Save the Date

We invite any of you who can attend to come here the LIFT students present on their experiences with the different ministries they teamed with in the Dominican Republic over the past two weeks.  There will be photos, video and stories followed by Dominican refreshments and a time of fellowship.  The DR Forum will be at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2nd at the Buirkle Center at CAMP-of-the-WOODS, Speculator, New York.

Pulling Teeth

These last two weeks in Jarabacoa I have worked through Students International in the Dentistry site. The site consisted of me, Vanesa Nolasco, our site leader, and Zachary Shepard. Zach and I worked at the site as assistants; basically nurses of dentistry. We would set up the chairs for the patients before they entered, sanitize them afterward, bring Vanesa any instruments she needed during the procedure, and even, near the end of the trip, floss the patients’ teeth after a cleaning. It was an amazing experience. We got to work in the dentistry office as actual workers. I learned so much about dentistry. Vanesa encouraged questions. We would ask about anything from root canals to fillings and she would happily tell us.

The most amazing thing to see and learn from though was how Vanesa treated her patients. She would greet them as they came in, speaking Spanish much to rapidly for me to comprehend, ask them how they were, what their life was like. She knew every patient, and their stories. She would explain to us what their lives were like. How one man was in a motorcycle accident and now needed major reconstructive surgery but all he could afford was to have Vanesa do what she could. Another girl came from a shelter for younger girls she had come from a broken past that Vanesa didn’t even know the whole of. She treated every one and asked us to pray for each patient as their teeth were being worked on. It was an amazing reminder. That even if we couldn’t effectively communicate because of the language barrier, we could still pray for them, and God would still work in their lives.

The dentistry site was simple, yet professional. It consisted of a small room with a desk, two chairs separated by curtains, and a small rolling dresser of equipment, with a doorway in the back led to an area for cleaning our equipment and storing extra supplies. We would receive patients in an outer waiting room shared with the medical site that was located in the same building. One amazing blessing that came from our time working at the medical site was how we helped Vanesa’s normal nurse, Fanny. Fanny’s daughter got sick after our third day working at the site. Normally this would put a lot of strain on the site as Vanesa tried to work around Fanny being gone for several hours a day extra. However, because of Zachary and I, Fanny was able to leave to take her daughter to the Hospital, where she stayed for several days. Our time, through God’s grace, was able to bless Fanny in many ways, and to make Vanesa’s site more effective.

Pray for us as we finish our last day in the Dominican with sessions of debriefing and a baptismal service for seven of our students.  Tomorrow we travel home. Pray that we will not forget what we learned here and that we will not forget the people we have met. This time here has been an amazing blessing for all of us. Praise be to our God.

Blessings of Peace,

Ronald P. Duttweiler Jr.

LIFT 34


This is our last blog entry for this semester's mission trip.  Thanks for your support and thanks for reading.  We will post pictures of the baptism on our facebook page later today.


https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram/

Half Smiles, Full Hearts, and Empty Nalgenes

 

Walking into the physical therapy site the first day I had no idea what to expect. The site was one room, divided up by three sets of curtains. The supplies they had in order to provide necessary care was very minimal. It consisted of simple things like; yoga gear, free-weights, a stationary bike, foam rollers, and a set of two bars running parallel to each other.

As we began our first work day we jumped right in. Our site leader, Silvio, assigned a few patients to each of us, who we would then work with and take care of for the next 2 weeks.  I thought this meant that we would prep each patient before Silvio would see them. Soon after I thought this, I found out that I was very wrong. These patients became our responsibility and the people we would be ministering to for the next two weeks. To be honest, this made me very nervous, especially after I was able to meet with one of my patients named Santos.  Santos is a 55-year-old who is paralyzed on the right side of his face.  This really tugged at my heart strings.

Over the past two weeks I have been working with Santos in order to restore the muscles and nerves in his face.  Every single morning Santos walks into the office and smiles the biggest smile he can, which only ends up being half a smile.  He then walks to the back of the room, behind a curtain and sits down on the medical bed.  He lies down and in broken English says, “Dr. Abby, I am ready to get better.”

