AYE! What a busy week this has been. I am getting myself in order so I can travel next week and it seems that there is never enough time in the day for everything that must get done. Yet in my moments of working on the various projects I am able to hear the small voice of the Lord speak to me. Like raking the mango leaves!!! How does that work in December you might ask. It seems to be the fall time for mango leaves. BUT I just got a cool picture of how there are sometimes things in our lives that cover up who we really are. We allow ourselves hide under things that cover up our true character. We have to allow God the space to come in and uncover that area, in this case rake away the leaves so I could see the clean ground. It is all about finding our identity in Him and not allowing anything else but Him define who we are. In our men's bible study we have been studying the book of James. It is an incredible book, that really lays out how someone must live their life. It is all about finding Joy in the hard times life brings us because it is in those moments that our true character is revealed. How we respond to the hard times. Then it talks about controlling your tongue. Being slow to speak and quick to listen. Tonight we studied about not judging. It was really cool as we dissected this chapter 4 things were opened up to me. It talks about loving your neighbor in a round about way and how when we judge we aren't loving. It is up to us to love and nothing else. It is sometimes easy to love our neighbor but other times it is the hardest to love those who are close to us. Those people we see everyday, possibly live with, work with. It is imperative that we love everyone and show God's heart to each and every person. Each person has value, their value no matter what they think it is, IS HIGH in the sight of God. When we can begin to see the value of people it will become natural for us to love. It is all about having the heart of the Father. This week this has been on my heart. To take advantage of loving those around me. Seeing them the way God would see them and making them feel valued. Be aware of the moments the Lord gives you to show love to someone and SHOW IT!

Well, once again I think I may have something good to write. This has been quite a busy week, Thanksgiving was awesome! I started out by helping at an outreach my church put together cooking thanksgiving meals and delivering plates to families and individuals. It was awesome we had so much food that we made and delivered close to 700 plates!! STILL HAD FOOD LEFT OVER TO DONATE TO OTHER MINISTRY PLACES!! Then I went to a friends house and had lunch with a bunch of people had 2 plates of amazing food, rested and then went to another family's home for Dinner!! What an awesome day! Something that God has really been showing me over this last week is the importance of serving people. I know that I am a missionary and it is expected of me to want to serve and I do, I LOVE IT. Though this week He has given me MANY opportunities to build relationships and I have enjoyed every one of them. I helped do some work on a house on Saturday, Sunday I just got to hang out with friends and fellowship. LIFE IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS and I have seen the value in that these last few days. I have had my own agenda for my days and I have constantly had to rearrange my day to meet the needs of others and it is SO GREAT! To have the opportunity to take time and invest my time and energy into helping someone else is awesome. 2 of my friends moved off island this week and it was awesome to just be able to be available for them in their time of need. To take my time and get boxes for them, help them pack and then today to take and finalize all the paperwork for their stuff that is being shipped back to the states. If I hadn't made myself available to them they probably wouldn't have gotten all their stuff done. It is just a matter of not being concerned about my project list for the day and taking time to invest in people. To serve and meet the needs of anyone I can. I feel so privileged when I have someone call me and ask if I can help them, or when I can offer advice and speak truth into lives. I love it!! I know that every opportunity I get is given to me by God and I don't want to disappoint him in anything. I will take time no matter how long it takes to accomplish his purpose. Never overlook an opportunity to love someone. Smile at the people passing by me and starting conversation with ones I can. It is a matter of just being available to be used by God. You never know what you can offer someone. I have constantly had this phrase in my head KINGDOM BUSINESS! That is what I am about, I am an INVESTOR in KINGDOM BUSINESS. Investing into the lives of people!! I LOVE IT!!

And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Titus 2:7

THANKSGIVING!!

Each day when I wake up, I like most of you pray and thank God for allowing me one more day to be here. I thank him for the opportunities he is going to give me to be a light in this community. For my family and friends and usually for the Beautiful day that he has blessed me with. It seems fitting that this week is Thanksgiving and this ties into the Holiday! Sometimes just the smallest thing makes me think about how aware of me God is. He has shown me in so many ways in my time here that he cares about me and my desires, needs, and everything about me. He has blessed me in so many ways with the church family, friends, activities I get to do in my spare time, and the moments when I am completely satisfied reading His word and knowing him more. I pray to be an encouragement to others and that others would be an encouragement to me. This week I want to tell you a story about Franklin. Franklin is a well known man here on St. Croix. If anyone has lived here for any period of time and they don't know Franklin I would be very surprised. I got to meet Franklin through church and usually everyday I am out walking around in the area we call Sunny Isle I cross paths with him. He is an older man maybe 55 or so and he is just an AWESOME MAN. I ran into Franklin yesterday morning when I was opening our gate and he yelled across the street at me and I quickly smiled and yelled GOOD MORNING FRANKLIN!!! He came and we shook hands and I asked him much like I always do, "How are you today?" I love his response every time I ask him he responds the same way with "Living life and ENJOYING it my brother!" I proceeded to ask what his plans were for the day and he said walking around, talking to people about his faith. ALL FRANKLIN DOES IS WALK AROUND TALKING TO PEOPLE, and helping people at their jobs. He will go mop the floors at McDonalds or fold shirts at foot locker, or anything he feels he can bless someone by doing. When I first saw him in Foot locker I asked him how long he worked there and he said, "I don't work there, I just help out."

