Some more on my Life here.

Well, today marks day 24 of us being in this country. I can barely believe we have really been here this long. In some instances, I feel that we have been here for years since things are just coming so naturally (like sweating every moment of the day,  being surprised when hearing English and seeing four people cram on to the back of a moto). I now come to the point in my letters where I tell you all the lovely things we’ve done in the past week and take you on some journeys that I found to be extra special. 
        Well, last Thursday night, another teammate actually went to the hospital. Come to find out, she had parasites from either the water or something that she ate. We are all being extra careful now. She is up and back to her old self now, but it sure was a scare then. Friday night, we put on a two hour children’s program with English and Spanish songs, games and three skits. We’ve gotten pretty good at dishing out programs left and right (in English AND Spanish!). Saturday morning we went to the 7 child orphanage that I talked about a few weeks ago, and then we had all day to prepare for prostitute ministry. I spent the day in prayer and worship with God, and totally wrote 8 pages in my journal. (Most of my email will be about the prostitute ministry that we’ve done this week-go figure..) 
        We were scheduled to leave at 8 so we could get to the bars before the girls were “working” and before the men became too drunk and violent. This was the night that my teammate, Katie, had to be rushed to the hospital because the medicine that was given to her for the parasites was causing her liver to fail. Because of this, we didn’t know if we would even be able to go out because we have to have at least three guys with us, and we were down two at that point (he was at the hospital with Katie). He ended up coming back in time for us to go out into the bars. We get to the first bar (which just so happened to be the night club I told you about last week), but the owner wasn’t there, so we weren’t allowed access. Moving on to the bar next door, about half of us went inside while the other half stayed outside. While my teammates were inside, four police trucks drove up and stopped and the neighboring night club. They raided the place for anyone under 18, since it’s illegal for minors to be in bars here. It was then that we realized that none of us had ID on us to prove we were over 18. 
        We were actually only let into two places that night since we came later and most of the girls had already began “working”. We did meet one man, Julio, who works outside one of the bars as a security officer. Julio is a Christian, and could find no other job in Puerto Barrios. (Jobs are SO hard to find here, which is why so many people resort to prostitution or like Julio, being involved in some way with the bars. We prayed for him and went across the street to a drug house where we met Oscar. Oscar is a man who is drunk 6 out of the 7 days of the week, and on the 7th day, he prays to God and asks Him to be in his life. One of my teammates, Tabitha, ended up talking to him and sharing part of her testimony with him so he could understand God in a different way. While we were at that bar, the place where Julio works (another place we were not allowed in because the owner wasn’t there), got raided. Again, God protected us and allowed us to go freely from the big-mean-policemen. 
        Yesterday, we actually did prostitution ministry in the morning. We were warned that the place we were at actually is more dangerous and the men are more aggressive and it was very possible we could get groped (none of us were though). The first bar we went into there was a woman there named Beatrice. She, along with Julio, said that this was the only place she could find work. She had been working there a year, and actually had been a regular church attendee up until a year ago, when she began working at that bar. We prayed for her, and she broke down in tears. It totally broke my heart thinking that we were very possibly the only people that were going to have a real conversation with her that day. At the next place we went to, I met a girl, “Carla”, that told us how she and her sister had been there for a month, and neither of them liked it. Myself and another teammate chatted with her for a long time, and at the very end, she confessed that she tells people her name is Carla, but her real name is Sonya. At the same bar, I met another girl who was from Nicuragua and had been there four months. She is also there with her sister. After speaking to my leader about conditions I could see outside in the back, I realized that it was a brothel, and a hub for human trafficking. This is the second location we have been to where this has been true. 
        I could literally go on for pages and pages about my experiences and my feelings, but I shall spare you the long read. I ask that you pray for Nicole and Catalina (women at the Night Club from last week), Sonya and Beatrice, and for my teammates. We are bonding as a team now, but we have been getting sick and increasingly are becoming more weary. I ask that you join me in praying for strength for us all.  


Dios le Bendiga! (God bless you!)
-Emma.

Black Light Disorientation

This past week we did our first prostitute ministry. I was really excited to finally be going in to the red light district to minister to those that are so close to my heart. We made cards with encouraging verses in Spanish to give to the women we met and we also got flowers to give them so they knew they were beautiful and that someone loved them. The first place we walked into was a night club. The music was blaring and it was dimly lit with black lights everywhere. There was a dancer on stage and two waiting to go on. The Pastor we were with (who has become very close to all of our hearts), mentioned that I go talk to the dancers waiting to go on. I, along with another teammate, walked past all the men staring at us like we were crazy since we were white females in a night club. When we reached the two girls, who were at max 18, we both became frigid. Neither of us knew what to do. I barely speak any Spanish and my teammate knew some, but we both found ourselves without words. We ended up praying for them and left after some painfully long moments of awkwardness. 

We left the night club and I was left with feelings of disappointment, anger and sadness. I think part of me expected to go in to that night club and win the girls to Jesus (as ridiculous as that may sound). I was plagued with emotions that didn’t make any sense to me. I was so frustrated that God would bring me to a place where I don’t speak the language and place me in an incredibly dark situation and at the same time attempt to call out greatness in me. My attitude only got worse as the time went on. When we arrived back at our van, we were telling one of our ministry contacts about the places we went. Excitedly she told us that we were the first group ever to be allowed in the night club. She told us that they had been praying for a long time about that place, and we just walked right in.

After a day, I was still overcome with my emotions, but I was able to come to peace with the fact that we were there for a reason. By the grace of God we were accepted into that night club without question, hesitation or without having to pay.

So many times on this trip I have been confronted with a situation that I was not comfortable with. But I know that God is providing and is paving ways even when I don’t see it. 

Living Uncomfortably.

            When I began this experience, I honestly was expecting something very different. I was expecting for an almost cushy time and a warm and friendly atmosphere. Although the latter is true, the former is certainly not. I have been so crazily uncomfortable these last few days. From camping in the woods on a whim with only three personal items to sharing a cabin with 24 other girls to rationing food for over 200 people… I have been uncomfortable.

But the Spirit of God has given me so much peace.

Every time I felt that I had doubts and was going astray from what I had been called to do, I was reassured by the incredible people at training camp. Especially by my beautiful teammates that have reassured me that I am meant to be here and that God has pursed each of us to become a family and a team. I have been called out so many times, and God has spoken through so many people. I. Am. Amazed.

My heart is so full and so ready to begin this journey. 

TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is the big day! Woooooooooo! I am SO excited! I have FINALLY completed packing and will not unpack to repack again. I'm hoping that my sleeping bag stays connected to my bag... we'll see how that goes. I found out yesterday that my flight from Charlotte to Chattanooga actually has another teammate on it! I'm really excited to meet her and the rest of my team! Training starts TOMORROW! It's so weird to think that my summer is beginning tomorrow and I will be among fellow missionaries and in another state with no one that I know for the first time since moving to college my freshman year. I'm all over the place and SO stinkin' excited! Hopefully I'll be able to write some at training camp to let you all know what's going on :)

Love and Joy.