It's a pajama kind of day

I am home. I love my home, my bed, my bathroom, and my pajamas. I'd like to stay in my pajamas all day. In fact, it's almost 1:00p and I'm still in my pajamas. Quick review: May 6th I left for Africa. I was in Mozambique and South Africa for 7 weeks. I was home 6 days before going to Puerto Rico for 10 days. I arrived home last Thursday then went to camp Sunday. I got home yesterday, and on Monday I start working 2 jobs. Again, I'd like to stay in my pajamas all day.


Tiffany and I sleeping at the breakfast table in Puerto Rico
[I am not a druggie; those are malaria pills.]

Life at Camp

I'm still out at camp and it's really been a great week. Last year was my best year in 6 years, and although I have been exhausted to the maximum, this year has been even better. I have five girls that have never been to camp or away from home, and they have had ZERO homesickness. All fourteen little girls have been mostly getting along, and they are playing well.

The first night some had difficulty sleeping because upstairs was loud (older girls are upstairs, younger girls are downstairs,) and because it was hot. However, last night it was absolutely silent only 30 minutes after lights-out at 10:00; of course they were certainly more tired after playing and swimming at Splash House all afternoon.

Alayna and Amara

Tonight's service is on the Salvation Message, and we are praying that many will make first-time commitments to accept Christ and His love. Following chapel we are having campfires as cabin groups.

Tomorrow we have chapel, crafts, and classes in the morning, then a carnival and cookout in the afternoon. I promised the girls that if they are good today and tomorrow, then they are allowed to have sleep-overs in each other's rooms on the last night. We'll see how that goes. :)

People Time

In addition to using my Spanish and hanging out with 16-year-old Carla, my favorite part of Puerto Rico was the quality time that I spent with my team. At the end of every day we had team devotions and worship, and then the teens left and the leaders had prayer, discussion, and laughter.

The 8 fearless chaperones for the 18 youth::

Myself, Laurie, Marlane, Michele, David, Tony, Jefe, and Scott

On the 1-hour boatride to the pristine Isla de Caja de Muerto (Coffin Island)::

The island was a very beautiful place. We packed lunches and were there from about 10a to 3:30p; and I was in the water almost five of our five-and-a-half hours there. It was my first experience snorkeling and I loved it. Even after I encountered the sea urchin, who left quite a few stabbers in my arm, I took a Benadryl and went back in!

We all felt a little guilty taking a vacation on our first full day in Puerto Rico, but it really was bonding experience that had a positive impact on our unity as we worked and ministered together later in the trip.

Enjoying the beauty of God's creation::

The Caribbean Sea

Shopping Day in the downtown square of Ponce::

Noelle, Megan, Katrina, Myself, Michele, Lauren, Tiffany, and Paola

At the famous Casa del Frape, where they had the best fruit smoothies:

David, Jacob, Myself, Levi, Megan, and ElizabethI believe we visited this four times in eight days. They had 71 varieties including: Orange Lemon, Strawberry Piña Colada, Carrot, Mango Papaya, Peanut Butter Banana, Tropical Fruit Mix, Kiwi Coconut, etc. So good!
Jefe and I showing Matt, Levi, and Derek who is the Boss in Eurche::


In the San Juan airport with some of the girlies before our departure home::

Myself, Tiffany, Katrina, Brittany, Lauren, and LaurieWe had matching shirts for our travel day to Puerto Rico, our travel day home to Indiana, and for the 4th of July when we went to the rainforest. It definitely was much easier to collect 26 people when we are wearing matching yellow, orange, or blue shirts!

Having been out of the youth group now for three years, there were only two or three of the teens that I actually knew well. I'm not a regular youth group sponsor, but Pastor Tony asked me to put together a reasonably cheap and reasonably safe missions trip because I've done it already many times and I know what I'm doing. I agreed to plan but couldn't agree to go because I already had Mozambique and Cambodia on the calendar. Then when Cambodia was canceled, I felt God really pushing on my heart to join the PR team. I truly am grateful for the opportunity to go and become much better acquainted with 25 awesome people.

