Brrr!!!!

Well folks....I'M HOME! After a pretty crazy last couple weeks, I'm back sitting in the comfort of my home. First thing I said when I walked out of the airport, "Oh my gosh! I can see my breath!! This is awesome!" Needless to say, that excitement of being out of the 100-degree weather has already worn off, and the cold is just brutal. But oh well...I'm still excited for snow. :) But anyway....I suppose I should tell you some of what went on for those last couple weeks in Colombia.

I guess the last time I "talked" to you guys it was while I was in Barranquilla/Santa Marta. Well yes, that trip ended great. We got home Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon I had English class. Wednesday was time spent with Tyron. Thursday was Thanksgiving! That was quite the day. I loved it....but really only b/c it was Thanksgiving and it's really hard to ruin a day in which I have both turkey and mashed potatoes. Otherwise, the other details of the day were not so good (only one football game was on TV, it was way way way too hot to do any more cooking than was absolutely necessary, etc...). I know - very small disappointments in the grand scheme of things, but James and I were looking forward to a nice all-American Thanksgiving Day. Oh well. :)
Friday and Saturday were both spent with the kids, doing both English and basketball. Sunday was church and the typical DOR (day of rest). Monday was spent doing a lot of studying and thinking and praying. Tuesday was spent w/ the kids again (English).
Then on Wednesday morning I got up early in the morning and left for the airport to head to Bogotá to meet up w/ James (who had gotten there Monday). That was a very cool trip. It was great to see such a different side of Colombia (not to mention a completely different climate - the weather was perfect). We had the opportunity to meet w/ the director of ECA (El Camino Academy), an English-speaking Christian school, and the only school in Colombia from which you receive both an American diploma AND a Colombian one. Very cool school. We also got to meet with a few of the coaches that James had worked with when he lived in Bogotá before. After hitting up different American restaurants for pretty much every meal, Friday came quickly and we both flew back to Cartagena.

Saturday was once again spent with my kids, but since the upcoming week was going to be my last one there, we made some plans to just kind of hang out and not do any formal practices or classes or anything. [Sunday was a typical Sunday - church and football] Monday we got the guys together and played some basketball and took them out for pizza and just hung out w/ them. While we were eating pizza though, James and I took that opportunity to once again bring up the gospel. As I have mentioned in previous posts, this isn't the first time I've talked to them about it, but we both just felt like we should bring it up again before I head back to the States. Well after we were done talking four of the kids said they'd definitely think more about it and stuff and get back to us on Wednesday about it. Well Wednesday rolled around and we planned a beach day. Unfortunately only one of those four kids showed up (there were others, but not ones that had shown much of an interest in the gospel). However, while we were hanging out on the beach and playing in the water, I took advantage of a little alone time I had w/ Andrés. I asked him what he was thinking about in regards to Monday's conversation. He just responded, "I want whatever it is that you and James have. I want to change my life. I'm sick of doing bad things all the time." So after a little more explaining by me, Andrés (while we were just standing out there in the Caribbean getting hit by the waves) prayed that the Lord would forgive him of his sins, come into his life, and begin to change him. :) Brothers and sisters.....we have a new family member!!

(me and Andrés right after he accepted Christ as his Savior)

Three days later I had to leave and come home (this past Saturday), but man....what a way to finish things up!! I was so excited. :) What an amazing God we have! I have some big decisions ahead of me as far as where I'll be exactly when I head back down there and everything, but I will let you know more about that in the future. For now I just wanted to let you know some of the [very] exciting news of the last couple weeks there. If you could pray for some more direction for me for the future though, that would be great, thanks! :) Love you all, and none of this would be possible without your prayers and support! God is good!

Fun and Travels Along the Coast

Hey everybody! So as you know, the last couple weeks have been pretty full for me (although they have been quite enjoyable, so I certainly can't complain!). It started with my friend from Moody joining me here for 10 days. We were able to visit Rosario, the white beaches (picture on left), as well as check out all the different events from the holiday week that was taking place at the same time.
As you can see from my picture on the right, when a lot of Colombians gather in one place, like at this parade, things get a little out of control. :) This little girl was just some random girl I met there that turned into my arch-enemy in a huge shaving-cream war. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm pretty sure she won.

