Sunday, July 15, 2012

Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord




On my second week, I took my team to St Hermans Caves and the Blue Hole. Which looked more like a brown hole because of all the rain
It was super nice to relax and just cool off in the water. 
Two of the guys from this team were talking like Bear Grylls and pointing out the most obvious things like...


"look at this tree, it must have grown from the ground"
"look here at this puddle, this is the blue hole"
"be careful of the ants, they are extremely poisonous" 


It was really funny just joking around and pretending that they were my brothers. 


Once we were in the caves, we turned off all the flashlights and sang "Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord" in complete darkness. 


I really felt like this is song, in this setting, can relate to our lives as Christians. 
Sometimes, we feel like we are completely covered in the dark. 
We reach out, and we can't see or feel anything around us. 
That is when we have to sing, or pray, for God to open our eyes. Open the eyes of my heart Lord, because I want to see You. 


And as always, He is very faithful to provide and show us His light. 
Pslams 18:28 says, "You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; My God turns my darkness into Light". 
When we finished singing the song, we turned on our lights and looked around us. 
The surroundings were not scary, they were just unknown... until we turned our lights on. 


And even the dimmest light shines in the dark. 

Sarah.




On my second week in Belize, I was partnered with Sarah, a beautiful girl from North Carolina. 
This is also her first year being an Assistant Trip Leader and we hit it off right away!
God knew I needed someone to talk to... so He put Sarah on my trip. 
We are both in nursing school and we desire to do missions with that degree. So, it was awesome to see how God is working in both of our lives to mold us into godly women with a passion for Him. 


I know we will be friends forever.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

God You are Beautiful






If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE mountains. 
Mountains I feel, just have a sort of power and awesomeness in them that reminds me of Gods power and awesomeness. 


My second week in Belize was spent in Dangriga which is a coast town South of Belize City. 
To get there, we had to go through the mountains and over many many rivers. 
I sat in the front of the bus and was in AWE of the beauty. 
Everyone was making fun of me. Whatever. 
I see God in the mountains and that makes me happy. 


My week in Dangriga... was amazing. I will post more pictures and stories later. 
My team... had the fire and passion of God in them and I saw many lives changed because of that trip. Including my own. 
I also became very good friends with the other Assistant Trip Leader named Sarah.
She is from North Carolina and we will be friends forever. I know that for sure.  


Thank you God... for your beautiful gifts.  

Arlesha.


This little girl....is inspiring


Her mother gave her up when she was just a baby.
She has one little brother, no father, and a wonderfully amazing adoptive mother. 
and her heart and love for Jesus made me smile every time I saw her. 


Arlesha has hardly anything.
She shares a bed with her mom and lives in the scary part of town. But they have to sleep with their windows open so that the breeze can get in. 
They do not have a car so they have to rely on the church shuttle to get around. 


But...


She loves to dance for Jesus. 
She loves visiting orphans. 
She loves meeting new people. 
She loves going on home visits. 
and She loves her family. 


This week. She taught me how to love selflessly. I never thought a 10 year old girl could teach me so much. 


Hello Belize








I know. 
I have not blogged since I have been in Belize. 
Believe it or not... being on a mission trip is kinda busy!! haha
These pictures are from my first week here in Belize
and the first five are from when my first team held a Vacation Bible School at a School. 

It blessed by heart to see the Belizean kids falling in love with these teens from America. 
They were jumping on them
hugging them
kissing them
holding them
and smiling at them

However, the teens from America also fell in love with the Belizean children. I mean... how could they not? 
These faces are beautiful.
And they were made by God.

The last day we were there... 10th graders came to accept the Lord. 
TEN
That means ten more souls that will be in heaven with you and I. 
I love seeing the work of God first hand.... 

Our God is an Awesome God.