The life of a Nomad

Obviously, I have not been doing a great job at keeping up this blog. I'm not sure how many people read it, if any. I still want to keep it up. It serves as a way to document the stories of my wild and adventurous life. lol. So here I go again.

Almost a year ago, on November 6, 2011, I turned 25 years old. Worst day of my life, or so I thought. At 25, I was spending my first birthday ever away from family. It was a tough day. I was dealing with any and every insecurity out there. Starting with the fact that no one in Dallas at that time knew me enough to know how I liked to celebrate my birthday to dealing with being away from the family on that special day to realizing that I was 25 and still single, etc. But little did I know what this year had in store for me. I spent the first few months studying in getting used to Dallas, which to be honest never actually happened. Dallas will always be part of my life. I will have to spend more time there in the future, but it will not go down in my book as one of my favorite places in the world. Then I went to SC to spend 5 weeks with my family.

After those 5 weeks, I returned to Dallas while my parents moved to Ecuador to be full time missionaries. Well, first big exciting happening of the year. Dallas from January to June was much better. New friendships were made and old were strengthened. I met some friends from Brazil and even began to learn Portuguese. I saw God work in miraculous ways to keep me in school that semester and I was able to make it through one of the hardest classes in the linguistics masters program. Praise Jesus!

Then, summer came around and I was able to make a trip to Ecuador to visit my parents. Returning to Ecuador this time was amazing. It is a country that has always seem me grow, serve, mature, love people, learn about myself, and fully enjoy life. Its slow paced lifestyle always allows me to focus on the present and serve God in my surroundings and enjoy Him and the people there. Oh how I fall in love with that place more and more. From getting to meet people and talk to them about life in Christ to sitting my the river and looking at the mountains. From spending time with my mother at home to spending time in the kitchen with the ladies of the town. From speaking to a group of youth to running down the side of the mountain to catch the chickens we needed to make soup later. Every moment spent in that country was full of joy and contentment. Also, while I was there, I was able to take a trip for 10 days to Peru. I still love Ecuador more, but I was able to visit a new country, meet wonderful people and leave a piece of my heart there. Peru was a place for me to develop new dreams. Dreams of teaching, dreams of promoting missions, dreams of seeing new places. I was blessed to be there even if it was for a short time.

Now, I'm back in South Carolina, but only for a few days. I came to visit my beloved sister and spend time seeing old friends. I even took a three day road trip to Georgia to see a friend and her newborn baby. And next Wednesday, I will be moving to Wake Forest, NC where I will remain until January (or so is the plan). Yet from November 7th to the 20th, I will spending two weeks in Mexico. I will be taking a vision trip there. I am considering taking a position with Wycliffe Bible Translators there, so the first step in the process is to take a trip there and get to know the area. I will also get to visit some missionary friends there. It will be awesome! Before returning to NC, I will visit two of my closest friends in Los Angeles and spend Thanksgiving with them.

So my 25th year has turned out to be great. By the end of 2012, I would have spent time in 4 countries and spent time in 6 states of the USA. Throughout all of this time I have seen God lead and provide every step of the way. I always thought that spending a life going from one place to the other would just be fun, but there is emotional issues that arise from being constantly on the move. I can handle it only because I know that God is with me so I'm never alone. I'm not sure how many people out there are willing to serve God by sacrificing stability, but for as long as my Father keeps telling me to move, I will move. As long as He says go, I will go.

So this is an overview of the life of this NOMAD. My life is constantly and rapidly changing. I don't know what and where I will be and the places I will go in the 26th year of my life, but if it is as exciting and fun as my 25th year. I'm ready! Let's do this! It's an Acts 1:8 lifestyle. If you read this, I'm holding you accountable to pray.

Grace and Peace,
Rakelita

An update is way overdue: Welcome to Texas!

The last post on this blog dates back to 2009. Since I'm hoping to keep everyone posted on my life through this blog, consider this my first bi-weekly update. Here we go

Life the past couple of year: This is mainly for the sake of documenting :)

I returned to from Ecuador in Oct 2009. My five months there were full of learning experiences and time of wonderful service. I learned so much about myself. I learned that I love kids. I learned that even though I may think I know that it is to rely on God, that is not a once in a lifetime lesson. I learned that one of my spiritual gifts is teaching. It was a great 5 months. I came home different. Perhaps a bit more mature :) and ready for what else my Father had for me.

After spending a few months unemployed, I was able to find a job as a Spanish teacher at Shannon Forest Christian School. I spent a year there teaching a once a week Spanish class to the Elementary and Middle School. This job was such a blessing. I was with kids and I was teaching. I enjoyed every minute there getting to know my students, teaching my native language, and loving children.

