Colombia Para Cristo!!!!

As you already know we (Master's Commission) went to Colombia for a 16 day missions trip. It was my first time to lead a brigade by myself. I learned a lot and was stretched a ton. I LOVED it. Here are some pictures of our trip:

Everyone loaded up on the bus excited to have finally arrived, after many long weeks..and months of raising money for this trip. The students go out and preach on the weekends to raise money. The average offering is around $12. Imagine how long it took to raise $1,100. God is faithful. 35 of us went.

This was my brigade at one of our programs that overlooked Bogota! 

Explaining salvation to a mom and her daughter.

We stayed in another city,  Chia, for a few days to train a church to have a Castle team. Here we are training some of our songs.

This is what it's all about. 

This lady is amazing. She preached at a "Single Girls" event that we had at one of the churches and she brought the word. WOW. I will never forget the words she spoke to me.  I am waiting for them to come to pass.

O man o man.....did this make me miss Memphis or what? The Pastor treated us to a meal of all kinds of meat. It was scrumptious. This is how they cooked it.

Leading a program at one of the schools.

Doing a human video at a church.

I learned several things on this trip....one of them........BALLOON ANIMALS!

I had the opportunity to speak at several churches. 

We were also given the privilege to lead worship.

This is Ariel, his wife Leidy, and their precious daughter Valentina. They are the National Directors of King's Castle in Colombia,

Last Harvest Master's Commission

Colombia 2011

"Going to the Chapel and We're Gunna get Married!"

No.
Not me.
Not yet.
Only God knows when that will happen.
Soon I hope.
Anyways.....I was in my very first wedding. Never expected it to be in El Salvador. My friend Crisi got married to another friend of mine named William. (aka Chele....because he is light skinned.) I was asked to be the Maid of Finances. Weddings here are slightly different. Each brides maid has an object that they present to the couple that is tying the knot......for example....a Bible.....a photo album.......a laso that represents unity.....communion.....and me.....well not me...but my coins that each represent something. I was so nervous but it all worked out well and they are happily married serving as assistant Children's Pastors in our church.

Praying over the Couple.

The Bride and I

Chele and me!

WORD OF THE DAY: boda

LITERAL MEANING: wedding

HOW I SEE IT: my next big event

Where'd that Come From?

I've always loved sports. I think my dad wanted me to be a boy so he raised me on sports......and I'm cool with that. Girls dominate. I remember like it was yesterday playing on my first "co-ed" team. Co-ed meaning my existence as a girl on the court made it "co-ed." I wore that Orange jersey proudly as I towered over those weak 5 year old boys. I was no good but my dad would teach me. I then picked up his old first base mit that he used growing up and fell in love with baseball. Grew up cheering on the Atlanta Braves. I was sure I would marry Chipper Jones. Played basketball and softball every year and even got involved throwing the shot-put and discus. Sports was my life. One sport that I never watched/played/know it existed is soccer. How boring. So not a sport I'm into. Well folks......Living in Latin America has changed me. Here it is like God...then soccer. EVERYONE knows how to play and they are all good. It is amazing. It brings families together, friends, even enemies will join around to watch the World Cup. Well......friends...I started playing soccer. We have tournaments with Master's and I am new to the blue team. We are 2-0! I scored my first goal last Sunday! Although I cannot really move my body right now I am enjoying the new sport. Here are some pics of my first game:

WORD OF THE DAY: futbol

LITERAL MEANING: soccer

How I see it: My newest addiction

Sink or Swim

In July we got a new group of Master's Commission students here in El Salvador. You can enter in the program in January or July. The students were nervous yet eager to start this adventure that we call Last Harvest Master's Commission. We take them through a vigorous process called bootcamp where they will learned to be trained physically and to die to self daily. It is not for the weak. Those who heard the call of Jesus to enter this program will finish strong on top. It is a neat process to watch. These are the students who made it through....our July 2011 promotion.

One of the challenges that these brave warriors had to overcome was the SINK OR SWIM CHALLENGE. We blind folded them and took them all around the campground talking about faith. They had to do a few faith jumps/falls that were really no big deal at all, however with a blindfold you never know. We ended the session on our 20ft (ish) dock where they had to jump off! It was awesome. Some call it cruel and unusual punishment....but I call it awesome. We did take the blindfolds off right before and I had the privilege of being the life guard below to catch them. Here are some photos of our challenge.

Leading them to the dock!

Saving lives!

CONQUERED IT

WORD OF THE DAY: CONQUISTADO

LITERAL MEANING: CONQUERED

HOW I SEE IT: Surviving Sink or Swim

"...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!