A Portion of Adventure Week

So Adventure week is too big for one post so here's a portion of it. . . Four days in North Wales hiking, geocaching, team building, and delighting in God's creation.

Some of the girls getting ready to head up the mountain in the pouring rain and wind gusts up to 55 miles per hour. So excited at this point

On the path up the mountain. . .check out that rain. . .

The path further up the mountain so pretty. Lots of waterfalls, stone ruins from buildings built by the miners etc etc. . . so neat!

Our map reading excercise. . . yes it's dark as in the wee hours of the morning dark. . .

Geocaching the day after getting only 4 hours of sleep. . . hiked a couple of kilometers. . . beautiful country to be in for sure. . .

One of many stone building/ruins

The team for the day. . . (Left to Right)

Luke, Alaina, Elizabeth, Nina, Stefan B, Gracie, HaEun, Stefan S, and Clemmens

Where They're all From (Left to Right)

England, US, Germany, US, Germany, US, Korea, Netherlands, Germany

Debrief

We had a great time and learned a lot about how we work in a team. . community is hard but rewarding. . I think :) So we are making it and working together to glorify God.

One of our morning devotions was in Psalms and this is what I read and wrote from that:

Psalm 135:5-7

For I know that the Lord is great; and that our Lord is above all gods.

Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did He in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

He causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh the lightenings for the rain; He bringeth the wind out of His treasuries.

~~~~~

Who stretched forth the sky?

Who brought forth the wind?

Who rolls the thunder in high places?

My Jehovah

Who can calm the storm that stirs my soul?

Who can still the fear that shakes my foundation?

Who can comfort the grief that troubles my spirit?

My Jehovah

Losing sight of His might, my heart trembles

Tears shadow my eyes as deception clouds my mind

When all seems lost, none other can restore

Excpet my Jehovah

O Whom shall I sing evermore?

In whom can I rejoice again and again?

For whom shall I lay down my life?

None other than my Jehovah

Birmingham

First Day as a Tourist in England

Dee dee do da day. . .. what is that horrible noise? My alarm!!! Oh no I'm late. . . wait?!?! It's our day off. . .oh it's Susan's alarm. Whew okay I can go back to sleep. . . Three hours later. 11:00 AM. . .Okay time to get up and actually do something on our glorious day off!

Pad down the insane yellow hallway to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for the day. . . Then to the dining room to rumage for some brunch. . . which ended up consisting of cereal, banana, and a scone with Nutella. Yum! Scramble to call Dad on his way to work. . . about 5:40 AM at home. . . (It's almost 1:00PM here) Then off to the bus station to spend the afternoon in Birmingham! Yah!

We arrive and find our stop. . .not easy when you have many people's opinion spouting out sporadically. But find it we did. And to our delight, we found ourselves on the upper deck of a double decker bus! Hooray! What a way to see the city right? It was so neat the brick building flying by, the ceilings of the tunnels just out of reach, and the trees cut so we could go under.

About a half an hour later we arrived in the city centre of Birmingham. .. Off to the shops we went, getting all our supplies that we were lacking for the upcoming adventure week plus a few extras! (what's a girl to do when there's all these great shops :) Walking up the way we saw a gorgeous church steeple rising in the distance. So we quickly cut into a coffee shop for some sustenance and meandered our way to see the beautiful moss covered building. (Pictured behind us at the top)

We then got distracted by a book store and more shopping. .. then it was time to meet the guys back at the bus stop. Sirens screamed and policemen were crowding the streets. What was going on? Were they doing a training excercise? Hmm anyway, we needed to find the bus stop. We only did one circle before finding which way we needed to go.

Met up with the guys, and then discovered that the stop we had got off at was the wrong stop to get us back to Halesowen. So off we went for a jaunt around the city centre to find the right stop. More police swarmed and we found out that there had been riots going on down the street. Anit facists and right wingers had gotten into it apparently.

So we continued on. Admiring the architecture and beauty. Finally we found the right bus stop ( or so we thought ). Tired and ready to be back in our yellow prison. . .sort of. We got on and settled in. Only to find out that we had the wrong bus and were on our way to Dudley not Halesowen. . .So going 25 minutes out of our way, we then were able to get on the right bus and make our way safely home!

And that was my first day as a tourist in England!

GO Conference and Arrival in England.

Geocaching in the English Country side

Model of a church in Delden Holland

Sprinkle bread for Breakfast!

Delden, Holland

Dani and Ha Eun goofing off at the center

Stefan, Clemmens, and Gracie after our scavenger hunt in Halesowen, England

Holland. . .ah glorious Holland. . .That is where the GO conference was and was insanely busy but amazing. We went to session after session on topics like the uniqueness of Chirst, the importance and impact of prayer, and Lie or Die? So I'd like to share some of my thoughts as we were challenged:



Lie or Die
For the last twenty four hours, controversy flooded the conversations. Lie or get through immigration? Lie or lose your Bible? Lie or die? Many compromised the truth justifying it by saying I’ll get through so that I can glorify God in that country. Others said, I need my Bible to minister so I will lie to keep it. Others said I need to live in order to bring the gospel of Christ to these unreached people. The night’s seminar was eagerly anticipated as the title was Lie or Die? Maybe someone could make sense of our arguments.
And make sense of it, Peter Mead did, with great conviction and insight to God’s Word. He gave us reference after reference that spoke of God’s inability and detestation for lies as well as His many commands not to lie. For you see, we were all overlooking the key to this. We only saw the small pictures in the heat of the moment. We didn’t look at our hearts attitude. We didn’t see that we had lost faith and trust in God and placed it back upon ourselves. Due to that we had bound ourselves up in a sticky situation.
Lie or die? Trust in me or trust in God? I personally held the conviction that I would never lie to save myself. I put myself in God’s hands, but could I put those I loved in His hands? A girl referred to those who so bravely hid the Jews in the Holocaust. Some had lied to protect the Jews. In my head, I knew I would have done the same thing. I wouldn’t have given up their lives just so I wouldn’t lie. This attitude was rocked when I heard Peter speak of whom I was putting my trust in.
Do I love those people more than God? Do I have the ability to save them better than He? The answer of course is a resounding no. God detests sin in a way that I cannot fathom. I know this because I still sin every day. I cannot grasp the full measure of hurt and pain that it has. But I know this, if it comes to lying or dying, I will die. I will trust in Him to take care of me as well as others. I will place my loved ones in His hands by choosing faith over fear, by using wisdom instead of acting foolishly, by thinking of eternity rather than the here and now, and by choosing His will over my own.
~Matthew 16:25~
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.



