Well, the last week of our ATL trip has been nothing short of incredible! The Lord blessed us with this amazing hostel on the island of Utila. We could stay for a reasonable price, and could dive right off the dock and watch the sun set in the water right in our backyard. We were surrounded by travelers from many countries of the world: America, Canada, Italy, Israel, Botswana, England, Ireland, and Australia, to name a few.  We got to meet these people and hear their stories, while sharing a few of our own. And we got to hang out all together on this tropical Caribbean island…simply because the Lord saw fit to send us there! Never before have I been more convinced that you cannot out give God!

The Lord has brought clarity in my life over the last week or so. I feel more at peace with a certain concept that I have heard before and have certainly heard over and over again in this last year. For some reason it hadn't really clicked with me until Utila, somewhere amidst the eclectic throng of backpackers who became my friends. That concept is that ministry is life. God cannot be compartmentalized into nice little boxes labeled "worship" or "missions", or even "intimacy".  I carry Him with me into all situations. Not once did I try to start a conversation about God or what I believe, because I didn't have to. It always just came up time and time again; over drinks, over dinner, while swimming, while playing cards, when I was lying out on the beach. Jesus is the most important person in my life, and that will always come across to others.  He opens the doors, I just have to walk through them.

So, location and even the type of ministry is irrelevant. The call is the same. Be light. Love Him and be light. I think I realized again that it's no mistake that I am the way I am or have the type of personality I do. I love being around large groups of people and love having one on one talks and getting to know people. This is my calling. To take that part of my personality and use it for His glory. I hate the mindset that says, "What will I do after the race? What will my ministry be?" I don't believe in that line of questioning. My ministry is not about an organization or a church or a location or a program. It is about loving on Jesus and telling people what He means to me. I haven't felt this energized or content in so long, and it's just because I was being myself and hanging out with people. After a year of language barriers and having things planned out for us, this was like my own personal dream. I got to just be myself and live life and watch the effects. I feel more prepared than ever to go back home because I know that my time of "missions" isn't over when the trip ends. I won't go back and twiddle my thumbs until the next big trip comes along. I will live my life.

 If I grab this abundant life with both hands and refuse to waste a second of it, ministry will be the obvious byproduct. But hopefully I will be too caught up in the precious moment to notice.

So, we're here on an island in the Caribbean called Utila, off the coast of Honduras, living life and loving the fact that God loves to be on Island Time too! The conversations, the food, the people we've met, the drinks, the tanning...all have been amazing! The internet however is crazy expensive and as I am unprepared to post a blog of my own, I will graciously give a shout out to my teammate Beth Schroeder, who wrote about what the last few days have been like for us. She put it better than I could, so check it out and I'll try to blog in a little while. (that was for you).

To the Army base, here we come!

God rocks!

Here's a quick run through of what we have been up to for the last week and a half:

-We stayed with the awesome Elam family in Managua, Nicaragua for about 4 days

- I rode a horse bareback because I wanted to feel like a Native American! I got her to canter, and then gracefully fell of onto my neck! The Lord protected me and my foot got stepped on, but I never felt it and was fine afterwards! It was awesome...and yes, I got back on and rode that same horse, because everyone knows if you fall off a horse, you have to get back on! But the point is, I rode bareback! Go Big or Go Home!

-I also got to ride a horse on the beach, thanks to some random man who was nice enough to lead me around the beach on his horse, just simply because I asked if I could ride it! He was so sweet! This was a goal of mine for this month, and the Lord allowed for it to happen...I love how He cares about the little stuff! He's always looking to bless!

-We have gotten free rides with really nice people who show up at the perfect times, like Bubba, who drove us to the bus station in Managua and told us about his life as a missionary and how he's almost been killed a few times on the field! He got to pray for us before we left for Honduras. Nice job, Lord! We had no clue where to go, but decided Honduras was as good a place as any, so off we went.

-Spent a few days in Tegucigalpa and got to pray for some people there. God also provided people on the bus from Managua who knew a good cheap place to stay, which is where we ended up.

-Felt it was time to leave Tegucigalpa and took a bus and then hitched a ride to Valle de Angeles, up in the mnountains of Honduras. While walking to a campsite we stopped to ask a lady and her son for directions. She invited us to camp in her backyard for free! She turned out to be a Christian and said we were the answer to her prayers.