About January of this year, I had decided to stay at SFCS and teach for a second year. I enjoyed teaching, and I LOVED my students and co-workers. It was a fun job. Why would anyone want to leave? I thought many days. But God reminded me constantly throughout that month of January that He has an interesting plan for my life. Specifics?? He hadn't revealed those yet, but it was time to pack up my few things and move. Where? Dallas, Texas. Purpose? Bible Translation Training. So off I went. My contract with the school was over at the end of May and I was scheduled to move to Dallas on July 13th.

So let's fast-forward to November 1st:

I have been in Dallas for 3 1/2 months, and I am done with 4 graduate school classes. Needless to say, everything is VERY fast-paced here. Semesters or "terms" are separated in to 4 different sessions. Each session lasts 1 month. Some classes last 1 session and some last 2. I have successfully made it through Grammar or Morphosyntax part 1, Phonetics, and Phonology and Morphosyntax part 2. I am currently taking Cultural Anthropology (my last class of the term! yay!!!)

Through God's amazing provision, I was able to find a part-time job soon after moving here. I am working at the Baptist General Convention of Texas in the Hispanic Initiative Program. I am enjoying my job there. It is mainly focused on the promoting of education in the Hispanic community in Texas. Partnering with churches to promote education. It has been a great job.

My time in Dallas has been very far from painless. This is expected as I am leaving home and everything that is constant in my life for good. It has been difficult to adjust to a completely new environment and to leave my parents, friends, co-workers, house, etc. God has been so faithful and has continued to teach me to rely on Him fully. More details about how life is going will be coming in future blog posts.

More on my life in Texas will come soon, so be on the look out!

Love to all,

Raquel

Words are never enough

This was written on September 27th, 2008

It’s a biblical statement that the tongue is a small organ that can do great evil. It is understood that the passage refers to doing evil to others, yet reality has proven that it can hurt one’s self. That is what I’m experiencing right now, or so it seems. Although, I don’t have a complete grasp of the situation yet, the pain is present and that’s the one true and clear reality.

Sky scraper standards I have set to cover an insecure heart. A wall higher and wider than Jericho’s yet before you this wall has the same end. Rubble after Rubble with only a single building left standing. The part of me that holds on to faith, that holds on to hope, that holds on to you.

Redefining suffering while lowering those standards, and allowing myself to express some emotion. Why is this so important? Why do I not want to be a normal human being? Why do I not want to be a normal girl? What do I want the world to see? A girl dependent on you…yes, a girl willing to take on the pain, the suffering, a girl willing to risk it all for your sake, yet is that the true desire or do I want that to be what makes me attractive?

That’s where my GREATEST struggle yet appears…I want you. I don’t want to desire anything, anyone else. I want the surpassing joy of knowing you, my savior, my all, my creature, my true love. I want that to be my life. I want to be completely focused on heavenly things and not on things of this world. How to get there? Perhaps I want to be super human to be more like you, but how?

I have a attempted to accomplish this with my own strength for so long, and even though my mind knows that it’s not possible, I continue to try to please you. Can you please come and rescue me from myself. I feel like I am my greatest enemy right now. I want to die to myself. I want to say and truly mean what Paul said “It is not I who lives, but Christ who lives in me”

Can you make that happen?

Almost a year later on Sept 13 of 2009:

On the other hand, today I’m in deep admiration…

Every time I feel so down that all I do and want to do is complain, You lift me up by showing me how much you love me! Right now, You’re truly wrapping your arms around me and showing me that You’re with me. You’re listening to my deep frustration about myself and telling me that it’s okay. You’re listening to my anxiety about the future and tell me just to live today. You’re paying attention to everything going on with me because YOU CARE! Because it is of your concern because YOU ARE LOVE!

Today, I feel a strange and overwhelming sense of peace and safety! I really do feel you so near. My heart is so joyful, so excited, so IN LOVE.

If this is the only reason I’m supposed to be here in Ecuador than it is beyond enough. I think You took me far away from “home” to rake me HOME with you!

I have found peace. God’s gift of a quiet heart. I’ve found it!

God, today my hears is filled with a love for You that wasn’t there before. Slowly You’ve become my love, my reality. You are no longer my theory or rational belief. You’ve allured me with Your beauty and Your passionate love. Everything around me screams that You love me. How can I resist?

Lord, I am all your. . .body, mind, soul, spirit. . .with my many flaws and weaknesses.

I have truly found that You are all I need! My heart is at the verge of exploding with contentment and happiness because You love me and You are by my side.

Thank you! I don’t understand why you love me the way you do but I can’t escape Your love. So, I embrace it and will forever remain in deep admiration.