Our first 15 minutes consist of different facial exercises that he needs to perform in order to restore muscle-memory. After facial exercises Santos must put a hot pack on his face for 15 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of electric stimulus therapy. During this time Santos and I started to have some great conversations.  In the first few days he would teach me Spanish, and I would teach him English, but as our time went on our conversations got deeper and we were able to joke around more.

For some reason he found it very interesting and funny that I like to drink a lot of water.  Every day he would bring this up.  When I finally explained to him that I do it to have a healthier body he laughed at me, but as I continued to explain he would just tell me all about how much he hated to drink water.  I asked him what his favorite thing to drink was and without hesitation or a second thought he responded, “Beer. I drink it every day.”  For some reason this hurt my heart and I somehow mustered up the strength to challenge him on this lifestyle.  I told him how unhealthy this was, not just for his well-being, but also for his nervous system.  As soon as he heard this his face dropped and he began to talk to be about how he wanted to get better. As we talked about this our time ran out and it was time for him to go.  I felt a little disheartened, but decided to let it go.

The next morning Santos walked in looking happier than I have ever seen him. We went to the back and he said, “Dr. Abby, I have something to tell you. I tried water last night and guess what? I liked it.” I laughed a little but he kept talking, “Dr. Abby, I also thought a lot about what you said and I didn’t drink any beer. Instead, I just drank a lot of water and this morning I felt so good. I don’t think I will ever drink any more beer.”  I looked at him and smiled ear to ear and told him how happy this made me, and realized that God does really work in crazy ways.  This was the last day I spent with Santos and as we parted ways he said to me, “Dr. Abby, my friend, I will miss you.” Then he smiled his funny half smile, waved goodbye, and walked out the door.

I do not think that I could ever forget this experience and how God revealed himself through it. But as a result, and by God’s grace, I go to bed with a full smile, a full heart and an empty Nalgene.

As we leave our sites over the next couple of days please pray that God will continue to reveal Himself to the people of Jarabacoa. Please also pray for good health as we begin preparing for travel home and safety during our last few days here.

Abby Kuder

Check out the updated photos in the facebook album, "LIFT 34 in the DR".

https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram/

Classes, Mogote & Baptisms

Hi everyone,


Thanks for keeping up with our blog entries.  This is just a quick update to let you know that things are going very well with the LIFT students out at the different ministry sites.  Thanks to those of you who have been praying - we are seeing God at work.  They have been getting a lot of hands-on learning about missions and being challenged by the missionaries.  We will be having a missions class tonight to summarize important points of effectively doing cross-cultural ministry and discussing the gospel and how to communicate it creatively. 


Tomorrow evening's missions class will move from ideals, theories and principles to the reality of missions as the students will have opportunity to ask questions from a panel/forum of the missionaries serving here with all their years of experience.  These classes help tremendously with the LIFTers being able to process all they are learning.  The days of being out at the ministry sites and living in the Dominican culture are the practical, experiential "classes" of the Missions Practicum course - making academics applicable!


We have made a slight change of plans in our itinerary for this coming Sunday.  Since the whole group will be attending church together in the morning and have the afternoon available, the students will have the option to rest at the base or do a 3-hour hike on the tallest mountain peak in the valley, Mogote.  It used to be in previous years that the group was split so that half would attend a morning service and the other half an afternoon service.  The change this year allows LIFTers the option of climbing another mountain over 4,000' except in tropical conditions verses the Adirondacks, which are getting a bit colder this time of year.


Great news!  Five of the LIFTers (Kevin Hebert, Rachel Capalbo, Zach Shepard, Annie McConnell, and Zivana Mihalik) have requested (with the support of their families) to be baptized while they are down here.  We will be finishing up our time in the DR with a morning of debriefing next Monday followed by a baptismal/worship service at the base of a 70' waterfall in the rainforest-like setting.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate the amazing love of God and His hand in our lives.


Tim


Check out the LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page for photos of our time in the DR and be sure to catch up on all the blog entries if you have not had a chance to do so.


https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram/

Questions

“How do you witness to your friends back home?” I was working at the dentistry site with my leader, Vanessa, bent over a patient helping her insert a filling where a cavity had been removed from a tooth when she asked me and my partner Zach Shepard this question. I wondered “have I been witnessing to my friends back home?” I decided that overall I had, by living a life that shows the values of our Christian walk; by shining Jesus’ love on those around me and by choosing not to walk in sin. Vanessa considered my answer and agreed that it was truly a good way to witness but had another question to ask me. “What about the spoken power of the gospel then?” It was true, I was living the gospel well but I wasn’t always actually speaking his truth. With a few simple questions she had taught me about what it means to be living as witnesses of Christ.

