For such a Time as this

The 400 year old chateau that we called home.

We thought France was going to be relaxing. We thought we would be sipping coffee, having class, and do a few casual ministry times on the streets and in a cafe or two.  But God surprised us!

On the 17th we got to experience the worst flood that the area has seen in at least 50 years!  There was a bad flood here in 2008 that everyone in town talked about previously...this one was much worse!

Before and "During"
The River rose 12 feet! 

From what I have heard, it was the equivalent of 3 months of rain in one night.  The river rose up 12 feet, flooding many bottom stories.  The water was rushing down the hill and THROUGH the chateau! It was coming up through the ground! At times we felt like we were in the titanic, with water gushing through the doorways and into the rooms. Luckily it only got knee deep.

We were and are grateful to have been here. Having the Denver team here gave 13 extra people to help move furniture, dig trenches and bail out water! Because of that there was minimal damage.  For 4 hours we threw buckets of water out the windows and doors, singing while we worked.

It was actually quite fun and exciting, a good memory! My body was achy two days later, but my spirit was happy. In the surrounding area 6 people died as well as horses, livestock and many cars. But at the chateau we were all safe and sound.

It was an experience I'll surely never forget and one that brought much bonding and unity to the teams.  I'm sad we didn't get to stay a few more days to help with moving the furniture back to the bottom floor and more cleaning. But happy to have been able to help in the time of crisis.  Praying for those who lost so much in this storm. France, you have left your mark on me!

Budapest

Budapest welcomed us with Cool weather and great views. Its one of those cities that many people dream of visiting.
Our team had a great time in Budapest. So much so that three of the girls were looking up apartments to rent hoping for a return.

View from the Cathedral.  

My adventure buddies.  Often Aubrey, JoJo, myself and Anthony would
buddy up looking for adventure!  Sometimes that included hiking up hills
to get a great view. :-)

Gulasch... yum!

I have lots of pictures from walking around the city, it seems every corner has a beautiful building or great view. Our ministry times were much more like things we'd be doing at "home". Twice a week we went out to subway stops to do " evangelism". This looked like us setting up speakers and a microphone, singing songs, performing dramas and giving short speeches on the microphone speaking of love and testimony of Gods goodness in our lives. The thing we struggled with most was lack of translators. Only on one day while doing this did we have someone available to translate.  Quite unfortunate none of us speak Hungarian. We also did two nights of bar ministry, one day of handing out sandwiches to homeless and two nights in coffee shops with one of our team members performing.

Many of the younger generation speak English, but our first day we ran into very few that we were able to communicate with. Throughout the week had some great encounters and conversations. Half of these great conversations were with Hungarians and half with tourists.

Perhaps my favorite conversation was at the end of one of our bar ministry days. An English tourist joined me in conversation and I simply shared what we were doing. He asked "so you want to convert me?" To which I replied, "no, let's just have a normal conversation, if we happen to talk about God, great! Because I love talking about God!" This allowed us to have a great 15 minute conversation, mostly about God. :)

Simpla- one of Budapest's more famous bars and where we had bible study!  Why not?

This was the day that we took sandwiches to the homeless.  We met this man.
His name is Atilla and he asked for us to pray that his wife would deliver a healthy baby.
They had already lost the last 3 babies and all he wanted was a healthy baby.
We gave him a Hungarian bible and prayed whole heartedly!

Zsofi, an amazing Hungarian girl that loved joining in the ministry times.
If I ever have a daughter- I LOVE her name!

When people I meet ask what I'm doing, I tell them spreading love around the world. "We love because he first loved us." Knowing the love of my heavenly Father is one of the greatest joys. I'm just hoping to spread that so others can experience THAT.  Along the way there have been a couple of people who have prayed for salvation, a handful who have been healed through prayer and a thousand smiles shared.

Budapest was a very different experience from Guatemala, but so good in giving a greater picture of the world and different cultures.

The least of these

A big lesson learned in a very real and tangible way.

Our last day doing a children's program at the dump. In our last 10 minutes a little girl walks up. She hasn't been at the rest of the program, but stumbled in for our ending game. It takes just a moment to see that she is different. No one knows exactly what is the reason, but her skin is dry and flaking. Was she badly burned? Is it a severe skin condition? This little girl, maybe 9 years old has her entire epidermis flaking off. Her arms, her face, her scalp.

As I reached to touch her to guide her as long in the game I had second thoughts and shrunk back. I was unsure. If I touched her would I catch something awful? And in that moment my mind went to this verse, "truly I say to you, as you did it to  one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40). In 30 seconds my brain switched gears and I wanted to hug her. I wanted to show her love. I was still cautious and wondering if I'd catch something, but if just for a moment, a little less worried about myself and a little more concerned for this very precious and often ignored child.

While experiencing all of this in Guatemala I was reading "Compelled By Love" by Heidi Baker. INTENSE! This woman is seriously crazy! A modern day Mother Theresa wanting only to Love and love fully. Many of the quotes in the book are from Mother Theresa, for sure one of my heroes.  A great quote, "Today it is very fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them." -Mother Theresa

I'm grateful that I have finally had the opportunity to talk with them. To sit on the side of the road and if for a minute experience the drear and desperation.

I pray that I won't forget this lesson as I continue in life hoping to learn a little more how to love better.

Guatemala week 2

The second week was better than the first. Some of the things experienced in the first week would be enough to emotionally scar people if they don't go in with the right attitude. On our first day ministering on the streets one of the dogs napping on the side of the road was run over right in front of our leader.  Another fun story: I was cut by cleaver. A man trying to sell silverware and knives got a little too close and cut my arm. Good news though, it was only a scratch.

We have been to the poorest, dirtiest and darkest areas of Guatemala city. We were wrecked as we gathered the children from the dump. Seeing where and how some people live
can be shocking. Our hearts cried for the women at La liña (the line) where there are rows of rooms that women rent for the day to prostitute themselves. For many, they believe it is the only way to make enough money. Most are there by choice. They have children and families that they need to provide for, and they feel this is the best way.

Week two looked a lot like week one. We went to a lot of the same areas and saw many of the  the same people.  But, being a little better acclimated, it seemed easier or better.  Everyone agreed that week two was better for us than week one. 

One morning we woke up the group of homeless youth that we had seen the week before. Perhaps the great thing about waking them up is that they hadn't had an entire day of huffing shoe glue and maybe were in a better mind. We just enjoyed hanging out with them, singing songs, I taught some English words and phrases. At the end of our time we performed some dramas and gave a few testimonies. We then prayed for those who wanted prayer and one of the boys prayed to receive Christ.  In these times its so hard to leave, but I have great comfort knowing that the Street Revolution ministry will be there to follow up every week.

Our last full day there we went to a Christian High School which was a huge blessing to everyone! My team was blessed and encouraged by the hunger of the youth there. After an hour of dramas and speaking, they skipped out on their recess time to one by one ask for prayer. Many tears were shed, especially from the Senior class who will be graduating in October. With all of life ahead, we were blessed to be able to encourage them and definitely rejoice in all of the amazing things they will accomplish!