Language, learning and experience

The day in early December that I stepped off the plane onto Honduran ground, I knew this would be a lot more different than I anticipated.
I was now entering into a new chapter of my life, that one year ago I never would have imagined. My first few days in the country were spent living with our directors and my 3 teammates, we got new information and slowly started getting introduced to the culture.
The traffic, the sounds, food, language, sights and smells are all different than the familiarity that I left back home in Canada.... I'm in another part of Gods world!
4 days after arriving into the country, I was riding the very short distance from our directors house to my new family. As I saw what had become the 'normal' of my time here further behind me, I started to panic.
My Spanish was limited to what I'd learned from Dora The Explorer, yes I'd lived with families before, but the longest duration being 7 days. Now I'm moving into a house with a family for 6 months that I can't even communicate with! What was I going to do?!

   Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28

God is with me! He's the one that brought me here, He's the one that knew exactly what I needed at this point in my life. God is good.
We've been in language class now for around 3 weeks, I find myself thinking in Spanish. I definitely can understand A LOT more than what I could the first night in my host home. I'm still having a little trouble putting my Spanish thoughts into words (but I have that trouble in English as well haha)
Becoming familiar with cultural norms has been a highlight for me, the people are all so pleasant here and I'm thankful for all that we are being taught about the culture, but there's just something special about living with a local family, being immersed and included in their every day life.

Prayer Request: That myself and my team will be impacted by those that we meet here in Honduras and along the journey.
God Bless, 
-- Nikki

Ordinary Christians with an Extraordinary God

I was frustrated, lonely, and annoyed as I sat in through my fourth church service of the week. I really needed God and he showed me his love in an awesome and inspiring way.
My host Mom wants the absolute best for me, but the one thing I want most is something she isn't able to provide for me: my family. Yes, she can come close, but her family will never be able to replace the ones dearest to me. The transition has been hard to say the least. Its easy to say you will be flexible, it's another thing to BE flexible. With my siblings on vacation my house is very quiet and subsequently I have a lot of time for my mind to wander; thinking of family, friends, and home. It has been rough adjusting to a new house, my own room, and a new life all the while not completely understanding everything going on around me because of the language barrier. As the weeks pass I am becoming more accustomed to the culture of my home, but it is only by God's amazing love that I have come to accept my presence in this new country. It all started Wednesday night. I was upset because I had been forced to sit in on various bible studies, cell groups, and church services that I didn't understand and here we were again singing the first song of mid-week service. As Pastor Marcos took the stage I tried to understand, but lets be honest, by this time I didn't want to. At the end of the service there was an altar call. My mom drug me up to the stage and told me to kneel. Feeling very uncomfortable and slightly out of place, I followed her lead as she knelt and began to pray. I prayed harder than I ever have in that moment that God would show me his love and would make it clear that I was where he wanted me to be. I finished up my prayer as the worship team started with a familiar song. Of course they where singing in Spanish, but I began to sing in my native tongue, "How great is our God, sing with me how great is our God, and all will see how great, how great is our God." I can't explain the presence I felt beside me at that moment. It was almost like God wrapped me up in his arms and said, "Katlyn, you don't have to do this alone. I am with you always. I am your father and I love you with an everlasting love. Rely on my strength, not your own." I went home that night feeling completely refreshed and renewed in spirit and ready to face the next day. Yes, I still have moments when I yearn for home, my family, and tears still come, but for now I know this is where I am supposed to be. God never promised that it would be easy, he just promised that he would be with me every step of the way.

