Tico Tuesday, January 24th

Today, we had a staff retreat. A kind couple from church lent us a beautiful space that was open, yet protected from the wind, and there we

took some time to start evaluating the five purposes on which our church is based: worship, fellowship, discipleship, service, and mission. It was exciting yet overwhelming to think about a multitude of things we can do to reach out to the community the surrounds us. Upon recognizing the feeling of being overwhelmed though, I felt the Holy Spirit reminding me that the work doesn't rest on the 10 of us who were sitting around the table. The work of convicting and persuading people to come to salvation is his. As staff, it is our job to coordinate, promote, motivate, build teams, invest in and empower, and encourage others. We must be faithful in our tasks, therefore enabling others in the church to do what God is calling them to do. But also as we sat there processing different issues and concerns I was also reminded of the importance of praying for my church and its leaders. I am one of them. I have an idea of what it is like, and I tell you, it is hard. The head pastor and other teaching pastors carry very serious responsibilities, and as a sheep, I believe it is my responsibility to pray for my shepherds. And in my role as small group coordinator, I must care for the facilitators I work with as best as I can. It is challenging. And it is also exciting.
12 years ago when I went to Guatemala on my first missions trip I was introduced to some great words from Oswald Chambers: "Prayer is not the means to a greater work, prayer is the greater work." I wrote that on my prayer card that many of you still have. And so, in this 2017 (I can't believe January only has a week left!), I invite you to continue to join me in prayer. For my church and its leadership and your church and its leadership. For government leaders, for those who are suffering, for those who are mourning. May God attune our hearts to his and lead us in the great work of prayer.
Thank you so much for praying for me and with me!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, January 17th

And we're back!

Subtle picture from small group

Wow, I feel like I could write a short novel about our time on that special Caribbean island this past week. But first, let me thank you for your prayers. Life on the island is hard, and especial in and around the capital city, the spiritual atmosphere is really dark and heavy. I know many of you were praying though, and I thank you. God answered them! God blessed our trip and our trip was wonderfully fruitful. We felt we surpassed our goals. From what I sense, these visits to my brothers and sisters on the island are like taking water to the desert. Not because we're great, but because they live in such a hard place in such hard circumstances. Yes, we bring a lot of donations (most people there live off less than $20/month), but I think just the time we can spend with them, the trainings we can give them, the friendship and encouragement we can offer them all mean so much. And at the same time, God blesses our giving and obedience and we end up leaving blessed and encouraged ourselves. I don't think there was a dry eye on anyone on our team the last day when we started saying our good byes and they thanked us and gave us each a wooden mortar and pestle with their fellowship's logo custom-made on it.
In our time there, not only was I able to give the small group training I'd been asked to provide, but I was also able to spend a lot of time talking with the young woman who is in charge of discipleship and small groups. She had a lot of questions for me and we joked a lot about my team leader's comment about the people there squeezing us like lemons all week. But that's what we were there for and I was so happy to share what I have learned with her. We also had the opportunity to visit a few of the small groups. That was really neat. It is such a gift, such a joy to be able to share with fellow brothers and sisters in other places. Being part of God's family is such an amazing gift!
Being able to go on this trip was a really special gift too. Thank you to those who gave to help make it possible. This trip helped me grow a lot and we were able to provide some tools and training for our brothers and sisters there and encourage them to keep on persevering and growing in the task set before them.
Thank you again for all your prayers and support. May God continue to challenge you, grow your faith, and use you to bless and encourage others!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, December 20th

Pre-Christmas greetings from Portland, Maine!
I arrived here safely and soundly at dark, frigid wee hours of the morning and am very happy to be able to spend the next several days here and celebrate the incarnation of Jesus our Savior with my parents.

