"...but the greatest of these is LOVE." 1 Corinthians 13:13

I worked on a team from Canada last week. We did a lot of street ministry in some new areas of the country. We participated in a Miracle Crusade where God performed many miracles. Many lives of the team members were forever changed. My absolute favorite part of the week was when we went to visit SHALOM, a children's home. (www.harvesting.org)

The team brought home-made cards from Canada and tons of toys and goodies. I think the thing the kids liked the most was a hug and a smile........and a few pushes on the swing! 

We did a full King's Castle Program full of games, skits,dances, songs, and the word, and an awesome time of prayer.

The lady that started it all. Rosa Anna Benner.

You know.....sometimes throughout life I have wondered....what happens to kids when they turn 18? Are they equipped to live life? Do they really make it? How are they socially? Do these "homes" really do good in terms of life skills? Well I can answer these questions about SHALOM. How? Well.....we have 4 students from SHALOM in Master's Commission. They are incredible students. They are super intelligent, outgoing, speak English, love the Lord, and are ready to serve Him. It has got to be encouraging to the directors. It is super encouraging to me. 

Who are you loving on today?

WORD OF THE DAY: HOGAR

LITERAL MEANING: HOME

HOW I SEE IT: where my suitcase is.....

"A..B...C....easy as 1....2...3...."

........not so much!

Fridays are very fun/special days for me.

Why?
Portrerillos.

What is that?
A little town at the top of a mountain close to my home.

What do I do there?
Something that I never thought that I would be doing....teaching English in a legit school. WHAT?
Poor kids!
No I LOVE it! Like, the kids have gripped my heart. We have already created a bond. We started at the end of January. I started in October to get a feel of how it would be, but the schools are out for summer break Nov-Jan.

Im no professional but I am really trying to help these kids. They are incredible. We do a written review of the week before, then we learn 15 vocab words a week, grammar lesson, conversation roles, and we play a game at the end. I try to bring candy or cookies, or some kind of treat for the games. They love it. 

I love them. It works. 

If you guys have any tips or suggestions I am so open. The schedule I have now works, the tough part is that I only come once a week for an hour and a half. But it is something that I like to do to help out the community.

WORD OF THE DAY: MAESTRA

LITERAL MEANING: TEACHER

HOW I SEE IT: my unknown career!

This Is My Story: Keilly Moran

Testimony of Keilly Moran (Kay-lee)

   Hello, I am Keilly Moran, and I am from Guatemala. I am in my 3rd year of Master's Commission. I was born in a Christian home and when I was 8 years old I received my calling to be a missionary. When I was 18 years old I miraculously found out about King's Castle. I say it was a miracle because en my country, Guatemala, there is no King's Castle ministry. 

  Through a few Salvadoran pastors I found out about this ministry. I worked hard to raise money so I could come to Master's Commission in January of 2009. It has been a big challenge and experience, mainly because I am a foreigner. 

   I have now been here for a little over 2 years and I can honestly say that Master's Commission has been the best school where God has allowed me to prepare for what is next. To see the kids crying and being baptized in the Holy Spirit is what fill my heart. I would rather have this than a million dollars, or even all the money in the world.

   Missions is the heart of God and I know that we have all been formed to be part of the Great Commission. This year, with God's help, in April, I will leave to go to the Dominican Republic and Haiti for 9 months. So now, I am itinerating and raising funds to go. I just want to bring hope and the message of salvation to the people there. I will work especially with kids and in Haiti I will help and support the Children's Feeding Program in the Orphanage. 

    It has been a great blessing to have Katie as a leader here working with the foreigners, because since she came, I have been able to experience her support and more than that she understands what it is to be far from your home and family to complete the dream of God.

  Help me to pray for the Dominican Republic and Haiti and for my trip. God is good and faithful.

"He told them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.' Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."

Luke 10:2

This is her story. Please say a prayer for this awesome student. I am going to try and post testimonies of the students that I work with so that you can get to know a little about them and shoot up a prayer. We make it through the day because of prayers and your prayers are important. Thank you.

WORD OF THE DAY: sonrisa 

LITERAL MEANING: smile

HOW I SEE IT: Keilly (we call her Keilly Sonrisa because she ALWAYS has a smile on her face.  

                                       When she prays, cries, reads, sleeps, all smiles!)

Making Pupusas!