Our site leaders have been asking all of us questions as we work with the people here. Questions about what we have learned and about our lives back in the United States. The questions we are asked show the love of those we work with as they learn more about us and as they help us grow in our Christian walk.

“Is this community poor?” Desiree Istrati and Zivana Mihalik, LIFT students working with Daisy in social work at the small rural village of El Callejon were challenged with this question while walking through the streets. The answer to the question seemed obvious. To our American standards the community was clearly poor. They didn’t have cars like we did, their houses were small and brick or random boards nailed together. It seemed that they lacked so much, but fruit trees adorned the yards of the houses. Children ran through smiling and laughing. They didn’t have the same amount of material goods that we have in the states, but they had food to eat, shelter to sleep in, and family and friends who care for them. They have everything they need to survive. As Daisy put it, what the missionaries were called to was not to give them more material goods, but to feed them the bread of life. She later said “I don’t give them advice, I give them The Word.” What they needed was the gospel, to be told that God loves them and that Jesus came to earth to die for their sins.

On this same walk the LIFTers were talking to the locals they passed by, asking them about their life, trying to learn more about the community. As they talked to different young couples an interesting question kept coming up that Zivana asked Desiree, who was translating, “Desi, are they really married?” The answer was no. They said they were married but really, they had simply left their family to live together. Many young women in the Dominican Republic decide against their parents’ wishes to get married to a young man they know. They call it escaping from the window. In the middle of the night they leave their homes, and run away, to live with their suitor. It is the tragic opening to many broken families. The girls have children at a very young age and end up trapped in these relationships. They cannot return to their homes, either because their parents have rejected them after they ran away or because they are trapped by their own shame.

Amanda Eyler and Rachael Hupal, working with social work in the community of Mata Gorda had been working with a seventeen year old girl, Lucy.  She was living with her “husband’ who she has been with for several years. She had come to a sewing day bringing along her two year old child and had worked on making a purse with Amanda. When it was time to leave she said she would be back the next day to finish her project but never showed came.  “Where is she?” Amanda and Rachael asked their site leader why. The answer is the story of so many of these people. Her boyfriend, who was referred to as her husband, was abusive. She had been beaten that night and was unable to come anymore.

This unfortunately is the story of so many women in the Dominican Republic. They live in broken and abusive relationships, with men who are unfaithful to them. Our work here is not only to help the people with the injuries and hurts that they have, but also to try to change their mindsets. We, through Students International, are trying to transform their hearts; to bring them to Christ and share his love. The only way we will help those who are hurting in Jarabacoa is to bring them the love of Christ, and to have them pass it on to those that they know.

Please pray for us in this endeavor; that we will touch the hearts and lives of the people here. We need prayer that the love of God will flow through us, into those we interact with, and through them to this island nation. Thank you so much for your continued prayers.

Blessings of Peace,

Ronald P. Duttweiler Jr.

LIFT 34

Perspective

As a part of being in the media site here at SI, we get to see through a camera lens all of the other ministry sites as well.  Our job is to capture the entire outreach with video and photographs.  What we look for are the interactions between the locals and the students; hoping to capture personal and/or spiritual moments.  So far amongst the different sites we have gotten to see a lot of the bonding within the Dominican people and the students. 

 

The children at all of the education sites are making fast relationships with their new student teachers.  The boys and girls at the sports sites wear our students out with their eagerness to play with them.  The patients at all the medical sites are so trusting with the students there who are trying to learn and help them.  All around people are connecting and learning from each other. 

 

As students here, we are seeing and learning so much.  Everyday our lives are impacted by the Dominican people and their culture.  We may have come here to serve in any way we can, but the Lord has helped and taught us in so many ways through them instead.    


To see a sampling of the images we have been capturing please check out our LIFT 34 in the DR photo album on our facebook page:


https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram/ 


Nicole Vercauteren 

Microfinance, Macro-fun!