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!
-Kate

New World, Same God

Coming into it, we were all warned not to have expectations. I don't think I could have received any better advice because I never could have predicted this. I'm currently living in a home that has three locks between my bed and the outside world, regular visits from energetic grandchildren ages 4 to 12, several college students living in the rooms adjacent to mine, constant blaring, Spanish music, an outdoor shower and toilet, and a pet parrot who lives right outside my room. The bird can speak. And sing. It's pretty cool until about 4am. There is a park about 10 feet from my home where there are always kids playing soccer (futbol) and teens hanging out. There are always people and things happening around here which is so ideal for anyone as extroverted as I am, but it has definitely been a challenge to find my quiet time with God. I no longer have to just be intentional about it, but also strategic. It may have been the 6 weeks in quarantine before we came here, but I've definitely come to appreciate silence, and the scarcity of it has been quite testing. So many times I've heard about the "noise" of our culture in the States--always going, always distracted--and coming here has shown me that the noise isn't only in the US. It's everywhere. I don't want anyone to be under the impression that spending six months in another country for mission work means that we have things all figured out. Our ministry here is the same as mission-minded Christians at home and all over the world: the overflow of what God is doing in our lives. We all need to individually decide to spend our personal time with God and I'm not going to lie, it would be a lot less effort to miss a day or wait until ten minutes before bedtime which is exactly why I've found it so important to make it a priority.

Please pray that we all continue to stay focused and experience daily dependence on God.

--Brynne

STEPping into Uncertainty.

So, funny story for you. I, Kristen, lost my wallet in the Atlanta airport and missed our flight to Honduras...there is only one flight a day. Hahahaha, it was an adventure.

Nikki arrived first to Atlanta airport followed shortly by Brynne and Katlyn. After warm embraces and sweet salutations, they settled in to wait for me. It was fifteen minutes or so before they spotted me triumphantly trudging toward them. After hugs and hellos we got in line to board the plane. As they called for our passports I reached in my pocket...and my wallet wasn't there! Aye! I was snippily sent running across the airport (and I mean allllllllll the way across) to check my arrival terminal.

Needless to say, I missed the flight. The worst part? The girls took my carry-ons with them. That included my computer and all contact information for anyone. It was an adventure for sure. Praise God, I found my wallet! The wonderful people at the Delta desk and my fantastic travel agent were able to get me on the flight the next morning and put me up in a hotel. It all turned out rather fun on my end (after the initial panic). I can now say I know my way around Atlanta airport like a boss. ;)

My arrival to Honduras (a day late) was stress-free and easy going. The flight was fantastic, customs went quickly, and they actually had my luggage (something that can't be said for Brynne and Katlyn, we're just now going to get their bags). As I walked out of security I heard "Mama!" across the room and soon found myself, once again, reunited with my sisters.

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I knew I had to leave for the Toronto airport at 1:00am on Tuesday, so I did not want to fall asleep. This was my first experience flying solo! I arrived first in Atlanta and looked for my teammates right away, not knowing who I'd see first, 20 minutes later I saw Brynne and Katlyn walking towards the area to board to Tegucigalpa. It was so nice to see them after two weeks. 15 minutes after they arrived we saw Kristen walking towards us. We were all reunited! We were standing in line when they told us to get our passports and boarding passes ready. Kristen's face seemed shocked and she dropped her two carry-on bags. Brynne asked her what was wrong, and Kristen realized she had left her boarding pass and wallet all the way back where she had landed. She went to the desk and ended up running from us, so we knew she was headed back to get her wallet. Brynne, Katlyn and I boarded the plane without Kristen. We sat on the plane praying that she would come through the doors, but she did not.

When I got through into Honduras by myself (Kristen back in Atlanta, Brynne & Katlyn claiming lost luggage) I had to explain to our directors what was going on. We didn't know how the other two girls were doing, so we stood and waited for 30-45 minutes for them to come through. We were trying to get ahold of people back in America to let them know about the one that missed her flight. It was something we didn't expect as we were preparing for our arrival into Honduras.

Katlyn, Brynne and I spent the first day by walking with our directors around town and getting a tiny glimpse of the culture that we are going to spend the next 5 months in. I always have to remind myself that it's December, because the weather is very very warm. I'm loving this culture so far, and am trying to recognize as much Spanish as I can. I've met the family that I'll be moving in with tomorrow, they are so sweet and I'm excited to learn from them. I'm thankful for my family in Christ.

