Seasons...

So in a more normal part of the United States, when it is the season of Fall, the leaves change colors and it's really gorgeous and pretty! I normally do not get to experience this part of the "season", since in California, it was still a hot 84 degrees earlier this week! I was fortunate to see this as I was out in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference in mid-October. It was a really neat time of being out there with ~10 other people from my church, and being among other Christian believers who are in the mindset of community development in the the neighborhoods where we live....and trying to live out what it means to be incarnational, like Jesus was, and to really love God and love our neighbors. I also got to attend a few different workshops that were focused on education, after school programs, and identifying with the poor...all were really neat and helpful! I also connected with a lady who is from the Pasadena area, that started an after school program through one of the churches there. She was such an encouragement to me throughout the conference as I kept bumping into her and conversing about the conference. One important message that I remember from the conference, is that Bart Compolo shared that if you are going to relocate to a differnet place, you need to go with people, or you need to go and be meeting people that are already in the place you are going to. This is important for the significance of community, and how that will be helpful in a venture to a new place, and being able to be in Christian community.

Right now I am still in a transitional phase in my workplace. My position recently changed to more of a supervisor/lead teacher position. This means that I am helping with more of the administration aspect at the after school program, helping with structures/programs, and helping to support the teachers. I am enjoying it in all the newness that it is, but still adjusting to the longer hours, getting to know more of the students, and learning different systems. Please pray for my adjustment, and for good mentorship and support from co-workers as I am new into this position.

Prayer Requests for the neighborhood: With my new work schedule, it seems that I am more on a time cruch now. Please pray for time opportunities of still being able to take care of personal tasks as well as things I'm working through with my Servant Partners development plan...AND...get to spend time in the neighborhood and connect with neighbors.

I want to share some highlights of these past few months:

My parents and me at the Lighthouse Run 5k/10k in East LA! :) This is us right after Dad and I ran the races.

My birthday celebration. We celebrated my 24th birthday at Exposition Park with neighbors, Servant Partners friends, church friends, and Fullerton friends. What a joy it was to be with everybody and celebrate together. God is good!

Who doesn't celelbrate their birthday with Superman?! Ha ha :-D Here is my boyfriend, Scott, and me, along with college friends - Mia and Jojo!

A [silly] picture of my roomates and me! Liz, Regina, Sierra, and me. Please continue to pray for us, as we have lived together for 1 year, and will be staying together for until June 2010 at least! Pray for our house dynamics, for love/service to one another, for us to have more time to hang out with one another (as our lives are all pretty busy and do not always match together to spend time with one another), and for a continual presence in this community!

Summer Updates!

It's been a couple of months since I've updated the blog....the summer has been slower as far as my workload with the students...but there's been a lot of busy and exciting things going on. The summer is winding down, and I am starting back to working with the middle school students next Tuesday, September 8th! Way excited about my new staff and the new school year and what God has in store!!!

I wanted to share some highlights for you...
-Summer Camp with my students was really neat and exciting! It was a roller coaster of ups and downs...but great overall. During the last 3 weeks, my students and I got to take art classes in visual arts and ceramics. I think it was really neat that God meet me in my desire to learn and explore more with art this summer...and he used the opportunity for me to get to do that with my students..yeah!
-The summer time for Servant Partners was for us to reflect, use tools, and ask close friends/peers/mentors to figure out what our spiritual gifts are. This was a very neat discerning process, and out of those spiritual gifts, we were trying to figure out what some long-term development plans could be....and then figured out what we could do for that within this 2nd year of the internship. 2 gifts that seem to be more of my key spiritual gifts are mercy (caring for others, empathizing, etc.) and governments (organizing, structures, etc.). I am currently finishing up my development plan and figuring out what I will be focusing on for my 2nd year. Some of my plans include learning more Spanish through meeting with a friend/neighbor and using my Spanish workbook, meeting with a mentor in the non-profit world to learn more about inner-city youth ministry, and long distance running...with an end goal of running the LA marathon in March 2010! :-D Quite exciting. Please be keeping all of those things in your prayers and follow up with me and help hold me accountable.
-Got to spend 1 week with my brother, Joel, up in Seattle. It was such a great time of rest, spending time with him, and enjoying some of the touristy sites up there! We went to the Boeing Plan in Everett, to the Underground Tour and Pikes Place Market in downtown Seattle, and whale watching up in Anacortes and got to see Orca whales in Canada (eh!). I really enjoy spending time with my family... and it was good to be fun and silly with Joel while there. We had some really great conversations and I loved it! And I almost left Seattle without some rain..but it did sprinkle on us on the drive to the airport...of course.
-My friends who have been going through some difficulty with physical illnesses have been doing well and progressing. Nick (brain injury while in S. Africa) is doing great! I met up with him for some dinner and hang out time and he's doing great. His arms are still a bit weak and need more strength, but he is going to physical theraphy, and should be back at CSUF in Spring 2010! Daniel (Hodgkin's Disease) has been doing good...the chemo has been helping to fight off the bad cells in his body. I was able to play frisbee with him a few weeks ago, and he's still been up and about, singing, dancing, and worshipping while at church! :) And Lisa (paralyzed from back in March) is doing better...her recovery is being a more slower one, but little things are improving for her through her physical therapy and through God! Thank for your prayers for these friends, and please continue to pray for them! :-D

