Taking risks is something that generally always has to be done on a missions trip. There are always times on trips like this where we need to take risks. I think that when being flexible with a schedule is where the most risks are taken. And on this trip we are going to have to be very, very flexible. So we just need to see what God does.

June 21

Jesus loves it when we take risks for Him. As humans we naturally really do not like taking risks that might hurt us somehow, or deprive us of our resources, but God honors when we do take these risks. For example: You are in a tight financial spot, but your family has always given money to support finacially those missionaries around the world. You just keep giving and trust that God will provide. These are the kinds of risks people take. But honestly, there are more "dangerous" ones, ones that require maybe even giving up your life, but God honors every risk taken for His glory and the advacement of His kingdom. No one ever said that things would be easy, and that negative things would never happen, but that is part of living the Kingdom, and living for God and serving God.

June 14

Honestly, I think that risks are good. Obviously if your smart about them. Taking risks for Christ is something amazing, and can be so powerful. I think that on this trip we will be taking some risks, but since we are in a place where you can worship freely, the risks wont be s dramatic. If we feel like we need to take risks for Christ, then we do them. Risk taking is something that requires guts and faith, and I think our team really has that.

June 14

I think that the point is that on a short term missions trip, you cannot expect to "change the world," but you can expect to plant a seed. Change is something that takes time, and especially when you are talking about a whole community. Mancora is a community of people that really need the Gospel. We can go for ten days, and be Christ to the people of Mancora, but that does not mean that they will completely change in a week. The reason we go back to Mancora every year is because people need nurturing. To help this chruch body and community grow, we need to be consistant. We can plant seeds, but with every time we go back, those seeds are closer and closer to becoming flowers, which is our purpose on these shrot-term missions trips.

June 14

Well, you never know what could happen to you. I guess that is the "scary" part for me. Last time we went to Mancora it seemed very peaceful and nice, which im sure it is, but you never know when something could happen to you. I think the thing that will most "affect" us is the facat that we are extrangeros. Immediately people assume things, and that is just unavoidable. We look different, and stand out, and might be the "center of attention," which we do not want, but in a community like that is unavoiable. So I think the whole safety thing is the biggest concern for out team, even though I believe we will be perfectly safe, it is something we need to keep our eyes open to. I do not feel uncofrtable or worried about this issue, we just need to be smart and alert.

June 7

You know, I think that what the article said about us as Americans/Panamanians going ito a poor culture and staying places we can afford is true. You see many times mission groups going to a place and just staying the whole time in a place that is comfortable for them. On this trip we are going to be staying in a place for a couple of nights that we are not used to. It is not like home. But it is not about your comfort, but instead the work your doing their. I think it is good that we get to experience what the people in Mancora experience every day.

June 7

I guess I was just reminded of God's diversity. How God loves all nations and tongues. Well honestly i think that many African cultures are similar. They have similar music, and song, and also they are both from the African continent. I think that the Galvez family is in fot the ride of their lives. They are faced with many challenges. One of the big things that they will face toward the beginning of their time with the Jahango is just the language barrier. They will have to learn both French and Jagango. Another thing that thay will face is just the change in culture. Andres has already experienced and had a taste of the real Jahango culture. But I think that the kids and Diana are really going to have to adjust to this factor.

I think that the most important thing we can do to take a step in the right direction is loving the people of Mancora. I know I have said we need to love the people of Mancora many times, but I say it because I honestly think that it is true. The other thing that I think we can do to take a step in the right direction is simply pray. And that is something that the church body at Crossroads can do.

It is important for our missions trip to be more than just sanctified tourism because that is not our point at all in taking this trip. I think that it is ok to get to know the place you are working, the culture etc... But I think that our purpose is much bigger. Our purpose is to help a broken community. We need to just ask God to give us right hearts.

One of the main ideas that stuck out to me was the following:

"Missing our Brothers and Sisters."

May 24: Part 2

Mr. Edmonds message on Sunday was actully pretty interesting. His message had many, many facts about his personal missions work, and much of it was very true. He said that we are living what God had said, that we would need to go into every nation and spread the word and love of christ to all nations. He has traveled all over the world.

We need to follow Christ. We need to do our best to be an image of Christ. Being an image of Christ means we do what Christ did, and he went through the nation and loved people. I think that if we are going to make disciples, all we need to do is love people.

May 24

I think that Jeff's questions were actually very well asked. I honestly would not have thought of those questions. What I want to get out of this trip is actully very simple, I want God to teach me anything He wants to. I am going to Peru to continue the job i have here in Panama as a servant, and want God to speak to me in a very intimate and personal way.



