So yesterday was the first day of our camp, and I must say when they told us to be flexible, I didn't think it would be this flexible. We had planned a message, skit, craft, games, etc. and we barely did anything we planned. I guess this is God's way of showing us again that it's not about us, we just have to remain faithful and trust in him. I am really glad that we had some teens come out for our program, as well as some younger ones that wanted to tag along.
It really touched me how simple the Natives' lifestyle is, yet they are so grateful. At church when they shared prayer requests, they had more praises than requests. And when some of the kids were showing us where their houses were; to me, it looked so small and simple, but to them it was their home and they loved it. It made me see how different our culture is from theirs. We spend so much time focusing on our material things, that we take for granted our 4 bedroom houses and 2 cars and all the other things we have. It really opened my eyes to be more thankful for the blessings I have rather than grumbling all the time.
Another thing is something Mrs. Hui mentioned, is that some teams come in and they're just the sowers, some are the waterers (i know it's not a word), and some are the reapers. It was encouraging to hear, because I'm a person that likes to reap what I sow. Oh Christine of such little faith, I was too impatient to wait for God to work, but just wanted to see what would result from my efforts. It really checked my attitude for the rest of the trip to just work faithfully and let God work out his plan and just trust that what we are doing here during this time, is all working towards the bigger picture.
Prayer Requests:
- That our team will continue to work faithfully for God's glory, and that our conversations and actions are pleasing to him
- For those that are seeking something more from their life, and that the Bible Conference would be a blessing to them.
- For wisdom for learning how to deal with the situations that we're facing >> the teens are very aloof at what's going on and there are lot of barriers to break
- That God will help us prepare for the people that He's going to send for us to work with
Ciao-der!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
God is an Awesome Creator
I think being from the city, it's so easy to get caught up in the business to recognize the vast beauty of God's creation. Being in Alaska, however is totally different, because there's less buildings, less busyness, less...a lot of things, and oh there's a lot of light throughout the day. Today we spent the day sight seeing and equipment shopping. Just driving and taking pictures and seeing these huge animals up close, was just amazing to me to be able to marvel in how beautiful Alaska is, even in rain! To see how small I was compared to these mountains and glaciers and just the beauty of how a glacier looks when the sun hits it through the clouds. Amazing.
We also visited the Mountain View Boys and Girls Club to see the facilities and meet some of the kids. I think meeting them really made me realize that it's for real now. We had our few days of break, now was the beginning of getting everything together, starting relationships, creating friendships. It was really cool.
Tomorrow we leave for Glennallen, where most of our trip will be.
Prayer Requests:
- Safety in Driving
- Praise that Perry made it to Alaska safely and for the wonderful creation from God
- that the hearts of the kids we met today will be open and they will come to our camp
- for the hearts of the teens in Glennallen, as we go to prepare for their program, that they are receptive to the discussions and messages we have prepared and just that they will accept us as we try to get them better
- Continued prayer that God will reveal his plans to us throughout the trip and that we will be open and stilll to see what He is trying to show us
Anchorage, AK
Hey Readers!
We got into Anchorage last night, and went straight to bed, so I didn't get to update. But just a quick update, we were blessed to have first class on our flight from Detroit to Anchorage. To me I was just so thankful, it was really all God. I've traveled a lot, but this is the first time I've been in first class and it was on our way to Alaska. I really felt like God was showing us how he gives and takes away (through our missed flight and then hotel + first class) and how he provides us with rest. As Vivian shared with us last night, "It's like we came to serve but we were served in a fantastic way." Seriously!
Today we're going to go around Anchorage and buy supplies and a little of sightseeing. I forgot how beautiful Alaska was, so it'll be really nice to get reacquainted with it and just see how awesome God's creation is. (ps, Alaska tap water is BOMB!)
Prayer Requests/Praises:
- That we will continue to be open to God markers and what He has in store for us
- For our health and safety
- For Perry's (our last memeber) safe trip to Anchorage
- "That God will reveal each persons spiritual gift so that we can not only use it but develop it even stronger" -- HH
- "Please pray that we keep our focus on God and what he is going to do during this YMT." -- VC
We got into Anchorage last night, and went straight to bed, so I didn't get to update. But just a quick update, we were blessed to have first class on our flight from Detroit to Anchorage. To me I was just so thankful, it was really all God. I've traveled a lot, but this is the first time I've been in first class and it was on our way to Alaska. I really felt like God was showing us how he gives and takes away (through our missed flight and then hotel + first class) and how he provides us with rest. As Vivian shared with us last night, "It's like we came to serve but we were served in a fantastic way." Seriously!
Today we're going to go around Anchorage and buy supplies and a little of sightseeing. I forgot how beautiful Alaska was, so it'll be really nice to get reacquainted with it and just see how awesome God's creation is. (ps, Alaska tap water is BOMB!)
