This last week our bosses from Canada, Brent and Celeste were in town and ran the team through workshops on team dysfunctions to simply bringing us Christmas presents and taking us away to a beautiful island on the Carribean. Yesterday morning during our last training time Brent passed out diagrams to each of us to illustrate spiritual multiplication and really drive the point home of our vision and our goals for the ministry here. Seeing this little diagram, and as I filled it out with the names of students I'm working with I was so so excited to realize we're taking steps to realizing our dream of seeing students sharing, training and multiplying their lives into others. It takes time but it's coming.

Even as I write this I have a huge smile on my face. After training with my team I booked it to school for my discipleship time with two girls in science, Erika and Katy. Erika and I had 45 minutes before Katy arrived and so I pulled out my little diagram and ran her through where I see her fitting in and taking steps of faith. As Katy came and I re-explained the entire thing in Spanish I asked her what she thought. With a blank face she said, "Si ella cree que lo puedo hacer porque no?" As I translated this into English mentally I looked at Erika and asked, "did she just say what I think she just said?" Katy was exhausted and yet through this said, "If she (me) believes that I am able to do this, why not?" Both of the girls laughed at me as I let out a little shriek of joy. These two girls are committed to this ministry and to reaching and changing their campus. They're just as scared as I was 4 years ago when I got involved in campus ministry and yet so excited and willing to get trained and be ready to rock in March with their own discipleship groups.

Next week is the last week of classes and so as a ministry we're gearing up for a bit of a different time until March. But there's training to be done, a tonne of prayer and strategic planning, vision trips and retreats all in store. I believe with all my heart that the campuses here are going to be changed through the lives of students here like Katy and Erika. I've already seen the beginning of this in their lives and in two of my other disciples Jely and Yavi, let alone all the other students the rest of the team is working with. All four of "my" girls are baby Christians but know and believe that God can do anything when we're sold out and committed to him. They're catching the vision and trusting God with the results.

For the longest time I was "stuck" in Psalm 62 and finally I kept going in the psalms... only to hit Psalm 63. The words of David are beautiful in the passage. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, complete with the rough pathways, from team communication to simply being homesick when I realize how far away I am. There's also some issues that have come up with my health. Not huge worrisome ones, I'll be totally okay, but enough of one that I'm back in forth from the hospital for blood tests and all that fun stuff. I think more than anything, all of this reminds me of the huge necessity for prayer. The other night when I was upset I felt like God was simply asking me, "Lindsey in who do you put your faith?" It was a good reminder that my solid foundation is only found in Christ and its not changed or dictated by the circumstances around me.

Psalm 63, A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

As I stood at the doors of the auditorium this morning, waiting for students to come for the lecture/outreach we were having I was reminded of something. When I was in Ukraine 3 years ago on a missions trip we showed the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," as an outreach for the community. Not very many people showed up and I remember thinking and really just needing to believe by faith that God in his sovereignty had exactly the people there that he wanted to be there. Sunday morning came and we were sitting in the church service as my pastor preached and was interpreted into Russian. Towards the end of his sermon I remember him saying that there are times that we just need to come to God. He was gearing up for the invitation to come to the altar when something else happened. A man named Alex, someone we had met that week, walked up to the front where Pastor Will was standing and just kneeled in front of him. It wasn't the proper time to come to the altar but it was his time, his moment of truth with the Lord. So I remember sitting there, to the right of Pastor Will and Alex, with the sun streaming in the window and the tears streaming down my cheeks. That moment made the entire trip worthwhile. If 6 of us had had to travel across the world so that Alex could come into contact and a personal relationship with his loving heavenly Father than it was worth it for me. Today 15 students indicated decisions to recieve Christ on the comment cards that were handed in. 15! So yes not as many students were there, and no the auditorium wasn't packed but that's not what really matters at all. I have 15 new brothers and sisters in Christ and those there were those that needed to be.

