After two different countries in two weeks, our Central America B team is officially back in the US! The team was able to distribute water filters and the good news of Jesus to so many families in Central America and they have countless stories to tell about all that the Lord did in their two weeks overseas. Join us in praying for them as they navigate reverse culture shock and new rhythms back home. Pray that they would remember the stories of God’s goodness and faithfulness and carry the boldness of their faith with them in their everyday life. Don’t forget to ask a team member how they’re doing, and ask to hear about all of those stories!
We are officially on our way home from Central America! We finished ministry on Tuesday which meant yesterday was our FUN DAY! After breakfast we headed on the bus to the rainforest, where we spent the day visiting the Ẽmbẽrä tribe, an indigenous tribe who still lives the tribe lifestyle here! When we got there, it was raining (surprise surprise). Some of us came prepared and others (myself included) simply embraced our fate: being completely drenched.
After loading into canoes, members of the tribe guided us through the rain down the river. It was such a serene experience! The sounds of the rainforest surrounding us and the breathtaking view made us feel like we were in a movie. They lead us to a spot where we got off, hiked about 10 minutes into the rainforest, and got to swim at a waterfall! We then took the canoes to their village and learned all about their tribe lifestyle! They fed us delicious fresh-caught tilapia and fruit. The tribe members are very crafty so we had a chance to buy some fun souvenirs, and then a bunch of us got temporary tattoos! We learned that many of the tribe members tattoo themselves for bug and sun protection! Before taking the canoes back, the tribe showed us one of their traditional dances and even invited us to dance with them at the end! We loved getting to see and learn about their culture. It was an incredible experience!
We finished the day with some souvenir shopping, dinner at the hotel, and an end-of-the-trip pizza/pool party with everyone! We are all so sad to end our time together. The bond that we created with the Palm Beach Atlantic and Westmont students is so special—and stronger than any of us expected!
I am so grateful for the opportunity to lead this team and so proud of them! I got to watch as each of them stepped outside of their comfort zones in their own unique ways, and it was beautiful to see God working through them. I know I can speak for all of us in saying we have grown so much from this ministry, and feel so much more confident to go home and spread the Gospel! I thank Jesus for all of the miracles He allowed us to be a part of over the past two weeks. It was truly a blessing!
Hey compadres. It’s Luke. I’m so blessed to be on this trip with such amazing people. Quick little personal update,
-I’ve seen Joel explode into a impactful leader. His personal relationship with God is coming to fruit.
-I’ve seen Jett using his gifts of God to connect so intense and personal to each individual house, providing an image of Jesus.
-I’ve seen Andrea becoming a voice for God, speaking the convictions we all had, but weren’t brave enough to say.
-I’ve seen Grace being like the hands and feet of Jesus. Always willing to endure and take on more.
-I’ve seen Isabella become so enthusiastic and passionate and bold for the Lord. Her soul seems filled and is just pouring out.
-I’ve seen Jailyn become comfortable sharing the gospel in any situation. Her stories of her houses always blessed my day.
-I’ve seen Diana be the motherly touch we need, while also pushing us to be better, and simultaneously sharing incredible Godly Wisdom.
-I’ve seen Macie show a side of humility that I’ve never seen before while also having this deep power and strength in sharing the gospel.
Before I went on this trip, I thought very little about the people I’d be with. I honestly was a bit skeptical and thought they were a little weird. But God couldn’t have picked a better team to be with me. Each one is here for a specific reason. Thank you parents and grandparents for raising such fire-filled missionaries.
Now as for the trip, yesterday was the last day we shared filters in houses. Personally the last half of sharing in country #2 has been difficult at times to connect. I felt exhausted and discouraged, but this last day was exactly what I needed.
I met a man who is part of some revolution. I shared a bit of my testimony and to my surprise it hit home with him. He broke down and said. “My life now, was your life in the past.” He was so ready for the pain and misery to end. The crazy part is that his sister was praying earlier that day for him. Just a perfect moment of peace where the Lord provided.
The other guy I saw was my friend Nelson. He lives here and just has a heart of gold. I requested him to be my translator almost every day. His passion and zeal for the Lord is unheard of.
Anyways 2 things happened. Firstly he shared his testimony and started singing at one believer’s home and it was so powerful. All of my group just broke down in tears. (Or at least I did, ha)
Secondly, he gave me an amazing haircut and gave me the brotherly encouragement I needed. My soul felt refilled after this day. As if the Lord knew we are nearing the end, he is sending me off with a bit of hope.