-We camped for the night then the son, Noi, told us that people were hanging around our tents, so we rushed back and realized that the Lord had saved the day. They had come to rob us, but had only been able to steal a pair of shoes from Casey that he didn't want anyway! They must have had plans to come back later for the rest of our gear. We took that as a sign (obviously!) and moved in with the family, thanking God for placing angels around the tents while we had been away.

-We stayed with the family for 5 days. Leticia was such a precious lady who has been praying for the chance to house missionaries for years now! We were her first group! We went to church with her almost everyday.

-In one of the services (which were lively to say the least, with tambourines, flags, and plenty of dancing!) Jules and I got pulled onstage with a few of the young adult girls who dance for the church...we each got a tambourine and got to dance before the Lord in worship...quite the experience!

-We left Valle de Angeles yesterday and got a free ride to the bus station. We felt the Lord change our plans to go to El Salvador, and instead headed to the east coast of Honduras. On the bus we met a guy who knew of a good cheap place to stay. He likes to do that for us right when we're about to get to a city where we know no one! (so don't worry, mom! ;D)

So, that brings us up to speed! We are here in San Pedro Sula, an hour away from the east coast of Honduras. We will stay another night in San Pedro Sula, and then from here we will hit the coast for Semana Santa (Holy Week). Again, this is all to the the credit of the Lord, our constant Guide and Provider, who never ceases to amaze.

Who: Casey, Beth, Heather, Julie, and myself

What: A road trip through Central America with no plans and no agendas...just the expectation that God is about to rock us with His guidance and His extravagant will for this next month of our lives. A month set aside for the Lord to show off, basically. A waiting game where we will refuse to take a step until He tells us to, and where we are expecting to have divine appointments laid at our feet and open doors to meet and love on people.

Where: Basically any country in Central America is fair game! If we can hitchhike, take a bus, a chicken cart, a horse and buggy, a taxi, a bike, or a flatbed truck...we can go there! God holds the itinerary, and the five of us are on a need to know basis...and we really don´t need to know the destinations!

Why: Because if we don´t do this...if we don´t kick out our own crutches from underneath us and have to depend on God for everything, a part of us, the most important part of us, will die. Because if you don´t answer the call when it comes to you, who knows if it will come again? Because....why not?!?

When: It has already started! We leave in about an hour from Jinotepe for Managua, our first stop on the long and winding road that is this month of ATL (Ask The Lord). All we know is that we have to meet back up with the squad in Antigua, Guatemala on April 8th.

How: Only through complete surrender and willingness to rush to the end of ourselves and cliff jump into Him. Only by His grace.

God´s bragging rights: He has already started this trip off with a bang! We have a free ride in the back of a pick-up truck to Managua, our starting off point. The owners of the Christian hotel where we have been staying for the last few days of debrief offered to take the 5 of us free of charge to Managua, as they were already planning on going. Then last night, Team Awaken went out for a goodbye dinner (the 7 of us will be split up between 5 different teams this month). As we got up to go and pay, a Christian man who had been staying at the hotel as well came over to the table and announced that he was going to pay the tab for us, and that he appreciated young people like us giving up our lives for a year to follow God. Are you keeping score? A free ride and free lunch. We were only paid up through breakfast at the hotel, so I boxed up the rest of the pizza and now we have lunch for the road! Lastly, we have a place to stay in Managua, for as long as the Lord leads us to stay....it´s a 42 acre horse ranch! We got in touch with them through Scott and Carol Pitts, our prayer counselors, and they are a great Christian couple who are excited to have us. Looks like we´ll be sleeping either in the barn tonight or just right out in the open under the stars.

Let the God games begin!

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Grenada, Nicaragua. We are all back together again and will leave for debrief tomorrow. After a ridiculously scary and potentially dangerous flight on a 30 seater plane yesterday, we have officially left Puerto Cabezas and close out yet another month.

Our time here in Nicaragua was awesome. We all loved it so much. It was really hard to say goodbye to the Nicaraguan guys we worked alongside of for a whole month. But I have learned on this trip how to let go and let God. We have one month to get in there and love people with everything we have, show them the truth through our lives, then head out to the next place knowing that God is the only true Harvester. I got to have some really good conversations in our last week there with a few of the guys, and I have complete peace that the Lord will take them the rest of the way. They are such sweet spirited people and once they come to know God, they become such incredible instruments in His hands. They are passionate and humble beyond what I have ever seen before. I plan to keep in touch with a specific few, and know it won't be long until I'm celebrating with them as a sister in Christ.