His concept of "Living Live and Enjoying it" is awesome. I have adopted that thought, because there are so many things in my life that I can enjoy. There isn't any reason to have a bad day, or be stressed out, or even to be upset. Life is something to enjoy and today as I am reflecting upon all that has happened in my life I can say I AM LIVING AND ENJOYING IT!!! God has been too good to me to not enjoy it. My life is to be a life of service to him. I daily want my life to be a living breathing THANK YOU card to God. That is where I want to be. To continually be walking in his Joy, and sharing the love he has for me to everyone I come in contact with!

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING A PART OF MY LIFE! I TRULY AM THANKFUL FOR YOU, I KNOW I COULD NOT BE WHERE I AM TODAY WITHOUT YOU. YOU HAVE IMPACTED MY LIFE IN A HUGE WAY AND HAVE HELPED MOLD ME INTO THE PERSON I AM!! BE BLESSED IN THIS THANKSGIVING SEASON AND LIKE FRANKLIN LIVE LIFE AND ENJOY IT!!

He must hold firmly to the trustowrthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. Titus 1:9
A call to live a life built upon the foundation of the Word. In all you do, you must seek the face of your Father. "Hold Firmly" it means to not take lightly, to Grasp with force, to not move from, to be rooted in the Word. So that is where your heart is to be. It is the teaching brought forth by Holy Spirit. In all things you must seek the Lord. When the word is securely imbedded in your heart God is able to use you in mighty ways. You are able to encourage others in their faith and able to lead other to a place where they may choose to accept and enter into relationship with God. You will be able to be used to speak truth into the lives of those who are in the darkness of lies. God will use you to combat the enemy, to further His Kingdom. You will grow in Knowledge and Understanding of him which in turn leads to a deeper intimacy with Him. You will know Him, and recognize Him in all things. The reason you were created was to worship Him and proclaim His Good News of love to the Nations!! It is through His written message that we receive His LIVING, BREATHING, SPOKEN WORD and can apply it to our lives.
We get our inspiration for our spoken message of Faith through His Word. We are ALL called to encourage: to urge forward persuade, to call to life those who may have lost sight of the goal, or may have given up. It is the strong that come beside and lend a helping hand in the times of need. We Must speak the truth of the Word at all times. To give control of our mind, heart, and tongue to the Lord and allow Him to use you to build people up. What a great honor to be desired by the Almighty God to speak His words of life into the heart and life of a dying lost soul. When it is all about Him and His Glory being made known, we are able to be used in mighty ways. Knowing you may have impacted the life and changed the eternal destination of a person is such a great honor. Knowing we have that opportunity each day God gives us breath, makes me really think about how I am spending my time. Am I truly taking advantage of every opportunity I have to bring life to the lifeless? Am I daily walking out and speaking the Faith I claim to have? It is all about showing his love to everyone I come in contact with. Do I show the love God has for me to people of all social classes everyday? Do I look down upon the homeless drunk, and turn my face from them as if they don't even exist? OR do I give them my attention and smile to them and even possibly sacrifice a little bit of my time for just a moment making them feel the value God has placed in them. Are my eyes sensitive to the hurting world around me? Do the people I work with, know my Faith lies in God? Is my life truly matching up in all areas to what God has called me to? If I didn't say one word to anyone, would they be able to know by my actions that God lives inside me and I am seeking to serve only Him DAILY?!!
I have been challenged lately to make use of every moment I am given to bring Joy to people. The woman at the check out line, making simple conversation, smiling to someone and saying Good Afternoon, asking the person who is sitting alone sad how I can pray for them. Of course it takes me out of my comfort zone but does it really matter if you are the one person that shows compassion, and are the one person that shows the love of God to that person and can give them something to think upon and smile upon, knowing God is aware of them?! I don't want to miss an opportunity to cause someone wonder what I have. I am CALLED TO LOVE EVERYONE!

Pier Jumping with God

I had an interesting week once again!! Things have been pretty normal around the property just working on the base doing yard work making the property looking as nice as possible, I got to lead a bible study, and hang out once again with friends. On Saturday night 3 of my friends (all in our 20's) and I had a nice home cooked meal and then decided to go for a drive. It was dark and a PERFECT night. So my boy Ernice took us all around and we finally stopped on Northshore road and pulled over. It is a fairly busy road but nothing to extreme for the 45 mins we were pulled over we saw maybe 20 cars. Anyways we had the stereo pumping worship music and the 4 of us were just hangin out looking at the glowing neighboring islands in the distance, staring at the MILLIONS of stars in the sky and in complete Awe of the Lord! It was incredible!! Then we drove into Frederiksted and went to the cruise ship pier! The pier is a popular fishing and swimming place. It is maybe 12-15 feet above the water and its probably 35 feet deep. So Ernice, Cherlyn, and myself are all jacked up for jumping and swimming even though none of us are prepared for it. It was a spontaneous thing. But our dear friend Miracle is hesitant, not wanting to jump at all thinking we're joking. Then one by one we jump and she is still shaking her head in disbelief and saying NO we're crazy. So I climb up the ladder and tell her it will be fine she can jump, she's also not to excited about jumping in the dress she is wearing either. So we give her a Tshirt to put on over her dress and I grabbed her hand telling her I'll jump with her. And after hesitating FOREVER, her having a death grip on my hand, and me convincing her that I won't let her go at all she got the courage to jump in. (I just got circulation back in my hand yesterday!) She later jumped in one more time holding onto me and then once alone!! I tell you all that to give you the idea of how scared she was. As many of us might be, jumping into deep water, at night off a high pier. Sounds crazy I'm sure, but the water was crystal clear and it was completely safe! So in that whole time, God began to speak to me. He began to use the scenario to relate it to my life of faith. How there are many times in our lives where He brings us to an edge and tells us to jump. Many times we aren't expecting to even be standing on that edge but yet we are. He tells us to have faith in him and step out of our comfort zone and trust him. Many times it is the scariest thing in the world. Much like Miracle, she had never jumped into any type of water, not even a swimming pool! She was freaked. And the only thing that gave her confidence enough to jump was the fact that I would hold onto her all the way down and hold onto her in the water. She had to trust in me before she could allow herself to jump out of control into the water.