I think that Jeff's question about the serving is a very good one. It actually made me think about some of my previous answers, and made ma change the way that I think about our trip to Mancora.

may 24: Jeff's challenge

Well, these statements are different because we are already servants. The moment we took the step of faith to put our lives in the hands of Christ we became servants. So, that means that we are just continuing our servant lives. We are simply continuing the jobs we have here at home, but with people that we do not necesarily know. Jesus told his disciples to go and tell the world about Him and his love. He told them to tell EVERYBODY, including people they did not know.



We need to go to Peru with the mindset that we are building a long-term realationship with the people of Mancora.



2) The question I would have to ask is:

1) What is wrong with the world

I know that this is a question may seem a bit weird, but I think it is a perfectly valid one. The answer to this question is very simple, The world dos not have Jesus. Many people have heard the name of Jesus, but conciously decide not to obey and follow him. I feel God just telling me to be willing to do anything for Him. To be flexible and patient.

May 17

Some of the ideas in this article that surprised me were:

1)"Africa's crisis is not poverty, it's not AIDS. Africa's crisis is confidence."

2) "You never discover how racist you are until you have the opportunity to be a racist."


Thses 2 facts apply becaus we live in Latin America, and we are not racist, so we are just spending time with the people there, and showing them that we love them.

As I said before, the whole racism idea will not apply to us on this trip because we already live among people very similar to the people of mancora.

May 17: Commitments

Honestly, I do not really disagree with any of the commitments. These commitments can actually help us to a great extent.

Two commitments that stuck out to me were

1) That short-term missions is actually a time for us to learn as well. These trips are for God to do a work in our lives as well.

2)We are to humble ourselves as the servents of God and also the people we are serving. As we are in Peru to serve, we need to serve with humble hearts, so people can see a difference in us.

I agree with these two statements because it is just plainly true. If you think about it, if you do missions without a humble heart, then why are you even there. To be humble means to put others before yourself, and that is what missions is, putting a specific group of people that you have come to love as more important than yourself.

May 10: 3rd post

As I said before, I just want God to do something unexpected in my life. I really just want to grow in Christ. Learn new things, and strengthen my relationship with Christ. I want to come back just knowing that Christ and I have been getting to know each other much better. So honestly, I want God to shape me and mold me how he wants to. Basically, I just want Him to mold me into a 17 year old after His heart.

Objectives

1) "Furnish participants a chance to explore vocational calling and nurture spiritual growth"

2) "Assist participants in learning to work well within a team that must strategize and plan ministry programs together and then function effectively in a foreign culture"

3) "Give participants direct experience in planning and implementing effective cross-cultural service"

These are the three things I hope I have.


On this trip I just want to be able to serve people. I know that God is somehow going to do something in my life. I dont know how, but he will. To me it does not matter if it is big or small, I just want to be able to be that light to peole, and come back having learned something awesome and brand new.

May 10: Outcomes

I strongly agree with this outcome: The world is hungry for Jesus, and there are many ways we can be Jesus to the world." To me this is something that is very simple to do if you really want to. It means that we jsut need to love people with all of our hearts, and fill their needs. We need to commit time to these people, just like Jesus would. Christians need to understand this because it is somethin very simple that can be done, even in our own comunities. Just be a blessing to people. Plant a seed in their lives.

Assumptions

I agree with the first assumption: "Missions is about living in light of our position as image-bearers of God. It’s about giving people a living picture of who God is, what He cares about, and how He acts. It’s about giving other people a picture of what a group of people obeying God looks like. It’s a way for us to join with a long legacy of God’s people in making Him known to all the world." I agree with this because Christ has commanded us to be an image of Him. It is simply something we should want to do to honor God and serve others. All wee need to do is love people just like Jesus would, and be open and there for people anytime.

I agree with assumption number 6: "Our mission trips usually assume we have something to offer the churches and communities we visit, but there is much to learn from them as well." I agree with this one because of personal experience. It is the simple truth, we have so much to learn from the poeple we are going to serve. One thing we can do is simply go to Mancora wanting to learn something new from the people of Mancora.

And I also agree with the one that says: "The way we anticipate a situation will strongly influence how we engage in it." I agree with this because if you go into a situation with a bad atittude, generaly you will have a bad atittude through the whole activity. How you think that a situation will turn out is how you will act during the situation. The way we can put this into practice is simply having a good atittude and being flexible all the way through the trip.

May 3: Assumptions

There is one assumption that I do not agree with. It is that " We cannot truly serve those we do not know and love." Jesus served and loved anyone, even if he did not know them personally. Once you do get to know people, it is obviously easier to minister to them, but you can always at least try. Just give it a shot. Some people all they want is love, and even if we don't know them, we can show the love of Christ to them. We need to be open to share the character of Christ with absolutely everybody.

