interested in serving Christ overseas? take a peek at what God is doing in caracas, venezuela through this promotional video i put together. our school is looking for missionaries to serve Christ abroad… ICS’s heart & ultimate goal is to reach caracas for Christ.  as missionaries/teachers here, we believe we have the opportunity to achieve this goal “through excellent international education, by employing exceptional faculty that promote critical thinking, integrate a Biblical worldview, and daily model a Spirit-filled life.”

{much of this blog post is from one of erik braun’s sermons i listened to quite a long time ago, but felt lead to share with our youth in venezuela. and felt like i would also share it here.}

in verse 25 of luke chapter 10, luke says,

“behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “teacher, what shall i do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “what is written in the law? how do you read it?” and he answered, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” and he said to him, “you have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

 but he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “and who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. so likewise a levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. but a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. and the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” he said, “The one who showed him mercy.” and Jesus said to him, “you go, and do likewise.””

first, the man stands to test the living God, and in return, has his faith tested. You should not put your God to the test, because inevitably what will happen is, you will be put on trial- your heart, your life, your actions. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, 

christians should be put to the test. 

the apostle paul says in 2 corinthians 13:5, even more-so, you should “test yourselves [to see] if you are in the faith. [and he says it again, ] examine yourselves. or do you not recognize for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless you fail the test.”

and we come up in this passage, a test of discipleship. whether you like it or not, if you cry “legalist! legalist!” or not, you come up against a test: the test of love for neighbor. 

paul says here, “examine yourself!”

the love of neighbor test is all over the new testament

the abstract ideal of love for God will be manifested in love for neighbor

and if it is not, then there is no love… 

YOU CANNOT CLAIM AN ABSTRACT TRUTH WITHOUT MANIFESTATION OF IT IN YOUR DAILY LIFE.

the apostle John gets into this in 1st John, as people were challenging christianity, he gave them tests. 

he gave them the moral test. he gave them the doctrine test. he gave them the LOVE test.

whether you stood the test or not, we’ll see… so EXAMINE YOURSELF!

examine the ideals that you treasure and the manifestation of them, the acting out upon them, the manifestation of them. 

however, do not be confused: the act of love or duty alone doesn’t merit salvation. 

no amount of righteous activity could bridge the gulf of sin between us and a righteous God,

rather in the Scriptures the reality of our love of God rooted in His love of us and His transformation of us, is manifested!

it is important that we don’t put the cart before the horse… what i mean by this is…

we don’t put righteousness first somehow meriting (or granting us) salvation but salvation that is real is manifested (or shown in our life by our actions) and you can’t get around it in the new testament.

legalism says that our actions save us. christianity says Christ saves us.

but it is also licentiousness to say that our salvation is not worked out in fear or trembling

so the christian disciple of Christ lives not as the legalist or the liberteen but the one who sees what God began in his heart by faith carried out to the day of completion, worked out in your life, and that’s what Jesus is getting to in this:

in the parable- this lesson… 

the scribe is seeking a way out a way out from the impact of the law the impact of God’s requirement. He is seeking an escape from obedience.

he attempts to do so through crafty questions, crafty testing and Jesus gets to the heart of things

whether at your heart you’re a legalist, or whether at your heart you’re a liberteen, loving your freedoms.

the point i want you to consider is that you must first be one who is saved by grace, living by grace.

but what does living by grace look like? living by grace is the display of grace in your life. some of us think that living by grace is just receiving grace and just doing what we want… that’s cheap grace… actually living by grace is receiving grace AND  displaying grace. 

GRACE RECEIVED IS GRACE DISPLAYED! 

this means, as believers, we can call out other Christians who are not displaying grace. if we all affirm the previous statement that “grace received is grace displayed”, then the most loving thing we can do is evaluate those who claim christianity by grace displayed.

christians take a defensive stance towards this and claim “judgemental!” when held up to any standard. that fact remains that those who are in Christ are held up to the light an examined (john 3). by Christ on the cross we are declared righteous, but if that declaration happened, then certain fruits WILL BE EVIDENT. we must be light to the lost around us. 

this all started with the pre-imminent question and the preeminent question: “what shall i do to inherit eternal life?” 

the man (lawyer) in this story is asking the question of psalm 1: how do i stand before God not as the wicked who deserve judgment but as the righteous who have standing before God and so inherit eternal life? either eternal judgment will be yours on the last day or eternal blessedness, eternal life through righteousness.

it’s never just some sentimental notion this idea of salvation, not a lovey-dovey notion, not based on emotion; it is a righteousness issue. 

