Last One

Hey!
I am so sorry I have not posted sooner. Life has just swept me away and kept me on my toes. However, I wanted to spend few minutes thanking everyone of you for your prayer, donations and questions. I have been challenged by your pray because it is easy for me to forget that I have a wonderful bunch of people praying for me. When I remember I am convicted to always be thankful and to pray just as earnestly. I am sorry I have been able to thank all of you in person, but with a very full heart and a huge smile "Thank You!"

I have been blessed through your prayer, donations and questions. Your questions have encouraged me to look deeper into my heart and think harder about the summer. It is during these times I slow down and listen to what God is speaking to my heart. So with a full heart and a huge smile "Thank You!"

If it were not for your donations, I would have not been given the chance to impact children in Peru, encourage a young North American teen to try something new, nor would I be who I am today. The Lord changed me from the inside out and daily I am challenged to be more like Him. With a full heart and a huge smile "Thank you!" for helping me go to South America.

All of you mean so much to me and God has placed in my life for a reason, whether is for a short season or for life time, I am glad you are here and were able to share in this adventure with me.

Since you have so faithfully prayed for me, please let me know how I can pray for you. No really, just shot me an email, call, or however. I would love to hear how you are doing and how I can pray for you.

So with a FULL heart and a HUGE smile "THANK YOU!"

Ok so here a few (funny) videos on how to Evangelism:
The Skinny on Evangelism

Bad ways to Witness

More Lessons!

the roomie & I went to a real football (soccer) CIU Rams game

Our boys did a GREAT job

We won 5-0 :)

So my previous post was on 4 lessons I learned in Peru and I have 4 more I would like to share with you. But before I do allow me to tell you what the Lord has been up this past week in my life and in the lives of many others at CIU (Columbia International University).

This past week was Christian Life Week, which basically means in our chapels and all week long the focus is on the basic truths of the Christian Life. Well this week we had a wonderful speaker, Dr. Charles Price a pastor from Canada, he spoke on the truths and the Lord spoke through him right to the students at CIU.

 All week the Lord was speaking to me about how I cannot just sit back and do nothing yet I cannot do it all. So very sinfully I got fed up and threw my hands in the air and said "Ok, I'm done, I don't know how to balance it all. You show me." Oh and did He ever! Hahaha! That day I got a phone call from a friend, who I worked with this summer. They so kindly reminded me of the 5 things we agreed to do at the beginning of the summer or as Inca Link calls it "our contract." These 5 things shapes who we are and help us in the way we look at life.
And they are:
1. Give a 110% - give all you've got then a little more and what you can't give God will

2. Be here now - pay attention to what you are doing in the now and don't be thinking about the future because it will come and you might miss what God is doing.

3. Challenge by choice - there will be things that you will not want to do, it might be rude not too or it might be something simple but what would happen if you did it or didn't do it? (For example: I do not like heights but this summer I had the opportunity to do a high ropes course and one of my friends wanted to go. So I chose my challenge and went with her. I really enjoyed it because she was such a good encouragement to me but what would have happened if I never went on the course? Would I regret it?)

4. Choose Joy - (I love this one!) No matter what the circumstance whether hard & difficult or easy & enjoyable, CHOOSE JOY. It can be so hard at times but it is in those times I need to choose joy the most and it is the most rewarding.

5. Love covers all - Be like Jesus who loves without limit. "Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs (Proverbs 10:12)."

So once reminded that this contract is a daily process and as a follower of Jesus who is trying to imitate Him, its an honor do these things. I went to chapel only to heard Dr. Price talking about how there is a balance in the Christian Life, its not just God doing it all nor it is just me. And I can always trust that He will be doing His part, now the question becomes will I do mine? ... Yes.


(The rest of the lessons from Peru to come next time... :)

Lessons!

Baaaa! When I heard that word as a kid I usually ran. Haha. I never liked going to school because I always wanted to be outside playing. In school we are taught lessons upon lessons but when God is your teacher ... well then it is best you pay close attention, after all He is the best teacher and can use things you enjoy to teach you! This summer, as you might imagine, God taught me quite a few lessons. Today I would like to review a few of those lessons with you.


1. He will provide and take care of me. I learned this through raising support for the summer and also during the whole summer. There were times while raising support, I thought "There's no way He is going to do this", then He would show off and surprise me with a wonderful gift. Also during the summer I was so tired, spiritually, mentally and emotionally but then He would graciously give me strength, give me rest or send some one to help me. In those moments I could not be more thankful, like a weight lifted from my shoulders and cold drink put in my hand.