Sept 19^th, 2009

Today, I can confess that my heart is still filled with much insecurity, but with time comes maturity. Throughout this year, I have learned to allow God to love me! That has made a huge difference. For a long time, I questioned how it would be possible to change my way of thinking. I always wanted to please God. I wanted to be perfect, I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be self-sufficient and please God with my actions, with my strength. I was so mistaken. Pride filled my heart and mind which was obvious in my actions. My true and only desire was to look good before everyone. There was no room for weakness, for emotions, for acceptance of my true self. I lied to everyone and to myself about my spiritual condition so often that I began to believe my own lies. I was in desperate need of destruction. I asked for it, and God answered my prayer.

Slowly, my pride has been crumbling down. God tore me in such a way that I lost all sense of self. That was exactly what I needed. God didn’t just tear me down and leave me there. He began to restore me little by little. His work is not finished yet. He is still working! He will continue to work until the day I am with Him, but I have peace. This peace calms my insecurities; I am His and He will take care of everything, and that’s all I need to live. There’s still so much to learn, and so much to keep in mind. As a human, I am very forgetful, but thank be to God that He is there to remind me. I’m continuing to learn to love him, and that’s a beautiful journey.

It has been a great three months

This post is more of an announcement.

This past Tuesday made it three months since I've been volunteering with Extreme Response at Por Amor Foundation. God has done great things. It has been awesome to see Him at work. It wasn't always easy for me, but God has taught me so much and He has transformed me. I'm a different woman, now.

As many of you know, originally, my plans were not to come to Ecuador. I wanted to go to either Africa or China, but God didn't give me peace about it. The opportunity to come to Ecuador came and God made it clear that this is where He wanted me. When I came to Ecuador for the first time in October of last year, our mission team's eyes were opened to a hard reality. There is a great need for a ministry to reach out to children who work in the fields in the town of Paute. One afternoon, a few of the team members and a few locals sat down and talked about how awesome it would be to start a ministry that would help abandoned, orphan, and working street kids. It sounded pretty, but it was just that a dream.

Seven months after that conversation, I find myself making a trip to Ecuador in order to serve as a volunteer at a children's home. My idea for coming is to serve and at the same time to research. I wanted to see what it takes to run a children's home while helping out at the same time. I worked at Por Amor Foundation helping with the children at them home, helping the work teams that have come, taught a bible club, taught English at the local elementary and High School.

The month of July was coming to an end, when I felt that the Lord was leading me in another direction. For some reason, I felt that it was time to go to Paute. My original plan was to go to Paute Sept 5th and help the church there for a month, yet I started to feel that God wanted me there before. At first, I didn't understand, but God gave me peace about making that decision. I continued to pray and called the church in Paute. They asked me to come and help them for those two months. There, I will be working with the youth group especially with girls. The idea is to start a girls bible study and leave someone who would lead it after I go back to the States. I will also be helping with church activities, and evangelism. I am looking forward to what God has for me to do there.

The decision of leaving Manta and the orphanage was hard. I love the children and the people I work with, and I will miss them, but it is exciting to see God continue to change my plans. It's not about my plans anyway. It's about Him! I just have to be obedient.

I actually left the orphanage last Wednesday August 5th. Since then, I have spent time shadowing Pearl Jackson. She is the administrator of the Foundation. This past week, two new girls were admitted into the home. I had the opportunity to witness the admittion process and what it all takes. I have been to the children's police (kinda like DSS, I think) and to the judge and doctors who had to examine the girls, etc. It has been crazy, but very cool at the same time. I have been to countless meetings with people in the community to help the foundation, the hospital, and I even met with the Manta mayor. It takes so much to run a place like this. Please keep the Jackson family in your prayers.

I don't know what God has for me in the future as far as a ministry like this is concerned, but I know that I will continue to do research in Paute about what the needs are and what it would take to start a children's ministry there. Pray for God to continue to lead me and pray that I am willing to allow Him to lead. I want His will for my life not my own.

So, here I go. I leave for Paute tomorrow, Friday 14 of August. I am excited about it! Just pray that God will prepare the hearts of those I will be ministering to and continue to pray for me.

Thanks for all the support and prayer! I can see God answering!

Love,
Raquel

Mommy for 9 days!!! AHHHH!!!

As part of my schedule as a volunteer at Por Amor Foundation, every other weekend, I join a local mission team from a church in Manta. We go to a town really close to the the Foundation called San Lorenzo on Saturdays from 930am-4pm, and Sundays we go to the countryside to a place called El Mocoral. This mission team is working on cell groups and children's bible club to share the Gospel and start a church plant in those places. God has given me some great opportunities to share the Gospel to people there. I have mainly helped with giving bible stories and helping with the crafts for the kids, but the Lord has also allowed me share with the parents about Him. It's been really awesome!

