"Panama Loves You!"

Beautiful music filled the church. The violinist passionately played "How Great Thou Art" and somewhere, in the back of the church, you could hear someone singing along. Slowly, the entire congregation began to sing along, "Mi corazón entona la canción// Cuan grande es Él." I closed my eyes and let the music carry me in... the sound of voices rising up to heaven.

As the last note faded, I opened my eyes and felt goosebumps running up and down my arms and legs. The Spirit's presence was so real, so tangible. And for a moment, praying came easier--more naturally-- than breathing. Oh, how I love worship. Nick began speaking and I kept having flashbacks of another church we were at two years ago in Barrancabermeja, Colombia. The setup was similar. The room we had waited in was similar. The people and their faith was similar. Nick shared funny anecdotes and soon captured the crowd. His random phrases in Spanish were charming and the public adored him.

Once he had their attention assured he began preaching boldly. Never give up. Failure = education. Obstacles = opportunities. Be grateful. The greatest purpose in life is to love God and to love others. I loved the "amens" and "hallelujahs" that resounded throughout the church. Honestly, I had goosebumps most the the evening. Lives were being impacted-- eternally.

After the final prayer, the band played "How Great Thou Art" once again and the sound of voices was overpowering. It was beautiful.

Before Nick exited, the entire congregation yelled, "Panama loves you!" and it was evident, that truly, they did.

Prayer Requests:

1) The two events tomorrow are running low on ticket sales. Pray that God fills both venues-- that the maximum amount of people would hear the gospel.

2) We are meeting the president tomorrow morning. Pray for God to give Nick wisdom and discernment.

3) The massive event in the stadium is tomorrow night. Pray, pray, pray, pray :)

Panama: "Your name is Nicky?"

"The point is not for you to look at my life and say that you're never going to complain again," Nick explained at the press conference, "No, that's not the point." I thought about the validity in his explaining himself, because as his translator in the past, I have heard plenty of people tell him that they'll never complain again, because Nick has bigger problems than they do. But that, he said, was not the purpose of his visit to Panama.

"The point, you see, is to bring the love of God... to break down limitations through his power." He continued answering questions and sharing God's message of hope for the next hour. The media was clearly impacted. I loved how Nick encouraged journalists and the press to FIND encouraging stories and to write about those. Its easy to find negative stories and those will always sell... but to find inspiring stories-- that's true journalism. It was a great press conference. I'm excited just thinking about the thousands upon thousands of people who are going to hear, read and see the results of this interview and be encouraged :)

Right from the press conference we were ushered into a conference room where we had lunch and discussed possibilities about Nick traveling around South America. Dream big, guys. Pray harder.

After lunch we headed over to what I had understood was a paraplegic home. But it wasn't. Nick was speaking to over 400 children, teenagers and adults with various handicaps-- physical, mental or both. The First Lady of Panama joined us and we were able to share a message of hope with her as well. As we entered the room, my breath was taken away by the beauty of the people surrounding me. I loved the innocence shining through the faces of children with autism and Down Syndrome. I smiled as the deaf waved their hands in the air to "clap." My heart softened as my gaze fell on those in wheelchairs. One child captured my heart. His arms stopped at his forearms and his legs were a little more than stumps. I wanted to hold him so badly.

At the beginning a couple of individuals came forward and thanked Nick. They were all mentally or physically disabled and were so thankful for his presence. Nick gave them all hugs and smiles lit up their faces. One man came up, trailing behind-- clearly not supposed to come forward-- and walked straight up to Nick. He was determined to hug him. He gave him a big hug and kindly asked, "What is your name?" Nick smiled and told him his name. The man cocked his head and asked, "Your name is Nicky?" I smiled and cherished the interaction.

Nick spoke. He shared from the bottom of his heart. He shared his difficulties, his challenges, his fears and then how-- by the grace of God-- he was able to overcome and live a life without limits, full of joy. He spoke about the pain of bullying. About the fear of the future. About the injustice of discrimination. His words resounded deeply with the people. Many had been rejected. All had faced intense difficulties. Nick offered living water... he offered hope.

My heart sang with joy throughout the entire session. I absolutely loved watching the deaf raise their hands to clap. I loved watching those in wheelchairs reposition themselves to see him better. I love seeing the blind sit still, catching every word.

It was so beautiful.

Tonight we're off to a church of about 5,000. Its called the Hosannah Church. All your prayers would be appreciated.

Nick in Panama: Day 1

I've never been in such a small plane before, I thought to myself as I took my seat in one of four passenger seats. When the doors were shut, the heat was unbearable. The engines started up and the noise was overpowering. A bug. That's what we'll be. We'll be a bug in the sky.