I love cultural experiences.
They are so important. Well, the other day I had one and it was a load of fun. The national food of Salvadorans is the pupusa, pronounced poo-poo-suh. (don't get grossed out!)
So what is a pupusa?
Well...according to Wikipedia a pupusa is a thick, hand-made tortilla made from corn. It is filled with cheese and refried beans. They are served with lightly fermented cabbage slaw (curtido) and a tomatoe based sauce.
One rule about pupusas.....you can never eat them with a fork. What an insult.
Want to hear a funny story?
No?
Want to read a funny story?
OK!!!
Well my 2nd day here in El Salvador we went to a Pupuseria(place to eat pupusas!) I ordered 3 and waited patienlty for them to be cooked. When they came out I then asked the lady for a fork. She looked at me like I was an idiot. I returned the look. I mean.....how am I supposed to eat this. Then the other missionaries I was with began to laugh at me and say.....We dont use forks. (culture fail number 1)

I was in charge of making the tomato sauce. You boil tomatoes and throw in some onion, garlic, and oregano. Blend it and serve.

So you have your ingredients which are Maza(corn/flour meal), refried beans, and cheese.

You slab a little oil on your hands and grab a chunk of Maza and begin to flatten it out into a circle.

There is a skill.

A skill that I do not possess.

Then you grap a scoop of beans and cheese...no you don't eat them...

...you stuff it in the round tortilla and cover it.

 Pinch off the excess Masa....

 flatten it back out like so..so that it is stuffed.

Throw it on the griddle to cook!

Serve it up with the salsa and curtido and a coke!

Us North Americans like to add a little Tony C.'s ....(to everything)

Enjoy a Pupusa night with friends!

Naun, Kristal, and Marcela!

We had a great night a fun and fellowship with friends. I will make you pupusas when I come back to Memphis!

WORD OF THE DAY: comida buena

LITERAL TRANSLATION: good food

HOW I SEE IT: Pupusas! 

Gracias Pastor Don y la Comision del Maestro de Memphis!

That means thanks Pastor Don and Memphis Masters Commission.

Why?

Well....it all started around 8 months ago. I live at the King's Castle Campground along with the UCCM.

What is that?

Ultima Cosecha Comision del Maestro

What is that?

Last Harvest Master's Commission

Most days here people wear jeans and a t-shirt. Well.....since I was in Master's Commission for 4 years I have accumulated several MMC shirts. I wear them often. Don't judge me. I think they are cool.....and so does almost every single UCCM student here. No lie, every single time I wear one at least 2 or 3 people say, "Awww....those shirts are so cool. I wish I had one."

Well guess what?

Santa came to town.

I told Pastor Don (director of Memphis Master's Commission) about how much my students loved the shirts and he decided to bless a few of them with a free shirt. (for this I was thankful...that they were free and all!) So I packed my suitcases with the necessary items that I needed then it was in with the shirts. Unfortunately I couldn't take a lot of them but I brought around 12. Now it was to prayerfully consider who to give them to. After much thinking and conversing with the Lord, we decided to bless the 3rd year girls.

Let's talk about the 3rd years.

After 2 grueling years of Master's if one decides to complete their 3rd year this means they are taking the missions challenge. They will itinerate throughout the country of El Salvador to raise funds to go to a country that was chosen for them. There they will serve around 6 to 8 months. They will the return and graduate.

I love the 3rd years and felt like they deserved a treat....and plus they talked the most about the shirts.

So when I opened my suitcase with them all standing there they screamed like little 5 year olds opening Barbies and G-I-Joes. I loved seeing the smiles. They were so surprised. They told me to put on a matching one and they wanted to take a picture together to tell Pastor Don thanks and they love the shirts.

I have only been back less than 2 weeks and most of them have worn their shirts 2 or 3 times. I love seeing them strutting around the camp with my Master's shirts on. It makes me proud. So Pastor Don, thank you for blessing us. We love and appreciate you and Memphis Master's Commission.

So who are they?

starting from left to right

Gladys, Beda, Wendy, Me, Vanessa, Zayra, Evelyn, and Keily

not pictured: Veronica(she was in a deep conversation!) 

WORD OF THE DAY: CAMISETA

LITERAL MEANING: T-SHIRT

HOW I SEE IT: MASTER'S COMMISSION SWAG

Surf's Up!

Today after kids church Kristal(another single missionary here) and I took 3 of the Guardian Girls to the beach! We had a blast. It is so refreshing building relationships with the people here. As I was driving in to town this morning I just thought about how blessed I am to get to be here in El Salvador. I really love the people here. Building relationships is so important. Anyways, so here is some pics of our day with the girls!

