Allison's Blog

Hello everyone,


I know y'all loooooooove reading my posts and all, but I wanted to share a link to Allison's blog, so you can see our experience from others' eyes as well if you so please.  But mainly, she has a lot of photos of us and orientation, since I'm not the best at taking pictures of our experiences.  So hopefully you'll get a good look at some of our activities during Orientation.


Here's Allison's Blog


I'll add hers, Esther's and Kevin's blogs to my links as soon as I find out how and where to do so


Con Amor (with love),
Brad

Chavez y Romanos (Romans)

Hello all,

This is my half hour slot to write a blog, so it won't be so cut short as it was yesterday, as long as my typing is swift and fluid.  But there's also a lot more.  When I arrived at the office this morning at 8:30, I switched my Ingles back on and spoke (and thought) in sustained English for the first time since four o'clock the previous day.  Isn't that insane?  I loved every minute of it.  But to take you into a day in the life of the Chavez family, my host and my new adopted family, it starts at 4:00 am for Sra. Chavez, doing morning chores and preparing breakfast for Sr. Chavez, who catches the bus at 5:30 am to get to work 40 minutes away in San Jose.  He works for a food company called "Tio Pelon" which in English translates to 'Uncle Baldy.'  When I asked what 'pelon' meant at dinner time, the family very animated and joyfully, pointed to the head of Sr. Chavez, whose hair is, as you guessed, receding.  Shortly after this, el senor (sr. Chavez) explained to me very clearly that "tenemos una ragla de este case.  Pe prohibe tener verguenza en esta casa," which means "We have one rule in this house.  To be embarrassed in this house is prohibited."  They have a huge love for their family, and this shows in how open and free of shame they live in within their home, and that their value and worth is not in how they are perceived, but ascribed by their loving God.  Their house was warm and welcoming, which to me was both a blessing and a weird ground for me, just being put through cultural training, and worrisome that I'm going to say or do something that will cause offense.  So that can be a prayer request, that I may not fear causing offense, but live and operate in God's love and the love God and I share for my host family.  This morning, Sra. Chavez rode into town with me on the bus.  We left the house at around 8:10 (a very late morning for my in Costa Rica) to catch the bus at the bus stop up the hill, and ride it into town.  When we parted ways for me to go to the office, Sra. Chavez began her errands into the supermarket, stop at the bank, and run other errands in town.  In the evening, el Papa returns from work at around 7 pm, and his two daughters return from their work at the church at around 8 (except their days off on Monday).  Sra. Chavez will have dinner ready and we'll eat as soon as the family is at home.  After dinner, we clean up the kitchen, and evening activities continue until bed time - 9:30 for los senores (parents) and probably later for las hijas (daughters).  Their house is very humble but beautiful, with natural A/C - a corridor running throughout the house to allow wind to pass through and air out the house -  windows and doors open (it actually was very comfortable in this climate, and Sra. Chavez actually wore a sweatshirt at night.  Everything is in its place and the house is very clean - Ticos are a very very clean people.  I'm glad I didn't bring enough stuff to make a huge mess cause they're way cleaner than I am.  Messes are attended to as soon as they're made.  Dishes are cleaned and returned to their place right after use, and there are just enough plates for everyone, but nothing in excess.  Dinner was rice, meat, and potatoes.  Their flavors were very very yummy.  I had to repeat the same thing a hundred times cause it was sooooo good.  "Es muy sabroso,"  "que buena la cena," and "me gusta mucho."  And, as many of you are thinking or assuming, the coffee is good (think tov, the hebrew word that gets translated to good that really means 'good' with a lot of emphasis of the gut, similar to a 'oh that's goooooooooood').  