Nick gave an enthusiastic "woot!" and I couldn't help smiling. I swallowed and began to laugh-- maybe out of nervousness. As we turned on to the runway, I gazed out the window and tried to get my mind to catch up with my body. Yes, yesterday I did wake up in my dorm room in Urbana. Yes, I was sitting in a four passenger plane with Nick Vujicic (you can see his website here), my mom and Nelson (the Kuna-English translator). And yes, we were on our way to visit two Kuna villages.

I guess I'll back up and give a little bit of background information first. I am currently in Panama City, Panama serving as Nick Vujicic's translator on an evangelistic four day tour through Panama. I have translated with him twice in the past and have been blessed with the opportunity to join him again-- this time in Panama. Yes, I am missing four days of school to do this :)

Today was incredible.

First we went to Panama's police and military department. Nick shared a message of hope and encouragement there. It was beautiful and inspiring.

Then, we took two tiny planes across the jungle to Kuna territory. This indigenous people group is absolutely beautiful. They wear brightly colored clothing (lots of red) and the women have huge bead bracelets up and down their arms and legs. Beautiful nose piercings characterize older women. All the women and girls wore brightly colored skirts, that to the westerner's eye were extremely unmatched.

We flew over the Panama Canal and then landed on a strip of concrete in the middle of the jungle. I kind of felt like we were in a movie. We got on to some boats and headed over to the first community. I was overcome by the community's love and welcome. It was beautiful. After Nick's sermon they couldn't stop giving gifts. They were overcome by gratitude.

We were ushered into the church building and fed some rice, lentils and lobster. It was actually pretty good lobster!!

After that we went back to the planes and headed to the other community. Landing on this island, we were told, was like landing on a aircraft carrier. The dimensions of the landing strip were comparable and water surrounded it. Thankfully our pilot was excellent :)

A couple hundred indigenous members warmly welcomed us. Nick joyously preached the Gospel... explaining that Jesus was more than a good teacher. You see, all other teachers say that they know the way, they know the truth and they know God. But Jesus said that he is the way, he is the truth and he is God. Again, he was showered with gifts and we finally headed back to Panama City.

We just got back from dinner overlooking the ocean with huge, beautiful boats in the bay. Carlos Ivan, the organizing pastor shared his testimony with us. He grew up on the streets of Bogota and soon got involved with the drug cartels in Cali. When he was sick of those we went to Bolivia and started his own. However, he ended up owing TONS of money so was kidnapped by the Bolivian drug lords. Through a series of events he came to know Christ as savior and his life was totally transformed. He now works with gang members and slum dwellers in Panama and Haiti.

Once again, I was amazed by the transformative power of Christ in the lives of hearts that are open to him.

Continue praying for this trip!!

Prayer Requests:

1. That souls would be ripe for the harvest

2. That the logistics would fall into place

3. For the health of everyone on the team-- especially Nick's

4. That God would be glorified

The Next Rung

Throughout the summer, an image has continually showed up in my prayers, my thoughts and my processing.

A ladder.

I have been learning that to reach the next rung, I have to let go of the previous one. I can't keep a firm grip on one rung and expect to get a tight grasp on the next one. I either release one to hold on to the other, or cling to one and never fully hang on to the next.

A lot of last year was spent on me holding on to my rung of comfort, familiarity, and old friendships. I was unwilling to let go of Colombia, of ECA, of my friends there. I carried past pain or guilt that I hadn't let go of yet, unable to find healing while still holding on. I didn't adjust very well to life at the U of I, because I was still holding on so dearly to life at ECA.

But throughout the summer, God continued to show me the importance of letting go so I can reach and hold on to the next season of life.

I'm releasing my grip on my beloved Colombia and learning to embrace America.

Chains are Broken

"I once felt shame talking about my mother. I was ashamed that she used to be a prostitute. Then I came to understand that she only did it for us-- for her children," Marta explained. We were all huddled in her bedroom, listening to her story. Minutes ago, her mother, Cecilia, had shared her story with us-- an Opportunity International team from the USA.

I had a hard time assimilating everything.

The tall building with several different rooms-- each occupied by an entire family. The moisture that permeated everything. The dank smell. The crowded rooms. The poverty.

Then there was the pain that they carried in their hearts. And then, then the healing they had experienced after an encounter with the living God.

Cecilia and Elenita are both former prostitutes. Opportunity International, through their micro-credit program, has helped them leave that life behind and find a new source of income. Cecilia realized that by working in prostitution she was taking money away from her client's family to give to her own. She wanted a new way of earning money.

