tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41602474015179578692023-11-15T06:11:17.646-08:00Ven ConmigoCharlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-86412455130362664582012-08-24T15:32:00.002-07:002012-08-24T15:34:13.262-07:00CopacabanaOn our way back from Bolivia, we stopped in this town for a day just to rest. It's this picturesque little place on the shore of Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru. We first took a train, and then a bus, and finally a boat to Copacabana. Every hostel and hotel was booked, so we stayed in some manager's apartment for the night. Meanwhile, the streets, framed with hundreds of merchants, were flooding with people all the way down the Lake. There was garbage on the ground and sailboats on the water. What sparked our curiosity, however, were the rather atypical items up for purchase on the street: llama fetuses, petrified eagle talons, bottles of worms, good luck charms made of melted foil and many other oddities.<br />
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The Holy Spirit definitely drew my attention towards these things. Something felt dark about Copacabana. Similar to the way the brothel in San Jose felt dark. I felt called to explore this further, so Aryk, Lennart, Chris and I went around town investigating. Chris and Aryk prayed protection over Lennart and I from a distance as we asked the various merchants what was the purpose behind these peculiar relics.<br />
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Interestingly enough, we discovered, our group arrived here just in time for an Incan holiday. The name escapes me right now, but it's a pilgrimage to this certain hillside overlooking the Lake where one makes a sacrifice to the mother-earth goddess Pachamama (who lived in this region, apparently) for good fortune or to curse those who've wronged them. This information was gathered after half a day of observation and inquiring of the locals; we had no idea when we had first arrived.<br />
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The sacrifice was purchased in a strange, up-hill sequence. First, the pilgrim would buy a special paper, flowers and candy for their altar. Then, a llama fetus (Pachamama's favorite animal, according to some local woman) and some other animal part was purchased. A statue of a catholic saint, or the Virgin Mary would stand in the center with the llama. As they ascended the hill, they would purchase toy replicas of houses, people, animals or cars, depending on what they wanted from Pachamama. At the top of the hill, they required the blessing of both an Incan Shaman and a Catholic Priest, before dowsing the altar wine and setting it ablaze. Marijuana may or may not be a requirement, but it was definitely pungent in the air. It was a very detailed and precise ritual, which had to be done correctly, otherwise Pachamama wouldn't help them.<br />
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Something we unanimously felt in our spirits was this sense of oppression. These people had to come to this specific town, on a specific hill to make a very specific sacrifice to a specific goddess who wouldn't surely deliver them what they were looking for. It seemed like such bondage. Jesus was with us everywhere. We could come to Jesus in any situation or condition. We didn't need to bring anything special. These people were slaves to a ritual and tradition.<br />
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We decided to go to the top of the hill and pray for the city's spiritual freedom. As we ascended, the road became narrower and packed with people. The air became thick with marijuana and the smoke of the offerings. We could hear singing in Quechua, and saw families huddled around their altars. I started to get a panic attack, for a few minutes, but my friends prayed it away. When we reached the top, we sat and overlooked the glittering lake and prayed for the freedom of Jesus.Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-19731380828886179992012-08-24T14:08:00.002-07:002012-08-24T14:08:18.411-07:00UyuniWe arrived early in the morning, after a bumpy and chilly overnight ride from La Paz in Uyuni. This is the farthest I've ever been from home. 5,373 miles from Redwood City. The sun hadn't risen yet, and it was absolutely freezing outside. Bundled up and shivering, my team and I hobbled around like penguins trying to find our hostels. The twelve of us were spit into three groups of four for backpacker ministry. All of them were closed! Nothing was else was open either; no cafes or stores had even their lights on. There were literally no people awake at 6am.<br />
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All of the sudden, an angel bearing good news rounded the corner. A local man named Geronimo appeared to us on the street, greeted us in English and invited us to his restaurant for breakfast. Apparently, he was the only business owner who opened early. He enticed us with pancakes and hot chocolate, and won us over with his alleged heating system. So we all followed him around the corner to his restaurant La Vicuña where we had an awesome, warm breakfast. The restaurant was actually a part of Geronimo's house, so it had this really cozy atmosphere<br />
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I was still feeling sick. The cold weather discouraged me to drink, so I hadn't been. I was dehydrated. Walking around was so surreal; I felt like nothing was real and like I didn't have a body. So weird. I went back to the hostel to sleep it off, but not before my German friend Robin prayed over me.<br />
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I woke up later that day to find God's plan for us hear had already began to unfold. I went back to Geronimo's restaurant where everyone was still hanging out and learned that Geronimo was a Christian. After I left La Vicuña, he asked my friends what a motley crew of Europeans, North Americans, a Latino and an Aussie were doing together in Uyuni. They told him how we were on mission and specifically wanted to love on the backpackers, and he delightfully shared that he had the same desire. For many years, he felt a strong calling on his life to love the travelers who came through his town. He offered up his restaurant for whatever we needed, so it became our "headquarters" for the week.<br />
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I don't remember who came up with it, but the next day we decided to host these hang outs for the wandering travelers to escape the cold and enjoy a thrifty hot drink and snack. Geronimo provided tea, coffee, bread and fruit for us to give out for free to anyone who wanted it. We did some awkward and bashful promoting first, passing out flyers for the restaurant, and waited for people to show up. Pretty soon, we had people from all over the world coming in and out of La Vicuña at the curious prospect of hospitality. Some of us served drinks, some of us just hung with the backpackers. They all would ask us why this was going on, and we told them it was because Jesus loved them and wanted them to be warm and fed and safe. That was good enough for them!<br />
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We had so many good conversations, heard so many exciting stories and made a few friends, too. Chris and I met this Irish couple who had been traveling around the world for the last year. The four of us spent like 3 hours hanging out, and eventually went out to dinner with them. Chris and I tried to pay for their dinner, but they wouldn't let us. Instead, we just prayed for their journey and said good bye.<br />
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Another ministry option we had planned before we met Geronimo was to minister to backpackers on the Salar tours. This is why people come to this random little town; there is a gigantic salt flat outside the town that stretches as far as the eye can see. It's so alien and bizarre compared to anything I've seen, so I'm not surprised by its popularity. Tourists go in jeeps and drive through the expansive salt flat, making stops at an old train yard, an island covered in cactus, a hostel made purely out of salt, an ancient Incan cemetery, animal-looking rock formations, a frozen lagoon and herds of llamas. It's pretty incredible.<br />
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Dave and Scott went in one jeep, while Robin, Chris and I went in another. Dave and Scott had some troubles with their driver, who was drinking rum and coke while driving. Thankfully nothing bad happened; they actually got to minister to a French-Canadian couple through the situation. We, however, enjoyed a smooth ride with the company of an elderly french couple and a prospective medical school student from the states. It was wonderful to meet them, and to swap stories of our travels. The French couple was just on vacation; the American girl had been studying Spanish in Argentina, and was finishing her time abroad with a bang by sightseeing up the west coast of South America. Her next stop after this was Machu Picchu.<br />
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I had the honor of sharing my story with her, and hers with me. It was sweet. I don't ever realize how much I love Jesus until I verbalize the journey He's taken me on. When I told her my testimony in the jeep, I was getting so excited to walk with the Lord. Hopefully my story could encourage her.<br />
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When we came back from the two-day tour, we had a goodbye dinner with Geronimo and his family. He also invited the pastor of his church, as well as a Brazilian tour guide to join us. The three men all shared the same vision; to make the Salt Flat the "salt of the Earth." Our presence in Uyuni inspired them to be intentional with the visitors to their town. For Geronimo, he decided to continue to welcome the tourists the way he'd done this week with his business. The pastor wanted to encourage his congregation to do the same. The Brazilian wanted to be a light in the tourism field, after hearing about our drunk driver story.<br />
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<br />Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-18225478694582230902011-08-29T17:35:00.000-07:002011-08-29T17:43:30.243-07:00La Paz<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">It was another 18 hour bus ride from Cuzco to La Paz, and I unfortunately didn’t sleep at all. The ride was freezing and bumpy. The Americans had an annoying, but finally successful time trying to obtain visas. We had ascended significantly higher, too, so it was so much colder here than Cuzco, and no one was feeling any better from the altitude change. As soon as we arrived, our host, Pastor Tito, put us to work. This week we helped him with his children ministry and homeless ministry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">He would take us to various neighborhoods on the edge of La Paz to play with the kids. Playing soccer at 4000 meters is no easy task, let me tell you, especially if you’re not athletic. We put a couple shows on for them, acting out Bible stories to illustrate Jesus’ love for them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">At night, Pastor Tito would take us out to feed and clothe the homeless. The homeless here would pitch make-shift tents out of tarp and all huddle together in huge groups to keep warm. Tito would invite them to come out of their tents to receive a hot drink and some bread. We got to pray for them and hug them and tell them that they were loved. They told us how unusual it was for them to receive such simple care, as most people either ignore or abuse them because they are poor.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On the first night of homeless ministry, God really revealed to me His heart for people. I was feeling really sick from all of our traveling. My body was so fatigued from the altitude, and I was still extremely nauseas. It was freezing outside, and even windy. I did not want to be out there feeding the homeless. I was sick. I was tired. I had to go to the bathroom every five minutes. I just wanted to go to bed! Try as I might, I could not seem to really focus on what we were doing. I wasn’t really present, and therefore not fazed by what I saw. I was pouring the drinks, I was laying hands to pray, I was embracing my fellow man in my arms. Unfortunately, I think my willingness was subconsciously a device to distract myself and make the time go faster. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we finally did get ready to go back to the house, we stumbled across a man standing up against a wall and sleeping. To my slight disappointment, we stopped and offered him food and drink. Two of my friends gave him some of their clothes to keep him warm, as he didn’t have any layers on besides his shirt. We didn’t quite catch his name; he was drunk and babbling all kinds of nonsense as he accepted our gifts. The other four Spanish speakers and I were the only ones who understood him, and it wasn’t worth translating for the other five who didn’t. He kept going on and on, and it seemed we would be standing out in the cold forever.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We stood there listening to him for so long. I kept looking at my watch, and hopped up and down a few times to keep warm. Out of nowhere, my friend Scott turned to me and told me to pray, so I did. Before I could even convey anything to the Lord, He told me something that silenced my private complaints.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">God told me this:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Charlie, I see you. I know you’re sick. I know you’re tired. I know that because of this you don’t want to hear what his man has to say. Luckily, you’ll be going back to your bed very soon to rest and you won’t have to listen to him anymore. But I want you to know that I will still be here, listening to him. To every drunken word that comes out of his mouth, every beat of his heart, and every thought in his mind. I will be here listening to him until his last breath, because he is precious to me. He's precious to me just like you are precious to me.
<br /></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And so there I saw the heart of God standing before me, leaning against a wall in the Bolivian winter. This is what God values. This is what He cherishes. People.
<br /></p> Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-63283166695365859562011-08-25T16:39:00.001-07:002011-08-25T16:42:37.713-07:00Layover in Lima and Cruising through Cuzco<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> 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mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">How refreshing to step off the plane into such chilly weather! I was reminded of our winter back home in the Bay Area; thick clouds over heard, a little breezy and around 60 degrees. We got to Lima expecting to leave the next day for Cuzco, but we found out our bus got canceled. So we ended up staying an extra day. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">This unexpected change of plans gave us some time to walk the streets and pray for God’s leading again. This time around, my friends and I were able to feed and pray for the homeless. Our “layover” also gave us time to hang out with a British girl named Beth, who was heading to up to Ecuador, a Dutch girl named Maaike who had just arrived to Peru to travel for the summer. It was cool, because they both were alone in Lima, so we were able to show love to them by inviting them to be apart of what we were doing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So we took the 22 hour bus ride from Lima to Cuzco. It was an overnight bus, and when we woke up the next day, we were all feeling horribly sick from the altitude change. We had ascended almost 4000 meters in less than a day. When we got to Cuzco, we found out that our contacts there weren’t prepared for us, so we prayed and decided to go to Bolivia first, and come back to Cuzco later.</p><p class="MsoNormal">While our leaders were buying our bus tickets, they called us from the station to inform us that all the Americans had to purchase a $140 visa to enter the country, which was an unexpected expense of $420 our team had to raise in 15 minutes. None of the Americans had the money themselves, but we felt like God wanted us to go anyway so we prayed about giving to one another.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Everyone who felt lead to give submitted an anonymous amount of money, and it turned out to be exactly the amount we needed.
<br /></p> Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-76696933759244196572011-08-25T07:30:00.001-07:002011-08-25T07:30:22.874-07:00Panama City<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Our group had finally split up. Half of us drove north to Honduras, and I went with my team south to Panama. This was our last stop in a hot climate until we returned to Costa Rica. We took an 18 hour bus ride to the capital, where we stayed with the YWAM base. This week was a laborious one where we worked to help support a school that YWAM started. It was a bilingual elementary school that sought to love the kids of a poor neighborhood. We spent two or three days cleaning up the school yard while the kids were in class. We moved out a massive pile of scrap metal and broken wood from the yard and took it to the dump (a pile of garbage on the side of the road). Some of us pulled weeds, and some worked on making an overhang to protect a walkway against the heavy rainfall of panama. We also moved this mound of dirt to the other side of the yard to fill some spots that had flooded.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we were finished with that, we did some yard work for the base for a day, due to their shortness of staff.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One day we went to a neighborhood basketball-slash-soccer court and fixed it up. We repaired the fence around it, repainted the backboards and cleared out the weeds. No one from the neighborhood was there, though, so we didn’t get a chance to use the court.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The last night before we left, we went downtown to try and evangelize. There was no plan, we were just supposed to ask God what to do. I tried buying food for a homeless man, but when I returned with the food he had disappeared. Some friends and I even went looking for him, but couldn’t. We ended our time worshipping together at this sea-front park before leaving for Lima the next day.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">My favorite part of the whole week was during lunchtime at the school one day when we were working. We put down our shovels and played tag with the kids for a half an hour. It was so awesome to take a break from physical labor just to relate and socialize with the people we were serving. Most of our time this week was just spent working, so it was really refreshing to finally interact with someone. And who better to hang out with that these energetic, smiling children?</p> Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-34703649907488867042011-08-24T08:41:00.000-07:002011-08-25T06:44:36.213-07:00Puerto Viejo<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> 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0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Before splitting up into our Central and South American Outreach teams, the whole group headed to the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica to a happening little town called Puerto Viejo, to do ministry for two weeks. This time together was so rich; it was one of my favorite trips during my time in Latin America. We stayed at a Baptist church and worked alongside one of the elders, a local restaurant owner named Orlando, and his Greek wife Ismini.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We spent the first week with little direction, trying to figure out what to do, since Orlando didn’t have very much planned out for us. Throughout the week, we went on several prayer walks, asking God to reveal to us what we should do. It was frustrating because He didn’t seem to have anything to say. A side from some sanding and painting at the church, we did some trash clean up on the streets of the little town, and tried to bless the people by offering free iced tea while we washed their bikes. We also spent a day helping Orlando clean out his restaurant so he could re-open it. Some of us went with Ismini overnight to hang out with a group of kids from the next town. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">As time went on, though, the Lord crossed our paths more and more with different people who were able to serve. A few of us got connected with a Skate Ministry, and spent a lot of time connecting with the kids there. We had a huge dinner for the homeless one night, which was delicious.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One night after dinner, we went out for ice cream at this cafe and made friend with the Dutch shop-owner. God put it on someone’s heart to ask him how we could bless him. We came back the next day, explained who we were and asked him if there was anything he needed. After looking at us, dumbfounded and speechless, he told us he was a “very-well-thought-out atheist.” We told him that wasn’t a problem, so he began preparing a list for us. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">A couple days later we returned to his shop to get to work. Kees had much he wanted to get done; he had bought the shop a few months ago, and the previous owner left a bit of mess for him to clean up. The shop had no sign anymore, and the fold-out sign he had was too heavy to bring in and out every day. The outside seating area was eroding into the sea. All of his tables and chairs were wobbly and all of the paint was chipping off. His bathroom needed cleaning. This bench at his bar was dangerously close to collapsing. Kees had quite a bit on his plate, so all eighteen of us got to work. Some guys built a dam with logs at the edge of the seating area to keep it from eroding. Many worked on repairing, sanding and painting the tables and chairs. Some of our girls spent a few days designing and painting a logo for what is now known as “Dam Good Coffee Co.” (dam, as in Amsterdam, where Kees is from.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kees was so grateful for the help that he cooked us a free lunch in return for our services. He thanked us ceaselessly, and always greeted us so warmly whenever he ran into us around town. He became a really good friend of ours throughout our stay. Whenever we had any downtime, we would hang out with him at his shop and got to know him really well. It was actually really hard to finally leave after two weeks; Kees came running out to meet us at the bus stop to give us all hugs good bye.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I was amazed at the timing of this interaction. Kees had shared with us that he was very busy, and had neither the time nor the money to accomplish anything on his list. Business was slow this time of year, so he didn’t have the funds for anything extra besides the rent. He only had one employee, and he worked the shop from morning until night seven days a week. On top of all this, Kees’ Australian girlfriend, who he “loved to bits”, was moving out of Costa Rica to study, most likely never to return. He was undeniably in a hard spot. God knew this, and because He loves Kees, He sent us to help him get some things done and out of the way so he could rest a little easier. We didn’t know all this when we asked him, but we knew God wanted to bless him. It was such a pleasure to see it unfold.