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So, there you have it. We are here. God has already taken us on some adventures and today we move in to our host families. Be flexible they tell us. So we shall try and, Lord willing, will succeed.

Nikki's already working on it ;)

End of an Era

The soft red glow of taillights marked the end of an era. Our era. Wednesday we said goodbye to our faithful teammate Nikki, as she returned home to be with her ailing grandfather. The house is oddly quiet without her. I think it is silently foreboding the night to come. Tonight we go home.

There will be no more cheery lit windows or chortling laughter to come home to. There will be no more meals to cook or dishes to wash. There will be no more guest lecturers or house mothers or service projects. Our little house will be left quiet and empty, an empty reminder of the home it had become for four young women from all walks of life.

Our fledgling family is about to fly the nest. We can only pray that we are ready for the life ahead of us. These six weeks have been a non-stop attempt to equip us. From the helmet of truth to the sandals of peace beneath our feet and the sword of righteousness at our side, we have been trained, conditioned, and clothed as warriors. But to be warriors, we have to prove ourselves. As with anyone about to step onto the battlefield, we are a mix of emotions. Fear, anxiety, excitement, eagerness, and countless other feelings are wound into the anticipation that we are feeling. We're chomping at the bit, ready to run our race, yet afraid of running blind. It's scary to be heading into the unknown, but these six weeks have given us a secret weapon: family. We are sisters in Christ and we walk together in faith, through thick and thin, until God sends us elsewhere. (Even then, I have a sneaking suspicion we'll be closer than you think.) In ten days we will be on a plane southward to start the adventure of our lifetime. Are you ready? Are we ready? We'll find out. ;)

Our next post will be from Honduras in two short weeks. In the meantime, we're off to enjoy our reprieve.

Adios,
Kris

P.S. Please pray for our travels and for Vicky's pinky. She broke it on a hike with us (oops!).
P.P.S. This is Brynne. We have it on video!!!

Digging Deeper

We have been asked to dig a little deeper and let the readers see what God has been doing in our lives. This week, instead of our lighthearted play-by-play, we are doing something a bit different in an attempt to meet this request.

Here we go:

Wow, to think we have been here at Roxbury for five weeks is crazy! God is doing so much in each one of our hearts. A particularly moving part of this week was when Traci Rodgers came for a visit. She instructed us to make two masks. One symbolizing how we revealed ourselves to others and the second how we personally saw ourselves. I covered my "others" mask in tin foil and drew a huge, fake smile on it. This represented the people-pleaser I am. I reflect what others want to see in me and I hide my emotions just trying to be polite and fit in. I fear rejection and this mask is fool proof. But, my "real me" mask revealed the fun-loving, creative, goofy person I really am with colorful spirals of paint and glitter. God is breaking away the hard, insecure parts of my heart. I can only imagine the ways he will continue to change me, and I can't wait to press through with him by my side.

Kate

Now that we're in our final week at training, I'm SO READY TO GO! The past 5 weeks have been a blast and super beneficial, but I'm borderline ecstatic to get back in the real world and be around people again. The most exciting part is that for the next 6 months, our "real world" will be 3,392 miles away from what I've called home the past 18 years of my life. Having grown up in the church, there are many things that I've known about God for a long time; God always forgives. He can't love me any more, he can't love me any less. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. See? They sound cliché, don't they? Well, in the past five weeks, those statements (and so many more) have started to actually make sense to me. While they're still things I know, they are now also things I believe. When Christianity shifts from knowing about God to knowing God, it makes such a difference that I can't even begin to describe in one blog post. I love that God has been teaching, stretching, and transforming me and I'm so excited to continue this process...3,392 miles away from home!

