Colombia: A Different Kind of Mission Trip

After our family trip to Nicaragua in 2006, my mom and I fell in love with the big brown eyes of the precious Hispanic kids.  There was no doubt in my parents' minds that one day, when I was grown and married, little Hispanic kids would be part of our family, but this happened in a very different way than anyone in my family expected, and it happened much sooner than expected as well!

The baby of our family, my little sister, was about to turn 13, and I was about to start drivers ed.  My oldest sister had just graduated high school and was getting ready to go to Community College.  We were a happy little family very comfortable with our happy little life, but when you get comfortable with your life, you can be sure that God's about to shake things up, and He sure did!  It all started with an interview on the radio with Steven Curtis Chapman.  My parents were driving back from something, probably an event at church or something, but they were in separate cars for some reason.  My dad usually listens to talk radio, but that day him and my mom were both listening to Christian radio, and they both heard the interview on the radio with Steven Curtis Chapman about the adoption of his three daughters from China.  As they were listening, in separate cars, they both heard this little voice in the back of their heads saying, "our family needs to adopt a couple brothers."  They both thought something along the lines of: "That's crazy.  We're happy with our girls, they're self-sufficient, and we're comfortable where we're at."  They talked about it a little when they got home, but pushed it off to the side and tried to forget about it.''

Sometime after that, my great aunt either received or called a wrong number, but her and this woman she didn't know ended up striking up a conversation.  Before they hung up, the woman asked my great aunt to pray for a little boy from Russia, who had not bonded with his adoptive family.  An adoption agency was looking for a new family to adopt the boy.  My great aunt send out a mass email to family and friends, including my family, asking for prayer for this little boy.  When my parents got the email they remembered that day in the car, and as scary of a thought as it was, they decided to talk with me and my sisters, get some more information, and start the adoption paper work.  Sadly, I don't remember the day my parents approached us with the idea of adoption, but from the beginning I was excited and all for this idea!  So, my parents filled out the paper work.  When filling out the paper work for this agency they had to answer the questions: "Where would you most like to adopt from?"  My parents decided to go ahead and put Latin America, even though they were moving towards adopting this boy from Russia.  A few days after the paper work got to the agency we received a phone call.  I still remember hearing the message play on our home phone answering machine.  The agency informed us that they had already found a new home for the boy from Russia, but they there were two brothers from Colombia ages 5 and 11, who they thought would be a great match for our family.  Brothers, just like both my parents had felt we were supposed to adopt, they were older, just like my parents wanted, and they were from a Latin American country like the precious children we had fallen in love with in Nicaragua.  My parents knew this was God saying "These are your boys."  From that point on my parents continued to take step after step towards adopting Mauricio and Miguel.

A year after we started the adoption process, we finally got the go ahead to go to Colombia, meet the boys, make sure we got along, fill out more paperwork, and bring them home!  We bought the tickets, planning to be in Colombia for a month, and we booked a couple hotel rooms at the Radisson Royal Hotel in Cali, Colombia!  We were there for quite a while before they let us go meet the boys.  Those few weeks felt like a vacation!  The staff at the hotel were the sweetest people ever.  They were so helpful, and by the time we left they felt like family.  We spent time swimming and working out and updating friends through facebook and email.  I remember sitting in on several meetings informing us about the boys, the kinds of foods they liked and didn't like, the things they liked to play, their best friends, and their reaction to the news that they had a family.  We kept hearing over and over that these boys were just great boys, even though the youngest was a little ornery.  We even went to the orphanage for a meeting, but didn't get to see the boys.  Finally, the day came when we were able to go to the orphanage, meet the boys, and bring them back to the hotel to begin their lives as part of our family!  My whole family gathered in a meeting room.  They had us stand facing the door that my soon-to-be brothers would walk through.  The wait seemed like forever.  The door kept opening to let teachers in who wanted to see the boys meet us for the first time.  We'd all kind of jump every time we saw it move.  At last the boys walked in carrying flowers and gifts for us!  The next moments were full of tears, smiles, and hugs!  The boys had made earrings for me and my sisters and a necklace for my mom.  They also brought us picture albums of them growing up in foster care and in the orphanage.  After that my entire family, all seven of us, went back to the hotel.


The boys went crazy playing with the various toys we had brought and the few things they had been able to take with them from the orphanage.  We also brought them to the hotel pool, where they eagerly jumped right in and swam like they had grown up in a pool.  The rest of our time in Colombia was spent trying to communicate with the boys, taking walks to parks, birthday parties, going to the zoo, visiting an old church, eating authentic Colombian food, more swimming, and lots and lots of time in the hotel rooms.

We got to go back the the orphanage with the boys, got a tour, and threw a going away party for them. When we got to the orphanage all of the kids started chanting "Mauricio y Miguel!!"  They seemed so happy for the, but they were also excited about the chocolate and pop we had brought for the party.  We talked and played with the kids while the boys played soccer.  My dad even got to pray for the kids.  It was awesome, but so sad not knowing when and if these kids would find homes like Mauricio and Miguel had.