God has shown himself to us and the individuals whose houses we have visited, in wonderful and miraculous ways. He has brought this group to the doorsteps of families that needed the love and comfort of God. Healing families, bringing hope and peace to the broken heart and the lost. It has been a great blessing to walk this journey and do Gods will with these amazing and unique individuals and have brought them here for a purpose. God is truly working in this place and I pray that the last few days of this trip are as fruitful and beautiful as the last few days have been.
For this trip, the phrase that keeps coming back to my mind is that I need to prioritize trusting in God and that he has a plan for this trip.
Unfortunately for this trip, I have been sick the entire time, now it’s been nonstop coughing and being exhausted both physically and mentally at the end of the day. But I have been trying to trust that through sleep and God, I can make it through the day. I believe and trust that every morning God would give me the strength and the willpower to get through the whole day which I can see him doing throughout the trip.
But God has been showing me and teaching me to trust in him in other ways.
For the church we visited today the Pastor from a church in Texas gave us the word this morning. It was about the word priorities. He kept on always resaying that word over and over which meant it was important. He said we need to prioritize putting God at the center of our lives, basically saying living and doing things for God every day. He also said we need to prioritize pursuing God’s righteousness. The last point he made, which stuck out to me is that we need to prioritize trusting in God because if we don’t we will be sitting in a constant state of worry. Why this stuck with me because I believe the Lord is still trying to work on me trusting in him and his plans. Trying to trust in his plan has been part of my journey (and testimony) since my sophomore fall semester of college. I guess the Lord is showing me that I still need work in that area.
Another example of when trust came into play today was during our visitations to the houses to install water filters. My team was led to a house where the pastor said we had to install a water filter even though they had no bucket.
The man came out with what was left of a plastic juice carton, the team thought there was no way we could put a hole in it without breaking it. But Joel had the confidence to do it and said he would try. So we had to trust in Joel’s abilities to puncture a hole in the bucket without breaking it, which he was able to do. I believe we need to trust that God would make a way for the team to use what we were given which we did.
Throughout this whole trip, I have fought the inside voices of my head saying you are not going to make it, you are incompetent because you fell behind, you will never get better, say something, and so much more. I am sure the people we install the water filters for have a lot going through their minds as they are being told the gospel. Things like doubt, confusion, pride, and maybe even negative talk about themselves. But God can take those thoughts and turn them into something positive like even when I am weak he gives me strength, when I don’t feel loved he tells me that I am loved. The Lord is continuing to hold onto me when I feel like no one else is and saying I got you and you are not alone.
Through the remainder of this trip I need to trust that God will get me though the day and put my team at the right house. I believe that I will continue to practice when I get home to continue to trust in God and his plan for my life.
Hello friends & family! It has been an eventful couple of days, on Saturday we made our trip from country #1 to country #2 bright and early in the morning. We arrived in this country safe and sound very surprised by the weather, it is very humid and hot here but nonetheless we came ready to serve. Today is our first full day of water filter distributions and with the hour we gained in time it feels like we have a lot more hours to work with. We started this morning with a group devotional at one of the churches we will frequent here in Central America which is called Templo Jehova bendice there we meet the Pastora who helps organize the houses we visit. After devotional we went on our way to start visiting the people the church has listed out, at our first house my team was able to pick coconuts from the lady’s home and yes, the coconut water was very fresh and yummy. After visiting some homes in the morning we made our way to lunch to our host church. Lunch was amazing especially because the person making the food was a chef, we got to experience some amazing local food which motivated us to get to work. We also got to experience some rain after lunch which was very pleasant since the humidity was getting intense. After getting fuel for our evening we got to visit some more houses and engaged in meaningful conversations with great people who wanted to learn more about the Lord. We wrapped up the day with some dinner at our host church and it was some very yummy local food. Back at the hotel a couple of us decided to go for a late night swim to wash off the very long, sweaty, and humid day. It was a blessed day and it’s been an amazing experience here in Central America so far.
Hey everyone! It’s Isabella. Thank you for all the prayers, love, and support! Today was our last full day in country #1, and it was filled with tons of fun.
The day started bright and early with breakfast at the hotel. Usually, there are eggs, toast, coffee, and some kind of protein and fruit. When we first got here, there were actually black beans served with breakfast too—which happened to be my favorite!
At home, I don’t like unsweetened coffee, but for some reason, the coffee here is amazing with or without milk and sugar. I’m definitely bringing some coffee beans home.