Also, just yesterday I left with James and Sandra to check out some other coastal cities that aren't too far away. So we arrived in Barranquilla last night (where James and I promptly went to a local pizza place with 2 HD-TV's and caught the Eagles-Bears game....to all my Chicago friends out there....HAHA!).
This morning James and I woke up bright and early and took a taxi-van thing to Santa Marta, where I was able to check out Colegio Cristiano La Esperanza, the Christian school that the group from Hilltown was able to help build 10 years ago or so (and as my dad was part of that group, I was very excited about this). So James and I had the opportunity to talk with them and get a tour of the school. We were both very impressed with the school and it's curricullum (especially that there is an American girl there teaching English through another missions organization). We think it would be very cool if we could manage to partner with them in some way, but just have a lot of praying and waiting to do to see where God leads. Tomorrow I will have the chance to see a little bit more of Barranquilla in the morning before we hurry back in time for our Tuesday English classes in Cartagena. Well, that's all for now...I just wanted to update you guys on the exciting news of being able to visit the school and everything like that. I will post more in the upcoming weeks with my travels to Bogotá and possibly some pictures of Barranquilla. As always, thanks for your prayers and God bless!! I'll leave you with one last picture of the school (as I understand you Hilltowners helped build the 3rd floor).

One Last Month

Are you kidding me? Where has the time gone?! I can't believe I'm down to just one month remaining on this trip. I've got some exciting things to tell you guys though.
Now that James and I have had the opportunity to really start building a relationship with some of these kids, we have moved on from just teaching them English and training them in basketball. I now have the opportunity three times a week of sharing a devotional with them. It's been amazing. They've been so responsive. Yesterday I actually shared about laziness and how it is a major contributor to poverty (don't believe me, check out Proverbs). I was a little bit nervous as all these kids come from a very poor background, and I didn't want to come across as judgmental despite my still-somewhat-limited Spanish. It went so well though, as they totally opened up and talked about experiences they've seen in their own life about how laziness is so prevalent among the people they live with and even in their own lives. I've been slowly building up to the Gospel-presentation I have planned for this upcoming Saturday. So please be praying for that time!!

Another HUGE thing that is an answer to prayer is that God has [somewhat] revealed to me what He has for me in this next step in my life. I have decided after much prayer and talking to people close to me to come back down here full-time. I'm not exactly sure what the time-frames would look like, but I am kind of thinking I would head back down here around Jan 2011 and be here for around 5 years or so (and then see what happens from there, obviously). So thank you so much for your prayers in that area of my life, and continued prayers would be greatly appreciated as there is now a great deal of prep-work to be done for when I get back to Colombia.

Finally, let me give you a little peek at what's up for the final month that I'll be here. This next week is crazy in Cartagena as it is pretty much just a huge party week. All the schools have off and it's just one big ole fiesta that is finished off next weekend with the Miss Colombia pageant here! As fun as all that sounds, it is also a bit of a pain, because it adds insane amounts of traffic and it now takes about twice as long to get anywhere. But oh well, like I said, it's only a week long. One of my friends from Moody is visiting and while she is here we're taking the time on Wednesday to go to Las Playas Blancas de Rosario (aka....The White Beaches of Rosario). I'm excited because I hear it is just absolutely beautiful and a must-see/do while here in Cartagena. So it should be a nice 1-day vacation that I'm definitely looking forward to. Then during the third weekend in November (well...the 22nd-24th) James, Sandra, and I are headed to Baranquilla and Santa Marta to do some more ministry-scouting. On top of being able to check out some different schools in those cities (including the Christian school that the group from HBC helped build in Santa Marta a few years back), it will also be a good opportunity for me to just check out some other cities here in Colombia. Then that Thursday is Thanksgiving, so we plan on making it an All-American Day. Playing some American football in the morning, followed by a great turkey dinner, followed by watching football the rest of the day. :) Then, the following week (the first week in December), James and I are headed to Bogotá for a few days so I can check out the massive capital city, as well as see El Camino Academy (ECA), an English-speaking Christian school there. So I'm certainly excited about that. And then finally, the last week I'm here, we're planning on doing a fairly big camp as our last hurrah. So needless to say, this last month is going to just fly by!

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers, and hopefully this will help direct your prayers a little more. I love you all and am so excited for your willingness to partner with me in the saving of lives here in Colombia. May God be glorified in all we do!

Let's Go Phillies!!!

Hey everyone. I just wanted to show my support for the Phillies by dedicating a post to them. Haha, just kidding. I've got some ministry stuff to talk about too. :)

The professional season is officially over as the team lost last night to get swept in the first round of playoffs. Although, for James and I the season had really been all-but-over for over a week now as he was no longer coach (as described in the previous post). The good news is that I believe all the players got paid, so at least that got taken care of.

