Antigua Week One

Well, we've passed our one week mark and we are still living! Haha. Praise the Lord He has blessed us with the continued gift of speaking Spanish. It is so amazing to me sometimes that I can actually communicate in a second language. I honestly don't know how it happens- it truly is totally and completely from the Lord! We serve such a big God and we are so thankful for the blessings He has freely given us.

We've spent several days house-hunting. It is quite the process, as you might imagine. Because Antigua is a tourist town, rent prices are crazy expensive...and because we are looking for a three bedroom furnished home,  the price seems to go up even more. A super sweet new friend from the church is helping us and looking for us, which is nice. The other day, I was anxious, as the possibilities seem to be dwindling and I admittedly was in a moment of faltered faith. I poured out my heart  to the Lord in the morning, before I even opened my Bible. In moments, I felt the Lord's sweet presence and peace fill me afresh and I asked the Lord to teach me through His word and opened my Bible and began to read. I have been reading through the One Year Bible for over a year now and each new day is a blessing. In a way that only the Lord can do through His word, each day the separate sections from the Old Testament, New Testament and Psalms and Proverbs seem to weave themselves together. Despite being about seemingly very different themes, the Lord uses them each to speak to me and meet me right where I am that day.

I read Acts 17 and was blown away by what I read about Paul being in Athens. He had been walking around the city, observing the people and customs and sights. He became deeply distressed as he discovered how full of idols the city was. This immediately made me think about the city I now call home, and how totalmente llena (completely full) of idols it is. So much of the Mayan culture remains and you'll find the religion's idols in restaurants, houses we look at renting, and even on t-shirts sold at the local stores, updated for the 21st century. This has caused an inexpressible burden in my heart for the lost in this city. What do you do with a burden like that?

Paul used the feelings of distress he felt at what he saw all around him to speak louder than before about Jesus to the Jews and the Gentiles. Some believed in Jesus, others mocked him. At a meeting of the top men of Athens, who were known for their idle speech and love of doing much of nothing, confronted Paul about the things he was teaching the people. Paul, in turn, confronts these men of Athens with their religiosity and false gods. He proclaims to  them the truth about the One True God and begins to profess God's power, majesty, personal call to all mankind. In the midst of Paul's speech to the Athenians, there is one little line that was clearly the Lord's way of speaking to me in answer to my call to Him about our housing situation.

"...he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live." Acts 17:26b

If our God is not personal, if our God does not hear our cry, if our God has not given us His word and His Holy Spirit to Comfort us at all times...then how could I have read that scripture just after having cried out to the Lord and given Him the weight of finding a home for our family?

I love the way we as children of God have the privilege of growing in Him. We do not become perfect at the moment of salvation, yet we are sanctified as we live life with Jesus day in and day out. I love that as I hunger and thirst more and more for Jesus, He nourishes me, meets the needs of my hungry soul and thirsty heart, and I grow...I become more and more of who He created me to be.

As I continued worshipping God and learning from Him, a man who will be helping with the upkeep of the property for the next several months, called over to me to tell me the volcano was erupting...

Yes, that's right...the volcano was erupting. That's one I'd ever heard before....hahaha

You see, Antigua is quite unique in that there are several volcanoes in the area. Three are visible from the PFM center. Two of the most prominent are called Agua (Water) and Fuego (Fire). Agua is dormant, which means it no longer erupts. Fuego, ironically, is active and often spouts out little lava balls and is seen with dark smoke clouds billowing out from the top.

I am so impressed by these two volcanoes sitting quite literally in our backyard. We walk out the side door of the center and there they are, standing strong and tall! I've been pondering their names this past week. I've been chided before for drawing too much spiritual connections from the world around me, and I always ask, 'How can I not grasp more from my Creator from His Creation?' These two volcanoes, Agua and Fuego, remind me daily of our need for the Living Water only Jesus can offer. As we adjust to life in Antigua, I must go to the well daily. I must draw water from the well, whether early morning, heat of the day, or evening...

I.need.Jesus.

And, He meets me. Every day. Every moment. He meets me and fills me and His Living Water flows out of me in ways that make me stop afterwards and ask, "Where did that come from?"

The sides of Agua are covered with lush vegetation, rich green bushes and trees, abundant life.

Fuego, on the other hand, is dark and charred and barren and just plain ugly. Fuego erupts and spills out the burning lava and fire and smoke and all life is seemingly gone. Yet, that cannot be, since inside life is happening. The insides of Fuego move and shift and cause pressure and eventually the pressure can no longer be held and an eruption happens.

In my life, there were so many years where my own personal internal fuego erupted day after day and left me charred, black, hot-tempered, and lifeless...It seemed that nothing could bring the abundant life I could over on Agua...in others who seemed to be living the same life as me. Yet, day after day, year after  year, I found myself left blackened and barren, without joy; while I saw others go live joyful, abundant lives. I never could understand why...