What is the price, the cost, that we place on a life??? If the 6 of us STINT-ers had come here for a year and only saw one person come into a relationship with Christ, would that be enough?

"Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, 'Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue." Luke 15:4-7 (The Message)

Am I really willing to leave behind my 99 safe sheep and go out looking for the 1 that is lost?

Monday morning I stared at a stack of 150 posters and 600 invitations for the outreach on Wednesday, simply wondering how on earth we would pass out 600 invites. But by noon, all 600 invitations are gone, whether given out or with other students involved in the movement. A group of students had shown up at TUAL (our unofficial office) and headed out to invite students and go postering around campus. So by one o'clock I'm back at the copy center with another 50 posters and another 600 invites ready to go. That stack is almost gone.

"They," whoever they is say that to get 200 people to an event you need to pass out 600 invites, so on those numbers we should have a packed out auditorium tomorrow. But either way I learned to say, "lets do this in faith," en espanol, "en fe." I can't do anything on my own and when I start to place limits on things its then God takes those limits and gently exceeds them.


"For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matt 6:32-34

I've been thinking about those verses this week. What do people seek after? What do people run after and look for? Things like relationships, money, security and the list goes on and on. The thing that struck me though is that God already knows we need them. There's no denial on his part that those things don't hold some value. BUT He doesn't tell us to seek after them, he tells us to seek him first, his kingdom and his righteousness, and everything we need comes after that.

There's a sweet sweet passage in Matthew chp.11 that's really touched my heart this week and so I leave you with this and with all my love. In the midst of life, in whatever pain, trial or even normality remember this, I know I'm definately taking this one to heart this week.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:28-30

The Canadians (minus Sarah)... I love you guys!
The beautiful view from the top.

My team for the weekend, these guys are awesome!

Well the team of 26, Panamanians and Canadians survived Bajo Grande this past weekend. As I returned home Monday morning and as I've been spending time through my solo time with God a lot of little details of the trip are starting to make more sense.

Tuesday morning I was able to talk to my mom and she told me that my grandpa had prayed to recieve Christ last Thursday as he was headed in for hip surgery. I let out a little yell and laughed as tears welled up in my eyes, because that's a miracle! I was thinking back to this weekend when my team was blessed to see 8 people accept Christ on Sunday, and yet the excitement I felt then was nowhere near what I felt when I heard about my grandpa. Now don't get me wrong I was definately excited this weekend, but my grandpa hit a little closer to home. So that got me thinking... why shouldn't I be just as excited when someone I've only known 2 days becomes a new Christian as I am when someone who's known me all my life accepts Christ???

Then I realized; my 8 new brothers and sisters in Christ in Bajo Grande have people surrounding them. Maybe not Christians but people that will see their lives changed and be affected by that every day. People that will see when they fall but see that they now have someone bigger to pick them up. I think of Pastor Correa and his wife, in their 60's and moving further and further into the interior of Panama planting churches. They have amazing vision and I remember joy in his eyes when we told him about Mari accepting Christ. When I thought about all that the excitement and joy grew like crazy in my heart. Sometimes I look inwards instead of outwards, and when that happens, God gives me a simple check and reminds me it's not about me at all.

I would be lying if I said that life the last week or so has been a piece of cake. Relationships are hard and they take more work than I sometimes am willing or even want to give them. I think, actually I know that I was way too optimistic coming into STINT this year. I'm not a very confrontational person at all so confrontation and therefore "rocking the boat" is not something I really like to do. The reality of the whole thing is though I am called to love and I really do love my team... and here's why;

Jon- is an amazing leader and its been a blessing to have someone to talk to and someone that can call me on the things that I need to work on in my own life and to give me encouragement in that too. He has such an amazing heart to support our team and get to know each one of them. He has such a love for the students we work with and a way to add details and some reality to my crazy ideas.

