India!

Wow, I am in India! I was thinking this morning about what I wanted to write in my blog and honestly it's so hard to even know where to begin or how to put into words our experience here, but I will try!!
Starting from the beginning...

We left Bangkok on April 7 and flew to Mumbai where we got our first taste of India. Busy and loud roads, people everywhere, smells of dust, human waste, garlic and spice, dirt, colors of all sorts...sensory overload to say the least. The streets are filled with motorbikes, rikshaws, and these teeny tiny cars (all the vehicles here are mini...don't worry-our group already popped the tires of a van after piling in one day! :) ) Anyways, traveling around on the streets of India is not for the faint of heart. There seems to be no traffic rules, but rather people just weave in and out, pass on both sides, and honk like crazy. Oddly enough though, this sort of organized chaos seems to work very well and I have yet to see an accident!

We were only in Mumbai one night. We stayed at a hostel and managed to venture out to a restaurant and order some food which was a challenge in and of itself. Indian people do not eat with silverware, they eat with their right hand. So you can imagine the stares we got when us white foreigners piled into this restaurant, struggled to order, and then actually used silverware to eat.


The next day we met Pete and Richie and the airport (they were not with us in Thailand-the had to go through Mexico City instead to get their visas). Afterwards we took a van about 5 hours southwest to a city called Pune. We were in Pune the last week and a half and were working at an orphanage called Hope of Glory. Right now it is about maxed out with 30 children. All the kids have been rescued from the streets and the majority of their mothers are involved in prostitution.

It was such a blessing to spend time with these kids and the staff at the orphanage. The kids are so loving and really were just craving all the attention we could give them. They taught us some Indian dances and loved to laugh at our feeble attempts at learning the moves. We had a lot of time to just play and hang out with the kids. When we weren't with the kids, we were helping the staff with the cooking and cleaning (never before have I cleaned so hard in my life!) We also did lice treatments for the kids and helped with their daily routines like showering, making beds, etc. One day we went out on the streets and were able to meet and talk with some of the mothers of the kids who are still living out on the streets.

The entire time we were in Pune we were stared at like celebrities everywhere we went. Very few tourists go to Pune so when white people come by it is quite an event! Here in Delhi there are many more backpackers so white people are not so foreign. Although, the other day some Indian girls stopped me on the street and asked if they could take pictures with me! :)


After spending almost two weeks in Pune at the orphanage, we said goodbye and travelled up to Delhi via a 27-hour train ride. Traveling the country of India by train is seriously one of those experiences you only have once in a life time. We had a sleeper car and had lots of fun sitting there and drinking our chai tea :). The guys in the group had no problems making friends and before long they were seriously the most peopular people on the train. It was hilarious watching them interact with all the locals!


Now that we are in Delhi we are staying in a backpackers hostel and meeting all kinds of people from all over the world. Tomorrow we are meeting with a pastor who may have some ministry opportunities for us.


So far we are all doing really well and except for a bit of dehydration, none of us have gotten sick. Praise God for that. It is extremely hot (around 130 degrees) and we stay in rooms with no air conditioning so you can imagine how important it is to drink lots and lots of water!


This entire experience has been very eye-opening in a multitude of ways. I have been thinking about my life back at home and realizing how much of my worries were self-created. I have never known what it's like to struggle and worry about things that seem so basic: food, water, shelter...yet for so many people here that is life. Now that is something to worry about. I know this sort of poverty exists everywhere, but never before has it hit me so hard. It's one thing to read news stories and watch reports on TV about places like this; but to actually be immersed in this life is entirely something else. I look into the eyes of people and see the hoplessness and my heart is just wrecked. I come from a place where opportunities are endless. Where so many of my problems and concerns come from having too many choices and opportunities and here I am with people who have virtually no opportunities and it really puts things into perspective. I am trying to remain positive but in so many cases I am overcome by the hopelessness of these people. And that's where I just have to trust God that he will take care of them because he is the ultimate source of hope and life...