And then, one day the Lord revealed to me the need for Fuego in my life. Living in Guanacaste, Costa Rice, I learned an important lesson about farming and preparing fields. In order to rid a field of last years crop, weeds, or just to prepare it for what is next, a farmer will burn the field. Quite literally, an entire field will be set on fire and allowed to burn in order to clean it and prepare it. The farmer watches the fire, allows it to burn in a slow and controlled way. The farmer never leaves the field. He watches as the fire moves across, catches up the dry,useless grass, and burns it away. And after the field has burned and the fire has died out, the field is left charred, blackened, and seemingly, lifeless.

Just like Fuego.

Just lie I felt for so many years.

But the Farmer never left me. Life never left me. I just needed to have what was useless in my life burned away in order to prepare me for what was next.

Fuego and Agua sit virtually right next to each other. Life-giving water next to life-destroying fire.

Or maybe not.

I can draw so many parallels from the relationship  potter has with His clay here as well. As I understand more about the relationship between a potter and the clay, I learn more about my great God and me. He is the Potter and we are clay in His hands. Recently, while in Montana I learned about the process of taking a lump of clay, adding life-giving water to it, setting it on the wheel, molding it, shaping it, and then putting it in the fire. The fire must be excruciatingly hot, yet not too hot, or the pot could explode. The fire refines and gives life in a way water never could. Once the pot has been through the fire, and it comes out of the kiln, the potter looks satisfied at his creation and sees exactly what he had intended when he started out with just water and the clay. He had watched as the pot took shape. He had watched as the pot began to form and even looked wonderful and beautiful at different times. Yet, all along the potter had one specific piece in his mind. A unique piece only he could create, with his fingerprints all over it. All along, knowing in order to become exactly what he was hoping for, the pot would have to go through the fire in the kiln. The potter knew all long that the fire would get so hot the pot would almost bust...but because the potter knew every intricate part of the piece, he also knew that the piece could withstand the fire. The potter also knew that once through the fire, the piece would be simple remarkable.

I was able to understand this and actually see this process through the eyes of Pastor Mike, who founded Potter's Field Ministries, and himself is a potter. It is amazing how hot the fire in a kiln gets. What is even more amazing is what comes out of the kiln after being in that fire.

I am so thankful for the life-giving water Jesus gives me daily. I am also equally thankful for the fire in my life. At one point I thought all fire could do was destroy. Yet now I see things from a different perspective. I've been through fire and while it did leave me charred and burned and blackened for a time...like the fields of Guanacaste, I was only being prepared for what was next. I've been given life. I've been called to use that life to bring glory to the One who gave me life. I have the choice to allow life and it's burdens chain me down and hold me captive or I can give them to Jesus and stand firm in the freedom he has given me from those very burdens. Paul chose to walk in freedom and he also chose to live his life always speaking louder everywhere he went to bring glory to the name of Jesus. That is the upward call of Christ I choose to live for each day...

I've gone through certain things this first week in Antigua that I know without a doubt that had it not been for the fire God allowed in my life that changed me and prepared me and cleansed me and purified me...I would not have walked through them the way I did.

Joe, the handyman, called me over to see Fuego erupting and as I walked over to where he stood, I was amazed. I had never seen anything like the thick, black smoke billowing out from the top of Fuego's crater. It was so impressive.

Volcan Agua

Volcan Fuego erupting

"Praise be to the Lord my Rock who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my whiled, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O, LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are a fleeting shadow. Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains so they smoke. Send forth lightening and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

I will sing a new song to you, O God...

Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughter will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace...Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD." Pslam 144:1-15

Speaking Louder 'Til the Whole World Hears

First days in Guatemala

We arrived in Guatemala City, Guatemala late Tuesday night after a long day of travel. We left Potter's Field Ranch in Montana at 5:00 am and headed to the Kalispell airport. All went well, there during check-in, although it took us over an hour to check in with our 11 suitcases to check and one carry-on we had to check because of its size. We were quite the spectacle, but we usually are. We are so thankful that Pastor Jim and Patti went with us to help out with the kids while we checked in.

We flew to Salt Lake City first and had an easy, enjoyable flight and then took off for Atlanta a little late, but nevertheless on our way. While in the airport in ATL, our hearts began eating a little bit faster as we began hearing Spanish and seeing Guatemaltecos (Guatemalans) waiting for the plane to begin boarding. We noticed the difference in their accent right away and admittedly were a bit nervous about understanding everyone once we arrived.

We arrived a little late, but got through immigration without a hitch and got all of our bags. We were thrilled to see them all come off together, in tact! We headed to customs and the official did not even blink at eye at us and waved us right on through! PRAISE THE LORD!

We were so excited to see the three IGNITE interns currently serving in Antigua as we exited the airport and it was a very happy reunion as we all hugged right there in the middle of the walkway! :)

We got to the shuttle waiting for us and took off on the hour trek to Antigua. I was so surprised at how many similarities there are here to Costa Rica. It was fun seeing familiar things and we instantly began feeling a sense of comfort at that. We caught up t=with the girls as we traveled to Antigua and that was good. They told us everything they could think of about life here and then some!

We arrived at the center and in all honesty I felt like we were coming home! It was such an incredible feeling as we pulled in.