It was amazing couple of weeks filled with sprinkle bread(regular bread with some kind of spread on it like nutella or peanut butter and generally chocolate sprinkles), sandwiches(one with every meal I think), and chips (you might call them french fries). Learning words like Du bis Hoobsh (please if you can actually write German look down on me too much I have no clue if any of that is spelled correctly) Also Du bis mine bestest foid. Translation You are beautiful and You are my best friend. Heard hundreds of different accents and dozens of languages all praising and worshiping the One true God! It was truly indescribable. Lots of good friendships made and long walks in the countryside. Ah sweet Holland.


England, delightfully crisp cool England. This is where I will be for the next five months. We arrived and for the first time in 10 days we had cool dry weather (by dry I mean it wasn't humid) It rained shortly after, but wasn't sticky like in Holland(which felt very much like TN to me). We arrived at the center where will are training for three weeks and were finally able to unpack. . I didn't realize how much I dislike living out of duffle bags until I lived out of them for nearly a month. The next day we went geocaching but sadly didn't find what we were looking for. And then into classes. . .we've gone over things like using our testimony as an evangelism tool, starting conversations with strangers, What is the gospel, UK culture, and this afternoon we'll go over Islamic Culture because they're are many Islamic immagrants in the UK. So much to learn so little head space!



I am so tired with all the new information and a cold combined but I am loving it!
Miss you all back home!

Getting Ready to Take Off

So here is a few pictures of what I've been up too since I've gotten done with work before I take off to Europe. Enjoy!

For our family vacation we went up to Canada and saw some gorgeous country.

We went to five national parks. The above photo was taken in Banff after a fresh snow.

(yes snow in August :-) it was so fun!

A lot of the water was a milky color because it was fed from the glacier melt

and had rock flour in it. The above picture is of Mom and Dad in front of Lake Louise.

Crossing the border just above Eureka, Tara is a Canada fan so we had to get
a picture of her there :D

We're true Montanans what can I say? The above picture is Me with Belle,

Mom with Harley, and Tara with Sierra.

Belle, Amy and I enjoying a day on the trail.


So here I am getting ready to go off to Europe and can still hardly believe it’s actually going to happen. It’s already been an amazing journey and I haven’t even left home yet. God has shown me again and again that this is where He wants me and I am very excited to see what He will do in and through me. I fly out of Spokane Wednesday morning, go on to Denver, and then to Philadelphia before crossing the sea to Amsterdam ( I will arrive Thursday morning there) where I will meet the OM staff. Please pray for safe travels and that I will be able to get some sleep on the flights so I don’t arrive completely exhausted. J From there we will go to De Kroeze Danne (you can see pictures of it at the link http://picasaweb.google.com/OMBelgium/DeKroezeDanne) where the GO conference will be held. At the conference I will meet my team and be introduced to my ministry. The purpose of the conference is to orientate each new worker practically and spiritually into embracing OM by giving a panoramic view showing the wealth and diversity through the introduction to its people, values, and ministry around the world. It will open my eyes to the needs and opportunities in the world as well as improve my cross-cultural awareness. I would ask that you would pray that my heart and eyes will be opened to God in a way they never have been before and that I would learn and grow in Him so that I may reach out and touch others for Him to the utmost. Thank you all for your continued love, support, and prayer. This would never have been possible without you. God is at work both here at home and abroad and I am excited to be a part of it.
The Lord bless you and keep you!
Alaina

I'm going to Europe!!! Plus some new photos

Hello All!

Well I've been incredibly busy raising support and figuring out trip details (it's extremely hard to find a plane ticket that flies into Amsterdam in August (has to be there before noon) and then fly home in April out of Turin, Italy). But God is good and He provided the perfect ticket as well enough funds and lots of prayer and encouragement!I can hardly believe it but I am indeed most likely going to Europe. . .for EIGHT months! It's a little mind boggling, but I'm very excited to have this oppurtunity. So thank you all so much for you prayer and support! It means the world to me!

Alright so on to normal life. . . or rather the fun things we've been up to in normal life :)

The Following photos are from Father's Day

We hiked up to a beautiful lake between St. Regis and Superier. This one if of Dad and Buddy balancing on a rock along the trail.

A pretty group of plants along the trail.

Here's the lake . . . So pretty!

Mom and Dad by the lake.

Family pic right before departure back to the truck. . . it was raining pretty good by this time. . .and yes I know the photo is blurry (dumb auto focus) but I like it anyway.

The following photos are on the 4th of July, we hiked up to Quartz Lake off of Cherry Creek.

Tara taking a sip from her camel pack.

Tara spoiling Bud Boy

View of Quartz Lake

View on the valley between Thompson and Plains

Me borrowing Tara's cowboy hat so I didn't sun burn. . I have such a great sis!

Quartz Lake

Dad and Buddy playing on a rock outcropping into the lake.

Some pretty little buds.

Amy curled up and ready for a nap along the shore.

Mom and Dad filling up water bottles for the hike out.

Some pretty foliage.

Amy being such a good girl.. . even though she was very tempted to chase poor Molly away from her food dish. :)

Well that's been my lastest news! Hope you all have a great day!

My support letter

For those whom I don't have addresses to mail a support letter out too. (For those of you who I have addresses for you should get a letter in the mail soon). Just so you know a little more in depth what I'm trying to accomplish in the next month. Have a great day!