Loaded up and ready to roll!

Naty, Emily(MK), Wendy

The girls with their surf master!

We put my boogie boards to good use!

We really enjoyed our day...and now as I lay here in bed typing I can hear the sounds of three little voices downstairs laughing and chatting away! It is so sweet! Friendship is such a God given gift. I am so thankful for my friends. I challenge you to work on your friendships/relationships. Build some new ones. 

WORD OF THE DAY: AMIGOS

LITERAL MEANING: FRIENDS

HOW I SEE IT: LIFESAVERS...(not like the candy...)

Guardian Guitar Lessons

On Saturdays I go to our church(the tent) to give guitar lessons. The Children's Pastor saw me playing the guitar one day and asked if I would start teaching lessons to the kids.....one week later. I really didn't want to because I am not the good at the guitar and I play upside down/backwards, so I wasn't sure how it would work. But, God gave me that guitar and I promised to use it for him. So....I said yes. While it is difficult at times due to spanish and my awkward playing skills we have a good time. I have 2 students right now, which makes it easier.

This is Anthony. He is so smart and speaks a little english.

This is Julio, one the coolest kids I know. Such a natural leader.

Living the dream!

WORD OF THE DAY: Paciencia

LITERAL MEANING: Patience

HOW I SEE IT: the tiny little thing that my kids lack when it comes to learning the guitar.

In December......

This month is going to FLY.
We have quite a bit going on this month at King's Castle.
Right now I'm sitting here with Jolie(MA from Louisiana) and we are making somewhere close to 200 brownies.
Why?
Well, tomorrow we have our King's Castle National Vigilia.
What is that?
King's Castle Ministry is represented all over the country. We have many annexes and churches out in the mountains that have trained to become Castle Teams. They use our ministry and evangelism tools in their area. Well twice a year we have a time where we all get together as one whole ministry on the same campground and we worship, and Pastor Don Triplett preaches and we have a time of fine arts. It is really neat. You get to see people you haven't seen in months due to the location of their church or see people you ministered with years back. It is like a big family reunion, and when I say big, I mean HUGE! We are expecting somewhere between 3 to 4 thousand people. Yes, I said thousand. It is incredible. Before the shindig starts people are everywhere selling stuff from missions.  You can walk away with t-shirts, homemade jewelry, all kinds of stuff, o, and Jolie's brownies! The vigilia (vigil) usually lasts from 6pm-3am. (yawn) Let the party begin!

After we recover from the Vigilia, we will roll right into a week of kids camp. Here in El Salvador the kids are on summer vacation during November and December. So are kids church will be holding camp out at the lake. One of the biggest events of the year. Everyone will be involved. I can't wait!

After Camp, is our last week of Masters Commission. We will be wrapping things up and preparing for Graduation and Big Day. Big Day is a special sunday we have once a month at our central church. Each month a different ministry is in charge. In Dec. it is us, Masters Commission. It is a day that we have dramas and skits and songs and it is just BIG, with props and scenery all to help draw in people that may not normally come to a regular church service. There are always incredible testimonies after big day. The 18th is Graduation where we will say goodbye to many awesome young people who have learned and grown a lot over this past year. The 19th is Big Day. The 20th.....I fly to the good ole city of Memphis!

I will be home for 2 weeks to love on my family and friends and then hit the ground without stopping. 2011 is going to be BANGING.

Well, just wanted to give you guys a little update of whats going on. Try not to get too caught up in the hustle and flow of the holidays. Don't miss little opportunities that the Lord may put in your path to minister. Help someone out today. I dare you! Love you guys!

WORD OF THE DAY: OCUPADA

LITERAL MEANING: BUSY

HOW I SEE IT: DECEMBER 2010

My Stress Reliever

I have a new hobby.

I don't get the time to do it often, but I REALLY enjoy it.

What is it?

PAINTING!

It all started when I visited my friend Susanna's apartment. She paints all the time and her room is full of paintings. But not just any paintings. Paintings that mean something to her. Paintings that the Lord has spoken to her. It is so neat. So....one night we decided to paint together. I took time first to pray a little bit and see what the Lord would say. We lit some candles(cause that makes everything better!) and turned on some worship music. It really is a form of worship for me. Who knew? So I am going to share with you some of my paintings. Are they Picasso? NO. Is that important? NO.

This is my first painting. There is a song by Rick Pino that goes like this; "There's a mighty river flowing, there's a mighty river flowing through this place, and it's full of power, full of passion, full of glory, it's full of grace." So here we have a rushing river and in the water are the words passion, power, glory, and grace. 