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, if you’re ever in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, I would highly recommend visiting Dam Good Coffee Co. which is right along the beach as you enter town. You’ll be met by a very friendly Dutch man who sells amazing fair trade coffee and organic ice cream.</p> Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-52868179761997944352011-08-24T08:37:00.000-07:002011-08-24T08:40:04.229-07:00Niko<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> 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mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">This was a five-day excursion in Talamanca before the beginning of outreach. I’m not supposed to talk about any specifics because it’s a tradition for all DTS students at the San Jose base, and the secrecy is a part of the experience. So in case anyone who is reading this is planning on, or even has the possibility of doing a Niko Camp, I am going to write very briefly and discretely about my experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Niko was insanely difficult. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually difficult. It’s like a boot camp of sorts, characterized by a million rules, consequences, surprises and pushups. There were many challenges presented to us, and I didn’t know how to do anything. Nothing at all. All I could do is walk. So I did. A lot. Up mountains. Through the jungle. Across rivers. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It was very hot and humid, even at night. I was wet the entire time, either by sweat or by river water. We smelled horrible, because we didn’t shower and we weren’t allowed to bring deodorant. We didn’t eat or sleep very much. Our bodies were so sore from all the activities, and we literally passed out every night when it was finally time to sleep.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I saw a lot of beautiful things in the jungle, and learned a lot of really hard lessons. Specifically, I learned that it’s okay to make mistakes, and that I am in fact capable of anything with God’s help.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I know this is so vague. Please ask me more about it in person.</p> Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-845248108115730862011-08-23T16:27:00.000-07:002011-08-23T16:43:45.919-07:00Back to the BaseHey everyone! I'm finally back in San Jose. Just wanted to let you guys know I'm doing really well, for the most part. I'm still getting over a cold. Everyone arrived late last night; it was such a delight to see our group reunited. We stayed up way too late just hanging out and reconnecting.
<br />
<br />
<br />I have a lot to tell you guys...so be ready for an onslaught of blog posts within the next couple days. Due to the complexity of my experiences the last two months, I don't think it's gonna be possible to tell everything in great detail. Believe me, I'd love to...but I wouldn't be able to do it before I arrived home on Friday. So, I'm gonna use the following formula to tell you about my adventures:
<br />
<br />1. Location
<br />2. Ministries
<br />3. Highlight
<br />
<br />I'm really excited to tell you all what I've been up to. Hopefully you've kept up with my sporadic Facebook statuses. Stay tuned for some posts.
<br />Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-88509738097233731492011-07-04T05:17:00.000-07:002011-07-17T08:15:16.386-07:00Quick Prayer UpdateHey guys. I'm not gonna have the chance to update until August, since I'm not bringing my laptop with me.<br /><br />We're going to Panama for a week by bus, then to Lima by plane. From Lima we bus down to Cuzco for a week before driving to La Paz and other parts of Bolivia for two weeks. We'll end in Lima and fly back to San Jose.<br /><br />Pray for us to have God's eyes and heart for whoever He crosses our paths with.<br /><br />Miss you, everyone.Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-33615894417914128772011-06-25T13:06:00.001-07:002011-06-25T13:06:49.543-07:00Last Lecture<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> 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Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I didn’t think I’d get the chance to write this week, but there’ve been a change of plans. We were supposed to leave for Puerto Viejo on Friday night, but a lot of people were still feeling sick, so our staff decided to leave Sunday morning instead.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We mostly were in class this week, but we did go to one of the Homes of Hope projects to lay a foundation. It was kind of awkward, because it absolutely did not require all eighteen of us. There was also a lot of rain, so we ended up only working for like two or three of the six we were supposed to. It was fun. I wish we could have done more, though.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This week’s teaching was superb. Our speaker was John Stenson, of Wisconsin, and he talked about evangelism. John reminded me a lot of Chris Gothold, one of PCC’s former high school pastors. He had a very non-linear teaching style. In the onslaught of wisdom thrown my way, I’ve found my whole idea of evangelism being completely redefined.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jesus came to earth as a man to represent Himself to His creation. As Christ-followers, we’re called to be imitators of Jesus and therefore His representatives. Our lives should communicate the God’s good news for mankind; the good news that we can walk in freedom with our Creator.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What really challenged my perspective this week was the idea that evangelism is communicating God’s character, and not necessarily eliciting a response. I’ve always thought of evangelism as including the response, so I’ve shied away from sharing Jesus with people because I was afraid it wouldn’t provoke the life-changing decision that is expected. According to John, that’s not what it’s about. It’s all about sharing about who God is. That’s it. That alone, over time, will produce transformation. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">John showed us two really cool images to illustrate this. First, he took a hammer and started pounding away at a rock. With each blow, the rock crumbled little by little until there was nothing left. This was meant to represent people’s walls they have to the gospel, and how no single interaction or encounter with God or His people will break those walls. Rather, a consistent exposure to God will do break apart the things that keep people from Him. The second image was scoring a goal in a soccer game. John set us up on a field and told us to pass a ball to one another to score a goal. We kicked the ball all the way down the field until the last person could kick it in. This showed us that the burden of sharing Christ is not on our shoulders as individuals, but as a team. We each have a part to play, but the victory does not hang on one person.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why do we evangelize? Why do we tell people about Jesus? Because He wants everyone to know Him. He values every human being, as wants a relationship with them. We are precious to Him. We will never meet someone who is not completely loved and cherished by God. We should never pass up an opportunity to communicate this to people. God can use the smallest action to bless someone. A smile. A hug. Looking someone in the face. A kind word. We should never underestimate the small things.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Like I told you guys earlier, this was our last week of the Lecture Phase. No more classes. Our adventure pretty much begins this coming Monday in the jungles of Talamanca. We’ll be doing what is known as a “Niko Camp”, which is a week-long trip into the wilderness to prepare us for Outreach. It’s completely a secret, so I have no idea what is going to happen.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Roughly, my schedule will be the following. Immediately following the Niko Camp, the DTS will go to the Caribbean side for two weeks for our “local outreach”. Details have yet to be solidified, but there is talk of working with orphans. After that, we will split up into our Central and South American teams. Something weird happened to our plane tickets, so we have to stay in Panama for a week. Val and Julia are contacting the base in Panama City to see what we can do. After that, we will head to Lima. <span style=""> </span>We’ll be staying in Lima for about a week where we will work with some local churches, possibly working with people with mental and physical disabilities. We will also be most likely working with Veronica’s House which has ties with the Not for Sale Campaign. It’s an organization that gets prostitutes off the street by teaching them a trade. After that we will go to Cuzco, hopefully to work at this coffeehouse ministry for backpackers.<span style=""> </span>Hopefully we’ll make it up to Machu Picchu, as well. From there we will head to La Paz, Bolivia for another week to work with the YWAM base there. There’s more, I’m sure…and it will probably change…but that’s what I know for now.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m going to try to go to Freedom Street tonight, before we leave for Niko. I would really like to finally see this ministry in action.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have to confess, I’m feeling pretty nervous for what’s ahead. Pray for me, guys.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Praise Reports<br />-I found out I didn’t have insurance, but I got some a few days ago.<br />-All my fees are paid off for YWAM.<br />-We’re going on Outreach!</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Prayer Requests<br />-Physical protection. Health.<br />-Peace of mind in the chaos. Things are about to become very unstable. I’m going to have to trust God a lot for the next two months<br />-Freedom in Jesus. From fear. From insecurities. From expectations.<br />-A thankful heart.<br />-Pray as the Spirit leads…I feel like I’m gonna need a lot of it. Just let God speak<span style=""> </span>to you.</b></p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-59227871658233040952011-06-20T18:48:00.000-07:002011-06-20T18:50:32.749-07:00Bible Study Break<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> 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0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">This week was particularly academic. We learned about the Bible; what is really is, why to read it and how to interpret it as accurately as possible. I anticipated this week’s teaching to be much more boring, but it proved to be a surprisingly rich time of learning. To do this, we looked at a variety of scriptures from all both new and old testaments, but then focused in on the book of Philemon, which is only 24 verses long. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Bible is a collection of 66 books, written by different authors from different cultures over a span of 1,500 years. It was written in primarily three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. It is meant to be God’s personal letter to humanity, revealing who He is and conveying His desire to be in relationship with man. We read the Bible to know God, His person, His word and His plan. We read it to understand brokenness and the necessity of salvation. We read it to understand who we are and our purpose in life. We also read it use a reference for what is true or false.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In order to correctly study the Bible, one needs to recognize the historical context in which the Bible was written. It is necessary to examine author, setting, main idea, tone, and literary form. Some portions of the Bible are historical, some are poetic and artistic, and some parts are letters. When we read the Bible, we need to understand that <i style="">relationship</i> is the driving motivation behind everything in the book. If you just read it without understanding these hidden details, you won't get the full message.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Philemon is such a rich letter from the Apostle Paul. He writes to his friend Philemon from a Roman prison. During his time in chains, Paul meets Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus and leads him to Christ. Paul writes to Philemon, as well as the church that meets in his home, encouraging them to accept Onesimus back as their brother, because in Christ there is no difference between the slave and the free man. It’s an awesome letter. It speaks so much about accountability and equality. It also shows the necessity of tactfulness. You should read it; it’s really short. Use a study Bible, though, so you can cross reference other books in the New Testament.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In contrast to our intense studies, this week was peppered with equally intense recreation. Our base leaders, Giacomo and Marjolein are gone for a few weeks to visit family in Holland, so Spencer was running things. He already plays such a huge role around here, managing the base’s finances, so he had a busy week ahead of him managing everything else. It was also his 40<sup>th</sup> birthday, so his wife organized an 80’s dance party to surprise him when he came to work on Tuesday morning. Everyone dressed in ridiculously bright colors, short shorts and side-ways baseball hats and danced along with this aerobics’ instructor Vanessa brought in. That night, we went to the movies for as a small group activity. We saw the new X-Men. Movies are so cheap here! It’s only $3.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Finally, I’ve been given some more information about this summer. While some things are still up in the air, Julia and Val shared with us the general picture of what we’re going to be doing in Peru and Bolivia. We’re going to begin in Lima and go south towards Bolivia, trying to get involved with various ministries along the way. They mentioned working with disabled peoples in Peru, as well as orphans. We’re apparently going to go on an eight day hike in the Andes, to minister to backpackers. There was more, but I honestly forgot the rest. I suppose I will find out soon, won’t I?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our leaders assured us that, despite our business this summer, we would have times of rest and rejuvenation, too. We’d have one free day a week, and we’d have times of solitude to spend time with God to relax. We’d continue our Bible studies, and continue to keep one another accountable and process together. Julia and Val also gave us roles for our Outreach team. I was assigned to help supervise what ministries we will be involved in, along with two other people. This wasn’t very clear, either, but I’m excited. Val told me we’d mostly be assisting her in praying about what God wants us to do, where He wants us to go, talking to church leaders etc. It was pretty exciting to hear more, after not hearing anything for so long.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We went to help at Spencer and Vanessa’s new house again to help them with construction. Everyone was sanding this time. They split us up, putting half of us downstairs and the other upstairs. This time we had masks, so we weren’t breathing in the dust. This didn’t protect the rest of us, though. By the time we were all done, everyone was covered in white dust from head to toe. It was pretty funny. We kept slapping one another on the back or the leg to “mark our territory.” It started raining really hard, so a few of us ran back to the base to shower off.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Friday night we were invited over to house of one of Freedom Street’s leaders, Elizabeth, for a game night. I played battleship with Chris and Phillip. Needless to say, I took them down. It was quite close, though. Phillip and I hung out outside for a while and went for a walk. My Bolivian brother is such an encourager, I love talking with him. We talked about some concerns I had about the upcoming events of YWAM, which I’ll describe more below, and gave me some really good advice for taking on what lies ahead. Remember his knee I prayed for? It’s completely healed, thanks be to God. He told me he jumped into a river a few years ago, but it was too shallow so he hurt his knee. Years of playing basketball didn’t help, either. He gleefully confirmed that it was now in perfect condition. God is so powerful.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This weekend was kind of random. The two outreach teams split up on Saturday; Central America went to practice their dramas and skits with Metro<span style=""> </span>Ministries, a local children’s outreach, and the South America team was planning on bonding over a picnic in this big park downtown. Unfortunately, this attempt at a nice afternoon in the park failed very quickly. We couldn’t find parking near the park, so we had to park about half a mile away. As we walked towards the park, it started pouring rain and thundering like crazy. We were stranded under this awning for like forty-five minutes, while some of us ate sandwiches and played Frisbee in our limited dry space. Someone went to go get the car, and we decided to go to McDonald’s since it was raining so hard. This took forever, of course, because of the traffic. When we got there we were informed the power was out, so we couldn’t order anything. We decided to go to the one near the base. After we ate and hung out for a bit, we found that our van had broken down and we couldn’t start it. Immediately following this discovery, the car next to us backed into the van. In Costa Rica, you don’t exchange information; you have to call the police. So we had to wait for that to get resolved before we got out in the rain to push start the car.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To my great disappointment, Freedom Street didn’t go out this Saturday. The ministry always begins with prayer and worship before heading downtown. Our leaders, for some reason, didn’t feel peace about going and many people felt a leading from the Holy Spirit to stay behind. A common impression was that it was for some reason more dangerous for us to go than usual. At this point, I don’t know if this was ever confirmed…but either way I suppose I have to just trust that God didn’t want us to go. Instead, we stayed back and prayed for San Jose. We prayed for the prostitutes that Freedom Street has been involved with, that God would keep them safe and encounter them despite our absence. We also prayed that God would stifle any violence in the streets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I had a hard time accepting that, I have to say. I’ve wanted to go to the streets so badly. But God wanted me to stay again. At least I wasn’t alone, though. No one got to go. My friends and I were pretty confused. Everyone wanted to go, but everyone pretty much felt like we weren’t supposed to. It felt like one of those things where a child wants to tag along with their parent, but can’t because they’re too young or it’s too dangerous. I really hope I can get another opportunity to go down, because our time in San Jose is running very short. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">This next week is our last week of Lecture Phase. This coming Friday, we’re leaving for the beach for the weekend, and then to the jungle to go camping for a week. It’s a YWAM tradition (for some bases around the world) to go on this camping trip before Outreach Phase. It’s supposed to be extremely challenging. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s called the Niko Camp, which is Greek means “to overcome.” This is what I was talking to Phillip about on Friday, because he staffed a camp in Bolivia. When we get back, we’re going to begin our outreach phase within Costa Rica for two weeks. <span style=""> </span>No more classes. From here on out, we’re going to be serving. After those two weeks, we’re leaving to catch our flight in Panama to Peru.