Hey hey! I’m back on my blog after a little break. Thanks for hanging in there with me as it gets harder and harder to keep writing. So to recap what I’ve missed in the past month, my team and I were able to be apart of these kids lives even if it was for a shorter time than expected. Each one is so full of so much energy and joy, we have gotten a chance to see some of them get adopted and it was beautiful to watch how each kid was happy for the other and there was no bitterness in between them. They have taught me so much patience and that is truly a gift, since that was one of my goals in the beginning of the month!! I have seen much growth in areas of my life that I dedicated time to! YAY! It’s been awesome to see the fruit of that. So let me tell you about the schedule, Monday-Friday we go to the children’s home, my team and I were split into two groups (morning from 8:30-12:30 & evening from 2-5:30) I am part of the evening team. During our free-time in the mornings we get to do ATL (ask the Lord). This can look like prayer walking, worship, reading our Bibles, having deep Biblical conversations with one another or street evangelism which has become my favorite. In the beginning I was terrified to evangelize because in my head it looked like standing on a street corner yelling at people to turn to God! This is so not the case and I’ve had great conversations with people because of this so I’ll lay out my strategy for ya. Basically we pick a location (my favorite is the street that’s in the red light district with lots of bars and restaurants) this street is known for sex trafficking but that’s why I love being there because if I can even get someone to rethink about why they are there or plant a seed in their heads than why shouldn’t we be there?? So anyways we spread out and pick who we want to talk to! On Monday after getting rejected twice, I saw a man sitting by himself and he was so open to talking about anything and everything his name is Mickey and he is from Germany. I think the reason I love doing this so much is because I get to hear other perspectives and although I don’t have all the answers neither does anybody else and if all we can do is make relationship that isn’t something to lowball! Plus, let’s be real fear of man is so common! Everyone is afraid of what others think and how they will react and why they shouldn’t talk to this stranger because of x y z but honestly nobody cares if you look dumb or stumble upon your words and, yes, it’s true I definitely stumbled on my words a few times during mickey and I’s conversation but at the end we both got each other thinking about topics that I don’t talk about often and concepts he’s never heard! Ultimately relationships and connection is what community is made up of and where its strength lies. Without an invitation to community there is none! This is why stepping into boldness has been so beneficial to me. Without it I wouldn’t have these uncomfortable and sometimes hard conversations and it’s applicable even to my team. Because of boldness I can now grow relationships so much healthier and find roots of matters we didn’t know were there! Living with my team has had some challenges but our laughs always outweigh the negative attitudes. I am so grateful for this community that’s being built day by day. Next week we get to see the rest of our squad! Plus our mentors from home are flying out to be with us during debrief which is our next reset before we travel to Greece (the other three teams go to Albania) I’m excited to see how God is continually moving! Praying for you all at home ❤️
Ministry with the babies!
Emery teaching the youngers their (ABC’s) I don’t have pictures with the older age group
beautiful sky
This is Hope! She is the manager at the cafe we live at she’s so awesome
movie night!
missing my lineman father
on our way up the mountain to go camping
We love our time in this truck
Made it to the cloud forest!! It rained the whole time but it was awesome
Felt like a movie
Went to the sticky waterfalls!
We love our adventure days (Sat & Sun)
View from our drive home every evening
We’re loving your updates and what the Lord is doing in your lives! Have a Merry Christmas Natalia!! Lots of love
Naty, you go! Your enthusiasm is wonderful and your boldness comes through in this blog. You’re on fire!
Dearest Naty — Your blog entries always make grandpa and I so very happy. And so very proud of you!! I’m imagining the wonderful sites and sounds of Christmas all around you. As you do your work each day and stay faithful to gift of Jesus’ heart, I know you are growing each day in ways that you’ll always look back on with so much gratitude! Stay tender and loving dear one and know that we miss you and send you our prayers every day!