Stepping in to the New Year!

   

It was surely a great and delightful relief to get away from the heat of the north and to cool off by the beach in Swakopmund. The raging sea, the sun rises, the desert and best of all the sun sets!...it was spectacular! with a company of awesome friends I couldn't ask for more.
Sitting there by the beach and just trying to extend my eyes as far as they could see it intrigued me to think that the same God who spoke that massive raging seas in to existence is the very same God who's hands formed me. A tiny grain of sand compared to that glorious ocean yet he gives me value by choosing to love me more. I found it hard to grasp but that didn't change the fact that it was still true.
    

                                              The heavens declare the glory of God;
                  the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech;
                  night after night they reveal knowledge.They have no speech, they use no words;
                   no sound is heard from them.Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
                   their words to the ends of the world.

      This verse was more real to me than ever because I had all the evidence right there before my very own eyes!

 Another best part about this short vacation was the ability to do, see, and experience new things. Like hiking Dune 7 for the first time, Sand boarding, and seeing hundreds of fireworks exploding in to the night sky and turning in to the most beautiful and colorful lights I have ever seen. It was a sight that I still greatly cherish! A awesome way to start of the New Year.
 

hanging with friends up on the dunes

Sand boarding( Still can't believe I did it!)

Happy New Year!!1

Dune 7

Merry Christmas!!!

            It's really hard to explain this day in a few words, but if I have to sum it all up I would say that this was the best day ever! every moment of it. It was really amazing!
I thank God for a place that I can call home and people that I can call family.
This was our thanksgiving day. It was a great reminder of God's unfailing love and greatest gift unto us. It was a joyous celebration of God's goodness!

Summer Camp 2015

It was packed. Busy. challenging and exhausting. But it was also fun, awesome, and interesting!
We had round about 300 young people from over the country which makes it always interesting and I took with me two of my students (Chanteline and Indepensia) and my youngest sister (Fiyo). The schedule was basically the same as last year. We were all divided up into four teams as soon as we arrived: yellow, green,blue, and red. I was in red team the first day and then I became an orange cap the next, which were all the leaders. I shared a conference hall with 23 girls and anther woman who was also one of the leaders.Throughout the week teams took part in different activities like soccer, volleyball, and netball.They compete against each other for the 3 trophies; the Sport trophy, Spirit trophy, and the Bible Quiz trophy.
On the final night the yellow team took the Bible trophy. The Blue team took the Sport trophy and the Green team took the Spirit trophy which is more based on character, serving and a good attitude.
All the sports, the cheers and the games were amazing, but more than that one of the things that caught my attention was the brokenness, rejection and the Identity crisis in some of these youth, especially the ones they brought in from the streets. There were 4 boys and among  them was a 13 year old girl named Jane. Really beautiful with light brown eyes. She didn't speak much not even on the different occasions that I have approached her. But I was able to connect the dots and get a glimpse of her life according to what she said and quietly observing her in a distance. Being there was really a challenge for her, something outside her comfort zone and she didn't really liked it nor enjoyed it that much especially the first few days but she agreed that it was good for her.

The first few days were indeed  hard and a great challenge for me too,
mostly being a leader and also having to share a room with 23 teens who came from different back grounds,raised differently and have different beliefs.
I spend some nights awake and praying...it was a challenge. Something outside my comfort zone. Some how I could relate to Jane, at first none of us really enjoyed the situation we were in but as days went by we kind of started to grow into it. I realized that some times we need trials, challenges and a different environment in order to move out of our comfort zones and grow. Some times we need to be pressed from both sides in order to truly know the conditions of our hearts because sometimes it helps to expose the pride,self-righteousness and selfishness. Which if acknowledged, brings us to our knees in repentance and surrender. That is what the camp did for most of these young people and for me personally.   

Grace and Queen

I look "cool" is the word

Swimming time

Sports

The Sport trophy: Blue team member

The Spirit trophy: Green team members

Final moments

Chapel...Gifts...Exam in session!!!

Daughters!

Chapel with: Mias

Sweet faces

Cuties

The Apples of my eye.

Preparing for the exams

Exams!

Exams!!

Run the Race...CHS' Sport Day!

 This was not only a joyful and exciting day but it was also a great reminder of Hebrews 12 that reminds us to run the race that is before us and never give up. Removing everything that would slow them down; the children ran as fast as they could aiming to cross that finish line. It didn't really matter whether they came in first, second or last place, we all cheered like crazy, that even the last were motivated to finish strong and those who once felt like they could not make it realized in the end that they did!  It was really awesome!
the children had a great day and so did we. This year the Red Team took the trophy and we (the Blue Team) took the Spirit Trophy. At the end of the day it all came down to this: There is a race set before each an everyone of us and we are all called to run, to never give up, and to finish strong. It is not easy but at the end of the day we will all look back one day when we finally receive those crowns and we will be glad that we did not give up. It was amazing, really encouraging, and most of all; we all had great FUN!!    :)

Yellow Team

Blue team

Red Team: The  Reward (Winners Of 2015)

A great Celebration!