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Prayer Requests</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - My check from PCC hasn’t arrived yet in the mail. Apparently, it takes three weeks for a check to process. If it doesn’t get here soon, I technically won’t have all my funds by the time we leave for Peru. I will be $800 short. PLEASE PRAY IT ARRIVES THIS WEEK.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - After this week, we will be officially on Outreach Phase. Pray for rest and preparation for all of us. Pray that we could spend time with Jesus, and that we can get sufficient sleep.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - Pray for healing for the sick and the injured.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - Pray for courage for Niko. I’m pretty nervous about it.</span></p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-33589680051138985652011-06-17T10:11:00.000-07:002011-06-17T10:16:16.060-07:00FINAL FINANCIAL UPDATE<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> 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0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Hello Friends and Family.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today, June 17, 2011 is the official deadline for getting our funds in to go on our Outreach to Peru and Bolivia. It also the deadline for the other Outreach team that is planning to go to El Salvador and Honduras. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to you guys, as well as PCC’s mission team and God’s provision, I have been able to raise enough money to pay for the next few months of my life. While I have reached my goal, there are still others on my team and the other team who have not. I don’t know who these people are specifically…I know there is at least one staff worker, and several students…but our leaders have communicated to us that collectively we have not reached our goal. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Next week is our last week of Lecture Phase, before we transition into our Outreach. Thankfully, we spend the first three weeks of outreach locally, in Costa Rica, before we leave. Please pray for our last efforts to raise funds. Pray for generosity from people’s friends and families and churches back home. Pray that we who have the means could also give generously. If you could also pray about donating to YWAM so everyone is able to go on this adventure God has called us to, that would be wonderful as well. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I can’t believe how close we are to moving out to our mission. I feel like I’ve only just arrived. Pray for the Lord to prepare our hearts this final week.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If you feel led to donate to YWAM, you can put the money in my paypal account via the link below. I can transfer the funds to my bank and write a check to the base. Please email me if the link below doesn’t work.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><br /><input name="cmd" value="_s-xclick" type="hidden"><br /><input name="encrypted" value="-----BEGIN 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PKCS7-----" type="hidden"><br /><input src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" type="image" border="0"><br /><img alt="" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" border="0" width="1" height="1" /><br /></form><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-20636181419143536702011-06-13T17:01:00.000-07:002011-06-13T17:03:52.492-07:00Just another week.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Marjolein Coghi spoke again this week, this time on relationships. Ugh. She’s such a wonderful woman, and I love when she speaks for us, but this topic is so obnoxious. It was all good stuff, for sure, don’t get me wrong. A lot of us really benefited from it. There was so much wisdom and revelation gained for my brothers and sisters. I, however, am done talking about relationships…mostly because there was a huge emphasis on romance. Ugh. I’m so sick of it. God has me single right now, and I believe it’s for a reason. I believe He wants me to learn to be content alone, to become complete as a man. He wants to make me into a good brother, and a good son. He’ll make me a good lover later, I’m sure. I just don’t want to think about women right now.<span style=""> </span>I just want to be okay by myself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Outside of romantic relationships, however, there is much wisdom to apply. Basically, we need to love people. We need to trust one another, enough to be vulnerable. We need to be honest. We need to respect one another, and see each other’s needs above our own. We need to understand one another, and not just look at things from our standpoint. We need to be compassionate.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One morning, during a praise and worship session before class, the Holy Spirit came to move among us. The whole base was in the common area, for the weekly worship, and the Holy Spirit prolonged it for a couple more hours than scheduled. A lot of people were sick from the weekend away, and we felt that God wanted to heal them. We prayed corporately, but then individually. I was feeling pretty sick myself, and I had a few aches and pains, but I was not healed…maybe because I didn’t ask anyone to pray for me specifically. Curiously enough, some people I prayed over were healed. This girl Molly who was visiting from the Air Force Academy asked me to pray for her injured shoulder and it was made well. I felt led to pray for Phillip’s knee, which he hurt here at some point, and he said it was feeling much better afterwards. He had been going on runs with a knee brace, but not anymore. Praise God. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen healings.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Despite this, I was still kind of discouraged that God hadn’t healed me. While no one laid hands on me, I still pleaded for healing. I’ve been really congested, and my tailbone still hurts a little bit sometimes. I also slept on my neck in a weird position in panama, therefore making head-turning a little challenging. Obviously these things are very minimal, but I could do without them. I still don’t really understand why God doesn’t heal people when they ask Him to. There are so many theories, but I think they’re all bogus. Who can explain God and rationalize the fullness of His ways in human words. I later found out that I wasn’t alone in this. Not everyone was healed that morning.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We wrote letters to God one morning, and prayed for a reply. I didn’t want to do it, because I wasn’t feeling very connected these past couple of days. I didn’t want my troubled mind to get in the way of me hearing God’s voice. I protested by not beginning my letter until like twenty minutes in, but I eventually poured out my struggles of the week in my letter. I was feeling lonely. Homesick. For some reason I’ve been comparing myself to my brothers here on the base and finding myself jealous of them. I told God that I’ve been feeling insecure with myself. It’s been really easy for me to see the gifts and talents God has given my new friends, and feel less than them. I also asked Him why He didn’t heal me the other day. As I was writing, I felt like He would whisper a response to every word I jotted down. We were to write God’s response on a separate piece of paper:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Dear Charlie,<br />You must remember that I am faithful. I have been with you since your first breath, and I haven’t stepped away for one moment. You are eternally and fully loved. You are valuable to me. I always want to spend time with you. I can’t get enough of you! I love when you talk to me, and I love it when we go on walks together.<br />Charlie, you need to stop comparing yourself to others. I have made nothing the same, yet I have made everything a masterpiece. You, my boy, are a work of art. Mine. Priceless. One of a kind. And remember: I do not make mistakes.<br />Remember this, also: restoration is coming, and I am going to raise the dead.</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">With Love,<br />-God</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In light of healthy relationships, we did something very interesting to promote unity among our team. Friday, we participated in what YWAM refers to as “Giving Day.” Everyone is supposed to pray about giving something, either material or sentimental, to someone else. I was a little nervous about this, because I didn’t bring much of value. The things I did bring were also brought by everyone else; my laptop and my iPod. I didn’t bring much clothing, and I was in huge need of money. For some reason when I prayed, I immediately thought of this glow stick Steven Rozzi had put in my suitcase before I left California. I don’t know why, I just felt like it was supposed to symbolize something for someone else, or provide a reminder while they were on Outreach. <span style=""> </span>I wasn’t sure who, I just knew I was supposed to give someone the glow stick and affirm them. We all sat in a circle, awkwardly I might add, and waited for people to make their moves. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some gave pieces of clothing. Some gave money. Some gave away iPods, and laptops. Some people met others’ simple needs, like giving them a pen because they lost theirs. It was particularly moving to see people give away their time, offering to take people out for dinner, or doing their work duty for them to give them a day off. <span style=""> </span>Two of my friends spoke up and explained to me, during this time, that they felt like God wanted to provide for me so together they gave me $300. I felt really silly giving away my stupid little glow stick after seeing such beautiful generosity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I gave my glow stick to someone who serves as a light in my life. I have it to someone who is constantly showing me God’s love, and who is always encouraging me. I’d like to dedicate this next paragraph to my friend Peter, from Denmark. He is a true and sincere friend, because he treats me with such brotherly love. Peter, when not cracking jokes, is always encouraging and affirming people. At the same time, his is completely honest and real with you. He loves spending time with the people he cares about, and is unwaveringly supportive of his friends. He comes to every yoga session, and will go out for a run with you at the drop of a hat. If he hears you agreeing with the enemy, saying that you’re not good enough or you can’t do something, he rebukes you and tells you the truth that you are created in the image of God and anything is possible with Him. I pray that my stupid little glow stick could serve as an affirmation for him, that he would know God has filled him with light.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Saturday night was such a bummer. This last week I finished my training to participate in Freedom Street, the prostitution ministry. Everyone who was finished just had to fill out an application so the leadership could pray about our participation. Of course, I forgot to turn in my application on time, so I couldn’t go out. One of the leaders did, however, read my application on the spot and talked with me about it. She questioned my motives behind working with the people on the street. On my application I mentioned, and perhaps over emphasized, my eagerness because of the uniqueness of the opportunity. It was a good reason, she said, but it’s not the best reason. I was given the suggestion to examine my heart a little more this week before coming out to the streets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, instead of going out to the street corners, I spent some time with God and asked Him to confront me with whatever He needed to. I was asking God why I couldn’t go out to the streets. In response, He asked me “why do you want to go?” I told Him, “I wanna do something significant; I don’t wanna just survive, I don’t want to just live a life characterized by consumption and resting. I want to feel like my life to counts for something.” To which He replied with the same question. “Why? Why do you want to feel significant?” Doesn’t everyone want this, I thought. Doesn’t everyone want to feel valuable? Doesn’t everyone want to feel like there is a reason for them to be breathing? Yes, God said, but that value doesn’t come from what we do. It comes from what God already did, and what He says about us. He pointed out to me that I should not go to the streets to do something that will make me feel valued, but rather go to the streets to help people discover the value in themselves that they do not know. I should go because the prostitutes are valuable to Jesus. Ouch.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Praise Report:<br />- God is up to something in my heart. He’s speaking to me a lot about contentment.<br />- My funds for outreach have increased! Thank you my dear friends for your generosity. I only have $535 left to raise until I’m in the clear. Five more days until my deadline.</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Prayer Requests:<br />- Security in my identity. Knowledge of where my value lies.<br />- Finances. We’re almost there!<br />- Team unity. Please, please, please. Closeness, intimacy, and vulnerability. Trust and honesty.<br />- Courage for what lies ahead in Outreach. Peace of mind as we draw nearer to our departure.<br />- Divine appointments. Words from the Lord. Miracles. Signs and Wonders. Whatever He’s got up there.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-52464895123852784952011-06-09T22:22:00.000-07:002011-06-09T22:24:36.030-07:00Panamania!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> 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0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I couldn't think of a better title. Sorry, guys.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">This week was mostly uneventful, save one service project and a wedding before our weekend in Panama. We helped the Pavely’s do some construction on their house they’re building. I guess some people decided to bless Spencer and Vanessa with an architect and some funding for a house near the YWAM base. They wanted to use the spare bedrooms for missionaries coming through San Jose. Whoever gave them the money also paid contractors to help build the house. It’s a huge gift, for sure, because they are volunteers just like the rest of us. We helped them do some sanding and dry-walling. We also moved around a bunch of cement bags and toilet bowls to their proper places. This project was labeled as “local outreach”, which I thought was kind of strange, because it was our friends we were helping. Someone told me, however, that this is a good tool for when we go back home. It’s a really easy way to show your friends or your neighbors the love of God, simply by helping them out with big projects like moving or renovation etc. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our topic for lecture this week was Spiritual Warfare, with our speaker Terry Keith. We talked about the realities of the spiritual world that parallels our own physical realm. These two planes are not independent of one another, but completely interactive. What happens in the physical world has a spiritual counterpart. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was our study of the devil. It was important to know our enemy, and know who we are in Christ. Satan is the ruler of this world. This authority was initially and continually given by us, men and women. It all started in the Garden, when Adam and Eve were tempted into rebellion. The simple act of disobedience was like treason; they didn’t realize it, but they turned themselves over to a new allegiance. One of brokenness and error. We gave the world to him, and it should be us who takes it back, with God’s help.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ultimately, Satan is a liar and deceiver. That’s really all he is. He blinds people to the truth of God, therefore robbing them of their destiny and inheritance. He tells us lies about ourselves and our situations. He doesn’t want us to know who God is. He doesn’t want us to know God is with us, and God wants to best for us. If we really knew, if we really understood all this…we’d be unstoppable. We need to cling to these truths, and he cannot touch us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Juan and Amanda got married on Friday. They’re two of our staff, who met on outreach in Nicaragua. Amanda is from the States and Juan is from Mexico. The whole base got dressed up and celebrated the marriage of our two friends on the basketball court. Both of their parents watched via skype. They were all so excited.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Everyone’s visas were running out, so we all had to leave Costa Rica for the weekend. Half of us went to Nicaragua, and the rest went to Panama. I went to Panama. We took a bus to Puerto Viejo, a little town on the Caribbean coast of Cost Rica, to stay the night. We arrived pretty late in the evening and got some ice cream before turning in for the night at our hostel. The next day we took a bus to the Panamanian border, which was quite an adventure. After getting our exit stamp on our passports, we had to walk across this sketchy railroad bridge over the river separating the two countries. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Upon arriving in Panama, we had to buy a bus ticket out of Panama to prove to immigration we weren’t staying. After that, we had to purchase a sticker before we could get our entry stamp. Val and Julia were quite dismayed, because they never had to purchase anything to get into Panama before. We also had to show them all of our money in the immigration office, which was another strange formality our leaders had never experienced. When we finally figured out all that we had to do, we got into a large fifteen passenger taxi and were shuttled to the Caribbean cost of Panama, where we would take a boat to an island called Bocas del Toro. It was huge tourist town, so we hoped to find some backpackers to bless while we were there.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Panama had such a different vibe than Costa Rica. People were really desperate for money, much more than in San Jose. It was really obvious, just looking around, that this was a poorer nation. Little kids would come up to you and offer to clean your shoes or carry you bags to make some cash. At the border, some guy was offering us our immigration papers (which were free) for four dollars apiece. Later, when we were at a beach on the island, more little kids would come up to us with these crazy looking red frogs concealed in leaves and offer to show them to us for some money in return. When we would go to shops, the vendors would get really upset if we left without buy anything. Every other local was trying to sell us drugs, and would also get offended if we declined.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the taxi on the way to the boat, I met this guy from Spain named Miguel. He was twenty-six and traveling alone for his first time through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. His Spanish was really hard to understand, and I think he was getting impatient with my limited abilities, because at one point he simply stopped talking to me. Miguel found some Spanish speakers to hang out with when we got onto the boat, while the rest of us enjoyed the marvelous ride to the island. The breeze was so refreshing, and it was so beautiful to watch the mainland shrink in the distance over the clear blue water.