Bringing the students and the poor together...

The mission statement of Students International: Bringing students and the poor together cross-culturally to encounter God, share the Good News, disciple and serve others in occupational ministries.

This mission trip to Guatemala is starting out well.

Our students are spending their time shadowing occupational missionaries who live their whole lives ministering to people in various kinds of poverty - material poverty, emotional poverty, or spiritual poverty, not yet knowing the peace, grace, and salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These missionaries live their lives to share about Jesus Christ with the people in these materially poor communities through sites like the creative arts site, pictured below.

Communities can be transformed through the love of Christ. Because Christ first loved us, we love others, and alongside the full-time missionaries who are involved in community development in Magdalena, Guatemala, our students can learn how Christ's love transforms people in radical ways.

We love partnering with long-term relationships, so as to work beyond some of the potential short-comings of short-term trips.

Side point: This Friday night (1130pm) to Saturday morning (1100am) we will be hiking Acatenango, a local volcano. It would be neat if God shows us his glory by having Fuego erupt, which it does very often, while we are up on Acatenango, within a mile of the eruptions. It creates a beautiful fireworks display!

Our LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page has some more photos, if you are interested.

Blessings.

-Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

He guides us...

He guides us along the right paths for his name's sake. (Psalm 23:3)

The Lord has guided us here to Magdalena, a beautiful small mountain village only 30 minutes from Antigua in Guatemala. After a lightly complicated day of travel, all four flights along with all 33 students and leaders have arrived safely in their homestays. This morning, when we met in the park in the center of town to walk to the SI base, the community center, the students were glowing with the praises of their kind, hospitable families and the good food they had eaten for dinner and breakfast.

Students International really knows how to do it! They have such a great system here that we come under for these two weeks. We will be immersed in Guatemalan culture, practicing Spanish, dealing with cross-cultural insecurities and uncertainties, and trusting the Holy Spirit's peace through it all.

Here is the view from the top of one of the homestays.

The students are working in their sites, fresh with excitement and a bit of fear. God will grow us in ways that we do not yet know, which is very exciting!

Keep us in your prayers.

Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Extol him, all you peoples.
For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord.
(Psalm 117)

-Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

The winds of life...

The winds of life blow where they will. Who knows where they come from or where they go to? (Answer: we do! We know! God is in control of all those winds!)

The Holy Spirit is providentially arranging that we are blown to Guatemala in four waves, with four separate vans leaving COTW between 9:30pm tonight (Sunday, November 3) and 5:30am tomorrow morning (Monday, Nov 4). We will arrive in Guatemala City between noon and 10:35pm on Monday, November 4.

Students International has all our travel details and will pick us up at the airport. They do this all the time and are uber-experienced. I will post some blog update Tuesday, signifying that we have landed and are all in the country.

We are being carried by the winds of the Holy Spirit! We have wise concern from a human standpoint for all contingencies. We are prepared!

God bless you all!

-Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

The waters of life...

The waters of life are difficult to navigate. We choose our path to swim and wait and see what waves come our way. In the physical reality of Speculator, NY, intense rain and wind have caused flooding, downed trees, power outages, and many closed roads in our county (Hamilton county) and a couple others. See the link below for more information. There is an official state of emergency, called by the governor of New York.

State of Emergency - North Country Public Radio

In response to this state of emergency, we are not going to Guatemala today (Friday). I will acknowledge that there have been stories of people being able to leave Speculator on this or that road, but three things in response: 1) those people have reported crossing deep waters that were "iffy" and we will not take that risk, 2) road conditions change by the hour, and 3) there is the official state of emergency and government call to be off the roads.

Thus, we are staying in Speculator today.

I am talking with the travel coordinator with Students International to see about a rescheduling of our flight, perhaps delayed by two days. I will let you know when we get more concrete information on our new departure date and time.

We had a class on salvation this afternoon and the process of justification, sanctification, and glorification (we went over ten steps, but those three serve my purposes now). This is part of the process of sanctification, trusting God, pursuing his will, growing in wisdom, and seeking his peace despite unforeseen circumstances.

Please keep supporting Kate in prayer, as she is in the hospital with an infected heart valve and sepsis, and please continue to pray for LIFT 42 as we keep navigating the waters of life, no matter what waves come our way.

May God bless you.

-Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

Time of Reflection

Greetings friends and family! LIFT has had quite an unforgettable past week. It has been one for the books to say the least. Before I reflect a bit more on our trip to Oyacachi and update everyone on our hike to Sincholagua, I want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for praying for us. God’s hand has been all over everything we have been doing. We have seen him bring to fruition what we have been preparing for weeks prior to coming here to Ecuador. Please continue praying that we finish strong and for safety as we fly back home tomorrow.