Jessica- is such a tenderhearted and beautiful woman of God. Her excitement and genuine joy at the smallest details sometimes is such a reminder for me about the love that God has for me and our team and that details are constantly being worked out for us by a big, loving and powerful heavenly Father.

Sarah- is a hidden talent of a powerhouse. I don't really know what else to add to that. She's got these crazy hidden skills that keep coming out of nowhere but are totally needed and relevant like those of getting a movement started on a campus where there's nothing.

Steve- is a loving man of God. Yesterday he ran up to a random guy to talk too because, "he was sitting in the same place yesterday and I wanted to talk to him then." You can simply see his love for the students and for God through his actions everyday.

Trica- is a joy. She's the other half of the crazy teetor-totter that is the two of us. There's no real other way to explain that one, she's got an awesome heart for the new campus we're opening up and I'm so happy that God's called her to be there.

So in the midst of pain and homesickness and a general need for what I think is normality... I know that I need to remember that I am surrounded by an amazing team.

These guys are an answer to prayers... Jon and I have been able to connect with a lot of girls in the science faculties and I've got a good group of girls that I'm beginning to work with. That had been awesome but we had been praying that God would raise up the guys in our science faculties... and here they are, a solid beginning...

And because I know that my dad is checking this tonight... here's the link for some of my pics from Nicaragua... (copy the whole address into the browser...)

http://ucalgary.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61080&l=04938&id=523285093

Crossfire youth retreat...

http://ucalgary.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61676&l=5e14c&id=523285093

Love lots and lots!

I just returned from our church youth retreat... absolutely amazing! My small group of girls blew my mind this weekend and more than that God healed my heart. There's so much more that could be said but at this point I'm still working through what happened last night... it definately goes down as one of the most intense moments of ministry that I've ever had and one of the most precious moments with God. So until then I leave you with some lyrics from this weekend and a verse that came alive this morning;


You're my every moment
You calm my raging sees
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease
I trust in you, I trust in you

I believe you're my healer
I believe you are all I need
I believe you're my portion
I believe you're more than enough for me
Jesus you're all I need, Oh my healer, you're my healer

Nothing is impossible for you
Nothing is impossible
Nothing is impossible for you
You hold the world in your hands

Psalm 62:5-8, 11-12
5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God [a] ;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Selah
~
11 One thing God has spoken,
two things have I heard:
that you, O God, are strong,
12 and that you, O Lord, are loving.

Well well well... Nicaragua was a trip and a half and I think my brain is still blown... partly from all the Spanish and partly from all the sheer information. It was amazing to be sitting in a room with the campus directors and other staff and national directors of Vida Estudiantil in the CMC region (Central America, Mexico and the Carribean). I learned so much about what it means to have a movement and just gained so much understanding of this region and its past and future! Because I'm leaving again tomorrow on a youth retreat with my church the update will be soon to come, more than that I'm still trying to process everything that just happened.

Life is absolutely nuts and most days I just have fun trying to keep up with it. The last 10 days has been insane.. but what's new for Panama?? The long and short of it is that God is doing crazy crazy things on all fronts.

Steve and I have started to lead small groups at "Crossfire" which is the youth ministry at the church that Sarah, Steve and I are attending. Its been such a blessing to get to be a part of an amazing group of leaders and also get connected into our own small groups of students. My group is a group of 5 grade 10 girls. My first night with them was last night and it's definately going to be interesting. Their small group just seperated into two so they'll definately be a breaking in period with them but we're headed on a retreat in 8 days so I am super excited to have some solid time with then and serve them as their friend. Please pray for them.

