Your faith has healed you...

Remember when you read the bible and heard all these stories about people being healed, and then when you were sick, where did you go? Where do I usually? Where do you go first?

"Paul looked directly at him, saw that HE HAD FAITH to be HEALED and called out, 'Stand up on your feet!' At that, the man jumped up and began to walk." Acts 14:9-10

Yesterday I could barely walk. I could hardly function. I was delirious. I was lost; in deep pain. The only thing I could think of is how our Lord gives us strength, He's even the source of our strength. I have been reading through the old testament and I couldn't help but think about how many people were healed, and every time, it is because the person had faith! It take this seriously.

I fully believe that I was healed of my sickness only by the power of God through the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. I really didn't understand my sickness yesterday or why everyone was so worried, but now after looking at the symptoms of what is called Dengue fever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever), I fully believe I was healed.

While I was in Peru and on the coast I was bitten several times by mosquitos and have been very irritated by these bites, more than mosquitos bites have ever bothered me. Tuesday marked 14 days since I was in Peru and Guayaquil. And the symptoms, especially with the SUDDEN high fever, headache, body aching and joint pains...just what I was experiencing. And then how, but by the healing powers of God, was a suddenly all better? I feel great. and even yesterday, I felt so much better and was functioning just fine last night. Even if what I had somehow was something different, it was probably the sickest I have ever felt-because it was sick in all types of sickness at once. And God completely healed me.

I am so thankful for the family and friends who were all praying, and for those who were truly believing and expecting healing. It worked. Do you really believe this? No, seriously, do you wholly, completely, believe that the One who created you and everything we know, healed me, and is healing people every minute? I hope so. I still struggle with fully believing, but after experiencing this healing, a healing of my spine, and many more other types of healing, I know the God we follow, placed the Holy Spirit in us for a reason; a beautiful reason!!


"But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." Galatians 3:22

A prisoner to sin...I fully believe that sickness is one, not self inflicted, but not of God's desire. We are fighting a war, even though it is true that it is completely invisible (but not if we're really paying attention). I've been experiencing a high level of spiritual warfare here, and it is amazing to see the way our King fights for us. I am praising the Lord for his amazing powers. And the coolest thing ever, the He really gave us the Spirit to live in us every single day! woah. I hope that you truly believe in healing, it is amazing. God loves us so much. Thank you again for all prayers!!!!! God is forever listening :)

I don't like being sick!

No thank you sickness! I'm not sure how it has always seemed to find me, now that I am in Ecuador. I very suddenly became sick last night. Started with neck pain, bad headache, then I started getting really cold and then it just hit me and I felt awful. I woke up a little off and on during the night, once having a dream about being at my house (at home) and it was heated extremely high and we were all wearing winter coats...let's just say: fever chills...fluctuating hot and cold. When I woke up this morning, I could hardly move, and I just kept praying that God would give me the strength to get up and go to my internship. It is very important for me to not miss teaching, not only for the students, but also for the amount of hours I need. Therefore, I tried my hardest to be there.

After teaching my first class for less than the full class period, I called my host mom and went back home. I went back to sleep, and she and Dunia (wonderful coordinator at CEDEI) scheduled an appointment for me at 1pm. I was way out of it. After the appointment, I went to go a urine test and my blood drawn for a blood test. I passed out, and just felt awful. I came back, had hot chocolate to boost my blood sugar and get me back, and then sleep for about 3 more hours. I am definitely feeling better right now, but still out of it. I think my fever is much down, but not gone yet. I am hoping I will be back to full health tomorrow to go to my internship and classes. Please pray for my health!

Also, my parents and sister are coming in one week from tomorrow! I can hardly wait to see them and spend a weekend in the Galapagos and then the week with them in Cuenca!! It's funny how being sick makes me miss the ones closest to me even more. I am so thankful for my family, and also my host family here, who have really been caring for me well. Thank you Lord!!

MY WEEK!!! new and beautiful.

It has no been one week since the rest of our group returned to the states. Overall, this past week was good. I can't say amazing, although at times it definitely was, and thankfully it was never bad. I'm noticing the vacio now that our other friends are gone, but it is fun to be a little more independent. 

I successfully (I hope) taught 8 classes of English, 2 times each, throughout the week. Being thrown into my first full teaching experience was great. and why not while we're speaking another language! 

My new classes are mas o menos, difficult. Very interesting, but at a high level of Hispanic Literature.

Talking with friends from home and my boyfriend has been wonderful, but sometimes it makes me miss my home and home culture all the more. I wish I could even begin to express my gratitude for what I know as home.

