Babies, camp and catching a flight!

Passports - check!

Tickets - check!

Suitcases packed  - Almost!

We are anxious and excited to fly to Bermuda tomorrow! It has been a year and a half since I've seen the pink sand beaches, heard the tree-frogs whistling through the night and eaten all of my favorite foods! Of course that means a year and a half since I've seen many of my friends, worshiped in the church where I grew up and gotten together with family.

I am thankful beyond words to have this opportunity to travel with my hubby, but this last month has been a whirlwind as we have been involved in summer ministries, mission teams and camp! Of course doing this all in my first trimester was... um, interesting! LOL. I was exhausted and slept whenever I could and only the Lord Himself got me through the nausea! All while keeping our secret until we felt it was the right time to share.

Here is a photo of our announcement if you're not on our Facebook page.

We are thrilled beyond word and although we were as surprised as everyone else... we are looking forward to the journey ahead.

However, after finding out... life got busy! We got prepared for groups that came to play/minister with Robersy's team and of course details for camp took top priority until the day it began. But it was worth it :)

We thank the Lord for over 200 teenagers who attended camp from all over the Dominican. It was a blast. Wet games, sports games, mud games and a WHOLE lot of Jesus was the focus of our time together. The preaching all stemmed from "How Great is Our God!" and for 4 days we saw how truly awesome HE is. 

Here are a few photos...

   

We had a blast and we thank you for your prayers!

Continue praying for the teens that accepted Christ as their Savior and for those who made other decisions in their spiritual walk.

I'll try to keep you up to date on our journey to Bermuda, but are looking forward to some rest so no promises :)

God bless... and HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Swimming with the dead

I have seen a LOT of crazy things during my time in the Dominican. But the most interesting things that I experience and see are during my morning runs... especially along the beach.

The following are things I see regularly:

Naked people.
Dogs.
Baseball players training.
Naked people (I've seen enough of them to mention it twice).
Tourists.
Drunk people.
Lots of empty alcohol bottles and plenty of trash in general.

But this morning was different. 

I saw a dead body :(

A huge crowd caught my attention and as I continued to jog a little closer to the scene a man asked me to "walk please... out of respect for the deceased." 

A fire truck, a woman passed out close by (apparently from seeing the young man) and the familiar shrieks and cries (common here) as someone called the family of the deceased. 

My stomach turned as I caught a glimpse of the guy. His arms seemed to be paralyzed in front of his body and his clothing soaking wet as he had just been pulled from the ocean.

I asked a woman cleaning the beach nearby, "Do they know what happened?"
"We really shouldn't talk about it while his body is still here (then whispering) but by the blood on his face I think he was attacked."

As I picked up my pace again, running towards the road I turned to see several swimmers heading my direction. Horrified looks on their faces. One woman gripping her stomach.

 Moments before they had been swimming and enjoying that ocean... little had they known they were swimming with the dead.

As I finished my run, several thoughts and life lessons passed through my mind. Here is one quick thought...

While we go through the hustle and bustle of life, let us not get so distracted with our to-do list that we literally swim on by people who need our help, need someone to talk to, need a life-line. People who are drowning in sorrow, depression and pain.

We have been blessed by God Almighty, not to hoard and store away... but to bless others too.

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This coming week Robersy and I (along with many amazing brothers and sisters) will be serving at camp. 

Teens look forward to this all year and we are excited to play crazy games and get muddy and stay up late and share God's incredible Word with over 200 young people!

Please pray for strength and energy for the directors, counselors and all other leaders/helpers. And pray for open hearts for the many that will hear the Gospel this week!

It's aliiiiiiiive!

I remember an old Jello commercial when I was growing up that kind of grossed me out. Little Jello jigglers would dance across the cafeteria table and kids would run down the school hallways until they trapped them in their Jello cups and gobbled them up. The thought of eating a mushy substance that wiggled in my mouth was not my idea of an awesome school snack, but the catch phrase "It's aliiiiive" popped in my head last week during one of my morning devotions.

No... No Jello jigglers in the Bible. But God's Word is INCREDIBLE.

Hits you right where you need it, every time!

I've been listening through the Bible (as I believe I've shared many times) and each podcast usually includes one Old Testament passage, one New Testament passage and one Psalm or Proverbs. It's called Digging Deeper Daily. Although the guy who reads the passages does not have the most sought after voice in the world, he gives some great insight and historical facts whilereading through. Very interesting!

Any who...

Last week we started Galatians. It's a cool book :) Read it before, got some stuff underlined... Next. But I decided to listen closely anyhow. 

Lately I've been struggling with my call to the streets. It's been weeks since any girls have come to church, one girl who did come to church "stole" my Bible (she did ask to borrow it... But I haven't seen her since!), one girl promises to meet me with me almost every week and never shows. 

I'll tell you the truth... Some weeks I don't even WANT to go. 

What the heck am I doing?

But God knows my heart and He decided to speak to me through His Word, which is aliiiiiive :)

Galatians 1:24

"And they glorified God because of me."

What!!! Where did that verse come from?! Ha!

Visions of Jello jigglers danced in my head.

Paul (who wrote this fab book) lived a pretty messed up life. He killed many Christians and rejected God big time. That is until God stopped him dead in his tracks. Well... Blind in his tracks, but you got read his story for yourself. 

But his life was "twisted, turned upside down" and he found Jesus. And Jesus changed him and transformed him... And then he went on to serve Jesus!!!! And guess what... Because he was DIFFERENT and because he LOVED JESUS and because he DIDN'T BLEND IN TO THE CROWD "they glorified God because of me."

What an HONOUR!!!

That someone might come to know Christ because you decided to say NO to a night on the town, or NO to conversations that blaspheme His name, or NO to movies or television shows that glorifies sin.

Oh Sarah. Your just exaggerating.

I don't believe I am.
Can I tell you why?

Because there are girls at the Lily House because a couple years ago a small group of women obeyed God's call and went out to the streets again and again and again with NO results and now some of those same former prostitutes are serving in local churches, discipling other girls and providing for their families in an honorable way.

There is a guy in our church who came to Christ because a family decided to welcome him in to their home to watch sports. No booze, no girls... Just sports. This family loved on him and welcomed him... And it just happen to be God's perfect plan.

There are parents who BEG Robersy to let their kids on his team because they are different. They don't swear and they respect their parents.

And added on to that there are parents who TRUST us (just a reminder that my own dog has fallen off the roof several times... So I'm not fit to be in charge of actual humans)... Because they know their kids won't be watching movies filled with sex and nudity, but we have good clean fun, and we laugh and we eat... And they come just a tad closer to know Jesus for themselves.

This blog is to myself today. If you read it, that's cool... But it should really start off with Dear Sarah, because when things don't seem to be going as I thought that they might, and there isn't revival on the streets of Boca Chica, I will remain faithful. When friends and family I've been sharing Christ with for  years don't cry out to Jesus, I will remain faithful. When I have no idea what I am doing here in foreign land filled with rice and beans when I just want a bacon cheeseburger from Dorothy's or an Art Mel's sandwich (I just got super hungry! Lol)... I will remain faithful.

Because God WILL use my calling and my sacrifices so that one day they might glorify Him because of me.

God... Thanks for being a Jello jiggler Saviour and speaking to my heart today.