And some things to be praying about please:
-Looking at the next 2 months, they are quite busy and full with some runs, Servant Partners meetings/retreats, and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference in Cincinnati, Ohio (Oct. 21-25). I am really excited for all of these things. Please pray that I will continue to seek God during times of difficulty and give Him glory for the ways that He is moving in my life. :-D
-It's been 1 full year of the internship! Recently our SP team was reading in the book of Acts (book about the early church, after Jesus was crucified, and then Jesus' disciples were being persecuted for sharing their faith) about the early church and the community of taking care of needs and how beautiful that is! We want that not to just be something read about and see as neat, but we as a class want to have that lived out even more. We have grown so much as a class through ups and downs with personal lives, ministry projects, physical difficulties, and more...but God has continued to shape and mold us to loving and serving one another. Please pray that we continue to seek each other, to be vulnerable, and to meet each others' needs like the community of believers in Acts 2! :-D

In the Words of C.S. Lewis...

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." (CS Lewis)

*Thanks to DJ Ben for the reference! :)

My Name is Sarah...and I want to give glory to God

At Church of the Redeemer, we typically have a time of testimonies. People stand up and share about how God has been at work in their lives...and as a person stands, they say, "Hi, my name is _____, and I want to give glory to God." and the rest of the church chimes in and says, "AMEN." And then the person continues on and shares about how God is at work. I always enjoy hearing these testimonies and got to share my own testimony a few weeks ago about how God has been at work in my workplace among some of the students and through a series of different things that were difficult for me emotionally, but how God has been victorious through it all, how he's been preparing me in stages, and how he's given me a calmness and peace.

I want to give God the glory for a few other things as well. I went through mostly a whole school year of working with middle school students, an age group that I never really thought I would work with, but God used this opportunity to mold and shape me more in working with youth, He humbled me, and He allowed His glory to be revealed through my weakness. I have definitely let pride get in the way while in the workplace, and especially being in a place where my teaching is being questioned by 6th graders on a regular basis was definitely difficult. God has been very clear and spoken to me through some of those difficult days and said, "Sarah...your identity is not found in this job, in these students that you work with, or your coworkers....your identity is found in God and God alone!" That promise that God is at work, whether I am having a good or bad day with my students and God's glory being revealed in the workplace and at work through the lives of my students through their improvements, and through conversations about God and faith and praying with my coworkers has been a great encouragement to me everyday. One scripture that I continually meditate on and come back to is Lamentations 3:22-23: "The Lord's lovingkindness indeed never ceases, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, Great is thy faithfulness." Seek God in all places of your life...especially in the workplace....He will be clear and show up, even if you are not asking for it! :-D

So we have also finished our 1st year of the Servant Partners internship! I cannot believe it. Time has gone by very quickly, and I feel that I have grown so much more in the past few months with my teammates through joyful and difficult situations. This summer we will continue in our ministry projects of hosting bible studies with our neighbors. We are also going through a period of discerning our natural gifts, acquired skills, and spiritual gifts (gifts set). This will help determine what the 2nd year of the SP internship will look like, and what areas we should focus on, especially for ministry.

