19 days and counting!!

19 days until I leave!!! I cannot believe it's so close! 
The day after I posted the last blog which you can read here, I received $400 dollars in the mail!!! I am currently over 75% funded!! I knew if I approached God with trust and expectancy, He, in His everlasting faithfulness, would act on my behalf. Any doubt that I shouldn't go on the trip was instantly erased. Now I know for sure that God has so much in store for me in Bogota. 
Prayer Requests:

• Continued financial support not only for me but for all others raising support
• Favor in my schoolwork with my professors
• Prepare our hearts and minds for the things we will see and the people we will encounter
• Wisdom for all the leaders in planning and preparation
• Health and safety before and during the trip
• Unity in the teams

Thanks for reading and believing with me!! - Elisabeth 

It must be miracle time!!

One month from tomorrow, I will embark on a fantastic journey. I am expecting God to show up in big ways and do things I cannot even begin to imagine. But before I even leave, there are a couple miracles I am expecting: finances and school.

I am 50% funded!!! I am so grateful for every gift. But as the trip draws near, I am tempted to worry and doubt God's plan. Then I realized that God cannot work a miracle on my behalf if the circumstances of the situation do not demand it. If I were already fully funded, there would be no need for a miracle. I believe God is setting himself up for a miracle to bring glory to His name!! If you would like to support me, please email me at elisabeth.anderson@ttu.edu and I will get you all the information!

Some of my professors have been extremely generous and gracious with my future absences and missed work. In one class in particular it will be difficult to maintain the grade I wish. Again, it will only be by God's goodness and faithfulness that I succeed this semester.

Please pray for:

• Peace about funds and school 
• Financial provision for all
• Scheduling and planning

Thanks for reading and believing with me!! - Elisabeth

42 Days

A quick update:

• I am about 30% funded!!!! I am so grateful for all the generous hearts that surround me. God continues to prove Himself faithful.
• I have 3 of my 5 schedules for the semester and so far I am not missing any exams! There may be some attendance issues, but I will talk to my professors. Please continue to pray for favor.
• A few other requests: booking flights, scheduling during our time there, team members who are seeking passports, and funds for everyone involved.

Less than a month and a half away!!!

Bogota 2012!!!

Hello!! Well, it's that time again. In 48 days I am returning to Bogota, Colombia for 2 weeks! I am sooo excited. I will go with Trinity Christian on their missions week the first week I am there and stay over for Trinity's college ministry trip the next week. I cannot wait to continue the relationships I have built, visit the places that have become a second home, and experience God in new and powerful ways.
I finished my support letters today. I expect the trip to cost around $3200 this year. I have full confidence that the Lord will provide, as he has faithfully done in the past 2 years. If you would like to support me financially, please contact me and I will let you know how you can help! But there is one thing I need more than money, one thing that everyone can do to support me.
Prayer. Prayer is what determines the success of this trip. As we go to do the work of the Lord, I fully expect to encounter spiritual battles. We need prayer against Satan's attacks on our minds, finances, travels, health, and plans. We need prayer for our hearts to be prepared for the people we encounter. For unity in the teams. For planning and scheduling in the next 2 months. For flight connections. For professors to be flexible as I miss 7 days of school.
These are just a few of the prayer needs I can think of at this moment. I will provide more updates on my funds and prayer needs before the trip. I also plan to post daily like I did last year, hopefully more regularly. Thanks for reading and for praying and believing with me.

Location:Lubbock, Texas, United States

Home.

I know this is late in coming, but I have arrived safely home.
Wednesday we went to yet another after school program and did whatever work they had for us, which for me was washing more dishes. That evening we led a church service at our host church from the last week. We got to experience their worship team, Pastor Jimmy delivered the message, and we had an incredible time of ministry afterwards.
Thursday, we went to the last after school program. After helping finish lunch, the pastor over the program took us to a portion of land in the mountains they are seeking to buy. They hope to build an orphanage, a pastor's training building, and missionary quarters on it. However, they first must raise over $1 million. Our team walked the ground and prayed. I was not able to join them because as we stepped out of the program to head to the mountain, I sprained my ankle. Now that I am home, I have seen a doctor. It is not too bad; a little rehab and I will be fine.
After the time of prayer, we returned to the project to prepare for the block party. We performed all our skits for about 150 people. Just as one of the pastors starts the salvation prayer for the 80 that responded, the neighborhood loses power. We all pull out our cell phones to light the room and the pastor continues. Out of caution, we left the area immediately.
Friday morning, 2 other students, 2 pastor, and I left for home.
This trip was absolutely incredible. In many ways, I feel more changed than any change I could have brought to the people. Though the trip is over, the journey is not. What I and all others involved experienced and learned will continue to grow in us for the rest of our lives.
In Him, Elisabeth

PICTURES!!!

Here are a few pics to make up for the lack of updates. And to appease my mother.






My friend, Luis, on the right.






Fifth grade classroom.






View of the city from the top of the mountain.






Preschoolers.






Sweet girls from Avivamiento school.






5,000 person baptism at Avivamiento.






View of the city from the slums.






Monday's work project, carrying dirt and concrete up and down the trail on the left.






My instant friend, Jeidi.

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Sunday-Tuesday

I know I have been so bad about updating this. I apologize.
Sunday we went to Avivamiento again. It absolutely powerful. Pastor Carl was with us. He has an outstanding relationship with the pastor of Avivamiento, Pastor Ricardo. Pastor Carl was asked to take part in service by greeting the congregation and walking with Pastor Ricardo through the healing service. After the second service, the church had a baptism service. How many people do a 70,000 member church baptize on a typical day? A mere 5,000. They had 3 pools and lines that wound through the whole building. There were 6 people in each pool and the line would file in, be baptized and file out. It was amazing. We went to lunch at a very nice steak house and enjoyed a restful evening.
All week we have been working with a program that has 4 different outreaches. The pastor would physically hear the cries of the children at night and started the program as an after school outreach.
The first outreach on Monday had a kindergarten program. However, they could not meet the $4000 a month costs to feed and care for the kids and were forced to close the program. But the pastor believes it will reopen and has been updating the rooms while he waits. Though we expected to work with the kindergarten program, we were quickly put to work with the lunch they serve to the children of the neighborhood. They feed 2,000 kids a week. For 70% of the children, this is their only meal of the day. I was tasked with washing dishes because they do not own enough dishes to feed all the kids they serve in a day. After lunch we were taken to a shack that was in shambles. It is built with whatever material could be found. It is atop a hill and one side deteriorates with the rain. So we hauled dirt and concrete down one hill and up the other for the woman to use to reinforce her foundation. It was hard work but we all enjoyed it.
Tuesday we went to another outreach for a few hours. We cleaned their tables, chair, and trash cans, tarred their roof, and sanded and painted rebar. Then we served lunch again. After lunch we did an outreach at a nearby basketball court. We performed our dramas and played games. We had to leave early in order to have time to make it to the church service we were leading Tuesday night.
The service was incredible. God used our team in ways we could not even imagine. Pastor Cody delivered a powerful word and our team led an incredible time of prayer.
Last two days. Pray our team leaves nothing behind.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Calle 102 108A,Bogotá,Colombia