But this morning our study was on Romans 12:1&2, and I wanted to share some of that with you all and how it kicked my gut this morning with the awesomeness of God.  When we started, and Josh asked to consider the phrase "transform you by the renewing of your mind," my first thought was that it doesn't command us to renew our mind, as if it's in our power to.  No, it says to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Then Josh points out that the verb "be transformed" is a passive verb, as in it's happening to us, and conversely, in the clause before that the word "be conformed to(NIV)" or "imitate" (NLT) the world is an active verb.  So it's like Paul is saying, "refrain from conforming and let God transform you by changing your mind through his revelation," or through Him teaching you, or also, "give up so He can work on you".  Isn't that awesome.  We just have to sit back and listen to God, and he does the work in us.   How awesome is God to take people who, of no self achievement of their own, works and molds and changes people who simply say yes in their hearts and minds to God.  And "God's will" in the end of the second verse, is God's will for our very being, not so much our specific actions, but the very core of who we are.  So all the two verses, in response to the first 11 chapters, Paul is saying, in light of the gospel, offer yourself up as a sacrifice of your being (alive in Christ), for God to change and transform loving in response to you placing yourself at the alter before God.  Aaah man isn't that awesome.  Sanctification is not something unattainable, but something God wants to give us every day, and us showing we accept it is laying ourselves on that alter for Him to renew with his fire of knowing Him.  I could continue here, but if the Spirit is speaking to you, God will do a whole lot more in leading you in exploring this awesomeness, so I'll leave it up to you to meditate on anything worth meditating on.  I'll leave you with an awesome lyric from a favorite band of a friend of mine, Trey Frye, and it puts this into a great picture of surrender, or giving up.  The band name is My Epic, and the lyric is 

"I stopped striving for perfection and surrendered to it instead"

I love yall, and God Bless,

Brad


p.s. Ooh, that was long.  Thanks for reading all the way to this point

I have arrived ... finally!

Hello everyone,

Our plane landed in Juan Santamaria Aureopuerto Internacional last night right on time - 9:40 Central Time (awesome time zone alignment - CR is in central time zone), and Josh Ayers, one of the office engineers drove us to our home in Atenas.  We stayed in staff members houses last night, ate breakfast, and now are in the office contacting our friends and loved ones with good tidings of great joy - that we are here finally.  Ten days, three flights, some climbing, and a lot of orienteering has finally brought me and my fellow interns, Kevin Winner, Allison Byrd, and Esther Lynch into our office in Atenas.  Unfortunately, my time is cut short by lunch so I'll have to say goodbye for now, but there will be more to come soon.  

I love yall,

Brad

Pikes Peak

I've always been fascinated by the mountains here in Colorado, but what gets me more than even the mountains is what they're dressed in. The mountain is always constant, but the clouds are ever changing, morphing the way you look at the mountain, and how it interacts with the landscape around it, as well as the sky. Also, I have never seen clouds more amazing than here in Colorado. Probably has something to do with how the air comes over the mountain. But as I'm writing this, I'm reminded by the stability of the mountain and the ever changing clouds how God is always the same no matter what - always constant always gorgeous, but he adapts and interacts with each one of us so uniquely, but also the same. It's awesome. Enjoy this one of Pikes Peak

Adelante Hacia Orientacion

After two days of travel and introduction to eMI, I am well into orientation now, having met my three interning colleagues in Costa Rica -  Kevin Winner, Esther Lynch, and Allison Byrd - all of whom I am thoroughly excited to be working with.  I can definitely sense a thriving excitement for God and engineering in each one one of them and I'm looking forward to spending life with in Costa Rica.  I know many of you may be eager to hear how orientation is going, and I can say that it's going really great right now, but I have to share with you my experience on the flight over here when I first noticed I could see the mountains.  This is from my journal (kind of this entry in advance). 

After pondering when I'd be able to look out my airplane window (I had a middle seat, but I was sure not to be that guy leaning over my neighbor to see out the window) and see the mountains when the pilot announced we were just past Lubbock and the ride was about to get a bit bumpy.  I looked out the window and saw the snow-tips of the Rockies and my heard leaped.  I can barely keep my eyes on my journal to write this because i'm so enthralled by the sight of those majestic peaks that are so far away I can only make out the tiny white tips.  But I know those are the Rockies.  Admittedly being a bit obsessed with climbing and mountaineering videos late last December, seeing the mountains on screen became a bit commonplace but seeing them again, even so small as they are right now, reminds me that I haven't been in the mountains in a year and a half.  But what's more is that God knows that I love the mountains - love being in and around, and on top of them.  He really knows this and gives me this joy and celebration of his creation.  

