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Name: Stacy
Birthday: 8/5/1977
Gender: Female
Interests: Coffee, Traveling, Silly songwriting, laughing, Driving, How about them Steelers....
Expertise: Keeping awake while driving and studying
Occupation: Research and development
Industry: Nonprofit
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/9/2004
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| So, today I unexpectedly got an email from one my missionaries to Guatemala. Turns out she's writing a paper on me for her English class about my travels around the world. It turned out to be a trip I haven't done in a while - a trip down memory lane. A trip that once again showed me how truly amazing my life has been. And, a reminder I have needed these past 4 weeks of struggle. And, since many of my fellow bloggers have had similar experiences around the world, I challenge you to think through these same questions from your perspective. Hasn't our God been so faithful to us to let us experience these things? And, if you haven't traversed the world enough to your liking, it's never too late. I'll even help you fundraise for your trip around the world. Just let me know! 1. How many trips have you been on? I’ve been on 11 trips with Teen Mania, 7 trips with my college, 1 with my church, and 3 of my own with my best friend. I guess that’s 22 in all. 2.Was there a favorite? Hmm. There are several that are favorites, all for different reasons. In Guatemala, we had the most amazing line up of ministry – from the slums to national TV and the team was the easiest I’ve led. Tibet, China was the most challenging and beautiful, and there I saw firsthand what it was like to try to reach an unreached people group. It was like going back 1,000 years when you see how the people live. But, probably my favorite was India (I went there 3 times in a row with Teen Mania) because the people taught me the most about being selfless and joyful in suffering. They embraced me like family, and my pastor contact (Brother Benny) still calls me every year to wish me a happy birthday and on holidays like Christmas and Easter. I’m planning a trip in the next year to go back and see them just because they’re like my second family. 3. How has God changed your life through these trips? Almost every major life lesson I’ve learned happened on one of these trips. My first trip to Albania showed me the need of people overseas, and how little selfless action it took from me, to share the Gospel and change someone’s life. I used to struggle hard with self confidence (to the point of depression), always worried what everyone thought of me. After years of struggling, praying through it, and renewing my mind with scriptures that told me “I was fearfully and wonderfully made” and that “there was no flaw in me”, God brought total freedom when I was leading a trip of college students in Tibet, China. That was the moment the switch flipped, and I found my confidence in God. In Hong Kong, I had a difficult member of my team that I constantly had to confront, and because he was so clueless, I learned how to confront his weaknesses while encouraging him that God had great plans in his life. And, in India, I saw the way Christian brothers and sisters thrived in a culture so different than my own. They were so selfless, sacrificial, and trusting in Christ alone for their needs while having very little financial security or security for the future. It rocked my world, and helped me realize how prideful and self-reliant I had become. It also showed me that everyone in America is a millionaire and that if we sacrificed the way they did, we together could see God do amazing things if we simply gave our resources to see those things happening. That’s when I became a giver, not just a fundraiser. 4. Why do you go on all these trips? My life was so radically changed on my trips, especially the first one – God speaking to me for the first time and freeing me from depression, that I want to give that opportunity to every teenager who has a desire to go. It’s the most amazing thing to see God change someone’s life in 2-3 weeks just because they’ve taken a step out of their comfort zone and dedicated that time to seeking Him and giving to people who have very little. To be a small part of that is actually very addicting. Also, putting myself in positions of leadership that are much bigger than I can handle, has made me seek God more fervently. When I know I can’t do it on my own, it makes you rely on Him and grow even closer to Him. 5. How old were you on your frist trip? I was 15 – the youngest person on my trip to Albania. 6. What is the most rewarding thing you have gotten out of these trips? Deep relationships – with both my global partners like Hermano Santos in Guatemala. If our team can cheer him up and help him realize just how important his ministry is in San Pedro de la Lago and the surrounding towns, then he’ll continue to do great work, and in some small way we have a part in that. Also, I love seeing my former missionaries rise up into positions of leadership. Some now serve with me as project directors. Others are scattered around the world doing long-term work in Jordan and Thailand. One teen was working at the nursery at my brother’s church taking care of my niece when she recognized me as being her project director 4-5 years prior. God blesses you in many ways when you step out to follow him – even personally impacting your family. 7. How important is devotion time in your life? I struggle like everyone else does to make this a priority. But when I let it slide for even 2-3 days, I get stuck back in my old patterns of thinking – depressed, not sure what I’m supposed to do, confused. When I start to feel these things, I can trace it back to the fact that I haven’t sat quiet before the Lord, focusing on Him and what He has to teach me. When I make it a priority, it keeps me focused on the fact that God is for me, and that every day can be a new adventure with Him. 8. What is your favorite bible verse(s)? I’ve always loved Psalm 34 because it sums up many of the promises I’ve experienced. Psalm 84 is also one I’ve come to love and rely on in the past 2 years. 9. What is the most important thing you have learned from your trips? People around the world have the same needs, worries, and fears, regardless of whether they live tucked away in a Turkish village or in a mansion in America. They care about family, and they want desperately to know that their life matters. God can use any of us to relate and reach them all. We simply have to be willing. | | |