Tomatoes!

Tomatoes everywhere.

David, Logan and I, are picking tomatoes in a greenhouse that is about half an hour away from our base in Jarabacoa. Our purpose for picking the tomatoes is to help our client, Amarilis, who owns the greenhouse for her agricultural micro-business. One of the ministries that Student International does is helping the local people climb out of the cycle of poverty by training them to develop and run their own sustainable business.

We finished after working for about two hours and were invited to Amarilis’ house. The house was very modest, small and not excessive in decorations. We were served cherry and cranberry juice with crackers. Refreshing! 

When it was time to leave we headed back to our base for lunch. After finishing our packed lunch, I asked Miriam, “What’s next?”

Siesta! Nap time!

I don’t take naps often, but when I do I never regret it. The next thing on our agenda was our weekly bank meeting. The one thing I really enjoyed about our weekly bank meetings was the brief worship session we did every time we met with our clients. I didn’t clearly understand what we sang, but I knew the presence of the Lord was with us every time. Now it’s payment time. Loans were paid, withdrawals were made, records were filed on Excel and receipts were written. Our work has finished.

Two things were on my mind when I hopped into our Jeep; I wonder if it was hard for our clients not to laugh at my Spanish singing skills, and dinner. Dominicans really know how to cook.

Ring-Ring-Ring!

The dinner bell rang, and everyone rushed to dinner. Announcements were made, prayers were said and lines were formed quickly. Dinner was full of life and stomachs were satisfied. Now it’s time to go to our chapel building for the event Student International (SI) prepared for us, a time to learn more about Dominican culture.  The focus was on learning how to do the common dance, the Merengue, then play some Dominican games.  Awkward smiles and laughter were shared as we LIFTers were allowed to dance together for the first time. Everyone learned something, either about themselves or about their dance partner. I found out it was not my forte, maybe this next game with cups on the tables would be achievable for me.

We learned the phrase, "Don Ramon salió de su casa a compas de la rutina con el tique tique ta!" and kept the rhythm with movement of cups on the table without messing up.  This was a Dominican game that I liked.  Annie McConnell is now the Don Ramon LIFT 34 champion!  Soon after the game ended I headed to bed but I just couldn’t fall asleep. All I kept hearing in my head was...

"Don Ramon salió de…"

Thank you so much for taking the time to stay updated with us through our blog. It has almost been a full week here at the Dominican Republic and everyone moment has been an absolute blessing. We would like to ask for your continual prayer for our time here in Jarabacoa. Please pray for our safety, attitudes that would stay positive and wisdom in learning this beautiful language.

In Him,

Chakris Noel Sirikul

Takeoff!

One in the morning.

In the dark outside of Delaware (our dorm) a circle of LIFTers mills about with a few other people. Last goodbyes are exchanged. Prayers are said, for Bekah and Liam as they start a new adventure, and for all of us as we load up the vans and set off on a long drive to the airport in Newark, New Jersey. Four sleepy hours later the vans unload. We stand on the sidewalk outside the airport, faces and bodies tired, yet eyes shining with excitement.

Tickets are claimed, baggage is checked, we walk through the scanner and metal detectors of security without a hitch. An hour and a half remains before our plane boards. LIFTers find the gate, C136, flight from Newark to Santiago. Groups of two, three, and four wander through the airport, buying food, looking at interesting shops and people that pass by. Twenty minutes before boarding the large circle reforms. LIFTers standing together, waiting; the gates open we board the plane, thirty three people squeezing into tight spaces, packed into the seats, ready to go.

Technical difficulties, a broken overhead compartment forces a thirty minute delay. The problem is fixed and the plane taxies onto the runway. The engines roar.

Takeoff!

The ground fades away; then turns to a blue ocean. Clouds slide by below us; small islands pass underneath. Then, there it is, the Island of Hispaniola. Beautiful, green, and lush. Lower pastures of a soft green, surrounded by darker forests. Reaching up to the sky, mountains covered in trees. Small houses dot the ground, then a village, more houses, then Santiago.