God is always there for us to grab hold of and HE WON'T LET GO! No matter what, He will hold onto us and jump with us. All we have to do is grab onto him and trust in him. Even if we can't even see where we're going it is all about having Faith in Him that he is leading us. We just have to be obedient, follow, and Jump in! Then there are the times where we are alone at the top and he's waiting below in the water telling us jump and as soon as you get in the water I will be here waiting for you to pull you to safety. There are times we jump alone because we have confidence from past experiences and other times we jump holding onto him because we can't do it in our own power! But nevertheless it is in those times where we MUST JUMP to get to the next level in our relationship with God. It is like the DEFINING MOMENTS OF OUR FAITH!. Whether we truly believe and trust in the one we serve or if we're just speakin the words but not actually living out our faith!

So that was my awesome cool evening that God just totally blew my mind apart with a great analogy to my faith. So an encouragement to you all, when it seems things are scary and unknown, grab onto Him and take the leap of faith. Watch as he makes ends meet, he does the impossible because you are completely placing all your trust in him. Cast your burdens upon him because he already knows how to fix all your problems he's just waiting for you to give them over!
For we live by believing and not by seeing. 2 Corinthians 5:7

Dios Mio.

This month has been quite a journey I must say. I have had a lot of time just to work the property and utilize that time to pray, worship, and just spend time with God. It has been AMAZING! God has placed people here in my life that have been incredible! There are so many people in my church here that I have been able to just connect with. It is very interesting in fact the groups of people I have been hanging out with lately has not been people my own age. I am surrounded every Sunday morning with kids in children's church and then when that is over I go help clean up in church and run into all my older friends. I was blessed this last Sunday to go over to "Mummy's" some of my older friends and I were going to go out to eat. (when I say older it means a lil older than me like 55-60) And as we were getting ready to go to our normal hangout spot Sharky's a sports bar where on Sunday's church people take over!! Anyways we were going there and we caught wind that Mummy the church secretary's mom had just cooked that morning! Our attention quickly shifted to calling Mummy (TOTALLY ISLAND STYLE HERE) telling her we were on our way over to have lunch with her. SHE WAS ECSTATIC!! She said there was food for 4 and low and behold that is how many we had!! So I got to spend the afternoon with my friends. I was blessed to spend the afternoon trying island favorites that I had never had an opportunity to try nor the desire but surprisingly enjoyed it!! Something that really stuck with me at the end of the afternoon when we were leaving was something that Mummy said. She thanked me for "taking time to hang out with the old people." And then a couple that I have spent almost every Sunday afternoon with for the past few months, even going sailing with numerous times spoke up also in a similar way saying "Mummy we don't understand but he really enjoys hanging out with us old fogies." All I could do was laugh because its so TRUE, I truly do enjoy the conversations that take place in the older crowd, the wisdom these people have is unmatched. AND I JUST WANT TO SOAK IT UP!!! I was able to look upon the last few months and think I have spent time with all age groups: little kids, teens, my peers, every age up to however old Mummy is maybe 70-80??? It is awesome to see the opportunities I have had to befriend, love on, and speak into the lives of so many people in just the weekly relationships from church!! I have an opportunity for the next 3 weeks to lead our men's bible study, the same bible study that I am the youngest one by 20 years and I was asked to lead it while the normal leader is off island. WHAT AN HONOR AND PRIVILEGE!!! God has been so good to me, as I have found the importance of the tiny meaningless activities he has placed before me and seen how I appreciate those times he trusts me with greater opportunity! I can honestly say I have never felt more content with where I am than right now. I know I am in the middle of God's will and I am enjoying every moment. To know and understand that every morning when GOD WAKES ME UP, he wakes me up because there are specific things that ONLY I CAN DO FOR HIM! If others could do them he wouldn't have woke me up!! I have found a whole new level of intimacy with Him and it is quite incredible. There have been a few sermon topics that I have discovered and began to ponder upon, ready whenever he allows me to share them!! I can truly say I am living out 2 Timothy 4:2...........Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season! I am in a season of preparation, and SOON God is going to unleash me and oh baby stand back cuz lives are going to be transformed by the power of God at work!! What an amazing place to be in right now, seeing all the opportunities that are before me. Working in one of the worst projects on island bringing God to them, leading Kings Kids, leading bible study, helping in an all black youth group and not feeling intimidated, things are taking shape and I am finding my sphere of influence to be not just a single age or people group but EVERYONE I MEET! The grocery store checker, the mailman, the dealer on the corner, the homeless dude that lives in the bush, EVERYONE and I get the opportunity if I choose to take it to encourage and show the love of God to each and every one of them!! If only every believer could grasp that simple way of life, seeing everything they do as worship to God and seeking to Glorify Him in all things great and small!
⁴The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:4-6