Anyways, I have to run but here is a link if you'd like to check out some pictures of our trip so far! The first bit are from our time in Thailand and then in Pune at the orphanage.

www.dropshots.com/india2010
I hope you all are doing well and my thoughts and prayers are with you. Thanks for reading and I'll try and write again soon!

Thailand!

Greetings from Thailand!

We are here in Bangkok Thailand waiting for our visas to be processed before heading to India for outreach! We started our trip on Tuesday March 23 where we traveled from Belize to Cancun and spent the next day there. On Thursday morning we flew from Cancun to Philly, Philly to New York, New York to Qatar, and Qatar to Bangkok! We didn't get to Bangkok until Saturday morning! Needless to say we were all exhausted but have finally gotten over the jet lag.

Bangkok has been wonderful. We have had some great opportunities to do some ministry activities here so we are making the most of our time. We have done work in the slums; working primarily with elderly people. Earlier this week we took a trip out to visit some of the Buddhist temples and did a lot of intercessory prayer there. Today we got our hands dirty and picked up trash outside of the YWAM base where we are staying.

The Thai culture is great. I have absolutely loved the SPICY food, the cheapness of everything, and the warm and hospitable people here. Among some of the more adventurous things I've done are eating a grasshopper (yum!), having fish suck on my feet to remove the dirt (Thai style pedicure), and getting a Thai style massage (they use their feet and everything). Today I went and got my hair cut which cost about $4.50 US. It's crazy!

Anyways, things are going really well and we are loving it here but are definitely excited to move on to India to begin our actual outreach. We've been doing a lot of prayer about our time in India and actually feel led to spend more time in Delhi as opposed to Pune, which was the original plan. So, we will leave Bangkok on Tuesday and head to Pune for about a week, then go up to Delhi. Our exact work there is still being determined but we are really praying into it and trusting that God will lead us!

That's all for now! Happy Easter to you!

Love,
Brittany

Weeks 9, 10, 11

Hi All and Happy St. Patty's Day!! :)

I realize it's been awhile since I've written anything and I want to aplogize for the delay! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of events it's hard to even know where to begin! As you know we are in Belize now so we've been spending time at the Destination Paradise Base in San Pedro. We've gotten to know the students in the Diver's DTS a lot more so it's been so fun having new people to hang out with. AND they have two dogs and two cats here so I'm in heaven :)
Things have been going really well and I cannot believe that this is our last full week in the lecture phase. Time has really flown! I have learned so much about myself, living in community, about God and his awesome character, and so much more. I know that I am going to continually be reminded of all that I've learned here and new revelations are going to continue to come even after I am officially done with this phase.

Here's some highlights of the past few months as the lecture phase comes to a close:

*"Team Awesome Takes a Faith Trip"- How do you develop and grow in faith? Well, you put yourself in a position where you have to have it! And that's exactly what we did. Two weeks ago, lectures started as usual on Monday morning, but one thing that was odd was that there were 6 white envelopes laying on the table with all of our names on them. Inside were letters from our staff, giving us a challenge. We had just spent the past few days studying faith and what it means to have faith and now we were being asked to put our faith to the test. Not knowing any details of what was to come, our staff asked each of us to go get a backpack, and pack our bibles, a journal, a change of underwear, and a toothbrush. We weren't allowed to pack any clothes other than what we were wearing, and we couldn't take any money or ID's. The staff then shuffled us off the boats and out to a van that was waiting for us, which then took us to the bus station in Belize City.
When we got to the bus station, we were split into two groups of three. Then, much to our surprise, the staff whisked us onto a bus, handed us two envelopes and a pocket bible, and waved goodbye! After we were on the bus, we opened up the envelope where we found out some more details of this trip. As it turned out, the bus we were on was heading to San Ignacio, which is about 3 hours from Belize City and 10 minutes from the Guatemala border. We were to stay there in San Ignacio for two days and two nights and put our trust in God that he would take care of our basic needs of food, accomodations, and a ride back to Belize City. We were also told to pray about building relationships with people there, specifically meeting someone we could give the pocket Bible to.
Well what happend over the next two days was probably one of the biggest lessons in grace and humility I've ever had! My mindset going into this whole thing was naturally geared towards myself. "How can I show the face of God to the people we meet?" "How can I bless these people?" "What great things can I do in San Ignacio?" Well as soon as we got there, it quickly became not so much about us blessing other people, but more about other people blessing us! I could go on and on about all the details of the trip, but for time's sake here are the highlights:
-Hanging out with an eclectic group consisting of Canadian Hippies, a rastafarian drummer named Jack Rambo, a Nicaraguan gypsy, and a wanderer named Darius* (*sidenote: after spending a lot of time with Darius and learning about his past and his quest for truth, meaning, LOVE, and purpose, we felt that he was the person we should give the Bible to. He was en route to the Amazon to find some sort of natural-growing hallucinogen and spend time there 'tripping out' with the natives. We thought the bible would be some good reading material for his trip down there. I pray that the seeds we planted in his life will continue to be watered and harvested, some way, some how).
-Meeting a local named Max who so graciously invited us to his home to spend the night with him and his family (His wife, their two young kids, his brother and his wife and their two kids were living together in a small 3 room house). I was so humbled at Max's generosity. Though he didn't have much and his house was modest, he invited us in with open arms and showed us amazing hospitality even though we didn't have anything to give him. After hearing our story and that we had no money, he even bought us breakfast and lunch the next day.
-Fortunately God totally provided a means for us to bless and give back to Max as we were able to help him make a really sweet flyer for his guided adventure tour business. We found an internet cafe and spent the afternoon of the 2nd day making him a flyer to hand out to people.
-Meeting a group of medical students from Michigan who were doing a short term medical mission with a group called Pro Belize. Through the med school students, we got connected with some local people who were affiliated with Pro Belize and Becky and Kara were able to share their personal testimonies with two of them. One guy we met named Jose graciously treated us to an Italian meal our second night, and another friend we met through Pro Belize put us up for the night. He gave up his bed for us girls and slept on the concrete floor. Also through the friends we made at Pro Belize, God provided a ride home because one of the people there had connections with the bus system and we were able to get a free bus ride.
There is so much that I could say about this trip and wish I could better articulate the experience we had. I think the biggest thing I learned is the power of grace. At first it was very hard for me to accept things from people knowing that I had nothing to offer in return. I realized that my pride was getting in the way, much as it's gotten in the way of recieving God's grace. I have been too proud to admit that I need grace and that I can't do everything on my own. Also, we've been so accustomed to the idea that NOTHING is free, so it makes it hard to grasp and accept the concept of grace. The people in San Ignacio showed us grace like no other, and so by humbling myself and openly accepting their generous gifts, I later realized that we were indeed blessing them by allowing them to bless us. Too, God showed his faithfulness and provision during that trip in an amazing way. Not only were our needs provided for, but they were provided in ABUNDANCE.
I realize this is quite an abbreviated story, but please email me or post a comment if you want to talk more about the experience! I'd love to answer any questions you have!

Class- Class has been going really well. We've had some amazing speakers over the weeks who have taught on topics ranging from The Father Heart of God, What is the Gospel?, Relationships, Biblical Worldview, Personality and Spiritual Gifts Assessments, Spiritual Warfare, and God's "Pinky Promises." Each speaker has a totally different teaching style and something completely unique to offer. It's been great learning from people who's lives are a testament to God's goodness.