The plane touches down. The lurch of landing, the screech of tires accelerating from zero to one hundred and sixty miles an hour in a second. The plane slows to a halt, doors unlock. We get up from our seats, stretching tired legs. The doors open. The heat rushes in blasting against our bodies. The heat hits us in the face, humidity a shock to some, to others a taste of home. We unload from the plane filing into the airport. Tourist visas are bought, giving us entrance.

Bam! Bang!  ... the stamp slamming down on a passport marks our arrival.

We are truly in the Dominican Republic.

As we start serving in the community here in Jarabacoa we ask for prayer.

Please pray that all of us here will be humble, willing to serve and to learn from those we are with. Please also pray that the language will not stop us from effectively communicating and building relationships with the people who live here.

Blessings of Peace,

Ronald P. Duttweiler Jr. LIFT 34

For pictures check out the LIFT Discipleship Program facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram/

Education, Vision & Mission

Thirty students are more than halfway through the 34th semester of LIFT (Leaders In Further Training).  They have been practicing their lessons learned in the spiritual transformation class and studying theology, leadership, and missions.  They are in the experiential phase of learning about missions as they are living in the Dominican Republic (DR) for two weeks and going out in twos or threes to shadow a number of missionaries with Students International (SI)  http://stint.com/ .  There are a wide variety of vocations represented by the SI missionaries such as dentistry, health care, physical therapy, social work, education, sports ministry, microfinance.  Each small group of students is assigned to work with one ministry site for the two weeks to learn from the missionaries and get a good understanding of not only how to perform the job tasks but also in how to use it as an opportunity to build relationships and share the love of Christ with the people being served.  They have been learning about the importance of living with direction and purpose from "God's mission" but now get to experience it and learn it at a deeper level as it comes to life.


This is the fourth consecutive year that LIFT has teamed up with SI in the DR as it continues its long-term relationship with this ministry.   It is great to reconnect with our dear Dominican and American brothers and sisters here.  Yesterday the LIFTers went through training sessions to orient them to SI and the Dominican culture.  They loaded up on the trucks and shuttle vehicles this morning full or anticipation for their first full day to be out at the ministry sites.


Please pray for them as they continue to learn in classes and experiences and are mentored by the missionaries, as they look for opportunities to share God's love with the people they encounter, and gain a deeper or renewed perspective of God's kingdom work and their role as a disciple of Christ.   Pray also for the ministries of SI in the DR as well as in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Fiji.


Upcoming blog entries will be written by several of our students.  Pictures from this trip will be posted on the LIFT Discipleship Program facebook page.  Check it out! 
https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram/


Thanks to Nathan Shepard for his great photos of the DR that I just added to give you all an idea of this beautiful country and its people.


Tim Trezise
LIFT Director

Alturas - Heights

We just returned this afternoon from an incredible adventure climbing Iliniza Norte - the 8th highest peak in Ecuador.  A very significant team-bonding moment happened a day before departing for the climb with all the students making the qualifying time of 48 minutes to hike up 1,500' to the top of the mountain on the El Refugio property.  Some of the students were having serious doubts if they would be able to get under the time needed so to see them all make it with the incredible encouragement and teamwork was a time of strength for LIFT 33 - knowing it was all coming from God.  That attitude continued to the summit day when everyone was divided into 5 climbing teams, working their way up from basecamp at 4 a.m. to the refuge (climbing hut) at midpoint to the small rocky peak in the clouds about 5 - 6 hours later. 


We were blessed with gorgeous weather, starting under a clear starry sky then under the warm beam of the rising sun backlighting Cotopaxi and other close peaks nearing 20,000'.  Stunning scenery was slowing the progress of a few groups as they were "compelled" to keep taking once-in-a-lifetime pictures.  This lasted until mid-morning when the valley clouds rose to engulf the mountain. 


Climbing at high altitude is unpredictable in how it affects the physiology of each person.  Five of our women had to turn around when reaching the refuge because of feeling ill and losing coordination.  Each team reached the summit about 20 minutes apart, exchanging high-fives and hugs as they passed each other where teams typically get congested having to share fixed lines for safety when going up and down the final pitches.  There was a lot of emotion as many reached a goal they set 2 1/2 months ago, not knowing if it was really possible. 