I want to share a little bit about a special little girl named Rosy. Rosy might just be the coolest, sweetest, most down to earth nine-year-old I have ever met. She has made many friends over the years, as she received multiple gifts from past LIFTers. Tim told me that she had captured the hearts of many LIFTers that have come to Oyacachi, and it was clear to see why. She was among the many kids we were playing with on Wednesday night, and almost immediately I started talking to her. I told her in my broken Spanish that, “mi Espanol es no Bueno!” and she began to laugh. I asked her to be my Spanish teacher and so she started helping me, and I began teaching her English. That was the start of a special friendship that I will cherish for a lifetime. You see, when we accept a gift from someone, and we also have something to offer, that is where relationship begins.

She began clinging on to me, along with James and Alyssa. The love she has for people was evident and I loved getting to know her. She introduced James and I to her little sister and what she said astounded me. She said in Spanish, “This is Noah, the one who built the ark, and this is James, the disciple of Jesus.” Wow! I had to have a heart check. This little girl was pointing everything back to God and it was humbling. She then went back to her home to give us roses that she picked from her garden and a small little wooden bowl that she decorated and simply wrote “Dios” which means “God.” The next day she was teaching me songs and was telling me about her family and our friendship grew even more. Then came Friday – the day we had to say goodbye. I almost thought I wasn’t going to see her again before we left, but she came through right at the end. She had another gift that she gave us as we hugged goodbye. I told her I was going to miss her, and she responded with “Yo también” at which point I lost it. She just laughed and said, “Boys don’t cry.”

This is just one story of our many interactions with the kids in Oyacachi. They understand love and they love well. They get it. No wonder why Jesus says in Matthew 18:3, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Similarly, in Luke 18:17 he says, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” We really saw these two passages come to life while being there. God reminded me of his love, generosity, joy, and care through those kids. All of them are special to him and he knows them each by name. I hope to go back some day when my Spanish is better; Oyacachi will always have a piece of my heart.

We got back to El Refugio Friday afternoon and stayed at Rick Borman’s brother’s house Friday night as mentioned in previous blogs. We got ready for Sincholagua and, after a brief tour of the historic downtown area of Quito, hiked into base camp Saturday afternoon. We had an absolutely beautiful campsite surrounded by a river, wild horses, ginormous mountains, and a sky full of stars. We set up our tents, ate dinner, and went to bed early to get ready for summit day on Sunday. God gave us beautiful weather the whole time we were there. We split into five groups with some of the El Refugio staff joining each of them. Group one left at about 4 a.m. with group five leaving around 6:15. Each one had their own spiritual emphasis led by the LOD (LIFT student Leader of the Day). It was such an amazing day. The views were absolutely stunning, the hike was challenging, and almost everyone summited.  Tim said that was the highest percentage of LIFTers to have finished the whole thing. It was a full 13-hour day for my group, literally from before the sun came up until after the sun set. 

As my group was getting close to the bottom a song came to mind.  The sun was setting and Cotopaxi (Ecuador’s second highest mountain @ 19,600’) was directly in front of us fully unveiled from the clouds and radiant with the day's final golden light illuminating the glaciated peak.  It’s an older worship song and the chorus says, “From the rising of the sun ‘til the sun goes down let the name of the Lord be praised. From the sky to the depths, from the east to the west, we give you praise.” We were surrounded by God’s beautiful creation, we were up in the clouds heading down, and we could see endlessly in every direction. I was totally in awe of God. Three weeks ago, I sprained my ankle and could hardly walk on it. To go from that to summiting a 16,000-foot peak in that little amount of time is a miracle. All glory to him! He is SO good!

We hiked out from base camp yesterday morning and got back to El Refugio around 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a very restful day. The staff here had a celebration banquet for us, and our dance and drama teams each performed. To end the night, we had a special performance from the man, the myth, the legend – Tyler Nelson, performing his world-famous rap “La Historia de la Biblia en Dos Minutos.” Today we will have our final work project day, then time to pack as we leave early tomorrow morning. Thank you again so much for all of your prayers. They are not in vain. Please know that God is doing an amazing thing here, and you are all a part of it!

God Bless,

Noah Henkel

Grace

Hello everyone!