Some of the kids at the orphanage

The day we had booked for our flight back home was fast approaching, but the paperwork to bring the boys home was not yet complete.  My dad had to get back for work, so we made the very difficult decision to send dad and my three sisters home while mom stayed in Colombia for another week with the boys.  We all cried, even the boys.  But, a week later we were all home.  The boys loved playing on the trampoline, exploring our property, and playing with the cats and our dog, Moses.




That was now three years ago, and it seems like they've been with us forever!  Some people have wondered, "how do you invite more children into your family, and love them like they are flesh and blood?"  It's easy!  God has filled my heart SO full of love for these two boys, my precious brothers!  Yes, they are your typical little brothers.  They are loud, crazy, annoying, and the older one doesn't think he can ever be wrong.  We argue, and I order them around when they get out of control.  But, I still love the, and am SO very thankful that God chose my family to be their family!  I just hope that they know how much I love them.  Yes, adoption is hard at times, especially when they speak a different language, but it is so worth it!  It breaks my heart just thinking about what would have happened if my family hadn't adopted these boys.  Adoption is beautiful, and when you think about it, we're all adopted, children of the King of Kings.

"How blessed is God!  And what a blessing He is!  He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in Him.  Long before he laid down the earths foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love.  Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!)"  Ephesians 1:3-6 (The Message)

"This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life.  It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?"  God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are: Father and children.  And we know we are going to get what's coming to us -- an unbelievable inheritance!  We go through exactly what Christ goes through.  If we go through the hard times with Him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with Him!" 

Romans 8:15-17 (The Message)

How powerful is that?!  Long before He knew us to had a plan to adopt us, and He was excited about it!  We were the "focus of His love."  Think what we would be if He hadn't made that decision to adopt us.  We wouldn't be part of God's family, and we wouldn't be able to join His family in heaven.  Think of what you were before you were adopted into His family.  You were lost, without purpose, without perfect love, confused, not knowing who you were.  But, not only has He adopted us and made us part of His family and loved us so perfectly, but He has also has promised to walk with us through every part of life, give us a full life, and an inheritance!  His Spirit is here to help us and guide us through the awesome plan God has for our lives, and also to help us to know and be confident in who we are.  We are His dearly loved Children!  We didn't do anything to deserve that!  Let that sink in.  Praise God and be thankful!  God is so good!

Me and Miguel a couple years ago heading to see some fireworks!

Me and Mauri this past June in Guatemala! 

Missions Internship: Thoughts and Lessons

Crossings

Now that I've caught you all up on Guatemala I'd like to share some thoughts I have and lessons I've learned during my internship with the Crossings Community Church Missions Department here in Oklahoma City.  It's been quite a summer!  In an earlier post I briefly described what I've been doing in my internship here, but I would like to elaborate a little more in this post.  Crossings really has some great things going on, and God is moving here!

One of the best things about this internship is being around such great leaders!  As part of the internship program, all the interns from various ministries have weekly meetings with leaders in each department of ministry in the church.  In these meetings, the church leaders explain what their ministry does, how they do it, and give us tips that they have learned from years of ministry.  The interns also all received teaching on self management, managing others, professionalism, studying the Bible, spiritual gifts, personality types, working with volunteers, etc.  And this isn't even counting what we do in our individual departments!  It's a lot to take in, and I'm still processing it all!  Good thing I took lots of notes.  The interns also got to sit in on a Ministry Staff meeting where we simply talked about the importance of spiritual discipline in ministry, the core aspects of this being Prayer, Bible Study, and Spiritual Direction: Interacting with "the flock."  In this meeting, we also shared prayer requests and prayed for each other.  I have gotten to go on a few coffee outings with the worship department and just soak up some wisdom from a few of their great leaders.  I've also had several great conversations with my boss, the missions pastor, sadly I didn't take notes during those.  I've been able to attend several mission trip prep meetings for a group going to Roatan, Honduras in October!  I just hope I can retain some of the things I've learned!  It's been a bit of an overload, but it's been great!

A few of the crazy 3rd grade boys

This summer I helped with Vacation Bible School in two different locations.  First, I led a group of 21 3rd grade boys for the VBS at the main campus of Crossings.  In total 1,150 children attended this VBS.  My job was to lead them to their different activities, sit with them and make sure they behaved during these activities, serve them snack, help them with crafts, and follow up on the lessons.  This was a crazy and exhausting week, but I really did enjoy the boys even when I felt like I was constantly telling them to stop misbehaving.  I got some hugs and even a gift card to sonic at the end, so I think they enjoyed it, too!  The teaching was great and a few of the boys had some really good comments and questions about it.  I hope I was able to help guide them closer to Jesus!

My group at Crossings Comunidad

The second VBS I helped with was with Crossings Comunidad, which is Crossing's Hispanic church.  This was very different from the VBS at the main campus.  This time I had a class of four-five 4-6 year olds.  This time I was a leader, taking them to their different activities, and a co-teacher, giving them their Bible lesson two out of the four days of VBS.  I was given a book that mostly just contained the Bible story for each day, so I got to plan visual aids, a few small games, an a couple crafts!  Overall there may have been about 50 kids.  Some spoke english, some spanish, and most were bilingual!  We had worship in both spanish and english, which I LOVED.  The kids were so sweet, and it was sad to have to say goodbye to them at the end of the week.