This weekend I was able to distribute a little thank you to many of those who were small group facilitators this year. It was just a small token of heartfelt thanks to them for their service this year and inviting them to the training retreats we are planning next year, but many people were very touched by the mini-card and chocolate. I wished I could have given them so much more, but many responded with deep gratitude, giving me a big hug and telling me thank you for the support I provided to them over the course of the year.
Then yesterday before flying out I had breakfast with one of the women on my small group core team. She posted a picture of us on facebook afterward and the words she wrote to accompany the picture touched the depths of my heart and almost had me in tears. "...Thank you for your love...your friendship and your wonderful representation of Jesus...Growing by your side has been a great blessing." Well if that right there doesn't make me feel like all my labors and efforts from the year have been worth it, then nothing will. I had not felt any doubts about my service this year, but receiving such kind words makes it all feel worth it a hundred times over.
God has been so good to me this year and it is a great joy and blessing to be an instrument in his hands. Thank you again to all of you for your support in every way. Words can never be enough. (No Tico Tuesday next week as I try to disconnect as much as possible while I have time off, but a Chronicle will come out shortly after the first of the new year).
Merry Christmas to you all, and may God's peace and joy fill you to overflowing as we celebrate his miraculous birth and await his return!
Come, Lord Jesus!
Carrie

Tico Tueday, December 13th

A smattering of news:
I am going to get to go to the island in the Caribbean that has a piece of my heart! Thank you to those who have already started donating to the cause. A team of 8 from my church is going and I'm really excited. We'll be focusing on children's ministry and small group training. Also, this week I was able to get my plane ticket to Spain for the Life Coach training for less then I had expected. Praise the Lord! So now the total I need to raise (formerly $2900) for both the island (Jan 8-16) and Life Coach training (in March) is $2400 (also taking into account what has been given already). You can give here.

Working hard in PT!

Speaking of travel: I'm going to Maine for Christmas! I am really looking forward to some time off and getting to spend time with my parents. If you are in northern New England and would like to get together, let me know and we'll see what we can do! And since I will be in Maine shortly before I go to the island, I will be taking donations with me to take to the island, so if you would like to donate: new or lightly used children's clothes, candy, face paint, balloons, stickers (preferably not with English writing on them), or if you happen to have 120 units of the same, small toy please contact me and we'll see how close I can come to my baggage weight limit! (Hooray for free bags on Southwest!)
In other news, I have two, just TWO sessions of physical therapy left! And the last one my therapist and I are going to play tennis with some other people from church. Hallelujah! This recovery process has been really hard work and very tiring, but it is paying off. I continue to feel better and stronger each day. I can't wait to see how impressed my orthopedist will be when I have my followup appointment with him on Friday!
I ask you to please join me in prayer for the staff of my church. On Thursday we're having our big annual planning retreat. Pray for unity, efficiency, creativity, and great wisdom for us as we look at each area of work and evaluate 2016 and plan 2017, striving to be obedient to God and grow his kingdom here on earth.
Thank you so much for everything! You are an amazing support team and I am so thankful for you all, for every prayer, for every gift, every email! Thank you!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, December 6th

The other day one of the small group facilitators wrote to me, ecstatic about the experience her group had at supporting our church's biweekly ministry to the homeless. They brought the food, led the singing, and spent time pouring love into those who came. The small group facilitator sent me pictures, including this one, and several of her small group in action. Then she included several screenshots from their group chat, in which multiple members expressed the joy of serving together, how happy they are to know each other and be part of a spiritual family together, all sorts of warm, fuzzy feelings. The facilitator's joy brought me joy, and it was beautiful to see how God has been working in this group. This facilitator is one who came to most of the trainings we had this year and I can tell she has really been trying to put it all into practice. This is one of the greatest small group success stories I've heard this year and I thank the Lord for what he's been doing!
Another small group facilitator and I were texting recently as well, and he was among the group from my church who was able to go help with relief efforts from Hurricane Otto. He is planning a special gathering to share with his small group what God did in that time. He shared a testimony with me: the day they left, the team had a light breakfast. They had brought some food to eat later, but gave it to the people they were serving because they had nothing. The team ended up not eating again till the evening after a very hard day's work: and the Lord sustained them and gave them energy all day. He told me he wasn't even hungry that night. As he told me that, a verse came to mind: Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me" (John 4:34). I believe serving others was the food of my brothers and sisters from church that day, and it was a beautiful act of worship to the Lord, and God rewarded them in multiple ways beyond their comprehension and mine.
Praise the Lord for his ways and his works!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, November 22nd