Walking alone for 1-2 hours daily...I am enjoying it, although sometimes it does feel lonely. What would I do without my God's presence? He is what's keeping me going, my traveling companion :)

It's also been a lot different hanging out with my cuencano friends, just me and cuencanos: but it's been so fun!! This weekend there were two birthdays! Friday night we went out to a discoteca to celebrate, and I met more friends through Darwin. I shared experiences with someone whose father is an English teacher and speaks french as well, but only taught his kids spanish...I guess we're not the only ones....Mom!! Then last night we went out again to celebrate Darwin's brother's birthday. I also learned a spanish/ecuadorian card game! As well as taught/showed off my basque sheep herder's call!! MOM ;D

The weather has been beautiful. It's hot; and I love it. The sun is strong and close...hmmmm more park time :)

Yesterday I spent part of my afternoon at the park (1 min from my house) reading through Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians...while the sun/son poured out it's/his love for me :) 

--->reading through the new testament has also been going wonderfully-Lent with my man!!

I was also able to watch a live stream of North Park's Justice Submit and reload (conference) on Friday and Saturday night...amazing speakers and goooood words from the Lord. Live stream: worshiping with the NPU worship team=INCREÍBLE. 

Also thought I'd tune into a little news from that states as I should probably have at least an idea of what's going on. The news about Trayvon Martin has also made it to Ecuador, I heard it on the radio with my host dad this week. 

What else has been going on? I'm sure there is a lot more I could tell you about and all in much more detail...but I know it's different not being here, and I don't want to bore you. 

But...I went to church this morning and it was wonderful!! praise the Lord. nice 15 walk in the sunshine.

-a woman came up to me and told me that I reminded her of her daughter, and she started crying and telling me about her daughter and how happy she was I was there. She now has my number and she wants to invite me for cafecito! 

-also the man in front of me told me I have a beautiful voice...it was very sweet. 

I miss SO MUCH being surrounded by believers and having my friends who are christians to talk about everything with, please pray Jesus brings me Christian friends, or that I would talk more about my faith!!! 

Have a beautiful day. I'm going to go to the park and read about "new spain," YAY!!!!! or maybe I'll just read the forgotten god :) (read it!)

Here's a picture from last night...excited, overwhelmed, maybe nervous, having the time of my life...all these emotions and more. Do some justice. 

First day of my internship.

Starting this week, I am in an internship during the morning and have afternoon class. I am interning at a school in Turi (outlying area of Cuenca, but close to my host home). Today I literally had no idea what to expect. My host dad drove me this morning which was nice, although he didn't know where it was so thankfully I somewhat remembered from when I went a few weeks ago and we found it fine.

I walked in and saw all the kids in the school lined up in sweat uniforms outside, with the director talking to them. It seemed to be a good sign...and many or most of the kids were staring at me. Once they were finished I talked to the director and she took me to my first classroom. She introduced me to the teacher, (they were grade 2) and I asked if I would just observe today. I didn't understand everything but at first I thought I would be more or less just introducing myself and then observing. Well, then the teacher stayed seated at her desk and gave me the nod, so I started teaching. For the most part, these students haven't had any English. I went over my name, where I am from, and taught them those in English and then they learned the alphabet song! And they even repeated the "now I know my ABC's...." The kids were very well behaved and even though I didn't have a plan or anything, it worked out well.

After about 45min, I went to another classroom (1st grade) and kind of taught the same thing, although we also did fruits. This classroom was more of a challenge but it still went well. Then it took awhile for me to leave because they all came crowded around me hugging and squeezing my hands all the way out the door. They are so sweet!

The next classroom was 3rd grade, and they did well with the alphabet and knew their numbers 0-9 in English already. Also, they were excited that I study in Chicago. When I first said that I'm from Seattle and then that I go to school in Chicago, one of the boys shouts out Chicago!!! They were a lot of fun, and again well behaved.

By this time it was just after 10am, and the school has a 40min break for the students and teachers. I sat in the directors office with the teachers (7 teachers, 7 grades) and we had tea and bread. They asked a little about me, and we just all sat there, often times in silence, or side conversations.

Overall, I think everything went smoothly. I definitely was just relying on the Holy Spirit and whatever I saw in the room to teach. I hope to plan stuff for the other grades tomorrow and the rest of the week. They don't have any English books or really any English resources, but it should all work out. I already love the kids and I am excited to get to know them.  I'd love your prayers!!

Back home in Cuenca :)

WOW. We went to Machu Picchu.
We conquered Waynapicchu.
Every single bus had a problem.
We missed buses, buses didn't leave, there were road blocks, buses were more than 6 hours late...
We were on buses for over 120 hours.
We experienced a black out that circumferenced cities two hours apart.
We had the freaking time of our life.
Peru is amazing.
Machu Picchu is incredible.
I saw the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my life.
Woooww can't even take it all in or even begin to express it all.