I’m writing to tell you about an upcoming opportunity in my life that I’m excited about. I’ve been praying about this for some time and have decided I would like to try to go on a short term mission trip. In August, I’m planning to go to the UK and Italy for eight months with OM (Operation Mobilization) Lifehope ministries.
OM organizes mission trips to various parts of the world, and each year thousands of Christians from different countries participate, working alongside full-time missionaries, and local churches to present the message of Jesus. OM holds strong values such knowing and glorifying God while living in submission to His word. Their focus is to reach those who have never heard the Gospel and build up the local church while training and equipping world Christians.
For the first five months in the UK, I will be working in a team in close partnership with a church; reaching out to the community it seeks to serve. I will be sharing the love of Christ by building relationships in the community, serving them and giving them opportunities to hear the Gospel in many different ways. I will be fully immersed into this community and my witness will make a difference, both in their lives and my own. Each team has between 4 and 8 people. Team members come from all over the world - I may be in a team with people from Europe, North America, Asia, South America and Africa. I will find it exciting and challenging learning to live alongside Christians from different parts of the world. Although most team members are young people, the oldest student at Lifehope was 73!
For the last three months in Italy, I will join a team that will serve and worship with a local church. I will invest time with young people, students, internationals, and Italians in the parks, the piazzas, the marketplace, and the university campus that will lead to conversations about faith and eternity. I will have opportunities to reach out in creative ways and get to use those skills for evangelism and serving. I will join a family team made up of a team leader and four to six others with whom I will train and serve. I will also be a part of the larger OM-Italy team that includes members from four continents.
I am hoping not only to impact others lives, but my own as well. Through this experience I want to strive to draw close to my Savior and Lord by serving Him fully and growing in Him as I study and am trained in His Word. In order to have the greatest impact on others and myself, I need a dedicated prayer support team here at home. I need people to pray for me as I prepare to go on this trip as well as for safety, good health, and the courage to share my faith while I am serving.
I also need a team of people who will commit to financially help with the costs of the trip (travel, accommodations, food, and ministry expenses). The cost to participate in this OM outreach is $7055.00 + the cost of airfare to Holland (where the GO conference is) and airfare back from Italy. I need to raise these funds by July 5. I intend to contribute as much as I can earn, but I can’t do it on my own. Would you prayerfully consider helping me financially so that I may serve in this outreach? I am hoping receive $100.00 from 35 people. However, any amount would help tremendously. If you would like to help, please send your tax-deductible gift, made payable to OM, with the support coupon, to me (Alaina Mathers P.O. Box 142 Plains, MT 59859). Please include my account number 2265967 on the subject/for line of the check. You may also give online at www.omusa.org/GiveOnline.

I am excited to see what God has in store for me in the coming year. Through your generosity, we can make a huge impact on this world for Christ and His kingdom. Your support and prayer makes all the difference and I appreciate your consideration and kindness so much. I can’t wait to share this experience with you. Thank you for your time and prayer.


Also, I need to sell my 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, So if you know anyone that might be interested let me know. Thanks a bunch!

Lifehope to Europe: The UK and Italy

Hello All,
Well I know it's been a long time since I've been on here, but there has been a lot of changes in my life in the last week so I thought I'd share some. I have been praying and trying to go into a full time mission trip for eight months over in the UK and Italy. I was just accepted into the ministry yesterday, and am so excited about the possibilities that God is opening up here. So now I just need to get the support raised and off I'll go. Well not quite but anyway. So here's the jist of what it is for those of you that haven't been in on this so far. I'm going through a ministry called Operation Mobilization. The Lifehope program that I'll be doing is a community outreach and training in evangelism. The first five months will be spent in the UK training with our team of 4 to 8 people from various parts of the world and the final three will be in Italy. I'm very excited about this so I hope you all will be praying that God will show me that this is for sure where He wants me and that I'll be able to serve Him and grow in Him through this experience.
Love to you all. Have a great day!

Please take the time to read this. . .

This is a message from a site that I follow and often convicts me. . . some of the articles get a little long but they are always worth it. . . this one is great and not all that long so please take the five minutes to read it.

Sorry, I'm Just Not A Pro-life Activist