Personal Growth- Growth and learning has been continuous since day one. Big revelations and "A-ha" moments have been fewer and far between than I thought they would be. Rather, I think most of the growth has been subtler and maybe even something I don't or won't recognize until later down the road. Without a doubt though, I know that I am not the same person I was three months ago.
Last week was hands down the best week I've had here in regards to personal growth. Our speaker last week was Tiffany Thompson who was speaking about what she called "God's Pinky Promises." (the Pinky promises are 5 specific Bible verses that have shaped her life, each one starting with the letters in PINKY). One thing that made the week so great was that everything in her teaching was centered around the color pink which made me extremely happy b/c it's my favorite! But really the discussions and her teachings just really opened up new revelation to the way that God sees me. For the first time in my life I felt God's LOVE in a way I haven't felt it before. I've always heard that God loves me, and before I got here I thought I believed it, but I have realized that I had bondages and things in my life that were keeping me from fully letting his love in.
That all changed last Friday, when I happened to get up extra early due to mosquitos biting me. Since I was up anyways, I decided to go out for a run. This run quickly became the best run of my life. As I was running along the beach as the sun was coming up, I felt God telling me just how much he loves me and how much he thinks of me! "Precious are your thoughts towards me, O God. If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand." Psalm 139:17-18. Every sight that my eyes fell on, the flowers, the palm trees, the sparkling ocean, the sun, everything....I felt that God was telling me it was there just for me, like a gift, because he loves me. The pink flowers kept grabbing my attention and I felt God saying, "I got these for you, my beloved!" He kept telling me to just let him love me....quit striving and working so hard in my own strength, but just recieve and respond to his love! What a freeing thought that is! It's really hard to put into words the feelings that I felt but I can say for sure I've never been so aware of His presence. It was like I was seeing everything in a new light.
So later that morning, during worship and devos (keep in mind I hadn't told anyone about this amazing run yet), Tiffany came up behind me and handed me a beautiful pink flower, gave me a hug, and left without saying anything. I knew without a doubt that God had told her to give that to me just as a reminder of my "conversation" with him from earlier, and a symbol of his love. Then, after devos got over, we were waiting for class to begin and another speaker who was there for the divers (I hadn't talked to her a day in my life) came up out of the blue and asked if she could pray for me. She said she had this incredibly intense feeling, so intense that she felt she couldn't even start teaching class until she had the chance to talk to me. Well she started telling me that she kept seeing this absolutely beautiful room, and that God was was bekoning for me to come in, yet I was being hesitant. She said He just wanted me to RESPOND to the invitation to come in to his love! Again, He was wanting me to lay down everything that was keeping me from accepting His love and just come in...just let him lavish me with his love! Crazy, especially considering my morning so far!
But it wasn't over yet, because after class started another totally out-of-the-blue thing happend when Lynn' s dad (who is at the base visiting this week) came into the room, interrupts class, and handed me a chocolate covered banana from the little store down the road. For no apparent reason and with no explantion! Seriously it was like God was giving me a birthday and just surprising me again and again with one thing after the next! Things like that just kept happening all day and since then I haven't seen things in the same way. It's an amazing thing to finally experience the freedom and love of Christ--something that I had thought I knew a long time ago!
Like the faith trip, this is another thing that's really hard to put into words, so please contact me if you have questions or want to talk more!

Updates-Outreach begins a few days early due to travel schedules! We will be leaving Belize on Tuesday the 22nd and will head to Bangkok, Thailand. We'll be there for a few days in order to get our visas, and then will fly to Mumbai, India to officially start our outreach work! We have the first few weeks of the trip planned and then are leaving the second half in open hands to where God may call us. So for the first few weeks we will be in and around Mumbai and Pune and will be working in an orphanage and helping out with some church planting. After the first few weeks there are loose plans to go to Delhi, but again it's being held in an open hand. Internet availability will most likely be extremely limited during the outreach but I will try my best to keep you updated on what's going on!