So this week I was gonna say hasn't been all that interesting but then I realized we had a community outreach program where 10 churches came together and did a 4 hour presentation in a nearby amphitheatre. We had that place packed!! It was extremely powerful and SO AWESOME! Our Kings Kids did a dance and a drama and we were able to pray with some people! It was the beginning of a project we are working towards. We have created this group called "Light Weight" that we will be taking a part in and reaching the people where they are in their community. We feel that the island youth are our targets, we must catch them before they get sucked into the things of this world. St. Croix is hurting so badly. The kids are getting involved with Gang, violence, drugs, everything and we are determined to stop this. We will have the help of hopefully more churches but right now we're small. Some people are afraid to even enter some of the communities here so that is keeping them from moving with us. We understand that the people won't come to church so we'll bring church to them on their level. We'll use dramas, dance, basketball, people from other communities that were in their same positions to reach them. It is SO awesome, to see how God is opening doors into new areas. I have had a desire to be more involved and he has brought people with a passion to reach out and I have been able to take part in that! Then I was able to share at my bible study this week and that was just awesome. I was reminded how in our times of struggles we are to just confidently come before the Lord and give our burdens to him. To surrender to him in all situations, HE IS WAITING FOR US TO COME TO HIM in our times of need. I had about 6 different scriptures, all from different places, I had a nice tour through the bible from Exodus all the way to 1 Jn. I have to say I am a bit disappointed I didn't have notes to look back over to see what I said. I am very grateful for the way God has blessed me to be comfortable when I speak and to be confident in him. He always brings verses to my mind but as far as writing things down to say I don't do that. I have just felt in the last few weeks really loved by God and knowing that he is Aware of me. I love the fact that I can say I am living in his will and doing my best daily to bring Glory to his name! Things are good here, still getting to know the culture and trying to fit in but I think by my ability to connect with a local youth group it will begin to really thrust me forward in feeling like I'm having more impact on the people here. I have been blessed this week by a number of people encouraging and praying for me and I can tell you I FEEL the difference!! I love it!! God is so great and I just am thankful for where I'm at!

Feeling Blessed

So, it has been an extremely LONG time since I updated this and that will be something that I work on I PROMISE! I feel as if I can say I have VERY good reason as to why I haven't done this in so long. In all honesty I have been completely submerged in doing other things!!! I have been here for 13 months now and I have spent a lot of time in the last 2 months evaluating where I am, what I did over the last year, and what I feel I need to change. I have gone through some amazing times of growing and the awesome fact is that I can recognize the areas in my life that I have matured in. I have completely been blessed in MANY ways in these last few months. I have been feeling as if I am not doing enough in this community, not seeing the importance of the little things I do that I feel has nothing to do with bringing people closer to God. WHICH I THINK IS MY JOB and by not being around people I can't do that!!! We have gone through quite a rough time here at the base now down to only 4 people the responsibility of keeping the base property kept looking nice has become a bigger than normal chore. I have however learned to be content with my days as the Lord gives them to me. Having to get on my knees and pray every morning asking to be guided in knowing that all I do I am doing for God's Glory and my attitude must be the same in mowing the lawn as it is in serving the community. One activity isn't any more holy than another. It is all service to God and all that really matters is where my heart is when I'm doing the duty. If I am praising him and satisfied with my activity that is AWESOME, but if I'm constantly pointing out the negative and never even coming close to even acknowledging His goodness in my life and being completely ME FOCUSED, I am not living in fellowship with him like I was designed to do. I have become greatly blessed by many people here. I am attending 2 bible studies a week, now helping in a weekly youth group, helping in children's church which has created a desire to attend another EARLY church service on Sunday so I can hear a sermon each week. SO I have within the last week started attending another church as well as my original one! I feel this is a busy action packed schedule but it is why I am here. I'm not here to just sit back and chill. I am here to show people what God has done in my life and how I am changed and direct their attention to Him. I am confident that I am where God wants me and I am continually grasping his heart for this place. I may be on a tropical island in the Caribbean but that is only on the surface. Some of the challenges that I'm faced with here I've never experienced anywhere else. It often feels as if I'm in a foreign country and not a part of the US. The people here are hurting and the children are suffering. God has planted me here to impact this island for him and to use me to reach these people. THE YOUTH OF THIS ISLAND ARE BEING USED AND I'M SO BLESSED TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH THEM AND HELP GUIDE THEM IN THE PATH GOD HAS SET BEFORE THEM! It is through the Youth that St. Croix will be reached and that is where I have seen God leading me to a greater understanding of.

Oh BOY!