Brynne

They call me Mama Kris. I wasn't sure how I felt about that at first. I'm always the mother, always the leader, always the strong one; I was hoping to escape that. It seems you can't run from who you are. The funny thing is, God keeps answering the "who am I?" question with new things! He is constantly revealing his truth to me. I am his precious child whom he loves beyond measure and, therefore, I can pour his love out on others. I am beautiful and made in his image. I am strong, but I'm not THAT strong. He carries my worries and cares; He makes my burden light. I love these girls. I'm allowed to love these girls. God has given me a heart for people and I'm allowed to use it. The only stipulation is that I have to be willing to accept love in return. That, my friends, is the hard part, but I'm getting better at it. ;)

Kristen

Our 36th day as a team! Where has the time gone?!? I've really enjoyed my time at the camp getting to know my 3 new sisters as well as learning more about myself. I've learned that I take a long time to process things, which makes me frustrated sometimes when I'm expected to give an answer right away after receiving so much information. I've really enjoyed seeing how God is working in our lives and thanking Him for all He has done. It's nice to be staying in a forest, so I can get out for a walk and talk to God as well as take pictures. I'm in the process of learning that it's okay to trust people and  be open to learning from those around me. I'm thankful that we all have a testimony to who God is, what He is doing in our lives, and that we are loved and not forgotten. One of my personal highlights so far has been our Sunday morning experience at Harrisburg Brethren In Christ, I enjoyed the cultural diversity of the church, it was just a whole new experience for me!

This morning at the service at The Spring they sang this song, Set A Fire by Jesus Culture:

There's no place I'd rather be

There's no place I'd rather be

There's no place I'd rather be

Than here in your love, here in your love

Set a fire down in my soul

That I can't contain and I can't control

I want more of You God, I want more of You God.

Love of God overflow

Permeate all my soul

This is my prayer for my team, that as we are ending our training and getting ready to be on the missions field, that we dive into the love of our Lord. 

Nikki

 

STEP Sisters

It's hard to believe, but we have already spend a whole month in training! As the time progresses our meals are becoming less fancy and our relationships are blooming. Its hard to even comprehend the abounding knowledge that is coming our way and resonating in our hearts.

The weekend away renewed our spirits and made us realize the importance of our Roxbury "home."
On the way back from "The City of Brotherly Love" we stopped at the historic Valley Forge to satisfy our history buff, Kristen. Tuesday brought new house parents Micah and Heather Brickner along with Mike Holland once again to share his knowledge about evangelism. Special shout out to Micah and Heather for our awesome live worship for the week! Which brings us to Wednesday: an intriguing session on spiritual warfare with Carlos Rosado. Also, Brynne took a trip to the local urgent care center due an allergic reaction that has since cleared up, praise God! On Thursday morning we had a much needed silent retreat to process, journal, and commune with God. Thursdays are also volunteer days so we spent the afternoon at New Hope and Project Share. We had the pleasure of learning from Pastor Larry Locke on Friday about dying to self, taking up your cross, and following God. We said goodbye to Micah and Heather and welcomed our new "STEP parents" Dale and Sandy Myers. We got a run down on how to manage receipts while in Honduras as well as a delicious apple pie! Today we had the privilege of working alongside Roxbury's finest while raking leaves and using the giant leaf vacuum, which was my personal favorite! Once again we had a "STEP parent" swap-out and our current resident parents are Bishop Rob and Daryl Patterson.