This is a fun one that I did to remind me how blessed I am. It is an ongoing painting. Every time that I read a scripture that reminds me of how blessed I am I put the reference in one of the boxes. 

This isn't a painting that I did but I love it! They are Scrabble Tiles of my initials. Susanna made them for my birthday! So creative! I love playing Scrabble and Susanna and I ALWAYS play on my ipod app. Cool present.

This was also a birthday present from Susanna. That is my name in Hebrew!

John 15:1-8 says, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit b itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

Get it?

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will at the coming of the Son of man." Matthew 24:37

This signifies that when the rain starts falling it is too late to make the decision. When Jesus comes back it is too late. You must decide now, you must follow now, you must change now. Verse 38 says, "For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,up to the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of man." "People get ready, Jesus is coming, and when the rain starts falling it's too late, it's too late." -Misty Edwards "As in the Days of Noah"

So....these are a few. I will do a part 2 later when I get some more painted.  But my challenge today is to paint. Maybe it isn't your style. But it would be fun to just try. I paint on old cardboard that I find in the dumpsters. Free and fun. It makes it unique. Give it a try!

WORD OF THE DAY: PINTAR

LITERAL MEANING: TO PAINT

HOW I SEE IT: MY ESCAPE

Saving Lives......Literally.

On Thursdays I have the privilege of teach Swim Class.

Funny right?

I know......I laughed too!

But I love it! I teach it to the first year students. I do an hour with the girls and an hour with boys. Not only do we learn how to swim, but it is a time to close the books and spend some quality time with each other. We play games and do all kinds of fun exercises. They think we are just killing time, but they don't realize that they are learning teamwork, leadership abilities, and pool skills! It is so much fun. Well I started running out of ideas fast and then I heard that one of the Missionaries here in El Salvador(Stephanie Stewart) is credentialed in giving CPR lessons. (insert light bulb) I called her and we set up some times for her to bring her dummies(ya know like the dolls...not like real people) and we are learning to save lives not only spiritually here at King's Castle. The students always allow for a good time when learning mouth to mouth recusitation! 

This is Priscilla

She is from Ecuador.

This is Mariela from El Salvador

This is Karen from El Salvador.

Julia from the good ole US of A

CHALLENGE: I challenge you to learn CPR. Nothing deep today, but may come in handy throughout your journey in life. I hope to never have to use is, but, if I need to I will!

WORD OF THE DAY: RESPIRAR
LITERAL MEANING: TO BREATHE
HOW I SEE IT: BREATHE IN......BREATHE OUT

Social Network

No.
I'm not talking about the movie.
No.
I'm not talking about facebook.
Or Twitter.
Or MySpace.
Or Skype.
Or all those other things we use to communicate and make friends.
Don't get me wrong.
PLEASE don't get me wrong. I love all those things. It is a great day to be a missionary. I am so thankful to be able see how my family and friends are doing via facebook. I think it is totally cool to follow famous people, see the news headlines from Memphis, and keep up with sports via Twitter, and I totally love seeing my house, my dog and my family via Skype. Very thankful.
But, as part of my responsibility here in El Salvador, it is very important for me to network and build relationships. It is not an easy thing for me to do. Believe it or not, I am shy. At first. I don't like to be the first person to initiate conversations and if I don't really know you I will be very quiet around you. Why? Who knows? Throw in a little Spanish language barrier and a different culture it is even tougher.
    As you may already know one of my main jobs is to call National Pastors and Evangelists to set up services for the students in Master's Commission that aren't from El Salvador. We have students from Nicaragua, the USA, Ecuador, and Guatemala. It is difficult when I don't know the Pastors that I am calling and they have no idea who I am and probably can't even understand me. So I try hard to meet new people. Which is a stretch for me.
   The other day I had an opportunity to drive to Santa Ana to be a part of an Evangelist Meeting. We had dinner and devotions. It was nice to meet them and try and get to know them. We had a great time of prayer with them. They were all going to stay the night in the church we were at and I thought, "You know what.......they can come pile in my house." (the girls!) So we piled all 11 of us up and headed to my casa! (house) It was super late, and I was super tired and had a long weekend coming up, but, I knew it was important. We stayed up till around 2 talking and hanging out. We ate kiwi and bananas....(slim pickings in my house!) We got up the next morning and cooked a heaping mountain of pancakes and all headed out around 7. Totally worth it to put a face with the names. They are awesome young people doing the Lord's work.
   Don't get caught up in all the technology. Sometimes it is good to actually have some real time with people.