On the campus front... I don't really know what to say to put into words the feelings and emotions there. This week has been a week of follow-up and meeting with contacts Jon and I gathered from our classroom talks the last couple of weeks. Yesterday I was supposed to meet with 6 girls at noon but only one of them showed up. But as my friend Laura and I shared the gospel with her you could totally see her processing and thinking her own way through the whole thing. At the end when I asked her if she wanted to pray to recieve Christ she said that she wouldn't be here meeting with us if she wasn't looking for God. It was amazing... thats how the whole week has been! Today Jon and I were so encouraged because 4 guys (!!!) from science showed up at the weekly meeting. I've been connecting really well with the girls from the faculty but there's been a lesser number of guys in the classes and therefore for Jon to connect with. For me it was another sign and encouragement that God has huge huge plans for our faculties. I know that everyone on the team has their own special stories and special moments that God is teaching them and showing them things. Time and time again I am humbled by Gods plans and how even though He could do things without me... He chooses to use me anyways! Until next time.. much love!

Just a couple more... because I realized that they're good.. and I have some computer time.... yippee! (Thanks Jess!!!)So this is the crazy fountain that we found Friday night at Nikko's, now the weird thing is it was full of bubbles... in espanol... burbuja... funnest spanish word ever (pronouce the "j" like an "h"). Alrighty so this is a close up of the articles on the protest Friday at the university... enough said.
This is another shot from church.. I don't know why I have a goofy face on but oh well... it was a great Sunday morning. So this is bascially to bring a smile to your face... love you guys!

Well its definately been a week. We had an awesome full week on campus and were able to present some "talks" including the gospel to 4 lab classes of mostly first years. Today Jon and I did another classroom talk. As we were getting started I really wasn't feeling comfortable with what I had said in the other lectures. So I prayed rapidly and wung (winged??) the whole thing. It went awesome and I'm constantly amazed what God does when we ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit and trust in his leading. Jon and I both thought afterwards that it was the best talk we had done so far. We've been able to connect with a lot of students in the faculty... most of them girls which has me really excited! Even today as I chatted with 3 girls at the end of the talk I was encouraged by my Spanish and their excitement to meet up and get a discipleship group started. Yesterday Jessica, Tricia, Jon and I went to the church in San Miguelito where Jon and I spent a week last summer on our adventure cycle. It was great to be there again and see the people from church and talk with them again. Jon preached the message and it was cool to realize how far we've all come in the last year. I never would have imagined being back and yet I completely felt at home being back with them. It was definately another one of those "crazy... I'm actually in Panama" moments.

Some pics for you guys from this weekend... courtesy of Tricia as my camera is still MIA. :) Late night drive turned into a late night at the Panama Canal... beautiful. Alright... so I don't know how much of this I should mention but... on Friday the university was shut down because of a protest. Jon and I were eating lunch when we saw students walking down the street carrying posters, flags and tires. Needless to say the tires were for blowing up and we all had to exit campus a different way as the police came in full on riot gear... needless to say this is apparently normal. This is Jess and I with the newspaper articles... for another take on this.. check out Jon's blog (the link is on the sidebar of this page), some smart insight there!!

The guys made us dinnner for team fun night and then we headed to the national theater (Teatro Nacional) for a concert that my church brought to town, it was a great night!
This is Jon and I at the church on Sunday in San Miguelito... I was helping Jon out and giving an example... (p.s. I love that they have 2 Tim 2:2 painted on their wall) This is the view from the top of one of the hills in San Miguelito.. beautiful.

So I was really tempted not to post this due to the shape of my face but it makes me (and the rest of my team) laugh so... this is what happens when we try and one-up each other on who can make the best pescado (fish) face.
Love you all... more to come! Stay tuned... it looks like Jon and I may be headed to Nicaragua in 2 weeks and a little bit for a conference.... fiesta!!! Jokes... please pray.. science outreach on Wednesday!!! Update to come!

Its been an absolutely nutty weekend. For those of you who know whats happening you'll know its been a huge rollar coaster of emotion to some huge depths, and yet God always takes us out of the valleys, although they defiantely hurt when we're there. September 20th I wrote in my journal, "How quickly things can change, how quickly joy can turn to sorrow or laughter into pain." And yet tonight it'll be a completley different story.