Something that has been more dificult for me recently is finding out heavy news about some friends. Please be in prayer for my friends for physical healing.
My college friend, Nick, that I knew through Intervarsity and Camp Titan, went to South Africa to volunteer there for the summer in hopes of figuring out more of what he wants to do with his life and such...was horseback riding, he fell off, was knocked unconscious and rushed to the hopsital. Nick had a blood clot that the doctors were able to take care of, but then had an infection in his lungs. He was taking a medication that had paralyzed his body, but he was just recently taken off of the medication and so he has been able to move his arms, legs, hands, etc....and is hopefully going to be able to speak soon. Nick is heavily sedated, and when they tried to breathe using the ventilator, he was struggling. They also just found out that he has pneumonia and is going to be treated with antibiotics. Nick is healing in God's timing...but please continue to pray for him that he will be patient and strong through this time, and that he will feel God's presence at work through this, and the power of people that are praying for him. And I want to praise God that his family has been able to go over to South Africa to be with him during this difficult time, and relay information back to us in the states through emails and facebook messages.
I also found out this past week about my friend and coworker, Daniel, who was having some coughing problems for about a month. After medicine trials and numerous tests, Daniel found out that he has a tumor in the center-left of his chest that is above the sternum and below the heart, and is about the size of a grapefruit. Some things to pray specifically for Daniel and his wife are that the tumor would be benign (cancer-free), that it would be easy to remove, that the cough supressants would help with Daniel's cough, and that he would be present and take things day by day. Daniel has shown a great sense of peace and calmness as he has shared, which has helped me to taking this in and receiving this information about a dear friend. Praise God also that He has allowed Daniel to receive so much these past months with work, in his recent marriage with his wife, and that he had received a clear word through prayer about not beginning to intern with Servant Partners until a later time.

Thank you for your prayers!!!

My friend, Nick...please pray for him!

SP Commencement for the 2nd years: my PLN buddies - Scott and Daniel...please pray for Daniel!

My SP Team - Lisa is in the middle in the wheelchair...please continue to be praying for her for physical healing and the rest of our team as we are continuing our ministry project until the end of August.

Estudio de la biblia

Never did I think I would be sharing about the Spanish bible study I went to with my neighbors...but that's where I was this past Friday. I have grown to love and appreciate my friendship with Javier, Eliliana, and Sergio. I have enjoyed the silly awkward moments of "No se" because we do not know enough of each others' languages, I have enjoyed talking to them about their work and experiences in Chiappas, and just this past Friday I enjoyed seeing them be excited to study from the bible and to share openly about their prayer requests. Please continue to pray for the interactions with my friends. Pray for Sergio's father who has prostate cancer, pray for Javier's relatives who have been having trouble, and pray for Liliana to be able to sell tamales/champurrado without any difficulty....and also for her new baby! She is about 5 weeks pregnant. Please pray that they will also form new friendships with other people that attend the Spanish bible study and service at Church of the Redeemer...and that this new Christian community will be good for them.

We also are starting to have bible studies on Wednesday evenings with some of the women in our neighborhood. Please pray for the continuation of this, and that the women would be eager to come and study God's word to learn and grow more, and that this can be a place where they are free to open and share. Pray that Wednesday night will be an evening that these women look forward to, to receive God's truth and fellowship with one another. And pray for wisdom for my roomates and myself in planning, leading the bible study, and just being present during the study. Some of the youth guys have been going over to the other SP intern guys' house on Wednesday evening to spend time together in fellowship. Please pray that more young guys will attend and that they can begin to have a time of studying God's word as well. A couple of the SP intern guys also got the chance to have a bible study in Spanish with their Guatamelan neighbors, so please pray for more interactions with that as well. And please pray for the North of Jefferson team that is trying to coordinate with some other members from church to begin a bible study with neighbors.

As we are coming to the end of our 1st year of Servant Partners (I can't believe it!!!), we are attending a retreat this weekend. We will be leaving on Thursday afternoon and returning Sunday evening. It will be a good time to reflect on how we are doing emotionally, physically, and spiritually...it will be good to spend time with one another, and a good refreshing time to take some time of relaxing. Pleae pray that this will be a good time for all of my team.

Summer plans... you ask....I will continue to work at the charter school doing summer camp with the students. I plan to take a roadtrip in mid-June with my roomate, Regina, up to the UC Davis area to hang out and watch her brother's graduation. I also plan to visit my brother, Joel, in late August in Seattle. As far as Servant Partners, we have less meeting times, but it is still time for our ministry projects, so are to continue being present in the neighbordhood and continuing with our bible studies.

A picture of my neighbors and roomates at a birthday party for Liz and Regina at our apartment, back in April. From Left to Right: Javier, Liz, Regina, Eliliana, Javier, me, Sierra, and David (another SP intern)

Lyrics from "The Road Is Easy" by G-Vo

I first heard G-Vo's music from my roomate, Liz (since they both went to UCLA), and later had the pleasure to see him in concert. This guy's lyrics are what moves me most.