Prayer Requests/Praises:
- That we will continue to be open to God markers and what He has in store for us
- For our health and safety
- For Perry's (our last memeber) safe trip to Anchorage
- "That God will reveal each persons spiritual gift so that we can not only use it but develop it even stronger" -- HH
- "Please pray that we keep our focus on God and what he is going to do during this YMT." -- VC
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Greetings from...Detroit?!
Yes, you read that correctly, we are in Detroit. Now I'm sure you're wondering wait...wasn't it Alaska Missions Trip? Well yes, and throughout today's events God has showed me, besides his humorous side, but also to count my blessings.
So start from last night, I stayed up all night doing last minute laundry and packing, that by the time I was done, it made no sense to sleep because I had to wake up in 30 minutes to get ready to go to the airport. Or so I thought, because before I got into the shower, Mrs. Hui (Helen) called me and told me our 12:45 pm flight was canceled. After I got off the phone, I felt very disheartened because I started to panic that things were going crazy so last minute. Thankfully we were able to find a flight for 4:15pm to Detroit and then to Anchorage, but when we got there, our flight was delayed until 5:45pm. We departed Philadelphia with a feeling of urgency because when we arrived in Detroit we had literally about 10 minutes to get from Gate 23 to Gate 70. Talk about a rush for time. We got to Detroit, and we thought maybe there was still time. To make things better, our gate had been moved to 72! Wow, what were the odds. This was very exciting all about until we pulled into the gate, and watched our flight to Anchorage pull out. Wow, talk about a salty situation. But even so, it was almost funny. Then we waited 2.5 hours in line to sort out our flight situation. And in the end, we got comp'ed rooms at Crowne Plaza along with some food vouchers.
If you can imagine, it was a pretty hectic day...and while most times I would find myself frustrated and groaning about how unfortunate my day was, I found myself adopting a positive attitude because I realized that God was really trying to show us something. First of all, God has a plan, and through LT and Mrs. Hui, they really helped remind me of that. While in our minds, it seemed like setbacks, however because our flight got canceled, we just so happened to end up in Detroit, where we were able to meet this girl Santi and also this Chinese family that has their 3 kids that are going to CMU. What are the odds? Also, as we got into Detroit, although we were delayed, we got into Detroit just in time before the storm/tornado warning hit. Could you imagine if we were trying to land and/or depart? It could've gone terribly wrong.
Today's entry is long because I feel like with such a hectic day, it is something that needs to be shared, for people to see how God is omnipotent and omniscient but also how his sense of humor plays into things. This trip we were challenged to look out for "God markers", and as a personal reflection, as I'm learning to look for them, it's teaching me not only more about who God is, and how he works; but also about how my life is when I don't take the time to see how God is working through me and in me.
Well that's all for now! Until next time! God Bless :)
For my prayer partners out there, please pray for:
-safety as we travel from Detroit to Anchorage
-our time management as we make use of the extra time God has given us to plan and prepare our time in Glennallen.
-us to be more alert to the needs of the people around us and that we will have the right words for them
So start from last night, I stayed up all night doing last minute laundry and packing, that by the time I was done, it made no sense to sleep because I had to wake up in 30 minutes to get ready to go to the airport. Or so I thought, because before I got into the shower, Mrs. Hui (Helen) called me and told me our 12:45 pm flight was canceled. After I got off the phone, I felt very disheartened because I started to panic that things were going crazy so last minute. Thankfully we were able to find a flight for 4:15pm to Detroit and then to Anchorage, but when we got there, our flight was delayed until 5:45pm. We departed Philadelphia with a feeling of urgency because when we arrived in Detroit we had literally about 10 minutes to get from Gate 23 to Gate 70. Talk about a rush for time. We got to Detroit, and we thought maybe there was still time. To make things better, our gate had been moved to 72! Wow, what were the odds. This was very exciting all about until we pulled into the gate, and watched our flight to Anchorage pull out. Wow, talk about a salty situation. But even so, it was almost funny. Then we waited 2.5 hours in line to sort out our flight situation. And in the end, we got comp'ed rooms at Crowne Plaza along with some food vouchers.
If you can imagine, it was a pretty hectic day...and while most times I would find myself frustrated and groaning about how unfortunate my day was, I found myself adopting a positive attitude because I realized that God was really trying to show us something. First of all, God has a plan, and through LT and Mrs. Hui, they really helped remind me of that. While in our minds, it seemed like setbacks, however because our flight got canceled, we just so happened to end up in Detroit, where we were able to meet this girl Santi and also this Chinese family that has their 3 kids that are going to CMU. What are the odds? Also, as we got into Detroit, although we were delayed, we got into Detroit just in time before the storm/tornado warning hit. Could you imagine if we were trying to land and/or depart? It could've gone terribly wrong.