Me and Maddy (a intern & best friend)

2. Give freely. During the summer I met a woman who gave freely as the Lord has given to her. The woman's husband told us a story of when they were first married. She gives away her things as she sees the Lord leading her. Well her husband asked her about this and tried to tell her that she cannot keep giving away all of her things because he is going to have to replace them. The woman kindly informed her husband that God will always replaced the things He lead her to give away. And sure enough over time the items she gave away God gave back to her.
The Lord reminded me that all of my things are not mine but His and He desires to use them for His glory.

Meylin, Brittany & Me

3. Leadership comes with sacrifice. Oh there were so many times when I had an agenda and was going to get it done. But then I began to realize that it is not about me or my silly agenda. I needed to lay it down and look out for the group's interest, not my own. I had ample opportunities to do this, whether I was looking out for a short term team or for the interns. And interestingly enough I learned it from the other interns who would bring it up during morning devotionals and where doing just that, they would sacrifice in order to serve one another.

Top left: John, Matt, Gideon, Lisa. Bottom Left: Catie, Marion, Brittany, me & Natalie (All the Interns minus Maddy & plus Lisa Merritt

4. Servant Leadership really just means SERVANT. For so long I've tried to be a leader, to take charge, state my opinion and often led in pride. However being a leader looks nothing like I thought. I have decided to stop calling it "leadership" or being a "leader" but start calling it being a "servant". As I read John 13:1-17 (Jesus washing the disciples feet) & 16:17 (Jesus telling the disciples about what is to come) - 17:26 (Jesus praying before He dies) I saw my Lord acting out how we should live and doing so in such humility. If we are wanting to know how to be leaders, we should consult the One who was the best leader, rather Servant. As simple as that may sound, it was rather profound to me because I have never thought of it this way before.

The Asian Canadians

One more (and then some)

(I found this old post that never got published so here it is. Its from the second week in July)

Hey y'all

Well it was my turn to lead a team (with Gideon) last week. They were a team of 5 so it was nice because we got to share testimonies each night during debrief and devotionals were extra personal. Maybe photos will come soon. But they were really cool and a blessing to lead. There were 2 married couples and a sweet single young lady. They got so much work done, somehow the Lord always blesses the smaller teams with double the amount of work. So to say the least the orphanage is coming a long nicely and hopefully will be ready very soon.

But in order to keep it from doing so the enemy is attacking it  hard core. We have all experienced it in some way or form. Its hard but in God's grace our team of interns is staying strong and praying often, very often. They make fun of me for always suggesting prayer for everything. Hahaha. But its true, we've got to talk to God before we do anything.

Ok so just a little clarification, Joca leads the outdoor ministry, not Ignacio and Meylin. I believe I have said that earlier and just wanted to make that clear, since Joca has now become a good friend of mine and teases me about making that little mistake. Ignacio is the president of Inca Link Peru and does an amazing job. Meylin is his beautiful cute little wife who has a powerful relationship with the Lord.

Here are some pics I took with Joca's go pro camera this week of us sandbording and skimboarding, he edited them and all the glory goes to God:

Now back in September, I thought I would show y'all some more photos of me sandboarding that Joca took:

A Forgotten Place

The Garbage Dump. Not many people give much thought to where their trash goes nor do they really care; its just trash, right? Well in Trujillo Peru, its not just trash, its someone livelihood. The men and women in the dump look for reusable plastic, glass, food for their pigs (or themselves), cans, and anything else that maybe reusable. Then they will take these items into town and sell them. The smog filled air with all of it's smells is almost beyond compare and not to mention all of the flies that swarm everywhere you walk. I had the opportunity to visit the dump a few times. Often people talk about how their first visit was the most impactful, for me however it was my last. 

On my last ride over I battled with the Holy Spirit for why I felt such a need to come this particular time. I had been a few times before and knew the routine, buying fruit at the market, then going into the actual dump, handing it out and asking people if we could pray for them; but keeping in mind that the men and women are working so to be respectful. Earlier that morning and even the previous night I felt a tug on my heart that I should be at the dump. It's not like I didn't want to go because I did but I wanted to go to another ministry during that same time. I also knew how difficult was going to be, it is always really hard to see people digging through trash.

Sitting in the seat, the Holy Spirit called to mind a deal I made with Him. The first time I went to the dump, the idea came to me to give away my shoes, so I said “hey if you remind me, I’ll gladly give them away.” Well He kept His end of the deal, so here I was faced the decision to keep mine. I was actually really excited and immediately begin to pray for Him to send the right person along.