Some of the boys at sports camp
 found a frog

One of my buddies at sports
 camp

 On another week I helped at a Sports Camp that Crossings holds and two of their inner city partner schools in Oklahoma City.  I helped with sign-in and bracelet making, for those who either came to sports camp and didn't want to play sports or were tired of playing sports.  The kids either made bracelets with me or rotated from soccer, to kickball, to basketball, to other games like relay races and such.  After the third rotation we had a small Bible lesson to read to them before they played one more sport and went home.  A lot of the kids came from hard family situations.  With this group of kids there were many fights between them because they had to stand up for their sisters, brothers, or cousins.  You could insult these kids all you want, but you'd better not mess with their family!

One of the props we made

Get together at The Club

The things that kept me busiest in the office were planning for the Kids Bible Club, which is held for 2nd-5th grade kids at one of the inner city schools, and The Club, another Bible club for kids in 6th-11th grade that is held at Crossing's Community Center.  I've been going to meetings, looking up verses for the kids to memorize each month, finding fun ice-breaker games, organizing supplies, re-writing scripts, putting together editing weekly lesson plans, brainstorming for set ideas, among other things!  I'm pretty excited for these clubs to get going, but a little sad I won't be around to attend and help out during these clubs.  These kids are so blessed, and the missions staff and all their volunteers pour so much into these kids!  It's pretty incredible!  I got the chance to meet some of the kids from The Club last week.  We had a get together with them to catch up with them and to prepare some props for The Club! It was so fun!

Another project I've been a part of is writing a curriculum for missions education for the children's ministry at Crossings.  Every month in sunday school, the missions department takes over and teaches the kids about missions, how their church is involved in missions, and how they can be involved.  It's been fun coming up with a theme, Mission Possible, and planning fun ways to teach these kids about missions.  Each person from the curriculum writing team, including me, has been assigned 1-2 months to write the scripts for these missions weeks at sunday school.  Most of our meetings consist of the Mission Impossible theme song, invisible ink, cool sunglasses, things appearing on a zip-line to the stage, trench coats, secret agents, goofy bumper videos, Rumble the mascot of the Oklahoma City Thunder, local missions, global missions, interviews, and more!  Another instance where I get all excited about what's going to happen as I help plan for it, but I wont be around to actually see it.  I believe it will be a great year for missions education in children's ministry!

The times when I have down time in the office I spend updating my blog and reading When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, God's Love Letters to You by Dr. Larry Crabb, and Beyond the Pain by Jonathan Farrant.

I've also gotten to attend two work days at two of the inner city schools the Crossings is partnered with.  The first school work day I went to was at the beginning of my internship.  The team I was assigned to was in charge of landscaping.  We cut down TONS of dead trees and branches hanging over walkways, cleared weeds, and trimmed bushes.  There were other teams doing painting in the buildings and on the road.  A few of the students at the school helped as well.  This school is a high school, and a lot of the kids who attend have been kicked out of other schools, and this school is their last chance at getting through high school.  The kids and the Crossings team worked hard and got a lot done.  The second work day I went to was just yesterday at an elementary school.  At this school the main ministry comes in the form of teacher helpers.  Members of the congregation "adopt" a teacher and commit to praying for them and their class and coming to school twice a month.  These teachers have disclosed information to their teacher partners and asked for prayer for things they haven't told anyone else in the world.  Its such a great ministry!  But, yesterday what we did was help the teachers prepare for their first day of school, which was today!  I started the morning by helping the gym teacher write the names of each teacher in the school on basketballs, kickballs, and soccer balls.  Then I helped a teacher clean up her room, set out books, organize desks, and tape name tags to desks.  The teachers said that there was no way they could have been prepared for school if Crossings hadn't come to help.  They were so grateful.  After helping the teacher, I joined a group in the library folding flyers for the parents of the students to take home.  Most of the people who came for this work day were older, but they were so much fun!  While we folded the flyers we sang old sunday school choruses, made jokes, and had lots of laughs.  It was a great day!

I only have two more weeks here at Crossings.  It's gone by so fast!  Next weekend I will be attending the Willow Creek's Global Leadership Summit, which Crossings hosts through a live simulcast.  I'll most likely have a separate blog post about that!

As much as I've enjoyed my time here at Crossings, one of the things this internship has taught me is that I don't want to be a missions pastor.  The office experience was good, but not my calling.  There are a lot of hands on things to do, and a lot I didn't get to experience because it happens in the school year, but I don't want to have an office where I send emails and plan meetings while watching pictures of kids in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil as they come up on my picture slideshow background on my laptop.  I want to be there in those countries with those kids speaking spanish to them, teaching them about Jesus, rolling around in the dirt with them, taking care of them, sweating like crazy, taking cold showers, eating tacos, having people show up late to events, and doing ministry.  That's where I'm called.  I know it'll all happen in God's timing, but it's hard not to be impatient, and it's hard not to feel like I'm wasting my life sitting in an office or doing homework in my dorm room.  I could definitely use some prayer for patience!