Holy God vs. sinful man. 

but in our culture we have lost the idea of depravity and the reality of our sin.

i know for myself so often times, i don’t understand the gravity of my sin, and therefore am not in awe or grateful for the grace which I received through Christ. it isn’t fun, but we need to get our minds around the idea of our depravity, not so we can dwell in it and be defeated, but instead, so that we can then ask the question with the lawyer, “where shall i get righteousness?” “where shall it come from?” “How shall i stand?” “What should i do?” 

Jesus responds by saying, “shat does the law say? how do you read it?”

the lawyer had all the right answers, he responded by quoting the law from deut 6:4 “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, & mind … the essence of that means that with all that you are, whether you call that heart, strength soul mind whatever… loving god with all of yourself…  ”

then what Jesus calls the second greatest commandment… - lev 19:18 “loving your neighbor as yourself”

the 2 passages are united together to describe the summation of the law which is first vertical, the first 5 commands are vertical in nature, your relationship to God. 

then it’s horizontal application. commandments 6-10, your relationship to man, and the dynamic here is that the horizontal application, the love of man, the activity towards others is a display, a manifestation of the vertical reality of your relationship to God. we somehow think that by adhering to some of the commandments that the other ones fall into place. we try to fool man by the occasional righteous act, yet put God on the back burner. when commandments 6-10 are all we do, we are legalistic by nature. when that is the response to our love of God, we become worshipers.

so this question of “how do i inherit eternal life” that surpasses all other questions, is answered by your orientation toward God [your standing with God] and this is displayed in your love for others. 

in the first century, this lawyer, he was most certainly a LEGALIST, and it was a LEGALISTIC culture. the legalistic culture did this, it divorced the vertical from the horizontal. arbitrarily, it separated the abstract reality that we can rest in and we can live in. sure i love God. everyone can say that. sure, i love God. this is a good ideal. sure! sure i do… sure i want to… but we find ways, given usually our cultural bent, our personal bent, whatever it is… we find ways to separate that ideal from the practice of it. from the outward manifestation of it… 

and the legalist would do this by watching the letter of the written law in adherence to it, BUT yet finding holes and loop-holes and ways in which you can separate that law from your personal life. 

some of us are legalists. but we need to make an adjustment, because we divorce the idea of love for God and love for others in a variety of ways. maybe for you this manifests itself in a different way. you can write off drinking and partying because it is “in community”. it’s not really drunkenness if we say we aren’t drunk. or maybe we desire money, success, fame, notoriety under the notion that when we make it, we will give back to God. yet here you are, poor steward of a little thinking we can be great stewards of a lot. it doesn’t work that way, not because parties or money is bad, but because our heart isn’t rooted in that essential, vertical relationship with God.

we live in our post modern sentimentalist age. we live in a sentimentalist age. that means we equate the love of the heart with sentiment, with feeling. “i am okay with God, because i cried in church.” that is sentiment. that is emotion. IT IS NOT EQUAL; it does not equal love for God IF it is devoid of the application of love! 

there are those of us, and I AM ONE OF THEM, who will walk in and are far from God in our heart- in the application of love for neighbor daily, in righteousness in daily living, but I think somehow i can walk in church and be moved emotionally by music and raise my hands. but i am far from him in my heart & in application. 

the prophets talk about this quite often… a friend of mine wrote a challenge about this a bit ago, and i wanted to share a few of his (drew eales) thoughts…

in amos 5 starting in verse 21-24, amos has the tough job of telling the israelites who thought that they were really honoring God and pleasing Him by their observance of the feasts and sacred assemblies, that God was offended by their religious ceremonialism, that was disconnected from the heart and justice towards one another. God hated and despised their the religious observance. “religious observance without obedience is empty before God. the best sacrificial offering we could bring to God is a repentant heart and our bodies surrendered to His service for obedience.” 

in amos 5:10-12 it tells us why God is angered and why His wrath is coming to the israelites. it was because of their treatment of the poor and others. in verse 12 it says that the rich were “diverting the poor from justice…”.

in james 1:27 it explains pretty clearly what pleases God. a “pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, [and] to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” 

in samuel it says,”…to obey is better than sacrifice”. 

but I am asking can these two thing exist at the same time? a life of treating others poorly let alone the poor.. then hands raised high in the air praising God and singing our lungs out regarding our hearts of worship. but God wants a life of worship. musical worship is just a small fraction in the life of worship it seems to me. philippians 2.3 says “[let] nothing [be done] through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” i don’t even think this exists in my life the “let each esteem others better than himself”

i know for myself, i have too often separated this love for God expressed in emotion and feeling from love of others and caring for others above serving my own needs and desires. therefore, i am forsaking the law. too often i come with worship and tithe from my plate, but i do not show mercy.

this is where we live.

it is the application in your life through repentance and faith. 

ask Him, “today, where must i love generously? show me where i must repent over my sin?”