SO it has been quite the week. I have had some pretty crazy times! I had a Gnarly Sunday last week with my laptop and digital camera being stolen out of my room. Luckily I wasn't in my room but it still is a bit discouraging. I was staying at a house that I am watching for a few weeks and my roommate was sleeping hard when it happened I guess. Then in the evening I lost my wallet so I spent a little time canceling my debit and credit cards. I pretty much got over the fact of it just being a little testing time and moved on. Then Tuesday night we had a robbery again, although this time it was another staff persons house and WE WERE ALL AWAKE. It was about 9:45 and a laptop and cameras were stolen again.. Man did it suck, so I have spent the last 4 days improving our fences around the base. It was only natural to put on the cowboy hat and fix the fences so I have had some fun looks of people driving by! IT has been fun, on thursday night I was able to find my wallet in my room. How I didn't find it when I tore my room apart is beyond me.
It has been a bit challenging finding time to check email and all that stuff and even update this. Because I have to go to the office and use one of the computers there. It is more of a hassle and so therefore if I can do it I do it but if not then whatever. I have learned the simplicity of life again. NO laptop, NO more of my music (which has probably been my biggest challenge) I used to listen to music ALL the time. It has given me more opportunity to spend more time in prayer and sing to myself. Although now as I am in the office I chose the one computer that had speakers and I am jamming to country music!! AHHH it is awesome, it has been a relatively slow month its more of a time to just kinda catch up on things around here and do community outreaches!!

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KINGS KIDS!!! WOW, I can't say enough about how awesome this program is. These kids are getting awesome teachings and now it is time to go out into the community and share what they have learned. The team has spent hours practicing choreography, drama, and preparing for the next 3 days of outreach. I am so excited about this camp because I was talking to out staff person Cherlyn who will be running the Kings Kids program here in St. Croix and it is amazing the dedication that she will be having. Out of the group of 20 kids she will choose a select few which in talking with her sounds like about 8 kids that she will meet with once a month for a weekend and continue to give teachings, continue to teach dramas and dance and disciple them throughout the year, up until the next summer's camp. It is a continuing program for these kids that are willing to commit themselves. It is SO AMAZING! I had no idea how awesome this program would be when we were planning on having it come here but now as I observe I see the impact it can have on the kids and the community that they are ministering to. They are training and reaching their own people, friends and that is AWESOME!! I am also in the process of praying to see what God has instore for this next season. Next week I will have 4 days off and I am really looking forward to what is coming up. Although I have no idea what it is I have been thinking about doing either a training school in Community Development or a School of Performing Arts. Both I feel would be beneficial to me in any area of ministy. There has also been a thought of going on a short term outreach with a different organization but I don't have to much information on that yet. I do however know it would be a trip to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan in Dec. SO those are 3 areas that I am seeking God's guidance on and I am praying in the next week I will get solid direction on which avenue to take. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Childrens Ministry!!

Since I have been back here we have been running programs for children. We had a team from PA come down the first week of July and then last week we had a group from Puerto Rico and then some other people from PA and Ohio help. The kids love the programs that we run here in the summer. It is basically just a vacation bible school program. We start with a 45 minute teaching an then move onto 3 different stations. The kids are split into teams for the week by their age and they either swim, play sports, or do crafts. It was such a fun time. We pretty much had the same kids both weeks so it was really cool to just be able to hang out with them and love on them. THIS WEEK!!!! We are running a new program here called Kings Kids. It is a 2 week overnight camp where the kids ages 8-18 receive hardcore bible teaching, learn choreography, dramas, and use sports to all share the gospel. We have a team of 60 people here from YWAM Puerto Rico Kings Kids program to help us. Along with the 20 kids we have from the island participating in the camp. THe team that is here is compiled mostly of young teens. There might be 15-20 people that are over 20. They came here basically to run the program for us so we can start running it every year!!! It is so exciting to see how God is using kids to spread the gospel. There are kids here that are 8 years old from Puerto Rico that are totally on fire with their faith! INCREDIBLE!!!
The schedule they have these kids on is EXTREME!
They wake up at 6:30
Breakfast at 7
Quiet time from 7:45 to 8:45
Prayer til 9:15
Class starts at 9:30
12:30 is lunch
1:40 they beging their afternoon activities: either dance, drama, or basketball
4-5 they work
Dinner is at 6
7 to 9 is class or hang out in their small groups time
9 is worship
9:45 they are free to get to bed.
IT IS QUITE HARDCORE, the kids are doing awesome though. They are having great times of learning and I think by the end of the camp they will have a whole new view of God and themselves. It is awesome to see.

Oh boy, so I started a school called DTS Equip on May 11. It has been a good week, we started the 6 week school with basic foundations of what it means to be a Disciple, and finding our Identity in Christ, and a Bible overview. It was a long week with having to sit through hours of teaching, but the teachings were great!!! I really enjoyed it. I have been extremely busy with the school and trying to do my normal work also. Yesterday we had a church picnic at Buck Island. Which is a national park island just off of St. Croix. We had about 100-130 people out there and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! I was so busy meeting people I had seen in church but never talked to all day long. I didn't even go swimming actually I just chilled on the beach all day talking. I was so excited because since I have been here people have been asking me about surfing and if I have gone out here yet and I always have to say no. Everyone kept telling me I needed to meet BEN!! So of course I would say who's Ben, can you introduce me to him at church and they'd say oh he doesn't go to church here anymore. And that was all I'd get from everyone, YOU HAVE TO MEET BEN!!! But nobody would tell me who he was or where I could meet him and yesterday I FINALLY MET BEN!!! So I'm hoping that I can get out at some point to surf with Ben. THEN I was talking with a woman and she gave me the greatest compliment ever. I was loading the boat getting ready to leave and she said, TJ you look like you know boats well. (She just formally met me that morning) I was like REALLY??? That's funny because I grew up in Montana and don't know a thing about these. Then she said well you could have fooled me, you look like a natural sailor!!! I was like well I have gone sailing a few times and I absolutely LOVE it!!! Then she proceeded to tell me that her and her husband have a 31 foot sailboat and they'll take me out on it! I was so stoked!! I talked with them both again today at church and they both said it again so I'm hoping that I get to go out at least at some point. I am also thinking about taking a scuba diving certification class, since almost all of my friends here dive and from what I've heard St. Croix is one of the top rated diving spots in the world I think it would be foolish not to!! I'm thinking after my visit home in June I'll take the class! Anyways that's what's on my mind right now, I guess I should be a good student and read what I need to read for class.