I am now back home safely in Cuenca and I have only our Lord to praise for that!! I will post pictures soon, and I think I will post an album of a ton of pictures from the week on facebook.

Gracias amigos, ustedes extraño mucho! Que tengan un buen día, alabanza a Jesucristo!

Praise our Lord Jesus Christ!!!!

This is amazing, we are all filled with so much pure joy and I can not praise or thank anyone except for our good King!!! Last night we had an absolutely splendid time in Lima, this part of the city is wonderful. Everyone has been unbelievably nice to us and so helpful. This morning, we bought the last 5 tickets on the bus to Cusco!!! We are going to Cusco. That was a miracle in itself, the last 5 and they are all next to each other! We were so excited. Then, we called the woman who works at the hostal in Cusco and has been helping us a lot. We found out that she reserved a private car for us so that we will be able to make it in time to not only experience Machu Picchu, but also climb Huana Picchu. This is amazing news. We were completely surprised. We had previously accepted that the least we would get to do is Machu Picchu, so this surprise of transportation and hope of getting to still climb the mountain is wonderful! And that transportation is planned 9 hours after our expected arrival time, so hopefully we will be good this time. And, on the off chance that our bus is extremely late, there are tickets in the morning to take the train and still get to go to Machu Picchu! WOW. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, Jesus heard them and is sooo happy and loves us so much. We can't even express how excited and thankful we are!! Jesus is really knocking us down with his overwhelming love for all of us!!

Also, yesterday when we had a wonderful night, we met some people and I got to talk with someone about science and religion for awhile, he was so excited to hear that I am a christian, he told me he thought there was no religion in EEUU (USA) or Europe. I also wrote down the everything is spiritual by Rob Bell and I believe that God is going to do something powerful through his viewing of that video, let's pray for a translated version, or that God will give him the knowledge to understand the video and truly believe. I am amazed with God's faithfulness in our journey right now. This is probably the best and most exciting adventure I have every been on. I love Peru!!!!! The people have been so wonderful to us. And right now, we are at a Starbucks, this is just fun! I'm praying for more experiences to proclaim the beautiful gospel! Thank you for all your support and prayers, I am thanking Jesus for you and anyone who reads and is interested in my travels. Praise our good God!!!

Ephesians 6:19-20~Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. (*Traveling in Peru!) Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

We're in Peru! But not exactly the way we planned...

Spring break 2012!! The plan was/is to go to Machu Picchu, via bus...100+ hours through Ecuador and mostly Peru, on the bus. We started off this adventure by almost missing our first bus...good times...Then Lauren and I almost missed the same bus, AGAIN! (should that even be possible? well it is for us...) We were waiting for our change and the bus attendant lady kept telling us we needed to go and then they just left!! we ran after the bus and they stopped to let us on...whheeww. 

Now, some unknown way, our 25 hr bus ride was 31+ hours. (We seriously have NO IDEA why we were 6 hours late!) Therefore, we missed the Lima-Cusco bus. This is bad news :( 

Honestly we do not know if we are going to make it to Machu Picchu as of now, hopefully we'll make it for the next day, but we are definitely going to have to miss aguas calientes and Huana Picchu :(

On the other hand, Lima is awesome!!!! We checked out the options for taking a bus tomorrow (not until 2pm :(...puts us pretty behind schedule :(-please pray we'll get to see the amazing machu picchu) and then we got a taxi to go to a hostal we have already been in contact with. Buuuttt, our cab driver was so nice, and he stopped on the way and asked at a hostal for us, our hostal is awesome!!! We then walked down to a very nice center of the city-we are in a very nice safe part of Lima, and these people are incredibly nice!! We are having a great time, even though the plans and everything isn't working out how we hoped. We need prayers!! Thank you :D

P.S.-we get to go to a starbucks tomorrow!!! We're all looking forward to that! :D

I advise all of you to go to Cuenca and this part of Lima-the best places I've seen so far in South America!! Love the towns and the people :D 

Please pray!! The reasons I am in pain...

I don't mean to be a complainer, but today was quite an eventful day. I really need your prayers!


...my foot is swollen from being stepped on by a stiletto (tacos) on Saturday night.

...I have an awful cold and possibly fever: my head, face, eyes, and nose are in pain.

...after finishing everything for our Visas, we found out that they just changed the whole process and rules and we now need a different visa, which costs $230.

...I was in a car accident, in a taxi, on the way to the government place to figure out issues for the visa. My jaw was slammed into the driver's seat and my right side of my jaw is in much pain-please pray for healing! But thankfully we were all ok, in both cars.

...to top it off, I only got 2 hours of sleep last night, causing me to feel all of this a little extra.

CHEERS TO FINALS WEEK! (I'd love prayers for that too!)

(please note that after typing this blog post out, I accidentally deleted the whole thing, this is not a good day for me)