LOVE GOD. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.

you can choose the road of life, or the road of self-justification.

that’s where this man [the lawyer] missed it. he could have right then seen the condition of his own heart, and repented and asked to walk along with Jesus, but instead he was like, “oh good point, Jesus… but really, who is my neighbor?” 

i want you to think about this. when this man is asking God “who is my neighbor?” he is really asking God “what can i get away with?”

you know this question. i ask God this question all the time, “God if you could just give me a minimum standard that would be helpful- 

iwant a minimum requirement. God will not deal with the minimum requirement. HE IS THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE! 

true discipleship is never minimalistic. it is never “what can i get away with?”

physicality? what are we “allowed” to do while we’re dating? 

what does God want from you?

HE WANTS YOUR HEART!

what’s the nature of your heart? 

the nature of my heart is MINIMUM love. MINIMUM obedience. MINIMUM mercy.

but God requires MAXIMUM love. MAXIMUM obedience. MAXIMUM mercy. 

minimum obedience is HUMAN obedience; maximum obedience is by grace and the power of the Spirit. minimum love is entirely human, and so entirely impotent. minimum mercy is entirely fleshly, and so entirely Godless.

the lawyer looked for the minimum requirement. he asked the standard question, “what can i get away with?” he is like the husband who is told by his wife that she wants him to love her more, and to this asks, “how much more?” the minimum requirement misses the whole point. seeking minimum obedience to Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18 is, in fact, disobedience. 

God’s grace and His Spirit moves us through Christ away from minimalistic obedience which is self-worship, self-oriented, full of spiritual pride, or deadly self loathing. God’s grace and liberating Spirit moves us to maximum obedience, maximum love, maximum mercy that is Godward and others oriented, rooted in humility

God says, “Love me with your whole heart.” and we say, “Define heart.” He says, “Love your neighbor.” and we say, with the lawyer of Luke 10, “who is my neighbor?” the human heart replies, “all my heart, all the time?” God says yes. “every neighbor, everywhere?” God says yes. we cry out that this can’t be, we could never do it. and that is the real point. 

having the “minimalist” mentality is an immediate indicator of a lacking or non-existing relationship with God. because of the promises of Scripture, that in Christ all things are added to us, our vocabulary become devoid of the word “minimum”. for the minimalist, works become the way to salvation. for the christian, works become the worship because of salvation. and that is why we are concerned. that is why christians can call out christians. legalism isn’t a christian-killer, rather it is neon lights in a dark town that screams “i am not christian!”.

we should realize how far we are from fulfilling the full weight of the law, even when it is summarized into the two greatest commandments. we aren’t even capable of keeping those…

that is why we are in need of grace and mercy. 

you want to abide in the love of God, then abide in practice of the love of God. {1 john 3.16}

if you abide in the practice in the love of God. it will always and must be rooted in the love of God displayed to you. 

so consider… who do you need to forgive? who do you need to pursue? what neighbor needs your love- your care? would john be calling you out for not practicing the love of God? for not abiding in the love of God? for not having the love of God?

there are 6 ways the Samaritan displays sacrificial love to the man-

the good samaritan:

• comes up 
• binds wounds & medicates the man
• clothes man
• put the man on his own mule 
• takes him to an inn
• and gives him days and days to recover

the good samaritan loves this man, with sacrificial love. 

not out of His own will, but love of God bleeds out of this samaritan. 

where need it be applied in your life? 

so take it from the abstract to the real. from the parable into your own life. 

Jesus died on the cross for His neighbors. He wasn’t haughty, but cared for the lowly. He was loved one-on-one. loving your neighbors isn’t just important, it is our greatest indicator of being adopted into God’s family. Christ did not die on the cross so you can continue to sin under the blanket of protection His blood provided. not to sin more so grace can abound more. the cross results in total empowerment. the cross results in total capability. the cross results in total freedom. if you are reading this and don’t understand those in your life you don’t need to love your neighbor more, you need the cross.

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. 

but you say, “how have you loved us?

by offering polluted food upon My altar? 

but you say, ‘how have we polluted you?’”

… “you have wearied the Lord with your words.” 

but you say, “how have we wearied Him?”

… “return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. 

 but you say, ‘how shall we return?’ 

“will man rob God? yet you are robbing me.” 

but you say, ‘how have we robbed you?’ 

… “your words have been hard against Me,” says the Lord. 

 but you say, ‘how have we spoken against you?

in the book of malachi, the Lord’s first words to his people were short and sweet. He had loved them. He had both shown & told His people of His love for them repeatedly throughout israel’s history, and had sent many prophets to re-direct and guide them. yet israel was once again questioning God’s love and implying that there was no evidence of it in their present situation. their questions revealed their heart towards their God. their hearts held distrust of Him and were full of hostility toward God as well as lack of appreciation for Him. this was obviously an inappropriate mindset & response from israel.  Instead, israel should have responded to Yahweh’s love by loving Him and keeping His commandments in faith. 