Junior Bible Camp

Hello from Fairmount, Indiana. Now that I have finished my world traveling this summer, I am counseling at Junior Bible Camp for one week. This is my sixth or seventh year counseling at this camp, and it's both extremely exhausting and very rewarding. I vividly remember two years ago when three of my campers gave their hearts to Jesus for the first time, and it has been so exciting to see them back at camp this week, and also last summer.

The camp is for boys and girls who have finished 1st grade through those who have finished 5th, so some have been here for five years now. While I rarely remember their names (with the exception of Bailey, who hugs so tight that I can feel pressure on my organs; the very precious and very polite cousins Alayna and Gracie; Amanda and Katelyn, who were two of the three saved in my cabin two years ago; and a few select others,) many many campers remember, and can tell apart, my twin sister (Jessie) and I. This morning Caylyn showed me a framed picture of Jessie and I. Another girl said she requested to be in her cabin, but she was placed in another because ours is full. A third girl came up to me during the afternoon rally and said, "You and your sister are so beautiful that I've been watching you all morning." Only Caylyn was somewhat familiar.

I may not be the counselor that buys them lots of goodies and let's them have party nights in each other's rooms, but I give them the love and attention they deserve. I try my very hardest to make that love unconditional, although sometimes my exhaustion and their exhaustion (and the result of) gets the better of me.

In previous years my campers have told me many stories about their lives. I have heard things like,

"I live with my grandparents because my parents don't want me."

"My parents yell and fight a lot, and when they are done yelling at each other, they yell at me."

"When I'm 16 I'm moving out because all my older brothers and sisters did."

I don't know where these girls are coming from, but I know that for some, Jesus isn't a sweet name of Love, it's only spoken in anger or frustration. Please pray for me that I will be filled with unconditional love this week - especially when the girls are tired, grumpy, and dirty - and that as I lead them in evening devotions, they will feel an invitation to christlikeness.

Pray for Chole, Zoie, Jessica, Emma, Allie, Areonna, Shea, Olivia, Elaina, Emma H, Amara, Alayna, Kaci, and Saddie.

Mozambique Mondays: I miss my babies!

From now on, until I run out of pictures and stories, every blogging Monday will be Mozambique Monday. I still have so many things to share, but life [unbeknownst to me] is continuing on ahead and I don't want to neglect the things of present, so I'm going to limit my Mozambican blogs to Mondays. Here is the first of at least a few more. :)

I miss Japhete and his kisses. I miss eating with him on my lap. I miss how he told everyone, "It's Joya! It's Joya!"


I miss Irashmo's laughter, tight hugs, and squeaky voice. I miss carrying him on my hip; I miss consoling him when he cried. I miss kissing his cheeks.


I miss my little helper Jonah and his beautiful eyes.


I miss beautiful Maria and how she sang so sweet. I miss how she cuddled me when she was sick, and how she always ran off to tell the other children when I arrived.


I miss Simeon's hand in mind, and the way he fit perfectly in my arms while he slept. I miss having tea at his house, and wiping his nose with his shirt.


I miss Markito, the cutest baby in Mozambique. I miss how he always smelled so sweet, and I miss chasing him as he waddled away.


I miss Tatenda and her sweet countenance. I miss her beautiful little sister who never cried.


I miss Gabriele and his always smiling face. I miss cuddling with him and carrying him on my back. I miss how he would always look deep into my eyes.


I miss Timoteo and his chubbiness. I miss him running up to me in the mornings, hands reaching up. I miss how he attempted to repeat everything I said to him.


I miss João and his scratchy voice. I miss how his eyes lit up when I arrived, and how he gave the best morning hugs. I miss his laughter and how he always asked to carry my bag.


I miss Calamesa and her politeness. I miss her innocence and her sweet smile. I miss seeing the joy on her face when I swung her in my arms.


I miss beautiful Elena and her sweet voice. I miss her chubbiness. I miss watching her head bob as she fell asleep.

Two Years Old!

Little Baby Face is not so little anymore. Two years old!! I can't believe it. After returning from Puerto Rico on Thursday evening, I went with Jessie (twin sis) and my parents to Jeff and Joni's (bro-in-law & sis) to celebrate Leah's second birthday.