Prayer Requests-Several of my team members are still working to raise support for the remainder of their DTS fees, please pray for financial provision for them. Please pray for our outreach leader, Louise who has been working tirelessly on getting all the travel arrangements and details worked out for outreach. Pray that last minute logistics would come together and the peices would fall into place. Please pray for my team's last few days together here on base (half the team is going to Nicaragua, half is going to India). Please pray that we would be encouraging to one another and enjoy our last days together! Please pray for safe travels to Nicaragua and India and to the stops between. And finally, please pray that both teams would go out in boldness, strength, and courage, knowing that they have authority in Jesus name for all that is to come!

Love and Blessings,
Brittany

Weeks 7 & 8 Update!

Hello everyone!

Hope you are doing fantastic! It's been a big couple of weeks here so without delay here are some updates!!!

1. I'M IN BELIZE! What? Yea, that's right, Belize! If you recall, when I first signed up for this trip I originally was supposed to be here, but due to some governmental issues the boats were "kicked out" and thus ended up in Honduras which is where I've been for the past 2 months. Well, over the past few weeks Chris (the director of Destination Paradise) has been working really hard to settle the governmental dispute to get the boats back in Belize, and finally this week he did! So on Tuesday we made an 18 hour overnight sail from Honduras to Belize and will be spending the next month here. The sail up here was so amazing. The stars were out and it was just us and open ocean. Nothing like it!! When we woke up in the morning, there was a ton of dolphins swimming right in front of our boat, welcoming us to Belize!
We are currently docked at a marina near Belize City and will be here for the next few days. We then will be sailing north to the Destination Paradise base to meet the rest of the DP staff and the diver's DTS. So we are all really looking forward to that! Praise God that we were able to come back to Belize and that we got here safely!

2. I'M GOING TO INDIA! Yea!! Last week the staff announced the location of our outreach and India it is! So on March 26 we'll be leaving Belize and heading to India for two months. Many of the details are still being worked out, but we'll most likely be in Delhi. The work that we'll be doing is also still being determined, but the staff has some good contacts there in India and are working with them to get everything arranged. I never dreamed I'd be going to India but am SO excited! We have been praying so much for this country and for it's people and we are all really excited to be there and be a part of God's vision for this country! I know He is going to do huge things and I'm excited to see how His plans unfold. I'll definitely keep you all posted on the details of the trip as they are worked out!

3. I'M GOING ON STAFF WITH DESTINATION PARADISE IN BELIZE! Big news here! As you know, the program I am on is a 3-part program. The lecture phase is what I'm in currently. Outreach as I said will be for 2 months in India, and the last phase is called Internship. Destination Paradise has a huge network of people they know all over the world and do a great job of matching students up with various organizations to complete their 4-month internship. Last week I was talking to Chris and just discussing some options for my internship. I told him that while I truly love the hands on, service aspects of ministry, my true passions lie more on the business/administration side of things and would love to be paired up with an organization that could use some help in those areas. Later that day, as I'm sitting with my friend in her room, Chris comes bursting through the door, his eyes all wide and says "I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but DP needs someone like you to help with social networking, support raising, and promotions!" Sooo trying to make a long story short, after some more conversations with Chris about what this would all look like and stuff, I made the decision to return to the Destination Paradise base here in Belize after outreach, and join staff not only for the 4-month internship, but also for a long term position! Read: I am going to be calling Belize home!!!! While on staff I will also have the opportunity to lead outreaches in future schools, which will be an amazing opportunity to travel and serve abroad.

I know this is a huge chunk of news to swallow! I told you it has been a big couple of weeks! But honestly I am so at peace about all this and am SO incredibly excited about it. The position with Destination Paradise is like a dream come true. I am so excited to be able to use my experience in advertising/promotions to support this amazing ministry. God has completely knocked my socks off here and I am so excited to be able to share that experience with other people.

In other news, as I am writing this I am working on the FB picture upload. I've got about half my pictures up and will try to put up the rest later! But you can go on and see what's up there for now!