We hiked with the Latin students who are Alturas, a the discipleship program of El Refugio, inspired by LIFT three years ago.  It was the first time for some of them to climb a mountain and be in snow.  It was a lot of fun to work together with a number of Ecuadorians, and students from Columbia, Honduras, and Costa Rica - all brothers and sisters in Christ desiring to grow in their faith.  Strength came from the teamwork of each other but even more from God. Praises were being lifted up all throughout the day to our amazing and majestic God and creator by a variety of tongues and nations represented - kind of a foretaste of things to come in the new heaven and new earth.


We finished debriefing the two-week LIFT experience in Ecuador this afternoon and what God has been teaching us.  As we wrap up our time here, the students are packing and having some personal time of reflection and worship.


With the grace of God, LIFT arrives back at Camp Thursday (3/26) morning around 9:45.  LIFT will be hosting a forum about their Ecuador experience on Wednesday, April 15th @ 7:00 p.m. in the Buirkle Center at CAMP-of-the-WOODS.  If you can find the time and make the drive, we would love to see you there to hear from the students about the heights God has brought them and what he is doing in the lives of many in Ecuador.  There will also be some tasty samples of Ecuadorian food to try.


To see the latest photos please visit the LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page:


https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram


Jim Olsen from El Refugio staff just recently added a post to the El Refugio blog about our time in Oyacachi.  Check it out:


http://www.haciendaelrefugio.com/blog/

Life in the Andes

Hello again from Ecuador.  Our days have been extremely full with activity and no time to get caught up in the office at El Refugio.   Today was full of a work project, debriefing sessions, a fitness hike, food and gear packing, and an evening class.  Tomorrow we have a morning worship session then head back to the mountains. 


We just returned from three days in Oyacachi - a Quechua village at 10,000 feet in the Andes.  The students were busy almost the entire time with doing skits, puppet Bible stories, leading worship, sharing testimonies and preaching at the church in town that has about 300 members out of the 750 people in town.  LIFTers also taught lessons in the public school two of the days.  Any free time they may have had was spent playing with the high energy kids who adopt LIFTers as good friends in just a matter of minutes.  The weeks of planning and preparing earlier in the semester paid off.  We sensed God moving in this small secluded town and left in hopes that seeds were planted, people were encouraged in their faith and that the word shared would not return void.


Only a few days remain before returning to the United States.  The two weeks of ministry have come to a close and now the students will return to part of their normal routine of growing together through another outdoor adventure - this time it is high altitude mountaineering in the world-famous Andes mountains.  Currently the students are making final preparations and packing for the next three days of camping at 13,500 feet and attempting to climb to almost 17,000 feet.  They all had to qualify for this adventure with a fitness hike on El Refugio's property that ascends to over 11,000 feet.  It was a difficult steep hike for 35-45 minutes that pushed a lot of them to their limits, however they all made the qualifying time.  We are so excited that the whole group pushed hard and all will be able to try climbing Illiniza Norte.  There had been a lot of concern because we have had a number of people struggling with G.I. illnesses and some colds - but they all seem to be on the mend and getting stronger. 


Thank you for your prayers while we were in Oyacachi - we could see God working and felt the power of prayer in the fruit we were seeing.  Please pray that the students not be adversely affected by altitude sickness.  They have acclimatized to fairly well to higher altitudes as they have done life in the Andes for the last two weeks.  We are hoping that will be a big help, but it still can be an issue, even for the strongest of them.


Tim

The Refuge: A Place for Growth Through Adventure

El Refugio is the ministry that LIFT partners with in Ecuador.  It is a part of Youth World, which is an extension of International Teams, a long-standing missions organization found in many corners of the world.  Staff from El Refugio set up all the logistics of visiting and helping out the two churches in El Chaco and Oyacachi, both about a 3-hour drive over the mountains from the base at El Refugio.  LIFT started a relationship with these churches five years ago and continues to build relationships with the leaders and people of each church. 


LIFT is one of the groups that come to El Refugio to supply a lot of manpower (and womanpower) and resources to help with big projects that would normally take a lot of time to complete, but can be effectively done in just a few days with the many hands and high energy of the young physically fit students. These work projects improve their facilities and the tools of adventure education (such as the ropes course, the climbing wall, and the adventure mud race course) to better serve the many groups that come to the base. 