So, that leaves us with two months left. How in the world did it go so fast? Months feel like weeks now. I am trying to fight the urge to grab hold of everyone and refuse to let go. The Lord has been speaking to me about accepting the ebb and flow of things and He is teaching me to live fully in each moment and not try to make them last longer than they should. Every minute I spend out here in the field with this group that has become my family makes me a better person and fills me with joy. If I stay in one moment too long, I will miss the next one.

With that said, we're having a 4 day debrief starting tomorrow, then we're off again, all in different teams and in different directions. I will be traveling with just a few other people, and we'll be going wherever the Lord will lead! Seriously, we have no plans...just a limited budget which leaves us totally dependent on God for provision, and with no agenda other than to serve the Lord and the local people wherever our feet may land! Whatever that looks like, we are ready. We have to hear the Lord this month...He is our everything. Our Provider, our Guide, our Captain. How did I ever get to be this blessed? I am about to travel around Central America with a group of friends who love Jesus and who are determined to make a difference in the world, no matter the cost. I shake my head as I write this and realize that Jesus was so right: "He who finds his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it." I'm finding it, and it's changing absolutely everything.

The journey continues, from L.A. to Nicaragua!

It must be said...I love my life here! The first country I ever went to outside of the U.S. was actually Nicaragua, about ten years ago. The Lord confirmed His calling on my life for missions when I was here back in 1998, and then I got the privilege to travel to 3 more Latin American countries for missions within the next 3 years. I have always adored the culture and the people here. You would be hard-pressed to find nicer or a more humble group of people anywhere in the world.

So, what have I been up to for these last two and a half weeks, you may ask...

Construction!!! I have been dying to get my hands dirty and work out in the sun this whole year, only being slightly satisfied from time to time with painting projects and the such back in the Philippines and a few other times, but we have finally been able to get out there and tackle some construction projects! I always love the first few minutes that pass as we arrive on the construction site, just two American girls with our little water bottles and sunscreen (Heather and myself), while the guys size us up and mentally prepare for a day of undoing whatever it is we have managed to foul up! Granted, I understand their apprehension. We look more like cheerleaders than construction workers! But then they assign us a task, and off we go...lifting 12 foot zinc metal sheets over our heads and handing them to the astonished guys waiting on the roof top nail them down! Their faces are priceless! And then we settle in to our routine as the helpers who have gained some sort of respect and are counted among the trabajadores (workers). One of my goals this month was to go to bed every night completely exhausted from a hard days' work...so far, so good!

We have been able to make really good friendships with the guys that we work with, which always makes it more fun. They are around our age, and what with their average English skills and our foggy but working Spanish, we are able to have conversations. The main question everyone asks is why we are here, and why on earth two girls from the States would be so eager to work outside and get dirty to build other people's houses. It's been a great time so far. Today we even got to try our hand at some power tools...with much success! All in all, we have helped to build 10 roofs, I have painted a ton, and we were mixing and shoveling concrete the other day. I didn't even know I had that many muscles in my back, but I know now because they are all aching!

It's a good feeling to work hard and to help out and get to see the results of your labor. This year has been so diverse with so many types of ministry, which I am grateful for. I have been stretched in a lot of ways by having to do things I wouldn't normally volunteer for. But here in Nicaragua, I couldn't think of anything better than working right alongside of some amazing men of God to help repair other people's houses because we know we serve the same God and we want to show that love that we have for Him, but more importnatly the love He has for the people in the community. I like that we are the wild cards on the site each day! We are the unexpected girls who show up to be a part of the hurricane relief efforts each day, and yet we are the ones who walk away blessed! Then we get greeted by 20 -30 orphan boys who play a game of baseball on our front lawn every night before dinner! It's such an awesome way of life here!

Oh, and I am getting so tan that people have started to ask what Central American country I'm from! Then I open my mouth and exhaust the few Spanish phrases I know and they realize in fact that I am American and just haven't been using that much sunscreen! Life is good.

Pictures coming soon....the internet connection can be a little tricky here!