There is currently a mission team here right now as well as many members of the Calvary Chapel Guatemala City church and the pastor who will be overseeing the Bible College on our campus. He has just arrived with his family from Columbia and they are just settling in themselves. So the center is at full capacity and there is a lot of activity.

Wednesday, our first full day here, the mission team was holding a sports camp for the Potter's Field Kids. There were most likely 200 plus kids here! It was pretty crazy! Matt was in his element! HE loved it! Ethan has made fast friends with another MK here and they had a blast getting to know each other that day. Our girls and I were pretty wiped so we laid down in the afternoon, but went out later and they really had a great time.

Spanish for all of us has kicked in and I have no doubt it will not be long before our tongues don't feel so tied. The accent is different, as are some words, but for the most part it's all good.

We walked around town as a family in the morning Wednesday and it felt great to find our way around. We made it to the bank and got some money exchanged. That was a very typical process that took quite some time. While we were waiting, I was able to sit with the kids in the shade and observe the people as they were walking. I was happy to find I could pick up on most of the conversations happening around me.

We saw a few of the landmarks here in the city like La Merced church and the famous Arch used by the nuns long ago as a passage between the church and the monastery that allowed them to pass but not been seen.

We fell into bed exhausted and slept well.

Today has been a full, but good day. I was able to go out this morning with Karen, who is a  missionary here with her husband and children and are serving here with PFM. We hit it off and have a lot in common and it was good to go out with her.

I felt right at home as we started out to accomplish to main tasks- pay the cell phone bill and pick up lunch for the mission team. We were having a hard time finding a parking spot and then we saw a few main streets blocked off and then Karen remembered that the President of Guatemala was in the city today. There were police everywhere and so many people on the streets and traffic that we soon realized it was going to be impossible to find a parking spot anywhere close to the cell phone place or the restaurant. So we parked a good ten blocks away and took off walking. The restaurant was first stop and the order was placed and paid for with out incidence. Off to pay the cell phone. Quick and easy. Back to the restaurant to check on the order progress. Once it was done we realized our dilemma- three large boxes full of food to carry all the way back to the car...we made it a block and a half or so and realized the difficulty in the task so I waited on a corner with the food while Karen went to pick up the car.

I looked at it as another opportunity to observe people, culture, the way of life. I am learning a lot about the dress, the genuine friendliness of the people, and the massive amount of tourists there are here. I also sadly see the way most tourist interact with the locals.

After finally getting back with lunch a little late, I had a few moments to see the girls and Matt and Ethan and then I was off again with the team and the staff and interns to the mercado (market) to shop. They were mostly souvenir shopping and I really needed to get to the supermarket for a few things.

There was not really a way to have someone go with me who knew the way, so I got directions and took off with Ethan to find La Bodegona, which is something like a Super Kmart (not Walmart at all- think Big Lots and ALDI scrunched together in one store).

Ethan and I wandered through the store and found most of what was on our list and felt quite accomplished. We had the chance to talk on the way back and I cherish our times like that. HE opened up about how he is feeling about being here. He is still pretty exhausted, but he loves the life the Lord has given us to live. He already feels at home, even though he notices many differences here from anywhere we've ever been.

He loves the buildings and the cobblestone streets and the volcanoes we have all around us. He likes the climate, although it is a bit warmer than we thought that it would be. We walked hand-in-hand and talked and looked and observed. It was a blessed time for me. We made our way back, got a little lost, then realized we were actually right where we needed to be and found out way back.

After a little rest, we took off as a family to get dinner for the girls and I so we could eat and get to bed earlier tonight (they got to bed early, it is yet to be determined if I will).

We ordered from the taco place one of the former interns recommended to us and we were not disappointed! It was delicious and cheap!

I was also able to sort through the suitcases and pull out most of the clothes that we ned for the next couple of weeks. We hope to find a place before classes begin next month and so I do not want to totally unpack, yet need to pull some things out.

I found some of the girls books and got them out so they could read before bed. They were asleep within minutes of laying down!

There are so many emotions and observations happening. It is amazing that we are actually here and figuring out life already. We were so shell-shocked when we first moved to Costa Rica and it was a long adjustment period. This time it sure does not feel like that will be the case. We are tired and in a temporary living situation with a campus full of people we do not know, but God is faithful and good and His plan is perfect! We are blessed beyond what we can tell you to be here and to be offered the gift of living here. The pastor overseeing the Bible College and his wife are such a sweet couple and the wife and I have quickly bonded. They are from Columbia, but homeschool which is so cool! They are humble and laid back and we are so excited to get to know them more.

We ask you to continue praying as we move through this transition time. Please pray about our housing situation and for the Lord to direct our path to the perfect spot for our family. Please pray for the entire PFM staff. God is really moving here and his hand is upon the ministry, therefore, the attacks of the enemy have heated up and he will try anything to bring this place down. Please pray against his attacks and for protection from the team here as well as the children who are part of the ministry.

I haven't had my camera out yet...so I apologize for no pictures. But stayed tuned for some soon!

Adios!