Also, we've had some really great new kids coming to the English classes. They're going very well. One kid has really stepped up as a leader in the class, and that has been a HUGE help to me cuz he helps keep some of the other not-so-well-behaved kids under control so I don't have to handle all of them by myself.

Well that's about all for now. Love you all and thanks for you prayers, as always. :)

Big Changes

Hello everyone.
I want to begin this post by once again thanking you all for your prayers. God is definitely working down here, but it can get very hard sometimes to see what He's up to! This last week was yet another example of that....
First of all, dating back to last Saturday (a week from this past one) we found out that the people in charge of the team (Lucho and Andres, who were really great trustworthy guys) had been "overthrown" in a sense by people with more money, essentially. Sadly, this new group of people are the corrupt ones we were trying to avoid this whole time. Well....they have since promised money to players and coaches and so on, but it has yet to come through. Therefore James had given them an ultimatum that if he was not paid by a certain time (this past Friday), he was out because he just did not feel right working for such corrupt individuals. Well this past Friday rolled around....still no money.....so James stuck to his word and he's out!

On top of that, because of the financial situation w/ the team, they had to move Joey (my roommate) out of our apartment to another place w/ another player to save money. Well this essentially forced me to move as well, because I could not afford to live in this place all by myself...too big, too expensive. So I had to find a new place to stay in less than 24 hours, haha. Thankfully though, God provided and a studio had just opened up in the same apartment building! So I just had to move a few floors down, and now I'm all settled in living on my own.

But anyway, back to the situation w/ James....we're not totally sure why God's doing what He's doing, but one thing's for sure....we're gonna make the best of it and follow His lead. The fact that he is no longer the coach of the professional team opens up a TON more free time for him to begin to help me focus on the 144 Program, which will be a huge blessing, especially since he will be the one continuing it after I leave in December. Speaking of which, he has been able to spend some good time today and the past few days developing the website. You all should check it out! It's got some more details regarding the program, as well as a way to donate to the program.
http://colombiafca.org/

Alright, well I promise to not take so long to update again. There is some exciting stuff going on here, and will let you know more about it ASAP!





My Boys on the team!
(Joey, the former roomie, on the far left)







Continue to pray for the team as I have gotten close with many of the players and would be crushed if it turns out they don't get paid or something like that. Also, prayers for the 144 Program are continually needed. Thanks again!!!

BMOC (Big Man of Cartagena)

Hello again everybody! Miss me? haha
Anyway, sorry for the lack of update in a while. There's not a whole lot new to be said necessarily except that the English classes have officially started up and everything. We are still looking for more kids though, so that is taking some time. Got to visit 2 more schools today and talk to the administration there about the 144 Program. So thank you for your prayers, but please continue with them! :) Again, the professional team here could use a lot of prayer. More financial problems and other issues that I probably shouldn't go into too much. But just pray :) thanks!

In other news, it's just been really cool getting to know the city better and stuff. It's pretty cool to be walking around and people calling out my name because they all know and love talking to the gringo. haha. And even if they don't necessarily know my name....they know i'm affiliated with the professional team, so they will constantly ask me how the team is doing and so on. It's just nice to finally feel like i'm starting to fit in and get to know some locals. Not to mention some of our favorite restraunts in the area....they know us the best of all. haha. All we need to do is walk in and say "lo mismo" (literally "the same"......or.....the regular) cuz we have our favorite meals at these different places, and they all know them. Oh, and in case you didn't catch the pun in the title of this blog.....BMOC usually stands for Big Man On Campus (it's a college thing, ha).

Anyway, I guess that's all for now. This week is a big decision week for some things with the team, so there are possibly some major changes going to be made. If that's the case, I'll have an update for you. If not....well....talk to you again later! :) Love you all and I can seriously never thank you enough for your continued prayer support!

Hello Again

So wanna know something crazy? I've been here in Colombia for over a month already! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. :) Anyway, sorry it's been a while since my last update. There has been a lot going on here, but most of it being somewhat political stuff about the professional team which has been pretty tough on James. So while it certainly does effect me (as one of my roommates, a player on the team, has been sent home and is being replaced by another player due to money/other reasons), it has been far more of a battle for James. So he could use a lot of prayer to stay encouraged in this ministry that he's doing.