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After settling in our waterfront hostel, we took a bus to the other side of the island to go to Starfish Beach. I’m sure you’ve ever seen those picturesque advertisements for tropical islands…white sand, calm clear waters, palm trees…this was exactly that. It was honestly one of the most beautiful, tranquil places I’ve ever been to. The clouds swirled in the sun above us and the water was as smooth as glass. Sitting in the sand in the shallow waters were about a dozen red starfish. In case you missed it from my previous posts, my camera was ruined in Montezuma in a freak rainstorm. Luckily, my friend’s brought theirs…so there is some evidence on Facebook of this heavenly sight.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sometime after we arrived at the beach, we ran into Miguel again. He decided to stay and hang out with us. This is where I was able to talk to him more and hear more about his life, with the help of my Venezuelan friend Alisabel. He was a really nice guy, actually. He had also spent the night in Puerto Viejo, but he helped a bunch of baby sea turtles find their way to the sea. We invited him to come eat dinner with us at the hostel, but after he accepted, he ended up disappearing again. We saw him the next day walking down the street, but he didn’t stop to talk to us. Bummer.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">For the first time in a long time, I got to see stars at night. San Jose has such horrible light pollution. Saturday night I got to lie on the deck at night and see a couple shooting stars.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sunday, we left early to go snorkeling with these two German ladies we met at the hostel. The older one, Renate, was the owner of a budget hotel in Alajuela and she was also renewing her visa with her college-aged intern Lisa. Only Lisa spoke English, but Renate thankfully spoke Spanish so I was able to talk with her as well. Our hostel provided daily snorkeling tours through the islands to see the lovely reefs near the shore and the dolphins in the bay. We left really early in the morning from the dock outside the hostel and sped over to see the magnificent dolphins. The bay’s waters were so still, due to the protective barrier of islands circled around us. There were families of dolphins, with their babies, swimming around the boat. We stopped at two reefs to snorkel. Our Panamanian guide tied the boat to a buoy, threw us some masks and told us to jump in. The water was really warm, and pristinely clear. There’s a whole other world beneath the surface. So much color, so many textures and shapes. The fish were almost alien-looking. I felt like I was in Finding Nemo. We even swam next to wild jellyfish.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Between the two reefs, we stopped at a smaller island to hang out Red Frog Beach for a couple hours. Curiously, there were quite a few children emerging from the jungle with leaves folded in their hands. They would approach you and tell you that you may see inside their leaves in exchange for money or food. Inside were the infamous Red Frogs. We would give them food, because we brought a bunch of snacks with us from the hostel, but they were not interested in any further conversation with us. It was very difficult to be intentional with these kids, because they undoubtedly had an objective to make some cash. They would leave us immediately after they got what they wanted, leaving mid conversation. It was such a different dynamic in this country than it is in Costa Rica. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Anyways, my Canadian friend Aryk rented a skim-board and some of us tried doing it for the first time. Most of us fell on our butts, but it was a lot of fun. Lisa joined us playing in the waves. A little before we left for the second reef, I got to sit and talk with Renate, who was lounging under the palm trees watching everyone’s stuff. She had been talking to our German staff worker, Julia, throughout the day and told me she was very impressed with the goals and values of YWAM. She wanted us to come by her hotel sometime, because there were a lot of homeless people and prostitutes in her neighborhood. Renate was not a Christian, but she seemed very interested in what God was calling His people to. Hopefully we can come by her hotel sometime before outreach to bless her neighborhood.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Aryk and I went to look for somewhere to eat for the group while everyone showered. As we walked down the busy main street of Bocas, we saw this man in a wheelchair trying to get over a bump in the road. Some female tourist was trying to help him, but to no avail. She asked us if we could help him, so we did. We got him over his bump, and wheeled him over to the place he stayed. He was obviously very tired, and new to life in a wheelchair. <span style=""> </span>His name was Luis, he was from Nicaragua and he had just moved to Panama. He spoke English, but he might as well have been speaking Spanish; his accent was unbelievably heavy, and his voice was so hoarse from I’m assuming decades of smoking. He owned a boat somewhere in town, but some enemy of his pushed him off of it and he broke his leg on the dock, which was why he was in the wheelchair. He was really thankful for our assistance, expressing it wearily in a couple of fist bumps. He got to pray for him, asking God to heal him. Not sure if He did, because we had to get back for dinner, but believing in faith Luis is no longer in his wheelchair.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some of us went to this “Mediterranean” restaurant for dinner, inviting Lisa to join us. We got to know her more over our quasi-Greek meal. Sorry, I’m down-playing it because it was basically Latin food with cucumbers and olives. This shouldn’t suggest it wasn’t delicious; it just wasn’t authentic by any stretch of the mind. I mean come on, our waitress was from New Zealand. Anyway, our new friend Lisa…she was a student at a university in Germany studying international business. She was interning in Costa Rica to get “work experience” before she graduated. Even though she was working at a hotel, she had no intention of working in the hospitality business. She wanted to work in Human Resources for car manufacturers, due to lots of problems with working conditions. Lisa thought her internship more of a vacation than work, she said. She was very excited for her parents to visit her this coming week, so she could show them around the country.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lisa treated us for ice cream, in return for the dinner. We walked up and down the main strip, talking about life and God before returning to the hostel to listen to some live music. Some random French guy had formed a Bob Marley cover band, and were playing until like eleven at night. How random. Lisa gave us her email, and told she wanted to hang out with us again before we left for Peru. I’m really, really hoping we can go to Alajuela to bless our new German friends. Anyway, Monday morning we headed back for Costa Rica. We sped back to the mainland, took a van back to the border, got on a bus and arrived back in San Jose in time for dinner. If only it were that simple and fast. Oh, Latin America.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Praise Reports<br />- New revelation of the truth of God, and the lies of the Devil. I’ve got to embrace the truth of God’s presence and power in my life.<br />- We had a very restful and relaxing weekend, enjoying the Lord’s creation and His people.<br />- We got to bless Luis, the man in the wheelchair, by helping him get home. We made some new friends, who we might have the opportunity to bless in the near future.<br />- PCC promised me $800 in support for my outreach! My aunt also donated $100. Getting closer and closer! God is so good. Thank you so much, my church and my family, for supporting me.<span style=""> </span>Two third of the way there.</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Prayer Requests<br />- A thankful heart for the daily blessings the Lord gives.<br />- Wisdom for our leaders as they finish planning our outreach to Peru and Bolivia.<br />- Unity among our team. Pray that we could have God’s eyes and hearts for one another.<br />- Finances. As always.<br />- Rest. Rest. Rest.</b></p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-67523470824111870032011-06-01T20:04:00.000-07:002011-06-01T20:08:00.522-07:00The Father of the Homeless and the Prostitutes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> 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0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I think I can speak for my whole team when I say that this was a very loving and affectionate week for us. Our topic this week was on God’s fatherly heart for his children. What an amazing week. Jack Kody, our speaker from the States, was a kindly old father of four who really put into perspective how God feels about us. It’s kind of indescribable, really. You’d honestly just have to hear him speak for yourself. This man has such an irresistible passion for his wife and kids. He simply lights up when he talks about them. Basically, he told us all about his relationship with his family, and how much he loved his four grown kids. He talked about how their joy was his joy, and their pain was his pain. His kids were his treasures; he knew them all so well and was delighted in seeing them grow. Jack had hopes and dreams for them, especially his two unmarried daughters.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">He kept reminding us that God calls us His sons and daughters. God delights in us He delights in us the way Jack does with his kids. More, actually. If Jack, who is imperfect and a sinner, could feel such a strong affection and appreciation for his kids, how much more could our perfect and holy God feel love for us!<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One thing that really stuck out to me from his message was this one story he told. Jack told us this story about how he took his oldest child to work with him when she was twelve. He had a painting business, and decided to invite his daughter to come with him to pain this fence. This was a huge honor, for his daughter, because it was the first time he had brought any of his kids with him to work. Jack showed her how to properly hold the brush and stroke with it. He had his daughter paint a head of him, and he would trail behind her finishing it off. The two of them talked and laughed and hung out for hours while painting the fence until it was finished.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This outing of theirs, Jack said, was not about painting a fence. The fence has to be painted, of course, but that’s not why he took his daughter with him. Jack knew how to paint a much better than his twelve year old daughter. He could do it much neater, much faster than she could. He had to fix all the mistakes she made along the way; she’d put too little paint here, a little too much there, she’d miss a spot, or sometimes a few. If Jack cared about the fence, he would have just done it by himself. Jack didn’t care as much about the fence as he did spending time with his baby girl. He wanted to show her what he did every day before coming home for dinner. It’s the same with God. He has work for us to do, both inside and outside of ourselves. But that’s not His main concern, Jack argued. God isn’t about the tasks; He’s about doing those tasks with us. If all He cared about was the work, He’d use His omnipotence and omniscience to get cranking without us. But He cares more about spending time with us.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Doesn't that take off a lot of pressure?<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In a very paternal fashion, Jack took me and my friends out twice this week; once to his favorite ice cream shop in San Jose, and then the next day to go bowling. I must say, bowling with a group of Europeans and Latinos was one of the more hilarious experiences of my life. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friday was the cleaning day for the whole base. In the morning, my German friend Robin and I helped clean up the carpentry shed next to our hut. The shed is for YWAM’s ministry Casas de Esperanza (Homes of Hope) which is an effort to build new homes for poor families in Costa Rica through donations from various outside supporters. They’re currently working on making the furniture for the last house they built. We have yet to be involved with them, as a DTS, but it was cool helping one of the Costa Rican contractors, Giovanny, clean up the work space. We tossed out all the extra unusable pieces of wood that lie scattered around the shed. After that, we swept up all the saw dust and picked up garbage. When we were done with that, I went into the dinning room to help sweep and mop for a couple hours. I was with my Australian friend Scott, and Costa Rican friend Luis. We plugged in Scotts iPod and listened to this sweet reggae band from New Zealand. <b style="">Fat Freddy’s Drop</b>. Check it out. You’ll love it. Eventually, I ended up washing off and drying tables outside with my Bolivian friend Phillip. Long day. But really enjoyable. I got paired up with fun people.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So that evening was the beginning of a crazy weekend. To begin, let me educate you guys on some contextual stuff. First of all, prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, for adults over the age of 18. Because of this, it’s completely out in the open. You can walk downtown and see women (and men) working at almost every corner. Many of them choose it, but some are coerced. Just because it’s legal doesn’t meant that every prostitute is “self-employed”; there is a significant number of people who have been forced into it through economic leverage. However, due to the legality of prostitution, it deters much of the crime that we associate with it in the States. If force is used, it is largely financial and not violent. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">YWAM has a ministry called Freedom Street, which builds friendships with the prostitutes of San Jose. It is not an aggressive initiative; their main objective is actually not to fight against the sex industry. Its purpose is to show love to prostitutes by forming relationships with them that highlight their value outside the ability to have sex. Tuesday and Saturday nights, a team goes downtown to hand out free coffee to the prostitutes and hang out with them during their down time between clients. Before any students can be involved, however, we have to come to several trainings and participate in some prayer nights on behalf of the men and women Freedom Street serves.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friday night, we went downtown to pray outside the largest brothel in Costa Rica. It is the Hotel Del Rey, located in the heart of the city. It is known around the western world as prime real estate for getting beautiful women for a decent price. There is evidence so suggest that one could even pay for a child prostitute at this hotel. Like I said before, human trafficking is still a very real problem here. Many Americans and Europeans come to this place to get laid. The clientele is, curiously, composed mostly older married men in their fifties and sixties. Although, I did see a father take his teenage son into the hotel and come out with two young women. It was such a strange sight to see. Many of them would walk up, briskly, like a dog with its tail between its legs and their eyes downcast. They knew it was strange. What would some rich old gringos like them possibly be doing in such dangerous part of town? They knew they were being sketchy. We were hoping to get into some conversations with them. I never did, but others were able to.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So there we were, praying on the corner of this intersection. In front of us was Del Rey, with its throngs of lovely young ladies and perverted old men. To our left were the drug dealers, and to the right were the mobsters and the pimps. Here and there were cops roaming around, not really doing anything useful. We were praying for the women in the hotel, and the men coming for their services. We were praying that the women would know that their value is not in their bodies, and that they’re worth more than a one night stand. We prayed for the men, that they would be satisfied with what they had. We prayed for their marriages. We prayed they wouldn’t require this kind of thrill. It was dark, you guys. Really dark. Darker than when we went to feed the homeless at the park. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Watching all this was such a thought provoking experience. There’s a huge supply of women to meet a demand of hungry men. Why, though? Why is there such a high demand? Why is it necessary to have this kind of business available? Why is the supply so bountiful? There’s so much brokenness to behold. Women thinking that their only option is to sell their bodies. Men not valuing their marriages, and men seeing these women as objects. Something is seriously wrong with this picture, wouldn’t you say? <span style=""> </span>I was praying specifically that God would fill these voids with Himself. Satisfaction and wholeness in the name of Jesus!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now, as we waged silent war on the perversion and corruption of downtown San Jose, we in turn received some quiet retaliation. Our bodies were safe, but our minds and hearts were being attacked with vengeance of the spiritual forces surrounding the practices in front of us. A lot of people were feeling extremely depressed afterwards. After a couple hours of praying, I started to get a panic attack. My chest tightened up and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was getting light headed and even nauseas. It was just so strange; I wasn’t worried about my safety, I wasn’t freaked out by what I was seeing…I just started feeling horribly afraid and my body was spiraling into terror. I’m really sensitive to the spiritual. It can be extremely overwhelming.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Unlike other similar experiences, I decided to turn to my friends around me and ask them for prayer. They laid hands on me, and I’d feel fine. Completely fine. When they stopped, I would be swept back into the panic attack. So I would go back to them, over and over again to try and pull myself out of it. They’d lay hands on me, and I would feel okay again, but as soon as they stopped my chest tightened and I couldn’t breathe anymore. Jenny, from Germany, told me just to call on the name of Jesus. What? I thought that’s what I’ve been doing. She told me just to say His name, because it is powerful. He’s already with me, so just acknowledge that truth. So I did. I closed my eyes to pray, and I just said His name. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. JESUS!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The cool thing about being sensitive to the spiritual is that I can not only feel the presence of demons, but I can feel the presence of God, too. When I feel His presence, I get chills. Excitement washes over me. Every hair on my body stands on end. I feel alive. When I called on the name of Jesus on the corner, I felt His presence just like that. It was a like sunshine through the clouds. There He was! There He was! My chest loosened up and I could breathe easily. My stomach stopped churning. I felt like God took my face in His hands and just told me “I’m right here. I didn’t go anywhere.” Cool. I guess we can carry on, then, can’t we? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I wish I were that casual about it. I actually started crying and reciting spoken word as we prayed for the streets. God is so cool. Even though I didn’t see His light shine on the corner, I was able to see it shine on me. I’m looking forward to seeing Him in action.