People who spend time at El Refugio go through many custom-designed activities and challenges for them to learn to work together better as teams, to grow in character and their love and understanding of God.  The people who come to El Refugio range from church groups or Christian programs from North America to young Christian adults from all over South and Central America, but mostly from the Quito region of Ecuador.  More and more Ecuadorian corporate groups are also taking part in the team-building experiences at El Refugio because of its growing reputation as a leader of adventure education in Latin America.  In 2013 El Refugio hosted the first "summit" meeting of many leaders in adventure education and wilderness camps throughout Latin America to bring together this network of ministries specializing in using the outdoors as a tool to bring the gospel to people.  It was to bring unity, share ideas, increase understanding, and provide vision for these leaders from the many different countries as this type of ministry grows and progresses.


El Refugio continues to lead the way in Latin America with using adventure education as a powerful tool in Christian ministry. To learn more about the multi-faceted ministry of El Refugio check out the website:


http://www.haciendaelrefugio.com/




Also to get a sneak preview of the upcoming 5K adventure mud race, "Todo Lodo" watch this video trailer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r0KRnGrbgU

The Lord of the Rainforest

We just returned from the other side of the Andes mountain range where it rains a lot (almost every day), bringing life to the lush steep mountain slopes covered with a canopy of what seems to be an unlimited variety of trees and giant ferns (up to 50' tall) and grasses (up to 20').  El Chaco (meaning the flat plateau in the valley) is the village that we have visited on our previous 5 trips.  Iglesia de Cristo el Unica Esperanza, (Christ the Only Hope) is a "covenant" church that we support and partner with in ministry to the surrounding communities up and down the Quijos river valley.  Pastor Enrique is an amazing leader and shepard to this fast-growing family in Christ.   


The LIFT team is currently resting, before heading out tomorrow to Oyacachi, because of being tired physically, but very full in the spirit after a very full 5 days in El Chaco.  We shared in 5 different services over 5 days - ministering to and being minstered to as we shared in worship, skits, testimonies, sermons, dances and times of just hanging out or playing soccer and building relationships with our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters.  Five years ago the church conisisted of less than 30 people - most women and young children.  Now it is thriving with a vibrant youth group, strong male leadership and a strong women's ministry - filling to about 100 people on Sunday mornings. God is using Enrique and the spirit-filled members to impact this village of about 7,000 people.


LIFT was greatly blessed by the people on Monday night as the congregation surrounded the team and prayed over them.  It is amazing of how much happens in relationships in such a short span of time with people who are a from a different culture and speak a different language.  The blood of Christ is what bonds us together as family and is such an strength for all Americans - from the northern and southern hemispheres as we grow to appreciate how great our God is and how he is active and alive in the hearts of men and women not just on this side of the world, but all over this globe as his kingdom advances with force against the retreating darkness of this world.  God is light and his love shown in the lives of so many people (including us) once lost and broken is such an inspiration and draws our eyes on Him and Him alone.


Pray for LIFT as we serve at El Refugio tomorrow and on Saturday to continue a lot of manual labor in helping them prepare for their adventure mud race coming up in a few weeks - opening the door to many Ecuadorians who may not know God.  Pray also as we head to the indigenous Quechua village of Oyacachi at 10,000' in the Andes and minister with the church to the youth of that village for 2 1/2 days. 


A few of the students have been struggling with gastrointestinal problems.  It seems to last only a day or two, but is not much fun when dealing with it.  Pray for health for the team as they will be very busy and for making time for solitude with the Lord to be renewed and strengthened spiritually.  The prayers of all of you teaming with us is much needed and appreciated.  Thanks for joining us in all of this.


Be sure to check out the recent pictures on the LIFT Discipleship Program facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram




Tim


 

Photos

I have been having difficulty uploading pictures to this blog site, so photos will be uploaded to the LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page.  Be sure to check them out @ :


https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram

Team Work

LIFT 33 is into its third day in Ecuador.  I apologize for not getting an update in on our day of arrival.  We traveled a total of about 22 hours by vans, plane and bus to make the journey from CAMP-of-the-WOODS to NYC to Panama to Quito, Ecuador then to our base, El Refugio.  Thank you for praying for our journey down - the traveling was smooth, just long with a red-eye flight with all of us catching naps whenever and wherever we could. 