As far as I'm concerned though - my first English class for the 144 Program is going to be this Tuesday (Lord willing)!!! I have spent the last couple weeks working on all the details of the program and preparing some curriculum for the classes, as well as visiting some local high schools to talk to administrators and basketball coaches about some kids I can work with. So yeah, some more prayer for the program in general and the classes more specifically would be great! :)

My schedule at this point looks pretty much like this....

• Workouts every morning (9-12ish) either with Tyron (a 17 year old 6'9" kid) or with the professional team
• The much-needed siesta every early afternoon after lunch :)
• 144 Program work (Tuesday/Thursday English classes or workouts or prep work) from 4-6 in the afternoon
  
• Either practice or game with the professional team every evening
• Dinner very late after all that
• Sleep
• Repeat :)

Saturdays are pretty similar to that schedule and then Sundays are my day off (with only church and usually the beach scheduled in).
So there you have it. Welcome to my life here in Colombia! It's pretty great. :) Hope everyone is doing great back home. Thanks so much for your prayers, and they will continue to be very coveted. Love you all!

New Ministry!!!

Hey all! So James and I have been doing a lot of talking and discussing recently and some things have changed. It's very exciting, but going to add a lot of work!!! So yeah, here we go...

The main thing i'm gonna be focusing on at this point is this new program that we're starting. It's called the 144 Program. It's pretty much totally “my baby” in the words of James, so yeah, it's like all up to me to come up w/ all the details like the mission, vision, teaching curriculum, training program etc....so to give you an idea of what it is, i'll just tell you the mission statement I have for it at this point (although, i'm not totally sure i'm happy with it, so I might change the wording, but it at least gets the point across)....

Mission: The 144 Program, a holistic training program, assists young Colombian athletes who show special potential in their sport to have the opportunity to play at the next level through physical training in their sport, academic training through English classes, and spiritual training through the Word of God.

So in other words, we're looking for the young athletes who show a lot of potential and working with them to develop their skill to the point where they can get a scholarship from (ideally) a college in the US, allowing them the opportunity to
a. get out of the slums
b. be a good example to those whom they are playing against
c. be a good example to all the rest of the people from their high school or neighborhood who would no doubt look up to them at that point, since it is very rare for a Colombian to be good enough to go on and play in the US.
While helping them develop their skill, we would be teaching them English and in that time, be able to go through the Bible with them (as a “English-teaching tool”), thus leading to that whole “good example” thing I was just talking about.

The reason it's called the 144 Program is b/c we are looking to eventually get 144 kids sponsored for the program for $144 a year. We already have a few in mind for the program whom I will be working with starting possibly as soon as next week, but obviously, we have a long way to go to both reach 144 kids, as well as get the donations to reach that many kids. The even longer-term goal is to get a few people down here focusing on all different kinds of sports and starting this program for baseball, softball, volleyball, etc....

But yeah, James has pretty much left most of the details up to me, so i've been spending a decent amount of time the last 2 days thinking about the mission, vision, and how I wanna go about the whole English teaching thing. It's really exciting, but obviously is going to be A LOT of work! So please pray that:
a. first and foremost, God is glorified in this program and His blessing will be on it
b. that I'll be able to figure out all these details and put them together in a well-thought-out way.
c. that He will raise up supporters for these kids
d. that when we do get to the point where we are reaching that many kids, we have the energy/resources to do it!
e. however else you feel God leading you to pray about this ministry – it needs to be doused in prayer :)

But....
That's still only one of the ministries going on here. James is still very busy as the head coach of the professional team (hence, handing over the major responsibility of 144 to me), but I am also still there at both the morning and evening practices. On top of that, we still have these other ministry opportunities floating out there (like the one I previously mentioned at Mamonal) that we would love to be able to tackle. But all in God's timing, you know? :)

Oh, and my roommate (for now at least – that is also subject to change) has moved in. He's one of the professional players. He's Colombian but spent his whole life in Northern Jersey, so he pretty much only speaks English....which is fine with me! :) He's not a Christian though, so there is yet another ministry opportunity for me, right here in my own apartment!! So pray that I am able to uphold a good, strong testimony in front of him (well....i want to uphold a strong testimony always....but you get the point). He's a really cool guy though, and we've gotten along very well thus far (even though he is a yankees fan....).

Ok, well i've bored you all enough at this point. :) Thanks for your prayers! Love you all!!!

Camp Week

Hey everybody!