Also, I know I say it all the time, but I again want to express my sincerest THANKS to you all for your support, prayers, emails, and LOVE. I appreciate so much that you are reading and following my blog and all the comments and encouraging emails are such a blessing! The financial support and prayers are also amazing. I could not or would not be here without you. I really do hope that you feel like you are part of this amazing journey with me and know that your support is a blessing not only to me but also to the many people that I have or will be working with in India and beyond! So thank you!

God's blessings and my love to you all!!

Brittany

Weeks 5 & 6 Update!

Hi friends!

I'm tired as I'm writing this; we are just winding down from a busy week! On Monday, we sailed to a small group of islands about three hours from Roatan, called the Cayos Cuchinos, where we did some outreach work all week. The Cayos Cuchinos islands are inhabited primarily by a people group called the Garifuna who are decsendents of slaves in West Africa.

The Garifuna are a friendly and warm group of people. The vast majority of them in the Cayos Cuchinos speak no English and their ways of living are very primative. Very small villages, no electricity, huts made out of wood/thatch, one room school-house....you name it. Just like what you would think of a remote island village. But insanely beautiful! While we were there, we assisted our missionary friend, Renee who is a doctor on the mainland of Honduras, with some medical clinics. We did baby weighing and Renee also trained many of them on basic health stuff like CPR. We also spent a lot of time teaching English to both the kids and adults, and playing with the kids. Our last day there, we had a church service in the village where we sang some songs, did a few dramas, and shared testimonies. Overall an awesome experience!

Also, on the sail over to the Cayos, we saw about 10-15 dolphins! They were swimming and jumping alongside our boat and then swam over to the bow and swam up in front for about 5 minutes! I literally was about 3 feet from them. AMAZING!

I'm going to wrap this up because I'm really tired, and I'm going to try and post some pictures of Facebook tonight, God willing!

God Bless!!!

Weeks 3 & 4 Update

Hi everyone and happy February! Hope you are all doing well and for those in the midwest I hope you are staying warm!

The past few weeks here have been really good. In between classes, we've had more opportunities to get off the boats to explore the surroundings and interact with the people here. Last week we made a 21 mile sail (took about 6.5 hours!) to one of the other Bay Islands called Guanja. We spent one afternoon in town and as soon as we got off our dingy we were immediately welcomed. People here are so friendly and hospitible. One guy named Wilson who is a ferry driver on the island took us on a little tour. We took a hike up into the mountains and saw some beautiful views, and then he took us around the town where we got to chat with some of the locals, play with some of the kids, and really just soak up their culture and watch them going about their day. Here on Roatan, we've been able to venture out a bit during the weekends. This weekend we went to the Western End of the Island, called West Bay. It's a really nice area, mostly targeted to tourists. I've been able to get out and do some running which has been awesome. It's amazing how much "cabin fever" really rings true when living on a boat 24/7.

Classes are going really well. Last week we dove into learning about about some of the world's major religions-Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. I am so fascinated by this stuff; learning about other's belief systems and worldviews. For my next book report, I am reading a book called Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias. It's a pretty high-level book about the absolute truths/claims of Christianity and compares/contrasts Christianity with other world religions. Really great stuff if you've ever wondered WHY you believe what you believe. Two weeks ago our first book report was due. I read a book called Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre. I would HIGHLY recommend this book if you are looking for something new to read!

Next week we are going to be doing a "mini-outreach" and doing some work here in Roatan which should be awesome.

And now, here's a few tidbits about Honduras for you:

The main local food here is called Bailladas. Bailladas are delicious homemade tortillas with beans, cheese, eggs, and ham. Here on Roatan we have found a place that we go to a lot because the bailladas there are so amazing. Not to mention cheap. It's about $1 for one baillada and it's enough food to feed 2 or 3!

Honduras is the third poorest country in the western hemisphere after Haiti and Nicaragua. Here's something really really sweet though. The other day when I was at the market, I saw this poster hanging outside that read "Help Haiti" and listed some things like carwashes and other various fundraisers and stuff. How cool is it that these people, people living in the third poorest country in the western hemistphere, are willing to give what little they have away to Haiti? Amazing.