So we finally arrived at the dump and broke into small groups to hand out fruit. My group quickly found a woman working alone. My co-intern, Natalie, begin to help this young lady search through the trash, holding up different items in order to figure out what she was looking for. After several minutes, the woman began to laugh because Natalie was picking up things that were of no use to her. While we helped her we learned that she was 16 years old and was there with her brothers. She also told us about her child and her aging mother who took care of the baby. I found myself praying “Lord, her?” No reply so I thought “well why not?” The next thing I knew my group was off to the next person and I was walking this beautiful young lady to the bus and taking off my old ratty boots.

I don’t remember her name but I do remember the lesson the Lord taught me that day. Humility. I was so humbled by that experience. Looking at her shoes worn ragged from use and covered in black tar from the dump; then thinking about how my own shoes would have eventually ended up in the trash.

These amazing people spend their days looking through what someone else considers trash to find a treasure. I suppose much like God, who looks at what the world throws away, gently picking it up, He takes us home to make us His treasure. Oh what value we have in Him!
P.S. Natalie did find stuff the young lady could use and eagerly gathered as much of it as she could.

Me and a little girl from the children's ministry there

 
P.S.S. I'm back at CIU (Columbia International University) for one last time. That's right I'm a senior! and quite honestly so not ready for this whole being an adult thing. (haha) But here we go ready or not senior year here I come fully armed with the strength of my Savior.

Inca Thakhi

"Inca Thakhi is an outdoor ministry of Inca Link’s (www.incalink.org) that provides an ideal space for people to foster a deep relationship with Christ through personal development and adventure in nature. Our vision, guided by God; is to run a Christian camp in Peru, to support Inca Link’s children’s home, “Pasitos de Fe,” (the orphanage from my earlier post); and to continue working with future generations.
This year Inca Thakhi is focusing on the Christian discipleship of children, adolescents, and teenagers by practicing adventure sports such as sand boarding, skim boarding, mount boarding, and hiking. These activities create opportunities to evangelize and build relationships with young people so we may guide them and share with them God’s irresistible love.
Most of the young lives God is allowing us to impact are at risk of being lured into joining gangs that will use them to murder, to assault, and to extort their enemies, but with your prayers and support, we can spread the message of love and peace they so desperately need to experience." (quoted from incathakhi.org)

I want to introduce you to a few of these young lives. First, lets begin with the youngest.

Meet Danny, a shy, quite 3 year old

Danny is rather small for his age and sometimes gets picked on by the older boys in the ministry. He is cautious yet brave. All the boys in the ministry live in a near by neighborhood, so they just walk over to the orphanage. On their way they have to cross a large ditch. The ditch is about 3ish ft deep and 2ish ft wide; when filled with water it can act like a small raging river. One day when Danny (2 years old) was coming to the ministry with a few of the older boys he suddenly fall into this ditch that was full of raging water. Danny was not big enough to climb out and was getting sweep up by the current. The two older boys (Jon Piere, 9 and Romario, 6) jumped in without even thinking and pulled Danny to safety. Once safe Romario and Jon Piere gave Danny their shirts to keep him warm and dry. Then proceed to the orphanage for ministry. 

Joca, the leader of Inca Thakhi, loves to tell this story because it show how God is at work in these young men lives. AND IT'S SO TRUE! Here are a few pictures of the boys playing with Danny after the event:

 

Danny's muddy shoes

and just one more for good measure:

Joca and Danny on their way to mountain board

 For more information on what the Lord is doing in the lives of these young leaders please visit incathakh.org 

Back in South Carolina

Hey! I'm hooooome! But really I am after a long and beautiful summer, I'm back in South Carolina and hanging with the family.

In the airport Mom, Dad and Carolyn had balloons, a sigh and a flower

 WELCOME HOME BEKAH!!! 

Peach clobber, vanilla ice cream and Dunkin' donuts coffee :)

Just a heads up, because so much happened over the summer and me not having enough time to blog means there will be several more post to come. 

So, to start... well I'm not quite sure where to. The Lord did so much this summer, not just in my life but in the lives of so many others as well. 

Most of the summer I and 8 other interns lived at the orphanage. At the moment there are no children because Inca Link Peru needs to raise 150,000 in order to have children inside the walls and are currently at 60,000. Here is a video with more detail. A lot has been done on the orphanage, like painting, pouring concrete, leveling the road, and much much more. I had the honor of helping with these tasks and leading short term teams, who brought man power to do the same. 

It has been a very long process to open the orphanage (Pasitos de Fe as it's called or in english Little Steps of Faith). If you could please join me in praying that the Lord will open this place very very very soon. It breaks my heart that there is a home waiting with open arms for children but there are so many blocks in between the children and their home.  

