The Blessing of Baptism

I was so blessed to attend some baptisms this weekend. Not just any, run-of-the-mill, in a baptistry baptisms----we went camping, made a weekend of it, and dunked them in the river! Steve said we did it "Jesus-style"!

Stef is one of my best friends here in St. Louis and I met Renee through her, also an incredible girl. The two of them, along with Stef's husband Steve, and a girl named Michelle that I don't know too much braved the frigid waters (they actually said it wasn't toooo bad) to commit thier lives to Christ.

It started off with some scripture reading, reminding the baptizees that they are now "clothed in Christ." Then came the symbol of baptism---dying to yourself and your old ways of doing things as you go under water (symbolizing Jesus dying on the cross for your sins) and rising up out of the water as a new creation with all your old ways behind you (symbolizing Jesus rising from the dead).

If you look closely, you can see that Steve and Stef have thier hands behind each other's backs. They really wanted to get baptized together, as one. Isn't that cool!?!?

You Never Let Go Of Me

Have you ever heard this song?!?!?! I first heard it at Triennial! I was going to highlight my favorite parts in red for you, but then I realized that I had highlighted the whole first half of the song! I love how the song reminds me that it's God's love that casts out fear---that fear can be cast out! That God is powerful enough to do it! That he fills up that space that was filled with fear with his love. How I need to be reminded of that! That I don't have to fear because God is with me, whether or not I feel him at the time, whether or not calm or stormy things are going on in my life. I just need to keep holding on because God is moving and working and he's good and loving! I love the idea of God never letting go of me!!

You Never Let Go
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back
I know you are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

(Chorus:)
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We'll live to know You here on the earth

(Chorus)

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You
(Chorus 2x's)

NMSI Triennial Retreat: Greece

While our time in Bulgaria was structured and involved many meetings and formal learning opportunities (such as workshops), our time in Greece was unstructured and filled with chances to enjoy beautiful hiking trails, swim in the Aegean Sea, and relax after morning devos and worship. A lot of times the relaxing involved spending time chatting with or praying with other NMSI missionaries.

Here is Gloria, the missionary that I worked with in Honduras in 2002. It was fun to see pictures of her family members and hear about how they have committed their lives to Christ and are serving him wholeheartedly! Her ministry has flourished since I was there--that's so good to hear! I cried when she prayed for me and my future ministry!




Travis and Emily are future missionaries to Bulgaria and another family that I enjoyed connecting with! (This is actually a picture of them in Bulgaria!)

This is my small group for morning devos in Bulgaria...Jaime (Thailand), Craig (Mozambique, later Zimbabwe), Jessica (Kenya), and me! They are a very sweet and insightful group! We spent some time translating Thessalonians---as if we were writing it to a five year old---and studying it before traveling through Thessaloniki, Greece!

Shane (future missionary to Kenya) and Helen (former missionary to Kenya, working at the CGO developing the HIVHope program) are standing on the beach near our hotel in this picture. Later that week they got engaged! It was a beautiful story that (mostly) took place on the hiking trails near the hotel!

Here are a few of the views from hiking trails near the hotel, which ran along cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea. Each trail was marked with a tritan to show you where to go (look on the tree). Rumor has it that if you look into the distance across the "ocean" you can see Mount Olympus as well (I didn't have a very good picture of that).

One day I went on a six mile hike with Jamin and Kelly (former missionaries to Malawi, now working at the CGO, preparing to leave for Turkey)

We joked that we'd hiked all the way to the USA when we saw this sign!

One of the other things I enjoyed about Greece was the opportunity to play with cute missionary kids! Here are some future missionaries to China and Turkey!

Have you ever tried to make a "sand angel"? (like a snow angel)

In Greece we ventured into town less often (it was farther away from us and cost more to get to), but this is one cute cafe that I ate at one day! I'm a big fan of taking pictures of kids and landscapes.

Here's another cute one that I walked by...

Lastly, another beautiful view from the outdoor dining area at the hotel

There was so much beauty in Greece! Beauty of seeing missionaries serve each other. Beauty of the sea. Beauty of the trees. Beauty of plants and vines clinging to everything. Beauty of vulnerability. Beauty of prayer. Beauty of rest. Beauty of reconnection. Beauty of the anticipation of reunion...just three more years until the next Triennial!

NMSI Triennial Retreat: Bulgaria

Friends Derek and Ashley from COAT---We're excited to begin our travels overseas!

I spent the last two weeks at NMSI's Triennial Retreat. The first week was in Bulgaria and was filled with workshops led by various members of NMSI and incuded corporate devos, worship, and main session teaching times, etc. It was an incredible opportunity for all the NMSI missionaries all over the world to come together to learn, grow, praise God for all He's doing, connect with others on the field, encourage those that are support raising, and get some much needed refreshment and rejuvination!

At night in Bulgaria and on the free day we had the opportunity to walk through the town nearby our hotel or dine in cafes along the streets. Here are a few ruins that were near our hotel. I enjoyed reconnecting with people who work at the CGO (Center for Global Outreach) in Florida---which made me even more excited to move there!---as well as people who went through the COAT program with me this summer!

This is Rene (Publications at the CGO) and I.

Joyce (Prayer at the CGO, friend from COAT), me, Carol (Working in Zambia, friend from COAT)

While it was nice to reconnect with old friends, I was also intimdated and lonely at times during the conference, seeing as there were 250 NMSI affiliates there, many of whom I did not know. Thankfully, God reaffirmed my calling to this mission throughout the conference through various friends and gave me the boldness to introduce myself to many others.

One of my favorite "new people" was my roomate during my time in Bulgaria, Amy. She will be going through the COAT program this fall and is working with Short Term Projects at the CGO. One of my favorite times of the whole conference was biking through Hissar (the town we were staying in) with her! There were some pretty sizable hills at times---we joked that it was like mountain biking!---and we even wandered through the surrounding countryside a bit. It was beautiful, adventurous, freeing, and fun!

This is a cute cafe that we stopped at for lunch.

Here are some leva (Bulgarian currency) that we used to pay for lunch. We learned that Bulgarians love tomatoes and cucumbers (at least the ones running the hotel we stayed at did!) ---every meal there was preceded by chopped up cucumbers and chopped up tomatoes topped with white, shredded cheese.

Amy enjoying some tasty Bulgarian eats!

Another town that we discovered on our bike ride!

God was so good to give me some quality one-on-one time with friends amidst many large group activities during the conference!