Leah is FULL of personality. She loves Gramps and Grams, and she loves every food imaginable (beets are one of her favorites.) She loves to swim and she is fearless. She is a ham behind the camera, and she is actually a ham even when there isn't a camera. She loves attention and she easily gets it with all her little quirks. She isn't talking much yet, but her speech therapist said she has the intelligence of a three-year-old.

Here are Leah's [unedited] two year pictures:

While we at Jeff and Joni's house, I also got in some nice snuggle time with neice #2, Mallory Jo, who is nine-weeks-old today.

Pieces of my heart all over the world...

I am amazed and feeling incredibly blessed as I sit and think about all the places I have been and all the people that I have met as I have traveled and participated in missions trips in Mexico, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Cambodia [twice], Mozambique and South Africa, and Puerto Rico. There are pieces of my heart all over the world.

Today, six years later, I have vivid memories of the two little twin boys Adrian and Jorge in Ensenada, Mexico. I am still in contact with friends that I made at La Escuela el Sembrador in Olancho, Honduras, five years ago.
In 2006 I went to the Dominican Republic and I will never forget Papucho [above], Tata, Jose, and other children in Pancho Mateo where I taught, played, and loved my heart out. The following year I went to Ecuador and the relationships I made there with Pastor Geovanni Saltos and his family still affect me today. The next two summers I went to Cambodia and my life has never been the same. I left my heart in Cambodia; it is my home. Earlier this summer I went to Mozambique and South Africa, and had the time of my life with Mario, Abrao, Calisto and the other students at the Bible college in Xai Xai.

And it all started here, with him:
My granddad and my hero, Rev. Harvey Ellsworth Ache
Granddad was a missionary and a world-traveler. His passion for missions is still alive in me, as I live in his love for people and for preaching God's Word. I like to think that if he were still living [he died when I was in kindergarten,] that we would go on trips together - to Africa, to India, and to Cambodia.

In Puerto Rico I met three sisters - Stefani (21), Carla (16), and Paola (12). Over a period of only ten days, Carla and I became close friends. Initially I was unsure how to relate to Carla, whose son Jamuel will be two-years-old only three days after her seventh birthday, but one thing brought us together - shopping. As we were looking at purses, shoes, and dresses, Carla and I realized that despite many differences, we're both two girls who are trying to find our own identities. Maybe I have things a little more figured out than she does, and maybe I haven't made the same mistakes that she has, but I'm still working towards christlikeness.


Carla, Stefanie, and I - our last evening together
I'm going to pray everyday for these three sisters, especially the youngest, Paola, who is in desperate need of guidance, consistency, and a father figure. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to meet the Torres sisters.

Vacationing at home: Priceless

After seven weeks of living on the Indian Ocean, and ten days of living on the Caribbean Sea, I am finally at home and feeling like I'm on vacation! I have never been more glad to be home than I am today, even if it is only for two days. [Sunday afternoon I leave for one week at Junior Bible Camp.]

The Caribbean Sea


The Indian Ocean

Somehow I have to finish blogging about my Mozambican experience, then tell you all about Puerto Rico, and meanwhile tonight we're celebrating my niece's 2nd birthday, then I leave for a week of camp. ¡Ay caramba! Here goes...

Puerto Rico was nice, and the youth were really great. I was one of eight sponsors and there were eighteen teens. We lived at Campamento del Caribe - a Christian camp in Juana Diaz, thirty feet from the shore of the Caribbean Ocean - and worked in the barrio Singapur. Barrios are the ghettos of Latin America.

We worked with missionaries John and Kerry Cox, who have a house church and strong ministry in the barrio. In the mornings and afternoons our team of 26 worked alongside John, preparing for VBS and doing hands-on work projects, such as building these concrete dam to prevent flooding at Carla's house. Other work included: weeding, planting flowers, wiring electricity, digging a sewage line, and more.

In the picture below I am riding on the back ledge of the van, holding onto a wheelbarrow as we drove down the streets through the barrio. I knew this idea was a little ghetto because even the Puerto Ricans were laughing at me. I saw a horse tied to a rope, and being pulled behind a moped - yet apparently this seems strange.

One evening we had youth group, another evening we walked through the barrio and invited children to VBS, and the second week we had VBS. I'll write about this tomorrow. :)