A week of HOPE(well)

Whew! I survived my first ever mission trip in the good ol' U.S. of A. I didn't have to board any planes, I spoke the native language, I didn't have to take anti-malaria meds, I was able to flush my toilet paper, and I didn't have to exchange currency to make purchases. It was a blessing to help right here in Virginia! I truly enjoyed getting to know the ladies I roomed with and the crews I served with!
So Sunday morning another adult and a youth and myself loaded up a truck and trailer and hit the road. (We missed those who had last minute situations arise that kept them from joining us!!) After about two hours on the road (and a lunch stop) we arrived at the newly renovated high school in Hopewell, Virginia that became our home for a week. I was roomed with some awesome ladies from NJ. They kept me laughing all week. (Not the "tee hee" type of laughing- the kind of laughing where you have to run to the bathroom to pee while wiping the tears from your eyes. Laughter is awesome medicine!)
Sunday evening we met our work crews. I was on crew 25 and we were paired with crew 26- I considered us one big crew- it was hard to tell where 25 stopped and 26 started!! We did our devotions together at our site all week, we ate lunch together, we worked together, we made messes together, and we served God together!
My crew worked at a home near the school. Our jobs included building a wooden deck over a brick deck, building a ramp off the new deck, moving the tomato garden, weeding, coating the top of the carport for more protection, scraping and repainting the supports of the carport, painting the bathroom, and repairing a section of the house near the roof. Whew!
During the week we met our "resident's" neighbor who asked us to pray for her 32 year old grandson who was dying of cancer. Sadly, he passed away the next day. I spent time talking to her and getting to know her. She was a light in my week for sure!
During the week we had a different question to ponder for the day that tied in to our devotions and times of Worship. On Weds our question was "Why do you doubt?" I shared with my group about a time I doubted and that out of that time rainbows became special signs from God. (We'd be here all day if I tried to write them all down- hope to do that some day though.) Well Thurs it was raining while we were working and the youth started saying that it would be cool to see a rainbow in the sky and kept looking up and around for one. I prayed to God that God would show them a rainbow- but if not- it was okay. So we left without seeing a rainbow. HOWEVER, that evening I was talking on the phone out front of the school and saw a huge rainbow across the sky. Not only did I see it, everyone on our crews, some at the school, some at other places around town, saw it too. God's awesomeness never ceases to amaze me!!!!
By the end of the week I was mentally, physically and emotionally spent- but spiritually shining bright! I'm STILL getting caught up on sleep and will probably have to run to the doctor- I was fighting a sinus infection when we left and all the sawdust, mold, etc we encountered seems to have not helped me get over it. However, it was an awesome week! I met so many amazing sisters and brothers in Christ and made some awesome friends!
Please feel free to check out photos of our week here. (The site is password protected. The password is: rachelmiller) Please feel free to save any photos you like, they're for all to enjoy! If you have some awesome additional photos please feel free to send to me so that I can add them.

God's Peace!

What's on your heart? I hope you're struggling with something too...

WOW! So as you can see by the date of my last blog, I haven't been on here for... um... a while. It's coming on up three years since I left for Lubumbashi, DRC and I've been reflecting a lot on that experience and how it changed my life so I thought I should get back to this blogging thing and write my thoughts down. So, for better or worse, here goes!

So yeah, I'm sure most of you know that I went to DR Congo for three months in 2010. I still talk about it too dang much, thanks for putting up with me ;-)  I figured I'd give a short background about it for those new friends I've made in the past few years who may not know much about it (feel free to skip this paragraph if you don't want to read about it, unless you tell me I won't ever know)... It was my first ever mission trip of any kind. I took the Individual Volunteer UMVIM course and hit the road (well, the skies anyways). Off to a country where I knew no one, didn't speak any of the languages and where, for some strange reason, I felt called to be. While I was there I was homesick (and a few times physically sick.) I cried and on a few occasions I almost gave up and left... However, while there I met so many amazing people from around the world! I gained strength from friendships and from God. This gal from VA who gets carsick and doesn't like being in loud places survived the roads (if you want to call them that) in DRC and being in Worship that had to be louder than most concerts I've been to! Living at Jamaa Letu was a blessing to me! The girls, babies and Mommas who live there are so amazing and strong. I think of them often and wish I could just hop a flight over there to say hey and visit for a few weeks! Was I the best guest?  I still think of things I did wrong or didn't handle the way I should have so I'm sure I wasn't! Was I helpful? Probably not. Did I get teased about not knowing how to wash laundry by hand? You bet I did! Did I always understand what was going on? Nope. Do I still miss Mama Rebecca's cooking? Mmmm, yeah buddy!! Do I love all those folks I met and pray for the great folks at Jamaa Letu? You know it!!! (And seeing one of the babies from Jamaa Letu stateside with his forever family? WHOA, ah-maze-ing!)

