9 days. eesh.

i am about as prepared as one can be before leaving the states to live in a south american country for 10 weeks. that feeling of forgetting something is lurking and time is running out to hang out with my friends one last time before i go. i've been through this before only i went to colorado for a year and a half, so i know i can handle it. but still, it seems different that i'm leaving the comforts of america. i'm ready though. God has prepared me for this in so many ways. it even sounds like the hostel down there in matucana is actually better lodging than that little trailer i stayed in all summer in colorado. ;) good times. i loved that trailer.
with it being about 9 days this MAY be my last post before we go. i don't know. this will be a busy week for us for sure. i'm pretty excited because i have 2 more work days left before i go! tuesday night at 9 pm i will be done! wednesday night will be my last night working in my church's youth group until august 5th :( i'm sad about all i'm going to miss out on this summer, but i'm praying and i know that the youth group will grow so much in God this summer!
that's all for now, not much happened this past week, except that i'm packing. same will go for all of next week i'm sure.
~chelsea><>

Stars

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."
Philippians 2:14-15(NIV)
this verse has been a major part of my life recently. there have been some issues and instances where i had to make a decision as to whether or not i should participate in some things that would not necessarily constitute as a sin but might hurt my witness. as i was deciding, there were times that i would try to justify my soon-to-be-action because it would "open me up to a whole new people group". one night we studied this verse in our middle school class at church and i was God-slapped: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing, and perfect will." Romans 12:2(NIV)
that answered my question and i immediately was able to make my decision. God doesn't need me to be a witness by hovering on the line of right and wrong. there's already enough Christians doing that. instead, He calls us to be transformed and to be living sacrifices for Him. we need to reflect His glory to the best of our ability. it's easy to say "yes" and have the world assume nothing of it, but saying "no" leads to more opportunities of being a better witness.
this seems to be a popular subject these days and i wanted to put my two cents in there :)

anyway, this week has been pretty eventful. i praise God for all that took place, both good and seemingly bad. i try to remind myself that everything happens for a reason and God's always in control. here is one thing i will tell you about. we had a scare when josh found out his application wasn't accepted all because of a technicality. we are very grateful it has been/is being resolved.
as far as i know the guys (andy and josh) are done with their classes until after peru! what a relief for them. i am working a little less and will be done at auntie anne's i believe on the 19th until i return! i'm still praising God for a job when i get back!!!
please continue to be praying for us as the day arrives. personally, i am now at the point where i feel like i'm running out of time before i go. again, i need to remember that God's in control.
that's all for now. thanks for reading!
~chelsea ><>

p.s. 19 more days to go

dependent!

presently, we have 25 days until we board the plane that takes us to lima, peru. it's weird for me to think about all that has to happen before we step onto that plane! eesh. yet, i've noticed that i'm abnormally content about what's going to take place this summer. i truly think this sense of calmness comes from so many people stepping up and telling me that they are praying for me. this confirmation from God is awesome and nothing has ever been such an encouragement to me!
last night someone told me he was praying, not only about peru this summer, but also what i'll be doing after i get back. i have been thinking a lot about that myself. what exactly i will be doing when i get back? since some of you don't know me, i can be...well...a spontaneous person when it comes to possible careers options. i have a few examples of ideas that failed, but i won't go into to those unimportant details. the only thing that is important is that i'm relying on God now. there's is no way to that He will fail! many people have been asking what my next adventure will be after this summer. i'm here to tell you, I DON'T KNOW! :) that's nice to say because for the first time in a long time, i am trusting in God to make that decision. no, that's not an excuse for me to not plan ahead, but it's an opportunity for me to discover more about God! i'm the independent stubborn type and i need to learn to be more dependent on God along with others who want to help. it's like they say "work as if everything depends on you. pray because everything depends on God." give God credit and take responsibility for your actions in my opinion is a good way to live.
thanks for reading! i suppose this 3rd post makes me an "official" blogger. i still feel a little weird about posting stuff that may or may not get read by anyone else but my mother (hi mommy!). she subscribed to it yesterday so she'll never miss anything :) nonetheless, i'm here and it's posted.
btw, pray for the guys as they are in their final weeks of college before we leave. in fact andy (as far as i know) is done after this week and josh will be done after next week. that's pretty exciting, but finals can be very stressful.
thank you for your prayers! love you all!
~chelsea><>

32 days left

When I stop and think about how much time is left before we leave for Peru I often have to take a deep breath. I have never been on a missions trip and honestly I am a bit nervous about what we will run into down there. For those of you who don't know me, I really like to know every detail of a task so that I know how to completely complete it, so with this missions trip I feel like there is an x factor of the unknown for me. I have nothing to compare this trip with, so everything is a new experience for me. This is all exciting and terrifying. Thankfully God tests us before we reach the place He wants us to be at. Over this freshmen semester of college I have been growing quite a bit. In fact, so many ways that it would probably take up an entire blog of its own to explain how everything fits together and every detail of this growing story of my life, but for the sake of your time and mine I will just give you a brief summary.