I guessed I skipped a week! I'll tell you why in my Chronicle which will be out in the near future. :)

But for now, I am very happy because I finally have a picture of my small group core team!! I'd meant to get a picture of us at one of our meetings, but always forgot. So, at the annual party the church staff throws for all the volunteers, I made sure to get us together so I could show you these delightful ladies with whom I've been working this year! Shirley and Yuli have been faithful, dedicated, hard working companions who have a great love for God's people and have come up with a number of great ideas for a number of areas within the realm of small groups. I have had a wonderful time not only getting to work with Shirley and Yuli, but also getting to develop friendships with each of them. They have taught me much and are great at keeping me from committing cultural faux pas and understanding why it's best to do (or not do) certain things. It has been a real honor and blessing to get to work with them and I'm very glad they were both able to come to the fiesta on Friday to celebrate them.
At the party for the 450 volunteers we have at church, we served them a delicious meal, recognized one outstanding "volunteer of the year," prayed for and blessed all the volunteers, and had karaoke to various Christian songs. It was a lot of fun. In order to keep the singers who help lead worship from monopolizing, we encouraged someone from each table to sing and many were brave enough to go for it! Sometimes the whole table ended up singing together.
It was challenging trying to plan the party without counting on any volunteers to help. We wanted it to be a night to celebrate them and not have them work at all. So, the staff worked hard all day preparing and decorating. I wore myself out in the morning, so had to go home and rest in the afternoon before the party, but thankfully had the strength to make it through the evening. Being operated on is very tiring. Thankfully, I'm continuing to make good progress though. My physical therapist is very pleased and last night he gave me the go ahead to ride my bike again!
Also, before I sign off, I ask you to please pray: Hurricane Otto is heading straight towards Costa Rica and Nicaragua and could do a lot of damage (and be quite a literal wet blanket on Thanksgiving/birthday). May God calm the winds or keep the storm out to sea! Thank you!
I'm thankful for each and every one of you!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, November 8th

Greetings! As you (hopefully) read at the end of my Chronicle last week, I had an arthroscopy on my right knee on Friday. Since then, several people have been helping me very generously: bringing & preparing me food, helping me with the ice machine I have to use on my knee every 4 hours, just being present while I bathe and then helping squeegee the shower floor so it doesn't get slippery, etc., etc., etc. I have never had to be so dependent on people before. It's challenging. But I am hugely grateful. I am grateful for the success of the surgery (both my family practice doctor and my orthopedist were present and pleased with the outcome). Basically my patella was moving a lot horizontally upon contracting my leg and surgical intervention was the best solution. It had been causing me pain for some time and I hadn't felt it very newsworthy, so while maybe it seemed I had a sudden surgery, I've been dealing with knee pain most of this year (and on various occasions in past years as well). I pray I won't deal with future knee pain from here on!
While it is tiring to sit around all day, this has been a wonderful opportunity to grow friendships. This evening a woman near my age that just started coming to young adult group came over and we had a lovely time getting to know each other. I doubt that would have happened had I not had surgery, or at least not this soon after meeting each other! Yesterday a woman from my mission brought me a lovely lunch and we got to catch up. Normally I only see her at UWM activities a couple times a year. Today, the staff from church came to visit me and pray with me during lunch time (see photo). Numerous friends are checking in on me via text message and I have a long list of people I know I can call on in time of need.
I had a really helpful cultural conversation with Rudy (my head pastor here) on Thursday. He told me ticos rarely taking initiative is a cultural thing. It is something that often frustrates me, but hearing a tico tell me not to expect ticos to reach out to me was really helpful for me to hear, even though I sure don't understand it. That makes it a lot easier for me to reach out and call on others though. Sometimes it has felt tiring and it's been tempting to wonder if people actually care about me. This surgery experience is proving me that they really do! I'm learning a lot about my need to depend more on others and more on God. I can't do anything on my own! I praise him for his faithfulness and thank him for all the loving, supportive people he has placed around me, both near and far!
Love,
Carrie