(Rundown for everybody that has no idea.... Sept 20 some of my teammates took my guitar and my backpack containing my laptop, camera, wallet etc. home in a cab... except for it didn't make it home as everything was forgotten in the trunk of the cab... and trying to find one cab driver in Panama City can only be done by God.)

Now everything hasn't made it back and I'm still praying it does... and yet God continually blows me away. But until then... lets take a walk through some scripture that pulled me through this weekend, grab some coffee or tea and take a minute to do this with me. I know that scripture speaks to us all at different times but I pray that even as you read and think about these that God will continue to reveal his character to you... just as He's been doing to me.

Psalm 37:3-7a

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him."

Psalm 38:9

"All my longings lie open before you, O Lord: my sighing is not hidden from you."

*Psalm 42:11 (5-11 too)

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God."

*Psalm 51:12

"Restore to me they joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

*Isaiah 26:3

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you."

*James 1:2-3

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverence...."

*1 Peter 1: 6-7

"In this you greatly rejoice, through now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

*John 14:14

"You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it."

& again...

*John 15:7

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you."

& again...

*John 15:16

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

*Romans 8:38-39

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus."

*Psalm 139:7-10

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there: if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea (Panama???), even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."

*Psalm 36, Psalm 40, Psalm 95, Psalm 100

(any of those guys....)

Thanks for taking a trip with me, I love you guys all so much!!! As always... more to come.

Well... we're not getting deported tomorrow!! Yeah! This morning our request for an extension was granted and we've been excepted for a 30 day extension to our tourist visas. We have Panamanian identification cards and everything. At the end of the 30 day extension (October 18th) we'll be passing in our applications for our missionary visas and we should be set up for the rest of the year! Thanks so much for all your prayers!

So an update on the crazy missionary/ tourist visa situation.... as uncomplicated as I can attempt to make this. We registered at the immigration office this morning and then applied for a 30 day extension to our current tourist visas. The only thing is that we won't find out until Tuesday morning whether the extension has been approved. Until then we wait and pray. Worse case scenario is we do a mad jaunt to Costa Rica on Wednesday and re-enter the country. Basically the idea is that a month from now we'll pass in the application for our missionary visas and then be completely finished with this bureaucratic mess. Please continue to pray that we'll have favor with the immigration office and that our extension will be approved. The officer we dealt with this morning had John 3:16 posted on his carrel which was a cool encouragement after the 5:30 am wake up call. Also... one of the girls on the team is still sorting out with Canada how to get a criminal record check done from overseas and its not looking good, so continue to keep that in your prayers.... lots of love!!!!

Just some random pics for you guys..... enjoy...

The weekly meeting we were at today. The place was hopping with students a half hour before we even got rolling.. it was awesome.

Jessica, Steve, Sarah and I at the 30th anniversary of the signing of the canal treaties and the land breaking for the canal expansion.

The long awaited view from the apartment... I love waking up to this every morning.

Bathroom graffiti in Panama... 10 points to whoever translates this first (Jon you don't count).

The view from the mountaintop.... where we were at a retreat with the staff and students the past weekend.

I hate being sick. I absolutely hate it. I feel irritable and frustrated when I have no right to be and I don’t have the energy to do the things I normally can do. I question things when I shouldn’t and all in all don’t function well both physically but also emotionally. When I’m at home I talk to my mom or grab a cup of tea and cuddle into my favorite sweater and sweats and sit with my dog or on my couch with my favorite music. I can have a bath or do whatever I need to do to take care of myself. So it’s hard when I’m not able to do those things anymore. I absolutely love it here and yet there’s times, like this evening that it’s hard to be somewhere that’s not quite home yet. I’m too hot to cuddle in a sweater and it’s too sweaty to drink tea and my family (my dog included) is over a thousand miles away. But it’s also times like this that I have nowhere to turn to but to my heavenly Father. He’s the only steady and constant thing in my life when all else is changing and moving and scary or frustrating at times.