“essentially the israelites disputed God’s love, His name, His will concerning marriage and divorce, His justice, His demands regarding stewardship, and His service.” 

the israelites were swindling God. their offerings were second-rate, and “anything that is second-rate that we offer to God is inappropriate in view of who He is. this includes our worship, our ministries, our studies, physical objects, anything. the Lord is worthy of our very best offerings to Him, and we should give Him nothing less. to give Him less than our best is to despise Him.” {constable} 

the israelites were also saying that it was tiresome and distasteful to worship the Lord. their worship should have been passionate, fervent, and joyful instead of boring, begrudging, and burdensome. they were grumbling at worship as something they despised and were bringing as offerings what they had stolen as well as lame and sick animals. 

how could they expect The Lord to receive such sacrifices from them? how could He?

but how often is this the condition of my heart towards my opportunity to worship God? how often do i view my ministry here in caracas, venezuela the way the israelites did in malachi 1.13, when they proclaimed “how tiresome it is!” and “what a burden!” 

recently i’ve been so convicted about my outlook towards the opportunity to get to serve the Lord and offer sacrifices to Him through ministering here in caracas, venezuela. i have robbed God of true worship, worthy sacrifices, & pleasing offerings. 

it is easy to get caught up in the hardships of living in a foreign land… in not being able to communicate fully… in not having the conveniences of America {like air conditioning, reliable water, consistent internet, & transportation}… in being separated from family… in being far away from friends… in missing out on so many experiences… in being separated from a fiancé, as we prepare for marriage and plan our wedding… the list goes on.

but when i really step back and look at what an amazing opportunity i have daily to teach little 5 & 6 year olds from all around the world the good news about Jesus Christ who loves them so much He died for them, there couldn’t be a better calling. instead of half-hazardly planning and presenting lessons, i need to offer pleasing and acceptable offerings to the Lord. instead of counting down the minutes till school is out and checking off the days, i need to be intentional with each moment with my students and those i come into contact with here in venezuela. 

i must resolve to honor God regardless of circumstances, and present pleasing and worthy sacrifices & offerings to Him.

i hope the prophet’s words will also challenge each of you servants of the Lord and leaders of His people to examine your hearts, before Him.

“let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” {colossians 3.16&17}

“for from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. for my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.” {malachi 1.11}

“o Lord my God, help me to be obedient without reserve, poor without servility, chaste without compromise, humble without pretense, joyful without depravity, serious without affectation, active without frivolity, submissive without bitterness, truthful without duplicity, fruitful in good works without presumption, quick to revive my neighbor without haughtiness, and quick to edify others by word and example without simulation.” {thomas aquinas}

sadly, a great amount of time has passed since i entered my last blog post. that’s a shame because i really enjoy blogging, but once i have neglected doing so for a significant enough amount of time, i feel “pressure” in having a worthy enough topic to blog about and then even more time passes waiting for something important enough or clever enough to post about… silly i know, but true!

anyway, blogging has been on my “to do list” for the last however many months i’ve been back in caracas, venezuela, but today happens to be the day i am able to sit down with enough time to reflect a little on what i want to share… and what do you know, recently God let me humbly be a part of a perfect, and exciting enough experience. God is so neat! 

i’ll come back to this story in a bit, but first things first, let me introduce my new little bunch of kindergarten stars:

 i have a small, little class of 8 adorable and very diverse kindergarten munchkins, who are vastly different in almost every way from my class last year.

let me introduce each of my characters, and show you a picture and their class “glamour shot” in our classroom of “kinder stars”

first, i have little alex, he is a little Chinese boy,  who’s first language is Chinese, but his social language amongst friends is Spanish. he however is one of the ring leaders of this class (not in a negative way), but he and a few other of my students love to practice their English and are always reminding the students to “speak in English!” 

next, i have annaliese. annaliese is the center of attention and the spunk of the class. she is the daughter of Chris (the director of our school) and Jessica (the second grade teacher). everyone loves annaliese, especially all the boys in the class! they constantly fight for her approval and acknowledgment (in cute ways). she’s a sweet and super fun little gal!

then there’s azael. azael is so full of energy and fun. he is very cheerful, and loves learning! he comes from an ecuadorian & peruvian family, and he is one of the more lively characters in our bunch. Both he, alex, and justin seem to have crushes on our annaliese (; 

and then there’s justin. justin is also another chinese student. he’s a quiet little guy, except amongst friends, but he is very bright and lots of fun. he also regularly arrives at school blanky in hand and there is a big commotion & struggle to take it away and to wake him up, but that just keep life exciting. (;

next comes laura. laura is very sweet, and loves attention from adults and she says the most random and entertaining things! i have some great quotes from her, and she always makes me laugh.