I get back from a great weekend. I arrived on Monday morning and find that the house mom of the house where I stay is not home. I ask what's going on and they give me the sad news that Nehemias, Pepe and Karen (the house parents) son is in the hospital with pneumonia. He had to be admitted into the hospital and was there for one week. The baby and mom had to stay in Manta for a few extra days because they were afraid Nehemias was allergic to something in the house. So, it was Hillary (another volunteer who was here for a month), Karina (the girl that comes and helps with housekeeping), and I who were in charge of the children. Pepe would dropped by occasionally and come home to sleep but he also spent most of his time at the hospital with the baby.

Needless to say, my role in the house changed. I was no longer only the fun tia who would get the board games out and watch movies with them. I had to set my foot down and become the disciplinarian who would make sure things are getting done. You have probably heard your parents say to you, "this hurts me more than it hurts you" before they would spank you or put ground you, and most likely you thought just like I did, "Yeah, right!." Well, let me let you in a secret. My parents and your parents are RIGHT! I did not spank anyone, though I wanted to at times, but I did have to put kids in time out and take away privileges. It was hard for me. I love to be loved so having to be a disciplinarian was no fun. They looked at me different, and honestly, I didn't like it. Kids are interesting though. They respect authority, but at the same time, they will test their limits and try to get away with whatever they can get away with. For example:

There is an understood rule at the house about food: You are to eat everything you get served. Well, that didn't happen, and not only that, but they were also asking Karina and I (who were making the meals) to make their favorite foods. The first couple of days, we let them have their way, but soon realized that somehow the roles were switching and we were doing what they wanted not the other way around. Hmm, I've got so much to learn about parenthood.

Also, homework was not getting done completely and the chores, yeah right! So, I found myself in a very hard situation. I had to sit them down and have a talk. It was not pleasant at first, but they seem to understand and began to behave better. My relationship with my 7 children changed. I earned their respect and that felt good. We started to communicate better, too. I didn't have to yell as much and they begin to do better. I was pretty proud of myself until the day before mom came home. For some reason, it seems like all of them started to rebel at the same time. The girls were arguing over who would shower last. Usually, they fight over who will get in the shower first, but that day they argument was the opposite. I don't get it! Leiton was whining because I didn't let him use a big knife to peel an orange. Alex would not talk to me, and Justin was crying. So, I did what any other mother would do, get in a corner in the hallway and cry my eyes out. Nick and Hillary (the other volunteers) came to my rescue and pat me on the shoulder as I cried. I went back and talked to the girls first and then with the boys and all of them apologized to me. That was sweet! It was hard, but I guess I'm getting so parenthood training.

On a glorious Tuesday afternoon, mom and dad returned home! I was relieved and had never felt happier to see Pepe and Karen. It was cool to see the kids excited to see their parents back and the baby come home healthy. It was a great moment.

So, during that week, I experienced what being a mom is like. A single mom for that matter. It was HARD! but rewarding at the same time. A mother of 7 children ages 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10. One thing is for sure: Yes, I want to be a mother in the future, but I think 3 children would be my max. Maybe 4!

Raquel

Happy Birthday Alex?

I wake up on the beautiful Tuesday morning; it was an unusually sunny day at this time of year in Pacoche, Ecuador. It was a normal work day. A work team from Detroit, Michigan in working on building a wall on that week, so I was getting my boots on to go lay some bricks with the team while the kids were in school. I had read our monthly calender the day before, and it said that is was Alex birthday. I asked Alex's oldest sisters Yamileth and Brenda and they said it wasn't his birthday. Ok, maybe they have the wrong date in the calender. Then, I asked Susan, the missionary who oversees what volunteers do, and she confirmed that indeed it was his birthday. I come downstairs to have breakfast with the kids and scream a loud and overentuthiastic HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX! when everyone just looked at me and said "Tia, we told you already: It's no one's birthday" I didn't pay much attention to that and ate breakfast and saw the kids leave for school. Then my work as a construction worker began. It was an interesting day, especially because the Maestro or construction expert, knocked down one whole row I built because it was not done right. Oh well, I tried! lol. And I have earned a respect for construction workers. That is hard work.