Psalm 73:23-26

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

In John 7:60-71 Jesus is deserted by “many” of his disciples as his teaching is hard (vs.60). It’s not exactly the most encouraging bible story and yet it has one of my favorite verses in it. In verse 67 Jesus asks the Twelve whether they also want to leave him and Simon Peter answers, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (vs.68-69) I love that. “Lord to whom shall we go?” Where else would I turn when I feel alone or ready to throw in the towel? To whom shall I go? “Whom (else) have I in heaven?”

This is a video of the Panama City skyline from a "hike" that the team took yesterday through the natural metropolitan park (pardon the quality... I'm still working on it!). It was a gorgeous day for some gorgeous scenery... I've been praying a lot lately about what God is speaking to me. In John chapter 4:43-54 Jesus heals a royal officials son. What hit me about this was two things... 1. the man took Jesus at his word that his son was healed and departed... man I want to have faith like that and 2. Jesus said something and it was so. So I've been thinking... what is God saying to me??

Learning a lesson....

In the last post I mentioned that we had found an apartment for the girls and that we would still be looking for one for the boys. Backtracking a little though... when we had first started looking for apartments we had looked at a gorgeous building in a safe area called El Dorado, but... it was too expensive for us and only had 2 rooms. On Saturday we were supposed to move into what was supposedly the "girls" apartment. Our realtor called that morning though and said that another apartment had opened up in the identical building we had first looked at BUT that the rent was cheaper (moved into our price range), had 3 rooms AND was completely furnished. Holding our breaths we went to take a look. I was speechless... and we all know that that doesn't happen a lot...

I learned an important lesson that day. As I stepped out onto the balcony to look around I saw jungle and rainforest in the distance on my left and on my right the skyline of downtown Panama city but through the gaps in the buildings was a site that blew me away... the ocean. Standing near the ocean or even gazing at it from a distance I feel so incredibly close to God. But what I learned is that God desires to bless us more than we deserve... or even think we deserve. I wouldn't have asked to see the ocean every morning and yet He gave me that and as always more than I ever thought to ask for. Sometimes I think that God simply desires to blow us away, wherever we are, even when we think we could be satisfied with less.

The first (of many) girls nights in Panama city....

Post Saturday morning prayer... the morning we moved!

First dinner at "home"... well the boys house that is!

For more pics... check out this link....

http://ucalgary.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45277&l=f9b54&id
=523285093

Yeah!!! An apartment!!! We picked up keys for our new home yesterday and its exciting to know that we have a place to move into tomorrow. Its a 3 bedroom, 3 bath apartment halfway furnished with a washer, dryer and appliances which is a rare find down here. We´ll be taking the bus to campus, its about a 15 or 20 minute ride but it´s only one bus so we should be able to figure it out... thanks so much for all your prayers!

This morning we woke up a little after 5 and headed to the campus for a prayer walk around the campus. It was awesome to lift up the students and faculties in prayer and also pray that God would raise the level of evangelism on our campus. My hope and prayer is that the staff and our stint team really leads that way in this. I´ll be working in the science faculty along with my co'leader Jon. The Panamanian staff member we´re working with doesn´t really speak English so my Spanish needs to get better and fast! It´s awesome though because I´ll be forced to speak it so I´ll be able to learn... but please keep that in your prayers as well.

I´ve been delving into 1 Peter chapter 1 this week. I would encourage you all to take a peek at that, its such a beautiful progression within that chapter and concludes with a prayer I have for our team. I´ve been praying that we would love each other deeply and 1 Peter 1, I think vs.22 talks about this. Love each other sincerely because we´ve been purchased with something imperishable... the blood of Christ. Its an awesome chapter and one of my favorite books... there´s simply so much there. As always you´ll be in my thoughts and prayers, thanks so much for keeping me in yours!