Wow, what a week! As I mentioned before, the team from Southeastern University arrived on Monday, and then Tuesday was the first day of camp. The morning camp was being organized by Opportunity International and we were just partnering with them for the week to help them run the camp. Unfortunately they were only able to get a few kids to come (despite getting around 30 kids to sign up). So tuesday and wednesday morning, we had like 7 kids there. So on wednesday morning, the team from Southeastern actually took that time to get in a little practice, and James was gone picking up/working out one of the professional players. So that left pretty much all the responsibility on my shoulders, but like i said....there were only 7 kids....so it wasn't bad at all. I believe God was really able to work through me and by the end of the time that morning, one of the kids (Bernardo) was very interested in being in a huddle group w/ me (where i would teach him english, help him w/ his basketball skills, and most importantly....share the gospel with him). So that was very encouraging.

Then, on Thursday morning we went to an island just off the coast of Cartagena, and worked with some of the kids there. YWAM (youth with a mission) has a base there, so we were able to work alongside of them. This was an extremely poor area, but James and I were able to go talk to the school administrator, as well as someone from the local church about starting a huddle group there as well. So it looks very possible that they may be my job once a week. (so if you remember from my previous post.....that is now 3 days a week at Mamonal, 1 day at this island, and the rest of the time right here in Cartagena). It's amazing how God is bringing everything together.

Anyway, on Friday morning we were back at the high school working with both the 7 kids who had been there earlier in the week, as well as some of the kids we were able to boat in from that island. After this camp, we had the opportunity to share with them, presenting the whole gospel (not watered down in the slightest, despite being at a Catholic school), and give them all Spanish New Testaments. It was great to see how attentive the kids were!

The kids and us in the Friday morning session

Meanwhile, every afternoon we were putting on a camp for the kids of the Catholic school there in Cartagena. There was a much bigger turnout for these (80 kids or so). These camps went extremely well and every day one of the guys from Southeastern gave their testimony at the end. I did a lot of translating for the guys during the drills....so thank you all for your prayers for my Spanish! :) Finally, at the end of the week on Friday, James once again had the opportunity to talk to them and hand out New Testaments to them all. Pray that they will read the Bibles and come to us w/ questions and open doors for us to talk w/ them more.

Today is a scrimmage between Southeastern and the professional team here (and i get to play w/ Southeastern). So that should be fun. Alright, well, I have to get going. But i just wanted to let you guys know, that God has really been answering prayer and this week went so well! Thank you all and I love you.

Prayer

Praise: The team from Southeastern University has arrived. There are only 8 of them....but still...they will be a huge help!

Prayer Requests:
1. Tomorrow morning (tuesday) is the start of 2 different camps that we are putting on this week. One is in the morning, the other in the afternoon. Please pray that the Lord will be working in the hearts of the kids that are coming that they will be receptive to the devotionals that are given at every session. At the end of the week, we will have an "altar call" when we will directly lay out the gospel and see how many kids want to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.
2. Please pray for me specifically as I will have the main responsibility of running these camps as James will be very busy with the professional team this week. So please pray that God will give me the Spanish words to say to help control these kids and help them both in their basketball, as well as in their spiritual lives.
3. James and I will have pretty much the sole responsibility of follow-up w/ the kids that do make a commitment to Christ. So please pray that we are able to plug these kids into local churches where they dont have to travel far to get to (as all of them are poor kids). The problem is that there are very few truly biblical churches, so we need to find all the ones closest to these kids that are solid, Bible-preaching churches.

Ok, wish I could update you on more that has been going on, but as you can see, we are pretty busy (just got back from the pro practice like 15 minutes ago)! Love you all, and can't thank you enough for your prayers and encouraging comments on these posts and facebook and email. Praise the Lord for the work He is doing!!!

Mamonal

Yesterday (Thursday) was a long, hot day....but it was AWESOME! We were out in the sun doing a basketball clinic for a school in an extremely poor area about 45 minutes outside of Cartagena, by the name of Mamonal (I think that's how it's spelled anyway...).