We LIFTers are currently relaxing at Ron Borman’s house, where we are resting before our hike up Sincholagua.  For the past few days, we have stayed in Oyacachi.  From the moment we hopped off the bus, I was humbled by the generosity, kindness, and authenticity of the Oyacachi kids.  We started our time in the village on Wednesday by playing with the kids at the Ecua-volleyball courts: kicking around soccer balls, swinging the kids around in circles, and laughing and running around.  Many of the kids picked one of us LIFTers to be their friends and playmates for the next couple days.  For me, it was Jennifer, a soft-spoken young girl with piercing eyes, and Hector, a rambunctious boy who was constantly spouting both Spanish and his English vocabulary.  Despite my limited Spanish ability, I deeply enjoyed spending time and getting to know these two kids. 

Throughout our time at Oyacachi, my fellow LIFTers used their God-given talents and abilities to love on the kids through the morning school programs, where we danced, acted, taught, shared on the Word, and played.  But what stood out to me most was the individual interactions that LIFTers shared with the kids during the down time in the afternoons.  For instance, I watched as one of our LIFTers, Alyssa Zook, befriended many of the girls and poured herself out to them.  There were times when I felt drained after spending hours with the kids, but she continued to smile and laugh with the girls, walk with them around town, listen to their rambling, and love them as the big sister and friend they needed.  Many of the kids also gravitated to another of the LIFTers, Joseph Wang, who awed them with his fluency in Chinese.  I remember on Wednesday seeing him surrounded by wide-eyed kids who shouted and cheered for him to write his name in Chinese or to teach them some Chinese characters.  Through these interactions, I witnessed Christ’s love working through us in powerful ways. 

As much as I saw God’s love poured out through us, I came away amazed by the love of Jesus that radiated from the kids.  On Friday, the dreaded time came—we had to leave the people and the village we had grown to love.  The kids swarmed around us, hugging us tightly and pleading with us not to leave.  Jennifer came up to me, hugged me, and (as I later found out) placed a gift in my jacket hood.  It was a tiny, hand-carved bear.  Many of the other LIFTers also received small tokens and gifts from the kids, as they continued pulling keychains, wood carvings, flowers, and candy from their pockets.  This reminded me of the story in the Bible where the widow places a small offering in the temple chest; it was insignificant by the world’s standards, but Jesus knew she had given all she had. 

The most difficult aspect for me was leaving Jennifer and Hector, knowing that I might not ever see them again.  But I also know that future generations of LIFTers will continue to befriend them.  After all, this is God’s work, not ours, and I am confident He will continue the good work He has begun in these children.  I also know that the Lord has done a work in my heart through the Oyacachi children.  I came expecting to give, to serve, to sacrifice.  But I left knowing that I had received far more than I could ever give, blessed by the love of Christ radiating through the children.  There is only one word to describe what I witnessed permeating our time at Oyacachi, echoing in the thin mountain air, and revealed in the kindness of the kids: GRACE.

Chris Kuo

Ministry & Mountains

LIFT just finished its time in Oyacachi, a very remote indigenous Quichua village high in the Andes Mountains.  No outsiders (foreigners) except for LIFTers coming for 10 years in a row and one European Peace Corps worker who worked there few years ago have ever visited this “hidden village”.  Ecuadorian tourists visit the quaint village, known for its quality handcrafted woodwork and wonderful hot springs.  Out of the 800 residents, there are over 150 kids attending school in the center of town.  LIFTers spent two days visiting the school to teach English lessons and share the great news of Jesus Christ.  Once school was dismissed, they played with the kids throughout the afternoons and evenings.  The LIFT students also presented dramas and dances, shared testimonies, and preached the gospel message at the church on Thursday evening.  God was moving in everything that was happening.  Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of all those we interacted with and heard about the love of God.  The evangelical church invites LIFT to its town each year and considers LIFT as part of its family and an expected regular extension of ministry every March.

As we departed Friday afternoon, hearts were very full but heavy in saying goodbye to all the children who had so quickly bonded and adopted LIFTers as their own big brother or sister.  As the bus climbed its way out of town, heading back over the mountain pass the children ran behind trying to get last glimpses and waves before they would not see LIFT again for another year.

We arrived at Rick Borman’s brother’s house last evening and finally all got to sleep well after 10:30 after a very full day.  Over 30 of us are all “indoor camping” throughout the large house. As I write this, students are slowly waking from a much-needed sleep and will be having a group devotional time, followed by a baked-oatmeal breakfast then departing for a short tour through the “old town” section of Quito then on to the last leg of this trip – mountaineering a 16,000’ peak called Sincholagua.  Packs are full of winter gear, ropes, tents and food.  The students are ready after physically training hard all semester and acclimatizing to high altitude.  Pray for us and our final days in this beautiful country.

We will try to get one or two more updates posted after returning from the mountain.

Check out our pictures posted in the LIFT 41 album on the LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page.

Tim