One of my current favorite songs from him is called "The Road Is Easy"...here's some of the lyrics that I feel are most harsh...but truthful at times. And don't be misunderstood...G-Vo is Christian...but these are some things about the Christian faith that are not so highly looked upon. G-Vo challenges his audiences to really live a holistic life, a life dedicated to serving God, and a life that is more Christ-like than world-like!!!

The significance of being significant / is being of significance in your brother's predicament / Pluralistic, double minded, relativistic/ Bands of misfits, hermits, the world's biggest cynic / You Christians are actually nothing like your Christ / Cuz you preach about faith but live by western sight / It's the third world perspective, Irrespective of your feelings / Why do pastors get paid 3 million for their healings / Corporate America, yo we worship the flag / Plus a woman's worth is based on the worth of her bag / Me, my father, mother, brother, all cramped in one bed / But when you're poor you can easily put God ahead / The road was easy up until I saw a man on the ground / I tried my best to walk by him, walk directly around / I looked back and saw the man being helped by Samaritan / And realized my faith was krap, filthy religion

Enjoy online: http://www.myspace.com/gvomusic

The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases

I couldn't understand what my roomate was telling me when I heard the words, "Lisa is in the hospital...she can't move her body and she's in the Emergency Room."

The thoughts that flooded my mind were: "What?! Lisa was just fine last night when we were at bible study...very energetic as her usual self, just a little bit of pain in her neck, but nothing huge....how could she now be....paralyzed?"

My friend and Servant Partners teammate - Lisa - entered the Emergency Room @4 am on the morning of Friday, March 13th. It was a month ago today, and there have definitely been ups and downs....but God has continued to be faithful to Lisa, to her husband - Eric (and other fellow friend/Servant Partners teammate), to her family, and to her Christian community - Servant Partners, Church of the Redeemer, and many friends. At one point, Lisa was not able to feel anything in her right arm, she was not able to eat food, and she was not able to talk. I was not present during those times with her at the hospital, but I can imagine that it was difficult for her and the people around her...especially because Lisa is quite a talkative and in-motion type of person. Amazingly and through God's presence and healing, Lisa is currently at a rehabilitation center in Pomona, in which she is doing therapy everyday. Lisa is now able to talk, she is able to eat food, she has been regaining more feeling throughout her body, and she is able to flex her left bicep and move her left arm! Praise God!!! Throughout this whole time...something that has become a shelter of peace has been to sing worship songs.....Lisa has actually also done better as there have been times of people singing worship songs while in her room....and it has been good/helpful for me to sing to come to God wit my worries and concerns, to lay them at His feet, and to find shelter in worship! Amen. I have also found this to be good for my soul in other areas of my life...to sing worship in times of praying, in times of seeking what God is doing at work in my life, and in times of worry/concern....singing worship songs have blessed me!

--
So on an unrelated note....with things going on in the neighborhood, a couple of weeks ago, my roomate - Regina - and I got to go to Liliana's house to help make tamales! It was quite the experience and I got to practice all the Spanish I had in me (including the Spanish that I didn't know I had...ha ha). Regina and I successfully made many tamales after watching and learning from Liliana. She takes about 25 minutes to make 50 tamales....I think we took about an hour...but it's all good. Her husband - Javier - , other apartmates, and friends were there while we were there, so we got to talk with them as well (some in Spanish and some in English....and overall, a lot of Spanglish!) Hopefully some time soon, we will be able to invite her over to our apartment to eat a meal.


Thanks for your continued prayer...here are some new prayer requests:
-Regina, Liz, and Edith are celebrating their birthdays this upcoming Saturday with a birthday party at our apartment and we are iniviting many neighbors in the community and are wanting to kick off a time to start a bible study for people in the neighborhood...so please pray that the planning of the party and the party goes well, as well as follow up with neighbors to be engaged more with the bible and prayer!
-More opportunities to meet and talk with Liliana and her husband and housemates, and for them to come to a Spanish service at Church of the Redeemer
-For the young adult fellowship in connection with some of the 2nd year Servant Partners interns....that they would be wanting to seek Jesus into their daily lives and for their studies (as some are in high school and college) and for them to want to be connected with the fellowship community through each other and the leaders
-LISA: For her to be encouraged during this time as it is difficult for her since she's typically such a mobile person and now she is relying on other people to do things for her, and also for continual recovery and healing through her therapy
-For work, during these last 2 months of the school year that God would continue to bring me energy, patience, compassion, and love for the students....and new mercies every morning! Also, guidance from God about a decision for what job position I will do for the following school year.