CHALLENGE: I challenge you this week to go meet some new people...make a new friend or two.

WORD OF  THE DAY: GRITAR
LITERAL MEANING: TO SHOUT
HOW I SEE IT: STRESS RELIEVER

Recharge.

You know sometimes when you feel:
empty
  tired
   weak
    dry
     etc.
 
   In these times there is nothing that I love more than to sit and worship and just be in His presence. The other day we (we being Master's Commission) had a time of worship. It was super chill. Just loving on the Lord.

  I encourage you to take some time out of your busy schedule, it doesn't have to be long. It doesn't have to be fancy, and it doesn't have to sound good. Light some candles grab a guitar, or a piano, or an ipod, or cassette player(ha) whatever. Just turn on some music and sing. Sing to the Lord. Worship Him. But be careful. Realize what you are saying to Him. Do you mean it? Is that really how you feel? Do you really understand when you are saying that His love is like the ocean? Do you really mean it when you say He is ALL you need? I think sometimes we lie and don't even know it.
So....take some time so that you can be:

FULL
 ALERT
  STRONG
   ON FIRE
     ETC.

WORD OF THE DAY: ADORAR
LITERAL MEANING: TO WORSHIP
HOW I SEE IT: LOSING YOURSELF IN HIS PRESENCE

Winds of Change

    The winds are blowing here.....and I mean blowing. No friends....that is not sunburn...it is windburn! I love it! Because when the winds of change happen here, it means NO MORE RAIN! We are leaving the rainy season behind and heading into a time of sunshine....wind....and cool temperatures. I miss fall and the changing of leaves and college football and all those sorts of things but I love me some sunshine. I moved "office" outside today. Been making phone calls and preparing for classes in the sunshine today. So much more refreshing then sitting in that dingy office!


    But.....that's not the only change. I'm getting ready to have a birthday. I don't know why this one feels so weird or why I really don't want to have a birthday. Maybe it's because I'm getting OLD. 24. Wow. I remember growing up thinking, "ahh...I'm going to be married to Prince Charming by 22 and have my first kid by 24....a little boy of course, to protect my little princess that will come at 26." I'm a little late! Can't say that I always enjoy the single life out here in El Salvador, but I do trust God and I am learning more and more every day just exactly what that means. Maybe it is weird because I'm not at home with the fam and friends. Hmm...o well....the day will come...the day will go.
    Well.....I never really know what to say in these things, and I will use that as my excuse as to why I never blog! So if you are interested in me writing about something or have any ideas please tell me. I would really like to blog more. So help a sister out.

WORD OF THE DAY: calabaza
LITERAL MEANING: pumpkin
HOW I SEE IT: I wanna carve one....eat one....and smash one.

Expecting...

     Tomorrow I will get on a bus and head to the airport for the trillionth time this summer. Each time I go I am either picking up a team or dropping off a team...picking up an intern or dropping off an intern. I like going to the airport. It is fun to see the team for the first time and wonder what kind of funny jokes will be made....the memories that will be made....the lives that will be touched....the bonds that will be held together for years. They always come in with a big smile and a million questions. I love it. My prayer for the teams is that they would come EXPECTING. 

      So tomorrow I will go pick up my last team for the summer. They come from Maryland. This team will be different from the others. They are an evangelism team and we will be doing huge crusades at night with our brand new massive stage. So big that it has to be pulled by a semi!Complete with the biggest, baddest, loudest sound system you have ever heard. It will be our first time taking it out and I am stoked. 

This is the DYD of South Dakota presenting us the stage. 

Thank you Speed the Light, South Dakota

So this week I am EXPECTING. EXPECTING many to come, many to hear, and many to respond. EXPECTING to lay our hands on the sick and for God to heal them. EXPECTING to put our arms around the unlovable and for God to show His love.  EXPECTING children to be baptized in the Spirit. EXPECTING to bring the hope. Man, I am pumped. It is like 2 am and I can't sleep because I'm so excited. God is going to do something big this week. So would you pray? Pray for the team. Pray for the people. Pray for the sick. Pray for the hungry. Pray for the gang members. Pray for the kids. Pray for the prostitutes. Pray for the depressed. Pray for  the abused. Pray for the abandoned. Pray for El Salvador. And pray....with an EXPECTANCY.

We will encounter all of these people this week.  

We EXPECT change.