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tuttyfruity
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Name: Steph
Interests: I am a student, so studying (and working) takes up most of my time. I like to make jewelry, paint, and write...hope you enjoy the sight!!
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/15/2003
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| To the few people who read this, a few friends and I will be leaving this Saturday to go to New Orleans for a week on a relief mission trip. During the day we'll be working in a couple homes tearing out water-damaged areas. Then in the evenings our group plans to do some homeless ministry in the French Quarter.
My friends and I would appreciate your prayers during our trip to New Orleans. Safety is a concern, along with energy for the work, sites we'll see, and the long trip (I'll be driving from NC to New Orleans- please pray for that and feel free to call me to give me something to do on both the Saturdays I'll be driving!!)
Thanks for your time and support, it means SO much! May the Lord richly bless you in whatever your hands find to do to serve Him, and renew you daily in your knowledge of His great love for you all! | | |
| "[you] will never be able to go home again...[you] will probably always leave part of [yourself] behind, and thereafter will be split...and home may be in more than one place. But that is the price [you] pay for the riches of having experienced more than one culture deeply." - Dr. Miriam Adeney
The pain and joy of traveling overseas and meeting with Christians in other parts of the world. It is worth it though. | | |
| Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well! I wanted to write and ask for your prayers concerning a mission trip I will be going on this month. On May 15th a team of six students and one faculty from Gardner-Webb University will be leaving for Malaysia; we will return on May 28th. God has already provided amazingly for this mission trip, and I am excited to see what else He is going to do during and after our journey to Malaysia! The purpose of this mission trip is to work at Nilai College (http://www.nilai.edu.my/) in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Our team will teach English as a Second Language classes at the university, and so we will have opportunities to talk with students about our lives and culture in the United States. However, since Malaysia is predominantly Muslim we are not allowed to be open with our religious beliefs, unless specifically asked. Being on a college campus, working with students who are learning English, and since people in Malaysia tend to assume people from the U.S. are Christians, we hope to have many opportunities to shine the light of Christ to people we come in contact with through conversations and building relationships with the people.
I ask that you would pray for our team as we travel, for our physical safety and health as well as spiritual protection as we enter a country where a Christian witness is not openly welcome. Also, please pray for the college students and any other people we meet during our trip to Malaysia- that they would ask just the right questions to allow us opportunities to share whatever message God would allow us to share with them, and that their hearts would be ready to hear God’s message in a way that impacts their lives. As our team is over there, we will spend time with Malaysian Christians and possibly a few other missionaries. Please pray that we would be able to encourage these Christians in some way. I am so excited to hear their testimonies, and I know that my faith will be encouraged when I meet these Christians who have held onto their faith when it has not been easy to do so in their country!
A few other things I would like to ask you to keep in your prayers include our team adjusting to cultural differences, our families we are leaving, and that God would keep our team unified. Then finally, that the six students on our team would be able to focus throughout this coming week of finals and moving out of school while getting ready to leave for Malaysia.
Thank you all so much for your time and your prayers!
God Bless,
Stephanie | | |
| I just found out that a great Christian leader in India, Samuel Thomas, has been captured and his family does not know if he is dead or alive. Please pray for GOD'S WILL. That may be a strange prayer request, but I have personally heard this man speak, he is one of the people who has encouraged me (from a distance not on a personal level- even though I would love to meet this man) to be involved in missions. One thing I remember him/his father saying (I've heard them both speak) is that what he tells the Hindu radicals who want to kill him that the moment he dies- his ministry in India (Emmanuel Ministries/Hopegivers) will explode with impact!
Pray that God would keep him strong and faithful, and if it is best- return him to his wife, children, and the thousands of orphans he serves in India. But if that is not what happens, pray for the explosion of this ministry to take place and that Christians everywhere who know the story of Sam Thomas will be spured on in faith to serve our God more steadfastly than ever- and stay strong in perseverance!
Sam Thomas is one of many Christians being persecuted, please keep persecuted Christians around the globe in your prayers.
Love in Christ, Steph
For more about Sam Thomas: http://www.hopegivers.org/site/c.drKKI1PJIqE/b.1103157/k.BE92/Home.htm | | |
| So yeah...not much different is going on with me these days for those of you I talk to pretty regularly. Just going to class and work. If anyone is interested, today was a good day for me at work. I got to talk to my supervisor at this missions organization and he helped me some to understand what it's like to travel frequently to different cultures. He talked about how traveling overseas and seeing what he has seen has affected him when he returns to the states. He also gave me some packets of info that discuss culture shock and dealing with it and such.
I don't know if I really told anyone this summer about this- I think I was kinda afraid of what people would think of me if I said anything- but there came a point when working in Venezuela was so difficult. Not because of being away from home or anything else, it was just so difficult to see such a level of poverty on a daily basis. I was overwhelmed at the sights and the needs of the people- mothers, fathers, CHILDREN- who needed food but didn't have any, who needed clothes, but didn't have them...I don't know if anyone reading this has experienced this feeling of being present with people who have so many basic needs that need to be met, and you simply can't fix everyone's problems. It was hard for me, but I concluded after a few days of feeling this way that my time in Venezuela would be over before I knew it and I needed to give of myself the best I could until I left. I also want to never forget the sights, smells, tastes, but most of all, the PEOPLE and their NEEDS so that I do not take for granted all the blessings I have when I'm here in the states. One thing my supervisor left me with was what Jesus said, "to him who much is given, much will be required." So much to think about even now, even 7 months after getting back to the states!
Here's a pic of one home within yards of the edge of the city dump...it may seem crazy, but I miss this place sooo much- even if it was difficult at times :) Venezuela- Dios te ama y me amo!!
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