| I loved being here in Tijuana, and especially because of the shrimp enchiladas verdes I had at the govenor's house. The great news is we got confirmation that they will match every dollar we bring to build homes in Baja with government money! After the Director of Health and Human Services came today, I'm pretty sure they might release enough money for Baja to do twice as many homes here in the next year. Praise the Lord! Hundreds of poor families are going to have these really great homes that our teams are building. It's so amazing to be a part of this. Getting into a business suit after camping out in a tent is kind of a wierd experience. Leaving the third world to go to a first world dinner meeting, but I have to tell you the government leaders here in Mexico are amazing. I wish the governor would run for President of the US. If he did, he'd have MY vote! | | |
| Tomorrow is proving to be one of the most fascinating days of my life. So, after months of silence, I am posting on Xanga. The day is fascinating and I want to process it externally with all my friends, but you're also getting this post because I have been left waiting at an airport for the next 30 minutes to 2 hours, and thankfully San Diego has free WiFi! I am loving this Southernmost city of CA! After years of sending hundreds of kids at a time down to Tijuana to build homes, I finally get to see it. Actually, I'll get to smell it, sweat it, and do everything else including sleep in a tent and share a showerhouse with 750 teenagers. Should be fun! What makes the day extraordinary is that I will leave the desert/ranch tomorrow morning and instead of throwing on shorts and a t-shirt and preparing to wield a hammer, I'll be putting on my suit (trying not to get sand in my shoes) and high-tailing it across the state of Baja (pray that we don't get lost) over to the Governor's mansion to dine with him and his wife, along with my new friend, Rosy, who is just like Ron except for being Mexican and female. The meal we're having is considered lunch at 2:30 in the afternoon, but will not be PB&J, but something that will likely take hours as we talk about our need to have money to buld these homes in Mexico. Oh, and if the pressure isn't on already, she tells me this governor is a forerunner to be the next President of Mexico. I might actually be eating with the future President of Mexico? Who does that? I'm sure the all-Spanish business conversation will be great. I'll nod a lot and act like I understand more than I do and that it's extremely interesting. It will just be like Guatemalan TV when my translator forgot to translate his greeting so I simply nodded and said "Gracias" - Thank you in Spanish. I'm to this day not sure what he said to me. It could have been, "Welcome to the show, Stacy," which then would have made sense to say Thank you. But then again, it could have been, "How have you enjoyed your time in Guatemala?" to which a response of Thank you is quite absurd. Hopefully I won't ask them for the keys to my carpet like I did in Guatemala when I needed to get into my hotel room. So, as I get ready to end one year and begin another I have to admit that amongst the stress, life is so stinkin' interesting, and all in all, I love it. Thanks for reading! | | |
| D called me tonight after our last CR meeting. I wrote her a note telling her all the things I saw in her, and after her fight with her parents, she read it, and she cried. She said she only has 3 people in the world she feels she can talk to, and I'm one of them and my 2 coleaders are the other 2. She has no one, and though the leaders are relieved that we get a break on Monday nights now, I wonder, what will she be doing next week? Or the week after? Who will she talk to? There are few things I've accomplished in my life that make me happier than getting through to that girl - few things that can make me more motivated than hearing her say the things she did tonight. Another friend was speechless last night when I talked to them because of a random thing God put on my heart to do that helped in a big way. It was a fun moment. And, God has even given me a chance to use a little of what I've learned in fundraising to help a ministry I really believe in. Thanks, Jessie, for the tip! I can't believe this guy wants me to coach him (I mean, I'm free and all), but I have so much still to learn, and he's the man! It really is better to give than to receive. I am having a blast! | | |
| One of the new joys of my life, but also hard things is that I started working with the Life Hurts, God Heals program at my church - it's basically Celebrate Recovery for teens. I recently got moved from working with a co-leader that I loved with junior high girls to working with the high school girls who were on the fringes. I have had a lot of experience leading teens, but not ones who don't even want to seek God. Not teenage girls who saw their mom die of cancer and their dad turn angry and abusive in the midst of the very worst time of their lives. This girl showed up 8 weeks ago trying to freak everyone out with tales of straight jackets, schizophrenia, and seeing dead people, but I always thought she was just too smart at playing the role. People with multiple-personality disorder don't name the people in their heads for instance. I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure those extra personalities come with names already. Still leading a small group like that has been hard. I want them to see the realness of Christ in my life. I want them to have hope when their's only despair in thier lives. I want them to find the truth, but so many times I haven't had the energy to go. I don't feel like I have any basis or foundation for us to agree on, so how do I respond or react to their revelations? The reason I began this journey was to understand youth leaders - was to engage because ignoring the problem in teens today does nothing. So, if nothing else I understand more than I ever have before. And tonight, this girl came and shared her heart. I mean she got vulnerable and real, and stopped pretending like her life was ok. It was a breakthrough, and she wants to go even deeper to talk through life with me and another leader. Pray for her - just call her D. Pray that God would get a hold of her life, but also don't ever give up on people. Not ever. | | |
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