THE TATTOO
While in Romania ministering to the Gypsies Katie, Shiloh and I decided we wanted to have a little memory of our time in Villi Tecci. So…we got tattoos. It’s on my wrist and it says “DEZASTRU FRUMOS” which is Romanian for “Beautiful Disaster”. While we were in Calcutta walking down the streets I was asking the Lord about everything I was seeing. The place was so colorful and old but there were so many people worshipping plastic monkeys, elephants and weird looking things on the side of the street. There were so many people who didn’t have very much money at all but who would spend what they had on flowers to put on these statues. Loud bells of rickshaw drivers, women begging for money for their babies, random horrible smells followed with incense, and the Muslim call to worship. I asked the Lord to show me Calcutta through His eyes. I heard Him say that this place was a disaster but with His grace it is made beautiful. It was His beautiful disaster. I realized that this picture was of me too. I’m a mess, but I’m His beautiful mess. He completes me. So….here it is: (picture taken right after tattoo was done)
Last week most of G-squad along with I-squad decided to hike an active volcano named Pacaya. I was one of the few who opted out of extra hiking and rode a horse (my first time) halfway up the mountain. It was pretty interesting because my horse was new to the job and was motivated when my guide played Mexican Ranchero music from his cell phone. The volcano was over 8,000 feet high and we hiked it to the top where hot lava was flowing and we got to roast marshmallows. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done…and never want to do again.
THE STITCHES
For the past week teams Crux, Lunchbox and Remnant have been working at Nuestros Ahijados here in Antigua, which is a school set up for very impoverished children. Social workers from the school go out and rescue kids who are being used as sex slaves or child labor. They give the parents of the children incentives to allow them not to work and go to school instead such as shoes, uniforms and even monetary gifts if they do well in school. So on our way to orientation I was walking and talking. While my eyes were on the ground to keep from falling on the uneven ground I hit my head on a metal sign that was bent and scraped the side of my face. PTL for the clinic that is at the school and an awesome guy named Angel who took me to the emergency room to get stitches. Poor Braedon had to wait in the parking lot for three hours while I got fixed up.