then there’s lukas. lukas is a new little student who came straight from costa rica two days before school started. his parents are missionaries and were there learning Spanish i believe before coming here to venezuela. they are originally from Canada, so it’s neat having an adorable, little Canadian in our bunch.

next, comes samuel. samuel is very sweet and fun, but is a bit challenging in the mix because my class was mostly here in the pre-school class last year and are very tightly knit and love speaking in English, which Samuel does not speak… YET! but he is a very bright and strong willed boy, so I’m very hopeful for his academic growth this year! he is somewhat hardheaded, but loves me for some reason, and even when he gives the other teachers trouble, he respects and listens to me (good for me, but we’re workin’ on that!) But he is sweet and each passing day he fits into our kindergarten bunch more and more.

lastly, we have our newest addition, who has quite a mouthful of a name. joerlianis joined us last week, and she is Venezuelan and speaks zero English, but she is such a sweetheart and after her observation day a few weeks back, she was begging to come back and be in my class, “no other teachers!” so that was really sweet, and it’ll be fun adding her into the mix as we all learn and grow together in kindergarten!

now, for a piece of joy… a few weeks back, i had the wonderful opportunity to pray with one of my students to ask Jesus into His heart. he was so precious. it was a not so lovely monday morning, as i believe if i remember correctly it was the day it poured all morning making walking to school not so fun. it seemed like a typical case of the morning blues, but what a humbling way to start my week! and what a way to be reminded of my calling & purpose here in caracas, venezuela. 

it was such a sweet experience. we had been learning about joyfulness, and the friday before i had shared the gospel in a visual way, and that monday i was recapping a little, and teaching about some parables. all the sudden in the middle of my lesson, little azael burst out (after being thoroughly engaged and attentive soaking it all up) and shouted out “miss alli, i want to ask Jesus to live in my heart TODAY!”

this was a really exciting moment, and i told him that i would love to pray with him to ask Jesus to live in his heart, and i told him as the kids went to recess i’d love if he’d stay in and we could do it then. he was so excited! first, i explained that i didn’t need to pray with him, and that it wasn’t me that would do any of the saving and such. i told him that i would be honored however to guide him in this prayer, and we talked about why he wanted to pray to accept Christ and why he needed it. he had such child-like faith and was so eager to begin his relationship with the Lord. so we prayed together, and one of my dear students in that moment moved from death to life! praise the Lord!! and after i prayed with him, he jumped forward and gave me a huge hug and was like “thank you miss alli!!!!” 

it was just completely precious.

this semester i have also had the privilege of beginning a mentoring relationship with a lovely high school student. her name is mari, & i just love and cherish our times together. we are both coffee lovers, so we meet weekly over a delicious cup of coffee and occasionally a yummy piece of coffeecake (okay okay, so about every time!) and study God’s word together. we are currently delving into a study about modern day idols. we’ve been examining our hearts & lives together and learning that these “false gods” & “functional gods” in our lives become so very evident when we consider what we set my heart on, what motivates us in life, and what controls us, and what i serve with our energy, resources, and time! we’ve seen that when we consider these things, suddenly we are far from graven images and are instead toe to toe with our lust for attention, our attachment to comfort, and our desire and demands for people to meet our needs. what sweet times i’ve shared with mari, and greatly look forward to more!

 {“the mentee”}

 {and me}

i have also been able to help a fellow teacher lead an elementary soccer club, which ended with a big  tournament at a local international school nearby. our teams were oh so humble, but we grew a lot and had lots of fun learning and working on the basic skills of soccer. our humble school doesn’t have the facilities or space sadly to have a soccer program or even to encourage real play, but we do what we can with what we have, and mostly the kids had fun. we focused on a few different character qualities that God commands and expects of His children, and were able to learn and put these into practice during our time together.

another ministry that we just finished this week was a “high school lunch group” which i led with a wonderful co-worker & dear friend susanne. for the last 8 weeks we were able to lead a lunch group called “what does the Bible really say about _ _ _ _ _ _ ?” for the high school students who were interested in attending during their lunch time. it was such a fun time each week to gather together and discuss topics/questions that the students chose and were curious about figuring out what God has said/shared with us regarding relevant topics and issues in their lives. we addressed all sorts of fun & interesting topics like tattoos, drinking & smoking, church & the Sabbath, harry potter, murder, who created God, as well as a few more.  we were able to share the gospel on different occasions as well as facilitate many interesting discussions. on our last meeting this week, i played this video { http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2DUKPUKgAI} in hopes of communicating and getting the students to consider that it really does matter what they believe about God, and that despite whether we think so or not, “we are all theologians” and carry some beliefs, and that what we believe really does matter.