Letter to myself

Hey!
God is doing lots of things in my life to prepare me for this trip. He is showing me things in His word that I can apply to my daily life, and that I can for sure apply on this trip. But most importantly, he has been showing me how I can just be a light to the people in Mancora, Peru. He has been showing me that all I need to do to make a huge impact in the life of the people of Peru is just to love them. I just need to be like Jesus. No matter the circumstances, I need to have a good atittude and love on these people. I feel that it is imprtant for me to go for two basic reasons, because I want to spread the word of God, and I want to love on the people of Mancora, Peru. I can honestly not say how I will come back, except for the fact that God will have spoken to me in some way, and that is just the honest truth.

How God is working in my family, my church, my city,and my country

I see God at work in many ways in my family. He teaches us new things every day, and it is exciting to be learning. For me, honestly, one of the ways God is working in our family is just the fact that we are spending much quality time together. God has taught us how to work together and how to spend time with Him as a family. God is at work at CBC in many ways as well. There are so many examples of ways he is working. Some of these are through the missions comittee, the curundu project, crossfire, small groups, the childrens ministry, and so much more. Although we may not see it because we are so caught up in our own things, God is working in all of these ministies in ways that it blesses the church family incredibly.
God is at work in Panama city as well. There are Churches that are starting, and people that are going out and spreading the Gospel to the people of Panama. One way that I can really see God working in Panama is just through all of the big time Chrisitian artists that come through Panama. Here people go to these concerts and events even tough it is a Christian event, but leave with a new seed planted in their hearts. Panama is a place that has the word of God in the palm of its hand, the thing is, the people have got to want it. I think that God is just patiently waiting for the people of panama to take it. God has blessed Panama with people that absolutely love Him with all of their hearts, and planted the desire in the hearts of these people to reach out to Panama. Panama has a long way to go, but God is in control, and has an absolutely perfect plan.

Summary

1)What role do you typically exercise on a team?

I am a person that will do what I am told. I don't always like to lead a group, but I love contributing and helping a group. I am a very flexible person, and love to just serve. I am good at just being there for people whenever they need help. In some things I absolutely love to be the leader, but in others, I feel that it is my job just to let someone else lead and me just do everything that I can to help out.

2)What should members of this team know about you in order to work with you as best as they can?

Members of this team need to know that they can talk to me freely without expecting a bad reaction. One thing that helps me a lot is contructive criticism. Actually, that would help me a lot. You need to know that I am a very easy going person. So, in other words, working with me should be fairly easy. They can count on me for pretty much anything.

3)How might God be bringing together your personality type and your spiritual gifts for use in his kingdom?

Like I said before, I think that God is bringing me personality and my spiritual gifts together just to better His kingdom. I can talk to people without beeing nervous or scared, and to spread the word of God to the nations. I just want everybody to be able to hear the Gospel and accept it, and love God with all of their hearts. That is my desire, and I think that is how God is going to bring together my spiritual gifts and personality type, simply to further His Kingdom.

Spiritual gifts and Personality combined

I bet there are many ways that my personlaity and my spiritual gifts could work together, but there is one big way that hops rigt out at me, and that is the combo =) of me being extroverted and serving. This is a huge advantage in my point of view. If I am an extroverted person, and I love serving, then it is the perfect match. I think this is one of the ways that God will use me on this trip. I can just be flexible, and do things for others and not have to worry about myself or what is going to happen to me or even what I am going to get out of it. I can do all of this with a thankful heart knowing that other people are benefitting greatly from what God is doing through me.

Spiritual Gifts

My 3 highest spiritual gifts were 1) service 2)helping and 3)faith. My 3 lowest ones were 1)Ekcbalism 2)tongues and 3) miracles.

When these conclusions came up I was I guess not that surprised. But I honestly take them as a reminder. I already knew two of my top three spiritual gifts, the helping and service ones. I just naturally love to help people in whatever ways i can and really enjoy doing it. I also love to help. I think that helping and serving go along very close, but i love doing both of these. One of the reasons I am going on this trip is actually because i LOVE to serve and help. God has put that into my heart and I ove it! I was a little surprised that faith was one of the top ones. Obviously, since I am a Christian I have faith in God, but honestly, i tend to sometimes not put my whole trust and faith in Him, and that is something He (God) has been showing me.

My Three lowest ones I can actually understand as to why they are my lowest. And you know, if God ever wanted me to be able to do any of those things then GREAT! But as of right now I am not, so God has control over that.

test post

hi jeff!! srry ppl this was a test thing that jeff asked me to do...

April 19: Personality Test

I am an ESFJ. This means that I am an Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging person.
The ways that I can contribute to the team are: I get things done by the deadline, make sure everyone feels accepted and their needs are met, maintanig good relationships and building team spirit, keeping the team informed and asking all team members for contributions and coming to a consensus decision, being respectful, and making sure people are happy.

The ways I can hurt a team are: talking to much, thinking I know all the needs of others, avoiding conflict and not giving criticism when it is needed, not paying attentions to my own needs, beeing reluctant to try new things.