Elenita shared her story with us:

She came to Bogota when she was 14 years old because her mother had died and she had no one. She had an infant with her and was hoping to find support from the deceased father's child. Little did she know, her mother-in-law and all the women in that family were involved in prostitution. Her mother-in-law hated her and finally kicked her out of their home. Her sister-in-law went with her, not wanting to leave Elenita on her own. Every day, her sister-in-law would go work and bring back enough money to support them. Elenita felt ashamed that she wasn't working so she begged to go work with her, but her sister-in-law refused.

One day, Elenita followed her sister-in-law to work and saw her stand outside a door way, scantily clad. Elenita followed suit and stood next to her. Her sister-in-law begged her to go back before it was too late. She explained that they stood out there to sell their bodies... Elenita refused to go back. She had nothing else... she had a body, so she figured she could sell it to provide for her own child.

After a couple of months her mother-in-law became jealous because Elenita was making much more money. Her jealousy drove her to take Elenita's son away from her and she also began stealing her income. Several weeks later, Elenita was able to take her son back and get away from her mother-in-law.

She was involved in prostitution for over 30 years. She had six children, and three of them have died-- two of them were murdered.

I couldn't imagine the pain she'd been through... and yet, she spoke of Christ's comfort and hope. She talked about the transformation she had experienced, thanks to the work Opportunity was doing. She knew that Jesus was the only way she could have left her former life behind.

She knew chains had been broken by the power of the cross.

An Aching Heart

Down feathers were everywhere. Kids were running around shrieking. We were looking for two missing jackets. A wrestling match broke out to my left. I shook my head and sighed.

What in the world is going ON? Why does this feel so chaotic?

About five of us from my graduating class got together yesterday and went to visit our beloved Recyclers' Ministry (their parents pick through garbage and find recyclable material to sell to factories and that's what they live off of). I was super excited. I had seen them last in May, but was really excited to go back with people from my class. We quickly put together a Bible story and a short application. We decided who was leading songs and then we headed over to the neighborhood.

When we reached their corner, three of the kids started sprinting toward us. I stopped my conversation in mid-sentence and ran out to meet them. Soon, I was overwhelmed with hugs and kisses. Ah, I love them so much.

We started playing some tag and then sang some silly songs with them. Then we began acting out the Jonah story. After one time, Natis and I figured we should do it again, in Opera style (thanks, Medeba!). After that we did it super slowly... and then super quickly. The kids LOVED it! And, having seen it four times, they remembered the story well =)

After story time we gave them a cup of milk and some bread for snack. They loved the milk and kept asking for more.

During snack time one six year old came up to us and asked if we had seen her jacket. We shook our heads, but Natis started looking for them. They were no where to be found. Since we weren't doing organized games anymore, the kids began running around. Two of them pulled out toy guns and started shooting everyone. I cringed at every gun shot. One little girl kept crying because she kept getting hit by the boys. I went to talk to one of the seven year old boys and had to take a step away when I saw him pull out a switchblade.

I felt my mouth go dry and I wasn't sure what to do.

Meanwhile, the other kids kept playing with a down pillow, by shaking it in a dog's face. The dog soon tore it apart and feathers were flying everywhere. The little boy with the blade kept coming toward us as if he were ready to hurt us.

My mind kept spinning and I felt nauseous.

Why were they so aggressive?

When I got home, I shut the door to my room, turned up the music and started crying. My heart ached... it still aches for these children. We started working with these kids four years ago... I know God has used our ministry to bring forth fruit in that neighborhood, but I felt extremely discouraged. I was sick knowing the kind of lives these kids were living... the adulthood they were walking into.

August?

August.

Really? Are we really in August already? I can hardly believe it... I've been in Colombia for two and a half months already... and now I'm leaving next Friday.

It's been a good summer... and a different summer. I haven't really had anything specific to do, so I've just been doing a little bit here and a little bit there. I'll try and give a brief summary:

- Like I've mentioned before, I've been tutoring quite a lot. I'm starting to wind down this week so I can have my last week with no tutoring.

- I've been leading a Bible study for high school girls at ECA and that has been so much fun. We've been going through the book of Philippians... ah, I love it so much! I've enjoyed spending time with them and learning from them as well :)

- I've been playing basketball once a week with some friends and it has been marvelous. I want to try and keep playing during the school year back at U of I.

- I translated documents and videos with World Vision for three weeks. Thought it was a good experience, I didn't enjoy dressing up and sitting in an office for five hours. I don't think I'm cut out to be in an office all day :)

- A couple of trips here and there... I love seeing Colombia and serving in various areas

And then, I've simply been hanging out :) Good summer...

But believe it or not, I'm really excited to go back to school this fall. I'm excited for what this year holds. I'm excited to see how God moves. I miss my two amazing roommates terribly, and I'm excited to live with them again this year. I'm ready to go back for a whole new year in America... :)