Today's entry is long because I feel like with such a hectic day, it is something that needs to be shared, for people to see how God is omnipotent and omniscient but also how his sense of humor plays into things. This trip we were challenged to look out for "God markers", and as a personal reflection, as I'm learning to look for them, it's teaching me not only more about who God is, and how he works; but also about how my life is when I don't take the time to see how God is working through me and in me.
Well that's all for now! Until next time! God Bless :)
For my prayer partners out there, please pray for:
-safety as we travel from Detroit to Anchorage
-our time management as we make use of the extra time God has given us to plan and prepare our time in Glennallen.
-us to be more alert to the needs of the people around us and that we will have the right words for them
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
And we're off!
Oh hi everyone! Well tomorrow is the day, where 6 of us will depart for Anchorage, AK. Perry will join us later. Of course with last minute packing, I'm going over all the things I need, but I also spent sometime trying to prepare my heart. It seems like more and more I feel like God has prepared me for this trip, and I can only hope that He keeps me focused on the trip.
Please pray for our safety tomorrow! I'll try to update as soon as I can!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Jehovah Jireh - God our Provider
Wow, because I don't have another word for it, I will use Mrs. Hui's word "God Marker". Well I have a God Marker to share. In about a week, I raised almost the full amount I was supposed to raise for Alaska! I haven't finished collecting and I need to make sure I wrote down who donated what and when and all that. But I'm just surprised at how fast it was for me to raise such a significant amount. Praise God! I seriously feel so blessed to have a supportive church, family, and network that I can actually share about missions and talk about it openly.
With only one week left, we've been training and planning and fundraising like crazy. It's kind of weird to think we're leaving soon, but exciting as well!
Please pray for our:
-preparation: that God will continue to guide our lesson plans, workshops, and activities
-team: that God will prepare our hearts and keep us focused on why we are going
-ministry: that God will prepare the hearts of the coworkers we will meet in AK, and also the teens we will be ministering to.
Thank you for all of your continued support and prayers.
God Bless!
--xtinee
With only one week left, we've been training and planning and fundraising like crazy. It's kind of weird to think we're leaving soon, but exciting as well!
Please pray for our:
-preparation: that God will continue to guide our lesson plans, workshops, and activities
-team: that God will prepare our hearts and keep us focused on why we are going
-ministry: that God will prepare the hearts of the coworkers we will meet in AK, and also the teens we will be ministering to.
Thank you for all of your continued support and prayers.
God Bless!
--xtinee
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Busy, busy, busy!
So much to do, I feel like I've been so preoccupied with my busyness mixed with procrastination, that I keep neglecting to take a step back and focus my mind and heart on why am I going to Alaska? The question that keeps being asked, and having to constantly answer it, feels like God's little reminders to me reminding me, that I'm going on a missions trip, to reach out to teens native to the area, to share with them the Gospel, and the hope that I find in God. It's not about me, or the bajillion things I have to do (or think I have to do), it's about going to the ends of the earth and sharing the Good News. I like how God's been keeping me in check this summer, even when I'm away from ACF. Too cool :)
Amen.
Amen.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The Blog is Up!
Hello World!
Welcome to my (second) little piece of the internet!
A brief introduction, I'm Christine! And while I have my blog for my normal life (my beloved and trusty and yes, outdated Xanga) I wanted to create a blog where I can talk about how God is working in my life (through missions, my college fellowship, etc.) If you can't tell already, I am a Christian, though if you meet me, you might have a hard-time figuring me out. Why? Maybe it's because I'm a loud and outgoing person that is very in your face with a partially-shaved head and a tattoo or so. But besides that, you can see that I am a person that just loves life and loves God, and I hope that as I continue to learn more about how great my God is, I can share my blessings with you (Christian or Non). So here is is: Entry #1 for Girl on a Mission. Thanks for reading!
--Xtinee
Upcoming:: Missions Trip to Alaska 6/23-7/10
CCC&C Summer College Fellowship '10
Welcome to my (second) little piece of the internet!
A brief introduction, I'm Christine! And while I have my blog for my normal life (my beloved and trusty and yes, outdated Xanga) I wanted to create a blog where I can talk about how God is working in my life (through missions, my college fellowship, etc.) If you can't tell already, I am a Christian, though if you meet me, you might have a hard-time figuring me out. Why? Maybe it's because I'm a loud and outgoing person that is very in your face with a partially-shaved head and a tattoo or so. But besides that, you can see that I am a person that just loves life and loves God, and I hope that as I continue to learn more about how great my God is, I can share my blessings with you (Christian or Non). So here is is: Entry #1 for Girl on a Mission. Thanks for reading!
--Xtinee
Upcoming:: Missions Trip to Alaska 6/23-7/10
CCC&C Summer College Fellowship '10
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