Suffering For Jesus!

As I was home and like always when Pastor Kelley talks about me he says I'm suffering for Jesus in the "Beautiful Caribbean Sun." Here is a GREAT picture I could resist taking and posting here! JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE I GUESS!! Things are getting pretty busy here, we have a strategy conference here beginning May 4th where we will have 40 YWAM directors and leaders from around the Caribbean here. It will be a lot of people and lots of work they say! Then right after that we have a 6 week DTS Equip that is leadership training for DTS leaders. THEN I GET TO GO HOME AGAIN!! I have been working since I got back on grouting a tile floor and finishing the room I have been working on for awhile now. I just have a few more things to do then we can start moving things in!!!

My time in MT was nice, despite the reason I was there it was SO nice to be among family and friends again. I was an extremely short trip but good!! I didn't realize how much I missed everyone until I was there and able to be with them. It was a nice time to take a break from everything that is going on here and not even think about anything but family and friends! I came back to lots of work, not only preparation for the conference but putting together an information packet for the local pastors group is extremely time consuming! We were suppose to present it to them today Saturday but the meeting was canceled so we will have 2 more weeks to work on it. Which is a blessing because I wasn't able to do anything while I was gone! Nothing else is really going on. People coming and projects that's about it. After we present to the pastors group we will have lots of personal time consumed by creating relationships with them. It is time to get YWAM known once again on the island! It's all about planting seeds and making something grow!

OH!!!! I am so excited that the DTS Equip is starting because 2 of the students from DTS are coming back to attend this school!!! I can't wait to see them, and we also have one other coming in July to help with our childrens ministry for 2 weeks I think!!! Now if I could just get my buddy Jonas back here from Switzerland life would be awesome!!

Finally an Update!!

WOW well it has been a busy few weeks. Not really sure why but I just have not had time to update. I have spent most of my days working on my construction project of patching the ceiling in the apartment and FINALLY I am finished!!! What a long process that was. I have also begun to work on putting a packet together that we will be presenting to a group of pastors to let them know what we as a ministry are doing on the island and asking how we can be of service to them. Our community has some serious problems that a sadly being accepted and we want to try and help be a solution. It is so easy to think that St. Croix is just this island paradise but if you look past the surface you will find the real problems of the island. The fact that children are taking weapons to school almost daily to protect themselves. Drug and alcohol abuse is not just a problem among adults but starting as early as 8 years old for these children. Children are suffering for their parents not taking responsibility and working and giving them a decent lifestyle. The school systems here suck, the children are not being taught what needs to be taught at their level. When they graduate they might if they are lucky have a jr. high reading level. Parents are prostituting their own children after school to support their addictions and to provide for the family because they are to lazy to get a job. IT IS INSANE!!! This is the community we are trying to reach! It is amazing how when you think of this you wonder is that even possible in the United States?? YES IT IS AND I SEE IT EVERYDAY! Homeless people walking around everywhere you turn. Where do we start? What area do we try and tackle first? Who knows but through building relationship with a few of the pastors on the island that are actively seeking to change this island we might be able to do something. IT is pretty sad that YWAM has been on this island for over 20 years and due to previous problems it has lost its impact on the community. People barely even know we exist and we are seeking to change that. It is a HUGE step to take because we can only do so much but we feel like it is time to make things happen, it is time to get our name out into the community and churches and serve them in any way possible! So that is what i am working on also when I am not doing construction on the base. On the 25th of this month Veronica and I will be presenting YWAM to a group of 12 pastors and hopefully be starting relationships that will open doors for community outreach opportunities. We feel it is important to connect with churches and organizations already working here and helping them on what they are focusing on then trying to start our own ministry because we honestly don't know that much about the culture or community for only being here for 7 months.

Well, this is going to be an exciting week to report about!!! Ok not really all that fun filled like the past 5 months have been. I have found a spot for me, and now I am in charge of maintenance around the base. We have several projects that need the special touch of well anyone. Currently I've been working on a room where I had to finish the tile on Monday and until who knows when I'll be patching the ceiling where concrete has fallen. I have several places that look like this that will need help. I started with having to paint on an adhesive primer type thing so the new cement would stick to the old stuff. Wednesday I started patching and it was a complete disaster. SO FRUSTRATING!!! I bought some patch stuff that they said would work and they told me how much it would cover so I mixed it and before i could even finish putting it up it was hard..... Then I didn't have enough to even make a little dent it the areas. Then I tried a different mix and that completely fell through Literally, it wouldn't even stick up on the ceiling. Then finally I found another substance that is a type of plaster more than cement and it's working great but it is almost all gone and we aren't sure what the real name of it is because is was left here about 4 years ago in a 5 gallon bucket. I'm LOOKING FORWARD to what the next mixture will bring. I have gone from the extreme horrible to the amazing and I'm not sure what the next one will be. We also have a youth team from Canada here this week. They are actually a high school basketball team here and they are working in 2 schools a day running mini camps and playing teams here in the evenings. They are great fun and keeping me company in the evenings and even sometime throughout my work days checking to make sure I'm actually working. It is busy here now that I basically have a job. There is always something that needs to be done after i get done with this room I have 4 windows in our great house to replace, a building project that I get to help do the re-bar for and pour the cement ceiling on, tons of stuff!! Well that is pretty much all I have. Hope all is well where ya'll guys are and you're staying warm. I'll send some sun when i can!! OH YEA, I have signed up for a spanish class!!!! I am super excited to study spanish and hopefully God will allow me to go back to spanish speaking places to practice what I learn!! YEA BUDDY!!