After lunch, I am summoned to Paul and Susan's house to work on some preparations for the birthday party we would have for Alex later on. At this time, I was just confused! Is it Alex birthday or is it not? That was still a mistery, yet we made a banner for him and had cake and games ready for the celebration. At about 4pm, the celebration began. It was lots of fun! The kids and adults played musical squares (drawn on the ground with chalk) and other fun games. Alex and everyone had a great time. Then, it was time to have some cake, but before then, we sang about 5 different birthday songs including the traditional "happy birthday to you" both in Spanish and in English. And of course, you cannot forget the traditional Ecuadorian biting of the cake. It was great and Alex was a very happy kid.

It really was Alex's birthday; he just didn't know it. This was Alex's first birthday celebration ever and after that he finally learned when his birthday is. After talking about the birthday confusion with Susan, she explained to me that non of these children know their birthday and that prior to coming most of them had never celebrated a birthday. Leiton, our hyper and sweet 9 year old, took advantange of birthday confusion and made everyone believe that his birthday was in March when it really was in April so he had two birthday celebrations this year. He was making up for lost time.

It was really fun to see Alex smile as much as he did and being so happy to have all the attention that day. I have celebrated most of my birthdays in my life. Birthdays are special for me. It made me happy to be able to be part of Alex first birhtday celebration. He's is 7 now.

Choices, choices

This is how we get places around here...
There's nothing better than a watermelon break on a sunny day
Celebrating el dia del nino (kids day) in la Solita
Singing and bible story time!
Time to learn some English














Justin, Alex, and Genesis On our way to church

So, I thought that coming to Ecuador, I was going to be a witness of God moving and mobilizing in great ways in other people, and yes, He has and is, but He has taken a good bit of time to work on me as well. Little did I know that I was in serious need of a transformation.

I arrived to Ecuador 41 days ago, very excited to come and serve in whatever was needed. So, I work at a children's home. Part of my job description include helping to care for the children at the orphanage, leading a weekly bible club for children at a local church, teaching seven English classes, etc, yet the most important part of my job is to love these children. The children at the home come from many different extreme backgrounds, but the one thing they have in common is the fact that they have been rejected from family and society. They are blessed to be in a institution like Por Amor Foundation. These children are thirsty for love and affection. That is my job: to share the LOVE that God has blessed me with to these children.

During this first month, God has been moving in many ways. I think I can call this first month my preparation month. It was very hard to me to adapt to everything. I was sick for a while, and I felt very lonely. I missed my family and friends so much and I felt very discouraged. I prayed to God for strength, yet felt weaker and weaker everyday. The more time I spent with the children, the more I grew to love them, but at the same time I felt that taking care of some many children was just not for me and that I wouldn't make it.

One day, after reflecting and praying, God reminded me of all the blessings He has given me. I have great parents who love me and care for me. I have great siblings and friends, and I have the great blessing of knowing Him. These children didn't grow up with the priviledge of having parents or people who cared for them like I did, but now they do. They have a set of parents at the foundation and they have me as an "aunt" to care for them and to show them love. At that point, I realized how selfish I had been; how selfish I still am. Praise be to God for His unlimited grace. I praise Him for choosing me to serve Him. For me, it has taken an everyday choice. I have had to wake up many days and ask myself "Today, will I focus on the Lord and serve Him with all my heart by loving these children, or do I focus on myself and get homesick?" By God's grace, I have recieved the strength to keep going and to choose to serve him. And it seems like every time I choose to relent control and surrender to God, everything gets so much better.

Now, He has opened my eyes to opportunities to share about Him to those who don't know Him. There has been people in the community who have asked me why I am here from so far away to help the foundation. I tell them the answer is simple: Jesus is the reason I am here, and I have been able to share the Gospel with people that way. God is good! All praise and glory goes to Him alone. I can only be greatful and happy that by His grace, I have been chosen to serve Him. And yes, I am so excited to serve Him here. This is something I had been waiting to do for a long time. It is just the beginning. I am looking forward to continue to witness what He will continue to do.

Please continue to pray for:

-Every child at the foundation, and for all the caregivers.
-Pray for Carolina. She owns a restaurant next door to the foundation. She is 25 years old and has a 2 year old boy. Her husband left her a couple of months ago, and she is struggling alot. She is not a believer. We have been able to spend some time and a friendship is starting. Pray that God will use me to be light in her life.
-Pray for Karina. She works at the house I live in. She comes and helps the house mom with housekeeping, etc. She is 16 years old and had to quit going to school because of financial situation at home. She works to help support her home. She is not a believer either. We have become good friends, too. We spend alot of time together and she has asked me questions about God, etc. Pray that the Lord will continue to give me opportunities to share about Him to her.
-Pray that God will continue to give me strength to serve Him. I feel that the adjustment process is over. I really like it here, and I am really happy that the Lord brought me here. It's time to go strong and serve Him wholeheartedly

Grace and peace,
Raquel