Thanksgiving at Christmas!

I know we should celebrate Christ's birth at Christmas. I'm just so thankful that He came, lived, and then died for me-to save such a sinner as I. That overwhelming feeling always feels that way-overwhelming that someone would care so much for me.

Many of you might already know, but I have received my phone call from the Brazilian Consulate in Washington D.C. NOrmally these phone calls mean that you can be expecting your visa to be coming to you in a matter of several days or a week. With me, it's been a little different(kind of like the whole process) and with my visa only being at the consulate for about a month-it was a bit quick. We are all amazing that they have called for my passport already-as if it is going to be granted. My boss e-mail me to be honest with me about what they do and not know. He said that Brasilia has not contacted them about my paperwork being in Brasilia as of yet.-so it's a little odd that they have basically said that I am going to be getting my visa in january. So-we are not sure what is going on. I'm not questioning anything-I'm just giving God the glory for the experiences and even the hardships. I'm learning much about patience and how God works-if just a bit. I won't every fully understand but I can learn to deal with trials in ways that glorify God in every way!

Mary, my roommate came home from Peru two weeks and it is/has been very sweet to spend some time with her. Actually we have been connected at the hip and loved doing all of our old habitual activities together. Road trips, sports, great food, Fellowship, Bibile Studies, discussions, talking until we fall asleep,-just to name a few. I missed her and I know we will miss each other when things begin to change for us again. God only makes friends like this -friends that not only share your common interests but your spiritual and service interests as well! I thank God for her!



Prayer Requests

• Continued prayer for the people handling my paperwork


• for spiritual growth


• for my teammates that are waiting or who are dealing with changing circumstances


• for Brasilia INternational School-faculty, staff, and students as they are on holiday


• for Daniel Lopes who works diligently to communicate with the Brazilian government on my behalf and the future BIS teachers as the visa process changes.


• for the people who are giving me places to stay while I wait-Gail Wolford, John and Tammy Brockman, my grandparents, and my parents~!


• for people who are supporting me-GOd is just sending them to me again and again! They come at just the time when I need encouragement!


• as things come to a close here-that I will remember all of the loose ends that I need to tie up before I leave.

richmond meets manchester!

CrossPoint Baptist met early on Saturday morning to serve God in Manchester. Richmond and Manchester? That's right, my CrossPoint family drove down to help out at the John Rice Center. The gains were A-Mazing! The Kendricks, Mr. Albert Spencer, Robbie Randall, and Joe Martin all did the "manly" jobs of laying trim, re-setting toilets, wiring and hanging lights. I stood in awe of the work being finished-task by task. The women buried themselves in clothes and took on the challenge of sorting, hanging, and laughing at some of the things found in boxes. (You can't tell me that underwear isn't funny and that very "Gamin" skirt I wore around-absolutely was funny) The students did an amazing job as we showed them what needed to be done. I thank God for such easy going girls that will do whatever needs to be done! Truly servants hearts were seen during this time.
The day came to a close and all of a sudden-I hear this buzzing around of a semi coming? What was this? Soon, a semi maneauvered into the loading dock and literally as soon as the door opened-the boxes began falling out. For two hours the workers unloaded these boxes labeled: womens, ladies, girls, boys, men's, infants, household, summer, and wemon's (we aren't sure what a wemon is...we're still looking for new owners of the contents...). These clothes were given out on Sunday to over 700 people in a matter of a couple of hours.
Serving God in this capacity is simply amazing. We had many opportunities to talk to the workers (mostly single mom's and children) along with the people coming in to receive something from the center. You can hear a constant-"How can I pray for you?", "Have you heard the gospel today?", "What do you think a person must to do get to heaven?".
I'm so thankful for the amazing church family that raised me and then for the church family who continues to nuture me in this stage of life. God is so good. He has given me much to do during this waiting period and I am thrilled at the chance to give back to the community that gave and has given much to me in the past and present. Also to be given the chance to serve with my current church family is priceless-their hearts are amazing.