Well, this week was a good week but very hard. We had the conclusion of the Discipleship Training School. It means that the students left and returned to their homes. It is rather lonely here without them, of course there is other staff here but when I have spent 5 months hanging out with this group of friends and now I have to adjust to not having them around it's not that easy. We were able to have a nice graduation dinner on Thursday night and then graduation on Friday evening. It was a nice time we allowed some of the students to talk about their experience and how God has changed them and then we handed out their certificates and had desserts and hung out til the late hours of the night. It didn't take long for some of them to leave, the first one left at 5:30 Saturday morning and then by 9 am two more left. By the time dinner on Saturday came there were only 2 left. It was SOO hard to say goodbye to them all, man it was horrible. Sunday though was an incredible day with the remaining students. One of them had her parents here so they taxied us to the beach and we went on a hike to some tide pools and hung out at the beach!! It was great, such a fun, relaxing, and awesome day to remember!! Now there is only one student left, my little Swiss friend Jonas, who PRAISE GOD is here until the 28th!!! It makes it easy to have the students leave with time in between and not all at once, I mean Saturday was a horrible day having to say goodbye to so many. Like I said it is very quiet here, I've had this week off to catch up on what I wasn't able to do while being gone for 6 weeks but in my free time aside from catching up I think about going and seeing what the students are up to then I realize THEY AREN'T HERE!!! I'm not quite sure what I'm suppose to do now, i have this whole week off then I start back at work but with no students I'm not sure where they will put me. I know we have teams coming off and on and then a 6 week training course in may/june but other than doing that I don't know what the next 6 months will hold for me. I am kinda excited just to see what area God is going to put me in, but I think it will be a very trying period since my heart is for discipling and right now I have no opportunities to disciple. Ecclesiastes 3 has become my favorite chapter to read lately my two favorite verses are
3:1 "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." and 3:12 "So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can." Just a little encouragement for me in this new season I'm coming into, to see that I must look for the good even if I don't feel like I'm being used in the way I feel I should be. It's all about being a servant to those around me. Having the attitude of Christ in all situations. Doing what I need to do for those around me and not complaining, having fun because I'm still doing the work God wants me to do I'm just not overseas like I want to be!!

Well, I'm back..... Sorry I couldn't keep this thing updated while I was away but I'm sure ya'll can imagine I was a little busy and internet wasn't available all the time. I can't even begin to think where to even begin but I'll try. I'm not quite sure what my favorite part of outreach was. I had 2 MAJOR favorite places. One in each country!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVED CHINANDEGA, in Nicaragua. The family we stayed with and the ministry we did was increible (incredible!!) I have found a new passion for spanish and so i apologize if I throw words in here because I'm trying to keep practicing!!! Chinandega was one of the greatest locations because we got to do so much fun stuff. Like de-licing peoples hair, we basically just washed their hair and combed it for them.. I tell you what I was more afraid of combing then the lice, I thought I was going to rip some of those womens hair out by the way it was tangled and I was pulling on it! The open airs or campaigns that they call them were awesome. We would work with another ministry and alternate dramas and testimonies and have an awesome time of worship right in the park and under the stars SO GREAT!!! We were only there for 6 days so it wasn't long enough for me but I guess it was long enough for God. I did however get the great opportunity to have (puntadas) stitches so that was pretty fun. The best part came in Costa Rica a week later when we got to take them out!!! Who would have ever thought that a pair of fingernail clippers, tweezers, and 2 LED flashlights is all you need to remove 3 stitches!!! Veronica one of the other leaders, bless her heart tried to remove them for me. After she pulled on one that wasn't cut yet I think my scream helped her understand it was better to cut all the way through the dental floss like stitch before pulling!! She tried her hardest to get them but was so afraid of hurting me so I had to snip them with the fingernail clippers and she pulled them out. Looks like a real doctors office from the pics huh!!! Costa Rica was also a fun time, we did a lot of physical work, construction and it was pretty fun. Well except digging in the old landfill. That was ridiculous I swear no joke there was more garbage in the ground then there was dirt. Shirts, pants, shoes, bottles, everything you can think of it was stinking amazing. We thought the deeper we dug the better it would get but we sure were wrong.