Ignacio and Meylin Mireles:

Have been working endlessly to get this place open. Ignacio is the president of Inca Link Peru and Meylin is his beautiful little wife. If would please pray for them as well. Quite honestly they never have a minute to themselves because they live at the Pasitos de Fe and are always giving their time the orphanage. I was encouraged by the relationship they had with Jesus and how He oozed out of every part of the Mireles' lives. When we (the interns) did not have teams we would have devotionals with Ignacio and Meylin. (This became one of my favorite parts of not having teams). During those devotionals Ignacio would pour out wisdom and knowledge on us. Oh how I enjoyed working with the Mireles this summer. 

To Ignacio and Meylin: Thank you Ignacio and Meylin for your hard work and for allowing the Lord to use you in Peru. I pray that He bless you as much as you have blessed others (which is quite a great deal). Amen

Lets try this again

So I typed up this really nice post for y'all with really cool pics and everything but the Internet wouldn't work on my friend's computer so I'm using someone else's iPhone and its working much better . Long story short the team that Gideon and I were leading just left and now we are just chilling at Starbucks. So that other post I wrote hopefully will show up sometime soon but if not please go to incathakhi.org and check out what my friend Joca does with his outdoor ministry. It's really cool.
Ok cho

Oh Hey

We interns worked a 1/2 day and headed to the mall for Internet for the rest. So I have a second to blog. So here's whats happening: I'm not really sure. Hahahaha. Its a actually true. We live day by day. Sometimes and more often hour by hour. I really enjoy it too. It means less worries and more chill go with the flow. We are trying to prepare the orphanage for the kids, who will hopefully be here by Sept. Which means CONSTRUCTION! and lots of it. We pretty much live on a construction site, which is fine by me b/c it means I don't have to "go to work" I live there!

Lately We have been painting and painting and painting and pouring concrete. Which I LOVE! Its a fun process, but a lot of hard work. 1st you add water into the mixer, then rocks, sand, a bad of cement, and more water. I get to be the driver of this big mixer! Then they line up with wheel barrels, I fill them,  and they take them over to the maestros (or craftsman) and they pour it where it is needed. We are pouring sidewalks and filling in areas so that we can walk on the concrete instead of sand and tracking it in the house and elsewhere. The painting is mainly priming so we can get color on the wall and outside of the buildings. If I ever get my camera back I just might have pictures to show you.

In South America, especially in Peru, time runs much slower. I love it most of the time, but it can also be a bit frustrating. But lets be honest, its great! It means I can focus much more on the relationships and enjoy getting to know my family here. But it also means that my broken camera may take a lot longer than expected to get fixed. But I can't complain b/c its getting fixed.

Oh heres a surprise for my mom, I've got flees. hahaha. I found 3 on me today, I blame the 3 dogs we have (Inca the mother, Chubby, the fat one and Chickle, the crazy one) but don't worry I'm sure the flees are in the house too. Hahahaha! Yakori did an awesome job cleaning the house and I finally washed my sheets for the 1st time. oh hahaha! I so enjoy living here.

Anywho, to say the least life is crazy and fun and great! Oh the stories I'll have to tell.

Until next time,
(Psalms 46:10, I think thats the right one, about being still and knowing God)
Cho
Bekah

(Me, Maddy, Valiente and Gideon)

an update

Hey friends,

Bekah sent us an email this week.  We were glad to hear that she is still alive.  Just to update you, Lima Peru has had three earthquakes this past week with no reported; university students have been advocating for their rights and with that has come riots.  There have been a few transportation issues causing travel difficulties for the team working with Bekah.  News headlines report airline and sea travel delays.  Additionally, the transportation workers went on strike last week causing travel difficulties causing team travel issues for the Canadian team.  All is well now, the workers are no longer on strike, and the Canadians have gone home uninjured.  Bekah and the interns were able to celebrate the 4^th.  According to Bekah, “life is good but hard.”  She reports that they all have been “kinda sickish.”  And they have started laying cement.  She loves stirring the mixing bucket, sounds similar to playing in the mud and I’m sure Bekah LOVES that!!!  Lastly, she reports they will be having a new intern arriving shortly.  She broke her camera while playing at the beach so it may be sometime before she has more pictures for us.

Continue to pray for good health, physical safety and team unity.  Pray for supernatural strength that comes from the Lord and for good communication.  Pray that they would have good communication amongst each other and that as they go through their days they would communicate the Gospel clearly.  

I will leave you with two of Bekah’s favorite quotes:

Jim Elliot “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” 
Psalm 73:25&26 “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.”

Praying this is true for her always. 

Grace and Peace,
Carolyn

Finally

HOLA!
So I've finally got internet. I had no idea it would take me so long but it did. Anywho, so much has happened since I left Ecuador.