So after that amazing experience I was blessed to head back to DRC that December and help out with an awesome and amazing non-profit! Was it challenging? Yes! Would I give up a week of personal time in a heartbeat to go back and help them or one of the other amazing non-profits who do work in DRC? Pretty sure I should just insert "duh!" here ;-)  (BTW, if you're in Kinshasa and need a place to stay, I can recommend an awesome place!)

That was it! God had put it on my heart that international missions went from being pretty much off any priority list that I had for myself to pretty close to the top! I went to Honduras twice in 2011 with Mercy Teams. I not only had the most awesome folks on my teams but I really enjoyed going back later in 2011 to see the kids I had met in the spring. Building a relationship with folks around the world who love God is a HUGE blessing! Because I was so busy my trip to Costa Rica in 2012 never even made it to this blog. Dang it, right? I helped lead a group of super youth and their awesome leaders to Costa Rica and we worked our butts off! (Well, actually, I worked the skin on my knee off, after being horribly clumsy and stepping into a hole while trying to walk down-hill- oops...)

So now we come to... well, now. I have two mission trips on the calendar. Taking the youth to a project here in Virginia this summer and leading a team to Crisfield, MD to help with Hurricane Sandy relief in October. (Shameless plug- we still have some spots open, email me if you want to join!) I have been considering joining a team going to Brazil from my district in the fall but not sure I can swing that with everything going on in life right now. Perhaps God needs me to stick to these US based mission trips this year.

Can I just tell you how much my heart aches to serve internationally again sometimes in the next year or two? To get back to DRC or Honduras or serve in another third-world country would be so amazing. I miss meeting Christians who live a different life than I do in their own home-country. However, serving this way really changes ones views. Am I thankful for all I have? Oh yes, yes, yes! Would I give up constant internet connection, constant running water and constant electricity to be helpful somewhere else? Oh yes, yes, yes! Would I wash my clothing by hand again? Yup! (Would I do it with gloves so my knuckles don't bleed though, yes... learned that lesson the hard, bloody way...) Would I give up showering again for months on end to serve if needed? Thanks to bathing wipes from REI- yes, yes I would. (I would also soak in a tub for an entire day upon my return.) Would I miss my family and friends way too much? Oh yes! But you all are so supportive of me that I know we'd find a way to stay in touch. (Cell phones work everywhere these days... well, in many places...)

So I hear you asking (if you've made it this far into this entry): Rachel, why are you writing all this? What are you trying to tell us?
My answer: I dunno... I've just been struggling with this whole "having-a-heart-for-a-longer-term-international-mission-and-not-knowing-what-it-means-or-what-to-do-about-it" thing...
I do know that I've been reading a lot of blog posts recently by clergy and laity. Some blog posts aren't church related, others are. I've decided that I need to blog more- keep this sucker up to date a little more. No one, besides my Mom and Dad (HI you two), may read this... that's cool. But I'm putting it out there for the universe. I have some future blog posts started...

So what's on your heart right now? Honestly, I hope you're struggling with something too or have been recently. Not because I want folks to be struggling and uncomfortable or because I want struggle-buddies... but because God doesn't call us to find a place in life and get comfy for too long. Throughout life times should find us that call us to be uncomfortable, searching and questioning. Without these times we can't grow. We may not be able to reach perfection, but to strive for it means growing and changing. I also hope that you have a safe place to struggle. If you don't, find one. Need a struggle-buddy? Let me know!