God wrecked my life-it's the most beautiful wreck I've ever seen

God is just giving me so many opportunities to serve Him. His glory and renowned are all I seek to glorify when I am speaking. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm saying. I have practiced a lot (thanks to all the traveling in the car by myself latetly). I spoke at Gray Fork Baptist Church in Manchester, KY this morning. Surrounded by the beautiful mountains and remnants of the fall foilage, this church encompasses the country culture. The warmth spread into my heart as members started filling this beautiful church. The light shown through the beautiful cross shaped windows. The blue stain glass created a serene illumination of the sky. The souls inside were kind and I could tell that most were hungry for the Word. The pastor, Mr. Boo Smith allowed me to speak and is interested in a partnership with international missions. This is an amazing opportunity for these people to get involved and see the hands and feet tha their money supports. I am very excited to see what God is doing for this little church. Boo spoke on how to be a Christian on Mission in the first with spiritual awakening. <><><

God's Closet

Serving the poorest of the poor in Clay County taught me so many things. We are called to be humble and this is an experience that brings me to that level. At 6:30am (running on less than five hours sleep on a couch) we broke the dawn by running around getting coffee supplies and stirring with excitement for the people who would come today. As we clothed them in a brand new coat-we also gave them spiritual clothes. Upon leaving, they were ushered into a room and the gospel was shared with each person. Five people shared the gospel with 1, 034 people this morning. We are sure of 2 salvations and unsure of the hearts which were stirred as we planted the seeds. My job was to call numbers so that there would be no confusion and so it would be orderly. A group from Applachia Blankets came and helped us pull off this miraculous event. They wore beautiful smiles and bathed these people with the love of Christ. Their positive attitudes and cheer made this an even happier day for these people. They each got a brand new coat, a Bible, pack of socks, gloves, scarves, and bogans! God truly worked in lives and it is not over yet. We gave away every single brand new coat (down coats with fleece on the inside and a hood) and feel like there will be more people coming to see what we have on Monday. <><

I'm missing my parents already..and I'm not even gone....

I've spent two amazing days with my parents. My Dad had the chance to show me some of his dreams becoming bigger and bigger. God is doing so much more than he could ever imagine through these missions he has helped establish in Clay County.
I've been trying to get CrossPoint Baptist (my church in Richmond) to come down and get involved with the center. Yesterday, I visited for the first time and it is simply amazing. I walked in and started breathing the brisk air as the back loading door was open. There were a couple of people volunteering. A guy that I went to high school with is a recovering addict and has committed most of (basically all) his time to this center. One day he stayed 11 hours to get clothes hung up, the floor swept, and the walls painted. Beautiful is the word I can use as I look upon his life and I realize how big God is and He can do whatever He wants in whoever He wants. He serves from early in the morning until he knows everything is just about done. My dad says that these are the people that call asking/begging for somethign to do. This center is helping him recover through keeping him busy on a volunter basis. His story is amazing.
I ran around and took pictures of everything-trying to capture some of the rigid and true to life details of the center. <><

That night we got ready and drove to Williamsburg, KY so dad could speak at a UNITE recruiting event. I never get tired of hearing about how God changed/is changing the lives of the people in Clay County. I'm so inspired by my father's diligence to God and to this cause. He wants better for the youth and the families in Clay County. His devotion is a testimony to his commitment to not only his church, but to God. After Williamsburg, we drove to Pikeville. This was the big event! We attended the UNITE Celebration in which Dad gave the Abner/Bolin Community Leader Award (yep! it's in his name!) and I learned about drugs and kids, challenges in communities, and about what is going on in other counties. I watched these people get awards that they were not expecting and kids receive awards for doing tremendous things in their schools. Truly inspiring!! Tomorrow-we will hand out BRAND NEW coats, scarves, gloves, socks, and Bibles!!!! I spent tonight cleaning bathrooms (!!!) and moving tables. I have a passion for these needs and for their souls. We have the chance to share Christ with all of them!!!! By the way-I got my papers from Brasilia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will take me into the last steps to getting there!!!! WHOOHOOO!!!

