years of experience as a roaster and having a well-rounded knowledge of the industry, we are proud to say we brew locally roasted Java Joe’s coffee. Java Joe’s was the first micro-roaster in Des Moines and is one we consider to be the finest in the area.
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Notes: 3 / 2 years ago fromREGISTER NOW!!
(via gearsandgrinds)
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Notes: 6 / 2 years ago from
Here is the finalized poster design for Gears and Grinds! Be on the lookout for these around Des Moines.
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2 years ago
hanging out with my puppy tonight
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Notes: 3 / 2 years ago from
I got to talking with an old friend named Van Holmgren the other day about what we’re up to and he offered up some help. Here’s a mock up of the 1st Annual Gears & Grinds Ride t-shirt being printed by 8/7 Central. Stoked!
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