we have also just kicked off a free english club for the year for college students at a nearby university. we have greatly multiplied since last year, which is wonderful since we get a chance to teach conversational english and through that and our lessons we have opportunities to discuss our beliefs and why we’re here in caracas, venezuela, as well as provides a way to meet new people and build relationships with venezuelans who are close to our age! you can be praying for intentional conversations and that the Spirit would be at work in the hearts and lives of those students who attend each week! we want to make His name known and glorify Him through our times together at the university! 

and lastly, one of my favorite times of the week is getting to be a part of leading FUSION (our high school youth group)! it is a fun and high energy time for students to get to come together to play fun games, socialize, hear God’s word, and worship Him corporately! many of our students do not know or have a personal relationship with God, and it is our hope that through this weekly time together we can minister to our students hearts and present Truth that is everlasting and never-changing in an ever-changing culture! “we as the leaders of fusion are committed to leading our students on a life-changing journey to follow Jesus Christ.” this is the basis and at the heart of all that we do.

{here’s some fusion fun}

for our students i pray this: that your love will keep growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ. {philippians 1.9&10}

(this blog entry is a little repeat from my most recent newsletter, but i thought since my audience here may vary, that it would be important to post this precious story here as well.)

My last couple weeks of school were full of contemplation and prayerful consideration of what my focus should be for my last days teaching my first precious, little class of kindergarteners. My given curriculums were running out, and frankly I was unsettled on focusing on anything that wouldn’t have an eternal effect on my little treasures {matthew 6.22}. One day, God put it heavily on my heart and mind to spend my last weeks teaching my students about “how to put Jesus first”. So I focused my Bible lessons on teaching them how followers of Christ are called to put Jesus first, forsaking all else, and trying to teach them how we are instructed to do so in God’s Living Word.

I had begun the year focusing on the fruits of the Spirit, and how Christ calls us to be characterized by “the fruit of the Spirit… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” {galatians 5.22&23} We talked about how these honored God and portrayed Christ to those around us. I taught that our actions were signs that we were different than those around you, because  you were characterized by Christ and these mark this difference. This all was a part of learning good and appropriate behavior and was incorporated into the behavior management system with our “behavior tree” in the classroom.

The students loved learning about how to honor their teacher, peers, and foremost Christ with their actions in the classroom, and on frequent occasions throughout the entirety of the year, their little voices could be heard belting out the melodies of our fruits of the spirit song.

Our memory verse for our last 4 weeks of school was Colossians 3.12 “therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” and was a great way to culminate the year. Tying together all that we’ve learned about this year, and discussing what our response should be. Our first of the last 4 weeks of lessons our focus was “Putting Jesus First: with our words”, where we learned about honoring God with our tongues and words. Our second to last week  we focused on “Putting Jesus First: with our actions”, and we learned about how we are supposed to follow Christ’s example of this and looked back upon all the things we’d learned about this year about how Jesus treated others and what Jesus’s actions told the world. Our next week of lessons was “Putting Jesus First: with our thoughts” and lastly, an all encompassing lesson on  “Putting Jesus First: with our lives”, tying together our fruits of the spirit with our new Colossians memory verse and lessons in how our lives (words, actions, and thought life) should be a fragrant aroma unto the Lord and how they are “the light of the world… [we’re commanded to] let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven” and make His name known.

One of the most well known, yet profound ideas of Scripture is the Great Commission. Although I am an international missionary, I myself have struggled, with fulfilling this call, as I’m sure many of us have. For my very last lesson, I wanted to send off my first class knowing what Christians are called to do. It was so emotional for myself and my class, and one of the most memorable moments of my life, let alone my first year teaching. Our very last lesson together was on  learning about Jesus, death and resurrection, culminates to a response in the Great Commission, and how well this lesson was received! I began the lesson by explaining to my little ones that like Jesus had 12 disciples, I was blessed with 12 little followers under my care this year, whom I was entrusted to teach and direct. I commenced by saying that, just like Jesus left and could not stay with his disciples forever, I was likewise called   to send out my little followers into the world, quite literally seeing as some of them would be dispersed out from Venezuela (at least for a short summer season) to China, Korea, or the coasts of the United States.  I told my little ones that despite what they and I both feel that it would be nice to stay together forever, they had been equipped through grace to go out into the world and tell others about the good news, and that as Christ’s followers, that is our responsibility and our joyful act of obedience. Although it was a bittersweet and tearful moment, the class was so incredible, mature, and committed to learning and following this idea. I was floored. I told them that just as we learned about light this year, a candle in a lit room does not affect its environment to it’s full capacity. Instead, the purpose of light is to bring change and light up the darkness. We are not called to remain comfortable in our loving, nurturing environments, instead Christ tells us to GO out. We are not just commanded, but equipped. That is why it is called the great COMMISSION. Just like the definition  on the page above states, a commission is“an authorization or command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts.” or the second definition says, we have been given “authority to act for, in behalf of, or in place of another” and that “another” is Christ. Being commissioned is being given “a task or matter entrusted to one as an agent for another”. We are entrusted, not to stay with the one we love, but instead equipped and entrusted to go out and as one definition above states, to not just go out in our own ability, but instead we are COMMISSIONED, meaning just as during the great commission from the book of Matthew, “Jesus came and said to [his disciples/followers], ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28.16-20) we are given “a formal written warrant granting the power to perform various acts or duties”. Wow!