In my daily devotions for the past few months, I have been studying the life story of David son of Jesse (which can be found in 1 and 2 samuel). My view of David for my entire life has been in awe of how perfect David was..... well all except that one thing with Bathsheba. After I started studying his life and reading commentaries on his life, I found it interesting how David had this period of preparation in his life before he was king. He spent many years learning how to enquire of the Lord for everything. When David was doing this his life was filled with blessing although he was being persecuted, but right when he stopped enquiring of the Lord he fell into some sort of sin. After becoming King this training that he had been through helped him keep the kingdom of Israel from falling apart. The lesson I had learned is that David was a man after God's own heart not because he was perfect and new every detail of a task, but rather because he had learned to enquire of the Lord and obey what the Lord told him. Yeah david fell, but he always returned to the Lord and sought His direction. I guess this has encouraged a lot because I have had to learn to enquire of the Lord in a lot of situations this semester, and God doesn't just teach us to do things just for the fun of it, but for a purpose that will be used later. So I know that as long as we continue to enquire of the Lord this summer I know that He will direct us in the right situations of what to say and what to do. 

If you would pray for us that we would continue to seek the Lord and enquire of Him in every situation now and while we are down in Peru that would be greatly appreciated! 

*Josh

family day

preparation update part dos (spanish for 2)

35 days until we board the plane that takes us to peru! as the day approaches i get more and more excited to see all that God has in store for me, my team, and matucana! i truly feel like something astounding and awesome is going to happen!
instead of our normal weekly meetings, yesterday we invited our families to come, eat some burgers, hangout, and ask any questions they might have about this trip. it also gave our parents a good opportunity to meet everyone and "to put a face with a name" sort of speak. i think it was also a relief for our parents (at least for mine) to be able to meet and chat with "the kids" that their child will be working with for 10 weeks in a different continent.
btw, here are a couple personal prayers that have been answered within these past few weeks. one thing i wasn't to concerned but still needed confirmation about was my job situation after peru. the kind of jobs i get are known to have high employee turnover rates. in other words, i can be pretty easily replaced. well, my boss at auntie anne's said to me one day while i was at the mall with a friend, "after peru, you're coming back to work here right?" :) that made my day! now, slice of life (my other job) has been another story. i've been putting off telling them that i would be leaving for the summer because i was afraid they'd let me go right then and there. i told the head waiter that i'm going to be gone for the summer. he said "oh yeah? doing what?" i told him and he responded "really?! that's really cool! will you be working here up until then and will you come back afterwards?" wow. that was a big sigh of relief! not that i WANT to work there when i get back, but that i have that option and i will still have that income up until i leave! thank you Lord! preparing for this trip has already been a great testimony to all that i work with. thank you all for your prayers!

~chelsea st. john ><>

p.s. this past week i have had some personal concerns that i needed to give to God. through a few of my friends' encouraging words, He was able to put me at ease about a couple unspecific things. pretty much i need to remember that He is there for me and that He wants me to delight in Him. conclusion: God wants to take away all my concerns because He loves me.

Preparing for Peru

this is my first official "blogging" experience. please bare with me :)

as most of you all know we (andy turner, josh corrick, and i) are preparing to take a little trip down to south america. matucana, peru to be exact. we are starting to meet on a weekly basis to practice our stories and attempt to cover all we need to know before we go down there for 10 weeks. mr. dennis and ms. cheryl brown have just gotten back from their 3rd trip down to that area and have been hosting our meetings at their house. they have been giving us the in's and out's of matucana from their experiences there. special thanks to mr. dennis' amazing organizational skills. without him i wouldn't feel nearly as confident as i do about leaving the states for over 2 months. he covers every detail!
we decided to keep this blog to be able to update you all as much as possible. we'll attempt to post at least once a week in as much detail as possible. that means it could be as simple as prayer requests to a page with pictures and all! we shall see. i know there is an internet cafe' there in the town but i am unsure of it's reliability.
thank you in advance for all your prayers and support! we have each seen God work in all areas of this trip so far and you all have really stepped up. it's astonishing!
~chelsea st. john