So here is what I know out about my Kindergarten class in Brazil :)
My class consists of:
1 Syrian child (speaks Arabic at home), 3 Zambian (English at home), 1 Brazilian/American (English/Portuguese at home), 2 Spanish (Spanish at home...and their parents don't speak English), and 2 American kids (soon to be 3). I'm super duper excited about this and I cannot wait to meet these precious children!!! Everything is happening VERY quickly!!!!!
Thank you to all the people that have already committed to supporting me. I am amazed at your obedience. Your offerings are blessing my life as I learn that God will spur hearts with the want to give. Also, it will continue to bless others for years to come as I teach these children with and about the love of Christ. My prayer is that we will have spiritual conversations and that God will open their eyes and speak through me as I openly teach them the Bible intertwined with their content.

Thanksgivings:

• Another family received their visas to go to Brazil!!!
• For work and for experiences that are making me a better teacher!!
• God is sending me messengers and encouragers at His perfect timing
• For some great speakers in the past bit.
• For helping me to realize that there is nothing good in me except for Christ

Prayer Requests:

• The lady that is letting me live with her, Nancy, her daughter is going through her third round of chemotherapy. She has a strong faith and such a sweet family. God has given her the strength and drive to take chemo, care for a family, and still work full time. She is my new picture for perserverance.
• Visa documents and continued patience for that part of the trip.
• continued spiritual growth in faith, trust, and patience.
• Lost and hurting friends and family members.
• More work and side jobs.
• Current and future financial supporters!!!!
  

About every other day-someone comes up to me and says, "Amanda, we want to sponsor you." or "Amanda, how can we help you?" A friend called me for a telephone number and in the middle of finding it she says-"Come over later, we're gonna help you go to Brazil" I could SHOUT when people do that. But-I don't think that anyone in the school would understand...so, I try to filter that through excitment mainly in words and a little in voice. My prayers are just being answered again and again and again. God is opening doors and placing opportunities in my path. Some of them-I gain spiritually(those are the hard ones) and others-they are monetary. I'm equally greatful for both for different reasons.

In His Grip

...but as servants of God we commend ourselves in everyway: by great endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights,
hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and
yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished and yet not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
-2Corinthians 6:4-10


Without His majestic grip-I could not make it day by day.
I look into faces and realize that those were once mine. I remember
the lifestyle of emptiness. I rejected God in every way presented.
God pursued me for 22 years before I finally let Him in.
I rejoice in the fact that even as I am responsible for
Jesus' death-I'm forgiven.

My friend, Julie Lasslo, always presents things to me in ways that are simple and
yet make me think. She and I were talking about a lot of things and "hating" sin came up.
Over the past couple of days-I have pondered this. I do hate sin. I especially hate my own sin-I just don't think I'd ever heard it like that before. Put into this perspective-I realized that hating sin is exactly what God wants us to do. We must do it. There's no mediocrity to sin. You love it
or You hate it. You serve the sin or you run away. You idolize it or you give it up.

1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised form the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.
Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall - Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.
Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.
Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
2 Corinthians 4:11

Paul's body was marred so many times from the whips, beatings, and other physical inflictions. This did not stop him from being alive spiritually. Though my daily battles do not come by the way of physical beatings-they are anguishing just the same. A friend of mine was sharing with me about how Satan tries to use these weaknesses to get to us. We agreed that seeking God and clinging to Him allows God to use these trials to strengthen us. On the mission field, you fight loneliness, culture shock, misunderstanding of customs, and so many other things. You can cry out to God or allow these hard things to bring you down. It is only because of Christ that we have life.

God uses Paul to show me that a selfless life serving Him is really what I want. Serving others at any capacity is what He shows us. In James 1:27, James shares that, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this; to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
In 2 Corinthians, he also shows us that He, "through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing..." everywhere echoes in my mind as I continue to wait patiently for the remainder of my Visa documents to come.

I became a bit frustrated during my prayers yesterday as I explained to God that I didn't know what was happening or if I had everything right on my documentation. I hadn't heard anything for about three weeks and it can become a bit hard to not hear anything. People say, "When do you leave?" and it's SO hard to just say, "I do not know." or "December something." It is difficult for people to realize that something is really happening if there is no date. But, I will not have a for sure date until two weeks before I leave. The Brazilian Consolate will make sure of this :)

In my thanksgivings-

• God provided some support this week to help my airfare and travel Visa costs!!!
• I received two very important pieces that will help complete my Visa packet!
• I also received my health insurance cards! Yay! I will soon be able to get my allergy medication!!
• Some of my teammates received their phone calls from the Brazilian Consolate and now have to send their passports to be stamped!!! They are really close!!!!