I reminded my class, that God did not send them out ill-equipped or alone, but He sent them out with the knowledge of Christ and how to have a personal, saving relationship with Him, who will never leave them, and through Christ they are more than adequate to be lights in the darkness, and to tell those around them about the love of Christ through which they have the ability to love and have joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, as we’ve been learning about all year.

Even in the last moments together, the class’s genuine desire to tell their friends and family about Jesus was overwhelming, and frankly unparalleled in any church body. All year, just as they were learning and growing, as was I.

a year ago today i walked across a stage was given a few handshakes, congratulations, hugs, and a diploma.

one chapter was ending and another had just begun… 

it bewilders me that in such a short amount of time so much can transpire, change, and be transformed. i have grown eager in light of this realization for my last several weeks of my first year in caracas, venezuela.

a year ago i was full of eagerness and expectation for what venezuela would be like, what my mission and service would look like here, the type of life i would lead…

as i reflected on expectations i had a year ago today, so many were surpassed, some not met, and very few were identical to expectation. but in each of these cases, i give thanks.

God has had a perfect plan all along for me, and thankfully He works in His own timing. He has been teaching me about surrendering my desire and ambition to His timing and plan. 

may this be my hearts ambition. the goal that i seek… to dwell in Thee and daily be obedient to the call on my life to make Your name known to the students You have placed in my classroom.

“thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it
 and spirit to those who walk in it” {isaiah 42.5}. 

this week alone, 3 of my 12 students have passed from death to life. after spending the last two weeks learning about easter and the resurrection of Christ and how He conquered death and what that means, i was able to pray with three of my students who shared their desire to pray and ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and clean their hearts and live inside forever. amen!

this excites me for the future! what reflects the Easter story more than watching people go from death to life?

i serve a God that time holds no bound on. a God that can do everything in as little as a moment.

in light of this, i pray a bold prayer. my prayer is this- that i have a classroom of Christians before they graduate.

so Lord i come with expectation waiting here for You.

“but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” {john 9.3} 

i desire for my life to take this posture.

what i mean is that i want to approach every situation that arises in my life… good or bad, with faith, knowing that as i live and walk in the Spirit, the work of God will be displayed in my life. through every hardship i’m faced with here in venezuela, through each unplanned trial in the classroom, through the valleys and on the mountaintop, God’s purpose and plan always is for my good BUT more importantly, for His glory. i want us, as Christians, ambassadors, and missionaries (wherever God has you whether that be your small hometown or a village in Africa), to live with hearts and lives that eagerly seek to “make known to the sons of man [God’s] mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of [His] kingdom” {psalm 145.12}.

 i often have to remind myself that ultimately this is what i want to take place in my classroom… i have to remind myself that “He saves us from our sins. salvation cannot be found in anyone else; it is futile to look for any salvation elsewhere.” it is so easy for us as humans to try to find “salvation” elsewhere: works, good deeds, and heart. people think doing more good than bad gets them to heaven. we are fooled into believing that by being a “good guy” that we can stand before a perfect God and have a solid argument… that good intentions are enough…

my real struggle however is not this exactly, instead it’s that i seek to find value in being a good teacher and the idol i often struggle with is perception. my real trouble teaching, besides the stresses that daily and unexpectedly arise, is how i feel i am perceived as a teacher or as a missionary. i want my roommates to think i am a good teacher. when my family came, i wanted them to think i was a good teacher. i want my kids’ parents to think i am a good teacher. my real trouble is where i am placing my value and hope… putting hope and value in anything other than Jesus is idolization and will constantly leave me short. God uses me as miss alli, as a teacher, as He pleases not how i please. He uses me in spite of myself… praise the Lord! and thankfully that often won’t look like my perception of “good teaching” and quite possibly as others, but WHILE God uses me, results will be for His glory! my job/mission consists of proclaiming and giving the good news, not the result.