In orientation, we learned in our first session the history of eMI, and how it began.  Mike Orsillo, over 30 years ago was an engineer whom God had called to ministry work and was in a place where he was not sure at all where God wanted him specifically to fulfill his calling.  He had even gone to seminary, but found himself working a prominent engineering firm and was wondering how God's plans were going to play out for him.  He was working with a youth trip to an island called Saipan when a couple of weeks before their departure the island was hit by a destructive typhoon.  In this midst, God revealed to Mike the combination of engineering and gospel spreading into an organization dedicated to projects worldwide that would assist in bringing the gospel to the nations.  On the trip, Mike began work on a project to restore some of the destruction on the island, and so eMI was born.  Here's more on the birth and history of eMI.  

I am blessed, and so are you - all you who are praying for me and I bless you for your prayers.  

I love yall

Brad

Mailing Address

Hello Everyone.  I just posted my mailing address in Costa Rica.  You can find it at the bottom of the page under my profile information.

Brad

One More Day

Hello everyone,

I'm so excited.  I'm about to pack (which is an engineering problem in itself) and am super excited, so much that I'm probably so scattered today.  I awoke at 5:30 this morning and have been running to and fro ever since running errands, picking up some last minute stuff, getting a haircut (per EMI's requirement for Costa Rican interns), and now to the gathering of my belongings as soon as I finish with this post.  But tomorrow, I fly out and land in Denver at 2:40 mountain time tomorrow and I'll stay the night in a Hostel, get picked up in the morning and driven down to the Springs by another intern by about 4 pm Saturday.  That's when orientation begins. I have no specifics, but anyone who's been through orientation, I imagine I'll expect pretty typical orientation things - TCB, intro Bible Study, briefings on culture, workplace, and life, and a whole lot of team building games.  Fun stuff.

I'm also probably a little nervous - excitement and nervous seem to run on similar lines.  I'm staying in a downtown Hostel overnight and real world may hit me hard - being totally momentarily alone, with no prior knowledge of anyone I'm staying with.  There's a lot of unknown wrapped up in that, so It is legitimately nerve racking for me.  But I also know that I could be totally fine in this environment.  The key is knowing the presence of God with me at all times and living by this at all times, so you all can pray for me to walk in the knowledge of God's presence all the time.  Living by the Spirit will bring great power to thrive in situations where I am out there with no normal spiritual comforts such as family and friends.  

Well I think that's all for today.  Go time is tomorrow, and I'm ready for it.  Jesus comes with me like a lion, and will guard my heart and my mind against all evil.  Pray this over me.  God bless and I love yall

Brad

Support Update and Test

Hello readers,

I've known a lot of people interested to know how my support raising is coming, and I want to share with y'all my newest update on support.  I'm getting closer each time, and God continues to bring in funds from beloved friends and family, for which I am so thankful.  But not even for the money specifically.  I ask that God will fund my trip and trust that He will, but as I read the names from my support list, I know each one of you gave out of love, and that your giving was an act of love.  That's a huge part of what makes support raising so worth it.  So thank you to everyone who has given so far. 

I have $5767 so far, and EMI requires $8500 for my behalf, so God has about $3000 to go, and I'm excited to see how he does it.  I think it's going to be pretty spectacular.  

So, the test is because I'm testing the email function of the blog post, as well as starting my email updates.  If you want to receive reminders through email, shoot me an email.  If you don't have my email, you can find me on facebook, or get it from a friend.

If you're interested in giving but don't know how, you can look on the "support" tab at the top of this blog.

I love y'all and God Bless

Brad

Nefarious: Merchant of souls

This is a documentary on human sex trafficking which ensnares, enslaves, and takes advantage of women and robs them of their dignity, their self worth, and even their humanity.  It uncovers the situation surrounding slavery and prostitution in places such as Amsterdam, Eastern Europe, South East Asia, and the United States. It sheds light on injustices committed against these women, and explores why no woman voluntary chooses prostitution, but is either forced or lured by manipulation into this trade.  It also gives testimony of many women who were freed, who were restored by the blood of Jesus and will continue to live in freedom.  The opening quote reminds me of Jesus.  The Father bought us with a price in order to magnify and glorify us in the face of our foe, who seeks to drain our value from us.  And he set an infinite limit on our price, and paid it in full, and set us free from satan's lies.  He restores us and that is why we give our lives away to be servant slaves of Jesus.  He is our hope.  