Ninety percent of the population is Mestizo, which is a mixture of Amerindian and European ancestry. About 7% belong to various indeginious groups, and about 2% are African American. The official language is spanish, although most people speak some, if not fluent English. White people like me are called Gringos :)

The main religion is Roman Catholic.

Roatan, the island where I'm at, is located along the second largest barrier reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef). This makes for some sweet snorkeling and scuba diving!

If you have any questions or would like to know more about what I'm doing, what I'm seeing, what I'm learning, Honduras, Roatan, or whatever please drop me an email! I love hearing from you and also want to keep up to date on what's happening back at home!!!

Please also let me know how I can pray for you. We've been doing a lot of intercessory prayer, which is praying on behalf of other people. I'd be honored to spend some time praying for you.

And since some of you have asked, a big prayer request for me this week is having PATIENCE and humbling myself before my team members. Living in such close quarters and spending every waking moment with the same 8 people can really start to take it's toll, so patience is definitely needed! :)

Thank you all for following up on me and for your love and encouragement. Miss you!

Blessings and love,
Brittany

Week 2 Update

Well, as I am writing this there is some sort of tribal ceremony going on a few hundred feet away from me. Lots of tribal chanting and singing and a huge fire they are dancing around. I really am in Honduras!! :)

This was the 1st week of lectures and it was so great! Our speaker this week was Jon Peterson who came in from Washington. Jon is a retired pastor and teacher at Fuller Seminary. His lectures were focused on Biblical Studies-how and why we should ready and study our Bible. We were required to read the Gospel of John 5 times in 5 days. If you've never read one of the Gospels straight through, believe me, it takes some time! We read it straight through like a novel, read it out loud, backwards, and in sections. We also were tested on it and had to be able to correctly identify main points and the chapters in which they occurred.

I loved learning about best practices for being in the Word-making sure we understand the context and history surrounding the passage (the 'what'), learning about how to apply it to our lives (the 'so what') and the action we need to take (the 'now what'). So often I've tried to just open up my bible and read it from the beginning to end and always crash and burn somewhere around the book of Numbers. So it is awesome to have been given some guidance!

While we were learning about studying the Bible, we also talked a lot about the fact that while knowledge is important, it can't supercede a genuine love for Jesus. I often get really wrapped up in trying to know everything and having all the answers. But God doesn't call us to know everything, nor does he want us to have all the answers! He only calls us to LOVE him and each other. We were talking at dinner the other night how intelligence and being 'well-read' have become trendy...nowadays people seem to be in competition with each other about what and how much they know. I'm not saying that knowledge or book smarts is at all a bad thing, but the point that Jon was trying to make is that having all the facts straight and lots of knowledge doesn't substitute genuine love and faith in Jesus. God is revealing to me just how complicated I have made my life-when it doesn't need to be! He calls us to lead simple lives-lives that are not so focused on knowledge but more on simple things like love. I think we can more clearly see Him working through us when we aren't distracted by "stuff" of the world.

Each Monday afternoon we have a quiet time with God for 1 1/2 hours. No iPods, no books, no Bibles. At first this was weird to me because how often in life do we ever just stop and BE? Before I came here I would never have even considered such a thing! But I'm telling you-God really showed up in those moments of stillness and solitude! How awesome! Just me and God-letting it BE.

Anyways, in other news, it was a great weekend. I got in some great snorkeling and did some wakeboarding too. We also discovered this iguana farm right by where we are anchored. I've never seen so many iguanas in my life! They were huge and EVERYWHERE! I also got to play with some little monkeys :). Tonight one of the guys in the group was snorkeling around and found some HUGE starfish. I'll try to post some pictures and video soon!

My team continues to get more comfortable with each other. Lots of dance parties and silliness. I love it :).

I hope you are all doing well. Please be praying for the people of Haiti. I pray for healing and peace. May God show up in big ways for them.

Love to you!
Brittany