Before I sign off, let me just offer this prayer please:
Creator God, thanks for being so amazing and awesome and wonderful and powerful that there are really no human words to properly describe you. For those in this world who have no belief in a higher being and the hope of an eternal life after this one, I totally pray! For those who lack sufficient food, water, clothing, shelter, support and LOVE, I truly pray. For those who say they love everyone but don't show it in their actions, yeah, that's all of us at some point, I really pray! For those who aren't happy and satisfied with their situations right now for any reason, I pray. For those who are hurting, lonely or suffering, God, I pray. For every person who is happy, smiling and satisfied beyond belief at life, I pray. Help us to do our best at all times God. Lead us. Feed us. Find us. Heal us. Beyond all, THANK YOU for loving us! In the name of the most awesome radical dude in history, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” -Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Heading to Honduras tomorrow... we'll all meet at the airport around 5AM, fly to Miami around 7, have a short layover there and head to San Pedro Sula... we'll be there by early afternoon.

Not everyone knows how I was lead to mission work... but I will say that a very wise and kind woman told me I should take an opportunity and follow my dreams... Little did she know that my dream was to help orphans in Africa and little did I know that a year later I would have already lived in DRC for three months and be on my way back to assist some families going through the adoption process and report on some children who had been matched with families!! Here I am TWO years later going on my second trip to Honduras in 8 or 9 months. 

I should not be so amazed at all God has been doing in my life- yet I still am! Mission work and advocating for orphans has quickly become a passion in my life and I thank each and every person who has helped me get to this point. I was worried about this trip because I wasn't feeling well recently and my sister went into the hospital last night due to concerns about her pregnancy... but here I sit, 10 hours from leaving from the airport and Erin is resting at home and I'm on the mend :-)  

Today I ran into Psalm 131 (my birthday, imagine that!) 

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
   my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
   too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
   like a weaned child with its mother;
   my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.

I have calmed and quieted my soul... I pray God brings peace and calm to all who read this. 

Looking forward to sharing stories and photos soon!

Adios & God's Peace,

Rachel 

Sometimes it's just hard...

As you may, or may not, know- I'm going back to Honduras with a group of United Methodists, including a member of my church, in late October to serve God's children at Worldwide Heart to Heart Ministries. I'm so excited! Serving God around the world has become a very special activity I'm blessed to participate in. I have learned how to be patient, open my heart and mind to different experiences (and FOOD, LOL!), different customs, different views of God and I've been able to meet Christians from all walks of life! I've also been blessed to see God's creation in many other places! How amazingly blessed I am!!
I won't lie, it's not all sunshine and rainbows... I require a lot of sleep and don't always get it. I (along with everyone else traveling the globe) have to be careful about what I eat and drink while still trying new things and being open to food enjoyed in different cultures. There's the language barrier (however, my Spanish, French and Swahili have improved in the past year!!) Customs are different and any small gesture that means nothing to me could totally offend someone elsewhere. I like to have some alone time once in a while and when serving with a team, that doesn't happen unless you're in the shower (and then you probably have little creatures with you) or when using the facilitates, but then you have to make sure not to put the paper in the toilet, etc, etc... Oh the JOYS! :) But honestly, serving IS a joy. I love it. 
Another part of my serving that is hard is affording these trips. It's hard to constantly get in front of the congregation and ask for money to help with these trips. Everyone who has ever given has been so generous and kind with his/her donations. I constantly tell those who want to serve on mission trips to never let the cost hinder him/her. God WILL provide, I've seen it time and time again. These trips are very affordable! The cost of travel to Honduras (round-trip) is only a few hundred dollars, room and board is also reasonable and at least $250 of the money we pay goes to help the sites we're serving. Also... if this trip is anything like the last, we also spend a lot of our own money when we're in town. On the last trip we purchased a lot of items for the state-run orphanage and the two private orphanages we served with our own money. (After seeing what life is like for most of those we serve, you'd want to give all the money in your pockets too- and more if you could!) 
I'm SO EXCITED to go back and serve in this hot, humid, beautiful, poor country! I am SO BLESSED to have a job, friends, and family who all support this Call in my life- my job has even made it part of my job-title! I'm so SCARED about where the $1700 will come from for this trip. I have less than a month to have the money together and have about... $5... Yes, it's hard to say that I can't just reach into my pockets and pay this on my own. But you know what? God ALWAYS provides! The finances will come from somewhere- God did not create us to worry, God created us to freely serve God and to freely love God :)
In case you haven't seen photos from the trip... check out these:

Here are two of the children from Heart to Heart who blessed us with their talents during Worship.