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Saturday I caught up on some homework for lecture. I also got to chat with lots of people back home, which was incredible. That night we received training for identifying human trafficking. We were given various questions to work in to our conversations to see if anything sketchy is going on. This would be a helpful tool when we go out to hang out with the prostitutes, in case we run in to anyone who is not choosing to sell themselves.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sunday night was pretty wild. We went downtown, again, but this time to wash the feet of the homeless and provide basic first aid for any wounds they might have. YWAM <span style=""> </span>got a donation from the Salvation Army of fifty pairs of shoes and socks to give to the people we would come in contact with, too. We split up into three teams and went to some of the most dangerous parts of San Jose. My team went somewhere near the Red Light district, as the bottom of a little hill where a few men were sitting on the sidewalk. Our Costa Rican leader and driver, Paola, asked them if we could wash their feet from the driver’s seat. They were surprisingly receptive. We got out of our van with our buckets and sponges and got to work. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I thought this would be more awkward, but it felt so natural. I started with a man named Carlos, who was from Cartago. Obviously our similar names were an instant connection. He was really nice, and kept thanking us for coming to the street. I told him that my Spanish was limited, but I wanted him to know that God loved him. Amen, he replied. Carlos had the most delightful smile on his face as we chatted and got his feet scrubbed. When I asked how I could pray for him, he told me very plainly that he had a drug problem. After drying his feet, I put my hands on his shoulders and prayed for him. He held his hands out palms facing up, clearly longing for the Lord to meet him. His face was so peaceful; he just took in what was going on with such thankfulness. Of all the beautiful things I’ve seen in this country…the mountains, the trees, the ocean, the birds, the sunsets…this man’s grateful smile was perhaps one of the most breathtaking.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Someone brought over some new shoes and socks for Carlos, and dressed some wounds on his arms. Apparently, he had a job collecting garbage and that’s how he got the cuts. I’m assuming his drug problem kept him on the streets, though. While they took care of him, I went to another man to wash his feet. He was older, and had a thicker accent I couldn’t understand very well. I started washing his feet, and my other Danish friend Peter was planning on doing some first aid when all of the sudden I heard some commotion to my left. We looked over and saw two of the homeless guys rolling around on the ground and beating each other up about one hundred feet away. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paralyzed with a homeless man’s feet in my hands, we started to pray aloud. The other homeless guys, who we already cleaned up and gave shoes to, started breaking up the fight and shielding those students who were too close to the brawl. One of the guys fighting pulled out a knife, and Paola immediately yelled at us to get in the van. We had to abandon our stuff and get away from the fight. I reluctantly left my new friend with his soapy wet feet on the sidewalk.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How discouraging! We were having such a cool time, and these two had to ruin it with some silly argument. I sat in the car and watched, feeling slightly defeated. The other homeless men broke up the fight and sent the two belligerent drunkards away. As they yelled out profanities and threw bottles at one another across the street, the remaining people came to our car window and began apologizing. Carlos and another man gathered our stuff we left on the sidewalk and handed it to us. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The guys talking to Paola affirmed our visit to them, saying that they knew why we had come. They knew we were from God, they said. Carlos told Paola that he could see the love in our eyes, and was so thankful for our help. Another man said that the reason why this happened was because the devil knew God wanted to bless them tonight, and he wanted us to leave. They were not discouraged, though. They praised God that He sent us to them with shoes and socks and soap and water and bandages. It was too dangerous to stay any longer, they said, but they assured us that we had done what God called us to do.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The other teams had pretty crazy experiences, too. Some debriefing and prayer were most definitely required when we got home.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Praise Reports<br />-God kept us safe this weekend, despite the craziness that ensued around us.<br />-I feel like my eyes are being opened to some really harsh realities, and I feel like God is stirring a new passion in me for the brokenness of the world.<br />-I got to spend some time catching up with friends and family, which was really refreshing. I got to see my brother on skype, who I haven’t seen in two months.<br />-I’m up to $800 in support for Peru and Bolivia.<span style=""> </span>$1550 more to go!</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Prayer Requests<br />-Please pray for protection both physically and spiritually. Obviously, there are some risks in ministering to the people we are seeking to bless. There are also, clearly, forces that want to stop us from what we’re doing.<br />-Pray for this coming weekend, when we go backpacking to Panama. Pray for divine appointments and for opportunities to bless the travelers and backpackers.<br />-Pray for God to provide the rest of my finances.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Please send me and email, or call me on skype! 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We usually think of worship as singing songs, eyes closed with hands raised, and within the four walls of our sanctuaries. Spencer challenged us with the idea that worship is actually meant to be a lifestyle. He described worship as a "response to the revelation of who God is." This could look different depending on the situation, because we respond appropriately to things provided our understanding of something.<br /><br />Worship is an expression of appreciation and admiration. Although God did not create man solely for the purpose of worship…He actually doesn’t need our validation, or anything really, because He is self-sustaining…it is actually beneficial for us to do so. When we direct our attention on who God is, it changes our perspective. This is because we’re choosing to focus on the best thing there is; the most faithful, the most lovely, the most excellent thing in existence. When we fill our mind with God, we find in Him the peace and freedom we are searching for. It’s good. It’s healthy. To emphasize the benefits, we worshiped significantly more this week through music. It was awesome.<br /><br />Our responses can vary so much. Some sing their praises. Some dance. Others serve the poor. Others teach or preach about their revelations. You can respond to God by using your gifts. I love to sing in church. I love to write poetry. Perhaps what is truly worshipful is the reason behind our actions. The response is born from a thankful heart.<br /><br />A thankful heart. Interesting, huh? Spencer challenged us with the idea that we come before God in one of two conditions: gratitude or complaint. He said that there’s no middle ground. Either you are satisfied or you are not. Wow. You know what I realized this week? I am not a grateful person. I always seem to be thinking about what I don't have, or what I could have, or am not, or could be or whatever. It's not very like me to focus on what God has blessed me with. Maybe this is the key to my dissatisfaction; I’ve been struggling a lot with boredom. Lecture has been too basic for me. Our schedule is getting kind of dull. Feeling like what we’re doing has no value. These thoughts are coming from a heart filled with complaint!<br /><br />But is not God the giver of good gifts, like it says in the book of James? Does He not lavish His love on us continuously, every second of every day, like it says in Romans? Every breathe I take, every beat my heart makes is all because of His grace and love. He has abundance for us. He said, in John, that He came to bring us life to full. This word from Spencer was very, very convicting. Something to pray about, for sure. Something to<br /><br />Wednesday night we had a really fun time. These are designated as our Family Nights. We had a team of high school students from Colorado with us this week, so we had a full house. We had music going on and dancing. There was a spontaneous jump rope competition, after an intense limbo session. People were playing hacky sack and foosball. Lots of laughs.<br /><br />Vanessa, Spencer’s wife, invited us over to their house to hang out one afternoon. It was really relaxing. She had tea and bread for us, and we all just kind of hung out for a couple hours. We watched youtube videos and played hacky sack.<br /><br />After that, we had lunch and had a bonfire at the base. Why, you might ask? In the middle of the day? We were burning our “soul ties.” Vanessa introduced to us, back when she spoke in week three, the idea of “soul ties.” As cheesy as I think it sounds, it’s actually a really heavy topic. A soul tie is an intimate connection human beings make with others. They can be healthy or unhealthy, but either way they are influential in our lives. Healthy soul ties occur between loving parents and their children, or loyal friendships. An example of an unhealthy soul tie would be a negligent or abusive parent or even a cheating lover. The fire was open to anyone who wanted to proclaim freedom from their past; any abuses, heartbreaks or regrets that plagued us. It was really cool to see people write these things down and throw them in the fire. Some people even threw out clothing. We got to pray for them, and exalt healing and freedom in Jesus. I’ll say that I even made a step in that direction…but that’s between me and God. Hallelujah.<br /><br />I got a new backpack after the fire. Isaac, the guy who runs the kitchen, took me downtown to buy a good backpack for traveling. We took the bus to the main shopping strip, and we bought this sweet, black high sierra 75-liter backpack at a gun shop. Kind of a random place to buy it, but I finally got it! It made this weekend so much more enjoyable.<br /><br />We went downtown again to feed the homeless, this time to the red light district. It was a little more sketchy than the first time…just because of our location…but it went so much better. I prayed beforehand that God would reign and the enemy would be silenced. I proceeded with caution, nonetheless, but ended up having a cool encounter with an older Nicaraguan man named Victor. Carole, one of my leaders, and I chatted with him while one of my friends Luis translated. For a while, he was trying to teach Carole Spanish, and pointed out to us that we were gringos...but then all of the sudden he started asking about Jesus. He said he didn't know Him, but he wanted to.<br /><br />Victor started crying and hitting himself in the chest, because his "heart was empty and longing." We asked him if we could pray for him, and if he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart. He said yes, so we laid hands on him. Luis led him in a prayer in Spanish while Carole and I held his hands. At some point during the prayer, as Luis and Victor called on the Holy Spirit, I felt something descend on us. Something so contrastingly opposite of what I felt the last time we went to the streets; light. Every hair on my body stood on end, a chill of excitement ran up my spine, my hands tingled and I couldn't help but smile. I really think Victor met Jesus that night. Before he left us to go find somewhere to sleep, Victor asked us to pray for his asthma. I prayed for healing, while Luis translated, and declared wholeness and peace in his life. He thanked us with some sincere fist-bumps, and told us he believed he would be okay. He was exhausted; Luis walked him to the shelter around the corner where he could sleep. Highlight for sure.<br />Eight of us went backpacking this weekend to this little town called Montezuma. We took a bus to the coast, and then a ferry across the peninsula to another bus, finally to arrive at our destination. I think I liked the traveling aspect more than anything this weekend. I got to spend some time with Merlin, our non-English-speaking friend from El Salvador for two hours on the bus entirely in Spanish. I loved the boat ride, too. It was simply gorgeous. The sun was setting and the clouds were ablaze with color.<br /><br />We spent most of the weekend just walking around and exploring the beach. We played in the waves for a little while, before coming back to the hostel to make lunch. I think a lot of us were pretty tired, so we didn’t end up doing very much. Nonetheless, it was very nice. I must say, it was kind of strange, too. I’ve never been to a place like this before. Montezuma is a party town on the beach. The downtown is about as big as our YWAM base, full of souvenir shops, vendors, restaurants and hostels. You can do pretty much anything during the day. You can go for a hike to the waterfalls, rent motorcycles, go snorkeling, go horseback riding, go zip-lining, learn to surf or even take a yoga class. At night, everything shuts down except for one bar in the center of the town. Everyone goes to the bar at night. Everyone. Alcohol is cheap. Drugs are cheap. Prostitutes are cheap. It’s really hot in Montezuma, so most people walk around in their bathing suits. There are a lot of young singles with gorgeous bodies running around in the jungle and the beaches. Our first night there, I actually saw two people having sex on the beach right outside our hostel. We were offered marijuana and cocaine like three times in one hour when we went downtown to check out the vendors.<br /><br />Someone said that Montezuma has a population of under one hundred, and the rest are all tourists and backpackers. We met a lot of Canadians and a lot of Europeans. They were all either on vacation for the weekend, or fleeing their home countries to do something different than what they have been doing. Some were in Costa Rica for volunteer work, and taking the weekend off to party. We got to talk with some people here and there about it and it was very interesting. There was such a vibe of waywardness to this place. Not a lot of people knew what was next for them.<br /><br />After exploring the beach, dinner and a worship session, we went downtown for the evening to “practice” loving on the travelers. Like I said before, everyone was at the bar. If not inside it, they flooded the street outside. Loud reggae music was playing across the street, combating the hip hop and r&b blasting from inside the bar. We prayed and split up into pairs, hoping God would cross our paths with someone to bless. Julia and Val, our leaders, told us to look for opportunities to get to know people and look for opportunities to share God’s love with them. They suggested buying someone a drink or dinner, or inviting them to hang out with us tomorrow when we went hiking. Bold moves, huh? A little intimidating, I would say. Val and I bought some guy a beer, but it didn’t go anywhere. We ended up sitting on the sidewalk with all these other people drinking and smoking. Val said sometimes it’s best just to pray for the others. We could see our friends talking with people, so we just prayed that they would be able to share God’s love with them. My friend Aryk, from Canada, was on fire this weekend! He was so bold, and got into so many rich conversations with the travelers.<br /><br />It was a strange experience. I had never been to a place like this before. At first, I found myself judging the people around me. I would never do any of this. Why would I leave my home to come all the way down here to get wasted and hook up with random people? Why would anyone want to invest in such a journey? As I sat there on the sidewalk with Val, the clouds started to part in my mind. They’re looking for pleasure; they’re looking for satisfaction. They want to experience something more than what their normal lives offer. Some want to see something beautiful; human beings, mountains, rivers, the ocean. Others want to feel significant, like they’re doing something matters; volunteer work, language school. They want to feel joy, unspeakable joy; cheap alcohol, plentiful drugs. What can placate these thirsty and hungry people? God. They’re looking for God. They don’t know it, and maybe I don’t either, but I think that’s what they’re ultimately searching for; the love of God.<br /><br />I felt God speak to me as I looked around at the partiers. Luke 15 came to mind, where Jesus tells parables of the lost sheep, coin and prodigal son. The shepherd leaves the ninety nine to find the one lost sheep, and the widow sweeps here entire house until she finds her coin. The Father rejoices and throws a party when His son returns to Him. God reminded me that these people before me were His lost treasures. They were His sheep and His coins. They were His sons and daughters. He wanted them back. He didn’t want them to numb their pain with substances. He didn’t want them to give away their bodies for validation. He wanted them to know that He loved them.<br /><br />Pray that God would give me His eyes and His heart for the backpacker community.<br /><br />The next day, we were going to go see the infamous waterfalls of Montezuma. You could get to them by walking upstream along this little river by the hostel. It was beautiful. Chris and I never made it all the way there, unfortunately. We only saw a little one, but there were supposedly bigger and better ones further up. We walked along the riverside trail for a good while until out of nowhere it started pouring rain. You guys, this was what I envisioned the Great Flood to have been. I was drenched from head to toe within seconds. I got water in places I never knew I had! Chris didn’t feel like trekking through the storm, and I had my camera with me, so I thought it better to just go back as well. We walked through the shower for like twenty minutes and got back to the hostel to dry out our clothes.<br /><br />I thought my daypack was waterproof, which is why I brought it, but it apparently is not. My camera got soaking wet, and no longer works. Of course.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Praise Report</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-God is speaking to me. Very clearly. I’ve been receiving so much revelation.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Great time with the homeless this week.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-We got to experience God’s glorious creation on the beach this weekend.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prayer Requests</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Pray for Victor, wherever he is. Pray for God to lead him, and to heal him.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Pray for a thankful heart. I want to be grateful for every breathe.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Pray that I would have God’s eyes and heart for the backpackers.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Finances, as always. Please pray for provision.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-PRAY FOR REST.