Sorry, I'm just not a pro-life activist. I can't stomach the graphic pictures. I don't have the courage to just walk up to someone I don't know and talk to them about an issue like this. I don't like to tell people what's wrong and what's right. I can't take being hated. I couldn't take the way they'd look at me.I don't know the facts about abortion well enough to defend what I believe, personally. I don't know enough about biology to know when life begins any more than the next person.I know I'd say something stupid. I know I'd have trouble proving what I said. When I get nervous, my mind goes blank and I have trouble putting my thoughts into words. And I always get nervous when I meet new people -- or even just talk to them on the phone. Sometimes I even get scared explaining my ideas to people I know well.I don't like going out there and putting myself in tough situations. I don't like confrontations. When people get angry at me, I'm afraid they'll hurt me. I don't enjoy taking risks. None of this is anything I'm good at.Sorry. I'm just not the pro-life activist type.But . . . let's put it this way: Would you be willing to risk something to save a child?Imagine you're walking down the street and you see a house on fire. As you approach, a lady runs up, gasping and sobbing, and grabs you by the arm. "My daughter . . ." she says, then she points towards the house. "Where?" you ask. "Upstairs," she cries, pointing to a window on the second level. The window is above an overhang of the roof. You see a drainpipe along the side of the roof. But . . . "Sorry, I'm just not athletic," you tell her. You've never climbed a drainpipe to a roof before. You might slip. You'd probably fall. You're just not an athletic, fireman-type, drainpipe-climbing kind of person. A scream from within the house pierces your thoughts. You turn to see the mother's distraught expression. "I'm sorry . . ." you tell her.Sounds pretty lame, doesn't it?You see, it doesn't matter what kind of person you are. All that matters is that you care.I'm not a pro-life activist kind of person. Before almost everything I do, I say, "God, I can't do this!" But in my heart, I know what's right. So nothing else matters. I must do what I can. It doesn't matter what kind of person I am. There is something more important than that. There are children dying. Set your eyes on the Face of your Heavenly Father. See His Love for them. And can't you hear the cry of each soul? As the choice is made, as the pain envelops, it screams, "I want to live!"Friends, be passionate, be active, do something about what you believe. I didn't know the facts. I had to research them. Being homeschooled, I'd hardly studied biology. So I found articles and books about when life begins and the development of the child in the womb and I pored over them. I don't like reading about abortion. Babies don't like feeling abortion. I don't have the courage to do what's needed. So I step out in faith. I'm not the best at it. But I give it my all.I'm not the kind of person who does hard things. But I do them anyway. It's not that I enjoy looking foolish. It's not that I like confrontations. It's not that I want to make people angry. It's not that I enjoy feeling incompetent or attempting tasks that make me feel weak, small, untalented. I don't relish tough situations, risk taking, or standing on a platform and being heard. It's not that I like what I do.I just see and know something more important than all of that. It convicts me in a way I cannot avoid, cannot quiet, cannot forget. And I just care too much to stand by and say, "Sorry . . ."Friends, you know the truth that abortion kills a living human being. You believe the truth that more than 3,000 innocent lives are being lost daily. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are. Consider what is important. Do you care? What will you do about it?Each of us can't do everything. But all of us can do something.

Easter- Where lies the miracle?

Well, Happy Easter to you all. . .This sweet morning that holds so much meaning has oft been taken and ripped apart to fit men's theories as they try to explain away the love and sacrifice of our Savior to be a metaphor or parable that never really took place. Now normally I would not be blogging Easter morning but I'm not feeling well this Easter so here I find myself, and in that I read a couple of articles I probably wouldn't have otherwise and they were so good that I thought I'd share them with you. So if you have the time I hope you stop by and get as much good out of them as I did this morning.

http://randyalcorn.blogspot.com/2009/04/thoughts-on-easter-and-resurrection.html

http://randyalcorn.blogspot.com/2009/04/what-should-i-do-to-be-successful-in.html

My mother is so sweet and always makes us lovely Easter cards. This year she put a poem of sorts in that I'd like to share with you all as well

JESUS

The life of the One

Who is fully God and fully Man.

He who is the Bread of Life

Began His ministry hungry

He who is the Water of Life

Ended His ministry thirsting

Christ hungered as a man

yet He fed the hungry as God

He was weary yet He is our rest

He paid tribute yet He is our King

He was called a devil

yet He cast out demons.

He prayed, yet He hears prayer

He wept, yet He dries our tears

He was sold for 30 pieces of silver

yet He redeems sinners

He was led as a lamb to slaughter

yet He is the Good Shepherd

He gave His life

yet by dying He destroyed death.

~Author Unknown~

The miracle lies in Christ's life and death being fully man and fully GOD! And it did happen in every literal sense and is NOT just a story for a child to learn a lesson from!

Well God bless and have a wonderful Easter!

O Israel

O Israel, how fickle are your ways
One moment your heart sings to the Lord
The next to Baal do your arms raise
His unashamed love cuts like a sword
Bringing you once again to your knees
To stand by His side fully restored

O Israel, in you I see my own heart
Crying out for forgiveness and mercy
But when I receive it I turn to depart
I flee to the uttermost parts of the sea
But even there I am within His reach
He holds me so that I may find jubilee

O Lord, give me a heart after Your own
That I may never stray again as did Israel
For with Your son’s blood did You my sins atone
I strive to cling to You on my own but to no avail
Only You can hold me with such strength
That no thief’s trickery may prevail

O Israel, which way will we run?
In His everlasting arms will we rest?
Or will we be lost in this world undone?
O Lord, hold me tight to Your chest
That peace I may find in You alone
Settle within whether I be cursed or blessed.

O Israel that I may never stray as you did
Again and again dependent on the day
To walk away from Him, God forbid.
May my heart stand firm against the sway
That tries to snatch me from His hand
Let this sheep come home never again to stray

~Alaina Mathers~

April '09