In my prayer requests-

• continued prayers for patience, trust, and faith during the whole process.
• teammates, faculty, and students of Brasilia International School.
• current and future financial supporters!!
• my mother to find another job and for her previous co-workers that are not saved.
• other financial matters-selling my car, student loans

He Gives Beauty for Ashes

Beauty for ashes,

Strength for fear,

Gladness for mourning,

Peace for despair.





These words and my Quiet Time remind me of the awesomeness of God.



As Paul said in 2 Corinthians-

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

It's hard to see this when we live in the United States of America-where we have everything. Our poor people don't have to be poor-we support them (not in all ways, but in a lot of ways that other countries do not provide). My friend, Mare, is working with people in Peru and identifying with these poorest of the poor. It's so hard for them to see Jesus because their circumstances are just horrific. I've seen this in the faces of people in Cuba. I love these people and want them to see Jesus. What can I say? What can I do? Walk among them and give them words that God would have me to say. "Comfort them with the comfort that which we ourselves are comforted by God." Let us not forget to feed them spiritually as well as physically. Reminding these people that our reward is not what we have here, but what we will receive in heaven. I have to remind myself of that all the time. Sometimes...it is just so hard to live here.

Prayer Requests:

• Visa and related matters


• Mare-friends on the street, comforting and sharing with them as God calls us to, future in mission work.


• Brasilia International School-faculty and staff, new building, students.


• Current and Future Supporters


• Continued spiritual growth in patience, trust, and faith.

Praises

• Supportive communication from housemates and the current Kindergarten teacher :)


• Side jobs and extra work providing more income!


• First speaking commitment-went very well! I was so nervous!


• Opportunities to spend time with family and friends!

The Journey

Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,

Selah

that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.

Selah

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Some of you may be wondering about this whole Brazil thing. I've heard, "You're not going.", "We can get you a job here.", "Can't you get a job around here?", "There's a lot of crime over there." and "We really didn't believe this was going to happen." Well, I'm glad that God is so much bigger than all of these comments.
One year ago, God really started working in my life. I am so passionate about teaching, missions, and people. I've been involved in local and national missions for three years. He began to tell me that this school year was going to be different. I didn't realize that He would call me internationally to Brasilia, Brazil! This is a dream that I've always thought impossible. With God, all things are possible!
As I served in Cuba-literally as the only American on the continent-I realized that I had such a heart for the nations and for students. Little to no contact with my family made me depend on God. Sometimes it was lonely, but those aren't the times that I remember. I remember the faces, eyes, and stories from each youth and their leaders. I loved serving God in this capacity. The view of international missions grew and grew. I began to explore options in serving overseas.
Serving in Brazil will be different. I realize that most countries are very different than Cuba. I also know that I will have many chances to impact students at the school and to work with other children in a seperate mission. As each mission differs, they each have one thing in common-glorifying Christ.
God is teaching me about patience, trust, and faith throughout this process. I pray daily for my team (in Brasilia), my students, the administration, and my local prayers and praises. I am so appreciative to the people that have been praying and to those who have committed to support me and give Christ to these students. That is my goal. To feed their minds and hearts with Christ. I thank God for the opportunity to be a vessel to Brazil. I know He does not need me, but He is allowing me to be used.

My prayer requests:

• My teammates that are awaiting visa's and praise for those who have just received them.
• The school, teachers, and students at Brasilia International School as they await the arrival of the teachers and pray for a new building.
• My best friend, Mary, as she serves as a missionary in Peru
• Praise for my supporters and prayer for future supporters.
• Continued patience with God's perfect timing and with the whole process. The long waiting period is not here, yet. I am only performing small tasks every couple of days and getting them back a few days of each other. It is my hope that next week, all of these will become one document in which I will entrust to someone at the Brazilian Consolate in Washington, D.C. in which timing will be at their discretion. Again God's perfect timing!