</span>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-44092071094101029682011-05-19T06:18:00.000-07:002011-05-19T06:20:03.832-07:00View From Above<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> 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mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Our speaker this week was the founder of the base, Giacomo Coghi. He talked about having a Biblical worldview, or as PCC refers to it, a kingdom perspective. As Christ-Followers, we need to see ourselves as citizens of Heaven. When we come into the family of God, we also enter in to a new system of society. In light of our “naturalization” to this new kingdom, we inevitably have to adopt new standards to live by. This week we talked about what God values, in contrast to what the world values. We can see what God values through looking at what He commands of us; His heart is revealed in the things He wants us to do.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why does He tell us not to covet our neighbor’s wife (or his other stuff)? Because He wants us to be content with what we have. Why does He say not to lie? Because God values authenticity. Why did Jesus tell Peter he would be a fisher of men? Because people matter to God, and that’s what He wants us to focus on. It’s so interesting looking at the core of what God tells us. There’s so much more going on that just what we read with our eyes. These commands are the fruits of something deeper inside God’s heart. In addition to our studies of the Bible, we tried to analyze various social problems through the lens of a biblical worldview. Worldview drives societies. For example, human trafficking is a fruit of the belief that people are commodities, rather than individuals created in God’s image. Racism and segregation are fruits of the idea that some people are better than others. It was a very interesting, thought provoking week. The idea that “a tree is known by its fruit” makes me want to discover what other roots lie beneath the surface of society.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Giacomo presented us with a very striking, but simple, question at the beginning of the week: why are we here? After showing us this awesome slideshow which documented 50 years of YWAM adventures happening all over the world, our base leader challenged us to think about what God might have for us here in San Jose. Good question, don’t you think? God obviously brought me here. He confirmed it time and again that I was supposed to come; everything worked out as it was supposed to; He paved the way and provided everything as needed. But…why? Why did He go to such lengths to bring me to this little country? How will these few months away from home shape the rest of my life? What treasures has God hidden for me? What new adventures is He beckoning me towards? Exciting to ponder, isn’t it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perfect timing, I thought, to bring this up. I was certainly feeling sucked into the routine of our quasi-monastic lifestyle. A lot of us have been kind of bored, even jaded with what we’ve been doing. But that’s not what God brought me here for, is it? No way. God is a God of abundant life. There’s always something new to discover, always something profound or amazing to experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday, a DTS from Korea made us dinner. It was a nice change, to have something other than beans and rice. Don’t get me wrong; I love Costa Rican food. But I also love Korean food, and I didn’t think I’d get the chance to have that until I got home!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The whole DTS went northeast to Monte Verde this Thursday and Friday. We stayed at this crazy hostel up in the mountains. Everything was painted with these really vibrant murals, and there was a pool table. They spoiled us for breakfast, lunch and dinner…but that’s another story. We came to hear the testimony of this one of the guys who managed it. Ricardo was a Christ-follower, formally gay and formally a Quaker, and was married with three kids. He told us his story…which was so unbelievably long and complicated…and the history of the Quaker community his parents founded. Basically, a bunch of pacifists from Alabama fled the United States during the Korean War, and started a village in the mountains of Costa Rica. The story was supposed to be related to the ideas of worldview and how it impacted the community of Monte Verde. I’m still trying to figure out how it did, but it was interesting nonetheless.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Quakers in Monte Verde have evolved into a modern hippy movement. They are peacefully on the search for truth, and they’ll look for it however they can, whether it’s in drugs, music, art, extreme sports or whatever. Monte Verde is like the Santa Cruz of Costa Rica; very eclectic, very earthy, very alternative. Ricardo wanted to show his parents Christ’s love so badly, because they had lost sight of Him over the years. His parents were very old and feeble, but still had this huge farm up in the mountains. We were given the odd task of re-blazing trails around his parent’s farm. His dad was the original blazer of these amazing trails, but could no longer wield his machetes and hacksaws the same way he once did. So we went into the rainforest surrounding the farm and cleared the paths. We walked along, hacking away at overgrown bushes and sawing in half fallen trees that blocked the path.<span style=""> </span>Eventually, everyone was split up in pairs all over the forest. Lennart and I sawed two trees and moved them from the trails, but then we just walked around since the people before us already removed other trees and stumps. We followed the trail really far, kept slipping in the mud and swatting these monster bugs off of each other. We almost got lost, but we found some of our other friends and then we found Ricardo, who led us back to the hotel. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">And of course, once again, I did not have my camera for this. I know. I know. You all want your money back. You never want me to come home. I know. I know. It was raining, okay? It was raining! I didn’t want to ruin my camera! Anyways, other people took pictures, so I’ll direct you guys via Facebook to those images when they’re uploaded. The rain forest is something else, you guys. It’s so dense. It’s so full of life. There are so many different kinds of plants, so many animals and birds. God made such a beautiful world; He is truly an artist. The colors are so vibrant, the textures are so diverse. You really can’t help but feel close to God in His creation. He continuously keeps reminding me how big and complex He is. I encourage you to go be with God outside. Go for a hike at Edgewood Park. Go to the beach this weekend (God willing the weather is good.) Let God reveal himself to you through His glorious works.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.<br />Romans 1:20</blockquote><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friday was quite a day. After breakfast, we went zip-lining! Supposedly, these were the longest, highest and fastest zip-lines in Costa Rica. Obviously, I was quite nervous at first. I hate heights. I hate speed. I opted to be one of the last people to go, but when I finally did, I loved it! <span style=""> </span>We took a “sky tram” (6-person ski lift) to the top of the mountain after our practice run. We could basically see the entire country of Costa Rica, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts lay bare at the bottom of either side of the mountain. Right below us was the rainforest. This was such a unique experience, because I got to enjoy God’s creation from above…at 50 miles per hour, no less. How weird! We went on nine zip-lines all the way back down to where we started. I got to see that same rainforest I was hiking through the day before from over two hundred feet above the canopy. You really feel like you’re flying. I would recommend zip-lining to anyone. Let’s go when I come back home, okay? We’re gonna have a blast.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On our way back to the base, we found out there was a 6.0 Earthquake in Cartago. All the staff on the base said they felt it, but there was no damage anywhere in the country and no casualties. Crazy stuff. We had a gnarly thunderstorm Saturday afternoon. It doesn’t rain in Redwood City like it rains here. Nor do the thunder and lightning come with such force. It literally makes you jump when it strikes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I was feeling extremely overwhelmed on Saturday night. My Canadian friend Aryk was organizing a neighborhood worship session in this little park next to the grocery store. He wanted to establish a presence of YWAM in the neighborhood, especially because there were so many college students around. At the same time, YWAM’s prostitution ministry was having a prayer and worship gathering, and was planning on going out to the streets that night. I wanted to do both. But then again, I had stuff I had to finish like our weekly journals and book reports (which I still haven’t finished.) Even more, Giacomo’s question for us this week still haunted me and demanded more meditation and prayer. I just didn’t know what to do. I finally decided I wanted to go to the prostitution thing, because I figured I wouldn’t have this opportunity in the states (prostitution is legal here, and therefore decreases the risks involved.) In my hurry, I forgot about the rain and slipped off my porch and landed on my tailbone. Ouch. I decided not to go, and I ended up not doing anything productive that evening. This kind of depressed me for a few days, but I'm doing much better now.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kind of a crappy end to the week, but it was a good one overall.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Praise Report:<br />-I’m continuing to conquer my fears, and live in the freedom of Jesus.<br />-God has stirred a renewed excitement for my time here, thanks to Giacomo’s question.<br />-One of our friends was blessed a great deal, financially. I’m gonna post a separate blog about that.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Prayer Requests:<br />-Finances, as always. I’m about to write an official update about that.<br />-Self-discipline for my quiet times, still. I’m hopeless.<br />-Healing for my tailbone.<br />-Intentionality and deliberation as I try to embrace every day I have here. Pray against apathy and complacency, and against falling into the routine.</p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-21436495474168840052011-05-18T14:48:00.000-07:002011-05-25T12:27:55.808-07:00FINANCIAL UPDATEHey friends and family.<br /><br />We found out our approximate cost for our Outreach to Peru and Bolivia, which is approximately <span style="font-weight: bold;">$2,350 per student</span>. It's a little more than we expected, because we're going to be traveling during high season, but we're trusting God to provide for our housing, food, transportation (to, from and within these countries) and ministries during these 8 weeks.<br /><br />I've got about <span style="font-weight: bold;">$600</span> so far, and I need <span style="font-weight: bold;">$200</span> more so I can buy my ticket to Peru. I know it'll happen, somehow.<br /><br />Something really cool happened for one of our team mates this week. He shared with us this last weekend that he was $900 short of what he needed for Lecture Phase. If he didn't have it by Monday, he would unfortunately have to return to El Salvador. As you can imagine, we were really sad to here of that possibility! God really stirred in our hearts to give to our friend, so he could stay with us. He was brought here by God for a reason, and surely not to be kicked out halfway through, so the rest of us pooled our money and were able to keep him aboard!<br /><blockquote>All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.<br /><br />Acts 4:32-35<br /></blockquote>So cool to see this worked out in reality. We're all hoping and praying for more provision. We know from the Bible that "The gold is mine, and the silver is mine, declares the Lord." It's all His. If He wants us to go, He'll make a way. I invite you to join us in prayer. If you feel God stirring in your heart to give to YWAM, please click the link below to make an online donation so that I can help contribute to our cause.<br /><br />Thank you to everyone who helped get me here to Costa Rica. Everything I have is a gift. Everything. So thank you so much. Despite the few challenges here and there, I am having the time of my life. I hope I can encourage you by sharing about my adventures. 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name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I’ve getting pretty tired the past couple weeks. Especially after this last weekend’s backpacking trip. I haven’t been getting up on time in the mornings, purposefully skipping breakfast and even my quiet time with God before classes. Bad idea! I’m actually beginning to feel the consequences and I’m starting to realize that He really is my daily bread. When I don’t spend time with Him, I forget who I am and what I’m here for. I find less meaning in my daily activities, and my classes seem really boring. No one could have ever guessed, but I was totally ditching out on my devotions!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Tuesday, we prayed for one another by drawing names out of a hat, but we weren’t allowed to read them until after we prayed for that person. We were to listen to God for scriptures, or words or pictures about our anonymous person and write them down for them.<span style=""> </span>One of my leaders, Dan, got my name. God told Him that I needed to spend more time with Him, and that He would give me the rest I needed in His presence. Busted! I guess the Lord has missed our quiet mornings together. Time to buckle down, I suppose, huh?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I loved our speaker this week. We were blessed with the charmingly stereotypical Californian Scott Freeman, who heads up a surfing and skate ministry for at-risk youth in Jaco. He talked all about the character and nature of God. The nature of God encompasses the intrinsic qualities that He exhibits. For example, God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; all knowing, all powerful and having the ability to occupy all space. God’s character refers to the ways that He expresses His nature. Because God is omniscient and omnipotent, He is also creative. He is able to make things out of nothing. We need to have an accurate view of who God is and the way He works. Scott argued that our lives gravitate towards our view of God because we will respond accordingly, whether we realize it or not, to however we think He is. If we think our God is loving and good, we will live in light of that. It is also true with the opposite.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We spent some time in class going over various characteristics of God, but the best was when Scott took us to this really beautiful park near the base to investigate God in nature. It was a surprise, so once again I did not have my camera on me. I know, I know. I suck. Anyway, Scott wanted us to discover who God was through Creation, because in Romans it says that He has revealed Himself in what He made. Just as artist leaves a piece of himself in his work, so does God leave a piece of Himself in His. We walked along trails, across a field, climbed trees, sat on logs and rocks, enjoyed the coolness of the afternoon…it was lovely.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I walked along this one trail by myself for a little while, looking around at the forest. It was crazy to really observe how complex the forest is. Supposedly, Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, meaning it has the most different kinds of plants and animals. I believe it; within one meter, you can see so many different colors, textures, and shapes growing out from the earth and coexisting in this forest. You couldn’t count it all, you couldn’t measure it. You couldn’t really even see past it, beyond the wall of trees and bushes and flowers and plants. The forest is complex; it made me think of God and how complex He is. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes, I feel like I’ve figured Him out, though. I feel like I’ve learned all I could about Him. But how could I? How could I fully understand the fullness of this being who is transcendent of time and space, and who knows everything and can do everything? Looking into the forest reminded me that there’s so much more to God than I realize. A lot of people have been praying that God would reveal to me new things about Himself. I want to walk into God’s forest and see the mysteries He’s got hidden there.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The week ended pretty rough, I must say. Thursday night was particularly challenging. It was our second time doing homeless ministry, but this time it was more spontaneous. We didn’t go through an organization, we just went to this one square downtown after dinner where we handed out coffee and bread to anyone we saw on the street who looked hungry. We set up a “fueling station” at this gazebo in the center of this square downtown where we take our goods out to the people. Most everyone had a pretty positive experience, whether it was praying for one of the homeless people or just listening to their stories. Thank God it had stopped raining, too, because it had been pouring all day. Based on our last experience, I had pretty high hopes for this evening, but I went home extremely discouraged. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">First and foremost, there was an undeniable presence of the Enemy. It was eerie. Every sight and sound seemed harsher. From the moment we got there, I was feeling very uncomfortable. It was an odd feeling, because I am no stranger to feeding the homeless at night. I wasn’t concerned about my safety, but I felt like we were unwelcome. I felt like we were being watched. It was so, so strange. I had to keep stepping in and out of the activity to collect myself, because the feeling was so strong.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We split up into groups and went off to feed the homeless. Lennart, Jakota (from Montana) and I found a trio sitting on a bench holding cardboard, two men and a woman. I was the only one who spoke any Spanish, so we were hoping for the best. The three of them were obviously very drunk, but they greeted us nonetheless. The older man immediately blurted out “<i style="">Ustedes son angeles del cielo!</i>” (you guys are angels from heaven!) and they gratefully accepted the bread and coffee. The woman, called Ivania, spoke some English and thanked us in a way my Danish and American friends could understand. She told us that the older man was a painter, and used to teach art at Universidad Fidelitas, the college next to the base. The younger man, who stood there glaring at us and mumbling obscenities in Spanish, was apparently an actor. They were alcoholics, she informed us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I began talking with the older man, whose name I never discovered, while Lennart and Jakota talked and prayed with Ivania. The younger man, for whatever reason, started crying and rested in Ivania’s arms while my friends prayed for her. My conversation with this man was quite bizarre. First, he told me was a fallen angel running away from Satan. I told him that we were here to serve God. When I asked his name, he told me he didn’t have one, but then later he told me his name was Edgar Allan Poe, and then Ernest Hemingway. He was surprised I knew who those people were, so he kept telling me that I was intelligent. Out of nowhere he started singing me some jazz song, and then asked me if I liked Michael Jackson. He reminded me that he was an alcoholic, and he didn’t know why he drank so much. He kept asking me who God was, too. “Quien es Dios?