Prayer Requests:
-That our team receive the rest of it's mandatory funding
-Nikki has been suffering from cold symptoms and a sore throat
-Praise for the awesome bond we have formed as a team
-Praise for the speakers that have been pouring information into our hearts
-Praise for the cool "STEP parents" that give up their time to invest in us

All for now,
Kate

Our Urban "Getaway"

Three weeks in and we're still going strong. The week started out with a talk with Jonathan LLoyd and our weekly service at Paxton ministries. Our House Mom for the week, Pam Arnold, was our mighty chauffer. Tuesday brought Chris Epp and his powerful teaching on the Holy Spirit. We all learned a lot about ourselves and our relationships with God. Wednesday was more of the same. It was a great experience. Thursday brought Jonathan back to us for an introduction on spiritual disciplines. Then we were off to serve at New Hope and Project share. What a week and it wasn't over yet! Friday we traveled to Philadelphia for our Urban experience. We served at the Circle of Hope thrift shop that afternoon and bustled off to Mim Stern's house of international students. Woo! Saturday we were able to help with a block party for a local elementary. We painted faces and had a blast. We spent the evening doing a scavenger hunt across the city! What an experience! Today, Sunday, the team met with the Shalom House members to learn a little about their mission. After a long afternoon at the Museum of Art, we headed over to Circle of Hope at Broad and Washington for evening service.
It has been a crazy and amazing week full of unforgettable experiences. I think we're all ready for some sleep. :)

Praise and Prayer:

*Kristen is feeling better! She's having a little back trouble, but her cold is gone!
*We've survived Philadelphia thus far
*Jim and Sonia Bridge (our leaders) made it to Honduras safely! Pray for their support and their ability to find us our housing :)
*Pray for the continued fundraising efforts of both the Bridges and our group.


Shalom!

Week 2; Double Trouble

Another week down and we're still going strong. On Monday, we had the opportunity to serve at Paxton Ministries in Harrisburg where we will be serving weekly throughout our training. This week we heard from Mike Holland, Ken Hoke, Anita Keagy, and Shari Baer. We learned about prayer, God's kingdom, did a JoyShop workshop, and wrote our personal life purpose statements.

My life purpose is to...

Katlyn: humbly and obediently serve with compassion and determination bringing acceptance and happiness to myself and others.

Nikki: experience joy as I connect with God, my family, and those around me by challenging myself and others to invest in our health and growth, bringing calmness to each of us.

Kristen: tenaciously value the beauty and potential in God, myself, and others as I inspire each of us to shine, bringing peace, contentment, and joy to our lives.

Brynne: influence and captivate lives as I share my passion for life and challenge myself and others to discover limitless possibilities that bring adventure and freedom to each of us.

We've discovered that we are most fulfilling our life purposes when we are serving in these ways.

Praises
- Brynne has recovered and is feeling much better
- Our team is continuing to bond

Prayer requests
- Kristen is in bed with fever and chills
- that Nikki and Kristen both meet their financial requirements for this trip before November 15
- sustained health of the team as a whole

Our First Week of Firsts

It's eight days into our training here at Roxbury and we are already discovering-and overcoming-our fears.

We're getting pretty handy in the kitchen. Our goal to eat healthy and cook everything ourselves has been accomplished so far. With a menu that includes red pepper parmesan tilapia and spaghetti squash, we've set the bar high and continue to impress ourselves.

We've already met many amazing people who have shared about their experiences on the mission field. They have shown us the value of working as a team and trusting in the Lord for his provision. The snake stories were a little disconcerting though...

On Thursdays we serve at New Hope and Project Share, both organizations that hand out food to the underprivileged. We enjoyed last Thursday so much, we can't wait to go back.

On Friday we had our first cross-cultural experience: we worked under the direction of Katya, a stern little Russian woman. We now turn down rooms like pros.

Saturday was an adventure! The team went to the Loyd's farm for lessons from Eryca and team building activities. Each of us was given a different disability and then we were turned loose to achieve a list of objectives. We all learned the value of team work. We also had time to ourselves to talk with God. He's opening our hearts to Him and each other.

We are enjoying our time as we learn more and more, but we must also ask that you pray for us. *Brynne has become ill with a fever, sore throat, and congestion. Please pray for her speedy recovery.
*Pray that the rest of the team remains healthy.
*Pray that the team remains in this "honeymoon" stage. We desire to remain this close and to grow closer.

(our team building exercise)