We may not share a language,  we may not understand each others lives, dreams, hopes and desires... but we CAN join together with music and have a LOT of fun!

Sometimes letting a new friend sit on your lap or sharing a hug is all that you can do, and sometimes it's all that's needed.

State-run facilities. Sometimes no words can explain what is going on in your heart and head in these situations.

I ask that everyone keeps me in your thoughts and prayers as I strive to follow God’s call and the tug on my heart to serve!! Please keep ALL who serve around the world in your hearts and prayers. Serving in third-world countries comes with much anxiety and has it's own type of stresses... Whether you are able to make a donation or not, THANK YOU for having an interest in what I’m doing!!! If you are able to make a donation, I'm asking for $1. As the crow flies, the location where this next team will be serving is approximatly 1719 miles from Alexandria. Since I need to raise $1700 I'm hoping to get a dollar per mile. (If I come back, your donation of a dollar actually gets me TWO miles, LOL!)

If you would like to make a donation, a fund has been set up at my church for mission trips. Here’s how it works: Please make the check payable to “WSUMC.” In the memo line please write “VIM fund.” (VIM stands for Volunteers in Mission… by writing the name of the fund instead of my name, your donation is tax deductible and can be used by others who are serving too!)
Checks may be mailed to:
WSUMC
c/o Rachel Miller
115 S. Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

Please note: Unless you indicate otherwise, your name will be shared with me so that I can properly thank you for your donation.
If you don't care about your gift being tax-deductible you can send it directly to me. (Just email me for my address... or send it to the church address, above, but make the check payable to "Rachel Miller" and please put "VIM" in the memo line. Any money that is donated that I do not use will be put back into the fund at the church for future trips.)

Finally, if you'd ever like to find out more about serving in the US or around the world- please let me know! I'm happy to talk with you, pray for you and help you however I can!!

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one." - Mother Teresa

God's Peace!
Rachel

Oh the joys of ministry!

Most of my blog posts are about my adventures around the world serving God and God's children... but what about here at home?!? We're all given different gifts of the Spirit and I feel one of my callings is to serve around the world, but I also love to serve at home! For those who might not know, my church hosts a breakfast ministry each week. (For more info: Click here.) This ministry has been around for a year now and each Monday is so very different from the last! Please note that the stories below are not meant to make fun of anyone- they are examples of finding joy and fun in my service to God. (All names changed.)

Just some stories to share with you:
- A few weeks ago I turned around and saw a guests with his shirt unbuttoned. I had no idea what to think but later I found out that I missed the real show! Here's part of an email I rec'd later that day from a friend:
"You just saw it undone.  He actually had it all the way off earlier.  I was talking to [John] and his eyes got big, so I looked behind me to see what was going on and he'd taken it off. [My husband's] theory was that it was a new shirt and he was fascinated with the buttons --- he kept playing with them.  He certainly didn't appear to mean anything by it, just seemed a bit confused."
- I'm not sure why but recently the guests have been asking me to sing- one in particular asks me each week. Even though he asks me each week it always seems to catch me a little off guard. Our guests have now started asking me which service I lead the singing at... What an interesting way to get folks thinking about attending Worship- who knew?!?
- We have a great guest who enjoys 'dumpster diving.' Each week he now gifts the ministry and myself with a bag of goodies! A few weeks ago I was gifted a piece of costume jewelry, last week a stuffed animal. Last week our ministry was also gifted with: Brillo pads, a bag of unopened sunflower seeds and an unopened box of pantyhose from this thoughtful guest... We NEVER know what he will bring in for us!  However, I think it's amazing and sweet that he thinks of us during the week!

I have so many other great stories but no time left to type... I'll just have to keep you guessing for now!!!
Much love!
Rachel