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The younger man, I noticed, kept looking at me while I was talking to Edgar Allen Poe. He would come up to us like he wanted to fight one of us, but he would just stare at me and then walk away and come back a little later. He would go up to Lennart and Jakota and throw himself onto them, collapsing into a desperate embrace, before coming back to glare at me. Edgar and Ivania kept telling me to quit whatever he was doing. “Dejalo! Dejalo!” they kept commanding, quite passively and unconcerned. I went to the gazebo to get some more bread and coffee for our drunken trio. Ivania and Edgar accepted gratefully, but the younger man just grimaced at the drink and snapped at me in Spanish that he wasn’t interested.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I tried to start a conversation with him, while Lennart and Jakota continued talking with Ivania. I asked him his name and he told me it was Mauricio.<span style=""> </span>When I told him it was nice to meet him, he responded by asking “Me quieres que mate?” I simply looked at him, taken aback. He just asked if I wanted him to kill me. He looked me in the face with the darkest, most hateful eyes I have ever seen. It was paralyzing. All I could think of to do was shake my head and tell him no. His eyes softened for a moment, and then he fell into me and hugged me very tightly. He buried his face in my neck, let out a sigh and then stumbled backwards. He asked me if Lennart and Jakota were my brothers. I told Mauricio that they were my brothers in Christ and that we were missionaries. All of the sudden, he stood up straight and began glaring at me again. I told him we were here to help, and asked if I could pray for him. “Nunca!” he said through gritted teeth, “Dios ha matado a mucho gente!” Never! God has killed too many people. He backed away, but continued to stare me down.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ivania told us that Mauricio was depressed. His brothers were dead and his mother hated him. She didn’t explain this in depth, but that was her rationale for Mauricio’s behavior. He was mumbling something in Spanish and began hugging us all again, very aggressively. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, so I called one of our Costa Rican staff workers, Rosella, over to translate for us. She listened to him for a minute and I saw a look of concern fall over her face. Turning to me, she said very calmly, but firmly. “We should go. Get the other two. Just walk away.” I asked her what he was saying and she said not to worry about it; it was just better that we go. So we did. He did not follow us. “Just pray for him.” Rosella said, gently leading us away.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We thought that there might have been some demonic activity going on. The Enemy no doubt had a stronghold in that square that night, with all the drugs and alcohol and hunger and thirst, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that someone could fall prey to spiritual attack. We were safe. Policemen were patrolling the square, and were aware of what we were doing. They were looking out for us if anything happened. The bipolar behavior of Mauricio was just so striking. One second, he’d be completely passive, to the point of tears, and the next he’d be hostile and profane...whenever we would mention God. It just seemed so unnatural. What bummed me out about this experience was that I completely forgot about God throughout all of it. Everything we talked about this week was out the window. I came face to face with poverty, with addiction, with rage and despair... and I never prayed once. I had nothing positive to say to the people we were serving. I was intimidated. I was afraid.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And to think, I’m on the winning side. I have the living God dwelling in my heart. I have the light of the world shinning against the darkness in my life. I couldn’t believe how blinded I was by the dark. Lennart, on other hand, was bold. He didn’t understand what Mauricio was saying, so he wasn’t fazed by him. He kept on pressing in to our new friends, trying to understand them and trying to be a light in this dark and stormy night. Lennart was actually very encouraged by the experience, he told me later. He really enjoyed being with the homeless and loving on them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I was hoping to spend the weekend resting, since the last weekend we were backpacking, but I was sad to find out that I had weekend work duties. Everyone, both staff and student, has to work one weekend during of our time here. We just have to prepare breakfast and dinner, and clean the common areas. It’s not horrible, but it just takes up a lot of time and it can be hard if you’re not familiar with those areas of service. I’ve never prepared food for lots of people. What made it really difficult was that I was given very little instruction for the tasks at hand. But then for simple tasks, that require no explanation, there was a very specific way of doing it that was commanded by my supervisor. At the time, it was very frustrating, but in hindsight I think it was a pretty comical experience. I really bonded with my Australian friend Scott during this time. We're still laughing about it.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">During one of my breaks, I went downtown to buy sheets. It was quite the adventure. I didn’t know how to say sheets in Spanish, so it took me jumping around to about ten different shops to finally figure out where I could purchase some. I got some for $6. Score.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prayer Requests:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Self-discipline as I work on getting up on time and committing to my quiet time with Jesus in the morning.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Confidence in the Lord. Pray that I would receive revelation and understanding of who God is, and what He is like.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Spiritual protection. Pray that I would know that the victory of Jesus is mine, and that no weapon formed against me shall prosper.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Pray that God would reveal His mysteries to me, and that He would walk with me every day. I’m ready for some adventures with Jesus.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Financial providence, as always.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Love you all. Send me an email, I'd love to hear from my brothers and sisters back home!<br /></p>ckenny1705@gmail.comCharlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-89311242890331980512011-05-04T21:59:00.000-07:002011-05-06T13:48:13.631-07:00My Backpack Sucks<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> 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mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">This week, although very loosely scheduled, weighed pretty heavy on me. Our topic for lecture was intimacy with God. Sounds simple, right? It is; God is love, and everything He does is motivated by love. His desire is for us to know Him. In Hebrew, the word “know” is <i style="">yada</i>. This word is so intense; it is usually used to describe the relationship between a husband and wife. It’s so rich with meaning:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>“…an intensive intimate and experiential involvement that exceeds mere cognitive awareness. <i style="">Yada</i> encompasses contact, trust, intimacy and mutuality in the context of an ongoing and deepening relationship.”<br />-Vanessa Pavely (who stole this from someone else, I'm assuming)<br /></blockquote><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Wow. So this is what God wants for me?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, why the heaviness? I honestly don’t want to go too much into it, but I will say this: the knowledge of God’s love and His desire for intimacy with collided full force with my desire for the love of a woman. It made me realize that I probably desire a woman’s affections more than I desire God’s unconditional love, and I never really realized that fully until now. What was most disturbing is that the hunger I feel, I know in reality, can only be filled by the Lord. I know He is the only thing that is faithful, and the only thing that can satisfy. Even still, I try to fill it with something lesser, something imperfect and fickle, but something that is tangible and familiar. That tension between what is true and what I feel is a war inside me. Pray for clarity and focus as I try to open my heart to the Lord.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One thing we did this week a side from class was hear about our options for Outreach. The eighteen of us will split into two teams which will go to either Central or South America, specifically to Peru and Bolivia. That’s kind of exciting, isn’t it? We were to request which one we’d want to go to, and the leaders would pray about it and tell us sometime this week where we’d be going. We had to explain our choice, too…if we had a vision, or felt like God was telling us to pick a certain option. I didn’t really feel particularly led in any direction, so I flipped a coin five times (heads for South, tails for Central) and got South America as my option. Eventually, I found out that I will in fact be headed South America for the summer!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Friday was our monthly base clean-up. Everyone had to work on cleaning the base from 9am until 4pm. Some people were doing yard work, or kitchen work, or construction work. Some people were working on the bathrooms, and washing the cars outside. I had the privilege of retrieving rocks from the river surrounding the base to fill this huge hole someone dug in the ground. What a random job! Clad in rain boots and rubber gloves, new friend Danish friend Lennart and I assisted one of our Costa Rican leaders, Luis, in bringing large stones up from the river onto the bridge and into a wheel barrel. I guess they were working on some plumbing outside and they needed to cover the pipes with rocks before they could fill it with dirt again. I don’t really know. It was fun, though. Gross. But fun.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">While we were tossing the stones on to the bridge, I accidentally missed and threw this huge rock into some exposed pipes which immediately shattered upon impact. Oops. It was no big deal, really…the construction guys fixed it, but we didn’t have running water for like three hours. I was pretty embarrassed at first, but it was mostly really funny. Lennart was having a ball.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I went on my first backpacking trip this weekend! Half of the DTS went surfing in Jaco, while we went to the little town of Orosi, which is an hour bus ride southeast of San Jose. We almost lost our German friend, Robin, because he stepped off the bus for a second to get out of someone’s way and the bus started driving away. We yelled for them to wait, and we got him back on. His European courtesy had almost become a disadvantage. So funny.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Orosi was gorgeous! It’s in a valley surrounded by these unbelievably green mountains. Judging by the numerous hostels and souvenir shops we passed by on the street, I guessed that this was a popular stop for backpackers. We stayed in a hostel on the edge of town, and basically had it all to ourselves. This time of year, according to our Dutch landlord, is normally really slow for them. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">There was only one other person staying there; a woman from Seattle named Melissa who moved to Costa Rica to learn Spanish. She was in her late thirties, single and just quit her job as an art teacher to travel; she was “following her intuition”. Melissa was a little strange, but very sweet, and we got to cook for her and invite her to hang out with us. Before we eventually parted ways, we got to pray for her, which she eagerly invited.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our first night at the hostel we just relaxed together; unpacked, had an awesome dinner at this restaurant down the street, sang some worship songs, and looked at the local attractions in this tourist magazine. During dinner, I was able to speak entirely in Spanish for 30 minutes straight with my peers. God’s really blessed my tongue on this trip. We went back to the hostel after that. I liked our rooms because they had clean blankets and sheets for us to use. It was nice to not sleep in a sleeping bag for a few days. Before we went to bed, however, we decided to hike this trail known for its impeccable views of the valley. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We made breakfast the next morning (after being roused by this annoying rooster and waking up with a cat in my bed) packed our lunch for the day and set out for the mountain. As we trekked out of the town and towards the mountain, one of the dogs from the hostel decided to follow us the whole way. At the base of the mountain was a swimming hole, where we spent some time jumping off rocks and relaxing in the cool water. I’m so glad we did, because it was unbelievably hot that day. After that, we continued up the mountain for about six hours. The scenery was pretty average until we leveled out, then we got to see some pretty spectacular views. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera…so I have nothing to show for it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We walked up and down the mountain for a total of six hours, and accidentally came out of the trail about 3 kilometers away from Orosi. We tried to hitchhike back to town, but with no success. We enjoyed our walk back, anyway, despite our weariness. We made dinner when we got back to the hostel, and toured a coffee farm the next day before returning home.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Praise reports:<br />-I can speak Spanish! Like I said earlier, my skills are improving so much. I've been able to connect a lot more with my peers who don't speak English, and even the Costa Rican kitchen staff when I wash the dishes after dinner. I'm feeling really confident in my ability to communicate.<br />-I got my first choice for outreach. I'll be going to Peru and Bolivia in a couple months. We're not sure what we're gonna do specifically, or where we're gonna go, but we're going.<br />-I love my new friends here. We're all really united, and becoming really close with one another.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prayer Requests</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Pray for God to work in my heart. I feel myself loosing focus. Pray that He captures my heart above all the other things distracting me.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Pray for guidance as we figure out where to go in Peru and Bolivia, and what ministries God wants us to be a part of.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">- Pray for financial provision. Our trip to South America is going to cost a little more than the original price, and a lot of my peers are short on money still. If you feel led to donate to YWAM, there's a link below that I can use to collect funds for our mission. 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unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->The week before Easter is known as Semana Santa ("holy week") in Latin America. It truly is a holy week; the whole country of Costa Rica slows down in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The normally omnipresent honking of the dense traffic of San Jose was literally silenced as most people either went on vacation or stayed at home with their families. Many stores were closed this week, or at least closed earlier in the day. You can’t buy alcohol this week, and the prostitutes even “close up shop” due to the temporary lack of activity in San Jose. <p class="MsoNormal">We here at YWAM had quite a bit of activity, though. We had a guest speaker from Missouri named Jude. <span style=""> </span>He heads up a skate ministry in the States called Untitled Skateboards. He spoke on John 3:16 and took us to his first of two events of his up the hill from us at a church. Ramps were set up for the local youth to skate for free, which was cool because there are no free or public skate parks in Costa Rica. It’s a shame, because there were around one hundred teenagers present. I must say, I was really disappointed in Jude’s sharing of the gospel. While everything he said was true, and theologically sound, I felt he portrayed an image of God that was inaccurate and perhaps detrimental to the skaters.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">He made them all very aware that they were sinners. For whatever reason, he thought it would be effective to compare God to a cop trying to pull over everyone speeding on the freeway. We, as humans, had the choice to either pull over or just try to outrun our pursuer. Either way, we’d have to face Him eventually. In the whole half hour that he spoke, Jude only mentioned the love of God – the motive and rationale behind His sacrifice and resurrection – once, and it was dwarfed by the fear and condemnation he was preaching before. When he extended an invitation to the skaters to accept Jesus into their hearts, no one raised their hands. I didn’t blame them; why would they want anything to do with a God who was out to get them? Jesus was just another person who thought they were a nuisance. This has been weighing on me all week, and still makes me really upset.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Something really interesting happened the next day, though, unrelated to the skate ministry. Our leaders wanted us to pray for an Outreach team that was distributing Bibles in a town called Guanacaste on the pacific coast. We split up into small groups to prayer for six of the thirty staff and students distributing bibles. While we were praying for the usual essentials – safety, boldness, unity and the like – I had this feeling that someone or some people on our list had lost something important, and needed to find it, so I prayed that God would deliver whatever it was back to them. When we were done, we were supposed to write down anything we felt we received from the Lord and turn it in to the staff, in case they needed to hear anything we heard.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">That following weekend, one of my leaders came and found me and told me that one of the guys I prayed for had lost his wallet during the outreach, but ended up finding it. Also, a girl on that list had misplaced her contact lenses, but ended up finding them as well. Kinda cool, huh?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Wednesday was definitely a highlight for me. After breakfast we went to Zona Roja (the red-light district) and served the homeless alongside the Salvation Army. The homeless men and women would come in waves to the dining hall, where we would always begin with some scripture and a prayer of blessing of their food. Some of us worked in the kitchen, some of us were serving the food, some of us greeted the hungry at the door, and some of us just hung out with them while they ate breakfast. I had the privilege of sharing a word from Isaiah and saying grace for the second wave of people. After that, I got to pray for two substance abusers, who expressed desperation for God to fill their souls. The first was English-speaking and California-raised Ignacio, who was an alcoholic and lost his job as a security guard for showing up to work drunk. His employer said he might give him a second chance, if he cleaned up his act and had another interview. We prayed together for that upcoming opportunity and he vigorously shook my hand in gratitude when we were finished.<span style=""> </span>Later, I prayed for Manuel, an older man from Nicaragua. He had no friends or family in San Jose, and he would constantly use heavy drugs to alleviate his feelings of loneliness. He didn’t want to do this anymore, so my translator and I prayed for him. As my words were repeated again in Spanish, Manuel started to tear up, and I couldn’t help but do the same.