(me teaching kids how to shoot)

As we were headed out there, James let me know that this is one of the main areas that I will be spending time. I will be out there about 3 days a week, acting essentially as a PhysEd teacher for these kids. I am very excited, because it is so obvious that they just need someone to instruct them and discipline them and really just give them attention. So you all can begin praying for the kids of Mamonal as I will be spending countless hours w/ them over the next few months. Everyone in the area (adults included) are pretty lazy, as they are just used to getting handouts from the government. So this will be one of the many challenges of working w/ them. But as I said, they are very willing to listen and to learn, so I am very much looking forward to spending more time out there.Today is El Dia de Indepencia (I assume most of you can figure out what that means) for Colombia, so we just had practice with the professional team this morning (and when i say "morning" I mean it started at 10:30 and was supposed to end at 12:30, but since time means nothing here....we did not even get home until 2) and have been relaxing since then. Tonight we are going out and doing some "touristy" things, so I can check out some of the nicer parts of the city.
One other prayer request that I forgot to mention in my previous post is for the camp that we are putting on next week. There will be a lot of kids there and it will be a great opportunity to present the gospel to many children. Southeastern University (out of Florida) is supposed to be coming down to help us out, however we just found out earlier this week that as of wednesday, they still do not have their money raised, nor have they purchased plane tickets, and one of their players still doesn't have his passport. So....we're just praying that they can even come at this point, or else that leaves A LOT of responsibility on the shoulders of James and me. So if you could keep that in your prayers, that would be greatly appreciated!
Well that's about all for now. God bless you all, and thanks again for your prayers and support.

Welcome to Cartagena!!

Hola amigos!!!
Well, I have arrived here in Cartagena, Colombia. It has been a great first 2 days here. I got in to my apartment at about 1 in the morning on tuesday (or monday night, depending on how you look at it). Tuesday we got to check out the area and scout out some good places to play basketball and do some camps. Then at night we had practice with the professional team. Today has been a little more chill....i was able to sleep in and then kind of check out the area. Speaking of "the area", let me tell you about it...
My apartment is on the 7th floor of an apartment building overlooking the Caribbean. I know, really tough, right? I can walk over to the beach (where the water is like bath-tub warm...almost not even refreshing from the 100-degree weather). I am in downtown Cartagena in a very ritzy part of town, because it is really the only safe place for us "gringos" to live. The rest of the city is very poor and dangerous. Today we are helping out a local highschool basketball coach with practice. We will be working out his players. Tomorrow, we are headed to an extremely poor area and doing basketball camps, as a way to begin to build relationships w/ these kids. I'm really excited to continue to get to know people and spend more time w/ James (who is awesome, by the way).
Anyway, that's about all for now! Thanks again for your prayers. Love you all.

Last Week in America

Hey all,
I just wanted to update you guys on the latest about my trip since it is only one more week away! I'm getting really excited. I was able to talk to James yesterday and get a few more details as to what we will be doing. God has really been providing, as many prayer requests have been answered!! First of all, I have a place to stay for at least the first month while I am there, while I can look for an actual apartment of my own. A business that James has built a relationship with has been very supportive of the ministry and I will be able to live in their employee housing for at least August.

However, the biggest praise is that the Lord has provided over $7000 of the $7500 that I needed for the trip!!! I knew that He would come through, but it has been absolutely incredible seeing Him work in His people to move them to support the ministry! So to all of you who have supported me financially, I cannot thank you enough for helping make this possible. You are truly a huge part of what God will be doing down there in Colombia. This is just more proof to me that God has some amazing things in store for me over the next few months.

So finally, I would like to leave you with a few more prayer requests:
1. Safe/convenient travel as I get down there.
2. That God would be working in the hearts of the people to whom I will be ministering.
3. That my parents (specifically mom) will be able to say goodbye to their little boy again for another five months. :)
4. That James and I would be able to find a good, biblical church with whom we can partner (which will apparently not be a very easy find).
5. That God will be working in my life continuously drawing me closer to Him as I will have much fewer Christian influences in my life.

So once again, many things have been coming together, and I have all of you guys and your prayers to thank. Praise God for His provision thus far and I will update you all again when I get to Cartagena. Talk to you all later!!! :)

Prayer Requests

Hey everybody! Thanks so much for the support on the facebook page and however else you may be looking at this blog. Well it's down to like 6 weeks till i leave! I'm very excited, but naturally a little nervous to start this whole new phase of my life. As the trip approaches, i would love if you guys could pray for a few specific things:
1. my spanish - it needs help.
2. that support would continue to come in - this is the most money i've ever had to raise, but i know God will provide because i know this is where He wants me.
3. that James would find two basketball players (college D1 level) to come down and play professionally (and also be my roommates).
4. for the preparation of the hearts of the kids and people we will be in contact w/ at the academy and just in our everyday life down there.
5. apartments for both me and James/his wife.

Well that's pretty much it. I've begun looking at a few devotionals i have written during my time at Moody and thinking about which ones are good to translate over to Spanish and use at the academy. Exciting times!!! :) Thanks for your prayers and support everybody! Love you!!!

B