This is the pile when we were done digging the footing for a wall!!! Crazy!!! We worked at a church helping on a feeding center they were building and heard some of the most amazing testimonies of people working in ministry in this village. Pretty awesome!! After that week we had our Silent Retreat where we all were completely silent for 24 hours. It was a time where we couldn't listen to music, talk, or make even a sound out of our mouth. We were suppose to spend the time praying, reading our bible and listening to what God wanted to say to us. It was incredible. I loved it, I spent the day reading my bible and actually read passages that I've never read before so it was really cool. I was able to study new things and just get a fun day of discovering God in the word in new ways! Our last week in Costa Rica was spent working with one more family who had a ministry in their community near Heredia where we were staying. This was my other favorite location, the family was awesome and the opportunity we had to work with them and help them meet new people in their neighborhood was great. We did more digging and mixing of concrete, i was able to help dig a septic tank hole..... It was about 8 feet deep when I started and by the time I finished I got to close to 13!!! It was pretty cool to be in a hole that deep with a 2 foot shovel and a bucket on a rope that I was putting the dirt in and having someone pull it up and empty it. Then the last day I had the great and amazing privilege to actually MAKE a ladder and use it to go about 20 feet up to the top of the power pole and reconnect a line that came off. It was very interesting that's for sure. It was fun though to know that the ladder I was standing on was straight up and down and tied to the pole with coat hangers to make sure it didn't move!!! As i was climbing up one of the pieces of wooden rungs that was nailed came out. (It wasn't one that I hammered in) just so you know!!! AHHHH the amazingly simple life of other countries!!! So different than the united states!! Outreach was a blast and I tried my hardest to learn as much spanish as I could. God bless mi familia en Chinandega who taught me the most. Ahh my favorite phrase was Montse, Como se dice. Montse is one of the girls in the family that spoke AMAZING engish and I just kept asking "HOW DO YOU SAY....." but I would ask how to say it in spanish and repeat it and tried my hardest to speak as much as possible. I'm thinking spanish classes are in my near future!!! Thank you all for your prayers and support in this amazing time of my life. It was incredible and I love the fact that I can travel and show the love of God to all I meet!!!

This was one of my favorite girls from the first week VBS, Jill!

We are on outreach!!!!  

It is such a blast, I can't tell you enough about how cool it is to finally be here working and seeing the students do what they have been training to do for the past 3 months.  Our days have been action packed with VBS and church programs.  We will be moving to a new location where it will become even more busy but that is ok.  It is outreach and that is what I expect.  It is hard to find time to really collect myself and regain my stamina but by the amazing power of God It's happening.  The team is really doing great, as long as we can stay healthy.  I have had a stuffed nose for a week and a half now.  I'm not sure what it is from but I would love it to leave my body.  I did fight a little stomach thing over the weekend but that is gone now and thank goodness I never threw up.

I don't really have any other updates to write since you all have been getting my few emails.  I am doing well personally, daily I'm challenged with making sure I have a good attitude and staying focused on the tasks at hand.  Of course it is different as a leader than it was as a student but not to much.  I just get to make decissions and hear our opportunities first!!!  It is fun to see how it all works like finances and all that good detail stuff!  I am enjoying my time and am actually looking forward to the upcoming trip to Chinindega.  With a busy schedule it will be really challenging but very exciting.  We will be there for 6 days and then back here for 2 and onto Costa Rica on the 6th.   I miss you all so much and can't wait to give you more updates.  Pray for our health and protection!!

 There is no place that the will of God will take you that the grace of God can’t protect you.

I LOVE THIS!!!!

This week has been a good week. Still doesn't feel like the holidays because of the lack of family. As I sit here in the early hours of the New Year I am just taken back by the amazing things God has done in my life this year. I never thought that I'd be back here in St. Croix celebrating the new year. I never thought I'd be a full time missionary in YWAM, let alone a DTS leader. The adventures I have been on this year have been nothing short of AMAZING. I am in awe when I look over the way God provided the funds for me to be here now. To see how faithful family and friends have been in supporting me blows my mind. The challenges that I have even faced from coming here have made me into a new person. Strengthened me in areas I never had any experience and given me great opportunity to minister to people here and abroad!!! I love the opportunity that I have to be here and workind daily with the students to help them grow but I am looking forward more for outreach!!!

We have had a great movie series of teaching this week on Spiritual Warfare. It is very interesting to talk about the unseen world around us. It is sometimes a subject people don't like to talk about mainly in my mind because they don't really understand it. We have taken a nice journey from the New Testament to the very beginning of the bible to Adam and Eve being temped. It is very interesting to hear talk about what led satan to rebel against God. To hear that for thousands of years he has been using the same tricks and same strategy in a sense is good to hear but disappointing also. To know that he uses the same things year after year gives me hope to know how to recognize his activity more in my life and in others. Knowing that he continues to have power and is able to rule freely over certain people groups of the world and influence people is very disheartening. We only have 1 more week of teaching before we go on outreach, exactly 2 weeks from today we will be leaving for Nicaragua!!!! I am so excited to go!!
I love outreach and I think that these students are gong to do a wonderful job. Another thing that I am looking forward to is the fact that for the 3 weeks we're in Costa Rica we will not have our director Lori with us. She needs to come home halfway through outreach to work on stuff so it wil be myself and 2 other leaders leading our first outreach together with out Lori!!! It will be a great time of growing for all of us and a fun experience I'm sure!! As the new year comes take time to reflect upon what God has done for you this year. Whether big or small we all have areas that God has moved. Reflect upon that and spend some time in prayer thanking God for his goodness and all the blessings he gave you this year.!!