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In honor of Semana Santa, we spent a lot of time reflecting on who Jesus was. We read through the gospel of John and meditated on the different names and titles God gives Himself. It was really humbling to read all of the different names that Jesus was given – bread of life, the true vine, friend, good shepherd, teacher, light in the darkness – because it showed how big our God is. He is so big that He can fill every need in our lives. He is our teacher and counselor when we are in need of guidance. He is our father when we need provision. He is our friend when we are lonely. It makes me wonder how I’ve been viewing Him lately and what role He wants to fill in my life right now. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We watched The Passion of the Christ on Thursday night, took communion afterwards and had a time of confession on Good Friday. I got drafted into the worship team. Scott, my new friend from Australia who was heading up the band, could hear me singing during one of the sessions when he was next to me so he demanded my participation. We led the entire base this Friday morning in some songs. It was so much fun, and people seemed to really enjoy it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Saturday was Jude’s last event. This one was in the central park of San Jose, where they rented out a huge space to put ramps. We didn’t have a clear role in this event, like the last one, so we just watched from the sidelines and hung out around the park. My friend Chris and I played Frisbee with some skater kids, who later expressed that they wanted to add us on Facebook. Hundreds of people came to skate again for free and ultimately to hear Jude’s legalistic gospel of fear. I know, I know. I’m being kind of harsh. I need to remember that seeds are in fact being planted, and that it’s amazing that there’s someone who wants to share the gospel with skateboarders. In the end, I think God’s love is preached through the mere provision of space to skate. Most people are too poor to afford the expensive private skate parks and there was even free Powerade for people to drink when they got thirsty.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, today is Easter. The whole base got up at 5am to sing some songs, watch the sunrise and remember the resurrection. I must say, I really wish I could spend today with my family.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Praise report:<br />-Merlin, our 27 year old classmate from El Salvador, has never even heard English until he came to YWAM but is now speaking in full sentences after two weeks of exposure.<br />-During a time of confession on Friday, my cold finally went away after I confessed to two of my classmates that I had been judging them unfairly. I asked for their forgiveness and I noticed an hour later I had stopped coughing and sneezing!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Prayer Requests:<br />-Favor for Ignacio and healing for Manuel, the two men I prayed for at the Salvation Army.<br />-Growth in the area of grace. Pray God would fill my heart with his favor and patience for people.<br />-For an open heart for myself as I continue to learn. Pray that my heart and mind would open to the voice of the Lord.</p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-20483986315103340582011-04-18T13:06:00.000-07:002011-04-18T13:07:40.304-07:00Monasticism and High Ropes Course<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> 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0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I can’t believe it’s only been a week since I’ve been gone. It feels like much longer! It’s been an interesting week, I must say. My leaders keep telling us that these next twelve weeks should be very powerful, because they will be completely focused on contemplating the scriptures and knowing God. While it may not have been advertised as this, YWAM’s lecture phase is basically twelve weeks in a monastery. I’ve never thought of it that way, but that’s what it really is. We’re all living together in simplicity on a secluded property on the edge of the city. Our days are regimented, starting with breakfast at 6:30 am every day until 9pm in the evening. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The average week on the base is characterized by daily morning solitude, followed by corporate worship or intercession, then two to three hours of intensive group bible study and learning about the character of God. After lunch, we may continue with our studies, or break up into small prayer groups, or do something else that connects to whatever we’re learning about. In between these disciplines, we also have homework and chores we have to complete for the day. I’ve been assigned to do the dishes after dinner. I’m excited to see what God will teach me through this nightly responsibility.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">For class this last week we were learning about hearing from God. Not necessarily about how to hear God, but what conditions in our life make us more or less likely to have that experience. Before we got into that, however, our speaker Marjolein Coghi of the Netherlands reminded us that, first and foremost, God wants to speak; He is in fact a person, and wants to be in a relationship with us. God is always pursuing us, and always has something to say to us. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">People hear God when they’re humble; when people are without pride and are not focused on their own ways, thoughts and desires, they hear from Him because they choose to listen to His voice and not their own. People can hear God when they trust Him because those who have faith embrace who He is and claim the truth that He does speak. People who don’t hold anything back from God hear Him because nothing will stand between them. Likewise, people who are willing to wait for God will surely hear Him, because His timing is perfect and He will move or speak at exactly the right moment.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To practice hearing from the Lord, we went on a silent retreat this last Thursday. We drove up to a national park by the volcano just outside of San Jose, where we spent the entire day in silence as we waited to hear from God. Everyone spread out around the park, some walking and some sitting along the lake’s edge or in the woods. I had little faith that it would be a very rich experience. The whole week I’ve felt very distant from God, and like He didn’t even want to speak to me. Seeing my peers experience Him when I did not was very discouraging. During the retreat, I was able to sit on a dock that protruded out over the lake and I got to confess my doubts to God. I didn’t think He was going to speak to me, but He did. I was reading through the gospels and the Holy Spirit highlighted certain things that spoke to my situation very directly.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the end of John, He reminded me that He works in different ways, at different times, for different people. Therefore, I shouldn’t compare myself to my peers. If I don’t receive a vision, or get a word of knowledge, or have some kind of earth shattering revelation today…that’s okay. If it doesn’t happen tomorrow, that’s okay, too. God has things to say to me, and He will say them when I need to hear them. He also reminded me that He has been faithful thus far. I may not have heard from Him for a few days, but that doesn’t negate the miracles that He’s done to get me here to San Jose.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another thing He told me, through a parable in Matthew, was to have grace for the people that annoy me. This hasn’t been a huge problem, but there is one person on our team I’ve already written off and kind of avoid. Jesus gently reminded me that that person was not only God’s son, but my brother as well. God told me to give him a chance, so in response I went to lunch with him on Sunday. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he’s not so bad after all.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">All in all, the retreat was amazing. It was so peaceful and beautiful, and Jesus totally showed up to hang out with each of us. The day after the retreat, we drove to the northern pacific coast of Costa Rica where we did a high ropes course in the jungle. I was pretty scared, I must say, because I absolutely do not like heights. But I ended up loving it! It was cool to draw parallels between navigating an obstacle course while strapped to a harness and navigating through life’s obstacles while connected to God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Should be interesting to see what else God will reveal to me. I’ll keep you updated!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Prayer Requests<br />-Healing from a nasty cough I’ve had all week, and from bug bites I’ve been getting in my bed.<br />-Good rest at night. I keep waking up at random hours and have not been getting enough sleep.<br />-Faith that God would continue moving and speaking to me, even when I may not be feeling it. Pray God would open my mind to the mysteries He is revealing to me.<br />-Continued bonding and intimacy between me and my team mates as we get to know one another.</p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-5786384044133455662011-04-09T15:28:00.000-07:002011-04-10T15:45:42.086-07:00Going, Coming and our First Weekend<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> 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Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->Leaving was really hard. Mostly because I found out I had less time to say goodbye than I had originally thought. I thought my plane was at 10:30, but it was actually at 5:30. I checked in around 2:45, and realized my time was almost up. This story sound familiar? Not to give away the ending, but it ends the same as my Statistics Final: worked out completely in God’s hands…but much more emotional. <p class="MsoNormal">When I realized my time was up, I immediately called Steven to come over and help me finish packing and then my dad to tell him the unexpected news. He came racing home while Steven and I made some speedy rounds to so I could say goodbye to my friends. I couldn’t see all of them, of course, but I tried my best. With that, I just wanted to say sorry to all of you who were expecting to see me. So very sorry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I broke down on the way to see my mom at work, because I thought I wouldn’t have time to see her. Luckily, the rush hour traffic I was dreading hadn’t come to a complete stop, so I was able to give my mom and hug and a kiss before I left. The traffic quickly cleared up and I got to the airport an hour before my departure. Checking my bag was no big deal, and security was a piece of cake.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I had a 10 hour layover in Houston, where I attempted to sleep in a chapel in the terminal next to mine, and finally made it to Costa Rica in the afternoon. I went through customs and was met my team leaders Dan and Val, along with several other YWAM students. <span style=""> </span>They drove us to the YWAM base, which is on the edge of San Jose, and I met the rest of my team.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There are twelve guys and six girls on my team, and only four of those are from the United States. There’s a pair of cousins from Denmark, a guy and a girl from Germany, a guy and a girl from Canada, five Latinos from various countries, one girl from Latvia and one guy from Australia. Most of the Europeans don’t speak Spanish, and most of the Latinos don’t speak English. This language barrier has proved to be quite humorous so far; we’re all constantly laughing at one another’s inability to communicate. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Something that has been communicated, however, is a unanimous state of anxiety beginning this journey. Everyone is really uneasy about being so far away from home, and everyone is kind of wondering why God might have brought us here. I was feeling very lost on Friday night, but by the next morning I was feeling much better. Apparently, our leaders prayed for that specifically on Friday night.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The official program won’t start until Monday, so my new friends and I are mostly just hanging out until then with sporadic orientation pieces thrown in here and there by our leaders. Since Friday, we’ve mostly just been playing games around the base – soccer, volleyball, various card games etc. <span style=""> </span>We went to downtown San Jose on Saturday to explore a little bit, and came back for our Welcome Dinner in the evening. Along with an awesome buffet of arroz con pollo, live Costa Rican music and dancing, there was a flag ceremony to show how many countries were represented. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">There’s another group here that just finished up their lecture phase and are about to head out for their outreach on Monday for Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It’s been really cool to hear from them about their experiences in YWAM so far. They all shared my initial feelings of being overwhelmed and terrified, but assured me that it’s only going to get better from here. That’s literally been everyone’s story.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">Prayer Requests<br />-Peace of mind as I adjust to a very new schedule and lifestyle<br />-Intimate and authentic relationships between my team mates<br />-Recollection and continued learning of the Spanish language as I interact with non-English speakers</span></p>Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-88253845488752079392011-04-07T00:21:00.001-07:002011-04-07T01:05:15.062-07:00My Generous FriendsI leave tomorrow night at 10:30pm, and when I woke up this morning I only had $1,781.<br />While this is quite a lot of money, thanks to my generous church family, it's not quite enough for the lecture phase. So I woke up fairly short. But by the end of today, I received over $700 from my friends, and bumped my total funds to $2,617.21 putting me more than half way to my goal of $4,500.<br /><br />This morning, I woke up so nervous about the money. Time was ticking, as always, and I was feeling All day, I prayed and prayed for God's provision. I've heard story after story after story of God providing financially for missionaries. I've never really seen it before, until today. Before I left my house this morning, my grandma gave me a huge check so I "wouldn't be broke down there in Costa Rica." Two of my friends from NYCUP donated to me online through Paypal. My friends mom sent a check with him when we met up to hang out. I went to dinner with an old mentor and his wife, who already donated, not only payed for dinner but gave me another large donation to help me out. Afterward, I went to youth group where three of my friends gave me checks. Finally, at a going away party, my friends all pooled their money and gave me a huge envelop of cash as my going away present.<br /><br />Wow.<br /><br />Thank you, everyone who donated. You're generosity is so appreciated. Thank you for being so willing to make this experience possible. I can't wait to see what God does! May He bless you as He's blessed me with you.Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160247401517957869.post-89800982849564882602011-04-06T15:51:00.000-07:002011-04-07T00:43:56.364-07:00Finals WeekThe obstacle of school was about to be overcame. I had just been accepted into UC Santa Cruz the week before my exams, and I now had to secure my spot by passing my two remaining general education courses.<br /><br />Even though I only had two finals, this had to be the most stressful finals week of my entire life. There was a lot riding on these tests, and I was not ready at all. As a Psychology major, I have to confess my profound lack of interest in hard sciences and embarrassingly poor mathematical abilities. Needless to say, my Statistics and Chemistry classes did not go very smoothly this quarter. I found it very challenging to stay interested and focused on these subjects that were purely stepping stones on the path towards transferring. Unfortunately, I didn't take on this challenge as I should have. My grades in both classes had dropped to a high D. These finals were my last efforts to pass my classes, otherwise, I felt like it would be simply irresponsible to leave the country. If I failed, I wouldn't go. No question.<br /><br />I studied all week. I went over the presentation slides from Chem, I made a note sheet for Stats; I really tried to brush up before my exams. That Friday morning, at 7:30 am, I showed up for my math final to find that no one was there. After walking around for a few minutes, trying to find where my final was being administered, I suddenly realized that I had missed it! I had written down the wrong date on my calendar and completely missed it.<br /><br />Immediately, I found a computer and emailed my professor. I told her I made a horrible mistake, and I needed to take the final to pass the class because I was transferring. I also explained that I couldn't retake the class in the spring, because I was leaving the country. Even though it was against her policy, I begged her to let me take the test. I waited four hours for a response. Before that, however, I asked every single person I came across to say a prayer for my stupid mistake. Everyone I talked to serenely reminded me that God has been faithful so far, and He will deliver me through. Once again, Victor Hernandez made another seemingly prophetic prediction: she probably wouldn't let me take the test, but she'd just give me a C.<br /><br />I sat in front of my computer screen for hours, waiting for a response, and trying to study for my other final. At long last, my professor got back to me. After scolding me for my carelessness, she informed me that her car had broken down, so she couldn't come to school and let me take the final. Instead, however, she said she would just give me a C in the class. A passing grade!<br /><br />High on the euphoric relief I had just experienced, I gleefully studied for my Chemistry final, which was later that day. When the time came, however, it proved to be absolutely horrendous. All the studying I did, I quickly realized, was no where near enough. I left half of the exam blank, and guessed a lot. After two and a half hours, I turned in my exam and got some lunch. I was feeling really uneasy about my performance, so I went to my professor's office.<br /><br />I asked if there was any extra credit I could do before the grades were in. She told me no, and wondered why I was so worried. I explained my situation, just as I did to my Stats professor, and she asked why I couldn't retake the class. After mentioning my mission trip, she told me she did a few mission trips in college herself and began telling me about her journeys. As interesting as it was to hear about them, I eventually brought the conversation back to my final and she told me not to be concerned. She said I only needed a 68% on the exam to pass the class. I replied in protest, saying I must have gotten far below that score. It is what it is, she concluded, and wished me well for my trip.<br /><br />This last week, the final exam grades were posted, and I got a 68.2%. Come on. That meant I passed this class, too! Nothing else to do for school. Nothing else hanging over my head.<br /><br />There's no way this was accomplished by my own effort. No way. I did not deserve either of these grades. I slacked off, I spaced out, I wasted time...but God gave me favor anyway! He is unstoppable; my shortcomings and mistakes paled in comparison to His plans and purposes for my life. He is too good. He is too gracious.Charlie Kennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363349859743324192noreply@blogger.com0