the truth is, no action of mine makes me more (or less) effective. God has His glory shine brighter when He works despite my mistakes. when i do things “well” it doesn’t make God obligated to work more. How could he? He already declared me completely righteous, not neutral or OK, but righteous, with the same inheritance of Christ. i am so thankful and praise God that regardless of my capability or execution, the Gospel is shown through my humble work

i know that faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain. Salvation comes from God working in someone’s heart. it is not my job no matter how much i want to, to save my kids, salvation belongs to the Lord.

i pray that as i work, Christ is radiated through me, His humble and unworthy servant in my classroom- that i may plant the Word in my kids’ hearts. 

i desire that my life take the posture that whatever i am faced with in my life that i live in faith that it happened that the work of God might be displayed in my life.

may my life in trial and triumph “tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples” {psalm 96.1}.

praises.

• in the last couple of weeks my friend deborah and i ran a five week soccer clinic for the elementary students at our school. it went very successfully. we spent the time teaching and developing different soccer skills as well as different character qualities of Christ and how they relate to and need to be present even in soccer. The students seemed to really enjoy the camp, as well as grow in skill. They also seemed to really learn and apply the character qualities we focused on each week!

• last week our 2nd & 3rd grade teacher at school was sharing the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection through resurrection eggs and one of the students’ was moved and convicted and later asked mrs. winters to pray with her to accept Christ into her heart. later that day, the little girl, erica, was so excited about Jesus living in her heart she was telling her friend alex about it and he was interested and erica said it was easy and he could ask Jesus to forgive him for his sins and have Jesus come live in his heart and he wanted to do it right then, so erica and him prayed together right then and there at school! praise God for two more lost sheep being found!

(erica is on the left and alex is on the right)

• last week my little sherin (the girl who comes from a muslim family/background) was so moved by the Spirit through the story of Christ and devastated that her parents didn’t know Christ and didn’t believe He is God. i sat with her for a long time as she was broken over her parents being lost and and was very distressed, and i shared with her that God loved her parents and that what we’re called to as believers is to share about Jesus and pray in faith for their salvation. although, this is somewhat of a sad story that sherin’s poor heart was so moved for her parents, it is a praise that this year she has been exposed to the Truth and believes and has the Holy Spirit actively at work in her heart. it is evident that she has a little evangelical heart.

• this week i have had a restful semana santa (holy week) which paired as our school’s spring break. my wonderful boyfriend chris came to visit and see caracas, venezuela. time with him was a real blessing and encouragement for my mission here and in our relationship! 

(chris brought my class each shirts from his church in tallahassee as well as some american goodies for easter)

• another praise is that my parents visit a couple weeks back was also a real blessing to my heart, and they were also able to see what i’m doing here and was able to meet my precious little students, as well as venture around caracas, venezuela.

• i also want to share another praise that has been a long time coming and is still in process… but the praise is that a venezuelan friend of mine in the last couple of months has grown very curious about the gospel and Jesus Christ. when i met him he was very against all religions and just believed in “love”… he however was curious about what would bring me to venezuela and after much time of sharing my faith and belief in Christ with him and how that permeates my life, he asked me to share the gospel with him beginning in the old testament. his family is is jewish and he was curious how the old testament and new testament aligned. although i cannot judge his heart, his curiosity regarding Christ has blossomed and the Holy Spirit seems to be at work in his heart. So keep praying! i recently purchased him a bible as well as a few Christian books (upon a request for books to explore it all further), and he just told me the other day that he has been reading both. pray for not only an idea of belief but for real belief and bearing of fruit in his life!

your  prayers make a difference in my life and work. your faithful support is so helpful and encouraging. i hope you know what a joy you are to me! thank you for your partnership in prayer! i feel honored and humbled.

if faith can move the mountains. let the mountains move. we come with expectation. waiting here for You.

stumbled upon this video of a friend of mine, and it really aligned with the prayer of my heart tonight.

this is my prayer. 

“this space between my heart and Yours.

You gave it all but i want more.

sorry for everything i’ve done.

protect me, God, from the man i’ve become.

in my eyes You are perfection.

and i want this reflection of mine to be the image of You…”

hope it moves you to yearn for Him & Him alone.

This example of emotive imagery is of child in Uganda holding hands with a missionary. The stark contrast between the two people serves as a reminder of the gulf in wealth between developed and developing countries.

“The power of moving water is greater than most of us can imagine. Nothing stands before it. We are driven to our knees:

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures’ pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.

O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.” 

{john piper. http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/a-prayer-for-japan}

#tsunami