This is only the trailer, but more information on participation, screenings (currently none yet), and information on the trade is on a couple of websites - one for the film, and one for the ministry from which it was produced.  


Nefarious: Merchant of Souls
Exodus Cry

One Thing, Prayer Journal and Other Stuff

Hello friends and regular readers,


I just returned from a conference put on by the International House of Prayer (IHOP for short, not to be confused with the pancake place, which is tasty) in Kansas City called the "One Thing Conference," and I wanted to share some praises, some awesome things God has done, a trick I think I just learned and a very specific prayer request that has major implications on my work in Costa Rica.


First, God made a huge breakthrough in knowing Him intimately and prayer through this conference.  By the time I left, I had spent the entire month until then in long work hours, absence of my spiritual community, and waning in prayer.  But 4 days of 9 hours of worship and sermons daily makes for a lot of "quiet time," and over 120 straight hours spent worshipping and praying with brothers and sisters who are on the same ride as you are makes for quite an awesome sharpening experience.  God is not boring at all.  He is magnificent.


God, in making these breakthroughs has prepared me for my mission in Costa Rica.  EMI provides ministry orientation in the Springs, cultural orientation in Atenas, but God gave me life in missions orientation at the 2011 One Thing Conference here.  He set the ground work and a working and living model for spiritual strength in life and missions.  That model is simple, profound, and at first and at times hard, but totally worth it.  Prayer.  Personal and corporate prayer elevated above all else because intimate love for God is the first and greatest commandment and love for others is the second.  "All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments."  By the time Jesus said this statement, scriptures fell into two main groups, the Torah (law), the Nevi'im (Prophets).  The Kethuvim (the writings), although was considered by many as scripture, was not canonized until the second century A.D. so when Jesus says "all the law and the prophets," he is not talking about the ten commandments, Leviticus, and Isaiah and Jeremiah.  He is saying, to the Jews, that all scriptures hang on these two commandments.  We were created to be in community and intimate love for God.  This does not exist without prayer, which is the fuel to this blaze of love for God.


This is my prayer request - that I would talk with God daily and in great proportions from now until eternity, and that this prayer be made my greatest priority, my first work daily and in my life, and that it be fruitful in the Spirit.  My time with God will increase my love for God, and increase the powerful works in my life and mission, as well as allow me to walk in power the line God has given me.


My trick - After many attempts in keeping a prayer journal (and falling off), I have noticed a pattern.  It starts off great.  I make a list, start praying, and it's great the first week.  After about a month, my requests list is getting old.  The list gets to seven pages and I can't seem to overcome how overwhelming it seems to pray through seven pages of prayers with the zeal I had when I first had them down.  Anyone out there with an amen and want help?  I think I may be onto something.  Over the conference, God gave me some large, umbrella categories to pray for, my prayer group from Vanderbilt (I love you all, and miss you), ending human trafficking, my friends I'm living closest with, family, my mission to Costa Rica and EMI, just to name a few.  I write these down as a semi 'table of groups' of prayer.  Then, in my prayer time, I write down whatever group God leads me to pray for, and the subsequent prayers that come.  The key difference is to record my prayers as they come, not for the purpose of praying over them again, but as an open ended record kept.  If God leads me to pray a specific prayer again, I do not return to it, but write it again, emphasizing God's emphasis on that prayer.  The list grows, but you're always at the front of it, free to go back to review, but setting your eyes ahead for what God wants to lead you to pray next.


I just started this today, so I cannot give testimony to its function, but if this seems great to you - go for it.  Come back and give feedback, ask questions and explore.  The point however, is to record and remember my prayers, as well as getting me to pray daily.


I love you all, and remember to pray for me to pursue God wildly in prayer.


God's love
Brad