Supporters, a year long project… just for you. WAIT… you think you’re not a supporter because you didn’t give money? Think again. If you’ve ever read a blog and never even commented (seriously… looking at the # of blog views is encouragement itself), liked a simple status, were a super fun hostel owner, gave me a banana, translated 1 word for me on the subway on a random day, sent me a fb message from the States, prayed, merely thought about me, whatever… you are a supporter. For those right from home and from all over the world… this couldn’t have been done without each of you individually. Your support brought more of God’s Kingdom to earth and THAT is TOO COOL. I love you all and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
In chronological order from the start, January 2013… enjoy…
ECUADOR
“Thank“
(under a banana tree from our backyard in the jungle)
PERU
“you“
(view from the upstairs in the compound we lived in the desert)
BOLIVIA
“for“
(view from the top of a bell tower in santa cruz)
ROMANIA
“giving“
(a house near the one I stayed in… a tiny scale of how beautiful some gypsy homes are)
UKRAINE
“them“
(on the shore of the black sea in odessa)
SOUTH AFRICA
“HIS“
(kragga kamma game park in port elizabeth)
MOZAMBIQUE
“world“
(volleyball court/backyard of orphanage I stayed at)
SWAZILAND
“!“
(next to my bedroom window)
THAILAND
“!“
(not really sure… somewhere in a suburb of chiang mai)
CAMBODIA
“!“
(angkor wat temple)
MALAYSIA
“🙂“
(at a university in chang lun, keday)
Wow… none of this could’ve been done without you.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING THEM HIS WORLD!!! 🙂
Who is THEM, you wonder?
Children in Huaticocha, Ecuador… deep in the Amazon Rain Forest.
Alvero, back left, took Team Luminous to Dios de Augusto (sp? ha) every other day. We’d walk down the streets of the Amazon screaming “Vamos a las florestas!” to meet the local kids. The particular ministry is about a 15 minute drive from where we stayed. We shared the Gospel through skits, songs, games, snacks, smiles, laughter, and more.
Teens in Trujillo, Peru -in the crime ridden sand dunes. We couldn’t leave unless accompanied by a local with a clear cut plan of where, why, and how. It was too dangerous otherwise.
We did a sandboarding ministry this month and here the boys are receiving new boards! This ministry prevents the boys from joining gangs. Young kids are taught how to kill and are murdering people at ages younger than these boys. Their families encourage gang-related activity. It’s very common and without the love of Jesus to keep them occupied through this ministry, many of these boys would be in those gangs.
Babies in Santa Cruz, Bolivia – a city!
I can’t post photos of the babies, but this month we served at a baby orphanage run by a married couple from the Unites States. Their care for these children is sooooo deep and they provide the best possible environment they can- fun paintings on the walls, toys, nutrition, one hour one on one time each day with each baby, comfortable sleeping arrangements, hygiene, etc. The babies are brought to them by the government, off the streets, from dumpsters, wherever.
Families in Draganeste-Olt, Romania… a small town kind of in the middle of nowhere.
This was a “home visit” to a family in a nearby town. They’re the only Christians in their town so we thought we’d bless/encourage them, come to find they did the same for us. And made us freshly ground coffee. I don’t even like coffee but it rocked that day.
Women with disabilities in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine.
This month we traveled the country asking the Lord where to go. He partnered us with several amazing ministries, this being one of them. We danced and sang with these ladies and I saw one of them give her life to the Lord!
Patients in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
This man was shot several years ago and most of his body is paralyzed from that. He ended up accepting Christ into his heart after Cherissa told him the Good News. We smuggled him some red velvet cake too. Quite the successful visit if you ask me :).
Orphans in Beira, Mozambique… a kind-of town, kind of city, kind of farmland area.
Kedesh is a boys home for 30 boys. When we arrived at Kedesh, our ministry contact assigned each person one boy to do chores with, read with, spend time with, etc. Vovo is my awesome 14 year old smart aleck. We get along well and are oddly similar. He is a prankster and puts more time in avoiding his homework and chores than it would actually take to do them. It was a great month trying to find where he was hiding. I loved it.
Kids in Manzini, Swaziland – again, a kind-of town, kind of city, kind of farmland area.
We went to a piece of land/playground/one room building the kids of the neighborhood would go to play, sometimes learn, and always eat lunch. We sang songs, played games, and acted out Bible stories. In this case we’re singing “This Little Light of Mine” if you can’t tell :).
Kids in Chiang Mai, Thailand – a beautiful city!
This month I worked with kids who live in group homes. The homes began in prevention of the children getting involved with the sex trade. Instead of the kids living with their parents and being at risk for sex slavery, they live in these homes with each other, opportunity, discipline, and mentors.
Families in Siem Reap, Cambodia – another beautiful city.
Although I stayed in Siem Reap, I traveled weekly with a church to a village about 2 hours from the city. We went from house to house preaching the Gospel or giving encouragement to those who already know the Lord. Here we are praying for this baby as his mother just left him and grandma took him in.
Teens in Penang, Malaysia – tourists, tourists, tourists.
Here are 4 teenage boys holding hands while worshiping our Savior. Never too cool. Love it. The last week in Malaysia we helped at a summer camp… performed a skit, led small group devotions, a couple of us spoke, etc.
And as promised… license plates!
(Romania, Ukraine, Ukraine/California?…weird…)
(South Africa, Mozambique)
(Swaziland… I like all the visitors. The car must be warm or something.)
(Cambodia, Cambodia, Malaysia… wups… forgot Thailand’s. It was pretty plain anyway.)
Being home is GREAT. It’s been 11 days already! I am so glad to be back. People ask a LOT of questions but my most common one is “How was it?” in which I usually answer, “Hard, long, but good.” Another popular one is, “Would you do it again?” in which I always answer, “Absolutely not.” And another common question… “Which was your favorite country?” in which I normally say something about my call to South Africa, the beauty of Romania, and occasionally I’ll throw in something about the experience of Ecuador.
Most creative/best 2 questions so far:
“Which country gave you the most runs?” – thank you Nick Badeau
“Do you feel like you’re on event-based time or real life time now that you’re back?” – Tori Bueno
I’ve heard a looooot about reentry, transition home, culture shock, etc… but so far the hardest things for me to adjust to are oddly practical — like the driver’s seat being on the left side of the car (and the fact that I had to think about if that is even true as I wrote this), not having to find adapters to plug in my electronics, putting my toilet paper in the toilet instead of the trash, etc.
So I guess you could say I’m doing pretty well.
I wouldn’t trade the past year for anything.
THANK YOU supporters.
Wow.
Excited for what’s next.
Loving life.
Loving the USA.
Peace, World Race!