After an evening of orientation to El Refugio (the refuge) and Youth World - the ministry we are partnering, we all hit the bunks for a good night's sleep.  Wednesday morning, we started right out with team-building activities which culminated on the high-ropes course in the forest a few minutes up the mountain from the campus.  Before launching out into two weeks of ministering with the churches and villages we will be visiting it is important that we are united and working well together as a team.  The students were challenged to work together and trust each other in a variety of ways as they were blindfolded then progressed to crossing high above a ravine on very wobbly obstacles (with safety lines of course).


The afternoon consisted of starting the work projects we will be doing when on the base here to help the outreach potential of El Refugio.  The three big projects are to continue to improve the facilities and beauty of the prayer garden and a bouldering wall.  Both of these projects have been ongoing over the years as previous LIFT teams have contributed to the development of these through funds and hours of labor (many hands making the work light for the staff here who struggle to find time to get these done).  The bouldering wall is a continuation of the climbing wall project that LIFT help start 5 years ago. 


The current students are able to benefit from the work of previous LIFTers by getting their first exposure of the semester to outdoor rock climbing on the 40 foot wall.  It is inspiring to see all the LIFT students climbing at night under the lights and having a great time encouraging each other in overcoming their fears and trusting each other - knowing that this wall is used in similar ways with many groups of youth and churches that come to this campus to learn Christian principles and lessons through such a practical hands-on experience.


The other big project the students are working on is new to El Refugio.  They are helping develop a 5K race course through many obstacles of jumping, climbing, sliding, and crawling - mostly through thick slimy mud, but also including some fire and water obstacles and steep mountain running.  The event was inspired by the "Tough Mudder" race series that has become very popular in the states.  It will be called "Todo Lodo" (All Mud).  Love the name!  The race will be in mid-April, hoping to draw over 1,000 competitors, being an outreach to the public of Quito (a city of over 2 million) and open the door for relationship-building and exposure to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Needless to say, the LIFTers are having a lot of fun working hard and serving in helping with all that needs to happen before such a big event comes to this small little campus.  They may even need to take the opportunity to "test" out the course.


LIFT heads out to the village of El Chaco tomorrow (Friday) to team up with the local evangelical church in doing a wide variety of outreaches.  Everyone is doing very well.  No illnesses, just some sore muscles with the work and the fitness training they have been doing in preparing to climb a large mountain at the end of their time here.


Please pray for good health for the team and that the Holy Spirit continue to move in their hearts as they look for opportunities to minister and be ministered to.


Tim

Ecuador 2015 !


LIFT 33 is hours away from loading up the vans and heading south the JFK International airport then boarding the plane to Panama City then to Quito, Ecuador.  We plan on arriving to our base, El Refugio sometime around 3 -4 pm on Tuesday, March 10th.


Here is a brief run-down of our itinerary while in Ecuador:


Tuesday (3/10) - Friday (3/13) @ El Refugio - orientation, classes, work projects


Friday (3/13) - Tuesday (3/17) @ El Chaco village - partnering with local church in ministry and outreaches and work projects, a hike to a huge waterfall, ww rafting on Monday afternoon


Tuesday (3/17) - Wednesday (3/18) - back to El Refugio to repack & do a 1/2 day work project


Wednesday (3/18) - Friday (3/20) - @ Oyacachi (indigenous Quichua village high in the Andes Mountains) - youth ministry & church outreach


Friday (3/20) - Sunday (3/22) - @ El Refugio, laundry, 1/2 day work project, rest, repack


Sunday (3/22) - Tuesday (3/24) - basecamp & climb Illiniza Norte (16,800') on Monday


Tuesday (3/24) - Wednesday (3/25) - return to El Refugio, debriefing sessions, clean & pack


Wednesday (3/25) - Thursday (3/26) - travel back to COTW  (arrive around 9:30-10:00 am)


We will be sending detailed updates and hopefully some pics for you to keep up with what is happening with LIFT 33 as we travel through the amazingly beautiful mountainous country and build relationships with the wonderful people of Ecuadorian culture.  Please remember us in your prayers and that the Lord will be working in and through the LIFT program as we team up with churches and missionaries.


Tim