We headed out on the bus around 9 a.m. and drove two hours to the side of a volcano. From there, we rode horses up to a lookout point where we shared pizza that was cooked on the rocks of the volcano! It was like flatbread—and so, so amazing. There was also a gift shop with tons of cool jewelry made from lava. Apparently, in 2010 there was an eruption, and they decided to make jewelry from it.
On our way back, we stopped at an overlook above the city. There’s a giant cross in front of the lookout point. It’s so beautiful. I think it’s really interesting that most of the surrounding communities are strongly influenced by Catholicism. I love that the people here are already aware of God and already respect the Bible as the Word of God.
We spent the afternoon exploring the city and markets and picking up souvenirs. The exchange rate of USD to the local currency is 1:7, so there’s a little math involved everywhere we go—but it also makes it easier to get good quality items. I ended up getting coffee beans, chocolate, and some jewelry.
We ended the night with some team bonding at the Starbucks, which has a huge garden inside. This city actually reminds me a little of Carmel, California (near Monterey) because of all the little alleyways and courtyards.
Tomorrow, we leave bright and early at 3:00 a.m. for our flight to country #2, where we’ll continue distributing water filters and sharing the Gospel. I can’t wait to share all the amazing things God has done—and I’m so excited to see what more He will orchestrate!
Our Global Outreach trip to Central America has been an amazing experience. We are currently on our fifth day in country #1 and we have seen God working in so many ways. Our teams have been able to bless 97 families with clean water and 40 people have decided to commit their lives to Christ!
Our hearts have been broken seeing the need for clean water in this city. Many families have spoken about having to boil their water or buy bags of water, and the bags of water often have mold, worms, or insects. Families, especially children, get sick regularly from the water, so being able to see God change their lives has been inspiring to watch.
We have seen not just the lives of people in this country be changed, but also our own lives. We have seen our team step out and become increasingly bold for Christ, with many of us sharing the Gospel for the first time.
We have seen God work through personal testimonies that have deeply resonated with many people in this town who are going through or have gone through similar experiences. Often, we have gone into houses expecting to give, but have in turn received encouragement from the strength of the faith of many believers here.
We are serving with two other schools full of amazing people who are on fire for Christ. We have made dozens of friends and have built deep relationships with many of them.
We are excited for the next week and are eager to see what God has in store. Please keep praying for us, praying for safety and that God would move through the city in amazing ways.
I would describe our Jessup team as mild, deeply thoughtful and willingly adventurous. For most, this is a first time experience. I bring a little spice, having traveled doing international work for the purpose of training up leaders with Bible study skills in many places around the world.
Our team has integrated with two other college teams. So we have become a mix of students from Jessup, Westmont and Palm Beach Atlantic. And by integrated, I mean, all the guys from the different universities are sharing one room! I’m in a room with the outreach coordinator from Westmont, Kelly. All the Jessup ladies are in one room… with one bathroom.
It’s day 2 of visiting homes bringing water filters, learning from those we are visiting and in turn sharing our lives and the Life giving message of hope. In the villages we go out in 7 groups of 4-5, each day with a different combination of people.
In just the few days we’ve been together I’ve seen these guys step out and step up to share their lives and experience with not only the other students from other universities but also in homes with people they are learning about. As a veteran I can say I’m so proud of Jessup, the training before hand and the continued support of staff to allow and provide hands-on eye opening practical opportunities to grow in faith.
We have each been in at least 7 homes -7 teams x 7 homes in 2 days – which is a lot of experiences to hear about and try to remember. Each night, some incredible stories are told.
It’s a complete joy to see the unity of the team, and the growth in confidence. Today I was told by one of the men in the home we were visiting that he could feel how much we loved! God is up to something!
“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.”
We have now spent two days in our first country in Central America!!
I am beyond excited to be here and I love everything I’m getting to experience. On Sunday, we attended a church service; the sermon focused on three main points: 1. AVOID trying to control situations and people that only God can and focus on what God is calling YOU to do 2. AVOID living in the past and don’t allow past decisions to dictate the way you live your life today 3. If we don’t change our way of thinking we will never change in the way we live.
After the church service we went out into the homes to install water filters and share the gospel. My role during our first visit was attending the baby to allow the mom to receive teaching about the filter and the gospel. I got to learn more about their culture through engaging in conversation with her afterwards! Central Americans here are very hospitable people and are very humble with what they have! We then finished our night by walking through the city and visited the famous arch! 🙂
